Category: Business Developmemt

Part 3 (Final For Now) Steve Pohlit’s Response To Patsi Krakoff’s (The Blog Squad) Question: Is Social Networking A Wast of Time?

In Part 1 the size of the social networking market today was introduced with specific reference to the rapid rise of Facebook in just over three years. Successful social networking includes opening the doors to your life. This seemed natural for the early adopters of social networking, but for many others today,it is not and is still not natural. I pointed out the leadership role John Reese has taken to introducing Facebook to his huge list and beginning to share parts of his previously well guarded life. John’s posture as well as others has a ripple effect on the business community.

In Part 2 I disclosed that relationships are the primary reason I feel social networking is a valuable use of time. I remind myself and share this view with you that in any relationship, you have to do your part. I accept total responsibility for those relationships that have fallen by the wayside in my life. I am not repeating those mistakes including ones developed in my world of social networking. People active on the social networking sites are giving and giving and giving more. That is real positive energy circulating. I have chosen to be with that energy flow.

In the last of this series I am opening the door to the more notable of my experiences in just three weeks of being active on Facebook. I am not holding anything back. There have been many wonderful experiences. I didn’t maintain a list and will probably remember others after this is published. These will provide you a good view of my experience in a short time. Sequentially:

1. I posted pictures of an event in Orlando and immediately a person who I have tremendous respect for messaged me and asked “Steve where is the car?” I then knew that John Reese was following certain information I was posting. The car was John’s Lamborghini. I have a picture of me and John with his car from that event. I found the picture and posted it. That brief communication reinforced for me that I wanted to make sure that everything I was posting would be viewed in a positive light by whomever decided to read it.

2. Travis Greenlee published a series of videos on growing your network on Facebook. He did a terrific job and I spent 30 minutes watching his series and taking notes. I developed an action plan tracker from those videos that I posted to the Action Plan Tracker site. I began working those action steps. Travis liked it – I am not sure that many of the 2,000 people in his network paid that close attention to his work . Welcome to the world of social networking. You can put the value out there but most people will not pay attention to it. We still live in a “give me the magic pill” society. I digress.

3. I developed the site Prosperity Tip. This is the front end for The Prosperity Now Program under development and the associated Prosperity Tool Chest which is the most powerful tool for transforming your life if that is something you want to do. That background is important because right about the time I was becoming active on Facebook I was finishing the book The Moses Code by James Twyman. There are no coincidences and one of my new friends was talking about Facebook Groups. So I thought I would look up The Moses Code group and it wasn’t formed. I formed it immediately. The next morning there were maybe 6 members with me and my daughter representing 2 out the 6. One of the other members is the author – how cool is that? You can join a group on Facebook reflecting your interests and start one of your own. I notice that there are a huge number of groups. Many are started and few are that active and stay on topic. If you start one, stick to the original purpose.

4. Authors I highly respect are in my network: Joe Vitale, Deepak Chopra, Joe Sugarman, John Assarof, James Twyman to name a few. Of course there are experts who are not on Facebook but many are. Do not hesitate to approach anyone to network with you. Sending them a note that you enjoy their work goes a long way to receiving a reply.

5. Nikhil Satija and I became Facebook friends. One day I noticed a short post from Nikhil and checked out what he was doing. That led to a unique joint venture for promoting a high ticket product. There is more information at his group Million Dollar Business on Facebook and at the page I webpage I set up to introduce people to this idea. ( Click Here ) Today we are working together on developing traffic flow and that is fun.

6. Another post led me to Bubble Ply . Now imagine the likelihood of paying attention to a name like that. Well this post from a FB friend led me to that site and all I can say is wow. I posted an article about this or should I say I demonstrated this technology in a post Titled “Nobody Is Talking About This …Is This off The Charts or What? ”

(Remember I am writing about things that have happened in just the last three weeks of being active on Facebook)

7. I learned about Twitter and can follow some of the activity of interesting people. Just this week I learned how to sync Twitter with Facebook using an application on Facebook called twittersync. Guess where I learned that? Correct a Facebook friend led me to that solution. Candidly I am sure about Twitter but I am active with it and I will likely write about Twitter at some future date.

8. My friends introduce me to games and applications that I never would have given any thought to. Realistically I decline many of those invitations. While they may be interesting, like many other people I make choices as to how I will use my time. However, several of those recommendations I am experimenting with and one of them looks to be very powerful and is in the category of “I can’t believe more people are not in a buzz about this!” What is it? See the next item on the list.

9. One of my newest friends is Michael Wolf. He is CEO of a UK based company that has developed a very fascinating application that assists people in 1.) Promoting their expertise 2.) Finding people for projects and 3.) Researching a question or issue. Currently this is a Facebook application. It appears to be very new as there are some technical challenges still being worked out. I am in touch with Michael and have given him details that may help his company work out the remaining issues. I will be writing an Action Plan Tracker on this application when the technical issues are worked out and I have more experience with it. What is interesting to me is that this application falls within the scope of another business model idea I had developed within 24 hours of Michael contacting me to be his friend. A great example of the Law of Attraction working.

