March is National March into Literacy Month and worthy of our support.

But let’s also celebrate children’s literacy by remembering those books that delighted us when we were kids. What was your favorite? Perhaps it was a classic such as Charlotte’s Web or Huck Finn, or one the many books by Maurice Sendak or Madeleine L’Engle. Or did you enjoy reading about the Hardy Boys or the Little House on the Prairie? Whatever you read then (or read now), reading developed your use of spoken and written language.

Maybe your favorite “children’s” book is of more recent vintage! I recall riding …

I’m enjoying watching the Olympics. For me, it’s not just the action that’s entertaining—I also enjoy the words used to describe the action. Let’s look at some:
Hat Tricks in Hockey

I know that a hockey player makes a hat trick if he or she scores three goals in one game. By why is it called a hat trick? Apparently the term began among cricket teams, where it was the sporting thing to buy a new hat for any bowler who dismissed three batsmen with consecutive deliveries. Sort of like three strikes, you’re out except to three different batters. …

Last week, I introduced a business man – let’s call him Pierre – and the two reasons he gave me for not having a web site:

I responded to his mistake #1 last week.  Here are my thoughts about Reason #2.

OK: Pierre gets business from word-of-mouth advertising. So he has a Marketing Plan and it’s called Referrals. Great! Referrals are fantastic, and are the …

At a marketing workshop I attended recently, the subject of web sites naturally came up. One attendee was feeling the pressure to create a web site for his insurance business. Although he knew he “ought” to have one, he was obviously reluctant (indeed, suspicious) about the need, the cost and the benefit.

His reasons for not getting a site boiled down to:

Today, I’m going to examine reason #1. I’ll address reason #2 next week.  So let’s …

A little over a decade ago comedian Eddie Izzard joked that Britain built its empire by stealing countries through the cunning use of flags.

• I claim India for Britain.
• You can’t claim us, we live here?  500-million of us.
• (Smug) Do you have a flag?
• (Flabbergasted) We don’t need a bloody flag.  It’s our country.
• No flag, no country.  You can’t have one.  That’s the rules…

Staying on the cutting edge of the technology curve works much the same way.  You may think you have your market cornered - then someone you’ve never heard of comes along and plants their “flag” …

Be it resolved in the year 2010, I will:

“Stop selling your professional services, you are killing your sales.”  That was the message from Jim Horan (known for The One Page Business Plan) in a teleseminar of the same name.

Why Selling Hurts Sales

It’s not selling …

Last month marked the 20th Anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Awareness of this landmark date was a part of my inspiration to write my blog entry on using vacations and sick leave as a small business stress test.

At that time I suggested that business owners make contingency plans and run drills for all variety of business obstacles, including the possibility of bridge closures. Last week the Labor Day repairs of the Bay Bridge failed and we were faced with the longest closure of that thoroughfare since the Loma Prieta quake.

For five days …

You’ve probably heard that earlier this month the Federal Trade Commission released new rules regarding blog disclosures.  What should you look for if you regularly write on blogs and forums and you want to make sure that you are in compliance?

First ask yourself the following two questions:

• Do you use your blog, forum, or other social media accounts to write reviews?
• Do you receive anything for the reviews you write (for example, special rebates, free samples, or cash payments)?

If you do not write reviews, or if you use your own money to acquire the products that you review without receiving any other …

You choose. Which term annoys you the most:

• Ya know
• Whatever
• Anyway
• It is what it is
• At the end of the day

And we have a loser! In …