What Will Your 2009 Be Like?

31. December 2008 by admin.

First, everyone must subscribe to Robert Ringer’s newsletter, “A Voice of Sanity”.  You may not always agree with him and that’s OK.  You will never find anyone that you will always agree with and if you do find that person then immediately distance yourself from them as quick as possible. 

 

Just because you disagree with someone, don’t be so narrow minded to think that you can’t benefit in the future as a result of knowing them.  It amazes me that people are so, what’s a good word here, so …, so lacking in self esteem that they aren’t open to learning about another’s point of view and be willing to step into their shoes for a moment to attempt to better understand them. 

 

Following is a quote from one of Robert Ringer’s articles:

Regardless of where you are in life today, I can tell you where you will be next January: exactly where you should be according to how resilient you are over the next twelve months, how determined you are, how hard you work, and how good your decisions are.

A loser is somebody who quits. If you never quit, you never lose. Just be sure to keep in mind Robert Kiyosaki’s warning that people who avoid failure also avoid success. And, above all, remember that there’s a lot more to success than just bean counting. If you have love and good health, you’re already successful.

This reminds me of the story about Mark when we were talking.  Mark said that he wanted to go back to college and learn more about quantum physics, but he couldn’t because he had to work to put food on the table. 

I suggested he take night classes.  Mark’s answer was that it would take him 5 years to complete all the classes he needed.

My reply was this, “Mark, whether you take the night courses or not, only you can decide.  However, in 5 years you will be 5 years older whether you take the courses or not.  In five years your life will be what it is today unless you do something different from what you have been doing.”

So don’t be like the fool who kept doing the same thing over and over, expecting to get different results.  It’s not going to happen. 

If you are unhappy with your life up to this point, then the only way your life will change is when you start doing things differently.  Step out of your comfort zone and become outrageous.  You will never grow by playing it safe, which is why I like the second part of the above excerpt from Robert Ringer.  He refers to another great thinker, Robert Kiyosaki who said that “people who avoid failure also avoid success”.

Make 2009 the year that you failed 52 times.  Actually, that may be hard to do because you never really fail unless you quit.  You just have setbacks and obstacles and growth encounters.

I have a confession to make which I will write about in my next post, which just may be today since I want to get started with 2009 in 2008 and this is my last day to accomplish that.

 

 

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Discount – Free Bonuses – Value Exchanged

27. December 2008 by admin.

Everyone has been bombarded with advertisements offering huge discounts in the hopes of getting buyers to their place of business.  With the size of some of these discounts it makes me wonder how businesses can stay in business.

 

Businesses offer discounts for several reasons:

1.    to lure buying customers to their business in the hopes that they will buy more than just the discounted items

2.    to lure buying customers to their business instead of a competitor’s business

3.    to lure buying customers to their business with the anticipation that they can survive the discount wars, and that their competitor’s can’t.

 

What about businesses offering free bonuses as a reward for buying from them?  Online businesses do this more than offline businesses because it could be less expensive to do.  You see this in a big way when a new product launches and there appears to be a lot of big name affiliates doing the marketing.

 

Giving away high perceived value bonuses of information products that could be downloaded has the potential of being a very good marketing tool.  After all, we crave information and the Internet has become the primary source of information.  (Hint: if you want to make money on the Internet, selling information could be the best way to succeed, especially when you locate a niche that excites you and that other people search for information about.)

 

A third way to attract buying customers, both online and offline, would be the concept of “value exchanged”.  This marketing concept hasn’t been as well-known as the other two methods and it seems to be taking hold quickly.

 

For example, you are selling an item for $100 and you offer your customers $100 in free groceries or gas in exchange for purchasing your $100 item.  The customer will be thrilled to make this exchange because she wanted the item, just couldn’t justify buying it.  Now she can justify buying it because she got it for free.  After all, she “wanted” the $100 item and she “needed” the groceries.  Actually in her eyes, she came out ahead.

 

The store owner came out ahead because he was going to discount the $100 item by 20% and the $100 in groceries only cost him $17.  Plus his customer will tell others about her great steal.

 

As you can visualize, this concept will work just as well when you sell a $300 item and give away $100 in free groceries or gas because of the “perceived value” to the customer.

 

The possibilities of what the business owner can do with this “value exchange” marketing concept would be limited only by his/her imagination. 

