“The possibility I am inventing for myself and my life is _________” You fill in the blank. What possibility do you see for yourself? Landmark Forum teaches the technology for producing new possibilities and breakthrough results. It teaches personal transformation as a way of living.
I just completed my first Landmark Forum presented by Landmark Education in San Jose, California, July 17, 18, 19 and evening of July 21, 2009. I was introduced to Landmark Forum by a friend who was completing the Landmark Forum last year and she called my wife and me and invited us to a free evening session to find out about the Landmark Forum.
Landmark Education does not use paid advertising and marketing to promote the Landmark Forum but relies on word of mouth advertising by the participants much like sharing about a movie or restaurant. The participants enthusiastically share what new possibilities they’ve created for themselves and invite guest to attend the final evening session of the Landmark Forum. Word of mouth advertising keeps the cost way down and now is a good time to take advantage of the low cost to attend for early enrollment in the programs. The drawback, I see in not having paid marketing, is a lot of people have never heard of Landmark Education or Landmark Forum and its benefits, but the low overhead and use of volunteers keeps the Landmark Forum affordable. Compared to the high cost of taking a weekend training of NLP from Richard Bandler’s organization, the Landmark Forum is a bargain.
During the Landmark Forum I experienced self examination. I examined what happened in my past and what “story” I tell about what happened. Over time the story I tell myself becomes “the way it is “. It becomes the reality I know. This limits what is possible in my life, and robs me of much joy and effectiveness. What I have discovered is when I am able to separate what happened from my story or interpretation, I discovered that what I considered already determined and established is just my story. Situations that are challenging are now open to change and I no longer have to let limiting beliefs keep me from creating new possibilities and I can achieve with new ease and enjoyment.
Many participants through out the Landmark Forum experienced breakthroughs and were encouraged to renew relationships that had been strained and to communicate more meaningfully with family and friends. In my opinion effective communications can increase the value that one brings to the market place as well. Participants were encouraged to take immediate action and to telephone and renew and improve relations during the breaks in Landmark Forum. Throughout the Landmark Forum participants would volunteer to speak at a microphone what the concepts meant and applied to their lives.
During the Landmark Forum certain words are given slightly different meanings or viewed differently. This jargon is used to explain the concepts. For example ”integrity” is highly emphasized. It means to be true to ones word; honesty, sound, to speak the truth, to do or not do what you say you will do. To me this is the morale meaning of the word. I believe that most of the participants had integrity in this morale sense of the word and people who do not, would not be interested in transpersonal transformation in the first place due to their lack of morality. Integrity is used in the Landmark Forum as William Shakespeare wrote …”to thine own self be true…” To live life to the fullest, not to lie to yourself by listening to your own negative self talk, your own limiting beliefs. The psychologist Abraham Maslow said to “self actualize”. I call it to “awaken” or to be “conscious” of your creative power. I am not going to rehash the entire Landmark Forum here in this blog post, what I just gave you should be sufficient to show how words can be distinguished to teach concepts of transformation. For more examples go to the Landmark Education link at the bottom of this article.
I have read some nonsense written by some bloggers calling the Landmark Forum a cult, or false religion, etc. The people of Landmark Education are not a cult as I previously stated the Landmark Forum encourages renewing relationships with family, not living in isolation away from family. All participants go back to their homes and there was no Kool Aid to drink. Although jargon is used to teach transformation (all subjects of study have their buzzwords to learn) in the Landmark Forum what is actually taught has been taught by psychologist, philosophers, life coaches, counselors, various religious leaders, etc. for several years now. Landmark Forum teaches these concepts in a compact long weekend and at a price at a lot lower then the thousands of dollars competitors charge.
For more information and to watch an interesting video about the Landmark Forum go to http://landmarkeducation.com/.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Six Reasons Why You Should Be Working With A Virtual Assistant
By guest blogger Katie Gutierrez
Working with a virtual assistant is an increasingly popular solution for business owners and entrepreneurs. Virtual Assistants, or VAs as they are also called, are support professionals who telecommute from their home offices. They can provide assistance with anything from the most fundamental level administrative tasks and duties, to more advanced functions like project management, editing, or bookkeeping. Many small business owners are choosing to use virtual assistant services, and we’ve identified the top six reasons why:
Geography is no longer an issue. You can work with person best suited to your needs, regardless of location. Working with a virtual assistant who possesses the exact skill set, industry knowledge, and work style you need is much more effective that hiring a partially qualified person who happens to live nearby. The time it takes your new assistant to become acclimated to your business is reduced, allowing the individual to meet your desired goals quickly and accurately. This benefit allows you to increase your income and grow your business in much less time.
