There’s an old Turkish Proverb that reads: “If speaking is Silver, then Listening is Gold!”
I am sure most all of you that are reading this Blog are connected in some way to a career in marketing, public relations, sales, etc. You’ve possibly read a paper or two on the subject as well as glanced over at a few other sites to see what the professionals are stating each and every day. Most of my pieces play up the importance of communications and follow through more times than not, but there’s another skill set that we often find ourselves taking for granted and that is simply just “listening”.
Listening is a skill that doesn’t need a degree. Doesn’t cost a cent. It does affect you and I every minute of every day! Thanks to technology that changes by the day, the world we live in at present gives us everything we need to know in less than a split second and has perhaps made people pay less attention to this all-important skill?
Listening can affect us all, whether you’re a college student taking in a lecture; an athlete going over the game planning with your coaches; a sales rep attending a client meeting or working the phones. Heck, listening affects most couples even at home. One or the other complains “you’re not listening to me”. My wife always gives me a hard time and says “when it comes to your job, if someone says anything, you never forget it!” Listening does really come down to conditioning one's mind to focus on the tasks at hand.
Ultimately, we are all judged by our body of work be it from educators, employers, coaches to parenting our kids and yet, one of the vital keys to becoming that “success” in your chosen field is through the power of “listening”.
What made me chime in with this piece today came from reading a past edition of GQ Magazine that featured actor Clint Eastwood on the cover. Inside the article, Eastwood was asked about his life as a child and a special moment in his Academy Award nominated (2008) movie Changeling where the GQ writer was struck by a particular scene Eastwood directed in which a boy sits up in front of a radio to just listen in.
“Life was pretty simple then (in my day). Because you didn’t sit and watch television all the time. There was the radio. Everything was listening, so you imagined everything”, said Eastwood. On the movie scene involving the boy and radio, he added: “There’s an art to listening. There’s not much of it going on in the world. As an actor, it’s the most important single function”.
I will leave you with another favorite quote of mine which is authored by Karl Menninger from the famous Menninger family of psychiatrists (who founded the Menninger Foundation and the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas). He once said: "Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand."
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
WHAT'S BEST FOR YOUR CAREER: STAIRS OR ESCALATOR?
I was taking time to read a book given to me from a corporate client at Auto-Owners Insurance. This easy-to-read book is called “Take The Stairs” which deals with leadership lessons learned from a lifetime of service by Roger Looyenga, the chairman and chief executive officer at AOI.
One of the paragraphs dealt with long term success rather than short term gain which made me think of our Mentoring members. I hear from so many and the focus seems to be always on securing a big league job right off the bat especially those that are just graduating from college? My question: Is that truly the best avenue to take? How much is someone leaving on the table when it comes to personal growth, hands on experiences and the ability to truly see how an operaton works from the ground up by not pursuing a minor league pro sports team position?
I remember when I first started out in Billings, Montana at the Junior Hockey League level of my sport (don’t let the title make it sound like the level of play was for kids! My arena sat well over 8,000 people for the games!) My job back then was the ‘jack of all trades’ in our front office. I was involved in season ticket/group sales, promotions, game operations, PR & media, player appearances and advertising placement. I didn’t know a single facet about the business when I started out in this position. Did not go to college. I must admit that back in 1977, sports was truly a ‘game’ not like today where it is now an investment business more concerned with accumulating revenues. Teams, more so this period of time, are wanting to hire specialists that are "potty trained" and can come right in and get the job done without the need of time spent on training, etc.
On the flip side, when I was lucky enough to get that call up to the big leagues, for some reason or another, I always felt like a DH in baseball versus the 3rd or clean-up hitter (if I can use a baseball term here!) My teams in the minor leagues and junior hockey levels always counted on me to knock in runs for the franchise sort to speak. I so enjoyed the ton of responsibility with the job at hand. In the big leagues, I felt pigeon holed into one department. Focused on one thing. Never could cross over. That was the feeling of being a DH that led to me leaving the big leagues on three different occasions in my career to go find a lineup (job) that allowed me to bat in the top half of the order!
In closing, I want to share a great quote stated by Mr. Looyenga in his book which he said: “When faced with the decision of whether to take the stairs or ride up the escalator, you will always be better off taking the stairs.” I am glad that I took the staircase up through my journey in the sports business. I’ve also been on a few escalators in my time and I have to admit (truthfully) that one time my shoe actually got caught on the ride and I spilled by infant baby out of her stroller going down an escalator. Maybe that’s why I've been so fond of ‘stairs’ through the years!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
One of the paragraphs dealt with long term success rather than short term gain which made me think of our Mentoring members. I hear from so many and the focus seems to be always on securing a big league job right off the bat especially those that are just graduating from college? My question: Is that truly the best avenue to take? How much is someone leaving on the table when it comes to personal growth, hands on experiences and the ability to truly see how an operaton works from the ground up by not pursuing a minor league pro sports team position?
