Newsflash!

Alaska is colder than Marco Island.

Who would have thunk it?

After spending a day and a half in Anchorage, we’re headed to a 20-person KENAI FJORDS WILDERNESS LODGE ON FOX ISLAND for a couple of days before we start our cruise. I’m particularly excited about eating the food prepared by the resort’s Michelin-star chef. Kalia, the more adventurous one, is more fired up kayaking.

My wife is a master vacation strategist.

She plans our trips strategically, from the flights to the hotels to the excursions. My only role is selecting restaurants. The end result is amazing, memorable experiences.

The key word is “strategy.”

She thinks about what we each like, the emotions we want to experience, and the overall vision for the trip before putting together the tactical and logistical parts of the trip.

Many business owners, myself included at times, start looking for cool tactics before developing an overall strategy. This often leads to frustration and jumping from one new tactic to another, hoping something hits.

The key to success is to DEEsign your overall marketing and sales strategy and then decide on the tactics you’ll use.

If you don’t hear from me, it means I fell off the kayak into the freezing cold waters in Alaska.

Kick butt, make mucho DEEnero!

Dave “Mr. Wilderness” Dee