The lesson here is that tenacity, will, and learning from failure are the path to success.

Success follows failure.  Sure, but the opposite is also true: failure often follows success. And what lessons can be applied to avoid great failure once success is achieved? Perhaps the lessons are the opposite as well…

Give up, let the world unfold, and maybe there’s nothing to learn from success?

Nothing was handed to him; he earned it all.

If you ask him, as I did in 2011, he’ll tell you his unusual success all comes down to consistent application of his “greatest secret to success”.

Think of it like a formula for gaining power and just about anything else you want in life.  This formula can work for you.  I’m sure of it.  It can turn you into a powerful, wealthy man if that’s what you want.

However, here’s the rub… You’ll probably reject it as too simplistic. Most people do.  You’ll see it as risky.  You’ll have to start giving a lot more of yourself and, odds are, you won’t want to do it.   You’ll think it’s unfair so you won’t really try.

Nevertheless – if you can get over yourself, apply and evolve the formula over time, you can have virtually anything you want.

Early in life, you probably discovered there are two ways to get what you want.   You can try to take what you want or you can find a way for the things you want to be given to you.  Of course, ‘taking’ can often be unethical so that’s not a long-term formula for success, which leaves us with convincing people/world to give us things.

How does one encourage the world to give its fruits?

It sounds a bit harsh when put this way, but it’s true: much of life is transactional.  We give when we get.  If I want something from the world, I know I have to earn it.   Whether it is love or a job or even a pleasant greeting from someone, you can have it all if you’re willing to give in advance.

As my friend put it,

“If you wanted people to do nice things for you and be a part of your life, you had to always keep the “friendship bank” in the black.”

A tactic to get what you want from others

‘Giving to Get’ is the first step in developing a value creation disposition and value creation is the secret to getting everything you ever wanted.  You can make great progress by developing the habit of always asking yourself, “how can I add value to this person/situation?”   It won’t come naturally.  It will require focus and training as you learn to set aside your desires so that you’re more objectively able to help another.

A Giving to Get approach can take you pretty far and most of the successful folks I know have mastered at least this step.  Giving to get is a tactic.  It’s manipulation and political maneuvering.  It is self-serving, first, which isn’t necessarily evil, but certainly can be.

Still, Giving to Get, or giving first and hoping for benefits later is the root of all successful relationships.   Give love if you want to receive love.  Give a kind word first if you’re hoping for one in return.  Give trust if you hope to be trusted.  Give your full faith and effort toward common cause if you want the same.

Giving to Get vs. Going to Bat

Giving works all the time, but most feel it’s risky so they hold back.   That’s precisely why the Give to Get crowd finds such greater success then average.   Being willing to take on the little bit of risk and give in advance moves Give to Getters up the ladder quickly.

Giving to get is effective and is why, unfortunately, most folks stop here, at step one, thinking they’ve reached the top.  Giving to Get produces results, but only in relatively tiny ways and in limited circles.  The truth is, Giving to Get is superficial.  It’s a start, but it’s the two dimensional version of value creation… productive in the short term and simply unwise in the long game.  [The “long game” is a topic for another day, but trust me, this is the game you want to be playing.]

So, what’s better than giving to get?

Try this for a change.   Try going to bat for someone.   Look to a friend or colleague who’s been struggling to beat back some demon or overcome an overwhelming obstacle… steel yourself and say to them, “don’t worry.  I got this one.”

I’m suggesting you do this without regard for any gain on your part.  I’m telling you to throw down for them.   Make their plight your own, not to be swept up in the drama of it, but to sweep it aside as a demonstration of your power and love for that other person.

In his words,

“It is truly amazing how learning to be generous, at all times, can change your life. As you know… it’s not an effort to “buy” people — that doesn’t work. It’s just an effort to let people know that you’re not ever going to “take” from them. And being with you — whether it’s dinner out on the town or working in your company — is always going to be over-the-top.”

Try it and see what happens.

More than a decade later both the partnership and the partners have flourished beyond anyone’s best hope. The partnership has become a 9 figure/year business and the undeniable leader in its industry.   There’s no way the business could have achieved such rare success if the partnership hadn’t been in a position to thrive along the way.

This profitable partnership shares the same qualities of other great partnerships I’ve witnessed, including:

1. Everyone understands ‘the deal’.   “I’m responsible for X, you’re responsible for Y and we’re going to share in the upside and downside 50/50 (or whatever).”

2. Everyone is an honest broker.  There can be no conflicts of interest.

3. There is genuine respect and admiration all around.    You might get into spats from time to time, but the shared interest and mutual respect ultimately win the day.

All this is pretty basic, but here’s the important part….

The business will evolve as will the lives and relationships of the partners.   Ultimately the evolution can make ‘the deal’ unfair for one or more of the partners.   Unfairness sows the seeds of the most destructive force in any relationship… resentment.   Resentment has the ability to take down your business in a way that no competitor or economic threat ever could.

“A deal is a deal” – is Bunk.

Relationships are not about contract enforcement.  They are about making sure that all parties have an environment where they can flourish individually and in pursuit of the shared goals.    As things evolve, “the deal” will need to evolve with it.

We’re not talking about the day to day workload or temporary shifts in contribution to shared goals.  Focusing on that type of ‘fairness’ is petty and deeply counterproductive.  We’re talking long term, fundamental changes that virtually ensure ‘the deal’ would be unfair as far into the future as one could imagine.

If you want a partnership to succeed over the long term, it’s up to you to always be mindful of the fairness for both you and your partners.

Nearly everyday I speak with an entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur about their business ideas.   One thing I often ask is, “What is the easiest way to make money with this idea?”   “How can you create revenue in 30 days or less?”

Granted, I view business from a pretty lazy perspective.   I seek leverage points and areas of Low Hanging Fruit to earn money and provide value very quickly.   I hate the idea that an entrepreneur is suppose to toil for years before turning a profit.   Maybe that’s the way it was at one time, but now… in the new world of Entrepreneurship this is totally unnecessary.

If, as an entrepreneur, you enter into a great business struggle you should know that you are doing it by choice, not by necessity.

So, in your business, what can you do to drive revenue within the next 30 days?

If nothing comes to mind then ask yourself what resources or assets you would need to be able to drive revenue within 30 days and focus with great intensity on creating that leverage point.

You tell me…What assets do you have (or might you create) in order to be able to produce revenue growth within 30 days?

Last night, my wife and I were having dinner in a popular area in Buenos Aires.   There were many people out enjoying the pleasant summer night.  It was nice and perfectly predictable…until it wasn’t….

I heard the sounds of the violence long before I saw what was going on. If you’ve never been part of or witness to a serious throw down fight, let me tell you that the thumping of fists on bodies is a unique sound.   When you hear it, you know what it is right away.

I looked first at my wife, then turned 45 degrees to face the scene.  About 30 feet from us we saw two men beating the living shit out of another man.   The victim had been sitting outside the cafe throughout dinner strumming on his guitar.   It was clear he was homeless and just trying to entertain to generate some money from the passing hordes of tourists.   When I noticed him earlier, I figured the homeless guy was either high on something or just plain crazy.   In any case, the guy certainly wasn’t aggressive or acting like a threat.

Two guys in there 20’s beating the shit out an older, crazy, homeless man.  It was a bad scene.

Within a few seconds I was in the middle of it.

