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The internet has brought about a phenomenon that has not been experienced before in the business world.  People are constantly updating their status on social networking sites, and the world has instant access to all sorts of experiences.  Likewise, companies have taken to these sites to screen perspective employees, business partners and customers.

So, if the world is watching…then it is up to each of us to protect our reputation at all costs.  After all, how much new business will you do with a tarnished rep?

With that said, my next question to you would be…”What are you worth?  Or more specifically, “What is your reputation worth to you?”

I would suggest that your rep is worth the future of your business.  There is an old adage that says, “If you do something right, it may be shared with one other person…but if someone has a bad experience with you, they are guaranteed to tell at least 10 others”.  Mind you, that was posed well before the advent of the internet.  In reality, a shared experience today is almost guaranteed to reach thousands if not millions of people in a heart-beat.  In a world of faltering trusts between consumers and businesses, one shared experience can be the difference between prospering or failing in a small business.

Here are some helpful tips when it comes to protecting yourself today:

1. Review your resume if it online – make sure that it speaks to what you are trying to accomplish, and if you are currently employed, and job searching, be sure to hide it from the public and only allow businesses that you are interviewing with to see it.  I know that this sounds strange, but it is not uncommon today for HR depts to search the internet for current employees to see what they are up to.  So keep your business matters private.
2. Google yourself – you never know what has been placed on the internet about you.  Certainly, all public record information is available to those who seek it.  But the list of various other forms of data about you is staggering.  You should Google yourself at least every 6 months to make sure that there is nothing that could come back to harm you or your rep.
3. Order your yearly FREE credit reports every year.  Make sure that you order all 3.  The Big 3 do not compare notes, and you will find big differences between them.  Take actions to clean your credit of outdated or inaccurate data.
4. Whenever possible, ask your clients for referrals and testimonials.  These are evidence of your integrity and are one of the most valuable tool you can have to protect yourself.  When it comes down to someone saying something damaging, it is easier to battle it with an opposing 3rd party that touts your expertise and professionalism.  Otherwise, there is little you can do yourself to balance the scales.
5. Above all else, the customer is always right.  And when he/she is clearly wrong…they are even more right!  Exemplary customer service is the sure fire way to ensure that your reputation remains in tact.  There is no better protection against bad press than not having any!

These are just a couple of ways that you can protect your rep, which will have a direct connection to your net worth.  So how much is your rep worth?  To what extent are you willing to go to protect it?

To Your Continued Success

Let me share with you my very recent experience with one such individual…and the lessons to be learned:

As you know, I am branded as America’s Accountability Coach.  The values that I teach, I live.  In today’s global business world, your reputation is well-known in the matter of seconds.  It doesn’t matter if its good or bad.  The internet, cell phones, Skype, and texting have the ability to mold percetions instantaneously.

Recently, I was contacted by a woman from Ocala, FL.  She offered to have one of her clients speak at my latest UR ENOUGH Wealth Summit in Boston.  I re-arranged my agenda to fit her client in.  I guess that I should have known shortly after the event that this relationship was not based upon integrity.  Athough the speaker’s topic was very relevant and intriguing, I could not seem to get them to fulfill their contract.  They merely leveraged my event to gain access to my people, and did nothing to enhance attendance by marketing to their prospect and customer list…even though I was assured that it would happen.

After the event, I was met with a variety of conflicts that the customers experienced with the speaker’s office.  Even though I alerted their agent, (the woman who contacted me), nothing of substance was done.

Nevertheless, at the time I did not hold it against her.  She began wooing me with ideas of how she could help me spread my message across North America.  I was initially impressed that she was so enthusiastic.  While she was conducting her sales close with me, she told me that she had 3 major events that I would be a prefect fit for.  She even went so far as to tell me the time slot she would have me speak at one of the events.  If my wife and I had not pressed the matter, we might have booked travel for an event that was a complete bust.  She was a co-host of the event, yet continually told us that she couldn’t get real attendance numbers.

