How long have you had a website? I know, it sounds like a trick question. The first commercial sites started popping up two decades ago -- and chances are your site has existed in some iteration for a while now. Like my own business, you probably started out with a...
I’m using the phrase “productivity hacks” because it sounds a lot sexier than saying “tools I found online to help me do my job a little better or a little easier.” And, yes, my best hacking days (such that they exist) are ahead of me. This edition is a little bit of...
The first time I watched CSI: Miami I was hooked. No, not on the show -- on the uber-cool screen in the lab the characters were manipulating with their hands to pull up information. I wanted one. If that was the future of design, it was pretty awesome. Today, of...
Your website shouldn't be a maze. The last thing you want to do is make your visitors work. Prospects shouldn't get buried 3 clicks in. Nor should they have to rely on a site search bar to find the information they want. Or have to call you because basic information...
I sold my tickets to a must-win baseball playoff game because the regional transit authority in the capital city of the United States refused to keep the trains running to get fans home. The options, including leaving the game early or being stranded on the opposite...
I was updating an old article recently that had a wonderful line about Rolodex(es). I used to have two large ones filled with mostly business cards stapled onto index cards that contained the contact history of my business life. Now we call that Google Contacts. And...
Are you using text messaging in your business? SMS is rapidly becoming a business imperative. Not an optional customer channel. Not a "nice to have but we'll deal with it later." If you're not giving your customers a way to engage with you via mobile then you're going...
What makes for engaging content? AOL -- yes, that AOL -- looked at over 55,000 customer interactions with online content to try to understand what makes people engage with different kinds of content. The study identified eight distinct content moments: inspire be in...
I keep hearing people say they want to do business with companies that put people over profits. I don't. If a company isn't profitable, then it isn't sustainable. Show me a company that doesn't prioritize profitability -- or a nonprofit that isn't dialing for dollars...
Facebook believes I'm "very liberal" and like the UK's Conservative Party. The social networking platform also believes I'm a technology early adopter with an African-American "ethnic affinity" who likes words and alarm clocks. Here'a little more from my Facebook ad...