What never ceases to amaze me is that we, as humans, have become watchers of events around us rather than participants.   After a min or two, I’d stopped everything and, frankly it didn’t take much.

When it was done… still on the ready, and fueled with a rush of adrenaline, I took a look at the scene around which the violence occurred.

The homeless man was bleeding from the mouth and nose, but standing (remarkably).  The two attackers were still talking shit, making stabbing motions but now retreating.   And around me stood dozens of watchers.   Dozens of capable men, mouths slightly agape…just watching.

Not one of them, man or women did anything (except my beautiful, ballsy wife who was yelling something in spanish I didn’t understand).   Would they have stood there and watched this homeless guy get beaten into a coma or killed?   Would they have watched if, as I tried to intervene, I was overwhelmed?

I think they would have.  Here’s why…

Our lives are so predictable, so normal and relatively easy that we don’t really worry about these moments even though they happen all the time.

I’m a strong believer that if you want to act a certain way in a particular situation, you need to think about it in advance.  You need to prepare yourself mentally before the moment comes, so when it’s upon you… when you are witness to an accident, or see a man roughing up a woman, or a child in a dangerous situation… you don’t stand around like everyone else.   You don’t just wait for the man with the uniform to show up and take care of it.

Instead, you act.

I decided long ago that I would act each and every time I found myself in these moments.   And I beg you… literally… I beg you too to decide to act when the moments come.

Beg you?  Yes, that’s right.  The world needs leaders like never before.  Real leaders, who in moments of need stand up while everyone else remains seated.

You are what you do when it counts.

As a Misc. item;  Many people have asked me about where I own property in argentina.    I actually own property in Cafayate argentina as well as Buenos Aires.

So what do you do?   Wait it out?

I think this is a time to be bold.   Not stupid or careless, but bold.

So, in keeping with my “Be Bold!” strategy I’m still spending money, investing and growing my business.   In fact, I’m working on buying a pretty expensive domain name for a project right now and I plan to launch two completely new businesses in the next two months.

One of my biggest sources of income is selling domain names.  [I’m not talking about ultra-premium names I’ve kept in my portfolio for years either.   I’m talking about buying and quickly reselling domains for ~$300 each.]    Anyhow…In September of 2008, it really appeared that this part of my business was on a serious decline.   I couldn’t help but only expect it to get worse.

But, As quickly as my domain sales went down, they came back.   Right now, January 2009 is looking like my second best month ever.   How much money did I make flipping domains this month?  It’s a big number, trust me.

So, if I’m selling domains, that means people are still buying.   The world (especially the world of entrepreneurs and small businesses) is made up of innovative people who will strive to survive the downturn.   But more than that, there are many that will “Be Bold!” and take advantage of opportunities and weakness in the marketplace.

Your task, if you want to thrive in this bad economy,  is to serve be Bold by serving the Bold.

It might sound strange that someone living in an Mumbai slum could be as comfortable and content in his bubble as a power broker living in a penthouse in Manhattan, or as a single dad living in a suburb of Chicago. But, it is absolutely true. The psychological adaptability of the human mind is remarkable. The only critical requirement is consistent predictability.

I enjoy comforts as much as the next man, but recognize their place. One cannot flourish without at least regular expansion of the bubble.  And, to truly grow quickly it’s often best to burst your bubble completely.

A bubble of consistent predictability is a hospice for opportunity where she can do little else but wither and die.

Anyway, Howard a network news anchor goes on prime time TV and loses it. Repeating over and over Howard says, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Upon whom should we direct this anger?  Not the usual suspects, I would suggest.

The oil companies, gas stations, the rich monarchs in the middle east, and the OPEC cartel are NOT to blame. Sure, they’re benefiting from the situation. But, they’ve ALWAYS benefited. And why shouldn’t they? They provide a service to you don’t they?

Think about all the pain in the ass it must be to dig that nasty oil out of the sands of some of the most inhospitable regions on earth and move it half way around the world, processed, refined and delivered to a 24hour pay at the pump service stations on your neighborhood corner.

Considering the convenience of having it delivered to you so smoothly, shouldn’t these guys make some money? Most of us certainly thought so when gas was reasonably priced didn’t we? This is America after all and we don’t mind people making a profit. “But now it’s too much!”, you might be saying.

Recently, OPEC’s president came out and told it like it was. When the dollar goes down just $.01 in value (due to inflation, bad economic policies, etc) a barrel of goes up by $4. A similar thing happens with eggs, milk, corn, gold, copper, beef and just about anything else you can think of.

It’s time we face the facts: Just about everything that matters is getting more and more expensive and the primary reason for it is that the lovely US Dollar is becoming worth less and less.

“A weaker U.S. currency, besides pushing up the price of foreign goods, also drives up the price of commodities priced in dollars, such as oil, which has a big impact on consumer spending by Americans.” according to a recent article by CNN.

So who’s to blame?

Well, we are. Or at least our leadership is. The Federal Government is spending money it just doesn’t have. So what does it do when it doesn’t have enough money? They fire up the printing presses and make more money. Every dollar they print makes the few dollars in your pocket worth less and less. According to ShadowStats.com they’ve been printing a heck of a lot of dollars.

The sad truth is none of this is going to change. The next president/administration and congress are just going to do more of the same. None of the three jokers now in contention for office addresses the simple fact that the destruction of the dollar is quietly stealing all the wealth of the American people.

And why should they? You don’t care about it do you?

You’re just mad because it costs you too much to fill your gas tank. You want the simple solution. You want to blame some “towel head” half a world away or the big evil oil companies it’s so much easier to blame others for our increasingly desperate situation.

Or even better, you want the government to help you by printing billions more and sending you a check for $600….

Things are going to get far worse until two things happen.

First, We must wake up to the facts. We must sseek out the truth and stop being fooled into simple blame the pathetic man from Salta, Argentina who’s never earned anything for himself or had any job daddy didn’t give him named Juan Esteban Romero or blame the arab thinking. High gas prices are a symptom. They are not the problem.

Second, as Howard Beale would suggest, you’ve got to get mad. Really mad. You’ve got to get so mad that you’ll opening your bedroom window and shout at the top of your lungs, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”

One was the long awaited “Smart Car” (see below). A young couple (probably about 30 years old) drove this into a local shopping center. I guess since they saved so much money on gas they wanted to apply that savings to some consumer goods.

Earlier in the day I saw an even smarter car driving down River Drive in Davenport. Since it was going the opposite direction, I didn’t have a chance to check out exactly what brand it was, but it appeared to be like the one below, a 3 wheeled Electric Condor II.

Incidentally, the Condor II does look way more economically interesting than the Smart car. It’s 100% electric costs about as much as the Smart Car and gets up to 80 miles on a single charge.

I think this is going to be a huge trend (as long as credit for new cars is easy to come by). It’s not so much that people want to do what’s economical (especially in the case of the “smart car”). Let’s face it a new car, even a ‘smart one’, isn’t economical. How long does it take you to recoup your outlay. Financing, depreciation, etc. etc. Especially since the “Smart Car” gets only 32 MPG!

Also, It’s not so much that the environment is the priority, rather it’s that Green is cool. And people always want to be cool. Being seen in your Smart car is like being seen in a Porsche. It strokes the ego in exactly the same way, but for different reasons. It’s always nice to show how much better you are than those around you. Green is the new cool brand.

