Your Entrepreneurial Leap-Idea: Back to Basics | CONVEY YOUR MESSAGE

Convey Your Message with Jessan Dunn Otis

Maybe you thought you were going to be a mechanic or a doctor or a teacher or a whatever-it-might-have-been. Nevertheless, here you are; and, you're trying something new.

Perhaps someone else planted the thought or the idea or the possibility. Or, you've been down-sized, passed over, left behind, offered an early retirement or, simply, "let go"; and, you still have to make a living - right?

Another scenario might be that you've done what you've been doing for "x" amount of time; and, now it's time to take your leap-idea and venture into brand new territory - to become an entrepreneur.

* Now what?

To respond accurately to this question depends upon what it's going to require to make that leap of yours land in the right place.

Sometimes it can all fall into place almost effortlessly. Sometimes it can take years of batting your dream against a dry wall where not much seems to stick.

* Where to begin?

Quick answer: begin at the beginning. Seems obvious? Perhaps, however, it's not so obvious. Sometimes you're going to have to find your way back to the genesis of your entrepreneurial vision. If that's what you have to do - take notes. Keep a journal, notebook, folder or whatever it takes to gather and hold all those ideas that circle and accumulate around your leap-idea.

* What then?

After you've generated enough synthesized information, you might pass your ideas by a few valued friends, relatives and/or business confidants. Listen to them. If you feel they're offering constructive advice, opinions and points of view - take more notes. If you feel they're offering destructive criticisms - stop taking notes; but, consider their points of view, as well. Even "destructive criticisms" can have value.

* Next?

Let your entrepreneurial leap-idea, all notes and advice rest for awhile. You've begun to do your necessary work. Take a break. Do something completely different. Part of your mind will still be dwelling on all that you've done. However, you've earned some time off.

* ...and, after that?

Continue to integrate, to research, to clarify and to focus your vision until you feel and believe that you've asked enough questions and have enough pragmatic answers and evidence to take your next steps.

Some consideration might be: are you going to bootstrap your new entrepreneurial venture (all the glory and all the risk); or, are you going to look for an angel investor or take out a loan?

Begin to develop a basic business plan, a mission statement, your goals, objectives and more formalized business venture documents.

Through these initials steps, you're learning how to begin to talk about, think about and to move your dream into reality. Throughout this process you're, also, learning how to begin to create the entrepreneurial "vehicles" to convey your message to the right folks, in the right terms to continue to pursue your dream and to be able to make your entrepreneurial leap-idea come alive.

Either way, you've taken some essential steps to create your own new path. Sit back for a few and feel somewhat satisfied with yourself. But, don't sit too long - you've got a lot more work to do.

What say you, please?

Jessan

For more information, please visit Jessan's TNNWC Bio.

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Your Entrepreneurial Leap-Idea: Back to Basics | CONVEY YOUR MESSAGE

Would You Bank with Chase? | A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

Would You Bank with Chase?

by Adam J. Kovitz

Chase Bank (J.P. Morgan Chase) is certainly making a name for itself in the world of consumer and small business banking...and not in a good way.

Question:  What do you do if you're one of the Nation's top four banks and you're being squeezed by the Federal Reserve amongst other regulatory agencies to curtail excessive fees?

Answer:  Take your frustrations out on the "little people" by creating new fees that further make it difficult to do business with you.

Let's look at the facts: 

• During the financial bailouts of 2008, Chase was chase one of several large banks who received $25 billion in TARP funds
• Months later in 2009, Chase wrote a check for $25 billion to the U.S. Government to repay them
• Chase reported profits of $11.7 billion in 2009.  That same year, Chase's CEO, Jamie Dimon received $17 million in bonuses
• As of February, 2011, Jamie Dimon was the highest paid executive on Wall Street
• Chase is currently considering raising its dividends to investors.  Should this come to pass, Jamie Dimon would earn approximately $6 million in dividends.
• Chase announced a few weeks ago that to combat the $1 billion in revenue it would lose from lowering the cap interchange fees associated with debit card transactions from 44 to the Fed-imposed 12 cents, Chase would be "forced" to cap spending limits on the cards at $100, possibly $50!
• Chase announced recently that it is "testing" $4 and $5 ATM transaction fees for non-customers

So...the million dollar question...would you do business with Chase?  If so, why?

I, like many of my colleagues, feel that a strong, healthy economy is predicated upon a strong consumer, small business and entrepreneurial base.  This base, if properly supported, supplies the lion's share of job creation and innovation needed for a sustainable economic environment.

