If you have ever worked for or with a nonprofit, then at some point you have probably gone through a community mapping exercise. Have you done the same for your business? My latest Workshifting.com blog post is out, and it's all mapping your community: We think about...
Branding firm BBMG has released an interesting white paper on what it terms "co-creativity." The idea is for organizations to put their stakeholders at the center of a new, more participatory brand experience. BBMG writes: For all the hype about brands inviting...
Are you sabotaging your success? Sometimes the biggest barriers in business are the ones we create for ourselves. For example: It's just a business plan. It's just a blog post. It's just a speech. It's just a conference. It's just a tweet up. It's just a vendor....
Is your business structured the right way? There are legal, tax, and liability implications to how your business is structured. Not just the legal structure (e.g., LLC or corporation), but also whether you have an operating agreement and how it's written. And what...
What is the future of marketing? That was the topic at a recent Thoughtlead online mini-conference. The premise: Select 60 smart people, ask them one big question, and give them each 60 seconds to make their case. The responses were sometimes predictable. More often,...
Is your business sending out mixed messages? My condo building just completed a major redecorating project, in the process turning our lobby into a replica of a high-end, monochromatic coffee bar (sadly minus the barrista or the coffee). And that silly gas-powered...
His name was Matt, and I loved him. Matt was a trainer at Gold's Gym when I first met him. He said hi to everyone, and he'd go out of his way to correct your form or (in my case) nag me to switch up cardio machines more often. When I decided to get a trainer, I worked...
We're swimming in data, but are we mining it intelligently? David McCandless is a "data journalist," and he has spent a lot of time thinking about how to sort through data and make the information relevant. In this TED talk, McCandless talks about data in a connected...
I [heart] the DC government's hazardous waste disposal operation. And not just because I cleaned out all the oil-based paint, lighter fuel, and other flammable and noxious materials from my condo. It's because they get customer service: The facility gate is staffed by...
Saying "NO" is becoming a lost art in the business world. The losers are the people who ditch phone calls, avoid e-mails, and twist and turn themselves into pretzels rather than tell someone they don't have the job, the project, or five minutes of your time to hear or...