Excuse the picture, but this was a fairly common view getting from one appointment to the next in Mexico City. Arrived Monday night to make a Tuesday morning meeting and left Friday. If you don’t want to read the entire post I can describe selling ads in Mexico with one word: hard.

I mean selling ads in always hard. I started my first magazine 20 years ago – as a recent Facebook post reminds me – almost 20 years ago I was publisher/founder of Intrigue Magazine and we shot this outside of Houston:

In any case, Mexico City is massive. The City has traffic like nowhere I’ve been to. While I personally saw no real security issues it stays top of mind. Having lived in Houston for many years I think my perception of Mexico might be different than many New Yorkers. I know there is a energetic nightlife, lots of creativity and generally lots going on, but finding a path to that scene as a visitor requires a guide. I didn’t have one, nor was this trip for that.

Top Five Suggestions if Your Are Selling Ads in Mexico

1. Learn the language and be prepared to speak fluently.

2. If #1 is out of the question, do what we do and hire competent and trusted reps who can deliver relationships. Business here is highly relationship driven.

3. Patience. Be patient in getting to your appointment (traffic) and expect that there will be significant follow-up.

4. Value proposition needs to be crystal clear — while one could argue that this should always be the case, think again, simplify and clarify.

5. Leave the “American” in America, successful business in Mexico are doing well because they’re smart and the team running them know how to operate within their frame. Understand what their frame, they get America, and in our business (travel) do lots of business, but they do business in a way that is different than here; often more courteous, or more according to protocol; and more about developing relationships.

Understand that this is a fairly PC list, but trip was fairly straight up and down. Lots of presentations introducing a somewhat new way to speak to travel consumers (long-form video content on the Web and Cable) and lots more follow-up. Little sleep, good food, and thankfully a rep (Towmar) with 30 years of experience and relationships. Stayed at the Hotel Marquis Reforma right by Chapultepec Park — a solid business-trip type of hotel — bad wine list, but good looking property, decent rooms, good food, pool and great service. Be back there soon.

There’s wine. Stumbled on this pretty good Shiraz at Bottle Rocket Wine in NYC. Sure you can order it over the Web and likely you wont be disappointed. It’s a Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz from South Australia.

I try and get out once a week and do something that causes me to dig deep into the extensive inventory of gear I’ve accumulated — kayak, ski, hike, something. But some weeks leave little opportunity for a variety of reasons and/or excuses. This is one of those weeks.

And in this case a good bottle of wine is gonna have to suffice as tops in terms of entertainment. Sure there is the superbowl, errr, Superbowl, but that’s just kinda rubbing it it — bunch a guys out doing what they love and we gotta watch it. Prefer to do as opposed to watch.

In any case my Mollydooker is pretty good and it’s a 2008 — I hear the 2005 is pretty good as well. Without to much effort you should be able to find a bottle for something south of $25 — lemme know if you like it. Wine Spectator gave it a 91 for whatever that’s worth to you…pretty good. And yeah the label is…different…but the contents speak volumes.

See you out there….next week (filed under Life Hacks).

Sure some people are born great, but what about the rest of us. We can take tips from those who’ve scaled the heights of success. But, with our culture obsessed with currency (in its many forms) we tend to hear more about the Donald Trumps of the world, and honestly, I’m not sure I share his values. But leave it to LifeDev to deliver some talents worth emulating.

LifeDev serves up Gandhi, Mandela, Beethoven and Al Gore as better candidates. And kicking off the list is “Don’t Work Long Hours,” so the genius of slackers is both recognized and put in historical context.