(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “Clarity about our target customers, and what life is really like for them, is the starting point of all effective value creation, experience creation and marketing.  How well do you really understand your target customers?”
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   How are your ‘ratings and reviews’?

   New research shows that 91% of Canadian shoppers describe ‘ratings and reviews’ as essential to their purchase decisions.

   So, how are your ‘ratings & reviews’…and what are you doing to improve them?

3. If you’re doing sneaky or deceptive stuff…stop it! Rogers Communications, Canada’s 2^nd largest media and telecommunications company was handed a $15 million fine for deceptive marketing related to its Infinite Phone Plan.
    
4. How could you make a difference in your community? Sheleah McPherson owns Leah’s laundromat in Kansas City, KS.  Being a former educator, she decided to add an Early Childhood Literacy Center in her laundromat, where kids can read, play and learn while their parents tackle the week’s laundry chore. To make this happen, Shelah partnered with the Kansas City Public Schools and Public Library.
    
   So, how could you make a difference in your neighbourhood…and when will you start?  A great subject for your next Team Meeting.
    
5. Something you didn’t know…and don’t care about:  Many agricultural products like corn, wheat, oats, rice and soybeans are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market.  But the right to trade Onion Futures has been banned since 1958, in response to an attempt by two Traders to corner the market.
    
6. AI update: Many big brands, including Calvin Klein, L’Oréal, and Mango are increasingly using AI tools to recreate human models’ likeness and even swap their faces with other models, according to a Reuters
    
   In some cases, brands are pushing contracts on models that allow them to use their likeness to generate unlimited marketing materials without compensating that model for any future use.   According to one industry source,  brands can cut their costs by 90% by using these tools, compared to photo shoots with human photographers and models. 

Now, to this week’s important topic…

Do you see yourself as the ‘creator of circumstances’, or the ‘victim of circumstances’?  An important business & life lesson from 2 cab drivers in Ft. McMurray, Alberta:

Back when the price of oil was in the dump, I was in the oil town of Ft. McMurray, in northern Alberta, delivering my ‘Accelerate Your Business’ Session for their Economic Development folks. 

Because the price of oil is in the dump and the cost of living is pretty high in Ft Mac (as it’s called), many of its residents and businesses were struggling.  But, many were not…and the difference was in the ability to see possibilities when others didn’t…and then the willingness to do the work.  

This story is about 2 taxi drivers in Ft. Mac. One who picked me up at the airport, when I arrived…and one who took me back to the airport, when I departed. They were both originally from Ethiopia and both had come to Ft. Mac to create a better life for their families during the boom times in Ft. Mac, about 10 years before.

Taxi driver #1 drove for a big taxi fleet.  He complained all the way into town about how slow business is and how it’s impossible to make a living, no matter how many hours he worked.  He said, “I hate Ft. Mac, but I can’t leave because I’ll take a huge loss on the price of my house.”  I arrived at my hotel thoroughly depressed.

Taxi driver #2 sees things and does things differently.  Back in Ethiopia, he was in the coffee business.  He bought, roasted, ground and sold coffee in a small shop. So, he had a sales and business background and always looked for opportunities.  He was personable, positive, proactive and prosperous.  Think of those as your ‘4 ps’.     

This gentleman owns his own cab, a mini van, and branded it as the ‘SMART CAB’.  It’s painted in a classy way to look like it’s part of a big fleet.  He has a 5-star Google rating, he made sales calls on all of Ft. McMurray’s hotels and became their preferred pick-up cab for guests.  He was also the official ‘Crew Taxi’ for the two airlines that fly into the local airport.  Because only small, regional planes fly into Ft. Mac, his 7-passenger mini-van could easily accommodate the entire flight crew.

When planning my departure from Ft. Mac, I asked the hotel’s front desk to please order me a cab for 7 am the next morning.  The young lady said, “I’ll order you a Smart Cab.  They’re great!”   And ‘great’ he was.  All the way to the airport, he answered my questions about his business model, he shared his outlook on life and the importance of working smart and spreading joy.  He uplifted and energized me. 

His last words as he dropped me off at the airport were, “I love Ft. Mac.  You can make a very good living here!”   He handed me his card, looked me in the eye, shook my hand and said, “I look forward to seeing you again!”.

So, there you have it.  Two men from the same African country, in the same line of work, in the same town, with very different approaches and very different outcomes.  We can all learn a few things from these two taxi drivers in Ft. McMurray. 

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!       

Donald Cooper