MerchantStand Archives

2023

2022

08/14 Shadow IT
06/11 LinkedIn – The good, bad, and ugly
05/22 Blame the process not the people
03/13 What makes your best supplier relationship special?
01/16 Who was the first person to believe in you?
01/10 About Job Descriptions

2021

2020

12/11 Keeping 2020
11/29 Fighting Headwinds
11/09 What I’ve learned to appreciate
10/29 Spooky software development – Halloween frights
08/14 Helping others succeed
07/17 Sharpening the saw in 2020
07/05 Why cord-cutters are still getting the better deal
06/29 Shaping Work Habits – High School Jobs Revisited – part 3
06/22 Shaping Work Habits – High School Jobs Revisited – part 2
06/17 Shaping Work Habits – High School Jobs Revisited – part 1
05/08 Ideas for making distance learning more accessible
04/27 Rethinking Furloughs
04/05 How has your view of Wikipedia changed?
03/14 Is remote work getting easier because we have collaboration tools?
03/04 Leadership Credo
01/18 Freaky Meetings
01/11 Stop Chasing Squirrels
01/02 Write, Stash, and Wipe. A Reuse Plan.

2019

11/22 Paying technical debt
10/16 Video Conferencing – Why so serious?
08/11 How much are you willing to pay for internet service?
08/01 Onward and upward
03/18 Interactive Films, Data Mining, and Orson Welles
03/05 Planting organizational seeds for a sustainable future
02/23 Have you found it?
02/11 Making Respect Part of the Culture
01/22 My next book to read just got hacked
01/07 Creating culture with remote teams

2018

12/30 Overcoming audit excuses
12/16 Creating a metric – value add or mission?
12/01 Write your story
11/18 Straight Talk for Documenting Standard Work
10/28 The Fall of the House of Jargon
10/20 concentration so intense…
10/14 Root Cause Analysis Playbook
09/30 Bearing Fruit
09/16 Getting rid of the compliance mindset
09/06 Lean Visual Management Board – What I’ve learned so far
08/26 Lean Thinking – Virtual Circles
08/05 Turning employee survey results inside out
07/28 Scribble Scrabble
07/21 The Free Spirit
07/15 All I ever needed to know about information security awareness training
07/02 Alexa, play my podcast
06/19 Battling Urgent
05/28 Media subscriptions – Where do you spend your media dollars?
05/10 Root cause analysis for team building
05/03 A note to self
04/15 Learning from customer service experiences
03/31 The Easter Promise
03/18 Forced change vs Needed change
03/08 Have your job to the full
02/17 Right Sizing Advertisements
02/03 Targeted ads and your privacy
01/20 The local library and my reading habit
01/06 The data we see

2017

12/22 Password Management System
12/02 More or Less?
11/22 JIT Action Items for the Office Worker
11/05 Revisiting – What are you known for?
10/20 Level loading straight talk
10/14 Built-in automobile technology is distracting our driving
09/24 Easier password rules
09/17 The Yin and Yang of Security Patching
09/02 Hope @work
08/13 Employee Growth Chart
07/30 Work with a rhythm
07/21 Take this job and love it
07/03 Where does meaningful dialogue start?
05/30 Conquer the antagonist
05/21 Finding Felix
05/07 Do more with what you have!
04/23 Got Password? Can Microsoft simplify?
04/18 Mapping software development to Lean IT.
04/07 Roku 3 stuck on update from 5.6 to 7
03/26 IBM reverses course on work-from-home
03/12 Visual Management Board for Lean IT
03/09 Work for something bigger
02/18 Is the rabbit big enough to chase?
02/05 Conflict advice – It’s how you say it
01/29 Corralling your task list and action items
01/15 Creating Technical Margin
01/02 How to use SharePoint to create audit trails

