People like to talk. They like to pass on what they hear. Most of the time we just pass along sayings without knowing what we are talking about. I do it too. I have never been Bear Hunting but I use the phrase. "Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you". Another favorite is "don't under estimate the competition". We have all heard it, but most of us don't practice it. We feel secure in our own little world and just keep on skipping along oblivious to what could be waiting for us around the bend. We don't think before we make a huge mistake in taking our competition lightly.
For those out there that have never been in a real fight, one where the other person is determined to cause you great bodily harm or even death, it is hard to understand that just one small mistake can cause your downfall. In a fight, the worst thing you can do is under estimate your opponent. Make that one mistake that lets them get up close and they will hurt you. Even a butter Knife is a dangerous weapon if you let them get in close. Phrases don't mean nothing. Its deeds not words that win in the end. The worst thing you can do is say "oh that butter knife can't hurt me".
Now of course business is not mortal combat. No one is really gonna get physically hurt or killed.
But the analogy is correct. Don't under estimate your mistakes. Don't think that your position is better and therefore you are safe. Usually what you think is a small mistake is just the tip of the iceberg when all the facts come out.
The best thing is to always believe your competition knows something you don't. They are watching your every move. You can bet that Pepsi and Coke know everthing the other is doing before it even comes out. Watch Subway and Quizno's go back and forth at each other. Its a game that has been played for centuries and probably always will be as long as there is money to be made.
A great saying is "don't get mad get even", but that doesn't always work. It can end up costing both parties in the long run. The best thing to do is be aware what is going on around you because its your best chance to dodge a bullet, and some times even that doesn't work. Today's business world is fraught with dangers and mine fields. Watch were you step, because just one wrong step is all it takes.
In the long run, playing fair is the best thing to do. Karma is just a word, but it seems to always come back to haunt us. Here at MARS, we strive to compete without trying to destroy the competition. We really don't need to, because our products and services speak for themselves. We just like to get in the ring and let the best man win. We will continue to try and win the business wars, but we want to do it without cutting out the competition. After all, our competitors keep us sharp. We just want to keep them at a distance, because if we give them the chance to get in close, even a little bitty butter knife can be a fearsome weapon.

Stay away it might go off.

I have learned a lot about SEO (search engine optimization) in the last few months. I have learned enough to tell me that it is better left up to experts, and experts with integrity at that.
As a business with a web site we want to direct traffic to (www.marsworkwear.com) of course we want our site address to pull up on the front page every time some one searches for a product or service that we sell. (shoe covers, coveralls,floor protection and safety supplies)
That being so, it is easy to try to take short cuts on the way to the top. These short cuts are really just cheating and are frowned upon by such search engines as google. These so called black hat techniques can be very effective in getting your web site rated at the top. However, they can also get you slapped down very hard if you get caught doing it.
I have always thought that the stress of always wondering if your going to get caught is not worth the risk of doing something improper. In other words I don't do the crime cause I don't want to do the time. Some people may take the low road and believe that the end always justifies the means as long as they make money for themselves or their company. This may be a profitable way to do business, but it ends up putting you in a bad light.
I firmly believe the anecdote about arrows. "what is fired straight up comes straight down, but what is fired at a gradual ascent stays up for a long time"
Don't trust to luck that you won't get caught. Obey the rules, play the game the right way and when you succeed there is great satisfaction in knowing that you were able to do it with integrity.
We are moving up slowly but surely.(almost 100 places in the last 2 months) The person we hired is doing a great job, and doing it the right way. My advice to all out there is get a experts advice or even pay for a service, but always check their integrity and remember, If it's too good too be true it's too good too be true.

Just don't need it

The other day at the Service Roundtable (SRT) meeting in Las Vegas I heard something that I had heard only a few times before. The contractors that attended the meeting told me that they did not need or want any more tips or consultation if it meant the product cost would increase.
They advised me they already pay for the services they need by belonging to such excellent support groups such as SRT, PHCC, ACCA, QSC, IIAQC, and the like. Why, I was asked, would they want to pay more for a product so they can be told either how to use it, or what works for other people. Most of the information that is passed on in the so-called free consultation services is the same things they have heard before or that is available through the professional services they already pay to belong to.
One contractor asked me if it cost money to print and mail newsletters and catalogs and to send out a plethora of information that he doesn't have time to read anyway. He said he would rather me not do this and take the cost out of the products he is currently buying. He said what he needed from me is low cost, high quality products and services. After all, he was in Las Vegas attending a SRT meeting with all the costs that entails and he was perfectly happy with their services and level of consultation. What he wanted from me were shoe covers and safety supplies.
This made me think about how we do things. I have always been so proud that we offer a FREE consultation service along with our products. So let us tell you how to grow your business and of course as you grow we grow. Sounds good doesn't it? But guess what? It costs money to provide those supposedly free services. Money for marketing our FREE consultation service. Ads, newsletters, mail-outs, postage, hours of employees time making up free consultation pieces and on and on. Who pays for that?
Ultimately the customer does. It is after all part of the overhead costs of doing business. The customer does have to pay more for FREE consulting services. It is an old adage of business that lower overhead produces lower costs. Our customers are telling us that they would rather pay 10 or 20 percent less for the products than get our FREE consultation. They already pay to belong to their success groups and coaching services, so why pay again for something you already have.
We will still offer the tips and consultation if asked or during a presentation at trade shows and meetings. We wont call it FREE any more, though. It will be included or available at no extra charge. We will stop spending money on marketing such obviously NON FREE services and will put that money towards keeping our prices low and our quality of products and services high.

The business owners have talked, and we have listened. If they want to be consulted, they will ask. If they already pay for services from SRT, they just need us to help them with their bottom line when it comes to supplies. Wal-Mart is the most successful retail company in the world. Why? Product, price, and customer service is what they offer. They don't charge you more to show you how to get ketchup out of the bottle when you first open it.