Focus Group Moderator

chawkes — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:42:15 -0500

Focus Group Moderator – a window into the how’s and why’s of your customers. Focus groups are the most popular type of market research for a reason.

The End of The Starbuck's Extravagance?

chawkes — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:54:51 -0500

Over a decade ago Starbuck's went from a niche market in Seattle to become a household name. They did this by selling extraordinarily high quality, $3 cups of coffee in a world where a cup of Folg

Small Business Owners Can Learn Something from Detroit's Missteps

chawkes — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:30:42 -0500

I'm not saying that the US car manufacturers are small business. They're not, they're very, very large. However, I think that small companies can learn something from the miscalculations that Ford

How Could the Long Tail Effect Your Startup Business?

chawkes — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:09:14 -0500

Harvard Business Review had a great review of The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. Mr. Anderson posits two theories:

Common Traits of an Entrepreneur

chawkes — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:54:44 -0500

I would say that there are a number of traits that are typical for a good entrepreneur:

Whole Product" Concept - What is it and Why should I care?

chawkes — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:46:04 -0500

In marketing, a "whole product" is a generic product (sometimes called the "core product") augmented by everything that is needed for the customer to have an truly superior expe

Small Businesses Advertising Clear Solutions

chawkes — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:49:42 -0500

In order to advertise your product in a way that communicates with your target customer, you need to understand their problems and make sure that you're delivering a solution. Sma

Wooden Nickels: We Do All Types of Market Research - Trust Me!

chawkes — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:48:51 -0500

Beware the market research company that does all types of market research. Most companies don't actually do all types of Market Research at all, least not well. And t

Bionic Chickens Lay Superior Eggs! Just Believe It!

chawkes — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:49:46 -0500

Credibility is an issue for all businesses, but it's especially critical for a small business (or relatively unknown company - especially in what most consumers believe to be a mature product marke

Japan's Magic Toilet Seat

chawkes — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:40:48 -0500

I'd thought that toilets were pretty much a commodity product and that most were purchased primarily on price. But on a recent trip to Tokyo, Japan I experienced something that completely cha

Small Businesses May Be Able to Capitalize on Radio Advertising.

chawkes — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:14:10 -0500

A number of factors have combined to cause radio advertising sales to decline for the last several years in the United States. But

Advertising a $10,000 Handmade Cell Phone with Leather and Jewels?

chawkes — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:04:49 -0500

In order to advertise effectively, a company must know how many of their customers, or potential customers fall within a standard population of 1000 people (or some measure of likelihood of bumping

Small Businesses Need to Project a Consistent Brand Image Too

chawkes — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:25:19 -0500

Why An Understanding of Demography Could Greatly Benefit Your Marketing Efforts

chawkes — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:31:25 -0500

Portions of this blog entry are taken out of a recent WSJ article by David Brooks article called “Demography is King”. His art

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Do Your Product Marketers Suffer from the ‘Curse of Knowledge'?

chawkes — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:15:39 -0500

Once a person knows something, it's hard to remember what it was like to not have that knowledge (or know-how). In the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, they describe the way that m

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Can Doing Good Be Good for the Bottom Line?

chawkes — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:35:30 -0500

There is a fast growing movement to improve the reputations of many types of companies to have customers perceive them as doing more than just selling products and making a profit. A growing

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Growing the Market or Cannibalizing Sales?

chawkes — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:56:16 -0500

There are a lot of new product development research projects that I do, where one of the most important questions is “do we think that this new product will cannibalize existing sales of

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“Shaken Not Stirred”, In a Stick of Gum?

chawkes — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:16:08 -0500

Wrigley’s gum – what can anyone find to argue about it?

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Even Small Companies Should Have a Business Dashboard!

chawkes — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:22:10 -0500

A “business dashboard” is really not much more than a list of business metrics, generally with a simple indication, such as color coding, that indicates whether the particular met

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Looking for Something to Sell? Sell Your Customers Some Time.

chawkes — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:38:09 -0500

Everyone wants more time and you don’t have to be wealthy to be willing to pay a premium to save some time.

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