One summer night more than forty years after the sinking of the Titanic, the world was stunned as the impossible repeated itself. Unlike the Titanic however, the Andrea Doria sank due to human error, causing a whirlwind of rumors about sunken treasure and crew negligence. Was the treasure real? Why did she sink? The answers to these questions seemed forever-locked in mystery as the doomed liner settled in her watery grave. The day after her sinking though, young millionaire adventurer Peter Gimbel became the first person to dive to the wreck and returned to the site often over the next two decades to probe for answers.

Rika and I watched the Discovery Channel’s presentation of Gimbel’s final trip to the site in 1981 as he and his team explored submerged passageways and attempted to salvage the liner’s safes. His 25-year obsession with the Andrea Doria unlocked the riddles surrounding its sinking and solve once and for all the mystery surrounding this tragedy. Gimble was a treasure hunter.

Hidden treasure has always captured our imagination. As a child, I would walk along the beach, fully expecting to the tip of a treasure chest sticking out of the hot sand at any moment, or to find a diamond ring. To my mind, finding a diamond ring would make me and my family instant millionaires and I would be like Richie Rich. Who of us hasn’t read Treasure Island? It’s a fascinating idea, isn’t it?

“Somewhere over the rainbow” and Hidden Treasure are exciting, yet elusive, triggers to our imagination. We don’t really believe we will find it. Many people buy lottery tickets yet most don’t really believe they will win the lottery. What about finding out about REAL treasure, and then creating a way to discover it? Dreams are stories are great, but then Monday morning comes around and many of us slink reluctantly back to our boring jobs, grudgingly chain ourselves to our desks and wish it was home time. Like the manager of my building, a wonderful guy with massive potential. He freely admits that Monday is the worst day of his week, every week, and it gets progressively better as the weekend gets closer. Friday is his best day, and there is a visible transformation. He is happy, singing, excited and energetic. That lasts the whole day. And after two days, Monday finds him morose and dejected again.

I love working on my business. I look forward to Mondays. That’s because my business is a treasure hunt! I know the treasure is out there, in the form of people who join our DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. We discover a treasure regularly! We know it’s there, and there’s no risking of lives, decompression chambers, millions of dollars of costs or man-eating sharks. Unlike Mr. Gimble, we won’t dredge up a safe with no treasure in it. That’s why my business is so exciting. As we discover wonderful entrepreneurs, we discover treasure. We can make an unlimited amount of moneyusing Joint Ventures. If you’d like to join my treasure hunting team, click here.

Do you want to know whether or not you will achieve your goals? Just look at your life, and you’ll know! What you consistently do in your life is a very clear prediction of where you will be in two years’ time. Your level of self discipline is crystal ball – there is a definite link between discipline, self esteem and accomplishment. Look how many hours you spend dedicated to the accomplishment of your goals, and your future will reveal itself to you.

Successful people are “Outcome Driven”. They know exactly what they want. They focus on the reward, not the process. They highly respect, protect and prize their time. They do things in the order of their importance. Their time is prioritized. Frank Lloyd Wright said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” Mike Litman says, “You don’t have to get it right; you just have to get it going. Take action NOW. In life, you’re either consistent or you’re non-existent.”

Do you prepare your day with a Do List of the six things you absolutely have to accomplish the next day? Is your vision so clear, so compelling, so exciting, that you can’t go back to sleep again after thinking of it? Or do you drift along, side tracked and buffeted by every new quick buck scheme and MLM dream, grabbing here and there and never sticking to anything? Or are you an unstoppable machine, up early and rearing to go? How worn is the snooze button on your alarm clock? Do you even NEED an alarm clock? And please check your philosophy. Your entire life and business is a reflection of your philosophy.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “The heights by great men reached and kept / Were not attained by sudden flight, / But they, while their companions slept, / Were toiling upward in the night.” How many hours a day do you dedicate to your magnificent obsession? If you see a need for change, CHANGE NOW. Take charge. It’s not too late! Make it happen. Align yourself with Eagles, cut the ducks out of your life and kick any money making scam that isn’t working to the curb. Get a new telephone number and only give it to winners. You can do it.

