On the Need for Common Definition

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People often argue about if agents are worth what they are paid, who is a good agent, what makes a good agent, and so forth. I’m not (for now) going to dive into any of these questions, but instead step back and try and determine how do we even go about setting up the discussion [...]

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How to Avoid Using Third Party Vendors

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By nature, I tend to be a bit of a do-it-yourselfer. I build my own websites, manage my own hosting, and do my own research. There are times when I just have to use a third party to do work for me like my accountant or my dentist. This was a hard post for me [...]

A Lesson in Decision Making

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How much time should you spend evaluating any given solution?  As is often the case, there is no single answer to this question. The formula I like to apply requires you to at least estimate how long you plan on using the solution. Short term solutions generally don’t take much time to figure out. It [...]

To Be a True Market Leader, Good Product is Half the Battle

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While I was waiting on a train yesterday that never came, I pondered this thought as I grew more and more frustrated with the MTA.  I brooded, “If I did this to my clients they wouldn’t think twice about leaving me”. Of course I don’t have the luxury of being a city funded, mandatory tax [...]

Three great free tools, three cool collaboration tactics

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Anyone who has ever worked with me knows that I am a big fan of virtual offices and telecommuting. I really do believe that many jobs can be done from anywhere. One of the biggest challenges to doing this is being able to effectively work on tasks that have historically always required people to be [...]

Don’t Believe the Hype

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I read a post on Lockergnome the other day where Chris Pirillo answered a question someone posed to him about buying a new laptop now or waiting until Windows 8 is out. Do you remember Windows 7? You know that Microsoft Operating System that just had its second birthday this past Friday? To put things [...]

Is the SEO business dying?

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The bad news Today’s post is about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for small business. Essentially, it’s the practice of improving your results ranking on sites like Google.com. This week, I read a great post from my friend Phil Faranda regarding an SEO company masquerading as a lead in order to get his attention. Phil, like [...]

A Lesson in Time Management

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I figure the first post on the new site should be something personal and genuine yet helpful. After all, we are here to help right? So this post is a combination of “learn from my mistakes” and a fundamental business lesson rolled into one. After a brief hiatus, Phacient.com is back up and running with [...]

Your finances, quick and easy

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No matter what kind of a business person you are, there is one thing that we all have in common; you try and keep a close eye on the money. Without working capital in your personal or business life, everything tends to stop working right. There are two great finance management tools I have encountered [...]