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Articles from Geoff Ficke | Selfgrowth.com
- 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: 1532(1 vote) - 5 Examples of Remora Fish Marketing That Can Jump Start Your Product’s Sales & Marketing - by Submitted on Jun 26, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke 5 Examples of Remora Fish Marketing That Can Jump Start Your Product’s Sales & Marketing Everyone is fascinated by sharks. They are so dangerous, explosive and mysterious. Television documentaries detailing their habits, hunting techniques and brutality are ubiquitous, As ...
Views: 2058(1 vote) - 5 Questions That Must Be Answered Before Attempting to Fund or Launch Your Consumer Product - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2012 from Geoff Ficke5 Questions That Must Be Answered Before Attempting to Fund or Launch Your Consumer Product I am constantly amazed at the naivety of first time entrepreneurs and inventors when it comes to the due diligence they must conduct in order to get their idea, concept or prototype to market. Even ...
Views: 1370(1 vote) - 5 Tips for Small Businesses and Start-ups to Use To Appear Bigger than They Really Are - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke 5 Tips for Small Businesses and Start-ups to Use To Appear Bigger than They Really Are For many years I have worked almost exclusively with entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses seeking to start, or grow a business against daunting odds and competitive ...
Views: 1315(1 vote) - 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: 1493(1 vote) - A Baby’s Illness Was Responsible for One of the World’s Most Revered and Iconic Brands - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Geoff FickeA Baby’s Illness Was Responsible for One of the World’s Most Revered and Iconic Brands There is barely a household anywhere in the world that is home to a baby that does not have a supply of Gerber Baby Food in the cupboard. The product is ubiquitous. The label is one of the most ...
Views: 1113(1 vote) - A Business Model That Really Succeeds at Warfare - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2009 from Geoff FickeMercenary soldiers have been used by nation states since Biblical times. The Romans used Goth mercenaries to fight Hannibal and his Carthaginian army. The English used Celtic warriors to defend them against the Vikings. The British used Hessians during the Revolutionary War here in the United ...
Views: 2322(2 votes) - 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: 1596(2 votes) - Adopt a Pre-Sell Strategy to Drive Interest in Your Project Before Seeking to Attract Investment Funding - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Adopt a Pre-Sell Strategy to Drive Interest in Your Project Before Seeking to Attract Investment Funding Recently I met with a prospective client who presented my Consumer Product Marketing and Branding Consulting firm with an overview of his project, its development ...
Views: 2209(1 vote) - Before Asking Others to Invest in Your Project Prepare to Answer the Question That Always Comes - by Submitted on Jul 15, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Before Asking Others to Invest in Your Project Prepare to Answer the Question That Always Comes Recently I reviewed a Business Plan that was submitted with a goal of raising a $2 million angel funding round. The product was a Hair Care Accessory that had real commercial ...
Views: 1159(3 votes) - Business Plan Mills Turn Out Documents That Are Expensive--and—Mostly Useless to Entrepreneurs! - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Business Plan Mills Turn Out Documents That Are Expensive--and—Mostly Useless to Entrepreneurs! The Business Plan, and the process involved in crafting these essential documents, is one of the most maligned areas in all of small business. Many start-up firms and ...
Views: 1377(1 vote) - Business Should Offer More than Just a Product They Should Try to Offer a Buying Experience - by Submitted on Jul 08, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Business Should Offer More than Just a Product They Should Try to Offer a Buying Experience The hugely successful entrepreneur Debbi Fields was once asked what it felt like to be a winner in the cookie business; she replied, “I never felt like I was in the cookie business. ...
Views: 1232(1 vote) - Converting an Idea to Income Is a Process That Requires Planting and Fertilization, Not Hope and Dreaming - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Converting an Idea to Income Is a Process That Requires Planting and Fertilization, Not Hope and Dreaming Under the category of inexperienced blind hope, a surprising number of people that approach my Consumer Product Development group with a new business idea want us to ...
Views: 1374(1 vote) - Did a Fragrance Really Trigger the Events That Led to the Infamous Beheading of Marie Antoinette? - by Submitted on Jun 19, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Did a Fragrance Really Trigger the Events That Led to the Infamous Beheading of Marie Antoinette? Jean-Francois Houbigant launched his famous Perfume atelier and shop on the Fauborg St. Honore in Paris in 1775. This was during the gilded age of French royalty and of the ...
Views: 1204(1 vote) - Do Not Shortchange Funding Needs Too Little Is Worse Than Too Much - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeThere is an old adage in the funding community: “Investing $1,000,000 to fail is expensive, investing $5,000,000 to succeed is cheap. Investors will respond to funding needs based on real world assumptions. They will be very cautious when assessing a venture’s real funding requirements. ...
Views: 1232(1 vote) - Entrepreneurial Creativity Is Still Rife in the Fashion Jewelry and Cosmetic World - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Entrepreneurial Creativity Is Still Rife in the Fashion Jewelry and Cosmetic World My Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm has had a busy spring introducing a slew of new products in international cosmetic and jewelry industry trade shows. We participated in ...
