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BIN 36 Chicago is open for breakfast lunch and dinner daily and features contemporary American cuisine with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients and wine pairing. I ate a quick lunch at BIN 36 last week. At the end of the meal, my client Kerry told me, “Oh, and don’t forget to grab cookies and water when we’re done!” “What?” “Oh yeah, they give you free cookies and a bottle…

Just finished up a full day of workshops for my friends up in Northwest Ohio’s Workforce Development. Now, I say Toledo; but technically I spoke in Bryan, OH, home of Sauder Furniture. Man, I actually used to sell that stuff when I worked in retail 4 years ago! It’s also the birthplace of Spangler Candy, makers of Dum-Dum Pops. At check in there was a plentiful supply awaiting my…

You might know Leo Burnett as the worldwide ad agency famous for creating such icons as the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Tony the Tiger. I know them as my clients and my friends! And we had a fantastic program at their Chicago office yesterday. It all started in the reception area. As I eagerly awaited the arrival of my friend Kerry (pictured), I…

Last week I had lunch with my friend Edward Khatskin, co-owner of K & G Financial. We were talking about cell phones when he gave me a classic approachability technique: “When I start a meeting with a new (or prospective) client, I make sure they’re looking at me, then take out my cell phone, turn it off and toss it on the table. I’ll say something like: ‘I am…

A is for ATTITTUDE B is for BREAK PATTERNS C is for CONSISTENCY People either love it or they hate it. Oscar Wilde once said, “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” Robert Owen stated, “Without consistency there is no moral strength.” Then there’s the old cliche (not sure who said it originally), “The only consistent thing in life is change.” Me, I’m big on consistency. In all…

My Grandfather, Frank Ginsberg, tells the greatest stories and jokes you’ve ever heard. His favorite story to tell goes back to the Great Depression; a time when suffering families used old newspapers as insulation for their ever-deteriorating homes. As the tale goes, one day, my then-young Grandpa Frank stumbled upon a profound clipping crunched behind the walls of his house. He asked his father (my great-grandfather) to read it…

You can always count on my buddy Seth Godin to share ideas on increasing blog traffic. If you can do any (or all!) of these 56 things, people will be stepping onto your blog’s front porch in no time! Check it out: 1) Use lists. 2) Be topical… write posts that need to be read right now. 3) Learn enough to become the expert in your field. 4) Break…

I’ve read a number of articles and surveys claiming that blondes are more approachable. (Usually referring to women.) One particular article called Blondes: a dying breed caught my eye. This is really cool… “According to a study by the World Health Organisation (WHO), natural blonds are likely to be extinct within 200 years, because there are too few people carrying the blond gene. The WHO study claims that the…

I know this is my third DC-related post in the past week, but I just couldn’t pass up this absolutely fascinating article (thanks to Christin Berry from ASAE): Washingtonians love their game of tag… WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The dark suit is impeccable, the hair conservatively cut, the shoes a refined statement of solidity. But the outfit isn’t complete for a Washington insider without an identity tag or two —…

When I was speaking in DC a few weeks ago, I spent a few hours cruising around Georgetown. This particular store caught my eye. At first I walked right past it. But when my nose twitched from the sweet aroma of bath products, I stopped, started laughing and thought, wait a minute…what did that sign say?” Upon closer inspection, here’s what I saw: Ok. That’s just cool. So cool…