Checklists for Success

As a pilot, we need to get a check ride every year if you want to keep flying.  The bigger the plane the more difficult the check ride is the rule of thumb. The truth is a lot easier than that.

There is a saying in aviation, when something happens either "wind your watch" or "sit on your hands".  The reason is simple. The knee jerk or impulse reaction is usually the wrong reaction.  I see it in aviation and I see it in business every day.

Would You Like A Little Freedom With Your Business?

It is almost an irony of the jet age and the information age that going faster isn't always the best method.  Big jets get places fast, but don't change trajectory quickly.  Business is much the same.  When an engine catches fire in an airplane, specifically a big airplane there is an impulse reaction to shut the engine down and use the fire extinguisher.

While those two steps are on the checklist there are other things to check first.  For instance, you want to make sure it is a real fire, not a false alarm.  Shutting down an engine that really isn't on fire makes things worse when you are halfway between New York and London or Los Angeles and Honolulu.  We call this a self induced emergency.

In business the same thing can happen.  I see it in my office and I see it in my clients offices.  The big difference between flying and business, is pilots have a checklist.  Our "checkride" is really a reminder to use the checklist.  Unfortunately, business owners don't get to practice emergency procedures and test out their checklists.  Many big name franchises have excellent training manuals that include these checklists.  If you are a small business, and didn't work for a competitor and "borrow" the checklists, you have to build yours by trial and error.  That can be an expensive checklist.

A business coach can be like the flight instructor on a check ride.  The business coach can ask you questions about scenarios that are likely to happen and you haven't seen yet.  Then you can build the checklist for your staff before the business is actually on fire.  Teachers even have a checklist for fire drills and yet most business owners don't.

Many things that you as the owner do every day can be handed off to your staff very effectively by just building a simple checklist and training your staff to use it.  The key to success here is followup.

When you hire a really good business coach what you are really hiring is someone to hold you accountable for achieving your stated goals and reaching that next level of freedom and success in your business.  Your mission is to find tasks that you can shed to your staff and hold them accountable in the same way.

As you build your checklists and your staff begins to take over your tasks, you can focus on your business instead of working in your business.  Need help?  For $297, I'll send you a copy of the "Easy Guide to Internet Marketing", and for the first ten people, I'll add a $100 Google adwords coupon if you don't already have an account and we'll spend an hour going over how to create the right ads and create a checklist so you don't have to do it.  That is a $1,675 value for $297.

Not convinced. I'll do one better.  How about a money back guarantee.  If you don't think you got a deal, I'll refund your money, you keep the book.  email me at scott@ownersplay.com and I'll send you the questionairre and a paypal invoice so when we get on the phone we can get you started right away.

Living With Windows 8, Is It The New Coke of The PC World?

Our office computers are now pushing four.  In business computer land that is an unheard of age.  Weekly crashes and blue screens have been the norm.  Clearly the hardware can’t keep up.  

After a week of looking around, we ended up in the Microsoft store and started to really like the idea of Windows 8 and the instant information on the home screen using “tiles”.  Maybe it should be called Windows Tiles Instead of Windows 8.

Eventually, we were convinced to buy a Windows 7 PC and upgrade to Windows 8 Pro with Media Center.

The initial installation to Windows 8 was the easiest upgrade I had ever done.  Literally just insert DVD , click three agree boxes and off it went.  The PC was a brand new HP AIO with a 23” screen.  The plan was to get a serial adapter and then use a second 22” HP screen we already had.

Not one single glitch or hardware error during the upgrade. Everything appeared to work perfectly.

Setting up email with Windows Live Mail was pretty straight forward.  It did ask if our server was POP or IMAP and then when we chose POP a window appeared that says “Windows Live Mail Does Not Support POP, Please contact your provider for IMAP”.  Why not just say that on the previous screen?  

