Now Appearing in an Extended Engagement! Join David Robison as he takes you into his world and his daily life of reviving a stand-up comedy career. Prepare for side trips exploring the "art" of salesmanship and business ethics and his experience with Multi-level Marketing. Enjoy some frequent detours describing his observations on life. Read the exploits of this self-proclaimed Renaissance-man and blooming blogger as you go
On The Road With Dave.
Alticor Media Blog Fighting Back / "Getting Political"
It's an odd feeling, having others who don't know our company make claims about us in the course of the Michigan governor's race. Opinions are one thing, and everyone's entitled to them. But we do not intend to sign over ownership of the facts.
I don't have a dog in the hunt for Michigan's new governor, but I do recognize a problem candidate Dick DeVos may have.
In order to tout his credentials for running the state of Michigan, he has to rely on his experience with running the multi-billion dollar Alticor Corporation.
On the other side, in order to run a multi-billion dollar corporation; Alticor has to maintain somewhat of a distance from "politics" and protect its own name and practices despite it's president running for Governor.
Alticor Media Blog is on the defensive/offensive with two recent articles "clarifying" issues brought up by Candidate DeVos.
The first involves their operations in China and the investment of money in that pursuit and how it might affect US and local Michigan jobs.
The second covers an issue over a DeVos quote about manufacturing in India via Amway India.
DeVos made the comment that Alticor did not have manufacturing facilities overseas except in China,
"With the exception of the China plant that has been so carefully exposed, thanks to my friends at the Democrat Party, who've helped us to tell that story, about the fact that we have a plant in China, despite that, having that plant there, and I'd be happy to address that issue in particular, we have no other manufacturing facilities outside the United States."
Well, Michigan Dems say this is a lie. Alticor and Amway DO manufacture in India. The Dems' article does not explain that the China plant is owned by Alticor and that the India operations use a contracted third-party facility, much like Alticor's own Access Business Group facility.
As I said, I'm not really following the Michigan race closely as it has little to do with my local political scene, (except for that keen sense that DeVos' governor bid may be a prelude to a national contest in the future) so my opinion means very little.
But, I do think that Alticor may be experiencing a touch of what Quixtar and Amway distributors go through. As IBOs we are often judged by other less-than-reputable IBO actions or we are plagued by "an Amway image" problem.
Alticor may be scrambling to quickly dispel any stumble a candidate may make that brings a bad light on the company itself. How do you tell the boss that you don't want him to lose the business while he may be winning the political race?
"Getting Political" is a semi-regular feature of "On The Road With Dave". While Dave is no political pundit by any stretch of the imagination; "Getting Political" allows him to stretch that imagination.
Towards the end of the 20th Century, major book seller lists were topped by titles pertaining to our environment. Earth Day celebrations were popular and the media covered "green" news. We were encouraged to "Reduce, Recycle, Re-Use" and GM was touting the first commercially available full electric automobile. While shopping at the local supermarket, "Paper or Plastic" was the automatic question asked by cashiers and if you chose plastic; you were just plain weird.
(I always chose paper, just for your information)
Being "green" was the hip, trendy thing to be.
Now Earth Day 2006 is upon us, and I noticed little in the news that led up to today; other than stories about the ever increasing gasoline prices and how we are reducing our gasoline usage not because of environmental factors but because of financial concerns. (Our local CBS affiliate just ran a story on a woman who pawned her wedding ring to fill up her gas tank)
Earth Day should not be part of a "hip trend", it should be a constant reminder to us to care for our fragile planet. We should not be just "environmental" for a short time while fuel costs rise. We need to implement long-term change to our habits that endanger this small blue marble in the Solar System.
Do you need something to make you even consider making "green living" a way in your own life?
If you are lucky enough to live in one of the selected cities, go see "An Inconvenient Truth", a new film by Davis Guggenheim and former Vice-President Al Gore.
But to believe that old successes will drive new ones and to not change your ways -- an attitude that says "this is how we will do it because this is how we've always done it"--is wrong.
We have realised that you need to adapt to the market--the market won't adapt to you.
In an article published last year at REDIFF, William Pinckney analyzes the efforts of Amway Corporation as it began operations in India in 1998. Pinckney is Managing Director and CEO, Amway India.
"The learning? It doesn't matter how smart you are and how many degrees you have. People always see issues from their own perspective, not yours."
Welcome to a fledgling new feature at "On The Road With Dave" called "Dave's Getting Political".
As a self-described "bleeding heart, tree-hugging, liberal"; I usually stay out of the political arena with my blogging efforts for several reasons.
1) I write a lot about the Multi-level Marketing Industry and Quixtar, which are predominately populated by members of the GOP.
2) Politics is a volatile subject with many divergent trains of thoughts; and I have a fragile ego, that could easily be upset if I offended my readers and they in turn decide I'm not worth reading.
3) Politics is a volatile subject with many divergent trains of thought; and I simply don't have the knowledge to discuss or debate them all intelligently.
BUT...
I have from time to time made my political beliefs known to my readers. I certainly have tried to insert my social causes, thoughts, and stances into some of my blog entries. And, I have tried to give my readers a glimpse into my moral compass by some of my favorite "Sunday Thoughts".
Since, a great deal of the blogging world is made up of personal opinion and rants; I think I can rant and opine with the rest of them. Also as a fledgling comedian, much comedy material is derived from political topics, and so if I shall rant occasionally on stage, then ranting in blog form should also be available to me.
So, we're gonna try it out on a semi-regular basis and see how it works. Stick around.
