003: Show Notes Marketing to Generation X

Steve: Welcome to rearranging change how you market to an ever changing world. I'm your host, Steve Chesney.

Steve: Hello everybody and welcome. Today we're going to continue with our five part series on the generations and how we talk to each of them a little bit differently and how we market to them and a little later on we're going to have, Ron said you joined us with another interview from his vault, but right now let's get on with generation X. Generation X or gen X is that they're known. We're born between 1968 and 1979 now, currently they're in their late thirties to the mid fifties and they make up about 20% of the population. Now they got their name from a book called generation X tells for an accelerated culture. No. In hindsight, it might've been better if they would have called them generation a because we're going to run out of letters here pretty soon. You know another name attached to this group were latchkey kids.

Steve: Now, a latchkey kid was simply a child who came home from school and nobody was home. Remember their parents, both mom and dad went to work and they wanted to bring more money and more income into the house, so they were both gone. So these kids would come home to an empty house. Now this caused them to become independent and that's really kind of good news. They learned how to cook, they learned how to clean. They learned how to take care of crisis. Uh, they became very independent and they've carried this into their adult lives and because they witnessed their parents being workaholics, they focus on a clearer balance between work and family. They are self starters and self-sufficient. It is, however, a double edged sword. Their ability to survive on their own includes, if they're not happy with the job, they'll leave it. If they're not happy in their relationship, they leave it.

Steve: Their divorce rate increased over any other generation. They defined the term single parent family. They're also the first daycare generation putting that business model on the map. They had that carpet diem attitude to make the most of the current time and give little thought to the future, and they are the first generation to become comfortable with technology. Some of their characteristics include expecting immediate and ongoing feedback and they're comfortable with giving feedback to others. They mistrust institutions. They also mistrust politicians. They value control of their time. They prefer to trust people instead of a company and they work smarter, not harder. When it comes to money. They are cautious and conservative. They adapt well to change. This makes them a good candidate for any company. However, if you have the keys to working with them is to give them time to pursue other interests. Again, the work family balance, they work to live, not live to work.

Steve: They work with you, not for you. Keep that in mind. Also, some of the events that helped shape their lives in 1974 we have Nixon resigning because of the Watergate scandal. In 1981 we had the first AIDS case. Now this was a societal change again. Uh, you know, they say that sometimes you have a silver lining in every dark cloud, and this is one of those cases. Now this is not to undermine at all the AIDS epidemic, but it is to show you that there is some silver lining. Because of that deadly disease, gay people were able to come out of the closet. That was the beginning of them being freely able to come out of the closet and that it turned out to be a good thing, uh, as far as we are today. But at the time it was very devastating. And that was 1981 in 1986, we had the challenger disaster.

Steve: Now we talked about the other two generations with the silent generation. They had the war of the worlds broadcast, which made them fearful that we could be invaded by aliens. It made him think about her space a little bit differently. And then of course, in the baby boomers, we actually went to the moon. So we saw we could leave the planet in this time in the challenger disaster, it showed there was danger involved in leaving the planet when that yeah, yeah. Shuttle blew up. Then in 1989, we had the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the beginning of the environmental movement for this planet. In 1989 we also had the fall of the Berlin wall. Hey, peace until a year later in 1990 we had the Gulf war. 1991. We had the end of the cold war in 1993, the ATF invaded a little ranch in Waco, Texas, occupied by the branch Davidians.

Steve: Um, that was the first time we started to see that we had some elements in our country and some sex and how we, uh, attacked Americans on our own soil. In 1999, we had the Y2K scare. Now I don't know about you, but that scared me. I remember spending days backing up my computer on floppy disks not to worry about that anymore. Do we? We've got cloud computing. Now. When you're marketing to this generation, you need to recognize their independence. That's the main thing. Let them decide. Is that going to be cash or credit? Always give them an either or choice. Uh, they like to be direct. You straight talk and present the facts and you need to tie your message to the results. Those are the most important key ingredients. So that's it for the, uh, generation X for this week. Uh, we'll be right back with our buddy. Ron says, you my friends, I'd like to offer you a free copy of my international bestselling book rearranging change market to an ever changing world. Just simply go to rearranging change.com. That's R, E a R R a N G I N G C H a N g.com. We are ranking change.com I will pay for your book. You simply pay for the shipping and handling. Once again, a little gift from me rearranging change how you market to an ever changing world, one of my website, rearrange and change.com and get your free copy today.

