This is about an amazing opportunity and it is not about Bill Bartmann’s buy bad loan portfolio strategy detailed in Buyout Riches.  That is the topic of separate articles.

Of course I know this is an amazing opportunity because I have been working with this situation for over three months. I know the markets, the business, the customers, the key people who will implement the solution that I crafted.

Personally, I would write the check for this entire deal like yesterday. I know there one or more resources who will recognize this a jump on it.  What is it?

This is a family owned business that is 107 years old.  The company has developed a product line in a specialty niche of a much larger market. However the market segment for this niche is estimated to be about a billion dollars in the US alone. Now I know this word …billion… is used a lot and soon we won’t pay attention unless the headline has trillion in it.  Think I am kidding.

Today the WSJ released a report that Michael Jackson has sold 2.3 million albums in four days since his death. The reaction is ..so!  We are conditioned by so many numbers many have no meaning.   Back to the 107 year old company:

They contacted me in March and said they needed help. I don’t have much time to tell all the details right now  so let’s “cut to the chase”  I quickly determined that this business had experienced a series of  unique events that drained them of cash. But unlike nearly every other business I had seen, this company has what every business would die for. This company has a large hungrey crowd for their product and the revenue and gross margins from this business are very very strong.

So most people cannot understand how this picture can turn to where a receiver is appointed by the courts and the company is targeted to be liquidated. With the help of Bill Bartmann I have a fairly good understanding.  More importantly, using my radar and following Bill’s advice of being able to recognize opportunities, I see the upside here and it is very significant. Let me repeat this …the upside is very significant and I see minimal downside.

If you want to know more and if you are able to act fast and if writing a check for $50k or $1.5 mil. does not cause your heart to skip a beat, contact me for all the details. Don’t email me, call me at 727-587-7871. That is my direct line but you most likely will need to leave a message and I will get back to you fast.

Steve
http://stevereports.com

BTW my social network is now large. If you have a product or service you would like to market, you are welcome to contact me.

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IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

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BILL BARTMANN
Listen to BILL in a FREE TELESEMINAR
JUNE 29th at 8PM Eastern

The Billionaire Business Coach
Win big in a down economy

Bill is the MASTER at creating wealth in a down economy (or any economical situation for that matter). He knows how to win big even when the economy is screaming you can’t. You may have seen Bill on the cover of Inc. Magazine as the “Billionaire Nobody Knows”, or watched him recently on major network TV. Bill’s in the news daily because his book, “Bailout Riches”, is creating a real stir. It’s about how you can benefit–directly and fast–from the government bailout.

Click Here To Register This FREE Teleseminar.

Note: Bill’s new book offers great insight on how our financial system is operating today. I purposely avoided using the word working. Part of what Bill has taught me was used in writing the article Financial Crisis, Turnaround Consulting which is in direct response to a person experiencing a financial crisis.

Bill Bartmann is the “Billionaire Business Coach”.  He is the only self-made billionaire who has devoted his life exclusively to teaching others. Bill is the leading authority on entrepreneurship in America. He has created seven successful businesses in seven different industries. Including a $3.5 billion, 3900 employee international company that he started from his kitchen table with a $13,000 loan. He has been named National Entrepreneur Of the Year by NASDAQ, USA Today, Merrill Lynch and the Kauffman Foundation. His companies have been named by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies In America - four years in a row. He has been awarded a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institutes Museum of American History and awarded the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award as one of the Outstanding Achievers of the 21st Century.

Millions of people have seen Bill on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX News, CNN and CNBC. Bill’s expertise has been featured on Sheppard Smith, Neil Cavuto and Donny Deutsch. He has been profiled in Forbes, Fortune, Inc., Bloomberg, Business Week, New Yorker, People, Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today.

Click Here To Register This FREE Teleseminar.

Did you know that Bill issues a FREE newsletter frequently and conducts on line training through his Billionaire University? Want to know more about Bill Bartman and see him on video explaining more about his background and keys to success?  If you don’t know his story, this is well worth a few minutes of your time.

Visit Bill Bartman’s Billionaire University …Just Click Here.

Steve
http://stevereports.com

BTW my social network is now large. If you have a product or service you would like to market, you are welcome to contact me.

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Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

FREE Report:
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USA Today published an accurate article today based on my experience. This article is on how an increasing number of companies are using Twitter to communicate with customers.  I am connected with a number of the companies referenced in the article and have seen how they are using Twitter and other social media sites.  Like the USA today I think they have it more right than wrong. I also know the vast majority of businesses have no idea what social media is or how to use it.

I think it is important to establish some credibility when publishing a point of view on social media. I have included here my comments that you will find connected with the USA today article.

Click Here For The Full Article.  My comments that are published there also follow:

———————————–

My experience with social media started about 14 months ago with Facebook and extended to Twitter and others about 6 months later. My sole purpose was to understand how to use social media for effective marketing. Effective marketing is building trust, authenticity and transparency.

This article is right on siting a number of companies effectively using Twitter and other social media services. Twitter is a very effective service for me as it is an integral part of building several businesses. Manifest Mastermind, http://manifestmastermind.com has been build entirely using social media. A recent large business consulting project is a direct result of using social media. My consulting practice is presented on a blog and includes YouTube video at http://irconsultinginc.com

There is work involved in all of this and the work needs to support a strategy. I feel the people who question the usefulness of the tools don’t understand them and don’t do the work.

Steve
http://stevereports.com

BTW my social network is now large. If you have a product or service you would like to market, you are welcome to contact me.

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Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

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An independent business owner contacted me after reading several of my articles on business turnaround consulting and business process improvement consulting. She asked if I could help her. I asked if she would write me note about her situation. The following is her message:

Steve,

I decided to get in touch with you because I am very close to running out of cash. I don’t know how I will pay on my loan payments next month because at the moment I don’t have any funds for that.

I feel like I am really close to generating positive cash flow with my business but I am still stressed about how I will pay on all accounts/loans that I am responsible for. I feel like I just need to buy myself more time.

I am doing my best to maintain my positive attitude, faith, and belief but I am scared. I’ve applied for additional credit cards but have been denied. As a result, I’ve started to search for a job, which I know is taking my focus off of where it is I want to go.

Financially, I’ve never been where I am at the moment.

If you can help, I am grateful. Even if you are unable to,  I am still grateful.

Thank you,

————————————————–

I asked her permission to publish this on my blog as I have actually been planning to write an article about what many people are experiencing for a variety of reasons. Full disclosure: I am a business turnaround and business process improvement expert. I am not a personal financial planner, personal bankruptcy lawyer, personal financial counselor. My experience in this area are very direct and from the streets. If you would like additional support for what I about to tell you, read Bill Bartman’s book “Bailout Riches”.

Notice some very important words in this lady’s description of her situation: faith, belief, scared, “I am responsible”.  So my response is written for those who have similar feelings.

