About a year and a half ago we hired a business development person at our marketing and advertising firm. It was a big step for me since prior to that time...

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There are patterns in every part of commerce. It’s easier to be robotically repetitive and as businesspeople, shoppers, or office workers, we tend to continue doing what we’re most comfortable with.

It’s so easy in the sales process to nod your head, agree with the prospect, and work to keep the peace. After all, it feels better and what kind of position are you in to object or share strong opinions when you’re trying to start a business relationship with someone? The answer is the best position.

Early on I was going to be a reporter – a television sports reporter, actually. I think someone told me I had a face for radio and, eventually, economics and life caused me to shift from journalism to capitalism.

At a recent meeting, I was both listening and minding my own business when the word came drifting across the table. One of my favorite clients told a co-worker I was a “blob”.

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Last year we started an advertising campaign in a local newspaper for our advertising agency. Not many businesses in our area of specialty actually advertise very much so it was a significant move.

When certain people hear the word salesperson, or seller, or account representative, they get kind of a yucky feeling or feel their stomach turn. Perhaps it’s because I spent most of my adult life observing, training, and coaching sellers, I have a general warmth or kindness for those in that profession.

Sales blames Marketing and Marketing blames Sales. Either the leads or prospects the sales people are getting from marketing aren't any good, or the leads are great, but those danged sellers can't seem to close any business.

A few years ago, I realized I had started a company without having a full understanding of the best systems to put in place. As the firm grew, things were done in ways that seemed to make the most sense.

For the past few years we've been doing work for Boxley Materials Company. This isn't a piece about one of our clients, rather an interesting study in how business development, building a network of referring partners, and the power of the internet has made our really big world incredibly small.

You can scurry from task to task - even cross off the plentiful items on your "To Do" list - but that doesn't mean you are successfully navigating your day or the priorities that come with genuine business.

Generally speaking, as we go about our days trying to pay it forward, we are greeted with appreciation and sometimes even acknowledgement. That feels good and it's one of the reasons (if we are honest) many of us help others. Helping others just feels good.

When you connect people to others you help both parties. Yes, that's a simple concept. If you want to grow your business, one of the best first steps you can take is selflessly and purposefully linking others.

Have you ever been at a party, or perhaps the coffee shop, when you run across someone you know and you just cannot remember their name?  Of course you have - it happens to all of us.

When I arrived in Toledo, Ohio in 1997 as a sales manager at an ABC owned TV station, the top local advertisers in the market were primarily established, well-known retailers.