Election Day Mid-Term Elections

Well, mid-term elections are FINALLY over. It has been a long haul and there have been significant changes already made to hopefully put this great country of ours back on track. We are far from being on-track, now the hard part begins.

With the mid-terms complete, we have to watch and see that the newly elected officials will do as the people of the United States requests of them. We are no longer going to accept our elected people tell us that we don't know what is good for us. We elected these people to represent us, not what they think we want or need. The problem I have personally seen is that even the best intentions of newly elected officials get buried by the 'status quo'. The object this year is to make sure that the new representatives do not fall into the same rut that the people we just elected OUT of office fell into.

We now must be vigilant and remain active in keeping our country strong. We should take a hard-line and continue to expect that our representatives truly represent what we the people want. This is not going to be an easy road to hoe, we will still have problems, but with luck and a lot of dedication from all of us, we can climb out of this hole we all dug (we are ALL responsible for the current state of affairs) better and stronger than we were before. We need to remember not to point fingers, but to squarely take responsibility not for actions that have all ready occurred, but to take responsibility for actions moving forward.

We can never change what has already occurred, but we can make changes going forward that will benefit all of us. Let's put away our party differences (are there really any party differences anymore? Republicans look and act more like Democrats and the reverse is also true) and focus on healing a seriously sick country. Patching problems will not make them go away. We need to honestly identify the rood of the problems we are currently in and fix the problems.

If there are companies that have been poorly managed and are on the verge of collapse, let them fail. How can we as Americans learn how to grow if we don't learn how to fail? A healthy economy does include failed businesses, that is life. Instead of putting a band aid on a dying business, let the business die an honest death. It is from those failures that great things will come. I don't even recommend anymore putting "bail-out" money into the hands of the people anymore. Let's stop that garbage and just get back to good old-fashioned business with the money we have in hand. Let's stop trying to micro-manage people, assuming they are too stupid to take care of themselves.

Let's let Darwin's theory on the evolution of the species take over (aka survival of the fittest). That was how this country was founded, and that, I believe, is how we are going to pull ourselves out of this mess we all are responsible for putting ourselves in. We are all at fault for allowing incompetent politicians to ruin our country. WE voted them in, WE allowed these people to push their personal agendas, WE allowed much of this mess to happen, partly due to greed, partly due to apathy.

Hopefully we will stop being apathetic and will continue to remain active in the actions of our government. To sit at home listening to the news and shake your head in disbelief is NOT action. If you don't like where the country is heading, go out and do something about it. The people have spoken in this last mid-term election, if we expect to see change, we must continue to speak out and continue to act. We cannot become complacent again, if we do, the United States as we know it will be doomed.

The rant on my soap-box is now completed. I will continue to remain active and aware of government actions and initiatives and will do all I can to no longer be the silent majority. Hopefully many more will follow suit. Tomorrow we will be back to our more "normal" blogging, so continue to stay tuned.

Until tomorrow...

Willie Wonka

I spent the majority of the day catching up on paperwork. I am still not done, but needed to do something that would give my much beleaguered brain a rest. For a change, I turned on the TV and started channel surfing. I came across a movie I had wanted to see, but didn't want to see so badly that I was going to pay almost $10 to do it... the remake of Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. This movie had Johnny Depp in it and was called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, created in 2005. I have liked Johnny Depp in several other films (not all, just some) and was curious to see how this movie turned out.

I have liked Tim Burton's (the director) spin on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and due to my mood, thought I could do with some dark humor... so I started watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was very impressed with how the movie was put together, it was not what I had expected. This movie is like a traditional fairy tale (perhaps it really is a fairy tale...didn't look that hard into it..) where there are obviously good children and obviously bad children portraying extreme behaviours. So now, instead of just watching a "simple" film, I was looking for the lesson in the story. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp did not disappoint, the lessons were clear, and the bad children did get their just desserts...

