November 29, 2016 |

Digital Marketing on the move – Thoughts from the trail

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This weekend, after all the holiday celebrations, I decided it would be a good idea to go for a bike ride on my snow bike. I definitely selected the right tool for the job, as recent storms had covered my local trails with a few inches of powder.


The conditions were actually quite nice, even with the added challenge. Some slipping and sliding ensued but there wasn’t any wind, the temps were mild, and I was excited to see what shape the trails were in.


I clocked a leisurely 1 hour 30 for the 8-mile adventure. Not really caring about my overall time, but more focused on having fun and enjoying the gorgeous day.


The following day, I was up for a new adventure and thought it would be fun to run the same course and see how well my times matched up. (Yes, our definitions of “fun” may differ.)


I set out in much less hospitable conditions: Overnight, we received several more inches of snow, plus the temperatures had dropped markedly, and the wind – in typical Nederland fashion – was howling.


I bundled up and headed out. One hour and twenty five minutes later, I had wrapped things up. With the degradation in conditions, I am certain that the round-trip would have taken me at least 1:45 on my bike.


So why am I sharing my latest wacky adventure with you today? Several reasons:


  • That which you do not measure, you can not act upon. Had I not chosen to keep track of my time, I would never had known how well I had done in crappier conditions the second day. The same goes for business. What you measure, matters.
  • Make sure you measure equivalent efforts. Had I selected a different route, I wouldn’t have been able to assess the value of my efforts against one another. Make sure you select a metric (or series of metrics) that have some equivalency when measuring your business efforts – time, investment, etc.
  • Pick the right tool for the job. One can certainly use a screwdriver to drive nails into a wall, but a hammer works much better! Whether you are leveraging Social advertising, or SEO, or LinkedIn outreach, make sure you are using the right tool to reach your target audience at the right time.
  • Take time to get out and explore. Though the conditions weren’t ideal on Sunday, I was still able to really enjoy the adventure. Sure, it was a challenge, but picking something that seems harder than perhaps you can accomplish once in awhile helps us understand our limits and pushes them.


“There are no limits, there are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” – Bruce Lee


Interested in establishing a baseline from which you can grow your success? Give us a ring!

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Clear thinking, honest perspectives, and experience shaped by years of doing the work. No shortcuts, no borrowed opinions, just lessons learned by showing up, solving problems, and following ideas all the way through.

Four hikers with backpacks walking along a rocky mountain ridge under a blue sky
May 8, 2026
We are each our own greatest inhibitor. People don’t want to do new things if they think they’re going to be bad at them or people are going to laugh at them. You have to be willing to subject yourself to failure, to be bad, to fall on your head and do it again, and try stuff that you’ve never done in order to be the best you can be. ~ Laird Hamilton Yesterday: Hit Range Balls/Hike – Casa del Critters, 1:15 Today: Run – GGCSP, ~2 hours Tomorrow: Ride – Somewhere singlespeedy, ~2 hours Yesterday, Rach and I took a nice stroll in the woods around our house. The songbirds were going crazy-nuts and surprisingly, we only saw one other person walking his dog. I love where we live – close proximity to fun trails and the ability to get away from it all in just a short walk from our house. During lunch yesterday, I went to the driving range to get a few cuts in before playing a round of golf with my dad next week. I don’t get to play very often so need to brush up on my skills (or lack thereof) whenever I can. I am looking forward to playing with my pops and hope to break 100. I shot a 102 the last time I played so I am within striking distance of the sub-triple-digit score. We’ll see how things go. I usually do okay for most of the round and then fall apart on a couple of holes pushing my score way up. Dad shoots in the low 80s usually (I think). I am not sure I will ever play enough to be that good but it is fun to get out on the course now and again. I also went to see Dr. Paul yesterday for my ankle problem (which seems to have been resolved) and my knee (which is still a bit swollen but has decreased in size markedly over the past several days). The knee stems from my unscheduled nose-dive back in May (see this post for details). The shot some pictures and believe that everything is a-ok so that was good news. I just need to select better places for splashdowns in the future. And today is Luke’s birthday. Age is one place where I will always beat him but visit his blog to congratulate him on trying to catch up. Until next time…
Runner silhouetted at sunset on a rocky trail, mid-stride between hills.
May 8, 2026
Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience. ~ Elbert Hubbard Yesterday: Run – Casa del Critters/Flume, 1 hour 15 minutes Today: Ride/Hike/Relax Tomorrow: Run/Hike – Pawnee/Buchanan Passes, 6 hours? Yesterday I ran around the house. Not literally, mind you, but in the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous evening – calm, cool. Perfect. The wildflowers are really starting to take off up here and I was treated with a bold display of color throughout my run. Tons of Columbine lined the trailside as I ran on old mining roads and singletrack trails. It is really fun to see how much differently I am able to handle familiar terrain. I used to have difficulties running this loop and would have to walk major sections. Last night, I ran the entire loop without trouble and was able to moderate my speed to maintain a steady cadence through the run. Good times. Contracting is staying steady. A bit of a drop-off this week given the holiday but I am still managing to put in a decent number of hours. I picked up another new project today and will need to get started immediately to ensure that it gets completed on time.  Tomorrow, we are going to head up Pawnee Pass and loop back around to Buchanan Pass in the northern Indian Peaks Wilderness. This should be a fun challenge as we’ll get up pretty high, have to navigate some snow (most likely) and will be out for quite awhile. I am looking forward to it for sure . Movie time: I forgot to mention Shopgirl, a Steve Martin vehicle, we watched the other night. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but found this to be a charming film about loneliness. It was well acted and would recommend it for sure. The pacing is steady throughout and some might find it a little on the slow side but it was an engaging film that had a lot to say without being overly sappy.
Hands holding a tablet displaying a video player interface. The video is paused.
February 20, 2026
In case you hadn’t seen these (and also for my friends at Adventure Film ), here are a couple of must-see running movies from Joel Wolpert:  Geoff Roes: Slogging to the Top