To me, this is just another example of corporate arrogance and bad behavior that is at the root of our current economic woes.  Chase and other large corporations that engage in these types of practices are:

• Anti-consumer, therefore anti-economy - consumer spending is the largest component of the U.S. economy...roughly 70%.  Make it harder for the consumer to purchase goods and services and make it more expensive for them to access their money and you have a recipe for further economic downturn.
• Anti-small business - working to separate small business and consumers from their money through creative new fees and transaction caps only makes it harder for small business to sustain itself, leading to job loss and potentially, closing the doors forever.
  
• Anti-entrepreneurial - true entrepreneurial innovation is about solving problems that benefit both the end user as well as the entrepreneur.  Chase's solution, along with those of other well-known banks only benefits the banks, themselves.  Where's the "win-win"?

It's easy to get upset, even angry at such institutions, but that's neither productive nor profitable.  Instead, I recommend the following:

1. Recognize that the large banks (JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) see all consumers, small businesses and entrepreneurial concerns as just good for deposits.  Take your deposits elsewhere and do it now.  I suggest taking your deposits to a credit union, local regional bank or one of these "least evil banks".  You've seen the boycott big oil emails around...why not boycott big banks.
   
2. Don't use a bank for a loan.  Today there are so many other non-traditional approaches to raising capital, including crowdfunding amongst others (even TNNWC offers its entrepreneur members such innovative approaches to both specialized finance and venture capital).
3. Change your world view.  Understand that the media, is under the control of large business.  And while it's worthwhile to stay informed using free news aggregators like The National Newspicker, we also recommend the more extreme points of view as a "sanity check" like those you may find in another free resource:  LEFT, RIGHT and CENTER.
4. Utilize anti-consumerism services like Freecycle.org, which allows individuals to give their old items to others who need them while offering others that you may need absolutely free.
5. If you invest in business, consider investing in smaller, entreprenerial concerns.  Yes...they are high risk, high reward, but with such innovative new approaches like crowdfunding, you don't need to lay out vast sums of cash to support worthwhile endeavors, the risk is considerably lower and you're doing your part to create jobs.
   

It's time the entrepreneurial community took action supported each other.  Not those who just see us for our money and have no regard for our well-being.

J.P. Morgan Chase is obviously named after J.P. Morgan, an early industrialist who made his fortune in the late 19th century and became known as one of the "Robber Barons".  Who in their right mind would do business with such an organization?

Wouldn't you rather do business with those you know and trust?  Last time I checked, business is still about relationships, right?

All my best,

Adam

www.TNNWC.com
http://adamjkovitz.blogspot.com

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Would You Bank with Chase? | A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

NETWORK MARKETING SECRETS: Beyond Goal Setting for 2009

Network Marketing Secrets with Candy Webb

At this time of the year, it is characteristic of all of those of us with an entrepreneurial spirit and a success oriented approach to life to review, reframe and rewrite our goals. We look at the last year under the microscope (something we should have been doing throughout the year) to ask if the plans we laid at the beginning of the year reached fruition. Or, did we make progress on our goals and objectives during the year. We assess what worked and what didn’t work – all with a view to finding some magic combination of purpose and actions that will bring in the new year those things we did not attain in the old year. Not a bad thing to do, in fact a most necessary activity to achieve forward progress. But, we have probably gone through this exercise many years in the past without perhaps the desired result. What can we do differently as we review our goals and set a plan of action for 2009? A few thoughts:

First, don’t set about these plans in a vacuum. The most potent ingredient to making sure that what you set about to do get done is certainly your own commitment. Nothing can supplant your own effort and without your absolute belief level, little can be achieved. However, don’t assume that you have perfect vision, even when it is your own life you are planning. Find a mentor. Find someone who has achieved what it is you are setting as an objective. The old, “been there, done that” touch is invaluable to test validity, do-ability, difficulty of the task and the time frames you have set. It is key that the person you select is not too close to your effort. This coach must be objective, and sometimes that means family, very close friends, etc. are not perfect mentors. The person must be willing to give their opinion without any strings attached. In fact, it is best if they have absolutely nothing to gain from either your success or your failure – it maintains their objectivity!

And guess what, you don’t have to just seek out one of these individuals. Don’t be hesitant to ask for a multiplicity of input. Yes, that could be a little confusing if the opinions are conflicting, but I find more than likely if these people are true experts in their field; if they have truly succeeded at the task, their opinions will have some commonality. In fact, a pattern will begin to emerge that even if there are a few rough edges will show a clear path – a vector of purpose and success that you can borrow from to help establish your own plan. And of course, always remember that this input is no more than an opinion, and you can take from it what you will and what seems most to fit your purpose.

