Do What You Were Meant to Do – Even If You Don’t Get Paid For It
“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Recently, DF, a friend and colleague, wrote me: “From the time he was a small toddler, Mozart was playing the piano. He could play the piano…
READ MOREAn “Artful” Way to Cut Your Tax Bill
“The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov If — as I do — you feel it is important to give to worthy charities, here’s a way you can be generous to others while you cut your tax bill by several thousand dollars…
READ MORECreate Change Safely
“When you are right, you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.” – Martin Luther King Jr. For years, Kimberly-Clark had made nice, steady profits selling paper wholesale. But when Darwin Smith took over as CEO, he believed the future was in consumer paper…
READ MOREThe Awful Truth About Teamwork
“Look over your shoulder now and then to be sure someone’s following you.” – Henry Gilmer In Dick Lyles’ book “Winning Ways”, a parable on success, Albert is hampered in business by his inability to work as a team member. His supervisor tells him to visit a local college-football coach…
READ MORE12 Insider Secrets to Successful Interviews
Any article (or sales letter) that you write must have its fair share of facts. And that’s where interviews come in. So, today, let’s talk about how to conduct a really productive interview. Secret No. 1: Ask questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. Though a “yes”…
READ MOREGet Out of Debt Fast With This Double-Barreled Approach
“Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt.” – Benjamin Franklin Do you spend more than you make? I used to. Struggling to pay for my education and start a family, I overspent because it seemed to provide some happiness, some relief. But the thrill of buying…
READ MOREProfessional Consulting
Did you know you can take your own expertise… and turn it into a lucrative and flexible career? You give advice. People pay for it. Handsomely. I’m talking about the business of professional consulting. According to the American Consultants League, consultants typically make $50,000 a year, even those that work…
READ MOREApprenticeship: A Fast Way to Become Great
“If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time insight into and understanding of many things.” – Vincent van Gogh For centuries, people have been learning marketable skills by apprenticing themselves to masters. In a standard apprenticeship program, there are three…
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What it Really Means When an Employee Threatens to Resign
When an employee threatens to resign, take a step back from the situation and ask these specific questions, both for them and yourself.
READ MORETips and Strategies for Selling a Service on the Web
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” – Charles Mingus Many people think that selling a service over the Web must require an entirely different approach than selling a product. But, in my experience, that is not the case. When you sell a…
READ MORECreative Techniques for Financing Low-Money-Down Real Estate
“I’d rather be a pimp with a purple hat . . . than be associated with banks.” – Pete Zamarello (real-estate developer) A small but growing minority of major lenders will lend you 90% on an investment property. Usually, this will come in the form of two loans. The first…
READ MORESecret Ways to Close a Sales Pitch
“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.” – Henry B. Stendhal Have you ever bought a car from a dealer? If so, you’ve probably been hit with every one of the sales techniques cited below and then some. Likewise, if…
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