Podcast appearances and mentions of bill what

Have you ever stayed in a Marriott, Hilton, or Hyatt Hotel? There's a high likelihood that you've used one of our podcast guest's bathroom pods. Bill Seery is the Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at SurePods. SurePods is the leading producer of prefabricated modular bathrooms in North America. SurePods has been implemented into over 100 new construction projects in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere in North America with over 30,000 pods in use currently. It's no surprise that we're fans of prefabrication around here. If you've listened to the show at any point, you know this about us. Here are a few questions we asked Bill - What is this whole “Don't ship air” thing? - Do we need to work prefab into the design early? - What do you do to overcome that there aren't many install companies out there? We've wanted to do a podcast episode on this for quite a while and we're pumped we got to talk to Bill about this! Related Links SurePods Website Bill's LinkedIn Please consider subscribing! SUBSCRIBE! Like us on LinkedIn! Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Instagram! Eddie's LinkedIn Tyler's LinkedIn (Our day job)

Bill: Well Sean, I'm going to Boston with you. You know The Guy Who Manages The Red Sox, the Red Sox's manager, gave me a job as coach for as long as you're on the team. Sean: Look Bill, if you're the coach, you must know all the players. Bill: I certainly do. Sean: Well you know I've never met the guys. So you'll have to tell me their names, and then I'll know who's playing on the team. Bill: Oh, I'll tell you their names, but you know it seems to me they give these ball players now-a-days very peculiar names. Sean: You mean funny names? Bill: Strange names, pet names...like Dizzy Dean... Sean: His brother Daffy. Bill: Daffy Dean... Sean: And their French cousin. Bill: French? Sean: Goofé. Bill: Goofé Dean. Well, let's see, we have on the bags, Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third... Sean: That's what I want to find out. Bill: I say Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third. Sean: Are you the manager? Bill: Yes. Sean: You gonna be the coach too? Bill: Yes. Sean: And you don't know the fellows' names? Bill: Well I should. Sean: Well then who's on first? Bill: Yes. Sean: I mean the fellow's name. Bill: Who. Sean: The guy on first. Bill: Who. Sean: The first baseman. Bill: Who. Sean: The guy playing... Bill: Who is on first! Sean: I'm asking YOU who's on first. Bill: That's the man's name. Sean: That's who's name? Bill: Yes. Sean: Well go ahead and tell me. Bill: That's it. Sean: That's who? Bill: Yes. PAUSE Sean: Look, you gotta first baseman? Bill: Certainly. Sean: Who's playing first? Bill: That's right. Sean: When you pay off the first baseman every month, who gets the money? Bill: Every dollar of it. Sean: All I'm trying to find out is the fellow's name on first base. Bill: Who. Sean: The guy that gets... Bill: That's it. Sean: Who gets the money... Bill: He does, every dollar. Sometimes his wife comes down and collects it. Sean: Who's wife? Bill: Yes. PAUSE Bill: What's wrong with that? Sean: Look, all I wanna know is when you sign up the first baseman, how does he sign his name? Bill: Who. Sean: The guy. Bill: Who. Sean: How does he sign... Bill: That's how he signs it. Sean: Who? Bill: Yes. PAUSE Sean: All I'm trying to find out is what's the guy's name on first base. Bill: No. What is on second base. Sean: I'm not asking you who's on second. Bill: Who's on first. Sean: One base at a time! Bill: Well, don't change the players around. Sean: I'm not changing nobody! Bill: Take it easy, buddy. Sean: I'm only asking you, who's the guy on first base? Bill: That's right. Sean: Ok. Bill: All right. PAUSE Sean: What's the guy's name on first base? Bill: No. What is on second. Sean: I'm not asking you who's on second. Bill: Who's on first. Sean: I don't know. Bill: He's on third, we're not talking about him. Sean: Now how did I get on third base? Bill: Why you mentioned his name. Sean: If I mentioned the third baseman's name, who did I say is playing third? Bill: No. Who's playing first. Sean: What's on first? Bill: What's on second. Sean: I don't know. Bill: He's on third. Sean: There I go, back on third again! PAUSE Sean: Would you just stay on third base and don't go off it. Bill: All right, what do you want to know? Sean: Now who's playing third base? Bill: Why do you insist on putting Who on third base? Sean: What am I putting on third. Bill: No. What is on second. Sean: You don't want who on second? Bill: Who is on first. Sean: I don't know. Bill & Sean Together:Third base! PAUSE Sean: Look, you gotta outfield? Bill: Sure. Sean: The left fielder's name? Bill: Why. Sean: I just thought I'd ask you. Bill: Well, I just thought I'd tell ya. Sean: Then tell me who's playing left field. Bill: Who's playing first. Sean: I'm not... stay out of the infield! I want to know what's the guy's name in left field? Bill: No, What is on second. Sean: I'm not asking you who's on second. Bill: Who's on first! Sean: I don't know. Bill & Sean Together: Third base! PAUSE Sean: The left fielder's name? Bill: Why. Sean: Because! Bill: Oh, he's centerfield. PAUSE Sean: Look, You gotta pitcher on this team? Bill: Sure. Sean: The pitcher's name? Bill: Tomorrow. Sean: You don't want to tell me today? Bill: I'm telling you now. Sean: Then go ahead. Bill: Tomorrow! Sean: What time? Bill: What time what? Sean: What time tomorrow are you gonna tell me who's pitching? Bill: Now listen. Who is not pitching. Sean: I'll break your arm, you say who's on first! I want to know what's the pitcher's name? Bill: What's on second. Sean: I don't know. Bill & Sean Together: Third base! PAUSE Sean: Gotta a catcher? Bill: Certainly. Sean: The catcher's name? Bill: Today. Sean: Today, and tomorrow's pitching. Bill: Now you've got it. Sean: All we got is a couple of days on the team. PAUSE Sean: You know I'm a catcher too. Bill: So they tell me. Sean: I get behind the plate to do some fancy catching, Tomorrow's pitching on my team and a heavy hitter gets up. Now the heavy hitter bunts the ball. When he bunts the ball, me, being a good catcher, I'm gonna throw the guy out at first base. So I pick up the ball and throw it to who? Bill: Now that's the first thing you've said right. Sean: I don't even know what I'm talking about! PAUSE Bill: That's all you have to do. Sean: Is to throw the ball to first base. Bill: Yes! Sean: Now who's got it? Bill: Naturally. PAUSE Sean: Look, if I throw the ball to first base, somebody's gotta get it. Now who has it? Bill: Naturally. Sean: Who? Bill: Naturally. Sean: Naturally? Bill: Naturally. Sean: So I pick up the ball and I throw it to Naturally. Bill: No you don't, you throw the ball to Who. Sean: Naturally. Bill: That's different. Sean: That's what I said. Bill: You're not saying it... Sean: I throw the ball to Naturally. Bill: You throw it to Who. Sean: Naturally. Bill: That's it. Sean: That's what I said! Bill: You ask me. Sean: I throw the ball to who? Bill: Naturally. Sean: Now you ask me. Bill: You throw the ball to Who? Sean: Naturally. Bill: That's it. Sean: Same as you! Same as YOU! I throw the ball to who. Whoever it is drops the ball and the guy runs to second. Who picks up the ball and throws it to What. What throws it to I Don't Know. I Don't Know throws it back to Tomorrow, Triple play. Another guy gets up and hits a long fly ball to Because. Why? I don't know! He's on third and I don't give a darn! Bill: What? Sean: I said I don't give a darn! Bill: Oh, that's our shortstop.

