This particular challenge item is to make $200.

Sounds simple enough, right?  However, the caveat is that the money must come to us indirectly from us trading work for it.

One of the key factors in entrepreneurship is that you don’t trade dollars for hours.  Instead you set up investment vehicles that do the work for you.

You see, you only have so many hours in the day.  If you have to work each of those hours to get money then you have given up some of your life that you will never get back.  This is called “earning a wage” (trading a unit of work for a unit of pay).

There are still more problems.

Even if you can make $1,000 an hour – then you will still reach a limit as to what you can earn.  And you still haven’t solved the problem of getting your free time back because you are still putting in hours to get it - and there are only so many in a day.  You’re eventually gonna run out.

Even if you go to school to become a doctor or lawyer you still have to trade your hours to receive money.

Knowing, and capitalizing from this information is what has always separated the truly wealthy from the working class.  (Note: doctors or lawyers know this - they just take their earnings and invest them instead of spending them.)

Is there something better?

Well, with morals and ethics aside – and even passion and purpose – there is a better way to do it.  It could be looked at as “receiving a return on investment” as opposed to “earning a wage”.  With this model there is no limit to how much you can make (or receive).  You are not limited by time.  You can scale horizontally.

How does this work?

Well, instead of learning a skill that requires you to trade dollars for hours you spend your time creating investment vehicles that bring in money while you are playing golf or sitting on some remote tropical beach.

This can come in the form of many different things.

A real estate investor or landlord buys land once, and can rent it out indefinitely.  An author or songwriter writes a book or song once (intellectual property) and collects royalties on it for life.

(One of the smartest things Keanu Reeves did was to ask for a small percentage of ongoing royalties, in addition to a salary, for his work in the Matrix movies.  In addition to his salary for his acting work, he will continuously be rewarded financially as long as the Matrix franchise makes money…)

You get the idea.

So, back to this post.

Our challenge is to make (recieve) $200 this year,  but we have to do it in the form of a product or service that we create once and collect on many times over (if not indefinitely).

That in actuality is the challenge – to make a product or service that we can collect residual income from – not to make $200.   The $200 just serves as a means to validate that the product is a legitimate one and has the potential to earn money – it is simply a means to gauge our success or failure.

Well, we have a full year to do it, so again you would think it would be pretty easy.  However, we both know it is not.

We work full time, are full time dads and are strapped for every possible resource needed (time, money, energy, a killer idea, etc…)

And that is only part of it.  You can’t make money unless a product is sold.  And it takes much more than making a product/service to get paid.

In fact, I would say that product creation is like 15% and marketing is 85%.

And that is where it gets ugly.

So, to be able to make and produce a viable & desirable product, market it effectively, sell and deliver it hands off is a pretty tall challenge.

I have tried many different times and I have always dropped the ball (most probably due to lack of success and failure to maintain interest in what I was attempting to do - amongst other things to discuss later).

Well, in 2011, I am gonna take another stab at it.

This time, I am going to take all that I learned from the past and use it to my advantage to become successful this time around.

The two most important things I learned is that I have to maintain interest in what I am doing - and I/it must come from an area of expertise/authority that would ensure a quality product or service.

These are two aspects that I failed at in the past, but believe I have an idea on how to fix going forward.

I hope to document this journey here with this series of blog posts.

The next (post) on being what are the two of the most important things in choosing your product/service and niche – and how to be successful with it.

Stay tuned!

This is something that I have wanted to do for over a year or so.

Logistics and information have been my main barrier - but this year, 2011, I am gonna make it happen.

There is a lot of information out there on making bio-diesel from algae, but nothing for the beginner.  Especially in terms of how-to for the complete non-technical, nor mechanically declined newbie.

This is where I had always dropped the ball.

Well, now, I think I will take another stab at it…

But first, some background…

Diesel engines do not run on gasoline - they run on diesel.  These engines can also be outfitted to run on raw vegetable oil (oil from peanuts, corn, cottonseed and soy to name a few), or the raw vegetable oil can be outfitted to run in a diesel engine (bio-diesel).

