Ihave a confession to make: I talk too much. If you know me personally, that’s probably not a surprise to you. In fact, you’re probably nodding your head in agreement right now. Whether I’m at work, with family, or with a group of friends I’m normally talking. Yes, it’s true I can “turn off” the chatterbox mode but I’m not shy. In fact, my talkative tendencies have probably helped me in growing my business although that’s not the goal of my loquaciousness. This week’s article is going to be shorter than most, so that I am not guilty of being too wordy in writing like I can be when speaking.
Some close associates of mine have pointed out my garrulousness which has inspired me to do a bit of reflection. What I try not to do is gossip or talk behind people’s back. In general I avoid people who are prone to gossip. If I’m totally honest I’m probably a bit naive and don’t even recognize it when people may be talking about me behind my back. I tend to be a trusting person and assume most people are that way as well. This is one reason, among many, why I avoid politics and have never sought to run for political office.
Before you judge, let me explain why my chatterbox tendencies aren’t all bad. Being talkative has its good points and it’s bad points. First, let’s examine why I talk so much.
Yours truly at the Fayette Chamber of Commerce talking about how the Lessons of Ted Lasso can apply to business on 9/20/23. Photo/Mia Scarbrough
One of the main reasons I talk so much is that I’m genuinely excited to share new things. Whether it’s a fascinating article I read, a personal experience that I think someone might find interesting, or some historical factoid about days gone by, I can’t help but share my enthusiasm with others. My excitement bubbles over, and before I know it, I’m off on a tangent, explaining every little detail. My wife is very patient with me as I often repeat stories and observations I’ve shared before. My long-time employees probably feel the same way. My trend towards being more voluble has increased as I’ve gotten older and accumulated experiences. Thanks for being patient with me y’all.
Another reason I can’t seem to keep quiet is that I genuinely don’t like it when a group of people is too quiet. Silence can be uncomfortable, and I often feel compelled to fill it. This isn’t always a bad thing; sometimes, my chatter can help break the ice in awkward situations or bring life to a dull meeting. However, I admit it can be overwhelming for those who prefer a quieter environment. Not everyone can jump right in to contribute to a discussion. Sometimes that’s a matter of style, but it can be deliberate.
A long time ago before I started my business, I was an overpaid consultant managing a multi-million dollar e-commerce project for a client. The client had a habit of having three meetings when considering any major decision. In the first meeting I had to present my ideas to a single person to vet them ahead of time. Then, we had the actual meeting where the decision maker was present. He would sit there in silence as I presented my report. It was as if the person couldn’t speak, which drove me crazy. The third and final meeting was with the original client contact who shared the big boss’s feedback as a kind of mediator even though none was needed. I never forgot that strange arrangement and to this day feel uncomfortable with situations like that. Why can’t everyone just get in a room and freely discuss ideas and make decisions? Again, I would never make it in politics where a lot of “back room” deals are made.
The Good Points of Talking Too Much
Let’s start with the positives. Talking a lot means I’m always engaging with people, sharing ideas, and sparking conversations. This can be particularly useful in my roles as a business owner, community leader, and marketing professional. In marketing, communication is key. The more I talk, the more I can share our vision, promote our services, and connect with clients. Additionally, talking a lot often leads to more networking opportunities. By being open and engaging, I can connect with a wide range of people, which can lead to new collaborations, partnerships, and friendships.
Over the years I’ve been asked to be a speaker at various gatherings and enjoy the opportunity to share and meet new people. Sometimes people take advantage of my interest. A few years ago a local group approached me to speak about our local economy from my perspective as a long-time business owner. The group was honest that their original guest speaker wasn’t available and I was the back-up choice. I said “yes”. Two days before the event, they called me back and said the original speaker was available again and that they preferred to have him speak instead. To add insult to injury, they then invited me to purchase a ticket to hear the other person speak. Really? Pro tip – if you invite someone to participate in an event and plans change most people will understand, but you shouldn’t charge them to attend. Although the group who did this is still around, they have declined in influence over the years – probably because they’ve done stuff like this to other people. Talkative people like me can be helpful in a pinch, but please don’t take advantage of it.
From the top of Amicalola Falls – yours truly (front, far right) serving as a volunteer hike leader on a senior adult trip with Fayette County Parks & Recreation on 4/20/2024. Photo/Joe Domaleski
On the other hand, being talkative can be put to good use in other areas. It’s been my pleasure to volunteer with various groups and serve as a tour guide or hike leader. I’m all too eager to share facts, information, and history with an eager audience. I can’t tell you how many hikes I’ve lead in our local community pointing out trails, natural features, and local history. I’m not a historian and will defer to my friends at the Fayette County Historical Society for more detailed historical information if needed. Sharing is fun – with the right audience.
The Not-So-Good Points
Yes, talking too much does have its downsides. For starters, it can be exhausting for those around me. I am appreciative to everyone who’s been candid with me about this. I hear you and am trying to get better. It’s not that I don’t care about your input, because I do. The older I get the more history I’ve accumulated and want to share. Yet, I’ve come to understand that just being the “old guy” in the room doesn’t mean I have a monopoly on ideas or perspectives. Not everyone wants to hear my small business “war stories”, detailed expositions of the latest marketing trends, or my enthusiastic deep dive into the mathematics of machine learning. One of the reasons I agreed to write this column was to give me a forum to do things like that in writing, knowing that the audience who reads my stuff does so willingly and isn’t subjected to my hot air in person. Thank you for reading my stuff.
