Received many likes on this article I wrote for the Biz Journal.
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What a good chef can teach you about business success!

"Watch me, grandpa!"
The words of my grandson, Brody as he played with his toy plane in our backyard.
Every time he tossed it in the air, he wanted to make sure that I was watching.
Kids are that way. They want to be noticed.
I'm convinced that we adults are the same way.
We love it when a loved one acknowledges something we've done.
We like it when our boss gives us a pat on the back.
And we feel good when we're dining out or shopping and someone pays attention to us.
A thank you, a smile, and maybe some simple gesture can keep us coming back to do business with you.
Notice your customers…
And they'll make you rich.

Better ideas.
Better results.
Mark Ideas.
605-366-3244
http://www.markideas.com

Danny Jergenson was a big, bad bully.
I shivered like a wet cat when I'd see him approaching.
He would steal my food, take my money, and wreck my stuff.
No match for him physically, I used the only weapon I possessed.
Stories.
I told him of a place in the woods where there was buried treasure. I explained that my dad was an undercover police officer. I told him that I had a very contagious skin disease…
I socked that bully in the belly with my stories, and he finally stopped messing with me.

Back then, my stories helped me survive childhood.
Today, my stories help my clients win in business.

Is WalMart bullying you?
Are economic conditions threatening your survival?

Let me tell your story.
I'm the Chuck Norris of story telling!

Better Ideas.
Better Results.
Mark Ideas.
6053663244

   

 

Maybe you felt business starting to percolate upward again, but now it isn't anymore. Perhaps you got to the light at the end of the tunnel, only to discover there's still more tunnel beyond the light. You need to make the next quarter better, but how?

You have 3 important elements that are totally within your control.  Elements that can directly influence sales and the bottom line.  Elements that can be manipulated without a ton of heavy lifting on your part. They are…

1)  Your products and pricing.
2)  Your customer experience.
3)  Your advertising and marketing.

Steve Jobs said: "We don't use focus groups to find out what our customers want. They don't know what they want until we show them…" On the surface that sounds kinda belligerent. But I don't think so. Apple knows their customer insanely well. When Apple suggests a product and price, people respond by opening their wallets.
Apple is also master of the customer experience. Very few Apple owners are pissed off, and if they are, Apple normally doesn't let them stay that way long.
Study Apple, Disney, Marriott, and Papa John's. They are all known for giving a powerful customer experience.
And finally, your advertising and marketing. Whether it's radio, TV, print, eblasts, tweets, or posts…your message should be fascinating.
Ads don't work anymore. Fascinating stories do.
To steal some ideas on how to tell a fascinating story, click here.

Can you own a word in the marketplace?  You already do.  But is it the word you want to own?  See my article in the Biz Journal. http://siouxfallsbusinessjournal.argusleader.com/article/20111019/BJINSIGHT/111018040/Tollefson-s-Insight-your-image-words-kah-chings-kah-booms-

It can relax or motivate.
It gives you ideas.
Is it wine?
Drugs?
Nope.

Music.

Somehow I had allowed the news, obligations, and life to pull me away from music.
I am listening to music again, and it is like catching up with an old friend.
Now my reading is more rewarding.  My writing is richer.  My business thinking more productive.

Music spreads warm butter across the dry toast of your life and softens things up.

Try it today.  Whether you are doing book work, creative thinking, or problem solving…
Turn on some music.  Maybe different music than you normally would.
Feel what happens…

Mark Ideas LLC
6053663244
Better Ideas.
Better Results.

When I develop a slogan for a client, one technique I use is to tap into how people already think about that business. 
(No use trying to pretend you have hair when you're bald as a beet, for example.)

The challenge is to find a way to admit who you are, but say it in a really cool way that makes people feel all fizzy and emotional.

That's what WalMart's current slogan does.
Pretty much the whole world knows that WalMart has aisles filled with stuff to buy, and most of it is pretty cheap.

So they say…

Save money, live better.  WalMart.

(Bravo!  Bravo!)

That slogan says, "Hey, you're hip when you save money!"  "You're not a loser when you shop at WalMart!" 
It also tickles people to feel that maybe by shopping at WalMart (and saving so much money) they'll live a better life.  Heck, who knows, maybe you can go on a cruise, send your kids to college, (or buy an extra 12 pack!)

As I say, this is only one technique for developing a slogan.
But WalMart did it brilliantly.

How's YOUR slogan?
Does it pull like a powerful workhorse, or just lay there like an old worn out rug?
Call me.  Let's talk.

Better Ideas
Better Results
Mark Ideas LLC
6053663244

When I was a boy, I helped grandpa on the farm.
He used workhorses instead of tractors.
Something grandpa would do was put blinders on the horse's eyes.
This kept the horses from seeing everything that was going on around them.
Things like dogs and cats, other horses, even birds can easily distract workhorses.
And when a team is harnessed to a wagon loaded with tons and tons of cargo…
You need them focused, not distracted, or no one goes anywhere.

Are we like workhorses, distracted easily?
Are we less productive when distracted?
Do we need to put blinders on from time to time?
Yes, yes, and yes.
When my productivity slumps, I put the blinders on.
For one week I…
Take a break from all forms of news.
Eliminate interacting with negative and distracting people.
And, most important of all…
I start Brain Dancing.
Within days I'm rocketing toward my goals again.

(What is Brain Dancing?  Call me.  I'd be happy to share my secret with you).

Mark Ideas
6053663244
Better Ideas, Better Results!

Many media people have this odd little idea that their particular audience is superior to another media's audience.  It's as if they think that their audience is made up of completely different people than another media's audience.
But the fact is…people bounce from media to media, consuming multiple forms of media throughout the week.
Each media's audience does not live on a private island totally isolated from the other media.

Radio listeners watch TV.  TV viewers read magazines.  Magazine readers go on line.  People who go on line also see billboards.  One media may reach many of the same people as another media.

Here's the key:
Before choosing the right media to deliver your message…
Choose the right message to be delivered.
Better messages get better results regardless of the media used.
We could arm wrestle over which media is most financially efficient for accomplishing Reach, Frequency, and Branding…
But only after we arm wrestle over what your message should be.

Let see if I can create a way to tell your story in a fresh, enticing, and entertaining way.  If I come up with something great, buy me.  If I don't…I'll take a hike.
Mark Tollefson (Mark Ideas)  6053663244

Layer Cake is an Australian Shiraz. 
It normally sells for $16.99 a bottle.
I was happy to pay that price; because when I sipped it I tasted sweet minerals, licorice and warm plums.

   

One day, I walked in and discovered Layer Cake on the shelf for just $7.99!  I anxiously bought as many bottles as I could find!  The next time I shopped, I did the same.  In fact, for many weeks, when I shopped for wine, I made a point of picking up a few extra bottles of Layer Cake.
Then something happened…
They raised the price back up to $16.99 a bottle.
But over the many weeks, something had changed:
Layer Cake had become an 8-dollar bottle of wine to me.
A brand that had once held a special place in my heart…now felt "common".
And at the higher price…
It just didn't feel worth it anymore.
I sense there's lesson to be learned from this experience…
But I'm not exactly sure what it is.

Mark Tollefson (Mark Ideas) 6053663244