Creativity in Business

Why think like a beginner?

Thinking like a beginner makes us creative.

It restores the wonders of discovery.

Business creativity leads to innovation.
Innovation leads to success.

Over the coming weeks we’ll discuss creativity.

Thinking like a beginner offers advantages.
Jack Nicklaus started each season as a beginner.
His golf coach went through an annual ritual.
He checked Jack’s stance and grip.
He checked Jack’s approach to the ball.
He checked his swing and his follow-through.
Want to copy Nicklaus’s success in golf?
Go back to the basics and practice, practice, practice.
The fundamentals help us think creatively.
That leads to innovation and success.

Ray Kroc was big on innovation.
He famously told McDonald’s franchisees:
“We can innovate faster than they can copy us.”
McDonald’s dominated the fast food market.
Kroc also taught his people about growth.
“When you’re green, you’re growing.
“When you’re ripe, you’re rotting.”
Many owners are rotting their way out of business.

Thinking like a beginner has other advantages.
One karate master was buried in a white belt.
The white belt is the belt of the beginner.
Martial artists strive for the coveted black belt.
The master had decades of experience.
He taught his skills to others.
His white belt to him was symbolic of death.
Death, he believed, makes beginners of us all.

Here’s a short exercise to help you in business.
Think about your top three challenges.
They may involved your competition.
Or your sales and client relationships.
Or other bottom line concerns.

Make a list of these challenges.
Detail the steps needed to correct them.
Place a deadline beside each step.
Determine who will help with each step.
Don’t procrastinate. Take action.

Next: How to recall great ideas.

Leadership in tough times, Part 5

Do you suffer from Porsche Syndrome?

My friend Ruth King sees this a lot.

She advises business owners on profitability.

Too many think they can spend and spend.

They really should run for Congress.

That’s where you spend other people’s money.

Just because you have cash, don’t waste it.

She knows several of these business owners.

One lost out on a loan due to Porsche Syndrome.

He bragged about his $2,200 monthly Porsche lease.

His business was footing an extravagant lifestyle.

His investor was not going to loan money for that.

He invested in businesses to help them grow.

And he expected to be paid back with interest.

He wasn’t going to invest the “finer things of life.”

Some owners use their businesses to buy boats.

Or to buy expensive homes and cars.

To write off expensive vacations and resort visits.

They put non-working relatives on the payroll.

They don’t invest in their businesses.

They invest in themselves and their lifestyles.

How stupid can you get?

Ruth King says enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Just don’t do it at the expense of your business.

Save your cash for downturns. They will come.

Save for rainy days. You’ll have your share of them.

How do you avoid the Porsche Syndrome?

Make sure you generate reasonable profit margins.

You can actually save relatively painlessly.

For example, save 1% of every check that comes in.

If your deposits total $10,000, put $100 into savings.

You’ll never miss the $100.

And, that $100 will start earning interest.

Here are three questions for you.

1. How many business expenses can you avoid?

2. How much of the savings can you escrow?

3. Where can you get the best interest rates?

Next: Creativity in business.

Jerry Bellune's family owns and operates book and newspaper publishing companies in Lexington. He leads Master Mind groups for business owners. For details, contact him at JerryBellune@yahoo.com

How to avoid headaches

No this isn’t a medical message. It’s more than that.
Gen. Curtis LeMay knew about headaches.
His Strategic Air Command was powerful.
A SAC scramble was an awesome sight to see.
It would send a tingle up your spine.

LeMay was a tough taskmaster.
His pilots were ready to scramble 24 hours a day.
His leadership style was summed up in seven words.
“I don’t get headaches. I give them.”
LeMay was a member of the Warrior Class.
Business owners need to be warriors, too.

A publisher friend called the other day.
He had read something I had written in the trade press.We give our overseas troops a web site password.
This lets them keep up with news back home.
Subscribers pay for their passwords but not our heroes.
It’s a small contribution to helping them keep in touch.

My friend feared some of them might abuse it.
They might give the password to their friends.
Don’t worry about it, I said. If they do, so what?
You may lose a few dollars on subscriptions.
But you have no way to stop it.
Plus your advertisers get extra exposure.
Besides, military families already do plenty for us.
This seems like a small thing to do for them.

