Archive - May, 2010

Choose Your Bait Carefully

May 17, 2010 in Business with 4 Comments

This is a business related post, but first a story.

The Story

Saturday afternoon, I had a chance to go fly fishing. Now don’t get the wrong impression. Where I live, there are no pristine rivers where one can wade under a canopy of weeping trees. There are no riffles or dark pools of water holding gorgeous colored brown trout.

Instead, I undertake what’s been called brownlining. Essentially, it’s fishing in suburban areas where the types of places I mentioned above don’t exist. Brownlining happens in ditches, golf course ponds and creeks where the water resembles thick murky chocolate milk. More or less, it’s anywhere you can find some water where fish could live.

One secret location where I fish, I’ve aptly named Carp City. It  is an amazing spot. I can go to this location and hook into some monster 10,20,30lb+ carp.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Carp are gross. Am I right?

Actually, carp don’t get the type of respect they deserve. Many people assume carp are a bottom feeding garbage fish. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Carp are actually one of the toughest and most sought after fish to be caught on the fly. They are also 50 Times harder to catch than other freshwater fish, such as trout.

For a great primer on the history and beauty of the carp I refer you to my good friend, Ian James, also known as the “carpfather.” Ian is known as the carpfather because of his passion and respect for carp. Ian is largely responsibly for the reason fly fishing for carp has become popular over the past few years.

Catching a carp on a fly rod is hard to explain. The best way I can think to explain it is, it’s a lot like taking one end of your fishing line and tying it to a train leaving the station.

On Saturday, when I reached Carp City, I noticed another man fishing the area. He wasn’t a fly fisherman. Instead, he was tossing large 3-prong treble hooks into the water and proceeding to literally snag fish and bring them to shore.

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The man looked at me with a confused stare as I started casting a fly line with a size 8 wooly bugger. The size 8 wooly bugger is a small fly about an inch long in length.

I think he thought I was totally nuts.

Here he was, using the biggest collection of hooks he could find and dragging them along the bottom to snag the unsuspecting fish. Here I am, patiently twitching a tiny little fly through the chocolate milk.

Within a few minutes, I had hooked my first fish. The man yelled over “Ya got one? Ya probably snagged her!”

I knew right away the fish wasn’t snagged. The massive carp had devoured my tiny little fly, and I proceeded to fight the massive fish for the next 40 minutes. He made a few runs for Ohio, and, on a few occasions, I thought he might make it.

The man was further shocked when he realized the fly was in fish’s mouth and not snagged on its tail.

He thought I got lucky, and he proceeded to snag more fish as I proceeded to carefully catch more. For every 10 he snagged, I caught one.

The Lesson

Business is a lot like my fishing experience.

Many businesses toss out the giant 3-prong massive hook hoping to snag whoever and whatever they can. It doesn’t matter if they snag you and bring you in, they believe they’ve won.

They caught a few fish and made a little money, but it’s not sustainable. Nobody wins. Both the fish and the fisherman lose.

Then there are the businesses that toss the tiny wooly bugger. They work to earn their catch. They take time and patience to seek out the best customers they can find. They know the reward outweighs the risk of trying to take shortcuts.

They understand that fish are smart and require respect. They understand that the fish are easily spooked and will leave if something isn’t right.

In this case, both are rewarded.

The fisherman ends up with a better, stronger customer and feels that he’s earned his catch. It’s a much more enjoyable experience.

The fish is happier because she hasn’t had half her tail ripped off by the giant 3-pronged hook. She hasn’t been duped. She’s been released unharmed. And because of this, the fish will come back again and again. It’s not always about fooling the fish. The best fisherman know and understand it’s a game of respect between the fish and fisherman.

If you snag enough fish in the same area, they’ll eventually catch on, pack up their bags, and leave for good. Treat them with respect, and you can enjoy their business for years to come.

Another reason not to sweat the small stuff.

May 14, 2010 in Life, The Speck with 2 Comments

Below is a photo of earth taken from the surface of Mars. They even had to use a pixilated image to show us just how tiny we are.

To me, this photo represents another reason not to sweat the small stuff in life. We’re all just small, tiny, specks in the big scheme of things.

Were you late for work this morning because of a traffic jam or car accident? Did you get angry?

Did someone cut you off recently while driving? Did you get upset? Maybe flipped the finger?

Did you tell someone off recently only to find out later you told off the wrong person?

Are you stressed out about something beyond your control?

Lately, during my own moments of stress, I’ve thought about this photo. When I ponder it for a few moments, my stress levels begin to drop. I realize that even though we’re just all tiny little specks, living inside a tiny speck, it’s still a big world. And specks are important.

We’ve all been given an opportunity. These little specks do make a difference. We’ve all been given the opportunity to enrich the lives of other specks.

Might as well make it count. It’s the weekend – now’s a perfect time to start.

See you Monday.

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Earth From Mars (flickr / NASA) via gizmodo via boinboing

Drudging Along

May 13, 2010 in Life, Success, Time & Money with 0 Comments

I got to thinking about this post, as I was fly fishing north of Toronto a few weeks ago. I was drudging through muddy waters trying to make my way upstream. It was a constant battle to keep moving forward.

Have you ever actually sat down and thought about what your life will look like five years from now?

Every self-help book or “how to make more money” book I’ve ever read suggests that you start with the endpoint in mind. They all say the exact same thing.

Set your goals and have an endpoint in mind. Take action and work towards that goal. They call it the secret.

But how many of us actually do it? I’d be willing to bet not very many. Yet how many people are unhappy with their current situation? I’d be willing to bet a lot.

I talk a lot about drudging through the work week because, quite frankly, we all know a lot of people who are just drudge along.

We all know people who aren’t excited about Monday’s. We all know people who hate their J.O.Bs (just over broke)

Yet they drudge on.

But where are they drudging to? Back in the river, as I worked my way upstream, I could really see no end in sight. It was a constant battle, and I was barely making any progress.

I have a feeling most people don’t do this exercise because most people assume they’ll be doing the exact same thing in five years they’re doing now.

Or, I’m guessing that people do the exercise halfheartedly and make up ridiculous life scenarios. They say things like “In five years, I’ll be sipping a drink in front of my beach hut in Thailand living off Lottery winnings.”

Here’s my suggestion:

Actually do the exercise and be honest about it. Map out your ideal life. Don’t be afraid to even map out what you would consider a perfect life.

What will you be doing for a living?

What will your family look like?

Where will you be living?

What new hobbies will you have?

Be as detailed as you want, but also be honest and realistic.

I’ll make a confession. I did the exercise a while back. I even wrote down the nitty-gritty details, like the size of our house and the color of our front door. I wrote about the relationships I would have with friends and family. I talked about my non-existent dream dog. I wrote down what I would do in my spare time.

The point I want to stress is that if you can look at a blank slate, and all you can muster up is endlessly drudging along for the next five years, you can bet you’ll still be drudging and get pretty damn good at it.

And maybe you’re happy with your current life, but I still don’t think that exempts you from the exercise. Maybe your dream is to drudge along because of the shiny golden years of retirement that await. That’s fine. I’m not discounting that, but you still need a script.

We all have a chance to write our own script. Sure, things will change and be updated along the way, but without a script or a story to begin with, nothing’s going to change.

You can be guaranteed of that.

This is your job.

May 12, 2010 in Life, Linchpin with 2 Comments

“Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it”.

The above quote comes from Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art.

I love that quote.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old stories about Michelangelo and his sculptures.

Michelangelo was known to approach a solid block of marble and instead of creating a sculpture, he would merely chip away pieces to find the sculpture already waiting inside.

Have you ever heard the story about the lawyer who left a career, earning a few hundred grand a year, to become a blacksmith earning 5% of his original income?

How about the advertising executive leaving New York City and moving to the mountains to start a career as a fishing guide?

