Yesterday I scared little children around the world with photos of me at 225 pounds. I did warn you beforehand, so please don't send me your psycho-analysis and therapy bills. For the past three months I have been on The Joel Comm Diet, which is not a diet at all. Instead it combines common sense with a plan that works for me. I am pleased to say that three months later I have lost 35... Continue Reading

WARNING: What you are about to see may traumatize you. Parents of small children are cautioned from letting their kids see the photos on this page. I will not be held responsible if they have nightmares! As you may know, I have struggled with my weight the bulk of my adult life. (See how I used the word "bulk" in a sentence? I'm a punny guy...) There are two reasons this has been a problem... Continue Reading

Recently I went to one of my favorite restaurants for a quick lunch. I called in an order of Chicken Tortilla soup to-go and went to pick it up. While I was there I observed that the restaurant was not busy. It SHOULD have been busy, being lunchtime. But it wasn't. It was then I asked to see if the owner was there. I wanted to speak with him for his benefit. He came out... Continue Reading

When was the last time you called your congressman to weigh in on an issue? When was the last time you participated in one of those surveys conducted by the national chain restaurants? You know the ones where they ask you to call in and reward you with a free appetizer or dessert. And when was the last time you left a comment on a blog? The truth is most of us never take the... Continue Reading

I'm not a very good cook, so I tend to eat out a lot. I don't do a lot of fancy dining, but it's not unusual to find me and my family at a national chain or local diner. My experiences as a patron of restaurants has helped clarify what I believe makes a good waiter and what makes a bad waiter. Waiting tables is a difficult job. Hectic kitchens... unruly customers... angry cooks... wrong... Continue Reading

Mobile marketing is a new trend that is often misunderstood by business owners. Do you own a business and wonder how you could use mobile marketing to your advantage? Check out the following ideas. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Kevin E. Houchin Esq.) Last week we talked about the importance of understanding the various aspects of business formation and patents. This week we cover copyrights and trademarks. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) Advertisers and business owners are starting to understand the value in direct response mobile marketing because the response rates are too high to ignore. TextCastLive is a new service that has taken the rules taught to us by direct marketing mediums like e-mail autoresponder systems and direct mail and applied them to SMS text message marketing to provide a robust, platform-independent, scalable, enterprise-class mobile marketing solution. At the highest... Continue Reading

Social media is a revolution in marketing. It allows businesses to identify their most important leads, understand what interests them the most, and talk to them en masse while still making each person feel like an individual. If that sounds like the kind of thing that a good speaker does, there's a good reason for that. Social media and conferences have a great deal in common. Social media marketing doesn't deliver the kind of depth... Continue Reading

Let me get right to the point. The reason our economy is in the tank today is that too many people are focused on creating money instead of creating real products and services. To correct this problem, we need to get back to the basics of creating products and services that people need or want, and let the money come as a result. That's the business of creativity, and it's going to be the... Continue Reading

When I went to my first Internet marketing conference I had a huge surprise. It wasn't the amount of information that I picked up sitting in the audience. And it wasn't the fascinating conversations I had sitting in the restaurants and the hotel bar in the evening. It was the fact that people knew me. Continue Reading

You already know that most small businesses fail. It's a warning that's been given out to every entrepreneur with an idea, drive and the imagination to succeed for as long as people have been saying, "I should be working for me." Well, here's something you probably don't want to hear. Most blogs die too. People start them with the best of intentions. They tell themselves that they'll write every day, they'll pick up masses of... Continue Reading

I love living in Colorado. Ever since I moved my family here in February of 2007, I really can't imagine living anywhere else. I love the mountains. I love the change of seasons. I love zero humidity. And I've met some really great people here. But there's one thing that is still lacking... Continue Reading

If there's one thing I keep saying time and time again, it's that anyone who wants to make lots of money online needs to go to conferences. And every time I say it, I see some people looking back at me with blank faces. I understand. Conferences cost money. If you're just starting out, it can feel like they cost a lot of money. And if you've never been to a business conference before, it... Continue Reading