Les started with one store in Columbus, Ohio. He has always in my experience had a vision of where he was going. He took his vision and was inspired to ideas. Many of those ideas were implemented after many others were tested and failed the test. Les and his company took action on ideas.

Do You Want More Money For You and Your Family?

International Business and Real Estate Investment Coach

The principle of taking action on ideas linked to your vision of achieving goals is timeless. Neale Donald Walsh has written “pay attention to the messages you are intended to receive” This is about the messages I received and took action on and why. For clarity I am not writing my history of how I got to this point. There is alot of history. The point is I got this message on the topic of multiple streams of income and residual income. That message is to be excited about what you are presenting and talking  to people about  and especially focused on what conversations they are already having in their head.

I have two primary businesses where I focus most of my time. Those businesses started and grow by continually defining my goals, visualizing how they develop, getting ideas on growth and expansion and taking action. This article is about using the same process in connection with my interest in selecting other business opportunities supporting my goal and vision of a vibrant residual income flow. I am sharing this with you as it may save you a bunch of time, money and trouble. It took me quite some time to appreciate what I am going to share with you.

Steve’s Business Opportunity Selection Criteria

1. Capitalize on products that people are already using in mass quantities with an alternative offering a unique selling proposition. So when I discovered two companies whose products I was already using I was immediately drawn to those opportunities. They are easy for me to talk about as I am excited to personally use the products of those companies….love em.

2. Re-read Number 1

The Exception …Or Is It?

A very brief post on Facebook by a FB friend something along the lines of retire in 24 months along with a comment by a lady who said she read it and already “was in” caught my attention not because of the product but because of the marketing. Then I watched a couple of brief videos and felt the company One24 had gotten it right…kinda like Apple getting it right with the iPhone then the iPad. One24 is simple, it has an amazing “hook” which is “Check Out My Website and If You Like It, I Will Add You To My Waiting List” …that is their 30 second training and it works.

The following is about the entire email I sent out to a list and to several of my groups on Facebook….Check Out My New Website and If You Like It I Will Add You To My Waiting List. I sent that out on a Sunday morning (very low traffic time) and within 24 hours I had 20 people on my waiting list and in the next 24 hours maxed out the number of people I could add at that time to the business.

Now your turn…Check Out The Video At My New Website and If You Like It I Will Add You To My Waiting List..Plus There Is Very Nice Sweepstakes The Company Is Running For Those On The Waiting List. Click Here Now!!

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Connect With Steve On:

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

There is a complete time management and efficiency system I have been developing from the experiences I have working with George Ross (Celebrity Apprentice), Wayne Allyn Root and from my own business experience. I have used several

International Business and Real Estate Investment Coach

labels for this system in coaching clients including the 80:20 Time Management System. This is an idea that developed from working with George who is a major advocate and teacher of the 80:20 rule for achieving extraordinary results.

Why Brain Surgery Time Management

On a call recently I asked the question “do you think brain surgeons leverage their time?” The discussion included the response that since brain surgery is so specialized there is no leverage. I explained that brain surgery may be the best example of optimal leverage. Nearly everything in advance of, during and following brain surgery is done by others. The brain surgeon evaluates the patient and concludes on the procedure only after a huge number of preliminary steps are taken. Then the actual procedure takes place when all the facilities, equipment and support staff are ready. When ready the surgeon uses his or her specialized skill and then turns most of the rest of the process over to support.

Critical Path

What makes the most difference? All the support before, during and after brain surgery is irrelevant without the surgeon using her or his skills and successfully operating. The surgeon is trained to work with all the support for a successful procedure. In business many people do all the steps themselves. This is why I am completely focused on identifying with clients the actions that make the most difference in achieving their business performance goals.

George Ross reminds us that 20% of what we do result in 80% of the income we earn. Wayne Allyn Root advises on a system of positive addictions with focus on actions that are directly related to goal achievement.

