From here on out...

Check it out...I'm officially not posting here anymore. This blogger account never got any attention anyway. I never got to the bottom as to why, but it doesn't matter. For those of you who happen upon this page though, if you want to track me down, hit my new blog at http://nextlevelblogger.com, or find me at http://twitter.com/christiantjr. Holla!

New Blog about Sales Training and Making Money Online

I just fired up a new business blog I'm really excited about! Next Level Blogger is a new business site for anyone interested in any of the following:

• Make money online
• Blogging
  
• Home based business
• Small business marketing
• Sales training
• Social networking
• Internet marketing
• Increasing sales

Click to visit my about page and let me know what you think :)

Besides throwing this post up to get some links going (obviously), I want to let you know about the new site, and I'd love to hear your thoughts, criticism, etc!

Motivational Quotes: William J. H. Boetcker

Thanks to Happy Publishing for posting this quote recently…it is a really timely and well-spoken idea. I agree wholeheartedly. BTW, I’ve seen that this quote is regularly attributed to Abraham Lincoln. As best I can tell, this is not actually the case, and William J. H. Boetcker is the correct person to cite. If you have something which may shed light on this minor controversy, let me know!

You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

-William J. H. Boetcker

Does anyone disagree? Is picking on one class or another really going to solve our economic issues? Will that really create more prosperity? Is continuing to spend beyond our means really the way to get back on track? Is it really the government’s job to provide for us, or is it our job to create our own wealth? Is wealth, really, something that CAN be given from one to another, or must it be something that we each acquire individually?

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Tags: economy, Motivation Quotes, spending, wealth, William J. H. Boetcker

A Thought as to Why There is a Huge Separation Between Rich and Poor

Show anyone on the street a balance sheet, and they will likely not be able to make sense of it. Show anyone on the street a P&L, and they likely won’t even know what it is. Show anyone on the street articles of incorporation for a promising new start up company, and their eyes will glaze over. Most people on the street are poor. Is there a relationship between these things? I think so.

Get Excited…See the Value

See, when I was young, I was intimidated and very much bored by the US Constitution. You couldn’t get me to read a book if my life depended on it. You would be a gifted person indeed if you could get me to sit still for a music lesson. But now I’m a grown up, and I see a bigger picture. I see the value in these things, and since I see the value, I’m interested in learning more. I happily sit still and read, practice and study things that enhance my life. See, when I do these things I reap many benefits.

What About YOU?

I’m sure you can think of examples in your own life where some diligence and hard work has paid off, no? Have you ever really pushed yourself in some regard, and as a result you now forever have a different outlook on things? Success is like that. It changes you forever.

The Necessity of Financial Education

And so it goes with financial education. Is it really any wonder that we have twenty-somethings making billions of dollars while the average Joe struggles to get by? Think objectively about this for a second…the average person knows next to nothing about how to form a company and make a profit. The average person really knows almost nothing about money at all. So is it really any mystery as to why some people can become so phenomenally wealthy? There’s almost no frickin’ competition! Can you imagine if we had a world full of savvy and financially intelligent investors and business owners? Do you think things might be a little more even keel if more people actually knew how to make money?

See, we all want more money. We want to proser. And the thing about most people I know is that we’re all willing to work hard also. We just want to be paid more. That’s where we screw up. We want the system to “work better”…whatever that means. We want to be given more money for what we already do. The thing is, money just doesn’t work that way. Do you think the guy making billions of dollars works billions of times harder and longer than everyone else? No. So we look at him and say “No fair.” The thing about money is this: money doesn’t run on fairness. Money follows value. Period. And if you want to make more money, you need to know how it works.

So, learn how it works for God’s sake. And go get yours. If you want some of that billionaire’s stash, go take it. Don’t wait for Obama to do it for you.

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Tags: financial education, How to Get Rich, How to Invest, prosperity

Motivational Quotes: William F Halsey

“There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet.” William F. Halsey

This one really works for me today. Halsey had it right in my opinion. I’ve consistently found it amazing what you can get done when you simply have to get it done…no option. We can of course easily be lulled into the idea that we’re better than others. Vanity is a common enough issue that must be dealth with. It’s also easy enough to believe that others are simply better than you…so, it’s much easier to slough off responsibility and not own up to the fact that you have a LOT of value to offer others and a LOT of work ahead of you.

