Thoughts from an 8pm Warrior

The world is going through growing pains and it’s leaving a lot of people very confused, hurting, and unemployed.

We’re in a new world of “on demand” information and entertainment, and many traditional companies are acting like deer in the headlights.

Not moving.  Not sure.

For them, familiar methods of bringing products and services to market are floundering and they aren’t hiring or growing domestically.  Some are waiting for things to return to “normal”, but we’re living in the new normal right now.

DVRs helps people skip commercials, the internet is replacing newspapers and magazines (I love Flipboard), and only 1 out of 10 people open corporate emails on average. As Gary Vaynerchuk said at a tweetup event last night in Milwaukee, “People aren’t looking at billboards…they aren’t even looking at the ****ing road!”

The same goes for nearly all marketing communications from unfamiliar faces or brands.  Everyone is too busy texing, tweeting, and “facebooking”  to pay attention.

Times are changing and we’re not going back.

We’re now in the Attention Age, and companies are going to have to find new ways to get our attention.  It won’t be easy.  Wives may think husbands are bad at listening, but the modern world is even worse when it comes to traditional advertising.

In one ear and out the other.

Another thing Gary said got my attention.  He said that everything in his latest book “The Thank You Economy” would be irrelevant in 5 years as marketers (like me) find ways to crawl into every successful way of getting our attention.  As they actively seek our eyes and ears, marketers always find a way to ruin what’s working (email, banner ads, etc.) and they’ll ruin social media too.

So what is a safe long term investment?

Relationships.

People are usually loyal to their friends, business partners, and favorite brands.  No matter what happens in the future, if you build real relationships and take care of your clients, friends, and followers, they will take care of you.

How?  If you don’t start using social media tools now, you may not figure it in time.  These tools are valuable for creating and strengthening relationships, but you need to get on it before it is ruined by marketers and the window of opportunity closes.

Seize the day!  Engage on social media.  Invest in relationships.  Do some business.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” – Unknown

New tools, same rules.

Have a great night,

Aaron@Biebert

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Right now my wife and I are watching the DVD of  “Nature’s Most Amazing Events” (I highly recommend it) and we just finished the section about the annual Pacific Salmon run.  It makes for an interesting allegory for the current business environment.

Here it is:

Salmon are drawn by instinct to swim against the current, jump huge waterfalls, and avoid massive bears, just to achieve their mission.  Only four out of every thousand salmon make the round trip from their birth place to the ocean and back again.

It’s the challenge of a lifetime! (Sound like your life?)

However, as if that wasn’t hard enough, sometimes the water levels are too low for the fish to even get to the bears, waterfalls, or heavy currents.  They get stuck before the battle even begins.

Then the rain comes.

Just as many of the fish are starting to lose energy (and hope?), the rainy season begins and allows the fish to resume their life’s struggle against all odds.  They can finally begin the fight they were designed for.

Sound familiar?

Many of my fellow 8pm Warriors are on their way to following their dreams.  We all signed up for the challenges of developing new products and services, avoiding competitors, and challenging the status quo and swimming against the current.

What we didn’t sign up for was the lack of water.

This economy has dried up many opportunities, and left many 8pm Warriors wondering, hurting, and weak.  Today I urge you to hold on.

The Rain is Coming!

The challenges we seek will be here soon enough and the days of funding issues and weak demand will be replaced with the challenges of finding the right people, products, and strategies.

Keep your chin up.

Aaron@Biebert

It’s all around us in so many forms.

• 55,000,000+ people worldwide
• 550,000+ US businesses that employ people
• 10,000,000+ dogs and cats

…just this year.

That’s a lot of heartache, countless broken dreams…so many memories.

Just this weekend, my friend Mr. Trey Cochran lost two friends to a tragic car crash in Bay City, Michigan.

So painful.

Then why am I writing about this sensitive topic?

Because death reminds us of the timer.  It forces us to remember that the people and dreams we have now will come to an end.  This is the day to honor them.  Your work tonight must make a difference.

Not tomorrow.  Not next year.

Do work that matters, and do it with passion.

Have a great night,

Aaron@Biebert

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Right now millions of people are without jobs, and many talented 8pm Warriors are losing hope that their hard work and talent is going to lead nowhere.  Even more people still have jobs or own a business, but are struggling to make them work in the current environment…almost just as painful in some cases.

To find comfort, consider the “Worst Case”.

Despite how bad things are right now in your life, things could always be worse.  I almost guarantee it.

• Don’t like how business is going? You could have a job that you hate.
• Hate your job? You could have no job.
• Don’t have a job? You could have no talent.
• Don’t have talent? You could have no family or friends to help support you.
• Don’t have any family or friends? You could have poor health.
• Have bad health? You could be out of time.
• Dying and out of time? That’s probably the worst case.

There is almost always a worse case, but if you work hard during the day while growing, pushing, and learning at night, nothing can stop you in the long run.

Nothing.

Keep your chin up,

Aaron@Biebert

Most modern warriors walk alone…

The following comment by Jim on a previous post shares my feelings about how lonely it can feel if you don’t have other 8pm Warriors to share the journey:

“I agree with you, but will admit that I do miss the steady diet of being around people who are committed to their dreams…”

It’s one of the reasons I started this blog and the Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin 8pm Warrior communities.  Despite being very blessed with amazing business partners in some of my ventures, many times I still feel lonely.

Do you?

Take a minute and join us on one of the forums, introduce yourself, tell your story, and don’t be lonely.  Together we can prove that you’re not alone.

Have a great night,

Aaron@Biebert

…Make Us.

At least that’s what the Jeep said this summer when they unveiled their newest creation (here’s the YouTube link: http://bit.ly/b9TFd2).  It just begs the question:

What do you make?

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business” - Unknown

When we started the Clear Medical Solutions group back in 2007, we decided that we were going to “make” happiness for the people we work with, and guess what? 

It “makes” us happy.

With so many nurses, physicians, therapists, HIM’ers, and leaders suffering from fatigue, burnout, and mountains of paperwork, we figured happiness is something that would make a huge impact in our industry (and more importantly, our world).

So now every day we get together to pursue happiness for our people.  I always say that I’m the luckiest guy because I get to love my work, help people, chase goals, and make a career out of it every single day.  Yeah, it’s a battle sometimes (especially in this economy)…but it’s a battle worth fighting. 

Thanks for all the support.

If you know of any healthcare organizations that need someone, our people can be the solution.  We’ve built a nationwide medical community and we’d love to put it to good use making a difference. 

Let’s work together.