Merry Christmas from the Gilroys

Open publication - Free publishing - More gilroy family

Christmas reminds us of the joy of hospitality

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.Washington Irving

 History and literature brim with accounts of the wonderful gift of hospitality. In Charles Dickens’ immortal and beloved A Christmas Carol, it is the rich man with the big house, Ebenezer Scrooge, who locks his door and heart tightly to others, content to count his gold and silver coins. It takes an ethereal ghost and the fear of what the afterlife—chains and all—might hold for him to awaken Scrooge to the soulless and cruel miserliness of his ways. Soon after he sees the light, he is welcomed into the humble home of Bob Cratchett, where the air is cold but the hearts are warm, where he sees with his own eyes the responsibility and richness of opening one’s heart and home to others.

But my house isn’t very big and my furniture isn’t very nice. We get so tired out by the holidays. We just want some down time.

Not sure about your gift of hospitality? First of all, if you have a smile, a warm heart, and a few kind words, no one cares about how grand or simple your house is.  It was the investor Charles M. Schwab who said:  Money will buy you a bed but not a good night sleep, a house but not a home, a companion but not a friend. 

Second, you are wise to pace yourself over the Christmas season and not fill every square in your December calendar with activities. You need not feel guilty for that down time you’ve been looking forward to.

But the simple truth is that hospitality is good for the soul; it allows you to connect with others and is a tangible expression of your care for them.

Two thousand years go, an unnamed innkeeper, his guest rooms already filled, opened his heart and what accommodations he could muster to a young couple with nowhere else to turn. His home was the site of the greatest miracle in the history of mankind.

Shepherds and angels may not appear at your front door when you invite the neighbors over, but a special blessing awaits you and them!

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

From The Simple Blessings of Christmas by Mark Gilroy

Christmas reminds us that greatness begins in small packages

The man who is called father by three of the world’s major religions—Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—had but a small family of his own. In fact, he and his wife, Sarah, weren’t sure they could even have one child. But from Abraham’s offspring, there remains a lineage that circles the globe.

He wasn’t supposed to live beyond infancy. All the other baby boys of his birthplace died the year he was born. His mother had to give him up to the care of another. But the tiny baby survived, even when he was floated down the Nile River in a basket. And the man Moses grew into led his people out of slavery and against impossible circumstances presented by nature and enemies, he brought them into God’s Promised Land.

He was the youngest son of an inconsequential family that was a member of a small tribe that lived in the hill country of an obscure nation. Yet David, a man after God’s own heart, prevailed in combat against lion, bear, and giant. Poet and warrior, he became a king and nation builder against whom all other kings to come would be measured.

In a dark and violent world; in a bleak and blighted village; a tiny life appeared. What difference does the life of one small make baby? Particularly one of questionable lineage, of humble means, far from the center of worldly power?

Jesus, the Babe in the manger, brought light and hope to a world engulfed in strife—and forever changed the course of history.

We look to the big, expensive, and impressive; we admire the powerful and influential; we check price tags, even during the holidays. But the message of Christmas is that great things come in small packages. A simple kindness. A gentle word. A smile. A listening ear. A shared meal. A song. A handwritten note. A surprise phone call. The shining eyes of children. All these small gestures hint at the greatest blessing of Christmas: a grand and magnificent love broke into the world when Jesus was born in a humble manger.

Enjoy the bright lights and big moments of the season. But don’t lose sight that the greatest blessings come in the smallest packages.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches. Matthew 13:31–32

From The Simple Blessings of Christmas by Mark Gilroy

Note: Publisher sold out in November this year so not available for order. But it will return in 2012.

the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas highlights the importance of traditions!

What would life be like without traditions? Particularly at Christmas? On September 21, 1897, Francis P. Church, an editor at The New York Sun, wrote a letter to a young lady who wondered about on particular tradition of the season. Church’s classic response provides soothing words to a sometimes cynical world!

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun: “Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?” Virginia O’Hanlon, 115 West Ninety-fifth Street Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the scepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no child-like faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. . . . The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

The songs we sing. The movies we watch yet another year. The visits to relatives. The same meals we’ve eaten for as long as we can remember. The candlelight church service. Traditions. Oh, they can drive us a bit crazy and might even feel a little bit boring at times. But they do point to the “unseeable” and help us experience anew the “supernal beauty and glory beyond.” Traditions are one of the sweetest blessings of Christmas.

should I buy a handgun or not?

Christmas teaches us the joy of gratitude

Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both. - Phillips Brooks

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. - James 1:17

There is a simple attitude that determines in our own minds whether we are rich or poor, blessed or cursed, and fundamentally positive or negative about life. To make that enormous of a difference, that attitude must be incredibly powerful. And it is. That attitude is gratitude.

One person gets a job and is thrilled to be a contributing member of a team—and to be paid for it to boot. Another person gets the same job with the same company and with the same pay and benefits and feels cheated. One person literally has a great job and the other has an equally crummy job. Why? The difference is an attitude of gratitude.

One teen looks under the Christmas tree, finds a simple and thoughtful gift from her mom, and knows she is loved; all that another teen can think about as he tears the glossy wrapping paper from the box is the new cell phone model he didn’t get. She had a great Christmas morning and got absolutely everything she wanted; he had a lousy Christmas and didn’t get anything good. Again the only difference was gratitude.

After a long pregnancy that generated more questions than congratulations; that nearly led to a marriage ending before it started; that included a painful and arduous journey; that culminated in her son being born in conditions fit for animals but not for humans, how did Mary respond? Luke tells us that she “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (2:19). In Bethlehem, among the animals, she found joy. She could have complained that God was doing nothing good for her, that her husband was a lousy provider, that the innkeeper should be put in prison for denying her a bed in the house, but instead she declared the “great things” God had done (Luke 1:49).

This central Christmas story—and the joys and challenges of our modern holiday—remind us that gratitude changes everything. Whether there are gifts stacked to the ceiling with your name on them or you aren’t sure anyone is going to give you anything, stop and give thanks to God, the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. You’ll receive a special blessing in your spirit and discover you have everything you need.

why does it take so long to get a book published?

My latest book blog from www.mkgilroy.com to introduce and promote the April 3, 2012 release of CUTS LIKE A KNIFE.

Reacher, the Hardy Boys, 007 - and other great characters from series fiction

I need to lose some weight

I need to reinvent myself

kisses from katie - a story of relentless love and redemption

We moved to Brentwood, Tennessee, in January 2006. My youngest daughter, Caroline, was a junior in high school. You can imagine how nervous we were as parents on how the move would go for an almost-senior (and for the two other kids still in the house). Within days Caroline met two Katies who welcomed her to Ravenwood High School and made her feel as if she had grown up in their circle of friends. I'm still sighing with relief.

One of the wonderful Katies - Katie Davis - took a different path after graduation to say the least. She is now the unmarried mother of 14 young girls. Is that even possible? Is this one of those stories about youth gone bad?

I need to give a warning to any potential readers at this point. Do not pick up Kisses from Katie if you live a comfortable life and don't want anything or anyone messing up your comfort zone.

Katie's story is a story of youth gone good. It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking - and in reading it you will never be satisfied with a status quo lifestyle again. If you have never felt a gentle nudge from God that you have something beyond yourself to accomplish in this world - or if you have suppressed and ignored the nudge - this book serves as a loud, clanging, blaring wakeup call to hear and embrace your call.

"Kids" can be idealists - and when Caroline told me Katie was going to do a yearlong mission project before attending college, I thought that sounded great - that it would be good for her. Little did I know ... I did know Katie's parents were quite nervous when she said the project would be serving in an orphanage in Uganda. After surveying the situation in Africa carefully, her dad reluctantly gave his permission for her to go - with the condition that she promise to come back and enroll in college and move on with her life. She was true to her word - but even as she attended classes the fall of her return, she was miserable, thinking only of her "girls" back in Uganda.

Katie - high school homecoming queen and student body president and honor student and girlfriend to a handsome, committed, spiritual, star athlete - had every reason to "come home." But her heart was back in Uganda with the motherless children she had fallen in love with. Is it any wonder that the name she has been given by the people of her village is "Mommy." Katie's ongoing adventures in Uganda are  amazing and fit the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. In her case, it is not stranger, but more incredible.

My family has been blessed by the Katie who befriended the "new kid" at school. We've been privileged to meet two of her daughters, Patricia and Grace. Most of all we have been inspired to step out of our comfort zone and to look around to see what God is doing in the world that we need to take part in.

I can't recommend Kisses from Katie highly enough for the spiritual blessings you will experience reading this story of relentless love and redemption.

the day satan called ...

By Bill Scott. FaithWords, a division of the Hachette Book Group. Published October 2011.

We live in a culture that is skeptical of most things spiritual - but that can't seem to get enough of dark, scary movies and books - from Rosemary's Baby to The Exorcist and a host of annual releases. So what more can be said about demons and evil spirits?

I will establish up front that I am friends with the author of The Day Satan Called and worked with him a bit on the development of the project. But that doesn't mean I can't be a raving fan and recognize some special contributions Bill has made through this book, does it?

I met Bill Scott and his wife Janet about a year ago to discuss a couple publishing projects they needed to work on for an organization for youth they founded and run. In the course of the conversation Bill mentioned off-handedly that he had written a manuscript (with more than a little help from Janet) of his experience with a ... witch ... who he had invited to live in his home in order to help her ... okay. Suffice it to say I watched Bill just a little more closely to see what kind of guy he really was. What I noticed then and have seen confirmed over and over in the subsequent year is that Bill is direct and honest to a fault. I took the manuscript home and was transfixed - and terrified. That's the first thing I would say about The Day Satan Called - it is a well-written, fast-paced, entertaining, and incredibly scary story. Bill seems to take you to the edge of the cliff at the end of every chapter. About the time you think what he lived through couldn't get worse - it does.

I'm not going to give away any spoilers, but I'll note that the book has a totally unexpected ending. The story is great but it is Bill's observations that make this book special. In the process of looking back at how things started and ended, Bill asks and answers some poignant questions about demon possession: is it related to multiple personality disorder (MPD) - sometimes? All of the time? How much of what is called demon possession is someone's personal fantasy or even a con game? Or both? How prevalent is demon possession in our society and how concerned should we be? With all the temptations in the world that seem to work so well with so many, why would Satan even bother with possessing of some people? Can a Christian be demon possessed - or in the case of a person suffering from MPD, can one personality be redeemed and another personality be possessed?

I mentioned that Bill is honest and direct. He doesn't claim to know all the answers to those and other questions, but he does a great job of presenting what happened to him - even the parts that are personally embarrassing and he'd rather forget - and reaffirming the scripture: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

calling all agents - a survey

I received a call from an agent friend today who wanted to know what percentage of the book projects I represent that I sell as an agent. Because agenting is a relatively small percentage of my business I let him know that I may not be the best source for feedback. But his question did get me wondering what agents are experiencing in what many consider to be a fairly tumultuous time in the book publishing industry.

I've put together a simple 5-minute online survey FOR BOOK AGENTS only. Please follow the link below to take the survey - and feel free to share the link with other agents. I'll compile results in the next two weeks and post a nonscientific summary - but all individual responses are anonymous and confidential.

Click here to take the survey now!

e-book inventor passes away - as his invention soars

Publisher's Weekly reported today:

E-book sales rose 167% in June, to $80.2 million, at the 15 houses that reported figures to AAP’s monthly sales report and closed the first half of the year with sales up 161%, to $473.8 million.

But the biggest news in e-book publishing is that the inventor of the e-book, Michael S. Hart, passed away this past week on September 6, 2011.

What follows is an excerpt from the obituary for Mr. Hart written by Dr. Gregory B. Newby for Project Gutenberg.

Michael Stern Hart was born in Tacoma, Washington on March 8, 1947. He died on September 6, 2011 in his home in Urbana, Illinois, at the age of 64. He is survived by his mother, Alice, and brother, Bennett. Michael was an Eagle Scout (Urbana Troop 6 and Explorer Post 12), and served in the Army in Korea during the Vietnam era.

Hart was best known for his 1971 invention of electronic books, or eBooks. He founded Project Gutenberg, which is recognized as one of the earliest and longest-lasting online literary projects. He often told this story of how he had the idea for eBooks. He had been granted access to significant computing power at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On July 4, 1971, after being inspired by a free printed copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, he decided to type the text into a computer, and to transmit it to other users on the computer network. From this beginning, the digitization and distribution of literature was to be Hart's life's work, spanning over 40 years.

Hart was an ardent technologist and futurist. A lifetime tinkerer, he acquired hands-on expertise with the technologies of the day: radio, hi-fi stereo, video equipment, and of course computers. He constantly looked into the future, to anticipate technological advances. One of his favorite speculations was that someday, everyone would be able to have their own copy of the Project Gutenberg collection or whatever subset desired. This vision came true, thanks to the advent of large inexpensive computer disk drives, and to the ubiquity of portable mobile devices, such as cell phones.

Hart also predicted the enhancement of automatic translation, which would provide all of the world's literature in over a hundred languages. While this goal has not yet been reached, by the time of his death Project Gutenberg hosted eBooks in 60 different languages, and was frequently highlighted as one of the best Internet-based resources.

A lifetime intellectual, Hart was inspired by his parents, both professors at the University of Illinois, to seek truth and to question authority. One of his favorite recent quotes, credited to George Bernard Shaw, is characteristic of his approach to life: "Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people."

Michael prided himself on being unreasonable, and only in the later years of life did he mellow sufficiently to occasionally refrain from debate. Yet, his passion for life, and all the things in it, never abated.

Frugal to a fault, Michael glided through life with many possessions and friends, but very few expenses. He used home remedies rather than seeing doctors. He fixed his own house and car. He built many computers, stereos, and other gear, often from discarded components.

Michael S. Hart left a major mark on the world. The invention of eBooks was not simply a technological innovation or precursor to the modern information environment. A more correct understanding is that eBooks are an efficient and effective way of unlimited free distribution of literature. Access to eBooks can thus provide opportunity for increased literacy. Literacy, and the ideas contained in literature, creates opportunity.

In July 2011, Michael wrote these words, which summarize his goals and his lasting legacy: “One thing about eBooks that most people haven't thought much is that eBooks are the very first thing that we're all able to have as much as we want other than air. Think about that for a moment and you realize we are in the right job."

He had this advice for those seeking to make literature available to all people, especially children: "Learning is its own reward. Nothing I can say is better than that."

Michael is remembered as a dear friend, who sacrificed personal luxury to fight for literacy, and for preservation of public domain rights and resources, towards the greater good.

top 10 ways to know that football is here

Are you ready for some football? Here are the top 10 ways to know it has officially arrived!

1. the bass drum corps from the high school - located more than a couple miles from your house - rattles your windows every morning during marching band practice - and then breaks crystal and knocks picture frames off the wall every other Friday night at home games;

2. you find out where your neighbors moved from or went to college as flags are attached to car windows or hung from front porches (or both) every Saturday morning - of note: you will know when their favorite team has lost a big game when the flag comes down immediately after the game;

3. no more curling tournaments; no more bocci specials; no more cricket highlights from the New Zealand versus Barbados match are shown on ESPN 2 through 25;

4. coaches at every level of football stand before a row of microphones and talk about how tough their opening game against a team that hasn't won a game in three years is going to be...with a straight face;

5. grown men who shouldn't take off their shirts in public take of their shirts in public with a big block letter painted on their chest;

6. television ratings for major league baseball plummet - and no one outside New York City and Boston and whoever lives in one of the cities that has a shot of playing them cares;

7. even the most long suffering of fans - i.e. Cincinnati Bengals fans (the team I grew up watching) - believe this year is going to finally be different for their team (until after the first game is a blowout loss);

8. the skinny kid who majors (or plans to major) in atomic and molecular astrophysics puts on a Tiger outfit and becomes a rock star to the home fans;

9. fantasy draft parties are held in corporate meeting rooms after work hours with a group of eleven people who bring enough pages of notes to fill War and Peace - and a twelfth person who plans to draft the kicker from his alma mater in the first round;

10. fans who have never played a down of football get into heated - and well reasoned - arguments over the merits of cover two versus bump and run; three-four versus four-three; i-formation versus the spread; punting or going for it; 60's Packers versus 80's 49ers versus the 21st Century Patriots; and the current head coach versus the coach who got fired from someone else's team last year.

Are you ready for some football?

a world without borders

I remember back in the late 90s and early 2000s when Borders outperformed Barnes & Nobel (B&N) on sales per square foot on a per store basis. B&N is doing fine. Borders is tottering on the edge of bankruptcy. What in the world happened over the past decade?

Borders canceled today's auction to keep a smaller but still significant retail concern going. (It's hard to have an auction when there are no bidders.) That means the 399 stores on the "short list" for a leaner and meaner Borders will be liquidated. Landlords and other creditors protested plans to save the company and are now protesting the plan to close the company's doors, so there may be some death throes - but sadly, it looks like the end is here.

Company President Mike Edwards said “We were all working hard towards a different outcome, but the headwinds we have been facing for quite some time, including the rapidly changing book industry, eReader revolution, and turbulent economy, have brought us to where we are now.”

If B&N is doing great - or at least holding their own in the same turbulent conditions - what happened to Borders?

A few quick and far from authoritative conjectures on my part include:

1. inventory management - every retailer has to carefully management open-to-buy dollars and inventory turns (how often a particular item sells out and has to be re-ordered) but from the publisher side of the table I thought Borders got too tight on order policies and left money on the table. A lot of people who are smarter than me will disagree with this. But I'm simple-minded enough to believe that if your business is book sales, you better make sure you have books on hand. Manage, yes. But don't squeeze the life out of your product.

2. too much emphasis on "new" - publishers and book retailers have to (and love to) create new titles, but the most successful companies don't forget about previous successes and find new ways to promote and re-introduce perennial sellers. This is the biggest advantage Amazon has - a catalog of 8 million titles, many nearly forgotten. B&N has had a much more robust in-house publishing program built around classics - and carried both more front and backlist titles per store. Even signage has indicated Border's over emphasis on the new. I once spent a couple hours studying the signs the chain had placed in it's "power corridor" in the front of their stores. Of 22 signs, 18 had the word "new" on it. I know "new" is a powerful word and I'm all for new titles. I LOVE new titles. I'm simply stating that in my opinion Borders didn't emphasize backlist enough.

3. the electronic revolution - Amazon introduced the Kindle, Apple the iPad, and Barnes & Nobel the Nook. Borders did a great job with email specials and coupons (there's that emphasis primarily on what's new again) - but never established itself as a destination for online sales of physical books or electronic books.

4. coffee - I think Borders coffee is fine but their cafes have never seemed to pack the punch of the "Starbucks branding" that B&N built their cafes around. Many people still don't know that the Barnes & Nobel Cafe is not a Starbucks!

It's easy for me to throw out ideas while good friends and a valuable publishing partner has fought for its life. Anything I've noted is not intended to be a casting of the "first stone." Retail in all categories is a tough and tumultuous world.

And bottom line, I feel rather sad about a world without Borders ...

print sales continue to drop for books

Publisher's Weekly just reported:

The total unit sales of print books sold through the outlets whose sales are captured by Nielsen BookScan dropped 10.2% in the six month period ended July 3, falling to 307.1 million. Among categories, the biggest decline came in adult fiction with units off 25.7%, while mass market paperback had the steepest decline among formats with units down 26.6% in the period. BookScan totals cover about 75% of the outlets where print books are sold.

Is this yet another signal that the book is dead or should at least be placed on the endangered species list?

As someone who makes a living in the book publishing industry I continue to maintain an optimistic position on the future of the book, in part, because I don't define the book as a physical object.

I see no reason for hand wringing. Publishers need to keep their focus on what they can control and what matters most: great content. The distribution medium matters but is not paramount. The music industry fought Napster (rightfully) and electronic distribution (wrongly) for most of a decade - and lost control of its own packaging and pricing. I think the book publishing industry has maintained a much healthier point of view toward electronic formats from day one.

