Tag Archives: Generation Y

Step into the Ring with the Trauma Fighter

Joe Swafford is not your traditional entrepreneur, if there even is such a thing. He still has, and loves, his full time career at Carolinas Healthcare System, where he is a Peer Support Specialist for the Mindy Ellen Levine Behavioral Health Center. He is also a full time hustler, squeezing every second he can out of each day to pursue his passion of helping others. His company, Trauma Fighter, has been growing like crazy lately, yet he still finds time to juggle it all. On top of all this there is his favorite role of them all: devoted father and family man. Where does he find the time to make it all work? Let’s find out.

Trauma Fighter has evolved quite a bit since I started it. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that whatever you start out thinking you’re going to do rarely is the case in reality. You plan for things to go a certain way and then they can change on you in an instant. Because of this I always try to keep an open mind and pursue opportunities as they come.

In the beginning I thought I was only going to do public speaking engagements. That’s how I started at least. Fortunately, they have all been very well received, and because of that so many other doors have opened up to me. Speaking is still a huge part of what I do of course, but now I also spend a great deal of my time teaching classes at AHEC and for private companies, as well as providing life coaching sessions to a select group of individual clients.

I’ve been very blessed in that the more of these things I do, the more opportunities keep presenting themselves. I’ve not only presented at large conferences at my company, but have now worked with large organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District among others.

The cool thing about the growth I’ve experienced so far is that it’s been done solely by word of mouth. I haven’t really done any advertising or marketing yet. Most of my clients have heard me speak, took one of my classes, or were referred to me by someone else that had. Currently I discuss topics like mental health, depression, and anti-bullying, however I am always thinking of new angles and approaches to reach my audience and help them any way I can.

One rule I live by is that I always reflect and think about how I can fit my dreams into my family? It’s never the other way around, I work around my family always. One way I make that work is that my ride home from work now doubles as a business meeting every single day. I have a very long commute, so my car has become my office.

There is certainly no set protocol yet to what I’m doing and I’m not following anyone’s rule-book but my own. I do what feels right and figure out the rest out as I go. Eventually I know that I’m going to have to implement more structured policies, but for now it has been working great. One specific example relates to my pricing structure, being flexible on this has allowed me to test and validate what my market rate is. I find that for some opportunities my price is way too high even when I think I’m quoting a lower rate than normal, while others think it’s low and a bargain for the value they get. I know I miss out on some things here and there but that’s part of the deal.

To continue growing the company I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can and I even started dabbling with things like social media. I tend to be long-winded so Twitter hasn’t been the best platform for me. Facebook on the other hand has been working really well, and the data it provides has been extremely helpful as I test what works. It’s very important for me to engage with my audience wherever they’re at. I recently purchased a GoPro and launched a weekly video series called Trauma Fighter Tuesday. It seems to be working really well as with each post I reach new people that I didn’t know, and not only are they befriending me, but they’re also reaching out to learn more about what I do and asking for help.

There are plenty of great speakers and teachers out there, so in order to differentiate myself I’ve really had to be open about my background and share stories that are often painful to relive. This is often the source of a lot of fear and anxiety for me, but I know that doing this is a big part of my purpose and calling. Knowing and accepting this has led me to launch one of my scariest projects yet that I’ve been putting off for years: writing a book. I started working with a ghost writer to assist me with it and we’re planning to launch it by the end of the year so stay tuned.

Being an entrepreneur has a lot of ups and downs, but when you’re truly living your purpose and feel passionately about what you’re doing it makes it all worth it. I know I have a lot to learn yet and have plenty of room to grow, but when you discover that you were able to impact even just one life it’s such a rewarding feeling that you have no choice but to push on and keep fighting.

Joe can be reached via his website, Facebook page, or by email at [email protected].

WIMS: Where is Mike Simmons?!

To say that the 1^st quarter plus of 2016 has been intense would be an understatement! WIMS Consulting has been in full-on hyper growth mode with lots of incredible new clients and projects currently underway and several others in the pipeline as well. While I’m extremely grateful and would never complain about that, one downside has been that The WIMS Guide has fallen off a bit.

Luckily, thanks to lessons learned from Tim Ferris and The 4-Hour Workweek this will no longer be the case due to a technique called “batching.” Essentially that means that I’ve been writing several posts simultaneously so that I can build up an inventory in advance to keep them going regularly. Between my personal posts and the stacked roster of diverse guest writers I’ve been recruiting there is going to be a lot of great content coming your way.

Now, back to my original question of “Where is Mike Simmons?!”

Over the past few months I’ve been extremely focused on growing the business. Landing new clients in my home base of Charlotte has been a significant priority, and so far this year has already been exceeding expectations as I’m now working with companies here varying from startups to multi-billion dollar entities and everything in between.

