Marketing Genius!

I'm always interested in seeing small businesses promote their services. I find it incredible how some are so creative in their methods.

Check out this short video of what a local small business owner did to promote his services.

What small businesses do you know of that have some creative marketing presence and how are they promoting it?

[Note: You can contact Frank to get your land survey - here. You can hire Jeff Vickery by finding him here.]


"Your Success Is My Business."™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Oh No It Didn't!

Well, it happened...its official.

I'M THE SAME AGE THAT MY GRANDFATHER WAS AT THE TIME I WAS BORN!!!!

How did that happen - to me? I always remembered him as (and I hate to say this) an old man. But I don't feel like an old man. In fact, I often get this question asked to me: "How old are you?" (with some sarcasm added I might emphasize).

Well, as I ponder on this realization for today, I will keep this in mind above all:
I'll never grow up and will always be young at heart!!!

 

[Note: top photo from http://www.elderoptionsoftexas.com/ and bottom photo from http://croutonboy.typepad.com/]

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pondering - "to think about : reflect on"
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Lessons I Learned - From a SunBurn

It was Memorial Day...must have been around 1989. I went out on a water skiing trip with some friends and in about a two hour time frame, became so sun-burnt that I had to miss a week of work and take (internally and externally) so many medications. It was without a doubt the worst pain I've even been in throughout my life (so far, no broken bones!).

As I ponder on that, with Memorial Day quickly approaching, I thought about the leadership lessons I learned from this event. They are:

• Always be sure to consider the consequences of your decision. I often discuss with my son that every decision has a consequence - some positive, some negative, but there's always a consequence. Our job is to try to make as many decisions that will produce positive results as possible.
• Go into the action prepared. I should have known better than to go out on the water, in the middle of a hot, cloudless sunny day, without sun-screen. Anything you're going to do needs a plan, regardless of how simple or how meaningless you believe it is.
• Have a "replacement" plan in affect. You are never guaranteed another day. I had no plan for being out unexpectantly for a week. You never know when something is going to happen, possibly even good (a promotion or the career of your dreams comes along), that will cause you to not be able to perform your current role. All great leaders are always working to replace themselves so that they can move on to the next challenge. Create a program that immediately begins to fill your role...in case.
• Set your team up for success. I've seen so many micro-managers in my life. They're the leader who has to have their hand in everything. They work from the philosophy, "If I want it done right, I'll do it myself." This is the worse path you can create for your team, and for the success of what you do. Prepare your team every day to work, decide and to lead as if you were not there. Then, when/if something happens, the team can continue to be successful.
• Be accountable. When something happens to you, the majority of the time it's because of some decision you've made. Just like with me going to the river in the middle of the day without sun-screen...that was my decision to do, regardless of whether I thought about it or "forgot it". My actions, my accountability. I couldn't blame anyone else for what happened to me that day. I hear so many people, and unfortunately a majority being the younger population, blaming others for things that happen to them. Be accountable for your actions...you'll learn more in the long run when you do.

So even though I went through a very painful, very memorable event, there were valuable lessons learned (again, the eternal optimist in me). And this isn't the only event that's happened to me where I've learned something (here and here).

My question: What personal event has lead you to do life a little differently, with more focus?

[Note: photo from http://www.philarockgym.com/]

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Motivation for Enduring the Pain

I saw something that caused me to ponder and I wanted to share it with you:

(Note: As for the "...this happened before..." mention at the end of the video, here are the details about it.)

My question: What motivates you to keep going?


[Note: photo from http://www.thecrosshairstrader.com/]

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Are you trapped?

I was pondering about something during my recent exercise routine, and was wondering if you feel trapped? (Note: no snakes this time!)

For the link I promised in the video, click here.

My question: Do you feel trapped or would you change/start a new social media site?


[Note: photo from https://www.naturalbalancenow.com/]

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Blogging - A New Way

With my iPod on and a new thought I've been pondering on, I wanted to try something a little different (be sure to watch all the way to the end):

While reading all the blogs I do, I notice that one I follow always stood out to me, so I thought I'd follow suite.

Would like to hear your thoughts.

Until next time, take care!

[Note: photo from http://www.pulsarmedia.eu/]

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What gets you out of bed in the morning?

What motivates you to get out of bed each morning? Is it debt? Is it because you have a career that is also your passion? Something gets you going each day.

I was pondering on this as I was reflecting on something my son recently told me.

Since he's been out of school, he's struggled with his life purpose - his career, where to live, adjusting to being a responsible adult and paying his bills, etc. He's recently had an opportunity with a new career which will lead him to a new location to live and a new life adventure ahead of him. His comment to me was, "You know I wake up every morning wondering what and why I'm doing that day. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have a purpose now." Awesome!

My question: I'd like to know what gets you out of bed every day.


[Note: photo from https://www.naturalbalancenow.com/]

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Did you hear me?

Paying attention when you're talking to someone is just common courtesy...isn't it? But have you noticed that what now seems to be the "new normal" is to be talking with someone while they're checking their mobile device? Makes me stop and ponder.

If their text message or e-mail is more important than I am when I'm standing right there in front of them, what's the purpose? Have we grown to care about our "virtual connections" more than our personal face-to-face connections?

And when we begin to add this multi-tasking lifestyle mentality in our work places, what are we accomplishing then? I've been in meetings before where people are presenting and folks in the audience (including leaders) are checking e-mails, texting, etc. Even our elected officials are guilty of this, yet we hold them unaccountable!

My question: Is it just me that this is a pet-peeve of, or does it upset you too?


[Note: photo from http://www.budbuckley.com/]

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Movies That Influenced My Life

I was pondering while recently watching a movie about how much I've enjoyed them throughout my life. I remember fondly when I was a little fellow going to the movies with my parents and our friends.

