Sunday, September 28, 2008

Who is Married to their Work?






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"People forget how fast you did a job - but they remember how well you did it." Howard Newton

I decided to start with a fantastic quote....why? I have to listened to my gut and realized that TBN is all about building relationships and not trying sell anyone anything. This is a critical time in history. We ALL know of the financial crisis that is happening and what may happen (temporarily, of course) to our country. Most important, during any time of a crisis or (problem) there is ALWAYS an opportunity. As Albert Einstein has quoted "In every difficult time is always an opportunity." Which is true NOW! If what you are doing do is not working...change it! If you are fat and happy, well, you are doing something right! Now....on to my mantra and my beliefs...and I promise I will never, ever, sell you anything!

When people talk about being "married to their work" or job; that statement is more fact than fiction. Most people spend the majority of their waking hours working rather than being with their families. That is one of the factors that have led to the self-employment phenomenon which has more people than ever looking for financial and personal freedom. With the ever increasing number of business consolidations, restructuring, outsourcing of jobs and the reduction of company benefits, this is not a good time to be 'just an employee'. So, the choice to go out on our own is the correct decision for most of us.

Everyone knows that a successful marriage takes work. Just like you can't be married part-time, if your goal is to get the most out of your business, you must be willing to put in the appropriate amount of time, effort and attention. You'll get out of this relationship what you put into it. Paying the proper amount of attention to the details in your 'work marriage' will result in many happy anniversaries.....I had one last week....God Bless! Made in Part by the B2B guru Darren Oliver.

"Successful people keep moving, they make mistakes, but they move on and never give up" Conrad Hilton.

Greg Fowler
Executive Consultant
AmCorp Management, Inc.
859-653-3638

Sunday, September 21, 2008

No Risk Strategies for ALL businesses!







View Greg Fowler's profile on LinkedIn

Does is seem your business is making less than you expect? Would it surprise you to find out that predator industries are bilking billions of dollars a year from businesses just like yours? Ask yourself, could it be me and my business?

Predatory industries and corporations are stripping billions of dollars a year from small businesses in overcharges by erroneous and flawed systematic billing that cost us over $250 BILLION DOLLARS a year in excessive expenses.

Who is overcharging you?

AmCorp Management recently uncovered a billing scheme for a merchant service account by a huge (won’t mention the name, but they are publicly traded) company providing these services. On paper they were supposedly charged 1.25% for Credit Card Processing. When AmCorp’s Examiners dug a little deeper, the actual charge was 3.5%! Amazing, isn’t it? Even the CEO told me, “Ah, I’m getting the greatest deal around” and I told him, “If your getting the greatest deal around, then we will find nothing, plus you will know for sure.” He is no longer a doubter of our services, but a believer. A HUGE believer, because this was very clever when the company was able to make it SEEM like they were getting the best DEAL around! Still amazing, isn’t it?


So who may be bilking thousands of dollars out of your business? Who are the predator industries? There are many areas to look:·

The State of the Lease; Yes you can be overcharged in your lease payments·

Utility Mongers; Need I say more?·

Telecommunication Giants; everyone has a cell phone bill, can you understand it?·

Taxes; Wow, your biggest expense of all! A taxing situation..?·

Workers’ Compensation; One of the highest paid state employees in OH is the head of Workers’ Compensation. Interesting isn’t?·

The Freightening Cost of Shipping; Ignoring shipping agreements costs billions!·

Merchant Services (Credit Card Processing); this is so complex to even explain!·

Property Tax Shuffle; how much more are going to spend on your property?


"Either these service providers are knowingly or unknowingly over billing their customers, one thing is certain, the money is there & waiting to be collected."


There is no risk to your business.
Call: Greg Fowler at 859-653-3638 or (888) 702-0994 for a review at NO COST to you!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Small Business Owners Association (SBOA) of Northern Kentucky’s 2008 Showcase on October 16th, 2008


Small Business Showcase

Individuals interested in starting or finding ways to grow their small businesses should check out The Small Business Owners Association (SBOA) of Northern Kentucky’s 2008 Showcase on October 16th, 2008.
The event will be held at the Boone County Cooperative Extension Service Office at 6028 Camp Ernst Road in Burlington, KY from 4 PM to 8 PM.

The SBOA’s mission is to provide a comfortable environment for the advancement of small, micro, and home-based businesses by offering educational opportunities in sound business principles and ethical practices, and by building trusting relationships among its diverse members, their supporters, and the Northern Kentucky community.

