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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 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.

The Donkey and the Carrot

May 3, 2010 in Business, Life, Linchpin with 4 Comments

Windsor, Ontario…..

I’ve mentioned this place far more often in the past couple of months than I used to, and certainly more than I’d like to.

We’ve got some serious issues here. The main one, well, it’s that hardly anybody can find a job.

Just a few weeks back, there was a job fair in Windsor. The local newspaper reported how overwhelmed the employers in the booths felt when they realized there were over 1500 people lined up outside.

They were overwhelmed because, collectively, there were only about 100 real jobs to be filled.

Metaphorically, we’ve got a group of donkeys chasing the ever-illusive carrot.
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You’ve heard and seen the analogy before, right? The donkey moves forward by chasing the carrot which is always slightly out of reach.

Times were good here for a long time. People made good money building things in the manufacturing sector. People got used to decent wages and a high quality of life.

Now, a lot of those jobs are gone.

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to be hired for student employment at one of the bigger metal stamping factories near where I live. That factory is now closed down.

We were paid enormous amounts of money to press buttons and stick chunks of metal on a machine – non-stop, all day long.

Was it hard work? Sometimes it was, but it was more mind-numbing than anything else.

A typical day went like this:

The workers would create a certain number of parts and then call it a day…Sometimes four hours early!

The foreman would tell the union rep we were done for the day, and that was that. Sometimes an argument ensued, but for the most part that was it.

The workers wouldn’t create a single part more than what was required. If the quota said 800 parts and it only took 4-hours of an 8-hour day, the workers were still paid for the remaining 4-hours.

Sometimes this meant sitting outside or shooting hoops, napping in the lunch room, playing cards, reading etc… You couldn’t leave though. You had to stay until your shift was over to be paid for the entire day.

The next day, the foreman would say they needed 2000 parts created, and the union rep would say, “sorry we’re only doing 1500 parts today and that’s it!”

I remember sitting outside in my car, napping, and being paid $30+ per hour to sleep. I remember thinking to myself that there was no way this could continue forever.

Then it all came crashing down.

At that time, the donkeys were no longer chasing anything. They had found the MOTHERLOAD of carrots. The carrots were gorged and eaten in abundance. Unfortunately, the supply was abused and depleted, and now it’s gone.

Suddenly, we’ve got loads of people chasing a very small number of carrots again. This time, the donkeys are running faster than ever. The carrot never seems to get any closer.

There’s no time to be the donkey anymore. The jig is up. What would happen if you just stopped chasing the carrot and grew your own supply?

Comfort Challenge Update – Only You Can Decide – Thanks Carlotta

April 30, 2010 in Business, Linchpin, Success, Thinking Outside The Box with 0 Comments

How’d you make out with last week’s comfort challenge from “The 4-Hour Work Week“?

For myself, I found I was certainly much more aware of what my eyes were doing while engaged in conversation. As for using the technique with total strangers, that was much harder. Like Tim mentioned, you don’t want to look like a psychopath and get your ass kicked!

After posting last week’s comfort challenge and explaining I would share Tim’s comfort challenges each Friday, someone posted a comment and suggested it was a little bit of a cop-out.

Carlotta’s reasoning was that she had already read Tim’s book and that she’d like to see some new, creative, and relevant comfort challenges created. She suggested it would be a great opportunity for people to accomplish something new.

The more I thought about the comment, the more I agreed with what she was saying. She was right. After all, it’s Friday and what a simple way to end a week of blog posts.

But then my thoughts continued on the subject….

I started to think about coming up with my own, and I started to think more about Tim’s comfort challenges in his book. Some of which are extremely unique and uncomfortable by the way.

Here’s what I decided:

It doesn’t matter what the comfort challenge is.

It doesn’t matter who created the comfort challenge.

It doesn’t matter if it’s relevant or not.

Here’s what matters:

What matters is that you take these opportunities to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable. It honestly doesn’t matter what it is as long as it feels scary.

You need to treat your levels of comfort like a muscle that needs a good kick-ass work out. If you never exercise your muscles, they will become weak and they’ll never get strong.

Regardless of what I post on Friday, and whether it comes from Tim’s book or I make up a handful of challenges, you need to take charge and do something uncomfortable. It needs to be something that raises your heart rate. Something that scares you. Something that is HARD to do.

