Good Morning! It's time to take the "plunge"...
"Woke up...got out of bed...dragged a comb across my head...found my way downstairs and drank a cup...looking up I noticed I was late...found my coat and grabbed my hat...made the bus in seconds flat..." What song are those lines from and who sang it? I'll tell you in the next post.
I recently decided to move forward with my dream: running my own home-based business. It wasn't a rash decision. It wasn't something I did in a moment of desperation and frustration from having a lousy day at work. It was, and still is, a move that had to be done. It's funny, but my former corporate jobs drove me to this. And it makes sense. My former career was driving me crazy...and being a little crazy is one of the checklist items required to make this kind of move. Now...getting up a four or five in the morning allows me to do some work when I am my most creative. My mind is realtively clear (I am a morning person), the house is quiet (even the dogs are still sleeping), and I can really "think". I always first fire up the coffee maker and turn on the TV...a local Sacramento morning news show is what we watch. Well, since today is Saturday, its not on at 5:00 am. In fact, they only recenly added a weekend version, but that doesn't start until 7:00 am. So, instead, what I get is gobs and gobs of infomercials. Sometimes I get fixated on Ron Popeil's products. You know him, he's the guy who "invented", among other things, the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie, the Pasta Maker, the Food Dehydrator, and so on. He is also the guy who brought us the Popeil Pocket Fisherman: A little plastic fishing "pole" that, well...fits in your pocket. And...this guy actually started by marketing that spray paint stuff for your bald spot! A can of frigging black or brown spray paint to spray on the your head, thus eliminating any need for expensive "rugs" or other folicular augmentation. Wow...can you imagine his wife's reaction when he proposed that to her, "Honey, I'm quitting my somewhat comfortable and income-producing job to market spray paint for balding heads!" He certainly was and is a consummate salesperson. Anyway, there was another informercial on this morning that I watched for 30 seconds. This one was one of many professing the virtues of...yes, starting your own home-based business. There are many of these available, ranging in price from $19.95 a month (for 19 months) to $19.95 period. Whether or not they possess any information that the average, above-100-IQ person would already know remains to be seen. What they do possess is "motivation"... a "yes-you-too-can-do-it-too" approach that motivates you to at least go to the phone. And check this out...once you are on the phone with them...they won't let you off until you buy! How do they do this? They are ready to "deal". You see, that price on TV is not set in stone. Now if you are calling to buy a Bowflex, there isn't much room to bargain, the product is relatively expensive to produce. But with "information" products, it is a whole different story. You can deal with these people like you are at the swapmeet! It's only paper, cardboard, and a cassette (DVD) or two. "Well how about if I send you the "Make Six Figures in Six Weeks" package for, let's say, $19.95 a month for three months instead of six months...and we'll overnight it to you for the same shipping price?" "Hmmm!", you ponder to yourself. "And, if you order now, we'll also send you "free of charge", the Quick Start Book: Six Figures in Six Minutes". Well, you get the picture. The point is (and if anyone is still reading this at this point), this is what "marketing" is all about!!! For those of us venturing into the world of self-employed marketing, ie, selling marketing ideas to clients, you must begin by marketing yourself first. If you can't do that, how could you ever convince a business person to give you a shot at marketing their thing? When I was in broadcast sales, one of my old bosses (a guy named Gary Owens...no, not the 'laugh In' guy) used to tell me, "Jack...you can't spend half the day in the office at your desk playing Business Card Solataire", a kind of fun, time-wasting, clocking-watch game. He continued, "Get your ass on the street and make 30 calls a day...you will make a ton of money". Well, he was right. You have to "see the people" to make money in sales. And even though I hate "sales", it is a must-do in this business (consulting and marketing) in order to, well...make money! Now, some 20 years later, Business Card Solataire has been replace by...you guessed it: Internet Roulette. Man...when you type something in the subject line then hit the "search" button, it's almost like being in Las Vegas. Not only do you receive thousands and thousands of new suggestions for wasting time...you get Pop Ups too! So...the moral? If you are contemplating "taking the plunge", or know someone who is...Tip Number One: keep reading this blog. Yes, besides pictures of my dogs, kids, Harleys, and myself...I will offer as much wisdom as I can regarding the pitfalls of self-home-based employment. Why should you listen to me? Simply put...I have made every mistake and ordered almost every self-help package available the past 20 years. Please pass along this blog site to anyone you think might enjoy a little irreverant writing, a joke or two, commiseration, and yes...INFORMATION from time to time. In the words of Clark Griswold just before he went down the hill on the saucer sled (the bottom of which coated with his own silicone-based non-stick product), "Later dudes!"
