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MySpace was founded in 2003. In July 2005 it was acquired by News Corporation for $580 million. For about 3 years Myspace was the most visited social networking site in the world. It surpassed Google as the most visited site in America in June 2006. That’s when the decline began. By the end of last year, 2011, the site ranked about 138th in most visited (that’s still impressive, but not as impressive).

On June 29, 2011, Myspace was sold to Justin Timberlake and Specific Media for approximately $35 million…a mere 6.03% of what News Corporation had paid some six years earlier. In terms of sheer purchase price, MySpace had managed to lose a value of $545 million. That’s about a $91 million a year decline in value over 6 consecutive years.

All those resources lost. Oh, and in a 2 year period, between June 2009 and June 2011, MySpace jettisoned 1400 people. More lost resources. New Corporation likely would love a “do-over.” $545 million, 6 years, and who knows what else – gone!  Suddenly, I feel better about my $50,900 loss.

Every quarter there are tremendous losses and wasted resources. We read about them constantly in the business press. Even the mainstream press.

Well, we don’t have millions of dollars. We’re not Justin Timberlake. How does any of this apply to our life?

Click play and find out. It’s a sober message that everybody needs to more seriously consider. Life is short. Resources are limited. We all need to allocate more wisely.

The Freakonomics podcast is mentioned in today’s show. In particular, this episode about doctors washing their hands and people learning the basics of financial responsibility.

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Millions of people enter each work day hopeful. Hopeful that today will be better than yesterday. Hopeful that yesterday’s problems will grow smaller.

You know the adage, “Hope is not a strategy.” It’s a great saying, but sadly, for too many people it’s not true. Hope is the only strategy some people employ.

And it’s not because they’re stupid or foolish.

Many people don’t how to do it any other way. Day after day they hope. Some days it works out. Many days, it doesn’t.

Today’s show has one goal – to help you learn how to get started. I’ll warn you there are no secrets and no super easy shortcuts. But everybody can improve. Everybody can start.

Think of your life as a resource. A limited resource. We’ll start with that truth and move onto a few practical tips anybody can implement today – right now – to start feeling better about their work because they’ll be more effective. It’s not just about feeling better. It’s about doing better, which makes us feel better.

Let me know if this helps. I’d love to hear your feedback.

Great Salespeople Are Like Great Detectives

Here are 3 things that great detectives and great salespeople have in common. Can you think of some others?

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Do you look like this in your business?

“Man, you’re like a kitten. You chase every ball of yarn that enters the room,” I told this business owner. He’s one of a long line of business owners who’ve heard me say that. I doubt he’ll be the last.

Does that describe how you live? Boy, I hope not. But in the past three plus decades I’ve encountered many business owners and leaders whose lives were characterized by pandemonium, chaos and constant movement. Commotion becomes a habit for some business owners.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It’s a biblical principle, but it has broad – secular – application. We build the life we want.

If your business is characterized by commotion, then you’ve behaved in ways to make it so. If you don’t want commotion to be the mantra of your business life, then change it. Behave differently.

But how?

There’s one thing you must do before any meaningful change can occur. Just one thing. I’ll warn you – it may not be easy for you. Many people find it tremendously difficult. Even so, dwell on this one thing. Embrace it. Most importantly, do it!

Hey, will you do me a favor? Leave me some feedback over at iTunes. I’d greatly appreciate it. In fact, it’d make my weekend!

Have a great weekend,
* Photo courtesy of MinkBlue

Just about every business I’ve ever helped had a foundational problem associated with getting new customers. We all need and want more leads. More is always better.

Lead generation is a top of the sales funnel problem. There is almost always another problem at the bottom of the funnel, too. Maybe you’ve not considered this problem as seriously as you should.

Minimalism, minimum viable product (Eric Ries, The Lean Startup), a WOW factor and the 37 Signals‘ approach to providing value…it’s all here in today’s show.

Quite frequently I find myself wanting less. But like you, I want what I want. Sometimes it’s hard to find. Case in point, Bible software for Mac. I’ve owned a variety of Bible software through the years and have been dissatisfied with everything built for the Mac. It’s overkill. I want simple, useful…valuable.

What about your career, or your business? Are you piling on features, all the while thinking you’re piling on the value?

Desperate businesses say YES when saying NO would be more profitable. It’s understandable though because cash is king.

Success demands that you learn to say NO to high-maintenance prospects (prospects are those people who haven’t yet bought anything from you, but you think they might).

The sooner you cut loose from the high-maintenance prospect the better. You’ll have more time and resources to focus on prospects who will be more ideally suited to you and your business.

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Does your business look like this?

These little Red Sox players lack understanding and maturity. They’re just having fun running around. Cluelessness is cute when you’re just a kid, but not when you’re older.

Does chaos, commotion, confusion and complexity rule the day in your business or career? Then you’re like these little kids. Childish.

Stop it. Grow up. Get a grip and stop ruining your success.

This is a great primer for folks who just don’t get social media or today’s Internet-connected world. Enjoy!

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My Grandsons

“It’s all about building relationships,” says the expert. “Businesses must build community.”

People flock to this trough like hungry swine, devouring every word as though their business lives depended on it. Obviously many business owners believe it.

It sounds reasonable. Right, even.

Besides, we all want to be liked, loved and in good relationships.

And who doesn’t want to be part of a community? Better yet, who doesn’t want to be the Pied Piper?

Build your own tribe. Lead that tribe. How cool is that – to be the Chief of your own tribe leading the rest of us around like simps unable to decide for ourselves?

In a world where everybody is an expert about something (some among us are expert at everything), it’s about building relationships.

No, it’s not.

It’s about sitting in my car recording today’s episode before my second workout of the day. Today’s episode was recorded late yesterday outside The Yellow Studio. That’s why today’s show is another special episode. You might think it’s special in other ways after you give it a listen.

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I’m talking him off the ledge. He owns his own business. A business he started over 10 years ago. A business he now hates.

Well, he doesn’t hate the business, but he hates going to work. Every Sunday evening he begins dreading Monday morning.

“I don’t want to do this any more. I just want to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed.”

The toll is high. His family bickers constantly. His health isn’t terrific. He’s drinking a tad more than before. He can’t remember the last time he exercised. Or went to the doctor for a checkup.

He tells me this isn’t what he bargained for. I tell him, “This is exactly the life you bargained for.” Silence.

I thought he hung up on me, but he was just sitting quietly in stunned disbelief that life had gotten so out of control.

I sat quietly knowing he’s not alone. Saddened by the fact that I’m encountering too many small business owners who feel owned by their business instead of the other way around.

Jeffrey A. Landers wrote this book, “The Home Office From Hell Cure: Transform Your Underperforming, Time-Sucking Homebased Business Into A Runaway Success.”

Home offices can be from hell, but so can other offices. Small, medium and large businesses can be just as demon possessed as a homebased business. They need a cure. And like any other ailment, there’s not a single prescription because the illnesses are varied.

Don’t let your small business kill you. Or over-run your life. Today, I’d like to give you just a few simple, but powerful ideas to consider.

Hint: These powerful ideas have everything to do with YOU, not your business. It starts with YOU.

Would you do me a favor? Subscribe to the podcast. Thanks!

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Photo Courtesy of Indraneel Rakshit on Flickr

The proverb is true. The journey of 1000 miles does begin with a single step.

The first step is often tough though. You consider everything that can go wrong. You question yourself about every little detail of the journey.

“What if I screw up?”

“What if it doesn’t work out?”

“What if I blow it?”

I have another question, “What if you never start – even small?” You’ll never get any further along than where you are right now. Look around. Get comfortable…because you’re not going anywhere if you’re not willing to go small. Warning: getting too comfortable just looking at the current view will kill any chance you’ve got to get to that mountain peak in the distance!

Go! Move. Take some meaningful action right now!

I don’t know if you’ll ever get where you’re headed, but I know for a certainty that you’ll never get there by sitting still.

Go now. Go small. Figure it out as you go. Keep your eyes open and enjoy the scenery along the way, too.

As Spock would say, “Live long and prosper!”

P.S. My wallpaper photo isn’t the one used in this post, but I really like this one. Visit Indraneel’s Flickr page.

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Time To Reboot

Now that the About page has been rewritten – and I’m not saying I’m finished with it – it’s time to release this episode. It’s been coming for quite a long time. In fact, for over 2 weeks I’ve sat down to record this episode more times than I can count. Each time I simply decided against it. I don’t think it was fear as much as it was trying to figure out how to tell the story.

This past Saturday I went into The Yellow Studio, muted the sound of the college football game playing on the flat screen, and launched forth. One take (I almost never do multiple takes and I never, ever edit). No script. No notes. I just started to tell the story as briefly as I could – because I know you don’t really care about all the details. Shoot, I don’t even care about them much!

I do care about you. I care that you’ve given me your time and attention. I care about you, and I care about your business and your life. Not in some hokey sort of way, but in a way that’s right. At least it’s right for me. Part of my challenge with the Internet is all the talk of scope and scale. As a business person I fully understand those things, but as a person — I could care less!

For the better part of 6 months I’ve been doing some heavy thinking, which isn’t that easy for somebody whose brain is as small as mine. That explains the headaches.

I reached a conclusion some months ago as I reviewed how many things in my professional life had changed. I surveyed the variety of opportunities coming my way. I examined the people who have entered my life in the last few years. Mostly, I closely examined my contributions, or lack of them. Situations and circumstances where I felt I was doing good work. Others where I definitely was not.

Things change. Thanks to time, circumstances, opportunities and a host of other variables that life slings our way. Weeks, if not months ago, I knew it was time.

For something completely different.

It’s time to move on. It’s time to get going.

BulaNetwork.com ‘s first iteration dies and now is born a new identity, a new purpose -

BulaNetwork.com becomes a new media company.

Today’s show goes behind the scenes to tell you exactly what’s been happening and why. I’d love to hear what you think about it.

As with all effective re-boots, this one means the “finder” gets a fresh start. Whatever happened in the past is now over. Whatever work was in process is now permanently interrupted and gone. The future will now be determined by what happens starting today. This re-boot won’t involve me wiping out all the past though. The previous posts and podcasts episodes will remain. They’re here for archive purposes only though. The future shall not resemble the past!

That’s the point of a re-boot, right?

Thanks for listening, reading and watching!

Who do you want to serve? That’s your ideal customer or your target market.

Is your pricing helping or hindering your ability to reach your target market? Your value proposition must befit the market you’re trying to conquer.

Every week I work on other peoples’ businesses. I regularly encounter both problems. Small business owners who haven’t properly defined their ideal customer struggle to find any market. Businesses sometimes fail to present the correct value proposition to reach their target market. That is, they price their offers too low and aren’t taken seriously, or they price their offers too high and are unable to justify it.

Small business owners desperate for revenue often choose to do business with anybody who will say, “Yes.” It can tear their business apart as they soon find out that they’re now tethered to a bad customer who drains their time, money and resources in the never ending quest to simply satisfy a customer not likely to ever be satisfied. “I wish I had never done business with this customer,” is a common refrain I hear.

Sometimes – in fact, more often than not – I find small businesses who under price their services. Again, desperate for revenue they think by lowering their price they’re giving the prospect a compelling reason to say, “Yes.” Instead, they’re diminishing their opportunities to serve their target market.

Every small business owner should find some quiet time to more seriously consider their target market and how their pricing strategy can be adapted to help them more effectively reach that market.

Thanks for watching.

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Are You Serious About Building Your Business? Click Play.

Let’s Start From The Beginning. Or The End.

Among the most important work of building any business are the following:

1. Getting what’s in your head documented so the gap between knowing and doing is closed. When principle players of a business don’t document what they know, the organization is unable to learn. Only learning organizations remain viable over time.

2. Getting systems built so products/services can be delivered with predictable success over and over. Some call it scale. Some call it sustainability. Whatever you call it, it’s urgent that every business build a work-flow that enables the delivery of the service to be excellent every single time. The exception, poor service, should be the exception – not the rule.

3. Once systems have become second nature, it’s time to consider automation – putting some activities on auto-pilot. This may involve lower cost labor executing activities previously done by more skilled people. It may involve using technology to perform functions previously done manually, giving the company more man hours for more profitable functions.

All of this boils down to a simple “easier-said-than-done” approach to business building:

If Then Systems

“IF” this happens, “THEN” here’s what our business does to respond.

Every business is nothing more than a series of requests. Daily our lives are driven by requests. Customers have requests. Prospects have requests. Partners have requests.

Businesses run into trouble when they aren’t able to effectively and efficiently handle all these requests. Every stress felt by a company stems from that company’s inability to properly handle all the requests put upon it. From cash flow, to lead generation, to making payroll – and every other challenge facing a business – they all can be fixed with an improvement to more consistently deliver superior value in answer to all the requests.

Among the big challenges facing most small businesses is this one, “How can we say YES to this request?” Unfortunately, too many small business owners don’t consider a more important question, “SHOULD we say YES to this request?”

It really starts with making decisions that put the business in the best possible position for success. Success is based on financial results, number of happy customers, how many customers will recommend our company, happy employees and ongoing innovation and creativity.

The Solution Is Also The Problem

The problem is TLC. The solution is also TLC.

Time • Logistics • Communication

Time is an obvious problem. We don’t have enough of it. Ever.

Logistics is a multi-faceted problem. It’s who and where, all at the same time. Who has it. Where are they at with it. Simply put, logistics is work-flow. It’s how we get things done. We do it with the help of other people.

Communication is internal and external. It’s how we talk, what we say, when we say it and it involves every aspect of our communication with people inside the company, or those directly involved in our work (suppliers, vendors, partners, anybody who is associated with our serving customers). It’s also how we communicate (in all forms) with our prospects and customers.

The elephant in the room is one word: EMOTION.

Every element of TLC evokes emotions, either positive (calming, excitement, intrigue, comfort, happiness) or negative (fear, dread, anxiety, depression, unhappiness).

It’s important that a business establish basic guidelines and expections to build a TLC model that is effective in building the most successful business possible.

An Obvious Truth: If the business suffers, everybody associated with that business suffers. If a business thrives, everybody associated with that business benefits.

That means every decision must be congruent with the purpose of the business. So we begin with the end in view, “What is the purpose of your business?”

Money. Well, of course. But that’s an outcome – a hopeful outcome – of what a business does. The purpose is something deeper, more important. “There’s something more important than money?” Sure.

Time is more important. You can earn more money, but you can’t create more time.

And this first component of TLC presses on us how the purpose of our business has to be focused on one big question, “How do you want to spend your days?”

That is, what do you want to do with your time? Specifically, what do you want to do with your working time?

Every successful person – in our case, business people – must determine how they’d like to spend their time. Every day people get up and DO something. It’s that something we DO that determines our daily purpose. It establishes who we are. It defines us.

We can fight against it. We can even deny it. But when all is said and done, it’s what’s done that defines who we are – and what kind of business we build.

If everything is important, nothing is important.

Be congruent.

Establishing priorities is one of the most important decisions facing every leader. It forms the foundation of the entire business. Openly and subtly it tells everybody what we value most.

Business owners often make the mistake of making everything important. They love the mantra, “Sweat the details.” Or, “the devil is in the details.” It’s a cowardly way of justifying their poor management style.

The autocrat – a person with absolute, singular authority – rules with an iron fist. Unmoved by input from anybody else, he’s the center of his own universe. Every good idea must be his own, otherwise, it’s a bad idea. Every job in the company is best performed by him, but he only suffers the foolishness of others because he’s too important to do every job. He’s not too important to be the backseat driver behind every decision and every action taken by others.

Over time – sooner than later – the business realizes that there really are no priorities because every single thing is important. The owner’s ire is provoked by everything. People are unable to get a read on what really matters because it all seems to matter.

The practical reality is we all know things have a value based on their relation to other things. Some things are more important than other things. It’s important that people in a company draw the proper conclusion. That is, they must quickly learn what matters most. Leadership provides that answer with the establishment of priorities.

Congruency. Have you ever seen somebody in a place where you didn’t expect them? Sure, we’ve all done that. Perhaps we’re accustomed to seeing a person who waits on us regularly at our favorite eating joint. One evening we go out to attend a concert. We see somebody who looks familiar, but we’re unable to place them. They approach us and all of sudden it dawns on us who they are. Why did it take us so long to recognize them? Because in this moment of time, our congruency meter is thrown off by the context of this concert. In the restaurant setting we have no problem recognizing them. That’s congruency. It’s how we all make sense of the world.

It’s also among the many components that explains why the abused wife stays with the abusive husband. He says he loves her…after he’s beaten the crap out of her. He says one thing and does something different. Incongruities confuse her. She must make sense of it somehow. So, over time, she convinces herself his words mean more than his actions. “He just loses control sometimes,” she might say. Or, “I shouldn’t provoke him.” She has to make sense of her world in any way she can. And she does.

Employees and other people associated with our business do the same thing. They must make sense of things. When ownership says one thing, but does something different…or when ownership does one thing, then contradicts that with an opposite action…people naturally seek to make sense of it.

Being congruent speaks to every aspect of TLC. Our ability to be congruent with who we really are, what we really want and what we think is really most important – those send strong signals inside and outside the business. They mean everything to our business.

In the next show I’ll dive into the T of TLC, time.

Thanks for listening,

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They're not all the same price.

Today’s show addresses one of my most recent urgent topics with clients, pricing.

Coupled with pricing have been ongoing conversations about budgets and discounting. Blame it on the economy, but whatever the reason I’m finding so many small business owners experiencing challenges to their pricing structure.

Prospects blame it on the constraints of the budget. “I don’t have the budget for that amount,” they claim. Quite often we’re stuck with a single priced offer.

Look at those crabs. You’re budget won’t allow you to spend $6. Well, that’s why that one $5 crab is sitting there. Notice there’s only one $5 crab. Brilliant marketing and sales strategy. Save a buck, but there’s only one of them! Buy him. He’s puny, but you can save a whopping dollar. He’s a budget crab!

Washington, D.C. is living proof that budgets were meant to be broken. I’ve never seen a budget yet that wasn’t flexible. It’s an easy scapegoat for buyers. Blame it on the budget. Don’t fall for that.

Mentioned in today’s show is SaltyDroid.info. It has to do with commenting on blogs. Listen to the show and let me know if this has ever happened to you. Call me an “idiot,” but I’m willing to own my words. I was very tempted in today’s show to riff about the curse of digital anonymity, but I’ll save that for another day. My comments at SD’s site do have application to today’s subject though. I did make an effective tie in.

Check out the “Hire Me” page. It’s brand new.

Plug in your email address over there to the right and I’ll make sure you get my Bula Business Builder Newsletter. Don’t worry. It comes out quite randomly.

Thanks,

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Egg eyes of dread

Success is hard. Failure is harder.

Two things motivate most people who embark on the road to self-employment:

1. A problem for which they’ve not found a suitable solution
2. Dread

This isn’t a hard fast rule. It’s what I’ve observed during my 39 years of business experience.

Pursuing passion is terrific, but in far more cases than not, I’ve seen people whose passion was to avoid some pain. Maybe it was the pain of going to a job they hated. Maybe it was the pain of dreading that they’d be downsized at any moment. Maybe it was the pain of having a problem for which they could find no solution. Or, they couldn’t find a solution that was as good as one they believed they could create.

“I don’t know what I want, but this ain’t it.”

We’re often more driven to avoid pain than we are to capture pleasure, or fulfillment. It makes sense. First things first and all that.

I’ve taken people to the emergency room before and the first course of action – after quickly assessing the problem – is to get the pain under control. Pain management is a primary driver behind health care. It’s also a big driver behind business building…or career building.

Does that seem shallow to you? It shouldn’t be. To live a life where you can limit the amount of dread…that’s a good thing. An honorable thing.

Mentioned in today’s show:

• Carol Roth‘s book, The Entrepreneur Equation
• Randy Pauch’s Last Lecture
• Chick-Fil-A
• We’ve got rich folks in Dallas. Big Rich Texas!
• 1 Tim. 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
• It’s money that matters, but not most. Ask Randy Newman. Or ask him again.
• Money doesn’t care, but people do.
• People. Love. Just 2 things that matter more than money.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

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My primary objective these days is to help small businesses find and grab bigger waves. Some of my clients are already remarkable, but they’re dissatisfied. They want to be more remarkable. Others are just now trying to fly and struggling to gain some traction. It’s a wide range of people, products, services, revenue levels and business models, but…

they all want something more.

Today’s special episode is centered around one fundamental belief that I hold to be true. It’s counter-intuitive, but I’ve seen it work well in far too many instances. Here it is.

Focus on a group that is small, that you love and that you’re good at serving.

This statement focuses on two ideas that are both very important to your success: WHO and WHAT.

Who will you serve? Who do you want to be? Who do you most love serving? Who do you feel you can serve best?

What small group do you find most attractive? What do you most love about them? What groups do you most want to avoid? What work do you love most? What work do you most dread? What is it you’re good at – good enough to serve this desired group?

“But I’m not world-class,” says the would-be entrepreneur. Forget that. You don’t have to be world-class. Don’t get hung up with all the non-sense you read and hear. And stop wanting to serve the entire world. The world is a poor target market for most of us.

Give me just a piece of your time and attention and let’s see if I can provoke some thoughts to help you move forward. Forward progress doesn’t always happen in quantum leaps. Sometimes it’s the proverbial inch-by-inch progress. Sometimes it is a big leap. Take it as it comes. Take action and keep taking action. Don’t quit.

Thank you for listening,

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Finding the path to success is a common pursuit. Even successful people want more. We’re all given to discontentment and dissatisfaction. Distraction may be the deadliest “dis” of all.

“A” in the diagram represents the starting place. Sadly, for too many it also represents complacency or being stuck in the middle. It can be an exciting place from which our future success is born. Or it can be a place of paralysis.

The circle represents goals, targets, achievements, accomplishments. So many different directions. So many different choices. “B” could be 360 different choices represented by the degrees of a circle, but we know there are an infinite number of choices really. That makes it difficult to choose. It’s often easier to avoid making a choice and remain stuck in the middle.

Today’s special episode is intended to provide you with encouragement to develop the zeal and tenacity necessary to get on with it. Today, I want to help you lift your eyes from “A” and make a definite choice. Select “B.” Make it by anywhere you’d like, preferably a direction that suits you best. Choose wisely, but choose. Then, get on with it. Start the trek toward “B.” Do it today. Don’t take your eyes off of “B.” Be precise. Be targeted. Be persistent.