After setting up the initial screen “Tiles” on Windows 8, we really liked the ability to see a snapshot of your world on one screen.  This is the perfect solution for a kitchen tablet, or shared family PC that isn’t used for work.  Much better than the small screen iPad and since the tiles updated, you always have the latest information, at least that is the idea.  With HP AIO computers starting at just $799 for the touchscreen models, it makes sense to have a 20” tablet in the kitchen for controlling lights and easily reading recipes.

This is also the failing of Windows 8.  Windows 8 might just become the catalyst of change in our office, and not one that Steve Ballmer is going to be happy with. 

Knowing there were major changes to the thought process and operation of Windows 8, I let a lot of things go in my two initial articles about Windows 8.  I assumed the problems I was having were simple user errors and I would learn how to do it right later.

Wrong.

After setting up Mail, the next thing I wanted to set up was our server access.  It took a while but I found a help file article to map network drives.  The “Desktop” tile quickly became my tile of choice.   I couldn’t “Map” any of our music or photo folders on the server to the “libraries” on the PC as I could in Windows 7.  While I was going back and forth between the “desktop” and the “home” screens I noticed the weather wasn’t doing what I expected.

With our old PC’s we had several “gadgets” on the right side displaying time and weather in several cities.  Calling Tony at Renew Services in Indianapolis during a major snowstorm would just be a waste of time.  I set the tile up to monitor five different cities.  Instead it only showed New York, New York weather.  New York wasn’t one of my five choice.

I got sidetracked here and tried the weather channel ap and the weather bug ap, and neither of them would display more than one city.  I expected it to rotate through the cities so in 45 seconds or so I would get to see all of the information.  That didn’t happen.

Since I had a pretty big screen I tried to load several tiles.  Windows 8 wouldn’t let me load the same tile twice.  I could only see the weather in one city without clicking the tile.  WeatherBug said they were working on a fix.  

Back to drive mapping.  In Windows 7 it was a two step process of mapping a drive and then adding the folders in the drive to the library.  In iTunes it was worse.  Again I assumed Apple wants me to buy their toys.

In Windows 8 it can’t be done easily.  At least no way that I found.  Next of course was mapping the photos drive so we would have easy access to them for creating customer websites.   This is where the big problems started.  I still haven’t found media center, even though we bought “Windows 8 Pro with Media Center”.  What we found were tiled versions of pieces of media center, that wouldn’t allow mapping of our server for media access.  I tried the XBox music interface, and no luck there either.

Finally it was time to simply work.  We tried to Upload the latest non-cloud based versions of Office and Expression Web.  We also tried to set up mail.  POP is no longer supported.  

Using iMap we were able to get Windows Live Mail to work.  We couldn’t get mail to tile though, only “fence post”.  I say fence post because it takes a full vertical slice of your screen.  Instead of a 3x3 tile or “window” that can hide behind a word document, mail is displayed as a 3” wide vertical stripe on the screen.  

Even in “desktop” mode, the fence post was all I could figure out.  We couldn’t open a document, two browsers and an email window or tile on one desktop to do basic research and write copy for a web page.  Microsoft has trained us to work this way for 20 years, Apple and UNIX followed suit.  Tiles or “Windows” overlapping on a screen are how most business computers are operated.  It is how screen manufacturers sell bigger screens.

Much of Windows 8 is designed around working in "the cloud".  While I see the "cloud" as a great tool, it is also a scary bet for business.  When there are 4 major accounting software packages, and all the data is on your computers, if your vendors goes under, your company keeps running until you get new software and migrate the data.  With over thirty "cloud" based accounting systems charging monthly fees, what happens when they shut down and your accounting goes with it?  I want my business software on my servers in my office with no service fees.  The cloud is a great backup or mirror service for my data, but not a primary source.

Also I am too cheap to spend $14 every flight to connect.  Why not get all of my email while sitting in the airport on free WiFi and respond while flying, then sync up when I land.  Do we really need to be that connected?