About Being Scared:

This is natural particularly since this is the first time she has found herself in this situation. The key is to acknowledge that and just move outside of yourself and observe it. This takes some practice but it can be done. Realistically, we become scared of losing our life, our “stuff”, a place to live and starving. In the worst case scenarios a woman will be not homeless. Nobody will starve to death and stuff can be replaced when the economic situation turns around. In my belief system I have learned how not to fear death. Once you no longer fear death then there is really nothing else to fear. On that topic “Home With God” by Neale Donald Walsch is a great read.

Now I know writing about fear and being scared does not make it go away. You can release these emotions. In fact you must release these emotions or you will have difficulty moving forward which is really what your intending to do. Now for the art of the practical of why you can expect:

I am going to assume she is fairly current on her payments and realizes that will change next month. My advice is to stay focused on immediate needs only while continuing to solidify cash flow from her business. Immediate needs are food, utilities and those service needed for her business. These generally include Internet service and phone service. TV service is not an essential. Car insurance is. The key is to evaluate true essential spending.

For now paying credit card debt and mortgage payments are also not essential. If you are a renter, you may have less time in your place than if you have a mortgage.

Going Forward

This lady mentioned feeling like her business is close to cash flowing. I recommend anyone who has a business ask someone else with business experience for a realistic evaluation of that feeling.  This is the number one item I work on in a business turnaround after addressing immediate cash management issues. With the confidence of how a liquidity crisis turns around you can navigate any obstacles. Now if you don’t have that confidence then you should begin pursuing plan B. She mentions looking for a job. That may not be her first choice but it may be a realistic stepping stone until she can turn her business cash flow positive. That is for her to decide.

What To Expect From Credit Card Companies and Banks

The reality is you will get a lot of phone calls. Most of these calls will be made by a computer. So it is a great idea to have a caller id phone that you can put on silence or vibrate.  You don’t want to answer a call unless you know the caller and you want to talk to them. The natural inclination is to want to talk to the representative on the phone. I don’t recommend wasting your time doing that until you can tell them you have restored your ability to pay.

Credit card companies will threaten to file suit. They won’t. Read Bartman’s book. You can become delinquent more than 90 days if it takes that long to restore cash flow. Close to the 90 day mark they will be willing to cut all kinds of deals with you. If you take one of them know that they will not reactivate your card. I know the credit card companies will accept settlement at 50% of the amount due and take that over 3-5 monthly payments. They do not want you to know that. And as soon as I write that I am sure someone will say there are even better deals than that.

I am not advocating not paying what you owe. However, the credit card companies have no problems charging very high default rates and late fees. Your responsibility is to position yourself to go forward.

Get used to the phone ringing and don’t take it personal. First a computer is dialing and then at some point when you decide to talk with someone because you have a proposed solution then recognize they are not your enemy or your friend. They are simply doing their job.

You can expect the calls to start at 8AM and end at 9PM Monday through Saturday and noon until about 8PM on Sunday.

Mortgage or Rent

Because mortgages go through a foreclosure process it can take quite some time from start to finish. Rent on the other hand is a bit more dicey depending on the market you live in. The meltdown leading to the high foreclosure rate has driven up demand for rental units. So you could be facing a situation of eviction 60 days or so past the due date.

Generally if you are able to pay a portion of what is due that will buy some time. Mortgages move from the normal mortgage service department to a foreclosure processing department. Expect notice of intent to foreclose and calls. Don’t panic you have time. But keep moving on you go forward plan. Foreclosures and evictions do happen.

Brief Summary

What I have tried to do is paint the picture of what you can expect. There are variations of course and timing can vary depending on the credit card company and bank. Ultimately you have a lot of room to negotiate just about everything related to debt. Utilities no since they will just cut you off. But debt yes. However, in order to negotiate you must have something to negotiate with. You ultimately have to have a source of cash flow to negotiate.

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IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

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How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

In 2006, author Bob Scheinfeld published a book titled: Busting Loose From The Money Game.  I purchased the book based on the recommendation from another admired author and read it once  over the course of about a week.  I then went back and read it more closely, made notes, highlighted sections in yellow. In short I really studied this book.

I had not been exposed to most of the information in that book to that point.  I was very skeptical even after studying it in-depth. This was because the concepts were so different from anything I had imagined.  However, I found a part of me saying it made a lot of sense.

Over the subsequent three years,  I have learned that Busting Loose From The Money Game was based on what is known by scientists as the discipline of Quantum Physics.  During this time the movie The Secret was released. There has been a growing awareness of The Law of Attraction.  Quantum Physics  supports The Law of Attraction.

Here is a real life example from personal experience. If you have followed the articles published in this blog you know I have a lot of very valuable business experience.  I use this experience to  help companies improve their business performance and in some cases help them if they find themselves in a difficult situation (business turnaround consulting).

When I was near graduating from college I decided that I wanted to be a CPA and work with one of the Big 8 (at the time) firms. I visualized that experience as best I could, I interviewed with a few firms and I was not hired…then.  I ultimately relaxed that idea, but I did become a CPA and also went on to earn my MBA. Both were credentials I decided I wanted to have because one day I wanted an executive position and be in the board room running a large business. I felt those credential would help.

I was relentless on that idea. I felt certain it would happen.  Nine years after I was not offered a job with one of the Big 8, the number one firm in the world hired me . I went on to have a marvelous experience there for 10 years.  I left and went right to being a senior executive of a $360 million company.  I was in the board room with several other senior people running that company.  There is a lot more to this story including some of the near total disasters I experienced but the point is I attracted that which I was focused on consciously or otherwise.  That is The Law of Attraction.  ”Like attracts like”.

Today in business and in all areas of my life I am continually creating the picture that I want to have appear.  Now if you asked my most recent client how that turned out they would say not very well.  I would say one chapter is closed and another is beginning.  Soon I will prepare another article on change and surprises. For now I say to you,  The Law of Attraction works perfectly all the time.  The problem comes in when the outcome isn’t like we thought it would be. Sometimes the outcome is much better and sometimes it isn’t.

In the situation I just finished, the bank decided it was in their best interest to liquidate the company.  There is no way on this planet in my lifetime I thought I would  understand the bank’s position given the alternative solutions presented to them. However, Bill Bartman’s latest book “Bailout Riches” offers answers.  Do you see I was asking questions and I attracted answers.  Not only that,  but I attracted  an opportunity to profit from the current conditions should I pursue what Bill suggests. I don’t think I will but you can.

I love understanding and increasing my connections with that which I intend to attract.  I love sharing what my experiences and insight on these topics.  Nearly a year ago I had an idea of how I could blend my passion for The Law of Attraction with my experience and skill set in business and particularly the consulting arena.  Shortly thereafter, a number of things began to fall in place and today I have along with my business partner have growing business based on The Law of Attraction. That business is Manifest Mastermind.  What is most important I work on what I love and some people like it enough to stay as paying members.  How cool is that?

