Words matter. In fact, they matter more today than ever before. In a world of AI-generated content, social media captions, soundbites and taglines – your words matter. They matter because people want to know what you have to say, you and your business.  They matter because your customers and clients want to know what you believe, what you stand for, what you support. They matter because when everyone else is speaking, your silence alone may speak volumes.  When ‘far away’ hits close to home This month marks one of the worst crises that the Middle...

This website is so great, it will last forever! Except it won’t. A fresh new website update is like a fresh coat of paint for your business. Even if it’s a very crisp, clean aesthetic, that shine of a refresh really stands out. That shine will last for a few months, maybe even a year or two if you’re lucky. Yet over time, that shine starts to wear off. Walls get scuffed, dented, and dinged up. The property also changes – new fixtures, new furniture, and new artwork can all mean that things don’t look quite the same as they did. Eventually it’s...

Four score and seven careers ago, I worked with a man who we’ll call Dave. In the halcyon days of the ecommerce, Dave was readying himself for entrepreneurship with his new home based business. Dave had all of the knowledge and training he needed, and an amazing product on his hands, but he refused to launch his business until he had built the perfect website. After two years of struggle, Dave walked away from it all. Neither the website, or his business, ever launched. I’ve never forgotten Dave’s story, and still see examples of this same pattern with countless...

Remember Sharon Stone? The actress had a massive career in the 1990s starting with Basic Instinct, and then following that up with movies such as Sliver, Casino, and other blockbusters. She frequently graced movie posters and magazine covers throughout North America and beyond. And then, in an instant, she vanished. Except she didn’t vanish. In 2001, Sharon Stone had a massive stroke and a brain hemorrhage. While media accounts downplayed the severity of the incident at the time, Stone now says that she was given a 1% chance of survival, and that it took her 7 years to recover. Even though...