When you reach “B” everything changes. Momentum shifts in your favor. Opportunities present themselves. Learning happens that helps you in new adventures. There’s compelling evidence that merely making up your mind to pursue a precise goal changes everything. No doubt a sniper rifle has greater precision than a shotgun. Live like a sniper rifle.

As the Scottish mountaineer William Hutchinson Murray wrote in 1951 (no, it wasn’t Goethe, Germany’s version of Shakespeare):

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

Yes, begin it now. And don’t stop until you’ve reached the outer circle. That’s where you’ll find success, momentum and greater opportunity.

• Grandsons Max and Jake who have now learned to swim. Here’s a video of Max. Here’s the video of little brother, Jake.

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Life is one big fuel problem. How long will it take to achieve success? How long will I live? Am I smart enough to reach the goal?

These problems indicate how fuel is tethered to time, energy, distance, momentum, tenacity, brain power, wisdom and a host of other variables.

Every successful endeavor contains time, distance and fuel.

A friend is completing law school. It’s taken him a few years of dedication and tenacity. He had an idea how long it would take (time). He had an idea, when he began, how much effort it would take (fuel). It’s likely demanded even more fuel than he suspected, but he predetermined that the burn rate would be worth it. Distance was a component that involved both time and fuel, but it also required some family and work sacrifices, too. Worth it? Sure. That’s why he went in that precise direction.

Many of us have no idea how long success will take. Nor do we know how far we’ll have to go. Or how much fuel it might take. We plan and engineer our course as best we can, but if success was a definite spot then everybody would likely achieve it. Because it’s not so easily seen, or mapped out – it’s hard. Doable, but hard.

Think about what you most want. Take a precise aim. Head in that direction and devote yourself fully to it. Burn your fuel wisely by going in a targeted direction. Keep going until you reach the goal because when you reach the outer circle of achievement everything changes! It’s called “momentum.”

I hope you reach your goal. I’d love to hear how it’s going for you.

P.S. I’ll update you on some things happening with me in the next episode. I ran out of time in today’s show. Sorry.

One of the major problems of selling is a person’s failure to qualify. That is, if the salesperson jumps right into a presentation without knowing anything about the needs of the prospect, then it’s highly likely the prospect will walk away without buying. For good reason. The salesperson failed to find out any meaningful information about the needs or desires of the prospect.

In other cases, the prospect may buy, but then problems erupt because the salesperson didn’t get enough information to make the purchase stick. As the old sales adage goes, “Anybody can sell somebody once!”

When it comes to qualifying a prospect, or failing to do so – maybe anybody can sell something once, but can you keep it sold? I’ve known too many salespeople who could sell something, but their return rate (the number of customers who would demand a refund) was sky-high. That’s not quality salesmanship. It’s poor service.

Quality questions solve some of these issues. By learning to ask better questions salespeople can accomplish three critical things:

a. You demonstrate how much you really care about solving the prospect’s problem.

b. You’re better able to tailor the best solution for their problem.

c. You build rapport and develop a relationship, not just a transaction.

Imagine going to a doctor because you suspect you’ve got a sinus infection. You’re ushered into the examination room. As you wait for a nurse, or the doctor, you’re anxious to get on with it. You want to tell somebody what’s wrong with you so you can get on the road to feeling better. The door opens, in walks a nurse with a syringe. She asks you to roll up your sleeve so she can give you a shot. Would you let her?

Of course not! You’ll look at her like she’d lost her mind, probably thinking to yourself, “She’s got the wrong patient!” Quickly, you’d let her know that you haven’t had the opportunity to tell anybody what’s wrong with you.

Every day sales calls take place just like that. A salesperson walks into a room armed with a syringe – their solution – before they even know what the problems are.

A young man asks a young lady out on a date. At dinner he holds forth telling her all about himself. He talks about his background, what he likes, what he doesn’t like, his favorite sports, music, books. On and on. He rambles incessantly about himself all evening long, never stopping once to ask the young lady about her life. All the while she’s thinking, “Boy, he sure is full of himself.”

Does she go out with him again? Not on your life. She’s happy to have that date behind her. She quickly tells her friends how he didn’t care to find out anything about her. Soon, word spreads throughout her circle that he’s not a guy any self-respecting girl would want to date.

Word will spread about you, too. Enter a prospect’s office and dive right into your sales pitch. No need to find out more about them, or their pain. Your solution is a one-size-fits-all so you’re convinced the prospect needs what you’ve got. Just like the young man is convinced that any young lady would be honored to have him ask her out on a date. Not so much!

Quality questions don’t just improve sales and a buyer’s experience – they can also improve our careers and our businesses. Pre-think good questions that can help you serve others. You’ll craft better questions beforehand then you’ll ever craft on the fly. Besides, not everybody is intuitively given to wise inquisition.

Some years ago I was running a retail operation that sold consumer electronics and high-end major home appliances. Delivery was part of what we did. The warehouse manager was reporting considerable delivery problems. It seems we’d arrive at a client’s home, prepared to make the delivery, only to find out that due to the difficulty of this particular delivery we needed additional men.

I visited with the sales team and asked them a question. “What are you guys asking the customers to find out about the difficulty of making a delivery to their home?”

“We’re asking them if there’s any abnormal about their delivery,” they replied. “Well, a customer might have 185 steps up a 45 degree incline in the front of their house. To them, that’s normal because it’s their house. Besides, who wants to admit that they’re abnormal?” I said.

“Can anybody think of some better question to ask?” I said.

They shrugged and thought for a moment. Nobody came up with a suggestion. And this was a very talented and veteran sales team.

“Do you think it might be more helpful if you asked the customer to describe how we’ll have to make the delivery from our truck to where the product is going to go inside their house?” I asked.

Sure. They all concurred that’d be a pretty good question. But I followed it up with another suggestion. “And as they describe it, listen carefully and ask them to fill in details so our delivery teams can be fully prepared when they arrive at the customer’s home. It’s an inefficiency for us, but worse yet – it’s bad service when we have to make the customer wait as we dispatch a second truck with two more guys who are needed to make the delivery happen.”

Don’t be so quick to think you know what the answer is going to be. Quality questions require an answer. Take the time to carefully hear the answer. Restate it if you must. Make sure you and the prospect clearly understand things alike. Many sales problems can be avoided simply by making sure things are clearly understood. Details do matter. Listen for the answers so you can refine and drill down as finely as you need to in order to solve the prospect’s problems.

If I’m attempting to sell you a piece of software and I ask you what type of computer hardware and operating system you have – I’d better pay attention to the details of your answer if my software has specific requirements. Perhaps my solution requires more disk space than you have. It may require more memory. It may require a more recent operating system than the one installed on your computer. I can’t assume that because Windows 7 is the current OS for PC’s and Snow Leopard is the current OS for Mac (soon to replaced by Lion) that my prospect has either of those. What if they’ve got Windows XP Pro and my solution won’t run very well on that? Problems can be easily avoided by simply finding out. An enormous part of finding out is listening and paying attention to the details of the answers.

Show you care enough to learn more about the person and the problem they’re experiencing. That doesn’t mean the interaction is like an NCIS interrogation room. It simply means like a good friend who is trying to help, or like a doctor who is trying to diagnose, we’re concerned enough to learn more so we can help. Service begins with caring enough to find out how the prospect feels, what they think and what they want or need. Every person respects being asked about their life, their business and their problems. We’re flattered when people take such an interest in us. While I don’t propose you do it as a flattery tactic, I encourage you to show genuine care and concern for your prospects so you can serve them better – so you can help them!

Do not presuppose that you have the answer to their problem. First, find out what their problems are. Never enter a prospect’s office with a syringe in your hand.

Every episode of Hoarders goes pretty much the same way. The hoarder knows they have a problem, but they resist help. Where loved ones and professionals see garbage and filth, the hoarder sees value. They have a hard time parting with worthless, nasty possessions. They just don’t see things as they are. As each episode progresses we witness the pain of the hoarder. The process of helping the hoarder overcome his problem demands learning. Learning is tough stuff. It demands a shift in thinking.

The team of concerned helpers could just descend on the hoarder’s house and clean it up, but the poor person with the disorder wouldn’t learn anything. They’d likely go right back to behaving as they did before. The hoarder won’t make better decisions unless they see the severity of the problem. When they’re able to shift their thinking we can almost see the lights come on for them. That shift helps them see the solution, but more importantly, it helps them embrace the solution instead of fighting against it.

Derek Sivers’ book, Anything You Want, has taken the world by storm much like his business did in the early 00′s. He started the business in 1997 after trying to make it as a musician. In 2008 he sold the company for a reported $22 million, but the arrangement was quite unique. Reportedly, Sivers made sure the purchase price went to a charitable trust to promote music education. The financial arrangements have been reported in various financial publications, but it’s commonly reported that Sivers arranged to earn his personal pay out at a rate of about $1 million annually for the rest of his life.

In late June his book was published. Since then he’s been appearing in various blogs and podcasts to promote the book, and his message. I confess that my first exposure to Sivers was his short TED presentation posted in April, 2010.

The man is clearly perceptive, intelligent, creative and wise. Personally, I’m quite fond of how he handled the transaction of selling his company, CD Baby. The insight and wisdom displayed in that transaction reveal quite a lot about him. There’s much to admire.

That’s why I bought the book to read it for myself. I was going to do a video review of the book, but decided to let Derek’s work speak for itself. The book is part of Seth Godin’s Domino Project, which is powered by Amazon. In Anything You Want: 40 Lessons For A New Kind Of Entrepreneur he says he started a company (CD Baby) and accidentally grew it into a big business. Well, I hardly think it was an accident, but I agree with him that it’s his story and what worked for him may not work for the rest of us. See, I told you he was wise. One sentence will tell you this is a book worth buying and reading.

“I’m a student, not a guru.” By the way, he put that sentence in parenthesis. You just have to like a guy like that, don’t you? I do.

Buy his book. Read it. Learn the lessons, but make sure you carve out your own path. Figure it out. Morph. Adapt. Change. Experiment. And keep after it until you find what you’re looking for.

You can also keep up with him by visiting his website.

P.S. Here’s an interview Andrew Warner of Mixergy did with Derek Sivers.

Podcast: Download

Let’s make sure this gate is secure. It sparks the idea that what we need isn’t a better lock, but we need more locks. We implement the system to keep the gate from being opened by strangers and presto! We’ve got ourselves a system.

The system doesn’t work particularly well, but we’ve got one.

This system accomplishes the desired goal. It prevents people from getting in. Of course, the collateral damage of the system is that it requires those of us who need to enter the gate to carry 57 different keys. Oh, and we’ve got to match those keys to their specific lock. A daunting task.

Sometimes we’ve got systems that look every bit as ridiculous. They’re just not this obvious perhaps, but if we’d look more closely at them we might see they look just as stupid as using more locks for security.

You know what’s going to happen with this system, don’t you?

We’re going to hop over the fence and ignore the system all together. All the effort, all the cost, all the time spent implementing and what do we get? Nothing.

Many small businesses launch a system to solve a problem. Time passes and the problem is no longer a problem. Not because the system worked so well to remove it, but because it’s just no longer an issue. The system remains though. Nobody knows why, but they work it. Every day.

Other businesses have systems that help them, but destroy the good will of prospects and customers. The system was crafted to make things easier on us and our business – not the customer. That’s bad system architecture. Don’t implement a system that helps you, but hinders or harms the prospects and customers.

The barometer of a good system is best figured out by asking good questions. Among them:

• What is the purpose of this system? What’s it supposed to accomplish?

• Does it accomplish that purpose in a way that helps or benefits the prospects and customers?

• Do the prospects and customers readily see the value of the system, or do they have to convinced it’s good for them?

• Is this system self-serving, but potentially frustrating for the prospects and customers?

• Is this system still serving the purpose for which it was first designed?

• Do we even need this system (any more)?

• Can we accomplish our desired outcome more effectively (more pleasing to the prospects and customers)?

• Is the system costing us the good will of the people we’re trying to serve?

Put all your systems on trial for their life. Embrace the death penalty for systems that no longer work, or ones that don’t work well.

Today’s special episode show is an unnumbered episode because I’m releasing it on a Tuesday, not the traditional new release day, Thursday.

Podcast: Download

These baby birds are like your business. They expect to be fed. They trust mom to bring them worms.

What does your business expect? As we wind down June, what are the expectations of your business for July?

Sustainability in business isn’t about being green. It’s about building performances that can be replicated. It’s about having a degree of predictable success.

Professionals are able to perform with predictable success. Here in Dallas we’ve got every professional sport represented. These teams have high paid professional athletes. Whether they’re on the roster of an NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB team – these athletes are major league players. Professionals. Their respective teams have an expectation of performance. Their coaches or managers know what to expect from them every time the team competes. Sometimes, they disappoint. Sometimes, they win the game. Consistently, though, they perform at a competitive level. When they fail to perform consistently, in some predictable way, they lose their job. The team will replace them with somebody else who can provide high performance game after game.

Your business must operate in the same way. Too many solopreneurs do not have a predictable performance. They enter a month clueless about what their revenues will be. Some are even clueless about what their costs will be.

Successful business building demands an accurate aim. It takes some hard work, but it’s the most profitable work you’ll do.

Solopreneurs are prone to get so busy doing what they do – they coach, they consult, they write, they speak, they DO – that they neglect the work of building their business. This results in months of agony as they strain to successfully chase cash, revenue. The machine – that is, the systems or processes – to help generate that revenue never gets built. This means the business never gets fully built out.

I’ve known some families who set about to build their house while living in it. They got the foundation laid, the walls and roof built, working electrical and plumbing – and they moved in, figuring they’d finish the house as their budget would allow. Months turned into years as the art of daily living overrode those initial goals of completing the construction. If they’re not careful, the unfinished rooms decay and create increasingly more work than if they’d finished the job sooner. Time is rarely kind to the construction process. The elements can destroy uncompleted work.

Don’t leave your business unfinished. Complete the job. Don’t let life get the way. Get the systems in place. Be a professional. Build sustainability – a predictable expectation – into your enterprise.

Simple easy answers for hard success – it’s what we all want.

I’m a Capitalist. I’m also a guy who loves free enterprise. That means, I’m fond of the competitive process. In business, I’m not offended that you’d like to kick my butt. I’d like to kick yours first.

Wild financial success is possible, but it’s not probable for most people. I don’t say that because I’m pessimistic, or because I’m a grumpy old man. Okay, maybe I’m a little grumpy, but that’s beside the point. The truth is, most people are average and live average lives. They earn average incomes. They experience an average degree of happiness, contentment and fulfillment. It’s among the many advantages of being average.

To rise above the average requires more than average ingredients. No, I didn’t say more than average skills or intelligence. The Situation proves that’s not true.

Success requires something above average though. In the case of Mr. Situation, it required above average arrogance, physique, brashness and shamelessness. Those ingredients worked to make him widely known and as we all know, celebrity brings wealth.

Deserved or not. We don’t care. We’ll reward you simply for being famous. And we don’t much care why you’re famous. The Situation reportedly earned in excess of $5 million last year. Yeah, that’s about right.

Does that make you feel like a stupid failure? Of course it does. Don’t lie.

Why are you still asking the same stupid question looking for the secret, or some missing ingredient?

Because you’re human, that’s why. Because like the rest of us mere mortals you’d like to find a short-cut, an easy answer. Because you don’t want to have to do it the hard way if you can help it. You’re smart like that. You and the rest of us.

But we’re not smart enough to realize The Situation doesn’t know anything you don’t. He’s just crazy enough to find a way to get famous – because he knows our society will pay money to fame. Skills? He don’t need no stinkin’ skills. Have you seen his rock hard abs? There’s your skills. Sure there are gyms all over the country with guys who have 6-pack abs, but they’re not as crazy arrogant as The Situation, are they? They are? Well, they didn’t get on MTV, did they? Nope. And there’s the rub. The Situation made it to TV, made the most of it and presto chango – he’s a Star.

Me? I’m no star. I’m sitting in The Yellow Studio listening to crickets chirp. I don’t care. If The Situation can earn over $5 million with those abs…I figure my love handles gotta be worth at least a mil. I’m just waitin’ for the phone to ring and then I’m gonna blow up like the blimp, yo!

Cya!

Nothing happens until something is sold. I’ve heard that all my business life, and I believe it. However, today I find myself advising people to better prepare so they can sell. Some businesses are unprepared for prospects to say, “Yes.” They’ve neglected the foundational elements of building a business.

People start new businesses  and often find the struggle much harder than they imagined. It’s not necessarily because they’ve got a bad idea. Or because they’re inept. Or because they lack capital.

Increasingly I find people struggling to do the actual work of business building. Some people confess they don’t know where to start, or how to start. Excitement and passion soon give way to frustration. Depression sets in and many entrepreneurs feel as though they’ve put on concrete boots. They’re stuck. Unable to move.

Marketing is vital to any enterprise because without customers…we have no business. Today’s show isn’t about marketing though. Let’s back up just a bit and discuss three things you must incorporate into your business so you can successfully market and deliver. These three things seem to elude many start-up entrepreneurs. Admittedly, all three of these things demand hard work. You’ll have to set aside significant time to develop these things. And you’ll have to make up your mind that you’ll devote yourself to the effort and energy required to make your business fly. Successful business building requires tenacity.

Today, start building your business by preparing to serve customers with predictable success. Get ready to dazzle customers. Prepare for the “yes” – for a customer to buy from you – and then put your business in motion to deliver extraordinary service to the customer. That’s how word will spread that you’re the go to person for your niche.

Fail to prepare and when you hear a customer say “yes,” you’ll embarrass yourself. Too many small businesses – especially solopreneurs – behave like that barking dog chasing a car. Barking is marketing. Don’t get all wound up, fully devoted to marketing. You have to prepare for the positive results you hope to get from your marketing. If the car stops, the barking dog is now clueless how to respond. Don’t be that dog!

Businesses have a life span. Some live to be very old. Others die young. None are immortal.

Some get sick, but they get well. Others get sick, then get sicker.

Some businesses die on their own, while others are euthanized.

The same is true of careers. Our professional lives aren’t often diagrammed by a never-ending upward trajectory. They sometimes stumble, falter and take a nose-dive. At times they have to be reinvented. Like the US Marines, sometimes we encounter problems in our career and we have to improvise.

If you’ve got a business – or career – that is always under fire…take heart. There are probably opportunities within reach. You have to get some focus and clarity so you can see them.

Here’s the backstory for podcast episode 90. It’s my explanation of what prompted the rant.

Podcast: Download

Internet marketing is full of snakes who want your money. We all love our dreams though. And most of us dream of more money!

A person buys a couple of domain names. Cost $15.74.

They invest in a year’s worth of shared hosting. Cost $83.40

They use WordPress, which is free, but decide on a premium theme. Cost $87.

Grand total of starting an online business capable of earning tens of thousands, perhaps more? $186.14

Three months pass. Nothing.

Six months passes. Still nothing.

Undeterred, another month passes. Nothing. Now depression sets in. Funk hit.

Hardheaded persistence prevails and another five months pass before they cry, “Uncle!”

They’ve managed to turn an annual investment (it’s really an expense) of $186.14 into an utter waste of time. That’s if they’re lucky.

The unlucky people have spent far more, in both time and money. They’ve purchased one $1997 information product after another. They’re on every Guru’s email list. They’ve purchased from all the big names. Thousands of dollars have been spent fueling their dream. They’re convinced success is happening for everybody with an online endeavor. They just lack the information necessary, but that next Guru Launch is going to be the missing link to their online success. They’ve foolishly swallowed lies or anecdotal evidence. Like lottery players all over the country, they embrace the dream of “getting lucky.”

Here’s the Wikipedia entry for the phrase “anecdotal evidence” -

The expression anecdotal evidence refers both to evidence that is factually unreliable, as well as evidence that may be true but cherry-picked or otherwise unrepresentative of typical cases.^[1] In other words, there are two distinct meanings:

(1) Evidence in the form of an anecdote or hearsay is called anecdotal if there is doubt about its veracity; the evidence itself is considered untrustworthy.

(2) Evidence, which may itself be true and verifiable, used to deduce a conclusion which does not follow from it, usually by generalizing from an insufficient amount of evidence. For example “my grandfather smoked like a chimney and died healthy in a car crash at the age of 99″ does not disprove the proposition that “smoking markedly increases the probability of cancer and heart disease at a relatively early age”. In this case, the evidence may itself be true, but does not warrant the conclusion.

In both cases the conclusion is unreliable; it may not be untrue, but it doesn’t follow from the “evidence”.

Evidence can be anecdotal in both senses: “Goat yogurt prolongs life: I heard that a man in a mountain village who ate only yogurt lived to 120.”

The term is often used in contrast to scientific evidence, such as evidence-based medicine, which are types of formal accounts. Some anecdotal evidence does not qualify as scientific evidence because its nature prevents it from being investigated using the scientific method. Misuse of anecdotal evidence is a logical fallacy and is sometimes informally referred to as the “person who” fallacy (“I know a person who…”; “I know of a case where…” etc. Compare with hasty generalization). Anecdotal evidence is not necessarily representative of a “typical” experience; statistical evidence can more accurately determine how typical something is.

Do not trust an Internet marketer selling information products for $1997.

Resist the temptation. You can learn how to build a business without supporting these people. Sadly, some people still feel compelled to keep buying. Convinced there are secrets they don’t yet know, they read every sales letter, open every email and watch every sales video. Resisting the BUY button is difficult, even though the credit card bills keep on rolling in.

Don’t let that be YOU. Protect yourself.

This is a continuation of the last show, How To Succeed In Business By REALLY Trying.

The one-hit wonder defines a career. The sophomore slump doesn’t necessarily define a career, but it might. It depends on what happens in the years that follow.

We dream, we work and we prepare for an opportunity. Waiting for the door to crack open – even if only slightly – we hope for a chance.

Knowing what to do with an opportunity is an important component in how to succeed in business by really, REALLY trying.

Today’s show is all about the process – embracing it, enduring it and finding ways to even enjoy it. Rejection, failure and disappointment are part of it. The process is incomplete without them.

