There is an old joke in business: Good/Fast/Cheap. Pick any two. What if you took one off the table? What is everything you offer has to be good? Then it can be fast, but not cheap. Or it can be cheap, but not fast. So you get paid well for working under pressure (which feels good), [...]
After the startupworkgrab, you know, the first months or years when a new business will take any paying work, there has to be a time of self reflection. You now have some data and you need to ask yourself some questions. I suggest that you pose these questions as negatives: What work is the least [...]
There is a divide, nay, a gaping chasm between free and $1.00. Does $1.00 mean that much? Not really, if a gallon of milk is $1.00 more this week than it was last week I doubt any of us would give it a thought. But paying $1.00 online requires time and effort. You have to [...]
A five-minute interruption is not five minutes. It is at least 10 minutes and can be as long as 30 minutes. Why? Because once you off task it takes a few minutes to remember what you were doing and refocus. People do favors for me all the time, for which I am grateful. I like to [...]
Drew University last week announced that it was slashing its tuition by 20% from $48,336 this year to $38,668 next year. So what prompted this act of altruism? Economic reality. Drew, like many small private universities, has struggled to maintain enrollment while charging a higher-than-average tuition. So how can Drew increase enrollment and maximize revenue? [...]
I know a guy who owns a lot of income-producing real estate, and he does everything wrong. All of his properties are in his personal name. Pleas by well-meaning lawyers to create single property LLC's to protect his personal assets have fallen on deaf ears. He leases space based on monthly rent and is not [...]
We purchased a new washer and a new dryer several months ago. The washer has a setting called Fan Fresh. When the wash cycle finishes, the machine breathes in fresh air and occasionally tumbles the clothes to keep wrinkles at bay. The Fan Fresh cycle lasts up to 12 hours. When we wash a load [...]
An example of my personal irrational decision making: I recently ordered several handmade and vintage golf ball markers on Etsy. Some have cool skull and crossbone logos and some are made of unique materials with a motto, my initials, etc. I love these silly things. Do I "need" them in any way, shape or form? Heck [...]
I have never regretted passing on a piece of business. However, I have deeply regretted taking on a piece of business.
I recently received an email request for a donation to the Appraiser Prosperity Coalition. I was not familiar with the organization, but I took some time to read up on who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. What I found was a group of well meaning residential mortgage appraisers fighting their latest [...]
Want success and happiness? Do these things: Smile. Say thank you. Be responsive. Be friendly. Take a personal interest in your coworkers and clients. Stick to your knitting. Not all work is right for you. Develop a list of professionals you trust and refer, refer, refer. The client you refer will be impressed with your [...]
Gagliano & Company is a small business. A boutique firm, if you will. There are only three of us: Miss Sophia, Office Administrator, bookkeeper, preparer of paperwork and utility fielder; Miss Kim, Researcher extraordinaire, datakeeper, spreadsheeter and report ninja; and Yours Truly, the Wearer of the Turban. As a result, our capacity is limited. We [...]
There are times in every business when the ol' backlog gets a little, um, thin. Many business people at this juncture do one of two things: (a) panic or (b) slow down. Both responses are perfectly natural. Panic is simply our fight or flight response at work. Our ancestors would panic when they saw a [...]
...but are you damn good? Are you a trusted adviser? Do you give your clients what they ask for, or better yet, what they need? Do you deliver good work, on time? Of course you do. So don't apologize for your fees, or your payment terms. This is your business. Your family and your employees [...]
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less is a new book by Greg McKeown that tackles the Unimportance of Practically Everything. Or, put another way, if you don't prioritize your life, someone else will. I originally bought Essentialism as an audiobook, but after I got a cold and was forced to stay home (and rest, and drink [...]
For the record, I am no Pollyanna. Every day I post news items on LinkedIn and Twitter that I think are important. I am objective in my choice of articles. Cross my heart. But I can't ignore the cold, hard facts: Sign of Spring on Pay: Real Wage Growth Spring Thaw Has Companies Hiring Again [...]
Why is your fee so high? It’s just a little pizza parlor. On a corner. In the middle of a residential neighborhood. It is only assessed for $125,000. Because it is very difficult to appraise. Often the small and the cheap are the hard and expensive. So let’s compare the pizza parlor to a 100,000 square [...]
Working from home can be great. I roll out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and get to work. Two or three hours later I have the equivalent of a day’s worth of work done, and the rest of the day available to talk to clients and prospects. Years ago I discovered GoToMyPC and found that [...]
Seth Godin has been saying for years that scaling and mass-production are things of the past, for the simple reason that we have gotten so good at it. We can take any methodology or process and make it more and more efficient. What matters today, according to Godin, is art, honest expressions of individuality and [...]
Now Pay Attention: Axiom 1: The person who brings in the business is king and should be fêted daily. Axiom 2: If you return telephone calls and e-mails, you will be successful. Axiom 3: About one in ten employees work out. This sucks for everyone involved. Axiom 4: Creativity is much more important than you [...]
In the lexicon of real estate investing there are three primary types of investments. In order of risk from he lowest to the highest they are Core (typically fully leased and cash-flowing), Value-Added (the real estate version of Streetcar’s Blanche Dubois, something of a a faded rose) and Opportunistic (visionary, big-picture thinking, but the bank [...]
Hardknocks University I was thrilled to get the opportunity to interview Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of General Electric. We took a few minutes to discuss finance giant GE Capital's recent decision to stop lending to gun shops. HU: Mr. Immelt, GE Capital recently announced that it will no longer loan [...]
If someone claims to have a "surefire" marketing/sales system, walk the other way. Here's why: The system is unlikely to be a fit for your business. Or for you personally. The system will force you to do and say things that are unnatural for you. Even if she is not conscious of why, a potential customer will [...]
Everyone needs oxygen. Everyone needs water. Not everyone needs your product or service. That's a good thing. You can't reach the whole world anyway - it is way too expensive. Leave that to Coca-Cola. It is far better to find your niche and master it. Hone your skills until you are the "go to" person in your field. Have [...]
Do you think that your income as a [insert profession here] is limited in some way? If you think so, you are absolutely correct. You will never exceed that number. Except by accident.
