temperance

“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, temperance in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

– Malcolm X

Normally, I try to keep business separate from social points here. But there are times to not be silent. And this venting helps me cope and understand.

And, luckily, I have Malcolm X on my side – he says that’s alright. I know a lot of people who will disagree, but we’re seeing the result of not having conversations play out in a very radical way right now. So let’s discuss. Let’s have those uncomfortable conversations. Let’s try to understand each other!

If we don’t, the result is a bipolar radicalization. All people on the right are not KKK right-wing extremists. All people on the left aren’t bleeding heart Marxists.

THE MAJORITY OF US are slightly on one side of the middle, or the other. But when we don’t discuss, we don’t realize that. As humans, it is our nature to try to make everything black and white. We’re programmed to make it us versus them.

But the world is so much richer when we don’t. And when black and white play together – as Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney remind me – it can be wondrous and beautiful. So let’s get all these crazy KKK people talking with all these crazy Antifas – TALKING. Put down the guns and discuss.

The orange dufus doesn’t want that. And it’s backfiring. (At least, it seems like it is.)

There is a time for the middle way. Most of us meander around it, but stay close. And that’s what the Dalai Lama woulda done, and that’s what John Wayne woulda done. Sounds good to me.

Temperance is a good thing. Mark Twain reminded us before that temperate temperance is best. That means going a little crazy is okay once in a while. But not all the while.

And Malcolm X tells us when it is okay to not be temperate: When it’s go time.

Temperance: An Interfanatic Quality

For me, business is all about constant growth. Not necessarily explosive, but to keep growing, you have to keep moving. And that’s how we handle our business: constantly feeding everything a little bit.

I often compare business and website maintenance to a garden: if you pour a giant bucket on everything once in a very great while, it ain’t gonna work. If instead you install that drip system and make sure it keeps working regularly – every day or every week – you’ll see beautiful blossoming results.

And so that’s how we do things. I got an email from a customer in the middle of the night last night, he’d been informed his website had been hacked. (It was incorrect, but that’s okay.) Because we constantly care and feed that site, I knew the problem wouldn’t be big, and even if it was, I had a quick solution. So I fixed the site quickly. (And then I did some research and found out the alert was incorrect). But both me and the customer instantly had peace of mind because there was no problem, and if there was, we fixed it.

Because we at Interfanatic constantly fixing problems to make sure they don’t get big.

Prader-Willi California Foundation – A Constant Need for an Even Temperment

In thinking about temperance this week, I immediately thought of Prader-Willi. We had the privilege of working with PWCF a few years ago, and I learned so much! We made a beautiful website for them that they could constantly care for and feed. Unfortunately, they took it over in-house, and it’s nowhere near as interesting or lovely as it was when we were in control.

But Prader-Willi Syndrome is a rare and difficult one (in many ways, its rarity increases its difficulty). But what I learned is that it is often nearly a non-issue if it is treated properly. The treatment: temperance.

“We loved making the PWCF website. While we helped them with it, it was beautiful and successful, because we did a little bit, often.”

There’s a very specific diet that must be followed. There’s a very specific schedule that must be followed. And when those things happen, people with PWS don’t seem to have any kind of syndrome. They lead completely “normal” lives and do not appear to outsiders to not have any kind of syndrome. Early diagnosis and constant temperance and diligence reduces symptoms dramatically.

And it makes me wonder if PWS is extreme focus on something we could all do better.

The symptoms of PWS are something like autism crossed with down. But if you treat the patient properly, with temperance – constant feeding of the right things at the right times – not too much and not too little – the patient doesn’t experience the emotional issues that make PWS difficult for them and their support network.

So when we got to work with PWCF – the Prader-Willi California Foundation – it was a great experience for everyone. We loved making the PWCF website and while we were helping them with it, it was beautiful and successful, because we did a little bit often.

Temperance – A Regular Flow of Customer:
Interfanatic Basic Email Marketing

When you’ve had happy customers, perhaps the best thing you can do is email marketing. What email marketing does is keep you at the top of your happy customer’s minds.

But don’t try to do it yourself! You will almost certainly have problems with the email address you use for sends – particularly if you’re sending emails to a lot of people. (If it’s just a few, it’s okay – get started! But when you have dozens or hundreds or thousands, it’s time to call us.)

We’ll set up a schedule for you, import your customer’s email addresses, and start watering that garden. Even if an email leads to just one or two sales, it’s already paid for itself. And if those customers share that email – because you give them something of value – then it leads to new customers.

It keeps your customers thinking about you. And if you’ve given those customers a good experience, that’s a good thing. And if you’ve given them a bad experience, they’re more likely to talk to you about it first (by replying to your email) than they are to blab on social media, or hopefully to their friends.

I’ve had a number of customers who were insistent that they didn’t want to start conversations because they didn’t want to hear the negativity. That’s the wrong attitude. When you hear the negativity, you create the opportunity to correct it. When you don’t, your customers don’t feel heard, and they spread that negativity.

So email marketing solves many problems.

We can create the emails for you, or we can take your message and only broadcast it safely. Up to you. As always, you get final approval.

But going it alone, without somebody on your side with vast experience… that’s a bad idea. Especially when it’s so cost effective!

Interfanatic and Temperance

There are a great many ways to control the flow of customers. Don’t have any? We can help. Don’t have enough? We can help. Have too many? Actually, that’s not us – we specialize in getting you too many.

(But seriously, we can moderate the flow and help you keep things under control until you’re able to grow to meet the demand.)

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Here it is: that garden. Don’t flood it. Don’t starve it. Use the middle way to keep it flourishing.

Just a little snap with my phone from the garden.