Meanwhile, she was supposedly working on 2 other events, 1 in Vegas and 1 in Ft Lauderdale.  The amazing thing was…once I had decided to work with her, she practically fell off the face of the planet.  She had received her retainer and not delivered A SINGLE THING itemized on the contract that she wrote.

When it became clear that she had no intention to fulfill the contract in any form, I notified her that she had broken the agreement and needed to refund my retainer.

She responded that she would do so immediately…and did nothing.  I sent emails, texts, and FB messages…still no satisfaction.  Then after weeks of her refusing to respond and correct her failure she sent me  an arbitrary email asking for foregiveness and an extension of 60 days in order to fulfill a very basic contact term.  By this time, I had already started proceedings against her with Paypal.  She never responded to them, and I was awarded the decision.  However, she had already drained her Paypal account, they were not able to retrieve my funds.

When I informed her that I was prepared to take further action, she insisted that she would be sending me the tracking info of my refund that day…of course that never happened nor did I get my money back.

Finally, I gave her until the end of last week to respond and remediate this issue.  Of course, she did not reply and did not send my refund.  With that being said, I have taken further action which includes this post as a manner of sharing this experience to save others from falling into a similar trap.

So, the moral of this story is this:  DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE AND MAKE GOOD BUSINESS DECISIONS.  Its very simple.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.

So anyone who is in the public eye and is looking for someone to help get you the exposure you are striving for, use caution and care when choosing.  The one that I EMPHATICALLY suggest you stay away from is:

Dash Business Solutions (at least that is what she calls it…nothing in Google on it)

Her name is Kellie Clarke, aka Kellie Brown

I am sure that she may have some clients that swear by her…but keep in mind that referrals are often spoon fed to close the sale.

You may even have her as your agent and are happy.  If so, good luck and I wish you lots of success.  But if you are not working with her, then I strongly suggest that you look elsewhere.  If you would like the name of someone that I have placed my trust with, feel free to send an email and I be glad to send them your way.

Here’s to a prosperous and scam-free New Year!

Ray

We polled 3600 people ages 25-55, and asked a simple question…”How far out do you book new appointments?”

The answers we received were eye-opening.

Over 75% said that they book things no more than 2 weeks out….

20% said that they tend to stay within 7 days…

3% said that they will drop what they are doing, and make the new task the #1 priority (whether it was important or not)

2% were undecided, or couldn’t say for sure one way or another

What this tells us is that the vast majority of people live within the confines of a 2 week window.  Did you ever hear the saying about “…fitting 10lbs of crap in a 5# bag”?  This is what the average person does on a daily basis.  Because they do not have a plan that they can execute and therefore truly manage their time effectively, they allow others to dictate what their priorities are.

Some people will use this as way to procrastinate on tasks that they are afraid to take on.  Rather than set them as a #1 priority, they rationalize that they are over-booked and so the ‘hard’ task gets pigeon-holed for another time…over and over again until it falls completely off their plate.  Then they to live our lives.  We are not meant to continually stress ourselves over time.  We all are given the same amount of minutes in the day, and it is up to us to determine how we will spend them.  Remember that time isn’t like your vacation time from your job.  There is no carry-over and you either use it or lose it.

Why spend time foolishly?  What if each minute was a dollar, and you were given the task of spending every dollar each day, and whatever you didn’t spend would be taken from you at the end of the day?  What would you spend your money on?  Would you invest it so that it produces more money that you can spend, or would you waste it on impulsive things and have nothing to show for yourself at the end of each day?

Time is no different.  If you want to eventually have as much time as you could want to do the things that you enjoy, you must spend or invest your time in things that will in turn produce an abundance of time due to efficiencies and good management skills.

Time management is something that most don’t take the time to understand or implement.  Again, like the analogy of money…if you invest your time it will provide dividends.  But if you waste it, you will undoubtedly spend the remainder of your time on wondering where all your time went!  Sounds like a riddle, doesn’t it?

