PacketVision

The title says it all. I recently lost a good friend. No, he didn’t die; but the friendship apparently did. I use Facebook and happened to notice that he is no longer on my friends list. He decided to remove me or “unfriend” me. Why? Because I was honest with him. This isn’t the first time my friends and I have parted ways over my convictions and principles, and it probably won’t be the last. That’s fine.  I understand that being the bearer of bad news means getting shot every once in a while. People have a tendency to shoot the messenger when the message does not match their mindset. I am completely comfortable with it because I know that in the long run, I wouldn’t be able to say I did the right thing had I not intervened in this particular case.

So… what happened?  A friend of mine was lured into a get rich quick scheme (multi-level marketing) and I told him to get out of it while he still can. Frankly, I thought he had some intelligence and integrity. I guess I was wrong. He plans to try and build wealth by conning people out of their money. It’s sad to see a young christian like himself stray from the flock, but it happens. Nevertheless, I just couldn’t let that go by without someone telling him the truth. My friend is a younger man just getting started in life. He’s away from home at college and working towards his degree while working towards the top of a corporate ladder as well. He has amazing leadership and interpersonal skills, and the company he worked for during high school kept him on and is supposedly considering him for top management spots. This is a big deal. It’s a huge company. In fact, it’s a retail conglomerate and he could really go far with it. Unfortunately, that’s not good enough for him. He’s choosing to jeopardize his career for a scam. I guess his employer does not pay him enough. Either that or he’s living beyond his means and starting to look for ways out. How did I get involved? He tried to recruit me into his MLM pyramid!!!

I had not really heard from him in a while when all of a sudden he contacted me and said he had some business matters he wanted to discuss. He said he was starting some business consulting and business was booming so he needed help. I do business coaching/consulting and IT consulting on the side, so when he expressed his desire to discuss it with me I naturally thought he wanted some guidance or assistance with building the company. I wasn’t exactly sure what his offerings were, but I knew his rise to success with his employer was based on enabling great positive change. I thought that perhaps he had found a way to replicate that success and provide it as a service for other companies. His initial approach intrigued me, so I agreed to meet him for lunch. Over the phone, and during the initial part of our lunch meeting, he sounded like he was really on to some great ideas. Once we sat down and started talking, I realized he’s not doing business consulting at all. He started rambling on about how he planned to do some direct marketing to match up consumers with retailers and manufacturers. He had some supposed success stories (ex-friend, if you’re reading this… I know you were lying on some of those to try and lure me in, and it’s OK). He had some good relationships forged, and everything looked like he was on to something until he started getting deeper into the business description and product lines. That’s when he dropped the bomb. It was mid-sentence, and almost in passing, but he mentioned “Amway International.”

I was stunned that this young man would fall for something so ridiculous. I truly respected him and was very hopeful for his future. In fact, I was really looking forward to watching him succeed and make great, sweeping changes in the way his employer handles customer service. For him to actually fall into this MLM trap was, in my mind, unfathomable up to the point where he said those two words. From there on out, I feigned interest. He pawned off a cheap-looking, crappy business card and invited me to a meeting the following week. I went on about my day. I was not quite sure what to do. I discussed it with my wife and decided to take a rational approach to the matter in hopes that I could talk some sense into him. Knowing that it was probably nothing but a recruiting seminar filled with lies, I decided to give my friend the benefit of the doubt and agreed to join him at the “group meeting” where the guests get to attend for free.

The big night came, and I arrived to find my friend there mingling with other “independent business owners” who all seemed to ask me the same thing: “What do you do?” My response to all of them was along the lines of “I’m a genius. I run several businesses and consult for other businesses.” I shook hands with them and inquired as to their backgrounds. Some of them actually knew mutual acquaintances through a church I once attended but abandoned out of my disdain for using extortion as a personnel committee practice.

