August 1996 Publisher's Note

About THIS ISSUE...and SUCCESS
August 1996 Publisher’s Note

Success is a funny thing. Success is relative. Success is in the eye of the beholder, whether they are looking inward or at others. We chose to dedicate this second issue of MODE to the concept of "success". On these pages you will not find definitions of success, but rather formulas that others have used, to achieve success. You will find information about success, self improvement and continuing education.

For this issue we interviewed several experts on success, self improvement and continuing education, and our ultimate conclusion is... there is A LOT of information about these topics. Really. So much that we just could not cover it all in this issue. As a matter of fact, we may have a treat for you in future issues. Judged solely on your feedback and comments, we hope to begin a monthly success column in September, so please let us know what you think of the work we’ve done this month, and remember... be nice :-)

Why success? Because it’s something most of us think about almost every day. You may not consciously say, "Am I successful today?", but you might think to yourself, ‘Can I carry all 8 of these grocery bags into the house without dropping any?’ Success is what you make it.

There are a few simple rules to being successful that we discovered, and we hope that you realize and embrace them as you read these pages. We also hope you figure out that success goes hand in hand with sharing. Really.

Lecture complete.

Also on these printed pages you will find several of our regular departments, including yet another One Tank Getaway, and more Cheap Lunch with Betty specials. Also, please pay special attention to our new contributors on the media page (center section), and watch our Internet web site for a list of locations where you can pick up MODE regularly. Please patronize these businesses if you enjoy MODE, for they make it possible every month to put our papers in your hands.

I would like to take just one more moment of your time to explain a process. In our years of publishing, my wife and I have often encountered a discouraging attitude that is born of misconception. The misconception is that advertisers get articles because they advertise. Sure, you’ve heard it all before... "Hey, this company has a full page ad right next to the article the paper wrote about them, how convenient." What we would like you to know about MODE is that we determine the articles we plan to publish, well in advance. Then we bust our butts trying to get advertisers that would benefit from the associated topics. Many publications do this. Sometimes it works out great, and sometimes it flops. "Fine," you say, "then why do you review advertisers’ businesses so much more than other businesses?" Our answer is simple: Advertisers pay our bills, and whenever the opportunity presents itself to do something nice for an advertiser, we do it.

The funny part is that I have repeatedly, in every publication I have ever published, asked the readers, "if you have a suggestion for a review, or article topic, please let us know", and only when we blatently put an advertiser next to an article about that advertiser do we get calls saying, "You could have interviewed our business!" And you know what I say in response... someday we probably will.

So hang in there, we hope you enjoy this issue.

Sincerely,

Scot Giambalvo, Publisher

P.S. Thanks to all of you who have e-mailed us about the Internet site. Slow goes the process, and rest assured that when complete it will be as cool as a sno-cone in January... and it won’t make your tongue blue.