Posts Tagged ‘Flathead Beacon’

On The Playing Field, Little Things Matter

By MARK RIFFEY -Little things drive the quality of your customers' experience but they don't happen by accident.... more

Selling, Marketing and Wyoming’s Cutt-Slam

By MARK RIFFEY -The fish rejects your fly for the same reason that prospects ignore your message.... more

Experience Management Matters

By MARK RIFFEY -Delivery of a product or service is about far more than the act of your client opening the box or getting the service they paid for.... more

Beware Of National Distraction Season

By MARK RIFFEY -National distraction season is upon us. Are you ready? I’m referring to election/political season and the drama it brings to the workplace.... more

Fishing Moose

By ROB BREEDING- I’m not sure I really appreciated how dangerous moose can be until I saw a video of a man who was killed by one on the University of Alaska campus.... more

Grilled Indian Corn Chowder

By CHEF HOWARD KARP - To help usher you into this wonderful time of the year, here’s a recipe for my favorite fall chowder.... more

Inside Out Potato Tacos

By MANDA HUDAK - In this dish, I am reformatting the traditional Mexican potato taco, which in its classic form is a delicious hors d’oeuvre or appetizer. ... more

Extinguish Employee Drama

By MARK RIFFEY - It’s critical to the long term success of your career as a manager, or as an owner, to create a culture of drama non-proliferation at your business.... more

When The Smoke Clears, Will Your Reputation?

By MARK RIFFEY - How your business delivers when things are tough sets the tone for your future.... more

Run-and-Gun Grizzlies Ready for New Era

By DILLON TABISH - What’s the potential of this year’s Montana Grizzlies football team? It's easy to trust an answer when it comes from a Rhodes Scholar candidate.... more

Get One More Per Day, Week, Month

By MARK RIFFEY - Doubling the sales of a business tends to result in doing things the same way, but doing them twice as often, or somehow doing twice as many of them.... more

Communicate When Fire Threatens

By MARK RIFFEY - Send the right message to the right guests in a timely manner in the right way. Build trust. Practice, automate, document, delegate.... more

Summer Fire Communication Can Burn You

By MARK RIFFEY - Even though the Reynolds Creek Fire is only 65% contained, the Going-to-the-Sun road is mostly open. 99.97% of the park is not burning and it remains more than capable of wowing.... more

Dry Rot in the Bitterroot

By ROB BREEDING- The 10th percentile in June means most rivers will be nearly bone dry in August.... more

Why Do They Want To Disrupt My Business?

By MARK RIFFEY - The big word in the startup world is disruption, as in “We will disrupt the what-cha-ma-call-it market.” ... more

No Customers Beyond This Point

By MARK RIFFEY - I’m in the market for a new-to-me rig. I don’t switch rigs very often, so it’s a slow process to make sure I buy it right.... more

Quick Coffee Cake

By CHEF TRACY DARUE - Even though it’s been hot outside, I still enjoy baking first thing in the morning when it’s cool. This is a wonderful treat for breakfast or to take along in to a picnic.... more

What Do You Do About Bad Competitors?

By MARK RIFFEY - I don’t talk much about competitors. First, because you have far more to gain by investing time and effort into improving your own business.... more

Busiest June on Record in Glacier Park

By DILLON TABISH - Over 414,000 people visited the national park last month, keeping 2015 on record-breaking pace.... more

Peach Pie and Pecan Crumble

By CHEF HOWARD KARP - For the short time while peaches are in season, this recipe might just become your favorite fruit dessert, especially with this ultimate crumble-top.... more

Filling Cracks With Automation and Metrics

By MARK RIFFEY - Metrics tell you what happened and in some cases, what is happening, but they don’t tell you what to do next. By themselves, metrics can get lonely.... more

Trout in Hot Water

By TRISTAN SCOTT - Historic stream temperature highs, low flows threaten Northwest Montana's cold-water fish.... more

Gazpacho of the Americas

By CHEF HOWARD KARP - Summer has come to Montana with scorching temperatures that are making chilled soups from the bounty of summer gardens even more enticing.... more

Dry Rot in the Bitterroot

By ROB BREEDING- The 10th percentile in June means most rivers will be nearly bone dry in August.... more

Good Metrics, Better Metrics

By MARK RIFFEY - Hiding inside most good metrics is better, actionable information.... more

