Archive for the ‘Tips for Launching’ Category
Is It Done Yet?
By MARK RIFFEY - The earlier the customer sees your work, the earlier you'll find out if you're on track.... more
Why Do Startups Fight City Hall?
By MARK RIFFEY - To a startup, city hall is often the next obstacle in line.... more
Start Your Marketing Calendar
By MARK RIFFEY - Are you marketing with intent or by accident? Choose intent.... more
Hiring Entry Level People and (Gasp) Millennials
By MARK RIFFEY - I know a number of 20-somethings who are looking for jobs. Some like to categorize “millennials” as a generation of slackers with no work ethic and no motivation.... more
Liz Marchi: Sleep
By LIZ MARCHI - I am grateful every morning that my alarm doesn’t go off at 4:00am as it did for the better part of 20 years.... more
Train Them To Make It Easy To Buy
By MARK RIFFEY - Word of mouth business and referrals come from handling problems gracefully.... more
Leading Your Team to Goal Setting
By MARK RIFFEY - How do you prepare your staff to contribute to your company's success?... more
Liz Marchi: In the New Year 2016
By LIZ MARCHI - The last two years have been spent trying to change habits, explore new opportunities and changing tempo. I have had mixed results.... more
Company Goals Need Context
By MARK RIFFEY - Company-wide goals need to have "Why does this matter to me?" context at all levels of the company, for every employee.... more
Working Linear vs. Parallel
By MARK RIFFEY - What costs do you introduce by solving problems sequentially?... more
Is Your Business 2016 Ready?
By MARK RIFFEY - Planning for 2016 is about more than adjusting numbers in a spreadsheet.... more
Do They Have Each Other’s Back?
By MARK RIFFEY - Culture is critical, not only day to day, but to make sure you can take a punch.... more
Liz Marchi: Curiosity and Perfection
By LIZ MARCHI - I am so glad I lived to read Lean In by Cheryl Sandburg. She affirms both curiosity and bossiness as positive attributes in girls. ... more
Liz Marchi: Seasons Change
By LIZ MARCHI - Fall has arrived and we are preparing the ranch for winter. We downsized this year but the plan is to ranch until the end. I am good with that.... more
Liz Marchi: Tomatoes, Tempo and the Short Game
By LIZ MARCHI - Until I began cooking on my own did I realize that what passed for a tomato in the grocery store was nothing like the flavor feast I was accustomed to.... more
Liz Marchi: Wiring
By LIZ MARCHI - The older I get, the more I believe we are wired very early in life for a certain path. My husband and I share a lot of the same wiring and lot of very different wiring. ... more
Liz Marchi: Maintenance
By LIZ MARCHI - Maintenance has never been a sexy concept for me. I like startups, building, remodeling. As I age, all of that is changing. Maintenance is EVERYTHING. ... more
Liz Marchi: Digital Detox
By LIZ MARCHI - This weekend was Big Sky Dev Con in Bozeman. This was year 5 of the event which is another of those little known but extraordinary things going on in Montana. ... more
Liz Marchi: Manners, the Masters and Equal Pay
By LIZ MARCHI - Be on notice, hitting on women is unwelcome and exhibits the worst in manners. Sexist comments and jokes are NOT funny.... more
Liz Marchi: Give Me Patience for Parents
By LIZ MARCHI - I am flying back to Bozeman after spending two weeks with my Mom and Dad and family in Alabama. I am so conflicted about them these days. ... more
Liz Marchi: On Birthdays and Aging
By LIZ MARCHI - Sunday was my 61st birthday. The great thing about a January birthday is that you spend the entire month thinking about the New Year, goals, planning and “getting ready.” ... more
Liz Marchi: Paper Bliss
By LIZ MARCHI - As much as I love to clean and organize, my husband loves to keep every piece of paper that he's ever owned. Whatever your bliss is, nurture it, edit it and own it in 2015!... more
Liz Marchi: Working in Yoga Pants
By LIZ MARCHI - What’s great about yoga pants, other than they are comfortable, is that I don’t use any mental energy getting dressed on days when I work from the barn. ... more
Liz Marchi: Handing Off
By LIZ MARCHI - My work life has been full of aspirations and over reach. I have always aspired to do things that I wasn’t credentialed to do and that people said were too hard to do. ... more
Liz Marchi: Operating Without a Plan
By LIZ MARCHI - Defining purpose. That’s how I always started any endeavor. Why are we doing it, what does it look like when it’s a success? ... more
Liz Marchi On Entrepreneurship: Rewiring
By LIZ MARCHI -Entrepreneurs are different. They are almost never satisfied with the way things are. They are always looking for ways to make things better, faster, more efficient, and/or smarter. ... more
Earning Return Business, Part Two
By MARK RIFFEY - Not long ago I heard someone say “Excuses are a lie wrapped in a reason.” Training is a critical component to building a team that brings clients back repeatedly.... more
Wayne and Kathleen Newton Set Up Shop in Lakeside
By JUSTIN FRANZ-Kat’s Korner is one of several new shops and restaurants that have popped up in the small community of Lakeside and Wayne Newton, 72, said it’s no surprise the town is growing.... more
