Reading Time: < 1 minWe’ve all worked at organizations where they had some rules that were clearly overkill, or even didn’t make sense at all. Most of these rules can be traced back to an incident in the past, and people say “Oh yes, that rule is because of Steve”. Rather than management talking to Steve about his behavior, […]
Business
If it costs less, we care less
Reading Time: < 1 minThis is one of those pieces of human nature that I don’t really like, but I need to accept that it’s true. If you pay less for something, you value it less, even if the true value is much higher than what you paid for it. This applies to buying cars, purses, electronics, or almost […]
What service do you offer?
Reading Time: 2 minBetween our business mail service and returning Amazon orders, I visit our local UPS Store quite a lot. They’re great! A few doors down from them I often see a few trucks for Sluss+Padgett, a company that does… something? Here are their trucks: I appreciate a nice clean design, but their “See the difference” tagline […]
We are impossible to imitate
Reading Time: 2 minOver the years, an interesting thing we’ve done at GreenMellen is to literally give all of our “secrets” away. Across dozens of podcast episodes, hundreds of Meetup events, and thousands of blog posts, we don’t hold anything back. I often joke that our Meetups are when our competition all visit and we tell them all […]
The Curse of Knowledge
Reading Time: 2 minIn reading Jonah Berger’s book “Magic Words“, he shared some thoughts on “The Curse of Knowledge” and how it can impact the ways that you communicate with others. In his words: This curse has a name, and appropriately, it is called the curse of knowledge. It’s a curse because the more we know, the more […]
Be willing to miss your exit
Reading Time: < 1 minThere’s a saying out there that says “bad drivers never miss their exit”, meaning a good driver will take the safe route if they are about to miss their exit, but a bad driver will make poor decisions in order to make their exit at all costs. Here’s a great example, where the white car […]
Word of mouth dominates marketing
Reading Time: 2 minAs a partner in a digital marketing firm, I can appreciate the value of various digital marketing tactics. Search engine optimization, email marketing, digital ads, social media, and many other techniques can do amazing things to help get the word out about your company. Ultimately, though, the best marketing for most consumers is one that […]
Transparency isn’t the same as honesty
Reading Time: < 1 minIt’s always felt to me that being transparent was a big part of being honest. It can be, but they aren’t the same thing. In his book “Lost and Founder“, author Rand Fishkin explains it this way: Transparency isn’t the same as honesty. Honesty is saying only things that are true. Many founders and startup […]
People play differently when they’re keeping score
Reading Time: 2 min“Keeping score” can make a big difference. Growing up, if my friends and were shooting hoops it’d generally be casual and fun, just tossing the ball around and chatting. However, as soon as it became a game of any kind, everything changed. It was still fun, whether it was 2-on-2 or “HORSE” or anything else, […]
The whirlwind is a thief
Reading Time: 2 minIn reading the book “The 4 Disciplines of Execution“, they talked a lot about “the whirlwind” — all of that junk you have to do every day just to keep moving forward. This largely includes email, but also many meetings, phone calls, and other distractions. These are things that are semi-important, but they often prevent […]