Psychedelic Trout

By ROB BREEDING- Being late for fishing may be an unpardonable sin for Norman Maclean, but I know one far worse: not going fishing at all.... more

Bruschetta of Cherry Tomatoes

By CHEF HOWARD KARP - What you end up with is a refreshing and delicious dish that will make you say 'ahhhhhhh'... more

The Importance of Performance Metrics

By MARK RIFFEY - Quality and performance metrics drive your business. Do you know your critical metrics?... more

The Care and Feeding of Leads

By MARK RIFFEY - Coming up with the right question can be a lot harder than not having the answers. And answers are better than assumptions.... more

Chilled Yellow Corn Soup

By CHEF HOWARD KARP - Here’s a refreshing and tasty chilled soup that presents well with striking colorful garnishments.... more

The Care and Feeding of Leads

By MARK RIFFEY - How are you caring for the warm leads that you get each day? It matters.... more

Of River Bondage

By ROB BREEDING- There are many variations of the old saying, “You can judge the true character of a society by the way it treats its …” My rendition: ..."by the way it treats its rivers".... more

Sunshine Marketing as Self-Defense

By MARK RIFFEY - Have you ever signed a non-compete, non-disclosure clause as a condition of employment? Do you make your employees and / or contractors sign one?... more

A Forecast of Shadows

By MARK RIFFEY - Warning: I’m about to discuss some technology things (yes, again), with good reason. IT affects every business niche, including yours. This isn’t about IT. It’s about everything.... more

Fresh Alaskan Halibut

By CHEF HOWARD KARP- Of all of my Mediterranean fish recipes, this one is my favorite. The combination of fresh Alaskan halibut and savory sauce produces phenomenal flavors. ... more

Summer Season Begins in Glacier National Park

Memorial Day Weekend marks beginning of primary visitation season at national park.... more

Can You Predict Future Revenue?

By MARK RIFFEY - What would you be able to focus on if you weren’t running about the place trying to chase down enough sales to make next week’s payroll?... more

Robots, Rural Small Business and China

By MARK RIFFEY - Would robotics address rural small business challenges like it does in China?... more

Honey Lime Broiled Salmon with Peanut Sauce

By MANDA HUDAK - Salmon season is underway and here in Montana we are very fortunate to have access to wild Pacific salmon. Here's my recipe for honey lime broiled Salmon with peanut sauce.... more

What Your Customers Don’t Know

By MARK RIFFEY - What you think they know, what they really know, what they've forgotten. Why Messaging is so important in marketing your business.... more

Winning Against the Chain Store

By MARK RIFFEY - Yesterday, I sat down in a store that’s part of a Montana-based coffee shop chain. I drove past a national coffee chain to reach this place. Why should I drive past them to vist you?... more

Frisee Salad, Welsh Rarebit Crouton, Vinaigrette

By JONATHON HARTIG - For this salad I've incorporated a couple of local Flathead Valley beers. I encourage you to experiment with your own favorite local brews! ... more

The Hardest Part of Helping A Business

By MARK RIFFEY - There are a lot of rewards that come with helping businesses improve beyond what they expected.... more

Sales That Hide From You

By MARK RIFFEY - How do you find hidden sales in your prospect list? How do you know when lead is no longer interested in buying? How do you know when they are ready to buy? ... more

How To Build a Follow Up System

By MARK RIFFEY - It’s important to develop a system of consistently following up with your clients. A system can all but eliminate the cracks.... more

An Easter Tradition: Challah

Challah is a slightly sweet, very rich bread. Traditionally, the braided Sabbath bread of Judasim is a European celebratory loaf, symbolic of God's goodness and bounty.... more

Everyone Can Sell, If you Train Them

By MARK RIFFEY - Sales taining matters--for everyone and on every shift. Here's why--you do the math.... more

A Simple, High-Value Tactic That Many Miss

By MARK RIFFEY - FOLLOW UP: The most common reason that follow up doesn’t happen is that there’s no system to manage it. Without a system those follow up tasks are soon forgotten.... more

What’s Holding Your Business Back?

By MARK RIFFEY - Are sales down? Don't get desperate. Get Facts. When an owner is desperate for business, (at least) two things often take place in an effort to turn things around:... more

Spiciy Thai Coconut Soup

By Manda Hudak - My pre-spring soup cravings are for a lighter, spicier and healthier soup than the heavy heartier soups of mid-winter. ... more