Music of Latin America Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite have an amazing adventure to another dimension in today’s episode. They explore all kids of cool instruments used in Latin American music. Conga, maracas, cajon, oh my! They also compete in a cool game show hosted by Jerry Slapdash (who thinks he’s really handsome). We hope you enjoy today’s adventure learning about the music of Latin America! Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdGhqK_DWpRIKS45ICqN3eQ ***Classroom and Homeschool Teachers***  Find our digital resource to help enhance your classroom HERE! Like us on Facebook!    Mr. Fite Check out original fun and educational music from Mr. Fite at  https://brucefite.com/music and subscribe to Mr. Fite’s YouTube Channel   Mr. Henry Learn music and the piano with Mr. Henry by subscribing to his YouTube channel:  Mr. Henry’s Music World (Transcript) Let the music begin in 3, 2, 1... Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite, exploring along with you. Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite love hanging out with you. The Music Podcast for Kids! Hello and welcome to The Music Podcast for Kids we're your hosts Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite - Music educators extraordinaire! The Music Podcast for Kids is a fun and educational podcast where we learn and explore the best subject ever -  music!     And now, the music joke of the day. We love jokes, so if you have a joke, please visit our website themusicpodcastforkids.com to submit your joke. And guess what? It doesn't even have to be a music joke; it can be any joke. We will read and enjoy your joke on the podcast and also let everyone know who it came from and where you are in this great big wonderful music world.    Our joke of the day is: Bill: Welp, I think it’s official.  Bruce: Official?  Bill: Yup, officially lost.  Bruce: No way….. I know exactly where we are going. It’s up there, straight ahead. The fastest piano player in the west  Bill: Well, alright, I sure hope you're right it’s getting hot out here and my back is kinda hurtin’. Gonna hop off this horse and take a break for a minute. (Hops off and walks but there is a shaking sound) Bruce: Umm, what is that sound?  Bill: (scared ... ) you mean that rattle sound… Bruce: Yes, that rattle sound…. It gotta be a rattler!!  Bill: (shaking and shivering scared) Ohhhh no, where is it? Can you see it? Bruce: Just relax, I can’t quite see it yet, Bill: Relax? How can I relax? There's a rattler near me.. oh it’s getting louder!  Bruce: I don’t really see that rattler but yeah just relax and don’t move… Bill: don’t move?  I can’t stop shaking…. I’m just too scared of rattlers!  Bruce: wait a gosh darn tootin second here…. what you got in that bag? Bill: What does it matter what’s in my bag… there’s a rattler near me! I don’t wanna get bit! I wanna see the fastest piano player in the west! Bruce: (gets off horse) now get on over here and let me see that bag. Bill: No stay on your horse! Save yourself, save the horse!  Bruce: Give me that bag!.... (takes bag) Yup, just what I thought…. a bag of maracas… there’s your rattler for ya.  Bill: aw well shucks I... I knew that… forgot  about that bag of maracas... Bruce: Well that’s enough drama for one day, let’s get a move on. Bill: Sounds good, just take a swig of this here water can and get back on my horse and……(rattle sound) Together: Rattlers!!!  Make sure to send in your jokes by visiting our website themusicpodcastforkids.com a link to the website can be found in the show notes.   And now, the music word of the day. Bill: Before we get to our main subject of the day, Music from Latin America, let’s check out the music word of the day: Conga!  Bruce: Congas are drums that are tall and narrow. You can play them by sitting down, but many times you will see them paired together and mounted on a rack.    Bill: It’s important to not get the congas mixed up with the bongos.  Bruce: That's right, bongos are like a mini version of the conga drums. Congas are big and bongos are small.  Bill: Conga drums are used in all types of music but originated in Afro Cuban Music.  Bruce: The conga drum became more well known after the popular Conga Line tune and dance came about.  Bill: Oh yeah I love the conga line. That's the one where everyone gets in a big line to form a circle to follow some fun three step shuffle.  Bruce: That's right, and that's the word of the day Together: Conga!  The music podcast for kids is brought to you by Mr. Henry's Music World YouTube channel. If you are interested in learning how to play the piano with a fun and engaging curriculum geared towards kids please subscribe to Mr. Henry's YouTube channel called mr. Henry's Music World. Links will be found in the show notes. Again, we thank you so much for tuning in.  Thank you so much for listening. We hope you are enjoying the show so far. Please subscribe to the podcast to receive the latest episodes and leave a review through iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Also get updates on what we are up to Facebook and Instagram by finding us at Music Podcast for Kids. Links will be found in the show notes. On to the show! And now, the main subject of the day. Bill: (as if behind a door, while trying to open up a door)  I don’t know Mr. Fite, I don't think there are any instruments up here anymore, they may have been sold at a garage sale…(door opens up) Together: Woooooaaaaahhhhhh  Bruce:   Gee, it’s a little dusty up here in the attic.  Bill: Sure is! Wow, there is a bunch of stuff up here.  Bruce:  Ok, there has got to be some instruments from Latin America in here somewhere.  Bill: I don’t know Mr. Fite, but we can certainly look.  Bruce:  Whats this small box thing here?   Bill: Oh man, that's my pre-tendo.   Bruce:  Pre-tendo?  Bill: Yeah, it's where I get to pretend to play video games, oh man I remember my most favorite game of all…. shmelda.    Bruce:  Shmelda? Are you sure you don’t mean... Bill: Ahh yes, shmelda, where you try and guess the smell of the...  Bruce: Oh wow, look over here! I think I found something.  Bill: Oh cool. What is that?  Bruce:  Its the...it’s the…. maraca!  Bill: Nice! So maybe the instruments were not sold. Sweet! You found one, is there another?  Bruce: Lets see here….. Umm…. eeshhh…… yup here it is!  Bill: Awesome! Let's hear the sweet sound of the maracas!  Bruce: Yup, these will do just perfectly for our presentation on music from Latin America.  Bill: Sure will. What's the story about with these instruments?  Bruce: Well first off, the maracas is made from a tree fruit in Puerto Rico called the higuera.  Bill: From a fruit? Oh I’ve heard about this before ...and I’m pretty sure that doesn't work...I tried to make a maracas with apples the other day and it just turned into a bunch of mushy apple… sauce….  Bruce: Oh no no… this type of fruit has a hard shell, and once the pulp is taken out of the fruit, the hard shell sits until completely dried out, then seeds or pebbles are put inside and it is closed on up with a handle and boom, you have a maraca.  Bill: Sweet!  Bruce: Yeah, there are all different types of maracas that are used in particular parts of latin America. This one is made with cuero, which is a type of animal skin which are often found in the Carribbean.  Bill: Cool! Let's find some other instruments from latin America. I’m going to check back here.  Bruce: Sounds good, I will keep looking through this box…..dum da dum…..aghrghgh… oh what could this be? Hey Mr. Henry I think I found something...  Bill:.Ummmm Mr. Fite? Uhhhh I think I found something as well….. I don't think you are going to believe me though.  Bruce: oh well, what is it? Bill: No seriously, I think you need to come see this…  Bruce: Oh come on, just tell me!  Bill: Well ok, it looks like a portal to another dimension!  Bruce:What? A portal to another dimension! Come on Mr. Henry, stop playing around.. Bill: I’m not playing around! You gotta see this…. Bruce:  (walking towards) Mr. Henry, I’m pretty sure its not a portal to another dimension that's impossible, plus check out this instrument I just found its the gui…… (blast sound)  Together:  (epic music playing..) Wooooooooooaaaaaaahhhhhhhh  Bill:  See, I told ya Mr. Fite. I opened up this door that said “portal to another dimension”  Bruce: Why would you open a door that ever says that!?  Bill: You’re joking right?  Why wouldn't you open a door that says that! Come on we gotta check this out!  Bruce: Oh no...no way...I’ve seen this in movies before, it doesn't seem to ever work out quite right. There is usually something that will end up chasing after you, and you have to run a bunch and I already did my morning run, so I am set to….  Bill: Oh come on, nothing bad will happen. We may even be able to find more instruments from Latin America for our presentation!  Bruce: Oh boy...well...that's true I guess…  Bill:. Ok, cool..let's get going ... (portal music plays and crashes in) (music from a game show is playing) Bruce: Woah, that was crazy….  Bill: Yeah it was….  Bruce: What is going on…. Slapdash: (in background) Hahahaha! Welcome!  Oh boy I am looking handsome today…. Welcome, welcome!  Bruce: Mr. Slapdash?  Bill: Yeah Mr. Slapdash? What is he doing here?  Bruce: Oh boy...already regretting going through that portal.  Bill: Oh no...it’ll be fine...I’m sure Mr. Slapdash has become a better game show host since the last time we saw him…. Bruce: Yeah lets hope Slapdash: Step right up Mr. Fite and Mr. henry! Great to see you both! You two seem very confident and totally in tune with what's going on  Bruce: Ummm no Mr. Slapdash, we have no idea what's going on...I mean we just stepped through some wierd portal and now, bam, here we are talking with you... Bill: Wait did he say we are “totally in tune”...haha… I get it Slapdash: Right! Well, welcome to the instrument identification game, where you will listen to these instruments from Latin America and figure out which instrument it is.  Bruce: Wait, did you say instrument from Latin America? This is perfect! We were just talking about instruments from Latin America  Bill: yeah, this is perfect. See I told ya so Mr. Fite.  Slapdash: Ahh right! Let’s get on with the game today! And it appears we are out of time!  Bruce: What? Out of time? We just started  Bill: Yeah Mr. Slapdash, we didn't even get to start the game yet..  Slapdash: Ahhh right LOL, JK…(clears throat).... Ahhh ok. You will listen to two different instruments. One is from Latin America and the other is not. You must tell me which one is from Latin America, and write a 32 page essay about that instrument. You have 10 seconds...here...we ….  Bruce: Wait, did you say write a 32 page essay with only 10 seconds of time?  Bill: Yeah mr. Slapdash that's impossible.   Slapdash: Ahh right..uhhh.. Did I say that? Oh whatever...just figuring out the instrument will do just fine. Ok...here ...we ...go! Number 1 instrument: (plays) Number 2 instrument… which one is from Latin America?  Bruce: Umm, I think i’ m going with the second one. Sound just like the conga drum!   Bill: Yeah totally does. Good thinking Mr. Fite. We are going with - the conga drum!   Slapdash: No sorry, that is not my favorite instrument, actually my favorite instrument is the nose harp...it just twangs along so nicely.. Bruce: Mr. Slapdash!  Bill: Yeah Mr. Slapdash… we are not supposed to be picking your favorite instrument; the nose harp…  Bruce: Wait..did you just say picking the nose...har… Slapdash: Hahaha just JKing you both there ...You are correct! The conga drum! From Latin America! (music plays, audience claps) Bruce: Oh great! Bill: Sweet!  Slapdash: Ok, onto the next question. Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?  Bruce: What?  Bill: Oh boy….  Slapdash: Haha.. Ok, here is the next listening challenge. Which is from latin America. Is it number 1 (plays) or number  2 (plays)  Bill: I’m going with number 1. Sounds like the steel drum!  Bruce: Yeah, I think you're totally right Mr. Henry. The steel drum can also be called the steel pan.  Slapdash: Why would you want to steal a drum or a pan. That doesn’t seem like a good idea you know, you could get in big trouble... Bruce: No no, Mr Slapdash, the steel drum or steel pan is spelled S T E E L.. like the metal material “steel”.  Bill: Right! The steel drum can actually be made from a 55 gallon industrial drum. They carefully craft each part of the steel to have different pitches to create that cool sound.  Slapdash: Ah well right...let me see here...I am going to look over here to pretend like there is someone to check that answer and it looks like, yes Bob, is that correct…. Ummm (continues in background…)  Bruce: Who is he looking at? I don’t see anyone…  Bill: Yeah..there is no Bob.. In this room… oh boy Slapdash: Ahah!, Well yes, that is the answer! The Steel Drum! (music plays audience claps)  And you are today's winners!  Bruce: Wooohoo! Awesome.  Bill: Yeah for sure, what do we win?  Slapdash:  Well, what do you have for them Johnny? Ummm johnny?  Bruce: I don't think there is a johnny…  Slapdash:  Ahh right of course… well...guess what, you get a fantastic trip to the Caribbean to learn more about the instruments from latin America!  Bill: Oh sweet!  Slapdash: Yes! And right over here is the teleportation zaporoonie 3000 s model  Bruce: Oh no, remember Mr. Henry, we already tried this thing… I’m still trying to get all of my hair back…  Bill: Oh, I think they have updated the system since then. I’m sure there is nothing wrong with the teleportation zaporoonie 3000 s model now. Right Mr. Slapdash?  Slapdash: Oh yes, of course, nothing will happen..yes, they have ...umm...upgraded the system, the only thing I have seen is some folks come back in mini form... Bruce: Mini form?? Bill: Oh I’m sure he means we feel so small in this great big music world..right Mr. Slapdash?  Slapdash: uhh well, are you familiar with the size of a spoon?   Bruce: Well of course Mr. Slapdash.  Slapdash: Well yes, uhhhh you would be able to walk on the spoon Bill: Yikes, so that kinda mini form.  Bruce: Nope no way am I getting into that machine Bill: Oh come on there is no way we will shrink, the chances are probably like 1 in a shma-zillion.   Slapdash: One out of four.  Bill: And plus we won this...for free! Lets celebrate by checking out more music from Latin America!  Bruce: Wait did he just say 1 out of 4 get shrunk down to a sp… Bill: Put in the coordinates, buckle up the seats belt and fire this bad boy up... (ride music) Bruce: Oh no...look that spoon is huge...it happened we shrunk down...oh no… Bill: (Reading) Here lies the biggest spoon in the world. 200 feet long. Oh no Mr. Fite, we are still normal size,...it just so happens they have the biggest spoon ever here. Oh what's that noise?  Bruce: Oh, sounds like those conga drums we heard earlier.  Bill: Awesome, so what's the deal with the congas?  Bruce:  Well, the conga drum originally came from Cuba.  Bill: Cool!  Bruce: Yeah, and it can be played in a bunch of different ways. We call each way a different “tone”. There is the open tone, bass tone, muffled tone slap tone and rim shot tone.   Bill: Wow, so you can create five different sounds on one drum? I just figured you just hit and with your hand and that's it.   Bruce: Actually, you can play variations of just one of those tones. So, you could play the open tone in three different ways!  Bill: Wow, that seems tough.  Bruce: Sure is, so you could have 15 different types of sounds on the conga drum.  Bill: Wowzers, that would take some serious practice.  Bruce: Now, in an elementary school you may only learn two types of tones on the conga drum. The “low tone” which sounds like this…… and the “high tone” which sounds like this.  Bill: Cool. It looks like the low tone is played in the middle of the drum with a cupped hand.  Bruce: You got it, and the high tone is played on the side of the drum with a flat hand; using the fingers and high part of the hand.  Bill: Sounds fun! Boy, I’m getting kinda tired. I am going to sit down on this box chair here for a second. Bruce: Oh wow! Cool, check it out, you're sitting on the cajon!  Bill: Cajon? Ummm… it's just a box.. How is this an instrument?  Bruce: Well, that's no ordinary box, although it does look like a box made of wood. It's actually a really cool instrument. The cajon is a box drum.  Bill: Hmm , so how do you play this box drum thingy….  Bruce: It’s kinda played like the conga drum but you sit on it while performing. It does have a bunch of tones, but if we focus on the low and high tone, you would play near the middle of the cajon to get a deep, low sound...it almost sounds like a bass drum.  Bill: Wow, thats awesome!  Bruce: Then, if you play towards the top it sounds like a snare drum.  Bill: Neat! How does it have that rattle sound to it?  Bruce: Well, there are these wires called snare wires which are of course found on a snare drum. They use those same wires and put them in between the wood.   Bill: Wow, it's like a drum set in a….box!  Bruce: Yessir!  Bill: So many cool instruments from Latin America.  Bruce: For sure, well it's getting kinda late and I’m getting kinda hungry.. Bill: Yeah samezees. Ok, lets get back to the teleportation zaporoonie 3000 s model.  Bruce: oh great….  Bill: Ok, put in the coordinates.. “Mr. Henry's Dusty Attic”, cool, emergency break off, buckle up…. (ride music)  Bruce: Did we make it back? Wow... I don't remember you having such a large dusty couch in your attic… Bill: Hmmm. ….yeah that's a pretty large cup of water there… i mean I’m thirsty, but that's a ton of wa….. Bruce: Mr. Henry! You shrunk the music teachers!  Bill: Oh I’m sure we can reverse this...let me get the manual let's see….just turn this knob here and do the cha cha slide while clucking like a chicken, then three turns. Bruce: (crying) I don't want to be tiny! I don't want to be tiny I don't want to be tiny (fades away with dreamy sequence) Bruce: (as if sleeping with a bad dream- drooling mouth open saying): I don't want to be tiny I don't want to be tiny.  Bill: Hey Mr. Fite, wake up wake up… you're having a bad… Bruce: Ahhh ghhghagah Oh… boy. I was having a crazy dream about Mr. Slapdash, and learning about all the cool instruments from Latin America, but then getting shrunk into a little...  Slapdash: Hahaha..did you say my name? Don't I just look so smart today and good looking... Bill: Come on Mr. Fite, we are about to go onto the Music Listening Challenge game! The winner gets a trip to the Caribbean!  Time to wrap it up folks! Thank you so much for tuning in to the Music Podcast for Kids. We hope you enjoyed the show, and most importantly, learned something cool today about music. Remember to send in your jokes or even a topic in music you would like us to discuss by visiting our website themusicpodcastforkids.com. If you are interested in awesome educational and fun songs for your kids to listen and sing along with, please visit brucefite.com. Music is available to download with iTunes, CD Baby, and Facebook streaming platforms like Spotify and Amazon Radio. Links will be found in the show notes. If you are interested in learning how to play the piano with a fun and engaging curriculum geared toward kids, please subscribe to Mr. Henry's YouTube channel called Mr. Henry's Music World. Links would be found in the show notes. Please visit iTunes to leave a review of the podcast and also share the podcast with friends, relatives, aliens, whoever! Again we thank you so much for tuning in! 

