My 16-year old son came into the living room the other night while my wife and I were watching TV and announced, “Dad, we have to talk.” Now, if you have a teenager, you know how those words can instill a high degree of fear and discomfort into even the most macho of men. And yes, I felt that fear and discomfort. What was it? Drugs? Sex? Expulsion? An accident? My heart raced in trepidation, knowing that my life as I knew it was about to take a dramatic turn.

I looked at my son and whimpered, “What is it?” He replied, “You’re watching Project Runway and that’s just wrong.” How quickly one’s self esteem can deflate. My son, a 16-year old high school junior with a bit of acne and raging hormones, had just found out that his dad only pretends to be cool. I was caught watching Project Runway, a reality show in which budding designers compete each week to create fashion through various challenges. One by one, the designers are eliminated (think The Apprentice) until one lucky designer is left standing with the promise of getting to show his or her clothing line in various media, including magazines and fashion shows.

In an effort to be more “sensitive” and attentive to my wife’s “needs,” I’ve been hooked into the drama of seeing Michael Kors wannabes (he’s a BIG deal in the fashion world) create women’s clothing with inspiration from various items ranging from plastic to flowers to food. I hate myself for it but I can’t help but watch for all the drama. It’s kind of like watching NASCAR just for the wrecks.

Watching the episode on that fateful night, one of the judges made the comment, regarding a clear fashion disaster, that the outfit was a “hot mess.” Although I understood that that was not necessarily a compliment, I wasn’t altogether sure what that term meant, so I looked it up on the web. On UrbanDictionary.com there are many definitions for “hot mess” but my favorite is When ones thoughts or appearance are in a state of disarray but they maintain an undeniable attractiveness or beauty. What the judge meant was that although the garment looked great on the outside, underneath the façade it was poorly thought out and poorly constructed. And immediately I thought, “That perfectly describes the self-storage facility I recently audited!”

Actually, it describes a large number of self-storage facilities I have audited. While many operators “maintain” an appearance of attractiveness or orderliness of their facilities, there in fact exists a “state of disarray.” Everything on the outside looks great, but a closer look reveals an operation tittering on the brink of disaster. Consider the facility I audited just a week or so ago.

The owners of a large facility out west had NEVER had their facility audited and just assumed everything was running smoothly. Only after persistent urging by one of the partners did the others finally agree to have someone conduct a third-party operational audit, and they contacted me.

Upon arrival at the site I saw a great-looking property with perfectly manicured landscaping, recently painted parking lot stripes, debris-free drive aisles, and an orderly boat and RV parking area. The employees I met were friendly and well-groomed and the office was clean and appeared to be well-organized.

And then I started looking at the details.

Turns out the manager, who has been in the self-storage business just over a year, took it upon herself to rewrite the lease agreement because she “didn’t like the old one.” She had no idea if the lease was legal or not. A disaster waiting to happen.

I found a lease on which the manager had lined through the “Limit of Liability” clause and written in “No Liability on this Unit” and added her initials. Another disaster waiting to happen.

We mystery phone shopped the employees and they all failed miserably. There was no attempt to rent space, and the calls were a clear interruption of the employees’ other tasks like texting on their cell phones and checking Facebook. If one didn’t know better, it would have been easy to assume the owners no longer wanted spaces rented and didn’t care that the employees were wasting time on their payroll. But I knew better.

The manager told us that her two closest competitors were “just too high’ when comparing rates and she thought it was much more important to “be competitive’” and not be too high. Those two competitors are over 90% occupied and charging 40% higher rates. And did I mention that the subject site was 95% occupied, including 100% in climate? And she thought the competitors were fools.

The facility DID have a waiting list, but the manager was holding vacates until the end of the month “just in case a tenant want[ed] to use the space another day or so.” Some of the waiting list units were on the holding vacate list. And the 15 “unavailable” units? These were units that the part-time maintenance person had not yet “certified” as being rent-ready, so they could not yet be rented. Again, several of the waiting list units were on the “unavailable” list and anyone with a broom and five minutes could have made those units rent-ready. But the manager and her assistants don’t sweep out units.