10. I wrote about this in Part 2 and clearly this last item is the number one reason I am active with Facebook. I have 400+ more direct connections around the world than I had three weeks ago. I feel that I know a number of them quite well and our relationships are growing closer. This connection feels real good to me. One of the key principles I have taught in The Prosperity Now Program is that to me our main goal is being at peace. Yes we deserve all this world has to offer but I we are not at peace with who we are and what we have, all the money and what that can buy means nothing. At some point all of us leave all the stuff behind and what remains is our footprint on the soul of others.

Patsi, you are a wonderful lady and thank you for asking the question. I had no idea my answer would lead to a three part series, but I loved sharing this with everyone.

The close of this series is one that I use for my Prosperity Tip readers:

May you experience your pure potentiality and live the life of your dreams.

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 2: My Response To The Blog Squad's Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Tme

Consider there are a lot of people who are not on social networking sites and don’t even know what you mean when you mention it. At a recent meeting of 70 people in the age range of 20-75 with most in the age group of 40-60, I was mentioning Facebook and asked how many knew what I was talking about? 20% maybe knew and 10% used it. I think that number is representative for that age group and there are reports issued validating the number of users is growing each month.

Here is a peak at my experience with growing a network on Facebook. In literally three weeks my friends on Facebook grew from 9 to 389. In my network I estimate more than 90% of the people are most concerned about what they do and have no interest in what I do after we are connected. Many (and I have done this when I started) use the Facebook system to add numbers of “friends”. When I scan my friends list and the friends of a friend list I notice very few people have posted any recent news. This tells me there is a huge group of people not very active on Facebook – maybe 90%. I am a great example. I have been a member of Facebook for about two years and have been active for three weeks.

My conclusion is that the majority of people on line are not aware of social networking sites and of the people on these sites the majority are not active. That leads me to think that for people interested in developing business, spending time on social networks is a total waste of time like Patsi suspects. But wait a minute…

Social networking on line is only a little over three years old. The initial crowd was mostly college students and to some extent people in counter mainstream niche markets. That has changed. If you do a search on your favorite author, entrepreneur, spiritual leader or celebrity, you are likely to find they have a profile on a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace. Every author and speaker that interests me has video clips on YouTube. Every artist that I have every researched on YouTube has videos of concerts and more on YouTube. I love what is available to me based on my interests. I also feel very good about my growing network.

Many of those people and I share the same professional and personal interests. How do I know that? I have formed a couple of groups and people join. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t have an interest.

Today there will be over 400 people who can view my profile, see a few pictures and understand my professional and personal interests. I have reviewed the profiles and commented no many of them. Every new person in my network receives a detailed message from me that includes a sincere offer to help them with ideas if I can. I have received almost zero notes in response to my offer.

I also openly tell everyone I am interested in building my client base and an ideal client for me falls into one of two categories: First a company in the retail, manufacturing, distribution, hospitality, construction or transportation industry that has 25 or more employees. Companies fitting that profile are ones where I use my on site program The Profit System for increasing their revenue and profit by 30% or more in 90 days or less. Second: for smaller businesses I am offering a coaching program that leads them through many of the same processes used for the large companies, only I am doing more of that work remote so it is affordable for the small business owner, entrepreneur and solopreneur (a term I learned on Facebook) And more than 400 new friends are recognizing that I offer very nice referral fees for new business.

By the end of May my network will be greater than 1,000 and there will be an increasing number of people from countries outside of the US who are Facebook friends with me. Will all of this mean more business? I have no idea. What is most important to me are the relationships I am forming. Do I have a relationship with each person in my network. Yes but the relationships just like anywhere else vary based on our respective interests and points of view.

I will tell you an interesting story about the lady who asked the question that resulted in me writing this series …Patsi Krakoff. I have known of Patsi for a couple years because I am a subscriber to The Blog Squad Blog (and you should be too  Click Here ). As new friends on Facebook I noticed several videos Patsi  posted for her Facebook friends network  and… well let’s just say a bright, articulate, attractive woman gets the attention of this single man. So I sent her a polite message that included the question: are you married? Patsi’s reply was wonderful. I truly felt she was flattered that I asked and then she let me know that she was very happily married. Of course I  wish her and her husband bliss forever.  Patsi and I are now a little bit closer from sharing that communication. You just never know what might happen on a social networking site.

I know from personal experience that for anything to develop, personally or professionally it is important for a person to be out there, sincere and have it in their hearts to contribute to the development of the community. With that posture the energy that returns is wonderful. I believe if you sit on the sidelines you are going to witness the spacecraft take off and not be on it.

In Part 3 I will conclude my response to Patsi’s question with information on a number of experiences in just three weeks of being active on Facebook. Remember this is just one site. You are not going to want to miss this article since what I have to share actually is quite stunning even for me to think about yet alone write.

Don’t miss Part 3 and all the future editions of Steve Reports. Subscribe to my blog (top right hand corner of this page) and the articles are delivered right to your email. How cool is that?

Until then consider this:

“The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 2: My Response To The Blog Squad’s Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Tme

Consider there are a lot of people who are not on social networking sites and don’t even know what you mean when you mention it. At a recent meeting of 70 people in the age range of 20-75 with most in the age group of 40-60, I was mentioning Facebook and asked how many knew what I was talking about? 20% maybe knew and 10% used it. I think that number is representative for that age group and there are reports issued validating the number of users is growing each month.

