Category Archive

Surely you didn’t expect me to turn 40 without getting philosophical on ya.

I turn 40 in a week, and today I’m gonna get philosophical.

First: Mis-spent youth.

In phone consultations I often advise clients to create a “shock and awe package” or credibility-builder to mail to their prospects. Preferably something with weight and heft. Especially in service businesses where the potential value of a new customer is in the thousands of dollars.

So here’s my example: we’ve got water in our basement and Laura contacts a few waterproofing companies. Just yesterday, in the mail, we got a VERY clever package.

As of today, I am 39.9617 years old. 2 weeks from today is the day!

On Friday, April 10, I hit the big 4-0. And I’m celebrating in a big way.

Ever since I was 14 or 15 years old, I desired to live “off the grid”.

This didn’t mean living in Montana and growing my own food. It meant becoming independent of the corporate suit-and-tie world and not living under somebody’s thumb.

My dad lived his life under somebody’s thumb and for example one time he was “forced to resign.”

(Don’t you think sometimes there’s more dignity in being outright FIRED, than pretending, for the sake of appearance, to go along with somebody’s decision to throw you under the bus?)

When I was “growing up” as a marketer, I relied HEAVILY on newsletters and advice from mentors and other sharp marketers. Without that help I would have drowned.

There were so many decisions to make, yet some of those decisions were critical. Even a seemingly small choice could have huge consequences later on.

Examples of small decisions that turned out to be huge, later on:

Amount of AIG bailout : $170B
Amount of AIG bonuses: $0.165B
Bailout/Bonuses ~1000:1