August 24, 2010

It’s you times two

What does it mean, to Make the Leap?
For many people, it means continuing in their chosen profession or trade, with the exception that they’re doing it for themselves, rather than for a boss or employer.
If that definition describes you, it’s important to remember this;
You’re worth at least twice what you’re currently earning.
Whether you earn $10 an hour, $20 an hour, or more.
You’re easily worth twice that.

Think about it.
If you’re an employee, whatever it is you do,
Whether it’s programming things, administering things, building things or fixing things,
Your employer is selling your productivity to someone else.
And, when your employer sells your productivity to someone else, he or she makes a profit off the amount you’re getting paid.
In other words, there’s a customer in that equation who’s paying your employer a whole bunch more than the amount you’re getting.

And that’s why you’re worth twice what you’re earning.
It’s because there’s an intermediary between you and the customer.
Your employer is the  intermediary who brokers your talent, who finds the customers, and who then profits from the arrangement.
All you need to do, then, is cut out the intermediary, find your own customers and keep the extra amount for yourself.

So, why would a customer pay you double what your employer pays you?

  1. Because a customer’s already paying someone else more or less the same amount already
  2. Because when a customer hires you, it’s for a specific job or contract. In such a situation there’s often no ongoing commitment, and customers are willing to pay more for that flexibility (even though, if you provide good work, they’ll end up being a long-term customer).

What are the advantages of working for customers? Here are just a few examples:

  1. You can choose to work the same amount of hours and double your income.
  2. You can choose to work half as much and still earn the same income.
  3. You can choose who you’ll work for, and when you’ll work for them.
  4. You can choose to add services, discontinue services, or make no changes at all.
  5. You can choose to have as many customers as you want. Did you know there’s less of a risk to your your income if you work for five or ten customers (rather than just one employer)? If your employer lays you off, you lose 100% of your income. If one customer lets you go, you might lose only 10% of your income.
  6. You can choose to hire someone else and you, yourself, become the intermediary.

Whatever you choose to do, just remember, if you do make the leap, it’s you times two


Ideas? Suggestions? Questions? Please leave a comment.

  • Share/Bookmark
July 16, 2010

Business. As taught by a juvenile delinquent

I love this.
I love it because it pushes all the right buttons.
And I love it because it confirms, yet again, that the playing field is evolving.

I told you you didn’t want customers
I encouraged you to listen to your heart and to pursue passion.
And I wrote about business and social responsibility.

Now I’ll let someone else do the talking.

Recently, Entrepreneur.com interviewed Yvon Chouinard a reluctant business owner who describes himself as a juvenile delinquent.
Yvon Chouinard never subscribed to textbook business practices,
He’s done things his own way,
He’s cut against the grain,
He’s been laughed at.
He’s been lectured.
And he’s been warned,
That his business decisions were self-destructive.

Yvon Chouinard ignored his detractors.
And he now sits at the helm of a successful business,
A business with sales of 340 million dollars,
A business  you might have head of,
A business called Patagonia

I’ve been a Patagonia fan since the 1980′s
And I’ve admired Yvon Chouinard ever since reading his book, Let my People go Surfing
His persona and determination have inspired me to keep going—to keep telling everyone,
That there’s a better way to run a business,
A better way to manage a team, to view our careers.
And a better way to live our lives.
A way that I call The Net Present Value of Life

Listen, read the interview,
Read what Yvon Chouinard has to say about customers, and employees, and social responsibility.
Then ask yourself,
If he runs his business this way,
Why don’t I?

Ideas? Suggestions? Questions? Please leave a comment.

  • Share/Bookmark
July 14, 2010

Wings and things

You know Red Bull, right?
That slogan, Red Bull Gives You Wings
You know it, right?
It’s cool, upbeat, expressive
A lot to like, right?

After events of this weekend past,
I’m thinking Red Bull’s likability may have slipped—at least a bit.
And, I’m guessing Red Bull’s marketing department is breathing into a paper bag,
Just to stop the hyperventilation.
Let me tell you about it.

