Examples of companies throwing their egos to the wayside and working together

to achieve greatness are all around us.

It is very special though when it happens in the sporting world.  Because

of the high talent levels of the employees involved, the short term nature of

how long they have to work together, and the ego that is often with the

athlete it is hard to see it.

Right now there is something special happening in the NBA playoffs.

The San Antonio Spurs are train wrecking great teams and are sitting at 10-0

heading into Game 3 with the Thunder (which I think will be their only loss of

the series!), they have won 20 in a row overall and 29 of their last 31 games!

They have done so with teamwork, attention to detail, and a burning desire

to be the best.

This team doesn’t care who scores the most, who plays what night, all they

want to do is be the best in the world and win the NBA title.

And they are going to do it barring an injury.

The Spurs will win their 5th NBA title since 1999.  Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich

bring in countless cast offs, troublemakers, rookies, etc and get them to

buy into their system and play the sport and the game the way they want it

done.

No egos, no highlights, no drama, just WINS.

And winning the right way.  First class.

Even as a Thunder fan it is a pleasure to watch.  Because greatness is occuring

right in front of my eyes and I can do nothing but praise it and appreciate it.

Lebron won’t stop it, Durant won’t stop it, Chris Paul got swept by them.

The photo at the top of the post says everything you need to know about this

team and it is a case study for how to run an American business and to achieve

greatness.

Here’s a great clip that has now gone viral and showed that if they even have

the slightest slip up, Coach Popovich is ready to ask of them what they need

to do to win.

Here’s a clip from him asking them “to give him some nasty!”  They were down

double digits at that point in Game 1 against the Thunder and rallied to come

back and win.

Winning any sort of title at any level is a feat in itself.

But 5 NBA Titles in 13 years with different members on every team except one

thing never wavers: Duncan and Popovich’s mission.

ONE GOAL ONE TEAM NO EGOS.

What can we do today to create that kind of atmosphere in our business or

our company?

Thanks for reading all!  Post your thoughts on here or email ME any other great

examples of this type of “doing business” in our world.

CARPE DIEM!!

FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST YOUTUBE FLICKR INSTAGRAM FOURSQUARE

LINKEDIN MYSPACE (WHO?!) TUMBLR WORDPRESS GOOGLE + READER

Who really has the time to truly get on all of these sites and engage and

put valuable information out there?

While trying to have a career and a family.

I have realized over the past two years writing this blog and engaging on

social media that you have to know when to say when and you have to

simply be yourself and nothing else but yourself.

When I started this blog I honestly think my posts looking back kind of sucked!

Well okay they may still suck…

But the problem was I was trying to write just to write, trying to get on all of

these social media sites to build followers, add more networks, etc.

I didn’t know when to say when.

There are books, websites, posts talking about the 25 rules of engagement,

how to add followers, build a network, etc.

It is overwhelming, time consuming, and takes away the freedom of creating

ART.

I feel much more confident now that I know when to say when.

I write when I have something I want to say, or something that I want to praise

or pay tribute to.

I tweet in the same manner.

I get onto twitter when I want to see what everyone else is saying and what I

can learn from it.

I post easy to read links from facebook to this post to give people the

option to read it if they so choose.

I don’t post spam on my facebook fan page or other articles unless I think it is

something that truly interests people who read this.

I get onto facebook to wish people happy birthday or see photos from my

family and friends vacations and adventures in the world.

That’s really it. 

You have to pick what you want to do b/c if you just overwhelm yourself with

millions of sites, being on there all the time, you will lose focus on creating art

and working your career and be a professional email reader/replier.

A state of the art tweeter, a youtube extroadinaire.

Nothing else.

Just know when to say when.

When I stopped trying to force myself to write the ideas started flowing.

When I stopped trying to tweet just to tweet I started to meet funny, exciting,

and engaging people that I would have not met before.  I also learn more

in twenty minutes a day than I used to checking it once an hour.

The point is all of these platforms are out here for our enjoyment.  Nothing else.

Meet people, mess with your friends, learn new things, create your own art.

That’s the whole point.  It is not about building a following, or a minimum number

of keywords in your post.

Don’t lose track of that.

If you don’t know when to say when you will simply spin your wheels on social

media the rest of your life with no end in sight and forget where all the time

went years from now.

Have a great long holiday weekend everyone!

