DeliveryMaxx Congratulates 2020 Seniors

When the beginning of the school year began for the 2020 seniors; nobody would have predicted what would have happened in the World much less the United States.  Not only did the economy coming to a screeching halt but high school students would have their lives turned upside down as well.  Distance learning would become the norm, cancellations of prom and unorthodox graduations would be planned.  The high school senior would soon learn that nothing is guaranteed in life and no matter how much you prepare for the uncertainty; everything can be taken away in an instant.

The Class of 2020 doesn’t know a world without 9/11 as it is a historical event rather than something they lived through.  A Texan occupied the White House when they were born and they were only 6 years old when the first Black American was elected to the highest position in America.  They are younger than the iPod, which was released in 2001 and only 5 years old when the first iPhone was released.  YouTube launched while they were 3 years old and SpongeBob SquarePants is older than all of the 2020 seniors as is the video game series Halo.  “Call of Duty” video game came out when they were a year old.  MySpace had launched when they were one and they had just turned 2 by the time Facebook was created.  When they were 4 years old, Twitter became a mainstay in social media.  They have participated in viral challenges like the Harlem Shake and Ice Bucket Challenge.  Popular communication methods are “Texting” and “Snapping” friends.  Pew Research is classifying the high school class of 2020 as post-millennials or Gen Z.

In addition to helping businesses navigate the current economic climate providing strategies for companies to reach a larger market share through digital media platforms, DeliveryMaxx would also like to congratulate the sons of James Schaefer and Mark Henry.  James is the Founder of DeliveryMaxx and Mark is the Business Development Director.  Both of their sons, graduating high school seniors, Joseph Schaefer and Zach Henry were Captains for this year’s Rockwall Yellow Jackets State Semifinalist Football Team.  They have been teammates of each other since the 6^th grade. 

Joseph is graduating in the top 5% of his class and will be attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut this fall.  He will be playing football for the Cardinals and majoring in Economics.  While in high school, Joseph was the inaugural President for the Young Men’s Service League and a member of the National Honor Society as well as being selected to serve on the Student Leadership Council.  He was a 2 year letterman for the Yellow Jackets Football Team earning All-District Honors as a Junior, and 1^st Team All-District as well as 1^st Team Academic All-State as a senior.  In November Joseph was named Jacket Athlete of the Month  having 25 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 Pass Break-up in three Rockwall playoff victories for the month of November in 2019.  Head Coach Rodney Webb shared, “Joseph has led our defense late in the season in addition to leading the entire team as a senior captain.  Joseph Schaefer has epitomized the meaning of JFND (Jacket Fight Never Dies) in our three playoff victories this November.”  Playing linebacker, Joseph finished his senior season tied for 3^rd in Most Tackles in a Single Season in Rockwall History for the 2019-2020 year.

Zach will be attending the University of Texas in Arlington this coming fall.  He will be playing baseball for the Mavericks and majoring in Business and Sports Medicine.  During high school, Zach was a member of Student Council and PALS. He was a 3-year letterman in both baseball and football for the 6-A program which competes on the largest stage of high school sports.  He earned 2^nd Team All- District as a Junior and 1^st Team All-District his Senior Year at the Running Back position.  In three years he racked up 2932 yards and 39 touchdowns.  In November of 2018 he was named Jacket Athlete of the Month rushing for 311 yards and scored 6 total touchdowns in three November football games for the Jackets.  Zach's 118 yards rushing is the most allowed by a single player versus Allen in 2018.  The next highest total was 109 yards by EJ Smith of Jesuit - the son of Emmitt Smith.  “Zach Henry was an offensive catalyst for our great month of November, in which our offense averaged 44 points per game” stated, Coach Rodney Webb.  For baseball he earned 2^nd Team All-District as a sophomore.  His Junior Year he was named 1^st Team All-District, 1^st Team All-State as an Outfielder and Offensive Player of the Year.  He would also be named Dallas Morning News Player of the Week.

