I was shooting the shit (AKA. Talking) with a buddy of mine, in my office today. We started talking about business and happiness. The conversation was started by him recognizing my chalk board walls and the writing that is on them. (my wife and I painted 50% of the walls in our office with chalkboard paint to help us visually layout our ideas and thoughts everyday)
This particular section of the wall was designated for our “Star Customers”, the customers that do everything right and then some. This list is ongoing and ever changing to help us identify what makes up our Star customers and how we can get more of them.

For us, a Star customer recognizes growth potential in themselves and their business, they want to learn and better themselves rather than having someone spoon feed them everything. Knowing this, we can manipulate our current business systems to reward these Star customers. This is not standard business logic, “rewarding customers, it will never work, we’ll lose money on that”, says corporate America.

We’re starting to see this ‘new agey’ business logic with a lot of young business owners because they’ve seen how happy customers (and employees) make for an extremely profitable and Happy business.

Maybe I’m noticing this new model in more businesses recently because I’m reading Tony Hsieh’s (CEO of Zappos) new book, “Delivering Happiness” (http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com), which is absolutely incredibly! This book is an overview of Tony’s life (Personally & Professionally), with his wins and losses along the way. He’s inspired me to be better at focusing on happiness instead of money, and then the money will take care of itself.

I’m striving to make every business I’m involved with a true success (according to my customers and employees), not Gross Profits. My wife & I are super passionate about this and challenge you to look at life this way. Take a look at Tony’s new book and tell us what you get of it, here’s the Amazon link if you’d like to buy it and check it out (http://www.amazon.com/deliveringhappiness).

Make others Happy in Life and you will be too!
Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

This is a really interesting question, part of me believes that we’d like to know everything that’s going on in our world…but I’m not so sure if most people really do want to know some of the shitty stuff that happens out there...

‘Is Ignorance Bliss‘…to you?
If you don’t know, try asking yourself the questions below and see if you can come up with an honest answer for each one (would you really want to know?).
- Would you want to know if everything you’ve “known” about Your religion turned out to be a farce, made up by people in power for control?
- Would you want to know if the majority of wars were started to help a few individuals/companies make an extra buck?
- Would you want to know if our government was corrupt to the core?
- Would you want to know if your significant other has been cheating on you?
- Would you want to know if you’re favorite athlete or movie star had been manipulating the system (with drugs, steroids, breaking the law, sleeping their way to the top (AKA. Sex for Success), etc.) to make them who they are today?
- Would you want to know every person that dislikes you and why they do?
- Would you want to know if the life you have lived up until now has been a total lie and is orchestrated by someone else?

If you answered no to any of these questions than you’ve decided that ignorance is bliss you in some circumstances. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, I just wonder why we as humans don’t want to know the 100% truth all of the time, shouldn’t that make us better people? Can we be our best without knowing the truth?

I don’t have an answer to these questions yet, it was just a thought I had the other day and I wanted to get other peoples’ take on it all.
What are your thoughts? Is there something wrong with the ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ mentality or do we need it to stay sane in our world of chaos?

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you & have an Awesome Day (Even if you really don’t want to know what’s happening during the day today …I’m Kidding!
~Chais Meyer

About a month ago I met this guy named Tyler Wilterding (here’s his facebook page), a New pastor at a New Church plant in Kearney, Nebraska (the Church is called “The Table”).

I’m generally turned off by pastors and the standardization of organized religion because of what it all stands for…I realize that not every organized religion or church is the same, or even close in some cases, but I feel when the idea of ‘togetherness’ is to believe the “I’m right, you’re wrong and you’re going to burn Forever unless you follow my way of believing…” message, I don’t really belong.

My God is different than that, not pushy, arrogant or right until the very end…in my opinion, those things are not the vision I have of what/who God is.
This is probably why I felt comfortable around Tyler right away, he didn’t push me in any direction, he let me share my viewpoints and didn’t argue anything with me, he treated me like what I imagine the Biblical Jesus Christ is supposed to represent…Love!