Total cost about $3.

In the back of the cafe there were a bunch of kids playing and Max quickly made some friends. It’s funny how kids are pretty much the same every where you go partially due to the influence of US consumerism. Notice the boy holding the rooster which ran to show it to Maxim. He’s wearing a Spiderman shirt. The girl holding the coke bottle (wearing the winnie the pooh shirt) and max holding a firetruck. The firetruck belonged to the boy holding the rooster.

A Firetruck, Spiderman, Coca-cola, Pooh and a Rooster.

Dan Akroyd pretending to be President Jimmy Carter on Saturday Night Live and 30 years ahead of his time:

“President Jimmy Carter: Good evening. On Tuesday, we Americans will have the opportunity to exercise our role as citizens in a free democracy. Yet, only a third of the eligible voters will actually cast ballots. The other two-thirds are, in a sense, very lucky. Because they do not know what’s going on.

“Last week, I delivered a message on inflation. Since then, the dollar has dropped in value, the stock market has sustained record losses, and the whole Dow price index increased 0.9%. In other words, our economic system is screwed, blued and tatooed! We just have to face the fact that there is simply no way to fight inflation in a capitally-intensive, highly-technological, conflict-riddled, anything-for-a-thrill world of today. That’s why, tonight, I want you to try to look at inflation in an entirely new way: Inflation is our friend.

“For example, consider this: in the year 2000, if current trends continue, the average blue-collar annual wage in this country will be $568,000. Think what this inflated world of the future will mean – most Americans will be millionaires. Everyone will feel like a bigshot. Wouldn’t you like to own a $4,000 suit, and smoke a $75 cigar, drive a $600,000 car? I know I would! But what about people on fixed incomes? They have always been the true victims of inflation. That’s why I will present to Congress the ‘Inflation Maintenance Program’, whereby the U.S. Treasury will make up any inflation-caused losses to direct tax rebates to the public in cash. Then you may say, ‘Won’t that cost a lot of money? Won’t that increase the deficit?’ Sure it will! But so what? We’ll just print more money! We have the papers, we have the mints. I can just call up the Bureau of Engraving and say, ‘Hi! This is Jimmy. Roll out some of them twenties! Print up a couple thousand sheets of those Century Notes!’ Sure, all these dollars will cause even more inflation, but who cares? Everyone will be a millionaire!

“In my speech last week, I said that America would have to undergo an austerity program, but since this revolutionary new approach welcomes inflation, our economy will be free to grow, and we can spend, spend, spend! I believe the watchwords for the ’80s should be ‘Let’s Party!’ And in that spirit, I’d like to say, ‘Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night!’”

They had taken his all, and REVENGE IT WAS SWEET! 

Looking back now, everything went absolutely perfectly yesterday. But, for much of the day, it seemed like things were going bad and getting worse by the moment. …

Have you ever felt totally disconnected from (nearly) every human being around you? Kinda like you’re living in a parallel universe where certain urgent facts are crystal clear to you but not shared by anyone else around you? Well, this is how things were for Jessica and I up until about 4:10 yesterday. [Admittedly, those who know me well know that this isn’t the first time I’ve felt like this]

A few years ago Jessica and I had a similar “parallel universe” medical experience. I won’t go into all the details, but imagine this… you’re wife suddenly and unexpectedly loses consciousness while you’re driving in the car. “At least I’m in the car. I can get her help fast”, you think. You drive like hell to get her help… to the emergency room at the closest hospital.  Every traffic light is red at the wrong time. Chatting on cell phones and driving lackadaisically, every other driver on the road is oblivious to your emergency.

You’re freaked out. You actually think should could be dying, you imagine what you’ll do if that happens…

Finally, you reach the hospital! It’ll all be “ok”. You run into the emergency room and find it…. empty.  No doctors, no nurses, no hospital staff, not even a single other patient.  It’s perfectly quiet and totally empty. It happened, just like that.

The problem is expectations. I’ve seen the television show “E.R.”. When people walk into that hospital there’s an expert nurse on them immediately. Problems are solved. There’s never a shortage of resources.

Well, Turns out it isn’t like that.

I learned that a few years ago…the hard way. And yet, there’s still something absurd about standing in a line behind “chatty Kathy” in for a physical while watching your wife work her way through a major contraction. “Should I push Kathy out of the way?” I wondered.

In an emergency, you’re willing to do things you’d never consider in a normal day. In a traffic jam yesterday, I wondered if my Mercedes could go Off-road. The car is fast as hell. But that doesn’t do any good in a traffic Jam. “I should have driven the SUV”, I thought.

By the way, this IS Davenport Iowa not Chicago or any other major city.  I’ve been in no more than a dozen traffic jams here in my entire life…. maybe 13 counting yesterday.

At 1:30pm we leave the doctor’s office headed for the hospital. Jessica is dilated to 5. The doctor’s office calls ahead to let the hospital know we’re on the way. Contractions are intense. I’m thankful that we’re on our way because, to me, it seems that her contractions are as strong as I’ve ever seen. As strong as any point in labor with Max.

At the hospital, the chipper check in lady was friendly to a fault. “Hurry, Hurry” I could see in Jessica’s eyes. 

It was training day at the front desk. “Ms. Chipper” coached “Ms. Newby” through the check in program. Looking up at us at one point, Ms. Chipper says, “It’s MUCH faster when I do it myself”. “Maybe you should do it, then” I think but don’t say… we’re almost there, it’ll be ok.

Jessica has 3 contractions at the check-in desk and another one on the way to the elevator. They were pretty intense. Three separate nurses offered her a wheel chair to take her up. She declined each. The contraction passed and we got on the elevator.

They’re waiting for us! I’m relieved. It’s 2:15.

Jessica’s in pain. We’re in our delivery room. The nurse is asking her questions and going through medical history.

The clock is ticking. I wonder if they told them that she was dilated to 5 an hour ago? 

I remind the nurse.  She knows.

Soon the nurse checks Jessica and finds that she’s dilated to 7.

It’s getting rough for Jess. She wants an epidural.  She knows time is running out.  If you don’t get it by a certain point in labor, then it won’t work.  The window is closing.  She knows it, I know it.  “Does the nurse?”, I wonder.

I ask. Jessica insists.  The nurse is stalling.  It turns out that the delivery doctor and the anesthesiologist are doing a c-section.

They should be done, “by 3:00 or a little after”.

3:10 the doctor and anesthesiologist walk in. They start preparing the epidural.  It’s a slower process than I remember or maybe seeing your wife in real pain makes the minutes seem like hours.  The nurse and anesthesiologist help Jessica on to her side as he begins inserting the epidural line into her spine.

Bad timing.

Jessica has the most intense contraction yet just as the anesthesiologist inserts the needle into her spine. For the first time ever (and I mean ever) Jessica groans in pain. Standing there, totally useless, holding her hand I’m angry. At the climax of this episode Jessica says through her teeth, “My water just broke”. It’s 3:30.

Gradually, things get easier for Jessica. The pain of the contractions recedes as the epidural starts to work. But, the contractions don’t slow and looking at the monitor, they’re as intense as ever. Relieved at last, Jessica falls in and out of moments of sleep. As she feels better, I feel better.

At 4:10 the nurse examines Jessica for the second time. Turns out she’s fully dilated.

