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You’ve probably heard that the most powerful word a marketer can use is “free.” After all, who of us can resist getting something for nothing? Sometimes free really does mean free, like that cheese sample at the grocery store, or the old shelf someone is giving away on Craigslist. You get the item for nothing […]

The saying, “He can’t see the forest for the trees,” in one form or another dates back to the mid-1500s.1 It’s one of those great proverbs that at first might not seem to make sense. After all, you can’t look at a forest without seeing trees. It’s made out of them. But the point of

Presidents Day, observed the third Monday in February, has to be the trivia lover’s favorite federal holiday. For starters, the name of the holiday has no apostrophe. It’s for “Presidents” plural. While Mother’s Day is to honor your specific mother, and Father’s Day your own father, Presidents Day does not honor our current president, nor

Though Valentine’s Day has come to symbolize a celebration of romantic love, it can also be measured in economic terms. The National Retail Federation estimated that more than half of U.S. adults celebrated Valentine’s Day last year, spending a total of $23.9 billion.1 That breaks down to an average of $175.41 per shopper. While this

When there’s a major earthquake in a coastal region, geologists can predict several things. First, there will very likely be aftershocks in the same location. And second, there’s a good chance of a resulting tsunami. In both cases they can’t predict how severe these after effects will be nor how widespread their consequences. But they

Amanda Mull’s father was a smoker for 20 years. When he became convinced that cigarettes were harmful, he simply quit smoking them. Later, when he decided he should take up running, he got up at 4:30 AM to get in five miles before work. And has continued this practice every day for more than 30

You’ve probably seen the window sticker on the back of someone’s SUV. It features the silhouette of two palm trees and beside it the words NO BAD DAYS. With no prior knowledge, you might guess that the saying means: There’s a tropical paradise somewhere where only good things happen. The sticker and the saying originated

Warren Buffett is credited with saying, “It’s good to learn from your mistakes. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.” When we’re young, it seems like we have an easier time with the first part of the quote. We begin cataloging situations where we say, “I’m never doing THAT again.” But we still think

When the Studebaker car company ceased production in 1966, it wasn’t just their business that failed. Auditors found that the company’s pension fund also had serious problems, leaving thousands of workers with reduced benefits or none at all.1 The Studebaker employees’ retirement was completely reliant on the success of a single company. Sadly, all their