Nov
12

10 Tips for Running a Successful Coffee Shop

Justin on November 12th, 2009

UPDATE: Due to the popularity of this post, which is just my own POV as a cafe customer, I sought out business advice from actual cafe owners and wrote a follow-up, Tips for Running a Profitable Coffee Shop. ALSO: To learn how NOT to run a coffee shop, watch my web series, The Baristas. People [...]

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Armchair Sociology, Freelance Tips 21 Comments »
Nov
11

The Other Guy Didn’t Win; You Just Failed to Convince People

Justin on November 11th, 2009

In politics, business, love and war, we’re tempted to reduce all conflicts to a winner and a loser.  But that implies one side’s argument (or army) defeated the other soundly.  In reality, the margin between victory and defeat is often just a few votes, dollars or bullets. Unless you’re a unanimous victor, all being the [...]

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Armchair Sociology 4 Comments »
Nov
10

A Brief Lesson in Nobility from Mad Men

Justin on November 10th, 2009

I’m not big on reviewing TV shows.  (Not the way these folks are.)  But there was a moment in the season three finale of Mad Men that’s still resonating with me several days later, and I think it’s worth discussing. SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t yet watched this episode and you still intend to, bookmark [...]

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Armchair Sociology 9 Comments »
Nov
9

5 Secret Lessons from TEDxMidAtlantic

Justin on November 9th, 2009

If you’ve ever seen video of a TED talk before, you know the basics: smart people, big stage, big ideas.  That routine remained unbroken at TEDxMidAtlantic, which — except for a few Power Point snafus and a herdlike approach to managing the coffee line — conducted its business of inspiration quite efficiently. Instead of recapping [...]

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Armchair Sociology, My Social Media POV 4 Comments »
Nov
5

How NOT to Be a Thought Leader

Justin on November 5th, 2009

When I pointed out the idiocy of plagiarizing Chris Brogan, I never thought I’d have to turn it into a series.  But then I saw B. L. Ochman’s tweet about her post for Ad Age being blatantly appropriated by Bruce Turkel, and I realized that lifting other people’s blog content and passing it off as [...]

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Blogging, My Social Media POV 10 Comments »