I could go on, but you get the picture. This facility, great looking on the outside, was a budding disaster on the inside. This facility was one “hot mess.”

How about your facility? Take a closer look.

I’m a frequent customer of Starbucks, but I think their coffee is awful.
It’s too strong.
Actually, it’s downright bitter.
It tastes like it’s been sitting there for days.
The employees are too cheery.*
And we all know it’s grossly, offensively, insultingly overpriced.

But they’ve got a stranglehold on me and my wallet. I’m there at least a couple of times a week, trying to improve my cup of yuck with lots of cream and Splenda. Why do I do this?

It’s the power of branding. Branding might not be what you think it is (it’s not about your logo) and I’d like to let my acquaintance, marketing guru Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot in Woodway, TX, take the idea of branding further (see below). But first allow me to explain why a coffee chain with crummy coffee has me and will likely have me for life.

You probably guessed it: It’s the experience, man. It’s the smells. It’s the sounds. It’s the jazzy music playing (I love jazz). It’s the cushy seats (actually, those are sort of movie-theater-seat gross, but that’s okay. I usually grab a table anyway). It’s the fact that I can get any caffeinated concoction I want, exactly as I want it. It’s a place to which I escape, and that’s a huge part of the experience.

It’s great for rare “me time.” When my son is finally asleep and my husband is playing a nerdy computer game, I just grab a huge fashion magazine and I am OUTTA there. Hunched over Vogue with my white cup with the green logo, I’m in heaven (though I ought to work on my posture).

It’s a time killer while I’m waiting to meet with a hotel sales rep (many hotels now have a Starbucks in the house, including - YAY! - The Omni Fort Worth, our convention hotel).

It’s a destination I can walk to from my house, when I need some exercise (which is always). At the end of a long walk that hurts my feet, it’s a reward.

But it’s lunacy to reward oneself with something gross.
It’s nuts.
It’s insane.
Yet it’s fun.

That’s how much they’ve got me.

Now, I know it’s silly to compare Starbucks with your storage facility. People are not likely to come to your office and read fashion magazines, even if you have a comfy couch (well, I might), and even if you have coffee available. And unlike Starbucks, you’re not on every corner. But I’d like to entertain the idea of making storing with you an experience. Like I said, I know it won’t be some kind of treat or escape for anyone. Moving stinks, and storing can be hard work! But think about how you can be a place about which people say to friends and family, “Yeah, it was a pain moving last weekend. But the place where we stored our stuff made it much easier. It was strange, in a good way; it didn’t feel like a storage place, you know?” You get the idea.

I also know that this is not a new concept to you, the fact that the lure of a brand can be so strong that people will overpay for bad coffee, or literally not be able to leave a Target store empty-handed (the price of admission to Target is about $60. If you’ve ever spent less, I want to know). All I’m saying, in a roundabout way, is this: have you given lots of thought to the “tenant experience” at your facility? Have you really got a hold on your customers? Go get ‘em.

Now take a look at What Is a Brand? by Jay Ehret. You can also catch Jay at the TSSA convention this October!

*Actually, there’s a Starbucks near my house with an employee who literally will not smile (or if she does, it looks like it pains her). She is my personal project: I am going to get this woman to genuinely smile and laugh if I have to die trying.

I recently heard a comment that stopped me in my tracks. The comment was something along the lines of “I’m doing more marketing than ever. Marketing has overtaken advertising.” Huh? As a marketing professional, I take exception to that kind of thinking. Perhaps that’s why so many people find marketing to be such a challenge and something to be avoided and seen as a last resort.

Let me try to clarify. Advertising is a component of marketing. Marketing is a process that encompasses many activities, including advertising, public relations, sales, promotions, and all communication activities. If you narrow your scope and idea of what marketing is, you’re missing out on the full benefit of what it can do for your business.

Marketing is anything that either helps you rent a storage unit, sell boxes, rent trucks, or keeps you from reaching that goal. Is your sign visible from the road? Is your facility hidden behind another building? At night, is your facility well lighted and visible? Is your phone number visible? Do potential tenants have to drive through a construction zone to get to you? Are they guessing about your office hours? Are they reaching an answering machine every time they try to reach you? Does your office look abandoned even in the middle of the day?

