What’s Your Value Imbalance?

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16 COMMENTS

Did you hear the recent story about Shaquille O’Neal? Apparently, and according to the … let’s say, “journalists” … at Inside Edition, the retired basketball star was jewelry shopping at a store in Atlanta, when he overheard a young man talking with the salesperson about layaway terms for an engagement ring. So, Shaq pulled out his credit card and paid for the ring. I love that story – and not just because any video involving Shaq is an opportunity to gawk at how insanely large he is. It’s just nice to […] Click to read more…

I Hate You The Least

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18 COMMENTS

Wondering how to scare the parents of a college-age child? Here’s all you need to do: sneak up behind them and whisper, “It’s time to fill out the FAFSA for next year.” FAFSA – the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – is a document that needs to be completed annually and for each child, if you hope to reduce the financial burden known as college. It’s a bear, requiring you to gather and decipher any number of financial and tax-related documents of both parent and student. Toss in the financial untidiness […] Click to read more…

Winning the Content Game

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14 COMMENTS

Amazon doesn’t know it, but its delivery drivers are unwitting participants in a game that my son Evan and I have been playing for the past several months. Here’s how it works… Like most of us, Evan orders a lot of things on Amazon; he might get two or even three deliveries in a single week. And Amazon, you may have noticed, now has its drivers take pictures of the packages after leaving them at your door. The pictures appear with the delivery confirmation emails. Since Evan shares our Prime […] Click to read more…

Don’t Launch That Podcast Yet

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10 COMMENTS

“Are podcasts worth doing?” That was the question posed to me yesterday by my client Bruce. My response? “It depends.” (Yes, as a matter of fact, I am a consultant.) The reason it depends, is that the answer is not simply a question of whether or not a podcast is a useful marketing tactic for a professional service provider (Hint: it is). You also have to consider what else you are already doing to grow your business and whether adding a podcast on top of that – given the time and effort involved – provides […] Click to read more…

Lessons From a Toaster

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23 COMMENTS

When it comes to household appliances, I am not usually prone to blanket generalizations. But, in this case, I am going to make an exception: My toaster is way smarter than my coffeemaker. You may find this surprising, since coffeemakers, with all their bells and whistles, are the alpha males of the small appliance community: sleek, powerful, sexy. Toasters, on the other hand, have been around forever – I guarantee you that Harry Truman owned one. And they have barely changed in decades: a couple of vertical holders for the bread […] Click to read more…