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Where Is America Going?

Written by: Adam Sonnhalter

Article Overview: I was watching the movie Doc Hollywood the other night. It's a movie I've seen a few times over the years. A couple of things struck me seeing this film at this time in our history here in the United States: i) We've lost our way, ii) We have to slow down, iii) You should define what's important to make you happy, iv) House calls are important, and v) Experiential marketing works.

Where Is America Going?

I was watching the movie Doc Hollywood the other night. It's a movie I've seen a few times over the years. A couple of things struck me seeing this film at this time in our history here in the United States:

1. We've Lost Our Way: simpler in many cases is better. That "great America" that everyone is talking about isn't what we've been doing these past couple of decades. We've all gotten too busy working to buy stuff we want but don't necessarily need. Many of us have lost touch with friends and our families because we're always working to support our lifestyles. Doc Hollywood is set in small town America and represents a very attractive way to live. Everyone knows each other so you naturally look out for each other. Everyone has a certain job in town, whether it be the butcher, the mayor, the mechanic, or the doctor. I know that both Jack and I relate to this. We've both spent a lot of time traveling and living in different cities for bigger companies that we worked with. We've both chosen to come back to Cleveland, OH where we both grew up because we appreciate what a smaller town has to offer.

2. We Have To Slow Down: life goes by pretty quick, and if you're always working, chances are you're going to miss a lot of it. It's OK to unplug once in a while. Turn off the iPhone or BlackBerry. Forget about email for a while. We should be disconnected from the outside world on a more regular basis. Quite often we're too caught up in what everyone else is doing instead of being focused on what is going on in our own lives. In the movie, Ben Stone (Michael J. Fox's character) was always rushing. The movie starts with him leaving his current job working in an Emergency Room on the East Coast to go to Beverly Hills to become a plastic surgeon. That is until he gets stuck in a small town in South Carolina after an accident. Once he embraces being there, he begins to slow down a bit and starts to really live a little.

3. You Should Define What's Important To Make You Happy: many of us get caught up in being influenced too much by the outside world. Whether that be your friends and family, or the general media. It's good to see what other people think about something, but make sure you form your own opinion. In the case of Ben Stone, he was running away from the small town life he'd grown up with to chase his dreams in the big city. Until he realized those "material" things wouldn't bring him true happiness.

4. House Calls Are Important: it can be easy to get into a routine in life. Get up in the morning, grab a bit to eat, take the same route to work, stay in the same building all day, get back in the car and take the same route home, eat dinner, put the kids to bed, maybe do some reading (whether it be email, books, or the internet) or watch a little TV. Then go to bed and get up in the morning to do it all again. One of the things that Ben Stone did was go on house calls to see his patients once a week. He made a comment that house calls used to be an important part of any doctor's practice. That's the only way they got to truly know their patients. By seeing how they live. We should be making "house calls" on our customers as well. Go visit your customers and see how they live. When you're there, you'll learn other things about them and how they run their business. You may even discover some opportunities for your business.

5. Experiential Marketing Works: people often need a chance to experience your product or service before they buy. In the case of Doc Hollywood, the judge ordered Ben to perform community service at the local clinic to make up for destroying the judge's fence. The mayor took that opportunity to show Ben everything this small town had to offer. Within a few weeks, Ben went from not being able to wait to leave to not being able to go. As Jeffrey Gitomer always says, "People love to buy. They hate to be sold." The mayor simply let Ben buy. We should all do the same thing with our prospective customers.

None of us knows where things are going in the U.S., but after seeing this movie again, I'm convinced that many of us here in the U.S. will be going back to a simpler kind of life.

Simpler will also do wonders in your business. Continue to make and nurture those personal relationships in your business. Those relationships are what will enable your business to survive and thrive over the decades.

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Article Tags: doc hollywood, experiential marketing



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Money never sleeps - Money never sleeps. This is one of the good attributes of money. So when we are busy sleeping money still roams the atmosphere looking for whom we grab it. In Forex market, 3 thrillion dollars are been traded daily. When you are sleeping in America, the Australian are in business. This is why Bill Bates is one of the richest man in the world. As customers are sleeping in America, customers in other part of the world like Australia are still buying and downloading his software. The moral of this post is that,we should bo business that is on autopilot. Whether we sleeps or not money is been paid into our bank acount. Please share your thought on this.
Expanding to North America? - Looks cool eddieriby! So when are you coming to North America?
Re: Did you reach your goal this year? - Canada will surely have more than enough, since it is the next door country to America where it was started
Selling to North America - Why file in New Zealand if we're selling to North America? I'd rather spend the money on a US patent.
Re: Still Not Sure Who To Vote For? - I don't need no software to tell me who to vote for if I am in America. Obama is my man any day. Not because I am black, but because he is young, enrgetic and resourceful


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