Certainly, there are things that - as responsible adults (and biz owners) - we must do to keep life (and biz) going.

However, our downfall is thinking that everything is of equal importance and that we’ve got to do everything. We don’t. In fact, I’d bet if you took another look at your “must do” list, you’d see most of it can wait until tomorrow and maybe until forever.

When I worked in Big, Bad Corporate America - I had three piles of “to-do” stuff. A, B, C. Things in the “C” pile were actually in a drawer, and only got addressed if someone further up the food chain started screaming about them; about once every two months, I’d dump that entire pile in the trash without looking at it again. Many of the “Bs” aged nicely, without any action from me, and often ended up in the “C” drawer. I also didn’t (gasp) read every CYA and “Hey look at me” memo that came my way (in both electronic and paper form.) It usually all worked out just fine. (A few screamers came down the hall, but few and far between…and I wrote a mean CYA memo myself…;-)

Nowadays, as an indie consultant, I find that the person who puts the most pressure on me is - well - me. I get all wrapped up in self-imposed deadlines and priorities, particularly (and this is really weird) when I’m doing unpaid volunteer work. This is both stupid and self-defeating; it takes all the joy and passion out of the work, which leads to burn-out, which makes me ineffective and hurts the organization…and my burn-out spreads into my paid work.

So, I’m taking another look at my “must do” list and doing some serious slashing. How about you?

P.S. For those of you fortunate enough to not have worked in toxic companies - CYA is Cover Your A**.

P.P.S. I’m not advocating you just sit there doing nothing about anything at all…but, for example, if the prospective customer didn’t return your first three calls and emails, he’s not going to respond to your fourth. And, you’ll just get more depressed if you keep chasing things you can’t catch.

Tags: perspective, productivity

The “bar bar” had a Sunday special, $3 Bloody Marys. I ordered one. It was awful. I drank it right up and was perfectly happy. But, why? Here’s why:

I didn’t expect it to be very good. I mean - c’mon - 3 bucks?
I was in a dive. I know from past experience their rack vodka was probably one step above lighter fluid, if that.

But
The service was excellent and friendly.
The food was simple and good.

And
I knew I was supporting a locally owned business. (Also, I was hanging out and catching up with a good friend, so the total experience was good.)

So, overall, out of a potential four points, the place rated three. Not bad…and I’ll go back (probably won’t get the Bloody though…;-)

It’s all about customer expectations and the total customer experience.

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, customer experience, customer service, Buy Local

Why not give me a password that’ll expire and let me read the content right then? Then, I’d be far more likely to sign up for more. (Also, consider “pay as you go” for certain articles.)

(This taps one my pet peeves - all the companies who design their systems as sales traps, hoping you’ll forget you gave them your credit card info…for subscriptions, “auto renewals” and all the rest.)

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, web marketing, customer service, emarketing

Last night as a friend and I were bemoaning the loss of some good magazines and kvetching the reason we don’t read others…she noted that “I don’t want to pay to read ads that someone else has already paid to place.”

Hmmm….could it all come back to: a. knowing your target market; b. offering quality?

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, publishing, target marketing

The other day I was browsing the aisles of Talin Market, a locally-owned, wonderfully eclectic supermarket - with foods and items for all over the world. As I was happily pondering the miscellany in the kitchen equipment section…I happened onto the Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl. Yes, I could buy my very own plastic bowl, “branded” by RR. According to the blog post announcing it back in 2007:

“Okay Garbage Bowl fans, happy times are coming. According to HFN, Rachael Ray has teamed up with to tabletop and giftware manufacturer Precidio Inc. to create a line of melamine and acrylic tableware.”

Garbage Bowl fans??? (I can practically hear the snickers from China now…)

Now, I actually like Ms. Ray; I even watch her cooking show on occasion. (For those of you who don’t - she always has a designated garbage bowl on the counter for all those scraps and such. Makes it faster and easier to put a meal together.) But, little did I know that my using a plain ol’ mixing bowl for the potato peelings is insufficient. Nooo…I really should have an OFFICIAL garbage bowl.

Another case of product line extension (and some marketers) run amok. And slapping someone’s name on something doesn’t guarantee success. (Ed McMahon vodka anyone? May he rest in peace.)

(And isn’t it nice they show the bowl with - um - garbage in it so we don’t get confused?)

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, product development, branding, product line extensions

I recalled that experience in talking with a friend last night. He noted that - funny - when he got his MBA, the financial and economic textbooks were the same at both NM State and Harvard. And, both graduation certificates led you to believe the recipient was a “Master.”

So, while I’m all for education, simply having a piece of paper doesn’t mean you can drive…or think…or implement. (And, you’ve got to make a few big, stupid mistakes…and yes, fail…before you truly know how to define success, much less attain it.)

Related Posts:
Leaders? Or Just Pushy People With Pieces of Paper
MBAs - Outdated? (An old post, but more relevant than ever…given all the recent implosions by the “best and brightest” in big biz.)

Tags: education, success business development, entrepreneur sanity check

I’m truly amazed (maybe I’m clinging to some girlish naivete), how many ginormous/small/micro companies (and their employees) still treat their customers like an irritating distraction. So, based on my own experience, here’s a list for those folks who apparently DON’T want to survive.

1. Never, ever, under any circumstances answer your phone. And make sure you have a very long and detailed instructions message before anyone can do anything.

2. Make sure your voice mail box is a dead end. You’re not there? Too bad. They can call back on the main line. After all, you’ve got customers lined out the door, right?

3. Don’t ever check your email. After all, you’re busy trying to survive, right? And, you get all that spam. (Tip for those of you who’d actually like to survive: If you don’t have killer spam filters by now, get caught up…you can cut out about 99.99% of it.)