 

People would still be inclined to make purchases in our current depressed economy.  They just need a logical way to rationalize their purchase.  Now they can because they will always need groceries and gas and you have given them the perfect out to make a purchase of what they want.

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A Different Christmas Poem

23. December 2008 by admin.

A good friend of mine whom I worked with for over 5 years sent me A Different Christmas Poem.  The poem says it was written by LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN 30th Naval Construction Regiment OIC, Logistics Cell One Al Taqqadum, Iraq.

 

It was a very touching poem and we should be grateful that so many young people are willing to help protect our country.  We should be thankful for them not only at Christmas but all through the year.

 

The tragedy is that more often than not, our soldiers are protecting us from the wrong people.  More often than not our armed forces are on the wrong battle field.  More often than not our men and women in uniform are fighting with the wrong weapons.  More often than not our service men and women are following the orders from those who have a different agenda from what they vocally express in public.

 

Perhaps we should take this Christmas season and the closing of another year to consider the person we pay tribute to this holiday season.  If I recall correctly, He was for peace, goodwill to all mankind, forgiveness of wrong doing.  He held only love for all men and women.  He did, however, strongly oppose some of the actions carried out by greedy self-serving individuals; the “tax collectors” of those days, for example.

 

In looking over the past 35-40 years, and thinking about the wars we fought in other countries trying to force our will and way of living onto other cultures, I ask myself, “Were these wars really to protect my country, my family and me?  Or were they to help satisfy the greed and power hungry appetites of a few?”

 

There is a real war going on in our country right now and what are we doing about it?  Businesses are having to downsize and/or close their doors.  People are loosing their jobs.  More and more people are demanding that our government give us money to feed our families, provide shelter and medical care.  We seem to have forgotten why our government was formed in the first place and what its role was meant to be.

 

I ask myself this question every time I read or hear about more and more businesses struggling to stay open, every time I read or hear about the next government bailout, every time I read or hear about the newest government handout to help those unwilling to help themselves (those who can’t help themselves should be helped by those who have more than enough, on a voluntary basis – and yes I do believe that can and will happen when given more freedom).

 

If businesses are closing and if people are out of work, then where is the money going to come from to pay for the bailouts, the unemployed, the hungry, and the sick?  Perhaps this is what our government needs to be focusing on going into 2009.  Perhaps our government needs to re-study our Constitution and start doing what they are meant to be doing.  Their job is not to print more money (which is the only way they will be able to actually pay for all of their handouts).  Their job is neither to restrict business nor to protect business.  The laws of supply and demand of quality and service will determine if businesses succeed or fail.  Their job is not to ensure that everyone has a job and enough money to pay for all of the frivolous junk that we have been seduced into buying in our ever ongoing attempts to “keep up with the Jones”.  Their job is not to feed the hungry and provide a roof over our heads.

 

It is each of our responsibilities to take care of ourselves and our families.  We are each given the ability to make a positive difference in our world and when we do that, we will have all that we truly need.  When given the freedom to be in charge of their own destiny, people will be more generous with what they have.  It is only when we are restricted and held back that we begin to horde our wealth.

 

So what is our government’s responsibility?  It is to protect us from real external and internal threats to our freedom.  It is to ensure that each of us have the right to life, liberty and our pursuit of happiness, as long as we do not infringe on the rights of others to the same.  It is the government’s responsibility to ensure there is a degree of order in our country such as driving rules and procedures to follow when someone is wronged by another.

 

2009 can and will be the greatest year for self growth when we each decide to take responsibility for our own lives and not wait for or demand that the government decide for us how we are to live.  Each of us knows what we need to do to make 2009 our best year ever and we are the only ones who have the right and the responsibility to do what we know to be right and best for us.  So ask not what your country can do for you.  Rather ask what you can do for yourself.

 

That reminds me of the story about the father whose son wanted his Dad to play with him.  The father was too busy watching the game on TV.  (Can you imagine a father putting a silly game before his own flesh and blood?)  Finally, the father took a picture of the world from the newspaper and tore it up into little pieces and then said to his son, “Son, when you put this picture of the world back together correctly, I will play with you.” 

 

Of course the father figured it will take his son a long time to put that puzzle back together.  However, five minutes later his son came back and said, “Look Dad.  I’m finished.”  His father was amazed and impressed and he asked his son, “Son, how did you solve the puzzle so quickly?”  His son replied with a great big smile on his face, “Well, Dad, on the other side of the map of the world was a picture of a man.  When I put the man right, the world simply fell into place.”