Views: 1337(1 vote) - For Seven Generations a Unique Business Has Brought Happiness and Beauty to Millions Each Spring - by Submitted on May 28, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke For Seven Generations a Unique Business Has Brought Happiness and Beauty to Millions Each Spring Newark, New York does not spring to mind as a base for horticultural genius. Not to be confused with tough, rough hewn Newark, New Jersey, this small farming area became the ...
Views: 1065(1 vote) - How a Pre-Sell Campaign Will Mitigate Financial Risk and Confirm Market Acceptance for New Consumer Products - by Submitted on May 06, 2013 from Geoff FickeHow a Pre-Sell Campaign Will Mitigate Financial Risk and Confirm Market Acceptance for New Consumer Products by: Geoff Ficke Our Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm typically works with two types of clients. One is a startup requiring total support and guidance from ...
Views: 1329(1 vote) - How An Immigrant With Just a Few Canaries Builds a Vast Fortune - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2009 from Geoff FickeIn the 1920’s Germany was in tatters. The formerly great empire was dismantled, the powerful army humiliated by its defeat in World War I and the population starved, cold and living in despair. Businesses that had been successful before the war were decimated by the outcome. There was no way to ...
Views: 1357(2 votes) - How One of the Fashion World’s Earliest Great Innovators Lost Everything by Lack of Innovation - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke How One of the Fashion World’s Earliest Great Innovators Lost Everything by Lack of Innovation It is startling to study an empires crumble, decline and ultimately perishing on the ash heap of history. It happened to ancient states such as Egypt, Rome, Athens and ...
Views: 1368(1 vote) - How to Market a New Consumer Product Idea-The Mindset Required - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke How to Market a New Consumer Product Idea-The Mindset Required This will be the first in a series of self-help articles that will be of use to aspiring entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses who seek to market a consumer product, idea or service that they have ...
Views: 1066(1 vote) - How to Self-Analyze Your Consumer Product Idea To Facilitate Bringing It to Life - by Submitted on Jun 26, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke How to Self-Analyze Your Consumer Product Idea To Facilitate Bringing It to Life Today I was approached by a person with an interesting Consumer Product concept they hoped to bring to market. The idea potentially has considerable utility. I say “potentially” because it is ...
Views: 1117(1 vote) - Is it Possible for Anyone to Be A Successful Entrepreneur? - by Submitted on Aug 05, 2009 from Geoff FickeThis is a question that has no absolute answer. In many aspects of life an entrepreneurial spirit is useful. For our purposes, we will stick to the commercial and business areas and narrow the field of possible answers within this scope. I believe that theoretically any person can be a ...
Views: 1059(1 vote) - Keep Business Operations and Logistics Simple, Streamlined and Agile - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2009 from Geoff FickeMost of the entrepreneurs we interview in our consulting business have a very unrealistic conception of what excites and disappoints investors. The dream of many inexperienced inventors seeking to fund their opportunity is to build a substantial infrastructure. Their business plan identifies the ...
Views: 1241(1 vote) - Making a Minor Product Usage Change Can Propel Major Sales Advances - by Submitted on Jun 28, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Making a Minor Product Usage Change Can Propel Major Sales Advances In the middle of the 20th century pre-packaged foods and mixes were not as ubiquitous as they are today. Typically, a middle class home had a housewife present and preparing her families meals from scratch. ...
Views: 1357(1 vote) - Occam’s Razor Offers a 700 Year Old Rule of Great Import to Modern Inventors - by Submitted on Aug 31, 2009 from Geoff FickeKISS Is Just A New Turn On An Ancient Theorem Most of us are familiar with the colloquial term “keep it simple stupid” or KISS. The phrase, often used derisively to pan a complex over-analysis of a problem, is part of the current idiom. The assumption that simplicity is the preferred route to ...
Views: 1128(2 votes) - 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: 1788(1 vote) - Our Demise is Greatly Overstated The United States’ Future is Incandescent - by Submitted on Sep 08, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke As we slog along under the full weight of the current financial calamity, there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth about the future of the United States. Many of our countries fiercest enemies and critics are gloating over their perception that our wave has crested and we ...
Views: 1367(3 votes) - Securing Professional Help - How to Market a New Consumer Product Idea - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Securing Professional Help - How to Market a New Consumer Product Idea The last article in this series considered the mindset and attitudes required to be a successful marketer of consumer products and services. We discussed whether to utilize professional Consulting ...
Views: 867(1 vote) - The 5 Personal Traits Essential for Achieving Entrepreneurial Success - by Submitted on Jul 08, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The 5 Personal Traits Essential for Achieving Entrepreneurial Success I have worked with Entrepreneurs, Inventors and businesses large and small all over the world in my career as a Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consultant. For every 20 opportunities we review, ...
Views: 1302(1 vote) - The Challenge for Big Companies Is Not to Be Slow! That Is the Opportunity for Entrepreneurs - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Challenge for Big Companies Is Not to Be Slow! That Is the Opportunity for Entrepreneurs Louis B. Gerstner, the famous business executive who ran International Business Machines (IBM) once famously quipped, “I’ve never seen a small company that did not want to be a big ...