I’ve also been fortunate enough to be able to do quite a bit of traveling, my business trip to Miami last month was very successful as it remains a key component of my growth strategy. Maintaining my footprint there means a great deal to me and fortunately my existing relationships continue to bring new opportunities.

The California trip was primarily for vacation, however expanding the business there is another 2016 goal of mine and it looks very promising. In addition, as New York remains the holy grail of markets, I’m thrilled to have landed an amazing client there too, which I will elaborate on further when the time is right.

While some of the current projects remain confidential, I at least wanted to share some details about a few of them.

Nimbus – A payment processing platform based in Charlotte. It’s currently available online, via iOS mobile application (soon on Android as well), and it’s compatible with PC/Mac. You can process credit card payments on your phone by taking a picture so a swiper is no longer needed, it also processes ACH, Apple/Android Pay and other alternative methods as well. Rates start at 2.25% (best rates available) and will decrease automatically based on transaction volume. It also has an open API, allowing other applications and platforms to integrate it into their own systems to process payments. Pretty cool stuff and that’s just the beginning of what it can offer.

SalesFuel – This is a really interesting concept that I’m excited about collaborating on. I recently partnered with a South Florida based company called On the Ball/SalesFuel which is a business development firm that works with organizations’ sales team to get them meetings with the C-Level suite. We’re building a team that will span across the country and already beginning to work with some amazing companies.

Golf Squad – In a business world where sales and lead generation strategies are rapidly evolving, one approach continues to remain extremely effective: the game of golf. The Golf Squad Corporate Program was created to pursue the mission of formally blending the golf and business worlds together. Each program is led by a PGA professional and operations currently exist in over a dozen states and counting.

Ok, that’s enough of the shameless plugs for now but I wanted to provide some additional insight into what I’ve been up to, along with a snapshot of some of the companies I’ve been working with.

I will start wrapping up with a lesson I’m currently learning the hard way. Most of the talk about being an entrepreneur focuses on how difficult it is to get new clients and business. That is certainly true, but what seems to be discussed less often is the great challenge it is to service them and implement afterwards which is at least as equally important. To be frank the balancing act is a full on struggle and I’ve certainly been experiencing growing pains. Because of that I’ve been working on building the team, so any referrals in that regard would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly, as always I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, insights, etc. so please feel free to reach out and let me know what you think!

MOMPRENEURSHIP

Ten months ago, I became a mom for the first time. Four months after that, my second baby was born. I know the math seems kind of weird, but that’s because the second baby was my Etsy store, Casa Confetti. Yes, I started a business with a four-month-old. Yes, it’s been CRAZY. It has also been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and although I’m still learning to juggle motherhood and entrepreneurship (a.k.a. mompreneurship), I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way. Maybe this will inspire some of you who are on the fence to take the plunge and join me on this crazy journey. Come over to the dark side. We have cookies. And milk (of a different kind).

Identify a need and carve out your niche.

I started designing invitations and printables while planning my wedding, when I decided to save some money by making my own welcome cards and favor tags. But it wasn’t until I was pregnant with my son and planning my baby shower that I really hit my stride. I had become seriously obsessed with finding the perfect baby shower invitations, and no matter how hard I looked I just didn’t see anything that fit my style. I finally got so exasperated that I decided to design my own. Without realizing it at the time, I had found my niche!

Know your market.

By the time that I decided to take the plunge and start Casa Confetti, I was pretty much an expert in the Etsy printable invitation market. I knew what search terms yielded what kinds of results because I had run so many searches myself, which allowed me to tailor my product descriptions in order to maximize views. I knew what other Etsy stores charged for their products. And I had identified the major players in the printables market, because I had seen their names pop up in searches over and over again. A little more research into the nuts and bolts of setting up an Etsy store and I was ready to go. But I can’t stress how important doing this kind of background research is – you’ve got to know your market! And studying the habits of other, successful entrepreneurs is a must.

You can’t do it all, and that’s okay.

Being a mom is a 24/7 job. Being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 job. So, yes, a lot of the time it feels like I’m trying to squeeze 48 hours into a 24-hour day. And I don’t really know how to do it. It means that a lot of the time, a lot of things don’t get done. And that’s ok.

As a mompreneur, you need to be realistic. Everything takes about ten times as long to do with a child. Of course I wish I could sit in a quiet space designing invitations all day, but that’s not an option with a tiny tyrant around. Instead, I work with what I have. Coming up with a new, original design takes lots of time and energy, so once I do one, I make tiny edits and squeeze out about ten different variations from it. It becomes a baby shower invitation, a birthday party invitation, and a bridal shower invitation. I make a few minor changes and, voila! Three additional products.

