V… published!

Ten pages, 3,779 words and no pictures later, the first Vladville “V…” newsletter has been sent to over 6,000 subscribers. Thank you for your attention and the feedback you choose to share with everyone. Please do me a favor and forward it around to your friends. I’ve committed to doing at least 12 of these over the next year as we sail down some troubled waters. Grab a paddle 😉

As for demographics, everyone is on it. I have CIOs, IT underlings, IT service providers, one man shops, vendors and even guys who didn’t want to admit they were vendors. I’m looking at you Bob!

If you are curious you can download the Word document here, but that will just get you my point of view. The real prize is the feedback that subscribers that provide feedback will get. Think of it as the quilt, I start the story and you get to complete it. I will publish the extended directors cut with the audience participation in approximately two weeks so start talking back! 🙂

What is the catch? Well, one of the sure-fire keys to failure is the inability to pay attention and see the big picture. I am fully aware that 90% of the people will not read what I had to say. I’m confident that 95% of those people will not provide any feedback. In a single cycle I will have at best 1/10th the audience. Those are the people I really want to talk to. Newsletter is designed to be long enough that most people who don’t actually run a business will in fact ignore it. The language is plain and pointy, so that the reactionary skimmers will not even bother to fill out the feedback.. and you know what, the catch is that this is not about them! Yes, that is the catch. Most people will look at this stuff and see it as being something that is either far over their head or lacking any actionable items or fill in the blank plans. This is perfect because it instantly eliminates people who don’t work, think and research the industry to be able to lead it! It doesn’t put up a monetary border where they could still get in if they put down a few bucks. It doesn’t treat business leaders like children by giving them homework and assignments. It simply asks people to think and speak their mind. Which, when you really think about it, is what separates winners from losers. People in this business fail because they can’t see the big picture, spend all their time in a fruitless pursuit of the perfect tool or process without ever making a decision because decisions void of direction, certainty and confidence is frightening. Just looking for the people that will be here 12 months from now.