Maui Printing Company

With football season now in full swing, fans across the country are watching their favorite teams fight for a shot at postseason glory. Football is a sport that requires athletic prowess, analytical skill, and a considerable amount of strategizing. As such, there are many lessons we can apply to the business world. Here are just a few to consider. Study the competition Football teams are known for their intense studies of opposing teams. Coaches and players alike will spend hours analyzing footage from past games to get a feel for how their opponents work together, what plays they go to frequently, and what strengths and weaknesses they bring to the field. They use this information to develop their own strategies and to see where their opportunities lie. As business leaders, we should do the same. It's not enough to just occasionally glance at the websites of the competition. Instead, we should be analyzing their moves, seeing what works for them and what doesn't, d...

Imagine it's your first day of college. You enter campus, not knowing anyone. You find your way to your dorm room and review your class schedule and campus map to try and figure out where you need to go. You listen to the chatter of hundreds, if not thousands of new classmates outside your door. The whole process can feel more than a little overwhelming. You somehow need to find new friends in this home away from home, but when not a single face looks familiar, that can be easier said than done. How do you find people you like? How do you start forming relationships? Chances are you begin by looking for people with common interests. If you're into fitness, that might mean spending time at the gym on your free time. If you're into a specific sport, you might try out for a team or get involved in a recreational league. If sports aren't your thing, you might find clubs and groups that cater to your other interests. When you find people who share your interests, you sta...

When your sales and marketing teams work together and are aligned in their goals and strategies, amazing things can happen for your organization. Studies have shown that companies with marketing teams and sales teams that work well together see as much as a 20 percent increase in annual revenue growth, and no one can afford to ignore that opportunity. Unfortunately, obtaining that level of cooperation can be a challenge. With a few internal changes and a concentrated effort at aligning these two teams, however, it is possible to bring everyone together. Begin by establishing definitions Written, thought-out definitions can be your savior. They give everyone a concrete idea to look back upon and reduce the potential for miscommunication or misperceptions. Here are a few definitions that everyone in marketing and sales should agree upon. What is a quality lead? What will sales do when they receive a quality lead? What level of communication will be expected between the ...

The Great Gatsby is considered an American classic. Its recent film adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio has only increased its popularity. Few students in North America made it through high school without reading the book, and the film only helped to bring the images of decadence to life. F. Scott Fitzgerald's story takes place on Long Island during the 1920s. A mysterious millionaire named Jay Gatsby holds luxurious parties on a regular basis, all in the hopes of drawing his old lover, now married to another, to his home so he can rekindle the romance. Over the course of the novel, it becomes apparent that Gatsby has made his money participating in illegal activities, such as bootlegging, and has surrounded himself with an unsavory crowd of people who seem to care only about where the money for the next party will come from. In the end, all the money in the world can't save Gatsby from an untimely demise. What we can learn from The Great Gatsby Networking ...

The idea of saying 'no' to a client can seem counter-intuitive. You're trying to grow your business, after all. But there are times when speaking up and turning down a request or deciding not to work on a particular project might be good for your company's long-term growth. The key is learning how to gauge these situations so you can successfully focus on growing your business without worrying about problematic clients or requests. Here are three situations where you should definitely consider the benefits of saying no. You know the client's idea won't work Clients come to you because they know you're an expert in your field. That means they trust you to know what you're talking about when it comes to the industry. Sometimes, having that knowledge means you have to point out to a client that their grand idea isn't as great as they thought. Speaking up can be difficult, especially when dealing with a new client. You have to worry about fee...

For those who like to believe all the hype, it's easy to think that outbound marketing is dead. After all, it's rare to hear about marketing experts extolling the importance of direct mail. Instead, they're usually talking about website conversion rates and developing content that will appeal to the reader. Don't fall into this trap. While outbound marketing has lost some of its glamour in recent years, it remains as viable as ever in today's digital world. It's role has just changed. Understanding those changes and how to integrate outbound marketing with your inbound efforts is a challenge well worth undertaking. How the role of outbound marketing has changed Before the digital era, outbound marketing was the primary means of finding new customers. Everyone in sales remembers doing 'cold calls,' which basically involve picking up a phone and trying to convince someone new to buy a product or service. Often, that phone call represented the f...

For those who like to believe all the hype, it's easy to think that outbound marketing is dead. After all, it's rare to hear about marketing experts extolling the importance of direct mail. Instead, they're usually talking about website conversion rates and developing content that will appeal to the reader. Don't fall into this trap. While outbound marketing has lost some of its glamour in recent years, it remains as viable as ever in today's digital world. It's role has just changed. Understanding those changes and how to integrate outbound marketing with your inbound efforts is a challenge well worth undertaking. How the role of outbound marketing has changed Before the digital era, outbound marketing was the primary means of finding new customers. Everyone in sales remembers doing 'cold calls,' which basically involve picking up a phone and trying to convince someone new to buy a product or service. Often, that phone call represented the f...

When it comes to writing marketing content for a company, few things are more frustrating than working hard to develop pieces only to have them largely overlooked. We've all been there: you write something you think is fantastic and eagerly watch your site statistics, only to see your content fail to give you the expected boost. If you're frustrated with your website traffic stats, here are five tips you can use right away to start drawing more attention to your website and get people interested in what you have to say. Answer questions your customers actually have, rather than what you think they want to know This is a common mistake. Many companies develop content based on what they find interesting rather than what their customers actually want to know. A great source of content ideas is your FAQ page and questions you've received through customer email. Also consider what customers ask you personally when they start working with your company or what people a...

Most business leaders understand the importance of market research, particularly during the startup phase. Those interested in starting a business should research their potential customer base and determine how successful their product or idea will likely be within that particular market long before building their first prototype or contacting their first client. Yes, we all know how vital market research is for startups, but it's equally important for well-established businesses -- even highly successful ones. Unfortunately, it's easy to let research fall by the wayside once your company has begun seeing success. Don't. The need for market research doesn't go away once sales start coming in. Instead, it offers valuable insight you can use throughout your marketing campaigns to successfully grow your business. What marketing campaigns can tell you Marketing campaigns offer unique insights into what your customers are actually thinking. All too often, we as b...