June is t-shirt month

May is Scotch month.  A whole month dedicated to Scotch – not the proverbial me (that part of me died a few weeks ago) – but to the fire-water of my ancestral home, the birth place of my father and his father before him.  I was fortunate last week to taste a wonderful bottle of double wood Scotch (stored in oak then sherry casks) with two friends and I’ll admit that I liked it.  I’ve been a big fan of bourbon over the past year, but I feel that I’ve moved on to tastier endeavours.  Enough about Scotch – did you know that June is t-shirt month?

In celebration of ‘t-shirt month’ I will be making t-shirts and selling them – one hundred percent of the proceeds (not profits, but everything) will go to charity.  I’ve been thinking about the writing and phrasing on the t-shirts for a while now but I will need some help from artistically inclined friends to flesh out the design.  I know that a few people have been waiting very patiently for me to get the lead out of my ass and to start making them – they will be ready in June.  :)

So two questions remain – which charity and who wants to help?

New Season

Lots of ‘newness’ in the past few weeks – new focus with work, new job (well not really a job), new relationship status, new energy, new place to rest my weary soul, new voice, and renewed passion.

Yesterday I listened for the very first time Kid Koala at his Space Cadet concert (yes I was a Kid Koala virgin and he was very understanding).  It was strange to lounge about listening to him while wearing headphones – made for a fantastic and interesting time.

Kid Koala – Live in San Antonio!

I’ve gone back to my work ethic from when I was living in Helsinki and studying in a program where there was stiff competition from around the world; Monday to Friday work hard and stay focused.  Friday at 5pm – relax, unwind, focus on friends, family and fun.   And don’t stop moving!  I’ll admit that these past few days I’ve been cheating on the ‘all work/no play’ during the week, but that will change as summer arrives.

I have a few things to update over the next week and I’ll make a concerted effort to write more here.  The last thing that I wanted to do was write out my feelings and musings about a certain topic when it’s of no concern to the rest of the world and I had not been able to answer the question of ‘why?’

Travel plans over the next few months – Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok, Calgary (Stampede!), Montreal, Halifax, New York, Shanghai, Luxembourg, London, Bermuda, and a few others if I play my cards right.

I’ll leave you with some amazing jazz to put a smile on your face.  Have fun!

Orgy

It was a dark room – light coming in from the street casting off the slightest of silhouettes.  As I slowly became aware of what was happening I realized that I was experiencing a full blown gastrointestinal orgy – and everyone wanted to leave NOW.  Waking up at 4:30am to a gastrointestinal emergency is a nightmare.  Throw in the fact that I was sleeping in a place having never set foot in before, lights are off, the stress of having to catch a plane, and a vague recollection of where the bathroom is supposed to be – it was quite a fright.

It started with lunch at Magnolia’s Chinese restaurant in Niagara Falls, followed by home made tuna casserole (homemade hummus was the substitute cream of mushroom soup) and salad in Toronto, a few pitchers of Amsterdam Amber beer, and to top it off the Kings Crown Nachos at Sneaky Dees in Toronto with more beer.  It was a day of catching up with friends and getting to know new ones.  It started off innocent enough – food, followed by beer followed by more food.  It took a while for the orgy to get into full swing but as I left Sneaky Dees, I knew that it was not going to be a normal night.

The worst part is the orgy is still in progress.  As I write this, 18,000 feet up in the air on my way to Chicago (flight UA 541), I’ve abused the toilet and the ear drums of fellow passengers twice.  Some of them look at me with shame, others take pity on me but all are grateful to not be in my shoes.

United Airlines – your toilet paper sucks.  Of all of the cost cutting measures, nothing engenders the scorn of your flying passengers more than knowing that you’ve cheaped out by utilizing wafer thin sand paper that tears when you grab at it and somehow manages to shred skin when using it.   Raise you prices by a few cents for each flight, we won’t mind.  Ask yourself UA, who really wants to poop in a tin can thousands of feet in the air surrounded by strangers?  I’ll tell you who, people who have no choice.

In all honesty, I ate way too much only because I was having a good time and it’s been a while since I had been out socializing and drinking.  However I blame the refried beans in the nachos for my current predicament.  Refried beans are now on my “I hate you for the rest of my life because of what you make my body do against itself” list – to be avoided at all costs.  I think I’m on my way to becoming a ‘picky’ eater like my friends who claim they can’t eat gluten or lactose.

On a side note, this is my 100^th post since I left for Sendai, Japan October 15, 2010.  It’s weird to think that in three weeks it will have been a year since Japan was rocked by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.  My heart goes out to all of those whose lives were devastated by the tragedy and to those who are helping them to rebuild.

Alumni – The Problem

Well I was going to write about seasonal changes, being let down about a green winter, and some personal updates but now I’ve taken on a more poignant topic – Dealing With Alumni.

Here’s how it started – a post on LinkedIn in regards to the amount of funding that actually goes to the Alumni Association (A.A.) at the University of Guelph.

The First Post

Of course, I was curious – just how much money goes to the University of Guelph Alumni Association?  The answer – a small fee.  Well that was obvious, but just how much?

Let’s do the math (rough numbers) – $110 for a print directory, $70 for a cd option 1, and $30 for cd option 2.

To date there have been approximately 20,000 people who have updated their contact information out of the supposed 100,000 active members.  Let’s assume that 20% bought cd option 1 – since it’s the middle option – 20,000 * 20% * $70 = $280,000 in revenue.  And the University of Guelph Alumni Association receives…..a small fee.

Hold on a second here…..you mean that there are cross selling opportunities for Harris Connect (the third party that is soliciting alumni info and selling the directory to said alumni)?  Oh wait an opportunity to sign up for People Magazine – see link here.  So let’s add in this additional revenue – 20,000 * 20% * $117 = $468,000 in revenue.  And the University of Guelph Alumni Association receives….a small fee.

