Take a walk through the business section of your local bookstore. You’ll see hundreds of books on how to be more successful. How to do more in less time. How to be a better leader. How to make more money with less effort. How to be happier You’ll see books listing the five secrets of
When the article doesn’t mention you
An article appears in your company’s trade journal that grabs your eye. It’s a story about exactly what your company does, and even features one of your clients. It’s well-written, accurate and factual, but… Why doesn’t the article mention your company? Why didn’t the reporter who wrote the piece call you? After all, your company
Decisions, decisions, decisions…
In the course of day, the typical businessperson makes dozens of decisions: Grande or venti? The taco truck or Chinese takeout? Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi? Cardio or weights? Yes, the business day is full of choices! But while deciding on your morning coffee, lunch, an afternoon soft drink and your workout may be relatively
Five reasons decisions are hard to make
Leaders can’t make decisions if they aren’t in touch with the business. Corporate America often has trouble making decisions. Whether it’s Netflix changing their business model, only to change it again almost immediately, or the A&E cable TV channel coming down hard on Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, only to reverse themselves almost instantly, some companies
The Olympics and Languages
As you’re watching the “XXII Olympic Winter Games” (better known as the Winter Olympics) this month, you may find yourself wondering why all of the announcements are made in French, then English and then Russian. Sochi is in Russia, so shouldn’t the announcements be in Russian? English is the international language of business and is
Five invaluable communication tools
Today, there is no shortage of communication tools. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to stay on top of the new apps and platforms that developers introduce every day for our smartphones, tablets, and even our sneakers to help us monitor our heart rates and count calories while exercising. However, too much can be a bad
The MOOC
MOOCs offer one more avenue for companies to reach new customers What’s a “MOOC”? It’s not the term coined in Martin Scorsese’s film “Mean Streets,” “mook,” meaning “a loser.” Rather, MOOCs are “Massive Open Online Courses,” and they’re offered by universities as ways to both educate students and improve the teaching methodologies used in online
Partner communication
Partner communication at your business can be frustrating. How many times have you thought you communicated expectations clearly to a business partner, only to find when the final product was delivered, it wasn’t at all what you expected? If you’re like most of us, the answer is “too often.” Partner communication requires that hat both
Ebooks: Five advantages of paper over pixel
Ebook sales are a tsunami crashing onto the shores of the reading public. While some are saying that sales are slowing, that’s simply not true. As Eoin Purcell writes, One of the problems is that ebooks have become so large a market, more than $1 billion in the US alone in 2013, and have grown
English is English, Right?
While the US has the world’s largest economy, it doesn’t mean the rest of world follows our same standards and practices for English usage. Isn’t all English the same? Not entirely. While Americans have always been aware of certain differences in the language between what’s spoken in “the colonies” and “the Queen’s English,” there are
Six tips for your slow season
Does your business have a slow season? If your company is like most, there are certain times of year when business really hums, or when there seems to be more work than there are warm bodies to handle it. For example, year-end is a busy time for retailers and companies looking to meet annual goals.
Angry discourse in the digital space
In the past few weeks there have been some glaring examples of hateful, angry diatribes that made the news. Whether it was a comparison of the national debt to slavery and the subsequent firing of a reporter who objected to the analogy or choosing the occasion of Nelson Mandela’s death to attack Obamacare, there have
The Future of Consumer Magazines, Part 2
…magazine readers’ habits have changed. It’s been a while since we looked at the future of magazine publishing. In a recent article in Toronto’s The Globe and Mail newspaper, contributor Navneet Alang writes a critique of a new app called Next Issue Canada (available as simply Next Issue in the US) that promises to deliver
Addict: are you a social media junkie?
Addict. These days, you can’t go anywhere—restaurants, cars, meetings, sporting events, concerts, even restrooms—without seeing people glued to their phones, tablets or laptops. What is it with us? Are we addicts, drawn to this 24/7 lifestyle, where instant connection and response are the norm? Many of us have joked about and even wondered if our
To blog or not? The answer here.
Having a blog was the craze 8 or 10 years ago. In fact, BusinessWeek (now Bloomberg Businessweek) published an oft-cited article titled “Blogs Will Change Your Business” on May 1, 2005. That was a digital eon ago, but Businessweek updated it, and in February of 2008, a mere half-eon ago—and retitled it “Social Media Will
Five Rules for Using Video
Video is a powerful tool for your company’s online presence and has many advantages over still images or text. However, video has its drawbacks too. As its use in the online world has evolved, experts are sharing some guidelines about when and how to use video. Follow these simple rules to maximize the effectiveness of
Is It Time to Write a Book?
From time to time, a lot of us have thought about writing a book. Whether the motivation stems from having an idea to share with others or simply wanting the glamour that comes from being a published author, writing a book is an item that appears on many bucket lists. But writing a book is
Telephone 101: Avoid Phone Foibles
You’re focused on running your company in the world that moves at the speed of an electron, where uncertainty is the only sure thing, and in which a warehouse with a PO box and a website is undercutting your price by 50 percent. With every day a fire that needs putting out, who has time
Innovative and Controversial
The trade show booth was stacked four deep with people eager to take advantage of the company’s free giveaways. While they were waiting for their gift, they took some collateral sales and marketing materials, and signed up for the company’s e-newsletter. The booth was a smash success! Then the giveaways ran out, and the mood
10 Reasons Why Customers Buy
Recently, blogger Stu McLaren wrote a post on his blog entitled “Why Do People Buy?” According to McLaren, there are seven reasons: To save time. “The more time you can save someone, the more valuable your product or service becomes. To save money. “People love a good deal. Show that your product or service will
The Future of Corporate Communication
Do you communicate with your customers? I don’t mean in the sense of having a website or an e-newsletter, but real interactive communication. Few companies will answer “no” to this question, but many may say they could do a better job of communicating. And why don’t companies do a better job? There are many explanations.
Use Facebook to see where your customers are
Earlier this year, Facebook Data Science released a map showing where the Facebook fans of the various NFL teams live. Not only did the map spark interest among football fans, but it contains some valuable lessons for your business as well. The map The map provided a graphical representation of NFL fandom that both surprises
Speaking their language
In business, it’s essential to speak your client’s language—not their spoken tongue, but their “industry speak.” You have to know their business, and know how to speak to both the CEO and the IT department. To show you what I mean, consider this: Have you ever traveled somewhere and not understood the local customs. Take
Changing Meanings: That Word…
“…I do not think it means what you think it means.” So goes the famous quote from The Princess Bride. It’s in reference to the evil mastermind Vizzini’s use of the word “inconceivable,” which he uses to convey his dismay at being followed by a trailing boat approaching closer, among other things. Taken literally, inconceivable
