Twopooches pose

Meredith came home last weekend to take pictures for a project that I am working on, and the pooches decided they wanted to get in on the action. Who am I to stop them? I just want to say that Meredith is one of the best photographers I know for capturing the essence of a person, or in this case pooch. Ginger is definitely inquisitive, and Gizmo is a worrier. Well done, Meredith.

So Meredith and her beau are getting ready to graduate their masters programs at college, and are making plans for the next phase of their lives. While there are no final decisions yet, it looks like it may involve a move that is at least a full-day's drive away. If it should come to pass, this will be the first time she will be so far away. Right now school is a quick one hour drive away from home.

Meredith, God bless her, works everything out by talking. If there's a thought in her head, it comes out of her mouth. Completely lacking in a filtering system. She knows it, too. So when you tune her out for a short period during one of her longer discourses, she's not offended. Thank goodness she has developed some thick skin! When they were over today she and Lorin were discussing the merits of the city they're contemplating during dinner. I was late (running another sibling to an appointment just as dinner started...sigh), and managed to get in, eat my entire dinner, take my dishes to the sink, and exit the kitchen before the two of them came up for air. When I need to, I've learned to hold my own in a conversation at this house. But poor Josh (the beau) is a man of few words. Meredith certainly makes up for it! I guess that helps make it a good match.

So if you need a good photographer, or are just needing someone who can hold up their end of the conversation, I certainly recommend Meredith.

Being a Good Guesser

In an article called 5 Things Every Real Marketer Knows Today on Open Forum, John Jantsch, owner of Duct Tape Marketing says, "Marketing Planning is Guessing." He goes on to say that the primary purporse of creating a marketing plan is that you must go through a process to do it.

Guessing generally has a negative connotation. You guess when you don't know something. I think guessing is about asking questions. People who don't ask questions don't have the curiosity you need to grow your business. But if you do it right, the questions you uncover during your marketing planning should make you do the research. Once you do the research, then you don't have to guess. Need more info on what your market is? Do a market analysis. Who is your best customer? Do a customer analysis. Are you collecting information from your existing customers? Give them a reason to share their info with you. Then your plan should include activities to get to know them better. Where are your best leads coming from? Not sure? Make a plan for tracking them. Better data will allow you to provide outstanding service to your best customers and figure out who else is out there that could benefit.

So marketing planning as guessing? I would rather look at it as finding out what you don't know so you make a plan to know it, then act on it.

Character approved

I love USA Network's Character Approved campaign. It's all about people who aren't afraid to buck the system and follow their dreams. I am happy to say I have an acquaintance that I would be happy to nominate for a Character Approved award.

Steve DiFranco is a guy I met because my boss didn't have enough time to meet with him. He's in sales, so I always look at those initial meetings and conversations with a grain of salt, because I knew he wanted something from me. But he was so genuine and his attitude was so appealing, from that point forward his call is one of the few sales calls that I would take every time.

I got to have lunch Steve last week. And in that hour, I found that the positive, genuine attitude was born out of a terrible, terrible childhood. I'm not sure he would want me to share all the details here, but suffice it to say that he grew up in a place where fear and terror were never far from his mind. He grew up in a place where people lied to him because they could. He grew up believing that he wasn't allowed to go to college because he grew up in the wrong neighborhood. Not just it would be hard. He truly thought he wasn't allowed.  And his memories of it all seem strikingly clear.

The amazing thing is that as he spoke, I could tell that the spark of the spirit of joy, love and wonder at life that I know as Steve seems to have been there through his whole life. He speaks of those times with no bitterness. He seems to genuinely understand that the blessings he has in his life right now, who he is right now, are due at least in some part to being molded by the fires that he came through in his early years. If only I had that strength of character.

Steve told me that people have told him that there is a book in his life story. I hope that should he ever be ready to write it, that he would allow me the honor of putting his story in words.

Coralling Amoeba

The past few days I have felt like I've been chasing the oozing edges of my life. I can't really decide if it's good or bad. I am still really excited about this new direction in my career and in my life. When I think about where I was a week ago, all I can do is smile at the change. So next step is to give some definition to those edges that tend to get away - bring some focus. It's fun to ooze for a while. But I do need some control over where I go.

Trickle, slip and slowly slide
Across the surfaces of today and tomorrow.
Always free yet still contained -
Creating, growing, ever changing.
Defined but free to become.