And as always thank you so much for reading and spreading the word if you like

my posts.  If you don’t thanks for not being too cruel in the comments.

CARPE DIEM!

IT IS MAYHEM!

Sports Mayhem has officially hit Los Angeles aka “City of Playoffs“ and while it may be short lived (I don’t see how the Lakers are going to come close to beating the Thunder) the LA Lakers, LA Clippers, and LA Kings are alive and well deep into the playoffs!

Even my good buddy David Beckham agreed with me as he gazed into my eyes (or my camera) as we gathered at the Staples Center for Game 1 of the Lakers-Nuggets Series.It was probably the coolest NBA game I had ever been to and the city of LA was just getting started!  During my recent 8 day trip to Southern California every night it seemed one of them was taking to the court or the ice.  And I wasn’t dreaming.

To say that the Staples Center was busy this past weekend is an understatement.  The Staples Center crew definitely should get a well deserved day off today as they recover from an insane sports weekend catering to not 1, but 3 playoff teams in one weekend!  LA hosted 6 playoff games in a mere 4 days and converting a hockey rink to a basketball court in 2 hours is no small feat.  But LA managed to pull it off.

Some cities that would be so lucky as to even have one professional sports team reach the playoffs were now staring at three of them all being in contention for a title.  And it was noticeable.  For a city that some stereotype as people who don’t care about their sports this city was buzzing and talking about it.

The applications go well beyond the teams and it delves into sports business too.  So what does all of this mayhem mean from a business side of things? (Other than the business they gained from me paying half a month’s rent for Lakers tickets, at least I got some photos and had fun!)

City of Playoffs = A Great Economic Impact

Like I said the city does not fit the stereotype of being laid back fans about their sports.  I also went to Dodgers and Angels games while I was out there and those were both more of the same passion on display from LA’s finest.  From a business side of things, playoff fever signals a positive economic impact to LA for a few different reasons.

Restaurants and Bars

The more these teams stay in the playoff hunt the more you see places like this filled up.  It is good for the industry and healthy and alive industries are always good for any city.  The amount of additional income a niche sports bar in LA that shows the LA Kings game on HD may help them have one of the busiest months they have ever seen.

People go out to watch these games.  Bars and Restaurants are the two most noticeable areas to draw the business but grocery chains and convenient stores see a bump on weeknights if local teams are playing.

Overall all legal business is good business for the city of LA and they are seeing an awful lot of it right now.

For the rest of the article head over to my friends at Sports Networker by

clicking HERE! 

And yes I was off on my Spurs Clipps prediction…Spurs Thunder will be

a matchup for the ages!

Carpe Diem All!

Perhaps you could call this a test in sociology or of the behavorial patterns of

human beings but I the other day when running at the park in the morning

I tried the “nodding experiment.” It included talking to strangers.

It was simple in theory.

I was going to run six laps around the park that morning for about a 4.5 mile run

and every time I ran by someone instead of lowering my head or looking the

other way I smiled and gave them a nod as we passed by each other.

MY DISCOVERIES WERE AMAZING!

1) People do not like to smile nor nod at you when jogging at a park.

Actually this was pretty much what I expected.

I was ignored or dodged 80% of the first lap.  The other 20% included a wave,

a howdy, and an exasperated plea for help to end their run I think!

2) The second or third time around the park when I saw them again and they

had given me the cold shoulder the first time these people went out of their

way to say “Good Morning!” or gave me a nod (or was it a wink and a gun

I forget??)

Takeaways?  Any?

If you give humans the opportunity to be polite to strangers they will.  People

will inherently eventually be kind.  They may not do it the first time but by

my fourth lap around people as I continued to pass 95% of the people had

returned the nod or good morning.

And my experiment also included that I would only say hello or nod the first lap

around.  So I would nod the first lap and be given the cold shoulder, and in some

cases the next two laps we passed in silence (as if they were thinking about

if they should return the friendly exchange) and by the 4th lap BOOM I would

get a “good morning.”

Be kind to strangers and random people and see what happens.

It may only be a nodding experiment in theory but it will pay dividends back

towards the world in making people more friendly to each other on a day to day

basis.

Thanks for reading everyone!  Have a great weekend and as always post your

comments and thoughts here.  Gotten the cold shoulder by someone recently or

an overly nice and friendly random person?  Post it here!

Carpe Diem Peeps!

My wife and I finished up Season 3 of the Sopranos Sunday night and by the

end of the year we will most likely have the series finished.

