At a seminar I presented to business owners, a delegate told me that he discovered that one of his employees had cost him at least ten times what he paid her.

1. I had been telling my audience to incentivize all earnings…
2. and to link every cent earned to five cents generated in profits.

I told them that paying someone a fixed salary was not just stupid, but dangerous to one’s financial health.

Here’s his story, which adequately makes my point:

He had employed a middle-aged man whom he met at his church, and for whom he “felt sorry”, to “give him another chance”, at an above-average salary. Lots of red flags right there, but I digress.

Naturally, this “grateful” fellow promised to be the best employee he had ever had, and he went to work.

The business generated a lot of profit from back-end income, Joint Ventures, investments, and the like, and an important part of the duties of this employee was follow-up.

What the business owner didn’t understand was that he was dealing with an employee whose highest priority was to keep his job, not to create additional profit for the business. And that’s where he had made his mistake.

Why the Employee Mentality is Poison to Your Balance Sheet

The employee went through the motions of calling, closing, following up, and providing information, and completed all the required control and time sheets, but he was simply doing a job -

• he had no passion for profit or understanding of business,
• and he didn’t understand why his employer might want to make so much more money – after all, didn’t he have enough already?

His was a collectivist, altruistic, mystical philosophy, which was why he had never made money himself, and that philosophy is like poison to any balance sheet.

The Results Speak for Themselves

When the employer started getting phone calls and letters from his Joint Venture partners, his downline, his suppliers, and his customers, he started to put two and two together. He found that many of his valued customers had moved to his competition, where they got better services, more information, and more value from people who actually benefited directly from their patronage.

This employee had a lackluster, mediocre attitude when his boss wasn’t around, and we have all been exposed to that.

He realized that his lost opportunities, missed sales, lost customers, and diminished transaction values had conservatively cost him ten times what he had paid the loser that he should never have hired for that job in the first place.

The Moral(s) to the Story

An employee:

• Does the least and expects the most.
• Tells you exactly what you want to hear, and, like a politician, will bend the rules and overlook anything in order to keep his or her job.
• If they don’t receive a significant piece of new business, sales, or profits that they are responsible for generating, why should they bother? Where’s the passion and commitment?
• Their real agenda is far from that of the entrepreneur. They have no vested interest in the success or growth of the business, and they are in fact paid slaves or mercenaries. They are not capitalists.
• They will leave you for $100 per month increase, and you will never be able to pay them enough to secure their loyalty or commitment.
• A disgruntled employee can sabotage your business and reputation, and use the courts to hurt you.
• There’s a thin line between love and hate, and you tend to give your employees lots of information which they can use against you when they feel like it.

Create Overlap

Smart entrepreneurs work on creating a vested interest for people with whom they work, which we call “Overlap”. They remove the risk from their own business and force their employees to take responsibility for their duties and choices through financial incentives and commissions. They fire salaried people and rehire them on a commission only basis – no base salary, no leverage on the company except their ability to perform and produce, and no place for hidden agendas.

If that is a new concept for you, read “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand and examine the concept of Joint Ventures as presented at www.JVWisdom.com.

My Employee Free Business

After 22 years in this business, I run my business with no employees, cost, risk, overhead, or inventory. I can walk away from anyone at any time, everything I earn is 100% profit, and nobody gets to limit or sabotage me for long. Everyone with whom I work is a Joint Venture partner.

Audit Your Business to See the Truth

Audit what is really going on while the cat is away.

• Take a good, hard look at your employees.
• Shop your own business anonymously.
• Install cameras.
• Record all phone calls “for quality control.”
• Rethink the way you compensate your people, and what you are actually paying them for.

This is especially important for hiring web “masters”, often the most passive-aggressive people around, as well as secretaries, assistants, and office staff. You will find that you are paying far too much for losses, bleeding wounds, theft, and apathy than you should be.

