“On This Date”

On this date (-3) in 1732 a 26 year old by the name of Benjamin Franklin published “Poor Richard’s Almanac” (oh-credit for this post goes to Art Cashin at UBS).  The publication, containing pithy wisdoms like “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” or ( a DC favorite) ” A penny saved is a penny earned” was a huge success in the colonies allowing Ben to retire at 42. Since golf was not popular at that time, he filled his days and nights  by discovering electricity, inventing the lightening rod, the iron stove, bifocals and the glass harmonica while developing long-standing theories on meteorology, heat absorption, ocean currents and, of course, electricity. In his spare time he founded the first insurance company, fire department, public hospital, public library, night patrol and militia. Seeking a break he became colonial postmaster and civil defense chief for the French and Indian War. Tiring, he was chief delegate at the Albany conference which organized the colonies and then was appointed chief negotiator with the British crown in London.  When negotiations failed, he returned home to help draft, and then pass the Declaration of Independence. He was then sent to Paris where he won support of the French which event won the revolution for the colonies. He returned home and help draft and again pass the Constitution of our new nation. After that he did little that was important aside from a few inventions and a couple of immortal publications. To directly quote Art,” To celebrate, take a high school graduate out for a beer and explain the team concept, consensus thinking and why little can be accomplished by one man alone”. This story about one of the most important founders of our nation brings to a close two marketing and sales dilemmas. First, there is no single right way to market or sell. Like Ben, who dabbled in a number of ventures, we must be involved in a number of  activities.  I do a lot of different things because I like doing a lot of different things. We have to continually step up to the plate and keep trying and refining our processes and techniques because, like Ben, we are going to strike out a lot. However, for some reason we will never get a hit unless we step up to the plate. Second, we cannot wait around until the “marketing” team is established. Based on the popular premise that most professionals (especially in the law business) hate business development, if we wait until we get consensus we will never get traction. So, pull out the old shotgun and go hunting—-alone (if necessary).  Happy hunting.

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Tags: advice, Busines, marketing