The Internet, the obvious low barrier to entry, unskilled salespeople, the economy—each of these drive price wars and ultimately erode profits. Additionally, these issues relinquish control over to the client thus giving the client ultimate control to manage and drive the process. However, it doesn’t need to be that way. Choose to be different!
Read MoreTag: Market
Is a Lucrative Niche in Your Future?
When I first started selling promotional products, I thought everyone was a good prospect for me. It wasn’t until I concentrated on a niche market that my business quickly doubled and then tripled, becoming one of the fastest-growing companies in my region.
Read MoreMarket Mastery: Turning Your Market Expertise Into a Sales Advantage
Some marketing companies are turning their demographic expertise into a sales advantage: Can you follow suit?
Read MoreThe Baby Boom: 3 Must-have Maternity Pieces
The rumors about Beyoncé’s second pregnancy may be false, but that shouldn’t stop you from outfitting other moms-to-be in promotional maternity apparel.
Read MoreOn The Up and Up
Last month the Dow Jones did something it hasn’t done in a very long time—it closed over the 13,000 mark.
Read MoreDo You Have a Rich Niche?
I believe you can’t be all things to all people but you can be a star in your target market.
Read MoreA Tale of Two Markets
While in St. Lucia enjoying a rejuvenating week of holidays, my husband Tom and I ventured into the town of Castries. There we found a market with hundreds of local merchants selling spices, vegetables, souvenirs and any wares tourists will buy.
Read MoreThe Starbucks Index
You can study common economic indicators like the GDP, CPI, inflation, deflation, housing markets, unemployment or bull and bear markets to determine if our economy is heading in the right direction, but I prefer to take a different tack. Perhaps you could call it the “Main Street” approach as opposed to the “Wall Street” approach to analyzing the hopeful economic rebound.
Read MoreI’m Switzerland
A morning trip to the eye doctor means I can’t technically see that well right now, which should make this blog post extremely interesting for everyone involved, particularly the poor soul who has to proofread this.
Anyway, so I’m working on a feature for our upcoming issue on products made in the USA, and that old Dave Mason song just kept going through my head: “There ain’t no good guys, there ain’t no bad guys, it’s only you and me and we just disagree.”
American Apparel Keeps Credit Options Open
Love them or hate them, there is apparently no denying (or perhaps even slowing) the clothing juggernaut that is American Apparel. In a tight credit market, in a state that may be bankrupt in two months, Dov Charney finds a way to move forward:
From American Apparel:
Dov Charney, chairman and chief executive officer, commented, “We are pleased to have secured these extensions to our loan maturities given the current difficulties in the credit markets. We have also had discussions with our lenders about the possibility of lengthening the maturity of our debt into 2010, and we will continue these discussions while we