Archive for the ‘Business management’ Category

When it's not possible (or right) to be nice

Sometimes I hate my job. Usually it’s when I have to tell someone their story is not good enough or their effort is sub-par or I think they’re being sloppy or lazy — or both. What gives me the right? I’m far from perfect, so how can I expect so much others? Because it’s my [...]

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How to sell a book: Step 1? Be famous.

In late January I signed up to take a Writer’s Digest webinar called “3 Secrets to Selling Your Nonfiction Book.” A few days after I paid for the session, I was invited to observe an open heart surgery scheduled the same day at St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center. It wasn’t a tough choice. The [...]

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New tools, old tactics

We’ve been putting on an annual Camp Fair for seven years—this year’s event, on Feb. 26 (my birthday), will be our eighth. It’s an incredible amount of work to organize these events. It takes a lot of planning, organization, attention to detail and a heartfelt commitment to making it a good experience for everyone who [...]

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Stepping up to the "post a day" challenge

It’s Day 5 of the WordPress Post a Day Challenge. The enormity of what I’ve undertaken is starting to sink in. On Jan. 1, when I first signed up for this, I was home. The holidays were effectively over. My sons, who live and work in Washington, D.C., had been and gone. My brother from [...]

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Delayed gratification

We aren’t very good at waiting. We want what we want now. Not later. We seek our news online because we can’t stand waiting even a day to know what’s going on. We “Google it” because our curiosity demands immediate satiation. Even outside the realm of technology, we are impatient. We can’t stand it when [...]

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Day 7 after the flood: Traveling light

One of the things I love about taking a trip is the way it forces you to simplify your life. Especially with all the extra charges now for baggage, you plan very carefully before you leave. If you forget something, you adapt. You buy a replacement or you make do without. You let go. You’re [...]

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Give me back my vote!

I had a moment of entrepreneurial exasperation yesterday that has me seriously regretting my “yes” vote on Proposition 100. The measure, which passed easily on Tuesday, was lauded as a winner for education. Sixty-four percent of state voters said “yes” to a three-year, one-cent-per-dollar increase in the state sales tax. Two-thirds of the $1 billion expected extra revenue [...]

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Can you spell "winners"…?

The top spellers from each grade were seated at the front of the room, a giant map of the world behind them. They glanced around nervously as parents and guests arrived. In less than an hour, one of them would be the school’s spelling bee champion. I was there to emcee the event, which took [...]

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Bah, humbug!

I got a formal letter recently from a retail company that advertised with us off and on during pre-recession days. When I first opened it, I feared it was a bankruptcy notice (we’ve seen a lot of those lately). It looked very legal and imposing. But it wasn’t. It was a holiday message of the [...]

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Frazzle dazzle

My son wrote to ask if he could get my pancake recipe. I cherish requests like that, which give me hope that I am still a somewhat necessary dimension to a life that is in every other way productive and fulfilling without me. So I dropped everything and sent off an email with my recipe [...]