My best-selling items are baby shower and first birthday invitations, because that’s what I know best. It makes me happy to work with customers who are in the same life stage as me, so I try to stick with that. Eventually I’d like to break into weddings, but for now, I like where I am. Which brings me to my next point.

Love where you are.

The flexibility that being your own boss affords you is invaluable when you’re a mom. Even if I have to work until 2 a.m. to fulfill my orders from that day, and then wake up at 7 a.m. when my husband brings my crying baby to the bed, the fact that I can be there for the little things makes all the difference in the world. I can put off orders for an hour to take my son to the park. I am hyper-diligent about getting orders out almost as soon as they’re received, so that if my son, Levi, is having a bad day, I can afford to spend time with him and cut myself some slack.

Any entrepreneur can tell you that starting your own business is full of highs and lows. Some days I feel like I don’t even have time to breathe. I’ll be bombarded with orders and questions from potential buyers, and I find myself questioning how in the world I’ll get it all done. Other days are slower, and having Levi there as a constant makes it easier to ride out these lows. I’ll start to feel down on myself for not being at the level where I feel like I should be, but then I remember that part of the appeal of this job is having time to spend with my baby. If I can do that and still make money, then it’s going as well as I could ever hope.

Don’t sell yourself short.

Even before I had Levi, the question started popping up in almost every conversation: “So, are you going back to work?” The truth is that at first I didn’t know the answer. I knew that I didn’t want to work full-time, but if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t sure that I was willing to go the full-on, stay-at-home-mom route either. Motherhood had given me this crazy surge of courage. I firmly believe that the best gift you can give your child is a happy mom. So I got to getting happy.

At first when people asked me if I was back at work, I’d get embarrassed and kind of mutter under my breath, “No, just staying at home.” But I wasn’t JUST staying at home! I was working 24 hours a day! I had started a business and had already had more sales than I could have ever anticipated. So I’d quietly add, “Oh you know, it’s no big deal, I just started a little Etsy store on the side. It’s silly.” But then my store started taking off, and I started to feel immensely proud of my store and my ability. I realized that I had been selling myself short – if I were a man, I’d have been introducing myself as a CEO. So why as a woman was I “just a mom?” Once I changed my attitude, I started feeling so much more fulfilled and empowered. I get to spend time with my son and still make more than I was earning as a lawyer. As everyone says, the key to having it all is realizing that you already do!

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Gaby Abrams is the owner of Casa Confetti Party Designs on Etsy and a stay-at-home mom to Levi (10 months old). She lives in New York City with her husband, Jake. Prior to having a baby and starting Casa Confetti, Gaby worked as a lawyer. Follow Gaby on Instagram at @casaconfettishop or email her at [email protected].

The BEST Approach to get Media Coverage for Your Business

Most entrepreneurs and small businesses do not have the budget to shell out high dollars for paid advertisements to promote their services. Instead, they need to rely on cost effective or free ways to get their message out. The same is true for public relations professionals who are tasked with gaining publicity and raising awareness for their organization. While their marketing and advertising colleagues often have a nice chunk of change to spend on ads or partnerships that promise coverage, the majority of the publicity the public relations team brings in is done with little or no cost.

I’d like to share what I have found to be one of the most successful methods of getting a news outlet to talk about your work and demonstrate how you can do the same for your business. It all comes down to identifying a great story and crafting the perfect pitch. Media with CHS 2

Make your pitch a story and not a commercial

My first tip is the most important. Do NOT make your pitch a commercial. No one is interested in how wonderful and intelligent your product is. If your pitch goes on and on about why everyone needs to buy this product or how great of a business person you are, it will get thrown in the trash, along with your reputation.

The best way to promote your business is to dig a little deeper and find a real life example that clearly illustrates why something is news worthy. This will take more effort on your part but it will make all the difference in whether or not you get coverage, and ultimately, the story that comes out will resonate with your target audience much better than an expensive commercial.

Find the essential “characters” for your pitch

Your pitch needs to focus around the main character. This should be someone who is not affiliated with your business; such as a customer or a client. If you are promoting a product or a service, find someone who uses it on their own (meaning they are not getting paid to do so) and who genuinely has a positive experience with it. Your pitch will highlight their experience and what led them to use your service/product and the difference it has made on their life.

Secondly, you need an expert; whether it’s yourself or a designated spokesperson for your company. This role is to discuss how the service or product benefitted your main character. They should also discuss what they personally did to help this person and what their work means to the community. This role does not include showing off, gloating or trying to steal the spotlight.

Is there a conflict and resolution?

