I am currently working on a business plan with my client, Tony. I have permission from him to share this story. As we were working on the business plan, we started to reminisce about how we became friends. I remember it well.  I had just opened a new recording studio.  One week later, Tony moved in next door to open a new small engine repair shop. My Grammy award winning partner was less than thrilled about the idea of someone revving up lawn mowers while he was recording hit songs. Fortunately, Tony closes his business at 5:00pm, which coincidently happens to be about the same time most of my musician friends are rolling out of bed.  End of that conflict.

Tony is a great guy; he never forgets your name. The moment you meet him you feel like you’re his best friend. When you come to his shop, he drops whatever he’s doing to quickly greet you at your vehicle.  Tony loves his new business. His friendly nature quickly increased the workload. More work kept coming in. Like most optimistic business people, Tony felt he could handle anything. Bring it on. He continued to work harder and harder doing all the repairs while running the business.

As the months passed, Tony became buried in work. He started to fall behind on a lot of the different business tasks he was responsible for. He had to wear too many hats. In less than a year, his business wasn’t fun anymore.  Physically and mentally exhausted, he was ready to throw in the towel. Tony felt defeated and started to make simple mistakes. His phenomenal memory and friendly nature made it easy for people to forgive him, but he couldn’t rely on that for too long.  This is not what he thought owning a business was supposed to be like.

Being a great guy doesn’t qualify you to run a business. If Tony didn’t learn how to run his business soon, he would be in serious trouble. He recognized he needed help. One day he approached me in a panic and asked for help to figure out what to do.  

I jumped right in. I talked to him about business planning and the positive effects it would have on his business. He would have to start seriously thinking about things like sales, marketing, budgets, and schedules. He would need systems and procedures put in place to operate his business more effectively. I promised him that if he did these things, his life would get better and his business would soon be profitable. Tony stopped me there and moaned, “that all sounds great, but could you show me how I can pay my rent next month?” It was then I realized Tony didn’t need a business plan, he needed a survival plan!

Tony wasn’t worried about the future; he was worried about the present. If he couldn’t improve his present situation, there wouldn’t be any future. His problem wasn’t caused by dwindling sales in an ongoing recession, but by not having a plan in place to handle the business he already had. For the survival plan to work, we would have to do a massive amount of triage.

Merriam-Webster defines triage as (paraphrased): the sorting and allocation of treatment to patients of battle or disaster according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors.

Tony’s business was going to need triage and I was going to be chief medical officer. We had to look at all the problems in the business operation. Triage requires quick decisions, and time is critical. To reduce the risks of causalities, we had to rank all the problems in order of their importance and worth. All available resources would have to be allocated correctly. This was a battle for the health of his business.

Business owners like Tony can easily work themselves into a box. The more ineffective the busy work he did, the smaller the box got. He started to feel trapped as the walls closed in on every side. The weight of the box itself was taking him down and his view became so dark that he could see no way out. He became blinded to doing simple tasks that would have relieved a lot of the pressure.

I have a friend who works in the psychiatric ward of a hospital. I asked him to tell me the secret to helping his clients. He told me that he has to get inside his patient’s mind and see the world the way they see it. Once he understands the world from their perspective, he could lead them out into present day reality.

For me to help Tony, I needed to see his perspective on the business. If I correctly understood his world view, I could safely lead him in the right direction; this would save a lot of critical time. I believe a lot of times we prescribe a cure for someone before we understand their view of the problem. We will tell people what they need to do to run a marathon, but if they don’t know how to take their next step, running even a block would seem impossible.

For you to do effective triage:

1-Recognize you are in over your head and cannot solve the problems by yourself.

2-Ask for help from someone who can solve problems.

3-Take time to accurately assess each problem.

4-Prioritize all the tasks to be done.

5-Use all of your available resources to speed up the process.

6-Have faith that your problems can be fixed.

7-Start to fix the problems one at a time.

8-Put systems and procedures in place to make sure you don’t have these same problems in the future.

Times up. In the next article, I will explain the steps we took to gain some sanity in Tony’s life. Tune in next time to….As The Business World Turns. Episode 2, Tony sees the light!

Read About Steve Sorenson

I lay flat on my back in my Petoskey, Michigan bed, mucus filling my nostrils, throat and lungs.  A million ice cubes shivered across my skin.  As soon as I wrapped myself in heavy blankets, blistering heat threatened to burn me from the inside out.  Little alien aches turned my body into a pile of ill-fitting bones topped by a pounding head.  My alarm went off.  It was time to get up. 

