At the End of the Day, It’s Just a Sport
August 5, 2009
I recently read an article in the American Airlines in-flight magazine about tennis great Rafael Nadal. Published in the June 1 issue, it was a natural lead-in to the upcoming Wimbledon championships where, just a year before, Nadal had stunned Roger Federer to take the title in what has come to be regarded as the best tennis match ever played.
They were naturally predicting a rematch this year, but Nadal couldn’t play because of a knee injury. Fortunately there was another exciting five-set final with Federer eventually prevailing over Andy Roddick to win his 6th Wimbledon and 15th grand slam title – a record on the men’s side.
As competitive as Nadal is, he’s also, well, a genuinely nice guy – a rare commodity in the world of elite professional sports. And a lot of this can be traced back to his early days in the sport when he learned the fine points of the game from his Uncle Toni, who has been his one and only coach.
Toni set three ground rules if he was going to train the young Nadal:
1. If you ever throw a racket, we’re finished. They’re expensive, and when you throw a racket, you don’t just disrespect the sport, you disrespect all the people who can’t afford equipment.
2. Losing is part of competing. You will lose. And when you lose, it’s not going to be my fault or the fault of your racket or the balls or the courts or the weather. It’s your fault, and you will accept it and try to do better next time.
3. Have fun. When you stop enjoying this, it’s no good. You’ll find something else that gives you pleasure.
And these same three rules can be equally applied to our business environments.
First, if you get into a jam, don’t lose control, work to find a solution.
Second, you will fail from time to time. For all our success in this business, we’ve also had some monumental failures. It’s inevitable – you can’t have one without the other. And when that happens, there’s no point – and certainly no benefit – in looking for someone else to blame. Recognize that there is no failure – only feedback. Learn from the situation; brush yourself off; and get back on the horse.
Finally, you should enjoy what you do. I’m not saying work should be like a heavenly nirvana with beautiful music, colorful flowers, and birds singing. But for all the time you spend at work, thinking about work, and taking work home, you should at least enjoy it a little bit. If not, then maybe it’s time to look for something new.
And, above all, try to keep things in perspective. As Nadal put it, “Of course I want to win, but at the end of the day, it’s just a sport.”
Why Are You in Business?
July 23, 2009
People start businesses for many reasons: because they’re passionate about something, because they see a market need, or sometimes because they like to start businesses. But there is another significant consideration in any business that cannot be ignored, and yet, frequently is.
Let me explain…
I was listening to NPR on my car radio one morning, and there was a segment about the medicinal marijuana stores in California. In case you haven’t heard about these, you can get a prescription from your doctor, take it into these places, and walk out with high-quality marijuana to be used to help manage chronic pain.
Of course, although legal under California law, apparently, federal law supersedes this, and there’s an ongoing conflict over the legality of these establishments. Fortunately, this, and the underlying ethical questions are not the subject of this article.
What is important are the comments of one proprietor who was weighing in on the issue of taxing this product to help alleviate the current economic crisis in California. Speaking to the interviewer, he made comments to this effect:
“We’re in business to pay taxes, create jobs, and do good for the community.”
People driving around me must have wondered what was going on, because I’m sure I must have had the most bizarre look on my face after hearing that. That’s because I strongly disagree with that statement, and with the business sentiment it embraces.
The purpose of any business, at least a for-profit business, is to make money for the owners and investors of that company. And for non-profit organizations, the rules are pretty much the same – you can’t provide services, support, and legislative advocacy for your members and constituents if there’s nothing in the bank.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for creating jobs if adding an additional person to your team generates revenue in excess of the expense of hiring, training, and paying that person. For that matter, you should take a long hard look at everyone on your payroll and make sure that the same return on investment holds true today.
Doing good for the community? I’m all for that too – if that’s something you choose to do with the profits of your business and as an owner of the business you can do that. But it’s not the reason you’re in business.
You’re in business to make money for the owners of the business who have invested time, capital, and effort, and frequently taken considerable risk to create, develop, and grow the business. People seem to have come to the unfortunate conclusion that making money is somehow “evil.”
It is not. Small business is where most of the growth in our economy is going to take place in the future, as it has for the last few years. And professional and trade associations help provide community, networking, and support to help fuel this growth.
This is important to keep in mind as you make critical decisions in your business.
The Montblanc “White Thing”
June 10, 2009
If your business is struggling in the face of this recession, then maybe it’s time to try something different, and it’s always best to start with what’s working for other people.
A while back I was in a local office supply store, and happened to be near the glass case with the pens. Not the basic 12-black-pens-in-a-box-for-$3.99 pens; no, I’m talking about the really nice (and equally expensive) Montblanc pens – you know the ones with the little white “crown” at the top.
On a lark, I asked the clerk to take one of them out. She told me a little about the pen, and then she told me the price: $119.95. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed another pen lower down in the case that looked very similar to the one I was holding in my hand.
