Usually we put items here that are special offers.  This time we are going to wander a bit off track. This is dedicated to an old boss of mine.

 

I was recently reading an article about how the ART OF BUSINESS is changing.  A few years ago (okay, many years ago if I have to be honest) I worked in a small local grocery store in my home town during high school.  My boss at the time handled all of the ordering, pricing, marketing, etc. by himself and worked 7 days a week from 6am until 9pm or later when the store closed.  He was a miserable person to work for, and certainly nobody could say that they worked WITH him because he made every decision.  I often wonder how he was able to handle everything alone.  The answer I guess is that he didn't very well because he ended up dying of a heart attack at age 57.

 

Today, business has gotten even more complex, with more marketing required, different channels in which to sell - the entire Small Business environment requires constant refining to be successful.  Take us for example, 10 years ago when we started it was enough to attend trade shows, offer a basic web site with general information and take orders. 

    Today, we maintain 6 different domains, 3 on-line stores, 2 national offices, attend numerous trade shows, contribute to various on-line news letters and blogs, send out thousands of direct mail pieces a year and are constantly being challenged to come up with new ways to market our offerings. 

 

So what are you doing today that is new, unique and driving customers to your stores and websites?   If your website is the same static page it was when you launched it four years ago, if you haven't begun collecting the email addresses of your loyal customers, if you haven't heard of the new SOCIAL NETWORKING sites like LINKED IN that connect you and potential customers and other business owners,  if you're not offering more than basic information to your customers when they are researching that next purchase, then you're not moving ahead - you're still stuck in the past somewhere.  Today it's about more than buying that can of creamed corn, today is about the recipe for success.

 

I know it's hard to find the time to make changes, research new ways of doing business and plan for the future.  However if you don't take the time today to plan on growth, you'll have all the time in the world later to think about what you could or should have done differently. 

 

So Think About It Today.