Blogs

Cap and gown ceremonies, bridal bouquets, and the telltale absence of school busses on the roads tells me it must be summer again . . . or at least we’re getting mighty close. Summer officially arrives on June 21 at 1:04 a.m. EDT, but already the days are long and warm. While the winter was long and…

I read in a recent article from the American Marketing Association’s The Buzz that 70% of leads generated through marketing are never followed-up on, even though 65% of marketing budgets are spent on generating leads. Ouch! That’s like applying for a job and 70% of the time never following up on it. If you were…

On the heels of last week’s Blog about getting to know your customers better, and getting more comfortable asking them how they learn about, buy, and even use your products or services, I got to thinking “How do I incentivize my customers to give me feedback?” Granted, if the feedback is negative, I generally don’t…

Who are your customers? Do you know them, really . . . or do you just think you do. For most small- to medium-sized businesses, I’m betting on the latter, and here’s why: you would be amazed at how many times I’ve been asked to spearhead a marketing effort, or retool one, without benefit of…

In some ways, life is all about balance. Day balances night, the ratio of men to women in the world is roughly 1:1, and when we eat too much or spend too much time in the recliner watching the TV, we try to balance it all out by exercising, eating right, taking walks on the…

Don’t Assume. How many times have we heard someone tell us that, whether it’s at home or on the job? There’s usually a second part to that saying, something about “When you assume, you make a (posterior section) out of you and me.” Seems like sound advice to me. To “assume” means to take something…

Watching the ups and downs of Facebook stock over the last year, got me to thinking, “Maybe this social media thing’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” Add in Apple’s recent tumble from numero uno company in the land, and I really started to wonder if we’ve experienced some sort of social media/technology bubble and are…

We all need to disconnect at times from the day-to-day challenges of our business and personal lives, whether it’s for a planned vacation, an impromptu walk on a local nature trail or beach, watching your favorite sports team on the flat screen (Go Dodgers!), or simply checking out for a proverbial “mental health day” to…

The life of an entrepreneur is never dull, especially for an entrepreneur looking to make the transition from self-employed back to full-time employment. That would be me. If I’ve piqued your interest, read on about what’s been going on with me personally and professionally over the last few months. CAREER & WORK Hard to believe…

I am often surprised when I hear people grumbling how they didn’t get something they wanted, only to find out from them later that they never really asked for it. “I built this new Web site and all I really wanted was for people to contact me for a free consult.” (Well, did you actually…

Spring has sprung in most parts of the country, unless you live in the seemingly perpetual deep freeze of the upper mid-west or northeast (but even there a robin or two has been sighted and the days are growing longer). This time of year brings back fond memories of the waning days of my college…

It’s easy to tell people what they want to hear. After all, politicians do it all the time (sorry, I couldn’t resist!). But what about what people need to hear, whether it’s good news or bad, or something in-between? What about those “tough” conversations, which some might even call “fierce”? I don’t know anybody who…