New Director for California’s Department of Forestry April 26, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, government, forestry , add a commentGovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger named a director and deputy last week to oversee California’s firefighting agency. State Fire Marshal Ruben Grijalva was named director of the state’s Department of Forestry.
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Life After Getting Things Done
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentMuch has been made of the David Allen book, “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”, and for good reason. It’s a great way to manage your work and personal life. But what do you do when you conquer your inbox? What happens when you Get To Done?
When I purchased my first home a few years ago, friends and neighbors would often ask, “How’s the house coming?” For the first six months or so, I’d reply with some version of, “Great. We’re almost done.” Almost without exception, the smiling reply would be, “That’s great.” One day somewhere between the problems with the old furnace and the replacing of the windows, it hit me. These people were not smiling because they were happy I was almost done; they were smiling because they knew something I didn’t: you’re never done.
There’s always something to be done around a house. Hinges need oiling, carpet needs cleaning, walls need painting, screen doors replace storm doors, storm doors replace screen doors. And even when the “fixing” tasks are complete, it will come time for changes that really don’t need to be done: new paint, new furniture, new cabinets, new sinks, new faucets, new carpet. One day, you look around and wonder what you took out a mortgage for. After all, the only thing that remains from the day you closed on your house are the four outside walls. Everything else has changed.
Once again, Seth’s Blog takes the banner and charges up the hill:
The challenge is NOT to empty your inbox. The challenge is not to get your boss to tell you what to do.
The challenge is to ask a two part question:
What next? What now?
Here’s the thought for the day: Getting to “done” is a stupid goal.
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Wholesale Inflation Gets a Boost April 24, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: wholesale, business , add a commentU.S. producer prices rose half a percent in March, as energy prices continued to climb with no end in sight. Prices outside food and energy, however, were at the smallest gain seen in four months according to the government report.
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Good News for Internet Retailers
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, retail , add a commentWhile high gas prices may take a toll on retail purchases in general, a new survey by Shopzilla, an online shopping search site, suggests almost 50% of shoppers plan to shop online more. In a survey of 3,147 online shoppers, 20.34% said the skyrocketing gasonline prices would cause them to shop online “a lot more” and 29.27% said they’d do so “somewhat more”. Meanwhile, 50.4% said they’d shop online “about the same” amount.
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Cutting Through Red Tape
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentWhen you really think about it, a good many of the problems that customers (and employees, for that matter) have with companies (especially large ones, it seems) are related to red tape. The policies, procedures and manuals that, though in place for a reason, are often too rigid to allow the company to do its job: put the customer first.
Seth Godin has done an excellent job of pointing out this problem and highlighting one company’s solution: a hotline directly to the owner of the company. If there’s a problem with any of over 400 stores, the employee can (and is encouraged to) pick up the phone and be connected directly and instantly to the owner.
How easy (or difficult) do you make it for the rank and file members of your organization to get problems fixed? To communicate opportunities? These are the people that interact with your customers day-in, day-out. They’re often the only face of the company your customers ever see.
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What Do You Do? April 19, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing , add a commentJohn Jantsch had a great post the other day and it cuts to the very bone of marketing: What do you do for a living? Most people answer with their job title–doctor, lawyer, candlestick maker. The candlestick maker’s answer, for example, should be something like:
I provide light in the darkness so that people are able to do things like see their loved ones in the dark, find their way home at night, and read in windowless rooms.
As John puts it, “If you really want to get your marketing message to a place that will get your prospect’s attention you must be able to answer that question - what do you do for a living - with a valuable benefit.”
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Government Spending Hits Record High in March April 14, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, government , add a commentThe Treasury Department said federal spending reached $250 billion last month, up 13.7 percent from a year ago. The Bush Administration expects the budget deficit for this year will hit a record $423 billion, while the Congressional Budget Office is predicting a deficit of $371 billion. Many private forcasters, however are predicting even lower deficits, citing increased revenues due to a strong economy. More information is available here.
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Retail Sales Stronger Than Expected
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, retail , add a commentAccording to the U.S. Commerce Department, purchases rose 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index was above economists’ predictions to 89.2, up from 88.9 in March. More details are available here.
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Good News for the Mining Industry
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, mining , add a comment“‘A sustained worldwide demand for minerals and metals for at least the next few years is translating into robust business for mining companies and metals producers’, a mining executive said.” More details here.
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Time for a Customer Service Tune-Up? April 13, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentThe Art of Customer Service, by Guy Kawasaki is a great post that is probably mis-titled. Guy takes what most people believe to be an art and turns it into a science with a simple ten-point plan to turn your organization into one that your customers love to do business with.
It doesn’t take a genius, of course, to understand how beneficial this is to your company: selling gets easier as your sales force hears “no” much less often, marketing gets easier as your customers begin to recommend you to others through word-of-mouth (and word-of-Internet!), and so much more.
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