This event is designed to showcase SBOA members business’s to the public, as well as provide an opportunity for small businesses to learn about all the resources available to them in their community. In addition to displays promoting SBOA members, representatives from groups designed to support small business will be on hand to provide information about the services they provide. Groups scheduled to be present include; The Northern Kentucky Chamber, NKU Small Business Development Center, SCORE, Home Builder’s Association, BNI, and the Covington Business Council among others.

The event will provide an opportunity for the public to find out more about the wealth of resources that are available for small business in Northern Kentucky and opportunities to network with SBOA members and the attendees. There is no cost to attend the event and food and refreshments will be provided. For more information about the event, check out www.sboanky.org or call Phone: (859) 586-6101.
Larry Shideler
Customer Loyalty Manager
Lshide37@aol.com
513-405-4773 Cell
Inspection Plus, LTD.
793-3552 Office Phone
www.inspectionplus.us

Monday, September 15, 2008

9 Most Common Things That Will Kill Your Computers - STONE COLD!

There are at 9 surefire ways to put your computer on its knees. Industry secrets that Agency Technologies, Inc. reveals for you!

1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Housekeeper
Cleaning your PC is part of the maintenance job. Computers aren't big enough for dust bunnies, and unknown to most of the world, lint and fuzz can and often do conduct electricity or hamper performance. Computers collect a lot more fuzz than you might imagine. It can eventually cause overheating (discussed in the next section) which is a nemesis for anything electronic. Overheating WILL cause failure. Read on for instructions on cleaning your computer, it will love you and it may help you to add this in with the “other housekeeping chores.”

2. Heat
We all know that computer hardware’s number one enemy is heat. What can a user do about this? The first thing I recommend is to keep it clean. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Housekeeper, is a great place to get started. One of the biggest problems I usually see when dealing with a heat issue is the placement of the computer. Computer desks that hide your system behind a door look great, but where is all that heat actually going? Most desks I found have a small hole in the back for your wires. In no way is this acceptable for keeping a computer running smoothly. Several months ago I went to a client’s house to help with a continuous rebooting issue. One of the first things I noticed was that they had purchased a new computer desk. Yes it had a door to hide their computer and all the cables. The first thing I did was open the door where the computer sits. I rebooted the machine to bios to check what the processor temp was. I was kind of shocked at the results…72C or 161.6 Fahrenheit. That’s pretty hot for a Pentium 4 system. So I pulled the machine out to check the processor fan, of course it was filthy. The fan was spinning properly but the heat sink was full of dust. I cleaned out the heat sink and other components and then checked the back of the desk. One small hole, the diameter of the monitor plug, is all that they had opened. The desk had pop outs for a larger opening area so we opened the largest area we could. I started the PC back in the bios and it read 45C or 113 Fahrenheit! That’s a pretty big change, but with no programs running on the system it was hard to tell where we actually would be under more “normal operating conditions.” I booted the pc into windows and told it to scan for viruses. After 45mins the scan completed and I rebooted to bios to check the temperature. It read 52C or 125.6 Fahrenheit, still this was not perfect but well within the means of the manufacturer’s guidelines. Another bad spot for your computer is right in front of the heat vents, or in front of any other home heating device. We helped a guy that had his computer right up against the only heat source for the room. The case was hot enough we couldn’t touch it.

3. Filling the hard drive to capacity
Even though this does not sound like a major problem, it severely deteriorates the system’s performance. It will not kill your computer physically, but it will make it extremely slow. I see this most often with a family or business with 1 computer with multiple profiles. You have a couple of kids or coworkers downloading music or documents like .pdf’s to their own profile and it eats the space right up. The reason this impacts the performance of you computer is due to the “swap space” your computer uses to help programs load faster. Even if you leave about one gigabyte free you will still save some on performance. If you ask a user about their hard drive utilization, most don’t really know how much they have left. Keep an eye on it and clean up any unused programs and your internet cache, or lower your cache setting threshold. You will be surprised on how much space these take up. If you find yourself with a full hard drive you have a couple of options. Add a second drive to your machine to store all that information on or buy an external hard drive.

4. No Protection… In more ways than one…
If you live in an area that is prone to summertime thunderstorms this is for you. Do you have a reliable surge protector that your computer is plugged into? I would imagine 50% of you probably don’t. My 2 friends who own insurance businesses have had literally hundreds of claims last year alone. Guess what? All those clients use quality surge protectors now. I know they can be expensive but when it comes down to it, most quality surge protectors have some sort of “Connected Equipment Protection Policy” on devices plugged into them. The one my wife and I have at home insures anything up to $400,000 per item for example times all 6 plugs. So, that makes my policy (from the surge protector manufacturer) actually up to 2.4 million dollars in equipment replacement. Surge protectors are a small price to pay for that extra bit of insurance.

