“Lest We Forget” - Airdrie’s Royal Canadian Legion

Note: This is just one of many articles I wrote as Editor/Publisher of GO! Magazines. This story came from an issue of GO! Airdrie.

The Royal Canadian Legion was founded in 1925 and its mandate was to meet the needs of all who served in the Armed Forces and their dependents. One of the primary objectives of the Legion was to encourage, promote, support and participate in all forms of municipal, community and national service, during World Wars I and II and the Korean War. Following the Korean War the Legion became increasingly involved in community service. The athletics program for youth was established in early 1950s and has been one of the Legions most successful programs. Many other community programs included the National Unity and the Legion Senior programs as well as a medical fellowship to support the veterans of the wars.

The Airdrie Branch 288 was granted its charter on August 23rd. 1983. After many location moves over the years, moved into their new building on  3rd Avenue SE. and on January 1st. 1992 the branch took ownership of the building. Over the years the Airdrie branch has donated over one million dollars to various projects in the city.

Don Doal is a distinguished WW II veteran and at 82 years young, is a driving force behind the Airdrie Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. Don was born in a mining town in Northern Ontario. He worked in the mines until enlisting in the armed forces when the war broke out in 1939. As a member of the Royal Canadian Engineers, Don was a combat engineer on the front lines, building bridges and clearing the way for advancing troops. “Most of our work was at night as we laid mine fields to support our infantry troops,” explained Don. “I remember one night we were laying mines. I was by myself and as I looked up all I could see was two German boots standing in front of me. We looked at each other, turned around as quick as we could and ran in the opposite direction.”

According to Don, it’s hard for people to understand what fighting in a war is really like unless you have been there. We currently have troops fighting in Afghanistan and television brings us pictures everyday of what it’s like for our forces. But we don’t see the ugly side of combat except maybe through movies such as “Saving Private Ryan”, which is gut wrenching to watch, especially the first 30 minutes of the film. “War is hell,” said Don. “The average age of our troops was only 23 and many of us were still teenagers. When I talk to young people I try to emphasize that without the sacrifice that our soldiers made, they wouldn’t be enjoying the lifestyle they have today.”  Don feels that the history of what these men and women fought for in the wars should be taught as a separate subject in the schools. “Through good teaching our young people need to always remember that what went on during the war,” said Don. “Sadly for many people, Remembrance Day is just another holiday. What is really hard on us is that people forget and don’t care.”  

Brenda Clayton is the Airdrie Legion’s secretary and explains that every year for Remembrance Day the legion tries to involve the schools. “We send out posters and have an essay writing contest that each school can participate in with their English classes,” said Brenda. “Some schools participate while others are not interested, and we can’t understand why they can’t put this in as part of their curriculum. We also have a poppy campaign every year and it’s so sad sometimes to hear parents tell their children, when they ask what it’s all about, that it’s not important and not to waste their time.”

Don has been involved with the Airdrie branch since the beginning in 1983 and over the years has played a very active role in its programs. For the past 5 years Don has served as the branches Service Officer, and spends a lot of his time visiting the sick and dying in the hospitals. “It’s trying sometimes, when I have to visit one of our members who is dying,” said Don. “They may not have any family members left so I spend as much time as I can with them, because they are comrades.” Don also has to arrange funeral services if the family members want a Legion service. If the family can’t afford the funeral services the Legion looks after the costs. There are 15 WW II vets left in the Airdrie branch.

According to Brenda, the branches membership has gone up and down over the years. “At one point a couple of years ago our membership was way down and we were thinking we might have to sell our building,” said Brenda. “But we’ve managed to increase our numbers and although we are not out of the woods yet, we are trying to get more people to join and help out. Some people didn’t renew their memberships when they thought we were going to lose the building so some of these people are now coming back” The Legion building has a beautiful auditorium that will hold over 400 people as well as a lounge where they have luncheons and other functions. Membership fees are very modest and there are always lots of concerts, parties and other functions going on that members and non-members can attend.

For more information about the Airdrie Legion you can contact Brenda at 948-3000 or by email at …. . And let’s not forget to support the Legion and the veterans that made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy today.

