“Hey Matt, how did you do this past year on your Fidelity 401k retirement plan? Did you make money or loose money?”

Isn’t it ironic that we kill ourselves all year with hundreds and hundreds of items on our TO-DO LISTS, yet I bet that very few (if any) of us had listed on our reminder lists to “monitor and review my 401k fund allocation.”

Mistake #1: Forgetting to put on your to-do list as a line item the review bi-monthly of your 401K.

We all work so darn hard to earn money, keep a good job, and contribute bi-monthly to an account to try to build a nest egg. Many employers (but not all) contribute and match a portion of your investments. It doesn’t matter what the percentage a company matches, any percentage is FREE MONEY, and only the fools don’t take advantage of this match.

Mistake #2: Not contributing as much as you possibly can with every paycheck. It’s tax-free and with the match … it’s FREE MONEY.

I’ll never forget, years ago a financial broker told my husband and I that “the average couple spends 3x more time planning a family vacation than in managing their own investments.” I can say, first hand, this is true. Why do we spend so little time in monitoring our finances and comparing funds? At Catalogs.com, we use Fidelity as our 401k plan of choice. What this means is that we have about 10 – 15 different mutual funds to pick from. That’s the problem with 401k’s … you pick some funds at the beginning of the year and forget them.

Mistake #3: Not comparing the fund percentage rates at least 4x/year, and re-allocating the funds based on the then current top performers.

According to AARP, paying atention to your 401(k) can really pay off.

One out of three employees who are eligible to join a plan don't bother to, and those who do join tend not to save enough, according to a Money Magazine report from last fall. And the vast majority of retirement plan participants who do buy into a 401(k) plan simply sign up and forget about it, reported the Pension Research Council early this year.

Posted by Melody at 07:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Is living a cluttered mess better than having organization? According to several guests on NBC’s Today Show this morning, they were trying to hype the “benefits” of living in total clutter. Bedrooms shown with clothes scattered everywhere, closets a disaster, dresser drawers spilling out with clothes. Then onto the office, where 12-18 inch piles of papers, folders and books scattered all over the top of the desks. How horrific!

I thought the show was ridiculous, and Matt Lauer appeared to agree with me! He said, “It gives me a stomach ache just looking at this footage.” Being organized is ESSENTIAL to success. Why, because …

1. Time is precious, and if you are able to quickly and efficiently locate documents to work on or to seek answers, you are over the course of a 40-hour workweek probably savings over 2-3 hours of wasted time looking for specific documents.

2. It is proven that if you clear off your workspace and concentrate on only 1 set of documents at a time, you will be able to complete that task quicker.

3. Multi-tasking is critical … assume you are in a sales position (it doesn’t matter if you’re selling multi-million dollar yachts or inexpensive copy machines), you will have a list of “potential buyers”, a list of “contracts pending” and a list of “deals closed but still needing some attention.” Assume you have 20 or 500 folders… you will be better able to multi-task and go from call to call to call, answering & pitching clients and closing more sales if you are able to have the necessary documents at your fingertips.

4. Delegating is essential … if you are organized, you will be better able to quickly glance over work and hand-off, or delegate to secretaries or assistance small tasks that will help with your workload. If you look at a desk with hundreds and hundreds of papers, all in unorganized piles, you will not be able to quickly surmise what can be delegated, and soon you will be feeling overwhelmed.

5. Eliminate Stress – create lists. Stress may be caused from feeling “I have too much to do.” To-DO lists are fabulous, and recently most of our senior management at Catalogs.com has started using an incredible web based site that is an on-line TO-DO control center, allowing individuals to create lists, make lists for other people (co-workers, friends and family) and share lists. We use it DAILY and it’s called http://www.tadalist.com.

I really like the way Linda M. DePaz (a specialist in helping people organize themselves) puts it …

Clutter = Stress
Routines = Peace
Organization = Serenity
De Clutter = Tranquility
Being organized requires buying a few simple items to keep help you stay organized, and Stacks and Stacks on-line shop (get $10 OFF orders of $75 by entering code 22YEARS) and Get Organized (both catalogs and on-line) you will find all the products your home and office needs.

