Recently I had the pleasure of attending a business breakfast jointly sponsored by a local neighborhood organization, a bank and a popular restaurant. The first is known as St. Marks Area Main Street association (SMAMS), the second is Eastern Bank and the third is the Ashmont Grill. (See more on on SMAMS at smams.org.
Author: Brandon Guillermo
Journey
I've heard and read some fairly awesome stories lately about "Triumph over seemingly "Insurmountable Odds" [tm], by people who had no fame or influence. One became the author of the best-seller "Dances With Wolves" which also propelled the careers of several others. The author's story was as compelling as the movie. He was homeless for...
You Bought It, I Own It
There are some amazing business arrangements out there when it comes to maintaining online operations. In particular is one I call the “You bought it, I own it” model, where your website support person buys your domain and hosting for you, then winds up being the only one with access. You are now dependent on...
Carrot And Stick
When you hear the word incentives what does it conjure in your mind? Expectation? Suspicion? Dread? (like a drill sargeant’s promise to “give you Incentive?”) Generally speaking, an incentive is something you want isn’t it? Something that will stimulate you to do certain things in order to get it. Sometimes those things can be difficult,...
Sharing And Selling
When I started this blog I said that product reviews would be part of it. Some of the reviews have included links to participate and/or purchase because the concept was appealing and contributes to one of the other major themes of this blog: discovering ways of establishing independence.
Diverse Elements In Outsourcing
These days I believe outsourcing is immediately understood as exporting work to foreign lands with abundant labor pools working for pennies on the dollar, not the dictionary definition. Outsourcing conjures many opinions and often emotions in people around the world. From various documentaries I’ve seen and material read, attitudes range from resignation on the part...
Personal Branding Now
Not that I've neglected it but lately I've been giving a lot more thought to personal branding where the Internet is involved. We're in a brand new age. Impressions can be formed or associations drawn just by implication. In some cases a subliminal connection might be made where there is none. So, what happened that...
Do You Believe Me Or Your Eyes
As of this writing, there’s been a few commercials by certain technology companies offering small businesses a free website submitted to all the search engines if they subscribe to a service plan. I noticed the first one on a late night/afternoon infomercial, then several weeks later a more nationally known brand presented their version. These...
When Partnerships Go Bad
Years may go by and it can go unnoticed until it arrives: a rift develops between you and someone who partnered with you to build a business. But the assets of the business have been jointly managed. One of those critical assets is customer contact information. If the owner of that data is clear, then...
Guru And My Past Have A Message
I’m beginning to think there’s no such thing as “the road not taken” because the longer you’re around the more likely you will find that road again, in one sense or another. Several weeks ago I had a “six degrees of separation” experience that transcended any before. A friend called and asked if I would...