This thread is not intended for bragging but for constituting part of my personal accountability

recently I have:

-Begun the process of returning to NCSU and finishing my degree
-Begun learning German, and polishing my Spanish
-"Ordered" P90x, I will spend the next few weeks working out and preparing to do it right
-Deep cleaning and purging everything I own of the extraneous
-Started saving


I would give myself a cookie but

-That's not smart
-I can't say it in German without looking it up
-Fattening and empty calories
-I don't have any and they can be messy
-Don't need to spend the money

2/8/2010 1:27:51 AM

Good luck Dave! Hope you stay the course!

2/8/2010 1:30:18 AM

thanks man! I expect you to bust my balls every time you see me

2/8/2010 1:31:19 AM

........

2/8/2010 1:31:50 AM

^

2/8/2010 1:40:25 AM

Today I brushed up my resume and applied for a job. That counts for something, right?

2/8/2010 1:44:56 AM

absolutely

2/8/2010 1:46:58 AM

2/8/2010 1:48:59 AM

good luck on the job hunt wolfpackgrrr and paerabol

[Edited on February 8, 2010 at 1:51 AM. Reason : damn you bracket]

2/8/2010 1:51:07 AM

I realize this thread is about those who are getting their lives back together......in which i have. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

2/8/2010 2:14:11 AM

epic

2/8/2010 2:18:47 AM

^^ i never get why this is funny.

2/8/2010 2:24:17 AM

i laugh every time

2/8/2010 2:26:02 AM

Time Warner came over today and installed RR Turbo. I feel a return to World of Warcraft raiding is in the near future.

2/8/2010 2:27:13 AM

lost some weight and exercised

but that's about it

2/8/2010 2:29:56 AM

i woke up and immediately started watching anime. i watched anime all afternoon and even through and after the super bowl.

http://dinojerk.theyeti.org/animecat.swf

2/8/2010 2:30:34 AM

worked 13 hours at my job, then watched superbowl, enjoying one of my few and far between days of rest after work

2/8/2010 3:42:33 AM

if yesterday morning before i went to sleep counts, i drank a lot at work and played some really good shit

and then went down the street and got involved in a baby powder fight with some lesbians

and then went to my friend's house and played banjo (poorly) and watched some drama happen

which is to say

i just dug the hole deeper

2/8/2010 3:48:32 AM

Did my homework and worked on a grant proposal some. That is about it for today.

I turn 26 tomorrow, so I figure I get a pass on doing anything constructive on my birthday. Although I'll probably do some homework, and take care of my taxes. But 25 was good for me in terms of getting my life together. I got married, quit a dead end job, and got accepted into grad school.

Time for bed.

2/8/2010 3:50:34 AM

I ran 3 miles yesterday, even though i didn't want to and it was cold as crap
i got 8 full hours of sleep last night
straightened out some of the crap just hanging out in my closet and bedroom
took the trash out
cooked myself breakfast
cleaned and put away all dishes
got to work at 6:30 am

immediately got on TWW = fail
so now im gonna limit my time on here so i can get this project done

2/8/2010 6:48:58 AM

2/8/2010 11:17:28 AM

ACHTUNG MEIN STRASSE PLATZ

2/8/2010 11:46:02 AM

recently I have:

- gone to work, despite the fact that i'm only ~ about my job, and made money
- paid my bills in full and on time
- been cutting back on the ice cream and trying to eat more fruit
- saving money for a wedding and honeymoon
- caught up with old friends
- joined a bowling team

2/8/2010 11:48:51 AM

Physical Therapy
Grocery shopping
Homework

2/8/2010 12:01:16 PM

Quote :

"Today I brushed up my resume and applied for a job. teef"

that counts for something, right? my life sucks.

2/8/2010 12:20:27 PM

I went to fucking work and that, my friend, is step one.

2/8/2010 12:24:03 PM

Quote :

"- gone to work, despite the fact that i'm only ~ about my job, and made money"

how are you only gay about your job?

2/8/2010 12:27:51 PM

this week my one goal is to organize my music on my computer, back it all up on an external harddrive, rip all my CDs and sell them

doesn't sound like a lot but it's gonna take forever

2/8/2010 12:30:55 PM

This isn't 1998 where you could sell burned CD's in the halls between classes for 10 bucks a pop

Good luck with that

2/8/2010 12:34:50 PM

reading comprehension is so 1998

2/8/2010 12:35:51 PM

lol

2/8/2010 12:39:27 PM

Untied all of those women in my basement and told them they could finally go home.

2/8/2010 12:40:25 PM

Like I do every Monday since November, I searched for jobs. But I saw one I am really really interested in, so I sent my resume w/ hope this time!

2/8/2010 12:42:33 PM

Quote :

"how are you only gay about your job?"

i keep it professional...when i clock out, i'm 100% hetero

2/8/2010 12:45:39 PM

I have shoveled even more cars out of neighborhood driveways.

I was told "it's so good to have a southern boy in the neighborhood" even though I've lived here for 22 years.

I'm now between practicing guitar and looking at things to get the lady for V-day, and about to feed my 5 month old nephew at 1.

2/8/2010 12:48:46 PM

Quote :

"This isn't 1998 where you could sell burned CD's in the halls between classes for 10 bucks a pop Good luck with that"

they aren't burned CDs

2/8/2010 1:13:57 PM

i'm going to my first day of (engineering) work in almost a year today.

2/8/2010 1:14:35 PM

good thread!

^ wtg

2/8/2010 1:17:24 PM

yay Cody!

2/8/2010 1:20:40 PM

2/8/2010 1:21:12 PM

boo

2/8/2010 1:21:34 PM

Quote :

"Like I do every Monday since November, I searched for jobs."

What are you doing Tuesday through Sunday

2/8/2010 1:21:48 PM

I have a phone interview that could lead to a job that's a better fit for me with better pay.

2/8/2010 1:25:26 PM

Last week I finally paid off NCSU and a few days ago I paid off one of my credit cards

2/8/2010 2:29:27 PM

went to class, did my homework, met with the career counselor, met with personal councilor, took a friend to dinner, working on a paper (that may or may not get finished)

2/9/2010 12:04:12 AM

I spent a while trying to figure out why somebody would spell "counselor" two different ways in the same sentence.

2/9/2010 12:05:39 AM

- Put two rolls of toilet paper in the half bath

2/9/2010 12:08:55 AM

spent several hours on the futile job search

2/9/2010 12:10:08 AM

Went to gym
Kicked ass at work by cranking out 3 emergency marketing emails
Wrote a speech to deliver to my department for a special training session
Wrote for my blog
Made 60 bucks for a necklace at my gf's gold party
Started planning my own gold party
Planned 3 big trips with my best gfs--one to Costa Rica, one to Daytona and one to the keys
Talked to parents on phone
Got asked out via email by a really cool guy that my friends want me to date--will think about a response and email him tomorrow
Looked at job listings and found two cool positions that I'm going to apply for tomorrow--one at Nike and one at Facebook

2/9/2010 12:15:47 AM

I typed "Set em up" in a Wolfweb thread

2/9/2010 12:58:59 AM