I remember my father-in-law, when I first had Jordan, our first child, giving me some pointers. He had spent some time with me and Janet and saw that I was totally unprepared to have a child. I never talked with an elevated voice, even when I was angry. I never set out specific rules, regardless [...]

Lyrics represent the entry gate to the soul. Original writing date: June 25, 2007 The concept is companion marketing where, once somebody buys something, you market them to purchase something for someone else as an add-on value. Original writing date: June 25, 2007

It’s all about persuasion. A marketing premise is all about persuasion. A sales premise is all about persuasion. It’s not about marketing. It’s not about sales. It’s about persuasion. You are persuading people to take a course of action. The more you focus on what you want to achieve, through others, the clearer you are [...]

Deane Jordan from our office was doing some research and came up with some interesting background on what’s been happening in newspaper circulation of readership. I thought it might be worth sharing. Newspaper Circulation and Readership • The number of newspapers has declined 1% a year for last 20 years to 1,452. • Newspaper readership [...]

The Renaissance was inspired and created by less than 100 people. Original writing date: June 26, 2007

The power to converse is the power to affect. You can’t change behavior unless you can sit at the table together. The power to convene is the power to influence. Original writing date: December 14, 2006

Peggy Noonan’s soft entrance into what is otherwise a political minefield was noteworthy. Note her use of the word “devolve” each time she makes reference to going from one language—the English language—to two languages with the inclusion of Spanish. She does not for a second undermine the reality of the 14 percent Hispanic population, but [...]

I’ve had a couple of requests for the full text of the Scott Joseph article I was referring to in my earlier posting dated July 2, 2007. I wonder if, when people make the decision to open a restaurant, they ever stop and ask themselves, “Why am I doing this?” I don’t mean in the [...]

What would happen if we knew, right from the start, how many years we had to live? Do we have 100 years to live? Eighty years to live? Sixty years to live? How about 40 years to live? How would that affect the way that we actually operate day-to-day in everything we’re doing? Would it [...]

I’ve operated from a position of strength and I’ve operated from a position of weakness. I like operating from strength a whole lot better. Original writing date: June 11, 2007