WE WISH FOR WHAT WE DON’T HAVE NOW- EVEN IF IT CONTRADICTS PREVIOUS CONDITIONS

Ah, what an interesting species we are! Stick with me here and you’ll see what I’m driving at. As an audiophile, we typically strive for the ultimate, unparalleled conditions with which to enjoy or record our music and sound quality.  Since the invention of the record, there have been numerous complaints among audiophiles of the day that vinyl recordings had a random surface noise generated by non-musical friction of groove imperfections in the vinyl against the needle on the phonograph.  We called it “Needle Noise” and we hated it. While it was present in every recording and all the time, we largely tuned it out, but there was always a quiet part or a subtle pause in a piece of music where we wanted silence and instead we heard the random shellacking noise described above. We dreamed of the pure silent perfection of Digital Recording.  

Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MFSL) even printed premium records called UHQR for Ultra High-Quality Records. These were pressed with half speed masters on virgin vinyl, costing $50 when the standard issue LP record sold for $5-$8. Having dramatically less needle noise, these records were enjoyable to listen to, but still not “absolutely free of random noise”.  We longed for Digital Recordings where everything was converted to 0’s and 1’s. In the quiet passages there would be nothing but zeros and we could enjoy absolute silence. We longed diligently, lusted openly, prayed, begged and urged for Digital Recordings.

Then came the cassette era. While Philips had originally invented the Compact Cassette purely for dictation, it was explained that the tape speed of 1 7/8 inches per second was too slow to offer good musical fidelity. Dramatic improvements in cassette recording techniques along with the invention of chromium dioxide biased tape allowed modern music recordings to sound great. And hey, there was no needle noise, but a new enemy emerged: tape hiss. While there is no vinyl and no needle, thus no needle noise, the tape is coated with mylar and imperfections in the mylar moving past the playback head create a high frequency random noise called Tape Hiss.  Dolby labs and dbx, among others, created “Noise Reduction” which are a compounding recording/playback dual system that greatly reduced, but did not fully eliminate tape hiss. Even excellent tape could only handle a certain amount of Dynamic Range. Still, we longed for the silent, noiseless wide Dynamic Range of Digital Recordings.  

Then it happened! No, the world didn’t end. No, I did not win the lottery. A joint research effort between Sony and Philips created the protocol for the compact disc (CD) which allowed full digital recording.  Noiseless lead in, noiseless quiet passages in Rock, Dance, Jazz, Classical, Country, etc were hailed as “Perfection” by audiophiles- well almost everybody. A few said that digital recordings lacked “warmth” or that “they liked the vinyl copies” of favorite recordings better than their CD counterparts, despite the admitted needle noise or tape hiss.  What? After waiting for so long for ultra-wide dynamic range, noiseless Digital Recordings, the big news from recording companies is that the latest versions of artists’ albums are being issued again in vinyl (LP). Blasphemy! Vinyl is coming back!

A similar story can be told with the evolution of US mail to fax to email to text to instant message, social media etc. etc.  Yeah sure, there’s nothing faster or more instantaneous than email, text or other such electronic communication, but it doesn’t always invoke the same emotional, gut-wrenching, pull-at-your-heartstrings response that a good old analog, printed Send Out Card can bring.  I kid you not, Send Out Cards has found that when a person sends a heartfelt, personalized card people tend to keep them on their desk, refrigerator or bulletin board sometimes years after the original send date just because the recipient is so blown away that the sender thought enough of them to create a unique, personalized card.  While I myself am a huge proponent of digital recordings in the CD, digital audio tape or MP3 modalities, I was touched greatly by the reception of my first SendOutCards sent to me by Lorrie Kueffer. Contact me and I’ll gladly share with you my story. Do not under estimate the power, even in this digital age of a heartfelt printed send out card.  Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465            

WE NEED YOUR WISDOM

You heard the admonition to be the best version of yourself. Always. Inherent in this state is that you are always striving to improve, looking for a better way, never condoning mediocrity and being optimistic and positive. There are a lot of things out there in this world that can be taken a lot of different ways. Clarity of thought and focus on what’s really important is something a leader can show all of those around them, in your organization, in your down-line and in the various interactions you have with others.

Well there are great people among us to have imparted great wisdom they cannot necessarily interact with everyone, see not every situation will have the correct angle on every aspect. That’s why we need you. Yes you! Don’t be giving me that crap about you being insignificant, not as good as someone else, not as talented, not as eloquent, not as good a public speaker, not as good a writer, etc. when you are the guy who’s there, then you are the most important person in existence. We need your open eyes, we need your clarity of thought and we need your wisdom.  Yes you. We need your optimistic, positive focused, there-are-better-says-ahead type wisdom.  