"Getting Political" is a semi-regular feature of "On The Road With Dave". While Dave is no political pundit by any stretch of the imagination; "Getting Political" allows him to stretch that imagination.
"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
It's over 30 years old and suffers from some watermarks, but I still have the very first lesson you sent me from the Maher School of Ventriloquism. I have the other 29 lessons as well; although some have lost their cover or a staple or two that was holding the pages together.
Your writings further taught me the fine art of ventriloquism, you also listened to cassette tapes I sent you, you gave me advice, you tempered me when I needed it; and you were my first editor and my first publisher.
You taught me how to build my first ventriloquist figure AND my second.
Thanks to Maher Studios, I was recognized all over my small boyhood city and I worked and performed ventriloquism for many organizations and events. I made money and had fun doing it; when most teenagers were working at a fast food restaurant or mowing yards on the weekend.
Yesterday Mr. Detweiler, I know you officially retired and gave up the reigns of Maher Studios, but...you can't retire from be a lasting influence in this ventriloquist's life.
Any chance I get to put a microphone in my hand, I'll take it. Back during the Mardi Gras season I stopped in at a local bar during their karaoke night.
It was a small crowd, so I got to sing a couple of songs, to some nice applause. (Which is always good.)
The KJ...that means Karaoke DJ... snapped a picture of me while I sang "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson.
The picture isn't great, but I do love singing that song.
The Teutuls own and operate Orange County Choppers in Montgomery, NY and make the most fabulous custom-designed motorcycles in the USA. These bikes are works of art as well as powerful machines, and their monetary value rivals most works of art.
As you might know, on my "day-job" I work for a medical supply company. One of the services we provide is home oxygen therapy and maintenance. Our supplier for medical-grade oxygen is the local branch of Airgas, Inc. Airgas also provides all the welding gases and supplies for the boys at OCC.
Well folks, Airgas just recently spent some seven figures on two custom motorcycles from the Teutul's at Orange County.
And take a look at this: Thanks to Airgas and OCC; every person that donated five dollars today at the local Airgas office here in Mobile to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation received the honor of posing for a photo with the Airgas "Old School Chopper".
"Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
I'm currently number 17 of the most view comedians at Comedy Soapbox.
If somebody, (let's just say, my faithful readers)were to click on that Comedy Soapbox link in my sidebar; it would take them to my profile at Comedy Soapbox, thereby "upping my standings".
It's sneaky, it's underhanded, it just feels right, doesn't it?
My favorite marketing and consulting group is Peppers and Rogers; they practically coined the idea of 1to1 Marketing and Customer Service Management.
In their weekly newsletter to me; there was an interesting link to an article on Corporate Assassins. These "assassins" are not AK-47 toting hoods walking the halls of Microsoft or some sleek and sexy femme fatale with a pistol and silencer, but are in fact, disgruntled clients who wield a computer with an internet connection.
"No conspiracy theories and no grassy knolls needed here. Corporate assassins are what customer strategists are calling the occasional customer or group of customers who have a bad experience with your company and are so upset that they want the world to know about it. In these days of message boards, blogs, and wikis there is no shortage of platforms for the corporate assassin. Any company can be a target. Microsoft gets trashed in blogs on an hourly basis. Posts on CNET.com message boards throw deadly slings and arrows at consumer electronics companies and at retailers. Orbitz was recently the target of an obscenity-filled, 17-page email that several 1to1 Media employees received from a dis-gruntled Orbitz customer."
The article does not suggest Google Bombing as a means to erase the "assassin's" attempts but suggests real marketing to improve the company image.
Techniques such as "tracking the attacks":
"Just as any customer experience needs to be measured, negative advocacy needs to be measured as well,"
As well as identifying the problem and addressing the issue:
"Before one dissatisfied customer influences and creates more dissatisfied customers you have to go to [that first] customer and identify the source of the problem."
For individual MLMers, if your company is the target of a perceived "attack", it's not your job to "attack the attacker"; rather address the issue, identify the cause, and adjust YOUR individual business accordingly. And don't hide yourself away from the negativity, learn about what is being said about your company and don't be surprised by a prospect's questions. Be prepared.
"First of all, you should never read about bad news in The New York Times," says Factiva marketing director Glenn Fannick. "You should know what's being said about your company across the media landscape at all times. The development of blogs has made this more difficult to track. But it can and must be tracked. If you're missing the blogs, you might end up being surprised about customer complaints being logged at a much more expansive level."
I had business cards printed with the business name of "Spotlight Enterprises".
Spotlight was to be my "umbrella corporation" to handle all my various "multi-million dollar" business interests. Entertainment, marketing, real estate, performing, writing, the whole enchilada. (18 year olds can dream really big)
And seriously, my slogan was going to be, "Established April 1st, 1981; proving any fool can start a business".
More seriously, that slogan still proves true for most business "start-ups."
Any fool can start a business, but to remain fool-hardy in running a business means many fools fail at business.
Spotlight Enterprises failed due to unresponsible youthfulness, a lack of commitment, a lack of planning, and an extreme lack of work. (but later on, my wife had some wicked awesome old "Spotlight" t-shirts to sleep in)
Spotlight Enterprises was my first business failure, but not my last business I ever started; and those others succeeded quite nicely.
The truly unfoolish thing I did was to not give up, and learn from my mistakes. Learning from experience can suck, but it provides lessons you don't soon forget.
So today, is my 25th anniversary of entering the on-again-off-again world of "business" and its sometimes foolish mistakes.
