Why It’s the Highest-ROI “Unsexy” Project You’ll Ever Run TL;DR The Not-So-Scary A-Word The word “audit” sounds like a visit to the dentist, necessary but deeply avoidable. For founders, it conjures images of clipboards, compliance, and a week lost in a spreadsheet dungeon. Here’s the reality: a founder-friendly audit is simply a disciplined look underContinue reading “The Founder’s Survival Audit”
Tag Archives: business
How to Hire Smarter and Faster: A 3-Day Interview Workflow That Works
Hiring top talent doesn’t have to be slow. Yet many companies still rely on outdated, drawn-out processes that stretch across weeks (or even months). Meanwhile, the best candidates are off the market in just 10 days on average (Genius). If your team can’t move fast enough, someone else will. One of the most common bottlenecks?Continue reading “How to Hire Smarter and Faster: A 3-Day Interview Workflow That Works”
Bailing Out the Passenger Side
Change is constant. And being flexible helps you stay in the game. But there’s a difference between staying flexible and letting outside noise take over your decision-making. Yes, outside input can be helpful. However, if it starts steering the ship, you risk losing what makes your business yours. Here’s what to watch out for. Don’tContinue reading “Bailing Out the Passenger Side”
How to Navigate Conflicting Feedback and Tight Deadlines
If you’re anything like me, you’ve likely experienced that delightful mix of a looming deadline and a flood of conflicting feedback. It’s the kind of situation that can make even the calmest among us feel like we’re juggling flaming swords. But over the years, as I’ve worked in various leadership roles—spanning HR, operations, and contentContinue reading “How to Navigate Conflicting Feedback and Tight Deadlines”
Content is Still King
Long before the advent of the internet and the niche digital marketing that followed, content ruled from on top the mountain. A well-placed turn of phrase or the right kind of narrative that sparked a story in a consumer’s mind dominated the advertorial world. As the world advanced, so too did the marketing industry, alongContinue reading “Content is Still King”
The Psychological Advantage
According to Forbes, 39.2% of psychology majors coming right out of college had an offer for a job somewhere. Of course, the knowledge and skill base of your average graduate is pretty variable, but it does speak to the utility of a background in psychology. Most companies, at some point or another, fall into aContinue reading “The Psychological Advantage”
Changing of the Guard: What Behavioral Marketing Has to Become
What it was Behavioral marketing is still the go-to for major companies, as well as smaller professionals. The purpose being very simple: use information to tailor a personal experience instead of bludgeoning people with the same message time and again. The digital age helped usher in this type of advertising, as analytics and cookies overtookContinue reading “Changing of the Guard: What Behavioral Marketing Has to Become”
Cut the Spam and Offer Value
We have all experienced the deluge of spam emails from companies we have subscribed to with the good-faith idea that we would be getting value, not fluff. On the other hand, many business professionals have been in the unenviable position of knowing that an email marketing campaign converts (and they really do), but not reallyContinue reading “Cut the Spam and Offer Value”
The customer is not always right
One great colloquialism has ruled business as long as there has been commerce: the customer is always right. While being exhaustively customer-facing can be lucrative, there is a real possibility for burnout and creating distance from your core values. The long-term success of a business depends on emotional and financial currency, though not always inContinue reading “The customer is not always right”
Show me your network, I’ll show you your future
When we are younger, we are the sum total of the people we interact with; we are labelled according to the group we inhabit. As we get older, this doesn’t really change. For entrepreneurs and business-savvy people, your network accurately represents your ceiling, your floor, and your future. I realize that can be a paralyzingContinue reading “Show me your network, I’ll show you your future”
Dan O'Brien | Author & Consultant 