The High Price of Altruism

By the way, when the business owner in this true story fired the loser who cost him so much money, he got sued, and his church excommunicated him for his “sinful and selfish” behavior.

You’re in business to make the maximum after-tax profit, with the least cost, risk, time, and frustration. Remember that.

In a world where we’re constantly told to slow down, dress down, calm down, pipe down, and keep your head down, with the controlled dumbing down of society to the lowest common denominator, let’s review the Winner’s Declaration, which I devised while riding my bike around Rocky Point this morning.

The Winner’s Declaration

“I accept that I am solely responsible for my present circumstances and predicament.

I have chosen my response to and my interpretation of all my options, and will continue to do so.

I acknowledge that my future will be whatever I decide to create through my own volition and choices.

I commit to remain true to my values, beliefs, and philosophy, and determine to advance tenaciously and steadfastly toward my personal goals without being diverted, slowed, or sabotaged by the opinions, words, or actions of other people.

I do not need the permission, endorsement, or agreement of any other person to achieve my objectives – I am the captain and purpose of my own life.

I accept the consequences, both good and bad, of my choices, and I progress confidently, boldly, and joyfully in the direction of my goals.

I believe in myself, I am my own best friend, and I answer only to my own conscience.

I will reach my own fullest potential. I expect to succeed. I am my own moral compass.”

Ayn Rand said:

“I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.  A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.”

Invaluable Information in Just 7 Minutes

While a good DISC assessment takes only seven minutes and will reveal remarkable, useful information that will predict choices and show one how to manage, motivate, and discipline an individual, as well as assist in hiring the right people and discovering their strengths and weaknesses, my system takes much longer, but costs nothing, and is infallible.

Ideally, one should use both systems.

My Infallible System: Monitoring Behavior

My system is as old as the hills, and it works inexorably. It is called BEHAVIOR. By allowing people access to many, diverse choices and options, and simply observing their consistent choices and behavior over time, one can predict what they will do in the future.

My business (DollarMakers) is designed like a giant filter. It attracts people and monitors their choices. The cream, as always, rises to the top. It’s like sorting coal from diamonds. Simple.

Just watch them. When they consistently make good choices, we offer them better stuff. They disqualify or qualify themselves. Their behavior tells us whether or not we can trust them, and what they will do in the future.

Other Critical Indicators to Watch

• Obviously, we also like to look at their past – track records help a lot.
• Also, if people CHANGE from good to bad, and many do, cut them loose – fast.

“Little” Things Speak Loudly

Simply observe the little things:

• How they dress, groom themselves, and behave.
• Do they show up on time?
• Do they leave early?
• What verbal clues do they give?
• Do they respond promptly to e-mails and phone calls?
• Do they hide when they are late with payments? That is a form of dishonesty.
• Do they lie? The more they talk, the more they reveal – good and bad.
• Are they cheap? Are the generous?
• Do they offer their help?
• Are they optimists or pessimists? Regardless of what they say, what they DO will tell me if they believe or not.
• Are they in for the long run, or are they quitters? Time will tell.
• Are they saboteurs, backstabbers, and thieves or are they winners, champions, and loyal friends? Their actions will tell you – just watch them closely.

Test Over Time

You can devise simple tests.

“Come hiking in the mountains at 8am Monday morning”, you suggest. Do they show up? Are they on time? How do they behave? Do they return? Do they bring friends?

Put them in a position where they can be dishonest – set a trap. Your loyal friends will report to you on bad behavior. Look for consistency.

The Tortoise and The Hare

Most people start off well, but quit soon. Some will start with a powerful fanfare, huge promises, massive action, and burn out just as fast. Others will start slowly and build over time – the tortoise and the hare.

Why Using Both Systems is Best

If you use DISC to assess people after observing them for a while, you will have even more information, and your choices will be even better, resulting in better business and a real win/win.

