Steve Chambers’ blog

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there, and to the men who make motherhood possible.

It's the weekend and I finally get a chance to catch up on the really important things in life. The important things for me are family, friends and doing some sort of work that is fun and that gives me a sense of accomplishment.  Right now in my life everything is going great.

I want to write a little today about the value of community.  Most of you reading this blog are taking part in the same Internet marketing course that I am.    I am certain all of you would agree that the content is awesome and that the course is fast paced.  I would argue that there is another component that makes Kevin's course much better than any of the others out there.  I believe that extra component is the sense of community Kevin brings to the participants in his course.

How important is this sense of community?  It makes the difference in how successful we are when the course is over. Just knowing something isn't enough, we need to apply what we know.  All of us in this course are spread out around the globe.  We have people in Finland, Canada, England, New Zealand and the United States who, if we combine our efforts and cooperate, can be Internet Millionaires in a few years time.  Yes, Road Warrior Scott Bell will finally be able to get off the road and Dating Coach April will have the freedom to finally get out of the bay area.  (With occasional visits back!)

Participating in a community imparts the value of acceleration. When people of like mind combine their efforts they reap the magic of teamwork. This works like compound interest, magnifying the results for all members of the team.  If we can hold this community together after the conclusion of the class and support one another we will all see our dreams come true faster.

This is my plug for continuing what Scott Bell suggested earlier, forming a mastermind group to continue supporting one another when the course is over.  Right now we are bound by the confines of the course.  Later, we need to make it a point to keep on supporting one another and building our nascent little community.

I took this course last year.  I learned a a lot, in fact, much more than I could possibly absorb at the time.  That is why I am taking it again.  Speaking from experience, you will miss your fellow travelers here in the course. Kevin's exhortations are true, we all need to take advantage of the support we receive from one another.

We all hold in our hands a jewel of possibility. If you ever dreamed of being a success on the Internet your chance is here.  Let's take advantage of it.

Yesterday I posted about how important it is to spend your time and effort on worthy targets.  Speaking of shooting at targets and hitting them, check out this amazing video:

Fastest and most accurate gun in the west

Today I am going to go on a bit of a rant about selling to customers.  Why in the world do companies make it so difficult to sell things?

Did you ever see the movie, Zulu Dawn?  No, not Zulu, which is also an excellent movie staring Michael Caine, but Zulu Dawn.

The movie showcases the Battle of Isandlwana, which was the last battle in which native forces defeated a much more advanced army, in this case the British Army...sorry David Power, renown hypnotist.  I am not going to discuss the battle in detail.

In the movie the British base camp was attacked by a far larger force of Zulus.  The Brits formed a laager, which is basically a circle, and used their superior firepower and weaponry to hold off the Zulu forces.  The Zulus would charge forward and the British would mow them down.

Eventually the English front line started to run low on ammunition (there is that word again) and sent back runners to get more.  What happened when they arrived at the supply wagons?  It's a classic mistake that cost the British their army and often costs businesses profits.

The supply wagons refused to issue the ammunition for several reasons.  One, the system wasn't set up to handle the volume needed.  They couldn't get the ammo out of the boxes fast enough to meet customer needs.  Secondly, the runners did not have the proper forms to requisition the ammunition.  The supply personnel were interested in accounting for every round and therefore held up issuing the ammunition until it could be accounted for.  Thirdly, the people involved in issuing supplies did not like having to supply the native troops.  They were more concerned about keeping them in their place then in meeting the immediate needs.  They failed for all these reasons.

We see something similar in business everyday.  Businesses often make it hard for people to buy from them.  Counterintuative?  You bet. But it happens because people involved in the business lose sight of the goal, which is to sell products.  Without a sale nothing happens.  Sales is everything.  Everything else is a cost.  Managing costs and tracking inventory is important, but you, and your employees, never should lose sight of the prime objective...selling products at a profit.

Now go out and sell something.

I like to collect wisdom and life lessons.  When I was in the military I heard the following story:

There was an Army infantry training exercise taking place in Fort Benning, Georgia involving US Army Rangers.  There was a visiting German NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) who was there in an exchange program who was participating in the exercise.  This NCO had seen extensive action in WWII, obviously fighting for the German side.

At the beginning of the exercise each soldier was issued a set amount of ammunition.  At the conclusion of the exercise they had to turn in any unspent ammo.  None of the American soldiers had any ammo to return, they had shot it all off during the exercise.

The German NCO however, turned in all his ammo except for three rounds.  The supply people couldn't believe it.  "Why did you only shoot three times?" they asked him.  "I only saw three targets.", he responded.  You can guess what happened to the three targets he did see.

Most people go through life shooting off what ammo they have without a clear target.  They often make a lot of noise and generate a lot of activity that has no purpose or direction.  If we  are not careful, we can shoot everything we have just to have the fun of hearing the noise and the perception that we are making a difference.

My Dad could rattle off sports statistics of players from all the major sports all the way back to the 1940's.  It gave his life purpose and he enjoyed it, but in the end he was shooting off his ammo at things he couldn't see and that were basically meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

To be effective we need to husband our ammunition so that we are ready for the opportunities of life when they appear.  I define ammo in this sense as time, energy and effort.  We each only have so much of it.  Opportunities arise like targets do.  We need to be sure we are shooting at the targets that really matter.  We need to focus on generating light, and not just creating heat.

