Inspiration

I have been saving these inspirational and motivational sayings for a rainy day and it seems to be doing that literally this morning north of Toronto.

These sayings and “ism’s” were collected from various sources over many years. I keep this list up-to-date and refer to it often. I would love to hear from you if you have any to share. Please do so in the comment area immediately below this article. I hope you find some inspiration:

• If you want to dance with god, you’ve got to ask

• From Barak Obama's inauguration speech, Jan 20, 2009
  -Freedom to Choose
  -Turning point for change
  -Let me have the wisdom to lead with humility
  -Choose hope over fear
  -We are willing to extend a hand if you unclench your fist

• Pain is the doorway to great learning. So sorry, but happy to hear
  that you're earning your wisdom. See you in class.

• Don't invest emotionally in the unknown

• 3 Rules to live by
  1. Remember who you are and where you came from.
  2. You don’t have to be the best but you must try your best.
  3. You don’t have to succeed at everything but you must learn from your experiences.

• Accuse you of success

• Leadership in business
  -Hire what you don't know
  -No dreams, no future
  -Don't find fault with what you don't understand
  -Emotion is essential
  -The best companies in the world are always worried

• Some questions are hazard, some are instinct, some are based on a premature understanding that is more than instinct, but less than knowledge.

• Actions have reactions, don't be quick to judge, you may not know the hardships people don't speak of.

• Your behaviour is a reflection of what you truly believe

• If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice

• Learn what to accept and what to push for change

• Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part

• The essence of strategy is sacrifice

And again, please feel free to leave your comments in section immediately below this article.

PS: yes, that is a picture of Tia our Tiny Yorkie with the HUGE personality

My Hero the Pilot

One of the things that I have always aspired to is to be cool under fire. Both in life and in business. Movie characters like Clint Eastwood in just about everything he has ever done, but especially Kelly’s Heroes. Tom Hanks in Apollo 13. The character, Draper in Mad Men. But the recent fantastic story of the pilot who landed his plane in the Hudson River really caught my attention. His years of experience allowed him to make the instant decision that saved the lives of all his passengers. He was over 50.

I must confess. For the past 18 months or so I have been stressed about turning 50. That ‘special day’ occurred in February 2008. So with 51 just around the corner, I have been thinking about it once again.

I work in advertising. A young person’s game I was told. Get out before you turn 50. I have believed that my entire working career. Unfortunately I managed to make that advice come true.

I realize now though that I have led myself astray. Years of experience matter! . Now more so than ever in this economic climate. To have all of that thrown out just because I hit 5-0 seems stupid.

Well to borrow a line from another movie, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

And that’s where my pilot hero entered. Experience got the job done!

Youth with all its fresh energy and enthusiasm is not the exclusive preserve of the young. I know I am not the first to figure that out. At 50 I still have the naïve optimism I had when I was 21. Just ask my wife, Sally.

I also however have the grey hair, love handles and wrinkles of 30 years of living. And the experience gained from being in the trenches of business.

Looking for an opportunity that takes advantage of my experience now. The search has been frustrating. Lots of naysayers out there. But through blogging I have met some new, positive influences. And I continue to be optimistic, enthusiastic and energetic. The passengers of the flight that landed in the Hudson would agree.

PS: The headline for my personal ad: “Enthusiastic, energetic, experienced…gets the job done!”

Until next week…

Marketing in a challenging economy…Customer Service, duh!

The question I am asked most frequently is, “How do I get the most out of my marketing and advertising $’s during these challenging economic times?” Big question. The answer came to me during an early morning run along the beach the other morning. Helped along with a great suggestion from my wife, Sally.

Let me to elaborate with a couple of examples. At the end of this post, I have a suggestion for how each of us can play a part in a helping good businesses do more effective marketing to attract new customers.

In a previous blog I ranted about the insulting $18 billion bonuses that US financial institutions had paid their executives in 2008, after receiving $700 billion in bailout money.

I commented on that story in the MacLeans blog where I read it, and it inspired me to blog about it. I suggested an excellent alternative, credit unions. The particular one I belong to is Parama Lithuanian Credit Union http://www.parama.ca/. They treat me as an individual. They know my name. They smile while they take care of my banking!

To top it off, at the end of each fiscal year, they distribute a portion of the profits back to the members. Got $’s back this week! Surprised actually, I expected to hear that “due to the economic situation, blah, blah, blah…”

Then I broke our new snow blower last week!

I blamed the newspaper for the damage. I ran over a local paper packed with flyers, wrapped in plastic that was lurking under 8 inches of snow. It stopped the machine dead in its tracks. And this is a 10.5 horsepower 2-stage monster that is essential here in snow country!