Paul Oldford

On Receiving Unexpected News - Jeff Foster

You receive some unexpected news. You notice a sinking feeling in your stomach. The mind projects all kinds of pictures about how life could or should have been. It feels like life has gone wrong, like a dream is dying, like something that was yours has been lost. Not fair! You focus on what is missing, what isn't here, what went away, what will never return. You no longer feel at home in the moment. You feel disconnected, like you need some external circumstance to change for you to be at peace again.

But wait. Nothing has died except a dream of how it was 'supposed to be'. But it wasn't going to be that way. Not now. It is THIS way, now. Perhaps nothing has gone wrong in the universe at all, and this moment is not a mistake, not an enemy to be feared or rejected, but a friend, here to be honoured and embraced.

When the focus is on what's missing, what's gone, what's lost, we feel lost, homesick, ungrounded, separated from source, divided against ourselves, and a house divided against itself cannot stand. The never-ending story of lack begins with present-moment resistance.

When the focus is on what's still here, and what never left, and what's always here; when we remember who we really are, presence itself, we know that nothing fundamental has been lost. We feel aligned again, back home, even in the midst of devastating news. Perhaps the news was not a mistake at all. Perhaps it was yet another invitation to align, to turn towards the moment, to breathe deeply, and to remember who we are, which is never lost, never absent, never truly forgotten, and never far away. It is our peace, our joy and our unshakeable strength, our deeply rooted tree in a raging storm, silent and unchanging. And that's the best news of all.

What's wrong with Advertising today? - Part 3

So provided that what we offer is great and our service is outstanding then how do we get that message out there to drive more buyers to our business.

Here are four basic things that you will need to do…

1. Get Attention: Advertising must first and foremost get someone’s attention. And it doesn’t matter what form of advertising you are using. Until you have the buyers attention your advertising is going nowhere.

So how do we do this? Quite simply we need to identify and target the buyers “triggers”. A trigger is nothing more than something that is important or relevant to the buyer. Some headlines that do this..

1.       3 Things You Need To Know Before Buying A Home

2.       Something You Probably Didn’t Know About Buying A Car

3.       Over 2 Years You’ll Spend $500 On Your Ink-Jet Printer

4.       How Much Should You Be Paying For Your Office Furniture

These all capture our attention so that we want to read, watch or listen to learn more. Keep in mind that what we are saying here has to be of importance to the buyer. It has to “trigger” or peak their interest. Again the headline or lead-in has to do this.

Now let’s look at what you might find in similar ads that don’t do this.

1.       Our Homes Are Quality Made And Very Affordable

2.       We Have The Largest Selection And Best Priced Cars

3.       Get Our Latest Ink-Jet Printer For Just $59.99

4.       Quality Office Furniture From Our Family Owned Business

Again this is what you will find in most ads and unfortunately they simply don’t work, unless of course the owner is your next door neighbour and you buy from them anyway.

2. Connect The Buyer: You’ve got the buyers attention so now you need to connect the buyer to additional information that you are going to tell him or her about what you just said.  The buyer has been triggered for more information and it’s what we say next that will help them continue reading, watching or listening to what you have to say.

Again lets continue on with the examples we used above.

“3 Things You Need To Know Before Buying A Home”

We have discovered 3 critical mistakes that many people make when making a decision to purchase a home...

“Something You Probably Didn’t Know About Buying A Car”

Here are 4 things that can save you money before you buy your next vehicle...

“Over 2 Years You’ll Spend $500 On Your Ink-Jet Printer”

Most computer retailers don’t tell you this but there are other options to think about before you buy your next printer...

“How Much Should You Be Paying For Your Office Furniture”

Most people pay too much for their office furniture and here are some of the questions you need to ask before you buy...

These “connectors” encourage the buyer to want to learn more about what you have to tell them. Everyone wants to be educated so that their final decision as to where and what to buy is the best choice for them.

3. Coach Your Buyer:  So you have captured the buyers attention, and connected them to some valuable information that you are about to share. The next step is to provide the information that you’ve been promising the customer.

Now your probably thinking,  no one is going to read all this information while looking at an ad. You are both right and wrong. Since people always want to make “educated” purchases you are coaching them through the education and hopefully buying process. Remember people want to make the best decision possible. However you will not be able to give them all the information they need in an ad. So you give them enough information with a follow-up offer that I will explain in a moment.

