When you are playing in a band, there's something called a train wreck. It's when everyone gets so off beat/tempo/key that you have to stop. The song is off the tracks and there's no way to recover it. You have to stop and start over. It's never fun. I still have a memory of a train wreck at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago, and that was almost 20 years ago. It's a very public screw-up. I mean, you're literally on a stage for everybody to see. It's not a private failure that we can beat ourselves up about and move on. It's a big deal. Or so we think. Olin Miller was a comedian who was quoted in 1937, “You probably wouldn’t worry … [Read more...]
4 Simple Questions Most People Forget Before Networking
There's a cart. And there's a horse. One of the most important things you can do in any professional endeavor is to put those two in the proper order. That's certainly true when you build a network of professional relationships. Too often, professionals start "networking" without asking a few important questions. Before you dive into building and maintaining your network, you want to put a plan in place. Think of this as a marketing plan for “You, Inc.” A good networking plan acts as a map, so you know the best direction to focus your efforts. Instead of making it up as you go along (and getting haphazard results), you’ll outline a … [Read more...]
I Repeat: Make Things
Hyper-Connected Selling: How to Avoid Sales Obsolescence and Unemployment
updated June 2021 If you are in sales these days, there seems to be more questions than ever: When will we go back to in-person selling? Does cold calling still work? How does personal brand connect with my job as a seller? Where can sales professionals focus their attention to be successful? Can the selling profession remain the same in a post-pandemic world or is sales dying? And on and on. Every day it seems like even more questions are coming, but very few answers are popping up. Luckily, you don't need answers to surf the waves of change successfully. But you do need to wrap your head around the massive shift … [Read more...]
Make Something
Just before the new year I got to revisit my past. My friend Rob and I went to a ska show, something that I spent a lot of time doing, oh, about 20 years ago. Mustard Plug, a stalwart Michigan band from back in the day, was on their 25th-Anniversay tour and stopped in Chicago. I spent a Wednesday night staying out too late, jumping around, and pretending to be a lot younger than I really am. On the way there we were talking about how much technology is available today for kids to record music. I remember renting an 8-track deck and microphones to record demos in the basement of my apartment. These days you can just plug a mic into … [Read more...]
How Will Our Children Judge Us?
Simple Solutions to Big Networking Fears: 10 Surefire Ways to Remember Anyone’s Name
It's an experience we've all had. We're at a party, a conference, or a reunion. Up walks someone that we know we know...but we can't for the life of us remember their name. It's right there, at the edge of our memory, but it won't come to us. We mumble an apology, ask for their name, and carry on with the conversation. But we feel bad because of it. Even though it really doesn't have a massive negative effect on our relationships, most of us are really afraid of forgetting other people's names in social situations. We dread that moment of staring at someone and drawing a blank. Maybe it's because we don't like it when others … [Read more...]
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