The author hoping his audience is as interested as he is in the mathematics of neural networks. Trilith 12/11/23. Photo/Zavion Green
It’s been pointed out to me that talking too much can sometimes lead to missing out on valuable input from others. When I’m busy sharing my thoughts, I inadvertently dominate the conversation, leaving little room for others to contribute. This can result in missed opportunities for learning and growth. You already know I have trouble with “dead air” but have come to realize that silence is okay. Some people aren’t good at speaking up in a public setting. Others may need to cogitate on ideas and then present them at a later time. As a consultant I’ve had to “think on my feet” but perhaps that’s not the only way to do things. Technology, particularly smart phones, exacerbate the problem of quiet and it’s not too uncommon to find people in the same room texting each other instead of talking. Before I adopt a self-righteous Generation X posture by saying that everyone needs to put down their phones, a more nuanced opinion is to say that maybe we just need more balance in communication frequency and styles.
Striking a Balance
So, what’s the solution? For me personally, I think the key is to find a balance between sharing my excitement and allowing space for others to speak. I’ve been working on becoming a better listener, giving others the chance to share their thoughts and ideas. This not only helps me learn from different perspectives but also fosters a more inclusive and collaborative environment. It’s not easy, but I am trying. The following quote has been attributed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Actor Douglas Fairbanks, and a Dr. Dr. C. Z. Weiser back in the 1880’s. Although the true attribution remains lost to time, I think it’s a great quote:
When you are called upon to speak; be sincere, be brief, and be seated.
Please know that while I may talk too much, my chatter comes from a place of genuine enthusiasm and a desire to connect with others. But until then, if you ever need a fluent person to fill an awkward silence or share a new idea with unbridled enthusiasm, you know where to find me.
PS – Yes, I know I dropped a lot of big words in this article, most of which are synonyms for being talkative. Thanks to the online Oxford Languages dictionary and thesaurus for the assistance and increase in my vocabulary while writing this piece.
[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25+ years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year. Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran. He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Joe is a recipient of the Peachtree City Rotary Club Business Leader of the Year Award for 2024. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. You can connect with Joe directly on LinkedIn for more insights and updates.]
Do you ever find yourself bogged down in minutiae, buried in tasks and decisions that don’t seem to matter? Perhaps you spend time mining data and information with no specific goal in mind. Although details do matter, some decisions and details matter more than others. Recently, I encountered a situation where a client was obsessing over offering a product discount of 15% vs. 20%. Financial models showed the expected profit difference to be negligible, but the client wanted more precision and was willing to expend a lot of resources to get it—too much, in fact. Indeed, getting a precise forecast of consumer spending is very hard to do—ask any large company that spends millions trying to do that very thing.
Sometimes, you just need to make a decision and move on, making improvements once results come in later so that you have better data. I’ve called that being “directionally correct.” My client’s decision-making process had become too complex without significant benefit. It’s a classic example of wasting dollars to save pennies. If you’re an accountant or business analyst, you have my permission to skip the next three paragraphs of this article.
In business, there’s a technique for decision-making known as the cost-benefit analysis. I want to give you a classic business school definition of the concept, so let’s turn to the Harvard Business School (HBS). According to HBS, “Cost-benefit analysis involves tallying up all costs of a project or decision and subtracting that amount from the total projected benefits of the project or decision. If the projected benefits outweigh the costs, you could argue that the decision is a good one to make. If, on the other hand, the costs outweigh the benefits, then a company may want to rethink the decision or project.” (source: Harvard Business School https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/cost-benefit-analysis)
The most well-known quantitative measurement of a cost-benefit analysis is ROI (return on investment), which is calculated as follows:
ROI = (Total Benefits) / (Total Costs) x 100
A positive ROI means that the benefits exceed the costs, and, in general, a higher ROI is better than a lower one. A negative ROI indicates a loss. Most businesspeople have heard of ROI even if they’re not quite sure how to calculate it. There are other forms of cost-benefit measurement, but ROI is the most well-known. In marketing, we have a related measurement called ROAS, which is the Return on Advertising Spend. It’s the same concept, applied more narrowly to revenue generated by advertising spend. My company uses ROAS when helping clients plan marketing activities.
Organizations can spend lots of money trying to calculate ROI. On the cost side of the equation, you may have direct costs, indirect costs, fixed costs, and variable costs. On the benefit side of the equation, you might have direct benefits, indirect benefits, and long-term benefits (which are normally converted to present-day dollars). My MBA is in finance, and I spent several years in graduate school examining these concepts in significant detail. It’s been my experience that most small business leaders don’t truly understand the components of ROI, especially those regarding cost. Your homework is to look up the associated concepts of opportunity cost and sunk cost, two important terms we’ll examine in a future article.
Over my career, I’ve seen entire projects devoted to nothing but attempting to get an accurate calculation of ROI. Calculating ROI is a form of data-driven decision-making, which aims to improve accuracy, efficiency, and objectivity. Being data-driven, or at least data-inspired, is generally a good thing. It’s currently in fashion to say that you’re “data-driven”. I’m a numbers guy, enjoy stuff like this, and have even referred to myself as being data-driven. Recently, I attended an online webinar by two business school professors who challenged the notion of being “data-driven.” I decided to find out more.
Webinar about Decision-Driven Analytics with Dr. Stefano Puntoni, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of Business, held on 5/16/24. Photo/Joe Domaleski
“Decision-Driven Analytics” is a new book by Professors Bart De Langhe and Stefano Puntoni (Wharton School Press, June 2024). In their new book, the authors make the case for a decision-first approach, where analytics initiatives are driven by specific business decisions rather than generic data exploration. In short, it’s the exact opposite of being “data-driven.” Putting the decision before the data ensures that analytics efforts are directly tied to tangible business outcomes.