In our above example about purchasing a car, we have promised to give the buyer 4 things that can save them money on their next purchase. So we list the 4 items and give a brief explanation for each. Again we don’t have to write a book here, just a short 2-4 lines that can explain each of the 4 things.

Stay tuned for Part 4...

The story of Eckhart Tolle and others as told by Owen.

If you are deeply depressed -- if you've come to hate your own existence, as well as the world -- then I hope you'll find comfort in the story of Eckhart Tolle.

Tolle, who was born in Germany, is now about 65 years-old. He is widely regarded as one of the few enlightened spiritual teachers in the Western world. But when he was 29, Eckhart Tolle almost killed himself. I am going to quote the first few paragraphs of Tolle's magnificent book, THE POWER OF NOW. If anything he says resonates with you, I hope you'll buy a copy of the book, and read it slowly. It might change your life.

"I have little use for the past and rarely think about it. However, I would briefly like to tell you how I came to be a spiritual teacher, and how this book came into existence."

"Until my 30th year, I lived in a state of almost continuous anxiety, interspersed with periods of suicidal depression. It feels now as if I am talking about some past lifetime, or somebody else's life."

"One night, not long after my 29^th birthday, I woke up in the early hours with a feeling of absolute dread. I had woken up with such a feeling many times before, but this time it was more intense than it had ever been before."

"The silence of the night, the vague outlines of furniture in the dark room, the distant noise of a passing train -- everything felt so alien, so hostile, and so utterly meaningless, that it created a deep loathing in me: a deep loathing of the world."

"The most loathsome thing of all, however, was my own existence. What was the point in continuing to live with this burden of misery? Why carry on with this continuous struggle? I could feel that a deep longing for annihilation, for non-existence, was now becoming much stronger than the instinctive desire to continue to live."

"'I cannot live with myself any longer.' This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind."

End of excerpt.

To find out how Eckhart Tolle conquered his depression, and completely remade himself, spiritually and emotionally, you should read the book. It will repay its cost a thousand fold and open Doors for you that need to be opened.

The terrible night that Tolle described above, was his Dark Night of the Soul; the very lowest point in what had been a lifelong descending slide. Lots of very famous spiritual gurus went through precisely the same emotional crisis.

Buddha spent six years trying to become enlightened. He was a disciple, at one time or another, to every famous spiritual teacher of his time. But none of them could help him. So Buddha finally gave up. He sat himself down under a Bodhi tree for 43 days, and became more and more depressed at his failure.

Finally, Buddha, like Tolle and others, reached his absolute lowest point. He gave up his desire to become enlightened, he gave up all his desires, and waited to die. It was Buddha's Dark Night of the Soul.

Instead of dying, Buddha awoke the next morning as an enlightened being. By giving up all his desires, he connected with his soul, the Divine Essence which was inside him (and is inside all of us), and was literally reborn. Buddha spent the next 40 years helping others to feel their connection with all beings and all things.

Swami Rama is one of the most famous mystics who ever came to America. In the 1970's, Swami Rama dazzled the doctors at the Mayo Clinic with his magical abilities

to completely control every aspect of his body. He could willfully stop his heart, or cause it to beat at 360 cycles per minute. Rama could drain every drop of blood from the right side of his body -- it turned white and dead -- and send the blood to his left side. Later, he founded The Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania, which survives and thrives to this day.

But Swami Rama tried to kill himself when he was in his mid 20's. He lived in India, and had been apprenticed to enlightened gurus all his life. However, the young Bhole Baba (as he was known then) could not make that final jump into his own enlightenment. So he told his mentor, Babaji, that he was going to tie rocks to his legs, and throw himself into the Ganges River.

Babaji followed his young disciple to the riverbank. This was the Dark Night of the Soul for young Bhole. He'd failed for 20 years to achieve his only desire. It was time to die.

Bhole tied ropes around the big rocks, and then attached the ropes to his legs. He stood on a platform above the deep water, and looked back one last time at his mentor, Babaji. And at that dark moment, Babaji walked forward, touched Bhole Baba on the forehead, and the young man fell backwards on the bank, and went into a 24-hour swoon. When he awoke, Bhole Baba was no more. The young man had become enlightened, and was known thereafter as Swami Rama.

