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Reflections, Accomplishments, and Regrets

Baby
Newborn baby and stork ushering in the New Year. Saturday Evening Post Illustration (1907) by J. C. Leyendecker. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

So here we are—a New Year—a time when everyone looks back to the prior year but more importantly, everyone looks forward. I’m no different. It’s good to sit back and reflect on what you have accomplished but it’s even more important to stop and think about the strategy and goals for the next year. In other words, build onto your prior accomplishments.

Yooper Publications was able to publish 3 books in 2014: Where Did They Put the Guillotine? —Volumes One and Two and Slippery Slope: The Erosion of Truth and Personal Liberty in America. These were the tangible results. However, there were so many more results that I can’t cover them all in this blog post. The most important result in 2014 was our ability to create a team of professionals who could produce very high quality books. When I hand a copy of any of these books to someone or I know a book has been sold, I’m very proud to have my name on the cover.

Sigh…

I’m sitting back right now and producing a huge sigh of relief at our various 2014 accomplishments. It was like being on a very fast revolving merry-go-round. Each week during the year, I developed an agenda to discuss with the team. There are always at least 10 to 15 separate items to discuss: where we’re at, resources needed, deadlines, conceptual issues, marketing, fulfillment, distribution, digital marketing strategies, and so forth. Read More Reflections, Accomplishments, and Regrets

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Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend

A scene from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
A scene from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

I had a hard time deciding on a title for this blog. It could have been several titles and I still would have gotten your attention.

I love Madonna. I love Marilyn Monroe. They were the “IT” girls for their respective generation. In 1953, Marilyn starred in a movie called, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She sang the song, Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Thirty-one years later, Madonna produced and starred in the video entitled, “Material Girl.” Both dance scenes are eerily alike—check them out below. However, approximately 173 years earlier, the French “IT” girl was Marie Antoinette.

The “Other” Woman.

King Louis XV ordered a diamond necklace to be made for his “favorite”—Madame du Barry. It was quite expensive and took many years to find the right diamonds. During this time, Louis died and Madame du Barry was banished from the court (as was the custom with the king’s mistresses).

The Parisian jewelers funded the creation of the necklace out of pocket and so they were anxious to sell the necklace to Louis’s successor, King Louis XVI. There was only one problem. Marie Antoinette hated Madame du Barry and when Louis XVI presented the necklace to his wife, she turned him down. Now, the jewelers were in a fix. Without the sale of the necklace, they would go out of business. Read More Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend