by Scott Howard | Jun 2, 2012 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo
Monday was Memorial Day, a day off for a lot of people including me and my wife.
We ventured downtown, I introduced her to Pint & Slice, a local pizza joint that has been around for 5 years and was one of the few places open on the holiday.
Afterward we sat at a nearby courtyard and were talking about following our hearts and giving to others.
More than monetary giving to others, but being open and aware of ways we can serve by giving of ourselves in ways that are not looking for rewards, but using our gifts, talents and time for a “God Inspired Mission”.
Kathy has amazed me with her heart for people and projects. She gives by starting things, like the Thrift Style Fashion Show she organized and promoted for a couple of years. About 100 hours of her time went into each event and the funds raised went to support a local charity, while promoting a dozen thrift stores and encouraging others to live a thrifty life and still be fashionable.
She has a couple of other ideas she’s working on for the future. Her life is a combination of nursing and life coaching. She is doing home care nursing and also hospice care. And while she isn’t on a board or committee, she is plenty involved in the encouragement business in her spare time, this is her calling.
Me… my blended life involves doing at least a little bit of work, 29 days a month. That could be making a note to myself about a business I want to call on, or a person I want to reach out to for work purposes, when I’m “off the clock”.
By the way, my full time occupation is helping local business and organizations connect with clients and customers via the two radio stations I work for. In short, I sell radio advertising, but in a way that is honest and has a strategy designed to assist my advertisers reach their goals.
But I also volunteer my time and energies in multiple other ways too. My blended life includes my radio work, my time with my wife, my family, friends both face to face and online, and multiple volunteer activities.
Sometimes multitasking is a way to blend, as I was watching the Indy 500 on TV last weekend, while organizing work files, and tweeting at the same time.
Blending a little of this, a little of that keeps life from getting boring.
One more item to share with you and that is the tweet I received that inspired me to write this.
Take a look:
Drew wrote that Monday as we were both doing a little work on Memorial Day.
UPDATE: The comments from Drew and myself inspired me to write this on Sunday.
by Scott Howard | Jun 1, 2012 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo
We are impatient people who value our privacy.
Yes, I’m including you, the 20 year old who got amazingly drunk recently and there’s video online of you doing things that would make your Grandmother blush.
First, let’s talk about the impatient part.
Due to the speed of technology, we want fast answers.
The reason lots of companies still use rebates as price discounts is because a significant number of people never send in the rebate form and the company gets to keep that extra cash. We want our discounts now, not later.
Privacy, or perhaps security is something else we value. We are constantly being told that about security breeches with credit card numbers, social security numbers or some other type of identity theft.
So when a local oil company that operates a chain of convenience stores offers an Instant Gas Discount, just stop in and pick up your card inside, I decided to actually go inside and pick one up.
The sign on the pump says I will save 7 Cents on each gallon I purchase with the Instant Gas Discount Card when I buy from them. I did the math and I would save close to 30 bucks a year.
But there are too many hoops to jump through I find out.
The card is attached to a piece of cardboard that says things like, “Instantly Rollback the price you pay for gas with the Instant Gas Discount Card” and “The Convenient Way to Pay & Save!”. Also “Simple, Secure and FAST”.
It also says, “Please see back for enrollment instructions.”
So I flip it over..
I need to register my card, I am told and I need:
- U.S. Driver’s License
- U.S. Checking Account
- Must be at least 18 years old
- Internet access and a valid Email address
I have all of these but I am suspicious.
There are a list of 8 steps I need to go through which starts with going to their website, entering information I only give to my wife like a drivers license and bank account number.
I also need to enter a promo code, the number on the plastic card and authorize them to take money out of my bank when I buy gas.
If I do all of this, they will send me a “verification email” which will “guide you through the final steps of the enrollment process.”
For 30 bucks?
No Way Jay.
by Scott Howard | May 31, 2012 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo
Most fortunes in those little cookies are as generic as the newspaper horoscope.
They offer good advice, usually.
Every once in awhile you might get a dud.
With a few typo’s.
Watch your relations without other people carefully, he reserved.
I bet those Lucky #’s aren’t lucky either.
by Scott Howard | May 30, 2012 | ScLoHo's Web World
I’ve worked in traditional media and social media. The Radio Business and The Web Business.
One fallacy that continues to be spread is that in the web world you can measure the response with accuracy and the precision.
No, you can’t.
There are plenty of ways to measure things like, clicks and likes and fans and followers.
