“Hey! Let’s start a Brewery!” These are words that many have uttered over the years (often over a couple of beers). As it turns out, we are actually doing it. For the last couple of years, I have been working on (with 2 awesome partners) creating Hasseman Brewing in Coshocton, Ohio. We are super excited to get this project up and running…and it looks like we are close to making it happen! For the latest updates on that, you can check out the Hasseman Brewing blog here.So what does this have to do about marketing? As it turns out, a lot. One thing I have told people over the years is, “You can tell what I like by what I put my logo on.” Well I thought it might be helpful to see what we have started with (even before we open). It might give you a peak into what we are thinking…and will give a “shout out” to some of the great suppliers we are partnering with…so far.T-shirts: If you have visited nearly any microbrewery, you know they have t-shirts. We are working to create more…but for this first run we went this this soft t-shirt with our one color logo. We think you need a comfortable t-shirt if you want anyone to wear it…so this is a good start.Hats: We have several styles of hats we will feature when we open, and we will get more as we go. But the first two we bought were this Mesh backed Cap and this Heathered Navy one. These are two totally different styles…but we think they are cool! But we also wanted to have some choices, so we have this one too. Anxious to see what everyone likes!Bottle Opener Key Chain: Want a heavy duty key chain that also doubles as a bottle opener? Of course you do. We have that! 🙂Glass Growler: You can’t start a brewery and not have Growlers, right? Don’t worry. We are on it. This is a great “to go” container for any brewery! Check that out here.Stainless Growler: But if you want to take it “up a notch” on the Growlers, you can go with this one. This is a very cool single walled stainless version. Still fun to take your Craft Beer on the go! And yes, this is the one featured in the picture above.Patio Umbrella: If you have a brewery, or really any outdoor venue where you want to market, these are really nice! You will want shade (and this works for that) but it’s also an awesome branding opportunity. Pens: We also have these fantastic pens that allow us to showcase our brand in full color. You might not think “pens” when you think “beer” but these are a great piece to help us get our name out there in the community!Coasters: But we need to keep the rings off of the tables right? Of course. That’s why we have these really cool full color drink coasters. These are a really low cost way to protect the investment! The fact is, there will be much more to come. As a matter of fact, I have asked my partners to help hold me back! But it’s been an amazing exercise…and one filled with personal growth. Here’s to more good things to come!
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“I just need to vent.”We have all heard those words from a friend or family member. As a matter of fact, most of us have said them on more than one occasion. I know I have. Sometimes life (or more accurately, the people in your life) can frustrate you to the point that you need to vent or you might explode. I get it. But you need to stop. Seriously.Complaining, especially the kind followed by no action to fix the problem, is an epidemic today. It seems like everyone today is a “keyboard activist.” They have opinions and complaints about everything while they are behind the keyboard. But in the real world, they do nothing about it. Here are 3 reasons why you don’t want to be “that person.”1. The World Doesn’t Care: It’s not that the world is full of un-caring people. That’s not what I am saying. But each of us has our own burden to bear. Most of the time, we don’t need to carry yours too. This is especially true if your complaint is trivial (and often it is). 2. It Creates a Mental Pattern: The science behind this is simple. When you do things over and over, it creates a pathway in your brain. This makes is easier to repeat the behavior automatically. This is how habits are formed and how you become “excellent” at certain behaviors. This is why it’s important to be mindful of your patterns. It can become a habit. Do you really want to be the person who habitually complains? 3. Most Have It Worse: There is a term called “First World Problems.” It’s based on this simple concept. We complain about things that are comical when compared to the rest of the world. The fact is, most of our problems are barely that at all. I am reminded of a friend’s story about “worst jobs.” We all went around the table telling our story about the worst job we had had in our lives. All of us telling the story with great detail about something we had hated doing. Then we came to him.“I was in the military in the desert. We had Porta-Potties there and could not leave the ‘remains’ in country. So we had to dispose of them. This was done by adding diesel fuel to the mixture of feces and urine. But you could not just leave them to burn, otherwise it would settle. So for three weeks, I had to stir this mixture of diesel fuel, feces and urine in the desert (average temperature 126 degrees). I still remember that smell.”Wow.I am sure there are worse jobs than that. But I have not had one. So for today, I will not complain about mine.