The scope of this topic including how to implement Brain Surgery Time Management is much bigger than what can be covered in an article. However, this presents the key foundation points and if you need help then….

Contact me now.

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Connect With Steve On:

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

.

I know from personal experience JT is helping people who own retail stores, offer professional services, are MLM distributors, internet marketers and more. With this experience I asked George who is one of JT’s coaches this question: “We teach branding and the support of brand development as part of the coaching program…what is JT’s brand because knowing him and his business I am not able to define it.”

George Ross’s Answer To The Question What Is The Brand of JT Foxx….Absolutely Brilliant!!

Knowledge ….that is his brand. JT brings the knowledge people need to succeed in their business.

Meet JT, his mentors, and the increasing list of amazing people he is connected to who help him add huge value to those who take action. Your turn to take action ….come to Mega Partnering

Mega Partnering V  

Click Here Now And Request Your Invitation

Join Me At Mega Partnering V:

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

PH 727-587-7871

Click Here Now And Request Your Invitation

Join Me At Mega Partnering V:

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

PH 727-587-7871

The message is inspirational. Inspirational material can be very powerful. Each person I coach, uses the accelerated accountability worksheet I have developed for planning weekly optimal performance. This plan is linked to a longer term financial goal that we reverse engineer to what is required today in order to meet and possibly exceed the goal. The first line of the accelerated accountability worksheet is “self development..mindset”. I started with that line for everyone based on my own experience observing my own life when I did this work first and when I didn’t. huge difference.

This video is a call to action and a reminder of being focused. Each of us has different interpretations of what the second half means and what we need to do to win the second half. The teams come out with a plan and adjust the plan based on a continual evaluation of new information. Each one of us can view videos like this one and other resource material and do one of two things:

1. smile and say “that’s nice”
2. develop an action plan on how we can become better in the second half then implement that plan.

I have already picked #2…. and you?

The Fastest and Most Efficient Way For Most People and Companies To Achieve and Exceed Their Goals Is By Working With A Coach

Contact me now.

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

Email

I met Wayne in 2010 and now connect with him at least monthly for an in-depth discussion on restoring the vibrancy of the US, business success and his positive addictions that are the core of his vitality and success.

Wayne’s most recent editorial published in Forbes online (Click Here)  is a clearly factual representation on two very important points:

1. The capital gains rate of 15% paid by Mitt Romney is available to everyone

2. The lower the capital gains rate, the greater the incentive to invest.

3. The greater the investment in companies and innovation, the higher the rate of growth in jobs.

In very recent discussions with business owners and entrepreneurs, it has become very clear to me that most do not really understand the fundamentals of capitalism…not communism, not socialism, but capitalism. Join me in help America stand up for capitalism..the right of all to create value through innovation, creativity and hard but fun work. The right to follow the entrepreneurial dream without a huge tax and regulation penalty imposed by a socialistic mission by the government.

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

Phone: 727-587-7871

Email

The value of the relationships you have and are developing is relationship capital.  This is the single biggest reason for my career moving forward again in 2009 after being stalled for a number of years. It was late summer 2009 and I had successfully launched an on line membership site using social media marketing. However, financial prosperity was not developing as I preferred. I reflected on my situation at that point in comparison to those periods in my career when I was “on my game” and doing very well financially. I identified personal contact with highly successful people as being the difference. In 2009 I was connected with a large group of people online. However, my personal connections were largely dormant. I made a commitment to  reestablish a vibrant network with successful people….I visualized that already being in place. Several weeks later, I received a phone call from a person I didn’t know. However, I spent time with him and that one call led to an acceleration of my business and real estate coaching career. Most importantly, it led to a rapid acceleration of my network with successful people.

