Bruce Outridge
Artist | Author | Radio & Podcast Producer | Television Host
Are you following your game plan?
Are you following your game plan? Many people especially entrepreneurs, marketing specialists, artists etc. have great intentions of creating a marketing plan and implementing it, however when they don’t see any results they start to slip into that complacency stage assuming nothing is working. This is very true especially with social media where you hear that all you have to do is sign on and then people will flood to your business. Nothing is further from the truth.
Anyone starting any kind of long term project, business, or marketing effort will need to realize that it may take anywhere from 6 months to a year or more to start seeing the fruits of their labour. The important part is to keep working at it with all of your might. This has happened to me many times through our various business ventures. I remember when I started my blog and every week posted an article wondering if anyone was even reading them. Then out of the blue I would get a reply from someone with a comment. The same thing happened on Twitter when I first signed on, zero followers and I didn’t follow anyone, heck I barely ever signed on. But I put it on my to-do list anyway and kept posting. Today I have 15 people following my comments on Twitter. Sure it’s not huge like Lady Gaga, and I’m sure if I spent even more time telling people what I ate for lunch and giving more comments on subjects I could gain a lot more. My newsletter has just started bringing in clients who have been following me for a year. People are ready to listen at different times in their lives and if you keep moving forward you will be there when they need you.
The point is to keep working, and even more important is that I am following my original game plan for social media marketing. I’ve used social media as an example but I have found the same ground can be gained through other areas by just staying with the plan. Your gut will tell you when you’re ready to grow, so stick to the plan. I enjoy reading my horoscope once in a while, I’ll read it and it will say “things are going on in the background that you don’t know about”. Then down the road I will talk with someone and they will ask “if my ears were burning” because they were recommending me to someone for an opportunity.
So if you’re the type of person to let your guard down when you don’t see things happening then I suggest you take those scrap pieces of paper that you wrote those original goals on ,dust them off and get back to work on them. The success in hitting goals is making sure you follow through with the work part.
The author is a consultant in the transportation and business markets. To learn more about Bruce visit Outridge Consulting Services at http://www.outridge.ca.
Complacency Almost Killed Me!
I’ll never forget it, it was the perfect day for driving. A beautiful sun was overhead, fresh spring air out of my window, dry roads, and nothing but flat land highway with no four wheelers bouncing around like ping pong balls. For a professional truck driver the conditions couldn’t get any better, my truck was clean and I was feeling good. I was west of Chicago on my way to Nebraska and things were good. It was almost to the point where it was getting boring and my mind was starting to drift into that complacency mode where it needed a wake up. That being said, I was thinking of a cup of coffee, not the situation that happened. I was just cruising along at 55 mph when over the C.B. radio I heard the words “Here he comes!” I looked to the left and saw a car spinning out of control through the median from the other side of the highway towards me. The car had been cut off by another passing driver and had lost control. As I quickly evaluated the situation I realized we were going to hit head on if I kept going on the same path because the car was aiming straight across both lanes of ahead of me. I locked up the brakes sending smoke from the tires surrounding my rig and started to steer toward the left lane of the highway. The car coming through the median managed to stop in the right hand lane of the highway on my side. As the traffic on the highway came to a stop and the smoke cleared I rushed out of the truck to see how we ended up expecting to see much damage from the situation. As I came around the front of the truck, the driver of the car began to thank me repeatedly, “Thank you, thank you” he kept saying. His vehicle had stopped 2 inches from the fuel tank on the right hand side of my truck. Had he hit my fuel tank the situation would have been quite different. That car was filled with a family of four going on vacation.
That happened 20 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. The reason I write about it is many people get into that mode of complacency on a regular basis. Evaluating your conditions, that includes your mindset at the time regularly can be the key between an incident or not. Keeping fresh in your job, your life, and your processes will make the difference between being a statistic and being successful. Complacency almost killed me don’t let it kill you!
For information on programs for your team on complcency visit the presentations page on the Outridge Consulting Service’s website at http://www.outridge.ca
Professional Drivers -Time to Step Up!
I was reading an article in Today’s Trucking Electronic Magazine about how drivers are going to be forced to cut corners due to changes in the hours of service regulations being proposed in the U.S. Now I can understand from an industry standpoint there may be some hesitation about that, but from a driver standpoint that shouldn’t cause you to cut corners. It was pointed out in the article that due to a shortening of driving time drivers would start cutting corners while doing their pre-trip inspections. To me that is crazy, to think that drivers would skip inspecting their units to save fifteen minutes of time. To me that is bad time management and though I feel there will be a few that think this is the best plan they can think of, any professional driver should be planning their days to most benefit from the hours available. The company you run for should be adjusting their traffic lanes and manpower to best fit the flow of freight through their business. These type of adjustments are the best way to tackle changes in the regulations. Companies will need to spend some time on educating their shippers on the changes and how it affects freight flow. They should also be helping drivers learn how to run more profitably through proper time management. Professionals don’t cut corners, they adjust and flourish. I hope you are a professional driver. To read the source article visit the link for Today’s Trucking http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=25689&login=consulting%40outridge%2Eca&datalogin=%2A%3E%20J8NY0%28%5FJ%5C%26UP%20%20%0A
Are You in Business or Not?
It totally amazes me how many people run around yelling I am in business, I am in business! They set it up, roll it out, and then sit on the couch and complain that it is slow. Too many people sit on the fence which is why many businesses fail. If you are going to be in business, be in business. Operate it professionally, be active in it, and be proud of it. That is the best thing about entrepreneurship is that the losses or profits are a result of the work put in. If you aren’t dedicated to the business how can you expect your clients to be dedicated to your business. You don’t have to be perfect but you have to be improving. It doesn’t matter if that is investigating ways to make it better, or actually growing through more clients. Either be commited or get out of it. lack of professionalism just hurts all of us that are really in the game to win. i wish you all the best with your businesses.
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Bruce Outridge 