. . . SO GO WITH THE FLOW!

     Today was one of those days.  I woke up with a smile, a full agenda, and a plan I looked forward to implementing, everything figured out and scheduled on a timeline. 

     But the help I’d planned on never materialized and 42 personalized client news releases weren’t going to get distributed unless I did the grunt work myself.  The best I could do for the first six people I called was leave voicemails.  The dog had bad breath and my shoelace broke.  You get the picture. 

     The whole day was headed down the tubes, but I decided to heed my own advice and “g o   w i t h   t h e   f l o w.” 

     In the softball game I squeezed in at lunchtime, I produced three pitiful infield hits and was safe on an error, but, hey, four times on base for four times up, y’know?  And I scored twice and got 2 RBI’s, but ONLY because I decided to run my butt off from the moment of contact and not give up, and ONLY because instead of cursing and throwing my bat after such feeble hitting, I stood catching my breath and laughing with the first baseman who said he was getting sick of seeing me. 

     In distributing the news releases, I uncovered bad contact information for five key reporters and was able to update the master list.  (The help I didn’t get would not have known this, and releases would have been wasted.) 

     It turned storm-level windy this afternoon, killing plans to cookout, but ending up with some super pasta, and being prompted to notice and repair a beleagured windchime! 

     I could go on, but you already know –as Paul Harvey says– the rest of the story! 

     You’ve been there and done that! 

     So, all this is is (is is is like that that?) a reminder to make the most of everyday as best you can by going with whatever lands on your plate, in your lap or on your shoulders. 

     Being happy and helping others be happy is a whole lot more rewarding (and healthy) than sweeping unexpected events you know where in order to pile drive through your task list.  Of course it helps to have a role model in your life, and I do, which is how I know about “Happy-makers.”  I’m married to one!     

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 43 days ago (inside a coffin) that previously appeared at the end of each daily post, that now has it’s own home: Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the lead headline link!

I’m tellin’ you, ball:

                                            

next pitch,

                                              

you gotta be a strike!  

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Hooray!  Now the daily growing 7-Word Story (that started 42 days ago inside a coffin) that I’ve been carrying at the end of each daily post has it’s own home on a separate page (Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, and then to the lead headline link!).  Special thanks to Michael Infusino for making it happen.

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     Much to my disdain, my second favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, after a valiant effort, lost last night.  Thanks, Red Sox, for a great battle.  You certainly outshined my Mets!

     And now it’s on to the big World Series stage for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (They dropped the “Devil” part–maybe why they won?–but I like the way the name sounds better when the Devil is in there. 

     Tampa Bay Devil Rays just sounds better, don’t you think?  The Devil adds more of a lilt to the pronounciation, not to mention a dose of intrigue to what goes on in the clubhouse and the hallway that leads to the dugout. 

     So, with apologies to the Tampa Bay marketing genius who decided to kill the Devil, I will continue to use the full birth certificate name.  I know, I know, I’m the same guy who clings to “Garden State Arts Center” in spite of a certain NJ Governor who uncouthly sold out the name to a bank!   

     Where was this headed?  Oh, right!  There’s this pitcher on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays that you absolutely must see.  If you’re a baseball fan, you already know of whom I speak. 

     But let’s say you HATE baseball and think nothing in the world can posssibly match the excitement level of, oh, for example, synchronized archery or a good Texas Hold ‘Em game.  Well, I can tell you, you’ve got another thing coming. 

     You haven’t yet experienced veteran pitcher Daniel Michael Wheeler, and you MUST watch a couple of World Series games just to see this squirrely little teddybear-looking guy (not actually so little, just looks it before each pitch) who bends over like a kid sticking his face into a bag of candy, puts his nose to his raised glove and talks to the ball as he swooshes it around in his glove, then stands up and pitches to the batter. 