My purpose has been to give you a glimpse as to why I immediately purchased Bob Scheinfeld’s latest book: “Busting Loose From The Business Game”  I have not read it as I just order it today.  I encourage you to order it and for transparency purposes I am not an affiliate and Bob hasn’t asked me to write this and certainly hasn’t paid me any money to do so.  For the record I am not opposed to being paid :).

I know this  book will have  as much influence on me as the first one I read and I am excited about all the possibilities.

Here is the link and if you decide to order, please tell Bob that you heard about it from Steve Pohlit.
<http://www.bustingloosefromthebusinessgame.com/opportunity.html>

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IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

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I have been experiencing accelerated energy toward the  foundation principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - the original value system of the United States. I also feel, more and more people are refocusing on these values as our government continues grow and spend money irresponsibly.

Michael Israel is one person who energizes the feelings of compassion, care and patriotism. Michael is awesome as this video shows.

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Steve Pohlit, Expert Business Consulting

IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

FREE Report:
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Andrew Chen published an article titled Creating Value vs. Optimizing Revenue.  Here is the link to his article.

http://andrewchenblog.com/2009/06/10/creating-value-versus-optimizing-revenue/

First I want to draw attention to his conclusion: “No matter what your product is, the only way to make money long-term is to make a lot of people happy, and then getting some % of the value you created back, in return. The right strategy to build a long-term sustainable business is to build long-term sustainable value. No amount of viral tricks or optimization will allow you to escape that truth!”

Here are my thoughts resulting from my own experience.  Long term sustainable value is an academic dream.  Value right now is what is important and if you provide value right now and you continually do that day after day, guess what?  Your business ends up providing long term value.  When developing the revenue model of your business strategy you must focus on the profit formula that works right now!

The “right now” profit formula delivers value to your target audience at a price that makes you money. If it doesn’t deliver them value and you profit right now you will lose the customer and lose your business. It is that simple.

Andrew goes a bit esoteric for me in his presentation on landing pages, optimization and more.  I like to keep things a bit more straight forward.  If you are using on line traffic conversion techniques (and I am sure you are) the ultimate optimization is where what you say catches the attention of your target audience and that interest is converted to an action. That acton is simply “I want what you are offering”  This applies to the sale of socks or business development consulting services which is one of my offers. There are no exceptions.  Ladies and gentlemen business is all about building traffic to your business or landing page and converting that traffic to profitable customers.  That’s it.

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Steve Pohlit, Expert Business Consulting

IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits. Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

FREE Report:
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In my business development consulting practice I encounter situations where filing for reorganization with protection of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code (Federal Law) seems to be an option. Consequently I follow with interest some of the more high profile cases. I am amazed at the application of this Federal Law. I was thinking it seems the rules are at times re-written for the convenience of special interests.

This email from Newt is a great report on the recent bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM. This is well worth paying attention to since the issues are not about Chrysler and GM, it is about the breakdown in our political and judicial system.
Newt’s entire email follows. Thank you Newt Gingrich.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

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IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation ConsultationOn Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

There was a time when we would have called it a scandal.

In 1921, oil tycoon Harry Sinclair gave several prize head of cattle and around $269,000 to President Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall.

In return, Sinclair got the exclusive rights to drill in an oil field in Wyoming. Sinclair’s no-bid contract became the Teapot Dome scandal, the most notorious example of political corruption in America prior to Watergate.

Between 2000 and 2008, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union gave $23,675,562 to the Democratic Party and its candidates.

In 2008 alone, the UAW gave $4,161,567 to the Democratic Party, including Barack Obama.

In return, the UAW received 55 percent of Chrysler and 17.5 percent of GM, plus billions of dollars.

But nobody’s calling this a scandal. It’s time we start.

2000-2008 UAW Giving: $23.7 million to Democrats. $193,540 to Republicans

The almost $24,000,000 the UAW has given to Democrats since 2000 compares with the $193,540 the union has given to Republicans.

In the 2008 presidential election, President Obama was by far the biggest recipient of UAW contributions, raking in $27,340 compared to the $10,600 given to Hillary Clinton, the No. 2 recipient of UAW money.

And so it was no surprise to the cynical Washington political class when the payback began with the Chrysler bankruptcy.

In a rigged proceeding in which the federal government disregarded bankruptcy law in favor of the political outcome it desired, the Chrysler bankruptcy laid the predicate for the much larger General Motors bankruptcy to come. Against law and precedent, the unions were moved to the front of the line when it came to who would benefit from the bankruptcy.

The Obama Treasury Department strong-armed Chrysler’s creditors into a deal in which the UAW was given 55 percent ownership of the company while Chrysler’s secured creditors - investors who would have received priority in a non-political bankruptcy proceeding - were left with just 29 cents on the dollar.

On Monday, the Supreme Court Delayed the
Completion of the Chrysler Bankruptcy

Some of these secured creditors, led by a group of Indiana retirement funds, are fighting back. They’ve charged in court that the Chrysler bankruptcy violated the bankruptcy laws and violated their rights as senior lenders.

On Monday, the Supreme Court put a hold on the Chrysler bankruptcy to hear their case.

We don’t yet know which way the high court will rule, or if it will rule at all. But we do know what’s at stake. Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock put it well:

“The issue of secured creditors’ rights is bigger than Chrysler. It’s an essential foundation of our capital markets. And fundamentally, this is about the law.”

“Never Has an American Union Done So Well At
the Expense of Shareholders and Creditors”

But the Chrysler bankruptcy was just prelude to the Obama-Administration-brokered General Motors bankruptcy deal announced last week.

The GM deal is yet another example of rank, taxpayer-financed political favoritism.

Once again, the big losers are GM’s bondholders, who include substitute teachers in Florida and retired tool and dye supervisors in Michigan. They hold $27 billion in GM debt but are receiving a 10 percent stake in the new company.

In contrast, the UAW, which is owed about $20 billion from GM, is walking away with 17.5 percent of the company and a cool $9 billion in cash.

According to one analysis, while the bondholders will be lucky if they recover 15 cents on the dollar, the UAW can expect to recover up to 60 to 70 cents on the dollar - four to five times what the bondholders will receive.

As Barron’s Magazine wrote, “Never has an American union done so well at the expense of shareholders and creditors”.

“At a Time When Some American Workers are Facing Stiff Pay Cuts, UAW Workers Gave Up Their Customary Paid Holiday on Easter Monday”

Of course, the Obama Administration has assured us that the United Auto Workers has made “substantial concessions” as part of the bankruptcies that have literally saved the union from extinction.

But as no less than the Washington Post put it, the “union concessions were ‘painful’ only by the peculiar standards of Big Three labor relations: At a time when some American workers are facing stiff pay cuts, UAW workers gave up their customary paid holiday on Easter Monday and their right to overtime pay after less than 40 hours per week. They still get health benefits that are far better than those received by many American families upon whose tax money GM jobs now depend.”