I remember when I first started out in Billings, Montana at the Junior Hockey League level of my sport (don’t let the title make it sound like the level of play was for kids! My arena sat well over 8,000 people for the games!) My job back then was the ‘jack of all trades’ in our front office. I was involved in season ticket/group sales, promotions, game operations, PR & media, player appearances and advertising placement. I didn’t know a single facet about the business when I started out in this position. Did not go to college. I must admit that back in 1977, sports was truly a ‘game’ not like today where it is now an investment business more concerned with accumulating revenues. Teams, more so this period of time, are wanting to hire specialists that are "potty trained" and can come right in and get the job done without the need of time spent on training, etc.
On the flip side, when I was lucky enough to get that call up to the big leagues, for some reason or another, I always felt like a DH in baseball versus the 3rd or clean-up hitter (if I can use a baseball term here!) My teams in the minor leagues and junior hockey levels always counted on me to knock in runs for the franchise sort to speak. I so enjoyed the ton of responsibility with the job at hand. In the big leagues, I felt pigeon holed into one department. Focused on one thing. Never could cross over. That was the feeling of being a DH that led to me leaving the big leagues on three different occasions in my career to go find a lineup (job) that allowed me to bat in the top half of the order!
In closing, I want to share a great quote stated by Mr. Looyenga in his book which he said: “When faced with the decision of whether to take the stairs or ride up the escalator, you will always be better off taking the stairs.” I am glad that I took the staircase up through my journey in the sports business. I’ve also been on a few escalators in my time and I have to admit (truthfully) that one time my shoe actually got caught on the ride and I spilled by infant baby out of her stroller going down an escalator. Maybe that’s why I've been so fond of ‘stairs’ through the years!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Saturday, February 13, 2010
SELLING WITH SMARTS TO BOOST YOUR BOTTOM LINE
During the months ahead as I plow myself deeper into the minor league baseball franchise that my partners just recently purchased, most of my next batch of postings are going to be centered around my findings and experiences.
Know that I apologize deeply for my silence of late. Combining the baseball beat with the ongoing hockey season right now has my attention locked up. In some ways, if you are just developing your career or entering a start-up position with a sports franchise, hopefully the words and feedback that I am to share in the near future will be most helpful.
Since walking into the baseball office, most of my time has been spent delving into the active sponsorship contracts left behind from our previous regime and developing a business plan to recruit new partners. One of the mistakes some team's make is to sell a NUMBER versus defining what is NET or GROSS to the client. We write up our hockey packages as a "Net" billing.
Here's an example of a contract that I recently uncovered. The package states that the prospective client is to receive an outfield fence sign, a giveway item provided by the club (that says TBD versus item stated), a pair of season tickets, a company group outing as well as 200 tickets that are to be donated to a charity cause on behalf of the client.
First HUGE mistake. The contract was not identified as "Gross" or "Net". Sadly, the signee of the contract was an Advertising Agency. My heart sunk. I knew in a split second that this would be a GROSS buy in their eyes. Since the club rep didn't specify that his asking price was NET and built the agency commission (usually 15%) up above the team's price, this was going to be a 15% reduction off the signature line. When I made the call to the agency to review this contract, sure enough, my fear came to fruition. It is to be a "Gross Billing" by the club to the client. The previous sales rep just cost his club a chunk of profit. A reckless mistake.
What makes this package even more dangeous on top of the billing issue is the inclusion of a TBD game night promotional item! What if the client now says they want a Baseball Bat or an expensive Ball Cap? A Fleece Blanket? In this agreement there was no language that says it's the "club's call for what item will be ordered?" The package should have stated what the promotional item will be but more so the club rep needs to know exactly what the cost is plus tax, freight and art charges so that you are covering all expenses to the club plus profit mark-up.
When breaking down a sponsorship package, look at each category as it's own "department". You should establish revenue projections for signage, print, radio broadcast, promotion, etc. and then make sure you are made aware of your costs. Example: you just sold a seasonal pocket schedule that costs the club $8,000; yet, your team effort generated just $7K in ad sales. This particular "department" needs to operate as a "profit center" not as a loss leader.
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Know that I apologize deeply for my silence of late. Combining the baseball beat with the ongoing hockey season right now has my attention locked up. In some ways, if you are just developing your career or entering a start-up position with a sports franchise, hopefully the words and feedback that I am to share in the near future will be most helpful.
Since walking into the baseball office, most of my time has been spent delving into the active sponsorship contracts left behind from our previous regime and developing a business plan to recruit new partners. One of the mistakes some team's make is to sell a NUMBER versus defining what is NET or GROSS to the client. We write up our hockey packages as a "Net" billing.
