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Goodbye 2011..Hello 2012! (a tad late)

January 24, 2012 in Business, Career & Work, Entrepreneurship, Life, Retention with 2 Comments

OK.

Better late than never.

2011 was an amazing year. Here’s a quick look at what happened both personally and professionally in 2011, and where I’m going in 2012 with some goals and resolutions.

2011 Recap

  1. Watched our sweet baby girl Avalon go from a tiny helpless newborn into a fast-walking, curious, and adventurous 13-month old. It was a luxury to be able to spend most of the year at home with both my wife and daughter.
  2. Celebrated six years of marriage to my wife Heather.
  3. Turned 31. No longer eligible to make the  ”top 30 under 30 lists.”
  4. Spoke at a seminar held by the folks at WishList Member in conjunction with an event put on by Anne Holland of SubscriptionSiteInsider.com. This event was held on 5th Avenue in New York City where I met Jimmy Fallon outside on the street while waiting for the event to start.
  5. Became the go-to guy on membership site retention for WishList Insider.
  6. Conducted a Master Class on Membership & Subscription Retention with Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com
  7. Created an online course with my friend Shawn Veltman on building successful online subscription sites around a topic you’re passionate about. One of our original members launched her first site and got over 100 members signed up!
  8. Took on new local consulting clients. Watched numerous clients go on to have banner years. One client expressed their best year in over 20 years of business.
  9. Took on new coaching clients. It’s always great to see people you’re working with make big steps and reap the rewards of taking those steps.
  10. Had another great year with TheBrewersMarket.com – we had a fantastic Christmas processing hundreds of orders in just a few weeks. The business was featured on Etsy’s front page (again) and also featured in a Huffington Post gift guide.

And now… Let’s move on to 2012.

2012 is shaping up to be an exciting year. I’m working towards expanding my consultancy, specifically with regards to helping larger companies make use of the principles that have been so effective for my online clients in the areas of client retention, community development, and authentic communication.

  1. Get back on the Paleo diet healthy eating train.
  2. Attend the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island.
  3. Take a 2-week vacation over the summer with Heather & Avalon.
  4. Crossfit at least four times per week.
  5. Spend time every single day playing and laughing with Heather & Avalon.
  6. Blog at least twice per week.
  7. Read at least one new book per week.
  8. Continue to do more public speaking and live events. I’m scheduled to speak at another SubscriptionSiteInder.com event in San Francisco. You can read more about that here. And if you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out.
  9. Join the Alan Weiss Mentorship Program.
  10. Expand an exciting new consulting practice to work with larger companies and bigger brands. More on this to come….

Talk soon,

Noah

Childish Eyes

March 28, 2011 in Fun Stuff, Ideas, Life with 5 Comments

For the first three month’s of Avalon’s life, we’d been blessed by the Gods of Sleep with a baby who loved to sleep. The trade-off, is an ever-growing insatiable appetite for the discovery of new things. She’s starting to get up more through the night and realizes there’s a lot of fun to be had while awake than there is while sleeping.

The biggest mistake is letting her make eye contact with us during the 3am wakeup, because that brings on an ear-to-ear grin of excitement and happiness! “I don’t want to sleep, I want to play!” She’s suddenly hungry for the world. Hungry to have fun. Hungry to explore.

When do we lose that hunger? At what point do we decide, “this is my life, and this is how my days will play out. There’s nothing I can do about it”?

The animals in the zoo certainly have no choice. Tough luck. What a sad reality. When the monkey is depressed and want’s to start down a new path, she’s got no choice. Sit behind the glass as the children poke and prod. All day long. Factory work for monkeys.

Yet we have the choice. We’re the one creature that can decide today is going to be different than yesterday.

It’s the power of childish eyes. The power to have the thirst and hunger of discovery like little Avalon is now realizing she has. And yet so many of us are afraid to wield this power. Maybe you forgot you had it?

