Business Tips Archives - Chris Carosa

The Power of a Promise: Why Keeping Your Word Matters

By Chris Carosa on December 30, 2024

What ever happened to Sundays? I used to lie on my stomach on the couch and read the voluminous New York Times spread on the rug below me. Then I’d roll over to my back and watch the Buffalo Bills on TV. After the Bills game, I’d keep football on and yank the extra-large NY Times crossword puzzle out of the magazine section. With the sounds of the gridiron grunting comfortably in the background, I’d meticulously complete the puzzle. In pen.

Ah, for those lazy Sundays…

Those lazy, inefficient Sundays.

Those lazy, inefficient Sundays whose only legacy is a bare, faded memory that’s almost gone.

I’m much more productive now. Life has a way of forcing that on you. It’s even better when you enjoy it.

And I enjoy it. The fruits of that production aren’t mere memories, but tangible relics that I can share with others. It’s the sharing I enjoy the most. I realize now I can’t share when I Continue Reading “The Power of a Promise: Why Keeping Your Word Matters”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Buffalo Bills, commitment, critical path, crossword, efficiency, failure, football, goal, goal-setting, milestone, New Year's resolution, New York Times, NY Times, production, promise, self-confidence, SMART

These 3 Factors Drive Your Need For More Money (And May Be The Key To Solving Budget Woes)

By Chris Carosa on November 19, 2024

The first thing you’re probably thinking is, “Man, that title’s too long.” You might be right about that. But I checked it with my headline writing tool. The tool rated it “effective,” scoring an 85 out of 100. The tool may be right. After all, you made it this far into the column. Which in all likelihood has led you to…

The second thing you’re probably thinking is, “Oh, no. An article about boring financial stuff.” You might be right about that, too. But it’s not about interest rates and inflation. If that’s all you think it’s about, you might also be missing out on the opportunity to overcome some of the greatest challenges you (and everyone else) are facing right now.

Let’s see if you can guess what I’m talking about before I reveal it after a few more paragraphs.

I was pondering how to solve the impossible the other day. I won’t tell you what it is yet because I don’t want to tilt your reading of this in any way. Instead, I’ll give you the high-Continue Reading “These 3 Factors Drive Your Need For More Money (And May Be The Key To Solving Budget Woes)”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged budget, deficit, energy, human resources, real estate, Shelley Long, The Money Pit, Tom Hanks

‘Today I Lit A Candle With A Spoon’

By Chris Carosa on November 12, 2024

This is a true story. It has nothing to do with Uri Geller and his “ability” to bend spoons. (For more on that, see “The Stargate Folly—It’s Never About The Science, It’s Always About The Funding,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, April 28, 2022).

Well, maybe it is. In a metaphorical way.

The family went to a cousin’s wedding reception this weekend. The location was phenomenal. They held the party in a custom-built barn specifically designed as a wedding venue. It looked original. Its solid timber frame (including the use of wooden pegs to connect joints) gave the appearance of a 19^th century construction. I used to work in a renovated building erected in that era. It looked similar. It wasn’t. But it could have fooled me.

What do you call something like this? Yes, the word “retro” fits. But I’m thinking of something more meaningful. It’s not quite “thinking outside of the box.” It’s more “thinkingContinue Reading “‘Today I Lit A Candle With A Spoon’”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli, Alfred Fellheimer, All By Myself, Anton Diabelli, Beethoven, Buffalo Central Terminal, classic rock, Coke, Diet Pepsi, Eliel Saarinen, Eric Carmen, Helsinki Central Station, New Coke, Pepsi, Pepsi Mango, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Wild Cherry, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Rachmininoff, Steward Wagner, Uri Geller

We All Thrive When We Balance Between Healthy Competition and Community Harmony

By Chris Carosa on October 8, 2024

We are built to compete. It makes us better. It makes our businesses better. It makes our nation better.

Think of the progress we’ve made as a country over almost two-and-a-half centuries. A theme of constant competition weaves throughout that history. The pioneers fought against nature. Early entrepreneurs vied for the same markets. Writers, artists, and other imagineers have confronted their own personal demons to produce outstanding work.

As author Nancy Pearcey said, “Competition is always a good thing. It forces us to do our best.”

