Common-sense

This is my 500th blog post. I guess you could say that I am a bit prolific in my writing.... or, I am just a bit long winded.

The best advantage for this blog is an opportunity for me to learn new things. I get the opportunity to research and formulate ideas as I write. I feel a little withdrawn from learning when I don't write.

I thought that I would share the top ten things that I have learned during the course of writing this blog (I guess you can call it my best of...)

These are in no particular order. continue reading...

I am a pretty demanding customer. I think that there are many people out there who are willing to accept less from their vendors. In some cases, I think they are willing to accept less because they are pleased with the low cost. However, I think that most people don't expect better service because they have been conditioned to accept mediocrity.

While I don't believe in a "customer bill of rights" because I think that it is an easy thing to say and forget, I believe in good customer service policies that positively affect the customer experience. continue reading...

I wanted a quick bite for lunch, so I drove down the street to go through the drive through at the local Taco Bell. As I was waiting for my order to be taken, I noticed this "brilliant" piece of advertising and pricing.

Now, the quality isn't very good because I only had my phone camera with me.

They have the traditional combo menu and now the "New, Why Pay More!" menu. continue reading...

I have chronic heart burn and I have to take medication for that heart burn. The best drug that works for me is Nexium. But, I don't take that because my insurance co-pay is too expensive. If I did take that, I would only have to take one per day.

Because Nexium isn't a preferred drug on the insurance policy, I have to take two per day of Priolsec (or its generic equivalent). So, instead of 30 pills per month, I take 60 pills per month. If I miss a pill, I have a horrible few hours until the next pill kicks in.

I thought I would do a little research on what the real cost is.  

The total cost per month for my prescription is $153.99. Because I have a reasonable insurance plan, my co pay for that drug is $10.00 and the pharmacy is proud to say that I "saved" $143.99.

I decided to look at Amazon.com for comparisons. continue reading...

I was looking at some cell phone plans today. What is wrong with this?

I love the line that says, "Whether you have one employee or thousands, T-Mobile as plans that suit your business needs." continue reading...

I was at a local convenience store and looked at the back emergency exit.

Sorry for the low quality picture... I only had my camera phone with me. continue reading...

I flew into Honolulu last night on a much needed vacation... but the mind of a blogger never rests. My wife and I were waiting at carousel D6 for our bags.

After we had been waiting for about 15 minutes... marveling that so many bags go unclaimed while so many people stand and wait for their bags to appear, we heard an interesting announcement.

"For your convenience, passengers on flight 1865 can pick up their bags on either carousel D6 or D7."

Did I get that right? Now, I am responsible to check two different carousels? How do I know which to check? How is that convenient for me?

So, I walked over to D6 and my wife stayed at D7. continue reading...

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.

Just the name is annoying. Have you seen this anywhere? Do you know what it is? This is the stupid little box at the bottom of many forms that ask you to validate if you are human or not. Some are simple (like add 2 + 2 and input your answer). Some are obscured text to input. Sometimes they are downright impossible to decipher. I had to try 4 times the other day before I could get my account set up on one site.

John points us to a list of the worst CAPTCHAs found on the web. If you find worse, let me know. Here they go:

  continue reading...

How long does it take someone to go to your home page and understand what they are supposed to do? When someone is using a search engine to do research for a product they would like to buy, they aren't going to take time to go deep into your product offerings unless they have a compelling reason to do so. The presentation on your home page (or any other landing page, for that matter) is critical to get them to stay. It does you no good to attract people to your site then lose them because your presentation stinks. Make your presentation simple and to the point. Don't leave them with questions as what you are all about or where to go next on your site. You already know that rambling in verbal communication is bad, so don't let your marketing ramble either. Corey Smith Co-founder of Resumango where you can build a better resume for free

What is wrong with this pricing model? (look at two buttons on the right)

If I pay for three days, one day at a time, I pay only $27. If I want to get one three day pass, I pay an additional $13. Is that for the convenience? Or for the stupid? $13... bad luck. Thanks to John for the image. Corey Smith Co-founder of Resumango where you can build a better resume for free