Union members also preserved their right to have six unexcused absences from work before they can even be considered to be fired.

Can you feel the pain?

The Unions Have Been Rewarded With
Ongoing Subsidization by the Taxpayers

It is a sign of the degree to which raw politics has dominated its handling of Chrysler and General Motors that the Obama Administration has a 31-year-old who has not yet graduated from law school determining the fate of two multi-billion dollar companies.

For their political support of the Democratic Party, the auto unions have been rewarded, not just with ownership stakes in two giant companies, but with ongoing protection and subsidization by the U.S. taxpayers.

The President has said repeatedly that he wants to get out of the auto business as soon as possible. But does anyone seriously believe that he would accept an arrangement in which GM becomes profitable at the expense of the union and its gold-plated benefits?

Having spent $50 billion to “save” GM and the UAW, does anyone really believe that the Obama Administration will now allow economics and not politics to dictate its future decisions?

In the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies, the Obama Administration has trampled on the rule of law.

It is using the taxpayers’ money to pay back a political group for its political contributions.

There was a time when we would have called that a scandal.

Your friend, Newt Gingrich

The Treasury should be standing there with “arms wide open” to accept any of the TARP money a bank wants to pay back.  Our government charter does not extend to the bailout of private enterprise entities, bank, automotive company or any other.  However, we have allowed it and now that the funds have been disbursed, every effort should be made to get them back.  That may be the intent of our Treasury but it doesn’t feel that way based on the way it is reported.  (link to WSJ article below)

Related point: I am working a business turnaround situation with a client whose bank is a TARP bank. You would never know the bank has accepted money intended on helping business move forward.  We have a valid business moving forward plan where the bank does not even have to advance any more funds. However the cooperation of the bank is required.  They have chosen not to cooperate. I am told by other professionals  working with  companies and with TARP money banks that the attitude from the banks of not really helping is pervasive.

So the we allow the government to bail out these banks and the money is not being used to really help the economy.  Amazing.

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Steve Pohlit, Expert Business Consulting

IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation ConsultationOn Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Here is today’s Wall Street Journal Article.

News Alert
from The Wall Street Journal
—————————-
Sponsored by NASDAQ OMX
—————————-

The Treasury Department said it will allow 10 of the nation’s largest banks to repay $68 billion in government bailout money.

The Treasury says the banks will be allowed to repay the money they received from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. The banks have been eager to get out of the TARP program to escape government restrictions such as caps on executive compensation.

The Treasury Department did not name the banks involved, but Morgan Stanley said it is repaying $10 billion in TARP capital.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124455528999797923.html#mod=djemalertNEWS

It is helpful for me to know what tweets people enjoy the most. The best way I know is to monitor what my followers are re-Tweeting. Here is what I noticed this week. You are encouraged to Tweet this article and follow me on Twitter http://Twitter.com/stevepohlit

Also - if you have a favorite Tweet from me or anyone add it to the comment section here along with your @twittername  and I am likely to Tweet it to my network of over 23,000 people.

Top re-Tweets for the week ending June 7th

Most Popular re-Tweet Is This Quote:

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” Maya Angelou

Next Most Popular

How to backup your Wordpress blog http://TwitPWR.com/backup/

“You are amazing. Expand by connecting with those even more amazing than you. How do you do that? Allow yourself to attract them.” Steve Pohlit

Other Popular Tweets

Is your business in a crisis and what to do if it is http://TwitPWR.com/mgmt/

Lots of detailed work connected with social media marketing. Understand it and leverage it. Start here http://jijr.com/hhMJ

Twitter Tip 1: if you want your message to be RT then keep it under 120 char

Twitter Is Hot, Avoid The 7 Deadly Sins http://TwitPWR.com/twittersins/

Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work. Earl Nightingale

Your life’s work is a statement of who you are. If not, why are you doing it? CWG

More About Social Media Marketing

Learn how to use social media for marketing.  Click Here and register at Social Media Source for the free course or Email Brian for information on the Social Media Marketing course he is offering.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, Expert Business Consulting

IR Consulting, Inc.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation ConsultationOn Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis 

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

When a company cannot move forward with profitable operations because of accumulated debt  meaning they are not in a positive cash flow position, they must close the business and restructure. Either solution is costly. Restructuring with the protection of Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy code adds to the costs. 

The cost of restructuring is not because of the people working to restructure or the bankruptcy court. The costs are generally a result of mistakes in the past. General Motors has access to many of the best and brightest in the world.  With all this talent, they still managed to steer a company to bankruptcy.  That is sad.  How that happened will be guessed and reported on in many other articles and books. The purpose of this article is to give you a glimpse of what’s next. 

In GM’s case, there has been  an attempt  to negotiate a structure for moving forward prior to the filing.  An agreement was not reached.  It is my personal view from being close to a number of restructuring opportunities that in many instances a rational solution is ignored. When that happens it often is because most everybody negotiating is an employee of somebody. Consequently the number one item on the agenda is  ”cover my ass.”

My turnaround and profit improvement work is often with privately held corporations where one or more people running the business are owners. Having held executive  management positions (employee) with large pubic and private companies and having the experience as a business owner, I can assure you there is a huge mindset difference.  The mindset of an owner is solution and action oriented. The mindset of an employee is “how do I get this done and protect my job”.  Of course there are exceptions and most would say my mindset has nearly always been that of an owner whether I was one or not.

If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis 

Most of the restructuring of  GM led by the company’s respective employees and advisers  began prior to the bankruptcy filling p. Part of this included  the company saying to the US Government “bail us out since certainly baseball, apple pie and General Motors is protected by the US Constitution”  Our president (an employee who we hired) says OMG I can’t let the automobile industry crater. He and his subordinate employees throw a Hail Mary pass to fuel  the restructure with a lot of money…our money.  So the employees tell the owners of the money, the US citizens,  how it will be spent and the owners (us) just shrug and say “OK”.  

So the US Government steps in to the newly defined role of bailing out certain large companies and notice that the GM bailout did not avert a bankruptcy filing.  So the brain trusts that run our country decide to send billions of our money to a company that months later files bankruptcy.  Do such investments happen outside of Government bailouts? Of course.  Investment funds make decisions all the time that don’t turn out as planned. The difference is that they are not using taxpayers money.

Taxpayers’ money is not the only money at risk.  There are billions of dollars owed by GM that will never be paid back. The ripple effect of  radically changed business is huge. Thousands of companies linked to the GM supply chain will go out of business or already have, since GM will cram down the money owed these unsecured creditors.  They won’t be paid and they won’t have business fast enough to replace that lost. Of course the direct and indirect job loss is enormous.  Again, don’t blame the restructure plan or the bankruptcy process. This situation is a result of how this company has been managed for decades.