2016

12/26 Your personal digital legacy – putting it in context
12/17 Click-to-run video and ad content in 2017
12/04 Special Sauce
11/19 Compete or get left behind
11/06 Solve it!
10/30 What’s your True North
10/20 Live to give
10/08 Pick your team.
09/25 Rethink boarding airplanes
09/11 IT Manager Leader Standard Work
09/05 My Labor Day Reflection
08/27 The Ackerman Security Wireless Communicator Upgrade Letter
08/21 The Takata Airbag Recall Letter
08/07 Get some Wi-Fi feng shui
07/24 What your infrastructure guy wants you to know
07/16 IT Annual Planning
07/06 Saying Goodbye to BlackBerry Classic Keyboard!
06/25 Judging a computer algorithm
06/12 Smartphone passwords and privacy
05/29 Well played Amex
05/21 Windows 10 productivity tips and tricks
05/14 Do you cover your webcam?
05/08 The view from here. Amazing things I see in IT.
04/22 Finding spaces with different views
04/15 When being unpopular is part of your job description
04/03 Rethink IT Compliance
03/27 Dunking IT Developers in the river
03/20 What if I had started writing earlier?
03/13 Solving Err_Network_Changed
02/28 Level the workload for development team leads
02/20 The purpose statement – etched and forgotten?
02/07 Me and my android watch
01/31 Defining the term technologist
01/24 Your personal digital legacy – For those you leave behind
01/16 Data usage wants to be free
01/10 A simple way to backup your email archive
01/01 Rethink email attachments

2015

12/12 Long term thinking – right now
12/06 A manager’s guide to the annual plan
11/27 Building a technology steering committee
11/15 #BeThankful
11/08 The greenest grass.
10/31 The truth about IT processes.
10/24 The truth about IT managers.
10/17 The truth about IT developers.
10/03 Becoming desensitized to security breaches
09/26 Reshape your delivery
09/19 Reshape yourself
09/13 How to get HDTV from an Antenna to every outlet in the house
09/06 Amazing things you should be doing at work
08/21 The project manager’s challenge
08/15 Push-ups to Push-downs.
08/08 What does the business require of me?
07/31 Give it a go
07/17 My First EMV and the Girl With the Dragon Tattoos
07/04 The puzzle that finds us
06/27 Rewarding switching over loyalty
06/21 Technology Constipation
06/13 Can we change the secret sauce of IT?
05/30 Old stuff in the data center
05/24 What do you enjoy most about your work?
05/15 Crystal Ball – The next business phone system
05/01 Waiting for another marshmallow
04/19 Monkeys on our back
04/12 I cut the cord on cable TV
04/05 B2B eCommerce – It’s different
03/29 The speed of software releases
03/22 Open space – Private space
03/15 Using history to organize your teams
03/08 How to Set Android 5 Lollipop Notifications on Locked Screen
03/01 Let’s talk about #NoEstimates
02/22 The reality of now
02/15 Saving (and spending) pennies
02/08 Customer service wowed
02/01 Book Review – Man’s Search for Meaning
01/24 Superheroes among us
01/18 The distraction inside the annual performance review
01/11 A simple way to keep your resume updated
01/04 A case for voice mail

2014

12/20 Would Netflix original content make it through your Shark Tank?
12/14 How to be like a Jedi at work
12/06 Straight talk on developing employees
11/30 Three unspoken words
11/23 I.T. is better when…
11/16 Can you feel the business?
11/09 Software open feedback loops
11/02 6 years of blogging. It’s a habit.
10/26 What are you known for?
10/19 You wish he was different, but you don’t
10/12 The role of social media
10/05 That defining moment
09/28 Confessions from using Mac Linux Windows Chrome Android iOS
09/21 The Indispensable
09/13 Roku Streaming Stick
09/06 No Nonsense Declutter
08/31 The Yin and Yang of Hidden Technology Spend
08/23 Removing a broken headphone jack from a Macbook – Solved
08/16 The Resource Constraint Conundrum
08/09 Silly Marketers – Tricks are for Kids
08/03 The framework for creativity
07/26 Reserve your seat at the idea table
07/19 Practical speak for staying focused in the office
07/12 What I did for a close shave
07/05 Repeating software processes. To attract and repel.
06/28 Infinite Storage
06/22 Being Pushy
06/14 Desktops in the cloud
06/08 Think to plan. Plan to think.
05/31 Team chemistry – learning the mix
05/25 The brevity of celebrations
05/18 Measuring the cost of IT
05/09 Feeling inadequate
05/02 I’m annoyed with hackers and cyber thieves
04/27 Sharing graduation with technology
04/18 Play it again.
04/12 Technology Athletes
04/04 Are you all in?
03/29 Perceptions
03/21 Velocity
03/15 Fix Microsoft Office programs crashing – disable bluetooth add-in
03/08 Not so routine
03/01 Technology profit leaks
02/22 Build stuff fix stuff
02/15 Writing’s role in our lives
02/06 Legacy apps have 9 lives
01/24 Finding the search tab in Outlook 2010
01/18 College dorm living gets connected
01/11 Cross Departmental Teamwork 101
01/05 Getting value from the annual review

