Want to know how to ask for money? Pull off any expressway and down onto any exit ramp in any big city in America and you’ll probably have this same experience: As you slow down on the exit ramp, you’ll see a man or woman in soiled clothes and filthy sneakers standing at the red ...
An oxymoron is defined as a contradiction in terms. In other words, an oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. Perhaps you’ve noticed oxymorons such as cruel kindness, living death, reality television, non-dairy creamer, clearly confused or act naturally. But how about asbestos baby powder? ...
Recently I was interviewed by author and business growth specialist Jeff Blackman. I thought you’d enjoy reading the interview. Bruce Turkel sees things from a fascinating perspective. And it’s not because he stands six-foot-four. Instead, it’s because he has the ability to help leaders and companies “…futureproof their brands in a world of constant disruptive ...
Uber’s new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, is new to his position, but a recent email to employees proves he is a thoughtful inspirational speaker.When UK officials announced that they would not renew Uber’s license to operate in London, Uber announced its plan to appeal the decision. Moreover, Uber’s chief executive sent a remarkable email to his employees: “While the ...
American mythologist Joseph Campbell was best known for his theories on the power of stories and myths. Campbell’s theory of the “monomyth” held that all great myths and stories throughout history are simply variations of one powerful meta-myth. Campbell’s theory was so universal, he was even able to extend it to our belief or disbelief ...
“I went to Whole Foods for the first time since they were bought by Amazon. I read they lowered the price of salmon to $9.99/lb. Wow! We love healthy salmon! They do have salmon for $9.99. But after reading the 5-point type, I saw that all of their lower-priced salmon is farm-raised. WTF? Whole Foods sells ...
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you know that I periodically write about the meetings I attend. You might also remember that I attend a lot of meetings and that I hate meetings. Of course, the smart question should be why I attend so many meetings if I dislike them so ...
This morning I read Who Will Lead? It’s one of my favorite blogs, written by my old friend John Calia. John was discussing how conflicted he felt about a recent radio appearance he’d made. Examining his feelings, John wrote, “…it has been a difficult journey to this imperfect place at which I behave imperfectly. It is especially difficult ...
The advertising agency I worked at specialized in creating successful brands for residential real estate projects. We created advertising strategies, brand identity, and marketing and advertising for high-rises, gated communities, golf resorts, condominiums, and planned communities. WE knew the importance of brand awareness. And we were damn good at creating it. One of the women ...
BY BRUCE TURKEL, CPAE It’s funny. We spend so much time online that it’s become second nature. As a result, we’ve become incredibly dismissive of any website that doesn’t react in exactly the way we want. Photos load too slowly? We’re out of here. Images look bad on your phone or tablet? Sorry, I’m gone. ...
The other morning I paged through my Instagram feed and stumbled across a political meme I disagreed with. It was a from a guy I’ll call “Ferrari Frank 345” (FF345). Besides advocating a position clearly counter to my own, FF345’s post was mean-spirited, vulgar, and encouraged violence. A few posts later I came across another ...
There are a lot of reasons why I don’t ever check my bags when I get on a flight: First, I believe that there are only two kinds of luggage; carry-on and lost. Case in point, Gloria and I attended an over-the-top 50th birthday party in Austria that included a black-tie dinner in a Viennese ...
Whenever I park my bicycle, I’m careful to lock it securely to a bike rack or lamp post. I use a Kryptonite shackle lock and always make sure I run it through my bike frame and around secure anchors. I do all this with the hope that my bike will be right where I left ...
A lot of people don’t know what they want, what their goals and aspirations are or what they are capable of. Because people don’t have a good understanding of who they are and what they want, offering them bromides about “being all they can be,” or “grabbing life by the horns,” or “seizing the day,” ...
Ralph Lauren is a billionaire. That’s billionaire with a B. And billion-dollar Ralph doesn’t justhave one billion dollars. Oh no, no, no. Ralph’s got a bunch of billions laying around. One of the things Ralph did to earn his billions was to put his name or his logo on his products – shirts, ties, jackets, ...
I love old Porsches. I’m partial to air-cooled 911s but I find vintage 356s fascinating too. There are plenty of other cool old cars that always make me look twice, but nothing says “damn” better than a classic Porsche. I love music. Blues, rock, salsa, and classical are my favorite genres. But as long as ...
Jogging on the boardwalk in Venice Beach was hot and sweaty work. When I was done I looked around for some cold water. Before long I passed an old-fashioned newsstand and saw a big refrigerated case inside. A little bell announced me as I opened the door to the shop. As I walked in, I ...
Last week there was an article in The New York Times by contributing opinion writer Margaret Renkl titled, “The Gift of Menopause.” Granted, no matter how sensitive I try to be to the daily experiences of my wife and other women in my life, I cannot truly understand the effects of menopause, gifts or ...
5:30 in the morning used to be a good time to jog. Even during the Miami summer, it’s relatively cool that early in the morning because the sun hasn’t yet climbed into the sky. It’s also early enough that the time eaten up by a long run and shower doesn’t intrude on a productive day. ...
It’s not the most attractive image, I know. But I got up from the table with something stuck in my teeth. I walked through the dining room to the front counter, looking for the little cup filled with toothpicks. I circled the front desk and reception area a few times before I gave up and ...