United Space Structures CEO and founder Bill Kemp is on the Cold Star Project to share his plans to create real estate via structures for living and working in on the Moon. Safe inside lava tubes, USS will engineer space structures so that people can survive there. Host Jason Kanigan asks Bill: What kind of business model does United Space Structures have? What kind of tenants do you want to have at your facilities? Tell us about the lunar infrastructure service you intend to provide What is the “marketplace need” for this offer? What level of budget is required to move ahead? Is it needed in stages or as a lump sum? What is the potential Return On Investment (ROI) for your lunar facilities? How many facilities do you want to build and where? What technical requirements are needed to implement this solution? Why not an inflatable approach? What kind of partners are you seeking to support the project? Tell us about the preparation & learning required to get to this point. United Space Structures website: https://united-space-structures.com/ Get new episodes directly in your inbox: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

No, we are not reviewing the tv series and we are similarly not deciding if the british or american versions are better. Instead we are considering how one would make an office more social distance friendly. How do you get around Martha who insists on leaning over you, cheek to cheek and prodding your monitor? How do you avoid those awkward passes in the hallway with that employee who you are sure is called Jarred but everyone calls Bill? What is the expected norm when it comes to using the shared microwave? Hosted un-ironically by M. Boer and S. Schekman on the 2nd June 2020