5. Spyware / Viruses
Okay so what virus protection are you running on your pc? When was the last time it updated? These are the first 2 questions I ask on the phone when the symptoms point to Trojan or virus activity. 30% of the people I visit have no clue what virus protection they are running, or if they do, “it’s the one that came with my computer.” Usually a dead giveaway they have limited or no protection at all. I really feel there is no excuse for this, with the wide variety of virus protection available including very good free alternatives you shouldn’t be without some protection. Check out “Free Antivirus for Everyone” if you’re in the market for some free virus protection.
Spyware is a class of software that is typically installed onto a user's computer without their knowledge or consent. (Sometimes the installer will trick the user with a message such as "your clock is wrong, click here to reset it to the proper time," with the "click here" actually being the command to install the software.) Typically, spyware pulls down advertisements to a computer (over the Internet) in the form of pop-up or banner ads, though many spyware applications actually redirect Web searches to pages owned by clients of the spyware vendor. Many spyware apps simply sit quietly in memory, keeping track of what you're doing and report back to some guy behind a curtain somewhere in a bunker under a mountain. It's nefarious. It's evil. And since it's not necessarily well written, spyware can slowly kill its host by slowing down your computer to a crawl and making it useless, or by causing frequent crashes. Sadly, there's no panacea for spyware removal. I use three different programs diligently: Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy and especially Windows Defender by Microsoft. Several spyware programs will not let you download anti-spyware tools. The only way around this is to download your anti-spyware tools onto a clean computer and move them over on a CD-ROM.

6. Mass Internet Usage
There are plenty of wonderful things on the Internet, but unfortunately there are plenty of bad things, too like I mentioned above -- viruses, spyware, etc., all on the outside, clamoring to get in. While it may be impractical to completely disconnect your machine from the Internet, do what you can to limit your Internet usage on the computer you use for editing. Specifically, try not to read mail or use a Web browser any more than necessary on your editing computer as these applications are the most often carriers of spyware and viruses. Keep your computer updated with all the new security patches by going to START and selecting "windows update".

7. Shutting Off Messenger Services
AOL Instant Messenger? Yahoo!? MSN Messenger? Turn 'em off. That doesn't mean just closing the window; you need to right-click on the icon in the bottom right tray and turn them off. You don't need a chat request from mom popping up on your screen while you're working on things that use a lot of computer memory such as programs or CD/DVD burning.

8. Not Defragmenting Your Hard Disk Drive
As files are written to and deleted from your hard drive, the system that the drive uses for indexing the stuff that's on it becomes complicated and disorganized. Files become "fragmented" with parts of them scattered around the hard disk drive. As files are loaded, the drive's read/write head (like the arm on a record player) has to physically lift up and move to find the next section. The less the read/write head has to move, the quicker your data will load and save. The disk defragmenter is found under start/run/accessories/system tools on windows XP. While you're at it, do a disk cleanup and make sure you have as much free disk space as you can. Windows will grind to a halt when disk space gets too low on your system drive.

9. Old Programs & junk
Periodically clean your hard disk from “temporary” and “junk” or orphan files. I’d use a program like CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com ) - a good free program to clean out your PC. Uninstall all the old applications that you do not use anymore. I myself experiment with new applications. When I find something that I think is better than the previous application I used that did the same thing, I uninstall it. You should, of course, only uninstall applications from the "Add or Remove Programs" in Control Panel…and DO NOT download or install programs if you do not know what they are. These can often be fatal for your computer and what seems like a simple mistake can cost you BIG MONEY, and lots of LOST TIME. Check with a trusted computer advisor who is certified and carries a license.

BONUS:
Don't Capture Video onto Your System Drive
Most computers out of the box today are fully capable of editing video. However, once they're out of the box, they can start to develop a myriad of maladies which will cause them to never be as fast or as smooth as that first day. Here is something to look out for: capturing and playing back video uses a lot of your computer's attention. So does the business of actually running your computer. For this reason, it's best to do your video work on one drive and your computer work on another. Of course, this only works if you have two physically different disks - one drive partitioned into two doesn't count.