The list could go on and on. These are the things that either enhance or detract from the renter’s experience when they try to rent or buy from you. What you do to enhance or remedy the situation is the marketing process.

Training your employees to answer all calls before the second ring is part of the process. Teaching them how to close the sale is also part of the process, as is making sure your sign is working and visible. When a customer walks in the door, a simple greeting and acknowledgement might seem like common sense, but if it enhances the customer’s experience, it becomes part of the overall marketing process. If this one step is left out or ignored, all the advertising in the world will not make up for it.

Keep this in mind the next time you’re going to the bank wearing your facility’s logo on your shirt, or driving your vehicle with your facility’s name on the doors; you’re part of the marketing/advertising process. How you interact with the tellers at the bank is as much of an advertisement about your business as your ad in the phone book. And, it’s more memorable too.

If you find that you’re getting better results from one marketing effort over another, then you can concentrate on doing more of that particular activity. Perhaps that’s the meaning behind the comment I overheard. More than likely, the activities such as face-to-face meetings, civic involvement and sponsorship of community events produced better results over traditional advertising. All of these activities are part of marketing. Don’t neglect one over the other without careful tracking and analyzing.

As for me, I’ve learned my lesson. Next time I hear someone commenting on their marketing efforts, I’m either going to ask more questions, or I’m going to turn up the volume on my iPod and keep on walking.

When you really break it down, people fall into two camps when it comes to dealing with the future. You have your planners and your “take it as it comes” types. The old cliché about the inevitable failure looming for those who fail to plan is as true as it ever was. But the current economic disaster has thrown a curveball at those of us who like a nice, clear method of planning. Old models don’t work. Tested theories about sound investing and achieving success are constantly being challenged.

It makes a planner want to throw out the plan book, give up, and just sit down to wait things out. (I’ll just close my eyes…someone wake me when the nightmare is over.)

With the future shaky, many of us search frantically for a sage who will tell us exactly what we must do—and even how to do it—in order to return to the relative stability of the good old days before the recession.

The undeniable truth remains that accurately predicting the future is well…really, really difficult. Is a double-dip looming on the horizon? How long will the current slump last? What can I do now to ensure my comfortable retirement?

I don’t have the answers to those questions, and really, no one else does either. But I can’t just sit down and do nothing either. Though not trendy, I’ve always been a trend watcher. I always want to know how I and the business I run measure up. Benchmarking is my middle name. So, survey results, with their resulting graphs and charts, fuel my fire.

I also like to see how people I consider successful are reacting to challenges, and the creative solutions they are discovering to deal with the same issues I am facing. It’s why I attend seminars and conventions, even when I feel too busy to squeeze them in. Even if I don’t copy these folks by doing exactly the same things, witnessing that creativity ignites a fire in my belly. If others can be so nimble and visionary, so can I.

In business, it has never been more important than now to anticipate the future trends that will shape how we do things.

If, like me, you are interested in trends, check out this post by Joanne Pratt, called “What’s Next? 10 Future Trends that will Affect Your Business.” This article is almost three years old, so it’s interesting to see whether or not you believe these trends have played out as predicted.

Ray Wilson reports on economic trends in our industry on Wednesday, October 20 at our convention in Fort Worth. Rick Jones follows, sharing what he has learned after developing more than 15 storage facilities, including what the future holds for him and other mid-sized storage operators. We are planning to round out the morning with a session that is not what is expected—a session targeting executives and forward-thinking storage owners. Stand by for more details on that one. We are taking the time to find just the right presenter.

So what do women want? That’s a loaded question but considering I’m tasked with focusing on what women want in self storage we can scratch the surface today and dig even deeper in our next blog and for sure at the conference.

Let’s consider the facts. Given that women are responsible or at least highly influential for the vast majority of household decisions, it makes sense to give a lot of attention to attracting her interest in your facility when making marketing plans.

Are you thinking about the woman of the house when you itemize the benefits of your facility? Women are just as concerned about how much you charge and how convenient your location is to her, but she will give greater consideration to other factors than most men will in a similar decision making situation.