Talent, skill and marketing tricks fly out the window at times like these.  None of your qualifications matter one bit when adversity puts its hand on your throat and asks why it shouldn't strangle your resolve to keep going.  

“Can't I just call in sick and tell them I can't come?” I thought.  I hadn't slept more than 10 minutes that night, and the thought of driving 5 hours, followed by a couple of plane jumps to Wichita Falls, followed by another restless night didn't sound appealing in my misery.  My emotions told me to hide.  But 150 kids had signed up for me to teach them about creative writing.  I knew that something special would happen if I could just get there.  I rolled my body out of bed and plunged my head under the strange sensations of the shower.

When I was a little boy I loved the cool water in the swimming pool that made Texas summers so much more bearable.  Every time I went to the pool my dad would tell me to swim toward him.  If any of the rest of you have fathers, you know what happened right before I reached him, legs and arms kicking furiously.  He backed up. 

It always made me so angry that he did this, and frustrated and whiny.  I'd push even harder, feeling unjustly made to swim farther than our bargain and slightly afraid that I wouldn't reach his arms.  But I always did.  Years later when I asked him why he always did that, he said, “I wanted you to figure out that you could go farther than you thought you could.”

This morning I was thankful for my father's semi-cruel lesson.  I pulled on some clothes, stuffed my belongings in a bag, checked the directions to the rental car return, ate some granola and fruit, said goodbye to my aunt and uncle after they prayed for me and headed out the door.

As soon as I got within cell phone range I called my girlfriend Vicki.  Talking always keeps me awake on long drives, and she knew that I would need some help this morning.  It felt good knowing I wasn't alone early that morning as I got onto the freeway in Gaylord, Michigan, knowing that I would have to fill up soon, but expecting slightly cheaper gas prices a little further down the interstate.

Twenty miles later the gas light popped on.  “Uh oh,” I said to Vicki.

“What?” she replied, slightly concerned. 

Nothing but slushy snow draped over tall trees filled my view.  “I hope I see a gas station soon,” I said.  Ten miles later I saw my first sign of civilization, billboards.  One of them mentioned something about gas, but it looked to be another 20 miles.  “I hope this little Chevy Aveo gas tank has as big a reserve as my Honda Prelude,” I thought to myself, noticing that I had seen very few cars on this stretch of road.

A mile and a half from the exit for gas, the Aveo expired.  “There it goes,” I said to a concerned Vicki.  Glancing in my rear view mirror I noticed a black SUV about to pass me.  I rolled down my window and frantically waved at them as I pulled over to the side and switched on my hazard lights.  “If I have to walk to the gas station from here I could very possibly miss my flight.”  Off in the distance angel choirs sang as the old, Ford Explorer's brake, and then reverse lights, came on and started getting closer to me.

A smoking cigarette poked through the gaps in his teeth as the driver asked what was wrong.  When I told them I had run out of gas, the younger guy jumped in the back, and I hopped in, never more grateful to have lost my sense of smell.  I said goodbye to Vicki for the moment and my redneck angels, Steve and Mike, drove me to the nearest Citgo and then back to my car with a borrowed plastic container and $5.00 worth of gas. 

“How'd you run out of gas in a Chevy Aveo anyway?” Mike asked.  “Don't those things get like 40 or 50 miles a gallon?”

“This one doesn't,” I said, noting how it had required more frequent fill-ups than I hoped. 

I finished emptying the tank, started the car back up, waved goodbye to Steve and Mike and drove back to the Citgo station to fill the rest of my tank.  Gas here was indeed cheaper than Gaylord, and I had only lost 30 minutes of drive time.  Vicki rejoiced with me as I got back on the road.  A little while later she had to go, and I called my mom for another partner on my adventure while I ate raw spinach leaves to supply my body with nutrition and keep myself awake.  I called a bunch of people that day in my travels, asking them to pray for me or somehow otherwise help me in my quest.  You can't survive if you try to do everything by yourself.

Despite a wrong turn or two I reached the rental car location in time to get a taxi to the airport and make my flight.  I kept worrying that someone at some point would quarantine me for my bloodshot eyes and obvious flu-like symptoms, but no one ever did.  I slept, shivering and sniffling under a blanket, for most of my flight.

