My email box is overflowing with COVID-19 updates, resources, responses and even cures. Sigh. How the world has shifted. Still, I know like I know that while this pandemic is in many ways the worst of times, it will also usher in the best of times. Communities will bond together, virtually. Families [...]
THE place to be in the drain, sewer, septic, and waste treatment industry is the WWETT Show. If you are interested in these businesses, or considering a new, lucrative niche, you may want to join us next week in Indianapolis - February 23 - 26, 2017. On Wednesday the 23rd, I'll be presenting three seminars... [...]
Recently, Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs Dude, was a guest on Bill Maher’s HBO show Real Time. He was talking about his latest adventure, Profoundly Disconnected, a program to help connect those looking for great careers with real, albeit sometimes dirty, jobs. I was on the edge of my couch! I love dirty jobs! I cheered [...]
Below are helpful tips for home repair…working with, or without, a professional. Also, I included tips for finding a great contractor, when you are ready to call in a pro. As a plumbing industry expert, I write a monthly column for Plumbing Heating Contractor News – These tips appeared in one of my columns, aimed at contractors, encouraging them to [...]
What can you learn by Riding Along? You don’t even have to do the Undercover part. Just GO. Hop in the truck (or the assembly line or the phone bank) and say, “Show me what you do. I am here to learn.” One of my best biz buddies is a master of the Ride Along. I wrote about him…and how [...]
“We aren’t using the ‘S’ word at our company anymore,” my friend announced, in response to my “How’s biz?” greeting. “Really? Why not?” I asked. “My service plumbers are offended by the ‘S’ word. I wouldn’t use the ‘S’ word even if I stepped right in it.” “How do you pull that off?” I pressed. [...]
At Bare Bones Biz, we focus on business basics, the few things that will make all the difference to your success and profitability. Here’s a list of simple business tips gleaned from the smartest business people I know. I spend much of each day on the phone, talking business. On the seminar trail and onsite [...]
I adore a man who can work with his hands. I admire a woman who knows how to handle a channelocks. I appreciate a well laid-out mechanical room. I’m a huge fan of trades people. Trades people are more in touch with the truth than other people. They are a no-nonsense group. They know that [...]
Recently I got this email from someone who had been accused of ripping off his customer… Dear Ellen, One of my customers called this morning and said I ripped him off. This was after my tech quoted a price, he accepted it, we did the work, and he signed for the work. This morning he [...]
A news channel’s legal analyst was chiming in about the danger (or lack thereof?) from the overheating nuclear reactors in Japan. I struggled with his credibility to weigh in on this topic. However, I was jaw-dropped stunned when he dismissively added that all you have to do is flood the site with sea water to [...]
