The invaluable business lesson I learned from one of Asia’s wealthiest entrepreneurs — As a consultant, I’m inside my clients’ corporate offices several times a month. And after doing this routine for over 35 years, I can tell what a company’s management philosophy will be about just by the looks of their lobby and conference rooms. I’ve worked for some clients that haven’t…

The zero-budget marketing approach — My business partner and I both grew up in small towns. But when we started our consulting practice in 1992, we had big city dreams. We aspired to work with the best companies. However, the old guard that ran our city and industry let us know we’d have to wait…

DTC companies are turning to physical retail in an attempt to prove they are more than just hype — “They make your forehead look big,” my straight-shooting wife belted out with a chuckle. “Okay…” I said, slightly offended. “How about these glasses?” hoping for a more confidence-building response. “Now you look like that televangelist preacher from the 90s, Jim Baker,” she replied. “I think we’re done here,” I said…

How to build a bootstrap marketing approach with limited resources — Starting a business is akin to trying to build a utopian colony in the middle of the jungle. With no roads, electricity, plumbing, or running water, you spend the first year just getting the fundamentals of your base camp set up while trying to survive the harsh realities of the…

How “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” gets me there every time — We can think of life in two modes: 1. Our drive to go “out there,” and 2. Our longing to get back home. When I was in high school, living under my parent’s house rules, I couldn’t wait to get “out there” on the college campus four states away, with…

Nothing’s hotter right now than silky black record players and Swedish furniture — No matter how successful your brand has been, it can sometimes be hard to stay fresh and relevant in the public’s minds. Like any relationship, customers can get bored with doing the “same old same old” every day and start looking around to see what other, newer, more fashionable brands…

The Great Reorientation of Life, Work, and Meaning — We hear a lot about The Great Resignation, but I’ve been thinking more about something I call The Great Reorientation, where previously career-obsessed professionals find themselves restless, anxious, and rethinking the focus of their lives. Most business professionals I meet have always had the drive to succeed, but where things…

The best decisions in life come with a high element of risk — Most of us have dreams we don’t tell others about, much less dare to pursue. As a 28-year-old closeted intellectual, my secret dream was to go to Harvard someday, which was laughable considering I was an unpolished redneck from the swamps of Loxahatchee, Florida. However, just for kicks, I still…

It all comes down to which voices they listen to — Despite my desire to talk turkey as a kid, the only conversations that ever happened at my house over Thanksgiving dinner revolved around ink, photography, color registration, paper prices, and subscription numbers. That’s because my father, grandfather, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all in the newspaper business, and not…