Other Helpful Situations to Observe

• Watch how people interact with their families and pets.
• See how they deal with laborers, waiters in restaurants, parking lot attendants, and hotel employees.
• Are they smokers?
• Listen how they speak with their spouses on the phone.
• Discover someone’s world-view / philosophy / religion, and you will know a lot about their future choices.
• Listen for pain, regret, guilt, fear, embarrassment, bias, political views, and you will find valuable clues.
• Look at the books they read, the pictures in their homes, the state of repair in their homes, what cars they drive, their hobbies, and most importantly, their friends.
• Are they gamblers?
• What groups or clubs do they belong to?
• Monitor them on Facebook.
• Say controversial things and watch their response. I love that one.
• Talk with their employees, vendors, and competition.

6 Vital Guidelines for Monitoring Behavior

1. Look for patterns.
2. Ask open-ended questions.
3. Do this due diligence before getting involved in serious business with them.
4. Make them qualify for the privilege of your company.
5. And be aware of who you’re dealing with / who the real decision maker is – is it their spouse or parent, or is it them? Spouses are often the fly in the proverbial ointment – be very careful.
6. Finally, remember that desperate people tend to do desperate things – look for vices and money problems.

Logically, if one continues to accept the beliefs and philosophy that got one into a pickle in the first place, one’s trajectory won’t change. Any rational person accepts that if we keep on doing the same things, we will keep on getting the same results.

Change Starts in the Mind

To break free we have to change a few things, starting with one’s understanding of money.

All change starts off in one’s mind. Believe it or not, we don’t have money problems; we have thinking problems.

5 Simple, Doable Steps to Freedom

When our lives are so complicated and scary, when we’re sleep-deprived, drained, and weakened, complicated, time-consuming solutions are not the best medicine; one needs simple, quick, cheap, doable fixes to build a ladder out of the dark, dank dungeon of dejection, rung by rung.

First, take personal responsibility for your predicament, and accept full responsibility for the solution. Then, start climbing the ladder to laughter, light, and luxury:

Rung #1: Visit www.JVWisdom.com and consume as much as you can about Joint Ventures. You will find heaps of valuable, free information and videos. Share this information with your family.

Rung #2: Choose a Joint Venture strategy that you feel comfortable with, and start taking consistent, focused action.

Rung #3: Accept that some of your Joint Ventures will work, and some won’t, but since they take little time, and given that they entail no cost or risk, you have nothing to lose and everything to learn and gain, so don’t quit – keep on keeping on.

Rung #4: Surround yourself with successful people and kick the pessimists, losers, and parasites out of your life. Start reading “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand.

Rung #5: Repeat rungs 1 though 4 until you emerge, victorious, into the glorious sunlight, having broken free from financial slavery, and breathe the fresh air of freedom, peace of mind, and security. I did, and you can, too. It’s not too late.

Sailors beware! Pirates, storms, and rocks! Let this short article be your lighthouse.

Save much time, money, frustration, disappointment, and even bankruptcy, while speeding up your progress and making a lot more money by sailing your ship past these sandbanks and dangers. Avoid these ten risks, landmines, and pitfalls in business, and you can navigate a successful voyage to your Treasure Island.

After 22 years of working with thousands of business owners, I have discovered that you can definitely learn from the mistakes of others.

Risk #1 - Things Susceptible to Undercutting or Short Life-Spans.

Avoid fads, trends, gimmicks, and products that can be duplicated, knocked off, reengineered, and produced cheaper. Remember, the Chinese provide no patent law protection. “Today, it sells for a fortune – tomorrow, it’s in Wal-Mart.”

Look for long-term stability and growth.

Services usually provide higher margins and more stability.

Risk #2 - Selling Your Time.

Selling your time is not smart, unless you’re a famous film star or sports star. Remember that time is your most valuable, irreplaceable resource.

Be a general and work strategically, not a soldier in the trenches. Use your head, not your hands. Use leverage. DollarMakers teaches people how to use leverage through Joint Ventures.

Risk #3 - Bad People.