The door was opened and I worked it very hard and still do today. The relationship capital continues to get stronger because I focus on bringing as much or more value to the relationship as I gain from it. In the Universe it is called the Law of Reciprocity.  You may be familiar with “what goes around, comes around” or what you send out comes back to you. Personally adding value to another is my greatest reward. Just yesterday I received an email thanking me for the work we did in 2011. The person said he would have most likely lost his business had it not been for our relationship and our coaching.

This is so important I am modifying one of the chapters in The Book on Business Profits which is in development. In this message I will share with you several key steps you can take to build your relationship capital in a major way even if you are in a situation with very limited financial resources.  Relationship capital extends to our personal lives as well and that is a subset for a future article.

Leverage

Leverage is a term that is not well understood in the business sense. I summary, leverage is where you focus on where your talents are best used and work with others who have complementary skills for work that is  needed in your business. For example, in the  real estate investment business there are just several key categories of activity including: finding the deals, renovating the properties and sourcing the funding. Some people are very skilled with building and repairing.  I can assure you I am not one of those people so I find those with that skill set.  One important point if you are responsible for your business…you cannot leverage the responsibility for being the leader. If you don’t want to be a leader then you probably are best served working on someone else’s team or for a company. There is nothing wrong with being a team member or working for a company. I held a number of those positions and those experiences contributed to my growth and development.

Five Steps To Developing Relationship Capital Right Now Even If You Are Not Connected With Anyone Successful and Have Very Limited Financial Resources

1. Network Marketing or MLM – I am a major advocate of quality companies in this industry because of the network you can build and the training you will receive for very little money. The one principle that took me many years to learn was to market those products that many people are already buying and using. With that criteria in mind there are primarily two businesses I suggest everyone take a close look at because you will benefit greatly from using the products and they are easy to suggest to others.  Both of these businesses have greatly enhanced the incentives to getting started right now.  They are:

a. Send Out Cards – I love this as I can send cards more economically sitting in front of my computer than I can going to the store, picking out a card, writing a note, addressing it and mailing it.  You can get started in this business as a business owner for about $300. Imagine that for $300 you can be in business and if you don’t want to be in that business, people will love getting cards from you. Sending cards is the number one tool in my view for building relationship capital following a personal meeting. Click Here Now for More Information

b. Organo Gold – Amazing health benefits just by drinking what most people are already drinking…coffee , tea, hot chocolate. This article will be on line for a long time. Right now and for the next 60 days I know you can join this business by acquiring a special gold pak for $500. That is how I joined the company nearly a year ago. Gold members are positioned for maximum compensation. Normally a gold pak is about $1,200 which is still a deal but $500 is better. Click Here For More Information

c. Coaching – joining a coaching program is much more than having an expert help you. The right coach will help you build relationship capital. You will be hiring an expert which takes funds. Personally I have my next level of coaching expertise identified and will hire that person as soon as possible.

d. Leverage your time and skills with people who have funds to put to work. For example I would love an energetic person to introduce Organo Gold to every independent coffee shop in my market and help charitable organizations understand how this product line can help them raise sizable funds. I am prepared to sponsor them, and help them with some expenses like the cost of samples and gas for their car.  In the real estate business, we are always looking for people who want to learn real estate investing and want to become an apprentice with us.  They need to be able to fund their personal  expenses for 4-6 months.  There are other ways to leverage once you start thinking in terms of what you can bring to the table in terms of time and skills and combine that with a deal partner interested in putting their money to work. Note if you are in the situation of limited funding it will require  alot of work to find a person who will work with you and support your plan.

e. Network business events, training events, charitable events, political fund raisers, social events and more.

Summary – Relationship Capital is key to your success, Leverage is key to you optimizing productivity and performance.

Contact me now.

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

Email

Two charts were provided in the article. One showed that 68.4% of those responding to a recent poll said knowledgeable, helpful, friendly staff was the most important criteria for a positive shopping experience. The other chart reported that 50% of the people surveyed reported retail service has gotten worse.

