Marketing, marketing, marketing...Winter

With Winter now upon us, I'm hoping you'll all be stocking up on books to help pass those long dark cold nights tucked up in front of the fire.

Check me out in the Window on Waipapa feature in the Northern News and Bay Chronicle this week, in print and online - it could be worth your while.

Meanwhile, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about running a small business and how much marketing is necessary. As I understand it a business markets itself to maintain its current audience, and to attract new customers, with the aim of building and growing. But do I want to build and grow and if I do, how big is big enough? Do I want to turn this business into a behemoth like Borders, which then runs the risk of crashing and burning (figuratively speaking, you understand) or do I just want to provide a business which enables me to enjoy my passion and, at the same time, grow in line with any increase in demand from my community?

I've just read an interesting article this morning in the New York Review of Books regarding a new book about Jeff Bezos and Amazon. It explores the growth of Amazon and the history of similar enterprises over the years - e.g.supermarkets  - whereby the initial goal is to reduce costs to the consumer by bulk purchasing etc, but the eventual outcome is a monopoly of sorts which, while achieving that  goal, creates other problems such as pressuring suppliers to reduce prices. (think: Shane Jones and Countdown).

So where does it stop? or, does it stop at all? There is no single answer, but my logic says that while we continue to want increased income but cheaper goods the cycle will continue.