CarusoBlog

Keep Your Eyes On the Prize

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

My friend Marc Harty has started a new blog called Main Topic--Focused Thinking for an ADD-Driven World. 

It's an important topic and Marc is just the right person to address it.  He's a talented marketing expert who is passionate about providing valuable information to people 

I commented on one of Marc's first postings and have re-purposed my message here.

Some people find that a general lack of focus is caused by The Long Tail phenomenon of having a plethora of choices.  You may recall that Chris Anderson's book, The Long Tail, explains how the digital age is expanding business opportunities. 

I met Marc at Fred Gleeck's and Rick Frishman's seminar on information marketing a few years ago, where they gave us enough Web sites and tools and things to do to keep us busy for a year.

Many of our fellow attendees went to a similar conference within six months and received another cool list of distractions.  Part of the secret to conquering the distraction monster is to develop the discipline to "just say no."

On a basic level, as I explain in my FastLearnerAudio series, time management is simply re-prioritizing distractions.  Another way to think of it:  make a "not-to-do" list. 

Politically speaking, the phrase, "stay the course," is not popular right now, but it's just the ticket for people who need to focus on the target.  As I remind people in my sales training classes:  Keep your eyes on the prize.

How do you handle distractions?  Comment here and share your best ideas with the rest of us?

Creativity Is Like Giving Birth

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Creativity is an amazing thing.  Give a speech, build a house or write a song and the thing lives on in ways you can never imagine. 

I've always liked the song The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore).  The verse isn't much, but the hook in the chorus happens fast and just won't let go.  Ya gotta love a song that gets right to the point.  I like people who are that way, too. 

I own the Jules Shear version and had never heard any other act cover the song, so I thought he might have written it.  Turns out that the tune has been recorded by a hundred artists including Cher in 1996.  Actor Alan Rickman even sang it in Truly Madly Deeply.

A California group called The Walker Brothers actually did best with the song way back in 1966.  Nobody in the band was named Walker and they weren't brothers, but that's besides the point.

Here's the best part.  The song was written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, the hit-making team for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (Walk Like a Man, Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, etc.).  Both Crewe and Gaudio are in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  They get a royalty every time their song is performed or played.

Valli recorded The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine as a solo artist one year earlier than the Walker Brothers, but didn't do nearly as well with it.  So, this simple song that was originally recorded back in 1965 had a life of its own long afterward.

The story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, by the way, is now being told, er, sang to sold-out audiences as the musical Jersey Boys.  Ideas spawns ideas. 

Creativity is like giving birth.  Whatever you create grows into a life of its own.  Now, go give that speech, build that house or write that song.

Car Companies Surprise Themselves With Sales at Auto Show

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Motown is abuzz with the opening of the 2008 North American International Auto Show. 

The really big news, however, is that the automobile manufacturers actually sold a few cars during the Auto Show's first luxury night.  Mark Phelan and Kimberly Lifton of the Detroit News report that industry executives were as surprised as anyone when 10 or 12 cars worth a total of $3 million or more were sold that evening. 

Isn't it ironic that car companies are starved for sales, but didn't expect to sell any automobiles at the premier industry event of the year? 

To put luxury car sales in perspective, Lamborghini sold 2,406 cars worldwide in 2007, while the Ford F-series truck sold 1,892 units per day.  I guess Lam is on its way to making quota this year.

Excited car company executives are said to be giddy with the prospect of "selling cars again like this next year!"

You think?

The Opposite of Luck Is . . .

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

When I was in the music business many years ago, I got in the habit of thinking in "song titles."  A good song title is a memorable and provocative word or combination of words that somehow triggers a deeper meaning. 

This skill comes in quite handy today as I now make a living thinking of and marketing titles for my audio programs and books. 

"The Opposite of Luck" sounds like it could be a song title or lyric, but I'm even more intrigued by the question, "What is the opposite of luck?"

Feel free to post your answer and I'll weigh in later.

How to Be Even More Successful in 2008

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Did you ever have a really great Thursday night?

I had one last night, along with a good-size crowd at Walled Lake Central High School auditorium.  The Lake Area Rotary and the Lakes Area Chamber co-sponsored an evening of networking, food and a featured speaker--me.

The topic was How to Be Even More Successful in 2008.  Over 100 business professionals took notes for over two hours as I gave them my best advice on creating success.  Attendees asked all kinds of questions and I gave highly customized advice to people in many industries, including a pet specialist, a business banker, an author of children's books and a dozen salespeople.

I spent considerable time teaching attendees the two fastest ways to brand themselves as an industry experts:  writing and speaking about your area of interest.

Afterward, I signed copies of my books and audio programs.  The FastLearnerAudio2 series on Leadership was the most popular item.

I reminded the group that the two-hours of content they were getting was a snippet of the two days of content I'm providing at my Triple Your Income conference in Las Vegas, February 15-16.

When you have a good Thursday night, the week ends right and the weekend starts on a high note.

Be Cool

Composed in Akron, Ohio--

One of the secrets to running your own company is dedicating yourself to the work, but I also recommend working at relaxation.  All of us need should schedule downtime to do things that give us joy and peace.  Reading can be just the ticket. 

I've just finished a three-day engagement for an insurance provider here in the Buckeye State.  I'm teaching their sales professionals and executive team to be better speakers.  Nerves are an issue for most speakers, so I guess I'm teaching people to be cool under pressure.  Coincidentally, I enjoyed an audio book by that name on the drive down to Akron. 

Be Cool was published in 1999, but the fiction machine known as Elmore Leonard continues to crank out the hits.  Leonard's been in the news lately because his old book 3:10 to Yuma was recently made into a movie. 

The author is known for his sharp dialogue.  He writes the way people talk. I’ve met Leonard; he lives just down the street from me in the adjacent city of Michigan. As it turns out, I know the name sakes of several people in Be Cool.

Elliott Wilhelm (the "Samoan" thug) is named after the head of the Detroit Film Theatre. The DJ in the book, Ken Calvert, is named after the legendary Motown DJ. Journalist Mike Downey is named after the real newspaper guy, who is a terrific writer. 

I highly recommend Leonard’s fabulous story-telling for anyone who wants to escape real life for a while. This audio book was read by actor Campbell Scott, perhaps most famous for his role opposite Steve Martin in The Spanish Prisoner.

Like 3:10 to Yuma many of Leonard's books, Be Cool was made into a motion picture.  John Travolta was excellent in the role of Chili Palmer.

Attentions Sales People -- Low Prices Are Not A Good Selling Point

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

I read The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman a while back, but I can't stop thinking about this important book.  In fact, I just posted a review on Amazon.

Why am I still so interested in the Fishman book?  As a sales trainer,  I'm especially aware of how American commerce is strongly attracted to low price points. 

I teach sale people to never talk about price until they've created value by talking about everything else, especially product benefits.  Even when a potential customer objects to a "high" price, a seller's goal is not to give up dollars, but to re-establish value. 

Promoting a low price is not in your customer's best interest because a lower price is almost always a representation of lower value.  Promoting a low price is not in your company's best interest because lower prices erode margins.  Selling on price is not in the seller's best interest because it causes laziness and apathy as the seller shifts from promoting value to scoring a commodity sale. 

Price is important, but it is not and never will be the most important factor of a business transaction.  Volkswagen will never put Cadillac out of business.

Early Pioneers Are Usually Met With Resistance, Part II

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Once there was a man named Ignaz Semelweiss.  As head of Vienna General Hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic, Semmelweis postulated there would be fewer deaths from infection, if doctors simply washed their hands. 

In the mid-19th century, it was common for physicians to move from patient to patient without washing their hands.  Some doctors were known to perform autopsies and then work on living people without washing. 

There was a lot of resistance to Semmelweis's theory.  The medical community initially contended that it was too much work to wash hands that many times a day.  To complicate the situation, doctors were not willing to admit they might have actually caused infection and death. 

Semmelweis was fired from his job.  He had a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum where he died at age 47. 

Today, Ignaz Semmelweis is credited with the discovery of germ theory.

Early Pioneers Are Usually Met With Resistance, Part I

Once there was a man named Fred Taylor.  His poor eyesight deterred him from his primary career track, so Taylor dedicated himself to working the shop floor at Bethlehem Steel, where he became fascinated with time and motion studies. 

One of Taylor's most famous studies involved shovels.  He noticed that workers used the same shovel for all materials.  Taylor determined that the most effective shovel load for a certain material was 21.5 pounds.  He then proposed finding or designing shovels that would scoop that amount.

Taylor was generally unsuccessful promoting his ideas and was fired from Bethlehem Steel. 

Frederick Taylor died in 1915 and is now referred to as "the father of scientific management."

When Facts Don't Tell the Truth

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

A unit of the Congressional Quarterly has published the 14th annual "City Crime Rankings:  Crime in Metropolitan America."  Based on FBI reports, Detroit has replaced St. Louis as the country's most dangerous city. 

The release of this definitive information was immediately criticized by The American Society of Criminology and just about everyone who lives in Detroit. 

Who's right?  Is Detroit the most dangerous city or not? 

Does it matter if Motown is the most dangerous city or the second most dangerous?  If statistics can't be trusted, could Detroit actually be the 22nd most dangerous city in America?

Finally, what good are statistics if they aren't actual facts?

My friend Casey McNeal, a talented speaker and comedian, says that 67% of statistics are made up on the spot, but he might have made that up.