Distress is Bad, Eustress is Good...

Below (which I found to be amazing...) is from the book, The 4-Hour Work Week.

"Unbeknownst to most fun-loving bipeds, not all stress is bad....There are two separate types of stress, each as different as euphoria and its seldom-mentioned opposite, dysphoria.
Distress refers to harmful stimuli that make you weaker less confident, and less able. Destructive criticism, abusive bosses, and smashing your face on a curb are examples of this. These are things we want to avoid.
Eustress, on the other hand, is a word most of you have probably never heard. Eu-, a Greek prefix for "healthy", is used in the same sense in the word "euphoria." Role models who push us to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress--stress that is healthful and the stimulus for growth.
People who avoid all criticism fail. It's destructive criticism we need to avoid, not criticism in all forms. Similarly, there is no progress without eustress, and the more eustress we can create or apply to our lives, the sooner we can actualize our dreams.
The trick is telling the two apart."

It's A Place To Start...

Challenge your self always!

Take a look at Thomas, he took a silly challenge with a friend and decided to get a life lesson from it. If we could all think like this, we might have some more self dependent people in our society (I'm leaving that open so you can think of what type of person might fit in the Opposite category. If you'd like me to elaborate, I would love to.)

~Chais

Marketing (in the form of advertising) affects who it affects...

Words following this statement might be something like this:
Duh...
No, Really...
Wow, That's deep (with a hint of sarcasm)...

But it is so true and simple that we (especially myself) forget about it.

I was with my mom watching television last week and we saw an Alltel (cell provider) commercial that has the 4 guys (they represent the other cell phone companies) and "Chad" (from Alltel). The four guys always do something silly or stupid to make Alltel look like a better company. My mom loves these commercials (absolutely loves them...) and I...not so much.

So, I think to myself that this commercial is a waste of time and money and that if I were to do it, I would do them it a different way (I don't everything about commercials, but I know my own tastes and what effects me). The interesting part is that my mom loves it the way it is, maybe my way wouldn't effect the people that it currently does in a positive way.

Using myself and my views as a basis to judge whether all marketing is good or bad, is an incomplete way of looking at it. I need to view it (marketing) from other's points of view (my mom and people like her), as well as from my own. This combined point of view is the middle ground that every non niche company tries to find. It requires more work and is more time consuming, but it is the area that I need to be shooting for.

What I learned:
1. Look into marketing deeper (my own, other company's and individual's)
2. Don't judge what works or doesn't off of 30 seconds of thought (I need to push myself to grow).
3. Don't forget about the customers / partners / investors that don't think like me!

I'm keeping track of it...and I LOVE it!

It is amazing, I purchased a little memo book. No, really it actually has the word "MEMO" in gold foil on black vinyl. I purchased it for an outlet of any idea I might have, and it works. I put it in my back pocket and whenever I think of something I want to write down, I do. Later, I look at it and I remember what I was thinking and I expand upon the ideas. Who would've guessed that something so simple could make my life so much easier and allow me to be more creative? Probably, anyone else that owns a memo pad.

That is why I'm blogging about this. Learn from my experience, buy a memo pad if you want to remember creative things, write down blog ideas, make doodles, or get someones email address, etc. Now the fun part is trying to remember to carry a pen...

Have fun memoing...

Telemarketers...

Has anyone heard of a successful telemarketer? I've always wondered if that was a way to make a career.

I'm not sure, but I can think of a couple of things that would most likely help their cause...

1. Practice, Practice, Practice... If I am a telemarketer, and I am calling someone I have never called before, I would practice saying their name before I dialed their #. This would probably be a starting place anyway.

2. Memorize the script before call your potential client. Seriously, how hard is it to know what you are going to say in a round about way instead of reading every word off of a script.

3. Ask for the person your calling by their first name. Why would you ask for the person you are calling by their full name? When I call a buddy (which is probably what you want to sound like your doing), I ask for him by his first name. Because we are on a first name basis, not strangers, wouldn't they want that impression also?

4. When you do finally get me on the phone, use salesman ship 101. Tell me what I am going to get out of this. Don't tell me about your company, I DON'T CARE!!! I want to know how your product, service, or idea will benefit myself and my company.