I found myself smiling and nodding in agreement with many of the comments made in the book. For example, they noted that some people love to focus on the little things, to the point where the accuracy doesn’t matter. I had to laugh when I read, “When the numbers involved are more precise, people are more likely to engage in unnecessary calculations.” We all know people like that. I’ve been like that myself. Don’t be that person!
There’s an entire discussion about “confirmation bias,” which is the tendency to seek and interpret new data as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs. Much can be said about the current problems we have in society with confirmation bias and how algorithmically generated content and data can feed into that. What’s needed is a new approach.
“Decision-driven analytics aligns the efforts of data scientists with the highest-value contributions possible, directing them toward answers that impact decision-making, rather than letting them get lost in irrelevant data detours. This approach highlights the strategic importance of what we don’t know. It underscores the importance of intellectual humility and of challenging our assumptions about how the world functions.”
– Dr. Bart De Langhe and Dr. Stefano Puntoni in “Decision-Driven Analytics”
Joe Domaleski holding the Kindle e-book version of Bart De Langhe and Stefano Puntoni’s new book “Decision-Driven Analytics” (Wharton School Press, June 2024). Photo/Joe Domaleski
De Langhe and Stefano’s new book outlines a four-step process for decision-based analytics:
Decisions – identify relevant and feasible business alternatives to achieve business goals. This puts the decision ahead of the data, instead of mining the data to potentially solve a problem that doesn’t exist. In other words, what needs to be decided?
Questions – create questions to help evaluate and rank the potential alternatives under consideration. Questions should be precise and relevant to the task at hand.
Data – gather data relevant to answering the questions posed by the business. The quality and relevance of the data are more important than the quantity or availability.
Answers – generating answers to business questions enables organizations to achieve their desired business goals. Data is just a means to an end.
Seems simple, but it’s counter-intuitive to most people. In my years of business experience, an overwhelming majority of businesspeople love to jump to the data without sufficient context. They obsess over trivial details that aren’t associated with a meaningful business purpose. It’s as if they’re trying to find a purpose for their data and calculations, whose significance is lost to time, and that someone told them they needed to use long ago.
A few years ago, I was working in a marketing capacity with a nonprofit client who hired an outside business consultant to “shake things up.” I wasn’t invited to the meeting (which often happens when someone, particularly a business consultant or coach, doesn’t want to be challenged by another point of view). Anyway, the consultant said my client needed KPIs on their website. They weren’t wrong, but my client didn’t understand what that meant and neither the client or consultant spent anytime providing context. I got an urgent phone call from the client who said that I needed to immediately “install” KPIs on the website because the business consultant said so. My client seemed frustrated at me because I should have known to have done this. But it’s not a doable thing. You literally can’t install a KPI on a website; it’s not a “thing.”
It was very clear to me that the client didn’t know that a KPI is a Key Performance Indicator. It’s a generic term for a quantifiable measurement used to gauge performance. ROI is an example of a KPI. One can’t “install a KPI” on a website. Without embarrassing the client, I politely let them know that the website was already tracking a variety of metrics that could be used as KPIs. I then asked them what they wanted to achieve with the website, offering up my own suggestions based on professional experience. That’s an example of “decision-driven analytics.” The business objectives should drive the data and not the other way around.
There’s no question that we live in a data-driven world, increasingly powered by automation. AI-powered data collection and analysis have the potential to be helpful, but they can also be irrelevant, humorous, and, in some cases, downright harmful. Although I’m intrigued by machine learning algorithms applied to some forms of data analysis, I think the process needs to be guided by humans. There is an alternative to being data-driven, and that’s to be decision-driven.
Decision-driven analytics emphasizes the importance of human-centric decision-making aligned with business objectives. A decision-driven approach ensures that analytics are directly tied to tangible business goals. This approach avoids the trap of getting lost in irrelevant details and unnecessary calculations—whether performed by people or computers. It’s not just the “what” but the “so what” and “why” that matter in decision-making.
As business leaders, I feel that it’s important to prioritize human intuition and experience in the decision-making process. Recently a friend of mine was let go because their boss said, “the numbers didn’t work.” What does that even mean? I personally think that’s a cop out and weak leadership. Without context, a quick “reading of the numbers” often limits decision-making as a one-dimensional exercise. Many decisions are nuanced and require more than a quick read of a single data point. Who’s in charge, you or the data?
Effective leaders put the decision first to ensure that data serves to support, rather than replace, their judgment. I’m evaluating a number of business decisions for the second half of the year. Instead of mining the data I have, I’m starting with the decisions I need to make and then I’ll gather the data needed to help make those decisions. What business decisions do you need to make, and what data do you need to make those decisions?
[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25+ years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year. Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran. He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Joe is a recipient of the Peachtree City Rotary Club Business Leader of the Year Award for 2024. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. You can connect with Joe directly on LinkedIn for more insights and updates.]
Last week, I wrote about the ripple effect of believing in others. You’ll go far when people believe in you, but you’ll go even farther when you believe in others. What if I told you that my belief in an intern helped take our work to the International Space Station? Before I tell you about that, let’s provide some history and context.
Back in the spring of 2016, former Fayette Chamber CEO Virginia Gibbs approached me about having my company participate in the Fayette County Public Schools Work-based Learning (WBL) Program. I had worked closely with Virginia during her Chamber tenure and was always impressed by the quality of her work. Although I was a bit skeptical that we had enough work for an intern, I trusted Virginia and accepted her invitation to participate. I’m glad that I did.
In the summer of 2016, we onboarded our first intern, Alexandra Ochoa. It was a paid internship because I think it’s important for students to know their work is valued. Paying interns also ensures a certain degree of accountability. She was both a part-time employee of our company and a participant in the WBL program while a senior at Sandy Creek High School. We had her work on website updates, which helped our clients, helped us, and gave her some real work to put in her portfolio. It was a big success, and we decided to continue in the program.