He needs to be either a warrior or a worrier.
He wants to be a warrior but he deals with worriers.
This is a test of his leadership.
He must set a warrior example.

Do you have to deal with worriers?
Work on them one at a time.
That way they can’t gang up on you in a group.
Show them your courage by tough decisions.
Encourage them to show their courage, too.
Remind yourself that you sign their pay checks.

Here are three quick questions for you.
1. Who are your warriors?
2. Who are your worriers?
3. How can you get the best from both?

Next: Do you suffer from Porsche Syndrome?

Leadership in tough times, Part 3

How to profit when the next bubble bursts

Last week we talked about failing businesses.
Even more will fail in the next economic slump.

That’s the forecast of native South Carolinian Harry Dent, Jr..
He uses demographics to chart business trends.
He’s accurately forecast previous booms and busts.
He advises us to prepare for the next bust cycle.

Our economy moves in boom and bust cycles.
It expands and contracts . . . with greed and fear.
Some cycles are short in nature, others longer.
Washington has run up $17 trillion in debt.
That’s in only five years and at our risk.
What this means does NOT look good.
Could what’s happened to Greece happen here?
Harry Dent believes it can and will. So do I.

He identifies two groups that will profit in a bust:
1. Young entrepreneurs with ideas and capital.
3. Baby Boomers who have lots of money.
The next bust will deflate prices and slow sales.
Debt-ridden businesses will suffer.
Their money troubles will result in bankruptcy.

Have you been smart about operating lean.
About cutting costs and raising profit margins?
About protecting your cash and cash flow?
Are you focused on recession-proof markets?
This is when you can make the most of it.
As rivals go under, you can increase market share.
You can buy them for pennies on the dollar.
Always buy assets, not their liabilities.

We started our company in 1992.
Some thought we were foolish.
The economy was in a recession.
Established newspapers already served our market.
Our rivals predicted we wouldn’t last six months.
We operated a lean, focused business.
We hired the best people available.
All of us were committed to do whatever it took.
Nine years later, we owned the market.
Our closest rival sold out for pennies on the dollar.

Next: How to avoid headaches.

Leadership in tough times, Part 2

How to turn around a failing business

Last week we talked about poor client service.
I want to share this story with you.
It’s about an auto dealer and his sales people.

He bought the business from a retiring owner.
Over the years, the owner’s passion had cooled.
It took three years to position his business for sale.
His accountant helped as best he could.
Those were three hard years of hard decisions.
Nevertheless, he ignored a major problem.

The new owner assessed what he had bought.
Sales had leveled out over the last 10 years.
Net profit showed little year-to-year gain.
Sales were stagnant for two reasons:
1. Lack of marketing and advertising.
2. An unmotivated sales force.

Two sales people, he found, really worked.
They represented 75% of his sales.
They accounted for 85% of his net profit.
The other seven were unproductive.
They wasted time. They complained.
Family problems, they said, distracted them.

He made a tough decision and fired seven.
He recruited two other sales people he knew.
He worked to energize his team of four.
They held weekly sales meetings.
They discussed what worked and what didn’t.
All five of them learned from each other.

He began an aggressive marketing campaign.
He advertised online, in print and cable.
He measured his results from each medium.
He tracked offers which produced the most.
He measured his Return on Investment.
Which offers attracted the most prospects.
Which offers produced the most revenue.
He concentrated on offers than produced revenue.

In a year, his sales increased 6%.
His net profit increased 10%.
The business was making a recovery.

Next: What business forecasters predict.

Leadership in tough times

Take care of your clients

I called a fellow business owner recently.
A cheerful young woman answered the phone.
“Could you wait a minute?” she asked.
“Yes, if not too long,” I answered.
She put me on hold for four minutes.
Four minutes. That’s like four hours.