Virtual assistants are paid only for the number of hours you need. Because virtual assistants only “clock in” when they are working on your projects, you will not pay for time during their breaks or other downtime. In most situations, you would not need to guarantee to utilize a specific amount of hours per week. Just delegate work as needed, and pay only for the actual time it takes to complete the tasks.
You will no longer need to establish a work station or purchase expensive equipment for your assistant. Virtual assistants have fully functioning home offices. Your work space will remain yours, and there is no need to share your office and furnish computers, telecommunications devices, or office supplies.
Virtual assistants can function as well, and sometimes better than an onsite assistant can. With today’s technology, sharing files, calendars, and email with a remote assistant is easy. Phone calls can be routed to your assistant, and you can work with that person as smoothly as if they were sitting at a desk next to yours. VAs have the ability to complete work efficiently, without all of the distractions that often occur in a busy office environment.
No need to worry about workers compensation, payroll taxes, or other costs associated with hiring an employee. Virtual assistants are independent contractors who are able to manage several clients and tasks. They pay their own taxes, which means more cost savings for you.
Virtual Assistants are professionals committed to your success, rather than employees looking for the next job. The livelihood of virtual assistants depends on their relationship with you and results for your company. Most are looking for long term working relationships and are committed to giving you their best. VAs succeed when their clients succeed. That is a quality that all business owners desire in an assistant.
There are fewer things that can make such a positive impact on the bottom line of a business and the sanity of a business owner than working with a virtual assistant. If you are looking for a way to receive assistance in a cost effective and flexible manner, give virtual assistance a try.
Katie Gutierrez is the founder and CEO of Assistant Match, a company that matches busy people with the right virtual assistant. Katie is an international speaker who teaches people how to work with virtual assistants to increase income. She created the Virtual Assistant Quickstart to train virtual assistants to build successful businesses. Assistant Match has been featured in media across the U.S. and was recommended on NBC’s Today Show. For more information, visit http://www.assistantmatch.com/.
Working with a virtual assistant is an increasingly popular solution for business owners and entrepreneurs. Virtual Assistants, or VAs as they are also called, are support professionals who telecommute from their home offices. They can provide assistance with anything from the most fundamental level administrative tasks and duties, to more advanced functions like project management, editing, or bookkeeping. Many small business owners are choosing to use virtual assistant services, and we’ve identified the top six reasons why:
Geography is no longer an issue. You can work with person best suited to your needs, regardless of location. Working with a virtual assistant who possesses the exact skill set, industry knowledge, and work style you need is much more effective that hiring a partially qualified person who happens to live nearby. The time it takes your new assistant to become acclimated to your business is reduced, allowing the individual to meet your desired goals quickly and accurately. This benefit allows you to increase your income and grow your business in much less time.
Virtual assistants are paid only for the number of hours you need. Because virtual assistants only “clock in” when they are working on your projects, you will not pay for time during their breaks or other downtime. In most situations, you would not need to guarantee to utilize a specific amount of hours per week. Just delegate work as needed, and pay only for the actual time it takes to complete the tasks.
You will no longer need to establish a work station or purchase expensive equipment for your assistant. Virtual assistants have fully functioning home offices. Your work space will remain yours, and there is no need to share your office and furnish computers, telecommunications devices, or office supplies.
Virtual assistants can function as well, and sometimes better than an onsite assistant can. With today’s technology, sharing files, calendars, and email with a remote assistant is easy. Phone calls can be routed to your assistant, and you can work with that person as smoothly as if they were sitting at a desk next to yours. VAs have the ability to complete work efficiently, without all of the distractions that often occur in a busy office environment.
No need to worry about workers compensation, payroll taxes, or other costs associated with hiring an employee. Virtual assistants are independent contractors who are able to manage several clients and tasks. They pay their own taxes, which means more cost savings for you.
Virtual Assistants are professionals committed to your success, rather than employees looking for the next job. The livelihood of virtual assistants depends on their relationship with you and results for your company. Most are looking for long term working relationships and are committed to giving you their best. VAs succeed when their clients succeed. That is a quality that all business owners desire in an assistant.
