Month: November 2005 | Chris Zavadowski's Massive Leverage Marketing

The Referral of a Lifetime

THE REFERRAL OF A LIFETIME by Tim Templeton presents strategies for for to guarantee yourself a steady stream of referrals (the BEST type of prospect you can have!) – in an entertaining and novel way, as a fictional story. It’s a quick read, worthwhile for every sales pro and MLM distributor. After all, nobody likes cold calls. Salespeople hate them; so do prospects.

This book is a strong reminder that there’s no need for ‘cold prospecting’. It’s good Thanksgiving season reading too, as it shows how ‘putting relationships first’ leads to greater marketplace success.

Filed Under: Book of the Month

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A Worthy Gamble

FedEx founder Fred Smith’s father founded Dixie Greyhound Bus Lines, and with his brother, a chain of Southern-food restaurants which were sold after his death, in 1961, for $22-million. Ultimately, Fred had to gamble his entire inheritance of $8-million plus the small company he’d built, that bought and sold used airplanes, in order to raise another $40-million from private investors to launch FedEx.

Yes, the legend is true: Fred’s college professor gave him only a ‘C’ on the term paper that would later be the business plan for Federal Express. FedEx began operations on April 17, 1973.

At numerous times, the company was in dire financial straits. Once Fred sold his private plane to pay bills. Another time, he met payroll with $27,000.00 won at blackjack.

How far are YOU willing to go for what you want?

Filed Under: Random Fun

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Profiles of Success: Barnett Helzberg Jr.

You may know the stores – Helzburg Diamonds. Under Barnett Helzberg Jr.’s leadership, from 1962 to 1995, the family owned chain grew from 30 to 143 stores; its per store sales were double the industry average; and they earned a sterling reputation as ‘the Nordstroms of jewelry stores.’ Which led to the company being bought by the legendary Warren Buffet!

In his book WHAT I LEARNED BEFORE I SOLD TO WARREN BUFFET, Helzberg lays out a set of principles for developing a fast-growing business. His management advice begins with concerning yourself only with the “controllables”, a way to focus and concentrate on the aspects of your business where you can have the greatest impact.

Important ideas from Helzberg: “Each activity you undertake exacts the price of not being able to pursue alternative activities – sometimes called ‘opportunity cost.’…Peter Drucker calls it ‘feeding problems and starving opportunities’.

So the question you should be asking yourself: Is what I am doing right now bringing me closer to my objective than any alternate activity I could be doing?

Filed Under: Profiles of Success

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