President Signs National-Service Bill and Issues Call to Volunteer - Philanthropy.com

President Signs National-Service Bill and Issues Call to Volunteer - Philanthropy.com

How will your company or organization take advantage of the opportunity thsi new national service bill offers?

Why do I say opportunity? Because most people, not all, but most, want to have meaning in their lives. They want to be good citizens, good family members, good neighbors. They want to give back. Many don't feel they have time or don't have a personal connection to a group that needs their help.

So why not enable your employees, members, constituents to be the good people they want to be?

And if they see you as helping them to become fuller people, so much the better. You will develop deeper, stronger, better relationships with you people. Go do it. Create a service initiative. Highlight and reward service. Find a tie in to your business. This is not hard. And it is smart business.

My Wish List of IPhone Apps for Marketing Chiefs - Advertising Age - Jonathan Salem Baskin

Check out Jonathan Salem Baskin's article in this week's Ad Age. Clever. He's right. When will iPhone apps become truly useful business applications?

My Wish List of IPhone Apps for Marketing Chiefs - Advertising Age - Jonathan Salem Baskin

billoleary : photos : Te Quiero Madrid- powered by SmugMug

billoleary : photos : Te Quiero Madrid- powered by SmugMug

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Where's My Bailout?

The "Bailout" poses a problem for the Obama administration. Its a huge number, but who has felt it personally?

This is where the administration needs to be reminding people that things like low mortgage rates and extended unemployment benefits are a direct result of the federal action.


I think some people are expecting a federal agent to show up and hand them some cash. But don't assume people know how they are being helped.

Graffitti in New York outside the Holland Tunnel proves the point.



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Words Matter

News flash:  Words matter, in business, politics, where ever.  Take the stimulus bill and the government actions to stabilize the banking system.

The word being thrown around by the media is NATIONALIZATION.  What does that mean exactly?  Is the government nationalizing the banks?

The technical answer doesn't really matter, because opponents to the bailout (recovery act, TARP, stimulus) have convinced the public that the government is, in fact, nationalizing the banks. 

They don't need to elaborate on this.  The details only muddy the message.  A recent New Republic article by Noam Scheiber said, 

"Money aside, the question of nationalization poses serious complications of its own. Even defining the concept is maddeningly difficult. At the broadest level, it implies the government would own the banks and nurse them to health before presumably selling them off. What no one knows--and few people specify--is what ownership would mean as a practical matter. Would the government involve itself in day-to-day management? Would it wipe out current shareholders and own the banks entirely, or would it be satisfied with a majority stake? Would nationalization be more like temporary seizure--that is, honestly accounting for bad assets and injecting new capital, then privatizing as quickly as possible?"

People are are busy.  I image most people not directly involved in this (which is most of us) are saying things like, "If event the experts are sure how to define it and what it means, then believing it is nationalization isn't incorrect.  And nationalization sounds bad.  I am against."

Obama has been tactically outflanked because words matter and simple ideas resonate.

Republican 1.  Obama 0.

GM Will Miss Bob Lutz

So I have ranted about Detroit car makers. Here was my basic point: the reason they are in terrible shape is that they are run by the wrong parts of the company. Management has been totally focused on running a huge organization and oh, yeah, every few minutes a car rolls off the assembly line.

Bob Lutz did an interview with Ad Age last week in which he says exactly this. His big accomplishment, according to him, was getting GM to focus on the product and to build cars people want to drive. Kind of scary, but he's right. That is an enormous accomplishment.

I don't think they are there yet, but perhaps closer than they have been in decades.

What A-Rod Can Teach Us

Who can you trust any more? Banks? The government? Baseball players?

Alex Rodriguez cheated. He's not alone, but he is one of the best players in baseball. He told Peter Gammons:

"I felt an enormous amount of pressure," said an emotional Rodriguez of the impetus to perform after inking a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers in the winter of 2000. "I was young. I was stupid."

A-Rod is scrambling now to figure out what to say, act, and respond. Seems to me he had six years to prepare an answer. Some unsolicited advice: it should start with, "Here's why I didn't disclose this six years ago."

His brand is done. Shot. He violated the rule that has become more important than any other these days: be authentic, be real, don't lie.

The same rule holds for corporations, universities, governments. Its not that hard to figure out.

If you want trust, be worthy of our trust.

If you want loyalty, be loyal to the values of your customers.

If you want a relationship, don't lie, obfuscate, or be too cute by half.

We will find out anyway. There is no hiding information any more. Better to hear it from you first and quickly if you had a lapse in judgment. Actions must match words. Now more than ever, we are all from Missouri.