Missy Mayfield of the Region 9 Education Service Center greeted me in Wichita Falls, and I explained my sickly appearance.  We both felt confident that once in front of all the kids I'd find the energy to perform and teach.  She offered up a local steakhouse as the place to eat, and after spinach leaves, a salad in the Detroit airport, and the most immunity booster, bee pollen, antioxidant, protein powder supplements ever assembled in a smoothie in the Dallas airport, I decided that I deserved steak.  Mc Bride's Steakhouse didn't disappoint.

That night I crawled into my hotel bed early, and slept for half an hour to an hour at a time.  In the middle of the night I awoke to sheets completely drenched in sweat.  My fever had broke, and I already felt better.  I changed my clothes and got into the dry bed.  An hour or two later I woke again with more wet sheets.  “Can your fever break twice?” I thought as I shifted over to the other side of the bed to find a dry spot.

Morning still came too quickly, but I plunged myself into the magic power of the shower once again, reminded myself that God was with me, and listened to hear Him tell me that He was proud of me.  It always sounds like my dad.

In front of all the kids the workshop went better than expected.  Seventy-five kids from the rural districts around Wichita Falls listened with wide-eyes and then wrote furiously when I asked them.  Their obedience, attentiveness and excitement always amaze me, and I noticed their teachers writing diligently as well. 

When we finished, Missy told me that I had exceeded her expectations.  She told me that one of the kids who had read in front of the class had extreme behavioral problems and almost wasn't allowed to come.  “His teacher said that no one's ever gotten through to him before today.”  A weak smile appeared on my face as I relished the joy of kids inspired and motivated as a result of me deciding not to give up in all the challenges that fought against me reaching the next stop on this adventure of doing what I was made to do.  I would have never made it without lots of help from others along the way. 

Hardship and difficulty will assault you when pursuing whatever road awaits your decision to get out of  bed. 

Talent and ability don't make that decision easier. 

You need a reason that's bigger than yourself and family and friends to multiply the tiny amount of strength you have. 

The world's waiting to hear that story. 

So stick your head under the magic waters of the shower and get ready to live it.

Read About Peter Nevland

Rain crashes and slides down the windows.  We rock gently in the belly of the mini Air Canada jet as the wind thrashes everything on the runway outside.  The guy in front of me curses, worrying that he won't get to Toronto in time to pick up his rental car.  I exchange jokes and smiles with the guy in the yellow shirt and headphones across the aisle from me.  We've been diverted to regional Hamilton airport, along with dozens of other planes, to wait out the storm.  I'm powerless in my seat.

This has nothing to do with marketing.  That is, it has nothing to do with marketing if all marketing consultants do is come up with marketing strategy.  At some point in the pursuit of every career path or worthwhile aspiration you have to do things that seem to contribute very little to the achievement of your goals.  Sometimes they directly oppose them.

I'm on my way to deliver the marketing strategy I developed for one of my clients.  My rental car waits for me to pick it up at the Toronto airport, just like the rental car of the angry guy in front of me, before the attendant leaves for the night at 1am.  My cell phone says 10:30pm.  After a few texts exchanged between me and my new girlfriend, and then a few more between me and my friend, Rashi, who's stranded in New York, it's time to watch a movie.  Seeing the new Star Trek for the 2nd time is perfect.

My previous thoughts had been occupied with typing out and completely establishing the strategy I'll deliver tomorrow.  Now they're all photon torpedoes, Spock and Romulans.  Man, I like that movie (I realize it's the second time I've mentioned it now in an article I've written).  Marketing ideas have left the galaxy.

Two hours later Star Trek concludes.  We still sit in our seats, locked in the plane while rain continues to drip from the clouds to the ground.  Pretty soon other planes start to move.  We don't.  The guy in front of me starts cursing again and tries calling Avis to make a car rental reservation in Hamilton, since the pilot says that we'll be bused in to Toronto.

“You know, I got some great advice from an annoying little french guy a long time ago,” I say to the yellow shirted guy across the aisle, loud enough for Señor “Curse-a-lot” to hear.

“What's that?”

“Theengs weell work aut.  Eets going to be au-k.”  My french imitation needs practice. 

This promotes smiles, and general agreement, and I continue, “It really hit home when I saw his train start to leave before he got all of his bags on board.  First a bag flew off.  Then another bag flew off.  Finally he jumped out with his backpack on, rolling on the platform while the train accelerated and stunned Germans stared.  'I weell take zee next train,' he said calmly.  Ever since then I figure that my travel plans will come together.”