Here's an example of a contract that I recently uncovered. The package states that the prospective client is to receive an outfield fence sign, a giveway item provided by the club (that says TBD versus item stated), a pair of season tickets, a company group outing as well as 200 tickets that are to be donated to a charity cause on behalf of the client.
First HUGE mistake. The contract was not identified as "Gross" or "Net". Sadly, the signee of the contract was an Advertising Agency. My heart sunk. I knew in a split second that this would be a GROSS buy in their eyes. Since the club rep didn't specify that his asking price was NET and built the agency commission (usually 15%) up above the team's price, this was going to be a 15% reduction off the signature line. When I made the call to the agency to review this contract, sure enough, my fear came to fruition. It is to be a "Gross Billing" by the club to the client. The previous sales rep just cost his club a chunk of profit. A reckless mistake.
What makes this package even more dangeous on top of the billing issue is the inclusion of a TBD game night promotional item! What if the client now says they want a Baseball Bat or an expensive Ball Cap? A Fleece Blanket? In this agreement there was no language that says it's the "club's call for what item will be ordered?" The package should have stated what the promotional item will be but more so the club rep needs to know exactly what the cost is plus tax, freight and art charges so that you are covering all expenses to the club plus profit mark-up.
When breaking down a sponsorship package, look at each category as it's own "department". You should establish revenue projections for signage, print, radio broadcast, promotion, etc. and then make sure you are made aware of your costs. Example: you just sold a seasonal pocket schedule that costs the club $8,000; yet, your team effort generated just $7K in ad sales. This particular "department" needs to operate as a "profit center" not as a loss leader.
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Saturday, January 2, 2010
MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES TO START YOUR NEW YEAR!
Some special inspiration that I wanted to share with my readers as we begin a brand new year. Enjoy my friends!
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Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending - Carl Bard
Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the titanic - Anonymous
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision - Ayn Rand
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee - Marian Wright Edelman
Remember, all the answers you need are inside of you; you only have to become quiet enough to hear them - Debbie Ford
Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to
begin where he was - Richard L. Evans
SALES TIP: If people like you they'll listen to you, but if they trust you they'll do business with you - Zig Ziglar
Happiness resides not in posessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul - Democritus
Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions - Albert Einstein
In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends - John Churton Collins
Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings - Ralph Blum
Look up and not down; look forward and not back; look out and not in; and lend a hand - E. E. Hale
What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first steps to something better - Proverb
Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong - Peter T. McIntyre
SALES TIP: Confidence is contagious and so is lack of confidence, and a customer will recognize both - Vincent Lombardi
Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along - Napoleon Hill
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
------------------------------------------------------
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending - Carl Bard
Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the titanic - Anonymous
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision - Ayn Rand
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee - Marian Wright Edelman
Remember, all the answers you need are inside of you; you only have to become quiet enough to hear them - Debbie Ford
Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to
begin where he was - Richard L. Evans
SALES TIP: If people like you they'll listen to you, but if they trust you they'll do business with you - Zig Ziglar
Happiness resides not in posessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul - Democritus
Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions - Albert Einstein
In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends - John Churton Collins
Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings - Ralph Blum
Look up and not down; look forward and not back; look out and not in; and lend a hand - E. E. Hale
What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first steps to something better - Proverb
Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong - Peter T. McIntyre
SALES TIP: Confidence is contagious and so is lack of confidence, and a customer will recognize both - Vincent Lombardi
Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along - Napoleon Hill
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Thursday, December 24, 2009
DREAMS CAN COME TRUE! GO THE DISTANCE!
One of the best parts of my job is when I get a chance to visit an elementary school and tell stories to the kids. It never fails that I will ask the students about their dreams in life.
Which brings me back to my own childhood days when I attended a Catholic elementary school in Massachusetts. During my year of third grade studies, Sister Marie Catherine (my teacher) posed this question to her students: "What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up" and then instructed us all to write down our answer on paper and she would read them out loud. Many of us stated the same things: astronaut, doctor, fireman, lawyer, policeman, etc. Then came mine. My teacher was stunned by my answer and called me up to the front of the room and whispered to me... “Mr. Loria, you can’t be what you wrote on this paper. How did you come up with such an answer?” I wrote that I wanted to be like “MR. ED", a talking horse from the hit TV Show back in the 60's. My teacher didn't read my "dream" out loud but did actually call my Mom and I got in all kinds of trouble at home for embarrassing my family.
When I reached 8th grade, my teacher wanted to know once again what we wanted to be as we got ready to graduate into high school. Same answers came from my friends in class. My answer was: “Dolphin Trainer”. I was inspired by another hit TV show called "FLIPPER" and my dream then was to one day work at the San Diego Zoo! Four years later, my high school teacher surveyed his students to see what our career plans were as we got ready to enter adulthood. My answer was: “To work in the National Hockey League”.
