I moved home to Chicago this past fall, after 20 years in other places (mostly Florida). I can hear “why?” in various tones of voice depending on how you feel about snow; just trust me that it was the right choice both because of, and in spite of, the upheaval that created the need and resulted from the choice. This one’s personal, but maybe my story will remind you of you, or of someone you care about.

Sometimes you go out into the world with big dreams and a taste for adventure. You realize you can do anything, go anywhere, be whatever you want to be, and so you take the leap. You have amazing experiences that you never would have had. You meet people who change your life. Maybe you even start your own business. And all of that incredible stuff fills you up and makes you glad

Language is a funny thing. We have this crazy idea that words have “definitions,” when in fact the meaning of words is nothing more (or less) than a broad consensus of a lot of people. As the consensus shifts over time, so shifts the meaning of a given word. And in this way language sometimes becomes more precise — and more often, becomes much LESS precise. (Case in point: swell, neat, keen, cool, awesome, hot, and dope have gone from meaning seven very different things to all meaning basically the same thing!)

One of the keen, cool, awesome things that happens with language evolution is when a word that was used in a mean or hateful way is “reclaimed” by the people it was once used to deride. “Queer” went from being an

No matter what business you are in, your customers do business with you because of what you communicate. When you are successful in gaining a customer and a sale, it’s because someone heard your message, understood it, related to it, and decided that its content held some value for them. When you are NOT successful, it’s because one of those steps did not occur.

If we unpack that a bit, we can break down the whole process of marketing and advertising into these four steps. First, the customer has to hear your message. How, where, and to whom do you communicate? Have you decided who your target customer is and how to reach them? Is your strategy working? If you suspect that the people you want to reach are not receiving your message, what would you need to change to