The guy in front of me stops cursing, and the three of us start laughing and talking.  Mission accomplished.  Forty-five minutes later we walk out the plane door, in strict observance of the white lines drawn in exactly right angles on the cement tarmac.  The customs official actually laughs and smiles as I joke with him, allowing me entrance to Canada after a bunch of questions.  Our bags arrive, and passengers of Air Canada Flight 8114 walk out the door into the terminal lobby.  It's 1:15am.

After standing or sitting around for about 15 minutes the remaining passengers realize that no one ever told us what is supposed to happen.  Some of us, including the cursing guy (who got his Avis car) and the yellow-shirted guy, have already left the airport.  The rest try different methods to find out some information from different people who don't know anything at the airport, finally waiting outside for a bus to pull up and take us to Toronto at 2:15am.

The bus arrives at the Toronto airport at 3:15, and I walk, with a tiny speck of hope, to the car rental location.  No one sits behind the Thrifty/Dollar counter.  I'm going to have to get a taxi.  After talking to a couple janitors, who confirm that the guy left at 2am and that I need to get a taxi, I walk back to the taxi sign, and an attendant hails a cab.

Anoup, or “Lolly”, as he says most people call him, is the most interesting cab driver I've ever met.  He's managed an Indian restaurant, wrestled, worked as an engineer, and raised 2 boys with his wife, whom he married 30 minutes after meeting her for the first time.  “How old do you think I am?”  He grins as he turns to look at me, jet-black hair glistening in the glare of passing traffic.  I would have guessed wrong, but his history tells me he must be 60 or so.  He's 61 (and dyes his hair).

The  attendant opens the door for me as I get out of the cab.  I check into my room and then send an email to my clients, asking them if we can push our meeting back to noon, since I've just arrived at 4:15.  Then I send one more email to Vicki to let her know I've arrived.  Sheets and bed feel good.

Rashi's call wakes me up at 5:30am, but I silence it.  My client texts me at 5:55 to ask if 11am is ok.  I agree and go back to sleep until 8:45.  My bleary consciousness decides that food wins over sleep this morning, since dinner last night was a bag of salted cashews.  At 9:15 I head to the hotel restaurant.  After breakfast one more, dangerous, 30 minute nap gets me enough resolve to take a shower before my client arrives to pick me up.

Our meeting goes well.  Turns out that a couple of the company's decision makers got home almost as late as I did the night before.  They struggle to stay awake as my extrovert superpower turns on and we go over the strategy I've prepared.  We discuss all the fine details, agree and finish early after eating some amazing, Montreal beef sandwiches.  I return to the hotel to take a nap for a couple hours, catch up on the rest of my work, help my friend Rashi out, eat dinner and talk to Vicki, before writing. 

A few years ago I screened a movie about these two pastors who started a website called XXXChurch.com to help people addicted to pornography.  In the middle of the movie, one of them exclaims in frustration that he wanted to make a difference, but 95% of his life consists of juggling plane schedules, hotel rooms and long nights on the road, compared to the 5% he spends actually doing what he set out to do.  He quit to do something that made more obvious results while his partner continues on to this day.  Sometimes that's the way life goes.

Star Trek didn't give me any marketing ideas.  All the delays made me way more tired than I would have been had a thunderstorm not altered my plans.  But my clients made progress toward their goals of growing their business, and I met some interesting people and completed the purpose of my trip ahead of schedule. 

None of those things will make you sell more books or write more world-changing words.  You always have the choice to choose frustration or joy as the storm rages all around you.  Even if you choose a good attitude, you'll still face your impending task with more weariness than you thought yourself able to bear.  If it's worth doing you'll find a way to persevere long enough until things work out.  Just like my French friend told me long ago.  “Eets going to be au-k.”

Read About Peter Nevland

Wizard of Ads’ clients continue to grow, and that makes us pretty bullish on the coming year. Late last year, the Wizard of Ads Partners began to travel North America teaching 2-day marketing workshops to business owners. After sold-out crowds in Nashville and Denver, we’re coming to Toronto on May 4th and 5th, that's next week, and we’re bringing our love for the sticky impact and cost effectiveness of advertising with us.

 

As you also may know, tuition to events like these at Wizard Academy in Austin, Texas, runs well over $1000 or more, but we are only charging a $99 CDN per person OOP fee (ounce of prevention) for the two day event.

