It’s not about WHAT, but WHO you know!

I’m using LinkedIn.com to organize my professional contacts because I believe in the power of connections and who hasn’t heard about the famous “six degrees of separation“. Many times, things in my personal and professional life happened because of opportunities that I was offered or found through people I was somehow connected to. No matter where you are in your career, most of the time, relationships are the secret to ultimate success in business or otherwise. Success starts with building and maintaining these relationships! (more…)

The History of Thanksgiving

Given that I was born and raised in Germany I have always looked at our American Holidays with curiosity and respect. Now that I have kids myself I do my best to instill into my 2 little guys a beginning sense of respect for such Holidays as Thanksgiving by telling them stories about why we celebrate this as a Holiday and what it really means. I did, of course, do “my history homework” and brushed up on some of the numbers and dates to not spread common wisdom half-truth and to make sure that my boys get a good idea of where, when, and what it was that made Thanksgiving the special Holiday my family – and most other American families – loves so much. (more…)

Six Sigma or the Jack Welch Way of Kicking Butt

Ok, I’ve posted my thoughts on service, quality and what a lack thereof can do to an organization here on my blog several times over the past year and a half. For the record, I AM A QUALITY ADVOCATE! So are the majority of the people who work for me and/or with me. I am, and always have been, fully committed to found, fund, and run only quality companies and release only quality products that provide a true benefit and value to the people using them. I hate that sometimes I have to face an unhappy customer, yet the fact that we at Globat at times do fall short of customer’s as well as our own expectations does not change my mindset about quality at all. I will keep leading the charge to change a status quo and iron out any issues that may come up. I am a big Six Sigma enthusiast and am behind the principles and the tremendous benefits this methodology can bring to virtually any organization. (more…)

Customer Service with a Personal Touch?

When it comes to delivering quality customer service, one thing I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is that no matter the nature of the business, customer service is the most important factor influencing your success, and yet, it’s the hardest thing to perfect.

Customer service is the most personal aspect of running a business, and as it is with all things personal, there are so many little details that can affect the outcome of the situation. Think of other personal relationships in our everyday lives, such as romantic relationships or maintaining friendships and you’ll realize that one little mishap can throw everything out of step. As much as we would like to think that we are the kings of the jungles, humans are very emotional and sensitive, especially when it comes to our interactions with one another. (more…)

Your Credit – To Protect and To Serve

I have always been very protective of my credit. A perfect credit history along with a high FICO score translates into dollars saved whenever you are in need of financing. When you are an entrepreneur no bank will give you any form of even somewhat attractive financing unless you have good credit (along with some other assets). I’ve spead my “protect your credit” gospel to a bunch of people and over the years have compiled a list of interesting and helpful links. (more…)

Customer Service? How May We Help You?

It’s interesting, but lately I have been focusing aggressively on customer service. This is, at least in part, due to my blog being listed on Globat.com’s home page as a way for customers to get to me directly to provide valuable feedback (good and bad) about how my companies are doing. Many customers do take advantage of this feature and I feel that I am now more “in the loop” as to what is going on in the different departments than I have ever been. Many changes have been implemented based on the feedback I have received and this blog has become a valuable tool for me. (more…)

Are you right or left?

Have you ever wondered where you stand politically? Are you more of a liberal or do you consider yourself clearly a conservative? It’s a tough subject and an even tougher task to truly define where you really stand. Maybe you’re actually a libertarian or, like most people (about 33% of all voters) to be exact, a centrist. If you are interest in where you stand politically, check out the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. You might just be surprised!

The stunt addiction…

I’m not saying that web hosting isn’t exciting. To me it is, very much actually. I am aware, however, that I’m a bit of a geek and as such my judgment on technology-related issues is slightly clouded. That is why our new marketing site DefyingGravity.com is such a fresh breath of air and it seems that our whole team gets as excited about some of these new and crazy stunts we’re getting involved in as our customers and the public in general. Of course, I love it! (more…)

Video of sponsored birth now online at DefyingGravity.com

Many of you have probably heard (it was all over the evening news in the U.S.) that Globat.com sponsored the birth of a Missouri baby last month. We have now published the video of the birth at our pretty crazy events website DefyingGravity.com. Our unique birth sponsorship attracted prime-time media attention worldwide and even spawned some controversy over the mother’s decision to look for a corporate sponsor for this event. We’re offering the video in both Windows Media Player and QuickTime formats. (more…)

Are men really smarter than women?

Ok, I’m don’t usually post any of the sometimes really funny stories I get in my email box every day, but this one was just too out there (for better or worse). A good friend of mine (female, btw) sent it to me today. Just for my own marriage’s sake; this does not necessarily reflect my personal opinion. (more…)