Business Easter Eggs

Winston Churchill is known for saying “Never, never, never give up,” but it is another one of his quotes that may be more meaningful during difficult and somewhat depressing economic times: “Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.”

Easter is the time of green grass and bright blooming flowers, and it might be the same for your business. Spring always promises the rebirth of budding green leaves and blooming colorful flowers; thus it’s important not to give up on a renewal of sales growth as well.

For me, winter and the lack of color is depressing. I’ll take green grass over white snow any day, thank you. No matter how down and dejected you may have felt about the slow-down of your business growth, it’s important to focus your thinking on the potential business you have an opportunity to generate going forward and simply not give up.

Maybe what you need are some brightly colored Easter Eggs for your business!

Stop focusing on the negative and begin picturing the positive daily. This actually works. It’s what athletes call “mental rehearsal;” seeing things as you want them to be and picturing them vividly in your mind. If you start this exercise every morning before calling on customers and every night before going to sleep and maintain the process for just one month, you will see positive results begin to manifest.

Control what you can, dismiss what you can’t. Whether it’s trying to change an individual who can’t seem to see things your way or a policy that you heartily disagree with, give it up. Focus instead on the many other things that you can control. Your time will be much better spent and your attitude will greatly improve.

 

Smile more. Become extremely conscious of the amount of time you smile. Without even realizing it, people all too often walk around looking way too serious and glum and at the same time expect people to respond positively to them. Wake up and take a reality check. No one likes to do business with someone who appears to lack confidence and seems down on life. Remember the old adage that when you smile, the whole world smiles with you. There’s more truth than not to that.

Avoid hanging out with negative people. Sure, it’s realistic that during difficult times like this there will be discussions involving the problems that may be encountered. But don’t get bogged down in negative, woe-is-me conversations. Spend the majority of your time with people who are positive, looking for alternative ways to hurdle the problems and being innovative in their thinking.

 

Finally, take time to treat yourself; be good to yourself. Maybe that’s going to a movie; abandoning adults and hanging out with the kids; pampering yourself with a suit or buying that new pair of shoes. Get yourself a new iPad, Smartphone or laptop. Most of all, take time to take care of you so you are in the right place to take care of those who depend on you—your loyal customers.

Easter and springtime always brings forth new life in fresh and magnificent ways. Leverage the advent of spring and let it be a time of renewed confidence in your business!

The TV Guide is Missing!

New York World's Fair

In clips below while he was still at NeXT, Steve Jobs captures a lot about life:

Jobs: When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.

Me: I was born in 1960. The “Space Race” shaped my world. Technology was to be the savior of mankind - and the savior of the USA in the "cold war" against communism. Who remembers “Tang” for breakfast? If you were living in America during the sixties, you know what I’m talking about. That nasty-tasting, gritty-grainy pseudo-orange powdered breakfast beverage that was a commercial flop until it swept the country after endorsement by NASA. It rocketed to success with the Gemini flights in 1965, followed by many years of ”spacey” advertising tie-ins. Star Trek was also born in the 60’s with the concept of interstellar space travel, robots and computers in the home. I remember the NYC World’s Fair like it was yesterday. Everything was going to be just simply amazing, I could not wait to grow up and claim my flying car.

Jobs: That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.

Me: Having a “remote control” anything was a big deal. We were one of the first families in our town to have a radio operated remote controlled garage door opener. It was so cool that I charged neighborhood kids $0.25 to push the button and make the garage door go up and down.

Jobs: And the minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That’s maybe the most important thing. It’s to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.

Me: In the ‘60’s our TV only had a few channels, and color TV was a big deal. The big channels were 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13.  I never really counted channel 13 as that was PBS, and there was never anything cool on PBS.

Jobs: I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.

