JVBlogger

A Great Sales Person Solves Problems - They Don’t Sell Solutions.

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:07:45 +0000

When I meet someone, I listen carefully to establish what pain he or she is suffering. It’s usually in one or all of three areas: Finances, Time, and Freedom. I then get the prospective customer to elaborate on his pain,
using open-ended questions. I turn the knife in the wound, as it were. I ask:

How does this situation affect him, personally?
What impact does it have on his family?
How will it affect his future?
In fact, if he doesn’t solve the problem?
What will his life look like in two years?
What are the consequences of NOT solving his problem?

Now that he realizes he has a problem, and having dwelt on it, is acutely aware of his need to solve it, I have him tell me what his life could be like should he be able to solve his problem:

How will he personally feel once this problem has been resolved?
What effect will it have on his family and profits?
How will it change his future?
Give him a glimpse of the rewards he will reap by solving the problem.

Next, I become the solution, or the bridge to his better life, by connecting him with whatever product or service is necessary to solve his problem. When I connect him with the business that solves his problem, I
receive an on-going (yes, I said on-going) commission from that business. That income is 100% margin to me, if it is not my own product or service, so I can’t lose. I create value and get paid for it, and I have a happy customer. Whether he buys from me or not doesn’t matter - he is happy and I made money. I solved his problem and was paid for the service.

Link supply and demand and get paid.

It’s not about you or your business - it’s about value. Be a good listener, help people to get what they want, and you get rich. Stop telling people about your products and services - they don’t care. They care about their problems and goals, and you need to shut up and listen to them so that you can solve their problems and make money. Selling is old hat, as out of date as a commodore 64 computer, boring, childish, and naïve. Solving is the way things work these days, and the ideal vehicle is Joint Ventures.

Robin J. Elliott
www.JVWisdom.com

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Success is all but Guaranteed if you Go The Extra Mile.

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:10:05 +0000

We bought a washer/dryer at Sears. The salesman came round to my house in his own time to disconnect the water pipes at no charge, the night before delivery of the new appliances. He had a great, friendly, helpful attitude. He recommended I buy longer pipes and a longer drainage pipe so that it would fit better, which I did. When the machines were installed, the installers forgot to remove the supports, so when we turned the appliances on, they leapt around like kangaroos. The salesman came over, fixed everything, and arranged a $100 discount.

This salesman used his own, private time, got his clothes dirty, never complained, went the extra mile, and made sure we were happy customers. Amazing service. Would I want to help him, send him business, and support him in any way I could? You bet I would. Did he have to sell me anything, pitch anything, or ask for anything? No. My daughter is about to buy a new fridge. I called her and suggested she give this salesman her business.

I have an amazing insurance / financial planning guy who has been a great benefit to me and to strong businesspeople for who I have lots of respect. I refer him to people and he gives them a complimentary consultation. He saves me thousands in tax – why would I not refer him? He didn’t have to ask me to do so, because he went the extra mile. He’s reliable, honest. Astute, professional, always on time, and responds fast. You will probably e-mail me and ask for his telephone number. I’ll be glad to pass it on (if you’re in Canada.)

When you take the time to go into the forest to chop the wood, meticulously prepare the fire, get your hands dirty, and make sure the thing blazes away, you deserve to enjoy the heat, but not before. Entitlement, arrogance, socialism, shoddy service, and impatience robs many people of excellent referrals in business. It’s not about the money, honey. I don’t even know what I paid for the washer/dryer stuff – I just chose the most expensive and bought it. It’s all about the service.

“If you want a friend, BE a friend” – good advice. If you want benefits, you have to contribute. When the contribution stops, losers don’t understand why they’re not still enjoying the benefits. Create massive, unexpected, glittering value, and you can rest assured smart people will reciprocate. We bought expensive hardwood flooring from Home Depot and had it delivered and unpacked. Then we sent it all back again three days later since the floor was too uneven. They collected it and didn’t charge us a blue cent. They even paid the delivery and the installers. They didn’t have to. Now we’re loyal customers, and this article will be read by thousands of people.

Yes, what goes around comes around. Keep your promises, deliver on time, be friendly and helpful, and you will have little competition. Give additional service and go the extra mile, and your success is all but guaranteed if you’re serving good people. If not, you’ll wake up one morning to find you have been replaced by someone who understands this. We help those who help us. The good news is that you can use Joint Ventures to create MASSIVE additional value that your competition can never equal, at no cost to you.

Robin J., Elliott
www.JVWisdom.com

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A Struggle Just May Be Exactly What You Need To Grow Strong

Robin J. Elliott — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:25:36 +0000

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

And we could never fly…

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Getting the Right Advice From The Right Business Experts

Robin J. Elliott — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:51:37 +0000

Too many people take advice from people who should not be permitted to give advice. The blind, it seems to me, spend far too much time leading the blind. This is particularly true when it comes to small business. People sign up for government-run “Self Employment Programs”, often conducted by low-paid people who failed in business themselves. How can a business failure who earns $3,000 per month in a government job teach you how to succeed in business? You’ve go to be joking.

Jim Addison said, “never take advice from anyone more who is screwed up than you are”, so entrepreneurs pay “Business Coaches” and “Consultants” a fortune to sink deeper into debt and despondency. The key is to find a coach or consultant who is actually capable of running your business better than you do. Think about it. Jim Stovall said, “Only learn from people who already have what you want.” We asked a very wealthy friend for his advice and it earns us over $10,000 per month in passive income. A bum on a bench will not give you the same advice as a judge on the bench. Your bank manager has no idea how to run a successful business, since she is an employee. What ask for her business advice? After all, she works for you.