Both boys attended Rockwall Schools from elementary through high school.  After playing against each other for several years in baseball and football in various select leagues; they became members of the same Select All-Star Team in football traveling to Oklahoma for the National Showcase Competition.  Zach would play quarterback while Joseph shored up the defense at linebacker.  Both boys would take their talents to Williams Middle School for 7^th and 8^th grade before entering Rockwall High School.  They each played on the 9^th Grade A-Team as starters before making their way to Varsity their sophomore year (Zach at the beginning of the season and Joseph for playoffs).  The boys would end up helping the Jackets Football Program collect a total of 6 playoff wins (3 Bi-District, 1 Area, 1 Regionals, and 1 Quarterfinals Championships). They would finish their high school football career leading the Jackets to the Texas 6A High School Football State Semi-Finals for the first time since 1988 against a loaded Duncanville Panthers team falling one game short to have the chance to play for a State Championship.  Their win against perennial power house Allan High School was recently voted as one of the Top Games of the Decade by 24/7 Sports.  Both Zach and Joseph made some key plays in the game to secure the victory.

Bruce Springsteen released the song, “Glory Days” in 1984.  The song is a seriocomic tale of a man who now ruefully looks back on his so-called "glory days" and those of people he knew during high school.  However, this isn’t the case for these two.  Zach will have a chance to continue his baseball career at UTA in the Sun Belt Conference while Joseph will continue in football for Wesleyan University in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.  Each player is on scholarship and will get to add to their accolades maybe inspiring another artist to write about high school kids that faced challenges head-on and accomplished remarkable things in life.  

James and Mark have a lot to be proud of by leading DeliveryMaxx into one of the most innovative digital media companies in the country… especially in today’s economic climate.  However, they will be the first to tell you that they are filled with excitement about their boys’ accomplishments and the bright future each of them have.  Joseph and Zach will conclude their senior year by participating in the graduation ceremonies for Rockwall High School that will be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 7 PM.

Congratulations to all of the 2020 High School and College Seniors!  You are the future, and we look forward to seeing all of the great things you will do in the years to come.

No, We Are Not "All in This Together"

COVID-19 is dominating media headlines, advertisements, daily conversations, and websites all feature news & updates regarding the novel coronavirus that has swept through the world.  One of the more tiring aspects of daily life during this pandemic are the advertisements that mention COVID-19 buzzwords at nausea.

It is nearly impossible to watch a TV show that doesn’t reference the virus, followed by ads from companies like Doritos, or Kit-Kat, or Amazon, assuring us that they care about our safety as they subject us to overplayed cheesy music and affirmations that we are “all in this together.”

Despite corporate-America’s pledges & promises (or propaganda?), are we truly united?  If the virus has achieved anything, it has expertly demonstrated America’s far-reaching economic inequalities as some segments of our society is profiting greatly while others are struggling to cope with the reality laying ahead of them.

In only 23 days, between March 18^th and April 10^th, 170 of America’s billionaires added $282 billion dollars to their wealth, an increase of 9.5%. Amazon’s founder alone increased his net worth by 25 billion dollars in 2020.  In the same period over 22 million Americans filed for unemployment.  Totaled to now, more than 36 million or 1/5^th of our nation’s workforce have reported being jobless.  Some estimates state the total unemployment rate will approach 30 percent; a benchmark not seen since the Great Depression.  Similarly to the Great Depression, we are seeing thousands of cars lining up around the nation seeking food aid and surveys have revealed that in April 1/5^th of all households and 40 percent of households containing children under the age of 12 lacked sufficient food.

Nobel Prize winning economist has likened the U.S. to a “Third World Country.”  While other journalists and experts lament America as a ‘failed state’.