Mentioned in today’s show:

• Willis Alan Ramsey
• Muskrat Love performed by America, written by Willis Alan Ramsey
• Ballard of Spider John performed by Jimmy Buffett, written by Willis Alan Ramsey
• Robin Williams successfully morphed from mere comedian to serious dramatic actor
• Steve Martin successfully morphed from standup comic to actor to author and all the while he was an accomplished musician. He’s just released a new record with The Steep Canyon Rangers.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was a movie – a musical – released in 1967. Here’s the quoted storyline according to the entry in the Internet Movie DataBase:

Twenty-seven year old New York window washer J. Pierpont Finch believes he can be a success in the corporate world after he impulsively picks up the book “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”. The book promises its reader that he can climb the corporate ladder simply and quickly.

Reality is much different. The fact is, business is hard. Success is hard.

Don’t let that deter you. But, don’t be fooled by the false notion that you can achieve success without really trying.

Let me begin a discussion about finding success online. Online because that’s what most of us care about. Even if we ship a physical product, most people are now focused on selling and marketing online because that’s where the prospects are.

For years now we’ve been fed advice, information and lies. Misinformation has never had a bigger platform than the Internet. Liars, con men and grifters need not ever leave their house in today’s world. Gypsies are domesticated. Home is where the broadband is.

Not all people are dishonest though. Some are simply selling the messages they know the market wants. In every age, the market has wanted easy!

McDonald’s proliferated the landscape of our country in the late 1960′s. Mere millions were being served then. Easy, fast and inexpensive burgers were unique then. People flocked to the concept, even if the menu was limited. We wanted fast and easy. Inexpensive was an added bonus. So what if it wasn’t the best burger? Look at how cheap they are – and how fast we get them!

Quality was average, but predictable. That has become the mantra of our country. It has affected our cities, our states, our businesses, our schools and our homes. Average and predictable. We love it. We wrap our arms around it. Extraordinary lost the battle because it was just too hard.

Unfortunately many people have been adversely affected by the idea of easy when it comes to business building. So many things in our lives are easy, convenient and cheap – we often are misled to think our own online success is also easy, convenient and cheap. When the truth hits us, we’re discouraged, depressed and many of us quit. It’s all smoke and mirrors designed to eliminate us from the game while others keep going.

The world scoffs at losers. Like a scene from a Monty Python movie, the world piles up the dead remains of one business after another. The biggest part of your success will demand that you refuse to throw your dreams onto the trash heap by stopping. Don’t stop taking action. Don’t stop trying things. Don’t stop to rest. Your success will demand relentless pursuit.

Time and attention are the currency of the day. Gone are the days when the things you value most are counted in dollars and cents. Make no mistake. They’re connected. If you cannot capture time and attention of prospects, you’ll never earn their business and turn them into a paying customer!

Strategies, tactics and techniques aren’t the holy grail. You may be urged to think they are, but it’s a lie. Sure, you should learn these things, but know going in – they won’t make you successful.

One factor determines success more than any other single element. Getting attention! That’s the subject of the today’s video show.

Speaking of time and attention, thank you for giving me yours.

Mentioned in today’s show:

• In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman
• Good To Great by Jim Collins
• Kevin Kelly of Wired is among the smartest people on the planet
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston. Ali knocked him out. May 25, 1965. It’s one of the most famous photographs in the history of sports. There was controversy about it because nobody saw the punch landed. Even the referee was confused as he watched Ali stand over the fallen Liston and yell, “Get up and fight, sucker!”

This was the second fight between the two boxers. The first took place on February 25, 1964. After the 4th round Ali returned to his corner, after he had clearly taken it easy that round, and declared he couldn’t see. Something was burning his eyes. Perhaps it was something Liston’s cut man used to prevent bleeding – and had transferred to Liston’s gloves. Perhaps it was something intentionally put on Liston’s gloves. Who knows? This much we do know, Ali wanted to quit.

According to fight reporters, Angelo Dundee refused to let Ali quit. “This is the big one, daddy . . . we’re not quitting now!” He washed Ali’s eyes (then known as Cassius Clay) with a sponge, then pushed him off his stool to begin the fifth round. Witnesses said Dundee hollered at Ali, “Get out there and run.”

By round six Ali’s sight had cleared. Liston went to the corner at the end of round six complaining he’d hurt his shoulder. He didn’t answer the bell for the seventh round. Ali was declared the winner by technical knockout. Victory for Ali occurred just two rounds after he wanted to quit.

I have no idea how hard it is to fight for the world championship in boxing’s heavyweight division. I sure don’t know what it would be like if you were unable to see clearly. Ali did it.

He only had to do it for two rounds, but do you suspect he could have gone longer if needed? Sure. His will to win was evident. His cockiness and confidence were unquestioned, but even “The Greatest” needed the voice of a coach, Angelo Dundee, telling him to keep going. Don’t quit.

Today, I’m going to play the role of Angelo Dundee. You be Ali.

Referred to in today’s show:
• News about Facebook and Google
• Episode 5 – Leaning Toward Wisdom

Podcast: Download

You hate selling. It embarrasses you. You feel like a lowlife…like you’re wearing a polyester leisure suit.

You’re an idiot. Not because you’re selling, but because you feel like dog meat when you do.

If our founding fathers hadn’t shared their beliefs and convictions…our constitution would have never been written or adopted.

The cool stuff in your house – that stuff you really love – wouldn’t be there if somebody hadn’t sold it to you.

No, there’s no difference in the two sentences above. One is an idea. The other a product. But the fact is, if neither had been shared, then others wouldn’t have benefited. Neither would have spread. Or succeeded.

I love Field Notes. You can check out episode 87 and see a picture of 5 of them. I have dozens more. I’ve spent way yonder too much money with these cool kids in Chicago who market and sell Field Notes notebooks.

I bought my first 3-pack when they were first introduced. Since then, I’ve found them irreplaceable. Moleskines don’t replace them. Reporter’s Notebooks won’t either. Field Notes are unique. And I never knew I needed them until they told me I needed them. And until they shared with me why I needed them. Boy am I glad they shared the story – otherwise, I’d have never known about them.

Marcus Sheridan is known as The Sales Lion. He and some buddies started a swimming pool company, River Pools & Spas. Marcus started blogging about swimming pools. He wasn’t shouting, “Buy a pool from us!” He was simply sharing his insights and expertise on swimming pools. Every day his company encountered people who had questions about having a pool built, owning a pool and maintaining a pool. What to blog about? Marcus had a made-to-order content strategy  - he set about to blog the answers to all those questions. Selling was sharing. Sharing was selling.

On Tuesday, May 10th Seth Godin posted a blurb over at The Domino Project entitled, “The paradox of the paid PDF ebook.” It’s applicable to today’s show because it’s also about the power of sharing.

The world will never know the value of your offer if you refuse to share. The world needs more value. The world needs the benefits you bring. Start sharing. Freely.

Podcast: Download

Watch this short video clip from the movie, Joe Dirt. Then listen to today’s show.

Business building is part art, part determination (a big part) and part plan (think systems).

I consistently encounter business people who have veered away from the foundational elements of business building. Maybe they never learned them. Or maybe they forgot them. It happens. Been there, done that.

Questions are the vehicle for clearer thinking. First year journalism students learn the best questions to ask. They form the basis for every good news story. Even feature writers know how important these questions are because every good story answers these questions. They also form a solid basis upon which to build – or revamp – your business.

While the order may not matter I think it’s important to start with, “WHY?”

None of these questions is particularly difficult, but any one of them (or more) can stump us. Devote some time and mental energy to the process of answering these questions. The time you spend up front will return rewards to you time, and time, and time again. The process will also help you develop habits of staying on course with simplicity that can propel your business forward while everybody else is spinning their wheels over-thinking stuff that doesn’t matter.

Clarity and simplicity are your allies. Treat them right. Favor them. Your business will benefit.

Other resources mentioned in today’s show:

• Kevin Kelly’s post about 1000 true fans

Thanks for listening,

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Your business or your career isn’t the Pony Express.

The Pony Express had a unique business model that seems to be how many people approach their life. They hop from horse to horse. That business model worked for the Pony Express because they had fresh fast horses poised and ready at fixed spots along the route. The Pony Express rider knew where he was starting his journey, and equally important – he knew where he was going.

A common problem today is the urge to jump from one strategy or tactic to another. There are tons of people who are busy hopping around, but they’re not moving forward. When we embark on a journey toward higher performance we’re almost always in uncharted water. Think about it. If we knew exactly how to go from where we’re at to higher performance, then we’d just follow the sign posts and make it a certainty. Sadly, higher performance is not a certainty. If it were, then everybody would be a high achiever.

There are inherent risks in our careers and our enterprises. Go to any lending institution and you’ll be required to show your plans. The bankers want to see what the risks are. They also want to see the potential rewards. Typically, a committee will discuss your plans to see if they think your venture is worth the risk. They’re interested in how reasonable and realistic it is. All of that would be unnecessary if there were some guaranteed steps we could take to achieve success. Do steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 – and BAM! – you’re a success! It doesn’t work that way.

That’s the problem with people who want to jump from horse to horse. We see what worked for one person and we incorrectly assume it’ll work for us. Maybe. Maybe not. Not all horses are created equal. Not all circumstances are equal. What worked for one person may fail miserably for you. That’s why business is so challenging – and exciting. It’s risky. Succeed and you can be rewarded handsomely. Fail and you can quit, or try again!

One of the toughest challenges facing many of my clients is choosing a strategy, developing a plan, selecting a course of action (or a variety of other things) – then working it for all it’s worth until they see that it won’t work – or until it does work. They’re Pony Express riders, but they don’t have fresh fast horses at set places along the course toward their final destination. They’re just constantly jumping from horse to horse looking for the one that will propel them forward.

For example, a person decides to ride the horse of Quality. They produce a superior product, but it’s far from being the lowest priced product of its kind. The Mercedes dealerships aren’t exactly giving away cars. If you want quality, you’ll have to be willing to pay for it. The producer has to prove that their quality is well worth the investment.

Price pressures the person riding the Quality horse. They find the Quality horse is growing difficult to ride. They’d like to find an easier horse. Along comes a horse called Low Price. They jump off the Quality horse and board the Low Price horse. Now, all the momentum that might have been gained aboard Quality are gone! Worse yet, this new horse called Low Price isn’t so easy to ride either.

The business – or the person – who jumped from one horse to another is losing ground. It’s like playing the board game, Sorry. They’re bumped off course and knocked all the way back to the starting point. Except it’s worse. Now, they’ve shown people they’re fickle, undecided about who they are…and who they want to be. They’ve lost their uniqueness in the quest to find the latest, greatest secret. The search for an easier solution has a high price. Failure.

Decide what horse to ride, then ride that horse.

If you’re riding the horse of Selection, Value or Quality – or a variety of any other horses – commit to it. Don’t try to narrow it down to your 3 favorite horses. Remember, you can only ride one horse at a time. Dragging 2 other horses behind won’t work. It slows you down. Pick ONE. And only one!

If the riding is slow at first, don’t quit. You don’t know how long the ride will take. Maybe you’ll find success soon. Maybe not. High achievement takes time. I can’t tell you how long it takes because that’s one of the variables – one of the big unknowns of business and careers. And achievement in general. We just don’t know how long it’ll take. It takes however long it takes.

If the riding is difficult, don’t quit. Many horses appear to be an easier ride when nobody is on their back. The longer you ride the horse you’re on, the more acquainted you become. That makes you a better rider. When you jump off one horse and onto another, you start that learning curve all over again.

You’ll know if the horse you’re riding will get you there or not…but you won’t know that immediately. Belief is a critical component of your strategy. You must select a strategy that you can fully embrace. Your faith and confidence in the horse you choose is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make. Equally important is your belief that YOU can ride that horse successfully to your destination. If you can’t see yourself achieving greatness…you’re in trouble. If you can’t see yourself achieving greatness aboard the horse you’ve chosen…you’re in trouble. Both rider and horse must cross the finish line.

Riders, up! Good luck.

Narrow walkways can be cozy…or claustrophobic. I guess it depends on how you look at it. So it goes with marketing. People are tempted to develop the next fork, or spoon – something everybody needs and wants. The temptation is to go big or go home. Sadly, many people end up going home, broke.

Times have changed. In the pre-Internet days it was hard to find a narrow niche because it was difficult to reach them. Shoot, it was hard to even find them. Not so today. The Internet opened up the world to scads of little niches populated by hundreds, thousands or millions of people. The Internet also made it possible to easily, and cheaply, reach the people in these niches. The Internet was appropriately called a “game changer.” Indeed.

Many people find narrowing a niche claustrophobic. They can’t breathe. They panic. They’re still convinced success is best found in a more open pathway where the masses hoard along. It can tough to resist for some, but I want to convince you that it’s your best opportunity for success.

Newton’s laws of motion and mass may provide a small bit of insight. Here’s some info from Wikipedia:

Newton’s laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They are:

1. In the absence of a net external force, a body either is at rest or moves with constant velocity.

2. The net external force on a body is equal to the mass of that body times its acceleration; F = ma. Alternatively, force is proportional to the time derivative of momentum.

3. Whenever a first body exerts a force F on a second body, the second body exerts a force ?F on the first body. F and ?F are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Consider these ideas.

1. In the absence of an external force a business is either at rest – it does NOTHING – or it accelerates. Unfortunately, acceleration can be backwards or forwards. Our businesses can be pushed back more easily than they can be pushed forward. The market – that external force – doesn’t embrace bad ideas or bad execution. Bad ideas and bad execution are both easier than good ideas and good execution. It’s that law about the path of least resistance. It’s easier to come up with a bad idea because bad ideas don’t require as much creativity or innovation. Ditto on bad execution. Anybody can perform poorly. It takes no effort.

We have to put forth solid, consistent energy to push our businesses forward. It’s easier to push a small, nimble ball than a large, heavy ball. It’s simple physics. I’d only modify Newton’s law for business by urging you to also consider internal forces, too – what you think, what you do and all that good stuff that you bring to your enterprise.

Sure, a big heavy ball can go really fast once momentum happens, but gaining momentum can be difficult. Maybe we should view our businesses like snowballs that can start small, gain momentum and then grow as they begin to move forward faster.

2. The magic of momentum should compel you to go small. See how much farther you can throw a golf ball versus a softball. Smaller can go farther faster. It makes equal sense for your business. Go small. Go fast. Find success.

3. Going bigger brings bigger resistance. In business, it means more competitors in a bigger ocean where simply being known becomes much more difficult. If you can’t become known, you can’t succeed. Period. If nobody knows you, then nobody is going to buy from you. Aim too big and you’ll quickly find yourself in oblivion – that vast black hole where all the nobodies reside. Doomed. It’s hard to get momentum when you’re trying to push into a big market.

Smaller niches certainly have smaller market potential, but they also have fewer competitors. But there’s another factor often overlooked by people attempting to start a new business. Smaller niches tend to be more fanatical than larger ones.

We all drive cars. Cars is a big, broad niche. Aim for Acura Integra Type R owners and enthusiasts and you’ve just narrowed the field dramatically. However, you’ve also found a crowd that is very passionate about a car that hasn’t been made in years. It’s narrow, but passions run very deep. Look for smaller passionate groups that are not currently being served, or where you can serve them better than their current options.

I’m not physically claustrophobic so I don’t know the panic that ensues with those who are. They panic and become filled with fear. I’m not sure exactly what they’re afraid of, but it doesn’t much matter. To them, it’s real. Real enough to paralyze.

Fear is both physical and mental. It’s a demon that difficult to exorcize. But that’s precisely what you must do. Like the little kid trying to go to sleep in a room illuminated with a small night light that casts shadows on the wall…we have to flip on the light switch and show ourselves that our fear is unfounded. The boogey man exists only in our mind. He’s not real. We have to find a way to get over it. Move past it.

In business, people who are claustrophobic fear that nobody will buy from them. They falsely think that by going big and broad they’ll find greater market appeal. The irony is that this quest destroys any chance they’ve got to succeed.

Instead, consider the cozy comfort of a space where you know all the nooks and crannies. Think of how comforting it is to be able to interact with people where deeper, longer lasting relationships can be formed. Where repeated interactions are more likely. Where greater loyalty can be earned. Embrace claustrophobic marketing. Find comfort in smallness. Go narrow. Go deep. Go fast. Go far.

Here are 13 AC/DC song titles that provide some solid lessons for your small business.

1. Back In Black

Assume debt with great care. If you can avoid taking on debt, do so. Debt-free is not only a great personal goal, it’s a terrific goal for your business, too.

2. Moneytalks

Yes, it does. Cash is king. Never, ever take your focus off your cash flow. Nothing will kill your business quicker than running out of cash. And nothing is more stressful to chase.

3. What Do You Do For Money Honey

What’s your focus? What is your business selling? Avoid trying to be too many things to too many people. It’s easy to let your focus get dispersed in too many different directions. Avoid it and do what you do best. Gauge your success by what people are willing to pay you for.

4. Are You Ready

Preparation trumps a lot of things. So many businesses fail to seize opportunities because they’re not ready to take full advantage of them. The same goes for careers. Put in the time, study and effort to get yourself ready. Stay ready. It will put in the top 5% immediately.

5. If You Dare

No risk, no reward. Be wise, but take action. Make a decision. Be daring or be boring. Boring fails. Daring, when done wisely, achieves wild success.

6. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Don’t waste your time doing things that somebody else can do more cheaply. Yes, that may mean outsourcing. I’m an American capitalist, but going out of business won’t help you, your family, your customers, your employees or our country. No business owner should busy himself with trivial, but necessary tasks that can hired out cheaply.

7. Shake A Leg

Move. Faster. Nobody achieves success without a commitment to action. Fail faster and you’ll succeed faster.

8. Stiff Upper Lip

Be resilient. Adversity is common to all of us. Take it in stride as the price you pay for finding success. Resolve. Grit. Determination. Embrace all these qualities of mental toughness.

9. Can’t Stand Still

You’d better not. If you’ve found success, don’t sit back. Success isn’t final any more than failure is. Keep moving forward or you’ll find yourself on your butt.

10. Come And Get It

Higher performance and success won’t chase you down. They won’t magically land in your lap. Purposeful intention is required. You have to pursue high achievement. Faithfully. Daily. Without being distracted.

11. Money Made

Money is important. We all want more of it. Our lifestyles depend on it. So do our businesses. It’s the barometer of how well we’re doing. But money made (past tense) isn’t necessarily a measurement of the money we will make, or the money we potentially can make. Keep money in proper perspective, but don’t just rest on the money you’ve already made. Use the money you made to help you make more money today, and tomorrow.

12. Thunderstruck

Don’t be. Don’t be shocked or amazed at success or adversity.

13. Shoot To Thrill

Aim to please. No, aim to dazzle and amaze. Your employees, suppliers, bankers and customers should be thrilled with you and your business. Is that your aim – to thrill? It should be.

If we conclude that we’re not smart enough about something (anything) yet, then it’s time to get smart!

How smart do you have to be to get started? Well, I suppose that depends on the endeavor. Most of us know what we don’t yet know – and how to chase down the knowledge necessary so we can just take a single step. You do realize that an awareness of our lack of knowledge may give us a big leg up on all this, don’t you?

If you’re not going to move forward, then any excuse will do, but don’t let a lack of know-how spoil your hope of success. There are way too many resources readily available to help us prepare to take action – just taking that first step might be all we need to make success a reality. Refusing to take the first step is a surefire way to fail. Don’t get hung up thinking you’ve got to have complete knowledge.

Some resources mentioned in today’s show:

• The Knowing-Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton
• Free-Agent Nation by Daniel H. Pink
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Linchpin by Seth Godin
• BulaNetwork Facebook page (please visit me there and click that like button)
• Leaning Toward Wisdom – my main enterprise now, designed to help teach, inspire and encourage higher human performance in public education

Don’t stall. If you realize that you’re not smart enough to get started, then get smart enough to just start. The faster you get started the faster you’ll get up that learning curve. You’ll also speed up your wisdom, not to mention the cumulative effect of getting in the habit of taking action.

Thanks for listening.

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Due to 90 degree heat outside I had the doors of The Yellow Studio open. That resulted in a higher noise floor in the audio. Additionally, the YouTube processing didn’t do me any favors on this video (audio). I doubt the audio is going to be what gets your attention though. I rather doubt you’ll have an opinion about the audio. However, you may strongly agree or disagree with the views expressed.

Mentioned in today’s video:

• Carol Roth’s book, The Entrepreneur Equation
• 2Pet. 1:10 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall…”
• Eccl. 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
• Mike Rowe’s TV show, Dirty Jobs
• Acts 10:34 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (no, but oftentimes we are)

Some time ago I talked about the true meaning of entrepreneurship. For the better part of a year now plans have been underway to launch an enterprise whose customers are not students, but those who educate the students. The endeavor will get underway at Leaning Toward Wisdom, among the older domains I’ve owned. It’s a collaborative effort that I’m heading up with some important young people in my life – educators. Public school educators.

For the past 35 plus years I’ve managed and lead people in the business sector. Countless conversations with these young people – my children – led to my holding forth as I described the principles of leadership I’d found so necessary in the business world. Unbeknownst to me (a year or so ago), public education was (and still is) anemic in so many areas I had long taken for granted. As the dialogue continued to unfold the compelling need coupled with my strong desire to make the final chapter of my working life count for something other than increasing revenues or profits for a business – it became increasingly clear that the opportunity was bringing with it responsibility.

And now, it’s time to put my efforts where my mouth has been for the past year plus. Since you know I’m not going to shut up, it’s time to put up.

Thanks for clicking PLAY. Thanks for your time and attention. Do me one more favor.

Scroll down to the bottom right hand and click that LIKE button for the new Facebook page.

NOTE: Rather than do this in smaller, bite-sized pieces, I just jumped off the cliff and crammed it all in this post and podcast. If you’re really pressed for time, or just not that interested – scroll down to the sub-headline above that last cartoon in the post. You can read from there and get the conclusion of the whole matter, or if you prefer (and I hope you will) – just click PLAY at the bottom of this post. Thank you!

For years my focus was on selling. Selling myself. Selling my ideas. Selling my business philosophy. Selling stuff. Selling services.

The journey began as a teenager. And it never stopped. Until a little over a year ago.

I grew weary with pursuing the same thing for almost 38 years. My energy level – mentally and physically – was still high, but my interest was waning. Badly.