I remember the very first time Mom dropped my brother and me off for a movie - our first without grown-ups. I was twelve years old and it was to see the James Bond movie, "Live and Let Die" downtown Tallahassee at the theater that used to be next to the Capital building.

Soon afterwards, my parents purchased an 8mm camera (no sound, but state-of-the-art at the time) and I quickly learned I could gather all the neighborhood kids together and make little movies. The best of them was "Dracula Invades Blountstown" Parts I and II.


So again I'm thinking about all this and I decided to reflect on the movies that have most influenced me in my life (in no particular order):

• Dawn of the Dead.
  I had been hooked on scary movies for as long as I can remember. Growing up on Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Dracula, and The Mummy, etc. I even had all the little models of each (which had glow-in-the-dark parts, which would scare me during the night). But this movie, it didn't push the envelope for me, it blew it apart. I saw it for the first time during it's initial release in the spring on 1979 with my friend Steve Lee in Marianna, Florida (ended up a lot of friends where there the same night to see it for the first time). It completely scared me to a state I had never before experienced...I mean, this was a complete assault on my senses. I had seen "Last Man on Earth, "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Omega Man" so I already had a fascination with the whole "last man left" genre, but this movie took it to an entire new plateau. Since that initial viewing, I've literally watched this movie over a thousand times.


• It's A Wonderful Life.
  Maybe it's just me, but I believe that most folks have made decisions in their lives that they wished they could go back and change. Also, we've gotten ourselves in to some things that we just don't think there's any other option than the worst ones we can come up with. Then, there's this whole "our attitude" is what we need to change philosophy. I've written before about how awesome this movie is and how I continue to find lessons in it.


• Patton.
  This is the film that caused me to have a life-long passion for Military History, specializing in WWII. I saw it when I was nine years old and from the very beginning of the movie, that scene with the giant flag and the speech...I was at that moment a committed full-blooded American in appreciation of what others had sacrificed to give me the freedoms I enjoyed. Yes, it was very powerful on a young, impressionable boy.


• Forrest Gump.
  My favorite movie of all time. Every time I watch this movie I see something else that makes me think about how our lives are so similar. I'll not go into this one any further since I've recently written about it, but just to note about it's influence on me.

This isn't all of them, as I could go on and on. But this is the top ones as reflected in certain areas of my life.

My question: What movies have influenced your life?

[Note: photo from http://larryfire.files.wordpress.com/]

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pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Starting the day

I'm always fascinated to hear how some folks start their day off. It causes me to stop and ponder.

There's the crowd that get up and start exercising. The group that can't get going 'til they've consumed some coffee. The group that has to hit the "snooze" button several times before they can rouse themselves from the covers. Then there's the group that has to have all of the above!

For me, I'm one of those "the alarm goes off and my feet hit the floor" people. I'm up, ready and out the door within 30 minutes off to work, pumped about the day ahead. There's just to much to do, so much to accomplish and never enough time to get it completed (in the day and during your life!).

My question: What is your normal method of getting up and started in the morning?

[Note: photo from http://www.istockphoto.com/]

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Why didn't I listen?

Why didn't we listen to our parents? Why didn't I listen?

I was pondering on something a buddy said to me the other day, which is something I've been sharing with others for many years now. He said, "You know Joey, the older I get, the smarter my parents become."

There is so much advice that I should have implemented into my life when I was young, but I just didn't do. But, at the same time, I think there was a lot of "stuff" in my parent's lives when they were young adults that they just didn't know like we as parents do now.

But still they had wisdom that I didn't, and they tried to share it with me.

With many hard knocks along the way, and with the hopes that it might make a difference for someone somewhere, here are some of the things I'd like to share with younger audiences:

• Constantly have mentors in your life.
  There's no such thing as one mentor for life, no one can do that. But throughout your life, seek out mentors for a specific goal you're trying to accomplish. Whether you seek a career mentor, relationship mentor, financial mentor, spiritual mentor, etc., seek out someone that is where you'd like to be and meet with them once per month. Have a specific agenda for each meeting and make it worth your mentors time when you meet with them.
  
• Always have 1, 5 and 10 year goals.
  If you don't have goals, how do you ever know when you score? Goals keep you on track, keep you focused and motivated. Share your goals with others to help hold yourself accountable.


• Understand that "homework" never ends.
  Just because you get out of school, don't fool yourself into thinking that homework ends, because it doesn't. You'll have research to do on someone you're going to meet to make a sale too; for someone you're going to provide your resume too; for any organizations you join; for any event you're going to attend and the list goes on. You'll also need to constantly have some reading plan in your life if you really want to grow to be all you can be.


• Try to compete with those that are better than you are.
  If you're always playing against someone you can win against, how do you ever grow and get better? Sure you need a win occasionally to remain motivated, but spend a majority of your time competing with superior forces.

My question: What additional advice would you provide a young person?

[Note: photo from http://i.telegraph.co.uk/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Line In The Sand

Something happened the other day that caused me to ponder: Each of us have drawn a line in the sand. But there's a difference in our lines. Please allow me to explain.

Have you ever driven down the road, maybe passing the other cars as you go because they're not driving as fast as you want too. Then, all the sudden somebody comes along and passes you. You look at that vehicle and silently think, "I hope the cops catch that guy".

For yourself, you hadn't passed the line you'd drawn in the sand for your speed, but when the other driver passed you, they passed your line in the sand; suddenly they were wrong and you weren't. The thing is, the other driver's line in the sand hadn't been crossed yet as far as they're concerned.

