The Best Way to Surpass Your Peers and Rise To The Top Of Any Business

What’’s the best way to surpass your peers and outdo your competitors? Work harder than they do. If that sounds daunting, consider this: Most people don’t work very hard. Some people spend their time doing as little as they possibly can. Most do stay busy, but they are not always very productive. They write long memos, discuss issues that don’'t need much discussion, contest insignificant points, and attend to the tedium. But only a very few apply themselves — long and hard — to the critical business challenges.

According to Saul Gellerman, who was an expert on the subject, people at work form a bell-shaped curve when it comes to diligence and follow-through. At the bottom are the loafers and goof-offs. In the middle is the silent majority that does just enough to get by. At the top are the relative few who are motivated to achieve. When you understand the dynamics of any such group, you understand that a modest amount of hard work will put you beyond both the terminally lazy and the lump-along middle crowd.

Just by being modestly ambitious, you will rise to the top third of almost any organization. But getting up the last few rungs of that ladder will be tough, because the few you are competing against are competing hard. Chances are they are as smart and talented as you, with the same (or more) basic resources. They may even have better contacts. But there is one thing they don’’t have more of — and that is time. If you can use your time more effectively than they use theirs, you will move ahead of them.

Hard workers eventually succeed even against those who have advantages. You can do better than someone who is smarter, richer, and luckier than you — so long as you are willing to work harder than he does. As a friend said to me the other night, “Life isn’'t fair. When it comes to money, beauty, intelligence, and talent, the distribution is uneven and arbitrary. But one thing we all have an equal amount of is time. We each have 24 hours a day. Even the length of life you get is not fair, but the 24 hours you have each day is the same for everyone — and what you do with those hours will determine your success and happiness.” 

Planning your day the night before gives you the chance to increase your productivity and think about new ways you can use your hours better. People who rise to the top work long hours, but not excessively long. They are at their desks early — at least an hour before others — and they stay later (though it may be only a half-hour later).

But what they do best is work harder when they work. They do the necessary things first, even if they are difficult. They learn what they need to know and don’'t waste business time learning unimportant stuff. They are willing to harass and cajole, tease and criticize, flatter and pout to get the job done. They spend a few minutes every evening organizing their days and a little while every Monday morning planning their week. They select their tasks based on what will achieve their goals, not on what happens to end up in their in boxes.

They manage their jobs; they don’t let their jobs manage them. Hard work is a lot of, well, hard work. But if you break every job down into little, easy-to-handle pieces, you can accomplish an extraordinary amount. And once you get into the habit of working harder and smarter than the people you compete with, your success is guaranteed.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Give Yourself a Second Chance in Life

“Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy person has no time to form.” – Andre Maurois

There is so much you can do in the second half of your life and so many examples of people who have accomplished great things as seniors. I’ve talked about several of them in past messages:

* Aristotle, Henry Flagler, and John Glenn 

* Nelson Mandela, Mary Baker Eddy, George Burns, Grandma Moses, and Colonel Sanders 

* Martha Graham 

* Armand Hammer and William R. Grace 

* Isaac Asimov 

* Tony Bennett 

Here are a few more to inspire you:

* Karen Blixen: Better known as Isak Dinesen, Blixen began writing fiction when her life was — by her social standards — over. Born to a distinguished Danish family, she attended Oxford, studied painting in Europe, married her cousin, and ran a coffee plantation in Africa for most of her career. Following her divorce and the subsequent failure of the plantation, she wrote “Seven Gothic Tales,” which became a best seller, and followed that up with “Out of Africa,” which was hailed (and justly so) as a great literary achievement, giving her a permanent place in the history of world literature.

* Edward Hopper:  Hopper, one of my favorite American painters, spent his life earning a living as a commercial illustrator. He never gave up painting, though, and began to paint the serious stuff he became known for — the dark streets, all-night diners, bleak white houses, etc. — when he was a mature man. He was well into his 60s when substantial recognition arrived, “too late,” as Brendan Gill (author of “Late Bloomers”) put it, “to do him any harm.”

* Wilbur Lucius Cross:  Cross spent the first half of his life as an academic, specializing in the development of the English novel. Upon retiring at 68, he launched himself into a political career — winning the governorship of Connecticut and successfully serving for three terms.

* Philip Johnson:  Born to a wealthy Cleveland family, Johnson spent his first 40 years living the kind of life most people dream of. The only thing he didn’t have was a career. He got one in his 40s. He enrolled in the graduate school at Harvard to study architecture, building a house for himself as a student project. He launched his practice in New York in 1945 and has since designed all sorts of prominent office buildings, museums, and churches. He was active in his business well into his 90s.

If you are nearing or past 50, stop telling yourself you are too old to do this or that.