That path took a lot of hardships and some stress a long the way at home to make that dream come to fruition. Why: As my Mom told me “how many kids from New Bedford, Massachusetts get to work in the NHL?” After all, back in 1974, I turned down a photography job and another as a silk screen printer of shower curtains at a pretty good wage… all because I had this dream of mine to work in hockey!
Gang, don’t stop dreaming and keep on believing. Last night as I was helping clean up the kitchen for my wife (who baked an endless supply of Christmas Cookies for our family), my trustworthy IPOD was glued to my ear. One song that came up on the playlist – Michael Bolton’s “GO THE DISTANCE” - inspired me to write this piece as a bit of Holiday Hope for our members that have the same dreams as I to someday work in the sports industry.
I’ll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way, if I can be strong
I know every mile, will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I’ll be right where I belong
Down an unknown road, to embrace my fate
Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you
And a thousand years, would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime, but somehow I’ll see it through
And I won’t look back, I can go the distance
And I’ll stay on track, no, I won’t accept defeat
It’s an uphill slope, but I won’t lose hope
Till I go the distance, and my journey is complete
To keep inspiring me everyday, my daughters set up my cell phone voice mail ringtone a few years ago to the actual MR. ED television show theme song as a reminder that I did not miss my CALL IN LIFE even though that adorable horse inspired my first set of dreams!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Which brings me back to my own childhood days when I attended a Catholic elementary school in Massachusetts. During my year of third grade studies, Sister Marie Catherine (my teacher) posed this question to her students: "What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up" and then instructed us all to write down our answer on paper and she would read them out loud. Many of us stated the same things: astronaut, doctor, fireman, lawyer, policeman, etc. Then came mine. My teacher was stunned by my answer and called me up to the front of the room and whispered to me... “Mr. Loria, you can’t be what you wrote on this paper. How did you come up with such an answer?” I wrote that I wanted to be like “MR. ED", a talking horse from the hit TV Show back in the 60's. My teacher didn't read my "dream" out loud but did actually call my Mom and I got in all kinds of trouble at home for embarrassing my family.
When I reached 8th grade, my teacher wanted to know once again what we wanted to be as we got ready to graduate into high school. Same answers came from my friends in class. My answer was: “Dolphin Trainer”. I was inspired by another hit TV show called "FLIPPER" and my dream then was to one day work at the San Diego Zoo! Four years later, my high school teacher surveyed his students to see what our career plans were as we got ready to enter adulthood. My answer was: “To work in the National Hockey League”.
That path took a lot of hardships and some stress a long the way at home to make that dream come to fruition. Why: As my Mom told me “how many kids from New Bedford, Massachusetts get to work in the NHL?” After all, back in 1974, I turned down a photography job and another as a silk screen printer of shower curtains at a pretty good wage… all because I had this dream of mine to work in hockey!
Gang, don’t stop dreaming and keep on believing. Last night as I was helping clean up the kitchen for my wife (who baked an endless supply of Christmas Cookies for our family), my trustworthy IPOD was glued to my ear. One song that came up on the playlist – Michael Bolton’s “GO THE DISTANCE” - inspired me to write this piece as a bit of Holiday Hope for our members that have the same dreams as I to someday work in the sports industry.
I’ll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way, if I can be strong
I know every mile, will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I’ll be right where I belong
Down an unknown road, to embrace my fate
Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you
And a thousand years, would be worth the wait
It might take a lifetime, but somehow I’ll see it through
And I won’t look back, I can go the distance
And I’ll stay on track, no, I won’t accept defeat
It’s an uphill slope, but I won’t lose hope
Till I go the distance, and my journey is complete
To keep inspiring me everyday, my daughters set up my cell phone voice mail ringtone a few years ago to the actual MR. ED television show theme song as a reminder that I did not miss my CALL IN LIFE even though that adorable horse inspired my first set of dreams!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Motivational Sayings to Inspire Your Work Week!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY WISHES TO YOU & YOUR FAMILY! SAFE TRAVELS! JIM
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You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction. QUOTED: George Lorimer
There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. We all have a choice. You can decide which type of person you want to be. I have always chosen to be in the first group. QUOTED: Mary Kay Ash
You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. QUOTED: Rosalynn Smith Carter
Fate knows where you are going, but it is up to you to drive there. QUOTED:
Michelle Keesling
Do or do not. There is no try. QUOTED: Yoda
Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. QUOTED: Wayne Dyer
A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown. QUOTED: K Denis Waitley
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------
You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction. QUOTED: George Lorimer
There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. We all have a choice. You can decide which type of person you want to be. I have always chosen to be in the first group. QUOTED: Mary Kay Ash
You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. QUOTED: Rosalynn Smith Carter
Fate knows where you are going, but it is up to you to drive there. QUOTED:
Michelle Keesling
Do or do not. There is no try. QUOTED: Yoda
Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. QUOTED: Wayne Dyer
A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown. QUOTED: K Denis Waitley
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Monday, November 9, 2009
MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES TO BOOST YOUR DAY!