Back up your files (and system)
The maintenance tools you're going to use are going to do some very "heavy lifting". You never know what's going to get dropped. Do yourself a big favor. Back up your critical files, and preferably, back up your entire system first.

Chris Hammond
A+, Network +, MCP, MCSA
513-200-6056 cell

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Manufacturing/Exporting businesses over pay Taxes $110 BILLION in 2007!








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Updated statistics reveal BILLIONS of dollars in OVERPAID Taxes from U.S. Exporting and Manufacturing businesses. Newly developed framework RECOVERS Hundreds of Thousands for business owners and companies.


The Wall Street Journal: “…this would encourage R&D and Capital Investment,…it works out to a savings of over $110 BILLION on corporate America’s tax.”


Exporting and Manufacturing Businesses across the U.S. are MISSING out on the Government Tax Credits that are embedded in complex regulations, they either are not aware they exist or are only slightly aware of them and only use a fraction of what’s available.

AmCorp Management’s national recognition has utilized TOP industry specialists to create Risk Free SOLUTIONS for Private, Medium, to Large size businesses involved in Manufacturing and/or Exporting. Our team of tax experts headed by former KPMG and Deloitte executives has developed a strategic Tax Recovery framework that can put thousands right back into your operating capital.


Would it surprise you to know that the Government now holds over $110,000,000,000 (BILLION) dollars in overpaid taxes from U.S. Manufacturing and Exporting Businesses alone?


If you own a business with over 15 million in revenue; how much of that money do you think is yours?


We have recovered almost three quarter of a BILLION dollars for qualified clients with our Risk Free feasibility study in such areas as the E.I.E. – IC-DISC – R&D – R&E and other Tax Credit Programs. Have you heard of them?

Call me immediately to find out more; you could lose money that rightfully belongs to your business. Have you already heard of the tax credits and you believe you may be taking advantage of them? All of our qualified clients thought so too. And all receive hundreds of thousands of dollars!


Ninety (yes 90%) of Exporting & Manufacturing businesses only take advantage of a fraction of these credits due to the complexity of the Tax Code. AmCorp Management believes you should pay only your obligation and no more.

We manage a 100% success rate with our qualified clients by our Feasibility Study. Average REFUNDS are $200,000 to more than $11,000,000 dollars. In fact, we are so confident we can create a CASH WINDFALL for your business we invest our money just to earn the opportunity for your business.


With a 100% SUCCESS RATE and over 10,000 tax clients Nationwide, doesn’t it make sense to take advantage of our Risk Free Feasibility Study to ensure you are taking advantage of all possible deductions and credits? Go to www.amcorpmanagement.com/gfowler for more info.

Real Solutions for Real Businesses

The time is to act now.

Call me Toll Free at (888) 702-0994. The 04 tax review is gone forever. Do not take the chance to miss thousands for a review of 2005!
Thanks,
Greg Fowler
AmCorp Executive Consultant

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT FROM A HOME INSPECTION?

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT FROM A HOME INSPECTION?

A home inspection is defined as an objective visual examination of the physical structure and systems of a home, from the roof to the foundation.

In layman’s terms, having a home inspected is akin to giving it a physical check-up. If problems or symptoms are found, the inspector may recommend further evaluation.

As a home buyer/seller or real estate professional, you have a right to know exactly what a typical real estate inspection is. The following information should give you a better understanding of exactly what your inspector should (and should not) do for you during the course of a home inspection.

First and foremost, an inspection is a visual survey of those easily accessible areas that an inspector can clearly see. No destructive testing or dismantling is done during the course of an inspection, hence an inspector can only tell a client exactly what was clearly in evidence at the time and date of the inspection. The inspectors eyes are not any better than the buyers, except that the inspector is trained to look for specific tell-tale signs and clues that may lead to the discovery of actual or potential defects or deficiencies.

Inspectors base their inspections on the current industry standards provided to them by their professional societies. These Standards tell what the inspector will and can do, as well as what the inspector will not do. Many inspectors give a copy of the standards to their clients. If your inspector has not given you a copy, ask for one, or contact us.

The Industry Standards clearly spell out specific areas in which the inspector must identify various defects and deficiencies, as well as identifying the specific systems, components and items that are being inspected. There are many excluded areas noted in the standards that the inspector does not have to report on, for example; private water and sewer systems, solar systems, security systems, etc.

The inspector is not limited by the standards and if the inspector wishes to include additional inspection services (typically for an extra fee) then he/she may perform as many specific inspection procedures as the client may request. Some of these additional services may include wood-boring insect inspection, radon testing, or a variety of environmental testing, etc.

