What was the best business advice you ever got? Did it make, save or find you money? Did it give you solace about how to handle your HR challenges. Did it help you sleep at night?

These and many other questions set the standards against which we can judge and answer the question, “What was the best business advice you ever got?”

Let me tell you about one of the best pieces of business advice I ever received. I generated “a few” million dollars in sales for my business and it certainly saved me time, money and restless nights. I’m going to share it with you, and I believe it can probably help a number of you.

Background:

My former business, of which I co-ran for 22 years, was a national retail company. I used many different ways to sell my product, a niche collectible--historical documents. From brick and mortar to catalog to the Internet and television. When I launched my catalog/direct division, my goal was to produce seven auction catalogs of 150 pages in length featuring a couple of hundred distinct historical items. That’s writing, laying out and publishing about every six weeks. A pretty brutal schedule. Of course I had a staff, but as chief merchandiser and editor in chief, I was in charge of the project.

The one thing I wanted was for our catalog to be interesting like a magazine and enticing and engaging as a shopping vehicle. Very different than others in my industry.

I had never taken on such an endeavor. I knew nothing about book or magazine publishing. The year was 1997. I was totally perplexed with the design concept of our cover. The cover of course is most important. It’s the thing that drives the reader to open and engage. It also establishes your brand.

The Advice:

So I had the opportunity to ask a veteran and extremely successful book publisher, “How do you go about coming up with a concept for your book covers and magazines?” He said, “Pamela, billions of dollars have been spent and invested in the magazine-publishing business. Go to a book store and study what’s on the magazine rack. Buy all the covers that appeal to you. Lay them out and study what it is you like about what you see. From there will come your idea for your cover concept.”

I did just that. He was right. My catalogs became legendary in my industry. In seven years, $14mm in revenue was generated. Not bad for a niche collectible in its day.

The Advice that Keeps on Giving:

As a marketer, I am charged with developing innovative concepts which generate revenue. I have used the advice given to me 15 years ago many times over in my work. The Learn section on our website was inspired by, “Women’s Wear Daily” (WWD) and Bloomberg after I had reviewed numerous information/news websites. My personal consulting website, The Ring Retail Advisory (www.ringretailadvisory.com) was inspired by the websites of the top three international business consulting companies. And I assure you, as I write this blog, I am currently planning to totally revise, “The BV Buzz.” You can bet that I am studying the work of others to create something new and compelling for you readers.

Studying what others have done has helped me hone what I need to do when approaching my projects. It has saved me time, money and has proven to provide positive results. Just because you are not an expert on solving a particular challenge, doesn’t mean that you can’t get inspired by those who are.

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Just get inspired on what’s been done already and add your own flare to it. It too can bring you success and just maybe make a few million for you.