Wow that is cold.

It got down to -10 here in Kansas this week. Cold but not a record. I got to figuring that -10 is 42 degrees F below freezing. Putting it that way it sure seems worse.

Putting things into terms for customers is part of what sales does. Quantifying costs, value or savings is very powerful in a sales process. Part of what we sometimes miss is the strength of numbers. Just think of what was said above. -10 is 10 below 0. However 42 is a much larger number below freezing.

You are not changing the facts, rather putting them in terms of impact. I suggest that when you walk out into -42 below freezing it really feels like that. However walking out into -10 is not quite as impactful. Both correct and both the same. One sound more.

Next presentation, find the impact and make sure it has the ring of impact not just to you but to everyone.

And remember, your audience is important. Tell Brad from Duluth it is 42 degrees below freezing and he might consider golfing. Tell Kathy from Florida it is -10 degrees and she is not leaving inside for a week! Peoples perspective can change based on location, position or disposition.

I cannot wait for

Google Goggles. Supposedly you will be able to take a picture of an object or location and Google will let automatically look up that object and give you details.

COOL. Hope it works on my Windows mobile phone.

Selling escape.

That is what the movie industry sells every day. Lets face it the movie experience must be a big draw. To see movies when they just come out is really important?

Jenifer took took the kids to the movie last weekend. $40. Lets figure that out. If you went twice a month you would spend almost $900 in movies (And snack)

If you allocated this over 3 years, you could have a Netflix subscription, Big screen TV and all the popcorn you could eat.

Yet, I have not been able to perfect the taste of movie popcorn, the screen is still bigger than mine and there is something about the general experience of a movie.

They have done a good job keeping this industry going with the threat of digital delivery trying to compete for the $'s. For now Jenifer can take the kids to the movie and I will stick to Netflix. I will make a small investment in my home experience after Christmas and upgrade to Bluray. I will let you know how that turns out.

My inner 80's Geek Coming out!

After seeing my complaint to Microsoft, I have to admit I have been streaming some 80's shows that really got me interested in technology. In retrospect most of the technology is not really possible. In fact 20 plus years later it is not possible.

The shows I have been watching are Airwolf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airwolf which has reminded me of a couple of things that was happening in the early 80's. Like the cold war and hair styles. Specifically the poof. Not a style that I hope comes back anytime soon.

Then I have been watching Knight Rider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider_(1982_TV_series). This show came back last year in a new release. (The original was better and Hasselhof cannot be beat for this corny series) What really comes to front in this show is how absolutely bad most cars were in the early 80s. They were square and lacked character. KITT (The car) looks very similar to the inside of my 80's corvette.

A common theme is the music and product placement on both of these series. They do not do this as much these days. Sure, they do product placement, however in these series they almost come out and say "Look I am drinking Coke and I am cool" As for the music, the main character walks into the bar and they play about 30 seconds of the song as if to say buy this album! Of course it is played on a juke box playing vinyl!

Anyway these type of shows (Along with Dukes of Hazard) formed some early TV memories for me. The futuristic technology really got me hooked on the future. Now I look today and as futuristic as they were trying to be they could not have foreseen;
1. What cell phones can do today!
2. The Internet
3. End of the cold war
4. What the PC can do.
5. Pretty much everything I work with everyday.
6. Death of film (Replaced by the digital camera)
7. They would have figured that we would have found a replacement for Unleaded. (Hey, at least Regular is gone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline
8. Ipod!
9. Death of; Vinyl, Tape, CD...
10. Netflix!!!
11. That AT&T would be BACK.
12. Haselhoff still looks the same.

Just a few things I came up with.

So I suppose I should come up with some kind of sales link. I am going with selling a dream. Many business owners have a dream of what their business should/could be. By selling something that can help achieve the dream you can really get ahead. (Never over promise however)

Sorry for making you read all of this.

Guess I have to do this for 5 more years.

So, Register.com proved that telemarketing works. They called relentlessly for a couple of days because my email address and Domains were running out.

Not to worry, I negotiated (didn't know that was an option up until now) a 5 year deal for both my domains;

www.steveriat.com
www.riatfamily.com

and my email address;

steve@steveriat.com

Anyway, I wanted to get rid of the banner that register puts on the bottom of the page. (If you get here via www.steveriat.com you will see it)

Get this, Register.com wants $50 a year to remove that (Because I am doing simple website forwarding to the real address, hang with me and I will tell you how to get rid of this) What a rip off.

If you are tired of the banner, bookmark http://sriat.blogspot.com and you will be good to go.

PS you can negotiate 50% or more. I only got them down to $38 per year to remove the banner. (1 year deal) Maybe next year I will pay it for your viewing pleasure.

Microsoft gets this one WRONG!

So as some of you know, I fully utilize Microsoft Media Center within Windows 7.

Upon upgrading my existing Vista Media center to Windows 7 I noticed that Netflix was NOT available. Well, they fixed that. It is supposed to automatically show up when it was available. It did not. Anyway, I found it and installed it. That was easy. Here comes the problem.

Netflix streaming does NOT work with Media Center Extenders. IE with XBOX. Now you say that it does. OK you are right, it does work from the XBOX. You can use it from the XBOX dashboard. Well, it does if you pay for the XBOX Gold account. And I do have one membership. The problem is I use two other extenders. One is an XBOX and the other is a Linksys. So I would have to pay another $50 for the other XBOX for a live account to view Netflix. As for the Linksys, I would be out.

COME ON MICROSOFT. Let me use the extenders. From what I read on other links is that it is not a reason of ability, rather it is you protecting the XBOX dashboard. IE making me spend money for a Live account.

What don't you think that buying 2 XBOX's, 1 extender, 1 Mediacenter and Windows 7 is not enough for you? This is the way you reward loyal customers. OH yea, do not forget the monthly ZUNE service, couple of Zunes and the other MS products I have.....

Always

Do the right thing when people are not watching. Do the right thing for your vendors, customers, employees and yourself. You will never regret this.

If you do the questionable thing, play in the gray area, you will regret it adventually. There are no short cuts.

Everytime I have been ask about these "gray" areas, the person asking already knew the answer. Go with your gut.

PS I had to figure out Gray VS Grey. Who knew;

"Google Answers"

It appears that the "gray" varient appeared later, as an American
English varient of "grey". Both have mostly the same many meanings:

"gray1 also grey ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gr)
adj. gray·er, also grey·er gray·est, grey·est
Of or relating to an achromatic color of any lightness between the
extremes of black and white.

Dull or dark: a gray, rainy afternoon.
Lacking in cheer; gloomy: a gray mood.

Having gray hair; hoary.
Old or venerable.
Intermediate in character or position, as with regard to a subjective
matter: the gray area between their differing opinions on the film's
morality.

n.
An achromatic color of any lightness between the extremes of black and
white.
An object or animal of the color gray.
often Gray
A member of the Confederate Army in the Civil War.
The Confederate Army. "