When the meeting started, that old Amway Quixtar song and dance came out full force. The coordinator took center stage in his slick business suit and gave the usual welcome speech, then he introduced the speaker. The speaker, we’ll call him “Peter” (because that’s his name), is a high school science teacher here in the Roanoke area. He and his wife can’t live within their means… err… I mean… they wanted more out of life or something. Whatever… point is he nailed the MLM pitch down to the letter. He even drew an ESBI quadrant (read Rich Dad Poor Dad if you don’t know what that is), which gave me a little hope for his understanding, but then completely blew it when it came time to define the “B” quadrant. He mislabeled “Business owner” as “Business system” (which actually belongs under the E quadrant).

During the entire meeting, I made it obvious to my friend and the person sitting on the other side of me that I was taking copius notes as if I was genuinely interested. At the end of the meeting, my friend handed me the “welcome aboard” packet and I laid it on him right then and there. I went over my notes with him in detail (keep in mind I’m a business degree guy headed towards an MBA shortly):

• Misrepresenting the ideas behind side income vs. full-time work
• Flawed way of thinking of business ownership vs. income vs. wealth
• Afraid of divulging details (dumb way to go)
• Rich Dad/Poor Dad (ESBI) quadrant was screwed up
• Sounds like MLM — Amway Global (note: I later circled and checked the “MLM” to make a point)
• Judges success by income
• Understands ROI, but does not have a clue about online ROI
• LTD (the parent organization name) — mentions business classes and a worldwide presence
• Uses a point system to track volume  because “international currency makes it too complex to track commissions”
• Peter sucks at math

I told my friend to his face, with much enthusiasm, that the business plan in the packet he had just handed me isn’t a business plan. I told him that if he truly wanted to try and make the business work, I would be willing to help him; but that I am not interested in being scam victim… err… I mean “Independent Business Owner” like him. I already run enough businesses and I’m working on several books. I don’t have time for another workload.

We parted ways, and I went back to the house. I was going through a variety of emotions. I discussed the matter with my wife and decided to contact the young man’s father. I admire and respect his father very much. I knew the father and son would be spending some time together within a day or two of the meeting, so I decided to let the father know what was going on in hopes that he could talk some sense into his own son. Once I got off the phone, I felt better about the situation until I realized that I when I was his age I didn’t listen to anything my parents said. I tossed around the idea and finally decided that I should take action. I wrote my friend a love letter. I slept on the decision and emailed it to him the next day. I’m glad I did it, but alas… it was the letter itself that ended the relationship. I have not heard from my friend since, and he “unfriended” me on Facebook. Perhaps I was too harsh. Perhaps he didn’t appreciate the fact that I chose to use some choice words to drive the point home. Whatever the case may be, I guess this is the end of our friendship. If so, Godspeed, old friend. Know that I am still praying for you (because now you REALLY need it). I’ll be here when you get yourself un-brainwashed and come to your senses.

I’m going to close with a modified version of the letter itself (some names have been changed to protect the innocent). If any of you find any value in the letter itself, or feel that you can use some of the content in an intervention of your own, please feel free to copy/paste and modify it to your suiting.

Subject: IBO Business

My friend,

I took the time to write this because a) I usually write much better than I talk (trust me on this one… just ask my wife if you don’t believe me), and b) because I love you and see great things in your future. Be forewarned, I’m going to use some language you probably wouldn’t expect to hear from a “good Christian man” in this message; and I’m completely comfortable with that because frankly, I will stop at nothing to make sure the core impact of this message gets nailed so far down in your skull that you wake the hell up.

This is an intervention. I thought long and hard about whether or not to write this message. I even spoke to your father about it last night and recommended he discuss this issue with you. You may have already spoken with him. I originally thought it would sound better and carry more weight coming from him, but then I changed my mind. I realized that at your age I didn’t care much for what my parents told me. I was king of the world and at the top of my game. Well, guess what? I’m here to knock you off your game before you dig yourself neck deep in bullshit. You need to be brought back down to Earth, and I decided to just go ahead and do it out of love and concern. Me and my extra years of experience I have on you have seen it, tried it, done it, been there and bought the T-shirt; so trust me when I say I’m giving you solid, sound advice based on experience. I’m not giving it out of jealousy nor envy of your desire and passion for success. I carry no ill will whatsoever towards you or your business efforts. Like I said last night, I’m willing to do anything and everything to help you and your business succeed (including be a customer, employee, or consultant), but I would be remiss if I were to sit idly on the sidelines and watch you make such a huge, monumental mistake.