The bankruptcy is necessary since not enough people agree on the latest restructuring  plan promised to move GM to the land of profitability. So GM executives, advisers and others to benefit  we will carve out a deal using the protection of Chapter 11 of  the US Bankruptcy Code.  This is a federal law designed to offer companies the opportunity to restructure and move forward profitably. Great idea except there are a few things you may want to consider:

Who pays for the bankruptcy filing?

Who always get paid during a bankruptcy?

Where is management’s attention during a bankruptcy particularly during the early phases of uncertainty?

Answers:

The administrative (accounting, lawyer, trustee) fees associated with any bankruptcy are enormous and the people who are owed money prior to the bankruptcy are the main contributors to paying these costs.  For example, if a secured creditor is owed $10 million dollars, when the bankruptcy reorganization is filed, they may be offered 30% of the balance paid out over time  depending on how much money is projected to be available . Think of a home mortgage.  A bank holding the mortgage is secured by the value of the home.  Normally that is good protection but if the bank loaned 110% of appraised value then the value dropped 30% the security does not cover the amount of the loan. It looks as if the bailout money given to GM is at high risk of not being paid back 100%.  Time will tell. Unsecured creditors are  not likely to  get anything in a bankruptcy or pennies on the dollar. 

The company pays for the costs of the bankruptcy process including filing fees, trustee fees, attorney fees and  accounting fees. Of course paying for these costs means that money cannot be used to pay debt or suppliers. These costs are normally much larger than most people imagine.  These fees are always paid. In some cases the court will require a reduction in fees charged but usually not.

A bankruptcy filing is very disruptive to normal business operations. The attention of management and ultimately many others is on what is happening with the case. This is particularly acute in high profile cases that are covered by the press like the GM case.

If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting  Services for Business In Crisis 

Are Their Benefits To This Process?

The company’s regular business operations are protected while the case is active meaning creditors are not able to pursue lawsuits or size secured property.

A creditor’s committee will ultimately approve a reorganization plan. This plan is usually one with fewer assets than were in place before the filing since a lot of money will have been spent on bankruptcy related expenses. Generally the plan is similar to what the company wanted to do prior to the filing but had to file because people could not agree.  Seems like once a company is in bankruptcy, employees who work for creditors are more likely to agree to a reorganization plan since they can always represent “well this is the best we could do as the company is in bankruptcy.” 

Some company’s emerge successfully from this process and go on to restoring profitable growth. In General Motor’s case time will tell.  There seems to be structural costs that will not be resolved in this case which are the labor costs driven by the union. Retirement benefits are being publicized as being a concern. Ultimately the company will determine what it is able to afford and changes will have to be made. 

Ed Koch has been retained as the turnaround expert.  His firm is very reputable and he has a number of notable turnaround successes. The one thing no one can predict with certainty is to what extent customers will want the product the company makes. The public has many choices and there may be too much resistance to this brand long term for any plan to be viable.  

The media is already reporting the estimated impact of the bankruptcy on jobs and the economy. They are missing a key point. The impact is not from the bankruptcy. The impact is from how this company has been run in the past. The consistent implementation of a profit strategy has not been in place. From the outside looking in it seems the focus has been on preserving high paying  jobs and lucrative benefits while placing secondary priority on innovation and a profitable infrastructure. If those priorities remain during and following this bankruptcy, the company will not survive.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation ConsultationOn Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis 

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Paying attention to billionaires who build their fortune is a good idea if you are interested in making a lot of money.  Bill Bartman is a self made billionaire.  Bill earned his money during an economic situation similar to what we are experiencing now.  

More about Bill and the lesssons I have learned following him in future articles. For now here is an email I received from Bill. I recommend visiting his website (Click Here)  and registering for his newslettters by email including the gifts he mentions in the following

Dear Steve,

You may not know that I have a brand-new book coming out called “Bailout Riches:  How Everyday Investors Can Make A Fortune Buying Bad Loans For Pennies on the Dollar”.  If I were you, I would NOT buy it until June 2.  Let me explain.     You see, whenever I do something, I like to do it BIG.  In past years I’ve rented 27 Boeing Jumbo Jets to fly 6,000 people to Disney World.  I also built the largest–and most ethical–debt collection company on the planet.  This time, I want to drive my book to best-seller status.     In order to do that, I want to concentrate sales on a particular day, and that day is Tuesday June 2.   What’s in it for you to buy my book on June 2?   First, about the book.  It’s all about how you can not just “survive” this major recession, but how you can truly prosper in it.  I explain an opportunity that is likely to come around only once in your lifetime:   –How regular individuals can buy bank debt for mere pennies on the dollar; –Why you need no prior experience to be able to get in this business; –How you can buy it using NONE of your own money; –Exactly how you can collect on that debt (stress-free), or simply have others do it for you.   As you may know, the last time an opportunity came around like this, I went from being bankrupt to becoming a self-made billionaire.  This time the opportunity is much bigger.  Best of all, in the book I hand YOU the roadmap I never had, so your success can be even faster.   =====> Warning <=====   Now don’t get too excited and go out and buy it before June 2!  That’s because I have a special bonus package ONLY for people who buy the book on June 2.  Not a day earlier, not a day later.   I won’t spill the beans just yet.  Let’s just say it will contain more goodies than I put in the book, to give you a real insider’s edge on how to profit from this astonishing opportunity.  You can ONLY get the bonuses when you buy my book on Tuesday, June 2 from Amazon.   With the economy as bad as it is today, this book could not be more relevant.  It’s tailor made for people with day jobs who want or NEED to start making serious money now.

Bill Bartmann

Action Step

Visiting Bill’s website (Click Here)  and register for his  newslettter then you will not miss the bonused he mentions in this email to me.

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Christine is awesome. She has an amazing background which I learned when I met her at a seminar a few years ago in Orlando.  For now let’s get right into the topic. This article is very focused on two elements that I totally support. Those are the A priority key success factors which she describes as Needle Movers and the management system she describes for defining and implementing the action steps in alignment with the A items.  So ignore me and pay attention to her. Regardless do this and your business will soar with the Eagles.  

One more thing.. I noticed her post on Facebook and I am republishing this because it is valuable.  She has not asked me to do this and I am not an affiliate…I am looking into it though

Here is Christine……

————————————
Okay, in case you’re new to this, your needle movers are the 2 or 3 tangible results that, when achieved, will change everything for your business, allowing you to move forward FAST! I’ll cover this topic extensively at my Results Now Summit in San Francisco on June 5 and 6, but here’s an overview to get you started. 

Many people struggle with a lack of focus simply because they aren’t defining their needle movers and working only on those. It’s vital that we identify the 3 activities to focus on RIGHT NOW that “move the needle” – meaning, they move your business forward from zero to 10 miles per hour, or from 10 to 40 mph, or 40 to 90 mph. You get the picture. Distilling your business to its essence is key here. Needle movers keep you focused on the actions that drive RESULTS. 