 

We'd actually do it for free if we could but many years of experience in hosting free public seminars has taught us that nearly 50% of all people who schedule, fail to show up. This wouldn’t be a problem except that it forces us to begin turning applicants away as soon as the number of registrants exceeds the 72 seats in our auditorium. Additionally, it causes us to order way too many refreshments. Our solution is to collect a $99 OOP fee. Register - show up – enjoy the course. Those who register and then don’t show up, forfeit the money and get nothing for it. We’re hoping the $99 OOP fee will cause people to think a little harder before they casually activate their “save me a spot” option.

 

For the Wizards On The Road events we want to fill the room with business owners, but radio folks tend to keep showing up for training. I guess they like what we have to say. So here's the deal, rather than bar entry to radio station personnel we are inviting them to attend with a business owner or manager or two or seven.  All will receive a wealth of valuable tools and actionable insights.
 

Our website www.wizardsontheroad.com that has more of the pertinent information.



Please join us for this journey to knowledge and action in Toronto.

Read About Steve Rae

As a marketing consultant, writer, and presenter, I am often asked how I "stay on top" of all I have to do on a daily basis.

I’ve read my share of books and articles on time management and have tried various systems and electronic alternatives.  But they all seem just, well… so complicated.  I always end up returning to my tried and true process, which involves the basics of pen and paper.

Here’s what I do to not only stay organized but also overcome that dreaded feeling of being overwhelmed:

1.  Determine Your Life Categories.  I have created a set of six “categories” or roles in my life under which tasks can be listed.  My life categories happen to be:

- Personal
- Family/Friend
- Business Owner
- Advertising/Marketing Consultant
- Writer
- Speaker

I would recommend no more than six categories – you can certainly have less.  Your categories will be different from mine, but remember that you need at least ONE personal category.  If you’re not giving time to your personal life, you’re not living in balance.

2.  Purge Your Brain.  Once a week (usually on the weekend), I spend 15 minutes purging my brain of all the thoughts and tasks that literally haunt me.  I create a free-flow list of all tasks, to-do’s and worries that play pinball inside my head.  If I were to leave them there, they would eventually clog all neural pathways and anxiety would cause me to implode.  Try making a free-flow list.  Don’t worry about getting organized - just get the list out of your head.  More often than not, you’ll discover that what you’re writing down is less significant and more manageable on paper than it was inside your head.

3.  Make Your Weekly List.  I then spend 5-10 minutes going through my latest “purge” list to determine what are the most important achievable tasks ONLY for the coming week.  I mark them with an asterisk, then list them under whichever “category” they best fit.  I usually put no more than 3-4 things per category; otherwise the list is unachievable and ends up leaving me overwhelmed.  

Looking at my week on a calendar, I schedule time in for “appointments” - exercise, phone calls, meetings, and time for family.  The week is then laid out before me and I can see which days have more “work time” blocks as opposed to “appointment” blocks.  This helps me determine how many tasks to assign to each day ahead.

4.  Create A Daily List.  Each evening, I sit down for 5 minutes and create a “daily” list of what is to be accomplished the next day.   My “appointments” are already scheduled, so I know exactly how much time I have for that day and can prioritize (from my weekly list) exactly what needs to be done.  By creating the daily list the night before, I can go to sleep without worrying (too much) about what needs to be done and I wake up with a plan in place for the day.

What kind of tool should you use to make this system work?  I use a large Moleskine notebook, divided by Post-It Notes into three sections.  The first third of my notebook is used to write down my ongoing “purge” lists, the middle third for my “weekly” lists, and the last third for “daily” lists.

I have also used a loose-leaf calendar system with paper in the back for “purge” and “weekly” lists, and a daily calendar in the front with room for plugging in appointments and making daily lists.

Give this basic system a try.  It may not be as fancy or complex as Getting Things Done, but it's great for "getting things out of your head."  And it just might be enough to alleviate anxiety, helping you achieve all you’re capable of achieving.
 

Read About Michele Miller

I was invited to give an "after dinner speech" at the Camden Tennessee Chamber of Commerce. As usual I opened with a couple of funny stories then began my speech from my book How to Get Big Results From a Small Ad Budget.  I opened with the story below, and It got a big laugh, which helped me get off to a very good start.

A man and his wife were going to spend a week in Florida. The only problem was their schedules caused them to take different flights. The man ended up in Florida one day before his wife. He gets checked in and goes to his room to find that the have a computer and Internet. He types an email to his wife but mistakenly sends it to someone else just by typing 1 letter wrong.

A lady in Houston Texas just got back from her husband's funeral. She pulls up her email expecting emails from loved ones. She screams at the one:

Subject: To my dearest wife.

