Want a sure-fire strategy for building a successful Web business? Line up customers first, then create a business to serve them. It’s an approach that’s working for the UK’s David Carter, says Business 2.0. Carter identifies a business niche or a hot growth area like commercial real estate. Then he buys domain names around the […]
Category Archives: publicity
Why you SHOULDN'T have a sale this summer
I hate sales and discounts — at least for professionals and small businesses. When you lower prices, you’re basically training customers to wait for a lower price before buying– a bad habit. There are many better ways to drum up business, especially during your slow season. Rather than simply offering discounts, John Jantsch of Duct […]
Apple's Safari Web browser for Windows: ho hum
Apple has just released a Windows version of their Safari browser. It’s supposed to be twice as fast as Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. Tain’t so, based on my (admittedly limited) testing. I downloaded it. Installed it. Launched it. The default Apple home page took almost 20 seconds […]
More on Don Imus: Like Tony Soprano, a misunderstood guy.
Lots of reaction to Saturday’s post about Don Imus. It attracted more comments than any other post. Thank you all for participating. Like all of you who left comments, I am (was?) also a huge Imus fan, and have been for over 20 years. So let me start by pointing out that the quote about […]
Celebrity endorsements: pros and cons
Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Paris Hilton, Kirstie Alley. Advertisers have long hitched their brand wagon to celebrities, hoping some of the attention these stars attract will rub off on them. But as the recent Don Imus “nappy-headed hos” affair made clear, there is a definite downside to associating your brand with controversial celebrities like Imus, […]
What can an unrepentant hippie teach you about business?
Jansport backpacks have been around since 1967 — the Summer of Love, baby– when Skip Yowell’s cousin had an idea for a better backpack, built around a lightweight, adjustable aluminum frame. Murray formed a company. His girlfriend was a virtuoso on the sewing machine. Murray promised that if she’d marry him, he’d name the company […]
Burt’s Bees: Simple products, "naturally" profitable
Burt’s Bees is a great example of a small, homegrown Maine company that has grown into a giant by keeping things simple: simple products, simple packaging, even a simple marketing message. Founded by a Maine beekeeper and a graphic artist in 1984, the company has become legendary for quality and a down-home image. As the […]