 |
 |
|
Posts from the 'Mood Boosters' Category
March 11th, 2008 by Lani Voivod
I just read Steve Martin’s memoir about his early years forging ahead into the entertainment business, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life. It’s an unpretentious, honest, and insightful romp into the heart of storytelling, the naivete of youth, and the inescapable truth that success takes patience, perseverence, and roll-up-your-sleeves WORK.
One of Martin’s experiences in particular struck me as a great metaphor for MARKETING and BRANDING.
You remember The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, right? Remember how an appearance on Carson was often the make-or-break litmus test for anyone trying to make it in show biz - especially comedians? Martin shares what the reality of his first “Big Break” revealed:
There was a belief that one appearance on The Tonight Show made you a star. But here are the facts. The first time you do the show, nothing. The second time you do the show, nothing. The sixth time you do the show, someone might come up to you and say, “Hi, I think we met at Harry’s Christmas party.” The tenth time you do the show, you could conceivably be remembered as being seen somewhere on television. The twelfth time you do the show, you might hear, “Oh, I know you. You’re that guy.”
Martin’s first appearance on The Tonight Show was in October of 1972. After a few appearances, he experimented with a schtick that got him “demoted” to appearing with guests hosts instead of Johnny himself. Still, Martin showed up whenever he was invited, and kept working on his material, doing his best, and sharing his style. After proving himself, he was re-invited to a Carson-hosted episode (on which Sammy Davis Jr. was also booked), and he finally got his Big Break. The camera panned over to Carson doubled over in laughter during Martin’s routine, and thus a Comedic Star was endorsed to millions of TV viewers.
This happened on Martin’s 16th (!!!) Tonight Show appearance, in September of 1974.
Martin started dabbling in magic and entertainment as an employee of Disneyland in the summer of 1955. That means it took 17 years just to play and dabble and fail and put things OUT THERE before he made it to the Tonight Show stage for the first time.
THEN it took TWO MORE YEARS of: Working things out in clubs, in his head, and on paper; sharing, honing, and experimenting with content to all types of audiences; saying “Yes!” to opportunities at inopportune times; trusting the process; not getting all down and gloomy when “results” weren’t showing up as quickly as he thought they should have, etc., before Martin’s work really paid off, in his own estimation.
Doesn’t this sound like the small biz owners’ experiences with marketing? We want our one-shot efforts to PRODUCE RESULTS, darnit! We want to know our time, energy, and money aren’t wasted, that we’re investing in the right things to make our businesses successful.
But like all good things in life, building your Content Kingdom, your Brand, and your relationship with your Ideal Audience TAKES TIME.
Wanna know the funniest thing, though? After his killer appearance in 1974, what Martin himself said was “…the first one I could really call a smash,” he had an encounter with a woman in an antique store the very next day. She asked him if he was the boy who was on The Tonight Show the night before. When Martin said yes, she blurted, “Yuck!”
It just goes to show that even when you’ve done your job to the best of your ability, even when you’ve put as much of your message, mission, and vision OUT THERE for your Ideal Audience to consume in as many ways as you can with the time and resources you have on hand, you’re still not right for everyone.
Guess what? You’re not supposed to be! Martin himself ended up being one of the most successful, commercial, influential comic talents of all time, going on to write books and screen plays, star in movies, and win prestigious awards like Emmys and Grammys and such. Turns out the opinion of that chick in the antique store didn’t really thwart his own ascent too too much.
So while you’re thinking about new ways to have fun connecting and communicating with your own Ideal Audience, enjoy a clip of one of Steve Martin’s appearances on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, below. :)
Posted in Brand Funk, Fun With Marketing, Mood Boosters | 1 Comment »
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Brand Funk, Fun With Marketing, Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 10th, 2008 by Allen Voivod
I rarely open email forwards, and even more frequently delete them if the sender doesn’t add a little note at the beginning to explain just why they were compelled to send the thing along.
But I happened to open the one pasted below. And it’s bizarre, because I’d just been thinking about how it’s our fifth year in business. How 80% of businesses supposedly fail in the first year, and 80% of the remainder fail within five years, and if we make it through this year, we’ll have beaten some pretty incredible odds.
Not to mention how tough it got in the latter half of 2006, when the option of “quitting” started to look attractive for a little while there.
