2007 July | haRdLy NOrMal

Archive for July, 2007

The Big Mac Empire in China

Published by July 31st, 2007 in Just Me, Marketing

Unfortunately I only caught the very last few minutes of a great documentary on CNBC about McDonalds. The section I caught was about their growth in China. One thing I found interesting is that when McDonalds first introduced the drive thru in China the customers didn’t completely understand. They would drive through, order, pay and receive their food. They would then go park their cars and walk back into the restaurant to eat

McDonalds then had to train the customers. It looked funny, at least to me, seeing the employee holding the bag of burgers out the window waving the car to drive up to the next window. To most of us using a drive thru is almost instinctual however, to a country where only a few years ago the bicycle was the primary mode of transportation it is not so common and had to be taught.

That got me thinking. Sometimes in marketing we are faced with introducing new concepts and products to people. If the concepts or products are not a success we usually think that maybe the concept was too whacked or that the product was not that good. If we are trying to introduce something so new it may not be considered normal we may need to look at training the consumer as part of a successful strategy…

Also equally as interesting McDonald’s builds its new restaurants in underdeveloped areas. They take a risk that this new area will soon be filled with condos, shopping malls and other retail stores as China grows faster then any other country today. This risk continues to pay off in a big way because they will be the first in the area when prosperity arrives, and, as Seth Godin tells us in his new book “The Dip” , being the first in a market will give you a huge leverage.

J Paul Getty, one of the first people in the world to amass a fortune of over 1 billion dollars once said that in order to be rich you not only have to take risks with your own money, but, you also have to take risks with other peoples money.

Are you taking any risks? If not, why?

Youtube and politics?

Published by July 29th, 2007 in Change, Community, Just Me, Marketing, Media, Television

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I may be a little late on this since I was watching a rerun broadcast. CNN and Youtube teamed up for the presidential debates. WOW!

As in everything there are pros and cons. I think it is great that anyone with a camera and a computer can present a question however, was the motivation for this a marketing strategy or to empower a community?

One thing for sure, broadband media is affecting our culture in a huge way. As Phil Cooke wrote: If we aren’t aware of the changes happening around us, we’ll be caught off guard when the media tsunami hits…

Any thoughts?

Today’s media – will it get better?

Published by July 28th, 2007 in Just Me, Media, Television

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I rarely watch TV after midnight but tonight I happened to do a little channel surfing. After 17 years of living in Hollywood I can honestly say I am fairly open minded, but, I was a little shocked at the frequent use of bad language.

I like to think positive yet I see today’s media getting worse.

This is what I found on the FCC website

the FCC warned broadcasters that, depending on the context, it would consider the “F-Word” and those words (or variants thereof) that are as highly offensive as the “F-Word” to be “profane language” that cannot be broadcast between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

What is the “safe harbor”? The “safe harbor” refers to the time period between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., local time. During this time period, a station may air indecent and/or profane material.

Funny use of words naming the time period when profane language can be used as a “Safe Harbor”!

What do you think?

a smile from a friend

Published by July 28th, 2007 in Just Me, My Big Mouth

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I just received an email from a friend after he checked out my blog. I thought I would share a little portion that made me smile.

The megaphone pic as your headline is priceless. I just flashed back to when your office was at least two walls away, and I could still hear you in anguish over something — even if it was just those darn email alerts!

Direct mail gimmick

Published by July 26th, 2007 in Character, Just Me, Marketing

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I just got home and like most Americans I open my mail over a garbage can in the garage. There was one letter that really stood out because it was “obviously” from a law firm. I instantly started thinking; what collection agency is after me, even though I have been extremely good for many years. Of course, that envelope gets set aside and brought into the house, which, I guess is the goal of a good direct mail piece.

Turns out the letter was actually a sales letter from a car dealer. I only read a few lines and threw it away but I do remember the dealer’s name. Why? Because I was tricked and the emotional response lodged that name into my brain! Do you think I will ever buy from that dealer? NO! Gimmicks do leave an impression and usually not a favorable one.