Are you working on your lifelong dream? If not, get going. If you are over 50, ignore the critics and move forward. And if you are still young, don’t tell yourself you can do it later. Start now. Today. Do one small thing to move yourself forward and then do something else tomorrow.

Nobody will take you by the hand and walk you to the fulfillment of your dreams.

You have to start that walk alone. Do it now. One small thing.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

How an LLC Can Stop Lawsuits and Creditors Dead in Their Tracks

“Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.” – Jean de la Bruyere

As I explained previously, you may want to consider establishing a business entity like a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC) if you’re a real estate investor, an independent contractor, or a small-business owner. These entities can help make your business less risky and more financially rewarding.

Corporations (S Corps. and C Corps.) typically provide good protection against “traditional liabilities.” In other words, if your business is sued for something related to its business activities, a properly set up and maintained corporation should protect the owners from personal liability.

Yet most attorneys will tell you that a multi-member LLC will usually provide enhanced benefits – for two important reasons:

1. Fewer opportunities for error.

A corporation is more complicated than the LLC. For one thing, it must hold annual meetings. State law also requires it to abide by a number of rules that create a “forced” three-level management structure. This means all operations must be channeled through directors, officers, and shareholders. In a small- to mid-sized business, the same person or handful of people must occupy all of these positions – which can create confusion and increased opportunities for error.

On the other hand, state law does not force such a complex management structure upon the LLC. And, though it’s a good idea to hold an annual LLC meeting, it’s not a legal requirement. You probably won’t lose your protection if you forget to have one. This means fewer technicalities to deal with, less confusion, and fewer potential mistakes for an attorney to use against you when trying to “pierce” your business entity to hold you personally liable.

2. Greater protection against creditors.

Perhaps the main reason an LLC is favored in most situations is that it will not only protect you from your business’s liabilities… it can also protect your business from your personal liabilities.

Let’s say you are driving your family to the park on a Sunday afternoon. Along the way, your car “taps” someone who is crossing the street and he is slightly injured. The injured person finds a personal injury attorney who tries to milk the case for every penny. They sue you for $1,000,000… and win. Your insurance only pays out $500,000, so you still owe $500,000.

What happens next? The answer depends on whether you have a corporation or an LLC.

What usually happens in a case like this is that the attorney passes the case on to a collections specialist – an aggressive attorney who really knows the ropes. He can, for example, go to the judge and request a Writ of Execution. With this writ, a creditor may visit your residence or office (with the local sheriff) and begin seizing your personal assets.

If you have a corporation, he may also be able to seize up to 100 percent of your corporate stock shares… because your corporate stock shares are considered personal property. If the creditor gains control of your company by seizing enough of your shares, he can then vote to dissolve the corporation. Assets in the corporation would then be distributed to you (and your co-owners) personally. And then the creditor could grab those assets up to the $500,000 you still owe him.

But this can’t happen if you have an LLC – because the laws of all states (except Pennsylvania and Nebraska) have included special rules that allow LLCs to be protected in a situation such as this.

The creditor would generally not be able to gain control of your LLC. He also could not vote to end it, nor force a distribution of assets. He would be limited to a “charging order.”

A charging order is an order granted by a judge that says any money passed on to a business owner by the business must first go to the creditor… until the debt is paid off. BUT, the creditor does not have the right to force an LLC to make this payment. So he could wait a very long time for any such payment – especially if the people running the LLC are sympathetic to your situation. They could choose to stop distributions made to you altogether.

What’s more, once the creditor gets the charging order, he may even have to pay taxes on money the LLC made but which was not distributed to you.

Let’s say you’re a 50 percent owner of an LLC that makes $1 million in profits and the managers decide not to distribute any of those profits to you. The creditor can’t seize your $500,000 share of the profits, because it wasn’t distributed… but he could be forced by the IRS to recognize it as “phantom income” and find himself with a tax bill in the neighborhood of $150,000 or more.

Establishing your business as an LLC can almost act as a “poison pill” against questionable lawsuits, and it can put you in a much better negotiating position if you’re ever sued. The prospect of getting a big tax bill without any cash could spur the other party to settle the judgment debt or just drop his collection efforts. At the very least, it will help keep your business intact.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Real Estate Investing: Comps May Dictate Your Success As An Investor

Where you find your information and how you use it will go a long way in determining your success on a given property. If you are looking for a quick flip, your price will be determined by the comps you use. In fact, almost everything you do from that point will be reliant on the comps you use. Local properties will shape everything from your price to your renovation projects. By relying on old or inaccurate information, it will result in a lower price and less money in your pocket. Properties you are comparing the subject property to are the ones that buyers and realtors will be using. Just make sure they are the right ones. Using the appropriate comps in your area is absolutely critical to your success as an investor.

