Archive for January, 2011

The lost opportunity – your seminar notes. What do you do?

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

You’re at a seminar.
Great information is being offered.
Information that will help you succeed.
Your mind is open.
You’re taking notes.
Recording what is being said.
Even taking snapshots of slides.
You take in the talk, and get your own ideas.
Great ideas that you know you can use and you know will benefit you and others, ideas you can turn into money.
You are pumped!

You make a mental commitment the moment you write each note: “change cold calls to referrals” – “be more creative and daring when leaving a voicemail” – “sell value, not price” – “get more video testimonials.” But then you don’t fulfill them when you get home. Why?

They seemed like great ideas at the time.
You had AHA’s and epiphanies at the event.
And you wrote notes that were golden.

But something happened between the seminar room and your first moments back at work. ANSWER: You dropped the ball. The mental ball. The focus ball. The commitment to yourself ball. And maybe even the success ball.

Whether you were at a trade show, an annual meeting, an association meeting, or a business event, what you decided to do IMMEDIATELY AFTER the event determined your fate.

If you chose wine, beer, liquor, socialization, partying, TV, or some other form of time-wasting (self-destructive) activity, you lost the opportunity to formalize your information, expand your thoughts, and cement your self-commitment.

POINT OF UNDERSTANDING: At any information event, you cannot take notes fast enough to capture all the pertinent information. You write as fast as you can, but still (without recording) miss some thoughts about ideas and things that were important to you at that moment.

FIRST ANSWER: The minute the seminar is over find a quiet space for 15-30 minutes. Open your laptop and take out your notes. (Maybe next time you’ll take notes on your laptop.)

Look at every note you took, and spend a moment with each one to expand the thought. How will you apply that thought to your sales, your business, and your life? In other words, take the note and make it yours. Then determine when the action will be implemented.

(NOTE TO MEETING PLANNERS: Meeting planners try to cram session after session into a two or three day meeting without providing a chance for attendees to catch their breath, let alone have think time. Big mistake. Every traditional meeting and breakout should have a “quiet” session afterward. Refer to them as “think and apply” sessions. Even if they’re just for 20 minutes.

SECOND ANSWER: Expand your thoughts while they’re fresh in your mind. Do it again in your hotel room, and on the airplane going home. Think (don’t drink). Take your notes further, expand your thoughts. Think more about the application of each idea, and how you intend to put it into action.

THIRD ANSWER: The minute you get home, record your notes. When you are recording, even more ideas and applications will surface. Burn them onto a CD and import them into your iPod or MP3 player. Record your notes and ideas so you can listen to them until they become dedicated tasks.

FOURTH ANSWER: Listening to your recording once a day, you will begin to commit to them, and take achievement actions. Put at least one new thing into your work or your life every day.*

*If you have been in sales for less than three years, this process will reinforce your belief system, and inspire you to greater achievement (the very thing you were hoping for when you entered the seminar room). And if you’re a seasoned salesperson, this is a huge opportunity to reinvigorate your desire to achieve at a higher level, and re-dedicate yourself to personal excellence. It’s your re-commitment to your own success.

REALITY: Corporations and associations spend hundreds of thousands (even millions) to impart new and important information, and yet when the participants get home, very little changes.

REASON: Participants are not allotted the time necessary to transfer the notes, thoughts, and ideas into personal actions that they are committed to take.

FIFTH ANSWER: Allocate time. During (and after) the meeting, let each participant make their own personal plan of action. This will ensure a full return on your time investment, their time investment, your dollar investment, and your human capital investment.

I have one more idea, but no more space. Go to www.gitomer.com and enter the words AFTER THE MEETING in the GitBit box.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Sellingand eight other business books on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development at www.trainone.com. Jeffrey conducts more than 100 personalized, customized seminars and keynotes a year.

© 2011 All Rights Reserved – Don’t even think about reproducing this document without
written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer, Inc • 704/333-1112

The Way of the Traitor

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

By Laura Joh Rowland

In the third book of the Sano Ichiro mysteries we learn about events starting in July 1689 during the feudal times of Japanese history. Although these books are fictional, the background to them is very real. The first Tokugawa Shogun was Ieyasu who won victory over the western daimyo (land managers) in October of 1600. Thus began a regime which ran for the next 250 years and created a period of relative stability and security.

