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The Rear View Mirror Is Smaller… For A Reason

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When my wife and I bought our first minivan about 5 years ago we discovered an interesting feature. I won’t talk about how hurt our feelings were that we had to buy a minivan in the first place… that’s another post for another day. But I will tell you that it was a welcome feature […]

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It’s Time To Give Back

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I have been humbled.  There have been numerous times in the past several weeks that I have been taken down a notch when presented with the good works that others are doing.  My father calls it ‘gettin too big for your britches’.  I call it laziness and arrogance.  Just when I think I am doing […]

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How Not To Screw Up At Work

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Looking back over the jobs that I have had ever since I started working, I can see some valuable lessons learned. I learned some things from some very wise people, and I learned alot of things the hard way, because I was hard-headed. So I was asked the other day by some college students what […]

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Small Talk: The New Sales Pitch

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Selling is not easy. Every successful salesman has their own formula, their own secret. And certain things work for some, and not for others. I have a good friend named Michael Angelo Caruso who is an established expert on selling, and he has trained thousands of people over the years on the art of selling. […]

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5 Ways To Manage Your Business On Social Media

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So you jumped into social media with various networks, and you are overwhelmed.  Am I right?  You were pretty excited in the beginning but now that the firehose that is social media is hitting you in the face, you need some way to save you from drowning. Here are 5 ways that you can get […]

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The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It

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A few months ago I was helping one of my clients with their marketing outreach.  We talked a great deal about their social media outreach and where it fit in their overall marketing plan.  We had spent a great deal of time over the past year revamping and updating their look on all their social […]

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Five Guys Marketing

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There is an ongoing debate between me and some of my family and friends.  I am convinced that Five Guys makes the best burger, like ever.  Others are convinced that you can get a better burger at In-N-Out, or at a restaurant.  Sorry guys, but I have had those other burgers, and you just can’t […]

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The Better Angels of Our Nature

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The upcoming movie about Abraham Lincoln has caused me to think about the things he said and did that made him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, presidents in history. At Lincoln’s Inaugural Address in 1861, with the drums of war beating stronger by the day, he closed his address pleading for everyone to listen […]

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SoLoMo: your new best friend

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So when was the last time you used your phone to look up a good place to eat? How about the last time you used your phone to check prices on a product while you were standing in a store aisle? Or perhaps you checked on movie showtimes on your phone while sitting in the […]

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Bloom’s Taxonomy for Social Media

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If you are in education, you no doubt have at least heard of Bloom’s Taxonomy. For those not versed in Bloom, it is considered the very foundation of good education and without getting too bookworm on you, the Taxonomy is basically a framework by which you can evaluate your learning, based on levels of understanding. […]

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5 Cool Ideas: an interview with Michael Angelo Caruso

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I consider Michael Angelo Caruso a good friend, and so I was excited to interview him about the re-release of his book “5 Cool Ideas”. I think this book can benefit just about everyone so I wanted to share it with you guys. If you want to read more about Michael or buy his book, […]

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The Day That Everything Changed

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(Pictured to the left: Independence Hall, Philadelphia, the room where our freedom was declared) “…the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of […]

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Get Rid of the Customer Service Department

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Customer service is something that every company, regardless of size, should have as a focus, right? I mean, that seems kinda like a ‘no-brainer’ as they say but unfortunately in many of the companies that I deal with on a personal basis customer service is an endangered species. I get so frustrated sometimes that I […]

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Tales From New England: Be The Canary (VIDEO)

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This is the final post in my series of posts called “Tales From New England”. This one is about why all business owners need to be like a canary. You know, that little yellow bird?

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Tales From New England: What’s Your Name?

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On my recent trip to New England I spent a few days on Nantucket. I had seen the pictures for years about what it was like, but I wasn’t prepared for just how picturesque and quaint it is. Cobblestone streets, historic homes on every street, and that postcard look that everyone knows when you see […]

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Tales From New England: Don’t Hide Your Social Media

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I just returned from a vacation to New England and I gathered a whole bunch of ideas for new blog posts, which I will be talking about over the coming weeks in my “Tales From New England” post series.  This first installment is about how important it is to not hide what you want people […]

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Losing The Big Picture With GPS

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The last couple of trips that I have taken have provided me an unsettling experience. I am a technology guy so I embrace it wholeheartedly, and promote the use of technology to others in my consulting and speaking. But I do recognize that sometimes technology causes more problems than it solves. One such problem, I […]

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The guy with the bright shirts

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One of my clients makes candy. Really good candy. The colors of their logo, which has been their logo for around 40 years, are green and pink and are pretty distinctive. And their signature candy is made in those signature colors. A few months ago they showed me their latest venture… the candy bus. They […]

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Lipstick on a pig

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You’ve heard it before, right? You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. I was looking at a website for a company recently who wanted me to advise them on their website and their social media outreach. In their own minds, they were doing pretty good. In my mind, it was […]

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The sinews of success

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I spent some time this past weekend with some successful people. Do you know how to spot success? I guess in some cases you might be able to look at the ‘trappings’ of success… nice cars, big house, lavish vacations… and assume that they are successful at whatever it is they do. But that isn’t […]

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