“Mama Dot, when’s supper gonna be ready?”

“Right now’n a minute” was her reply, without fail. And we knew – you might as well go sit down. It’s been done for a while. If we stall, she’ll just command, “You kids get in here and sit down. Dinner’ll be ready, right now’n a minute.” So you might as well go sit down.

This phrase of hers was almost always tied to a meal, though it was handily applied to most every situation in life. And while it might have sounded as if it were left…

With the unseasonably warm temperatures this winter and spring, your perennials may already be starting to bloom. You’ve probably made a few trips to the garden store and have seen the abundant variety of annuals available.

Annuals are plants that complete their life cycle in one season and there are pros and cons to using annuals in the landscape.

The biggest advantage is that annuals provide lots of color all season long. They can be used in the ground in flower beds, as well…

We're angry in this country. Angry, exasperated, outraged, filled with righteous self-indignation. We're a nation of upset people, and there's no apparent reason for it.

Whose fault is it? Who's making us so mad?

The Other Guy.

If you're into politics, it's the other side's fault. If you're in business, it's the competition's fault, or the customer's fault. If you have a neighbor, it's his fault.

Someone cut in line? They're an…

Once a year we conduct a survey of small business owners to understand how they are using social media. The results are compiled in a white paper which we distribute at not charge.  

With more than 400 business owners responding already, the preliminary results have really been interesting.  While social media still drives only a small percentage of business to most…

Pinterest has been named the best new start-up in 2011 and is driving more referral traffic than LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+.  It reportedly has 11.7 million unique users, making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark!

So, what is this Pinterest? Well, it’s a social media platform focusing on the lifestyles of its members and encouraging  them to create different virtual pinboards that…

The volunteers at Assistance League® of Indianapolis experience the joy of new shoes many times over by the faces and shouts of joy from the children they serve.

Operation Shoes a division of Operation School Bell® is in the…

We all have those times in our lives; yep, yeah, we do. Now I do not refer here to those funny, embarrassing times, like…

My first car wreck is kind of funny looking back on it.  (What were YOU thinkin' I was talking about?) It wasn't my car, it was my mom's. And NO ONE was driving! lol My mom had a little diner back home in Texas where I helped. One night, we were loading up some boxes, and I pulled the car to the front doors to make it easier to load. When we came out for the next trip, mom asked, "John, where is the car?" Thinking she was joking (we were always playing practical jokes on one another, I…

Just quickly skimmed an article that stated Google’s Android crushes iPhone  - making Google $5 billion. Now I’m an iPhone kinda gal, but then again have never used Android, and I know Apple is still making a butt-load of money. It just reminded me, though, how in business we can’t just sit back and relax too much. There are always going to be something new and improved – that will be better than what we are doing now. With 2012 right around the corner, it’s a good time to make a resolution…

For 2012 I would like to see Indiana business and governmental leaders set a medium term goal to be THE marketing hub in the Midwest. WHY NOT? Close proximity to Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati ... and real estate is less expensive than in the current major hubs.



Also, I would like to see local "Smaller Indiana" members meet regularly for brainstorming sessions to creatively design a model for UNIQUE intra-Indiana and interstate (as well as foreign) public relations to…