Competition works because it drives us. So why do we see some bemoan it? Comedian Continue Reading “We All Thrive When We Balance Between Healthy Competition and Community Harmony”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged automakers, collaboration, competition, cooperation, Crew Carey, Gianni Versace, Nancy Pearcey, partners, Stephen Covey, win win

Should You Slap A Simple Single Or Swing For The Fences?

By Chris Carosa on October 1, 2024

Photo by Ulrik on Freeimages.com

This could easily become a column on successful investing, but it’s not. It does, however, reflect a Noble Prize-winning concept that has propelled successful investors for more than half a century. It’s simple. I’ll explain it quickly.

Every investment option possesses two critical factors: risk and return. Scholars credit economist Harry Markowitz as the first to identify the correlation of risk and return. In his 1952 paper “Portfolio Selection,” Markowitz, the father of “Modern Portfolio Theory,” says low-risk investments can yield low returns and high-risk investments must yield high returns. The “can” and “must” refer to the price you should reasonably pay for the investment.

But this column isn’t about successful investing, it’s about life. Specifically, your life. More precisely, the choices you face in your life. Understanding the dichotomy between “low-Continue Reading “Should You Slap A Simple Single Or Swing For The Fences?”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Confirmation bias, Dave Kingman, entrepreneur, fear of failure, FOMO, Harry Markowitz, instant gratification, Modern Portfolio Theory, Portfolio Selection, recency, return, risk, Risk-Return Tradeoff, Rod Carew

Nobody’s Talking About Bud Light’s Real Mistake

By Chris Carosa on May 16, 2023

Budweiser accidentally stepped into a pile of putrid politics. This isn’t about politics, though. This is what nobody’s talking about. This is about Bud Light’s real mistake.

For those of you not familiar with the basic story, in a botched marketing campaign meant to demonstrate its “inclusiveness,” Bud Light managed to both exclude and alienate its core market. Since then, sales have dropped more than 20%. The latest figures show they continue to drop and that the ensuing boycott has now extended to other Anheuser-Busch products.

This is not a good look if you’re the head of marketing. And that’s where the real mistake comes from. It’s a mistake made by all too many companies, big and small.Continue Reading “Nobody’s Talking About Bud Light’s Real Mistake”

Posted in Business Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 3M, Alissa Heinerschheid, Anheuser-Busch, Babylonian tower, Bud Light, Budweiser Light, Coors Brewing Company, Coors Lite, Decline, growth, Harley-Davidson, Harley-Davidson Cake Decorating Kit, Harvard Business Review, Icarus, Jell-O, Market Development, Maturity, Miller Brewing Company, Miller Lite, New Coke, product extension, product life cycle, Scotch tape, Spuds MacKenzie, Theodore Levitt, Wharton Business School

Tucker Carlson Signals Old-Style Broadcast TV Business Model Faces No Tomorrow

By Chris Carosa on May 2, 2023

Here’s what nobody’s talking about in the entire Tucker Carlson SNAFU. It’s not about Tucker Carlson. It’s not about Fox. It’s about the changing of the guard.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the dominance of network TV has dwindled over the last two generations. With the advent of easy-to-access cable TV over the last forty years, viewers have weened themselves from the network nipple.

This change in behavior hasn’t necessarily occurred deliberately. The very act of presenting so many options paralyzes viewers into non-decision. This is a common reaction to what behavioral psychologists call “choice overload.” But don’t give them credit. Alvin Toffler first introduced the concept in his 1970 book Future Shock. He called it “overchoice.”

Of course, if you want to be a stickler, choice overload is merely a derivative of Continue Reading “Tucker Carlson Signals Old-Style Broadcast TV Business Model Faces No Tomorrow”

Posted in Business Tips, Media, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged ABC, Aesop's Fables, Alvin Toffler, Amazon Prime, analysis paralysis, book publishing, broadcast, cable TV, CBS, Certified Book Marketing Professional, Certified Book Publishing Professional, choice overload, Fox, Fox News, Future Shock, Hollywood, Hulu, Joe Rogan, Mr. Beast, NBC, Netflix, network TV, overchoice, podcast, The Fox and the Cat, Tucker Carlson, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Twitter

How Banned Cartoonist Scott Adams Became The American Illuminati

By Chris Carosa on March 14, 2023

Johann Adam Weishaupt, Founder of the Illuminati Source: Art of Charm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Everyone loves a good mystery. Everyone loves a good conspiracy. And, if you happen upon a good mystery interwoven with a good conspiracy, then you’ve got a best seller on your hands.

