I was intrigued by a story on the evening news earlier this week; so I stray from my usual subject matter.  The Earth’s population on October 31, 2011, officially reached 7 billion.  The story recounted the timeline for mankind reaching 1 billion and the subsequent billions and briefly touched on the challenges posed given today’s population density and its impact on planet resources.  The story started me thinking about our collective past and the future, and, specifically, what will our planet look like when our

Any conversation regarding branding has classically dealt with the subsets – the 4 P’s of Product, Place, Price and Promotions.  While all remain relevant to building your brand in today’s marketplace, it is increasingly apparent in many instances (certainly not all) that brand differentiation is a major challenge in many business categories.  I think a case can be made to add a fifth “P” and that it is and has been arguably the most important component to the definition of brand value. Whether your business

In a roundabout way, this post is a book review.  It started with my wife gifting me a book – Reality-Based Leadership – that she purchased for me after hearing the author, Cy Wakeman, speak at a CORENET Women’s Conference in Dallas two weeks ago.  As is said, it was a wonderful read. After reading Cy’s book, the last few evenings have found me slowly sorting through my small library of business books.  In the beginning my objective was twofold – first to compile ideas

A colleague and I recently traded observations about our clients; the conversation eventually focused on the similarities and differences in marketing to B2B markets contrasted to B2C markets.  Each of us contributed anecdotal and professional experiences in both markets, on a beautiful fall evening, on my back deck and over a couple of cold ones.  Here is an expanded summary of that conversation. Understanding the B2B client and the B2C customer and their market differences dramatically impacts strategy, messaging, tactics, profitability – everything.  Businesses in

How would your “customers” describe their experience with your business?  Are they experiencing outstanding or poor service?  Are they quickly finding products and solutions on your website, or are they quickly frustrated and leaving?  Are they smiling or shaking their heads in exasperation? Did you deliver on your value proposition or fall short?  Was their customer experience exceedingly positive or not?   I have recently experienced several of the negatives noted above. Let me cite one example that speaks to both a positive and a

Today I pose a question and ask you for answers: What is the magic difference between a good team and a great team? I will consolidate and post those insights on a future post. Please share your experiences with me and reply back to WordsMatter with what you believe is the “magic elixir.”  I suspect there is no single potion.   Of course a question of this nature spurs the listing of other questions.  Is it solid leadership?  Is it inspirational leadership?  Is it shared

I believe that most readers of this post will agree with the following statement. The actual or manipulated scarcity of a desired product or service will cause that product or service to become more expensive to the end user, and that the perceived scarcity or its increased expense may spur innovation and alternative products, services or resources to accomplish the same objective.  Essentially, this is the concept of supply and demand intersecting with innovation and self-interest. Given that the above statement is reasonably true, what

I was recently linked to an interesting article on job-seeker interviewing performance; Interview Performance: In-transition candidate versus the Employed Candidate. The article was written by Mark Richards of Candidates Chair, and was based on a conversation that Mark had with Marcia Ballinger at Keystone Search. In my opinion Marcia’s observations and Mark’s comments are words to the wise.  While their conversation and the article focused on differentiating the interviewing behaviors of employed and non-employed individuals, I would like to extend the conversation. With a career

We are occasionally at the right time and place to observe ordinary people do extraordinary things. I was so blessed a week ago. Visiting Oahu, Hawaii, to attend a wedding (it was incredibly beautiful – congratulations to Erika and Joshua!) and waking up in Waikiki on the first morning, my wife and I decided to walk from the hotel over to Diamond Head State Monument, then to the top lookout and back again to our hotel, a distance of 7.5 miles.  We started at 9:00

People watching can be fun.  It can also be instructive and scary for a business owner.  A great place to observe the diversity of people and their activities is at an airport, waiting for the boarding call that herds you like cattle to your next destination.  While waiting at DFW International Airport with two hours of impromptu office activities and people watching to endure, I began to observe two small retail businesses “selling” their products to passing fellow travelers.  Selling is in quotes for a