Posted by Melody at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It’s hard not to gloat. According to NPR’s Morning Edition, nearly 40% of French women now wear a size 14 or above. After years and years of hearing how French women can eat rich cheeses, long loaves of crusty bread and decadent desserts and still remain pencil thin, the news comes as a comfort to the millions of American women who try to pretend they’re satisfied after a couple of ounces of tasteless frozen diet meals.

Mireille Guiliano’s 2004 best selling diet book French Women Don’t Get Fat made the rounds of the talk shows with her claims that American women could enjoy the same svelte figures as French women if they just followed their European cousins’ culinary example. Cook with butter and cream, eat bread, drink wine, and enjoy dessert, and still wear a size 6. The freedom from lists of forbidden foods or surrendered pleasures made her book, and the accompanying interactive website, an instant success with American women weary of seeing food – and their waistlines – as the enemy.

But the latest statistics suggest that indeed French women (and men) do get fat and are doing so in increasing large numbers. But before Americans offer up a hearty butter and cream drenched serving of crow to the French, they need to take note of the reason for the change in French waistlines. The French are now eating like Americans.

Where once the French ate 3 or 4 leisurely meals a day, with little or no snacking between, American tastes for fast food and calorie-laden snacks have replaced the traditional mealtimes. More time is being spent in cars and in front of the television instead of walking to school and appointments. And wine and cigarettes, long the bane of French health, have been replaced with chips and mass produced cookies.

Along with technology, music and celebrities, America is now exporting obesity. Apparently not satisfied that our own population is overweight in record numbers, we are sharing our bad eating and lifestyle habits with the rest of the world. And the rest of the world is eating it up. Instead of learning from our bad example, populations from Japan to France are adopting our fattening diet and couch-potato ways, resulting in 2-3 fold increases in adult obesity over the past 20 years. The heck with spreading democracy – we’re sharing the American way of life, one coronary at a time.

Perhaps the crow should be on our plates. And pass the fries.

Posted by Melody at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You reach for a padded envelope, slowly you open it to find a beige plastic human ear inside. Curiously, you grab the ear and there is a folded up note attached to the underside. It's a phone message that says,"Jim, we haven't heard from you in a while. Call me 212-xxx-xxxx. Leslie. "

Are promotional give aways important? Do they really add revenue to your bottom line? Is it simply a waste of money? Does it add brand or name recognition?

Over the past ten (10) years of owning a company, I’ve often contemplated the value of these types of promotional gimmicks. Will they REALLY help me close a deal? Will they convince my client to double their order? Or will I simply go broke but have plenty to play with while I stand in a free food distribution line at the end of the day?

My take … promotional gadgets, give-aways, or gimmicks are FUN. That’s it. They can draw attention to a media kits, they can draw attention to your booth at a trade show, they can occasional stay on a desk for years and years and remind you of that company.

Will gimmicks, give aways and gadgets ever close the sale? NO

Will they add revenue to your bottom line by doubling orders? NO

Can they encourage brand loyalty or name recognition? MAYBE

Do people give you a second chance? SOMETIMES

So the best way to order these products is by shopping around to several distributors. Point in fact: today I’m ordering the most expensive pen our company has ever ordered. It’s SUPER COOL … it’s see through acrylic, lights up, and has our logo on the end. I called 3 different places and got quotes on the IDENTICAL PEN. Guess what, on a per piece basis; the DIFFERENCE equaled $0.93 cents per pen. If we order 1,000 pens, that’s a savings of $930.00.

Bingo … 3 calls just saved my $930 dollars!

The moral of my promo blog … shop, shop and shop for the best rate and negotiate. Although we don’t live in a country that expects consumers to negotiate (like Mexico or the Caribbean islands), yet several businesses here in the USA will negotiate. All these small savings begin to add up.

Oriental Trading Company has some fun give aways as well as this master list of promo companies and also Superior Promos.

Posted by Melody at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

“Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” This phrase is so popular; it draws a smirky smile on those who imitate the annoying t.v. commercial for its non-stop repetitiveness.

My own Mom fell today. As I’ve written in the past, my Mom is an amputee and maneuvers around on crutches beautifully. She no longer enjoys wearing her prosthetic (she’s had about 10 over the years). But she fell and apparently she fell very hard!!!!

