Entry level jobs should stay just that. As our country approaches ten percent unemployment folks who normally wouldn't even apply for certain types of jobs are now doing those jobs. The problem is, a forty year old displaced engineer may not be the right person to work your hotel front desk. They … [Read more...]
Yelp!, Groupon and Trolls
You may have heard the "statistic" that a happy customer/client/business partner will tell one person while a dissatisfied one will tell ten. In my experience, this is pretty close to accurate and we aren't going to change it no matter how hard we try. What you can try to do is change the feelings … [Read more...]
Grow your business
If you are like me, one of your goals is to continually grow your business. You probably also struggle with finding growth that is real, authentic and sustainable. Business growth comes in three flavors Increase market share in the market you are already in. A restaurant owner could expand his … [Read more...]
Blogs: The new brick and mortar
Think for a moment why you visit this or any blog. For me it's to see what the author is publishing today. Each time I read a new work from the author, I learn a little more about her. The more I learn about her the more real she becomes. When she goes from being a URL on the internet to a real … [Read more...]
What's the purpose of your web properties?
Yes, I'd really like to know. First, let me share the purpose(s) I have come up with for JimRaffel.com and ColorMetrix.com. What's interesting is the overlap between the two, as well as how the purposes crossover with MolkkyUSA, one of my other web properties. JimRaffel.com Lead generation - For … [Read more...]
Delivering the Goods, at a Fair Price
My friend Cindy shared the following on Twitter recently. What does best really mean? Obviously I already tipped my hand in the title of this post. Clearly what Cindy does is deliver the goods at a fair price. That price may not be the lowest and based upon Cindy's track record I'm guessing it's … [Read more...]
Do your activities feed each other?
Here's how the activities I engage in each day intertwine and work together to fuel current and future success. Reading fills my conscious and subconscious mind with the fuel that inspires my writing and also provides good content to share on Twitter. Writing solidifies my ideas into plans and … [Read more...]
Customer Service Automation Should Help All Involved
A self service customer portal should enable both the customer and the service provider to have a better customer service experience. Recently I've written about Time Warner Cable's customer (dis)service (in my opinion) and Sprint's exceptional customer service. Today I want to share my experience … [Read more...]
I Work Without A Job Or Time Clock
I don't have a job and haven't for more than fifteen years. I do work and quite often I'm working my butt off. I network, I hustle, I sell stuff, I juggle money and all the other crazy stuff small business people do. Trust me it's nothing like a job. How do I know? Well, if all goes according to … [Read more...]
Free Samples Sell Your Work
Sometimes giving a free sample of your work away now, results in more business in the future. The tricky part is recognizing the opportunities worth pursuing with this strategy. The ice cream shop. Yesterday being a hot Summer afternoon my wife and I stopped by the ice cream shop to end our day. … [Read more...]