If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!This morning I submitted an article to Associated Content, “How Rotary Helped Me Feel like a Business Owner.” One point was about having been cynical about business early in life. I wondered, “Is it possible for small business to be socially conscious?” The People in Rotary Seemed to Care about Their Communities While many small businesses are socially conscious, it's time to hold criminals in business accountable. Then I joined the Rotary Club of West El Paso. It was thrilling to be with a group of small... (Read More ...)

Sometimes you can learn more from an example of what not to do than from instructions on what to do. That’s the case with this post about “What can TV automotive advertising teach you about relationship selling and trust?” To learn the lesson, you need to tune in to how you respond to this example of TV Automotive Advertising. Trust is so important that the United States made it part of its motto, "In God We Trust" Have you seen Ford’s series of TV commercials where they bring in “real owners” to give testimonials to the media and to be interviewed by the press? Have you notice... (Read More ...)

Earning customer loyalty goes beyond just providing great customer loyalty programs. It means understanding what customers want and providing that. Whenever possible, it’s idea for customer loyalty to also give added value. But it’s only added value when your customer feels it is. How much money you spend to provide it has nothing to do with its value. Creating Loyal Customers Begins Before Customer Loyalty Programs Akismet reports on spam protection for WordPress bloggers, examples of earning customer loyalty by creating added value While customer loyalty programs are popular with all customers,... (Read More ...)

(Technorati: AUZ2VQHDJ5SU ) Will Amazon.com’s decision to cancel thousands of Amazon Associates’ accounts because they are in California or in other states that passed Internet sales tax laws affect you? These laws require Internet marketing companies, like Amazon.com, to collect sales tax anywhere they have affiliates. If you use Amazon as one of your revenue streams, you may have gotten the notice that your affiliate account is closed. Even if you are not currently an Amazon affiliate, their action may affect you too. At breakeven, there is neither profit nor loss. http://aberleenterprises.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Breakeven-graph-110704-el.jpg The... (Read More ...)

Building Profits through Strong Relationships -Image by Grant Wickes via Flickr (Read More …)  Read More →

Managing your own business is one of the most rewarding things you can ever do. On the other hand, it can be one of the most challenging things you can ever do, in part because understanding how to make a profit is a never ending task. There’s always something more to learn. It’s even more challenging if you are trying to do everything yourself, which brings me to the question, “What are you doing that is costing your small business money?” Follow that with, “What are you not doing that is costing you money?” The key here is to ask yourself what is the value of your time? As a small... (Read More ...)

Have you ever received something at your small business that you didn’t order? Or, have you ever paid for something you didn’t receive? Part of the responsibility might be yours. What systems do you have in place to be sure that what you order is what you receive at the price you expected? Both with my own small business and later as a consultant, I have observed lots of mistakes. While most vendors are honest, (Read More ...) Read More →

If you’re like most people, the image you have of consultants is of someone who goes around and tells you all the places to cut costs and cut expenses. And that is one type of consultant. I did it for about three and a half years, traveling almost constantly. However, are there times when cutting costs is a mistake? (Read More ...) Read More →

How do you calculate your labor burden for your small business? For that matter, what is it? For the sake of knowing how to make a profit, you need to also understand what hidden costs add to your labor burden or you can find yourself in a hole, not having charged enough. (Read More ...) Read More →

What is the value of your average customer sale? How many times does your average customer purchase each year? How many years or months do you retain your average customer? Too many people see only the sale that is directly in front of them, not thinking about how much more a long term relationship adds up to. Such a short sighted focus can prove really costly to you because you will be more concerned with the cost of correcting a problem than with the cost of losing a long term customer. (Read More ...) Read More →