On May 1st, the lens arrived in a heavily padded box. After opening it up, we found the lens to be in perfect condition with all of the accessories that you would find if you purchased it yourself. We took it out and put it in our camera bag so we wouldn’t forget it when the next game came around.

Our first opportunity to use this incredible lens came on a rainy day Lacrosse game for Minisink Valley. While I decided to stay with my Canon 70-200mm, Loretta popped on the 100-400mm and started shooting away. As half time approached, we started comparing shots and I was impressed by how well the lens performed. While not as quick to focus as the 70-200mm, it was still quick enough for what we needed.

Loretta used it a few more times on baseball games and we finally had to part ways this past Friday as our one-week rental period was up. We packaged everything back up in the original box, attached the prepaid sticker to the front and sent it back.

What I liked about BorrowLenses.Com was the fact of how easy it was for us to pick out, reserve, receive, use and return this lens when we needed it most. I think this company is a great resource for photographers who occasionally need a different type of lens for a wedding, event or special shoot and don’t want to fork out thousands of dollars to own something they might not use that often.

I know that we have some weddings coming up this fall and we will definitely be using them again!

Anyways, this past Sunday was Mother’s day and we all took my Mom out to a restaurant called Cheeseburger In Paradise. It reminded me a lot of the Royal Caribbean Cruise we went on at the end of last year and after our last fancy restaurant experience, we decided that a friendlier and more laid back atmosphere was well overdue!

After dinner, we all had a conversation about strange and unusual videos we’ve seen on the web and my brother brought up one about a mother who was caring for her newborn child with one exception … that she had no arms.

After he told the story of what she could do, I decided that I had to see this myself. Check out the video … (more…)

He said,

“My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:

“Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

One email newsletter that I look forward to each week is one written by Jeffrey Gitomer called Sales Caffeine. Its packed with sales articles, personal development tips, Jeffrey’s sales rant and quotes of the week. I signed up for this incredible information after having read Gitomer’s books years ago and finally having a chance to see him while in San Francisco this past February. Though his books may be extremely simple to read, they provide information that anyone can use to improve their life and their careers!

In the newsletter I received this morning, there was a section called Higher Grounds written by Brian Parsley. His story started off with an unexpected, several-hour layover at Chicago airport. Trying to pass the time while waiting, he decided to visit a shoeshine stand operated by an elderly gentleman named Sonny. While shining Brian’s shoes, Sonny shared several pearls of wisdom that I also found to be interesting.

Here are a couple exerpts from the article …

“Flow in Life”: It’s easy to get caught up in life’s drama, whether it’s news, weather, work, politics, or your own personal life. Sonny told me the answer to many of life’s questions are right in front of me, but I’ll never see them unless I “flow.” Instead of focusing on why I was stuck in an airport with no way home, I should have been looking for an opportunity such as the one to learn new philosophies that was only a couple feet away from me. I challenged him with how hard it is to “flow” when you’re having a bad day or things aren’t happening as planned. He reminded me about the only two choices we have to make every day. Do or do not do. If you flow by looking for the answers instead of the doom, you may just find an answer to your problems. Try to “flow in life” more by appreciating the little things. Replace internal complaints with a search for answers in the form of opportunities. When you’re stuck in traffic, call a family member or take the time to listen to something upbeat and motivating. If your appointment has to reschedule, or a customer calls to complain, or your significant other cancels dinner plans — these are opportunities to flow in life.

Do What is Right: Sonny told me people are always searching for happiness and peace. One cause for the absence of this fulfillment comes from within. You are too selfish, too busily engaged in your own life. Self-promotion and ego prevents you from finding true happiness. Whatever your definition for happiness may be, Sonny said quit comparing yourself with others. Make your actions about doing what’s right and not what you think is best for your top priority. How many times have you thought, If only I can get that promotion, I’ll be happy? If you’re looking for things and positions you may never find true happiness. There’s always the next mirage that seems real in your mind but never quite quenches your thirst for happiness. Take time to discover what you can do for others. The best way to begin is by helping a stranger or someone who can do nothing back for you. Doing the right things and taking the right actions will give you something money cannot buy, purpose and happiness.

Even though Brian was only charged four dollars for the service, he gave Sonny an extra twenty for the wisdom he shared. If everyone changed their outlook of the world and did what was right, life could be so much more rewarding for everyone!

After being seated, we were promptly greeted by our waitress and we ordered our first round of drinks; two sodas, two beers and two Mai Tais. And so the wait began. Nearly 15 minutes later and only after asking about their status, did our drinks finally arrive. Loretta and my Mom were the ones that ordered the Mai Tais and after a quick stir and a sip, both were sent back as neither came close to what a Mai Tai should be. Hell, they could have made the brawniest man gringe as the amount of alcohol was just overpowering.