Ordinarily I would have hung up.
I stayed on the line because the owner is a friend.
I wanted to see what would happen next.
After four minutes, she came back on the line.
I asked if she had in stock what I needed.
“Hold on,” she said, “and I’ll check.
Seven minutes later she confirmed that they had it.
She kept me on hold for 11 minutes.
For a Type A like me, that’s an eternity.

Now here’s the lesson for all of us.
How are your employees handling client calls?
Are they putting them on hold?
Or do they offer to take a number and call back?
How do you know what they do?
If they do this, whose fault is it?
Yours, of course. You haven’t taught them better.

Make this a lesson at your next staff meeting. 
Talk with everyone who answers incoming calls.
Discuss how to handle calls, requests or complaints.

Why is this so important? Look at reality.
Washington has run up $17 trillion in debt.
And it was done it in only five years.
The White House wants to add another $3 trillion.
What this means for your business is NOT good.

Forecasters predict that over the next three years:
• We’ll find it extremely hard to make a profit.
Government regulations will cripple us.
• We’ll need better ways to generate leads.
We’ll also need new skills to close sales.
• Our competition will be in the same fix.
They will be willing to undercut our rates.
• We’ll work harder to keep our most loyal clients.
We must offer the best choices for them.

Next: One owner turns around a losing business.

Protect your business, Part 4

There are many ways you can be victimized.
Here are three safeguards to take.

1. Accept no postdated checks.
Believe this: Most of them will bounce.
If the check writer refuses to pay, you can go to court.
But there’s a major legal danger.
The judge may rule against you for taking the check.
You knew there were insufficient funds.
What made you think the money would be there later?
Make sure anyone else knows this is your policy.
Make sure they check dates on checked received.
By mail or at the front counter.
Any make sure they are signed.
A favorite ploy is mailing an unsigned check.

2. Watch for changes in behavior.
Is your bookkeeper acting differently?
Has there been a crisis in the bookkeeper’s family?
A sudden need for cash in an emergency?
Is she receiving emergency personal phone calls?
Has the bookkeeper just bought a new car?
Has she upgraded her wardrobe dramatically?
These are warning signs.
Keep a careful eye on anyone who handles cash.
The same goes for checks and credit card payments.

3. Make sure payroll taxes are paid.
As the owner, this is your responsibility.
Check to make sure these are paid weekly.
Both federal and state payroll taxes.
This is complex so get advice from your CPA.
State and federal tax officials are not forgiving.
They don’t want to hear your excuses.

We once walked away from a business sale.
The sellers owed five figures in back taxes.
We did not want tax people seizing our assets.
Either they paid the taxes or we weren’t interested.
A deadline for tax clearance came and went.
We cancelled the closing.
I don’t think they ever resolved it.
They closed the business months later.
Don’t let this happen to you.

Next: Leadership in tough times.

Protect your business, Part 3

Savvy business owners check their balance sheets.
Your sheets should have two-year comparisons.
How much money do you have in your account?
How much did you have this time last year?
Is your cash down from last year?
The warning bells should be ringing in your head.

Is your cash up only marginally?
That’s another warning sign.’
Businesses must have cash to keep operating.

Are you margins shrinking? That’s alarming.
It may be the fault of a poor economy.
It may mean your sales people are letting you down.
It may mean they aren’t taking care of customers.

A car dealer you know had to take drastic steps.
He took over a dealership with sagging margins.
He watched the sales staff sit around the showroom.
They drank coffee. Compared golf scores.
Waited for customers to come to them.

He compared their sales records.
Three sales people produced 80% of the sales.
The other 12 produced less than 20%.
He fired the 12 poor performers.
He worked with the sales force to produce results.
They stepped up advertising, phone calls, direct mail.
Showroom traffic increased. Revenues rose.

How often do you make bank deposits?
Daily? Weekly? Even less often.
Undeposited checks slow your cash flow.
Work it out with your bank to deposit by scanner.
You can scan checks in and send them electronically.
Our bank wanted to charge us for this service.
A rival bank waived the fee and won our business.

Here’s another safeguard tactic.
Check your bank deposit slips.
Compare them with your bank statements.
Make sure the two documents match.
Make sure the payments go to your account.
Not someone else’s account.