Pictured here with our WBL interns for the 2019-2020 school year hamming it up for the camera. (L-R) MacKenzie Duncan, Joe Domaleski, Brandon Worrell, and Liberty Harris. Brandon was the 2020 Valedictorian at Sandy Creek High School and is currently studying at MIT. Photo/Paige Wright.
The next school year, Melanie Duncan became the new WBL Coordinator, and we’ve enjoyed working with Melanie ever since. She has paired us up with so many great students over the years. The interns have come from all five Fayette County high schools and they’ve worked in a variety of positions—graphic designer, web developer, marketing consultant, writer, and more. All of our interns have gone on to college, including GSU, KSU, Georgia Tech, UGA, and even MIT! Some have chosen to continue working for us part-time while in college, something we enjoy doing.
In addition to great high school interns, we’ve also enjoyed having college interns over the years. Unlike the high school interns who work for us an entire school year, most of the college internships are only for the summer—which makes it a little harder since the time frame is so short. This summer, we picked up our first graduate school intern, Vinay Revanuru, who’s finishing up his Master’s Degree in Data Science at GSU. I had to brush up on my statistics and machine learning algorithms just to keep up with Vinay. One of the many benefits of an internship is that it keeps you on your toes, staying ahead of these motivated students. More on that in a bit.
This past school year, we got a chance to work with the one and only Zavion Green. Zavion just graduated from Sandy Creek High School and will be attending college at USC in Los Angeles next semester. It was my honor to work with him this past year, and I think I learned just as much from him as he might have learned from us. He worked on a lot of very special graphic design projects over the year, including one that went up to the International Space Station!
In the fall of last year, I was approached by a friend of mine (and fellow amateur radio operator) Jim Reed, N4BFR. Jim is the social media coordinator for ARISS—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. ARISS is a nonprofit that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) as it relates to amateur radio and the International Space Station (ISS). The ARISS program was created and is managed by an international consortium of amateur radio organizations and space agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the USA.
ARISS wanted a new logo for its 40th anniversary, and I told Jim we would be happy to do it. Not only would we do it, but we would assign it to a student—Zavion Green. What better way to promote the mission of ARISS than to have a student intern help with the logo redesign. Zavion worked directly with the client, exceeding their expectations and mine. ARISS decided to send the logo up to the ISS for a special Slow-Scan TV (SSTV) transmission back down to Earth. Yes, Zavion’s work went up to the ISS! Here’s a video I asked Zavion to put together which documents the whole project.
Not every internship project goes to outer space, but almost all of them make an impact in the community. We’re now in our eighth year of the WBL program and are already planning to take on two interns for the next school year. I’m a big believer in internships and want to encourage my fellow business and nonprofit leaders to consider taking on interns—especially those from our local schools.
Here are some great reasons you should consider hiring interns:
Pictured here with our 2021-2022 WBL Interns. (L-R) Abby Paver (who continues working with us part-time while studying at KSU) and Julianne York (who’s studying abroad through Georgia Tech). Photo/Joe Domaleski
Fresh Perspectives – Interns can foster innovation by bringing new, creative ideas and perspectives. I’ve seen firsthand how that can invigorate a business, where some tasks and projects can get old.
Building a Talent Pipeline – Internships can serve as a trial period to evaluate potential future team members. An internship period allows a company to evaluate someone’s skills, work ethic, and cultural fit.
Increased Productivity – Interns can take on routine tasks, freeing up experienced employees to work on more strategic and complex work. This can lead to an overall increase in productivity and efficiency. What might be stale to the experienced person is often seen as exciting and new to an intern.
Cost-Effective Labor – Interns are obviously not paid as much as full-time employees. This makes it a cost-effective way to get additional help, especially for short-term projects or busy seasons. However, as stated earlier, I think it’s important to pay interns and, personally, I don’t believe in unpaid internships. Young people need to know their work is valued.
Enhanced Company Brand and Reputation – Offering internships can enhance a business’s reputation as a supportive and nurturing environment for learning and growth. This can attract more talent and create positive word-of-mouth. We’ve gotten new clients because we work with interns. I have yet to find a client who objects to having a supervised intern work on our projects.
Developing Leadership Skills – Managing interns provides existing staff members with an opportunity to develop their supervisory and mentoring skills. Over the years, I’ve had various members of our leadership team supervise interns. I’ve personally learned a lot about managing young people by having interns.
Supporting Local Education and Community – By providing internships, businesses contribute to the education and development of local students. This can strengthen community ties and build goodwill. Young people are the future of our community. As a middle-aged person, let me be the first to say that it’s not productive to complain about the work ethic of young people if you’re not doing something to improve the situation. Internships give students the opportunity to do real, meaningful work.
Fresh Energy and Enthusiasm – Interns can bring a high level of enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, which can boost the morale of the entire team. This can help create a more dynamic work environment for all concerned. Over the years, I’ve seen how interns can get our whole team excited about projects. It’s easy to fall into a stale routine, but a motivated intern who’s looking at something for the first time can rekindle a sense of excitement.
Flexibility – Internships can be designed to suit the specific needs of the business. Whether it’s a summer internship, a part-time role during the school year, or a project-based position, businesses can tailor the internship program to fit their requirements. A word of caution about this—not all interns (or their school sponsors) truly understand this. The Fayette County WBL program does, but many colleges don’t. One summer, I had an intern come up to me and tell me that they miscalculated the number of intern hours they needed for their degree. They asked if it was possible for them to work an 80-hour week during their final internship week! I had to say “no” and I even called that student’s professor urging caution about labor laws. Always ask the prospective intern for the paperwork documenting the requirements for their internship.
