We got eight inches of snow yesterday.  Schools were closed.  Kids were home.  A good day to stay indoors. Not for me.  I had an appointment at 11am in Cuyahoga Falls and I wasn’t going to miss it.  I chose to driving on the secondary roads figuring that if I got stuck I would be [...]

    I love going to Connecting Touch for my monthly massage. I learn more about business and walk away relaxed and refreshed. Today was no exception. The owner, Jack Hayes, was telling me about a new program he’ll implement for the month of February. “I wanted to find a way to give back to [...]

I’m a big fan of Liza Minelli. (she’s brilliant in the above rendition of Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano.) And her mom was no slouch either (Judy Garland).  When I was younger people would say I looked like Liza; same short black hair styled to accent my eyes, big voice, and long legs.  Huge compliment! [...]

  I just got home from church and was moved by a story within the sermon.  The scripture from Mark told of Jesus gathering his disciples from the beach.  “Come and follow me,” He said. The story told of four ways we might be fishers of men or of people – a more inclusive term.  [...]

Yesterday John Spence left a comment on a post a wrote last month entitled A Lost Customer for Life Over a Piece of Toast. John is – WAS – a customer of a local eatery, frequenting them every weekday with the same order.  After an unfortunate incident in which the management showed, by their actions, [...]

Yesterday was an amazingly historic day. A peaceful transition from the Bush administration to President Obama, all eyes on what Michelle would be wearing, how many millions would attend the inauguration and how many portapotties it would take to serve their needs, the inauguration speech, a celebration parade with 81 groups playing their best for [...]

I’m reading another idea in the Care Packages for Your Customers book by Barbara Glanz and this tip suggests that managers get out of their office and be visible both to employees as well as customers. The technique is called Managing by Walking Around but essentially it is just being visible to assist, encourage and [...]

Today is the day we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.   Our soon-to-be-President Barack Obama has coined it a Day of Service – a day to give back within our community. I remember years ago sitting in a marketing meeting for Pearle Vision – it was in the late 80s and we had over 1400 locations.  [...]

Have to tell a little tale on myself.  Today I went to the post office to mail a few copies of my new book Back to Basics:  30 Tips to Market your Small Business and Establish Your Expert Status in the Industry.  I use envelopes that have an oversized label with my photo and slogan [...]

This fall the much anticipated sequel Age of Conversation2 became available.  Much anticipated by those who were familiar with the first book faciliated by the great Drew McLellan of Drew’s marketing minute in conjunction with Gavin Heaton and much anticipated by me. I have a chapter in the book.  Well, okay…a page.  But a page [...]