“Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.”

I love selling technology.  I have always loved technology, gadgets, widgets, and gizmos.  I was a biomedical engineering student at Purdue University, medical school was in my future, and my life was all mapped out for many years.  And then, in 1983 the first cellular phone network went live in the New York area.  It was my destiny. Good-bye medical school, hello NYNEX® mobile.  My company www.MTP-USA.com is the aggregate result of my 29+ years of not going to medical school.

What would you do, if your next door neighbor was Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or the co-founders of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page?  What if you knew these guys from high school, or from the local neighborhood growing up.  Would it matter?  Would it have changed your life?

·         1995: Larry Page and Sergey Brin meet at Stanford. (Larry, 22, a U Michigan grad, is considering the school; Sergey, 21, is assigned to show him around.) According to some accounts, they disagree about almost everything during this first meeting.

 

·         1996: Larry and Sergey, now Stanford computer science grad students, begin collaborating on a search engine called BackRub. BackRub operates on Stanford servers for more than a year—eventually taking up too much bandwidth to suit the university.

 

·         1997: Larry and Sergey decide that the BackRub search engine needs a new name. After some brainstorming, they go with Google—a play on the word “googol,” a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The use of the term reflects their mission to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.

Was anyone paying attention?  Did anyone see what was coming?  Was it all just serendipity or was there a master plan from their first meeting, and this was just all meant to be, that the Google as we know it today was inevitable? 

When I was younger, AOL® was the big deal.  AOL “was” the Internet!  People would dream and say, “what if I only knew Steve Case in the early days of AOL.  What if I bought stock in AOL early on…?” Now, the same type of folks say the same things about Google.

There will always be another AOL, Google, IBM, AT&T, Twitter, Facebook – just like there will always be another bus.  That is the amazing thing about a life in business, there is always tomorrow. There is always the chance that today will be the day that you learn of something new, cool, inventive, innovative, and life-changing.  Funny thing how your chances of catching a bus, and catching the next wave of business opportunity is directly related to your proximity to the bus stop.

In life and in business, you can run after a bus, or you can be ready – you can get to the bus stop early, and be waiting for it. It is always your choice. 

Or walk. You can always walk if you miss the bus. I guess that is what people do when they miss the bus, I would not know.

I just met Jared Goralnick, the founder of www.AwayFind.com  It is not a brand new technology or service, but it was brand new to me just last month. I started using it, and I am done – it’s all over – I’m in. MTP will become the #1 reseller for AwayFind. I say this again – MTP will be the #1 VAR for this technology. Trust me, it will happen. My meeting the founder of AwayFind was like me meeting one of the founders of Twitter® in 2006. I am going to run with this.  MTP has a big meeting at Google headquarters in NYC this month. As it turns out, Jared is a long time, “big partner” with Google. 

Coincidence?  Serendipity?  Rule #1 in business (and in catching buses): eyes and ears open and working at all times. Watch this story unfold – I will blog on www.MTP-USA.com and www.AwayFind.com again in 12 months. 

Gotta go – I see my “bus” coming. 

Be the Easter Egg

Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.

The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, who may be told they were left by the Easter Bunny. They also may be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest.

Last year, I blogged about “Hiding your Easter Eggs in Plain Sight”.

When most people hear the words Easter egg they think of brightly colored eggs dyed for kids to hide and hunt.


When it comes to software and computers, an Easter egg is the term used to describe a hidden message or type of feature in the software. Anyone who is running the software or working with it will usually not be able to immediately spot the hidden message or feature. 

The term Easter egg was coined because of its similarities with Easter egg hunts, where people search for hidden Easter eggs that are decorated or contain something fun. Easter eggs are developed by the programmers or developers of the program just for fun.

I would like you to consider becoming a living, breathing virtual Easter egg this year.  Think about it: the technology of today allow us all to do some amazing things, that just a few years ago would be absolutely impossible. We can use Google and Bing to learn about just about anything.  We can share family photos and videos via YouTube and other tools.  We can send Tweets, post Facebook pages, and collaborate with friends and co-workers as if they were in the next room.  With today’s technology, we have more power to do good deeds than could ever have been imagined. 