Here is a peak at my experience with growing a network on Facebook. In literally three weeks my friends on Facebook grew from 9 to 389. In my network I estimate more than 90% of the people are most concerned about what they do and have no interest in what I do after we are connected. Many (and I have done this when I started) use the Facebook system to add numbers of “friends”. When I scan my friends list and the friends of a friend list I notice very few people have posted any recent news. This tells me there is a huge group of people not very active on Facebook – maybe 90%. I am a great example. I have been a member of Facebook for about two years and have been active for three weeks.

My conclusion is that the majority of people on line are not aware of social networking sites and of the people on these sites the majority are not active. That leads me to think that for people interested in developing business, spending time on social networks is a total waste of time like Patsi suspects. But wait a minute…

Social networking on line is only a little over three years old. The initial crowd was mostly college students and to some extent people in counter mainstream niche markets. That has changed. If you do a search on your favorite author, entrepreneur, spiritual leader or celebrity, you are likely to find they have a profile on a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace. Every author and speaker that interests me has video clips on YouTube. Every artist that I have every researched on YouTube has videos of concerts and more on YouTube. I love what is available to me based on my interests. I also feel very good about my growing network.

Many of those people and I share the same professional and personal interests. How do I know that? I have formed a couple of groups and people join. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t have an interest.

Today there will be over 400 people who can view my profile, see a few pictures and understand my professional and personal interests. I have reviewed the profiles and commented no many of them. Every new person in my network receives a detailed message from me that includes a sincere offer to help them with ideas if I can. I have received almost zero notes in response to my offer.

I also openly tell everyone I am interested in building my client base and an ideal client for me falls into one of two categories: First a company in the retail, manufacturing, distribution, hospitality, construction or transportation industry that has 25 or more employees. Companies fitting that profile are ones where I use my on site program The Profit System for increasing their revenue and profit by 30% or more in 90 days or less. Second: for smaller businesses I am offering a coaching program that leads them through many of the same processes used for the large companies, only I am doing more of that work remote so it is affordable for the small business owner, entrepreneur and solopreneur (a term I learned on Facebook) And more than 400 new friends are recognizing that I offer very nice referral fees for new business.

By the end of May my network will be greater than 1,000 and there will be an increasing number of people from countries outside of the US who are Facebook friends with me. Will all of this mean more business? I have no idea. What is most important to me are the relationships I am forming. Do I have a relationship with each person in my network. Yes but the relationships just like anywhere else vary based on our respective interests and points of view.

I will tell you an interesting story about the lady who asked the question that resulted in me writing this series …Patsi Krakoff. I have known of Patsi for a couple years because I am a subscriber to The Blog Squad Blog (and you should be too  Click Here ). As new friends on Facebook I noticed several videos Patsi  posted for her Facebook friends network  and… well let’s just say a bright, articulate, attractive woman gets the attention of this single man. So I sent her a polite message that included the question: are you married? Patsi’s reply was wonderful. I truly felt she was flattered that I asked and then she let me know that she was very happily married. Of course I  wish her and her husband bliss forever.  Patsi and I are now a little bit closer from sharing that communication. You just never know what might happen on a social networking site.

I know from personal experience that for anything to develop, personally or professionally it is important for a person to be out there, sincere and have it in their hearts to contribute to the development of the community. With that posture the energy that returns is wonderful. I believe if you sit on the sidelines you are going to witness the spacecraft take off and not be on it.

In Part 3 I will conclude my response to Patsi’s question with information on a number of experiences in just three weeks of being active on Facebook. Remember this is just one site. You are not going to want to miss this article since what I have to share actually is quite stunning even for me to think about yet alone write.

Don’t miss Part 3 and all the future editions of Steve Reports. Subscribe to my blog (top right hand corner of this page) and the articles are delivered right to your email. How cool is that?

Until then consider this:

“The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 1: Response To The Blog Squad's Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Time

I enjoy blogs and one of my favorite sites is operated by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff professionally known as The Blog Squad.

Their latest post addresses the value of social networking sites. If you are not exactly sure what social networking sites are look at Facebook, Twitter, My Space, You Tube for starters. I read that Facebook gets more traffic per month than Google and has an estimated value of $15 billion. Facebook started in 2004 so in less than four years having an estimated value of $15 billion is a great success story.

Valuation is not the important topic today except that it is an indicator of worldwide demographic trends of people connecting with people. If you spend any time at all on Facebook, MySpace or the other popular sites you will quickly understand that people are opening their previously private lives to the world. Of course there are text profiles, website links and more. What is really interesting are the pictures being posted and personal videos. Just yesterday John Reese, a very successful business professional and expert in the field of Internet marketing whose work I value tremendously, published pictures of his home inside and out. John has been very private about his personal life but is now cracking the door open on social networking sites.

Books and courses are being written about the value of social networking sites. However Patsi from The Blog Squad suggests this may all be a waste of time. She writes in part

“Last year at BlogHer Business, we heard about
Twitter. Just for fun, we both set up an account.
But it never caught on, or at least it didn’t for
me. Then I go over to Biz Tips Blog and find out
Denise has been sucked in. Even Leesa Barns of
Podcasting fame is in love with Twitter. Again,
I’m not convinced.

Curmudgeon and introvert, I’m now accepting new
friends into Facebook even though I’m not
convinced yet it will bring big business rewards.

So Denise and I are in two camps on these new
social sites for now: She’s convinced it’s worth
it, I’m still skeptical and am waiting to see how
it all shakes out.”