Or the numerous people who leave the perceived safety of unions and retirement pensions to start their own risky, and zero-guarantee ventures.

The stories are abundant, and we often hear variations of them.

The reason we hear of these stories are twofold.

First, the stories resonate with us because they scare us. We’re scared when people challenge the status quo. Sometimes we’ll criticize. We’ll talk about how nuts they are, or what a poor decision they’re making.

The thing to realize about criticism is that we’re criticizing out of fear. It’s our own internal resistance making excuses so we feel better about our own situation. It’s hard for people to accept, but true.

Second, the stories resonate with us because they also intrigue us. They offer us a glimpse into those who followed the same path we took, but somewhere along the way, they veered off track.

Originally, they shaped themselves into an imagined ideal. Perhaps the ideal was brought about by their parents, or school, or society in general, and the need to fit in.

But when we hear about people like this, we’re hearing about people who started looking for the sculpture again. Something was off. Occasionally, people don’t even start chiseling the marble until later in life.

If Michelangelo had quit half way through, he never would have found David inside that block of marble.

Your job is NOT to try to shape and mold yourself into something you are not. It’s hard to shape and mold a solid block of marble. It rarely works.

Your job is to keep on chipping until you find out what’s already inside.

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Me Me Me!

May 11, 2010 in Business, Social Media with 2 Comments

Recently I opened a newspaper and saw a big giant quarter page ad from a business that was celebrating 20 years in business!

Congrats to us! It’s our Birthday!

The odd thing was, nowhere in the ad could I find where they were thanking the customers who had made the past 20 years possible.

It was all a big me me me!, We did it! We overcame! We’ve stuck it out!, type of ad.

Maybe it was just a small oversight.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer that you should boast and post your successes…

But lately, I’ve been noticing this sort of ad more often.

There’s a local monthly magazine that’s loaded with ads from local businesses. I see about five or six different salons advertising in the magazine.

The ads always show a collection of six or seven salon girls carefully posed and professionally photographed.

There’s usually a few dentistry ads showing a picture of the wealthy dentist and his shiny bright pearly whites.

Many real estate agents are equally as guilty – You: “Top Grossing Sales Pro for March” Them: “Oh really???? Wow. So now you have more money than me. Great.”

Is it any different from the me me me type of ad I mentioned above? I don’t think so.

The key here is this:

It’s not about you and your business.

It’s about what you can do for the people you’re serving.

It’s about the benefits I, the customer, will receive when visiting your salon.

I don’t care what nine staff people look like. I’d rather see the immaculate conditions of your salon or hear about the type of treatment I can expect when I come in for a hair cut.

I don’t care what the dentist looks like…Well actually, maybe I do! But I’m more interested in the clean white teeth of real people just like me.

My buddy Shawn, who’s a killer copywriter and marketing maniac, helped me recently while I was working on a letter for a client’s marketing campaign.

The client wanted to include such things as “we’ve been in business X amount of years, we’ve done this for the community, we’ve done that for the community, we’ve moved into a bigger and better office, we’ve upgraded our equipment.”

Shawn replied – “All this is great, but what does it have to do with the customer?”

When we couldn’t answer this question, we removed it from the letter. Instead, the letter directly focused on the positive benefits the customer could expect.

Your advertising needs to be about them – not about you.

A Case of the Monday’s

May 10, 2010 in Life with 6 Comments

The resistance is strong within me today.

I sat at my desk for a few hours brainstorming topics and thinking about what I was going to write about today.

Nothing was getting me overly fired up. I wrote a couple of business related posts, but I found myself constantly drifting away from those topics. But then, as I starred out my office window, I began to think about how happy I am to be here. This morning I arrived at my office around 7:30am, with an extra large cup of coffee in hand, and got down to business.

It felt great to be here after a great weekend.

When I went to bed last night, I was a happy camper looking forward to the week ahead.

How about you?