Women will be more conscious of the security of your facility, not just as it concerns her stored belongings, but as it concerns her personal safety and that of her family members when they are at the facility. Your marketing should give lots of information regarding both the physical and personal security aspects of the facility. How many cameras do you have? What percent of the property inside and out is covered by them? Are they being watched at all times?

Your website is a great place to demonstrate the security you’ve put in place. Show lots of photos of the property, and include a layout diagram. Put a link to an aerial view of the property if it is helpful in showing her the security benefits and the surroundings. She can find these on the web herself, but if you offer it she will know you care more by showing it.

Another concern for your women customers is the ease with which she can load, unload, store and transport her belongings. Do you provide any additional conveniences that she might appreciate? If so, then give it attention in your list of benefits. Tell her about carts, dollies and assistance she can get to make bringing or taking her belongings easier. You might consider offering recommendations on moving services she could use. Make sure those moving services are women friendly (or preferably WomenCertified®) as well.

You should also know how to treat her with respect, concern, and dignity when she comes in contact with your employees. Yes, I’m talking about WomenCertified. The training your employees get when they are WomenCertified will ensure that they know how she wants to be treated, how she ommunicates her preferences, and how she makes a decision to use you or stay with you.

Stay tuned. In my next blog ‐ how decisions are driven by life events.

Delia Passi is CEO and founder of WomenCertified Inc., a business that helps other businesses become more women friendly, and helps women find those businesses. If you want to show women that you care about them and their business, you can learn more at www.womencertified.com.

You may be TSSA member, but do you know the membership? Have you really taken advantage of being a member by getting to know other members, and finding out how they’ve met business challenges? If the answer is no, then you’re missing out.

But don’t worry. You can easily remedy that situation by joining us at our annual convention and trade show “Forging New Frontiers” in Fort Worth at the Omni Hotel and Fort Worth Convention Center from October 17-20.

There, you’ll meet hundreds of fellow self-storage folks, from backgrounds as diverse as rocket scientists to firemen. OK, want me to back that up? Jim Peacock, of the Boat Barn (League City) is a retired rocket scientist for NASA, and Rick Holland and Andy Borchardt of Hot Shots Storage (Wichita Falls) are both firefighters.

TSSA members are very resourceful, intelligent, and what’s more, they’re interesting people. I’m always amazed at how enlightening it can be to talk to various members and hear what their challenges and successes are. In my opinion, our members are one of the main draws of our annual convention. Sure, we have great, informative learning sessions that are known far and wide for their practical value, and sure we have super speakers and fun activities (think Texas Hold ‘Em tournament or Opening Night Party) but there’s no doubt that it’s the people that make the event.

And in an age of constant “connectedness, it’s extremely important to make time for people. Our electronic options for communicating are non-stop and numerous—you can text, leave a voice message, talk on the phone, e-mail, post or message on your favorite social media, and the list goes on. But nothing, and I mean nothing comes close to real-person interaction. In my experience, there’s simply no substitution. For starters, it’s immediate and takes place in real time. You get full media presentation in color and 3D. Your senses are your bandwith, so your information flow is unlimited.

And best of all? While at the TSSA convention, learning and having fun, you’ll actually be getting to know people face-to-face, seeing their expressions, reading their body language, and communicating in a much richer way than you ever could electronically.

Now that’s what I call being connected.

The other day I drove up to Fort Worth (a city I’m loving more and more every time I go) to take care of some things for the annual convention in October.

Hark, I can hear our administrator, Holly Barr, taking a registration over the phone right now! Don’t forget to register soon so that your fees are lower.

Anyway…my stops at the Omni Hotel and the Fort Worth Convention Center (both of which we will use at our convention) exposed me to something the likes of which I’ve never seen before (and I’ve planned and attended plenty of conventions). There was a massive convention going on (at one meal they were feeding 9,500 people, I was told. That’s a lot of chicken) for one of those networks of people - mostly women - who sell jewelry at parties. It was these folks, actually. Sort of like the Mary Kay of jewelry.

