Congratulations to the 2016 #Online18! Each year I do this list, I find it more and more difficult to identify the top influencers. Each year, Klout and other online scoring tools factor less and less in the final ranking. Still useful, these online tools can’t measure the impact a person has and often mistakes activity…
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I joined thousands of suppliers and distributors last week at Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) Expo East. This was my first chance to experience Expo East combined with the Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS). Quite a few Geiger colleagues, as well as a few other PPAI board members, joined me. I saw several vendors that I…
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When I was 12 or 13, I was on the basketball team. My school was small, so everyone made the team. Somehow I was still third string. When…
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For many of us, we use Microsoft Outlook more than any other software. yet we rarely take the time to brush up on our Outlook skills. Bad habits are ingrained, and our knowledge of Outlook largely is based on when we first started using Outlook. Most of us never took a class and probably haven’t…
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As I returned my Alamo rental car in Newark, N.J., recently, an employee asked if I had any issues with the car and how my trip was. I said, “Fine,” and was prepared to get my receipt and walk to the terminal. Instead, I was legitimately surprised by a simple question: “Could we have done…
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People are much smarter than puppies, but raising a puppy can teach you a lot about how to manage people. I know this because with Tiffany, my family’s first puppy 25-plus years ago, I did everything wrong. Tiffany was never potty trained, constantly barked at nothing and, essentially,…
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Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) is about being there whenever and wherever your client might be receptive to your message. It used to be far less complicated to be in sales, especially in the promotional products industry. If you had the relationship, you were the clients’ resource. Your marketing primarily consisted of sending a catalog…
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I got the Microsoft Surface Book (not the Surface tablet) two weeks ago, and it’s going back to Microsoft this week. It’s an expensive laptop that has great potential, but it’s not worth the extra money. Here are my thoughts. The potential is there: Beautiful and stylish Powerful Excellent tablet functionality with a great Bluetooth…
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I just attended a conference (outside the promotional products industry) where I had the chance to speak to business leaders from information technology, sales and marketing. In several roundtables, and of course over cocktails, people would ask what my company does. With some I said, “We sell promotional products, items with logos, such as the…
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My team laughs often during a typical day, and I love being around my team. I love working from home as well, but I miss the “fun” at the office. I wasn’t in the office the day before Halloween when my colleagues all dressed like Dan, a colleague who has a bit of a Steve…
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