Robin J. Elliott robin@dollarmakers.com Call Toll Free1.866.746.0631 Pacific Time
Robin J. Elliott has been officially included in the International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs in 2002 and has been nominated as a candidate for inclusion in the 2004-2005 edition of the International Who’s Who of Professionals. Visit our website: www.DollarMakers.com

We are all leaders; in our families, churches, temples, lodges, clubs, businesses and fraternal organizations.
Have you ever heard of a Cult Manager? Yet where have we ever seen more loyalty, commitment and blind obedience? No such thing as a Religious Manager. There’s a huge difference between management and leadership. “Semantics”, you say. When I went to Hotel School I was taught how to be a Hotel Manager. I found that I had to become a Leader in order to gain the loyalty and commitment of my staff.

When I first arrived to work as a manager in a hotel in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, the staff did the usual hotel staff things to test me. The cashier would mix up the cash register, and see if I could sort out the problem. The night chefs would stay home, and see if I could handle the kitchen at night and prepare the breakfast. I had to prove myself.

How does a manager cope with that, as opposed to a leader? I was called in to a meeting of my management peers and they told me to fire a certain Functions Manager. He was a rebel and no good, they said. Lazy. Obstinate. Get rid of him! His name was Oral, I’ll never forget. I watched him at work. His staff of waiters would set up the conferences and do all the work perfectly while he sat outside, smoking. I called Oral into my office and fired him. Then I said, “Oral, I’ve done what everyone here wanted me to do. I fired you. Now, I’m rehiring you on my terms. Here are my terms: You can sit outside and smoke all day. You never have to enter the hotel. As long as the job gets done to my satisfaction, I’m happy. If not, we will talk. How’s that?”
Oral beamed. He thanked me profusely. He was happy. He did a great job. I was happy. And one day he saved me from being badly beaten up. Oral, you see, was a natural leader. He understood leadership.
Suffice is to say that after a while I had a loyal following instead of an obedient staff.

A leader understands that she is leading personalities with value systems, goals, fears, hopes and dreams. She knows that she can get people to work 24/7/365 when she pushes the right buttons. I once worked for a hotel owner for nine months with one day off in all that time. He was a true leader. Arthur Honey. He was Roger Bannister’s second when Roger Bannister broke the 3 minute mile. He could inspire, motivate and encourage people. He never ran, raised his voice or panicked.

When I was 17 I was drafted into the army. I saw what leadership was and I saw what psychopaths did. The psychopathic, racist South African army officers got people to do things by force. They achieved very little. The true leaders in the army got a lot more done, without fear, manipulation or force. They got soldiers volunteering for things. When your people are motivated and have a vision and a goal, they will achieve their goals and your goals together. Without pay, if necessary. Financial rewards and incentives are not the most powerful there are.

Here are some questions we should be asking the people we intend to lead:
1. What is your greatest fear and your greatest dream? Why is that your fear? Why is that your dream?
2. If you had a million dollars and lots of time and energy, what would you be doing right now?
3. What feelings do you want to experience, and what feelings do you want to avoid in your life?
4. What’s the best book/movie you ever read/saw?
5. What are you most proud of about yourself? What is you greatest skill? What do you do best?
6. What are you weakest at?
7. If you could have any job, what would it be, and why?
8. What is your greatest worry?
9. How do you feel about…?
10. What would you change about this business/organization?

Ask open ended questions; draw them out. “Tell me more? What do you mean by that, exactly? Why do you say that? And? Yes?”

The true leader knows that she has to know a lot about the people she wants to lead. She has to empathize and care. Show them how to measure their progress. She has to be sure that she treats them fairly and that there is a consistency about the way she leads. Regularity, honesty and consistency is important. And there must be clear guidelines, consequences and reasons for what happens. Everyone must understand why they are to do what they do, what the outcome is supposed to be, the consequences for failing to do the right thing and the BIG PICTURE. The vision, the overall strategy, should be understood by everyone concerned.