Find people who are very successful in the area yin which you wish to prosper, and learn from them. Find richer, smarter, more successful people than you are to learn from. And please do your due diligence and check them out first. Anyone can tell you a wonderful story and exaggerate the facts. Insist on proof. In many cases, it’s “Big hat, no cattle”. Don’t be impressed with their smart, leased car and their home that is mortgaged to the hilt. When someone has to tell you how wealthy they are, they usually have no money. “I live in West Vancouver”. Yes, in a rented room someone else’s house. A shiny business card and expensive brochure doth not make the man. Take your time before seeking advice. The oracle may just turn out to be an ox.

At DollarMakers, we tell it like it is, we keep it real, and we build solid relationships with people before hopping into business bed with them. That’s why we encourage people to attend meetings and participate in the conference calls, Bootcamps, and the Cancun Convention. We’re excited to have some wonderful Members and as we grow you get access to more and more exceptional people.

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Sales Managers Can Overcome The Massive Challenge Of Motivating Their Sales Team

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:58:48 +0000

In any business, Sales play an integral part in their success. Sales Managers often have trouble getting their sales team to deliver on expectations or promises.

Some Sales Managers experience the following challenges:

Unproductive salespeople who specialize in whining new tunes
Salespeople complaining that the customers can’t afford their products and services
Economic downturns
Absenteeism and showing up late
Salespeople that are not loyal and leave for the slightest pay increase or incentive
Salespeople that make excuses and are lazy
Strong competition
Hard to find and keep good salespeople
No new information or tools to motivate their salespeople - they’ve heard it all before.

With our Joint Venture Broker Bootcamps and upcoming JV Broker Home Study Course, we turn those on their head.

We offer Sales Managers the following tools for their beloved sales teams:

Create unlimited streams of eager, qualified, and primed prospects
Differentiate yourself from the competition by creating massive added value at no cost
Offer huge, compelling incentives, bonuses and premiums to prospects for making a buying decision, at no cost to you
Learn how to get the prospect’s undivided attention and lifelong loyalty
Stop selling, and start solving
Increase sales closing/conversion ratios through the roof by using our proven systems
Offer your salespeople exciting and valuable sales target bonuses at no cost to you

Our customized, in-house, 5-hour Joint Venture Bootcamps turn snailspeople into salespeople.

We’re all about working smart and getting results.

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The 7 Best Ways to Keep Your Customers from Switching to Your Competitors.

Robin J. Elliott — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:48:22 +0000

We watched an old 1966 movie last night, called OSCAR, in which the Maitre D’, a failed film star, tells the famous film-star just how precarious the film star’s position really is. It’s human nature to avoid reality, wear blinkers, and stick our heads in the sand, but facts are facts. Your eager replacement is waiting in the wings. If you don’t perform, you will be replaced fast, and the scary part is that you won’t even know it until it’s too late.

We all buy life insurance, houses, websites, holidays, cars, furniture, and many other things, and we are free to decide whom to purchase from. I had someone call me and ask me, “Why didn’t you buy from me?” My response was very simple: “You didn’t earn the right. You need to earn my business. You didn’t.” Last week I had someone ask me to recommend a realtor. I know a few realtors, but there was not one that I would recommend - they didn’t earn the right.

I am currently in the process or replacing one of my service providers, and he is blissfully unaware that his replacement is already waiting in the wings. Why? He has been unreliable, unprofessional, and unresponsive. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight. When he wakes up and wipes his eyes he will realize he has lost a fortune in future business and referrals. Too late for tears.

Pride comes before the fall. Take people for granted, let your service slip, and before you know it, you’ve been replaced by a hungry competitor. In order to avoid this unhappy and costly predicament, here are a few pointers to allow you not only to keep the business you already have, but to add to it significantly:

Respond promptly to e-mails, calls, and letters. That means FAST.
Pay on time. If I have to remind you, I might suspect you never intended paying.
Go the extra mile - add unexpected value.
Communicate effectively, respectfully, and regularly.
Reciprocate with referrals, invitations, and recognition.
Constantly improve your service and products.
THANK people for the business they send you with money or other real value.

Your replacement is eagerly waiting in the wings. He wants to take your business, and he’s ready to earn it. DollarMakers specializes in showing people how to add massive value and differentiate themselves from the competition with no additional cost, through the use of Joint Ventures.

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Think of a Goal and Do EVERYTHING in your Power to VISUALIZE that Goal.

Robin J. Elliott — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:27:04 +0000

The more exciting your goals and objectives, the more specific, the easier it is to handle the price you pay along the way. Losers look at what they’re going THROUGH, while Champions look at what they’re going TO. Part of the reason why people quit so easily is that they don’t believe in their own goals. Here’s how to get very excited about your goals - it will fuel your enthusiasm and determination and make your journey infinitely easier by getting you to WANT to do what you have to do to get where you want to be.

Think of a goal. For example, let’s say your goal is to participate in the exciting DollarMakers Fourth International Convention in Cancun in November. Now it can be something that you rationally and intellectually commit to, and you might make a few random, lukewarm efforts to reach that goal. Alternatively, you can make an emotional commitment, and that’s where you get the rocket fuel.

“If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme, for when you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are!” (Disney)

What would happen if you put up posters of Cancun around your home, visit websites about Cancun, ask Lynnette Peter, our DollarMakers Director for Travel and Conventions, about all the fun activities that will be available, discuss it with your family and friends, invite them to join you, visualize yourself riding a white horse on the beach, snorkeling among the multicolored fish, meeting the DollarMakers cream of the crop from all over the world, and having fun in the sun? Would you work harder to make it happen? Would you go out on a limb to spend time in paradise with the best of the best? What would the return on your investment be? You don’t notice the shadows when you’re looking at the sun. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want.

