Jan 29

Too many people have jumped aboard the Mediocrity Train and caught the viral Excusiologist Flu that came sweeping in with the recession.

Everything gets blamed on the recession, from halitosis and hiccups to oversleeping and body odor. People make excuses for lethargy, low sales, their dogs’ fleas, and failing to stop at traffic lights.

ENOUGH!

Contrary to what the media is feeding you, not everyone is suffering during this recession. And YOU don’t have to, either.

Moving Towards Success

How does one move from the apathetic, comatose, paralyzed, unconscious state of suspended animation so common to the sheeple, to one of frenzied, happy success?

How do we become like those bold and audacious, excited, and unstoppable winners?

What will it take to shift from being baffled and bewildered to fierce and fiery, irresistible and irrepressible? Is it even possible to become a manic money missile?

Taking Action

People make changes when the pain of staying where we are exceeds the pain of change.

We take action when we truly believe that we can achieve our exciting goals, and that peak is, indeed, attainable. And the more action we take, the easier it gets!

Here are a few simple steps that will make it easier for you to break the chains of frustration and limitation and enjoy the abundance that is available to all of us through Joint Ventures:

1.   Belief:

Build your belief with an authentic action plan and surround yourself with winners and achievers. And know WHY you insist on nothing less than success. Paul J. Meyer said,

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass.”

2.   Specifics:

Measurable, specific amounts and steps, like road signs along the way, are essential.

Your action plan is your Success GPS.

3.   Time:

By what exact date will you commit to achieving this specific goal?

Commit yourself publicly – put yourself on the line, so that there is a consequence to non-performance.

4.   Leverage on Yourself:

Be aware of the consequences on failing to achieve your goals. Remind yourself of the pain and suffering that comes with failure!

5.   Training and Support:

The more you learn, the more you will earn. DollarMakers provides superb training and support through our Membership, events, training, seminars, conference calls, and online information.

6.   Monitoring:

Monitor your progress daily. Adjust, tweak, and realign yourself like a guided missile. Confront issues, don’t get side-tracked, and only work with winners.

Communicate regularly with your team.

7.   Motivation:

Control your input and self-talk.

Only expose your mind to positive input that is aligned with your goals, values and beliefs.

Kick the losers and parasites out of your life, and design your information flow carefully. The best way to predict the future is to create it – your success won’t happen by accident.

8.   Celebration:

Celebrate small successes along the way. This builds self-esteem and belief and reinforces your commitment and self-confidence.

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Jan 27

I had a friend who would always leave a dollar bill on the floor of his office and give people time in his office alone.

He told me that he was often amazed at who stuck the bill in their pockets – essentially stealing – and who would put the bill on his desk.

When he applied the same test with the same people, substituting a TEN-dollar bill, the same thieves still stole, and the same honest people still put the bills on his desk.

Being the Best You Can Be at All Times

Successful people know that details are important, and that small actions are clues to big choices.

Quite soon after I married Rika, she was in hospital for an operation, and even while she was still woozy from the anesthetic, she was fixing her hair, wiping her mouth, and arranging her bedclothes.

That tells you a lot about someone – not how they behave under normal circumstances, but how they behave under pressure and the small things they notice and do.

Every Detail Counts as Clues

Jill Brock wore gold shoes to the seminar I presented in Edmonton, because she knows I like gold.

How comfortable would you be with an accountant who arrived late, forgot his files, or didn’t return phone calls promptly?

  • Body language,
  • punctuality,
  • personal grooming and dress,
  • spelling mistakes in e-mails,
  • website links that don’t work,
  • foul language on Facebook

– all clues.

I sent someone an important e-mail to which I received no reply, however I noticed that he took the time to participate in infantile, mindless games and “look alike” sessions on Facebook.

The Little Matters = The Big Matters

Peoples’ choices and actions reveal their values, beliefs, and priorities, and predict how they will behave and what choices they will make when it comes to serious money and events.

Someone who can steal ten dollars from you can also steal a few thousand dollars from you: faithful in little, faithful in much.

If someone lacks the self-respect and self-discipline to honor their word and fulfill their obligations in small matters, they will definitely let you down when it comes to large matters.

Testing and Evaluations

Test in a small way before spending big.

Give people a few small tests and evaluate their performance. Don’t believe a word they say, but believe everything they do.

I once told someone,

“You might not respect time and money, but I do. We can’t work together.”

I saw a young man in the airport the other day kick a dime that was lying on the floor. Even if it was one cent, I would have picked it up. I respect money. This young man probably had his daddy paying for everything, so he had no respect for money.

He will never make money if he doesn’t respect it, and I would never work with someone like that.

Allow Others to EARN Your Trust

Like the words of that old song go,

“And there she was, kissin’ on another man – and now I know what Momma meant, when she said, ‘Son, take time to now her, it’s not an overnight thing. Take time to know her; please, please don’t rush into this thing.’”

People who are faithful in small things reveal their motives and character.

We went deep-sea fishing off Cancun, and I was impressed to see how protective and caring my friend, Doctor Kumar Ramlall was when another of my friends was seasick.

Watch how people treat:

  • animals,
  • waiters in restaurants,
  • security guards,
  • their family,
  • and other peoples’ possessions.
  • If they allow their kids and pets to invade other peoples’ space and break their stuff

- you know you should avoid doing business with them.

Respect and honor are demonstrated in deeds, not words. Allow people to EARN your trust over time.

Many people who overlooked the implications of Obama’s choice of his friend and associates are now kicking themselves.

Whom you consistently spend time with tells me all about you.

Jan 25

Entrepreneurs, more accurately termed “Solopreneurs”, often believe that they are an island, that they must accomplish everything on their own with their own resources.

These Solopreneurs think that they are maximizing their chance of survival and profitability.

They are totally WRONG.

Two Kinds of Business

Consider what Michael Gerber says in his world-famous book The E-Myth: Revisited

“Picture the typical entrepreneur and Herculean pictures come to mind: a man or woman standing alone, wind-blown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock–all to realize the dream of creating a business of one’s own. The legend reeks of nobility, of lofty, extra-human efforts, of a prodigious commitment to larger-than-life ideals. Well, while there are such people, my experience tells me they are rare.” – Michael Gerber

I agree with Micheal Gerber that this image is absolutely absurd!

As long as you are a solopreneur, working on every facet of your business, you will be your business’ number one problem!!! As Gerber explains in his book, there are 2 kinds of businesses:

1) People-depedent businesses

2) Systems-dependent businesses

How do you know which one you are? Well, simply ask yourself this:

“If I (or anyone else in my company) were to leave my business for 6 months, would the business still exist when I came back?”

If you answer YES, then you have a systems-dependent business.

If NO, then you likely have a person-dependent business.

A System-Depentent Business

So what IS a systems-dependent business?

Consider this:

McDonald’s can deliver the exact same promise – the exact same food and customer experience – whether you are in Edmonton, Toronto, New York, or Kalamazoo. And it’s delivered by disinterested, teenage kids – some of the least qualified employees on the continent. And they do this BILLIONS of times every single year, at thousands and thousands of locations from sea-to-sea.

…and yet you can’t ever deliver that level of consistency to one set of customers of your one business, located in only one city or town. What’s the difference?

The difference is SYSTEMS. Your business depends on you (people-dependent) while McDonald’s depends on systems – the people can be swapped in and out.

On Your Own?

I will now ask you: why is it that you are taking care of making sales calls, balancing the books, dealing with inventory, answering calls, cooking, cleaning, and doing all of this ON YOUR OWN?

The true entrepreneur sets up a system, then delegates it.

Once that’s taken care of, then they create a system for another area of their business, and delegate that out. And they do this with every area of their business until they ARE able to walk away for 6 months or more.

Refocusing – The More Important Things

And the funny thing is that it is often the mundane, monotonous, pressing / urgent, and repetitive tasks that distract an aspiring entrepreneur from actually doing the “big-picture” items that will actually take their business to the next level.

Build a SYSTEM for these mundane, monotonous, and repetitive tasks, and DELEGATE. Then get re-focused on the MOST IMPORTANT things…

  • building your business,
  • learning new skills,
  • ideas,
  • and strategies,
  • and maybe even spend more time with your
    • kids,
    • spouse,
    • family,
    • and friends.

And What if You Don’t Own a Business?

Well, in your family life you likely DO have many mundane, repetitive tasks that take time away from being with your family.

  • Perhaps processing application forms for a charity you volunteer for.
  • Perhaps calling all of your relatives for the forthcoming family reunion.
  • Perhaps it’s really a pain for you to balance the family cheque book at the end of the month.
  • Or maybe it’s a hassle to always be coordinating the parents for Johnny’s soccer team.

Any of these items could be systemized and delegated.

So Many Routine and Mundane Tasks…

  1. WHAT IF you could get someone else to do any or all of this?
  2. Would that make you extremely happy?
  3. Would that give you more time to be with your family, kids, and friends?
  4. Would your life experience be better if you just didn’t have to deal with any of that boring, productivity-killing, repetitive brain-freeze?