I recently decided to move forward with my dream: running my own home-based business. It wasn't a rash decision. It wasn't something I did in a moment of desperation and frustration from having a lousy day at work. It was, and still is, a move that had to be done. It's funny, but my former corporate jobs drove me to this. And it makes sense. My former career was driving me crazy...and being a little crazy is one of the checklist items required to make this kind of move. Now...getting up a four or five in the morning allows me to do some work when I am my most creative. My mind is realtively clear (I am a morning person), the house is quiet (even the dogs are still sleeping), and I can really "think". I always first fire up the coffee maker and turn on the TV...a local Sacramento morning news show is what we watch. Well, since today is Saturday, its not on at 5:00 am. In fact, they only recenly added a weekend version, but that doesn't start until 7:00 am. So, instead, what I get is gobs and gobs of infomercials. Sometimes I get fixated on Ron Popeil's products. You know him, he's the guy who "invented", among other things, the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie, the Pasta Maker, the Food Dehydrator, and so on. He is also the guy who brought us the Popeil Pocket Fisherman: A little plastic fishing "pole" that, well...fits in your pocket. And...this guy actually started by marketing that spray paint stuff for your bald spot! A can of frigging black or brown spray paint to spray on the your head, thus eliminating any need for expensive "rugs" or other folicular augmentation. Wow...can you imagine his wife's reaction when he proposed that to her, "Honey, I'm quitting my somewhat comfortable and income-producing job to market spray paint for balding heads!" He certainly was and is a consummate salesperson. Anyway, there was another informercial on this morning that I watched for 30 seconds. This one was one of many professing the virtues of...yes, starting your own home-based business. There are many of these available, ranging in price from $19.95 a month (for 19 months) to $19.95 period. Whether or not they possess any information that the average, above-100-IQ person would already know remains to be seen. What they do possess is "motivation"... a "yes-you-too-can-do-it-too" approach that motivates you to at least go to the phone. And check this out...once you are on the phone with them...they won't let you off until you buy! How do they do this? They are ready to "deal". You see, that price on TV is not set in stone. Now if you are calling to buy a Bowflex, there isn't much room to bargain, the product is relatively expensive to produce. But with "information" products, it is a whole different story. You can deal with these people like you are at the swapmeet! It's only paper, cardboard, and a cassette (DVD) or two. "Well how about if I send you the "Make Six Figures in Six Weeks" package for, let's say, $19.95 a month for three months instead of six months...and we'll overnight it to you for the same shipping price?" "Hmmm!", you ponder to yourself. "And, if you order now, we'll also send you "free of charge", the Quick Start Book: Six Figures in Six Minutes". Well, you get the picture. The point is (and if anyone is still reading this at this point), this is what "marketing" is all about!!! For those of us venturing into the world of self-employed marketing, ie, selling marketing ideas to clients, you must begin by marketing yourself first. If you can't do that, how could you ever convince a business person to give you a shot at marketing their thing? When I was in broadcast sales, one of my old bosses (a guy named Gary Owens...no, not the 'laugh In' guy) used to tell me, "Jack...you can't spend half the day in the office at your desk playing Business Card Solataire", a kind of fun, time-wasting, clocking-watch game. He continued, "Get your ass on the street and make 30 calls a day...you will make a ton of money". Well, he was right. You have to "see the people" to make money in sales. And even though I hate "sales", it is a must-do in this business (consulting and marketing) in order to, well...make money! Now, some 20 years later, Business Card Solataire has been replace by...you guessed it: Internet Roulette. Man...when you type something in the subject line then hit the "search" button, it's almost like being in Las Vegas. Not only do you receive thousands and thousands of new suggestions for wasting time...you get Pop Ups too! So...the moral? If you are contemplating "taking the plunge", or know someone who is...Tip Number One: keep reading this blog. Yes, besides pictures of my dogs, kids, Harleys, and myself...I will offer as much wisdom as I can regarding the pitfalls of self-home-based employment. Why should you listen to me? Simply put...I have made every mistake and ordered almost every self-help package available the past 20 years. Please pass along this blog site to anyone you think might enjoy a little irreverant writing, a joke or two, commiseration, and yes...INFORMATION from time to time. In the words of Clark Griswold just before he went down the hill on the saucer sled (the bottom of which coated with his own silicone-based non-stick product), "Later dudes!"
posted by James | 5:39 AM
2 Comments:
"A Day in the Life" written by Lennon and McCartney. You know, I wrote a research paper on that song for my Beatles class at Poly. I should e-mail it to you. I got an A.
Phew! I knew those 5 years at Cal Poly would come in handy for you!
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