Improving Donor Relations: Getting The Right Message To The Right People With The Right RhythmInterview with Wordsprint CEO Bill Gilmer Read the Interview Hugh Ballou: Hey, folks, it's Hugh Ballou. Another chapter of The Nonprofit Exchange. Russell David Dennis, last week you and I were in Florida. It's a good thing we're not there this week. Russell Dennis: Yes, it's a bit windy down there now. I'm hoping everyone is okay. It's looking like the storm is turning off and it's not going as far inland as they initially thought. Hopefully all of our friends and the wonderful people down at Kaiser who made us feel so welcome are okay. Hugh: It's called a hurricane, but it's really a slowcane. It's going slowly through there. Welcome folks to this episode. We have a special guest today, Bill Gilmer. He has been on the ride with us ever since we started the magazine. I think over five years ago. Bill Gilmer, welcome to The Nonprofit Exchange. Bill Gilmer: Thanks. Glad to be here. Unlike Russell, I am in chillier Blacksburg, Virginia. No hurricane on my horizon, I don't think. Hugh: Yeah, we just are down the road in Lynchburg. Bill, we ask our guests to say a little bit about themselves. Some background. Why is it you're doing this important work you're doing today? Bill: My background, I used to be a printer. I used to run a printing company. Over the years, we discovered that most of the work we were doing was for nonprofits. Over the years, we started tracking response rates on donor relation campaigns. We have put together a system of marketing to donors, and that's what we do every day. Help folks build relationships with their donor base. Hugh: You've been working with SynerVision five or six years ago. Let's declare up front that Wordsprint, Bill's company, is a sponsor of Nonprofit Performance Magazine and SynerVision's work in general. We talk about you often on these podcasts. It's a pleasure to have you here live and in person. This is not an infomercial for Wordsprint, but we know the value of your work. We talk about the 30/30/30. That's the secret for success. Just to be clear, people can do this on their own. They don't need you. But if they want to do it the very best way possible, you know how to do that. I want to be clear on that. Explain what this 30/30/30/10 is all about. Bill: What we discovered, and this is lots of data, we started tracking this back in the early 2000s. I think we're up to 20 million touches, 15,000 campaigns. What we discovered is that there are three things that matter. It's our three-bit marketing system. There are three things that matter when it comes to donor relations. The first is having the right message. The second is getting that right message to the right people. The third is getting the right message to the right people with the right rhythm. We help clients focus their message, stay consistent with their message, stay on message. We help them with the right people by helping with database cleansing, database acquisition, all kinds of demographics and predictive analytics. But most importantly, we have developed a system for staying consistent and rhythmic with your donor touches. We've observed through all our data that is where many nonprofits fail. It's the rhythm and consistency. The right message to the right people with the right rhythm. That's the 30/30/30. Hugh: What do you say to people who say, “I've tried mailing. It didn't work. We tried sending out a mailing at the end of the year, and we got a little bit of money, but it doesn't work, Bill.” Bill: I tell them that I tried dieting once last year, and it didn't work either. Hugh: I tried working out once, and it didn't work either. Bill: I tried to exercise once, and it didn't work. It really is like diet or exercise or physical therapy. These are things that work if you implement them rhythmically. It's not a quick fix. Rhythm doesn't become rhythm right away. It needs a few cycles. In fact, on average, for most of our clients, it's really in the third year of repeated rhythmic touches that the donations start to snowball, that it really begins to build. This is not a showhorse thing. This is drip marketing, if you will. But it works. Hugh: It works. I've seen it work. Dig a little deeper into the right person and the right message. I want to know more about how I can do this. Bill: The right message, the first pillar, is your brand. It's who you are. It's why you go to work every day. It's your mission. It's your elevator speech. What we found that nonprofits who stay on message, who stay true to themselves about who they are, are the ones more successful over time as opposed to those who try to be all things to all people or try to repackage it or try to rebrand every year. I'm not saying you can't rebrand, but you need to do so carefully. The right message is mainly a matter of consistency and articulating it clearly. Having the right taglines, having the right logo, having the right paragraphs. The right people gets more complicated. It is all about relationships. We find that the nonprofits who succeed are those who create a database culture, where they take those relationships and get them into the database that everyone in the organization is empowered to update. Your best donors are the people you know. People donate to people. People donate to you because they trust you to fulfill your mission. It's the people you know, the people you run into, the people who come to your open house. These are the best potential donors. The organizations who know how to capture that and bring them into their database so they get rhythmic touches and notifications are the ones who succeed. You can also acquire data. We do a lot of this. Using some fancy predictive analytics, we can acquire names of people who are more likely to donate to your cause than others. That is almost a whole topic in itself. Hugh: Talk a little bit about that. We constantly run across people who say, “I don't know anybody.” If we do have people who are in nonprofits that maybe they get donations, but they don't have a donor management program per se, or they work with a number of early stage. Talk a bit about how you acquire names legally. Is there a magic database program that I can use to connect them with? Bill: It's all legal. There are about six or seven big players in this game called compilers. These are companies who do nothing but purchase, massage, and resell databases. You've heard of some of them. Dunne & Bradstreet does this mostly with businesses. Experian. Equifax, the one that had the big data breach. InfoUSA. There are others. There are literally thousands of brokers and people who take the information from these larger players and resell it to folks like us and you. Demographics are available. We as a society click a lot. We are on our computers and are clicking. We go to Amazon. We read the paragraph. We look at another book. We order this. We fill out a warranty card. We subscribe to a magazine. We join a club. All of those are data transactions that are public and can be sold and resold. The hard demographics have always been there, things like the value of your home, the car you drive. That's public information. But these compilers gather so many data points on all of us as consumers that they are able with artificial intelligence help to see patterns and build logorhythms. They know if you've done this and this and this, then you are more likely to support a nonprofit that focuses on children and especially disabled children. That is how detailed it can get. Or you are more likely to support a local nonprofit that works in the music arts, like an orchestra or a symphony. We call this predictive analytics. This is data that indicates the likelihood of someone supporting your cause. This has gotten way better than it even was six months ago. What we usually do—and Hugh, you have had some recent experience with this with one of your organizations—when we do a database acquisition like this, we then compare it to the organization's existing donor database. If the predictive analytics have been accurate, there will be considerable overlap. Your organization had 3,000 names. We bought another 700-800. Three years ago, you'd expect 10-12 of those to be an overlap. We had a 250-name overlap in that case. Those analytics were extremely accurate. These are folks not just demographically speaking but in terms of propensity are more likely to support your cause. You still have to touch them and touch them rhythmically. That is where the rhythm thing comes in. That is where you need to establish a system of cadent touches over the course of several cycles. At the end of the second or the beginning of the third year, that is where you will start to see donations come in, and it will start to snowball over time. Hugh: When you are talking about clicking, we're talking about mail in the U.S. We are not talking about email with our computer. Bill: I don't think I caught the last part of your question. In terms of what we advise for donor relations, it's a combination of mailing and emailing. Russell: It's so systematic to your approach to keeping and maintaining donors. Especially small nonprofits will be overwhelmed when they start thinking about all this data, and maybe a little confused as to what a touchpoint is. Lots of folks like me get lots of mail and email from a lot of the same folks. Maybe they think, “Oh, I don't want to be this person who is bombarding something with emails a day.” When you talk in terms of touches, there are certain things you are accomplishing with each touch. Let's take a generic year or quarter and talk about what touchpoints there are and the methods behind them. Bill: Let me give you a common example of a mid-sized local nonprofit. Let's say they have 10-12 staff. On average, our clients would have several touches. They would probably have one event every year. In the spring, they will do a luncheon where they talk about their cause and ask people for money while they are there. They might have a monthly blog. The first Monday of every month, they put something out on social media. They might have a fall appeal mailing. Here is where they write a letter. “Dear Dr. Smith, Here is what we do. Please give us money.” If they are smart, they will have that appeal mailing coupled with an auto trigger email, where the day after Dr. Smith gets the letter, he gets an automatic email that says, “Hey Dr. Smith, did you get our letter yesterday? I bet you trashed it, didn't ya? You can still click here to support our cause.” Once in the winter and once in the summer, they will do an e-newsletter. They are sending out information two or three times a year. Information only. They are asking for money in a hard ask twice a year. In the example I gave, once with a mailer/email and once with an event. Something like that. We have some clients who do mailers and ask for money every month. We have others who do it once a year with a hard mailing. What we don't have is much success with straight email solicitation. People do like the convenience of donating online, but they don't trust it unless it has something based in the physical world, whether that's a letter they got and threw away, then they get the mail. They will trust it a lot more because they have the mail piece. They go to an open house, and they then trust the email because they associate it with the real-life physical experience they had. That would be typical. A hard ask twice a year, information only two or three times, and maybe something monthly on social media. What we find does not work is the single big blast. So many people want to put all their eggs into one basket. We will have this big shindig and send out 200,000 invitations. It doesn't do that well. It is better to touch 200 people rhythmically than 200,000 in a blast. Is that helpful? Russell: The key is to spread these over with ask, non-ask. Give them information about the programs they were talking about in the newsletter. How the dollars are impacting, how many people were served, what the shift is. Bill: Impact is huge. Russell: If we're talking about contacting 200 people at a time, this probably means for a medium-sized nonprofit they are sending stuff out weekly to different donors.   Bill: Most of our clients, an average database for our clients is in the range of 2,000-10,000 donors. We often do mailings of 3,000. Sometimes we do 100,000. On average, let's say 5,000. Most of our clients would do one or two mailings a year. A fall appeal and a spring appeal. In lieu of the spring appeal, sometimes they would do a spring event. The other touches, the social media and the e-newsletter when they are not asking are information only. That would be a balanced mix. Let me get to another key point. This is the magic right here. Rhythm is important. Understanding the rhythm that your clients respond to. Most of you know this. Most nonprofit organizations have a pretty good understanding of how often their donors and potential donors want to be asked. Once a year, twice a year, once a month sometimes. The organization usually knows what the rhythm should be. Rhythm is so important that you sustain it over the years that our biggest piece of advice is adjust the scale to match your budget so that you can sustain the rhythm. We actually help clients with spreadsheets so it says we want to mail to 20,000 people twice a year. The postage alone exceeds your budget. You can't do that. “Let's try it one time.” Don't do it. Adjust that scale. If you can't afford the postage of 20,000 appeal letters, can you do 10,000? No. 5,000? You play with that spreadsheet and settle on we can sustain 2,500 twice a year. That's the amount you go with. You have this pool of 10,000. How do you target down to the 2,500? That's how you do predictive analytics. Mail to the 2,500 who are most likely to donate to your cause. It's a budget thing. You adjust your scale to match your budget so you can sustain that rhythm because if you sustain the rhythm through several cycles, it works. This is based on data of what actually works, not what makes you feel or look good, but did the donations come rolling in. Russell: What is the best path to help a new organization or client when they come to you? They may have some stuff they kept on Excel, but they don't necessarily have a donor database or CRM. They looked at these things and thought they were hard to use. They know they need to get better information. Talk about that process where you help them look at the most important factors and how to organize that data and how you guide them to build that so they get effective data from what they are collecting. Bill: There are lots of databases out there as you know. We deal with lots of them. People are constantly asking us which one is the best. All I can honestly say is the best one is the one that someone in your organization is willing to dive into. The right operator, any of these databases can sing. They really can. Some of our biggest clients use Salesforce for their nonprofit data. There is a whole spectrum. It's not so much which CRM system you use. It's do you have someone and a back-up or two who know how to use it? If you have no money and can't do anything, use Excel. It's not so much what you use as how you use it. We can assist. We understand a lot of the databases. We love working with Excel in terms of immediate back-and-forth with our clients. They will export their database to a CSV or Excel file, and we will update the addresses and run through a deceased person's filter. Make sure that list is scrubbed and clean. But we do all that from Excel. Russell: It's a robust program. Microsoft itself. What trips people up more than anything else is understanding what are the most important pieces for me to collect, and then once I collect all of these, what is the best way to categorize or shift my people around or look at now I have it, how do I use it? Bill: This leads into something new we have been doing within the last couple of years. Let's say you inherit a nonprofit. You come in as the new executive director. There has been some staff turnover, and you have three or four huge Excel files with all your donors. You don't really know your donors. You have some record of who gave when, but you don't know why the other people are in there. Are they good prospects? We can actually take that database, those Excel files, do all the usual stuff, combine, de-dupe, update the addresses, make sure they aren't deceased. Then we do something called data append. We send that file—let's say you have 3,000 names but you only know who 50 are—confidentially to some of these national compilers. They can run it versus their data banks and come back with demographic data filled in where you get age, education level, the value of the home, household income, gender, political persuasion, all sorts of things you can add back to that list. That can be a target. You can say, “Listen, these 300 people don't match the profile of our donors. I don't see why we're mailing to them. They haven't given to us in five years. Let's drop them. But these 400 look really good. They match the profile. They are active in the community. Let's keep them on our list.” We call it scoring data or modeling data. There are all kinds of things like that. Russell: There are so many nuances to relating to donors. They come from different backgrounds, education levels, parts of the country. They are in different age groups. When people look at this and say, “I have a lot of different people,” what is the best way for me to organize these groups? What are their touchpoints that are more effective for some groups than others? How do we go about looking at that? Bill: One thing I haven't talked about yet is what channel you use. Is this a demographic that will respond to a Facebook post or a physical newsletter or an e-newsletter? You can ask them. That's a good question. “Would you prefer to receive this?” Make some age and generation assumptions. Millennials actually like direct mail more than you think. Some older folks don't like it as much as you think. The one thing we do advise people to do is do what we call a scattergraph. That's where you sit around the table brainstorming and make a graph of your best donors in terms of age, income level, value of home, education level, geography. As you start graphing this, you will have people all over that graph. You will have young kids who donate to your cause. You have great-grandfathers. You have uneducated and educated. But there will be, the more you plot those dots on your graph, a cluster in the middle. That is your sweet spot. If you want to go after and acquire more donors, acquire more who match those demographics. Add those predictive analytics. It's good to have a profile of who is our sweet spot donor, and how many. Russell: Very helpful. When you start working with an organization, what type of organization are you most effective at helping? What are some of the things that the organization can do that will help you get them results a little faster? Bill: That's a great question, Russell. We find that most nonprofits are pretty good at the first 30%, the message. Nonprofits know most well why they do what they do. It's their passion. It's why they go to work. They usually have that part nailed down. They have that elevator speech. You can't shut them up. They got the message. We find that we can help a lot with the rhythm. We can build these Excel sheets. We can send reminder notifications. “Make sure your blog is written. It's due tomorrow.” “Your e-newsletter should launch next week.” We send reminders that keep them on track, like how a FitBit reminds you to hop up and walk around. These notifications keep you on track. The one that is hardest is the data. It's relationships. We don't know the people in their database, but they do. They know more of them than not. Say the thing in the organization could do is the best results is to go through their database with as many constituents involved as possible: your volunteers, your staff, your key donors. Break it up into small bits, and do a little bit at a time. Try to understand who your donors are. That would probably be the best. Leverage your board. Every board member should have a gun to their head that says, “Who do you know who might donate to your cause? Give us their names.” Leverage conversations. Your whole staff should be encouraged. You have a new administrative assistant who is helping you with this. She bumps into someone at the grocery store who says, “Hey Sally, I haven't seen you in a long time. What are you doing?” “I'm working at Habitat for Humanity now. We are doing this and this.” That person says, “Wow, that sounds interesting. Tell me more.” Sally needs to know to come back and get that information in the database. That person she just bumped into in the grocery store is a better prospect than any of these purchased names we are talking about. Everyone in the organization from the board to the staff to the volunteers should realize it is their personal relationships that lead to the best database. Russell: It's a warm referral that is good. One of the things that I've seen information on and talked to people about in having people on your team, you want to have good tools for them to use to go out and talk about your organization. If you can take a few minutes, talk about some of the tools, printed tools, the toolkits that you make the board members and volunteers and people with information on the organization, how they organize that, and the tools they have to talk about the organization in the best way. Bill: Funny you should ask. We just worked up some handout cards as old-fashioned as that sounds, a little bigger than a business card. The organization calls them the “Get Involved” cards. On one size is the logo and a truncated, poignant abbreviation of the mission. The back features three ways to get involved. You can go to this website and do this. You can become a volunteer and do this. You can call this number and do this. They give these cards to everyone on staff, their volunteers, and encourage them when you are in the grocery store and your old roommate comes up to talk to you, you give them one of the cards. Something as simple as that. Russell: It's important to have those pieces. Is there a way you have people who have these tools, a simple system for them to keep track of how many people are coming? How do you help them document the effectiveness of these tools? Bill: We haven't done a lot of that. The organizations themselves usually keep a database of how many cards did you hand out, and did you talk about it? Ideally you are getting some address/city/state/zip/phone number/email into your database from that encounter. That's the ideal. When you bump into the old roommate in the grocery store, you ask for a business card or a text so I can keep in touch with you. “I'd like to send some information about XYZ charity.” The ones I know do this on a regular basis have weekly staff meetings and go over contacts. It's the most important thing. You're an ambassador for your charity. It's those contacts. People give to people. I know you think they give to your organization because you do all this good. They give because they know and trust you to carry out that mission. It's all about trust. Hugh: Underlying that is relationship building. I can't tell you how many nonprofits out there get a check and wait until next year to ask for another check. I don't know what the average is, but 70% of most nonprofits get the bulk of their money from donors. There is a large percentage. Bill: Yeah, we really do need to take care of our donors better. We recommend the pyramid where you take your database and have your top donors at the top. At some point, you draw that line where everyone above this level of giving gets the personal visit from the executive director or the personal phone call or the three phone calls a year, whatever that appropriate nurturing touch is. The ones at the bottom get a thank-you card. The top people, your key donors, need to be acknowledged, need to be thanked. They need the recognition. You can't do that with all 3,000 names, but you can do it with the top 50. We recommend that pyramid approach. Hugh: It's the old Pareto principle, the 80/20 rule. 80% of your money comes from 20% of your people. The leader is challenged to be able to spend enough time with too many people. My rule of thumb is what you said. You want to spend individual time with your 20%, but you want to stay in touch with the other 80%. Your program is a good way to do that. Bill: We slice and dice it even further. I'll give you an example. They won't mind me talking about them. It's a local arts nonprofit that does theater and plays. They have a huge donor database. The ones at the very top get the personal visit, the handwritten note, the crème de la crème. The next hunk of several thousand records gets variable data printed communication. Variable data has a salutation, “Dear Sam and Jackie.” This communication flips out pictures of the last show they went to. It's highly personalized because they have scrubbed the data that far down that they trust it and know it's accurate. Variable data personalization works as long as it's accurate. The bottom part of the pyramid gets the “Dear friend of XYZ Theater.” The bottom part of it is not personalized because they simply don't have the resources to scrub their data all the way down and make their salutations are correct and other variable data is accurate. Russell: This is important as far as it's managing your budget. You're getting the most bang for the buck and where a lot of people don't think they have money to spend, they may find that after going through and working with someone like you, they may be able to find where they can actually spend the same dollars and get more bang for the buck. When you're working with an organization, sometimes they have board members or volunteers or different people participating in the process. How important is training for all of these key people? What are some of the most important things for you to cover when you're training them? Bill: Let me do a tangent because something you said reminded me of something. This is back in the early 2000s, 2006/2007, right in there. We had not developed our full-blown three-bit marketing system. We were beginning to gather the data and understand that the rhythmic touching is what's important. I ended up being the chair of a small nonprofit. It was a private school trying to get off the ground in the middle of nowhere, southwest Virginia. We didn't have the money to hire my company. We were struggling. We had about 300 names of donors and potential donors. We had 10 board members. 300 names, 10 board members. What a coincidence. Here's what we did. We wrote the letter. We took it to the board meeting and said, “Okay, Sam, you're on the board. You're responsible for these 30 potential people. You make copies of the letter, sneak them into church, and pay the postage. That's why you're on the board.” We assigned each board member 30 records from that database. As an organization, we didn't spend any money. We leveraged our board. They each had to make a few copies and come up with 30 first-class stamps. We did that rhythmically. We did that appeal mail three times a year. By the third year, what do you know? We could afford to have someone else do all this. That was definitely training board members to get in the trenches. Hugh talks about this all the time. The importance of an energized and dedicated board is, I can't say enough about it. That is so critical to have in a thriving nonprofit. Russell: That it is. It's all about the people who you have, who support you, who are in your organization. Your team is your secret sauce. That's where you grow and prosper and create more impact in the lives of others. Knowing how to reach out to them and what really resonates with them is very important. Having that system and having the tools to get them there. The one thing we haven't really touched on is with donors, you have three phases. You're acquiring them. Then at some point, as they're sticking with you, you want them to grow, and you want them to stay. There are three pieces to that. If you would, talk a bit about some of the best ways to move them through that process. How do you acquire them? What are some key tips for that? What are some things that will help you grow them? What are some of the most important things to keep them sticking with you? Bill: The acquisition part we talked about a bit. The best way is those personal relationships, those personal contacts. The second best way would be doing some data acquisition. You can do it yourself; you don't have to go through a company like mine. Google “how to acquire donors,” and plenty of places will crop up that will sell you names. That is the acquisition part. The rhythm means a lot here. The rhythmic touch is how you keep them and how you make them poised to grow. Usually, it's in the second or third year that you get the first donation from a brand new contact. To do that, you need to do those rhythmic touches. This is not an overnight success thing. This is in it for the long haul. It's rare, not unheard of, but rare for someone to move from a $50-per-cycle level to a $5,000-level without something happening. That something could be they come to an event, they hear a speaker, they get a visit from a board member, they get a visit from an executive director. To get that kind of nurturing increase takes something. It's rare that someone would jump from $40 to $500 or $5,000 through repeated passive asks. I think one of the best, it doesn't fit every nonprofit, is to have that annual luncheon where the board members are assigned to fill tables. When they invite people, they let them know, “We will do a presentation. We will ask to give you some money. You don't have to, but there will be an ask. We'd really love to have you.” You get people in the room and have dynamic speakers. You have some of the people you serve. It depends on what kind of nonprofit you have. You do things that give people a real glimpse into how you make the world a better place. that has been known to move people from the $50 level to the $500 level or $5,000 level. Russell: Well-executed non-ask events are critical, too. Just to let people know, “Hey, we're good stewards of your money.” There's some magic about walking them around where they can see where it is people are actually out there in the trenches doing good work. Speaking to some of the things you can acquire and move these services out of the community so they get a working understanding. That growth piece, getting them and growing them, is your lifetime value of a customer for lack of a better way to put it. That takes time. To grow them, you have to keep them. What are the two most important tools? Bill: There are some simple things you can do. You need to thank them for their gifts. The pyramid, the top ones should get a personal visit or phone call. At the bottom, maybe it's a handwritten thank-you note. More and more of our clients are doing the board pizza party, where they get their board together and some phones. Around dinnertime, they serve the board pizza, and they call the top donors. They do it around dinnertime so a lot of people don't answer the phone. But that's fine. You leave a message. The board member says, “Hey, Dr. Smith. I want to thank you and your wife for your $500 gift to our organization. We really appreciate it. It helps us do this, this, and this.” That donor will remember that. That donor will say, “Hey, a board member called me.” That's a nice little thing to do, and to touch the top donors that way. The ones at the really top, the big players, probably need the thank you from the chair of the board and the executive director. You can hit a lot of those mid donors with a call from a board member. Think about the donations you make. How often do you get a phone call of thanks? Not many. Maybe I'm not donating enough. Russell: It's always good. It's just common courtesy. If you're in a supermarket, someone holds the door. Saying thank you to people is a reflex. But somehow, it seems like from some of the statistics I've seen, it's one of the more common mistakes that people make. They don't take that time to say thank you. What are a couple other really common mistakes that people make that are just quick and easy to fix? Bill: Accurate data is really big. If you say “Dear Sam,” and the name isn't Sam, that's not good. You've got to be very careful with variable data and personalization. Personalization gone awry does more damage than it does good. One thing we've been doing more and more, the post office has gotten better with the deceased persons filter. You try to cut out saying, “Dear John and Sally” when John passed away a year ago. That's an easy mistake to fix. Run the data through the filter. Don't mail to dead people if at all possible. Data cleanliness is a common thing. Not thanking is the biggest thing. You mentioned something earlier. Every touch can't be an ask. It really should be more information only touches than there are ask touches. The top donors should get a report at the end of the year, maybe a few months after. Not a fancy annual report, but a sheet of, “Here's what your donation allowed us to do.” You can do these infographic looks. You can really show people what you've done. We have a client now that has this neat system. They do three newsletters a year. They have an elderly donor base. These are physical newsletters. Because newsletters are more expensive, they've gone to a news postcard. They send out these jumbo postcards three times a year. Short bullet point articles that show their impact. Every one of those short articles, it's just bullet points and headlines. People don't read anymore. There is a link to a website you can go to if you want more information. They do this three times a year. In the fourth quarter, they ask. They push out information on a 3:1 ratio with their ask. We recommend something like that. 2:1, 3:1, something like that, so people don't think, “Good grief. XYZ charity is always asking for money.” It has to be, “Here's the good things we're doing.” Your social media should be that. Your social media personally I don't think should ask for money. I think social media should be, “Look what we're doing. Celebrate with us.” Russell: It would certainly be a place to capture your benefactors, the clients online and talk about what's going on. Some of the sites that the work is being done on, it's almost like the news medium. When someone hears their name mentioned on social media, you get a thousand followers. Whoa, they're talking about me. This thing has 1,000 views and 10,000 followers. “Hey, maybe I need to send them another check. They need to get my good side next time.” Hugh: That's part of the story. Telling a story, you have relationships. There are people who want to be in the picture with a big check. I don't think we think about the amount of stories we need to be telling because we are doing a lot of good work. We don't really tell people. In fact, social media is social. We are supposed to engage. I see all too often, “Buy this. Do that.” And there is no attempt at a relationship. That is what I'm hearing you saying. In our program, we are building relationships. We are maintaining relationships. People give to people. That is the biggest sound bite. People give to people, not to organizations. Bill: I agree. It's all about relationships. It's all about telling your story. That's what relationships are. We as humans are people who have relationships with each other, and we tell stories to each other. It's the way you come home to your spouse and say, “Hey honey.” We love to tell stories. I think social media is great for this. You have these snippets and tell this vignette story of something your nonprofit did or something that you did. It's to build relationships. The best donor is the one that knows you. I keep coming back to this. You have a personal relationship with them. But you do it by stories. We recommend the hard ask appeal letter everyone does in the fall that it start off with just a three- to four-sentence story that is in a nutshell what you do. Then you make your ask. You take it to the next level. “There are so many kids like Johnny.” In the first paragraph, you tell Johnny's story. Stories mean a lot. Russell: You have really critical points in the year. A lot happens toward the end of the year around Giving Tuesday in the back end of the year. Are there some time periods during the course of the year that you believe nonprofits are leaving money on the table? Maybe there are times to reach out that might be more effective than people pay attention to. Bill: That's another great question. It's changing. It used to be I would always tell people to do their main appeal early to mid-November because we were told the stats said the most generous week of the year is the week leading up to Thanksgiving. Everybody is starting to feel festive, but they don't have worries about the credit card bills yet. We've also heard that summer is not a great time to ask because so many people are on vacation and will miss the appeal. I tell you though, people are so connected now. With tax law changes, the end of the year may not be as significant of a time as it has been. We are finding more and more of our clients are doing oddly timed appeals. It's just starting, so they haven't built a rhythm yet. We have clients who are doing a February appeal and a July appeal. Stay tuned. I'll have a better answer in three years when we get some data back on that. I really think that if you talk with your key constituents, talk to your board and staff and key donors, you'll know. You'll know when the appropriate time is to do your ask and your information only. Remember the point about you adjust the scale to fit the budget so you can sustain the rhythm. One thing I meant to mention is it's not just the financial budget. It's the budget of your time. Here is another common mistake. We see it probably most often with social media. You get all excited. You say, “I'm going to write a blog every week.” I'm going to post it out on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn. I don't know many executive directors who have the time to write a blog every week. If you do, more power to you. Our suggestion will be, Are you really? Let's be realistic about this. Adjust the scale to match the time budget. How much time do you have? Sustain the rhythm. We would counsel you down from once a week to the first Monday every month. If that's too much, if you can't stick with that, then once every month. Hugh: It's the regular rhythm that we heard about earlier, too. Speaking of time, we are almost at the top of the hour. Bill, you get the last word. If you have a thought or tip or challenge to give the audience. This has been a helpful interview. *Sponsor message from SynerVision Leadership Foundation* If you want to talk about how Bill's services look for you, go to Wordsprint.com. The regular mailing to your tribe makes a difference. Bill, Wordsprint.com is one of our main sponsors, so thank you for that. We talk about you often. You're leaving this interview. What is your challenge or parting thought for people? Bill: My parting thought would be it really is all about relationships. The piece of the puzzle that you or a director or a board member or your staff could do to help your organization the most is to work on those relationships and get that relationship into a database so they can get rhythmic touches. If anyone would like to chat with me about this, we do free consultations, no cost, no obligation, at Wordsprint.com. You can send me a message. I can talk in detail about your organization and things that would work for you. Our system of getting the right message to the right people does not mean you have to use us. You can use current partners. You can do it in-house yourself. It's the system that works. The right message to the right people with the right rhythm. Russell: Bill, thanks again for joining us. Thanks for all the support you give us here at SynerVision Leadership. You certainly make us look good. Folks, do yourself a favor, and have a talk with Bill and his team as to how you can grow donors, keep them, and build those relationships using the right tools by getting out there, sending the right message to the right people in the right rhythm. It needs to look good, but that is only 10%. And it will. Make sure you check out our magazine because it's a good-looking magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Chip Conley, the founder of Modern Elder Academy. Rebel hospitality entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author, Chip Conley disrupted his favorite industry... twice. At age 26 he founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality (JdV), transforming an inner-city motel into the second largest boutique hotel brand in America. He sold JdV after running it as CEO for 24 years, and soon the young founders of Airbnb asked him to help transform their promising start-up into the world’s leading hospitality brand. Chip served as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy for four years and today acts as the company’s Strategic Advisor for Hospitality and Leadership. His five books have made him a leading authority at the intersection of psychology and business. Chip was awarded “Most Innovative CEO” by the San Francisco Business Times, is the recipient of hospitality’s highest honor, the Pioneer Award, and holds a BA and MBA from Stanford University. In today's episode, Brian & Chip Discuss: - What it's like to have your birthday fall on Halloween - Choosing to go to a high school where Chip knew he would be in the minority - Having a very engaged, passionate father who wanted nothing more than for Chip to become a better version of his dad - Starting a hotel brand in one of the worst neighborhoods in San Francisco - How Maslow's Hierarchy has influenced Chip's Leadership & Business Philosophy - Meeting AirBNB Founders & joining the company as both a mentor & an intern - Why today's workforce must embrace the wisdom of our Modern Elders Connect with Chip: Website | LinkedIn Check out Modern Elder Academy: Website Connect with Brian Mohr: Website | LinkedIn We Help Leaders Hire on Purpose: YScouts.com   Chip Conley Podcast Interview   Brian Mohr: [00:07:43] Well ladies and gentlemen welcome to another edition of the Built on Purpose podcast.   