In business and in life, you have probably noticed that some questions are recurring. I'm not sure what questions you hear because our circle of business associates and friends is different. In my world, I am often asked why standardized color systems never seem to solve the problems they … [Read more...]
Archives for 2011
How a peer group will help double your business
Author's note: Parts of this post were published over at Kitchen Table Companies as a Success Story. The "What I wish we'd had" section below reveals the secret sauce I've stumbled upon over the last couple years - this one is a freebie my friends, enjoy it. Then one day you wake up and realize … [Read more...]
How to do advanced e-commerce with WordPress
As of this writing, I am responsible for the e-commerce activities of two sites that run on the WordPress content management system platform. I've taken vastly different approaches with these two sites. This post will explain how I manage online stores with multiple products both physical and … [Read more...]
Hello, I'm Shelby and I met him on Twitter
Jim Raffel has been alluding to a new editor for JimRaffel.com for awhile now. It's finally time for introductions. "I met him on Twitter." That sentence has quickly become part of my everyday vocabulary. For me, Twitter started out as a way to meet people socially and keep up to date on local … [Read more...]
I thought I missed my prime
I thought I missed my prime until I realized I was smack dab in the middle of it. I've survived my mid-life crises, at least the first couple and am ready to roll. I know more than I've ever known. I've always tried to focus on what to do with the tools so that my knowledge remains relevant and … [Read more...]
All costs are variable in the long run
One of the things you either learn in business school or in the school of hard knocks is that a business has two kinds of costs: fixed and variable. At least in the short run, that is true. In the long run, a fixed cost can become variable and a variable cost can become fixed. Fixed and Variable … [Read more...]
Ideas have no schedule
Sometimes I have a shortage of ideas and struggle to decide what to write about, like this morning. More often, I have more than enough ideas and it's just a matter of getting in the writing flow and cranking out the posts. Those are the times when I double and triple up on writing and get a few … [Read more...]
How Facebook broke down online barriers
Recently, I was interviewed by Matt Mansfield for his blog post The Elephant in the Cloud – How Safe is Your Data?. During that conversation I made the comment that I feel Software as a Service (SaaS) is easier to sell today because of Facebook. Millions of folks, well a half-billion of you at last … [Read more...]
Why Strategy Matters
Strategy is the third of my three words for 2011. Previously, I've written in greater depth about both customers and content. Strategy is developed by listening to customers and understanding where the pain points are in their business. Then, we create solutions that fix or remove altogether those … [Read more...]
Building Successful Teams
Hi, my name is Jim and when I managed to get out of my own way I started building teams doing some pretty amazing work. Isn't that often the case in life - when we figure out how to make everything not about us - success follows? Successful teams are like successful marriages, they stand independent … [Read more...]