Fill your mind with motivation and inspiration, associate with people who believe in you and in your dreams, and work on your own personal development more than anything else. Get excited about the details of your goals - the more specific, the more terrific. Smell them, taste them, visualize them, listen to them. If your goal is a new red Cadillac STS, go and test drive one every single weekend. or at least sit in one. Smell it. Feel it. Imagine yourself driving it. Touch it. Put up pictures of it.

“Whatever the mind of man can believe and conceive, it can achieve” - Napoleon Hill.

The rocky road will turn into silk and feathers when your objective is sufficiently brilliant and believable. Make it so.

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The Base of Your Decisions Determine The Outcome of Your Actions

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:35:01 +0000

Three birds sit on a wire. Two decide to fly away. How many are left on the wire? Two. One decided to fly away, but never followed through on his decision. Making a decision and taking action on that decision are two different things. Why don’t we follow through on our decisions? Because of the base of the decision.

Imagine someone who decides to sign up for our DollarMakers Certified Business Mentor Training Program. Along the way, they get stuck and eventually don’t attend. Why? It’s called “Approach Avoidance”. They intellectually WANT to attend the training, they understand that it’s the right thing to do, they intend to do it, but the base of that decision will undermine it and sabotage the action that should rationally follow. The base in this case could be fear of success, low self-esteem, negative conditioning, guilt, or a bad philosophy. The base is always emotional - it’s about your “feelings” and it explains why people don’t follow through on decisions, don’t implement what they learn, drop the ball, show up late for important appointments, fail to be consistent and do what they promise to do, and fail.

Think about it: Someone who believes they don’t deserve to be successful because of past guilt, or fear being noticed by the authorities when they become successful, or believe they will be obliged to help family they don’t like when they make a lot of money, will not follow through on a decision that they know will make them lots of money. Someone who punishes himself by being overweight will not show up at the health club, even though he may buy membership. Many people attend seminars on wealth creation, yet many of them have a socialist philosophy - it’s no wonder they never follow through with what they learn, even though they decide to do so. If your favorite books are by Michael Moore, you’re probably not going to apply decisions to become financially successful. If you believe money is bad, or that you’re a bad person, you will self-sabotage, because that’s the base of your decisions; it has nothing to do with your ability to succeed or the system you wan to use.

The way to alter the course of your life for the better is to adjust the base of your decision making. I recently wrote a new book, m eleventh, titled “Break Free!”, which is a handbook on this subject - an owner’s manual, if you like. Only by systematically confronting and fixing our self-sabotaging decision base can we move on to greater success and fulfillment in life. It’s not my environment, the government, or the city I live in - it’s about what’s happening in my head. I talked with someone who told me that Joint Ventures don’t work. My response was, “JV’s work for millions of other people and create millions of dollars in wealth. They don’t work for YOU because of YOU, not for any other reason.” The same goes for Network Marketing and dozens of other systems - it’s your decision base that makes all the difference. Accepting this and taking personal responsibility for being unreliable, slothful, fearful, or unsuccessful, is the first step towards real success. Your decsion base is like the foundation of a tall building.

There’s an old saying, BE - DO - HAVE. “You have to BE in order to DO, and you have to DO in order to HAVE.” The DO part follows the decisions you make. Stop blaming things and take responsibility - “If it’s to be, it’s up to me. My success or failure is my fault and to my own credit. I am the captain of my ship - I am in absolute control.” You’re closer to success than you may think. Jim Rohn said, “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” He’s right.

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I Was Swimming In Debt - Untill I Followed The Advice Of Someone Smarter Than Me

Robin J. Elliott — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:57:40 +0000

I was in bad trouble. I was about to lose everything, and those I had expected to help me (family) were not coming to my rescue, in spite of the fact that I had never approached them before (and never will again.) The bank was about to pull all of my credit, and things looked darkish. My panicked decision was to sell my house and rent in order to get out of debt, so I called in on my smart, successful friend and asked for his advice.

When you’re in a deep, dark hole with slimy, steep, slippery sides, and the water is pouring in, you usually only admit that you have a problem when the water touches your nostrils. Until then, you live in denial, hope for the best, write pathetic “business plans”, hide, and make weak excuses that nobody believes.\

Many small business owners flock to “business networking meetings” where they desperately try to sell stuff to other broke people, or dig their hole even deeper with ineffective advertising. Worse still, they hire unemployed business failures who label themselves “Business Consultants” or “Coaches” and charge an arm and a leg to steal the last money you can borrow. (They’re also in a debt hole!)

Some people have lots of money, but they have no time and their debt is time. Either way, when your money, credit, or time is flowing out faster than it is flowing in, the murky, smelly water rises until it’s high enough to get our attention. At that point, we try to make a logical business decision while in a state of panic. That’s when we start to understand the old saying, “desperate people do desperate things”. Situational Ethics kicks in faster than a speeding bullet. And I am now addressing the people who are in this very situation, or who have the courage to see that it is approaching like the proverbial oncoming train.

When you see you’re finally about to drown in the hole you so carefully dug, who do you call? A three-year-old with a pink, plush toy? Do you call over to the “life coach” in the hole next door? Do you invite an advertising salesman over to pour a few extra barrels of water into your hole? Or sign up to sell real estate or life insurance? I know this sounds familiar to some of us, since I have been there myself. How did I very narrowly avoid certain bankruptcy on one scary occasion? Not by doing what I had always done, I assure you. Not by second-guessing people who were capable of saving me, and not by resorting to the arrogance born of fiery fear.

