Monday, December 3, 2012
My Crazy Hat-Loving Cousin
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
How Headhunters May Help
Headhunters, aka "executive search consultants" or "executive recruiters" or "executive recruiting consultants" whatever terminology you want to use, can often be viewed as such, mainly by employers who hire the headhunter to fill a specific position. The "headhunter" maintains a certain mystique about themselves. Do they deserve that mystique? There are many employers who stand in awe at what a headhunter can accomplish when given a job spec or position to fill after they have tried for months to fill that same position. I have stood in awe at some of the impossible positions we have been asked to fill and have been successful in filling! There are job seekers who may be potential candidates who are afraid to approach any headhunter because they aren't really sure how that headhunter will react. They are put on a pedistal for everyone to admire.
On the flip side of that coin, there are job seekers who aren't afraid to approach a headhunter, but because they don't know what the role of the headhunter is, or, because when they think "headhunter" they think that individual or company can find them a job, they become disillusioned and angry toward the headhunter whom they think should be working on their behalf. For example, they'll look for a specific job role like physician jobs from a site like this: http://leapdoctor.com but headhunters might not specialize in that particular area. I just wanted to throw this idea out there. I have much more to say to finish this thought but that is for another day. I don't want to make this blog too long as I'm sure you have other things to do. But before I go, I'd be interested in knowing what you think about "headhunters"? Remember, whether your comments are positive or negative, keep the comments appropriate!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Pontoon Boats Know Where to
As I was driving home from work today, I needed to find an
alternate radio station, as my beloved go to station decided to shut down its AM signal at
sunset, in accordance with FCC regulations. I remembered hearing something
about the lefties having some new station/programming to combat the other side of talk radio, so I began working the tuner in search of the signal.
Eventually, I found it, and they were running through the day's headlines during an extended break from that time slot's program. The story I broke in on was of a newly-established wildlife refuge here in the state, the quote at the end of which went something like, "the glaciers did such marvelous work in this region 10,000 years ago, the least Minnesotans can do is to preserve it."
There was a brief station identification, followed by a block of ads, the first of which was a nature company, advertising how their products are great and green, and how you should use products to help out the environment. I think that's pretty smart advertising, it's almost like they knew exactly what would be talked about on the radio show. If I was selling boats, I would certainly want to appear on a radio station about boating and summer, immediately after they talk about the importance of owning a boat or being out on the water next summer.
Eventually, I found it, and they were running through the day's headlines during an extended break from that time slot's program. The story I broke in on was of a newly-established wildlife refuge here in the state, the quote at the end of which went something like, "the glaciers did such marvelous work in this region 10,000 years ago, the least Minnesotans can do is to preserve it."
There was a brief station identification, followed by a block of ads, the first of which was a nature company, advertising how their products are great and green, and how you should use products to help out the environment. I think that's pretty smart advertising, it's almost like they knew exactly what would be talked about on the radio show. If I was selling boats, I would certainly want to appear on a radio station about boating and summer, immediately after they talk about the importance of owning a boat or being out on the water next summer.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Blogs are like Books
 |
| Image via CrunchBase |
During the early days of the internet, I found myself passing work time through
a slow AOL connection
and reading discussion groups and usenets. Why did I read these? Because the
content on these were submitted by readers and were updated daily.
Fast forward to the introduction of the web in 1994.
Most web pages were static, once you read them that was it. They were
updated maybe once a month. As the web evolved the news sites like Yahoo & MSN had daily
updates. But reading the news gets old and it’s not really that
captivating.
Blogs can be like ongoing TV shows. They can be
the source of many hours of reading. With the advent of blogs, we became
exposed to literally millions of on-going real life stories posted by the
everyday person. When reading these blogs, one gets caught in a life story. We
get to read about what other people are doing as they do it. Best of all,
we can comment and make suggestions and actually make a difference. It’s like
reality TV that interacts with you.
It’s no wonder that people are addicted to blogs. They have
great un-edited content. They have new posts daily. You can interact directly
with the author. And there is a blog for every subject in the world.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
When in Oklahoma, do as the Sooners do
I've never been a big fan of Big 12 football, but from a distance I've respected their craft and the devoted fandom. I really thought the loss of Nebraska to the Big 10 last year would have really hit the poor Sooner fans hard, as they have been one of the two chief rivals in Norman for the past decade along with the Texas Longhorns. Turns out, they're very good at redirecting their anger.
