Category: Business

Some fun with Mailchimp

Carl Setzer

An interesting evening.

I inherited a Mailchimp account. I needed to update the website, organization name (slight name change), address, phone number, etc. My goodness! There were 4 different forms that needed informatio.

Make sure you’ve updated all elements at this section of your account:

  • https://us14.admin.mailchimp.com/account/contact/#

It’ll save you aggravation later.

Please note: I’m still a fan of Mailchimp and their business model. I love how it’s free to start while designed to grow with you and your business. It’s a powerful tool that will help you market professionally with minimal effort. And will scale as you grow.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ve deployed Mailchimp for multiple businesses and organizations. It’s one of the best investments you can make for your growing business.

“Carl, people are looking at your LinkedIn profile”

Carl Setzer

My, I’m feeling the love of the digital world! It’s interesting to think about what’s bringing folks to my profile.

What do you think?

 

LinkedIn Message

 

Should I Become A Real Estate Mogul? 

Carl Setzer

I’ve had my real estate license for several years. However, last December I let it lapse. Over the years I held my license I closed no transactions…as an agent. My company sold bank and government owned homes. That was my focus. So I didn’t work with clients exactly. I worked with asset managers, on behalf of the institution that owned the house in our portfolio. I needed my license, but I never needed to go out and generate leads and such that’s part of being a real estate agent. Buy I know about the local market, how to price a home, how to market it, and I know the contract process better than most agents. So, though I haven’t a single transaction officially tied though, I’ve closed hundreds.

So, I’m trying to figure out what to do next. I’m nearing the end of my grace period with the state of Washington. After December, I’ll need to retake my real estate course work from scratch to renew. Right now, I just need to take a few hours of online course work and then pay the renewal fee. It’s very tempting.

In my current role, I manage the construction process from getting a contract signed around to having permits in hand. I believe that my understanding of the construction process coupled with my understanding of bank and government owner homes gives me a unique skill set in the real estate world. New construction, custom homes as well as real estate flipping and investing are things I understand well.

But, is it enough to make the investment worthwhile! Would I make back the investment in time and energy? I’m just not sure. What do you think? I’d love to hear your insights and recommendations.

Not sure I want to become a mogul. But I think I could make a positive impact on the world.

Sales, Dilbert, and Death For Sales Videos

Carl Setzer

I’m thinking the Elbonians might be onto something here.

Elbonian Sales Video Assignment - Dilbert by Scott Adams

I mean, who likes sales presentations?

Oddly, this morning I was reading Seth Godin (as I often do) where he wrote about how to improve your sales presentations.

My analysis of “Papa John’s founder resigns as chairman after using N-word on conference call”

Carl Setzer

Reading this article stunned me: Papa John’s founder resigns as chairman after using N-word on conference call

A simply mind blowing story. Over the years I’ve seen plenty of people make horrible public gaffes.  It’s hard to imagine coming up with something worse to say. By a man who worked really hard to build a company into something huge. 

Psychoanalyzing people based at a distance is ineffective. However, reading this, and looking over his list of other public faux pases, I wonder if he subconsciously wanted to be fired. It explains a lot, really.

Endings and Such

Carl Setzer

A business I helped form, build a website for, manage social media…Well, it’s gone out of business. The doors locked,  website shut down, and now, adding a weird  sense of finality, we’re shutting down the Facebook page. I guess I should deactivate the google business page, but I digress.

Facebook was the business’s best performing community engagement tool. Well over a thousand likes. Lots of liveliness, vibrancy and connected people.

But the project is done, and it’s time to let go, sad or not. Letting these sorts of things go, and moving forward; tis quite the challenge. I’ve given so much of myself. But, the past needs to be laid to rest so that the future has room to move. No matter my ego’s misty eyes

There’s always something new my give attention too.

Warren Buffet Quote: The Value Of Saying “No”

Carl Setzer

 Saying “No” to opportunities…a huge challenge for me. Mastering this provides key benefits. The biggest? Focus. The more time and energy directed towards the things that matter, that we value, the more we accomplish. Related to that: distractions. Saying “yes” too often ensures a distracted, unfocused, confused life. One with missed deadlines, people left hanging, and the burden of extra stress. Damage that community too much and you become branded as someone unreliable. 

Protecting our focus matters greatly. What else do we have? Life is just a collection of moments. We don’t get them back. It’s critical to spend our time doing things that we value. That’s the path to a satisfying life. 

My Team Is Hiring A Home Detailer

Carl Setzer

Here’s the job description below. We’re a dynamic and fun team looking to make something really great in the local construction market.

Residential Home Detailer Wanted for Growing Construction Company (Snohomish County)

Compensation: Depending on Abilities
Employment type: Full Time

This person will report to our construction manager

We are looking for a highly motivated, energetic, enthusiastic, and hard-working person to help us maintain our jobsites throughout Snohomish County.

Responsibilities include but not limited to:

    • Walkthrough prep for new homeowners
    • Complete punch lists
    • Follow-up on warranty items
    • Landscaping
    • Fencing
    • Pick-up work

Requirements:

  • Ability to learn quickly
  • Transportation
  • Great “can-do” attitude
  • Able to follow instruction and meet goals and deadlines
  • Well rounded skill level
  • Minor Carpentry skills from millwork to framing
  • Ability to do drywall repairs, patches, texture & paint
  • Some knowledge of landscaping
  • Familiar with construction projects

If you’re interested, please reach out to me directly. We’ll then ask you to email a cover letter explaining your potential qualifications for this job, along with your resume.

Seth Godin’s: The Toxic Antidote To Goodwill

Carl Setzer

I’ve long admired Seth Godin’s writings and blog posts. Today’s post got me thinking, since it covers situations I’ve needed to respond to, and on many different sides.

The toxic antidote to goodwill

Seth points out:

“Anyone who has done the math will tell you that word of mouth is the most efficient way to gain trust, spread the word and grow.

And yet…

It only takes a moment to destroy. Only a few sentences, a heartless broken promise, a lack of empathy, and it’s gone. Not only that, but the lost connection can easily lead to lawsuits.”

I’ve had team members act this way, seen my leaders act this way, and, most importantly, received this attitude many times: “It’s not my fault. I did a perfect job. Tough luck.”

It destroys connection. Word of mouth now will work against you. In today’s highly connected world, these sorts of slip-ups can go viral and bring you a great deal of negative attention. And, sorry, I don’t buy the “any attention is good attention”.

When I was at Starbucks, I was part of the Corporate Social Responsibility team. Environmental issues, business practices, and corporate charitable giving were key components of our work (though that’s not all inclusive). When asked once, what value we brought to the company, my reply was “being allowed to stay in business”. More and more people are expecting companies to live ethically (within a range of definitions of “ethical”, of course). Considering such things as communities protesting the building of Wal-Marts, it’s clear, to me, that companies are going to face expectations of behavior that they ignore at their existential peril. And expecting to wait 5 years before acting is probably the most fatal of all thoughts.

Over the years, I’ve had Milton Friedman’s statement “a business’ responsibility is to maximize shareholder value” presented to me many, many times. Though I my eyes roll at that (I’m firmly buy into the Triple Bottom Line engagement model),  I find the response of “what time period are we talking about?” to be the best. “Maximized shareholder value” for today? This minute only? Should the future ability to operate be sacrificed for maximized profits for the next earnings report? How many times has Wall Street rewarded such short-term thinking? Massive layoffs create a super strong quarter? Exciting! Except now the company can’t scale, or, sometimes, can’t even meet their current business flow. Considering the long-term detriment for such short-term decisions needs to be rewarded.

One additional thought with all this: the power of the individual. Sure, I can post a nasty critique of <insert evil company> on <Twitter/Facebook/Instagram> and get thousands/millions of views, have the “contact us” section of your website crash, and your phones ringing incessantly for days. But there’s the other side of this. The power of the empowered employee who chooses to engage, and solve problems. Sadly, it won’t be as powerful. It would be great to see “Oh My God, <company x>, your <employee name here> did <awesome thing> and our lives are so much better” end up with 1.5 million likes and RTs. But that won’t happen without a significant cultural shift. But that pushes you in the right direction. And if you don’t have a huge global presence, that’s the gold. Might actually be the only gold. Which, once tarnished, is so terribly hard to get back. You might not be able to make that investment in time/money/energy to repair before your company fails.

 

A few recommended Real Estate articles

Carl Setzer

As you may know, I work in the real estate industry. I’m a licensed real estate agent, though currently don’t have my license with a brokerage, and work in the construction sector. With that, I watch the industry closely. These articles below cover national trends, which do impact us at a local level, somewhat.

So, a few interesting articles about the national market.

Enjoy!