I’m Spending My Kids’ Inheritence

How would you respond to this bumper sticker — “Right on!” or “How selfish!”

Billionaire Warren Buffett will say “Right on!” every time.  Why?

“In life, you’re not entitled to a free ride.” ”Money or life?  I chose life.” “Life is what you make it .”

Do you know of a family or two who no longer speak to one another after fighting over their inheritance?  If parents leave nothing, children may resent mom and dad.  So what?!  They’re already at a much better place.  Resent all you want.

More importantly, families who continue to inhabit the land of the living will have an ongoing relationship — birthday parties, Thanksgiving dinners, and all that jazz!

“Give enough [to your children] but not enough to do nothing.”

Mr. Buffet, you are brilliant!

How Will You Spend Your Billions?

If you’re like me, this question will never cross your mind.  What billions … or better yet, what thousands?!

But if we were blessed (or cursed) with large amounts of money, what will we do?  Give the money to our kids or to favorite charities?  What about accountability?  How would we make sure our hard-earned dough (or mad money) will be used wisely?

Billionaire, Warren Buffet, shares his wisdom:

“Give enough [to your children] but not enough to do nothing,” “You’re not entitled to a free ride in life,” “Money or life?  I chose life.” “Life is what you make it .”

Son, Peter Buffett reminds us, it’s not enough to know what you want to do; that the pain of action is a challenge we must take on. And that we must open our arms to the mysteries of vocation as much as the well-delineated parts; that work is not all about following a predictable path but also about doubts, mistakes, uncertainties and embracing opportunities.(Full Story)

Great lessons!  Empower, not enable!

Reallionaire — From Public Assistance to Millionaire at Age 14!

Born in Chicago’s southside, the youngest of four kids, raised by a mother working three to four jobs, hunger, the fear of eviction, gang violence — sounds like the perfect recipe for a HARD life; a STEEP uphill climb.

Not for Farrah Gray.  At 24-years-old, Gray is the ULTIMATE American success story!

Gray’s family couldn’t give him money or connections, but they gave him values to live by — pride, respect, hard work, preparation, inspiration, determination, and philanthropy.

Gray’s ten keys for success:

• Understand the Power of a Name
• Rejection– Fear Not!
• Build an All-Star Mentoring Team
• Seize Every Opportunity
• Go With the Flow … But Know Where You Want to Go
• Be Emotionally Prepared to Handle Failure
• Dedicate Your Time to What You Know (and What You Love)
• Love Your Customer
• Never Underestimate the Power of Network
• Know Your Partner  (Full Story)

WOW!  WOW!  WOW!

WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?! —  “DRIVE!  DETERMINATION!  HUSTLE!”

Let’s “GO GET EM!!!!”  🙂

Microfinance Ends Poverty

Why is it so difficult, if not impossible, for the world’s working-poor to break through poverty?  They’re intelligent and hard-working; trying to realize their dreams for better lives.

Former-President Bill Clinton states, “The missing links are opportunities, investments, and infrastructure.”

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Grameen Bank’s Managing Director agrees — “Given the World Bank’s mission is to alleviate poverty, the Bank should provide increased funds for microfinance and make sure that half of those funds go to families living below $1 a day. If the Bank doesn’t do it, who else will? It’s the right thing to do.”

Both President Clinton and Dr. Yunus advocate microfinance; a proven and cost-effective tool to help the very poor lift themselves out of poverty and improve the lives of their families.

Here’s how the loan works:

1. Empower the working-poor — In many (developing) countries, the self-employed comprise more than 50 percent of the labor force.
2. Credits with affordable interest rates — small amounts of credit (averaging $130 U.S.) with reasonable interest rates allow the working-poor to move from small income-generating activities to small micro-enterprises.
3. End poverty with dignity — In most cases, microcredit programs offer a combination of services and resources to their clients including savings facilities, training, networking, and peer support.
4. Accountability — Repayment rates are often higher than conventional borrowers        (in Benin City, Nigeria, 97 percent of 20,000 loan recipients repaid their loans).

Full Story

Hiring Entrepreneurs!

“Future job markets will seek entrepreneurial individuals— the problem-solvers, life-long learners, high energy, critical thinking, flexible individuals.”  (Steve Mariotti, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship).

Programs are offered nationwide — for children and adults.  (Don’t forget “life.”  Life has always been my best teacher!)