Support for Special Projects – Interns can be particularly valuable for undertaking special projects that may otherwise be neglected due to a lack of resources. This can include market research, social media management, or developing new processes. In the case of Zavion, it was a win-win-win situation for him, for ARISS, and for me personally watching him support a meaningful nonprofit, educational organization.
There are so many benefits of having an intern work in your organization. It’s become commonplace for older people, like me, to complain about the work ethic of younger generations. But have you really given young people a chance? The irony isn’t lost on me that I’m a member of Generation X, the original “slacker” generation. I guess there’s a natural tendency for older generations to look down on the younger ones. Now that I’m in middle age, my perspectives have changed. I hope I’m not in the minority, but I’m very optimistic about what young people bring to the table.
Fayette Chamber CEO Leonardo McClarty, CFC Owner Joe Domaleski, Fayette Schools WBL Coordinator Melanie Duncan, and CFC Intern (and recent SCHS Graduate) Zavion Green meet at Trilith to discuss the internship program in early 2024. Photo/Trey Strawn
Internships are more than just opportunities for students to gain experience; they are also helpful for businesses seeking to innovate, grow, and connect with the community. At my company, we have benefited from internship programs, and I think our interns feel the same way. Our former interns have done very well in college. Our first few interns have graduated college and now have very successful careers. I’m proud of them all.
As our experience has shown, investing in interns can lead to remarkable outcomes, sometimes even reaching the heights of outer space! I encourage my peers in the community to consider having internships, particularly those afforded by our local schools. Your interns will learn a lot about the value and impact of “real work,” and I bet you learn even more from them. If you want to know more about the Fayette County Schools WBL program, I’m more than happy to put you in touch with the right people—just let me know. My contact information is below. Thanks again to all of our former, current, and future interns – your belief in us inspires our belief in you.
[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25+ years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year. Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran. He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Joe is a recipient of the Peachtree City Rotary Club Business Leader of the Year Award for 2024. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. You can connect with Joe directly on LinkedIn for more insights and updates.]
Twenty-two years ago, I wrote a business plan for starting my own company. I sat on that plan for a full year while I sought out advice, studied the market, and mustered enough courage to take action by launching the business in March 2003. In my very first column for this paper, I shared some of my motivations for starting the business. Looking back, it’s clear to me that the entire framework for our success has been based on trust and belief. Remember what Coach Ted Lasso said about belief?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Belief is trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. For purposes of this article, I’m going to use the terms more or less interchangeably. We’re going to explore trust and belief in four areas: Family, Clients, Team Members, and Community.
Trust within your family
The initial spark of belief and trust started at home. If you’re going to start a business, it’s essential for your family to be on board. My wife Mary Catherine believed that I could pull this off. It wasn’t easy giving up a high salary with benefits to start a business with no guarantee of success. In hindsight, I think it was even harder on Mary Catherine. We had a young family at the time. At least I knew what I was potentially capable of doing. She had to believe in my belief in myself. The trust she placed in me created a positive reinforcement cycle that inspired me. Once inspired, it motivated me to action, which also reinforced her beliefs—creating a flywheel of positive motivation.
Trust from clients
Once inspired by Mary Catherine’s belief in me and what I aspired to do, my primary job was to get new clients to believe in me and my capabilities as a solo entrepreneur. Judge David “DR” Moore of Peachtree Law Group was my very first customer during our first month in business. We knew “DR” from Church, as he taught all three of my children Sunday School. I remember telling him a little bit about my business one Sunday, and he said, “Joe, I’m not sure what all of that means, but I trust you. You’re hired. What’s next?” Last summer, he came to our 20th Anniversary party. Recently, it was my honor to attend the 40th Anniversary party for his law firm. DR’s taking a chance on me opened doors that I never imagined possible.
Joe and Mary Catherine Domaleski with Judge David “DR” Moore. DR was my first client 21 years ago. Thanks for believing in us. Photo/Joe Domaleski
Helping nonprofits has never been much of a money-maker for us, but it’s been a passion of mine since starting the business. I believe in the importance of community and helping those that help others. My first two nonprofit clients were The Real Life Center, under the leadership of Cathy Berggren, and the Peachtree City Running Club. Both organizations trusted me to build their websites. They believed I could do it despite my nonexistent portfolio of clients. In turn, I believed they were worthy organizations that could benefit from my services. Even though I should have been chasing higher-dollar accounts at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. It was, and both organizations are still clients today. Not only that, but they’ve both been great sources of referral business over the years, which is more important than money to a small business.
“If people like you, they will listen to you, but if people trust you, they will do business with you.” – Zig Ziglar
Despite what anyone will tell you, to be successful in business, you need to be where people are. You can’t sit at home and hope people come to you. Being with people, learning from people, helping others, and being an active participant in the community helps inspire trust from others. Hearing what you do is good, but showing others what you’re capable of builds trust. Over time, word gets out, and people will come to you because they trust who you are and trust the word of others who’ve referred business to you.
One of our most long-standing clients is The Citizen Newspaper. Thank you, Cal and Joyce, for believing in me. Thanks to all of the current and former clients who’ve trusted in our business and believed in me personally. Your trust has kept our business going over the years. Trust from and with a new client means both parties are open to innovative approaches and fresh ideas. Belief in others is contagious.
Trust with team members
Within six months of starting the business, I had more work than I could do personally. I remember hiring my first contractor. It takes a lot of trust and belief in someone to delegate work to someone else. The delegate becomes a representative of your organization. In like manner, it takes a lot of trust on the part of the team member (whether they’re an employee or contractor) to work with an organization. They forgo other opportunities to put trust in an organization, knowing that it’s on the right path, that they’ll get paid on time, and that the work they’re doing matters.
