One List of Best Business Books of 2005

I haven't read any of the books on this list, so have no opinion. However, for those who are looking for business books and would appreciate a solid opinion from a solid source go here

The best business book of 2006 will be published in a few weeks. Running a 21st Century Small Business, by ME is due to come of the presses at Warner Books in mid January. I am looking for reviewers and will send a preview copy to anyone who is willing to write a review. The reviews will appear on various blogs, will need to be put up at Amazon and other books sites, and may be used for other purposes. Send me an e-mail or call if intersted. Randy_Kirk@californiasprings.com 800.245.3737 ext 223

The Lion, The Donkey, and the Fox

No, this is not the next book in the Chronicles of Narnia. However, as the story goes, these three characters were doing some rabbit hunting. After a very successful day, the lion asked the donkey if he would divide up the spoils among the three great hunters.

The donkey did his best to evenly divide things and proudly showed the lion the three piles of dead rabbits. The lion summarily killed the donkey, and threw his carcass onto one of the piles.

The lion then called the fox over and asked him if he would be so kind as to divide up the days kill. After a while the fox invited the lion over to examine his work. Here was a giant pile of rabbits with the donkey on top. The fox had one scraggly rabbit for himself.

Seeing this, the lion asked how he had become so good at counting. The fox replied: "I learned my skills from the donkey."

This little story is an object lesson in the importance of learning from those who have actually had experience. My partner has had 40 years of experience selling, marketing, and advertising products in at least 15 different markets. I have now put in 35 years in about 25 markets. We stand ready to assist you in any way we can to maximize your efforts with your clients. Call 800-245-3737. Ext 222 for Terry or 223 for me.

Google Yourself - Update

In yesterday's e-mail, I received this:

As a habit I Google just about everyone I encounter in daily or working life. While doing your search (nice job on getting a top 5 ranking with a relatively common name)

In a phone conversation earlier this month with a new business acquaintance, he asked:
"Are you the Randy Kirk that wrote the book RUNNING A 21st CENTURY SMALL BUSINESS?" I was amazed that he knew this, since that book won't even be available until January, 2006.

Google is the new "Who's Who." If you are doing business, some of your clients are going to want to know if you have any credentials. One of the fastest ways to move your own name up the list on Google is to create and post to your own blog. There are numerous articles in the archives of this blog that can get you started with your own site. You can also use the search feature.

Fire Your Customer?

For long time readers you will recognize this next post. However, in the past 4 days, two speakers whom I respect have made this point. Therefore I think it bears repeating. For some of you it will be the first time.

When you've been around the block as often as I have, it takes quite a lot to really change a major part of your thinking. However, I belong to a group called C12, which is made up of Christian CEO's who discuss ways to make their business better and to act more Christian as leaders. In one of our meetings we were discussing stewardship. The basic thrust of stewardship is to make sure you are wise in the use of your assets.

After your personal attributes like sparkling personality, devastating good looks, and killer drive, your number one asset is your customer list. And for my entire business career up to that day, it was all about adding to that list. Once, when running a wholesales business, we didn't even do credit checking for the first two years. Every new customer received automatic open account.

Several years ago some wisdom started to creep in. The old 80/20 rule suggested that 80% of my business was going to come from 20% of my customers. Therefore I needed to give them 80% of the attention. It never quite works out that way, but it did make me rethink a bit.

Then there were those admonitions about current customers being a less expensive source of new business than prospects. That seemed pretty wise, but it didn't slow down my voracious appetite for adding to the customer base.

What did change me was this stewardship thing. What was the real cost of my current customers? Were they paying their way? Some customers only buy promotionally priced items. Do they buy enough of the low margin stuff to justify the expense of their account? Some customers take up twice as much operator time per order as other customers. There are those who never have and never will buy more than the minimum. How much time can I devote to them? AND, the big one, some customers don't pay on time, and there is a real cost of funds and collections that must be taken into account.

Armed with this new info, I looked at my customer list with new eyes. Sure, I have some personal friendships that keep me selling somebody and spending more time than their account justifies. I have customers who have been late paying for 10 years, and I still sell them. But, if I start adding up margins + time + payment history, and the answer is a negative number, then it may be time to just pull the plug.

Just to make sure that you believe my testimony, we pulled the plug on $400,000 per year when we dropped Target and K Mart. It just didn't add up.

What Did You Sell This Time Last Year

I subscribe to about 1000 marketing, selling, business, e-mail, web, and other kinds of newsletters. Ok, I'm also known as something of an exaggerator.

In any case, sometimes they contain ideas that are quite worthy of repeating. The latest such instance was a story about one of our own, Omaha Steaks. They have, or at least had, a practice of sending out an annual listing of their customer's usage from the prior year. In other words, every time I might use Omaha Steaks to thank someone, reward someone, or gift someone, they would show up on this list.

Of course, some of these things repeat. Some kinds of promotions and events are the same every year. With this list in hand, I could refer to it all year long to make decisions about gifts, rewards, or a thank you in 2006.

We are going to start sending out reminders to our customers (promotional products distributors and their sales professionals.) We'll send them out about a month ahead. If you aren't already doing this for your customer .....

