E-mail Unplugged

I’ve been thinking a lot about email lately.  Not only because I’ve taken over the Customer Support for three extremely busy online entrepreneurs and receive 1000’s of emails daily.  But also because I seem to be losing the battle to master my addiction to email.

I spent the weekend at our family cottage, frustrated by the lightning fast speed of our dialup connection (I didn’t even know my modem could downgrade to 28.8!).  I spent the weekend downloading email a few times a day and replied to them as time permitted.  It’s quite a switch for me, as someone who is never more than five minutes away from a live internet connection, it was a lesson in patience and email freedom to be forced to check email only three times daily.

A lesson in A LOT of patience!

Read the rest of this entry »

Post to Twitter

No Comments

The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage

Okay, I’ll be honest and admit that the title is what attracted me to this book.  Having come from a theatre background, I love reading how the business world relates to one of my long-time passions.

From Amazon:

Sometime during the last 30 years, the service economy emerged as the dominant engine of economic activity. At first, critics who were uncomfortable with the intangible nature of services bemoaned the decline of the goods-based economy, which, thanks to many factors, had increasingly become commoditized. Successful companies, such as Nordstrom, Starbucks, Saturn, and IBM, discovered that the best way to differentiate one product from another–clothes, food, cars, computers–was to add service.

But, according to Joseph Pine and James Gilmore, the bar of economic offerings is being raised again. In The Experience Economy, the authors argue that the service economy is about to be superseded with something that critics will find even more ephemeral (and controversial) than services ever were: experiences. In part because of technology and the increasing expectations of consumers, services today are starting to look like commodities. The authors write that "Those businesses that relegate themselves to the diminishing world of goods and services will be rendered irrelevant. To avoid this fate, you must learn to stage a rich, compelling experience."

If you’re in for a different kind of read, click here to order your copy!

Post to Twitter

No Comments

Money, Meaning and Beyond

I’ve followed Andrea Lee for quite some time.  Here is her newest quirky take on the business world.  Check out what frogs, salad bowls, golf and even your sex life have to do with your business and bottom line.

What is the fastest, easiest path to money that you can implement, today? How can a pink spoon mentality bring you thousands of clients? And when is the best time to strategically order chicken salad instead of tuna fish… to the benefit of your business?

This book is the definitive answer to the ages-old debate: You don’t have to have an MBA to understand – and be wildly successful at – how to run a business.

Get your copy today!

Post to Twitter

No Comments