Most of all, each team member should know that, by reaching the company or organization’s goals, they will reach their personal goals as well. They should have a vested interest in the success of the venture. This is vitally important.

Mortimer Adler was quoted in Time Magazine in 1974 as saying, “In Aristotelian terms, the good leader must have ethos, pathos and logos. The ethos is his moral character, the source of his ability to persuade. The pathos is his ability to touch feelings, to move people emotionally. The logos is his ability to give reasons for an action, to move people intellectually.”

I hired my last secretary in a restaurant. She and her husband asked me for a Job Description. This was my answer: “Francesca, this is your job description. Whatever it takes, 24/7, total commitment and loyalty and total honesty. Whatever it takes. I will be as committed to you, as you are to me. Take it or leave it. What salary do you want?” She wanted $2,000 per month. I knew that she would settle for $1,800. So I offered her $2,500. I got a fantastic secretary and a very supportive husband. She left when I emigrated.

Very few managers know how to lead. It’s never too late to change. Leaders are firm, flexible, value-driven and honest. They have Magnificent Obsessions, driving goals and clear action plans. Their followers feel loved, secure, cared for and lucky. Together, we can do amazing things.

Years ago, a pilot was attempting a world record long distance flight. He was nearing the end of his journey and was two hours away from the next airport and his final target, when he heard a frightening sound. He heard the distinct sound of a rat gnawing at something. The adventurer knew that this could spell disaster; the rat could chew through his control lines or the fuel line, and cause him to crash into the mountains below! At first he started panicking, but then he started thinking about a solution. At last it came to him: rats can’t handle high altitudes! Don’t ask me how he knew that, but his knowledge solved his problem. He started climbing higher and higher, until the gnawing sound ceased. The rat had died from the high altitude. When he landed his plane, he found the dead rat.

Three lessons:

First, you can panic or you can think. There is a solution for every problem.
Second, knowledge without action is useless. Had the pilot not flown higher, knowing about the solution wouldn’t have helped one iota.
And third, bad things don’t last in the high altitude of high ideals, lofty goals and soaring aspirations. Rat ideas die where eagles soar.

Eviudently a Jerry Seinfeld TV comedy show recently featured a scenario where the valet who parked Jerry’s car had very bad body odor. When Jerry and his friend got into the car, the BO stuck to their clothes and resulted in her boyfriend rejecting her because she smelt bad! When we mix with negative, pessimistic people, their attitudes tend to stick to us like BO and sabotage our success. But when we mix with positive, enthusiastic people, that motivation rubs off on us as well and we achieve our goals even faster.

Your thoughts determine your attitude, your actions and the result you experience. Manage your thoughts and your input and soar with the Eagles!

When I attended a Dale Carnegie Management Course, the trainer, Deon, told us a story I’ll never forget. He owned a successful jewelry store in a mall. After attending his first Dale Carnegie course, he decided to treat the security guards in the mall, whom he’d always ignored, in a friendly and respectful manner. He started asking them about their families and greeting them. Suddenly, they started arresting thieves in his shop, for shoplifting. He called a meeting of the security guards and asked them what they thought had caused this rash of shoplifting.

To the best of my recall, this was their reply, as Deon conveyed it to me: “Sir, there has always been shoplifting and theft in your store. But you treated us so badly that we simply chose to ignore the thieves. Since you started treating us well and showing a genuine interest in us, we started catching the thieves.” Deon estimated that he had lost tens of thousands of dollars over the years because of his uncaring and haughty attitude towards the security guards.

We tend to underestimate the tremendous untapped profit that can be released when we start to treat our employees well. I’m not talking about being soft or compromising our standards; I’m talking about being sincerely interested in their wellbeing, dreams and goals. Remembering their family members’ names and their birthdays is a good start. One simple exercise that works well for me is to have a piece of paper in my pocket where I jot down personal information about employees and file it for later reference.

