- June 11, 2018 -

Two senseless, devastating deaths by suicide in less than two weeks...

Anthony Bourdain. Celebrity chef, author, host of CNN's Parts Unknown, father to a young daughter.

Kate Spade. Fashion designer, known for women's handbags, mother to a young daughter.

They both had "everything" if everything means money, acclaim, prestige.

We thought we knew them.

They chose to give up.

And that is disheartening.

Which brings me to a bit of advice I hear passed on by coaches and marketers that is equally disheartening...

Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade couldn't fake it anymore. They needed help.

And yes, the actions they [...]

- June 7, 2018 -

Put a business decision in front of me...and I can push the red or green button without thinking much about it.

But hit me with a decision that's going to change my life...and my Libran indecisiveness kicks in.

For example, I've been sitting on prime real estate property on a golf course in North Carolina for the past 25 years.

Paid cash for it. Haven't built on it...yet.

My golfing buddies are there in their nice retirement homes asking when I'm coming.

I go back and forth in my head...

Golf year round! Can life get any better?

No winter! Hmm, but I [...]

- June 6, 2018 -

Once again...you guys had my back. In yesterday's email, I misspelled "NBA Finals" and typed "NBS Finals" instead.

Thanks for ALL the replies! Lol

(Feel free to go back and read the email if you haven't already...a real blast from the past.)

If I was a sports writer for the Associated Press, the memo on my desk this morning would have been:

ART, YOU'RE FIRED!

And I would have deserved it.

I'd venture to say that a large percentage of business owners have been on the receiving end of those two sad words at least once.

Why? Because...

...we don't like to be put [...]

- June 5, 2018 -

So how 'bout those NBA Finals?

After butting heads for four consecutive years, the rivalry between the Warriors and the Cavs makes for riveting tv.

But then rivalries are what makes the sport great.

Remember the epic matchups between the Celtics and the Lakers of the '80s the "golden era" of the NBA?

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson's legendary love-hate relationship even inspired the movie "Best of Enemies."

And then you've got the rivalry between the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan and the Bad Boys of the Detroit Pistons putting the screws to the Bulls with the Jordan Rules in the late [...]

- May 31, 2018 -

Gary Vaynerchuk. You're either a fan or you're not.

The guy who as a wine critic grew his family’s wine business from $3 million to $60 million...

I could hang with him.

The guy who built his personal brand by being the loudest, crudest voice in the room...

I've been known to drop some 4-letter words so no judgement on that.

But shock value has a short life span.

The guy who takes digital marketing to a level of hyper frenetic posting, tweeting, vlogging blah blah blah...

I'd freaking pull the rest of my hair out!

Gary Vee is a really smart dude - [...]

- May 30, 2018 -

Forensics science, the process of solving crimes by using science, is kinda creepy but has always fascinated me.

Probably why I enjoyed the TV show "Quincy M.E." so much.

It was a classic! A forensic crime drama that ran for eight seasons in the late '70's and early '80's.

It starred Jack Klugman as L.A. Medical Examiner Dr. Quincy who often took an unusually active role in police investigations as he untangled the twisted web of the criminal mind.

His nose for sniffing out crime and his skill as a coroner combined to help solve the most mysterious of deaths.

Quincy [...]

- May 29, 2018 -

If you're into gangster movies, you might have seen "A Bronx Tale," the 1993 film about an Italian-American kid growing up in the rough-and-tumble Bronx in the 60's.

Any De Niro movie is worth watching in my opinion 🙂

Sonny, the local mafia boss befriends the kid...who's already fascinated by the mobsters lead by Sonny.

And he becomes torn between the temptations of organized crime and the values of his honest, hardworking father.

If you watched the movie, you most probably remember the "door test."

The "door test," explains gangster Sonny to the kid as he gets ready to go on [...]

- May 24, 2018 -

Remember the "Where's the beef?" lady in the mid '80's ad campaigns for the Wendy's fast food restaurant chain?

She's my kind of gal 🙂

Veganism just isn't in my DNA. There aren't many vegetables I don't enjoy (except for eggplant...go figure, an Armenian who doesn't like eggplant lol) but don't take away my meat.

To maintain my lean and mean physique (at least in my mind) I eat steak and/or lamb on the weekends and fish during the week...

...primarily grilled salmon.

Here's why...it's really tough to mess up.

Throw it on the grill...BOOM! Any home cook can look good when [...]

- May 23, 2018 -

It appears yesterday's email on the upcoming GDPR hit a few nerves.

Being someone who makes it a practice of asking "Why" (comes with being a Libran) before blindly jumping on the bandwagon currently rolling through town...

...stepping on a few toes seems to come as a result.

No apologies.

So while not discounting the importance of GDPR, I'm certainly not going to throw up my hands in a panic and cry, "The sky is falling!" if what's working doesn't need fixing.

(If you haven't read that email, go back to your inbox and do that.)

Which brings me to a common [...]

- May 22, 2018 -

In the world of online marketing, there have been few more polarizing subjects recently than GDPR.

And believe me, I have gone back and forth in my mind as to how to approach this without making myself a target for rotten tomatoes. Lol

At the same time, you know me by now...I'm not one to pussyfoot around and sugar coat anything.

I'm not politically correct. But I do want to be a voice of reason.

So hold on to your hats, folks.

If you're not up on what the heck GPDR is, here's the Cliff Notes version:

+ GDPR stands for General [...]