The Kindergarten Episode + Win a MacBook Air

Business Brain, the Entrepreneurs show, episode 413 for Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Greetings, folks, and welcome to Business Brain. Or welcome back to Business Brain. If this is your second or greater episode that you are hearing of our show. We are the show where we use our business brains every week. Sometimes for our businesses, sometimes for our personal lives, sometimes for whatever. In fact, we're using our business brains every day. We just get together once a week and talk about it. And yes, I've done it twice in a row now. I lied to you again. I said we weren't coming back this week. I know, I know. But here I am. Here we are one more time. We said we were gonna do the first episode next week, and we just couldn't help ourselves. We gotta. Our business brains never stop. I know. So here in Durham, New Hampshire, I'm Dave Hamilton.

And in Lafayette, California, I'm Shannon Jean.

Yeah, man.

So ready to. We did a super bonus secret episode last week.

Yeah.

And now we're doing.

We're doing it again.

Another top secret surprise episode for the beginning of the year. Which is. Which is great.

It's fascinating. We. We have done. We were gonna do an episode, and yet because of the way we did it, we lied twice and gave our listeners two surprise episodes. So it's fascinating how we were. It's kind of like how the banks that work with the Federal Reserve get to spend the money more than once. It's the same thing. We've done the same thing. I feel like I'm starting. I've learned a thing, Shannon. Like, my mind is open in a way it never has been before. Now the Federal Reserve banks all get to spend the money, like nine times for every dollar. We. We've only been able to do it twice for every episode. And really not every episode, just the one here. But.

But I feel like we're helping do our part for podcast inflation in Podcast inflation.

Yeah. And it. It's not surprising that it is all based upon lies.

Yes. It's not surprising. It's not talking about the government. Correct. That's not. It's not that kind of an episode.

No, it's not that kind of an episode. In fact, it's exactly not that kind of an episode. Yes. Because we want to talk about.

Let me tell you.

Go ahead.

I have a lie story. I have a story about lies that I just want to tell real quick. So we used to do Mac World trade shows. We've done done episodes on trade shows a lot over the years. And so one of Our first trade shows we ever did. We were just dying to get people to sign up for our newsletter. And so of course, we lured them into the booth with a giveaway, which I think we're going to have a giveaway on this show. We're going to talk about a while.

Yeah.

So we lured them in, got their email, had a big thing. We promise, you know, we'll. We'll only contact you to let you know if you won this. I think at that time it might have been ipod. I'll really myself. And so got thousands of signups, which was great. You know, the ipod was kind of new. And so I sent out the first. I signed. Of course I lied. I signed everybody up for the newsletter, but the subject line was, you know, I lied. Yeah, you know, I lied to you. I just had to reach out to you. Da, da, da. And surprisingly enough, if I recall, we only had about 10% of the people unsubscribe. So we were able to start a new newsletter with a few thousand subscribers. So sometimes, you know, joking around and lying for the benefit of other people, because of course, I thought it would benefit them.

Yeah.

To keep in touch. So sometimes it could be a good thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we can like our lives here. It's interesting. We chose to do this extra episode on weeks where we didn't have any sponsors booked. So, you know, it's not like we're doing this, like, open it up. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we don't do the. We do the show, and then we're also able to make money from our sponsors with the show, and we're very happy to have our sponsors, but we did not create this show with the sole purpose of getting sponsored dollars. We created this show.

We did not.

Yeah. Almost eight years ago. Because we wanted. We love talking about this stuff, and we figured we might as well record it and let you hear. That's really what it comes down to. Yeah. We're gonna have conversations anyway. Yeah. Yes.

Whether you're listening to us or not, you know, and we. I talk about this stuff all the time, whether I'm on the podcast or not. And it's great. I enjoy it. I. I've always said from day one, I learned the most on this show, especially, you know, over the years, that I've learned tremendous amount. Many of the things that we've learned and that we put to use every day, we learned in. You call them the kindergarten lessons.

