Nobody Owes You Anything: From Gardener to Entrepreneur
The average Nicaraguan is born in a shack with a dirt floor. He earns less than $15 a week. “E,” my gardener in Nicaragua, does much better than that. But he is still, by U.S. standards, poor. Since I am in daily contact with E when I’m there, I often…
READ MOREThinking: It’s One of the Most Difficult Tasks We Do
Henry Ford once hired an efficiency expert to go through his plant. Ford directed him to find the nonproductive employees and, he said, “I will fire them!” When the expert finished his evaluation, he reported to Ford that he was particularly concerned with one of his administrators. “Every time I…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: Redundancies Redux
A year ago, I devoted a column to the topic of redundant expressions. This error continues to be widespread, as the following examples, recently culled from the media, demonstrate: “I have come to realize that the seeming constancy of the harbor symbolized a false myth about nature.” (The phrase false…
READ MOREA Quick-Start Guide for the Internet Entrepreneur
I recently got an e-mail from a man I’ll call Jim, a longtime ETR reader. His question is probably the most common one I get. If you are interested in breaking into the Internet, pay attention. What I have to say to Jim might give you the information you need…
READ MOREThe Top 10 Ways to Position Yourself as an Expert Using Social Media
Let’s start by answering a very simple question: As a small businessperson, entrepreneur, or Internet marketer, why would you want to position yourself as an expert? The answer is very simple. Everybody trusts an expert. And, as every salesperson will tell you, individuals want to do business with people they…
READ MOREDon’t Take a Chance on Luck
Luck seems to have a peculiar attachment to work. I’m sure that you have heard the Dave Thomas quote: “It seems the harder I work, the luckier I get.” I would tend to agree with that statement, but I think there are a few other conditions that affect your “luck”…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: Unusual Plurals
Headline: “Thirteen state attorney generals threaten lawsuit over Nebraska’s health care deal.” The phrase attorney generals isn’t wrong. But it’s not standard English. The approved form is attorneys general. This is one of several compounds in which the adjective follows rather than precedes the noun, and where the plural is…
READ MOREAre You Wasting Your Time With Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter?
Everywhere I turn, I hear about how fantastic social media is. People tell me they are spending six hours a day on Facebook. They are responding to Twitter tweets all day and all night. Facebook’s 350 million users collectively spend more than 8 billion minutes on the site each day.…
READ MOREI’ve a Feeling We’ve “Bean” Here Before
When you click on an online ad that interests you, you expect to be presented with a way to buy that item almost immediately. Right? But far too many businesses advertising online do not give you this logical next step. For example, while perusing the BBC News website, I stumbled…
READ MOREKilling Time Isn’t Murder – It’s Suicide
We all start out in life with one thing in common – the same number of minutes and hours in each day. That remains constant whether we live 50 years or 100 years. So why is it that some people accomplish so much, and others, very little? One important reason,…
READ MOREBusiness in Booms and Busts
A Question for Michael Masterson: “Are you approaching business any differently in today’s economic climate? Baby boomers never experienced a severe depression or hyperinflation –therefore, I think their worldview of business is skewed.” D.M. Plano, TX Michael’s Answer: Yes, D.M., I am approaching business differently these days.
READ MOREWhy Peak Oil Is a Crock
The good news about the oil supply? Peak oil is a crock. There’s plenty of oil. It’s just harder to get to it now than it was 20 years ago. The oil is deep underground or below miles of sea or mixed with sand or in places where the underground…
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