In order to have a story, your main character needs to have a conflict that your expert has solved by his/her service or product. In addition, you need to make the case that this is something that can help all of the reporter’s audience as well. It can’t be something that will only benefit one person.

Once you have your two main characters, the conflict and the resolution, you can plug your information into a simple format. I’m going to coach you through this format using a recent story I worked on that resulted in coverage for one of my clients, Dr. Oleg Tcheremissine. Claire and the Oosterhuis's

Introduction of main character

Example: Peter Oosterhuis, a former golf pro and CBS sports commentator, is incredibly popular and respected among his peers, fans, and family. He has a long and storied career in golf and is known best for defeating golf legends such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

Describe the Conflict

Recently, Peter and his wife began to notice lapses in his memory and professionalism. He struggled with everyday tasks and was growing increasingly frustrated with the mental changes he was experiencing.

Introduction of your expert

Peter went to go see a doctor in Texas. The doctor diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s disease; and suggested that he go to Charlotte where the experts there would be the best to treat him. Peter went to Charlotte where he began seeing Dr. Oleg Tcheremissine, who enrolled him in a groundbreaking clinical trial.

Resolution

While we don’t know if Peter is receiving the actual drug or a placebo in the trial, he and his wife are on a mission to raise awareness and funding for the treatment and research of Alzheimer’s disease. They want to let others know that this trial is significant for the development of a drug that may ultimately lead to a cure for this devastating disease.

Impact- Why should anyone care?

Alzheimer’s can happen to anyone- even the greatest athletes like Peter. The more we talk about this disease, the better the chances of finding a cure. Everyone in Charlotte would appreciate that the world’s best doctors and researchers are located in their backyard and should they or a loved one ever need treatment for Alzheimer’s, they won’t have to go anywhere else.

Results:

WCNC, the NBC affiliate in Charlotte, covered this story and ran it during their nightly news cast.

The Alzheimer’s Association shared this story as a message of hope and education for all of the patients and caregivers that follow their YouTube Channel.

Peter’s story remains one of the most viewed on the Carolinas HealthCare System’s Daily Dose blog, which is followed by thousands of people in North and South Carolina.

The Charlotte Observer did an in depth piece on Peter and his wife and describes the clinical trial that has the potential to delay the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

B-Roll

To provide an additional incentive to reporters, you must find b-roll to support your story. According to the Content Marketing Institute, b-roll is the extra footage captured to enrich the story you’re telling. Instead of featuring only talking heads on video, you want to include additional video footage, still photographs, animation or other graphic elements.

In the case of Peter’s story, we reached out to the Quail Hollow Golf Course who allowed us access to film Peter playing golf there, we supplied reporters with old photographs of Peter and his wife and coordinated with Dr. Tcheremissine at the neurology clinic to film a checkup with Peter. Those visuals really made the story come to life and allowed the viewer to see what it was like to experience what Peter was going through.

Fact Sheet

If you are pitching a story idea to the media, it is your responsibility to know your topic inside and out and you must be able to teach the reporter about it. Often times, the expert may be so advanced they don’t break down the information in an easy to understand way; so the reporter will often rely on you to explain it to them. Or if you are doing the interview yourself, you must absolutely be prepared for every potential question they can ask you. Plus, reporters are on tight deadlines so they don’t often have the time to research each topic. This is where you can be a huge help to them. I like to supply reporters with a fact sheet before and after each interview with suggested questions, key messages, and data. You can even go as far as to write the story for them and supply quotes, photos and links for more information.

Recently I worked on a story about a young woman who got married in her father’s hospital room just days before he passed away. A reporter with People Magazine was at the airport so couldn’t be there in person- so I took photos for her and provided as much information as I could so she could write her story.

Share and Follow Up

Now that you put in all that work to get your story in the spotlight, it’s time to share it! Post the link on social media, your company’s YouTube page, and email your family, friends, and contacts. When the share the coverage with their networks, it gets even more exposure! Plus, it’s a great way to build relationships with everyone involved and if the experience was positive, it will be that much easier to work with that reporter on another story in the future. When reporter Lena Sun with The Washington Post covered the behavioral health integration model, we shared the link and connected with Lena on Twitter to immediately to promote the story, which resulted in greater exposure of the report and our behavioral health team.

Conclusion

According to research done by Paul Zak and his team at the University of California, Berkeley, stories “shape our brains, tie strangers together and move us to be more empathic and generous.” These are all the emotions we should try to evoke when reaching out to our target audiences. Anything less than that and they will change the channel, skip over the story, and stop engaging with you. I encourage you to put on your own reporter hat and ask questions to find that great story that will resonate with reporters and audiences to ultimately help you achieve your goal- showcasing the great work of you/your company and getting your audience to respond and connect with you.

