The World According to Mitch Fanning

At a recent business luncheon, I had the great pleasure of listening to John Hall, Forty Creek Whisky Maker, and proprietor of Kittling Ridge Estate Wines & Spirits.

His motto: if you find a job you love, you will never work a day in your life.

Judging from his story, John has never worked a day in his life, which is actually hard to believe.  Imagine, coming up with a product or perhaps a new way of making an existing product, but having to wait 10 years before you could make your first sale!

In today’s fast-paced world, where tech start-ups go from concept to beta in 90 days and what was hot last month in social media is dead this month, John sat patiently while his labour of love slowly aged to perfection.

In fact, in an effort to improve the quality and distinction of his Canadian whiskey, instead of aging it in traditional American white oak barrels, he decided to use Canadian white oak.  One small problem, Canadian white oak barrels didn’t exist…anywhere.

So what did he do?

He found the only three White oaks trees in Canada that could be legally cut-down and purchased in a sustainable forest, which would then help the other smaller trees to grow.  Then had them shipped to a barrel maker in Missouri (according to John, there were no barrel makers in Canada).

The result?

Eight years later he finally got his Canadian white oak barrels!

It was worth the wait.

In 2008, John was named Distiller of the Year and his Forty Creek has since won numerous awards.  Overall, here are some lessons I’ve learned from this Award-Winning Whisky Maker and Canadian entrepreneur.

1. Love what you do

2. Be patient

3. Focus on quality and fundamentals

4. Challenge the status quo

5. Never give up

6. Have fun along the way

I was so inspired with John’s story I picked up a bottle of Fort Creek Barrel Select to enjoy what took John ten years to produce.  All I can say is, it was definitely worth the wait.

Thanks for all your efforts John.

P.S. If interested in tasting his award-winning Canadian Whisky, here’s the location of Kittling Ridge Estate on Google Maps.

About the Author

Mitch Fanning is VP of Strategy & Business Development for Fruition Interactive (Toronto, Canada). He’s spent 11 years working with businesses of all sizes, from global brands to some of Canada’s fastest growing web start-ups ranked in the PROFIT 100.

What are you committed to doing in 2011?

This might be one of the most difficult posts I’ve had to write.

Having said that, its message has everlasting importance.  Less than one month ago a dear friend of mine took his own life on Christmas Eve.  He was in his 30s.

We hadn’t spoken to each other in almost three years over something, which now seems insignificant.  However, despite this tragedy, here are some important life lessons I’ve learned (the hard way) over the past three weeks.

Make amends before it’s too late. This one is pretty self-explanatory (and straight-forward), yet for most of us, probably the hardest to do.  Why?  Pride and ego.  Saying sorry means you’ve made a mistake.  Sure, it’s a two way street.  Maybe they did something to hurt you, but you’re in control of your life, not theirs.  Don’t wait for someone to make the first move before you make yours.  Take the first step, make amends.

Lesson learned.

Be careful how you define and measure success. There’s never one reason why people do what they do.  There’s never a simple explanation.  However, knowing my friend, one thing he struggled with was his definition of success.  Specifically, how he measured it.  He was always very hard on himself.  Like most, he measured his life situation against the “ideal life”.  You know, the vision we all have in our minds about the lives we’re supposed to be living.  If only I had this…If only I didn’t have this…etc, etc.

The problem is, our “ideal life” is only an illusion.  It does not exist outside of ourselves.  We will never reach our ideal.  People often have a hard time coming to this realization, which can lead to frustration and disappointment.

Instead of measuring your life against your ideal, for once try measuring success against your actual progress and achievements. Ask yourself questions like, “what progress have I made this week/today/in the last one hour”.

The difference in the way it makes you feel may surprise you.

Live more. Recently, I read “On The Shortness of Life,” one of Lucius Seneca‘s most famous letters.  It reminded me to treat time (and attention) in 2011 as my most valuable resource and currency.  Don’t agree?  Try getting lost time back.  Income is renewable, time is not.

Be ruthless with how and who you spend your time (with) – cut the fat.

My Commitments For 2011.  In 2011, I’ve made a commitment to put these 3 lessons into action.  Hopefully, this has also inspired you to reflect on your own life (even for a moment) and you’ve made a firm decision to take a least one action over the next 24 hours to make the commitment to ensuring 2011 is a good one.  Best of luck.

What are your commitments for 2011?

About the Author

Mitch Fanning is VP of Strategy & Business Development for Fruition Interactive (Toronto, Canada).  He’s spent 11 years working with businesses of all sizes, as a marketing strategist, from global brands to some of Canada’s fastest growing web start-ups ranked in the PROFIT 100.

Photo credit: Eric Castro

While we’re at it, lets also hang up “web log,” “blogger,” “blogosphere,” and any other derivative of the word.

Why?

They’re outdated and, at times, associated with the stereotypical image of the rogue “Internet marketing guru” who plots world domination from their basement and uses excessive hype to bait naïve prospects with empty promises.