 

Now for the “A Different Christmas Poem” that got me motivated to write this in the first place.

 

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked without fear,
‘Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!’
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said ‘Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.’
‘It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December,’
Then he sighed, ‘That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.’
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.’

‘  So go back inside,’ he said, ‘harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.’
‘But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
‘Give you money,’ I asked, ‘or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.’

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
‘Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.’

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

 LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

 

 

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The Note

22. December 2008 by admin.

Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year.  If it wasn’t for the commercial aspect of it, it would be my most favorite.  I especially enjoy all of Christmas movies on TV and s a result I end up watching a lot of TV this time of year.  Some of them even have a great message if you listen closely.

 

One that I particularly enjoyed last night was “The Note”.  It was about a plane crash in which all passengers and crew were lost in the ocean crash.  A reporter, who recently was given a daily column to write, was struggling to keep her readers’ interest.  She just couldn’t write from the heart, which the column needed to capture people’s interest.  Actually all writings must capture the readers’ interest if you want your desired results (boy, I hope I am making headway ).

 

The reporter was wondering if the passengers knew before they crashed that they were soon to die.  Then she discovered a note that washed up on shore.  This note proved to be written from one of the passengers on the plane so she knew that the passengers were aware that their death was eminent.  So she posed this question, “What would I write or do if I just discovered that I had only a few minutes left to live?”  Stop now and think about that for yourself.  What would you write and who would you write it to?  Keep in mind the saying, “Never go to bed angry.”

 

I am sure you have heard it asked, “What would you do with your life if you had only one year to live?  What would be most important to you?”   It’s a great question and it will help you to discover what is most important to you.  It will help you discover your passion and your purpose for your life, for we all have a purpose.  Sadly most of us never discover our passions.

 

Back to the movie.  In the process of attempting to find who wrote the note, it was only signed “Dad” and addressed to “T”, many people’s lives were changed for the better because they realized the importance of forgiving wrongs of the past.  In the end even the reporter’s life was changed for the better.

 

The most interesting thing about the note was not the note itself.  It was how people responded to what they believed was in the note and how its perceived message got them to want to make amends of conflict or challenges of the past.

 

So make this Christmas season a time to forgive the past and make amends.  2009 is going to be a difficult time for many people.  Help touch someone’s life with a friendly smile.  Always keep in mind that life is only as difficult as we perceive it to be.  So if we don’t like what we perceive, simply change our perceptions.  When enough of us stop looking at the doom and gloom of what 2009 could be, perhaps we can make 2009 a very good year.

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How to Survive Our Current Depression

18. December 2008 by admin.

I hope I don’t get into trouble for copying some of Robert Ringer’s work without asking permission.  I figure if I give him full credit, he can’t get too upset.  I am currently reading his article on Inflation and Deflation (It can be found at http://www.robertringer.com/inflation-or-deflation.html).

 

The following made me laugh, not because it is funny, it’s not.  I often laugh at things that are very true and frightening at the same time, partly to help ease the shock and the fear and partly because I don’t know of any other way to react.  Here it is:

 

        “Remember, government has only three ways to pay for its unconstitutional expenditures:

          It can print fiat currency; it can borrow; it can tax. Printing dollars leads to an increase in

          prices, which lowers everyone’s standard of living. Higher taxes lead to more unemployment,

          less money saved and invested, and a slowdown in the economy. Borrowing leads to …

          well, I guess it ultimately leads to having to learn Chinese.”

 

Well, I’ve just finished reading all my back issues of Robert Ringer’s “Voice of Sanity” emails and I am left hungry for more.  I guess it would be in my best interest to be like everyone else and keep my head buried in the mud and hope that our Recession (actually Depression) is over before I need to come up for air.  But I didn’t think I could hold my breath that long so on I read.

 

Now I can get back to figuring the best way to get money back into my savings account and to pay off the debts I have accumulated since I foolishly left my high paying and boring slave job to strike out on my own.

 

I have heard it said many times that one needs to specialize more and more in order to make a great living.  Don’t just become a brain surgeon, become a brain surgeon for left brain thinkers.  Well, I disagree with that philosophy, especially in our current economy.  I consider myself a “jack of all trades, yet the master of none” and it is helping me to pay my bills. One job I took on was being the handyman for a horse farm.  Horses are always destroying things just because of their size.