I like physical books - actually, love is the better word for it - but I'm not going to lose sleep if we sell more books as electronic editions and kill fewer trees in the process. One of the biggest benefits of selling e-books for publishers is fewer dollars tied up in paper and ink with all the inventory management issues surrounding that. The amount of time it takes to recoup a dollar of the investment that goes into publishing a book is long enough without making the irreversible commitment to a print quantity that may not dovetail with real demand. (Many publishers have built financial models around a certain percentage of their unit sales coming from higher priced hard cover releases, and that is changing the assumptions for other formats, so I'm not saying this change makes things easier in all ways. Change is hard.)

I'm strictly describing what I think is - not proscribing what should be. And no matter how strong Amazon is as a bookseller, I still hope the market will support a robust brick and mortar retail environment. (Borders might not agree that is possilbe - but we should know if their reorganization is Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 within days - or even hours.)

My personal prediction - more gut than numbers at this point - is that five years from now 35-40% of all books sold will be e-books (digitally distributed), which would mean the majority of books consumed would be on the ink and paper medium. I also think that projection would leave sales space for a strong retail store presence for those chains and some exceptional independents that incorporate an e-book strategy into their overall sales mix.

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," said Mark Twain after hearing his obituary had been printed in the New York Journal.

The same can be said by and of the book.

different or alike?

One of my favorite weekly newsletters is written by Roy Williams of Wizard of Ads fame. If you are in sales and marketing and don't subscribe to the MondayMorningMemo, I highly recommend it. But this week's edition has life application beyond any advertising campaign you might be developing.

I think Mr. Williams' message has insight on how we interpret and present ourselves to the world as individuals - not just for businesses. His question of whether to "differentiate" or "conform" can be used to to evaluate how we see and relate to others. In other words - how we get along with those around us. The person who insists on always being different and "special" might take heed that there is a cost of not fitting in. The person who always conforms to his or her surroundings might be reminded that each of us have a uniqueness accompanied by gifts that are meant to season the world around us.

But I'll let the true Wizard speak from his observations as an advertiser.

Differentiate or Conform?

Chronic problems in business are usually the result of binary thinking. “It’s either this way or that way. It can’t be both.”

Strangely, the answer is almost always “both.”

“Should I try to attract the price-driven (transactional) customer, or should I go for the (relational) customer who cares about something other than price?”

Both. Create and schedule ads that speak convincingly to the question of price. Create and schedule other ads that speak of important matters beyond price. Just don’t try to do both in the same ad.

“Should I manage with strict policies, procedures, methods and systems, or should I empower my employees to make decisions on their own?”

Both. Systematize the 90 percent of your company’s activities that are recurrent so that your employees have the freedom to humanize and customize the 10 percent of your activities that are ever-changing and unusual. A company without freedoms is a sweatshop. A company without policies, procedures, methods and systems is a country club for unproductive employees.

“Should I promote an exclusive brand and risk the manufacturer betraying me by allowing my competitor to sell that brand for which I’ve created all the demand, or should I create my own in-house brand so that I can remain in control of it?”

Both. You need the credibility of established brands to lend strength to the new brand you will introduce. Advertise both, but never in the same ad.

“Won’t this make me seem unfocused?”

No. You must get on board with proven procedures. You must also do your own thing and go your own direction. It’s not only possible that you do both, it is essential.

Mechanics across Europe began building cars in 1886 and each time they built a car it was different. More than 2,000 different garages built and sold cars one-at-a-time before Henry Ford’s 1913 introduction of the first moving assembly line employing conveyor belts. Henry popularized the concept of interchangeable parts. It was efficient. It also made him the richest man in the world. By 1923 Henry Ford was personally earning $264,000 a day. He was declared a billionaire by the Associated Press.

More than 17,000,000 Model T’s rolled off Henry’s assembly line and you could have any color you wanted as long as it was black. The inefficiency of building cars one-at-a-time forced the other 2,000 garages to sell their cars at about $2,500 apiece while the price of a reliable, new Model T was only $849.

Soon the other carmakers got on board and America became an automotive Wonderland.

