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Articles from Geoff Ficke | Selfgrowth.com
- A Great Example of Building a Successful Start-up Gift Marketing Business from a Nice Personal Habit - by Submitted on Sep 12, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke A Great Example of Building a Successful Start-up Gift Marketing Business from a Nice Personal Habit Recently my Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm was engaged by a client seeking to leverage a Small Business opportunity from a personal habit she ...
Views: 1228(1 vote) - An Example of Remora Marketing That Launched the National Chain Drug Store Boom - by Submitted on Jul 13, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke An Example of Remora Marketing That Launched the National Chain Drug Store Boom Before the middle of the 20th century there were no national chain drug stores. The neighborhood pharmacy was typically owned by a local druggist. There were multi-door local groups of stores ...
Views: 2002(1 vote) - Classic French Milled Soap Offers a Lesson in Creating A Proprietary Marketing Niche for Common Products - by Submitted on Jul 08, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Classic French Milled Soap Offers a Lesson in Creating A Proprietary Marketing Niche for Common Products One of the most difficult realities an aspiring Consumer Product Marketer must confront is how to present their Brand as a fresh, original, worthwhile counter-offering ...
Views: 2063(1 vote) - 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: 1744(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: 1511(1 vote) - For 100 Years Women Have Enjoyed the Luxury of Jean Patou’s Joy Fragrance - by Submitted on May 28, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke For 100 Years Women Have Enjoyed the Luxury of Jean Patou’s Joy Fragrance French furrier and tanner Jean Patou moved from Normandy to Paris in 1910 intent on building an eponymous fashion house. He opened Maison Parry and sold his entire collection in 1914 to a single ...
Views: 2035(1 vote) - Having a “Better Mousetrap” Is Not Enough to Propel a New Consumer Product to Success - by Submitted on Sep 12, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Having a “Better Mousetrap” Is Not Enough to Propel a New Consumer Product to Success This past week I reviewed a new Skin Care concept. My Product Development and Consumer Product Marketing Consulting firm reviews hundreds of projects in numerous categories each year. Many ...
Views: 1201(1 vote) - 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: 1935(1 vote) - How We React to Failure Defines How Much Success Most People Can Attain - by Submitted on May 24, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke How We React to Failure Defines How Much Success Most People Can Attain In 1954 the manager of The Grand Ole Opry told Elvis Presley, “You ain’t going nowhere son. Go back to driving a truck”. After his first audition the great actor Sidney Poitier was told by the ...
Views: 3050(1 vote) - 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: 1450(1 vote) - It’s Time To “Just Say No More” To Intrusive Abusive Government - by Submitted on Sep 02, 2009 from Geoff FickeA fitting metaphor for the young 21st century, and the ever-increasing intrusiveness of government at all levels, is this weeks news stories detailing the total lack of progress in rebuilding the World Trade Center. This is the cherry on top of the proverbial bitter bureaucratic sundae. Is this ...
Views: 1109(1 vote) - Problems Are Arriving In Great Batches And That Can Be a Very Good Thing! - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke William Shakespeare” famous quote from Hamlet, “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions”, is particularly relevant today. All of the news seems bad. The negative numbers are huge. The human devastation seems interminable. Governments everywhere seem ...
Views: 1322(1 vote) - Taking Shortcuts in Order to Secure Investment Funds Is the Pursuit of Fools Gold and Insures Failure - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2013 from Geoff FickeTaking Shortcuts in Order to Secure Investment Funds Is the Pursuit of Fools Gold and Insures Failure by: Geoff Ficke Just today, on a single Linked-In group I visit, I have seen at least five naked pitches seeking funding for a new consumer product, concept or invention. This occurs ...
Views: 1396(1 vote) - The 4000 Year Old Egyptian Mystery That Teaches To This Day - by Submitted on Sep 05, 2009 from Geoff FickeOne of the great entertainment values available to almost anyone with a cable television service is the History Channel. The volume and quality of wonderfully instructive and entertaining programming on offer is amazing. I have never watched a reality show, or a celebrity dancing display, but I ...
Views: 1195(1 vote) - The Cincinnati Native Who Created the Pet Food Industry in the Mid-19th Century - by Submitted on Jul 13, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke The Cincinnati Native Who Created the Pet Food Industry in the Mid-19th Century Since the domestication of the dog some 10,000 years ago, man’s best friend enjoyed a very limited diet of table scraps, grains and scrounged bits and pieces scoured from fields and city streets ...
