On a recent business trip, I actually picked up the USA Today outside my hotel room door instead of stepping over it as I normally do. We had a long flight home and I thought I might find time to flip through it. To say I was sorely disappointed with this once great paper would be an understatement. … [Read more...]
Writing every day makes you a better business person
Recently, I had to prepare three letters for the bank. As a small business owner, my personal finances are judged right alongside those of the business. As we worked to refinance our home, the bank wanted to know many of the details about my business. It required writing three separate letters to … [Read more...]
Email, the most powerful weapon in your online arsenal
Social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and even Facebook are pretty powerful weapons in your online arsenal but they haven't got anything on the old standby email. This post isn't even about email marketing and sending bulk emails to lists of folks. Instead, it's a story about how we've … [Read more...]
Customer service is simple count and communication
This post could have easily been a rant about a certain government agency charged with airport security and an airport I fly through frequently. If I'd chosen to go that way however, I'd have missed the customer service lesson in what happened to me and hundreds of other travelers one morning not … [Read more...]
On Political Conversations in Social Media – Jim Says
Yesterday, Shelby Sapusek weighed in on this topic which is another in our "she said, he said" series of posts where we weigh in on social media related topics. Today I get the last word. Remember that rule of thumb about what we are not supposed to talk about at a bar with friends? You know, … [Read more...]
Where do blog ideas come from?
I'm frequently asked where all the ideas come from to write five days a week. What follows is a sampling of where the inspiration and ideas come from. Be controversial; preferably not with every post but sometimes. I wrote "Social Media Favors Chicks Over Dicks" for a couple of reasons. First, I … [Read more...]
Swearing, vocabulary and the pregnant pause
When I wrote "Replace “ums” with Pregnant Pauses when Speaking," I never expected to circle back to the post as a way to swear less on social media - and in real life, for that matter. It is, however, that simple. When you feel like letting an f-bomb (or some equally offensive language) fly - stop! … [Read more...]
Why communities like Third Tribe Marketing are worth the cost
Recently, a partner and I were trying to decide which screen casting product to purchase for a community we are building. We both knew of ScreenFlow and Camtasia, but needed to decide which to review and ultimately purchase. I remembered a conversation thread in Third Tribe Marketing (affiliate … [Read more...]
Wisconsin Publishers' Production Club
On September 21st I have the distinct pleasure of moderating the Social Networking Strategies meeting for the Wisconsin Publishers' Production Club (WPPC). The meeting will be held at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee, and I would love to see as many of my Southeastern Wisconsin printing and … [Read more...]
Reading and 30-Day Action Plans
The power of the month long action plan was revealed to me about a month ago, when right here on this blog I committed to write 31 blog posts in 31 days and then I did it. In a month, repeated behavior becomes a habit. That is the real power in planning a month at a time. In my case I love to write … [Read more...]