Looking at the content of this email - the list of questions being asked and the choice of solutions being offered. it suddenly becomes easy to answer the question of what the Connected Market Space is, and what 1to1Real is.

All of the questions in that email are just about sales. It conveniently forgets that running a business is about sales, managing people, creating a good marketing message to get the leads and buyers for your sales staff (if you have a sales staff - many of us wear that hat too) and keeping track of the bottom line.

In the world of this email, once you've answered the question of the day you get to sort through a host of solutions that promise to solve your problem of the day. But who has the time to evaluate dozens of software solutions and try to figure out what solution(s) might work for them? It's a never ending circle - what problem, what solution, how much should you spend - will it work? Getting tangled up using a different technology solution for every one of your business "problems" is no solution at all.

I was caught in the technology tangle years ago with my businesses. I thought to myself, "isn't technology supposed to help me? Why do I find myself doing more work at night trying to keep up with data entry, than I did before when all I had was paper?" I had found plenty of "tools" that needed me to do more data entry just to keep up. They didn't help me answer the questions (like those in the email) for my market, my prospects, or even my staff when I was busy wearing one of my many hats. They solved one problem and created others in their wake. Once I used a solution to improve my email marketing, I was left with too many contacts that I wasn't responding to well enough to... So, I need another "tool" to fix that problem. I was caught in a trap - a never ending spiral - the technology tangle.

However, when I realized I was caught, I noticed that everyone else was too. So, I set out to do something about it. I imagined software - an actual solution - that would do some of the work for my business, instead of making more work for me. I wanted something that once I set it up and said "go" - it would take the load off of me and my business and my staff, something that would connect me to my market and my customers. I've worked with hundreds of companies and thousands of staff over the last 10 years, and they've all had the same problems:

1) Wearing multiple hats

2) Getting your story to the market in a crowded marketplace

3) Keeping the message going out

4) Keeping the leads and business coming in

5) Using technology to manage the process

1to1Real is the solution to all of these problems. It's the Connected Market Technology I imagined. 1to1Real is a process engine; it's a robot - a sales, management, and messaging engine - it's an automated marketing machine. It's THE solution that actually connects you to your market and your customers, actually saves you time and actually does the work for you.

So, here it is - the week I turned 50. I didn't think it would take a decade of my life to create! It's been a huge investment to create 1to1Real and deliver the Connected Market Space to people. I can't say I've always loved the journey. However, I can say I've always been fascinated about the possibility of a solution.

Creating 1to1Real took the CMAEON team tens of thousands of hours of work, all while working with real companies who had tenacity and faith along the way to share the dream having of solutions that actually worked for them. These loyal customers helped us forge and invent and pushed us to think out of the box. They helped us create 1to1Real - the next generation's model for creating market connections, managing business processes, messaging, marketing and measuring how current and potential customers work with organizations. I am grateful for every hour, all the input and even the toughest of challenges - I look forward to all the ways 1to1Real will help with the entrepreneurial success and struggle.

I had a great birthday party this weekend, with many generous and wonderful friends. Coming toward this day, my insightful wife asked me, "what are the top quotes that have shaped your life?" I thought about that question for just a moment. It was easy to answer because, every decade I had inspiration from a discovered and cherished statement that struck me and carried me along - like a blast of wind filling my sails to catch a flowing tide, a philosophy always seemed to arise at the perfect time in life to send me onward.

Therefore, this is a wonderful week for me to finally deliver a version of 1to1Real that has an automated sign up. Now any business owner, manager, entrepreneur, sole proprietor - anyone, can use 1to1Real connect their inspiration, their dreams, their vision, their products and their services to their market. No matter what is on your list of your questions for your company, I believe 1to1Real can help. I've seen it help so many, for so long so I couldn't be more excited to share this next journey with you, with 1to1Real and our related product categories for specific industries.

Enjoy, and try 1to1Real - tell us what you think! Â We are relying on you to tell us how you use it. Help us invent the next decade for small to medium sized businesses and entrepreneurs.

I think we can all agree the future is in the hands of those of us who venture to run our companies with our teams. The recent failures of big enterprise has shown us that the road ahead lies in the connections we forge at the real level of entrepreneurship - the businesses that employ, deliver and drive the Connected Market Place and the economics the big guys just can't seem to understand.

Thank you to all for all your lessons and support - I look forward to what the next decade will bring as I sail from 50 to new challenges on new, changing seas.

"Life is short,

decades come and go,

But lessons and love last for all eternity."

Tim