Not Rocket Science, (Letters to Rebecca)… Part V
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
Dear Rebecca (Sam, Marco, LaTonya, Andrea, Ronnie, Miko, and Mitchell et al.), Just a few thoughts to share with you in this letter. First, I want you to know that I am very proud of you... heck, after reading this... half the world will be proud of you! Two weeks ago, the closest things you had to a marketing plan were the cold calls you were getting from an onslaught of entry-level TRADITIONAL MEDIA sales reps, and an occasional hurried glance… Read More
Okay, so it turns out that Rebecca is not just a dance instructor with her own studio in my hometown. She's also a retail shop owner in Indiana, an accountant in D.C., and she runs a network marketing business in Vancouver. E-mails and messages on Twitter have also revealed her to be a software engineer, a restaurant franchisee in Florida, and a recently married blue collar laborer that, well... doesn't want to be a blue collar laborer anymore. In short,… 
So, earlier today a reader in Australia suggested that I change the name of this series to "Letters to Rebecca...", which I must admit is a pretty neat idea. Especially since Rebecca and I barely know one another. In fact, I do hope she's reading... since this all started with a two minute conversation about her dance studio a week ago. But there is potentially more to it than that. You see, as this site is now read by extraordinary people in at least… 
So, why am I publishing my personal communications on the Internet? Well, I'm not really... it's just that giving FREE advice fits so nicely with today's Open Source Web 2.0 environment! You see, as you can read in 
Rebecca is a dance instructor who helps people live again. There... how's that for an introduction! When we met last week, she was talking about taking some time off... maybe she and her husband will travel some, and she's planning on investing a good deal of effort on creating a marketing plan for her business over the next few months. Now please understand, she IS NOT a client; just a new friend... kinda like many of you. And while we spent only… 
Anyone who knows me will tell you that October is generally my favorite month of the year. Put Christmas in October and it would be perfect! I LOVE Fall. The sites... the smells... the colors... AND THE TEMPS! Sixty-five degree days... wonderful! Though I must admit, this year's been a little different. You see, the Summer of 2009 was like our traditional Fall, and well... the Fall of 2009 is kinda starting off like early Winter. In fact, thanks to global… 
We were leaving church last night and, well... that's not quite accurate. The truth is that we ran into some dear friends that we haven't seen in a number of weeks, and we stayed and talked until the trustees KICKED US OUT! I know, getting kicked out of church sounds bad... and the truth is, it's not the first time... but alas, I digress. But in the hour or so before being thrown out into the cold (wind chills are in the twenties here tonight), we… 
I guess there are many benefits of leadership that we can fall in love with. One might be the fact that it doesn't discriminate. The positive results of great leadership are the same regardless of race, creed, age, gender, or any of the other protected classes. Or, we may look to the fact that leadership has a natural flow to it. Regardless of where we start, real leaders just tend to rise to the top... providing the necessary influence and… 
I spent a few hours this morning with a friend at a local T.V. studio. You see, Terry also happens to be a client and we met there to edit a television spot for her awesome health food restaurant. Needless to say, it's a great commercial... but then again, how could we miss? After all, not only is her business cutting edge... with an incredible menu, tight relationships with local growers, and the freshest organic produce combined in exclusive… 
Some days you can't help but feel the love! Fifteen years ago, on a Friday night just like tonight... I was finishing up some work at my office about 6:30pm when there was a knock on my door. Outside, a chauffeur waited next to a stretch limousine. "Mr. Buelow," he said, "your presence is requested...". Inside was my newest employee and his wife... with champagne and cigars and dinner reservations for four... for the two of them, and my wife and I. They were… 