Just ask Dan Brown. He’s made a career writing trendy books that allude to the mysteries of the Illuminati. These include The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, both of which, along with Brown’s Inferno, have been made into movies starring Tom Hanks.

Brown writes of a popularized vision of the Illuminati. He is not alone in painting a picture of the clandestine group as a nefarious conclave set on world domination. Through the ages, many have used the Illuminati as their favorite punching bag. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Illuminati was “credited with activities ranging from the instigation of the French Revolution to the assassination of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy.”

Josef Wages, author of The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati and a board member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, explains the reason for this. He says, “There was a nice convenient vacuum and, until my book was Continue Reading “How Banned Cartoonist Scott Adams Became The American Illuminati”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Adam Weishaupt, Angels and Demons, Assassination, Ban, Beyonce, Dan Brown, Dilbert, Dilbert Reborn, French Revolution, Illuminati, Inferno, Ingolstadt, Jay Z, John F. Kennedy, Josef Wages, Locals.com, penetration, Perfectibilists, Real Coffee With Scott Adams, Rosser Reeves, Scott Adams, Scottish Rite Research Society, secret society, The Da Vinci Code, usage pull

The Art and Science of Influence and Leadership (Part II: The Art)

By Chris Carosa on February 7, 2023

Original Sun-Maid package, Designer unknown, incorporates painting by Fanny Scafford, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

At some point, any effective exercise merges theory (the “science”) into practice (the “art”). Ironically, the following analysis of the art of influence and leadership predates the previously discussed science by roughly half a century or more.

That doesn’t mean this art didn’t follow science as you will immediately see.

The convergence of the art and science of influence and leadership can best be found in the field of advertising. Before Mad Men, before Madison Avenue, this field first blossoms in the not-so-quiet offices of the Chicago firm of Lord & Thomas.

You remember Lord & Thomas, don’t you? They were the “McMann and Tate” of the first quarter of the twentieth century. While it’s president Albert D. Lasker (a.k.a., “The Man Who Sold America” who The New York Times once called “The Continue Reading “The Art and Science of Influence and Leadership (Part II: The Art)”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Advertising, Albert D. Lasker, American Cancer Society, Anacin, Aristotle, Black Sox, Cicero, Claude C. Hopkins, Influence, John E. Kennedy, leadership, Logos, Lord & Thomas, M&Ms, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, market research, McMann and Tate, Palmolive, Pathos, Pepsodent, Planned Parenthood, Quaker Oats, reason why, rhetoric, Rosser Reeves, Salesmanship-on-paper, Schlitz, Soap Opera, Sun-Maid, Sunkist, Victor O. Schwab, Warren G. Harding

The Art and Science of Influence and Leadership (Part I: The Science)

By Chris Carosa on January 31, 2023

Office of War Information, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Influence, the last of the three leader traits to be researched, stands out as the most practical measure of successful leadership. Be warned, though. Just as obedience to authority contains a dark side, so, too, do the methods of influence.

Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert and renowned persuasion expert, calls behavioral psychologist Robert Cialdini the “Godzilla” of persuasion. Cialdini’s research, compiled in various books, lays out in simple language six different ways to influence people.

In his website, Cialdini states, “It is through the influence process that we lead, generate, and manage change. Like most things, the process can be handled poorly or well. It can be employed to foster growth and to move people away from negative choices and in more positive directions, thereby creating the conditions for Continue Reading “The Art and Science of Influence and Leadership (Part I: The Science)”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged and Sullivan, authority, behavior, Bonasera, Catherine Genovese, Commitment and Consistency, Cook, Dennis Reagan, Dilbert, Higham & Carment, Influence, Judgment Heuristics, Law of the Lemmings, Liking, P.R. Wilson, Pallak, Patrick Laughlin, Persuasion, psychology, Reciprocation, Robert Cialdini, Scarcity, Scott Adams, self-justification, social proof, Stanley Milgram, The Godfather, Vito Corleone