Money is in the Air

Five of the six Catholics on the Supreme Court seem ready to chop up Roe v. Wade. But what do I know? I'm not a lawyer. I'm a painter.

So when it comes to current events, stories about paintings get my attention.

One such story concerns a Banksy that the owner is about to chop up.

A near-iconic image, Love is in the Air depicts a Palestinian peacenik. It first appeared in 2003 as a stencil on the West Bank wall.  

While many versions of the image exist—including paintings on cardboard and wood—the version in the news is a 2005 painting on canvas.

The owner, Loïc Gouzer, plans to chop it up, or, in his language, "fractionalize" it. 

He will resell the fractionalized painting in the form of 10,000 NFTs, which he calls "particles." 

Each particle will represent a section of the painting.

Once it's factionalized into NFTs, Gouzer will tour the original Love is in the Air nationwide. 

It's currently on display at Art Basel Miami Beach.

Gouzer paid $12.9 million for the painting; he'll sell the 10,000 particles next month for $1,500 each, yielding an immediate 16% profit. 

If the particles are later resold by their new owners, Gouzer will receive an automatic cut of the resale price. He'll pay no income tax on those profits—and he gets to keep the original painting.

Artful deal!

Gouzer claims he is "collectivizing" art, "because pure enjoyment of art is not complete until you feel you own it."

The entrepreneur in me agrees completely.

And so, in honor of Banksy, I'm making you the following offer:

Buy my original painting Judging Amy (above) and enjoy owning it; fractionalize it, if you want; or resell the whole piece. Whatever you do, I will donate 100% of my profit to the Repro Legal Defense Fund.

The Repro Fund covers bail and attorneys' fees for women targeted by police for ending their own pregnancies.

Above: Judging Amy. Oil on canvas board. 10 x 8 inches.

Counter Intuition

It's July 1935. Two of ten men and women are jobless. Breadlines and shanty-towns are common. Businesses have cut capital spending, deeper even than the year before.

In Massachusetts, two teenage brothers borrow $547 from their parents to open an ice cream shop they name "Friendly." They offer double-dip cones of store-made ice cream for a nickel―half the price charged by drug-store soda fountains―and stay open 'til midnight.

You know the rest: 40 years later, the brothers―after adding an apostrophe S to the name―own 500 shops.

Furloughed friends of mine ask if it's time to polish the resume or "go 1099." 

I answer, though it's counter-intuitive, "There's no time like the present to hang up your shingle."

It isn't easy to run a business, much less earn enough to support yourself―especially during a recession.

I know from experience.

But examples of businesses begun in recessions are bountiful: GE, GM, Marriott, Disney, HP, Trader Joe’s, FedEx, IBM, Microsoft, Instagram, Uber, Pinterest and Square, to name just a few.

The secret to success? 

It isn't capital or a "big idea.

It's hunger.

Recessions are distinct not only because they cause unemployment, but spawn survivalists, "spunky" entrepreneurs who launch businesses with low start-up costs and ready customers―like the ones hankering for a late-evening ice cream in 1935 Massachusetts.

But whatever you do, don't ask me for sound business advice.

I'm like the retailer who buys $3 shirts and sells them for $2. 

"How do you get away with that?" my competitor asks. 

“I make it up in volume.”

Three Cheers for Mom and Pop

Notice the pattern?

Most small businesses—those lucky enough to be deemed "essential"—are innovating.

Most big businesses, on the other hand, are shuttering for the pandemic; so, too, are most mid-size ones.

Employees of "mom and pop" companies are working; employees of large and mid-size companies are filing for unemployment.

We're seeing incarnate which business leaders value employees and customers over shareholders.

And we're seeing which leaders know how to pivot, and which merely talk about pivoting when it suits them.

Three cheers for mom and pop!

Square Pegs

Corporate cultures, by definition, restrict behavior. 

A few lucky workers find a corporate culture they can willingly conform to. The rest check their real selves at the door. 

But sooner or later (usually sooner) these misfits get detected and are forced out.

Severance is particularly grave for workers over 40, who are cursed by their age with experience.

Employers prefer inexperienced 20-year-old workers over 40-60 year-old ones, not only because they're less costly, but because they're more malleable.

Experience shapes you, robbing employers of the opportunity to do so.

Thrill Ride

Today, another ride begins.

David James and I launch our direct marketing agency.

Everyone who's tried the entrepreneur's path knows how it differs from a job.

A job is a merry-go-round; riders must wear a smile at all times.

Self-employment is a roller coaster; riders must wear a blindfold at all times.

