It seems that even his cheering section is beginning to turn on him. All of the evening news programs are starting to broadcast from oil covered shores talking about how abandoned the residents feel. Citizens aren’t looking to BP for answers, they’re looking to their government! The Governor of Louisiana is watching marsh-land destroyed by the oil coming inland, and all the while waiting for a permit to protect his state.

This is the part that really strikes me… to me, this is the real story… Yes, the spill is bad!… Yes, BP must pay!…Yes, we are at the mercy of BP to stop the still leaking spill because, as a top official admitted yesterday “If we bump BP, we won’t know what to do.”

Here’s an idea… focus energy on protecting the shores from an imminent threat!

It’s pretty amazing to me that an administration that is only in office because they know how to spin a message and use the media to its advantage have become so impotent at keeping up that facade of competence. The sad fact is, talking about leadership and executing leadership are far different universes! From the Sunday that Team Obama launched the “from day 1″ assault on the airways to try to spin itself into the story as pre-positioned saviors, there has been little done to keep the spin going that we are actually accomplishing anything other than being angry. If the administration has truly been on the job “from day 1″, then on DAY 36, we are looking at an administration that is in WAY OVER IT’S HEAD!

There’s an old saying: “Those who can…do; those who can’t… teach.” This administration apparently would have made a great lot of teachers.

UPDATE: Gibbs’ response to criticism=name-calling…

“White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the criticism ill-informed and suggested Palin needed a blowout preventer…”

Way to keep it classy Gibbs.

Case in point: Administration out in full force on the Sunday morning shows… what was the repeated mantra throughout the day with regards to their response to the oil disaster in the gulf? …from day one…

Really? From day one? Let me say that I know that the Obama administration is not responsible for the disaster… but the response time of 10 days… not 1 day… leaves a bit to be desired. To me, it would be more honorable to just admit they were a bit slow… or to have different perspectives on who was doing what and when… but for every administration official to come out in force and parrot … from day one… is a little too rehearsed. It feels akin to what my psychiatrist father in law would call “unsolicited denial”.

The timing could not be more frustrating for the great One… having only come out in support of offshore drilling a few weeks ago, to have this happen… imagine how smug and morally elevated his response could have been if he had not made such a move! Now he’s got to rely on the incompetence of the press corps to buy into the …from day one… rhetoric so he can sufficiently demonize BP.

Once again… Team Obama = FAIL!

But I digress… These companies are still attempting to package and present brands the same way they always have…

“Milward Brown has crafted 10 tips for making a TV spot viral, few of which come as a surprise. They include great creativity, wide dissemination, good search optimization and, perhaps most important, the need to “cross your fingers.”

REALLY!!?! “Cross your fingers?!” That’s the best they can come up with after spending millions to try to tap into the “viral” market? Sometimes, it’s great to be a small business that can’t afford to take itself so seriously as to hire one of these genius firms!

In my humble opinion, the “it” factor that makes a video about a product or brand go “viral” is that the message is usually from the consumer’s point of view of it. Many of these are videos made by consumers of the products. The essential element in these videos doesn’t concern itself so much with the features or buzz or any other self stroking. Today’s savvy consumers can research the features on their own when they’re ready to buy… Media guru’s talking to us like kindergartners are about as effective as big haired televangelists!

A great example of a company that has tapped into the element of what their consumers want to see on their ads is Geico. I mean really, Warren Buffet dressed up as Axl Rose?! Come on, I’m switching to Geico as soon as I can! That’s AWESOME!

Seriously, check out the video! Warren Buffet as Axl Rose

“The misuse of the arcane process of reconciliation—a process intended for deficit reduction—to enact substantive policy changes is an undemocratic disservice to our people and to the Senate’s institutional role,” Democratic Senator – Robert Byrd

Wall Street Journal has an opinion column up this morning talking about the use of reconcilliation to ram thru an epic bill that will put our grandchildren even further into debt. I don’t normally like to pull polictical stuff into my blog, because there are much more informed folks than I weighing in on both sides of issues that are important to me. However, this article is spot on, in my opinion. I don’t care which side of the political spectrum you find yourself on, this sort of political arrogance against the overwhelming majority of the American people is nothing short of abuse of power! I would say the same regardless of Republican or Democrat control.

Wall Street Journal Article here… http://bit.ly/bE6Fzq

Posted via web from topherthoughts’s posterous

As a fledgling start-up, getting a couple big fish so early in the game was almost intoxicating. Using their names in circles of related businesses opened quite a few doors. Things were really looking promising. As we began to bring on these customers, it was apparent that we were going to bring on additional staff and take down some extra office space.

This is where things began to get shaky. Suddenly, cashflow became a screaming issue! If any one of those large clients slow pays you, you’re left holding the bag with your new employees, new landlords, etc. This is what happened in my case. I caught one of the clients on a “down” month, so we advanced more resources on the promise of catching up on the next bill.

Before I knew it, this became a snowball that I couldn’t contain. I was trying to beat checks from one bank to the other… try not to damage my start-up’s credit rating… you name it, it seemed like everything was going to come apart at the seams.