So first off there are no spoilers in here and if you are beyond this point don’t

return the spoiler favor please!

Or ELSE Patsy may come after you.

As I have been watching the Sopranos though I found this above photo to

perfectly describe the troubled main star of the show, Tony Soprano.

Tony every day does terrible things, but he also feels in his head he is doing

great things to take care of his family, his close friends, and is setting his

kids up for the long term to not get involved in “the game.”

But Tony puts himself through an awful lot of stress each and every day and

if somebody doesn’t whack him I could see the poor guy having a heart attack

or breaking his neck when he falls during one of his patented panic attacks.

Tony does all of this for the great riches and life that he leads.

But if you really dial it down to the core Tony’s marriage is in shambles, half of

his close friends are willing to rat him out if it means they avoid jail time, and his

kids and family aren’t happy with him.

So what is Tony truly doing this for?

In my eyes Tony is putting an awful lot of terrible work, hardcore stress, and

just an overall all way too hard daily life to enjoy material possessions.

The fine Italian dinners and wine at Arty’s, the huge jewels he buys his wife so

Carmela doesn’t leave him, the drinking benders at Bada Bing with the boys and

the strippers.

The point is Tony doesn’t need to be the head of the mob to do a lot of those

things.

But I guess it is what truly gets Tony going every day.  In his mind he is doing

the right thing, preserving his happiness but since what he really wants (happy

kids that love him, a wife he is head over heels for, friends that behaved like it

was still the 1930s in the mob) he has to convince himself that the food, the

wine, the jewels, the house is enough and why he does it.

Unfortunately that is why Tony leads such a troubled life.

It is an amazing show and it is fascinating how they portray his character and

that I actually am rooting for the guy 80% of the time.

So what truly gets you going?

Make sure that whatever you get up and work for each day is what you are truly

getting back for your time and hard work.

Make sure that you aren’t sacrificing true happiness for extra stress.

Don’t fall into Tony’s trap.  He is reaching too far now for feelings he will most

likely never receive.

What is it for me?

To simply have as much fun as I can every day.  To not be stressed and enjoy

myself all day long, smiling joking having fun with family and friends, etc.

I have been going through old things the past week getting ready for a garage

sale and it is never the possessions nor the things that I own that I remember.

It is who I was with, the experiences we shared and the fun we had, and the

moments that we look forward to that we can enjoy.

If I can do that and go out of my way every day to treat everyone I run into

with a smile and respect and try to make this world a better place then that

is what truly gets me going every day.

Honestly I get caught in the rat race some days and I just try to stop, relax, and

pull myself out of it.

Because the rat race is what you will forget about.

TONY IS TRAPPED.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE, EVER!

Thanks so much for reading everyone!

Have a great day and of course CARPE DIEM.  Post any comments on here about

what gets you going each morning and please NO SOPRANO SPOILERS!

I hear provocative, funny, entertaining, self improvement, every walk of speech

you could imagine in Toastmasters on Thursdays.

Two weeks ago one of the best in my club Tracy Austin, you can follow him on

twitter here for more words of wisdom, delivered a wonderful in depth speech

and my biggest takeaway from it was simply two words:

JUST BREATHE!

He said he started the practice a few years ago of prior to responding to what

someone has said to him is just breathe and count off six seconds before

he responded.

GREAT ADVICE!

I have found the more that I wait to respond to emails, return voicemails in an

hour instead of two seconds, etc that I say what I really think and feel.

You also sound more rational because you have given the time to think out

your thoughts.

It has given you the time to let your mind register what has been said to you

and you have had the time to correctly put together a response.

Our gut reactions are great when you are a 3rd baseman, point guard, or you

are standing on the railroad tracks staring at a train.  (Hint: gut reaction there

is get out the WAY!)  In emotional situations with people perhaps they aren’t.

So that’s it…

Give it a try.

When someone says something to you JUST BREATHE and give it the official

Tracy six seconds of breath and thought before you respond.

It will help you improve your sales, your attitude, your at home relationships with

your family and friends, and will overall give you a better confidence and

happiness as you walk through each day of our wonderful lives.

Have a great day everyone!

Carpe Diem and thanks for replanting some great actions into my habits Tracy!

Anyone who has watched television in Columbus Ohio over the past 15 years

knows the line:

I don’t get paid unless you get paid!

