If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

In this video, my marketing company explains how easy it is to acquire a domain name.

I walked into a deli in Southern California. The store was in a great location, had great curb appeal and made their sandwiches with the "old-school" meat grinders.

The signage outside of the store said, "Sandwiches, Coffee, Smoothies, Books." I took my sandwich outside and ate the sandwich outside the store front under the awning and thought the deli had potential. It was a pretty good sandwich. I don't think I'm the only one in Southern California who is tired of seeing their roast beef weighed on a scale like at some other generic franchises.  

I finished my sandwich and watched the crowd of peole milling around the store.

I watched as an older lady walked up to the sandwich maker and asked how much a used book cost. The sandwich maker stopped what he was doing, looked at the book and quoted the price. He then went back to making his sandwich making.

Right then, I had a sickening feeling and I knew the Store was Trying to Be Too Many Things To Too Many People.

Why not just make and sell great sandwiches? Do the Common Thing Uncommonly Well.

Ask any successful business owner, what the key to their business is and the likely answer is Marketing.

What is Marketing?

Simply put, Marketing is defining the target audience that is most likely to buy from you.

If you can't define them, you can't find them.

About a year later, I watched the small deli close its doors and go out of business.

Sadly, there problem wasn't their product or service; it was their marketing. They hadn't clearly defined their market.

There are 3 Keys to Marketing, and Growing Your Business exponentially.
(Remember how a penny doubled grows exponentially?)

1. Find More Prospects and Convert those Prospects to Sales.

2. Sell More Often to Your Clients.

3. Sell a Higher Price Item to your Clients.

Its all so easy, but in my experience the majority of companies and business professionals focus on one aspect of marketing and that is #1…Finding New Clients.

How easy would it be for any company to folow up and re-sell products or services to existing clients? 

What about a club membership for exclusive members?
A Thank you card to existing clients?
A "true" discount for existing, loyal members?
A Free book or small gift.

Fortune 500 companies spend millions of dollars on advertising, doing their best to find new clients, but I read that according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 91% of all Realtors never contact the buyer or the seller of a home after closing. Not once. After someone spent thousands of dollars  with a realtor and they don’t bother to call or write?

Come to think of it I received a real estate book as a gift from a investment "syndicator." The book was fairly good and I would rather do business with that "syndiator" then some of the other agents.   

Any good online marketer will point out that the lifeblood to his business is his back-end.

Its the higher priced, more valuable items that he offers to his "list" of clients.

Now, if online marketers "get" this concept, why don't the big guys?

Why do they call them brokers?

Face it. Words have power. They have meaning. They have purpose.

Have you ever wondered why they call them "brokers"?

I used to work as a broker and wasn't very good.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and I was tired. I had been talking with a major developer on a project and was explaining how our firm could increase his listing price by tapping into our company's extensive list of buyers.  He was a friend and "recovering broker" himself and gently told me he wasn't interested in any exclusive listings.

I thanked him for his time, hung up the phone and looked at my watch and realized that I was late for our firm's weekly training meeting.

I walked into the well-lit room with plush carpeting and leather chairs. Without any available seats, I decided to stand. 

I looked around the room to see well-dressed men in expensive suits and ties listen to the firm's manager discuss the virtues and vision of the company.

I yawned and lazily looked outside in La jolla and wondered who owned all the multi-million dollar buildings overlooking the boulevard.  

Did a REIT own them? A private investor or developer?

I then took another look at the room and realized that half the room of licensed brokers probably didn't know what a REIT was.

The manager then erased his notes on his whiteboard and casually said, "Out of curiosity, how many of you personally own income producing real estate?"

I casually raised my hand and Incredulously noticed one other broker raise his.

I couldn't believe it.

Some of these hot shot real estate brokers were bragging about $300,000 commission checks and only one of them in a room full of 45 brokers owned real estate.  If these guys were so good at finding deals, what didn't they buy the deals they found?  

I quit the firm 3 weeks later and never looked back.

For the record, I work with and have some excellent brokers and value their work. They are some of the hardest working  professionals and their expertise and knowledge in some areas are invaluable.

However, I also know some very Broke Brokers.