I’d be willing to bet that a lot of people went to bed last night miserable. A lot of people woke up this morning with a case of the Monday’s. They woke up just downright angry and pissed off about the week ahead.

Can’t blame em right? Duty calls. They’ve got bills to pay.

As Hugh MacLeod says, “They hate their work, but they love their “stuff”.” deathbystuff.jpg

We’re a society of people caught up in the trap of believing we have to keep slaving away with an end-goal of acquiring more and more “stuff”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m challenged every day. We all are. Do you think I want to pre-order an iPad today and just put it on the credit card? Of course I do.

Check out Seth’s riff on debt. It’s an endless loop. We’re attracted to stuff which gets us further and further into debt and requires us to go to jobs we hate and drudge through the week.

The problem with the endless pursuit of stuff, and getting yourself further into debt, is that it comes at the expense of your life and overall happiness.

So here’s my question for you.

If you went to bed with an uneasy feeling about the week ahead, or if you’re at work and suffering from a case of the Monday’s, take a couple of minutes and truly ask yourself why.

What’s the root cause of your feelings?

Try and pin it down and be honest with yourself.

Each day I realize, more and more, just how little stuff I actually need. The key is to actually realizing you need a lot less than what you originally thought. When that happens, all sorts of doors begin to open.

Check out Hugh’s post called “Death by Stuff.”

Hugh is right-on here.

Stuff is killing you, and I don’t want you to die like that.

Bury it Alive

May 7, 2010 in Business, Career & Work, Creativity, Getting Things Done, Linchpin with 3 Comments

I had this idea for a local mashup of an offline/online web business a few years ago. It was a killer idea. I had seen startups in bigger cities offering a similar type of service with amazing success.

I dumped a ton of sweat, tears, and money into this business.

I spent days working on the code and modifying things until they were perfect. Everyday, I’d pay a coder to work with me and make all the desired little tweaks and changes that were required.

Every month I paid expensive hosting bills to keep the pending service a float.

I had business cards designed and printed.

I created window stickers and had them printed at the local print shop. When I arrived, weeks later to pick them up, the colors were all messed up and they looked like crap. So, I called a bigger and much more expensive company in Toronto and had them done right.

I worked with some very talented and pricey copywriters who helped me tweak the copy and helped me with sales information to promote the service.

I worked endlessly on developing a targeted list of potential contacts and businesses that could use the service.

I paid a boat load of money to print and prepare all the  letters and sales information I would mail to the businesses.

I hand delivered the letters to the post office and paid the postal fees.

I had dreams of grandeur that my phone would ring off the hook for the next two weeks.

I Shipped.

The phone never rang. Actually, it rang a couple of times, but people either didn’t get what I was offering or they simply weren’t interested.

I followed up with many and explained that I didn’t want their money. They could use the service for FREE. They still didn’t get it. Many claimed that their customers didn’t use the Internet…

None of the businesses knew how hard I had worked or how much money I’d spent preparing this service.

None of them knew how many late nights were spent slaving over this idea.

Nobody cared.

I was in a state of denial for a few months afterward.
I kept pushing the service and trying new things. I believed my idea would work and could help businesses grow.

Maybe my offer was no good. Maybe I used the wrong type of font in my sales letters. Maybe I needed an army of sales gurus.

But then one day, something clicked.

I realized that I had shipped.

It was a total flop. The letters were mailed. The site was finished. The work was done.

My next move was easy.

I went to my closet and tossed out 1000 business cards.

I threw away 5000 expensive double sided stickers.

I emptied over 500 glossy brochures into our recycling bin.

I allowed the website hosting bill to come and go without being paid.

I buried that sucker alive while it was still gasping for air. After that I went for a long walk outside and enjoyed the fresh air.

As Stephen Pressfield says in The War of Art, Rest in peace, mother&#^er.

The 10:30am Hot Dog

May 6, 2010 in Linchpin, Marketing with 6 Comments

Last summer, my wife and I took our first trip to Chicago.