Brian Mohr: [00:07:49] I am incredibly excited to have with me today hotelier, author, social alchemist, disruptor, student, sage, and modern Elder the one and only Chip Conley... Chip:   Chip Conley: [00:08:08] What is up man.   Chip Conley: [00:08:10] I am wearing way too many name tags... All different.   Chip Conley: [00:08:17] You know I dig it.   Brian Mohr: [00:08:19] It's a good thing. I guess you've been constantly reinventing yourself or should I say continuing to learn more about who you are and what you're capable of.   Chip Conley: [00:08:29] Thank you. Thank you very much.   Brian Mohr: [00:08:31] Absolutely great to have you. So I want to start off.   Brian Mohr: [00:08:34] You were born on Halloween and I am just so curious. As a guy born on Halloween as a youngster was having your birthday on the same day as Halloween. An exciting thing? Or did it just piss you off that Halloween was robbing you of your special day?   Chip Conley: [00:08:52] I think it meant it meant that my special day meant that I was just a weird kid, you know, everybody and you got dressed up really strangely on this, like "what was all that about" No, I - you know - I have lots and lots of photos of birthdays with people dressed funny and I still have those because every five years I do have a birthday somewhere in the world starting at age 30.   Chip Conley: [00:09:17] And now I'm 58 so I've got the sixtieth coming up soon. But it's been everywhere from Bali to Marrakech and I promise you we do have a master party one night.   Brian Mohr: [00:09:27] I love it. I love it.   Brian Mohr: [00:09:28] So as you as you think back on all of these Halloweens is there any one particular costume of yours that just really brings back me or the most vivid memories as the costume itself.   Chip Conley: [00:09:44] Interesting question.   Chip Conley: [00:09:48] No not quite. I mean I you know. I did show up at one point in what looked like a birthday suit. Like....   Chip Conley: [00:09:55] Nothing. But it wasn't I actually; it was a body double... Gave me a suit, like showed me how to actually create in essence what looks like...   Chip Conley: [00:10:06] A naked body, but it's not my naked body. And I did show up at a birthday party like that once. And the shock factor was enormous. You realize:   Chip Conley: [00:10:16] Oh! Chips wearing something!   Brian Mohr: [00:10:19] I'm sure the looks on people's faces were were pretty priceless.   Chip Conley: [00:10:24] The good times good times.   Brian Mohr: [00:10:25] Thanks for indulging me on that. I'm always curious there's you know you always meet folks who have their birthdays coincide with that with a big holiday and you were the first person I met who was born on Halloween social super curious about that.   Chip Conley: [00:10:41] You know I will say one thing that's interesting Brian is that you know, I live in Mexico for more than half the time. And I was in San Miguel de Ndadaye which is not too far from Mexico City a couple of years ago. And going to the day of the dead which is actually after Halloween. It's in early November and doing the day of the dead experience in Mexico that is how they do their Halloween. Or their post Halloween, right? I mean it's really quite an experience. And I think probably of all the places in the world, there's no place that does that - That period around Halloween day. The dead are better than men in Mexico.   Brian Mohr: [00:11:24] That's awesome. That's awesome. Well that sounds like a whole 'nother conversation we could probably hear.   Brian Mohr: [00:11:30] And I'm really curious, and I want to kind of rewind the clock here, and this may be super interesting or maybe absolutely not an interesting topic but I'm curious when you attended Long Beach Polytechnic... You're enrolled in the PACE program which stands for the program of additional curricular experiences. And having not attended Long Beach Polytechnic or having not been a part of any kind of a program like that: Is there any impact? I'm curious as you think back on the impact that program had on who you are and the experiences that you pursued after you left Long Beach Polytechnic.   Chip Conley: [00:12:12] Oh my gosh wow! Well I appreciate you doing the homework. I've rarely been asked that question or anything close to that. So Long Beach Poly is a famous high school. It's actually where Snoop Dogg went to high school. And Cameron Diaz. And it's pretty famous because it's the number one school in the country for being a feeder school for the NBA and the NFL. So it's a big inner city high school public school. But it's also the number one feeder school for the UC. System in the state of California for the public state universities system. So it's an academically relatively strong place. PACE, my program, was the first graduating class. PACE Was meant to be a way an alternative to bussing. So I'm 58 - this is back in the 1970s. There was a strong desire in us to integrate high schools. And one alternative was to create a bussing program and there are just all kinds of protests around bussing from school. So what long beach did was different. It actually took all of the best programs academically in the school district where there were five high schools and they put them all in the inner city high school. And they said if you want to do college prep programs, you can do it. And we've got great programs but they're all in inner city school. And what that was meant to do was, to sort of - Instead of forcing people to be bussed it was giving choice to say I want to go to school in a neighborhood that is generally not integrated.   Chip Conley: [00:14:00] So I was known as curious white boy is my older nickname.   Chip Conley: [00:14:06] And I would say that's the combination. To answer your question.   Chip Conley: [00:14:08] The two elements to it. Number one is going to high school in an inner city school where I was a minority as a white guy was a great experience because I think all of us in our life need to live in a place for some extended period of time...   Chip Conley: [00:14:23] Where we are the "other." And when I say the other I put that in quotes. The "other" being the person who is not in the majority because it helps students understand and have empathy for what that means. To be in the minority whether it's a woman in a boardroom or a person of color. In most companies or me at AirBNB as an old guy. So I was the "other" by being a white person in a predominately non-white school. And then the PACE program was a really intense college prep program that prepared me well for going to Stanford. And so, you know, you wouldn't expect an inner city high school to have had five or 10 grads be accepted into Stanford but that's exactly what happened because the program was strong enough that this. The Inner city public school system allowed that. So I think it really helped me also get really connected to purpose. My own sense of like... How do I give back? Because I was able to see in an inner city community how so much of society wasn't really giving back to that community. And so for me, one of my chief things I did with my foundation is to have it give money as well as project support to inner city youth programs because of my experience growing up there.   Brian Mohr: [00:15:51] That's awesome. I appreciate you sharing that.   Brian Mohr: [00:15:54] As you finished Stanford, and if my research is accurate, you spent a couple and a half years in the real estate business and from what I gathered it sounds like you realized pretty quickly that that was not where you were going to spend your career and after a couple and a half years you got out of it. Was there anything in particular about the industry or any incidents that you encountered where, you know, that sense of purpose you talk about where you just knew that that wasn't where you were going to dedicate your life's work?   Chip Conley: [00:16:42] You know, I went directly to Stanford undergrad business school so the years you're talking about are after getting an MBA and I felt that business can be very money driven. It's somewhat of a mercenary business on the brokerage side on the development side, etc. and there are some visionary developers and I really admire them and the developer I was working for was moderately visionary. But at the same time it felt like I didn't have enough creativity. What was really fueling my decision that I wanted to take my real estate background and apply it in a more purposeful but also more creative way - was the need to sort of feel I was going to. And to do something that was pioneering that haven't been done before and that's when I decided to start a boutique hotel company in the mid 1980s at a time when boutique hotels were just getting off the ground in the US. And I love the fact that the purpose of the company or the mission of the company is to "bring joy of life." That was also the name of the company in French. I also like the fact that I can use my real estate background, but apply it in a more creative way and also in a way where if I did my job well and our team did their jobs well, we would make people happy and that's really what the hotel business is about. So yeah - that's how I got started. Age 26: got my first boutique hotel and in a bad neighborhood.   Brian Mohr: [00:18:12] Yeah right. Right. Yep. Yep exactly.   Chip Conley: [00:18:16] Yeah.   Brian Mohr: [00:18:26] So at some point I would assume during the early part of you hotel career, you had - please correct me on how the interaction occurred - but you had a chance meeting or a chance connection with a legendary concert promoter Bill Graham and then I think there's somewhat of the story as Bill had impressed upon you that as musicians are coming in and out of San Francisco that there's really isn't a property that psychographs and there was a real opportunity there. I'd love to talk just a little bit about your experience with Bill: What you picked up from him and what kind of a figure he was in your life.   Chip Conley: [00:19:03] So when I was working for the real estate developer for two and half years out of business school, one of the projects that I was assigned to was a potentially joint venture with Bill Graham and his organization to build the Shoreline Amphitheater which is right down your Google headquarters.   Brian Mohr: [00:19:20] Now down near STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Yes.   Chip Conley: [00:19:23] And so the truth is that there was a joint venture that didn't really need us. And so the question was: How are we supposed to be partners with them? And over time I got to know Bill a little bit, and that's when he said listen: "You know what you guys really should do instead of trying to be our partners on this project, is you should try to create a hotel that accommodates musicians on the road." And then he told me why. And that's what led me to saying: "OK you know I'm going to get a broken down motel in the tenderloin of San Francisco which is a tough neighborhood and turn it into a rock n roll hotel called the Phoenix. And that was more than 32 years ago and it became a surprising success against all odds. And led me to creating 52 boutique hotels over the next 24 years. As my role as the founder and CEO of what became the second largest boutique hotel company in the U.S. and yes it certainly was doldrum.   Brian Mohr: [00:20:24] Yeah that's super cool and as I understand it the original name of the Phoenix was Magnolia Court, if I'm not mistaken.   Chip Conley: [00:20:34] You've done your research. Funny, I saw my mom & dad yesterday at the Phoenix. We had an annual owners meeting at the Phoenix yesterday and they're investors and I laughed at my dad and I said that you wanted to call this place Magnolia Court. And I said: "We want to make sure we're in play and that our primary customers - families from the Midwest that were coming didn't say: 'Dad, this is a motel surrounded by hookers & pimps in the neighborhood...this is not where we're going to go' "   Chip Conley: [00:21:08] And so the Phoenix is what we became because it was rising from its own ashes like the mythical bird. The Magnolia Court - My God - it sounds like a place where you go to retire for sure, at least a very nice assisted living facility or something like that.   Brian Mohr: [00:21:34] Yeah, for sure. You know, I don't want to spend too much time on it, but was it hard to have your dad one of the lead investors in the Phoenix? Did that present challenges or was it pretty easy?   Chip Conley: [00:21:46] I mean at first it was very hard because I was young and let's start with that - I was way too young to be doing what I was doing. So having my dad help.. He was a small investor but he was somebody I would bounce ideas off of. But what became clear was there are certain things like traditional business stuff -Yes he was helpful. Anything that related to theoncept of a hotel, what kinds of services were offering, the design of the hotel, the branding of the hotel. All of that... He was so much a fish out of water. And what was problematic was that he didn't really get my vision. And it was almost up to me, the way I thought it was. He didn't have confidence in me or my vision or what I was going to be doing, and it was it was a tough time.   Chip Conley: [00:22:31] You know, we had almost a wrestling match & the hotel staff was watching like "What is going on here?!"   Chip Conley: [00:22:43] But over time it was hard. And my dad you know let's also recognize, I was always in his shadow. Or he was always there right next to me and that was supportive. And yet it was also a little oppressive. And I'm even his Junior, which is another "Chip off the old block" which is part of the reason I have the name Chip.   Chip Conley: [00:23:06] And I went to the same high school as my dad and swam and played water polo there just like he did and went to the same college as my dad - Stanford - and joined the fraternity just like he did. I'm a mathematics major just like he was. I went to business school just like he did. And he was my Boy Scout leader and Eagle Scout and I became an Eagle Scout. And he was my baseball coach and I was a star pitcher. So, bottom line is my dad was ever present in my life. And I would say if he had diluted that by 20 percent it would have been perfect. Because it was a little too much. And yet from those whose fathers were not in their life at all, you know, I would rather have my dad in my life the way he was not in my life at all. But I would say it would have been probably healthier for my dad if he had been about 20 percent less active in my life, because I felt like I was very much on my dad's path.. He wanted me to be a better version of himself. And he even admitted that yesterday we were talking he says: No, I want it. I want you to be a better version of myself."   Chip Conley: [00:24:08] And it's like: "Well if you if you'd said you wanted me to be a different version of yourself that would have been helpful because I was a different version. I was just trying to be a better version of you."   Chip Conley: [00:24:20] Because that would actually have limited my path in so many ways. And as it turns out, I am a better and different version of my dad - I'm both. It didn't have to be an either-or; it could be both.   Brian Mohr: [00:24:32] Yeah, sure. Absolutely. I appreciate you sharing a little of that insight. That's really good stuff.   Brian Mohr: [00:24:40] I want to shift a little bit here and I want to make a reference so Jerry Seinfeld.   Brian Mohr: [00:25:02] I think he's an absolutely brilliant comic and I think so much of his brilliance comes from his keen awareness of paying attention to simple acts of daily life. And, you know, finding the humor in the daily things and I want to draw an analogy because I think in many ways your leadership follows a similar path - at least what I've seen and read and experiences I've had - Where you have looked to your frameworks like Maslow's hierarchy and instead of recreating the wheel you're finding what is a Truth. You adopt them and then figure out: "All right. How can I leverage this framework as the way to run a business?" And you talk about joie de vivre the joy of life and to bring a sense of joy to the people that you're serving. To me, using Maslow's hierarchy makes so much sense, but I'm curious. What might seem like common sense to some is very uncommon to many. So my question is: When did you know or how did you know to simply look for these common sense frameworks and use them as the basis from which to grow everything that you've been involved in?   Chip Conley: [00:26:20] First of all, thank you Brian - I appreciate that. For me, I am a voracious learner and reader. So I like to constantly learn new things feed and feed my head. So I'll just give a couple examples using Maslow and Viktor Frankl. So with Maslow - I took one psychology class in college. I liked it but I didn't do anything beyond that. I do rememberin one classs that the guy who had the halo around his head as a psychologist was Maslow because most that most psychologists were focusing on neuroses and deficits as I was focusing on best practices and human behavior and what we learn. From them created this hierarchy of needs theory. So when I was struggling in the dot com bust we were the largest hotelier in the SF Bay Area. At that point we had 18 hotels in San Francisco alone. That's just in the city. And the city and everything was just falling apart. That's 16-18 years ago. I went to the local bookstore looking for a book or business book saying: "OK, I went out into business school so I learned something, like You know I need a clue right now" and I only after about 10 minutes in the business section I ended up in self-help and psychology and that's when I realized my problems are more serious than just business. And that's where I ended up running into one of massive books and I sat on the floor for two hours reading Maslov. I had to learn this stuff in college and this is really interesting, and I was really applying myself here to have actualisation on the level at the top. To myself, saying like "How can I feel self actualized in a time when I feel completely deflated right now?" And so I bought the book and then reading at night I just said "Well what if if companies are full of humans in masses - here is basically a human hierarchy of needs. How could you apply the same hierarchal image for an individual and apply it to a collective like an organization?" And that's again with my desire to read and learn it's sometimes a matter of reading, learning, and then reapplying it in a new way. And we took Maslow's pyramid, five old tiers, and turned it into a three level transformation pyramid to apply that hierarchy of needs principle and sort of paradigm to employees customers and investors who are our three most important stakeholders in our company. And ultimately we tripled in size in the dot com bust which was a big surprise to everybody because everybody said we were a goner we were the biggest foothold in Bay Area. Kimpton and Schrager who are two biggest boutique competitors were losing hotels to the banks & turning some hotels going into bankruptcy. And instead we know we did really well and it was partly because of this theory which ultimately led me to reading a book called: "Peak: How Great Companies get their Mojo from Maslow." And then a few years later, you know the great recession once again it was a Jewish psychologist who actually came out of it out of the woodwork...   Chip Conley: [00:29:38] And you know on the library shelf it was like "OK I'm going to read that "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, a guy who had been in a concentration camp in World War II and apply it to myself. And that's how I sort of got reacquainted with the idea of:   Chip Conley: [00:29:53] "How do you find meaning in the darkest of times?" And for anybody who's who's having a difficult time and lamenting, you know reading Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" about what it was like to be in a concentration camp and you'll realize that you are you are just in your pity pot because your life is probably not bad compared to what he was going through and the people he was in the camp with. But his books are very very powerful books and it lead to me reading a book called "Emotional Equations." And led to me just sort of start looking at how do we apply emotional intelligence in a more fundamental way in leadership in organizations. And that's what I did in my company and that's ultimately what I used when I went to AirBNB.   Brian Mohr: [00:30:38] Yeah let's talk about that. It's a perfect segue.   Brian Mohr: [00:30:42] You know I'd love to hear how did you originally connect with AirBNB as a gender neutral team there and you know clearly this sense of value from all of your experience and your your building of emotional intelligence and as you talk about that exchange of Iike EQ for DQ and I'll let you explain it. You know, how did you meet the team? How did you guys decide that this was a good idea? And how did you find your way through with the maze?   [00:31:21] Yeah I mean, it was funny - when I read "Man's Search for Meaning" I read it at a time when I was struggling and it made me really realize I needed to sell my company which is a hard thing. You know when you start a company at age 26 you can run it for 50 or 60 years and 24 years into it, it's like"You know what I'm over this. I need to move on." It was a hard thing to do but I did and a couple of years later as I was in a new era, there's a great great quote from Robert De Niro in a movie where he says "Musicians don't retire, they quit when there's no more music left inside of them." And I think that really was appropriate for me I was 52 I knew there was a lot of music inside of me but. And that was when six years ago Brian Chesky Co-Founder of AirBNB and CEO approached me and said I'd love to have you be my intern and in-house mentor and help us become a hospitality company because we're a small tech company that's growing fast but we have no hospitality or travel industry people in the company. So I delved quite deeply into helping run the company with those three and a senior leadership team that helped. To work with them ws a full time job and what it taught me quickly when I was as much as I was the mentor - I was older than everybody else, twice the age the average person in the company - but I was the intern as much as I was the mentor. Yes I had a lot of wisdom around hospitality and leadership and strategy. I had a strategy for the company as well. But I didn't know a damn thing about technology. Didn't know a lot about millennial travel habits, didn't know much about the Silicon Valley tech world of investors, and so often I was learning as much as I was teaching. And so it led ultimately that coined the term in the company people started calling me "The Modern Elder" and the modern elder is different than a traditional elder in the sense that the modern elder is as much a curious learner as they are a wise teacher. And it's that combination of curiosity and wisdom that makes them relevant and elder. The past is all about you give reverence to your elders. But no one does that anymore in Western society. So it's about having relevance and relevance allows you to use your wisdom but apply it to modern day problems. And so that's what I did. And EQ for DQ that you mention is I traded my emotional intelligence for their digital intelligence. And the truth is that power is moving 10 years younger in most companies and we're all going to live ten years older and so all of a sudden create a 20 year irrelevancy gap. If powers were younger and were going to live older and that's what I've tried to do in terms of those speeches I have been giving and the book I wrote which is called "Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder."   Chip Conley: [00:34:23] And then the Modern Elder Academy which we created in Mexico.   Brian Mohr: [00:34:27] So I want to hang on this for a minute and specifically talk about - I'm not sure if there's a better word for it so feel free to jump in here - ageism and what is happening within the workforce right now. I think we are in the most fiercely competitive labor market certainly in the last 20 years if not longer. And you know with great technology and platforms out there like LinkedIn that have certainly proliferated the resume and you can find people and learn about what they're up to at the same time. You know you've got photos on there and people are making judgment calls based upon college graduation dates or what their photo looks like or the number of years of experience and you know whether we want to believe it or not people are discriminating. I'm curious: what have you learned or what did you learn from the AirBNB experience and what are you learning from the Modern Elder Academy as you are working with individuals that have had and gained such amazing wisdom and continue to share it but maybe are running up against these invisible brick walls?   Chip Conley: [00:35:43] Yeah. Yeah great question. And yes ageism is the last form of socially acceptable bias in our society. Now the others still exist but they're less socially acceptable and we laugh about, we joke about, eccentric such a senior moments etc. And the truth is let's be honest that there are certain things as we age that don't get better with time. And other things do get better. What we've tended to do as a society is have a societal narrative that gets very fixated on what doesn't get better without focusing on what does. Let me use a specific example so it doesn't sound too abstract. As we get older our recall memory and our quickness with our mind isn't as good as it was say 25 years earlier. Fine. But what a lot of people don't know is there are a series of studies as shown in the last five to seven years. As you get older you're more adept at doing what I call the left-brain right-brain tango which means you actually have all wheel drive. You're better at being able to move from logical to artistic and back and forth and do that. Left brain right brain which what why is that valuable. It allows you to be more holistic in synthetic meaning - being able to synthesize things in your thinking. It allows you to get the gist of something faster. It allows you to actually tap into your intuition and use it in a more fundamental way. So what does that mean for a company? Well if you have somebody who's older who's got a great ability to get the gist of something, there's someone who actually doesn't get caught in the weeds. And that is exactly my role. I mean all this I've learned since joining AirBNB six years ago but it's exactly true of what happened to me. I joined and was like "Oh my gosh 30 strategic initiatives why don't we just have like four - let's get clear about what the four are what essential what's important what's good." So that's the kind of thing.   Chip Conley: [00:37:58] So the point is that we have a narrative in society that much says as people get older, the best times are behind them and in some ways that's true if you're talking about the playing field of your body that may be true. If you're talking about the playing field of how much money you make a year salary wise you top out at age 45 in the tech industry and age 50 in the general population so when it's 55 or later you're late probably making less salary.   Chip Conley: [00:38:31] But your emotional intelligence gets better with time: your ability to synthesize and have wisdom can get better with time etc. So what's my answer to the ageism society? Number one is is to go out and give lots of speeches write books like this one and try to help people see the value in intergenerational collaboration. I'm not suggesting we go back to the era where we revere our elders. That's not coming back but I'm also saying that diversity of all kinds is valuable in the workplace and we are very familiar with diversity of gender and race and sexual orientation but there's a lot less familiarity with gender of age and cognitive diversity which sometimes has nothing to do with age. Can be about neuro-diversity but often age is an element of cognitive diversity in the sense that you get somebody at the table who's going to look at things a little differently and that means you have less likelihood for group think. Finally I'll say one last thing on this subject which is I was talking with a well-known executive recruiter not long ago. And she said to me something really interesting s- she said "You're right if you just get caught up in the robots, the artificial intelligence looking at your resume you're in trouble because people perceive you as older and that could be a problem." So you have to use soft contacts -sometimes people who know people to get in the door. Or actually go to a networking event or things like that. But she says the key thing to know is this: when you do have that face to face time which will happen occasionally, the key thing to know is that when you are curious and passionately engaged your wrinkles start to evaporate and what people notice is not your face and it's wrinkles what they notice is your energy, and if you've got that kind of passionate energy that people want to sort of feel a part of it becomes a bit magnetic. You can overcome people sort of looking at you and judging you based on your age. And that's probably true of any bias we out there but the truth is I think it's more frankly for someone with age in terms of those two qualities: curiosity and passionate engagement.   Brian Mohr: [00:40:49] So as you think about the team you built at the Modern Elder Academy and having folks on board like a resident Shaman and a yoga and meditation teacher and massage therapy are the folks who are enrolling in the academy embracing with open immeditely? Is there some resistance given that some of things like - I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that some of the folks coming to the academy may know what a Shaman is in principle or in theory but having one is probably a new experience for some of these folks.   Chip Conley: [00:41:32] That's optional. No one has to work on that. That's an optional added benefit.   Brian Mohr: [00:41:42] Got it. Got it got it. So really meeting people where they're at and allowing them to pursue what they believe is going to create the most impact for them.   Chip Conley: [00:41:50] Yep yep yep. So I think that first of all, the key thing that people need to know is that they are not alone. And first of all one of the biggest surprises of the academy has been the following. That people are showing up at a much younger age than I thought. So almost 20 percent of the people who apply are are people under 45, when it was originally said there was a 45 to 65 year age range. But what we found is we've had people as young as 30 and people as old as 74 in the program. But we've had between five and 10 percent of our actual grads at this point have been in their 30s. So people are feeling a little irrelevant in their 30s or have a desire to sort of somehow start to cultivate their wisdom. The average age is about 52. So these are not people who are elderly. There are people who are at a stage where they may be an elder in a more relative term in the sense than it typically means. You are older than the people that surround you, so if you're a 35 year old surrounded by 20 year olds which is how it is many tech companies, you could be an elder. The key that we do at the academy is we help people frame their mindset, but on a personal level in terms of the actual world nd then also from the perspective of the societal narrative on Aging. The thing that's really interesting, Brian, is that there's a ton of evidence and a lot of them made this about the curve of happiness. There's even a book that we came out last year called "The Happiness Curve" that's quite good. And the happiness curve shows the following across all societies except Russia. Russia is the only one that's a little bit of an aberration. But across all societies on the planet, there is a huge curve of happiness where people start seeing a decline in their happiness that goes from about age 28 to about age 45 to 50 and then it bottoms out around 45 to 50. And then it starts getting better and people in their 50s are happier in their 40s. People in their 60s are happier than the 50s and people in their 70s are happier than in their mid-60s. There's a bunch of reasons for this but it's not actually woven into our societal narrative on aging. So that final narrative on aging is you hit midlife you have a crisis. You don't love your life as it is then you actually go out and, you know, have an affair and buy a sports car or whatever you do and then you get through the crisis. But on the other side of midlife is aging which is awful. It's for decrepitude and disease. And that's what people know and when we actually start introducing some action, some research - scientific information that helps people to understand that a new narrative that they could add a new mindset that they could actually adopt it it helps them to see I have some wisdom that I've learned along the way that it can be applicable. In a whole new industry that might be a better habitat for for me because. I am in you know I'm a I'm a computer engineer and I spent 20 years doing it but now I'm in my 40s and I feel. You know over the hill. But I've learned team collaboration skills and I've got to tell you those companies are full of really smart technology people but they're full of teams too. So maybe I start shifting my skill set to being a team leader. More than that the individual contributor is a rock star as an engineer.   Brian Mohr: [00:45:55] So as a tech entrepreneur, since so much of this modern elder philosophy came from the experiences you had with AirBNB, Is there any advice that you would want to deliver to tech entrepreneurs who are brilliant in the products or services that are creating the technology that they're building but have yet to have that realization that there's this massive massive well or reservoir of elder talent - modern older talent that they can tap into to help them with building teams, collaboration, focusing on whittling down 30 key strategic initiatives... How do you help them realize that they need this when they are so smart smart and maybe you just haven't had those laps around the track - help them realize?   Chip Conley: [00:46:43] The thing I'll say to them is the same to anybody is: do not hire people who are just like you. I mean your natural tendency is to do that because you like them, you're socially adept with them, and they agree with you a lot of the time. But actually go beyond that. Because I understand the age side of things: maybe somebody who has some experience. The thing I would also say is don't hire somebody who's just stuck in the past. If you're hiring somebody because they actually just tell you the way they always would have done it or they don't have a curiosity and an appetite for learning - that's not a modern elder, that's just sort of an older person who's trying to sort of live on the fumes of their past. So I think what's really important is to look at people, especially - let's say your technology is disrupting an industry like health care, and you know health care deserves to be disrupted because nobody likes the industry and all that's true. But that means maybe you should go out and hire a really serious modern elder. From the industry. He's got a big Rolodex and I know you don't know what that means.   Both: [00:47:57] --Laughter--   Chip Conley: [00:48:00] But they also know how the industry works - that person while they are wedded to that if they're wedded to the past and they don't really believe in their technology, then don't hire them. I believed in Bryan and in AirBNB as a disruptor in the lodging industry. Not to actually take over the hotels. The good news is I'm still here. I still own hotels. I just don't manage the company but I still own the real estate of hotels. So I didn't think that AirBNB was going to come in and just ruin the hotel industry. So you know, it was easy for me to be part of a disruptor that I knew was going to still keep me in the industry, and intact in general.   Chip Conley: [00:48:37] But the new way of doing things would actually help maybe improve innovation in an industry. So that's what you want to look for. How do you find those people? Maybe ask your parents, they may be an alma mater in common and you might need to actually go out and literally look for that person.   Chip Conley: [00:48:57] If you've got a venture capitalist or an investor involved you might sort of say to them: "You know what? I want to hire somebody as our head of strategy that I actually want them to frankly be 10 to 15 years older than me." Let's look for that and not only exclusively deals for anybody exclusively based on a demographic. That's a very dangerous path to be going on but you can say that you want some of the following experiences as well. And so. Long story short is that this is part of what a lot of younger people don't think about as a possibility. Partly because they feel like they don't want to hire their parent. Or their preacher. And a lot of times that older person is a parent or a preacher and are lecturing most of the time.   Brian Mohr: [00:49:39] You know, that's fantastic advice. So, I saved what I hope would be the best question for last. Are you ready?   Chip Conley: [00:49:51] Yeah.   Brian Mohr: [00:49:51] --Spanish words that this transcriptionist doesn't understand--   Chip Conley: [00:50:05] So actually give it to me in English.   Brian Mohr: [00:50:10] I'll give it to you in English. And this is about the extent of my Spanish.   Chip Conley: [00:50:16] It sounds like it was about listening potentially, or something.   Brian Mohr: [00:50:19] You're super close. The question is I understand you are learning Spanish - How's it going?   Chip Conley: [00:50:31] Yes - Oh, yes yes. I just answered. Still I'm learning Spanish and surfing in my late sixties and I'm enjoying it. But I mean I've only had six lessons for Spanish & my Spanish is better than my surfing.. Clearly it didn't work.   Both: [00:50:42] Laughter   Brian Mohr: [00:51:01] There ya go. It's my pleasure. What an amazing, amazing conversion - my curious white boy friend Chip. Thank you so much for joining us. And I could chat with you for hours. I really appreciate it. Take good care and good luck to you.   Chip Conley: [00:51:10] All right. Thanks. Bye bye.  

