It happened to me!

It was about 30 years ago that I ventured out as an entrepreneur. I had a chance to change jobs and make way more money. There was only one catch, I would be working for my father.......not something I looked forward too.

Through out Junior High and High School, I worked for my father in the afternoons after school. He had been a TV repairman for years. He always need help keeping the shop open while he was out or helping with deliveries. At the time I was making a whopping 50 cents an hour. Now, it was up to me to keep up with my hours. He'd pay me when he could.

You see, Dad worked for himself in the repair business and was well respected throughout the town, but, he was not a good business man. Many people owed him money and would pay when they had to. There are many times that I have seen him collect for the last visit while repairing their TV. He simply did not like to ask for money. Almost without fail when finished a repair and someone asked "How much do I owe?", he would simply say "Awe, just let me send you a bill." He was always afraid of charging too much. Problem is, he hated doing the billing as well. It was all done by hand and he'd wait 'til the end of the month to even start.

As far as us working together, well it went ok, but we just didn't see eye to eye on things. Besides I was young and was looking forward to moving out and being on my own. Then I could get a real job!

Let's fast forward about 10 years. Dad approached me with another job offer. This time he had a partner. They owned 3 store and needed a new manager in one. Now, I had no management experience but he knew I could learn.

What I did not know was that Dad had some long range plans. He and his partner were considering dividing the business and Dan knew he needed someone else to run it. He, for whatever reason, did not want to take it on himself.

A couple of years later, with the business divided, I found myself running 3 stores from a corporate office and all of theses stores were in other towns. One was 5 hours from us which was a little scary now that I think about it.

Over a period of 9 years we grew to 5 stores and were "flying high" until the bottom fell out and we had to file for bankruptcy. In just 9 short years, we had gone from struggle to success back to struggle again.

For a short period of time, I worked for another company but had had a taste of freedom and just could not let that go. I had to become independent again. Then in 1990 I got my chance, totally against my wife's wishes. Dad was back in the repair business and needed my help. We worked out the money so he could pay me this time (I had a family now I had to get paid).

Almost immediately, he suggested that I start developing a computer business. I had learn programming skills while in the TV Rental business a few years earlier. I had to at that time as there were no programs to help control our business.

During the 18 plus years of building this, I struggled. Man I struggled! The business was good and the money was good but I struggle with concentration. If any of you have every written any programming code, you know how much concentration it takes. I would often work all day at the store (waiting on customers and answering the phone) then come back at night (so I could concentrate) and work on programming.

This went on for a number of years. As time passed, it kept getting harder to concentrate. I just assumed that I had ADD or something similar and would just have to deal with it.

Then, a little over a year ago, a friend of mine (Axel Henriksen) suggested I take an online assessment. He said it might help. I was at my “wits end” so I was willing to try most anything that might help. Honestly, I didn’t expect much from this.

Shortly after completing the online assessment and getting the report back we were reading the results when Axel said “Here’s your problem!” He explained that my lack of Analyzer personality made programming challenging at best. It was more than challenging. It was almost unbearable.

WOW! I’ve spent all the years (18 plus) working as hard as I could possibly go “against” my personality. Talk about a relief!

Today, I work with businesses and individuals throughout the US and Canada find their “flow” and build their dreams.

Have you found your passion in life, your ideal career? What’s holding you back?

It happened to me!

It literally changed my life after more than 18 years in the wrong business.

"What gives you the confidence you need?"

As we travel through our daily lives, we all want to feel accepted in some way.

All too often, we seem to take our lives.......and success........for granted. Instead we should savor these experiences, this life. As I heard one speaker say "Life is so delicious!"


Here's a movie that nails this idea:




Validation is so important.......for all of us. But, who takes the time to really find a reason to complement someone. I dosen't take much effort, and my feel a little awkward at first, but try it. Who knows maybe someone will return the effort.

P.S. I could use a little help. Visit my blog on Business Options and leave your comments on my new site.

Warmly,
Bob "The nonGeek Geek"

2009 Could Be One of the Best Years Ever

This new year is certainly shaping up to be one of the best years in recent history for businesses in the right position. People still buy, eat out, by gas, food, etc...........but the market is changing. So businesses are now looking for something to HELP them survive.

I've said that many time recently and it is so true. But there are some people who are chasing a dream.........but is it really what they want.

Have a look at this video:



Now, the question is, do this look all too familiar? Maybe you are ready for a break.

If you (or someone you know) are seriously looking for a change of pace or a chance to build something you own, visit this link for more information. We could use a little help.

"Take Your Sales to The Next Level"

A career salesperson understands that they must keep improving their skills in order to grow. Even seasoned professionals have to keep learning. After all, that's what makes life fun and interesting. We all have to grow!

Good communication skills is an "art form" that has to be worked on constantly.

Do you ever wish to be better at communicating?

Do you every wish you could read your customer's thoughts?

Do you every wish you knew "what to say" and "when to say it"?

If you have answered yes to any of the above, then watch this slide show.........

My Sales Success Improve Sales Performance

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: sales training sales)

Personality training removes the guess work from reading your customer's thoughts. You don't have to know specifically what they are thinking. You just need to know how they think and how they buy.

You will find out more information online.

http://Bob.MyProfileWorldwide.com

When visit with a new customer or client, what do you attempt to do?

What is your goal in this initial conversation?

