In the Gopher's hole...

Silverlining

2010-08-26T15:20:00.000-06:00

Wide Mouth Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXLZqzozwsQ

Finish Strong

2010-08-02T14:28:00.000-06:00

http://www.finishstrongmovie.com/?cm_mmc=Responsys-_-MO-_-08.02.10-_-FSTRmovie

Easy, Affordable Marketing Ideas...

2010-06-08T08:17:00.001-06:00

1) Use every outgoing piece of paper, and every electronic document as business promotion.

2) Writing articles on topics related to your business expertise is an excellent business promotion technique.

3) Sending out press releases is another great way to get some free business promotion.

4) Use buddy marketing to promote your business.

5) Give out freebies as business promotion.

6) Promote your business on a talk show. (CKSW, The Eagle, Magic)

7) Promote your business by giving a seminar or presentation.

8) Use your vehicle to promote your business.

Eat That Frog!

2010-06-08T08:07:00.001-06:00

There's an old saying that says...

"If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day!"

Brian Tracy says that your "frog" should be the most difficult item on your things to do list, the one you're most likely to procrastinate on; because, if you eat that first, it'll give you energy and momentum for the rest of the day. But, if you don't...and let him sit there on the plate and stare at you while you do a hundred unimportant things, it can drain your energy and you won't even know it.

Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.

Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the frog that you should eat first.

1. Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments
2. Motivate Yourself

Employers: Watch this!

2010-05-27T07:48:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Check out this video...great marketing advice!

2010-04-19T22:23:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gguxDDX3rro

100/0 Principle

2010-04-13T08:48:00.000-06:00

The 100/0 Principle applies to those people in your life where the relationships are too important to react automatically or judgmentally. Each of us must determine the relationships to which this principle should apply. For most of us, it applies to work associates, customers, suppliers, family and friends.

STEP 1 - Determine what you can do to make the relationship work...then do it. Demonstrate respect and kindness to the other person, whether he/she deserves it or not.

STEP 2 - Do not expect anything in return. Zero, zip, nada.

STEP 3 - Do not allow anything the other person says or does (no matter how annoying!) to affect you. In other words, don't take the bait.

STEP 4 - Be persistent with your graciousness and kindness. Often we give up too soon, especially when others don't respond in kind. Remember to expect nothing in return

Andrea's 5 Favorite Things!

2010-01-13T12:55:00.004-06:00

2. The Magic Bullet - The best part of the kitchen!
3. Strawberry Perfume Oil from the Body Shop.-Smells great and costs as much as a Latte at Urban Ground.
4. Macs-the most dependable computers on the planet. Once you go Mac, you never go back. Trust me.
5. Re-Usable Grocery Bags - besides the obvious reasons, these are a must in every house hold. They are also a GREAT gift to give away to clients.
1. Just A Drop- Say goodbye to personal bathroom odors! There is nothing like this!!!!!

5 Ways To Evoke Growth In Your Business

2010-01-12T08:18:00.000-06:00

1. Grow Up and put your big girl panties on.
2. Study until you get it.
3. Know that you don't know it all-humility comes before honor.
4. Be a fruit inspector - metaphorically speaking.
5. Get real

2010-01-02T17:26:00.000-06:00

"You're not a hundred dollar bill. Not everyone is going to like you."
- Patricia Cabot

This is pure wisdom!

Fatal Optimism

2009-09-01T17:24:00.001-06:00

The Alligator and the Mockingbird

Few people are as tiresome as the person who lives life in a minor key. Pessimistic people remind me of Eeyore the donkey:

“I don’t think we can do it.”
“This idea will never work.”
“It’s probably going to rain.”

On the other hand, few people are as terrifying as Eeyore’s opposite.
Have you ever known a person with Fatal Optimism?

“If we just think happy thoughts, everything will turn out okay.”
“I am a child of the Universe. I have a right to be here.”
“I’m a winner. I can do it. I’m special.”

I’m a proponent of boldness. <http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/mmmredirect.asp?id=1299> But I also believe you should count the cost and be willing to pay the price. The comedians at Despair.com spoke the truth when they said, “FAILURE: Because sometimes your very best just isn’t good enough.”

In her essay, How Positive Thinking Wrecked the Economy, Barbara Ehrenreich writes,

“Besides greed, another habit of mind should get its share of the blame: the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-American, positive thinking.” Barbara writes, “Everyone knows that you won't get a job paying more than $15 an hour unless you're a ‘positive person’ -- doubt-free, uncritical, and smiling -- and no one becomes a CEO by issuing warnings of possible disaster.”

How do we become infected with Fatal Optimism? Malcolm Gladwell says it happens slowly.

“As novices, we don’t trust our judgment. Then we have some success, and begin to feel a little surer of ourselves. Finally, we get to the top of our game and succumb to the trap of thinking that there’s nothing we can’t master. As we get older and more experienced, we overestimate the accuracy of our judgments, especially when the task before us is difficult and when we’re involved with something of great personal importance.”