But since Kevin Kurgis and his law offices prefer TV and in the past Yellow Pages

I knew we had to come up with a valuable idea for him to look at RADIO as an

opportunity to help his business.

Hence the birth of JOCK 911!

Kevin calls in once a week to our afternoon drive guys and records two shows

where he gives legal advice to athletes or the unions in the sports realm as

though he were the lawyer.

You can check out past episodes HERE and the full landing page for him!

We brand Kevin as the official lawyer of 97.1 The Fan and this opportunity of

doing a weekly show coupled with his on air spots done by himself and Common

Man and Torg, weekly promos supporting the show, Yahoo targeting towards

people looking for a lawyer, and podcasts of former episodes…

EQUALS…

A GREAT SPORTS MARKETING IDEA!

The more creative we get and the more we work to come up with ideas that

will help our clients stand out and improve their businesses the more radio

will remain relevant, sports marketing will grow, and we can help our communities

thrive!

If you have a favorite one of Kevin’s former TV ads which can be found on

youtube link them on here or post your choice!

Have a great day everyone and of course CARPE DIEM!

MCA aka Adam Yauch, co founder of one of the most influential music groups

over the past 25 years and certainly one of the top 3 or 4 for any male that is

between the ages of 25 and 45 in America passed away yesterday from cancer

that he had been fighting since 2009.

I want to first say my prayers go out to his wife, kid, all of their extended family

and friends and his two brothers: Mike D and Ad Rock.

I would also like to say that I always feel empathy when I hear of someone who

I never did meet passes.  Empathy for their families and friends and what they

must be going through.

But I was surprised yesterday that when I heard the news that I was actually

not just feeling empathy but a bit of sadness and “bumming out.” 

I remember why I felt this way after I thought about it some today…

It was 2007 and I was well in my concert binge that I went through from 2005-

2010 or so and I saw that the Beastie Boys would be playing at Virgin Music

Festival in Baltimore that weekend.  It was close to my friends from college

who I hadn’t seen in a while and there were tons of other bands on that bill

I picked up with a friend and drove seven hours on a whim and we

wouldn’t have gone if not to see the BEASTIE BOYS for our first time.

They did not disappoint.

ENERGY.  HUMOR.  CLEVER LYRICS.  They kept poking fun of the fact that

they were opening for Sting and The Police and MCA repeatedly said how funny

it was that they were opening for this huge iconic band. 

The concert was second to none.  I saw them a second time when my wife and

friend and I drove last second once again on a Thursday night in Dayton to

see them at a show they added last second days before the ‘08 Presidential

Election to “Rock the Vote.”  It was Mike D’s birthday and they did it with Ben

Harper and the show was amazing.

That will be the final time I see the Beastie Boys in full live and in person.

I grew up on this band and on MCA aka Adam Yauch.

They made groovy, funky, funny, electric, and provocative music all at the same

time.

They made ART the way they wanted to do it.  They never backed down if it

was something they didn’t believe in doing.

They were a voice for my generation and one prior to mine and the one after.

The Beastie Boys broke it big at just the age of 20, they started playing together

in HS in Brooklyn as a punk rock band and while that influence stayed throughout

they become hip hop.  Their first record came out in the mid 80s and they just

released a very good album “Hot Sauce Commitee Part Two” last year.

We had to “FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO PARTY”

BUT…

The Beastie Boys also believed we had to fight for our right for freedom, in

doing what was right, in giving back to this world to make it a better place,

in not getting in trouble with the law or with drugs, in not turning into junkie

out of their mind celebrities, in making sure your voice was heard by voting

and standing up for what you believed in…

AND.

THEY BELIEVED IN ART AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD

And for me…as a kid, as an adult, that is why I felt sadness yesterday and

empathy for MCA, his family, and their friends.

The world lost a great man yesterday.

I only hope we can honor his memory as I am sure his brothers Mike D and

Ad Rock will by simply not giving into anything that we aren’t passionate about

and living a life that has a meaning in this world.

MCA made the world a better place with his music, art, laughter, charity work,

and unwillingness to conform to what they believed wasn’t right.

So tonight as we all celebrate our 5k, half marathons, Cinco De Mayo

and Kentucky Derby parties, let’s pour out a little tequila and give a toast

to the memory of MCA and to the future health and happiness of ourselves,

family, friends, and all strangers in this world who are trying to make

a difference!