Enough about my thoughts on the cloud.  Eight hours after the box was opened and Windows 8 loaded, we decided that Windows 8 isn’t ready for business.  It was the New Coke of Operating Systems.  We attempted to go back to Windows 7 using the DVD we created in the beginning and the PC failed.  It turns out Window 8 installs easily because it eliminates your ability to go back.  The only way to return to Windows 7 is some command prompt work, formatting hard drives and reloading from a complete set of Windows 7 OEM discs according to the phone support people at HP.  Back in the box it went, and back to the store.

As Apple narrows the price gap with $599 Mac Mini’s packing all the power of a desktop, Microsoft has reason to be concerned.  Apple didn’t make iOS separate from OS X because it was cheaper.  They did it because it is what people need to maximize the devices they have.

As an alternative to Apple OSX for the home, Windows 8 is a great information center.  As a tablet interface, Windows 8 is the best available.  As a phone interface.  Same.  As a PC in a work environment, it hands the keys to Apple, which is where I am going today.  Tomorrow, the Mac Mini will be the first Apple desktop in my office ever.  

Mobile might be growing in leaps and bounds, but desktops still are the foundation of the machine that mobile is built on.  Windows 8 isn’t a foundation, OS X is becoming one quickly.

Act Like The Person You Want To Be

“Act Like The Person You Want To Be” is some great advice or is it?

This is a little phrase I have tried to follow all of my life.  When I was young and wanted to be a Rockstar, I acted like all the Rockstars I saw on MTV.  As I moved into my teens, and decided maybe racing cars would be a great life, I acted like the guys on TV.  

When I joined the military I quickly learned that I didn’t like walking around airplanes as a Security Guard at 2 am in weather so cold my jacket literally turned to ice.  I noticed there were a few guys who had better schedules.  They were the base shooting team.  So, to try and get out of the all night duty, I acted like the guys on the shooting team. 

It didn’t take long before it worked and I was moved off of “guard duty”.  In fact, acting like the other guys on the team got me quickly accepted to the team, and brought a box of awards and medals home that I still don’t have a house big enough for.  That team was a dominant force for four years running.

When I got commissioned as a second lieutenant, I needed to finish college in order to go to Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training or UPT.  While I was finishing college and waiting to leave for UPT, I hung out in a fighter squadron with F-16 pilots.  Once again I followed the sage advice, and everyone wished me luck when I finally left for UPT.  

At UPT it was a different story.  I was still acting like an F-16 pilot, not like a top student.  My “attitude” landed me a letter that cost me my F-16 slot.  Ironically the letter said “Lt. Bourquin does not have an attitude conducive to flying a fighter.”  

I left UPT to fly a C-26 and spent the next five years as a “wanna be” fighter pilot, in a fighter squadron, hauling people and parts.  I acted like the guys in the squadron and eventually things were looking good I would get that one in a million second shot.  Instead of waiting for a slot at the base I was stationed, I found a reserve squadron in Austin Texas willing to take a chance.  The base was closed before I could even start F-16 School.

The difference in the two scenarios has played out in my life several times and in several different areas.  Do you see the difference?  In simple terms, when I was acting like the person I needed to be in the place and time I was living, I experienced almost effortless success.  When I was acting like the image I wanted to be, I experienced failure no matter how hard I tried.

I wish I could say there was an “epiphany” or “aha moment” where I realized the difference and suddenly my life changed.  Regrettably, I am not that quick.  It took many years and a lot of coaching coupled with self reflection to see the difference.  Now when I talk with someone I can see it in minutes.

As a coach, my most difficult task is to teach people the difference between an image  of a person and the real person.  

I have been blessed with knowing several real “Rockstars”, Race Car Drivers, Actors and CEO’s.  All of them have one common trait.  They act like who they are, not the image people see of them.  It is when they start believing the PR and acting like the image that they fall from grace.

The Rockstar in my neighborhood isn’t currently recording so he built a company.  Most of the day he acts like a hard charging PHD entrepreneur.  That is Poor Hungry and Desperate PHD type by the way.  The rest of the day he still acts like a Rockstar.  He has a full studio in his home and although he’ll never say so, I have met his guitar coach twice just walking by with the dogs.  He is and always will be a Rockstar.  If you followed him all day, you would likely be confused because his lifestyle hardly fits the image you would expect.