That said, here’s a little Mood Booster for you, and for those of you who aren’t comfortable with use of “God,” do like Julia Cameron of Artist’s Way fame advises, and treat it as an acronym for “Good Orderly Direction,” a nameless force in the universe that is constantly looking for opportunities to help you on your journey:
The Fern and the Bamboo
One day I decided to quit…. I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality… I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.
“God”, I said. “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”
His answer surprised me.
“Look around,” He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.
“In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.”
He said, “In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.
“In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.”
He said. “Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant.
“But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”
He said to me, “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots. I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. Don’t compare yourself to others.”
He said, “The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern, yet, they both make the forest beautiful.
“Your time will come,” God said to me. “You will rise high!”
“How high should I rise?” I asked.
“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.
“As high as it can?” I questioned.
“Yes.” He said, “Give me glory by rising as high as you can.”
I left the forest and brought back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.
Posted in Lessons Learned, Mood Boosters, Storytelling | 1 Comment »
This entry was posted
on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Lessons Learned, Mood Boosters, Storytelling.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 25th, 2008 by Allen Voivod
 You know those funny signboard pictures that get forwarded around via email forever?
Well, I just emailed the photo at right to my father-in-law, who’s bound to send it to four dozen people - many of whom like to forward emails out to four dozen other people. So if you happen to get it in your email, you’ll know where it came from.
For the record, this is just one convenience store on state road NH 107. On the same road are a couple of gas stations with mini-marts inside, there’s another convenience store half a block up at the next turn, plus two full-on grocery stores AND two pharmacies within a five-minute drive.
But…
Out of all of them, the Case ‘n Keg is the only one with a signboard. And they make good use of it. In case you didn’t recognize it, that’s Content Marketing right there, and they’ve made me a fan (and a regular customer) with this and other related signs “Save Water, Drink Beer” was the last one - not as logical as the current one, perhaps, but still enough to put a smile on your face.
Posted in Mood Boosters | No Comments »
This entry was posted
on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 29th, 2007 by Lani Voivod
Okay, it’s here. That special time on the calendar when we’re all scrambling with goals, resolutions, business strategies, marketing plans, or just being the contrarian and refusing to give into the New Year crazies with grand aplomb.
Now, a lot of us don’t have the time or the energy to revamp our entire 10-Year Vision Statement, change our business model, or invent a new product or service that’s sure to launch our annual income into the Seven Figure Club. But if all you’re looking for is a quick ‘n beefy emotional boost to prod you into a successful mindset for 2008, Yahoo! Hot Jobs contributor Caroline Levchuck has written the article for you:
Movies to Inspire Your Career Goals
 I gotta say, I categorically agree with her on all 10 of her recommendations. But the coolest thing about recommending Caroline’s article is that I found it (or rather, Allen found it) organically, and showed it to me. And as this funky life happens, I know Caroline. In fact, she gave me one of my first big, ongoing freelance writing gigs way back at the turn of the century, when she was working on various creative projects in NYC at the cutting edge of Internet revolution, before the bust.
What’s more, I just hung out with Caroline in the Big Apple earlier this year, when I went to cheer on my dear friend, Lisa “The Relationship Journalist” Steadman and the big launch of her first book, It’s a BreakUP, Not a Breakdown. Caroline was wayyyy kind and groovy enough to invite us to dine at The French Culinary Institute of New York City. Yum! Caroline was a student there at the time, and gave us the behind-the-scenes tour of the school, just before the extraordinary five-star dinner. In that itty bitty pic I just borrowed from Lisa’s blog post, Caroline’s on the left (then Lisa, me, and our friend Annette.).
Thanks, Caroline - for dinner AND the great movie recommendations.
“Rooooh-deee!! Rooooh-deee! Rooooh-deee!”
Posted in Microenterprises R Us, Mood Boosters | No Comments »
This entry was posted
on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 7:56 am and is filed under Microenterprises R Us, Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 1st, 2007 by Lani and Allen
It’s Saturday in the lives of microenterprises. A day off, right? Well, yes and no.
We just spent the morning watching “Best Of” videos from the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? on YouTube. And laughing ourselves silly while we were at it, no less. Multiple episodes (the number varies per clip), with each clip running just under 10 minutes. Sounds like a lovely way to unplug from the everyday of making money and doing business … sort of.
Naturally, since we’re “The Content Lovers,” we can’t seem to purely enjoy these without also thinking things like, “Why doesn’t every TV station do this for all of the TV shows they want to sell on DVD?” Or, “Wouldn’t it be great if small businesses created their own ‘Best Of’ videos featuring the most emotionally compelling moments in their own companies?” Or, “What would a ‘Best Of’ video look like for our own business?”