Here’s what I did, and what you might want to consider if a few lungfuls of water is not your cup of tea: Find the most successful, competent, insightful, straight-talking people you can, and give them a vested interest in helping you out of your hole. Follow their instructions to the letter, or they’ll throw you back like the minnow you are, faster than you might imagine.

I Listened To Every Word My Friend Said

Gerald Voutsas took an objective, relaxed look at my ridiculous plan, showed me that it definitely would put me deeper in the hole, and offered an alternative solution as quickly and easily as passing me another ginger biscuit. I did exactly what he told me to do, and he saved my asset. It took a few months, and lots of hard work, but I learned my lesson and I never put myself into that situation again. I avoid those dark holes like the plague, an the way I teach Joint Venture Brokering is based in part on avoiding that kind of deep, dark hole.

OK, I know you’re going to ask me, “But where do I find these experts?” That’s why we created DollarMakers. I wanted a decent financial planner, so I went to a very good friend who is also my Joint Venture Partner, very wealthy, and a successful lawyer, and asked him whom HE uses for his financial planning (insurance). Now we use the same insurance guy. Birds of the feather. Successful people know other successful people. And only someone who is happily not in a hole can help you out of the hole. “The blind leading the blind” is an everyday occurrence in business, masterminding with the mindless…

Elicit, then follow the expert advice of real experts to the letter. And don’t you dare second-guess, question, or slack off. I listened to Gerald, and I didn’t drown.

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Anger is a Good Indication of What You’re Willing to Fight For.

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:54:01 +0000

I discovered something about myself a long time ago: when I get really angry, I learn something about myself.

Let me give you some examples of this. I had someone in my business who would give me a ride to my hotel in his red car when I flew into town. By the time I got out of his car, I would be furious, every single time. When I am writing an article or a book and I get interrupted, I get angry. When I deal with people who pretend to be business coaches or consultants, I get hot under the collar. Why?

A Thieving Leech

In the first instance, I realized that the person in my business was a parasite and a thieving leech who was a two faced, lying SOB who only had his own back pocket in mind. Why did this anger me? After all, there are many two faced leeches around. He was sabotaging my business, undermining me, building relationships with my enemies. After I fired him, he joined forces with the biggest con artists in the city. Here’s the root of the matter: he was hurting my people, the Members of DollarMakers, and abusing his position. I am very protective of my people. I learned that I am a lot more protective of my people than I thought I was.

Interrupting Me While Writing is a Sin

Why do I get angry when I am interrupted whilst writing? I had to read the book, “The War of Art” that Shawn Christenson gave me, to understand this. I was being interrupted when I am at my most creative, and my train of thought was simply derailed for no reason at all. I am obsessive compulsive. I focus absolutely when I write. When I am interrupted, I have to start all over again. I learned that I regard my writing as my most valuable offering, my most important contribution, a part of myself. I am brutally honest in my writing: I open my heart. You would do better to slap me hard in the face than to interrupt me when I am writing.

Too Many False Coaches

Why do I get angry when I meet sly snake-oil salesmen who sell themselves as coaches and consultants? I’m not talking about the tiny handful of them who can actually do the job - I’m talking about the arrogant, big mouth losers who bought a coaching course and now waste other peoples’ time and money, giving them silly and often dangerous advice. I saw one of them lose eighteen good clients in a row. Why do I get angry? I care about honest, hardworking entrepreneurs who want to be successful and blindly trust shakedown artists.

Which brings me to my conclusion. When you are truly passionate about what you do, you will be good at it, you will believe in it, and you will jealously protect it, like a mother cougar protecting her young. You will get very angry at anyone who threatens your work and your mission. And your anger will cement your understanding and belief. If there is no passion, you’re probably just another mercenary sociopath playing the role of an entrepreneur. See the passion? Feel the heat? There is a scripture that goes, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Anger points to passion, and passion points to perfectionism, progress, and prosperity.

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Business is not about feeling important, infallible, and ingenious - it’s about making money.

Robin J. Elliott — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:50:02 +0000

Last night I surprised my lovely wife when I dramatically changed my strongly held opinion on a certain business opportunity.

We’re all faced with choices, opportunities, and options on a regular basis. We approach it all with a healthy dose of skepticism, as well we should, and we find it important not to rush blindly into new ventures or take up certain options. We’ve been around long enough not to get swept up into every scheme and scam around, and that protects us from the con artists and from losing our proverbial shirts. All good. Except when we throw healthy babies out with the bathwater, miss the train, and overlook the diamonds in the mud, that is.

We’re masters of self-deception, and we diligently seek evidence to support our dominant beliefs and justify our choices - it’s only human. We hate to be proven wrong or admit that we missed a lucrative opportunity, and we trot out endless streams of “reasons” why we were right. It takes courage and humility to change one’s opinion, even reverse it completely. It’s hard to say, “I was wrong, I missed it, and it cost me money.” You can be “right” or you can be rich. Business is not about feeling important, infallible, and ingenious - it’s about making money. The most successful entrepreneurs I know fail on a regular basis. Babe Ruth struck out more than anyone in baseball history, I’m told.

The scary thing is that we lose a lot of money with wrong decisions, and usually it’s our fear, ego, conditioning, bias, and pig-headedness that makes the decision instead of a calm, objective, rational business brain. That’s why it’s important to put the old ego on hold when evaluating one’s options. Looking back, I have lost a lot of money by missing opportunities. And I know a lot of others who have lost a lot, and even some right now that are going to miss huge opportunities that they are being exposed to through DollarMakers. I could name names, but I won’t - their skepticism is going to rob them blind, and they don’t know it yet.