I asked to see that one, and discovered that it was, in fact, virtually identical to the Montblanc pen, same weight, same balance, even the exact same ink cartridge! Two things were different: the second pen didn’t have the “crown” at the top, and it only cost $49.95.
A little puzzled, I asked the clerk why one pen cost $70 more than the other. She smiled and said, “The white thing,” pointing at the crown on the top of the Montblanc pen.
In this challenging economy, you have to constantly try and find the “white thing” in your business. What makes you so unique, valuable, and special that people will be willing not only to do business with you, but to pay a premium price for the privilege of doing so.
That’s a strategy you should write down – with whatever pen happens to be lying around!
As Long As I’m Moving…
May 20, 2009
A good quick read is Lance Armstrong’s autobiography, It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, where he talks about his battle with cancer, his subsequent return to competitive cycling, and his victory in the Tour De France – the first of what would turn out to be an unprecedented seven consecutive victories.
One passage in particular recounts Lance riding his bike while in great pain from the cancer treatments. When people asked him why he was doing such a thing, he replied, “As long as I’m moving, I’m living.”
In a somewhat different but definitely related story, I learned about a research study where volunteers were placed into one of five different groups based on their levels of fitness and activity with “couch potatoes” on one end, and world-class Olympic athletes at the other end.
They were all evaluated, with comparisons made between their chronological age and their “physical” age, based on a variety of lifestyle activities and medical tests. The objective was to predict expected lifespan based on these factors.
The results were interesting: the single biggest increase predicted life span was between the first group – the people who did no exercise at all – and the second group that did minimal exercise like walking for ten minutes a day. The implication being that any activity is better than no activity.
And this really gets us to the heart of the issue. Because so many people are absolutely paralyzed by fear and uncertainty that they’re doing absolutely nothing to help grow or at least reposition their businesses to be stronger and in a better position to compete when the economy ultimately begins its slow road to recovery.
You hear things like, “I’m just going to sit out this economy.” Yeah, good luck with that! You can’t just wait it out like parking under an overpass during a bad rainstorm; you have to develop alternate plans.
You have to become a student of business and marketing. You have to implement. You have to take massive action when others are sitting in the corner, contemplating the universe with “a deer-in-the-headlights” looks in their eyes.
Like Lance said, “As long as I’m moving…I’m living.” The same thing could be said for you and your business: if you’re moving, you’re living. Don’t let yourself become a victim of the economy: take action when others are content to be spectators; be bold when others are timid; and above all, don’t be a “marketing couch potato.”
Only Three Ways…
May 7, 2009
The most common topic of conversation on my one-on-one coaching calls is how to counteract the falling revenues that come as a result of the current economic situation. Fortunately, the solutions are relatively straightforward, even if implementing them can be a bit tricky.
They generally fall into one of three broad categories:
* Find something that makes you truly unique in the marketplace
* Make yourself indispensible to a specific market segment
* Deliver a value proposition that amounts more or less to “selling money at a discount”
We explore these three approaches – and literally hundreds of others – in our Business Self-Defense™ 90-Day Success Program. (Watch for a special one-time-only offer coming soon!)
And if you really want to get to a solution to this problem even more quickly and directly, there are actually only three ways to increase revenue:
1. Get more customers
2. Get them to buy more frequently
3. Get them to spend more each time they buy
That’s it – there are no other ways; anything that seems to be is just a variation or combination of one or more of these three. If you truly want to increase your revenues, start applying the Outrageous Marketing strategies we teach here every week, and be bold in how you use them instead of running scared and hiding in dark corners like most of your competitors.
Despite what the media would have you think, this is actually one of the best environments for growing your business that we’ve had in a long time. The competition for attention is dwindling; media and design costs are dropping as vendors panic and lower prices to try and hold on to business (the wrong decision in most cases); and people are looking for value.
If you can provide it, they will respond.
I Said It All…
April 24, 2009
I love music, and a house concert is probably the best way to enjoy it. Instead of a noisy arena or even an acoustically sound concert hall, listening to live music quite literally in someone’s living room is a fantastic experience.
We had the opportunity to do just that last week, as we got to enjoy not one, but two great artists, Dave Turner (www.daveturnermusic.com) and Valorie Miller (www.valoriemiller.com).
And when I say “living room” I mean just that – we were sitting on a couch, with Dave’s piano and Valorie and her guitar about four feet away. They played separately, and then together, with help from a bass player whose name I can’t remember. (He was very good, though!)
The styles of the two artists were different – Dave’s songs were lively and funny. Valorie’s were much more subdued and introspective.
Their personalities were also very different. Dave was very animated, and joked with the audience throughout his performance. Valorie, on the other hand, was much more subdued, keeping her comments to a minimum.
