Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
October 10, 2008
Issue #521
Dear Business-Builder,
On January 21 of this year and again on March 17, I warned you that the economy was about to get extremely tough and urged you to prepare.
I pointed out that trillions of dollars in subprime mortgages granted to unqualified low-income people — and then securitized and sold to major institutions and investors by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and others — had lit the fuse on a keg of dynamite that would blow the economy to smithereens.
Since then, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has plunged about 30% and we’ve seen two of the three largest point declines and the worst week in Dow history. The S&P 500 and NYSE indices have plunged about 32% and 35% respectively.
This morning, CNBC reported that the Wilshire 5000 has lost $8 trillion of its value this year.
I’ve been studying and writing about this crisis since 2006 — long before anybody in Washington or Wall Street was saying a word about it. Nine months ago — when it became clear that this crisis would have a major impact on your career and/or business, I began writing about it in this marketing blog, too.
In the nine, short months since then, many of our oldest and most venerable financial institutions have failed, been seized by Washington or swallowed whole by competitors:
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Posted by:
Troy White
October 3, 2008
Issue #512
Fellow Business-Builder,
I am writing this from the sandy-white beaches of Hawaii. It was my 40th birthday last week, and what better way to bring it in than from a tropical location?
My wife Kari and I are having a blast here – kids safe at home with grandparents – yay!
First thing that strikes me about being here … WHAT RECESSION?
The place is packed with people and everyone is carrying Gucci, Prada or Tiffany bags.
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Posted by:
Daniel Levis
September 17, 2008
Issue #505
Dear Web Business-Builder,
Authority is a potent weapon in your persuasion arsenal when you’re creating info-products. There’s no doubt about it. The more you have, the easier it is to get people to buy stuff.
But what is it — really? And how do you get more of it?
That is the question we ponder this week. Buried somewhere in this article I, promise you an answer – really I do.
In the beginning …
… Once upon a time, it was the biggest, brawniest Neanderthal who had all of the authority. That much we know.
Nevermind he didn’t know a damn thing more than any of the other blockheads in the tribe. His physical prowess and temperament meant he made all the rules and you obeyed them or else.
But as civilization progressed, it became more and more difficult for one person to have all of the answers. And so the big galoot began to delegate some of his authority to others … grudgingly at first.
If someone had knowledge about when to plant crops or how to ensure the supply of wildlife remained plentiful, then he was useful.
A bright leader could easily see that by anointing a “shaman,” he could transfer some of his own responsibility for natural phenomena to someone else. Then if something went awry, it would be the shaman, not he, who’d get pelted with rocks by the rest of the tribe.
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Posted by:
Michael Masterson
September 16, 2008
Issue #504
If you’re lucky, loving your job is its own reward. But when it comes to satisfying your sense of self-worth - and building wealth - the size of your paycheck can have a big impact. In fact, a 2006 study commissioned by the American Business Collaboration found that 49 percent of respondents listed salary as the factor that’s most important to their satisfaction at work.
So if you’re not making as much as you think you should be, is it time to start looking for a new job?
Before you start scanning the "Help Wanted" section of the newspaper, take a good hard look at what you do. Is your work really worth what you think it is?
I had a conversation yesterday with a writer - a friend I’d hired to work on a newsletter I consult on. It was contract time, and I had promised him "the best deal possible" - which is exactly what he got. He wasn’t satisfied. "Let’s face it," he told me, "The success or failure of the newsletter’s renewals depends on me - and my writing is good."
"I agree that your writing is good," I told him, "but in the business of newsletter publishing, my opinion doesn’t count."
What does? As JDG, a colleague of mine likes to say, there are three sacred letters when you are in business - ROI (return on investment) - and they are the jury when it comes to determining the quality of what you’re selling.
Writers - screenwriters, novelists, magazine writers, and advertising writers - are valuable in business if and to the extent that they can generate positive ROI.
Writers who understand that can become very skilled very quickly and make a ton of money. Writers who refuse to believe that are doomed to spending the rest of their careers unhappy and underpaid.
But it’s hard to explain this to a writer who’s new to the business world. He feels, understandably, that since he’s smart and clever and works so hard, his writing is - or has to be - supernal.
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Posted by:
Troy White
September 12, 2008
Issue #502
Fellow Business-Builder,
A few weeks ago, I mentioned our house got broken into and our one vehicle stolen.
The good news is that they found our vehicle quickly (within a week) … the bad news is what has happened since.
Once the police found the vehicle, it was in the hands of the insurance company to get it fixed as quickly as possible.
They found it five weeks ago.
Since then, it has been an absolute nightmare getting the answers and action we wanted. The insurance company is non-responsive, the repair shop where they sent the vehicle is taking their sweet time to do … something … still not sure what.
Finally, I had enough and reported our insurance company to the Canadian Insurance Board (run by the government … which could have been another nightmare in itself!).
Amazing what happens when the right sized fire is lit under someone’s arse!
More has happened in the last 24 hours
than the last 37 days.
It will still be a while until we get our vehicle back, but there are people (the higher-ups, the mucky-mucks) now watching every step they take to get this resolved ASAP.
Now, I am not perfect and I have messed up projects in the past, but this was ridiculous. I learned a lot about the customer service perspective watching how this unfolded, and I vow to never let this kind of crap creep into my business.
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