I do believe that if you give it some thought over the weekend, you’ll start to see the areas where your muscles need work.

Carlotta was right on so many levels, and I can’t thank her enough. Maybe you’re already strong in the area of eye-contact. Maybe that doesn’t make you feel queasy or scared or nervous? If that’s the case, then you need a comfort challenge more relevant to YOU.

It sounds easy – right?

Once a week, over the weekend, daily, whatever; if you’re willing to put yourself through pain and discomfort on a regular basis, you’ll start to see some amazing results.

The fact is, most people won’t ever put themselves through the training and exercise required to strengthen those muscles.

We’re a society that enjoys the benefits of comfort without the effort.

For example, many like to think they can achieve their desired levels of exercise and fitness by only using the Nintendo Wii – a perfect example of comfort without the effort.

It’s far scarier and more uncomfortable to think you might actually need to sweat and raise your heart rate. You may even need to avoid that pizza tonight.

Pain is the enemy for most, and it’s usually avoided at all cost.

So with that said, good luck with your comfort challenge this weekend, and only you can decide when you are out of your comfort zone.

A Sunday Nightcap – The Linchpin Sessions

April 25, 2010 in Linchpin with 4 Comments

Yeah, I know it’s Sunday night…but I’ve got a little treat for you.

If you’re sitting around this evening and just watching TV,  thinking about the long work week ahead, I’ve got something to share with you.

We’ll call it a nightcap. This is a very special treat and it will only take up 45 minutes of your time.

My mentor Seth Godin held a very special master class last week and he’s gratuitously and freely shared the recording of the event.

This is his riff.

If you’re unfamiliar with Seth’s Linchpin message I strongly urge you to give this a listen.

It might make you a little more excited about the week ahead.

It might make it hard to sleep tonight.

But that’s OK – It’s worth it.

Feel free to pass it on. And of course, let me know what you think.

Download The Linchpin Session

Seth’s original posting can be found here.

Big balls. Comfort Challenge #1

April 23, 2010 in Business, Linchpin, Success, Thinking Outside The Box with 4 Comments

Don’t leave just yet ladies… This one is for you too.

This post was inspired by two of my favorite books that I’ve referenced quite a bit over the years, “Ballsy – 99 ways to grow a bigger pair and score extreme business success” by Karen Salmonson and “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris.

Karen’s first tidbit of advice in the book is that “more important than having talent, you need balls.””

Let’s dive into this a bit deeper, shall we?

We all know that talent matters, nobody is suggesting otherwise. The newborn that enters the world and is playing Mozart at two years old has talent, god-given talent, some would argue.

But what about the rest of us? We all have talent and without balls, the talent means nothing.

For me, I do believe that I’m talented, but I think I could benefit from bigger balls.

So how do we do it?

How do we go about growing a bigger pair?

For this, I’m going to refer to Tim and The 4-hour Work Week.

Tim recognized that many of us have talent but lack the self-confidence to do what it takes to become mega successful.

Tim wants to help us break away from our comfort zones which is something I’ve talked about before.

So how does Tim suggest we grow a bigger set of balls?

He believes we need to train ourselves to become more comfortable with risk and step out of our comfort zones. Tim has provided a collection of “comfort challenges” to help with the process.

Tim is straightforward and honest in letting us know that comfort challenges look simple, but they’re extremely uncomfortable for most people.

However, by practicing the art of being uncomfortable and attempting things outside your comfort zone, you’re actually growing yourself the “bigger pair” which is an absolute essential ingredient to your success.

So here’s my proposal, and I hope you’ll play along with me.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to go through Tim’s comfort challenges. Each Friday, I’ll post a new comfort challenge for you to work on over the weekend.

I’d love for you to join me. If you don’t want to take part, no problem.

My advice is to  just do it. Have some fun with me, and let me know how the challenges affect you.

Ready to go? Yup, we start today.

These are Tim’s “comfort challenges” and if you already have a copy of Tim’s book, you can follow along. If not, I’ll be sharing a new challenge every week or so.

Buy Tim’s book if you don’t have it. It can change your life.

Comfort Challenge #1

From The 4-Hour Work Week*

Learn to Eye Gaze (2 days)
My friend Michael Ellsberg invented a singles event called Eye Gazing. It is similar to speed dating but different in one fundamental respect—no speaking is permitted. It involves gazing into the eyes of each partner for three minutes at a time. If you go to such an event, it becomes clear how uncomfortable most people are doing this.

