We all have agendas, however some people have hidden agendas that need to be guarded against to avoid loss of reputation, customers, business, orders, suppliers, or other resources and assets.

Those with hidden agendas will usually agree to everything, and be very friendly and accommodating on the surface, while executing their secret plans under the table. These affable, helpful people use their promises to put one off guard.

The Key is to Limit Access

The way to avoid losing too much to these thieves is to limit their access, control, and exposure as much as possible while testing their loyalty and agendas. This is not cynicism, but rather skepticism.

Hypocrisy Runs Rampant

After 22 years in business, I never cease to be surprised at how well people can hide who they really are. Many are passive aggressive, and when they finally openly turn against you, they are usually very nasty. Those who claim to be “spiritual” and religious have been the worst I have encountered over 22 years – they hide behind a veil of hypocrisy to subdue any suspicions you might have – “wolves in sheep’s’ clothing”, as it were.

11 Tips to Prevent Your Loss from Others’ Agendas

1. Expect the best, but plan for the worst.
2. Have exit plans, contracts, a “Plan B”, and damage control in place before getting involved with new people, if at all possible, especially those who you get that “gut feel” about.
3. Look for patterns and consider reading “The Art of War” sections on spies.
4. At all times, seek leverage and control, but don’t expose your suspicions.
5. Always endeavor to be one step ahead of them, and don’t hesitate to use private detectives if necessary.
6. Protect your relationships and database.
7. Put yourself into communication loops.
8. Consider the worst case scenarios.
9. Don’t bank on the promises of any one person.
10. Also, find out who the real decision maker is, and who the “front man” is.

… And, Of Course, Use Joint Ventures

This is why I use Joint Ventures to make money – I limit my risk, spread my income, and always have many options available. I do as much due diligence as possible on my JV partners and those I am involved with, and while I still get attacked and people still try to steal from me, my risk is limited. Conventional businesses have a lot more to lose from spies and saboteurs than I do as a Joint Venture Broker.

A Healthy, Objective Attitude Will Serve You Well

A healthy dose of suspicion is always a good thing, and warning signs are often there if you remain objective. Once you get emotionally involved, greed and desperation will blind you to what is really going on. Remain, as the Buddha teaches, “Unattached”, hedge your bets, and don’t expect things to last forever.

A mature view of business and life, and access to good mentors will help you to remain strong and rational. Try to see things through the eyes of others, seek to understand their motives, and ask lots of questions.

I knew a jeweler who attended a Dale Carnegie management training program with me  and returned to his business a changed man.  Suddenly, mall security guards started arresting thieves in his store.

When he remarked to one of the security guards that it seemed that crime was increasing in the mall, the security replied that the crime rate hadn’t changed – the guards had simply started intervening and arresting thieves, whereas before, they had turned a blind eye. They were rewarding my friend for his change in attitude towards them. But I digress…

What REALLY Motivates Employees

In his book, “Persuasion IQ”, Kurt W. Mortensen discusses a working paper by Kenneth A. Kovack of George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Kovack researched the differences between what motivates employees and what managers think motivates employees. Here’s the data:

What Motivates Employees as Ranked by Employees

1. Interesting work
2. Appreciation of work done
3. Being well informed
4. Job security
5. Compensation
6. Growth and promotion opportunities
7. Good working conditions
8. Personal loyalty to employees
9. Tactful discipline
10. Help with personal problems

What Motivates Employees as Ranked by Managers

1. Compensation
2. Job security
3. Growth and promotion opportunities
4. Good working conditions
5. Interesting work
6. Personal loyalty to employees
7. Tactful discipline
8. Appreciation of work done
9. Help with personal problems
10. Being well informed

“Shared Ownership”

One thing that I believe will cover many of these requirements is “Shared Ownership”. I’m not talking about giving your staff shares in your company.  I’m talking about profit-sharing Joint Ventures, where employees get compensated in direct proportion to the value they add as measured in profit.

Front line employees are often to privy to information of which management is blissfully unaware, and many times by design. Empowering your employees by partnering with them:

• gives them an “ownership mentality”.
• reduces absenteeism, laziness, and shoddy work.
• increasing motivation, loyalty, productivity, interest, enthusiasm, and innovation.

Managing the Potential Downside

Opening opportunities to your staff has its downside and risks, and therefore should be carefully managed, watched, and controlled, while allowing enough freedom and accepting enough damage through honest mistakes and inexperience to remove fear and hesitation.

Clearly defined boundaries, regular, open communication, and quick feedback, and awareness of the power of operant conditioning, with it’s requisite fast reinforcement, is essential.

As “partners” (without legal implications, please), most of the above motivational factors (we should also be cognizant of Hertzberg’s Hygiene Factors here) will be more than adequately addressed, indeed enhanced, and your bottom line will see the results.

