So, back to "Where I am"
To answer the question literally, I am sitting at my desk in Blacksburg, Virginia. I am just returning from a rather stressful meeting in which I was trying my hardest to bring a company on board to a partnership agreement Bason Marketing is attempting to orchestrate.
Thanks to the cool iMac i am posting on, I can provide visual evidence of my location (and my hip new buzz cut... i was bored and had clippers, bad combo).
(And no, that is not a Carlisle senior parking sign over my left shoulder. It just really looks like it.)I would consider myself stressed out over this meeting (especially since I walked out of the meeting without a deal on paper) but I've realized that I love what I do whether it is during times of great success or times of disappointment. That is what lets me know I'm doing the right thing by starting and managing this firm.
To backtrack and explain what Bason Marketing is, I have been greatly interested in business, and marketing in particular, ever since i can remember.
When I was 18 years old, finishing my freshman year at Virgina Tech (and less than a month removed from the Virginia Tech tragedy, which I hope I will consider the worst day of my life until the day I die) I was given the opportunity to work with a marketing firm for a summer and be directly involved in the blossoming Nascar career of my best friend.
This job (and the connections I made through it) essentially solidified in my mind what I wanted to do with my life, and that was marketing. To fast foward through my sophomore and junior years of college, I'll basically explain that I knew from that point on that I wanted to start my own firm. It dawned on me this winter (early '09) that not much was stopping me from pursuing that immediately.
I'll probably dedicate a normal entry later on to talk about the formation of CTM Solutions and subsequently Bason Marketing, though I'll leave it at this for now. Bason Marketing has existed for less than a month and I am up to my eyeballs in deals and clients, all while still trying to put together an effective team behind me.
So, that's what this summer is for me. Working on anything and everything relating to Bason Marketing while still trying to form and develop the firm in the right way. Essentially moving a thousand miles a minute while still focusing on the details.
Aside from the Bason Marketing stuff (which i refuse to shorten to BM), today has been a stressful one in that I put many people on to the penny stock "SPNG" a couple of months ago when it was trading at .007 per share (that's 7/10th of a penny).
It is up 50% on the day right now at over .08 per share (that's 8 pennys). After digging around for my calculator, I can tell you that anyone holding over the past two months has made a 1140% gain on my advice. Unfortunately I played conservatively over that time and have been left off the ship for the latest run. Today has been stressful because I have been berating my father (who receives daily financial counciling from me whether he wants it or not) to run with his profits.
I told him the same at .035 a month ago and he didn't listen to me (which he'll be the first to tell you) paid huge dividends . That has put a serious cramp on my effort to get him to take my advice seriously today, but he's coming around to it.
So that little tidbit of a story opens up the book on another big part of my life right now which is the stock market. I have actively traded since Semptember '07, and despite being invested in the stock market through the duration of its slide from its all time high (Oct. 07), I've somehow managed to do well enough for myself that I've been able to sit back this summer and start Bason Marketing without having to take the risk of being out in the cold if things don't go as planned.
Honestly, being involved in the stock market is just a hobby that gives me an excuse to research and learn about companies and the trading aspect behind it gives me a dose of real world experience and motivation to learn more every day (and fulfills some of my itch for gambling which I'll expand on later).
I spent almost an entire year obcessed with Warren Buffet, reading every biography I could get my hands on. Eventually what I learned is that (Buffet is a genious, I'm not discrediting that fact at all) but there is a perfect way to do things for each given point of time. Buffet probably knows that better than anyone. His style of trading and his business acumen for the past 50 years has been the best in the world. After reading thousands of pages about him, I came to the realization that Buffet would ultimately be successful in any generation, but would it be likely that he'd be just as successful if he were turning 20 right now and were to employ the same strategies and tactics as he used in the 50's and 60's? Probably not.
Again, not questioning his genious. If i had to point to one inspirational icon or role model (outside of Terrell Owens), it would be Buffet. I just believe that for every point in time, there's a unique opportunity and a unique way to capitalize and succeed. Buffet succeeded doing just that in the 20th century, and if I plan on being 1/1000th as successful as him (heck, that would still be a $65,000,000 net worth) in the 21st century, I need to blaze my own path so to speak and create methods and strategies in the business world that are "beyond the curve".
Back on track. Where I am now. Sitting here at my desk wonding how much work I could have done in the past hour.
Just realizing that if i make 1/10,000th of the money Warren Buffet is worth, I'd be worth more than 6.5 million. That gives me the feeling of being in an airplane and looking down and seeing ants, except I'm the ant to Warren Buffet's plane (the Indefensible, see... why do i know that?).
Please do not let focus on this entry on the Stock Market and Bason Marketing give you a full impression of who I am and what I feel is important. I've gotten side tracked by two things I'm passionate about, though at the end of the day, the two most important things in my life will always be friends and family.
That has a lot to do with the emotional toll Bason Marketing is having on me right now. I've never wanted to become "that guy" who works ridiculous hours doing a job he is passionate about, while at the same time neglecting his family and friends.
Ideally, I would put all of my heart and energy into Bason Marketing and the Stock Market between the hours of 9-5 and then forget every bit of the stress that comes with it until 9 o'clock the next morning, but I do not have the type of personality that can do that.
My biggest fear right now is that if I step on the accelerator too hard right now, I won't be able to objectively step aside in the future and realize that I'm neglecting the things that are truly important to me.
I feel it happening in a smaller sense now as I realize that I've broken plans to go to the gym with friends or to go out on a date to sit at my computer and work on a proposal. I need to be able to find the "off" switch on the business side of my mind while still maintaining the ability to flip it "on" at the drop of a hat. Hopefully writing this blog and reflecting inwardly on that will serve as a tool in doing so.
Aside from the business stuff right now, life is good. I've started playing golf consistantly for the first time since high school and have found two nice courses up in Blacksburg. One for when I want to play seriously, the Pete Dye River Course, and one for when I want to boost my confidence, The Hill (Blacksburg's municipal course). One day last week, I had the urge to do both. I might be the first person in the history of golf to record a 94 (River Course) and a 67 (The Hill) on the same day.
Golf is a good tool for me to hit the "off" switch i referenced because once I'm on the course with someone else in the cart, there's no option of pulling out my laptop and getting work done. Plus I get some sense of accomplishing work whenever I hit a drive over 200 yards that lands on the right hole. Most people would consider that fun rather than work, but most people don't have my golf swing or physique. It takes some awkward contorsions for a 125 lbs guy to hit a golf ball a long way. My aching back at age 20 would aknowledge that.
I would like to elaborate on some more interesting things I'm involved in right now (I could detail the dental work I'm having done next monday, i guess) but this pretty much sums it up. With my senior year at Virginia Tech dawning ever closer, I find myself stepping back and wondering how time seems to continuously progress faster and faster as life goes on. The fact that an hour and a half has flown by since I started typing this post (which will most likely never be read to its conclusion) only compounds that feeling.
That's all for now.
Bill
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