Well, one would think that my Mom, a retired advertising executive would not shy away from a simple phone call to her very own loving and caring daughter, saying “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

So what does my Mom do instead… she remains lying on the floor as her obnoxiously overweight cat meows non-stop, and then after about 15 minutes of lying there in pain, she musters up enough strength to get into the den, then finally the kitchen to seek ice. And all the while, she had her portable phone in her back pocket.

Does she call me … NO. Why … because she doesn’t want to bother me. She knows I was at the beach with my family and didn’t want to “ruin our fun or make me leave early.”

Thank God that I called her later that afternoon just to say hi. She casually told me she fell, that she was in pain, and that she wasn’t sure if anything was broken.

Immediately I jumped in the car, left my husband to deal with the kids, and took her to the emergency room. After 5 sets of x-rays, we learned that her stump was fractured!

Tell me how FURIOUS I am that she didn’t call me right away. She sat in her house for 5 hours just so she wouldn’t “bother me”.

My advice to ALL parents … let your own children decide if they are feeling too overwhelmed to be bothered. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as upset or angered by this feeble attempt to give me guilt! Though I do know my Mom was not purposely trying to give me guilt, she did.

Posted by Melody at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Politics, fame, fortune, masses of common people oohing and awing them.... this is NOT what I’m writing about. What they REALLY have in common is a love for fashion, being impeccably dressed and
l * e * a * d * i * n * g and not following within the political fashion arena.

Me, I used to try to “dress the part in the corporate boardroom.” I always wore pinstripe business suits with white tailored shirts (heck, if it weren’t for my make-up, red lipstick and high heels, I would have been mistaken for a man.) I use to always wear extremely conservative, boring grays, blacks and navy business suits, never floral print dresses, ruffles or pink. Trust me ... I was never a leader in fashion.

Just a few days ago the New York Times stated “Fashion authorities say Mrs. Pelosi should be applauded for her color choice (burgundy on Jan. 4, the day she was sworn in), her playfulness with jewelry (chunky, but tasteful, including signature Tahitian pearls) and her suit selection (from velvet to tweed), all of which can be imitated at a more affordable price by women who are not wealthy. Women are already taking note of her style; orders of Tahitian pearls have skyrocketed.”

What I thought was very amusing about the New York Times article is that one of their featured pictures was of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz - pictured to the left - sporting a stunning pant suit (clearly a designer, expensive and exquisitely tailored suit). I know Debbie Wasserman Schultz personally and have mingled at parties, fundraisers and the like. Debbie is SOOOOOO cool, in my opinion, because she’s a Mom; she is incredibly driven, motivated, and smart. Her heart is in the right place, and she fights like hell for what she believes in (and I doubt is ever swayed by lobbyists). However, having said all that, I remember Debbie in her earlier political campaigning days wearing everything BUT style. She actually looked a bit like a fashion faux-paw in her earlier days. Now, however, watch out!

Just like Nancy Regan, Jacquelyn Kennedy and Princess Dianna, leadership can be shown both in action, what you say and HOW YOU DRESS! In many ways, I think that Debbie Wasserman Schultz & Nancy Pelosi will be taking Capital Hill for an incredible ride this congressional season and I can’t wait to see what they will wear next.

Pamela Fiori, the editor-in-chief of Town & Country magazine (owned by the Hearst Corporation), emphasized “Mrs. Pelosi’s words are nonetheless more important than her clothes. “She wears the clothes and the clothes don’t wear her, and that is the way it should be. If she can have a little bit of influence in the Senate and House or in the home that is not such a bad thing.”

I was recently reading a fabulous blog written by Down the Avenue which talked about female politicians and what they are wearing. I’m piggy backing on Down the Avenue’s recent blog because I think it was well written, and I wanted to add my personal thoughts on Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Posted by Melody at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Art of Negotiating

I just received an invoice from Company X who we have been doing business with for over 5 years. The invoice price came in at $1925.00. Not to belittle or insult people who work in accounts payable departments, but my guess is that the invoice would probably have been paid without a second glance, simply because we’ve been doing business with Company X for 5 years.

