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Articles from Geoff Ficke | Selfgrowth.com
- The Historic Link Between Tulips and The Sub-Prime Mortgage Debacle - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Almost every living individual is being effected adversely in some way by the international economic meltdown we are experiencing today. The genesis of this severe financial downturn is attributed to the United States government encouraging the expansion of homeownership to ...
Views: 1987 - How Henry Ford’s Invention Inadvertently Caused the Depression - by Submitted on Sep 06, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke In early 20th century America the vast majority of people living in rural areas eked out a living in agriculture. Farms were small, often sharecropped. The planting and harvesting was labor intensive and horses provided the only source of energy for mechanized tilling. The ...
Views: 1942(1 vote) - Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Secrets Protect Your Invention! - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2009 from Geoff FickePatent numbers are issued sequentially, beginning with the number one. Patent number one was issued to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790. It took 75 years for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to issue patent number 1,000,000. Patent number 7,000,000 was issued February 14, ...
Views: 1928(3 votes) - Need or Want: Your New Product or Service Will Succeed if it Addresses Need - by Submitted on Aug 10, 2009 from Geoff FickeI have always tried to teach my children the difference between needing and wanting a product. This is a value judgement that applies to every human, many times in surprisingly differing ways. People born to great wealth view need far differently than those of us born to the lower classes. I ...
Views: 1911(3 votes) - The Pioneer of Personal Success Literature Should Be Required Reading for Today’s Leaders - by Submitted on Jul 10, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Pioneer of Personal Success Literature Should Be Required Reading for Today’s Leaders When I was a young chap just out of college in 1969 and about to start a business career I was very fortunate to have had a mentor. This gentleman was a successful manufacturer in ...
Views: 1893(1 vote) - The Simple Mundane Product Invention that Changed a Sport and Created a Fortune - by Submitted on Jul 13, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Simple Mundane Product Invention that Changed a Sport and Created a Fortune When I was a young boy growing up in Kentucky almost every town of any size had a drug store, a dry goods store, a grocer, a gas station and a billiards parlor. At any time of the day local men ...
Views: 1878(1 vote) - Marketing and Selling Are Crucial to Success...and Very Different Tasks - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff Ficke“an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer” – Webster’s Dictionary, definition of “marketing” “to give up property to another for money or other valuable consideration” Webster’s Dictionary, definition of “selling” Many new entrepreneurs do not ...
Views: 1870(2 votes) - What Is 3-F Funding and Why Do Entrepreneurs Need to Understand the Vetting Process for Securing Funding? - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke What Is 3-F Funding and Why Do Entrepreneurs Need to Understand the Vetting Process for Securing Funding? Many years ago, when I was a young, ambitious, aspiring entrepreneur I was imbued with the conceit that venture capitalists, investment banks or angel investors would ...
Views: 1856(1 vote) - Consumer Product Market Penetration is Much Easier If Exclusivity Is Key to the Lines Branding Strategy - by Submitted on May 05, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Consumer Product Market Penetration is Much Easier If Exclusivity Is Key to the Lines Branding Strategy Recently I had the opportunity to visit and work several Trade Shows while on an extended business trip through Europe. One was a huge Beauty Product expo in Italy, ...
Views: 1852(2 votes) - Innovative Design Is Essential To Contemporary Consumer Product Success - by Submitted on Aug 17, 2009 from Geoff FickeI have often written and referred to the difference between convergent and divergent products. Convergent products are simple design improvements on existing models already being marketed. The push button radio, the car radio or a clock radio are examples of convergent products. These examples ...
Views: 1842(1 vote) - The Classic Toy “Mr. Potato Head” Would Never Become a Success in Today's Overprotective Society - by Submitted on May 03, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Classic Toy “Mr. Potato Head” Would Never Become a Success in Today’s Overprotective Society In the late 1940’s a Brooklyn-based inventor named George Lerner began to attempt to license a toy concept he had developed. The idea was to take pieces of fruit and vegetables ...
Views: 1834 - Weave a “Freemium” Business Model Element Into Your Consumer Product Marketing Strategy - by Submitted on Jun 26, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Weave a “Freemium” Business Model Element Into Your Consumer Product Marketing Strategy A 21st century term applied to a decades old Marketing Concept, Freemium has become one of the most popular vehicles for Consumer Product entrepreneurs, Software designers and Marketers ...
Views: 1806(1 vote) - One Mans Junk Creates Another Mans Fortune - Similar Opportunities Exist Almost Everywhere for the Ambitious - by Submitted on Oct 17, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke One Mans Junk Creates Another Mans Fortune - Similar Opportunities Exist Almost Everywhere for the Ambitious In 1989 a Canadian college dropout named Brian Scudamore stopped at a McDonalds to grab a cheeseburger. While waiting for his food order he noticed a dented, beat up ...
