Dave Tester - February 2021

Dave Tester - February 2021

February 2021

DO ONE THING EVERY DAY THAT SCARES YOU

In the immortal words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” PAINT YOUR PICTURE TODAY I didn’t go skydiving, but I did complete my first watercolor painting. At age 78, my great grandmother taught herself to paint, so why couldn’t I do the same? My daughter, Clare, recently came up with the idea to do paint and sip. I told her that I would sip and she could paint. For some reason, the idea of painting just scared me. If a picture is really worth a thousand words, imagine the chagrin of my parents when I brought home a C in my third-grade art class! Arguably, something as simple as printing my name is a challenge when it comes to my latent artistic abilities. While I may have the spoken word relatively mastered, when it comes to art or drawing, my grade of a C was considered by most to be overachieving. Consequently, when the idea of painting a picture came from Clare, my first instinct was to pass. However, I remembered taking a writing class at Boise State University a few years ago, and the professor asked us to draw out a favorite memory and then write about it. If I could do it then, why not now? In this day of YouTube tutorials, how hard could it be? What was the result of my artistic excursion? Well, my red International pickup (with a muddy road and a tree in the back) may have a tire that is not exactly round, but I did get out of my comfort zone. The picture now hangs in my office and is a constant reminder to me that each day I must write, read, create, prepare, and think. WRITE Writing about your day and reading about the greats is a solid way to start each day. Write about the day’s successes and failures. Write about your joy and what you are thankful for. READ Many great reads are out there, or you can choose to listen to an audiobook instead. “The Big Leap,” “The Obstacle is the Way,” and “Relentless” are a few great books that come to mind.

CREATE It could be a painting, content for LinkedIn, or even a new shelf for your closet … The trick is to find a way to leave a legacy by creating something each day. PREPARE Prepare for your day the night before and make sure you set aside time to simply think each day. Write down the three most important things to accomplish each day, each week, each month, and each year. Make sure you include time in your daily planner for you to think — not about work, but about your life, your vision, and your plan. My painting gave me a chance to think. It’s the only one of its kind in the world. It was fun to create, and it reminded me to write this story for you. Do one thing that scares you every day . If I can do it, so can you. Paint your picture today.

-Dave Tester

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-Dave Tester

IT’S NOT JUST FOR SILICON VALLEY ANYMORE THE COVID-19 ECONOMY DEMANDS HAPPY EMPLOYEES — EVEN REMOTE ONES!

You know those businesses that are just different ? Think of Costco, Vistaprint, Whole Foods, and Southwest Airlines; they are great to do business with, you can tell the people who work there are happy — and you just know they’re killing it from quarter to quarter on their earnings report. Even during COVID-19, they’ve kept on trucking. The secret they know is that one great employee equals three average employees, and it’s cheaper to pay superstars 150% or more of the average industry wage to keep them around. What would it look like if all your employees were superstars? For starters, you might have weathered the pandemic better. Those kinds of employees are flexible problem-solvers who roll with whatever is thrown their way, and they stick around through tough times. On the flip side, if you saw people quit, I doubt they were all that happy or adding value in the first place. But how do you stop other employees from following in their footsteps? To make employee transitions easier, try the open exit. Under this plan, employees notify their manager when they start looking for a new job, sometimes months in advance. This allows you to keep their schedule flexible for interviews, and they can use you as a reference. In turn, during times of turnover — like the pandemic — you’ll have 6–8 weeks to find and train

their replacement, and your business won’t be short-staffed while you ramp up a new hire. Ideally, that new person is at full capacity by the time the old employee actually walks out. It pays to show the love. That can be tricky with remote workers, but good pay is one good way to do it. Benefits are another: Resist the urge to make your remote employees contractors! But don’t neglect the small things, either. A birthday card or note of appreciation in the mail can make all the difference. It’s tempting to view the flexibility of remote work as a reward in and of itself. But do your systems allow for true flexibility, or do they keep your employees stuck at a desk or constantly on the phone? Streamlining your business, with employee input, is something we should all be doing. Many books and training programs have other ideas on this topic. Try “Uncontainable: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitalism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives” by Kip Tindell. I also recommend “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Passion, Profits, and Purpose” by Tony Hsieh. Finally, D.H. Hansson and Jason Fried’s “Remote: Office Not Required” is required reading for anybody doing business remotely these days.