Earning Return Business
By MARK RIFFEY - When you make client service decisions, do you weigh the cost of losing the client?The incremental cost of service is usually tiny compared to losing the client.... more
Consistency is Critical to Repeat and Word-of-Mouth Business
By MARK RIFFEY - What inconsistencies can you address to increase repeat and word of mouth business?... more
Busy Business Owners Have No Time
By MARK RIFFEY - The average CEO says they only spend about 25% of their day doing what they feel is meaningful work. Does that sound like your typical work day?... more
Help Them Produce Their Best Work
By MARK RIFFEY - No matter what business you’re in and what summer does to your workload – summer is a great time to implement improvements that help your staff produce their best work.... more
The Search for Mentors
By LIZ MARCHI - As I look back on my career journey, I look at the role mentors played in guiding my choices in life and work. What’s a mentor? For me, it was someone whom I admired and wanted to emulate. ... more
How Do You Create The Right Surprises? Baby Steps
By MARK RIFFEY - One of the best ways to figure out ways to transform your customers' experience is to walk through the process of doing business with you in little, tiny steps: Baby Steps.... more
Are You Uncoachable? Drips Can Help
By MARK RIFFEY - Frustrated with the rate of change or accomplishment of new work in your business? I had a conversation recently that might help. It involved coachability and drips.... more
When It Comest to Business: Start Doing the Right Things
By MARK RIFFEY - Rather than talking about 30 things to stop doing, I decided to discuss a shorter list of things to START doing in your business.... more
What Do Surprises Say About Your Business?
By MARK RIFFEY - Professionals seldom get surprised by normal things. If they are surprised, they take steps to eliminate problems before a client can see them.... more
Melanie Brock Joins Missoula Economic Partnership Staff
FYI - Seasoned leader will work with Missoula’s entrepreneurs, Partnership investors and government partners to help the Missoula community thrive.... more
How to Segment Your Customer List
By MARK RIFFEY - Have you heard that you should "segment" your customers before marketing to them? Ever wondered what that means, much less how you'd do that? ... more
Which Matters Most When Hiring: Experience or Cultural Fit?
By MARK RIFFEY - Doctor Obvious says "Hiring the right people is crucial for any small business." But what matters most when hiring? Experience? Attitude? Cultural Fit?... more
Governor Bullock’s Main Street Montana Project Launches Surveys
Montanans are encouraged to take in-depth county surveys in an effort to to build an economic development business plan for Montana. CLICK ON SURVEY.... more
The Best Surprise is Truly No Surprise
By MARK RIFFEY - Hotels often provide fuel for writing and a recent trip I took was no exception. Hospitality 101: everything that impacts a guest's stay is everyone's job - particularly simple little things.... more
The Most Expensive, Stressful Thing On Your Desk
By MARK RIFFEY - Nothing destroys a work day like distractions. Clutter doesn't help - and I mean clutter of all kinds - physical as well as electronic. These things are waiting to distract you. Eliminate them.... more
The Unexpected Message Clients Get From You
By MARK RIFFEY - Have you ever received a "new-customers-only" offer from someone that you already do business with? Is it better than what you're paying? How does that make you feel? Mad as hell? It should!... more
Are They Proud Of Their Work? It Will Show
By MARK RIFFEY. Just because it is "grunt work" doesn't mean it isn't valuable. Your employees' work and personality at 2:00 am is the face of your business to many customers.... more
Why They Don’t Answer Your Calls Or Read Your Email?
By MARK RIFFEY. Do your customers and prospects let your calls go to voicemail? Do they open your emails? It's time to get relevant and engage them in THEIR context with you – not as total strangers.... more
The Scariest, Most Painful Business Conversation
By MARK RIFFEY. The most painful (and scary) conversations I have with small business owners are about marketing.Commonly it involves how another company "stole" their business with "more aggressive" marketing.... more
Business is Personal: What’s a Core Story?
By MARK RIFFEY - One of the more common things you'll see from a business that's differentiating themselves using things other than price is their use of a unique selling proposition (USP), and a "core story" t... more
The Most Expensive Advertising Ever
By MARK RIFFEY. Are you wasting those carefully planned advertising investments? The most expensive investment we can make is one that's wasted.... more
View Marketing as an Investment, Not an Expense
By MARK RIFFEY.When something is viewed as an expense, your instinct is to reduce it to the smallest possible amount. Doing this to your marketing is not unlike choking yourself.... more