Some terrific quotes I came across today to help boost your day!
Keep making footsteps!
Jim Loria
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“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place” - Unknown
“It’s never too late to become what you might have been” - George Elliot
“Belief triggers the power to do” - David Schwartz
“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent” – Marilyn vos Savant, Columnist
“The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers" – Brian Tracy, Motivational Speaker
“Your body hears everything your mind says” – Naomi Judd, Singer/Songwriter
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure" – Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State
“To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift” - Steve Prefontaine, Runner
“Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes” - Chinese Proverb
“Hard work is a two-way street. You get back exactly what you put in” – Unknown
“Many people believe things happen to a reason, well I say go out and make those things happen” – Unknown
“Try and fail, but don't fail to try” – Unknown
“You give what you give, what you don't give is lost forever, this day will never come again” – Unknown
###
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Keep making footsteps!
Jim Loria
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“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place” - Unknown
“It’s never too late to become what you might have been” - George Elliot
“Belief triggers the power to do” - David Schwartz
“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent” – Marilyn vos Savant, Columnist
“The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers" – Brian Tracy, Motivational Speaker
“Your body hears everything your mind says” – Naomi Judd, Singer/Songwriter
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure" – Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State
“To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift” - Steve Prefontaine, Runner
“Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes” - Chinese Proverb
“Hard work is a two-way street. You get back exactly what you put in” – Unknown
“Many people believe things happen to a reason, well I say go out and make those things happen” – Unknown
“Try and fail, but don't fail to try” – Unknown
“You give what you give, what you don't give is lost forever, this day will never come again” – Unknown
###
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Sunday, November 8, 2009
WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH (FOR JOBS). NEVER GIVE UP!
By now, I think you all know from my past postings that I have been inspired by music and so for a number of reasons: most notably to stay relaxed and also to relieve daily stress. Some songs can make me smile. Some tunes ignite my creativity. Some make me daydream back to moments I may have lived a lyric or two in my lifetime.
As I was glancing through some magazines at home with an IPOD attached to my ear, a particular song came up on the playlist that made me replay over and over. Why: It was a tune that I enjoyed a lot back in the year 2000 and hadn’t heard this one in quite some time. It’s a refreshingly catchy piece. Upbeat and a bit inspiring! The song title: “HOPE” and it is performed by Grammy award-winning artist Shaggy that deals mainly about his upbringing and family life. Here’s a sampling of his song lyrics:
(his mother) Gave us pride to survive, really showed us the way
Now I really understood what she (Mom) was tryin’ to say
She said, “Son there’ll be times when the tides are high
And the boat may be rocky, you can cry
Just never give up
You can never give up
In this life you could lead if you only believe
And in order to achieve what you need
You can never give up
And this hope
That keeps me holding on
On and on
And this hope
That makes me carry on
It got me thinking. One, I’ve had so many of my Mentoring (LinkedIn group site) members write me in the last month seeking “hope” and answers to finding a career and even more so, just a job. I do feel your anxiety! Many of you may have already browsed around and researched my background and wondered: “just who is this guy that is trying to mentor us and has been offering up all these postings?” What you don’t know and will not find is that I came from a family of eight. A divorced family at a very young age. After my parents separated, my Mom moved us all into a low income housing project as we grew up in Massachusetts. We all had to do odd jobs like babysit, shovel snow, rake leaves and deliver papers to earn extra money and help our Mom raise the family. I didn’t get a driver’s license until my early 20’s because cash flow was scarce in my house. Didn’t go to college. Resources were not there.
I am not shedding any tears. I fought through adversity. Kept believing. I used to tell my Mom back in high school that someday I was going to work in the big leagues of sports. That was my sole dream. I was a fan of all sports. Like many of you, I wrote all of the teams for jobs even though I had no background. I was just in high school. Yet, I broke into the hockey business a few years after graduating from school in 1977. My journey began in Billings, Montana. One person (Bob Strumm) hired me based on a 10-page letter that I had written. He phoned me at my home. Said my “enthusiasm was contagious”. Flew me to Billings for an interview and in that arrival weekend, he said “you’re hired!” I’ve never looked back. I still had no car. The hockey club paid me $7,000 as a salary. I was on Cloud “9”! I rode a bike to work every day through sleet or snow. Worked 80 hours a week. Three years after my arrival in Billings, I phoned my Mom with the news that I had made the BIG LEAGUES! I was hired by the NHL’s Washington Capitals!
