It's 4am. If it wasn't a Sunday morning, Mike McLaran would be getting ready to head to the gym for a workout. He joked on his 53rd birthday that he was 35. That was less than a month ago.

After working with Mike at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce for a decade, I got to know some of his ways. I call them McLaranisms. Here are some of my favorites. Some of these are things he actually said, while others are my interpretation of how to be McLaranistic. I've already had to update this list five times now, as you McLaranizers remind me of others.

God has given you a certain number of exclamation points to use in your lifetime. Once you use them all, you are un-friended, filtered, deleted, un-followed, un-subscribed and permanently muted.

This doesn't apply to your social posts about your kid's home run, but it certainly does apply to business. I frequently give folks a hard time for over-using exclamation points, mostly because they deserve it. Here are some examples.

You and I are going to have a meeting and put on our green hats so we can have some creative ideas. We're going to ideate for a bit. Put it on your calendar and get ready for a brainstorm.

Networking training seminars are really about sales and marketing. Have a process. Be generous. Give before you take. Provide a reason for people to want to work with you. This all seems simple enough.

Tom's Shoes is a remarkable company. Not because they make remarkable shoes, but because they have a story to sell (tell).

Tom's makes a simple promise: Buy a pair of Tom's shoes and they will give a pair to a child in need through their foundation, Friends of Tom's.  They are a for-profit company established for social good, as well as profit.

I was surprised to learn that Sketchers created their own division that makes a similar shoe and makes the same promise.  It's certainly their right to compete here, but I couldn't be more disappointed in Sketchers attempt to confuse the commercial public by naming this division Bob's.

If you're going to follow a leader, make sure that leader is doing it right.

So many businesses are trying to be louder by being softer.  You soften your message to gather a larger audience, then you use more exclamation points to break through the clutter.

The result is an audience who knows you you are, but doesn't care. You're no longer remarkable.