For the next two days, practice gazing into the eyes of others—whether people you pass on the street or conversational partners—until they break contact.

Hints:

1. Focus on one eye and be sure to blink occasionally so you don’t look like a psychopath or get your ass kicked.
2. In conversation, maintain eye contact when you are speaking. It’s easy to do while listening.
3. Practice with people bigger or more confident than yourself. If a passerby asks you what the hell you’re staring at, just smile and respond, “Sorry about that. I thought you were an old friend of mine.”

Simple right? It may be a heck of a lot harder than it sounds?

Feel free to share your results and comments, if you’d like.

Good luck and have a great weekend!

Noah

Where I’m going. Will you come along?

April 22, 2010 in Linchpin, Misc with 4 Comments

By now, if you’ve been reading any of my posts for the past few months, you’re probably getting a good idea about where my head is.

I’m not sure when the switch was flicked on or what triggered the change, but my thinking and approach to what I want to say on my blog has drastically changed recently.

Perhaps the change occurred when I started heeding my own advice.

Was I scared before?

It’s easier to blog about business, or marketing, or making money online than it is to talk about things that might make people cringe, or feel uncomfortable, or disagree with me.

I feel like, rather than hiding my voice, I’m allowing my true voice to come to the party. For many years, I kept it locked away in the attic.

I used to toe the line. I used to be careful so I wouldn’t say something that might offend someone. I felt it was easier to try and please everyone…. I was taking the wrong approach.

Again, I’m not sure when or why I flipped the switch, but I did. And I’m glad I did.

But it’s not always easy.

That being said, often I’ll see or read some sort of positive affirmation that keeps me on track.

Yesterday I was reading a story from my mentor, Seth Godin. The story comes from his book, Tribes – We Need You to Lead Us.

Here’s the story:

Seth was sitting in a hotel in Jamaica and checking his email. It was 4:00 oclock  in the morning.

A couple went strolling by, just getting in for the night, and they saw Seth. The woman remarked, “Isn’t that sad? That guy comes here on vacation and he’s checking his e-mail. He can’t even enjoy his two weeks off.”

Seth’s response was the affirmation.

Seth writes, “I think the real question… was, Isn’t it sad that we have a job where we spend two weeks avoiding the stuff we have to do 50 weeks a year?”

The point?

If you’re in a position like the first couple, maybe it’s time to start asking yourself the second question.

So where am I going?

I’m working at instigating change. I don’t want people to have to ask that question.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be ultra-motivational here.

I’m not trying to be like Tony Robbins.

You won’t find me corralling thousands of people into auditoriums or hotel conference rooms and having a big-old song and dance together.

Many will read these posts and swim on rather quickly. Many will scoff at my suggestions of doing something different or swimming against the current. And that’s fine, I can accept that.

I’m hoping to instigate a change in the few that believe there are other options out there, and I’m willing to lead that charge. Will you come along?

My email is always open – feel free to engage with me.

Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

April 20, 2010 in Art, Entrepreneurship, Linchpin with 4 Comments

I stole the title of this post from Hugh MacLeod‘s book, “Ignore Everybody“. This is just one of Hugh’s keys to creativity. Thankfully, he’s even drawn a picture to hammer the point home.

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Hugh want’s you to know that while you may be pouring your heart and soul into your art, or your business, or your passion; nobody cares.

Why would anybody care about all the great things you’re doing?

Human beings are generally considered to be self-interested creatures. Everyone’s living their own busy lives to really care about what you’re up to.

But there’s another important reason as to why most people don’t care.

They don’t care because it’s hard for people to watch someone breaking the rules. It makes people cringe.

It’s hard to fathom someone doing something not considered “safe.”

It’s hard for people to accept your ideas as anything more than silly pipe dreams.

But why?

It’s because there is so much pent up fear.

Fear you might break free.

Fear you might change the rules.

Fear you might succeed.

Fear you might find your way out of the waiting place.

Someday, everyone may be paying attention. They might start paying attention, but they still won’t care.

The good news is this: You’re a self-interested creature too.

Do whatever it is you’re doing for yourself. Get used to nobody caring and carry on.

Embracing Customer Disloyalty

April 19, 2010 in Books, Linchpin, Thinking Outside The Box with 4 Comments

I heard Seth Godin mention this when I heard him speak last month in Toronto and I thought it was worth sharing with you.