Oh, man. It just. I'm gonna. We are gonna tell you probably, hopefully things that you already know. But it's good to be reminded of these things. And if you don't know them well, then even better that, then this episode just got more valuable for you. But these lessons that we learned in kindergarten are perhaps the least expensive way to get ahead in life because so many people don't use them. And what I'm specifically talking about is please and thank you. These are super easy things to say. They cost you nothing unless there's some ego reason that you don't want to say please or thank you in a given scenario. And if I would, I would say to all of us. And I mean, I certainly say this to myself if I find myself. If I find my ego stopping me from saying please or thank you, that's a me problem. I need to look at that correct, figure that out. And I certainly have. I'm not a perfect human by any stretch of the imagination. Oh, sure. But most. So many people don't say please and thank you. I was out. I, you know, I've, I've, I've mentioned many times how going out to eat with someone is a great litmus test, especially if you're bringing them on, you know, potentially bringing him on as an employee or something. Watching for those cues of how they treat wait staff, which unfortunately is a group of people that are seen as, by some as not needing to be treated like humans because they're. They're doing a job. And I was out to eat for, with a friend of mine, and he placed his order and just said, you know, I'll have the whatever, the tuna roll or something. And then off they went, you know, to fetch him his tuna roll. And I said, hey, man, you know, like, you got to say please and thank you to these people. And he's like, why would I need to say please? I'm paying them to do their job. And I was just taken aback. Like, it literally took my breath away. And I'm like, yeah, what does it cost you to say that and think about what you might get out of this? I mean, there's the obvious one that most people come up with, which is, well, if you don't say please, they might spit in your food. Right. I like to think that people are generally good and that most people aren't spitting in my food, even if I overlook and forget to say please. Absolutely. But there is that. But there's also just, well, maybe they. Maybe no one has said please or thank you to them all day, and you get to be the one and you set yourself apart and then there's potentially some benefits. I don't do it because of those benefits. I do it because it costs me nothing and it might make someone else feel good. That's really the beginning and end of it. But I will tell you, every time I get on an airplane, first of all, I know they're profiling me. Flight attendants and cabin crew are trained to profile you as you get on the plane. That's why they say hello to you. And so I engage with them and I say hello. I ask them some question. If I can't think of something specific to ask, I ask, are you beginning your day here or whatever, asking some question about themselves that they can then talk to me? And I'm going to listen to them and respond to whatever they say. And I would say maybe 20% of the time, it's not every time, 20% of the time, if there's a meal left over in first class, guess, guess which guy with two thumbs gets it. Yeah, me.

That's right.

Because. Or they bring me, you know, I've had them bring me like a big bag of like, you know, pretzels or candy or whatever. Like they just want to do something nice because a human, like, made a connection. It's really. And it's good practice, too.

Well, not only, you know, I have this concept that. And it's a system and it's kind of a trick. You know, when you go into a room or you walk into a restaurant or get on a plane, you can lift up the people that are around you or you can bring them down.

Yes.

And when you lift people up, they're drawn to you and they're attracted to you and they want to be around you. They want to do things for you, just like you described. If they happen to be your employees, they often start doing things for you. Not because. Just because you pay them and certainly, you know, God forbid, because they fear you, but the way you treat people and that please and thank you and, you know, recognizing no matter who it is and what they're doing for you, the fact that they're doing something for you, it's a game changer. And if you adopt that system, you'll find yourself using it. And you can help train your employees to use it. I hope you trained your kids to use it because they'll have a upper hand on so many other folks that haven't learned that tiny trick. And I've been around folks that it's not even part of the vocabulary. And people's kids, great friends of mine that I Know that kids don't just. It's not in their lexicon of please and thank you and that kind of thing. And it's so easy, and it can be so impactful on other people's life. But what may be the most important to you on your own life?

Yeah. If you want to be selfish about it, you can be, because you will notice it. In fact, that friend that happened maybe eight or 10 years ago, I was with that friend earlier this year, and I noticed him saying please and thank you to people. And I commented on it, and he's like, yeah, I remembered what you said. And I. I finally started sort of incorporating it recently. He's like, you know, the last couple of months into my daily routines, it's like, it's amazing how much it changes everyone around you. I'm like, yep, pretty easy. You make your life better, even if it's just that you're dealing with, you know, people who are slightly happier. You know, it's a key to the charmed life. I. Every time I get in an Uber now, I know they're gonna rate me because I'm gonna rate them. It's how it works. Yeah, right. So when I get into an Uber, the very. I start a conversation with them and I make it about them, because those are the easiest conversations to have. Cause then they chit chat, and I just get to sit, you know, and chill. And the first thing I ask again, if I can't come up with anything, I have a default. And it is, hey, so how long have you been driving for Uber? You know, and then how do you like it? And if I notice that they have the lift sign in the car, I ask, oh, you know, which one do you like better? And just keep asking them questions about themselves. People love to talk about themselves. Look at me, I'm talking about myself right here.