Let’s say a child asked you questions about the origin of Easter eggs. You could do a Bing or Google Search and find links like this: http://www.holidays.net/easter/eggs.htm  

Wow, you are an Easter super genius. Such power!

Regardless of your beliefs, all of us have the power in the tips of our fingers to channel the Spirit of Easter. Why not use such amazing technology to become a real-life Virtual Easter Egg? Right this second, you can spread the power of Easter like never before. I will not tell you how to do it – that is half the fun.  If you need a hint, if you want to see how easy it is to become a Virtual Easter Egg, there might be one hidden in today’s blog. 

Happy Hunting!

Ewe. Really? That is so gross!

I think it's something we've all done at least a few times: take a break from pulling weeds or mowing the lawn to take a nice big slurp of cold water, straight from the hose. Well, as it turns out, that probably wasn't such a good idea. Most garden hoses are made from PVC, which contains lead as a stabilizer. Lead can leach out into the water, and, bammo, you're drinking water that has 10 to 100 times the acceptable amount of lead in it.  Plus bugs, don’t forget about the bugs.But, we all did it, and did not think twice about doing it.Drinking water from the kitchen faucet, a water fountain in school, even from the garden faucet at the park after playing, was a very safe thing to do.  But alas, epidemics of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, cryptosporidiosis, E. coli infection, etc. hit the news and water awareness rose to a higher level.  We never drank water from the faucet again.  This gave rise to bottled water as an alternative.  Suddenly, having water dispensers and buying from the neighborhood water station became the standard practice in almost every home.   
Now that green living and self-sustainability have become the new standards for living, more and more people in the US  question the environmental friendliness of bottled water.   Environmentalists estimate that  29 billion plastic bottles are manufactured in the US every year and this requires more than 17 million barrels of crude oil –- enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year.  Producing 29 billion plastic bottles also contributes to an additional 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide produced –- something we can do without.  Thankfully, there is a move to shift the water habits in the US and hopefully, the rest of the world.  

We had no idea what was in the water we were drinking, and we did not care enough to worry about it.  When was the last time you just went into the kitchen, turned on the faucet, and let the water run?  Putting your finger in the water stream, waiting for it to get cold, and then filling a glass to drink?  If you knew about all of the “junk and gunk” in that water you were drinking, you would feel sick.

Is this not what we have done with our computers? Just a few years ago, the magic of personal computers changed the way that we work, live and play.  It was in the 80’s that using a PC was starting to change lives. The concept of using a computer in the home, or in the small office was a game changer; similar to having running water in your home.Guess what?  If you knew what was really (really) going on inside your computer, you would say “Ewe! Really?  That’s so gross!” 

Do not drink water from a garden hose.  Do not drink water directly from your kitchen faucet.  

And - do not use “free” virus protection, malware protection, anti-spam tools or use free defragmentation tools, or use anything else that you got for “free” off the Internet, or that came for free with your new computer. Spend a few bucks here to protect yourself, trust me on this one. This is not the time or place to think that "free" is good enough. There is a reason why these oh so very important "tools" came free with your computer. Ewe. Free? Really? That is so gross....

The Price of Gold

Here in the US, the price of Gold is at an all-time high. Years ago, in an old Western movie about the gold rush, a bearded old miner points to the mountainous terrain and exclaims, “There’s gold in them thar hills.”

Today that could well be a metaphor for all the gold that the average person leaves, hidden in their computer’s database. A database is an organized collection of data, today typically in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality (for example, the availability of rooms in hotels), in a way that supports processes requiring this information (for example, finding a hotel with vacancies).

A key MTP vendor just changed their name to Condusiv Technologies.  This billion dollar company was built around the amazing world of digitized gold – your “data”.