     Yes, I did say “talks to the ball.”  It’s quite a sight, not to mention how long it takes batters to get past the distraction of this quirky pitch delivery process.  We’ve all seen players –Tug McGraw, who used to slap his legs to death with his glove when he got excited, comes to mind– act quirky, but I gotta tell you that THIS Wheeler guy is beyond weird. 

     Of course I suppose I could think he’s a walk on the wild side ta-dum, ta-dum, because I don’t know what it is he’s talking about to the ball, or if the ball is talking back.

     But you will thank me for making you tune in to Mr. Wheeler.  it’s worth a timeout to see this happening occur with EVERY single pitch he throws. 

     You’ll either come away dumfounded, and shaking your head, giggling because you figured out what the conversation with the ball is all about, or afraid to bet on the Phillies. 

     I mean, I talk to my pen and my keyboard sometimes, but on every pitch?  Hey!  Enjoy the games.                    halalpiar 

HOW “NEWSWORTHY”

IS YOUR BUSINESS? 

     You’ve probably heard me rant and rave about the greed and minus-zone integrity ratings of media mogul management.  It’s all true.  But, by the way, they have to eat too, and they can’t rely on advertisers alone for the news they report. 

     So, when it’s time to start winning public exposure for your business services or products, it’s time to start thinking and planning a public relations news release program.

     Except for the preparation of releases (research, interviews, and detective work; creative “NEWSWORTHY” writing; printing; clipping; folding; envelope addressing and stuffing; stamping and sealing; and mailing followed by or combined with emails, faxes,  phone calls, and–where possible, personal visits), the resulting publicity is free. 

     But getting it all to work is not easy.  Gaining media coverage of a release you send out takes:

1. Priming the pump, because media people prefer to deal with established businesses that have an established paper trail of prior professionally-written and formatted releases, and
2. Following the (typically unspoken) guidelines to gain editor and/or writer attention, stimulate interest, and bring about action.
3. Following-up tenaciously with a focus on building a working media relationship, and with asking straightforward for the editor’s/writer’s help.

     There are a lot of parts to this fascinating “art” that include making sure that envelopes are addressed and return-addressed in certain ways and stamped with real postage stamps. 

     The release should be no longer than one and a half pages, double-spaced with one-inch borders, not stapled, showing clearly the contact person’s name/phone/email information.  Spelling and punctuation must be as perfect as possible. 

     Fancy paper and ink colors and type sizes get disgarded.  The last page should end with # # # and the release should be folded accordian style so that the headline is the first thing seen as the pages are removed from the envelope. 

     There are probably another hundred or so subtle non-rule rules that will help insure receptivity, but the bottom line is that whatever you send must answer: Who? What? When? Where? How? . . . and it must be NEWSWORTHY. 

     More on this in upcoming posts, including how to handle accompanying newsworthy photos.  If you prefer to not wait and want immediate input, email me at Hal@TheWriterWorks.com or call me at 302.933.0116 and mention this blog post in your subject line or voicemail message.                         halalpiar

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As my computer guru Michael Infusino, who God Bless him for putting up with me, prepares to move this story that’s grown past blog post borders (and has had to be too squished) to it’s own page on this site (you’ll get the details as it happens!), I’m taking a minute to explain the basis for it:

An earlier (archived) post emphasizes the importance of starting ALL writing (literary, commercial, business plan, love letter, whatever) with a 7-words-or-less “billboard” encapsulation that has a beginning, a middle, and an  ending … and is persuasive!  The following story is (for fun and practice) a 7-words-or-less-sentence-or-phrase-added-every-day story.  Be a co-author:  Take your best shot!____________________________________________________ 

BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 41 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours! 

STAR STRETCH by Hal Alpiar, Lois Anderson, and your name here!

TO READ THE DAILY-GROWING STORY AND/OR ADD YOUR OWN 7-WORDS-OR-LESS PHRASE OR SENTENCE CLICK ON THE “BOOKS” TAB ABOVE, THEN ON “7-WORD STORY,” OR SIMPLY CLICK ON THE “7-WORD STORY” LINK IN THE CENTER COLUMN ON THE RIGHT.

