Archive for the ‘Business Principles’ Category

Hey, you're new. We like you already! You obviously have great taste! If you like what you read here you'll probably want to subscribe to our RSS feed (or the audio RSS feed). Stick around and be sure to speak up and post a comment or two!

I believe that one of the key things that keep small businesses small is that the owners maintain a small business mindset. For many, being small is just fine. They don’t ever want to be anything more than a mom and pop operation. But others dream big and want to see big goal accomplished but continue to struggle to “make it big.” They can’t ever seem to get over that hump that propels them out of small-time territory.

If you don’t want to be a mom and pop operation, or you want to be more than the small business you are, then it’s time to start thinking not like the small business you are but like the bigger business you want to be.

Click here to keep learning

I’ve been a Netflix subscriber since they went by the name Netflix.com and were boasting 7,000 titles in stock. They now claim to have over 100,000. That was many moons ago. But I haven’t necessarily been a Netflix loyalist. Over the years I’ve tried other online movie rental services only to keep finding my way back to Netflix.

But over the years Netflix has begun cutting out key customer features. They say it’s to improve their system, customer service and the traditional yada, yada, but I’m not so sure. But with each feature they eliminate, instead of differentiating themselves from the competition, they are systematically eliminating the benefits of being a Netflix customer.

Click here to keep learning

I belong to an online book exchange site that basically lets you exchange books for points and shipping fees. I can get just about any book for a mere $4.50 for shipping. I’ve even gotten a hold of some brand new hardbacks still on the new release shelves!

Recently they started doing the same with DVDs, which for an avid movie watcher like me I love. It’s my chance to offload some stuff that I no longer watch and look for some of the titles that I want but was just never willing to shell out the bigger bucks for.

For a while I’ve had the movie Highlander in my want list and it recently became available and I was lucky enough to snag it. What was funny is what I actually got in the mail:

Click here to keep learning

Registering multiple domain names is, and should be, common practice for businesses wishing to protect their brands. I discussed buying alternative domain names earlier this week, but I wanted to address it again, this time from the context of duplicate content issues which may arise if you don’t set up your new domain names properly.

Domain Name Redirects

Click here to keep learning

Success means a lot of things to a lot of people, but the bottom line, for most of us, is that success doesn’t come easy. Most people who see someone else’s “overnight success” cannot fathom the months or years of hard work, lost sleep and sacrifices made to achieve that success.

Of course success is more than money or power. I tend to subscribe to definition #1 above rather than #2. You don’t have to have any of those things to truly be successful, and you can be successful in many things that won’t ever provide them. In business, success merely means that you’ve achieved your goals and dreams.

A few months back I came across these little bits about “success” that I thought would be worth discussing:

Click here to keep learning

A two-hour live season finale of the Celebrity version of The Apprentice seems somewhat frivolous. It’s almost as if Trump is taking this seriously. Maybe this gives us a little more insight on how un-seriously Trump takes the regular seasons when someone will actually be working for him.

But the ratings must be good. On signing off Trump declared they’d be around for “many more years”. My hope is that they get back to what made the show great to begin with, that is being about the business tasks and not about the personalities.

Click here to keep learning

I loved the interviews as part of the narrowing down process in the first few seasons of The Apprentice. I think the last couple of seasons they moved away from that, but now they brought it back. Considering that none of these people will actually be working for Trump, this time it seems kind of superfluous. What’s the point? Let’s get back to the game… and the lessons!

Business Lesson One: The quality of the team can make or break your success.

Click here to keep learning

In Last Thursday’s episode the teams had to build and sell a Quiznos sandwich. I think this episode really showed where the celebrity candidates are weakest, and that is in genuine business and marketing. They could not rely on their celebrity so everything came down to how to market a new sandwich to the average person on the street. But on with the lessons…

Business Lesson One: Savor victory, but don’t gloat.

Click here to keep learning

The task for this episode of The Apprentice finally offered a true business related task that didn’t let the candidates rely on star power or the pocket books of their rich friends. This was a true marketing oriented task. I really wish they would do more of these. On with the lessons…

Business Lesson One: Your marketing must answer questions before they are asked.

Click here to keep learning

The QVC task is one that they’ve done before on The Apprentice, so this episode didn’t really offer up anything new. And since there were no real fireworks to speak of, this was a pretty bland episode. I’d love if The Apprentice would get back to tasks that require some unique business savvy, but there I go again longing for the days of Season One.

Let’s get right to the lessons…

Click here to keep learning