Building your Brand, Business & Bottom Line!
achievement
Business lessons from a decade of Houston Texans football
0504 days
I’m doing this post a little differently. Usually I focus on my personal branding, marketing, recruiting or traffic building tips, but not today. Well, at least not in the strictest sense.
I’ve been a Houston Texans fan since their inception. Before that I was a 49er fan (still am actually). In the past decade there has been a lot of heartache pretty much from the beginning. David Carr was a huge bust, Boselli never played, Don Capers was incompetent, and so on. Then we got Kubiak and it was rough going until now, but what changed? And more importantly, how can all this football stuff help you with your business?
There is a correlation between the Texans’ season this year and building a strong business.
First, you must identify your weaknesses. Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak was clearly out of his league when he put “friends” in charge of the defense, so he hired Wade Phillips as Defensive Coordinator to pick up the slack. In one year Phillips took a last place defense and made them 2nd overall. Tip: Hire your weakness.
Second, as a business owner you are only as strong as your team. In an effort to strengthen the team, the Texans front office along with the coaching staff brought in Jonathon Joseph and Danieal Manning, and then drafted J.J. Watt. With the added boost to the line, the defense was able to make their mark while building a strong identity. Tip: Anticipate your team’s needs and put the right people in the right place so they can be effective.
Third, because the Texans suffered a significant number of injuries to key players on the team, they had to develop a “next man up” mentality. Mario Williams went out, Danieal Manning went out, Andre Johnson went out (twice), Arian Foster missed a few games, and the team lost both their first and second quarterbacks and had to turn to the third string arm of T.J. Yates. But through it all, they still managed to make franchise history by not only winning the first game of their first playoff appearance, but doing it with a rookie at the helm. Tip: Build a system so others can easily help you (see McDonalds).
Bonus Tips:
Persevere. Things don’t always go the way we plan, but we have to make adjustments and push forward.
Be flexible. When something is not working, do some different. Your objective is still the same – how you get there may change.
At the end of the day if you truly want to win big you must develop a “Never Say Die” attitude and expect the unexpected. Then again if you expect it, its no longer unexpected, but you get the point.
Fighting the evil forces of personal poverty, both yours and mine.
Robert Reed
How to Fix Your Personal Economy
1667 days
The secret to improving your wealth and fixing your personal economy is found in 3 steps. Once you take those steps you will find the prosperity and lifestyle so many only dream of. So let’s get started!
Step 1: Reduce Debt
One of the biggest obstacles that hinders your prosperity is debt. Debt is the #1 cause of bankruptcy, and it disrupts savings and investing. So let’s use a simple but powerful strategy that can help you reduce your debt faster than usual.
This strategy is called “debt stacking” or “snowballing”. It uses the concept of stacking payments to counteract compound interest.
Here’s how it works:
- Make a list of all your debt accounts that have a balance. Do not include accounts that can never be paid off, such as utilities.
- Next, sort them in order from the smallest balance to the largest. Typically, your mortgage would be at the bottom of the list.
- Make the minimum payment on all accounts. This step is very important at this stage.
- When the first account at the top of the list (smallest balance) is paid off, use the payments you were making on that account to add to the next account on the list.
Example: You were making a minimum payment of $30 monthly on the first account and $50 on the second account. When the first account is paid off, add the $30 payment to the second account ($30 + $50 = $80 payment to second account).
Continue down the list until all accounts are paid in full! WOW, you are now debt free!
Note: Any extra money paid should be directed to the account with the lowest balance. Spreading extra money across multiple accounts renders this technique ineffective.
Step 2: Increase Income
There are several different ways you can increase your income, but we will focus on business ownership in this section. There are 3 options to consider when it comes to starting a business. First, you could build a brick and mortar business from the ground up. However, many traditional businesses fail for a great many reasons ranging from insufficient capital to lack of knowledge. But if you have enough capital and know-how, you can be successful.
Second, you can buy a franchise. There is a wide variety of franchises in many sectors of the market and your choices range from restaurants to repair shops. One of the major setbacks to this option is the fact that it may require a huge initial investment, and more often than not there is a reoccurring franchise fee that comes with the privilege of having a recognized brand. Very few people can afford this option, but it is still a good option.
The third option is a home-based business, which is one of the biggest trends in our economy today. There are many businesses to choose from in just about every industry, and the best part is that most can be started for less than $1,000! In some cases you can even get started for less than $500! If you choose the right one, you could have a full support system at your disposal. A home-based business is by far the best option for the average person to make a huge and positive impact on their finances.
Step 3: Reduce Taxes
After you start your home-based business, the advantages really begin. Uncle Sam will help you by allowing you to have some incredible deductions! Any expense you incur because of your business that you would not have incurred if you didn’t have a business is probably deductible.
What Deductions May Be Allowed
The cost of starting up your business, promotional materials, product samples, internet access, fax lines, lead lists, website fees, printing costs, briefcases, laptops, business cards, and home office furnishings all can be 100% deductible if they are used 100% for business.
The benefits of owning a home-based business doesn’t stop there. There are also car allowances if you keep good logs of the primary purposes of your trips.
Did I mention healthcare costs can also be tax deductible? Well, they can be!
The fact is Uncle Sam wants to help you run your own home-based business and will provide you with the deductions you need to help you lower your taxes. In fact, there are so many deductions you could actually start your business for FREE, depending on your start up costs and eligible deductions! ***Please see a tax professional to get more detailed information.
What are you waiting for? Every day you delay in starting your own business you are throwing away money in overpaid taxes. The only way to stop it legally is to start your own business now!
Fighting the evil forces of poverty – both yours and mine!
Robert Reed
The Art of Magnetic Marketing
1788 days
Attraction Marketing made easy
A lot has been said about magnetic marketing, often referred to as attraction marketing. Regardless of the term you use the goal is the same, it’s about the hunters making themselves the hunted. Let’s face it we (marketers) all want our prospects to come to us. Unfortunately, that can be daunting and/or expensive to say the least.
There are many industries and professions that use attraction/magnetic marketing. Affiliate marketers and Network marketers usually benefit the most from this art form. This has been a phenomenal paradigm shift for most, especially for the network marketer.
Today the top earners in network marketing are the ones who set up a system of generating leads into their primary business. Why is this so important? 97% of new network marketers fail. The reasons are many from no up-line support, poor tools, attitude, fear, laziness, outdated techniques, and on and on. But the biggest of them all is “no leads”.
In other words, newbies can’t sustain their auto-ship long enough to cover that expense with the help of sponsoring new recruits. The leads are just not coming in fast enough. Sound familiar?
What if there was a system that not only generated leads for you but allowed you to generate income simultaneously?
How powerful is that?! Not only is that powerful but it is exactly what the leaders in the industry are doing now.
If you expect to succeed in the network marketing industry you need to position yourself as a leader. Leaders get in position and leverage themselves with systems. Leverage your efforts with a lead generation system and start growing your business today!
“Fighting the evil forces of personal poverty, both yours and mine.”
Robert Reed
