I just recently received a marketing email from one of our dealers that uses a web based email scheduler for sending emails over time to prospects. I did a test on this dealer's site the other day and now am in their email schedule.

I'm not sure if this is crazy or genius but read below their instructions if you wish to unsubscribe from receiving their marketing emails...

Please reply to this message with a subject line of 'UNSUBSCRIBE' to stop receiving mass emails. Note: There must be a dash (-) between each letter in the word U-n-s-u-b-s-c-r-i-b-e in the Subject line for the opt out to work correctly.

My guess is alot of folks don't unsubscribe and maybe that's the plan. The better retention solution might be ensuring the content of the emails are worthwhile to receive in the first place.

As the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics come to a close tonight I couldn't help but be amazed at the thought of how many athletes are going home to prepare for the next Olympics ... 4 years from now.

I realize in business that we don't typcially have the luxury of working/waiting for 4 years before we have our big moment. but you cannot overlook the idea of getting ready and preparing for your big moment.

What 'big moment' are you preparing for? Do you have any idea or are you just coasting along reacting to every situation that comes your way? What's the next milestone you want to achieve? Where do you want X to be in 4 years, 1 year, 1 month?

Thinking forward is critical to not just being around in the future, but being there with a purpose that gives you the opportunity to live out the value that your business ultimately brings to others. Without having an intentional business you can easily get stuck in the day to day grind and not be able to realize the reasons of why you get up every morning!

Have you ever purchased a book because you thought that by the sound of the title that maybe there is some hope that reading it might produce some gem of knowledge that when put into action produced a result that would change your life?

How about the book entitled ... The 4-Hour Workweek.

Who on earth isn't somewhat curious of the contents? Who doesn't have even just a small twinge of asking yourself what if? You know the feeling you get when you watch those fitness program info-mercials on tv. You might even change the channel when someone walks by but you flip right back because the thought keeps creeping up in your mind ... that could be me losing 50 pounds and in the greatest shape of my life at 40. It could happen.

Well, by reading The 4-Hour Workweek you might not lose 50 pounds and have those 6 pack abs you've always wanted. You may not even get to 30 hours of work per week let alone 4. Still, read the book! Why? Because there are gems in there that even if you've heard them before may mean something to you at this point in your life ... something that may finally make sense.

One of the realizations I came away with was how much time I waste. Not time sitting in front of the television, but time wasted while working. The question came to mind while reading about how much time spent needlessly on the phone or 'watching' email ... how does that ultimately affect the value that I can provide to my clients? Respect time, be professional, yet get to the point and move on.

How do you define perception? I've always thought that someone's perception is their own reality and that you can't really change someone's 'mind' but you can help them make a different decision.

However you define perception, can it truly be changed?

You've probably seen or are aware of the HackerSafe logo that gets plastered all over websites, especially those that sell things online. There have been other 'security logos' that have popped up over the years, but none have really come close to the visual image that the words HackerSafe give you while shopping online. You then associate that vision with the green/black/red colors. Now, that is your perception of security. Because your perception is your reality you feel secure when shopping on sites that display those words and colors in a logo.

Mcafee (a large anti-virus software company) goes and buys your precious perception of what those words and logo does. In other words, they bought ScanAlert who owned HackerSafe. Thinking that the word Mcafee is more well known and trusted than HackerSafe they go and change the words and logos (see image).

Can you be persuaded to change your perception? Or will they have to help you make a different decision about how you feel secure while shopping online. We'll see, but my thought is that they've got a huge challenge in front of them.

Time will tell ... you can read more detail and comments at the Grok Blog.