I attended a meeting this week where I met a character that had been a Member of the DollarMakers Club when it first started, but he lapsed his Membertship and never got really involved. He’s a typical. lazy, west coast specimen who has no idea how much money he could have made through DollarMakers had he stayed with us. I know of at least a dozen specific, lucrative opportunities that would have funnelled thousands into his bank account, had he simply showed up at our events and stayed active. But I guess pot, beer, and ice hockey got in the way. The same applies to people offering website services, computer services, financial services, and real estate who were involved with us, but their desperation for a quick fix and easy money had them scampering off to greener grass, only to find it growing over a cesspit. By the time they limp back to us with their tails between their legs and a big bag of excuses, their spot has been taken by a smarter person; we don’t want them back. (”Where were you when we needed you?”)

Decisions cost money or make money, and because nothing stays the same, we need to have the courage to revisit past decisions, if it’s not too late for tears, which it often is. Better still to make the right decision at the outset by aligning yourself with real entrepreneurs who think rationally, and not relying on advice from your loser relative or an unemployed has-been or jumped-up kid that calls himself a “Business Coach”.

Last night I was more interested in making a lot of honest money than feeling embarrassed by telling Rika, “I was wrong, the situation has changed, and I have changed my mind.” Think of it this way: to go faster in your car, you need to change gears. Change is good, and we should embrace it like a warm puppy.

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You Can Find Treasure in Other Peoples Garbage

Robin J. Elliott — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:49:59 +0000

Many years ago in South Africa, we imported the Anthony Robbins Personal Power Program from America. Because of the exchange rate and import duties, it was very expensive, and it took a long time to receive it. We were very excited and listened to it over and over again. It changed our lives dramatically and resulted in personal understanding and choices and a video program that made us tens of thousands of dollars. We still live by the principles we learned from that wonderful program.

On a beautiful spring day, we decided to go for a walk. Along the way, we see… A GARAGE SALE! Rika loves garage sales. Suddenly, as we meander along past the tables laden with other people’s trash, we both notice that something on one of the tables that once changed our lives.

And there it was, in all its glory!

The Anthony Robbins Personal Power program, in pristine condition, with the little workbook and everything, at a garage sale! That’s like putting your most precious, inherited, priceless, irreplaceable family jewels in a garage sale. I was stunned. Rika and I both reached forward simultaneously to grab the program. I looked at the character behind the table, early fifties, torn T shirt, and asked him. “Why are you selling this fantastic program?” His reply should have been expected, but I was still shocked. “I didn’t even finish listening to it - I don’t believe that stuff - that a 20-something could make all that money - it’s rubbish.” When I recovered I asked, “So how much do you want for it?” “I paid $139″, he scowled,”But you can have it for eight - say five dollars.” On the way out of the garage sale, clutching my treasure, I noticed that the event was held at a Co-op housing place.

Naturally, I am re-listening to the entire program and loving every minute of it, and on the first tape Tony Robbins mentions that only 10% of the people who invest in the program will finish listening to it. There’s a reason why that loser lives in government subsidized co-op housing. He was handed the keys to a magnificent mansion in the form of the Tony Robbins program, and he discarded it, probably in favor of a joint and a hockey game on TV. It was “too good to be true”. Guess when he started scowling? When he saw my DollarMakers ball cap. Bitter and twisted, trapped in his cynicism, and poor.

Although I was disgusted at this specimen that devalued something as life-changing as that Tony Robbins program, I really do pity him, and deep down inside I know that it’s not too late for him to break free of his present situation, if, indeed, he wants to break free. Many people have missed the boat, and yet they could still escape their compromised lives if they had the tools, given that they want their freedom from serfdom, mediocrity, and lives of quiet desperation. As I type this, I have just finished writing my latest book, “Break Free!” and it will soon be available. Perhaps it should be very expensive, instead of the usual $20, since $139 didn’t get the attention of a young man who held his future in his hands all those years ago.

The truth will set you free, and the source is unimportant. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear - even in the form of an old audio tape program at a garage sale. It’s never too late to start living and to break free.

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How To Systematically Break Free from Bad Health

Robin J. Elliott — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:57:38 +0000

“The greatest wealth is health.” ~Virgil

Money and time, happy relationships, confidence, the achievement of our goals, and peace of mind are not quite as valuable when you have no health. While the former will certainly allow you to “suffer in comfort”,
bad health adversely affects every area of your life, and every area of your life affects your health.

However I believe that drug companies, many doctors, and the snake oil salesmen who are essentially the purveyors of lotions, potions, farcical diets, absurd juices, organic junk and magic spells to relive desperate,
vulnerable, suffering people and hypochondriacs of their hard-earned money, carefully complicate the concept of health in their own selfish interests.

“The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they’ll ease
Your will they’ll mend
And charge you not a shilling.”
~Nursery rhyme quoted by Wayne Fields, What the River Knows, 1990

Here are the facts as I see them regarding health. Use more calories up through exercise than the calories you consume. Let’s apply the following to FAT:

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.”
~ Charles Dickens

To me, that means that if I eat more calories than I use up, I get fat. It’s not water retention – it’s disgusting fat. If you smoke, not only do you offend the people around you who wisely choose not to smoke with your
filthy, stinking addiction, not only do you blatantly demonstrate the fact that you do not care about those you offend and that you are incapable of the self-discipline to quit smoking, but you also make it clear that your real self-esteem is pretty low. Smoking will not make you healthy. Heavy drinking will not improve your health. Eating bad food will have a negative effect on you. Smoking weed will damage what brain cells you have left.

