Darius' Blog

Fundamentals

In many cases peewee sports are the happiest time in a child’s life.

This is because peewee sports are all about having fun.

There’s no business, no strain, just complete and unconditional fun.

There isn’t even any work involved, because at a young age running around and playing with friends is just something kids can do for hours.

Again as kids, it’s all fun and games – and the main reason playing makes us so happy is because “we don’t know any better.”

Our hearts pure, innocent so all we can see is what makes us feels good. There’s no logic, no thought process, only feelings.

Now what if there was a way for you to get back to those feelings?

Imagine being able to go to work and not worry about how slow the day is going or how boring your job is.

Happiness is nothing but a ‘play time’ away.

It’s all about FUNDAMENTALS.

In peewee sport’s, coaches teach their players two main things: #1 basics of the game and #2 always remember to have fun.

The best part about it is that the players only focus on those two things and NOTHING else.

So the thought process is minimal but the focus is centered.

This is what always kids to truly have fun.

So as adults we can achieve this by relearning the basics.

Stop thinking and processing too much and start focusing on the fundamentals.

Remember it’s all about doing your job and having fun in the process.

Get back to your roots and be a kid!!!

Am I Right???

Base-hitter or homerun slugger?

I read an article the other day that said there are two types of entrepreneurs in the business world, base-hitters and homerun sluggers.

If you know a little bit about baseball, you know that base-hitters are supposed to do exactly that – get on base. Their sole purpose is to get on base by any means necessary.

Homerun sluggers are supposed to drive everyone in front of them home. Hit the homerun so all the base-hitters can stroll on in to home plate. They live and die by swinging or the fence.

So in thinking about myself I have determined that I am a homerun slugger.

When I go up to the plate one of two things is happening, I’m either hitting a homerun or I’m getting out. Period.

There’s no in between with me.

In business terms this is great because there is no gray area.

There’s no need for you to wonder what you’re going to get from me or my company.

It’s all or nothing with us.

Take for example the Oprah show audition.

We set out to produce the best video in the whole competition.

We ended up shooting 5 hours worth of footage for a 3 min piece.

If you haven’t seen our audition yet, here’s a link to the video - http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=4882&promo_id=1

So are you a homerun slugger or a base-hitter? Why?

Oprah Guerilla Marketing

We took The Darius Walker Show to the streets. Click the link to see the footage -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNI8WQPjw-E

Oprah show contest Update

So we submitted a video to Oprah for an opportunity to have our own show on her new network.

Late last night we surpassed the 10,000+ votes after four days.

We are very excited about this because it is one step closer to our goal of 1 million votes.

Social media has been a major factor in our marketing success for this campaign as we have be using as aggressive strategy via Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Myspace.

The most difficult part is most likely getting people to vote more than once.

The natural reaction is to vote one time but with this particular contest individuals can vote as many times as they want.

We are truly having a lot of fun with this one.

We are thinking to use some guerilla marketing strategies in the near future.

What are some other ways we can spread the word??  

Oprah Show contest

The great Oprah Winfrey is doing it again. She is helping people in the world live their dreams!!

She is going after the next big TV star American Idol style.

There are open auditions and online voting to find out who in the world deserves to have their own television show.

Ironically for me, having my own TV show would be a dream come true.

So yesterday I decided to join the hunt and submitted a video online on oprah.com.

Instead of just talking about myself, I decided to give a quick example of what my show would be like.

Guidelines say that a video can be no longer than 3 minutes (mine is 2:56).

Now in some cases 3 minutes can seem like a long time to talk about yourself but when you’re trying to give an example of a ‘real’ show, it’s hard to get it all done in 3 minutes.

And I wanted to interview a few other people (besides myself) so time was definitely going to be a factor.

Luckily for me, a friend of mine, Esau Logan ,his cousin (Coley Davis) is a genius at setting up scenes and even has manufactured his own green screen room.

Now for those of you who don’t know much about TV production, green screens may be the single most important of a shoot.

I don’t know all the technology behind it, but with a green screen an editor can put practically ANYTHING behind you.

And I do mean ANYTHING.

Combine this with super executive producing by Esau and a small contribution from myself and you have "The Darius Walker Show."

The show is about men. Period

But the flip side is, the show will be women and family oriented.

Now I won't bore you with all our ideas for the show but to make a long story short we shot scenes for an entire day just to get a 3 minute segment.

I like to think that it turned out great especially since none of us are professionals.

The best part for me is that my idea was realized and small part of my vision is out there for the world to see.

Here’s a link to the video – http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=4882&promo_id=1

I hope you vote and vote often for it (because there are no limits to how many times you can vote) but most of all I hope you enjoy it.

And please let me know how the idea can be improved.

Thanks for watching J

Motivate to be motivated

So I have a close friend who has been sending out chain messages the last two months.

Now not only is it impressive that he has been doing this every day consistently, but the messages are not just any old messages.

They are every bit inspirational.

Here’s the one from today “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”

Yesterday’s was “Take control of your future by 1^st becoming mindful of the foods and medicines you eat and take. Our body talks to us, we just have to listen.”

My friend calls these messages “Morning or Afternoon Vitamins” depending on the time of day that he sends.

I get so much joy out of these messages that if I don’t get one in the morning, I’ll send him a text expressing my need for inspiration.

But no matter what, my friend always delivers something uplifting.

I used to wonder why he does this. Why is he so persistent about finding a quote and sending it out to friends?

Then I realized the easiest way to be motivated, is to motivate others.

When people around us are inspired, our own hearts fill with hope of new beginnings (especially those close to us).

