Gary Vaynerchuk has me FIRED UP!!

We Can Only Appreciate the Good After We’ve been Faced with Bad

I just returned from a head clearing heart pounding 6mile run.  It’s amazing how much clearer your thinking becomes when you’re challenging your body.  I’m in the middle of day 4 after losing my job, and I’m already making some big moves.  It’s fascinating to step back and be witness to the emotional rollercoaster of job loss.  That coupled with our lovely little recession we’re experiencing hasn’t exactly helped my spirits, but it hasn’t gotten me so down either.

I’ve been really down before.  I’ve faced some minimal adversity in my life, and I’m thankful every day for that.  I know in my heart that I wouldn’t appreciate the good things in my life if I were never faced with the “percieved bad”.    I say “perceived bad” because I mean really, how bad is it?  Nobody is dying here.  🙂

Take inventory today. I’m mean really, seriously take inventory.  While I was running I thought of the many things I can be thankful for:

1. I’m able to run 6miles!

2. The seasons are changing and you can almost smell the baseball in the air – GO YANKS!

3. My daughter’s birthday is on April 14th!  

 

If a guy on day 4 of joblessness in the midst of a sh*tty recession can be grateful, than you really have no excuse to complain today!

Top 5 Ways to Cope with Getting Let Go

There a few ways you can react to getting let go: 

You can: 

1. Wallow in self pity

2. Drink yourself into oblivion 

3. Wallow while drinking

4. Say f- it and head to Figi for a month, and then wallow and drink.

5. Pick yourself up by your bootstraps and get to work…then maybe have a nice glass of Gary Vaynerchuk recommended vino.

At this point in my life and since I have the responsibilities  of a perfect little girl and a mortgage to pay – I really can only pick option – #5.

That said this week has been a whirlwind of meetings, phone calls and ideas.  Ideas that I’ve been thinking about for months but never really had the time to see to fruition.  I’m saying screw getting down – screw wallowing in self pity. This is opportunity time.  I’m so energized and pumped for these ideas!!

So here they are in no particular order:

I’ve registered two company LLC’s 

1. LookUpInteractive LLC – An idea that I had about two years ago to start my own consulting business.  I just launched the site – and while still VERY bare bones – I’m pumped.  Check it out:

http://www.lookupinteractive.com

2. Dadzilla LLC – I purchased the url http://www.dadzillatv.com – and I’ve hired a great team of freelancer to help me build the site on evenings and on weekends. It’s not ready to launch but I think it will hit a demo that gets neglected – DADS – I see tons and TONS of parenting advice and there’s really nothing for Dads.  My idea is to host a weekly show that will interview people that can offer advice for Dads – everything from the type of mortgage you should look for to the type of crib you should be getting for the new little addition.  I’ve been blessed to have a phenomenal family that loves and supports me, and I realize that not everyone has that type of support system.  So we need to educate the new Dads out there. They need to keep their new little ones safe and secure.  They also need to know what stuff is a rip off and what stuff they really need – ie, ditch the frills and invest in a gate so your baby doesn’t take a spill down the steps!

There are a lot more where these came from – so let me hear your feedback?  Kill me with constructive feedback guys I want these ideas to take off and I need your help – what do you think?

A New Beginning

Thursday Miva was acquired by AdKnowledge, Inc. This is phenomenal news for the talented folks running Miva Direct.  Robert Roe and Mark Ribaudo have a vision for the Miva Direct team that I’m excited to see come to fruition in the coming weeks.  I won’t be a part of that vision because this Monday I was let go.  This is the best thing to happen for me.  This is an opportunity for growth, learning and expansion.  I worked very hard in the months that I spent at Miva Direct and I hope that the team experiences nothing but success.  They all deserve the best.  Now, I must start the journey to look for my next challenge.  

Today, I’m bursting with ideas, happiness, and a feeling that everything happens for a reason.  I’ve decided that I will take some time to be with my family and decide the best opportunity for us. A hasty decision is dangerous, and I want to ensure that I make a decision to move from a pure place, and not a place that is based in financial concern.  

There is so much opportunity in front of me, and I’m excited that this is an opportunity for me to “practice what I preach”.  I have posted on here before regarding the recession, and our perception of the world around us when we’re in the midst of a recession.   Some responded saying that my outlook was unreasonable and much too positive.  I disagree.  Life is not an enemy.  I don’t want war.  I want peace, love and a non hostile environment.  My relationship with the present moment is not a means to an end.  I see my present moment as the only thing that I have.  Life is inseparable from the now.  Now, life is abundant.