This is where eagle eyes win! As co-owner, I don’t allow ANY invoices to be paid without my careful attention.

I called up Company X and offered to pay $300.00. If you want my business to continue, and you want our name to be on your roster of clients… you need to cut me a deal.

Ballsy, aggressive, unheard of … you bet. Guess what, I just saved Catalogs.com $1,625.00.

Should one attempt to negotiate everything, or should we simply take the easy approach, sign on the dotted line, and cut the check for the full asking price?
I can answer this age old dilemma … negotiate, negotiate and still negotiate. Why? Because of several key reasons:

1. By entering into negotiations, the other party knows that you’re interested and concerned with details.

2. It creates a queer sense of respect, that you are not a “push-over” or someone who cares so little that you will settle on whatever is “standard.”

3. It establishes very quickly in the beginning of a new relationship that you are a bright, savvy business person that expects accommodations to be made if they are to obtain your business.

4. As a business owner, why pay more than you have to. It is better to spend the minimum amount required for the services or products needed, and take the “saved” money and reinvest in your business.

5. Even if you are NOT successful at lowering the price you pay, you will have established a clear precedent for future business that every dollar requested will be carefully reviewed and weighed. It also will serve as a reminder that you are prone to “shop around” for the best deal and that the other party better not take advantage of your business.

Many many great books (on dvd and audio) on the Art of Negotiating can be found at Simply Audio Books.

Check out the American Management Association - they offer skills on how to improve and hone your negotiating skills.

Posted by Melody at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sunday morning, sleeping till 10 am, a hot cup of coffee and the New York Times … I’m only dreaming and fantasizing. Instead, 3 kids are doing a ton of homework, and I’m filling out page after page after page of summer camp forms.

For most popular summer camps (both sleep away and day camps), registration is being ramped up now – yes – in January for summer! Isn’t this crazy? To benefit from early registration discount pricing … summer camp forms are now due.

I was floored to discover that for certain camps, parents are REQUIRED to buy merchandise from only 1 approved vendor on the camp’s list. For instance, I am FORCED to buy 3 camp T-shirt at $14.95 each, 1 camp sweatshirt at $29.95 each, a water bottle at $8.99, a visor cap at $15.99, and 2 dirty laundry bags at $14.95 each.

E x c u s e M e … but I think I could have gotten a laundry bag at Target for $4.95.
Why do camps require you to purchase merchandise with their logos plastered on every imaginable product? Because camps have become sophisticated B I G businesses with marketing, merchandising, branding and profit margins.

Did I mention that the total camp industry is over 11 billion dollars, according to Jeff Solomon, Executive Director of the National Camp Association (NCA)? I asked all the MOMS I know, and according to my social network of friends, I estimate that sleep away camps range in price from $3,000 to $8,000 for 1 four-week overnight session. According to CampRatingZ, which surveyed 1825 camps, their top 3 rated camps cost for a 4 week overnight session: $1965, $4650, $3100 respectfully.

Figures from the NCA indicate the camp industry is huge … with nearly 10,000 camps in the U.S. (about 60% are sleep away camps) with over six million children attending camp each summer, Summer camp is a year round occupation which is quite unique as a business. Camp owners work for 12 months so that their camp can operate for 2 months. Most camps (over 70%) are privately owned family businesses; 25% are organizational (non-profit institutions.

I remember my summer camp experiences … swimming, hiking, biking, putting up tents, sitting by the campfire telling ghost stories at night ---- ah, what it would be like to be a kid again.

Three well known associations can help you find the right camp for every child allows you to customize your search for the perfect summer camp and identify camp programs that best fit each camper and camp family:American Camp Association National Camp Association Camp Ratingz

Supplies and camping gear can be found at the following:

Duluth Pack - Superior quality backpacks, travel bags, laptop cases and luggage

Sierra Trading Post - Sports equipment, apparel, and outdoor gear. Save 35-70% on products from Patagonia, Woolrich, Sportif USA, North Face, Marmot, ExOfficio, Teva, Carhartt, Eagle Creek, New Balance, Merrell, Ecco, Mephisto and SmartWool

Northwest River Supply - Kayaking gear and accessories -- clothing, life jackets, sprayskirts, paddles and other kayak accessories for white water, ocean waves or placid inland waters.