A few years into the growth of my new company, I had the great fortune of meeting Vicki and Tommy Turner. They liked what I was doing and trusted me to run their business, AIS Computers. I merged my company operations with their established business. They believed in me, and that helped inspire some incredible projects and growth. Overnight, I had a large payroll to deal with and a great team to get things done. Unfortunately, the Great Recession of 2010 put a damper on things, and we made a joint decision to reorganize. Their belief in me was so strong that they helped finance my buyout of the non-retail business operations. Many employees went with me because they trusted the direction I was heading. That trust helped us chart a new course as Country Fried Creative.
Over the years, I’ve worked with some great team members. We currently have one of the strongest teams we’ve ever had. That strength is based on trust and belief in where the business is heading. Interestingly, as I write this, the job market has softened a bit, and we have more unsolicited job applications and resumes than I’ve ever had. I wish I could hire everyone, but our current levels of business don’t support that. If that’s you and you’re reading this, I just want to encourage you that there are opportunities out there. Thank you for trusting us and inquiring.
One of the most rewarding aspects of working with new team members is our excellent partnership with the Fayette School District’s Work-Based Learning Program (WBL). For the past six years, we’ve worked with high school interns who work for us part-time, gaining important job skills. As a company, we believe in our interns and are very selective in hiring them. In like manner, they trust us to help guide them as they start their careers. Many of our interns have continued to work with us after graduation. We also work with college interns and recently picked up our first Master’s Degree candidate intern. These young professionals are eager to learn and grow, and trusting them with real responsibilities can significantly impact their careers.
Being on a team requires trust all the way around. We have a great team. Thank you to all the past, current, and future team members we’ve worked with over the years.
Trust in the community
I’m not one to seek out personal or company community awards. While the recognition is nice, my focus has always been on just doing the work. There are some very well-established awards that one can nominate themselves for, and that’s all fine and good—but it’s not me. Doing the right things for the right reasons is reward enough for us. Despite my reluctance to nominate myself or my company, occasionally someone takes notice of what we do, nominates us, and we win something.
Recently, it was my honor to receive the inaugural Rotary Business Leader Award from the Peachtree City Rotary Club. The honor was a total surprise and shared with the even more deserving Brent Scarbrough (Brent Scarbrough & Company) along with Pat Burke (Midwest Food Bank). The award itself says, “…in recognition of your business leadership with commitment to honesty, building relationships and fairness to all you encounter.” Wow! What a validation that there’s more to business than profit and dollars. Thank you, Rotary Club. Your belief in me and our company means a lot—especially now.
PTC Rotary Club President-elect Patti Kadkhodaian presents the Rotary Business Leader of the Year Award to Pat Burke (Midwest Food Bank), Joe Domaleski (Country Fried Creative), and Brent Scarbrough (Brent Scarbrough & Company) on 5/16/24. Photo/Hollie Holder
You see, we started off the year on an uneven footing. Most businesses don’t make it the first year and especially not twenty years. We lost two key employees in the first quarter of this year and had kind of wondered what our next moves would be without them. Another one of our key employees had a vision for us to launch something new for 2024, and so we have. I believed in her new vision, and she had the trust in our team to carry it out. The community response to our new marketing initiative has been tremendous.
Being an active member of our community is an integral part of who we are. We trust our community leaders will do the right things to foster positive growth for the betterment of all. As a community leader myself, I try to do the same thing—I’m not always right and, frankly, am somewhat politically naive, but I do care about our community. Let’s continue to support local and especially small businesses.
Thanks to the Mayors and City Councils of Fayetteville and Peachtree City for supporting me personally and our business. At the county level, there are lots of people to thank in both Fayette and Coweta County. I’d especially like to thank the Fayette Chamber of Commerce, who’s been along with me for the journey every year we’ve been in business. I believe in you, Chamber, and appreciate the trust you’ve placed in me and my company over the years.
The ripple effect of belief is very powerful. When you take a chance on someone, you inspire them to do the same for others. This creates an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to take risks and grow. It’s a cycle of positive reinforcement that benefits individuals, businesses, and the community at large.
For me, the spark started at home when my wife believed in me to start the business. That spark caught fire as new clients believed in what we were doing and signed up with us. New clients necessitated new team members. People join a team because they believe in what you’re doing. The ripple effect of belief has played out into the community at large. It really has been gratifying to see how many businesses and nonprofits we have helped launch and grow over the years.
Believing in others creates a ripple effect that promotes growth, innovation, and a supportive community. So, take that chance, believe in someone’s potential, and watch as the ripple effect transforms lives around you. It’s changed my life, and I know it’ll change yours and those around you. Queue up the song, “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA. You’ll be humming that song for the rest of the day as you consider the message of this article. You’re welcome.
[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25+ years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year. Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran. He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Joe is a recipient of the Peachtree City Rotary Club Business Leader of the Year Award for 2024. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. You can connect with Joe directly on LinkedIn for more insights and updates.]
How did you spend your Memorial Day Weekend? As the traditional start of summer, there was a lot going on—graduations, picnics, family gatherings, and special events. Memorial Day is a special holiday that honors the men and women of our Armed Forces who gave their lives in service to our great country. I hope you sacrificed at least part of your busy weekend to remember the meaning of Memorial Day itself.
Our community has many opportunities for remembering Memorial Day. As a veteran, I appreciate the efforts of our local governments and veterans groups to hold Memorial Day events. They are solemn and dignified ways to remember our fallen heroes. Although there’s nothing wrong with being in the audience at such an event, Mary Catherine and I wanted to pay tribute in a different way. We decided to honor Memorial Day with a special event that required active participation – one that required a bit of sacrifice.
