Ben’s Words to Live By — DeWese
March 2006
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Around here there’s not much to make us Philadelphians proud. The Eagles break our hearts. The Sixers never quite make it. Our Phillies ebb and flow, mostly ebb.
We do have Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell—old stuff that makes us proud.
Speaking of old historic stuff, we are most proud of Benjamin Franklin, who was a local Philadelphia-based PRINTER! A printer! He celebrated his 300th birthday on January 17, 2006. Ben was honored in all of our local newspapers and was featured in some great television documentaries.
The printing industry, however, failed to honor this great American hero who was first a printer, but also the penultimate Renaissance Man (Marvelle Stump, this means Ben Franklin could do a lot of things real good). The printing industry needs positive press and we failed to celebrate Ben’s birthday.
Franklin invented several things that we use today. He sold a lot of printing but, more importantly, he sold the rich French government on supporting our rag tag troops in the Revolutionary War.
Smooth Operator
Ben was a charmer who sold a multitude of beautiful women on entertaining his affections. He was not svelte or handsome. No six pack abs. But his words were compelling and electric (after all, he discovered the fundamental properties of electricity). So women found his cooing oratory irresistible and were swept away with his mesmerizing entreaties. All this means he would be an All American First Teamer in today’s singles bars.
His written words were most important and are relevant today to all of us, including print salespeople. Just listen while I give you some samples and explain how they relate to better print sales.
Here’s one. “Does thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
Ben, by the way, spoke and wrote in a kind of stilted, archaic fashion that existed 300 years ago. This means that print salespeople who waste four or five hours a day playing Internet poker or backgammon are wasting a huge chunk of their lives. Using that time to prospect for new business will make you feel a lot better about yourself (meaning better mental health, you dummy).
Another one goes, “Little strokes, fell great oaks.” This, of course, means you have to take a lot of seemingly small actions to get a new account. More specifically, once you have identified your qualified prospect list, you must activate a plan to present yourself and your company to each prospect on a regular basis. “Regular” could mean weekly, monthly, quarterly or at whatever frequency makes the most sense. “Activate” means doing something rather than thinking about it or doing nothing. This reminds me of another Franklinism, “The cat in gloves catches no mice.”
We do have Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell—old stuff that makes us proud.
Speaking of old historic stuff, we are most proud of Benjamin Franklin, who was a local Philadelphia-based PRINTER! A printer! He celebrated his 300th birthday on January 17, 2006. Ben was honored in all of our local newspapers and was featured in some great television documentaries.
The printing industry, however, failed to honor this great American hero who was first a printer, but also the penultimate Renaissance Man (Marvelle Stump, this means Ben Franklin could do a lot of things real good). The printing industry needs positive press and we failed to celebrate Ben’s birthday.
Franklin invented several things that we use today. He sold a lot of printing but, more importantly, he sold the rich French government on supporting our rag tag troops in the Revolutionary War.
Smooth Operator
Ben was a charmer who sold a multitude of beautiful women on entertaining his affections. He was not svelte or handsome. No six pack abs. But his words were compelling and electric (after all, he discovered the fundamental properties of electricity). So women found his cooing oratory irresistible and were swept away with his mesmerizing entreaties. All this means he would be an All American First Teamer in today’s singles bars.
His written words were most important and are relevant today to all of us, including print salespeople. Just listen while I give you some samples and explain how they relate to better print sales.
Here’s one. “Does thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
Ben, by the way, spoke and wrote in a kind of stilted, archaic fashion that existed 300 years ago. This means that print salespeople who waste four or five hours a day playing Internet poker or backgammon are wasting a huge chunk of their lives. Using that time to prospect for new business will make you feel a lot better about yourself (meaning better mental health, you dummy).
Another one goes, “Little strokes, fell great oaks.” This, of course, means you have to take a lot of seemingly small actions to get a new account. More specifically, once you have identified your qualified prospect list, you must activate a plan to present yourself and your company to each prospect on a regular basis. “Regular” could mean weekly, monthly, quarterly or at whatever frequency makes the most sense. “Activate” means doing something rather than thinking about it or doing nothing. This reminds me of another Franklinism, “The cat in gloves catches no mice.”
Companies Mentioned:
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