For instance, maybe to move your business forward you need to: generate more sales leads, close more sales, train up your team to be self-managed. These would become your three needle movers. Further, everyone on your team should have needle movers that they are focusing on and reporting on. It’s important to distill your needle movers to only 3 is because each of these will have plenty of sub-activities surrounding them, and this is a tool to keep you focused and rockin’ toward REAL success.. So stick to three and GET YOUR NEEDLE MOVING!

A Monthly Planning Template to Support Your Needle Movers: Let’s create a Monthly Planning Template to help you stay focused on your own needle movers. Grab a piece of paper and place it lengthwise or open up a new document in Word in “landscape” mode. Now make 4 columns. The first column is labeled RESULT (this is one of your needle movers), the second column is labeled ACTIONS (these are the actions to take to achieve the specific needle moving RESULT), the third column is labeled OWNER (this is the person who is accountable for a given ACTION) and the fourth column is RESOURCES (these are the resources such as web sites, software and other tools or people to help an OWNER complete a given ACTION.)

So, left to right the columns are: RESULT, ACTIONS, OWNER, RESOURCES.

A given RESULT will have usually 3-10 ACTIONS, which may have different OWNERs for each ACTION. There may or may not be RESOURCES for a given ACTION.

I also like to include a TARGET, MINIMUM and MIND BLOWER for each Needle Moving RESULT. You won’t always achieve the exact result you want. This doesn’t mean you have failed! Heck, a result is a result, and it will move your business forward. The TARGET is what you want, the MINIMUM is what you are willing to accept, the MIND BLOWER is what would absolutely ROCK your world. 

One huge benefit of needle movers? Anticipation = Power! Anticipating achieving your needle movers keeps you going!)

Need help identifying YOUR needle movers? Join me on June 5 and 6 at my Results Now Summit in San Francisco. Besides a million-dollar education in business acceleration, there will financing opportunities, networking opportunities and enough strategies for success to launch your business into the stratosphere! 

To your continued success! 

Christine Comaford, Business Accelerator
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.
NY Times Best Selling Author

http://www.ResultsNowSummit.com 

———————————————————————-

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation ConsultationOn Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

The goal of any business project is increased revenue and profits. If in some way the idea, project, technology is not able to be measured in terms of increased profitability why bother?  A key marketing principle is the best customer is one you already have while you work on programs to bring in more profitable customers.  Profitable business is earned one customer at at time which is why even the largest global companies that are very successful have a laser beam focus on customer satisfaction.

Local AdLink is an emerging business with a tool that is intended to help grow revenue and profits. It is an exciting idea and I became intrigued because their business model aligns with the business purpose of connecting with local customers and  prospects.

A couple years ago I purchased an ebook for I think $17 or something like and it was about a guy implement local business to customer marketing.  I looked at what he was doing and concluded it made sense.  So I set up a program at http://localretailmarketing.com  Very shortly after that a guy contacted me about a car wash and related services business he had in the Midwest. So  we tested this and in six weeks a credible list of 1400 subscribers was developed. Ultimately his business was sold and one of the assets was this list.

Unless You Are Building An Asset, Marketing Dollars Are Essentially Being Flushed Down The Toilet

When I noticed Local AdLinks I concluded that it fit well with the asset building model I advocate.  I also concluded my skill set was best directed to teaching Business Builder how to do this.  We are just starting. However the people who join Local AdLinks with my my team receive an amazing income earning potential business model and support.

The following letter was sent to a local business today (hand delivered) and demonstrates the basic program I advocate.  Notice the entry fee.  Team members who sell this receive 40 %  of the revenue. Do the math.  If you don’t join my group, you should steal this letter and program because it is the one that will work for any (for profit) company.  That is right - any.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Now Here Is The Letter I Mentioned

I R Consulting, Inc.
Steve Pohlit, President
Websites:
http://localretailmarketing.com
http://stevepohlit1.LocalAdLink.net
http://irconsultinginc.com
http://stevepohlit.com

Dry Cleaners and Car Wash

Executive Summary of Business To Consumer Marketing System and Pricing

Business Goal : Increase revenue and profits using proven on line marketing tools and techniques.

Implementation: Jean Levy will coordinate the detailed implementation plan. Steve Pohlit is accountable for final product and implementation.

Tools and Techniques

Website descriptive and keyword search engine optimized: Ex Largo Florida Dry Cleaner. I understand the business has a domain name. For this program, the dns addresses of the domain should point to my server to allow access for design and edits.

Customer Contact Form on web page: normally we use first name, email address and phone number. The phone number is optional. The contact form is designed using an autoresponder system which essentially is a system that automates messages to people who register.

Autoresponder Sequence: generally a series of messages designed to entice people to the business. We draft these messages and there will be 8 developed delivered at a rate of approximately two per week during the first month. Then 2-4 per month in subsequent months. We rely on the business to help us with the content and promotions for these messages .

Local Adlink 10 Zip code package: this is an innovative system where local companies receive ad placement on 129 search engines and the Local Adlink website. Upon acceptance of this proposal, Jean Levi will meet with you to review all the advantages of Local Adlink which are extensive. This should be tested for a minimum of 3-6 months. All ads we design will include an image and an incentive for tracking purposes. The incentive will be a coupon with an offer defined by Capri. We suggest 20% your next dry cleaning order, Free Car Wash with dry cleaning order receipts totaling $100 and 20% off your next car wash. Note all customers taking advantage of the promotion agree to provide a valid email address for the discount.

Point of Sale Customer Contact Program: Use a 20% off your next order coupon in exchange for name and valid email. Incentive to front desk staff. Offer $.50 for each valid name and email address form submitted.

Pricing:

$1,900 paid up front. For this price:

1-2 page website – you own the site
customer contact form
autoresponder and message sequence
Local AdLink ad
Consultation on implementing Point of Sale Customer Contact Program

Monthly – following the first month of implementation
$100. 00 Maintenance of customer contact program, autoresponder account and messaging
$100.00 Local Ad Link test for 3-6 months

We accept PayPal or a check. If paying by check, we will give the deposit information for the Wachovia Bank next door.

Comments:

This is a powerful program when worked consistently and normally takes 60-90 days to see meaningful results and return on investment. The key to success is consistent implementation which actually builds the asset base of your business.

———————————————————————–

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Thank you for the opportunity to provide this information. We are ready to begin when you are.

Yes! In fact revenue and profit goals are always only achieved with The Law of Attraction.

I can write about my own experiences until I am “blue in the face”…..until “the cows come home”  None of  that matters. What matters is your experience.

What you focus on expands. You can study how to apply The Law of Attraction in your business  or get on the  fast track  with my help.  Actually doing it yourself is more costly when you price  your time and calculate the impact on business revenue and profits.

My experience with using the Law of Attraction is extensive. For example,

• I continually image and create successful results with my business clients.

With my mastermind partner:

• We imaged and created a successful membership site Manifest Mastermind which is based on The Law of Attraction.