There are many instances where overzealous investors have unrealistic expectations for their properties. They may have seen a similar house in the area sell and automatically think they can get the same amount. Unless you know everything about that property, you are setting yourself up to fail. Start by looking at properties that have sold within a one mile radius of your house. Anything farther out than one mile can’t be considered a good comp. After you have your list of properties, you can start to go to work.

Look at the style, size, location and amenities of each property. The more differences, the less likely that a buyer will use that as a comparable. Even though you may give value to a pool, deck or fireplace, it does not mean that they will. Sure, some value must be given, but you need to be careful in placing a firm price on any one of those items. The only items that should guarantee value are living space (square footage) and bedrooms.

The best place to find sales and pending sales properties are through the MLS. If you are not a realtor, you will not have access to it. This is where having a license comes in handy. It is a bit of an effort to find comps, but this is the main part of their jobs. They should be able to provide you with sales for the last six months in your area. Listen to their advice and suggestions on what they think they can list the home for after you are done with your work. Don’t ignore their suggestions just because you think the quality of work will be nicer or you like the location better. Your realtor knows the market better than you and will know what a realistic value is.

Look through each comp and see if any deductions were made for a buyer paying cash or for a foreclosure sale. This is important information that you could use to increase your price. You can look at internet valuation sites as a starting point, but if you want to dig a little deeper, you will read the actual listing sheets. This is what they are there for and need to be used even if you think you have a good idea on the area.

Money is made in real estate either on the buy side or when you sell. If you do decide to sell, you need as much information as possible to make your decision. It is not enough to have information, but you need to look at the right information. With the help of your realtor, you should know as much about the property and the area as possible. Use this data to get the maximum return when it is time to sell.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Triple Your Chances of Accomplishing Your Greatest Goal

“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” – Henry Ford

If you want to triple or perhaps even quadruple your chances of success, partner up with someone who will work with you toward your goal. Two heads are generally better than one — not just twice as good, but three or four times as good. If you can get one smart, hardworking person to help you with each of your four main life goals, you will almost certainly achieve them — and probably much sooner than you think.

The myth of individual genius is destructive. It gives us the wrong blueprint for success, one that is more likely to bring us frustration and failure in our lives.

When we buy into the myth of individual genius, we think we have to do all the hard work ourselves. We think that our job is to discover some hidden well of creativity inside us — a source of ideas, power, and inspiration that will magically enable us to achieve our dreams.

But the truth is very different. Studies show that most successful people rely on the help or assistance of at least one other person. All my own experiences validate those findings, and so do the experiences of my friends and colleagues who have succeeded. (I can’t think of a single lone wolf who succeeded. I know several people who think they made it on their own, but what they did was rely on the help of others and then deny those people the credit they were due.)

Business surveys show that partnerships achieve greater success than individual proprietorships. Statistically speaking, they are more likely to survive the difficult start-up stage, they grow faster, net greater profits (for each partner), and last longer.

The same can be said of social partnerships. Married couples have higher incomes (per individual), enjoy better living standards, have more successful children (in terms of all the standard measurements), and view themselves as happier than do bachelors and single parents.

Much if not most of the world’s greatest art and entertainment has been the result of partnerships. (Think of Lennon and McCartney or of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.)

The capacity of one single mind is enormous — maybe unlimited — but the likelihood that that potential will be fully tapped is very small. We are all limited by our emotional stupidities, our negative addictions, our self-limiting and self-destructive behavioral patterns. But those limitations can be broken through when you have a partner to push and prod you.

And when you reciprocate by pushing your partner to do and think and see more than he would on his own — well, then you have the beginning of something very powerful.

Think about your current goals. Pick one that you are not making great progress toward. Now ask yourself, “Who is helping me achieve that goal?”

If the answer is “nobody,” you have a great opportunity open to you. You have a chance to finally get your idea into action, do the sometimes difficult things that need to be done, make the progress that your goal requires, and one day — maybe sooner than you might believe — be able to sit back and say, “Hey, I did it!”

So … who are your partners? Who are your coaches? Who is urging you to get up earlier, work harder, and think smarter? Who is giving you good ideas? Who is praising your successes and warning you about pitfalls? There is romance in playing the lonely achiever, but little potential in it.

Do this today:

1. Review your four life goals and identify the ones you don’t have partners for.

2. Think about what you need: an equal partner, a mentor, a coach, an editor, a cheerleader, or whatever.

3. Survey your friends and colleagues to determine if any of them would be a suitable partner.

4. Commit yourself to getting a partner.

That’s enough for today. In future messages, I’ll talk more about how to make partnerships work for you. And don’t worry if you don’t know someone who can help you. I’m working on some ideas that will solve that problem.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Ten Traits of Successful People

“Some minds seem almost to create themselves, springing up under every disadvantage and working their solitary but irresistible way through a thousand obstacles.” – Washington Irving (“Roscoe,” The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent, 1819-20)

Investor’s Business Daily “has spent years analyzing business leaders and successful people in all walks of life.” Most, the editors say, have 10 traits that, when combined, can turn dreams into reality:

IBD: How you think is everything. Always be positive. Think success, not failure.