Here’s a thought: If we want to increase our success, why don’t we stop concentrating on what our products or services do and start focusing on what they do for our customers? In other words, what if we stop emphasizing our function and start promoting the results of that function? I’m not talking about doing ...
The workshop was titled “How to get on TV.” I was given two and a half hours to show the conference attendees exactly what they needed to do to generate television appearances. There’s a lot that needs to be done in order to end up with a coveted spot in front of the camera. Believe ...
I usually write posts about things I see happening and the resulting brand implications. But today’s post is different – it’s all about simple, no-brainer ideas that I didn’t have enough brains to think of myself. Blog Post Dating Blog posts live on the Internet forever. They are often discovered through organic search. For example, ...
This morning I read one of my favorite blogs, Who Will Lead, written by my old friend John Calia. John was discussing how conflicted he felt about a recent radio appearance he had been on. Examining his feelings, John wrote, “…it has been a difficult journey to this imperfect place at which I behave imperfectly. ...
First, let me share a guilty admission. Your network has been very very good to me. The 400 plus appearances I’ve made on Fox News and Fox Business have helped me generate lots of keynote speaking opportunities and helped me sell a bunch of books. My TV appearances have not only earned me exposure and ...
A very nice email popped up on my laptop the other day. It was from a woman who had heard me speak at a recent conference and wanted to update me on what she’d done with the ideas I presented. Here’s what she wrote (I changed a few words to make sure her identity remains ...
Lots of people have trouble writing. I guess that’s why folks often ask me how I’m able to write books and blog posts. Apparently, they think there’s some undisclosed magic, some professional insight, that’ll unlock access to their inner author. If you’ve tried to blog regularly, or maybe you know you have the next great ...
It used to be that a sincere “I’m sorry” was accompanied by a bouquet of flowers and a heartfelt card. Then life went back to normal. And for companies, rectifying a mistake usually meant a generic apology by the CEO and a conscientious program set up to rectify whatever wrong the company was apologizing for ...
Two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about Google manipulating their Artificial Voice (AI) voice recognition software. Specifically, the company added “ums” and “ahs” to their robot voices to make them sound more human. Google was doing this to make their interactions more transactional to generate and capture more data to manipulate and profit from. ...
Willy Walker walked purposefully to the center of the stage and addressed the 400 people in the audience. “Late last night I wandered through the hotel lobby. A maintenance engineer asked me if I needed help and I told him I was looking for the gym. Instead of just pointing me in the right direction, ...
For years Google has crowed about their code of conduct, “Don’t be evil.” In 2015 they doubled down on the concept, if not the actual words, when they introduced their new tagline “Do the right thing.” As the company explains in their code of conduct, ““Employees of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and its subsidiaries ...
I was on a FOX Business interview when the anchor, Melissa Francis, ran a little role-playing exercise with me: “It’s three o’clock in the morning and your phone rings. It’s the Republican Party and they want to know what they can do to change their brand for the midterm elections. What do you say?” ...
I recently stopped at Enriqueta’s for breakfast. Enriqueta’s is a little Cuban coffee shop on 29th Street, smack dab in the center of Miami’s exploding Midtown/Wynwood/Design District area. As the Miami New Times wrote, “Between 6:15 and 11:00 a.m., a cross section of Miami’s working stiffs — from car mechanics to Design District dandies — ...
Somewhere around Y2K, I was introduced to Susan Ford Collins. When we first met, Susan gave me a copy of her latest book, The Joy of Success. Because I’m a little obsessed with reading, I dove right in and polished off the book in a weekend. It was well written and full of good information, ...
By Fried On Business Jim Fried of Fried On Business talks to Bruce Turkel, CEO and ECD for TURKEL Brands in Miami, FL. Turkel uses a unique combination of creativity and business acumen to help companies build their businesses by making their brands more valuable. Turkel is a serial entrepreneur who has created many successful ...
The adage is as ancient as it is accurate: The wizened Indian Fakir lies down on a bed of razor-sharp nails and rests comfortably as a baby in her mother’s arms. But walk barefoot on the beach and step on an old pop-top? You cut your foot open and require stitches. Plus you’ll need a ...
I spend a lot of time speaking at corporate conferences and events. In 2018 alone I’ve already spoken in San Diego, Mexico, San Francisco (twice), Maui, New Orleans, Seattle, Naples, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale. And this month I’m heading to Phoenix, Albuquerque, Amelia Island, South Beach, and Tempe. So it’s no surprise that people are ...
It’ll be on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Listen. Did you hear it? The opening shot of the revolution was just fired. And most of us pretended the sound was business as usual. A few years ago, way way back in 2008, Dave Carroll had his guitar broken by United Airlines. When the air carrier wouldn’t ...
Every bit of up-to-date business advice I read talks about how important it is to properly manage your contact list. Whether the author calls a prospect list “a community,” “a tribe,” “a database,” “a sales roster” or a “contact list,” the suggestions are usually the same: Use technology and careful editing to keep the list ...
Seeing Through Transparency Legends and fairy tales have always been a great way of looking at what society finds both frightening or exemplary. For example, back in Medieval times, the plagues that spread unseen contagion fed the original vampire legends. And as recently as a few years ago a suspected vampire was beaten to death ...
Metaphors and allegories are often great ways to make complicated examples simple. In Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” the philosopher used the idea of prisoners chained to a wall and seeing only the shadows of other people to express the concept of actual and imagined realities. Only when the prisoners were freed and encountered ...