So if you're feeling very depressed, and have even flirted with the idea of suicide, know that some of the greatest men and women in history have felt exactly as you do. Recall Jesus' Dark Night of the Soul, when he called out to God, "My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?"

Don't give up hope! Work on yourself, educate yourself about true spirituality. You are not your body, and you are not your mind. Begin with Eckhart Tolle's book, and go from there. Your Soul wants you to live, and so does God, the Universal Soul. Find a way to make it happen.

Blessings,

Owen

What's wrong with Advertising today? - Part 2

You might ask about all the great ads you see on TV. Surely these ads meet the criteria. Well if you’ve got an advertising budget like McDonalds, IBM or Coke then you can afford to do these types of ads. Most still don’t meet the criteria but if you bombard people with enough of this stuff then some of it is going to work. It’s the old saying, “If you throw enough mud at the wall some of it is going to stick.” Relatively few companies can afford to do this type of advertising or play in the big leagues, so these companies often win by forfeit.

So what about “menu type advertising” you might ask. Surely if I advertise my products at great prices people will want to buy from me. Well just because your ads don’t meet the criteria doesn’t mean they absolutely won’t work. In fact, sometimes they will.

Why you might ask? Well it’s simply because most of your competitors aren’t doing any better job at marketing their products or services then you are and people have to buy from somebody. Your not advertising.. You’re just order taking. Take a look at the ads for car dealers in your newspapers. They all look the same. You have 20 different dealers all selling cars at the lowest price. No wonder some of the auto makers are in trouble. They are all competing on price.

Here’s another test you can use as you are looking at ads. Ask yourself these questions.

Well I Would Hope So? Does the buyer already expect you to say what you said? If so it’s just a cliché and meaningless.

Who Else Can Say That? Can your competitors say the same things you’ve said? If so then you haven’t differentiated yourself.

Cross Out & Write In? Cross out your competitors name and put yours in there. Is the ad still valid?

In the early days of selling most buyers were at the mercy of the advertisers. There were fewer choices and less competition. Buyers didn’t have the knowledge they have today, hence your ads worked because of this. However in today’s world, there is more competition and many more choices. Your products and services are more like commodities and buyers have all the power. Simply putting a clever ad in the paper doesn’t mean buyers will beat a path to your door.

So how do we change our advertising so that we can meet the three criteria we talked about earlier? What can we do to get more people to respond to what we are selling?

Well first of all let me recap what I said earlier. You first have to make sure that the products and/or services you are offering are the very best in quality and meet the highest standards. Your customer service must be top notch. If you sell inferior products, offer services that are not reliable and trustworthy, or have lousy customer service then your advertising might get them in the door the first time but they won’t come back again and will certainly use word of mouth to destroy your firm’s credibility. So what you do and how you do it is of tantamount importance.

We'll take a look at getting your message out there in our next segment. 

What's wrong with Advertising today? - Part 1

Let's just take a look at what advertising is supposed to do...

1. First, it has to get the attention of the prospect or buyer. Before a buyer will do anything they have to be drawn to your ad.

2. Second, you must present the buyer with additional information that will help them as they gather knowledge and form opinions about your products or services. Assist your buyer and help them along in their decision making process.

3. Third, you need to make buyers feel that by purchasing from you they are making the very best choice available. They may have lots of options, but yours is the best. They are going to make a decision by reducing their risk, and your ad should be helping them do that.

Now if you look at most ads you’ll see that they don’t meet the above three criteria.

You will find that for many companies the most dominant part of the ad is their company name and logo. Do buyers really care about your name and logo? Does this draw to their attention what you are selling? Remember the first thing you have to do is get their attention.

Other ads will have some really great pictures or backgrounds that again are supposed to capture our attention. This may be very appealing to an artist but it doesn’t do anything for your potential customer. Unless maybe he or she is an artist!

And then we’ve got ads with gigantic maps showing people how to find you. Or what we call menu type advertising where you have lots of products with prices that again are supposed to grab our attention. Most don’t.

Take a look through the newspaper and see what ads get your attention. Most fail miserably.

So what about our second criteria, which is assisting the buyer in their decision making process. Again you will find most ads use worn out clichés. “In Business for over 40 years”, “Best Service Guaranteed”, “Quality Workmanship”, “Reliable”, “Trustworthy” and so on. Well so what? Would I want to do business with you if you didn’t offer all these? Most people expect all these things so why do we have to say them.