Shoppers have always wanted a friendly environment with knowledgeable staff. What is most alarming is how poorly retailers continue to meet the expectations of their customers. With almost 70% of the customers ranking knowledgeable, friendly staff as most important, why is it that so many retailers continue to be obsessed with having compelling price? Studies have consistently shown and Mark points this out in his article as well, that less than 10% of the shoppers name price as the most important reason they shop a store.

Let’s examine pricing and promotion a bit deeper. The paper that Mark Albright writes for has a daily circulation of 1.2 million. On Sunday, like all large metropolitan areas, the paper is thick. Most of it is advertising circulars. Most have between 4 – 20 or more color glossy pages and this format is used by most of the major retail chains. Stores attempt to show items attractive to the largest number of people and offer special buys or sale pricing. The goal is to drive traffic to the stores.

Normally on a store by store basis, retailers are able to tell how effective a particular circular was by measuring customer count (customers that actually buy), average sale and items sold.  Most retailers have these statistics, but there is one critical piece of information they do not have. They do not know who it was that purchased something. They do not know their physical address, they do not know their email address and do not know their customer’s phone number. There are exceptions and I will address those shortly. However, in general, large and small retailers spend huge amounts of money on print advertising to drive customers into their stores and they don’t even know who their customer is. Consequently, they are unable to thank the buyers, hear their comments and suggestions and they are not able to personally invite them back.

Here is a brief summary of the issues so far: consumers want knowledgeable and friendly sales staff and over 90% of them place importance on knowledge and friendliness over price. On the other hand, retailers spend a lot of resources developing promotions based on price to drive traffic to their stores. When the customer gets there, not just the price shopper but the loyal customers as well, the retailer is not properly staffed and the staff that is working is not properly trained and managed. I call this a mismatch in expectations and delivery. The result of that formula is a high rate of retail business failure with stores that fail being replaced by new ones that operate the same way. You know what you get when you keep doing things the same way. What is the solution? Keep reading.

When the subject of price in retailing is mentioned, Wal-Mart’s name always comes up. Here are just a couple of things I noticed about Wal-Mart recently. First they are increasing the number of more upscale items offered. Why are they doing this? It is because they understand that appealing just to the low price crowd long term is a risky business model. No retail chain founded on the low price model has ever survived long term. None.  What else have I noticed? The other day I noticed a Wal-Mart banner on the front page of Yahoo.com This particular ad was what is known in the Internet Marketing circles and Direct Response Marketing circles as a lead generation ad. I followed it through and noticed interesting “bribes” to get you to register for on line information. You could even categorize the information you were interested in receiving. Wal-Mart promised to give you advance notice of their best deals for the store closest to you. Notice I said store closest to you. When you entered your information they asked for your zip code so they could match you with relevant regional promotion.

Wal-Mart is taking the lead again in building their customer data base. I don’t think they have taken this to the store level, which where it really needs to be implemented. But they are headed in the right direction.

Do you need to have Wal-Mart’s system to implement a similar program?  Last September I was testing the implementation of program with a small retailer in a small market. You can review more of the detail of this program at www.localretailmarketing.com We used incentives as a motivator to provide their contact information. This program was hugely successful in a short period of time and confirmed the value of capturing the contact information of your customers and communicating with them.  That is the first step in bridging the gap between what customers want and what retailers deliver. Note: if you are a grocery store, restaurant, nightclub, shoe repair store, dry cleaner or any business that has customers, this applies to you.

If you are a local or regional chain of stores, outsourcing this customer contact program is the most cost effective approach. If you are not sure that is a true statement Email Me and I will prove it to you. National Chains should outsource this program in the test phase and then it is likely that in-house technology will be needed long term. Regardless, it is easy to build your customer list, easy to communicate with them and this communication builds loyalty and value. This communication process is the critical link that breaks down when this process is managed internally. In summary, outsource this entire program initially; bring the technology piece in house if and when that makes sense but keep the communication program outsourced.

