Reading Improves Your Writing

Reading Improves Your Writing

Mar 10, 2010 by Lindsay Gower

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 …

Olympics Lingo

Olympics Lingo

Feb 24, 2010 by Lindsay Gower

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. …

Why Bother With A Web Site, part 2

Why Bother With A Web Site, part 2

Feb 17, 2010 by Lindsay Gower

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:

  • Web sites cost too much.
  • He gets his business by word of mouth.
  • 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 …

    Why Bother With a Web Site?

    Why Bother With a Web Site?

    Feb 10, 2010 by Lindsay Gower

    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:

  • Web sites cost too much (and the quality of the work is “all the same anyway”).
  • He gets his business by word of mouth.
  • Today, I’m going to examine reason #1. I’ll address reason #2 next week.  So let’s …

    The Clever Use of Technology

    The Clever Use of Technology

    Jan 28, 2010 by Aaron Rubman

    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” …

    Yes, I’m blogging about resolutions!

    Yes, I’m blogging about resolutions!

    Jan 13, 2010 by Lindsay Gower

    Be it resolved in the year 2010, I will:

  • Re-re-read The  Elements of Style.  And then read Patricia T. O’Conner’s Woe Is I: The Grammaphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English and Bill Walsh, The Elephants of Style: A Trunkload of Tips on the Big Issues and Gray Areas of Contemporary American English.English is a dynamic language one never stops learning, becuase it never stops changing.
  • Write in books. Make notes in the margins. Underline. Wow, the very ideas makes me shudder.I have a life-long aversion to marking in books, yet I often return to a book—reference books especially—and can’t find …
  • Zen and the Art of Selling Professional Services

    Zen and the Art of Selling Professional Services

    Nov 17, 2009 by Aaron Rubman

    “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 …

    Did the Bay Bridge Outage Test Your Business?

    Did the Bay Bridge Outage Test Your Business?

    Nov 5, 2009 by Aaron Rubman

    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 …

    FTC Rules for Bloggers and 3 Disclosure Tips

    FTC Rules for Bloggers and 3 Disclosure Tips

    Oct 20, 2009 by Aaron Rubman

    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 …

    It is what it is, ya’ know?

    It is what it is, ya’ know?

    Oct 13, 2009 by Lindsay Gower

    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 …

    Welcome to The Gold Mine

    The Gold Mine is a blog developed by MB/I to assist site owners with the process of developing and maintaining a website. MB/I is a full-service web development company building websites since 2000.