horses & such

As my good friend (and my personal professor) Howard Meeks likes to kid, I am a collector of "down home wisdom." Seems a marketing guru by the name of Paige Arnof-Fenn offers a list of nine great expressions for those serious about moving their business to the next level. Confessions of a Southern Entrepreneur www.entrepreneur.com/article/print/0,2361,320943,00.html Among my favorites: "9. Rode hard and put up wet." For the movie buffs among us, you should recognize this line from the classic, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man starring Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson. But I digress... As a marketing guru, I cannot believe that Paige missed my favorite: "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him float on his back." Business lesson, in Ries & Trout speak (from Bottom Up Marketing): "Only a narrow thought can enter one's mind." People have, and will always, want what they want. Period. In marketing, as Eli Goldratt says, "it is all about figuring out that ducks like corn." No amount of effort (or money) will convince ducks that they should eat rhubarb. Yet we all know otherwise smart people that try. -ski