Calm After The Storm
Forever & AlwaysWe often think of the 'calm before the storm', but rarely do we recognize or even witness the 'calm after the storm'. This sunset occurred less than an hour after a severe storm, near Otter Falls, MB, that brought down a hundred trees near a cabin we had rented. The clouds became soft like cotton balls (mammatus clouds) and the sky was at peace.
With the sand sliding between our toes, and walking hand in hand, there was no thoughts of #tweets, #likes or #snapchats.
Warning: Skype is Addictive but there are NO EMERGENCY calls with Skype, it is not a replacement for your ordinary telephone and can’t be used for emergency calling.
I have been using Skype almost since the beginning and although I love Skype and recommend it to almost everyone, there are a few things I wish I knew before using their many different services. Skype isn’t just for calling your friends for free over the computer anymore; it is a virtual gold mine alternative to using regular landlines, long distance, voicemail and more.
Update Jan 2010: My parents who are in their 60’s are now using unlimited long distance from Skype while they travel for several months (they were shocked that it only costs $2.95/month in North America!)…
I am going to summarize for you what Skype is capable of via features and hopefully point you in the right direction to save you time, money & headaches. I will leave out and assume you know that you can talk, instant message & video chat with anyone in the world for free, as long as both computers have downloaded the free version of Skype.
Skype Phone Number (SkypeIn): An online number is perfect if you have friends, family or business colleagues who don’t use Skype. Anyone can dial your online number from any phone or cell phone and hey presto, your Skype rings and you pick up the call – wherever you are in the world.
Skype Voicemail: People leave you messages when you’re unavailable. Personalize your voicemail greeting. Store your messages and listen later. Pick up your voicemails anywhere in the world. Voicemail is the simple solution to never missing a call. Your unanswered calls are sent to voicemail and you can listen to messages when you want, wherever you are signed in to Skype.
Unlimited calls to landlines with Skype: Starting from 3$ unlimited long distance with in your country to about $13 per month anywhere in the world. You can make calls any time of day, any day of the week without the need for a long term contract. All subscriptions contain online numbers that let your friends, family or business contacts reach you directly on Skype. And with your Skype To Go number you can reach your friends and family abroad at great rates using any landline or mobile phone.
Skype Out: You can pay as you go if you don’t want a monthly commitment. Calling rates as low as .02 cents per minute. Skype to Go: Service is no longer available.
Skype for Business: Now you’re up and running, utilize features that can help your staff keep in touch while they’re out of the office, like voicemail and call forwarding. You can also buy and distribute calling credit amongst your team so they can call phones and cell phones to talk to people who don’t use Skype, and save money at the same time. Plus you can set up online numbers so clients, partners and potential new customers have a number they can call you on from any phone or mobile, and you pick up in Skype.
Small Business Pack: Get business phones, headsets and everything you’ll need for your business on Skype.
Use Skype for cheap SMS (.09 cents): Sending a text message directly from Skype is perfect when you want to quickly reach a friend or colleague. You can even group a bunch of people together and send them the same message with one click. You can send text messages to phones on any network, in any country.
Take texting to a whole new level whether you are in school, in business or in love!
Hope you found this helpful, and again if you think I have missed an important feature (or feel something is out of date) please let me know and I will update this posting. You can connect with me on Skype using my user name leeraito. I decline all connection requests on Skype unless you send me a message commenting on my blog, or where you found me online. I would recommend you do the same if contacted by anyone you would consider a stranger online!
Warning: This story is fictional. If this bears any similarity to sales people you may know or have seen it is purely coincidental!
Prospect: Glad you’re hear, I really need help with…
Interrupting Sales Person: I know what you need, we have this awesome product it would be great for you! It’s the number one product in its class, it wins awards every year, and all your competitors are using it!
Prospect: Umm… but what does it do for me?
Sales Person: It’s going to blow your socks off, it’s going to change the way you do business.