As I started doing my research, and carefully mapping out all the places I  wanted to check out, there was one place that started to show up more and more.

That place was Hot Doug’s.

Hot Doug’s, also known as the The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium is the premier hot dog restaurant of Chicago. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure we could debate for hours over who has the best hot dogs or deep dish pizza, but Hot Doug’s just keeps appearing in all the right places.

For example, one of my favorite food celebrities, Anthony Bourdain, named it one of the “Top 13 Places to Eat Before You Die.”

This is coming from a guy who’s been to nearly every nook and cranny of the planet looking for something good to eat. Bourdain wants you to try Hot Doug’s before you die! That’s a pretty strong referral.

When my wife and I decided we would venture to Hot Doug’s, we learned that this place was a bit of an anomaly.

For example, it’s not in the heart of Chicago. Our GPS showed it was about a 20 minute drive from our hotel on the magnificent mile, not exactly walking distance.

We also learned that we’d have to get there early. How early? Between 9:30am and 10:00am at the latest. Seriously…for Hot Dogs?? On a Friday morning?? Yup.

Heather was skeptical of  my planned hot dog pilgrimage. She’s not a hard-core connoisseur of the encased meats, but being the great wife she is, she was ready to go at 9:00 am.

We got in the car and followed the GPS’s directions. As we approached, we got our first glimpse of Hot Doug’s. It looked dark and closed (which it was). There was no line outside. Had Doug’s gone out of business?

And then we turned the corner.

Sure enough, there were loads of people already lined up all the way down the block to Hot Doug’s.

The kicker about Doug’s is that this isn’t your typical tourist hotspot. It’s far enough off the beaten track that you don’t have to deal with buses full of senior citizens. The line includes a mix of tourist and locals.

We were shocked at how many people, waiting in line, were local residents of the area. Imagine that. A local business not relying on the tourism industry.

Shortly after 10:30am, the line started moving…slowly.

Something about entering the doors of Doug’s was like entering the secret garden. It was a pivotal moment in my life.

As we entered, we saw Doug taking orders. It’s been noted that Doug looks like a hot dog and, in a weird way, he kinda does. They’ve even put his face on the logo.

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We finally reached Doug and our moment of glory. When Doug realized we were Canadian’s, he told us how much he loved Canada and that he owned a cottage out on the East Coast.

I can’t remember exactly what we ordered, but I know they were two classic “dogs”

The Chicago-Style Hot Dog with all the trimmings: ’nuff said… for a buck seventy-five’

There were some specialty dogs as well.

We could have ordered such amazing specialties like the

Ostrich Sausage with Cumin Mustard Cream, Tabasco Olives, and Aged Piave Cheese

or maybe Doug’s

Bacon and Jalapeno Duck Sausage with Blood Orange Dijonnaise and Goat Cheese

possibly even The Elvis, a Polish Sausage: Smoked and savory – just like the King

or maybe even a

Spicy Beef Hot Link with Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce and Pepper-Jack Cheese.

I know for sure we had Doug’s Friday specialty with french fries fried in Duck Fat. I can’t remember exactly which specialty dogs we tried, but here’s what matters.

Hot Doug’s serves only one thing and they do it better than anyone else on the planet, hot dogs. They do it so well, they don’t struggle for business. Hot Doug’s will never be hurting for business.

Doug works from 10:30-4:00 Monday through Saturday. If you want a hot dog at 4:15 in the afternoon, you’ll have to go elsewhere. Doug has closed.

Doug doesn’t jump around and try all types of new things. He doesn’t latch on to fads in the hopes of making a few extra bucks.

He doesn’t add burgers to the menu so he can capture the attention of the folks who feel like a burger.

He doesn’t add pizza to the menu to try to compete with the all the new pizza joints opening up, but if you’re looking to try a rattlesnake sausage Hot Doug’s will occasionally carry it.

He doesn’t even need to advertise or spend extra dollars on marketing. His fans do that for him.

