The Flamingo Factor

Mary Schmidt

May 21, 2013

I’m fortunate that I live a “20-minute life” (As Sunset magazine dubbed it - pretty much anything and everything I need or want is within 20 minutes of walking or biking.)  I “run” errands on foot, and take (almost) daily power walks. And on those walks, I see many things I’d totally miss if I were driving. 

Things that make me smile. Get my creative synapses going. Give me ideas for clients. Just the other day, it was a flock of flamingos in someone’s front yard. 

Pink. Plastic. 2 feet

In Brain Food, Start-Up Sanity Checks

The “If Only” Syndrome

Mary Schmidt

May 14, 2013

We all do it at one time or another. Find excuses for doing (or not doing) something. Look for others to blame. It’s human, and it’s also self-defeating.

“If only we had closed that deal.”
“If only we had a larger marketing budget.”
“If only we had more customers.”
“If only we had more space.”
“If only we had a working prototype.”
“If only we had more support from the state.”
“If only the economy was better.”

Etc. etc. etc. Doesn’t just reading that list bring down your energy level?

In Start-Up Sanity Checks

The Monday “Must Do” List

Mary Schmidt

May 06, 2013

Do you have one written down? Even if you don’t, you’re probably like most of us.  You wake up thinking of about 1,000 things you simply “must do” today.  And that 1,000 is a bit overwhelming, isn’t it? Especially if you’re in a startup; you wear a lot of different hats and multi-task your brains out on a daily basis. 

So.

Here’s a quick sanity check:  What would happen if you DIDN’T do something? 

It’s about results, not activity.

Huge difference between “must” and “could.”

Now, I’m

In Start-Up Sanity Checks

“NOW They’re Broken.”

Mary Schmidt

Apr 29, 2013

My office is officially closed for the week. (Although I’ll be lurking via voice mail and email, if you really need to get in touch.)  I’m moving my mom, aka “The Momster,” into a new apartment, and will be dealing with a wide assortment of drama and trauma. So, my bandwidth for biz will be severely limited. (I’ll also be adding to my job skills, installing toilet safety rails and the like. Here’s hoping the holes line up.) Thus, I’ll leave you with a classic lesson in entrepreneurship from The

In Start-Up Sanity Checks

Why The NM GOP Should’ve Attended My Social Media Workshop

Mary Schmidt

Apr 26, 2013

...before doing ANYTHING with social media.  (The GOP has a lot of other problems that are beyond the scope of this post. Suffice to say, it’s a textbook example of confusing talk with walk when it comes to “branding.”) A bit of context.  When I worked for a teleworking/teleservices company, we had a patented process for building and managing remote work programs. One of the very first steps was culture and employee evaluation.  Not every company or person is suited for remote work.  And so it

In Pet Peeves, Social Media Reality Checks

Why I Love CenturyLink

Mary Schmidt

Apr 09, 2013

Yes. I said “love.”  The boring old phone company. The one with complicated billing, outdated infrastructure and customer service outsourced to India.  Yes, that one. 

Here’s why.

The company responded, acknowledged and acted. They treated me with respect. So, how did I work this miracle? I wrote a snail mail letter to the tip-top CEO. I then copied the letter in an email to one of the corporate media contacts.  (TIp: Can’t find a corporate level contact? Look at their media contact lists.

In Marketing Troubleshooting

“Everything you said is common sense!”

Mary Schmidt

Apr 04, 2013

“...and that’s not too common.”  This was the feedback from one participant in our social media workshop last week, when asked what they enjoyed. 

We also had a lot of lively discussion and idea-sharing in the group. 

A Couple of the Common Sense Points:

Social media is largely controlled by the marketing group in companies.  Unfortunately, all too often those marketers are focused on the color side of marketing (logos,  wildly creative web sites, brochures, “the brand message”) at the

In Social Media Reality Checks