If the animals in the zoo see an open door, they usually use it.

We’re given this power for a reason. The door is open. Don’t waste the opportunity.

avaIMG_4824.jpg

Cartography

March 22, 2011 in Life, Success with 2 Comments

Wandering aimlessly is easy, especially if you don’t have a map. And before you know it, the hours pass into days, days pass into weeks, and weeks pass into years. Where are you going? How do you know if you have arrived if you don’t really know where you wanted to go in the first place?

This is where your cartography skills come into play. Map making.

In January, if you haven’t noticed, I changed the header’s design on my blog. I wanted to provide a few of the ideas and words I try to live by.

Make your own rules.
Draw your own map.
Live your own life.
Own it.

Last week I came across this note while making the rounds on the net (via lettersofnote.com). The note was written by Bruce Lee. Bruce wrote the letter to himself when he was 28 years old. What’s remarkable is that with something so simple, so short, so sweet, and under 75 words, Bruce was able to give himself the guiding light for moving forward.

bruce note.jpg

Here’s what it says:

My Definite Chief Aim

I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.

Bruce Lee
1969

Bruce drew his own map instead of wandering aimlessly; going in circles, looking for someone else’s map, secret or shortcut, and never searching for Wonka’s Golden Ticket. Instead, he put the pen to paper and wrote it down.

Have you drawn yours yet?

Be Like Henry

March 14, 2011 in Career & Work, Life, Success with 4 Comments

Henry Ford was laughed at when he suggested his world-changing plans to build the automobile using the assembly line.

“What a nut!”

“Sure, good luck with that Henry”

In the Windsor area, where I live, folks jump for joy when a new call-centre decides to open up in town. You can’t blame them, jobs are good, and we certainly need them here. The problem is we’re officially replacing factory work with more factory work and the new factories pay less.

Of course, this is merely a stall-tactic as we’d be fooling ourselves if we believed these new factories will offer the same long 30-40 year careers our parents had.

Yet, we’ve decided it’s easier to take the factory work than it is to start something new. I’m starting to wonder what we can do to get over that hurdle, because I’m not sure we can stall that much longer. So what needs to be done? Who needs to speak up?

Do I? Maybe I do. Can you hear me???

We need to find our pokers. We need to find the folks willing to cause a ruckus. We need to find the ones willing to initiate and start stuff, because poking is infectious.

What we really need are people who are not afraid to be laughed at.

I’m not afraid of being laughed anymore, but I’ve certainly done my share of hiding. I’ve procrastinated and avoided starting something when I should have. I’ve left projects in the dust because I chickened out. I’ve spent time writing but didn’t hit the publish button because I was afraid of being laughed at. That’s normal folks. We’re all a bit afraid.

But the real magic happens when you suppress the fear long enough to get something out the door. I started a new business last year that was exposed to an audience of well over ten million people in its first 60 days of operation.

We need to be more like Henry.

Being in The Right Place At The Right Time

March 8, 2011 in Life, Success with 6 Comments

You’ve all probably heard it before:

“She got to where she is because she was in the right place at the right time.”

This statement would have you believe that success is a series of lucky events. A series of coincidental occurrences just happened because someone was in the right place at the right time. If you roll the dice, you just might land on Boardwalk.

Gladwell gave us numerous examples of lucky folks who were all in the right place at the right time.

And guess what? I’ve got some amazing news!

You’re about to catch a lucky break.

Today, right now, at this moment in time, is one of those rare opportunities where the ability to create, distribute, build, design, write, photography, carve, make, produce, draw, or fabricate are closely aligned with your greatest opportunity to find amazing success in doing so.

The place is here, and the time is now. Don’t underestimate this current moment in time.

P.S. Two new books came out today. They both make an attempt to reiterate and hammer this very same message home - that now is the place and time. I suggest buying and reading both. Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment and Gary Vaynerchuk’s Thank You Economy both came out today. It’s a good day for reading.

