Won't Get Fooled Again

Teamwork, marketing, strategy, pizza & coffee

Fun I Hope — Marketing is fun to learn!

Never Elect A Mathematician

Today’s feature photo is a video. Buried in today’s post is a pizza joke so I decided this rather absurd YouTube video courtesy of PBS was the way to go today. I hope you agree.

The Joy and Inspiration of Learning

Today I am writing about the hidden opportunity to learn something new that surrounds us. Today’s post changed a lot. I will be collaborating with another Substacker so the original post shifted to next week. I had this post seemingly ready to go to fill the gap. Then I had a meeting which led to a change in thought. This post became something different again! Change is good even though I prefer them to be done in advance.

Listening Is An Eye-Opener

I have a friend who favors the expression “G-d gave you two ears and one mouth”. Listening more is a good plan but goes against character for many of us. I had a recent connection with a handful of Substack writers. So great to hear new perspectives. In the workplace, we often had a “scribe” in important meetings who would either record or transcribe without interpretation. This is rarely our reality in the real world. When I am meeting as a group of peers, my goals differ:

1. Jot down notes (typing means loss of eye contact) when you meet but PRIORITIZE the listening — be confident what you hear and what rings true will find a place in your head

2. Transfer your notes soon — be assured that the important tidbits that remain in your head are fleeting and only prone to capture for a short time. Don’t procrastinate!

3. I often don’t seek a chronological story but rather the contributions of each person. This, in my experience, forces me to meld my jottings and memory into a completely different structure. This reinforces learning, at least for me.

4. If you want to promote sharing and different memories (and stuff you missed or distorted) SHARE THEM and ENCOURAGE others to revise them. I believe it is only shortly after the meeting you retain the best chance to learn a lesson.

There is a lot to realizing a goal for your writing. I would imagine that writing will always remain at the center for most. What I also imagine is marketing and strategy are necessary and ESSENTIAL. I wonder how often someone who loves and has attained mastery of marketing and/or strategy decides to explore writing on their own. Because I enjoy writing, I imagine others do too! Since marketing and/or strategy is not so easy for me, I imagine someone who has the marketing and strategy figured out will enjoy the writing and advance toward their goal. I’m hoping in the coming weeks and months, that person becomes me!

Life Sans Marketing

My work career rarely ventured into marketing. I am interested in all sorts of stuff and I think it was my loss. I think it is popular/stylish for people to “hate ads”. I hear this semi-formed argument on Substack frequently. Of course, it is ironic as many of us write a Newsletter! We all know we need to get our writing in front of new eyeballs to grow an audience.

Success Requires A Team

Have you heard the phrase “A small businessperson needs to wear many hats”? I am a novice at this writing adventure but I doubt very many people get into the writing game because they want to split their efforts across many activities. However, I also believe there is a realization there is much more than writing. When a new and engaged reader arrives, I get positive and negative signals about how my writing was received. What is equally valuable is when your writing is not quite there. I recently made some new “Substack friends” who I hope will be the eyeballs to help me see the blind spots I miss in my writing.

Now it is time for a light-hearted look at marketing and strategy. This week is going to be a time for me to think about how important marketing is! So in the spirit of positivity, I will start with some acclamations and my newfound thoughtfulness about marketing. Then we will turn on the sarcasm.

Hooray For Marketing & Advertising

1. As a kid, I loved chocolate and never grew out of it. My hometown was blessed with some wonderful chocolatiers. As a six year old my world was small. I just figured my world was the same as everywhere else.

2. Many years passed and when we would visit Mom and other family with our brood we always went to our favorite shop. The chocolate there was exceptional!

3. One year I was talking with my Mom. One of my brothers had sent her some chocolates from the trendy Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (RMCF). I was familiar as it was available in lots of larger cities. The chocolates were very good. What my Mom recognized, as I did, was RMCF was, indeed good but only just okay relative to the hometown chocolatiers.

4. Was this the bias of 38-year-old me and 70-year-old Mom? On my next trip to the Mall of America (MOA), I went to RMCF and had a conversation with the operator of the store. Our conversation shifted to memories of chocolate and I mentioned the chocolate of my youth. The owner’s eyes lit up and he explained he had been in the chocolate business his whole life! He advised his operations have always used the industry-standard Wahl’s mixing machines. The old town favorite of mine was Wahl’s chocolate!!! I now felt validated that my tastebuds had not betrayed me!

5. I now believe where Wahl’s and RMCF ended up in the pecking order was a mix of quality, marketing, and strategy. It is the mixture of the three that drives excellence.

6. Any Buffalo, NY aficionado knows the fame of chicken wings and beef on weck. The broader world ended up with Buffalo Wild Wings (thanks Cincinnati for BWW) and Arby’s (We’ve got the meats). The locals could have used some strategy and marketing. A little-known fact is BWW even offered weck in the beginning.

7. For those of you pondering “What the hell is beef on weck?” read this and salivate

I enjoy the observation about people who think they are not susceptible to advertising. I’m one of those — I think and I now accept I am easily duped. For me, Costco sees me as an easy mark. It’s a good deal. It pays for itself. There are lots of secondary perks. There is no reason to think you won’t eat the whole pack. If you are a plant-based eater, a 12-pack of vegetable broth is a good plan, isn’t it?

A Better Newsletter

I think my newfound shares might lead to the three-legged stool of “Why Living Today Rocks” being steadied and sturdy. The writing is fun. Marketing and strategy are necessary. What the past has taught me is those other two legs, with the proper focus might sneak up on me and sprinkle even more joy on this endeavor. That’s enough, let’s have some fun.

