A poster using the pseudonym “Wolfman” asked these questions Jan. 16 in a Swampbubbles post headlined “The Propaganda Media State”: “Does a WSPD or a Toledo Free Press have the resources to do real journalism?” and “Should journalism get the next government bailout?”
Wolfman did not define specifics on “real journalism” but provided a link to a PBS.org video, “Saving American Journalism,” in which “NOW” host David Brancaccio interviews professor Bob McChesney and journalist John Nichols about the future of newspapers. The two men have authored a book, “The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again,” that raises the question about the government stepping in with tax money to save newspapers.
The two men correctly point out that massive layoffs and closings have reduced the work force and seriously hampered print media’s ability to devote resources to investigative stories. They adopt a more alarmist voice when describing what they view as the possible result of this lack of print journalism: a “Propaganda Media State” in which there are fewer independent journalistic voices. They posit that will create a void that would be filled by government and large corporations. They suggest that the move from newsrooms to Internet information will result in fewer checks and balances and a dearth of quality control.
There is no question that some blog sites are merely gossip mills or news release stenographers, but are people that easily confused and unable to distinguish news from opinion and propaganda?
McChesney and Nichols advocate government bailouts for newspapers. They refer to their philosophy as “American as apple pie” and point to examples from the Founding Fathers era in which mailing rates were suspended and other subsidies were granted newspapers to ensure the dissemination of information. They estimate it could take up to $30 billion a year for the government to keep American newspapers afloat.
I rarely respond to posts on blogs or news sites. Not because I don’t believe in them, because I do; I am an avid follower of more than a dozen local blogs and news sites. But I have learned the hard way that there is little to gain by trying to join a thread of conversation as an official representative of Toledo Free Press. For every civil and intelligent rejoinder, there are a half-dozen uninformed snipers who just want to insult and stir up trouble. If it were criticism, even criticism I judged unfair, I would be cool with it, but it puts me in a box in which I have to be professional and moderate under my real name while jousting with anonymous hit-and-run posters who have no interest in fair conversation.
Wolfman’s post caught my attention for a number of reasons, so I responded, hopefully not too defensively, that while Toledo Free Press cannot send reporters to Haiti or the Olympics, we are able to go toe-to-toe with the big boys on the stories we do cover. Toledo Free Press owned the initial coverage of the Jan. 15 state auditor’s work notes on the TPS Investigate-gate story; hours before any other media source, Toledo Free Press posted several updates and comments from some of the people involved. The majority of that research was done by Toledo Free Press contributor Lisa Renee Ward, who is the area’s leading news blogger but who is not, she is the first to say, a trained journalist.
In response to the question of whether this newspaper can provide “real journalism,” I posted an unavoidably defensive list of 16 industry awards for reporting and writing we have received since 2008.
There is no argument against the thesis that publications such as Toledo Free Press and Web sites such as Ward’s Glass City Jungle can and do provide “real journalism.” There is a legitimate question about the scope and depth of that journalism. Many people in the established traditional media bristle at the notion that small outlets such as Toledo Free Press or bloggers like Ward can compete with them. They scoff at the notion that an understaffed newsroom or a lone at-home blogger can dig as deep and write as professionally as they do. Organizations like Toledo Free Press and Glass City Jungle have to practice selective journalism in terms of the quantity of stories we cover, but there is no sacrifice in quality, although old-school journalists maintain a distinct elitism about these news sources.
That is just one reason why traditional media, specifically daily newspapers, are a dead business model lurching along, animated only by the fading momentum of tradition and the impetus of their own bloated corpses.
Wolfman apparently looks to The Blade as a source of “real journalism,” but anyone who is paying attention knows that newspaper produces occasionally outrageous examples of jaundiced reporting and writing, often committed by journalists with degrees from some of the most prestigious programs in the country. Is one shady monolith of “real journalism” preferable to a series of smaller, more accountable news sources that report fewer stories but cover them with more neutrality and collectively cover the same ground as the monolith?
The Internet has democratized journalism, to the benefit of readers and the detriment of many who earned journalism degrees and make their living. That’s a harsh reality to deal with, but the marketplace will determine future sources of news, not the old-school boys desperately clinging to an era of monopoly from 25 years ago, and definitely not the government and taxpayer dollars.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

