October 2004

Lesson #1 I Wish I Knew Before I Started My First Business

by Michael Cage · 26 comments

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I spent almost a year organizing my first business. I devoted all of my spare time and energy to important things like securing the product I’d be selling, and learning about who I was going to be selling it to. I invested an embarrassing amount of money. And then… I discovered what I had to ...

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Success With Peace Of Mind

by Michael Cage · 4 comments

in Uncategorized

A great passage from Napoleon Hill’s “Grow Rich With Peace Of Mind.” “It is obvious that those who are filled with malice and envy do not have peace of mind; their malice and envy sour their lives. Failure so often hates the very sight of success. Speaking with successful men, I have noticed they speak ...

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The Yellow Pages Marketing Exercise

October 11 On Local Business Marketing

Here’s the exercise I give at seminars to illustrate how horrible most marketing is. Just so happens, it uses the Yellow Pages, and I have been getting asked a lot about Yellow Pages marketing lately. If you do not have your own ad in the YP, pick out your business category and do it for ...

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Client education in retail health food stores (and your small business, too…)

October 7

The kick from my “red eyes” (coffee w/a shot of espresso) has faded lately. Too many late nights and early mornings I guess. I decided I needed something “new” to level out my energy levels and keep my immune system running on high, even as I subject it to stress. Off to the health food ...

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Sure, The Yellow Pages Are Dead

October 1 On Local Business Marketing

Just got off the phone with a client in the midwest. His new yellow pages ad is pulling 7-to-1 (that’d be revenue to expenditure for you folks who don’t track your advertising) and his competitors are complaining to the ad rep that his ad is “unfair” because it’s stealing their business. Tee-hee. I call that ...

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Your own personal Zeppelin?

October 1

Got my … err, kidnapped my wife’s … Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog. It came in the mail yesterday, and she is out of town… so I got to go through it before her. (Sorry, honey…) My personal favorite item? Your own personal Zeppelin. Yes, you too can show up to the season’s hottest social events ...

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Sign #21 Your Business Is Outta Control

October 1

Around 1AM every night I trek over to my favorite 24 hour diner, order their wonderful Caesar salad with chicken and a cup of coffee, and enjoy the quiet while I’m reading, taking notes, or working on a marketing campaign. Tonight, I followed my usual routine of sitting my big bag ‘o stuff down, and ...

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Marketing a Personal Chef Business or Delivery Meal Service

October 1

I’ve been doing research into hiring a personal chef or a meal service that’d deliver a day’s worth of food each day. These guys and gals are way behind the times. After 3 years, bread companies and some restaurants have finally caught up to the “Low Carb” craze. Not most personal chefs. A “marketing smart” ...

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