Brigade Quartermaster -Everything you need in outdoor and wilderness survival gear including compact emergency shelter, MRE's and communication equipment.

Posted by Melody at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Forbes recently wrote about designer Pepper Foster as he remembered a time he visited Aspen and saw a grown man dressed in a puffy down ski suit.

“The moral of that story,” he says, “is what is cute on kids does not necessarily translate into a good look for adults!” “I think the biggest mistake is that people--primarily men--make is that they think that when the weather gets cold all they need to worry about is staying warm, and they don’t bother trying to look good,” says Pepper Foster. “Trust us. You can do that and still look good.”

Cold weather does not mean to throw away all your fashion sense. What woman would want to be seen arm-in-arm next to a man dressed like a nerd?

5 Fashion Blunders to Avoid

#1 Don’t rely on only one coat.
Invest in several jackets for different types of weather and environments. If you have a business meeting, throw on a wool toggle coat over the suit. On warmer days, a heavier weight sport coat can be worn casually with a pair of slacks and dress shoes for a business-casual meeting, or with a pair of jeans.

#2 Don’t forget a stylish hat!
Scarves and hats are an excellent way to express your style. Stark & Legume Hats sport the Stetson® - a nostalgic holdover fedora from the '30's, or Eddie Bauer has a wonderful winter fleece scully, specially treated to repel water and resist stains.

#3 Don’t embarrass yourself with wearing rubbers, or galashes.

For those looking to walk around in the post-snow slush, invest in a pair of rugged leather boots for business. Arthur Beren has a great sale on Bruno Magli boxer-style quarter high boots in soft nappa leather with a rubber traction sole for ice. The normal price is $375, on sale for $187.50.

#4 Don’t wear cheap looking wool or knit gloves.
Invest on top quality leather gloves, lined in fur. They will keep your hands warm and look great with a business suit.

#5 Cashmere is in … rayon is out!
On casual days at the office, if the weather warrants wearing sweaters, try a traditionally handsome, lush alpaca v-neck pullover for only $135 by Peruvian Connection. A great value on a cotton/cashmere v-neck sweater Or, wear a button down shirt underneath a v-neck cashmere sweater.

Rayon and polyester sweaters can be spotted a mile away … they look cheap and unprofessional.
According to Andy Gilchrist, author of The Encyclopedia of Men’s Clothes, “Once you get something that is functional, and a good quality piece, you are going to feel good in it and know you look good in it as well. Outerwear like a great coat, a scarf or a hat is another mode of expression for yourself.”

Posted by Melody at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just came across Douglas Karr's blog with an interesting spin on direct mail ...

He mentioned the importance of the human touch. Being in the internet world, I couldn't agree more.

Doug was thrilled when he received via snail mail a book, a card and a thank you note. Think about your holiday season. Opening packages and snail mail with bright red and green cards still had some intrigue, some mystery. Did YOU feel the same way about opening your email? I highly doubt it.

There must still be a reason why Galison/Mudpuppy, which features fine art note cards, writing journals, address books & fine paper continues to thrive!

Posted by Melody at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just got my emails, and had over 25 alerts from my newsletter/Spam filters specifically about the world’s largest ever Consumer Electronics Show, which started yesterday in Las Vegas. I’m very familiar with it, my Mom use to go EVERY SINGLE YEAR when she worked for a major electronics manufacturer (I hated her being gone, but LOVED the surprises she’d bring back in her suitcase for us kids).

This show is designed for people who are intrigued with gadgets, state-of-the-art stuff, and high tech electronics. My curiosity peaked to see what they had in store this year, so I clicked on the conferences main page.

And was immediately overwhelmed with topics and speakers and gadgets that made no sense to me. It’s not that I’m stupid or ignorant; I’m simply not intrigued, amused or interested in this kind of merchandise.

Am I in the minority? Absolutely! Registrants representing the United States, Canada, Mexico and more than 130 other countries are attending. To me, walking through 1.8 million net square feet of exhibit space, along with more than 140,000 of my closest friends, being bumped, pushed, sneezed on, gawking and staring at the latest and greatest products in NOT my cup of tea. Obviously many would disagree with me (including my husband).

