Use the Economic Slump to Retool for Success

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeIn business, the enemy of success is stagnation. When business is flat and the stock market ho-hum, companies like to go into a holding pattern. It’s when the market swings - up or down - that opportunities for growth present themselves.

In a downturn like we’re experiencing now, mediocrity is not an option. Uncomfortable? Yes. Bad? No. Pressure to perform is a good thing.

Look at Major League Baseball. During the 162-game regular season, a manager might put up with an occasional careless pitch or a player’s failure to run out a ground ball. But in the World…

Distributism - A Third Response to Poverty

Today is Blog Action Day 2008, and the topic is a most serious one - poverty. With dark economic clouds descending, this topic, unfortunately, couldn’t be more apt.

Haves and Have-Nots

The cartoon above is one I created around the words of G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton was an Englishman of the early 20th century, a brilliant journalist, essayist, novelist, and poet. He held very definite views on wealth, poverty, and the horrors that befall a society when the gap between the two is great.

While the divide between rich and poor in the U.S. is not nearly so extreme as what Chesterton experienced in…

Do You Pay Your Bills on Time?

In slow economic times, companies often slow down on paying their bills. What’s your feeling about that?

From the beginning of my career, it was drilled into me to pay bills on time, all the time. I’m convinced it’s a winning strategy.

Paying on time encourages the best companies to do business with you.

Paying on time earns you a reputation for professionalism.

Paying on time attracts new opportunities, because of the above.

Of course, paying on time requires prompt collections and/or a solid line of credit.

It’s tempting to string out suppliers when times are tough, but when you do, suppliers remember and it will…

Reflections on a Sinking Economy

Goldman Sachs reports big profit plunge
Earnings sink 70% but beat analyst projections. Stock falls, but CEO insists that firm is ‘well positioned’ and CFO rules out a merger with a bank for now. (Headline from 9-16-08 news article)

Whew! Just when you think the economy couldn’t get any worse, it does. Seismic financial industry shock waves are rippling ripping through the business world, causing fear and trembling among leaders of Fortune 100 companies down to single-shingle entrepreneurs like me and many Word Sell readers. I don’t know if talking about it does any good, but can it do any harm?

Here are a…

This Economy Calls for Immediate Discussion, Not!

Remember this sequence from Monty Python’s Life of Brian?

JUDITH: They’ve arrested Brian!

REG: What?

COMMANDOS: What?

JUDITH: They’ve dragged him off! They’re going to crucify him!

REG: Right! This calls for immediate discussion!

COMMANDO #1: Yeah.

JUDITH: What?!

COMMANDO #2: Immediate.

COMMANDO #1: Right.

LORETTA: New motion?

REG: Completely new motion, eh, that, ah– that there be, ah, immediate action–

Action Is Risky, but Inaction Is Riskier
When the economy is burning, you can’t fiddle — unless you want to end up like Nero, which wouldn’t be good (see image at right). Yet there is a tendency as an entrepreneur or a business…

The Benefits of Open Source - Guest Post

Image via WikipediaOpen Source Benefits
by Randy Kemp

Have you ever read Henry David Thoreau or Ralph Waldo Emerson? Well, one day Thoreau was in prison, for refusing to pay a war tax, and Ralph came to visit him. Ralph opened up with the question, “what are you doing in there?” Henry retorted, “My dear Emerson, what are you doing out there?” Now, like Emerson, I am asking you this question. When it comes to open source, “what are you doing out there?” Come inside and enjoy some of the benefits. It is quite possible that folks joining me today may have…

Put Life into Your Meetings with Open Space

Do you dread meetings as much as I do? The thought of sitting through a 3 or 4 hour session brings to mind images of the cartoon just to the north. But last week I had an opportunity to attend my first Open Space meeting, and wow, what a difference.

Prisoner of Microsoft? Escape to Open Source

If you’re using Microsoft to run your business because you have to, not because you want to, consider open source. You have software options that can save money and do a better job. Randy Kemp, a technical copywriter, business associate, and all-around fascinating guy, agreed to share some ideas on open source software. Thanks, Randy!

Open Source – Is It All Hype or Just Good Software?
By Randy Kemp

Open source software: Is it hype or just good software? Well, before we go into this question, we really need a definition. Let’s start with this good, basic definition of open source. They say,…

Examples of Powerful Writing

Joanna Young asks, What does powerful writing mean to you? Turns out to be a rather challenging question. I tried to define powerful writing as “memorably evocative.” Writing that sticks in my head and evokes an emotion or an impulse or an attitude has power. But when I think of examples, I don’t see the common denominators. So, rather than bore you with a half-baked analysis of a topic I don’t really understand, I’ll refer you to Joanna’s blog where you can find some actual insight.

In the meantime, I’d like to share few examples of writing I find powerful, in the hope…

U.S. Must Slash Corporate Tax Rates Now

On the political scene, oil companies are the punching bag du jour. People are fed up with $3.50/gallon gasoline and $110/barrel oil, so of course, it must be the fault of the oil companies, who are making money hand over fist at our expense.

Give me a break. Seems to me there are three factors contributing to high oil, and by extension, high gasoline prices.

1. A global economic boom which has caused rapidly rising demand for oil
2. An unstable political environment which leads to fear of supply disruption which leads to higher prices
3. An extremely weak U.S. dollar

What control do oil…

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