Uptight politeness vs. helpful opinions
We Brits are famous for being hard to read. Sometimes, it’s difficult to know what we think about anything because we’re so indirect. When a Brit says an idea is “interesting,” what he often means is that it’s the worst idea he’s ever heard. Maybe we don’t want to offend. It’s that uptight politeness thing…
Singing your catchy song
My house is surrounded by trees. And because of that, we have a lot of nature here. Right now, there are birds everywhere. Just yesterday afternoon, I took a walk outside and at the top of the tallest tree was this little bird singing its heart out. Small bird; big song. Now, I’m no biologist,…
First this, then that
As many of you know, I’m an on-air volunteer for our local community radio station. And this summer I’m hosting the breakfast show a couple of days a week. One thing my co-host, Heather, and I have been trying to do is get more interaction with our listeners. And it seems to be working. Today…
Why we don’t care what printing companies think
Some of the things we do here with our print format newsletters upset printing companies. Now, I’m not in the business of upsetting people. But sometimes… well, it just can’t be helped. However, there are very good reasons why we do it this way. In fact, there are two of them. First, printing companies don’t…
As famous as a Google drive-by
I found myself on Google Street View the other day. There I am, striding down the street, looking quizzically at this car which was crawling by with an enormous, multi-headed camera on its roof. Famous forever… and completely zoomable. Now, Mayna (our wonderful customer service manager – you’ll chat with her if you join us)…
Be on the path of least resistance
Water, as you learned in school, follows the path of least resistance. That was certainly true yesterday when, as my mother is fond of saying, the heavens opened. There was a deluge. A hard, pounding rain that bounced and thudded… ….and left a six-inch deep channel down the driveway. Following, you see, the path of…
Use leftovers or be left behind
There’s something extra delicious about meals made with leftovers. So the omelette I threw together for lunch yesterday (leftover sliced mushrooms, leftover brie cheese and a couple of dubiously aged leftover eggs) was extra tasty. I don’t know if it was the food that was so appetizing… or the thought of the money I was…
You know stuff, you’re good at it, and you make people’s lives better
Sometimes I think there are two types of people in the world. There are those who talk a lot but don’t know much. We all know some of that type…they’re all over the media and they’re very loud. And then there are those who actually do know a lot but don’t talk much. They hide…
Stepping out onto that glass ledge
Did you hear about the glass floor, 1,353 feet up at the Willis Tower in Chicago, that cracked this week? When you’re standing in a transparent box, with nothing between you and the sidewalk except air, the last thing you want to hear is breaking glass. Now, it wasn’t actually the glass that shattered, it…
Angry birds and copycats
My house is under attack from a pair of angry robins! It’s breeding season – and the birds are getting territorial. And every now and again, they think they see another robin in my windows. So they attack! Of course, it’s just a reflection… this is a battle these robins will never win. Many real…
Reasons why people leave us
Let me open the kimono a little about my business. As you know, we offer a free trial of our newsletters. You get access to everything for 30 days before we charge you. Of the people who join, about 70% go on to become paying clients. Some of the ones who leave do it because…
Give me plain over pretty
I watched the movie Capote this weekend. (Actually, to tell the truth, I fell asleep halfway through. I always do. Never seen the end of a movie.) Anyway… Playing Truman Capote was the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s a terrific performance. One of the things I liked most about Hoffman is that he was…
Circle around or drive and walk?
There are few things in life more frustrating than a full parking lot. It’s like a game of hide-and-seek – with the added risk of a ding from a reversing vehicle. I think there are two strategies to win in this situation. 1. Keep circling around until someone happens to be leaving, then grab their…
Your ‘dog-whistle’ newsletter
If you listen to the political pundits on TV (I don’t recommend it), you might have come across the term “dog-whistle” issues. These are the topics that are of special interest to dye-hard conservatives or liberals, but which don’t have much resonance with the other side. Dog-whistle issues are used to rouse interest in the…
From flame wars to brighter lives
Oh, you’ve gotta love a Facebook flame war. You know, where the comments section gets completely out of hand.I just read one, and because it was about website content, I thought I would share it with you. Basically, one person said that no one reads the content of websites. Then another person said that statement…
Maple syrup and a big box of toys
We took our three and five-year-old nephews to the pancake barn this weekend. It’s a fun place. They tap the maple trees in the woodlot behind the building and the sap is piped to the room next to the restaurant where it is boiled down into syrup at the end of every winter. Good pancakes…
A secret vice, the sidebar of shame, and marketing they’ll actually look forward to
It’s confession time today. One of my secret vices is reading The Daily Mail’s website. Have you seen it yet? The editors of that British newspaper website are pretty smart – they’ve created something that is horribly addictive. All human life is there. And, frankly, a lot of it ain’t that pretty – especially the…
You and Ellen and Oprah
It’s a funny world we live in. For example, when Oprah or Ellen DeGeneres or a Kardashian say something, people listen – even though more often than not these stars have nothing particularly valuable to say on the subject. That’s the power of celebrity. Now, even though you’re not as famous as they are, you…
Small town, big relationships
I live in a small town. Very small.You can’t walk down the street without running into someone you know. You can’t use the crosswalk without a friendly honk from a neighbor. And you can’t line up at the grocery store without catching up on the day’s news. Although there’s a little of the Truman Show…
Use them just like coffee flour
When coffee beans are extracted from their shells prior to roasting, a by-product called coffee cherry is left over. Until now, there was nothing much that could be done with this reddish pulp, so lots of coffee cherry went to waste (and was a big source of water pollution at coffee mills). Then came along…