This week I launched my own real estate company. In naming the company, I went the straight forward route of using my last name and the putting the words “Real Estate” after it. Thus I came up with Lugar Real Estate, LLC.

Of course shortly after completing all the licensing for the business, I saw this post by Seth Godin.  Should I have gone the route recommended by Godin and picked a name not related to my industry?  Should I have named my company Felt Tip or Rubber Sole or Mushy Mangos?  Should I have chosen a more obscure name and worked to create a secondary meaning?

However, the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that’s what I did.  Lugar really doesn’t mean anything.  Here in Indiana, there are some political connotations to the name Lugar, so there is some name recognition.  And in Spanish, Lugar means “place”, which for a real estate company really isn’t a bad word association.  But when you really think about it Lugar is a word that will need to gain a secondary meaning.  Sure, it’s just my last name, and sure, I slapped the descriptive words “Real Estate” on the end, but I’m announcing it right here and right now.  LUGAR MEANS REAL ESTATE!

Since I referenced Seth Godin, here are a few of my favorites from him:

Wake up people!  Not that you really care, but Jack is a nickname for John.  It drives me crazy that so many people don’t know that.  If I had a buck for every time I’ve had to explain that Jack is a nickname for John, I’d be… well, not rich, but I’d have more money than I do right now.

Why do people not know this?  It’s not like I’m the only one to go by Jack but have the given name John.  In fact some pretty famous people share this nickname.

Jack Kennedy – JFK or John Fitzgerald Kennedy was our 35th President.   

Jack Kerouac – Jean Louis Kerouac was a famous writer.

Jack Lemmon – John Uhler Lemmon III was a famous actor.

Jack Lambert - John Harold Lambert is a former NFL linebacker.

Jack Morris - John Scott Morris was a MLB pitcher.

Jack White – John Anthony Gillis is the lead vocalist for The White Stripes. 

Jack Welch – John Francis Welch, Jr. was the Chairman and CEO for General Electric.

Jack Lord – John Joseph Patrick Ryan was the star of Hawaii Five-O .

Jack Wagner – Peter John Wagner, II is a former singer and soap opera star.

Sure the name Jack doesn’t particularly make sense as a nickname for John since it doesn’t shorten the name or make it easier to say.  But to me, the name Jack does seem a little less formal than John and more nicknamey.  Of course there are a few different stories on how Jack became a nickname for John, but you can check Wikipedia for that answer if you really care.

So now you know, if you didn’t already.  Jack is a nickname for John.  I didn’t make it up.  While I was named John at birth, I was called Jack from that first moment.  Maybe soon I’ll join the list above.  Here I come Jack Wagner!

**Post Update: Jack Welch made an appearance on 30 Rock last night. Thanks 30 Rock & Jack Welch for furthering the world’s understanding of the nickname Jack.

Apparently there is a movement by some restaurants to ban patrons who are carrying guns. It’s a pretty silly policy if you ask me, but I definitely support a business’ decision to set its own rules. I’m not sure what they think is going to happen by setting this rule, but more power to them. While California Pizza Kitchen is saying no, Starbucks, to many people’s surprise, isn’t giving in to the anti-gun movement.

The way I see it, the only people who will follow the “gun-free zone” rule are law abiding citizens. A criminal on the other hand, doesn’t care what a restaurant’s policies are. I would suspect that most people who carry a licensed gun have been trained and are prepared to use it when there is a need. Those who carry unlicensed guns are more likely to have never been trained and usually have other motives, for which rules aren’t going to stop them.

It seems to me that the most destructive gun violence, other than some gang infested areas of most cities, is in “gun-free zones”. We saw this at Virginia Tech and Columbine (I’m not saying high schoolers should carry guns).  The same was the case at Fort Hood where, like most U.S. military bases, guns are not carried by military personnel on base.  What might have happened if the good guys also had a gun in these situations?

I don’t carry a gun. I don’t own a gun. Last time I shot a gun was over twenty years ago when I received a very short hunting lesson. Guns are not a part of my culture. However, I’m glad that there are people, law abiding citizens, who want to own and carry guns. Guns can be used for evil, but I believe more often than not they are used for good. Gun laws do not stop criminals. They only stop the law abiding citizens.

I believe in freedom as long as it doesn’t infringe on others. People should be able to smoke if they want, and restaurants and bars should have the choice to allow it or not in their place of business (California ruined outdoor dining when they pushed all the smokers onto the patio).  People should also be able to carry guns. As stated earlier, an establishment has every right to say no to guns, but I believe they are ultimately just hurting themselves. They lose customers and advertise to criminals that the only one with a gun will be the criminal.