But we always take a good thing too far. Fifty years later, General Motors decided to take this idea to the next level. “Instead of designing 5 different brands each year and retooling our machinery to build Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs, why not just put a different interior package and grille and taillights in the same, basic car and sell that car under 5 different names?”

A Chevy Cavalier is a Pontiac Sunbird is an Oldsmobile Firenza is a Buick Skyhawk is a Cadillac Cimarron.

A Chevy Nova is a Pontiac Ventura is an Oldsmobile Omega is a Buick Apollo is a Cadillac Seville.

A Chevy Caprice is a Pontiac Catalina is an Olds 98 is a Buick Electra is a Cadillac DeVille.

On the surface, this looks like exactly the same idea that made Henry Ford rich. The problem with the “platform engineering” introduced by GM in the late 1970s is that it eroded the distinctiveness of their brands. Two decades later GM was forced to close Oldsmobile and a few years after that, Pontiac fell as well. Analysts speculate whether Buick or Cadillac will be next.

Conformity is essential or you will not be efficient. Differentiation is essential or you will not be special.

the necessary compulsion of excercise

On Saturday morning I take off on my bicycle with a couple thousand of my closest friends - including Lance Armstrong and some of his Team RadioShack teammates - on the Harpeth River Ride. I am doing the 62-mile course with mixed emotions. (Not sure how far Lance is riding or what his emotional state is.)

On one hand I love riding my bike and I see the benefit - or more accurately the necessity - of riding to get in better shape (another way of saying, "need to lose 20 pounds ... again"). On the other hand, after a long winter hibernation and then an early spring surgery, I'm not in the best shape of my life, a condition that both motivates and discourages the obvious cure. So I know full well that not all of the 62 miles promise to be fun. In the short time I've had to get ready for this modest ride I've discovered that after about 25 miles the gentle rolling hills of Middle Tennessee are not always so gentle.

I was sifting through some excerpts from Albert Schweitzer's Africa Notebooks and stumbled on this relevant observation the great missionary and humanitarian made as he conversed with the natives of Africa. They were curious as to the differences between themselves and the people of Europe where Schweitzer was born.

So I go on to tell them that in Europe people row for pleasure, a statement followed by uncontrollable laughter. ... I don't attempt to make clear to them what sport is. The conditions under which they live in so many ways compel them to use their physical forces and take exercise to a greater extent than they like, that they cannot understand at all how people can do so except under compulsion.

We may have a choice whether to exercise or not, but in our corner of the world where food is abundant and many of us ply a trade that is sedentary, it's not surprising we put on jogging shoes or head to the gym or hop on a bike under a certain compulsion, too.

So will I ride for pleasure or compulsion on Saturday? I'm telling myself it is for pleasure. But halfway through I may not be able to fool myself any longer. As is so often the case in life, the answer is a definite and resounding, yes.

lessons after a loss

On January 12,2011, the bus carrying the Mount Union College wrestling team hit a snow plow while driving in wintery conditions. Thankfully no students were seriously hurt though there were a few minor injuries ... but tragically the team trainer was killed.

A friend who grew up with the Mount Union coach, Mark Hawald, forwarded the following public email that he sent out to his contact list. Even if you know nothing about amateur wrestling and aren't particularly into sports, he has distilled some incredible lessons when faced with a loss, big or small. Hope you are able to glean and apply some truths from this email as you say a prayer for all those intimately connected with the tragedy.

The experience the Mount Union Wrestling Family went through Tuesday night was something I hope no other coach ever has deal with.  On the way home from a dual meet, our team’s bus was involved in an accident which took the life of our trainer and friend, Dan Gorman.  My assistant coach suffered a broken wrist, and thankfully there were no other injuries.
 
This has been a difficult and confusing time for both my team and me.   Dan was more than a trainer to us.  He was like our fifth coach.  He attended all of our practices and home meets, and some of our away meets.  Dan was a mentor to me and my wrestlers and always had advice on how to be a better person, so I want to use this experience as Dan would, as a way to help others grow and improve their own lives.  I hope I can pass on what I have learned to others and that they will not have to experience anything like this to learn such valuable lessons.
 