Views: 1792(1 vote) - The New Distribution Strategies Your Product Will Need to Succeed - by Submitted on Aug 04, 2009 from Geoff FickeAmazing changes in the retail marketplace over the last 15 years has created new, different obstacles to successfully launch a new product. Marketing romantics muse glowingly about the old days when there were supposedly multiple placement opportunities in every level of retail. True, there ...
Views: 1772(2 votes) - Aztec Technology That Still Sweetens Our Taste-Buds and Outlasted the Conquistador’s - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Any reflective student of history is often amazed at the products and processes invented and discovered in the ancient world that we take for granted today. Paint, gunpowder, weaponry, cement, the arch, beer, silk, papyrus, champagne, and so many others remain at the center of ...
Views: 1768 - Competition Is to Successful Marketing As Fertilizer Is to Fruitful Agriculture - by Submitted on May 28, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Competition Is to Successful Marketing As Fertilizer Is to Fruitful Agriculture Many believe that marketing a consumer product or service would be so much easier if we could have the field of commerce solely to our project. It only seems logical that if your business ...
Views: 1750(1 vote) - Why Is It Immigrants Are So Successful as Entrepreneurs While Fewer & Fewer Americans Even Try? - by Submitted on Aug 05, 2011 from Geoff FickeWhy Are Immigrants So Successful as Entrepreneurs While Fewer & Fewer Americans Even Try? This week I had a Speaking Engagement scheduled in Jackson, TN. Upon arrival I settled into my hotel and it being early evening I asked the front desk attendant what restaurants he would recommend for ...
Views: 1747(1 vote) - Nicholas Barbon, Insurance Pioneer - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke For most of history natural and man made disasters were treated as simple “Acts of God”. After the event, the effected populations were left to fend for themselves. They rebuilt their lives as best they could but there was no agency or provider that could be approached for ...
Views: 1746 - I Can’t Find Funding. Is My Idea Dead? No, Consider a Campaign to License! - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2009 from Geoff FickeMost inexperienced entrepreneurs are unaware of the many options and alternative strategies available to push a new idea or invention to market. The most common approach they seek to implement is a classic funding round. When this avenue fails, and with overwhelming frequency it does, the idea ...
Views: 1741(1 vote) - How Lack of Foresight Doomed An Early Auto Manufacturing Pioneer - by Submitted on Aug 17, 2009 from Geoff FickeWhatever happened to the Stanley Steamer automobile? From the production of Stanley’s first model in 1897, the Company outsold every other firm that produced internal combustion powered vehicles until the brands demise in 1924. The Steamers were safe, durable and easily maintained. So what ...
Views: 1731(2 votes) - Thel Importance of Crude Prototypes in Launching And Marketing New Consumer Products - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Importance of Crude Prototypes in Launching And Marketing New Consumer Products The most spectacular example of stunning product design extant in the world today must surely be on display in Marinello, Italy at the Ferrari Auto works. Ferrari is the apex of beauty; ...
Views: 1666(1 vote) - What Makes an Entrepreneur Different - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2009 from Geoff FickeStudies indicate that entrepreneurs are born, not made. As a serial entrepreneur myself, having worked with dozens of successful entrepreneurs, I can confirm that this is a truism. No two are exactly alike, but they are different from those who fail, or worse, never try. I am often asked what ...
Views: 1641(1 vote) - The 5 Absolutely Essential Personal Traits Needed to Become a Successful Entrepreneur - by Submitted on May 06, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The 5 Absolutely Essential Personal Traits Needed to Become a Successful Entrepreneur I am often asked by media interviewers, prospective entrepreneurs and college students I mentor to identify the most important qualities that are present in successful small business ...
Views: 1640(2 votes) - When Selling Do Not Confuse Objections and Conditions - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeMy first sales manager, a grizzled old veteran with a no excuses allowed attitude used to tell me, “there are no lousy products, just lousy salesmen”. As a rookie salesman I thought the comment surely a strange one. Of course, there are bad products I thought. I know a bad product when I see ...
Views: 1628(1 vote) - If When - Two Often Crippling Words - by Submitted on May 14, 2010 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Words matter. How we express ourselves is the most important indicator of the type of person we are and the type of life we lead. In my work as a marketing consultant I have the opportunity to meet hundreds of people each year. They are usually attempting to bring a product, ...