I caught a game last year while in Oklahoma, an early season throw away game against someone I can't even recall, and I got to ask a few fans about the rivalry, and it was almost unanimous amongst those rocking Sooners apparel (of which there were many).
Now, for some QB motivation:
I caught a game last year while in Oklahoma, an early season throw away game against someone I can't even recall, and I got to ask a few fans about the rivalry, and it was almost unanimous amongst those rocking Sooners apparel (of which there were many).
They hate Texas. More than before.
So they've got that going for them...which is nice (channeling my inner Bill Murray on that one).Now, for some QB motivation:
Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots, is highly considered as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. He and quarterback Peyton Manning are compared to each other and are considered two of the top quarterbacks in the NFL today. Brady was a 6th round draft pick in the 2000 NFL draft. He came from Michigan, one of the top football colleges today. He was not expected to be as good as he is today. It’s quite ironic though how Tom, a 6th round draft pick and Peyton, a first round draft pick, are very similar in their stats and both come from very different backgrounds. Peyton of course came from a very advantageous background, having his father, a former NFL quarterback, as a mentor. Peyton was also the first pick of his draft class.
Two men. Different backgrounds. Similar stats.
It goes to show you that anyone can accomplish anything they put their mind to. There are a lot of underdogs in the NFL today. Who knows when the next Tom Brady or Tony Romo will come out of the shadows and get a chance to take what they were never given. Tony Romo wasn’t even drafted. In the end, it doesn’t matter where you came from, whether or not you were a first round draft pick. It just matters if you can play the game. If you have a passion to play the sport you are good at and you don’t give up, you will succeed.
You can look at any sport and you can see a true under dog story. The most common story today would be the 2007-2008 New York Giants football team. They won against all odds. You can win against all odds too. It just depends on how bad you want to achieve it.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thanks PepsiCo!
 |
| New snack food (Photo credit: Telstar Logistics) |
It’s no big secret that major snack food companies are in hot water for their role in contributing to the childhood obesity problem. Now, this is fair in
a sense, but it’s also extremely unfair too; it is not really all their
fault…someone is buying these unhealthy snacks for the children.
At any rate, due to their being under fire, snack food
companies are actually trying to do something about it. Now, they are
offering low-fat, sugar-free varieties of their products, and even, as far as
PepsiCo goes, building playgrounds for children.
I think this is awesome, because in truth, they are
doing much more than the parents who are buying the junk are at this point. If there
was a collaboration at work, parents and the companies both doing something,
maybe we’d actually be getting somewhere; add onto that the children actually exercising,
rather than playing video games and we’d really go far!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Big Medical Breakthroughs
 |
| CPR: cardiopulmonary resuscitation (Photo credit: eesti) |
One of the most important accidents that ever happened, the potential of Penicillin was realized when Sir Alexander Fleming at the St. Mary's Hospital in London noticed bacterium being dissolved by a bluish green mold. This discovery gave rise to many more antibiotics used today, and undoubtedly have saved millions of lives ever since.
CPR was actually invented in the 1950s by Dr. Peter Safar and has since been the most effective method to revive and/or save an unconscious person's life. Standing for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, it is widely taught in today's world to lifeguards to doctors.
The artificial heart was invented by Willem J. Kolff, a Dutch born medical researcher. Robert Jarvik helped him complete the design, which can beat over 100,000 times a day and sustain a person until they can find a suitable heart transplant. Artificial hearts were not the only rise in artificial equipment used in the medical world. Artificial knees, hips, spines, arms and legs have all made tremendous gains even within the past 50 years, with the help of the development of products like bone screws and phaco handpieces. These advances have also given way to a booming industry of orthopedic manufacturer companies.
Who knows what's in store for our future, but after looking at what's happened in the past, I'm quite optimistic!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Steel builds a Nation
 |
| Barbed wire (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
During the industrial revolution, the world experimented with different means and methods of creating steel. Many traditional methods included making cold drawn steel, which was high in strength but low in flexibility. With the technology and ability to heat substances to higher temperatures, manufacturers were able to make more flexibilte but high durability products that could be used to make barbed wire and other meaniful products through wire rod.
