There is an old axiom about making sure that as you go through life, you must work hard to get your fair share of the pie. Hard work is always valued, but I am not really sure where the pie reference originated. I have always been more of a cake and cookie guy, but that’s a topic for another day. …
The Power of Trust
“The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it’s very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.” This quote is from Thomas J. Watson, an American businessman and Chairman and CEO of IBM for over 44 years. This quote can be used to summarize …
Marketing is a Commitment. How to Gain Brand Awareness in Your Market
First of all, let me apologize now, as today’s post will be full of quotes. No, I’m not attempting to use multiple quotes just to fill up the page and get today’s typing done quickly, although that may not be a bad idea… It’s just that while researching today’s topic, I found so many relevant quotes that I felt compelled …
Why We Do the Things We Do: How Our Motivation Drives Us
I hope that everyone is well today. Lately I have been reflecting on my life and my career, so I thought that today we would discuss sources of motivation. Everyone one of us is motivated by different things: some people are motivated by money, some by fame, some by faith, some by the need to help others. Whatever our …
Waiting Patiently
I write this post as I return from a week of vacation with my family. As my daughter is in her early teen years, we enjoyed a few days at one of the well-known, large amusement parks in Orlando, Florida. Ironically enough, they were preparing a new ride that will be opening later this year. It looks like that the …
How To Avoid Disappointing Our Clients
Everyone wants to be successful in every aspect of their lives: friendships, love life and business. Unfortunately, we are notorious for not doing all the little things that can help us to achieve that much sought-after success. Arguably the most important, and often the most overlooked, aspect of success is setting proper expectations with the other people in your life. As …
Ride the Wave. Sailing to a successful business
I hope that today’s post finds everyone doing well. While I am writing this post, I am sitting in my local tire store, waiting for some new tires to be put on my home inspection vehicle. The previous set of tires helped me to develop a profitable business, so I hope that this next set will prove to be …
Smile. A simple action with amazing results.
I hope that today’s post finds everyone happy, healthy and wearing a smile. As a matter of fact, smiling will be the topic of today’s conversation. I recently listened to a TED Talk podcast given by Ron Gutman. Ron is a speaker, writer, advisor, entrepreneur, angel investor and CEO and Founder of Health Tap, an interactive health company. In …
Earning The Dividends. How not to get hit in the face with a 2×4.
I hope that everyone is doing well today. I am writing today’s post while sitting in my local coffee shop, trying to wake up with some strong coffee, watching the rush hour traffic flow by, and ruminating on a recent blog post from Seth Godin. The blog was titled “Duck!”, and was written about making hard decisions before you get …
On the spot. How to use uncomfortable situations to your advantage.
I recently received a question from an inspector that got me thinking about the different ways that we can handle an uncomfortable situation. The inspector was marketing in a real estate office, and one of the agents cornered him with a question about another inspector’s report. The question was whether he would have noted a problem with an attic conversion …