Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

November Pop Culture Round Up!

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imagesIt’s that time of the month again where I share what I’m watching, reading and listening to. Please make sure to share your suggestions in the comments, I’m always looking for good pop culture!

Watching

Holy crap folks, I saw Gravity this weekend. Everything I’ve heard and read about this movie said THIS is the reason to go to the movies. And they were absolutely correct! See it in 3D and prepare to be afraid of space. For 5 minutes after the movie I sat in my seat catching my breath. I don’t think I breathed for the last 75 minutes (of a 90 minute film.). Seriously. Go see this. Take your family, or get away from your family for a couple hours and go see it. Trust me on this one. WOW. WOW.

My DVR continues to be filled with the usual lineup: The Walking Dead (The Governor’s back!), Homeland (Saul knew where Brody was? WOAH!), Masters of Sex (trust me on this one), Parks & Rec, Parenthood, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. You get the idea. But, my husband & I are really enjoying the Esquire Network. Yeah, like the magazine. 2 shows specifically: The Getaway, where a celebrity takes a trip for 3 days to a very cool city. Paul Feig’s trip to Boston was a BLAST, and I love Rashida Jones more for her London trip a couple weeks ago. We also have enjoyed Brew Dogs, which inspired our recent weekend down in San Diego. If you’re a craft beer fan, AND like guys with Scottish accents, THIS is the show for you. Set your DVR and prepare to do some vacation planning!

Reading

I just finished The Husband’s Secret which I’d read some good reviews of. I really enjoyed the book. I like the 4 different stories that all come together kind of thing. My suggestion though: Skip the epilogue, it’s pretty cheesy and could ruin the book for you, it adds nothing.

I had a great chat with my comic book shop guy the other day when I was picking up the latest The Walking Dead issue. My Thanksgiving reading will now include Saga, Y the Last Man (I’ve mentioned Y before, I started it this summer, thanks dad!), and Ex Machina. I will also be buying comics for some of the older kids in my family for Christmas, someone has to raise these kids right!

Listening

I’ve got the usual slew of Podcasts keeping me entertained as I drive around the Puget Sound (and down to Oregon for Thanksgiving) right now. As I write this I’m revisiting one of my favorite albums ever, Beck’s Odelay.

Christmas is right around the corner, and I refuse to play Christmas music until Thanksgiving. Someone on Twitter mentioned last night that Josh Groban’s Christmas album is the best ever. And since I couldn’t reach through twitter and slap her, I figured I’d make my list here: Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Oakridge Boys (I knew I married into the right family when my first Christmas with them this album came on), Bob & Doug McKenzie (2 turtlenecks, and a Beer…in a tree), any Starbucks Christmas album works as good background music, as does A Charlie Brown Christmas album. Fun Fact: My Christmas CD’s stay in the car. Mostly because it’s the only places to listen to CD’s, and the only time I listen to CD’s in my car is over the holidays. What holiday albums do you love to listen to this time of year?

So there’s my round up for the month. Hopefully there’s a few suggestions here to get you through the Thanksgiving weekend!

Which of you 3 is my contact?

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imgresI’m in the very preliminary car shopping phase. Still figuring out what my next car will be. I know what I want, but let’s be honest, the Tesla X is not realistic for this entrepreneur’s budget. So, I’m checking out some cars. The other night I was playing online and submited info to get a price quote and begin the question asking phase. I got 2 emails back to back from the dealership. From 2 different people, Erin & Christine. AND the email  from Erin was signed by Danny.

I appreciate you have setup automated the follow up process, which I FULLY support. If done well. But if I’m going to give you a lot of my money for a car, then I’d like to have ONE point of contact who can actually sell me a car and answer my questions. I don’t want 3 different “internet managers”. What does that even mean? Do you manage sales only through the internet? If I come into the dealership are you my contact? Or are you in charge of the online presence for your company?

I emailed Christine and asked WHO I should be talking to since I seem to have 3 options here.  It’s been a week and no response…

This isn’t the first time that a company I contact has had multiple personality disorder. Make sure you are make contacting your company easy for the CUSTOMER, not for you. But overwhelming and confusing people you lose business.

Earning Your First Dollar

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imagesA couple of months ago we went up to Orcas Island for a wedding. The ferry was PACKED and we ended up walking on and having a hard time finding a place to sit. I finally found a spot and there were two kids sitting across from us. I told them I’d give them a dollar if they held the booth for us. I left my bag and ran to get my husband & the rest of our stuff.

They held the booth, so I paid them each a dollar. The mom kept saying I didn’t have to, but I told them I’d pay them and hey, they did their job well! Later on the ferry the mom caught me and said they were SO EXCITED they had finally earned their first dollar!

Earning your first dollar is a GREAT feeling. That first check addressed to Yellow Dog Consulting was awesome. And then you get into a routine, and are nagging clients about paying their bill and you stress about budgets.

It’s easy to forget that you worked hard for that money, AND it’s all yours now! Being an entrepreneur is hard work, and it can be a slow up tick to making what you want. When you get frustrated, remember that first pay check, it’s still worth it.