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Don, the postman, died this week. The weapon was not a gun, but cancer.

Don was my uncle.

At the wake, from the moment the doors were open, until the wake ended, five hours later, there was a constant line through the chapel, winding down the hall, to the doors outside. From friends and family, to co-workers, and even uncountable throngs of people on his route, the crowds came.

Hundreds and hundreds of people came to pay respects to this “simple” postman.

How does a “simple” postman garner such love and respect?

Don was not a hero.

Don did not have millions of dollars he gave away.

Don was not a celebrity.

Don did not have friends in high places.

Don was an ordinary man who cared for people.

He loved his family. He loved The Beatles. He loved classic muscle cars.

He had the ability to make you laugh within 1 minute of meeting him. You loved him after talking to him for an hour.

Don was a man who believed everyone could be a friend. Everyone needed to be touched inside by someone who cared.

At the wake, I overheard someone say that if anyone met Donald and didn’t like him, then something was wrong.

Don was faithful.

He loved his wife. He loved his daughter. He never faltered.

Day after day he delivered his mail. He talked with folks.

Can one man doing ordinary things make an impact?

As the hearse carried Don’s body to the church, dozens and dozens of US Postal vehicles lined the street, with postal carriers standing with their hands over their hearts in a silent tribute.

The postal vehicles then followed the crowds to the church. Hundreds showed up there as well. As the coffin was carried up the steps, a shout from the postal carriers rang out, “We love you, Don!”

This act gave me a new image of the post office. If these “common” delivery people would come out with love and respect in this manner and serve as an example of everyone that loved him … then “Going Postal,” has a whole new meaning for me.

My uncle Don was not a “blood” uncle, but was my wife’s uncle. However, from the first day I met him, I loved him. He became “my” uncle, too.

Are the people you touch every day made better for having known you?

After seeing and hearing what an impact my uncle Don had on people, and not just his coworkers, but the people from the homes he visited daily, to the people that shared their mutual admiration for cars, to the people he met at the grocery store, I know now, everyone makes a difference. Everyone should “Go Postal.”

Donald E. Schlosser

1950 - 2009

It was one of those days…

Meetings with associates ALL DAY LONG to clear up “little details.”

The first meeting was breakfast with several associates who proceeded to chatter and chat about various concerns and day-to-day problems that weren’t useful to the business at hand, but made for conversational fodder.

Next was a meeting with the VP which dragged for 75 minutes with half the attendees wishing someone had brought pillows.

On to another meeting.

Have you ever gone to a BNI meeting that dragged on as long?

Final meeting lasted 160 minutes with a break for lunch.

Everything that was covered FOR THE DAY could have been covered in about 40 minutes, at home via conference call or webinar.

Why do I mention all this stuff?

There is a LOT of time wasting in business. And I have a suspicion that it is about two things:

POWER and CONTROL

As long as a boss has you in a meeting to cover X amount of points or has you sitting listening to umpteen reasons why skinning kettlefish is good for the soul, the boss is in control.

Sidebar: Don’t get me wrong, if you are an owner of a company and you want your employees to listen why you wax eloquent on a topic, that’s fine. But when it comes to productivity, you need to get meetings going quickly.

In my businesses, the goal is profits. My people are paid for production.

More about time wasters in the next blog.

When Gutenberg introduced his press to the masses, the world was changed forever more.

No longer would a select few have the know-how to control information and therefore control the populace.

Has the emergence of video blogging, uploading to YouTube or a dozen other video sites had the same effect on our communication? It’s true that with everybody and their cousin uploading video content, you’d think there would be NO secrets anymore.

Everything would be available right?

Not exactly.

When the fast desktop computers arrived a few years ago, everyone thought the publishing industry was doomed. What happened then is happening now with video.

Namely, when desktop publishing first started everyone started printing and publishing to beat the band. Unfortunately, just because you have the ability to design a brochure yourself and print it on your own high-end printer, does not mean you will have a GREAT brochure. If you were not a good copywriter before you had all the equipment, then you did not suddenly change when you had the ability to design and print.

With video, it’s no different.

We have the ability to create video quickly. You can use a program like Keynote, add music, add photos, export to Quicktime, and viola, you are a producer!

But who is going to look at your video? Is it any good?

How are you going to distribute the video? Can you do it effectively?

Can you place the video on your website? Do you want to?

What’s the purpose of your video? Are you making a statement?

I think video in the hands of everyone is a good thing. However, as time passes, the cream will rise to the top.  Good video will help promote what you will and the bad will fall away.

Like any new technology, it can be used for good or evil.

The impact continues to increase.

This tool will always be available in one way or another.

How are you going to use it to increase your profits?

I was thinking the other day about a client I had who just didn’t get it.

We had spent quite a bit of time looking at the way he ran his business. He had experience in the promotional arena, but was now in a completely different field. When he brought me onboard, he agreed to listen and take my advice to heart.

It worked for a while.

He sang my praises instantly in the beginning. What I showed him was remarkable in his eyes. He saw himself building a large business. He saw himself hiring more people. He saw himself moving ahead.

Then we hit an impasse. Instead of doing what I advised, he wanted me to do it all for him. He didn’t have the time.

I said OK. But, I added, it would cost him XXXX for me to do it.

Here is the bombshell.

It wasn’t worth it to him for ME to do it at that price.

We discussed the fact that doing the things he asked me to would bring in X more clients at X more profits, for X more dollars in the bank.

What the real story was…. After I had made some money for him, he did not want to KEEP paying me!

Most of the business owners do not see what a silly mistake that is.

It’s like the old story of a full line of machinery breaking down and a tech comes in and taps a little place on the machine. Everything working now, so the tech wants $250.

For a little tap, you’d think that was high. But for getting a large machine back in order, it was cheap.

My former client didn’t think I should be paid to do some valuable business development work for him (He said he could do it himself.)

Where is he now?

Still locked up in his small plant, unable to get out, because he hasn’t grown.

Paying the price now, pays off big time later.

My wife and I were at the pool today. This is a public pool and for our small town is quite large. It was about 11 am and we were the only adults in the water.

The local park district had a busload of youngsters at the pool so they could enjoy the summer cooling off.

As I got in the pool, 5, 6, and 7 year olds made a point to tell me that they could swim. “Hey, watch this,” they cried. One boy jumped into the pool near me and said, “I can do cannonballs. Want to see me?”

As I laughed at the excitement of the kids, my wife took me aside and told me to watch out that I didn’t get too close to the youngsters because their teachers were watching. She didn’t want the teachers to think I was some sort of pervert.

Later as we were talking in the pool, she mentioned that she would keep close, so I wasn’t alone “with the kids.”

I remarked to her how silly it was, but got to thinking about it for a long time.

Isn’t it interesting that society has made ANY male suspect if he is alone with a child?

It doesn’t matter if the child is his or not, all men are pigs, you’d hear some say.

My wife loves me and truly wants the best for me is the reason she made mention of the kids to me in the pool. She did not want people to get the wrong idea.

It really shook me to the core because I have spent a good portion of my life educating kids, performing for kids at schools, and working with families for years. I know how precious children are to their families. I’d sooner lock myself in a room somewhere than hurt one of these young ones.

But, you see, the children did not know this was going on. The kids blissfully played, jumped, laughed and did what kids do.

They smiled and ran.

A lot.

Young people don’t remember when kids walked to school with no fear of being taken. Young people don’t remember a time when mothers just whistled outside the door for them to come in, no matter how far afield they had run.

Let the kids run. Let them dance.

Soon enough, they’ll learn to be afraid of every little thing.

Sad.