October 2012 Blog Posts (9)

I am sitting in airport lounge waiting for my connection and reading USA

Today on the internet. As I lift my eyes from my computer, I gaze at my

fellow travelers and notice, not unexpectedly, that all of them, including

me, are plugged into their computers or tablets or smart phones.



In this information crazed society, I watch one older well dressed

gentleman, as he walks over to get some coffee, open his Motorola flip

phone and begins to talk into it. I also…

What Are You Doing Now?



       1.    Catching your breath?

       2.    Thinking about thanksgiving promotions

       3.    Working on company holiday parties?

       4.    Thinking about fund raisers?

       5.    Paying back summer loans?

       6.    Getting your staff in shape?



All good activities, but not far-sighted enough.

[attachment "MR900442207.jpg" deleted by Fred Kaplowitz/IVE]

Need to start looking at the most important flooring…

The Bronx Bombers, the NY Yankees bit the dust tonight and lost four

straight games to the Detroit Tigers in the American league Championship

Series. Did they lose because they missed some opportunities to score or

were they just unable to execute?  If you say it is a little of both,

that doesn't really answer the question.



(Embedded image moved to file: pic30221.jpg)What would you say about your

business?  Did you miss the opportunities or did you not execute in…

For the last 35 years, league bowling has been eroding. Probably at a 3% to

5%rate annually. From 10 million sanctioned league bowlers to about 2

million today. From a 5% penetration rate (against adults 18+) to less than

1% today



In other words, less than 1 in 100 adults in this country bowl in a

league.



This downward cycle has been met with various industry initiatives; none

of which reversed the cycle.  It was hoped that the quick fix magic…

For the last 35 years, league bowling has been eroding. Probably at a 3% to

5%rate annually. From 10 million sanctioned league bowlers to about 2

million today. From a 5% penetration rate (against adults 18+) to less than

1% today



In other words, less than 1 in 100 adults in this country bowl in a

league.



This downward cycle has been met with various industry initiatives; none

of which reversed the cycle.  It was hoped that the quick fix magic…

You’ve got 8 seconds to get me before I bail. That’s right 8 seconds.





Eight seconds to make sure your headline ropes me in and gets me to read

the copy.

(Embedded image moved to file: pic26409.jpg)

And to do it right, you need a headline between 8 and 14 words.



The fact is there’s a lot riding on writing the perfect headline to grab

attention, generate some interest and get the reader to stick around for a

while.



So what do you…

A gray rainy Sunday morning in the country found me in my den, tuned into a

2010 movie called “Company Men.”



Ben Affleck, the star of the show, finds himself the victim, at age 37 of a

downsizing at his ship building company. His boss, played by Tommy Lee

Jones also gets fired, but that happens almost at the end of the movie.



As this trauma was unfolding, both men discover the importance of people,

company values and what they want to happen in the next…

Every day I judge your center and your programs



And the more information I receive from the digital genie, (on command of

course) the more critical I can be. Some might say I am becoming a more

discerning shopper; more intelligent. Sophisticated, even.



But what is really happening is I am making judgments about you, your

competition and everything I think I may want to rent, buy or lease almost

every minute of the day.



Snap judgments. Bad judgments.…

“Sometimes the last thing we want is really the first thing we need.”



I read this quote somewhere, but not sure where or who said it. In any

case it got me to thinking about how comfortable we all sometimes get. The

business is doing OK; its fairly predictable and, well, we even get bored

now and then.



So to relieve that boredom we go looking for excitement; sometimes in the

wrong places – food, clothes, cars, boats,                 second homes,

more…