As a group exercise, we hang a paper card around their necks, on their backs, and have them each write a positive, upbuilding, sincere and honest compliment about the person on the card on his or her back. At the end of the exercise, each person has a whole list of good things that other people think about them. I have known employees to keep these lists for years. Many people seldom receive specific, honest compliments. They dress as well as they can and nobody notices or remarks on it. They have their hair done, and no one says a thing. They work overtime and it’s taken for granted. Notice their contribution, reinforce good behavior and reap the rewards. And, if you really want to massively increase your sales, stop whining about your staff and attend the Dale Carnegie Management Course. It all starts with the owner of the business. That’s where the buck stops. And that’s YOU.

The same principle applies to Joint Ventures, the most powerful bsuiness tool ever discovered. Good relationships are the basis for good bsuiness. Together, we can dio amazing things. Check out the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum.

Robin J. Elliott has been officially included inthe International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs in 2002 and has been nominated as a candidate for inclusion in the 2004-2005 edition of the International Who’s Who of Professionals.

I worked with a real estate company to help them increase sales and saw the “tortoise and the hare” fable come to life right before my eyes. One of the salespeople (the tortoise) was slow, not highly skilled, not a great communicator and she had a long commute to work, which cut into her flexibility. But she was steady, consistent, reliable, very enthusiastic and totally focused and committed to reaching her goals. Some of the other “hare” salespeople tended to be highly skilled and polished, but they were often erratic and unfocused. They worked in fits and starts. They got side-tracked. The tortoise beat them every single month. The results I see a salesperson accomplishing are in direct proportion to his or her consistency and focus.

The formula for Momentum is p=mv, where p is momentum, m is mass and v is velocity. If we were to translate that into sales, momentum would be branding and results, m would be the amount of effort, action and focus and v would be enthusiasm and belief.

Branding and momentum is not achieved overnight. It takes consistent sowing and nurturing to build a brand, whether that brand is you, your website, your product or your business. Imagine someone pushing a car up a hill. As they push, they gain momentum and it gets easier. If they stop and let go of the car, it starts rolling back down the hill! Momentum is a vector. That simply means that momentum is a quantity that has a magnitude, or size, and a direction. Some businesses have momentum in the wrong direction, and they require a turn-around expert to deal with them. We need to be sure that our efforts are taking us in the right direction and we need to know why we want to move in that direction.

It’s good to stand back and take along, hard look at your business. Reevaluate your goals, look at your activity and momentum and the branding you want. Are your sure you’re creating the right image? Most of all, focus and consistency should be built into all your systems. As Michael Gerber tells us in the E Myth, work ON your business, not IN it. And continually adjust and improve upon every aspect of it. Concentrated effort and persistence is the mark of a winner. Once you gain positive momentum in the right direction, make sure you continue to feed the fire, and the sky’s the limit.

A client of mine who owned a chain of restaurants radically improved his business when we tested his employees for the personality styles and re-organized the business. We all have characteristics of all the four major personality styles, however one is normally dominant. In business, it’s important to acknowledge our strengths and leverage them, and to find others to supplement our weaknesses. There’s no right or wrong character type. Here’s a quick overview.

The High D – Dominant style (minority of people, hardest to find) is bottom-line and results oriented, impatient, sometimes tactless, driven and extroverted, with weaknesses in details. Major fear: being taken advantage of / ripped off. Good closers, great pioneers. Need the numbers and systems guys.

The High I – Influencing style is an extrovert, “party animal”, great at meeting people and starting relationships, popular, good opener, weakness is details and time management. Major fear: being embarrassed in public. Needs closers and numbers guys.

The High C – Cautious style is introverted, loves details, numbers and systems more than people, excellent numbers guys and accountants, computer experts, analyzers. Weakness is over analysis; fear is criticism of their work. Needs the extravert’s and the drivers.

The High S – Steady style (majority of people) is an introvert, loyal, team player, family type, great systems and support person, needs security and long term relationships, fears risk, conflict and change. Needs others to make things happen and to create change and to take unpopular action when necessary.

