Are you fed up with the Washington fiscal chaos yet?  Are you concerned about our sluggish economy? Have you noticed the small businesses on Main Street USA are disappearing?  Guess what…you have power.  Power of individual choice and the power to be part of a movement to save Main Street America.  Newsflash- Washington is not going to save our home towns, our local economy, our mom & pops stores and our local heritage.  You must be involved in this campaign to #ShopLocal and #ShopSmall.  There’s a constructive step you can take right now, think of something you need and go buy it at a local store. By “local,” I mean any business that you can easily get to by walking,… Read the rest

First things first, you’re probably asking why you should read this and how am I qualified to write on this sporty subject?  Great question! Well, I have 20 years of experience working in a corporate environment that demanded “corporate dress”.  Corporate dress code involves a suit, tie and dress shoes; furthermore, business casual was expected after-hours…and to stand apart, I had to be bold with fashion and create unorthodox combinations.  I’ve worked and lived in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Scottsdale, Mexico City, London and now Raleigh. I’ve been here going on 5 years and have watched the fashion trends in our fair city.  So, that’s that…now let’s talk sport coats. Raleigh is a relatively “laid back” town.  Men are very… Read the rest

I refuse to relent. I have old fashioned values, whereas I believe that relationships, my word and a handshake still mean something. Sticking to traditional values of honesty, integrity and hard work are imperative parameters on how I run my company. I will embrace, encourage and foster relationships in my everyday business practices. I will not relent; I will not give in to the progressing faceless, electronic and legalistic society that we’re becoming. Therefore, relationship marketing is a key and primary focus of my business and marketing plan. I’ll argue that this concept can revolutionize your company, revitalize your bottom line and dramatically increase your customer retention rate. Now for a marketing/history lesson… Relationship Marketing is a marketing strategy whose… Read the rest

Life is full of patterns, but often times, we do not realize as much as we should that mathematics too is full of patterns.  I’ve been fascinated with numbers all of my life, I believe it began in grade school while watching Major League Baseball and predicting outcomes based on players batting and earned run averages.  I’ve made a career out of numbers and I now use number theory with my use of social networks and networking.  Basic mathematics and further advances in communication technology, particularly the Internet have drawn great attention to social networks and human interconnectedness. Wikipedia Definition- Six degrees of separation is the idea that everyone is approximately six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction,… Read the rest

The ‘fiscal cliff’ may sound like a tourist destination near Asheville, but in reality it’s a road trip to the fiscal unknown.  In this era of economic uncertainty; an end to the temporary payroll tax cuts, changing in the alternative minimum tax (AMT), tax increases resulting from the affordable health care act and other tax consequences affecting small businesses….blah, blah and BLAH!   Don’t get me wrong, these are serious situations with potential dire consequences, but I cannot control the insanity in Washington.  I can control my own circumstances here and now.  Yes, I can. I’ll hedge my bet! I looked at opportunities to make my small business as strong as possible to get through the uncertainty mentioned above and the… Read the rest