So we each have an internal line we've drawn in the sand of our lives. We have certain rules, certain morals that we strictly stick too. We're okay with everyone else doing whatever it is they do as long as they remain within the borders we've created with our line in the sand. But when they cross our line, we start to think differently about them.

But what about the people we associate with and our line is further down that internal road than theirs is? What do they think about us? And, do we really have a right to be concerned when we often do the same to others?

My question: How do you interact with those whose line is drawn in the sand further out than yours is?



[Note: photo from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/]

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I Can See! (Vision - Part II)

I've been pondering a lot recently about vision. In fact, I just wrote another blog about it so it's really been on my mind a lot lately.

For business, I can't fathom a reason why there wouldn't be a clearly defined vision, mission and culture statement that every employee knows by heart. When I talk with great business leaders, they tell me they literally cringe when their teams can't immediately recite all of these to someone. For everyone in your business to understand the purpose of the business, how you're going to get there and how you're going to work in accomplishing this is so vitally important to any company's long-term success, how do businesses operate without them?

I was recently listening to Bill Hybels share some keys in creating a organizations vision and wanted to share some of them with you:

• Vision creates the picture of the perfect future.
• The most incredible vision is worthless if no one owns it.
• The first step in creating your vision is to use the team approach in drafting it. "People don't have to have their way, they just have to have their way considered."
• The vision must be refined before delivered in it's final version.
• Declare the vision to your company - this is a team activity.
• Vision leaks. Use all tactics available to keep people's vision buckets full.

And the last point of creating a successful vision: The single most determining factor to whether your followers will own the vision is by how deeply they believe that you own it.

My question: What is your company's vision?


[Note: photo from http://intimacywithgod.files.wordpress.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

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Vision

Vision. It's not just what you see; sometimes it's about what you don't see, but what you want to see. You ever ponder on this?

People can have a vision about where they want to go, what they want to accomplish, how they want to get there. Businesses are supposed to have a vision as well. It's all about "where are we going and who wants to go with us."

I always enjoy listening to great leaders (whether the leaders of industry, nations, religion, etc.), to hear their passion and to listen to their vision. I learned in a leadership session once, some of the keys it takes to be a great leader (sorry but I can't remember which one now or who said this) but there were three keys to it and it all surrounded vision. From my notes, the three keys to a great leader are:

1. A passionate vision.
2. The ability to share the vision so that you get disinterested people to follow.
3. Exhibit no embarrassment in the articulation of the vision.

Think about the people you'd call great leaders and see how they applied each of the items above.

My question: Are you sharing your vision with others?

[Note: photo from http://joeypeacock.com/]

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Questions about you

You ever see one of those "Questions about you" that you can answer and share with others that helps tell who you are? They're pretty cool and can often times be very revelling.

I was digging through one of my many paper-pads looking for a specific quote I wanted to use as a “status post” for my Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages, and while doing so I found “10 Questions” from notes taken a couple of years ago during a talk by Steve Siebold. You don’t have to answer them back to me, I just thought they’d make you stop and ponder:

1. What are the three (3) most positive experiences of your life?
2. List the three (3) most important things you’ve learned about success?
3. How did your family make you feel about yourself?
4. List your three (3) biggest heroes.
5. Write down your own obituary as if you achieved all your dreams.
6. What do you want your great-great grandchildren to say about you?
7. What does success mean to you?
8. What accomplishments are you the most proud of? Why?
9. What beliefs and values are you willing to die for?
10. Describe the perfect day in your life, if there were no limits.
    

My question: What did you learn about yourself from answering these questions?

[Note: photo from http://www.promotionalpro.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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An Open Letter to YouTube

[Following is an open letter from me to Google-YouTube:]



Dear YouTube,

I really like you a lot! I log into my YouTube channel on a daily basis. YouTube is one of my personal top social media destinations. I enjoy connecting to others and watching their content - history, culture, creative, inspirational, encouragement, etc. I like it that you offer me the ability to share with others as well.

I would like to suggest to you that you begin offering "paid subscription" accounts which allow folks like me to post longer the 10 minute videos. Not that I need unlimited upload options, just that sometimes I can't get all the material squeezed in under the ten minute mark.

I already have the option of breaking the videos up into ten minute sections, so it's not like a person couldn't post an entire movie (which there are many) or entire video of some event (which again there are many), but this is so inconvenient. If I'm using the same amount of upload bandwidth, and I'm uploading the same amount of videos anyway, why not offer it to me as an option (say, up to 20 minutes in length) and at the same time you put some money in your pocket?

I've been pondering over the pros and cons of this option, and think the pros greatly outweigh the cons.

Thank you very much for your consideration and I look forward to a forthcoming option,

Joey Peacock

[Note: photo from http://www.scommerce.com/]

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Where are you?

I'm not a baseball fan. And I know, I know...it's the "American Past Time", but it's just a tad to slow for me to sit, watch and enjoy.

Now I'm not saying I've not ever watched a baseball game as I have. I just never watched an entire game on TV. I have attended my kids games while they've played. I guess when you have some form of participation that's directly connected to you it's different. Other than that, I'll probably not (I hate to use "never") attend a professional baseball game other than the fact I could say "I've done it".

But I was thinking about baseball the other day and about how they separate team plays into innings. "Where are we?" I've heard people say at games and I always hear the announcers on TV updating us with "...bottom of the ____". So this seems to be an important part of the game.

Well, all this caused me to ponder on life and how we might break it down into innings.

So while thinking about all of this, knowing the age & stage I am in my life right now, what inning would I say I'm in?

I thought about this long and hard, back over all my life, where I am now and here is what I came up with: I'm still at batting practice, but I am in the major leagues.