After the drinks were finally resolved, we ordered our appetizers and dinner and continued our conversations. 15 minutes passed - nothing. 20 minutes passed - nothing. 30 minutes passed - nothing. We finally asked for our waitress and when she arrived, we inquired about our appetizers (a salad and two soups) and were told “they’ll be right out”. After waiting another 10 minutes … we were presented with our appetizers. Thankfully, both of the soups were still hot.

As we continued our conversations, finished up the appetizers and drank the last of our drinks, we waited patiently for our meals. It was now nearly 7:45PM and we still hadn’t seen our waitress or our meals. As all of our stomachs grumbled, we began getting a little upset with the way things were being handled. We only caught glimpses of our waitress as she jumped out the door nearest us to grab a few table items and would duck back into the kitchen. Not once did she come over and ask us if we needed anything, if we wanted more to drink or to even apologize that things were taking so long. While the bar was relatively busy, the rest of the restaurant was fairly quiet.

As the time ticked away, our once quiet gathering became one of anger. Finally, my Dad had had enough and asked our waitress where dinner was and why it was taking so long. “It’s almost ready” was her reply. Almost ready? It was 8:15PM at this point. We should have been done with dinner and on our way home by now!

At 8:25PM the first two plates came out. As a courtesy to the rest of us, they held off on starting their meal until everyone had their plate in front of them. We waited and waited and waited. After about 5 minutes, we asked where the reset were and were all extremely surprised by the response. In a curt and somewhat snotty way, our waitress said “I’m doing the best I can as I only have two hands”. Not what I would have expected from such a high end restaurant.

So as this evening’s tradition began … we waited as two plates at a time came out with about a 5 minute break inbetween each delivery. By the time we all had our food, none of us were hungry as we had waited so long that our stomachs ate themselves and were satisfied with just that. However, we all did our best and ate what we could (which amounted to about one quarter of our entire plate). The table was cleaned of our plates and then the kicker was delivered …

Our waitress, after avoiding us for almost the entire night and getting snippy with us earlier, actually asked if we wanted desert. While I won’t go into details, my Dad’s response was enough to tell her no and to get the check as quickly as possible. The bill arrived, was paid and we left promptly. Seeing it was 8:50PM, we had had enough.

Now, I’ve been to similar, fancy restaurants before and while meals do tend to be a bit lengthier … the service has been good enough to fill the gaps and take your mind off your watch. As a business owner myself, this is what gets me …

I understand labor shortages and extremely busy periods, but if you know things are taking longer than they should, don’t hide. Don’t keep your customers in the dark … check on them often and keep them updated as to what is going on. When customers start to assume and wonder, as in our case, the final outcome will become harder to properly fix.

However, what bothered me the most was that our waitress was the restaurant owner’s wife! No matter what kind of day you are having, situation you’ve been placed in or experiences you have dealt with … never do you let the customer see anything other than your ear to ear smile. So I ask, where as customer service gone when the owner’s wife is providing you with less than par service?

Unfortunately, most people do not completely understand what is going on and how it has (or will) affect them in the long run. Many individuals only know that their house prices have fallen, the stock market is shakey and the price of living just keeps on rising. However, if you’re an economic guru like Alan Greenspan or Ben Bernake, then you understand that there is much darker side to this problem.

This morning, I was forwarded a great article that works to explain exactly what the problem is, how it started and what it means for the American people (and global market) in the long run. The article, Choas on Wall Street, was written by Allan Sloan for Fortune and appeared on the CNN Money website.

Here is a quick excerpt from the article …

What in the world is going on here? Why is Washington spending billions to bail out Wall Street titans while leaving struggling homeowners to fend for themselves? Why are the Federal Reserve and the Treasury acting as if they’re afraid the world may come to an end, while the stock market seems much less concerned? And finally, what does all this mean to those of us who aren’t financial professionals?

Be sure to check out the entire article …

The person who knows and knows that he knows - That person is wise, so consult him

The person who knows, but doesn’t know that ke knows - Help that person not forget what he knows

The person who knows not and knows the he knows not - Help teach that person

The person who knows not but pretends that he knows - That person is foolish, so avoid at all costs

A SOCIALIST:
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.

AN AMERICAN REPUBLICAN:
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So what?

AN AMERICAN DEMOCRAT:
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office who tax your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money and buy a cow and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous.

A COMMUNIST:
You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk.

