DMJ Podcast: Things That Excite Me

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 The Delivering Marketing Joy Podcast is back!  Our goal here is to attack 2018 with a vengeance!  The Delivering Marketing Joy Podcast will provide some inspiration, motivation and education to make it happen!  Consider this your 10 minute “kick in the pants” to get your week started off right!  Today on the podcast I want to flip the script.  We spend a lot of time thinking, talking and agonizing over “what keeps us up at night.”  That’s natural.  But what gets you excited?  What gets you up in the morning?  It’s a different way of looking at things…and I name a few things that have me fired up now! If you want to check out the Ohio’s Heart website you can do that here. Oh…and make sure you never miss an update! Sign up for the Hasseman Marketing VIP list here!

Turning on the Light…in Sales

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It was early in the morning and I just needed to grab one thing in my closet.  The thing is, I had everything ready to go.  The bag was packed to head into the office.  The lights were off.  But I just needed to grab a sweatshirt.   I knew basically where it was because I just saw it when I picked out my shirt.  So I headed back into my closet to “quickly grab” this last piece of clothing.

In the dark, I felt around for the piece where I thought I remembered it.  It was a full zip, so I felt for the zipper.  Found it!  I began to unzip the sweatshirt in order to take it off the hanger…and it stopped.  This was only a quarter zip!  Damn…this was the wrong piece!

And there are I stood…in the dark.

Finally, I took two steps and turned on the light.  It’s amazing how fast I was able to find the sweatshirt I wanted!  I was just too consumed with doing it “really quick” so I was not using the tools that were right in front of me.

It’s absurd.  It’s stupid.  And those of us in the sales profession do it all the time.

We thrash around in a world where time is literally money.  We try to do it “our way” or the “old way” for entirely too long.  Meanwhile, our organizations arm us with CRM’s, blogs, websites, order management, email systems, and more.  They spend endless time and dollars to help us increase our efficiency and, ultimately, our sales.

And much like me, looking for my sweatshirt in the dark, we stubbornly keep thrashing.  We believe we are right.  We think it “will take too long to learn” and keep trying “one more time.” Folks…turn on the light.  Use the tools.  Take the time on the front to save the time on the back.  The tools are there to shine a light on your business.  All you have to do is flip the switch.

We hope these posts are a tool you can use to grow!  Sign up for our VIP newsletter so you never miss an update.  We email you once a week with all the content of the week in one place.  Sign up here.

Seasons of Life

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 I love the idea of “seasons of life.”  This concept was introduced to me by Jon Acuff, and it totally resonates with me about how life really works.  Life is not “pedal to the metal” all of the time.  I love the term “hustle,” but you can’t live your life in forever hustle mode.  In reality, though, life is also not just “sitting on a beach with a drink in my hand” in perpetuity either. It’s a shame…but it’s true.  Life comes in seasons. Some of seasons are easy to recognize.  They are almost more phases of life.  There is parenthood, or work, or school.  Sure.  But I think “season” can be even more finite. *They might be newborn baby season or puppy season (we know this all too well at our house now).   *Starting a new business (at least the launch) can be a season. *Losing a job could be a season.  Or job hunting could be one as well. *Having a high school senior is certainly a season we are living through too.   Regardless, it’s important to note that these are finite.  Whether good or bad, a season is not forever.  The wind will blow, and the words “this too shall pass” will ring through your ear. Don’t worry.  It’s just a season. Make sure you never miss an update!  Sign up for our VIP newsletter here.

Leaders Reading List

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hasseman marketing leaders We all want to grow.  It’s in our human nature to want to be challenged and have purpose.  And if you are leading an organization, a team, or a family, it’s your job to seek growth for yourself and those you serve.   So how do you do it?  How do you challenge yourself to grow?  And how do you help members of your team grow?  If you know me at all, you probably can predict that I will say “read more.”  If so, you would be right.   But read what?  Here are a few books that I think are awesome for leaders (and those that aspire to lead). First things first, I wrote this post about books I want my daughters to read.  These books are foundational, and I think these should probably be first on your list.  Now let’s jump into the “Leaders Reading List.” Leaders Eat Last:  Simon Sinek burst onto the scene with the TED talk and the book Start with Why.  It’s really good and I recommend it too.  BUT, I actually enjoyed Leaders Eat Last even more.  I loved how Sinek dove into the biology of what makes a great leader and why we react the way we do.  Powerful stuff here. 4 Disciplines of Execution:  Have you ever felt like your team was busy, but never made headway on new initiatives?  Raise your hand (every leader).  The 4 Disciplines book digs into why this happens, and gives you a roadmap for getting your team to get more done.  It starts with the Wildly Important Goal (WIG).   Good to Great:  Jim Collins created a classic and destroyed the myths on what makes a great leader here.  Collins explains why certain companies are able to become amazing…and leadership tells the tale. Extreme Ownership:  This powerful tale of what leadership really looks like comes from two Navy Seals.  This one was a gut punch to me about blaming anyone but myself…for anything.  Everything in my organization is my fault.  This book taught me that. Culture Code:  I just finished this one and really enjoyed it.  This is filled with great reminders about what make teams great.  And it introduces some counter-intuitive truths about great organizations from the Navy Seals to Pixar.   These are 5 books that have helped shape the way I think about leadership.  I am hardly a guru.  But inside these books you will find philosophy and tactics that will help you get better when it comes to running your team.   Become a VIP!  Sign up for our VIP newsletter here.    We send out one email per week to catch you up on all of the content! 

Brand-ecdotes: Paul Bellantone

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hasseman marketing paul bellantone

 

Welcome to our awesome blog post series for Hasseman Marketing called: 

“Brand-ecdotes!” 

 

Each time, we talk to a branding all star about what makes the Promotional Product advertising media so special!  This time we talk with the Grand Poubah of PPAI, Paul Bellantone!  Paul is not only an industry rock star, but he is tasked with keeping the industry moving in the right direction.  We sincerely appreciate him taking the time!

 

1.  What is your all-time favorite Promotional Product and why?

A rubber jar opener. See below.

 

2.  Can you name a Promo Product that you have that STILL reminds you fondly of an event, person, organization?  If so, can you tell us that story?

While I no longer have the original rubber jar opener whenever I see or use one I think of H. Ted Olson, former President & CEO of PPAI. He was my predecessor’s predecessor. I was running a tradeshow in Guadalajara, Mexico in the mid 1990s and Ted introduced himself to me with a firm handshake, a smile and then pulled a rubber jar opener with a PPAI logo out of his jacket pocket. I originally thought to myself, “What an odd thing to give someone in the middle of a tradeshow in Guadalajara.” What I didn’t know then was that one day I would be running the organization he was promoting on the jar opener.  And the act of giving a simple promotional product made such impact that I would be writing about it 30 years later!

 

3.  What is the current product you use all the time?

I have a very classy, simple, brown leather Andrew Philips backpack I received as a gift for speaking at the Imagen Brands National Sales Meeting. It has PPAI embossed on it and it has become my constant travel companion. 

4.  What is an idea/product that you think organizations UNDER use?

Research. There is such powerful and useful research supporting the power of promotional products. It is important that we share this clear, measurable and meaningful data as a differentiator between promotional products and other advertising media with our customers and buyers.

5.  What do you think is the best thing about Promotional Products as an advertising media? 

It is the only advertising media people say “thank you” to the advertiser and want more of. 

 

Amazing!  That’s another awesome edition of Brand-ecdotes! Thanks to President of PPAI, Paul Bellantone, for taking the time to jump in!

 

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