Bad News Sells Newspapers
It Always Has
This article in today’s Honolulu Advertiser is right in line with the media’s reputation for fear mongering rather than solution reporting. If the concern is really to stop the drop in tourism, and tourist spending, then the negative talk must stop.
STOP IT!
Stop telling us how bad things are in general and start telling us specifically how good some people are doing in spite of the challenge of a few less customers. Focus on the 86% that are here rather than the 14% that are not. The negative news reporting creates an excuse for those doing poorly, their bosses begin to buy it, and things get worse. Before you know it the good customers (86%) are being ignored because of the ones (14%) who are not here. People coming to Hawaii for a vacation are not concerned about the price of gas! They want a pleasant memory of Hawaii; give it to them!
I have a computer chock full of positive evidence that opportunity is as good as it ever has been. Unless you are accustomed to doing business with 100% of the people here (maybe ABC Stores) your customers are still here; take good care of them!
July 30th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Yes Ron, Yes. I too am sick of reading about gas prices, airline charges, failed businesses and gloomy forecasts. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet you, but if you ever find yourself in the mid-west I would love to have you speak at my local Rotary. We have many members in need of your message. I will keep a watchful eye on your calendar. Thanks for what you do.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
If I could add my own cartoon here, it would be Ron’s ass up in the air with his head in the sandlike a scared ostrich. Real problems don’t go away by refusing to accept them. Things are really bad in my retail business right now and I cannot blame my salespeople for not selling. No one wants to help me. My greedy landlord wants the rent whether I am succeeding or not, my suppliers all want their money, my employees want to be paid. Hey, what about me? I didn’t go into business to lose money, and it’s not my fault that airlines have shut down, gas prices shot up and people afraid to spend money.
I wish that it was as easy as Ron makes it sound. If my business was booming like his his I would be positive too. People are flocking to Ron looking for a magic bullet; I would too if I believed that attitude would save my business. What I need is more customers spending more money.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
“Reality Check” sounds like a living example of the results of negative thinking. Here’s the “reality” dude:
If you don’t hold your salespeople accountable for sales, you won’t get sales.
Just look at how pathetic you sound; “No one wants to help me”. Try helping yourself. Of course your landlord wants the rent, of course your suppliers want their money, of course your employees want to be paid. Where do you think you are living? This is a free, democratic society where we are responsible for our successes and must live with our failures. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get to work.
People are not flocking to Ron looking for a “magic bullet”. They are looking for help in areas he exels in where they don’t, like sales and motivation.
You sound like a cancer patient that refuses to go to the doctor because of his success. Wouldn’t you want the best doctor to work on you? Everyone wants “more customers spending more money”, how about selling more to the customers you do have?
If you do not accept the fact that your attitude can save your business, you will become proof that it can cause your failure. Which one do you want?
August 1st, 2008 at 11:00 am
I’m still quite young and impressionable, and if it were not for Ron’s postings on this Blog I would most likely be impacted negatively by what I hear on the news and read in the paper, as “Reality Check” has obviously been, but given the choice to think as I wish, I choose to take the positive road and look for the good things going on in the world and business. I see lots of them.
Take a stroll through the stores at Ala Moana and ask, “How’s business?” You will hear more negative than positive, but those that are seeing positive results are the ones that should be rubbed in the noses of the naysayers.