Tyler asked me to have lunch with him and pick my brain about beliefs, the local Kearney people and to get my idea of where the 20 something’s mindsets are when it comes to religion. I pre-warned him that I’m not an expert on any topic and I just have my opinions to share…that’s it. He was okay with this so we had a beer and burger for lunch (that’s how it should be, drinking a beer with a pastor at lunch time…) and discussed all of the above.
Tyler mentioned to me that he wasn’t happy with his website and I felt okay telling him that I also thought it looked like crap and that I’d be glad to help him set up a new one.

He paid the basic fees (like $50 – $70) and I configured / set up the new site for him. He’s been managing his new website (http://www.thetablekearney.com) for about a week now, and I’m happy that he’s happy with the results.
For the work that I did for him, we would normally charge a customer $2,200/year to do the same thing…all I wanted of him is to pay it forward to someone else that needs something. Wouldn’t our world be better if these type of ‘pay it forward actions’ were done all of the time? Could we do one remarkable thing for someone every month, week or even day, without asking anything in return?

Think about how you can help someone with a talent that you already have, after you decide on a couple things that you can do to help,  just make them happen…don’t put to much thought into it…you may think your way out of helping someone because of the time and/or energy commitment it may take to get the tasks completed…just do it!

Thank you for reading and have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

:: [Update: Tyler has since gifted me with 2 frisbee golf discs and a $20 gift certificate to a local restaurant. Thanks Tyler!

The story of charity: water - The 2009 September Campaign Trailer from charity: water on Vimeo.

Last week I was at a conference of young entrepreneurs in Omaha, Nebraska and I heard a talk from Scott Harrison.

Scott is the founder of Charity: Water, he shared and explained with us the situation of water, or the lack of water, for hundreds of millions of people living on this earth.

I don’t normally rally behind fund raising campaigns because I feel like there are so many unknowns about the projects…Where’s the money actually going, how’s it actually getting spent, and who is in charge? After hearing Scott’s stories, reading on this website and learning about the situation myself, my wife and I decided to do something to help.

We get fresh drinking water everyday and we don’t think anything about it. We don’t ever stop to think about the people out there (near 1 billion people) that don’t have this privilege! If we can start a small page on the web and donate $20 to help one person have fresh drinking water for 20 years…Why wouldn’t we?

If not us, then who? If not today then when?

Start making a difference today and help change other people’s lives forever! Donate Here.

Thank you very much for reading this post and have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

:: Please let us know what you’ve heard about this company and we’ll talk to you soon!

This Blast from the past is one that helped me develop my marketing mind. It brought to my attention that I need to think about who’s listening to my story, instead of how great I think my story is. Take a look and tell me your thoughts. (This post was originally written on October, 1st 2007)

Marketing (in the form of advertising) affects who it affects…

Words following this statement might be something like this:
Duh…
No, Really…
Wow, That’s deep (with a hint of sarcasm)…

But it is so true and simple that we (especially myself) forget about it.

I was with my mom watching television last week and we saw an Alltel (cell provider) commercial that has the 4 guys (they represent the other cell phone companies) and “Chad” (from Alltel). The four guys always do something silly or stupid to make Alltel look like a better company. My mom loves these commercials (absolutely loves them…) and I…not so much.

So, I think to myself that this commercial is a waste of time and money and that if I were to do it, I would do them a different way (I don’t know everything about commercials, but I know my own tastes and what effects me). The interesting part is that my mom loves it the way it is, maybe my way wouldn’t effect the people that it currently does in a positive way.

Using myself and my views as a basis to judge whether all marketing is good or bad, is an incomplete way of looking at it. I need to view it (marketing) from other’s points of view (my mom and people like her), as well as from my own. This combined point of view is the middle ground that every non niche company tries to find. It requires more work and is more time consuming, but it is the area that I need to be shooting for.