Views: 1151(1 vote) - The Importance of Focus Groups and Their Alternatives To Consumer Product Marketers and Entrepreneurs - by Submitted on Sep 23, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Importance of Focus Groups and Their Alternatives To Consumer Product Marketers and Entrepreneurs My Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm offers a variety of services to clients. One that we frequently utilize, and is often misunderstood is the ...
Views: 2367(1 vote) - The Importance of “Instant Gratification” When Marketing Consumer Products - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Importance of “Instant Gratification” When Marketing Consumer Products I remember as a little boy the excitement of shopping for a new car with my father. Dad was a Chevrolet man. He always bought cars from the same dealership and the same salesman. We would walk the ...
Views: 3761(2 votes) - The Nearly Forgotten Fashion Pioneer Who Changed the Way Women Dressed - by Submitted on Jul 22, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Nearly Forgotten Fashion Pioneer Who Changed the Way Women Dressed Mention the name Chanel and virtually every woman, and most men immediately have a mental picture of the famous logo, eponymous boutiques, couture fashion and famous Fragrances created several ...
Views: 3157(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: 1768(2 votes) - The Origins of Modern Banking Are Inter-twined With an Ancient Military Order - by Submitted on Sep 08, 2009 from Geoff FickeThe world is currently fixated on the international credit crisis and the role banking has played in this debacle. We take it for granted that commerce flows quickly and accurately across borders and frontiers. A resident of Maine can purchase a tank of gas at home, or in Italy with the same ...
Views: 2665(2 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: 1887(1 vote) - The Rarest Most Exclusive Garment Wool in the World is Not for Sale - by Submitted on Jun 19, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Rarest Most Exclusive Garment Wool in the World is Not for Sale For centuries the famous weavers of Kashmir have gathered and produced shawls from the rarest fiber in the world, Shahtoosh. These fabulous, prized shawls are so exclusive that the name Shahtoosh, meaning ...
Views: 2351(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: 1874(1 vote) - The Simple Wisdom We Learn from Studying Ancient Greek Rhetorical Form Chiasmus - by Submitted on Jul 08, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Simple Wisdom We Learn from Studying Ancient Greek Rhetorical Form Chiasmus The ancient Greeks perfected and gifted to us the unique rhetorical form known as chiasmus. Simply stated, chiasmus is a figure of speech in which two phrases are inverted to display a ...
Views: 1357(1 vote) - Time Is Never on the Entrepreneur’s Side - by Submitted on Jul 10, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Time Is Never on the Entrepreneur’s Side In the early 1960’s, when the Rolling Stones were trying to become successful as a “blues band”, their first commercially successful recording was a ballad called “Time is on my side”. For the Rolling Stones time certainly has been ...
Views: 1197(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: 1447(1 vote) - Using Trade Shows to Launch or License Your Novel Consumer Product Is Key - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Using Trade Shows to Launch or License Your Novel Consumer Product Is Key Each business day we are approached by entrepreneurs, small businesses, and inventors from all over the world seeking guidance and asking how best to launch and successfully commercialize their ...
Views: 1223(1 vote) - Want to Kill a New Business Opportunity? Avoid These 5 Often Repeated Mistakes - by Submitted on Sep 27, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Want to Kill a New Business Opportunity? Avoid These 5 Often Repeated Mistakes I review new Business Opportunities for a living. My Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm is besieged with presentations, Executive Summaries, product prototypes and ...
Views: 1170(1 vote) - 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: 1803(1 vote) - What Modern Marketers Can Learn From A 100 Year Old Artisan Auto Maker - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2009 from Geoff FickeH. F. S. Morgan launched his eponymous car manufacturing company in England in 1909. For a century, through world wars and great economic turbulence, Morgan Motor Company has produced some of the most stylish, desirable automobiles ever produced. Unless you are a classic car enthusiast, you ...
Views: 1321(2 votes) - 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: 1465(3 votes) - Great Entrepreneurs Build Strong International Brand Names - by Submitted on Aug 31, 2009 from Geoff FickeTheir Successors Often Lose Focus And Greatly Damage These Franchises If you are of a certain age you will vividly remember the following names: Helena Rubenstein, Faberge, Germain Monteil, Trigere, Revlon, Elizabeth Arden, Max Factor, Schwinn, W. T. Grant, Montgomery Ward and Chuck Taylor. ...
Views: 2042(3 votes) - 10 Bullet Point Options for Bootstrapping Your Small Business or Consumer Product Opportunity - by Submitted on May 05, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke 10 Bullet Point Options for Bootstrapping Your Small Business or Consumer Product Opportunity Almost every small or micro-business, entrepreneur or inventor faces a harsh financial reality when starting out. They have little or no access to venture capital, financing or ...
Views: 2694(1 vote) - A Case Study in Very Bright Successful People Making Really Bad Product Marketing Decisions - by Submitted on Sep 12, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke A Case Study in Very Bright Successful People Making Really Bad Product Marketing Decisions As my readers know I run a Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting Company. We review hundreds of Inventions, Innovations and New Product Concepts each year. These are ...
Views: 1386(1 vote)