Many Coaches and Consultants experience the “feast or famine, chicken or feathers” ups and downs in income – they’re either out there selling, or they’re delivering. In addition tp the resulting yo-yo income, they have to deal with:

• Either busy times or quiet times.
• Increasing competition.
• Because they’re selling time, they have limited income earning capacity.
• Many clients regard the consulting or coaching service as a luxury that can be terminated as soon as cash flows get tight.
• The popular perception of coaches and consultants leaves a lot to be desired, which is quite understandable, given the fact that many who use this label are about as valuable as a rotten peach on a busy sidewalk.

How do I know this? I was a consultant for eighteen years. And I’ve specialized in Joint Ventures for small and medium businesses for twenty two years.

The Obvious Solution

The solution to increasing your coaching or consulting business as well as income from other sources, while at the same time differentiating yourself from the herd, is Joint Ventures. It’s a great fit and a great complement to any coach or consultant’s business. Use your insight and communication skills to create lucrative JV’s. Have the money and the time to enjoy it, as well as the luxury not to rely on your income from consulting or coaching.

This is exactly what I did. I no longer sell my time as a consultant, but this information has worked for me for twenty two years and it will work for you.

3 Obstacles Holding You Up…

1. First, understand that you do not have a 100% profit margin, which you do have from Joint Ventures.
2. Second, know that you cannot possibly be all things to all men.
3. Third is the hardest – getting rid of that giant ego. I think ego is the enemy of coaches and consultants. Business is not about sales or being well known – it’s about bottom line, after tax PROFIT.

… And 3 Strengths You Have to Turn It Around

1. You have the ability to cut through the BS and guide and direct people.
2. You can gain their trust.
3. You are a good communicator and you have an understanding of business and human nature.

These are very powerful skills and tools in the hands of a Joint Venture Broker.

Don’t Push. Find a need and meet it.

If my doctor called me last week and informed me that he had a great deal on heart bypasses, I would get worried. Instead, he examines me and points me in the direction of a solution or relief. That’s real business. “Find a need and meet it.”

In a room of 20 “Business Networking” people, not everyone wants a coach. But they all have needs, hopes and dreams. If you’re there to make money by helping people, why not simply link these people, be they clients or prospects, with the solution to their needs and get paid for it? When they want a new house, why try to sell them coaching, instead of introducing them to a good Realtor and getting paid 20 – 50% of her commission? Easy money, no time, no risk, 100% margin. Think about it.

Triangulating JV Deals

Business consultants can make a lot more from triangulating JV deals than selling their time. Become a “Toll Gate” – something like Bill Gates. Create solutions that pay you well. Leverage other peoples’ time, resources, money and access. Something like Ari Onassis. Think about that!

Joint Venture experts know that there are a few guiding principles when setting up lucrative deals that provide ongoing, multiple streams of passive income and large, once-off windfalls. Research is essential before partnering up or even suggesting a Joint Venture to someone. Research is the foundation of successful Joint Ventures.  There are four aspects to Joint Venture research:

1. The Industry or Industries You’re Targeting

Be sure you are comfortable dealing with that industry, that it fits your public profile and values system, that it is aligned with your Mission Statement and identity, branding and business relationships. For example, you probably wouldn’t want to get involved in the sex industry. You might want to avoid contentious or controversial areas like politics, religion or tax shelters. Also, have enough information or access to information about that industry before diving in.

2. The Deal

If you’re good at Joint Ventures you can remove all the cost and risk. Don’t think a contract is going to protect you, by the way – it’s only as good as the people behind it.

• Triangulating deals (setting up a deal between two other parties and taking a piece of the profits) usually removes risk and cost if correctly set up.
• Make sure tracking and monitoring is in place and use the expertise of trusted others.
• Create a Memorandum of Understanding that clearly defines the terms and options in the deal.

Click Here to download the FREE Memorandum of Understanding Template PDF

3. The People

This is the most important part of any Joint Venture. Check them out – do your due diligence and research. Get references, do police and credit checks, even use a private detective if necessary. All that glitters is not gold and people claim some amazing things that are simply not true.

• Get specific information.
• Avoid being bowled over by their charisma and sales abilities. Confidence tricksters use greed and ego to hoodwink their victims.
• Check them out. If they don’t have any money, be careful; desperate people tend to do desperate things.
• Don’t buy their stories. Look for a track record.
• If they’re over eager and urgent, step back.
• Consider applying for Membership in the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum – our elite members are carefully screened.

4. Education

The more you learn, the more you can earn. We use Joint Venture Bootcamps and seminars, TeleClasses and JV Audits to educate and update people on Joint Ventures.

• Again, be careful who you’re learning from. Unless the person teaching you has a personal success track record, they don’t have the right to teach.
• Look for support and practicality.
• Watch out for the “up sell” lurking in the shadows.