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Claire Simmons is with the clinical public relations team at Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, N.C. She is responsible for developing strategic communications initiatives and coordinating public relations activities for women and children’s services, behavioral health and neurosciences. Claire develops and manages annual communications plans that promote new programs, facilities, services and other activities for her various clinical specialties. As a former news producer and reporter, Claire’s favorite aspect of her work revolves around telling stories that connect with the community while promoting her clients. Connect with Claire on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].

The WIMS Guide Pivot

I originally launched my blog, The WIMS Guide a little over a year now, and have been writing sporadically ever since. I mostly receive positive feedback with each post, which is nice, but to be brutally honest with myself it wasn’t going anywhere. And to keep doing it in that perpetually half-assed manner is just not in my nature. So I made it a point to redo the blog in order to breathe new life into and to tweak the approach as well. Here’s a brief overview of the concept, let me know what you think and perhaps even go one step further – and actually subscribe.

Now I read a ton daily, not just books but lots of blogs and how-to articles like “The Top X Things to Improve Your Y” type stuff. A lot of them are just subtly trying to sell you stuff, and usually they’re written by some intern but placed under the by-line of a famous entrepreneur or a partner at a large firm who most likely didn’t even read it before posting (I know this because I used to and still write for some).

I’m not just trying to bash Inc., Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Elite Daily, etc. of the world as a lot of their content is quality. However so much of what’s out there is the same. Its lessons learned, tips to keep in mind, success stories from people who have already made it. At times I love reading them of course, but other times I’d prefer a different approach and angle.

So, rather than focus solely on the destination, I want to create content that focuses more on the journey. I want stories, insights, and life hacks from the people who are still in the trenches, scratching and clawing their way to success but haven’t quite made it yet. I want to read the words of the hungry hustlers and learn what they’re doing on a daily basis to achieve their goals.

We live in a world today that anyone can realistically become a pseudo-celebrity. With the compounding nature of our social networks, any one of you can create a massive following and loyal audience. I want The WIMS Guide to help enable that, not by only writing content myself, but with A LOT of help from my friends.

I’ve enlisted the help from members of my network, spanning across an extremely diverse range of backgrounds and expertise. The content will be primarily geared towards entrepreneurship and ways to enhance the daily grind in the lives of young professionals but with an occasional curve ball thrown in there to keep you on your toes.

We’re going to have entrepreneurs, consultants, health care professionals, bloggers, MBA students, lawyers, bankers, accountants, real estate brokers, investors, and on and on. The main goal is to provide an outlet to empower and raise each other up rather than focusing so much on celebrity entrepreneurs that we don’t even know.

If you have a compelling story you’d like to share, or know someone that does please send an email to [email protected] with an overview of the concept. If you’re not a writer but want to share your thoughts on the concept, I’d love to hear that too.

Finally, to end with a shameless plug: please make sure to subscribe and share!

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The New WIMS Inc: Putting In-House Marketing Departments on Notice

Unlike my typical blog posts, this one is certainly going to piss people off, including current and former colleagues, friends, clients, and prospects. While I usually try to avoid that, I can’t any longer as some things just need to be said. Change can be a scary and complicated thing, but there’s just a better way to do business and it’s nothing personal.

Now, the trend of outsourcing is far from a new or innovative concept. Yet companies like professional services firms continue to allocate extremely high budgets of $500,000-$1,000,000 and often much more to their in-house marketing departments. They do this despite the fact that they could spend a fraction of the cost while simultaneously getting significantly better service and results.

Regardless if you prefer to keep your team in house or to use a consulting firm, one thing is constant in either case, you need to DEMAND to see ROI. There are some advantages to keeping the team in-house I’ll admit that, but you should at least be able to make an apples to apples comparison between both approaches.

The way to do that is ROI, the objective metric that evens out all playing fields. I’ve seen many CMO’s apply the “smoke and mirrors” strategy year after year. They avoid accountability by overlooking past failures while waving the amazing, shiny new “marketing strategy” that they’re going to deploy this year. This is often just the old strategy repackaged to appear new however. CEO’s looking to avoid conflict accept it as a cost of doing business and then proceed to kick the can further down the road.

Now while there are plenty of exceptions, as there always are when dealing with people, there’s something I’ve often observed in the corporate world, I call it the “comfort theory.” Essentially, when you’re paying someone a predictable and stable salary it inherently allows most people to start cutting corners and reducing the quality of their work because they can get away with it. Not only is there a reduced quality of work, but why subsidize employee’s internet browsing time and social media addiction when you can just pay for the work that’s actually done. Besides, I doubt they’re going to give you a cut of their fantasy football winnings despite squandering hours a week of your time managing their team.

