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Columns by Adam Hanft
Columns by Marketer-in-Chief Adam Hanft.
- Every Business Needs a Nanny
- Does your business need a nanny?
(March 2006) - Finding Your Voice
- Like Melville or Hemingway, companies need a unique voice to reach customers in a meaningful way.
(March 2006) - To Grow, or To Steal?
- Expanding a business can happen one of two ways: grow a market or steal market share from your competitors. Here's how you can arrive at the right strategy for your business.
(July 2005) - The Research Riddle
- User feedback increasingly has governed our market research efforts, but have we placed too much of an emphasis on this inexact science?
(May 2005) - What You Can Learn from Starbucks
- Even though torrents have been written about Starbucks, there is still a lot you can learn from its business practices.
(April 2005) - The Case Against Loyalty
- What's the biggest problem in American business? An excess of loyalty.
(April 2005) - Remembering an Entrepreneur We Loved
- Horace Hagedorn: an entrepreneur we loved.
(April 2005) - Ready, Willing, But Are You Enabled?
- Forces outside of your company are shaping your business's success more than you realize.
(March 2005) - In Praise of Privacy
- These days, transparency is all the rage. But businesses need a little privacy -- and sometimes a lot of it.
(March 2005) - How I Did It: David Blumenthal
- The family yarn business was just getting by until knitting became cool (perhaps you've seen Gangsta Knitter?). Now it's on its way to becoming a $200 million success.
(February 2005) - Reshuffling Your Cabinet
- Stop hiring people. Instead, make like the President and appoint them to four-year terms.
(February 2005) - Is There a Grown-up in the House?
- Being the rule breaker is cool. Being practical is boring. But that's just what most businesses need -- an unimaginative business dolt who can keep the team tethered to reality, especially when it comes to marketing.
(January 2005) - Grist: An Entrepreneur's Resolutions
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More nimbleness, less BlackBerry, and other new year's resolutions for 2005.
(January 2005) - Learn From Your Competitors
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Spend some time studying the guy who wants to eat your lunch. You might learn something.
(December 2004) - Grist: Micromanagers, Unite!
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Confessions from a real-life micro-manager -- and how our company can benefit from a little meddling.
(December 2004) - Pay Attention to Not Paying Attention
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Create an Action Culture in your business to help keep employees engaged and focused on your business' future.
(November 2004) - Grist: Politics, Passion -- and Profits
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In politics and beyond, the marriage of passion and profit is a winning formula for entrepreneurs.
(November 2004) - Set Your Sights High
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The cable channel industry is so far ahead of its competitor, the broadcast industry, that it would be silly not to take notice of the things its doing right -- and employ them in your own business.
(October 2004) - Grist: A Passport to America
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How blue staters and red staters can learn to communicate and do business.
(October 2004) - Courage to Charge More
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A portion of your customer base is price-driven, but a substantial number of them may be willing to pay even more for what you offer.
(September 2004) - It's Swing Time
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Corporate America is suffering from bipolar management disorder. Quick, put on some Ray Charles.
(September 2004) - Don't Market Your Business
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Un-Marketing: Reduce the power of the buyer -- and increase your standing -- by playing hard to get.
(August 2004) - Internet Opportunities Small Businesses Overloook
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Search marketing and rich media work, but too few small companies use them to their advantage.
(August 2004) - Grist: Resisting the Power of Pedigree
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In business, as in horseracing, good breeding can be overrated.
(August 2004) - War Economy: When Should You Attack Your Competition?
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You can tell consumers why your product is better and the other guy's is worse. But make sure you do it right.
(July 2004) - The Big Deal About Niches
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Don't let the word "niche" keep you from thinking big.
(July 2004) - Soul Proprietor: Jon Bon Jovi
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What's a rock star doing running a football team? Being entrepreneurial, for starters. Business owner Jon Bon Jovi talks with Inc. magazine.
(July 2004) - Grist: Beyond the Vale of Smiles
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Come in out of the sun. Your employees are shining you on.
