A friend of mine was telling me about a new diet he started a few weeks back. He was pretty excited that he had lost a few pounds already and that he “didn’t have to do anything to lose the weight”. The magical pills worked overnight melting his extra pounds away. Read More...

Tags: advertising, recession, small business, marketing

Listening to the radio the other day on my way to work I hear Charles Osgood tell me he was about to share a recipe on how to worsen the economy and it came straight from the Grinch himself. I had to listen to that and here is what I heard... Read More...

Tags: recession, advertising, economy

Ask almost any small business owner what the best form of advertising is, and you’re likely to hear, “Word of mouth.” “It’s the cheapest form of advertising” they’ll say, “And the most effective.” And they’re right. Sort of. Read More...

Tags: word of mouth, advertising, small business, marketing

By Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Ask + Tell = Sell. Does that sound too simple? Small business owners around the world seem to want to make the process of turning consumers into customers much more difficult than it needs to be. This simple formula (Ask + Tell = Sell) is the direction you need to take to be effective in the world of advertising and marketing. Read More...

Tags: selling, interview customers, ask customers, questions

I’m blessed with four kids, ages 13 to 5. When they ask a question or complain about a request made of them, they get to participate in the “You always have a choice” conversation. The oldest knows it pretty well. The nine year old just rolls his eyes when he sees it coming. Read More...

Tags: recession, advertising, small business, marketing