Next: We’ll discuss three more safeguards to take.

Protect your business, Part 2

Are you checking your financial statements?
As an owner you have major responsibilities.
You control the future of your business.
You assure your clients are cared for properly.
You make sure your employees get paid.
You cannot let go of the tiller.
It’s your ship to sail . . . or sink.

Is your bookkeeper often late with your P&Ls?
Do you have to ask for them?
Make it policy that your P&Ls come on time.
Good bookkeepers are proud of their work.
They run the profit and loss statements on time.
Expect the P&Ls the day the month closes.
That does not mean two weeks later.
It means the first business day of the new month.
We close the books for the month right after lunch.
We then prints out our cash and accrual P&Ls.
We print out and check our balance sheets.

They tell how our company performed right away.
P&L statements and balance sheets are critical.
They cannot be ignored.
They should be comparative.
Each line item should show this month’s gain or loss.
A second column should show this month last year.
A third column should show percentage changed.

Were your income lines up over last year?
If not, why not? This is a danger sign.
Were your expense lines up from last year? This may be a warning sign or something else.
It may be only that it cost more to produce more.
Rising revenues often raise expenses.

So what do you look for? 
Your margins. Are they consistently profitable?
How do you know? What’s standard in your industry?
Is a 10% margin an industry standard?
Then aim for 12% to 15%.
Aim higher than competitors  in your industry.

Next week we’ll discuss your balance sheets.
You do check your balance sheets, don’t you?

Protect your business

Here are major strategies from a pro.

Her name's Ruth King.

Ruth is a business woman, author and consultant.
These are in her “The Courage to be Profitable.”
This book can make you a better business owner.


You trust your employees, don’t you?
Sure you do, You hired and trained them. Right?
They’re like family. Loyal and honest.
99% of them are. Don’t bet on the other 1%.
They can succumb to temptation.
They have problems they think your money can fix.
Are you going to give them a chance to steal?
That may be more temptation than they can stand.

A friend of ours disappeared recently.
He was a respected community leader.
It took the police a week to find his body.
He had left a suicide note blaming himself.
His bookkeeper had embezzled thousands of dollars.
He finally caught it and blamed himself.
She ruined her life and drove him to suicide.
He could have taken three simple steps.
As a business owner, you should take them, too.

Are you alone authorized to sign checks?
Take care who’s on your bank signature card.
You should guard this like the key to your lock box.
It’s better if only your signature is on the card.
Only you can sign payroll and other checks.
Do you have partners?
They will want to be on there, too.
Be careful about who you partner with.
How about your spouse? Trustworthy, right?
Spouses have cleaned out bank accounts.

Are your bank statements mailed to your home?
Why not? Then fewer people can tamper with them.
Go over them carefully. Look for:
• Late fees and payments and bounced checks.
• Excessive payments to your vendors.
• Anything that looks suspicious.
But your sealed bank statements come to the office.
That’s where they can be steamed open.
A dishonest bookkeeper could alter the statements.

Ruth has filled her book with other safeguards.
It’s in print and Kindle editions at Amazon.com

Next: Is your bookkeeper often late?

Got a burning  business question?
Contact me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com

What can go wrong? Part 4

I’m sharing with you another true story.

This is from a client friend of ours.
We had done business with him for years.
We believed he was honest. And he was.
He is the victim of this true story.

Jim sold office equipment.
He sold us our first fax machine.
That gives you an idea how long ago this happened.
I recalled the early fax machines.
They were barely readable.
Jim assured me this machine was top of the line.
“Let me put it in your office for 30 days,” he said.
“You’ll beg me not to take it out then.”
I thought he was nuts but agreed to the test.
He was right. The machine was excellent.
I didn’t wait 30 days to say we’d buy it.

Jim advertised his business with us.
He had a good credit rating.
We had never had trouble with his checks.
One day we realized his account was overdue.
Way overdue. More than 90 days overdue.
This was unusual. It had not happened before.
I called Jim. He said he had paid us.
He said he recalled signing the checks.