Everyone had received a - gulp - metallic purple convention bag. It looked as if a giant metallic bottle of grape soda had exploded all over Fort Worth. But that’s not the point. What really stood out for me was the shrieking ’cause it hurt my ears (”Oh, my GOD…hi!!!”) and hugging and - now in all seriousness - the camaraderie. The bonds I knew had formed at previous conventions. And I want that for OUR convention participants, too, of course!

Now, without meaning to be sexist here, we all know that you’re more likely to see and hear the hugging and shrieking when a group is 99% female (which TSSA is not). I’ve been there. I’ve shrieked. I’ve hugged. But when you have that many people gathering together, there’s a lot more going on than air kissing and gushing over each other’s new baubles. There’s gonna be some major LEARNING going on there. I’m talking about sharing of income-producing, life changing success secrets. “They” (who are “they,” anyway?) say that much - if not most - learning goes on when people are networking during a coffee break or at a membership luncheon or in the trade show, and making that truly personal connection that leads to something HUGE.

The same thing happens at the TSSA convention (minus the air kisses, usually) but here’s the thing: YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY BE THERE TO BENEFIT FROM IT. It won’t happen at your desk. And there need not be 10,000 people for it to happen (though I fully encourage 10,000+ self-storage professionals to attend the convention!). Like I said, you just have to BE there.

You can even leave the baubles at home.

P.S. For extra credit, here’s a little primer on networking, reprinted from the websiteeHow:

Step 1
DO NOT UNDERDRESS: At business casual networking events you want to stress the business aspect of your attire. Dress up, not down, wear comfortable shoes and carry a handbag or briefcase that does not interfere with easily extending your hand. Wear an outfit, or suit you know you look good in so you can smile and project a confident image. And men, I do mean wear a suit and tie. It makes you stand out and look professional.

Step 2
BE PREPARED WITH CONVERSATION: Have something prepared to say about yourself that is succinct and states what you do and why you are attending the event. Know what is going on in your community and the world so you can small talk and sound informed. If there is someone at the event you want to talk to, do a little research about them beforehand. Be a good listener.

Step 3
AVOID DISTRACTIONS: Remember why you are attending the networking event and do not hide behind the food and drink, or eat and drink too much because it is free. Do not get stuck in conversations that do not forward your personal networking agenda. Do not talk with people you already know. Do not chew gum. Turn off your cell phone.

Step 4
BRING BUSINESS CARDS: It’s amazing how people can either forget to bring business cards, or run out of them at a networking event. Make sure you have plenty of current cards with you. Generic business cards on cheap stock should be replaced with cards that reflect the impression you want to leave behind.

Step 5
BRING A PEN: A successful event is one where you come home with a stack of business cards. As you receive them, be ready with a pen and jot down a few descriptive words on the back of each card. You can’t possibly remember everyone you have met without a few notes. They will come in handy!

Step 6
FOLLOW THROUGH: Don’t wait to be contacted. If you met someone you liked contact them. Maybe they don’t have a job for you now, but perhaps they know someone else who does, or will have an opportunity for you later. Only you can decide whether the contact should be via a phone call or e-mail, or cover letter with resume.

Step 7
DON’T STALK: After you have placed the ball in someone else’s court, you need to wait for a response. Lack of response means the person is not interested in you, or is not interested in you at this time. If you think that only this person holds the key to your future, wait 6 weeks and send a written follow up including a cover letter with resume.

Read what John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing, has to say on the topic…

Mobile Payments as Marketing Strategy
from The Duct Tape Marketing blog

The mobile device continues to evolve and one trend that’s finally picking up steam in the US is the act of making and accepting payments via mobile payment systems. Mobile payments are already very common in other parts of the world where less infrastructure friction (read: entrenched industries that don’t want to change the game) allowed for faster adoption.

The question marketers of all kinds need to start asking is if their customers are mobile, how mobile does the business need to be? I get push back every time I mention text messaging and SMS, but like it or not you can’t sit this out, you’ve got to start getting serious about every aspect of mobile marketing, including this one.