Its not hard to tell. The Broke ones pitch a deal thinking what their commission checks will be.

The good ones pitch the deal and add value within the deal.

Put another way.

Great Brokers give before they receive.

Broke Brokers take before they give.

When being pitched ask one simple question and watch the bad brokers spin, "Mr Broker, if you are telling me that this is such a great deal, why aren't you investing yourself?"

The ones I work with say, "I am. I'm willing to waive my commission if we can partner."

See, when it comes down to it, its all about Mindset and Fear.

Good Investors continually stretch themselves and are constantly venturing out past their comfort zones. 

Bad brokers are slaves to their FEAR and content with picking up the peanuts left behind.

See what happens by creating value in your profession.

Give Before You Receive and you'll be amazed at the results.

You only get what you give. 

I love Gmail. I take my emails everywhere.

One of the best features of Gmail is that if your computer crashes, all of your emails reside on google's mammoth servers.

Other Benefits:   

• Online documents and spreadsheets. 
• Best spam-stopping tool in the market.  I've dealt with Outlook, Yahoo, and Hotmail, and discovered that Gmail has the best spam-stopping capability.
• Just like outlook you can segregate your mail by labels that can be applied to emails.
• Filters.  You can set auto-filters that send mail into different "labels" much like Outlook filters
• You never have to worry about losing your data 
• You can be traveling and still have access to ALL your emails, clalendar, and documents.
• NEVER worry about hitting your email storage limit  (If you do hit a storage limitation, you can segregate your emails into different accounts.
• Best Mail search tool in the market.  Face it, Most email clients are plain bad at searching for thousands of emails for a keyword.  Naturally, Google does well at this. 
• When mail search actually works, you'd be surprised how OFTEN you use it. (which was not much with Outlook)
• Manage all your contacts, just like Outlook.
• Its Free.

 Gmail Tricks

One of the things I really don't like is spam;  Here is a quick way to defeat the gmail spam.

When you create a Gmail account, you actually get two email addresses - one is the regular @gmail.com while the second email address has @googlemail.com in the domain.

That means if your email address in Gmail is something like billgates@gmail.com, all email messages that are sent to billgates@googlemail.com will also be delivered to your own Gmail account. That's two for the price of one.

You can take advantage of these two domains so that less spam reaches your Gmail Inbox.  Give the @googlemail.com address to your close contacts (put that in the visiting card) while keep the @gmail.com address for public (put it on your blog). Then set a Gmail filter such that all email messages with @googlemail.com in the header go a special folder so you will never miss important email from close friends.

Source
http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/gmail-email-alias-two-separate-gmail-address/2388/

Gmail SSL Trick

Concerned with Gmail Privacy?

Here's a little tip for you…You can indeed use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer,  a protocol developed by Netscape for for transmitting private documents via the internet for your Gmail transactions)

This trick works great and is secure (at least, secure between your browser and the Google Server) Next time you connect to Gmail, click in the address bar and change "http://" to "https://" and press Enter/Return.

Now you're connected via SSL and if you then bookmark that "https" link as your starting point, it should keep you on the secure server for every interaction. Very nice if you're working on a public wifi network, for example.

 I believe Eben Pagan coined the term, "Move The Free Line." The term may be new, but the idea is not.

In this video, Brad Fallon, a business owner and internet marketer and founder of  My Wedding Favors.com explains what the Moving the Free Line means to him.

I ran into a good friend, Jason Gilbert, co-founder of Creative Real Estate Workshops last week when I was flying out of LAX International Airport.

After catching up about our families and personal lives, and the landing gear retracted into the fuselage, we didn't waste any time talking about our latest ventures.

I mentioned that I was busy with some online ventures, and had just landed two large contracts with some clients where I was improving their SEO and internet marketing. He said he had just returned from a cruise where he was speaking about how to buy commercial land using none of your own money.

I casually told Jason that I was actually looking to purchase some apartment buildings in the next couple of months and if he knew of any good brokers that could assist me.

