Here’s a little something you can profit from which my wife felt inspired to write the other day after an intriguing interaction with our 9 year old niece…

I have to tell you a story about my adorable niece Sarah. She’s 9 and very active, bright, fun, but whenever you ask her what she wants to do she says, “I dunno.” Or if you ask her what she wants for her birthday, she says “I dunno.” Or if you ask her where she wants to go, she says “I dunno.” AND, she’s been doing this since she was 2.

It was her birthday a few weeks ago and she and I got to spend the day together. I took her to my favorite place for a mani/pedi. We went to pottery place and painted pottery and then I asked her what she’d like to do next – what was I thinking – and she told me to call her Mother [my sister in law] and ask her what we should do. Of course, Sis, said, “whatever the two of you want to do!” Now we know where she got that from.

So, I’ve been strategizing how to help Sarah tell me what she wants. Last week Glenn and I were scheduled to babysit Sarah and her 11 yr old Brother Ben. Before we went over, I again asked Sarah what she’d like to do. Duh! She said, “I dunno.” Well, at least she’s consistent.

Then I had a brainstorm. Sarah, on a scale of 1 – 10, where 10 is something you’d really like to do and 1 is something you really wouldn’t want to do, how much would you like to stare at a bowl of goldfish? She said, 2. Woo hoo!! I got an opinion. Then I asked her, and how much would you like to go to the movies? She said “9” OMG!!! Could this be working? And, how much would you like to stay home and work on a puzzle? “10” Wow!!! And how much would you like to go play miniature golf? “9”

We stayed home and made a puzzle, as well as danced, read Harry Potter outloud [again] and watched the Mets lose in the background.

So, research techniques REALLY do work!!! What took me so long to figure it out!!!

Then last night, Glenn and I and Laurie and the kids went to Good Karma Cafe for dinner in Exeter. Dad Sam was busy with his buds. We ordered our organic vegan fare and were about to sit down. Glenn and I like to drink a fizzy probiotic Kombucha. I got two bottles, Strawberry Serenity and Passion Fruit. I asked Glenn which he preferred. He said “either one” I said “really?” On a scale of 1- 10 where 10 is the highest and 1 the lowest what number would you give Strawberry. “6” And, Passion Fruit? “9” Ha! It works in lots of places I’ll bet.

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So how can we profit from this as marketers?

• First of all, remember that consumers HATE to make decisions, so don’t make them think!  (“Thinking is the hardest work there is, that’s why hardly anyone ever does it” – Henry Ford)   I see website all over the place which require customers to “do the math”, but nobody wants to do math when they’re in a buying mood.  They’re (hopefully) entranced by your emotional appeal and swept away in their impulses.  If you make them think, they’re probably gonna say NO!
• Second, and this might be obvious but I’ll say it anyway, when you’re doing surveys and opinion polls and you DO want your research participants (prospects and customers) to think, don’t force them into excruciating choices.  Give them an “out” by letting them express LEVELS of interest or concern.   “Which would you prefer?”, asked on it’s own, is kind of the equivalent of playing those torturous games we all used to in college where you ask someone to choose between two impossible alternatives.  (“Which would you prefer, drowning in a pool of camel urine or being repeatedly poked in the eye by an oaf with dirty finger nails?”  The answer, of course is “Neither, I’ll just slap YOU, thank you very much!”)
• Third, don’t force yourself to write three major points for every significant essay.  If there are only two, say there are only two.  Otherwise you’ll just look silly 🙂

That’s it!

Dr. G 🙂

PS – Just a few hours until the price goes up on the Coach Certification Academy.  (Sharon and I are STILL personally teaching at this price, but not for much longer)

No, that’s NOT a turtle you’re looking at… It’s ME, about 6 weeks ago, a few hours after I ACCIDENTALLY shaved off my beard. Now, I’m not a guy who shouldn’t have a beard.  I’ve had one literally since I was 23 years old. (26 years ago, by the way, as I just turned 49).  The day before my 23rd birthday my wife told me she REALLY wanted me to grow it, so I told her I wasn’t going to shave anymore, uhm… ever.

