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You get a LOT of emails. Maybe even a few hundred per week. And while you do your best to read, reply and consider each of the messages as they come in, there is no doubt you’ve forgotten or missed a few over the past year. So, here’s a great exercise called “The Year In Email, 2005.” Go to your Inbox. Sort all of your emails according to the…

This is very exciting. My new buttons just came in the mail from purebuttons.com! (Check out their site if you haven’t already.) Anyway, I enclosed a button in each of my 2005 Holiday cards. And while I was mailing them yesterday, I starting thinking about the magnitude of such a small item… Let’s say you wore a pin like this to a meeting, conference, trade show, sales call, walking…

Last weekend I spent a few days in Cincy to see some old college friends. On Saturday my friend Phil and I passed this building on the way to lunch. “Wow, five floors of books! We HAVE to go there!” I said. So, after lunch we entered into quite possibly the greatest bookstore known to man: The Ohio Book Store. Cincinnati’s oldest, since 1941. According to owner Jim Fallon,…

Although I’ve been to hundreds of Starbucks in my life, last weekend’s visit was the single most unique and memorable experience I’ve ever had. It happened at the Louisville, KY store. (972 Baxter Avenue, to be exact.) When my friend Laine and I arrived at the counter, one of the employees asked, “Do you know you’re still wearing a nametag?” “Yep, I always wear it to make people friendlier…

Do you have your tickets for WOMMA’s Word of Mouth Basic Training Conference? It takes place on January 19-20, 2006, in Orlando Florida at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. It’s the biggest word of mouth event ever! The program includes experts, case studies, how-to’s and of course, networking. Also, I have the great honor of sharing the stage with Bob Garfield, Don Peppers and Fred Reichheld. If you can’t make…

About a year ago I read an article from USA Today that stated: “8 out of every 10 Americans want to write a book; but less that ONE will actually do it.” Sound about right? Well, think about it: how many people (yourself included) have ever said, “I would love to write a book someday!” My guess is, a lot. And after being involved with the St. Louis Publishers…

Elevator speeches. 60 Second Commercials. 30 Second Commercials. Personal Introductions. Networking Introductions. Defining Statements. Positioning Statements. Ahhhhhhhhhh! Which one do you use? And when? And with whom? Tough question. Especially because since the early 90’s, tens of thousands of articles, books, manuals and guides have been written on the topic of networking. And all of them address various techniques on how to answer the question: “So, what do you…

This was my first time purchasing a copy of Cosmo Magazine. And I gotta say, it was kinda awkward. Especially because it was 10:30 PM and I was flipping through the pages in the middle of the store like a maniac, eagerly trying to locate the quiz. Luckily nobody else was in there. When I approached the desk I lugged 10 copies of the January issue onto the counter….

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later – I have officially jumped onto the Podcast Bandwagon! Thanks to some help from my friend, colleague and fellow podcaster Bob Baker, the first episode of “HELLO, my name is Podcast” is now available for download, streaming and XML subscription. For those of you who are new to this technology (like me), here’s how you can tune in: You can…

Every summer I lead a workshop for YPO’s Junior Leadership University in Leysin, Switzerland. This year I met a lot of awesome kids, some of whom are pictured above. One student, Cam Scheible (bottom row, first on the left), recently IM’ed me with some great news. Since the beginning of the school year, Cam has actually been wearing a nametag every day at school! What’s more, the school paper…