Steve: Alright, in joining us right now, or once again, my buddy Ron said, gee, hi Ronnie. How are you doing?

Ron: I'm good. I'm surviving the covert 19 quarantine. Okay. We have to, it's the only way to go. And I'm a little bit concerned about some of the people who want to step out and prematurely, you know, get out there and start doing it again. It's a very tough, a very difficult road to go down because it's health versus the economy and, you know, both are important. They really are. I get it. People are, um, they're getting some cabin fever, but at the same time, you know, we got to do what we gotta do to survive here. So, uh, folks, be safe. Stay inside, don't go out unless you need to. You know, I know that they're talking about opening the bars, uh, so they can, people can be outside or 25% capacity inside and I get that.

Steve: But do you really need to go to the bar? I mean, really, I know it's the socialization that people want to get out and especially people that are single, they want to go out and meet somebody. They're not meeting them in their backyard, that's for sure. I get that too. But we all gotta be safe. And uh, Hey, what do I know? All I know is that I got, Ron said you on my show and he's bringing me an interview. Who you got with this this week?

Ron: Okay. I have gentlemen that is very, very unique and his name is Marcus Limonus. Oh, he's the guy from a good Sam, isn't he? And the profit on NBC. Oh yeah, yeah. And camping world. Right. This guy is unbelievable. And you're going to love this interview. I mean, I honest with you, I don't even want to tell. Do you want to talk about when it comes to he lost and how much he's put forth in investments. I'm going to let you hear for itself and then we'll chat about it.

Steve: Okay, well let's take a listen

Ron: across the USA and around the world. It's Ron said, gee, today I was just telling our guests before we went on the air, I've been in business, so my goodness since the mid seventies and I know how difficult it is for people being in business and being successful in it. And then I'm amazed at those who would be able to undertake it successfully for so many years. And that's the case of our next guest. He is chairman and CEO of camping world and good Sam enterprises. And he's also the host of this great show, Tuesdays on CNBC at 10 o'clock. The prophet joining us right now is Marcus Limonus. Marcus, thank you for joining us.

Marcus: Thank you. I'm happy to be here. Very happy. How are you?

Ron: I'm doing good. And I meant what I said, you know, I watched the shark tank, you watch all of these other shows and we just had somebody come to shark tank on the other day. But I really like the prophet because you do something that the other shows don't do. You get your hands dirty. And I love that.

Marcus: I think the big difference, and I think the reason people like it is because they want to take a deeper dive into what happens in business. And I think, you know, when you hear from some of the sharks, they talk about, you know, it's just gotta be percentages and numbers and dollars and cents. And I just don't believe that that's what business is about. I really believe there's a lot more to it. Uh, and it really is about people. And I think that's one of the things that people like about the profit.

Ron: I think though, what amazes me is what you do is that you go into places where people sometimes are novices and I know you will agree with the fact that a lot of people will have a lot of product or service knowledge, but they don't have any business knowledge. And my philosophy over the past 40 years has been never get involved with someone who has not least made one payroll. Okay. But you seem to have a different philosophy and that is, look, I'll take care of the business end of it as long as you have the product knowledge.

Marcus: Yeah. I think what I'm really looking to do, if you, if you really kind of boil it all down, I'm really investing in an individual more than I am investing in an infrastructure. I really feel like that's my responsibility to bring the infrastructure and put a process in place. But you're essentially investing in people and there's so many people out there that just quite frankly need a break and the next great idea, the next great business could come from somebody that has a ton of passion and the right amount of humility and the right amount of sort of focus, but they just don't have necessarily the knowledge. You know, you always try to get a job when we're younger and they say you need more experience, you can only get experience if you're given a break. Well, I think my job is really to give people a break and that's what I'm here for.

Ron: But how do you protect yourself, Marcus, against that one individual? I mean, I had the same thing. I was 14 years old and I was chugging around radio stations trying to get a job and they say, you're too young and go get experience. How do you do that? You know? But somebody gave me a break. But if you invested in me and a business that I had, and I wish I would have back in the days when I owned radio stations and advertising agencies, I could have used you Marcus. But when you invest in a person and that one person either doesn't work out or unfortunately something happens to that person, how do you recoup an investment when they're the key employee?