We double checked with the bank.
Was it our mistake?
No. The bank had received no checks either.
He finally had his accountant audit the books.
He found his trusted bookkeeper was embezzling.
She was changing our checks and depositing them.
Our money was going into her account.

I could have kicked myself for not acting sooner.
That was an important lesson.
Check your receivables regularly.
Don’t let accounts go into the 30-day column.
Call or go see them if that happens.
The older the receivable, the harder it is to collect.

Next week we’ll discuss protecting your business.
These strategies will help you sleep better each night.

What can go wrong? Part 3

Do you trust your employees to do the right thing?
Most of them will or you made a hiring mistake.
But 1% to 2% will rob you if you let them.
The one you trust the most may be dishonest.
You are most vulnerable to them and their deceit.
That’s because you don’t watch them as carefully.

A fellow newspaper owner told me this story.

He trusted the wrong person. The felon published one of his papers.
He had know the man for years. He couldn’t believe he would steal.
But he did.
Bob made one mistake.
He had no cross-check system.

Here’s what the man was doing to him.
His bookkeeper wrote weekly bank deposits.
The felon offered to take it to the bank.
He was going for lunch and could drop it off.
It seemed innocent enough.
She appreciated him doing this little chore.
She never suspected him of theft.

The felon had set up an account with that bank.
His account was in a name similar to his employer’s.
He had a supply of blank deposit slips.
He would rewrite the deposit slip.
In doing this, he would leave out one check.
It was a large check from a big advertiser.
He would make out a second deposit slip
This one was for his account.
The big check was deposited into his account.

This went on for almost a year.
Bob could see the dip in monthly revenues.
He called in an auditor to go over the books.
The auditor caught it right away.
The felon had been too greedy.
What if it had it been a smaller account?
The smaller thefts might have been overlooked.
Or at best, would not have set off an alarm.
He might have got away with it. 

Who makes up your bank deposits?
Who takes them to the bank?
Do you match deposit slips with bank statements?
If you don’t, you could be in trouble.
More about this touchy subject next week.

We invite you to join us in a worthy cause.
We raise money for literacy tutoring.
A $100 donation will get you a gift.
Four autographed copies of my books.
Just email me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com

What can go wrong? Part 2

Last week we talked about a thief.
He was exposed on a reality TV show.
It’s Mystery Diners on the Food Network.

The thieving employee lost his job.
He could have gone to jail.
He stole hundreds of dollars.
I recommend you watch this show.
You will see how employees can steal from your business.

Here’s an example from a recent show.
A popular bar owner’s nightly take was falling.
She suspected the night bartender was doing it.
But she couldn’t prove anything.
The guy was resourceful and she liked him.
She also liked being able to go home at night.
She trusted him to run the bar after dark.

Revenue kept falling so she made a call.
Mystery Diners came in and set up cameras.
She watched her bartender bring in his own booze.
He wasn’t selling hers and ringing it up.
He was pouring his and pocketing the money.
No wonder her revenues were falling.
The guy was using her place to run his own bar.

To make matters worse, he had a friend helping.
The guy wasn’t an employee but he was working.
They were both drinking booze themselves.
You can see where this was headed.
Her bartender had a part-time limo driving job.
So he left his friend in charge of the bar.
He had to go pick up someone in the limo.

The owner stopped him and brought him back.
She took him to the secret screening room.
He saw himself on the monitors stealing from her.
He was a big guy and gave her a hard time.
She fired him and told him not to come back.
If he did, she would call the police.

This is the kind of thing that could happen to you.
You don’t need to run a restaurant.
Just about any business will do.
Trusted employees may take advantage of you.
What do you do?
More about that next week.

Want my leadership and management book?

Just make a $20 donation to our literacy tutoring.

Call me at 803-331-6695.

What can go wrong?

“Whatever can go wrong undoubtedly will.” 

That’s Murphy’s Law of Business Management.

Sure, it’s time worn but still true.

Some of us think Murphy was an optimist.

Over the next few weeks we’ll discuss this.

There are many ways you can lose your shirt.

One of the best is trust your employees.

The one’s you trust the most may be bad apples.

Let me give you a few examples.

Do you watch Mystery Diners on Food Network?

