By Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing
“How I Work” is one of my favorite recurring features in Inc Magazine as well as via Lifehacker’s This Is How I Work Series, and recently several sales experts (including Anthony Iannarino, Dave Brock and Trish Bertuzzi) participated as well.
Periodically moving forward we will feature a new B2B sales, marketing or business leader here answering what have become the standard “How I Work” questions. You can catch up on everyone we’ve featured thus far in the “How I Work” series here.
This week I’m thrilled to feature Stu Heinecke, president and founder of CartoonLink. He’s an award-winning cartoonist whose work has been featured in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal, and also recently published the book How To Get A Meeting With Anyone. Stu has also hosted Contact Marketing Radio since March of last year.
Suffice it to say, Stu gets stuff done. Here in his own words is how he does it.
Location: Whidbey Island, Washington
Current computers: 2 Mac Pros, one old (to keep certain software programs active), one new.
Current mobile devices: iPhone 5S, iPad.
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without? Photoshop, InDesign, most Adobe products.
What’s your workspace like? Smaller than I’d like, messier than I’d like, but comfortable with everything I need within reach.
What’s your best time-saving shortcut or lifehack? I think “Contact Marketing” is my best shortcut. It allows me to reach anyone I want and start with a very positive and open—if not excited—conversation with the people who can make the most difference to me and what I’m looking to accomplish.
What everyday thing are you better at than anybody else? Connecting with people I should never be able to reach; my cartoons give me a totally unfair advantage in that realm.
What’s your favorite to-do list manager? I’m old-school; it’s just a list of items I check off during the day in a text editor.
What do you listen to while at work? If I’m writing, nothing. I need it quiet, like a library. If I’m drawing, Mark Knopfler, David Bowie, Local Natives, Adele, Windham Hill and many others, depending on my mood.
What are you currently reading? Not Taught by Jim Keenan, The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig and every issue of Road & Track and Automobile Magazines, and whenever I fly, for some reason, I always read Esquire.
What’s your sleep routine like? Mondays and Thursdays up at 4 am, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays up at 7 am, and weekends, up at 7:30 or whenever the sun comes up. In bed usually by 9:30 pm.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Seize the day, don’t wait for things to happen, make them happen. Try things that scare you or make you uncomfortable. Do what you love to do as a career.
Anything else you want to add? I admire people who have made their biggest achievements when most of their peers are heading for retirement. Jay Conrad Levinson embodied this perfectly. He wrote his first Guerrilla Marketing book in his mid fifties and he continued to write, speak and inspire right up till his final days.
Fill in the Blank: I¹d love to see Richard Branson and Elon Musk answer these questions.
