Business Blogs: Trends, tips, and real-life anecdotes from industry experts.

Just learned about EveryBlock, is a new way to keep track of what’s happening on your block, in your neighborhood and all over. You can choose your city and get a citywide overview of news by category. I might never eat in my own neighborhood again given the amount of violations reported….
The site is one [...]

Recently, I was contacted by a PR firm (Attention) and asked if I would profile Blake Mycoskie on my blog(s). I’m ashamed to say how long it’s taken me to turn this piece around, however seeing the latest ATT commercial featuring Blake after a long day of meetings (at my day job) shamed me into finishing. My [...]

This example is why newspapers and TV must reinvent themselves, or die.
Obama is Lincoln v2.0
Taking a page out of Lincoln’s Handbook on How To Be A Good President, Obama is everywhere in the community: at dinner, on The Tonight Show, at the soup kitchens, in meetings, on The Hill. He’s like the “Where’s Waldo?” of Presidents. He’s [...]

It’s tough slogging out there, entrepreneurs, isn’t it?! That’s why we’ve created an opportunity for one among you to win a Small Business Startup Kit, designed to get your home business’s world headquarters in gear! And it all happens right here in this blog post.
The Small Business Startup Kit was assembled in collaboration with Office Depot, [...]

As a busy entrepreneur, have you started your holiday shopping yet? To save time, there are always gift cards and food items. Another option is to visit your favorite bookstore. Here, you can find unique gifts and even buy a hot, holiday beverage at an in-store café. Plus, you can peruse the periodicals for the [...]

As an example of systems-thinking, and at the risk of an awful pun, reaching for a piece of toilet paper is the bottom line. �
Toilet paper is a mandatory accessory. It may be the one thing that all of us have used daily for all our lives. As an illustration of a system that is ubiquitous, [...]

As the old saying goes, “Time is Money.”  Big retailers such as Gap, Limited Brands, Office Depot, Toys R Us, and the Meijer grocery chain are all jumping on this bandwagon as they try to squeeze as much profit as possible out of the upcoming weak holiday shopping season. (Read more here from the WSJ, [...]

When the “Shall I do it now or later?” question comes up for a new Centratel staff member, their not-yet-disciplined internal dialogue goes something like this: “What’s the difference if I do this task now or later? I just don’t feel like doing it right now. I’ll do it later because my guess is I [...]

Several years ago we had our house remodeled. Immediately after, we “flipped” another house. In both cases, numerous subcontractors, both experienced and inexperienced, did the work.�
Linda was the interior designer. I was the general contractor.�
In this world of framers, plumbers, electricians, roofers, and concrete specialists, there is an interesting commonality among inexperienced subcontractors: It is [...]

Here is an evaluation system, albeit waggish. It’s about tipping in restaurants, and I’ll preface things by saying I don’t believe a tip is a diner’s obligation. It’s a tip—something extra that one earns if the service he or she delivers is at least good.�
Linda and I sit down for a meal in a restaurant. [...]