The right tools

July 1, 2023  |  Editorial

As a serious gardener, I think a lot about tools. Gardening in Minnesota is not for the faint of heart. Preparing the beds, pruning, weeding, planting and harvesting all happen in a relatively short period, so choosing the right tools, using them properly and keeping them in peak condition is critic…
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At what cost

May 1, 2023  |  Editorial

It’s important to think hard about your bottom line when you’re in business. You won’t be profitable or stay in business very long without keeping track of your expenses and revenues. It’s also true that fixating on your costs and cutting too many corners can create expensive mistakes. 
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Creative risk is messy

March 1, 2023  |  Editorial

My brother is a wacky painter. A lot of his art is filled with blurry faces and unfinished bodies. Some of his paintings show finer techniques, but he says he prefers to take a “messy approach” to potentially achieve a more creative result than “something that matches a couch.” Being profici…
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Creative Connections

January 1, 2023  |  Editorial

As a writer and editor, I prefer to do most of my work alone in the quiet of my home office. But during the dark days of a Minnesota winter, working alone gets lonely and my ideas feel thin and uninspired.  That’s why I attend literary conferences and classes each winter. The creative spark that …
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Success at every age

September 1, 2022  |  Editorial

There is a ritual (some would say a bad habit) where each generation complains about the generation that comes after it. “Young people today are (lazy, selfish, self-involved, distracted, demanding, impatient…fill in the blank).” Some young people are sometimes those things. And some older fol…
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Adaptation

July 1, 2022  |  Editorial

If we humans are good at anything, it’s adapting to change. You might think I’m talking about pandemics, but I’m actually talking about business in general. Running a business means continuously adapting to forces both within and outside of your control. It’s about remaining flexible while h…
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Spreading the word

May 1, 2022  |  Editorial

Are your marketing efforts attracting the types of clients and projects you’re interested in? If not, how should you go about it? The first step, obviously, is creating quality projects. And then you need to get the word out to your desired clients. For Midwesterners like myself, tooting our own h…
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Success: Despite and because of

March 1, 2022  |  Editorial

The marine fabrication business often seems like a business of nothing but problems. Supply chain bottlenecks, a lack of employees, demanding customers and too little time to address the ever-growing waitlist. But it’s also a business filled with problem solvers. That’s the beauty of working wit…
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