But what you cannot measure is the real impact that motivates people to action.
And we’re not really measuring action accurately either.
Time and time again I see businesses failing to connect the dots. The waiter who has no idea what to do with a reward earned by a FourSquare checkin for example.
This is true with all forms of media and marketing, but some want to measure success with these false, incomplete numbers.
General Motors announced they were no longer going to use Facebook as an advertising medium because it wasn’t doing the job.
Let me tell you something.
The G.M. execs who pulled the plug are idiots.
Well payed idiots, but still they are measuring stuff that doesn’t matter.
We crave relationships, ones that make us feel good. The heart of social media is based on building relationships.
I have learned that through conversations after the fact, that something I may have said, shared, or done had a tremendous impact on changing a persons life in little ways and sometimes major ways.
These are anecdotes. You need to gather anecdotes to see the real impact of your social media, or any of your marketing for that matter.
Your comments and anecdotes are always welcome.
BTW: Every once in awhile I screw up a word or grammar or something silly that spell check doesn’t catch. Thanks to my friend Kit who pointed me in the right direction 11 hours after I posted this using the word Antidote instead of Anecdote.
My writing usually doesn’t need an antidote, just friends who catch my errors.
by Scott Howard | May 29, 2012 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo
This recipe I learned from one of those “product sample” ladies you sometimes see at the grocery store.
It has become a regular and a favorite with most people that I prepare it for.
My wife likes it so much she asked me to prepare this as the main entree for Mothers Day last month. And again on Memorial Day.
First, indulge me as I tell you the story of how I discovered this taste treat.
One of the radio stations I was working for at the time WXKE, was hired by Cargill to do a live radio remote at a local Kroger grocery store to promote the Sterling Silver branded meats they were introducing. The woman who was our “product sample” lady of the day, was nearly 70 years old and did this on the weekends to pick up some extra $$$. Cathy was her name.
Armed with an electric frying pan with a lid, a knife, a bottle of olive oil and some seasoning, Cathy was cooking up bite sized pieces of ribeye, serving them on toothpicks and creating smiles.
I usually order my red meat with a little pink inside, otherwise, it tastes dried out. But Cathy was serving bits of steak that had absolutely no pink left. She told me that was a requirement in her line of work.
Every once in awhile WXKE radio personality Doc West and I would have to eat a bunch of samples of Cathy’s cooking because there was a time limit on how long the samples could be held.
I bet each of us ate nearly a pound of ribeye that day, one toothpick at a time.
I have seen Cathy a couple times over the years since and I thank her each time for sharing her secret skillet steak recipe that I’ll now share with you:
You need three ingredients:
Steak, olive oil and Morton® Nature’s Seasons® Seasoning Blend.
The steaks should be cut thin. The steaks need not be the leanest available either. Actually if they are too lean, they have less taste.
Yesterday, for the two of us, I had 1 pound of 1/2 inch thick chuck steak.
Regarding the olive oil, I’ve used light, extra light, extra virgin, and cannot tell the difference in the result.
Start with a frying pan with a lid and generously pour a bit more than enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan as you heat up the oil. I either use a cast iron or a non-stick skillet on our electric range and set the temperature between High and Medium-High.
Cut the meat into serving size portions, I did 1/4 pound steaks Memorial Day.
Sprinkle the Morton Seasoning liberally on each steak and place seasoned side down in the hot oil and sprinkle more Morton Seasoning liberally on each steak once it is in the pan.
Cover quickly and cook for about 90 seconds.
Remove the lid and flip the steaks. Depending on how well done the first side is, you can determine if you should cook the second side longer or for less time.
After approximately another 90 seconds, remove the pan from the heat, carefully pluck each steak out onto each persons plate and prepare to enjoy a very tasty flavorful steak that you can enjoy year round.
A couple of side notes:
Do NOT flip the steaks more than one time. Cook once on each side.
You are working with hot oil. Wear oven mitts. Be prepared for a lot of splattering. I clean up my mess quickly with paper towels and a little grease cutting dish soap.
Prepare the rest of the meal first as this only takes 3 minutes to cook and is best served hot out of the pan. If you have to prepare them a little ahead of serving time, because you are fixing maybe 10 or 12, then wrap each one in foil to capture the heat and juices as you remove them from the pan. Then let each guest unwrap their steak on their plate.
That’s it. Try it a couple times and it’s nearly foolproof. I would have pictures but we keep eating it before we grab a camera!
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