VOTE! NEW NAME CONTEST!

There were well over 100 entries to the Name That Blog Contest. We want to give all of you regular visitors a chance to participate. First timers can vote also. The vote will not be conclusive, it will be a part of the equation. Actually, calling it an equation is way too scientific for what we are doing. Here are the top ten names based on the feelings of our 5 judges thus far.

Promotional Products Think Tank

Promo Coffee Talk

Ideas That Sell

Tips of the Trade

Selling Matters

Business Builder's Blog

Let's talk pro...

Promo Chat

Promotional Product Buzz

Kirk Uncorked

You can vote by e-mail at Randy_Kirk@CaliforniaSprings.com or by clicking on the comment button and posting your opinion. Thanks for your help. The winner will be announced in next Friday's blast and post.

Are You Blogging Yet?

Have you created a blog yet? You should really do so. It will take you a few minutes to create one, a few hours to get the hang of it, and only a couple of hours per week to keep it current. It can pay off really big in the long run. Oh, and if nothing else, it is a great place to show off your grandkids.

Want Something Really New To Show Your Clients

I love new stuff. I love conceptualizing, designing, developing, packaging, marketing, and following the sales of new products. I also love presenting new things. My guess is that you do, too. In fact, you likely think you should have two or three new ideas every time you walk into a client's office.

I know for a fact that we have things in our catalog that you have never seen, much less shown your customers. We send random samples totally free with no freight charge. (Bags and polycarb bottles may require payment.) We will do spec bottles for free if the opportunity is a good one.

Take 5 minutes and check out our website at http://www.CaliforniaSprings.com. You will see that we do things many others can't. Who else has a baby bottle that you can offer in 50 colors and print in 4 colors? Who else offers a 9 ounce bottle? And no one else has a crystal clear 32 ounce bottle for only $1.79 (c)?

To those who are paying close attention, you are correct, this is a re-run. But it is re-run season.

Why Future Gaze

My wife can't quite figure out why I spend so much time reading newspapers, web sites, and watching TV news. I explain that I do it for business reasons, but I think if you asked her, she'd say she thinks I do it for fun.

Sure, I like politics, world affairs, and the study of trends. But I look back on so many mistakes made by those who should have known better. How is it possible that we don't have enough rooms or books in some of our schools. It wasn't that hard to look at government stats and see the echo baby boom coming years before it hit. At 1,000,000 kids PER YEAR extra, almost 25%, it should have been a slam dunk to plan for that pig as it went through he python.

With that said, check out this report in the news last week.

Manufacturers Report Worker Shortage
# Factories are struggling to find enough qualified employees after cutting 3.4 million jobs since 1998, a trade group says.

From Reuters

WHINGTON — More than 80% of U.S. manufacturers say they cannot find enough qualified workers to meet customer demands, according to an industry study released Tuesday.

After losing 3.4 million factory jobs since 1998, employers are struggling to find enough high-skilled machinists, technicians and engineers to keep production lines humming, the National Assn. of Manufacturers said.

Of more than 800 manufacturers surveyed, 13% reported a severe shortage of qualified workers and 68% said they experienced a moderate shortage.

"The survey exposes a widening gap between the dwindling supply of skilled workers in America and the growing technical demands of the modern manufacturing workplace," said association President John Engler.

The report, released by the association, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte Consulting, found 83% of manufacturers were struggling to serve customers because there were not enough qualified workers.

Some struggled to produce enough to meet customer demand, whereas others could not meet targets for productivity or customer service.

The exodus of baby boomers from the U.S. workforce, a negative stereotype of manufacturing and a drop in the number of American students pursuing technical or engineering degrees are fueling the problem, Engler said.

The news Monday that General Motors Corp. would be cutting 30,000 jobs does not help the industry's image, but Engler said the United States remained a manufacturing powerhouse — especially in innovative and high value-added production.

Lowering costs, as foreign automakers have managed to do, will ensure even labor-intensive products can be built here, he said.

"There will be a lot of people building cars in America for a long time," Engler said.

When manufacturers struggle to find enough qualified workers, Jeffrey Owens, president of Peoria, Ill.-based Advanced Technology Services, helps fill the gap.

"It's a pretty significant problem," said Owens, whose 1,500 workers provide factory maintenance for heavy machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. and industrial and aerospace conglomerate Honeywell International Inc., among others.

"A lot of people are retiring who are extremely talented, good people, and there's nobody coming in behind them…. The younger generation doesn't consider manufacturing a viable career alternative," Owens said.

Although the image of backbreaking labor in steel plants or on assembly lines may be what most Americans still think of when they imagine factory work, Owens said the modern workplace was often more about computers.

"You really use your brain a lot more than you use your back," he said. "There are some guys that can really work magic with the machinery to keep it running. Sometimes it's more of an art than a science."

Look at all the amazing information in that article with regard to potential business for you. Use of promotionals for recruitment, retention, and job skills training. Or how about the choice of who you call on for future business. How hard should you look at manufacturing companies whose product lines are easily sourced in other countries?

So, if you ever happen to meet my bride of 19 years, tell her I really do have business reasons to listen to talk radio.