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Recent posts related to

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A Small Thing That Can Make a Productive Difference

By Mark Morgan Ford | 01/6/2010

About two years ago, BK, a retired publisher who does more work in one day than most working publishers do in a week, shared one of his secrets with me. Wherever he goes, he carries in his pocket a very small pad of paper and a pencil. He uses these…

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How to Increase Response by 15 Percent

By Bob Bly | 01/6/2010

Years ago, I had a client who sold utility software for IBM mainframes. He would send out a letter with a technical description of the software and its function. He would offer to send the software on magnetic tape for a “free 30-day trial.” That was (and still is) an…

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Is It Better to Be Pushy… or a Pushover?

By Mark Morgan Ford | 01/6/2010

Are you a pushy person? Not sure? Take this test: Do you find that your subordinates often work more slowly than you would like them to?

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Don’t Waste Your Time on the Wrong Problems

By Mark Morgan Ford | 01/5/2010

A former employee of mine once allowed a serious business problem to go unreported because he thought he could fix it himself. He couldn’t — and it cost the company $400,000.

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How I ETR’ed It

By Mary Ellen Tribby | 01/5/2010

“At this point, we can’t rule out malignancy,” the doctor said. I just looked at my husband. I knew he was asking the doctor questions, but I didn’t hear any words. I saw his lips moving and felt his strong hand on top of mine. But all I could think…

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How the Power of Positive Thinking Affects Your Health

By Mark Morgan Ford | 01/4/2010

K almost never gets sick. And when she does, you can hardly tell. That’s because she doesn’t complain. She insists she’ll be in fine shape “after a good night’s sleep.” I, in contrast, assume that every sniffle is an indication of a terrible disease with a dark outcome.

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$5,000 for an Afternoon Drive

By Paul Lawrence | 01/4/2010

“Sarah,” an interior designer for yachts, had just come back from a very successful business trip. Her boss, who never complimented her, was oozing with praise. She was so excited (and confident big money was coming her way) that she signed a lease on an expensive apartment.

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How to De-Fang Emotionally Charged Criticism

By Mark Morgan Ford | 01/4/2010

When one of my clients fired “Bob,” he sent me a vitriolic e-mail criticizing nearly everything about the company he had worked for.

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The Language Perfectionist: The Cohort Retort

By Don Hauptman | 01/1/2010

From a U.S. Department of Justice news release: “The following morning, when the first employee of the day entered the bank, Smith and his cohort, armed with handguns, confronted the employee and demanded money contained in the bank’s vault.”

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Holiday Fun Fact: Baby New Year

By Mark Morgan Ford | 01/1/2010

The New Year is often personified as a baby wearing a diaper and a top hat — but there’s nothing new about it. Using a baby as a symbol of rebirth has its roots in ancient Greece and Egypt.

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What Was Life Like Before? What’s It Like Now?

By Jason Holland | 11/12/2009

Testimonials add credibility and proof to your promotional copy — which is why no marketing campaign should ever go out without a slew of ’em. But often your customers, although ebullient about your product or service, aren’t able to express their enthusiasm very well in writing. So what do you…

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Going Live With Your Business

By Jason Holland | 11/12/2009

Clayton Makepeace has a strategy that his largest client has used to bring in $2.5 million in sales in 24 hours. And it generated $16 million in sales in a single month. Though it’s not a traditional sales process or marketing campaign, direct-response marketing is at its heart. And it…

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