Recently in church, at the beginning of the service, the congregation stood and the first song started playing. It was a familiar tune but I couldn’t quite place it. So, I did the one thing I probably should not have done – I pulled out my cell phone and Googled the chorus,...

I closed my previous article with these words:

“Today, I would like to invite you to make the same decision. I want you to commit 100% to learning the business skills to create a strong product and service (operations), high top line sales (marketing), efficiency (finance), and joy...

About 15 years ago, I made a decision that changed my life profoundly.
I was struggling in my personal life. I was in a dead end marriage and was working out how to get out of it. 
 
I was struggling with my business. I had a lot of sales because I loved marketing but I was not making much...

 Have you ever tried fishing without bait on your hook?
 
If you haven’t, I will save you some pain.
You will catch very few fish (if any at all) without having bait on your hook.
No matter how shiny your hook is.
 
In marketing, an offer is your bait.
The more irresistible the...

One of the most powerful concepts I learned in Alcoholics Anonymous was the idea of “taking one day at a time.” This August will be 10 years without a sip of alcohol, and it has easily been the best decade of my life. While I know I will never drink alcohol again, and I...

 Common sense tells us that specialists make more money than generalists. If you go to your family doctor (generalist) and she tells you that she has some concerns about your heart, your doctor will likely refer you to a heart specialist. Is there any question who makes more money –...

Your ability to create relationship equity is the #1 way to make your life easier and make yourself more successful. 

Let me explain.....

I like to think of Relationship Equity like a bank account. Deposits increase the balance of the account. And withdrawals decrease the balance of...

The more I have worked with business owners with all different levels of business sales, business profit, and income, it has become clear that there is a golden thread across owners with more success. They intentionally set aside more time to think. There is actual white space on their calendar,...

Over the holiday break, my wife and I took our daughters to Maui. With our daughters now at the ages of 5 and 8, we thought they were ready for the long flight over the Pacific Ocean. And they did great. We went whale watching one day, and got within 50 feet of a whale with its new born baby. We...

There is no shortage of ideas. After all, there are great ideas, good ideas, and bad ideas. As entrepreneurs, we have them flying around our heads at all times. And on top of that, there are also those bright, shiny objects that fly by, distracting us from what we know we should be doing. 

...

As a reminder from my article last week, four steps comprise the journey of business ownership:

Step 1 – You are a technician working in your business. You are doing the work of a team member and are trading your time for relatively low financial results. 

Step 2 – You are a ...

There are five steps that comprise the journey of business ownership:

Step 1 – You are a technician working in your business. You are doing the work of a team member and are trading your time for relatively low financial results. 

Step 2 – You are a manager working in your...

Amazon, along with other big retailers, have leveled the playing field by commoditizing prices for products (and some services). If you want to buy a pocket calendar for next year, you get on Amazon, and it spits out all of the options, delivery timeframes, and prices for what you are looking...

Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend and speak at the Wash-Dry-Fold (WDF) conference on the north side of Chicago. The collaboration was amazing and it started with both Coin Laundry Association (CLA) and DLI joining forces to help make this conference a success. Almost 200 were in...

I saw this story earlier, and it moved me, so I wanted to share it with you:

A boat was docked in a tiny fishing village. A tourist complimented the local fisherman on the quality of their fish and..... asked how long it took to catch them?

“Not very long,” the fisherman...

Did you know that 20% of your efforts equal 80% of your results?

And conversely, 80% of your efforts only equal 20% of your results?

Knowing this, you MUST understand what activities add up to the few things that can create dramatic results for you and your company.

You need to spend your time on...

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. It takes drive, patience, leadership, optimism, and the ability to shift economic resources from an area of lower into a higher productivity and greater yield.

The only way to do this is to see yourself as a value creator. And to create more...

Most drycleaners are unclear about the purpose of their marketing. If you ask a bunch of drycleaners why they do marketing, you might get answers like this:

• “For better brand awareness”
• “To get our name out there”
• “To keep up with our competitors”
• ...

Over the past year, in this Monday marketing column, I have laid out the sequence of the Client Journey. We Attract, Acquire, Appreciate, and Ascend our clients. And we keep an ever-vigilant eye out to retain clients that have become out of pattern or lost. These 4 A’s, along with the...

At times, we make certain things out to be more difficult than they really are. This can create anxiety, fear, and even paralyze us from taking action. Let’s make a commitment to not do that with marketing.

To keep things simple, at a minimum you need just a few marketing systems if...