While we move on to other adventures on this fine sunny Saturday, and doubtlessly multi-task by answering these questions for ourselves while we drive to one social engagement or another, please watch and enjoy this sample Whose Line clip below.
Posted in All About Content, Microenterprises R Us, Mood Boosters | No Comments »
This entry was posted
on Saturday, September 1st, 2007 at 11:03 am and is filed under All About Content, Microenterprises R Us, Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 14th, 2007 by Lani Voivod
The Secret.
Please tell me you’ve seen it. And if you haven’t seen it, please tell me you’ve noticed its impact - in the media, in the Collective Conscious, in whispers and emphatic run-on testimonials among friends and colleagues, etc. - in your everyday life and the world at large.
It’s about sharing the power and spirit of The Law of Attraction. Which, in essence, is about putting forth good news, positive vibes, and the best you’ve got in ya with as many people as you can. It’s Karma and “Do Unto Others” and “What you put out comes back to you tenfold” and all that stuff.
It’s also an exquisite example of spreading ideas virally, using online technologies to get big, bold messages, missions, and ideas out to bigger, more receptive audiences…
…And all for the grander purpose of empowering individuals to create and manifest a better life for themselves and others.
It’s a quantum leap in branding, information marketing, and idea sprawl. And even though the theories and practices behind The Secret have been around for millenia, this unified wave of The Secret’s principles is just getting started.
Which is why I’m taking a moment to post “The Optimist’s Creed” here on The “A-Ha!” Blog, in the “Mood Boosters” category. Sometimes you just gotta remind yourself of the simple things, so you can get by whatever’s appearing to be an obstacle on your Tra-la-la Path to Personal Prosperity.
So here ya go!
THE OPTIMIST’S CREED
By Christian D. Larson, and modified by The Secret 2007 (Experience their version - with background music - here.)
I PROMISE MYSELF…
To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet.
To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and to press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet.
To give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me.
(Hope you don’t mind, but I added my own selected bolding.)
Whatever you’ve got going on for the rest of the day, may you take it on with thundering grace and smoldering BLISS!
Posted in Mood Boosters | 1 Comment »
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 10:22 am and is filed under Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 7th, 2007 by Allen Voivod
One of our favorite quotes is this one from Johann von Goethe:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
And now, we have this one to add, from one of the great business minds of our time, W. Clement Stone:
“That’s why many fail; because they don’t get started. They don’t go. They don’t overcome inertia. They don’t begin.”
What are YOU doing to get moving today? If you don’t know, stop now and take 10 minutes to decide.
Then….
GO!!!
Posted in Mood Boosters | 2 Comments »
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 9:45 am and is filed under Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 15th, 2007 by Lani Voivod
Just read an article by Rain Today contributor C.J. Hayden that puts some hard-fact numbers behind the “woo-woo” concept that it’s better to follow your bliss than boost your bank account.
Check out this excerpt from her article:
In Mark Albion’s book, Making a Life, Making a Living he describes a study of 1500 business school graduates that took place over twenty years. Based on their responses to a survey, the students were grouped into two categories.
Group A wanted to make money first, then pursue what they really wanted to do later when they had more resources. They comprised 83% of the respondents. Group B, who made up 17%, intended to pursue their true interests first, sure that money would eventually follow.
Twenty years later, there were a total of 101 millionaires in the two groups. Only one came from Group A. There were 100 millionaires out of the 255 people in Group B.
Now, we may not know the fates of those 1399 non-millionaires, nor do we know if the one lonely millionaire from Group A is a miserable drip or a jovial chap. But 17% of 1500 is 255. So of the Group B’s, nearly 40% went on to become millionaires pursuing what they were passionate about in the first place.
Hmmm. Nice odds, don’t you think?
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in Mood Boosters | No Comments »
This entry was posted
on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 18th, 2007 by Lani Voivod
 This melifluous quote comes compliments of my Uncle John, a “could-be” and “has-been” if there ever was one! 
“I’d rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are.” -Milton Berle
Posted in Mood Boosters | No Comments »
This entry was posted
on Friday, May 18th, 2007 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Mood Boosters.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 16th, 2007 by Lani Voivod
Thank you to our friend and fellow content strategist Eve Orio of www.GoldenSummit.com for flaggi | |