And now without further ado my top 5 Beastie Boys songs of all time!

(One quick sidenote I do find it fitting that their final show together was at

Bonnaroo in 2009 and that Nas guest appeared on stage with them.  If there

ever was a music festival that the Beastie Boys belonged to it was Bonnaroo.)

5. Beastie Boys and Q Tip-Get it Together

4. Fight for your right…the original…without you get nothing else!

3. So What’cha Want!

2. Shake your RUMP

1. Everyone of their other songs b/c these guys rocked haha!  I mean come on

I could never pick b/t Brass Monkey, Girls, Sabotage, Intergalactic, etc.

Thanks for reading everyone!  I hope you learned a little something about MCA

and the Beastie Boys or it brought you back to grade or high school.

Carpe DIEM!

I am sure we have all heard a local business or a client say “Yeah I just need more

likes on my facebook page, we don’t have enough.”

OR

“Man nobody retweeted us today, we need more followers!”

I just read a great article this week by Brian Solis on his website right HERE and

it speaks about how actual engagement on facebook, twitter, etc for businesses

is somewhere in the 1% realm.

Meaning that if you have 1000 LIKES on facebook only 10 of them are actively

being engaged and interested in what you have to say.

Why is that?  That number is SO LOW………

Business are told to get on facebook, get on twitter, start pinning things, etc. and

add more followers because SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE NEW WAY!

Here is the problem:

Social media is a new and relatively cheaper way to connect with your possible

consumers, clients, and friends as opposed to the days of broadcast TV or a

national radio campaign.

But if you are still only PUSHING your product out or just trying to get people to

follow you, then your numbers will be out of whack and it is INEFFECTIVE!

It doesn’t matter how many people LIKE your page or FOLLOW your business.

It is what you say to them and what you do with them that matters…

Or else you are simply spamming them and resulting in a 1% engagement rate.

1% IS A WASTE OF YOUR TIME!

Make people want to come to your sites as their one stop shop for expertise

in your category.

Here’s what you can do TODAY to increase your 1%

1) Stop spamming people about the product details or your sales.  If that is all

you do people will stop paying attention.

2) Use it as an opportunity to speak with customers who had a truly great

experience with you.  If they write something on your page or to you ask them

for a testimonial.  You don’t need to post them but rather collect them and use

in your portfolio when meeting with people.

3) Let it be a place that if a customer vents you can hear/fix the problem.  That is

one of the biggest reasons that social media is so great.  If I have a client who

has a bad experience from radio ads and they have nowhere to vent they may

just have gone away ten years ago.  Now they post on their blogs or on your

pages.  So seek them out and view it as an opportunity to save a customer you

would have lost TEN years ago!

4) Special customer appreciation opportunities for only those on your page.

For instance do a monthly giveaway that is a thank you to your followers or

friends and gives them a reason to not unfollow or unlike you.

5) Be honest, be funny, and don’t just post about your business.  When I tweet

I try to either give information I believe is valuable and my followers would like,

help out others who wrote something cool or interesting, or just be funny and

engage with my friends or people I have met on there.  I don’t force it anymore.

I did when I started but it is a learning curve.

Social Media is not changing business in the fact that is a place to get free

advertising and spam people.  It is changing because it is an OPPORTUNITY (and

only an opportunity not a guarantee) to truly engage customers and perhaps

enhance or change their perceptions of you.

If you just spam and post, rinse and repeat, you will be at 1% and you only

want to be in their if it is the highest percentile of your graduating class!

Thanks for reading everyone!  Have a great day and please leave any comments

on here or email me HERE about any companies you think are doing a good job

on social media or what I can do better of course.

And CARPE DIEM!!

This is a great example of a trip I think everyone should enter and a way to open

the door with a new client based on an IDEA!

Don The Idea Guy and I purchased the website www.escapeohio.com and began

to reach out to tourism boards and at the top of our list was VISIT FLORIDA.com.

We wanted to put them on our statewide affiliate called ONN which includes our

local sports marketing radio station and we would drive people to a site with

a catchy and easy to remember name and we send winners that win a trip

from Ohio down to the Sunny State of Florida!

Visit Florida not only loved the idea and became a client of mine they did so in

an outstanding way in terms of the trip details!

You win airfare for two, hotel for five nights, rental car for six days, a couples

massage, and a dinner gift card for two the Hawks Cay Island Resort in the

Keys!