So here it is… in a nutshell: get out of your Multi-Level Marketing business now.

I admire your goal to build wealth. You are an amazing young man, and I know you will put your riches to good use. There is nothing wrong with money. Money is amoral, neither good nor bad. Money is not “the root of all evil.” Rather, 1 Timothy 6:10 says “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Building wealth is hard work, but you will do it. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. Owning a business is an amazing way to build wealth, but like I said last night, you don’t own a business. Quite the contrary… you’re participating in a fraudulent misrepresentation. I was not joking when I re-read you my notes last night. You’re caught in a multi-level marketing (MLM) scam and you need to get out. Let’s dig a little deeper…

Peter gave a great sales presentation. Notice I didn’t say “business class”, I said “sales presentation.” There is no “opportunity” to be had by being an IBO in an MLM scam. It is simply a variation on the centuries-old concept of a pyramid scheme. When you hear “buy from your own store” and “time compounding”, hit the door running and never look back. You may have heard of a variation on pyramid scams devised by a man named Charles Ponzi. If you don’t know what a “Ponzi scheme” is, feel free to research it and then research the name Bernard Madoff. Plenty of news about him recently. The only difference between pyramid scams like the one you’re in and Ponzi schemes is that Mr. Ponzi was smart enough to keep ALL the money at the top and not dish any out to the victims at various tiers (what you’re calling “legs”) below him.

In short, the pyramid scheme business model is not sustainable. As someone who is close to finishing his business degree and gets A’s in almost every business course by practically sleeping through them, I can assure you that the system they’re preaching and trying to brainwash you with will not work. They will tell you not to listen to me. That’s fine. They will tell you that I’m a naysayer. That’s fine. They will tell you that I’m a negative influence. That’s fine too as long as you realize that they’re telling you to not listen to reason and experience. They’re acting like a bunch of lowlife Cult Leaders. Yes, I will make that correlation and say that you are now involved in cult-like activities (hence the term intervention). Not exactly something I saw down the road when I first met you and said to myself, “that guy is something else! He’s amazing!!”

That “business plan” you gave me last night? It is a worthless piece of crap that doesn’t even deserve to be in the same room with any other document that someone may at some time in the future consider referring to as anything remotely resembling a business plan. I hope that ridiculously wordy sentence drove the point home. Walk into any capital or VC firm with it and they’ll laugh so hard you’ll probably grow permanently red from embarrassment. Why? Because they know it’s a scam. The only good thing I can see coming out of that piece of paper is that a) it gives my kids something to scribble on, and b) if we hit really hard times it can substitute as toilet paper. You may have noticed that my notes from Peter’s sales pitch were very critical and negative. There just so happens to be a good reason for that: he’s lying to you and was lying to that entire audience last night. He may be able to explain why volcanos erupt, but it sounded like he wouldn’t know a balance sheet from an income statement if you slapped him upside the head with both. He has been fed the lines of what to say and took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. He is completely clueless when it comes to business. For starters, let’s take a look at that wonderful 6-4-2 business model Peter was so excited about:

Level 1: You
Level 2: 6 IBO’s under you
Level 3: 24 IBO’s (4 each under those 6)
Level 4: 48 IBO’s (2 each under those 24)

Pretty nice!!! That’s 78 people working underneath you. Or.. no… wait a minute. That’s 78 businesses competing for your consumer retail business…. in the same market? Wait, but Peter said that it’s like a franchise!? Franchises have (with good reason) assigned geographical areas. Then again, he said we can use the INTERNET!!!! Social media to the rescue!! Unfortunately, that won’t work either. First off, social media is just another means of communication. It’s nothing revolutionary from the standpoint of the fundamental level of expressing thoughts and ideas between people. It just facilitates it in a more efficient and expedient manner. What does that mean for the Quixtar gang? Simple… that it’s easier than ever for them to pull off their pyramid scam. Never mind that little logic flaw about the franchises… and don’t worry about the social media thing. We have more important fish to fry. Let’s take a look at what Peter should have learned in high school (much less part of his college education): simple math.