Well, having your own Virtual Assistant (VA) may or may not be a fit for you. To find out if and how a VA would help you in your specific circumstance, contact Tina at 1-877-977-4776, or Info@SaveTimeBoostProfits.com to get a FREE 30-minute consultation.

Jan 22

Here are some real life illustrations for you:

Fake Leads

•   A long time ago, I attended a business networking meeting where only one person from every industry is allowed, (big red flag) and everyone is under pressure to give our leads / referrals every week. They actually COUNT the leads, and nobody gets a commission! Anyway, I received a LOT of fake leads, because people were too gutless to admit they didn’t have any leads to give out, and they feared losing their place in this group of broke, desperate, self-employed salespeople.

No Intention of Ever Co-operating

•   I asked someone to send out an e-mail to their database to promote one of my events a few years back. I “salted” their database (entered it anonymously, using a fake name and e-mail address) and the e-mails were never sent out. They didn‘t want to tell me that they never intended sending it out.

People Who Can’t Say “No”

•   People promise to show up at places, do things, make calls, promote stuff, attend meetings – and they never do – they offer weak, transparent excuses, because they can’t say “No”.

Sounds familiar, does it?

In our gutless, politically correct world of passive aggressive, anal-retentive, wanna-be entrepreneurs, it’s hard to find people who don’t fear “rejection” by simply saying, “NO.”

(It’s even harder to find people who actually do what they say before their laziness and stupidity overcomes them, but I digress).

So What’s the One Fear?

The one fear that will sabotage your business life more than most others is the fear of saying, “NO.”

You don’t have to explain and say, “NO – I don’t want to deal with you. BECAUSE

  • I don’t like you”
  • I don’t trust you”
  • Your offer is ludicrous and one-sided”
  • You’re an idiot”
  • You’re cheap”
  • You dress like a second-hand car salesman cum trailer park manager”
  • You stink of tobacco…”

Just say, “No, thanks, this is not for me – I don’t see a fit.”

Instead of wasting your time trying to make losers happy and justifying things, instead of trying to be popular with wankers.

Just, say, “NO.” You don’t have to explain.

The Frog Prince Analogy

You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. You can’t marry every frog because you’re afraid of “rejection”.

The more selective you are, the more distinct your criteria for accepting business offers is, the more sophisticated your approach, and the more successful you are, and the better known you are, the more offers you will have to reject, so get used to it.

So far, we have rejected 24 applications to our $20,000 DollarMakers Certified Business Mentor Training program, which meant we turned down and rejected $480,000 in sales. We are very proud of that. Few people would do that. But we see the big picture.

If the fit isn’t right, we say, “NO.” And everybody wins, because we’re honest.

Tell the Truth

Think of it this way:

“I am not in business to make other people happy, to build their egos, to be accepted and feel important, or to become popular. I am not here to please other people. I am in business to make the maximum amount of net profit with the least cost, risk, time, and effort, and I only work with people whom I like, trust, and respect. I don’t have to do anything, and I will tell the truth.”

Fearlessly, audaciously, courageously, tell the truth.

Your self-respect will increase as you discipline yourself to be honest, and, as a result, you will make more money, because we earn money in direct proportion to our self-esteem.

How can you even look at yourself in the mirror when you’re controlled by the whims and opinions of others, keeping up with the Joneses, and trying to impress losers?

Realize this: NOBODY CARES. Get real and get honest; say “NO.”

Consider What is Important

Here’s the good news:
It’s more important to be respected than to be liked.

People know that I don’t give a damn whether they like me or not, and I refuse to conform to this climate of slimy, politically correct, dishonest, back-stabbing hypocrisy.

I don’t care if the truth offends people or if they’re uncomfortable. And people know that they can trust me because of my approach.

The more selective and direct I become, the more money I make. It works. Try it. Thicken your skin.

Instead of “Got Milk?” how about, “Got GUTS?”

Jan 20

Is it “Nature or Nurture”? Michael Shermer, talking about his excellent book, “The Mind of the Market”, said,

“Since I was a teenager, I’ve been a libertarian. I noticed that there are not so many of us and that most people find us a bit strange. Most people have a hard time with the idea of so much freedom in the market place. Now, why is that? When I started applying evolutionary thinking to the process, thinking about folk intuitive notions of things and why people get so many areas of science wrong intuitively, it began to make sense to me. With folk astronomy we have an intuitive notion that the world is flat, celestial bodies revolve around the earth. That’s the way it feels. The planets are wondering gods that determine our future.”

