What’s missing? 

I m a g i n a t i o n ! 

     I recently saw a beautiful old brick school building in Connecticut, white columns in front, lots of fresh-cut grss outdoor playspace, and in seemingly good repair.  It was empty.  It had been empty, it turns out, for a few years!  Apparently no one has been able to think of the property as anything but a school.

     A huge, upscale corporate center I visited last week in Annapolis, anchored by an ultra high-class (tuxedo-clad lobby employees) hotel, a worldclass famous restaurant, and a massive street-level storefront space, long empty. 

     [Adjacent to all this, by the way, is a millionaire’s condo building with an over-the-top fountain courtyard and fancy sales office signs (because there are so many units unfilled) that led me to the basement garage, then to a brick wall.  Even if I wanted to scarf up a unit for cash, I would never have found the place to pay!  (Maybe you’re supposed to just leave a check next to the wall?)] 

     I went to a restaurant in Delaware last night in a beautiful waterfront location . . . umbrella-spiked outdoor cafe tables overlooking moonglow-shimmering ripples that splash softly against the rocks nearby.  The worst, deep-fried fastfood meals your stomach would ever want to see, taste or touch.  Thankfully, I was in great company.

     What’s missing from all these places?  Imagination.  How hard is it to market the school as a restaurant, or small shopping mall — antiques?  crafts? — or a fitness facility, a manufacturing operation, even a potentially remarkable B&B?

     Hey, Annapolis is Annapolis, but that outstanding space would make a great art gallery, office center, even a still-viable incubation facility for entrepreneurial development — remember those?

     The waterfront restaurant?  Jeeze, ANYthing with decent food –plain OR fancy– would be a major improvement, and make a ton of money!

     It really doesn’t take a nuclear science degree to make better use of spaces like these.  It takes imagination.  Come back to visit again this week, and you’ll get some FREE first hand, front line coaching.  Maybe I should have gone into real estate development?  Well, not just now.  Maybe AFTER the election?        halalpiar       

WHO MOST INFLUENCED YOU AS A WRITER? 

     As an assistant executive at the world’s biggest, best-known Madison Avenue ad agency, using powder in my hair to look older (and now bootblack in what hair I have left to look younger!), I met Mike.  He was a prominent 18 years-older VP/Creative Director who liked that I hustled, told the truth, was sincere, and motivated (with three infant mouths to feed) . . . all slim-pickin’ character traits (and family circumstances) in that business, where most people pretended to hustle, pretended to tell the truth and rarely had family ties.

     Mike took months of hours to teach me about high-impact words and the creative process.  He gave me secret assignments as a moonlighting writer and helped me crank out award-winning advertising copy — from airline billboards, tire ads, and a still-famous hot dog jingle, to radio scripts and TV storyboards for bacon and eggs, brochures for washers and dryers, you name it!

     Mike taught me the four most important words every writer needs to hear.  “It’s not good enough!”  I remember him saying this, then smiling over the tops of his reading glasses.  His challenge always produced better work.  He made me write a billboard first for every assignment (“seven words or less—with a beginning, middle, an end, and be persuasive!”)  Many years later, I still start every book, article, ad, website, brochure, script, jingle, blog post, email, and personal letter, with a billboard.  “Forced encapsulation” I call it. 

     When I moved on to another ad agency, I arranged to have a NYC parking meter delivered to Mike with a note attached:  “Thanks for the time!” and told him I’d get him a floor stand for it, which I never remembered to do.  Decades later, a copy of his one and only novel arrived one day in the mail inscribed “Where the hell’s my parking meter stand? All my best – Mike”

     Thanks for listening!  And thanks, Mike Slosberg . . . wherever you are!               halalpiar

“You stupid *%~#&^<!!! 

     What the hell’s the matter with you?  Can’t you do anything right?  I gave you this paperwork to get done a week ago!  Your brother’s just like you, the lazy #$%^.  This– PLUS you being late everyday– is gonna cost someone a job here, and it ain’t gonna be me!  I should just punch your face in!”    