It’s that simple: disciple yourself to eat right, don’t smoke, get exercise, get some sunlight, and get over your weak excuses. AS you discipline yourself, your self-esteem will increase, and this will affect every other area of your life in a very positive manner.

“Joy and Temperance and Repose Slam the door on the doctor’s nose.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It’s basic, common sense. I don’t need to buy your overpriced vitamins on auto ship. I don’t need health club membership. I can drink more water, eat more fruit, and climb the stairs or walk around the lake.

“To feel keenly the poetry of a morning’s roses, one has to have just escaped from the claws of this vulture which we call sickness.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel

Good relationships, peace of mind, sufficient money, and good friends will increase your health. Keep it simple and stop wasting your time and money on ridiculous schemes and dreams and quick fix silver bullets that will inevitable prove to b duds.

“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.”
~Irish Proverb

Stop making excuses, start making changes, and get healthy. You deserve it!

“I see rejection in my skin, worry in my cancers, bitterness and hate in my aching joints. I failed to take care of my mind, and so my body now goes to hospital.”
~Astrid Alauda

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33 Surefire Ways to Make More Money as an Entrepreneur

Robin J. Elliott — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:17:02 +0000

TAKE ACTION!!
Read “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand
Get Out There and Meet New People
Make a List of Goals
Forget About The Opinions Of Others
Compliment Those That Deserve It
Learn to Listen
Break Away from Fear
Stop Worrying and Start Doing
Listen To Your Inner Voice
Stop Watching TV
Delegate your C items, only do the A and B items.
Eat Healthy
Be True To Yourself
Drop Your Bad Habits and Enhance Your Good Habits
Get Up a Half Hour Earlier
Implement Daily Affirmations - Repeat Your Affirmations Any Chance You Get
Be Your Biggest Fan
Remember Good is the Enemy of Great
Always Keep Learning
Focus Your Energy - Be a High Powered Laser
Don’t Be Cheap - Invest in the Tools You’ll Need to Succeed
Have Integrity. REALLY. People Catch On Fast.
Keep a Journal - Carry It With You Everywhere
Follow Great People - read their blogs, biographies and anything else.
Never Give Up. Never Surrender.
Trust In God, and Tie Up Your Camels.
Subscribe to a “Word Of The Day” Email.
You Can’t Do It All Yourself - Find Great Partners
Watch What People Do, Not What They Say They Do
Give Referrals, Ask for Referrals
Sleep When You’re Dead
Send Thank You Cards

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The Importance of Daily Affirmations

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:38:12 +0000

Affirmations are essentially a personal self-improvement and self-motivation technique.

Having some Daily Affirmations that you recite to yourself at least twice a day will do wonders to change your life. Changing your life is not difficult, as it is simply a matter of reprogramming yourself. That’s basically what repeating powerful Affirmations do - they reprogram your beliefs and feelings to what you want them to be.

Repeating some really good affirmations will do wonders for you, such as:

Your thinking and emotional state becomes more positive
You have increased self-assurance and self-acceptance
You begin taking more purposeful action
Enhanced vitality and passion for life
People treat you with more respect and interest
You experience greater happiness and joy
You have a renewed sense of personal power (Just like when you were a kid)

So I decided to release a poster that you can print out, that has my personal Affirmations that I have been using daily for over 10 years. When I wake up and when I go to bed, these are the affirmations I am saying to myself, in my head. I even say these on the plane, in the car and even when brushing my teeth.

The Daily Affirmations poster is available to anyone who subscribes to JVBlogger - either via an RSS Feed or via Email. It’s simple - in the upper right of this blog is both ways to subscribe. If you don’t know what ‘RSS’ or a ‘FEED’ is, then just subscribe by email - it’s easy!

It is a 2.9mb PDF file - very high quality. I had my graphic designer put it together for me and it looks quite stunning printed out and on the wall by my desk!

Please let me know what your personal affirmations are in the comments section below, I’d love to hear them.

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How To Systematically Break Free From Worry

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:58:33 +0000

Entrepreneurs often spend too much time worrying. Statistically, 85% of the things we worry about will never happen. Those things include worries over our past that can never be changed, worries over which we have no control, irrational concerns or fears, and worries about the future. Worrying about something never solved the problem or affects the final outcome in any way.

Worrying Makes Your Face Ugly

Excessive worries cause negative emotions that release chemicals into our bodies which wreak physical havoc - high blood pressure, headaches, heart conditions, and more. I loved Dale Carnegie’s book, “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”. Worry can ruin relationships, make your face drawn and ugly, and affect every aspect of your life negatively. Leo Buscaglia said, “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.” The more attention you pay to worries, like plants, they grow bigger and stronger, until they control you. Someone once said, “People gather bundles of sticks to build bridge they will never cross.”

How do we deal effectively with worry? Action. Pat Schroeder said, “You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.” Face you fears. Shine the light of intelligent, rational, and balanced evaluation on them, and the shadows of fear and emotionalism will retreat. Here’s my personal recipe for handling worry. I have a very vivid imagination, so you should know that I have to carefully manage my tendency to make mountains out of molehills and elaborate expansively on the smallest concerns.

Take Control Of Yourself - Worrying is NOT You

I was walking from a business meeting to my car in a parking lot when I realized that I was in a constant state of worry. I knew I had to take control of things right away, so I took advantage of the fact that there were no people anywhere close and I could have a good, long talk with myself. I have found this to be very therapeutic, talking out loud to myself. I would literally ask myself, “OK, Robin, what is your biggest worry?” I would answer myself. Then I would ask, “Why do you worry about that? What’s the worst that can happen? What if it does happen? What would you, or could you do? What do you fear losing?” and answer all these questions. I would then mentally put each of these worries in a tin can on a big shelf. I would name my five biggest worries (or more, if necessary), put them all in cans on the shelf, then one by one, in my mind, as I walked around that parking lot, I would take the can off the shelf, open it up, examine it in detail, and create an action plan.