Over the next three months we will be giving away 7 of these trips!  That’s right

we are giving away 7 so register today to win your own trip!  Click HERE.

There are no gimmicks, no fine print scams, etc.

Just a great idea for a client who probably wouldn’t just spend money on our

radio station, but we opened the door with an idea and I think we will more than

get the clients ROI back and we have a great promotion to offer our listeners.

And all of you reading this blog!

That is a WIN WIN partnership.

That’s all for today everyone, seriously go register I’m just trying to encourage

this because we do have seven of them so one of my friends and readers is

bound to win.  (Sorry immediate family or co workers this doesn’t include you.)

IF you have seen any cool trip giveaways or registrations that stand up to what

they offer then post here or EMAIL me!

And as always have a great day and CARPE DIEM!

DO YOU FEEL YOUR HANDS GETTING CLAMMY?!

That is a photo of the Mount Everest Ice Fall and what you must do to cross

over this icefall on your way up to the highest point on Earth.

For a few miles…not just one of these.  Any mishap will send you plunging

into a blackhole never to be heard from again.

I just finished reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer which is a bone chilling,

edge of the seat ride, through Jon’s account of climbing Everest with a team

in 1996 where in one day 12 lives were lost.  It is a tragedy, a triumph for some,

and one of the most incredible books I have ever read and stories that I have

ever heard.

And I recommend this book to anyone looking for a great non fiction read.

So back to small steps every day…

In Jon’s hand by hand account of this is also a very descriptive and well told

explanation for how you climb Mt Everest.

Some interesting facts about your climb if you ever wanted to go:

-2 Month Minimum up at base camp and beyond without going down

-The main face you climb has about a two to three week window in May that

makes it suitable to climb.

-The air is so high you rarely sleep, can’t eat much, get broken ribs from

coughing so much, etc.

-You leave for the summit at 1130pmish and arrive mid afternoon and you are

so exhausted you often spend only 5 minutes up there before you have to

go down if you want to have any energy left.

Here’s where it gets incredibly interesting to me and what I want to compare it

to…

1) You have to “climatize” and adjust to the altitude for six weeks or so.  You

climb from Base Camp over that Icefall and spend the night at “Camp One.” 

Then you go back down to Base Camp go back over that Icefall up to

“Camp Two” and spend the night for 2-3 nights.  Then you repeat the process

for “Camp Three” and eventually “Camp Four.”  After you climb the summit you

don’t just go down and celebrate with margaritas…you spend another 2-3 days

“declimatizing.”

2) When you making your final summit ascent you are taking 2-5 small steps

before you have to stop for 2-5 minutes and regain your breath.

So beyond the fact that everyone wants to now go climb Everest (yeah right!)

it shows that to get to the highest point in the WORLD you have to take a

series of “small steps” over two months to get there.

The finest rock and technical ice climbers around the globe who are in the most

unbelievable shape in the world need to spend two months taking small step

after small step, from Base Camp to Camp One and back, Base Camp to Camp

Two and back, etc.

In the book Jon said they crossed that CRAZY icefall 8 times in total!

Then once these incredible climbers are near the top many (not all) of them are

going at such a snails pace that it is hard to imagine for anyone who hasn’t been

to that altitude.  3 small steps then a two minute break?!?!

SMALL STEPS IS WHAT IT TAKES TO GET TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD

If small steps are necessary to get to Everest then it is necessary every day

in life as well.

We can’t have success overnight that will last a lifetime.

Every day we wake up is a series of small steps that we must enjoy and relish

and do the best we can at to achieve our ultimate goals.

A series of 5 small prospecting calls every day for six months will lead to some

of your biggest sales months 12 months down the road.

A series of 20 thank you cards a week over for two years will lead you to

be known as the guy as the rep who appreciates their clients business the most.

A series of two months of going up and down a mountain with meticulous regard

to every detail will put you ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

So take the small steps every day…they are worth it and get you to where you

want to GO.

Thanks for reading everyone!  Have a great day and as always email ME your

thoughts or post your comments below on how taking small steps has helped

you achieve a goal.

CARPE DIEM (and read that book!)

My new sales concept!

Alec Baldwin’s A B C of always be closing has a new twist for me that I have come

up with: ALWAYS BE SMILING!