Me: The most important thing in our house growing up was the TV Guide. Since remote control TV was so expensive, you needed the TV Guide. You had to plan out your TV shows in advance, otherwise you would have to get off the couch and change the channels: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 - then back to 2. CBS, NBC, ABC, WOR and WPIX  here in the New York tri-state area, that was all we had. The TV Guide magazine was the most popular magazine in the US, by far. And if the TV Guide ever went missing - oh, the horror. 

THE TV GUIDE IS MISSING!!! THE TEE-VEE GUIDE IS... MIIISSSSSINNNG!!!!!!

New York World's Fair Ride

When I was growing up, not everyone went to college. In fact, I remember people calling young men names like “college boy”. If you went to college, you might be able to avoid the Vietnam war. I was too young to realize it at the time, but there were people going to college simply to avoid going off to Vietnam. College was not for everyone - most people had “real jobs” and worked for a living. And none of my friend's mothers had careers, just like the mothers on TV. You could live very comfortably on one paycheck when I was growing up. Today, not so much.

My oldest son just graduated from www.Quinnipiac.edu with a degree in Computer Information Systems. His world has been shaped by the “space race” of his day: the Internet. Just as I watched the magic of technology shape my world (and took things for granted) so will my son. Taking things for granted is inevitable.  The magic of remote control TV and radio-controlled garage doors did not last very long for me. Even sending men to the moon started to become passe.  Everyone with a television tuned in to watch Apollo 11 as man first walked on the moon. It took a near disaster with Apollo 13 to even get people to turn on their TV. Going to the moon had become commonplace, just like we take the Internet for granted. How fast we become bored with even the most amazing things!

Technology changes the way that we live, work, and play, and it has done so since the beginning of time. Just look around you, and you will see the next “TV Guide” and not even realize it. Buggy whips, TV Guides, and now iPads? BlackBerry “owned” the Smartphone space just a few years ago. Anyone remember Palm? What’s the next super cool thing in which we shall quickly lose interest?

Everything has its day in the sun, and then it needs to make room for something else. I love blogging on Sunday mornings, pushing a button and sending a message like this to everyone on the planet who would cares to read it.

I just wish I had some Tang.

Me Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms is a brand of cereal produced by the General Mills food company. It first appeared in stores in 1964. The cereal consists of two main components: toasted oat-based pieces and multi-colored marshmallow bits (marbits) in various shapes. 

An advertising company suggested marketing the new cereal around the idea of charm bracelets. Thus, the charms of Lucky Charms were born. Lucky Charms is the first cereal to include marshmallows in its recipe. The mascot of Lucky Charms is Lucky the Leprechaun. 

In 2012, Lucky Charms posted its best year ever. 

The company attributes this recent success to a change in marketing. The cereal moves from appealing to just children, towards one that is succeeding with adults as well. Consumers are also able to reminisce with a jingle that hadn't been used in more than a decade: "hearts, stars and clovers" - Lucky's Litany, in this recent national campaign. The company suggests that the jingle contributed to a rise in sales. 

An estimate of 45% of Lucky Charm consumers are adults. In reaction to the campaign to target "nostalgia," new commercials have been created to accompany it. 

A commercial created called "Transportasty" shows a woman rediscovering Lucky Charms at her office. She is then transported to presumably Lucky's magical forest, where Lucky then says, "You're always after me Lucky Charms." She responds to his famous line by saying, "I forgot how good these taste." And good for you, too, right?

 Along with the new commercials, a new Facebook page was also created to have loyal (adult) consumers discuss and reminisce on the changes with Lucky Charms over the years. However, the company is not moving away from kids. A new commercial of kids sneaking into Lucky's magical vault of charms was also created.

Lucky Charms contains:

Oats (Whole grain), Oats (flour), marshmallows (sugar, modified starch/modified corn starch, corn syrup, dextrose, gelatin, calcium carbonate, yellow 5 & yellow 6, blue 1, red 40), artificial flavor, sugar, corn syrup, corn starch, salt, calcium carbonate, food coloring/artificial color, trisodium phosphate, zinc, iron, vitamin C (sodium ascorbic), niacinamide (a B vitamin), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin monontrate), vitamin A (palmitate), folic acide, vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin E (mixed tocopherols).