For a quick and entertaining introduction on bio-diesel, watch these discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKpIB1HYKM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaaFsWNqLPI

One of the problems is production.

A field of corn may only yield 50 gallons an acre - and take significant time to grow), whereas algae may yield 6,000 gallons an acre - and take significantly less time to grow.  They can also grow indoors, underground, year round - and make use of vertical scaling.

The oil density of algae could be anywhere from 20 to 70% of its mass!

Plus the growing of algae converts CO2 to oxygen to boot!   Very Green!!!

To see people doing this, simply hop on over to YouTube and do a search for “algae” and “bio diesel”.

The basics are this:

1. Grow algae in a some kind of reactor (basically a tank with flowing water,  UV light, an algae strain and some food for the algae).
2. After the algae grows, and causes the density of the water to be primarily algae, it is harvested.
3. After harvesting, all the water is removed - either through some form of centrifuge or filter, or drying.
4. You are left with pure algae
5. You then need to extract the oil from the algae - this can be done with an expeller press.  You will be left with dried algae, and oil.
6. The oil will be a raw form of vegetable oil that can be used in an diesel engine outfitted to run straight VO (vegetable oil).
7. The oil can be converted to bio-diesel so that it can run in any standard diesel engine.

As I had mentioned above, I always dropped the ball when I needed information and instructions for a small scale testing operation.

Well, I now have an idea of how I am going to make it work.

I will give myself the entire year to make a batch of oil (converted to bio-diesel) to run a small diesel generator.

I found a small generator on Amazon that I would purchase to do my testing…

Amazon link

Hopefully, I could get a used one pretty cheap from eBay or Craigslist.

But that comes later…

When it comes to growing and harvesting algae, most of the contraptions on the internet seemed pretty complicated.

You can do a Google image search - or a video search on Google or YouTube for “algae” and “bio reactor”. There are a few home jobs and people selling either them or instructions for building them yourself.

The problem I foresaw was the harvesting, drying, and extraction of the algae…  This was never covered.  Nor was cleaning these bio-reactors.

Some typical bio-reactors:

(just do a Google image search on algae bio-reactor)

The approach I will take will be about as simple as I can get!

I will not build a complex bio reactor, but just use a basic 40 gallon fish tank/aquarium.

For the aeration, I will use a bubbler - probably more than one.

For the UV Lighting, I will rig a couple lights each on both side of the tank.

I will fill it with water, an algae strain, food and let it go!

For harvesting, I will use a basic water pump to pump all the water out of the tank (with algae) into another tank (or just a large, heavy duty Rubbermaid/Tupperware bin).  But with some sort of filter in place to retain and hold the algae.  More on this later.

For algae separation:

Once the algae is in the filter container - most of the water should be out, but I will need to let it sit for sometime to get as much water out as possible.

Once that has completed, I will have to move the algae over to a drying table to get the rest of the water out.  For this entire process, I do not know how long it will take… We will just have to wait and see.

(Before I go forward, I will need to research on how to make sure all the water is out.)

After it is as dry as it can get, the algae will have to go into an press.  This will get the oil out of the algae.

To see how that works, watch these videos:

Those are larger scale operations, but you get the idea.

You can get a much smaller home press - which is the route I will take for my experimentation:

or: 

Once extracted, you will have leftover algae without the oil.  Ill have to research what this can be used for - maybe it can be sold. 

As far as the oil, it is crude, and needs to be filtered cleaned, and potentially made into bio diesel:

Well, that’s it for now…

I will make another post after I have done some research on parts / costs / procedures…

Until next time!

I think it is about time to update it.

The two primary things I wanted to use this for was to document what I was doing in terms for “eating healthy” for the new year and specifically to meet my challenges.

