Frank Drake

The media tries to report on the world economy or the national economy, or even the economy in Detroit or LA. This is easy to talk about, statistically driven and apparently important to everyone.

Alas, this has virtually nothing to do with your day, your job and your approach to the market. That's because geography isn't as important as it used to be, but more than that, it has to do with the fact that you don't sell to everyone, and the economy is unevenly distributed.

If the unemployment rate in your industry doesn't match the national numbers, the national numbers don't matter so much.

At the largest Lexus dealer in New Jersey, they're sold out of many models, with a waiting list. In some towns in Missouri, the unemployment rate is twice what it is in your town. In the tech industry, the rate you can charge for developing killer social apps on a tablet is high and going up.

Economics used to be stuck in town. Now, as markets and industries transcend location, useful economic stats describe the state of the people you're working with and selling to.

If your segment is stuck, it might make sense to stick it out. It also might be worth thinking about the cost of moving to a different economy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO3Ydno-Dhs

Edina, Minnesota

The community of Edina, MN is committed to creating positive futures for its youth. Edina Public Schools has joined forces with the City of Edina, families, businesses, the medical community, the faith community and its residents to build support around youth needs. The joint venture, Connecting With Kids, was formed to connect individuals, families, organizations and other resources in Edina to help raise healthy children and develop a healthy community. It is their vision to be a community where all children have the support they need to grow up to be responsible, healthy and caring adults.

The Edina City Council appoints students to serve terms on all City Boards and Commissions. In most cases, they are invited to participate as full members, including voting rights. Taking a cue from the City Council, several other community organizations, such as Edina Day of Service and Connecting With Kids, invite students to join their Boards or steering committees. Another way the community of Edina collaborates to ensure positive outcomes for young people is through the work of the Edina Community Council (ECC). The ECC is a collaborative board made-up of school board and city council appointees, faith and business leaders, human service providers, hospital representatives and community members. The goals of the ECC include connecting youth to resources and information, helping families support the healthy development and school success of youth, creating working relationships among community organizations and holding schools accountable for ensuring the needs of all students are met.

While the Edina Public School system has a graduation rate of 98 percent, the district closely tracks students who do not graduate on time to ensure that they continue to receive services until they earn their high school diploma. The school district has developed a systemic intervention program to accelerate learning for all students. Edina High School boasts the largest Advanced Placement test program in a five-state area with more than 2,300 tests given this year. Meanwhile, a collaboration of South View Middle School, Valley View Middle School and Edina High School has created coursework in the area of study skills and mathematics intended to accelerate the learning of all students, so that everyone has the opportunity to take full advantage of the Advanced Placement coursework and testing.

In addition to programs that encourage youth to be involved in helping others, the Edina school district employs a Service Learning Coordinator who incorporates service into the curriculum. As part of Edina school district's strategic plan, each school at every level now has a service learning champion to support high quality service learning experiences. Outcomes of the program have been measured in partnership with the Minnesota Learn and Serve Program. Meanwhile, at the high school level, the Youth Serving Youth program at Edina High School encourages youth leadership, service, and social awareness while allowing students to connect with like-minded peers and put their ideas into action.

1) Reliance on the tried and true can backfire.

2) Sell the problem. No business buys a solution for a problem they don't have.

3) Every activity worth doing has a learning curve.

4) As the world gets faster, the glacial changes of years and decades are more important, not less.

5) Cultural shifts create long terms evolutionary changes.

6) Being 1st helps in the short run. Being a little more right pays off in the long run. Last is the worst.

7) Build in virality.

8) Subscriptions beat one-off sales.

9) Treat different customers differently.

10) Generate joy. Don't just satisfy a need for a commodity.

11) Plan on remarkable experiences, not remarkable ads.

12) Don't build a fortress of secrets, bet on open.

13) You can get even more done if you give away credit, relentlessly

14) Create scarcity but act with abundance.

15) Competition validates you. It creates a category. It permits the sale to be this or that, not yes or no.

16) There are lots of good reasons to abandon a project. Having a little competition is not one of them.

17) It's not who can benefit from what you sell. It's about choosing the customers you'd like to have.

18) The customers you fire and those you pay attention to all send signals to the rest of the group.

19) 100 people doing something at the same time has far more power than 300 people doing it over time.

20) Are you chasing or being chased? Are you leading or following? Are you fleeing or climbing?

21) Get it right for ten people before you rush around scaling up to a thousand.

22) Highlighting what's working helps you make that happen more often.

23) Perfect is overrated. Perfect doesn't scale, either.

Which is your favorite? Any that I missed that you have in your secret stash?