Toledo Public Schools (TPS) has a problem that could linger like a rain cloud for years. On Jan. 15, State Auditor Mary Taylor’s office released to Toledo Free Press a 2,165-page collection of work notes from the investigation into Dan Burns, a former TPS administrator.
For several hours that evening, Toledo Free Press contributor Lisa Renee Ward, who operates the political blog Glass City Jungle, combed through the pages; her hard work allowed Toledo Free Press to post the first and most thorough report on the 40 people who were investigated with taxpayer money. Some of those investigations may have been legitimate workman’s compensation cases, but there will undoubtedly be years of legal activity surrounding this abuse. We urge the Lucas County Prosecutor to fully investigate Burns’ and the TPS administration’s activities and ensure that anyone guilty of improprieties be brought to justice to answer for their crimes.
The crime show “Crime Scene Investigation” inspired the CSI acronym for Toledo Mayor Mike Bell’s promised committee charged with fully investigating the state of the city’s finances. Bell told Toledo City Council that report would be filed within 45 days (the balanced budget has to be delivered by the end of March, but as of Jan. 21, the committee has not yet met (Bell announced Jan. 22 that the team will meet Jan. 25). With a tremendous amount of work to do and the need for public input before a report is delivered, the 30 or so days left on that commitment are going to pass quickly. Perhaps the CSI team, which consists of volunteers, can focus on the expense aspect of the budget, rather than trying to dissect the entire process.
Someone should have dissected a few of the appointments Toledo City Council President Wilma Brown made in reference to financial matters. Brown named Councilman Phil Copeland as vice chairman of the Human Resources, Information Technology and Finance Committee. As Ward has pointed out, this critical position requires extreme diligence and attention. While I have no problem in general with Copeland’s voting record, the fact that he has had attendance issues and has not served on a recent Finance and Budget Committee undermines any confidence in his ability to shepherd this responsibility through a very difficult time.
These are all cases that I hope I am reading incorrectly. I hope the TPS/Burns scandal can be wrapped up fairly and quickly. I hope Bell’s CSI committee can do its work and present a cogent and responsible report to council. I hope Copeland proves his critics wrong by taking a strong lead on his new and vital duties.
All three situations warrant public scrutiny and attention. If the clouds do not clear, we Toledoans are the ones who will be left out in the rain.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Even with competition from national chain and franchise pizza spots, one local pizza shop owner is planning to open a second location in Toledo.
Chris Hawley, owner of PizzAroma in Monclova Township, is preparing to open another store on Secor Road in Toledo between Laskey and Alexis as early as March. The new location will offer carryout and delivery business, while the Monclova shop also offers dine-in service.

Jeff Stewart, left, and Pizzaroma owner Chris Hawley.

“Even with the tough economy, I decided to take a chance and go ahead with my plans to expand the business,” said Hawley, a native of South Toledo.
Hawley signed a lease for the building that housed the former Creative Sign Shop on Secor. He’s working with the City of Toledo on some zoning issues, finding the process and red tape to be quite lengthy.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love Toledo and understand that it’s just part of the process,” Hawley said. “I have traveled all over the U.S. and internationally, but have stayed in Toledo by choice.”
Hawley purchased the PizzAroma store that opened in 2007 from the original owner in October 2008 with no previous experience in the foodservice or restaurant business.
With a business and marketing background, Hawley said he “always thought it would be cool to own a pizza shop.”
“I’ve learned the business firsthand and it’s been a fun challenge. I plan to grow in the Toledo market and am looking at other locations,” he said.
Hawley believes that being a locally owned pizza business allows it to compete with the national brands. It gives him the freedom to do things differently from the requirements of a chain or franchise, he said.
“We have the best-tasting food made with fresh dough, ingredients and sauce without using any frozen products. Our staff does a great job of taking care of our customers,” he said.
Hawley also believes in buying local, purchasing much of the food and ingredients from Sofo Foods in Toledo and other local suppliers.
Like most pizza places, PizzAroma offers coupons and monthly specials for pizza and other menu items in-store and on its Web site at www.
pizzaromastore.com.
Hawley is remodeling the Monclova location where his friend Jeff Stewart, a local artist and musician, created the original artwork for the dine-in area.