Patsi raises the question that has been in a lot of people’s mind. Is time on social networks time well spent? My answer is a resounding yes it is time well spent. The reason for my answer is likely to surprise you. In Part 2 of my response, I open the doors as to why social networking is very valuable. If you want this delivered right to your email you will subscribe to my blog

Until then consider this “The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 1: Response To The Blog Squad’s Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Time

I enjoy blogs and one of my favorite sites is operated by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff professionally known as The Blog Squad.

Their latest post addresses the value of social networking sites. If you are not exactly sure what social networking sites are look at Facebook, Twitter, My Space, You Tube for starters. I read that Facebook gets more traffic per month than Google and has an estimated value of $15 billion. Facebook started in 2004 so in less than four years having an estimated value of $15 billion is a great success story.

Valuation is not the important topic today except that it is an indicator of worldwide demographic trends of people connecting with people. If you spend any time at all on Facebook, MySpace or the other popular sites you will quickly understand that people are opening their previously private lives to the world. Of course there are text profiles, website links and more. What is really interesting are the pictures being posted and personal videos. Just yesterday John Reese, a very successful business professional and expert in the field of Internet marketing whose work I value tremendously, published pictures of his home inside and out. John has been very private about his personal life but is now cracking the door open on social networking sites.

Books and courses are being written about the value of social networking sites. However Patsi from The Blog Squad suggests this may all be a waste of time. She writes in part

“Last year at BlogHer Business, we heard about
Twitter. Just for fun, we both set up an account.
But it never caught on, or at least it didn’t for
me. Then I go over to Biz Tips Blog and find out
Denise has been sucked in. Even Leesa Barns of
Podcasting fame is in love with Twitter. Again,
I’m not convinced.

Curmudgeon and introvert, I’m now accepting new
friends into Facebook even though I’m not
convinced yet it will bring big business rewards.

So Denise and I are in two camps on these new
social sites for now: She’s convinced it’s worth
it, I’m still skeptical and am waiting to see how
it all shakes out.”

Patsi raises the question that has been in a lot of people’s mind. Is time on social networks time well spent? My answer is a resounding yes it is time well spent. The reason for my answer is likely to surprise you. In Part 2 of my response, I open the doors as to why social networking is very valuable. If you want this delivered right to your email you will subscribe to my blog

Until then consider this “The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Possibly The Most Powerful Question ..Asked by Stephen Pierce and Steve Pohlit Replies

I highly recommend the blog DTalpha.com by Stephen Pierce. Today’s post is the question What Is The Cost. Click Here for the page with this message. It is absolutely outstanding.

The following is part of my reply. Read the entire post at his site

Certainly our most valuable resource on this earth is time. A some point the clock stops for all of us – no exceptions. Your message on the cost of inaction or ignorance is very important. For me the key is to understand what really blocks properly directed action including strengthening the right relationships, implementing the key steps in my business and allocating energy to the best information.

Click Here for the Stephen’s message and my reply plus comments posted by others.

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Stop Blaming The Economy..Or Anything Else For That Matter

I was using Comment Kahuna to build some back links recently. One of the most valuable features of this free program is that it surfaces some pretty cool high PR sites. Well one of the top financial market blogs had an article by an educator with all the credentials for teaching at a top B School. The article detailed the statistical difference between profit growth and cash flow growth in 2007. The conclusion was that another indicator was pointing to economic doom and gloom.

My response was that this was a perfect example of information that is likely to be completely accurate and totally useless. This is content designed to fuel negative thinking.

The facts are there are successes all around us and we can find them in any country and any economy. There are also companies in trouble and going out of business in any economy. Personally I have worked with business doing extremely well in a recession and ones on the brink of extinction in a booming economy. What are the key characteristics of success in any economy?

Success companies:

1. Have a very clear definition of their customer base and target market

2. Have clearly established performance goals for the company that are then redefined as goals and action plans for each function within the company.

3. Assign accountability for the action steps required to achieve the goals at the functional level.

4. Measure actual vs. plan on a timetable that makes sense based on what is being monitored. Cash position for example may be monitored daily.

5. Act quickly on variances from positive and negative variances from plan.

That is about it and while there is more detail at http://www.10minutemba.net , these five steps apply to every business and the emphasis is on every.

People fall into two categories. They either manage the business using the above five steps or use excuses like: it is the economy, or the dollar, foreighn competition, I don’t feel like it, I can’t expect them to do their job today; or “we’ll get to it soon” Do you want to find the successful businesses? The next time you meet a person who has makes no excuses, doesn’t complain about external factors and is generally on purpose, ask them what business they are in. I’ll bet it is a very successful one.

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

The Exact Steps Required To Turnaround A Business That Is Cash Flow Negative (In Trouble)

I have led companies in the retail, real estate, transportation and restaurant industries from  near catastrophe to stability and profitable growth. Companies find themselves in a dire straits position for a multiple of reasons when the economy is strong as well as weak … more so when weak.

The current business climate is tenuous and an increasing number of businesses find themselves in a profit and cash flow crunch. If you or someone you know is in that position, time is of the essence. Literally every hour that passes is critical when a company’s profit and cash flow are on a downward trend. The faster action is taken to restore the business to a positive cash flow position, the more likely it can be further strengthened to renewed profitable growth.

