Lou Holtz and Harvey Mackay

Got this in my email a couple of days ago:

Always follow the Doctor's advice

I recently returned from New York where I was able to see my very close friend Lou Holtz get inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He certainly has had a distinguished career.

As many of you know, Lou left coaching and joined ESPN four years ago as an in-studio analyst of college football. This past fall, Lou and his boss, Gerry Matalon, created a wildly successful weekly segment called "Dr. Lou." Each three and a half-minute segment aired at halftime of ESPN's primetime college football game on Thursday nights and then was replayed several times during the weekend.

The segments start off with a comment from Dr. Lou, followed by a couple of questions from some well-known sports and entertainment people, and ending with a closing comment.

Lou's motivational lessons are priceless, so I thought I would share some of my favorites. After all, Lou has been my personal therapist for more than 25 years and he hasn't charged me a co-pay yet. I have a healthy case of Dr. Lou fever.

In the first segment Dr. Lou asked himself what qualifications he has to be called a "doctor." The classic Holtz answer: "Well, I did graduate in the lower half of my class .... I have written three New York Times bestsellers and am the only person who has written more books than I've read. I have four honorary doctor degrees. And my mother loves me."

Here are some gems from Dr. Lou:

Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner as a sophomore quarterback at the University of Florida, asked how he can lead the Florida Gators to the SEC championship. Dr. Lou answered: "The good Lord put eyes in the front of your head rather than the back so you can see where you are going rather than where you've been. If you want to lead, you have to be significant. Significant is when you help other people be successful. And by other people I mean your teammates. You do that by encouraging them and being positive. You have to continually ask them how you can help them."

Dr. Lou told Lloyd Carr, the retired football coach at the University of Michigan: "Make sure you always have four things in your life: Something to do, someone to love, something to hope for and something to believe in."

Actor Mark Wahlberg asked Dr. Lou for advice on how his beloved Boston College Eagles could defeat Lou's Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Lou admitted that when he hears Boston College he goes "crazy." In 1993, Notre Dame was 10-0 and ranked #1 in the country when they played 9th ranked Boston College and lost 41-39 on the last play of the game. "I was devastated. I was bitter. I was upset at everybody. I learned that you can't tell people about your problems. 90 percent don't care and the other 10 percent are glad you have them. You can't go through life being bitter."

Dr. Lou always ends up with some closing thought for the week. Here's a sampling:

• "If you want some great advice, don't ask Dr. Lou. Ask your spouse. There's no one who loves you any more, wants you to succeed any more or will be any more honest with you."
• "Progress requires this: You cannot steal second base and keep one foot on first. For every person who tells you you can do something, you'll find 99 people who say you can't. Don't be discouraged by the 99, but be encouraged by the one person who believes in you."
• "Believe in yourself. You can't satisfy everyone. Just make sure that you please yourself."
• "There are two different types of people: Those who lift you up and those who pull you down. Lift people up; don't pull them down."
• "As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, 'What lies ahead of you and what lies behind you is of very little importance when compared to what lies within you.' If determination lies within you, you'll be able to find a solution to all your problems."

Mackay's Moral: My favorite from Dr. Lou: "10 percent of you won't remember 10 percent of what is said 10 minutes after it's said. But I hope it will cause you to think. I hope all of you have the desire to dream, the courage to win, the faith to believe and the will to succeed."

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day 24

Last year I did a comparison of Fort Wayne media websites and this one gets the most traffic. Click here to go there.

VideoTime: No More Excuses

When I saw this over the weekend, I knew that I have no excuses for not living up to my potential. See if you agree:

Want to Buy a Radio Station?

According to their website, NIPR wants to sell their classical music stations due to the cost of operations/economy/etc.

Click here to read the full story: http://www.nipr.fm/memberletter.html

As a local broadcaster, here's what I can tell you about the options you might have if you want to buy one of their stations.

WCKZ 94.1fm can be operated as a commercial radio station. The others must be non-commercial due to the F.C.C. regulations regarding their frequency.

WCKZ used to be Z-94.1 and was the temporary home of the ROCK 104 Jocks until Summit City Radio sold the station a couple years ago and brought back ROCK 104 on WXKE 103.9fm.

When we (Summit City Radio) owned the station, the tower was located near the GM Truck plant on I-69 and the station is licened to Roanoke. I believe that's where it is still located.

Contact me if you want more info. (Scott@ScLoHo.net) And contact NIPR if you can help them.

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day 23

Did you know our Men in Blue have an official website? Click here to go there.

Want a Job?

The best time to look is before you need one. And the best way to stand a chance of getting one is to make a great first impression.

Harvey Mackay shares his thoughts:

A winning suit trumps today's job market

No firm came to symbolize the opulence of the economic boom better than Google. With some "workplaces that feature pool tables and volleyball courts," this Internet giant has bent over backwards to woo top performers. Tough times are upon us all, including this mega-search engine. "Google has also begun chipping away at perks," the Wall Street Journal reported recently. "In recent months, it reduced the hours of its free cafeteria service and suspended the traditional afternoon tea in its New York office."

Just months ago, you could get your foot in the door of many an employment office sporting a tattered sneaker. Talent was king. According to the Department of Labor, more than 10 million people were unemployed in December. Of these, more than 1.2 million lost their jobs between September and November. Overnight, job hunting has become a buyer's market, and employers have turned downright picky about who will be offered a coveted spot on the payroll.

A crisp and businesslike appearance is back as an expectation on the part of many prospective employers. A recent New York Times article announced "The Return of the Interview Suit." It quotes Gloria Mirrione, a managing director of a financial services placement firm: "We are back to a time when every company expected both women and men to wear suits and we didn't have a Casual Friday. . . . They are looking for a sharper style. I recommend a strong suit that says you are collected and ready to work."