The men and women who founded our republic knew tyranny firsthand. This personal experience inspired the Declaration of Independence, in which the evils imposed on the colonies by the government of King George III, and the course of action to be taken against that government, are specifically identified.
Paraphrased, the grievances include:

• Denial of the right of representation;
• Rigging meetings of the legislature so as to produce outcomes favorable to the state and hurtful to the people;
• Punishment of dissent;
• Neglect of dangers to the people;
• Interference with immigration;
• Proliferation of bureaucracy to harass and plunder the people;
• Altering the form of government;
• Subservience to foreign jurisdictions;
• Imposition of taxes without consent of the people;
• Inciting insurrections against the people; and,
• Ignoring the people’s petitions for redress.

Based on these and other offenses, the declaration rightly identifies the king as a tyrant.
I submit to you that our government is moving towards tyranny. In parallel to the above, it has:

• Refused to heed the will of the people;
• Passed legislation, such as “health care reform,” that expands the powers of the state while eroding liberty;
• Slandered and intimidated dissenters, possibly to set the stage for limiting their freedom of dissent;
• Refused to seal our borders against terrorists and to confront enemies such as Iran;
• Extended benefits to illegal aliens and enriched insiders at the expense of the people;
• Expanded government power over the people through new bureaucracies;
• Established unconstitutional powers, including the appointment of “czars” who are unaccountable to either the Congress or the people;
• Embraced foreign law and precedent as superior to our own;
• Imposed taxes without consent of the people;
• Funded with taxpayer dollars ACORN and other activist organizations that act against the will and interests of the people; and,
• Refused to hear or respect the complaint of the people against these actions.

I also submit that we the people have allowed this to happen because we have lost our dread of tyranny.
We have lost our appreciation of liberty because we no longer rightly understand our history. We allow the founders to be mocked as racist, sexist slaveholders, and the religious beliefs and moral principles upon which the Republic was founded to be ridiculed as obsolete and irrelevant. In our apathetic ignorance, we fear the label of political incorrectness more than the evil of tyranny, and so we meekly turn away in shamed silence rather than stand against tyranny’s ascension.
How ironic that the exercise — or neglect — of our right to vote has produced a runaway government that now infringes upon our rights. For by our votes, or our refusal to vote, we have made rulers of people who regard the power of government to be a greater good than the liberty of the people.
Believing government, rather than our Creator, to be the source of rights, these rulers admire totalitarians like Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, and regard their regimes as worthy of emulation while rejecting American values of personal responsibility and a free market. They promote misunderstanding of conservative values and revise American history so that they may more easily sway public opinion made malleable by ignorance, for they know that a people well-informed in these subjects will resist such rulers on principle.
Liberty is an abomination to these rulers, for it stands in opposition to the power of the state. Indeed, the Declaration regards liberty to be the greatest good, and defines the sole purpose of government as the securing of liberty. I would ask you: What is the greater good? The power of the state over the people? Or, the liberty of the people, safeguarded by the state? If you cannot immediately identify the latter as the greater good, then you must answer a second question: Which of your liberties are you therefore willing to forfeit to a tyrannical state?
I am not calling for another revolutionary war, nor the overthrow of government. But I do call for those who lead us toward tyranny to be voted out of office. This is imperative, for the survival of the republic and of liberty itself.
Thomas Jefferson warned that a government that can give everything, as our present government seeks to do, can take everything. Such a government is tyrannical and must be feared. Without that fear, the liberty for which so many Americans shed their blood will surely be lost — not in one fell swoop, but by relentless increments. And we will be powerless to stop it because we will neither recognize nor fear the darkness into which we will be led.

