I have to go to the dermatologist regularly these days, because when I was younger I thought it’d be a great idea to lay out in the sun and burn myself to a crisp. Yes, it was stupid to expose myself to lethal doses of radiation, but on the other hand, I had a really […]
Archive | Encouragement
But Seriously Folks… Can Your Character Identity Be Stolen?
I was sitting in a hotel room a couple of months ago when I received the following instant message from a lady I didn’t know: “Mr. Marshall, I believe you have been hacked. Some creep has been messaging me on Facebook, wanting money. I did an image search and found you, and you don’t seem […]
Some Kidding Aside – Are You Customer Service Driven?
Are you customer service driven? I rent cars a lot. I rent them when I’m traveling across the country, but I also rent them when I’m doing events that are 3 or 4 hours away, so that I avoid putting extra miles on my own car. Consequently, I’ve come to know all of my local […]
Some Kidding Aside – Weed Your Business Garden
They say that nature abhors a vacuum, but the truth is it hates all appliances. If you don’t believe me, leave a toaster in your yard for a couple of years and see what happens. Nature will not be kind to it. I live in the South, so seeing yard appliances isn’t that uncommon. There […]
Some Kidding Aside – Is Belief All It Takes?
For dozens of years modern culture has told us that we can be anything that we want if we just believe hard enough. If you hold on to your Dumbo’s feather, you can fly! If you believe in fairies and clap your hands, Tinker Bell will spring back to life! But (brace yourself) the real […]
Talkin’ ‘Bout a Resolution
See if this sounds familiar. The first of the year rolls around and you say, “Maybe I’ll try one of those New Year’s resolution things this year!” So you tell yourself that you’re going to lose weight, start exercising, read more, or whatever it is that you would like to do. So you go to […]
Some Kidding Aside – The Most Important Gift You Can Give
Not long ago, a young man named Tucker came over to my house to give me an estimate on a home repair. I didn‘t have to talk to him for very long before I realized he had a severe stutter. Every third or fourth word he spoke was accompanied with an awkward pause while he […]
Some Kidding Aside – You Are More Than You Realize – Tuning Your Vision
Can I get personal with you for a minute? From the moment I first saw the Monkees on TV as a kid (if you don’t know who that is, ask your mom), I knew that I wanted to be a singer. As soon as I could, I learned to play guitar and began writing songs. […]
Some Kidding Aside – Everybody Dance Now
Not long ago, my wife got all excited about the new season of Dancing with the Stars, so she signed us up for a dance class. The class turned out to be, um, less than ideal. It turned out that our teacher had no actual teaching ability and her dancing partner seemed to thrive on […]
Some Kidding Aside – It’s Time To Shake Up Your Customer Service!
If you made a list of your top priorities at work, how far would customer service be from the top? If I called the people who work with you, would they tell me that you are pretty good at customer service, or would they tell me you are great at it? Great customer service isn’t […]