With the following qualities, we can all become entrepreneurs:

• Passion and Ambition
• Communication Skills
• Discipline / Strong Work Ethic
• Experience and Knowledge
• Goal Setting
• Innovation
• Leadership Qualities
• Risk-Taking
• Self Confidence

The only time I fail is when I fail to try (most of the above will be my life-long goals).  To try or not to try — pink slip or entrepreneurial spirit — do I have a choice?

Which would you choose?

Full Story

Spread the Word! Unleash Ideavirus!

If you can get people to accept, embrace, adore, and cherish your ideas, you win!  You win financially, you gain power, and most importantly, change our world! (Seth Godin)

Godin has written a topnotch, user-friendly (FREE) e-book that cleverly packages important ideas (the power of  online word-of-mouth) that have obvious practical use!

According to the marketing guru:

I wrote the first mainstream book about viral marketing. It’s free (still) eight years (and millions of downloads) later. Download 2000Ideavirus.pdf

Here’s how the book itself is an example of viral marketing:

1. I posted the PDF for free. Three thousand people downloaded it on day one.
2. The file is small enough to email to your friends. I encourage people to do just that.
3. Some people mailed it to fifty or a hundred people. It spread.

Some key advice from the marketing expert are:

• Ideavirus is an idea that moves and grows and infects everyone it touches. (p.13)
• Stop marketing at people. The idea is to create an environment where consumers will market to each other. (p. 14)
• The smoothest viruses, like Hotmail, spread themselves. Just the act of using the product spreads the virus. A product that’s easy to recommend (like a stylish haircut) is often a product that’s easy to get hooked on (p. 27).
• Give people — the powerful consumers and the best marketers — [their due respect] and a reason to listen and then create an infrastructure that will amplify their ability to spread word of mouth (p. 38)

Godin also shares many tips and strategies for sharing ideas.  Here are just a few:

1. What does it take to build and spread an Ideavirus (p.57)
2. There are three key levers that determine how your ideavirus will spread (p.60)
3. Ten questions Ideavirus marketers want answered (p. 64)
   
4. Five ways to unleash an Ideavirus  (p. 65)

Everyone is connected to the rest of the world via the Internet. Spread your passion!  Spread your ideas!  Contact your nearest trendsetters and opinion leaders (family, friends, coworkers)! Word-of-mouth-online is the wave of the future!

Happy Holidays!

Start Up Guide to Guerrilla Marketing (II)

II.      The 12 Personality Traits of a Guerrilla Marketer

(1) Patience

Researchers learned your message must penetrate people’s mind nine times before they’re ready to buy from you (or buy into your ideas).  Patience, not marketing, works miracles.

(2) Imagination

You’ve got to do something your prospects and customers have never seen before so that you can capture and hold their attention better than any competitor anywhere, anytime.

(3) Sensitivity

A guerilla marketer cannot plod through life thinking only of him or herself.  The guerilla must be sensitive to:

• The marketplace
• The economy
• His prospects
• The competition
• What’s on the prospect’s mind at the moment he is marketing
• The time in history

(4) Strong Ego

Guerrilla marketers must have the ego to stand up to those who love you the most but give you the worst marketing advice.  Guerrilla marketing is not for amateurs, not for insecure babies, and more like a cup of nitroglycerine that can blow up in your face if you make a crucial mistake.

(5) Aggressiveness

Guerillas are aggressive in their thinking and in their investing.  Guerrillas save money by not wasting it.  Aggressiveness is your hallmark.  You probably have a blog.  You’ve already begun podcasting.  You’ve been hard at work compiling your opt-in list.  This kind of aggressiveness is the sign of a leader.

(6) Embrace Change

Change for the sake of improvement is a very good thing.  Embrace change.

(7) Generous

Guerrillas view their marketing as a chance to help their prospects and customers succeed at their goals.  Knowing that we’re living smack dab in the middle of the Information Age, they are very generous in providing information.

(8) High Energy

Guerrilla marketing is a full-time job that takes energy – all the time energy.  By doing the work they love, they never work a day in their lives.  If you can make high energy a part of you, you have the personality of a guerrilla destined for success.

(9) Life-Long Learner

Guerillas know knowledge equates with success.  Guerrillas continue to learn about about the changes in marketing as well as about the peripherals of marketing: psychology, the Internet, technology, and the globalization business.