Many inspectors do not test or inspect appliances, for many good reasons. Appliances can break down almost immediately after the inspection and the buyer may hold the inspector liable. There have been cases where homeowners have switched appliances with lesser quality units after the inspection. If your inspector does test and inspect appliances you should keep in mind that any appliance can fail at anytime, particularly if the units are several years old or older.

Most inspectors will not give definitive cost estimates for repairs and replacements since the costs can vary greatly from one contractor to another. Inspectors typically will tell clients to secure three reliable quotes from those contractors performing the type of repairs in question.

Life expectancies are another area that most inspectors try not to get involved in. Every system and component in a building will have a typical life expectancy. Some items and units may well exceed those expected life spans, while others may fail much sooner than anticipated. An inspector may indicate to a client, general life expectancies, but should never give exact time spans for the above noted reasons.

The average time for an inspection on a typical 3-bedroom home usually takes 2 to 4 hours, depending upon the number of bathrooms, kitchens, fireplaces, attics, etc., that have to be inspected. Inspections that take less than two hours typically are considered strictly cursory, "walk-through" inspections and provide the client with less information than a full inspection.

Many inspectors belong to national inspection organizations such as NACHI, ASHI, and NAHI. These national organizations provide guidelines for inspectors to perform their inspections. Professional associations also provide educational materials and programs for its members in order to provide a continuing education for professional inspectors. Make sure that you as a consumer ask your inspector about his/her credentials and affiliations.

All inspectors provide clients with reports. The least desirable type of report would be an oral report, as they do not protect the client, and leave the inspector open for misinterpretation and liability. Written reports are far more desirable, and come in a variety of styles and formats.
The following are some of the more common types of written reports:

1. Checklist with comments
2. Rating System with comments
3. Narrative report with either a checklist or rating system
4. Pure Narrative report

Inspectors differ on what they consider the best type of report. Some prefer one over the other.

Four key areas of most home/building inspections cover the exterior, the basement or crawlspace areas, the attic or crawlspace areas and the living areas. Inspectors typically will spend sufficient time in all of these areas to visually look for a host of red flags, telltale clues and signs or defects and deficiencies. As the inspector completes a system, major component or area, he/she will then discuss the findings with the clients, noting both the positive and negative features.

The inspected areas of a home/building will consist of all of the major visible and accessible electro-mechanical systems as well as the major visible and accessible structural systems and components of a building as they appeared and functioned at the time and date of the inspection.

Larry Shideler
Customer Loyalty Manager
Lshide37@aol.com
513-405-4773 Cell
Inspection Plus, LTD.
5381 Autumnwood Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
513-793-3552 Office Phone
www.inspectionplus.us

Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Hamilton-Fairfield-Oxford Board of REALTORS Expo! September 10, 2008 Wednesday

Networking - Networking - Networking!

Hope to See You There
Tap me on the Shoulder to say HELLO

The Hamilton-Fairfield-Oxford Board of REALTORS®
invites YOU to attend its REALTOR® Expo!

September 10, 2008 Wednesday

Fairfield Banquet & Conference Center, (Tori’s Station) 74 Donald Dr., Fairfield

The FREE Expo begins @ 4:00 PM; with appetizers and beverages (cash bar)

Larry Shideler
Customer Loyalty Manager
Lshide37@aol.com
513-405-4773 Cell
Inspection Plus, LTD.
5381 Autumnwood Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
513-793-3552 Office Phone
www.inspectionplus.us

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Winner and Losers Part II







View Greg Fowler's profile on LinkedIn

Well, Well, Well,

I did say that I was going to repost blogs that I had posted from before. If you have read them, move on and read something more interesting. I believe what I have posted here is very interesting, so for those that will NOT read ALL of the Blog, there is some great news about Bill Gates in the blog. So, as I promised folks...here it is...part two....some OF the most successful people and what they had to overcome to become successful.....enjoy!!!!

The difference between a winner and a loser is really just a matter of how you look at circumstances in life and then deal with them. All of us find ourselves on the losing end at some time or another; it's how we cope with failure that determines whether or not we are a winner.

Winners make things happen

Losers watch things happen

Winners know that if a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well

Losers look for the least amount of effort

Winners are always involved in the answer

Losers are always part of the problem

Winners know there is still much to learn

Losers think they know it all

Winners never give up

Losers quit as soon as things get difficult

The following are examples of some of the most successful people in history and their failures:

SIR EDMUND HILLARY wanted to climb Mount Everest and after three failed attempts finally succeeded. People said, "You've conquered the mountain," and Hillary said, "No, I've conquered myself.