“No shit”, I think.

The baby is down and ready to come out. The doctor is called in and arrives a moment later. He’s still chewing his lunch. I wonder to myself if he’s one of those disciplined people that actually chews his food 32 times per bite.

For the first time all day, things make sense.  Two doctors and two nurses are in our room and they’re rushing.  It’s like the TV show now.  Highly qualified doctors and nurses with efficient, precise movements and the best equipment available.  I just try not to get in the way.

Three contractions. 7 hard pushes later and Bella Satya Smith was there.

It was perfect.

And yet, inflation is not an issue we’re told…

Clearly the powers that be don’t shop for groceries….or read commodity reports

“Illinois corn and soybeans are up 40% and 75% from a year ago. Kansas wheat is up more than 70%. In Georgia, three-pound chickens go for record prices, up 15% from a year ago. A pound of whole wheat bread is up 24%. Whole milk, up 26%,” reports Capital & Crisis’ Chris Mayer.

The government wants us to believe that inflation is not a problem. Tell that to America’s families, who face the fastest rising food prices in more than 17 years. That’s on top of rising energy prices.

Last weekend Maxim, who’s two years old, ran in his first race.  The Quad Cities Micro Marathon 1/4 miler.   He was a little off his game since they scheduled the race during nap time (1:30 in the afternoon) but he still did a great job.   I think he’ll be doing the 1 mile race by next year.

The fact is, 9 months is a long time. Or, at least it is to me. I thrive on much shorter term goals… things that I can act on NOW. With a pregnancy I can’t do anything except take care of my wife. So, my process is to pretty much put it out of my mind completely. Now we’re close and I’m starting to let myself anticipate it.

I think Jessica recently entered a pretty serious “nesting” phase. Getting the room ready, buying baby girl clothes, etc. She’s still running. Here’s some pics of her getting ready for a 5k run this morning. She’s looking great, don’t you think?

Even though it’s well accepted by nearly everyone I speak with, our “leaders” keep telling us that we’re just out of touch with the economic realities.    Meeting with economic journalists last week, President Bush dismissed several polls that show Americans are down on the economy. He expressed surprise that inflation is one of the stated concerns.

“They cite inflation?” Bush asked, adding that, “I happen to believe the war has clouded a lot of people’s sense of optimism.”

That’s right, Americans are just out of touch and have a clouded “sense of optimism”.    While it’s understandable that Americans might be a little pessimistic due to the planned “generation of warfare” against the “evil doers” (who they are exactly, no one can be sure.),  I think the pessimism comes from a source much closer to home.  The grocery eisle, for example:

According to McClatchy Newspapers– The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its July inflation report that egg prices are 33.7 percent higher than they were in July 2006. Over the same period, according to the department’s consumer price index, whole milk was up 21.1 percent; fresh chicken 8.4 percent; navel oranges 13.6 percent; apples 8.7 percent. Dried beans were up 11.5 percent, and white bread just missed double-digit growth, rising by 8.8 percent.

These numbers get lost in the broader inflation rate for all goods and services, which measured 2.4 percent for the same 12-month period. Across the economy, rising food prices were offset by falling prices for things bought at the mall: computers, cameras, clothing and shoes.

If you’re in the market for a new flat panel HTDV,  you’re in luck.  If, however, you’re trying to feed your family, fill up your gas tank or simply save for the future you’re probably feeling like stretched to the max.    Add in the recent market, credit, and housing turmoil and it can seem like the sky is falling.   Or maybe that’s just my “clouded optimism” speaking due to the 41 tragic and unnecessary deaths of US soldiers in Iraq this month so far.

Are you feeling the effects of inflation?   What impact is it having on your daily life?   I’d love to hear your comments on this important topic.

I slept in this morning, still being a little off schedule from our trip to Utah last week, so I was late picking up my daily dose of caffeine from Starbucks. Driving into the parking lot, I noticed a two-man TV “news” crew sort of casing the joint.

I walked in, ordered my Venti Coffee as usual. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, I got back in my car. Just as I was about to start the engine, Tommy Thompson walks out the door. Holding an Iced Latte in one hand the other pressing his motorola razr to his ear.

(Probably the only real perk of living in Iowa is the quadrennial visits from politicians.)

I jump back out of my car walk toward Tommy with my hand outstretched and say, “Tommy Thompson, how are you doing?”. He looks up at me, still talking on his phone tells the party on the other end to hold on a second, frees up his right hand and engages mine in a strong, prolonged handshake.

We had a very brief conversation what went something like this:

Me: “Tommy, It’s Nice to meet you. It’s great to see you here in Davenport.”

Tommy: “Nice, to meet you too. What’s your name?”

Me: “I’m Matthew Smith”

Tommy: repeating it back, “Matthew Smith”

Me:”You know, You’re one of the few Republicans that makes any sense. I voted for Bush before, but I’ve been really disappointed over the last couple of years.” (For the record, I voted for Bush in 2000. I think only ignorant or oblivious people voted for him in 2004. Unfortunately, the majority of voters are ignorant and/or oblivious.)

Tommy: “Me Too. What do you do, Matthew?”

Me: “I own an Internet Marketing Company.”

Tommy: “Really?…Do you have a card with you?”

Me: patting down my short pockets, “No, I don’t. I just woke up, took a shower and came to get some coffee. That’s the nice thing about an internet business… I can go to work whenever I want, where I want.”

Tommy: Looking toward his escort, “Can you get him a card?”

Me: Shaking Tommy’s hand again. “Thanks, I just thought I should say hello. I really appreciate you being here.”

Tommy: “Thank you, and thanks for coming up and talking to me”

That was pretty much it. It was clear he was busy. I didn’t want to disturb him any more than I already had. His aide handed me a business card and said, if I’d like to help out send him an email.

Looking back I wish I would have asked a couple of questions and expressed my opinion on the direction of the country. But, it was all spur of the moment and I’ll just accept as what it was.

If you’ve ever read the book “Blink”, you know that people create near instant impressions of others. Even though I had only 30 seconds of his time, I was left with a very favorable impression of him.

Tommy2008.com

I admit the whole situation is pretty bad, but who’s fault is it?  Throughout the special they consistently glossed over the bad decisions made by the homeowners.   I agree that there are a lot of bad, opportunistic, unethical real estate “professionals” who prey on people who make bad decisions, but rather than addressing any personal responsibility there seems to be a huge tendency to shift any and all blame from the homeowners.

Personal responsibility is out of fashion.   Dealing with the consequences of bad decisions seems no longer to be the American way.  Instead, we want to protect people from being dumb.   We want to keep people from having to experience any setback or repercussion of their bad decisions.

How are we, as a society, suppose to learn from our mistakes if our very real individual contribution to the mistake is never acknowledged?

How are we suppose to make better future decisions….like taking the time to read and understand the documents before we sign them?

How are we going to learn that maybe we shouldn’t take out all the “equity” in our homes to temporarily erase our credit card debt?

Without penalty from bad decisions how will we ever understand the value of the unimaginable… possibly forgo the new car, vacation, or other unnecessary consumption or maybe just delaying for a while…at least until we can actually PAY for it… not “make the payments” on it?