                                                                     

TACK ON YOUR OWN 7-WORD SUGGESTION! 

If chosen, your name will appear as co-author!

Blood-sucking is a

commonly-shared trait.

     Have you noticed that everyone these days lays claim to be (or clearly evidences being)  from a dysfunctional family?  Now, who am I to doubt that?  I mean don’t we all? 

     Hmmmmm!  Well, actually, if you start to think about that with any kind of effort, you’re probably no longer alive because you probably scared yourself to death, right? 

     So, if you’re already dead and you’re reading this, that might suggest you are somewhat dysfunctional yourself.  Anyway, if it’s true that we ALL come from dysfunctionality (and that definitely appears to be the case last time I checked around), what’s left?  Zombies?  Vampires?  Politicians? 

     Zombies, vampires and politicians.  Now there’s an exciting group!  Sure, these are really normal kinds of individuals.  And I’m not certain of this, but I think I might have read somewhere that blood-sucking is a commonly-shared trait among those who follow in the footprints (?) of these three societal scavengers.  

     And are all three (zombie, vampire, politician) labels representative of categories of individuals we popularly believe to be strutting their stuff (oh, sorry, zombies are probably better known for plodding, stomping, and foot-dragging)? 

     Perhaps it would be more accurate to attribute to them the characteristic of having an inflated sense of self-importance?  Do any of them, after all, march to the beat of different drummers?  Or is it dysfunctional drummers? 

     Like I said, who am I to judge?  All I know is that I’m tired of big-talk do-nothing politicians (including two prominent ones from Delaware), and that given the choice, I’d prefer to have vampires running the show.  At least when vampires come at you, they’ve got their fangs out and you know where you stand.  Zombies?  Well, we’ve already got those! 

     We surely could use a new State Governor and US Senator who are willing to put their fangs out and take a bite or two out of the real problems in Delaware that are begging for help.  Not just the economy, y’all!

     What’s with our educational programs that Sen Biden brags about having helped?(Delaware ranks 44th out of 50 states in literacy!) 

     What’s with the energy alternatives our Governor has flatout refused to get involved with?  (Greedy fossil fuel power plant management has fought windfarms and high-tech coal-washing processes tooth and nail, relentlessly, for years because to do otherwise would cost them money.  Instead, they have been literally spitting on public outcrys and studies proving toxic damage threats to the health of State residents and entire communities . . . and now they offer us band-aids for our cancer clusters!). 

     What’s with immigration controls rejected by or not acted upon by Delaware’s political leadership (and who reportedly support programs that grant illegal immigrants the same rights as Native Americans and legal American citizens)?

     And healthcare? It won’t matter if we get universal healthcare coverage or thousands of dollars to spend on healthcare, Delaware has lousy healthcare.  Find a place where you can get a new patient appointment, and you’ll find inadequate or inexperienced (or both) practitioners.  Find more than one medical facility that can hold a candle to those in NY or Philadelphia or Baltimore.  Go ahead!  I dare you!             halalpiar               

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BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 40 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours! 

In the end, you will win.   

New England’s abuzz, and well it should be: the Red Sox rose up from the dead last night and forced a game six in the American League playoffs! 

     If you’re not a baseball fan, you may think this event was small potatoes.  And it may not end up having any earth-shattering meaning in the big scheme of life, unless of course the Red Sox continue to rise and win game six, and force a game seven playoff, and then win that too! 

     Unlikely?  Well how unlikely was it that they would be getting clobbered for seven innings and be losing 7-0, and come back to win?  When you know the teams and the situation and the injuries involved and the track-records of the pitching staffs, the Red Sox recovery and ultimate win is definitely in the miraculous category.

     How many times have you pulled off a business or personal or career miracle by your standards?  How did you do it?  Odds are you simply convinced yourself that you were going to succeed and managed to somehow fill your heart with the fire to win.