Prospect Blow Off: I just forgot, I have to get running to meet my partner for lunch, or I am officially toast. Call my assistant and reschedule next week and we will talk some more. Gotta run!
This may be a little exaggerated, but is always a good reminder when in a sales meeting, sales call or talking with your spouse to shut up and listen. If you don’t, you run the risk of never finding out what your prospect actually needs, so that you can have a snow balls chance in hell of selling a BENEFIT to your product or service. If your prospective client sees a strong benefit to doing business with you, they are ten times more likely to close. The only way any of this happens, sales or spouse related, is by listening first to find out what they truly need.
Most people, including spouses, don’t want the smoke & mirrors of feature after feature, accolade and awards. They want to converse and be heard, and for you to expertly help solve their problems or improve their life. OK, maybe that’s a stretch with you partner, but it’s sure true in sales.
Now… I’m going to shut up and listen!
For some strange reason when I was reading Seth’s latest blog post entitled ‘Sing It’, I was reminded of a saying I haven’t heard in a while, “Say it…don’t spray it!” I’ll get to that in a second, but really think you should take the time to read Sing It Please first! Its a great reminder to not just show up! In today’s business world and life period, showing up isn’t half the battle anymore, it is how passionately and well you sing when you arrive. Here is Seth’s post: Sing It Please
Back to my point, “Say it…don’t spray it!” reminds me of the quasi-polar opposite of the point Seth was making in his post. There are people who try too hard, and although they may be passionate, this isn’t how they are perceived in business meetings, sales appointments, musical performances or other interactions. Now don’t get me wrong, I would rather have a passionate loud talking occasional saliva sprayer in front of me any day, as opposed to someone who just shows up, lacks passion and goes through the motions.
Sometimes people love and are passionate about things they just aren’t really good at…YET! That’s why its always a good idea to seek feedback about your performances in life whether your are in sales, a professional presenter, musician or even dare say a blogger! If you have true passion, you will engage people even if you aren’t seething with raw talent!
So in Seth’s case he saw a band perform, and the singer just didn’t seem to have passion or gusto, so he reminded all of us to put some effort into our performances and ‘SING IT PLEASE’. Good point Seth, but what if the singer didn’t know he/she gave a less than stellar performance, because everyone was too busy clapping. Group think tends to take over and we tend to applaud a performer just for performing, and a speaker just for speaking, and so on. All it takes is one clap of the hands. As a performer, the best thing and worst thing is to hear is constructive criticism, but it sure does the trick.
I leave you with William Hung.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJRnPn41jqM&NR=1[/youtube]
Please read to the end for the surprise Angelina Jolie twist…
So there I was, hanging with the family on short vacation, paying for those insidious Happy Meals at an undisclosed location in Grand Forks, ND. Then it happened… the counter girl handed me my change, with a smile. As I was about to stuff the bills in my wallet and go stuff my face, the red ink stamped next to George Washington jumped out at me. I was intrigued, curious and wondered what mysterious message awaited my discovery.
For a brief moment, I felt had just won a mini lottery until I read the following message: See where I’ve been Track where I go next www.wheresgeorge.com A little deflated, I cursed my decision to not bring my laptop on the family vacation, but having to wait a few days to check this out probably added to the excitement. Honestly, I thought I was seeing a knew viral marketing tactic with America’s best viral medium… money! Who was behind this? The movie industry, an ingenious charity, the US Government… I was wrong, wrong, way wrong!
After getting home and pulling up www.wheresgeorge.com I discovered the United States Currency Tracking Experiment has been going on for more than 10 years (where have I been!!!), and exactly as the message suggests it is designed for the curious at heart to track where a bill has been and after you release it back into the world, where it will go next.
So today, wanting to know the history of this particular George Washington, I signed up at the site and entered in the serial number, current location of the dollar bill I had found and short little story. In hopes, that I would discover a vast history that I have so vividly imagined. Of course, this bill must have traveled thousands of miles, and touched the hands of Angelina Jolie in Hollywood, passed though the casinos of Las Vegas, and worked its was north by some hitch hiker who was trying to get home to see the love her life, and kept this last dollar to have a cheese burger at McDonalds while she waited for her long lost love to come pick her up where they first met .