• We Imaged and created a successful social media marketing business.

There is more.  For now, Email Me, Steve Pohlit if :

• Your company with revenues exceeding $5 million need help with profitable growth, business turnaround or crisis management.

• You would like to discuss how social media marketing can drive targeted traffic to your business. We are very interested in working with companies selling consumer products.

If you are interested in learning more about the Law of Attraction, you are invited to register for our free course at http://manifestmastermind.com I see increasing evidence of The Law of Attraction working perfectly every minute of every day. I encourage you to consider the information from our free course.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

The phrase “cash is king” is widely recognized because it is true.  When you solidify cash flow you solidify your business.

Cash of course can be borrowed. For  many companies, traditional sources of financing are nearly non existent.  Lines of credit are being tightened and there is little or no room for  loan covenants variations.  In this and all situations, the sooner management accepts responsibility for  the state of their business, the sooner they are in a mindset for moving the business forward.  What are the primary options for restructuring a business facing these circumstances?  The primary alternatives are:

1. Secure a lending facility from a source that is not a traditional bank.

2. Negotiate a new note with your existing bank - very unlikely right now.

3. File a restructuring plan under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy code - an action of last resort and very costly.

4. Sell the business: viable if your business is attractive to a strategic buyer. You will need a creative contract if you expect to get much more than having your personal guarantees removed from the debt.

5. Close the business and do something else. You may feel you may want to do that but be careful since if your business assests upon liquidation do not cover the senior debt, your personal assets may be at risk. In this environment institutions are taking homes .

You may be thinking the above is written for a business experiencing losses in market share and profits.  Companies with bright pictures being painted are experiencing the impact of banks not lending. The money channeled to banks from the government is not flowing through to  companies deserving loans.

For this reason, alternative sourcing of funds is often needed.  A lot of time and energy can be spent finding the right deal or you can select a firm with the contacts that will get this done quickly on your behalf.

Last week I was in a meeting discussing options, strategies and pricing for services. It is very common for owners to begin calculation how much money firms make when a deal closes. This money is commonly called success fees. I explained that success fees are in proportion to the solution delivered.  The right professional firms have the experience and the contacts to move quickly and get results. How valuable is that when considering the alternatives?

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

All the solutions are waiting for you to attract them.  That’s right and if you disagree, you are correct.  What you believe is true for you.  For me, I know what I focus on expands. That is The Law of Attraction and it is always working even in business.  If you expect problems you will attract problems. If you look outside for the reasons there are issues in your business, then you will always be finding someone or something to blame.  All this solutions for your business start with your knowing there is a solution. Consider these examples:

Last week I began working with a rather large business that finds itself in a cash crunch.  The first meeting I had with the owners of this business asked the single most important question relative to this situation. “Do you feel this situation can be solved?”  Without a consensus yes answer, there would be no reason to continue.  We continued.

I called a meeting on the second day right at the beginning of the day with these owners. I asked them to begin focusing on the picture of success.  I guided them to shift their thoughts from all the issues that are pressing to the picture of a well coordinated profitable business with plenty of cash.  I said to them we would have this meeting every day that I was on sight and I encouraged them to hold the meeting when I was not there.  This week I will give more clear directions on imaging specific success for their business.

In business there are three situations: First there is the current situation. Second there is a situation that is more negative than the current situation and if that trend continues it could lead to what people describe as a worst case. Third, there is the going forward picture of what it is that the team of people in the company will create.  Of course my work is primarily focused on the third picture. Since I am not able to discern what others are intending, I spend some time on a worse case scenario designed to protect the business should events proceed quickly to the negative. On balance,  I usually spend 90% of my time on designing and implementing the going forward plan.

Solutions to business situations vary depending on the conditions being addressed. The second day into this project calls were received that represented huge opportunities. Day three another call came in that also represented a marvelous opportunity.  None of these seemed to be in motion until the owners began focusing on success.  They are responsible for their business and they are responsible for attracting success. My work is to help them attract success and optimize revenue and profits. I  show them how to continue that process once the project they hired me for  is complete.

Does their business suck?  Well actually it did up until a week ago. The owners are beginning to see they are responsible. They are no longer blaming external people, places and things. Once you accept responsibility that your are the reason for the state of your business, then you can begin to paint a new picture.

I experience more examples of how business sucks  in one week that I could possibly write about in a month. I’ll bet you do to and I’ll bet you have a short list of what they could do to improve the situation fast.

Consider this  example:  in the town of my  most recent client referenced above,  there is a very nice building exterior that is a home of a restaurant.  From all outward appearances, I anticipated a very good dining experience. Inside told a different story.  First the atmosphere was very institutional.  However, it appeared to be clean.  The appearance of the staff was not one where you knew they had much pride in themselves and so they didn’t have pride in servicing customers. I am sure there were exceptions. But I didn’t attract any that evening.  The food was not even close to the pictures on the menu.  The beer selection was good and it was good.

That is just one example of  “When Business Sucks, Look In The Mirror”.  Each of the issues described are fixable in a very short period of time.  There are so many opportunities in business for “doing it better”  without having to spend a lot of money.  The solution starts from within. It starts with the mindset “I am responsible for the outcome of my business.”

In operations, I work with companies on fundamentals.  In marketing I recommend solutions and have do it for you solutions. The do it for you solutions are particularly valuable in the social media marketing arena. In all cases I stay focused on proven business principles.  These are the ones that are ignored the most because the discipline required t0 execute the fundamentals is routine and boring.  It  just so happens those fundamentals are where the gold is mined.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Designer: Local Business Marketing This program is outstanding because it builds  long term relationships and profits.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

FREE Report:

How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Social Media In Plain Terms

Social media as an umbrella phrase includes sites and services that facilitate interactivity and community. In that regard blogs and email marketing are included. In fact both are an integral part of the marketing funnel. 

This series is focused on using the newer and emerging services for business development. The big three are YouTube, Facebook and  MySpace in that order. Fast risers are  Twitter and LinkedIn. Currently if you placed your social media marketing attention just on those, there still  would not be enough time in a  day to manually optimize the benefit of these sites. To develop and implement a business development campaign in most cases requires  an effective system that includes automation and leverage of very specifically defined tasks.

Which Site Is Best For Finding Your Target Audience?

All of them!  Look at the numbers.  Twitter which has moved into the 47th highest traffic spot according to Alexa as of the date if this article has an estimated 6 million users. If you have a business then your target audience is there.  Your audience is also on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube and many more sites. 

I suggest stop analyzing this until the cows come home and get to work.  The key is knowing how to properly use each account and attracting your target audience to your landing page, blog or website.  How you use Facebook is going to be different than how you use Twitter etc. All most likely are going to be linked and you will be using one of several applications to update multiple social media accounts through one interface. http://ping.fm is a popular one that works very well. 

