Last month, on May 5th, the stock market hit an all-time high. Most retailers reported April and first quarter sales exceeding that of the prior year, and in a couple cases, flirting with records. Wal-Mart and Costco, historically negatively affected by high prices at the gas pump, had exceptionally strong April sales. Unemploymentat 4.7%, effectively 1.7% after deducting the permanent unemployed number.

In a one hour newscast on CNN monitored this day, all this news, combined, got six minutes!

The news of high gas prices alone got fourteen minutes.

On the day you read this, the specific statistics may be as good, up or a bit down, but overall, the American economy appears strong.

The stock market numbers are of direct importance to a majority of Americans, as, today, more are investors than ever before in history, directly as well as through 401(K) plans and other pension plans, IRA’s, college funding plans, etc.

If you aren’t familiar with Zig Ziglar - well, you just haven’t been paying attention! For 40 years, with his 25 previous books and continuous touring as a speaker, Zig has created millions of fans from all walks of life, delivering a mixture of homespun common sense, simple, practical advice for setting and achieving goals, and clearing your mind of failure-prone thinking.

Zig is undoubtedly the most popular and celebrated motivational speaker in the world, frequently addressing audiences of 10,000 to 50,000. This new book summarizes Zig’s 79 years’ experience and wisdom, and provides three ‘pillars’ for staying motivated and energized day to day…

(From the book): “There are three pillars to the ‘better than good’ life: passion, peak performance and purpose. I don’t think anyone can stay motivated for very long in life without understanding all three of these concepts…”

“There are lots of people who would rather be doing something different with their lives…(a good starting question is) ‘if obstacles were not an issue, what would you like to be doing with your life?’…Because of family and financial obligations, it can be difficult to change course and start doing what you would rather do. Difficult - but not impossible!”

Jim McCann took over a small, struggling flower shop and built it into a 250-million dollar business, and has his sights set on a target of 1-billion dollars in yearly sales.

How has he done this?

The answer is, of course, complex. There is listening to the market, there is team-building within the company, there is constant innovation.

Jim says one of his jobs as a CEO is to “throw grenades”, to shake things up. But from a marketing standpoint, one of the great lessons of 1-800-Flowers is “multi-media”. This company has expanded into virtually every means of distribution and every media. They are an online and offline marketer; a mail-order company utilizing direct-mail and catalogs; a chain of bricks ‘n mortar stores.

They use all the internet media, radio, TV, print ads, statement stuffers. They wonderfully exhibit the marketing principle: open as many different doors as you can to your customer. Let him choose the one he prefers using.