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Last week I had the opportunity to drive to Lenoir, North Carolina to work with one of our newest Account Executives. Jim Duncan, who joined us just a few weeks ago, has been a longtime friend, and I am excited to have him aboard. As you might expect, we each had a list of things we most wanted to go over. I wanted to talk about some product training. Jim wanted to spend a great deal of time talking about our software. Together, we discussed the power what we do, and how we can help organizations. It was a great day.But one theme kept coming up over and over as the training day went on. We would cover a topic and go back and forth with questions. After I felt confident he understood the material I would say something like, “As you do this more and more, you will get comfortable. It’s about the repetition.” As the day wore on, I must have said that a dozen times.It’s like that in all areas of our life. If we want to get “good” at hitting a baseball, we have to spend lots of minutes in the batting cages. If we want to be “great” with the bat, we have to spend hours and hours. When we are teaching others to hit a ball, we know this. But sometimes when it comes to our professional lives, we lose sight of this. We think that if we are “good at talking to people” we will automatically be good at sales. Um…no. You still have to put in the work.The challenge, I think, with putting in the work as an adult, is we are hesitant to fail in front of others. Let’s face it, if we stumble on a sales call, we (by definition) are doing it in front someone else. In the batting cage, no one might see us whiff the ball. But the rules are the same. If you want to become a “sales champion” you have to put in the reps.
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Please allow me a “proud dad” post here. But I think you might get some value out of it as well.
My oldest daughter Skylar Hasseman is an aspiring dancer. She just finished her Freshman year at Kent State University (and did very well) but it struggling with the idea of whether to return. Like many young people (and not so young people) she is trying to decide which is the best path for her to reach her dreams and goals. So in working to build her own personal brand, she has decided to create dance videos that showcase her dancing and her choreography skills. (You can subscribe to the channel here).
Her first video went up last night and (again proud dad here) I think it looks great. You can check it out here.
But what does this all mean to you? Great question. I think she is battling with what many of us work on. How do we work toward our goals? How do we stand out in a loud world? What if no one likes what we are doing? You understand. If you are like me, you have heard those voices in your head.
So here are 3 Lessons you can learn from my daughter and her video.
1. She Chose Herself: Dance is something where you can wait your whole life waiting for someone to “choose” you. You go to auditions. You are judged at competitions. You wait to get chosen. She decided to take a different (or maybe just an additional) path. She created an opportunity to showcase her skills on her own.
2. She Took Action: How many times have you said, “I have an idea…” only to let it go because it might be too hard? It’s those ideas that you need to take action on if you want to stand out.
3. She “Shipped:” The project is never done until it’s out there. She could have waited to get one more shot. She could have continued to work and edit and wait until it was perfect. Instead, she pushed it out into the world. I am proud of that. This first project can be deemed a success. That’s great stuff. Now, if she wants to really take this path, she needs to create more and more consistent content to build her brand. Whether or not she does that is up to her. But what’s cool, is that she knows that now.
As I write this I have a basement full of young ladies that will be on the local soccer team. Yesterday they had a long day of scrimmages and today they are sharing pizza and watching the video of the games in order to learn. I listen to the coaches going over lessons of strategy and positioning, and I know that today will make them better. They are bonding and laughing and questioning and learning. But it goes on outside of the spotlight. It’s not big. It’s not the sort of activity that ends up in the Under Armour commercial. But it’s the little things (like this one) that success is built upon. The same is true in sales and business (and the rest of life). We always celebrate the crowning achievement. We all want to get the kudos and the trophies and the recognition (and we should). But so much of success is built upon the days when you are just alone (or with our team)…getting better. They are built on the days when you make “one more sales call.” They are built on the times when you choose to read a book instead of watch a reality show. They are built on doing the work no one else sees.And it takes time.I don’t know if our girls soccer team will be great this year. And frankly, that’s not the point. What I do know is they are learning how to succeed. What they need to understand now, is that you have to do it every day. The same is true for building sales or content or a business. You can’t stop because it’s hard. You can’t quit because it’s inconvenient. It’s about doing the work that most people don’t see. Every day. Over time. And when you do, some day (years from now) someone will marvel at how you “came from nowhere” and are an “overnight success.” But you will know different.
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