The following steps are the major ones that I have guided clients through who have been in this situation:

1. Stop issuing checks until Step 2 and Step 3 are completed. The exception would be payroll and any utilities if you are at the point of being shut off if the bill is not paid. If you have a trucking company you have to buy fuel. If you are a restaurant you have to buy food. If you don’t have the funds to pay “life support costs and expenses” there are still options but they would have to be addressed on a case by case basis. You want to avoid getting to the point of not being able to pay the must have expenses.  There is a wide variation of the definition of must have items. The clients I have helped were very surprised at the literal definition of “must haves” but they thanked me later.

2. Be certain as to your exact cash and liquidity position. You need a very accurate snapshot of the free cash in your bank account, the quality of accounts receivables and a precise accounts payable listing that includes all invoices. You would be surprised as to how many companies do not know their actual cash position, ignore problems in their accounts receivable balances and forget that oftentimes there are bills sitting in unopened mail and desk drawers.

3. Develop an eight week cash receipts and disbursements forecast and don’t leave one cent off of the disbursements list. If you are not sure how to do this, there is an example at 10 Minute MBA This is a core schedule that I implement with all clients and is very valuable when used properly.

4. Document an organization chart with each person’s position and compensation.

5. If the business sells a physical product, it is important to evaluate the inventory. You cannot sell what you don’t have and you can’t replenish inventory if vendors have shut you off.

6. If there are debt agreements in place understand all debt compliance covenants.

7. Identify all critical support functions. For example, the company’s internet connection, maintenance agreements on machinery and equipment and key licensing agreements if any.

The goal is to have an accurate picture of all the facts no matter how dismal they are. I can’t tell you how many times I have been blind sided by additional pieces of information that were very important in finalizing the turnaround plan.

What Actions Are Typically Taken Once There Is An Accurate Picture of Situation?

1. Cut all non- essential spending and payroll.

2. Implement a temporary reduction in pay for as many people as possible. That is always difficult and may be impractical if there is a union or a large hourly workforce. Every situation is different but normally payroll has to be cut and it is often delegated to the outside consultant to handle.

Note: many of these steps are implemented quickly. Even while the entire picture is still being developed. That is where experience with these situations is very valuable. Experts with turnaround experience know how and where to act fast.

3. With people you want to take the action one time and then meet with those that remain and explain to them what is going on and how it is going to be fixed.

4. Vendors on the accounts payable list will need to be called and given a date when they can expect a workout plan. This is not fun work even for an expert consultant. However, whatever needs to be done to save the business and restore profitability should be addressed.

5. If there is a sales staff, look to move those people to full commission status and if possible add to the staff with full commission as the compensation package. Be careful if out of pocket expenses are paid. They have to be limited and per diems in place.

6. Assign clear accountability for collecting receivables and put in place a three step collection process. In certain cases discounts are negotiated for paying early.

Notice all the emphasis at this point is on cutting expenses and build cash once that process is in place then

Work on your building business and profits plan. Make sure it is realistic and focused on the next 90-180 days. When that is drafted including the financial projections you are now in a position to negotiate with bank debt holders, capital equipment lease venders and other long term lease agreements in place.

Some clients may need to file for chapter 11 reorganization. This should be avoided at all costs since it is very expensive, time consuming and a major distraction. However sometimes it is the only available option other than shutting your doors. Chapter 11 is usually the best answer where selling assets, selling the business or parts of the business is part of the the turnaround plan.

I hope this helps and while it addresses many points there are always more depending on the business. The following is right from my Turnaround Consulting Site

Do you worry about running out of cash?
Do most of your key vendors have you on COD?
Have checks issued by your business bounced?
Are revenue trends decreasing and accounts payable increasing?
Have any of your valued employees left for a “better opportunity”?
Are you spending all of your time fighting fires?
Do you wake up at night fearing you will be out of business?
Do you fear you will not have enough cash to meet your next payroll? What about the next?
Are you thinking or have been advised that a reorganization of your business under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy code may be the answer?

“If You Answered Yes To More Than One of These Questions, Then You Need To Call Steve Pohlit at 727-587-7871 Right Now. That Is My Direct Line. I Will Personally Determine If I Can Help You Solve Your Business Problems or Refer You To Someone Who Can. This Call Will Cost You Nothing and May Well Save Your Company.”

____________________________________________________________________

There are two reasons why companies ask me for business consulting assistance:
1. They know what to do but want an independent third party experienced business development consultant to drive the process as that approach demonstrates management’s commitment to achieving the goals.
2. Management understands the need for improved performance and understands they do not have the experience to implement what is required.
3. There is actually a third reason and that is where a business is in a crises situation and turnaround business consulting procedures need to be implemented fast. Nobody likes that situation, even the consultant. However, many companies can be salvaged with the right action. Think of the what goes into action when a person has a heart attack. Timing and action are the differences between life and death.

Be Well and Prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting
Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve consults with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting 10 Minute MBA or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly. Have a question? Click Here To Visit Ask The Consultant

Stephen Pierce Just Posted Information On A Great FREE Resource

Here is my post to Stephen’s blog today:

I really appreciate this information. Gary Halbert taught the principle of marketing to people what they already are looking looking to buy. What better way than to identify solutions that people in the forums are seeking.

The resource you gave us is tremendous. It may be free but until we become aware, it is of no use. Now it is up to us to use this gift.