What I learned:
1. Look into marketing deeper (my own, other company’s and individual’s)
2. Don’t judge what works or doesn’t off of 30 seconds of thought (I need to push myself to grow).
3. Don’t forget about the customers / partners / investors that don’t think like me!

I hope you enjoyed this Blast from the past & have an Amazing Day!
~Chais Meyer

I just watched a talk about Happiness by Professor Srikumar S. Rao and Loved how simple/right on his concept of happiness is!

This talk intrigues me because of how we deal with happiness day in and day out and what the majority of us thinks creates ‘real’ happiness.
We put conditional elements of happiness into a little imaginary box (This box could include any number of things; A new job, getting married, a promotion at work, the house our dreams, the perfect vacation, etc.) and we say to ourselves, “If only I can get that little box (no matter the time or sacrifice), then I will be truly happy”.

I don’t believe that the statement above is totally negative, we should have goals, dreams and ambitions…but these obtainables shouldn’t be the definition of Happiness in our lives.
We need to learn how to be happy, even if we have nothing ‘special’ to speak of.

When happiness is dependent on the if/then statement, we set ourselves up to live an unfulfilling & depressing life…Be careful, because this could be a very poisonous mindset!
Let your daily happiness drive you to be a better & more full person.
Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

…is an amazing line in the film “Lemonade“.

It is so true that we can take what life throws our way and just see negative side affects. If we look deep enough into our individual situations we WILL find good.
In fact, the good will very much out way the bad, after we get over the initial shock!

If you can, please take 35 minutes, and watch this inspirational film about turning Lemons into ‘Lemonade’!
It’s worth missing one of your favorite TV episodes for.

Live with Passion & don’t forget what you love!
Have a great Day!
~Chais Meyer

Resources from the Film:

• The Lemonade Website: (for additional details about the movie) http://www.lemonademovie.com/
• The Male Copywriter Website: http://www.malecopywriter.com/
• Please Feed the Animals Blog: http://www.pleasefeedtheanimals.com/
• Red Eye Roasters Website: http://www.redeyeroasters.com/

Think about reading your favorite book, watching your favorite movie, riding your favorite carnival ride and now think about adding additional enjoyable senses to these experiences and how it could possibly alter them (ie. your favorite smell, taste, music, etc.).

I just experienced this today as I was reading a free e-book (What Matters Now) by one of my favorite authors, Seth Godin, and listening to one of my favorite musical artists (Explosions in the Sky – Album “The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place“).
Seth Godin by himself is always a good read, but while adding the very emotional experience of ‘Explosions in the Sky’ at the same time, this was a completely different than just a book itself. A very positive difference!

The gracefulness of the music amplified the emotion of the book, making me feel like I was connected to every word that flowed from the author. Intense, overwhelming, and touching!

I challenge you to try this for yourself. Choose two separate things that you love (they need to entertain at least 2 different senses) and experience them at the same time. Take some time, soak it in and enjoy.

Until next time, have an Awesome Day!
Chais Meyer

After a recent technological disaster, I realized that there really is a HUGE difference between skill and luck (and I’ve been lucky A LOT).

I took on a project for a local Doctor and I came up severally short! I was asked by this doctor to JailBreak his iPhone (allowing it to work on a competitor to AT&T’s phone network)…
This is normally no big deal and I’ve ALWAYS come out ahead on technology projects like this, without a flinch! To help somebody Jailbreak their iPhone, I charge $150 for the knowledge, actually  JailBreaking it, and filling in the voids that Jailbroken software has for the iPhone; I make them work like they should.

For people that understand technology, especially when it comes to iPhone Jailbreaks, this is NOT a very complicated task. The really smart people out there are the ones that come up with the Jailbreaking software in the first place, guys like me just use their knowledge to benefit from (of course I am actually providing a good service to people that don’t feel comfortable doing it to their phones in the first place).