At this years NAB convention I spoke a little on this subject. I strongly believe as Christian marketers that we must never compromise our integrity. No matter how bad we want to sell that new teaching series, that book or fill the sanctuary we must never compromise. When we do it will more often than not have a negative result.

Realignment and vision

Published by July 26th, 2007 in Homeless, Just Me, Life's Lessons, Vision

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A few weeks ago God did some spiritual realignment on me. This is John. As long as I can remember John has been on the streets of Hollywood. I literally lived on the Blvd in 95 and I knew him then. I moved from Hollywood in 03 and he was always there. Always! Usually on the north side between Cherokee and Cahuenga! This a little off topic but most Los Angeles street names double as great cartoon sound effects. “C-A-H-Y-E-N-G-A”

There are two stories here and the experience I had this past visit walking down the “Blvd of Broken Dreams” makes a third.

1st, either no one has helped John get off the streets or John has refused the help. It is very sad that many people living on the streets get complacent. They are so comfortable with their existence, or so scared of change, they stay where they are. It is also very sad that there are very few government agencies, programs or even churches that offer any REAL help!

The story that I like to tell about John is on the subject of vision and purpose. John is severely handicapped and cannot walk. He lives on the streets yet I have never witnessed John in a bad mood. Most people in his situation have given up. John on the other hand, every single day, crawls, yes crawls down Hollywood Blvd and cleans the brass part of the “Walk of Fame” stars embedded in the sidewalk. What is also very cool it is a selfless vision that gives him purpose! I could be wrong, but I don’t believe John gets anything in return by cleaning the sidewalk. In fact, most store owners do not want him sitting in front of their store making it more then a challenge.

John has never once asked me for money. I have never seen him ask anyone for money. He has on occasion asked me for brass cleaner. Of course these days when I see him my heart breaks and I empty my wallet.

Too me, I like to think about how John keeps going day after day even though life has been extremely hard on him. His life is very hard yet because he keeps a vision in his heart it gives him purpose and somehow life gets a little easier.

The third story here is it has been longer then four years since I walked down Hollywood Blvd. I have a lot of extremely good and extremely horrible memories of the Blvd. When I moved to LA in 87 it was a wild and crazy circus filed with adventure. Heck, it is kind of like a carnival sideshow in some ways. It was fun for many many years! I also spent several very dark Christmas Eves on the Blvd. One I was even living on the streets.

The point I am trying to make is I am so very grateful for all that God has done in my life. I got so caught up in my world that I forgot about His divine purpose for all of us. God used this last walk down the Blvd to realign my spirit to withstand the hurricanes of life. I made a promise that I will, as often as I can, go walk down that Blvd just to remember God’s awesome power.

Where has God brought you from? Have you forgot, like I did, about what it was like to live without God? Maybe take a visit to where you once were to get realigned to where He wants to take you.

Morning read

Published by July 26th, 2007 in Bible, Devotional, Just Me

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Ever since Pastor Blunt brought this to life for me it has been my morning read:
Romans 8 amp
5 For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.

6 Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].

7 [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot.

8 So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.

how it started

Published by July 26th, 2007 in Just Me, Leadership

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In the “why me” section of this blog I reference some emails that may have been the origin of this blog. These are the actual emails and unedited. I was simply trying to encourage our team to do random acts of kindness to others.

Email #1

I think we would all agree that Pastor loves each and everyone of us. He constantly encourages us, cares for us and gives to us.

Pastor’s love shows us the spirit of this church:

Integrity
Encouragement
Generosity
Compassion

As Pastor loves us, we need to love each other and then give that love away. If we are not caring for each other, encouraging each other and praying for each other then we do not have the spirit of this house. If it is not your character to encourage, give or care – then you need to change your character.

I would encourage you all to take a moment and reflect on how other people perceive you. Do the people around you think of you as generous, a person with integrity, filled with compassion and do they view you as an encourager? If you answer no to any of these then those probably are the areas you need to work on – that WE need to work on because I too need to work on all of these areas. God gives us friends to mirror our character to see how we are doing. I know I can improve in each area. How about you?

