Community radio in the U.S. received a large boost in January when President Obama signed a billed that will permit establishment of an estimated 800 to 1200 new local community radio stations
About 800 of the non-commercial community stations are already operating and providing music, health, education, and local information, news, and sports. The stations are run by community organizations, churches, and other civic groups, typically staffed by volunteers, and dependent upon donations from organizations and listeners.
Community radio operations tend to provide information about community and civic organizations that are overlooked by commercial broadcasting, focus on social issues in communities, and provide services to minority, ethic and immigrant groups. Programming on community radio is distinctively different from commercial radio and tends to be more local than, and providing alternative content to, that of public radio stations.
The stations operate on low power, making them useful for servicing small towns, counties, metropolitan suburbs and neighborhoods.
The expansion of spectrum devoted to community radio had been sought for several decades and the Local Community Radio Act signed by the president directs the Federal Communications Commission to make provision for the additional services. Some disputes with commercial channels over spectrum are expected in large metropolitan areas during that process.
The International Business Times is the leading provider of international business news online.
Why People / Organizations Act Ethically?
Check this very interesting discussion in the Ethics and Responsibility forum of 12manage: Why are people and/or organizations acting in an ethical way? Tons of interesting views...
Import Export Business Do's And Don'ts
I have to post this while my thoughts are still fresh on the subject - the do's and don'ts of this post apply not only to the Import Export Business, but ANY business.
1. LISTEN TO YOURSELF ON A VOICEMAIL MESSAGE - DO IT TODAY!
Now I readily admit I have a hearing problem that has taken about 90% of my hearing from my left ear so I often have to play voice messages back 2 or 3 times to get all the information someone is relating, however, when I have my wife stand there and listen 2 or 3 times and she too (who has no hearing loss!) cannot understand what the person is asking or especially what their telephone number is, then the caller is clearly at fault of not speaking clearly and concisely.
Most voice message systems allow you to speak 2-3 minutes, so right NOW, go leave yourself a message of up to one minute and do so in the small tone of voice, rhythm like you normally do, don't think about it, just do it. Then have someone that you normally do not speak with listen to your message.
If that person cannot understand what you are asking, stating or the phone number you have recorded, you need to begin practicing speaking more clearly, concisely and making your point as to why you are calling or you will not do well in ANY business!
If you are at work and you do not want everyone to know what your business is, go outside during your break or lunch and make your calls or wait until you get home. Trying to talk low so no one else hears you simply does not allow you to leave a coherent and understandable message.
1. LISTEN TO YOURSELF ON A VOICEMAIL MESSAGE - DO IT TODAY!
Now I readily admit I have a hearing problem that has taken about 90% of my hearing from my left ear so I often have to play voice messages back 2 or 3 times to get all the information someone is relating, however, when I have my wife stand there and listen 2 or 3 times and she too (who has no hearing loss!) cannot understand what the person is asking or especially what their telephone number is, then the caller is clearly at fault of not speaking clearly and concisely.
Most voice message systems allow you to speak 2-3 minutes, so right NOW, go leave yourself a message of up to one minute and do so in the small tone of voice, rhythm like you normally do, don't think about it, just do it. Then have someone that you normally do not speak with listen to your message.
If that person cannot understand what you are asking, stating or the phone number you have recorded, you need to begin practicing speaking more clearly, concisely and making your point as to why you are calling or you will not do well in ANY business!
If you are at work and you do not want everyone to know what your business is, go outside during your break or lunch and make your calls or wait until you get home. Trying to talk low so no one else hears you simply does not allow you to leave a coherent and understandable message.
I practiced for several hours the first time I was going to record an outgoing voice message on a voicemail system I set up back in the late 1980's. I wrote down exactly what I wanted to say and had to record over it several times before I got it right and then I asked others to listen to it and provide me with feedback. NEVER ASSUME you are understood by anyone other than your circle or friends and family who have adapted to your voice, rhythm, tone etc..
2. DO NOT LEAVE VAGUE MESSAGES
If you want someone to take time out of their schedule to call you back, TELL THEM WHO YOU ARE, WHAT OR WHY YOU ARE CALLING and BE VERY SPECIFIC.