Peter sucks at math. Yes, this college-educated high school teacher is a moron when it comes to multiplication. As a result, he will either fail miserably (from stupidity) or compromise his integrity on his path towards that lifestyle he covets. Chances are, he may try to do both. That would mean he actually made the choice to be a stupid liar. Pretty sad, eh? Even if he is actually doing ok with it right now, his house of cards will eventually crumble, and crumble hard. It’s only a matter of time due to the fact that the model is not sustainable. Therefore he has only those choices: 1) failure 2) lowdown, son-of-a-bitch, scum of the earth, good-for-nothing, scam artist liar, or 3) both. Coincidentally, these are the only options you have to choose from should you choose to proceed the way they’re trying to teach you to proceed. It sounds like Peter may have already made his choice, but I’ll continue praying for him nonetheless out of respect for his in-laws.Let’s continue on and take a closer look at the 6-4-2 business “plan.” This business system (it’s not really a plan) is a farce. Why? Simply because your initial six will be encouraged to bring in six people each… not four. Was I pegged to possibly become one of your six? If so, please recall what Peter told me last night: that my business plan would include recruiting 6 people, not four. I was fed the same 6-4-2 lies you were. See my point? The next level down? Same thing. My six and all of the rest of the thirty-six will be encouraged to bring in six each, not two. It’s not a 6-4-2 business system. It’s a 6-6-6 business scam. Sign of the… WTF? Forget about the biblical implications for now, and let’s look at the 6-6-6 scam more closely. There’s a great visual aid for this available at the Wikipedia page for Pyramid Schemes, but I’ll just type it out for you:

You’re level zero, and the format is [level] - [number of victims] (comment)
(Note: I use the term “victims” here instead of IBO’s because pyramid schemes are illegal in the United States. Yes, you are now involved in activity that borders the line of being criminal. Congratulations.)

0 - 1
1 - 6  (Your family… awesome)
2 - 36 (getting bigger!)
3 - 216 (You can fill a small church sanctuary now)
4 - 1,296 (Your entire high school graduating class)
5 - 7,776 (Entire freshman class at Virginia Tech?)
6 - 46,656 (All of Blacksburg thanks you for their new jobs)
7 - 279,936 (The City and County of Roanoke plus Salem)
8 - 1,679,616 (Entire population of San Diego. You just passed Wal Mart. Gratz!)
9 - 10,077,696 (All of Michigan… yay, no need for the auto industry bailouts!)
10 - 60,466,176 (Every man, woman and child in CA and NY)
11 - 362,797,056 (No more recession in the US!!! Awesome. The entire country is employed)
12 - 2,176,782,336 (All of Africa + Latin America + Europe. World poverty and hunger? Solved!)
13 - 13,060,694,016 (Need more babies on the planet to sustain this… this is getting ridiculous)

Well, let’s set logic aside for a bit and look at reality. The perpetrators at the top of this great fraud are very good at business. They’re making millions selling starter kits, motivational tapes, etc. The people at the far end of the totem pole like yourself? Not so much so. Why? Because… again… it’s not a business. Let’s take a look at what Amway/Quixtar is really all about:

Text version: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4375477/

Video: http://tinyurl.com/92qrqe (You can find it at the bottom of the page, embedded as two YouTube videos)

Crack cocaine!?! NICE!!!! Good money in the illicit drug business (so I hear). Pretty astounding stuff if you ask me. Maybe they’ve “changed” and are “different” now? I don’t think so. LTD is obviously not the same word as Quixtar nor Amway. Nevertheless, it’s the same old song and dance and all I know is that you have so much more potential than these scumbags could ever offer. The fact that you intend to jeopardize your career with your company to participate in this pile of crap? That’s down right disgusting. I would love to have your job at your company. I would give my left nut and give up all of my business opportunities in a heartbeat just to have the chance to transform an existing business like yours and share in the success. If you’re not excited about it, then plain and simple it’s because they’re not compensating you well enough. I don’t know what they pay you and I don’t want to know, but I can tell you with all certainty that if you’re doing what you told me you’re doing with them, they better be paying you well over six figures. It doesn’t all have to be salary. Benefits, tuition assistance, and other perks can really add up; but I can definitely tell you this: jobs are a factor of microeconomics and subject to supply and demand. The relationship between an employer and employee is a direct reference to supply and demand. They’re like the scales of justice. If the marginal benefit of working at your company does not equal or outweigh the cost of working there, then leave. Go find something else. Work somewhere else. Otherwise, do not risk your career for a scam. Mark my words, your IBO, this so-called leadership training that is anything but leadership training, will never, ever amount to anything the likes of which you could accomplish if you were to stick to your guns and devote your focus, time and energy towards helping your company be a better company. Then you can start a business once you’re financially secure. Not a scam, a real business.