They were:

1. Eat one meal replacement salad four times per week for 40 days straight (starting on Jan 1).  To clarify, for at least 4 meals, I will replace that meal with a hefty salad - not incorporate a salad into that meal.  This means a lot of Jason’s Deli, Souper Salad and homemade ones as well.
2. Drink at least 4 green shakes per week for 40 days straight (starting on Jan 1).  In case you dont know what a “Green Shake” is, it is simple a smoothie made with an array of super healthy green vegeatbles + added fruits for sweetening and taste.  They get their name becuase they are green :-).  Do a Google web/image/video search on green shake and you can get a ton of info.
3. Do a fast food fast for 40 days.  This is pretty sef explanetory.

So, those are the challenges.  As you can see, they revolve around a 40 day time span.  The reason for that is specific, but wont get into it here.  You can do a Google search on the spiritual significance of 40 to find out more.  Also, many people believe that 40 days is the right amount of time to gerninate new habits or break old ones.

There are a number of other things I am working on in terms of eating healthy that center around added things: such as milti-vitamins, concentrated greens, fish oils, etc…  Removed/reduced things:  white starches, caffeine, beer, concentrted juices, etc…  And modified things:  replacing some coffee intake with green/white and black teas, etc…

As an update to this post it is in the second week of 2011 and I have met week 1 with success:

4 MREs (meal replacement salads) and 4 green shakes.

Ready for week 2!

Getting ready to run!

As part of my 2011 New Years resolutions, I have decided to get into shape and get healthy.

This is also the result of a challenge my brother in law presented me with (which you can read about here).

Part of that entails running a half marathon before the end of 2011.

In this post, I will document my journey to completing that Marathon.

For starters, the half marathon that I have chosen to complete is this one:

White Rock Centennial Half Marathon

It cost $70 for non-members, and is expected to sell out because it only will allow 2100 runners.

It is on may 7th.

This will give me about 5 months to prepare…

To start things off, my initial weigh-in on January 1st is 205 pounds.

I will document my running on this post as well

______________________

January  1  --   .9 miles
January  2  --  1.8 miles
January  3  --  rest day
January  4  --  rest day
January  5  --  3.0 miles
January  6  --  4.5 miles (2.5 straight, last two: walk/run intervals)
January  7  --  rest day
January  8  --  5.0 miles (3 straight, last two: walk/run intervals)
January  9  --  rest day
January 10  --  

______________________

Stay tuned to this thread, as it will be updated with my latest results…

So, I will use it to capture my journey through some of the new years challenge that I have taken for myself.

It all started when my brother in law (Richard) asked if I would accept the idea of each of us deciding to choose and challenge each other with news years resolutions/challenges.

It is an idea he got from Tim Ferriss (author of 4-Hour Work Week and the 4-Hour Body), an author we both have read, listened to and respect.

I suggested we come up with “joint challenges” together and make it “interesting”.

We came up with 10 to be completed before the end of 2011.

If either of us fail, then we lose the challenge and have to suffer the consequence(s).

The price for failure that we decided upon was to wear the NFL jersey (or some form of apparel) of the others team for at least 5 key dates during the 2011 football season.

For example, I am a cowboys fan, and he is a Saints fan.  If he loses – he has to wear a Cowboys shirt/jersey to work in New Orleans amongst his peers, and perhaps on game day.  At least 5 times.  I would do the same.

So, for starters, here are our 10 challenges that we each have to complete in the year 2011:

1. Run a half marathon
2. Sign up for and attend at least 8 visits to some form of MMA training
3. Fast food fast for 40 days
4. Go green:
   1. Scott: Add 4 meal replacement salads per week for 40 days
   2. Scott: Add 4 green shakes/juicings per week for 40 days
   3. Richard:  Add something green every meal for 40 days
5. Lose 20 pounds
6. 5 Books to read jointly and discuss (So far we have decided on):
   1. 4-Hour Body (link)
   2. Born to Run (link)
   3. I will teach you to be rich (link)
   4. How to make millions with your ideas (link)
   5. [tbd…]
7. Create a product/service, market it and make $200 (This must follow the entrepreneurial rule of not trading dollars for hours.  Meaning, work once - collect residual income for ever.  An example of this would be creating a form of intellectual property or own real estate that you rent.  More details to come…)
8. Establish online presence
9. Curl at least 35 lbs. at least 10 times (I personally would like to use kettle bells)

Well – that’s it for the joint resolutions.

