Something Different

Today's blog post is a bit out of the ordinary but I find that it is very easy to write about.  What was something I don't normally eat.  Rabbit.  Interesting thing, I actually had rabbits as pets growing up so the thought of eating a rabbit, not gonna lie, kinda grossed me out.  However, my boss at AddressTwo owns another company called Meat the Rabbit and that thought had to change.

We had been planning an office outing for a while and my boss had been bragging about this great restaurant in Zionsville, IN that was now serving his Rabbit.  So somehow I came up with the (great) idea... Let's go eat rabbit.  Man sometimes I have to learn to keep my mouth shut when I'm thinking.

Rabbit Confit

It was a Friday night late November and we headed up to Plum's Upper Room. The three of us from the office sit down to a great bottle of wine and start to talk about dinner.  The Rabbit dish of the night was, Rabbit Confit (Click the link for a much better description.)  The chef comes to the table and we quickly learn his back ground and the great and amazing things he's learned to do with food, and become very impressed with his culinary knowledge.  We order I'm still a little weary at this point but I've now got stake in the game, I've met the chef.  I have to try this and like it.

Well, long story short is.  I liked it.  It was good.  I know you all hear things like taste like chicken.  It does however I think that it was actually a bit tastier than chicken.  It has tons flavors not to mention it was garnish with some other unbelievable side dishes and great conversations with some pretty cool dudes from the office.  I think it was pretty cool to get out and try something I was a little leary about.  Would you try it?

Chart Your Time, The Easy Way

Want to know what most of my year I spent doing online?  I'd be happy to share and have a great way to share what I do.  https://www.rescuetime.com/.  Ran across this awesome little time management tool while reading The 4-Hour Work Week, and have been using it for a while now.  It's very interesting and they even have a Free Version too!  Worth the time to check it out.  Especially for those of us who spend alot of time online and need to use our time wisely.

Go ahead and take a look at what I do all day... I'm not shy

RescueTime: Project Time Tracking Software & Team Time Management Software

Have someone I should meet? Click here

New Traditions

One New Tradition for the Year 2013.

Camping, period.  Camping is a great and Cheap way to get away and have fun as a family.  Cheap and Fun, ask my wife and I’m sure she’d confirm both things that describe me to a tee!  In 2013 I plan to find more time to camp with my family and friends.

Camping in my life has created a life time of Memories for me.  From being a Kid and camping with my family in tents and later down the road in trailers.  To starting off camping with my wife when we first got married, oh the stories she could share.  To wrap her stories up it would look like this: Cold Nights, Forgot clothes, no air mattress, where’s the fire pit, sleeping in the car, and having a whole lotta fun.

Now other than the description of my wife’s thoughts on camping I want to create those fun and lasting traditions of summer camping trips with my kids.  But first I have to buy a tent.  Right?

Hang that on the Fridge

What did I make this year?  Rather than beat around the bush I didn't make much of anything.  But then I have to ask do I like to make stuff?  (Other than Legos)  Not really.  I’m ok at making dinner  (if I get home early enough,) I’m ok at making the bed (if my dogs don’t jump on it after I’m done,) and I’m ok at making kids crafts (You do that a lot when you have small kids.)  What I did make is my customers Happy.  That’s it that’s what I made this year!

Starting off in a new sales position almost one year ago to the date into a company that the president and founder was the sales guy at for the last 3 years can be a hard transition to make.  Not only for the new guy but also for the president of the company.  To be honest my sales were not where in the ball park of what they should have been for 2012.  It’s taken me a long time to get used to the fact that year number one in the new role, just wasn't that great. 

However there is a silver lining I’m starting to see as we close out 2012.  That is I’ve paid attention to my customers and helped them to understand the value of the great product we offer the small business owner, in AddressTwo.   My customers are starting to recognize my attention to details and quality of service I give them and are letting my boss know that too!  Not only that but I’m seeing that the customers that I’m taking care of are starting to share the power our simple CRM for small business with their customers and friends.

 

So can I hang It on the fridge cause I made it?  Probably Not.  But what I can do is have a clear path to keeping the customers I have happy and the customers I’m going to strive to get in 2013.  So this year I’m going to build a goals chart for 2013 and keep three times the number of people happy this year with what we do at AddressTwo!

Lego the Stress

I thought Christmas was supposed to be a Jolly ol’ time?  Let me spare you the ramblings of all the things I have going on in my world because I’m sure you have yours as well.  We all do, that’s a part of life.  When Life gets me stressed … I play legos.

