Let People Know About Your Business

I often drive by a fairly new restaurant in my neighborhood and I get concerned because I don't see many customers dining. That generally means that the owner is not letting people know about their business. As a small businessman myself and one who provide consultation for those who want to start and grow their business (as well as non-profit organizations), I'm always interested in seeing small businesses thrive.

On the other hand there are other restaurants in my neighborhood, most of whom are take-outs, that are thriving. There is one simple marketing strategy that these restaurant use that separate them from the fairly new one. But, before I mention that, I'm going to give you my definition of marketing. Marketing includes all the strategies used to letting your potential customers know about your business.


When I help a business to develop a marketing strategy, I have to first analyze the business to determine what mix of activities would best get the word out for that particular business. Then I work with the owner to develop an individualized strategy. A marketing strategy can include a mix of activities such as press releases, print advertisements with coupons, radio and tv ads. collecting e-mail addresses and offering specials, etc.

Now getting back to the one strategy the others are using that the fairly new one is not, it is distributing flyers weekly door to door in the neighborhood. And, that flyer is simply their menu. I'm not aware of any other marketing that they do other than serving good food and letting their customers continue to tell others.

Its better to have a mix of strategies, but one strategy is better than no strategy at all.

Your Health Care Choices

The President seems to be trying to force his version of health care down our throats. Because of we must accept the personal responsibility to be vigilant and clear as to what a new health care bill should focus upon. Here are the key points:

• There should be tax deductions for self-reliant individuals who purchase their own health care plan.
• There should be national competition among health care companies for our health care premiums just as the property and casualty companies compete.
• There should be coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions through an insurance pool and a reinsurance network with the same rates as standard insurance.
  
• And, the public option should be eliminated - the politicians will not accept it for themselves and their families and neither should we.

Let your Representatives and Senators know what you think.

Man's Best Friend - Human or Animal?

I have been recently thinking about the significance of animals in our lives and the relationship of animals within their own species and how one species relates to another. Four notions occurred to me: often one specie of animals view another specie of animals as food; another specie of animals may not view another specie of animals as food at all; some animals are trainable by humans and can become loyal as well as a great source of fun and security; and still another specie of animal are hardly trainable at all and can be a great source of danger.

Although many animals have the capacity to be trained by humans to a certain extent, they all function on the basis of instinct and can not make any moral choices. Human beings, however, have the capacity to make moral choices and can choose all their behaviors and therefore can provide the type of relationship to another human being that no animal can provide. Moreover, depending upon our needs the quality of relationships we have with other human beings can have a direct effect on our mental health.

Personally, I don't eat animals nor do I keep any type of animals as pets, although I accept the fact that certain animals can be great companions. I just prefer human companionship and believe that another human is man's best friend.

More on this later.