There are countless fraudsters out there who leave vague messages trying to get the mark to call them back for their nefarious reasons, there are also telephone numbers that the fraudsters can ask you to call that will rack up $29.00 or more a minute charges by you simply calling them.
More importantly, if you leave a poorly worded message that is difficult to understand without any specifics, why should the person receiving that message call you back?
Some people would say everyone deserves a response -SORRY, not in today's Internet world where people can be calling from anywhere in the world and when you have your product or service information posted clearly on your website and if they cannot understand what you have posted there or are too lazy to read it, then quite frankly, they are not worth my nickle or dime calling back because they aren't going to understand an explanation from me either!
3. STOP HIDING BEHIND A BLOCKED OR UNKNOWN PHONE NUMBER
I use caller ID quite a bit due to my hearing problems. If someone does not speak clearly enough for either my wife or I to understand the phone number they have left but their message "sounds" like it might be important enough to return, I then go to my caller ID to get their number.
If you hide who you are behind caller id blocking or however they make it show up unknown, then you simply are not worth another second of someone's time in trying to get back with you.
As my last post stated GET REAL, you are either in business or you are playing games by hiding your identity.
Most of the time UNKNOWNS or BLOCKED ID's are calls from sales people and the volume of these calls has reached such a high level that I now DO NOT pick up when a call comes in from an Unknown or blocked id caller, I wait to see if they begin to leave a message and "if" they do and "if" it is a legitimate caller, I will pick up, otherwise I simply let the answering machine deal with them which in 90% of the cases they never leave a message.
4. SEND AN EMAIL OR FORM SUBMISSION INSTEAD
If you are calling a business that has a website with their telephone number posted, that is OK, BUT, if you cannot communicate your message clearly on their voice message system, they probably will not call you back.
So, use their email or form submission system on their site and send them a detailed message - THAT IS WHAT IT IS THERE FOR.
If you cannot send a coherent, understandable message then you seriously need to improve your written communications as well.
EMAIL or a website's Form submission IS FREE to use so why not use it. Many people will check their email far more often then their voice messages and if your message is CLEAR, CONCISE and UNDERSTANDABLE AND is something the business receiving it can help you with, THEY WILL CALL OR EMAIL YOU BACK.
EMAIL allows for FAR fewer mistakes since it provides and ongoing WRITTEN record of what each party is asking and the other answering.
I am a strong advocate for CALLING a supplier or potential buyer to establish communications but when I do, I leave a clear, concise message if they do not answer and repeat my phone number at least two times speaking slowly and also tell them what times are the best to call me back so we do not play phone tag.
GET REAL about your business by GETTING REAL about your COMMUNICATIONS, whether they are voice messages or emails (sorry, I don't text so I won't even begin to address that one - simply doesn't make sense to me to text someone what I could talk to them about over the phone in much less time than it takes to type all those little letters and symbols into your tiny phone keyboard).
I hope you find the posts on this blog helpful in your business endeavors.
Ron Coble
International Business Services
Breakfast for the brain
I hugely enjoyed taking part in a Wf360 Inner Circle™ breakfast hosted by TBWA in London this week. The cast was stellar, with luminaries from banks, logistics, airline, technology and entrepreneurship. The topic was innovation, and a very thought-provoking two hours it proved - particularly coming on top of my session a few days earlier with Professor Semir Zeki on BBC World Service's The Forum. Semir is a top neuro-aestheticist whose view is that creativity springs from dissatisfaction, and this same view was proposed about innovation at the breakfast. But does it - and are creativity and innovation the same thing?
Taking the second question first, I suggested at the breakfast that innovation is channelled creativity. My friend Andy Hobsbawm put it very succinctly: creativity is necessary for innovation, but not sufficient - in other words, you can't be innovative without being creative, but you can be creative without being innovative (the advertising and fashion industries were suggested as examples of this state).
