Author Archives: JDostal

The Minefield You Didn’t Know You Were In

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March 25  |  Advertising, Business  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

I always wondered what it meant, “Ignorance is bliss.” As I grew up, I came to realize exactly what it meant. There are many times our lives would be much simpler if we didn’t know some of the things we know. But, it’s also dangerous, that thing called ignorance.

Let’s talk about your small business. You have put so much into its success, even though you knew the majority of small businesses fail, or did you? Perhaps ignorance at that stage was a good thing. So let’s get even more specific. Let’s talk about your advertising. Ignorance in this area can be dangerous and expensive. You could be walking in a minefield and not even realize it.

The Minefield of Marketing and Advertising

I’ve seen so many businesses put effort and money into their opening. Employees were hired, product in place, customer service schedules set. They are ready to go. Unfortunately they forgot about one thing…the customer. Nothing else matters if you don’t have customers. Why do so many of us imagine that the customer will simply appear out of no where? Continue Reading

One of the Best Quotes of All Time

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March 20  |  Business  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

A friend of mine passes along inspirational thoughts to me each day. What he sent today jumped right off of the page and has stayed with me all day. I want to share it with you:

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” – Jerry Rice

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During a time when many small business owners are wondering where to go next, a few are taking charge of where they will be and how to get there. I’ve always admired Jerry Rice and the quote is the reason why. I had heard stories of his amazing work ethic and how teammates hesitated to work out with him in the offseason for fear of not being able to keep up. Continue Reading

How’s your diet working for you?

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March 6  |  Advertising, Recession  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Many advertisers have been asking us if they should spend less money on their advertising with the recession in full bloom. What do you think? Let me offer an analogy for you.

Let’s say you have begun a high intensity workout program. You are going at it everyday and working your body harder than ever before. Is the smart thing to 1. Increase your intake of food 2. Decrease your intake of food or 3. Increase your intake of the right foods? Continue Reading

Well, That Makes Sense!

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February 27  |  Advertising  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

How many times do we say this when looking at a problem we believe has a complex solution and when a simple one is presented…”Well, that makes sense!” Your advertising is one of those problems that many feel needs to have a complex solution. You have the answers to effectively communicate your story. You just need to understand how simple the process is.

Fresh Baked Small Business Marketing Bread

Have you ever entered a new building with hallways in all directions and felt like you would never find your way around. After seeing the big picture, perhaps on a layout like a map, the complexity turned to simplicity. Your advertising can, and should be, the same. You will hear me talk about this over and over because many business owners don’t want to hear the simple solution, they want something more complex. Continue Reading

Your Worst Enemy—Your Customers’ Memory!

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February 13  |  Advertising, Business, Customer Relations, Marketing  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Never rely on the memory of your customer for the success of your business. I could and probably should stop right there because that says it all. But I won’t. Let’s explore this thought. My experience with too many businesses is that once they make contact with a consumer or once they get that customer in the door or on the phone, they feel they can move on to the next one. STOP! You can’t leave them hanging there, blowing in the wind of the unknown.

They don’t know all they need to know about your business. They don’t know the benefits of giving their money to you instead of your competition. Let me give you an example, my wife Kim and I live in Lincoln NE. There are some wonderful restaurants here in town. Many we have never been to. When it comes time to enjoy and evening out at dinner (and with four little ones that is not often enough) we go through that eating our right of passage: Continue Reading

The Benefit of Trusting

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February 9  |  Business, Media  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

If you are reading this blog entry, there is a good chance you own a small business and you make decisions about how you will advertise your business. Chances are good you are bombarded on a daily basis with one or more media sales people wanting to “show you the way”.

The Benefit of Trusting

If you are like most business owners, you do all you can to remove the sales person from your business as quickly as possible. Over the years I’ve seen a variety of ways utilized to achieve this. The most common is the “I just don’t have time right now”. A close second is the always popular “My budget is spent for the rest of the year.” But there are many more that you may want to share. The one that always makes me laugh are the business owners who will actually buy what the person is selling just so they will leave. We need to help you learn how to say “No”.

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Your Best May Not Be Enough

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January 23  |  Business  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Sir Winston Churchill was quoted as saying, “It’s not good enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.” That kind of throws that thought of “just do your best” out the window. This quote hangs on the wall in front of me in my humble office as a reminder that there are things we need to accomplish in life and in business and sometimes my best is not enough.

Winston Churchill

In the economic environment our country and the world is facing, doing our best may not be enough. Look at your day and your activity level. Are you doing things the way you always have? You might have to change. Look at how you employees are doing their jobs, especially their interaction with your customers. Are they doing their best? It may not be good enough.

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Your Website Could be Killing Your Business

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January 23  |  Marketing, Media  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Subscribers to Marketing Firepower understand the value a website plays in the overall marketing and advertising success of a business. They understand that a website is not so much an advertising medium as a place to share valuable information and to help move consumers through their Buying Funnel. If the business can utilize ecommerce on their site, that’s a bonus.

Is Your Website Killing Your Business?However, not every business understands this. The other day I went to a website of a company I was interested in doing business with to get some contact information. I “Googled” the name of the company and found their site. I was instantly disappointed. At the bottom right of the page the company “proudly” stated (they had to be proud because it was very obvious) their site had last been updated in July of 2007. 2007!

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Why “Waste” Your Money in the Yellow Pages?

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January 13  |  Advertising, Media  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

A universal chorus goes up from small business owners everywhere: “I hate spending money in the yellow pages, but I have to.” Do you? I don’t think so. The top three emotions used to sell space in the yellow pages are as follows:

1. FEAR OF LOSS — You are told you must have a big ad to be near the front of the category or our competition will get all your business.
2. EGO – You are told that with a big ad you will appear to be a leader in the community and your competition will see that you are a force to be reckoned with.
3. HOPE FOR GAIN – You are told that if anyone needs your service, you must hope they will find you and that having a big ad will make it easier for them to do so.

Yellow Pages Advertising

So think about your yellow page purchases. Did you or do you fall into these three traps laid out for you? The yellow pages are a directory. Not an advertising medium. Have your name listed or have a small in column listing but don’t spend hundreds and thousands of dollars a month on something that is not actively telling people why they should be doing business with you.

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It’s Your Time; Do You Know What It’s Doing?

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December 17  |  Business  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

By Jeff Dostal

As we head into the New Year I wanted to share a thought on an article I read. A gentleman named Keith Cameron Smith is writing something called The Top 10 Distinctions between Entrepreneurs and Employees.

Time Management Small BusinessDistinction #10: Entrepreneurs educate themselves more than they entertain themselves. Employees entertain themselves more than they educate themselves.

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