"HENRY FORD'S first two automobile companies failed. That did not stop him from incorporating Ford Motor Company and being the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles in the world.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN failed as a storekeeper, as a farmer and at his first attempt to obtain political office. He failed in his first attempt to go to Congress, then again when he sought the appointment to the United States Land Office. He was defeated twice when ran for the United States Senate and failed to receive the nomination for the vice-presidency in 1856.

BILL GATES (a Harvard dropout) first company was a failure. Gates used $3,400 of his own money to start a company called Traf-O-Data, a device to process the paper tapes generated by traffic counting boxes. Eventually, the State of Washington offered free traffic processing services, causing the company to lose money.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, a German composer of classical music, is widely regarded as one of history's supreme composers. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him, "As a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing, yet managed to produce great music.Just like the list of greats who stumbled along the way, the message is to keep trying, never giving up and persevering with your dreams.

They key is to recognize your shortcomings, improve upon them and develop a winning attitude rather than that of a loser.

Thanks Clay, I had to highlight the part about Abraham....

All the best to everyone, their family, and their success.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Call me if you have the gumption!

Greg
Executive Strategist
AmCorp Management, Inc.
859-653-3638

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The difference between Winners and Losers!




Greg Fowler's Facebook profile
After a conversation today I thought I would REPOST a blog from before. For those that have read it, I apologize. I truly love to motivate people. I love to be around people with the same goals and have the same determination for success. So here it is folks....some of the most successful people in the WORLD and their failures.
The difference between Winners and Losers!

The difference between a winner and a loser is really just a matter of how you look at circumstances in life and then deal with them. All of us find ourselves on the losing end at some time or another; it's how we cope with failure that determines whether or not we are a winner.

Winners make commitments
Losers make promises

Winner go around or through a problem
Losers never get past it

Winners inspire others
Losers bring down the team

Winners always have a plan
Losers always have an excuse

Winners are proud of their accomplishments
Losers have nothing to brag about

The following are examples of some of the most successful people in history and their failures:

BABE RUTH struck out 1,330 times on his way to 714 home runs and baseball immortality.

In 1954, ELVIS PRESLEY was fired from the Grand Ole Opry after only one performance and was told by the manager. "You ain't going nowhere, son. Better get your job back driving a truck."

When ALBERT EINSTEIN was a boy, his parents thought he was mentally retarded. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit saying, "Einstein, you will never amount to anything!"

Before achieving sports notoriety, MICHAEL JORDAN was just an ordinary person; so ordinary that he was cut from his high school basketball team because of his "lack of skill".

When THOMAS EDISON was a boy, his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. When he set out on his own, he tried more than 9,000 experiments before he created the first practical incandescent light bulb

What is even more interesting about Tom Edison is he was asked why did you fail at the light bulb 9 thousand times? He said "I didn't fail 9,000 times, but found 9 thousand ways it didn't work!"

All of us will find ways to cope with the negative attitudes towards success. Ask yourself, "If it was easy everyone would be doing it" Wouldn't they?

I wish you all the best of luck to you, your family, and your success!!!!

To Err is Human--To Be Uneducated Is A Crime

Greg is right—we all make occasional errors when we’re doing something in writing. The crime comes in when we didn’t learn the right way from the beginning. Many people forget their English skills from middle school and elementary; after all, for most of us, it was a long time ago. But now there is an option. You can learn the right way of writing simply by taking a seminar from Executive Communication Strategies (www.ecsforbusiness.com). Clayton got tired of the badgering he was getting for his mistakes on the blog, so he will be taking our seminar this week. I can’t guarantee that he will be writing error free blogs, but I will guarantee that he will be educated with the knowledge of good writing skills.

But how many of you make mistakes in your everyday business documents? Research shows that people who are on the receiving end of those mistakes think less of the person making mistakes (believe it nor not, there was an actual study done on this). Can you afford to lose business because of your errors in business documents? We never will know how much money is lost because of careless writing errors. Everyone is quick to point out errors when it comes to dollars and cents, but few will point out errors when it comes to grammar and spelling. Bite the bullet and learn how much you don’t know simply by taking the writing seminar we offer. We can schedule it at your convenience. We all make the occasional error—Executive Communication Strategies doesn’t promise error free. What we do promise is to educate you in the right way to write. Time and careful consideration of your writing will make you error free.