As a business owner, you know all about your prospective customer… their age, gender, economic and marital status, as well as something about their business (or lifestyle) and personality. Critical information to be sure. But you might not realize that your company marketing pieces must speak to these souls, while also working to overcome a potential buyer’s resistance to making a purchase. Whether you sell a product or service, the rules are the same.

No matter who they are, business person or consumer, everyone needs a reason to buy.

Business disputes are inevitable when interacting regularly with customers, suppliers, vendors, staff and others. While routine disputes readily can be sorted out, some conflicts grow contentious and threaten serious harm to a business and ongoing stress and upset to all involved.

Accusations and threats of litigation may be hurled, lawyers called, and communication — not to mention business — between the parties often ends. How the parties address the dispute can have a significant impact on the bottom line. Litigation is usually an ongoing drain on resources, as well as the attention of key businesspeople. Worse, a bad outcome can devastate a business and its reputation and may spur similar challenges from others.

Imagine this scenario:

A logo is one of the most important marketing tools of your business. There’s good reason for the well worn saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It is.

Think about the logos you recognize well… the Mac apple, the golden arches of McDonald’s, even the Playboy bunny are symbols that bring the brand instantly to mind. 

So when it comes to creating (or updating) a logo for your business… where do you start?

While dogs everywhere tune in faithfully to “The Dog Whisperer”, the felines who live with them have been left woefully neglected on the small screen. Which makes news of TV show, “Housecat Housecall“, soon to debut on Animal Planet at 8:00 AM Saturday mornings, all the more exciting. The program will feature a team of feline behavior experts who will observe a cat’s undesirable acts (climbing the curtains, clawing at the furniture, scratching, etc.) and come up with a solution to help the family cope and visit to help put the plan into practice.

Think “Super Nanny” for cats.

Sponsored by Purina Cat Chow the program is seen by the company as a way to give their products exposure beyond traditional TV commercials. Though there won’t be any hard sell, the line of cat foods will be mentioned or shown occasionally on the program. Though the cats watching aren’t likely to care, the show offers us humans yet another variation of product placement — an advertising strategy that puts recognizable products or brands within the plot of your favorite program.