This time of year, many people are focused on “new year, new me” or making “New Year’s Resolutions.”

Year ago, Einstein (or someone else) famously said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting the same results.”

And year after year, we fail at these ideas. And while we know this won’t work, we do it anyway. Partially because we know it won’t work so we self-sabotage, and partially because we don’t have a better way.

But there IS a better way, at least to TRY and do something longer lasting. Authors Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka, coauthors of the 2019 book The Wise Company, recently developed “six practices to make a better future” to help leaders focus on the most important drivers of simultaneous success.… Read the rest

We’re not here to call your baby ugly. But let’s face it, if you’re reading this article, you must think your product or service isn’t the sexiest, easiest to market. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t good potential. Storytelling can help enliven even the most common products. Through these marketing suggestions you can finish the holiday season strong and carry that momentum through next year.

Storytelling Tips for Marketing Boring Products and Services

Find the Hero of The Story

Your product or service—no matter how (traditionally) uninspiring—helps someone. Just figure out who and how. For instance, if you own a 5-minute oil change business, it may not be the sort of thing people get excited about, but you offer a very convenient service.… Read the rest

In their never ending quest to be more relevant to searchers, often to the confusion of business owners, Google has made some massive changes to their Google Business Profile Management.

5 big changes to Google Business Profile Management include:

Add Temporary and Permanent Closures

Google Posts for your search results – featuring updates, offers and events

Insights are now shown Performance Metrics

Suggested Edits – driven by user feedback and not just Business Owners

New Action Icons and Carousel – for more flexibility

You can read all about these changes and how they impact your business here. … Read the rest

Customer loyalty is essential to strong sales.After all, it’s easier to get repeat sales than it is to convince a new consumer to buy from you.But customer loyalty is something grown and nurtured,not bought or ordered. It takes time.

That time investment is worth it because it means more revenue and sticking power. Bill Zinke, Senior Vice President of Marketing at BELFOR Franchise Group said, “One of the key lessons from the pandemic has been [that], in good times, building customer loyalty can help you grow faster and more profitably, and in tough or challenging times, it can be the difference between surviving and going out of business.”

However, just because someone has been buying from you (or donating to you if you’re a non-profit) does not mean they are loyal.… Read the rest