Reading Time: < 1 min Sometimes the little things can add up to make a big difference. For example, for most of us, taking more steps during the day is a good thing in terms of our health. For a business owner, though, reducing steps (and time) for their employees can be a better way to go. Henry Ford once […]
Business
The incredible value in some services
Reading Time: 2 min There are a lot of things we purchase that aren’t cheap, but we buy them anyhow. This could include your house, your car, or even your coffee from Starbucks. None of those are a great value, but we consider those expenses to be worthwhile. In thinking through what things cost, though, a few seem very […]
The customer isn’t always the user
Reading Time: < 1 min Understanding the actual customer for your products can often be confusing. On one hand, your actual customer might be a level deeper than the one you’re working with. In the case of our company, the websites we build aren’t intended for the clients that pay us, but rather to appeal to their customers to help […]
Marketing is not interrupting people
Reading Time: < 1 min Marketing is about building and promoting a brand that attracts people to what you do. It’s everything your company does and how the world views you. Advertising is about interrupting people at expected times. Running TV commercials or Facebook ads are great ways to spend some money to interrupt people when they are expecting it. […]
Loyalty cards don’t lead to loyalty
Reading Time: 2 min Loyalty cards have been a hot item for stores for quite a while now, but the word “loyalty” doesn’t really fit. Call it a “discount” card if you want, but the cards don’t actually create loyalty from customers. They might help with repeat sales, but don’t confuse “good discounts” with actual loyalty. In the book […]
Just pick up the trash
Reading Time: 2 min A little over a year ago, we switched companies that handle our weekly trash pick-up. The previous company simply wasn’t consistent; we’d often get an email on the afternoon of the pick-up day that essentially said “Sorry, but we’re not going to be able to make it today. See you next week!“. Here is a […]
It intentionally doesn’t scale
Reading Time: 2 min Last year I shared some thoughts on doing things that don’t scale. In that case it was about invoicing, but I’ve seen this idea continue to pop up. Lumpy Mail The first is the idea of sending “lumpy mail”. It’s easy to send 1000 emails, and rather easy to send 100 letters in the mail, […]
Let’s do this again next week
Reading Time: < 1 min I’ve mentioned the fantastic “Founders” podcast on here a few times. Not only do I get a lot out of it, it partially inspired my new podcast as well. Earlier this year, David from Founders did a show with the guys from the “Acquired” podcast and it was an amazing episode. It was nearly three […]
Never quit?
Reading Time: 2 min A popular piece of advice is to “never quit”, but it’s not always a good way to approach things. Certainly you don’t want to give up too early, but choosing to “never quit” can be foolish. As Seth Godin shared in his book “The Dip“, he says: “Never Quit” What a spectacularly bad piece of […]
Intentional imbalance
Reading Time: < 1 min Work-life balance is something that many strive for, but it’s often a fool’s errand. Not that work should consume your life, but that trying to balance them neatly may be impossible. In “The 12 Week Year“, author Brian Morgan suggests this instead: Trying to spend equal time in each area is unproductive and often frustrating. […]