to my small business comrades, it’s time to get real. in fact, to all business owners — listen up! there’s a mantra that i’m asking you to internalize. “saving” today can cost you tomorrow. going d.i.y. almost always costs more than paying specialized experts. there are things you do well and others that you do not. know your limits. understand the risks of under-investing. procrastinating and/or slapping a patch to a problem invites damages to mount or compound. relying on your own perspective, ideas and knowledge of the market can cause you to appear amateur and/or miss opportunities — often by a substantial margin. business leaders often struggle to fully understand consumers. it’s a common trap that prevents what’s possible from being realized. don’t fall into it!

designed and launched a new website for leading arborist, dads tree service. ron kronz and his family have been in business for a quarter of a century in springfield virginia. they offer a wide variety of tree services that include tree fertilization, trimming and removal. kronz is also a notable saxophonist who has toured the world with local legend bobby parker. i came to work for dads upon realizing that the company had a long and successful history but zero profile on google. i performed a basic re-design, search engine optimization and offered consultation on how to market the website for greater results. they’re currently netting between 10 and 14 leads a week through their website for leading local searches like “tree service alexandria va” and a host of others.

i was happy to see the united states win gold in mens singles figure skating. what most impressed me was that “grade of execution” was the difference between gold and silver. far too often, over-the-top and “wow” factors overshadow more subtle aspects in grading talent and performance. not this time — here’s how it went down. the american began the final round in second place, with a routine that lacked a quad (the most difficult move to stick). his artistic and technical execution was sharp and ended triumphantly on point. the russian skater began in first position and nailed the quad and followed it with a triple (in combination). no one else had the guts to attempt a quad at the beginning of his program. however, the rest of his program included several wobbly and off-axis maneuvers (although all were landed). his choreography was lacking a bit. in the end, a single point decided the gold, with the american prevailing. congrats to evan lysacek!

caught a great commercial today from ameriprise financial. it’s rare that a commercial connects with me in any meaningful way. this one was different. there is a simple, lucid and calming tone — and an acknowledgment that fear prevents dreams from happening.