Perhaps it’s just the way these words sound to the average “non-techie” business owner or CEO.  To those who don’t eat, sleep, and breathe the Internet and social media it might sound more like a rubber chew toy a two year old puts in their mouth.

Let me assure you this post is not a rant.  On the contrary, it’s a tribute…a manifesto…a declaration.

Give me 48 seconds to explain…

According to the gospel of Saint Wikipedia, the term “web log” was coined in 1997 by Jorn Barger when he used it on his weblog, Robot Wisdom.

Barger used the term to describe the process of “logging the web” as he surfed.  The short form, “blog,” was then used by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog on his blog Peterme.com in 1999.

Shortly after, a few others started using “blog” as both a noun and verb (“to blog,” meaning “to edit one’s weblog or to post to one’s weblog”) and devised the term “blogger”.

Here ends the history lesson.

Blogging is Serious Business

Over the past ten years there’s been a new generation of people starting blogs.  They’re building audiences, creating influence, and generating profits.

They’re not just “logging the web,” they’re creating businesses.

Take the Huffington Post, a popular news site (ranked #1 in Technorati), which began as a politics blog by Arianna Huffington.  According to their Google Analytics numbers, the site blasted past 40 million monthly unique visitors in February 2010.

Companies like 37signals, Union Square Ventures, and the Wine Library have successfully used their blogs to build a massive audience, which over time have translated into millions of dollars in revenue and business opportunities.

Darren Rowse of Problogger is an independent blogger who makes a comfortable living from blogs like Digital Photography School and TwiTip.  It didn’t happen in a week, but he’s now built a stable business platform that allows him to leverage new growth opportunities.

These individuals and organizations aren’t just bloggers and blogs. They’re serious media properties, thought-leaders, and online publishers with real business models.

So let’s replace the funny-sounding word with something that gives the medium a bit more respect it’s so rightfully has earned.  Let’s come up with a better term than “blog” to describe the new generation of online publishers who are out there creating real relationships and businesses.

Any suggestions?

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is an online marketing and social media practitioner. He’s spent 10+ years (and put in his 10,000 hours) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brand (NBC.com, Nestle) to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100, creating, selling, implementing both traditional and digital marketing opt-in strategies.

Inspired by the post The Word Entrepreneur and its baggage on the Signal Vs Noise, a weblog by 37signals.

They may be cute, but these little guys are persistent as hell.

I have a bird problem.

Let me explain (and yes I have a point)…every spring we get “feathered” visitors who make it a habit of nesting under our upper deck.

This year, however, I put my foot down.  It was time our guests found a new home so I googled “How to Prevent Birds From Nesting on a House” and started researching.

I found a solution that involved using “tin foil” to scare the birds away.  This seemed like the easiest solution so I gave it a try (the others involved tools and me actually leaving the house to get supplies – I don’t think so).

One week later (and “two boxes of tin foil” ago – you should see our yard) there are still two birds who just won’t quit.  They just keep coming back again and again…and again!!!

The last thing I want is to interfere with the course of Mother Nature, but I also don’t feel like I should have to provide her room and board either.  Then this morning, after chasing the two troublemakers away several times, I had an epiphany.  I realized the “simplistic” beauty of it all.

The birds have one purpose – to build a @#$#@ nest.

They’re not distracted by emails, voicemails, or the latest news headline.  Their day is simple.  Keep trying until they succeed.  Nature has other great examples.  Grass has one objective – to grow, trees change every season, etc.

What’s your one mission or goal for your business, career, social media initiatives, and life?

Apple is also a great example of how keeping things simple just works.  When the iPod first came out they described it as “10,000 songs in your pocket”.  Before they begin designing any new application or product Apple crafts a product definition statement – a concise declaration of their application’s main purpose and its intended audience (it’s usually only 3 to 4 sentences).

My one goal in life is to inspire countless others with my work.  My one objective in business is to show companies how to use online marketing and social media to encourage members of their target audience to become advocates and part of their “tribe” of loyal repeat customers.

You get the idea.

Zen Habits (a blog I follow) has a great article on the power of setting and having one goal to focus on.

I guess in the end I’ve learned a value lesson from the birds.  In the meantime, if anyone knows of a “friendly” way to encourage my “feathered” guests to move on I’d appreciate any suggestions.

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is an “available-for-hire” online marketing and social media consultant.  He runs three6media, a “new media marketing” agency that advises small to mid-sized businesses how to use content marketing and social media to encourage members of their target audience to become advocates and join their “tribe” of loyal repeat customers.

He’s spent 10+ years ( and put in his 10,000 hours ) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brand (NBC.com, Nestle) to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100, creating, selling, implementing both traditional and digital marketing strategies.

Click here to contact Mitch directly.  Or skip right through the garden and grab Mitch’s RSS Feed right here.

Are you or your brand’s unique values inspiring others to engage you on social networks?  Can you say your brand is this infectious?  If not, how can you make it so? (see 3 minute video and watch something go viral right before your very eyes…amazing!)

Update: Derek Sivers talks about how to start a movement at TED using the “lone dancer” video as an example. Great lessons and insights here.