This is a simplistic approach, but understanding our strengths and weaknesses and allowing people to do what they’re good at, while avoiding tasks that they’re weak at, is simply smart business sense. For technical sales we use High C’s and S’s. Ideal salespeople are normally High D’s with secondary I’s. One wouldn’t an accountant who is a High D, or a High S to launch a new business. You don’t want a High C to be the host at a cocktail party and we don’t want two High I’s behind a reception desk because they’ll talk all day!

Using personality style analysis has helped many of my clients to be better entrepreneurs and hire the appropriate people. Self knowledge is essential to success. I use the DISC style analysis – there are many others available, including the excellent Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Click here for more information.

Sales Tip
Selling to High D’s: Talk results and ROI and close early and hard.
Selling to High I’s: Build relationship, have fun and close early.
Selling to High C’s: Provide copious details and proof and take time to close.
Selling to High S’s: Prove that the support and relationships will be in place long after the sale is made and close slowly.

Management Tip
Managing High D’s: Give them lots of control and clear objectives and do what you say you will do.
Managing High I’s: Reward them publicly, make them look good and watch their time allocation.
Managing High C’s: Be specific, don’t rush them, and compliment their work (catch them doing something right), set time goals.
Managing High S’s: Make changes slowly, provide lots of security, share long-term plans.

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com Join the Joint Venture Eagles.
Robin J. Elliott has been officially included inthe International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs in 2002 and has been nominated as a candidate for inclusion in the 2004-2005 edition of the International Who’s Who of Professionals.

When I was approached by the frantic owner of a failing business in 1995, we stood back and rationally analyzed the situation. By leveraging the Hidden Assets in the business, getting rid of unproductive staff and refocusing, we turned the corner and the business is still flourishing today.

You know that, when a business is in trouble, logic often flies out of the nearest cracked window and emotional choices rule the day. Yet this is could be an opportunity for you and the owners to benefit. Instead of simply closing the doors and selling off the inventory and equipment on a fire sale, look for the Hidden Assets in the business – a sales team, intellectual property, customer database, unfulfilled orders, access to residual sales of consumable products and services, relationships, inventory, equipment, distribution and goodwill. These could be converted, with little or no upfront costs, to windfall profits and ongoing income for both you and the owners of the distressed business. You could possibly establish a lucrative, win/win Joint Venture that leverages these Hidden Assets by adding your own distribution, inventory piggy-back or other resources.
The key is finding an open-minded business owner who realizes that he needs help and is mature enough to get his ego under control. Make sure you have adequate contractual protection and be prepared to negotiate. After all, you’re in a position of strength and you can often turn a seemingly bad situation around.

Smart business owners know that it’s wise to talk with objective experts when they’re panicking about cash flow. I know I have had occasion to regain my perspective and regroup when I did so in the past. Together, we can do amazing things.

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com

Robin J. Elliott has been officially included inthe International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs in 2002 and has been nominated as a candidate for inclusion in the 2004-2005 edition of the International Who’s Who of Professionals.

Combine the above with a Joint Venture and you can create the opportunity to access a large base of potential customers, especially if you have a consumable product. If your research and experience shows that most people who try your product go on to consume it on a regular basis over a period of time, why not ask JV partners to advertise your product and keep 100% of the first sale income for their trouble? Or they might want to give it away to their clients as a gesture of thanks for loyal patronage. The clients who like it can be directed to make all future purchases from you. Smart coffee shop owners can target business people who work in the area with an offer of three free cups of coffee. The prospects will get used to coming in to the shop and probably buy muffins or sandwiches anyway, and if the food and service is really good they could very well become regulars. Three cups of coffee costs about 60 cents. What is your profit on a sandwich?

The Law of Reciprocity works. When most people get something for nothing, accompanied by excellent packaging, friendly service and a good product, they feel obliged to reciprocate. What is the marginal net worth or lifetime value of a customer to you? Being generous and allowing them to taste and experience your products and services at no cost is a smart marketing strategy. People whom you would never have met will have a reason to try your products and services.