Who knows how many people choose to stay at the Ritz Carlton rather than at another luxury hotel because of an added thrill, complimentary use of a brand new Mercedes during their stay? (They’re “both synonymous with sophisticated styling.”) Holiday Inn Express partnered with Kohler to roll out a SimplySmart “shower program”, offering guests an [...]

Last Valentine’s Day, several neighborhood businesses including an event planner (she organized it), dentist, women’s medical clinic, florist, health food store, clothing boutique, shopper newspaper, museum store, gym, bookstore and beauty salon joined forces for a month-long promotion to attract and serve women, especially those 30 and older.  The bookstore hosted a series of “Beauty [...]

There is strength in numbers – when we adopt the right methods. Just ask James Haducci, an accountant with a 3-person accountancy practice, serving small business owners. He invited eight other small business-to-business service providers to join forces and produce a monthly blog as newsletter. Subscribers could choose to get by email or mail and/or [...]

First describe your company’s personality. Once you’ve identified your distinctive brand style, then you’ll recognize other small businesses with a similar reputation. Look for companies with complementary products. Then join forces to gain a warmed-up introduction to each other’s customers.  They probably have a common sensibility. For example a few years ago I made this [...]

At home, we usually stand over a wastebasket when quickly perusing mail. Yet home is a great place to reach us because we relax in our own surroundings.  Here are the two most likely ways to get us to put your outsized card on the counter to keep and use.  The first way is to [...]

“Recognize the Often Hidden Signs of a Heart Attack” is the 30-minute briefing that attracts the biggest attendance when a cardiologist speaks at nearby retirement homes.   Fear often drives people to attend so the title gets them in the door. As well: • The more executive-sounding term “briefing” attracted more men than when the session [...]

A bison ranch, Cosmosphere, Amish community and salt museum are sights to see in Hutchinson, Kansas. And townspeople desperately want more people to see them in this slow economy. Astutely, instead of inviting travel writers to take a tour of their small town they invited bloggers. They included Becky McCray of the wildly popular rural [...]