Divisions are continuing to grow within our country and will only continue to do so as the government places restrictions on ordinary citizen’s daily routines, while simultaneously failing to provide adequate relief.  The 2.2 trillion-dollar CARES Act makes for a great headline, however only a tiny portion of the funds go to working-class citizens and will not be enough to offset their lost incomes.  The Paycheck Protection Program has mastodonically misallocated its financial resources.  340 billion meant for small business to keep workers on payroll, yet business owners were unable to navigate crashed websites and red-tape as massive businesses such as the Penske Automotive Group & AutoNation and publicly traded hotel conglomerates such as Ashford & Braemar Hotels found loopholes to receive millions of dollars in assistance while still letting go the bulk of their employees.

Even more egregious, private equity firms sitting on $1.5 trillion in capital received tens of millions from the PPP.

While billionaires have added billions, large corporations have snatched up resources meant for Main Street, regular business owners have been forced to shutter their doors for rapidly changing reasons. 

Despite all of this when you turn on the television you can be treated to stock footage of happy diverse couples enjoying a bag of Oreos as you are promised, pledged and pandered to about the resiliency and togetherness of humanity.  Yes, it appears the death of The American Dream has a soundtrack and it is kitschy, over-played acoustic nonsense focus-group designed to be non-offensive and elicit feelings of security.

Take control of your own destiny and do not rely on the humanity of corporations or the effectiveness of a bloated government.  We are not in this together… yet we could be by choosing not to listen to those that say we are. We can stop succumbing to the fearmongering and support each other in our own communities. 

DeliveryMaxx is a small business that takes pride in helping other small businesses succeed in an increasingly digital world.  That was our mission prior to this outbreak which has now shown it is more important than ever.  If you need help navigating a transition to becoming more active on social media, building an e-commerce website, or post-sale communication with your clients we are here to help.  Visit www.deliverymaxx.com or give us a call at 888-936-6299 today.

The Little Engine That Could and the Lessons We Learned

In times of adversity we rely on our past experiences to get us through to the other side.  There is no doubt that businesses have had to grasp at history and lessons of our past to try to survive the current economic climate of the present.  We also have to believe in the goodness of mankind that there can be a fairytale ending.  Yes, business, especially small businesses have to continue to navigate the unknown as they have faced adversity from mainstream media misinformation and lies, power hungry politicians at the Federal, State and Local Levels and a majority of compliant citizens who were scared into believing the overhyped myths about a seasonal virus that history will show us that it was not much different than the annual flu.  Businesses are faced with trying to survive an unjust government shutdown, rebuild with irrational regulations and ultimately thrive by identifying and adapting to new opportunities.

In 1930 Arnold Munk with the pen name of Watty Piper wrote and published, “The Little Engine That Could.”  It was a story that many of our parents or elementary teachers had read to us.  The classical story is a helpful reminder about the importance of perspective, optimism and hard work.

For those of you that have forgotten the story, a train breaks down with a cargo full of toys.  It will not get over the mountain where it was supposed to deliver the exciting goods to the boys and girls by the morning.  There were several trains that opted not to help giving an excuse as why they didn’t want to give some assistance.

The first train, “A Shiny New Engine” came by and quickly dismissed the plea for help from the small broken down train.  It said it was a passenger train that only helped the rich and powerful.  Next, came the “Big and Strong Engine”.  It could easily help the small broke down train, but it only wanted to help the strong and didn’t have time for such an insignificant train like the one carrying toys.  Finally, a “Little Blue Engine” that was small and hadn’t even been over the mountain before came by and saw all of the distress the small broken down train was in.  It knew the troubles it might face, but armed with hope and a desire to help it accepted the challenge.  “I think I can, I think I can” became the mantra and the “Little Blue Engine” despite facing insurmountable odds was able to deliver the toys to the boys and girls by the next morning.

Our businesses have been challenged with “types of trains” that dismissed our needs.  Whether it was banks like Wells Fargo, politicians like the local County Judges or Mayors and the news media that sensationalized stories to scare the public into submission; business owners and their employees have had to keep thinking positive working harder than ever just to survive.  Now we are faced with rebuilding as States are slowly opening back up despite the forces from the opposition.