I find that each day I'm still learning, still discovering things and still working (with my perfectionist mentality) to get it right. Sure, I've stepped up to the plate many times and I've swung the bat. I've hit the ball, sometimes getting on base, sometimes a pop-fly out, sometimes a foul, and yes, sometimes a home-run.

In a way, I hate to think about it ever being the "ninth inning" and the game being over...but I guess that's all part of the game too.

My question: So with all that said, what inning are you in?


[Note: photo from http://www.scoreboards-us.com]

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Lessons I Learned - While Taking Out The Garbage

I'm not a big fan of taking out the garbage. And for me, it's not a quick stroll to the street in front of the house. I live in the woods so it's a drive to get it out to where the company picks it up. But upon my last trip out to get the garbage to the road, I pondered about all the life lessons I could learn from this regular event.

Here is my list:

• In life, you have to do things you're not going to enjoy. You might as well get yourself mentally prepared, you're going to have to do things you don't like. Whether it's to discipline an employee or a child, or even a friend, they have to be done regardless and sometimes quite often! There will be trips you don't want to make, doctor visits you aren't going to want to do, exercising you'll need to implement in your life, and this list can go on and on.
• The weather isn't always going to be pleasant. One of my favorite quotes about life is an old Arabic proverb that states, "All sunshine makes a desert." And just like sometimes it's raining or cold, or muggy, that's just part of life.
• You hands are going to get dirty. But that's what they make soap for. Get dirty, and then clean yourself up.
• You have to pay for the service. There's no free...well, you already know that. There's a cost in everything you do, whether it's monetary, mental or physical, you're going to have to pay up. So make sure you're getting your best value and return in whatever you do. And, another thing is: you had to pay for all those items in your garbage. Some items end up there faster than others. The items were important, even necessary, at the time of purchase, yet here they are now. Our life decisions need to be taken in a similar context.
• Sometimes you make a mess. Have you ever had an accident getting the garbage to the road? The can tips over, or falls out of the truck, or you accidentally drop it? Garbage is strewn all over and it causes a huge "ding" in the can. If somehow you haven't yet, you're going to make a mess with something in your life too. And just like when you spilled the garbage, you'll get your life spill repaired and put it all behind you (but, like the ding in the can, you might create a scar for yourself as well). If you're smart, you'll learn what you did to cause the spill and take the appropriate steps to prevent its happening again.
• Sometimes you forget things. Did you ever wake up on garbage day and it dawned on you that you've forgotten to take "the can" out and now you'll have twice as much to deal with the next time? Ever forget anything else? We all have. You need to formulate your strategy for helping your remember chores, ideas, meetings, etc.
• Get someone else to help. Sometimes you're not around to carry the garbage out, but that's why you have family and friends that don't mind helping out. The key, though, is next time you're asked to help someone out with something you don't really want to do, remember that someone once carried your garbage out...I'm sure they weren't looking forward to that either.
• Renew. Occasionally, I'll discover a new "can" to use. Cool! And the same is true in life. Renew yourself constantly. Whether through an exercise program, adding an honest-to-goodness vacation week into your schedule, start a new book reading plan, join or recommit to a church or civic organization, etc. Renew your soul and fire your spirit up!

My question: Can you think of anything I missed?


[Note: photo from http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/]

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Last Man Standing

[This blog is just for fun.]

"Zombies man, they creep me out."

Those are the famous words of Paul Kaufman (Dennis Hopper from the movie "Land of the Dead"). Well, not me!

I'll fess up: I have a huge fascination for zombie movies. There's something about that "last person left" or last man standing thought that really causes me to ponder. (And I realize this post is a LOT out-of-the-ordinary from me...but sometimes a fellow just has to talk.)

And I'm not alone in this fascination. Not long ago there was a popular book written about surviving a zombie apocalypse, which lead to an even more popular book about the world afterwards, which is leading to a possible movie. There are popular videos on YouTube, fan sites, people who try to figure it out for real, and recently what seems to be a resurgence of movies about the genre.

There are tests to figure out how long you'll live if bitten, and tests to see if you'll survive an outbreak. So, like a true zombie infestation, there's just no stopping it!

But do you ever think about it (if you think about it) that if this really happened, it's not just the zombies you have to worry with? There will be other survivors around, and they might not be a "helping hand" looking to support other survivors.

Once the world falls apart from the zombie apocalypse and there's no more food being mass produced, no more bottled water/drink supplied, no more ammo boxed up, no more fuel delivered - things are going to get more than hectic over and beyond the zombie problem. Everyone will be looking for a meal...literally...and will do whatever it takes to acquire it!

While it is true there are strength in numbers, I'm afraid that others, maybe even most others that survive, might be just as app to "off you" as a zombie would be.

And though there are numerous sites trying to tell you 'pack this, store that, go here, do this', etc., etc., what is the real strategy?

First, it depends on where you are caught when "it" happens - where you live and/or where you work. If either is in a big city or urban environment...you're in big trouble to start with.

What about weapons? Is a .50 caliber sniper rifle really the answer, or will a .22 rifle be a better selection (you can carry a lot more ammo, and if all you need to do is "shot'em in the head"...???)? And, if you had a similar caliber pistol...you getting the picture? Can you even shoot a weapon?

How many folks know how to grow their own food? How many of you live next to a clean, fresh water source? How many candles do you have stored? Or canned food? Money will be worthless in those days; but supplies on the other hand - priceless!

Do you own a four-wheel drive vehicle? My guess is the roads are going to be full of clutter, wrecks, and anything else possible that you'll have to drive over and/or around.

Do you own a "3-day bug out bag" (much less any long term survival gear)?