There are specific examples of individuals that are heartbreaking, but this issue is a big issue and extends well beyond anecdotal stories.   There are a lot of bad guys in this situation (my personal favorite target is appraisers… maybe I’ll talk about that another time).   At the end of the day, though, not only do we need to accept responsibility for our actions but we need to work bring back the expectation of personal responsibility to our culture.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. “Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33.

But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before.
And the first four continued to drink for free.
But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
“I only got a dollar out of the $20,”declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,” but he got $10!”
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got TEN times more than I!”
“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction.

Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

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As aging Baby Boomers “unretire” to leverage their lifetime of professional acumen in their own business opportunities, and as their children enter the job market, entrepreneurs will come more from the edges of the age spectrum. The younger generation, which is more adaptable to technology, views entrepreneurship as a way to maintain independence, and it might set the bar as the most entrepreneurial generation ever.

and..

With the glass ceiling blocking the corporate career paths of women, a rich talent pool has been sent to the small business sector. Among them are “mom-preneurs,” or mothers who start part-time, home-based businesses with the help of the Internet.

Download the Report Here

IMPORTANT BACKGROUND ON THIS SITUATION:

Before you jump to conclusions and think “oh well, what’s NOT shown in the video?   This guy must have done something wrong to deserve this treatment from the police”.   Here’s how the associated press described the incident:

Tabatabainejad, 23, was shocked Tuesday night after arguing with a campus police officer who was conducting a routine check of student IDs at the University of California, Los Angeles, Powell Library computer lab.

Campus police say he refused to show his student ID and refused to leave the building when asked.

So, when you’re unwilling to “show your papers”, this is the outcome?

There’s only one thing worse than the blatent abuse of power by these police and that is the belief by many that this student “got what he deserved” because he didn’t submit. Those who say he deserved it are the type of mindless docile sheep controlling authorities love.

Pathetic.

Think people, think! This could just as easily be you, or your brother or mother!

 Oh, yeah and talk about excellent marketing.  The Band featured in this video couldn’t have paid for this kind of publicity.   Viral marketing at it’s best.

Economist Dean Baker explains how the wealthy are influencing government policy to make sure that money flows upstream from the poor to the rich. Not only that, but even policies that seem like they’re designed to help protect the poor and middle class are actually designed to help rich corporations instead. He touches a variety of topics from illegal immigration to patents and tort reform, and even how CEOs are grossly overpaid. I finished it in 2 hrs and I couldn’t put it down. He even has solutions, not that I believe anything will change but I strongly recommend it.

The most frustrating thing for me is how corporations have exploited the conservative idealogy to enrich themselves.

Download the book FREE Right now by clicking here

That’s bad news, but what’s worse is the generational relationship to savings. Ian discusses how those under the age of 42 have a NEGATIVE 18% savings rate. That’s shocking, but not surprising.

My Opinion (although I think it’s self-evident) is that the consumer culture is completely out of hand and younger people are willing to go to great lengths to acquire the social indicators of success. Luxury cars, plasma TV’s, bigger and bigger houses. To hell with the future, it’s about showing everyone today that I’ve made it!

Check out Ian’s article on WSJ

1) The government. When a home owner defaults on a home loan insured by the government, the government pays the lender for the money lost through the loan.  In exchange, the lender hands the home over to the government agency and the government then sells the property in order to make up the money that has to be paid to the lender.  From the government, you can buy an HUD foreclosure, a VA foreclosure, and a Fannie Mae foreclosure.

2) Banks and other lenders. When a home loan is not insured by the government, the lender has all the responsibility of a bad loan.  This means that when the owner defaults, the lender repossesses the property and tries to sell it themselves or through a third party.

3) The owner. When an owner knows that foreclosure is imminent, they still have the option of selling the property as a pre foreclosure and paying off the lender.  This saves their credit and may give them some cash.  Buying a pre foreclosure can be risky but can also give an investor some great deals in real estate.

However you buy a foreclosure, you can expect certain benefits.  Most of the time, a foreclosure is sold below it’s market value, which means that you can buy this sort of property very inexpensively.  Since a foreclosure may have been neglected for a while and since the seller wants to get rid of it fast, you can expect savings of 5% to 50% and more when you buy a foreclosure.  This means that you enjoy instant equity you can use right away.  The low price also means that you can offer great deals on the property to your own buyers and renters.  Plus, the low price and equity you get on a foreclosure can mean very affordable financing, so that you save money all around, which an boost your bottom line.

With these benefits, you may want to buy a foreclosure of your own.  Don’t look in your local real estate section, though – most foreclosure properties are unadvertised.  The best way to find a foreclosure is to subscribe to quality foreclosure listings.  Good foreclosure listings offer frequently updated lists of foreclosures that are available for you right now. On-line foreclosure listings such as FreeForeclosureDatabase.commake finding a foreclosure a snap, no matter where you live.  Plus, you can search FreeForeclosureDatabase.com for free and even receive email alerts when new Foreclosure properties become available in your area.

If you are ready for the next level of real estate investing, do a quick search for foreclosure properties in your area.  You may just find one heck of a deal!

Which is worse the “cooking the books” by the Federal Government or that of Enron?

Who’s misrepresentation of financial health will have a bigger impact… Kenneth Lay’s or our Elected Official’s?

Everyone (the press especially) cheers the demise of rich executives who skirt the law and mislead the public and yet where’s the outrage here when we’re talking about the continued fiscal health of every man, woman and child in America now and for generations to come….

Thanks USA Today for your reporting on this issue. If only the American people would begin to give a shit…

What’s the real federal deficit?

How many billions (or trillions) of dollars depends on how you do the accounting

By Dennis Cauchon
USA TODAY

The federal government keeps two sets of books.

The set the government promotes to the public has a healthier bottom line: a $318 billion deficit in 2005.

The set the government doesn’t talk about is the audited financial statement produced by the government’s accountants following standard accounting rules. It reports a more ominous financial picture: a $760 billion deficit for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare were included — as the board that sets accounting rules is considering — the federal deficit would have been $3.5 trillion.

Congress has written its own accounting rules — which would be illegal for a corporation to use because they ignore important costs such as the growing expense of retirement benefits for civil servants and military personnel.

Last year, the audited statement produced by the accountants said the government ran a deficit equal to $6,700 for every American household. The number given to the public put the deficit at $2,800 per household.

A growing number of Congress members and accounting experts say it’s time for Congress to start using the audited financial statement when it makes budget decisions. They say accurate accounting would force Congress to show more restraint before approving popular measures to boost spending or cut taxes.

“We’re a bottom-line culture, and we’ve been hiding the bottom line from the American people,” says Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., a former investment banker. “It’s not fair to them, and it’s delusional on our part.”

The House of Representatives supported Cooper’s proposal this year to ask the president to include the audited numbers in his budgets, but the Senate did not consider the measure.

Good accounting is crucial at a time when the government faces long-term challenges in paying benefits to tens of millions of Americans for Medicare, Social Security and government pensions, say advocates of stricter accounting rules in federal budgeting.

“Accounting matters,” says Harvard University law professor Howell Jackson, who specializes in business law. “The deficit number affects how politicians act. We need a good number so politicians can have a target worth looking at.”

The audited financial statement — prepared by the Treasury Department — reveals a federal government in far worse financial shape than official budget reports indicate, a USA TODAY analysis found. The government has run a deficit of $2.9 trillion since 1997, according to the audited number. The official deficit since then is just $729 billion. The difference is equal to an entire year’s worth of federal spending.