How do I know about this stuff? First off, I wasn’t lying last night. When people asked me what I do for a living, what did I say? “I’m a genius.” That’s no bullshit. Am I a rich genius? No. I’m a lazy genius, so I’m not very rich. From a business standpoint? I make problems into ex-problems. That’s what I do for a living, plain and simple. Whether it’s complete the decade-long strategy for the Fortune 500 company or “this pizza needs to go to 5713 Main St.”, it’s what I do. Those completely unrealistic income figures Peter was throwing up on the board last night… well.. let’s just say he’ll be lucky if he sustains even half of that through scAmway. Me? I looked at them and said “yah, that’s about what I make.” He will fail… you and I will succeed. He’s trying to take the shortcut. We know the real deal… get the point? Wealth building takes hard work, not a downline of IBO’s.

Second… do not be embarrassed over this situation. I fell for the same trap in my twenties. I thought I could beat the MLM system of lies and move the product. Even then, I was smart enough to know that the recruiting scam is just that, a scam. The product? It doesn’t move. You can’t sell it. Like I said last night, if you really want to run with this thing I will help you run with it. Get some retail space and let’s make this thing pop. Will it fail? Probably. Nine out of ten businesses do. Is that OK? Yes. It’s fine. When nine out of ten businesses fail, smart people like us know that we just need to start up eight more until we find the one that doesn’t fail. Welcome to the real world. While you’re here, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Rich Dad/Poor Dad from that Barne’s and Noble store you run. It will show you the true ESBI quadrants and that the “Business Owner” block was erroneously represented by the words “Business System” in Peter’s screwed up version. There is a difference, and trust me… you’re nowhere near being a business owner yet. You’ll get there, but never by using their “system”.

In closing, the sky is the limit with a degree from Virginia Tech and experience you’re getting with your company under your belt. You have the open door in front of you. If you take the proper steps now, you can live the life you want for the rest of your days. Don’t let a bunch of scam artists like Quixtar/scAmway stand in your way. Their false promises will only result in disappointment, heartache, pain, suffering, and regret. Finish your degree. Pour your heart into your work. Live below your means and save and invest money NOW. If you can put aside $300 / month for the next 6 years and then never invest again in your life, you will be a millionaire at age 65. It’s that simple. Do the math or ask me and I’ll show you. Better yet, buy a copy of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and enroll in his Financial Peace University course. It will change your life.

If you’ve read this far, you now have three choices:

1) Toss my comments aside and continue down the road towards oblivion

2) Politely part ways with LTD and get on with your life

3) Get with me and lets talk this over. I’m more than happy to take time out of my day to ensure your questions are answered by someone other than the morons who have been trained to respond with scAmway’s canned responses.

Whatever choice you make, just know that I’m praying for you right now… hard. You need it. I suggest you do the same. Pray your ass off for wisdom and guidance on this one. Most of all, remember this… I love you very much. If not, I wouldn’t have taken the time to put this together for you.

Best regards and God bless,

– Stuart

Friend of mine sent me this.

Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.
I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn’t show me dancing around a pole. It’s supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.
From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.
Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith

Covenant School seeks forfeit of 100-0 win over Dallas Academy

I heard about this on Paul Harvey news yesterday and decided to look it up this morning.

There’s just so much wrong with this that I honestly don’t know where to begin. Please feel free to share your insight and one of these days, I’ll get around to a detailed breakdown of this situation.

There’s a new kid in town. Stay tuned.

1. Be more proactive and stay ahead of the curve.
2. Be a better listener.

Short… sweet… to the point.