Businesses will still have to adapt to the new regulations that have been unjustly put in place.  One learning we can take away is that our society ingest its information from bold sensationalized headlines, innovative memes and 15-30 second videos.  Therefore, leaders will need to make sure their business is able to reach, communicate and provide goods and services using today’s technology.  This includes marketing, advertising, e-commerce and informing your customers and potential customers in the digital arena.  Digital Advertising is less expensive than traditional advertisement, but it has to be done right to be effective.

A day will come for the small business that adapts where instead of saying, “I think I can” we will be saying, “I thought I could.”

DeliveryMaxx has been the leader in this arena over the last decade and continues to help businesses in all sectors reach their potential customers through the most innovative digital strategy utilizing common sense and today’s technology.  Our clients experience positive Online Reputation, stronger SEO, concise content management, increase in social media engagement and advertisement and higher customer retention.  We are able to customize and create a strategy for any entity that is trying to gain more exposure on the web.  With clients in multiple industries and across the country such as Automotive Dealerships, Real-Estate Brokers & Agents, Churches, Service Industry, Sports Teams, Non-Profit Organizations and more; we utilize our Patent-Pending Program to develop a digital strategy that will meet the needs of sales, service and messaging to the masses.  For more information about DeliveryMaxx contact (888) 938-6299 or watch the DeliveryMaxx Introduction Video!

Do Not Let Your Business Be Like Orpheus

Your business must have a social media presence.  This is a statement that would be truthfully stated at any point in the past 10+ years.  However, now it is especially important.  The past two months have upheaved business plans and many small business owners are deeply concerned for the future of their livelihoods.

Across most states, we are seeing lockdowns & restrictions being lifted.  Unfortunately, that does not mean the rocky path businesses have been placed on are at an end, rather further obstacles lay ahead.  And now is not the time to lose hope, I am reminded of the Myth of Orpheus & Eurydice.

For those unfamiliar, Orpheus is a legendary musician & poet in Ancient Greece.  He created music that was said to charm all living things.  His music was so beautiful that even trees would dance and are said to be frozen in their last dance to this day.  Most famously, his young wife Eurydice tragically died after falling into a nest of vipers on their wedding day, and not content to lose his beloved Orpheus traveled to the underworld to retrieve her.

The journey was hard, and when he reached the hellish underworld he played his music so powerfully that Sisyphus rested on his rock, all 3 heads of the dog Cerberus were enchanted by the tunes, and the lords of the Underworld Hades & Persephone agreed that Orpheus could return to the world with his wife Eurydice.  However, there was one condition.  Eurydice was to follow behind Orpheus and he would not be permitted to turn back to see her until they reached the end of the difficult paths & caves out of the Underworld.  Only when they reached the very end and into the light of the world could Orpheus turn to see Eurydice.  Thus, they began the difficult trek out of the underworld, leaping across chasms, up steep cliffs, and through narrow caves.  At last, a few mere feet from the end Orpheus suddenly stopped and turned to gaze into his wife’s eyes.  When he did, she was pulled back by invisible hands to spend her eternity in the underworld.

Many argue what could have compelled Orpheus to stop so close to his goal, but none can answer the question.  Perhaps it attests to the human nature just when it seems like success is at hand, the toughest part is behind us and all that is left is a little obstacle, trivial and insignificant to be overcome, that is the moment when we are tempted to lose our minds and undo everything we have done.  Orpheus represents all our missed opportunities, loves, friendships, and successes we have let slip through our fingers.

Similarly, for businesses, the toughest trail is behind us.  The few feet of adaptations that lay ahead might seem like obstacles that are unfairly placed and cannot be overcome, especially to those unfamiliar with utilizing online sales & social media marketing.  Fret not, DeliveryMaxx is here to help, whether you need to transition to an online store, increase your social presence, send follow-up to retain your existing customers, or any combination we have programs that are fully customizable for your individual needs.  Visit us online at www.deliverymaxx.com or call (888) 938-6299 today!