Must-see marketing T.V.

I knew that someday my channel surfing would eventually unearth something of use for the blog! Well, Saturday was the day. I stumbled upon a terrific television show from CNN called The Turnaround, which airs weekly at 11am Eastern. From what I can gather, the show's been on since February, and it's now on my must-see list.

The premise is that a struggling business owner is paired with an experienced mentor who offers guidance on how the entreprenuer can beef up his/her bottom line. In the episode I saw, a doggie boutique owner learned how to maximize his best selling items while ditching the ones that collected dust. I was fascinated to see all kinds of marketing principles come into play, like how to focus very tightly on who exactly makes up a target market and write an equally focused business plan that captures what the enterprise is really "about".

Sure got me thinking! Along those same lines, it took me a while but I finally got into watching The Apprentice this past season and I also learned a lot about marketing from that show, believe it or not. You might want to give it a chance when the next season rolls around. Even if you're not a business buff, these shows are an entertaining way to get some creativity going...from your couch of all places!