• Jack Layton vs. Steve Jobs. Which brand's image will be hardest hit by the loss of their leader?

    I recently saw a poll that was posing this intriguing question.  Indeed, while the organization's they led are world's apart, this question certainly raises the issue of the importance of a charismatic leader that departs and potentially leaves a huge void at the top. While this poll may be somewhat theoretical, it does pose the following question: how important are you to your business, and [...]

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    The Pied Piper mentality... why following the crowd is so dangerous

    One of  the biggest misunderstandings about marketing is that it is all about communications: things like social media, advertising, public relations, brochures, websites, telemarketing, blogs, newsletters, e-mail, TV, radio, etc (I could go on and on).  If you believe this, then you are missing out on the really important parts of marketing - those parts that will probably be able to set you [...]

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    Setting pricing - you may have more choice than you realize

    Are you one of the many people that set pricing for their products and services instinctively?  If so, you may be missing out on an important opportunity.  Pricing can actually differentiate you in the marketplace so it can be used as a useful (positive) marketing tactic. Price setting can actually be quite complex, and knowing that you may have options could just help you find the right mix. [...]

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    Igniting the entrepreneurial spirit

    Every so often I find it useful to read a book about business and, in particular, entrepreneurship.  Over the past few weeks, two books in particular (not new, but good oldies) have caught my attention.  I would encourage everyone who is running a business (even a one-person sole proprietor) to enlighten themselves with some fresh thinking and would recommend these two books highly: 1. The [...]

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    5 Marketing ideas you may never have considered before

    I bet you see a marketing idea sometimes and say, "wow, why didn't I think about that?" It's amazing, but the number of ideas is endless, and very often these ideas are not really new - they often spring forth from an old idea that has been adapted, one way or another.  And most often, they are really simple. So how do you generate these ideas?  One way is to have regular brainstorming ideas [...]

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    Obtain value from your Accounting department

    In many small and medium sized businesses the head of the accounting dept. (let’s call him or her a Controller) is perceived as an overhead, or even a necessary evil and the Controller often then does everything in their power to live up to that perception.  This is exemplified by the Controller’s business associates calling him a bean counter. It is relatively easy for the owner/President [...]

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    Seven Signs of Visionary Leaders

    If there are a bunch of people in a room and you are asked to identify those who are visionary what would you do? Would you talk to each person individually to find out who is visionary and who is not? Would you assign them some tasks in order to watch them and identify the visionary ones? Would you divide them in groups and observe which ones act as visionary leaders? Visionary leaders have some[...]

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    Cash management - one way to manage your working capital

    Cash management is essentially the process of managing working capital. One way to get a high level view of your business is to calculate its cash conversion cycle. This is the time that it takes to convert cash outflows that are needed to produce goods into cash through sales and collection of accounts receivable.  An example would be for CN Railway using their 2010 annual financial statements:[...]

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    Brands become media - the new phenomenon

    According to Mashable:  Platforms such as YouTube, WordPress and Twitter have made it easier and more affordable than ever for brands to create and distribute their own content, thereby becoming media companies in their own right. Brands are investing accordingly — whether they’re hiring editors, producers and social media managers, or expanding the roles of their existing teams — to create[...]

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    My computer is killing me

    I think that for most people who sit in an office chair slumped over a computer all day it's no secret that sitting still can literally silently beat your back and neck to a pulp! Here's what I did to help to help you out...I went to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) website and perused their Computer Workstation Checklist for a few of the top tips on positioning of your [...]

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