     “Oh, yeah!  Well, I got news for you, @&&#%>*!  I got more brains under my fingernail than you’ve got in your whole body!  Just who do you think you are anyway?”

     “I’ll show you who I am, >%$#*~~!”

     Fists fly.  Blood spurts.  Injuries.  Police.  Ambulance.  Jeeze, and it started out to be such a nice day!

STOP!

     Let’s look at a better response (instead of reacting!):  first, take a deep breath; second, paraphrase in your own words what you think you heard and then separate and sort out the issues and pieces.  (People who are upset will bunch together a whole string of complaints and throw them all out at once in a verbal bombardment.) 

     Try instead:

     “Whoa!  If I understand you correctly, you are feeling upset about a number of things, including past-due paperwork, my brother’s laziness, me being constantly late, and concerns about job security?  You may be right.  But if you’ll just give me a chance to explain my side of it, you may find a better solution than punching me or having me fired.  Will that be okay, to talk these points with you?  You can always swing away later if you don’t like what I have to say.  Fair enough? [If you don’t get a go-ahead, restate it all over again, slowly and calmly and sincerely; look him in the face, but don’t scowl or glare!]

     “I have to confess that I misplaced the paperwork last week when you asked me to drop what I was doing to help you with that last-minute shipment.  I was so tired after that, that when I got home, I just forgot about the papers.  I’m sorry.  I’ll do them immediately. 

     “I can’t help that my brother gives you the impression he’s lazy, and I can’t speak for him, but I think if you’re not pleased with his effort, he needs to hear that from you directly.  

     “I am late everyday because months ago, you asked me to stop at the post office box on the way in.  I can come in here first and then go back out if you like; whatever you want. 

     “I don’t want to put either of our jobs in jeopardy, and I will do whatever you ask to make sure there’s no chance of that.  

     In other words, use deep breathing to control your emotions, speak calmly, rationally and be as accommodating as possible without sounding patronizing.  To “pull the fuse out” of the explosives, be persistently “adult” and objective and unemotional in your responses. 

     Take each complaint one at a time and offer a solution (or ask for clarification if the points are muddy).  Maybe, you’ll still get punched in the face, but probably not as hard as it might have been with the initial threat!  And, hey!  You might work your way out of the mess and even end up on good terms.       halalpiar 

It takes 5 Attempts

                                      

to make a sale!

     Some of the most effective prompts I’ve seen that get me to check out websites or blogs come from the world of traditional advertising (remember that?) 

     Selected billboards, targeted ads and pinpoint direct mail are some of the best ways to get your online presence noticed.  They are not always the best ways.  And they are seldom the most economical.  They do however serve an important purpose when you have more money than time available.  They also serve an important purpose when your goal is to create and/or support a meaningful branding image, because repetition sells!

Eh?  What’s that?  Repetition sells.  Repetition sells? 

Yup!  Repetition sells! 

     Not just repeating the same message over and over, but also repeating it in as many different ways and contexts and media forms as possible.  Why do you think the monster corporate entities strive to register multiple impressions? 

     Sophisticated marketers recognize that –on the average– it takes five attempts to close a sale.  That means your message or branding theme usually needs to be seen/heard/experienced at least five times before someone will consider making a buying decision. 

     Sophisticated marketersalso understand the value and finer points of using public relations vehicles (events and news releases) to support online sales efforts.  These are especially valuable tools because they don’t cost anything (compared to broadcast air time and print space, for example) except for preparation and follow through, which needs to be tenacious, can be extensive, and is almost always very time-consuming. 

     And PR does also present a myriad of unspoken rules and regulations that must be adhered to, to be truly effective . . . from how news releases are prepared and distributed to when events should be scheduled and how much planning should be involved.  It’s best to find a professional who can do this for you

     Your odds of increasing online business are much increased when you spread out the media you’re using.  An online sales pitch will have greater impact on someone who has already been exposed to the message on a postcard, in a magazine or newspaper ad, in a radio commercial, on a billboard, on a trade show banner, or in a local or trade paper feature story. 