I have learned to better appreciate the people who deserve my appreciation.  I thought Dan was an amazing trainer.  I often referred to him as “the smartest person I know.”  His mat side diagnosis was usually the same as the one given by a specialist weeks later after looking an X-Ray or MRI.  Beyond his profession, Dan provided incredible life lessons and insight to anyone who was willing to listen.  He made my job as a coach easier because I knew that my wrestlers would become better people after spending just a few minutes with him.  I appreciated Dan for everything he did for this team, but I don’t know how clear I made that to him.  As my wrestlers discussed winning a conference title to honor Dan, I interrupted and said the best way to honor Dan is to model ourselves after him and become better people.  We need to better appreciate the people who deserve our appreciation, let them know how much they mean to us, say thank you for the impact they have made on our lives, and try to be the Dan Gorman is someone else’s life.
 
I have learned that the rewards of wrestling do not always show on the mat.  Tuesday was the worst moment in my coaching career, but also my proudest.  I often leave practice frustrated.  If my guys don’t work as hard as they should or can’t figure something out I ask myself what am I doing wrong as a coach or what is wrong with my guys that they are not doing exactly what they should.  I learned Tuesday night that I have succeeded as a coach and that my wrestlers are exactly the men that I want them to be.  When faced with a crisis, these young men were true champions.  The lessons they have learned from this sport were apparent on Tuesday night.  We had a goal to save our dear friend.  They worked together and did everything they could.  Everyone played an important role.  Those with “medical” experience immediately put their attention on Dan, some ventured out into the cold to set up flares, waive down vehicles, and assess the situation of the bus, some comforted the girls (our managers) who were shook up from the accident, and the rest gathered close to stay warm and started praying.  I hope other coaches too will learn that although our guy does not always get his hand raised, we are playing a crucial role in developing real-world champions.
 
I have learned is that the brotherhood known as wrestling is the one of the strongest, most dependable, and most honorable groups of individuals on this planet.  The support that this team has received has been unbelievable.  I have received support from across the state and across the country.  From high schools and colleges.  From all divisions.  Our biggest competitors have become our biggest supporters.  I lost count early yesterday of how many programs have extended their support.  I have seen the worst situation bring out the absolute best in people.  We decided to still hold our tournament we had scheduled for Sunday at the request of Dan’s wife.  She said that carrying on our lives and acting no different is what Dan would have wanted.  I have had multiple coaches tell me that they would be willing to run the tournament or provide other help.  Words cannot express what this support means to the team and to me.  Wrestlers who quit my team for whatever reason, were waiting for us when we returned to campus to offer their support.  I hope that people reading this will not wait for the worst situation to bring out their best.
 
I hope this message can be valuable to anyone who has suffered any type of loss and that in sharing this message, others can grow from this as the members of my team have and continue to.
 
Lastly, here are a few specific messages to different groups involved in our sport…
 
WRESTLING PARENTS
Your children are in the hands of the finest men on the planet.  Every coach I know in this sport is a great man and will do anything for your son.  Wrestling coaches will try to make a better wrestler, but will definitely make a better man.

WRESTLERS
Cherish every moment you have in this sport.  You have chosen to surround yourself among the greatest peers in your teammates and the greatest role models in your coaches.  Practice is tough.  Cutting weight is tough.  Losing is tough.  But so is life.  What you learn in this sport will be the most valuable lessons you will learn in life.

COACHES
As we waited for the emergency crew to arrive, I was holding blankets over Dan and rubbing his arms trying to keep him warm.  While our student trainer was trying to get him back, I started talking to Dan.  I was saying “Stay tough” and “You can do this” and “Dig Deep” and other things like that.  I caught myself and realized that these were the same things I say to my wrestlers when times get tough in a match or at practice.  I was looking forward to having a good laugh about it with Dan and my team when he would make his return.  I will not have the opportunity to have this reunion, but this did make me realize that in a crisis situation, I fell back on the wrestling coach that I am.  This situation has taught me that our value to these young men is greater than I could have ever imagined.  Don’t forget who you are and the impact you have on so many people’s lives.