Without hesitation, he said, "Mark, I have to talk you out of buying apartment buildings. I've seen it happen too many times. I'm not saying that apartments are bad investments, but there are better ones. See, the real estate investor who is comfortable with single family units or  quadplexes, gradually evolves into apartment buildings. Its within their comfort zones but there are better real estate investments."

Now, before I share the keys to Real Estate Investing, I have to tell you a little about Jason Gilbert. Jason served 10 years as a US Marine Corps Officer. Since leaving the USMC,  Jason has been involved in real estate ever since. He has sold or transacted over $50 million dollars in real estate since 2005 and his largest single deal was a $20 million renovation of five 3-story buildings in San Diego. He operates four real estate companies and in his spare time he patents inventions.

Jason is smart.

He knows real estate.

When Jason speaks about real estate or real estate development, you better listen.

The Top Three Commercial Real Estate Investments a la Jason Gilbert.

The magic of all of these real estate investments is that they are recession-proof, meaning they'll get be great investments if the US economy slows or stalls.

1. Buy Mobile Home Parks

Advantages:

Mobile Homes require minimum maintenance and management
Huge Cash Flow
Opportunity for creating additional profit centers.

Most of mobile home parks range from 10 to 20 acres - some are even as large as 50 acres.

Land becomes valuable that eventually replaced by retail, residential, or commercial real estate. Mobile home parks are creating huge amount of cash flow because you are renting the dirt that the mobile homes sit on -  which makes it a very attractive investment.

By leasing the land to residents, there is very little maintenance required. You will need to ensure that the electrical, gas, water and sewer are in good condition, but from the point of connection into their homes, the owners are responsible for all maintenance expenses. The expenses incurred by the mobile home park owner are minimal, (compared to apartments or single family homes)

Other Benefits:

Most residents stay for a very long time.

Creating many profit centers, like selling new units to tenants on a lease option (or sold on a note). So you are not only leasing the land, but you are selling the mobile home on terms as well.
 

2.  Invest in Self-Storage Units

There are Three "Generation" Types of Self Storage Units.

1st Generation: As Defined, usually developed in the 1960s and 1970s.

2nd Generation: Typical row buildings, some multi-story facilities and conversion to older buildings.

3rd Generation:  Excellent Lighting, air conditioned units and aesthetics.

Invest in 2nd Generation. They offer the biggest bang for the buck. Look for units with high occupancy.

Self Storage Park Advantages

Low Maintenance

No Tenant Headaches
Large Demand in Boom or Bust Cycles. People will utilize storage when they downsize in a real estate bust. People will utilize self-storage when they are upgrading to bigger homes.
Cash Flow

3.  Invest in Self-Assisted Living complexes.

Baby Boomers Drive this market.

Advantages.

Cash Flow
Large Demand
Little Maintenance
Looking at Jason's recommendations, you'll see one thing in common. Very low maintenance and management and very high cash flow.

This is my type of investments.  High Cash Flow and Low Maintenance. Sounds a lot  like the internet.

Mark Archer’s Avatars

With over 60 million users logging onto Facebook and social networking popping up all over the internet, avatars will become as common as the business card is to business professionals.

 What are Avatars?

Avatars are icons or representations of users in a shared virtual reality. Within online virtual communities and Internet forums, avatars give users a unique representation with a degree of anonymity.

Gaining popularity with gamers and teens worldwide, avatars will become big business as more people see the social networking sites not as teenage dating hangouts, but efficient markets to sell and market their products and services.

Today, custom avatars can be purchased for $15 to $100. Consider the millions that will be participating in live chats, online communities like Second Life, Facebook and Myspace, email signatures, and blogs. Look all around at the social networking sites and you can quickly see the potential of this emerging market. Much like a business card represents a business professional, an avatar will represent the individualistic character millions that simply want to

 Business professionals carry business cards to identify their business and contact information, avatars will become the online business card, branding the company, individual, or business, whilst, providing the necessary information like online usernames or chatnames.

Tad Dagan, associate vice president at Comverse, Inc. a Massachussets-based Avatar company said, " These avatars are becoming big business because they are very important to people-especially young people, who are online so much of the time. They want to represent themselves to their friends and people them meet online in a certain way. They want to be seen as cool and unique."