I also think there are two kinds of corporate innovation: doing what you do in new and better ways (like mobile boarding passes) and doing something completely new (remember Virgin Cola? and will Facebook really become a credible bank?). The second is obviously more dangerous, and you could argue that it was banks dabbling with this form, rather than staying in the safer waters of the first kind of innovation, that brought our economic system to the verge of collapse.
The core issue is knowing what you are really doing, which is where innovation can be structured: it's vital to ask the question "what value do we really add?" from many different perspectives, and continuously. That's how you discover that you're a top global logistics expert not a courier (UPS), a superb ecommerce service not a bookstore (Amazon), or a service provider not a box shifter (IBM). Many companies have gone to the wall by getting attached to one perspective on what they do, and not seeing their own full value.
And what of the question of dissatisfaction: is creativity just scratching an itch? Does the artist have to be tortured? I think there is more than one dimension here too. Many musicians I've met speak of the music coming through them, of effectively being a channel for a force which is not of them; they are almost involuntary in the moment of creation. There is a strong spiritual dimension to creativity like this, and I don't think it has anything to do with dissatisfaction. Also I strongly believe that creativity is a basic human quality (though we educate it out of our children - see Ken Robinson's famous TED talk on this); given reasonable circumstances, we're naturally creative - and in fact if this natural state is denied the result so often is destructive behaviour.
So while a creative solution certainly requires a problem in order to come into being, and while there are many itches that get creatively scratched all over the world every day, there are also a vast number of creative acts that spring from some sort of muse (the spiritual path) or just from the joy of creating. Maybe the best companies have discovered the trick of nurturing the joy of innovating, and well as being good at problem-solving.
Get Real About Your Import Export Business
Getting real about your Import Export business in todays Internet
age involves some expenses, any real business does, fortunately,
with all the competition out there, the expenses are very small in
comparison to starting most other types of businesses.
Getting Real about your business means first and foremost, taking
action once you have made the decision to get off of your ass and
get started. YES, it takes your action, not some "mentor" or
high-priced personal guide - YOU are the key to YOUR success and
YOUR action is necessary to succeed once you have studied and
understand the processes.
But you have heard or read that before if you have been on this
blog for any length of time.
So let's talk about a super, small, baby step action you can take,
if you are serious about GETTING REAL about your business.
In the past 10 years, we have received well over ONE MILLION
dollars in fraudulent orders. Some were easy to spot, others have
become more difficult, but in that time we have not lost one
cent to fraudsters and have learned some very valuable lessons
on what to look for, one of which I will now pass along to you.
In almost 90% of the fraudulent orders received, the fraudster
used a free email address such as Yahoo or Hotmail.
So, literally, any order that we now receive from anyone with a
Yahoo or Hotmail account IMMEDIATELY gets the FULL scam screening
procedures, most of which are outlined on our company page at
ImportExportHelp.com under the "due diligence" resources.
In the past 10 years, I have spoken with and corresponded with
thousands of other business people around the world and Yahoo
and Hotmail email addresses have grown into an instant delete
or filtered to spam due to the high incidence of them being used
by spammers, scammers and the business wannabees who are NOT
really serious about success and are nothing but a waste of TIME
for these business people (remember TIME IS MONEY).
Email is a terrible way to try and make initial contact with
any business person to begin with...marketing organizations that
track this kind of thing state upwards of 70% or more of all
emails NEVER reach the intended party and those that do are
often deleted without viewing if they have FREE email addresses.
Yahoo and Hotmail email addresses are an immediate flag to most
businesses that the sender is not a serious contender and will
many time, if not more often than not, be ignored and deleted.
Yes, I have and still do recommend the use of Gmail.com email
addresses up to a point. I believe that they too will ultimately
reach the level of filtering that yahoo and hotmail addresses
receive in the not too distant future. Unfortunately, I am
seeing an incredible level of spam and scam emails in my
numerous gmail accounts, even those I have never made public.
Another BIG reason for recommending you get away from Yahoo and
Hotmail is the filtering issues. They control the level of what gets
through to your inbox and what gets filtered, gmail is not near as
restrictive as Yahoo and Hotmail, but again, I expect that to change
in the not to distant future.