Views: 1626(3 votes) - The 16th Century Entrepreneur Who Created the Concept of the Taxi - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe 16th century was a time of amazing transformation in Europe. The Dark Ages were gone, the Black Plague had run it course and Middle Age fears and superstitions were slowly disappearing. The printing press had been invented and it was completely revamping the way people communicated. Columbus ...
Views: 1615(2 votes) - Thomas Jefferson Is Rightly Remembered As a Great Founding Father - by Submitted on Aug 31, 2009 from Geoff FickeHis Contributions as a Practical Inventor Should Be Equally Revered Every school child is imbued with a history of the American Revolution that glorifies the great accomplishments, political, military and social, of the famous founding fathers. We learn that George Washington; the Father of ...
Views: 1606(1 vote) - A Marketing Axiom: You’re Never the Greatest, Only the Latest! - by Submitted on Aug 18, 2009 from Geoff FickeMy first professional job after finishing college and Marine Corps service was with a small cosmetic company in the early 1970’s. The beauty industry at that time was in the golden age of its creativity, growth and competitive balance. There were numerous firms able to exist and flourish by ...
Views: 1599(2 votes) - In a Jobless Economic Recovery Why Not Create Your Own Job? - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke In a Jobless Economic Recovery Why Not Create Your Own Job? These are troubling economic times in the United States and in Europe. Even the least informed citizen instinctively understands this fact. Government debt is piling up, countries are bankrupt, companies are ...
Views: 1594(2 votes) - What Lesson Can Entrepreneurs Learn from a Bespoke Suit Maker and M&M’s Candy? - by Submitted on May 24, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke What Lesson Can Entrepreneurs Learn from a Bespoke Suit Maker and M&M’s Candy? Recently I read a profile of a relatively new business, Astor & Black that makes bespoke tailored gentlemen’s suits. The Company sends salesmen direct to their clients home or office and custom ...
Views: 1576(1 vote) - A Business Model That Keeps on Giving - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeIf there were an Entrepreneur’s Hall of Fame, Wayne Huizenga would be a charter member. Most people recognize the Wayne Huizenga as being the former owner of the Florida Marlins baseball team, and the current owner of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins. These are the types of gaudy ...
Views: 1574(1 vote) - A “Wanna Be” Entrepreneur in Reality Is a“Wantrepreneur” and Will Never Be Successful - by Submitted on May 06, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke A “Wanna Be” Entrepreneur in Reality Is a“Wantrepreneur” and Will Never Be Successful Very few of the hundreds of Consumer Product projects that my Branding and Marketing Consulting firm review each year ever go much beyond the talking stage. Talk is cheap. Dreamers dream. ...
Views: 1549(2 votes) - 4 Crucial Elements to Include in Your Consumer Product Branding Strategy - by Submitted on Jun 28, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke 4 Crucial Elements to Include in Your Consumer Product Branding Strategy When I started to Market Consumer Products 40 years ago the term “Branding” was one I never heard. The term was not one that enjoyed the currency it enjoys today. In the years since formal Branding ...
Views: 1537(1 vote) - How a Simple Box Concept Changed World Trade And Fostered the Rise of a 3rd World Middle Class - by Submitted on Oct 14, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke How a Simple Box Concept Changed World Trade And Fostered the Rise of a 3rd World Middle Class For almost 4000 years the methodology used to ship finished goods, raw materials and minerals between distant points on the globe did not change. A transport ship pulled into a ...
Views: 1536(2 votes) - Competition Keeps Successful Entrepreneurs Sharp - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2009 from Geoff FickeEvery sports fan knows the story of a sports team competitively peaking at the right time on the road to winning a championship. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the 2006 Super Bowl even though they only had the second best record in their division. In addition, they had to overcome the huge hurdle ...
Views: 1528(2 votes) - Why Are Successful Entrepreneurs So Darn Lucky? - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeWhat is your definition of the word “luck”? Not the Webster’s Dictionary definition, your definition. Is it being in the right place at the right time? Picking the right dealer in a casino? Turning up at a party where you meet your current wife (could be good or bad luck)? Entrepreneurs seem ...
Views: 1526(2 votes) - Persistence Pays Off For Driven Product Marketers and Inventors of WD-40 - by Submitted on Aug 15, 2009 from Geoff FickePersistence Pays Off For Driven Product Marketers and Inventors of WD-40 Along with duct tape, probably the most common product handymen keep in the garage for tackling household chores and repairs is the ubiquitous lubricant spray WD-40. I am a mechanical klutz. But when something needs ...