Yup you read that right.  Legos.  I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed playing legos as a kid with my little brother.  I can remember getting up before the sun came up on a Saturday in the winter and playing legos with my kid bother until the sun went down.   We had so much fun building and talking while we built things.  We would talk about the future, what we wanted to be when we grew up, oh yeah and I’m pretty sure there were several fights that involved legos being ‘tossed’ at  someone’s eye (Sorry about the little brother.) Time seemed to just melt away and we had a lot of fun.

Today I can have some of the pretty rough days as an adult at work.  But there are three things I look forward to when opening the door to my house.  One is the super high pitched scream of my 2 year old daughter who always comes running from where ever she is in the house to give me a hug and kiss hello.  The Second thing is the kiss and the I love you from my wife.  And one of my favorite things is the “Daddy, Can you help me with my lego firehouse tonight.”  What a great way to end the day and melt the troubles away.  Go Play with some legos it helps I promise!

Inspiration Board

My family comes first! Before kids and business my wife and I took alot of random trips and did camping alot. As a kids my folks took me camping alot and I feel we grew to be a close family b/c of the trips and random thing we would do. I Inspire to provide my family with those memories by the end of 2013 as well

                                                                          Source: images04.olx.com via Troy on Pinterest

My Community comes next.  I truly believe that after family community is the heart of what I do!

I enjoy giving back and growing the knowledge of my community benefits me as an individual. 

In 2013 my Goal is to give back through the Arts and help establish a bigger arts program in Hendricks County.

                                                                        Source: sunshinestatesolarenergy.com via Troy on Pinterest

Education is HUGE in my life.  I learned a lesson not very long after graduating College... I should have learned more and paid more attention in school.  I don't want my kids to struggle as much as I did after getting out of school and I want them to understand the importance of Education in making themselves better people.  I want to be an inspiration about Education to my Kids in 2013.

                                                                                 Source: cbtrust.org.uk via Troy on Pinterest

As my success grows in business and my income grows I want to be ahead of that growth and create a clear and defined financial path for my family in 2013.  If it's through a coach or even getting involved in a Dave Ramsey Class this is one of my goals for 2013.

                                                                           Source: whatsyourgameplan.info via Troy on Pinterest   

Last but not least I love have fun speaking with Groups about a variety of subjects including things like Simple CRM AddressTwo, Marketing, Sales, and having fun at work.  And plan to do alot more of that in 2013.

community involvement

This past weekend I was able to enjoy some quality time with my family.  We make it a Holiday tradition every year to visit Mayberry Café in Danville, IN and Drive around Hendricks County to view the Community Christmas lights.  The Parks Department in Danville in sponsorship with the Danville Chamber of Commerce each year put on a dazzling display of lights in the park for everyone to enjoy no matter what age you are.  I was even more thrilled to see several of the small business owners I am associated with have a large part of sponsoring such a wonderful event for the Community to see.  Community involvement benefits the entire community and is a powerful tool for the small business owner.  

Being involved in the community is a great way for the small business owner to get the word out about the service or products they offer, and also a great way for you to show how much you care about the community.  For years I have been a part of the wonderful events not only in my local community of Hendricks County but also the around the City of Indianapolis. 

Three very large events that I have personally been involved with over my years in Business are the Indianapolis Humane Society’s Mutt Strut, Which AddressTwo will be putting a team together for the 2013 Strut, The Brownsburg Bow Wow Bash, and The Gleaners Food Bank Gala.  All of the events listed below are not only great causes but also great events to show of my expertise in business at.  For the Gleaners Food bank Gala and the Bow Wow Bash I was the MC of the events showing off my public speaking skills.  At the Mutt Strut I have helped organized many aspects of it including several large teams that walk for the cause, showing of my organizational skills and event managements skills as well.  In any case I’ve always done those events as a representative from my companies that I own or work for and have found new clients and friend of my businesses for both.  But the bigger thing that just that is I’ve found the time and energy to give back and help spread the message of a cause that I hold near to me.

So what’s next in 2013?  Besides keeping up with the wonderful events listed above I plan to add at least one more into the mix which would be supporting St. Jude Children’s Hospital.   Two reasons why I have chosen this cause is because they are a role model organization when it comes down to marketing what they do and who they serve and I would like to learn more about that model for my business.  I also support them because my younger brother who I am very proud of is a research doctor there and want to see his work continued to help kids in need.

What was your favorite Moment this year?

It’s hard to believe that a year has come and gone already.  The Saying “Time flies when you having fun must be true.”  This year has gone by in a blur but not without a lot of exciting things.  What’s been exciting in your life this year?

