PAP Plan Account and Partner. We never know who will be our necessary partner in our present and future endeavors. Thanks for your contributions.

Go Tammy Go

I think sometimes, we own our own business because no one else will let us work the crazy hours and take the risks that we take for ourselves. In other words, no one else will hire us for these tasks, the ones worth failing for. When asked why I usually banter back that I am unemployable, not that I cannot work or cannot contribute but am not employable as the needed quotient for someone elses vision. I will be interested to read about others reasons. Thanks for the write.

great article,

I have hired well over 1000 people in my various capacities and Attitude is Everything.

You can train, teach and write great job descriptions. You can't mandate attitude. So if you don't catch it in the interview process, you will reap the spoils in the culture and profits of the company.

When you place the high value on attitude, it is unfortunate that so many older folk have such a defeated attitude vs. the youthful entitlement attitude. Youth often have the right questions and experience has the right answers, if we can get the attitudes right we have a powerful combo and can defeat any depression/recession.

How do we defeat the attitude of ungrattitude....?

Thank you for this article.

For over thirty years I have been advising that a business ALWAYS set up an entity for the business. The advantages for doing so are more than merely financial.

Consider the separation in your life and mindset when you do not have the business and personal all mingled together.

Those that fail to separate business and personal live with the burden of supporting the business personally.

Do you think Donald Trump worries about his personal assets when his separate business fails? I think not, he is starting a new company that must assume its own liabilites and income.

So I advocate that every business be incorporated as a separate entity for all the aforementioned reasons and personal peace and prosperity.

Thank you.

Don

Very well said. Number 1.5 is separating personal from business. This includes Cash, Credit and Time. If we don't have a break from work we will burn out and lose creativity and focus. Love the article, thanks for the reminder

Ted, Well written and thought out. It is amazing to me how many are trying to apply "old" methodologies to the new technologies.
Can you imagine trying to sell a 1/4 page ad in color on the internet for $2000 per month? No, we all accept that things have changed,(except the yellow pages.... lol) Yet we don't seem to understand the premise of adding value to our market driven campaign. this value added can be informational, like these great articles. Monetary, like coupons or special time framed offers. Or more and more cause related campaigns where we have an aligment of interested individuals and business that hitherto did not recognize the value of marketing with the convictions for change that they hold valuable. Social media is so exciting to me, as we see how it allows us to be social, connected and valuable to each other.

Well said.
We should use the comma in out thoughts, and speech. Pause, and think about it.
He Hebrew writers in the book of Psalms used Selah. We hurry through so much and miss the impact of our grammar and civility in our business communication. I do receive "marketing" ideas on how to get read more by using outlandish bold fonts and obnoxious colors. Refusing to bend to these juvenile tactics and hope for clients that are more professional. Thank you for the opportunity to think and act better.

I thikn this articl is perfct

True That. I spent over $1000 on my branding with a great professional who askes question, took notes and worked it until we were both sure we had a brand message in the logo. Well said.

Loving, Giving and Networking all share a common focus, which is outward. Not what can I get but what value can I add.

Thanks for your well written article

Well said Brian. Seth Godin would approve

Buggy Whips for sale... going once ... going twice... Buggy whip manufacturer now applying for government bailout dollars..... What will we do??? (hands wringing)

Oh I know, what do Buggy whips have to do with leads groups?????
Remember when the automobile started to encroach on the horse drawn carriage? And the whips that encouraged the animals to move?
I beleive that we are always adapting (or need to adapt) to newer innovation and that leads groups and paper media are both on the edge of extinction. Why? Paper media because it is an innefficent media for informing people and Leads groups in much the same way. the typical "Leads" group works with the theory of scarcity. And if you are the Lucky one to land a category you will be blessed with an abundance of leads.... Hogwash. People will do business with people they know, like and trust. In a leads group, by rereciting your 30 second commercial for 52 times you do not accomplich this, do you? I think you are correct, Linda, in your correlation of the news media and leads groups. For years the Yellow page peddlers have tried to scare us into purchasing overpriced print media with the threat that someone else will get your spot, so spend $2-20k per year to secure this spot. I am, on the other hand more inclined to believe and hope for free market capitalism and firmly trust in an Abundance mentality. Although we all might be having a slower more deliberate time in our own markets, we should look for true unfettered opportunities to network. Be encouraged there is enough for all of us.. Now go make your mark. And Help someone along the way.

Collaboration that doesn't Suck (for Dan)

In the words of Tom Hopkins when asked how is it going " Unbeleivable" True regardless of circumstance and really sets the tone for further conversation... How are you Biznikers ???

UNBELEIVABLE.....

Too Fun... I did not get distracted reading this. Reminds me of Bill Cosby who said that a mans memory is in hit behind... when you get up you forget what you are doing until you come back and sit down again... starting the cycle all over again...

Thanks for sharing

So It seems that Social Media is not about cheap advertizing or schemes to drive my brand to the masses, but a way to develop deep longstanding relationships. So many are using the "social media" as a way to blast information to people that they do not know. Social Networking is to develop relationship and business flows out of relationship... My goal is not to blast but have a blast in relationships with real people. Thanks for sharing this info. My big takeaway is that traditional media is only a recent phenomena and we are returning to the real tradition.

Amazing... the statistics do NOT Change, Over 20 years ago my study came to the same conclusion. At this time I was involved with 5 Unions who were protecting these inefficiencies and I had the challenge of documenting the "Real" work that was done. I used the ADA as an excuse to document the real work that had to be done, task by task. And as a result I could justify with labors grudging approval a workforce reduction of over 20%. When you calculate the amount of sales that were recovered by improving this efficiency.. it equated to $11m in sales offsets. Now this was hard work but think about which is easier to improve sales by over $10m or to increase efficiency by 20%.. (4 FTE reduction fyi) Reduce, Reuse Recycle.... lol

This is too funny. I was sharing with an associate this morning how many expert social media consultants there are. Most of them are in the MLM field or retired teachers and have taken a class, and then want to charge $1200-1500 for social media classes. However when you look them up they have 25 followers and no twits and so on and so forth... I am not an expert but am enjoying the process. thank you for your insightful article

Linked in is great, facebook is fun, and who doesn't love a good tweet. The best professional social site for business owners and professionals is Biznik.
Here is a balance blend of face to face and internet accessability. The important thing is CONNECTING... Thanks

And for productivity and releasing your mind to focus on.... oh a bird... where was I.... oh yes a very productive tool for your website. memorizes passwords and is free... www.lastpass.com really great 5 stars