tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14893596824578939842011-11-28T00:29:37.141ZLife, like business, is simple. We professionals do our best to complicate issues by giving them Latin names (or acronyms). This blog is a series of simple, powerful small thoughts (thought-lets) about marketing and sales.Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-72142965516075103252008-03-14T11:51:00.001Z2008-03-14T11:59:55.471Z

Good afternoon. I was in Durban earlier this month, doing a seminar on Finding Clients, and found myself in the presence of a worthy bunch of fellow small-business owners. Anyway, there I was try to do a demonstration of voice recognition software when the entire PC exploded. It wasn't my fault, it was that of the peppered mackerel. Is there anybody in the room who doesn't think that this is an

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-53339615471381991252008-03-09T19:11:00.000Z2008-03-09T19:14:12.157Z

Some people are not happy. It's not a temporary thing. They are simply not happy because life does not match their personal image of what perfection should be. I don't normally care. But every now and then one of them wants to buy some product or service that I offer. And because they are showering me with R100 per month they feel they have the right to tell me how to run my business."I

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-39289603615772083202007-12-14T19:19:00.000Z2007-12-29T23:34:25.846Z

How much did your web site cost you? And how much is it costing you to host it each month?I ask this because I have spent the past few weeks poring through 842 sites owned by South African Business Warriors. It's a dirty job because a few of these sites haven't had their oil changed since 1995. Yet each of these business owners spent time and money having the sites set up. (Most of us smaller

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-61129332162833145532007-11-28T09:48:00.000Z2007-12-29T22:28:24.147Z

When I moved to the UK last year I was stunned that everybody uses the Internet as much as they do. Nobody does anything without checking the Net for traffic info, directions, bookings, better prices, and tonight's news. I use it to buy computers, books, software, groceries, support the Warrior community, phone SA for less than it costs my Mom to yell at my Dad in the shower, book trains, book

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-69643145405185725682007-11-21T12:29:00.000Z2007-12-29T22:40:00.692Z

On June 20th, 1815 Nathan Rothschild informed the British government that Wellington had defeated Napoleon. They didn't believe him. To really upset them (my personal interpretation) he began selling all of his stock on the English stock market, and with everybody believing that Wellington had been defeated, everybody started selling. Prices plummeted. At the last minute, Rothschild's agents

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-83266028277470794892007-11-07T12:42:00.000Z2007-12-29T22:54:52.960Z

Some folk will not do business with you unless they can shake your hand and look you firmly in the eye. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is so limiting. As technology changes, the way we do business should change as well.Before I talk about business, however, I must share a guilty secret. I have never been really interested in the concept of business per se. I'm far more interested in

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-89638191831961805512007-09-25T22:56:00.000+01:002007-12-29T23:35:49.873Z

I am going to take a sabbatical for a month. I have been writing this weekly, more or less continuously, since late 1999 - and it's time to take a breather.One of my core reasons for wanting some space to think things through is the increasing amount of noise on the Internet. And the noise is not only getting louder, but more strident. I have always had a bent towards the more Japanese type Zen

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-36111074930880877652007-09-06T13:12:00.000+01:002007-12-29T23:42:41.330Z

It's absolutely vital for your future as a business owner to retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.We little guys know this, and we're pretty good at it, given the challenges. Yet 96% of us fail in the first decade. I have been battling with this number since 1992 - trying to find out exactly why. (Read Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited for an

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1489359682457893984.post-51624240876658631062007-08-30T13:26:00.000+01:002007-12-29T23:33:12.468Z

I have just returned from a trip to SA, with a few days in Mauritius en route home. It's fascinating to look at the country from the perspective of a 'tourist', and to see where the stresses are.The good news: not a great deal has changed. The bad news: everybody I met seems so stressed that they go out of their way to find vexatious issues to attack.We get so focused on the mouse that we lose

Peter Carruthershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04066101728812458738noreply@blogger.com0