Don’t just take my word for it, conduct your own experiment and see for yourself. The next time you’re in a meeting with your marketing department demand more out of them or suggest changes, and watch the level of pushback, reluctance, and resistance you get. On the contrary call a consultant about a new project idea and watch them passionately geek out about all the possibilities.

I understand the comfort of familiarity and the status quo believe me, but is it really worth spending $50,000-100,000 on a salary for someone to just write an occasional blog post or article, blankly stare at a twitter feed, or create an occasional ad. You can get the same result or better for a tenth of the cost in many cases.

As another experiment, this Friday afternoon say around 3pm, take a walk around your building and see how empty the offices and cubicles are. The mentality of being an employee and working for your boss vs. being a client and working for your business partner can’t be compared. Working with independent contractors that need your business takes the quality of work to another level. They are mini-CEOs trying to better their lives, they’re not just punching a clock while desperately waiting to leave the office early on Friday afternoon. They’re the ones working at midnight on a Saturday because they’re hungry and ambitious.

You create the best work when you absolutely need to, like when writing a paper the night before it’s due. There’s something about having your life depending on it that generates this hyper-focus of productivity. Imagine having a team of people producing this kind of work every day because that’s how they approach their live, very deliberately.

Typical counter-arguments for in-house departments include things like, “oh but we know the brand so well,” or “what if someone urgently needs a brochure for a sales call?” It may not be a popular sentiment, but people are easily replaceable. We work with various brand guidelines all the time and pick them up very quickly. Also, I’ve seen countless desks with stacks of brochures piled high collecting dust, as much as marketers may try to convince you otherwise, your beautiful brochure is not what’s going to win you new business, relationships are.

Perhaps this post is like that old “Magician’s Greatest Secrets Revealed” show where the masked magician showed you how the tricks were really done and made a lot of magicians extremely angry. If you’re feeling that way right now I hope you take this opportunity to step your game up and prove me wrong.

Changing a decades long mindset of keeping marketing teams in-house is going to require evolution and a rebuilding process, but there’s definitely hope. It will force people to BE BETTER. Think about the Golden State Warriors a few years ago. They were very bad, but they had some decent and promising players, they stuck to their long-term plan to build their team, make a few strategic moves and then a few years later they won a championship. The metaphor is very relative in business as well.

For the sake of full transparency, this long-winded blog post has the additional goal of announcing the new WIMS, Inc. We now offer a complete suite of marketing, CRM, and business development services that are provided for literally a fraction of the total cost you’re paying for your entire marketing department. By leveraging strategic partnerships and a deep team of independent contractors we are now able to offer literally any marketing service, and to any size firm in any industry. If you’re interested in video, we can develop the content, build an entire distribution network, and even create your own online channel. If audio is your thing, we can help with the creation, publishing, and promotion of your own radio show and/or podcast. If you need a website, an ad campaign, online content creation, or social media network, whatever it is you’re looking for, we can help facilitate.

Give us a call or send us an email and we’ll be happy to provide you with a FREE consultation to see if our companies would be a good fit to work together. Part of building strong long-term relationships includes occasionally offering some free advice, which we do happily. What do you have to lose by at least evaluating whether it’s worth pursuing a potential 6-figure a year cost reduction in your marketing expenses?

Cut Your Teeth

Little did I know when I first heard this rather graphic and cringe-worthy phrase how literal it could be. If you haven’t heard it before, this will explain it for you.

But first to quickly digress, after receiving such positive and encouraging feedback from my post last week (if you haven’t read it yet, you can check it out here) I figured why not tell another embarrassing and self-depreciating yet important lesson learned story. That being said, if you want more of these types of posts please let me know, and on the contrary if you’d rather me go back to providing more practical marketing/entrepreneurial advice I can accommodate that as well, regardless I’d love to hear your thoughts! Now back to the story.

A couple months ago on a Friday evening, I had just arrived to Miami for a business trip. I had driven about 11 hours straight on limited sleep as it is after a few late nights working. Needless to say, I was extremely relieved to arrive at my best friend’s place where I was staying that first night and immediately poured a glass of wine after walking through the door. I didn’t even make it through the first glass before getting up to walk to the bathroom. But on the way, disaster struck!

Somehow out of nowhere I fainted, falling face first into his granite sink and literally cut my tooth in half, while chipping several others, and bit through my lip. To add insult to injury my limp body subsequently collapsed into a kitty litter box, which thankfully at least had recently been cleaned out. I came to a few minutes later laying in the litter box, and lots of blood all over me. For full disclosure’s sake, the picture above is not of me, my accident looked much worse.