As technologies continue to develop, we continue to find new uses for a timeless material. The materials used in our cell phones and electronic devices often include small parts of steel that are crucial for the devices functionality.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Network Marketing In Its Purest Form
Copyright © Donovan Baldwin
NOTE: Although this article is about network marketing, its
principles can be applied to its newest and increasingly common cousin,
internet marketing. A majority of internet marketing programs and businesses
are network marketing programs in the final analysis. One common error shared
by new internet business owners, or non-internet business
owners, is the assumption that they should market their program in a more
standard manner. However, if you consider the cost of advertising your
new internet cellular phone service against, let's say,
Verizon Wireless or some other major wireless service provider, the task of
competing with such a giant in a normal advertising arena is daunting at the
least and frankly impossible at the worst.
That's where the network marketing thing comes in.
When most people sign up for any network marketing programs,
internet based or not, they usually have no idea what they have actually gotten
themselves into. Many will join a network marketing program in the expectation
of easy money, an idea often provided by the network marketer who brought them
into the business. They commonly try to apply standard marketing techniques, or
at least as they understand them, without also understanding the forces which
they are operating against as pointed out in the Verizon example shown above.
Even those who simply want to start their own home business just to get out of
the rat race, spend more time with the kids, or start a retirment fund, find
that the costs in money and time of running a real business, internet business,
brick-and-mortar business, face-to-face network business, or lemonade stand
goes against all their expectations if they try to do it using standard
marketing techniques. Their dreams of financial freedom often become a
financial ball and chain attached firmly to their wallets and their watches.
However, all is not lost if they apply the purest form of
network marketing and forget about going head-to-head with the Verizons of the
world.
In its purest form, network marketing is simply one person
telling another. The classic example is the time you chose to try a certain
restaurant because a friend recommended it to you. I recently had my car
repaired at a garage recommended by the home inspector I used when I bought my
house. The home inspector seemed to be an honest fellow with ties to the
community, so I was happy to take his advice, and I was not disappointed. I
could have looked all day in the phone book to find a mechanic who may or may
not have been as reliable.
Unfortunately, a network marketer cannot rely on this
passive sort of word-of-mouth alone. He or she must become active, hence the
"networking" aspect of this sort of business.
No matter what goods or service you choose to represent,
there is almost certainly a business entity capable of providing it as well as
you...perhaps even better! Even so, many network marketers make an excellent
income because there ARE plenty of people willing to buy from someone they know
and trust, even in those cases where the product may be more expensive or
delivery takes longer. Sometimes, these sorts of purchases will be for
convenience as well as for friendship's sake. Take Avon, Mary Kay, and Arbonne,
to name a few. Excellent products, but anyone can go to the abundance of drug
stores, groceries, and Wal-Marts and purchase cosmetics...perhaps even at a
lower price. They buy from their distributors out of friendship with their
distributor, respect for the product, or the benefit of having their order
dropped off at their home or office...or a combination of these.
The most important point is the personal friendship with, or
respect for, the distributor, but the most important aspect is probably trust.
I can purchase synthetic motor oil anywhere, but my friend sells AMSOIL, and it
is a reliable, dependable product, so I buy it from him.
So, how do you network market in the purest way?
As pointed out, the big boys probably have advertising and
supply channels pretty well locked up. There's not a whole lot that you can do
against that, although this does remain a possible way of gaining customers,
particularly if you are at a point where you can afford extensive advertising
or a widespread sales team...the reason for building a downline if the company
uses a multi-level marketing model. Under normal
circumstances..."normal" to me means not a lot of money, a hearty
dislike for sales, and being an amateur compared to the professionals...you
delay the "marketing" part of the equation and concentrate on the
"networking" side.
In a standard network marketing situation, you can do such
things as join organizations, offer free information or services, or
participate in community activities. These bring attention to YOU, as opposed
to your business, but, once you become known to, and respected by, the people
you come in contact with, they will be more likely to purchase goods or
services than if you were to merely offer to sell them something.
In an internet marketing model, there is not that much
difference. Again, going head to head with the major players in your arena
might not produce much, particularly as you are not known to your potential
customers, and you probably do not have the budget or expertise to overcome
this disadvantage. However, you CAN offer free information or services and gain
the respect and trust of potential customers in this way. You can join
discussion groups (most commonly, forums), or groups which might have an
interest in your product or service. Again, the purpose is not to
"sell", but to "network".
In either scenario, if you and I were to meet and I were to
immediately tell you that I sell website hosting, for example, or an internet
marketing course, your defenses would be immediately raised, and you would be
prepared to defend yourself against my efforts and perhaps even sever the
budding relationship. If, however, I can prove to you that I am on your side, am
interested in many of the same things as you are, and that we can have a
fruitful relationship whether there is an attempt at "selling" or
not, a point may eventually be reached where you will reach out to me and ask
me about my website hosting services or the internet marketing course.
