The Interactive Advertising Bureau issued a very insightful report demonstrating the major shift into targeted Internet and social media advertising. Internet advertising significantly outpaces television advertising, and the trend is for significant increased growth. The full report is here: https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/IAB-2017-Full-Year-Internet-Advertising-Revenue-Report.REV2_.pdf

In the past advertisers paid to reach individuals who were not the target audience. The newspaper may reach thousands of readers in an effort to find a few who may be interested in purchasing a swing set this weekend. 

Frequently we present information about our product and service that we believe is important and valuable to customers. A better way to decide what to share with customers is to ask specifically, what does our customer value?

Most of us want to leave a good legacy behind. Demonstrating the power of Christ in your life is the best legacy we can leave. In addition, we may have other stories and accomplishments others may find interesting that we should pass on.

A few years ago I stumbled on some notes my uncle had written regarding my grandfather. I found an interesting story that occurred in 1910 when he left a small farming town in Aylmer, Ontario, to take a bank manager's job in Calgary.  In 1910, Calgary was still a part of what we would call the Wild West. My uncle’s notes told how my grandfather would sleep in the bank office with a .38 caliber pistol under his pillow to make sure nobody broke in to rob the safe. Years later after he moved to Detroit, he used the same pistol when he collected rent in a real estate business. 

While opinions are sometimes true, they are false about as many times.  One day I may be right about something, but the next day I could be wrong.  

Once when I was driving on the highway, there was a truck going 35 in a 55 mile an hour zone. I started to grumble at the truck for driving so slowly. When I had an opportunity to pass, I could see that the problem was a car in front of the truck traveling at the low rate of speed. I had allowed my opinion to become fact. The truck didn’t cause the slow traffic; it was the result of a slow car I could not see.

We tend to be quick to treat our opinions as facts.  That’s why I've learned to use a lot of clarifying questions when working with clients. I will ask, “Why do you think that?” or “Do you have specific information to support your thinking?” 

When I make an appointment with a client in my consulting work, I set it with a specific starting time. Sometimes, the person arrives late or may not even show. When this happens, what do we do?

I established a policy that states if a person is significantly tardy or fails to show for two appointments, there will be consequences. A person who has trouble arriving for an appointment on time or misses two appointments has a chronic problem related to meeting their commitments. This is something I do not ignore.

I keep my phone line clear for 15 minutes after the agreed appointment time. If I don’t hear from the person within those fifteen minutes, I'm free to go on to other work commitments. Furthermore, if I scheduled a 60 minute appointment and the person calls and arrives 10 minutes late, that appointment just became a 50 minute appointment at the same charge. Why should I bear the cost of someone else’s lack of planning?