The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Great ideas are like secrets to success: Everybody has a dozen or so, and most don’t hold up well to the TGSWWC test (short for “That’s Great!  So What?  Who Cares?”).  That’s also the mistake a lot of business owners make when it comes to their marketing.  They waste a ton of money promoting vague, [...]

Hint:  You do not sell product, whether it’s baked beans or loans or funky nautical gifts.  If that’s the way you think, you’ll always be stuck in the center of the pack, loping along, but never breaking out to win big! Let me explain by asking a question.  What’s the difference between the various banks in [...]

                                              By John R. Ingrisano How to survive and thrive in a tough economy:  It’s not the big things; it’s not the little things.  It’s both the big things AND the little things that will make it a slam dunk. Example:  Recently, a friend needed a new alternator for her car.  I shopped it around.  [...]

Ask almost any biz owner, “What’s your top competitive advantage?” and you’ll most likely get a blank stare back in reply.  Worse, you might hear, “Great prices!” or “Super customer service!” or “Top quality products!”  In other words … not a clue. If that sounds like you, don’t feel bad.  Competitive advantage is one of [...]

Want to have fun, benefit the community and build your business … all at the same time?  Get involved.  Volunteer.  Seriously.  No, this isn’t some touchy-feely community service announcement.  I’m a hard-nosed businessman.  But I also love to get away and relax every now and then and socialize, forgetting about business.  Plus, I love my little community [...]

We love to hear stories about small businesses that take off like a rocket, enjoying thousand-percent growth.  That’s all well and good, but it’s not the norm.  I appreciate wild-catters who bring in jumbo contracts and go from rags to riches in four months or less.  However, I have to confess that I’m not one [...]

  I’m one of those guys who does NOT change channels when a commercial comes on.  Instead, I love them.  I study them, analyze them, figure which ones work (and why) and which ones bomb (and why).  Most of all, I learn from them.  Here are two that tickle me silly:  AFLAC.  In this marketeer’s [...]

THE MARKETING REVOLUTION IS HERE I’m a dinosaur, pushing 60 years of age.  I grew up in an age when marketing meant bending, twisting, shouting, cajoling, sex-appealing, manipulating, and pleading to get people to BUY!  BUY!  BUY!  It was a one-way message:  from the seller to the would-be buyer.  We talk.  You listen.  Any questions?  [...]

I know.  I know.  The customer is king.  But for a moment, consider two things:   Your customers have a need for your product.  They will buy it somewhere, either from you or from a competitor. They will buy it from you if you can demonstrate not that you’re great, but that you’re better than your [...]

Two back-to-basics things you need to remember this January: Market!  Market!  Market!  Bang the drum, reminding your customers about who you and what why you are the greatest thing to happen since Al Gore invented the Internet.  This how you bring in new customers!   Marketing is especially imporant now, since the economy is showing key signs of rousing from [...]

My friends say I have no life.  Except for some fishing, spoiling my grandkids, service work with the Lions and experimental cooking with/on my friends and family, I have no major distractions. That’s because I love to work.  I have found that there is nothing more thrilling than business … both working on mine and [...]

 “Successful people are not just those who are good at what they do, but those who are good at selling the idea that they are good at what they do.”  – Jack Gordon [This article first appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.]  As an SBO, my marketing budget ranges somewhere between non-existent and who-are-you-kidding?  One space ad, [...]

 Used to be that networking meant you joined the Rotary and golfed at the country club, got together at the meet-and-greet cocktail hour to swap business cards and, almost as an afterthought, mentioned what you do for a living to your son’s friend’s father in the bleachers at the softball game. Well, networking has grown [...]