“In folk economics, we have an intuitive notion that excessive wealth is wrong. Economic systems must be designed from the top down. We misunderstand and mistrust ‘the invisible hand” of the market place (note: Charles Darwin also read the work of Adam Smith). The reason why folk science so often gets it wrong is that we evolved in an environment radically different from the one in which we live. We still have a sweet tooth and biological inclination to eat fat, because food was always scarce. That’s why we have an obesity epidemic right now. Our senses are geared for perceiving objects of middling size, between say ants and mountains.”

“Not bacteria, molecules and atoms on one side of the scale and stars and galaxies on the other end. We live to short to witness evolution, continental drift or long-term environmental changes. That’s why we still have an inclination to want products now, versus products later at a considerable discount. It is human nature.”

Working On Our Perceptions, Beliefs, and Limitations

Whether the cause of our small, limited, scarcity, fear-based thinking is the result of our socialization, education, and the people we mix with, or indeed, as Mr. Shermer suggests, far deeper, those who wish to make it big in the world of business need to work on our perceptions, beliefs, and expectations.

The good news is that we can change and break free of our limited thinking, and that very few people will take the time to analyze and acknowledge their limitations, let alone take steps to correct them.

That means that we have very little competition, and that the world is, indeed, our oyster.

Add a working knowledge of Joint Ventures, and you’re ready for great accomplishments!

Jan 18

I’m not talking about sales training (most sales trainers can’t sell for the life of them), closing techniques, product knowledge, dress and grooming, sales material, or pricing.

I’m talking about the one thing that ultimately separates the

  • Masters from the mongrels,
  • the Eagles from the ducks,
  • the Champions from the chumps,
  • and the Closers from the creeps.

I’m talking about the difference between getting rich and getting by, and that difference is created by BELIEF.

Believing in Yourself

When you truly believe in yourself and your product or service, it shows.

You become

  • self-confident,
  • strong,
  • relentless,
  • audacious,
  • and unstoppable.

You become a

  • straight talking,
  • proud walking,
  • King of the Kool Kat Klan.

You have pep in your step and a glide in your stride when you believe.

When you’re absolutely certain and focused,

  • you’re circulating and percolating,
  • making the contacts and writing the contracts,
  • and moving and grooving.

The One That Makes The Sale

Believers don’t doubt for a single second that they will make the sale.

They don’t apologize or agonize – they have that killer instinct that makes them close like a bear trap on a sickly kitten. They are the steel fist in the iron glove, the warriors, the closers.

If you’ve seen the movie, Glengarry Glenross, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

When two people are belly to belly, one is always selling. You’re either buying your prospect’s lies and excuses, or you’re selling, baby.

And the one that is convicted at the deepest level is the one that will make the sale. That’s just the way it is.

Believers Win Big

You can’t fake belief – people instinctively recognize if you’re a poser or a Player.

And you can’t be a part-time Champion.

You can, perhaps, fool a few fools at a time, but

in the long run, the believers win big.

Immersed, Convinced, and Convicted – 24/7/365

True believers are

  • totally immersed, convinced, and convicted – 24/7/365.
  • They are passionate about what they do.
  • They eat, sleep, and drink their product.
  • They are a “product of the product”; you can’t drive Hyundai and sell Lexus.

You can’t sell what you’re not, and people buy YOU before they buy what you’re selling, because, ultimately, you’re selling yourself.

Part-time, sideline, half-time clock watchers are never sales champions.

You can’t serve two masters. People won’t by from timid, tentative, trembling types –

they buy from people who are absolutely uncompromising in their belief.

True believers are not

  • rough,
  • disrespectful boorish,
  • or loud.
  • They don’t
  • talk over others,
  • pressurize,
  • or hard close, because they don’t have to.

Their power is in their belief, and they attract sales like a powerful magnet. If people are not buying from you, it has nothing to do with your product or service, the pricing, the competition, the weather, the holidays, the recession, demons, or your skanky ex-wife.

The reason why people are not buying from you is because you don’t BELIEVE in yourself and your product enough.

So stop whining and start winning. Stop making excuses and start making money!

Get yourself some serious belief and watch your closing ratios soar like an F18.

Jan 15

We were enjoying a BBQ in the back yard of his house outside Johannesburg, when my late friend and army buddy said something that has always stayed with me.

Kobus had been telling me how he got rich. And his statement at the very end of his story is one I will never forget.