     Don’t think that once your site is up and running, the story it tells will send business flocking to you.  Online presence is just part of the story.  What you do to support that presence is the other part that will drive the sales.     

     Here!  Take this!  It’s free! 

     Honest!

     Yeah, right.  Listen, I know about that no such thing as a free lunch thing.  Nuttin’s “free,” anymore, baby!  Or maybe you got one a those hidden camera deals goin’ on?

     Serious.  Would you like a weird experience?  Try giving away something of value for free, and watch what happens.  Walk into a dozen businesses and offer the boss something of value for free . . . no strings attached . . . no gimmicks.  Offer something that’s really good for the business to have, something that will make them look good to their customers, something that will enhance their reputation.

     Maybe a couple of hundred free business cards, or a free display rack, or free flowers, or 50 free copies of a gorgeous, 80-page, regional magazine with genuine cultural substance, and upscale content and format treatments . . . a publication the business can turn around and give customers for free, even affix a “Compliments of ____” sticker to the covers.

     Really!  Do it.  Give it a try.  See what happens.  You’ll be amazed.  Some will of course accept what you give away, but odds are that most will look at you like you just landed on a spaceship from Pluto.  Very few (perhaps none) will trust you.  You must after all, be up to something!

     I tried getting an okay to allow some high traffic area businesses take on a beautiful, richly written and photographed, quarterly magazine for free that they could distribute for free to key customers and enhance their own reputation for quality goods and services by association, and for exceptional customer service simply by giving it out!

     “Oh, I don’t know.  I think I’ll have to ask our management team for approval.” — A Hospital 

                                                                       

     “What’s the trick?” — A Bank

                                                                        

     “Call back next week.  I’ll have to read the whole thing first, then check with the boss, who will also want a week or two to decide.  Actually call back next month.” — A Restaurant

                                                                   

     “Not right now.  We’re having some internal problems right now.  We’re tring to figure out ways to help improve customer relations.  Maybe some other time.”  — A Hotel

                                                                                   

     “You’ll have to get an okay from the president and he’s out of town right now for two weeks, and there’s no assistant or anything to make these decisions ’til he’s back.” — A Manufacturing Company

                                                                                         

     “I’ll submit the proposal for you to the director, but she will have to go to the VP and the VP needs to clear it with our advisory board.  Try back in six weeks.” — A Professional Sports Facility

     What’s happening here?  I don’t think I look like a terrorist.  I smiled and asked very politely.  Are nuclear science formulae involved in the decision?  Or are we becoming so suspicious and cynical a society that we can’t believe anything could possibly be free anymore?  Have you ever had an experience like this?  Tell me your “take” on this.        halalpiar 

We need to be thinking,

                                                                     

not feeling, when we pull

                                                              

the voting levers this fall. 

     Today’s announcement of Joe Biden as Mr. O’s running mate could not be a a more sorry choice.  I’ve been living in Delaware for a few years now, and –outside of the Wilmington area– have yet to hear one single favorable review of Mr. Biden as an elected representative. 

     By all accounts, the man has done nothing of substance for his constituency, and everything humanly possible to promote himself, his name, and his ego.  His reputation is that he talks too much about nothing, and frequently trips over his own tongue. 

     He claims, for example, to be a supporter of improving education.  Yet his “First State” has been pitifully ranked 44th out of 50 in literacy competency.  Only slightly more than half of Delaware’s population is actually reported to graduate high school!  Ah, but he’s a UNITED STATES Senator, and has no real say in State juristiction matters like education!  BULL!  I don’t believe that for one minute.  Do you?

     Cruel comments?  Hardly.  We need to be thinking, not feeling, when we pull the voting levers this fall. 

     We’re now talking about a person who is proposed to be a single heartbeat away from stepping into the Presidency of the United States, and someone who would presumably work closely with and support Mr. O in the unlikely event of an O Presidency.  We’re talking about a man who just a short time ago said Obama is not qualified to be President, a man who just a short time ago said he would prefer to see McCain as President (I can’t help but wonder if these comments are “running in the same direction”?). 