Joe and Mary Catherine Domaleski take on the 2024 Murph Challenge
Like we did last year, we took on and completed the 2024 Murph Challenge, a rigorous fitness event that honors Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy. This challenge is a direct and personal way for us to pay tribute to the sacrifices of our military heroes. For those not familiar with it, the Murph Challenge consists of: a one-mile run/ruck, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and another one-mile run/ruck. CrossFit PTC owner Ric Thompson (a Marine Corps veteran and local business leader) hosts this event each year. Proceeds of the event go to benefit The Eden Project, a support foundation for veterans, and the Coco’s Cupboard Tails of Hope service dog training program.
I’ve mentioned the word sacrifice several times and it is the theme of this article. What is sacrifice?
Sacrifice, at its core, is the act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.
The Ultimate Sacrifice is the giving up of one’s life for something greater, just as our fallen military heroes have done. But most sacrifices in life are not in the “Ultimate” category. Sacrifice is not limited to the battlefield, so let’s consider some “less than ultimate” sacrifices. For most of us, a sacrifice involves a deliberate choice to forgo personal comfort, time, or resources to benefit others or achieve a greater goal. I’d like to highlight three specific examples of sacrifice that are not often seen or appreciated.
The concept of sacrifice applies to our communities. Building a strong, resilient community requires collective effort and the willingness to put others’ needs before our own. Volunteers, local leaders, and everyday citizens make sacrifices to ensure the well-being of those around them. These acts of selflessness, whether it’s supporting a local nonprofit or organizing community events, create a sense of unity and support. Our communities thrive when individuals are willing to make sacrifices for the collective good.
The concept of sacrifice applies to our local businesses and nonprofit organizations. Very few local jobs in our community pay enough for people to be able to live in our affluent community. As a small business owner and employer who has created local jobs, I know firsthand how hard it is to make it all work. I know that my employees and those at other local companies are making sacrifices by forgoing higher pay and benefit opportunities with larger companies in order to work, live, and support our community. These sacrifices are often unseen but are fundamental to fostering a vibrant local community.
The concept of sacrifice applies to first responders such as firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and other public safety professionals who put their lives on the line daily to protect and serve our communities. These individuals often face dangerous situations, long hours, and immense stress to ensure our safety and well-being. Their willingness to confront emergencies and crises head-on, often at great personal risk, exemplifies the highest form of dedication and selflessness. The sacrifices made by first responders are crucial to maintaining the safety, stability, and resilience of our communities.
Memorial flag display on the campus of UGA. Photo/Joe Domaleski
Here are some reasons that sacrifice is important in everyday life:
Personal Growth: Making a sacrifice challenges us to step out of our comfort zones and develop new skills and strengths. Doing the Murph Challenge was a very tangible examples of this (and I’m still sore from the workout).
Resilience: Facing and overcoming challenges through sacrifice builds mental and emotional resilience, preparing us for future challenges.
Empathy: Sacrificing for others helps us understand their struggles and fosters a deeper sense of empathy and connection.
Community Building: Sacrifices made for the community create a sense of belonging and mutual support, strengthening social bonds.
Ethical Integrity: Making sacrifices for ethical reasons helps us align our actions with our values, promoting personal integrity.
Long-term Success: In business and personal endeavors, short-term sacrifices often lead to long-term gains and sustainable success.
Sense of Purpose: Sacrificing for a cause greater than oneself provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment. This is my favorite reason for the sacrifices I make in my life.
As we honor our fallen heroes this Memorial Day, who made the Ultimate Sacrifice, think about ways we can incorporate the spirit of sacrifice into our daily lives. When considering sacrifice, I think about the lesson of The Widow’s Mite (Luke 21:1-4). You probably remember the story, but it’s worth reading it again. Making sacrifices strikes at the heart of what it means to be human. It remains to be seen whether or not rationally driven artificially intelligent (AI) systems are capable of sacrifice, but as humans, we are. Sacrifice requires bravery and courage. Whether it’s in our businesses, communities, or personal relationships, making sacrifices can lead to positive and lasting impacts. What are some of the sacrifices you’ve made for the betterment of others?
[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25+ years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year. Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran. He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Joe is a recipient of the Peachtree City Rotary Club Business Leader of the Year Award for 2024. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. You can connect with Joe directly on LinkedIn for more insights and updates.]
The temptation to take shortcuts is ever present in all areas of life. As a society, we’re impatient and want instant gratification and results. We all have our own paths to blaze and to follow in life – some are quick and others are not. Let’s consider a real world example using a map and compass. Last weekend, Mary Catherine and I finished our last orienteering meet of the season. Do you remember my previous article, “Business Lessons from the Sport of Orienteering”?
Joe and Mary Catherine approaching a control point during an orienteering meet at McIntosh Reserve on 5/19/24. Photo/Joe Domaleski
As a reminder, orienteering is a sport where you try to locate control points outside in the shortest time possible using a map, compass, and terrain. Like most navigational choices, in orienteering we have to make decisions between the shortest distance using a straight line (through the woods) or the fastest travel time (which normally means taking trails). Even if you’re not an orienteer, most of you probably use GPS navigational aids like Google Maps, Waze, or Apple Maps. If so, then you know you can plot your route using “fastest time” or “shortest distance.”
As a professional marketer, I see the shortcut mindset all the time. Businesses often seek quick fixes to boost sales, increase brand visibility, or enhance customer engagement. Not only do businesses seek shortcuts in their operations, so do customers. Many marketing campaigns capitalize on this desire, making unrealistic shortcut offers such as “learn the secrets of the successful,” “instant weight loss,” and “guaranteed immediate results.”