4. Make sure your web site is as user-unfriendly as possible. (”Download the 9-page rental application. Fill out and fax.”)

4.A. Bonus points if people have to spend time searching the site to find that form…more points if they have to keep digging for a phone number…then see #1 and #2 above.

5. Spend what’s left of your marketing budget on email blizzards. (I got a spam from DQ today for - appropriately - a blizzard. And, Saks still sends me junk. Now, how on earth can I be in the same target demographic for both belly bustin’ fast food and Saks 5th Avenue couture?)

6. Be too busy to answer a customer question. You’ve already got their money, whadda they gonna do?

7. Be very selective to whom you do talk. If they can’t give you business right now, what good are they? (Yes, and “they” could be best friends with the CEO of the company you’ve been chasing for months…or serve on a board with the community poobahs…or write a blog or column about customer service…)

7.A. Under no circumstances return the “little people’s” phone calls or emails.

8. Lie to your customer. Then tell her you never said it. Then claim “it’s not in the contract.” (Be sure and lose the contract when she first sends it to you. Then, never, ever have a copy handy for reference.)

9. Never apologize to anyone for anything. Always, always attack them, preferably in front of witnesses - it’s more fun that way. (You got their money already, whadda they gonna do? It’s not like they’ll tell others about you, right? Wrong. See #7 above.)

10. Always judge a book by the cover. If someone walks into your office, without an appointment, in ratty jeans and asks about your company…snub ‘em. You’re all dressed up in a suit, you’re important, you’re busy…and this guy can’t possibly have any money. (True story from one of my clients. Guy walks in. Had been snubbed by another firm. Two days later a check arrives from the guy for nearly $10K.)

11. Give all the responsibility for a customer experience to one person, preferably someone way down the food chain, who resents their “lowly” position. (Hey, I get it. I’ve been all up and down that chain and it’s hard. But, I’m funny. My parents raised me with this stupid, old-fashioned work ethic. Whatever you do - from a paper route to dish washing - you should do well. And, one of the happiest people I ever met was…a tow truck driver.)

12. Spend all your time kvetching about what you can’t do…how you can’t get any money…how the customers just aren’t spending…(Uh-huh. See #1-11.)

Related Posts:
Wellll, In This Economy
How To Survive The Economy (Quit Obsessing)
Duck and Cover Ain’t A Success Strategy

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, small business marketing, customer service, surviving the recession

The title of this post is a shameless rip-off of The $64 tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden , a book I highly recommend.

Of course, I can make it up in volume. This weekend I expect the cost per tomato to drop to $7.48. Such a bargain! However, I feel I must disclose that the $29.95 tomato as well as the ones I’m harvesting this weekend are - um - cherry tomatoes…I’m planning fried green tomatoes next weekend to beat the caterpillars and other bugs to the first Big Boys.

Of course, the idea of gardening may bore you silly; but it is awfully cheap therapy - even at $64 a tomato. And, you see miracles happening before your eyes - wow, all that from a seed! I dare you - once you start, you’ll likely not be able to stop at just one little pot…;-)

Additional recommendations from my bookshelf:

French Dirt: The Story of A Garden in the South of France - Richard Goodman.
Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education - Michael Pollan
HomeGround: A Gardener’s Miscellany - Allen Lacy
A Countrywoman’s Year (Oh so veddy, veddy English, complete with foreword by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales) - Rosemary Verey

All of these are long in (or out-of) print and most likely can be found at your local library (so you can spend that money on seeds…)

…now I’ve got to check if the field mice have destroyed more of the zucchini…then maybe move some morning glories…oh, wait a minute, I really should move those herbs to a sunnier spot…oops, need to water the…and so it goes…

Tags: Mary Schmidt, gardening

In any type of design or planning, there is - inevitably - BIG discussions about seemingly small details. And, sometimes those details can be deal killers (Oops, forgot to put a hold button on the phone…had that discussion when I was working in NEC product development. The engineering group just could.not.grok why “the Americans” would want a hold button on a two-line phone.).

I’ve sat in meetings where poobahs screamed over one number difference in pantone colors (shades of orange, big fella - - it’s ORANGE.) I’ve worked with clients who obsessed over rather to ship a product in a standard cardboard box…or a custom designed “Wowsa! Big Dogs!” box. I’ve served on boards where we spent more time talking about the monthly dinner menu than we did how to help our members grow their business. Sweated blood over a CEO ego piece re “innovative solutions” that ended up overflowing the trade show trash bins…Lots of time. Mondo frustration. Our target customers or audience couldn’t have cared less - if they ever even noticed.

So, before you suck up any more time, throw down any more money, or drive yourself and everyone around you nuts - ask yourself, what does “it” add? Will it help me provide better service? Attract more business? Sell more? Will my customers/members/clients even care? That little sanity check has saved me from some really big mistakes.

P.S. Remember those cool Gateway spotted cow boxes? Hmmm…

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, product development, productivity, entrepreneur sanity check

“Why doesn’t someone…”

“Someone needs to…”

“Someone should…”

“Someone has to…”

Poor ol’ “someone” - he or she is THE one who should/could/is supposed to do everything. Revise the web site. Fix the database. Design and send out a brilliant mail campaign. Do the customer phone survey. Get the media blitz going. Rewrite the software. Clean up the accounting mess. etc. etc. etc. You name it - “someone” is on the hook.

Funny. Someone always seems to be someone else. So, before you share any more great ideas (or whine about not-so-great reality) - stop and think. Should you be the someone?

It’s great to think big, but the devil (and divinity) are in the actual details of doing.

Tags: productivity, responsibility