According to the manufacturer, Lucky Charms is 37% sugar by weight. This puts Lucky Charms at the highest end of "high sugar breakfast cereals."

OK all of you Social Media Marketing Gurus out there, let's review:

• They're Magically Delicious! This tag line is the most famous slogan created for a cereal. 
• A cereal first launched in 1964 just had its best year ever.
• They're Always After Me Lucky Charms!
• The cereal is 37% sugar by weight.
• You'll Never Get Me Luck!
• The marketing campaigns were based on magic, cartoons, and kids.
• 45% of Lucky Charms consumers are adults.
• There is a rumor that in 2013 they will test market a free blood glucose level testing kit as the "toy surprise" inside.

On this Feast of Saint Patrick, don't forget to start your day with a big heaping bowl of Lucky Charms!  They go great with lots and lots of green beer. And, if you drink a little bit too much today, just think how "colorful" your evening will be!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Kentucky Windage

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of advancing clocks so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.

The modern idea of daylight saving was first proposed in 1895 and it was first implemented during the First World War. Many countries have used it at various times since then. Although most of the United States used DST throughout the 1950s and 1960s, DST use expanded and has generally remained in use in North America and Europe since that time.

But WHY?

Adding daylight to evenings benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours. An early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting (formerly the primary use of electricity) in factories and office buildings. So the big boss said we should spend less money to light and heat the factory or the office. Use as much “free” heat and lighting as possible. That was the motivation of DST.

DST presents challenges. They complicate timekeeping, and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. 

             

Kentucky Windage is an adjustment made by a shooter to correct for wind (or motion of the target) by aiming at a point horizontal to the target's position in the sight rather than by adjusting the sight to compensate. So, it is a method of correcting for windage, gravity, etc., by aiming a weapon to one side of the target instead of by adjusting the sights.

If you know that the gun shoots a little to the left, then just aim a little to the right. No need to spend time and money adjusting the sights on the guns. Just adjust your aim!

When I was growing up, remembering to “set the clocks” was a big deal. We had to run around the house to reset all the clocks on the stove, updating all of the alarm clocks and the watches. We always forgot one or two, and it always took a few days to “recover” from the missing (or the newly found) hour. “Sorry I’m late (or damn, we are early). We forgot to set the clocks!” was the common cry across the country.

Today, not so much.

These days, every clock in or around our house (TV, Kitchen, Computers, Smartphones) are now smart enough to adjust themselves. And, if more than 90% of the clocks and watches automatically adjust, then it is pretty hard to not know the correct time. If you say to someone “Sorry we are late, we forgot to set the clocks” you would sound like a Luddite.

DST was the “Kentucky Windage” of its day. “Just make ‘em come in an hour early!” said the big boss. “We’ll save a bundle on the light bill! And, if we can’t get 'em all to come in early on their own, then we’ll just change all the clocks!"

With current technology, we no longer need the “Kentucky Windage” concept of DST to save money on our power bills. Technology and the Internet has taken care of that for us with smart thermostats and low energy use lighting. But, if you look for it, you still have plenty of “Kentucky Windage” in your daily work and personal life. The better we all use technology, the less the need for Kentucky Windage.

Instead of “fixing” the problem once and for all, how many times do you allow the problem to continue to exist, and simply choose to “aim to the left?” Got a problem at work or at home that needs fixing? I'll bet there is an app for that.

Speed Kills

Most technology is connected to “speed.” The need to make things go faster, to download faster, to transmit faster, to just simply do whatever is required - faster.

Mike Bloomberg became the richest man in New York by selling financial traders just fifteen seconds head start on the data they needed. Fifteen seconds can cost thousands of dollars a month per financial analyst.