Views: 1390(1 vote) - The Human Genome Project Is One Of The Worlds Great Scientific Achievements - by Submitted on Aug 31, 2009 from Geoff FickeIt Also Offers Entrepreneurs an Amazing Lesson About Competition Mapping the human genome had been a goal that modern bio-scientists yearned to conquer for decades. Human genome, basically a map of each humans cell make-up, if properly researched and documented, could provide the answer to ...
Views: 1148(1 vote) - The Invention of Interchangeable Parts Terrified Government 200 Years Ago-and Today - by Submitted on Sep 28, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Since the beginning of time, until the middle of the 19th century the production of goods was conducted on an artisan, piece by piece basis. Over these many centuries the center of the individual’s universe was the local environ where commerce and enterprise were conducted on ...
Views: 2205(2 votes) - The Invention of the Wheelbarrow Made the Great Castles and Cathedrals Possible - by Submitted on Sep 08, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby:Geoff Ficke Virtually every modern household has a basic wheelbarrow stored away. The use of the wheelbarrow is ubiquitous in construction and basic home chores. The design, form and function of the wheelbarrow has not appreciable changed for 700 years. And yet, this simple tool is one of ...
Views: 3391(1 vote) - The Most Under-Utilized Resource Entrepreneurs Neglect to Take Advantage of Is Local Universities - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby:Geoff Ficke The Most Under-Utilized Resource Entrepreneurs Neglect to Take Advantage of Is Local Universities Inventors, Entrepreneurs, Artisans and Small Businesses are very often bereft of funds needed to secure professional help that would be beneficial in leveraging their projects ...
Views: 1403(1 vote) - 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: 1661(1 vote) - 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: 1602(1 vote) - 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: 1572(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: 1741(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: 1506(1 vote) - Words Used to Present Your Business Proposition Must be Carefully Chosen - by Submitted on Feb 08, 2012 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Words Used to Present Your Business Proposition Must be Carefully Chosen This week I was forwarded a Business Plan from a Venture Capital principal for whom I perform consulting services. This gentleman had read the elevator pitch for the product and had initial interest in ...
Views: 1337(1 vote) - A Baseball Player as an Entrepreneurial Role Model - by Submitted on Aug 04, 2009 from Geoff FickeWatching the Chicago White Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1917, I was struck again how wondrous this beautiful sport still can be. The purest American game, baseball teaches so many of the values we appreciate in all areas of life. Hard work, doing the little things, hustle, ...
Views: 1290 - Adding Features to Products Can Create Blockbuster Opportunities - by Submitted on Sep 10, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke I have written in the past about the huge commercial opportunities afforded divergent products and inventions, as opposed to convergent features added to existing products. Divergent products are truly groundbreaking, destructive, disruptive breakthroughs. However, very few ...
Views: 1295 - 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: 1481 - An Eccentric Lifestyle Popular in the Early 19th Century Has Left Us the Simple Graham Cracker and More! - by Submitted on May 21, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke An Eccentric Lifestyle Popular in the Early 19th Century Has Left Us the Simple Graham Cracker and More! The Presbyterian Reverend Sylvester Graham, an early 19th century proponent of an extreme, aesthetic lifestyle, is largely forgotten today. During his life, however, ...
Views: 1420 - An Exclusivity Strategy Can Be Crucial To Successful Brand Marketing - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Many of the inventors and entrepreneurs we deal with in our consumer product marketing business approach us with dreams of selling product to the masses. This can be lucrative and a proper launch strategy in cases where all of the stars in the galaxy line up properly. How ...
Views: 5101 - Ancient Egyptian Lessons Learned Then Forgotten - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Any visitor to modern Egypt, or viewer of a travelogue on this amazing country is awed by the antiquities visible everywhere. The Sphinx, hundreds of pyramids and mausoleums, temples and statuary are testament to the brilliance of this 4000 year old culture. These relics have ...
Views: 2607 - 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: 1762 - Does My New Product Idea Really Have Legs? - by Submitted on Aug 04, 2009 from Geoff FickeMy firm looks at hundreds of new product ideas, concepts and inventions every year. Many have great potential. When reviewing these opportunities the creator inevitably asks some form of the following: “Before spending any money, how can I get a feel for the potential success of my new ...
Views: 757 - Fear Is a Key Driver of Success - by Submitted on Mar 28, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Ayrton Senna, the great Brazilian Gran Prix driver, once famously was quoted: “To survive Gran Prix racing, you need to be afraid. Fear is an important feeling. It helps you to race longer and live longer”. Fear is an element that each of us face in different ways, and at ...
Views: 2679 - How a Long Forgotten Shipping Magnate Removed His Name from Restaurant Menus around the World - by Submitted on May 21, 2011 from Geoff FickeHow a Long Forgotten Shipping Magnate Removed His Name from Restaurant Menus around the World Ever enjoyed a meal of Lobster Wenberg? You will not find the dish on any fine restaurants or diner’s menu today. In fact, the dish existed as Lobster Wenberg for less than a month at Delmonico’s in ...
