Last year, the recording session I did with Mel Robbins was going so well that her producers asked me to stick around–four hours later, we had recorded enough for two episodes. One never knows how these things will feel until after the fact, but part 2 is live now. I hope you get as much […]

The moment you start treating your customers as captives, they begin to make other plans. It might take a while, but they always end up leaving. The first step is warning away their friends. On the other hand, when we treat our customers like the free agents they are, they often choose to stick around […]

More than 345 riffs, worthy of a calendar, all in one place. They don’t fit in a blog post, so I made a page of them. Hit the refresh above to see another one, or see them all, and vote on your favorites, at sethsriffs.com On the riffs page, you can click the ? icon […]

The professionals you have the most in common with may be your competition. They wrestle with similar problems and have similar goals. And you can offer value by sharing what you’ve learned and what you know–and that value will often be reciprocated. I met Tom Rielly when was running PlanetOut in the 1990s. About forty […]

What’s this idea (book, meme, song, TV show, marketing campaign) for? Perhaps you want to reach the largest number of people. Or make the most sales. Or generate the most word of mouth. Or be notorious. Or change part of the culture. Or get good reviews. Or have people actually finish your book. You might […]

A hundred and fifteen years ago, Christian Larson wrote one of the first popular self-help manifestos. The Optimist’s Creed argued that it was a choice, and a useful promise. Not to promise the world, or the boss, or the market. To promise ourselves. Optimism is not a mood. It’s a discipline. Last week, Reid Hoffman reminded […]

The world is like this and therefore I feel like that. That seems right. It’s raining, so I’m sad. The person cut me off in traffic and so I’m angry. Ford makes better cars, so I like them more than Chevys. Occasionally, this cause and effect is what happens. But more often, it goes in […]

The more often we succumb to the urgency of the moment, the more urgency we create. The next minute is probably not the last minute, but when we treat it this way, it will be soon followed by another last minute.

Freedom is responsibility with a sexier name. 250 years in, democracy still matters. Click to upvote the ones that resonate and please share.

“I blame myself.” Said no one, ever. At least not the consumers I know. When a careless woodworker loses a digit on a table saw, they almost certainly blame the design and instructions of the device, not their lack of care. On a less gruesome note, the user who fails to read the website before […]

It’s difficult to ride a bicycle in the pitch darkness. We need to see where we’re going to avoid obstacles. And it’s hard to maintain our balance. When we choose to avoid the conversations that make us uncomfortable, we’re pedaling in the dark. Talk about it. Turn on the lights.

The standards have changed a lot in the last few millennia: The big man said it. The book said it. The newspaper said it. I saw a photo. I saw it on TV. I read it on the internet. That’s what the AI said. There has always been room for doubt. But the last century […]

Everybody eats. And, now and then, it’s fun to find something better. In the scheme of things, fancy foods are a bargain, a chance to have the best in the world for a few dollars. Here are some persistent (and new) favorites. For those outside the US, I hope you can find even better local […]