This is one of the best business shows going.

It will convince you to stay out of the food business.

The Mystery Diners help owners in trouble.

Revenues are falling and customers don’t come back.

Yet the owners can’t figure out why.

So they hire the Mystery Diners.

The Mystery Diners set up cameras in the restaurant.

They can see the kitchen, dining areas, bar.

They can see the supply room and the back door.

In a private room, they watch what’s going on.

They sit with the owners to watch their employees.

This is an eye-opener for trusting owners.

On a series of recent programs:

The head chef was catering from the kitchen.

He used the owners food, utensils, everything.

His catering ads carried his cell number.

Customers called him, not the restaurant.

He took the orders and prepared the food.

He even left the kitchen to make deliveries.

The owners could watch him stealing from him.

Hundreds of dollars walking out the door.

He brought him in and fired him.

He told him not to come back or go to jail.

You don’t have to own a restaurant.

Are you a trusting business owner?

Then something like this could happen to you.

What do you do? The internet may help.

Google “business surveillance systems.”

It will bring up lots of options.

Next week we’ll talk more about protecting yourself.

We help business owners with problems. 

Call us at 359-7633.

 

Do you have what it takes, Part 3

Are you an entrepreneur at heart? Is it your passion and purpose?

If not, quit wasting your time reading this.
It’s for committed, passionate entrepreneurs only.
Less than 10% of the population feels like this.

Here are five questions for you.
Your answers are for self-assessment.
They will tell you if you have what it takes.
Not everyone does.
Find out if you’re one of them.

1. I like to try new approaches and solutions.

You are willing to leave your comfort zone.
Run risks. Take chances. Seek breakthroughs.
Always looking for better ways to do anything.

2. I always seek challenging problems.
You are unafraid to tackle the big frogs.
They’re the ones with the high payoffs.
But they often are harder to solve or achieve.

3. I seek excellence, not perfection.
You realize that "good enough" is good enough.
It does not have to be the perfect solution.
Perfection is impossible. Excellence is possible.

4. I’ll work to exhaustion on projects.
This means you are fully committed.
You’re no 9-to-5er. You stay to finish the job.

5. You’re first in and often last out.

That’s the kind of role model that inspires others.

If not, they’re not the kind of employees you want.
Entrepreneurs need excited people to share the load.

Did you agree you’ve got what it takes?
Next week I’ll put five final questions to you.
You don’t have to share how you score.
It’s strictly your business.

You may read my entrepreneurial book:

"Killer Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs."
I’ll send you a personally autographed copy.
Just make a $20 donation to literacy tutoring.
To do it, call me at 331-6695.

　

Do you have what it takes, Part 2

Planning to start a business?
This is for you.
Planning to expand one?
This is for you too
Are you just looking for a job?
To create one for yourself?
Will this be a hobby or a real business?

Business guru Jay Abraham has an intriguing observation.
He says people go into business for three reasons:
1. They have gone through a career crisis.
They lost their jobs. Prospects for another are poor.
2. They hate their jobs and detest their bosses.
Owning a business seems much more attractive.
Rarely do these two kinds succeed.

The ones that succeed are far different.
They are entrepreneurs at heart.
Most grew up in entrepreneurial families.
They accept the sacrifices entrepreneurs make.
They are risk takers - but calculated risk takers.
They have great confidence in themselves.

How do you rate as an entrepreneur?
It’s relatively easy to find out.
A warning: You may not like the answers.
In their first class, my students test themselves.
Here are seven of the questions they answer.
To take the test just mark Agree or Disagree.

1. My parents encouraged self-reliance.
The wanted you to figure things out on your own.
They wanted you to make discoveries on your own.

2. My close relatives have been entrepreneurs.
They inspired you with their example.
They even gave you jobs to do so you could learn.

3. Growing up I held many part-time jobs.
It might have been cutting grass and other chores.
You might have worked for your parents.
They may have helped you find other jobs.

4. My parents held unconventional views.
They weren’t afraid to champion different ideas.
They taught me to avoid just following the crowd.