Marcus: You know, I, I think the biggest challenge is when you're going to make an investment in a business, you're really making it in, in an individual and you have to hope that what they're doing, you know, make sense. And you have to hope that what they're doing, um, is going to be, you know, [inaudible] kind of riddled with integrity and the sort of things that you need. But there are times where you get involved in business and people take advantage of you. And I try not to let it sort of phase me for the next one, but you know, there's been plenty of deals that I've lost money. I've invested over 30 something million dollars of my own money, uh, in two and a half years on the show, and about three of it has gone bad. It's gone very bad. And uh, you know, that's, that's kind of, it's kind of business, right? You win some, you lose some and you can't, you can't do much about it.

Ron: Probably a listener out there saying, well, the invested $30 million, you lost three. That's only 10%. That's not bad odds. $3 million is a lot of money to throw up loud.

Marcus: I'll tell you this, and this is important. I've lost 3 million. That money is gone. And so the other 27 million is still invested in businesses that are thriving or still chugging along. Right. But there's no sort of guarantees with any of that. And so in some of the cases I've had to put more money in some of the businesses and other cases I haven't, it's hard to make money. And so I take it very seriously.

Ron: Sure. Absolutely. One of the things that I've noticed on the show Mark is the fact that usually when people in the shark tank does this all the day, they want the big number, they want the big percent okay, I'll give you, you know, $8,000 but I want 51% you many times take a minority percentage. How do you protect yourself in that scenario?

Marcus: Well, it's funny, I think people get confused. You can be a minority partner in a business and structure the deal in an in a sort of way that gives you the same exact thing you'd have if you have, you know, 51% and one of the worries that I always have about doing business with folks is making sure that they still have enough scheme in the game to be interested, right? And so for someone like me, all I really care about is making sure that the economics are right for me and that the return on investment is sound. I don't feel like I need to have 51% to be able to control it because you can document it at some point. In a way, this is like I gave you a check. These are the things you have control of. These are the things you do not, do you agree? Yes or no? And if you don't agree, then you know we don't have a deal.

Ron: We don't have a deal. What about the advice that people give? Say don't invest in a business you have no knowledge in. Now you do that all the time. I mean, you know, business business is business is business sales to sales, to sales, but when you come right now, you're in an ice cream business right now and before you were in it, I don't remember, did you, you know, you probably ate ice cream but you didn't make it.

Marcus: Well, there are certain businesses that I'm comfortable because I feel like the core competencies are the same, but there are, there are some businesses that I won't invest in. A good example would be I don't invest in technology. I don't invest in anything in technology because I don't understand it. I don't know it. I'm intimidated by it. And so I have no investments of any kind, but I do invest in industries that I understand. So I understand manufacturing, I understand retail, I understand food. And so it doesn't really matter what the sector is, but I, I, I don't invest in industries that I don't know. And technology would be a good example.

Ron: Yeah. And you know, the other thing, it changes so quickly. How do you even keep up with it? You gotta be, you know, awake 48 hours a day as chairman and CEO of the very successful camping world and good Sam enterprises with almost 10,000 employees and over a hundred cities. How do you run that Marcus and do this show and all of the tentacles that this show has as a result of investing your time, energy, and money into other businesses. How do you do that in the course of a day? And I know people have a lot to do with it, but you know, you still got to manage people.

Marcus: Yeah. The bulk of my life is really spent on my camping world business. Uh, and yeah, the show does take up some time, but you know, I'm British really, really resourceful with the time in my day. I think the other thing is I've surrounded myself with amazing people and I know people say that all the time, but I would not be doing this show if I wasn't comfortable with the management team that I have. And quite quite candidly, a lot of the folks that are a part of my camping world business, sometimes when I'm not filming and I come back to the office for a couple of weeks, they kind of laugh and they say, you know, like, all right, are you ready to go back on the road again? They enjoy sort of the ability to run their business. A business can't be run by one person and it's gotta be run, but you know, for 10, 20, 30, 40 years, and this is maybe the best advice I can give people that you, you will know if the business is successful, if it's successful long after you're gone. Right. That's how you'll know.

Ron: You know, Marcus, I was 29 years old when I bought my first radio station and I thought I could be, you know, everything, everything, everything, everything. And now in my senior years, getting things done, driving results is through collaboration, partnership and relationships. And that's, I know what you say every day in your business environment.

Marcus: I think, you know, I think the biggest thing that I worry about when I get up in the morning is how am I going to keep people motivated and how am I going to find partners that make sense and how am I going to find team members that make sense? That's the thing that keeps me up at night. Not what did we sell yesterday or today, but how do you keep people motivated and how do you keep them going? Right. That's the thing that scares me the most.