Ongoing education in today’s changing world will complete your research cycle.

Yesterday, I received this encouraging note from a friend of mine who is a very successful entrepreneur:

“Hi Robin,

I just read your Eagle Attitude article and you are right on. I always make asset vs. liability calls.

Recently one of my staff did considerable damage to our main computer and database by going to inappropriate places on the internet. Certainly grounds for firing, not too mention suing for damages. Instead we are reworking his job description to take advantage of some obvious talents. There are some penalties he is working through, but there should be some substantial benefit to the company long term.

It’s nice to read that a risky decision is sometimes the best decision.”

How I Joint Ventured Instead of Firing my Employee

That reminds me of the time I was a manager in a large, resort hotel and we learned that one of the staff members was secretly running his own little room service business inside the hotel. He diverted all the orders to his cousin’s café on the corner. The thing was that he gave excellent service and guests were delighted with the quality (that’s how we caught him – compliments from guests about dishes that weren’t on the room service menu!) So instead of firing him, we created a joint venture: we saved his salary, cut overhead substantially and continued to provide the service to our guest, while his own business flourished. Win/Win!

Savvy entrepreneurs always…

• Savvy entrepreneurs look for ways to capitalize on the strengths and resources of their partners, associates, employees and vendors.
• They focus on what does work instead of what doesn’t work and, most importantly, keep their egos in check.
• Take the time to listen carefully and discover hidden assets like skills, connections, resources and information.
• Know that sometimes, opportunities take a little while to appear and options take time to become apparent.
• Know that patience and good communication skills, as well as being prepared to generously share the profits, are essential.
• Think outside the box and keep your eyes on your common goals.
• Be flexible and open to new ideas.
• Know that good people are hard to find.

Sales Tip

The better you know your salespeople, the better you can channel their energy, interests, skills and time. Don’t make the salesperson fit the job; rather, make the job fit the salesperson. Take time to listen to their opinions and suggestions, encourage sharing and reward innovation and risk.

Management Tip

By clearly defining the parameters of your employees’ jobs, you remove fear. Show them what they have to do to get fired, and you reduce any reticence to innovation. Fear stunts creativity and openness. People who feel secure will be more productive and honest with you. Spend more time developing relationship with your staff than you do with your customers.

We all get approached with multiple offers almost every day. It takes time to do adequate due diligence, but a quick way to save a lot of time is by looking carefully at the values and ethics of the messenger.

• Is the messenger honest, and does she keep her word, or radically change her mind within two days?
• Is the message from a liar a lie?

The Messenger’s Integrity Reveals the Truth

The integrity and truth of the message should be measured by observing the messenger. Is a great message sometimes delivered in a damaged and faulty vehicle? Certainly, but it’s uncommon. Generally, I save time and energy by judging the viability of the message by the life of the person delivering that message.

When I get a message composed and delivered by “science fictiontologist Ron L. Koresh”, I don’t rush out to check my Kool-Aid supply. When the messenger arrives in a filthy car with overflowing ashtrays, I don’t spend any time reading his message.

Judge it by its source, and look for congruency: is the messenger living the message? Can obese people tell me how to lose weight, or poor people tell me how to get rich? When a teacher lacks integrity in one area of his life, you know all the other areas have been poisoned. There’s no smoke without fire.

Spotting the Genuine Article

We look for people who practice what they preach, notice how they behave under pressure, and judge them by their consistent choices as well as choices that reveal who they really are. I don’t believe the message when the messenger lacks credibility, even though some messages are wonderful, although they are delivered by losers.

My point is…

If you want your message to be accepted, you had better be “a product of the product”.

Look the part and LIVE the part. Be the message. Be a living message, a real life example, a testimony to the message you deliver.

Let’s look at some FREE options for promoting and selling services and products.

Remember, you don’t even have to own a business to make money from Joint Ventures, but it does help to have one.