While mobile payments may seem like just another way to accept money, much like checks and credit cards, I think you’ll start to see integration that other forms of payment don’t offer. It’s tough to integrate with someone’s checking account, but on a mobile device loaded with a database, GPS and compass, well, you’ve got the makings of a location aware loyalty program with the ability to offer loyalty specials and club and membership perks through an electronic wallet kind of approach.

The first adoption will come with more convenience. Recently, I was selling books at an event attended by eBay sellers and was able to offer “bump” payment with the PayPal iPhone app to those that wished to pay that way. No credit card reader, no paper slips, instant transfer, and more secure than written forms. Of course the person sending the money must have the same technology in order to play.

I’ve signed up for and ordered my Square account and reader – a tool that plugs into the iPhone, iPad or Android headphone port that reads credits cards and allows merchants to accept mobile payments without the need for a credit card terminal or technology from the sending party.

Companies like Colorado based Mocapay have begun to offer creative approaches to mobile payments as a part of the overall marketing puzzle. Using the tool you can push out text messages to encourage purchase, personalize follow-up messages and track and reward frequent purchases with rewards programs.

I firmly and absolutely believe you can create demand for self storage. I know this is a contrarian view to all the “industry experts” out there and goes against the grain of mainstream self storage marketing thought, but I believe it’s possible and our company is doing it.

At Another Closet Self Storage in McAllen, we are currently ranked as a top 100 Operator in the USA (#83) with just over 600,000 square feet of storage. We’ve got another facility coming on-line late this year, and are looking at two other locations to build facilities on.

Our occupancy rates have never been higher. The last quarter of 2008 was the best quarter of 2008. 2009 gave us an 18.6% increase in gross revenues company-wide over 2008. At properties with stabilized occupancies we saw an 8.2% increase in revenue with occupancy up 7.2% for the year 2009 over 2008 numbers.

I went to the National SSA Convention in Dallas last year and heard nothing but gloom and doom.

But for us, 2010 looks great. As of May 31 this year, gross revenues at properties with stabilized occupancies are up 13% vs. this time last year.

Defying the odds
Now, we don’t live in a bubble. Our area of operations in the Rio Grande Valley is in one of the poorest parts of the state, with the fifth highest unemployment of all Texas counties. And our foreclosure rate is among the highest in state.

Household income in three mile radius around many of our locations is less than $30,000 per year (household, not per capita!)

But if you look at our financials, you’d not see one bit of evidence that we’re in the Great Recession. None.

The difference?

I think we’re “creating demand for self storage” and renting lots of units to prove it!

Case in point
I have a store that’s 90% occupied (68,000 sq.ft. occupied), with no residential neighborhoods to speak of within two miles, right next to a competitor facility that’s only two thirds as large and never been over 65% occupied. (And been on the market for sale for three years).

Our company is experiencing phenomenal growth. We’re hiring people. We’re expanding facilities. We’re getting ready to build more. 2009 was a banner year. 2010 is shaping up to be even better yet.

So what’s my secret? Our marketing approach and advertising is “creating demand” for self-storage. And demand for our facilities in particular (that’s the whole point, right?). I know everyone says, “You can’t create demand for self-storage. People either need it or they don’t.” Well, I say that’s the biggest myth in the self-storage industry today! (I hope my competitors keep believing it though!).

Emily Mathews, TSSA Director of Education & Meetings

What’s REALLY Important?
By Larry Winget

Seems like such as easy question to answer. The average, normal person would quickly say “my kids,” or “my family” or “being healthy” and so on. I bet those answers are about what you came up with when you first read the question too.

It’s just that I’m not buying those answers. I’m not calling anyone a liar who recites those quick and easy answers, it’s just that I don’t buy that’s what is really important to most people. Why would I say that? Because there isn’t too much proof to suggest those answers are the truth.

One of my basic philosophies is that your time, your energy and your money go to what is important to you. So if kids and family and being healthy was as important as most people say, it would follow that is where people would focus their time, energy and money. Follow? Well, it isn’t happening. Look around and you’ll see that people are clearly not putting their actions into the important things in life. People are putting their time, energy and money into lots of things but more often than not, it’s the temporary, the mundane, and the instantly gratifying. The ridiculous occupies people’s time, saps their energy and seduces the money from their fingers. And the media helps with that fascination. But I don’t blame the media because they only give us what we beg to see. It’s not their fault they are capitalizing on our preoccupation with the stupid; it’s our own. Watching stupid stuff on television is voluntary participation. No one forces you to sit there and see who the newest stupid celebrity is and what he/she is doing. You choose to do that. People choose to participate in things of no importance and neglect what is really important.