I have a number of others here that I will include for just me:

1. Go more veg
2. Go more natural
3. Organize and downsize considerably – both mentally and physically
4. Read the Bible cover to cover (more on this later)
5. Reduce significant debt
6. Establish second form of income (residual – this will hopefully use item 7 above as a springboard)
7. Remove amalgams (mercury based fillings)
8. Radically alter my diet for optimal nutrition and health
9. Get seriously healthy!  Healthier than I have ever been  (Many items above will serve as a catalyst to this)
10. Makeover office
11. Develop/Establish/Implement better household management
12. Develop/Establish/Implement better personal goals and achievements - and the means to make them happen
13. Get happier (lose some baggage :-))

There are actually many more than this that I will bring up later, but for now – these are the high level ones.

I will also go over these in more detail as I start them.

For starters, on January 1 – I weighed in.

I am 205 pounds.

Official Weigh In

I also did my first run.

Well, that’s it for now…

I will use this post as a starting point and update it often with links to other posts and related links.

Stay tuned for more as I document this journey!!!  

2.  The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.

3.  It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.

4.  Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.

5.  Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.

6.  Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

7.  If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

8.  Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.

9.  If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.

10.  Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

11.  If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably a wise investment.

12.  If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.

13.  Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.

14.  Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

15.  The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

16.  A closed mouth gathers no foot.

17.  Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

18.  There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

19.  Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving .

20.  Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

21.  Never miss a good chance to shut up.

And…

22.  Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

I personally believe that the network marketing financial compensation model is one of the greatest revenue plans out there.  And for that reason I am hooked - as are many others.

I simply love it!  Always have and always will…

If a person takes the time to seriously think about how it works, it’s no question that the true potential becomes apparent.

And with everyone who has got involved (and continues to become involved) with MLM, it’s safe to say they probably felt/feel the same way.

With all things being perfect, here is how it would go down:

You find just 5 people, and teach them each to do the same.  If that happened down to 5 generational levels – and if you were earning only 1$ per month on each person – you would be making about $4,000 a month residual!!!

I won’t spend but that one paragraph explaining the model – it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out how it all works…

So, what’s the problem?

Why have so many failed in network marketing?

Not only that, why is the industry hated soooo much by soooo many people?

Mainly – empty promises by those who recruit others into the business.

Here are a few:

• All you need to do is find just a few, and teach them do the same (the emphasis on this lie is “All you need to do”)
• The product sells it self
• You just need to make a list of people you know – and you will have all the signups you need
• Once your downline is started, it grows automatically.

What would happen, if a recruiter told something more akin to the truth:

• Chances are your going to have to find a lot of people, because 99% wont be interested, resent you for asking – and the one percent that you do convince to join will probably not be successful and lose money and friends before he makes any back – so he will quit.
• Without adequate training, you will be left to your own devices to try to market this product on anyone you can find by any means possible.
• The product you are selling is an inferior product that is wrapped up in an money making opportunity, but that’s ok – because we are using it to make money and people will see that.
• You are going to have to buy tons of product that you may not want or need and it will probably sit in your garage collecting dust.
• You will have to make a list of all your friends and family and bug them to join.  Chances are they are already aware these types of so-called “opportunities” and wont want to join.  Many will probably look at you in a negative manner afterwards.
• Even if you do get a few on your frontline, most won’t make a go of it because they are not serious about building a business – and will eventually drop out.

But with all of this, MLM is still very much alive.  And there are quite a few people who continue to thrive in this industry.

The math is there.

For this reason, I still remain hopeful.

So, in 2009 – is it still possible to get involved in MLM and make a successful run of it?

Absolutely!

The first and most important thing you must do is completely overhaul your understanding of MLM.

