"From Cool to Passe" (...in less than 60 seconds?)

Check out this great article on identity signaling at the Knowledge @ Wharton web-site...

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1803

Here's another cool blog you should bookmark!

Check out Tim Ferriss' blog -- he's the author of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.

Let me know what you think.

Book-mark Guy Kawasaki's Blog. NOW! :)

If you even remotely consider yourself an entrepreneur, or even if you just have entrepreneurial aspirations -- "some day" -- you need to book-mark Guy Kawasaki's blog, and visit often!

Knowledge at Wharton - Interesting Article on Customer Behavior

From a the latest Knowledge @ Wharton newletter, I came across an interesting article entitled "Beware the Walking Dead: Analyzing Customer Data from a Multi-Service Firm." Click the link to read the article. The article speaks to the importance of leaving alone your customers who are about to discontinue using your services. For businesses that offer multi-services (from financial institutions, to telecommunications providers...and yes, I do think photographers are both customers of and, in some cases, vendors or providers of multi-services).

Advertising - Two Short but Important Quotes

Twenty years ago while pursuing my undergraduate degree in Marketing / Advertising at Missouri State University, I had an extremely bright professor named Dr. Steven Greene for my Principles of Advertising class. If I remember anything from his class (one of my best), it's these two very important quotes:

"Zig when others zag."

"Creativity is measured at the cash register."

If you have any short, but powerful quotes that have taught you a lot about business...feel free to post them in the comments section.

~Dan

Are You Ready to be an Entrepreneur?

A great resource for entrepreneurs is www.timknox.com. Tim is an entrepreneur, speaker, author and radio talk-show host specializing in entrepreneurship and small business.

On Tim's web-site you can take a quiz called the Entrepreneurship IQ quiz. Click here to go directly to the quiz. You can sign up for Tim's weekly newsletter too. Let me warn you though...he'll throw a LOT of resource information offers at you from the get-go...so be prepared to sift thru all of the information he has to offer and pick out what applies to you or what interess you the most. That said...I do find Tim's web-site to be extremely insightful and helpful to small business owners and small business owner wannabes! :c)

Check out Jeff Jochum's Success Principles

Jeff Jochum is a very successful entrepreneur. Check out Jeff's success principles on his web-site under "Guidance."

Definition of "entrepreneur"

Heard this on a podcast recently...

Entrepreneur - someone who can't get and hold a job.

:c)

Stay tuned to the Tack Sharp Focus -- we'll have lots of exciting articles and helpful business strategy / marketing information coming soon!!

Welcome to The Tack-Sharp Focus blog!

Welcome to the Tack-Sharp Focus -- a blog dedicated to entrepreneurship and small business! We'll focus primarily on the marketing & sales side of running a small business...but we'll occasionally touch on other areas of entrepreneurship.

My name is Daniel J. Watkins and my love is for entrepreneurship. I currently run two small businesses from my home as well as work a full-time job that pays my family's health insurance premiums. :) I have four (count 'em...1, 2, 3, 4...) college degrees including Associates' Degrees in Communications as well as Business, a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and a Masters of Business Administration with emphasis in Electronic Commerce and Entrepreneurship. What can I say...I like to learn!

But I also like to teach...and that is why I have created this blog. With a little hard work, a little luck, and some more hard work, I'll do my best to share my insights with you on ways to grow your small business.

We're currently in beta-test mode with this blog...and will likely "soft launch" this blog and associated business consulting services sometime in the 2nd quarter of 2007.