As the latest interview on our show We Mean Business, we had the honor of interviewing Dan Pink, a multiple best selling author on the topic of discovering the true motivations for people.    As employers, we need to discover what drives our work environment to get people to self motivate and also how to harness our natural creative abilities.  This was the number one “shared” talk out of all the TED talks…major stuff here people.

I got this from Mom and Dad today…with all the “don’t do’s” of their peers..

• Don’t address the email with everyone in the “To” section…it exposes their email..
• Don’t craft the email in giant colored letters…
• It’s passe to forward on emails around the office nowadays…
• blah, blah, blah…

But after reading it, and digesting, it’s funny and pretty poignant…

Especially for me, who many times more than not, just says…”Hey, put it out there and see what happens…”

So here..read it and you’ll get it if you get it…  (and yes, I’m old enough to fit in this category…and appreciate it’s message)

…less than one minute…

Snowzilla is upon me, and I’m here at my restaurant, cleaning the office and my kitchen a bit. I’ve taken a break to post up a passionate entry that strikes close to my heart.

As independent business people, we put our lives, the lives of our families and spouses, our literal blood, sweat and tears into our establishments. We sweat every last detail as best we can, we ask for loans, work 18 hours a day to keep the gears turning, and in this day and age, many of these types of businesses that make up the fiber of our local community are closing.

A friend opened DeJaBel cafe about 2 years ago, and I’m saddened to say, he struggled hard and made valiant efforts, but he just closed his community coffee shop in Wheaton. I feel for him, his family, his kids and his customers too! Not only are businesses in business to make money, but believe it or not, we do this also more than you know for the feedback, the community, the gathering, the connections, the excitement of hosting our party and seeing shining faces that are happy to have the fruits of our passion. Getting up at 7 am to prep foods, unload trucks, change displays or whatever, we do this for YOU, our clients and friends. SO MUCH OF OUR SATISFACTION is derived from non monetary rewards. Please take a moment to compliment the store owner or manager at your next engagement to purchase something, it means a lot to many of us.

That being said, businesses need money, and your support by HELPING TO SPREAD THE WORD. I can see people who read the articles when a business closes in shock

“Oh wow, how sad…did you see that XYZ Company closed??”

But yet as a happy customer of XYZ Company, they never took a few minutes to write a recommendation on any of many Social Media Sites to help spread good word, they never realized that asking to use 2 or more discounts on their last purchase sucks the profitability out of doing business, and they are amazed when a street in their local area has 5 closed shops??

So…take action to save your local retailer!! Go to Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, Urbanspoon, or even the shop or restaurants website and SPEAK OUT about how much you like them! That helps expose great businesses that are struggling, bringing in CRUCIAL dollars that they need to pay rent, gas, water, insurance, taxes, supplies, repairs, marketing, salaries, etc.. that fuel YOUR local economy.

Perhaps this is nothing new, and perhaps those who read this may not care, or do anything, but at least I can say I tried to spread the word. IF you got this post and it resonates with you, PLEASE pass along using my “share” options below… this CAN start a grass roots movement to get people to SPEND LOCAL, and HELP BY SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS.

Thanks for listening,

Chef Tony
Visions Restaurant

p.s. Here is an article about my friends shop, written in this weeks paper, before he announced the closure of his place that I saw today.  Hope it helps motivate  you to action.  Eddie, take solace that you made every effort, you created something amazing, but in this day, along with sadly many others, it just wasn’t enough.  Take a day off my friend, I’m sure you need one…

Through a fortuitous meeting with Master Connector (not a real title, but should be) Steve Dorfman, I have had the pleasure to get to know Dr. Jim Goldstein. He is a passionate man in many ways, but his biggest passion is helping others to know and grow powerful personal relationships. He has an amazing course that he does with people through weekly call ins and one on one feedback to help couples remember their passions and rekindle the flame of romance, even if they’re already separated!

I know that if he’s involved, it’s the real deal.

Good news is there is a $100 discount for any couple registering before January, so I suggest you click on over, and check it out. Make sure if you join in, let Dr Jim know that Chef Tony sent ya!

So apparently the world is watching..

If you didn’t realize, the world is instantly connected, as proven by my interview for Laureate Education for my efforts and results in social media.

You see, when folks question me about my effectiveness or my “ROI” on Social Media usage, I can point to a number of results, NONE of which for me is super important regarding any financial gain.  My results focus around relationship building and making opportunities happen.  Being “out there” on social media and actually having a BRAND allows people to identify you as a player in some venue, and then to seek you out as a thought leader and person of reference.  Be it my food and restauranteur side, or my technology/web/social media side, I’m certainly not afraid or shy to talk about what I do (you seem to have found my site, haven’t you?) 

Now on to the point of the post.. I’m honored to have been asked to be a small component of a course on Social Media presented by Laureate Education