So YES I've pondered over all of this (and continue too)(don't you ever exercise your brain just for fun?).

"When the dead walk, señores, we must stop the killing... or we lose the war."
~ Old Priest (from "Dawn of the Dead" - 1979)

My question: For the coming zombie outbreak, what's your plans?

[And just to help, here are the 32 Rules of Survival.]

[Note: photo from http://www.bdh.net/]

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I Can't Have a Positive Outlook?

A friend of mine recently posted this comment/quote on their Facebook status and made reference to it being "one of the greatest quotes ever" (sorry in advance for a couple of the words, but this was the exact quote):

"No, I'm not a pessimist. At some point the world sh*ts on everybody.
Pretending it ain't sh*t makes you an idiot, not an optimist."

Now I'm the first to agree that everyone has the right to say whatever they feel they need to. And each of us also has the right to either not listen, or not agree. So as I read this post, I pondered on what it meant and wondered if I was filtering it internally the same way they were when they posted it.

I've always thought of myself as an optimist...have even made the comment "eternal optimist" about myself before. I believe there is a positive within every negative regardless (so far) of the situation.

I'll also share that growing up in the South, from a family with all prior generations in the farming industry, I've shoveled untold 5-gallon buckets full of cow manure to use as fertilizer for gardens. So I think I can say I'm an expert in dealing with dung. But even that "dung" was useful for something!

Here's the way I'm wired and how I view things: Life is like a road - there's construction, traffic jams, turns, straight aways, slow lanes, fast lanes, weigh stations, fuel stations, stop signs, go signs, warning signs, steep grades, inclines, don't pass lanes, multi-lanes, one-way roads, toll roads, interstates, scenic highways, vehicles of all shapes/sizes/ages and, of course...the pot holes. And, don't forget that any vehicle on this road is going to need some periodic, scheduled maintenance and of course some upgrades along the way. The more you understand this, the better you mentally prepare yourself for all these...and, the better you'll make it through life when you face them.

I do love quotes, and I thought this one was perfect for this post and in response to the prior one my friend posted:

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
~ Sir Winston Churchill

My question: Are you a glass half full or half empty person?

[Note: photo from http://www.aspirationmag.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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I'm Excited!!!

I'll be the first to say that I get excited about stuff.

I was pondering the other day about all the hobbies I've had over the years:

• Four Wheel Drive Trucks
• Three Wheelers,
• then Four Wheelers,
• then Dirt Bikes
• Paintball
• Coin Collecting
• Hunting
• Fishing
• Gun Collecting
• Audio/Video/Home Theater
• World War II History

Just to name a few (yeah, there is more).

My problem with said hobbies was my nature to go overboard with them. I had to have the biggest/baddest truck, fastest four-wheeler, best hunting gear, top-of-the-line A/V equipment, etc. I always figured, "if you were going to do it, why not be the best at it." Wouldn't you agree?

And I catch myself sometimes when I'm speaking with someone and the topic turns to one of my passions, that I find myself dominating the conversation and getting loud & excited about it (I apologize if I've ever done that to you).

I find it in my writing too: I get so excited about something that I find I'm ending most sentences with an exclamation mark. (Note: I wanted to post one at the end of that last sentence.)

Sometimes, I find myself being like Elaine in the Seinfeld Episode "The Sniffing Accountant" when she's talking and verbally adding exclamation marks at the end of every sentence.

I'm going to do my best going forward to try to watch over all my exclamation mark usage. But I'll tell you in advance, when I'm excited about something, be prepared for them to come out!!

My question: What hobby or passion gets you excited?

[Note: photo from http://reddingitpro.files.wordpress.com]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Boy is that funny!

Laughter...

One of my favorite all time things to do. They say it keeps you young, I agree! And I will add that I believe it keeps you young at heart as well.

I'll share that I'm one of those folks who can tell a joke and can't complete it because I've thought of the punch-line prior to the ending and get all broke up with laughter.

(From the TV Series "Seinfeld")
Lady: "Jerry, who does she [baby] look like?"
Kramer: "Lyndon Johnson!"
Lady: "No, really, who does she look like?"
Kramer: "No, really, she looks like Lyndon Johnson."

That cracks me up every time I think about it!!!! HAHAHAHHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!

And I'm one of those guys that has the tears pouring, full laugh and leg slapping going on. I really love a good laugh!

Plus, quick wit is what really gets me going. That "I wasn't expecting that" remark or reply. The "you think this, but get that" stuff...oh just too funny.

But have you ever been around someone and you wonder if they even have teeth because you never see them laugh? I, and this is just me, can't imagine going through life like that.

Now I've had my share of bad times, heart breaks, hurts, let downs, disappointments just like everyone else...but that doesn't mean some things still aren't funny!

And when I stop and ponder on it a moment, I find my favorite TV shows are all comedies: Seinfeld, CHEERS, According to Jim, King of Queens, M*A*S*H just to name a few that I continue to watch and never tire of.

Mark Beightol, a close friends and past colleague, once said, "If you can't have fun at work, why come in?" I thought, "He's right!!" And, unfortunately, I see some many people so unhappy, never enjoying what they spend so much of their life doing. So sad.

My question: What makes you laugh?

For me, I'm going to leave you with this:

[Note: first video from YouTube channel: BlackOleg; second from loppo101]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Toss Me A Life Perserver...PLEASE!

If I were drowning, wouldn't you throw me a life-preserver?

I really believe you would. I even believe you would even if you didn't know me. I also believe you would even if you didn't like me.

So then I'm pondering: Why then do we not reach out & support someone who just made a bad decision and has maybe stumped their toe and hosed up their life (and most likely others in doing so) and toss them a life-preserver?

