Find Your Yellow Tux Foreword by Dan Miller

I arrived an hour and a half early for the ball game. Not being a sports fan, this was the first real ball game of my life. I’m a businessman and I was not here because of my love of the game. I was here because I had heard an interview with Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas, and I was more than a little intrigued. I contacted him to learn more; he invited me to a game that very night.

Fans were already in line. But there seemed to be no consistency in this audience. I saw kids in strollers and old guys in walkers and wheel chairs. I saw those who were obviously wealthy and those who may have been homeless. I talked to people of varied ethnicities and races. Some were dressed in the finest clothes money can buy and some were there in shorts and flip-flops.

What kind of business was this? There was no clear target audience, no concise demographic, and it was not even clear these people understood baseball. How was this possible—that over four thousand people showed up on short notice, purchased tickets, spent lots more money inside, and seemed to be having the time of their lives?

And then I met the man in the yellow tux. He walked me around the park—greeting fans and employees at every step. And the phenomenon that made no logical sense at first glance began to make sense after all.

Here was a guy who understands being different—who understands the power of standing out in a sea of uniformity, and who is not afraid to try the outrageous or something that’s never been done before. And in the process, raving fans are created. People who are more than paying customers. Rather, these are people who will fight for tickets, who will show up early, who will purchase and proudly wear the branded clothing, wave the banners and buy the hot dogs and beer just to be part of the in-crowd.

As a student of marketing, I started to recognize the unique business model I was seeing. I am an author and career/life coach. Put in a quick Google search for career coach and it instantly produces 318 million results. Where am I in that list? I have no idea. It’s impossible to stand out in that broad category. But my business name is 48 Days, based on my best-selling book, 48 Days to the Work You Love. Put “48 Days” in a search, and seventeen of the first twenty listings point right to my business. No fancy SEO, just a distinctive message. Lots of career coaches tell you how to change your life and work, but I’m the guy who says you can do it in forty-eight days, if you create a plan and act on it.

You are now reading one of the wildest, most innovative, inside looks into what it takes to be distinctive available today.

Find Your Yellow Tux will give you a behind-the-scenes perspective on what it takes to stand out in a noisy world. How to move into even a stale and diminishing business arena and incite energy and enthusiasm that will be the envy of any rivals. This book is not about baseball—it’s about creating a business with customers who are more than purchasers of a product or service. This book will show you how to make those customers loyal fans who promote your brand and create new customers in ways that are envied by those frustrated with the latest marketing secrets and social media techniques.

You’ll be encouraged that when failure is looming, you can choose to see opportunity.

You’ll be reminded that “normal” is not a desirable position. Being your unique self can open doors of opportunity, joy and fulfillment that others miss.

You’ll see ways to stand out in any industry or profession.

I took four pages of notes that night at the ball game. I didn’t keep track of runs, errors, or players’ names. But I saw a six-month-old baby honored as baby of the night, ladies given roses during break times, inflatable monkeys being bounced around the crowd, a five-year-old kid hit a “home run,” and a blindfolded guy searching for a $20 bill on his hands and knees in front of four thousand screaming fans. And I saw a successful business owner waiting outside for the fans as they were leaving, seizing yet one more opportunity to connect personally and thank them for coming.

That’s what finding your yellow tux is all about. I trust you’ll find yours in the pages you are about to read.

—Dan Miller, New York Times best-selling author, 48 Days to the Work You Love