That’s one expensive pizza
Jimmy Buffett called pizza the eighth wonder of the world. As a lifelong fan, I’d agree. Pizza is arguably America’s most popular food. I’m from...
Ask Mr. Marketing
You get what you pay for
There’s a wise old saying: “There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper,...
A case of the munchies
In the heart of Santa Barbara’s shopping district, there resides a branch of the bakery chain Insomnia Cookies. Started in 2003 to service students studying...
Tourism advice for Santa Barbara’s mayor
My mother always told me it costs nothing to be nice. There’s a woman at your Garden Street visitors center who didn’t get the memo....
The importance of perseverance
Recently, I was reunited with a very old and dear friend based in LA whom I hadn’t seen in 20 years. We’d parted under questionable...
You get just one chance …
If you’re anything like me, your mother probably told you that you only get one chance to make a first impression. Sound familiar? This means...
When pricing doesn’t add up
Confession time: I’m not a math whiz. Truth be told, I just figured out how to balance my checkbook. Still, I couldn’t help but notice...
Don’t neglect your mailing list
During my dating days, I learned that pursuing someone who never showed any interest was a losing proposition. I’d call three times, then move on...
About that hilarious name tag …
Regular readers know I think differently from lots of other folks. This is both because I’m always seeking ways to stand out of a crowd,...
Always check the return address
Over the years we’ve talked about Nigerian princes, fake domain registrars and phony peddlers of board seats. But what about when friends need a favor?...
Happy anniversary to me!
I casually mentioned to my friend Keith that I was coming up on the 18th anniversary of this column. “That’s chai! That’s Hebrew for ‘life.’...
Netflix revisits Pepsi promotion gone wrong
Pop quiz: What do Hoover appliances, Kraft cheese and Pepsi have in common? Disastrous sales promotions. Consider this: Kraft runs a promotion giving away one...
The risks of not showing up
Regular readers know I hire one intern annually to help with writing and research projects. So it was no surprise to hear from a USD...
Frankly, endorsing the competition is foolish
Ah summer…the season of hot dogs and competitive eating contests. Professional competitive eating events are run by Major League Eating, the sanctioning body that oversees,...
Giving AI writing a fair shake
Turn any corner today and you’ll bump into artificial intelligence. It’s seeking patterns in immense databases, drawing pretty girls on sun-dappled beaches, coding computer programs...