Author Archives: Dan Kraus

As I have walked my dogs in the morning, I have come across a gentleman (twice now) out for a walk with a dog collar in his hand, but no dog. I was imagining he was out for his exercise, and he previously walked with his dog, so the sound of the tags clinking as he walked with just the collar, were comforting to him now.

I wanted to see what an AI engine with do with this information, so I fed it the following: “Write me a story about a man who goes out for a walk everyday holding a dog collar, with tags that clink as he walks, but no dog.”

I got back a very human and emotional short story – I am pretty impressed:

Every morning, rain or shine, John would leave his house and head out for a walk around the neighborhood. He would always be holding a dog collar, with tags that clinked as he walked, but there was never a dog in sight.

People in the neighborhood would often wonder about John’s odd habit. Some assumed that he had lost his dog, while others thought that he was simply eccentric. But John knew the real reason for his daily routine.

Years ago, John had a beloved dog named Max. Max had been his constant companion for over a decade, and they had shared many adventures together. But when Max passed away, John was heartbroken.

To cope with his grief, John started going on walks with Max’s collar. The sound of the tags clinking together gave him comfort, and it felt like Max was still with him in some small way.

As the years went by, John’s daily walks became a ritual. He would hold Max’s collar close, feeling the weight of the tags in his hand. He would think about all the memories he had shared with Max, and how much he missed him.

Despite the strange looks he received from some of his neighbors, John continued his daily walks. For him, it was a way to honor Max’s memory and keep him close.

One day, as John was walking along his usual route, he heard a faint barking sound in the distance. He followed the sound and soon found himself face to face with a scruffy little dog who had wandered away from its owner.

Without hesitation, John took the dog in his arms and held him close. He felt a rush of emotions wash over him as he realized that he had found a new companion.

From that day on, John continued to go on his daily walks, but this time he had a new partner by his side. Max’s collar still clinked as he walked, but now it was joined by the sound of a wagging tail and a happy bark.

John had found a new friend, but he would never forget the old one. Max’s collar would always be a reminder of the love and companionship they had shared, and John knew that Max was still with him in spirit, watching over him as he walked.

I used to think writing was hard, but I’m starting to think editing is harder.

A few weekends ago, my family and I went to a stand-up comedy show rated PG-13. My 15-year-old was with us. (I wasn’t worried about the content—she’s been to her mom’s improv show 10+ times.)

The show was produced by Nicole and Mickey Blaine. As Nicole introduced the show and the comics, she talked about why it’s so important for teens to experience (and perform) comedy live—not just on TikTok or YouTube.

The six comics who performed that night had ground rules: No (or almost no) swearing, and age-appropriate content only.

The teens in the audience—mostly high schoolers—found the comedians funny and entertaining. A few were even brave enough to heckle them. As an adult there with my child, I found the material mostly relatable and funny, although a few jokes were too cringy for my taste.

The fascinating part was watching the performers self-edit, in real-time, as they performed.

As I understand it, good comedians have their words, cadence, and timing well-rehearsed. They’ve used the topic with audiences before, and they know what resonates.

But at this show, I could see them pause for a reaction—or a lack of one—to see if the relevance was there for the high-school audience. Most did this well, but each performer saw some jokes fall flat.

To recover from a bit that didn’t land, they had to edit, in real-time, what was about to come out of their mouth—for both language and content.

Some handled it better than others, and honestly, watching that struggle was part of the fun for me. Some of the best adult laughs came when a comedian started to tell a story, stopped partway, and said out loud, “No, I can’t go there.” (And that happened to more than one comedian).

We all self-edit (or at least we should) what we’re about to say. The challenge is being in moment (being present) and still considering the audience as we go.

(cross posted from LinkedIN)

Which phrase best describes your company’s marketing?

a) We suffer from random acts of marketing
b) We’re great at drive-by demand generation
c) We think of marketing as arts & crafts

If you chose C, you probably don’t have a marketing department or anyone who understands the power of integrated marketing/RevOps and what it can do for your brand and sales team. (And that’s a whole other post.)

If you chose A or B, this is what it looks like:

The sales leader says, “We need more leads.” The marketing person reacts by doing … something. Maybe an email campaign. Maybe more money for online ads. Maybe finding a firm to do cold calls.

That’s bad, but it gets worse: If it works, it becomes a habit—but an unsustainable one. As soon as the marketing person’s ‘something’ stops working (and it will), you’re left with nothing.

The reflexive, do-SOMETHING marketing approach has left the long-term pipeline dry. Whatever it is, the ‘SOMETHING’ isn’t part of an organized, thoughtful plan. Maybe it works, and the sales leader cools off. Maybe it doesn’t, and you lost money and time.

Planning makes all the difference. A professional salesperson wouldn’t walk into a sales call without researching their prospect. Your CFO has a budget and plan for the upcoming year. Your facilities manager has a maintenance schedule.

