This may not work on hormonally-hit teenagers (sorry weary parents) yet you might try it with friends, customers or colleagues. Suppose, for example, you’re tired of the dirty cups in the office coffee nook. Try spraying the air with a lemony scent reminiscent of a cleaning agent. When those sloppy colleagues smell it they are [...]

Publishers are slowly waking up to the fact that their “greatest challenge” “in the digital age” is discoverability, notes Laura Hazard Owen. Yet what she writes is increasingly true for almost any kind of business or other organization, whether it yet sells online or not. To be more easily discovered, hone  these seven traits: 1. [...]

Three real-life, partner-based success stories show you how to attract more customers while spending less on promotion. How can you adapt these approaches to your kind of business so more people discover you, often through vendors they trust, and are eager to buy? 1. Together Become a Bigger Location-Centered Magnet to Attract More People Two [...]

Meetup and GE’s partnership startled many people who wrote about it yet the companies had a sweet spot of mutual benefit. They both serve people who care about clean technology. So joining forces to launch a crowdsourcing contest for best ideas for a smart grid made sense. Each company has a different “personality” and could [...]

Even when novelists dream of fame and fortune few probably dream this big. Lucky Nicholas Sparks. Even before the screenplay is written a partnering-inclined movie producer joined forces with a publisher to launch a huge promotional campaign for the book from which it will be made – Nicholas Sparks’ Safe Haven. This is a first. [...]

From Palm Springs to Puerto Rico s’mores were being served poolside, at the bar and outdoor fire pits and as self-serve “s’more-gasbords” and for children’s “cooking” demos by hoteliers and and restaurateurs – all in celebration of National S’mores Day on August 10th. Together they created more buzz for this enticing reason to dine than [...]

Sell more and feel good doing it by “doubling up to do good” like these companies. Indistructible ball Imagine inventing a soccer ball so tough that even a lion can play with it for hours and not puncture it. Better yet imagine that kids in refugee camps can kick that “futbol” across sharp rocks, broken [...]

Following up on the past posts on the power of partnering we are now ready to get specific about the market you serve – both as their habits directly related to your kind of work and also their traits that are not related to your work. In so doing, you’ll discover you have two kinds [...]

Imagine that the longest line at an expo or other event is the one waiting to try your product – and you didn’t even pay to exhibit. Instead you’re provided a bonus experience for attendees. That’s what happened when local motorcycle dealership offered attendees at a local home improvement expo the opportunity to take a [...]

…may earn you new customers and media coverage. “The city is our canvas,” GreenGraffiti owner, Jim Bowes told The New York Times. Bowes said, “We can tell a story over the course of two blocks if we want to, without paper, without ink.” “Using stencils and high-pressure water sprayers, he selectively washes down pavement, leaving [...]