Does all of this solve the problem of bridging the gap of what the customer wants and what the retailer delivers? Absolutely not!  All of the fundamentals retailers are paying attention to today must continue. Having the right product in the right place at the right time is a good goal.  Having staff properly trained and managed is a great goal. But this is the planet earth folks. When all the best logistical systems and human resource development processes fail .. and they will from time to time, a strong binding relationship with your customer will overcome any isolated execution failures.

Are there any examples of anyone doing this more right than wrong?  I remember in 1996 when I was in my second year of operating an Internet Service Provider company that I founded. I was focusing on industries likely to benefit a lot quickly from using the tools of the Internet. One of them was mail order.  I knew there would be huge benefits to catalogue retailers from using the internet. Of course when I contacted many of them and they had no idea in 1996 what I was talking about. So I let it slide instead of pursuing that idea along with a number of other billion dollar ideas I had in the early days of the commercial Internet.

Today there are numerous examples of catalogue retailers doing a great job of communicating with their customer base. Now the big gains are coming from the “brick and mortar” companies who are communicating like catalog retailers. Who are they? Well Circuit City gets my number one vote. Circuit City sends me wonderful emails in addition to their weekly print advertising circulars. Wal-Mart is doing a good job now that I am on their list. In the catalog retail business, the best is Fredericks of Hollywood.  Don’t even ask me why I am on their list but they do a great job.  There are other catalogue retailers that have an effective communication program in place. In fact if you order on line from any catalogue company and give them your email address, I would bet you start getting information from them.  Even if you don’t order, sign up for some of these lists to see what they send you.

The biggest mistake made by companies that have you in their data base, is dropping your contact information when you have not purchased for awhile. I know of one very popular retailer with a huge mail order division that sends me tons of catalogues but not one email. When asked about this I was told I no longer receive emails because I am not a current buyer. But they continue sending me expensive to print and mail catalogues. Go figure! Recently I was talking about this issue with an author and speaker on retail industry issues and discovered the huge successes several companies are having by aggressively pursuing customers who have become inactive. However, you need to know your customer and have their contact information in your data base to execute any program including this one.

In summary, study the companies that are doing this well. Look at your own business. If you are not sure what I am advising you to do will work,  call or email me and let’s “kick it around”. Click to email or go to  Retail Profit System for phone contact information. I am so convinced that there is a great need for help in this area I have recently partnered with several business development experts and we have formed a new company that will provide the Internet marketing services retailers and others need.  Look for a major announcement soon on this advanced service for helping your business dramatically improve revenue and profits.

Contact me now.

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

Email

This test was reported by the WSJ and what Dunkin Donuts discovered was that there are very loyal people to both businesses and they are not interested in the competitor. The Starbucks Tribe will continue to go to Starbucks and the Dunkin Donuts tribe will continue to go to Dunkin Donuts. That was the conclusion.

Why did Dunkin Donuts conduct this test? The business of Dunkin Donuts has a strategy of growing and attracting more customers. So they want to know more about what appeals to people. Of course they could have their customers in a data base and communicate with them regularly and offer them incentives for answering survey’s, but that is all the subject of my rant in other articles at www.stevereports.com

Duncan Donuts used a traditional focus group approach. Duncan Donuts is to be commended on testing. They are to be commended on wanting to know what changes, upgrades, new product offerings will appeal to their customer. When you review their history, you may conclude they should have done this more often. The facts are most companies fall into the trap of not reinventing themselves. Why is this important to do? Well, look at Kmart. Do you recall when they were in Chapter 11? How about Delta airlines and General Motors? Do you think Microsoft can be in trouble? What about Google and EBay? Interesting to look at history and then ask the hard questions?

