Sunday, September 18, 2011

Educate Your Clients

This may seem really stupid to say but "HGTV isn't real, no more that WWF wrestlng is". "No, you can't build a full scale Adirondack chair in 30 minutes and that simple antiquing project isn't that simple." The point I'm making hear is that most people literally believe what they see on TV. They truly believe that if Rachel Ray can cook a perfect Beef Wellington in 15minutes with her high heels on while drinking a bottle of Dom Lefit, then so can they.

I can't tell you how many clients I've encountered who are DITYS, do-it-yourselfers. They have consumed the Home Depot KoolAid and are among the perpetually blinded to "Pay for a professional" standard. Well I am hear to tell you, "The biggest problem in America today isn't recession, it is the Do-it-Yourself industry.

Once the bastion of craftsmen and luthers, now anyone with a television guide and the stones can attempt a  home renovation project. They have become quasi Interior Designers, Electricians, Plumbers and Carpenters. Professional painters have been replaced by bespeckled secretaries. Trained plasterers have gone the way of the dodo bird, replaced by the common red-shirted night watchmen.

Now I am not begrudging anyone the right to be a (DITYS) do-it-yourself. I am torqued at the mentality one gets after watching a few weeks of  the Ye Old Yankee Workshop though. Now everyone thinks that because they've seen a dovetailed joint that this qualifies them to give advice to their neighbor who chooses to hire a professional to do their renovation "THE RIGHT WAY".

I spent a considerable amount of time with a client "Talking her off the cliff" because she spoke to her DITYS friend. He knew just enough to be dangerous and to tell you the truth I had to be real sensitive to the clients position because they were just a victim of DITYS indoctrination. The battle for the control of their mind was intense.

As a businessman I have to do more in the future to help people who have been a part of the cult of DITYS. My part is to do all I can to educate them and detoxify their minds. The damage that has been done isn't permanent just persistent. Everyday the reinforcement of DITYSism is at work throughtout the cable airways. With our continued vigilance and determination we will see DITYS and its ilk come crashing down and together we can see a return to reaity.

In closing, I would just like to say that under no cicumstances can a quality Adirondack chair be built in 30minutes with the leftovers from yesterdays filing cabinet. Yes, painting is an art and not a weekend warrior project. Finally, if you want professional quality results, HIRE A PRO.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

CEO Series

In the coming weeks I will be launching a series of webinars unlike any other that I've done before. Now before you get all bent out of shape, this isn't going to be another one of those "I'm the expert, so look at me" type of webinars. I won't try and hype you over some pie in the sky analogies on how if you pay me $29.95 plus shipping and handling you will become a six figure earner in your MLM. No I won't even try and sell you on some auto-ship scheme. What I will share with you are my real life experiences over the past 20 years of working with some of the best minds in leadership and business. Most specifically, I will share with you my odesse over the past year of building a pretty successful networking group.

I've entitled the series the CEO Series because what I have learned over the past months and years have prepared me to become a leader in my organization. I have had to learn many of those lessons the hard way but in the end they have been labors of love and I would never change them for the world. Many times I can tell you I wished that I hadn't started the thing because once you've shoved out into the deep, there is no turning back So, I knew that I had stepped in some deep doo doo and it wasn't coming off without taking off some skin too.

Becoming a CEO is much like the beforementioned analogy. You put your heart and soul into a matter and you don't even consider taking it back. Your heart is just out there. People can say all that they want to say but you know that you are committed to this endeavor and nothing else is going to deter you. Linda and I had made that committement to our team of business people and we had a responsibility not to give up on them.
One many occassions we would be the only persons to meet in the room but we knew that this wasn't going to be an easy thing. If it was going to be easy, then they would have had little old ladies and little girls doing it. Nothing worth while is ever easy but in the final analogy no amount of paint would make you stop.

I liken our trip through the past year, to that of a woman carrying a baby for 9 months and then 14 hours of hard labor. The doctor and medical team are all there waiting for this miraculous thing to happen. For the past 9 months you have shown all the signs of being pregnant. You have been waddling all over the place, eating everything in sight. You've been having pains, spasm, contractions and all the signs of someone who is about to give birth. And now is the time when you are to deliver. You are expecting and they've been expecting you to bring forth a child.

In our case our child was a growing healthy organization. We have seen the birth of something that many people had started but didn't want to pay the price to see come to full term. That is the story of the CEO Series. How can you as a business person take your endeavor from zero to hero. You can find out by taking advantage of our webinars and videos we will be producing in the coming weeks. I'm looking forward to producing it.