Jim Rohn famously said that:

“there are only eight bad people in the whole world, but they get around a lot.”

Sociopaths and scam artists are usually very friendly and convincing. Do your due diligence and work on referral.

DollarMakers Joint Venture Broker Club Members that are dishonest get fired when we discover them. Your reputation and fortune are at stake. “When my enemies become your friends, you, too, become my enemy.”

Don’t choose the wrong people to work with. Evaluate them carefully.

Risk #4 - Buying a Franchise or a Distributorship.

We teach our students how to get the same benefits, and more, at no cost whatsoever!

Risk #5 - “Investing” Schemes.

Avoid “Investing” in “Foreign Currency” schemes and other spurious, “Tax Break” schemes and dreams - don’t let urgency and greed blind you to obvious rip-offs.

Risk #6 - Start Ups.

Avoid buying mass-marketed real estate properties that aren’t built yet, especially in third world countries, is very risky.

The same goes for business start-ups and new inventions – I don’t even consider them. Their failure rate is extremely high.

Risk #7 - Having All Your Eggs In One Basket

Keeping all your eggs in one basket is probably the most risky thing you can do in today’s business world.

As a Joint Venture Broker, you can build multiple income streams and diversify across different industries, products, services, economies, and countries.

Risk #8 - Being Lead by the Blind.

Taking advice from the wrong people  is just plain silly.

Never take advice from someone who is more screwed up than you are, and always learn only from someone who already has what you want. Poor people can’t tell you how to get rich, and more than a bank manager can.

Risk #9 - Poor Thinking.

The wrong philosophy about life and money will sink your ship faster than ten giant torpedoes. Maintain the right attitude and mix only with winners.

Risk #10 - Quitting.

Quitting too soon is the mark of a loser. Most people give up three feet from the gold.

Avoid Risk by Becoming a Joint Venture Broker

In spite of warnings, the best motives and intentions, and well-planned strategies, the future is unpredictable, and things go wrong in the real world.

DollarMakers teaches people how to create unlimited wealth, financial freedom, and peace of mind through the use of Joint Ventures regardless of your background, age, experience, or circumstances, and whether you have a business or not.

Joint Ventures is the best way I have found to create financial success.  I run DollarMakers with no cost, risk, overhead, employees, inventory, or risk. This is a great business to be in.

In these turbulent financial times, one sees small signs of panic all over.

But Can You Recognize Your Own Symptoms?

While we’re all aware of the “fight or flight” response to panic, and we recognize the symptoms in others, it is not always easy to see them in yourself. We tend to suppress feelings of panic and deny them, get too busy to acknowledge and deal with them, and in the process start to slip down a slippery slope that includes sometimes irreparable damage to our relationships, health, and financial situation.

Men, especially, want to appear “Macho” and in control, so we tend to cloak panic with aggression and bravado.

A Lotto Desperation

Yesterday, Rika and I sat in a restaurant and watched a succession of men feeding a lotto machine. We were amazed at the tension and desperation we saw in these men. They were gambling precious time and money with extremely low odds of winning anything, yet they probably saw this as their only alternative. Sure, some were just having fun, and some were addicted, but my overall impression was men on the brink of panic.

Men vs. Women

This article tells us why unemployment is hitting men harder than women, and this article tells us that “Unemployment Rate Soars for Older Men with Limited Education”. Women are better equipped to handle stress, and they generally panic less than men do, but we are all vulnerable.

Manipulating the Herd

The herd instinct is much more pronounced in our highly connected society than in past years, and politicians and the media are milking it for all its worth. They know how to manipulate with fear, exaggeration, and spin, and this often leads to mass panic in different degrees. Anyone who believes what politicians, mystics, and the media tells them is living in a dangerous fantasy world.

Scam artists are also very busy tacking advantage of desperate people.

Deadly Panic

Many highly publicized cases of deadly panic occur during massive public events.

