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October,
2009
Greetings
and welcome to the October edition of Servant-Leadership
Solutions. In the few weeks since the (late) September issue,
I've had two very productive and enjoyable trips to work
with clients - first to Santa Cruz to spend a week with
the team at Rick Turner Guitar Company; second, to spend
two days with the team of new client, The Learning Dock.
The
Learning Dock is a young, energetic music education company.
Their first instructional DVD offering stars one of my best
friends (and a true servant-leader), bassist and educator
Roy Vogt. Roy is an extremely effective teacher and a wonderful
person. The methodology used for this DVD is groundbreaking
in that it incorporates several different learning methods
so that virtually any type of learner can benefit from the
course.
When
Roy first told me about the project, I was elated for him
and offered to assist in any way I could. Thanks to his
enthusiastic recommendation, which opened the door to discussions,
I am now the company's VP, Sales and Outreach. I'll be working
with the Learning Dock team in marketing and sales, with
a focus on mentoring their team, preparing them for rapidly
expanding sales.
My
work with The Learning Dock (and the way it began) is very
similar to my work with the folks at Rick Turner Guitars.
Each business arrangement grew from a close personal relationship
with others who share my business philosophy. Each set of
relationships is built on mutual respect and shared ideas
of successful, ethical business.
For those interested, here are links to both web sites:
Teach
Me Bass Guitar
The
Learning Dock
Look,
Ma! I'm on You Tube!
They
say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that's true,
then moving pictures are worth ten thousand. There are several
ways to share video with others. First, you can upload them
to your own web site. Each time a viewer watches a clip,
the bandwidth is charged to your account. Second, you can
pay a third party to host your videos. This conserves your
bandwidth, but can be quite costly. Third, you can host
on a free third-party site, such as You Tube. This is the
method I use to host videos for Danville
Foodstock, Deeper
Blues, and now for this web site.
You
Tube is without doubt the largest video sharing porthole
in the world, garnering more than 100,000,000 video views
per day. Folks, we're talking more than 70,000 new video
starts per minute! This, and the fact that it's free, make
You Tube the leading candidate for hosting videos.
The
advantage of using You Tube is that, instead of accessing
only your own audience - those who visit your web site -
you have access to hundreds of millions of viewers. This
gives you an opportunity to introduce yourself to potential
new customers.
Getting
started is not as difficult as you might imagine. All you
need is a video camera, a firewire card, and a video editing
program. Windows users already have a basic editing program
- Windows Movie Maker. No, it can't do everything a full
featured program can, but it does enough to help you create
simple videos.
On
the web, content is king. So the questions is: What's your
content? The key point to remember is that your content
must be of value to your viewer, or at least of interest.
For example, while working with Eden Electronics, a bass
amplifier manufacturer, I did many product demonstration
videos. They are not prime-time quality productions, mind
you. Many of them were taped using consumer-level equipment,
and most were taped during noisy trade conferences. And
yet they have been viewed on You Tube more than 100,000
times.
Another
important thing to remember is to use well-chosen keywords
to help drive visitors to your videos. Whenever someone
watches a video on You Tube, the page also contains a list
of related videos, which are chosen based on key words.
If your video has the right keywords, it will show up on
the page being viewed. With keywords, the more really is
the merrier, as long as they are relevant.
As
you consider your video promotion project, research what
competitors are doing. You can do this by visiting their
web sites, if you know them, or by doing a little creative
searching on You Tube. As always, plan the work first. Then,
execute the plan. And just like any completely new skill
set, planning and preparation are key to success.
Resource
- Book
A
Conscious Person's Guide to the Workplace
by George SanFacon
I
recently met George at a servant-leadership function, and
was able to get to know him over a little during the course
of the event. Shortly thereafter, I read the book that is
this month's recommended resource. This is an excellent
treatise on, as the introduction says, "creating alternatives
to what we normally experience at work, ones that better
promote human well being and engage the spirit." Rather
than changing how we do things, this book is about changing
how we think about the workplace. And that is the key to
true change and progress.
If
you want to truly change your workplace - not just change
the surface - this is the book to get you started.
Quick
Tip - Take a Walk
Most
people have three breaks in their day - morning and afternoon
breaks (usually 15 minutes) and lunch hour. One excellent
restorative activity is to take a short walk during any
of these breaks. Walking away from the work, even for a
few minutes, can recharge your mind and spirit. When you
return, you're ready to tackle the next task effectively.
You've
Got Questions
Q:
I don't know how you manage to do so much. I'm working seven
days a week, and not getting any more done than I would
in five. What am I doing wrong?
A:
The short answer is that you are working too much. Not only
does "all work and no play" make Jack a dull boy,
it also makes him dull-witted. Burnt out, and running on
empty. I say this so emphatically because I know from personal
experience. As I have learned the hard way, you have to
take time out to recharge yourself, physically, mentally
and spiritually.
It
doesn't matter how much you have on your plate, you simply
must take time away from work. You need to spend time with
friends and family; you need to take time to do the things
that help you restore yourself. So, starting this week,
take Sunday off, even if you work on Saturday. Work only
until noon on Saturday, and spend some of that time organizing
yourself and prioritizing your task list. Then, start at
the top on Monday. At noon, turn everything off,
and go have a life!
Thought
for the day
If
you don't give to yourself on a regular basis, eventually
you won't have anything left to give to others.
Uriah Duffy
End
of Business Solutions V2009, #8, A Publication of:
Lane Baldwin Servant-Leadership Solutions
My business is improving yours.™
Copyright
by Lane Baldwin Servant-Leadership Solutions, 2009. Reprinting
or republication of Servant-Leadership Solutions is prohibited
without prior approval.
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