I am very excited to get started with this. There are no coincidences and based on what I am working on right now the timing of this arriving is perfect.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com
http://www.prosperitytip.com

PS Click Here For Stephen’s Blog

The Best Way To Prevent Destroying Valuable Customer Relationships and Business

I have no intention of making this blog a rant. Nearly everything published here is based on a lesson learned from first hand experience. I have learned my best teachers are those people and those situations that have attempted to cause me the most pain. The most recent example follows.

“Major Email Marketing Support Company Does It’s Best To Fire A Terrific Excellent Paying Client For No Reason”

The number of third party applications developed to support sending messages to large mailing lists is quite large. However at the really large volume level there are not that many companies that are rally in the game. However, landing a high volume, high profile account is time consuming and expensive. When a new account is added to the portfolio that is a moment that should be celebrated.

I work with a high profile company with a very large list of customers that are sent graphical promotions multiple times a month. A significant sum of money is spent for the third party solution that was selected last year. This number is growing as the list builds. The company does not mind because the campaigns I developed have exceeded the most optimistic projections.

For the past several week we have been building the structure for a new campaign and today was finally launch day. Launch day is really exciting because at the push of a button, we literally watch the traffic increase rapidly and the on line cash register ring ka-ching at a rapid fire rate. No matter how many times we have that experience it is always exciting.

At 4:30 PM we were ready. The time was perfect for our target audience. Several gathered in the control room and I was holding the launch button. Go – log into our account and ….hold on. Mission control we seem to have a problem. There seems to be a minute glitch with a very minor amount of fees that had not cleared our account. Not a big deal as I have access to several of the corporate credit cards that have, well let’s say plenty of room. Enter some data and bam – declined. Enter another card ..bam declined and account locked.

So now I call the company. The lady answering the phone had a very pleasant southern accent and almost cried on queue when I explained the situation. She asked me to hold while she frantically attempted to find someone in “billing”. A few minutes later she explained it was 4:46 PM on the East Coast where their offices were and everyone had left for the day.

I then had a brilliant idea. I will call sales since that is the department always aggressive for new business. I had a couple of cards I was prepared to play. Their voice mail said they worked until 6PM. But nobody was available meaning nobody was in and it was 4:48PM. I was out of options. Campaign on hold. From past experience I knew how much an overnight delay would cost in lost revenue and the picture is not pretty. Leave it go – deal with it in the morning.

Shift gears with me for a minute. I have built companies from nothing to reasonably good volume. The business I am working with now started from scratch. We understand the foundation business principles. We know all about the importance of serving customers. I feel very confident the owner of the email delivery sevice company whose employees were nearly all gone by 5PM would be able to give a long speech on taking care of the customer. So how does this all unravel?

I am glad you asked. First I will answer that question and next I will give you the solution to the problem.

What Happened:

We waited until the next morning then called. A lady in billing cleared the minor problem and said our account should never have been blocked. We agree. The mailing went out and we still had a successful campaign, but there was a substantial level of ill will. I asked to be contacted by the owner of the email marketing company. I asked to be contacted by customer service. I asked to be called by sales. The only response was about a week later a customer satisfaction form was sent to me and I never was called. Will the company select another email marketing service provider? We are evaluating alternatives

The Solution:

In every business I ever owned, worked in as an employee or worked with as a consultant, there was an “A List” Sure the goal is to treat every customer and prospect with respect and with a sincere attitude they are important. The art of the practical is the A List customers spend a lot of money and require a process in place to recognize when they need assistance. The best process I have found is have well defined accountability for these accounts. One point of contact that has the knowledge and experience to make a decision on the spot and knows when to obtain advice if necessary. There are other solutions but this one is absolutely the best.

I welcome your comments.

Are you a business owner with revenue in excess of $5 million annually wondering if you are on the right track? Email Me to schedule a FREE 30-60 minute Consultation

Be well and prosper
Steve Pohlit

PS This is not an isolated incident. I could write a completely different set of facts about a company that has a trouble ticket system we are looking to buy and another company that has a technology solution we did buy. Customer support is pathetic and represents a great opportunity for those dedicated to “walking the talk” of outstanding customer service.

Great Question Posed To Joel Comm On What Resources To Subscribe To – Not So Great Advice From Joel

If you do not know Joel Comm, just type Joel Comm into your search screen and you will soon learn Joel is an Internet marketer known for his work on Adsense and has now expanded the scope of his work. He is no longer betting the destiny of his business on one business model.

One of Joel’s newsletter subscribers recently asked advice on what newsletters he recommended. Joel produced a You Tube video to answer this question. First I love videos but I don’t want to watch one for an answer I can get in print in about 15 seconds. If you want to use video for a question and answer format then provide both print and video options.

Joel’s response to this question was to pay attention to what you feel is valuable and then stay subscribed to those newsletters. My view is that this is incomplete advice. I recommend you seek out the clear experts in your field of interest and subscribe to their newsletters. All they write about may not be of immediate interest and value to you. However, I am confident their material will have long term value for you.

There are a lot of people I pay attention to but only a few who have a big impact on me long term. I suspect you will discover this is true for you as well.

I welcome your comments.