Now let’s take a look at the cost to the University of Guelph Alumni Association in terms of actual cost and economical cost.

Upfront fee – $0

Subjugating their alumni to high pressured sales tactics to cover the cost of two post card mailings, a few unsolicited phone calls and acquiring alumni info from telemarketing companies – buying lists – (we know that at least 20,000 post cards went out)

(($1.50 * 2) + ($15/10)) * 20,000 = $90,000

(cost of post card and mailing) + (cost of call centre and staffing per hour/ calls per hour) * 20,000 alumni

I have to go now but I’ll finish this post later on and flesh out the argument.  In the mean time I have posted an Alumni Association rep and my comments below:

One Alumni Association reply

 

Scotch's Post

Shirking Responsibility

In the past, I’ve found ways to shirk responsibility.  It all started with girls.  In fact, one girl in particular in high school.   There I was, standing there minding my own business when this girl walks up to me in the cafeteria and says with the utmost conviction and gumption “We have slept together.”

Stunned silence on my part.  I believe my mouth was hanging open as I stared at her, looking her up and down.  My first thought was – who the hell are you?  Honestly, I had never laid eyes on her in high school and I knew that I didn’t go to elementary school with her.  My second thought was – please god no, do not let her be pregnant!

The next words out of her mouth were, “In fact, we have shared a bed together on many occasions.”  My stance changed to the defensive, peering deep into her eyes and thinking “I have no clue who you are” then glaring at the few people who had gathered around us, seeing if I could garner any clues as to her identity.

Nothing.

A cold sweat permeated my body.  More people were looking over at our small group; pointing, whispering.  I fully expected someone to wheel in a baby carriage and for her to launch into the full blown antics that I had witnessed on Jerry Springer – only this time there was no Steve to break things up.  I knew I had to do it.  I never imagined that at the age of 17 I would be in this situation.

“I’m terribly sorry, we may have slept together, but I seem to have forgotten your name.”

Thank you Jennifer.  It turns out that we had slept together.   On many different occasions.  And we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company and played with each other for hours.

As toddlers.  Over 15 years ago.

Jenn had just switched over to my high school and her mom had told her to look me up.  We had a few mutual friends that were in on it and from that point on I never looked at women and responsibility the same way again.  I figured that I had dodged one bullet, so let’s see how many others I can dodge.

It took me another 12 years to figure out that my behaviour was hurting not only myself, but those that I cared about as well.  I had created this wonderful behavioural pattern around shirking responsibility – being accountable to no one except myself (and I was not hard on myself either) and it was beginning to show to those around me.  I had started the 31 Day Sprint as a way to hold myself publicly accountable for my successes and failures and it was not until today when I fell back into my old habit that I realized that something more drastic had to be done (hence this post).

I’ll admit that right now I’m struggling with the shift in focus from marketing activities to sales activities.  I know that this week and next week I will overachieve on my daily numbers but it will be the weekly numbers that will hurt the most – units sold, sales volume (in terms of $$), and income (%age).  I will fail miserably at achieving a sustainable level of sales activities to translate into income.  I expect this failure knowing that I will use it to learn and adapt and figure out a way to turn it into a success.

I’ve been in business too long for myself without having to produce a weekly income that drastic measures have to be taken – I have no choice but to continue to break my behavioural pattern.  Wednesday morning when I wake up I will do the two things that I fear most – only because these two activities will help me become successful – workout for an hour and call my clients and business associates.  I’ve relied far too long on technology (email, social media, etc) and I’ve been content with the mediocre results for far too long.  Now is the time to overachieve.  Now is the time to get results.

Hard numbers for today – 67 (12 over daily average)

Marketing – 62
Sales – 3
FLH – 2 (0 fitness, 1 hobby, 1 life)

When I wake up, it will be a new day.  I relish the opportunity for another woman to give me the opportunity to dodge more bullets – just not when it comes to those that I care about most.

31 Day Sprint

Yesterday I started a sprint – thirty-one days of concentrated effort to bring to fruition a few projects that I’ve been working on for the past few years. At the end of the sprint, I’ll be in a much better position in general while developing a different outlook on life and business.

There are five areas that I’m focusing on:

* Health – physical and mental
* Financial – metrics and daily measurements
* Spiritual – philosophical and ethical questions about the world around us
* Spare time – develop hobbies, set time aside for them
* Marketing – communication, brand, and channels

It was around this time last year that I started to inch towards Sendai, Japan and I find myself getting that itch to do something similar. It’s been over six months since the earthquake and tsunami and I find myself still being a little resentful/bitter and mourning. I don’t think that I have come to terms with the experience and I’ve let it influence my life until now.

Today I’m writing about the financial objectives of the 31 Day Sprint. In terms of metrics and measurement, I’m tracking the daily activities that will lead to more business and subsequently more income. Each day I track the number of points accumulated and plot them on a chart against these categories:

0-15 points – Danger level! I may soon have a boss.
16-33 points – Average – if that’s what I want.
34-51 points – Looking good. I’m in the top 20%.
52-69 points – The Million Dollar Pro.

I get a point for each of these activities: introductory client meeting, all documents collected, proposal sent, cold calling (1 point for each business owner spoken to), agreement signed, contract signed, contract extension, supplier interest on a project, a phone number collected from a cold contact (face to face), referral contacted, mail-outs / direct ad mail (1 point per 20), newsletter or newsworthy email (1 point per 20).

After the sprint, there will a concerted effort to continue to track these activities, in addition to revenue per day, expenses per day and hours billed.

Progress to date:
Day 1: 5 points

It’s not very good, but I’m being honest with myself and making more of an effort to focus on the positive and not spend my day putting out fires.

More updates to come….