Do You Reward Results Only, or Also Effort?

By Tim Berry

The exchange started with this: Don’t confuse effort with results. When I read that — looks like it started with Jason Fields, the interface expert for Huffington Post — I liked it. It reminded me of my first real boss, who taught that a reason why not isn’t good enough. It wasn’t my absolute favorite... Read More »

5 Good Posts for Friday July 1

By Tim Berry

I need your help: Can you suggest a way to give a theme and a title to a series of Friday posts listing good posts and recommended links I’ve seen from the last week? My title here is too dull. I’m not nearly good enough at titles. I don’t want to do this every Friday,... Read More »

True Story: Twitter, Business, An Introvert Looking Out

By Tim Berry

The other day I read Can Twitter Rescue Introverted Students? in the Education section of www.good.is. It reminded me of what Twitter has done for me in business. This is a true story. I believe in the essential truth the Jungian personality types and I’ve tested myself several times. I always test close to the... Read More »

If You Should Have Done it Then, Do It Now

By Tim Berry

I really like this: The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now. As you can tell from the illustration here, that’s an African proverb, and I got it from Jim Connolly on twitter, and he got it from Paul Sherwen, also on Twitter. (Aside: this is... Read More »

Want to Really Win Big? Blow Up a Market

By Tim Berry

People ask me often what kind of business to start. Usually I say something like “look in the mirror,” continuing with how the best business for you has to reflect who you are and how you’re different. But here’s a new thought for you: choose the market you’re going to disrupt. This isn’t for the... Read More »

OK Maybe I Communicate with Logos … But Are They Friends?

By Tim Berry

Social media seems inherently about people, to me, not companies. It’s like a conversation, sort of, but one that has publishing mixed in, so it’s an amplified, recorded conversation. Do you agree? Isn’t this what’s happening on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn? But there are companies there too. Do we engage in conversation with companies? Perhaps,... Read More »

My Recommendation About Your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn

By Tim Berry

A couple of weeks ago I was in a classroom full of entrepreneurial MBA students, as a guest speaker, answering their questions about me and Palo Alto Software and bplans.com, this blog, and so forth. When they asked me how I managed my online self in social media, my response went something like this: I... Read More »

5 Rules for Kindergarten Friends and Twitter

By Tim Berry

Not long ago I was driving a five-year-old grandson to kindergarten when he asked me how to make friends. That’s ironic because networking is hardly my strong suit, but he doesn’t know that. And I guess that’s what kids expect grandfathers to know, so I really wanted to help him. I tried. It sounded like... Read More »

Help With Naming: Am I Green or Not?

By Tim Berry

I’m not sure of the answer to this one; it’s a good question. A man whose last name is Green saw my post here turning green from overuse and he asks: I’m starting a small woodworking and furniture building shop and am looking for a name. It seems natural to use Green as it is... Read More »

Social Media Business Reality Check

By Tim Berry

I took a one-hour flight over the weekend and ended up talking to a smart business owner — she has a bakery in a small town in Oregon — who doesn’t have any Web presence. What’s really cool is that her business, as she described it, is doing just fine. She makes a good living,... Read More »