And overhaul how you promote this industry.

Integrity is key.  Integrity on the part of the company to deliver a quality product that works at a competitive price point with similar products – or by providing a product that truly is revolutionary and doesn’t exits in the marketplace.

It also takes integrity on the part of the individual sales associate.

Two things one must do:

1. Tell the truth about the industry
2. Work with a professional integrity

Here are some things to think about.

• Never lie about how the industry works.  Be honest with expectations one can face when starting in this industry.
• Never push your product on others, instead treat it like a professional business.
• Advertise your product and let those (and only those) who are interested come to you
• Respect peoples decisions and privacy.

And when choosing a company and a person to help you represent them, consider the following:

• Find someone who doesn’t hype up a product or opportunity (beyond reason).
• Find someone who works exclusively with their downline to help them become successful.
• Look for satisfied customers.
• Look for a company/team that has professional marketing/promotional and training tools – ask to see all of them ahead of time.
• Look for a company that wont make you commit to more product than you can use for yourself in the designated period.

There is a new wave of people in this industry who refuse to compromise it.  Attraction marketing is the best thing that has happened to this industry, and it is the only way to go.

I will save what attraction marketing is for another post – but it basically means you put yourself out there in a way so that those who want what you have can find you and *choose on their terms* to do business with you because you have proven yourself to be a positive attribute and help to them - regardless of what is in it for you - thus establishing trust, credibility and a sincere desire to want to work with this person.

• These people conduct their business like a business and with complete honesty and integrity.
• You provide authentically helpful service to others without regard to anything in return for yourself.
• People will naturally gravitate to you.

MLM and many other work-at-home opportunities are still very much in high demand.  And people, both newcomers – and those who have been burned in the past, are looking.  They will choose to partner with people that make them feel like they matter, comfortable and have a feeling like they can work with this person and ultimately become successful with them.

There is a lot more to say about MLM and finding the right company/product and sponsor/team - also about how to successfully establish and build a business in this industry.

But for now, I just wanted to cover some of the high points…

My advice – do not rule out MLM – you truly can make a great income/living from this industry.  But it is up to you to do your due diligence to understand exactly what is to be expected and what it takes to succeed.

Best of luck!

At first I didn’t see it.  But after a quick clarification in the terminology and description, I am now blown away…

I am not one for cash gifting operations, but you don’t have to get involved in cash gifting to take advantage of a 1-up / 1up / 1 up  pay plan – there are many sites that use payment processors to do the lifting for you – and its not a “gift”, they will provide you with a slew of products…  Mainly just stuff you can get online for free, but it helps with the legalities

Here’s how it works:

You, I will call you “Joe”, decide you want to join a “1up payplan”.   So, you find one you like and drop your one-time fee, lets say its $125.00 - $100 goes to the guy who recruited / invited you – and $25 goes to the house as an administrative fee. (how nice for them).

Now, you are in the system…  No more payments from you ever…  (it’s a one-time deal)

You are not qualified to start receiving money yet – because there is one more thing you have to do.

The first person you invite or recruit into the system is your “qualifier” – and you have to send him up to your sponsor – hence the “1 up”.

So that first person you recruited – let’s call her Beth.

Well, you will never see or hear from Beth again – she was sent up to your recruiter / sponsor, we will call him Bob.

So, Bob got a free person underneath you.

Now, at this point – you are ready to start earning money on the new people you recruit.

So, the next person you invite – lets call him Mike – he pays $125 to get in – and you get $100 immediately!  ($25 went to the house).  No money (or downline members) goes to your sponsor Bob anymore…  You never have to deal with him again.

But, here is where it gets interesting…

When Mike finds his first person (lets cal her Sally), he send that person up to you…  Not just the $100 profit from the sale, but the whole person gets added to your immediate downline!!!!

Now, Mike is out of the picture – he has earned for his freedom (by sending you someone to take his place), and he can start earning his direct keep.