Our Vision

“We believe that technology should function and perform at peak levels. And users should benefit as promised. Condusiv products are designed to help you overcome technology limitations, realize your potential, and achieve what’s possible.”  Cool! < how do they do it? >

This less than two minute long video about their name change cost them plenty to produce, but it is one of the best I have ever seen from a technology company.  It speaks of how “data” and proper database (gold) management is key to everything in your business, and in your life.


(http://www.condusiv.com/flash/Condusiv-Technologies.html).  

Everything in your world is about your golden “data”.  Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Oracle, none of these companies would exist if it were not for the magical power of the digitized database.

It is us “humans” that take that gold and ignore its potential. I see the world from the eyes of a salesman – but that is OK – since nothing happens in this world until someone sells something.

If you don’t like making money, feel free to scroll down, skipping the next few nuggets from a 29+ year sales and marketing professional (ahem).

Research tells us that 93% of hard-earned sales leads placed into a database are never followed up. Additionally, according to industry studies, 80% to 90% of the sales leads that a company generates for their sales forces are never even acted upon. 

Unfortunately, these leads get placed in a database and forgotten.

Chances are you have fallen into the same trap that so many other people have, failing to realize that there’s gold in that database just waiting to be discovered. Before anything is put into your database, be sure you understand its true value so you’ll know what to expect when you do call on it.

If you are in sales, be very clear about defining whether the lead is an A, B, C or D lead. No wishful thinking or spin here. That only serves to demoralize you when the C or D you convinced yourself could be an A or B turns out to be no more than what it actually is. That only leads to your thinking that maybe all the other leads were overvalued as well. 

Integrate a systematic follow-up plan into your lead generation plan. A cat may have nine lives, but your leads don’t. They require systematic, frequent follow-up or they will either die a quick death or end up as someone else’s customer. 

Be prepared for the long haul. Even in a good economy, major decisions are not made the same way as impulse buys are. Even when the decision-maker knows you and likes you, it can still take four to six contacts before they actually buy. When they have no familiarity with you or your product/service it is not unreasonable to expect ten to twelve contacts before a prospect will even consider closing the sale. It’s your job to prepare yourself for the long haul and to know the importance of not giving up. 

Develop an interesting and memorable follow-up procedure. Brilliance is great, but it evaporates fast. Instead, build relevancy into a frequent follow-up system so that you continue to remember to do it and enjoy doing it. Create some small reward system for yourself for making follow-up a habit. It doesn’t have to be expensive or outlandish—just something that helps you to stay on track and be consistent. Today’s cloud computing technology and online tools make this pretty easy to do.

Finally, as you cull out that 93% of the leads that never got followed up on before, weed out everything but the top ten percent—the one’s that are truly viable. From here on out only add quality, qualified leads to your database and make sure you continue to call on them until they buy or die.

A seven percent follow-up rate—which is what the pitiful average is—is totally unacceptable when it comes to following up on sales leads that were likely difficult to attain, qualify and organize. You can do better. You must do better. So now go make it happen and when you have your follow-up rhythm down pat, watch what begins to happen to your percentage of closures.

Here is that million dollar two-minute CondusivTechnologies video again.  It will make you think twice about all of that gold in your computer: As they say, "knowledge is power" and this power is a direct result of your life’s work, your precious digitized gold.

http://www.condusiv.com/flash/Condusiv-Technologies.html 

 

BOSCH SHX33A05UC

When we first met, our BOSCH Dishwasher was a $1,000 Stainless Steel wonder. I was in awe by its magic; one could put in the most hard to clean pots and pans, and within the hour, out they come, spotless.  Not that I ever would ever dare to operate this “stealth fighter” of kitchen gadgets; I was not qualified to fly such an impressive technological marvel.  I would leave the pilot seat to those with “the right stuff” to operate such a domestic rocket ship.  I do think that I have unloaded “the BOSCH” once or twice, not sure. The removal of the spotless, still warm to the touch pots, pans and plates is normally reserved for those who have earned the honor; those who put the dirty dished in there in the first place, get the glory of removing them.

Today, the magic is gone. The R2D2 of the Capone household – our beloved BOSCHIE - has gone silent.

