-- Jean Paul

I have been thinking this morning, about a speech I am giving today to a packed house of business owners. They are gathered to hear me speak about how they can get big results from their small ad budget by doing certain things and avoiding others.

I am speaking to Chamber of Commerce in Murray Kentucky. I am going to show them many ways  to grow a business even in a poor economy such as we are in now. And I will offer several case studies. But nothing I can say is more relevant than Ole Norman Lambert's 13 Golden Rules of doing business. The sign out front of the restaurant reads: “The Only Home of Throwed Rolls.”

This is a portion of a chapter in an upcoming book with the working title: Marketing 101 Rich Ideas to Help Your Business in a Poor Economy.

Here are the 13 Golden Rules from Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston Missouri.

1.    As the Bible says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
2.    "Always offer our guest at least one service they can't receive anywhere else."
3.    "You, our guest, are very important, you are the reason we are here! THANK YOU!"
4.    "We need you, our guest, much more than we need ourselves."
5.    "You, our guest, are always right."
6.    "It's our job to take care of you, if we don't someone else will."
7.    "If we make a mistake, we will correct it immediately!"
8.    "Our simple but powerful rule: Always give you, our guest, more than you expect to get."
9.    "You are our guest; guests in our home, not clients or customers, but guests."
10.    "Good enough for some is not good enough for us."
11.    "The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary, is: give that little extra."
12.    "Quality rather than quantity matters, we offer BOTH."
13.    "We do simple things, but in exceptional ways!"

I challenge you to implement these in your business. We have adopted these 13 as our own, as well as a few more ideas besides. As a result, ( business owners are always wanting to see the results)  in an industry that is down 25% our tourism attraction in Kentucky is up about 20% over last year.