The first thing you should do is try to get to know a little about them (and I don't mean get personal). With some, asking about family, work, and maybe even hobbies is great. They like to talk and may give you more than you wanted. With others, it's considered prying and they do not like it.

Personality training is the only way to really understand this. First, you must know you own. Then you can learn to speed read others and present yourself (and your information) in a way that they are receptive too.

Some want you to quickly get to the point.

Some want get to know you and socialize a bit.

Some want to pass the information by some friends, first.

Some want all the data and they will decide for themselves.

If we learn to adjust our thinking and presentation, we stand a much better chance of making the sale.

To get more information on this powerful tool, visit us online.

http://Bob.MyProfileWorldwide.com

I would like to be a "fly on the wall" once you begin to use this............

Warmly,
Bob "The nonGeek Geek"

"Some cool social networking tools"

I've been studying social networking for months now and continue to be amazed at the new............and very handy.......tool that I find. A friend of mine actually told me about this one, then I learned how to add music.

Mynetworksuccess Direct Sales

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: training coaching)

As you can see, this streams inside my blog. This can also be linked to other social networking site which makes all the Web 2.0 tools very handy. Thanks SlideShare, you done a great job here.

P.S. I noticed that when adding the music, you need to use IE (Internet Explorer) for the editing functions to work. I'm sure that will change soon.

Warmly,
Bob "The nonGeek Geek"

"Some Fun Times Ahead"

Either, I have discovered broadcasting or broadcasting has discovered me. I'm not sure which is right, but, I am sure that I'm having fun with BlogTalkRadio. Just a year ago, I change my business model.........changed careers actually. Today, I'm hosting online radio talk shows with three scheduled this week alone. All are on different topics, so, I've created three different shows.

The radio shows are indeed fun to do. The driving force, though, is the economy. The economic landscape is definitely changing so will be hosting a radio broadcast this week on this very subject. My guests will be sharing information on new was to grow your hard earned money.

Please join me on our broadcast of Fresh Money and learn from the best. I promise to keep it simple and fun.

I invite everyone to listen in and quit loosing money.

Warmly,
Bob "The nonGeek Geek"

"The Art of Networking"

Networking is definitely an art. It takes learning, patience, and time to develop a good circle of friends or business partners.

I came across the information from Tim Houston that I felt is worth repeating:

Art of Networking
Reality Networking
Why you shouldn't expect instant results.
by Tim Houston

On reality TV, you can find the love of your life, win a competition, or even lose weight in a matter of weeks. TV shows like this tell us that doing small tasks over a period of six to eight weeks will ensure success—at least in some underdeveloped aspect of our lives.

However, what the public doesn't know is that the success often doesn't last. They lose the job, they put the weight back on, or their divorce ends up on the front page of the tabloids.

It's back to square one.

Networking is different. It requires us to do more than just the minimum over an extended period of time. All too often, the neophyte networker believes that they can attend networking events or groups whenever they want, hand out business cards and expect people to instantly start doing business with them. They fool themselves into believing that they are credible in the eyes of those they meet and expect instant business to transpire.

When it doesn't happen like on TV, they convince themselves (and try to convince everyone they meet), that networking doesn't work and is a waste of time, energy, and money. They blame everyone and everything else for their impatience and, thus, lack of success. The excuses are abundant:

"It's the organization's fault."
"They aren't the right people for me to network with."
"The economy's not doing well."
"The weather was bad that day."

Two recent (yet somewhat common) BNI experiences help illustrate this point.

Case #1: An insurance professional contacted me complaining that despite three months in her networking group, she hadn't received a single referral. She asked if she could transfer to a bigger group.

When I looked at her attendance, I saw it was poor. Plus, she didn't give her chapter members any referrals. Nor did she learn about others on an individual basis. Meanwhile, her colleagues who are in other BNI chapters are literally cleaning up and laughing all the way to the bank.

Why? Because they don't buy into the instant-results mentality. They do what is required of them. They build relationships with the people in their chapter. They spend time educating their marketing team to find referrals and referral sources. They ask for key introductions to sources of referrals.

Case #2: I was contacted by someone in a neighboring BNI region who wanted to leave his chapter because "it just wasn't working out."

When I asked how long he had been in his current chapter he said, "Two weeks, and I haven't seen a single referral!"

When asked if someone explained to him that this takes time and effort, he replied, "Yeah, but …" and provided several excuses as to why he wanted to leave his chapter. He thought he was entitled to referrals just by being a part of his chapter!

A Healthy Dose of Reality
Woody Allen is quoted as saying that "90% of success in life is just showing up." Apparently people believe it whenever they go to mixers, trade shows, and networking groups. I respectfully and strongly disagree.

The bottom line is that most business people either don't understand or embrace the hard work that comes with building relationships. Yet, because they believe they deserve instant results—something that networking doesn't afford—they boldly conclude that it doesn't work.

Remember, unlike reality TV, success in BNI won't happen overnight. To produce the desired, positive results, you need to work hard: schedule the time to attend a meeting or an event, and then follow-up with the people you meet to start laying the foundation to a relationship. It's more than just tuning in for 90 minutes, once a week.

The reality of networking is that it takes time. It's going to be hard; it's going to be laborious. But it's going to be well worth it. When done right, it creates a positive reality for the member, the chapter, and ultimately, the bank account.


Warmly,
Bob "The nonGeek Geek
www.bob.myprofileworldwide.com