The same is true of my Race Car Driver, CEO and Actor friends.  They are always acting like the person they want to be.  Sometimes it is a better version of themselves, other times it is someone who is just above their level.

Who are you acting like?  

If you aren't sure who you want to be check out:

Profile or Page - What Should Your Business Have

As Social Media morphs into it's next phase, Google + and Facebook have a couple of similarities the market is coming to expect.  Simply put, people have profiles, businesses have pages.

So what is the difference.  On Facebook, a profile is supposed to be a website for a single human.  You are limited in how many friends you can have, however you can have a lot of subscribers.  A subscriber is a follower you don't necessarily know.

A page on the other hand is designed for business.  On both Google + and Facebook a page has several business friendly features such as displaying hours, phone numbers and a map in a mobile friendly format.  Every business owner should have a page for their business.  After all they are free.

If you want to know more, check out the book "How To Market On Facebook For Free" or "How To Market On Google + For Free".  Both available as an e-book on Amazon.

Are You Missing Out On Free Facebook Marketing?

One of the questions I get more often from potential clients and new clients is related to Social Media Marketing.  Initially when they become an SEO client they want to know how they can save some money and do the Social Media Marketing on their own.  After all their kid is on Facebook for eight hours a day.

Just like running a successful SEO campaign, all Social Media Marketing has to start with a solid foundation.   Last year we introduced a Social Media Marketing Plan to our clients, and it has been a success.  In some cases it has been more cost effective than SEO efforts so we have moved more of their campaign effort to Social Media.

Clearly Facebook is the king of Social Media, so it is probably the best starting point to build a foundation for Social Media Marketing.  It depends on the kind of business you have where you’ll go next, but just like building a good house, the longevity aspect starts with a good foundation.

Learning how to market on Facebook, starts by learning how to build your Facebook foundation or presence correctly. Once that is done, you can market on Facebook for free if you have the time to dedicate.  Free marketing on Facebook is pretty straightforward but there are some big mistakes you can make early that can cost you.  While your kid might be on Facebook for eight hours a day, Facebook marketing isn’t a place to let anything go.

Once you have a foundation on Facebook properly built, then you can use your marketing strategy to build your plan for Social Media Marketing beginning with Facebook.  In order to make sure you get it right, I wrote a book with a step by step guide to get your foundation built correctly.  Included in How To Market On Facebook For Free is several strategies that you can tailor to your business, along with a few things not to do on Facebook or anywhere online.

If you want to grow your business using online marketing and don't want to break the bank, how about starting with free.  doesn't growing your business for free sound pretty good?  Why not invest a little time to get your foundation in social media and on Facebook started today.  

Currently you can get How To Market On Facebook For Free at Amazon only on the kindle.  The paperback should follow shortly.  If you get it before the five days are up you can check it out for free too.  After that, it will be under $5 for the kindle version and under $15 for the paperback.  It will be money well spent.  

A Contest To Lose Weight - It Works

Like many people in the US, I was recently told by my doctor I was overweight.  My knee had bee bothering me, I wasn't sleeping well and I noticed that my posture was getting, well lets say "lazy".  The first doctor looked me over, and sent me to a knee specialist.  The knee specialist wanted to do some surgery that would take me out of work for six to eight weeks.

While I was waiting for a surgery date, I had an "executive wellness physical". Sort of a whole like evaluation.  The doctor here was very different.  His approach was to find ways to keep you living longer, and in his opinion surgery wasn't it.  He simply said, "Scott, your knee is a problem, but surgery won't fix it if you have 25 pounds of extra fat it needs to carry around.  You have got to lose some weight, at least 20 pounds, and 25 would be better."

At first I was a little shocked.  I knew I was a little bigger since I did recently have to buy some new slacks, but 25 pounds.  That seemed quite excessive. He cancelled the surgery on my knee and sent me home to lose the weight and come back for a followup.