Life is so much better when you can believe that tomorrow will be a brighter day and that the past is exactly that, the past.

So as we push on from day to day it’s best to have hope in hearts and when we fall, it should be our friends who should be there first.

I hope this post doesn’t make me sound like a motivational speaker – cause that’s not what I’m trying to do.

I’m just being honest.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes “Repeat to yourself every morning. I will be successful, even though the world expects me to fail.”

What’s one of your favorite quotes??

Logic: to go up, you must take one step at a time

Too many businesses get impatient.  Every company strives the big the elephant in the room.

But what most don’t realize is that before you can the big DAWG you have to be a small pup.  You have to grow your company up and to do so, take one step at a time.

Think of athletes for a second. 

Why is it that every time a new guy steps onto the scene he says “oh yea we played well but we’re just gonna take it one game at a time?”

Besides media training professionals coaching athletes to say this, it is in fact the truth.

There’s no way in business to get a 100 clients at once you have to gradually pick up more and more. So instead of focusing on 10 try focusing on 1. Only after you close a deal should you be working on the next one.

It’s logic and its common sense – only problem is common sense isn’t as ‘common’ as it used to be.

What do you think?

Whats the most productive thing you can do?

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy for me. My company is going through a business model transition and ‘brand’ Darius is beginning to take off via speaking engagements.

 I find myself thinking every morning thinking what’s the most productive thing I can do today? Is it checking email? Responding to email? Relaxing? Strategizing? Creative thinking?

 In most cases I think the most productive thing to do would be to go back to sleep. (Sometimes I even do that) Point is we all need to map out our days.

Now I’m not a big fan of “To Do Lists” but in some ways it is a great way to stay organized and productive. For instance, one of the main reasons I’m blogging right now (besides being away from the blogging scene for a few weeks) is because I put it on my event calendar.

 So I basically told myself no matter how busy I got today, I was going to post a blog. And as I am writing this I am scratching it off of my list – I guess I’m being productive.

So instead of trying to get more things done in a day, why not try to be more productive?

Productivity is what we all should strive for unless there’s something else that’s more important?

What’s the most productive thing you can do?

Sticks and stones may break my bones......

Remember the old kinder garden saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”?

Let’s explore the meaning of this statement a little bit.  When kids say this what they actually mean is that no matter what you ‘say’ you cannot hurt their feelings.  

Now this was cool when we were too young to know any better but the older you get, the more you realize words hurt.

What people say about us does matter. In fact, your reputation has so much value that it not only defines who you are but it alone can determine whether or not you get a job, a loan, or a date.

 You see as people we judge.  We stereotype each other all of the time and God forbid we hear a ‘rumor’ – as if we needed another excuse to gossip.  

So as soon as we lose the kinder garden mindset and understand that people are going to ‘talk’, the question is, is what their saying about you going to be positive or negative?

This goes for men, women, people, and especially brands.

Take Dell computers for example. Here’s a company that is worth billions of dollars.  A few years ago a guy by the name of Jeff Jarvis disrupted the company with a series of blog posts. He called the posts “Dell Hell”.

Now to make a long story short, this caused a major problem for Dell.  All the negative publicity impacted market share and profits.

Interestingly this is just one person with a problem, could you imagine the affect that many people would have?

Point is, people are going to say something about you.  The best thing for you to do is join in the conversation.  Have an ‘active’ role in the discussion so people can get the real you.

Dell finally did it and regained market share.  The trick is to not let it fall in the first place.

Can you dig it?

Give me MORE

Yesterday I decided to partake in the $10 anyway you want pizza deal at Pizza Hut.  I order a thin crust pepperoni pizza with extra sauce. I told Matt (the guy who took my order) that I wanted extra, extra, sauce and then double that.  He laughed and said he understood exactly what I wanted.

So I patiently wanted 30 min for this pizza to come.  When the door bell rang, I ran downstairs to greet the delivery man – I did so with a smile and few extra dollars for tip.

Now I must point out that I have ordered pizza maybe a hundred of times with the same expectations – an edible pizza with good ingredients.  So when it comes to pizza I am not hard to please.

But when I opened this pizza box and looked at my product, I was amazed. The pizza was piled with pepperoni and even more sauce.  It was steaming hot and the cheese was flowing like a river stream.

I didn’t hesitate in taking my first bite and let me tell you it was….. Heaven.  Right away, I mean instantly, I knew it was the best pizza I had ever eaten.

Think about your favorite food and multiply the taste of that by about 100.  I am not lying to you when I say the product was that GOOD.

Now there are many reasons as to why this experience was the best ever.  For one, I got EXACTLY what I asked for.  But to take it further, my expectations were exceeded.

This experience was so good that I called Matt (Pizza Hut) back to say Thank You. I told Matt that I truly appreciated the product.  I even asked him how I could comment or tell people about my experience.  He told me about calling in and rating their location – which I did immediately.

So because of this one extraordinary experience I will not only buy from Pizza Hut again but I am writing about this in a blog post.  This is a prime example of what going above and beyond can do for a company. 

Many marketers will tell you that word-of-mouth is the best type of marketing.  But in order to use this type of marketing you have give people something to talk about.  The best way to do that is to give them EXACTLY what they want.

There is nothing better than receiving what you asked for because ironically (as consumers) we rarely get it.  The sooner companies figure out exactly what their target audience wants the better their brand they will have.

Wanna know a few companies that have figured this out? – Coke, BMW, and now in my opinion Pizza Hut.

Are there any others? If so, why do they deserve elite status?