We always here the gossip. And, we're all guilty of spreading that gossip (I've been actively, focused working on not doing this). We are all concerned for the person, but how many of us actively reach out to the person with an encouraging word and share that "we're there for them"?

This really hit me with problems a couple of people I know, and call friends, have recently gone through.

One friend left a party, where they had a few drinks, it's late at night, and through some additional bad decisions got into a wreck and then arrested. It was "the talk" (i.e., gossip) of the town when it happened. But something happened in all of it. One of my friends told me a few days later, "You know, I called ol' ____ and let'em know that I was there for them if there was anything I could do." My friend told me the person couldn't believe the call and the offer, that they were so happy and even relieved that someone really cared and showed concern. My friend tossed the person A LIFE PRESERVER! My guess (and I hope I'm wrong) is this was the only call like this the person received.

I currently have another friend going through some rough times because of some bad decisions. The families affected are besides themselves and I know people are reaching out to them. But is anyone tossing the person that caused all the pain a life preserver?

But let me add here that I also realize that just because someone is tossed a life-preserver, they might not take it. They might believe they're a good swimmer and try to make it on their own. Even so, they still need the ability to reject the offer that's next to them in the water with them, not still in the hand.

I think I'm a good person. But when I take the good person test (Have I ever told a lie? Have I ever taken anything that didn't belong to me, regardless of how small or seemingly worthless? etc.), I always fail. And because I'm human, I'll make bad decisions through-out my life. I really hope that there are people in my life that will throw me a life-preserver when I do.

My question: Does it take a major mind-set change for us to help out the person that gets caught up in bad decisions...to toss them a life-preserver?


[Note: photo from http://www.senseoncents.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Tick - Tock... Tick - Tock...

Do you ever stop and think about TIME? I find myself pondering about it all the time. Allow me to explain...

I really like time-pieces. In fact, you might say I have a fetish for fine watches. I know I'm the rare breed that not only enjoy watches, but I also keep up with news about them. Sure, some people freak out to hear that a wrist watch can cost $600,000 and can't believe someone would pay that much for one; while at the same time they understand (well, somewhat) that folks would pay millions of dollars for a painting from Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso or the like.

And when you notice that most young people now don't own, much less buy, watches anymore (regardless of price) because they use the clock on their mobile devices, someone like me is becoming even more rare.

I fine myself, especially when I'm traveling, noticing the time-piece on other's wrists. It's difficult to identify what they are with so many models on the market now (and with my "past forty" eyes), but I can usually spot one that's really a luxury piece.

If money were no object, my first watch purchase would be a Breguet Tourbillion Messidor...but, money is an object so I just keep this one posted in my "wish list". But, I still occasionally treat myself to one (note picture above of the SPEC OPS Black Warrior the wife picked up for me from MTM - a great company to do business with by-the-way).

I don't see watches as just a time-piece for the arm, I see them as a work of art: the craftsmanship and man-hours that is required to put a luxury watch together, along with great looks and the incredible accuracy all catch my attention...but I see them as something else too.

I see them as a reminder that we are each given so much "time". And I view it as a constant reminder asking what we're doing with that time. How we prioritize our time, how we share that time with family and friends, how we give our time to others.

My question: Regardless of whether you wear a watch: Are you mindful of the time you have and how you're using it? What are some of the methods you use to monitor the use of your time?


[Note: photo from http://www.armaslajungla.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Does it mean dig, or dance?

When I was a little fellow, when someone said "boogy", it meant something nasty from your nose. Then when I was a teenager, yes, during those wonderful disco years, the term took on a whole new meaning.

I'm pondering on all of this now because as I was driving around today, I heard two songs that used the term in them: A Taste of Honey's "Boogie Oogie Oogie" and Heatwave's "Groove Line".

I thought about how my parents had slang terms that their parents didn't understand, and how we had words that didn't have the same meaning as our parents used them, plus now our kids do the same to us. It's pretty cool how this seems to be a generation-to-generation phenomena.

I catch myself always using "cool", "awesome", "wow" and more...from different decades even. "SNAP!" I guess we all do it, and always will. So, let me boogy on down with the next project and I'll talk with ya next time.

My question: What word(s) do you use that your parents, or your kids, don't get - either the meaning as you use them, or why you use them?



[Note: photo from http://farm1.static.flickr.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Don't Go with iGo

Man am I ever disappointed!

I recently had some very positive customer service experiences that I shared here. I was thinking when I wrote that blog that when someone WOW's me, I need to share that with others. But now, the exact opposite has happened and I wanted to share that as well - hopefully with the thought I might save you from the same fate.

Our personal laptop went south on us, transformer/charger the best I could tell since the light no longer came on and the computer wouldn't charge. So, while in a mall with a Radio Shack I thought why not stop in and purchase a new one.

The district manager happened to be in the store that day, and was the person who provided the help. I described the problem, and he quickly pointed me to the solution: an iGo charger unit. Of course the model he points me too is a rather expensive unit (from my perspective, but there was an even more expensive unit next to it) but I listened to all the advantages the model had so I purchased it. Prior to payment, I again mentioned my laptop make/model to confirm this was in fact the proper model (I had even brought the bad charger with me so I would have all the proper numbers).

So - back at home, install everything and...it's back to business!

But two weeks later, problems again. And, almost exact same problem.

This time, I load everything up and take it to my local computer guy, Tom Reeves of UpTime Computer Services, who quickly discovered the problem: "Power charger not outputting the proper voltage". The unit was rated properly, but it was not putting that amount out. Tom suggested I get it replaced since it was new and still under 30 day warranty.