2013

12/31 QR codes are dumb codes.
12/28 Kudos to American Express Customer Service
12/25 The great light of the world
12/20 Amazon Shipping Options for Group Together
12/13 Owned Media or Media-on-Demand?
12/07 Oracle Licensing – That’s Just Crazy
11/30 TMobile – Bold and Driven
11/24 Death to the Office?
11/16 Programming to simplify work flow
11/10 The IT Salary Equation
11/06 What’s the value of a good book?
10/26 The B2B Lead Generation Puzzle
10/19 How to use Microsoft OneNote to track tasks
10/12 Adults behaving badly
10/05 Revenue growth. The never ending push.
09/29 College students should take an interest in email
09/27 IT Haikus
09/21 Our ever changing job descriptions
09/13 Business planning for the simple minded
09/07 Interactions over Processes (user story template)
08/30 Organizing a Hack-a-day at work
08/23 Yahoo removes email addresses from contacts list
08/16 How To Disable Android System Apps
08/10 Classic IT Challenges – Technology outside of IT
08/03 Classic IT Challenges – Reducing costs
07/27 Classic IT Challenges – Understanding Project Complexity
07/20 Royal Caribbean – Delivering the WOW
07/13 Classic IT Challenges – Estimating Work
07/07 Classic IT Challenges – Operations vs Innovation
06/28 Classic IT Challenges – Prioritizing Work
06/22 Classic IT Challenges – Project Work vs Production Support
06/16 Father’s day rest
06/09 When do we find our passion?
06/01 Why I don’t use Smart TV web applications
05/26 My Amazon Prime 30 Day Trial Experience
05/18 Automating processes reshapes the middle class?
05/12 For those left behind (part 2)
05/04 For those left behind (part 1)
04/26 Get Uncomfortable
04/20 What about traditions?
04/13 Cast the bully out
04/07 Getting IT outside the box
03/31 My LinkedIn Story
03/23 The thought for a rover employee
03/17 Email delivery isn’t guaranteed
03/09 The Weakest Lock
03/02 Working from home is intertwined with employee retention and relationships
02/23 How to Change Your Organization’s Culture
02/17 Fighting the headwinds and riding the tailwinds of business
02/09 2 Server Patching Approaches
02/03 Crossing departmental boundaries with your eCommerce team
01/26 The end of the birthday tax in Georgia (House Bill 386)
01/19 Reducing work-in-progress for software development
01/12 Do more with less by working smarter
01/05 Thinking about predictable software development
01/01 Those two big things