(July 2004) - Grist: Why Bankruptcy is Bad for Business
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The other reason entrepreneurs should fear bankruptcy.
(June 2004) - Cutting Through the Clutter
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Why do business owners need more marketing advice, asks Adam Hanft? Because most of what you'll find on the Web doesn't expertly address marketing's ever-changing landscape.
(May 2004) - In Praise of Niche Marketing
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Big companies might have their sights set on the "mass market," but entrepreneurial companies realize the key to success is in satisfying the individual.
(May 2004) - Grist: What I Learned From The Sopranos
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With business leaders trying to clean up their acts, why are they turning to Tony Soprano, management guru?
(May 2004) - Grist: Trampling on Our Icons
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If politicians and economists love entrepreneurs so much (and they say they do), why do entrepreneurs face so many hurdles, whether they're starting their business or attempting to expand it?
(April 2004) - How I Did It With Howard Rubenstein
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Howard Rubenstein is PR's top dog, a man who represents the corporate and the celebrated, a neat combination of blue chips and black eyes.
(March 2004) - Grist: What's Love Got to Do With It?
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The level of romantic involvement between businesses and their owners is getting dangerous--for love, as we all know, is not a condition for rational thought.
(March 2004) - Grist: The New Lust for Integrity
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Ethical accountability now shapes the way companies are judged and valued. This isn't ethics as ornament, as the accessory of the moment. It is a lasting change.
(February 2004) - Grist: What's in Store for '04
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From "perfect storming" to CEOs as name-brands, here are some trends poised to take shape in 2004.
(January 2004) - Grist: Do you have the Schwarzenedge?
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Besides being governor-elect of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a metaphor for the triumph of entrepreneurism.
(December 2003) - Grist: Don't Ignore Corporate Graffiti
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The thoughts and scribblings of today's "prophetic minorities" are everywhere--especially on the Internet. Companies should not ignore the lessons contained in this corporate graffiti.
(November 2003) - The Zentrepreneur
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Restaurateur Phil Suarez has built his successful business intuitively---perhaps proving that you can't succeed if you're bored.
(October 2003) - Grist: The Inevitable Rise of the Entrepreneur
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The survival of the fittest doesn't always mean the survival of the biggest. Indeed, the natural life cycle of the American economy always eventually favors the entrepreneur.
(October 2003) - Grist: Mom & Pop: Please Read
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Who better to defend nepotism than the son of an internationally famous author? In praise of Adam Bellow's new book.
(September 2003) - Grist: More Power Than Point
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PowerPoint (or "presentation software") has become the lingua franca of American business. It's also become the problem with American business.
(August 2003) - Grist: Wanted: Something New Under the Sun
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If we measured consumer excitement about new products and used it as a bona fide economic indicator, we'd all be pretty worried. That's because there's too little cool stuff to buy these days.
(July 2003) - Grist: The Rising Cost of Bad Advice
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Given all the bad advice out there, business owners need to develop a healthy skepticism of the experts, recognizing that doing so requires more than just an inquiring mind.
(June 2003) - Grist: The American Ambassador
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American brands like Coke and McDonald's may end up being casualties of war.
(May 2003) - Grist: Down With Bossocracy
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Though many large companies have rushed to support the diversity policies at the University of Michigan, how many American businesses, large or small, really encourage diversity of thought?
(Apr 2003) - Grist: Don't Read the Business Pages
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How do you attack the morning paper? We all have our own rituals.
(March 2003) - Smarter Hiring, the DDI Way
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Some companies spend more time selecting the right copier than hiring the right employees. You can do better.
(March 2003) - Grist: Leno Brands Versus Letterman Brands
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Like late-night TV hosts, brands today fall into one of two categories: iconic or ironic.
(Feb 2003) - Grist: The Sad End of the Bad Reference
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Résumés, like ads in the personals column, are marketing documents intended to sell at best, deceive at worst.
(Jan 2003) - Grist: The Risk of Doing Nothing
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It's easy for businesses to quantify mistakes. But the bigger financial risk is the hidden cost of doing nothing.
(Dec 2002)
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