To our young members and those that are seeking that one chance to show your skills… DON’T GIVE UP! You have to believe. Network. Develop your skills, most importantly YOU! Find a cheerleader in your life. A support system. We’ve all walked your path. Why, just last week, I hired a young lady that after three years of volunteer internship for our team – and doing so while working two-three paid jobs a week to make ends meet - she’s now on the same CLOUD “9” I experienced years ago. It can happen to you! “Just Never Give Up” as I’m hearing Shaggy sing in my earpiece!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
As I was glancing through some magazines at home with an IPOD attached to my ear, a particular song came up on the playlist that made me replay over and over. Why: It was a tune that I enjoyed a lot back in the year 2000 and hadn’t heard this one in quite some time. It’s a refreshingly catchy piece. Upbeat and a bit inspiring! The song title: “HOPE” and it is performed by Grammy award-winning artist Shaggy that deals mainly about his upbringing and family life. Here’s a sampling of his song lyrics:
(his mother) Gave us pride to survive, really showed us the way
Now I really understood what she (Mom) was tryin’ to say
She said, “Son there’ll be times when the tides are high
And the boat may be rocky, you can cry
Just never give up
You can never give up
In this life you could lead if you only believe
And in order to achieve what you need
You can never give up
And this hope
That keeps me holding on
On and on
And this hope
That makes me carry on
It got me thinking. One, I’ve had so many of my Mentoring (LinkedIn group site) members write me in the last month seeking “hope” and answers to finding a career and even more so, just a job. I do feel your anxiety! Many of you may have already browsed around and researched my background and wondered: “just who is this guy that is trying to mentor us and has been offering up all these postings?” What you don’t know and will not find is that I came from a family of eight. A divorced family at a very young age. After my parents separated, my Mom moved us all into a low income housing project as we grew up in Massachusetts. We all had to do odd jobs like babysit, shovel snow, rake leaves and deliver papers to earn extra money and help our Mom raise the family. I didn’t get a driver’s license until my early 20’s because cash flow was scarce in my house. Didn’t go to college. Resources were not there.
I am not shedding any tears. I fought through adversity. Kept believing. I used to tell my Mom back in high school that someday I was going to work in the big leagues of sports. That was my sole dream. I was a fan of all sports. Like many of you, I wrote all of the teams for jobs even though I had no background. I was just in high school. Yet, I broke into the hockey business a few years after graduating from school in 1977. My journey began in Billings, Montana. One person (Bob Strumm) hired me based on a 10-page letter that I had written. He phoned me at my home. Said my “enthusiasm was contagious”. Flew me to Billings for an interview and in that arrival weekend, he said “you’re hired!” I’ve never looked back. I still had no car. The hockey club paid me $7,000 as a salary. I was on Cloud “9”! I rode a bike to work every day through sleet or snow. Worked 80 hours a week. Three years after my arrival in Billings, I phoned my Mom with the news that I had made the BIG LEAGUES! I was hired by the NHL’s Washington Capitals!
To our young members and those that are seeking that one chance to show your skills… DON’T GIVE UP! You have to believe. Network. Develop your skills, most importantly YOU! Find a cheerleader in your life. A support system. We’ve all walked your path. Why, just last week, I hired a young lady that after three years of volunteer internship for our team – and doing so while working two-three paid jobs a week to make ends meet - she’s now on the same CLOUD “9” I experienced years ago. It can happen to you! “Just Never Give Up” as I’m hearing Shaggy sing in my earpiece!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Saturday, October 10, 2009
GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR SPONSOR'S IMAGES!
In my recent blog on the ‘headache of starting up a new sports team season’, I want to highlight another area that is connected and involves your key revenue source – corporate partners.
Before I comment further, I must go back to my educational upbringing and let you know that my training - and good fortune - came from a Vocational High School in Massachusetts where my trade specialty was in Industrial Design (which centered on everything to do with creating art and graphics).
That knowledge has been such a payback for me throughout my career. This may sound strange to some of you but in all my years of taking on start-up franchises and fixing others, I have never permitted the corporate sponsors to purchase "specific locations" for signage and or publications. Yes, we have always given higher consideration to those that are investing top dollar. Where you get hurt is in laying out your sponsor’s messages.
I’ll use my sport of hockey as an example: we recently sold 57 rink board signs. Most are 8' in length by 33" tall. If you are selling your property as "specific locations", it will do your sponsor no good to have a wordy white background sign placed next to another busy white background display and another because each got locked into a sales location. My graphics company will arrive with me at the morning of our signage install day and lay out all of our signs on the ice floor. I will look at each and choose the location's by contrast. The RED McDONALD’S sign goes next to the WHITE sponsor sign with a simple logo display. The last thing you want is a wall with no contrast because you committed everyone to a spot.
From the moment I ever began my selling process, I usually told each partner that I will ENHANCE their visibility tenfold if they TRUST my ability to pick & choose where to place their investment. Here’s the trick to sell my point: ask one of your local TV stations to get you a 60 second tape of your game highlights on a CD. Watch carefully and see if you can recognize your business partners? Can you see their message? If you cannot, know that your partners can’t either. You want your partner’s to see themselves. That’s why most invest in sports sponsorships – to see themselves! You want your client’s customers to see them as well so that they’ll tell the sponsor.
