Cautionary Tales
Stephanie Michelle was hunting for a job, and she wanted an edge. So she dished out $29.95 for a 7.5 ml vial of “Liquid Trust.” The product description on Amazon says Liquid Trust “can help people gain the trust of others.” Great for sales people, job hunters, and anyone else who wants others to “feel…
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I’ve been thinking about revenge. A movie made me think it. A movie called “Promising Young Woman” that I saw last weekend. It tells the story of a 30-year-old Cassie, who exacts revenge on men who mistreat women. I won’t give away the details. I’ll say only that the movie made me cringe and laugh…
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I get slammed by cold-call LinkedIn connection requests. They usually start with something like this… “I visited your website and was really impressed…” or “I read your profile, and we seem to have a lot in common…” or “It looks like you do some great work…” My favorites are the ones that make it seem…
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Happy (Belated) Groundhog Day. Silly holiday. GREAT movie. I love the scenes with Ned Ryerson. He’s the insurance salesman who went to high school with Phil (Bill Murray’s character). Groundhog Day after Groundhog Day (see the movie if you don’t know what I mean), Ned accosts Phil on the street and pitches insurance. “Have you…
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For the last few months, my wife and I have skipped trips to the store and ordered groceries for home delivery. You know… the pandemic and all. Here in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, we have several options. We prefer one called Shipt. Why? Because the shoppers communicate well with us and consistently delight us. We…
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When my daughter suggested last night that we order delivery from Shake Shack… …rather than have yet another night of leftover turkey for dinner… …I thought, “That’s the greatest idea EVER!” Red meat, topped with bacon and orange cheese. Yum. But what really had my mouth watering was the thought of that shake… …that sweet,…
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Every so often, I browse my junk email folder to see what the spammers are up to. I always come across something that makes me roll my eyes and chuckle… …like this one from a lender: Subject line: Equipment Financing That’s it. No website address. No call to action. No benefits. No story. No nothing…
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A cautionary tale: Earlier this week, I was helping a client move a website. He registered his domain with GoDaddy, and I spoke to their customer support before moving the site. Everything GoDaddy told me was wrong, and when we moved the site it came crashing down. I launched a chat with GoDaddy support and…
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Back in March, when the pandemic was a fresh, new misadventure for all of us, I wrote this email asking why the local traffic reporter needed to do her thing every morning — even though no one was driving to work. I concluded that she and her station kept doing their thing because that’s what they do.…
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I read some marketing advice last week that was SO bad I had to share it with you… …so you can add it to the top of your “Do Not Do This!” list. It came from a so-called marketing “expert” in one of those fancy-shmancy magazines for entrepreneurs. The article contained dos and don’ts for…
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