Common Characteristics of Businesses That Thrive...

In our industry, there are businesses that I have learned from. I spotlight two of them here. Rod Brown, CFO, from MadeToOrder has been a mentor to me for many years. Despite his busy schedule, he has made time to help me, and in his personal time takes trips to Africa and Mexico to help others. I had the opportunity to share in the employee and supplier dinner celebration that honored Made to Order's 10 Year Anniversary. They are a business that thrives because they take care of their clients, their people, and their supplier partners. You can learn more in this article: "17 People...20 Million in Sales."

I encourage you to take the time to see the pictures and hear Rod share about his last trip to Africa. It's all in this video. What Rod's group did in Africa is pretty eye opening. At the end Rod offers some good business advice. It's easy to see why he has a business that thrives.

I've also gotten to know Kirby Hasseman from Hasseman Marketing and Communications, Coshocton, Ohio. According to Kirby, Coshocton is the birthplace of promotional products. I'll take his word on that.

Kirby thinks outside the box. His company's focus is "Delivering Marketing Joy!" and he has written a book on the topic, Delivering Marketing Joy: Using Promo To Grow Your Business The Right Way. Kirby created a web show talking to thought leaders about business, marketing, promotional products and more. Kirby's business thrives because he is engaged in his community and shares relevant content...like offering up a weekly word.

He was one of the first to jump into our new FreePromoTips SuccessFit program. From my own personal journey, the PPAI award-winning FreePromoTips.com has created an exciting new component dubbed SuccessFit. On an ongoing basis, people like Kirby will share content on how being active impacts our personal and professional lives. He is quite active in his spare time and was happy to share his passion for fitness with our audience in this video.