You also want to KILL THE CLUTTER off every sign. There are reasons why McDONALD’S or SUBWAY brand their logos. Small businesses will WIN the war in branding if they follow suit! Don’t let the client sell you otherwise. In this world, we all GOOGLE so a sponsor doesn’t need to promote their phone, website and locations on a sign board. LESS CLUTTER SELLS MORE! LESS CLUTTER GETS THE SPONSOR’S MESSAGE SEEN MORE ON TV! You gutter ball it and your revenues will suffer the consequence!
As for publications, I have taken the same approach with my partners other than COVERS. Each season, I will instruct my printing rep to provide me with every ad pre-printed out in a Low Rez Color proof as well as all editorial. My rep will meet up with me the week before we go to print and I’ll look at each editorial page and match up the advertiser to BEST ENHANCE that page. EDITORIAL DESIGN HELPS BRING OUT YOUR ADVERTISER AND THE SPONSOR'S AD DESIGN HELPS BRING OUT YOUR EDITORIAL CONTENT! Again, we do give higher priority locations to the top sponsors!
Getting your client to signature of approval is like you & I choosing a restaurant location for our next meal. Once you are inside and the dinner plate is placed before you, now it’s the “presentation display” that SELLS YOUR BRAIN within a split second to devour that plate or not. Same with a sponsor when he sees his/her image at your facility. Doing the little things and giving that business property a chance to LOOK LIKE A MILLION ON THE DINNER PLATE will go a long way in increasing your team revenues!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Before I comment further, I must go back to my educational upbringing and let you know that my training - and good fortune - came from a Vocational High School in Massachusetts where my trade specialty was in Industrial Design (which centered on everything to do with creating art and graphics).
That knowledge has been such a payback for me throughout my career. This may sound strange to some of you but in all my years of taking on start-up franchises and fixing others, I have never permitted the corporate sponsors to purchase "specific locations" for signage and or publications. Yes, we have always given higher consideration to those that are investing top dollar. Where you get hurt is in laying out your sponsor’s messages.
I’ll use my sport of hockey as an example: we recently sold 57 rink board signs. Most are 8' in length by 33" tall. If you are selling your property as "specific locations", it will do your sponsor no good to have a wordy white background sign placed next to another busy white background display and another because each got locked into a sales location. My graphics company will arrive with me at the morning of our signage install day and lay out all of our signs on the ice floor. I will look at each and choose the location's by contrast. The RED McDONALD’S sign goes next to the WHITE sponsor sign with a simple logo display. The last thing you want is a wall with no contrast because you committed everyone to a spot.
From the moment I ever began my selling process, I usually told each partner that I will ENHANCE their visibility tenfold if they TRUST my ability to pick & choose where to place their investment. Here’s the trick to sell my point: ask one of your local TV stations to get you a 60 second tape of your game highlights on a CD. Watch carefully and see if you can recognize your business partners? Can you see their message? If you cannot, know that your partners can’t either. You want your partner’s to see themselves. That’s why most invest in sports sponsorships – to see themselves! You want your client’s customers to see them as well so that they’ll tell the sponsor.
You also want to KILL THE CLUTTER off every sign. There are reasons why McDONALD’S or SUBWAY brand their logos. Small businesses will WIN the war in branding if they follow suit! Don’t let the client sell you otherwise. In this world, we all GOOGLE so a sponsor doesn’t need to promote their phone, website and locations on a sign board. LESS CLUTTER SELLS MORE! LESS CLUTTER GETS THE SPONSOR’S MESSAGE SEEN MORE ON TV! You gutter ball it and your revenues will suffer the consequence!
As for publications, I have taken the same approach with my partners other than COVERS. Each season, I will instruct my printing rep to provide me with every ad pre-printed out in a Low Rez Color proof as well as all editorial. My rep will meet up with me the week before we go to print and I’ll look at each editorial page and match up the advertiser to BEST ENHANCE that page. EDITORIAL DESIGN HELPS BRING OUT YOUR ADVERTISER AND THE SPONSOR'S AD DESIGN HELPS BRING OUT YOUR EDITORIAL CONTENT! Again, we do give higher priority locations to the top sponsors!
Getting your client to signature of approval is like you & I choosing a restaurant location for our next meal. Once you are inside and the dinner plate is placed before you, now it’s the “presentation display” that SELLS YOUR BRAIN within a split second to devour that plate or not. Same with a sponsor when he sees his/her image at your facility. Doing the little things and giving that business property a chance to LOOK LIKE A MILLION ON THE DINNER PLATE will go a long way in increasing your team revenues!
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
Friday, October 9, 2009
HEADACHES OF LAUNCHING A NEW SPORTS TEAM SEASON!
