A while back, I was asked to share my lessons learned from running my business. I decided to challenge myself and create my 40 lessons learned, which I did and published at the time. A few weeks later I decided to further challenge myself and create my 40 additional lessons learned. I enjoyed that challenge and was please to then publish the 80 lessons learned. The same repeated a few weeks later and when I was ready to publish the...

Every Tuesday, our youngest grandson, Bentley, who’s 2, comes over and stays the night. He’s a pleasant kid, loves being outdoors, rarely complains, eats well, plays hard and we have the best time being together with him. Most days… Yesterday though, Bentley was off his game and came in with an attitude. He was mad, stubborn and crying, if he didn’t get his way, from the moment he stepped inside from the garage. No amount of cajoling, interacting with him,...

Back on January 9, 2013, almost 10 years ago, I started publishing my first Raising the Barr® newsletter. I committed to publish succinct articles on a weekly basis that would help my clients improve their web presence (strategy, content, and marketing) and their lives. I am proud to announce that today’s newsletter is number 500! So, what are my insights from 500 newsletters being published? Here are my top 25 lessons learned: Sit down, open a blank word document, and...

Last week in my What’s in a Name? newsletter post, I discussed the importance of choosing your company name wisely. Yet, a question that comes up often is whether as an entrepreneur you should name your company after your own name or choose a unique company name. I acknowledge that the strongest brand is actually our own name. Look at just about all the leading thought leaders, (Tony Robbins, Brené Brown, Marshall Goldsmith, Oprah, Dr. Phil, Mel Robbins, Malcolm Gladwell...

On this date, August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail on his first transatlantic voyage, departing from Palos, Spain, with three small ships-the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Although Columbus remains a famous historical figure around the world, his real name is somewhat of a mystery. In Italian he is known as Cristoforo Colombo and in Spanish as Cristobal Colon. But he has also been referred to, by himself and others, as Christoual, Christovam, Christofferus de Colombo, and even Xpoual...

Over the years, we have helped quite a few of our clients create their online courses. Yet, many others overcomplicate the process of creating such a course. My hope is that this article helps simplify this process.    When contemplating the creation of your new course, think about it similarly to writing a book with the following steps: Craft your powerful and attention-grabbing title and subtitle. For example: “Million Dollar Web Presence – How to leverage the web to build...

Go Small I used to think that going big – more clients, more projects, more employees, more partners, more of everything was the path to more success. I was wrong! I believe that is the recipe to diluting our brand and our value, becoming mediocre, or ordinary as well as becoming overwhelmed. What if instead we focus on attracting and working with better quality clients, the ones we love working with that also stimulate our mind? Therefore, we get rid...

It’s mid-July. Already. It seems like the winter snow has just melted and yesterday I saw fall décor and school supplies lining store shelves with the 4th of July streamers, flags and picnic supplies already shoved aside in a heap. I didn’t have a chance to make any summer plans yet, as I am still in “waiting for summer to arrive” mindset mode. But here we are. In just the past 6 weeks, Laurel has officiated 7 weddings, 6 funerals,...

Every week I have wonderful conversations and interviews with our clients. I just reflected on some of these conversations and decided to share with you the top four questions I was asked and my answers to these questions. I hope this is of value to you: Q: Why do your clients’ keep facing their difficult challenges? A: Not identifying their strategy and action plan not evolving while keeping them stagnant by is the 1st reason. Not taking massive action towards...

Last week, in my “10 Ways to Improve Your Content Creation Labor Intensity” I suggested that you should repurpose your older content and by doing so you will also bring it back to life. Better yet, enrich it by adding newer relevant points and context. In the spirit of following my own recommendations, I dug through my older content and found a great and relevant article that I published back in January 2013. “Are You Content With Your Content?” was...