Red Bull is heavily into motorsports—so heavy that the company owns its own Formula 1 team.
Now picture yourself the head of Red Bull marketing and PR.
Your Red Bull team, this season, has the fastest cars,
Your Red Bull team has two talented—and marketable—drivers.
Your Red Bull team has, this year, better than an even chance of winning the championship.
And this weekend, your Red Bull team is racing at the prestigious British Grand Prix.

Now understand this,
Formula 1 is competitive—expensively so.
To stay ahead of the competition—Red Bull, for the British Grand Prix, fit a new part to each of its two cars.
Parts that make their fast cars even faster.
During a practice session, one of those new parts falls off the car—the one driven by a fellow named Vettel.
And there is no spare.
Except, that is, for the one affixed to the other car—the one driven by a fellow named Webber.

Before the race, management removes the part from Webber’s car and affixes it to Vettel’s machine.
In a sport where team evenhandedness and driver equality is a given, management’s maneuver is deemed a major faux pas.
Cries of favouritism, demands for explanation, and accusations of back-room politics arise from the sporting press, the rabid fan-base and the F1 community.
Webber is livid. Vettel attempts a low profile.
And Red Bull—the team with the best car, the coolest profile, and the championship in sight—is left spluttering weak-kneed explanations, and self-suffering denials.
How could it go so wrong?

Ah, but wait.
It gets worse.
During the race, Webber (the one who had the part confiscated) channels his fury and his focus to snatch—with a bold, brave move—the lead from Vettel.
Vettel (the recipient of the go-fast part) tries to defend and instead damages a tire.
He limps to the pits, and drops to last place.
Ultimately, Webber wins the race, and Vettel nets a seventh place finish.
Cries of poetic justice, instant karma, or just good old Aussie straight-dealing (Webber’s an Australian) emanate from the sporting press, the rabid fan-base, and the F1 community.
Leaving Red Bull—the team, and the drinks company—with a somewhat tarnished reputation.
How could it go so wrong?

But wait a minute,
Because, believe it or not,
It gets worse.
That spare part, the one that Red Bull management removed from Webber’s car.
Do you know what it was?
In a scene so tragic if it wasn’t so hilarious, so Kafkaesque if it wasn’t so true;
That spare part was, in fact…
…A wing—a wing that hangs so visibly from the front of an F1 car.

And now, thanks to a major management blunder,
Across the internet, addenda have been added to the now-infamous tagline.

Red Bull Gives you Wings…
…But only if your name is Vettel
…But then takes them away again
…Even if they’re not quite the same
…But only after it takes them from someone else

All of which makes me wonder if those Red Bull marketing and PR types are crying in their beer (or their Red Bull) tonight.

Ideas? Suggestions? Questions? Please leave a comment.

  • Share/Bookmark
June 16, 2010

Somebody do something



It’s a story that, except for its troubling and tragic ending, might sound like an SNL parody of a Canadian stereotype.

The story goes like this,

For the third time in almost as many weeks, a young moose wanders out of the wilderness, and straight into an Ottawa residential area.

That part sounds kinda like the intro to an unoriginal joke, doesn’t it? Predictable, maybe. Hackneyed, even.

The tragic part is, for the third time in almost as many weeks, Ottawa police cornered, shot and killed the disoriented animal.

Not so funny anymore, is it?

What is it about a moose on the loose—typically so harmless and benign—that prompts a police force to act with such savagery?

Well, in each case, the moose, so it appears, was in an frantic and frenzied state.

Unpredictable, muddled and, therefore, potentially dangerous.

And, each case, so it appears, demanded that something be done.



Something be done…



Deal with it

Do something

Anything

Just get rid of the problem.



Why are we so preoccupied with having to do something?

Why are we so eager to take charge, be in control, look busy?

What’s wrong with slowing down, waiting it out?

Because, maybe, there are times when being busy, acting like we’re in control, doing something, is precisely the wrong strategy

And maybe it’s a good idea to remember that, sometimes, unforeseen events will just take care of themselves.

Ideas? Suggestions? Questions? Please leave a comment.

  • Share/Bookmark
« Older Entries