You know the funny thing about this? I am forced to be a
nice guy! I have to be a contributing member of society and have redeeming
social value. I must make friends or fail! The old saying is, "to have a
friend, be a friend." How tough is that?
About The Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of
service. He has worked as an accountant, purchasing agent, optical lab manager,
restaurant manager, instructor and long-haul, over-the-road truck driver. He
has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published
poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He has
been an active internet marketer since 2000, and now makes his living online.
To learn more about improving your marketing performance, please visit http://marketingsecrets.xtramoney4me.net. To read more
articles by the author, please visit his blog athttp://donovanbaldwin.blogspot.com/, or http://xtramoney4me.net/internet_marketing_links/articles/index.html.
Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. GUESS I'LL CALL STEVE.
Copyright (c) Donovan Baldwin
http://www.DonovanBaldwin.com
I knew the first time I met him that he was just out to get my business. After all he was a salesman. That's what his card said, that's what his job was, and that's what he did for a living.
I don't trust salesmen, and I bet a lot of the people who read this don't either.
It's not surprising, I guess. There are a lot of salespeople in the world who will do or say almost anything to get a sale, and a lot of times the things they say are lies or half truths, and the things they do are deceptive and deceiving. Just like a lot of other things in life, it only takes getting burned a couple of times to make you distrust all of their ilk. (C'mon, who uses "ilk" anymore?)
I was a federal purchasing agent, so it was MY job to deal with salespeople, and I got to see a lot of the bad ones. I got to see a lot of junk passed off as quality goods, and sometimes I had help clean up the mess or deal with the aftermath. This wasn't the first time, either. I had been a business manager for a mental health facility in northwest Florida, an accountant for the Florida State Department of Education in Tallahassee, and a fiscal consultant/accountant/purchasing agent/comptroller in a regional office of a federally funded education program. I had been taken on a few rides and, like I said, I don't trust salesmen. I had gotten to see enough of them in action.
Over the years, I had begun to stereotype people in sales. When they walked in the door, the first thing I thought was, "Uh-oh. Wonder what he/she's going to try to push off on me this time?" I had my defenses up and it showed. If a sales person gave me a compliment or made a joke, I figured they were just trying their tricks to get inside my defenses, so I just hardened that wall, didn't give them any more time than I had to, and then forgot about them.
Then along came Steve.
He was the major rep assigned to our account by a local office supply and equipment firm. We did a lot of business with them, so there was no way to avoid dealing with him. He was smooth, but pleasant, and it was difficult, but I managed to keep the wall up.
I couldn't understand why the other purchasing agents were always calling him and placing orders with him. I could see what he was doing. He worming his way into their confidence so that they would place orders with him, but I could see right through his act and could follow his every move.
Then the day came that I ordered something that the local store didn't have in stock but needed quickly. It wasn't a big order and Steve was on commission, but he drove a couple of hours to get to another store, pick up the order, and then drove back and delivered it personally. He probably didn't make any commission on that order.
A few days later, I placed another order. This one was a little bigger, so he had more at stake. As it turned out, his firm had discontinued those items but he bought them from another company in the area and sold them to us...at cost.
The day finally came when I had been trying to track down something for one of our departments but was unable to come up with a supplier or even a manufacturer. I didn't even have anything other than a description of what I was looking for. I don't remember anything about the item, but I DO remember Steve. When I had totally exhausted all my resources, I picked up the phone and called Steve. He had never heard of this sort of thing either! I was up against a wall.
The next day, the phone rang. It was Steve. He had spent hours calling contacts and suppliers all over the country with only a description of what I was looking for. He had come up with a manufacturer and a supplier, and he gave me the addresses and phone numbers.
In network and internet marketing, it is often said that one of the first things you need to do is establish a bond of trust between yourself and the customer. It works in a lot of places, this "bond of trust" thing.
I will never know if Steve did the things he did because he was a good guy, or liked me, or had made a promise to his dying mother. Maybe he did what he did because he was a salesman and that's how he knew to make sales.
Well, it worked. He made sales. It didn't take long for me to start slipping business to Steve whenever I could. I trusted and respected him, and I owed him.