As Seth Godin says, "Heads, you suffer; tails, you endure a journey filled with unpredictable outcomes."

Wish us fun.

Let Them Eat Crêpes

Daniel Giusti, once head chef of the world's best restaurant, now runs all the public-school cafeterias in New London, Connecticut, reports The Washington Post.

His goal: to provide the city's 3,300 children the same meals one-percenters enjoy, at a cost to the government of $1.35 per student.

Instead of limp burgers and fries, the cafeteria menus now feature items like fresh-roasted chicken tacos with pickled vegetables; turkey sandwiches; whole-grain cheese ravioli; corn chowder; and a Mediterranean bowl with greens, chickpeas, cucumbers, olives, feta and a house-made balsamic vinaigrette.

All meals are served on porcelain dishes, instead of paper plates.

Giusti is one of many social entrepreneurs who've rejected toiling for the rich in favor of "a life's work."

“The whole point of this is that we’re taking care of these kids,” he says. “We can never lose sight of that. It can’t be about anything else.”

HAT TIP: Thanks to Bob Hughes for pointing me to this story.

Smile While You're Making It

Fiction's where I go when I've OD'ed on reality.

"Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures," Emerson said.

And it's often "the best way to capture reality," Jack Grebski says in Entrepreneur. 

Grebski lists his must-see films for entrepreneurs, and the lesson each one teaches:

• Catch Me If You Can (a lesson in "the good ol’ hustle to reach success")

• Lord of War (a lesson in "ambition, tenacity, and ability to tolerate risk)

• Wall Street (a lesson in "how easy it is to get carried away with the glamorous lifestyle that accompanies wealth")

• Rogue Trader (a lesson in "how money drives all sorts of maniacal behavior")

• Twelve Angry Men (a lesson in "the psychology of group behavior")

• Office Space (a lesson in "leadership, team-building techniques, and career development")

• The Godfather (a lesson in "why understanding competition is non-negotiable")

• The Usual Suspects (a lesson in "leadership consolidation, power and influence, and long-term business strategy")

• How To Get Ahead In Advertising (a lesson in "creative problem solving")

• The Devil Wears Prada (a lesson in "how to work your way up the corporate ladder")

• Thank You For Smoking (a lesson in "how to sell just about any product")

• Glengarry Glen Ross (a lesson in "competition and manipulation")

• The Merchant of Venice (a lesson in "business partnerships, risk assessment and mercantile law")

• Dr. Strangelove (a lesson in "leadership and loyalty")

• Erin Brockovich (a lesson in "the importance of sticking to one’s scruples even in the face of obstacles")

• The Rainmaker (a lesson in "the power of determination and social responsibility")

I'm sure you can add to Grebski's list, if you think about it.

My must-watch film for entrepreneurs is Oh, Lucky Man!, a rompish retelling of Voltaire's Candide set in the UK in 1973, and a lesson in the vagaries and hypocrisies of the climb to riches.

Oh, Lucky Man! is worth the watch just to spot a 28-year-old Dame Helen Mirren.

What's your fav?

Welcome to Indenture

Employers who recruit a lot of recent grads are luring them with a new perk: student loan repayment.

Bloomberg reports that investment and consulting firms like Nataxis and   PricewaterhouseCoopers will pony up as much as $250 a month toward a candidate's college debt.

McKinsey, Bain Capital and Accenture will also pay down employees' student debt, according to The Wall Street Journal.

If you're willing to provide seed money, we can jump on the bandwagon and start up our own firm to compete with Accenture.

Indenture.

A pillar of colonial America, indenture (a version of "enforced servitude") underwrote the tobacco economy in the Chesapeake region.

Under the system, an Englishman who sought a clean start in America signed a contract that promised he'd repay his master for ship fare, clothing, and room and board by laboring for seven years. 

Women also signed the contracts.

The word indenture refers to an indentation made on each contract. When it was drawn, two copies were made. One copy was then placed over the other and an edge indented.

As a result, master and servant could always spot whether a copy might be forged (often the end-date would be changed by one or the other party.)

On a serious note: Burdensome debt is no laughing matter. It drives in part the popularity of Bernie Sanders among Millennials. As one Boomer told a group of college students, “Your generation’s debt is our generation’s draft."

The Delicate Delinquent

I grew up a mile outside Newark, New Jersey, home town of Jerry Lewis.

My mom, a school teacher, worked with an older colleague who'd had Lewis in her fifth grade classroom 25 years before.

Despite his fame as a nightclub, radio, TV and film star, my mom's coworker hated Lewis.

He'd been a 10-year-old thorn in her side that whole school year. 