And I kept my word… Until just a few weeks ago, when I literally did shave my beard by accident. Here’s what happened… Things have been happening for me very quickly this year since launching the Coaching Certification Academy.  VERY quickly.

The only time I ever remember being busier than I am now was during my last year of graduate school during which I (a) finished my dissertation; (b) published three scholarly papers in professional journals; (c) ran the finances for what was then Sharon’s company; (d) worked full time as an intern at Nassau County Medical Center; (e) ran several reasonably intense corporate consulting jobs and (f) occasionally went to the bathroom.  All simultaneously, in one year!

You know the saying “If you want something done, ask a busy man”… I’ve really found that’s true over the course of my career, and I’ve also come to believe that when you find yourself on a train you really want to be on and things start moving FAST, you do your best to keep up. But there IS such a thing as going too fast… And you have to remember there’s really NO such thing as multi-tasking, only sequential tasking really fast.  (If you disagree, please read “The Myth of Multitasking”, and then come back to tell me if you still think I’m wrong).

I’ve also learned the hard way (when I started Rocket Clicks with Jeff 5 years ago), that putting too many clients into a new company too quickly is a REALLY bad idea, no matter how intoxicating it can be to see the sales funnel working the way it’s supposed to work. So this time around I THOUGHT I had things under control.  I set up no more than 5 classes to get things moving.  I’m teaching them all my self (with Sharon) for now so we can ensure quality, make sure the clients are happy, and really nail the system that helps them become successful.

But I apparently HAD fallen into the multi-tasking “corporate jet-set” mindset again.  And I only figured it out when, while simultaneously “trimming” my beard (like I’d done 1,000 times before), responding to yes/no emails on my iPhone, AND brushing my teeth (I kid no you not!), I happened to look up to say “Holy F____… where’s the left half of my beard?” Turns out I left the guide completely off after trimming my mustache.  (The guide is the top piece that determines the amount of hair you want to LEAVE on your face)

There, staring me in the mirror was the blatant result of getting intoxicated by growth, doing too much at once, and not being fully “present” for my life as it happened. It was a ruthless example of letting my life go by in ways I swore off of twenty years ago.

Because I really DO try to live by the dictum “If somethings not worth being present for, then just don’t do it” (Which, if you follow to it’s natural conclusion, completely preempts the multi-tasking mentality.  And by the way, it includes appointments, people, places, things, etc… everything)

Of course, with my beard half gone I said to myself “no point in looking like HALF a turtle!”…

At that point, the only sane thing to do was shave the other half off, unless I was going for that “completely psychotic” image.  (Which, I suppose, one could make an argument for) Thankfully, I have the genetics of a mountain gorilla, so today the beard is back in full swing! But as a psychologist in business, I’ve learned to pay very close attention to tiny disasters, because I’ve come to know they often foreshadow of really big ones in the making…

That’s the moment when I proactively decided to move up the date when I get other very experienced coaches to teach FOR me… When I realized I had to get out of the “Superman” mentality, because I really wasn’t invulnerable, couldn’t be everywhere at once, and, well, wasn’t 25 years old anymore. And wouldn’t you know it, all I really had to do was ask, and it hasn’t been very hard at all to find them.

Not only experienced coaches, but many very qualified, talented people who’ve really been clamoring for a chance to work with me (copywriters, programmers, sales people, facebook managers, Infusion experts, etc) Slowly but surely, it’s turning into a real business.  Not a lifestyle business, but the “Real McCoy”…

Am I still tempted to run around in a million directions like an Octopus on Roller Skates?  Sure. But I love my beard (and my business) too much to let that happen!

For what it’s worth…

Glenn 🙂

PS – Unfortunately, I did NOT accidentally shave off half of my hair line… it really is receding.  (I wish I could find the comedian who said “it’s no longer a forehead, now it’s a five-head”, because that’s what I think every time I look in the mirror)

PS – Tomorrow is the LAST day you can get into the Coach Training and Certification program before the price goes up.  And because I’ll be slowly backing away from teaching myself, the classes posted on the schedule are likely to be some of the last where we can work together directly.  (These are small, intimate groups of no more than 15 people, so unlike some of my earlier programs this is a chance to get personal attention.  About 1/2 the course is coaching skills focused while the other half is marketing)