I took a job in Dallas in December 1989. It was a big career move. My two children – one son, one daughter – were in elementary school. My wife, a native Texan from Ft. Worth, would be going home. I’d be continuing my career path of building another man’s business. It’s what I had done since my early 20′s. It was a profitable business model for me. And it was rewarding.

I was 32. Wisdom told me to get to a more diverse market. Dallas/Ft. Worth fit the bill best in the part of the world where I came from. The objectives, in this specific order, were:

a. Improve our church situation. Spiritual things trump all else. I don’t wear it on my sleeve and beat people over the head with it, but it is the priority. My logic is simple. Eternity is forever. That makes spiritual pursuits more important than anything. We moved with church in mind. Before we ever moved we knew where we’d work and worship.

b. Improve our family situation. I’d been traveling weekly in my prior job. Leaving the house every Monday morning and returning on Friday’s is not a good way to win husband or father of the year. I wasn’t succeeding at either and I knew it. I wasn’t happy about it and knew it had to change. That meant my career needed a change.

c. One final move to raise our family in a place where we could all grow older together. We thought about being in a place where our children would likely settle and raise families of their own. Here we are now – over 21 years later – and both my children have families of their own. We live within 6 miles or so of each other.

Life is good.

My life has been anything, but smooth. I don’t suppose a smooth life would be much fun anyway.

My wife and I have had numerous challenges, hurdles and obstacles. Disappointment has visited our home plenty of times and I suspect it will again. We’ve had months where we didn’t know how we’d make it financially. And we’ve had other times when a single problem – like a busted water heater – put our finances in major jeopardy.

Our home has endured up’s and down’s typical of almost every home. We’ve been apart while I worked one place and my family was at another place. I’ve lived in hotels and motels. I’ve slept in the houses of friends and family. I’ve pulled over on the roadside and slept more times than I can count. I lived in my office for months at a time. *

*This is what happens when your work is in one city, but the house you can’t sell (and your family) are in another city…and you can’t afford to pay a mortgage and rent for an apartment. You do what you must.

My life hasn’t been sprinkled with magical fairy dust. I’ve had heartbreak and struggles just like you. Thankfully, we’re not in a contest. It’s just how life happens.

By the time I hit 50 I had been involved in business for almost 35 years. I was in C-level leadership by the time I was in my mid-20′s. My career had worked out. I had made good money. The kind of money most people dream about. Trust me when I tell you this – pursuing money is a vain activity. I never chased money, but I always wanted to earn what I thought I was worth. I was never bashful to ask for what I thought I was worth. And I always made sure I was worth it.

No, I’m not rich by what most people call rich. That is, I have to work. I have to earn an income. I can’t sit back and do nothing living off the past. Sure, I’ve got a cushion, but only a fool would want to burn through the cushion. I’m no fool.

But I didn’t want to do “this” any more. Have you ever grown sick and tired of being sick and tired? Well, that was me back in 2007, before the economic shoes fell off.

I wanted to change much more than my image. I wanted to change my life. I wanted to figure out some things about myself, my talents, my dreams (yes, older guys still have dreams) and my contribution to others.

The quest to find out where my natural aptitude intersected with my passions began. The hard work of figuring things out began in earnest around the beginning of 2007, but I was still very involved in operating a business. A multi-million dollar business.

In April of 2009 my career took a turn. I stepped back from my role. I resigned my C-level responsibilities and did far more than step down – I stepped away. Slowly at first. The pace picked up as time went by.

Over time I distanced from the business world that had so consumed me. This was purposeful and intentional. And necessary for my sanity. It was also vital if I was going to figure things out.

During the fall of 2009 I decided it was time to go public. I had always blogged a bit, but I had never really put myself out there in a regular or bold fashion. Without any plan I decided I was going to podcast, blog and create videos on whatever I wanted to talk about “in the moment.” I had no plan other than to take action. I had no intention of making money. I simply wanted to figure things out – mostly myself.

Part of the process was trying to figure out the Internet. The business part of me had embarked on a learning binge for about 5 years. I researched Internet marketers, puzzled mostly by the marketing I saw. When I began I didn’t realize Internet marketing was a business opportunity business. I thought it was merely people and companies using the Internet to market. My naiveté caused me to view it – initially – just any other medium. To me, it was simply people using the Internet for marketing purposes. I was wrong. And I quickly realized it.

That piqued my interest even more, even though I had no interest in the “biz opp” (business opportunity) space. I watched the big names. I opted into their email lists to see how they communicated. I even stepped up and bought some of their stuff. Some of it was quite expensive, but I wanted to see what they were doing and see what I could learn. It was the cost of an education in a new realm of business that seemed quite foreign to me.

The irony was that everything I saw was really old-school persuasion used in a new platform, the Internet. I also learned there was enormous deception and self-serving going on. By 2009 I had spent the better part of five years studying this crowd (part-time off and on). I felt comfortable that my learning was reasonably thorough, if not complete. Sure, new things come onto the scene and things change (like SEO), but conceptually, I felt quite confident that I knew what was going on and how people were doing it. I also knew there were plenty of lies being told online. All that glitters is not gold. That’s also true in the offline world.

I then turned my focus inward. I needed to learn more about myself. What was I really good at? What skills came more naturally for me? What did I care most about? What did I most dread?

My life was full of questions. Every time I thought I might be closing in on an answer, more questions would erupt. I didn’t seem to make any progress. And it was the loneliest work on the planet. I read and re-read everything I could, including Tom Rath‘s StrengthFinder book. I had quite a collection of material designed to help people figure out their strengths and I even invested in a few others. I did the exercises. I even sent emails to close friends and family – as suggested by one resource – asking them to tell me what they most thought of when they thought of me. What’s things do you think I’m best at? I sent it to six people. I got one response. That meant I not only needed to evaluate myself, but now I likely needed to evaluate my closest friends and a few family members.

I pressed on growing lonelier day after day. I discovered that my mental health is jeopardized when I’m left alone with my thoughts for prolonged periods of time.

No matter, by the time January 2009 rolled around I was working to launch a business aimed at serving the independently owned retailer. I crafted two initiatives designed to help this business sector deal with the current adversity.

Independent retailers all over the country were suffering significant losses. I knew how to help them. I had crafted a good aspirin pack. It was a desperate need filled, but I knew the marketing challenge was clear. If the market doesn’t see the need, there is no need. Even so, driven with a passion to help save many of these businesses I pressed on.

My first idea was presented to an association, but their CEO couldn’t see the value. Like most of their ilk, he was interested in lowest cost believing the road to being competitive meant being able to buy products as cheaply as Wal-Mart. He was interested if the price was free. It was valuable to his members if I’d give it to them at no charge.

Unfazed I pressed on. I approached another association with a much more refined, specific idea. This group was much bigger. Their CEO was quite excited by the prospect, but he was months away from stepping down to hit the golf course and fishing spots. My timing wasn’t right. And I was foiled again.

Simultaneously I was giving serious though to another quest involving young people. I had coached kids for many years. My fondness for young people was something I took for granted until I started to really look deep inside myself. I have an easy connection with young people and figured out that some of my most rewarding work is mentoring young people.

Back in the early 80′s I’d been exposed to Ken Robinson’s work, The Arts In School. Public school had intrigued me always because of my own children. I was interested in their education. Not their grades, but their lives. Was school preparing them for life? In some ways it was, in other ways not. My wife and I never handed our kids over to the school system expecting them to do all the work. We just partnered knowing together we could better prepare them for adulthood.

My interest in young people and the public school system grew. My business background crept into the equation. I began to read more about education. And I wrote notes. Lots of notes. I researched. I Googled. I surfed. I sought out people. I wanted to learn what services were being offered to help public school systems improve. Changing the world was never the point. Changing a life was.

Sir Ken Robinson (by now he’d been knighted) blew up on TED. It remains the very best presentation I’ve ever seen. When it was posted in June 2006 I quickly forwarded it to everybody I knew who had any interest in education or public speaking. That was another interest I had – public speaking. I had been doing it for many years and it was always a primary interest because I enjoyed it and it felt natural.

In December 2009 an epiphany hit me. Public speaking feels natural. It’s not hard. I look forward to it. It feels right. Table that thought because January was coming and during the fall I’d already decided to live out loud.

In January 2010 I took the leap and began two podcasts. One was aimed at retail, a labor of lifelong knowledge and income generation. The other was at my main company website, BulaNetwork. That one was primarily personal development and general business stuff. Admittedly, it wasn’t very targeted. My aim had nothing to do with income generation. I wasn’t concerned with that when I started. My thought was, “I’ll figure it out as I go, but I must get going.”

I started recording videos. I hit record as often as I wanted. No schedule. No plan. Just going for it. Throwing everything I could against the wall I thought it would help me find my way. I was talking with too many people who were having problems very similar to mine. Everywhere I looked I saw people experiencing the pain of discovery or rediscovery. I hoped my words would resonate and benefit somebody. But I confess I didn’t give any thought to marketing, or building a business of it. If people didn’t like it, or watch, or listen – so what? How did that hurt me? I simply couldn’t see a downside. Pride was not a problem. Ego wasn’t either. Failing in public was never a consideration because I simply didn’t care. I still don’t. I was, after years of building the businesses of others, finally devoting a bit of time, effort and energy to finding out some things for myself. I was now a middle-aged man serving myself because I realized I was a patriarch serving a wife of 33 years, a son of 30 years, a daughter of 28 years and their spouses and children. My grandchildren. Time had been kind to me and I felt I had been chasing the wrong things all this time.

In this age of “repurposing content” I had another epiphany. I was wrong!

I hadn’t been chasing the wrong things. I was simply paying my dues, learning a craft and preparing myself for this moment. I had not served the wrong things. I had pursued a course that had worked for me. I had struggled early on. I had figured out this business thing. I had learned how to sell, market, advertise, hire, train, hold accountable, manage, lead and generate profits. I’d chased success for all I was worth and been rewarded for the effort. Sometimes not rewarded enough, but other times rewarded nicely. I lived in a nice neighborhood. I was debt free. My wife and I were not lacking. Nor were my kids or their families. We were healthy, reasonably wealthy (rich by the standards of many people on the planet) and wise enough to know to be grateful for our blessings.

The epiphany was from a Bible story of Esther. I was familiar with the story. In fact, I had preached that story a number of times. Yes, preaching was something I’d done all my life, from the time I was quite young. But that’s another story. I will confess that I was fortunate enough to be one among three men ordained to serve as an elder of my local congregation. It was – and remains – the grandest accomplishment of my life. It also remains the most humbling obligation ever bestowed on me. I take the duty very seriously – as does my fellow servant. Sadly, the oldest of us passed away leaving two of us to serve. I miss him, but the work continues. Part of the work is public preaching – teaching. In the book of Esther is a scene where her cousin, Mordecai, challenges her to do something only she can do. Part of his persuasive speech to her, recorded in chapter 4, includes this question, “…and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

That phrase had struck me when I first learned it as a child. I began to apply it to my current circumstance. I’d spent over 3 decades learning what I’d learned. And now, I was ready to teach it to people who hadn’t had my opportunities. They didn’t have my experience. I could help them. I could serve them. Who knows if I’m not at this place in my life – armed with my vast business experience – for such a time as this?

I don’t advise people to act without purpose when it comes to building a business, but I wasn’t building a business. I was trying to figure some things out. I was clueless. I had to act and push forward hoping that in time I’d gain some clarity. I believed I would find my way if I just kept on going. I created content constantly. Workflow became my friend as I intentionally wound down my lifelong career in business. I was still somewhat struggling with my identity as a business guy. But I knew I no longer wanted to be a business guy. I didn’t want that to define me because I felt it was over. I knew it was over, but I just didn’t fully realize it. Yet.

The hard part was predictable. People of my generation (perhaps younger people, too) equate identity with “what we do.” I was a business guy. I had always been a business guy. It had just happened. I was good. Competent. Capable. Ambitious. Flip, turn around, spin in a circle and BAM! Before you know it over three decades had passed, almost four, and I was faced with the question ever before me, “Now what?” I sort of knew, but I didn’t really know.

In September 2010 I attended an event that took my wife out of town. It was a small live event with a primary presenter who had invited a handful of other presenters to come. I felt I was getting close to a better understanding, but the water was still very murky. Attending this event could help me clarify things. And it did.

In a room with fewer than 50 people I learned that my lifelong learning wasn’t commonplace. I learned the world was full of people who didn’t know the things that had taken me a lifetime. I didn’t feel better than them. They surely knew many things I didn’t. We were people who had simply spent our lives in different places, doing different things. The things I had done had value. The things I had learned weren’t so commonplace after all. Good to know.

Back in the summer of 2010 I had begun investigating the notion that the things business had taught me could likely be applied to other areas – namely, the public school system. Conversations with my son, Ryan, were particularly insightful. He’s a classroom teacher. He’s ambitious. He entered teaching, in part, because of my influence. For years he helped me coach and that prepared him to be good with kids. He is good with parents because he’d been exposed to serving people in business working in businesses I operated throughout his high school and college years. In a nutshell, he has mad people skills. Others have said the same of me.

By the time this out-of-town September event happened I was thinking of applying the lessons to business to the public school setting to see if I might provide something of value that could help a single teacher, a single school. I went to this event primarily because a person who served this crowd was going to be there. I didn’t interact with him as I had hoped. Somebody else dominated his time after he completed his presentation. I had driven hours to attend this event. I had devoted substantial money, time and effort to make this event. I was a bit angry at myself for failing to take full advantage. Even so, I left that event convinced I could do this, but I realized the task meant doing more research and more hard work. Neither frightened me. Neither discouraged me.

Since September 2010 I’ve been attempting to keep one foot in business and one foot in my pursuit to reinvent myself. Those anxious moments before a reboot aren’t always comfortable. You’re not always confident the reboot will work. But you’re hopeful.

It’s been a miserable time. Commitment is full or not enough. Mine was not enough. In either direction. I knew it, but the responsible side of me seemed to always prevail. Making a living – earning an income – is such a strong pull. It should be, but my view was jaded by my past, by my career and by all the time I had invested in becoming who I was. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t really who I wanted to be. Day after day I was blindly, mindlessly putting one foot in front of the other for income. Just income. Just money.

In January 2011 I celebrated my first full anniversary of living my life out loud on the Internet as a podcaster, blogger and vlogger. Did I accomplish anything? If you mean, did I earn any money from these endeavors. No. But that was never the intent. I was making a living offline. Unhappily. Not because it was offline, but because it was still in the business that had so long defined me.

I set about to make the first quarter of 2011 count for something. I set some deadlines and objectives to create a meaningful story to help public school systems. A life of business surely had valuable lessons that could be applied to a school? And a classroom? I thought so. Every educator I spoke with thought so, too. Every trusted adviser – especially those are tend to be naysayers (yes, you need these people in your life) – heard my story had an overly positive response. Yes, even people who tend to see the downside of every opportunity felt I was at a place in my life where my craftsmanship in business could be effectively applied to public education. Everyone of them saw my zeal and enthusiasm for the project. I suspect that drove their own positive reaction to my idea.

Like a tadpole, my idea sprouted legs. Looks like a frog is forming!

Lessons I’d been taught as a young business guy were not commonplace in the public education system. Not only that, but the communication skills vital to survival in business were often lacking among brilliant people who’d been trained to take charge of a classroom. I began to think of the classroom teacher as a manager. Not a CEO, that’s much too highbrow. And not nearly close enough to personally interact with the customer – in this case, the students. CEO’s don’t wait on customers. Classroom teachers do. I esteem the teacher far more valuable.

Time and again I engaged in conversations with teachers, asking them questions. I found the lack of solid know-how learned in the business world startling. But mostly, I found it sad. Sad that I had learned so many valuable lessons in my 20′s that many teachers with 20 years of classroom experience had never been taught. It had nothing to do with smartness. It had everything to do with how the system is set up, how accountability and coaching work (or don’t) and how public schools communicate internally amongst the administration and the teachers. I didn’t find bad people behaving poorly. Instead, I found people who had not been exposed to the instruction I had taken for granted.

Another epiphany. More clarity. Time to initiate rebooting. One career gives way to another – a newer, more exciting, more fulfilling one. “For such a time as this.”

For over a year now I had been back-burning the idea of a book. I knew I’d write one. And I knew one needed to be written. I had no framework, but I had two recurring ideas that I had been noodling around with for months. It was time to migrate these two ideas into one coherent framework that could serve to help me write the book. In the meantime, business – making a living was really a bigger priority. I knew why. I’m a responsible man. I’ve always been a responsible man.

On Friday morning, March 4, 2011 I sat down in front of my webcam and recorded a private video intended only for my wife and now grown children. It was an oral history. For days I had been thinking about my earliest memory. I strained. I let it simmer. And once I thought I had it, I sat down and simply started talking – recording it. Four hours plus. Broken up in four parts. My heart was telling me that the end of my business life – as I had known it, as I had grown it – was coming to an end. As much as I wanted it, it was still much like preparing for a death. It was hard.

Circumstances arose this month that brought clarity. I was ready for a death. After all these months of struggling with the emotions and mental hurdles brought about by a life of dedication to the craft of doing business…it was time. The death of one career. I knew without that death there could never be life in a new career, the one I wanted most.

I’m now about two weeks away from leaving behind a career that has enveloped almost four decades of my life. It was anything, but easy. Even as I write this I admit a twinge of conflict. Just a twinge, mind you. No doubts. But lots of fear. Fear is good. It means I’m alive. It means my senses are heightened. It’s a positive thing.

Faith.

Yes, the kind of faith my spiritual convictions bring. I’m not like many people who believe God designed them to do one thing. The only thing I believe all of us are designed to do is to serve and obey God. You may disagree with me and that’s your choice. Nothing in the scripture teaches me that God wants me to be a fireman or a business guy. Nothing in the scripture teaches me that God will help my team win over your team, in spite of what many athletes claim. The Bible does teach me that God wants me to honor Him with obedience. And that’s the mandate of every person on the planet. It doesn’t mean every person recognizes that, but I believe the Bible teaches that.

Will God see us through difficulties? Of course. I can’t fully explain how with specific evidence, but my history teaches me that things will work out provided I put God first and keep myself where I belong spiritually. Will God make me rich? No. At least not with money. But Heaven’s riches aren’t measured with a dollar sign so it doesn’t quite matter beyond surviving this life.

Another faith I have is in the abilities God gave me. Whatever talents and opportunities I’ve been given – and I’ve been given lots of them – are now at my disposal. I pray for wisdom to do what’s best for my life and those affected by my life. Like you, I’m not alone. Sometimes we feel like we’re alone, but we’ve got people who care about us, who rely on us and upon whom we rely. People.

May Day – May 1st – My New Most Important Career Day

I resigned my last C-level position effective May 1st, 2009. As of May 1, 2011 I’m walking away from the business world – as I’ve known it – forever. I’m closing that door behind me. Locking it. Bolting it. Welding it shut.

I’m already walking through the door to my future. A door where I’ll be serving more than ever. And that’s intentional. Education and young people will be my primary focus. Business will still be very important, but it’ll be my business devoted to serving an important space. It’ll be happening at Leaning Toward Wisdom.

Now, it’s up to me. Will I become who I want to become? Will I live up to the opportunity? I have faith I will. How long will it take? Will things go as I expect?

I still have lots of questions. Like every other quest in my life, it’s a journey. I can map it out in my mind – and I have – but I’m going to be surprised along the way. I know that. Rather than dread it, I’m excited by it. Fearful? Sure. Confident? Absolutely. Thankful? Most assuredly. Thankful that I’ve been blessed with an opportunity to chase a new dream before it’s too late.

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Photo “72 Degrees In The Shade” courtesy of Sam Howzit at Flickr

The thermometer says it’s 72 degrees in the shade, but we’re cold. All around us people are enjoying the weather. But we’re uncomfortable. We’re chilled.

Our lives are impacted more by how we feel – our senses – than what that red needle says. So what if it says 72 degrees? We’re looking for a coat, and a cap. Shivering isn’t a reaction of comfort or warmth.

Your life, your business, your relationships are all affected by your feelings. Are you comfortable? Are you contented?

If you’re not, then you’re likely looking for change – something to make you feel more comfortable.

Sometimes we’re standing in 72 degree weather, but it doesn’t feel like 72 degrees. It feels much colder.

Thanks for listening. Join the email list. Every Sunday morning around 7am CST I’ll send you a recap of what happened here the past week. You’ll also get your name entered into a random drawing for a free one-hour conversation. Some months I give away more than one.

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And I don’t mean your school teacher, although they could be included.

We spend hours on the Internet trying to find people who can teach us things. The planet is full of people who know more than we do. They can teach us things. We’re anxious to learn.

But what if the person we like – the person we’ve come to trust – is a moron? What if they’re not really that knowledgeable, but we just don’t know it. After all, we don’t know. That’s why we’re looking to this person to teach us.

What if they don’t care about real quality – they just want to take every short cut available?

Mat Kearney is among my very favorite artists. Musical artists.

In past episodes, blog posts and videos I’ve referenced how he characterized his break-through to success as “emerging from a 5 year knife fight.”

Here’s a list:
• A blog post with a video – this was the first time I mentioned it
• Episode 46 – Reaching The Point Where You Know Enough (Let’s Do Some Cool Things!)
• Special Episode – Writers Write. What Do You Do?
• Episode 77 – Fighting With Knives, Running With Footballs And Quitting The Gurus

Also mentioned in today’s show:
• Tony Schwartz, The Energy Project
• 2000 Acura Integra Type R (yellow car pictured below)
• Subaru WRX STi (white car pictured below)

By the way, both cars are now in my past, replaced by a more recent version of a 4-banger rocket. I still enjoy cars of this ilk. I got focused on my current car a few years ago. I connived my way to buy it for some months and made it happen. Proving yet again, that the focus for the fight pays off with success. I failed to mention this addiction in that show on my 3 addictions, didn’t I? Okay, make it four (but this addiction won’t fit inside The Yellow Studio).

In today’s show I put forth my arguments for intense obsession for a period of time. No, not a lifelong focus, but a focus for the fight necessary to win.

What’s your experience? Leave a comment.

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So say the authors of Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won.

As common as that notion is in sports, it’s not common at all in business. This morning that struck me odd. I’ve never encountered anybody who thought the way to business success was by being a great defender. On the contrary, businesses are rewarded based on their ability to attack.

Maybe it’s time to evaluate our approach.

Why be in a business that you must always defend?

This is the sequel – I’m actually calling it the suffix – to the last blog post/video. Hopefully, it answers a few questions and makes things a tad clearer.

I decided to solicit a call to action. It comes at the end of the video so if you’d like to just advance to about the final minute or two, go right ahead. I completely understand.

I want to hear what you think about me, what I do, or anything else related to what goes on here at Bula Network:

• Email me what you think about what I do here (the good, bad and ugly)
• Leave me a voice mail at 214-736-4406
• Send me a Twitter message
• Go to ConnectWithRandy.com and snag whichever social platform you like to reach out to me
• I’d love to have you join the list. Each month I select a person (sometimes I select 2) for a free one-hour consultation.

As always, thank you for your time and attention.

It’s not a new or novel concept. It’s an ancient truth that likely started whenever the aspirin was first invented back in 1897.

The Internet deceives us into thinking it’s easy to create, market and build a business. It’s not easy. It hard work. It takes longer than you think. And it can often put such stress on you that you question whether it’s even worth it. Or, if it will ever pay off.

The opportunities are enormous. Vast opportunities trump the deceptive ease of it all. The world is your oyster. But oysters have never jumped in the boat by themselves. Ask any oysterman and they’ll tell you it’s hard work. It doesn’t matter that oysters are in shallow water. Prepare to work.

The process is easier to explain than to perform. Set aside the hours, days or weeks you need. Do not expect immediate response or results. Prepare to put in the time. Above all, get started and stay with it. Don’t give up.

Simple math is the math that tempts us all. You’ve done it before. So have I.

You open a spreadsheet, or snag a handy calculator.

You dream of creating a digital product that sells for $100 and reason, “Surely I could sell 2 a week!”

Surely. (insert funny Airplane – the movie – reference here)

Surely I could replicate that a few times.

Presto – within minutes you’ve got a strong 6-figure business crafted and you’re still in your PJ’s.

This is great.

Simple, right?

Yes. Very.

Easy? Not at all.

So begins the journey of today’s video.

Do you disagree? Chime in at the comments below. I embrace debate, dialogue and disagreement. I foster raving praise, too.

I’ve spent my entire adult life building businesses. Admittedly, they’ve tended to be bigger than your average mom and pop shop. Retail storefronts, warehouses, delivery trucks, offices and lots of people. The whole shebang.

Now, I’m increasingly focused on helping solopreneurs or small enterprises launch, or reach the next level of performance. Like all construction – business building requires forethought and detailed planning. Today’s video focuses on the foundation necessary to have a sustainable business.

Plan well. Plan in detail. Then, work the plan with a vengeance. Be relentless in the pursuit to make your vision come to life.

Are you confused? Wondering which way to go? Wondering how to do it?

Don’t feel too badly because it happens to the best of us, and the worst of us. We often languish in failure because we lack direction. That lack of direction is sometimes the result of our inability to create some organization in our work.

People love to talk about marketing. It’s the paramount thing for people. And for good reason. We need more customers. We need bigger lists. We need greater visibility. We need more sales. We need more profits. We need more money!

Today’s show focuses on a few concepts that I think are foundational for a successful, sustainable business. I’m not diminishing marketing. But I am putting some things ahead of marketing because without them, marketing will backfire.

I solicit your feedback, questions or comments. Call 214-736-4406.

Resources mentioned in today’s show:

• This video I produced on entrepreneurship
• Cliff Ravenscraft – The Podcast Answerman
• This video on the word “habit”

Thanks for listening.

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Phil Simon engages in some meaningful dialogue in today’s special episode.

Phil is the author of 2 other books – both published in 2010 – WHY NEW SYSTEMS FAIL and THE NEXT WAVE OF TECHNOLOGIES. He’s a very smart guy, as evidenced by his Carnegie Mellon undergraduate degree in policy and management and his graduate degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell.

The messages of the book are powerful, not overly technical and often quite simple – that’s what makes many of them so powerful. It takes a bright mind, like Phil’s, to help un-complicate the emerging technologies that can help us join the ranks of The New Small.

Spend about 50 minutes listening in to a candid discussion about The New Small. More importantly, read the book, listen to Phil Simon and learn!

Some of the points in today’s show are:

• Why is this question an important question for The New Small: Where can we find meaningful work?
• The role of crowdsourcing in writing the book and how The New Small embrace it.
• What role does “fidgety” play for The New Small?
• There are so many tools and technologies available, how can we find the tools that will help us?
• The importance of avoiding “bad business.”
• Voices.com and other members of The New Small teach us to work more openly.
• Can the old small morph into The New Small?
• Salesforce.com shines as a strong supporter of The New Small. Find out why.
• The New Small are driven by one over-riding pursuit. Phil’s case studies clearly reveal why it’s really what matters most. Find out what it is.
• The New Small uses one “S” in this pursuit. It’s a critical component of their success.

And there are many more points covered in this discussion.

I read lots of books. You’d be hard pressed to find a book aimed at small business that has more practical, real-world application than Phil Simon’s The New Small. It’s full of interesting stories and case studies that show us how other businesses are solving their problems using the five enablers Phil identifies in the book:

1. Cloud computing
2. SaaS
3. Free and open source software
4. Mobility
5. Social technologies (social media and social networking)

Buy the book. Read the book. Implement what you learn.

Connect with Phil Simon:

- Phil Simon Systems
- The New Small
- Twitter @philsimon and @thenewsmall

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Do you like my Lava Lamp Effects? Good. This is what happens when the lighting bounces off my studio walls, which are yellow. Why else do you think it’s called THE YELLOW STUDIO? Also, watching NFL playoff football on the studio TV helps. I make no apologies for it – because I accept full responsibility for it.

Entrepreneurs aren’t born. They’re created. Actually, they’re self-created.

They’re not super-human.

They’re not lucky.

They’re responsible.

Two books are mentioned in today’s video:

The Entrepreneur Next Door by Bill Wagner

Never Get A Real Job by Scott Gerber

No matter your age, I encourage you to read both books.

More than that, I encourage you to be responsible for your own work.

Create. Do good work. Have good ideas. Launch them. Refine them. Make them successful.

Discovery Channel has a number of reality survival shows, including Man, Woman, Wild. For an indoor type, I’m drawn into some of these shows, but Man, Woman, Wild is pretty good viewing. Spend 15 minutes and watch the segment below. It’ll give you a taste, and better explain the premise of the show.

What does a reality survival show have to do with your success?

Maybe, everything.

Here are a few ideas I cover in the video below:

• Making excuses won’t help you survive. And if don’t survive, you can’t thrive.

• Use what you’ve got. You gain nothing by concentrating on what you don’t have.

• Quickly establish your priorities. Urgency demands fast, appropriate action.

• Work to completion. Daylight is your friend when shelter is the priority. Don’t let the sun go down before you’ve completed the task.

• Every adversity is an opportunity for you to survive. Survival is the key. Don’t let the thoughts of thriving distract you. First things first.

• Only the strong and tenacious make it. Why not you?

Improve your opportunities for success. Survive. Today. Then, get up tomorrow and do it again. And again. And again. For as long as it takes.

P.S. You’ll also find my video posted at YouTube. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, if you dare.

How do you determine who gets your time and attention? Who do you read? Who do you listen to?

There are two distinct groups who occupy your life – in terms of people who you’re willing to pay attention to – with one major caveat, these are people who know who you are:

1. The core group – the people you know and who know you. These are people who have a personal connection with you. They understand your life, and they care about it. They have a more vested interest in your life. Hopefully, you also care about them.

2. The special interest group – the people you know and who know you, but they leap to your mind because of some present need or interest. For example, you may have some specialized skill. Let’s say you’re a WordPress website designer. People know that about you. When somebody has a question or need about a WordPress website, your phone rings – or you email inbox gets a new message. You occupy a “top-of-mind” presence for the people who know you.

Then, there are all those people we know of, but who don’t know us. Connections are made that have value, but aren’t very intimate. We really don’t know them, but based on their public persona we think we do. Again, some of these people may be core people we listen to. We may listen to them all the time. We may hang on their every word because we’ve decided they’ll be in our inner circle of influence even though they don’t know us.

Another group may be more specialized. I’m a member of Don McAllister’s Screen Casts Online. Don teaches about all things Apple Mac. He produces killer video tutorials at his membership site. I learn from Don’s work. He doesn’t have a clue who I am, but based on my special interest in what he teaches, I listen to Don. We’ve all got people like that in our life. They provide value for us. Sometimes, like Don’s offerings, we pay for the value. Sometimes, it’s completely free.

With Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Foursquare, Gowalla and the host of other places where we interact with people – it’s entirely probable that most of the people you interact with each day are people who haven’t a real clue who you are. Why do you listen to them? Is it popularity? What is it that draws you to them? What value do they provide in your life?

Quite often I find myself not asking these important questions – and every time I drift away from asking these great questions I find my life grows noisier. That’s not good for me. It’s distracting.

Part of my 2011 plan is to further restrict the voices in my head – and my life. And I don’t plan to allow the cool kids to dictate the voices I value most. Quite often I find them among the most boring voices anyway.

Besides, I find the most value in listening to people who care about my life – and those willing to let me care about theirs.

Who do you listen to – and how do you decide?

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]]> http://bulanetwork.com/episode-73-who-do-you-listen-to/feed/ 0 http://bulanetwork.com/episode-72-time-to-amputate-your-business-wont-win-with-a-loser-attached/ http://bulanetwork.com/episode-72-time-to-amputate-your-business-wont-win-with-a-loser-attached/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 05:07:32 +0000 Randy Cantrell http://bulanetwork.com/?p=3075

Pictured is a Civil War era surgical kit. It includes the implements used for amputation. Soldiers with horrible wounds often lost limbs in order to save their life. Sometimes we have to cut off things that would otherwise kill us.

This year is going to be a year of helping small business people morph and adapt. I started seeing this trend last year. As the year continued to wind down, I saw an increasing need. I also saw increased resistance to solutions – amputation of a poor performing segment of our business is hard. But often necessary.

I always encounter resistance any time I talk about the need to jettison a portion of the revenue stream in order to save and grow other areas of the business. We  fall in love with our business. We become attached to our business model.

How we generate income often matters more than we care to admit. It may not seem rational, but to us – it’s our business and it’s perfectly sensible. It made us wealthy. It made our enterprise successful. Our victories in the market were created because what we did and how we did it WORKED.

With empirical evidence staring us in the face, business owners can still refuse to see a category or process as a major source of sickness for our business. It’s our leg. It’s our arm. You try cutting off your own arm or leg and see how attached you are to your body parts.

I’m working hard to make 2011 a powerful year where I can better help owners face these tough realities. Decisions like those facing small business should not be handled flippantly or casually. If a surgeon wanted to remove an arm or leg, I’d most certainly give him a vigorous emotional argument. I’d balk. I’d fight him to exhaustion until he fully convinced me I had no other choice.

I don’t blame any small business owner for their reaction to the necessary amputation of the things that are killing their business. I simply want to help through the decision with the best possible solution so they can put themselves in the best position for success. I want to contribute to help more small business owners succeed. 2010 saw too many small businesses die. America doesn’t need to lose more. We need growth. Health. Prosperity. Tenacity. Remedies. Solutions.

Additionally, I’ll end today’s show with a brief discussion about the benefits of a lower noise floor.

Click play and welcome to Bula Network 2011 style! Thank you for listening.

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Success builds. It often starts very small. And it can take longer than you suspect, but tenacity, perseverance and determination pay off over time. Maybe it’s your first blog reader, or your first podcast subscriber, or your first interested prospect. Micro-momentum is surprisingly common among successful people. It’ll work the same way for you.

Happy New Year 2011. I hope you build micro-momentum that morphs into something big.

P.S. This is the Gordon Theater in downtown Baton Rouge circa 1972. This is where I first saw Jimmy Buffett perform at a midnight concert (I tell the story in the video above).

copyright on the photo from East Baton Rouge Parish Library

Do you think it’s too late to plan for the new year? Procrastinators of the world, unite. Now that we can almost see 2011 it’s time to gaze into that crystal ball and see what next year looks like. Better yet, it’s time to gaze into that ball and see what we’re going to do with the new year.

I’d love to tell you there is a secret ingredient to successful planning for any new year (or new week or month). I’m sure there are tactics and strategies that some people find useful, but I’m a bit like a jazz musician when it comes to these things. I improvise. Not carelessly. Or haphazardly. But I like to adjust on the fly by being able to move – quickly.

Your success in planning hinges on doing what works for you. And that ain’t easy. Because knowing ourselves is among the toughest assignments of all. I encourage you to sit down by yourself and gather your thoughts. Then, sit down with your spouse or the person who is closest to you (that special somebody who means the most to you), and ask them what they think – not about your plans – but about you! See if they can shed some light on how you prefer to work, who you prefer to work with, the kind of interactions you most seek, and all that stuff that makes us tick. Wise counsel helps making planning better. Seek it.

In episode 69 I gave you a few questions that still are valid in helping us plan:

1. What do you want to do?

2. Who do you want to interact with?

3. What do you most love to know? What do you most love to know how to do?

4. What do you most love to learn?

5. Is there something – anything – that trumps all other pursuits?

6. Can you find people who will pay you for that knowledge?

I add a final question in today’s show. Listen and find out what it is. It’s become one of the most important questions for me as I try to plan my new year.

Thanks for listening.

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We all want a crowd. To be stars in our own production with an anxious audience. Bigger is better.

It’s discouraging when our websites don’t get much traffic. Our list is small. Some days we lose energy because all the experts tell us to do the same thing – and we’re doing it.

One, build a WordPress website. Check.

Two, give away your best content. Check.

Three, make sure you offer people something free so they’ll join your list. Check.

Four, keep updating your site with the best content. Check.

Oh, wait a minute. Make sure your content is remarkable. Your content has to be the very best. World-class.

So does that mean your content has to be better than anybody else’s? There’s only room for one person in your niche to make a living? It’s confusing because the same people who tell you that also tell you that you only need to know a little bit more than the average person in order to be an “expert.” There are so many contradictions. You struggle to make sense of it all.

What about all the websites that have that little chicklet box showing tens of thousands of Feedburner subscribers – but the content doesn’t seem all that stellar? You read a few posts on that site and conclude, “My site’s better than this!”

I mean, you work hard on your blog posts. You’re trying to produce the best content you can. You’re writing about things that you know – and things that interest you. You certainly know more than the average bear about your topic.

You’ve invested in enough information products to show you the ropes of SEO, email marketing, list building, traffic generation and such. No, you’re not a guru, but you’ve learned from them.

But traction still seems miles away. People talk about how they really want to grow their tiny list of 2700 subscribers and you think, “Man, if I could get to 270 I’d throw a party.” You go to their site and look at it, closely. It’s 4 months old. Your site is 2 years older. You read a sampling of the posts and they’re okay, but you feel your stuff is as good – even better! You wonder, “How in the world did they get 2700 subscribers?” This happens to you all the time. It’s depressing.

Let me offer you a change in perspective. Don’t diminish all your hard work. Don’t get discouraged enough to quit. Sure, you’ll need to adjust a few things along the way. Even the gurus had to do that – before they became gurus.

Is your message – or your content – less valuable because only a few people are paying attention? Have you ever discovered a killer band that nobody seems to have heard of? You think, “This group is as good as anything out there.” But they’re not successful, commercially. It doesn’t mean they’re not good. It just means they’ve not yet been discovered by enough people to gain momentum. They’re just not yet visible enough. They’ve not yet amassed a large enough crowd, but they may. They may not. The music industry has crushed the dreams of many brilliant musicians. It had nothing to do with talent, skill or know-how. It’s just how things work out.

Does a small following mean your work is worthless? Does it mean you should just call it a day? No, it doesn’t.

Don’t quit. Don’t let the world crush your dreams. Be willing to stand alone for as long as it takes until you get somebody else to join you. Then another. Then another. One person at a time.

Know this, for every single person it’s a work in progress. For the novices who are trying to learn enough to simply “get online” to the guru who aspires to be a bigger guru – and all of us who are in between. Try stuff. Fail. Adjust. Try more stuff. Fail. Succeed. All at the same time. Over and over. Don’t quit. Don’t minimize the success you do have.

Embrace it and remember the lesson of today’s show. Hint: Look at that picture to the right. What if that’s your crowd? What if that is your stage? What if you’re making a difference one person at a time?

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“Everything I do is strategic,” says the marketer. I’ve only been involved in business since the early 1970′s so my experience is limited. In over 38 years of sales, marketing and business building I’ve never met anybody willing to tell such an enormous lie.

I don’t trust people who tell me they do everything with full intent and strategy. Superman, Spiderman nor Batman do that. We’re all taking actions, reacting and adjusting. To assume that we can move with purpose 100% of the time is to be deluded that we’re in full command of life’s events, circumstances and outcomes. We’re not. Life subjects us all to variables that foil our plans and strategies.

But…still we plan. And we should.

Go ahead and dog-pile me if you’d like. I’ve not yet planned for 2011. I’m doing it now, and it’s already December. I’m not delaying this because I’m lazy. I’m delaying it because I wanted to get closer to 2011. Sometimes clarity is a result of moving closer. Think of it as a near-sightedness kind of a thing. I needed to get closer to 2011 for some things to become more focused.

Today’s show is part personal and part “let’s see if this helps you, too.” It’s not too late to sit down and plan your 2011. Don’t be stymied by the people who tell you that every action you take should be part of some grander strategy. It’s just not true. If it were, I’d stay in bed.

Resources

• Charlie Gilky provides some cool planning templates. Here are the ones he produced for December 2010.
• Here is Charlie’s free planner page on his website, Productive Flourishing. Subscribe.

Let’s approach our planning with a series of questions designed to get at the heart of what drives us. In today’s show I discuss about 7 such questions. These should give you a framework to help in your annual planning. They have the added benefit of serving to be a barometer even as we get deep into 2011. Plans are fluid. They evolve. And change. These questions can help.

Thanks for listening. Tell me about your plans for 2011.

Call the 24-hour audio feedback line at 214-736-4406.

By the way, yes – I do indeed have a bad cold. I’m not attempting to sound like Barry White. It’s just a happy benefit that hits me when I get a bad cold. Ooh, baby, baby! Baby, right on!

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Photo courtesy of protoflux

How old were you when you learned to ride a bike? Has it been 20 years? More? Well, how long has it been since you last rode a bike?

It doesn’t really matter how long it’s been since you perched yourself onto a bike – you could easily get on one right now and ride down the street, navigate turns, start and stop. You wouldn’t even think about it.

Why? Because you’ve already learned how to ride a bike.

The little boy pictured above doesn’t yet know how to ride a bike. That’s why his bike is equipped with training wheels. His dad is guiding him along. The little boy needs lots of help because he’s learning.

Before long those training wheels will come off. The law demands every child wear a helmet. It’s a good thing because we all know he’s going to fall. It’s part of the process he’ll endure to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels.

What does this have to be with success in business? Everything. By the way, today’s show also tells you why it’s so hard to teach and learn success.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said it best, “Everything is hard until it’s easy.”

Click play and learn more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Reed Timmer is a storm chaser. He is not a sampler platter. First, foremost, utterly, entirely – he’s a Stormchaser! From where I sit, Reed is a guy who is charging headlong into a single direction. He’s taking 57 steps in a single direction. He’s NOT meandering around one step in this direction, then one step in a different direction, then another step in yet a completely different direction. Reed is one focused dude.

I don’t know many guys like Reed. His passion is apparent to everybody. He’ll chastise a friend. He’ll risk hurt feelings. He’ll do whatever it takes to get to a storm. He’s driven. In a single pursuit – to chase tornadoes. Period.

At first blush, he doesn’t appear to be all that complex because anybody in his life has to understand what matters most to him. I’m just a viewer – a loyal viewer, but still just a viewer – and I have no doubt that chasing storms trumps everything else in his life. I don’t judge him. I just observe him. And I like him. A lot. His energy, excitement and zeal are contagious. Probably vexing to those close to him, but still contagious.

Today’s show discusses a number of important ideas about chasing dreams – not tornadoes.

Relationships, financial enterprises, business building – your life is likely defined by many points that surround your life. Maybe there are 57 different points. Maybe there’s 157. I don’t know. But however many there are, you daily are faced with the challenges of which direction gets your focus. Will you take a step or two in this direction? Or will you go in that direction?

Enter the sampler platter. Have you ever gone to a favorite restaurant where there were many different entrees that you enjoy. And you can’t decide what you’d like to eat today? So the question is asked, “Well, what do you feel like today?” Follow your feelings. Do you want steak today? How about seafood? Or, do you just want a little bit of everything – the sampler platter?

In business building, there is no sampler platter. Stop looking for it on the menu. It’s not there. Hint: at some point you’re going to have to think for yourself. Find the direction you want to go, then go in that direction for a prolonged period of time to give yourself the best chance for success.

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On Sunday, April 11th Texas Stadium had it’s roof (and support system) blown off. Okay, it actually crashed down after the support structures were blown to smithereens. Blowing the lid off the joint meant bringing it down. Leveling it. Clearing the space where the once proud stadium stood so the ground can be prepared for something new – that was the point of it all.

Today’s show was sparked by repeated conversations I’m having with YOU.

Well, okay – some of you.

Consistently.

“What do you do?” is the question. “I’ve been listening to your shows, reading your posts, but I don’t know exactly what you do.”

I used to chuckle and say, “Yeah, I completely understand.”

But I’ve stopped chuckling because this week the seriousness of it dawned on me. I need to get focused. I need to take aim at something – kinda sorta.

There’s riches in niches. I even coach and counsel people to niche down in their enterprises. Every week I tell business people to focus on areas of their enterprise where they can dominate. Why play in an area if you can’t win?

I rather subscribe to the Jack Welch of competitive strength. Welch wasn’t reluctant to dump any division of GE that wasn’t at least number 2 in any given market. His litmus test was for every division of GE to be number 1 or number 2. No lower.

I confess I’m not taking that approach. Meandering has been more my style here at Bula Network – the website. It’s not my style in every endeavor, but it’s been the norm around this website. And I want to change that.

It’s time to blow the lid off THIS joint. It’s likely past time to blow things up, clear out the old stadium and build something more valuable. Something of high value.

Today’s show openly discusses my feelings, my thoughts and my emotions about what goes on here – and what should go on here. I need your help.

I need YOUR help. I hope you’ll call and leave me some feedback.

214-736-4406

Call it now and tell me what you’d like for me to do to help you. If I can’t help you, then this is all a waste of time. I need to find a way to help you.

Listen at the 10 minute mark for Rosie barking. A cat walked by the front window and she went into a White West Highland Terrier fit. Her brother Rocky joined in, too. And you thought my studio was totally sound proof. Hah!

Thanks for listening. I appreciate it.

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I’m not going to end this short series the way you think, but you’re going to be pleased. I think.

Your life would be greatly impacted by an extra $100 a month. It doesn’t matter if you need the extra hundred bucks or not. An extra hundred bucks a month would put 2-4 tanks of gas in your car. No matter who you are. An extra $100 a month would let your family of 4 go out to eat twice a month. An extra $100 a month would help you stash some extra cash so when Old Faithful, the nickname you gave your aging hot water heater, decides to blow!

What if you could double that and earn an extra $200 a month? Would that be helpful to your family? Would that affect your lifestyle? You bet.

Today’s show is all about launching a micro-business. I’m defining a micro-business as a business that can consistently, in time, bring in at least $100 of income each month. Maybe it can grow to bring in an extra $1000 a month. I’ll limit the conversation to that range – $100 a month to $1000 a month. Your life, your family, is among the many that could be positively affected by any amount in that range.

Financial strain continues to be among the top reasons why marriages and families experience stress. Lifestyle implies pleasure. For some, it implies luxury. But until you reduce strain and pain, it’s awfully hard to consider pleasure, much less luxury. You grab a calculator and quickly conclude how incredible it would be – wonderful, really – if you could just bring in an extra $350 a month. Man, that would make the car payment each month. It was be awesome. Your family wouldn’t be obsessed with money nearly as much if you could earn an extra $350 a month.

As you browse the Internet you realize there are hundreds of millions of people out there. You begin to think to yourself, “Surely there’s something I could do to earn some extra money online?” You’re right. You’re also easy pickins for the unscrupulous folks who litter the biz opp crowd. For a few hundred bucks they’ll show you how you can begin to think about launching your own home-based business, one that could help you earn the big money of your dreams. STOP. Do not hit that BUY NOW button. Instead, click play on today’s show and give it a listen.

I’m working on a project – COMPLETELY FREE. It’s a video series I’m going to send only to those people on my list. The series is entitled, “Launching Your Own Micro-Business.”

The reason I decided to create this free series is because I see the need. I see a way I can provide value to you. It’ll cost you two things: your email address and your attention. Sign up today!

It’ll be unlike the other stuff you may have seen. It won’t be some business opportunity that I’m going to let you buy into. It won’t be a series that is nothing more than a sales pitch for you to purchase something else from me. No, I’m going to shock you because the series won’t contain any marketing messages from me or anybody else. The series will be delivered directly to your inbox. I expect nothing from you in return – except I do want you to give it your very best effort.

Here’s why…we all need you to succeed. Your family needs you to succeed. America needs you to. We need to spark creativity, entrepreneurship and energy. Call it karma or anything else you want, but I happen to believe that if we’ll do good – if we’ll help other people – then we’ll get good help in return. You’re the person who may be able to help me. I’m the person who may be able to help you. I think we owe it to each other – and to universe – to do the good we know we can do.

I’m excited about this project because while the rest of the Internet is concerned with making six-figures a year, or five-figures a month, I’m interested in this little area of seemingly small, insignificant money. But it’s an amount of money that can change lives. For the better.

Isn’t that what lifestyle entrepreneurship and lifestyle design is really all about? I think so.

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(photo and copy below from Swamp People on History Channel)

Swampers to the core, Junior Edwards and his son William spend their days out on the water throughout the year. They truly live off the land, taking full advantage of the swamp’s bountiful resources, including its crawfish, crabs, deer, frogs and buffalo fish. The independent swamper lifestyle agrees with Junior; the one time he tried working for someone else, he only lasted two weeks. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t possess an incredible work ethic. Every morning, he leaves home by 5:30 for a long day of trapping and selling his catch. In the evenings, he and his wife Theresa do everything they can to prepare for the next season, such as making nets for buffalo fishing. Now William is carrying on the family tradition, sharing the tricks of the trade with his own young children as well.

You should do what you have to do.

You don’t have to believe everything you see or read online. You don’t know what’s real and what’s not though. Many of us want to believe in the goodness and honesty of others, so we lean toward taking people at their word.

You run across a new blog. The tagline says this blogger is a six-figure blogger. And he’s not the only one. Everywhere you look online you’re finding people who are earning mad money in their Internet-based business. They’ve got websites that are only months old and already they’ve got thousands of readers and subscribers. By every meaningful measurement, it seems all these people are achieving success that has escaped you.

You listen to a podcast by an Internet marketer and he openly talks about how he went from living on the sofa of a friend to owning his own mansion, and earning five-figures every month…all in the span of 9 months.

You’re subscribed to about 57 different lists from various Internet marketers, all of whom regularly inform you that they are aiming to make 2011 their seven-figure year. Business simply couldn’t be better. These people are all knocking it out of the park. Their success excites you to the possibility of your own success, but…

While success – financial success – is all around you…it’s escaping YOU.

Why aren’t you advancing? What are you doing wrong?

You sit quietly – except for the whirring of your hard drive – and ponder your fate. You grow increasingly depressed. Discouragement settles in as the dark clouds of fear and doubt surround you.

“I must be doing something terribly wrong,” you think.

Advice pours in like water over Niagra Falls. Do this. Do that. Do not do this. Do not do that.

Thoughts of not being smart enough, of not have the right website design, of not blogging regularly enough, of not having good enough content, of not narrowing your niche enough, of not understanding SEO, of failing to use PPC – and about two dozen other ideas creep into your mind and lay their eggs everywhere. You simply can’t do what seems so easy to everybody else.

You’ll never succeed. You’ve been at it for almost 2 years. You started out hopeful. You thought you were as smart as the next guy. In fact, you thought you were smarter than some of these people. After all, you never had to move onto the sofa of a friend. You’ve been unhappily employed for years. You’ve been able to pay your bills. Sure, you’ve racked up some stupid credit card debt, but so has everybody else you know. It’s not like you’ve got a lease on stupid credit card behavior.

You’re not behind in your rent or mortgage. Yeah, it’s nip and tuck every month as you struggle to make it, but you’ve got plenty of friends who aren’t making it. It could be worse. It could also be so much better, but when you compare yourself to the Internet marketer who went from $50,000 in credit card debt to living in a six-figure lifestyle in 9 months it sure makes you question your sanity and your smartness.

It all compels you to think an obvious, but dangerous thought -they know something I don’t know. There is a secret. I have to find out what that is. I have to buy it.

The credit card is lying there in front of you. Well, actually three of them are lying there. Today is November 3rd. At midnight the product will be taken off the market. It’s going to cost you $1997. You do have an option that is enticing – four payments of $597 each instead of one big payment of $1997. Who cares if that option is almost 20% higher? It’s an easier to swallow payment plan and you roll it around in your mind just long enough to justify that this time – this time, more than all the other times – this time you’ll have the secret ingredient that will push you over the edge to success.

With confidence you hit the BUY NOW button. Besides, you’ve got 30 days to get a refund.

You’ve scoffed at the heroin or crack addicts you see on the nightly news, or on Intervention. Fast forward 45 days as Christmas is now approaching, but success is not. Because you’ve compared yourself to what others are telling you is their success, and because you’re coming up short – you’re convinced you are missing something. Something they’re willing to sell to you. This time you spent more than $2000 and found out that wasn’t it, but you’re still convinced it’s out there. You just have to keep listening to everybody, carefully reading every sales page that comes your way because the next one just might be THE ONE.

It never dawns on you that you have a habit. A habit created in part by the deception, lies, falsehoods, misrepresentations and manipulations of unscrupulous Internet marketers.

You need to click the BUY NOW button as much as the junkie needs another fix. Convinced it will make things all better, you dive more deeply into credit card debt never stopping to consider that not everybody online is honest. Never considering that the marketer who says he’s making six-figures has never sniffed that amount of money, much less netted that much.

Are there six-figures bloggers? Absolutely.

Are there millionaire Internet marketers? Certainly.

Is that the norm? Of course not. No more so than in any endeavor of work and earning money.

Google, Ping or use whichever search engine you choose (using the name of the search engine as a verb) and you’ll quickly discover two glaring truths. I don’t say this to discourage you – I say this to help you. I say this to encourage you to forge your own path and ignore all the misinformation and deception that is killing your success.

One, a small percentage of Americans earns $100,000 a year. Depending on the source you’ll see that it’s 2-5% of the population. Household incomes that hit $100,000 or more throw the numbers off, but for our purposes let’s stick with a single individual rather than a household. Two to five percent. If you consider the statistics on household incomes where there are 2 people earning incomes, the number jumps to around 15% of all households. It’s still a relatively small percentage of households that hit six-figures annually.

Two, according to a number of reports, including one by Career Builder last year, folks who earn $100,000 a year aren’t all doing so well. Thirty percent of them report they live paycheck to paycheck. You don’t know how that’s possible. But then again, you’ve never earned $100,000. One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.

Does this mean you can’t create an Internet-based business that earns six-figures a year? Not at all. Does it mean that six-figure income is the barometer for success? No.

It does mean I often encounter people who are depressed, discouraged and ready to give up. When they compare their lack of success to the success others claim, they fall face forward onto their bed, or sofa and are ready to give up the fight. Like Stan in that cartoon, they become positionally indifferent to the quest to find success.

Everybody seems to have a compelling story of rags to riches. That’s not your life. You’ve lived a boring, responsible life. Working at a job to support your family, trying to put one foot in front of the other day after day. Everybody’s talking about passion hunting while you’re up to your earlobes hunting enough money to replace the hot water tank.

Click play and listen. Ignore the sales pitches. Concentrate on what you need to do, not what others tell you should do.

When your boat is empty of gators after you’ve been gator hunting all day long, maybe you need to get out tonight and hunt enough snakes to make a living. Do what you need to do. Do what you must do. Keep working at it. Stop comparing yourself to the success others claim to have achieved. Figure out your own goals and chase them for all you’re worth.

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This is the first in a series of podcasts on lifestyle entrepreneurship and lifestyle design. If you’ve not read the blog post on part 1, do that first. At least skim over it and pay attention to some of the bold points.

A modern convergence has created an avalanche of demand for business opportunities. I’ll tell you in today’s show the two primary drivers behind all this. I’ll also go into detail about the differences between merely making money and building a business.

Here are just a few of the high lights of today’s show:

• Why everybody is searching for the easy button.

• Do you want to make money or build a business?

• Be careful what you want.

• All that glitters isn’t gold.

• How marketing works.

• What you should not buy and why.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Call that phone number on the right and leave me a voice mail comment.

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Over 4 years ago I set out with intention and purpose to find out all I could about how people were effectively building businesses based on the lifestyle they wanted to live. Naturally, most of the focus was on marketing. Dan Kennedy and other direct marketing people have long valued marketing over all other activities of a business. Over 38 years ago, as a young salesperson, I learned the truism, “Nothing happens until something is sold.” When it comes to business building, there may be no greater truth. Businesses only exist when sales happen. In fact, Dan Kennedy once wrote, “The only sane business or wealth strategy will be based on an understanding that there is no value in the ‘thing:’ the value is in the process devised for successfully selling the thing.”

I love business. I love business strategy, marketing, selling and most everything about business. Good thing, since I’ve been involved in it since I was a teenager. And you should know I’m a long-term player. Day trading type ventures never suited my personality or style. I’m after sustainable business. No, I don’t believe in global warming and I find Al Gore more than a little annoying. Sustainable means it’s got legs. It’s something that’s not a flash in the pan, but it’s a business that provides value to customers year after year. In short, it’s a profitable enterprise that can support you and your family. Keep reading if that’s your objective.

Let me begin with an explanation of some terms. These are terms you hear all across the Internet. I want to make sure you have a clear understanding of them before I go on. We sometimes get puzzled with all the buzzwords and acronyms. Thankfully, most of the lingo is easy to understand once somebody explains it clearly.

• Internet marketing - years ago I simply thought of Internet marketing as being descriptive, like direct marketing or radio marketing. In other words, I simply expected this label to be describing the vehicle that marketers used – the Internet. I was dead wrong. Internet marketing is simply one thing, business opportunity. The short phrase for it is “biz opp.” If you look in the back of Entrepreneur magazine you’ll see lots of classified ads where people are advertising a variety of business opportunities. Your local newspaper likely has a similar section. People interested in starting a business scan these classifieds looking for an opportunity they can purchase, one that strikes them as just right for them.

Internet marketing takes that entire biz opp industry to a whole new stratosphere. It’s a gigantic industry that is exploding so fast it’s almost impossible to measure the size of it. People yearn for an opportunity even more so during tough economic times. That explains why the Internet marketing industry is becoming more crowded every day – the market of people experiencing pain is enormous. People are looking for business, or income producing, opportunities. Like most industries, the space has honest, high integrity providers and it has its share of scam artists who are preying on the misfortune, gullibility and naivete of people who simply don’t understand the realities of what’s happening. So, it’s not much different than any other industry. However, it’s very different in one respect – it’s a deep and vast ocean full of anxious, clamoring prospects.

• Squeeze pages (landing pages) - these terms are synonymous. You’ll hear people refer to them as one or the other. Sometimes you’ll even hear people call them a squeeze page one time, then they’ll call them a landing page at another time. They are one and the same. Basically, these are the pages where people capture email addresses so they build a list of prospects. Here’s mine. Mine is nothing fancy or complex, but you’ve seen some that are very compelling. Some have video on them. Some have lots of copy. It all depends on what the person is selling, what action they’re trying to get people to take and how they approach their marketing. All squeeze pages are designed primarily around a single call of action though, to get your email address. The unapologetic purpose is so they can communicate with you. Ultimately, the goal is to market to you – to sell you something you’ll want.

• Email marketing – squeeze pages are important because most Internet marketing centers around email marketing. Email marketing is simply a way people and companies can send us their marketing messages. It’s one way modern marketers reach their prospects. It’s not the only method, but it’s a core competency for modern marketing. Expect the trend to migrate to mobile devices as today’s teens mature. Texting and text message marketing is a growing industry because young people simply do not use email the way older people do.

• Double Opt-In – if you visit my squeeze page and enter your email address you’ll be sent an email message asking you to confirm your email address. That prevents people from signing people up for things without their permission. So if you entered my email address without my knowledge, I’d get an email asking me to confirm my request. I’d think, “I didn’t sign up for this” and I’d ignore the request. It’s a vital step that is necessary for a marketer to get your email address onto their list. Governments around the world are serious about SPAM (unsolicited email we all get without our permission). Most high integrity marketers use email services that require the double opt-in. It’s double opt-in because you enter your email address on the squeeze page, then you have to click a link in an email to confirm that you do indeed want to be included on the list. That’s two actions required for a person to join an email list.

• The List - few things get more attention. The list is your list of email subscribers. It’s the list of people who have double opted-in by giving you their email address, and therefore, giving you permission to contact them by email. “The money is in the list,” is a phrase you’ll hear repeated throughout the Internet. The logic is no different than in the old offline days. The more prospects you’ve got, the more customers you can create.

There are a couple of variations of “the list.” There are cold lists. These are lists of people who may or may not have any interest in what you’re selling. When a local business puts an advertisement in the newspaper it’s a shotgun approach to marketing. That business has no way of knowing who will see their ad. They hope some people will be interested in their message. The strategy is to expose as many people as possible to their message in order to ferret out those who are interested. If enough are, then the ad was worthwhile. Lists are the same. The cold list consists of generic people we know little or nothing about. The marketer doesn’t know if any of these people are interested in his offer. It’s an expensive way to go about building a business because exposure always has a price tag that involves money or time, or both. Think of it as a shotgun approach where the shot is scattered in the broadest area possible in hopes it hits something.

A hot or warm list is one where the people have already expressed some interest. For instance, if I had a squeeze page where I directed people to go for a specific interest, then I could create a warm or hot list. I might make an offer to give you a series of online videos if you’re interested in starting your own in home guitar playing instruction business. If you opted into that list, then I’d necessarily know you had an interest in that specific offer. It might be safe to assume that you know how to play the guitar. And you’d obviously be interested in starting a business involving the guitar. Simply by opting into that list there are some assumptions I could make about your interest in my offer and you’d be a warm prospect for services or products I might sell aimed at that market. Think of this as more of a sniper approach to marketing where you’re taking purposeful aim at a specific target audience – and they’ve shown interest in what you’re doing.

• Conversion Rate – salespeople may call it a closing ratio. It has a variety of names, but they all mean the same thing – how many prospects are you able to convert into buyers? If you have 100 people on your email list, how many can you get to buy something from you? That’s your conversion rate. If you can get 3 people to buy something from you, you’re conversion rate is 3%. Naturally, there are two ways to improve your revenues. One, grow your list and maintain your conversion rate. Three percent of 200 is twice as many as three percent of 100. You can grow your list by 100, doubling it – therefore, doubling your revenues. Or, you can improve that conversion rate. If you sell just one more person on your list of 100 you effectively grow your conversion from 3% to 4%. Savvy marketers have always worked on both simultaneously.

• Auto-Responder or Email Auto-Responder - these are simply automated emails that are triggered based on the actions taken by your prospects or customers. For example, go back to my squeeze page where I ask you to give me your email address. You’ll get an email from me, but I’m not sitting at a keyboard just waiting for you to give me your email address. That process is automated by using an email service provider. One of the most popular of these services is Aweber. You’ll see lots of marketers using it because it’s reliable and inexpensive. I use MailChimp because the name, service and people behind it are cool. There are many email service providers.

• Affiliate Marketing or Affiliate Commission – If you scroll over to the right column of this website you’ll see some copy explaining how some links on this website are affiliate links. That copy properly explains that I’ll earn a commission if you click those links and make a purchase. No, I don’t earn anything if you simply click on the link. You must make a purchase. Think of it as commission-sales on the Internet because it’s the exact same principle. Those Aweber and MailChimp links above are not affiliate links. So if you click on those and buy I don’t make anything.

There are some interesting things to remember about affiliate marketing. If you click on somebody’s affiliate link you’ll pay no more for the item or service. The person selling the product or service has simply entered into an agreement to pay the person who refers people to them a finder’s fee if that person buys. Car dealers have long practiced something similar. If you buy a car from your local dealership he may offer you a finder’s fee for every person you send his way, provided that person buys a car. It’s an inducement for you to send him business. It’s perfectly legitimate and it’s as old as business.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has cracked down on full disclosure because some people benefit in other ways by being affiliates. The FTC expects all of us to fully disclose our relationship and benefits derived by being an affiliate. For instance, I won’t join anybody’s affiliate program unless I’ve purchased that product or service myself. That’s not a legal requirement. It’s a choice. I simply don’t choose to solicit business for somebody who I’ve not done business with. I don’t want to suggest you buy something that I myself haven’t purchased. However, there are many affiliate marketers who simply choose to promote products or services that pay well. It’s completely legal and legitimate. Still others are affiliate marketers who promote products or services for an affiliate commission and for getting the product or service at no charge. They don’t buy the product or service, but instead the seller gives it to them for free hoping they’ll promote it. Again, it’s perfectly legitimate and legal, but that person would be wise to disclose that relationship.

The compensation of affiliate marketing varies wildly. Amazon has an affiliate program. It pays small percentages, depending on the item purchased. When you read a post here and I talk about or list a book, and include a link – it’s almost always going to be an affiliate link. When people click that link they’re taken to the Amazon page where they can buy that book. If they do, I make a few cents. It’s ridiculously small. Many big time online retailers have affiliate programs. You might be surprised how widespread affiliate programs are.

This brings me to the high dollar Internet marketing program offers you see hit your inbox. You know all those $1997 programs you see launched? One reason for their high price is to get affiliate marketers to promote them. If you were earning a commission, would you be more likely to promote an item that would pay you $1000 or a similarly priced item that would pay you $500? Naturally, you’d promote the one that paid you the most, the $1000. That’s exactly what happens with these high end Internet marketing launches. They’re priced that high, in part, because the affiliates can earn as much as the person conducting the launch. In many cases the affiliates earn 50% of the selling price. In some cases, affiliates earn more than the seller. In fact, sometimes a seller will pay 100% commission simply to build a bigger list of customers. Would it shock you if I told you that clever marketers sometimes pay more than 100%? And why not? Few investments would be better than to build a list of warm prospects who have already purchased something from you.

The brilliance is obvious. If you can promote and sell something as an affiliate then you can avoid collecting money, supporting the purchase or having any hand in the matter. You just put people onto it and collect money. Yes, it’s easier to talk about than to execute, but in principle it’s a terrific business for a variety of reasons. There are many good affiliate marketers who teach you how to do it. There are some snakes in the grass, too. Tread carefully.

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - Google and other search engines have mathematical formulas that help their systems evaluate websites. That’s why you get the results you do when you enter some search term or phrase. Enter “pigs that fly” into Google and you’ll get about 3,870,000 results. The number one result you’ll get is a bakery whose name is When Pigs Fly Bread. Their website address is http://www.sendbread.com/. No, I’m not an affiliate. They’re number one for that search phrase because their website has been optimized with content, words and other behind the scenes technology to get them there. It’s a perfectly legal, legitimate and complicated (at least it can be) science. There are SEO companies and expert individuals who earn lots of money to help companies get their website to a top ranking position in the search engines. Other companies and individuals use basic SEO principles and a good website design (like WordPress, which is what this site is built on) to achieve decent search engine rankings.

• PPC (Pay Per Click) - this is an advertising mechanism where the advertiser only pays when somebody clicks on their link or their ad. Just about any high traffic commercial website you visit will have such ads on it. Whatever page you use as your home likely has such links on it. The beauty is the advertiser can buy an ad and only pay when or if people click on it. Keep in mind though, unlike affiliate marketing, PPC means pay per click, not purchases. Think of it like a retail store that pays for foot traffic (no such service exists by the way, but it’s an interesting idea, huh?). Based on the PPC model, that retail store would pay money for every pair of feet that entered the store. That’s how PPC works except it’s website traffic. Just because they come into the store (or visit your website) doesn’t mean they’ll buy anything. It doesn’t matter if they buy anything. In PPC you’re paying simply because they clicked your link. Lots of people use PPC to drive insane amounts of traffic that they’re able to convert into buyers. Lots of others lose thousands of dollars because they’re unable to drive effective traffic to their sites – traffic that will buy something. It can be a dangerous complex game because you must have a conversion rate that will justify your PPC costs.

There are other terms, but I hope these help give you a better basic understanding of some of the key terms used throughout Internet marketing.

I hope my 4-year journey provides insight, wisdom and knowledge that can help you find your way toward success on the Internet. The goal of my journey was to learn, and eventually, to share that learning. Maybe you’re not exactly like me, but that’s okay. I wanted to learn how I could better migrate my business into the online world. At my age it’s more of an old dog learning new tricks kind of a thing. For you, it may be your very first kitchen-table business. Or maybe it’s a side venture designed to help make the car payment. Maybe you’d like to conquer the world in your niche and build an empire teaming with people. Maybe you’re just out of college and wanting to pay off all those student loans. We’re all at different places in our lives and that’s perfectly okay. The great thing about today’s world is there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Mass customization is the order of the day. Get it the way you need it so it works for you.

Warning, it’s work. If you think otherwise, then you’re in for a tough ride fraught with disappointment and credit card debt. All that glitters is not gold.

My journey to learn how I could migrate my business into the new online world didn’t begin 4 years ago. In February 1987 INC. magazine published an article on the hottest entrepreneurs in America. In the article University of New Hampshire professor and expert on venture capital funding, William Wetzel suggested people were beginning to start companies as a means to get the work they wanted. It may have been the first time lifestyle entrepreneur entered the lexicon of modern language. The Internet wasn’t yet public, but many were beginning to consider that life and work could intersect in better ways than we had previously thought. My interest was further sparked in 2001 by Dan Pink‘s book, Free Agent Nation. Yes, there were many other little baby steps in between, but that gives you some notion of the influences that entered my life.

I was a working guy, a hired gun. My career had taken off as a 23-year-old operating a $14M business. Fast track success was ideal for me. I embraced change, challenge and adversity. Don’t misunderstand, my career was not a straight upward climb. There were many disappointments, failures and moments of regrouping. But my career was primarily built on serving owners who hired me to oversee their business. We used to call it “P&L responsibility.”

For over 30 years I’ve had responsibility for the profit and loss of companies. However, that “skin in the game” hadn’t been a part of my career. Instead, I was the guy who had restless nights worried about the enterprise of another. I took my stewardship very seriously. Sometimes too seriously. Yes, I was satisfactorily rewarded, but every single time I had to ask for what I got – after first proving long-term success was due, in part, to my leadership. Business owners rarely reward their rainmakers or anybody else because ego and greed can cloud their vision. Greed has been the over-riding drive behind most of the business owners for whom I’ve worked. Ultimately, I’ve seen greed destroy lives, families, friendships and businesses.

If you want to see the perfect example of how this all works just watch American Chopper: Senior vs Junior. Senior represents the attitude most common throughout my career. By the way, as I write this Senior is ahead in the Discovery poll 53.4% to Junior’s 46.6% (the question, whose side are you on?). In case you don’t watch, Junior helped Senior build the business for 10 years, but to hear Senior talk, Junior didn’t contribute anything. Senior did it all. Ego and greed can characterize more business people than not, especially if a business is successful. I don’t care what the polls say, Senior’s attitude and behavior display how poisonous greed and ego are – and he’s warring with a son, not merely an ex-employee. Eventually, Junior decided he no longer wanted to work for Senior, rather he wanted to work for himself. Typical of many business owners who lose key employees, Senior got angry and felt betrayed. “How dare he leave me?” was and still is his attitude. Sometimes we simply need to do what we need to do. Sadly, too often parting doesn’t end well. I don’t happen to think any business is worth losing a son, or daughter, or spouse.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself in a situation that simply drained energy from my life. My children are grown. My financial situation comfortable and without debt. I wanted a change. And I wanted the Internet to serve as my vehicle because for me, it was all about lifestyle design. Tim Ferris of The 4-Hour Work Week made that term popular. Tim is a brilliant guy and I’m fond of his work.

For me, lifestyle design didn’t mean a bigger house. Or a bigger, fancier car. Nor did it mean exotic trips. It meant being in command of my schedule as much as possible. It meant being able to build something relying only on myself. It meant not being focused on building an organization or moving a team forward, something I had spent almost 4 decades doing.

Today, for me it means being a one-man-band, fully self-sustaining. It means collaborating with like-minded, kindred spirits. It means outsourcing those things where I’m weak or uninterested. It means working with other free agents who can provide meaningful value in my enterprise while remaining under their own umbrella, not mine. It means achieving an income level that will allow me to do the things for others that I most wanted to do. It means creating business models that are sustainable over time, affording me to work in spurts because that’s how I work best. If I find the flow and decide to work 20 hours straight, I’d like to do that. But if I choose to stay in bed for 12 hours straight, I can do that, too. Or if I want to grab my wife, get in the car and take off for a few days – I want that ability.

What this is not about and what it is about.

It’s not about retirement, never having to work again. It’s not about laying about a life of leisure while others do my work. It’s not about ripping people off with over priced long-winded content that does nothing more than elevate the customer’s credit card debt. It’s not about getting out of doing meaningful work, rather it’s about doing more meaningful work. It’s not about popularity or fame. It’s not about making millions, although I’m not adverse to that notion.

It’s about providing the most value I can for whatever is left of my life. It’s about making the last third of my life culminate into the greatest contributions possible because I have the first two-thirds of my life behind me. It means using what I’ve learned to help others. It means exercising the wisdom that maturity and experience have taught me. It means creating a legacy in the hearts of people I can serve and help. Connection, engagement, meaning, service and grace.

I’ve lived 53 years so I could arrive at this moment. You’re likely somewhere else, but wherever you’re at – you’ve been through the years of your life so you could be better prepared to be where you are today. And if you’re like me, you’re not satisfied to remain stagnant. You want more. No matter where you are on the time line of life, you’re here right now better prepared than ever before. Seize the moment. I need to see you seize it. I need to help you do it.

In short, it’s not about me except in terms of what I can do to help others – and earn a living in the process. If I provide nothing of value, then my efforts will fail. Pure and simple. And right. That’s how it should be. No value, no business. No value, no success. Sure, it’s about building a business so I can provide for my family, but all good business is about a great value exchange. I give you something high in value in return for something of equal or lesser value. The customer must always come out on top. That is, the customer must always be dazzled with the end result. If not, then I believe the business has failed and in time, customers will decide to go elsewhere. That’s what I mean by sustainability.

Sadly, my intense research has shown me that financial success can be had by providing limited value. Deception began in The Garden and it’s still alive and well. The best of us are susceptible to being duped.  Customers are ripped off daily. Marketers take advantage and scam people without any remorse. Even so, I’m not so jaded to believe that business can’t be conducted with the highest degree of integrity. Nor do I believe that corners must be cut in order to achieve success. Good people can provide good value, earning both a good reputation and a good living in the process. In the online world, or offline world there are good folks and bad. No industry or niche is immune. Don’t get caught up in all that. Be the good person you want to be. Be honest. Be up front. Be forthright. Be who you are (unless you’re a crook).

Gurus, magicians, experts, voices of authority, Internet celebrities.

Family, church and other folks are on my radar. I don’t say that to appear noble. I say it to reveal my honest motives. It’s important for us to fully understand where we are in life, what we want and why we want what we want. When I was younger, with two children at home I was at a different place. In fact, all along the time line of my life I’ve experienced different motives and ambitions. That’s how life goes. Our needs, our desires are always in a state of flux based on where we are on the time line.

I have young friends who are looking to purchase their first home. I have other friends who are looking to buy their last one. So it goes.

As I close today’s post I’ll share a few of my personal objectives, some things I want compared to some things I absolutely do not want.

I want:

• To build a community of like-minded connections, people who see the world as I do (I know I’m not everybody’s cup of tea. I’m equally certain not everybody is mine.)
• To find ways to provide meaningful benefits to a community of people based on my lifetime of business experience (Admittedly, I don’t want to serve just anybody or everybody.)
• To find ways to help people who are struggling to figure things out because I too have struggled many times and fully understand how lonely that can be (I don’t think anybody ever has it all figured out)
• To make a difference in the lives of people by maintaining my focus on serving, not merely in marketing (and I don’t think marketing is a bad word, or bad thing)
• To be creative, mostly by creating resources people find highly valuable (so valuable they’ll be willing to let me serve them – and yes, so I provide value worth paying for)
• To be able to work on my own schedule (which doesn’t mean working less, but working with greater flexibility as it suits my creative flow)
• To leave the world better because I was here (no matter how brief or small the contributions)
• To better figure out how my service can be based on my natural aptitude and passion (excellence is found in being one’s element; I want to be in mine)

I do not want:

• Internet celebrity, popularity or fame (I couldn’t handle it even if I did want it)
• Worldwide travel that takes me away from my family or home
• Lots of impositions on my time
• Popularity outside of those people who are kindred spirits (I’m pretty fixated on connecting with the right kind of people)
• An organization or team of employees (been there, done that)
• An enterprise larger than I need to maintain the simplicity of my life (by the way, I’m not sure I’m living as simply as I want yet)

I’ll dive headlong into the journey in part 2 with a series of podcasts where together we can think about the journey of becoming a lifestyle entrepreneur.

Thanks for reading. I know this was far longer than normal, but this isn’t a normal story. You don’t want a normal, boring story, do you? Me neither.

Jack Nicholas, famed golfer, once remarked that a successful shot consisted of 50% visualization, 40% set up and only 10% swing. I’m sure that was true, for him. After all, he’d already perfected (for the most part) his swing. He had likely spent thousands of hours working on his swing. You could put a golf club in my hand – I’ve played golf twice in my life – and I promise you visualization would do me no good. I could envision the perfect flight of the ball, but there’s no way I could swing to execute such a shot. It’s the classic case of a successful person uttering the TRUTH, but people who lack his ability, skill and expertise misconstrue it. It sounds so easy when Jack gives us that formula.

It’s not Jack’s fault. Easy is in the ear of the hearer. It’s in the eye of the beholder.

We’re all enticed with the EASY BUTTON. Staples has a tagline that compels people shopping for office supplies to shop with Staples, “That Was Easy.” It’s an attractive message, and one I’m sure Staples can deliver on. Of course, it’s not something Jack could (or would even try to) deliver on. He made that statement from his perspective. You and I don’t quite share the same perspective.

Enter the dragon, the problems that often plague us.

It sounds simple. It sounds easy. When we find out it’s not, we often get depressed, discouraged and disillusioned. The expert, the guru, the successful person offers up advice that sounds marvelous. And simple. It is, from where they sit. They’ve endured the knife fight, as Mat Kearney calls it. I love this sentence on the bio page of his website, “I was traveling with a friend celebrating what felt like victory after a five-year-long knife fight to establish myself as a new artist.” Mat lives in Nashville, the land of knife-fight victims who have yet to establish themselves. They have a different perspective than Mat, but maybe part of Mat’s genius is being able to hang onto the knife-fight feeling. Buy his music (no, I’m not an affiliate; just a rabid fan).

The fact is, those folks who are established – and even soaring ever higher – can’t fight your fight. They fought their own and emerged victorious. It’s why people are frustrated when the successful author says, “Write and publish a book and you can be paid 1000 times for something you produced once.” True dat. But it’s far easier to say than do.

So much of the battle is fought in our head. The biggest dragon of them all may be our own mind. This Matrix-like life kills many desires, dreams and ambitions. Understand you’re in a Matrix. Things aren’t as they seem. It all depends on where you’re at in the knife-fight. Is the fight over? Are you dead, or standing? Are you in the middle of the fight? Have you yet to engage in the fight? All those questions matter. Wrap your mind around them. Most of all, get off your butt and fight. It may kill you, but otherwise, how will you ever know if you could win the fight?

Let me give you about 20 minutes worth of my view on such matters in this short special episode. I hope it encourages you to get on track doing the thing you’d most like to do.

Thanks for listening.

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Some time back I was reading about children in third world countries. These children suffer from a variety of challenges brought about, in part, by their poor nutrition. Various organizations seek to serve the children of the world. One particular effort was begun some years ago to help the survival and development of these children by bringing in iodized salt.

Iodized salt? It struck me how simple, cheap and odd that solution was. And how small. The story went on to tell how enormously helpful it was in saving more of these children, and in helping them more fully develop brain function.

Apparently, something so small can have a gigantic positive impact. I had no idea. I can’t say I’d thought much about the iodized component of salt. For all I knew, it was just something that naturally was in salt.

According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, “Iodine deficiency is now accepted as the most common cause of preventable brain damage in the world.” That statement blew me away when I first read it. It still blows me away. You kidding me? Iodine deficiency is that powerful? Apparently so. Google it and you’ll see plenty of research is available to back that up.

And here we are, every single day taking our iodized table salt for granted. When’s the last time you even thought of iodine? When I was a kid it was that red stuff our mom put on our cuts. You don’t even see that much any more. But digestible iodine has simply never entered my consciousness – until I read this story of how a lack of it was affecting small children in Africa (and elsewhere).

According to Oregon State University (and others), 30% of the world’s population suffer from a deficiency of iodine. That’s based on a level below 100 micro grams. Maybe you understand what a micro gram is, but I didn’t. I’m not sure I still do, but I did try to figure out just how big or small that might be. Here’s the definition of a micro gram.

A unit of mass equal to one thousandth (10 -3) of a milligram or one millionth (10 -6) of a gram.

There, now you get it. Well, uh, not really. Here’s the deal. It really doesn’t take much to make a big difference in our health. A really small amount makes all the difference. Which is what made me think about our businesses and how we often try to look for some big thing that will make all the difference. What if it’s not a big thing that can solve our problems? What if our major problems (brain development due to a lack of iodine) have much smaller, easier solutions, but we just don’t know it?

Resources and other things mentioned in today’s show:

• Paul Arden, ex- Saatchi & Saatchi creative chief who died on April 3, 2008
• Paul’s book, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be
• Paul’s book, Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite
• Google results for “iodine deficiency”
• Vitamin B12 information on Web MD
• Remarkable Retail – a Bula Network enterprise serving the independently owned, commission-based retailer
•Tungle.me if you’d like to snag one of the FREE 30-minute consulting times on Friday afternoon. It starts tomorrow! Short notice I know, but I didn’t want to wait. There are 5 spots starting at 12:45PM, October 1st. I plan to do this every Friday except for when I’m traveling. Take advantage of it. You can read more about it here.

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NOTE: Today’s show was actually recorded on Thursday, September 8, 2010 following the storms and tornadoes that rolled through Dallas/Ft. Worth Wednesday afternoon, September 7th. I decided to release the shows out of order on purpose.

In the early 1970′s when I got my first job as a hi-fi stereo salesperson, there were no fax machines, no cell phones and many home phones still had rotary dials. Cordless phones didn’t arrive until the 1980′s.

Hard to imagine, isn’t it?

Well, that’s the era where many of my generation – Baby Boomers – began our careers. It was the real live laboratory where we gained our experience, honed our skills and developed our abilities to succeed.

People of every generation experience various degrees of success and failure. Every lab has winners and losers. Most rats fail before they succeed. “Everything is hard before it’s easy,” wrote Goethe.

I learned quickly. I advanced. The laboratory I was in became more familiar over time. Conquering each challenge fueled my growth. The maze didn’t prove impossible for me. I figured out the rules. I found the cheese.

Today, I’m in a different lab. The old lab is gone. But I’m a rat who is still alive. With plenty of energy, and hopefully more productive years. My motivations aren’t the same as when I was younger. My lifestyle desires are not what they once were. Mainly because I’ve achieved a lifestyle I’m comfortable with, thanks to my success in the old lab.

Click play and permit me to share with you where I’m at – because I suspect many of you are exactly where I’m at. If you are a Baby Boomer, you’ll be able to relate.

Resources and other things mentioned in today’s show:

• John Reese – famous Internet marketing guru, creator of Traffic Secrets
• John Reese guest blogged this post on John Chow’s blog – it’s about his dropping out
• Storms hit north Texas Wednesday, September 8, 2010
• Domain names I mentioned in Episode 58:
- IdeaActionIncome.com
- GrowGreat.com
- RemarkableSmallBusiness.com
- StopWorkingForWages.com
- SundayNightBlues.com
• Tell me what you think about LabRatLearning.com “New Media For Old Rats” or “New Rules For Old Rats“

Call 214-736-4406 and tell what you think of any of any of these. I’m working on a project aimed squarely at sharing this learning experience. Got any suggestions? I’d love to hear them.

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That’s me when I was young. Fresh on the scene. Eager to learn. To figure things out. To compete in the lab and succeed. I’m not quite that cute any more. Life has jaded me, worn me down a bit and slowed me up.

Today’s show is about my struggles and challenges to learn the new online world. I’m an old lab rat who had become proficient in the old lab, the physical offline brick and mortar world. The old lab is where I grew up. I adapted. I overcome. I conquered. The old lab became familiar. Success was mine. As always success was measured by money, position, authority and the ability to build a business, which always involved building a customer base.

Enter the new lab, with new rules. And new challenges.

Take an older rat out of the lab where he’s grown up and thrived, and insert him a new lab that operates on completely different rules – and you’ve got one old, confused rat.

My ignorance as a young rat was extensive. I was naive and unskilled when I was first inserted in the lab, back in the early 70′s. However, I learned quickly and conquered every challenge thrown my way. I was rewarded accordingly.

Time marched on. With every challenge I became more accomplished, more confident. It didn’t matter that I failed some challenges. I didn’t fail long because I figured out how to make changes that helped me turn those failures into success. Still more time marched on.

It all changed when the old lab was lost and I was placed into this new lab, where everything was different. The experiences, skills, knowledge and even the confidence I had acquired…they didn’t matter much in this new lab. It was like starting over, but with one enormous difference. I wasn’t a young rat entering the lab with few skills, little knowledge and no experience. Now, I was a lab rat with over 37 years of experience. Over 3 decades of things I’d learned how to do well. Over 3 decades of experiences I could draw upon. I entered the first lab without baggage. I enter this new lab burdened down with more luggage than I can carry.

Now, the challenge is very different. Learning how to forget the instruction of the old lab seems valuable. Learning how to apply old skills, experience and knowledge to the rules of this new lab is proving much tougher than when I entered the old lab. Some days I feel like I’m in The Matrix. I’m looking for The Keymaker so I can make sense of it all.

Every day I see other rats just like me. So I decided it was time to chronicle the journey. It’ll involve launching something new. Something targeted. Something valuable. Hopefully, something very valuable to others like me. I know we outnumber most lab rat populations. I’m feeling a sense of urgency to get on with it so together those of us who succeeded in the old lab can figure out this new one.

You may be like me. You’re no longer a twenty-something. You’ve got years of experience. Years of success. Unfortunately, your success was at a completely different game, by different rules. Life has burdened you with baggage. Responsibility. Bills. The pressure to perform is very different than when we began all this lab work.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer to not go it alone. Next week – in the next episode – I’ll tell you more and ask you to help me figure out a few things. Our years of experience, our skills, our collective knowledge are bound to be valuable. We just have to put ourselves toward the task of getting on with it. The old lab is gone and it ain’t comin’ back!

Resources and other things I refer to in today’s show:

Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon – “Money”

Randy Newman – Land of Dreams – “It’s Money That Matters”

Lynn Terry – Affiliate marketer extraordinaire – Click Newz

Lynn Terry’s Self-Starter’s Weekly Tips Elite Membership (her paid forum membership offer) not an affiliate link

Doll Dresses By Rhonda – my wife’s enterprise

Call 214-736-4406 and leave me a voice mail telling me what you think about the domain names mentioned at the end of today’s show.

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Andrew Warner has over 19K Twitter followers. I don’t know how many people are on his email subscriber list. He did this interview which is referred to in today’s show. You should listen to or watch the interview. You should watch or listen to more than one. Andrew has a variety of interviews you’re bound to find interesting.

Both Chris Guillebeau and Andrew Warner have something I don’t. An audience.

I’m happy for them both. And I think they deserve it. Sure, I’m envious, but these things are all a work-in-progress. And who knows? One of these days I may just make the Andrew Warner Mixergy show. It’s not an objective or goal, but it’d be terrific to experience enough online success to show up on his radar.

In the meantime, I’m contemplating a couple of contrasting truths.

On one hand we know common wisdom tells us we should do more of what is working and less of what isn’t. Test, ship, measure. Make adjustments. Improve. Stop doing the things that fail. Increase doing the things that are working.

On the other hand we’ve all been taught since we were kids, “Don’t quit!” Don’t give up. Stick with it. Be tenacious. Be determined.

What if we’re not experiencing success? What if nothing seems to be working? What if we’re seeing no progress?

That’s why some blogs and podcasts fade. It’s why some people just throw up their hands and quit. They give up any dream of launching an online enterprise. Some, who aspire to become self-employed, grab Craigslist or go to Monster and start looking for a job. Others give up any dream of finding popularity or just a few hundred followers.

Crowds, followers, markets, audiences, niches, customers, readers or listeners – every online persona is searching for some combination of these. I’m looking for a few of these. Admittedly, I’m looking for some validation that there are just a few people out there who can resonate with me, and let me resonate with them. So far I haven’t found them, but I’m not yet convinced they’re not out there. Somewhere.

“The money is in the list,” is a common theme of all online business. No wonder I’m not currently earning tons of money strictly by being online. There are 6 people on my list. I’m 3 of them. I may even be 4 of them because I know one is my pen name. My wife is also on the list. I had to opt her in myself. She refused to join my list. That’s the clearest demonstration of my difficulties!

Join my list and become subscriber number 7. Lucky Seven! Or you could scroll down to the bottom of the page, along the right hand side…and become the second person to like my company Facebook page. I’m the first person to like my own page. Admittedly, I just built that page, but you can see the traction is grabbing quickly. Going from the offline world  to the online world is not easy.

The Internet swallows many people daily. People who fail in obscurity. Like a large crowd of people all speaking at once, the sound of babbling overcomes our ability to distinguish any single voice or conversation. Constant noise makes it almost impossible to concentrate and focus. It also makes it nearly impossible for people to find us. If they can’t find us, then how will they ever discover our uniqueness? How will we ever break through? How will we ever build an audience if they don’t even know we exist?

Seth Godin urges us to keep swimming through the dip. You never know how close you may be to reaching the shore of your goal. So, don’t quit too soon. Success may be just one more extended reach ahead. Go for it!

It’s a quandary of advice. An apparent contradiction.

I’ll tell you how I’m handling it in my own online venture. Maybe you’ll be helped by learning you’re not alone in your anonymity. I’ll compare my email list with yours all day long. And I’m betting your list blows mine out of the water. But I’m not quitting. It’s not over!

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Lonely, huh? Sitting there all by yourself. Reading the blog of a guy nobody has ever heard of. Listening to a guy in Dallas, with a bit of an Okie accent. But there you sit. All by yourself. Yes, I have no audience. Well, there’s you. You count. You matter. So on with the show because even if you’re out there all by yourself – that’s enough for me. For now.

Maybe you’re like me when I went to a midnight concert to see a guy and a guitar. I was still in high school. Nobody had heard of this guy, but I had heard a song or two on “Loose Radio” – the local album rock/alt country station serving the college town where I lived. His name was Jimmy Buffet. There may have been 100 people at the show. The tickets were $1.02. A radio station, FM102, promoted the show.

I did have a friend sitting beside me, but it was sort of a lonely concert. It would be over a decade before Parrotheads would fill entire stadiums. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere. I saw Jimmy live before most had ever heard of him. Kinda cool, huh? For me. Not for Jimmy. Building a fan base is hard work.

Today’s show really focuses on one question: “What do you believe to be true?”

There are some things I know to be true. There are other things I believe to be true. For instance, I know it’s true that I have no audience – so far as numbers are concerned. Sometimes I run across a person who is lamenting that their blog has been around for a year and they’ve only got 3000 subscribers. They’re desperate to reach 5000, but finding it’s really hard. I’ll click on the link to their blog and look it over, saying to myself, “How in the world did THEY get to 3000? I can’t even get to 10.”

Usually I laugh. At myself. And my almost complete (but not quite) lack of interest in techniques, tactics and strategies that I know (another truth I know) would help. Critical things like SEO, PPC, article marketing, guest blogging, posting 3-5 new posts daily, creating a compelling ethical bribe, blah, blah, blah. I know about these things. But to say I’m uninterested…well, that’s a gross understatement. I’d rather mow my yard than get engrossed in SEO. And I don’t mow my yard. My wife does. She loves yard work. Perhaps I’ll introduce her to SEO.

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Happy Labor Day Weekend!

This week I’ve been thinking quite a lot about the price of success. The dialogue was sparked by the question, “How badly do you want it?” I’ve found myself being a bit contrary with those who hold the notion that success is only found by those willing to sacrifice everything. Some of the conversation was sparked by this motivational speech found on YouTube. “You have to want success as badly as you want to breathe.”

What is success? How would you define success? We may not all agree on the definition. The common things I hear are “money” and “freedom.” Rarely do people disassociate those. More often than not people assume that more money brings more freedom, although it’s not necessarily true.

Terry Dean wrote a blog post about how people need to be careful in their pursuit of Internet success. The post is entitled, “Blind Drivers and Broke Gurus.” Terry’s advice is to practice defensive driving. I agree.

And on top of these two happenings I ran across a discussion – a dog-piling really – on a creative type who had produced an ebook he was selling. Some in his creative community were taking issue with his daring. Trying to achieve success with his art through sales and marketing seemed heresy to some. They’ve view people like Terry Dean and other marketers much the same as they’d view a carny. Success for some of them is found in simply performing their craft and  believing (hoping) that success (defined however they define it) will find them.

Discussions about success are everywhere. From Internet marketing to cartooning to web design to video production to any human endeavor. What’s the price of success? How much does success cost? What must be sacrificed for success?

When my children were growing up I used to speak with them regularly about the power of having choices. Perhaps it was my own variety of freedom, but as their dad, I encouraged them to put themselves in positions where they had choices. I’d talk to them about how awful it was to have your back against the wall, with no choices. And I’d tell them that sometimes life will pin your back to the wall. But if you can live in a way to give yourself options, you’ll be able to reach higher heights of happiness and achievement. I believed it then. I believe it more so now.

One of the major components of my speech would focus on not being a victim. Control your own destiny as much as possible. No, you’re not God. You don’t control all the circumstances of life, but the choices you make – the wisdom you display – will serve you well. Don’t expect anybody to simply hand you something because you think you deserve it. Earn it. Earn trust. Earn your reputation. Be somebody. Act like somebody.

It was a common sermon in our home. I still preach it every now and then, even though my kids are grown and married. I preach it because these people matter to me. I love them. I care about them. Success cannot be spoken of, in my life, unless there’s talk of fatherhood. And being a husband. Success in that regard is not measured with a dollar sign and decimal points.

Donald Miller wrote “A Million Miles In A Thousand Years.” If you haven’t read the book, do. You’ll thank me for steering you to it. He begins the book with a bit of a story and a challenge. It speaks to the subject of our chasing success, our contentment and mostly, our dedication to writing a better story for our own lives.

I confess that Donald’s book is, so far, the most profound book I’ve read this year – and I’ve read lots of books this year. Success truly is defined by our ability to write a better story for our lives. Each of us craft our own story. That’s the power within each of us. You can’t write my story for me. I can’t write yours.

Perhaps the question isn’t, “How badly do you want it?” – maybe a better question is, “What do you want?”

As we begin this holiday Labor Day Weekend, today’s show is my small contribution toward helping myself – and hopefully some of you – in finding ways we can write better stories by living better lives.

Regards,

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On one side of the scales is what we offer. It’s our product or service.

On the other side is the investment, or cost we’re asking prospects to give us in exchange for our offer.

The scales are balanced. That’s the minimum standard for building a sustainable business. It happens when customers pay us our asking price and we provide them value that is equal to that price. They pay us and feel they got value equal to their investment or cost.

It’s not a remarkable business strategy though. It’s tenuous. Competitors can come in and best our offer causing us to lose customers by the droves. We’re at risk if we don’t tip the scales fully in favor of the customer.

The Internet provides such a low cost of entry that it causes the business pond to be overrun with schools of fish (sharks actually) willing to live by making money NOW. That’s why you’ll find various Internet superstars sending out one offer after another by people selling high dollar product (information marketing) launches. No sooner have you purchased one…and BAM! Your inbox has an offer that is going to be available in two hours! And it’s a limited offer. It’ll sell out quickly (have you ever wondered how a digital offer sells out?) so hurry, hurry, hurry! The only value they provide is hawking the wares of their buddies, and then when it comes time to launch their own product – their buddies reciprocate.

Look back over the course of such activity in a year and you’ll likely find very little value. More likely than not the marketing promises far more than it ever delivers. Creative copy-writing and other acts of persuasion are employed to keep the buzz going because when the wheel stops, the money stops. It simply can’t stop. Customers aren’t likely constructing a solid base for a sustainable business based on an extraordinary exchange in value. The focus must be maintained on the top portion of the funnel. New buyers are constantly being sought because buyers of the past are no longer very valuable.

I don’t think it’s the best way to go. Rather, I subscribe to the notion that our businesses should be diligent to make sure the scales fully favor those people who give us their time, attention and money. We must concentrate on giving our customers remarkable value. That’s how we’ll become remarkable. That’s how we’ll build remarkable enterprises.

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“People with dirty jobs are the happiest people I know,” said Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel show, Dirty Jobs.

“Follow your passion is probably the worst advice I ever got,” says Mike.

Zig when everybody else is zagging.

Go in a different direction from the herd.

It’s possible to love what you do. That doesn’t mean you’re doing what you love. It may not mean that you’re following your passion. If you’re not following your passion then you’re destined to live a miserable life – wrong!

The masses preach that we must chase our passion. We must do it or success will elude us. We must do it or we’ll wind up empty, pathetic and broke. And we believe it. So more often than not we’re discontented. With everything that is our life.

Are we destined to live our entire life questioning, “If only…?”

A blogger recently wrote how she was so engaged in her work that she lost track of time. She found herself working more hours than ever because she loved her work. She was somewhat offended – or so it seemed – when somebody commented about her “work.” She doesn’t think of it as work. It was as though the very word repulsed her. Interesting.

Work is not a dirty word. There may be dirty work – but work isn’t dirty. And loving what you do is not necessarily the same as doing what you love. Productivity, efficiently, effectiveness, fulfillment, contentment – they can all be yours.

Maybe it starts with us making up our mind we’re going to do remarkable things and find joy in the daily actions that make up our lives. Maybe it starts with us making up our mind we’re not going to chase fairly tales, but instead we’re going to write our life story and grow where we’re planted. Maybe it starts with making up our mind we’re going to provide value and service by doing those things we’re able to do – not because we’re doing what we love, but because we love what we’re doing!

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It was announced this week that BP had extended invitations to a limited number of people to demonstrate their technologies to see if any of these things will help solve the oil spill problem. BP has likely received many solicitations from people who say they’ve got a technology or process that can help. I have no way of knowing how valid each claim is, or how seriously BP has even humored these solicitations. Now that we’re well into the worst oil spill disaster ever, it appears BP is more willing to listen.

BP is inviting a select group to come to the Gulf where they can demonstrate their services live, on the water. I rather doubt BP will ask a single candidate to describe their “core values.” Something tells me BP doesn’t likely care about the story behind how a single entrepreneur was driven by his passion. No, it’s likely they care only about one thing, “Will it work?” Okay, two things. Will it work? AND “How much will this cost?” Welcome to Capitalism where we put a price tag on everything. Where performance and effectiveness matter – even if you’re a jerk with a suspicious purpose.

Honestly, I have no problem with that approach. It’s smart. After all, if one of the oil spill fix pitch men has a compelling story based on the core values of his enterprise, but his service or product is less effective in cleaning up this mess – I’d boot him out of the boat! BP shouldn’t care. I’m rather certain they don’t.

I’m not in the oil spill clean up business. I’m not even in the oil spilling business. How would you like to be the company who will forever be known as the greatest oil spiller in the ocean? Not a good claim to fame. That is not the best road to being remarkable – remarkably BAD.

Here, at Bula Network we’re focused on one thing – helping people. It happens that our tagline is more than that – it’s a mission, a quest and a driving force. The art of being remarkable. And because the process and interaction is so personal, it does matter what core values are. Convictions and demeanor do count. Personal connectivity counts.

In today’s show I reference this book, written by Al Stubblefield – “The Baptist Health Care Journey To Excellence: Creating A Culture That WOW’s!” (That is NOT an affiliate link) We all consider our best doctors those we like the most. We assume competence. We assume a certain degree of expertise. A doctor can be very skilled, but if our experience with him is bad – we complain about him to everybody we know, and we may even decide to go to another doctor. Bed side manners do determine the quality of the experience. It may not be quite like core values, but a doctor’s personality and ability to interact with us is surely determined by what’s in his heart.

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So, let me talk with you about coaching, consulting, core values and why BP doesn’t care about the core values of the outfits who may be able to help pull their fat out of this fire. Remember one thing though – BP may not care about the principles of the folks who can best help them, but they’ll always behave in ways congruent to their own values and principles. Those things they value most will rise to the surface just like all that oil. Your career and business are no different.

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No blog post. Just today’s show. Why? Because I’m lazy. And busy. So hit that PLAY button and you’ll understand the title. The subject is building relationships. Yes, relationships. Trust me. You’ll understand when you listen to the show.

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Great leaders see the future first. This includes YOU, as the leader of your own life.

The question is, “What do you see? And what are doing about it?”

Some people view the future with wishful thinking. They dream of winning the lottery. They dream of having the cabin by the lake. They dream of living in that bigger neighborhood. People have lots of dreams. Visions of grandeur.

It’s been said that the difference between a dream and a goal is a deadline. No it’s not. There are significant difference beyond the scope of a deadline. If not, then the mere passage of time would elevate our dreams into goals. Just let time pass and as we approach our deadline – the dream is realized! Would that it were that easy, but it’s not. Not even close.

Deadlines without any action taken to meet those deadlines are meaningless.

Well over 10 years ago my son – then a teenager – had car envy. He wanted a Honda Civic Si. A blue one. It was a really great shade of blue. He could see himself in that car. He daydreamed about having it as his own. He had no trouble seeing a future with a Civic Si in the driveway of our house. I encouraged him to apply himself to make that dream a reality. That meant making some tough choices. It meant doing some things, sacrificing some things and taking the time necessary to put himself in a financial position where he could realize the future he saw with this car.

Note: When you listen to the show you’ll hear me talk about my Acura Type R – bright yellow with white Volks wheels. What I fail to tell you in the show is that I eventually sold my son that car. What he didn’t know is that when I bought the car I fully saw a future where I’d be able and willing to sell the car to him for a greatly reduced price. And I did, a few years after I bought it. For him it might have appeared as serendipity. For me, it was a future vision I had as his dad.

My son saw his future with this Honda Civic Si and he made it happen, with my help. But every day – check that, every moment – people make choices that create a future they don’t really want. So they say. They find themselves in circumstances that they hate. Jobs they despise. Stuck in places they’d rather not be.

They often refuse to believe that there is anything they can do to remedy their situation. They play the blame game and find many reasons to excuse where they’re at. One of their favorite phrases is, “If only…” If only they had their college degree. If only they had been given the lucky break they saw somebody else get. If only they could make $500 more a month.

If only “if only” would work, they’d be the world’s richest people. But, alas, “if only” doesn’t work. So these people are stuck in a defeated, discouraging life. It’s a life where you don’t look to the future because you’re too busy staring at your shoes. See the man on the right. That man may be YOU. I hope not.

Let’s begin our quest to consider the importance of thinking about our future with the intention of doing something to make it happen!

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Many, if not most (perhaps all), Internet marketing gurus – those folks who earn their money by teaching others how to earn money online – advise us:

“Find a hungry market, then give it what it wants.”

They go on to tell us to serve a market that proves it will pay for what you offer. How do you do that? Well, easy. Just see if they’re buying solutions now. If they are, then it’s logical that they’ll be inclined to buy your solution.

We love stories. We love analogies. We can visualize thirsty and hungry people who have a strong appetite for the things to satisfy those desires (or needs).

Find a hungry crowd and BAM! Instant Success.

Do you know why that advice is so common? One, it’s true. Sort of. Two, it’s easy to talk about. Three, it sounds good. Right, even! But…there’s more to it. Isn’t there always more?

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Tom Petty sang, “It’s time to move on. It’s time to get going. What lies ahead I have no way of knowing.” The song? Time To Move On, from his record, Wildflowers.

That last line is likely one reason why so many struggle with moving – taking meaningful action. They don’t know what lies ahead. Fear.

The paralyzing kind. The kind of fear that makes us sweat with worry.

People waste time. The distractions beckon us like those Greek Sirens of seduction. We often don’t resist – we can’t. Or so we think.

Email, websites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and all the rest – urge us to join the conversation. Read me. Listen to me. Consume me.

And that’s exactly what they do – consume us. Preventing us from taking meaningful action. Rather, we join the masses – the lemmings – flailing our arms, kicking our legs in the waters called Community. We’re one of the gang. Going nowhere, but we’re in good company.

Well, it’s time to move on. It’s past time to get going – toward making your life, your career and your enterprise a success. Forward momentum. Trudging forward. With meaningful action.

Thank you for sharing your time and attention. It’s not a small investment you make. I don’t take it for granted. My goal is to help you in the art of being (more) remarkable.

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Making decisions. Any fool can. But add one word and it all changes. Making good decisions. Or, making great decisions.

One of the things I love about some books is the busting of assumptions. Myth busters.

Freakonomics was such a book.

I’m not a brilliant economist. In fact, I’m not even a dimwitted economist. But these guys shine a light on things in ways few of us ever considered before. Where most of us see nothing, they see patterns, explanations and details. The analysis of such things enlightens us. It makes us more aware. It can also help us think differently, better!

Most of us like to think we decide based only on hard facts, but that Pfeffer and Sutton book cover to the left is properly titled how most of us really do things. We fall prey to dangerous half-truths and total nonsense.

Another such book is Competing On Analytics. I loved this book when it came out a few years ago. Don’t let the title scare you off. Measuring things. Quantifying things. Looking at things from a different perspective – one that can be measured – can serve all of us well.

Sometimes we make assumptions based on incorrect data. We let our emotions soar or fall based on those assumptions. We launch forth with an enterprise riding high on the wave of blind optimism, assuming everybody will quickly see how terrific our offer is. Too often, we’re wrong.

The value of an analytic approach is found in the title question, “What if we are wrong?”

But merely asking the question is only part of the suggestion for making better decisions. There’s another component that you should always incorporate. Your failure to implement the second part of the equation to the question – What if we are wrong? – is vital to saving us time, money, emotion, passion and a host of other valuable resources.

Thank you for hitting play. Thank you for giving me a chunk of your time and attention!

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Would it be more beneficial to learn from the ground up, as you begin your enterprise? Or, would you be better served by outsourcing those things you don’t know how to do?

Apprenticeships once served to help teach and train artisans. Passing on knowledge to another served everybody. The knowledge and skills of the experienced weren’t lost. The student learned something he hadn’t known before. Society benefited from increased knowledge as the craft became more fully developed.

Today, we’re mostly interested in saving time. There’s no time to learn all the stuff we need to know. Knowledge is hitting us at such a fast pace that we simply can’t keep up anyway.

Skills we lack are also readily available today. From php programmers to simple WordPress installation – we can find people who know what we don’t. Why should we bother?

Maybe, just maybe, we’re not always best served by forfeiting our own learning. It’s possible our longer term success might benefit from learning a few things from the ground up – even if it’s simple, fundamental and basic.

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Cameron Herold’s company is BackPocketCOO.

Simon’s book website is here: http://www.startwithwhy.com/

I’m a big fan of the question, “WHY?” That explains why I’m a big fan of Simon’s work and the book.

Follow him on Twitter if you’d like. Listen to the Marketing Over Coffee’s John Wall talk with Simon. Subscribe to Marketing Over Coffee’s podcast while you’re at it. It’s among the best podcasts about marketing online. John Wall and Christopher Penn are both brilliant guys. I envy their youth, technical prowess – and their hair!

Enjoy. Think.

Do you have a dream? Some desire? Well, you need to write it down because that adds validity to it. Next, give yourself a deadline. When you do that, it becomes a goal. Suck up the courage to tell your friends and family about it because when you say it out loud you add a level of accountability that can help you achieve it.

There are some fundamentals of business that I was taught decades ago. For starters, marketing is getting your message out to the world. Have some intentions about your enterprise, or your career. You can’t simply wander aimlessly toward success – or your goal. You need to behave with clear intention.

There are people in my life – even if they’re only slightly connected to me through social circles or social media – who appear to have a single focus in life. A very clear intention. They seem to be chasing it for all they’re worth. Their intention is evident. They need, want and strongly desire ATTENTION.

Not all of them want attention for the sake of money. Many seem to be wanting something else – POPULARITY! They want the big three F’s: friends, followers and fans! They’re living their entire life out loud. Life is a reality program in which they are the star and they seem to be forcing it on everybody who knows them.

Pass me the barf bag because I’m sick of these people.

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I was in high school when KISS took off. Admittedly, they were not the greatest musicians. Nobody would ever describe them as “world-class” in their musical prowess. But boy did they have style? Yes, yes they did.

They could play – some. Enough. KISS didn’t have to be the very best in order to achieve superstar fame (and money). They found a way to be remarkable by having a unique style. Today, the money is still rolling in. Public exposure is still reasonably high for a band that taken on more iterations than any other band I can name. From Dr. Pepper ads to reality TV programs, Gene Simmons has made a handsome living for decades. How? He is remarkable!

Nobody did quite what they did. That’s why they were remarkable.

Alice Cooper had a style that was also unique. He was a rocker who also used makeup. But he added a dark side stunt show. And it worked for him. He’s been playing golf in Phoenix for decades. All, thanks to Alice Cooper, the remarkable theatrical rock ‘n roll character who hasn’t produced new music in years!

Genesis wore costumes and makeup. They were also a great rock and roll band who brought theater to their lives shows. KISS, Alice Cooper and Genesis were all different though. When you heard KISS, you didn’t mistake them for Genesis. Each had a unique and different style.

From athletic footwear to professional athletics to rock ‘n roll to talk radio – to whatever it is YOU do, style often makes the difference. Spend all your time trying to be “the world’s best” and you’ll likely fail. But if you make sure your substance is sufficiently high in quality, then focus on your style – making sure your style is unique to YOU – then you’ll be well on your way to greater success!

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Almost daily I hear somebody say, or I read somebody’s writing – and the sentiment of that headline is expressed. The logic seems appropriate.

“Find a way to earn $1000 in your business, then just replicate it and you can earn $10,000.”

This week we’ve got thunderstorms in the forecast. It’s spring time here in Tornado Alley. Go outside during a storm, holding a ten foot metal pole and you can be hit by lightning. Maybe. Maybe not.

You might be able to walk outside without a pole and be struck by lightning. Or you might be better off with a 12 foot pole. I really don’t know because I’d rather not experience a lightning strike. The fact is, lightning strikes are quite random. Sometimes success – financial success – is equally random. Sometimes.

Life is full of happy and unhappy coincidences. Yes, I believe we can do things to improve our chances. Yes, I think we can make choices that will help propel us toward winning – or losing.

In your quest for a pattern, something you can follow – some step-by-step process you can execute – I wish you well. Sadly, you won’t find it here. Even more sadly, you won’t find it anywhere because it doesn’t exist. Life is simply full of too many variables!

But don’t let me leave you with the wrong idea. There are things you can do to succeed. Success isn’t necessarily random, any more than failure may be. Give yourself improved odds. Listen and I’ll tell you how. Be warned though, you’ll have to listen to the bitter end. You’ll be glad you did though. I promise.

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It takes a thief to ruin the reputation of honest, hard working businesses. Or to ruin the long term viability of a business. It takes a thief to make people very angry when they discover they’ve been ripped off.

One phone call created the subject of today’s show. Preying on the ignorance of prospects is not a good way to create a remarkable business.

It’s the proverbial good news versus bad news scenario. The bad news is, there are lots of crooks out there. The good news is, the thieves give honest people the opportunity to display integrity as a remarkable trait – a way of doing business where we’re serving others with honorable intentions.

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