News & Views
Visitor FYI: Unless otherwise noted, all of the following take you to a web site.
My Published Columns
Profiles & Interviews
I’m also guest blogging every Friday at www.lipsticking.com (Smart Marketing to Women Online).
March 27: Don’t Cry Because It’s Over.
March 20: Lose The “Old White Guy” Stock Photos
March 13: I Feel Sorry For Am Ex Employees
March 6: The “Housewives With Hobbies” Problems
February 27: Word That (Could) Drive Me To Drink - Some Friday Tough Love
February 20: Blogging Is Passe. Blogging Is Too New For Me.
February 13: Is Too Fast Too Furious 4 A Chick Flick? I Say YES!
February 6: Seven Sure-Fire Ways To Ensure Your Email Will Be Ignored.
January 30: I’m All In Favor Of Women & Orgasms…but… (I’m talking about PR flacks and wasted emails.)
January 23: Looking Forward While Going Backward…And In Heels
January 16: Why I’ll Be Watching Battlestar (The Women)
January 9: Writing For Those (Sniff) Women’s Magazines
Good market share isn’t a bad thing, but domination can hold you back. “Market domination” is sooo last century.
Marketing: Sum Of Your Parts. (two-page PDF download), co-authored with George Kenefic, Director of Enterprise Empowerment, The Loan Fund. Published by Finance New Mexico onine, and via state-wide syndicate of over 30 New Mexico newspapers.
Make sure you’re ready for rigors of entrepreneurship (link to New Mexico Business Weekly)
Expert Advice: Creativity is great, but not a panacea. My column in NM Biz Weekly - in which I note talent isn’t everything, creativity isn’t always a good thing and give quick (and cheap) tips for creativity.
Research and Set Your Goals Before Selecting a Consultant I start out by saying, “I hate consultants” so you know I give you some inside scoop.
Look backward and think forward: Assessing Markets When doing market assessments, you can learn much by looking backward, including “Don’t take anything for granted.” “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist … ,” were Union General John Sedgewick’s dying words.
Don’t drown in paperwork just because you’re growing. Written with a collaborator, Deborah Weaver Parker. I hate paperwork, she loves it (most of time), but some of it is essential (as part of employee- and customer-friendly processes.)
Your Business Plan, “What If?” (PDF file, 2 pages) History is full of fascinating “what ifs.” What if Napoleon hadn’t been ill at Waterloo? What if Hitler hadn’t made the mistake of a two-front war? What if Hewlett and Packard had stopped with their first patent (most definitely not a printer)? What if Bill Gates had decided to stay in Albuquerque? Hmmm.
Strategic Planning: Good Intentions don’t equal good results. (PDF file, 3 pages). See if this sounds familiar: You went to a one-day strategic planning retreat. Everybody came back all fired up, with great ideas and piles of marked-up chart papers. Then, everybody got busy. The papers got buried. And, somehow that strategy never got implemented. In this article I give you some pointers so your plan can become a reality.
The Three Cs of Customer Loyalty. (PDF file, 2 pages) Little things can make all the difference (and it doesn’t have to expensive).
The Common Sense CEO (PDF file, 2 pages) The philosopher Voltaire once wrote, “Common sense isn’t all that common.” On the other hand, Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” So, here’s what I know - after nearly 25 years of “managing” people and working with CEOs and top executives in all sizes and types of companies - Voltaire was right.
The Top Three Marketing Mistakes (PDF file) The top three are: Vision, Mission and Strategy. Yes, you need all three but there are some “gotchas” which I discuss in this article.
How to make your web site more user friendly. Written with Roxanne Darling of Bare Feet Studios. Technology can be fun (really) and produce business results!
Profiles & Interviews:
The Blog Grows Up and Goes into Business (Albuquerque Journal article re blogging, in which I’m interviewed. You’ll have to view a short ad for free access.)
Expert Advice: Repeat customers are key to sustainability. In which I give New Mexico Business Weekly some perspective re building and keeping customer loyalty.
Blogging to gain visibility. “A few years ago, Mary Schmidt was earning a reputation as an innovative marketing mastermind, but her visibility on the Internet needed improvement.” A real-world, personal example of how blogging can help you out in the “real world.”
The Power of Four. All about the consultant collaborative, Strategic Reality Group, I founded with three colleagues specifically to work with non-profits in strategic planning and implementation.
Blog Dialogue. An Albuquerque Tribune article on the power of blogging.
Try to diversify client base. In which I give perspective for small companies doing business with the “big boys.”
Got an idea, “new news” or a reading recommendation to share? Drop me a line at: mary@maryschmidt.com
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