5. The Most Important things... ...Have something worth my time and yours (and say it like you believe in the product, so I will), or you might have just as well had that robot call me, you know, the one I hang up on within 1 second of hearing "Hi this is John, with second source..." ...CLICK.

Good Luck Mr. Telemarketer, I hope you make many riches off of this advice.
`chais

Take away what you can, from any situation...

Yesterday, I walked into the local 4 plex theater (hilltop 4 theaters) in Kearney, Nebraska . My wife and I were going to go see Borne Ultimatum, the latest in the Borne series. We get to the theater at 1:30PM and pay our $11.00 for our admission (it is a matinée, so it is a little cheaper than normal). We stroll over to the concessions line preparing ourselves for the $7 feast of a medium popcorn, and a large soda. While we are waiting for our refreshments to come, I look around at this "fine" establishment trying to notice the things they have in the lobby that might be the reason they can charge $20 for 2 people to see a movie (with refreshments of course). ...what, I don't see a video arcade area, I don't see nice comfy and clean waiting benches, I don't see clean flooring that looks like they just cleaned it for me... How can they do this? How can this establishment be worth $20 a couple (during matinée pricing)?

We go and take our seats, and prepare our selves for a sweet action packed movie. It starts, and it is everything I hoped for (besides being able to hear the theater next to ours through the paper thin walls)... ...uhhh, wait a minute... I realize that while I was trying to get some of my money back, by chugging the large soda in hopes of getting as many FREE refills as I can during the movie, that I have to relieve my bladder. This is a good thing, I think to myself, now I will see that the bathroom will be everything I want it to be for the price of admission.

No, it can't be... a total of 3 urinals, 1 of which is broken, dirty floors, and dirty walls. Now, I can understand that because this is a little theater there doesn't need to be 20 toilets in the bathroom, but for the few you do have, please have them working. Take 4 couples admission $ and use it to have a plummer come to your theater and fix your toilet as soon as it breaks. Make people believe that this theater is a well oiled machine and always working.

Probably the most frustrating part about this dirty theater is that they let it be that way. They decided that they are not going to manage their employees to clean "anything" when they don't have a task to do ( They decided to be less than average). The sad part is that most of the people that go in there to watch a movie, wont complain because they don't expect much more in Kearney, Nebraska.

Why Does it have to be like this? Why can't businesses realize that if they were to put a little more effort in (not just to survive, but to be remarkable) that they could possible own the market in that area and surrounding areas? It frustrates me to see the stereotype of small town, mid-west businesses to be true over and over again. Don't get me wrong, this type of "survival only mentality" is everywhere in the US. But in the places where people expect businesses to be that way (small town, small time, and low quality) why don't they push through the extra steps and make the stereotype change? Do they know that they need to change? or that they can change?

I can honestly say that I learn more daily,(the right things to do for my businesses and the wrong things to do) from other businesses examples. Any business that wants to start a change should start with reading the book Purple Cowby Seth Godin.
`chais

Money is not real...

We are chasing an imaginary item.... ...losing hours of our lives (never to be found again), missing out on precious moments, choosing "the green bill" over family....
If you are living for money, you will one day wake up and realize your life has passed you by, and all you have to show for it is a huge pile of green fibrous paper, that is supposed to be worth something.

Think about this:
What would happen if everyone were to trade from business to business in our towns, trade goods, services, labor, etc. We would have much less total income, expenses, and of course taxes; On paper it would look like less coming in, but in reality we would have much more than before, and probably better and closer friends and family relationships.

Is it Worth it?

I was just in Walmart, and they were giving away samples of 3 new soy meal bars (Soy Joy, 3 flavors). It made me think of a few questions, let us know your thoughts.

What do you think is more worthwhile for the Soy Joy company. 1) spending a lot of money on marketing for a few products that are average? or 2) Forgetting the average products and focusing on 1 good one?

Would Walmart make more sales if the head managers personally tested 20 products of the same genre and just gave samples away from the best one? Or do you think it is more worthwhile to give samples on many different items of the same genre.

Do you enjoy samples? Do they make you buy anything when you taste them or is it just "free food"?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...