But lets go back to Sally (who mike sent to you as a 1-up qualifier) – since she is brand new, she has to become qualified.  So, when she finds her first – she also send her first up to you – we will call him Rick.  You know have Mike, Sally and Rick on your first line.

Sally is now free (because she sent her first 1-up qualifier – Rick).

Now, in order for Rick to qualify – he has to find his first and give him to you.

He finds Jane, and passes her up to you.

He is now free to start his own, but here is how your frontline looked - all from finding “Mike”

Mike -> Sally -> Rick -> Jane

All from finding just Mike - each time they leave, each has to “Qualify” by sending their first to you…

Remember, you only originally found Mike – but you now have Sally, Rick and Jane as well.

In order for Jane to breakaway – she has to qualify as well – so she will find her first – lets call her Pam.

Pam is now under you, looking to qualify…

You get the picture…

Once it sunk in, just how powerful a 1-up is, it blew my mind!

No pyramid scheme here!  And as long as you provide worthy material for the products you deliver – then you are in the clear…

I will come back to this post to clean it up a bit and perhaps add some “visual aids” to help make it clearer.

My confusion was that I thought that you only pass up the profit – so that you could really only make $200 on each person (his, and the profit from his qualifying sale).

But once I realized that they send up the whole person to your immediate downline – and they in turn had to do the same thing – I saw just how it can go on to inifinity!

But it doesnt stop there – you will keep doing your part as an internet marketer and building powerlines – with each one bringing in new qualifiers…

This is way cool and VERY exciting – and I now have the *bug* to share this remarkable (shall I say revolutionary) payplan with everyone!

Good Luck – and take care…

A woman was waiting at an airport one night
With several long hours before her flight
She hunted for a book in the airport shop
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see
That the man beside her as bold as could be
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene

She munched cookies and watched the clock
As this gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by
Thinking “If I wasn’t so nice I’d blacken his eye”

With each cookie she took he took one too
And when only one was left she wondered what he’d do
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh
He took the last cookie and broke it in half

He offered her half as he ate the other
She snatched it from him and thought “Oh brother
This guy has some nerve and he’s also rude
Why he didn’t even show any gratitude”

She had never known when she had been so galled
And sighed with relief when her flight was called
She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat
Then sought her book which was almost complete
As she reached in her baggage she gasped with surprise
There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes

“If mine are here” she moaned with despair
“Then the others were his and he tried to share”
“Too late to apologize she realized with grief”
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief

Suppose you are writing about the best tasting corn dog ever.

You could title your article “A Chance Encounter at the Texas State Fair”.  This might be a great article or post that your reader will totally enjoy - but what kind of results will that get you in terms of search results.

Even if it’s the best article, if no one can find it, will it matter?

The bottom line, as far as SEO is concerned, is that the keywords that people use in their search requests matter and Google will do its part to deliver what it thinks are the best results of that search.

If you want to write about the best tasting corn dog, you might do well to title your article or post “The Best Tasting Corndog Ever”

If you want your article or post to generate targeted traffic in regards to this search phrase, then this only makes sense.

You have to get into the minds of the people you are trying to reach by finding out what they are trying to find – and *EXACTLY* how they go about doing it.

It is imperative that you get a good keyword research tool (I can recommend one later) and use that to cross reference what sites Google delivers.

Make this an ongoing part of your overall SEO strategy.

Google is constantly changing the way it does things and just having a keyword dense article is not the best approach anymore.  And I personally believe that for long term positive branding of you, your product or service – you shouldn’t compromise quality just to get search results.

But you have to use your head and approach it in a kind of hybrid approach.

Often times just identifying the problem or solution the end user has or is trying to resolve is probably the best way to craft your article.

The last thing I want you to think about is watching the overall results that your post or article brings.  Tweaking things (especially titles) to see if your results change may do some good as well.  If a single title change brings in more visitors, then you know just how important this aspect of article writing can be.

As an experiment, write an article based solely on who you want to bring in.  After obtaining initial results, change it up and see how your results may change.