Like a lot of people, I love movies. I always have.  Movies can teach, enlighten and entertain.  I always find them a fascinating glimpse into the current culture.  For instance, did you know that movie genres reflect patterns in the stock market?  They do.  Let's look at horror movies.

Horror movies were extremely popular during the period 1930-1933, the darkest period of the Great Depression.  Five classic horror movies were produced in that short three year period, Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mummy and King Kong.  It was as if the movies reflected the dark mood of the times.  Coincidently, Hitler came to power in 1933.  Horror films enjoyed a bull market for a period of thirteen years, until just after 1942, when the bull market resumed in stocks.

With the bull market beginning in 1942 the theme's in popular and successful movies shifted to patriotic films, love stories and, in the 1950's, to Science Fiction. James Bond was popular in the early 1960's.  In the late 1960's, with the cynicism and loss of faith in the United States that came from the Vietnam War fiasco horror movies made a comeback, with such classics as The Night of The Living Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the early 1970's.  Like with anything you can read a lot of information into this data, but it seems natural that our art and culture would reflect our mood.

The observation made above has nothing to do with what I learned from the movie, "The Wizard of Oz".  The Wizard of Oz taught me the limited value of credentials.   Take the Scarecrow for instance.  He wanted a brain. In actuality he already had one and didn't realize it.  The wizard tells Scarecrow, "What you haven't got my boy is a piece of paper!"  How many of us are stopped from achieving something because we lack some sort of credential or diploma telling me we can't do something?  My guess is that all of us are included in that list.

I remind myself of this whenever I find myself stopping because I don't think I know enough about whatever I am about to do.  Think about it.  We are taught in schools that we should rely on experts before we do anything.  We are told this of course by teachers who have credentials themselves.  I don't know about you but I have learned more things that were useful and of value from people who were actually out in the arena, doing something and taking action then I ever did from credentialed teachers in school.  It's like learning about entrepreneurship from the government, not a wise move.

The Wizard of Oz taught me to take risks and to rely on my own wisdom and understanding.  Later, I'll tell you what I learned from the Cowardly Lion and Tin Man.

After what was to me a grueling travel day (I long ago lost my love of air travel, especially when I am in the air for more than three hours. Scott, I feel your pain!) I am back comfortably in front of my computer.  I apologize for not blogging or commenting on your blogs over the weekend. I wanted to devote all my time to Kevin's Image Weekend and to networking with old and new friends.

It was great to see my inner circle friends and meet some new people.  As at every Kevin Hogan event, (yeah I know Kevin, it wasn't REALLY your event, but you got me to go there), it was a great experience, I met great people and I learned a lot of new things.

I learned some great copy, had some great photos taken and was finally able to shoot a demo video.

The bummer was I never really got to get an authentic Philly Cheesesteak from Pat's or Geno's.  Maybe next time.

I am currently in Annapolis, Md, capital of said State and home to the finest undergraduate engineering and leadership training school, the United States Naval Academy.  This has always been one of my favorite towns to live and visit.  Ever since I graduated from the Academy in 1985 I have liked to return here. It is like going back to your professional development roots.  It's a good place to ground oneself before attending Kevin Hogan's Image Weekend.

The weather is great.  As usual I forgot to pack a few items.  They are probably on the bed back home right next to where I packed the suitcase.  I'm sure someone who travels as much as Scott Bell can empathize.  As much as I travel and pack it amazes me how often I forget something.

Now it's time for breakfast, a tour of the academy campus (noon meal formation is always fun to watch, especially for me since I don't have to stand out there myself anymore) and then it's back up to Philadelphia for Image Weekend.

It will be fun.

Have a great weekend everybody.  I will comment and post blogs when I can ove the weekend.

Great travel day yesterday, which made it easier to practice my day of non-judgement.  Skip the long line at the counter by using skycap, no line at security and plenty of time built into my schedule made it a pleasant trip.

The hotel is very convenient to the airport here in Philadelphia. April will be glad to know that the bar is cozy and was surprisingly packed for midnight on a Wednesday.  Mostly men so she can practice her dating maven skills and leverage the law of large numbers.

Off to Maryland today.

I have declared today as a personal day of non-judgment.  Hey Tim Birch, remember T. Robbins 7-day positive thinking diet?

Today I am traveling cross country.  As Yann and Scott will attest this can be stressful, daunting and no fun.  This is why I am going to use it to practice non-judgment.  If you can get around the idiocy of the TSA, (okay, my non-judgment starts NOW) without judgmental thoughts you have accomplished something.

Yes April, I will talk to people and meet new ones.  No dates however as everyday is a date when you are in an outstanding relationship, as I am.  My girlfriend will be traveling with me as we are going early to visit friends and see sites.  I like to take advantage of any cross continental trips to accomplish more..I'm a chronic multi-tasker.

I will be shooting video for youtube and my website, so I am pretty excited.

Since everyone is commenting on these blogs. (Well not everyone!  Come on people, get with the program!  Like Kevin said, this is an opportunity to build traffic and awareness that will be hard to replicate in the future.  It's a lot like our youth.  We don't realize what a great opportunity it was until it's over.

Enough exhortation.  I have a question. In your opinion, will the economy in the United States, and the global economy be better in 6 months?  Do you believe we are in a recession and if so, when do you think we will emerge from it?

Oh, and the creeping crud does exist, but it is viral and antibiotics won't help.  So I'm back with salt water gargle, Vitamin C and Codeine.

Steve Chambers