     Some will claim they accomplished the impossible because they’re Christians.  Some will say it was because they had a rescuer.  Others will claim luck.  Some will credit skill or experience.  But the bottom line is that miraculous events occur (and have occurred in history) because the person or persons involved believed –heart and soul– that she/he/they would succeed, no matter what.

     This (success) is a choice!

     It may not seem like a choice at the time, and it may feel ridiculously overwhelming to even think in those terms.  Believing in seeing yourself as a winner, however, is a choice.  And it’s one you are free to make every passing second of every passing minute every day. 

     You must be willing to commit yourself fully to achieving your goal . . . with no exceptions. 

     There cannot be times when you decide it’s okay to slack off because things have been going well (or because they haven’t and you think you deserve a break); those are the moments of weak-willed collapse, the moments of trial, the moments when you must keep faith in yourself and what you’re doing, the moments when you must keep pushing, rise to the occasion. 

     They are the hardest of times.  They are the times when others give up.  They are the times when you must push yourself to persevere.  And, in the end, you will win.                halalpiar      

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BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 39 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours! 

Do you work for a

bunch of pushers? 

Well, it looks like another big-time management theory has just bumped itself over the horizon by virtue of a new book, The Momentum Effect: How to Ignite Exceptional Growth, by J.C.Larreche. 

Larreche is an INSEAD Graduate Business School Marketing Professor.  He categorizes businesses as “Pushers,” or “Plodders,” or “Pioneers.”

• Pushers push their businesses hard traditionally seeking to drive sales through aggressive marketing increases. 
• Plodders are safety zone status-quo-invested businesses that maintain constant marketing-to-sales ratios. 
• Pioneers cut traditional marketing expenses to explore, discover, and cultivate other more creative and more effective avenues of growth, reducing advertising-to-sales ratios despite overall expense increases

The author contends that research he’s done uses Dow Jones Index markers and proves the revenue growth of Pioneer businesses measured over two decades ends up 93% better (almost twice as dramatic an increease) over Pusher businesses that spent considerably more in traditional “spend money to make money” marketing mindsets, while Pioneers and Pushers, both, left the Plodders in the dust!

Okay, so how does this translate for small business?  Slow down the push to be like everyone else in the market, and step up some new industry and community leadership approaches that will set you apart from the rest of the pack. 

If it feels like too big of a risk to suddenly start trying to do things differently, that’s a signal from the secure little competitive corner of your brain that you should do it!

Wasn’t it your Grandaddy that told you something like “Nothing ventured, nothing . . .”?

Remember that Momentum Leaders are, as Professor Larreche exclaims, “not lucky — they are smart.”  He says that managers often talk about “riding the wave,” but that Momentum Leaders aren’t so passive.  They believe you must first build your wave, then ride it.                   halalpiar 

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BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 38 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours! 

One candidate wants to “CHANGE” everything.  He obviously misses the point that “Change” is NOT a leadership word! Why? Because . . .

CHANGE is never a good

                                               

thing when somebody else

                                                              

does it TO you.  

                                                                  

     In business, industry, education, government, real estate, banking, food and gas pricing, et al, “CHANGE” is NOT a good thing when somebody else does it TO you.  Change is only meaningful and rewarding when YOU can make it happen for yourSELF. 

     When change is done TO you, it prompts inaction, resistance and excuses.  When you create and deliver change for your SELF, you are more likely to take ownership of the steps involved, and follow the process through more determinedly to make it happen.  

     “Okay, Joe, from now on, you’re going to have to print out, copy, and collate three copies of the daily 75 pages of inventory activity that you were just submitting by email before.  The two new bosses want hard copies, and of course I’ll need one too.  Oh, and you may want to run a fourth as a sort of cover-your-butt set that you can check with if questions arise.”    

     How does that feel compared with: “Joe, the new bosses are interested in seeing your inventory spreadsheets without having to jump around on their computer screens; could you come up with a method that you think might work better for them, something that doesn’t require a lot of your time?” 