I am not handy. It had to go to a repair shop.

Got on the Internet immediately and Googled “Snow blower repair shops in Collingwood”. Immediately found a local place, Coxys. Stressed when I called them but was immediately calmed by the voice of the person who answered the phone. She answered all my questions, arranged to have the unit picked up, free of charge, and promised to call if major repairs were needed.

After only a couple of days, she called me to give me very pleasant news: minor damage only. To top it off, they had checked the entire machine as well at no extra charge! Everything was in great shape. Actually cost significantly less that what I had been quoted. And a cliché, ‘service with a smile’!

Great big sign of relief. I sent the owner Jayson a thank you email jayson-cox@hotmail.com. He appreciated the complement. I really appreciated the service.

Later, while running, the common link between these two experiences jumped at me. These were confident, well run businesses. You felt that when you walked into their locations.

They took care of my needs.

And that is what I believe companies need to do to improve their marketing effectiveness. Especially in these challenging economic times. Focus on communicating in real, tangible ways that they take care of their customers one at a time. (Yes, I am available to help them do that).

And that got me thinking about what we can do to help companies like these grow and succeed. With Sally’s excellent help of course J.

First, I thought about the other companies that we do business with. Decided immediately to focus on companies that met the above criteria. We will stop doing business with companies that don’t do that for us. I will promote them.

Second, to ask for your help. Think about what companies you do business with that give your great service. Add them to the comment link at the bottom of this email. Forward this blog link on to your friends, family and business associates. We will promote them together.

If we each take action, we can help the real winners grow and succeed.

Baby Steps…life after losing your job

Square peg, round hole.

That sums up how I felt day one at my previous employer. Knew it the first day. Figured I could beat it. Felt bullish! After all, I had conquered the franchise/dealer world. This would be piece of cake.

Lasted 15 months. 9 of them hell. Couldn’t get a handle on the client. Despite my best efforts. Challenges with the internal team in terms of getting them on side. Roles duplicated and not clearly defined. I was in a marathon and the company was running sprints.

It was uncomfortable. But there was learning. Lots of it. Steep learning curve. Very steep! Unfortunately the learning didn't help with the work situation, but it led to a brave new world for me...

It began with Alan Kay of the Glassgow Group http://www.glasgrp.com/ . He was brought in to lead a series of cross department training sessions. How to implement change within an organization. Nothing new here. What was new to me was the approach: breaking down the goal into smaller ‘baby steps’. Won't get into the details, probably mess them up. Check it out for yourself. My takeaway:

• Define the goal (s) you would like to accomplish
• On a scale of 1 – 10, rank where you currently stand on each one
• Then ask the question, “What would it take to move to a 10?”

The answers are the ‘baby steps’.

What appealed to me most though was focusing on solutions. Never liked 'analyzing a problem to death'. Negative energy! Solution-approach: positive energy! Felt right for me. Embraced it. Then forgot about it.

Layoff in August '08 galvanized me into action. But not until I had spent months playing the blame game.

Bad timing. Not only were agencies holding off on hiring, most of the ones I wanted to work for were downsizing. And crazy me, I wanted to work in the automotive category based on my previous experience!

Blamed everyone and everything. “Poor me”.

Finally in early December a friend (thank you EI and I don’t mean Employment Insurance) suggested I participate in a teleconference hosted by Jack Canfield of ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ fame http://jackcanfield.com/intro_audio_thankyou. It was the catalyst I needed to get going again.

And once I added the ‘baby steps’ process, positive things started to happen.

Set my goal: work. Simple, I was unemployed.

Rank: about 4 out of 10. Maybe even lower. Middle age ad guy looking for work in the advertising business north of Toronto as we sink into recession! Tons of experience though, smiles a lot and likes selling.

“What would it take to get to a 8?” OK, had to be realistic.

First step, decided I wanted to work with a small firm with direct contact with Creative and clients.

Second step, wanted to be close to home. Looked to Barrie.

Third step, contacted all the ad agencies and design firms in Barrie. Cold called them actually.

Got response from 2. One was interested and ‘put me on file’. Next.

The other was interested but was busy with work. Understood that. The mad rush to complete work before the end-of-the year. Set up a meeting for early January.

And after a 3 week courtship of emails, telephone conference calls and late afternoon meetings at the Williams Coffee Pub in Barrie, we closed the deal. Result: started working on new business with alteredperceptioninc on January 27. Check them out at http://www.alteredperceptioninc.com/. They do great work and I am excited to be working with them. I know, I know…shameless self promotion :)

And the best part of the experience? I blog about it. Now, that will get me to a '10'

Goals. Baby Steps. Positive Energy. Moving forward. The story continues…