There are fewer things that can make such a positive impact on the bottom line of a business and the sanity of a business owner than working with a virtual assistant. If you are looking for a way to receive assistance in a cost effective and flexible manner, give virtual assistance a try.
Katie Gutierrez is the founder and CEO of Assistant Match, a company that matches busy people with the right virtual assistant. Katie is an international speaker who teaches people how to work with virtual assistants to increase income. She created the Virtual Assistant Quickstart to train virtual assistants to build successful businesses. Assistant Match has been featured in media across the U.S. and was recommended on NBC’s Today Show. For more information, visit http://www.assistantmatch.com/.
Gary's Books
“The person we will become five years from now will be determined by the people we associate with and the books we read”, Charles “Tremendous” Jones. If you can’t find a mentor to teach you a particular area of expertise you need, you should be able to find a good book to teach you.
I personally own many personal development, self improvement, business, and psychology books. In my collection I have two personally autographed Napolen Hill books. The first is The Master-Key To Riches and the second is Think Your Way To Wealth. I also have an autographed copy of Earl Nightingale’s biography This Is Earl Nightingale.
If you would like to download Napolen Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” in PDF format sign up for my Success Newsletter. If you would like to join a Mastermind Group that discusses Think and Grow Rich, then contact me for the bridgeline number and acess code.
If you want to analyze a business for investment purposes or to take an active part in one, I recommend the following book: The E Myth, by Michael Gerber. (The E Myth Revisited is the updated version). Mr. Gerber makes an enlightening observation .
"Things need to be sold, and it's usually people who have to sell them.
Everyone in business has heard the old saying: 80 percent of our sales are produced by 20 percent of our people. Unfortunately, few seem to know what the 20 percent are doing that the 80 percent are not.
Well, let me tell you.
The 20 percent are using a system and the 80 percent are not.
A selling system is a soft system. And I've seen such systems produce 100 percent to 500 percent increases in sales in almost no time!
What is a selling system? It's a fully orchestrated interaction between you and your customer that follows five primary steps:
Identification of the specific Benchmarks-or consumer decision points-in your selling process; The literal scripting of the words that will get you to each one successfully (yes, written down like the script for a play!); the creation of the various materials to be used with each script; the memorization of each Benchmark's script; the delivery of each script by your salesperson in identical fashion.
A career development company we worked with put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 300 percent in one year.
An advertising agency put it in the hands of people with no experience in either selling or advertising, and revenues increased 500 percent in 2 years.
A health spa put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 40 percent-in two months.
If you put it to work in your company, it will do the same for you, no matter what kind of business you are in."
My understanding of this is you need a business with systems in place so if you choose to walk away from the day to day operation, your business will continue to grow and produce income. This will allow you to take vacations and build other businesses to increase your wealth. Don’t seek a business or investment that is just another job, but seek a business or investment that will increase wealth.
Another book is The Keys to the Vault, by Keith Cunningham. This is an informative book that teaches you how to pick a business.
How to Read A Financial Report, by John A. Tracy is a nuts-n-bolts book on reading financial statements so you will know how to audit the books.
For a free eBook that will save you years of frustration of failure in the networking business download Success in 10 Steps from my site Gary Sager's Success in 10 Steps. After you download the eBook I can email you some live and recorded skills calls.
I personally own many personal development, self improvement, business, and psychology books. In my collection I have two personally autographed Napolen Hill books. The first is The Master-Key To Riches and the second is Think Your Way To Wealth. I also have an autographed copy of Earl Nightingale’s biography This Is Earl Nightingale.
If you would like to download Napolen Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” in PDF format sign up for my Success Newsletter. If you would like to join a Mastermind Group that discusses Think and Grow Rich, then contact me for the bridgeline number and acess code.
If you want to analyze a business for investment purposes or to take an active part in one, I recommend the following book: The E Myth, by Michael Gerber. (The E Myth Revisited is the updated version). Mr. Gerber makes an enlightening observation .
"Things need to be sold, and it's usually people who have to sell them.
Everyone in business has heard the old saying: 80 percent of our sales are produced by 20 percent of our people. Unfortunately, few seem to know what the 20 percent are doing that the 80 percent are not.
Well, let me tell you.
The 20 percent are using a system and the 80 percent are not.
A selling system is a soft system. And I've seen such systems produce 100 percent to 500 percent increases in sales in almost no time!
