Posts by Mark Morgan Ford
Be Careful Writing Negative Thoughts
“A word carries far — very far — deals destruction through time as the bullets go flying through space.” – Joseph Conrad (Lord Jim, 1900) It’s a tried-and-true business rule that you should always deliver bad news in person. But now that we are fully entrenched in the world of e-mail, it is a rule…
Read MorePrepare For A Long, Bad Time Of It
“Morning comes whether you set the alarm or not.” – Ursula K. Le Guin (Dancing at the Edge of the World, 1989) Almost every business I know is struggling. Most are in decline. Retail stores are closing in record number. Bankruptcies are up. Banks are being forced to refinance loans. For the first time in…
Read MoreHow To Survive And Prosper During The Coming Recession
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose.” – Lyndon B. Johnson (address to the nation, November 28, 1963) In addition to following the news reports and pondering the moral and practical issues of fighting a war against terrorism, I’ve been keeping an eye on the businesses I…
Read MoreThings May Get Worse Before They Get Better
“I walk firmer and more secure uphill than down.” – Montaigne, Michel The stock market took a dive yesterday. Internet resolutions to hold and buy stocks failed to thwart the flood of panicked sellers. Airline stocks crashed. Thousands of workers were laid off. At least one airline has shut down and, according to friends in…
Read MoreBack In The Air Again, Six Days Later
“He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity.” – Ben Jonson (1640) I’m on a plane flying from Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore. In about an hour, we will be flying over Washington D.C. To the left of me is a dark-skinned man, about 25, in a pilot’s uniform, reading today’s edition of…
Read MoreWhat You Can Do To Help
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall — Think of it, ALWAYS.” – Mahatma Gandhi Today is — or promises to be — a…
Read MoreHow to Live and Work During a Time of Crisis
Yesterday, SH sent me the following note through the ETR Speak Out message board: “No offense, but I would prefer that you continue to give us your daily message rather than just a quote. “Your statement about gathering thoughts and spending time with family and friends sounds nice but the reality of the situation is…
Read MoreIs Your Business Floundering? What Are You Doing About It?
“Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Crack-Up, 1945) If your business isn’t going the way you want, make sure the problem isn’t you. You may have been a wunderkind in the old days, but it’s the success you achieve today that…
Read MoreHow To Overcome Price Resistance: The Gentle Art Of Persuasion
As you know, I’ve gotten involved with a local Jiu Jitsu Academy. It’s run by several young people, none of whom has much business experience. Teaching martial arts is probably among the 10 worst businesses you can be in. Every year, thousands of new academies open up all over America. Within six months, over 90…
Read MoreWhen It Comes To Growing Your Business, Stick To Knitting
“To do two things at once is to do neither.” – Publilius Syrus (Moral Sayings, 1st century B.C.) In a recent article in Newsletter on Newsletters, marketing pro Betsy Morris identifies “nine ways to market your product line on a shoestring.” Some of her ideas include using feedback forms (comment cards that collect data that…
Read MoreHow To Be A Powerful Person Almost Instantly
Tony Robbins teaches us a lesson in finding our inner power and coming face-to-face with the fears that keep us chained to helplessness.
Read MoreTeach Your Employees To Teach One Another
“To teach is to learn twice over.” – Joseph Joubert (Pensees, 1842) If you spend a lot of time training and retraining your employees, you may be making a big mistake. You can change things for the better by passing on the responsibility for teaching new employees to your students. Here’s how: Let’s say you…
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