The political system of that time, feudal in nature, is called Bakuhan, a combination of bakufu (ruling government) which had national authority under the Shogun and han (domains) which were administered by the daimyo who had regional authority. An increasingly large bureaucracy was needed to administer both centralized and decentralized authorities.

This tale begins when Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the great-grandson of Ieyasu, takes ill. His second in command, Lord Yanagisawa, takes the opportunity to banish his rival, Sano, to the far-off city of Nagasaki. The voyage to the southeast takes two months from Edo, the capital, which is the site of modern day Tokyo. It is an excellent way to keep the Shogun’s favour which Yanagisawa seeks for himself.

Sano and his young assistant Hirata find themselves embroiled in a murder even as they finally disembark from their ship. The Dutch Director of Trade for the East India Company has disappeared from the island compound to which all foreigners are kept. By law, Japanese are not allowed to associate with the foreigners who come to their country except to trade goods with them under the careful eye of the authorities who fear that they will be encouraged to rebel or to join the Christian religion.

It becomes quite obvious that Yanagisawa has sent word to the local officials to find a way to implicate Sano in treasonous dealings with the Dutch East India Company. The Dutchman’s body shows up in the harbour with stab wounds, marks on wrists and neck along with signs of having been severely beaten. Now the duo is charged with solving the mystery . The Nagasaki authorities want to convict any one of the foreigners on the island off shore, but Sano finds all the suspects are more likely Japanese, the city’s authorities among them.

Sano is determined to keep Hirata from getting involved in the investigation because he believes that the end result is that he will be disgraced and either forced to commit seppuku, the ritual self-disembowelment of the Samurai, or be beheaded for consorting with the foreigners. He doesn’t want Hirata to suffer the same fate. Fortunately, Hirata has his own version of Bushido, the code of the Samurai, which won’t let him desert his master in time of need.

A very detailed, addictive and naturally beautiful world filled with danger and love. This, and the two stories preceding it, are the tales of Sano Ichiro before he marries the love of his life, Reiko, and they start investigating Events, People and Situations together.

9 Ways to Make Your Customers Smarter

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

Contrary to popular practice, it’s not smart to have dumb customers.The more your customers learn, the more profit you earn. The more your customers know, the more your business grows. The more your customers understand, the more powerful your brand.

LESSON LEARNED: Companies that teach, win.

Here’s a list of ways to make your customers smarter:
1. Curators aren’t just for museums. In an increasingly commoditized marketplace, service is the key differentiator. Competing on price, performance, and features – aka, pure economic value – isn’t enough anymore.

Polly Labarre, columnist for The Huffington Post, wrote a classic piece on this very topic:

“Sure, customers love a good deal, but what they love even more is feeling like they’ve discovered something new. Increasingly, the best brands are waking up to the fact that the way to establish an enduring connection with customers is not to push their own stuff, but to act as a curator; a host to a whole universe of stuff they think will click with people based on shared values.”

Introduce your customers to new things. Help them feel more connected to the front edge of culture. They’ll forget all about the fact that you sell a commodity. What value do you provide beyond low price and high quality?

2. Teaching diffuses sales resistance. Brian Clark, award-wining writer of CopyBlogger and the creator of Teaching Sells explains:

“When you come rushing out of the gate selling, it’s easy for people to resist. But when you establish yourself as a teacher who people have bonded with, it gets much harder to say no by the time the transaction is proposed.”

That’s the reality of the current marketplace: Any idiot can lead their customers down a path, but only smart companies can help their customers discover the path on their own.

The goal is to stop giving sales pitches and start delivering lesson plans. If you do that, even if it’s a simple attitudinal adjustment from sales-oriented to education-oriented, the entire buying experience will shift.

Remember: Customers aren’t people who pay your salary – they’re pupils who attend your class. How’s your enrollment this semester?

3. Become a wealth of inform. Because my specialty is approachability, I’ve hosted a lot of workshops for retailers. Namely, jewelry stores. And during a recent round of presentations (video here), I made three suggestions to help the store owners turn rare into remarkable by introducing education.

First: What if, in the corner of your store, you had an entire shelf filled with bestselling books on relationships, romance and interpersonal communication? That way, while stupid husbands buy jewelry to make up for forgetting their wedding anniversary – again! – they could learn a few tips on how to better communicate with their spouses and avoid the doghouse.