Last week I received a special business award that I’ll write about in a future article. I was both honored and humbled to receive the unexpected recognition. After the presentation luncheon, someone approached me and asked, “You’ve had a great career Joe. Is there a shortcut for success in business?” Interesting question. Let’s explore the topic here and then I’ll share with you what I told the person.
First of all, it’s probably good to start by considering the concept of success. Success means different things to different people. Conceptually success usually implies the accomplishment of some aim or objective. A few weeks ago I wrote about “Dreams vs. Dollars“. You can probably guess where I stand when it comes to success measurements. No matter how you define success, there are obviously going to be different ways to achieve that success. It’s a no-brainer that most people want to achieve success sooner rather than later.
A shortcut is a way of reducing time, effort, or resources to achieve something. On the surface level, those seem like good things. Most shortcuts involve skipping steps or components in the hopes of a faster, less resource-intensive solution or goal. Besides the hope for an optimized pathway, when people are involved there’s a psychological aspect to shortcuts as well. For some reason, humans love secrets, especially when those secrets promise a big reward like a treasure map to a hidden fortune. Human motivations driven by hope, certainty, gratification, social proof, and cognitive biases also feed the interest in having secret shortcuts.
Typical shortcuts in business usually involve one or more of the following:
Process Shortcuts: Simplifying or skipping steps in a process or procedure in the hopes of performing it faster. Quite often an organization does something because “that’s the way it’s always been done.” On the other hand, sometimes institutional knowledge is lost over time and important steps are omitted, causing adverse results.
Technology Shortcuts: Applying technology such as software, automation tools, and artificial intelligence (AI) to perform tasks or generate desired output quicker and cheaper. In general, most people would agree that technology is a good thing even if it temporarily eliminates some jobs, as history has shown new jobs are often created. However, the growth rate of technology has begun to cause some to have concerns about existential risk. We won’t explore that issue here for now.
Component Shortcuts: Using less expensive or more accessible resources to reduce costs and save time. We see examples of this not only in manufacturing but in marketing content when someone chooses to use stock or AI-generated content in place of human-generated content (yes, we can tell when you do that). The output of this approach is often referred to as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or Minimum Viable Service (MVS).
Decision Shortcuts: Going for the “quick win” by implementing quick strategies to deliver more immediate results. In sales, we often call this “going for the low hanging fruit.” Templates and checklists are often used to help streamline decision-making. Computers use algorithms and heuristics to do the same thing.
Knowledge Shortcuts: Quickly gaining information or skills through accelerated learning. Back in the day, this might come in the form of a printed encyclopedia or user manual. The advent of Internet search expanded human-centric knowledge acquisition. Nowadays, AI can just tell you what needs to be done without much knowledge actually gained by a human.
Ideally, taking shortcuts can offer a variety of benefits including:
Time savings from unnecessary steps.
Cost reduction gained from eliminated resources.
Increased efficiency from fewer processes.
Competitive advantage by getting to market quicker.
Morale boost to team members who are motivated by the quick win.
Better resource allocation to focus on what matters.
Greater innovation, a.k.a. “necessity is the mother of invention.”
Simplification leading to greater understanding by all concerned.
Disadvantages may include:
Decreased quality from omitting necessary components and parts.
Compliance issues in bypassing legal and regulatory requirements.
Long-term costs due to repairs and rework.
Increased risk from oversights, omissions, and failures.
Erosion of trust from employees and customers who may perceive expediency as more important than quality (big problem with AI right now).
Stifled innovation from quick fixes that are more important than long-term improvements. Innovation is both an advantage and disadvantage from shortcuts.
Incomplete learning from shortcuts can deprive people of proper learning and knowledge acquisition (another big problem with AI-generated solutions that no one understands).
My colleagues at Country Fried Creative during a recent team meeting to consider the best path forward for our web projects. Photo/Joe Domaleski
Do I take shortcuts in business? Absolutely, when it makes sense. All effective leaders must find a balance between effectiveness and efficiency. That’s where experience, discernment, and leadership come into play. Knowing when to streamline a process and when to adhere to the traditional route is crucial. Like many things in business and life, it’s all about the balance. Balancing efficiency with quality ensures that shortcuts are strategic and do not compromise the integrity of the business. By making informed decisions, I can leverage shortcuts to enhance productivity and growth without sacrificing long-term success or employee and customer trust.
So let’s revisit the question asked in the title and fourth paragraph above: “Is there a shortcut for success in business?” Based on my experiences, “No, there isn’t an all-encompassing shortcut for success in business.” However, there are opportunities for shortcuts that you’ll encounter along your journey. It’s up to you to decide which ones to take by balancing the advantages and risks. The key is to make smart, informed choices.
Use shortcuts to boost efficiency and eliminate unnecessary steps and waste without sacrificing quality, integrity, or long-term goals. By thoughtfully evaluating each shortcut, you can leverage them to drive success while maintaining trust and delivering value. Over the years, I’ve made some really good decisions as well as some spectacular blunders. It’s all part of the journey. Choose wisely. That’s my opinion, but what do you think? Do you think there’s a shortcut to success in business?
(NOTE: I’m not anti-AI, as you know from my previous columns on the subject (linked here and here). Quite the contrary, I regularly use it for certain tasks. However, the main premise of generative AI is a “faster and better” shortcut mentality, which could be problematic if used in the wrong way.)
[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25+ years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year. Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran. He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Joe is a recipient of the Peachtree City Rotary Club Business Leader of the Year Award for 2024. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. You can connect with Joe directly on LinkedIn for more insights and updates.]