In the early part of WWI,
the British thought:
1. The Turks would lose at Gallipoli,
2. Belgium would be an obstacle to Germany’s advance and
3. Russia was sure to crush the Germans in the east.
The French believed their army would be at the Rhine within six weeks of the start of the war. Meanwhile the Germans were predicting the same amount of time would take the German army to the outskirts of Paris.

Each of these predictions was horribly, tragically wrong.

Do you remember all the people who claimed we would be "out of Iraq" within 30 days of the invasion? I knew it was politically dangerous and that it would cost me friends, clients and money, but I responded by voicing my concern that we were launching the next Viet Nam. More than a few people snorted and said to me, “You’re a fool if you think we’re going to fight this war with men. This will be a pushbutton war.” And then they accused me of “not supporting our troops.” That was six and a half years ago. I wonder how many of those troops wish I had shouted louder, longer, sooner?

But today’s memo isn’t about politics, it’s about business. I included the Iraqi War memory because, other than the recent mortgage meltdown, I couldn’t think of a more stinging example of overconfidence than our invasion of Iraq. (Yes, I’m fully aware this comment will anger some people. But when a man volunteers to wear the handcuffs of public opinion, his words become flaccid and his advice becomes suspect. I don’t want to be that man.)

In 2004, Oxford University Press published a book by psychologist Mark Fenton-O’Creevy. Too few people read it. That prophetic book <http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/mmmredirect.asp?id=1298> was the result of a 3-year study O’Creevy conducted involving 118 managers and traders at four leading investment banks.

One of O’Creevy’s tests involved a computer program that mimicked the ups and downs of the stock market. As the line moved across the screen, the traders were asked to press a series of buttons, which, they were told, might or might not affect the course of the line. At the end of each session, the traders were asked to rate their effectiveness in moving the line upward. Keep in mind the buttons had no effect whatsoever on the line. But each of the stock traders was convinced he had figured out exactly which combinations of buttons made the line go up. (Psychologists call this "magical thinking <http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/mmmredirect.asp?id=1317> " and it's often associated with schizophrenia.)

Overconfidence is the rocket fuel of incredibly dumb decisions.

As my older and wiser friend Loren Lewis used to say when I was 17, “Don’t let your alligator mouth overload your mockingbird ass.”

Be bold, but count the cost.
Never assume you can't lose.

And remember:
Failure is a temporary condition.
So don't let it scare you.

--

Baron Rackow
Wide Mouth Media
121 Central Avenue N
Swift Current, SK S9H 0K9
Tel: 306.778.2699 Fax: 306.778.6877
www.widemouthmedia.com <http://www.widemouthmedia.com/>

Chicken Man

2009-08-31T09:20:00.002-06:00

"chicken-man" - noun. A census-taker, humorous.
"William Craigie's 'Dictionary of American English', 1940

In an 1881 survey of Britain, residents were asked to provide their "rank, profession or occupation." Some of the more unusual verbatim responses, either entered by the subjects themselves or by interviewers and preserved by the London Genealogical Society included:

-Teacher of Wax Flowers
-Hand in Hartley's Jam
-He play all day long
-Egg-cracker
-Slob Brickmaker
-Emasculator
-Dog Performer
-Sampler of Drugs
-Formerly Fat
-Turnip Shepherd
-Very Feeble
-Proprietor of Midgets
-Gymnast to House Painter
-Knocker-Up of Work People
-Fifty-two Years an Imbecile
-Examiner of Under-Clothing
-Colorist of Artificial Fish
-Supposed to be a lady
-Rust Attendant at Lavatory

And here I am a mere business manager. Dear boss--I don't mean to complain, but could I get my business cards changed? I would REALLY REALLY like to be a Turnip Shepherd from now on. Or a Proprietor of Midgets.

I was gonna be an Examiner of Under Clothing. But my wife said no.

Maybe next year.

by Baron Rackow

Adsense

2009-08-31T09:17:00.000-06:00

Roy Williams emailed out a list of 10 things to never do in your advertising. Here are a couple of them...

Here is #4 and #7

4. Never conjure an unpleasant mental image.
Fear and disgust work face-to-face, but they often backfire when used in mass media. Conjure these unpleasant emotions in the minds of the masses and you’ll leave your listeners with a vaguely bad feeling attached to your name. They’ll want to avoid you, but they won’t be able to recall exactly why.

And here is #7... which is a new one I haven't seen before, but you're seeing/hearing ads that break this rule all over the place:

7. Never mention the recession.
I understand how tempting it is to say, “In order to help you combat the recession we’re offering…” But all that really does is remind the customer that now is not a good time to be spending money.

Welcome to Wide Mouth Media's blog...

2009-08-31T09:08:00.001-06:00

Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember-the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you. :)