Articles written by Bruce Pilgrim

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About me - Bruce Pilgrim

I've been making my living as a writer since I got out of college. Over the years, I've worked in journalism, PR, advertising, marketing and corporate communications.

I recently self-published a book about managing a freelance writing business, called "Talking

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Business > Entrepreneurship Questions you should ask before quitting your day job: 1 of 19

Can you picture yourself running your own business? Do you ever dream of making a living as a consultant? It is a common fantasy to dream of quitting the corporate scene, and setting your own course. While it is the dream of many people to start their own businesses, being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. Many small busi...
Personal Finance > Retirement Should Social Security benefits be abolished?: 4 of 36

No. If nothing else, it's about survivors. The overwhelming majority of people collecting Social Security benefits today include two main groups; 1. Retired workers who have paid into the Social Security System their entire working lives. 2. Survivors; widows, widowers, and children of deceased breadwinners. Virtually every ...
Jobs & Careers > Getting Ahead Kissing up to your boss is a must if you want to get ahead: 6 of 52

It is not so much a matter of kissing up, but understanding where your boss is coming from. It is about recognizing the reality of the relationship and it is about managing your manager. From the outset, you must recognize that your boss is the boss. You might feel that you are more talented, experienced, qualified, etc. Yet...
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: The joys of air travel: 8 of 43

Traveling on business is kind of like taking a vacation at home there's a lot less to it than you might think. On business, you get to stay in nice hotels, but not long enough to enjoy them. Sometimes you go to interesting cities, but all you really see are airports, highways, and conference rooms. And, for every great meal ...
Business > Advertising Tips for creating a powerful brochure: 2 of 10

Creating a brochure that properly positions and markets your product or service begins with a thorough understanding of your market. Let's assume you have developed a great new product that fits a real consumer need. Great News: You're already half-finished finished with your brochure because you are light years ahead of all...
Business > Customer Management Customer service myths: 1 of 5

Providing excellent customer service is crucial to the survival of any business, but this is especially true for a small business. If doing business with you is deemed a good experience by your customers, you'll be fine your customers will come back for more and tell other people about you. However, providing good customer s...
Arts & Humanities > Comic Books & Graphic Novels Superman versus Spiderman: The superior superhero: 5 of 18

Superman is simply the best and the original superhero. He has a complete back story - son of Jor-l of Krypton, rocketed into space just as the planet exploded, grew up in Smallville, best friend of Batman (the only superhero without any super powers), leader of the Justice League, vulnerable to kryptonite, and so on. Spider...
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Corporate suck-ups: 1 of 1

Sucking up is not really one of my skills. So, in the great tradition of batting coaches with lifetime averages of .220, I will now presume to provide you with a guide to sucking up in the corporate context. Be extra agreeable Cultivate the knack of adopting the opinions of the higher ups as your own. It is not enough to jus...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Testimonies: Blunders in public relations: 1 of 1

It's not every day that I get quoted in the Wall Street Journal. In fact, there was just the one day. It happened about a year after the company I worked for fired a guy on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. You might have heard about this. It was in all the papers and the networks and on Paul Harvey and even Armed Forces Radi...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Testimonies: Health scares that lead you to give up smoking: 1 of 1

I doubt very much that I would have ever quit smoking if I hadn't spent a night in intensive care after being unable to breathe. It started at dinner time when I was having a lot of trouble catching my breath. So, I went to the emergency room and was admitted to the hospital's ICU. I'd had trouble breathing before, but that ...