Other ads will talk about their products and services in the same fashion. “Our copiers will make your office more productive”, “We service all makes and models”, “Our athletic wear helps you look and feel fabulous”, “It’s not what we do, it’s how we do it”, “Your performance is our priority”.

Again if I’m a prospective buyer I would hope that all of these things are a given. I shouldn’t even have to ask. None of these are assisting the buyer in gathering information and helping them form opinions in their decision making process. Look at some more ads and see for yourself.

Let’s look at the third thing advertising is supposed to do. Lower the risk so they can make a wise decision.

None of what we have previously discussed regarding what most people put in their ads do this and the main reason is that we have not educated our prospect to the point where they are willing to do business with us. Clichés don’t work and neither do great pictures, company logos, maps, phone numbers etc. Even things like “Best Prices In Town”, “Deepest Discounts”, or “Fastest Delivery” mean nothing. Would you really want to do business with someone who says “Highest Prices In Town” or “Slowest Service”. So why do we have to say it? We hope to get these things anyway. We need to help the buyer by educating him or her to the point that they are ready to call or visit.

So in short, most forms of advertising fail because they don’t meet these three (3) criteria.

In our next segment we'll delve a little deeper into today's advertising methods.

Do countries lose religion as they gain wealth? - World - CBC News

Do countries lose religion as they gain wealth? - World - CBC News

Of course the answer is yes. When people have money then they perceive that the amount of suffering is reduced. By suffering I don't necessarily mean physical pain, it could be emotional, mental or any afflicted states. Religion is what people in poorer countries latch unto in an effort to ease their discomfort. However money or the glamour of money can also bring suffering and discomfort. When this happens people generally reach out to religion again as it is something from memory that can ease their pain etc. Unfortunately money doesn't buy happiness, unconditional love, peace, tranquility and meaning to ones life. Our thinking keeps us ever wanting more and more with increased wealth. It's just a perceived thought that  comes and then dissolves.

Headline: Papal contender says issue of women in church 'secondary'

My wife is a devoted Catholic and I go to church with her and the kids as a means of support. She wants me to go to Catholic School but it's not for me. My last visit to the church was embarrassing as I dropped the bread wafer and didn't stop to pick it up. Afterwards my wife scolded me for leaving it there and said the priest would have to pick it up and eat it. I'll be more careful next time.

 Anyway it's reading stories like these that makes me wonder why the church considers women's issues (and other important issues like gay marriage etc) secondary. Shouldn't these be a priority for the next Pope. If not then maybe we should pick a Pope like they pick a contestant on The Price is Right... "Come on down, your the next Pope on "The Vatican Is Right".

Story Link... http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/03/05/pope-election-women.html

Tech toys for our kids

"I grew up in a world where there were no tablets, PC's, cell/smart phones & a host of other gadgets. My childhood memories are of playing catch, going fishing with my Dad, playing ping pong in the basement, street hockey in the winter, going swimming with my friends or family and other things of that nature.

I'm not against teaching our kids to use or have all these great devices. I just think we need to have some balance... for their mental well-being, and so they too will have good memories of us when we're gone."

When old firms launch new products: Think like a startup again - The Globe and Mail

When old firms launch new products: Think like a startup again - The Globe and Mail

What is Optimal Intelligence?

Optimal Intelligence or Open Intelligence is what one discovers when the mind is relaxed. There are a number of ways one can do this, but one method is by utilizing short moments, many times during the day. By short moments I mean when positive, negative or neutral thoughts, emotions, perceptions or experiences enter our mind/body we let them pass on without going into multiple stories about them. For many people negative thoughts, or what could be called afflicted states, generate a multitude of points of view about what enters the mind. Relaxing the mind when this occurs not only relieves the negativity but also opens up the mind to marvelous clarity.

When I started listening to the talks on Great Freedom's web site (now called Balanced View) I was having severe afflicted states of mind. At first I was not sure how this could relieve the stress levels but I kept on listening. Eventually I started to practice short moments, and in conjunction with listening to the talks, found over time that these negative thoughts didn't hold the power that I used to think they did. In fact none of our thoughts or points of view have any power. We are led to believe from the time we are born that they do have power to control our lives and our mind. But in fact they have no independent nature of their own and are like a hologram or mirage. There is nothing there. I found that this realization of no power in our points of view changed my whole outlook on how I felt. It was a wonderful peace of mind I was experiencing that I had not had before.