Dagan said "Teenagers want to be thought of as unique and creative, so these (customizable) avatars are attractive for them," Dagan said. "That's also why ring tones have become such big business."

Talking Avatars
Talking avatars continue to gain popularity in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets and Oddcast, the leader in talking avatar technology, has been capitalizing on the growing trend of online self-expression since 1999. With over 5,500 business customers and millions of consumers using its products, the company is expanding its operations to the consumer and mobile marketplaces.

In early 2006, Union Square Ventures, a New York based venture capital firm led Oddcast's $4 million equity fundraising round. "Oddcast pioneered many of the most creative uses of avatars on the web. They are innovators in viral marketing for major brand advertisers including ESPN, Bratz, and the recently successful Monk-e-Mail Career Builder campaign. We would not be surprised if one day soon, young people put the same energy into their avatars that they put into their social network profiles. We are thrilled to be working with the Oddcast team to make that possible," said Brad Burnham, Managing Director of Union Square Ventures.

"Online communication through talking avatars is growing into a broad phenomenon. Millions of consumers are using Oddcast products every month and hundreds of millions viewing the talking characters," Said Adi Sideman, Founder and CEO of Oddcast. "With a clear understanding of the consumer web services space, Union Square Ventures and ITOCHU are two ideal partners for us, in this exciting stage of our growth."

Oddcast provides talking avatar products to leading consumer brands as well as small to mid-sized companies and consumers. Increasingly, avatars are being used by corporations as virtual salespeople, marketers, instructors, in talking ad units and by consumers for messaging and self-expression. To learn more about Oddcast's talking avatar products log on to www.oddcast.com.

Catch the Wave.
So, how does an entrepreneur capture a piece of this gigantic pie?  While it may be several years, before this emerging market gains traction, we recommend that you ride this wave and invest with a private or public reputable company that offers affordable, quality, custom avatars to the masses.  

Start a Joint Venture with a small to medium graphic artist company and strike a deal to market for them.
Develop emerging technology that will augment the growing avatar industry. Ideas such as talking and animated avatars are still in its infancy. 
 

Johnny and Jerry decide to sell lemonade.

Johnny asks his mom to borrow $20 for supplies.

Thrilled to see the entrepreneurial spirit in her little boy, the mother says "Sure. in fact, Johnny I'll drive you to the store and help you pick out the supplies."

Jerry rides his bike to his rich uncle and says, "Uncle Pete, can I borrow twenty dollars to start a lemonade stand?"

Uncle Pete says, "Where are the customers?"

Jerry says, "I don't know, but me and Johnny want to sell lemonade and be rich.  Right now, Johnny's mother is driving him to the store to help him with the supplies."

Uncle Pete smiled and said, "Jerry, Remember this rule in business. Sell it First, then Buy it."

Jerry thanked his uncle for the advice and hopped on his bike and drove to the local baseball game. There he sees a crowd of fifteen year old boys with their parents sweating in the hot, summer sun.

He walks up to the coach standing in the shade.

"Hey, mister, would you like some lemonade?"

The coach says, "Sure, how much?"

Johnny says, "I don't know, how much do you and your players want?"

The coach says, "Well, there are 20 guys on each team so I'd say 3 gallons should do it."

Johnny says, "No problem, I'll give you a discount. That will be $20.

The coach hands him a twenty dollar bill and says, "Can you come here every weekend?"

I first heard this story after my first failed business. I was distraught after the company I was representing declared bankruptcy, and I was forced to call my customers to report the bad news. I was humiliated and upset.

After I settled down, I called an old friend and very successful businessman.

The first thing he asked was, "What did you learn?" and  he told me something I'll never forget.

"Mark, businesses may fail, but YOU will only fail if you quit on yourself. Take the lessons you learn as a gift and don't ever let ANYONE steal your dreams."

He then told me the Lemonade Story and I've used the Lemonade Story to build my own businesses ever since.

The essence of the Lemonade Story is this. If you have a business, you don't need to shell out loads of money to get started. In fact, the opposite is true.

Sell It, then Buy it.

Here are some examples.