When I work with the leaders in my own organization to help them establish their goals and their plan of action, I like to talk about two types of goals. Whatever the task in front of you, make sure your goal set includes PERFORMANCE GOALS and ACTIVITY GOALS.

Performance goals are what you want to achieve in terms of a level of success identified by your company, sometimes identified as a “pin level”. But right along with that, my belief is you must also have a financial goal in our industry of network marketing. Together, the pin and the amount of income you desire to earn stated with a clear cut time frame is a super way to set a goal. That is the performance goal – what it is you want to achieve.

Now, just as important is the activity goal, which is really the “how-to” – it is the means to the performance goal. In fact, without the activity goal, just stating the performance goal as a desired outcome is probably moot. This is where the rubber meets the road, and when you are on the right path, these activity goals guide your progress. They are easily monitored and the results are easily quantified.

For instance, set what I call my MWC – That’s my Minimum Weekly Contacts. I define the MWC as the number of NEW contacts I am going to make to introduce people to my product and business venture. My MWC is set in stone, I hold myself accountable to that count every week. I keep a log of calls, appointments, etc. with my calendar that permits easy monitoring, and I know at any time if my efforts are “on purpose” or off track. It is this kind of weekly monitoring that allows you to be the most productive during the year. By keeping on track with this one simple count – the MWC – you can’t help but produce results.

This is goal setting in its simplest expression. Another hot tip? Work in 90 day increments. There is something magical about the power of a 90 day period of time where you are focused with laser beam intensity on a particular goal. I divide the year into four 90 day increments, and I have a very clear goal and purpose for those periods of time, and then I work on the identified target goals within those 90 day windows like my life depends on it! No loss of focus, no veering from the path of those goals in the 90 day window. If something else pops up, and it’s worthwhile doing – well, then it can get written into the next 90 days.

What has this methodology allowed me to achieve? Well, my primary focus (which is network marketing) has produced a consistent million dollar/year income for twenty years. Three times within that period I have had to change companies because that company could no longer support my financial goal levels. I think that is a particularly important statement to understand. Nothing is forever and within our industry as in any business endeavor there are times that CHANGE is the only way to achieve your goals. I treat my business as a business. I am loyal, yes, but my loyalties are primarily to my own goals and the financial requirements I set to enable my family and my charitable endeavors. That type of loyalty and objective allows me to be realistic and not to linger too long when situations beyond my control have diminished the opportunity. This is a hard lesson for many to learn, but essential to continued prosperity. So, in that regard, here at the end of the year as you assess your own efforts during 2008 and what will change in 2009, consider the future validity of your present endeavor. Don’t just enjoin yourself to “work harder”, that might not be the answer. Running faster and faster around the decks of the Titanic did not change the ultimate outcome.

In this very uncertain economic climate, I think it is also a very good idea to have a “Plan B” for 2009. A well thought out alternative income strategy can save you tremendous anxiety and fear. In fact, any good financial planner would tell you the same thing – diversify! Only, I’m saying don’t just diversify investments, diversify your wage-earning efforts now for stability in the future.

I look forward in 2009 to bringing you more tips for success in the network marketing industry. Interestingly, in these “bad times”, the direct selling/networking industry has outgrown any industry segment. I frequently read other economists like Paul Zane Pilzer, whose forecasts for this industry show growth to a trillion dollar segment over the next few years. Another financial guru in our industry – Rod Cook, MBA, said recently in an article about the Direct Sales industry: “In 2007, the DSA estimated that nearly 61 million people in more than 170 countries around the world were active in direct selling. Last year, this sales force accounted for more than $111 billion in revenue. In the United States alone, these self-motivated entrepreneurs sold nearly $31 billion worth of goods”.

My own piece of that action was about $20 million worth of goods last year. So, here at the end of the year as you assess your personal and family financial goals, I would urge you to look at “recession-proofing” your life with a network marketing income strategy. It could be a secondary (Plan B) focus, or a primary focus, and if you would like a seasoned opinion, please contact me. I will try to be completely objective – that means that if you have made a choice of company and it’s not mine – I commit to analyze your goals and give an honest assessment. And as you pursue your goals in 2009, I hope some of the tips and insights I provide about this industry will be of value to you. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Candy Webb, Your Network Marketing Coach

webb@quiknet.com, 916 408-3637, http://www.jimandcandy.com

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NETWORK MARKETING SECRETS: Beyond Goal Setting for 2009