There are lessons to be learned from the work done by Duncan Donuts. I remember working with the leaders if The Limited when they were the premier retailer in America. The culture was amazing. New fashion ideas, new store formats, new promotions were always being tested. Merchandise managers were expected to bring their insights of what the competition was doing to the famous weekly Monday meetings where performance was scrutinized. The point is every company has a development history and at a point in time if you become a champion, a challenger emerges. This is the “king of the hill” game and as kid we didn’t know it was a universal law but it seems that it is. Whenever you are winning someone will be out to take your place.

How do you sustain revenue and profit growth long term? How do you do that when as soon as you are on top there is a challenger? In The Profit System I teach how to track information that tells you how you are doing. Initially, the information is developed for you to track actual vs. plan and the plan is your own performance improvement plan. This evolves to where you are confident in your ability to achieve internal targets, then you set your site on local, regional, national or international champions. At that point your goal is to be the champion. By the way The Profit System course is FREE.

Why is that? Why do I offer something that I promote as being so valuable for FREE when I should be selling it for a million dollars or 10 million dollars or more? Simple, I know this works, and as Joel Bauer says (www.joellive.com) my life does not change at all if you use what I teach. But yours is likely to change a lot. If I can be a catalyst of positive change for you and your company, I am delighted to offer these principles and The Profit System to you at no charge.

Wait there is one more thing. There is a major price to pay for using this system. This price is your time, attention and action to implement. My material is FREE. Even if I were to charge $50,000 for the this material and I am considering that, it is a small sum in comparison to the time you and your company will invest to apply the principles of The Profit System. Return on investment is off the charts. So if you want to make a lot more money go to The Profit System and register for the FREE course.

Will Ducan Donuts’ latest testing mean new store formats will be hugely successful? I don’t know but I do know this if they keep monitoring and keep testing they will figure it out. You can also solve the issues facing your business with a rational management system. I have given you one source for a management system roadmap.

Contact me now.

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

Email

Black Friday Sales are Brisk and Largely Unprofitable – Should Be Viewed As Lead Generation

Shopping Savvy customers are more often than ever making their list of deals, buying the deals and leaving. Cross over selling is declining. This means that most of the sales on Black Friday are unprofitable or just slightly profitable. Attention: take advantage of Black Friday’s increased traffic and look at it as a great lead generation opportunity.

Why Do Retailers Continue Black Friday Promotion If They Are Not Profitable?

If retailers do not compete on Black Friday someone else will grab that customer and there will be a loss of customer loyalty. Several years ago WalMart moderated their Black Friday and holiday promotion strategy and it was costly. Following that season they vowed never to be out of that game again. Since you are in the game capitalize on the the traffic at a minimum with a name and email capture campaign include text messaging lead capture if it is appropriate for your business.

Most Retailers Continue To Ignore A Great Opportunity When A Customer or Prospect Walks In The Door.

Customer Relationship Marketing is a huge opportunity. People want information and want to know “their store cares”. It is insane to focus on recruiting the store staffing with the right image and customer service attitude then not go the extra step to capture name and email address for a follow-up thank you.

For an increasing number of businesses adding text messaging marketing makes sense. However, it will not replace email marketing anytime soon. Email marketing and text message marketing will not replace the positive feeling someone gets when they receive a physical card. There are many businesses that should Send Out Cards.

I advise every one of my clients to implement a relationship marketing campaign.  There are numerous success stories. A recent very notable one is a company  just beginning to implement a relationship marketing strategy and the results are very positive in less than 60 days.  The winter season is the slowest time for their business. There have been cash flow problems in the past.  This season is shaping up to be very different in a positive way.

Action Steps:

Develop a customer relationship marketing strategy.  Part of the relationship is educating your customer on products, services.  Focus on the value you deliver rather than the latest deal.

Get A Business Coach! If you already have a business with more than 10 employees, Hire A Consultant who is  able to work with you part of the time on-site.

Would you like to be in the next group of very successful companies and entrepreneurs?

Contact me now.

Steve Pohlit

International Business Development Consulting
Real Estate Investment Consulting
Executive Coach

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

Email