Fishing Mirror
A fisherman from the city was out fishing on a lake in a small boat. He noticed another man in a small boat open his tackle box and take out a mirror. Being curious, the man rowed over and asked, “What is the mirror for?” “That’s my secret way to catch fish,” said the other […]
What Really Differentiates Us From Our Competition?
After talking to many business owners from varying industries about what is unique about their business – it nearly always comes down to them. That is because the business revolves around them. This is not always a good thing because it means that they are tied to the business and can rarely if ever get […]
Media Training
I had the pleasure of seeing Joel Roberts speak a few weeks ago in Brisbane. Joel has had a 20 year career as a talk show host in the competitive market place of Los Angeles. Joel now shares his knowledge of how to engage in stimulating conversation that will captivate your audience, who in business […]
Systems and Processes
Anyone who has looked at coaching will know that we stress that systems and processes should be put in place. This helps the business run more efficiently and to free business owners from having to be there day in and day out. The most successful businesses spend a lot of time in getting these systems […]
More Press for the Fish
We’re in the press again. Journalist Billy Adams, of the Sydney Morning Herald, interviewed Jon Dale about the problems that face small business owners and what they could and should be doing about them. Read the article here. Interestingly, Billy made contact after a Google search for business coaches brought up Small Fish and he […]
Search the Corners for Elephants!
I have met a number of business people recently, who are telling me that their business is struggling with the Global Financial Crisis. I must admit, there is a real feeling of slow down in most markets, especially the small to medium sized businesses that I work with. I am also finding that when I […]
Social Media
OK, so everyone is talking about it. Most of us are doing it.. but are we enjoying it? Before we go any further… watch this video Social media is powerful stuff. So powerful, in fact, that it has overtaken pornography as the number one activity on internet! (Social progress?). So powerful that one in eight […]
Help! I Have A Pea Stuck Up My Nose!
Yes, this actually happened. I once had a staff member shove a pea up his nose. While this was incredibly funny to me, it was not to him. He was convinced the pea would be sucked up into his brain causing him some sort of permanent damage. Now, I am no doctor but I am […]
Small Business Survey
Think of this as the survey before the survey…… We’re thinking we’d like to conduct a survey of small businesses (like us and like you) to find out what issues are concerning you, how you feel about the future and what you’re planning to do about it. We’ll be asking you all to participate, of […]
Are You A Master at the Art of Time Suckage?
It’s a quirky little phrase stolen from the early 90’s Gen-X cult movie Reality Bites. It describes those people around us who manage to waste hours accomplishing nothing. I am sure we are all guilty of it but how do we avoid it? Here are my top five time wastes. Are you guilty of any […]
Small Fish Gets Press
We (Jon) was featured in a article in the Sydney Morning Herald (and The Age and all the sister newspapers), written by Alexandra Cain. Real live coaching clients Mark Barrett from CI Marketing and John Jones from Qubit Consulting actually said that they believe their business coaching was valuable! I know! And Jon was their […]
To Sell A Fish, You Need to Think Like A Fish!
I have just re-read a fantastic book called Lovemarks written by Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi. It is one of my favorite reads as it takes the focus back to building long -term connections with consumers. One of my favorite quotes is “To sell to a fish you need to think like a […]