This kind of information can completely change your entire marketing initiative for the better.

I hope this helps.

More to come…

That’s because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: ‘I’m Wally, your driver.. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’

Taken aback, Harvey read the card.

It said: Wally’s Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’

My friend said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’

Wally smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.’

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, ‘I’ll take a Diet Coke.’

Handing him his drink, Wally said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.’

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card,  ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

‘Tell me, Wally,’ my amazed friend asked the driver, ‘have you always served customers like this?’

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard on the radio one day that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining!  Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

That hit me right between the eyes,’ said Wally. ‘That was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers.. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’

‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ Harvey said.

‘It sure has,’ Wally replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it.

You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.’

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab.  I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles..

How about us?

(If you didnt, now you do)

Unfortunately many people think in terms of quantity not quality.

I think that if people think they can somehow maximize search returns by attempting to cover a multitude of tags and topics - they will get better returns and visits to their site.

I think that doing this, instead of putting out quality content, can ultimately hurt your brand.

Think about this:  Would you rather have one single video with superior qaulity, or a bunch of tastless uncreative videos that cover a multitude of slighly varied topics and tags?

In terms of Virality and positive association with your brand - what would provide better returns in the long run.

I would rather have just one video - and make it professional grade.  Make it something worth sharing, worth bookmarking, worth telling their friends about, worth following the associated link back to your site in order to find out more.

I think this is the better path to long term success and positive branding.

By no means do I suggest making one video.  Rather, make one video at a time and make each one your very best.

Just something to think about.

Become a YouTube Rock Star, not a public access nobody!

It’s a word I learned from Robert G. Allen

Basically, it means your ability to move a lot – or make a lot happen with little effort.

It’s crucial to understand how leverage works in business, and just how important it is.

Example:

If you have a mailing list of 5 people, then you have no leverage.
If you have a mailing list of 25,000 people, then you have leverage.
If you have a mailing list of 125,000 people, then you have MASSIVE leverage.

Here’s another example:

If you have a website that generates 5 hits a months, you have no leverage.
If you have a website that generates 25,000 hits a months, then you have leverage.
If you have a website that generates 125,000 hits a months, then you have MASSIVE leverage.

If those 125,000 people are targeted to what you sell and are ready to pay $$$, well - you know…

You see where I am going with this?

Now, obviously money is the best form of leverage, but I didn’t want to come out with that one first.

If you have $100,000 in cold hard cash lying around, you have some serious leverage.  And its universal leverage – you can do just about anything with it.  You can invest it immediately and see immediate returns from it.  This is why they say the rich get richer.  And it is why the rich who get richer do so at an exponential level.

But these are not the only types of leverage.  You may not have a list of people you can take advantage of.

Instead you may have a Rolodex full of rain-makers who love you and are willing to help you out.

Or you may just have one person who has a lot of leverage that can help you out.  If you have the ability to work with someone else who has leverage – then you ultimately have the same leverage.  Here is an example.  Suppose you have an uncle that has a storefront that gets about 3000 people a day.  If he allows you to promote your product or service in that storefront for free – or for a significantly smaller commission than he would normally charge, then you are set!

Are you starting to see how all of this works?

Two things for you to think about:

1. Think of all the types of leverage that there is out there in the business world, and how they can be applied.
2. Think of ways that you can start to harness leverage so that when you need to apply it – you will have it.

One great business idea and the leverage to get the traction it needs to move - then that may be all you need to make it.

If you start now, maybe in a year or two it will be the difference between success and failure in your entrepreneurial endeavor.

Always be thinking about these two things.

The best forms of leverage may take a long time to build – so even if you don’t have a product or service, start building your leverage now.

This is why entrepreneurs network.

This is why people do joint ventures.

Start building your leverage now!

And remember – even if you don’t have a product, you always need to be building the brand of “You”!

Ciao,
- Scott

It was called “The Secret”

It kind of took the world by storm and became a little phenomenon in its own right…

This was a basic introduction to a small subset of one of the general laws of metaphysics called the “Law of Attraction”.