Second: What if, once a week, you invited a local fashion consultant to come in the store? She could advise customers on wardrobe, accessories and current style trends to help them present themselves smarter, and not get fired for dressing like a streetwalker.

Third: What if, on the last Friday of each month, you brought in a local relationship therapist to provide tune-ups for newly engaged couples? He could offer suggestions, exercises and advice to help people make their fourth marriages work.

Ultimately, these suggestions work not only because they’re education-based, but also because they’re rare. And rare becomes remarkable. And remarkable becomes repeatable. And repeatable becomes profitable. What are you willing to lose on the first sale in order to guarantee a relationship?

4. Education means fascination. I understand your hesitancy. You think that if you make your customers smarter, they won’t need you. Not true. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. If you expand their thinking, grow their knowledge base and stretch their brains, they’ll actually need and love and respect and want you more.

And the best part is: Companies that educate, fascinate. And fascination, according to author and consultant Sally Hogshead, plays a major role in every type of decision-making – from the brands you choose, the songs you remember, the person you marry, and the employees you hire.

The hard part is to trust yourself, trust your resources and trust the process. And to believe that the people you add value too won’t outgrow their need for your help. How fascinating do customers think your organization is?

5. Re-frame exit questions. Over the years I’ve consulted with dozens of hotels, hospitality associations and other customer service organizations. And in my experience, the best question to ask a customer at the end of a transaction is not, “How else may I be of service to you?” but rather, “What else can I help you learn?”

The reality is, customers don’t need more service – they need more answers. And this particular question works for three reasons: First, it’s unexpected. And the best way to attract someone’s attention is to break her patterns.

Second, it’s thought provoking. And anytime your customers are thinking more and complying less, you win. Finally, it’s open ended. This decreases the likelihood of hearing the most useless, unleverageable customer answer of all time: “Fine.” Does your organization deliver customer service or customer answers?

6. Mum is overrated. Here’s a lesson I learned the hard way: The only thing worse than saying something untrue is saying nothing. Turns out the opposite of honesty isn’t lying – it’s omitting.

Sadly, too many organizations – who are (clearly) terrified of having smart, healthy, proactive customers – are keeping their mouths shut at the expense of the people they serve. Believe it or not, the United States government actually did something cool for a change. They were smart enough to stop shutting up.

In 2009, www.recovery.gov was launched as is the government’s official website that provides easy access to data related to Recovery Act spending.

It allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste and abuse. And it has pictures, graphs, numbers, interviews, videos – you name it. All in the name of not staying mum.

I wonder what your organization is choosing not to reveal to your customers that’s actually causing more stress, pain and profit than if you had just told the truth in the first place. I wonder. Are you willing to be honest and direct at the risk of jeopardizing the relationship?

7. Send a continuous flow of education. That way, your buyers always know how to more creatively, efficiently and effectively use what you sell them to grow their business and make their lives better.

That’s why I tweet all morning. That’s why I blog everyday. That’s why I send out an ezine every other week. That’s why publish videos every month. And that’s why I put out three books a year.

Not just because it expands my platform. Not just because it earns my enterprise money. And not just because it markets my business. But because it consistently teaches the people who matter most how to matter more.

The way I see it: The smarter I make my audience, the better their world will become. And if they realize that my work played a small part in the betterment of their life, they’ll come back, hungry for more. And next time they’ll bring their friends. What did you write today?

8. Smarter means surrendering. In Michael Moore’s documentary, Sicko, he travels to France and interviews several doctors and professors. He discovers that the French government provides social services health care, public education, vacation, day care for one dollar an hour and neonatal support that includes cooking, cleaning, and laundry services for new mothers.

But here’s the part that rocked me to my core: One professor explained, “When you have a population of people that are healthy, educated and unafraid, it’s impossible to control them.”

Huh. No wonder corporations and organizations are afraid of educating their people: They don’t want to lose control. Interestingly, I recently watched a vintage interview with global innovator, Buckminster Fuller, who echoed the same sentiment. He helped me realize why it’s so hard for some businesses to risk making their customers smarter:

“Governments, religions and businesses would find it devastating to their activity to have humanity a success. They are predicated on you being an inherent failure.”