Words you say are but a fleeting glimpse.  Texts and emails are often deleted to free up space.  But if you send a card, more specifically a Perfect-for-this-situation Send Out Card, but say it clearly and profoundly enough that the recipient knows you mean it.  Send Out Cards has found a large percentage of these cards stay on the recipients desk, get hung on the refrigerator or in places of prominence. We need your wisdom and your heart. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465            

A WORD FOR THE MASSES

Fundamentally, there is a lot of good in the world. If you seek it out it will find you. I have always been a glass half full kind of guy because life is just better that way. With dedication, perseverance and hard work, there will be a reward. You need to always be thinking about how you can do it better or you can do it more efficiently, how you can save money and when it makes sense to spend money because you do have to spend some money to make some money. There are lots of diverse goods and services that we as human beings need, so that means in the grand scheme of things whatever good or service you offer probably has a place in this great society of ours.

Do not think for a moment that it will come quick or be easy or that money will just pour out of the sky because it won’t. The success stories of the rich and famous are truncated where they only tell how they got started and then they ended up with $600 million but don’t  tell of all the struggles and heart aches along the way. Your story will necessarily not be different just the names and the circumstances will change.

There will be points of decision-making along the way and you need to do your best to adequately research them and make an informed proper decision. But do not get stuck in endless analysis or indecision because then you are truly paralyzed. As the great Yogi Berra once said “when you come to a fork in the road, take it “.  Proceed fearlessly with caution and know that in the end it will all be worth it. While on your journey, lift somebody up with a Send Out Card.

Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465            

LISTENING - THE NEXT GREAT IDEA

Hopefully, you are a happy, well adjusted, satisfied human being with a forward-thinking, optimistic mindset and are perpetually recruiting the next great idea. People are unable to fathom the sheer numerical quantification of how many good ideas there are and how many are still yet to come. To illustrate this point, there was a time in the past, (maybe 1906) when some uninformed, narrow-minded individual was quoted as saying “Guess they’re going to have to close the US Patent Office since everything that can be invented as been invented!” I’m sure glad that person was so impressed with the state of Technology that year, but look at what we’d have missed out on: Penicillin, Transistor, Personal Computer, Internet, Cataract Surgery Implants, Cardiac Stents, the Bikini, the Miniskirt, Hybrid Cars, Plastic, Satellites, Sirius XM Radio, I-Phone, SmartTV, DVD, Bluetooth, etc.

The lesson here is that our own biases put blinders on us and there is an infinite number of unexplored ideas, concepts, hypotheses, etc. that can actually benefit us or our situation. To benefit from this wealth of ideas we need a skill set we are not particularly good at: LISTENING. Being open to suggestion not only may ultimately make your life easier, it may make you a lot of money. Encourage a free flowing exchange of ideas, even when you (think) you might not agree. Besides if people find you to be universally receptive to differing points of view, they may be willing to allow you to show them a revolutionary new idea like Send Out Cards or whatever your business may be.  Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” “be open to the next great idea” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465            

So What's So Special About Your Cards

As big and tough, high and mighty, indifferent and unabashed, shy and timid, powerful and unwavering, the façades of everyone we meet have a soft spot or point of vulnerability somewhere. Now con artists have used this fact to find ways to manipulate and unfairly take advantage of others for centuries. Believe it or not, there is a good side to this soft spot in that it is a receptor point for you to make a connection with that individual that is multiple times stronger than anything forged in mundane daily interaction.

At Send Out Cards, we call it the “One Thing” (see previous blog entitled IF IT DOESN’T “MOVE THE SOUL”, IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH.) While hard to explain the “One Thing” in words, everyone seems to get it when we say it. Isn’t it funny that in this age of connectivity, that so much unhappiness, loneliness is at an all time high and society as a whole is more disconnected than ever. For this “disconnectedness” problem we don’t need more hardware, another app- we need deeply sincere expressions of human concern. How can we convey those expressions from point A to point B? It’s that stops you in your tracks, they didn’t have to do it for me, I don’t deserve something that nice, soul-moving experience that Send Out Cards calls our “One Thing”. But once in a Blue Moon, someone does something that really impresses you, really makes a difference. I am talking about an event, someone does for you that makes you stop, take notice and you remember it for years. You also remember how it made you FEEL!

It’s a Free country and you can use our Send Out Cards to say, express or pictorialize just about anything.  But we are not about the “ordinary, mundane or been-there-done-that triviality. Our whole emphasis is on giving you the Opportunity to “Go ahead….Make My Day” (I will Send a Card to Clint Eastwood!)

