Leadership By Demonstration

by Elmer Boutin on January 24, 2012

As I got ready for the class, all my EMS friends clued me in on the instructor, Captain V. “Watch out,” one would warn, “he’s a tough one.” “He’s a great guy, but don’t cross him,” another said. “He knows his stuff and teaches well,” said another. I had a feeling, after hearing all the comments, that he was going to be one of those “tough but fair” leaders I had met in my various careers. I was right.

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The Saturday Summary – 1/21/2012

by Elmer Boutin on January 21, 2012

Some articles which caught my eye during the week of January 16-20, 2012 covering such topics as online security, SEO, SOPA, PIPA, QR Codes, social media, traditional media and blogging …

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Bulk Mail – The Original Spam

by Elmer Boutin General Marketing

What caught my eye was that even though all the offers are identical, almost down to the exact wording, they all took different forms and had different appearances when still in their envelopes …

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Job Seekers – Your Reputation Precedes You

by Elmer Boutin Marketing

Your Online Reputation, That Is – I had a conversation on Twitter the other day with someone opening a fast food franchise outlet in the area. He’s had a rough time finding qualified people who are willing to work in his establishment. You’d think with lingering unemployment lurking about he’d have no problem finding people willing to join his team. Even with many applicants, he’s finding it a challenge to find people with good attitudes about working. He pre-screened applicants, checking their online spaces and disqualified a few applicants because of things found in their Facebook profiles. Your Online Reputation Matters!

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The Saturday Summary – 1/13/2012

by Elmer Boutin Catchall

Articles which caught my attention during the week of January 9-13, 2012 cover such topics as web marketing, online reputation management, marketing, search, leadership and more …

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What Is Best Buy’s Real Problem?

by Elmer Boutin General Marketing

Are the prices too high or is the customer service just too bad? Best Buy (and many other brick and mortars) blame online stores like Amazon for their problems. They complain about how online stores compete unfairly because they don’t have to collect sales tax. But is that the real reason? I don’t think so, and neither do many of those I’ve spoken with on the topic this past week. Those conversations were prompted by an article on Forbes.com by Larry Downes, “Why Best Buy is Going out of Business…Gradually.” He puts some numbers with his poor experiences at Best Buy and comes to the conclusion that it’s customer service which really makes the difference – not price. At the risk of “piling on,” I present two experiences I had with Best Buy this past year which I think prove Mr. Downes’ point quite well …

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The Saturday Summary – 1/7/2012

by Elmer Boutin Catchall

The first week of 2012 is complete. I hope you hit the ground running. Here are some articles I caught during the week of January 2-6 which got my brain going, covering such topics as SEO, customer service, social media, location-based marketing and leadership …

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Book Review: Generally Speaking by Claudia J. Kennedy

by Elmer Boutin Book Reviews

I learned of this book, Generally Speaking published in 2001, from a veterans group on Facebook. The banter going back and forth centered more on General Kennedy’s comments about her commander and others in a unit in Augsburg, Germany during the 80s. I was there at the same time and knew of (then) Lieutenant Colonel Kennedy, so I decided to get the Kindle edition and read it for myself. What I found was the story of a woman who started a military career in the Women’s Army Corps during the Vietnam Conflict and went on to retire 32 years later as a Lieutenant General – the first woman to achieve that rank in the Army …

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Top Ten Stories of 2011

by Elmer Boutin Catchall

The start of the new year inevitably brings reflections on the previous one. While I don’t believe in living in the past, we certainly need to learn from it. As part of the process of making this web site better, it pays to take a look at what you read the most in the past year. Here’s the list of the top ten stories of 2011 …

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The Saturday Summary – New Year’s Eve Edition

by Elmer Boutin Catchall

Here are some articles I recommend from the week of December 26-31, 2011 covering such topics as SEO, social media, reputation management, QR codes, and some inspiration for the New Year …

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