• The layout of Mecca was extensively redesigned by Saudi authorities in an attempt to eliminate frequent stampedes, which kill an average of 250 pilgrims every year.
• Football stadiums have seen deadly crowd rushes and stampedes, such as at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, England, in 1989. This led to controlled entry gates and stricter rules by the end of the 1980s to regulate seating arrangements.

6 Lifesaving Tips to Keep a Cool Head in Times of Panic

I know what it’s like to feel as though you’re on the verge of panic. From my personal experience, having been exposed to high levels of stress at different times in my 56 years of life, including military combat, business and finances, dangerous situations, fire, marital problems, divorce, and many other things, here are some tips on handling panic:

Tip #1 -Realize Stress Effects Your Perception

Perception is reality. Accept that our perception is never accurate, and that the more stressed we are, the less logical our assumptions, choices, and conclusions.

Realize that you don’t see the whole picture, and that you’re missing a lot of vital information as you develop tunnel vision and see everything through a lens of desperation, scarcity, and limitation.

Tip #2 - “YAHOO!”

Shout, “YAHOO!”

You Always Have Other Options.

The fact that we are not aware of our real options doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Your problem is in your mind, and you need a way to see through the eyes of a rational, intelligent, mature, relaxed, and creative person. As I always say, “You don’t have money problems; you have thinking problems.”

Tip #3 -Discriminate the Advice You Accept

Never take advice from someone who doesn’t already have what you want, or from someone who is more screwed up and stressed than you are. They will drag you further down the slippery slope to panic and loss of control. Taking financial advice from a social worker or teacher, for example, is just plain silly.

Question the motives of people giving you advice, and be especially careful of mysticism – this is a dangerous, irrational, and destructive escape route. Choose your mentors very carefully.

Tip #4 -Get Excellent, Level-Headed Support

It’s hard to cope alone, but help is always available from the right people. When you’re blindfolded, you need to be led by someone who sees the obstacles as well as the exits and solutions until your blindfold can be removed. Things are never as bad as they seem.

Finding a good support group usually means that what you currently have doesn’t work. If everyone around you is panicking, you want to remove yourself from that situation. Pessimists are no help to anyone.

Take note of the people in your life. Are they helping you or hurting you?

Tip #5 -Monitor and Improve your Self-talk

I have found the most tool to stave off panic and maintain a level-headed approach is my self-talk. I have always talked with myself, often aloud, and saying things like:

“This is a piece of cake. I can handle this. So what’s the big deal? What are my logical options? This is no problem for me – a mere hiccup to one of my talents…”

Remember, also, that the questions you ask yourself will determine, to a large extent, where you end up.  Find out more about this concept in my book, Break Free!, coming soon to JVWisdom.

Tip #6 -Is Your Philosophy Helping or Hurting You?

Finally, check your philosophy / world view / religion – it, too, is ether helping you or hurting you, and you have many other options. If a shoe doesn’t fit and gives you blisters, replace it.

DollarMakers is designed to provide financial solutions to any people in any circumstances, as long as they are prepared to learn, work, and persist until they are free.

“Congruency” means your life is congruent - you walk your talk - you live according to your deepest core values and beliefs, good or bad.

•    Consistent behavior and choices are usually an indication of congruency – actions speak louder than words.
•    The opposite is passive aggression, hypocrisy, and political correctness.

When choosing a Joint Venture partner, look for congruency, patterns, and proof. Do your own due diligence.

Someone might be consistently irrational or dishonest, displaying a congruency, which reflects their lack of integrity.  You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can judge people by the company they consistently keep.

Your Partner’s Philosophy Ultimately Affects You

You need to understand the philosophy of people in order to predict their future choices, and the future choices of your JV partners will affect your own future.