5. I am more inquisitive than most people.
You want to know everything about everything.
You day dream a lot about solving problems.

Did you agree to all or most of this?
This suggests you may have what it takes.
Next week I’ll put a few more questions to you.
You don’t have to share how you score.
It’s strictly your business.

Do you have what it takes?

My business students take a test before the first lesson.
It’s a self-graded test.
Only they know their score.
How they score matters only to them.
It shows if they are suited for business.
Strong entrepreneurial instincts?
What it takes to succeed as an owner?

Lest you think me an academic, I’ll say this.
Our family has owned more than a dozen businesses.
We operate four active businesses right now.
What I write is from real life experience.

Psychologist Kevin Dutton studies entrepreneurs.
He says seven principles help get what we want:
1. Ruthlessness. Some may argue with this.
Ruthlessness sounds cold and merciless. It isn’t.
This means calm, cool, logical leadership.
Being willing to do what others don’t want to do.
That means firing clients and employees as needed.
2. Charm. Think Gary Grant and Ronald Reagan.
Successful people are charismatic.
They attract others to their missions.
3. Focus. They know what they want to achieve.
They have direction, vision and purpose.
4. Mental toughness. Ready to make hard decisions.
Napoleon Hill called this “accurate thinking.”
5. Fearlessness. That doesn’t mean they are unafraid.
They take action despite fears and reservations
They don’t let small things deter them.
6. Mindfulness. They weigh all their options.
They make decisions based on careful analysis.
5. Action. They know they cannot hesitate.
They are willing to run risks to get things done.

In the next few weeks, we’ll talk more about this.
Planning to start a business? This is for you.
Planning to expand a business? This is for you too.
Want a free copy of my entrepreneurial test?
Email me at Jerry Bellune@yahoo.com

There’s gold in your mail

Victoria Eden sells life and health insurance.

She calls herself the “Insurance Marketing Queen.” She’s not just boasting.
She’s earned $33,986 in extra commissions.
She did it without calling a single prospect.
She found opportunities she didn’t know existed. Others cane from unresponsive leads.
The prospects called her.
She did not have to call them.

How did she get them to contact her?
Because of a simple marketing tool.
Victoria markets through her newsletters.
She uses them to gain more referrals.
This results in closing more sales.
That leads to cross-selling other products
It helps her up-sell higher value products.
It’s revived ready-for-the-shredder leads.

Victoria admits she hates cold calling.
Who doesn’t? She detests dialing for dollars.
So do Ginger Macaulay, Pat Strubbe and Greg Wych.
Ginger is a highly-successful veterinarian.
Pat is a highly-successful investment advisor.
Greg is a highly-successful dentist.
All of them are friends and clients of ours.

All of them share one marketing secret.
They write and publish newsletters.
Their newsletters appear in several media.
They go electronically to their clients and patients.
They’re direct mailed in print to prospects.
They appear in our two newspapers.
That reaches more than 25,000 prospects.
Tis is not a pitch for newspaper advertising.
It simply suggests more than one way to do it.
And it has been successful for all of them.

Pat Strubbe is a newsletter believer.
He says it has established his expertise.
It has made him into a local media star.
Prospects see him as the investment authority
They learn to protect and grow their nest eggs.
Pat has collected them into a best-selling book.
“Save Your Retirement,” is a strong marketing tool.

Greg Wych has done the same thing.
He has collected his newsletters into a book:
It’s title: “Secrets of the Tooth Fairy’s Friend.”
It will be published early in 2013.

My 11 books started the same way.
They were newsletters and print columns.
The newsletters go to my clients and prospects.
The columns appear in national publications.
We collected and published them.
This generated added demand for my expertise.