Hello. I know you did not expect to hear from me but they have computers here to send emails to love ones. I'm all checked in and everything. I'm looking forward to your arrival tomorrow.

PS. it's FREAKING hot down here!!!


 I had three points, and this was my intro:

"I wrote an ASB article titled, "Are We Headed For Stagflation?" In it I said:

The small business owner must do some things they don't want to do to cope with these difficult times coming.

1. One thing that we can do is: make more $'s than we spend. 

2. Build better relationships with customers.
 
3. The small business owner can't do anything much about world events but there is something he/she can do. Every week for 3-5 hours take off your running the business hat and put on your marketing the business hat".

Michele Miller, co-author of The Soccer Mom Myth and Marketing to Women, and a brilliant Wizard of Ads Partner, wrote me and said, “It's an excellent article, Clay!  One thing I think you could do to parlay that article out, is to take each of the 3 points you make and write an article on that point alone."

I did, and it became three chapters in my book.

An unexpected thing happened in Camden Tennessee though. This next part I meant to be serious, but the audience started chuckiling then laughing, then the roared when I finished. I said, "Boy, I must have hit a nerve here."  I am thankful to the business owners in Camden Tennessee as they helped me to find some humor in a serious situation.

The point I was making was about better customer relationships. Here is what I said:

"Things to do to build Better Customer Relationships:


1.    Send a nice hand-written thank you note. Nothing beats this for building better customer relationships.

2.    Sit down with a pencil and paper and think of five of your favorite businesses. The ones you just love to buy from. Next try to analyze what is you like about that place. Next, figure a way to treat your customers like that! It sounds corny but "do unto others like you would want them to do to you".

3.    Remember their name and that of their family members if possible.

4.    Have a database that includes their birthday. Send them a happy birthday card.

NEXT is the part where they laughed:

5.    Always speak in a positive way about positive things when in polite conversation with your customers.

Leave out the bad economy, employees that don't do a good job. How hard it is to find good help.
The high price of gas. Your divorce, your bankruptcy, your kids on drugs, the employee you fired for stealing, your pastor that was having an affair with the church secretary, and the high taxes you must pay.

I concluded with:

My Dad always said, Boy, "If you ain't got nothin' good to say about somethin' then keep you mouth shut."

I believe good humor always has a ring of truth to it.

Whether you think it's funny or very serious; it's true.



 

Read About Clay Campbell

I was on the Yahoo home page and saw this news report. I figured that since  the media has made a mountain out of a molehill, in regard to the recession that's not really a recession; this article may help some business that are having difficulty. 

Since I advise small businesses owners all the time with a very small budget, I thought this might be an easy and inexpensive fix.

Just get a cat at the local animal shelter, put a hat on the feline, then allow the customers take pictures, and then just wait for the stampede!!

You can see for yourself below it's working great for the Train Company that was on the wrong track.

Assoiated Press
TOKYO - Tama, a nine-year-old female cat, wearing a stationmaster cap and a neck sign reading: 'Super Stationmaster Tama' rests at Kishi Station in western Japanese city of Kinokawa Friday, May 16, 2008. The money-losing Japanese train company Wakayama Electric Railway Co. has found the purr-fect pet mascot to draw crowds and bring back business — tabby Tama.

All Tama does is sit by the entrance of the station, wearing the black cap, posing for photos for tourists, now flocking in droves from across the nation.

People take photos of "Tama", a nine-year-old female tortoiseshell cat wearing a formal stationmaster's cap of the Wakayama Electric Railway.  The feline sits on a ticket gate at Kishi station on the Kishigawa line in the city of Kinokawa. Wearing a stationmaster's cap of Wakayama Electric Railway, the nine-year-old female tortoiseshell cat named "Tama" sits on a ticket gate at Kishi station on the Kishigawa line in the city of Kinokawa, in Wakayama prefecture.

Tama has been doing such a good job of raising revenue for the troubled Kishikawa train line that she was recently promoted to "super-station-master."

Read About Clay Campbell

I had a fun conversation with Wizard of Ads Partner, Michele Miller today. Her WonderBranding class is scheduled for October 30 & 31. There may still be room. Read about it and register at WizardAcademy.org.

In this week's podcast, we talk about marketing to women and what students will take away from the class. We talk about the magic of Wizard Academy. Can you say "strategic creativity?" And, we talk about how to get the most out of a client-consultant relationship.

Read About David Young