Fail Better

March 7, 2011 in Life, Linchpin, Misc with 2 Comments

Ever tried. Ever failed. No Matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. ~ Samuel Beckett. (thanks to my daily quote book from quoteflections.com for allowing me to consider this quote today)

I’ve failed a ton of times. I’ve tried dozens of things that were total flops. But have I failed enough? Have I failed “better?”

“Embarrassing” says my inner thoughts. What a goof!

What about the next time? Will I remember that failure? My mind has a clever way of never failing to remind me of what a mess I got myself into the last time. My mind has the uncanny ability to use that failure against me.

“Do you really want to go through all that misery again Noah? Really?”

And that’s the problem. That’s your lizard brain doing its thing. That’s your internal resistance tightening up. And that’s why so many are afraid to start, let alone fail. That’s why so many of us stand at the bottom of the mountain looking up and feel defeated even before we have begun. We are wondering how such an enormous hill could ever be climbed. It is easier to just sit at the bottom and wait.

Wait for what?

Sam Beckett suggests failing again. He suggests failing better. And no matter what, keep going. Keep failing. But each time, fail a little better.

How exactly can we fail “better?”

How can we keep going when the internal resistance grows with each failure?

I’m thinking that maybe when Beckett made that comment, he really meant it in a simplistic, easy to understand way:

Next time, fail a bit better. Even if just a little, but for goodness sake, keep failing. Always.

And I’m thinking, fail often enough and the resistance and all that tension will eventually go way. If you keep pulling an elastic band, it’s eventually going to break.

Once the resistance is out-of-the-way, there’s really nothing left in your way.

The sooner you start the better. Start again and again and again…

The Good News and The Bad News About Momentum

February 25, 2011 in Ideas, Life, Misc with 5 Comments

What an incredible amount of snow that’s been dumped on us in the past 24 hours! It’s certainly been a great winter for snow here.

This morning, we were awoken at 3:30am to an unhappy baby. It seems she needed a midnight snack. Then after a quick bite to eat, she fell back asleep.

As I laid in bed watching and listening to the snow accumulate, I got to thinking about momentum. You know when you get a little momentum in life, and you’re suddenly moving in the right direction, constantly picking up speed, everything and everything seems to go your way? Well, I think momentum, for the most part, is a powerfully important force we need to have, and more importantly utilize; but there’s good news and bad news about momentum.

Think for a minute about a tiny snowball sitting on the side of a snow-covered hill. As the snowball starts rolling down the hill, it gathers and collects more and more snow. As it collects more snow it gets bigger and bigger, all the while gaining tremendous power and speed. It becomes unstoppable. Nothing can stop it now.

So what about good news and bad news?

The bad news is that to gain momentum you need to start.

The snowball (you) sitting on the side of the hill needs some sort of force or action to start the movement down the hill. Sometimes it just needs a tap or maybe just a slight push. Sometimes, it’s in need of a massive amount of energy like an avalanche. Regardless, it won’t start moving on its own. It won’t miraculously start itself down the hill. Without a start, it sits idle on the top of the hill and will eventually melt away into nothingness.

So what’s the good news?

The good news is that to gain momentum all you need is a start.

This year?

February 7, 2011 in Life, Linchpin, Misc with 3 Comments

Another year.

Can you believe we’re already over a month in to this year already? Only eleven months to go.

For me, 2010 was a big year. To me, it symbolized the importance of becoming a Linchpin in an ever-changing economy.

As we zip through 2011 at an ever-increasing pace, I ask you to consider your own plans for these next eleven months.

At what cost are you willing to stay with the drudgery of a job or career that you have not an ounce of passion for?

At what cost are you willing to hide your amazing talent for the harmonica, or your unique view of the world which you capture through your photography. (Which remains a weekend hobby, only if you can spare a few moments, of course…?)