2012

12/28 How to delete unused Android home screens
12/22 Windows 8 upgrade may fail if you have McAfee products installed
12/15 Three things I learned at Harland Clarke
12/09 Tracking clicks to external sites and internal documents
12/02 eLibrary used more than paper library
11/27 Getting stuff done
11/16 Flipping the classroom
11/12 Windows 8. I get it now.
11/06 Distance education continues to expand
10/31 Proxy.pac for VPN, corporate, home, and public networks
10/23 Finding social rhythms
10/18 How to create an archive of Google+ blog posts
10/12 eMail marketing vs social channels
10/07 The customer is always right?
10/04 Automate your digital life
10/02 LinkedIn announces ability to “follow”
09/28 B2B social media within the banking industry
09/24 Making a simple event video
09/19 Moving from Webinars to Hangouts
09/11 Four devices I still use and why
09/10 Using Evernote for your idea bank
09/03 Charter Communications Loyalty Discount Letter
08/31 Microsoft’s bold new move with Windows 8
08/27 An Interview with Coach Earl Williams
08/23 Embrace Showrooming
08/17 Daily Deals. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
08/10 Social commerce is gaining momentum
08/07 Tablets are changing eCommerce and consumer behavior
08/02 Brazil tops emerging markets opportunity index again
07/27 Marketing technologists are in demand
07/22 How marketing technology, agile marketing, and Marissa Mayer are influencing the future org chart
07/18 Word of mouth marketing. It’s a matter of focus.
07/17 Find me the money. Some practical thoughts on ROI.
07/12 Windows Ready Boost and other system performance ramblings
07/08 Three ideas to add more value to eCommerce delivery
07/06 Marketing technology thought readings 10
07/04 Free computing and Internet tools
06/23 Digital sharing with a purpose
06/17 LinkedIn company pages – It’s about people
06/12 Do you take this kind of money?
06/11 Marketing technology thought readings 9
06/07 A small business case study for social media use
06/04 The next paradigm shift in news delivery
05/28 Using httpd.conf to redirect index.html
05/27 Marketing technology thought readings 8
05/24 Co-branding for clients
05/15 A Marketing Technologist does not fear change
05/10 What are we really learning at conferences?
05/04 Channel attribution for a multi-channel world
05/01 Thought readings 8
04/28 E Pluribus Unum and Change
04/25 Feeling pigeonholed at work?
04/22 Are LinkedIn networking groups just a badge?
04/20 Thought readings 7
04/18 Accidental blogger or techie with a purpose?
04/16 Email signatures. Keep it simple.
04/13 Retargeting customers after cart and site abandons
04/10 Thought readings 6
04/05 Getting beyond customer loyalty. Customer apostles.
04/01 Proposed law would make it easier to switch banks, but at what cost?
03/28 Your social media footprint is your history
03/25 Thought readings 5
03/21 Blog comments are the gold of digital content
03/16 Rethink rules that prohibit remote deposit
03/14 Thought readings 4
03/12 Making sense of your social media life
03/07 What your company website is about and what it is not
03/05 Thought readings 3
03/03 Followup to using LinkedIn for client forums
03/01 A multi-channel approach for customer communications and profiles
02/27 Thought readings 2
02/25 Using LinkedIn for Client Forums
02/22 Attacking process waste
02/20 Thought readings 1
02/11 Customer loyalty through debit card reward programs
02/03 Practical advice for educating employees about your eCommerce platform
01/26 Social Media is Affecting the News Media
01/21 Recipe for a digital diet
01/13 Video affects your search engine results
01/07 Online video ad usage is surging
01/02 Using social media for customer service. Facebook and Google+ open the doors.

2011

12/31 Book Review – Poke the Box by Seth Godin
12/30 Moving to the cloud
12/23 Cloud computing is important to more than just IT
12/15 The most powerful step in software development
12/10 Tracking customer behavior across multiple channels
12/01 An idea for credit card companies investigating fraud incidents
11/25 Why you need to know about Google+
11/17 What about the little things?
11/11 Are you crazy enough to create change?
11/03 Software Release Management. It’s more than an IT thing.
10/29 Is your backlog a graveyard?
10/20 No more resumes – welcome to your profile portal
10/17 Two Worlds
10/12 Public roads as a needs based service? It’s HOT
10/04 What manufacturing can teach IT and finance
09/27 Where operations, projects, and innovation collide and divide
09/19 A/B testing shows more than conversion rates
09/13 I dig the pig
09/04 The connection I found with Twitter
08/27 Doing it right with customer focus
08/20 Fighting deceptive adword titles
08/13 Using online banking to beat phishing
08/06 Policy on supporting multiple browser versions
07/30 Communicating go-live deployments
07/26 Top drivers of small business satisfaction
07/16 Putting perspective on P2P payments
07/09 Remembering Cooperstown Dreams Park and Youth Baseball
06/25 .bob for sale to a good home
06/18 Tablets, mobile devices, and Chrome OS offer different computing models
06/12 How the waterfall method effects the PMO
06/05 An idea to engage loyal customers
05/31 Jughandles
05/21 Urgency is a two-face
05/15 Why I’ve gone Google
05/07 One-on-one meeting advice for managers and employees
05/01 Are you hiding behind the process?
04/22 Customer loyalty for banks and credits unions
04/17 Employee engagement through connection and meaning
04/03 A case for customer focus in the midst of financial regulation
03/28 The irony of change
03/19 Delaying the inevitable – businesses ignoring social media
03/14 Thoughts on LinkedIn group membership
03/09 Delta Airlines apology letter for flight delay
03/05 Use case example – removing the ‘how’ from requirements
02/26 Turbo Tax through online banking – a review
02/19 Product Camp Atlanta 2011 Notes
02/12 Be ye not afraid to challenge old ways
02/07 Customer surveys as voice of the customer
01/28 RSS has an identity problem
01/21 What web analytics really provides
01/14 LinkedIn 2010 contact changes
01/13 Reduce spam and cold-calls with a second email and phone number
01/05 Rethink competitive analysis
01/01 Choosing what not to do