A jerk. Smart ass. Wise guy. Class clown. 

She hated him.

In Originals, Adam Grant says the difference between an original and the rest of us boils down to whether or not that person "rejects defaults." 

Default behaviors. Default beliefs. Default systems. Default "worlds."

"The hallmark of originality is rejecting the default and exploring whether a better option exists," Grant says.

We tend to think originals are appreciated early, as were Mozart, Rimbaud and Picasso.

But that's not the norm, Grant says.

Social science shows school kids who are originals are the least likely to be appreciated.

In one study, teachers listed their favorite and least favorite students, and rated each group.

The least favorites were the non-conformists.

"Teachers tend to discriminate against highly creative students, labeling them as trouble-makers," Grant says. 

"In response, many children quickly learn to get with the program, keeping their original ideas to themselves."

But some people, for their own crazy reasons, can't sit still long enough to "accept defaults."

Happy 90th Birthday, Mr. Lewis.

Still rejecting defaults after all these years.

UPDATE: Jerry Lewis passed away August 20, 2017, in his home in Las Vegas. Love him or hate him, he was surely an original.

Thinkers Thrive

Sales gurus call the ultimate customer relationship that of "trusted advisor."

But what is a trusted advisor?

"A trusted advisor is an expert, someone who brings you a new idea or teaches you something she has learned about your industry," Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup, told members of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington at last night's annual meeting.

If you're not your customers' trusted advisor, you'll inevitably have to compete on price alone, Clifton said. 

And inevitably go broke in the process.

Of course, you can stay off the radar and earn the trusted advisor label by dint of hard work.

Or you can use a little marketing to help you by cementing your stance as a "thought leader."

Becoming a thought leader is a six-step process, says blogger Maddy Osman.

1. Follow and comment on news in your niche

Make connections that will alert you to breaking news, then toss in your two cents. "Finding ways to make industry connections will help your company move from news consumer to news creator," Osman says.

2. Be disagreeable

Thought leaders find ""the sweet spot between saying something that not everyone will agree with, and completely stirring the pot with a controversial opinion."

3. Be nice

Be generous with praise and thanks for those who engage with and support you.

4. Hunt for exposure

Seek and jump on every opportunity to collaborate on a content marketing project.

5. Be charitable

Except for perhaps an email address, don't ask people for anything in return for your thoughts.

6. Get out and speak

Speak at and sponsor key industry conferences, and never refuse speaking opportunities at smaller events.

Do You Chase Butterflies?

Remember the sunny feeling you had as a child when you chased butterflies?

If you do that in business, you're begging for trouble.

In a recent blog post, event-design guru Jeff Hurt laments the fact that most workers sacrifice impact for busyness.

"I’ve seen way too many professionals addicted to cleaning out all the emails or making progress on their list of tasks instead of spending time doing the right thing," Hurt says.

"We’ve got to retrain our brains that strategic thinking first is more important than a check mark. We’ve got to rewire our brains to realize that strategy leads to more success than our busyness."

I've witnessed another, equally toxic habit that plagues many professionals, particularly senior executives, marketers and sales managers.

That habit is chasing butterflies, the mindless pursuit of fugitive opportunities; an addiction to chasing every papery grail of growth that happens to flutter by (usually far off the path of the core business or audience).

Like busyness, chasing butterflies feels good.

Focus, its opposite, doesn't—especially when there are so many lovely distractions about.

Focus isn't easy. 

Focus isn't fun.

But it's a habit you have to adopt, if you want to have impact.

Just ask Marissa Mayer.

Compartmentalized Thinking

In the 1980s, when mapmaking kingpin Rand McNally first saw the signs of coming industry disruption, what did it do?

It unleashed an all-out PR campaign to persuade carmakers and consumers to call the "glove compartment" the "map compartment."

Duh.

While thinking like that might have worked in the 1950s, by the 1980s it was nothing other than magical thinking.

Magical thinking, psychologists say, is a product of Darwin's "struggle for existence." When faced with an existential threat, we look for saviors everywhere, as Rand McNally did.

Sometimes those saviors are efficiency experts; more often, salespeople; most often, marketers.

But when your industry's fragile, none of those folks can save you.

To borrow a thought from the 1990s, you have to think different.

On-Demand Undermines Even Investors

In the 19th century, an enterprising forebear of mine owned a block of houses in the mining town of Franklin, New Jersey, that he leased to workers.

Unbeknownst to the workers, he also leased his mineral rights to the local mining company, which promptly dug a shaft beneath the houses.

