A lesson learned and remembered

A diamond in the rough. You probably have heard these words spoken and might have even said it yourselves. I remember these words spoken over thirty five years ago and I can even remember who said them and the occasion; Sam Merrill my boss and mentor in the insurance business. He invited me to lunch on a very cold day in Pittsburgh simply to take a break from his training session with me.

When we were seated in the the restaurant he ordered his meal along with a beer. I ordered my lunch with a soft drink. He canceled his beer order. This simple item was a test. I passed however he did not know that beer was not my choice of spirits. We returned to the office and the very first thing he said to me was, "you are a diamond in the rough." First time. I didn't understand what it meant. I mean, raised with nine other brothers and sisters in a low income community did not give me access to such language. When I got home to my wonderful wife that evening I told her what he had said. She looked at me and said you are a diamond already to me but he probably is right since your new to the insurance business. Sam was a driver of positive thoughts only and one of the most enthusiastic indviduals that I have had a pleasure to know. He did groom me into a diamond. I succeeded in the insurance business after his polishing methods. Three months later he enrolled me into the Dale Carnegie Management Course and I truly believe that this altruistic behavior by him gave me the needed sales tools for all that has happened to me since in the business world.

Thirty one years later, I pursued my E Commerce business. I again was a diamond in the rough. In the last three years we have spent over $9000.00 trying to become successful in this wonderful world of the internet. Between purchasing domains, software packages, hosting, pay per click programs and a tremendous amount of expensive software advise from the gurus, we were still at a standstill. Being a stubborn sort and never a quitter, I continued to prod along. My wife simply did not understand this. I would spend hours awake refining my web sites, putting more money into the Overtures and Kanoodles and still could not truly say to her, at last sweetheart we are there. About two years ago I was ready to quit when I came across a discussion in a chat room. I kept myself hidden from the conversation for I felt that it was possible that these five individuals who apparently were friends and had common goals, would not continue with their dialogue. I spent 45 minutes reading their interactions. Have you ever heard this: Success is the intersection of luck and serendipity? This discreet conversation changed the way we conducted our e-commerce business. You might be thinking, "what was said and will he share it with us?" I have always enjoyed overt behavior and tried to avoid covert behavior. I feel hidden feelings and thoughts are for the cowards. Let me surround myself with the person or persons that are open about their success and are willing to share it. One most dynamic concept I have retained from that Dale Carnegie course is the following research he himself conducted. He set out to interview the wealthiest persons of his time (if you need to know what era you can look it up) and asked them this question in this unquoted way: What one item do you feel has made you successful? He wrote down all the answers and found the one most common statement was, we do the smallest things that most people ignore. Amen.

When I look at anything bad or good I look at the very smallest item that made it that way. The Mona Lisa started with a single brush stroke. Take that stroke away and it no longer is the treasured painting. I realized that I had forgotten this myself and it simply blasted back into memory after reading this dialogue between these five individuals. Everything they had written to each other had to do with the smallest ingredient to being successful in this world of e-commerce. We changed our marketing efforts as a resutl and simply an adult has transpired from a long too long expensive babe. The most important item I will share with you that we now absolutely sanction is: Keep every email address and cherish them. The second is : Write to the email addresses and stay in contact. Not with a selling item but with an idea. Before long we had individuals conversing from across the world with us and many we have been able to help gain success from simply sharing our tools with them. I imagine what I am trying to say is, " If you truly want success in this world, understand your world, hone your skills, be a people person and supply tools that will help them move forward inexpensively. Keep every email and make friends and influence people. Thank you and have a great day.

© Mike Wood. Al Rights Reserved
You can reach me by email: maderas@woodhomebiz.com.

Submitted on 08/11/2005