Seth pointed us to coffee store owner and World Barista Champion, Gwilym Davies, who created the “dis-loyalty card.”

You all know about loyalty cards. I’m sure any of us could open our wallets or purses and find a variety of them at any given moment.

“Visit us 10 times, and you’re 11th purchase will be free!”

Gwilm Davies flipped it. He said, “Here’s the deal. Go to our competitors, drink their coffee and come back and I’ll give you a free one.”

The catch is … , I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking that Gwilm wanted to show how inferior his competitors products were to his own.

In reality, there wasn’t any negative intent to his actions at all.

He wasn’t trying to do any harm to his competitors. Instead, he was promoting them.

Gwilm wanted people to drink high quality coffee, plain and simple. He wanted his customers to support his competitors who also make a high quality product.

He’s basically saying, “If I was to buy a coffee, it would be from one of these eight places! Check em out!”

Gwilm loves coffee so much that he’s willing to give business away so that people don’t have to drink bad coffee. It’s brilliant.

We tend to focus too much energy on beating the living daylights out of our competition. We’ve been taught that business always has to be cut throat. “Business is  WAR!” they said. Yet, here’s an example that flips that traditional business mentality on it’s head.

I can see this same concept working in so many different industries.

Think of small town restaurants trying to do  battle against the easy and convenient fast food giants. They could come together and present a similar concept.

“Eat at all six of these local restaurants and you’ll be given a $25 gift card to use at one of the six locations.”

The gift card could be picked randomly so that all participating businesses get their share.

Just because the business schools and marketing textbooks like to show us the way things have been done for the past 50 years, doesn’t mean it’s the only way to do them now.

The original story can be found  here.

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Why Blog?

April 13, 2010 in Linchpin, Misc, Success with 4 Comments

Since January or so, I’ve made a conscious decision to blog more often. I’ve had this blog since 2006 and sometimes would go four or five months without making a single entry.

I gained much motivation from my father-in-law who writes an excellent blog called Quoteflections.com. He started his blog around the beginning of 2008 and has not missed a single day. In fact, he’s occasionally blogged more than once a day.

In 2008, he blogged 370 times. In 2009, he blogged 378 times. In 2010, he’s already blogged 115 times. His slow and un-rushed process has earned him a steady group of followers in his tribe.

In January I ramped up to blogging every few days.

In February I started blogging three times a week.

In March I started blogging every day, Monday to Friday, with a goal of writing around 500 words per day.

Occasionally,  I’ll miss a few days if I’ve gone away, but I’m pretty much hitting my target.

It’s not always as easy as it looks, and the frequency of posting really has nothing to do with the quality of a blog.

Sometimes I have nothing to say.

Sometimes I need motivation.

Sometimes I go looking for inspiration.

Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass, but I do it anyway.

A friend of mine asked today, “Do you get anything out of blogging beyond self-fulfillment? I don’t see any ads on your website.”

Here’s why I’m doing it and what I’m getting out of it.

First, Gavin was right. There are no ads on my blog. I don’t make any money directly from blogging.

The blog acts as a tool for me to express myself and my ideas. That’s it in a nutshell. If people want to read it, I’m honoured, but I’ll keep writing it regardless of traffic stats. If my blog triggers any type of positive response in a single person, then I’ve achieved something. I’m proud of that.

This is a slow and steady race.

I have no motivation to rush here as that won’t get me anywhere.

The blog is also my resume and personal branding tool. I don’t have a resume nor am I looking for a job. If you want to learn about me, or work with me, it’s all here.

When you go looking for a job, you can be sure your potential employers are “googling” you. Why not be in control of what they see?

Ever written or kept a journal? Same idea. This blog is allowing my thoughts and opinions to develop and my voice to gain volume. It’s an extremely gratifying part of my daily routine.

Since setting up my blog to syndicate all my posts on Facebook, I’ve heard from friends who never really had a clue what I was up to,  and now many are reading and digging what I have to say. That makes it worthwhile.

I was told by one friend that my posts were some of the driving motivation for her to start her own first  business. That’s a little like dumping fuel on a fire.

I encourage you to start your own blog. After Gavin and I talked about it, he mentioned, “500 words a day keeps the doctor away!” It’s so true.

If you need help or advice on starting your own blog, shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to offer some assistance.

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