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Word Nerd Wednesday – HIATUS
Hiatus comes from the Latin verb “hiare,” meaning “to stand open.” It originally referred to physical openings like the mouth of a cave or a gap in rocks. People started using it to describe a break in time or events around the early 17th century. In that spirit, #WordNerdWednesday will be taking a hiatus for … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – DOG DAYS
Here in New England we’ve officially reached the “dog days” of summer. Hot. Humid. Ick. I always thought we called them the “dog days” because, in this weather, all anyone wants to do is lay around and drink water a la the spoiled family dog. It turns out that’s not true. The term “dog days” … Read more
Users, Influencers, and Buyers… OH MY!
For the past 8 years, all of my work has been with B2B firms. My mission is to help them grow by understanding and meeting their customers’ needs better than anyone else – but that’s trickier in B2B than in B2C. B2B firms serve multiple roles within a single “customer” account. Understanding the needs, perceptions, … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – FIREWORKS
Why do we light fireworks on the 4th of July? They’ve been used to celebrate major events in England since the days of Henry VIII. Colonists carried the tradition with them across the pond, and when America declared independence in 1776, Patriot and future President John Adams suggested including them in what he assumed would … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – Azalea
I recently learned that the name of the Azalea flower comes from a Greek word for “dry, withered, or parched.” Some say it’s because the plant does well in dry sandy soil. As someone with a horribly black thumb, I have no idea if that’s true or not! (Gardeners feel free to weigh in) But … Read more
Word New Wednesday – GAME-CHANGER
Earlier this week I saw a cartoon that felt perfect for today’s AI-obsessed world. The caption read: “Before using game-changing technology, you have to know which game you’re playing!” Technology that helps in one game (industry) might be counterproductive in another. For example, financial services is a notoriously conservative industry. For some firms, waiting to … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: POWER CORE
n 2006, Jeanne Bliss introduced the concept of “Power Core” – the part of an organization that sets the tone and drives the agenda. She found six archetypes: Product Power Core, IT Power Core, Marketing Power Core, Sales Power Core, Vertical (Industry) Core, Customer Power Core. Does one of those resonate? To identify your organization’s power … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – CASH COW
When I joined AT&T in the late 1990s, its legacy business – long distance phone service – was in decline. Email was replacing calls in the business world and fledgling wireless carriers were enticing residential subscribers to try cell phones with free long distance as a matter of course. This posed an interesting challenge … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – RED HERRING
“Red herring” is a euphemism for something that gets put in one’s path to intentionally distract or mislead. The first known use was in an 1833 essay by English journalist William Cobbett. The author told the (probably fictional) story of using the scent of smoked fish** to distract hunting dogs from the trail of a … Read more