I still remember the way I felt when Lorrie Kiefer (now my upline), sent me a SendOutCard.  Lorrie had taken the time to look me up on Facebook, copy a picture out of one of my posts and also grabbed a logo for the company I was working with at the time. She then selected a great card, added both of those graphics along with some nice words and placed them on a terrific looking card. She told my wife and I how much she has enjoyed getting to meet with us and show us the awesome possibilities that Send Out Cards was capable of. As I opened the envelope, I pulled out a card that I could clearly see was not a store-bought,pre-fabricated card but had been designed just for my wife and me. At that very moment, a voice inside my head said “I can’t believe she did this. I’m not that special. I must really mean a lot to her.  I was humbled. I was so awestruck and impressed all in that same few milliseconds. Once we learned all about Send Out Cards, my wife and I were so impressed that we signed up and I went on to become a full-time rep for the business. I still to this day, vividly remember that exact feeling that was invoked when I opened that envelope. Don’t settle for ordinary interactions when you can move the needle and move the soul of people you interact with. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465            

Humble And Proud Of It

Be real, person! There is a fine line between being really sincere and meaningful (like Lynn Corbett- see previous blogs) versus looking like your trying to be sincere and failing.  The beauty of human interaction is that the True Intention will eventually be exposed by a combination of non-verbal clues and the sheer multiplicity of the ways you express your intentions.  Reality- What a Concept!

As every successfully married person sooner or later discovers, you can’t just tell your Partner once “I Love You” and think “There, I covered that.”  While in a legal transaction you could successfully prove, the Claimant did indeed proclaim that on This Date at This Time in This Medium the statement was 

Conveyed.  Your Spouse/Lover/Partner/Friend/Confidant perpetually has their antennae up subconsciously to see if you do anything else that corroborates this “I Love You/I Care About You/I am Thinking of You/I Want To Mean More To You” phrase.  Do you open doors for them, call unexpectedly just to see how they are doing, send flowers, SEND A “SEND OUT CARD”, etc?

Taking Love out of the equation, in the Business world, if you tell someone you appreciate when they went above and beyond, are glad they are part of the team, recognize an accomplishment, etc., your words will seem hollow unless corroborated by smiles and nods when you see them, a kind word here and there (see blog on Try a Little Kindness”) or hows this for a novel idea: SEND THEM A CARD SAYING EXACTLY WHAT YOU INTEND?  Now, no offense to pre-made card companies like Hallmark, American Greetings, etc. They have lots of nice cards indeed, but they are all pre-fabricated and don’t exactly fit your circumstances. This is where SEND OUT CARDS shines- why spend $4, $6 or $8 on a card that isn’t perfect when you can spend between $0.99 cents and $2.75 on a Custom Perfect Card that even has their picture on it? How can you get more personal than that?

Somehow, someway, people can spot a phoney 10 miles away.  Like the person who claims they are humble and they are obviously Proud of being humble.  Oxymoron or just plain moron? Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” “be sincere and Show It with Send Out Cards” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465           

Magic Bullet

MAGIC BULLET

There isn’t a business that doesn’t want to grow- or at least there SHOULDN’T be a business that doesn’t want to grow.  In previous blogs, the Great Wisdom is that your business is either “green and growing “ or you are “stagnant and wasting away”.  So brothers and sisters, the only real answer is for your business to be “green and growing”. But how to do it? Or even more importantly, how to do it consistently over and over again?  If only I had a Magic Bullet. 

Magic Bullet?   It’s probably the only item Amazon doesn’t carry.  You know what I am about to tell you: There is no Magic Bullet.  Up till now, has there ever been an easy way? Think about it. It always turns out that there are two ways things can be: 1) The hard way and 2) The hard way. How many times have you been told “This time will be different?”  It turns out to not be different. There is no real easy way and every time you think you’ve found one it’s either a scam and never existed in the first place or it’s a hard way disguised as an easy way and it disappointingly turns into a hard way once your Credit Card clears. And I am an Optimist.

Your Mother and your most trusted best friends have been right all along: You already possess everything you need to be successful.  All that is lacking is putting in the necessary hard work. Since you know from the above that THERE IS NO EASY WAY, quit trying to look for one.  So, since you’re going to put in Hard Work no matter what you choose, why not do a few things along the way to help ensure that your Hard Work will not be in vain?  Everyone eventually interacts with another human being or a company/organization that is run/governed by a human being. How can you gain favor with the aforementioned human beings? Might it possibly be a good idea to perhaps SINCERELY THANK them with a Heartfelt Custom Card from Send Out Cards when they go the extra mile for you?  You send them a card sincerely appreciating what they did for you. Think that will be remembered the next time you need a special favor? Sure as Shooting (that’s a thinly disguised Magic Bullet reference there)

