Do Business Well

Christmas is the pinnacle of all holiday decorating, but thanks to Martha Stewart and other home-decorating mavens’ tutoring, Americans have expanded the number of holidays for which they go “all out” and decorate their homes. Over 60 percent of American households (61 percent) purchased Christmas decorations or other seasonal decorations in 2003, up from 55 percent purchase incidence in 2001. While no statistics are available about the exact number of homes that decorate for each major holiday, the holidays that are key for home decorating are Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and, of course, Christmas. This is the third most widely purchased home product category. Continue Reading »

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Purchase incidence of furniture was the same in 2005 (41 percent) as in 2006. The purchase of furniture can range from inexpensive occasional tables and ready-to-assemble and unfinished furniture to major furniture acquisitions that are often bought on credit and paid for over time.

Furniture Industry Snapshot

Personal consumption of furniture, including mattresses and box springs, reached $69.8 billion in 2002, up 3.2 percent over 2000 levels of $67.6 billion. Continue Reading »

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Demographics tells who we are. Psychographics tells how we think and what we believe. The latter may be more difficult to predict than the former, but analyzing and understanding these human characteristics is necessary on several levels of marketing.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company hired the research firm of Louis Harris & Associates to conduct a study of college freshmen who would be the first graduating class of the new millennium. Here are a few indicative results of that survey: Continue Reading »

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Here’s what to keep in mind when preparing the visual part of your presentation:

1. Everyone in the group should be able to see and read the visuals easily. Think about the size of the group. The number of people will determine the technology you should use.
2. You want to be able to keep a tight focus on what is presented when. You don’t want to display too much information at any one time. Keep to three or four main ideas on each sheet. You don’t want your audience to get confused or overloaded.

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The Road Ahead Is Curvy and Treacherous, and Good Road Maps Are in Short Supply

Advertising Agencies

Because of the extensive consolidation that has taken place in the last decade, further consolidation will take place at a slower rate in the immediate future. Part of this is a reaction to the government’s closer scrutiny of the mergers because of the Enron debacle. A pause in consolidation at this point is also good because it will give the acquirers an opportunity to digest the new properties and position them efficiently within the corporate umbrella. Continue Reading »

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It’s almost Meeting Failure-Proof

Keep in mind that most meetings aren’t very effective as they are now run. When you get a chance to facilitate or record, it will be because your group has agreed that it is worth trying something new. You are probably going to look good no matter what you do. The mere presence of a facilitator, recorder, and group memory will do wonders. Even if you think you have done a lousy job, your group may well be impressed just because it will all be so new. Explain that you are learning and will make mistakes. Ask people to help you stay in your role and remain neutral. You are there to help them. It’s their meeting and they share the responsibility for making it a success. Continue Reading »

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One of the unique characteristics of doing business online is the ability it gives you to measure and track the success of your marketing programs. Yet success, as we have seen, can be difficult to define. At the center is the continuous-feedback loop of tracking, measuring, seeking insight, and informing the program— a process based on both science and art. Science because we apply analytic techniques to the huge amounts of data and information in order to structure it and understand our customers‘ responses and behaviors. Art because lasting program success also depends on creative, out-of-the-box program design and interpretation inspired by the insight that we gather from the data. Continue Reading »

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1. Minimise your stationery stocks

You probably have several stationery stores. People hoard paper, stationery and office sundries. Get them to have a big turn-out, and see how many pens, pencils, rubbers, clips and stapling machines they are hoarding. Then collect everything together and put it back into your office stationery stores. The same applies to letterheads, envelopes, photocopying paper etc. You could quite easily find that you have one or two months’ stationery purchases in stock around the offices, plus another two or three months’ in the stores. So why not get it under better control (you may even find you don’t have to buy stationery and sundries for a couple of months)?

2. Stationery purchasing by a trained buyer

Some companies leave stationery buying to a secretary or senior clerk. However, there is much more to buying than placing orders with the same supplier. One of your buying staff may make a sizeable impression on your purchase prices, obtaining competitive quotations and considering contracts with large quantity discounts. Continue Reading »

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10. Curtail your advertising agent’s spending

An agent makes more money, the more you spend. He’ll be happy if you go for a bigger, more expensive, more frequent advertising campaign. It could be worth monitoring that expenditure does not exceed the agreed budget figure.

11. Buy publicity-related services direct from the supplier

Advertising agents will usually make a profit on any service, however small, that they arrange for you. Search for opportunities to go direct for some of these services. In quiet times you may well have the capacity to do the work yourself. Continue Reading »

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Expenditure on advertising etc is very often simply a matter of personal judgement. You can argue for more expenditure; you can argue for less expenditure. You can argue that the recent advertising spree has resulted in more sales; you can argue that greater advertising would have increased sales even further. The advertising budget is a subjective decision, but the publicity and advertising staff are certainly capable of achieving high spending levels.

1. Keep a special watch on the big spenders in the camp

If your company has a big spender, he could well be in the publicity department. It may not be his fault, however, because he is often under pressure from all sides to improve the company’s image. Because of this pressure the publicity budget is often overspent, so a firm resolve to keep within budget is needed. Continue Reading »

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