Options on Real Estate. Putting big down payments on real estate will only hurt if deals turn bad. Don't do it and do what the rich do. Put an option to control a large parcel of real estate.

Sell an annual contract. In the lemonade story, Jerry found the decision maker and sold him a long-term contract without any supplies, or investment or overhead. This means exponential growth and very little risk for the business owner.

Pre-sell memberships or subscriptions. I use various membership websites to give both value to my members and generate revenue. it yields passive income and means I build the product it once and repackage it and sell it over and over.

Sell Limited/Unlimited Access for a premium. Restaurants know that by selling "All You Can Eat" Buffets, the numbers of increased customers will defray the cost of service or production.

And one of the most important secrets to Growing Your Business is this:
ALWAYS MONEY IN BEFORE MONEY OUT.

When attempting to find the top network marketing company, you must classify the task as being that of an evaluation process. One of the most important factors is to realize is that most of the people who start network marketing want to hear about the money first, before hearing about the product or service.

In order to become a top network marketing representative, you must always remember to consider the company, product or service first, then  the money factor will fall right into place.

I'm hard-headed. Just ask my wife, but I'll say it again. Making money in any organization is never a good or bad thing. It is a result and it is a result from creating value in your marketplace.

Simply put. If you create tons of value for any company, (network marketing or not) the money will fall into place. If you create a little value, then you'll paid accordingly.

As NY Times Best-Selling author, Christine Comaford-Lynch, says, "The universe has a perfect accounting system."

How to Choose a Top Network Marketing Company

There are several things you should remember to look for when searching through top network marketing companies, and this would include such things as knowing about the company’s leadership skills, financial status, mission, the products or services being offered, and last but certainly not least, the compensation structure. You must consider all of these aspects together in order to truly find a top network marketing company.

There is in all actuality no perfect network marketing opportunity for everyone, because every single person has their own separate views and passions. However, there are certain and particular qualities and characteristics which a company should have in order for you to even think twice about it.

For one, all network marketing opportunities should have a clearly definable and successful product or service. Any well-performing network marketing company will have a mission statement, one which should be clearly defined and understandable, with at least some certain potential shown.

The financial status of the companies must also be taken into consideration, as a top network marketing company will be established on sound financial principles and guidance. Remember to take the company’s debt and credit history into account, and check for principles of the compensation plans, which will vary from one company to the next.

As long as all of the previously discussed issues have been taken into consideration, and you feel assured that you are entering into an opportunity which is stable, secure, and ultimately reliable, there shouldn’t be a problem. There are plenty of legitimate opportunities out there; you just have to be careful to avoid those that aren’t. By following these tips and ideas, you can be sure to find a promising and successful venture for yourself.

Internet and Network Marketing Methods Go Hand in Hand

With the invention of Internet, the words Internet and network marketing have become interrelated with each other. Ten years ago, people who were involved in Network Marketing were normally introduced through a friend or a relative. People involved in Internet and network marketing can bring their network and MLM opportunities through a website. Through the website, we can bring forward audio visual presentation of the products and services available through the website.

Once, people had to cajole, persuade, argue and simply create pressure for you to join their program. The other way was to approach simple strangers in a supermarket. Here comes the use of Internet. You can create a unique website of your own and display the products, services and earning potential offered by you. You can then advertise your website in the various newspapers and people who are willing to join or purchase your product can do so by seeing the details on the website. This is the process where Internet and network marketing go hand in hand. You do not have to make a single approach to individuals.

While speaking on Internet and network marketing, many people say that a network marketing business cannot be run online. People who have been doing this business successfully say that there are certain misconceptions among the people along this line.

Similarities Between the Two Methods

The first misconception on Internet and network marketing is that many people have the idea that they will build a website and on seeing the website people will come to them and the business will run on its own. Exclusively online business does not necessarily mean that you will never to speak to a stranger on the telephone.

The common element between Internet and network marketing is that both have to deal with numbers. Ask any person doing Internet business and you will find that his main focus will be to get more traffic. It is the same in the case of network marketing. Numbers are the most important factor in both these types of marketing and this is one of the reasons they can go hand in hand.

If you want to be successful in Internet and network marketing business, you will have to promote your website. 