 

I am able to fix and repair just about anything, including plumbing and electrical things.  That and the fact that I am very resourceful and look for ways to do things better and cheaper make me an ideal candidate for this type of work.  Plus I love being able to figure out how to fix something with the meager tool selection I have.

 

So I spend some of my month doing repairs and the rest of my month trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.  I believe I now know what I want to do; I just need to get busy and do it.  Of course it always helps if I have money coming in to pay my bills and allow me a few simple pleasures.

 

Oh, and another thing, I am very good at managing my money and do not tend to live above my income.  However, due to several high risk investments I do find myself temporarily unable to pay off my credit cards each month.  I figured out a short term fix for that by taking out zero or very low interest loans to pay off some credit cards.  That bought me about 10 months to get caught up.

 

So, back to the main theme of this article, “How to Survive Our Current Depression”.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have used the term “Depression” because that scars people.  Well, you should be scared.  It took our government a long time to finally call our situation a “Recession”.  So don’t expect them to use the “Depression” word any time in the near future.  However, historians will call it what it is.  So if you can hang around long enough you can read about the “Great Depression II”.

 

In order to make it through the next several years standing on our own two feet, we need to think outside the box.  We need to shake off our old comfort zone mentality and face our world with a smile every day.  We MUST spend less than we make and we must look for more ways to make more money.  After all there is no shortage of money in the world; there is only a shortage of belief.  Everyone can be millionaires and there will still be plenty to go around.  So start thinking like a millionaire.

 

Use the Internet for what it was originally intended for, to research, gain knowledge and then put that knowledge to work and share that knowledge with others.  Also be sure to use it for what it is now beginning to be used for and that is networking, building relationships of trust and friendships.  Through these relationships we can provide help and support to others.

 

Well, I need to take a break.  I will write more on this later.

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Update on My Fuel Savings Test

17. December 2008 by admin.

Well, frankly, I’m a bit disappointed.  I have run through 4 more tanks of gas and the first of those four tanks showed an increase of 2.05 mpg, which was great.  However, the next three tanks were not very impressive.  The first showed a .67 mpg increase from the original.  The second had a decrease of 2.61 mpg and the most recent had a decrease of 2.17 mpg.

 

In all fairness to the company, there can be several reasons why this has happened.  My car has 98,000 plus miles and it may take a bit of work to get the insides cleaned out enough for the product to show good results.  There are several formulations of gasoline.  For example there is one formulation for summer and one for winter.  There may be oth4ers as well.  In winter gas economy tends to decrease.  Luckily, I have kept records of my gas mileage since I bought my car.

 

Well, overall, my gas mileage was better last winter.  So my last two thoughts are either there is a problem with my engine that will soon surface of the product just isn’t what they claim.  I will look for a couple of testers to see what results they get.

 

I do have a product from another company that I will be testing as soon as I get a tester for it.  I won’t have much to report for a month or so as it does take time unless the testers take a vacation or do a lot of traveling.

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Why I Didn’t Cancel Mike Dillard’s Monthly Magazine

17. December 2008 by admin.

I was gong to cancel my membership to Mike Dillard’s monthly Magnetic Sponsoring Inner Circle.  I even put it on my Outlook calendar.  Then December 12^th came and went and I received another notice that my payment went through.

 

I was going to cancel because I was streamlining my expenses and I didn’t get any value from his November magazine. The December magazine arrived and this morning I finally took the time to read it.  And am I ever glad I didn’t cancel.

 

I was very impressed with his plans for 2009 (much more than just network and Internet marketing).  Russell Bronson’s section gave me great ideas.  I especially liked his “ascension business model” and could see many ways to apply that to help businesses that I work with to grow in this Recession. 

 

Although I am not at the point of hiring a virtual assistant, I could easily see how Justin Christianson’s helpful insights will greatly help me when I am ready to hire that special person.

 

Then came the icing on the cake, their recommended Resources section.  The company I am associated with is going heavily into social marketing, which many are saying is fast becoming the number one way to make use of the power of the Internet.  Let me know if you are interested in what they recommended and I will write up a summary and send it to you.

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Would You Trade $5 for a $20

16. December 2008 by admin.

It amazed me when I learned of a study where a person was offering a $20 bill in exchange for a $5 bill and no one would take him up on it.  They figured it had to be some sort of a scam.