(10) Love People

Guerillas know that every person is unique.  Their honest interest in people makes them masterful communicators.  And that masterful communication makes the guerrillas themselves enjoyable to hear, to listen to, to learn from.

(11) Maintains Focus

Guerilla marketers are skilled at their core competencies as well as at maintaining their focus.  Instead of going off into unchartered territories, they concentrate on adding excellence to their current endeavors.

(12) Takes Action

While others may learn by hearing, guerrillas learn by doing.  They are very hands-on group of people. They act on the advice they are given.  They breathe life into the concepts they have learned.  They experiment.  Guerrillas do something about what they’ve learned.

Start Up Guide to Guerrilla Marketing (III)

III.    Top Ten Attitudes of a Guerrilla Marketer

• Passion
• Generosity
• Speed
• Sincere caring
• Honest friendliness
• Neatness
• Telephone demeanor
• Value
• Easy to do business with
• Flexibility

Start Up Guide to Guerrilla Marketing (V)

V.  Becoming a Resource

Becoming a resource increases your credibility and visibility to potential fusion marketing partners.  Fusion marketing partners seek out those who earn their respect and already enjoy their market’s respect.  Here are 25 ways to become a resource:

1. Write articles for publication
2. Teach a class
3. Offer to help a friend in your area of expertise
4. Do free consultations
5. Publish an e-newsletter
6. Print a newsletter
7. Recommend your friends’, clients’, and colleagues’ products and services
8. Market their products and services in combination with yours
9. Involve them in a project you’re doing
10. Provide free community help
11. Put information, surveys, tips, and articles on your website
12. Sponsor a charitable event
13. Compile a list of recommended books in your area of expertise
14. Link others’ web sites on your web site.
15. Provide referrals.
16. Do a radio or TV spot
17. Offer to be a free resource for prospects
18. Send relevant articles to prospects and customers
19. Donate time to a relevant association
20. Work a trade show booth
21. Connect people in all areas of your life
22. Do a free seminar on a popular topic
23. Send a yearly industry review to customers and colleagues
24. Mentor someone
25. Share information beyond your career expertise, such as travel knowledge or hobbies.

Start Up Guide to Guerrilla Marketing (VI)

VI.  The 17 Secrets of Guerrilla Marketing that Help you Maintain Your Attack

(1) Commitment – Mediocre marketing program with commitment will always prove more profitable than a brilliant marketing program without commitment.  Commitment makes it happen.

(2) Investment – Marketing is not an expense, but an investment – the best investment available in America today if you do it right (possible with this book).

(3) Consistent – It takes a while for prospects to trust you, and if you change your marketing, media, and identity, you’re hard to trust.  Restraint is a great ally of the guerrilla.  Repetition is another.

(4) Confident – People said they patronize confident businesses (entrepreneurs who know what they are doing).

(5) Patience – Patience, commitment, investment, consistency, and making prospects confident go hand-in-hand.  Patience is a guerilla virtue.

(6) Variety – A wide variety of marketing tools is required to woo and win customers.

(7) Convenient – People know time is far more valuable than money.  Respect this by being easy to do business with and running your company for the convenience of your customers, not yourself.

(8) Subsequent – The real profits come after you’ve made the sale, in the form of repeat and referral business.  Guerrillas know marketing begins when they’ve made the sale.

(9) Amazement – Marketing creativity is the truth made fascinating.

(10) Measurement – You can actually double your profits by measuring the results of your marketing

(11) Involvement is the relationship between you and your customers.  You prove your involvement by following up; they prove theirs by patronizing and recommending you.

(12) Dependent – The guerrilla’s job is not to compete with but to cooperate with other businesses.  Market them in return for their marketing you.  Set up tie-ins with others.  Become dependent to market more and invest less.

(13) Armament – The armament of guerrillas is technology: computers, current software, cell phones, pagers, and fax machines.

(14) Consent – The key to success is to first gain consent to receive your marketing materials, then market only to those who have given you that consent.

(15) Content – Sell the content your offering rather than the style.

(16) Augment – To succeed online, augment your website with offline promotions, constant maintenance of your site, participation in newsgroups and forums, e-mail, chat room attendance, posted articles, conference hosting, and rapid follow up.

(17) Implement – Guerilla marketing is definitely not a spectator sport.  Take action!