Are there exceptions? Of course there are so don’t get all fired up and write me a bunch of comments about how wrong I am and how my premise doesn’t apply to you. Fine. You may be the exception. Read this and be satisfied with how none of this applies to you and find some satisfaction in pointing the finger of blame at everyone else.

“I get it, Larry. So what is important?”

Your obligations are important. What does that entail? Your relationships, your family, your bills and other financial commitments, your employment and your health. Don’t just say “of course” to this statement. Look closely at each of these obligations and consider that the word really means that you are obligated to do take care of these things to the very best of your ability. And I don’t mean with your words, but with your actions!

You are obligated to do the job you were hired to do. It’s not important that you be happy or enjoy it, it’s important that you do it. That was the agreement you made when you took the job, so do your job and be thankful you have one because millions of people don’t.

You are obligated to be as healthy as you can so you can live as long as you can and not be sick and become a drain on your family physically, mentally or financially. You owe good health to your family and to yourself.

You are obligated to pay your bills – on time and as agreed to. That is money you gave your word you would pay when the goods or service was extended to you, so pony up and do what’s right. Even though we are in a recession. Even though money may be tight. Pay your obligations before you do anything else. Don’t go to the movies, out to eat, or buy anything other than what it takes to survive; instead, pay your obligations no matter what it takes. That’s the important thing to do.

Here is the most important thing and your biggest obligation: your kids. We are a world in crisis. I know it and you know it too. There is no other decent way to describe it: we are in a mess! How did we get in this mess? The mess happened because we either didn’t care enough to keep it from happening or we weren’t involved enough to know it was happening. Either way, we allowed it to happen. We are to blame. And we have to take responsibility and fix it.

The best, long-term solution to turning our world around is to create a society that knows how to be honest and do the right thing in every situation. No more situational ethics but real ethics based on honestly and integrity. We have to create a society that knows how to earn money, save money, be charitable, invest and enjoy their money as well. We have to raise kids that grow into adults who know how to give their word, mean it and keep it. Who do their job for no other reason than because they said they would. Who know how to treat people fairly and be healthy and take care of the environment. Who become involved in their communities and in their world to fix the problems we face. Who know how take action and work to create change instead of sitting on their butts and griping about the way things are. Raising kids to be and do their best is our obligation as a society. But it is also every parents obligation. To fail at raising your kids and teaching them how to succeed is the ultimate failure as a person. Good parenting is the most important thing any person can ever do. Nothing will make a bigger difference in our world than people raising kids who will become responsible, productive adults.

This message has become my primary focus and my purpose. It is impossible to fix the problems surrounding business and money without addressing the primary cause. I can’t help businesses do better in the future until we create a society that believes in honesty, service and takes their job seriously. It does little good to talk about money and credit obligations until parents teach their kids about how to earn, save, spend and honor their commitments. That’s the problem right now with people and their money, they weren’t taught the things that really matter. That has to change. My work can have no lasting impact on society without going to the source of our problem: bad parenting. That’s why I wrote my newest book, Your Kids Are Your Own Fault: A Guide For Raising Responsible, Productive Adults. This message is what’s important for me. It means everything to all of us that we turn our world around and that is clearly not going to happen with the adults we have in charges of our businesses, our schools and our governments right now or in the foreseeable future. Which means, it changes with our kids. It changes with your kids.

I ask that you stop now and take your obligations seriously. How will you know if you are doing that? Measure the amount of time, energy and money you put into an activity and that will tell you whether you consider it to be important or not. Pay attention to that especially when it comes to your kids. Need a guide for doing a better job? Check out my new book, Your Kids Are Your Own Fault: A Guide For Raising Responsible, Productive Adults. It’s the most important thing I have ever written. And if it helps you raise a more productive, responsible person, then I have done an important job.