Everything I had read, heard or watched previously in all the books, tapes, talks etc. talked about practicing positive thinking, or replacing the negative thoughts or points of view with positive ones. Unfortunately this only works for a short while or until another afflicted state comes along and we are right back where we started. So for me the key was listening to the talks, practicing short moments and giving my mind a rest from all the stories etc.

Optimal Intelligence is what we achieve when we practice these teachings. I found eventually that I had great clarity of mind. I could think clearly and solutions to problems came easily. What a blessing for your personal and business life. No longer do we worry excessively about what others think, say or do to us. We are able to concentrate on our work with much more clarity and freedom then we ever had before. Sure, we still have our ups and downs, but the curve of live is more balanced and evened out. We not only benefit ourselves but to all around us. Compassion and love for others becomes our beneficial nature.

What a feeling... remembering Mac's launch in "84

Most of my reading, watching & listening these days is off the Net. This includes the full gamut of regular news from local to worldwide and all the specialty news sites from professional/business to personal articles. I think I have about 40+ sites that I try to get to daily or at least every few days. Then there are what I like to call the fun or humorous sites that give me a laugh or two. And of course the social media sites like Facebook etc.

Smaller chunks of news are the wave of the future for most people as technologies implode, meaning phones, tablets, computers and TV’s merge. It’s exciting to see all this unfolding and it reminds me in a more modest way of the Macintosh’s introduction back in 1984.

Up until that time, PC’s were basically MS/DOS or CPM based and what you saw on the screen were ASCI or text only pages. I remember going to San Francisco to see the Mac launch, as I owned an Apple retail store at that time. At first we watched George Orwell’s “1984” Macintosh video/ad, which also ran during the Superbowl. This had the audience on their feet as it was simply amazing, and if you haven’t seen it, take a peek below...

Steve Jobs takes the stage to the music of Irene Cara’s “What a Feeling”, and you can see the insanely great beam of light coming from his demeanor. This was no doubt a great flash in history and Jobs was going to “strut his stuff” for all it was worth in front of the world. Two programs were ready to launch… MacWrite and MacPaint. At first Jobs demonstrates MacWrite and the crowd goes wild seeing how text and fonts can be changed in an instant. Remember before we were dealing with straight text on the screen and now it was text appearing as a graphical font… easily manipulated.

Next came MacPaint and if the audience loved MacWrite it was absolute chaos for Paint. WYSIWYG was the buzz word, meaning “What you see is what you get” and even though the first Mac was just black and white, one could not help but witness that Jobs had just changed the future. As I sat there, bedazzled with everyone else, I remembered purchasing my first Apple II computer in 1979 and how that propelled me into this fantastic wave of technology. I also remembered that I had 20+ orders for the Mac to fill when I got home. Most were already prepaid ($4999) and we made a cool $2500 profit on each one. We also got to take a Mac home with us in our own cute little Mac bag.

It was a sad day when we lost Jobs but his memory and accomplishments, including the Mac launch, will live forever. What a feeling… indeed!

3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business | Entrepreneur.com

3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business | Entrepreneur.com

General tips for using the phone when making sales calls…

Know what you are going to say before you make the call.

Be prepared for different responses and plan your answers. Write out some sample scripts and practice them with a friend.

Schedule calls for a certain time of day. Establish a routine so you don’t procrastinate.

Set a daily and weekly goal for the number of calls to make. The more calls you make, the more opportunities you will make for yourself.

Take a break after several calls. You are doing something difficult!

Be prepared to take notes. Have a pen and paper handy.

Be courteous and sensitive to the person on the other end. Introduce yourself and speak in a pleasant, understandable manner. If the person you are talking with sounds rushed, ask if there is a time you can call back that is more convenient. Then be sure to follow up on the call.

Sound confident and professional. Use language that demonstrates your enthusiasm and abilities.

Keep background noise to a minimum. Radios, televisions, barking dogs and crying children are distracting to the person you are speaking to and yourself.