MY TAKE ON THIS: Behavior, not attitude, determines success. Yes, attitude can influence behavior. But behavior can also influence attitude. I’ve found that I get more results by focusing on my specific behaviors (e.g., writing down my daily objectives, stretching after exercising, shaking hands strongly and warmly, smiling once during every encounter, etc.) than by trying to change my attitude (“I am a positive person. I am. I am.”).

IBD: Decide upon your true dreams and goals. Write them down and have a plan.

MY TAKE ON THIS: I agree completely. 

IBD: Take action. Goals are nothing without action.

MY TAKE ON THIS: Duh …Everyone knows you need to take action. The tough part is getting your butt into gear. I’ve covered dozens of ways to do that. 

IBD: Never stop learning. Go back to school or read books.

MY TAKE ON THIS: I’m completely in accord.

IBD: Be persistent and work hard. Success is a marathon, not a sprint.

MY TAKE ON THIS: Yes, indeed. But it helps to know beforehand how long it will take to get what you want. See yourself get closer to your goal every day. Believe in the system. It will not fail you.

IBD: Learn to analyze details. Get all the facts, all the input.

MY TAKE ON THIS: Yes and no. You do need to know what you are doing — in an “insider” sort of way — before you invest a lot of money in a dream. There are ways to get that kind of education. But then when you are ready to go, don’t delay your start endlessly by refining the project ad infinitum. Instead, use the “Ready. Fire. Aim.” approach.

IBD: Focus your time and money. Don’t let other people or things distract you.

MY TAKE ON THIS: It is easy to lose focus and get distracted if you do not have a laser-like focus on your goals.

IBD: Don’t be afraid to innovate; be different. Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.

MY TAKE ON THIS: This is a big, complicated subject. Yes, it’s good to have your own unique selling proposition — but don’t take originality too far. Most original thinkers die young. Pay attention to what the market wants … and says it wants. Figure out how you can serve that market in some fresh way. Don’t ignore the market leaders. They are doing something that is mostly right. Don’t be embarrassed to be No. 2. 

IBD: Deal and communicate with people effectively. No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others.

MY TAKE ON THIS: This is something you should do because it’s better to do it than not. It will make your success last longer, and it will make you happier.

IBD: Be honest and dependable. Take responsibility for your actions.

MY TAKE ON THIS: Same as above. You should do it not because it’s necessary for success but because it’s necessary for having a good and humane life.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

What Is Your Valuable Skill? Are You A Master At It?

In all human endeavors, there are four levels of accomplishment:

1. Incompetence

Regardless of how smart or gifted you are, to learn a new skill you must go through a period of not knowing — of taking the baby steps and stumbling. This is the very necessary stage of incompetence. Being incompetent is nothing to be ashamed of. Not trying to learn something because you are afraid to show incompetence is.

2. Competence

If you persist in your learning, you will eventually arrive at a level of skill that is competent for most situations. For example, you will be able to play the piano at parties, dance at weddings, or write an effective business letter. It takes time to become competent. I’ve suggested, half seriously, that it’s always the same amount of time regardless of the skill: 1,000 hours (with a 30% discount if you are lucky enough to have masterful instruction).

3. Mastery

Most people stop learning after they achieve competence. They know enough not to get fired, laughed at, or rejected (in other words, enough to avoid pain), but they have no desire to go beyond that. The few people who are not satisfied with merely “good” push on and continue to practice and learn for years and years. At some point (and my guesstimate for that is after about 5,000 hours), because of all that extra work and especially because of that extra attention, they achieve a level of accomplishment that distinguishes them from their competent peers. They become masters of their skill. One person out of a hundred competent people achieves mastery.

4. Virtuosity

The virtuoso is not only extremely focused, determined, hardworking, and persistent, but also divinely gifted. He is the one master out of a hundred masters that has a genius for the skill that allows him to be a world-class performer. Even so, the virtuoso must put in the time — I’d guess a minimum of 25,000 hours — working at it. Like Michael Jordan, Fred Astaire, even Bill Clinton, and others of that ilk. Back to you. If you want to keep your job, you need to become competent at a skill that is valuable to your business.

If you want more than that — if you want to become extremely successful, make a lot of money, have control over your future and influence over your peers — you must step up to the next level: You must become a master at your valuable skill.

So today, ask yourself two questions:

1. “What is the valuable skill I am developing that is contributing to my company’s goals?”

2. “What do I need to do to achieve mastery of that skill?”

Break the necessary tasks down into years, months, and weeks. Then put them on your daily “to-do” list and start to feel the progress you are making.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]