My friend Bob has a sign on the wall of his screen printing shop just to the right of the desk where he sits with customers to take their orders. It says: You can have it fast. You can have it cheap. You can have it be good. But you can’t have all three. For Bob, it’s a constant reminder that he can’t be all things to all people. For his customers, it’s a subtle...
Read MoreIt’s important in business to understand what your customer wants, but it’s even more important to understand why. What are the underlying needs, issues, concerns or problems that are driving people to seek out a particular product or service? Knowing the answers will help you create better content for your blog and social media.
Read MoreThe sun finally came out on Sunday bringing a welcome warm breeze. I know because I glanced at it longingly from my desk in between furtive bursts of working to catch up on a year’s worth of bookkeeping. I would love to have been outside, but instead, I was at my desk going through my calendar and crunching numbers.
At some point in the afternoon, a little piece of advice I was once given floated into my brain: Systems will set you free.
Read MoreWould you call you? One of the best bits of wisdom I picked up in the early stages of my business is that people want to do business with people they know, like and trust. I have found this to be true and a little frustrating. Afterall, you can only meet so many people in a day. If you can’t meet them, how are they ever going to like and trust you? Fortunately, there is the internet, which gives us the capacity to meet people from all over the world with whom we could potentially do business.
Read MoreMy 14-year-old daughter came home appalled the other day because a friend had declared she was not a feminist and not interested in the concept of fighting for women’s rights. My daughter couldn’t understand her friend’s indifference. Her ire wasn’t surprising – like her mother, this one is inclined toward strong opinions and voicing them.
Read MoreI was under the impression that the drive from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon was just about 2.5 hours. There were plenty of tour buses that would pick you up early in the morning from your hotel, bring you there and return you just in time for dinner, so a day trip seemed feasible.
I was in Vegas to organize a conference. It was three days of intensive activities following several weeks of intensive planning and preparation.
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