The above photo of this smiling young lad running a marathon a few weeks ago

has caught “viral mania.”  His photo was taken and uploaded to Flickr and it

spread across the internet like wild fire.

He even was featured on Good Morning America and now has a nickname coined

by the media of “ridiculously photogenic guy” and is even somewhat of a viral

celebrity over the past few weeks.

If you just smile and practice A B S you never know what is going to happen.

Zeddie Little was just having a good time running a marathon and now every

time he is in a job interview he can add that photo to his resume.  Show his

possible employer what he is going to look like every morning.  He I am sure is

receiving offers of endorsements and opportunities in the running and fitness

world as well.

Why?

Zeddie practiced ABS.

Talk about a great marketing strategy to practice with all of your clients…your

co workers…your family…your friends…and complete strangers all day every

day.

If you came to work and talked to your clients with an A B S approach like

Zeddie I guarantee you will have more fun and if you are keeping your funnel

full of prospects and great ideas for them you WILL INCREASE YOUR SALES

in whatever business sector you may be in.

And really what do you have to lose?!?!

ADOPT THE MARKETING FUN WITH MIKE SELLING STRATEGY OF A B S TODAY!

Oh and just for the record…I ran in a mini triathalon a few years ago and the

race captured this photo of me and even wrote on their site about how I was

the only one who really gave them a big smile…but thus…it never spread

with “viral mania” like Zeddie…maybe A B S will!

CARPE DIEM!

Thanks for reading everyone…have a great day and leave your comments on

here of your thoughts on the A B C or the A B S approach!

“The times they are A changin”-Bob Dylan

The guard is changing.  And the opportunities are endless.

Last week my lovely wife decided that we would do one new thing each night

that we had never before experienced in our city for seven days.

So we truly went out and explored…

We went to a ballroom dance class, we went to a local make your own candle

shop, we went and watched two of the best NBA teams in the league, we

went on a local taco truck tour, discovered new restaurants in Columbus, and I

even spoke at my Toastmasters class where I learned that maybe Freud wasn’t

the greatest psychologist and the guy who was preached happiness and well

being!

What’s the point of what I did and why do you care?

I saw what I feel that I have been seeing more and more of.

PASSION!

HAPPINESS!

EXCELLENCE!

I am seeing more and more people every day practicing their art, whatever

form it may be.  What is A R T?

Doing something that you truly love, truly care about, and will make a difference

in our futures well being and happiness.

The changing of the guard is happening before our eyes.

More and more of us are trying to make a difference every day in our own lives

and our own happiness and of those around us.

This is OUR TRUE “BAILOUT!”

It does not have to do with giving the auto industry millions of dollars or making

sure our banks are financially secure.

Our true bailout that will guide our country and our world into the next 50 years

is through all of us practicing ART and doing what truly makes us want to get

up earlier every single day and go do something that we feel will improve our

communities, our neighbors, our country, and EARTH.

What is your form of art?

That is something you need to find within yourself.  It needs to be something

that you will set your alarm one hour earlier to begin tomorrow without

hesitation, won’t mind working on it at night when you are tired, enjoy talking

to anyone who will listen about it, and something that you can survive off of

and make sure that it improves our community and world.

Simple as that right?! HAHA sure easy!

What is my form of art?

Waking up every day and trying to not worry about my budgets and my goals

as much as what kind of programs can I create for clients that are running

good morale first businesses that will make their money back and continue to

thrive.  It also means writing, reading, working out, trying new things, not using

the word “tired” or “no, not today.”  It means laughing as much as I can every

day and doing my art with a smile on my face.  It means going to bed knowing

that I did everything in my power to try to make everyone I ran into that day

a little bit happier and did everything to make this world a better place.

It means being a good person to all of my family, friends, co workers, and

strangers even if I am not in the mood to do so that day.

FIND YOUR ART AND KEEP CHANGING THE GUARD

Thanks for reading everyone!  Post your comments and what your ART is or

of what you want to begin to do below…or you can always just EMAIL me.

As always of course CARPE DIEM!

We love talking about the past and gleefully thinking about all of the great things

we want to do in the future.

But if all we do is fret about what we want to do and wish we could more of what

we have already done then we waste the most precious gift we have…

THE PRESENT!

So don’t forget to appreciate the moment at hand and hold off for just a moment

every day on talking about those future aspirations, wants, and desire and go

do something today that will brighten your or someone else’s day RIGHT NOW!

Carpe Diem All!