So why did I find out that there’s such a big difference between skill and luck? Well, I’ve always taken for granted the skills that goes into creating this Jailbreaking software (A new jailbreak is created every time a new version of the iPhone software comes out…that’s how it works, they stay in sync). I’ve always assumed that whenever a new version of the iPhone software comes out, there will always be people smarter than Apple and they will go ahead and create a iPhone fix for us everyday folk.
On this day, my mindset was no different and I decided to upgrade this customer’s iPhone to the latest Apple Software. I figured that a Jailbreak had already been created and it would be pud for me to go to the next step. I upgraded the iPhone to 3.1.3 and then proceeded to look for the matching Jailbreak software…I started having trouble finding the appropriate software I needed, so I dug a little deeper. Before I knew it, I’d been researching on the internet for 2 hours for a fix and I realized a fix DOESN’T EXIST!

No problem right? I can just undo what I’ve done and go to an older version of this fix…right? WRONG! This particular iPhone software upgrade changes things inside the phone that CAN NOT be undone! THERE IS NO FIX OUT THERE! Even the biggest brains in the iPhone tech world are saying that they’re not sure if this version of the iPhone software will ever be able to be Jailbroken.

What does this mean to me? What does this mean for this Doctor who put the fate of his iPhone in my hands?
It means that I fucked up…big time! I made a completely Rookie mistake by upgrading the iPhone before knowing if there was a fix out there! This Doctor CAN NO LONGER use this $600 phone for an unknown amount of time…it is essentially an iPod now. All because I thought I was skilled in iPhone Jailbreaks, because I’ve never messed before, I thought I was invincible!

At that moment I realized there’s a BIG difference between Skill & Luck!
I had been extremely lucky at every point until that moment. Luck, that relied on other peoples skill to make the impossible possible!

I still am not able to fix this guy’s iPhone, and I don’t know if I will ever be able to. I may have to buy this $600 piece of equipment from him (because I jumped the gun on a very simple thing)!
I learned a very important lesson that day, Never jump into something just because you haven’t failed at it before…Make sure to do your research, which allows you to under promise and over deliver!

Please learn from my mistake(s): Know what you’re talking about and know what process goes into accomplishing ‘your goals’…before you find yourself in a sticky situation!

Thanks for reading and hopefully learning!
Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer

This past year I’ve been doing contract labor (creating/building an educational system and identity) for a local electronics business that I used to work at, called Computer Hardware (while we’ve been building our own businesses). I’ve done what I was brought on board to do and now I’m going on my way again.

‘Going on my way again’ seems to be a little more scary this time than it was the first time. I’m not exactly sure why…maybe it’s because I’ve become accustom to the monthly paychecks that I’ve been getting for my services. Or maybe because I’m thinking like every other employee again (ARGH…) & I’m scared to leave a “secure” job to rely 100% on myself.

It appears to me that the ‘employee mentality’ creates a sense of fear & stagnancy that needs to be broken away from in order to enjoy life to the fullest (for me anyway). When I rely on an outside business (not my own) as the source for my main income, I forget to push/challenge myself to be the best I can be. I become ‘comfortable’ with how things are, and it becomes nerve wracking to walk away from the easy money.
Why do I call it ‘easy money’? Because, working for someone else (even as a contract employee) I get paid even during the shitty months when the business may not make a profit; it’s the owners responsibility to come up with the money for his employees!
What happens when I have a shitty month with my own businesses? I go hungry or I don’t pay my bills on time! A little different way of thinking & living.

Since I’m going to be relying solely on myself again, I need to take a new look at my life and prioritize which businesses will provide me with actual monthly Cashflow and which businesses are a good idea for the future (AKA. Time suckers that provide no cheddar right away). Don’t worry, I’ll share this with you!

This new phase of business has happened before and I’m on Round #2, with more experience, knowledge, and determination than ever before. Now is the time that I need to prove to myself that I can apply everything I’ve learned and fought for to become more successful than ever.

Bring it on Round #2, Just Be Gentle!

Believe in yourself and make the best of EVERY situation, even if that means working 12-16 hour days to make it happen (I most likely will be…).

Have an Awesome Day!
~Chais Meyer