Donaji is a killer new Mexican restaurant in SF

Donaji is a killer new Mexican restaurant in SF

by | Feb 16, 2022 | Awesome People

But their website is broken, tsk tsk.

Who cares, since their tamales and mole are incredible.

I had a chance to talk to Alison Cook, who runs the restaurant in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Her husband is from Oaxaca and has been a chef for 15 years.

They came to our website audit session, courtesy of the San Francisco Small Business Development Center, and got an audit done.

Their website was made in Wix and isn’t mobile or search friendly.


We saw, for example, that their main image of food (so important for a restaurant), was blurry.
So we used an AI tool to fix it.

Here’s before:

And here’s after:

What do you think?

Details matter.

by | Apr 22, 2020 | Awesome People, Growth Mindset

It’s the difference between a perfect drive down the fairway and a kerplunk into the water.

Or a beautiful European vacation you arranged, but you when you showed up to the airport for what you thought was your flight, you found out that booked the wrong date.

Or an ad campaign where you bid $5 per click instead of 5 cents.

I’ve made all these mistakes and more.

And if you are great at sales, but suck at details, you need a right-hand man or woman who is on their game.

Like my co-founder, Logan Young, who manages complex projects and people.

If you are great tactically, but suck at selling, then complement your strength with someone like a MARK A. LACK who can outsell nearly anyone.

Don’t try to be everything, lest you try to be the accountant who wants to be an artist or the NBA center who wants to shoot 3 pointers.

Find others to balance your strengths.

In every great company, you’ll find a tight process for execution that’s run by people who pay attention to details.

Are you a details person or a vision person? Do you thrive on many relationships or prefer time alone?

Most people are one or the other, but not both.

You can stretch like a rubber band at times to temporarily be someone else, but too long, and you’ll snap.

Who is your Logan?

I’ve traded things to get experiences.

by | Apr 20, 2020 | Awesome People, experience

Instead collecting things that can be bought, I’ve discovered relationships and moments that are priceless.

Objects and employees you can “own”- they are exclusive and get depleted.

But knowledge and relationships increase in value the more you give them away.

Are you merely employing people or being employed for a paycheck?

How might you unlock what’s fully possible inside you and others?

Honoring others

by | Apr 20, 2020 | advice, Awesome People, Digital Marketing

The posts that work best on Facebook and LinkedIn are where you tell a story that honors someone else.

These posts also build your personal brand and drive inbound leads for your business.

When you mentor others, you create opportunities for you to lift them up and them to honor you.

Thus, the future of your business is dependent upon your ability to build up other people and publicly celebrate their successes.

When you talk about yourself and your product all day long, though you want to drive sales, you broadcast selfishness.

Figure out how you can lift up others and get them to talk favorably about you, too.

Build up your team.

by | Apr 20, 2020 | advice, Awesome People, team management

How many companies do you know that actively build up their employees on LinkedIn, actually encouraging them to be seen by other companies?

You’d think this is a recipe for disaster– your best folks might get hired away.

But if you truly take care of your people and if you find team members that care more about mission than money, then actively building your people’s brands is critical to your own company’s growth.

After all, if your people AREN’T attractive to other companies, then what quality do you really have?

One of our stars is G (and this is a screenshot of his LinkedIn profile).

We took this photo a couple weeks ago when we met our VA team in the Philippines. Such loyal, happy, humble people– key to our success!

If you are an SEO, can I say that I’m a PPC?

by | Apr 18, 2020 | Awesome People, promoting yourself

If you are an MBA, then can I call any degree or skill I have as my identity?

What you have and who you are aren’t necessarily the same thing.

I am not analysis, optimization, or advertising.
I am a human being who has intrinsic value independent of my skill, job title, and accomplishments.

You, my friend, have immense value even if you don’t have a Ph. D in your email signature line.

And sometimes it’s okay to just sit there and be content– to not have to “hustle” all the time or be guilted into maintaining false appearances.

You have permission to just be.

I’ve done little work the last 3 weeks, and it’s been great. 9 flights over 8 hours each, plus a dozen short ones. No wifi.

I used to joke that I work part-time- just choose which 12 hours of each day.

But now I “work” only 4 hours each day, with learning being the bulk of my time. 2 hours for clients and 2 hours for our team.

I’ve said NO to thousands of requests for meetings with no guilt. And that has pissed off potential clients who weren’t a fit anyway.

Those people expect instant response and for free, who don’t respect your precious time.

Be around those who love you and who you love, independent of your degree, skill, or title.