January 2009
9 posts
Moo.com stands out, and helps you do the same
I recently discovered a great website called Moo. Moo prints business cards in all shapes and sizes, sticker books, postcards, and sells other cool items like mosaic frames. What I like most about Moo is that everything is fully customizable; you can even print different designs on cards within the same set! Genius. Here’s what they have to offer (and no, I don’t get kick backs from...
Amica wants to make sure I get my money
This past weekend I got a letter from Amica. It sat on the table I have near the door to my house for a couple of days because I thought it was a bill. When I opened the envelope I found out that, much to my surprise, it wasn’t a bill but a check with a letter enclosed saying I hadn’t cashed a check Amica issued me from about nine months ago. While it wasn’t a huge amount, the...
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An apple a day (or an orange or pear) keeps your...
At GotVMail, we make an effort to provide free, healthy snacks (that taste good) for our employees in addition to providing a wide array of beverages. Having better choices on hand makes it harder to pig out on bad stuff. We’ve had dried fruit in the past, but nothing beats the real thing. There’s no other time of year when this is more evident than around the holidays, when we...
A personal greeting goes a long way
One of our goals at GotVMail was to create a world class work culture. In order to achieve that goal, we need to create an outstanding employment brand. What’s an “employment brand”? Similar to any other brand name, an “employment brand” are the recognizable attributes a company projects to prospective and current employees. It’s essentially what people think...
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Live core values and brand promise with a sticky...
People are always asking me how we keep GotVMail’s core values at the forefront of the company’s collective consciousness. The short answer: any way we can. The emphasis on core purpose, core values and brand promise is very important to me, so we try to get the core values into email signatures or on the footer of our company wiki, or anywhere else that seems useful. We also work...
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Having two computer monitors really does work
Back in September I blogged about using two monitors to increase productivity at work. Seems like others are starting to catch on to this idea because just the other day, the New York Times ran a story about one reporter’s switch to the two-monitor system. Farhad Manjoo wrote,
As every office worker knows, trying to get anything done on a computer that’s connected to the Internet can...
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Getting Things Done in 45 minutes or less
This blog post has been in my “tickler” file (I know, I know, odd name) since I started reading Getting Things Done by David Allen on a trip to Mexico. You’ll understand what a tickler file is after watching the video or reading the book. David Allen effectively created a productivity industry around his GTD method, and many companies launched products based on the method;...
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Drowning in emails? Deal with it, and increase...
Every single day I see entrepreneurs, friends, and employees struggling with email and the related productivity challenges. I have to share with you part of my solution to this growing problem. In 2006, Merlin Man wrote Inbox Zero, a series of blog posts which have become very popular in certain circles, especially the getting things done (GTD) ones. The Inbox Zero concept that Merlin talks about...
The Alchemist
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
International best seller with substance. Very enjoyable story—finished the book during one long plane ride. All about following dreams, love and destiny, the book is really different for everyone; the message of following your true self is meant to give the story universal appeal (and I think it does). I was surprised how a simple story made me think about...