It was suggested to me by those pesky Meatingplace.com editors that I may want to consider a series of some of my past blogs for my next few. After nine and a quarter years of writing two blogs per month or 222 blogs, at an average of 715 words each totaling nearly 160,000 words or the length of two average nonfiction books or novels (your choice), those editors may have thought I would have run out of things to say by now. But, no, I still have numerous ideas to present to you.

However, knowing that those editors know more about the blogging business than I, the three-blog series they suggested starts below to be continued every other week thereafter. Stimulating beef demand is the subject of all three of my past articles.

It's up to you readers to tell me if any of the ideas in these three blogs have stood the test of time. Please take a trip down memory lane with me, read ‘em and weep or, better yet, comment either pro or con. Thanks, Mack.

Are Your Beliefs For Sale? (Originally published 12-23-2014)

We are in the meat business. People buy our products because they have placed some measure of trust in us to produce a nutritious, good-tasting and safe meat product they can serve and consume. Trust is the glue that binds us and values build trust. To enhance consumer trust, I believe we must stand for more than just profits. We must have a visceral belief in something more than our company’s perpetuity based solely on a financial gain. But what should that belief be?

Why can’t a company’s most important purpose be to make money? After all, the place on the scorecard by which all companies are measured and the determinant of whether they stay in business or not is located on the bottom right corner of the Profit and Loss statement. No company lasts that doesn’t make money. It’s that simple. All the altruism in the world will not help if your company loses money. No amount of generous funding from relatives, benevolent benefactors or banks will last for long if you don’t forge a profit. But there must be more.

What your company stands for should be obvious to all. That means transparency in what you do for all. In fact, your beliefs form your company’s values and values can form the basis for your marketing programs. Let me explain why, how and give you a couple of examples and a personal observation.

If we look at the pantheon of companies and people chastised legally or otherwise, almost all seem to have a common theme of little substance but a lot of panache. The poster child for corporate cheating is Bernie Madoff and there are plenty of others including some in our meat industry. The almighty in those companies seemed to be the almighty dollar. But, those aren’t true representatives of the world in which we live and work. We toil away in meat businesses that are much more grounded in the reality of food, taste, USDA scrutiny and a hoped-for profit at the end of the day.

Am I saying that you must magnanimously cede profits for the sake of beliefs? No, of course not. Be profitable! I am saying that your company should also stand for something of greater good. What are those something’s? Maybe it’s a customer centered attitude that believes the customer is always right—no matter what. Maybe it’s an environmentally friendly production process. Maybe it’s a product that tastes great. Maybe it’s all those things and many others that are important to you and your customers. Your beliefs become your company’s core values never to be breeched or violated. And, they form the basis for your marketing programs.

To help you aspire to and adhere to your core values, every business leader must have that indispensable person who when he/she smells something rotten in the business will stand up and shout, “Stop, this is wrong!” And, keep shouting it until it gets fixed. The core values of a business are the sole determinant of the rightness or wrongness upon which that person makes a judgment. The leader must listen and act.

I encourage you to examine your company’s marketing effort to ferret out your beliefs. That may sound backward as you should first establish your beliefs and then communicate them. But, the fact is that you are communicating with them right now and you better make sure they are accurate. Take a disinterested look at what you are communicating and see if it matches what you believe. As an example, you may be surprised that your product packaging really says environmental disaster. You thought it said customer/consumer benefit with perfect product preservation and presentation.

Yes, your beliefs are for sale. In fact, they should underlie all of your marketing efforts. This doesn’t mean compromising any of them for the sake of profits or short-term financial gain no matter how seductive that will sound. It is a slippery slope when you begin to compromise your beliefs and values for a hoped-for profit. Stand up and stand for something and shout it from the rooftops. You will be pleasantly surprised how this will enhance your company’s survivability and maybe even cause it to grow.

Are Your Beliefs For Sale?

(Originally published 12-23-2014)