How do you measure success? There's a lot of conversation around business success, what it means, and how to measure it. (And we probably talk even more sometimes about lazy metrics and poor measurement.) I'm not going to talk about measurement at all today. Just...
A friend of mine calls them PITAs. That's short for Pain in the ______. As in clients (or customers) who are more trouble than they're worth. I'm either lucky enough or wise enough not to have any PITAs. One advantage of being my own boss is I can prioritize "working...
British Airways has apparently never heard of Gerry McGovern. McGovern won my heart when I heard him describe what Google's home page would look like if it were a typical corporate home page. (Think "Hi, I'm Sergey" and "Latest News: Announcing Google+"). Google knows...
I've been pondering routines lately: why you need them and when to break free. In a recent Workshifting post, I explored the paradox of the flexible routine: Working from home (or anywhere else you choose) isn't about avoiding routine--it's about being able to set...
Rework is a deceptively simple manifesto for entrepreneurs that is all about challenging conventional wisdom and the way that business ought to be done. It’s written in brilliant one- and two-page bursts of ideas held together by big-picture business themes, much as...
Got e-mail? Be glad people want your [help-time-advice-fill-in-the-blank]. I've seen a lot of hand-wringing lately about e-mail volume. Often it syncs with hallelujahs about Google's Priority Inbox feature, which some people seem to suggest is "the only mail I'm going...
Social media for business is a big topic of conversation these days. And there’s no question that companies that are able to pivot their operations to respond to both challenges and opportunities in real-time are ahead of the game. But how do you get there? Jay Baer...
In an interview with The New Small author Phil Simon, Zane Safrit asked a great question about essential business tech tools. It got me thinking about the five tech tools my business can't do without: 1. Access. People talk a lot about the cloud and cloud computing,...
Where we work matters. If we're comfortable. If there's natural light. If we're not tripping over power cords. I have a funky Target-designed surge protector in my living room. It's cute, it's functional, and it gives me a safe place to plug in a laptop. But, until...
We all know that relationships matter in business. So we work hard to stay top of mind with our clients, customers, colleagues, and prospects. Advertising. E-mail marketing. Facebook pages (and hopefully conversations). Postcards and other direct mail. Quick @ tweets....