Thomas Berry is a member of Children of Liberty. The group’s Web site is http://thechildrenofliberty.ning.com.

The Hungry I concept returned to the Toledo market when the new restaurant opened in Sylvania.
Partners Gus Nicolaidis and Moussa Salloukh based their latest venture on the original Nick’s Hungry I operated by Gus and his brother Nick on Monroe Street in the 1970s.
“We are offering much of the old menu from the original Hungry I, including the signature Reuben sandwich. We’re selling a ton of Reubens,” Salloukh said.
The 35-year old concept of the “House of Sandwiches and Home of the Reuben is a shrine to the past” but still attracts a brisk business for lunch and dinner today in the new location, Nicolaidis said.

Waitress Amy Estes serves up a Reuben to Gus Nicolaidis and Moussa Salloukh, owners of the Hungry I in Sylvania.

“The response has been overwhelming to the concept with our great location and space here,” Salloukh said about the site of the former Rouge Bistro.
The new Hungry I, which opened Dec.1, is located in Renaissance Place on Holland-Sylvania Road. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.
“We get a lot of the old crowd from the original Hungry I and new customers from the Sylvania community,” Salloukh said.
“We’ve already added some sandwiches to the menu due to the demand from our customers,” he said.
The Hungry I is offering “Blast from the Past” weekly lunch specials, featuring some of the old sandwiches, such as the Jaws Fish Sandwich. The “Wow” Burgers include 10 ounces of ground beef in a variety of styles.
“We offer some new wraps and a grilled panini portabella sandwich in addition to the classic gyro, philly steak, and other sandwiches from the past,” Nicolaidis said.
The dinner menu includes beef, chicken and fish entrees with a vegetarian plate, ranging in price from $12 to $20 with a selection of appetizers and salads. A full-service bar offers beer, cocktails and wines by the bottle or glass.
The ageless question remains the same. What does the “I” stand for? Nicolaidis said it “simply stands for our core values that we refuse to compromise” that include “Independently owned and operated, Inspiring menu selections, Incredible food, Implausible service and Inviting atmosphere.”
“We bring together the best of the past in Toledo dining and serve it up with a swanky new twist,” said Nicolaidis, who grew up in Toledo and graduated from Jessup Scott High School.
Salloukh and Nicolaidis also own and operate the La Scola Italian Grill on Airport Highway in South Toledo.

Aries (March 21-April 19)
Handstands and cartwheels. The tone of your one-on-one interactions with others is a gauge for the potential of future collaboration. Peak experiences after Wednesday could change how you view your self and others. Embrace your inner child under the full moon.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Fuel for the fire. Distractions make Monday a juggling act. Encounters with others and momentous insights lead to life-shaking decisions. General ideas become specific directives. As the full moon arrives, emotions intensify. Keep heart and hands open for blessings to flow.
Gemini (May 21-June 21)
Loving cup. The stage is set, and everything depends on how the players interact. Your sensors pick up every nuance this week. Keep input balanced so you can play your own role in unfolding events. After Thursday, direct activities so the results fulfill your desires.
Cancer (June 22-July 22)
Pecking order. External problems disrupt the flow on Monday. Hidden concerns burst into full view midweek, and compel bottom-line reassessments. After Thursday, one powerful person or dominant issue steals the show unless thoughtfully moderated by the group.
Leo (July 23-August 22)
Peacock tail. The approaching full moon in Leo fuels a build-up of dominance issues. Whether these trigger noisy power battles or icy stand-offs, root concerns need expression to reach resolution. Listen to your heart and follow its wisdom; let love heal all wounds.
Virgo (August 23-September 22)
A rose in winter. Shifts in the environment or climate have an impact on stagnant situations. The full moon has karmic overtones in relationships – are you a victim or healer? You can shake up the status-quo by moving or eliminating the props that sustain it.
Libra (September 23-October 22)
Time machine. Observe where others are motivated by desire. People steer toward true north this week, whether its success, conflict, or peace. Look for positive ways to get and give attention. A timely compliment derails a drama queen; stillness halts tirades or frenzies.
Scorpio (October 23-November 21)
Lion tamer. This week’s challenge is sustaining balance with others while maintaining the direction of personal efforts. People may provoke just to get a reaction. The full moon spotlights where personal power is being used for the greater good or for selfish satisfactions.
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)
Rising phoenix. Get ready for crucial turning points with people, situations and circumstances. The full moon challenges your ability to be honest without defensive or offensive extremes. Access your diplomatic skills, suggest options and point out unseen benefits.
Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Foucault’s pendulum. Situations require swift re-evaluation if the shoe is suddenly on the other foot. Shifting from the giving to the receiving end of things is usually a lesson in compassion and sympathy. Make eye contact when saying words from the heart.
Aquarius (January 20-February 18)
Test of character. The full moon illuminates personality details – strengths, weaknesses, warts and all – in self and others. Finding fault is easy; seeing it in yourself is tough. Love is accepting, finds the humor, forgives, and moves on to more important things.
Pisces (February 19-March 20)
Judge and jury. Your role in other’s lives reaches a critical testing point. You gain strength by drawing upon past experiences and sharing them as others approach their own hurdles. Understanding the process may be more important than reaching the goals.

