Notes from Think and Grow Rich

Here are some direct quotes from Napoleon Hill's book, "Think and Grow Rich". You can find it here: Amazon

The Role of Desire

To create wealth from desire, follow this six-step plan:
1. Take mental snapshot of the amount of money you seek. Name a number.
2. Name your price. What are you willing to do for the money?
3. Create a deadline. Fix a date by which you will achieve your goals.
4. Start a task sheet with definite strategy. Start now.
5. Write a brief mission statement.
6. Make a declaration: Twice a day, read your mission statement aloud.

Organized Planning

1. Surround yourself with "master mind" allies. Cultivate a support team. Employ your talents and resources to help them and invite them to assist you.
2. Fine-tune your plan with regular support group meetings.
3. Establish harmony with each member of the group.

Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination, a top cause of failure, is your enemy. Successful leaders make quick, meaningful decisions. Being decisive gives you "mastery of procrastination." Consider the advice and insight of your support group. Avoid anyone who undercuts your drive. Dodge the trap of public opinion by revealing your plans only to your small circle of advisers. When you indiscriminately broadcast your strategies, ideas and goals, you lessen your chances of success. Keep quiet; keep the faith.

The Subconscious Mind

Cultivate faith, desire, sex, love, energy, hope, and romance. Avoid jealousy, fear, greed, revenge, anger and hatred.

The Sixth Sense

Don't be hampered by the "six basic fears," fear of being poor, fear of reproach, fear of becoming sick, fear of being unloved, fear of getting old and fear of dying. Avoid fretting, dwelling on "destructive" thoughts or being swayed by negativity. The power of your thoughts gives you mastery and can give you money, as well.

Save money on your cable bill

Whoa! It has been almost a year since my last blog entry! Here is a fresh tip. I recently decided I wanted to reduce my cable bill. So there are two choices: switch or negotiate a lower rate with current provider. I personally like my AT&T Uverse service. My bill for my package including premium channels was $150 a month. Do not call the regular customer service line. You need to call the customer retention phone number for who ever your cable provider is and use the following line:

"Hi (insert rep name here), I received a special offer from (insert competitor name here) and I am thinking about switching services. I enjoy my service, but want to make sure I am getting the best deal. Is there any special offers or rate you can apply to my account?"

I used this line and the rep said he would check and be right back. Sure enough, the rep comes back on the line and without a fuss or hassle said he could give me the same package I currently have, but lower my monthly bill after taxes to $100 for 12 months! That is a savings of $600 over the next 12 months for a 5 minute phone call!

Stop Chasing Jobs, Start Chasing Companies and Contacts

Stop Chasing Jobs, Start Chasing Companies and Contacts:

'via Blog this'

Interviewing for jobs? Here is how to nail your second interview

Typically, you have to interview multiple times in the interview process. This article posted by LifeHacker helps you have a great second interview which can be crucial in getting the offer.

Check it out here

Social Media Plays a Major Role in the Hiring Process

A recent Careerbuilder/Harris Interactive study found that 34% of companies have rejected a job candidate because of the person's social-media activity. Makes you rethink posting that picture of you with the a keg at your college fraternity party.

The top four reasons those candidates weren't hired are as follows:

1) They posted inappropriate photos or information.
2) There was evidence of drinking or drug use.
3) They had poor communication skills.
4) They badmouthed a previous employer.

Be careful out there! For more tips on your online image, check out my article that was printed in Change Magazine: http://www.changemagazine.net/business/strategies-for-success/1600-establishing-your-popi.html

The Biggest Hiring Mistake You Can Make

Have you ever received a job application and never responded? Jeff Haden at Inc.com says that is a big mistake for the following reasons:

1) It's disrespectful to potential employees.
2) It's terrible PR.

Read more here including what you should do in the future: http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-biggest-hiring-mistake-you-will-ever-make.html

Relaxed Customers Spend More

A recent article in INC Magazine was about a study done on customer's spending habits when they are relaxed versus neutral. The study showed that people were willing to pay an average of 11% more on products when relaxed.

Read the full article here: http://www.inc.com/magazine/201111/why-it-pays-to-help-holiday-shoppers-relax.html

Modern Day Business Etiquette

Just like at social gatherings, there are certain etiquettes to be followed in the workplace. Etiquette expert Eliza Browning had a few reminders for INC readers.

First, focus on the face, not the screen. How many times have you talked to someone and they never once looked away from what they were doing on their computer? It makes you feel like the least important item on their not-to-do list...

Second, curb your criticism. The workplace should not be the same an an online forum. It is best not to criticize other people.

And lastly, observe the elevator rule. What this means, do not talk about a person or people that you just met with until the elevator is on the bottom and you are leaving the building.

See those plus two others here: http://www.inc.com/eliza-browning/business-etiquette-rules-that-matter-now.html 

Secrets to Being Productive

You would think that the most productive people at your company work all the time. Never leave their desk or cube. Eat lunch while working. Work all weekend when they don't have too. Well, that all may be just work, but that does not mean they are being productive.

A recent article by Margaret Heffernan who is a serial entrepreneur and author says, "[Productive people]...don't work more hours than you do. Productive people just have a knack for making the most of their time."

She says three of the things these productive people do are the following:

1) They take breaks
2) They are great collaborators
3) They have lives outside of work

Check out the full article here: http://www.inc.com/margaret-heffernan/most-productive-people-i-know-secrets.html

Is your business social-savy? Here is how to find out!

Foursquare check-ins, Facebook Likes, Yelp, online reviews....Sure, you can read what customers are saying about your business. How do you know if you are performing better that your competition?