Your marketing/lead gen/business development needs a plan too, and to have a plan work effectively, you need a systematic approach. That system has a foundation:

• Goals & strategy
• Messaging & differentiation
• The Buyer’s Journey & tactics/processes to follow it
• The right level of technology and staff

The business environment will ebb and flow. Technology will shift. Your sales cycle will be affected.

But your message—your core value proposition—doesn’t change. What changes is the messaging—the words/images/video you use to tie your core value proposition to today’s challenges.

If this seems like too much—or it’s too true—please connect with me – I can help get you pointed in the right direction.

Here’s my interview about Digital Transformation on the The Sage Thought Leadership Podcast.

The podcast is dedicated to the possibility that entrepreneurs continue the work of creation. We celebrate them by allowing them to tell their stories and share their knowledge with others. In doing so we energize the success of businesses around the world through the imagination of our people and the power of technology.

It’s really jarring to hear a song from your past be acknowledged as a great song, or to hear one being sung, accurately by your child.

I had this experience this morning as I was driving the 12yo to school and Kiss’s Rock and Roll all nite comes on the radio. I start to change the station and instead am told to leave it – she likes this song.

I looked at her and asked quite seriously where she knew the song from. Was it a commercial? “No Dad” ( with a duh I her voice). I used to be able to play it really well in Guitar Hero.

Well, there ya go.

As I am peeling and cutting up a Kiwi Fruit for my daughter, and then putting some pomegranate seeds(?) on my cereal, it suddenly hit me how many “new” foods are around that weren’t known/popular when I was a kid – and my mother was more of the earthy-crunchy type that was always trying new stuff.

Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat wrote about how technology has brought us all closer and closer together. And if you stop and think about all the technology in your life over the last 20 years, the pace of change and innovation is somewhat frightening/exciting. But I never thought about it around food.

I probably should have though.

A few years ago I read The Food Explorer that describes the true adventures of David Fairchild, a turn-of-the-19th-century food explorer who traveled the globe and introduced diverse crops like avocados, mangoes, seedless grapes—and thousands more—to the American plate. But I guess food and other commodities are incremental changes to us – we try them once, then maybe again, and eventually some become staples – versus technology changes which are more monumental in their change/impact.

So my rambling for today is really about stopping and thinking about what you are eating… how new is it to your culture or experience, and if it is new, why didn’t you know about it sooner. (and if you are wondering about that Kiwi Fruit – well, here’s a great marketing story about how it got to the USA)

I wish I had the persistence and focus of my dog when she wants to play ball. She will sit, or lay, outside the closet that have her tennis balls in it. Occasionally she’ll yip to remind us where she is and to remind us where the balls are.

And she will do this for hours, until someone gives her a ball or plays catch with her.

Humans, or at least this one, don’t have that ability to maintain a single purpose focus. There are so many lessons I can learn from my pets, this is just another one in my notebook.

My 12yo daughter is learning to do her own laundry. The question I hear from the laundry room last nite…”now that everything is in the dryer, do I just press the play button?”

Never quite heard a start button on a dryer referred to that way, but of course, if you look at the button, the symbol on it is the sideways triangle that is the play icon on every online video you see. Her question is perfectly phrased in her context.

Icons and phrases tend to be long (ever) lasting… I still say “dial the phone” and “tape it” though dials are long gone from our phones and tapes are something the current teen generation will never see.

If you’re in the design or communication business (and we all are to some extent), keep that in mind.

At the grocery store getting ready to check out; realize I don’t have my wallet; now how am I gonna pay for this?

I have about $120 worth of stuff in my cart, and about $30 in cash in my pocket. But no credit cards. So I walk over to the managers office and ask if it’s possible to pay by just keying in my card since I know the number by heart. Sorry, I’m told, we can’t do that. What about Apple Pay? I have my phone with me. No, we can’t do that either.

I walk back to the cart to consider what I really need. It’s snowing and I’m not going to go home and come back. When one of the supervisors walks up and asks me if I can do Zelle? Yes ma’am. I can also do Venmo I tell her.

Hang on she says… comes back a minute later with a Venmo debit card and tells me I can Venmo her the money and then pay using her card. Problem solved. Talk about going above and beyond. So today when I had a choice of 2 grocery stores for a jock errand, Harris Teeter got the business- and they’ll keep getting it. That level of personal help is uncommon and most welcome.

January 6^th – What is White Supremacy?

As a parent, you frequency find yourself saying “I never expected to be have that conversation with my x-year old”. January 6^th – yesterday – was one of those for me. I never thought I’d have to explain, to a 12 year old, white supremacy and the concept of dehumanizing others that are not like you so that your race/religion/belief can justify taking advantage of others. And even more so, having to do that in the context of why the transition between presidential administrations wasn’t going along as normal.

I’m still angry, frustrated and embarrassed for our country.

January 7^th – Consequences

I’m skeptical that it will happen, but there must be consequences.  For the rioters that broke into the capitol – everyone that can be identified. For the congress critters that have allowed and encouraged the DJT farce to continue/perpetuate (everyone that protested the electoral college was white, most were men – see post from January 6^th).  For the president and his words and encouragement to sedition. Equal application of justice under the law.