Surrendering control doesn’t mean losing it. You’ll be fine. How are you leveraging your vulnerability to make your customers smarter?

9. Refuse to leave people where they are. Customers don’t want to be handled. Or managed. Or dealt with. They want to be better. And the only way that’s going to happen is if you add value to them.

My suggestion: Stop handling and start educating. Make a list of the fifty most common questions asked by your customers. Write a paragraph-long answer for each one. Hire a professional designer to convert the text into a down-loadable ebook.

Then, give it away for free on your website. Print out hard copies. Hell, save it on jump drives with your logos on it and physically hand it to every customer that walks in the door along with a note that read, “Fifty answers to the fifty questions running through your head right now. You’re welcome.” That’s what I would do.

The point is, when you deliver education to your customers, move forward with your customers and stay relevant in the eyes of your customers. If you were arrested and charged with adding value to people, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

REMEMBER: Companies that teach, win.

Don’t be dumb.

Make your customers smarter.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you selling or educating?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Mentor
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

Red Chrysanthemum

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

By Laura Joh Rowland

The year is 1698 and the month is July. In Edo, the capital of Japan horrifying events are happening. Sano Ichiro is sent to investigate rumours of plots to overthrow the ruling Tokugawa regime. He sends his deputy, Hirata, to check out the estate of daimyo Lord Mori. Hirata is horrified to find Sano’s very pregnant, very naked wife, Reiko, dazed beside the body of Lord Mori who has been murdered and grotesquely mutilated in his own bed.

Reiko insists that she was investigating Lord Mori for molesting and murdering young boys. She can offer no explanation of how she came to be inside the victim’s bedroom undressed. The only thing she can remember is a painted gold screen and a white chrysanthemum on the floor covered in blood. No trace of the screen or the flower can be found.

Every witness questioned presents a different story and Lady Mori even accuses Reiko of having an illicit affair with her husband of which she claims to be a witness. During a seance ordered at the palace Lord Mori’s spirit accuses Sano of a plot to overthrow the Shogun. Now both Sano and Reiko and their unborn child face execution.

There is precious short time to find out who engineered this trap for them and to extricate themselves. Who has the power and the reason to want Sano and his family gone? What enemies has he attracted during his rise to the position of second in command to the Shogun?

As always Rowland fills the senses with the air and beauty along with the tyranny and misery of a land governed by strict Moral Codes which were part of all people’s life who followed the Code of Bushido in the closed kingdom of Japan.

Black Lotus

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

By Laura Joh Rowland

If you Google Black Lotus you will find many references beside the actual flower which does come in a black variety. The name refers to something both exotic and rare. That’s a good introduction to this Sano Ichiro mystery.

Sano, his detective partner wife Reiko, his assistant Hirata and Hirata’s intended Midori, all get involved this time out. There is a fire at the Black Lotus temple and three bodies are found charred within. Sano proves that all three were dead before the fire ever reached them. At the scene of the crime, a young woman named Haru is found but she cannot remember how she came to be outside the cottage watching the fire. Reiko does not believe Haru is guilty of this awful crime, so she sets out to find who wants to frame her.. Now the Shogun’s Most Excellent Investigator of Events, People and Situations has to investigate the thousands of members of a religious cult to find a heartless murderer of a high ranking police official, a young mother and a small child.

The investigation puts a strain on his marriage when he lets Reiko investigate with him. If he fails to solve the mystery and find the true killer or killers Sano could lose his position or even his life. If that happens both Reiko and their son, Masahiro, will pay whatever price is meted out by the weak and easily swayed Lord to whom his services are pledged. Sano worries about his enemies in the bakufu, the ruling government of 17^th Century Japan, who watch eagerly for him to fail in his sworn duties. They always seek to gain favour with the Shogun, by proving his unworthiness for the position which he holds.

The Black Lotus is a Buddhist cult with strange and extreme rites which both inspire and require complete obedience to the sect. Adherents are willing to die for what they believe in. On the promise of a guaranteed nirvana when they die, the members are willing to kill and commit crimes of all sorts. There is a serious risk of rebellion and warfare from the members. When the investigators discover that there are weapons and armaments being stockpiled they know that they must find the answers to who and what are behind the murders and arson quickly.

This series is an intriguing look into the world of Japan at the turn of the century during an era when Japan was closed to the outside world.