Our communications with Radio Shack produced no resolve ("Contact the manufacturer" was there advice). Once they found out we hadn't saved the box...TWO WEEKS LATER (and who does that??)...they didn't want to provide us any help, or any suggestions. Unbelievable!!! So, first lesson for me: Never shop at Radio Shack again.

Then, we started contacting iGo. This was an even worse experience!

iGo offers a "contact us for repair" page, which includes in-warranty repair and out-of-warranty repair options. To make a very long story short; after multiple attempts (almost daily in fact) request at these links (yes, I even tried the "out-of-warranty" link) as well as links to them on other pages, the company never once contacted me to resolve the problem. NOT ONCE!

I would provide prior e-mail message notes and dates and to what e-mail address I'd used, as well as asking if I'm contacting the incorrect department to at the least point me in the right direction. Even with all this, I never received any communications from them.

So, a month-and-a-half later, I give up. I'm stuck with a defective laptop charger from a company that provides NO CUSTOMER SERVICE and then had to purchase another charger on top of all this (Tom did find me a great deal on one. Second lesson: I should have gone to him to start with versus trying all this on my own.). But, the laptop is up and running fine since returning from Tom's shop. Final lesson: I'll never shop with or recommend iGo to anyone, ever.

I'm pondering on how these two seemingly huge companies can completely ignore a customer and provide absolutely no customer service. And on top of all that, how they think in today's economy and with even a small voice like mine that can share with an audience (regardless of size), that the Voice of the Customer (VoC) isn't important.

I've very disappointed.

My question: What company have you elected to not do business with anymore because of a customer experience you had?


[Note: photo from http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Why Can't I Just Be Frank?

"I'm going to be honest with you..."

Hmmmm...okay, I'm pondering something here: shouldn't I always be honest with you? Wouldn't you want everything I share to be the truth?

I'm in a meeting recently and the speaker literally starts every thought and answers every question asked to him with "I'm going to be honest with you..." I'm thinking, "Do I ever trust anything this guy says if he doesn't start a sentence with that comment?"

Maybe I'm being too nit-picky, but when you have to ask me if I want you to be honest, let's just go from this point forward that the answer is always going to be "YES!"

Here's another pet-peeve of mine: When someone asks me if they can be brutally honest...come on!!! First, why does it have to be brutal? And secondly, aren't you always honest??

If I need to say something, and I have your best interest at heart, and I want to help in a way that's "coaching" and not "criticism" wouldn't you want me to just be frank (but mindful of my delivery)? My dad taught me, "Never tell someone you're 'going to be honest' with them, always be honest regardless. If you have to begin a statement with something like this, always say 'let me be frank'." Great advice!

My question: So, honestly now, can't I be frank?


[Note: photo from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

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Hey, why don't we go and ...

So what if I watched "Julie & Julia"!

It wasn't my pick to rent, but I viewed it and actually enjoyed it (and yes, have even recommended it!). In fact I was pleasantly shocked that I enjoyed it. The acting was first rate (I always like Stanley Tucci) and it was a great story. Plus, I guess if you're my age you remember watching Julia Child on the ol' Black & White TV so the history there was enjoyable to learn. WHO KNEW? (You'll understand when you watch the movie.)

I think the part that most interested me from the film was the back-story of "Julie" (Julie Powell) and how she decided to blog about her adventure. About how she had no "readers" to her blog for so long, and then one day, that magical number happened: 1

That singular inspiration. That unique moment. That blast of encouragement. That first, "someone is watching" realization. It finally happened!!

I knew how she felt.

And then, I saw the short film "Lemonade" as well. WOW!

All these folks were pressed, against their will to begin with, into a situation as well were they were about to begin a new adventure.

The adventure for them as they discovered, much like Julie, was to go after their passion and to share that passion with others. What an interesting concept!!! (sarcasm intended)

I was speaking with a friend the other day about "stepping off the mountain". About hanging "out on a rope, and unable to see the floor beneath you". About the faith it takes to make that leap.

Sure its scary! If you viewed the movie "Lemonade", none of the people interviewed actually chose to take their "adventure" to begin with because it was scary...uncomfortable. But, as you saw in the end, all were full of smiles and happiness.

I'm thinking of an adventure.

My question: Do you have an adventure you've been pondering on? I'd like to hear about it if so.


[Note: photo from http://popculturenerd.files.wordpress.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

pondering - "to think about : reflect on"

White Stuff from the Clouds!

It happened! It doesn't happen here much, and when it does it's a big deal for us.

Here's what I'm talking about...

My question: Were you in the "Great Southern Snow of 2010"?


“Your Success Is My Business.”™

Doubles and Halves

Well, I attended another funeral. Hmmm...."another".

Is it just me, or do you do this too, but I find I catch myself doing a lot of pondering during and immediately after a funeral. In fact, I've even blogged about funerals before!

This funeral was the father of one of my friends (well, actually, I am friends with all the siblings). He had suffered for some time with his illness, and they knew the time was near. During the messages that were shared, a niece of the deceased made this comment about helping others through life that floored me and I made note of it while there to share here. It was about the thought to:

"live life in a way that was doubling your blessings
and halving your burdens"

BAM!!! Isn't that incredible!?? Can you imagine going through life with the mindset that everyone you meet you're thinking how can you double their blessings and half their burdens??

My question: What is your personal mission statement that you want to tell the world? (See mine below.)

[Note: photo from http://www.actnow.com.au/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

Top Shot...Not

It was a fun ride, but it just didn't happen - this time.

My first attempt at appearing on a TV series, a reality TV series at that, has ended. I didn't make it...doesn't look like I'm going to be America's first TOP SHOT.