Practice before you make your calls. This may sound silly, but keep a mirror in front of you when you talk on the phone. You will pay more attention to your image, smile more and this will carry into your voice.

Start your calling with the prospects you are least interested in. Your telephone techniques will get better with practice, so polish your skills before you call your best prospects. Modify your technique if you are not getting the results you expect. Keep trying!

Leave a professional, friendly message on your answering machine. 

Expect that prospects will be calling you!

Be prepared for "no’s" and don’t take them personally. You will meet them along the way in your sales calls — your objective is to turn a "no" into a "yes."

Power Words for Business Cards

These days, a small business needs every ounce of marketing muscle they can get. Business cards are a perfect weapon for an entrepreneur to have in the trenches when competing for customers. So, you designed your business cards using all the right techniques and it looks incredible. Now that you've got the attention of the holder, are your words appealing to them? This is one often overlooked marketing essential: What your business card says.

Take your business card out and have a good look at it. What words do you use to describe your business, your products, or your services?

Your header or slogan should speak to your customer and distinguish your business from the rest. Remember your card will most likely be on a bulletin board or in a rolodex with a few other competitors. This small bit of text could mean the difference between a new client and lost revenue.

Give them a reason to call:
The ____ that works as hard as you do
____ doesn't have to be expensive
Not just another ____
The ____ advantage
The best-kept secret in ____
Don't get stuck with...
How our ____ stacks up
Can you afford not to...?
An investment in your future

Next, give the holder a bottom line that is irresistible:
Save up to ____ %
Huge discounts
Receive a ____% discount when you present this card
Visit our website for special rebates and coupons
Don't pay more for ____
Present this card at our showroom and receive a free ____
Call us for a special offer for first time customers

Lastly, include a closing statement that will motivate the holder to respond:
Why settle for ____ when you can have ____
A rewarding ____ awaits you
You owe it to yourself to ____
Seeing is believing
You'll be glad you did... and that's a promise!
Put our ideas to work for you
We'd like to hear from you
Call us today to schedule an appointment
Looking forward to hearing from you

Mix and match these phrases to create a hook that will put your company in the limelight, prompting that all-important phone call or e-mail. The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousands words. I say that a few power words are priceless.

Starting a Business

In 1981, after eight (8) years in university I decided to start my own business. This was my first leap into to the world of entrepreneurship and business. During the last 30 years I have owned several computer stores, an advertising company, a web design firm, a couple of health food stores and a publishing business. I've dabbled in lots of other things too, but here are just a few of my thoughts that may help you along the way.

Confidence: If you don't believe in yourself or your business then you're heading for trouble. In every business I always believed I could be successful even when I really didn't know much about the business when I started. You must therefore believe in yourself and have confidence in what you are going to do.

Plan: Every new venture needs a plan. You wouldn't build a house without a plan so why build your business without a blueprint for success. A good business plan looks at key ingredients like operational, financial, marketing and personnel issues. There are lots of good books on developing a strong business plan and some great information on the Internet.

Money: You need lots of money to start a business - right? Wrong! Many successful companies start with very little capital. Apple and Compaq computers started with an idea and a dream but not much money. Don't let your lack of funds hold you back,

Age: What's the right age to start your business? Colonel Sanders was in his late sixties (60s) when he started KFC and Bill Gates was still in school. Don't let your age stop you from starting your dream business.

Experience: Many budding entrepreneurs play the waiting game, preferring to wait until they have more experience. You have an idea or a dream and there's no time like the present to act on it. The longer you wait the less your chances of starting your business.

Failure: A favorite saying of mine is "Do the things your fear the most and death of fear is certain."  When I started my first computer store I was just out of school and knew nothing about how to sell computers. In two (2) years I was carrying all the major brands, had two (2) stores and was winning awards from companies like IBM and Apple for our sales efforts. Sure I made lots of mistakes along the way but with every mistake I learned some valuable lessons.

People: You can't do it all yourself and there will come a point in time where you will need to have others help you. I have found that it is often well worth the expense to bring in talented people to help you grow and manage your business. I was two (2) years into my second business when I realized that I needed some marketing help. I hired a seasoned professional and for the next three years learned a great deal about advertising and marketing. Don't be afraid to seek assistance when starting or growing your business.