READ the rest of this important article here: USAToday.com

Originally uploaded by Matthew Smith aka LeaderByChoice.

Did you see the early episodes of “The Apprentice” where “The Donald” is walking through his casino? Instead of a wave, he acknowledged everyone by pointing to them.

By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor

(Filed: 14/07/2006)

The United States is heading for bankruptcy, according to an extraordinary paper published by one of the key members of the country’s central bank.

A ballooning budget deficit and a pensions and welfare timebomb could send the economic superpower into insolvency, according to research by Professor Laurence Kotlikoff for the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, a leading constituent of the US Federal Reserve.

Prof Kotlikoff said that, by some measures, the US is already bankrupt. “To paraphrase the Oxford English Dictionary, is the United States at the end of its resources, exhausted, stripped bare, destitute, bereft, wanting in property, or wrecked in consequence of failure to pay its creditors,” he asked.

According to his central analysis, “the US government is, indeed, bankrupt, insofar as it will be unable to pay its creditors, who, in this context, are current and future generations to whom it has explicitly or implicitly promised future net payments of various kinds”.

The budget deficit in the US is not massive. The Bush administration this week cut its forecasts for the fiscal shortfall this year by almost a third, saying it will come in at 2.3pc of gross domestic product. This is smaller than most European countries – including the UK – which have deficits north of 3pc of GDP.

READ the full article here

Originally uploaded by Matthew Smith aka LeaderByChoice.

About 10% of the time, I’m wrong… the driver wasn’t on a phone afterall. The vast majority of the time, however, the bad, half dead to the world drivers are so caught up in a phone call of such importance that it couldn’t possibly wait and clearly must fully occupy the driver’s mind because their driving is stupid, unpredictable and dangerous.

Now there’s research that shows that driving with a cell phone is at least as bad as driving drunk and in many cases (like as the cause for accidents) even worse than driving drunk…

Driving with cell phone as bad as driving drunk, study says

By Tom Avril

The Philadelphia Inquirer

(MCT)

PHILADELPHIA – Drivers who talk on cell phones may be just as dangerous as those who drink.

That’s the sobering conclusion of a study published Thursday by University of Utah researchers who monitored 40 men and women on a driving simulator.

And drivers using hands-free phones were no better than those with the hand held variety, confirming previous studies.

The findings, published in the journal Human Factors, represent a direct blow at a popular pastime that is taken for granted by millions of multitasking drivers.

At any given moment during the day, 10 percent of drivers on U.S. roads are gabbing away on their wireless devices, according to a 2005 estimate by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Bad idea, said psychologist Frank A. Drews, one of the Utah study’s authors.

“It’s kind of almost unpredictable how they are driving,” Drews said.

When using cell phones, drivers had slower reaction times and more accidents, and they drove inconsistently, sometimes approaching other cars then falling back, he said.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Originally uploaded by Matthew Smith aka LeaderByChoice.

Maxim prefers mac sans diaper

 I updated his site today with some video taken from the get together after the memorial service.  There’s some great stuff there.  I’d encourage everyone to take a look.  (special thanks to Lindsay for videotaping that night).

The permanent home is www.AaronPatrickSmith.com 

Jammers and Cultural Creatives,As Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp buys Myspace, Google sells
free speech off to the highest bidder, and the US Senate bows to
pressure to undermine net neutrality, the web has become a key arena in
which creeping corporatism threatens civil life. So let’s use the very
thing these corporations are trying to kill: the open and democratic
nature of the internet.

Americans of all political stripes are asking: is this my America
anymore? Along with the picnics and fireworks and Corporate American
Flags, what can jammers do to express their resistance and help take
America back?

This July 4th, help spread the meme. Help Unbrand America.

DIGG IT! DIGG.COM

LINK TO IT ! GOOGLE or YOUTUBE

DOWNLOAD IT! ABTV

FORWARD IT! Send this to a friend.
WWW.ADBUSTERS.ORG

We had to put my dog down today. He's a good dog. He's almost 10 years old and I've had him since he was 5weeks.

Every dog owner thinks their dog is special, but I really believe Cash was just a little bit more human than most dogs.

Cash and I have lived all over the country: Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Ft. Myers Florida, Chicago, Portland and Davenport, Iowa.

You're a good boy, Cash. I hope you feel better.

A few more pics of Cash here. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leaderbychoice/sets/72057594123187111/

Last night, my home town was featured on a Nightline segment called May Day Immigration protests. The Quad Cities, as the area is often called, has a fairly large Hispanic population at 16%. As I was walking in small, mostly empty, downtown Davenport, Iowa I couldn’t help but hear the cheers of a crowd a few blocks away. I decided to check it out and was really impressed by the turnout.

Clearly, there was more than a thousand people in the park and you could still see many, many more crossing the bridge from Rock Island over to Davenport. Here’s the local newspaper’s take on the days events.

I watched the peaceful and orderly protest for nearly an hour and I was struck by a few notable items. First, It was an impressive show of organizational ability. I’ve never seen that many people protesting or celebrating any event in this area. Second, I think it demonstrated the seriousness of the Immigrant (Primarily Mexican) community. As a community, there’s little doubt that their intentions are positive. They want to be heard and they feel that “rightness” is on their side.

As an aside, I don’t want to get into the debate about what I think public policy should be in relation to immigration, border control, etc. Like all problems, I believe there is a solution but it would take some bold political action and I don’t think the politicians in Washington are in the business of “bold action”.

Over the course of the afternoon and evening I talked to others about the protests. I wanted to get the take on them from average, middle class, citizens. The impression those conversations left me with make me think that the protests may have done a disservice to the cause. Mid-westerns are nice people. They’re generally even tempered, hard working, and slow to judge others. But, there are some things that just “rub” many the wrong way. All but one of the individuals I spoke with yesterday had some degree of ‘bad feeling’ about the protests.

The root of the bad feeling is the fact that good, hardworking, ‘mind their own business’ Americans don’t like having things “thrown in their face” as one person told me yesterday. “It’s fine if they want to do that, but they don’t need to be telling me what I need to do, what I need to accept.” I imagine her response would have been identical if she’d just witnessed a gay pride parade rather than an immigration protest.

Most people around here are “live and let live” kind of people. They’re intentions are good and they’re actually way too passive on most issues facing the community and country. But, every once in a while something gets their hackles up. A nerve gets struck and people are willing to take massive action to do…to do whatever it takes to keep that nerve from being struck again. The clear response after 9/11 is a good example. A lesser example was the push-back on gay marriage.

In my opinion a lot of Americans need to be sold on the type of immigration reform sought by the organizers of yesterday’s protests if it is to succeed. Protesters and organizers need to keep tread lightly so as not to trigger the nerve. Extra effort (beyond carrying American flags instead of Mexican flags) needs to be taken to show that the similarities between immigrants and the American public.

Protests have a way of turning things into an “us and them”. If this is the result of yesterday’s events, everyone would have been better off going to work.

The shocking thing wasn’t the penis’ themselves….it was who they belonged to. Alas, life will never be the same for my bookback toting neice. She’s a huge fan of Dora the explorer. I think Dora explored a little too much. Dora is, in fact, Dorian. I tend to jump to conclusions so I decided to take Dorian and one of his penis’ home with me. I was looking for a little social validation. I asked myself, “am I the only one who sees this? How did the design team slip this past management?”