In sports, speed is everything. A faster fastball, a faster race car, or a speedy wide receiver is worth millions. Speed is everywhere in the business of sports. Is anyone going to watch the Daytona 500 tonight?

The reason why “speed” is a commodity in such demand is that from having more “speed” you then have more time to go slow. The reward of being so speedy is you now get to go slow!

Look at the Bloomberg business model.  If all stock brokers in the world had the exact same computers with all computers and networks operating at the exact same processing speed, then speed no longer matters. Speed is a non-issue.  But if just one (or a few) traders are faster by even just a few seconds, then the entire game changes. It is no longer a fair fight.

Evelyn Wood is synonymous with quality, dependability and speed reading. When I was in High School, there were classes in speed reading. The concept was easy to grasp; if you could read at two or three times the speed as everyone else, then you would have a strategic advantage in class, and in life.

I have not heard the name Evelyn Wood in years. The need for speed in “reading” has been replaced by the need for speed in “Googling.” The need for speed was not to help you to simply turn the pages faster. The need for speed was to get the content - to increase the reading comprehension - faster.

A major change in education is well underway. You can get an excellent college education from home, at a time and place of your choosing - faster - by taking courses online. And once you have your degree you can then go nice and slow, enjoying years in the career of your choice.

You can go very fast via distance learning technology, to then enjoy the rest of your life going very slow, following your passion in a wonderful and rewarding career that you chose because you find this field of study interesting and fascinating.

If you are going faster and faster to then enjoy going slow - savoring your life as you work in a field that is rewarding and nurturing, congratulations my friend, you have cracked the code! You have mastered technology for a grand and wonderful purpose.

If, however, you are going faster and faster - to then go even FASTER for sake of going faster, you have missed the point. Technology should be a tool to serve you, the master. Not the other way around. Going faster now to then go slow and savoring the rest of your life - good.

Going faster to then simply go faster and faster and even faster still - not so much.

I guess that is where the saying “Speed Kills” comes from, yes?

Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982) is an American auto racing driver, model and advertising spokeswoman. If she wins the Daytona 500 tonight, she will have gone very fast indeed, in a race car powered by the best technology money can buy. If she wins the race tonight, then for the rest of her life, she can go very slow indeed. Drive very fast tonight for 500 miles, and then you get to drive very slow for a lifetime. That would be using technology as a tool to go very fast indeed, to then "get" to go very slow while enjoying the ride.

Ah yes, Sunday, the day of rest.  Who is working today?  Are you working on “going faster” for the week ahead, or are you working, working, working today so that you can then go nice and slow one day soon?

Hurry up so that you can slow down. That is the way to play the game.

I skipped going to church today. While I was in the backyard playing with Bella, she began to speak. She said that I could do penance by writing about the ten commandments of running a technology company. The conversation went like this:

“Thou must establish relationships with other breeds,” she said.  I asked a clarifying question - not the best thing to do to a talking dog.  “With whom?” The answer was simple. “With everyone - public sector, private sector, industries, nonprofits, and anyone else who can help to build your company.”  "Sounds pretty inclusive” I said.  “It is,” she replied.

“Thou shall not construct false idols.”  Dummy me, I asked, “Like what?”  She said, “Don’t think that there are any magic doggie tricks or solutions. Think outside the box and be creative. Lassie and Rin Tin Tin were actors, not real dogs.”

“Thou shall not growl about not having enough kibble.” She said, “For what has been given to you might be taken away in an instant.” Make it work with what you have, I thought.

  

“Thou shall take some time off - all work and no play leaves no time for walks in the park.” A little self-serving for Bella, I thought. But a good point nevertheless.

“Thou shall honor the dog catcher so that they shall be well with thee.” Smart dog, I thought. “I am talking about the IRS, you know,” she said.

“Thou shall not make enemies of other doggies.” She went on to point out that “Friends come and go, but enemies you keep forever. Remember, you can’t make people or companies (or doggies) cooperate with you.”