… believe in Jesus? Interesting to see evidence of this in comments by Iran’s president:

Iran’s Ahmadinejad to give alternative Christmas message - Times Online

 1000 Cigarettes not smoked
  100 Dollars not spent on buying them
+   1 Week added to my life
 1101 Milestones... one at a time

It amazes me how quickly the little things can add up. I recently passed several milestones as noted above. For those of you tracking progress on the automated page, the milestones actually passed a day or two ago around the 20th. I passed the 50-day mark of not smoking. Because I was a pack a day (20 cigarettes in a pack) smoker, and because I spent a little over two dollars a pack (yes, you can still find some brands for that cheap), I passed these several milestones within a very short period of time thanks to the math (20 x 50 and 2 x 50) the automated page uses.

I originally intended to write a short post about passing all of these milestones and was going to post it on the day the milestones all passed, but plans changed. The unexpected passing of a loved one changed several things, and scheduling was just one of them. The other things it changed are just as important, so I decided to write a quick note about them instead:

1. It changed my perspective on just how short and sweet life really is. My brother-in-law, Richard Lawson, passed away Friday at the age of 46. For me, that’s only 12 years from now. Cherish life and enjoy every minute.
2. It changed my vision of how I want to be remembered. Before I closed Richard’s service with a prayer, I couldn’t help but remind everyone that we are all going to die; and I encouraged everyone to think very hard about what they want said at their funeral and start living that way. If the comments at my funeral are anywhere near as loving and caring as the things said at Richard’s, I know it will mean that I lived a good life, was selfless, and touched many hearts in a lasting and positive way.
3. It reminded me to fill my heart and mind with good, positive things so that those good things are expressed in my words and actions (Philippians 4:6-9).
4. It assured me that the only true peace to be found is the peace found through a personal relationship with God; and that every other blessing, including peace in other relationships, is a result of that personal relationship with God.
5. It affirmed Richard’s well-known tagline. No matter the circumstances, no matter the trials or troubles, no matter what’s going on or not going on in our lives, “it’s good to be alive.”

In light of everything that has happened in the past week, I would be remiss if I didn’t remind everyone to tackle life’s problems one baby step, one milestone at a time. One day, one hour, one minute, one dollar, one smoke, one drink, one relationship… no matter what it is, take it a step at a time. Along the way, don’t worry, and don’t sweat the small stuff. Remember, it’s all small stuff.

Semper Fi, Richard. You will be missed.

Richard

I caught this post on TechCrunch about Lois Whitman. Go read it real quick.

Back? OK cool… If my math is correct, she’s probably in her 60’s. I base this on the 1966 employment mentioned in her bio at the HWH founders page. If you figure she’s been in the job pool for forty two years and was approximately twenty years of age in 1966, then 60-something is probably about right. Over forty years in the job pool. That’s over twice the amount of time I’ve been gainfully employed, yet she makes a rookie mistake like this?! Why? How?

Something just doesn’t jive here. Don’t get me wrong, there is no age discrimination here. To the contrary, I’m all for people staying in the job market for as long as they possibly can. Even my own father started his own new business (two actually!) when he left the corporate world at the ripe young age of 62. I was behind him and cheering him on the the whole way. Why? Because I know he has what it takes. He has the entrepreneurial spirit and the knowledge needed to take a business, run with it, and be successful. He relies almost completely on word-of-mouth referral marketing (speaking of which, feel free to fire up a comment and let me know if you need an amazing home improvement, master gardener, or real estate guru).

When I think about what my father created, how long it took him to create it, and how he actually went about creating it, I see relationship building at its finest. Compared to Lois Whitman’s approach, there’s just so much that doesn’t make sense. Given Lois’ response, I find it amazing that her clients even continue to do business with her. Add to that the backwards line of thinking she displays on her blog and you’ll see some further insight into why she’s spamming: a) because she has to, and b) because it’s what she has always done.

Think about it: when she started in PR, it was all about phones, newspapers, letters, print media, and the like. The cost of the media was on the producer, and you blasted it out to as many places as you could! Contrast that with today’s permission-based marketing culture and it’s no wonder she’s leaving voicemail messages all day every day. I think Lois has some great information to communicate, but I’m afraid she will be stumbling over her own elitist attitude for quite some time unless she decides to change it now.