After we left the army at the end of our conscription, he didn’t know what to do with himself, so he became a psychiatric nurse. I remembered it well – we use to have drunken parties at his apartment on the very grounds of the mental institution, and anyone who observed our intoxicated, wild antics have assumed we were patients.

Then he married a female nurse who turned out to be gay. Then he became a medical sales representative and did very well.

Getting Rich is Akin to Getting Physically Fit

While Kobus was a sales rep, he started a plastics company in his garage, making desktop penholders to sell to the doctors along with the drugs, then he manufactures basins and bathtubs, and then bought a women’s clothing store, and so on. We remained good friends and played squash and sailed together, and here we were reminiscing.

I asked him, “Koebs, when did you become a millionaire? It must have been a very exciting day for you!”

And here was his answer: “Rob, I didn’t even realize it when I became a millionaire – it sort of creeps up on you – money starts flowing naturally when you’re in the right head space.”

I later experienced the same thing, but the way he described the process of getting rich is akin to getting physically fit. Like the day when you suddenly realize you have just pedaled three kilometers without even realizing it, because you were so busy thinking about other things.

In the beginning, every turn of the pedal is a concerted effort, tiring, and even exhausting. But if you persevere, one day you realize that you’re finally fit.

Are You A Quitter?

Ninety-seven percent of people quit so easily that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. There is such a dearth of self-respect, self-discipline, and self-esteem out there that it is frightening.

People seem to have got to a point where they have even less shame than manners. I would be mortified if I had to cancel a meeting at the last minute or show up late for an appointment, but most people hardly blink.

Winners are tough on themselves, and they will endure pain, blisters, rejection, and difficulty without complaining or making excuses, UNTIL they succeed.

Not As Scary as it Seems

One night, Kobus and I were camping in the bush after leaving the army. I had my dad’s .38 special snub-nosed revolver, and he was armed with a hunting knife. In the middle of the night, we heard someone approaching our tent.

I cocked the revolver, Kobus unsheathed his knife, and we sprang out of the tent to confront our attacker, who turned out to be a large frog that was hopping around and bumping our cooking utensils.

Often, the threats we perceive in business are not close to as scary and dangerous as we think they might be. There are scarier things out there.

The Measure of A Great Man

Kobus died a few years back, but I have wonderful memories of him as a man of character and substance – a real man, whether we were fighting for our lives in Angola in the army, doing business, or having fun. He was a man of his word who had my back, and men like him are few and far between.

Jan 13

Are you being sabotaged by your socialization?

Blocked by your beliefs?

Trashed by your training?

Flummoxed by your philosophy?

Ultimately, your beliefs are your means to justify and organize your behavior, and therefore control your life. So, how are you doing right now? Got a great life? Future bright, or slightly brittle?

Warning Signals

Some people are in a small boat without oars, accelerating towards the edge of a roaring waterfall, and they’re laughing it up, smoking their filthy cigarettes, and slapping each other on the back. Blissfully unaware.

Others amongst us are starting to realize that that roaring sound isn’t your mother-in-law applauding you for mowing the lawn and paying for her latest cruise.

We see the writing on the wall, and it’s not Shakespearian poetry.

Red lights are flashing wildly, sirens are screaming, and the warnings are all around us.

Beliefs and Philosophy

Your life, the people you mix with, your choices, and the circumstances that you have created are a clear and honest indication of your present beliefs and philosophy.

Change Starts Within

And it starts with a personal check-up from the neck up, a frank confrontation that asks,

“Is what I believe helping me or hurting me?”

Is it, indeed, time to realize that, if you believed what Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Ayn Rand and Napoleon Hill believed, your life would be a lot happier and you would have a lot of money? If you do, there’s a way to break free from where you are and change the direction of your life.

Five Simple Steps:

  1. Get the information you need from people who already have what you want. Stop listening to people who are even more screwed up than you are, like teachers, bankers, “consultants and coaches”, and academics.
  2. Remove the losers, socialists, posers, and parasites from your life, even if they are family or business associates – you can’t afford them, and you don’t need them.
  3. Find truly successful people to train you, guide you, mentor you, and confront your illusions and delusions. Take their advice and act on it. Adopt their philosophies.
  4. Create an action plan with specific, measurable, time-related steps.
  5. Work like crazy 24/7/365, and do whatever it takes UNTIL you are free from your chains and happy, healthy, and successful.

That’s what DollarMakers was created for. We are not politically correct, mediocre, compromising, or socialist. I tell it like it is, since the opinions of losers is of no interest or concern to me. And I lead by example.

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