At one point, between songs, she commented, “I guess I don’t like to talk a lot. I figure I said it all when I wrote the song.”
Listening to the lyrics and watching her perform, I understood what she was saying. She put so much into the songs and was so focused in performing them, that a cute story or anecdote would probably have reduced their impact, not enhanced them.
She was clearly deliberate in everything associated with her music and it showed. What about you? Do you need to explain everything, or do the quality, creativity, and results of your work speak for themselves?
Even if you’re not playing music in an intimate setting, investing a little passion in whatever you do makes a huge difference everyone can see.
The Dogwood Tree
April 24, 2009
Because of the warm weather we get here in North Carolina at various times during winter, there are lots of “false starts” as to when spring actually begins. It certainly fools the daffodils that poke up though the ground and bloom, only to shrivel up and die a few days later when the normal lower temperatures return.
Just last week, though, I went out into our backyard and did a double-take. The dogwood tree on the side of our property was in full bloom, and it was absolutely magnificent!
We’d planted the tree about five years ago, but it never really seemed happy there. We pruned the tree, and fertilized it properly, but the leaves never seemed quite as green and healthy as they should have, and the flowers always seemed a bit anemic. This year, though, it was completely different – bright white blooms virtually covered the tree to the extent that you could hardly see the branches underneath.
When I commented on this to my wife, she said, “Maybe it just needed some time to get used to us.” Now, I’m not a big “give each house plant a name and talk to it in an encouraging way so it will thrive” kind of guy, but there was something that rang true in what Lorie said.
We’ve had clients book programs with us years after first seeing me present at conferences they attended themselves. We’ve had people invest in our resources after “sitting on the sidelines” for months. Things like these actually happen quite frequently.
And this is why you absolutely have to maintain ongoing relationships with your customers, members, clients…and prospects. Too many people make a sale, put a “tick mark” on a chart somewhere, move on to the next person, and completely ignore the lifetime value sitting, untapped, in the customer they just served. Why? Because they figure the customer just bought something, so what’s the value of this person to me now?
When we bought a new car back in October, we witnessed this first hand. Entering dealership after dealership, we had to “run the gauntlet” past four or five salespeople (all standing around doing nothing productive) as the one who was “up next” virtually pounced on us, almost salivating at the prospect of actually selling a car.
Prior to this, we last bought new cars in 1993 and 1995 from Toyota and Jeep dealers, respectively. Do you think in all that time we’ve heard anything from the salespeople who sold us those vehicles? Not a chance.
It’s as if they’d planted a tree, seen no flowering or growth, and then stopped caring for it.
It would have been far better to stay in touch with us with a regular print or e-mail newsletter, and then invite us, after, maybe three years, to a special, nicely catered, Open House Event, where we could test-drive the new version of the Toyota Camry we had bought – if for no other reason than to get a whiff of that great new-car smell.
And if the salesperson who sold us the original car had moved on, then a new, aggressive, hungry salesperson could have done minimal research to collect all the unattended leads and taken them over as his own.
But this didn’t happen, and now these very same people are blaming the economy for their sub-par sales numbers.
Yes, the economy is a factor, but not cultivating and maintaining long-term relationships is an even bigger issue. If things are slow where you work, then now is the best possible time to develop these relationships, so when things pick up again and people are ready to spend, they’ll do business with the people they know and trust.
It may not happen next week, or even next month, but one day you’ll wake up and see that all of the time, effort, and money you’ve invested will start to pay off, just like the work and patience we put into that sad dogwood tree that has turned it into something truly amazing.
Raleigh Rocks!
April 12, 2009
Okay, Raleigh may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of cities that “rock,” but it’s hard to beat a nice 60-degree day in March when other parts of the country are experiencing temperatures in the 30s.
And that’s what we had last week when I ran my first half marathon, along with my wife Lorie and two good friends. Running 13.1 miles is a challenge under the best of circumstances. Many of you who are long-time readers of this newsletter will appreciate the challenge even more, since you know about the 5-1/2 hours of knee surgery I had nearly four years ago.
After days of forecasts indicating rain on the morning of the race, we actually had near-perfect weather: high 50s to low 60s, overcast, and surprisingly low humidity. I started out with my iPod loaded with the right tunes, and managed to resist the temptation to run fast at the onset, recognizing that this would be the longest distance I had ever run. And because my busy work schedule and lousy winter weather had prevented me from training exactly as I would have liked, my longest run so far had been just 8.5 miles.
The experience was great – if a bit fatiguing – and I finished in 2:23:24, with an average of 10:56 minute miles. I know I won’t be going to the Olympics with that time, but my goals had been to finish, and to come in under 11-minute miles, so I was very pleased. (For reference, the winner of the race clocked in at 1:08:36 – that’s a 5:15 mile…for 13.1 miles!)
