Blog
Should you fire your website?
What would it look like if your online strategy worked perfectly? Site visits? Catalog pages? Phone calls to your store? Sign-ups for your online newsletter? In retail, "wins" are often defined by someone other than the business owner. Vendors design product they want...
Profit Margin: Turnaround Tips
Turning around a struggling business in these difficult economic times isn't easy, but it's possible. Wayne Rivers, the co-founder of the Family Business Institute, has some advice on how to make your business more lucrative than ever before. (MSNBC) Look for...
Ms. Jones does not want to play Hide & Seek
"She's out there and she's looking for you. This is not the time to play hide and seek." So says Ray Allegrezza, Editor-In-Chief of FurnitureToday, in a recent editorial. "It's always a good thing to be connected to your customers — current and potential. But in this...
“Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance only a little.”
"Can't act. Slightly bald. Can dance only a little." Good thing Fred Astaire paid no attention to MGM's review of his screen test. Beethoven's violin teacher declared him hopeless as a composer, while Einstein's teacher wrote that he "would never be able to do...
Bridge Jumping, Part II {still true}
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 8, 1895 – Mrs. Clara McArthur of 167 [sic] East One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Street, the young woman who attempted to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge ten days ago, but was prevented from doing so by the police, dropped off quietly in the...
Bridge Jumping {a true story}
THE NEW YORK TIMES, AUGUST 31, 1895 – Mrs. Clara McArthur of 162 East One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Street attempted to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge at 5:30 o'clock yesterday morning, but was prevented by the bridge policemen… "I made up my mind long ago to jump off...
Digital Nomads
Hugh MacLeod said, "The old ways are dead. And you need people around you who concur. That means hanging out more with the creative people, the freaks, the real visionaries, than you're already doing. Thinking more about what their needs are, and responding...
Idiom: Rhetorical
Multiple choice. How does the typical customer respond to this question: "How can I help you?" A: "I've come to fork over my hard-earned money on some of your fine merchandise. Here's my wallet – please, just take whatever you need!" B: "I need a king-sized bed, two...
Use Your Brain To Make the Cash Register Ring Again
Do you remember the scene in "The Wizard of Oz" where the Wizard tells the Scarecrow, "My boy, back where I come from, men teach at great universities with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got – a diploma!" Is the same thing happening...