Would you like cheese with that?

There is a polarization effect happening right now in 2020. 

The world is not fair. Who cares?

You follow a code, a belief system. If you're over the age of 8, you have an opinion on many things. Sharing those opinions is your right in a free, democratic country. Forcing them on others is wrong.

Just because I let you speak doesn't mean you are going to change my mind on what I think is truth and what is fake.

So please be kind to others. Understand we all very different and we have the right to be different. 

Masks, vaccines are just the tip of the iceberg. We are heading towards troubled waters and if we're not careful, we are putting everything we cherish at risk.

And that makes me sad.

I grew up in a world that told me to be good, help others and freedom was mine.

The world told me to not worry about what others did and only worry about what I was doing.

She taught the importance of being strong, if not for myself for those who counted on me.

She explained that not all people would agree with what I have to say. I should shut my mouth and let others speak twice as much because of the ears to mouth ratio.

She asked if I wanted cheese with my whine when I felt it wasn't fair.

She laughed when I cried, so I stopped crying.

I'm tired of the Covid fighting because I fear the worst. The worst in us comes from civil unrest, over taxation and polarization of principles, thoughts and actions.

I'm tired of leaders who don't lead, social media that is not social, and whiners who seek attention.

If you want to wear a mask, congratulations on trying to save the world.

If you don't want to wear a mask, congratulations for exhibiting your rights in a democracy.

Both sides make arguments that are biased and laced with self determination to move the other side to their way of thinking. 

The ironic thing is neither side will ever budge from their nest. Their beliefs are so firmly entrenched in cement that we waste our times trying to change them.

So what's the answer?

Damned if I know. I'm gonna keep my head down and try not get caught in the crossfire.

The labels you place are like permanent tattoos on your brain

Labels are like tattoos on our brains. Attached with super glue, it’s nearly impossible to rip, scratch or peel.

Be very careful what or who you label. Your brain will store it in that unerase-able safe.

Speaking to a businessman in his office, someone walked in, without an appointment. Excusing himself, he met the customer and after a brief, muffled conversation, he returned quite frustrated. He started a rant about the word “brother”. The customer had called him “brother”. He rubbed the top of his bald head and looked at me and said, why do people think I’m their brother? They might as well use the word nigger. I’m not their brother. It’s so derogatory and frustrating. It’s ok for two black guys to refer to each other as brother. It’s ok for two white guys to call each other brother. But I ain’t your brother. Do you understand what I’m saying Bro?

Well, did you ever think that brother is just another word for friend. Some use the word pal or man, or bro. Maybe it has nothing to do with race, but everything to do with being friendly.

You don’t know what I’ve seen.

Fair enough. I have similar conversations with my African-American daughter almost every day. She’s 15, confused, scared, and feeling alone in a white town with one other black resident. I don’t know, but I know there are lots of people who don’t mean to use hurtful words. They are just labelled on their brains.

Yeah labels. Like cops.

Exactly. Some think all cops are bad. Some think they are all good. 

The label is based on whatever reality you experience. 

The label is based on absolutes, like everything is binary: black or white, truth or lie, right or wrong.

Your truth has absolutely everything to do with labels

Yet we forget about those little gray lines between the absolutes.

When we place a label, we use past experiences to form an opinion. We stop working together to find a solution. The more we separate from each other, the more we become polarized. 

I was thinking of the song “Signs” by The Five Man Electrical Band this morning. Written in 1971, that song is as relevant today as ever. 

It’s a song that sees the beauty in the natural world and the songwriter struggles with the labels and limits others place on him because he’s the guy who’s living in a perfect world while everyone else is living inside a box, trying to make everything perfect.

  

The rebels see the song as a rallying cry. The conformists think it’s a song about rebellion. I think the song is about the removal of labels in order to live a peaceful, enjoyable life.

I’m as guilty as the next person to place labels. My personal experience with the police always comes down to that one time when Constable Dufour assaulted me and threatened to arrest me for something I didn’t do. He knew I wasn’t afraid of him. And when I told him I was going to talk to my law professor to see what I could do, he let me go. 

But I’m not black. And I can’t imagine what could’ve happened if I was. 

Maybe I’m not your brother. 

Maybe I don’t understand the shit you’ve gone through.

But I can sympathize with your struggles.

And I would love to help you. 

That’s what friends do.

Coronavirus is not the zombie apocalypse

As the world reacts to the threat of a pandemic, markets crash, toilet paper sold out and Purell is counting cash.

What aren't we being told?

3000 people died in China in 3 months. That is the equivalent of 25 people in Canada because of the population differences.

12 people die every hour in Canada due to heart disease based on Health Canada data.

Based on facts, shouldn't we be more worried about Big Macs?

Or is there some other agenda?

Is the Coronavirus more scary? Are world governments protecting us from mass hysteria, similar to George Orwellian theory?

Or is it not a problem and other governments are shaking the American economy to its knees. An investor friend hypothesizes that the recent price reduction in gas has to do with Russia and Saudi Arabia flooding the market with excess oil as an attack on the US economy.

Could this be considered an act of War?

What's really going on?

Financial markets are crashing.
Money is being lost.
Governments are installing travel bans.
Professional sports are shutting their doors.

Did I mention Oil is cheap?
What about governments committing money to Coronavirus relief fund?

Canada is approaching 1 trillion in debt and is committing to a relief fund.
How are we paying for this?
Does this mean our taxes will have to go up when this hysteria ends?
Or does it mean our country is one step closer to bankruptcy?

And if we are closer to bankruptcy, what happens then?

I have so many questions.
But none of them have anything to do with Coronavirus.

Because that's not the issue.
It's bigger than that.
And only time will tell what is really going on.

Have fun.
Stay safe.
Drink a Corona.
Try not to worry. Coronavirus is not a zombie apocalypse.

That'll be the next thing we should be scared of.

Lesson about marketing from a Las Vegas Beggar

The difference between making noise and making money in the marketing world is the same as the difference between a beggar and a busker.

The beggar asks for money, but offers nothing in return.
The busker parts you with your money in exchange for entertainment.

The homeless guy's tool is sympathy.
The Busker hammers the drums with entertainment.

We give more time to those who entertain us.
We give more money to those who command our time.
It's a fact.

If the beggar interrupts and makes us sad, he's a busker.
If he gets us looking in the opposite direction trying to avoid eye contact, he's a beggar.

The busker interrupts but he makes us smile.

Most marketers ARE beggars.

Information is a beggar's tool.
Traffic is a beggar's hope.
More traffic does not mean more money.

Emotion is the entertainer's tool.
Traffic is the entertainer's strategy.
More traffic means more money.

Here are two examples of good marketing from the streets of Las Vegas.

Luck is a lady named Serendipity

Inspiration comes from a room. There are no windows. There's a door but it's locked.

You can try to break it down. But you're wasting your time. The one who locked it knew you'd try, so it has been reinforced to handle 5000 pounds of pressure.

Trying to break it is wasted energy.

You can try to pick the lock, but you're wasting your time. The one who built the lock knew you'd try.

Instead of wasting time to force the door open, use your time to find the key.

The key to the door unlocks all inspiration you'll ever want.

The first time you find the key seems like luck. But it's not. It's a process. And your methods are not necessarily good for someone else.

But some odd reason, the key is never in the same place as you last left it. It's as if the one who built the lock has children who play with your keys.

Once you know the process, the keys mysteriously appear.

I'm embarrassed to admit my way to inspiration.
But it works every time.

I listen to Frank Sinatra.
I'm not joking.
My favourite song ever is "My way".
It's my life's story.

I was thinking of "Luck is a lady" this morning.

Luck happens when good things happen despite not having planned for it.
I don't believe in luck. I believe things happen for some reason without our understanding.

That being said, yesterday my mind was troubled.
I had work commitments on Friday.
My son had a hockey tournament in the morning.
Aline (my wife) was going to take him to the game.
The weatherman was calling for a storm.
It looked like the tournament was going to happen regardless.
Which meant my son and wife were going to be on the road in a potential storm.

As we're preparing for the reality of her traveling, we're debating if they should go.
We want to please our son.
We want to protect him.
We don't want to let down the team.

As this is twirling around our tongues, our son had a league game the night before the tournament. The best player couldn't come. And the boys didn't play their best game.

With 26 seconds left in the game, there's a scrum in the corner for the puck. A boy from the other team comes out with the puck. As he's emerging from the cluster of kids, my son gives him one final shove.

The kid falls down.
A whistle is blown.
And my son is given a penalty.
With 26 seconds left in the game, with no effect on the game, my 13 year old heads off to the dressing room.
The penalty wasn't a serious crime. No one got hurt.
The referee called a minor penalty. But with 26 seconds left, he added a game misconduct to the punishment.
Which means, my boy has to sit out a game as a consequence to his 26 second infraction.

Luck is a lady and her name is Serendipity.

When you are dealing with a problem and you're not sure. As long as you've done everything you can do to prepare, the rest is up to Serendipity.