So I applaud Starbucks for not banning guns in their stores. Not for the fact that I’m so pro gun that I’m fanatical about guns being everywhere. No. I applaud Starbucks for having a little common sense and not falling prey to the overly sensitive political correctness that continually weakens our society.

My oldest boy first played soccer when he was about four years old.  As he ran up and down the field we would cheer him on, encouraging him to run a little harder and beat the other kids to the ball. As many parents will relate, it’s a bit of a helpless feeling to sit on the sideline watching your child play a sport.

We knew he could do a little better… not that it was really that important considering it was four-year-old soccer… but we wanted him to experience some of the joys of success such as scoring a goal, assisting a teammate, or even winning. His team didn’t win a single game that year (for some reason the league created teams by age and the four year olds were competing against the five year olds).

During halftime at one of his games, my wife, Elisabeth, and I offered to give our son a special reward (bribe) if he went out there and scored two goals. So what immediately happened when play resumed? He scored not once, but twice. And then after that? He returned to making a modest amount of effort and never scored again.

We, of course, were in shock. How did he do that? When the game was over, we asked him. “Why don’t you do that for the entire game?” He replied with a wise statement well beyond a four year old. “I don’t have to. I get a trophy anyway.”

He was right. Apparently even four year olds understand that when you reward mediocrity, that’s what you get.

I have been ripped off for the last time.  I’ve had incandescent light bulbs last exponentially longer than Bright Effects fluorescents.  I’ve done what I can to save the world from its eminent demise from “man made” global warming one light bulb at a time.  But I’ve had it now.  I’ve wasted so much money on spirally fluorescent bulbs that burn out faster than the flame of middle schoolers in love.

I want to save energy costs.  My electric bill is outrageous. In an effort to cut my costs (since encouraging the family to turn off lights when they leave a room doesn’t work), I’ve been buying fluorescents. My basement has at least 20 can lights that use the large 65 watt flood bulbs, and practically every day when I come home from work, I find all those lights on and nobody home. My solution has been to use Bright Effects fluorescent bulbs which are supposed to last up to seven years and save me a ton of money on my energy usage. You know the pitch. I pay more for the bulb up front and save more over time.

Well, every Bright Effects bulb I’ve ever bought has not lasted a year. I’ve owned my current house for almost five years, and some of the incandescent bulbs in my basement that came with the house are still going strong. So as you can imagine, I’m a little ticked.

Am I the only one?

I’m glad to save energy. I want to do my part to protect this earth that God gave us, but even more so, I want to protect my wallet. I have not given up on fluorescent bulbs, but I know that I will never buy a Bright Effects product again. I’m giving Sylvania and GE a shot, but I’ve had my experiences with faulty Sylvania bulbs too. So if anyone out there has had better luck with fluorescents, let me know your secret.

If you have an ad that features a star and you have to print their name and then say they are a “star”, doesn’t defeat the purpose?  Why spend a ton of money for a “star” who has so little recognition and name status that you have to tell your audience that he’s a “star”?

I often see a Safe Auto Insurance billboard featuring a picture of Michael Redd.  It says by his picture that he’s “Michael Redd Basketball Star”.  Being a basketball fan, I know who Michael Redd is, but I would never recognize him by his picture.  I would bet that the majority of the US population has no idea who Michael Redd is.  I know he played college ball for a Big Ten team and that he is or was on the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, but that would be the extent of my Michael Redd knowledge.

So did Safe Auto waste their money by hiring Michael Redd as a spokesman?  My guess is that they did not.  Why?  Because their target audience does know who Michael Redd is.  I have to figure that Safe Auto, or their advertising firm, tested and checked Q scores and found that their target market was familiar with Redd.

Sure, from a practical standpoint, it’s ridiculous to pay a star who is not really one.  That is a waste of money.  But to pay someone who, while not a true star of the Brangelina stratosphere, is a star in a specific community may be very profitable.

In Safe Auto’s case, why pay for Kobe Bryant when you can get a much less expensive Michael Redd and have a similar impact?  It makes sense.

While I had a good laugh at the Michael Redd billboard at first, the more I thought about it, the more I could appreciate it.  The target market was addressed by showing Redd’s image and name.  The rest of us who are just curious about who this Michael Redd is and why he’s on a billboard are provided the answer with the description “Basketball Star”.

Is Redd a star in the truest sense?  Possibly.  While he’s not a megastar like Kobe or LeBron or Shaq who transcend their sport, he’s enough of a star to generate face or name recognizability.  In fact, the more I see his billboard, the more it is ingrained in my mind that Redd is a star.  However, not a star for basketball.  In my mind, he’ll be a “Safe Auto Billboard Star”.