RHLSTP #194: Amanda Abbington - Chicken Carcass Ghost. Rich has had to deal with the soft poo of his ill dog, but he didn't eat any of it, even though it looked delicious and anyone who says he did is lying. And he meets some men who work in IT in his audience, which is a novelty, but wait till you hear about the marital status of one of them... His guest is a woman he worked with just four days before recording, though she seems to have forgotten all about it, Amanda Abbington. Can she name the cast of Man Stroke Woman? How many times has she appeared on The Bill? What is Nicholas Lyndhurst's acting secret? Has she played Give Us A Clue with Una Stubbs? And Rich recounts how he has twice failed auditions to appear in shows with her. Rich makes a pitch to appear in Death In Paradise, which might not quite work out for him and there's chat about UFOs, sex robots and more evidence that drinking alcohol might not be the best preparation for a long-form interview. Buy Richard's EQ book here: http://www/gofasterstripe.com/eq Buy his new DVD here: http://www.gofasterstripe.comSUPPORT THE SHOW!Check out our website and become a badger and see extra content http://rhlstp.co.ukSee details of the RHLSTP tour dates http://richardherring.com/gigsBuy DVDs and Books at http://gofasterstripe.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Should we all just delete Facebook? We talk about the political ramifications of social media along with a host of current events.Thanks to our sponsors: Acer, goodcleangrapes.com, and Third Love.Stormy Daniels: The 60 Minutes Interview Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump, and Harvey Weinstein What We Learned From Stormy Daniels#MarchforOurLives: The Story Behind Naomi Wadler's SpeechHow the Parkland Students Planned the March in 5 WeeksThe Omnibus Budget: What's Included in the Omnibus Trump Signs the Bill What's in the Bill Nobody's ReadWomen's History Month Moment: Barbara Jordan ObituaryFacebook & Cambridge Analytica: Election Consultants, Bribes, and Sex Workers The Only Privacy Policy That Matters Silicon Valley Has Failed to Protect Our Data It's Time to Regulate the Internet Our Lives Inside the Surveillance Machine A Hurricane Flattens Facebook