It’s anyone’s guess what 2021 has in store, but no matter what it is, you can’t afford unhappy employees. Read up, and then level up your business.

TESTER-

MONIAL

Are you ready to better yourself and your business? Have Dave secret-shop your front desk today! Call 208-707-9807 or visit GoDaveTester.com for more details.

“If you are trying to find someone to push you out of your comfort zone in training and motivation, Dave Tester does just that. It may not be for everyone, but it’s definitely for me. I want to be all I can be.”

Check out Dave’s new book, “Fearless Communication: How to Energize Your Team for Success on the Phone”

Jerry Long Producer CBS Sports and The Cowboy Channel

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WELL, THAT WAS FAST Advertising in the Time of COVID-19

Almost a year ago, most of the United States entered a period of lockdown in an attempt to thwart the spread of COVID-19. For marketers facing an economic crisis, this presented a conundrum unlike any they’d seen before. On the one hand, it was likely that spending would drop, although the increase in nationwide unemployment payouts helped mitigate that. On the other hand, they now had a “captive audience” like never before, with people streaming movies and television from home at a record rate. The lifestyles of those consumers had changed dramatically — could advertisers meet the challenge?

we’ve surely grown tired of their hard-to-parse antics by now. No matter who’s doing the advertising, studies done as early as April 2020 found that many consumers were tired of being reminded of the pandemic every time they sat down to watch TV. With national anxiety at an all-time high and mental illness spiking during the pandemic, that’s no surprise. People didn’t want to face the reality of the virus every 10 minutes due to advertisements. On the other hand, some businesses were just hampered by circumstance. Carnival and Norwegian Cruise lines both ran aground with their streaming ads focused on spring and summer getaways. These seemed especially tone-deaf given that cruise ships made headlines at the time as vectors for massive COVID-19 spread. But the true loser of 2020 advertising was Corona beer. The poor beverage company never stood a chance.

They certainly tried.

For retailer Carvana, the virus was almost a boon. The auto seller based out of Tempe, Arizona, had already gained fame for its “car vending machines” in several large American cities, but it had yet to crack the national market. As their ads put it, they wanted to be a coast-to-coast solution for new car sales, and our newly confined circumstances meant many more Americans were interested in Carvana than before. The company dumped money into its streaming ads, and the results speak for themselves: Bottoming at $30 million in March, their stock was valued at more than $200 million just a few months later. Some advertisers settled for merely reflecting the new norms of remote life and work in their advertising, with mixed results. If we weren’t tired of the Zoom- focused Progressive ads featuring Flo and cohorts back in spring 2020,

GG Gretchen’s Kitchen (My mom’s secret recipes)

Take a

BREAK

Creamy Oyster and Shiitake Stew Ingredients

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1 1/2 cups bottled clam juice 3/4 cup heavy cream 1 lb shucked oyster (liquor reserved) 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

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1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

4 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms 1 medium onion, finely chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

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Directions 1. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy-duty 5- to 6-quart pot or a deep 12-inch skillet over high heat until shimmering hot. Add the mushrooms and onion, then season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until the mushrooms are wilted and the onion is softened (about 3 minutes). After that, stir in the clam juice and cream and bring to a boil. 2. Add the oysters and their liquor, then simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary until the oysters plump and their edges curl (about 3 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with thyme.

Corner Post MINISTRY

If you would like to listen to Dave’s spiritual podcast, visit CornerPostMinistry.com.

“For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”

– Isaiah 61:11

3. Serve the stew and enjoy!

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PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

6700 N. Linder Rd., Ste. 156 #297 Meridian, ID 83646 208-707-9807 GoDaveTester.com

Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You Did You Learn From the COVID-19 Economy?

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Tester-monial

Lockdown Ads: Have You Seen These Ones?

Take the 2021 Challenge

A FREE SECRET SHOP!

2021 is a great year to master an old friend: The telephone. Let me help you by making this the month and year that you secret shop your business! Here’s how to do it: • Email me at [email protected] • I’ll need your company name and website • The best times to have me call • The “ask” or what you want me to call about. In other words, what is an ideal prospect going to be

calling your business about? • Your cell number and email

I’ll give these calls to you free of charge if you’ll meet up with me on a 20-minute Zoom meeting to share the details of the call and the grade I gave it.

When was the last time that your business was secret shopped on the phone by a seasoned professional?

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