Today is Whensday!

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

by: Don Snyder

Notice the unique spelling in the article title? That’s not a typo. Since the New Year is upon us, I thought now would be a good time to share a new “get stuff done” philosophy with you.

Last month, I was thinking about how many of my own projects get delayed because of simple procrastination. I scribbled the internal discussion in my journal and put it on my “when-I-get-around-to-it-list.” Well, folks… today is Whensday.

Whensday is that day you SAY you’re going do something. The day you’ll write your book, take that ballroom dancing class, go back to school, find a new job, clean the garage, fix the toilet, whatever…

When I have more time.
When I have more money.
When I get a degree.
When I get a new job.
When I get a raise.
When I lose some weight.
When the economy is better.
When they fire that jerk of a boss.
When someone gives me a chance.
When the world isn’t conspiring against me.
When I get more experience.
When I have more freedom.
When I meet “the right people.”
When I don’t have so much housework.
When somebody gives me some help.
When someone gives me permission.
When my family understands me.
When I get motivated.
When I get famous.
When I get a promotion.
When I get out of debt.
When I save some money.
When I know I can’t fail.
When I’m not so busy.
When I marry the right person.
When I move to another city.
When I start my own business.
When my luck is better.
When I hit the lottery.

I’ve got news for you. That perfect day – when the stars are in alignment and all your lottery numbers hit, some Hollywood talent scout runs into you at Starbucks and thinks you’d be perfect in the next George Clooney movie, and Steve Jobs calls to ask you to run Apple for him – just ain’t gonna happen.

You need to decide that today is the day you’re going to start putting your goals into action. Today is when you’re going to write the first chapter of the book. Today is when you’re going to call up that dance school and sign-up for this weekend’s class. Today is when you’re going to go down to the hardware store and buy a new “floaty thing” for your toilet tank.

TODAY is Whensday.
TOMORROW is Whensday.
EVERY DAY is Whensday.

The New Year is filled with Whensdays! Your job is to make every one of them count.

The Concubine’s Tattoo

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

By Laura Joh Rowland

I enjoy two types of novels – historical and mysteries. This great series of thirteen books fills both needs. The Sano Ichiro novels are all written in Japan during the last decade of the 1600′s. They evoke a period of history which most Westerners don’t know well. Civilization was old in Japan even then. The books describe how people actually lived in that time.

Sano is the Sosakhan-Sama, investigator of mysterious events, murders and other serious crimes for his Shogun Tokugawa Tsuniyoshi, the powerful ruler of Japan. He has attracted many rivals and enemies on his rise to become second in command in the Bakufu, the government of the day.

Sano is dedicated to living the Samurai Code of Honour and strives for honesty and truth in all things while serving his master obediently. Sometimes these moral beliefs conflict and he must keep his wits about him to fend off the plots and designs of his major rivals for power; Lord Yanagisawa, the shogun’s paramour, Lord Matsudaira, a senior, hereditary Tokugawa chieftain and the five senior Elders who are the chief adviser’s to the weak and frail Shogun. If Sano fails in any of his quests, the constant threat is that he will pay with his life and perhaps that of his wife and child.

Sano’s beautiful wife, Reiko is his helpmate in every way and works with him in solving the crimes which they investigate as detectives. Reiko is not the usual shy, retiring Lady of the Court. She was trained in reading, writing and martial arts by her father who is one of the two Magistrates in the city of Edo (today’s Tokyo). From an early age she has always had a curiosity and drive to seek out the unknown. Even though she is the mother of Sano’s son Masahiro, she yearns to be useful and to work alongside her husband.

One of the Shogun’s Concubines is found poisoned from a tattoo which was done on a very private part of her anatomy. Sano is charged with finding out who has done this. He must hurry as the whole of Edo Castle, including the Shogun himself, is in mortal fear of being poisoned. Seeking out Lady Harume’s family history, intrigues and activities takes some serious investigation. Identifying her killer is a daunting task.

Thoroughly absorbing, this mystery novel is in the who-done-it tradition with the added aura of a long ago historical period.

It’s 2011! Are you ready to recover, or still in a funk?

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

From Jeffrey Gitomer’s Sales Caffeine #478 newsletter

There are expert predictions that 2011 will be much better than 2010.