The thought of mingling with manufacturers, retailers, content providers and creators, broadband developers, wireless carriers, cable and satellite TV providers, installers, engineers, corporate buyers, government leaders, financial analysts and the media from around the world …. B O R I N G !!

On a scale of 1 to 10 for levels of technological proficiency, I am probably a 3. I’d rather be a follower and let my friends and co-workers show me their latest and coolest “stuff” than for me to purchase it first.

Gadgetmakers beware … as advertised; this is “The World's Largest Annual Tradeshow for Consumer Technology and America's largest annual tradeshow of any kind.” YUCK!

Me … I’d rather curl up with a great novel at night next to my husband and just relax. I think I’ll quietly go online for gadgets and guy stuff, or for electronics, shop for the latest and greatest wearing my ever so-comfortable pajama’s, sipping a good Pinot Noir or Merlot, and have instant access to any gadget or electronic toy I might have the urge to buy.

Knock yourselves out ... you computer & electronic geeks!

Posted by Melody at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Americans are (and did) flock to catalogs and the Web to find items on their holiday gift lists this past season.

But do you ever wonder how much people are spending, what they are buying, and how they did their shopping this holiday season? For these important answers, I turned to the experts … the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) who asks and reports …

Who is buying?

· More than two-thirds of Americans – 68 percent – shop from home, buying from catalogs, over the Internet, over the phone, or through the mail.

· Seventy-two percent of women shop from the home or office, compared to 63 percent of men.

How much will they spend?

· American adults plan to spend an average of $1,577 per person on holiday gifts in 2006.

· Men plan to spend $1,788 on gifts, while women plan to spend $1,318.

· Americans plan to spend an average of $203 on apparel gifts this holiday season. Other popular gifts include food ($240), electronics/computers ($192), general gifts ($201), toys and games ($129), home décor or furniture ($125), books/music/videos ($99), sporting goods ($69), tickets for sports/entertainment ($65), pet supplies ($46), flowers ($27), and gardening supplies ($34).

· Consumers and businesses will spend $144 billion on catalog purchases in 2006, an increase from $134 billion last year.

· The Web will generate nearly $339 billion in sales of all products and services in 2006, up from $275 billion in 2005.

When do they shop?

· Fourteen percent of shoppers planned to buy all of their holiday gifts before Thanksgiving.

· An additional 32 percent of shoppers will finish their gift buying two weeks before the holiday. Forty-five percent wait until the final week to complete their shopping, with 23 percent finishing the day before the holiday.

· Men are more likely to procrastinate, with 48 percent finishing their shopping the final week compared to 43 percent of women.

Why do they shop from home or office?

· Seventy percent of shoppers cite convenience as the reason they shop via catalogs, the Internet, mail, or phone.

· Other reasons for shopping from home or office include variety (50 percent), to save money (43 percent), and customer service (27 percent).

Thanks, DMA, for tracking, researching and adding perspective to catalog and online shopping. It certainly is an organization we can’t live without (p.s. they didn’t pay me a dime to say this!)

Posted by Melody at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WORK SMARTER ... NOT HARDER

Running a company and having to be responsible for the well being, happiness and financial security of many employees puts a whole new perspective on one’s priorities.

Every January 1st, I make a mental (and often a written) note about my goals and aspirations for the coming year. I always break them down in two separate lists: personal and business.

From a business perspective:

1. WORK SMARTER, MORE EFFICIENT ... NOT HARDER

2. To make myself more accessible to our employees, and continue urging everyone to have an “open door policy”.

3. To assist salespeople with more time, hours and guidance in helping them to identify and most importantly CLOSE sales.

4. To increase sales and profitability for the company as a whole.

5. To lead more group “brainstorming sessions” with employees to help identify new areas of untapped
growth and interest.

6. To continue to reward key employees for outstanding accomplishments and recognize them publicly.

7. To continue to run the company with a “squeaky clean” attitude and always be honest, forthright and ethical when dealing with clients.

8. To make our customer service and customer satisfaction our #1 priority.

9. To launch at least one major improvement and/or addition to our revenue model.

10. To have fun working and smile everyday at work.

Posted by Melody at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)