Fortunately, in my case, I have had mentors in the past that have instilled the values of planning for success into me so deeply. Almost immediately, I was able to see the beginnings of a massive train wreck. I realized quickly that I had gone against every investment principle I knew. I had not diversified my customer portfolio.

Here is what I did to regain control of the situation:

• Swallowed my pride – Was honest with my customer and communicated that not sticking within the boundaries of what our business could provide would jeopardize our long term success.
• Enforced Boundaries – As an old boss of mine used to say, “The customer is not always right, but the customer is always the customer”. I said “NO” to the customer… at the risk of the relationship. The initial shock of someone saying no to them was quickly overcome by a deep respect for our services and our company.
• Diversified – I got back to what I knew… talking to new prospects. Re-set the expectations of high maintenance customer’s access to our resources so our key players could be back out on the field bringing in new opportunities.

Not going to lie, it was bumpy… stressful… maddening… exhausting… etc. However, I was fortunate to recognize early enough that we were being pulled off course from our core competencies. We corrected in time, and we’re back on track bringing in new customers & giving great service to our existing ones… yes even the large ones.

Lesson learned: Be realistic with where you are in your company growth when bringing on new customers. Can you provide the service they’re seeking without compromising your core mission. I watched one very successful small business walk away from a deal with Dell that would have doubled revenue literally overnight… but it would have also taken the company in a new direction that was not consistent with it’s core.

Please take the time to read this post from August about Ten Thousand Homes here … then head over and check out their site here .

I had just such an experience this past week with Delta. As a frequent traveler, I’ve come to view airlines much the same as cell phone providers… necessary evil peddlers of a necessary commodity.

Not so this time. Friday, I found myself in the utility player role of booking travel for someone on the team of my biggest client. In the midst of a crazy day on Friday, somehow I heard the location Dayton, saw it on the paper, and proceed to book a flight out of Akron!

Now, I’ve never lived in Ohio… traveled thru there a time or two over 10 years ago. Akron/Dayton… all the same to me, right! Can’t be any further than driving from my home in The Woodlands to Hobby Airport in Houston. Right?

WRONG! The team member received his ticket and promptly called to inform me that Akron was a 4 hour drive from his home in Dayton. Well, my mistake!

I put on my game face, call Delta, and get ready to put up a good fight… only expecting to take one for the team in the end. Much to my surprise, when I described my plight to the agent on the phone, they simply said… “Let me take care of that for you… we’ll just cancel that out and you can start over.”

Can you believe it?! A do-over from the airline! No blood sample… No note from a doctor or government official… No first-born surrender! Just a simple, fast do-over!

For that, Delta, this small business owner says Thank you!

It’s amazing to me that 2010 is already here… ‘09 was such a blur. This time last year, I was “employed”… now I have 9 employees! I am living the life I have dreamed of for a long time. I have long ago learned that the best way to make the most of every minute is to embrace a life of gratitude.

Gratitude is something that is sorely lacking in today’s western culture. It’s all about self promotion and getting what I deserve and my rights. I am still on the journey to success… not where I plan to be… but I’m so grateful for the blessings that I have right now. I feel like embracing the concept of being grateful in my life during a time when I was deep in debt, and practically penniless that has enabled us to enjoy every step along the way to where we are now. A former boss of mine used to say you have to choices when faced with hard times… get bitter or get better.

This year is going to be one that I realize many dreams that have been dormant for a long time. I encourage you as we step into this new year to slow down for a second, take stock of all the blessings you have, and then DREAM BIG! Another great quote I’ve heard when talking about dreams and goals: “if you aim at nothing… that’s exactly what you get…NOTHING!”

Happy 2010! May this be a decade of realized dreams and great gratitude!

Sometimes, even when you know all the rules that you’re supposed to follow… you still find yourself trapped by the tyranny of the urgent. Next thing you know, days (maybe even weeks) slip by without an update. It feels to overwhelming to get back in the fray… is this social media thing really worth it anyway?! Suddenly my update feed is packed with people I didn’t realize would spam me with how to make a million dollars using Twitter only 40 seconds a day!

Sound familiar?

If so, you’re in good company. But just as with any discipline, you just gotta jump back in and engage! It’s funny, our little company goes out and trains on why social media is important for small business, and I still have these feelings creep in from time to time. That’s why I wanted to offer up 3 steps I feel like will help you get back in the game. The list is by no means comprehensive, so feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

3 Steps to Overcome Twitter Burnout

1. Use 3rd Party Tools – Tools like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, CoTweet, and countless others allow you to manage your Tweets effectively. My personal favorite is Tweetdeck, due to the ease of filtering conversations and having search columns to only show content I want to see.
2. Twitter Lists – This has been a lifesaver for me! As I’ve been following more folks, I’ve begun to categorize them so that I can view only the ones that I’m interested in at that given moment.
3. Engage! Engage! Engage! – I feel like this should have been a no brainer for me, but it’s something that I’ve noticed some folks more successful at this gig than I am utilize frequently. I feel like I’ve only dipped my toe in these waters, but so far, the response is really getting me excited about Twitter again.

Well, there you have it. As I said, these are just a few. What are your tips and tricks to keep going in for more?