Luckily my friend and his girlfriend were there to help clean me up, and get me back to the couch where I promptly received 1950’s era medical treatment, i.e. a towel, a bag of ice, and aspirin. Of course I didn’t have health insurance at the time (nor dental) so I essentially had to just suck it up. That’s one of the trade-offs you have to sometimes make when going from a corporate gig to becoming an entrepreneur.

I spent the rest of the weekend sleeping, recovering, and mulling over whether or not to just head home with my tail between my legs and finish recovering with my fiancé in the comforts of my own home. Considering I can be a little vain, and didn’t want people to see me looking like that, I came very close to making that decision. Not to mention I had a feeling my reputation as a partier would generally be considered the culprit for my accident, and I wanted to avoid the condescending, “uh huh, sure that’s how it happened…” comments that would likely ensue.

Obviously, I didn’t make what in hindsight would’ve been a very poor decision or I wouldn’t be telling you this story now. Come Monday morning I decided that despite how much pain I was in, and how bad my face looked, I needed to rally and make the best of the trip.

As an entrepreneur you don’t have the luxury of taking a paid sick day. I knew I desperately needed to close business while I was there so I mustered all the courage I could, bought a BIG bottle of ibuprofen, and got to work.

An hour after making this decision I got a call about an opportunity I hadn’t even anticipated with a potential dream client. Since I was still in town I was able to make some moves, and ended up landing it! That client then led to another big opportunity with another client in Miami as well. Not to mention I was still able to attend the HYPE Awards with an interesting yet lisp-y story to tell.

Not only does being an entrepreneur, or any professional for that matter, require skill, intelligence, and hard work, but it also requires a little grit and relentless determination as well. The easier and comfortable decision is always to give up and call it a day, but that’s not what’s going to make you successful. Sometimes you have to learn by figuratively cutting your teeth, and sometimes it takes literally cutting them to learn what you’re capable of.

Why My Fantasy Football Obsession Makes me a Better Business Man

Despite the current negative climate surrounding the NFL I’m still an avid fantasy football enthusiast. That being said, the focus of this post isn’t related to that unfortunate side of game, rather it’s designed to discuss some of the parallels between playing fantasy football and the business world, and how skills acquired and enhanced via the former can help improve those in the latter, and vice versa. These are just a few of my observations, so if you have others, or even want to elaborate on some of mine, please feel free to leave a comment. Here goes.

Knowledge and Information = Currency

Knowing things before the rest of your league can be very lucrative, assuming that information leads to action. The rate at which information is distributed nowadays has reached breakneck speeds and the definition of instant is constantly being redefined. Access to these information distribution tools is pretty widespread, I remember the days when Rotoworld was my secret weapon, then NBC Sports acquired it and now its common knowledge. The key differentiator in a world of instant information however, is having the courage to act on it. Most people see the world the way they want to see it so when they hear things their initial reaction is disbelief, which creates hesitation. If you hesitate that lotto ticket sitting on the waiver wire gets scooped up and leads someone else to fantasy glory.

Perception is Reality

In the crazy “Twitter-Mob-Rule” world of today facts are often secondary to perception and propaganda with regard to the establishment of market value. Perception tends to be molded by which information source you use, the writers you read, talking heads you watch, etc. When you have a level of familiarity it leads to trust which leads to bias, which is ultimately the basis of perception. For example, if you use ESPN rankings rather than Yahoo’s you’ll notice they both are mostly different despite being made up of the same players. Therefore if you do a draft in Yahoo you can find value from guys who are ranked much lower compared to ESPN where they may be priced more accurately, and vice versa. As such, whether you get your stock news from Yahoo Finance, CNBC, or Fortune, you can read many different opinions about the same stock which could lead to different actions, one says buy, the other sell, your preference for information will directly impact the subsequent transaction. Before many drafts the buzz surrounding guys like Toby Gerhart reached deafening heights, causing many to reach, the current reality however is most likely nauseating for his owners (I wouldn’t know though as I wasn’t buying what they were selling).

The Rich Usually Get Richer

Having a wealth and depth of assets gives you leverage. In fantasy football it allows to you to offer two-for-ones and three-for-twos trades, the things that lead to upgrading your weaker positions. It also gives you the ability to have a higher tolerance for risk, the kind that can lead to a higher reward. Having the knowledge and foresight to identify “sleepers” and get them at a discount is crucial for success. Whether you play them yourself in lieu of your “busts” or trade them for more proven stars having the knack for picking winners is valuable. This often requires an objective mindset, leaving emotion and the persuasive rants of the so-called experts out of it. Be more like Buffet than Cramer when it comes to finding value and you’ll end up rich.

