Unaware that You’re Sitting on a Goldmine?

When the famous escape artist, Houdini, told reporters that he could escape from any prison cell in three minutes, they took him up on his promise. With the cameras rolling, he was put into a cell, the door was closed, and he immediately extracted the hidden lock-pick from his clothes. He casually started to pick the lock on the cell door, something he’d done many times before, but was surprised when he found that he could not open it. As the seconds ticked by, Houdini became more and more frantic. Sweating, he battled in vain to unlock the cell door. Eventually, defeated, he leaned, exhausted, against the door. It swung wide open! It was never locked. His jailors had closed the door but they had forgotten to lock it! The doors to your financial freedom are NOT locked.

Many times, we don’t see the wood for the trees in our lives. We work hard and often don’t realize that we could achieve a lot more. As the Bank of Nova Scotia advertisement says, “You’re richer than you think!” You see, all your resources – that means your relationships, connections, credit, database, reputation, energy, memberships, skills, knowledge, possessions, insight and access - can be leveraged and used, in fact turned into money. You know, whatever you want, somebody else has. And whatever you have, somebody else wants! It’s important to realize that.

Many years ago, I was fortunate to receive excellent training from a company called Performax. They specialized in personality assessment tools, communication tools, listening tools, and character evaluation tools. One of the tools evaluated values styles. Simply put, there were four basic values styles. We all fit them in different ways: The Challenger, who will challenge everything just for the sake of it, the In-Betweener, who wants everyone to have the same, the Traditionalist, who wanted things to stay the same, and the Synthesizer, who sees links between people and synergistic opportunities and seeks to work with others in an interdependent, rather than a dependent or a co-dependent manner. I am a Synthesizer. I see links. So I see dollars. That’s why my website is called, “DollarMakers”.

Joint Ventures operate on the principle that we should be paid for solving peoples’ problems and linking them to solutions. Instead of paying somebody for the promise of delivering the results you want (that’s called “paying a salary or a retainer or a consulting or advertising fee”), you should ONLY pay for RESULTS. But you should pay for them and you should BE paid for them. By offering other people the opportunity to benefit from your own existing resources, you can make a significant amount of money. At no cost or risk to you. Here’s a simple example: Yesterday, I needed 16 holes to attach 16 handles to closet doors and drawers in our kitchen. I don’t have a drill, so I rented one from Home Depot. They solved my problem and I paid for it. I didn’t have to buy a drill for $40 – I rented one for $12. If I used your drill, I would have paid you. Your drill could have made you money.

If you knew that I needed a drill and you had one, you could have made money. If you take the time to find out what other people want, you can link them to the solution and make money. Here’s the good part: If you don’t have a drill but your friend Peter does, you could rent me Peter’s drill and share the $12 with him. How about if you had 2,000 in your database and I wanted more Members for my Forum? If you sent them an e-mail and only 100 joined, I would write you a check for $5,000. And if you don’t have a database, but Peter does, you and Peter could each pocket $2,500 – no cost or risk. And I would provide you all the marketing and sales tools you needed at no cost. There is an unlimited amount of resources and an unlimited amount of need. You don’t need the resources – you just need to think like a Synthesizer. Put people and resources together and you can make an unlimited amount of money - FAST. For more information, visit http://www.dollarmakers.com/

Robin J. Elliott You Can Have Your Cake And Eat It. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Immediate Cash Flow Relief

When cash flow in your business starts to wane, how do you react? We sometimes go into denial or avoid the issues. Or we get paralyzed – the “deer in the headlamps” syndrome. Or we get desperate and start and doing silly things that just worsen the situation. There’s a far better way.

Years ago, my bank manager called me up and told me that if I continued on the route I was taking in my business, I would go bankrupt. I had been in denial and I needed that wake-up call. I got such a shock that I immediately started implementing the ideas in this article and I saved myself from definite bankruptcy. I turned my business around and never got into that situation again. Let’s talk about what doesn’t work, first, just so you know I understand your predicament.

Denial and hiding away obviously doesn’t work, but we need to realize when we’re doing that. If you’re avoiding certain people and situations, not returning certain calls, playing a lot of solitaire while the Titanic sinks, focusing more on getting credit than on making money, going to movies alone when you’re supposed to be on a sales call… you get the picture. When you get back from the movies your business looks like a horror movie. Hiding won’t work. And you will upset a lot of people.

Paralysis is next. Keep on doing what got you into trouble in the first place, like using outdated marketing and advertising methods, or keeping people that should have been fired, or dealing with losers. If you don’t change, your circumstances won’t change. They’ll get worse. You have to be prepared to change what you’re doing if you want to change what you’re getting. If it’s not working, stop doing it. Stop beating the dead horse.

And then the desperate things – “desperate people do desperate things,” I know, been there, done that, got the T-shirt. That’s like paying the MasterCard with the Visa card, calling bad accounts up, going back to people who you know you shouldn’t do business with. The temptation is there for the quick buck, but believe me it’s going to cost you a lot more. Stay away from the losers. Don’t do things that you know won’t work, for the sake of being busy. “Look how hard I’m working ! I’m trying!” Work smart.

Here’s the attitude. Stand back and look at your business like a bucket beneath a faucet or tap. The bucket has holes in it – that’s expenses. Cutting expenses is always good, as long as it doesn’t detract from the level of service you provide and the optimal functioning of your business. I know I was ready to make some radical changes in my life when I saw bankruptcy looming, and I luckily bounced those ideas off a good friend whose sage advice saved me from some very silly choices. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, unless it’s a stepchild. More important than cutting costs, look at opening that faucet up so that your income is increased dramatically. The best cash flow income is fast, high margin, low cost, and leveraged. Short term is best, as long as it includes a medium term and / or long-term component, or you will be bailing water out of the boat as fast as it comes in, thereby perpetuating the situation. All you’ll get is tired.

Be objective. If you know something is wrong, don’t do it. Don’t be desperate. Think clearly. Bounce your decisions off a successful friend who understands your business. Look for high margin, fast turn-around, low or no risk. Ideally, commissions on other peoples’ efforts and resources, so that you expend minimum time and get as much leverage as you can. This is where you want to work only with very reliable people. Get advice from winners who are honest, creative, and objective.

Take Action. Who can I call right now? Instead of hiding, call your creditors up, tell them what the situation is and you might be pleasantly surprised at their response. After all, they want to get paid, so they might offer you better payment terms, or, better still, offer you a few solutions! That will relieve your stress and get you thinking more clearly and creatively. The answer is to take the right action – now. Confront the issues. Make the hard choices. Do what you fear. Look at what worked in the past, that you might not being doing now. Make those calls. Ask for the sale. Tell people what you want. Leverage your resources. And monitor your progress. Take a good, long look at the numbers in your business and look at them every day.

After my brush with bankruptcy all those years ago, I decided to never put my family and myself in that same situation again. I focused on the power, leverage and safety of Joint Ventures and never looked back. I use JV’s in every aspect of my business and so I operate on a very low cost, high margin, low risk basis. I spread my income and so I avoid peaks and valleys and optimize my opportunities. I work with carefully selected partners. Even if you don’t have cash flow problems but you want to put your bottom line of steroids, if you want instant access to the right people, the right systems and the right Joint Venture training, we can help. Visit www.dollarmakers.com and take action – NOW.

Robin J. Elliott