2010

12/25 Best of Merchant Stand 2010
12/18 What the annual Christmas card teaches us about social media
12/12 Fathead return policy review and experience
12/07 Customer relevance – three key principals
11/29 Strategic alignment – an eCommerce pillar
11/23 Google TV – What it’s really after
11/19 Why innovation must move beyond ROI
11/14 Guest Blog Series: SubscriberMail – Email Marketing Caveats
11/09 Guest Blog Series: SubscriberMail – Email Marketing Benefits
11/05 Guest Blog Series: SubscriberMail – Email Marketing – Why now?
11/01 eCommerce solutions ownership – customer focused results
10/29 eCommerce operation mind map
10/25 Getting a little more mobile
10/16 Rethink customer fees
10/04 How do agile organizations age?
09/28 Don’t undervalue your services
09/23 The dance that matters
09/17 2 thoughts on the RFP/RFI process
09/07 2 takeaways for tools used by remote teams
08/26 Rethink text book distribution
08/22 6 reasons I still love Twitter
08/13 Sharpening the saw – people to people
08/07 Process: friend and foe
08/03 Bankers, make your Internet site a fully functional branch!
07/30 Three golden nuggets for eCommerce financial metrics management
07/23 Taking timeout for the important stuff
07/14 Career mentor specialists?
07/08 Beware Bloated Processes
07/01 Big Bang vs Evolution – A software look
06/27 Book Review: Your Career Game
06/22 2 lessons learned in my career and I’m not done learning
06/16 Innovation process?
06/11 Practical tips for making client presentations
06/04 Organizational learnings after a merger and acquisition
05/29 Marketing URLs without www in print
05/28 Simple is…Brand Loyalty
05/24 Simple is…eCommerce
05/20 Simple is…
05/13 Two leadership system takeaways
05/06 4 uses for LinkedIn Company Profiles
04/28 Who makes the mold?
04/24 Why Congress makes for bad business and what to do about it
04/19 The crux of the matter
04/15 When does process remove your passion?
04/09 Social media ideas for amusement parks
04/05 My blog. Spring cleaning and tune-up
03/30 Defining an eCommerce Operation – Experience and Usability
03/26 How management escalation promotes organizational entropy
03/22 I love Marriott, but…
03/17 Defining an eCommerce Operation – Release Management
03/11 Pork Barrel Software
03/08 Simplifying business processes to accomplish more
03/03 Stories needed of business process improvement
02/24 Takeaways from eTail West Day 2
02/23 Takeaways from eTail West Day 1
02/16 Secure your identity with password storage software from PassPack
02/10 Learnings and Takeaways from Product Camp Atlanta 2010
02/05 2 examples of business learning maturation in our culture
01/31 I thought I saw a purple cow
01/26 Defining an eCommerce Operation – Metrics Management
01/18 Defining Organizational Entropy
01/14 4 Questions To Ask About Aging “To Do” List Tasks
01/09 It’s a good time to be a marketer
01/05 10 Questions with Sean Murphy of Canvas Systems
01/02 The First American Blogger

2009

2008