The 5% day

When a choice is made to live in regret, the world never seems fair.   2020 has given us plenty of opportunity for regret.  Raw and emotional decisions on safety, health, and welfare affected every business and are common conne ctions to us all that for what seems certain, no one got it all right (and maybe no one can).  Some business es stayed open, some closed.  Some leaders chose furlough, some fired.  Plastic makers shifted to make retail shields, underwear makers turned upside down made gaiters and m asks. Everyone is making hard decisions. Decisions we later learn were right, some w rong, learning moments of personal and professional growth.    When we choose to accept regret, conversations with others start with “wou ld of, could of, and should of” give us easy reason to bitch and complain, stealing energy that could be planning for our best day, our best leader.     The choice to say “I was wrong, move on”, cost nothing and frees your...

Some may argue, but it was a privilege to walk down Hollywood boulevard one summer night several years ago with my wife and kids, taking in the unusual sights.   I did not count them, but I am told that over 2,600 brass stars make up the Walk of Fame.  Most reflect the name of Hollywood actors, while the rest are occupied by celebrities in Television, Music, and Radio Oddly, missing from the walk of fame is an English band from the British invasion era, the Kinks.  Known for their storytelling abilities and crowd-pleasing live concerts (many I attended), the Kinks wrote the lyrics in Celluloid Heroes, a story about the Hollywood boulevard.  The song speaks to the costs and consequences of the celebrity’s pursuits, with the words, “ For those who are successful , be always on your guard , because s uccess walks hand in hand with failure , a long the Hollywood Boulevard”.  True to the words in the song, the boulevard is a fifteen-block walking sto...

We are all in denial. The business we had yesterday is gone, replaced by a ground zero formula that only you and I can start to define. Where do you start a formula to connect and market to customers that need your services once again? Let's look at the 5 stages of technology adoption. https://ondigitalmarketing.com/learn/odm/foundations/5-customer-segments-technology-adoption/ From a simple marketing perspective, if 84% of our promotions are aimed to go to the mass that takes sometimes 7 times to hear our message (Marketing rule of 7), then lets work with the 16% of the customers that know us already, talk about us often, and are sometimes closer to us then our own family. Go to early adopters and innovators, the business family that heard about you once and committed, remain loyal and talk proudly about you. Who is your business family? The 3x+ repeat customers The first responders to a new marketing message  The referral sources you have their personal pho...

You may have thought it was the perfect year.  Starting in February, on that day, just after 2:02 a.m on 02/02/2020, the month and year a rare palindrome.  The last time this occurred was 909 years ago, on 11/11/1111.  It ’s also likely the only year you are alive where the first two digits match the last two, like 1919, or in 101 years for 2121. Heck, it was an entry into a new decade, something most of us only get to experience 5 to 10 times in our lives, if we are lucky.  Let's not forget it’s a leap year, coming around every 4 years, some say it’s a lucky year because we get an extra day. Leaplings born on this day may disagree. In business, if the month ends at the end of a week, it seems ideal, at least for accountants and bookkeepers, and for leaders keeping score.  If a holiday falls on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or even Monday, it is less disruption.  The Perfect year was looking like this.  ·     ...

Celebrations like a hug and high-five seem so yesterday. The new norms explained say I have to give that up.  Every decade has a new set of norms that evolve, making us stronger and more immune to potential bad things, sometimes at the expense of the good. Social science people tell us norms are learned behaviors shared by a social group.   Each generation tinkers with their norms, creating new conversations around routines and habits. Our society is adjusting to a set of new norms.  Right now.  It’s a universal adjustment of huge proportions, a corona shift in behaviors and habits that will become part of our every day, for generations to come. Quarantine shaming; we feel pressure to say something.   Social distancing; one step back is now my first step in a meeting.    One-way aisles at Home Depot?  It's probably coming. Forget the post-game handshakes in golf; I can’t say I was ever happy after a r...

I t i s starting all over again. Ground zero.  It’s a new space, new set of rules. The comforting thoughts of repeated business and momentum are replaced with the fear of close contact.  Our referral and business streams are at a halt, momentum has been kicked at the knees.   Rip up the business plans, throw away the growth plan, kill the budgets.  The hardest part is letting go of what you learned to get here, because we are in a new game, a new set of rules, cast upon us in a few short weeks It's time to rethink your day, re-write your business, and re-identify your brand. Every phone call should create  new opportunities. Answer it quick.  Every handshake (when we are allowed) is a chance to provide solutions, listen deep.   Every success is to be celebrated, multiply it by 10.  Starting now, our lives have changed.  When this all comes back, we cannot be the same.  No complaints are ...