Word of Mouth Still Beats All Other Marketing

Picture of Fairbanks Masters Swimming Practice

I thought I heard Coach Kristina wrong. Did she really say 21 masters swimmers had showed up to Saturday swim practice? Attendance had been down during vacation. We thought everyone was suffering from guilt. Then it happened again on Thanksgiving morning. 26 masters swimmers showed up for a holiday swim. I asked her exactly who …

Do Your Products Reinforce Stereotypes?

Picture of Asphalt with 'Men' and 'Women' sprayed into the ground with opposing arrows

I don’t spend a lot of time in tourist shops. I visit one whenever I travel assuming all the rest carry a variation of products with the town/city/state/country name. The exception is Skagway, Alaska.  For the past decade, I have made an annual trip with my run team for the start of the Klondike Road …

Names Matter: Setting Up Expectations Without Knowing It

Man Holding New Member Card

Marketing articles often use terms like ‘customer,’ ‘client,’ ‘consumer,’ and ‘patron,’ interchangeably. For the most part it doesn’t matter, but my friend did identify one instance where it does. He was interviewing for a manager position at an athletic club when the General Manager began describing their ‘customers.’ My friend stopped her for clarification. “Are …

Know Your History and That of Your Clients

About 4 years ago, my friend Jessica and I were walking in Times Square, la touristas on our way to Central Park via 7th Avenue. Sidewalk entrepreneurs were pedaling their wares—vans displaying basketball jerseys, painters with racks of originals, and stand after stand of every accessory out there. Rap music blared out of a stereo; …