Well it isn't such a secret anymore. The DVD was released in March 2006 and according to Time Magazine, the DVD has sold 500,000 units within the first 6 months.

Today it sells well over 5,000 copies a day! It ranked in Amazon's Top-5 sellers during Christmas week; and a tie-in hardcover book just entered the Top 10 on the New York times bestseller list.

http://harmony.thesgrprogram.com

The amazing thing about "the Secret" is that "It's become the biggest selling item in the 30-year history of our store," says Harmony Rose Allor, a buyer at West Hollywood's popular metaphysical bookshop, The Bodhi Tree. it is "word-of-mouth" marketing at it best. So what is the secret to "the Secret's" success? It's is a "transformational movie", where a person's view on life and the laws of life will no longer be the same after watching this movie. In a sense, it has created the same kind of effect as "the Da Vinci Code" and the 2004 hit cult movie "What the Bleep Do We Know". The movie has created such waves that it has already been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live and the Ellen DeGeneres show. At the core of the movie is a central philosophy called "the Law of Attraction". In fact, the movie itself was inspired by this very same law when the producer read a book called "the Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace D. Wattles. This books was written in 1910!

This philosophy states that we create our reality, both good and bad! The message is delivered through 24 "teachers" which include prosperity preachers, chiropractic healers, relationship gurus, life coaches and motivational speakers — into one clear, cohesive voice. The movie is a "must watch" for anyone interested in taking charge of their life and in creating the life of their dreams. Following on the success of the Secret, 3 of the core teachers - namely Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield have collaborated to produce a wealth building program called "the Secret Science of Getting Rich Seminar". This program is based on the book that inspired the movie and is set to make history as the fastest selling personal development program in history. What is the Science of Getting Rich about? Well in the words of Wallace D. Wattles, "The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things in a certain way. Those who do things in this certain way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich. Those who do not do things in this certain way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are, remain poor. It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects. Therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in this certain way will infallibly get rich." The Science of Getting Rich is all about teaching how to do things in this "certain" way to create wealth. The success of this program is built on several rock solid foundations.

These factors include: the phenomenal success of "the Secret", the timeless concepts from the Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles, the credibility of successful personal improvement teachers and New Thought leaders of our time, and the Internet as the distribution medium. Click here to learn more about the Secret of Getting Rich Seminar. http://harmony.thesgrprogram.com The Science of Getting Rich is a timeless classic written in 1910 by Wallace D. Wattles. It is a bold title for a book and suggests that getting rich is a predictable outcome if one can master the principles outlined in the book. Here is how Wallace D. Wattles puts it in his own words, "The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things in a certain way. Those who do things in this certain way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich. Those who do not do things in this certain way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are, remain poor. It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects. Therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in this certain way will infallibly get rich." Certainly, this book is well referenced by many of the great teachers today and it is the same book that inspired Rhonda Byrne to produce that runaway success "the Secret".

Here is what Rhonda Byrne said on her introductory note to the book, "I can honestly say that, since that first night when a tattered printed manuscript found its way to me (thanks to one of my daughters), my life has never been the same. Once you read it for yourself, you will understand why". Rhonda went on to produce the movie "the Secret" and the best-selling book of the same title which has sold millions of copies worldwide. However, learning how to do things in that "certain way" as described by Wallace D. Wattles may be more challenging for some as the book was written nearly 100 years ago. Some of the language is a little dated and much of its wisdom lost from a modern day perspective. Fortunately, a new training seminar for the Science of Getting Rich has brought the wisdom of this timeless classic back to life for modern readers. Called "the Science of Getting Rich", this program is the most comprehensive training system for mastering Wallace D. Wattles wealth creation philosophies and principles since its creation. It comprises written, audio and live seminar formats for learning, applying and mastering the Science of Getting Rich. A unique "twist" to the program is the fact that it has an in-built vehicle for creating substantial financial wealth through its affiliate program. This is truly a unique wealth eduction and wealth building program designed to empower any individual with the resources to get rich. It is a program whose time has come. The program would not be possible without the original text from Wallace D. Wattles, the skills of leading teachers of our time, the phenomenal success of "the Secret" and the Internet as a learning and distribution tool.

