• Victor Schukov

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Personally, we all need people

posted by Victor Schukov at 9h40

Last weekend, I learned the same lesson all over again. I reluctantly attended a friend’s back yard party, overcoming my deep infested preference to just stay home on a Saturday night and veg.

Within minutes of kicking back in a lawn chair, I exchanged words with someone I didn’t know.

The gentleman’s name was Don Wayne Patterson. So, I asked him what he did for a living.

Back in the music renaissance of the ’60s, he worked as a salesman for Quality Records. He quickly realized that many groundbreaking, underrated Canadian bands were not getting the same limelight as their American and British counterparts. So, like it was no big deal, he started Jet Records in 1967 to release Canadian bands he managed and had discovered in places like New Brunswick, Alberta and Ontario, which is where he scooped up The Haunted, a long defunct band still popular amongst cult musicologists. This led to a move to California and working for Dick Clark, publishing music fanzines and - upon his return to Montreal - DJing on a local radio station while running two record stores downtown.

I asked him what he was up to now.

The Pierrefonds resident said that, a few years ago, he shrugged off the idea of early retirement and consequent boredom, and figured out that the future was the (then infant) Internet. He now maintains on-line companies that deal in collectible CDs and old books on both Amazon and eBay. He also dabbles in real estate and still produces music.

Impressed with his can-do mind space, I asked him what his personal philosophy was. And here is where I started to re-learn a life lesson:

He said that many people don’t know what to do with the rest of their lives. Some are tired of their old jobs and don’t feel that they have options. They don’t progress because they carry negative feelings about pursuing their dreams.

“You can have anything you want in business and life if you are completely positive and manage a clear perspective of what you are good at and what you love to do. And be persistent.”

According to Patterson, being happy at work and play ultimately boils down to developing your entrepreneurial spirit. And that has everything to do with networking, the art of meeting as many people as you can day-to-day.

“Be like Johnny Appleseed, talk to someone and plant a seed and eventually a tree of opportunity will grow along with new friendships. Get business cards. Attend trade fairs. Ask questions. And stop asking yourself what you are doing wrong, but ask yourself what you should be doing that’s right. We are often so screwed up in our perception of our own limitless potential.”

And here is what he said that reminded me of what I all too often forget: “If you want to succeed, do what you enjoy doing.”  (Had I stuck to my first lazy inclination to stay home, I would not have had this enlightening reminder.)

I told him, “You should market your philosophy.”

He told me he does: For the last few years, he has taught a course at John Abbott and Dawson on how to earn a living off of the Internet.

“Practically everyone uses a computer. Your market is the world. I try to teach people how to make and save money on the Internet, a new and exciting way of doing business.”

The real value of the course is in its insights on how to be part of the real world of success by unblocking your perception of yourself and as Patterson says, “giving yourself the guts to pursue your dream.”

He says that he can turn anything you got into a positive element of your being.

Those interested in taking this course at John Abbott (or Dawson), here is the info:

EBay and the Internet

900-927-00-01

This course focuses on how to use the

Internet to make money buying and

selling products in World Markets

Who should attend:

New or would-be entrepreneurs

What you will learn:

• To buy and sell on eBay

• To sell on Amazon

• To identify business opportunities

• To find valuable information on

starting a business online

• To discover the value of products you

own

• To find the right products to sell

• To market your products

Tuesday: 19h00 - 22h00 Tuition: $195

Sept. 22 - Nov. 24 30 hours