I love it.

Yep.

Yeah, it's great. But, yeah, and, you know, for yourself, and also, you know, as. As small business owners, you're going to encounter lots of employees that come to you that haven't had that simple training or haven't had it, you know, just kind of built in or baked in over the years from either a parent or another mentor or a different job. And. And you want to help them do that, especially if they're younger folks. You know, I had a lot of young technicians I hired over the year and over the years, and you. You have to kind of bring some of them into that and have this conversation with them and explain why it's so important and and you got to coach them because it'll change their life as well. It'll, it'll make the lives of your customers better and it'll make your life better, you know, in the long run.

I agree. Yeah. Yeah. And a big. I know we've sort of included it in each of the examples that we've talked about here, but a big part of this is, is listening as well. You know, saying please and thank you, that's sort of table stakes as far as I'm concerned. But yeah, listening and truly listening, not waiting to speak. And there's a difference there. And I think we all know when we're doing one versus the other. But yeah, that listening thing is key just to making people feel heard. We all want to feel heard.

Yeah, we do. I think it's a critically important thing that's often overlooked and it's the foundation for so many other of the positive things that, that we've talked about, you know, over the years of, of doing these things. And as business owners and people that I look at it, it's our responsibility to be positive, be optimistic, help lift these people up that are coming to help us make sure our customers and clients get a piece of that as well. And it all starts with that simple foundation. And I couldn't think of a better way to start the year. Even though it's a top secret extra bonus episode that we weren't going to record, I think it's great that we're off with something so simple. It's a great system for success.

I agree. So, hey, you mentioned we can't leave because we don't want to lie a third time. But this giveaway, this idea of a giveaway here. Yeah, yeah. Before we go. Yeah.

So, yeah, we want to hear from you. We, we've, we put out a, a call for feedback, you know, a month or so ago. Got some great, you know, questions and comments that really helped us develop a few episodes. And then we got some great follow up from those same people that were like, oh, thank you for featuring my question. And you really helped me figure this out, which is awesome. One of the big reasons why we do this show. So we want to encourage that more. So this year we're going to be giving away a MacBook Air and the way you will be entered. And please correct me, Dave, if I make a misstep on describing this, because I think this is how we decided if you listen.

So I will pay attention. Attention. Yes.

Perfect. If you send in a question, a comment, a referral, a resource and we feature your feedback or whatever it is you send in on the show. We will enter you in to win a new MacBook Pro, or, I'm sorry, MacBook Air. And we're going to do that all through 2023. You know, we do one episode a week. So the, the odds as we feature, you know, some of these questions and comments, it could be one of the best contests you've ever entered in your life as far as the odds, because we won't have a ton of them.

But, yeah, cost you. Cost you nothing other than your attention and, and, and some ideas. And you can send them to feedbackusinessbrain show, you can tweet us at bizbrain show, you can send us a, you know, a comment on Facebook where however you want to get in touch with us. But yes, the metric to hit is that it's something we choose to feature in the show. It could be a question that we spend 10 minutes talking about. It could be a resource that we spend 20 seconds talking about. Both of those count the same. They are a submission that we have featured in the show. That's all it takes.

And we'll keep track of those. And as we get to the end of 2023, we'll announce a lucky winner on the show and we'll see how everything goes. But that feedback is really important. It motivates Dave and I and it makes the show better for everyone else.

That's how it works. So you motivate us, we motivate you. It's all good. Speaking of listening, thank you for listening, folks. We appreciate it. We're looking forward to a fun 2023 where we're learning together, building systems and all that good stuff. So make sure you check us out. Stay subscribed to tell your friends about the show. Anything else to add to that, Shannon?

No. I hope everybody's off to a, you know, great new year, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Keep living that charmed life, folks. We'll see you next week.