The Marion Blog

We're living through an unprecedented time in world history, and as a business owner you've been hit with a situation you could have never predicted or prepared for. There's no class in business school, no Dave Ramsey rainy day fund rule that readies you for a sudden...

There’s a lot to unpack in David Foster Wallace’s This is Water, of which there's a book version you can buy or just read or listen to at Farnam Street. Of all of it this section really struck me: Because here’s something else that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day...

The tagline on the cover is "Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It". As a small business that helps small businesses grow this seemed extremely relevant and I was not disappointed. The book starts with discussing the "Entrepreneur Myth": that...

In April of last year my wife and I had the privilege of traveling in Italy for 10 days. One of the things you do in Italy as an American tourist is shop for famous Italian leather. We decided while in Florence to walk through the San Lorenzo market doing just that,...

I spent most of 2018 reading services and marketing (and services marketing) related books. Learning about polymaths and mental models has led me to focus on branching out more in 2020 and expanding to different topics, with the idea they will inform my marketing work...

This was going to be more of an advice list to marketers considering starting their own agency. Then I read James Clear’s year in review and I decided I liked his format better and it would sound less like I’m some sage that knows exactly what will happen to your...

The reality is everyone struggles, no one builds flawless operations or flawless products. Good work that makes a difference is hard, no matter who you are or where you came from.

Small Business Saturday is November 30th and it's about that time where everyone is looking for the best ideas for what to do to promote their business. I'll give you two:     Think of the #1 question people ask about your product or service. If you can't think of...

I’ll say this directly to clients: it doesn’t matter how amazing our creative is. No one is going to be scrolling Instagram, see your ad and go “holy shit I need to buy this thing right now” and just stop everything else they had going on to hand you all their money for the thing you sell.

My wife and I bought our first house and within the first week figured out all three exhaust fans in our bathrooms were really loud and really broken. I, not being the handiest, avoided dealing with it and left it on my honey do list for about a year and a half.  ...