APPLIANCES — big, sturdy labor savers — seem like they should last forever. But according to data from Consumer Reports, at least a fifth of gas ranges, dishwashers and washing machines sold - broke within three years. And pity the purchasers of side-by-side refrigerators with ice machines and dispensers: after three years, 37 percent of them needed service.

With 20.96 million major appliances shipped to retailers in the United States in just the first four months of this year, that’s a lot of broken products in America’s future. 
Retailers and service technicians have long advised that it often makes sense to buy a new product rather than repair a broken one. They use the 50 percent rule: if a repair would cost half or more of what it costs to buy a new product, the product should be replaced. A new product is also likely to be more energy efficient.

But getting anything repaired can be frustrating. To stay profitable, service companies book multiple appointments on the same day, forcing consumers to sit home and wait for hours. And because it would be impossible for technicians to drive around with every possible replacement part, some repairs require a follow-up visit that can be subject to the same inconveniences.

Typically manufacturers outsource warranty service to another company, which subcontracts the actual work to a third party. So after contacting the manufacturer, consumers frequently find themselves calling yet another number, and then later, after the service call has been arranged, communicating with a third party — who inevitably seems to have a different idea about when the work will be done and what the warranty covers. Who has time for this?

The best way to avoid the hassle of repair is to buy the simplest possible appliance. (i.e. "low tech"). The more doo-dads, the more stuff you add to an appliance, the more likely it’s going to need a repair. Consumers would also be wise to recognize that the more sophisticated the equipment they buy, the more complicated — and expensive — the repairs can be.

The passing of “BOSCHIE” will not be in vain. Our beloved BOSCH SHX33A05UC has become my muse – I will be forming a new company called “The Repair Concierge”.

There are numerous independent personal concierge companies. Many of these companies provide errand services and information services for their members. Services include informational requests, setting dinner reservations, making telephone calls, researching travel arrangements and more. Typically, concierge companies will bill on an hourly rate, and depending upon the type of task, fees can fluctuate drastically. Other companies bill a flat monthly fee based upon the number of requests a member is allowed to place each month. 


What if a company could turn the nightmare of “appliance repair” and turn it into positive, money saving and time saving experience? What if all of the pain and suffering purposely created by the major appliance industry can be flipped around? They don’t want to fix it – they want to sell you a new one! That is why replacement parts are so damn expensive - they don't want to promote affordable repairs - they want new sales. That is not fair, is it? 


I can see it – I can dream it – I can do it!  Yes!  www.TheRepairConsierge.com is born! BOSCHIE, you will be missed - but your memory will live on. You will become the “Mickey Mouse” of my Disneyland.  

I could not find this feature in the Use and Care Manual.....

Who goes there! Friend or Foe?

The phrase the enemy of my enemy is my friend is a proverb that advances the concept that someone who is the enemy of your enemy is therefore your friend. It further means that because two parties have a common enemy, one can use the other to advance their goals. In foreign policy, it's a doctrine commonly used to interact with a significant enemy through an intermediary rather than through direct confrontation.

Examples throughout history are common, such as longtime enemies Britain and France uniting against Germany during World War I, the Western capitalist democracies aiding the Soviet Union following the Nazi invasion during World War II, or U.S. support for anti-Communist dictatorships during the Cold War. 


Social media includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue. The Communications and Information School of Rutgers University defines social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, allowing the creation and exchange of user-generated content."  

Social media is media for social interaction as a super-set beyond social communication. Enabled by ubiquitously accessible and scalable communication techniques, social media has substantially changed the way organizations, communities, and individuals communicate. Cool!

Do you use Twitter? Are you (or is your online business) on Facebook? How about the new Google+? What about Pinterest? Do you now have a deep and uncontrollable interest in Pinterest?

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.  From the Pinterest website: Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests. 