Personally, I’m glad Mr. Arrington brought this to the attention of TechCrunch’s readers. I think it can be used to teach a valuable lesson:

Know when to apologize

All of the negative press and bad feelings could have been avoided from the very start by not blasting thousands of email messages out, but this particular incident could have been completely avoided if Lois would have simply apologized. Think about the message she communicated. It sounded like something along the lines of, “I’m better than you. You suck. You’re lucky to even be considered email-worthy by me because your pitiful blog is nothing but pitiful. How dare you question my spam.” It could have easily said something more along the lines of:

“Let’s move on”

She had the perfect opportunity to start building a relationship, but what did she do? She sabatoged herself and ruined any chance of procuring a great opportunity to market her customers’ products. Imagine if her response had sounded like something more along the lines of, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have sent you information about Samsung’s new line of mobile phones. I would love to set up a conference call sometime or perhaps join you for dinner at the show this year. Let’s put this behind us and move forward.”

It’s not rocket surgery. It’s being a nice person.

The economy started tanking about a year ago, and the brunt of the downturn started a few months ago. I hear a lot of griping and complaining about this “new economy” and the impact. I hear it from the news, media outlets, and even people I know personally. Well, guess what… get over it. All of the media doom and gloom crap can be written off to sensationalism. Take, for example, the stock market. If you pulled out your money because it crashed, you’re an idiot. You’re buying high and selling low. Get your money back in the market, ride out the storm, and take advantage of next year’s rebound. History has shown that in the year or two following a crash, the market soars. Get back in now if you want to do what you’re supposed to do which is “buy low, sell high.”

As far as business and the job market are concerned, if you’re worth half your salt, you’ll do fine despite the recent economic woes. If you’ve been skating along, riding on the coattails of others, and can’t adapt to change, chances are you are going to feel quite a negative impact. When you do feel it, please try to keep your negativity to yourself. If you find yourself in a hole, financial or otherwise, you have several options available to you:

The “end of the world as we know it!” (props to R.E.M.) zealots paint current economic woes as permanent and ignore the fact that this isn’t the first time this has happened. Recessions, depressions, and other negative economic downturns happen regularly. I think one of the keys to surviving them is get out of them quickly, and that won’t happen if you sit idly by and watch. Pick a direction, set a course, and start rowing. The longer you sit and whine about it, the quicker you’ll go absolutely nowhere.

As for the U.S. auto industry and the sweeping economic impact it will have if it fails? I think the failure of the U.S. auto industry has been coming for quite some time. Paying union workers to sit in a room and watch TV, read books, and play cards all day is NOT a way to run a business. Right now you’re at option 1 in hopes of being able to do option 2. Screw that. Go with option 3. You should have told the UAW to shove it a long time ago (hey Atlas… time to shrug). Declare bankruptcy now and unload the UAW burden. Your business model needs to be restructured to be competitive and there’s no time like the present to actually get it done. The re-organization under bankruptcy protection is just a means of making that happen with or without the loans from Uncle Sam.

This site is actually hosted on a GoDaddy hosting account, and the original WordPress installation was installed using the automated GoDaddy application installer. The WordPress team recently released version 2.7, so I decided to upgrade manually rather than wait for GoDaddy to get around to putting the new version online for manual installation. So far, so good. I decided to not follow the upgrade instructions (doh!) and I just uploaded the new files overtop of the old blog files. Once I ran the upgrade, everything looked fine. Even the theme came across nicely.

In addition, I took advantage of the “I’m changing the site” frame of mind to add a widget or two. Specifically, I added a widget to display whatever I tweet. I also added the tag cloud widget (not that I make extensive use of tags… but hey, I know some people out there really eat that tag stuff up so there yah go taggers… have at it). For those of you considering following me on Twitter, please know that I don’t tweet my every move. Most of my activity on Twitter is watching and keeping up with the people I follow. A healthy percentage of my tweets are replies.

I like the new interface, and I like the widget concept. If anyone else knows of some good widgets to toss in, please feel free to let me know.