Category: Business

Business, Life

Gainful

Written by Heather Landis April 25, 2015March 20, 2019 6 Comments

I’ve been self-employed since May 2011, working mostly from our house. The first two years involved air travel and visits to new and exciting places like Wisconsin (sadly, Delaware hasn’t happened yet). The last two involved a flagging proposal environment and learning how to coupon effectively. Both phases of the business have been valuable experience that I wouldn’t trade for a fat 401(k), but now that I have said experience, trade it is exactly what I’m about to do.

After four years of doing my own thing, I’m putting Verb Forge on the back burner to accept a full-time position.

SimpliSafe: Taking Care of Business

Written by Brian Landis February 22, 2015June 30, 2020 3 Comments

For this edition of Taking Care of Business, we’ll look at another example of a company that went out of its way to show that the customer is valued with pain-free policy and a great support team. Read on to see how SimpliSafe gets it right.

Business, Life

Remoteness

Written by Heather Landis February 20, 2015March 20, 2019 14 Comments

Working from home has become a polarizing issue as more companies adopt the practice (or rescind it… I’m looking at you, Yahoo). After seeing an endless stream of articles intended to help more sociable employees take the plunge successfully, I decided to post my own take on the subject: from the perspective of an introvert.

Tech Tuesday #002: Protect Your Work (Word)

Written by Brian Landis February 17, 2015March 20, 2019 1 Comment

Everyone who works in an office where others have access to your files knows the pit in your stomach you feel when you open your prized proposal, presentation, or spreadsheet, only to realize Ted saved his grocery list over it five minutes before the big meeting.

For this installment of Tech Tuesday, we’ll be looking at some simple methods to protect your Microsoft Word files. Many workplaces use Microsoft Office, so that’s what we’ll focus on, but the suggestions still apply to other programs. Only the implementation will be different.

Business, Technology

CableOne: (Not) Taking Care of Business

Written by Brian Landis February 14, 2015June 30, 2020 Leave a Comment

Sometimes a company goes out of their way to make sure you know how little they value your business. My latest dealings with CableOne are a perfect example of how not to do business if you care about your customers.

Business, Technology

Fitbit: Taking Care of Business

Written by Brian Landis February 4, 2015June 30, 2020 3 Comments

Sometimes a company surprises you by showing you that they value your business. This is how Fitbit transformed me from a customer into a cheerleader.

This is part one of a multi-part post about customer service and how to treat your customers like a valued person rather than a line in a database.

Business, Life

Taxes, Whaaat?

Written by Heather Landis April 4, 2013March 20, 2019 Leave a Comment

As I wrote the checks to pay my share of taxes for last year, I was expecting to feel anger, resentment, and just a general sense of wharrgarbl. You can imagine my reaction when none of these emotions turned up. The one that did surprised me: pride. “What?” you say. I know! But when I […]