A tip if you’re going to see Lisa Williams: Take tissues.

Seems to be a lot of tears when the medium/psychic/clairvoyant sees spirits and passes along their messages to loved ones.

“It’s a very entertaining show, first of all, because the spirits will come forward, and they will help me connect with members of the audience, and I’ll give readings throughout the audience to their loved ones,” she said.

Lisa Williams

“The spirits have got quite a few stories … So there’s a lot of funniness, a lot of lighthearted humor there, but there’s also a serious side when we will get to the bottom of what happened to a murder or what happened to a suicide … a lot of healing, a lot of comfort usually goes on in my show.”

Williams will be at Stranahan Theater at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29. Tickets range from $35 to $55. Purchasing a ticket does not guarantee a reading.

The 36-year-old is working on a second book, “Do You Want to Know Everything?” which will be released in September, and said she is close to inking a deal for another TV show. She previously appeared in “Life Among the Dead” and “Voices From the Other Side.”

The Brit contacted Toledo Free Press Jan. 14 for a phone interview from her California home.

TFP: Do you remember the first time you realized you had the ability to communicate with spirits?

Williams: I was probably 3, 4 years old, and I do remember faces coming out of the walls and the light switches and the light bulbs and all sorts of things. And I used to have a lot of imaginary friends. My parents branded me with the whole overactive imagination; they completely pooh-poohed the whole idea that I was speaking to dead people, which, I suppose, you know, any parent would do in the ’70s. It didn’t scare me; it was something I was very used to; I thought everyone saw dead people.

TFP: Describe what happens when spirits contact you.

Williams: I see them, and I also feel them. I use all my five senses to really take on the personality of the spirit and understand what is it that they’re trying to tell me. … You sense things and you get chilly and cold, and it’s quite bizarre, really. I think the only way to explain it is that I become very, very hypersensitive to everything around me.

TFP: How often do spirits contact you?

Williams: Pretty much daily. They’ll come in and have a chat. And we all have a spirit guide, and my spirit guide will chat with me constantly.

TFP: Celebrity spirits have visited you?

Williams: Spirits will come forward just to help make a connection; they will come forward to help me connect with a loved one. Every spirit is really different. I think Ray Charles was one of them where he came through to help me connect to his granddaughter. And Princess Diana helped me connect to a lady’s husband. Marilyn Monroe I saw at the Roosevelt Hotel, so that was quite a freaky experience in itself.

TFP: How do you deal with skeptics?