Umshini wami, also known as Awuleth’ Umshini Wami (English, Bring me my machine gun), is a popular Zulu language “struggle song” used formerly by members of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress of Nelson Mandela, during the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Most recently, the song is identified with the persona of Jacob Zuma, the new South African Prime Minister, and is often sung at rallies which involve him and his supporters, including the ANC Youth League. Here are the words:

“My machine my machine Gun
Please bring my machine gun
My machine gun my machine gun
Please bring my machine gun
My machine gun my machine gun
Please bring my machine gun
Please bring my machine gun
You’re pulling me back
My machine gun, Please bring my machine gun”

Knowing that, how would you like to JV with this character, regardless of his official status?

How to Choose the Right Joint Venture Partner

•    Don’t base your opinion of someone on his or her station in life, wealth, position, or political power.
•    And never believe what the media tells you.

My best JV partners have always been humble, unassuming, successful, and consistently honest.

•    Test your potential JV partners in small ways before committing to large JV’s – allow them to prove themselves first.
Until then, wear a bulletproof vest.

A sparkling new week smiles at us, pregnant with exciting new opportunities, unlimited wealth, and wonderful experiences. The future beckons kindly with the offer of beautiful dreams, fun, and growth.

• Will you take up your sword, slay your dragons of fear, and boldly step up onto the stage of life? You can, you know.
• Or you can remain, as Roy Williams suggests, in the small pen of your choosing and compare yourself to littler men.

A New Perspective on “Failure”

Perhaps you fear “Failure”. In fact, you don’t fear failure per se – you fear the opinions of other people.

Tell me, if there were no other people in the world, would you still fear failure? How do you define failure, anyway? Here’s a good way:

“I only fail when I decide to quit, and if I decide to quit, I haven’t failed – I have simply got bored and chosen another goal.”

You can change your plans and your method of achieving your goals, it’s your life, and you can change your mind any time you like.

Getting Boxed In By Goal Setting

Too many people think goals are limited entities, such as “I want to lose twenty pounds.” While it’s important to have measurable, specific, time-sensitive goals, the REAL goal is to lose weight and feel healthier and more energetic, isn’t it?

Ultimately, your goal is freedom, happiness, integrity, health, good relationships, and congruency.

The world is flexible, changing, and dynamic. Don’t get hung up on the details. We have to adjust and ride the waves of life with our own values as our guiding light.

Being the best we can be, without compromising our values and guided by our philosophy, is what it is all about. Enjoy the ride of life. It’s short.

Start Living It Your Way

We create wealth to enjoy freedom, not to create wealth.

We create freedom so that we can live congruent lives.

Living according to our own values is what makes us happy – doing what is important to US, not some boss or witchdoctor or politician. It’s not about a hockey team or a disgruntled, resentful, jealous relative – it’s about YOU. It’s YOUR life, and you only have one, and it’s running out, and it’s time to start living it your way.

Moving Ahead Boldly

Exciting goals make exciting lives.

• Watch the movies, “Yes Man”, and “Patton”.
• Read the book, “The Fountainhead”.
• Face your fears, remove the victims, snakes, and parasites from your life, and move boldly ahead.

This is your time. You don’t have to explain, justify, or pacify anyone. Those who truly love you will support you and encourage you. They will want you to be happy, and we can only be truly happy when we are in charge of our own lives.

Happiness For Me…

Happiness for me is spending time with my loved ones, PG Tips tea with a ginger biscuit, skiing down a mountain, helping others to help themselves to make their dreams come true, and wondering in a forest.

I live according to my own philosophy, not someone else’s agenda.

I achieve my own goals if and when I want to, and I answer to nobody. I am a soldier, not a politically correct, passive aggressive sycophant. I freely, frequently, change my mind.

Freedom is Your Right and Privilege

Don’t deny yourself the joy of emotional and mental independence and freedom – it is your right and privilege.

Rise from the stupor of negative conditioning.

Break the cotton candy bonds of timidity and embarrassment.

Smash out of the fragile bubble of limited thinking and false guilt, take up your shiny sword of purpose, and skip feely down the winding daisy path of self-fulfillment.

You deserve it.