Delicious Prospects

I recently uploaded all my bookmarks onto Delicious, which lets me multi-tag items so I can find my Library Resources page whether my brain is processing “reference” or “business.” (Of course, just because it’s online doesn’t mean you shouldn’t back up the data.)
The ability to access all my bookmarks from any computer is a useful tool. But […]

Mr. Monk and the Business Cards

There was an episode of Monk a couple of years ago where the brilliant but obsessive-compulsive detective gets new business cards. When he discovers how much each card costs, he starts taking them back from people he doesn’t think really need to have them.
Many people adopt the opposite approach: they hand out their cards to […]

Twitter the World

Check out Twittervision and see our world interconnected. While reading random Twitter posts may not be everyone’s idea of fun, this mashup demonstrates the potential of new tech tools to enable businesses to connect to their customers in new, fun ways.

Starting a Business: Step 1

I’m often asked by would-be independents how to go about starting a business. You can’t have a business if you don’t know what you’re selling. So Step 1 is to define your value proposition. These three questions may help:

what are you good at?
what do you like to do?
what’s your market environment?

What you like to do […]

Safety Is a Core Business Function

See my letter to the editor in today’s Washington Post in response to a former pilot’s defense of the airline industry and absurd proposition that safety is “an aspect of airline customer service.” Is this really the airline industry’s PR strategy?

Teamwork

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics. The NBA franchise demonstrates what happens when an organization pulls together people with diverse strengths into a cohesive whole. In contrast to the Lakers’ team-built-around-one-main-man, the “Big Three” showed what happens when a core of people share the spotlight in pursuit of a common goal. It’s called teamwork, and there’s […]

One Free Lunch

I have a recycling bin right next to my mailbox into which I drop almost all the catalogues, the direct mail pitches, and all the junk mail unopened. But once in a while something catches my eye.
Score one for Chipotle. The Hopper-esque cover image and the wrap-around design piqued my interest. Inside, the “listen. look. taste.” […]

Loews Smart PR

Talk about smart public relations. Loews Hotels is offering a “Baggage Buy Back” incentive to reimburse guests the $15 checked bag fee the airlines are imposing. This costs the hotel chain very little while earning the company free publicity and a lot of good will.

Remember People Express?

The airline industry could learn a lesson or two from People Express. For those of you who weren’t traveling in the early-mid 1980s, People Express was a budget airline best known for cheap flights between Newark, NJ, and London’s Gatwick Airport. It charged fees for bags and fees for food — and it was one […]

The Calm and the Storm

Independent Thinking is my column for IABC’s CW Bulletin about entrepreneurship and the business of running a business. It’s also my philosophy of business: a state of mind that’s both the calm and the storm. To venture out on your own, you have to be great at your core business and savvy enough to manage everything else. Plus […]

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