So what are you to do?
You can either set up an entire website that normally provides you
with a huge amount of email addresses that you create or in some
cases Unlimited numbers.
The building of a website does not need to be the very first thing
you need to do but when you are ready, the service I recommend to
beginning website builders that has MORE help and assistance than
any other I have found yet may be reviewed at:
Web Hosting - DIY Step-by-Step Website Building Service
*** Be sure to download ALL of the FREE training materials the
above web hosting/building services provides, including their
great videos - they have the VERY BEST resources available
of any similar service my 17 years of Internet research has found.
Once you have invested in your future by obtaining the appropriate
training course to the type of International Trade business you are
going to "GET REAL" about, your first step to project a more
professional image should be to have a "REAL" Email address and
not be using a FREE one.
Not only does having your own domain name email project a much
BETTER Internet persona but even more importantly, YOU control the
level of filtering and YOU get to see all emails that are filtered BEFORE
they are deleted.
Additionally, many business people have their email programs set up to
filter emails coming from Yahoo and Hotmail addresses either to their
BULK or SP*.AM folder or have them automatically deleted!
You can have your own domain name email accounts up to 10
accounts for a price of less than $20 to a max of $40 per year depending
upon the number of email addresses you feel you need and you can
always upgrade to the higher level is the lower is not enough.
This is should be the FIRST and is the simplest thing you can do to
build your reputation and show you are serious about being in business
and it only takes a few minutes to do - here is the service where I have
a domain specific email address set up - go check them out:
Get A Real (LOW COST) Email Address Service
Quite frankly, if you invest in training and will not invest in
upgrading your Internet personality, you need to GET REAL about your
Import Export business or get out of the way of those who are
serious about their success.
In reality, whether you are starting an international trade
business OR any business, you need a REAL email address - STOP
jeopardizing your success by being to cheap to invest a few
dollars a year to build your online reputation.
age involves some expenses, any real business does, fortunately,
with all the competition out there, the expenses are very small in
comparison to starting most other types of businesses.
Getting Real about your business means first and foremost, taking
action once you have made the decision to get off of your ass and
get started. YES, it takes your action, not some "mentor" or
high-priced personal guide - YOU are the key to YOUR success and
YOUR action is necessary to succeed once you have studied and
understand the processes.
But you have heard or read that before if you have been on this
blog for any length of time.
So let's talk about a super, small, baby step action you can take,
if you are serious about GETTING REAL about your business.
In the past 10 years, we have received well over ONE MILLION
dollars in fraudulent orders. Some were easy to spot, others have
become more difficult, but in that time we have not lost one
cent to fraudsters and have learned some very valuable lessons
on what to look for, one of which I will now pass along to you.
In almost 90% of the fraudulent orders received, the fraudster
used a free email address such as Yahoo or Hotmail.
So, literally, any order that we now receive from anyone with a
Yahoo or Hotmail account IMMEDIATELY gets the FULL scam screening
procedures, most of which are outlined on our company page at
ImportExportHelp.com under the "due diligence" resources.
In the past 10 years, I have spoken with and corresponded with
thousands of other business people around the world and Yahoo
and Hotmail email addresses have grown into an instant delete
or filtered to spam due to the high incidence of them being used
by spammers, scammers and the business wannabees who are NOT
really serious about success and are nothing but a waste of TIME
for these business people (remember TIME IS MONEY).
Email is a terrible way to try and make initial contact with
any business person to begin with...marketing organizations that
track this kind of thing state upwards of 70% or more of all
emails NEVER reach the intended party and those that do are
often deleted without viewing if they have FREE email addresses.
Yahoo and Hotmail email addresses are an immediate flag to most
businesses that the sender is not a serious contender and will
many time, if not more often than not, be ignored and deleted.
Yes, I have and still do recommend the use of Gmail.com email
addresses up to a point. I believe that they too will ultimately
reach the level of filtering that yahoo and hotmail addresses
receive in the not too distant future. Unfortunately, I am
seeing an incredible level of spam and scam emails in my
numerous gmail accounts, even those I have never made public.