Let’s also consider just how toxic drudgery can be. Stuck in a situation you’re unhappy about only amplifies the problem. It will find a way to seep through the cracks into every other aspect of your life.

Surely you can’t just give up following the status-quo and decide you’re only going to do what YOU want to do this year. You can’t decide you’re going to turn your love of photography in to a business. You can’t build that website and online business you’ve been thinking about. After all, there are bills to be paid, babies to feed, diapers to buy, dinners at Applebee’s, and cable television to watch, isn’t there?

But maybe, just maybe, if you could grasp the fact that a lot of the people, who do decide to take the risks, actually reap the rewards, maybe then you’d be willing to give it a shot.

The world, believe it or not, has a strange ability to actually work in your favor.

What do ya say? Maybe this year?

The clock is ticking.

2011 – The First Update

January 27, 2011 in Business, Life, Linchpin, Misc, Success with 5 Comments

Wow.

Where did the time go? I find it hard to believe that my last posting was November 23rd.

Here’s a quick update about both my personal and professional life.

First – The Personal Stuff.

Our beautiful daughter arrived on December 19th, 2010. Her name is Avalon Kate Fleming. She’s amazing. Seriously though, what a life altering event. Nobody can truly prepare you or explain to you what parenthood is actually like until you experience it.

So without further ado, I’ve included a picture of Avalon and yours truly.

My wife is doing fantastic. She felt great shortly after the birth and has settled comfortably into being a mother. She seems to be a natural.

The Biz Stuff

After spending a day with Seth Godin back in September, I arrived home energized and ready for a challenge. After all Seth, doing what he does best, provoked me and posed a challenge to me. Could I go home and ship something new this year? (Shipping is used metaphorically… it’s the art of creating something and actually getting it out into the world.)

I met with my friend Derek, who’s a crazy home-beer-brewer. He’s been brewing beer for over twelve years, and we wanted to see if we could turn that hobby into a business.

The business we decided to launch was TheBrewersMarket.com - The concept is simple. A website selling a small batch of all-grain beer. It’s a brewing system for folks who want to try making their own real beer – not like a Mr. Beer where you add water and turn on a machine; but the real deal. It will mean mashing grains, extracting sugars, and using real hops and yeast. Essentially, you follow the same process as your favorite beer maker on a very small scale. I knew nothing about making beer at home until I met Derek.

Our first official meeting was on October 5th. We sat down and filled out Seth’s Ship It Journal as our unofficial business plan.

The most important aspect of the Ship It Journal comes when you set a date. This is a date that’s set in stone and you’re basically saying, come hell or high water, we’re shipping to the world on this date.

We set a goal to launch a full-blown business within a month. November 1st was our date. Now, keep in mind, I’m talking about a full-blown business. We had one month to go from literally nothing to something special.

For example, and not limited to the following,

  • Building a website from scratch
  • Creating a marketing and launch plan (the goal was to be, not just shipping on November 1st, but making money on November 1st.)
  • Sourcing inventory and figuring out various logistics such as packaging and shipping
  • Setting up bank accounts, merchant accounts, wholesaler accounts and relationships.

The list goes on and on. When we told people about our plan, the first words were always along the lines of, “that’s impossible.” I’ll show you a few pictures of the Ship It Journal at a later date. We also used Basecamp to track our daily progress.

Anyway – skipping forward, this gives you a good idea of why my last post was somewhere in the middle of November and the one before that was in mid-October.

So how’d we do?

The business launched on November 1st as planned, but only after numerous sleepless nights. That was our first major success. At that point, I kicked into gear on an intensive marketing strategy.

This is when things got really interesting.

On December 15th, our business was featured in two major Canadian newspapers. We managed to finagle our way into The National Post in a big way and secured a mention in The Toronto Star. It was totally coincidental that they both happened on the same day. The two newspapers have a combined circulation of around four million people.