• Now, I have the love of a phenomenal woman.  
• Now, I have a daughter that is celebrating her first birthday next month, and brings pure joy to my life.
• Now, I have a family and friends that have reached out to me with love, support and encouragement.  

How lucky am I?

I see the disfunction in grasping for the future, of reacting to the panick of unemployment.  This will not support a smooth transition into a new role. This will only support decision making that is fear based. This won’t help me find a role that is a fulfilling career move.  I may find a “job”, but not an environment where I can be surrounded by like minded positive people.  Life’s much too short for me to seek only financial success.  I’ve seen the danger of this mentality. My actions today are empowered by my intention to do good, act for the good of the people I encounter in my life, and the refusal to feel bitter, rejected, or down.   Too many of us are unaware that we have an inner wisdom of intuition that guides us.  Today is a day I’ve never lived before, and I’m glad to be alive today.  I give to life what I expect life to give to me. I love life.  

Out of this situation, only good will come.

From Attitude to Gratitude

This morning something fascinating happened. 

During my commute in on the train I read an article so timely and so appropriate in the  Wall Street Journal:  that I made copies and passed it out to our team.  I was feeling so positive today, so convinced that our team was pulling itself out of the muck and mire of complaining and feeling the negative effects of the recession etc, and turning a corner to producing.  I shared it to be a point of positivity, to spread a feeling of good will and general warm feeling about what we’ve been through and are accomplishing.  I felt they would appreciate the timeliness of the note, smile and file it away under “nice article”…

Most did.

An anonymous someone apparently did not, and left the article crumpled in a ball outside my office door. 

Fascinating. 

The article’s title is “From Attitude to Gratitude: This is No Time for Complaints” by Jeffrey Zaslow. What could have been so offensive to warrant a response of that nature?

Well, the general”zeitgeist” of the article is that when recession hits people tend to complainn less, and realize just how lucky they are to be gainfully employed etc.  Zaslow cites that

“Job satisfaction is actually up according to a December 2008 survey by Yahoo! HotJobs.”  People are more grateful for what they have an hesitant to wine and complain. 

Jeffrey goes on to quote Dr. McHenry

“A lot of young people grumble due to entitlement” Dr. McHenry encourages us to write down three things we’re grateful for every day – no matter how simple they might seem. “Some days, ” she says, “the list might be as basic as oxygen, food and shelter”

This final quote inspired me to even add this as my status on facebook this morning:

Chris is wondering what are 3 things that you’re grateful for today? – 1.My Family 2.My Job 3. The recent development of a sports page in the WSJ are mine 🙂

So what could have triggered this person to crumple up the article and leave it outside my office?  I guess I’ll never know.  Perhaps as my mother says “A guilty conscience needs no accuser”

But I’ll tell you one thing – I’m certainly not going to complain about it 😉

Performance trumps everything

As our economy worsens and belts continue to tighten online advertisers are even better off.  The reason? ROI – Return on Investment.  There is no other medium where the advertiser knows exactly where ads will run, and can track performance.  There is certainly value in brand advertising, but in order to fully see the power of online advertising, one must only offer a CPA, or CPC and watch the magic happen. Certainly there are risks involved as there are regarding any advertising.  You’ll be well suited to investigate the pitfalls – ie, chargebacks or deductions, click fraud but rest assured if you need to advertise -and you DO, then make it performance based.   The worst feeling in the world is spending dollars and you cannot quantify where there went, or the purpose regarding your spend. When you have a paying customer that just paid you $30, and you paid an affiliate $15 to generate that sale, I can guarantee  you’ll migrate your spend to performance driven.

Recession? What Recession?

Recently I saw an interview with Rush Limbaugh.  I know, I know but hear me out.  Throughout the course of the interview Rush was his normal cuddly, narrow minded fool blabbering on about some gibberish that I was just about to turn off when he made a statement that got me.  He said (now I’m paraphrasing here)_….”I know there’s a recession, I just don’t choose to participate”…..and I have to say that this may be the first time I can ever say  – I AGREE WITH OUR BOY RUSH.  Amen!  Let’s not participate. 

I’m sure Rush didn’t mean it the way I’m going to interpret here – but I don’t really care.  I choose not to participate in the gloom and doom.  I choose to see the silver lining. I choose to be happy.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.  I’m grateful for my lovely wife Laura, my perfect baby girl Talia, for my friends, my family and my job.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I don’t chose to participate.  

You shouldn’t either.  Smile, you’ll live longer.  I promise.