TV, media, lights and sound are all going to explode this year. The devil cannot see the future but he can sense potential. More then ever we need to care for each other. We need to be a family so we can better minister to others.

If you know of someone here at work that is going through a challenge in their life, receiving a healing or could just use a hug please extend yourself. Most people are simply satisfied knowing that someone is thinking of them. In addition, I encourage each and every one of you to do a weekly random act of kindness to a fellow co-worker. Take them to lunch; buy them a Starbucks card or simply give a note of encouragement. Not only the people you normally bless but the people who you don’t normally hang with. Give someone new a smile! Be creative and have fun. You will be blessed for it.

A lot of us can learn from Kim Harrison. I know I can. She is constantly speaking kind words of encouragement into my life. Often she will put notes or cards into my mailbox and she somehow knows exactly when to send me an encouraging text message. They seem to arrive at just the right time. Kim has caught the spirit of the house!

Pastor has taught us well. Now we as a team need to put love into action. Lets all make the spirit of this house a lifestyle!!!!!

Email #2

This morning I had a thought on one way that we can all measure our generosity, our encouraging and our caring.

In the month of February how many thank you notes did you receive? How many did you give out? If you are not giving of course no one will have a reason to say “thanks”.

Generosity is learned. Encouraging people is learned and we should all (because we work in ministry) be filled with lots of compassion for others. You might say “that is not my nature”! Well neither is brushing your teeth which I hope you all do good hygiene is learned – it is not natural – you learned it. If you didn’t hopefully the people around you would tell you that your breath stinks.

If you have not had the blessing of sitting down and writing a thank you note to someone recently chances are you didn’t receive anything. If you have not had the blessing of receiving a thank you note in some time chances are you are not blessing others.

Personally, I like to keep the thank you notes I receive on my desk right where I can see them. I continually refresh them when new ones arrive. It reminds me that I am doing what Pastor has taught me and that I am pleasing to God.

My prayer is that each member of the marketing, media, audio and light departments become known as the most giving, the most encouraging and the most caring. If we get it, we will pass it onto our volunteers who in turn will pass it onto the congregation.

Yesterday I sent an email that I hope encouraged you all to make the spirit of this house a lifestyle. How many thank you notes will you receive??????

First post – three weeks in the making

Published by July 26th, 2007 in Character, Just Me, Life's Lessons

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Well, I guess it is time. I actually started creating this blog three weeks ago yet I am publishing my first post today. Why? Because I am part perfectionist and part idiot! Please note that I use the word idiot as a humorous yet favorable word to remind me of the paradoxes in my character.

The choice was between Typepad and WordPress. I ended up picking WordPress because with Typepad, even though it seemed easier, I would have had to find a separate host to have an email address with my own domain name.

So for the last three weeks I have been pulling out my hair and tweaking. To most, a blog may seem like a fairly simple design and easy to create. NOT FOR ME! I hate code! Code is whacked and with WordPress, if you don’t know some code, it is very frustrating.

So here is the paradox. What makes me good at what I do actually drives me crazy, and I am sure others, too. I could have easily settled with the design I created two weeks ago. Heck, it was not bad and better then a lot of blogs I find BUT it was not the very best I could make it. It still isn’t!

Yup, that is right, I am not 100% happy with this design and all of its functions however, it was time to stop the tweaking. Websites evolve so I am sure over time it will bother me enough that I will either learn php; or at least figure out some workarounds to make the changes I want.

Going through the process of building this blog, being honest, was extremely frustrating yet I was able to see how much of a perfectionist I am and its effects. No one was pushing me to make this site better but myself. Most of you would not even notice the little things I did, the little changes I made at 2am because it bothered me so much I could not sleep until they were made.

There is good and bad in all of us. We all have traits that make us strong yet on the flip side, that same trait may hurt us. I thank God for allowing me a great moment of introspection this past week. I learned much about myself! I will still strive for excellence in all that I do however; I will try and find that pause button more often. Just good enough will never work, at least for me!

What strengths do you have, that at times, may also present a challenge?