Another Week Another $.74.5.

The Week That Was Here In The Garden City

Marketing

I went to a couple of networking events this week and have figured out that it’s all kind of like visiting LinkedIn, everybody looking for customers, very few interested in actually going about that the right way by building relationships.
During this process, it occurred to me that The 80-20 Differential applies here in that 80 and maybe even 90% of everybody out there in the B to B world is looking for a quick fix, a project, an account, a job, a something.
But the thing they are not looking for is the development of relationships or the true building of a personal brand.
Many of these people likely feel that this process is rather arduous and time consuming and are looking for some sort of magic button they can press that will make it all happen instantly.
Well, here’s a news flash…there ain’t one. It’s the same slow, lumbering, one foot in front of the other process for everyone. And if you don’t have the horses to pull that off, well then, you really might consider that you are barking up the wrong tree.
And there’s nothing wrong with concluding that and heading off in another direction. Life is an exploration. If this place doesn’t work for you, well try another.
The reason I decided to partner with Charlene Norman is that she believes exactly what I do about the acquisition of business in that the vast majority of B to B business that is transacted is not done on line. It is done in person, where people can assess your character and decide whether they like you and can trust you based on the stories you tell the expertise that oozes from you and the sincerity you exhibit.
It’s the difference between 2D and 3D. And for a lot of people it can be the difference between banging your head against the wall and moving forward productively.
Good writing and storytelling on sites like LinkedIn and beBee can only take you so far. Maybe they can establish some credibility. Maybe they can pique a certain amount of interest, but without the 3-D follow through, you’re basically just pissin’ in the wind.
Anyway, that’s all the free marketing advice I’m doling out today.

The House

The house, except for putting the finishing touches on a couple of things, is renovated for the moment. It’s the first week since January that there hasn’t been somebody here tearing down or building something.
The pool is almost warm enough to swim in, so everybody is converging on Father’s Day to christen it.
This is great because Charlene and I are actually starting to get busy and I have a couple of other opportunities chugging apart from the Bullet Proof stuff.

The Poetry Challenge

My daughter Star, who is still trying to trying to find the right way to deal with her bi-polar condition, and I are having a poetry challenge to write one original poem a day for the month of June.
This is fairly easy for me to do and a lot of fun. But reading her poems is well, real uphill work. She is so frustrated with the way this condition has affected her, and I don’t blame her one bit. I get it. Before I was diagnosed with Tic Syndrome, I was extremely frustrated just walking in this body. But I finally found the right combination of activities and drugs that would allow me to control it inasmuch as that was possible, and I am hoping for the same for her.
She is a brilliant writer and she is chronicling her experience the poems she is writing.
Here is one of hers and one of mine:

THEY WILL TELL YOU

You will open yourself up--
pick up your pen,
your paintbrush.
You will let loose all that pain,
all that beauty inside you,
bleed it out,
from the red and gaping wound
that leads straight to your heart.
You will sacrifice yourself
on the alter of art,
caught in the act of creation,
your tears and courage
on permanent display.
You will do all this to save the world,
to prove a point,
to remind yourself
that you aren't afraid,
that you can survive anything,
that you are still present,
still real.
But I promise you,
that no matter how much you give,
it will never be enough.
They will tell you:
your blood isn't red enough,
your wounds aren't deep enough,
your scars didn't leave enough of a mark.
They will tell you:
what to write,
what to wear,
what to eat.
They will tell you:
who to be,
how to love,
who to fuck.
They will tell you:
how to be sick,
how to be well,
how to finish the story that was already done.
They will tell you:
this world doesn't need another poet,
another painter,
another you.
They will tell you:
all the things you want to believe
about yourself--
all the ways in which
you find yourself wanting.
And you will want to hold on
to their words,
to let them stack like bricks,
forming a wall around your heart.
But please, darling,
please don't.
Ignore them when they tell you
that you have nothing to give.
Ignore their well meaning advice,
their not-so-quiet concern,
their offer of a cloth to clean up
all that blood.
Ignore their suggestions,
their insistence,
their critique.
Ignore them all and open yourself wide,
remind yourself it's only you
that can achieve this version of perfection--
this art
this beauty
this truth.
You darling,
and no one else,
can embrace the act of creation,
can prove to yourself that you're not afraid,
that you can survive anything,
that you are still present,
still real.

ONE FUCKING WAR AT A TIME

So many wars out there raging
So many casualties it feels like a crime
Wouldn’t it be great if we could just get it down to
One fucking war at a time

There’s a war on drugs going nowhere
A war on terror that nobody can win
A war on the poor being waged by the rich
A war on the fat being waged by the thin

There’s war between Christians and Muslims
There’s war between the left and the right
There a war between Main Street and Wall Street
War raging all day and all night

There’s war between haters and lovers
There’s war between the young and the old
There are wars that serve just one purpose
In the market where guns are bought and sold

There’s new war starting tomorrow
Bringing with it a new set of fears
And try as may, you will never put an end to
The war exploding between your ears

So many wars out there raging
So many victims it feels like a crime
Wouldn’t it be great if we could just get it down to
One fucking war at a time

Political Ranting - The Ultimate Hobby

This week is significant in the long slow death of the Trump presidency in that he actually has officially been given enough rope to hang himself, and the general consensus is that he will likely be indicted for obstruction of justice.
I saw this shit coming from a mile away, as did a lot of us. So as of about a week ago I have changed my focus to the Republican congress, which is really the Demon Seed of the current US government.
A steadily growing number of conservatives are starting to become completely disenchanted with the fact that this congress is headed in the wrong direction and that sooner rather than later, the American people will start paying the price for this hubris.

Here’s a piece I wrote about Republican congressman Tom Cotton, who is one of the worst of this crazy bunch, because I think he is being groomed for leadership.

"So here we have an excellent example of just exactly how American politics works. The higher up the food chain you go the bigger the numbers grow. Trump was absolutely right. The world does take advantage of America. But only because American politicians are among the most corrupt in the world. You can buy anything you want in America. Assholes like this turd and literally a couple hundred others will make sure that you get what you pay for. In point of fact, Trump is the CEO of American politics, which is nothing more than a big department store selling influence to buyers inside their borders and all over the world. Long gone are the days when you got into politics to serve the public. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren may be the only politicians left who think that way. I keep telling people that America is fucked. This is exactly how that assault is happening." #misplacedtrust

The Other Ultimate Hobby

There’s no point at all in living in one of the most beautiful small cities in Canada and not photographing it regularly. So here are some of the pics I took this past week.

Have a great weekend, everybody. Just so you know I will be cutting down my personal blogging frequency, as I am starting to post of Bullet Proof stuff and I only have so much bandwidth.

If your business has reached the point where talking to an experienced  communication professional would be the preferred option to banging your head against the wall or whatever, lets talk.

Download my free ebook Small Business Communication For The Real World here:
 https://onwordsandupwords.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/small-business-communications-for-the-real-world/
All my profile and contact information can be accessed here:

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@jim-murray/this-post-is-my-about-page

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