Zappos has nothing on the Corner Parking Lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. Just watch The Parking Lot Movie, a funny, fascinating documentary that debuted at SXSW 2010. It has everything: class-ism, culture, hiring people you trust, empowering your employees,...
What's wrong with being second? Americans (and probably others too) are obsessed with winning. As though being second, third, or fourth were unacceptable. Two sports reporters were debating recently whether the USA women’s soccer team was a failure because it lost the...
Mention PowerPoint, and just about everyone will tell you they hate it. But why do we blame the tool for the fact that presenters abuse it (a lot)? In Speaking PowerPoint: The New Language of Business, Bruce Gabrielle makes a compelling case for Microsoft’s...
My target audience isn't marketers. It's businesses. There's nothing wrong with marketing blogs. Or PR blogs. Or blogs about kittens. But too many business bloggers are really just writing for themselves. What challenges do your clients, customers, and/or prospects...
British Airways has apparently never heard of Gerry McGovern. McGovern won my heart when I heard him describe what Google's home page would look like if it were a typical corporate home page. (Think "Hi, I'm Sergey" and "Latest News: Announcing Google+"). Google knows...
We talk a lot about "reading the fine print." The disclosures that scroll across the bottom of TV ads. Multi-page bank privacy statements. Multi-screen end-user agreements. All those documents you sign when you buy a house or refinance a mortgage--or start a new job....
Do you time your commute? My latest Workshifting post is up, and it's about what happens when you actually have to leave your home office (or your favorite coffeehouse): The only problem with short commutes is not having one. My commute is 10 feet. I get up,...
A colleague complimented me on my tact, saying I "have a wonderful way with words... poise and grace." Another likes my bluntness, saying that "real friends tell it straight, compliments AND criticisms." Tact and bluntness. My mom once said she was glad that I had...
Assessing value can be one of the toughest challenges facing any business. Bring small business folks together for a conversation, and the topics of rates and handling negotiations routinely come up. Pricing is often in the eye of the buyer—budget, need, demand, and...
Would you fire an employee who badmouthed your business? I had the pleasure of presenting at the Direct Marketing Association of Washington's Social Media Marketing Day. Our panel was charged with talking about best practices. Did you know, for example, that Facebook...