For those readers that are affiliated with a sports team program, you’ll understand and appreciate this piece.
I remember when moving into my current position in Sioux Falls, SD to start up an expansion hockey franchise, the first thing I told my business partners was that no matter how many year’s we work together, opening up a season is one of the most difficult things we’ll ever do. It is stressful as it gets, especially in areas of sponsorship fulfillment when you are responsible for producing the signage, publication ads and promotional items for starters. This process usually takes place within 30-45 days or so before the arrival of your home opener.
In a world that is driven by high tech gadgets and computer software, you’d think every business would be so aware of these alphabet letters: EPS, PDF and JPEG. They are computer file formats so needed to complete your sponsored projects yet in dealing with the client and your graphics company prior to a season’s start-up is enough to make your head of hair turn a different shade of grey each year! Example: A signage production company all prefer to deal with e-mail files submitted in an EPS format. When assembling your game program, yearbook or pocket schedules, the local printer will want that same customer of yours to submit its art work in PDF files. Oh, and when creating your sponsor’s website banner ads and pop-up messages, a designer will want mostly a JPEG working file!
As you lead into a season’s start-up, every employee feels the intensity and you start to budget your day’s accomplishments by the minutes versus hours. Then you get that client who procrastinates and is finally ready to get their art work to you for his signage. You open up your e-mail box and see this LOW REZ piece of art staring you in the eyes that the client obviously copied off from their website. They didn’t have anything else on hand to send. Yet, you are working with client on a 10-foot wall sign for your ballpark or a hockey rink board. Your graphics company barks at you and say “It’s too weak. I can’t deal with it!” We’ve all been there. You’re probably chuckling reading this. I just lived through this for the past two months, enough that I am still fighting sleep deprivation!
Yes, I love those clients that direct me to their ad agencies to work out the creative elements. That’s when life’s a beach but trying to fulfill the package elements signed on by your smaller (local) businesses is, and will always be, extremely challenging year-to-year. Most just do not understand the complexities of today’s technology nor have they ever invested in getting their brand identification assembled in all computer formats.
As you develop relationships with your business partners, do encourage the client to seriously invest in their logo and licensed marks and get them all reformatted in all current day working computer formats! It can really take a load of stress off the client and not to mention you as the sales rep. Any graphic design shop or agency can set up an EXTRANET SITE for the company (should be at no additional cost). This is a web access site that will store a client’s logos in all formats, from color-to-black & white.
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
I remember when moving into my current position in Sioux Falls, SD to start up an expansion hockey franchise, the first thing I told my business partners was that no matter how many year’s we work together, opening up a season is one of the most difficult things we’ll ever do. It is stressful as it gets, especially in areas of sponsorship fulfillment when you are responsible for producing the signage, publication ads and promotional items for starters. This process usually takes place within 30-45 days or so before the arrival of your home opener.
In a world that is driven by high tech gadgets and computer software, you’d think every business would be so aware of these alphabet letters: EPS, PDF and JPEG. They are computer file formats so needed to complete your sponsored projects yet in dealing with the client and your graphics company prior to a season’s start-up is enough to make your head of hair turn a different shade of grey each year! Example: A signage production company all prefer to deal with e-mail files submitted in an EPS format. When assembling your game program, yearbook or pocket schedules, the local printer will want that same customer of yours to submit its art work in PDF files. Oh, and when creating your sponsor’s website banner ads and pop-up messages, a designer will want mostly a JPEG working file!
As you lead into a season’s start-up, every employee feels the intensity and you start to budget your day’s accomplishments by the minutes versus hours. Then you get that client who procrastinates and is finally ready to get their art work to you for his signage. You open up your e-mail box and see this LOW REZ piece of art staring you in the eyes that the client obviously copied off from their website. They didn’t have anything else on hand to send. Yet, you are working with client on a 10-foot wall sign for your ballpark or a hockey rink board. Your graphics company barks at you and say “It’s too weak. I can’t deal with it!” We’ve all been there. You’re probably chuckling reading this. I just lived through this for the past two months, enough that I am still fighting sleep deprivation!
Yes, I love those clients that direct me to their ad agencies to work out the creative elements. That’s when life’s a beach but trying to fulfill the package elements signed on by your smaller (local) businesses is, and will always be, extremely challenging year-to-year. Most just do not understand the complexities of today’s technology nor have they ever invested in getting their brand identification assembled in all computer formats.
As you develop relationships with your business partners, do encourage the client to seriously invest in their logo and licensed marks and get them all reformatted in all current day working computer formats! It can really take a load of stress off the client and not to mention you as the sales rep. Any graphic design shop or agency can set up an EXTRANET SITE for the company (should be at no additional cost). This is a web access site that will store a client’s logos in all formats, from color-to-black & white.
Jim Loria, Career Planning Expert for Sports Professionals
Email address: loria@sfstampede.com
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