Click Here Right Now to learn more about the Secret Science of Getting Rich and the details of the program. 

 Bob Proctor is an author, lecturer, counselor, business consultant, entrepreneur, and teacher preaching the gospel of positive thinking, self-motivation and maximizing human potential. In that endeavor, he follows in the footsteps of such motivational giants as Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale and Wallace D. Wattles. His extraordinary teaching ability has won Proctor acclaim around the globe and has carried the Canadian-born motivator to the far reaches of the earth. He is as well known in Australia and Malaysia as he is in Alberta and Mississippi. Born in a little town in northern Ontario, Canada with the low self-esteem that often befalls a family's middle child, he performed poorly in school, dropped out and did a hitch in the navy. Afterward he drifted from one dead-end job to another until a friend introduced Bob to the concept of self-development through Napoleon Hill's classic Think and Grow Rich. With the spark generated by Hill's words, Proctor found the initiative to start an office cleaning business which he grew to international scope in his first year of operation. From that experience - after seeing what he had been able to accomplish with just a rudimentary knowledge of personal motivation and goal-setting - he hungered for more information. His quest took him to the Nightingale-Conant organization to study under his mentor, Earl Nightingale. Once on board, he rose swiftly through the ranks. Eventually, while the Nightingale-Conant organization assumed the forefront in wide-scale distribution of personal development programs, Bob felt the need to take his ideas and methods directly to the individual, to the one-on-one level which had proved so successful for himself. In the mid 1970's, Proctor established his own seminar company and secured a contract to work with a few hundred agents of Prudential Life Insurance Co. of America in Chicago. During his first seminar Bob made the suggestion that any agent present could write $5 million in business that year if the agent made a decision to do so. The fact that the seminar took place in July with the year half over and that no agent in that region had ever written so much business in the 100-year history of the company made Bob's suggestion appear to be outrageous. However, when the performance level of the entire division increased substantially with more than one agent actually accomplishing the deed, Bob's reputation as a motivator was established. Over the ensuing years, Proctor has shared his special message and expertise with hundreds of business entities worldwide and, through a program of live seminars, with thousands of people of all ages in all walks of life. Meanwhile, in addition to his international best-seller You Were Born Rich, he found time to author other works as well, including Mission in Commission, The Winner's Image, The Goal Achiever, The Success Series, The Success Puzzle, The Recruiting Puzzle, and Being Your Very Best.

Jack Canfied With a BA from Harvard University, a Masters from University of Massachusetts, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Santa Monica, Jack Canfield has been a high school and university teacher, a workshop facilitator, a psychotherapist, and leading authority in the area of self-esteem and personal development. Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. Self Esteem Seminars trains entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees on how to accelerate the achievement of their personal and professional goals, while

The Foundation for Self Esteem provides self-esteem resources and trainings to social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals. Canfield is also the President of Souperspeakers.com, a speaking resource service that provides inspirational speakers for event planners worldwide. Canfield has traveled to over 21 countries, delivering hundreds of keynote speeches, workshops and trainings each year. As part of his presentation style, he always uses inspirational, motivational and uplifting stories to help his audiences discover, experience and retain key concepts and approaches. After each session, audiences everywhere had encouraged him to put his stories into a single book. In 1990, while on an airplane home, he felt that it was time. He shared his idea with author Mark Victor Hansen during breakfast one day. Hansen liked the idea, and so began the Chicken Soup for the Soul phenomenon. But with their busy schedules, translating what worked on the podium onto the written page proved more challenging than either of them had anticipated. After three long years, the two had compiled just sixty-eight stories — a far cry from the 101 they believed was the magic number for a successful book.

Nonetheless, their successful partnership has spawned many other titles that have made them enormously famous. Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN’s Talk Back Live, PBS and the BBC. Today, he speaks shares his success strategies with companies and associations worldwide. The most recent book Canfield has written was the 2005 publication of The Success Principles. In it Canfield shares 64 principles that he and other people have utilized to achieve great levels of success.

http://harmony.thesgrprogram.com