This contributed to a spike in sales almost instantly. But even more exciting was that because the story ran in The National Post, which is owned by PostMedia Network, the story was also syndicated to nearly every other major Canadian daily in nearly every major Canadian City. We assumed this meant the story would show up on their various websites. No. To our surprise, it ended up in print in literally dozens of newspapers. Our business was exposed to millions of Canadians in a single day .

A great start. But then the real magic of the Internet kicked in.

The following day, while my wife and I were driving, my iPhone started going bonkers. Taking a quick glance, I noticed these email were notifications of sales coming from the popular website Etsy. I’m talking one after another, after another, after another.

A week earlier, I was invited to write a blog post for Etsy. I carefully crafted our message and sent in the posting. I had no idea what to expect from it nor any idea if it would actually be used.

As it turned out, the post I’d written was featured on the front page of Etsy.

THEN… things got even more interesting when only four days later, my wife and I were in the hospital, smack dab in the middle of having a baby.

I can’t thank my business partners enough who kept their cool and ensured the business ran smoothly at time where my involvement and help was minimal at best. After all, I’m not Gordon Gecko, and my family comes first. Derek and Laurie had to fulfill, literally, hundreds of orders only days before Christmas.

Needless to say, one month to launch an insanely successful business, and it’s just getting better and better by the day.

You can do the same. This is the year folks.

Enough blabbering – lots of exciting things planned for 2010. I’m going to be changing up my blog in several ways and creating a whack of new sites and products. I’ll keep you in the loop.

As for my goals in 2011, I want to be a great father and keep shipping.

Cheers!
Noah

P.S. Last but not least, there are a few people I’d like to thank who helped tremendously in the successful launch of TheBrewersMarket.com.

Josh Stipancic – Josh handled all of the branding and design for our business in a very short time. We gave Josh an idea of the look and feel we were hoping for. When he returned a short while later, he had totally nailed it. Thanks Josh. He also designs some pretty amazing stuff. I’m sure he could help you too.

Shawn Veltman – Shawn is someone who’s at the top of marketing and copywriting game in Canada. I worked with Shawn on a website a few years back offering coaching and consulting servers to the chiropractic industry. He’s around 30 years old and pretty much retired. He’s good at what he does. Shawn helped me craft press releases, write blog posts, and tweak landing page headlines for optimal performance. If you ever need advice in any of these areas, contact Shawn.

Brandon Scott Photography – Brandon is a local photographer who, my partners just happened to know, and I believed he owed them a favor. He came through to help us with product shots that didn’t look like total crap. (Starting a business in a short time gave us a great opportunity to call in favors.)

Larry Cornies - Larry is a guy who knows the newspaper industry inside and out. He offered valuable advice on how to make sure our story got to the right people. His advice was spot on.

Seth Godin – Thanks for challenging me in September to go home and ship something new and exciting before the year was over.

The Living

November 23, 2010 in Life, Misc with 1 Comment

How often do we hear the words…”And what do you do for a living?”

It’s such a valid question in North American because we spend the majority of our waking hours at work. You’ve all heard it before, we are what we do.

So next time you’re asked the question, and I can guarantee that you will be asked that question at the next Christmas cocktail party,  go ahead and answer the question as everyone expects you to.

But later, in a moment of reflection, I want you to change the question around and ask yourself this instead, “What are you doing for a life?”

When you think about it, ‘the living’ part will take care of itself for an uncertain amount of time. What you do to make a life is the part that takes work. I believe there’s a big difference.

————————————————————————————-

P.S. - This is my first post in a while. Here’s an update on what’s going on.

October was an insane month. I launched a new business with a few friends. We’ve had a fantastic start to the business with sales from one end of Canada to the other in only 23 days.

November has been an equally busy month.

My wife and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby. Up to this point, my wife’s had an amazing problem-free pregnancy.

In the past month, I also added a new business coaching services to my website. Check it out and let me know what you think.

That’s all for today. I hope you’re doing well.

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