For example, if I needed to write a letter, make a call, set up a meeting, or whatever action was necessary, I would resolve to do that, put it on a mental “Action List”, and take the can off the shelf. If there was absolutely nothing I could do to alleviate that worry, remove it, or prevent that which I feared, I would realize that there was nothing I could do, and I would take it off the shelf, too. I waddle around that parking lot for about an hour, until I had mentally and emotionally dealt with all my worries in this way. I talked myself through everything. I had an action plan, I was relieved, I had perspective, I was calm, and I was ready to attack again. I thanked myself, got in my car, drove home, and diligently went to work on my Action Plan. When you confront yur fears and take action to diminish your worries, remove them, or set up contingency plans, you take control of your mind, and therefore your emotions and your life.

Nelson DeMille said, “Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.” You are bigger than your worries. You have a lot more strength that you think you have. You can choose how to deal with your worries - fight, or flight. You can let your worries dominate you, or you can decide to b the boss. Change your self talk, change your attitude, take action, and win.

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Your Joint Venture Jet Fuel Ingredients

Robin J. Elliott — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:22:02 +0000

Robin J. Elliott describes what you need for your Joint Venture Jet Fuel - the ingredients to a powerful JV!

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How To Systematically Break Free From Fear

Robin J. Elliott — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:43:27 +0000

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” ~ Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

One thing that stops most people from achieving their goals is the fear of failure, embarrassment, loss, or anything that they currently have and don’t want to lose. This fear will prevent them from moving forward - the perceived threat and pain - until the pain of their present condition or their approaching condition exceeds the potential danger that they fear.

Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.

By examining the things you fear, you might get perspective and change your mind about whether or not that fear has the power you currently bestow upon it. What do you fear? How can you diminish that fear? For example, if you fear failure, think about this: If there was nobody else in the world but you, no other people - would you fear failure? No, you wouldn’t. Because you don’t fear failure per se - you fear the opinions and ridicule of other people. And anybody who likes you and cares about you would not ridicule you if you failed - they would help an support you, so why worry about the opinions of people who don’t like you or care about you?

If you fear loss, what do you have to lose? What is the risk factor? Specifically, what would happen if you incurred that loss? Could you cope with that loss? Is the reward of facing your fear worth the risk? Think objectively, not emotionally. Write down the pros and cons. Be rational. How can you reduce or prevent the risk? How can you change the situation, protect your assets, or shift the risk? Fear is usually illogical and based on our conditioning and self-esteem, instead of hard facts. We assume a whole lot of things that are generally not true.

Analyze You Fear - Find Out How Bad It Really Isn’t

Imagine an engineer, and architect, or a scientist evaluating a risk. Would they cry, wring their hands, get angry, shout, hide, or rant? Probably not - they would get out their calculators and have meetings with other analytical people, draw diagrams, make plans, discuss the situation, and find a solution. The architect doesn’t start whining, “But what if the bridge falls down? What if the floor collapses? I’ll be so embarrassed!” Analyze your fear, get the input of experts, talk with people who have been that route before and succeeded, and then make a logical, adult decision.

Play the “What if?” game. It works well if you write things down. “What if that person dies? What if this project fails? Exactly what would I do? What steps would I take? What would happen? Whose advice I need? What would I do? What could I do? Why would I make that choice? What would my alternatives be? Exactly what would this cost? How do I arrive at that number?”

When you view life like a monopoly game or a chess game, you can override your conditioning, bias, self-talk, beliefs, and fears. When you align yourself with successful, mature people who have experience in the field, it gets even better, hence the Mastermind effect of the DollarMakers Joint Venture Club and the DollarMakers Women’s Club - create a support system that will help you avoid the pitfalls of emotionalism, mysticism, and negative conditioning. Together, we can do amazing things.

All You Have To Fear Is…

The things you fear are not always all they’re cracked up to be. Several recent studies indicate that over 85% of all that we worry about never happens. Our minds tend to make mountains out of molehills. Fear is not bad - it’s a warning light that we should consider, and when the warning light goes on in your car you don’t start crying, get paralyzed with fear, or sell your car; you take it to the shop and get an expert mechanic to check it out, or you take the time to read the manual. Sometimes, an inexpensive item or a small adjustment is all that i required. Sometimes, it’s more expensive, but less expensive than a seized engine. Consider the situation calmly and you will find that all you have to fear, as a smart man once said, is fear itself.

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Deliver On Your Promises and You Build Trust, Respect and a Good Repuation

Robin J. Elliott — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:08:07 +0000

Would you like to know the most valuable lesson I learned from Mr. Arthur Honey? Mr. Honey, who was an ex boxing champion and one of the seconds for Roger Bannister, when he ran the first four-minute mile, owned the Continental Hotel. I was his hotel manager. Mr. Honey was a wonderful hotelier, trained in the old school, and a real gentleman. After I completed my Hotel School Training (city and Guilds directed), I managed a German restaurant for a year and was then employed by Mr. Honey. It was the best management training I ever got.