Ask an Angel! It's a special episode of "Angel," with Jason Calacanis & Brian Alvey (Clipisode, LAUNCH) candidly answer the burning questions of investors and those aspiring to be. Picking startups, evaluating founders, due diligence, Syndicates ins/outs, deal terms and a lot more. Listen and learn!   What’s the best way to verify the customers of a potential investment are happy with the product? - Alan When completing financial due diligence what documents should I be asking for/what am I entitled to? - Sheila How can I tell if the founder is the right fit for the company? - Mark “What is the best way to evaluate a founder for persistence?” - David If an idea sounds exciting but I don’t have any experience in the vertical how do I intelligently evaluate the opportunity? - Brian When I invest via an Angel Syndicate is my identity kept secret? Is my name on the cap table? - Kyle I have a great company for your syndicate, what’s the best way to discuss investment opportunities with you, Jason? - Marianne What is the standard carry? What is the minimum investment? - Craig Do you only accept US based companies? - Bill What opportunities are currently available for non-accredited investors? - Pam Re: closing mechanics...should I expect/demand an escrow type closing where all the $ of the round comes in at once?  - Anonymous

Ask an Angel! It's a special episode of "Angel," with Jason Calacanis & Brian Alvey (Clipisode, LAUNCH) candidly answer the burning questions of investors and those aspiring to be. Picking startups, evaluating founders, due diligence, Syndicates ins/outs, deal terms and a lot more. Listen and learn!   What’s the best way to verify the customers of a potential investment are happy with the product? - Alan When completing financial due diligence what documents should I be asking for/what am I entitled to? - Sheila How can I tell if the founder is the right fit for the company? - Mark “What is the best way to evaluate a founder for persistence?” - David If an idea sounds exciting but I don’t have any experience in the vertical how do I intelligently evaluate the opportunity? - Brian When I invest via an Angel Syndicate is my identity kept secret? Is my name on the cap table? - Kyle I have a great company for your syndicate, what’s the best way to discuss investment opportunities with you, Jason? - Marianne What is the standard carry? What is the minimum investment? - Craig Do you only accept US based companies? - Bill What opportunities are currently available for non-accredited investors? - Pam Re: closing mechanics...should I expect/demand an escrow type closing where all the $ of the round comes in at once?  - Anonymous

We welcome guest pastor Rev. William Cwirla from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California. He and host Kip Allen dive into the following questions: From listener Bill: What does it mean when Genesis 1 says we're made in the image of God? What happens to the image of God after the fall? How do we resist over-indulging in First Article gifts? I know suicide is wrong, but is it okay to tell a elderly loved one that it's okay to let go and die? Will I recognize my family in heaven? Will I want to see them again? Will the soul be separated from the body at death? Where does the soul go? What do we do about people who say they have seen glimpses of heaven in near-death (or clinical death) experiences? Send us your questions! Email letstalk@kfuo.org with your questions for our guest pastors.