Not quite…
So it turns out, this bill has travelled a measly 337 Miles, from Minnesota, USA to Manitoba, Canada in a little over a year. A big, big Yawn! But that doesn’t mean the story ends here. Here is the Angelina Jolie twist. Let’s give this George Washington fellow a real trip. If anyone reading this on the other side of the world, or at least not in North America, has a great cause to support… I’m buying!!!! Your cause will get the Wheres George 1$ bill and I will throw in an additional $100. Just reply to this post, and we can work out the details via email. I will continue to update this story as it unfolds!
Maybe we can eventually get this bill to Angelina Jolie or to someone who will help change the world with it, or at least give this George Washington guy a little sexier ending than 337 measly miles and a McDonalds Happy Meal. According to their site WheresGeorge.com hasn’t made the news in 6 years, and their blog hasn’t seen a fresh post in 2 years. Maybe its time the owners and the estimated 50,000+ registered users of www.wheresgeorge.com start using those dollars to help out those who are less fortunate, and see just how viral money can be when it has some good karma attached to it.
Update # 001- Thursday, July 31/2008 – Wheres George user Amy stopped by and straightened me out on a few things, namely not exposing the serial number of a bill. That was confirmed when a few minutes later came from none other than Hank Eskin, the creator of WheresGeorge.com (pasted in a comment below)! So NO, requests for a charity on the other side of the world yet, but as per Amy I will be heading over to the Wheres George forum to see the users section devoted to Charity. Kudos to Amy for helping raise money for Breast Cancer.
This post will continue to be updated as it develops.
Don’t Read Stumbling on Happiness
So again, don’t read Stumbling on Happiness
There are days that I wish I hadn’t read Stumbling on Happiness
Next best thing since __________ !
If you came here looking for bread recipes, bread history or world famous bread then your in the wrong place. Try Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread This is about marketing in today’s messed up world of information overload, where people are now immune to good advertising.
Next best thing since SLICED BREAD.
Seth Godin is one of the world’s most premier experts on permission based marketing, and in a speech he did about a year ago he drives home the reality for people and companies trying to market in today’s world of information overload. People ignore advertising and marketing today, even if it’s darn good. Unless it’s truly remarkable…you will be largely be ignored by potential customers.
Bread was once not sliced….quite shocking!
But one man in 1917, Otto Frederick Rohwedder had an idea and a vision that the world would eat sliced bread. Due to a fire he lost his first prototype, and didn`t’ have a working slicing machine until the 1920’s. By the late 1920`s he again had a working model, and several bread companies started using it.
The world disagreed and didn`t jump all over the `Best Thing Since Sliced Bread` for several years, until the 1930’s, when a company called Wonder Bread came along, launched a massive marketing campaign and made sliced bread remarkable. What Otto and the initial bread companies that adopted the technology couldn’t do to spread the word, took Wonder bread only a very short time. Wonder Bread, at the time, was remarkable. People took the time to ‘remark’ to friends, family and co-workers the Wonders of Wonder Bread, pun intended.
Here is the video of Seth Godin’s Bread speech, and it is well worth the 18 minutes of your time. Whether you are a consumer interested in how businesses are vying for your dollars, or in sales and marketing and need inspiration for your own marketing… this is a must see and covers a lot more than just bread!
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg[/youtube]
If you are looking to register your phone number for the Canadian National Do Not Call List please click here: https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/insnum-regnum-eng
Bell Canada was awarded the 5 year contract from the CRTC in December 2007. It is official; The National Do Not Call list will be in effect in Canada by September 2008 at the latest.