One morning, he asked me why I had not arranged to have the one kitchen’s extract screens cleaned. I had simply forgotten. Here is the gist of what he taught me:

“Robin, any manager who forgets things is not a manager, but a DAMAGER. You may be wearing your morning suit, but when you forget, you are not managing. You will not build trust, respect, and a good reputation if you don’t deliver on your promises. When you forget, you insult the other person and yourself. When you’re late to do what you promised, you further damage your reputation and the business. Forgetting costs money and loses hotel guests. I carry a paper in my inside jacket pocket, and I write down EVERYTHING I need to remember. Anything you ask me, anything the accountant tells me, anything I notice (he used to use a white glove to search for dust), is written on this list. When I return to my office, I transpose the list onto my desk list. I never forget and I always do what I said I would do. That has made me successful. Do the same, Robin, and you will be successful. In my hotel, you will not forget anything, because you represent me. Understood?”

Mr. Honey taught me many valuable lessons (including how to knot my tie correctly!) but this was the one lesson that has helped me more than most of the things he taught me. I worked for nine straight months without a day off for that man - he was the best manager I ever had the privilege of working for. He was absolutely reliable, never compromised, and always delivered. I modeled him and even joined Rotary when I became successful because Arthur Honey was a Rotarian. In South Africa, you had to be wealthy to become a Rotarian. You had to own a business, as well, in order to even be considered as a Rotarian. My entire business and life revolves around lists, and it works very well.

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The 7 Hardest Things To Find In a Good Business Partner

Robin J. Elliott — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:21:59 +0000

Bill Gates of Microsoft said the hardest thing to find is good people, and that if he lost his best people, he would lose Microsoft. I agree. If you think you need to wave that silly little resume around to get hired, think again. If you think people are impressed with your words, reconsider. We’ve met all the has-beens and parrots with the resumes. So your daddy sent you to university, so what? And we’ve heard all the words; talk is cheap, and North America is the Capital of the BS Specialists. We’re all looking for good people with the following seven qualities. Everything else can be learned, borrowed, or Joint Ventured. Nothing else matters.

Absolute integrity and honesty.
The ability and readiness to work hard, for as long as it takes, to deliver what you promise, on time, with no excuses or lies.
A positive, upbeat, optimistic, confident, humble, and teachable attitude.
A burning desire to achieve that will not be denied.
Courage, persistence, and determination in the face of hardship, obstacles, and failure.
Creativity, innovation, and the ability to think.
A professional, well groomed, well dressed, appearance - someone who can walk into any meeting and look good.

There are very few people with the above attributes, and each attribute comes by CHOICE. They don’t cost money. Anyone can CHOOSE to be like this. Your age, education, background, and circumstances do not matter. This means that there i no excuse not to do exceptionally well. The skills you need can be learned. You can even learn point number seven. When I got my first job out of hotel school managing a successful restaurant, the owner taught me how to shave properly. When I managed my first hotel, the owner taught me how to tie a Windsor knot in my tie. I modelled successful, wealthy people to learn how to dress and groom myself correctly. Attitude is all you need.

And Remember - YOU must resemble the above 7 items before you can fairly expect to find a business partner who embodies them as well.

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Why You Don’t Take Advice from People More Screwed Up than You Are

Robin J. Elliott — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:43:03 +0000

I recently had a jumped up seminar junkie once again disgorging his unsolicited advice about how to run my business. One flower of success in the midst of a murky myriad of failures has convinced him that he is the business oracle before which mortals such as I should gratefully prostrate ourselves. One swallow does not a summer make, my young friend. Buying overpriced business courses does not make you a Donald Trump - it merely makes you a customer of the Donald. The smartest people I know only offer their advice when asked, and even then they humbly qualify their contribution.

Taking advice from people, as Mr. John Addison says, “who are more screwed up than you are”, is not one of my many failings. I am acutely aware of the limits of my knowledge and experience, but I have never benefited from the advice of someone who is clearly inexperienced, arrogant, and stupid into the bargain.

When I discovered the Average IQ was 100, I was Appalled (and then relieved!)

When I discovered that, on a bell curve, the average person has an IQ of 100, I was at first appalled, then relieved, when I found forgiveness in my icy heart for the average plebe who disguises himself as an entrepreneur and doles out his noxious counsel to other equally inept pretenders - the blind blissfully leading the blind, and laughing all the way to the bankruptcy court.

When Jim Stovall said that we should only take advice from people who already have what we want, he should have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Wisdom. Imagine an entrepreneur taking advice from an academic, a bank manager, or a socialist. Ridiculous, I know. Yet the sheeple continue to be sheeple, and we don’t have to follow them over the edge of the cliff.

Seek out TRULY SUCCESSFUL Mentors and Follow their Advice Carefully

Let us carefully select a good pair of effective earplugs and install them as soon as we are approached by one of these tormentors. Let us not confuse the symbol for the real thing. If I was a detective looking for a psychopathic conman, the first suspects on my list would be religious leaders, seminar presenters, consultants, and coaches, suffering from delusions of grandeur and fed by brainless sycophants who pay too much to join their cults.

I seek out truly successful mentors and follow their advice carefully, all the while retaining my reason and a good dose of skepticism, and cautiously weighing their recommendations before grabbing my wife’s checkbook. Empty barrels do, in fact, make the most noise. And still waters run very deep.

The Buddha said,

“Don’t hurry to believe in anything, even if it has been written in the holy scriptures. Don’t hurry to believe in anything just because a very famous teacher has said it. Don’t believe in anything just because the majority has agreed that it is the truth. You should test anything people say with your own experience before you accept or reject it.”

Let me add this final piece: When you find yourself in any meeting, seminar, or presentation where group dynamics and mass hysteria, group-think and emotional manipulation are at work, do not spend more than $500 or commit yourself to any amount over $500. This will prevent you from waking up with a terrible, haunting question the next morning: “WHAT HAVE I DONE?” The offer will still be there the next day, believe you me, and it might look very different.

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