Williams: My father was a very big skeptic for a long time until he finally embraced my gift. So I don’t mind skeptics; I always say to them: Have an open mind, be prepared for your mind to be changed because there’s a world of opportunity out there that hasn’t been explored.

www.lisawilliams.com

The record: 36 seconds. Yes, imagine close to 800 brides storming through the doors to grab 2500 discounted designer gowns in less than one minute. Arms out wide, brides sweep in and grab as many dresses as they can. The tulle flies as they scurry over to squeeze a spot by the mirror. They try on dress after dress, swap with other shoppers and even bargain with one another. Its really one of the most competitive bridal sports there is – other than snagging the groom!

The Running of the Brides is a Filene’s Basement tradition since 1947. With eight sales a year in select stores, designer gowns that retail for as much as $9,000 are sold from $249-$699. Toledo bride, Rachel Grace will be participating in the January 29th Running in Columbus. She and five other friends are going down Thursday night so they can be at the doors first thing Friday morning. Sales like Filene’s offers brides the opportunity to have their dream dress. “I don’t want to comprise the quality of my wedding dress. I want to find my dream designer dress… and I am willing to drive hours to find the perfect one,” Grace said. No appointment is needed. Doors open at 8:00 a.m. and the sale goes all day or until all gowns are sold. Sizes, styles and fabrics vary. It’s suggested you bring “running buddies” to help you grab the gown you are looking for. “I plan on having each of the girls take a section of the store and grab as many dresses as they can…with a sweetheart neckline and trumpet style,” is Grace’s strategy.

In addition to Columbus, Filene’s Running of the Brides will be taking place in Chicago and Cleveland. Information can be found at filenesbasement.com/bridal.
According to About.com the average wedding dress costs $3,000. Couture designers such as Monique Lhuillier can retail up to $20,000. But for many, saving on the dress allows for other extravagances on wedding day. So many brides are buying gently used gowns at upscale boutiques. Stores like White Chicago and WhiteXhange, believe bridal style shouldn’t have to be sacrificed for price. On-line boutiques such as PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com and EncoreBridal.com offer a selection of new, sample and nearly-new wedding dresses at the click of a button.

But you don’t have to go far for a good deal. Gallippo’s Bridal and Formal in Toledo is offering an exclusive sale with up to 80 percent off designer gowns that retail for over $1,500. “The designer offered me a break on the price of the gowns for purchasing this large selection. No two gowns are alike and all are brand new,” said bridal salon owner, Yvonne Gallippo.

One word of advice: dramatic alterations, repairs and cleaning can be costly and defeat the purpose of your discount. An alteration on the hem alone can cost as much as $200. Be sure to examine your dress carefully before purchase. Most bargains and re-sales are non-refundable.

See you at the finish line!
Brittany is the principle Event Designer and Coordinator for Crowning Celebrations. She specializes in wedding and social celebrations. You can follow her blog at http://www.crowningcelebrations.blogspot.com/ .

