Ah, football. But this “big game” day has some interesting facts:

• Usually one of the largest American sports TV audiences
• 2nd biggest eating day next to Thanksgiving
• Most expensive advertising evening of the year ($3M average ad this year)
• The big championship game was named after a kids’ toy called the “SuperBall”.
• Superbowl was only a temporary name; the originator thought a better name could be found.
• There was no SuperBowl before SuperBowl IV. They were called Championship Games.
• 92% of households in America tune in some time during the game.
• The broadcast is passed around the main networks – except ABC doesn’t broadcast them any more.
• SuperBowl became the sole legal trademark to the NFL in 1985
• You can’t have a party with the SuperBowl broadcast on a screen larger than 55″. (Unless you regularly broadcast sports)
• There has never been a SuperBowl scoreless at halftime.

The NFL knew they had something with their “superbowl” — and now they protect it. With a passion! In fact they tried to trademark the name “the big game” three years ago, but failed.

As a business owner, come up with a concept, develop it and if necessary trademark it. It’ll pay off for you — just like it has for the NFL. I hope you enjoy the game!

It’s also the way I run my business, I don’t invoice for anything unless I’d pay it myself, and I don’t want my clients to pay any more than they have to pay. It’s the way I sleep soundly at night.

So, how do I save money? Here’s some of the things that I do regularly and you can easily do. None are scary or “difficult” so get started!

1. Mindset: A lot of these ideas start with “thinking differently”. Much like the discipline of losing weight; spending less starts with the dedication of “deciding” to spend less. Often, your budget helps with your resolve; much like health issues do for diet dedication.
2. Telephone: We use Vonage. We pay only $24.99/month for unlimited calling, all the features and unlimited long distance. If you tell them I referred you (either me personally or PinPoint Creative Group — 336-765-3800) you’ll get 2 Months free (and I will too!). Contact me if you have any questions. We love it!
3. Cable TV: This is a bit tricky. If you want sports continuously; perhaps this isn’t for you. But we pay about $8/month for basic cable. We watch TV shows on Hulu, iTunes or the network websites. The average U.S. cable bill is $60/month. Consider the $600 you’ll save by doing this, and what you’ll get done without TV on all the time. Or bundle your cable, internet and phone. At home we’re considering dropping phone service since we all have cell phones.
4. Eating Out: Try to brown bag-it (but I do miserable with this). Instead, I live by 2 simple rules: A) Don’t order soda at lunch. Water helps with digestion better any way. B) I rarely pay more than $5 for a lunch meal (unless I’m entertaining). My favorite right now is the McDouble (I request no cheese) and a small salad for $2.00. Or the Hamburger happy meal with Apples instead of fries for around $3.  Or a grocery store rotisserie chicken and it lasts for 3 days. I eat baked chips or a side salad with it. This is about $3/day too. Save $4/day (soda, and eating less) and in a year you save over $1000!
5. Pay Cash: use this to negotiate a better rate. I just saved about half the cost of a doctor’s bill by doing this. It’s always worth asking. And stops my dependence on credit.
6. Insurance: We have a $1000 emergency fund that allows us to reduce our monthly payments by raising our deductibles to $1000. I renegotiate insurance rates every year before they come due. Also, buy term insurance — it’s all you need and it costs less.
7. Tithing: I throw this in, because when we decided to give 10% to our church, it was the way we started having more money. It sounds like an oxymoron, but God’s principles always work.
8. Sell it: We all have things we stop using or wearing. The moment you realize it, get rid of it (its value drops everyday you wait)! You don’t need all your stuff — and there are lots of places to get an audience to buy it. Computers and electronics – Ebay or Craigslist; Seasonal Clothes – a local Consignment shop.
9. Travel: There are lots of places to find the lowest price. I use Travelocity or Expedia (to find out what current prices are), then I switch over to Kayak. I check what the lowest prices for the trips are (ANYTIME in the next few months) and jump over to priceline or hotwire and bid the lower price that I know the airline takes at another time of the year. I usually get it. I also rarely ever stay at a conference hotel — if I walk an extra block I save enough to pay for my meals for the conference.
10. Gas: We use Costco for gas. The savings aren’t huge but the savings pay for my oil changes.

When I started this, I wondered if I could come up with 10 ways and now I realize I have lots more… but I’ll save them for a future post. More importantly, what are the ways YOU save money?

It all started after I returned from a Charleston work trip. It was 90 degrees when I left the coast and headed inland. It started to become overcast and it was cooling into the 80’s by the time the sun went down — and I arrived home. My wife and I put the kids to bed and (since I was tired from the 5 hour drive) we decided to go to bed early at 10pm.

All evening the weather people had preempted the regular programming. Even Survivor (second to last episode!) didn’t air in our area as the “experts” stood in front of the map green screen, almost with delight, showing us how terrible the atmospheric conditions were.

When I was just drifting off, about 10:25 I think, the thunder in the distance moved much closer. Rain started, then the wind. A voice inside of me (or was it next to me) told me to turn the TV on “just to see what’s going on”.

I flipped the TV on and the weather person was zoomed in on the part of the city that we live. She pointed to the red and green squares that show how the air was moving away and moving towards us. All in less than a quarter mile. In the upper atmosphere, the wind was blowing close to 90 miles an hour. In her constant drone of talk, I totally woke up when she said, “Anyone living in this area, should seek cover immediately”. On the screen, it even had the road that we live on, written next to a squiggly line that indicated the road behind our house.

As I was waking the kids, we got a call from friends warning us that we should turn the TV on. We ended up in the basement, huddled under a blanket. I started to remember that I wanted to get a weather radio (in case that the power went off during a storm) and we remembered that we have packed all the candles (since we’re moving in 2 weeks). Then as the TV said that our area was experiencing many power outages, our power flickered off. I realized it was too late to plan ahead.

Fortunately, the power came back on and we were told that just a couple miles away an F3 Tornado touched down. Later, we found out that houses were demolished and trees scattered everywhere. And it was headed toward us. It pulled up into the clouds again and proceeded over us, bypassing our part of the city, before touching down on the eastern side. Toppling trucks, killing a man in a pickup truck that was toppled, smashing dozens of houses and businesses. Planes collided on the ground at the airport. It was a mess.

As I thought about this, while running at the gym this morning, it occurred to me how it feels like we have another tornado lurking above us. News shows are practically being taken over by talk of the “coming economic disaster”. Seemingly with delight, they revel in how smart they are that they see all the indicators. An economic tornado.

I guess it’s now (before the actual storm — if there’s going to be one) is the time that we need to make sure we’re prepared. This is what I’m thinking we should do:

1. Stop Spending. But start Investing. We need to make sure we’re not spending cash flow on anything that doesn’t earn our company money. Good marketing in an investment! While everyone else is stopping their advertising, YOU should be investing in marketing. It WILL pay off.

2. Listen to the indicators and know when to move. Perhaps it’s time to look at areas of your company that aren’t profitable and cut them loose. Now is not the time to do a bunch of risky things. Watch your profit and loss statements. Track. Calculate. React.

3. Weather the storm. If you’re wise, you can get through this economic slow down. I believe that in order for Capitalism to work, there has to be cycles like these. If not, EVERYONE will have a business. These times allow the field to be cleared for the stronger companies. You can be one of them. Follow good rules of branding. Consistency. Benefits. Targeting.

And when the storm was over, and our family headed back up to bed, I whispered a prayer of Thanksgiving. Because God kept us safe. Once you make the right decisions in your company, by God’s grace, you’ll survive.

Oh, and today I bought a battery operated, public alert atomic clock radio. Top of the line. Just in case.

Anyone else with storm stories? In business… or personally!