Are you a business owner with revenue in excess of $5 million annually wondering if you are on the right track? Email Me to schedule a FREE 30-60 minute Consultation

Be well and prosper
Steve Pohlit

Cracking The Secret To The Law of Attraction For You and Your Business

I have been developing a new part of my consulting practice that works with you on how to achieve optimal personal development while showing you how to dramatically increase your business results. I have never had anyone ask me if I felt I was on purpose in what I was doing. If they had and if I understood how to answer that question for myself, I am likely to not have done some of the deals I have done.

Recently we celebrated Valentine’s Day. Many people I know including myself have looked at a day like Valentine’s day and felt obligated about the day. The obligation crowd have their profession, jobs, or companies and know this is the day to purchase a gift, make dinner arrangements and tell someone close to them they love them. In the process the feeling often expressed is: whew – got the gift and dinner is set. Now I can get back to my work for awhile — oh my —I got to get out of here or I will be late and that will really upset my _______.

To The Point:

You cannot optimize your business performance if you are out of balance in your personal life. I know this from experience. My program now addresses the steps needed to maximize the performance of your business and your life. This enhanced direction will cause some people to leave my list, possibly limit my client base and my circle of influence. So be it. I have always been focused on what I believe to be the optimal formula for my clients. Nothing has changed except I have grown in my own personal life and I am showing others who are interested how I am doing it.

Dare To Discover The True Meaning And How A Thought Can Transform Your Business and Your Life.

Explore the meaning of unconditional love. It is likely to shock you? Some find this entire discussion frightening. If you dare please Click Here.

Once you have visited this topic. contact me. All my contact information follows.

Be Well and Prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting
Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve consults with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting 10 Minute MBA or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly. Have a question? Click Here To Visit Ask The Consultant

How To Transform Your Business To An Accelerating Cash Profit Producing Machine

Are you a business owner, entrepreneur, direct marketer, internet marketer, network marketer or a person looking for the keys to success? If so this is must read information. Of course you don’t have to and you may not even “buy into” what I am presenting. I repeat: this is must read and must follow information.
——————————————————
Something has been missing. While I developed, implemented and proven the effectiveness of my 10 Minute MBA program, I knew that in a number of cases the success was not sustained. I rationalized this as a natural process of business owners slipping into to their previously established comfort zone.

In a way I used this seemingly natural regression as an opportunity to promote follow-on business consulting services. Now I understand that while ongoing services are valuable, the real reason for business performance to slip went deeper than the obvious failure to follow the established game plan that had been proven to work.

I also could see that in many instances that even when my Profit System was actively implemented and the business was hitting or even exceeding established milestones, something was missing.

When you are faced with a question where you don’t have the answer with confidence, what do you do? Well there is research of course and I did research this issue. Hundreds of hours of research. I also looked very carefully at those situations where people were hitting and exceeding the numbers consistently. I studied the contrasts.

I didn’t discover what I now feel is the answer until I examined my own experiences. I have been taught and influenced by my parents, my daughter, teachers, billionaires, priests, ministers, authors and very by all outward measures, successful internet and direct response marketers. There have been many other influencers but you get the idea. With all of this experience being taught and implementing a lot of what I was taught I found myself experiencing significant negative life situations. So I went to work to find out why. I went to work on myself.

This is not the forum for a description of the extent of that work. However, what I discovered literally transformed my life. This is an introductory article. I am suggesting you consider that if you are not on purpose there is no way for your business or you job to be satisfying – no way. Alternatively if you are on purpose and you use all the tools available to you, then not only will you be achieving your professional goals but more importantly you will be healthy, happy and at peace.

I suggest to you that being on purpose is more important than all the money you believe you want to make. Don’t misunderstand me. I want me and you to have all the abundance available for us while we are on this physical plane. I firmly believe there is unlimited abundance and I like that idea as much as anyone. At the same time, I remember the story about Andrew Carnegie in the book The Five Wishes. He was asked if his life was a success. He said he would give up all his money to have a truly happy marriage.

What is it that you wish for when asked if your life has been a success?

In this series of articles I will explore with you how personally being on purpose will make a dramatic difference in your life and your business. We will review a number of typical real life business examples and look at various outcomes as determined by the mindset of the person in the example. You will learn how to turn your business into a profitable cash producing machine.

Until the next time:

“If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.”

Be well and prosper,

Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting
Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly. Have a question? Click Here To Visit Ask The Consultant

I Am Not Psychic – Repeat I Am Not Pshycic – Repeat – Well Maybe

Do you remember any of the predictions made for 2007?  I made it a point to track what I said on December 30, 2006 . For the record the December 30th post is published and I am repeating it below along with the first report on what actually is happening now vs. what was predicted.(2008 predictions will be published on December 29th. There will be some astonishing forecasts and if you pay close attention, prosperity will be yours in the next 12 months.)
 
Summary: the most obvious prediction that came to be true was Frank Kern’s hair – there simply was no doubt it then or now. Let’s look at what was said on December 30th 2006 and how it turned out!
 
 
December 30, 2006
 
The Key Was Found That Unlocks The Secret Vault With The Report On What 2007 Business Development Predictions Will Come True. Here Is The Report!
 
20% of the people having a goal of making money on line in 2007 will make money on line in 2007. 20% – 40% of those will make enough money to consider it their full time work. 
12-07 Update: I was wrong. The latest reports indicate 10% of those having a goal of making money on line actually do and 5% actually make enough money to stay at home and pay their bills.
 