’m sure you have seen the show.  People dressed in all sorts of wild outfits make up the audience for a chance to be on TV and a chance to win big prizes. I had thought the show was no longer on the air, until I had a chance to take a quick break at a conference last week and saw Wayne Brady running the show. All kinds of people just waiting for their chance to be a winner were going crazy.
This lady dressed as a cat was holding a box that contained a surprise amount of money.  She could either keep the box and open it up to find out how much money was in it or trade the box for what was behind door No. 2.  In this case, she kept her box and someone else got what was behind door No. 2.  As the camera scanned the audience, there was a guy dressed like a chicken, a couple dressed like the president and first lady, and I think I saw Elvis. Mr. Brady picked a lady dressed as a hula girl. Behind door No. 2 was a world-class vacation and a jet ski with a total value of $9,471. Now it was the lady who kept the boxes to find out if she made a good deal.  The safe was opened and inside was $111.
Things could have turned out differently. I didn’t have a chance to stick around and watch the rest of the show, yet I remember the show from my childhood. The box could have contained $10,000 and behind the door could have been a donkey.  Not knowing is what is so exciting about the show.
We are surprised at how many people make investment decisions like they are on the game show, often willing to trade what could be a pot of gold for a chance to get a bigger prize. In real life, when it comes to investments you get to look inside the box and see what is behind door No. 2 before you decide.
Many people make wild, often quick decisions based upon their emotions, acting almost like a contestant on the game show.  They sell investments that are in the stock market when they are losing money and buy fixed accounts and then wait till “things get better” to buy back into the stock market. The problem with this is when it comes to retirement, it’s not a game and the choices can be devastating.
An investor should not act like a game show contestant. Review every option carefully before you make a decision. If it is safety and security an investor wants, learn about what safe investment options offer the highest potential return. A ton of options are available and a small 1 or 2 percent increase in earnings can make a major difference in finding money.  To learn more, visit www.safemoney places.com. If the investor is comfortable with equity investing; the way to find the money is to look at how to cut out wasted fees and expenses.  Cutting fees by one or two percent can be another great way to find the money.  Use www.morningstar.com to check up on your equity investments. Or if an investor is considering switching from safe to risky investments or vice versa consider the pros and cons first. Before you make the move, make sure you get educated.
On the show, the contestant only gets a few seconds to make a decision. In real life, when it comes to planning a secure and peaceful retirement, take some time to get a better understanding of all of the options.  Don’t be rushed into making a quick decision.  Attend a local educational event and then do some homework — no chicken suit is required.

Got a question? Ask The Retirement Guys. E-mail us at letters@toledofreepress.com. For more information about The Retirement Guys, tune in every Saturday at 1 p.m. on 1370 WSPD or visit www.retirementguysradio.com. Securities are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., Member FINRA / SIPC.  The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. The office is at 1700 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100, Maumee, OH 43537.

Recently I was presenting to a National Association’s Annual Conference near Las Vegas. The presentation was entitled, “Selling in a Tough Economy.” This presentation discussed the status quo of our economy and then described why some marketing representatives (fancy word for salesman) and companies, inspite of the challenging times, are successful and others are not!

One of the focal points of the presentation was the need to differentiate. One of the points we discussed is that if your differentiation is only price then get ready to start losing margin. Unless you are Walmart and have the economies of scale to have the lowest costs for your products, you need to be able to differentiate your product or services from the competition by some other means than price.

I have talked to many customers and worked with them in regards to doing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis. When we discuss their strengths, many times I get things like Customer Service, Quality, and Responsiveness. These are all excellent qualities of a company’s product or service. However, can you envision my client’s competitors suggesting that they provide bad Customer Service, Quality and Responsiveness as compared to my client, of course not? The question is how do you differentiate? What are your competitive advantages? How do you substantiate your claims?

The ground rules for outlining these differentiators as I call them or your competitive advantages as defined by Jaynie Smith in her book “Creating Competitive Advantage” are as follows:

1. It needs to be objective not subjective

2. Quantifiable, not arbitrary-We have great customer service, 95% of our business comes from referrals.

3. Not already claimed by the competition

4. Not a cliché-Don’t tell me you exceed customer expectations. How do you know what these expectations are?

How is your business? Are sales down? Do you have some new wrinkles in your sales message that is different than last year? If you do things the same way you will probably get the same or similar results. Is that what you are looking for in 2010?

Or, are you and your team able to enunciate your Differentiators/Competitive Advantages? Seems to me that no matter what industry you are in unless your run the Walmart of that industry, you might want to invest some time-first identifying your competitive advantages and then figuring out a way to communicate these to your current customers as well as your prospective customers. The other alternative, assuming you have plenty of margin left is to continue to give it away!

Roger Bostdorff is the President of B2B Sales Boost. He spent over 30 years with IBM in sales and sales management. B2B Sales Boost is a consulting company helping organizations improve their sales and overall business processes. He is also available for business speaking engagements. You can find more regarding B2B Sales Boost on the web at www.b2bsalesboost.com or calling 419-351-4347. If you would like to receive the B2B Sales Boost Newsletter please send an e-mail to sales@b2bsalesboost.com.