I have been involved in sales in one fashion or another for almost two decades in Canada, and I have mixed feelings (Good, Bad & Ugly) about the CRTC’s National Do Not Call List. On one hand the reduction of telemarketing calls for useless products and services that most people don’t want to hear about does sound appealing, if you choose to add yourself to the list. On the other hand, there are some bad effects and seriously ugly flaws with the program that people just don’t realize how draconian the CRTC has made the rules surrounding this list, and it will have a negative impact on some very important industries in Canada.
Let first quickly recap what the National Do Not Call list actually is and isn’t. The National Call list is a choice. Consumers with a phone in Canada can choose for free to add their phone number to a list of people who do not want to be called by telemarketers trying to sell their products and services (anyone soliciting with a phone is defined as a telemarketer…period). Does it guarantee you won’t get calls? NO, but for the first time in Canada you will be able to complain to BELL and actually have recourse in the event someone calls you when they shouldn’t. The company or person who breaks the rules can face heavy fines, to the tune of $15,000 per offence. In theory, the fear of punishment should make the National Do Not Call List work like a charm.
There are certain organizations that are exempt. Even if you are on the list the continuous calls from charities and surveys will not cease. So the do not call list isn’t a magical black box service that will stop your phone ringing. Also, any company that has an existing business relationship with you is permitted to continue to call you regarding the products and services of that company, this has primarily exempted your bank or insurance company from the list, but also will keep you on the list of many companies with whom you do business.
THE GOOD – it will reduce unwanted calls.
THE BAD – if you’re in sales life just changed.
THE UGLY – word of mouth referral based businesses are being forced to adapt and pay money to Bell to comply, regardless of whether your business is a one person shop or hundreds of people.
The term referral in Canada may no longer be safe for many businesses. Let’s say I am talking with Mike my life insurance agent, and I think it would be a good idea for him to give my friend Sam a call as they just had a baby, and I know he doesn’t have an agent. According to the CRTC, if Mike calls Sam, and Sam is on the Do Not Call List, he is in contradiction of the rules and his company could be fined up to $15,000. Now, Sam may not complain and it may go unnoticed even if Mike did call, but that’s not the point. Mike is taking a risk, and is at the mercy for paying for cross referencing Bell’s No Not Call List, adding an extra layer of administration and cost to his business. Not to mention who knows what Bell will be charging for these lists?
There are many industries in Canada that have been built on word of mouth, and the CRTC has now made it even harder for one person to recommend a service to another. When the Do Not Call list officially launches later this year, many businesses are going to have to rethink their telemarketing strategy.
The one immediate and safe solution is for businesses and direct sales forces to focus on introductions, instead of referrals. Asking for an introduction lunch or coffee with a ‘referral’ can be very effective. Of course, referrals are still the life blood of many businesses, and that’s why it will become very important to become familiar with the rules and ensure you or your company follows them.
Looking for more detailed information you can get it from the horse’s mouth here: Bell.ca/DoNotCall
Want to read the 500+ page CRTC Ruling: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2007/dt2007-48.htm
It’s a curse.
I’m an idea guy with very little time who as a result has to be very picky on what I implement. So rather than let an idea die and whither away, I set it free and give it to you( if its not for you then you should FEEL OBLIGATED to pass this on to the person YOU KNOW this is for.. EVERY BODY KNOWS SOMEONE WHO IS LOOKING FOR AN INDEA THEY CAN RUN WITH). As I mentioned in my Give Your Best Ideas Away post all I ask is that if you or anyone implements any of my ideas, just pay me in what ever manner you want one year after you have implemented the idea. Whether that’s a thank you email, or whatever you feel that idea was truly worth. Karma!
10PageBooks.com How many people just don’t have time to read a 300+ page book on the topic they would love to read about, even if it is for only 20 minutes. Since we already know the answer to that question, I will tell you this concept is nothing new! Ever heard of Coles Notes?
