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Should You “Go Green” With Your Marketing?

Green, like hope, is not a good marketing strategy (yet).Joe Bananas and I were staying at a hotel near Chicago. We’d just come back from a golf outing reunion with our high school football team. Neither of us golf, so we played demolition derby with the golf carts while our …

How to Sell Snowballs to Eskimos

It was 1985. My sales territory was the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta in western Alaska, along the Kuskokwim River. The Yupik people — commonly referred to as Eskimos — were my prospects. For centuries, they had built igloos with square blocks of ice, formed with crude wooden boxes. I was selling a …

100 Million Idol Votes = 1 Marketing Champion

American Idol uses the proven strategy of getting customers.Me and Joe Bananas were sitting in a booth at the MVR restaurant, eating some stuffed hot peppers and waiting for our pasta dinners. The TVs on the walls usually carry sports only, but this night, American Idol was on about half …

Marketing: What Works for You

OUR CUSTOMERS ARE DIFFERENT “They don’t respond to the same things other people do,” said my new client Henry. Henry’s firm sells maintenance services to malls and industrial plants. “How are they different?” I asked. “They’re a different breed,” he replied, as if mall managers were misunderstood loners. To be …

The Best Media for Your Message: You

I was in the office on a cold February afternoon. My mind was mush. That’s worse than the oatmeal consistency it usually has. I needed inspiration and motivation. So as usual, I made popcorn. No, not that microwave bag crap. REAL popcorn, MAN-style popcorn with oil and salt (but no …

Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations

…and what can businesses learn from them.Marketing is the art and science of selling. So why does a non-profit organization need marketing? After all, in many cases a non-profit is giving away its services, not charging for them.Non-profits use marketing to:…INFORM THE USER of their services. Many times the target …

Letter to a First-Time Business Owner

FOREWORD: Recently, my eldest son, George Phillip Farris went into business for himself. George and his new bride Jennifer returned from their honeymoon and used their wedding gift funds to buy a used septic tank truck and start an environmentally-friendly portable bathroom business. I’m sure that my wife and Jennifer’s …

Yes, the Donald Blogs. So how hard can it be? One of my guilty pleasures is watching Celebrity Apprentice. During the first show this season, Trump’s blog (aka web log) was promoted. One entry was titled “Trump’s Economic Survival Tips.” Some of The Donald’s “valuable” tips: Pay attention to…news and …