Another BIG reason for recommending you get away from Yahoo and
Hotmail is the filtering issues. They control the level of what gets
through to your inbox and what gets filtered, gmail is not near as
restrictive as Yahoo and Hotmail, but again, I expect that to change
in the not to distant future.
So what are you to do?
You can either set up an entire website that normally provides you
with a huge amount of email addresses that you create or in some
cases Unlimited numbers.
The building of a website does not need to be the very first thing
you need to do but when you are ready, the service I recommend to
beginning website builders that has MORE help and assistance than
any other I have found yet may be reviewed at:
Web Hosting - DIY Step-by-Step Website Building Service
*** Be sure to download ALL of the FREE training materials the
above web hosting/building services provides, including their
great videos - they have the VERY BEST resources available
of any similar service my 17 years of Internet research has found.
Once you have invested in your future by obtaining the appropriate
training course to the type of International Trade business you are
going to "GET REAL" about, your first step to project a more
professional image should be to have a "REAL" Email address and
not be using a FREE one.
Not only does having your own domain name email project a much
BETTER Internet persona but even more importantly, YOU control the
level of filtering and YOU get to see all emails that are filtered BEFORE
they are deleted.
Additionally, many business people have their email programs set up to
filter emails coming from Yahoo and Hotmail addresses either to their
BULK or SP*.AM folder or have them automatically deleted!
You can have your own domain name email accounts up to 10
accounts for a price of less than $20 to a max of $40 per year depending
upon the number of email addresses you feel you need and you can
always upgrade to the higher level is the lower is not enough.
This is should be the FIRST and is the simplest thing you can do to
build your reputation and show you are serious about being in business
and it only takes a few minutes to do - here is the service where I have
a domain specific email address set up - go check them out:
Get A Real (LOW COST) Email Address Service
Quite frankly, if you invest in training and will not invest in
upgrading your Internet personality, you need to GET REAL about your
Import Export business or get out of the way of those who are
serious about their success.
In reality, whether you are starting an international trade
business OR any business, you need a REAL email address - STOP
jeopardizing your success by being to cheap to invest a few
dollars a year to build your online reputation.
REMEMBER, NO ONE CARES MORE ABOUT YOU, YOUR FAMILY OR
YOUR SUCCESS THAN YOU DO (OR SHOULD)!
And if you are too lazy to take the SMALL action necessary to set up a
REAL email address, then you should forget about being in business
for yourself because you are simply TOO LAZY to GET REAL about being
in business for yourself.
Hope you find these posts helpful - your comments are always welcome.
Ron Coble
International Business Marketing Services
Mobile Madness!
I just recorded a show for the BBC World Service. It's called The Forum, and I was honoured to be on with Charles Simic and Semir Zeki - eminent company indeed, and a fascinating discussion about creativity, perception and language ensued. The programme will be broadcast on the World Service and Radio 4, and also will be available as a podcast from the Forum's website.
They ask me to rant with a controversial soapbox-style idea for 60 seconds. No problem ranting - but just for a minute? That's tough! Anyway I thought it might amuse you to have the rant posted here, since it's one that will resonate with many who care about sound. So here it is:
(rant starts)
We have licences and laws governing the use of our cars. There should now be licences and laws for the public use of mobile devices so that the weight of society is aligned to make inconsiderate people change their ways.
I'm talking about behaviour such as
* causing a breach of the peace (especially in confined public spaces like buses and trains) by talking loudly on a mobile
* irritating fellow travellers with music overspilling from headphones
* playing distorted music through the inadequate loudspeakers of mobile phones in public places ('sodcasting')
* street offences such as stopping short or causing an obstruction on a busy pavement while texting
* holding loud and pompous conversations on mobiles (especially with headsets, and especially while pacing up and down in airport lounges and similar)
* playing games with the beeps turned on
* disrespecting people by having intimate or embarrassing conversations and thus effectively denying their existence and feelings.
At the moment, if someone is brave enough to complain, the result is often verbal or sometimes even physical abuse. We need to align the power of societal consensus so that just as jumping a red light is universally unacceptable, so are behaviours like sodcasting.
