There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the business community in recent years about the quality of the work force. I’ve read articles and seen reports detailing the habits of the “millennials,” the generation that is exiting college and entering the workforce. Their lack of preparation has been blamed on all sorts […]
Blog
Since 1998, we have been reflecting on marketing, design, code, and much more.
From Your Brain to Google in Four Minutes
“Now you have to decide whether you have anything to say that’s important to you, your customers, your prospects… your career. Go ahead, think it over. You’ve got four minutes.” Still wondering if you should have a blog to help explain who you are, what your business is, how you help your customers? You may […]
In Case You Weren’t Convinced: More Reviews Needed
Another recently released study cites the importance of consumer reviews for e-commerce sites. In fact, nearly nine people out of ten use consumer-generated reviews at least “some of the time” in their buying decision, and many — 46% — read several reviews before making a decision. The study, performed by PowerReviews and the e-tailing group, […]
The Secret Indicator of Business Health
Harvey Mackay writes an interesting article today about the power of humor in the workplace to transform moods, heighten morale, and — surprisingly — act as a strong indicator of the true health of the business. “I’ve always felt that humor,” says Mackay, “is the unrecognized indicator of any business’ true condition.” Turns out he […]
If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This:
Real permission is different from presumed or legalistic permission. Just because you somehow get my email address doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because I don’t complain doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because it’s in the fine print of your privacy policy doesn’t mean it’s permission either. Seth Godin Seth Godin, pitchman for common […]
Digging Your Well
Back in the Dark Ages, before we started Rare Bird and before I was creative director at an advertising agency, I was a salesman. My personality being what it is, I read a lot of books on sales. Two, in particular, stand out in my memory as being best in class: Harvey Mackay’s “Swim with […]
The Inmates (and/or the Legal Department) Are Running the Asylum
Seriously guys, keep those lawyers out of here! Just tell them somebody in accounting is using the wrong Pantone color in the logo again. Matt Dickman File this under the same business category as “New Coke” only bigger, dumber, but (possibly) less expensive, though the true cost is to be determined. You probably didn’t know, […]
Business Consulting or Web Development?
Let’s see… we talked about about design, site architecture, implementation strategy, marketing strategy… We walked out of a client meeting the other day when Michael, one of our recently-acquired programmers asked me, “So, was that fairly typical of how these meetings go?” I ran through a mental checklist… let’s see, we talked about design, site […]
“I’m Jim, and I hate Google.”
Inexplicably, Google is indexing it’s own ads on sites in their content network, leading to a whole bevy of related problems, inaccuracies, and heartburn. “Hi, Jim.” That may be a slight overstatement, but I gotta tell you, at this point I’m dealing with a fairly serious love-hate relationship. The company and their eggheads do so […]
Everyone’s An Expert
It seems like everyone is an expert at something. We have automobile experts, stock market experts, antique experts… we even have a client who’s a sheep and goat expert. This abundance of experts in all fields butts up against a point of friction with the Internet, where information is clamoring to be free (or pretty […]
Selling a Piece of History
Would you sell a piece of history? Let’s just say, for the purposes of this discussion, that you were in possession of a piece of history with a generally healthy market value. A 1884 Carson City $20 gold coin … the original handwritten notes from the Gettysburg Address … or, say, the baseball that Barry […]
Knowing When Enough is Enough
I had a boss once who was infamous for his adages. Uniquely appropriate (or not) for nearly every situation; he rarely failed to have one of these nuggets immediately at the ready. True, he would occasionally misfire, tossing off a “let’s throw it against the wall and see what sticks” when the situation may have […]
