January 27, 2006

Passion doesn’t equal Profit.

- Mary's Blog

I got a call yesterday from a small biz owner here in town. She loves what she does, believes she’s providing a high-quality, high-value service, and knows how to run a business (she’s held management positions in other companies).... ›››

January 24, 2006

The Strategy Disconnect

- Mary's Blog

A recent Harvard Business School e-letter article, What Really Drives Your Strategy? talks about (albeit, in academic speak) many of the core problems I see out here in the real world in strategic planning. Most plans fail – not... ›››

Category: Biz Dev - Tips & Traps | Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Ramblings

January 19, 2006

'Strategic Alliances: Snake or Hamster?

- Mary's Blog

This BBC headline tweaked my sense of whimsy: “Snake ‘befriends’ snack hamster.” (Is it me or does that hamster look a tad nervous?) This also tweaked my synapses re strategic alliances. In any negotiation, there are differences in perspective,... ›››

'No' is easy. 'Yes' is hard.

- Mary's Blog

I stole this line from Bart Cleveland over at Small Agent Diary. Here’s more: That’s why there are very few companies who live by the “yes” mantra to their core. If you’re going to be pure you have to... ›››

Category: Biz Dev - Tips & Traps | Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Mind Candy | Ramblings

January 11, 2006

Small is a state of mind.

- Mary's Blog

“Small Business” “Mom & Pop” “Home town businesses” These folks generate almost all the jobs in the U.S. and pay most of the taxes (Big companies in many cases pay no taxes, and the percentage of those that do... ›››

Category: Biz Dev - Tips & Traps | Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Ramblings

January 10, 2006

'I’m popular. I’m pretty. Why am I (still) poor?'

- Mary's Blog

As I’m sure many a Southern belle homecoming queen has lamented in her post-game years. This tale of woe applies to web sites as well. Businesses leap onto the web – invest in a real purty web site, spend... ›››

Category: Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Mktg. Troubleshooting | Ramblings

January 09, 2006

Let’s get small! (Or, size does matter.)

- Mary's Blog

I’m climbing up on my “Small biz can beat big biz” soap box again today, after reading Tom Peter’s recent post, Scale Limits: “Built to Last?” Intel is decentralizing, re-branding, bla-blah, yadda-yadda. And so it goes all too often... ›››

Category: Biz Dev - Tips & Traps | Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Ramblings

January 05, 2006

Perfect ain’t always gud.

- Mary's Blog

I was meeting with my collaborators, Bare Feet Studios,last week. We’re planning some really interesting things for 2006, moving full steam ahead in the Web 2.0 world – some of which may work, some may not. But, hey –... ›››

Category: Biz Dev - Tips & Traps | Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Ramblings

January 03, 2006

Getting the Investor checkbook open.

- Mary's Blog

In my travels (both real-world and vitual) I frequently get “How do I get funding for my start-up?” Of course, some of it depends on the type of industry and your business model, but here are some fundamental sanity... ›››

Category: Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Ramblings

December 19, 2005

Can we learn (or teach) entrepreneurship?

- Mary's Blog

A recent article, The evangelist of entrepreneurship profiles Carl Schramm who is “on a mission to teach the world to be entrepreneurial.” But, will he ever truly succeed? Can he? Should he? If it wasn’t for “entrepreneurial” curiosity and... ›››

Category: Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Ramblings

December 15, 2005

Small Biz + Human Touch = Web Success

- Mary's Blog

Andrew Field, a printer in Montana (where they seem to have more cows than people) spotted an untapped market and voila! Web Success. This guy was Web 2.0 before there was a 2.0 (1998). He recognized a great unserved... ›››

Category: Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Mktg. Troubleshooting | Ramblings

December 14, 2005

feed).jpg" border="0" style="padding:3px;background:#fff;border:1px solid #ccc;margin-top:10px;margin-right:15px" width="100" height="75" />

Do you belong on the Web?

- Mary's Blog (feed)

Warning: If you think web sites are marketing bla-blah commodities or that blogs are self-indulgent drivel – you probably won’t like this post. If you’re still learning your way on the Web and want to really move ahead, read... ›››

Category: Biz Dev - Tips & Traps | Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Mktg. Troubleshooting | Ramblings

December 06, 2005

feed).jpg" border="0" style="padding:3px;background:#fff;border:1px solid #ccc;margin-top:10px;margin-right:15px" width="100" height="75" />

You’ve got to have a box before you can burn it.

- Mary's Blog (feed)

(And, you may need more than one box – if you’ve got more than one target market…) I met with a new client yesterday, doing one of my “Entrepreneur Sanity Checks” which got me to thinking once again (uh-oh!)... ›››

Category: Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist | Mktg. Troubleshooting | Ramblings