To get the answer to the riddle:  Check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, or follow me on Facebook.  Part 2 coming soon!

Never before have we had access to literally millions of people that are looking either for information or a product or service that will solve a problem they have.

Over and over; time and time again I hear that people “don’t have any money”. But no one is offering any solution to that dilemma.

I have a response to that.  What is it that you feel is the biggest obstacle in the way of you acquiring the funds you need for your business?  What options have you explored, and to what extent have you dug for answers?

The reality is that in most cases that I have come across, the answer I get is “hardly any”.  The fear of rejection or failure continually stops people in their tracks.  This is so unfortunate.  When you look at people like Walt Disney who was turned down by 27 banks before he was able to finance his dream.  When you look at Mark Victor Hansen who was bankrupt twice before he co-authored Chicken Soup.

The only thing that can actually stop you from reaching your dreams is what is between your ears.

With that said, the age of information marketing is rapidly becoming the primary source of education in the world.  People from all walks of life are searching on a daily basis for information about a skill or knowledge that you possess.  All you have to do is provide it.  And your expertise in whatever field or topic you care about, has a value.  A price if you will…

Or maybe you have a basement or attic that is full of what you consider ‘junk’.  Meanwhile, there are people only a click away that are ready to purchase them.  Or maybe you have a product or service that up until now has only sold through a physical store front.  Imagine having literally millions of people daily checking out your store!

More on this topic later…

]]> http://ur-enough.com/are-you-making-money-online-right-now/feed/ 0 http://ur-enough.com/gary-and-charee-briere/ http://ur-enough.com/gary-and-charee-briere/#comments Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:42:25 +0000 urenough http://ur-enough.com/?p=74 Ray,

Ur Boot camp was perfect timing.  Charee and I have been married for 45 years and the times we are on the same wave length are still few and far between.  Ur presentation was well received by Charee because she thought I was taking her to another real estate seminar which is not her most favorite way of spending her time and we both thank you for an enlightening weekend.

I am like the person you mentioned who is in business struggling underwater and continually coming up for air.  I know I need your services but am not in a financial position to purchase them at this time.  Charee lost her job last April and I prematurely quit my J.O.B. 2 years ago to become a real estate investor and havent created the deals that provide the cash necessary to survive. In the last 24 months I have purchased  13 properties totaling 15 units on a Buy and Hold exit strategy with OPM and have found you cant eat equity.

I will be happy to refer associates to your program and will let you know when we can purchase Ur services.

Thanks again

Gary & Charee Briere

The words that you use to talk to yourself about the job you have to do play a huge role in how you tackle those tasks that need to get done. Instead of saying that you “can’t” do something or that you “don’t want to”, try using positive words such as “I can” or “I choose to”. Even though this might not always be true it will get you on the track to think in a positive manner rather than in a negative one. There are many things that you have to do but don’t want to and learning to accept that things need to be done is a good step in the right direction when it comes to dealing with your procrastination.

Take a close and honest look at the type of person you are.  Take some time to look at your own personal expectations and values. Then look at how these expectations and values fit into the way that you are taking on a certain task. Perhaps you need to find a new approach to how you’re doing things. Many times we fall into a pattern of dealing with certain tasks that we need to accomplish, only to find that the way we’re doing things isn’t always the most positive and beneficial for us. Be prepared to make changes to how you do things both in your personal life and at work so that the desired outcome is positive and productive.

After our meeting, I went to the usual (as Al Piecuch calls it) “watering hole,” the 99 Restaurant, to meet up with the REIA group.  That helped to complete my “positive” night.  Before going to the REIA mtg last night I had reached a real emotional low point – almost to a panic state – that had been developing since my return from PA on May 23.  I think you can imagine what a relief it was for me to return home last night and know that I may now move forward once again but now with even more confidence.  Again, thank you.  You were a major part in making that happen.

Also, to learn last night that you are giving me complimentary attendance at your Wealth Summit is so fantas

With much appreciation,

JD