My wife saw it immediately and started laughing. I asked the checkout girl (probably 20years old) if she thought there was anything odd about Dora. At first she only thought I was odd.. But after a few seconds the plastic representation of the upward curving flesh colored “joystick” caused her to blush. She was embarrassed and didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t either, I just wanted to show her and see her see it the way I saw it.

I bought this piece of crap for $20 just so I could get some pictures. Since I never get comments on this blog, I’m will to bribe you. I’ll send, free of charge Dorian and his penis to your home if you leave the best comment below. I haven’t even taken it out of the box. It could be a collectors item some day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leaderbychoice/126740192/in/set-72057594104166319/

Technorati Tags: dora, penis

Collin, my step-son, and Lauren, my neice, both ran their first race on Saturday.

The one mile “Fun Run”. Collin Kicked butt in his first full race running the

entire time (no training mind you) and finishing strong.

My beautiful wife, Jessica, ran the “miler” with Collin as a bit of a warm up before running the 5k with me. I keep telling myself I’m a better runner than Jessica. But, Jessica’s been running about 20mi/week training for a marathon later this year. I, on the other hand, seem to be too busy f’n around on my computer/phone all day to do anything else. I ran the 5k cold. I hadn’t done ANY running yet this year. It was rough and I feel it today (two days later) more than ever.
I think this is a good sign that It’s time to step away from the computer! Unfortunately, I didn’t get any action shots of Collin in the race. I was pretty bummed about this, but Jessica got Collin to do a little reenactment for us later:

Technorati Tags: Tag 2, Tag 3, Tag 1, Tag 4

Reflecting on the progress we've made on this "issue" over the last 5-6 years it seems clear that this so-called digital divide is just another speed bump on the information superhighway (lame pun, I know).

The Real Digital Divide has Emerged.

This is a pretty big issue to cover in a single post so I'll come back to it in the coming weeks. But let me set the stage a little…

Fantastic, personalized, attentive service is hard to find these days offline and pretty much non-existent online (I understand I'm making a general assumption. Just stick with me here and I'll build the case for why this is true).

"So what?", some would say. "Consumers are spending buckets of money offline and online So what does it matter? Do consumers really care about fantastic, personalized, and attentive service?"

It'll take a HUGE paradigm shift for Americans to stop consuming. At the moment of consumption it does seem like the solution to dukkha doesn't it?. The misguided consumption of Americans aside, I think consumers do care but their expectations have changed. When you think of the virtues of a good "transactional experience" offline what do you think of?

• Low Prices (I hate to put it first, but have you been to walmart? I hate that place. I'll share my top ten reasons never to go to walmart with you in another post. It just might save your life)
• Selection (Personally, I'll only use one particular type of toilet paper and I'll go out of my way to get it)
• Wide aisles & pleasant lighting (for our ever widening bodies)
• Store Location
• Payment options
• Quality shopping process (easy to get into the store find what you want, make a purchase decision and then buy.)
• Customer Service (efficient, friendly, knowledgeable)

These are virtues of stores many of the big chain stores I go to and buy/eat way too much. But, I do spend a lot of time going to way less 'convenient' places with many fewer options and choosing to spend my hard earned buck there. The reason is simple, they care. I mean they really give a shit if you like Mamma's Phad Thai. They're generally small businesses. I frequently know or have the opportunity to interact with the owner (or their family). There's big potential for developing a satisfying relationship with them. They bust their butt. They want to make you happy. At they end of the day they know their success or failure is dependent on delivering a great product to you, their customer.

Other offline "transactional experience" virtues consumers often seek out:

• Relationships & Higher level human interaction
• Hustle (how many people hustle anymore? Some do and I love 'em for it)
• Familiarity
• Personalized service ("the usual?" Yep! JWB on the rocks…thanks)
• Going the extra mile
• Problem solving rather then just saying, "we don't do it that way, you'll have to…"

This is where the little guy can (and does) still whoop on the big boys. This is going to sound retarded, but in every "transactional experience" there's items exchanged. Some companies/people are really good at making sure when you give them money they provide you with the promised product/service and a little something extra that makes all the difference… a little love. (aka "giving a shit"/hard work/hustle/personalization/trying harder)

If we assume that the above is all generally true and that small businesses' big advantage is the little bit of "love" they sell along with their products and services how does this translate to the online medium?

In part 2 I'll answer this question and also discuss:

• Why the LOW expectation of consumers can be a huge win for business that can recognize the opportunity.
• How the big boys are are already treading all over small business' turf and will win for good, if small businesses don't act soon.
• Plus, I'll finally define what exactly the NEW Digital Divide is and how it will either kill you or make you stronger.

In theory these things sound really great, but how do you actually implement a “Buzz Marketing” campaign? I have some ideas on this, but they really are just guesses. I’d love to hear from some people who are in the “know” about creating buzz. I’d appreciate any feedback and I’ll share my knowledge on this blog as I experiment.

Technorati Tags: buzz, internet marketing, puppy, small business, wom marketing

The key here is expectations.   Because Yanik is such a phenomenal copywriter, my expectations for the seminar were really high.   Take a look at the sales letter (if it’s still up).   It’s excellent.  I mean really well done in typical Yanik style.   Since I’m not a newbie I was really looking forward to seeing stuff from people who’d been there and done that…. The first great disappointment was that the “headliner”, the first guy discussed in the sales letter was a no show.    I’ve done really well online, but I’ve never done ANYTHING on ebay so I thought I could learn a lot from this guy…. Here’s an exerpt from Yanik’s sales letter about this ‘would-be’ speaker:

One of the hardest things to sell is a high-end product sight unseen over the Internet. Len Critcher is someone who does that approximately 100 times a month. His little company (with a tiny fraction of the staff and overheads of a traditional auto dealer) sells between $3,500,000.00 to $5,000,000.00/month on eBay. That adds up to somewhere between $42-$60M/year in sales.

He does it with high-end vehicles sold out of a airplane hangers in the metro-Dallas area. He’s very quickly moved up the ranks of top used car sellers on eBay and beyond.

I was in the market for an Aston Martin and that’s how we met. Even though he didn’t have the right model I wanted – I could see right away he was doing some interesting things with eBay. But little did I know the extent of it…

Len’s company, eCarLink.com, is leaped up to the #9 spot of 2005 pre-owned Internet driven dealerships in the entire United States.

During Len’s classified presentation you’ll find out:

• The critical secrets to selling high-end products on eBay (or anywhere else online). Just studying Len’s listings alone on eBay won’t do you much good. In fact, I won’t even make you hunt around for his eBay ID – it’s “ecarlink”. There you go. You can do a search yourself on all his auctions and you still wouldn’t get a fraction of a fraction of what it really takes to make these kinds of sales.
• How to appeal to high ticket buyers online. There really is a psychology that goes with handling high-ticket buyers to make them overjoyed to do business with you including the right and wrong things to include in your listing.
• Auction listing secrets to get your targeted audience to actually notice (and bid) on your listings. There are tens of thousands of auctions going on every day and over 25,000 different categories on eBay – so it’s easy to get lost and become ‘invisible’ unless you know exactly what to do.
• The VERY important job of feedback management. On eBay your feedback is critical to your success. Find out how Len has achieved a 99.7% positive feedback rating (not even close to a simple task for picky consumers especially in the car business).

