During and around the COVID-19 pandemic, I purchased three businesses from women in their 70s who were ready to retire. Two were flag companies, which I merged into FlagandBanner.com, and the third was OurCornerMarket.com, a website specializing in plaques and memorials. At the time, I was in my late 60s and thought, “I will never retire” …

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Salespeople are a lot of help. I know they are often stereotyped as a nuisance, as robocalls are (which aren’t real people), but a good salesperson is more like a secretary to their client. And, over the next ten years, both salespersons and secretaries alike could become an endangered species as they are replaced by chat bots, electronic calendars, and online tutorials.

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Have you been wondering what ever happened to the restauranteur Rodney Ely, founder of Satellite Coffee and Rodney’s Chicago Dogs that used to be in Little Rock, Arkansas?
Well, I found him in Ft Lauderdale, FL. And, as per usual, he’s serving up the best quality, delicious food and creating inviting dining environments. 

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Prior to emails and the internet changing our lives, English teachers worried that writing was going to become a lost artform. Ma Bell had turned all of us into voice communicators, making lawyers the only letter writers left. In this school of thought, typing classes were dropped from many high school curriculums. But alas, the power of the pen is back, big time, along with keyboarding. It’s time to dust off the old grammar books and learn some new tricks on how to write a good email.

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small business shipping - fedex- amazon

Amazon is putting the squeeze on small businesses in ways you might not have thought of. Everyone knows Amazon sells everything cheap (remember when they only sold books?).  But another big part of their schtick is selling shipping cheap or, better yet, giving it away for free. So, who is paying the shipping companies? The nice guys at Amazon?

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