     We’re talking about a man who has battled relentlessly against the kind of oil drilling that must occur if we are to ever wrench ourselves free of Arab oil cartel clutches that continue to drive our gas pump rates into oblivion and –allowed to continue– threaten to drag down our entire enconomy.  (Is this stance consistent with “being able” to run?) 

     Yes, even in spite of the temporary pump price relief we’re experiencing these last two weeks . . . we’re still paying well in excess of a hundred dollars a barrel for oil that U.S. offshore drilling can reduce to $35 a barrel within weeks! 

     Blame for our whacked-out fuel costs rests squarely on the shoulders of our Congress, Mr. Biden included, though he and others (including of course our warped media reporters) would have us all believe that President Bush is responsible.  I am no great fan of Mr. Bush, but –please, people– President Bush did not cause Hurricane Katrina, and he is not manipulating gas prices! 

     The smartest decision any of us can make in voting is to be sure that we are in fact voting with our minds and not our emotions . . . and that means DISregarding what all the media “talking heads” have to say, and doing our own homework about what we want as qualifications for the person we trust to be sitting in the White House. 

This is not a time in history for “change”

based on naive, misguided hope. 

     This is the time for America to “move forward,” to preserve and protect the lives of our children and grandchildren, and to do that with the only known ways there are to succeed . . . with proven leadership skills and hard-nosed experience, with a candidate and running mate who are in the same boat rowing in the same direction.         halalpiar

DO YOU SIGNAL

                                                                                   

WHEN YOU CHANGE

                                             

LANES?

     I always forget it after I’ve gotten to where I want to go, because the relief of making it up (or down) the New Jersey Turnpike alive . . . and without a scratch or a ticket or empty gas tank . . . is so overwhelming unto itself. 

     But this particular drive was so harrowing as to leave me catching my breath as I reached my target exit, and having my mind filled with the question I’ve been wanting to ask all you maniacal wannabe racecar drivers (in your little sportscars, hyped-up pickups, charter busses, 18-wheelers from Mississippi and Alabama, and 40-billion-pound dump trucks with drivers who surely must believe they are NASCAR finalists) the following question (and you may want to print this out, and leave an anonymous copy on someone’s desk, carseat, or pillow):

     Do you signal when you change lanes?  Or just sort of drift over?  Or pile-drive your way there?  Maybe a token one or two-blink click on your lights?

     Assuming you’re one of the culprits here, maybe you could enlighten me as to what makes people not signal?  Do you not care about laws, rules, regulations, authority. . . courtesy?  Or maybe you just don’t care, period.  Does it just not matter to tip off other drivers where you’re headed before you actually get there?  [I’ve noticed some guilt-ridden idiots who –like the escaped-horse-barndoor-closers– must think it’s redeeming to signal after they’ve changed lanes.]  Do you think no one notices or cares?  Or do you simply not think?

     Tell me, oh thoughtless (or lazy and thoughtless) one: Does a person who fails to signal when moving from one lane to another also fail to signal when moving from one career assignment to another?  Moving from one life partner or circle of “friends” to another?  Moving from one trusted resource, confidant, counselor, or professional service provider to another?  You just up and leave?

     Do you give any conscious thought to the idea that not signaling a lane change actually risks the lane-changer (and passenger’s) lives?  And what about the lives of drivers and passengers in front and behind and alongside?  Have you even any UNconscious thought?  (Probably, I imagine, since you must be unconscious to begin with!) 

     In case it’s never occurred to you, when you ignore or disregard alerting others about your intent to make a major shift (changing lanes, positions, assignments, decisions, partners, friends, residences, jobs, teams . . .whatever), you set yourself up to lose other’s respect, confidence, support, belief in you and your sense of integrity, and possibly even your life!  Is it really worth it? 