For those of you who don't know the story, I'll give you the Readers Digest version:

A friend of mine sent out an e-mail in early December stating that the History Channel was in the process of creating a new series and it had something to do with shooting guns. Well, that was right up my alley! His message included an e-mail address to Pilgrim Films, the company responsible for creating the series. So, I started to ponder on all this, thought "what the hey", and I fired off an e-mail to them - which began with the line, "STOP LOOKING - YOU'VE FOUND ME!"

I didn't share with anyone that I had sent in the request. So on Wednesday night, December 16th, I had just come in from hunting and my wife arrived home at the same time from her outting. She noticed a message waiting on the phone and while I piled up in my recliner, she listened and I overheard her mumble, "Huh? TV show....what??" I thought silently to myself, "NO WAY!" She listened to the message again and said, "I don't know what's going on, but there's some guy named Sydney that wants to talk with you about being on a TV show. He wants you to call him back." I burst out laughing, told her the story of getting the e-mail a week or so earlier and what I had done.

So, I called Syndey Leier and we talked for about 20 minutes. He asked me a lot of questions, "What do you do? Tell me about yourself? Why do you want to do this?" etc., etc. I was so tickled I think I giggled through the entire conversation. At the conclusion of the call, he stated he was going to send me a form to complete and return to him, then asked if I could make a 5 to 10 minute "demo video" and upload it for them to view (here is that video).

With the form completed and the video submitted (on Sunday, January 17th) I patiently waited to hear if I was going to make the cut.

Let me add here that I've never watched or been "hooked" on any reality TV show. I've NEVER seen one single episode of Big Brother, Survivor or anything of the like. Just never had any desire. Hey, life is a reality show in itself, why watch one of TV?

During the wait, I had asked friends, family and colleagues to send in a "we want Joey" e-mail to Pilgrim Films. With this, I had many, many people ask me about what was going on. It was really fun in sharing the story, and so many people were so very encouraging.

I found out this morning (02/10/10) that I was not selected for the show; I have to admit that the process, the effort in creating the video, the support from everyone was quite exciting. Sure I would have LOVED to have made it on the show...I can only imagine about all the cool weapons they're going to get to use, but life is like that and I'm okay.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH to each of you that helped with the e-mail campaign, who provided encouragement and to everyone who helped...especially my wife Chris who I drug out into the woods, in the rain and all over with my crazy video ideas.

So, with that adventure over, a new one now begins.

Until next time...


[Note: photo from http://www.fairlawnpd.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

Who likes you this much?

I like ol' Skeet Reese. I like to watch him fish, and I really like his truck! He is one of the top Bass anglers in the world today. I like to hear him teach about fishing techniques and I love his passion for what he does.

Others must like him as well.

He's very popular in the Bass Masters tour and has a social media site that has a lot of connected fans. But, more importantly for Skeet, he has a lot of companies that like him too. So much so that they sponsor him in his endeavors (i.e., PAY HIM!).

So on the last show I was watching with Skeet, I noticed his shirt (see photo above) and this made me think about drag racing and the cool shirts they wear there too. This thought lead me to think about my favorite competition shooter, Todd Jarrett, and his shirt + sponsors.

I'm looking at all the names on all these shirts of my favorite athletes and pondered how cool it would be if we could do this in our "business world"!

But this leads to my question: If you were to wear one of these shirts, who would be sponsoring you? How many sponsors would you have? What and how have you created your "personal brand" that would cause people/business to want to be part of what you're about?

I'd like to hear your thoughts about creating your personal and/or business brand. Please leave them in the comments section (below). THANKS!


[Note: photo from http://www.geminisportmarketing.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

Kudos - Surefire and CRKT

I wanted to publicly give kudos to two companies that I recently had some repair service done with:

First and foremost - Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT). I've owned a "Ryan" folder from them for several years now. Some time back, I snapped the pocket clip off when exiting my vehicle when it got tangled with the seat belt. I had let this go for some time, but recently became anxious to correct the problem. I sent CRKT an e-mail asking for information on how to purchase the replacement clip (and of course mentioned how much I enjoy all their products) and they promptly replied with a request for my mailing address so they could, FREE OF CHARGE, send me a replacement clip along with the associated set-screws. INCREDIBLE! Now that's what I call great customer service and something, even though small, that will keep me coming back to do business with them again in the future!

The other is - Surefire. If you want blinding white light for personal defense, few companies are better than Surefire. This is another case where I've owned one of their products (Z3 Combat Light) for some time and then experienced a major malfunction (tail-cap on/off switch freeze) that required replacement. So, I contacted Surefire (but note it took three attempts) and they too requested my mailing address and will ship me, FREE OF CHARGE, a replacement tail-cap which will resolve my problems. AWESOME!

So, with such great customer service and a positive customer experience, I thought I was share the news about these companies with you.

THANKS!


“Your Success Is My Business.”™

Don't Say It!!!

"Business as usual." I know you've heard it. You may have even said it. But is "business as usual" really the kind of business you want?

I really dislike hearing a business, or more especially a business owner, proclaim it's "business as usual". To me, it means that they're happy with the current status quo they've set for products, services and customer experience. But how can that be?

With new products constantly being developed, services always in need in review and update, and with the customer experience a never ending changing landscape, "business as usual" should never be spoken within a company by anyone!

The only "business as usual" they should have is constantly transforming the business into the absolute best it can be.

How about you - what do you think about the term "business as usual"?

[Note: photo from http://randwickelection.com/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™

Wise Words

A friend of mine shared this message with me recently and I found it very inspiring so I wanted to share it as well.

From the book, "Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life":

“An old man is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old man replied simply, “The one you feed.”

[Note: photo from http://www.wltc.org/]

“Your Success Is My Business.”™