Twitter

Twitter is particularly unique since each person has 160 characters for a profile biography and is limited to 140 characters per message.  It is also unique since according to Alexa most people stay on the first page of tweet flow (message displays).  This is a message ticker tape system. The newest message is posted at the top of the page and that pushes the last message on the page off.  

Many people focus on growing a large number of followers. The key is followers who are your target audience.  So how do you know that?  Start with Internet marketing 101 principles which is a clear definition of your target market.  Then what are the primary keywords related to your target audience?  Using the search function find out who is tweeting about those topic and follow them. You can expand this by following their followers. 

Balance Twitter followers and following by going to your View All Following screen and then looking for those people that do not have a direct message link. You can only direct message people if they follow you.  If after a few days someone has not followed you and you are attempting to balance the ratio, click delete.  There are some people and services that do not follow much at all but their content is valuable.  That is your choice.

More Twitter Tips in future additions. For now this will get you started and will help experienced users.  Again this is written with the goal of building business revenue and profits using social media. 

Marketing 

There have been no fundamental changes in the principles of successful marketing.  In order to convert targeted traffic into sales there must value and you must effectively communicate the value.  Start with your funnel and using Twitter as example.  You are forming  a relationship with your target audience.  Your tweets should have value. If they constantly scream buy this or that, your efforts will be futile and are likely to get you banned. 

Next

In the next article in this series I will take a closer look at some of the features, benefits and pitfalls of specific social media sites. In the meantime, every day you spend thinking about this or trying to figure it out on your own, is a day where you are not optimizing your sales that are possible using traffic from  social media. I  suggest you get started now by emailing me.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers?  Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

Link To Part 1 of  This Series

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

FREE Report:

How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Below is an email Ken McCarthy sent me and thousands of his closest friends. I have been privileged to attend four System Seminars and one targeted training Ken held for 30 people over a weekend in Miami.  Ken has tremendous experience with the Internet and is closely aligned with leadership. More importantly, Ken is a quality person and has always been focused on providing value.

This is an hour interview and I am the first to admit I have no patience with content of that length. However, this is an exception.  This is a marvelous interview and well worth your time.  Before I  turn this introduction over to Ken I want to mention The System. I am not an affiliate.  This is a sincere endorsement based on my personal experience.

Now here is Ken and you are in for a great show.

Steve Pohlit

________________________________________________

Steve

If you want to learn how to do something, the smartest
thing to do it find someone who’s done it.

Making a billion dollars is pretty lofty goal, but if
you’re interested I know a guy who has done it twice and
is on track to do it a third time.

He’s always worth listening to.

Recently, he was on the Charlie Rose program and
was on fire.

If you want to be prepared for the next ten years,
watch and take notes.

(It will help too if all you want to do it make
a million.)

Enjoy!

http://kenmccarthy.com/blog/?p=131

Ken
Ken McCarthy
The System Seminar

———————————————————————–

I appreciate Ken providing this really great interview

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

FREE Report:

How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Being on line means you are already using social media sites. The question is should you be using social media as part of your marketing strategy?  My experience in developing business with social media being part of the marketing strategy, confirms that social media is a “must have” part of your marketing strategy.

What Is Social Media?

Social media are locations where people build communities based on interest.  Just like a physical community where there is a wide range of interests and value systems, you will find diversity in sites categorized as social media. Considering the diversity of interests, it is very important  to define the audience you are attracting or your target market.

What Are The Best Social Media Sites For Building Business Revenue and Profits ?

The answer to that question depends on your target audience. For example, if you are an engineering firm, you are more likely to find your target audience on Linked In rather thank on MySpace.  However, since MySpace has over 200 million subscribers, your target audience is likely there as well.  In this example, LinkedIn may be more suitable for finding your target audience near term but MySpace should not be ignored.

We set up profiles for our businesses and our client companies on most major social media sites.  We give each site  the focus warranted by the  target market. When you are attracting targeted prospective customers, you are then working consistent with your profit goals.

Ultimately you must be able to convert that traffic to profitable revenue.  Conversion has nothing to do with social media and everything to do with  follow up systems. In other words, conversion has everything to do with your sales funnel.

The Social Media Funnel

I started using the word cloud to describe the population of people using social media.  I have seen other people use that term as well and feel it is a good description.  Tools within each social media site are used to attract people from the cloud to your group, following, blog, landing page or some other feature specifically associated with your offer. However, drawing people to from the social media cloud  is not the place to begin conversion. That is the place to begin building a relationship.

The Social Media Cloud to Customer Process

There is no one program for bringing  people to your business which is where you have an opportunity to market your offer.  Each social media site operates differently.  We have spent thousand of hours testing various ways to use the major social media sites. We have a very good understanding of what works from the results we achieve.

We also have confirmed that there is significant time involved in setting this up properly and executing the daily tasks required to build and grow an effective network. The time is significant   even with an effective process of in place of focusing on the most efficient tasks and using  the leverage of automation and delegation.  In addition, the landscape is dynamic which means that you must be alert for social media site changes that affect processes in place.

The time and processes required to build and maintain an effective network for attracting targeted people to your conversion cycle from the social media cloud is extensive. If you are intent on doing this yourself then focus your attention on two or three main sites.   Realistically since building a social media network means doing certain tasks daily, focusing on more than two or three sites without an entire department or outsourcing this work is impractical.

The Benefits of Social Media Marketing

The first benefit of social media marketing is that  the cloud is huge so your customers are there.  Next, the more consistent you are in building your network, the easier it becomes to grow your network since there is a viral aspect.  We see evidence of  people building rather large followings and groups and enjoying the esteem that comes with the related popularity. That is certain one valid goal.

Our goal is monetization of the value we offer. We are a business and to remain in business, we must make a profit.  The level of business success is measured by revenue and profit trends. For clients, we hold ourselves accountable for delivering a 100% return on investment in 30 to 90 days.

To be a client you must have a business that has a sales conversion cycle that is already working for a clearly defined target market.  To achieve those results we measure and track all data from the network developed from the cloud all the way through conversion into a sale.  Analysis is key if your focus is making money.

Foundation for Success

I have written articles about this, conducted training about this and led client projects focused on this.  The this I am referring to is build traffic and convert it.  With the numerous social media marketing opportunities, it is easy to take your eye of the ball of sales.  When a customer says I’ll take it, that is a very valuable event. You then are responsible for delivering the value of what the customer has purchased and having in place the right customer service support structure for what you are selling.

If there are weaknesses in what you sell and in your support network,  all the work you do in social media, Internet marketing, PPC, direct mail, direct sales and more is largely wasted. On the flip side of that, if the revenue cycle of your business is solid you will achieve a high return on you marketing dollar investment.

Next

In the next article in this series we will take a closer look at some of the features, benefits and pitfalls of specific social media sites. In the meantime, every day you spend thinking about this or trying to figure it out on your own, is a day where you are not optimizing your sales that are possible with social media. We suggest you get started now.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

FREE Report:

How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less