     Is not keeping others informed about events that can impact them something that’s worth your rush, your hurry, you being preoccupied?  Think about it.  Someone loves you and wants you alive.  Pass it on, and please: Signal!     halalpiar 

We buy it in 10 seconds! 

                                                                                                                                   

     You, the manager of other people, or animals (or a household, which often of course involves both!) can probably be doing a more effective job of communicating.  You think? 

     With a few thousand communication skills student experiences under my belt, I can assure you that every once in awhile, it serves a good purpose to have someone rattle your cage a little about the ways you come across to others. 

     Well, this could be your day!  So, grit your teeth, dig in your heels, and take this for what it’s worth:  In case you haven’t considered it, TWO-WAY communicating beats ONE-WAY communicating hands down! 

     The only exceptions occur with military and quasi-military-types of operations, or safety circumstances where orders must be given and followed.  Okay, sounds great, so let’s just get on with it and have more discussions and fewer directives.  Sorry, it’s not that simple, but –knowing that I wouldn’t be wasting your time with quick-fix solutions– you already figured that out, right? 

     Effective (and that’s the key word!) two-way communicating requires effective listening. Effective listening requires effective feedback, which takes longer, can be more difficult and is often more complicated.  But, hey, you’re always preaching to keep things simple!  True!  But getting to “simple” often takes work, and the work process can be complex. 

     There are tradeoffs in everything, right?  You want to communicate your message clearly and minimize the chance of errors or misunderstanding?  Then you have to be willing to put in the effort that helps ensure your odds for success.

     Consider how complicated the mix of communication modes can be even before you think of dissecting the subject.  There are three modes of communication: 

1) Symbolic.  Consider clothing choices (colors, brands, styles, etc.) and the way the clothing is worn; hair colors and styles; grooming; jewelry (types, amounts, values, compatibility, wristwatch, etc.); cosmetics/makeup (types, amounts, tastfulness); type and style of cellphone (and ring!); automobile driven (brand, model, style, color, etc.); residence type and location; living space and personal space.  All of these “things” and “attitudes” communicate.

2) Verbal.  Words themselves do not have meaning; the ways words are used by the people who use them have meaning.  Consider the variety of interpretations possible for every word used, depending on how/when/where it’s used, how it’s used or emphasized, how often it’s used.  What for example does “heavy” mean?  “Straight”?  “Usually”?  

3) Nonverbal.  This includes ambulation (do you swish, stomp, swagger, bounce?); touching–the most powerful! (where, when, how hard or easy, how often, purpose?); eye contact (trust, sincerity, forthrightness, blinking, staring); posturing (arms and legs crossed, slouching, standing or sitting erect); tics; subvocals (uh, er, hum, grunts, groans); distancing (comfort zone space); gesturing; vocalisms (emphasis on various words).  Professor Raymond Birdwhistell’s studies tell us that the face alone can produce over 250,000 expressions!  

     WHEW!  A lot to be processing with each interaction, yet–for most people– it takes place automatically, in an instant!  Salespeople, in fact, need to remember that buying decisions are made or lost in the first 10 seconds of interaction . . . which is literally consumed with all the above observations, which is why first impressions are so critical!       halalpiar

YOUR EVERY ACTION,

YOUR EVERY THOUGHT

IS YOUR CHOICE!

     Naw!  That’s not possible, you say?  Not only is it possible, it’s true 100% of the time! 

     You CHOOSE your behavior.  No one makes you mad.  You choose to feel mad about something someone says or does or thinks. 

     No one embarrasses you.  You choose to feel embarrassed about something you or someone else chooses to do or not do or say or not say or think or not think.  But it IS your choice. 

     Anger.  Embarrassment.  Humiliation.  Envy.  Jealousy.  Guilt.  These things don’t just fall down from the sky and land on your shoulder.  You, we, all of us, choose these emotions and the time-wasting behaviors that come along with them. 

     So, you don’t like hearing that, or thinking about it because you don’t want to have to admit that you’re that wimpy, wussy, weak-willed, fragile, malliable, stupid.  I mean why would anybody CHOOSE to feel angry?  It’s much easier to blame others for the upset negative feelings we have and the accompanying nonproductive behaviors.  Isn’t it? 

