The Upside to the Down Economy: Talking About Money
"You might not think there is a bright side to this gloomy economy, but I have spotted one," says M.P. Duneavey who writes a column called The Cost of Living in the New York Times. "People are talking about money." What are they saying?

Calming angry customers
Getting angry is a normal emotion. However, the way we manage our emotions when dealing with an angry customer will often determine whether the customer remains ours or becomes someone else's.

Hitting that tipping point: why isn't it happening for you?
Malcolm Gladwell wrote the National Bestseller, The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference, in 2000 and discussed this social behavior in detail. Brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath wrote the book Made To Stick: Why some ideas survive and others die seven years later, mainly inspired from Gladwell's research. The Heath brothers refer to 6 key ingredients: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories. They make it sound so easy to achieve, but why isn't it working for you?

Are you age discriminating?
You are your company's brand, and your company's brand is reflected through the people you hire. That usually goes without saying, and many companies can get away with hiring only people who give their brand cache'. But what if it goes a step beyond and highly qualified people are turned away because they're deemed too old?

Want to be more effective? Here's the secret (Shh! Don't spread it around)
"I need more time! There just aren't enough hours in the day anymore!" I suppose we've all made one or both of those remarks at one time or another in our incredibly busy lives. I know I have, and I hear those thoughts from my clients on an almost daily basis. So how do you become more effective?

Moving from intention to commitment: leveraging today
Many businesses and families have members who perpetually live in an island state of mind. You can hear them talk about "Tomorrow I'll," "Next Year I'll," or "Someday I'll." There is actually a little bit of that in all of us, isn't there? So how do we get off the "I'll" and begin taking action on those things we gently remind ourselves really should be done?

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? The 7 key steps for making strong relationships
If your relationships among potential successors are healthy, then we need to keep building on the good work you've done. If the poisonous seeds have already been planted, then we've got to figure out how to mitigate the damages. Until the monitor says "Game Over," it's never too late to repair damaged or strained relationships. Here are the 7 steps to begin rebuilding those key relationships.

Women: take a hammer to your own glass ceiling
In an earlier article, entitled, "Women, Are You Paid Less? Learn to Speak Up!" I explored the fact that women lag men in terms of pay equity and suggested that we could help our cause by standing up for ourselves in negotiating situations. But that's just the start. What do you do next?

How should I secure my Smart phone?
Today's smart phones carry so much vital information, although the risks aren't so much the traditional computer virus or hackers, the real risk is in what happens if you lose your phone. Anyone that's had a smart phone for any period of time has likely compiled a ton of information that could aid in identity theft or expose sensitive corporate data.

Choosing a printer for 1:1 applications: Part 2
In my last post, we talked about the need to make a distinction between merely selecting a digital printer and selecting a marketing partner with digital printing capabilities who can help you develop and execute the kinds of digital-print-driven applications that will transform your document management and marketing. Here are some things to keep in mind.