Geoff Ficke
Free
Marketing Consulting & Product Development Expert
Geoff Ficke Quick Facts
- Main Areas
- Marketing and Product Development Consulting
- Career Focus
- Business Owner, Author, Speaker
- Affiliation
- Fellow at Page Business School Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money. After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Jou
alism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance. Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, (www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Articles by this expert
SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.
Article
Why Are Successful Entrepreneurs So Darn Lucky?
What is your definition of the word “luck”? Not the Webster’s Dictionary definition, your definition. Is it being in the right place at the right time? Picking the right dealer in a casino? Turning up at a party where you meet your current wife (could be good or bad luck)? Entrepreneurs seem to be so lucky, so often. People see their success and attribute much of their good fortune to luck. What luck that they thought the idea would work. The luck of the Irish for old Doyle, don’t you think?
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Making Public Relations Work for Your Business
The magic word that every consumer loves to hear more than any other is, FREE! Sales promotions offering a free sample or product inducement are always exceedingly popular. Human nature being what it is, the opportunity to obtain something of perceived value for nothing is usually very desirable. Creative entrepreneurs can craft and develop a very effective, and free, promotional tool for their business or invention. The ability to utilize public relations is a key component of any successful enterprise.
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We Miss the Eloquence and Logic Of Milton Friedman Now More Than Ever
by: Geoff Ficke One of the signal economic thinkers of the 20th century was the Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman. His many books and papers, interviews and television specials have left us a valuable trove of thoughts and observations that should serve as guideposts during our current difficult economic times. His death has left a void that no contemporary thinker has been able to fill. That is most unfortunate, especially now. Recently, I revisited my copy of Professor Friedman’s signature work, Free to Choose.
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Drop the Dreams and Establish Solid Goals and Plans In Order to Succeed in Start-up Business
by: Geoff Ficke Drop the Dreams and Establish Solid Goals and Plansr In Order to Succeed in Start-up Business Recently I watched a television show which featured Inventions, Small Business Start-ups and Entrepreneurship as central program topics. A panel of experts reviewed product submissions and interviewed the prospective entrepreneurs about various aspects of their projects. The interplay was interesting, and disappointing.
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Make Your Business Plan Read Like An Action Novel - You Are Guaranteed to Receive A Stronger Response
Let’s face it, nobody confuses writing or reading a Business Plan with a Bruce Willis action movie or a Tom Clancy novel. A Business Plan is a serious presentation that details an economic opportunity being offered for funding, licensing or sales consideration. Detail, research, financials and harvest options, key elements of any plan, can be dry, less than electric stuff.
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Is Now the Best Time to Start a New Business?
I am often asked if these are good times for new enterprise opportunities? Should I wait? Is the economy down? Is it a good funding market? Is competition too intense? These, and dozens more stated conce s are nothing more than self-imposed hurdles to movement. Now is the best time in history to start a business, launch a product or offer a cutting edge new service. More people than ever before have jobs. More people than ever before own homes. More business incorporations are established each year than the previous year.
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The World’s Oldest Watch Manufacturer Stays on Top by Constantly Innovating
One of life’s great pleasures is travel. The opportunity to view distant lands, experience new food and drink, sample exotic cultures and meet local citizens is always rewarding. One of my most prized experiences when I visit any new land is to sample local produce, manufactured goods and learn about local industry and commerce. When I visit Geneva, Switzerland I relish the opportunity to shop, research and be amazed by the fabulously artesian craft of exclusive watch making found in the city’s endless jewelry ateliers.
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The Importance of Focus Groups and Their Alte atives To Consumer Product Marketers and Entrepreneurs
by: Geoff Ficke The Importance of Focus Groups and Their Alte ativesr To Consumer Product Marketers and Entrepreneurs My Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm offers a variety of services to clients. One that we frequently utilize, and is often misunderstood is the creation and management of Focus Groups. What is a Focus Group? What is the real purpose of a Focus Group? How much do they cost to organize? Can a novice Marketer organize a worthwhile Focus Group?
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How to Fail at Launching a Clever, Novel Consumer Product!
by: Geoff Ficke How to Fail at Launching a Clever, Novel Consumer Product! The current economic malaise has created a surprising level of interest from entrepreneurs keen to launch a bevy of assorted consumer products. Our Marketing Consulting and Product Development firm is reviewing more submissions than we have seen in years. Every product category from Sporting Goods to Health and Beauty Aids to Fashion and Jewelry and everything in between seems to be drawing inventors seeking to launch their creations.
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A Poem to Inspire Every Aspiring Marketer & Entrepreneur
Today poetry is not a culturally prevalent or popular art form utilized to convey deep thought or the meaning of ideas. To be sure, there are contemporary poets, published works of poetry are available and the United States still recognizes a living “poet laureate”. However, for vast swaths of modern populations, poetry seems so prim, almost Victorian. So what can the words of a bygone poet, or poem, offer modern product marketers, inventors, entrepreneurs and designers that would inspire and motivate their efforts?
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The Man Who Invented Modern Athletic Shoes Inadvertently Revolutionized Commerce and Sports
I grew up in the 1950’s playing basketball hour after hour on city playgrounds. The public courts of the day were nothing like those found today in most American towns. There were no lights, a steel, kidney-shaped backboard (ugh!) with bent rims, occasionally a steel chain net and no lines painted to properly delineate the free throw line and out of bounds. The surface was often rough and cracked. You had to know where the ball would give a true bounce and where you could lose control because of the uneven surface. But we played on for endless hours in all weather.
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How to Change a Product Negative into a Positive
How to Change a Product Negative into a Positive Virtually every consumer product comes to market with an Achilles heel. There is an inherent limitation, design shortcoming or performance kerfuffle that is almost always present. Nevertheless, many of these products become very successful commercial brands. How do brands turn negatives into positives?
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Websites & resources
SelfGrowth-published websites, downloads, and contributor profile websites connected to this expert.
Website
Duquesa Marketing Sales & Marketing Consultants
Duquesa Marketing specializes in Sales Marketing & Development of new products and inventions using a variety of marketing services including packaging design, infomercial production, retail distribution, business plans and offshore manufacturing
August 4, 2009
Website
Duquesa Marketing
Duquesa Marketing creates strategies, business models, product design and development and sales distribution for consumer products. The Company has over 35 years experience launching products in the United States and Internationally.
September 16, 2008
Contacting Geoff Ficke
859-567-1609