I’ve had the privilege of being able to meet and know a lot of successful people, in business, sales and otherwise, and I can tell you that these people have the exact same dysfunctions and personal issues as the rest of us. We all have deficiencies. We all have significant fears. We all have competencies and incompetencies.

The greatest among us are not those who have the most money or skill or other attributes…the greatest among us are simply those who have owned up to the challenges facing them and faced them head on, with vigor and steadfast faith in their ability to win. Not because they deserve it or because they’re better than others, but because they have to…being great is simply the only way to live.

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Tags: greatness, Motivational Quotes

When to Quit and When to Stick

I’m a big fan of quitting. Sometimes it’s just the right thing to do. Get rid of the dead weight every once in a while, I say! Sometimes when you’re in a business that’s just not working or when you have an investment that’s not performing, it’s just the right thing to do…cut it loose! One of the mantras we hear all the time is “never quit”. It gets ingrained into our psyche. We think if we quit, that means we fail. I want to discuss very briefly when it’s good to quit and when it’s good to stick with it. I’d also like to get your thoughts on this.

Time to quit

Quitting does not mean failure. Some things don’t work. You don’t need me to give you all the common examples of failures leading up to success, do you? Michael Jordan is famous for pointing out that he’s missed the game deciding shot many times more than he’s made it. He’s missed more shots over all by far than he’s made. Yet no one considers him a failure…sometimes you simply write off your misses and move on to the next shot. You may not think playing basketball is a fair comparison to a business you’re in that’s failing or an investment you’re holding onto even though it’s losing you money, but it is a fair comparison under one condition. If your goal is to be *successful* in business…if your goal is to be *successful* in your investments, than you need to let the losers go. Jordan doesn’t stop the game and demand to keep trying the same shot over again until he makes it. He missed. It’s over. The clock keeps ticking. Life keeps on going. You move on. You move on to the next shot. In life, your next shot can be the next business. Your next shot can be the next investment opportunity. If it’s failed, don’t stand in one place, and for God’s sake, don’t continue to lose money if the plan doesn’t work. Learn, and move on to the next shot.

When to stick

Here’s when it’s NOT time to quit:

1. It’s not time to quit just because your business is changing and has become more difficult lately.
2. It’s not time to quit just because you’re not making as much money as you were last year.
3. It’s not time to quit just because you’re not having fun anymore.

These reasons are common reasons to quit, and they are not good reasons. The question to answer is this: what’s your next move? If you can answer this, and you can show yourself that you have a better opportunity, take it. Even if you have a successful business…if you have something better (more fun, more profitable, etc), go for it. The point is that any business is going to have income fluctuations from time to time. Any business is going to get tough, need reworked and require an immense amount of effort from time to time. These are not reasons to quit. They are reasons to turn it up, to get creative, learn new things. You can make ANY business fun and worth doing. But building that sucker is going to take some dues paying. Don’t quit because it’s tough, because it’s going to be tough either way. But when you know you’ve missed your shot, don’t sweat it. Cut your losses and move on to your next shot. Remember, the clock is still ticking. You’ve got time.

When do you think is the right time to call it quits on a business or investment?
Have you ever just moved on and been really glad you did, or really un-glad you did?

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Tags: Building a Business, How to Invest, quitting

Sales Meetings: Good or Bad?

I had a sales meeting today. It’s good seeing my team, and I think it’s essential to touch base and make sure we’re on course. But today’s meeting also made me think about how sometimes we do things just because we get used to doing them a certain way…we need to question this type of thing from time to time.

I would much rather work…than TALK about working, you know what I mean? I think it’s time for us to revisit sales meetings and make sure we’re making productive use of our time while we’re there.

Do you have anything in your life that you’ve been doing the same way for a long time, that you feel may be time for review? Change can be good…

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Tags: change is good, sales meetings