After all, wasn't he the one who taught me that not all salespeople are just out to get my business?
You know something? Maybe that's not the only thing I learned.
About The Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online: Download your free copy today (over 300 pages of internet marketing hints, tips, and business growth ideas.
I have run a successful online business for years
However, within a few weeks, I learned as much about internet marketing as I had learned up 'til then Click here to find out how!
Check out my Business And Marketing Blog at http://donovanbaldwin.blogspot.com and my Health And Fitness Blog at http://nodiet4me.blogspot.com
Free Weight Loss Newsletter at http://nodiet4me.net/weight_loss_program/diet.html
I don't trust salesmen, and I bet a lot of the people who read this don't either.
It's not surprising, I guess. There are a lot of salespeople in the world who will do or say almost anything to get a sale, and a lot of times the things they say are lies or half truths, and the things they do are deceptive and deceiving. Just like a lot of other things in life, it only takes getting burned a couple of times to make you distrust all of their ilk. (C'mon, who uses "ilk" anymore?)
I was a federal purchasing agent, so it was MY job to deal with salespeople, and I got to see a lot of the bad ones. I got to see a lot of junk passed off as quality goods, and sometimes I had help clean up the mess or deal with the aftermath. This wasn't the first time, either. I had been a business manager for a mental health facility in northwest Florida, an accountant for the Florida State Department of Education in Tallahassee, and a fiscal consultant/accountant/purchasing agent/comptroller in a regional office of a federally funded education program. I had been taken on a few rides and, like I said, I don't trust salesmen. I had gotten to see enough of them in action.
Over the years, I had begun to stereotype people in sales. When they walked in the door, the first thing I thought was, "Uh-oh. Wonder what he/she's going to try to push off on me this time?" I had my defenses up and it showed. If a sales person gave me a compliment or made a joke, I figured they were just trying their tricks to get inside my defenses, so I just hardened that wall, didn't give them any more time than I had to, and then forgot about them.
Then along came Steve.
He was the major rep assigned to our account by a local office supply and equipment firm. We did a lot of business with them, so there was no way to avoid dealing with him. He was smooth, but pleasant, and it was difficult, but I managed to keep the wall up.
I couldn't understand why the other purchasing agents were always calling him and placing orders with him. I could see what he was doing. He worming his way into their confidence so that they would place orders with him, but I could see right through his act and could follow his every move.
Then the day came that I ordered something that the local store didn't have in stock but needed quickly. It wasn't a big order and Steve was on commission, but he drove a couple of hours to get to another store, pick up the order, and then drove back and delivered it personally. He probably didn't make any commission on that order.
A few days later, I placed another order. This one was a little bigger, so he had more at stake. As it turned out, his firm had discontinued those items but he bought them from another company in the area and sold them to us...at cost.
The day finally came when I had been trying to track down something for one of our departments but was unable to come up with a supplier or even a manufacturer. I didn't even have anything other than a description of what I was looking for. I don't remember anything about the item, but I DO remember Steve. When I had totally exhausted all my resources, I picked up the phone and called Steve. He had never heard of this sort of thing either! I was up against a wall.
The next day, the phone rang. It was Steve. He had spent hours calling contacts and suppliers all over the country with only a description of what I was looking for. He had come up with a manufacturer and a supplier, and he gave me the addresses and phone numbers.
In network and internet marketing, it is often said that one of the first things you need to do is establish a bond of trust between yourself and the customer. It works in a lot of places, this "bond of trust" thing.
I will never know if Steve did the things he did because he was a good guy, or liked me, or had made a promise to his dying mother. Maybe he did what he did because he was a salesman and that's how he knew to make sales.
Well, it worked. He made sales. It didn't take long for me to start slipping business to Steve whenever I could. I trusted and respected him, and I owed him.
After all, wasn't he the one who taught me that not all salespeople are just out to get my business?
You know something? Maybe that's not the only thing I learned.
About The Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online: Download your free copy today (over 300 pages of internet marketing hints, tips, and business growth ideas.
I have run a successful online business for years
However, within a few weeks, I learned as much about internet marketing as I had learned up 'til then Click here to find out how!
Check out my Business And Marketing Blog at http://donovanbaldwin.blogspot.com and my Health And Fitness Blog at http://nodiet4me.blogspot.com
Free Weight Loss Newsletter at http://nodiet4me.net/weight_loss_program/diet.html
This post originally appeared on Thursday December 8, 2005.
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