     Do you think one of these approaches might serve to motivate more than the other?

     “Gwyneth, I want you to clean up your room right this minute, or you’ll not get dessert after dinner!” OR “Gwyneth, I’m getting concerned about the condition of your room; would you please take some time right now to come up with a way to get it shaped up by dinnertime every night, starting tonight, and let me know your plan when I stop back in ten minutes?”

     Notice the focus is on HOW can a task get done.  NONproductive emphasis is on WHY did you screw up, or on what threats might prompt action, or on implying some level of personal incompetence. 

     When you ask someone WHY? you will only ever get a reason or excuse for an answer.  When you ask HOW? you’re prompting the other person to evaluate, assess, and recommend process steps, without suggesting any personal shortcomings.

     HOW to get others to make changes happen for themselves?  Remember that behavior is always a choice.  You can choose to not react.  If you don’t react, you will never overreact!  You will be more effective in controlling and helping yourself and others to more effectively control behavior and accomplish tasks.  Remember if you need to criticise, criticise behavior, not the person.  And do it in private.  Save the audiences for giving praise! 

STOP trying to CHANGE the

 things others need to choose 

to change for themselves!      

halalpiar

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BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 37 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours! 

HOW DOES MLB

GROW FANS FROM KIDS

WITH LATE NIGHT GAMES???

     Y’know, we just saw the whole big greedy mess that slammed NY football fans, and we say Tsk, Tsk, what a shame, and the big-money-sports steamroller continues to flatten our already shrinking wallets. 

     Now it’s baseball.  (Or maybe it’s always been baseball, and I haven’t been paying enough attention; but now, with the league championships rolling out their carpets to the World Series entranceway, it’s a whole lot more obvious!) 

     First of all, will somebody please explain to me how Major League Baseball (MLB) proclaims incessantly how commited it is to cultivating young people as fans, and then runs playoff games too late at night for kids to watch (or even listen)? 

     I would really like to hear that explanation. 

     Am I daffy?  Is this request like asking our nation’s leaders how they will solve the economic crisis that they started? 

     Why doers this seem like bang-your-head-against-the-wall material? 

     I know, I know, you’ve heard a million “when I was a boy . . .” stories, but when I was a boy, league championship and world series games were played in the daytime, or at least early evening so kids could engage themselves and their energies in the sport. 

     But, no, the networks decided nights were better.  (Note we’ve come full circle here back to the slimeball mainstream media that is intent on destroying not only the moral fiber of this country, but the very fabric of our national pasttime, not to mention the integrity of the U.S. presidency and the absolute core and essence of those who pursue it in the name of conservative balance and fiscal responsibility.)

     The networks decided nights were better because prime time advertisers would pay them more if they scheduled the events later (and the hell with the kids they pander to . . . it’s sick really!). 

So the delimma we’ve been boxed into is whether we encourage young people to be interested in sports and play them for fun and exercise and identify with heroes (like Cal Ripkin, for example) who represent the heart of what sports is supposed to be about,

OR do we encourage kids to pursue the business of sports with its untold billions of dollars to be had,

OR do we dissuade children from sports (and the grasps of greedy media moguls out there) and suffer the consequences of the kids turning into thumb-punching texting zombies who hear nothing in life beyond i-pod tunes and eat junkfood into oblivion? 

     What’s going on here?  Do these thoughts bother you?  Maybe it’s just me.  Maybe I’m just getting old and irrelevant.  Maybe nobody else gives a damn about how this next generation is growing up (or dwarfing down?)? 

     I think there must be something parents and grandparents and others concerned about the destruction of sports can do to bring about change.  Do you?  What do you suggest?  Put a comment or two below.  Anything you think is okay.  Some action is always better than no action.        halalpiar   

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BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 36 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours! 

“You have a stableful of race

horses that act like they come

from wagon-train school.”  