Too bad Len was a no show.  My question is, when did Yanik know he wasn’t going to be there?  I almost brought a friend of mine to the conference who’s in the car business.  The ONLY reason he would have gone was to see Len.  Good thing my buddy had a scheduling conflict or the entire trip for him would have been a waste.

The seminar wasn’t all bad.   Far from it, in fact.  Hidden amongst the audience were a lot of very successful “doers” with nothing to pitch.   Dispite my antisocial nature, I managed to find a few of these guys and learn about some of the amazing things they’re doing online. 

How will attending this seminar impact my bottom line?   The jury is still out.  I picked up two very specific ideas which I intend to follow through on.  I’ll let you know if I can make any of these things happen. 

There were two highlights from this trip.  The first,  was meeting a really cool guy I hope to get to know a lot better Neil Strauss.  Neil’s an author and writes on some pretty interesting topics.  While I was still in D.C. my beautiful wife and I went to Borders to pick up his latest book: The Game.   I read about 20 pages and love Neil’s writing style.  Reminds me a little of Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) except The Game is non-fiction.   While I was at the seminar my wife started reading the book.  Try as I might, I couldn’t pry it out of her hands.   I guess I’ll wait until she’s done reading it

The second highlight was hanging out with Jessica and Maxim. 

Somtimes it’s a little rough gettin’ around with a 7month old.  But he did a pretty good job under the circumstances.  We got to see a lot of D.C. in our short stay.   I was surprised we liked the city as much as we did.  Lot’s of history.  Beautiful buildings.  Too bad it’s full of crooks and liars. 

Check out some of the pictures we took:

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There's no doubt in my mind that the more you DO the more you are able to SEE.  I suppose this is the essence of wisdom.  With experience one gains perspective and sees connections between seemingly unrelated elements.   Sounds like a good thing, huh?

Well, yes and no. 

I don't claim to be wise only that I am more wise than I once was.   Over time, slowly, and not through paradigm shifts but through organic thinking I've come to  see things I couldn't imagine seening before.  I see connections.  I see countless clear and obvious opportunities.  So many, in fact, that it's starting to become limiting.   

There's a flood of powerful ideas begging to be acted upon and demanding my all to limited resources.  It's actually disorienting like coming out of a movie theatre into the mid day summer sunshine.  BAM!  "Where the hell are my sunglasses!"

This is where real wisdom comes into play… the ability to be aware of everything but choose to devote attention and resources only to the highest payoff opportunities.  Leverage your greater awareness…use it, nurture it,  but don't become overly enchanted by it.   Make a decision which direction you want to go, put on your sunglasses and get to work.

It never failed that in some point in the conversation they dad would angle me away from the women and (while chuckling) say, "get ready for sleepless nights!"   In fact, I think I heard this from every dad I spoke to and even several non-dads who'd heard from others about the dreaded sleepless nights.   But (and this is important) not even one mom EVER brought this up.

Well, I'm sure all of these dads would be proud to know that their prediction has come to pass….

I am tired.
I'm a little more irritable than normal (which, for me, doesn't say much).
I want to go to bed.

And..

I can see pretty clearly now that we dads are a bunch of wimps.

Jessica has had maybe 1/3 the sleep I've had in the last 5 days.  She looks a little tired, but she's not complaining.  She's happy and smiling.  She's patient and more concerned about my sleep/mood, etc. then her own. 

I thought I was tougher then Jessica, but now I know I'm just a wimpy, tired…dad.

We came home from the hospital yesterday.   Jessica and baby are doing super well.

A few minutes later Collin wakes up and comes downstairs.   Jessica told him that the baby was coming and he’s says, “In a couple of days?”.  “No, soon. Today. We’re going to the hospital this morning, as soon as we’re all ready.”  Collin was more excited than anybody else.  He ran upstairs to his bedroom and comes down a few minutes later all dressed in a polo shirt and kakis…  That may have been the fastest he’s ever gotten dressed and certainly the fastest he’s ever gotten dressed wearing clothes that made any sense at all…He told me later that he wanted to look good when his brother came.

Walking through the hospital lobby carrying our bags and Starbucks (Yes, we did stopped on the way to the hospital and Yes, I know I have a problem) Jessica had her biggest contraction yet.  We all stopped and Collin and I stood there for a minute watching Jess grimace.  We get checked in and into our room.  Jessica gets attached to various monitors and the nurse comes in to check her dilation.  Two.  We were surprised.  Things had been going on for 7 hours now.  It was starting to get fairly uncomfortable for Jess but she was only dilated to two.  The nurse decides just to have us sit for a while so she can monitor the contractions (or “transactions” as I kept calling them.  Too much business on my mind, Jessica told me).

A while later, it seems to me that the birth isn’t imminent and I decide to take collin to school.  He was pissed.  He hasn’t been real excited about school this year anyway and with (in his mind at least) so much going on he felt like he was going to miss out on everything.

I get back to the hospital just in time to hear that Jessica has decided to go home.  The contractions (transactions) all night seemed to be progressing well but now were all over the place.  Waiting it out at home turned out to be a very good thing.

I’m ashamed to say, but we stopped at McDonald’s on the way home.  I had two cheeseburgers. Jessica had a Big Mac.  Filled with nasty food, we went home and passed out.  Jessica slept for about 2.5 hours in between contractions.  The sleep was good and really made the rest of the night a lot easier.

When we left the hospital they told us that we should head back in when her contractions were 3-4min apart for 2hours.  By about 5:00 things were getting pretty intense.  We were still at home but Jessica’s contractions were starting to look very painful… But far from 3-4 min apart.  They were averaging about 7min.  Still, the contractions were becoming pretty painful and to me at least it looked like she was in active labor.  We called the Doctor, went to the hospital and went through the whole monitor drill again.  Now, at about 6:30pm she was finally dilated to 4.

Things started moving pretty quickly from there.  An hour later she was at 5 and contractions were becoming pretty intense.  Another hour later she was at 8 and really feeling the pain.  She’d been totally drug free to that point.  I know she has a high pain tolerance, but she really didn’t even look frazzled until the “transaction” right before the Doctor checked her again.  That one looked pretty rough and made Jessica puke. Mmmmm. McDonald’s.  She was holding up well though and I was impressed, but It seemed like it could go bad from there.

She opted for the epidural which, I’m told, pretty much numbs you from the navel down.  We called our parents let them know that it was getting close. The epidural slowed things down a bit, but they were still moving forward well. My mom came in first.  Jessica’s mom brought collin in a while later and Buzz came in when he got off work (about 11:15).

Because of the prior c-section, the doctors were monitoring her very closely.  When it came time to push they really slowed down the process by having her push only every other contraction. She pushed for a long time…

I don’t want to get into the actual birth.  I’ve seen the videos (they gross me out), this was different.  Maybe because it was my baby, maybe because it was my wife, maybe because I was totally exhausted that I felt kinda drunk…whatever the reason I watched the whole thing and thought it was surprisingly very cool…freaky as hell, but very cool.

Jessica did awesome.  He was born at 2:16am on Aug 18th.  He was 8.2lbs and 20.5inches long.  Totally fine and healthy.  We named him Maxim Benjamin Smith.  They plan to keep Jessica and Max in the hospital until Saturday morning.

All is good.