Introducing ValueRank.com...A service that for $499 a month will analyze many factors, plug them in an algorithm, and assign a score 1 to 100. These are updated daily. Have multiple locations? You can track and dig into the data for each location.

If you have a retail based business (bank, credit union, restaurant, etc.) you should be monitoring this data.

Check out ValueRank here: http://www.valuerank.com

Three Phrases You Should Never Say to a Customer

These come to you from Ron Burley who is a customer service guru. The three things that a customer service rep should not say are:

1) That's our policy.
2) There's nothing I can do.
3) That's the manufacturer's responsibility.

I am sure there are other things they shouldn't say, but these may be the three most used. Can you use all three in one sentence? Let's give it a shot!

"Mr. Customer. There is nothing I can do because it is our policy that it is the manufacturer's responsibility."

Find more pearls of wisdom from Ron Burley here: http://www.inc.com/author/ron-burley or find him on twitter @consumerrebel

Research on the effects of workplace hostility

Sometimes when you go into a business, you can just tell there is hostility in the air. Well, a study was done recently on how hostility between coworkers effects the customers. The findings probably are not shocking to most people.

"...researchers found that when customers witness employees being disrespectful to one another - yelling, using profane language, or openly criticizing another's job performance - customers not only get mad, but they often try to punish the company in some way"

The only time I have witnessed hostility between coworkers was at Best Buy in the geek squad section. An associate was looking at something for me when his supervisor walked up and began to verbally reprimand the employee for incurring overtime by staying to help me. Needless to say, I appreciated the employee staying to help me, but I also thought that the supervisor should have been fired or reprimanded for saying that in front of a customer.

You can read the full article here: http://www.inc.com/magazine/201202/be-kind-to-your-co-workers.html

Want to fight turnover at your company? Try creating a new hire system.

Even in today's tough job market, some companies still have an issue with turnover. April Joyner wrote about this in a recent article. She lays out a five step system used at Big Fuel. Here are the five steps

Step 1: Meet your colleagues - get introduced and work with as many of your new coworkers as possible
Step 2: Back to school - have a series of classes not only about the company, but also the culture
Step 3: Watch and learn - official apprenticeships pairing new hires with senior employees
Step 4: Face time with the bigwigs - make sure the new employees get some time with the the top execs
Step 5: Tell us how you really feel - get new hires feedback on the program so you can institute improvements

Find the full article here: http://www.inc.com/magazine/201203/april-joyner/how-to-fight-employee-turnover.html

Traits of Remarkable Employees

Jeff Haden wrote recently about three traits of great employees. I agree that these three are important characteristics. How many of these three do you or your own employees have? The three traits are:

1) They're always fiddling
2) They ignore job descriptions
3) They like to prove others wrong

Read the full article along with another five qualities here: http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-8-qualities-of-remarkable-employees.html

How to Master a Skill

A few months back, there was an interesting article in INC Magazine about how to master any skill. There are 5 steps:

1) Script the new behavior (write it out)
2) Practice it perfectly (perfect practice make perfect)
3) Rebound and fix (stick with it)
4) Accelerate through mental rehearsal (visualize positive outcome)
5) Make it part of your identity (turn from behavior to part of your character)

Check out the full article here: http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-master-any-skill.html

Interesting Article on Motivating Employees

This is an interesting article posted by INC.com. It talks about things that motivate employees more than money. Check it out:

http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/9-things-that-motivate-employees-more-than-money.html

The One Website You Need to Check Out Before Buying a Car: Truecar.com

From: http://www.truecar.com

Buying a car soon? I highly recommend the website Truecar.com. It is very simple to use. Type in the vehicle model and the zipcode. Truecar will show you the range of prices people have paid in that area. That way you are better prepared when you walk onto the car lot. Truecar gets there information from various sources that include: finance companies, government records, thousands of dealerships in almost every state, and insurance companies. Give their service a whirl. Best part is that its free!

The Future of Customer Service - Skullcandy's Fansourcing Model

Courtesy of Skullcandy via Fortune Website

In the December 26th issue of Fortune magazine, there is this article written by Jennifer Alsever entitled, "The Service Dude." The story is about a company called Skullcandy who is, according to the article, "maker of highend headphones." They have employed a rather ingenious method of providing customer service. They basically pay their fans an hourly rate and give them points towards Skullcandy headphones and ipads to provide online customer service. This is quite different from every other company's customer service model. The typical company hires people who may or may not even use or like their products or services to assist their customers when they call in or go online to contact them for help. I see this being the future for many companies that have cultivated loyal fan bases like Skullcandy. There are some limitations to this strategy. For example, you will still need separate customer service reps to handle billing or personal information related matters. But for troubleshooting or product experience level questions, companies should embrace the future and start recruiting your fans before your competitors do.

Skullcandy Products: http://amzn.to/t8tMEG

Fortune Article: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/12/21/skullcandy-fan-sourcing/ 

Edit 1/4/2012: After doing more research, this fansourcing platform Skullcandy uses is a service provided by a company called Needle http://www.needle.com Check it out!

Parents Can Rent Toys At New Website

Parents Can Rent Toys At New Website « CBS Boston

I found this story while browsing during Sunday Night Football. This takes the old saying "Keeping up with the Jones's" to a whole new level. My question is this. What do you do when you have to send the toys back and your kid cries endlessly? Note to all the parents out there. If you can't afford the real presents, you could probably do better things with that money...

Does This Video Help You Understand "What is a Credit Bureau?"

I found this video on youtube. I wonder if people learn anything they didn't already know. Let me know.