Views: 1525(1 vote) - Customizing Products and Services Presents Entrepreneurs a Great Way to Bootstrap a Business - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Customizing Products and Services Presents Entrepreneurs a Great Way to Bootstrap a Business We live in a world where mass production and scalability have enabled consumers around the world the opportunity to enjoy a wider range of Consumer Products and Services than ever ...
Views: 1517(1 vote) - Why Is Laser-Like Focus So Crucial and Yet So Difficult for Entrepreneurs to Maintain - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Why Is Laser-Like Focus So Crucial and Yet So Difficult for Entrepreneurs to Maintain When we work with small businesses, entrepreneurs and inventors in our Consumer Product Marketing and Branding Consulting group we constantly find ourselves using and reinforcing the ...
Views: 1513(1 vote) - “Mad Men” Provides a Market Concept Tutorial on Television Each Week - by Submitted on Aug 26, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe hit television drama “Mad Men” recently began its third season to rave critical reviews and spectacular viewer ratings. The program, which is focused on the professional and personal lives of the associates of a New York City advertising agency in the early 1960’s is a magnetic period piece, ...
Views: 1505(4 votes) - How Modern Gastronomy Has Been Influenced by The Commercialization of Ancient Condiments - by Submitted on May 03, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke How Modern Gastronomy Has Been Influenced by The Commercialization of Ancient Condiments Several years ago I had the good fortune to re-visit the ruins at Pompeii near Naples, Italy with my family. I had been to the ancient site some 30 years before, but the excavation of ...
Views: 1499 - 6 Things You Need to Know In Order to License Your Product - by Submitted on Jun 26, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke 6 Things You Need to Know In Order to License Your Product My Marketing Consulting, Branding and Product Development firm receives numerous queries on Licensing Consumer Products, Services and Concepts every week. Most inquiries are of no value as the hopeful Licensor has ...
Views: 1498(1 vote) - Alternative Strategies For Hesitant Entrepreneurs - by Submitted on Aug 18, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe ability to succeed as an entrepreneur is one of the most rewarding experiences any person can enjoy. Seeing your product on a store shelf is an amazing rush. Knowing that your service is benefiting the public is incredibly rewarding. Beyond the obvious monetary rewards, the knowledge that ...
Views: 1488 - Making Public Relations Work for Your Business - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe magic word that every consumer loves to hear more than any other is, FREE! Sales promotions offering a free sample or product inducement are always exceedingly popular. Human nature being what it is, the opportunity to obtain something of perceived value for nothing is usually very ...
Views: 1469(1 vote) - A Simple Lesson from Aristotle On the Value of Finishing What You Start - by Submitted on Jul 12, 2010 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The greatest Greek philosopher, Aristotle, is widely studied and discussed to this very day for his keen observations on the human condition. For almost 2400-years Aristotle’s numerous writings, philosophical tracts and pithy comments on men and their relations toward each ...
Views: 1468(3 votes) - The Old Adage “You Get What You Pay For” Is Especially Important to Service Providers in Today’s Economy - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Old Adage “You Get What You Pay For” Is Especially Important to Service Providers in Today’s Economy The 19th century British essayist John Ruskin once presciently stated, “There is scarcely a thing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a ...
Views: 1464 - Energy Independence? Yes We Can! - by Submitted on Sep 05, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke My Company routinely reviews more than 600 new product ideas, concepts, prototypes and models during most years. During a soft economy, such as today’s, we see even more as people become more desperate to chase a dream. Pursuit of the “American Dream” almost always involves ...
Views: 1454(4 votes) - Industries Pioneered by Immigrants Prove America Still World’s Center for Opportunity - by Submitted on Aug 31, 2009 from Geoff FickeIndustries Pioneered by Immigrants Prove America Still World’s Center for Opportunity My first job after service in the Marine Corps was with the Revlon Cosmetic Company. Revlon was founded by the iconic business man and fashion arbiter of the day, Charles Revson. The business in the 1940’s, ...
Views: 1454(1 vote) - Unique Small Businesses Have Become Highly Desirable to Multi-National Companies - by Submitted on Sep 18, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Unique Small Businesses Have Become Highly Desirable to Multi-National Companies For over 50 years Estee Lauder has been the pre-eminent luxury Cosmetic, Fragrance and Skin Care Company in the Beauty Product world. Since the founding of the firm by Mrs. Lauder in the early ...
Views: 1451(1 vote) - Essential Lessons for Today From a 13th Century Friar - by Submitted on Sep 04, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke One of the greatest literary and science works of the ancient world, rarely studied today, was the Opus Majus. The amazingly futuristic content of the Opus Majus was virtually a modern tutorial, written in the 13th century, on an array of literary, scientific and philosophical ...
Views: 1450(4 votes)