A FASCIST:
You have two cows. The government seizes both and sells you the milk. You join the underground and start a campaign of sabotage.

DEMOCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE:
You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE:
You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE:
You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, then pours the milk down the drain.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them World-Wide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

A BRITISH CORPORATION:
You have two cows. They are mad. They die. Pass the shepherd’s pie, please.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are. You break for lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION:
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.

A BRAZILIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You enter into a partnership with an American corporation. Soon you have 1000 cows and the American corporation declares bankruptcy.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You worship both of them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported on them.

AN ISRAELI CORPORATION:
There are these two Jewish cows, right? They open a milk factory, an ice cream store, and then sell the movie rights. They send their calves to Harvard to become doctors. So, who needs people?

AN ARKANSAS CORPORATION:
You have two cows. That one on the left is kinda cute.

(Post was ripped from JohnCow.Com who stole it from About.Com - Gotta love the net!)

Before I start getting deep into this, let me give you a behind-the-scenes look at why this topic came to mind. I currently consult for a large dealership group in northern New Jersey called the Nielsen Automotive Group. The group consists of a couple Chrysler dealerships, a Ford dealership and a Used Car Center. One of the Chrysler dealers, Franklin Sussex Auto Mall, has always been the leader in the area when it came to marketing and advertising. The General Manager has always had a knack for creating promotions that would draw extremely large crowds (and the attention of the big wigs at Chrysler).

A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to attend the NADA Convention in San Francisco, with the owner and department managers, for the chance to get an inside look at the industry. With all of the booths I visited and all of the classes I sat through, not a single one mentioned anything about blogging. What they did mention (and heavily I might add) was search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising.

Upon returning, the General Manager for Franklin Sussex Auto Mall held a meeting for managers to brainstorm a few ideas on how to improve the dealership’s reach within the community and make each customer’s experience an unforgettable one. When my turn came around, I brought up the blogging idea, explained everything so it was easy for everyone to understand and was subsequently given the go-ahead to experiment with one. This led to the creation of the Franklin Sussex Auto Mall Blog.

I setup the software, installed a basic theme and began gathering articles and stories to publish. Keeping with the idea that we needed to improve the dealership’s reach within the community, I talked with each of the managers so I could gather stories and interesting tidbits from behind-the-scenes. This would lead me to some great testimonials and tips-and-tricks that could be shared. As the articles, tips and testimonials piled up, creating some great content for the dealership, I began to wonder why others weren’t getting into the blogging scene as well …

Blogging is such an easy way to create content that search engines index and display extremely quickly. To prove and monitor that idea, I’ve setup numerous Google alerts on keywords that I would often tag in my articles. Less than five minutes after I’ve created an article, I get a notification that its already been indexed. In less than thirty minutes (depending on the topic), I’ve had huge spikes in traffic. What better way is there to get news and reactions in front of your clients?

With that being said, I needed to find out why more car dealerships weren’t using blogs as a method to get news and information to potential buyers and current customers. Part of the issue stems back to what I was bombarded with in San Francisco. While SEO and SEM are great ways to move your website to the top of the results, what do you do when you’re already at the top for the keywords you need? Do you turn to PPC advertising? When it comes to the automotive industry, I strongly agree with another consultant I work with, Robert Boff, in that car dealers should steer clear of PPC advertising. My reasoning for that is a story for another day …

As I continued my research I found that many car dealers were still in the “Sales Only” mentality. All they seemed to care about was selling a car to reach their numbers and that was it. Their websites gave me no insight into who they were as a dealership or a business … but rather only what they could sell me. Many of them were also way behind the times when it came to technology and understanding its potential. Overall, the biggest thing that held many of them back was the fact that they didn’t want negative feedback about a deal or a delivered vehicle. I found that notion to be extremely interesting.

As a business, would you want customers to complain to you, giving you the chance to correct it … or would you want them to complain to someone else and create a negative vibe about your company? To me, the first of the two options should be the only option!

So to answer the main question of the post, I feel that car dealers should be blogging for many reasons. They should be blogging to create community awareness of what they do and the events/promotions they hold. They should be blogging to give potential customers an insight into who they are as a dealership and as a business. Most importantly, they should be blogging to give those customers, who haven’t had a 100% wonderful experience, a way to vent their problems so they can be corrected quickly. But when blogging, I must caution just one thing … don’t turn it into another “sales pitch” website. Showcasing some of your deals is ok … Talking about cool promotions is ok … but don’t create another website full of ads that scream, “I could care less about you … just buy a car from me because I have huge discounts on everything”

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