Oh – and as I mentioned above.. Doug’s actually working. He greets every customer with a smile. Doug will take the time to tell you why putting ketchup on a hot dog is a sin. Doug will tell you about his cottage on the East Coast. Doug will tell you that a large fry is probably too much, and you’ll be fine with a small-size order. Doug is a linchpin. Doug is indispensable.

So why is your business trying to please everyone?

How can you possibly do anything, even half way decently, if you’re trying to please every person’s likes and dislikes?

What if you just try pleasing a small number of people who love what you have to offer and do it so well, they will wait over an hour for what you have to offer?

What if you do ONE thing so well that your business or service is something people want, need, and will try before they die?

Now I have 12 more places left to eat before I die.

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The Problem with More Followers.

May 5, 2010 in Marketing, Social Media with 4 Comments

Let’s talk about social media a bit more today.

The Problem:
Many businesses, who are  jumping on the Twitter and Facebook bandwagon, are gauging success based on having a large number of followers.

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More is better is what we’ve been lead to believe. I’m not sure why that is.

I’m not claiming to be a social media expert. There’s more than enough of those to go around and new ones popping up daily. For me, it boils down to good ole basic marketing.

I met with a client recently who asked if I could help him get 10,000 followers on Twitter.

“Sure” I said. “But there’s no point in paying me for that. Here’s how you do it.”

1) Follow tons of people that don’t really care about who you are or what you do. Wait a bit, weed out those who don’t follow you back, and repeat the process.

2) Continue the process until you have 10,000 followers.

It can actually be done fairly quickly. I estimated it could probably be done in under two weeks. Maybe faster. I don’t know.

The problem is that absolutely nothing has been accomplished and zero value has been gained.

Sure, it might be a great little bragging tool at your next business meeting.
Your company might even throw a party, maybe order some pizza, and call it a social media success!

The Solution:

More valuable than all of this is a small, tightly focused group of customers (and even prospective customers) who want to hear from you.

They want to follow you. They want to check out your Facebook page. They want your email blasts. They want to engage in discussion and social dialogue with you!

If your list of customers and interested followers number only a measly 100 people, who are eagerly awaiting communication and social dialogue with you, rejoice! That’s what you call a social media success.

One hundred focused and engaged followers is a far more valuable asset than losing your 100 best in a giant crowd of 10,000 unknowns.

New marketing tools have a way of making us think that bigger is better. That isn’t the case. We’re getting back to fundamentals here.

Focus on the 100 and treat them well.

The Resistance is Terrifying

May 4, 2010 in Getting Things Done, Linchpin with 3 Comments

I’m reading a super fascinating book that’s been on my “to-read” list for a long time. It’s not part of the “Top 100 Business Books of All Time,” but I’ve been super eager to read this, and I wanted to get through it.

The book is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. That’s right – it’s not the art of war, but the war of art.

Steven suggests that there is a force inside us all, which he calls the resistance, that causes us to avoid getting things done that truly matter.

It’s the force of procrastination – it’s the force of taking less or no risk – it’s the force behind writers’ block – it’s the force behind creative paralysis. It’s similar to what Seth Godin calls the lizard brain.

So here’s the question I’m asking myself now.

Pressfield says that every time we do (or don’t do) something that’s mildly or remotely scary, we’re being confronted by the resistance.

Over the past four months, I’ve confronted the resistance on a daily basis by writing this blog. As I’ve mentioned before, I used to say I didn’t have the time or motivation necessary to blog on a daily basis. Now, however, each morning I arrive at my desk with my coffee in hand, and I challenge the resistance.

Some days it’s gotten easier and the resistance relents. Somedays the lizard is quiet and allows me to easily finish my blog post without any pain.

On other days – I’d rather be fishing.

But now I’m starting to ask myself a bigger question about the resistance.

Have I begun blogging on a daily basis as a way to cope with the resistance in an act to avoid doing things that really matter?

And if so, is the resistance relenting?

That is scary.

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