I have never really "dieted" so I didn't know where to start.  I tried more exercise, but the first run out of the chute almost killed me.  When I was 17 and at basic training for the Air Force at Lackland, we had to run 1.25 miles in 14 minutes and 20 seconds.  Fat guys did it, skinny guys did it, and girls did it so I figured I could do it at 45.  Nope.  Almost killed me.

I set the 1.25 miles in 14':20" as my goal, and 20 pounds to lose as my target.  I did all of the things I teach everyone to do when they set a goal.  I wrote it down and put it on my dresser, in my wallet and in my car so I was sure to be reminded of it every day.  In just three months I lost five pounds, and hit a wall.

I got an app for my iPhone that counted calories and exercise, and still couldn't make any more progress.  Then my friend and business partner Dr. Goldberg proposed a bet.  We each needed to lose 15 pounds.  The first one to get there picks our next board meeting and vacation location and the "loser" (who doesn't lose the weight first) has to buy a nice dinner for us and our wives.

Being an MD, he was kind enough to share some great nutritional information about calorie quantity and quality as well as a few studies about the sodium in diet soda aiding in water retention in fat cells.  He also thought that might be why I don't sleep as well as I used to.

He sent some great information about Atkins type diets, Caveman type diets, and Gluten Free and we talked about the similarities among all three.  He chose a modified Atkins, I chose a modified Paleolithic or "Caveman" diet.  I still eat a little dairy on occasion, but only about 10% of what I used too.  I also cut out grain/gluten products, peanuts and cashews.

GAME ON!

At first neither of us saw any changes.  We agreed that we could each only pick one scale to use as the benchmark because all scales are slightly different.    After about a week we each lost one pound.  I had gone below 195 pounds for the first time since I had to close my home theater businesses in Texas.  I realized I was carrying a lot of stress weight.  That one pound felt better than the five I lost going from 200 to 195.

We stayed neck and neck for the first five pounds.  He hit 165, I hit 185.  I should say he is a little shorter than I am so our end goals are slightly different.

Here we both hit a wall.  We both felt better, and I hit my time on the 1.25 mile run of 14':20".  That really is a sad number when you realize that several people broke four minute miles in the Olympics this year, but it was something.  I met the minimum standard to be in the Air Force in 1984 just as I had done then.  I wouldn't mind going for a run with the recruits today, a 45 year old retired Major running the track and keeping up with a large percentage of them.  I would hope it would motivate them to stay in shape and not get as fat as I did.

For nearly two weeks we both hovered at five pounds above our target weights.  Every morning I was surfing, paddle boarding or jogging, and on some days I would get in two or all three activities.

Normally I would have given up, but last week Dr. Goldberg said, don't worry, this is the muscle rebuilding stage,  you are adding strength you lost years ago, so look in the mirror.  Your muscles are probably growing and the fat is still shrinking.  The scale can't show that.

And then he sent a text..

164.1

I ran up to the scale and looked down to see 184.9.  Not enough to text back, but then two days later, 183.8, I sent the text.

He replied

163.8

A Tie.

As of this morning we both have less than 3 pounds to go.  2.8 to be exact for me.  He hasn't said, so he is either letting me think I am ahead, or I am ahead.

Having a purpose in my weight loss plan, even if only to pick a vacation destination and get a free meal is so much better than just "losing weight" or "dieting".  Now when I stroll pass the Haagen Daz in the Dallas Airport and Honey (yes that is what his name tag says) yells out, He Mr. B, I have Dulce De Leche and Fresh Waffle Cones, I can keep walking and feel good about it.

In every goal we set, there must be a purpose or a reason to do it that motivates us.  Just knowing I needed to lose weight wasn't enough.  A little friendly wager with my friend was.  Giving up isn't an option when there is a dinner and vacation on the line.

Many times we say we want something, and might even make it a goal.  Without a reason or purpose to achieve it, you probably won't, and just end up blowing it off.  When you find a friend to hold you accountable, or find a purpose for what you do, you are much more likely to hit your goals.

