In mankind's millennia-old pursuit to escape the confines of the earth, it turned out that gravity was the tether and that a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen was the fuel to push into the freedom of space. I loved space, as a kid. Still do. One of my favorite movies is Contact. Star Trek can mesmerize me. On the clearest nights, I watch for the still persistence of satellites moving through the sky overhead. Space, I guess, stands for what is possible. My heart aches as I watch my fellow citizens vote for economy-wrecking politicians who push economy-wrecking policies. I've written before that the next elections are not at all about the politicians, but about the collective intellect of the American people. Speaking personally, I don't care much for tether. I'm a bit like the dog that would chew its leg off before settling for chained existence. This past Friday, Duane and I moved ahead with Worldwide Amplified by signing franchising papers with Francorp, the #1 franchiser in the world, responsible for helping Jimmy Johns, Buffalo Wild Wings, and McDonalds, to name a few of their hundreds of clients. 90 days from now, anyone can purchase a Worldwide Amplified franchise. It will be a low-cost franchise. To our knowledge and Francorp's, it will be one of the first social networking franchises available. We're working feverishly to polish the model. Once the legal framework is completed, I'll be traveling just about every week. I'm the guy who will train franchisees and spend a week at their location to settle them into the process. I'll know more in the next 90 days as they finesse their numbers and we finesse ours, but I expect this to sell well. Even if we only sell 1 per month, we're doing great. And Francorp tells us that they think this might be particularly attractive in certain countries. They have offices in 17 countries around the world. My passport stands at the ready... as does Tamara's when that day comes around that we open a franchise outside of the US. My personal goal is to reach escape velocity, where I push beyond the reach of any tether and I can move freely in any direction. I've strapped the rocket to my back. The rest is up to me. |