 

As I see it one of the greatest faults of the human race is that we have been conditioned to not trust other people or ourselves.  We are skeptical about just about everything.  It’s amazing that we are so willing to breathe for fear that the air we breathe may kill us.  I guess it’s a good thing that breathing is automatic.  At least our subconscious knows enough to trust that we need to breathe and that unless something is added to the air it is perfectly safe to breathe.

 

A couple of months ago I offered a number of people a plan that would not fail, providing they would spend about 30 minutes a day following simple instructions.  In addition to their 30 minutes a day investment, they also had to invest $5.  In exchange they had the potential to earn hundreds of dollars.  Unfortunately their amygdala kicked in and they became fearful of their own potential success.

 

Oh, sorry.  You aren’t familiar with the word amygdala.  I wasn’t either until I purchased a course by Doug Bench on how the brain works.  I learned that the amygdala is that part of our brain that in the prehistoric times kept cave men safe form danger.  Any time potential danger appeared their amygdala caused them to run the other way.

 

We don’t really need our amygdala in today’s world because we are pretty savvy to what is dangerous and what isn’t.  Besides mankind has become the most feared animal on the planet so we need not worry about predators (except other humans).  I learned through my studies how to override my amygdala so that I am back in control of my actions.  (Now all I need to do is put it into practice.)

 

The year 2009 is almost here and it can be a great year for us or a devastating year.  It will depend on how we look at and react to what is happening all around us.  Most people will see the glass half empty and bury their heads in the sand hoping somehow that the recession will not find them.  A select few will seize the moment and take advantage of what is happening around them and see the glass as half full and go about filling up the other half.  Which person will you be?

 

 

 

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How to Attract More Buying Customers and Help Feed the Homeless this Winter

10. December 2008 by admin.

Tech-Age of Connecticut, LLC has developed a program that will allow the business owner to give their customers $100, $250, $300, or $500 in FREE gas or grocery certificates. 

 

There is a marketing tool that will help attract money-in-their-pockets buyers who will gladly spend their money and help feed the hungry.  Businesses win, the customers win and the hungry are fed.

 

Although fuel prices have dropped don’t expect it to last.  Food prices are still high and more and more people are turning to the food banks to help them through the winter months.  Business owners have an opportunity to do something about that today instead of waiting for the government to step in and do something.  (Note: that’s not their job or responsibility.)

 

Businesses will be offering the consumer more value for their dollar and “value” is more important than a few dollars saved.  Actually the business owner will be offering the consumer great value as well as a way to save more money than they may spend.  It’s a win-win for the business and the consumers.

 

Shoppers will feel good about spending money this holiday season.  Businesses will show a favorable ROI.  In addition, business owners and their customers will be able to help feed the hungry while receiving great tax write-offs.

 

Below are some ways businesses are using this program:

• If your business is such that your closing ratio is good for the number of people who walk through your doors then you might want to give the $100 certificates just for them visiting your business or taking a test drive in one of your vehicles. 
• Or for every purchase between $100 and $300 they will receive $250 in free gas or groceries. 
• Or make them an offer they can’t refuse that will provide you a solid ROI based on your profit numbers.

 

• You can give the certificates to your employees as a Christmas bonus and save hundreds in expenses and they will love you for it. 

 

 

 

Side Bar: For Internet Marketers and Network Marketers this is a great tool to make more money. Instead of giving e-books as bonuses, give them something that they can really use.  For example, if they spend $100, give them $100 in free gas or groceries (decide what to offer them in relation to your profit margins).  When someone realizes they are really getting your product for free they won’t mind the exchange. 

 

For network marketers, when someone joins your business give them the same value in free gas or groceries that they invested in joining you.

 

 

Customers can then use some of their certificates for themselves and give some to the food banks as a donation and use them as a tax write-off.  The ideas are limited only by your imagination.

 

Bruce Davis with Bellastanza Furniture stated “This Gas Promotion is the best closing tool I have used in a long time.” 

 

Russell Rye of Rye Furniture commented, “Sold $18,756.00 of furniture on 11 gas certificates.  This program works!”

 

 

So make this holiday season one that will always remember – helping others while receiving great value – providing a win-win scenario for businesses and their customers – obtaining solid tax write-offs – increasing bottom line’s in a time when most businesses will be struggling just to keep their doors open.

 

In keeping with the holiday spirit of helping others, 23% of my profits will go to local food banks.

 

Gary Gile

Andover, CT

Tech-Age of Connecticut, LLC

http://gg.techageofct.com

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