You can do the same thing for yourself.
It will make you an expert authority.
Want some free advice on how to do it?
Email me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com
It won’t cost you a dime. I’m glad to help.
To see what Victoria offers, click on
http://www.moreclientseasier.com/

Make yourself a media star

MidlandsBiz.com readers want business news.
They read it twice weekly.
Alan and Cheryl Cooper serve a special niche.
They feed that hunger for business news.
They publish my weekly business articles.
For a free subscription, email ccooper@MidlandsBiz.com

What you may not know is this. There’s more to business news that meets the eye.
1. Business news items are part of a marketing plan.
Each time your business is mentioned it:
• Puts your name in front of prospective clients.
• Reminds past and current clients of who you are.
• Reinforces your brand in their minds.
2. Local business news promotes your business.
• It provide the same tactics mentioned above.
• It gets people to talking about your business.
Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool.
• It is absolutely free. That’s right. Free.

That does not mean it comes without work.
If you do it yourself, you must know what to do.
You must know how to do it.
You must regularly take time to do it.
You may contract it out to a professional.
Some small businesses see that as an expense.
It is although it’s more than that.
• It’s a small investment to get it done right.
Professionals have the contacts and expertise.
They can get your news into the right media.
• It’s a legitimate business tax deduction.
Just like advertising, you can write it off.

I recommend business owners hire a pro.
It lets them do what they do best.
That frees you to run your business as they do it.
If you need a recommendation, email me.
JerryBellune@yahoo.com

I can teach you how to do it yourself.
It takes time but it pays off.
My new CD will tell you how to do it.
It's called “Make yourself a media star”
You can listen to it while driving to work.
It contains all the strategies you will need.
It retails for $49.99 - and worth every penny.

Here’s a special offer for my readers only.
We are raising $10,000 for literacy tutoring.
We teach people to read, write and get better jobs.
For a $25 donation, I’ll send you the CD.
That's a $49.99 value for only a $25 donation.
It’s introduced by a real pro, Homer Fesperman.
It contains two of my publicity workshops.
It’s easy to make a donation and get your copy.
Just call me at 359-7633.
We can do it by credit card over the phone.

Holiday gift idea

Want five of my personally autographed books?
Your $100 donation will help literacy tutoring.
Email me for details at JerryBellune@yahoo.com
Just put “Books” in the subject line.

Should we celebrate our failures?

To emphasize the obvious, failure is no fun.
It crushes the weak, the timid, the fragile.
It strengthens the brave, resilient and strong.
Failure toughens us.
It teaches valuable lessons.
We learn more from failure than success.

Thomas Edison failed gloriously.
He failed to create a light bulb.
More than 1,000 times.
Yet failures fired his curiosity.
It fueled his will to find an answer.
He kept learning from failure.
Do we celebrate his success?
We should. Can you imagine reading by firelight?
Shouldn’t we celebrate his failures as well?
Celebrate his tenacity and will to succeed?
His failures were where he learned the most.

Nassim Taleb has an intriguing idea.
He's an author and probability expert.
He says failure is good for all of us.
He makes this point in his new book:

“Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder”
He argues that without risks, we don’t get results.
Trial and error are creative.
We should celebrate failed entrepreneurs.
Like fallen soldiers, they gave their best. And we can learn from their failures.

Taleb argues for antifragile enterprises.
Fragile things like glass survive small shocks.
Stronger things like rocks survive most shocks.
Antifragile things are even better.
Antifragile things are improved by shock.
Shock tests and strengthens them.

Take restaurants and the economy.
Restaurants are a fragile enterprise.
Some fail - not because there are so many of them.
They fail because they don’t serve patrons well.
The economy is fragile, too.
Look at the last four years.
In contrast, health care is antifragile.
Long life spans guarantee that.

What about a trillion dollar restaurant bailout?
Lots of jobs and capital are at stake.
Look what Washington does with bailouts.
They bailed out banks and the auto industry.
Is your banker eager to give you a loan now?
Is Detroit making better cars?
What would result from a restaurant bailout?
Probably poorer food and lousier service.
More of us eating more often at home.

Bailouts don’t save jobs or industries.
They perpetrate mediocre performance.
Washington hasn’t figured that out yet.
But those of us in business certainly have.
Don’t settle for mediocrity.
Aim for the fences. Even if you fail.

Holiday gift idea
Want five of my personally autographed books?
Your $100 donation will help literacy tutoring.
Email me for details at JerryBellune@yahoo.com
Just put “Books” in the subject line.
May God bless you.