This Is How It's Done: Smart Business Moves

11. Why this dinosaur's not extinct Before the TV show Barney and Friends, there was Barney and the Backyard Gang, a series of videotapes created by the Lyons Group. In 1987, founders Kathy Parker and Sheryl Leach couldn't muscle the purple rex onto store shelves. So, they sent free tapes to preschools, then hired telemarketers to alert area retailers. Stores that stocked tapes had their names sent to the schools and were rewarded with hordes of parent-dragging toddlers.

12. Your wish is granite When Bruce and Steve Woolpert took over the construction supply company Granite Rock in 1987, they launched annual "How're We Doing?" report cards, which ask customers to rate Granite in quality and service. These extensive surveys probe the effectiveness of each product line. The data are crunched into charts and displayed around the plant, so employees see their work through customers' eyes.

13. I owe my role to the company store When Henry Nasella became president of early-stage Staples in 1988, he knew zilch about the office-supply business. So he spent part of the first month working in one of the chain's stores, ringing up purchases, unloading trucks, and restocking shelves.

14. What would Sam do? In the late 1980s, Marvin Kramer of Friendship Manor Homes was spending time and money finding sites for his senior residences. He would identify a good spot and fly there -- and inevitably, Wal-Mart would be scouting the same area. So, Kramer started piggybacking: He waited until Wal-Mart planted a store and then located nearby.

15. Retreat to move ahead In 1991, sales at Patagonia had reached $100 million, but founder Yvon Chouinard felt Patagonia was in danger of becoming another uninspired megabrand. He took his managers for a three-week trip to the hills of Patagonian Argentina, where they mulled over "the next 100 years" and came up with one hell of a mission statement: Patagonia would reduce waste and pollution, it would donate 1 percent of sales to environmental causes, employees would be allowed to surf and ski as needed, and the company would be content with growth of 5 percent to 10 percent per year. That off-site helped create one of the most respected companies in the world.

16. Hey, big spender In 1993, Gary Hawkins, founder of Green Hills Farms in Syracuse, New York, showered gifts on those who loved the store as much as the store loved them. Spend $100 a week, and you got $15 back on your next purchase, a $25 gift certificate for the garden department, coupons for 5 percent off your bill all year, a Christmas tree, and more. Folks who came in sporadically in search of bargains got very little. Green Hills prospered by knowing who its friends were.

17. Branding's a beach Tommy Bahama wasn't pleased with the way its clothing was being presented at department stores in the early '90s. So the founders opened their own store in Naples, Florida -- with a Tommy Bahama-themed restaurant attached. Diners waiting to enjoy the coconut shrimp could browse the swimwear and Bermuda shorts while the company studied their preferences and developed brand awareness.

18. Not exactly chopped liver Zingerman's Deli is renowned for treating every aspect of operations with the same meticulous attention. In 1994, co-founders Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw decided to bottle it. They created ZingTrain, an organization that offers seminars to outside companies on the Zingerman's way.

19. Gone, baby, gone You can't always get what you want. That insight underlies the über-successful marketing strategy of Ty Warner, founder of Ty Inc. (That's Beanie Babies to you.) To keep excitement for its stuffed animals high in the '90s, Ty limited production of each line of critters and "retired" a few every year. Such scarcity incited a buying frenzy among collectors.

20. Errors apparent Prior to launch in 1995, Jeff Bezos gave Amazon.com the tire kicking to end all tire kickings. Employees asked friends to make mock purchases. The rehearsal was scheduled to run six weeks but expanded to three months as the 300 testers found glitches. When the site went live, it was virtually bugless.

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Actionable: A high-energy noun gone passive and flabby. Authenticity: Has become its own antonym through overuse. Best of breed: try not thinking of springer spaniels. Brain dump: Why treat creativity like construction waste? Co-operation: Business doesn't need a version of frenemy. Distermediate: has the same number of syllables as "cut out the middleman" with none of the clarity. Incentivize: First, it's not a word. Second, what's wrong with motivate? Mindshare: Our psyches are not Florida condos. Offline: Annoying in meetings ("Let's take this offline"). We're already offline! We're surrounded by human beings! Outside the box: A cliche about not thinking in cliches. Proactive: Ugly corporate-ese, but without a decent symptom. Anyone? Repurpose: You are recycling. Just say so. Solution: A shame, what has happened to this word. Synergy: This bastard child of synthesis and energy is godfather to every enigmatically named tech company. Value-add: Devalues the concept of value. Talk shouldn't be quite this cheap.