Frank Kern will be more even more blond by the end of 2007.  
12-07 Update – just look at Frank. I called this one. I rock!!

80% of the people on line today trying to make money will not make any money on line in 2007.
12-07 Update: Unfortunately this is accurate

The rate of business failures in 2007 will accelerate. 80% of those failures could be avoided with the experienced guidance.
 
12-07 Update: 110% accurate The rate of failures has accelerated and most could have been avoid with the right advise.
 
Ken McCarthy and Ken McArthur will continue to rank the highest in the group of people offering the best seminar training.
 
12-07 Update: 100% accurate There is great content at seminars but these guys are at the top of the mountain.
 
The rate of new business starts will increase. Those starts will be added fuel for the rate of failure. 
12-07 Update: 100% accurate This is a mathematical fact.
 
2-5% of the people on line in 2006 will make 90-95% of the profit on line in 2007. 
12-2-07 Update: 100% accurate ( The composition of the 2-5% might change but the stats don’t)
 
President Bush will not be re-elected. 
12-07 Update: 100% accurate (He can’t run again)
 
Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer will send out a big box next year to their customers wishing them the very best Christmas ever. In the box will be at least 10 opportunities to spend money on one or more of their in-house study programs or seminars. Read the Christmas card first of course. (Did you receive one of their cards in 2006. Was it just me thinking their mailing was tacky at best? ) Do not ignore Dan and Bill’s training unless you are netting more than $10 million a year from continuity programs. 
12-07 Update: 100% accurate (I received mine – did you?)
 
There will be no more than 4 new players in 2007 that will achieve public recognition of being an Internet guru. Five currently recognizable gurus will leave to find off line jobs to pay their bills.  
(Statistics Still Being Compiled -Unfortunately I am right.)
 
More people will figure out how to use Blogs and Social Networking sites to effectively market their business. 5% of these people will develop courses to teach use these skills. 20% of the courses will have valuable content. 5% of those not publishing courses will be making the most money and we will never know who they are.
 
12-07 Update: 100% accurate ( No – I am not taking consultation fees for what your 2008 will look like. )
 
Next year the number of people you don’t personally know who will send you emails wishing you everything you ever dreamed of during the holiday season will triple.
 
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

The burst in the housing bubble is over and the housing market will be on a steady incline throughout 2007. 
Completely missed this one.

90% of the people buying new programs, memberships and training will not use any of what they purchased and learned.
 
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

Google Adsense is not dead and there will be a surge in people telling you how much money they are making with Adsense.
 
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

There will be an increasing number of public companies that will go private as they are tired of the cost of complying with SEC and Sarbanes-Oxley.
 
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

Website buying and selling will accelerate. Ed Dale’s latest training topic is in front of the curve.
 
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

Direct mail will be used more by the top 5% of the Internet Marketers in 2007 as they recognize that a people still like paper and ink. 20% of the remaining 95% will try direct mail and wonder why it doesn’t work for them. None of the 95% pay close attention to Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazier. 
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

John Reese says that long sales letters are on the decline and using a combination of Camtasia, live video clips and sales copy on your sales page will be most effective. John is right. Actually John is nearly always right and will continue to be so in 2007. Why is that? He tests and validates before he opens his mouth. If you don’t read his monthly report you are not serious about making money on line. (Frank Kern is nearly always right even with blonde hair.)

The gap between those building wealth and those not increasing net worth will widen in 2007.

12-07 Update: 110% accurate Those not building wealth will blame those who do with even louder voices and will want the government to step in. Those building wealth want the reinforcement of our country’s constitutional principles which basically says we have the right to build our business and build wealth and who we help is our choice not a government mandate. People still don’t get the fact that jobs are created and more money flows into the federal and state tax accounts when we let people who know how to build business do just that. The number of those not getting this point will continue to increase in 2007.
 

Portal Feeder will win the Grammy for the longest running program to have people pay for the development of a new version that should have been offered when the original version was offered but was not, and still is not over a year later. The Grammy will be awarded for best supporting actors in a major film that has not been released. By the way – I love the PF team.

12-07 Update: 210% accurate. Portal Feeder not only one the award but released a sequal that is awesome.
 
More people will recognize that all of this is a game and will turn increasing levels of attention and energy to the purpose and quality of human game. (Read Bob Scheinfeld’s Busting Lose From The Money Game. Read Joe Vitale’s The Key, Read all the material developing at Prosperity Now)  
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

Stomper Net will emerge as the best “I wish I were in that group” program. However, 80% of the people in Stomper Net will not take any action on what they have learned. 
12-07 Update: Partially True – Stomper Net is like having the entire Internet Library of Congress thrown at you. It  is 200% true most Stompers have not acted on what they have learned. Be on the look out for my 2008 predictions.
 
The best overall teacher of business success principles in 2007 will be Steve Pohlit, followed by John Reese. (Hey it is my blog!) 
12-07 Update: 210% accurate

If 2007 is a great New Year for you it is because you have accepted the responsibility to make that happen and not because me or anyone else says Happy New Year to you.

12-07 Update – you are now learning how to make every day great.
 
Be well and prosper,
 
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting 
Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. The latest successful on line and off line marketing techniques are part of the processes that are implemented. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly. Have a question? Click Here To Visit Ask The Consultant