You run the business (or division or department) and feel like you have a stable full of race horses that act like they come from wagon-train school.  You need better than this.  Today’s competitive environment demands that your company produce more entre-preneurial product and service ventures. 

START WITH THESE TWO STEPS:

1. Identify the entrepreneurs you already have.  Find those managers who RUN with their creative ideas.  Anyone can come to you with a problem; good managers come with solutions; entrepreneurial managers follow through in detail.  They say, “I think we should do this, and here is what it will cost, and these are the people we’ll need, and here’s the plan of action, and I’ve already initiated the following action . . . ”  Once identified, give these individuals greater personal responsibility for results, and motivate them with small frequent rewards; and, where possible, with a piece of the action.

2. No organization has enough of these self-starter folks, so you need to cultivate them too.  This is particularly true because “natural” or instinctive entrepreneurship is often surpressed.  Cultivation translates into teaching the skills that will fertilize dormant entrepreneurial traits.

Here are the key ingredients to serve as soil, sun, and water:

STRESS MANAGEMENT – Coping skills, identifying personal strengths, managing oneself under stress, especially as related to risk.  Taking reasonable risks is the hallmark of entrepreneurial behavior.

TIME MANAGEMENT – Focus on personal productivity and timelines.  Entrepreneurs tend to overcommit themselves, physically and mentally.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS – Entrepreneurship within the corporation usually entails introducing new ideas in a non-receptive framework.  Good communication skills are essential and will serve to rally needed support at all levels.  Corporate entrepreneurs must be able to communicate clearly with many different people, listen actively and accurately, be able to read and control body language and write well.

RISK-TAKING – Not the art of managing risks, but of taking only reasonable ones, and understanding risk impact on themselves and others.  Integrated in this step there needs to be recognition that changes can be non-threatening, especially when the changes are chosen and implemented by those being affected (vs. being handed down from above), and that risk-taking can be organizationally constructive when properly managed.  

# # #

Hal@BusinessWorks.US        931.854.0474

HEY YOU, MUCKFACE!<) 

     Are you stuck in muck, mired in muck, all mucked-up, mucking around, or perhaps you’re a top muckity-muck in your business or organization?  

     I just finished a fun blog post about “muck” for a client at http://blog.igburton.com and that started me thinking about the value of popularizing, and ways to popularize, increased use of this great word.  You know, like substituting it for another more-commonly-used word that sounds like it (um, no, not “luck” or “buck”). 

     For formalized discussion purposes, we may want to know that somewhere between “mu” (the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet) and (ugh!) “mucus,” the Oxford English Dictionary devotes considerable attention to muck and its derivatives.  These include family members “mucky,” muckiness,” “muckle,” “muckraking,” and my personal favorite: “mucker.” 

     Now, I once owned a horse for a couple of years, so I have firsthand knowledge of “mucking out” a stall, which I suppose makes me an ex-mucker?  Anyway, there are better ways to spend a hot humid afternoon.  I even saved the pitchfork to remind myself why not to ever own another horse!    

     The dictionary even digs up “Lady Muck” as a socially pretentious British woman, which gives cause to wonder were the Lady to have children, would she be a mother mucker?

     Now, I don’t want us to go off the deep end here, so let me simply say that “muck” has a probable origin in Scandanavia from a Germanic base meaning “soft.” 

     That’s nice, I think, don’t you?  I mean wouldn’t it serve to soften up all those hard, harsh expressions that use the other similar-sounding word?  Think of a few that of course you’ve never spoken but which you’ve undoubtedly heard, and change the word involved to “muck.” 

     There now, isn’t that better?  Softer?  Just imagine what’s possible.  It could be a whole new political crusade.  Like “A Chicken in Every Pot,” and “The New Deal,” and “The Great Society.”  And now, with your help: “The Softening of Society.”  It would seem like a kinder, gentler life.  All because of muck. 

     Oh, well.  Dream on, you muckers!                            halalpiar    

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BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 34 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours!