Facing Forward
Paula Light’s “Monday Peeve” for today resonates with me. I hate automated help systems, too. Unanswered emails, the chat messages that go nowhere, or the dreaded calls navigating multiple menus. Nothing says we aren’t valued by your business than hearing “your call is very important to us” every 10 seconds while on hold for an hour.
I hope your Monday was free of such misery.
The featured image is by Moose Photos from Pexels.
I remember back in 2015 when Mr. Price made this bold decision. It gives me great delight to see such solid results. Seattle is a greater place with innovators like Dan Price, especially those willing to disrupt more than just markets.
Attention CEOs:
I’m one of you. In 2015 I made 33x more than our lowest-paid employee.
I took a big pay cut & raised our minimum wage to $70k. Now our top exec makes 4x more than our lowest-paid employee.
In that span, our business tripled. Amazing what happy employees can do.
— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) December 26, 2019
I just stumbled on Chris Chalmers (via this video, of all things). Chris was a DJ on a couple of local (Seattle) radio stations. Having helped many folks with their digital presence, I fully get what he’s talking about in this video. Short-term marketing, much less short-term thinking, doesn’t work. Not in the long run at least.
Marketing should be a well thought out and well planned element of your business. Strategic thought, analytics, and deliberate execution all play a part in building the long-term business.
I’ve seen too many folks expect a website, Twitter/Facebook/Instagram account to come in and rain money. 9 times out to 10 (99 times out of 100?) it’s not going to work. Regular focused posts, thoughtful interaction and the well timed/placed promotion are what gets you there. You should consider this to be a multi-year long initiative.
So, one of my current projects is helping a non-profit get up and running. One of the things we need is an EIN (Employer Identification Number…the organizational equivalent to a Social Security Number). So, I go to the IRS page to request this, and keep getting the old “Can’t connect to the website. Please try again later” error. I don’t think too much of this, but after a couple of hours, it’s getting to me. So, I explore a bit and find this.
Really? A website that’s only useful during “business hours”? It’s a WEBSITE! Why on earth is this not available 24-7? I guess that there’s some manual approval that happens during the process. Even so, I should be able to apply and be dropped into a queue that’ll be checked Monday morning, or whatever. A website with office hours just boggles my mind.
Ok, this clearly is a 21st Century problem. But it’s just so antithetical to the zeitgeist.
Last week I wrote about my transition from my current job to my next thing (see Transitions and Next Steps). The process of exploring what’s out there, what I’ve done, what I’m good at and a number of other things has refined my focus. Instead of “communications”, my focus will be on business administration (things like Executive Assistant, Business Administrator, Office Manager, Administrative Assistant roles). I do love this kind of work. And one of the things I did a few days ago was pull out a career assessment that Keller Williams runs on all their staff. And those administrative roles are ones I got 100% alignment with. Most of my career was focused on this kind of work. Mainly because I’m good at it, and like being good at it.
My focus right now is finding a role that I love. I want more than just to like my work, definitely more than tolerate it. No, I want to love it. As I know what work I’m good at and want to do, this next step is to figure out where. There are solid elements of the where. I want to work in a positive environment. No passive-aggressive dysfunction, thanks. Nor rage. Nor convoluted and confused leadership. I’m terrible at confrontation, and have no interest in putting up with unpleasantries for the sake of a paycheck.
I also want to work in a aesthetically pleasing space. Sunlight! It may seem shallow, but it’s important to me. It shows a deep commitment to staff, for starters. Anyway, I don’t need to be right next to a window, but lots of natural light. I’ve worked in many spaces like that over the years. Starbucks, Microsoft to start with. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen from my meetings at the Snohomish County Admin Building.
My focus currently includes many local powerhouses:
I’m also considering local government, Snohomish County, Cities of Lynnwood, Edmonds, Everett, Mountlake Terrace.
Anyway, that’s where things stand. If you have any advice or counsel, please leave a comment below.
Thanks!
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:
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.
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.
I’m thinking the Elbonians might be onto something here.
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.
One thing I’ve long enjoyed doing: walking while listening to podcasts. I love how I can be selective of what I want to hear. There are so many out there, with only a little effort, I can focus on whatever my “big rocks” are right now.
I’ve been working on making some life changes. Things like eliminating debt, truly managing my career (as opposed the series of happy accidents it’s been to this point).
In support of that, I’m focusing my energy on positive change, on listening to people who are moving the needle, so to speak. Sure, I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up. Actually, I’ve come to abandon that mindset. I’m focusing on what I want to do now, and what I want to do next. I’m thinking my career focus shall be “I make cool shit happen”. What do you think?
Today, during my walk, I listened to Gary Vee (aka: Gary Vaynerchuck, if you’ve not heard of him). I share with him the consternation of folks my age whining about millennials. But that wasn’t the biggest thing. Gary is always reminding you that you’re empowered, that you can make your dreams come true, and that it’s not easy. That’s why it’s called “work”.
I’m reminded, yet again, that taking on the challenge of driving my life comes with fears. Fears of the unknown, of failing, of looking like a fool. Yet everyone who’s done anything of real value in this life has faced all this. It’s been done before, it can be done now. It can be done by me.
Below is the link to the podcast in question. Let me know if you like it, the thoughts you get from it, or any other podcasts you recommend. I’m looking forward to hearing about it.
If you got value from this post, please give me it a “like” and consider following me.
Here’s a great piece over at Inc.:
The cliff notes version:
From my time in Corporate PR, I’m well aware of the reflective desire for retaliation. Mr. Warner, the PR Director at Waffle House, however, opted for a bright and pithy response.
“We’re glad Alex was able to enjoy his Texas Bacon Cheesesteak. We’ve apologized to Alex and have invited him back to eat with us. We also promised him we’d do the cooking the next time.”
For me, this was perfect. Humble, accepting of the company’s failure in this, and working to engage a committed customer. I expect they brought in many to the fold.
And, most important, they got right back to business.
Nicely played Waffle House. Nicely played indeed.
