Shenpa is those times when someone (either real or imagined) criticizes you in a way that makes you want to freeze up. Something just tightens inside of you and you’d rather do anything, even go get a haircut, than ship on the project. We all have things that strike to our core and make us “nope” in the face of fear. The real danger is that if we follow them, they force us to start equating our project outcome to our value as a human.

I believe the true goal is to see the hook, the shenpa, know it’s danger, and bite it with every intention of pulling the fisherman into the water. Lean into the sore spot, and be stronger for it.

What is your shenpa? Why are you reading this instead of doing what needs to be done?

Not choosing leads to the default, and the default is boring. There isn’t a single remarkable human achievement that was created out of the default.

We’ve all seen two similar companies start in similar situations with similar services, similar prices, similar expertise, and similar marketing, but they end up in two totally different places. Think big. If your company could be any size, heal any cause, or create any product, what size, cause, or product would you tackle?

If money is your goal, and you’re spending 24 hours a day thinking about how to make a million dollars, why not spend those same 24 hours creating ways to reach 100 million dollars? Nobody gets 25 hours a day, and yet there still exist people worth 100 million dollars.

There are decisions you will make, and there are decisions you will not make. Be aware of both.

What choices are you not even aware of?

“On a field trip, compliment the place you are visiting.”

Think of all the people who have toured your space. Who left the best impression?

After the last move, my wife and I decided that we would take most of our “going out to dinner money” and re-purpose it towards making our condo the best hangout in town. It’s still a work in progress, but of all the guests who’ve crossed our threshold, two stand out the most. John Reynolds (pictured above) was one of them, but both had identical reactions. “WOW! What is this? How did you do that? This is so cool!” All with genuine wide-eyed wonder, pointing and walking the whole time. No detail was missed. Sure, most people will eventually ask about our pot rack made out of a bmx bicycle wheel, but these two didn’t wait to be told. They were present, observant, and enthusiastic. They leveraged these traits to make their host feel like a rock star.

What kind of compliments did you give your last client when touring their space? How can you use Mr. Clark’s advice to make your clients feel like rock stars?



And just for reference, this is what a bicycle wheel in the kitchen looks like:

When someone values a category, they generally make theirs stand out from the crowd. By picking up on the weird items people have, you can determine where to get the best bang for you compliment buck.

This goes beyond straight forward compliments. By picking up on the consistently unique details in people’s lives, you can gain insight into their passions. You can buy them the right gift. You can provide them with better service.

What’s weird enough about your next client to compliment?

It all makes me realize how little I’ve had to do with the success of Friendly Human. Most businesses fail in their first two years, and I’ve killed a few in the past. Had I tried Friendly Human on my own, I would have given up long ago. So many people have contributed in ways of time, money, inspiration, and encouragement. If nothing else, building your own business will do three things:

• Make you fearless.
• Create deep friendships of gratitude.
• Reveal how weak you really are. (in a good way)

Thank you to all the people who have had a hand in making this company a success. I’ll always have your back.

If you’re interested in how our relaxed video style can make your company money, check out our services, then head to our Connect page.

So many SAAS companies fail when it comes to economics. They overcharge and under deliver. LessMeeting really rocks when it comes to value. I was surprised when I discovered how affordable their prices are. We all know what a time sink meetings can be. Imagine a world where only time your organization had a meeting is when it was necessary and productive. LessMeeting may turn out to be your most valuable employee.

LessMeeting was born out of a desire for everyone to implement best practices in meetings. I really appreciate how they’ve leveraged technology in order to give us all the ability to do this easily. Consulting on meeting best practices has definite limits. They could only teach so many people a day, and when they leave, they’re gone. Not so with an online tool. Maybe it’s the similarities I see with the reproducibility of video that appeals to me, but I really do like what they’re doing.

As always, this was shot in a style similar to our Rapid Testimonials. If you would like videos like this for your company, contact us on our Connect page, and let’s get the ball rolling.

Growing up my family actually had a PBX in our home. My dad had bought it for his office when we lived in Houston. After moving to Atlanta, he became a consultant and didn’t need it anymore. You don’t just throw away a $15k piece of hardware no matter how outdated it is. Finally around the time I was in middle school, I remember him and I installing it in our basement and running separate wires to each phone in the house. By this time, I had already setup an ethernet network in the house, and I remember thinking how outdated the PBX seemed. Oh well, I digress. The point is, if you don’t want an outdated $15,000 box from the 80′s ending up in your basement, OtherNum is looking pretty good right about now.

OtherNum also allows you to create automated attendants (IVR) and do conference calls. Andrew had some really interesting ideas for using OtherNum. For examples, with prices this affordable, real-estate agents could have a separate phone number for every house they list.

As always, this was shot in a style similar to our Rapid Testimonials. If you would like videos like this for your company, contact us on our Connect page, and let’s get the ball rolling.

Justin Walker of WPI stopped by today to shoot a short video response to an English Al Jazeera youtube clip concerning the water crisis in Peru. Many people don’t know that much of Peru is the second driest desert in the world. Virtually all of the five or so million people living in this desert walk as much as eight hours a day, each day, just to get water. Dirty, contaminated water.

WPI has a plan to ELIMINATE the current water crisis of Peru. As an entrepreneur and business owner, I appreciate Justin’s focus and ambition. Had he come to me and said “I’d like to help with water problems in several locations around the world.” I would have turned him down flat. Had he said “I’d like to eliminate the water problems of a particular city in Peru,” he would have had my attention. But to say “I want to end the water problems of an entire country, and I have a plan how to do it.” How could I possibly say no to that?

Become a fan of them today on their Facebook Page.

Once you sign up for an account, you can record a two minute clip right from within your browser. I just used it to record my wife and me singing happy birthday to her brother. If you record your audio some other way, you can upload a two hour mp3. I highly recommend a free app, Audacity, since Adobe chose to acquire and destroy Cool Edit Pro (not that I hold a grudge). Of course, there’s always the recording app on your phone if you’re on the go. He’s got thousands of users. Even Oprah Radio uses Chirbit.

Ivan presented at Startup Atlanta’s #Onstage event in March and we managed to catch up with him for a minute afterwords. Here’s what he had to say…

We’re fortunate to have an amazing team of really talented people working here. I’m really proud of them always learning more about video and how to express their creativity. Anyway, if the colors of these first month of Startup Atlanta videos look different, it’s because I told them to take a bit of creative license in post. This first one is made to have a film look by making the shadows go a towards blue. I like it. Thoughts?

If you like the way this is shot, head on over to our Rapid Testimonials page and get a video just like this created for your company.