I have been in the telecom and technology business since 1983. I had one of the first active websites (for a non-publically traded company). Over the years, we have participated in the design, hosting and/or maintenance of over 40,000 websites. Today, a successful website must have all of the buttons and links for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and now it looks like you need Google+ as well. You must blog and have videos on your site, or your search engine optimization (SEO) will suffer. And now here comes Pinterest!  Yeah baby, I did not have enough to do this week. Job creation yes, as someone has to keep all of this stuff current and interesting, but is this me being "social"?  I write my own blog every Sunday; I'll leave the rest of "my" social media duties to my very capable digital media staff.


This blog is going to be viewed by my friends – and by the friends of my friends. Here is my question to all of my peeps on this "Blogger Sunday": If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, does that make the friend of my friend – my enemy? No. It makes them a stranger. But have no fear! You can friend me here https://www.facebook.com/thomas.a.capone

Was Will Rogers the first social media pioneer? Was good 'ol Will the Gary Vaynerchuk or Seth Godin of the day? Maybe what is old is simply new again. “A stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet” ~Will Rogers

Pilots or Planes?

I saw the movie “Red Tails” last month. It was an account of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black World War II fighter pilot squad. The squadron, which was sent to North Africa and Italy to escort white bomber pilots, consisted of some of the best fighter pilots in the Air Corps.

There was a key point in the movie, where they earned the right to pilot the “good planes”. 

Tuskegee Airmen initially were equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks fighter-bomber aircraft, briefly with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and then finally -  towards the end of the war - the fighter group acquired the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the P-51 Mustang (July 1944). When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-51's red, the nickname "Red Tails" was coined. 

So, these amazing pilots started out with “crappy” planes and yet they were successful.  Then, they had less crappy planes.  Finally, after they were already heroes (many times over) they were allowed to fly the best planes of the day – the P-51 Mustang. So, here is my question: Does the best technology bring out the best in people, or do the best people make technology look “the best”?

I have made it a career selling and promoting technology. It started in 1983, selling “car phones” when the NYNEX® cellular network went live. With only 9 active cellular towers in the entire country, service was terrible, phone calls were well over $1 per minute and the phones themselves cost around $3,000 installed (drilled) into your luxury car.  Bag phones would not first appear for many years.


Just this week, I started using an iPhone®. 


Let that roll around in your head for a few seconds. I don’t know of many people on the planet that have been using (and selling) mobility longer than me. Since 1983, I have seen the wireless as well as the entire technology world - morph and change many, many times.

The first appearance of a mobile phone in a major Hollywood movie was "Sabrina" in 1954 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047437/). Cellular phone networks were first put in place in 1981 in Scandinavia and Saudi Arabia, so the first cellular phone film appearance might have been in a Scandinavian film. Portable phones that could be put in jacket pockets only started to be available in the mid-1980s. In "Wall Street" (1987) by Oliver Stone, the Michael Douglas character makes extensive use of a hand-held cell phone. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/)

I'm pretty sure the first time I saw a “car phone” was in a James Bond flick in the 60’s. I'll have to check on the name, but I think James Bond had the first. I credit "Bond, James Bond" for my entire sales career.

Or....maybe it was Agent 99 with his shoe phone!

Or.... maybe it was James T. Kirk, with his Star Trek communicator.

Or……maybe it was Dick Tracy with his “watch phone”.

When you think about it, does technology make us look good, or is it the other way around?  Does technology even matter?  My laptop and the Internet have allowed me to post this blog on this wonderful Sunday morning, for the entire world to see, all within seconds of my fingers hitting the keys. But, it was my hands and my mind that really made it happen, not my laptop. Had I used an iPad, would today's blog have been any better?  My old (long since retired) IBM Wheelwriter® and Selectric® Typewriters did not seem like the right technology for this particular job.

The movie Red Tails reminds us to be thankful for the very talented hands and minds of the Tuskegee Airmen. And of course, to also be thankful for all of the factory workers and engineers who designed and built the amazing planes they flew – and thankful indeed for the mechanics on the ground that kept them in the air.

Just remember, the majority of the success of the Tuskegee Airmen came long before the most amazing technology of the day - the P-51 Mustang - ever made its first flight. 


Yeah, they sure don't make 'em like they used to...