Reading Time: 2 minWhile reading the book “The 12 Week Year“, this headline stood out to me: knowledge can be power. I’ll let the authors start by explaining it: You’ve no doubt heard the saying knowledge is power. I disagree. Knowledge is only powerful if you use it, if you act on it. People spend lifetimes acquiring knowledge, […]
Business
Promote what you love, or bash what you hate?
Reading Time: < 1 minWhen you’re in a competitive environment, be it sports, business, or politics, there are two ways you can approach things: you can promote what you love, or you can bash the other side. There may be some merit to each, but we’re all generally better off if we focus on ourselves. In his book “Excellent […]
Information asymmetry no longer exists
Reading Time: < 1 minOver the last 20 years, most jobs based on being a gatekeeper have disappeared, as shared a few days ago in Tell Your Story Yourself. Access to information is similar – if you try to hide information because you think you can, you’re only lowering the degree to which you’ll be seen as an expert. […]
Save 50 steps a day
Reading Time: < 1 minSometimes the little things can add up to make a big difference. For example, for most of us, taking more steps during the day is a good thing in terms of our health. For a business owner, though, reducing steps (and time) for their employees can be a better way to go. Henry Ford once […]
The incredible value in some services
Reading Time: 2 minThere are a lot of things we purchase that aren’t cheap, but we buy them anyhow. This could include your house, your car, or even your coffee from Starbucks. None of those are a great value, but we consider those expenses to be worthwhile. In thinking through what things cost, though, a few seem very […]
The customer isn’t always the user
Reading Time: < 1 minUnderstanding the actual customer for your products can often be confusing. On one hand, your actual customer might be a level deeper than the one you’re working with. In the case of our company, the websites we build aren’t intended for the clients that pay us, but rather to appeal to their customers to help […]
Marketing is not interrupting people
Reading Time: < 1 minMarketing is about building and promoting a brand that attracts people to what you do. It’s everything your company does and how the world views you. Advertising is about interrupting people at expected times. Running TV commercials or Facebook ads are great ways to spend some money to interrupt people when they are expecting it. […]
Loyalty cards don’t lead to loyalty
Reading Time: 2 minLoyalty cards have been a hot item for stores for quite a while now, but the word “loyalty” doesn’t really fit. Call it a “discount” card if you want, but the cards don’t actually create loyalty from customers. They might help with repeat sales, but don’t confuse “good discounts” with actual loyalty. In the book […]
Just pick up the trash
Reading Time: 2 minA little over a year ago, we switched companies that handle our weekly trash pick-up. The previous company simply wasn’t consistent; we’d often get an email on the afternoon of the pick-up day that essentially said “Sorry, but we’re not going to be able to make it today. See you next week!“. Here is a […]
It intentionally doesn’t scale
Reading Time: 2 minLast year I shared some thoughts on doing things that don’t scale. In that case it was about invoicing, but I’ve seen this idea continue to pop up. Lumpy Mail The first is the idea of sending “lumpy mail”. It’s easy to send 1000 emails, and rather easy to send 100 letters in the mail, […]