Say Nothing but That Which Serves a Good Purpose
“Criticism should not be querulous and wasting, all knife and root-puller, but guiding, instructive, inspiring.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson If you’d like to make a major, powerful change in the way your team interacts, get them to agree to the following experiment. The Game: For a certain period of time…
READ MOREWant Better Kids? Stop Chauffeuring Them Around!
My wife and I were once “abusive” to our children. It occurred in the early years of our parenting. Convinced that we could raise the perfect children, we spent almost all our spare time enrolling them in educational and sporting activities, chauffeuring them around to their various lessons and practices,…
READ MOREHow To Make Your Important, Long-Term, Business Relationships Work
In a recent ETR message, I complained about Ann’s handwriting and her somewhat casual method of keeping track of tasks. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper. “I can’t imagine in what possible way that message could benefit either of us,” she said. “Now all the important people…
READ MOREDetermining the Value of a Small Business
CB: Let’s start with the basic question: Is there an easy way to figure out a fair price to pay for an existing business? MM: Yes — but only if you have all the right information. What you’re talking about is a “business valuation” — and there’s a whole accounting…
READ MOREMr. X Book
Dear ETR reader, I recently heard about an event, scheduled for this Tuesday, the 27th, that I believe can make a powerful and important difference in your life, your prosperity, and your financial independence. You’ve heard of Jay Abraham, he’s a contributor for ETR. He’s one of the most successful…
READ MOREBuy A Car, Not A Financial Burden
If you’re looking to buy a new car, you might be offered a longer and “cheaper” loan. Don’t be suckered in — it’s bad business all the way around. I know it doesn’t sound that serious, but consider this: According to Edmunds.com, 40% of new-car buyers owe more money…
READ MORE“Poaching” Employees: How To, When To
A talented young executive (let’s call him “Ralph”), having had, perhaps, a bit too much to drink at a business function, admitted to the manager of a different division of his company that he was not entirely happy with his situation and was unsure about his future. Within a week,…
READ MORERaise and Resolve Your Customer’s Main Objection
A necessary but often-overlooked technique for making your advertising work is to expose and eliminate your customers’ fears and objections. Every product or service has both benefits and drawbacks. Some of the drawbacks can make an otherwise good customer shy away from a purchase. Rather than ignore the drawbacks and…
READ MOREA Christmas Message
As I did last year, I’m going to be spending the day with my loved ones — my wife and children, my sister, my mother-in-law, and some of our very best friends. We’re going to get up when Michael, our youngest, wakes us. He’s 15 now — maybe too old…
READ MORENobody Likes the Pusher Man
“No pressure, no diamonds.” – Mary Case The Pusher Man is the go-to guy when it’s time to stop talking and get things done. He’s the haggler who pushes you to kick in every minute of the time and every bit of the resources you drunkenly agreed to invest in…
READ MORETwo Jobs You Should Never Delegate
“Whether a man is burdened by power or enjoys power; whether he is trapped by responsibility or made free by it; whether he is moved by other people and outer forces or moves them — this is of the essence of leadership.” – Theodore H. White (“The Making of the…
READ MOREWhy Employee Awards Don’t Work
“I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.” – Jack Benny During the 25 years I’ve been in business, I’ve been involved in at least a dozen employee-award programs. I’ve done employee-of-the-month awards, most-improved-employee awards, hardest-working-employee awards — you name it. If I…
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