Image Building · 01. October 2016

Branding is something every company should be doing. Unfortunately, most are doing it poorly because they approach branding from a marketing perspective only — rather than an enterprise-building perspective — or fail to take the different levels of branding into account. The basic levels of branding are visual impression, verbal impression, physical impression and personal experience. The visual image is what you see, such as graphics, logo, colors, etc. The verbal impression is achieved...

Value Building · 01. August 2014

The dictionary definition of "bankable" is: "to be considered powerful, prestigious, or stable enough to ensure profitability." If your business is bankable, it means it has earned status worthy of people investing their time, money and attention.When you are looking to grow your business requiring additional resources to achieve this growth, then analyzing how bankable your business is in the eyes of the marketplace is key to consider. Important to note is that I am not just talking about...

Momentum Building · 01. July 2014

How you approach your operations from a marketing standpoint is key to its success. Marketing for many small businesses is viewed as a necessary evil or a mysterious phenomenon that seems to be all too elusive when it comes to getting results for the business. You try this tactic or that tactic. You implement this program or that program.You ramp up your sales efforts or develop exciting new promotions. And yet, nothing seems to have any sticking power. If you are doing any of these five...

Next Level Strategy · 01. April 2013

As mentioned in last month’s column, change is the new norm in today’s economy. Change viewed from an opportunities and investigative perspective can help you anticipate and effectively respond to inevitable changes versus being forced to react to them. Too often, business owners are surprised by shifts or unexpected outcomes because they were operating at a surface level of knowing what was really happening in their business. Here are five areas you should keep a pulse on so you are...

Team Building · 01. February 2013

Have you been told that your expectations are too high? For some business owners, this may make you feel that you should lower your expectations due to pressure felt by these comments, resulting in managing in a “settle-for” mindset to the detriment of your business or what you envision. Another consideration about expectations is in what you as the business owner expect of others and then what you practice and demonstrate to others. If you are not practicing what you preach in your...