Let’s Get a Pizza

A joke made the rounds when I was a young kid. It went something like this:

• A person calls in a takeout order for a large pizza

• The order taker asks “Would you like us to cut it into 8 or 12 slices”

• The person says “Oh you better cut it into 8 slices, there is no way we can eat 12 slices of pizza”

Movies and Television

The movies and TV figured out how to warp serving size and distort time. In some ways what Einstein presented as general relativity.

Pet Peeve #1:

The following film has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit this screen.

Imagine if you are at the Louvre and the captions next to the masterpieces said:

Ce chef-d'œuvre a été recadré pour s'adapter aux cadres standard que nous utilisons maintenant pour faciliter le stockage hors saison.

For the non-Francophiles:

This masterpiece has been cropped to fit the standard frames we are now using to make off-season storage easier.

Pet Peeve #2

I have a newish acquaintance in New Zealand. She is not a Substacker but reads my Newsletter. Wow, the world is small. Wahl’s Chocolate would have benefitted from a Newsletter. This newfound acquaintance has a Podcast. She is a fast-talker and her enthusiasm oozes in her presentation. I may link her PodCast but lack her permission at this point.

The standard tools included in Podcasts these days include play at 1.25X, 1.5X, and 2X speed. It is fun to speed hers up as it begins to resemble a speech of John F Kennedy. While I will not encourage a rabbit hole, JFK is credited with the fastest public speech at 327 words per minute. He was eloquent and a great enunciator (if you forgive the thick Boston accent)

This brings me to my movie pet peeve. The need to take a 2:14 movie and condense it to fit 2 hours (with commercials) sucks. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. I will continue to sample my friend’s Podcast at normal speed.

I Filled My Cup To the Top

With the rise of Starbucks, coffee is everywhere. I have written about coffee before and it seems the writers of the world are hooked. There are so many sub-topics. (1) Why is it so much better than the “old” days? (2) Why is it so much more expensive than in the old days? (3) Why do we drink so darn much?

I am not a big consumer of “outside” coffee. Most all the time I enjoy making my coffee or tea. A full pot is no longer required; since I don’t go into an office, I do not mindlessly refill my cup with office swill until my bladder explodes. My coffee habit is mindful. I have withdrawn just to enjoy a bit of coffee I now enjoy. My coffee habit is better it seems in all respects. It is still a ritual to make it “just the way I like it”. For me, it is worth it to

1. Crush the beans

2. Use cold water

3. mist the grounds before starting the machine to prevent capillary action (yes, I’m weird)

4. Never leave it on the burner to continue to cook.

One of my cousins on my hosted Dolan Football Chat¹ (DFC) entertained us with his tale of using the French Press to make the “perfect cup”. I can relate as the ritual of a repeatable procedure sounds like fun but not fun enough to adjust my ritual just yet. One of my brothers is exploiting the desperate outreach at Panera’s to offer all you can drink for a month option. Some of my DFC chatters wish they had a Panera close by. At least in my market, for $11.99 per month, it becomes an all-you-can-drink affair and includes coffee, tea, and something referred to as “charged Lemonade”. Presumably, once you opt in, you may be powerless to outsource your caffeine needs forever. I have thus far avoided this but imagine if I was close to a Panera, I would go for it. Panera light roast, in my estimation, is one of the best premium coffees and their selection of tea is pretty good. The other bonus for me is it doesn’t taste burnt. I would imagine if you are a Starbucks addict, you might be able to divert sufficient funds to have yet another retirement fund with the savings. This would be great marketing for Vanguard — they might call it “The Arabica Fund”

Marketing in the coffee world is now shifted into high gear driven by the delivery of caffeine and sugar from myriad products. My favorite is Starbucks and the cup size. If I am at a Starbucks it means a medium cup of medium roast with room for cream or a bit of almond milk — in other words coffee. Mr. Coffee assigns 6 oz as a cup of coffee. Our Cuisinart ingeniously claims 5 oz. a cup to offer the 14-cup pot (the same size). None of this maps to the reality of asking a friend how much coffee you drink. Many say one cup in the morning and one in the early afternoon. WTH is a cup anyway? I conclude Starbucks does not recognize the 5 oz or 6 oz conversion as a thing nor do the people who claim they drink two cups of coffee. I conclude Starbucks is the wizard of marketing as reinventing terms is great if you can get away with it. This brings me back to the absurdity of Starbucks where those in the know can prescribe what Venti means (based on temperature). I feel measurably dumber just reporting the following conversions:

• Demi (3 oz.)

• Short (8 oz.)

• Tall (12 oz.)

• Grande (16 oz.)

• Venti (20 oz. for hot drinks, 24 oz. for cold drinks)

• Trenta (31 oz.)

It would be adorable to see a new couple traipse up to the counter and order something Trenta size and ask for two straws. My sense is Starbucks might need a picture ID to issue two straws, at least in cities like NYC or SF.

It’s a Wrap

Today’s post was a late pivot and a joyful exercise. I return next week with “The Loudest Horn”

The Poll & Music

Today’s poll demands answers. You only need to watch the video at the top if you cannot resist knowing what option 3 is. I think I may try this someday but it may require extra napkins.

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The title drove the music today. Good R&R from my youth. The part of the story I like is this was originally track 9 on the album and was rejected. It turned out to be quite popular and memorable.

1. Dolan Football Chat is the desperation shared by long-time Buffalo Bills fans. Steady consumers of this Newsletter know I have a number of hobbies and affectations. One is hosting a video call wherein diehard Bills fans who share lots of DNA with me can convince themselves this is the year. The rest of us just check in, and enjoy our siblings and cousins.