What is a selling system? It's a fully orchestrated interaction between you and your customer that follows five primary steps:
Identification of the specific Benchmarks-or consumer decision points-in your selling process; The literal scripting of the words that will get you to each one successfully (yes, written down like the script for a play!); the creation of the various materials to be used with each script; the memorization of each Benchmark's script; the delivery of each script by your salesperson in identical fashion.
A career development company we worked with put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 300 percent in one year.
An advertising agency put it in the hands of people with no experience in either selling or advertising, and revenues increased 500 percent in 2 years.
A health spa put it in the hands of people with no experience, and revenues increased 40 percent-in two months.
If you put it to work in your company, it will do the same for you, no matter what kind of business you are in."
My understanding of this is you need a business with systems in place so if you choose to walk away from the day to day operation, your business will continue to grow and produce income. This will allow you to take vacations and build other businesses to increase your wealth. Don’t seek a business or investment that is just another job, but seek a business or investment that will increase wealth.
Another book is The Keys to the Vault, by Keith Cunningham. This is an informative book that teaches you how to pick a business.
How to Read A Financial Report, by John A. Tracy is a nuts-n-bolts book on reading financial statements so you will know how to audit the books.
For a free eBook that will save you years of frustration of failure in the networking business download Success in 10 Steps from my site Gary Sager's Success in 10 Steps. After you download the eBook I can email you some live and recorded skills calls.
Why Start Your Own Business?
Are you considering starting your own business? I believe you should, that is why I have started Gary Sager's Official Blog, to provide you with resources, business building tips, and tools to help insure your success. Bookmark this site and come back often to build your business and wealth.
Think about the advantages of owning your own business.
1) By building your own business and investments, you have multiple streams of income to recession proof your income. Housing prices have melted down in many areas of the country, fuel prices have skyrocketed, which affects the price of many goods we buy. Airlines have raised prices and cut service. All of these factors play a role in making our economy what it is today.
2) There is no job security. The only security we have is the actions we take ourselves.
3) Many companies do not have a pension plan, and those that do, their pensions are at risk.
4) Owning your own business can increase your income and is the only predictable way to build wealth.
5) Be your own boss. In other words control your destiny. Put yourself at the helm of your own ship, instead of being at the dock to have to unload the ship. Be in charge of your own time. Do you and your family deserve more? – more time, money, vacations, education or the ability to support the causes you believe in? To get what you deserve you must be in control.
6) Business owners have advantages given to them by the state and federal tax codes. “There are two systems of taxation in our country: one for the informed and one for the uninformed,” Judge Learned Hand. If you have a J.O.B. that is just over broke, or just over bankruptcy, you can immediately increase your take home pay by claiming more dependents to have income to pay for your expenses of building your own business. See your tax advisor for more specific details.
The goal of Gary Sager's Official Blog is to help to create businesses and investments that can run independent of the owner in their day to day operations. The owner then has more time and money to build wealth and more businesses and is not just running a business as another job.
I believe you deserve more and a business is the most direct and predictable way to get financial freedom.
Think about the advantages of owning your own business.
1) By building your own business and investments, you have multiple streams of income to recession proof your income. Housing prices have melted down in many areas of the country, fuel prices have skyrocketed, which affects the price of many goods we buy. Airlines have raised prices and cut service. All of these factors play a role in making our economy what it is today.
2) There is no job security. The only security we have is the actions we take ourselves.
3) Many companies do not have a pension plan, and those that do, their pensions are at risk.
4) Owning your own business can increase your income and is the only predictable way to build wealth.
5) Be your own boss. In other words control your destiny. Put yourself at the helm of your own ship, instead of being at the dock to have to unload the ship. Be in charge of your own time. Do you and your family deserve more? – more time, money, vacations, education or the ability to support the causes you believe in? To get what you deserve you must be in control.
6) Business owners have advantages given to them by the state and federal tax codes. “There are two systems of taxation in our country: one for the informed and one for the uninformed,” Judge Learned Hand. If you have a J.O.B. that is just over broke, or just over bankruptcy, you can immediately increase your take home pay by claiming more dependents to have income to pay for your expenses of building your own business. See your tax advisor for more specific details.
The goal of Gary Sager's Official Blog is to help to create businesses and investments that can run independent of the owner in their day to day operations. The owner then has more time and money to build wealth and more businesses and is not just running a business as another job.
I believe you deserve more and a business is the most direct and predictable way to get financial freedom.
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