Number 746: Smart friends

The Power to Get In by Michael A. Boylan On January 1, 2008 Dr Lisa Lang bought me a present. This book. I have skimmed it over during the last two years, but did not need the message. Until today. I have repeatedly had smart friends recommend books to me. A few actually bought them for me. Books that changed my life. And yes, occasionally books that did not seem relevant (at least at the time). I knew this was a great book. But "getting in" the right doors was not problem. It was not the weakest link in my system. Until today. Do you know anyone looking for a job? Me too. But are they really looking for work, or are they just kidding themselves? You know the type. We have all been that type! We sit at the computer, searching for jobs, and sending off Résumés somehow convincing ourselves we are honestly searching for a new career. How bogus First, let me say that I am talking to myself. You simply have the privilege of listening in to my conversation (with myself). I will "flat out" guarantee you that no one needs this message today, more than yours truly. Honest. Given this new economy of zero job growth (why do you think it was called Porkulus? But I digress...), the rules have changed. What worked in the past, worked just fine. Until today. The rules have changed If you are not getting in front of the right people with your message, then Boylan's book may hold the answer. I am a huge fan of frameworks designed to produce results. Like H. William Dettmer's Constraints Management Model (CMM) which takes Eli Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) and turbocharges the implementation phase with the late Colonel John Boyd's OODA Loop (actually, more of a process than a loop). But I digress... Deming said it best, "Success is 94% the result of the system." Not enough results? Change systems! Right after you buy and consume my book (and buy an extra copy to give away to a friend in need), pick up The Power to Get In by Michael A. Boylan. Especially, if your job search is not going well. Semper Fi Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey www.RhinoGATOR.com P.S. Speaking of job searches, do check out my new tool for solving one of America's employment challenges, finding enough suitable job openings: RhinoGATOR™ Best Job Aggregator on Planet Earth™ (c)2009, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Can you miss a car?

Merkur XR4TI "XRAT" It has been over seven years since this baby burned to the ground on US-250... and the Nationwide agent said, "No, you are not covered." Need I mention that I no longer use Nationwide? This was my second XR4Ti. The first was black. I am still looking for photos of it. This was a stick and the extra horsepower was simply amazing as the turbo revved past 3000rpm. Too bad the electronics in the dash were so sensitive to the cold. But otherwise, this was almost the perfect rear wheel drive sports car. Jackie Stewart even said so! It handled like you cannot imagine. Rumor has it that I got each and every MPH from those "H" rated Yokohama's... Until the Audi Quattros came on the scene. But I digress... Who knew that I have Bob Lutz to thank for some of the most fun I ever had behind the wheel of a car. -ski

744: Advertising with Tokens

Nonno's Tailors & The Tux Shop In 1979 I opened my second location. The Tux Shop expanded from the Mall to a downtown location, and added the services of my partner to provide tailoring and custom made men's suits. One of the advertising tools employed was the use of the token. Anyone catch the huge mistake I made when I ordered the custom imprint? Yep. Should have dropped the phone number and went with something along the lines, "Limit one per transaction." Of course there were only one or two that insisted on using all tokens to pay for a Tux rental... so maybe it was not that big of deal after all. Live and learn My good friend Luke Short recently launched his Saloon Token web site, and that caused me to seek out an old token from back in the day. As I mentioned in Purple Curve Effect, I learned a lot about business the hard way. Spent a lot of my own money experimenting... but I digress. As King Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the Sun." I am working on a new project and the token might just be appropriate. Semper Fi Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey www.throughput.us/contactSKI (c)2009, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.