According to family lore, my forbear had to skedaddle one dark night, when all the houses and their occupants vanished in a mine-shaft collapse.

Lesson learned.

When investors undermine workers, everyone gets the shaft.

The halo's fast falling from the Uberization of work, Caroline Fairchild writes on LinkedIn.

Millennial entrepreneurs are shifting workers from 1099 to W-2 status, because they're learning that, to succeed, they have to do things like train people and ask them to show up at 9.

You know, 19th century stuff.

As Fairchild shows, on-demand startups that want to appify black markets in everything from home delivery to hospitality face harsh critics.

"As these venture capital darlings walk the fine line between saving on labor costs and breaking the law, regulators and politicians are watching, and critiquing, their every move," she writes.

"The lines being drawn here raise critical questions: Should workers embrace the freedom the digital world offers? Or should they try to hold onto the rights that their predecessors fought over 100 years to win? Is this new economy moving us forward or backward?"

Forward or backward? What do you think?

Child Speed

Every week, my two-year-old granddaughter dashes past another developmental milestone.

She's unafraid to ask questions or state her observations. 

For their part, the googly-eyed adults around her make a willing audience. 

Of course, it does't hurt to be adorable.

Eighteen years ago, designer Bruce Mau wrote his 43-point Incomplete Manifesto for Growth to inspire the designers in his studio in Toronto.

Point 15 of the Incomplete Manifesto reads:

Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

Were it possible to learn for a lifetime at my granddaughter's present speed, we'd all be geniuses. 

Unfortunately, brain physiology holds us back.

In fact, most minds fossilize before their owners turn 30.

But destiny shouldn't deter you from asking stupid, innocent, childlike questions.

Who knows?

Once in a while, you might get an adult answer.

Disclosure: Bruce Mau is now my employer's Chief Design Officer.

Code Eats Content for Breakfast

Lamenting developers' complicity in content piracy, marketing guru Mark Schaefer recently wrote, "Coding is cheap and fast and plentiful and we seem to be in a media world dominated by cleaning up unintended consequences."

Developers know they're killing creatives, the geese that lay the golden eggs. But, wantonly, they continue to pump out code that rewards content pirates.

There's no real news here, alas. Just old-fashioned avarice.

While encouraged by investors to "disrupt" moribund industries, developers continue to fleece creatives, as they have since the days of Napster.

The injustices they perpetuate make literal the economist's term creative destruction.

Market-oriented, Schaefer recommends a return to patronage, the "Renaissance monetization model," to support content creators.

Raised by parents who worshipped FDR, I recommend revival of the WPA (funded by taxing companies like Facebook.)

What's your idea?

Harvest Time

Salesman Ray Kroc was 52 when he asked the McDonald brothers to let him franchise their drive-in burger joint.

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was 54 when he wrote Symphony No. 9.

Pharmacist John Pemberton was 55 when he started to sell his invention, Coca-Cola.

Actor Ronald Reagan was 55 when he first ran for public office in California.

Former slave Nancy Green was 56 when she was selected to portray the trade character "Aunt Jemima" by the Pearl Milling Company.

Philosopher John Locke was 57 when he penned An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of Government, his magnum opuses.

Pamphleteer Daniel Defoe was 58 when he penned Robinson Crusoe.

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was 59 when he directed Vertigo. 

Actor Sidney Greenstreet was 61 when he began his film career.

Gas station operator Harland Sanders was 65 when he opened his first fried chicken restaurant.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was 70 when he designed Fallingwater. 

Artist Grandma Moses was 78 when she first picked up a paint brush.

Even though I've worn out two dozen erasers in my Saturday afternoon drawing classes, I feel a thrill every time the marks resemble the thing in front of me.

Any gardener will tell you, patience and blind faith are the keys to an autumn harvest.

"Here's to the late bloomers, holding on 'til our time arrives," says songwriter and storyteller Korby Lenker.

Learn more about later bloomers from Dan Pink and Malcolm Gladwell.

"Autumn Leaf" by Robert Francis James. Charcoal on paper.

Lost in a Daydream

One hundred years ago this month, Einstein stood before the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin and read his paper describing the General Theory of Relativity, "the most beautiful theory in the history of science," according to biographer Walter Isaacson.

Isaacson wants to use the centennial to celebrate daydreaming, as he says in a recent op-ed in The New York Times.

Einstein concocted the theory not by recasting formulas, but by daydreaming about light beams and billiard balls.

Isaacson argues we should goad kids to accomplish more than memory-work. "We should stimulate their minds’ eyes as well."