And as with any major effort, there are lessons to be learned. Here are three:
- Start Small and Build on Your Successes – You don’t wake up one morning, say to yourself, “Hey, I think I’ll run a half marathon!” and do it the next day. You start out running a mile. Then two. Then three. Before you know it, you’re doing five miles as a normal training run and seven and eight miles become the “long runs.”
It’s the same thing with a new project, a new assignment, or even a new job. You have to break it down, take one step at a time, and learn from the experience.
- If You Can Run 8, You Can Run 13 – When I commented to a friend that my longest run going into the race had been just 8-1/2 miles, she said not to worry, “If you can run 8, you can run 13.” Her reasoning was that the core level of fitness needed for an right-mile run was substantially the same as what was needed to run 13, and that the adrenaline of the actual race would provide any additional incentive that might be needed.
People put off all kinds of worthwhile ventures because they’re not quite ready, or because it’s not “the right time.” Here’s a news flash: it’s never the right time! There’s always a reason to postpone working on your goals. Having the hard, looming deadline of race day on the calendar means your only choices are to “suck it up” or “bail out!” What are your deadlines and how do you deal with them?
- Get Support for Anything Worthwhile – When training or working on your goals, it’s always a good idea to have a training buddy, or even a group of people you work with – if for no other reason than to be around other people who share a common goal. And during the race, after a few miles, you suddenly see the same faces running in the same general vicinity. Oh you may pass them on a hill, and they may pass you ten minutes later, but you generally notice who’s around you, and there’s an unspoken bond of support that makes the last few miles, in particular, a bit more manageable.
Similarly, it’s important to have a support network in place for anything that’s significant in your life. Surrounding yourself with like-minded and like-thinking people is essential if you’re going to be successful.
I didn’t come in first in this race; in fact, I was nowhere even remotely close to first. But I decided to try something I’d never done before; created goals for myself; made a plan; and accomplished what I set out to. Oh, I was sore for the next few days, but that was a relatively small price to pay.
You don’t have to run a half-marathon; you already have any number of huge challenges in your life already. It’s how you deal with these challenges that determines the degree of your victory.
The Perfect Song
April 6, 2009
We had the opportunity a few weeks ago to see one of the outstanding singer-songwriters of our time. Unfortunately, you’ve probably never heard of her: Jana Stanfield.
Her recordings are intricate, relevant, and upbeat. And in concert, you get to hear the full range of her voice, which isn’t done justice by a CD and a set of speakers. Plus, she’s incredibly funny, which makes the whole experience even more enjoyable. In the concert we attended, she was one of four artists who took turns presenting songs to the audience, each feeding off of what the other had just done – kind of a musical version of “Whose Line is It Anyway.”
At one point, after Jana had just finished singing “If I Had Only Known” – a song recorded and made famous by Reba McEntire, the audience just sat there dumbstruck for about five seconds before starting to applaud wildly and giving her a spontaneous standing ovation.
Then it was Daniel Nahmod’s turn to select a song to play. He had been fantastic during the concert, but after that song, he had a “deer in the headlights” look on his face, and said to the audience, “Wow, how do you follow something like that?”
He then turned to Jana and said, “That is a perfect song in so many different ways, I can’t even begin to explain it.” He gave a couple of “technical” examples of what he was talking about in terms of songwriting, musicianship, and delivery, and asked Jana a few questions about what inspired her to write the song.
He was right, by the way, the song was incredible, and Jana’s voice is even better now than when we were blown away listening to her for the first time at a National Speakers Association meeting in San Francisco, back in 1995.
Do you have a “perfect song?” Is there something you do at work, with your family, or with a hobby that brings everything into perfect focus for you? You may not be up on stage performing it for all to see, but make a serious effort to find your “perfect song” in whatever you do, and you’ll see the impact it has on everyone around you.
I Was So Busy Listening…
March 20, 2009
Focusing on what’s important can be difficult with all the distractions that surround us. Apparently, I’m one of these distractions.
On my way into the office last week, I stopped by our local Bruegger’s Bagel shop to pick up something for breakfast. I was chatting with the woman behind the counter about how cold it was (15 degrees) and that weather like this was precisely why I didn’t live up north any more. In the midst of this conversation, I ordered a sesame bagel, toasted, with veggie cream cheese.
As we continued talking, I watched as she selected a bagel from the bin, picked up the knife, sliced the bagel in half…and proceeded to spread the cream cheese on the untoasted bagel.
When I reminded her that I’d asked for the bagel to be toasted, she apologized and said, “I was so busy listening, I wasn’t paying attention.”
How many times do we do the same thing – focusing on one thing when we should really be paying attention to another? There are so many distractions to divert our attention, sometimes it’s a wonder we get anything done at all.
Try to avoid all the “bright shiny objects” in your daily travels and focus on what needs to get done – you’ll find it feels much better at the end of the day when you can check the important items off your list, knowing you accomplished what you needed to.