1. Use your own, or others’, E Newsletters (e-zines). My e-zines reach over 8,000 people internationally every week. My cost to have an e-zine sent out every week is only $50 per month! Regular information that is actually READ, is a powerful communication and selling tool.
2. Use others’ e-zines – I write for someone else’s e-zine that reaches 20,000 people per week. That’s great free exposure for me. Other people use my articles free of charge, in exchange for displaying my contact information and giving me credit for the writing.
3. Use a BLOG – mine works well for me, and I use my e-zine articles on it. It’s FREE!
4. Use a website. Mine have made me hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales.
5. Give away free reports and e books like this one – free advertising and you get to create massive credibility. (Given that you know what you’re talking about.)
6. Give away or sell audio CD’s, or have them available free of charge in audio streaming on your website.
7. Give away free CD’s and charge for Shipping and Handling to cover your costs and even make a profit. Team up with others who already have CD’s made. Use my CD’s to market your business. I can show you how to do that. Use other peoples’ skills, competencies and resources.
8. Offer to convert other people’s inactive customers into active customers for an on-going piece of the action. This idea, alone, can be worth a fortune to you, when you consider the amount of customer attrition going on.
9. Piggy-back your product or someone else’s product, on to existing sales streams and have someone else’s sales team sell your products and services as an add-on to their existing sales.
10. Convert unconverted leads or triangulate the deal. Switch leads between two realtors and take a piece of the action.
11. Find people who have products they can’t move, get the products on consignment and sell them through other people distribution channels – on consignment! No risk.
12. Create multiple add-on sales options – wedding planners, lube centers, webmasters, courier services and home improvement services are great for this.
13. Buy and resell advertising space and/or services.
14. Offer Free Seminars – either you do them or have someone else present them.
15. Sell Bill’s CD’s on consignment through Jack’s gas stations.
16. Free Conference Calls are very powerful selling tools. Interview experts and they will help you sell. You don’t need any skills or money – use other peoples’ skills time, energy and money.  Bundle your products with someone else’s – every time they sell a course, they can include your CD’s!
17. Join forces with your competitors – together you can accomplish a lot more.
18. Share advertising space, mailings, seminars, radio and TV time and database communication.
19. Use Gift Vouchers – give away samples of other peoples’ services and take a piece of the resulting, ongoing business. Carpet cleaning, accounting, consulting, car services,

Always ask yourself, “What does the other party REALLY, REALLY want? What is his or her HOT BUTTON? And always ask them, “What will it take?”

If you want to open the door to Joint Ventures with successful people, you have to differentiate your approach. They’re being hit on multiple times every day, but few if any are using this approach. Do your homework; study their websites, Google them, do your research and due diligence and be well prepared for your meeting. Forget about what you want and concentrate on looking for ways to benefit them. You will definitely get their attention.

If you do what you love:

• You will be good at it.
• You’ll be able to work for longer periods of time.
• You will be happy.
• You’ll get better results.

If you do what you’re not good at:

• You’ll do a poor job.
• You’ll get tired easily.

Good managers delegate to strength, not to weakness. Smart entrepreneurs do only what they’re good at and subcontract or delegate that which they don’t do well themselves. Adlai Stevenson said,

“It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.”

Likewise with Relationships

If you don’t like someone, your business with that person won’t go well. The relationship will be weak, flawed, and subject to communication blocks, misunderstandings, and stress. Games will be played and excuses made, respect lost and objectives sacrificed in the name of peace. Work ONLY with people whom you like, trust, and respect. Those strong relationships will carry you to your goals faster. Albert Einstein said,

“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.”

Awareness Requires Introspection

In order to accomplish the above two objectives, doing only what you’re good at and working with people you like, trust, and respect, one has to do some introspection, some self-analysis, some gazing at a mirror and examining of the past.  What didn’t work in the past, and what did? When you objectively review your past performance, you will see the above two success criteria becoming blazingly obvious. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and of whom you’re working with, and adjust your battle plan accordingly.

Time Reveals Ones’ True Nature

Also, realize that people change. They either reveal who they really are over time (the mask slips, and you realize that the jolly old friend is an evil old fiend) or they change their attitude and choices as their true nature starts finding a way out. One can only behave contrary to ones’ real self for a period of time; the act wears thin. Rika says,

“When someone shows you who he really is, believe him.”

When you see that people are not who you thought they were, or that they have changed, remove them from your life as soon as possible, or suffer the consequences. Replace losers with winners. Herbert Swope said,

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.”

Your first responsibility is your objective, not making losers feel good.

Where Are You Headed?

With the above in mind, perhaps it’s time to look at what your business will be like in a few months’ time.

1. What do you love doing and do really well? That’s all you should be doing; the rest should be delegated, subcontracted, or removed from the picture.
2. Who do you really enjoy working with, people you like, trust, respect, and can rely on to do exactly what they promise, when they promise to do it, and much more? Who goes the extra mile, and doesn’t need constant motivation, managing, and manipulation? These people should be rewarded and protected from the underperformers. and parasites. High maintenance people become a real pain in the neck and slow your progress.
3. What is the ideal picture with the most benefits and profit, along with the least risk and frustration?

Good leaders constantly reevaluate and adjust their action plans and tactics in order to achieve their objectives. The know themselves, and they’re very realistic about their fellow soldiers. Study Churchill, Montgomery, and Patton, and you will see master strategists at work. They’re not addicted to their tactics, and they are strongly committed to their objectives. As the leader of your business, success is not an option; it’s a responsibility for the sake of yourself and your good people. Churchill told us, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”