“If you're counting 365 days back: the birth of my daughter, Sage.
If you're counting only 2012: being able to bring her home from the NICU.
Why? Because she's perfect and I'm finally a Daddy.” – Strange David Fuller

“ I lost my job. I've been freelancing, and now I'm trying to really formalize this and start a company. It's terrifying. It's exhausting. But it's liberating”. – Terra Hoskins

“Attacking our debt and paying off our truck loan, medical bills and several credit cards. We will pay off the rest in 2013 and only have our Home Mortgage. The future looks bright! Praise the Lord!!!” – Shawn Quick Raflik

Wow!  A lot of good can happen in one year.                                      

It was interesting to ask this question to people because I found that in the moment people love to talk about how horrible life is at the moment.  However when you ask people what the good thing is that happen to them.  All of the bad things seem to disappear.  So next time you’re having one of those Horrible moments in life remember the good things b/c those are the moments the really count.

What was the wisest thing you did this year?

What was the wisest thing you did this year?

I work in software sales.  Sales are hard.  Sales can sometimes not be fun.  But what we do know is sales can be rewarding and fun if you make it that way.   Change of Focus is a great idea to make it that way.

For the first few months at what my job I was focused on bringing in resellers of our product, or our Partner Providers.  Great right?  Well yes and no.  Yes, because I was meeting with and talking to marketing, sales, and internet experts from all over the country who were interested in my product.  No, because these people have people who have people who take a long time to make a simple decision like a software switch to save them money.

After about 6 months of creating some great relationships with some great marketing companies, I realized that’s what marketing is, I’m supposed to be making the sales.  So with the advice of my awesome business coach I started to focus on my individual sales and not my reseller relationships!  And guess what? My Sales improved and my customer service remarks and comments from our customers are making my job a heck of a lot of fun and rewarding too.  Stuck in a rut?  Just shift things around just a little and you’ll be amazed what a little focus can do for your year.

You Want to Meet Everyone? Really?

I wonder how many people when asked, who would you like to meet respond, everyone?  I mean really?  Everyone?  You want to know everyone?  I do and I also want to know how I can help everyone.  It’s a habit and a hobby.  I’m a helper and I doer.  But why would I want meet and help everyone?  Because I believe I can learn from everyone I help.

I heard a long time ago that surrounding yourself with successful people will help you be successful.  So what we just like sit there and hang out?  NO! We find out what they are working on and how we can learn from what they are working on and not only that HELP them work on it.   

You know what’s cool about that?  You may find that these super successful people that you “Hang” out with may need someone with your expertise or they might not have all the answers that you thought they did.  And that’s where you come in help them out and learn a little while you’re at it. 

Unplugging

Unplugging; I wonder what the pilgrims our ancestors thought the word unplugging meant.  Webster defines unplug as to take the plug out, to remove an obstruction from, to remove from a socket or receptacle, to disconnect from an electric circuit by removing a plug.  What I find interesting is that this word wasn’t around until 1775 per Mr. Webster.   And now even my 6 year old understands the term of unplugging from technology.    But my question to answer is why it is important and sometime a necessity to “Unplug.”

I’ll be the first to admit I suck at Unplugging.  It’s hard especially as a “Sales Guy” and Small business owner to unplug.  In today’s dog eat dog sales world we have to sometimes be the first to respond via email or a call to get that next sale.    Not only unplugging for emails is the issue it’s also the Social Media Aspect as well.  I will also admit I’m addicted to knowing what my friends are up to via facebook.

Dear Me: YOU SUCK if you don’t unplug.  Why?  Well you've got family, friends, and a spouse who want your attention and deserve your attention.  PUT DOWN THE CELL PHONE!   You’re not going to die if you don’t know what Aunt Sally is doing today on facebook.  Oh and the world doesn’t care what I ate for breakfast this morning either and that I cut my grass today.  My kids care that I ate breakfast with them and that we worked on the yard today as a family.

The compromise is learning more about the ways to automate a lot of what you do.  Missing a sales call or email?  Use Marketing Automation and schedule a task to follow up with that lead the next day you’re in the office.  Ok got that?  But what about Social Media?  How can I stay on top of my Social Media Stalking opps I mean leads.  Check out Hootsuite ASAP!

So take this holiday season to learn about some of the “Tools” out there that can help you unplug and plug into the people who care about you.  I had a great Thanksgiving break this year b/c I put my cell phone, laptop, and tablet down and spent some good quality time with my kids and my family.  I can’t wait to do it again for the 4 day break for Christmas, and you should do the same.