Sometimes Past Performance is Trumped by Upside and Potential

This lesson is more something to be aware of than a fact of life. Everyone is different and the human element and opportunity play a huge role in dictating future performance. I will say this though, people often have a burning desire to be the one that “discovers” the next big thing. Therefore they will reach for someone with high upside rather than take a boring old veteran with a well-established and predictable floor. The results of which are always mixed. Guys that took Monte Ball over Demarco Murray are probably second guessing themselves right now; then again that feeling could change tomorrow. I feel that you need a mix of both to truly do well, coupling a high upside with a high floor as well.

Starting Well Doesn’t Mean Ending Well and Vice Versa

Nearly a decade ago Netscape Navigator came roaring out like gangbusters, while Google was a little late to the search engine game (remember Ask Jeeves?!). In hindsight we now see how both of these stories turned out. The market and fantasy landscapes change literally every second of every day as they are impacted by a variety of external forces. Sometimes they’re changed by politics, more or less demand, or emerging competition. Sometimes they’re changed by injuries or suspensions. Just because you’re in 1^st place today doesn’t mean your whole team won’t get injured tomorrow, it’s the NFL and crazier things have happened. In addition, being in last place after 2 weeks of the season doesn’t mean you’ll stay there (I’ve experienced both phenomena many times)! The key is to never rest on your laurels whether you’re failing or succeeding. Always be open and aware of potential changes and opportunities coming down the pike and be prepared to act accordingly.

Aside from the time consuming distraction of keeping track of my teams, players, injuries, etc. required for playing fantasy football it can actually be quite a learning experience. The correlation between fantasy football approaches and techniques with that of the business world are many and lessons that applies to each in order to be successful. It even goes further than business as it’s undoubtedly made me a better write too, you should see how clever yet vicious some of the trash talking/verbal lashings get. Perhaps I’m simply trying to justify my obsession, or perhaps I’m on to something here. Regardless I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

So I Moved to Charlotte for a Girl…

Well THE girl. And if you knew Claire you’d understand. I like to think she’s the Daisy Buchanan to my Jay Gatsby, except I’m still working on building the fortune of course. The other difference, which is a fortunate one, is that we still have the opportunity for the happy ending Gatsby and Daisy never got.

Mike Simmons, CEO of WIMS Consulting, and Claire Hosmann

To make it happen I had to move from the city I love and lived for the past decade, Miami. After nearly 6 months of this new adventure, in hindsight I’d still make the same decision every time. Not only did I take a big chance moving to a new city to be with the love of my life, but it also led me to taking another risk by starting my own business. It’s not every day you get the opportunity to pursue both of your biggest dreams at the same time.

In order to find true happiness you need to take chances on the things that matter. Life is tough though, and it makes holding on to your comfortable and predictable job, or your same circle of friends, the easy and safe choice. But the only way to grow is to get out of your comfort zone and chase after the things you want in life.

Alas, rather than settling for a job working for someone else, and having to start over, I decided to start my own consulting firm. I had been planning on how best to do this for a couple years, yet while having a comfortable and mostly enjoyable job it was tough to work up the courage to take the leap of faith. I found myself over-thinking and second-guessing myself. I kept postponing my dream for tomorrow when I would have more time and money saved, like that would ever happen!

Sometimes you just need to jump and hope for the best; otherwise you risk living a life of regret. To me, that’s a fate far worse than trying and failing. It certainly hasn’t been easy, and it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but so far it’s been the most fulfilling as well.

Fortunately, with the help of technology, my business can service clients all over the country and even the world. So moving to Charlotte doesn’t mean I have to completely forget about all the relationships I’ve built in Miami. I will absolutely keep working with clients and helping people there too. I’ll even be pursuing business where I grew up in PA and CA as well. I don’t plan on stopping there either. They say you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but I certainly plan to try. And hopefully I can help many other aspiring business men and women to the day same.

I know I have a long way to go, and I haven’t figured everything out yet, but I’ve learned so much along the way that I wanted to start a blog (as if the world needs another blog!) to share my experiences and insight with all you like-minded entrepreneurs and young professionals out there. Who knows, perhaps it will help me finally finish the book I’ve been “planning” on writing for years now too.

The purpose isn’t just to tell you stories or offer suggestions with how to market your business, but to create an open dialogue and share ideas and resources in a collaborative manner. I can admit that I don’t have all the answers, but I believe you can learn something from every single person out there if you’re willing to listen.

The WIMS Guide as I’m calling it, will discuss a wide range of topics that impact the daily (and future) lives of entrepreneurs and young professionals alike. It will feature regular posts from me, along with a variety of featured authors to ensure a well-rounded, dynamic, and fresh perspective. If you have an idea or desired topic you’d like to discuss, or if you’d like to be one of our featured authors, please don’t hesitate to reach out. In the mean time I hope you enjoy and perhaps learn a thing or two along the way!