The article highlights some critical appearance details. For example, a solid black suit screams attention to dandruff flecks or gray hairs. White shirts should be "pristine" and preferably new. Ladies' tote bags need to provide a professional-looking home for one's BlackBerry. In other words, don't look like you're going camping.

The clothes you wear—and they don't need to be expensive—say a lot about your discipline, taste and social poise. That accepted, the most important thing you need to dress for an interview remains your mind.

Learn everything you can about the company and its immediate needs. Any company hiring in this economy is banking on their new employee making a key contribution immediately. Find out what that is.

Times author Eric Wilson suggests scouting a prospective employer's tastes and expectations before an interview. "The key is to research the corporate culture to learn what a potential boss might expect." I like that research to go well beyond appearance preferences. If your prospective boss is a golf nut or is crazy about symphony music, be prepared to say something sensible about these topics.

Sometimes standing out can win the day. One reader, who was no hockey wizard, got a job as a hockey announcer by suiting up as a goalie in everything from mask to skates.

Rob Donkers, a Canadian educator, recently emailed me that a young woman sewed up a job as a "software programming ninja" when she appeared for the interview in a Japanese warrior costume. For most jobs, though, the button-down look is the better bet.

When you enter an interviewer's office, zero in on memorabilia and personal touches:

• What books are prominently displayed on the shelves? Can you share a comment or two about an important lesson you learned from reading one of the authors?
• Autographed photos and civic or industry awards can be particular points of personal pride. If you can offer some authentic praise or admiration, consider making a passing comment.
• The individual's laptop, monitor or other office equipment can open up a conversational opportunity.

A job interview is fundamentally a sales encounter. People buy from people they like. And people hire people they like. It's that simple. People like people who are genuine, pleasant, sincere, easy to talk with and friendly.

Have a clever story, quote, or anecdote or two in mind that you can slip into the conversation. Something positive and memorable. Billionaire Oprah Winfrey, for example, uses an unforgettable trademark line: "I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes."

Follow-up a job interview with a handwritten thank-you note. They are essential, especially when they mention how you will fit into the company's culture or help meet its immediate business needs.

Paying attention to how you look can help you get a job. For that matter, it can also help you keep one. With companies trimming right and left, they want to retain people who best present their firm's image.

Mackay's Moral: Dress like a mess and you won't see success.

Miss a column? The last three weeks of Harvey's columns are always archived online.

More information and learning tools can be found online at harveymackay.com.

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day 22

This is one I found last year. Click here to go there.

VideoTime: Presidential Quiz Fun

This video was a Kim Komando pick this week:

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day 21

Here's a fun one from one of the creative companies in town. Click here to go there.

Living The Unexpected Life

How much of your life goes as planned? And how much is a surprise?

I regularly post what I call "advice" from others here on this blog.

And much of that advice involves getting organized, improving your life, etc.

But there always is a few unexpected events in our lives no matter how organized we get.

Sunday night, my wife Kathy is upstairs, I'm downstairs and the phone rings. I usually ignore the home phone, since my cell phone is my the number I give out.

This time it was my daughter Rachael calling from the emergency room and so within 30 minutes, we were sitting with her and her boyfriend waiting for a surgeon to come and remove her appendix.

Calls were made to her sister on the west coast and her brother on the east coast and her Mom about an hour away.

Turns out her sister Tiffany has in pain due to a sprained ankle and Josh was suffering from a cold. Surgery went well for Rachael and she has been back home for 24 hours now and gets Wednesday off to from work.

There are certain things you simply can't plan for and you squeeze them in among the plans you make.

By the way, the above picture was sort of planned, from about 8 years ago with myself and my three offspring.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day - 20

A friend alerted me to this site which is brand new in 2009. Remember you can always email me if there is a Fort Wayne website you want me to consider featuring, scloho@scloho.net.

Click here to go there.

VideoTime: Pick a Card

Wouldn't want to play poker with this guy:

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day 19

I was going through some notes recently I came across the web address for this blog. It is run by a friend of mine that I met through the Advertising Federation of Fort Wayne. Click here to go there.

Using Social Media and the Internet

Will President Obama keep his Blackberry? As the first President to embrace the internet in his personal life as well as public life, it appears that some type of compromise has been made that allows him to keep it for personal use. Texting is not something I like to use my phone for.

What about you? What about me? What forms of the internet revolution and social media are you using?

I invite you to stay in touch with me (and others) using the following:

My LinkedIn.com account: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthowardscloho

My Facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=582253729

My Twitter account: http://twitter.com/ScLoHo

My radio station contact: http://www.1029theriver.com/page.php?page_id=2651

My Collective Wisdom Marketing and Advertising Blog: http://sclohonet.blogspot.com/

My Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo Blog ( A marketing and advertising resource): http://sclohonet-thebook.blogspot.com/

My Picture Blog: http://sclohopics.blogspot.com/

My Political Blog: http://scloho.wordpress.com/

My Home Page which has links to most of the above: http://www.scloho.net/

My Plaxo account, which I don't pay much attention to: http://scloho.myplaxo.com/

My MySpace account, which I don't pay much attention to either: http://www.myspace.com/scloho

And then there is this blog that you are reading right now, a personal blog that includes links to Fort Wayne, Indiana, Really?: http://scloho1.blogspot.com/

All of the blogs allow comments, and unless I am on vacation, I will check email daily.

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day 18

Hope you're hungry. Click here to go there.