Penalties could be a range of device confiscation periods (just like losing your driving licence) and corrective educational courses. This would require mobile police (in every sense of the phrase) which could be a voluntary force much like the Guardians on the New York subway. But the weight should be on educating people, ideally starting in school, to be thoughtful, considerate and mindful of the consequences of their behaviour on others. That may be idealistic, but without a consensus and some way of enforcing it we are heading for a digitally connected but physically divided society.
Import Export Business - Happy New Year 2011
Happy New Year 2011 to One and All!
I wrote quite an extensive "tell all" post last year on New Years day and would like to suggest that you take time to read it now even if you have read it before, if you have allowed the entire year of 2010 to pass you by without taking action, you especially need to read and heed what I took a lot of time and thought in posting there -
http://importexportbusiness.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html
In addition to it being New Years Day 2011, I wanted to address a couple of recurring factors that seem to hold people back from making life decisions. Call this my 2011 KICK IN THE ASS POST!
It is NOW 2011, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Stop thinking that someone or some organization like the government is going to help you get to where you want to be in life.
Do you really think that either political party gives a DAMN about you and your family?
You have to take the steps necessary to survive and prosper in this life or forever label yourself as a victim of circumstances out of your control.
YOU ARE IN CONTROL and YOU MUST TAKE ACTION, SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
A comment that was left on this blog a few days ago helped to prompt this post as well.
The comment stated about how tn start without much funds and also stated "I need a mentor".
So let me address those two facts about your success or failure first.
Funds - If you follow the course that we recommend and my personal bonus information provided when you purchase that course, you will need little or no money to start or operate your business (NOTE: I am referring primarily to the exporting part of the business).
My first recommendation is this - if you are short of funds enough that the price of the course is going to affect how you live for the next few months, i.e., pay your rent, buy your groceries, put gas in your car, then DO NOT BUY OUR COURSE OR ANYONE'S COURSE.
You need to either get a job or second job if necessary, get your finances in good shape and then, and only then, get our recommended course and bonus resources.
No one offering any of the other courses is going to tell you that because they simply do not care about anything but getting your credit card number and putting you into an even worst financial position than you are now.
Despite all the hype that is out there about how "easy" it is to just buy their "program" or their "mentorship" and you will be guaranteed of success. WAKE UP and smell the coffee - it AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN, you are just going to be separated from your money at a time when you need it the most.
Which brings me to the subject of "mentorship" which has become a very sore spot for me.
Many people call me, every week, asking about the import export business, they want my help, they want my advice, they are seeking it, but when I give it to them, they never follow through.
Some people have told me that the SBA (Small Business Administration) volunteers really did not or want to provide the type of support they were seeking (for free, of course). I do not know if this is true since the SBA has always been touted as being the best place to go for free assistance in getting started in your own business.
My growing belief is more on the side of the people who make the above complaint being not ready to be in business for themselves and the SBA volunteers recognizing this. Also, I believe these same complainers are people like a lady who called me from Canada a few years ago asking for an import export business that was already set up and running and profitable that she could simply buy into for a few hundred dollars.
IT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!
The volunteers teach or guide people how to get started and become successful but what most people lack is the initiative to actually take any action.
There is a WEALTH of FREE advice and guidance within the posts of this blog. REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE has gone into these posts.
HAVE YOU READ ALL OF THEM? Have you taken action to implement any of them, even ONE!
IF NOT, forget going into ANY business for yourself, because you need a BOSS, not a mentor, not a coach, a BOSS!
My advice to you before ever spending a single penny is to READ each of the posts within this blog. There are also some good posts within our Importers and Exporters trade leads blog spread out among the trade lead posts, read them too.
If there are suggested actions within those post, TAKE THEM, TAKING ACTION, even little ones will help you to realize YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY and will help you get over the victim mentality or the I need a mentor, helper, coach before I can succeed thought process.
Realize that NO ONE ELSE is going to care as much about YOUR FUTURE, YOUR FAMILY'S FUTURE, YOUR SUCCESS as you will and if you don't care enough to take positive actions to change things why do you think anyone else should?