As for my weight loss goal, if you know me, you know that Ice Cream and a soda were my normal desserts at every meal.  I was even known to put vanilla ice cream on corn flakes at breakfast a time or two.  Is there any wonder I walked into Dr. Shen's office at 200 pounds?

The bet still has a little ways to go and I am already thinking of a double or nothing for the next 5 pounds since Dr. Shen wanted me to be at 175.

Next time you set a goal, ask yourself, is it something your really want?  If so why?  No make that a big WHY?  Find a reason so big that you have to reach the goal, and then go find someone to hold you accountable.  Someone to share your successes with and someone who will coach you through your temporary setbacks.  Remember there are no failures.

Stay Tuned, I'll tell you who won the dinner at Trokay Cafe in Truckee California.  For the double or nothing I am going to add a cupcake and Ice Cream from Cake Tahoe.


September 19th

OK Here is the Update - Last week I sent a photo of my scale reading 180.0 - no response.

The next day I sent a text "179.7, double or nothing to go 5 more?"

Response - "Congrats on the win, I am 170, only going to 160"

My reply "OK, I'll change to 175, you still only go to 160, and we up the ante to add Dinner at the Lone Eagle on Lake Tahoe"

Response "Game on"

After peaking right at 200 pounds, I feel really good at 180 and finally am very used to a diet I would call nearly gluten free and low carb.  Grilled chicken and vegetables at El Pollo Loco, are my basic lunch.  Grilled vegetables or wok seared at home with some fish is the home meal, and either muscle milk light or greek yogurt for breakfast.

Stay Tuned for round 2.

Why The Stock Market Isn't Perfect.

The stock market is supposed to account for all of the things going on in the world.  I am amazed at how many times a deal pops up and people say "Oh the market already accounted for that."  The truth is the market is crowd psychology at it's finest.   If you have ever watched a Sheepdog Herding Trial competition, this will make a lot of sense.  If you haven’t, take this with you and watch one.

The gist of it is, a shepherd and his dog are timed for how quickly they can get a small flock of sheep into a pen 

This is how I view the stock market.  The “guru analysts” are like the shepherd.  They make the calls and the dog reacts.  The dogs just want to please the shepherd so they blindly follow the commands.

 The dogs run around and “steer” the sheep into the pen.  These are like all of those newsletters and subscription services that advise about stocks.

The sheep are the readers of those newsletters that buy the “pick of the week”.  Read any of those newsletters and they always miss a few, many miss a lot.  Some just miss it, and yet the sheep keep following the dogs.  Very rarely do the sheep ignore the dogs and do their own thing.

 I can hear you asking “Ok then how come some people get rich in the stock and commodities markets, and others don’t?”

Occasionally some sheep don't go in the pen.  If you look at Facebook, you can see a lot of sheep getting slaughtered.  Look at Netflix, one day it is over $320 a share, the next morning it is under $80.  How can the market be perfect and make leaps like this? 

Some shepherds get rich because they buy the stock, make the call and bail out when it goes up.  Not all of them though. In fact over time how many great stock pickers can you name?  If you follow the markets I bet you have less than a handful who have been successful for more than 10 years running.  

There was a story many years ago someone thought they could beat the system by stealing a financial magazine off the presses before the sheep jumped in.  The funny part was, the guy lost money doing it.

 Some dogs get rich for the same reason.

But the truly rich are the observers in the stands.  They don’t care what stock is in the pen, they watch to see what phone the shepherds use, what food the sheep dogs eat, what kind of fence the pen is built with.  The shepherd, dogs and sheep are simply entertainment.

Some of the super famous long term successful people like Warren Buffet are the guys that moved from the stands to the observation booth so they could see more than one competition at once.  In Mr. Buffet’s case he goes as far as buying the entire feed company (Dairy Queen), Big Chunks of the beverage company (Coca-Cola), The transportation company (Net Jets) and more while sitting up in the comfort of the big booth being entertained by the sheep, the dogs and the shepherd.

Who is managing your stock portfolio?