Archive for marketing coaching

The fight for the NURDLE

By Bob Holdsworth · Comments (0)

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

I was reading the Wall Street Journal the other day and was astounded, well actually these days nothing surprises me anymore, that two toothpaste manufacturers are going to war over a graphic picture of a squirt of toothpaste.

Now I’m all about protecting intellectual property, I have plenty of copyrights and trademarks of my own, but this seems insane even to me, a professional marketer.

For the uninitiated, a NURDLE is the apparently correct name for the tiny little perfectly shaped glob of toothpaste shown on the box. In this picture the red, white and blue thingy.

nurdle

n. a grain, pellet, granule, or other small piece of a material, especially as part of a large quantity (such as foam kernels used as packing material); (in pronunciation-based spellings) a nodule; a quantity of a gel or semi-solid; a thing of unknown name (doodad, thingamajig, etc.). Also nerdle. Read More→

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Categories : Business - General, Just for Fun, Marketing - Sales, leadership, management

Tags : bob holdsworth, Business Coaching, defining business services, Entrepenuer, innovation, leadership, management, marketing coaching, Small Business Coach, success, The Holdsworth Group, young business owners, young entrepreneurs

Your competition is copying your best ideas while you’re sleeping.

By Bob Holdsworth · Comments (0)

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

If you’ve got a great product or service, you’re going to be copied, challenged, reversed engineered or outright pirated, it’s a fact of business life.

When I first entered the medical billing business back in 1989, there were no other companies in my niche (ambulance billing) in my state. Fast forward 23 years and there are now ten companies that are directly competing with my firm for some part of the ambulance billing business in my home state.

Now the interesting thing is that only one competitor has opted to match service levels and they are the latest entry into the game. They have only 5 clients, none of them of substantial size or volume.

This poaching of clients, ideas or advertising offers and methods is simply part of business and it took me a while to both realize and to not to get angry about it. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but not when the flattery costs me money to get. Now all of this said, it doesn’t mean you should simply accept this as a fact of life and take it lying down. Read More→

Leadership is not simply a plaque on the door.

By Bob Holdsworth · Comments (3)

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

"Everybody wants the title..."

For many, getting a new title, a corner office, or more brass on their collar is viewed as a destination. Often the transition, the right of passage and the plaque on the door becomes an open invitation or an excuse to stop learning.

The truth about a promotion, if you’re a leader rather than a manager…is that the move up is simply a new beginning which creates an entirely new level of responsibility and opportunity. A serious student of business and leadership NEVER stops learning, asking questions, and honing their craft.

Leadership is a craft, an art, and a noble occupation. For some it’s a lifelong aspiration. For others simply a path to their version of success.

My wife has a great saying, “Everybody wants a paycheck, but not everybody’s willing to work!” In the realm of leadership, the correlation is “Everybody wants the title, but not everybody’s willing to take on the responsibility.”

I’ve been fortunate, my career in leadership began more than 30 years ago. I’ve had great mentors, role models and coaches along the way. They all taught me their version of two extremely valuable lessons. First, never stop learning and second, never ever forget where you came from. Read More→

Opportunity’s knocking, should I answer the door?

By Bob Holdsworth · Comments (1)

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Opportunity's Knocking

My in box is full…again. Affiliate offers, joint venture deals, ‘greatest ever’ product reseller programs, credit card affiliate programs and of course everybody, including me, has products to sell. Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

I find myself deleting, turning down, opting out of lots of these offers every day. Many are from people I’ve never heard of and can’t find on the internet or Google. If I can’t find you, research you and determine what people are saying about you, you probably have a little chance of making it through my well-tuned hype detector.

The other critical reason to turn down these offers is that they are not complimentary to your core business. Don’t confuse your clients with offers that don’t make sense. Read More→

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Categories : Business - General, Business development, Entrepreneurship, Marketing - Sales, leadership, management

Tags : bob holdsworth, Business Coaching, defining business services, ems management, Entrepenuer, Leadership Growth, marketing coaching, Small Business Coach

Young entrepreneurs…the future is here.

By Bob Holdsworth · Comments (2)

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Jack: Author, Salesman, Philanthropist

I was just out in Dallas at the Glazer-Kennedy 2010 SuperConference (www.DanKennedy.com). The event attracted about 1,300 business owners and entrepreneurs from more than 20 countries. The conference was outstanding and different from previous years.

This year the organizers, especially Bill Glazer, who has a very strong relationship with Junior Achievement, had encouraged attendees to bring their kids or grandkids ages 10-18. There was a special seminar track just for them as well as a competition for the Young Entrepreneur/Marketer of the Year.

These kids were engaged, enthusiastic and they wanted to learn how to run their own businesses. In fact many of them were already operating a business or two. As I was sitting at lunch with fellow grown-up entrepreneurs I was relating a story about one of my twin sons, age 7 1/2 (the 1/2 is VERY important), who also wants to run a business. I can’t wait for him to be old enough to attend with me. Read More→

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Categories : Business - General, Family - Lifestyle, Just for Fun, Marketing - Sales, Personal Development

Tags : bob holdsworth, Business Coaching, family life, marketing coaching, Personal Development, personal responsibility, success, young business owners, young entrepreneurs