What if you extend special pricing or go out of your way to fill a complicated order- then send a card saying “I wouldn’t do that for just anyone- but I did it because it was you!”  You Rock, man. There are only 6 Gazillion versions of how you can do this for all your Customers, Clients, Co-workers, Management, Suppliers, I.T. Support, Manufacturers Reps vital to your Business, Secretaries, Drivers, Delivery People, Melinda at Corporate, etc etc. Ralph has a Send Out Card for every one of them and you have a Smart Phone or Tablet to take a pic that would make that card Rock. Your Magic Bullet is Send Out Cards.  Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference,” “ load, aim and fire your Magic Bullet” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465            

It's About Them Not You

Listen people, we all get it that you want to make money. I want to make money, Carla wants to make money, Dan wants to make money, even YOU want to make money. After all isn’t that the most basic reason why any of us do “this thing called work?” The paradox is that in order to make money yourself, you first have to build relationships by being a good person. The mark of a good person is someone who is interested in other than making money for themselves. The late Lynn Corbett was incredibly successful at his business but spent almost all of his time asking you how he could help you build YOUR business! He asked multiple ways, multiple times and introspectively. It wasn’t just a cursory and perfunctory “What can I help you with?” It was dripping with sincerity, and if that wasn’t enough he’d introduce you to 8000 of the people he knew (and he knew an incredibly huge number of people). He was STILL building relationships until one week he mysteriously missed a BNI weekly meeting (Lynn never missed a weekly meeting). And then we got the terrible news he was dead. It was so HIM, so ingrained in his personality, he was still building relationships up until the terminal pancreatic cancer took him.

The message is that Lynn and others gave of themselves TO HELP YOU, gave some more and then invented even newer ways to give. Purely as a byproduct of all this giving, Lynn was rewarded with people doing business back with him. It wasn’t immediate, so if your looking for a Fast Buck, this isn’t it. But if your looking for long-term, unwavering, wouldn’t-do-business-with-anyone-else kind of clientele, then you’ve found it. Oh, and after 311 words about Lynn and others, Lynn was a huge believer in Send Out Cards. The Card is about “the Other Person” so it fit perfectly in Lynn’s philosophy. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” “ learn what Lynn was so excited about as it relates to Send Out Cards” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465

Stand Out By Being Yourself

Who do you want to be? Is there someone in your chosen profession that represents the pinnacle, the most excellent manifestation of your perception of the best in your business? While it is desirable to always strive to improve, you may or may not be able to rise to the high levels. So understand that you are probably somewhere in between and be OK with that.

Remember how many people say to you to be “the Best Version of Yourself?” You have a unique skill set and a group of abilities that no one else has, making you a unique qualifier. So in this world where everyone has tons of unique abilities, how do you stand out? Instead of trying to stand out against all the other people who have similar excellent qualities, stand out by being yourself! Celebrate your strengths and work on your deficiencies. Be you and be proud.

The one thing that you absolutely must master and never cease to work on is to avoid condoning mediocrity. You can be so lost touting the best version of yourself that you forget to understand that there are things that you still can improve upon. You ALWAYS have something to work on. I remember when I went to the first SendOutCards convention and found that the CEO, Kody Bateman takes notes on every speaker, even when they are a lower level speaker. Kody contends you never know the source of the next Great Idea and this seemingly lower level man/woman may actually be the one. Let me explain how all of this can work in your favor. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” work on standing out by being yourself, and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465

Get Paid to Be Nice to One Another

A lot of people have said a lot of things to you, but if I ask you, “what is the absolutely nicest thing someone has said or done to you?” you will know exactly what that is. More importantly you will know exactly how it made you FEEL.  Whatever extra special thing they said to you or did for you invokes an emotion that will stay with you for years. It also acts as a bond that keeps you being close friends or loyal to that business.

This feeling is so incredibly powerful, why in the world wouldn’t you do it all the time for all your customers? This is a rhetorical question because there is no satisfactory answer in the negative.

Send Out Cards has embraced the concept of doing “The One Thing” that supersedes all others. When you have a prompting, this is a cue, which someone is experiencing a need that you have the capacity to fill. By choosing to focus, even for a moment, to better some aspect of this other person’s life, sharing love and kindness through a written word at a moment’s notice. The One Thing is what makes all of life worth it. The One Thing is what drives us to help others reach out in kindness to change the world.

Every time you learn about a cool new thing, you share it with others or someone shares with you. By sharing Send Out Cards with other individuals and businesses, those of us who elect to be “Referral Partners”, we actually get paid to BE NICE to one another. Using this you can make people smile, enrich their lives and get paid for it all at the same time. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,”  “get paid to be nice to one another” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465