Some might think me to be arrogant. So be it but let me tell you where I came from.
My parents, both depression era children, worked for the railroad as a laborer and in various sewing factories as a seamstress.
I had two brothers and when my mother would buy a bag of M&M candies she would count the candies out so each of us got an equal amount.
I had to use an outhouse for a bathroom until I was about 10 years old (gets damn cold here in Pennsylvania December through March, let me tell you). We did not consider ourselves poor at the time and I know that both of my parents did their best to give us the best life possible.
I worked for several years in a warehouse loading and unloading trucks and have a bad back to this day because of it.
At one point in my life, I made a job decision that some would say (and did say) was a bad one and it almost left us destitute so much that I had to take a job shoveling horse ship cleaning out horse stables and planting trees at a minimum wage with no benefits.
Jump to today. I owe NO ONE. My only bills are those we all have, electric, heat, real estate taxes etc. and I do not state this to brag, but simply show you from where I came to where I am there were a lot of BAD decisions and GOOD ones but I really cannot look back on any of them and BLAME or TAKE CREDIT for other than myself.
I did not wait for a new president to be elected, or congress person or senator, they are only in the business of helping themselves keep their jobs every 2, 4 or 6 years. I took the negatives and turned them into positives, basically, I focused on what I wanted to do and took positive steps to achieve success in that area.
Did I continue to make mistakes to this day, absolutely! But without taking those steps I may still be working in some type of hard labor type of job for a subsistence style of living.
NO ONE CARES MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S FUTURE THAN YOU DO!
For those of you who want my advice, then don't act on it, forget this business, forget any business for that fact, get the best job you can find and stick with it.
Seriously, because you need a BOSS or SUPERVISOR who will tell you what you need to do next and who will ALWAYS be sure you are one step below what they are in the corporate structure.
If you are a DECISION MAKER and ready to TAKE ACTION on starting an Import Export business, then my advice is (and always has been) read through my blogs first, take notes, take action, review the DUE-DILIGENCE resources on our company page and THEN purchase our recommended course, study it, take notes and TAKE ACTION.
The calendar has changed again. Are you still where you were a year ago? Either get off of it and take action or forget about it. Your CHOICE, not mine or anyone else's.
With that said, WELCOME TO 2011!
I wrote quite an extensive "tell all" post last year on New Years day and would like to suggest that you take time to read it now even if you have read it before, if you have allowed the entire year of 2010 to pass you by without taking action, you especially need to read and heed what I took a lot of time and thought in posting there -
http://importexportbusiness.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html
In addition to it being New Years Day 2011, I wanted to address a couple of recurring factors that seem to hold people back from making life decisions. Call this my 2011 KICK IN THE ASS POST!
It is NOW 2011, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Stop thinking that someone or some organization like the government is going to help you get to where you want to be in life.
Do you really think that either political party gives a DAMN about you and your family?
You have to take the steps necessary to survive and prosper in this life or forever label yourself as a victim of circumstances out of your control.
YOU ARE IN CONTROL and YOU MUST TAKE ACTION, SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
A comment that was left on this blog a few days ago helped to prompt this post as well.
The comment stated about how tn start without much funds and also stated "I need a mentor".
So let me address those two facts about your success or failure first.
Funds - If you follow the course that we recommend and my personal bonus information provided when you purchase that course, you will need little or no money to start or operate your business (NOTE: I am referring primarily to the exporting part of the business).
My first recommendation is this - if you are short of funds enough that the price of the course is going to affect how you live for the next few months, i.e., pay your rent, buy your groceries, put gas in your car, then DO NOT BUY OUR COURSE OR ANYONE'S COURSE.
You need to either get a job or second job if necessary, get your finances in good shape and then, and only then, get our recommended course and bonus resources.
No one offering any of the other courses is going to tell you that because they simply do not care about anything but getting your credit card number and putting you into an even worst financial position than you are now.
Despite all the hype that is out there about how "easy" it is to just buy their "program" or their "mentorship" and you will be guaranteed of success. WAKE UP and smell the coffee - it AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN, you are just going to be separated from your money at a time when you need it the most.