“Thou shall keep your promises to the pack and promise less and deliver more.” This commandment immediately struck home. I was always trying to do more than what my staff and resources would allow.  

“Thou shall steal all the good ideas and doggie tricks that you can.”  This one seemed negative to me, based on my memories of the original Ten Commandments, so I suggested that maybe this was wrong. “Nay,” she said, “you are to use all good ideas, no matter where they come from. Someone else has dug up that bone for you.”

“Thou shall not talk bad about other breeds.” Since this has become a national sport on Facebook, Twittter and such, I thought this might be a tough one to follow. With a loud bark, she pointed out how this commandment and No. 6 (make no enemies) are related.

“Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s kibble.” I think about all of the money given to dumb companies by dumb VC firms for dumb ideas, and how much we could do with a fraction of that funding. Don’t waste time thinking about what others have; go make your own kibble.

With that being said, the voice stopped talking and Bella went back to barking, as she saw a squirrel. And then I realized that Dog is God spelled backwards. 

Was this trip really necessary?

As of the writing of this blog, there are 40” of snow on the ground at www.quinnipiac.edu  Most of Connecticut and New England got slammed with the storm. Some people in Long Island slept in their cars. Many are trying to figure out how they are going to get to work tomorrow morning. It is hard to take a train when there is several feet of snow covering the tracks.

Here in New Jersey we were lucky with less than 10” of snow in our town.  And according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg everyone in New York City “dodged a bullet” as far as the storm is concerned.

Because we did not lose power, the storm had zero effect on me and my business. As long as I have the Internet, I am a happy camper. But when the Internet goes down, well, let’s just say you don’t want me in your Internet-less lifeboat.

So, people will not be able to get to class tomorrow at Quinnipiac and UCONN as will be the case with many of the major colleges and universities in the region. People will not be able to take the train to work in New York City, and most of of the major highways in the area have yet to be properly cleared.  

Why not work from home?  Why not take classes from home?

Both of my sons went to college in Connecticut (who just got dumped on with snow). Tommy is now taking Graduate classes at Quinnipiac University (online). My youngest son Robert has one more semester to go (brick and mortar) at UCONN.

The COA (Cost of Attendance) for college is made up of direct charges such as tuition, fees, room and board. Indirect costs are things like books, transportation and personal expenses. 

For a Freshman Resident at Quinnipiac here are the numbers:

Tuition & Fees: $36,130  
Room & Board: $13,430  
Books: $800  
Personal: $900  
Transportation: $500  
Total: $51,760

I can tell you this: the above numbers are just an estimate - a low estimate. Factor in trips to visit campus, special events, special sporting events and dining out. Also iPads, iPhones, various types of tablets and smartphones. Throw a few thousand dollars per year on top and you might be close to the real numbers. Then multiply by four years (and how many kids do you have again?)

The Internet has changed the world forever. It has changed the way that we work, live and play. It certainly has changed the way that we learn. The costs of higher education have spiraled out of control, and it not clear if the value of a four-year education is worth the expense.

Tomorrow, all classes on campuses in Connecticut will be canceled. Many people will not be able to make it to work in NYC. Airports will be trying to recover from thousands of canceled flights from the weekend. For me, the “Blizzard of 2013” has reminded me of the true costs of traditional business and classic higher education. If you were one of the unfortunate people who had to sleep in their cars on the Long Island Expressway, you will be thinking about this storm for quite some time, I am sure.

I believe that the future of education is distance learning. I think that the future of work is telework, and I believe that technology will continue to change the way that we live, work and play.

The “Blizzard of 2013” is making people think about distance learning because of the snow on the roads and the canceled trains. But when you look at the spiraling costs of higher education, it looks like it has been "snowing" on college and university campuses for many, many years. 

We are just now starting to take notice of how deep the cost of a four-year college education has become. When buried by snow - eventually it melts. 

Sadly, it does not work the same way with college debt.