Ron: And I, I like what you say about being popular. It's not about being the good boss. I mean from the standpoint, Hey, let's have a, you know, a big rah rah rah and a huge cheer every morning for the boss. The scoreboard is measured by your employees, your customers, and your family. And that's what you do successfully. I admire what you do, Marcus. I really do. I'm a fan of the show and I'm a fan of your philosophy in the business world.

Marcus: I really appreciate that. And, and you know, being in business does come with some sacrifice and you miss out on some things and so it's um, it's a, it's a tough, it's a tough world and um, you know, my job is to take care of the business and the people that are part of it.

Ron: And with that said, when you're ready to invest in radio and television broadcasting, I'll give you my home number. Okay.

Marcus: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for your support.

Ron: Thanks Marcus looked forward to having you back again. Please come back. Okay. Bye. Bye. Bye bye. Our special guests from the prophet, the host of the prophet does a great job Tuesday nights on CNBC, Marcus Limonus and there's more to come with Ron said, gee, today,

Steve: one of the best

Steve: things I heard about that in that interview was businesses more than dollars and cents. It's about people. True story. Very true.

Ron: The problem is getting the right people and that's tough. I've had hundreds of people that I've worked for me over there, both in the music business and in the broadcasting business owning radios. It was an advertising business and all kinds of businesses that have been involved with construction and beautiful are very difficult to manage if you don't give them a feel that they're part of the game, they have skin in the game. A lot of people want skin in the game more than they want the money. Some people will be listening to what I'm saying and laugh. Well, I've actually had people that have come to me and said, can I be the program director? And I would say, we don't have any extra money right now.

Ron: I don't care. I just want to become the program director, your radio station and putting that name plate on their office door was enough salary for them to be compensated. Well, they do say, I've heard it before that said people are, uh, they're more, they're more, they appreciate recognition more than they do the race. That's true. But here's the thing that he mentioned that I, the bigger the organization, the more people you'll having. He has thousands of people. Okay? Uh, and he's so right. And his time is so valuable between all of his businesses and then this television show, the prophet, that it's very difficult to micromanage. And a lot of people say, well, why would you want to micromanage? Because if you don't know or every going, every rubber band is going, that could deteriorate into a very serious situation. I'm being overconscientious, they're probably overcautious.

Ron: But the fact of the matter is, is it easy? I am so lose control of everything. So when he says you have to have good people, you do have to have good, but they're not pouring out in droves. They may be good initials, but if they get upset with the company or not happy for any reason, they'll walk well sure if they have no skin in the game, like you said, you know, they got to have the, there's gotta be some desire or something built in to help them want to grow with your company. One of the other things that was mentioned in the interview talk about being resourceful with his time. Iranians reminds me of something that Dean Graziosi and Tony Robbins said that it said, it's not the resources that you have, but the resourcefulness that matters because you don't always have the capital, but you do have time.

Ron: Uh, and you've got to be resourceful to get yourself there. So, you know, he talked about he's, he's managing so many different businesses at the same time, but he's doing it because he's being resourceful. Yeah. And that's just a smart way to do business. Well, you know, I always said, but I found that when you're in business, it's not the way you want to run the business. It's the way you have to run the business. And that goes back to resources and being resourceful, be you run the business the way you'd like to, you know, you give everybody big raise, a company car, a new house, a swimming pool, a vacation, the whole nine yards, but you can't do that. Exactly right. Um, the other thing that I liked about what he said was that most businesses have the same core competencies. You know, businesses are different.

Ron: Whether you're going to be in the real estate business or you're going to be in the financial services business, whether you're in a car dealer, the core competencies of the business are going to be the same. Businesses are still a business. It has to be run by like a business. That's absolutely right. I mean, there's no question that you can't run it like a fraternity. You can run it like a friendship. You know, one of the biggest problems running a business and having a very good close relation with your employees, the plus side is that you have a good personal relationship with your employees. The bad side is if they misinterpret that, well, listen, as always, it's been great. Uh, learning.

Steve: I learned so much by listening to your interviews and I love it and I want you to keep on coming back. Ron, would you do that for me? Absolutely. Val, you know it. Okay, man. We'll, I'll see you then next week. Yes, Dave, thanks again, folks for listening to this episode. Marcus Limonus was Ron's guest in, I think just some brilliant things that he had to say there. If you've got any questions, you've got any comments or any desires, please email me@steveatrearrangingchange.com and until then, we will see you and talk to you next time.

Steve: Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on rearranging chains. Make sure to visit my website, [inaudible] dot com sign up for my newsletter. We'll be talking soon.