It Is Better to Be Known for Something than Nothing at All

When I was 20 years old, running an asphalt business in Detroit, I purchased a fax machine and a couple of business phone numbers, as well as some lists of companies and businesses I thought would have big asphalt parking lots I could work on that I got from a mailing list company. I then rented a loft apartment for the summer and hired a salesman named Jim, who was a career salesman in his 50s, to come into the loft and cold call businesses about potentially hiring me to do some asphalt work. “Hello. I am calling to ask you a question: Isn’t it about time you invested in getting your parking lot patched up and sealed? Your parking lot is the first part of your business that your customers see and set foot on. I’d like to swing by and give you an estimate today.” [Read more]