So here is the free idea of the day that can go one of two ways. 10PageBooks.com could work with authors to write on every topic under the sun, but to a maximum of 10 pages. Still have to be extremely high quality work, captivating, and inexpensive for the buyer at lets say $1.99 a book, but nonetheless a very valuable service for time pressed readers. Ensure you don’t put out crap and you will get repeat business guaranteed.
The second way is for one author to take this idea and run with it. The web domain could still be used but not necessary. Any author could use www.lulu.com to immediately start cranking out high quality 10 page books in their niche. Whether you write how to books, romance, business or anything else, snappy titles will grab your reader’s attention.
Hear are a few titles that just popped into my head:
Raising Kids – Ten Most Important Pages on Raising Children You Will Ever Read
Buying a Car Today? Learn In 20 Minutes or Less How to Save Yourself Thousands from the Sleaziest Car Salesman in the World
Anyway, think you get the idea.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Give Your Best Idea Away Free
At the end of this post I am going to give away one of my best ideas of the day away free to you and the world.
‘Give Your Best Ideas Away Free!’ This is an interesting statement, and around most entrepreneurs I know it is also one that gets mixed reactions. I’ve had some people just get down right stupid and mean hearted when asked to give away their best ideas. Can you blame them? No, it’s just a fact of life we tend to guard what we think could be profitable, and as a result the natural greed in us shines through. The two year old who doesn’t know how to share and yells ‘MINE’ still lives in all of us.
Here is the theory behind my madness! Call it karma, call it my belief in the laws of the universe… call it whatever you want, but I truly believe that if you, me or anyone else has an idea that for whatever reason can not implement in a reasonable amount of time, the idea will simply get lost. This does no one any good, and in reality when people hear great ideas 99% won’t implement them, even if they had the time and resources to.
What I am hoping for is the 1%, or the tenth of one percent of people who will take the idea and make it happen.
All I ask is that if you are that rare person to run with one of my ideas, that one day you pay me in what ever manner you feel fit. In other words pay what you felt that idea was worth one year after you implemented it.
Idea # 1 Purchase the web domain www.ItWasNiceToMeetYou.com and establish a service for people to follow up with people they meet in their life. This service could have social networking features, but more importantly the ability after meeting someone and getting their email address, to send people to their customized www.ItWasNiceToMeetYou.com link. The possibilities to provide services to users are endless from there. If you have read the Tipping Point this concept will intrigue you.
That’s it! Now go out there and share your best ideas!
Cheers,
Lee
According to Wikepidia the average person gives 55 Birthday Cards per year. If you are a business or have a gigantic family hundreds of cards a year is not out of line.
Well in our house with loving wife and three social butterfly daughters, it works out to a lot more than 55 cards per year. When you add in anniversaries, new arrivals & Christmas it gets down right expensive and time consuming at about $4 for store bought cards, postage and this doesn’t even consider the time, gas or additional items you inevitably end up splurging on every time you go shopping .
So we did the math out of curiosity and although our Card Giving Chart below is approximate numbers we feel they are pretty darn close.
Over $1000 a year in all honesty wasn’t really shocking. At this point I didn’t even want to dig into which ones went along with gifts at $20 to $40 a pop. That’s for another day!
So my wife and I decided to do some research and check out the online do it your self versions of the popular card manufacturers like Hallmark & American Greetings, versus services that also put a stamp and send out the cards for you like SendOutCards. Our question was, “Could we get the costs down and still send out a high quality card?”
WE NOW SAVE OVER $500 PER YEAR
To our astonishment we were able to get the card cost down to a little over .44 cents per card and envelope; after postage we were coming in under a dollar. Even rounding the costs off to one dollar, we would still save over $500 a year and probably thousands on gas, unnecessary impulse buys and most importantly ‘TIME’!
We went with www.iSendOutCards.ca if you are ondering, the quality is great and at the end of the day we get more compliments on our cards than before because we are able to personalize them. Always happy to refer business to good companies, especially when it can save you hard earned cash! The fact that you can send a few cards for free to try it out is AWESOME!