Well golleeeee! There’s a brilliant statement. Probably made by the same idiot that said the recession is over. The reality is no one knows. The fact is some businesses will have their best year ever, and others will go out of business. And everyone will wonder what happened to the value of their real estate.

Someone somewhere will measure some obscure number and proclaim it to be an “indicator.” That’s probably the same jack that predicted Katrina will miss New Orleans, the swine flu will kill everybody, and told us that the value of real estate is only down 9%.

REALITY: 2011 will ONLY be better than 2010 if YOU make it better. You are the recovery, you are the bailout, and you are the stimulus.
REALITY: 2011 is not about THE economy; it’s about YOUR economy.
REALITY: Stop worrying about random global and national situations, and start taking positive local action. It’s not THE market; it’s YOUR marketplace. It’s not THE banking industry; it’s YOUR banking relationship. It’s not THE availability of credit; it’s YOUR credit needs and money availability. Stop watching THE news, and concentrate on BUSINESS news. What’s happening in business is far more important than who got shot, what got bombed, or what burned down. (Yes, I’m concerned for the troops in harms way, but I am equally concerned for their ability to pay their mortgage once they return.)
REALITY: The pressure for more sales will be on. If you’re in sales, that means you.
REALITY: The pressure to reduce your prices will be severe BOTH from your customers and your competition.

Any questions?

Here’s a 2011 game plan that has nothing to do with your sales plan or quota – except that without these actions, you’ll never achieve it:
• Visit your top 25 customers. The state of their business is the predictor of yours. Get closer to them. Help them. Serve them memorably.
• Get your online presence out of the ’90s. Invest in the Internet. It’s not going away and everyone is using it to buy things and get information.
• Start offering help messages and value messageson your website, blog, ezine, and social media sites that are aimed at your customers and prospects. Social media is here to stay. Get on it, get with it, or lose to the competition that is.
• Develop and maintain a GREAT business reputation AND personal reputation. The Internet can help you build one.
• Create and send one weekly value message to all customers. Just because they’re not buying now does not mean they won’t be buying soon. Be top of mind with value messages, not sales calls.
• Master social media for your business.Create a Facebook fan page and update it with candid industry comments and videos of as many people and things as possible. Tweet value tips every day – use your industry key words and hash-tags.

• Improve your Google ranking. Your own website, blog, and social media presence will help.
• Keep morale up even if business is still down. Train positive attitude all year long to everyone in your company.
• Focus on customer loyalty. Service and value that leads to customer loyalty not customer satisfaction
• Make certain you have a value proposition in favor of the customer, not a sales pitch.
• Learn customer buying motives, not old-world sales techniques.
• Change from cold calls to referrals.
• Take a course in creativity.
• Have at least one sales celebration meeting.
• Get executives closer to customers.
• Get marketing closer to sales.

These are real world actions to take, that in my opinion and not options. They’re the bare minimum essentials to thrive this year. And these are all things you can do on your own.

HERE’S THE CHALLENGE: Are you willing to allocate the time from your present scramble to make these elements happen in your business and your sales career? You have 11.5 months left to make an impact in your market this year.

The Madoff Chronicles: A Look Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

By Brian Ross

For those who don’t know him, Brian Ross is an exclusive reporter for ABCNews in the United States. He has won many journalistic awards for delving into investigations around the globe. He’s looked into everything from Congressional scandals to international nuclear smuggling to human rights abuses in China, affairs in Congo and many others. He has reported on money scandals in Washington before but nothing as grand as $50 billion dollar swindling schemes in New York.

Ross looks into the lives of the Madoff family through interviews with their friends, employees and the victims who were swindled. He looks into a privileged life of money, world travel, multiple homes and pretty much anything they desired. He notes that drugs were a part of both their lifestyles and an expected way of life.

This sordid story comes to light during the time of the meltdown of the US housing mortgage market and the Lehman Bros. fiasco. There was no dearth of bad financial news toward the end of 2008 and unless you were touched by it you might not have fully appreciated what one person or business can do to a whole world economy.

By now you’ve heard that it involved a Ponzi Scheme. But what, exactly, is a Ponzi scheme? A Ponzi scheme is just an old-fashioned pyramid scheme. According to Wikipedia: A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment, services or ideals, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme or training them to take part, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes are a form of fraud.

