“…an important factor that helps explain why giant new ventures like Metricom and Webvan failed is that Internet time is a myth. New technologies are generally being developed faster than before, but they generally do not spread through society any faster. That is a key reason that most dot-com business plans were doomed to failure….Being small allows for adjusting to the speed with which new products and services can diffuse, as opposed to having to depend on every conceivable consumer jumping on your bandwagon the moment you open for business.”

“This year, the Ziff Davis Smart Business Labs teamed up with eyeTracking.com to find out which sites make it easiest and fastest to find what you’re looking for, get questions answered, and complete and track your order. We chose two leading companies in the hottest e-commerce categories and pitted them against one another in our exhaustive tests.”

“We read everywhere, including on ClickZ, that advertisers need to remember we are visual beings. True, we are bombarded with more visual marketing stimuli than ever before. But to say that because we’re being buried in visual stuff we’re visual beings is like saying because we periodically fill ourselves up with air we’re balloons. We aren’t nearly as visual as a lot of people like, perhaps need, to assume. The premise that ‘going visual’ is the cure-all for advertising ills is a path to advertising doom.”

“The objectives of user-centered design are nearly the same as those within an advertising agency’s account planning department, or with most respectable marketing research groups — you’re trying to understand your customers’ behaviors and motivations, and you want to let that knowledge influence the direction of your product and its promise.”

“We are opposed to management by intimidation. We abhor ruthlessness. We like people with gentle manners. We see no conflict between adherence to high professional standards in our work and human kindness in our dealings with each other.”

“One of my professors at Harvard Business School told me that you can do one of three things in business: Make it, sell it, or count it. The problem is ’selling’ comprises two divergent but inextricably entwined functions — sales and marketing — each of which believes that it is the dominant half of the pair.”

“Catchy phrases become cliches because they’re true. Take a look at these 6 sales maxims and see if you agree.”

“One of my professors at Harvard Business School told me that you can do one of three things in business: Make it, sell it, or count it. The problem is ’selling’ comprises two divergent but inextricably entwined functions — sales and marketing — each of which believes that it is the dominant half of the pair.”

“For a while there it seemed as though one could actually make fame and fortune with a great idea, hard work, and persistence. Now, looking at the winners and losers of the internet years, I am not so sure. One can make a strong argument that the internet boom favored gadflies and incompetents; the fearful, uncommitted, and greedy; and those simply with a good sense of timing.”

“The top stress expert at Canyon Ranch offers five take-home exercises designed to reduce your anxiety and increase your work-life integration.”

“Many businesses view ‘brand’ as something important, but somewhat elusive when it comes to trying to measure its performance. The fact is that what is not measured is not managed — and as a result, organizations too often let the elusive value of brand slip right through their fingers.”

“…What’s the moral of the story? Beware of Methodologies. They are a great way to bring everyone up to a dismal, but passable, level of performance, but at the same time, they are aggravating to more talented people who chafe at the restrictions that are placed on them.”

“Our challenge is to collaboratively disseminate excellent leadership skills in order to proactively integrate cutting edge materials while maintaining the highest standards.”

“Your USP is a strong, concise, simple statement about your business or brand that tells your prospects why you are the only alternative for them. Two, three sentences at most. Not an advertising slogan (although that’s one use for your USP), but an answer to The Implicit Question.”

“…What’s the moral of the story? Beware of Methodologies. They are a great way to bring everyone up to a dismal, but passable, level of performance, but at the same time, they are aggravating to more talented people who chafe at the restrictions that are placed on them.”