People are capable of much

December 15th, 2008

In 1948, James Michener won the Pulitzer Prize for his book, Tales of the South Pacific. Throughout his life he authored more than 40 novels and earned more than one hundred million dollars. At age 88, Michener wrote, “When young people in my writing classes ask what subjects they should study to become writers, I surprise them by replying, “Ceramics and eurhythmic dancing.” When they look surprised I explain, “Ceramics so you can feel form evolving through your fingertips molding the moist clay, and eurhythmic dancing so you can experience the flow of motion through your body. You might develop a sense of freedom that way.”

It’s unlikely that any of his students ever took those classes. They just thought, “Form and freedom. I get it,” and carried on as they were, unchanged. But what if Michener was serious? His advice to his students was to push themselves to do things that didn’t come naturally to them. He urged them to stir the deep waters of the unconscious mind. Read the rest of this entry »

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What good are leads if no one is buying?

December 11th, 2008

When we implement a website or an on-line marketing campaign for a client, I always make sure that I am copied personally on any correspondence that goes through from a potential customer to one of our clients. This is especially helpful in a number of different ways but foremost, it allows me to keep an eye on website activity and specifically, lead generation. One thing that has been apparent in the last couple of months is that direct leads are down– but they aren’t “out.” In fact, I had lunch yesterday with a potential new client who reads this blog regularly and picked up the phone to talk about her business. So let’s take a look at lead generation and how to be smarter in today’s economy. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Once again, we eat the sowing seed.”

December 7th, 2008

“Once again, we eat the sowing seed.” I am attributing this quote to popular astronomer and author, Carl Sagan when asked to comment on NASA budget cuts during the recession of 1972. Whether it was Sagan or not is not the point– the point is “the eating of the sowing seed.” What is the sowing seed? It is the seed that is held back for replanting to grow future crops. Without “sowing seed” there is no future crop to harvest because those seeds weren’t planted. In Sagan’s illustration, we were eating for today what should have been planted for tomorrow.

NOW/TODAY is the time to build relationships with your customers. Consumers and businesses are tightening their belts and their budgets, but marketers need to look at today’s recession economy as an opportunity. Now is the ideal time to ramp up your efforts and build stronger relationships with your customers. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hope… let’s keep it alive

December 3rd, 2008

A friend of mine looked at me one day not long ago as I dragged in my daily five or six pounds of mail and said, “You and your media.” He was referring to my daily dose of magazines and newsletters that flood into my “snail” mailbox everyday– a heaping helping that at one time, required me to “make time” to get through it all.

But– as I often say and people often hear but don’t really hear AND I find myself saying more these days– “The simple truths are the greatest truths and things need to be a lot more simple.”

So, I have considerably cut down on the unending flood of literature that I used to think I needed to get through a week, month, quarter– whatever. And I look a lot more at what’s around me and at the simple things we often overlook. Let’s look at one very simple thing now. Read the rest of this entry »

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Gathering up the fragments

December 1st, 2008

An interesting email arrived in my in box today. It’s from Roy Williams, “The Wizard of Ads.” In it, he briefly tells the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two small fishes. It’s a story of which most of us are familiar. But the part that Roy focuses on is the quote attributed to Jesus after the meal; “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”

Perhaps, because it’s a Monday, or perhaps because we are just coming off a big holiday weekend spent with friends and family that this email so resonated with me. As Roy further writes, “Consider. This was a person of unlimited resources, a man who could create abundance from nothingness, yet he said to his followers, “Gather up the fragments.””

Have you ever stopped to “gather up the fragments” of your life? Read the rest of this entry »

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