What Business Are You In?

September 12, 2012

If you ask most creative business owners what business they are in, effectively they will tell you they are in the product delivery business.  Could be a floral arrangement, interior design, photograph, logo, dress or dance floor.  And once upon a time, you were.  Technology just was not there for it to be much more […]

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Transition

September 5, 2012

Back to school, back to work, beginning of Fall, end of the year, beginning of your busy season, end of your busy season.  September marks for most of us the start of transition from one place to another.  So what better time to talk about the natural order of things: for there to be (new) […]

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The Real You

August 6, 2012

Nobody cares about where you came from, your education, your source, even your art, unless you lie.  Whoppers (Milli Vanilli, Brian Corman), scratch your head as to why (Jonah Lehrer), irrelevancies (Scott Thompson), criminal (Martha Stewart).  The price of faking it is huge.  Despite all of our own individual failings and skeletons, public fraud is […]

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Jiro Dreams of Sushi

July 30, 2012

I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi this weekend.  Fascinating and should be mandatory viewing for creative business owners and their employees.  For those that do not know about David Gelb’s documentary, it is the story of Jiro Ono who owns the only 3 star Michelin rated sushi restaurant in the world.  The restaurant itself is […]

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What Are You Worth?

July 24, 2012

Here is a fascinating article in the New York Times about Ken Perenyi who once made a fortune selling forgeries of 18th and 19th century artists such as Martin Johnson Heade, Gilbert Stuart and Charles Bird King and is now selling the same forgeries as “authentic reproductions” for a fraction of the cost.  And that […]

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The Perfect Egg

July 16, 2012

Great chefs all cook wonderfully complex dishes using amazing ingredients, but they are rock stars because they can cook the perfect egg.  Watch Alice Waters cooking an egg on 60 Minutes to get an idea of what I mean. So what does cooking the perfect egg have to do with creative business?  More than you […]

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The First Meeting

June 18, 2012

In the moments before your potential client contacts you for the first time, their perception of you is all they have.  This is marketing.  Everything from your website and all things social media to your reputation among past clients and vendors alike makes up what your potential client knows about you, your art and your […]

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Innovation

June 11, 2012

I have just returned from Engage!12: Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas.  The brainchild of Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce, Engage! is a remarkable conference for remarkable wedding professionals to talk about doing remarkable things.  After attending each of the previous eight Engage!s, it is, well, remarkable to me how it just keeps getting better.  I […]

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A Global Perspective

May 30, 2012

Last week I had the opportunity to present at Expectations 2012 in Acapulco – a wedding conference for professionals in Mexico and Latin America at large.  Certainly, I was inspired by the ever-brilliant design and business mind of Todd Fiscus and the hyper-creative Ed Libby.  But I was equally moved by the size and breadth […]

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Your Gift

May 16, 2012

People ask me all the time about what I was most proud of while I was with Preston.  Most expect me to talk about the money earned, deals made, international exposure, even the business model we crafted.  Do not get me wrong.  All of those things are wonderful and were really fun to work on […]

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