From Ross’ research we learn that Bernie Madoff never made one trade in stocks, bonds or any investment vehicle for the investors of Bernie L. Madoff Investment Securities with the billions of dollars which was taken in. This, despite the fact that he carried on in the same building another business which did so. He managed to do this for anywhere from 13 years to 50 years depending on whose version you choose to believe.

There were all sorts of warning signs which say that his wife, who maintained the books for his business in the early years should have known there was something wrong. His brother, his life-long business partner and his sons who joined the legitimate business should have noticed that on the days when Madoff Securities claimed to have made trades, there was no record of large amounts of trading in specific stocks. Once or twice missing this might be believed, but years and years of it should have been noticed by someone.

One thing that Bernie Madoff was very good at was schmoozing people and convincing lawyers, accountants and financial advisors to send their clients’ money his way. He used new money to give past investors the illusion that they had earned huge rates of interest on their investments. Their money was given to others who requested withdrawals. It’s an unconscionable way to treat others trust but unfortunately not unique.

There were a number of close calls when his actions might have been found out. He was investigated by the Securities Exchange Commission at least twice, as well as a number of suspicious individuals who tried to warn others. But how would they convict someone who was a member of the Board of that same Securities Exchange Commission and the Chair for two terms?

For an intriguing look into the world of a confessed fraud artist this is one of many books which have been rushed to print since his confession in December 2008. Bernie Madoff claimed that he did it all himself and that none of his family, acquaintances, or most of his employees had any idea what was going on. See if you can believe it after you finish this book.

2011 Goals

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

By Sue Ricketts

Here it is, another start to a new year. A clean slate to begin writing upon. As I start my 14^thyear working with insurance, investments and financial advising, I am pleased to note that there are two new items which I can offer to clients to help them understand and make a path through the potential nightmares of leaving their finances to work themselves out. The first one is an easily understandable way to get control and understanding of your income and expenses without doing a lot of accounting. The second is how to become your own banker and get control of how much interest and taxes you pay out. If you want to learn about the six steps to getting control of your finances or need independent advice from time to time on your entrepreneurial business ventures, that’s something I enjoy helping my clients with.

Last year, I wrote an article telling everyone what I intended to do in 2010. Here is a score card on what happened and some more goals to challenge myself in the upcoming months.

Publish my newsletter each week

Managed 51 articles plus book reviews and interesting items

2011 – Continue the above and research better ways to mitigate income tax and interest for my clients

Improve Websites

Found and using a customer relations management program to create campaigns and make contact with clients and my network

Hired assistant to help create and maintain web content on Facebook, Twitter, SueViews.ca and SueRicketts.com

2011 – Create a campaign to forward Solutions articles to clients

Add relevant content for visitors

Write a Book

Managed 18 chapters in fiction

Benefited from Guelph Write Now advice and camaraderie

2011 – Keep working towards the final chapters

Finish cover and back illustrations

Research publication methods

Complete two business books

Joint Ventures

Joined a networking group in Hamilton

Started Guelph Entrepreneurs and Mentors Meetup group

Found an associate to work on Group Benefits programs

2011 – Grow Guelph Entrepreneurs and Mentors

Continue working on shared benefit leads

Public Profile

Completed Community Leadership Program

Found a mentor and leveraged contacts

Continued with Rotary membership and the Board of Guelph & District Multicultural Festival

2011 – Concentrate on business education

Keep active with community leadership groups

Neighbourhood Group

Worked with city politicians and services to better the neighbourhood

Found more contacts in the neighbourhood and new issues to address

Ran for election to City Council

2011 – Continue to advocate on behalf of those who want to solve issues

Increase my knowledge of municipal affairs and issues

Increase active membership in our neighbourhood association

Business Goals

Achieved 60 – 70% of my business goals

No property & casualty license yet

2011 – Maintain same sales goals as 2010 (100% in 2011)

Work more with colleagues to produce more leads

Become a more knowledgeable advisor to my clients

Family

Take time to thank everyone in my family for their love and support.

Spend time with them when they are able.

Be a support whenever they need me.

Keep myself healthy and strong for another year.

See my first grandchild off to University

What are your goals in this new year? Have you written them down? Have you told anyone else? The reason I write mine to my readers is so that I will make a point of doing what I have said I would. Share your goals and they can become reality.