Its basic premise is that you attract (or manifest) into your experience that which you focus (think or visualize) on.

The Secret brought to the general population a sort of “Metaphysics 101” on just one of its most fundamental (but major) laws.

Does it work?

Yes and No.

In the simplest way I can describe, it works in that our internal state of affairs (karma) will be manifested outward for a greater purpose than to just grant the wishes of our egos.

It doesn’t work in the very simple way it has been communicated to the masses – which is just by thinking about a thing will bring that thing into ones experience.

At least this is not how it works for me.

The Law of Attraction (LOA) is *not* a new concept to many people.

I would describe myself as having been a believer in, and practicing student (I say that loosely) of, some of the more practical aspects of metaphysics since about the mid to late 80’s – when I was in my mid-teens.

I was brought into this mysterious world when I was at the library looking for books on psychology.

(Note: I was looking for books on psychology because I believed, even at that time, that understanding/mastery of the mind to be one of the most important skills one can have.  So, in a way, even before coming to learn about this field called “metaphysics” I was unknowingly looking for it)

If you know the Dewey Decimal System, you know that books on psychology are placed right next to books on “Parapsychology” which was the term given to this field of pseudo science.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parapsychology

As I wandered into this section, I was floored at the books and topics available to me.

For some reason, I felt that I had uncovered some hidden treasure trove of the all the collected secret wisdom of the ages.  I devoured everything I could get my hands on.

As this was prior to the Internet, my only access to this information was the library.  But I soon ended up on all kinds of esoteric mailing lists and started receiving catalogs of the most bizarre books and manuals.

As I mentioned, this was in the mid to late 80’s – and due to the weirdness of it all, I didn’t share my new found interest with anyone.  It became a hidden pursuit that I have had till this day.

I felt like some sort of “in the closet” sorcerers apprentice.

I had covered at least learning about all the great mystery traditions:
(Alchemy, Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, etc…)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_mystery_tradition

I started to learn about the eastern religions and philosophies:
(Bhuddism, Zen, Hinduism)

I gathered every bit of channeled material and NDE (Near Death Experiences) I could get my hands on.

I started to see the light of eternal Enlightenment as the common thread between all that I read…

For me it was all very highly seductive

I had (and still have) a burning desire to see how all of this could fit together into a cohesive model that I could apply to my own life.  And as a Christian, I also needed to see how this fit together with the mystical aspects of my own faith.  It is something that I still very passionate about to this day.

Well, I won’t go into it all – but you can get serious information overload.  And since, by the very nature of it, dealing with things outside of the realm of verifiable science – and with things that can corrupt your mind or even your very soul – it can get dark and scary pretty fast.

I backed off of anything that wasn’t directly related to how the mind/thinking related to our outward experience.  And since I was a Christian, I had to be careful of what I chose to read, do and believe in.

So, back to the thread topic.  Does the LOA work.  Yes.  But it can take lifetimes to understand and apply effectively in ones life.  I am still learning and am only beginning to see how my thoughts affect my life and how the seeds I planted yesterday take root today, and can see the vision of what they will be tomorrow.

As I mentioned, not in the way The Secret has shared it with the world, but rather by knowing that my thoughts have had a direct impact on my outer world and in how I experience it – a Definite Yes!

There is no question to this.

In the past years, I am re-focusing on what I believe to be the most important thing: how our mind and consciousness are our real realities and how by working with that which animates them can improve ones experience.

I have learned wonderful things in how all of this works.  And if you are serious about it, its time to learn not what The Secret teaches, but some of the fundamental truths of how, not just our thinking, but EVERYTHING that is in our sub-conscious makeup makes up our outward experience.

I want to share what I have found with anyone who wants to listen.  I will do so via this blog in future posts to come.

But that’s it for now – be sure to subscribe to the blog via the RSS feed icon on the top.

As soon as I can get my thoughts straight I will start to lay it out…

Until then, take care…