     That moron cut me off in traffic!  He’s a jerk!  He makes me so angry I think I’ll race up alongside him, give him the finger, and then cut HIM off!  I’ll show him!  Hey, that’s great . . . the stuff heroes are made of, right? 

     Why not instead just STOP for just a minute and take a deep breath, collect your self-control and mentally step back from the nutcase driver who just prompted you to choose to feel angry, and, instead, think to yourself that:

          A) He’s in some kind of emergency situation or under great stress or

          B) I am not going to choose for that Looney-Tunes to cause me to choose to feel upset.  He’s not worth it!  

     When you find yourself choosing negative and upsetting behavior, pinch yourself, take a deep breath, remind yourself that you are in fact making a choice.  Change the channel in your brain from “Bad News” to “Mellow, Happy Music.” 

     Go ahead and take the risk of choosing to overcome the negativities by bringing in the (There’s a really old song my parents used to sing: “E-liminate the negative.  Ax-cen-tu-ate the positive . . .”) awareness that you need only blink and then choose –in place of all the uproar– a positive, productive behavior, thought, action, response.  Go for it!          halalpiar      

NO ONE BUYS PRODUCT

OR SERVICE FEATURES! 

EVERY sale is made by triggering an emotion!

People buy BENEFITS! 

     Why am I shouting?  Because I get tired of seeing the tidal waves of wasted money being spent by ignorant businesspeople trying to jam their product and service features down prospective buyers’ throats!
     You need not look any further for examples than what I would guess to be 2 out of any 3 websites! 
     The airlines are a perfect example of doing it right.  No, we do not buy the airline armrests, foam and inner spring ingredients we sit on that take us from one place to another.  We buy the d e s t i n a t i o n !  We buy the image of skipping through the surf holding hands with our lover, not the manufacturing specifications of the airline seat and breathable space we rent to get there. 
     We buy the luxury hotel suite dripping with amenities so we can feel important when telling friends and family about all the extras we were able to afford.  We buy the positive impression our presentations will make to clients and management, not the parts that go into the fancy new color copier.  The former president of a world-leading hair coloring company once told me that they didn’t sell hair products!  They sold, he said, “the promise of sex to single young girls!”
     We do not buy SUVs because they provide better traction, can carry bigger loads, pull out tree stumps, and (maybe) provide more safety; we buy them because we think we look good driving them, sitting way up there, authoritative elbow out the window. 
     Even the things you would swear up and down to be exclusively rational, logical, unemotional purchases are not!  We buy insurance because we like the agent or because we’re afraid of the house flooding, burning, or being robbed, not becausae of all the tiny-type policy features that nobody reads anyway. 

     We simply USE product and service features to justify our emotionally-triggered purchases. 

     When was the last time you heard someone tell you how good she or he thought he or she looked driving his or her car?  More likely, that person rattled off a long list of features (which I notice now include “can coolers” in the glove compartment of some hot new models to keep, of course, cold water available for long hot rides!)  Does anyone care how the engine runs anymore? 
     And it seems the bigger the purchase, the more we get sidetracked with features.  Does that new home you bought have great wiring or what?  And home inspections?  That’s a whole new business these days.  Why?  Because we’re preoccupied with the For Sale home’s emotional buying triggers: curb appeal, neutral carpets, wall colors (like you never heard of paint?), built-in appliances, window treatments (don’t we love buying someone else’s window shades?), neighborhood, and what the in-laws will think.  
     We get so caught up with what others will think and whether our image is appropriate for the location and amount of impressive extras that we now have to hire someone to tell us about the basics—that the wiring, plumbing, roof, crawlspace and all those features are okay, because we don’t really care; we just want to rationalize the important logical reasons we were so smart to buy it. 
     Buyers buy benefits.  So sell benefits!  Leave the features for customer bragging rights!    

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Hal@Businessworks.US     302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!