In my experience, things work out.
So don't stress out.
The key to the locked door will be found when you're ready to receive them.

Marketing in a crisis

Marketing is fun. You get to say and do things that normally aren't done or said. Good marketing uses an angle that disrupts the audience. Good marketing attracts customers like cell phones to sinks full of water.

But once in a lifetime, the moon turns blue. And something happens, outside of your control, affecting everything you do and say.

A catastrophe puts your entire operation in crisis. You have to close. You won't be able to sell your stuff.

Earth, wind, water, or fire. Something shuts you down for months. You can't do anything until your insurance kicks in.

What do you do?

The time to sell is over. The time to protect has arrived. Protect your market share as much as you can despite not being able to sell anything.

Marketing should not end. It is more important than ever.

The execution changes.

The method changes. But communication must continue.

Everyday is a lost opportunity. Don't let the lost opportunity convert to lost customers.

Customers need product and the twitchy competitor down the street has been rubbing his greasy palms together waiting for your wonderful customers.
Keep your messages rolling.
Remind the customer why they love you.
Over and over again. 

Have you ever been to the airport watching families waiting for their dad to arrive? Everyone is at the airport waiting at the baggage carrousel, with hugs, claps, smiles and the five year old daughter is jumping up and down.

The customer can't buy.
Keep them wanting to.
Keep the dialogue going.
Run your radio campaigns.
Post to social media.
Engage, communicate, share, repeat.

Your customers will miss you if you stay in their head. They'll be jumping up and down waiting for your reopening.

During a crisis, you can count on a few things happening.

1. Employees will get other jobs. If you can get payroll insurance, get it. The strength of your business is the people you've hired. If you don't have payroll insurance, figure out how to pay them or help them find interim employment hoping they return when all is cleared up.

2. Suppliers may sell their exclusive products to that twitchy competitor down the street. This is just business. They want to sell stuff and you're not an option.

3. Customers will buy elsewhere.

A lot of people will say they will be there for you, but few will be.

There will be others who talk a good game, but look for a quick way to get away from you.
Let's call them rats.
Rats are the first to leave the ship.
Remember them. Those who scurry away were never really on your team anyways.

I know that's a hard pill to swallow. The rat is a nice guy most of the time. It's easy to be a good guy when things go well. His true personality emerges when things go wrong. 

That's why I call them rats. They nibble on your business like a block of cheddar for years. Then they run, leaving you to pick up their mess. 

Good times will return.
Set traps to keep future rats.
Hopefully nothing will go awry again.
A few traps never hurt.

A good captain keeps his ship clean.

A good captain navigates his plan.

A good captain stays until the very end, putting everyone else's safety ahead of his own.

The time for having fun and farting around is over. 

You will be a Phoenix or a pile of ashes.

Everything you know about business can be trashed.

What you become after the crisis is determined by what you do early on. 

Be vulnerable. Be real. Be supportive.

And NEVER let them see you sweat.

Marketing is like boiling an egg

If you are an adult, I'm going to assume you know how to cook a hard boiled egg.

Gramma taught me when I was 10. Here were her instructions.
1. Get a pot.
2. Fill it half full with water.
3. Place eggs in water.
4. Turn on heat to Max.
5. Wait until it starts to boil.
6. Time out 8 minutes.
7. Remove heat.
8. Remove shell and serve with butter.

Pretty simple, right.
To get the results of a perfect boiled egg, the recipe must be followed in this order.
These are the inputs: eggs, water, heat, and time

Here's how you get bad results:
Put the eggs in the pot without water.
Boil water but don't put the eggs in.
Don't turn on the heat.
Pull the eggs out too soon.

Boiling an egg is like your advertising campaign.
Eggs are potential customers
Water is message.
Heat is the money.
And time is still just time.

If you want your advertising campaign to work, treat it like boiling an egg.

Use a message that gets noticed by potential customers. Spend money on areas where these potentials are hanging out. And wait until they come out hard-boiled.

Don't stop the heat.

It takes time.

If you stop the heat before the time is up, your advertising will be wasted. You won't get what you're looking for. You will be disappointed by its results.

So the next time you want to run an advertising campaign. Ask yourself three important questions:
1. Do you have enough time for this to work?
2. Do you have the ability to apply enough heat to get your hard boiled egg?
3. Do you have water?

If the answer is "no" to either of these questions, don't waste your money on the campaign, unless you're looking for transactional customers.

Transactional customers don't need any of this.

They only need a great deal.

If you want transactional customers, all you need is heat and water. You don't even need clean water. Any water will do, as long as its the cheapest around.