business 101

My life in a box.........

Image by jaycross via Flickr

.......holds a lot of memories.

This afternoon I went through the "box" that holds the mementos of my life. Yes,there are all the report cards from K-12, transcripts documenting my participation in the Southeast Asian War Games, and a solid 3.2 GPA regardless of the school I attended or the degree achieved. There were the many NYC Marathon certificates, Triathlon photos, books about racing and the Operators Manual for the Beechcraft A-36 Bonanza, my favorite airplane that I love to fly!

 If you were to look at my accomplishments versus the general population you'd find me in the minority,  fewer than 3%. My most recent achievement, Certified Advertising Specialist, a professional designation, puts me in an elite class. That's right, again fewer than 3%.

However, the best was uncovering the note from the editors of the Harvard Business Review (June 1986), acknowledging my submission of a letter commenting on an article in a previous edition. They had published an article maligning the Vietnam Veterans. I replied, and it was eventually published. Me, published in the Harvard Business Review. I didn't realize the significance of this until I attended a week long Executive program at Michigan State University. Upon completion of the program , we had a celebratory dinner at the University Club. I had the good fortune to be seated at a table with a group of the faculty. The program was truly great, the faculty top notch and the participants rising stars in their respective organizations.The conversations during dinner were the usual small talk. Somehow, leave it to academia, publishing came up. I was out gunned, I thought to myself. I had written an article in my college newspaper (setting things straight about Vietnam Veterans). This conversation, however, required more. Then I uttered, "well I was published in the HBR". Everyone at the table paused, you could hear a pin drop. Pause for effect, I continued, " it was only a letter to the editor". That didn't matter, these guys validated and celebrated the importance of that effort.

Since then I've gone on to write many articles for several trade rags, Blog, Speak and do the occasional letter to the editor. Full circle.

Isn't it time for you to get involved and join in the conversation?

stay on the offensive and make a difference.............

Would you agree...........

....that change made with an approach resembling evolution is a feeble attempt at change? The underlying thought is that evolving change, implied as spread out over time, will rarely achieve the desired outcome.

Where as a revolutionary approach stands a better chance of achieving the desired outcome. The thought here is that the change is so "radical" as to be enthusiastically embraced and implemented by the masses that opposition is simply bowled over.

Does it need to be one or the other?

stay on the offensive and make a difference..................

Are websites passe?

At one point a website was considered a necessity. Intuitively, as one embraces the ever evolving strategy of Social Media / Digital Marketing you come to question the need for a web presence using a website.

For example, in the promotional products profession, suppliers produce catalogs (print media), have  websites (duplicating the catalog), maybe a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN presence and perhaps Blog. Distributors, at the very least have websites that more often than not are templates where any semblance of creativity is lost in the headlines exclaiming the availability of 10,000 promotional items!

Consider the time and resources required to keep all of this content fresh AND relevant? What is your marketing strategy and how relevant are the tools your using?

The Power of Swag...........

Image by twidvia Flickr

...page 138 in the revised edition of WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING by Andy Sernovitz.

"Never under estimate the power of swag-free hats, shirts, bag, toys or anything with company logos on it." There are several paragraphs speaking to this point. "Every item with your logo becomes a word of mouth generator when it's worn by a real person." His point concludes with "Give away lots of free stuff."

I highly recommend this book along with Andy's blog www.damniwish.com and his website www.wordofmouthbook.com .

Specialneedsdad.....

.com. My wife, Suzanne,  blogs @ www.specialneedsmom.com. Blogging is her way of sharing in the lives of others whose children are afflicted with a variety of health issues. As new parents, like so many before us, we had no idea of what it would be like to deal with a special needs child let alone two. My daughters Olivia and Zoe have a rare genetic disorder, mitochondrial disease, that is degenerative. So little is known about this disease that we've come to have no expectations and live in the moment. The best way to understand the challenge is in this analogy. As adults you and I awake each morning as fully charged D cell batteries. Ollie and Zoe awake as half charged, if their lucky, AAA batteries. If I dwell on the what if's, think too long about the future or wonder why, I'd be missing too much of the here and now. An better appreciation for that old cliche "Life is too short".

Don't get me wrong, I've had my moments. It's only human nature to wonder why. To worry, to feel.....

Whew! And just like that it's time to go home and play with the girls!

stay on the offensive and make a difference.............