"Everything of value in our world started at some point with an idle daydream," writes marketer Mark Schaefer in Born to Blog. "Dreaming helps us connect the dots. Dreaming is mandatory for seeing the world as it should be, rather than how it is."

Take a few minutes today, grab a coffee or chocolate bar, and celebrate Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

But, please, don't interrupt your daydream.

Wheel of Fortune

My maternal grandfather, a watchmaker, survived the Great Depression by operating a carnival wheel in an amusement park in Newark, New Jersey.

Today, the wheel hangs on a wall in my home, a gaudy artifact symbolizing weird work and small wagers, and the legacy of a man whose real trade was time.

Most of my grandfather's biographical details are lost, but at least one is clear: despite the Depression, he stayed in the game.

Fortunate are the people who—as he did—show up, learn new skills, take risks, think weird.

They don't surrender to the feeling they're hostages or has-beens. They choose instead to be bootstrappers.

Right now, two generations, Millennials and Boomers, are joined at the hip by the prospect of near-poverty.

They're placing bets on the next spin of the wheel.

The bootstrappers are mastering new, adaptive skills. 

The rest are at home, consuming games and gameshows.

Which are you doing?

Terms of Endearment

The role terms play in the marketing mix isn't discussed outside the pages of the Harvard Business Review.

But your terms matter to prospects.

Here's a case study.

Recently, Bob (yours truly) shopped Craigslist for the services of a freelance editor, on his employer's behalf. Based on his Craigslist ad, Steven seemed a capable choice. Bob phoned Steven, described the project, and sent him background materials.

Below, verbatim, is their email exchange immediately after that call.

From Steven to Bob

I've read over the attached documents and have a good grasp on what you want in terms of the scope of the editing. I can realistically accommodate the edits for the 400 documents you've stipulated for $475 and have them ready within your two month time-frame. Or, if you'd like them ready within one month's time, I could accommodate that for $599. Just let me know which option you choose. Also, if there are any other stylistic recommendations you have for the revisions go ahead and send those over to me. I accept Google Wallet for payment. To proceed, go ahead and send your payment, via Wallet, to me and then I can confirm, put this on my schedule and get started.

From Bob to Steven

Wow, I think you are underpricing this project. A few thoughts:

• How much time do you think you’d devote to each document?
• Advance payment on line won’t work. We can pay in installments or a lump sum, but only as satisfactory work is delivered.
• Doesn’t the style guide I sent you make clear the “stylistic recommendations” desired?

From Steven to Bob

You're right. I sent you a quote meant for a different client. Realistically, I could accommodate this within 2 month's time for $3,500 or within one month's time for $3,999. However, I do not accept checks (they have that pesky ability to bounce...) and I do not do work without a payment, or at least a serious deposit, in advance. You came to me so please abide by the processes that I work by. Otherwise, I'd have to deny this request due to lack of seriousness. The only other payment methods I accept are Square Cash, Chase Quickpay or bank transfer.

As the Harvard Business Review might put it, "Steven's terms erected a considerable obstacle to Bob the Buyer's consideration."

By insisting on online prepayment, Steven demonstrated he works only with students and, perhaps, the occasional entrepreneur. He failed to grasp, in this case, his prospect represented an 88 year-old, multibillion company with customers like McDonald's and Microsoft.

The rest of their email exchange follows, again verbatim.

From Bob to Steven

No thanks, Steven.

From Steven to Bob

No skin off my nose. You're obviously a joker or a scammer. Before you waste more time trolling the Craigslist ads like a desperate prostitute, you should know that no self-respecting professional is going to be doing any work without payment upfront. Perhaps if you weren't a senior citizen you'd realize this is how commerce in the 21st century works.

Do your terms cost you customers?

How about your manners?

Battling Bullies

As a small business, you have no greater leverage than content.

My blog Copy Points, which reached a milestone today—100,000 pageviews—proves the point.

David-size businesses can effectively combat Goliaths in the Bizarro World of social media, and build a proprietary audience of followers, fans and advocates.

But how?

In a study last year, software provider Curata identified 428 bloggers it dubbed members of the “10K Club,” because they attract 10,000 or more pageviews a month. 

Two-thirds of 10K Club members represent small and mid-size businesses, with revenue below $100 million.

Curata concluded that six factors made these David-size bloggers successful:

1. They know all the effort, one day, will pay off.
2. They create content that targets a specific audience.
3. They avoid product-pitches.
4. They post at least once a week.
5. They promote their blogs on other channels.
6. They study their pageviews, to learn what kinds work best.

With 100,000 pageviews under my belt, at last I have something I can boast about to my granddaughter. 

Once she's old enough to know what a blog is.