Will Porteous is the General Partner & COO @ RRE Ventures, one of New York's leading venture funds with investments in the likes of Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, Giphy and Paperless Post just to name a few. As for Will, he works primarily with media and hardware companies, where he is a Director of BuzzFeed, Paperless Post, Spaceflight, and Spire. Prior to VC, Will held senior management positions with SupplyWorks and NetMarket, the e-commerce pioneer now owned by Cendant Corp. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Will made his entry into VC and came to be the hardware and media specialist as General Partner and COO @ RRE Ventures? 2.) Why does WIll believe VC is like the movie industry? How can VCs be prepared to movie producers? How does the talent required to make a great movie resemble that of making a great startup? 3.) Why does Will think the current venture model of 10-year life cycles is broken? How would he like to see LP liquidy opened with iterations on the current venture model? How can the secondary market be revolutionized to provide such liquidity? 4.) Why does Will believe that location awareness will drive a wave of value creation an order of magnitude greater than anything we have seen before? What is the thesis behind this? What are the barriers, both from a technology and cultural perspective? 5.) What were Will's biggest takeaways from being mentored by the legend, Bill Campbell, Former Chairman and CEO @ Intuit? What did he learn about leadership and incentivising a workforce from Bill? What example does Bill provide from seeing this at Google? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Will’s Fave Book: Radical Candor; Be A Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity Will’s Fave Blog: AVC by Fred Wilson Will’s Most Recent Investment: The Outline As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Will on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. WePay helps online platforms increase revenue through integrated payments processing, helping platforms offer ROI-positive integrated payments to their users – within their UX and without taking on fraud & regulatory exposure. WePay also offers award-winning support and can even work with your team thru Slack or Zendesk. Get the payments revenue you want, without getting bogged down every time a user has a payments question. Simply visitwepay.com/harry PipeDrive is the Sales CRM and pipeline management software to use, with the primary view being the pipeline a clear visual interface that prompts you to take action, remain organized and stay in control of a complex sales process. This is why sales pros and deal makers love it (my words, not Pipedrive’s). Plus it easily lets you find the stats you need and is fully customizable. Even better, you can signup for free on here it really is a must.

                    Lynne Strang explains the benefits of being an entrepreneur at an older age. The main advantage? Who you know.    Transcript:  Bill: What are some of those advantages for being an older entrepreneur?  Lynne: I think, for many people, a later start actually increases the odds for entrepreneurial success because it allows people to develop certain characteristics and assets. For example, you have a bigger network, bigger and better network, and in entrepreneurship the old, "it's not what you know, it's who you know," adage really does matter. So, the longer you've been around, the more people you know, and the more likely it is that you'll have connections that are needed to open doors and obtain advice and market your products, your services, and find the right help.  Need to work ON your business? Start with a free assessment at www.BizGrowth123.com  

          Rick MacBarron shares some financial planning tips from his many years of experience. Find his full interviews by searching in our index. Transcript:  Bill: What's the buyer who's gonna buy your business, gonna look for in your business? Here's two great tips from Rick MacBarron. Rick: The investment banking market is a nervous market, buyer's are very, very careful. So, again, when you present to the market, the business has got make a lot of sense. A buyer's gotta be able to look at the financials and understand it quickly, and not have to do a lot of digging around and, "can you explain this to me, please?" and, they don't want to ask a lot of those questions. Well, the other thing I see, Bill, is business owners just doing too many things, so that when a buyer comes along, the buyer's gonna say, "well, wait a minute, Mr. or Ms. Business Owner, you are the business." A company I'm working with right now in Wilmington, where we're intentionally bringing in a management team, so that when my client steps out, the buyer can look at it and say, "okay, this is a business I can buy, and it can continue running without the big guy still in the company."  Need to work ON your business? Start with a free assessment at www.BizGrowth123.com

Zen and Chelsea break their silence to talk SEASON 10 OF DOCTOR WHO. What do they think of Bill? What do they think of Nardole? What's it like coming out of a year long Doctor Who hiatus? What about that episode of Extras with David Tennant? WHAT ABOUT THE RUMORS OF A NEW DOCTOR? Find out all this and more!

Dr. Bill Kotonias is a dentist, entrepreneur, and mentor for several up & coming entrepreneurs. On this week’s episode, we discover how Dr. Bill helps dentists, who are fresh out of school, acquire their own practice. Dr. Bill explains his process, and the steps he takes, from turning a dentist in debt, into an entrepreneur and business partner.   Key Takeaways: [:50] Why do so few people end up entrepreneurs? [1:40] Todd has known Dr. Bill for over 20 years. [3:10] This lifestyle that Dr. Bill has created, does it only apply to dentists? [6:50] Let’s talk about the basics. How does Dr. Bill find opportunities? [10:35] Why should you hire someone fresh out of college? [12:30] After year two, Dr. Bill’s entrepreneurs have some skin in the game, and they’re less likely to quit. [17:50] When a business has reached year ten, that’s when Dr. Bill buys out. [21:05] So far, Dr. Bill has bought 18 practices. [22:45] In the dentist industry, what is the customer turnover rate from acquiring a new practice? [24:40] When do dentists typically think about selling their business? What age range do they tend to be? [26:25] Todd does a quick recap of how Dr. Bill finds opportunities and purchases them. [28:50] Let’s talk numbers. How much is a single-owner practice that has 2,000 patients worth? [36:30] On average, how much profit does Dr. Bill see, at the end of the day? [41:25] What happens to the staff when a transition is taking place? [42:55] Final thoughts from Dr. Bill? What makes this industry work so well is finding the right entrepreneur and the right opportunity.   Mentioned in This Episode: Dynastylc.com Contact Dr. Bill: 612-751-3078

New post from The eCommerceFuel Blog: If you can't beat them, join them. Amazon FBA is a natural next step to help you grow your business. But sending out your first shipment can be ripe with potential problems. On today's episode, we've got a novice and a pro weighing in on the intricacies behind FBA, including the differences between a UPC, FNSKU, and an ASIN, along with expert tips for optimizing your FBA experience and nailing it right from the get go. Subscribe:  iTunes | Stitcher (With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Bill D'Alessandro of RebelCEO.com) Andrew: Welcome to the eCommerceFuel podcast, the show dedicated to helping high six and seven-figure entrepreneurs build amazing online companies and incredible lives. I'm your host and fellow eCommerce entrepreneur, Andrew Youderian. Hey, hey, guys, Andrew here and welcome to the eCommerceFuel podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in today. And today on the show, talking about how to not screw up your first inbound shipment to FBA, something I don't have any experience with. I've got a shipment of goods coming in that I'm going to be sending to FBA for the first time and figured who better else to grow with questions about this, for my own benefit and hopefully yours as well, other than Mr. Bill Dalessandro, the man behind Rebelceo.com and Elements Brands. Bill, how's it going? Bill: It's going well, man. It's great to be back on the show, as always. Andrew: Yeah. I feel like it's been...I don't know if it was just the holidays or the New Year, but I feel like it's been a while. Bill: Yeah, the ECF Live and holiday hangover. It kind of all ran together. Big Goals for 2016 Andrew: Quickly before we jump into this one, any big plans for 2016? Or did you like sit down and have a big kind of pow wow with yourself to really plan out the year? Are you big on the New Year's resolutions things? I know we're talking about this much after the New Year, but... Bill: So I'm not big on the New Year's resolution thing, but I am big on planning for the year and setting goals. So I sat down with all my employees. We're trying something new this year, and we're doing bonus programs. So we sat down with all the employees, and I set six goals for each of them for the year. I set up a bonus pool of 12% of each of their salaries, and each goal was worth 2% of their salary as a bonus. So everybody has sort of six goals for the year for 2016 hanging above their desk, and if they hit all six goals they get a 12% bonus at the end of the year. So as a way, something new I'm trying this year to...and I made some of the goals were monetary. They were hit a certain number. For my salesperson like a certain number in wholesale sales, or for my eCommerce marketing manager a certain amount of website sales or a certain number of new accounts, new products in stores, or getting a new website launched. So some were monetary, some were more kind of projects that needed to be done. Like we're implementing a new shipping and inventory system. Things like that. So like getting that launched was a goal for my warehouse manager. I basically looked at this list of all these things and said, "Man, if all like 20-something of these things are done by the end of the year, I'll feel really good, and it'll be easily worth me paying everybody a 12% bonus." Andrew: Nice, very cool. One thing we did this year, at least on the eCommerceFuel site was tried to focus more. I mean, we've got kind of this dashboard across all of our businesses with a myriad of different metrics. You could come up with 100 probably metrics you could track for a business, if not more. We tried to focus in on three metrics this year. One that was like the overall king metric, and two other kind of secondary ones, but be able to... Bill: What are they? Andrew: For eCommerceFuel, they are the biggest one that we're focusing on is new mem...

Joe gets angry at Google How Joe's 4 year gets a car for his birthday Remembering what we had to ride as kids STCPod's new hosting site Thoughts on how they could have improved Shadow of the Colossus Outrageous PPV prices Bill's thoughts on playing From Russia With Love on PS2 Show open Transformers & Beer now on iTunes A listener question gets answered by Bill What kind of protective cases are best for game boxes? Joe doesn't understand why CIB is used to describe games and not MIB? Why the AFA grading is so subjective R.I.P. to Bill's PVR and why he has to have that specific model Twitter: https://twitter.com/STCPodSTCPod Website http://www.stcpod.com/YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/starttocontinueiTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/stcpod/id1060217107 Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=56723&refid=stprPodcast URL: http://stcpod.podbean.com/RSS: http://stcpod.podbean.com/feed/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/stcpod/message

Bill: Hi Robert! What's up? Robert: I'm going to the U.S. next week. Bill: Oh, really? I didn't know that. Where are you going? Robert: I'm going to Tampa. Bill: Where's that? Robert: In Florida. Bill: What are you going to do there? Robert: I'm going to visit my family. My grandmother lives there. Bill: That sounds nice. When are you leaving? Robert: On Saturday March 11th. Bill: How long are you staying? Robert: A couple of weeks. Let's practice. Where are you going? To Rock Island. Where's that? In Illinois. When are you leaving? On Monday February 2nd. How long are you staying? For a month. Where are you going? To Abbotsford. Where's that? In British Columbia, Canada. When are you leaving? On Thursday November 1st. How long are you staying? For four years. Your turn... You answer... Where are you going? Where's that? When are you leaving? How long are you staying there?

Bill: Robert, I have some tickets to the Hawks game. Do you want to go? Robert: Not really, Bill. I don't like baseball. Bill: Oh, do you like sports? Robert: Yes, of course. Bill: What kind of sports do you like? Robert: I like soccer. Bill: Well, that's the world's most popular sport. Let's practice. A: What kind of sports do you like? B: I like soccer. A: What kind of Japanese food do you like? B: I like sushi. A: What kind of books do you like? B: I like Harry Potter. A: What kind of movies do you like? B: I like action movies. A: What kind of cars do you like? B: I like sports cars. A: What kind of computers do you like? B: I like Apple computers. www.eltpodcast.com

Who did you talk to? Robert: I talked to someone interesting yesterday. Bill: Who did you talk to? Robert: I can't remember his name, but I was sitting on the train... Bill: Yeah... Robert: ...and this young man started talking to me. Bill: What did he say? Robert: He said that he was from Thailand and he was studying here in Japan. Bill: You mean he was a university student. Robert: No, he was a high school student. He had a uniform on. Bill: I see, so what did you talk about? Robert: Well, he said that he enjoyed living in Japan, but he did not have much chance to speak in English. Bill: How was his English? Robert: Pretty good. So, he asked me if we could chat while sitting on the train. Bill: That's interesting. It's not everyday that you meet a Thai student in Japan. Robert: That's right. Let's practice... I saw someone interesting last week. Who did you see? I went somewhere fun last month. Where did you go? I ate something strange. I don't feel so good. When did you eat it? I read an interesting book. What did you read? I have to go to England next week. Why do you have to go there? www.eltpodcast.com

Weekend plans Robert: Do you have any plans for this weekend? Bill: I don't know. I might watch a video at home. And you? Robert: I'm going to meet some friends. Bill: What are you going to do? Robert: We might go sailing if the weather is nice. Bill: Sailing, wow! Do you have a sailboat? Robert: No, my friend has one. She goes sailing every weekend. Let's practice. A: We might go for a drive. B: A drive, wow! Do you have a car? A: We might go hunting. B: Hunting, wow! Do you have a gun? A: We might go surfing. B: Surfing, wow! Do you have a surfboard? A: We might buy a house. B: A house, wow! Do you have enough money? A: We might play some music. B: Play music, wow! Do you have a band? Your turn... You answer... What are going to wear tomorrow? What are you are going eat for dinner? Who are you going to meet later? When are you going to go home? Where are you going to go for your next vacation? How are you going to go home? www.eltpodcast.com

First, you'll hear a basic conversation at a normal speed, then at a slower speed. Next, you'll hear some practice drills. Finally, you'll hear the conversation again at a normal speed. Bill: Where do you usually go on your vacation, Robert? Robert: I usually go to Canada in the summer. Bill: What about the winter vacation? Robert: I like to stay here in Japan in the winter. Bill: Don't you want to spend Christmas in Canada? Robert: I do, but it's just too cold. Bill: I know what you mean. Practice A: Where do you usually buy clothes? B: I usually shop on the Internet. A: Don't you want to try on the clothes first? A: Where do you usually study? B: I usually don't study much. A: Don't you want to pass your tests? A: Where do you usually go on the weekends? B: I usually stay home. A: Don't you want to go out? A: Where do you usually eat lunch? B: I usually eat lunch at a restaurant. A: Don't you like the cafeteria?

First, you'll hear this a basic conversation at a normal speed, then at a slower speed. Next, you'll hear some practice drills. Finally, you'll hear the conversation again at a normal speed. Bill: What are you reading? Robert: A spy novel. Bill: How is it? Robert: It's good. Do you want to borrow it when I'm finished? Bill: Sure. Thanks. Practice: A: What are you eating? B: A tuna sandwitch. A: How is it? B: It's delicious. A: What are you listening to? B: A podcast. A: How is it? B: It's great! A: What are you watching? B: A movie. A: What movie? B: I don't know. A: How is it? B: It's boring. Find more at www.eltpodcast.com