Views: 1064 - 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: 1494 - How To Assure Failure In a New Venture - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke One of the great benefits we enjoy about the consulting work we do is having the opportunity to review the inventiveness of hundreds of entrepreneurs each year. It truly is amazing how many of these creative talents push the envelope of novelty. There is no such reality as the ...
Views: 1410 - How to Change a Product Negative into a Positive - by Submitted on May 03, 2011 from Geoff FickeHow to Change a Product Negative into a Positive Virtually every consumer product comes to market with an Achilles heel. There is an inherent limitation, design shortcoming or performance kerfuffle that is almost always present. Nevertheless, many of these products become very successful ...
Views: 915 - How To Invent A Billion Dollar Product and Personally Gain Very Little - by Submitted on Sep 04, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke In 1930, a young engineer was sent by his supervisor to spend time working on the floor of a Minneapolis auto body shop. The reason for the working visit was to review the performance of his employer’s principal product, industrial grade sandpaper, in actual use as a car door ...
Views: 2153 - How to Snatch Commercial Failure From the Jaws of Victory - by Submitted on Sep 10, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke As readers of my articles well know, I run a marketing and product development-consulting firm. We review hundreds of novel consumer products, new service concepts and prototypes each year. The level of creativity contained in some of these offerings is truly stunning and ...
Views: 1276 - Imagine What the World Would Be Like Without the Simple Screw - by Submitted on Sep 10, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke We take the simplest devices for granted in our modern technologically advanced world. We turn a tap and water is delivered, hot, temperate and cold. We hit a wall switch and darkness is overcome by light. We open the refrigerator door and peer into a compartment that contains ...
Views: 1412 - In a World of Mass Market Indifference There Is Still Room for Bespoke Quality - by Submitted on Sep 08, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke One of the most illuminating professional experiences of my life was my first visit to the elegant center of British Bespoke male haberdashery, Saville Row in London’s exclusive Mayfair district. I was a young man, just starting my career in the international cosmetic business ...
Views: 1122 - In Defense Of Success - by Submitted on Aug 18, 2009 from Geoff FickeDuring a January 1980 television interview, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stated, “No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well”. Our current times make this keen observation particularly relevant. We continually are bombarded ...
Views: 1284 - London Offers the World’s Most Exciting And Historic Retail Shopping Scene - by Submitted on May 24, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke London Offers the World’s Most Exciting And Historic Retail Shopping Scene Recently I had the opportunity to take a quick business trip to London. As always, I made sure to save some extra time to enjoy the street life and unique shopping opportunities that abound in this ...
Views: 1080 - Many Aspects of Modern Travel Were Pioneered By the Ancient Romans - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2009 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Modern travelers take the open road for granted. We can hop into exquisitely engineered modern vehicles, pop onto smooth, straight freeways, well lit, with excellent signage and many roadside conveniences. We can cover as much ground as we might like in any direction, in ...
Views: 2020 - Marketing a Product Is Most Effective When Presented Through Story Telling - by Submitted on May 21, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Marketing a Product Is Most Effective When Presented Through Story Telling Many years ago, when I was just a young rookie salesman I was fortunate to fall under sway of a wonderful veteran sales manager. His name was Milton Lupow and he became a mentor, teacher and coach ...
Views: 1065 - Multi-Tasking Now Is the Crucial Difference Between Success and Failure for Entrepreneurs - by Submitted on May 06, 2011 from Geoff Fickeby: Geoff Ficke Multi-Tasking Now Is the Crucial Difference Between Success and Failure for Entrepreneurs The early 20th century British politician James Maxton once famously quipped, “If you cannot ride two horses you have no right in the circus”. The same is true for aspiring ...
Views: 970 - 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: 1739 - Sales Talent Is Available And Affordable - Fear of Selling Should Not Impede Entrepreneurs and Inventors - by Submitted on Aug 07, 2009 from Geoff FickeDuring my many years of reviewing and analyzing inventions, new products and service offerings I have been amazed by the innate fear of selling expressed by so many otherwise capable entrepreneurs. There exists a palpable fear of selling that mimics vertigo, arachnophobia or a fear of snakes. ...
Views: 1149 - The Anatomy of a Product From an Idea to Reality - by Submitted on Aug 04, 2009 from Geoff FickeWhat does it take to turn an idea into a product? How can I realize financial gain from my idea? Where do I start? These and many other questions swirl around would-be inventors and entrepreneurs as they seek to bring new products and services to market. The process can seem daunting for anyone ...
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