Which brings me to the subject of "mentorship" which has become a very sore spot for me.
Many people call me, every week, asking about the import export business, they want my help, they want my advice, they are seeking it, but when I give it to them, they never follow through.
Some people have told me that the SBA (Small Business Administration) volunteers really did not or want to provide the type of support they were seeking (for free, of course). I do not know if this is true since the SBA has always been touted as being the best place to go for free assistance in getting started in your own business.
My growing belief is more on the side of the people who make the above complaint being not ready to be in business for themselves and the SBA volunteers recognizing this. Also, I believe these same complainers are people like a lady who called me from Canada a few years ago asking for an import export business that was already set up and running and profitable that she could simply buy into for a few hundred dollars.
IT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!
The volunteers teach or guide people how to get started and become successful but what most people lack is the initiative to actually take any action.
There is a WEALTH of FREE advice and guidance within the posts of this blog. REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE has gone into these posts.
HAVE YOU READ ALL OF THEM? Have you taken action to implement any of them, even ONE!
IF NOT, forget going into ANY business for yourself, because you need a BOSS, not a mentor, not a coach, a BOSS!
My advice to you before ever spending a single penny is to READ each of the posts within this blog. There are also some good posts within our Importers and Exporters trade leads blog spread out among the trade lead posts, read them too.
If there are suggested actions within those post, TAKE THEM, TAKING ACTION, even little ones will help you to realize YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY and will help you get over the victim mentality or the I need a mentor, helper, coach before I can succeed thought process.
Realize that NO ONE ELSE is going to care as much about YOUR FUTURE, YOUR FAMILY'S FUTURE, YOUR SUCCESS as you will and if you don't care enough to take positive actions to change things why do you think anyone else should?
Some might think me to be arrogant. So be it but let me tell you where I came from.
My parents, both depression era children, worked for the railroad as a laborer and in various sewing factories as a seamstress.
I had two brothers and when my mother would buy a bag of M&M candies she would count the candies out so each of us got an equal amount.
I had to use an outhouse for a bathroom until I was about 10 years old (gets damn cold here in Pennsylvania December through March, let me tell you). We did not consider ourselves poor at the time and I know that both of my parents did their best to give us the best life possible.
I worked for several years in a warehouse loading and unloading trucks and have a bad back to this day because of it.
At one point in my life, I made a job decision that some would say (and did say) was a bad one and it almost left us destitute so much that I had to take a job shoveling horse ship cleaning out horse stables and planting trees at a minimum wage with no benefits.
Jump to today. I owe NO ONE. My only bills are those we all have, electric, heat, real estate taxes etc. and I do not state this to brag, but simply show you from where I came to where I am there were a lot of BAD decisions and GOOD ones but I really cannot look back on any of them and BLAME or TAKE CREDIT for other than myself.
I did not wait for a new president to be elected, or congress person or senator, they are only in the business of helping themselves keep their jobs every 2, 4 or 6 years. I took the negatives and turned them into positives, basically, I focused on what I wanted to do and took positive steps to achieve success in that area.
Did I continue to make mistakes to this day, absolutely! But without taking those steps I may still be working in some type of hard labor type of job for a subsistence style of living.
NO ONE CARES MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S FUTURE THAN YOU DO!
For those of you who want my advice, then don't act on it, forget this business, forget any business for that fact, get the best job you can find and stick with it.
Seriously, because you need a BOSS or SUPERVISOR who will tell you what you need to do next and who will ALWAYS be sure you are one step below what they are in the corporate structure.
If you are a DECISION MAKER and ready to TAKE ACTION on starting an Import Export business, then my advice is (and always has been) read through my blogs first, take notes, take action, review the DUE-DILIGENCE resources on our company page and THEN purchase our recommended course, study it, take notes and TAKE ACTION.
The calendar has changed again. Are you still where you were a year ago? Either get off of it and take action or forget about it. Your CHOICE, not mine or anyone else's.
With that said, WELCOME TO 2011!
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