I don't know why, but I had the impression that the 'new' movie with Johnny Depp did not hold closely to the original movie, made 34 years earlier (with Gene Wilder, directed by Mel Stuart 1971). I was very surprised and impressed that this remake kept very close to the original story line. I really liked the background that was provided about why Willie Wonka became who he was and the ending was much more surprising than I had expected. After watching the end of that movie, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the original 1971 version followed immediately after the new version. That was a real treat, because I could now easily compare and contrast the two versions.

I had only seen the original Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory once as a child so was again interested in watching it through adult eyes. Again, it was definitely presented as a fairy tale with traditional good children and bad children. I was extremely impressed with this version too, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Comparing the two interpretations of Willie Wonka, I was impressed that they both portrayed the character basically the same. Obviously Johnny Depp's interpretation had a darker angle to it, but overall both actors kept the character the same.

You may think that watching either Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would be just for children, but there are very adult lessons to be learned in both films. You just have to keep an open mind and to look at what is being said, not just what you see.

Sometimes "children's" films do apply to adult themes. Take a look and let me know what you think...

Until tomorrow...

Stay Motivated?

Ha!!! That is a major task that many of us may occasionally have problems with. It could also be something that a lot of people consistently have problems with. Who me, stay motivated? How do you do that? Heck, I can stay motivated for a little while, but there are days, where I just don't want to play anymore.... Then after a day like that, I am able to rebuild that feeling and get going again.

So tonight, I would like to cover some "tricks" I have used to stay motivated. It works a lot of the times, but as I mentioned before, they don't always work, so don't feel bad because you don't find these "tricks" won't keep you motivated all the time. Motivation is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, driving forces in life. If you were not motivated to do something, why would you do it? Pretty simple concept. Motivation makes the difference between success and failure. Motivation requires great strength, endurance and clear thinking.

In order to stay motivated, you must be inspired by something. You really have to love what you do and why you do it. If you are not inspired by what you do, you will find that you will put off the actual doing of the task until such a time that you MUST complete the task (you are INSPIRED to get the task done, whether you like it or not..) Getting into some version of networking with other people will help you stay positive and focused on what you want to do. Sometimes these people may help re-inspire you in your tasks. Networking groups can help you in life and contribute in your business motivation. You will feel less alone and will be more inspired to continue working your business.

Another way to stay motivated is to strive to ignore the unimportant problems. This is very difficult for many of us to do, because we sometimes have trouble differentiating what is important and what is really unimportant. When you identify an unimportant issue, and then choose to ignore it, you will find that you have been able to free up some of your much used energy which you can now focus on the important problems.

Sometimes I read success stories of others who have overcome major obstacles when I am feeling a strong lack of motivation. These success stories help me to get re-inspired and help me refocus on the important items (see paragraph above) that need to be dealt with. You may also pick up tips on how to be successful by reading these stories too. There may be occasions where the person in a story found an alternative way to solve a problem which you may be able to apply to a particular issue.

Most importantly, strive to be around positive people. Positive people will help you to stay motivated and focused on the tasks at hand. Angry, depressed and negative people will tend to suck your enthusiasm and motivation dry. Negative people will always find reasons for why things aren't going to work, you will spend more time and energy defending your decisions instead of implementing those decisions. Positive, energetic people will help you to remain motivated by supporting your ideas, or offering positive solutions to issues you are having.

If you are looking for alternative income opportunities, please check out our website. We specialize in second income coaching and consultation and have a wide array of opportunities to look at. One of those may be just the opportunity you have been looking for. We would love to help you find an opportunity that would meet your needs and help you to stay motivated.

Until tomorrow...

Direct Sales versus a Regular JOB-Part 1

We have talked periodically here and on other posts about ways to earn additional income (also known as recession proofing your income). I would like to talk a little bit tonight about some of the questions regarding how to earn that additional income. If you have looked at our website, http://www.hawgwash.net/, you will notice that we offer several different products and services.

We offer many products for sale as retail sales. But if you look closely, you will see that we also offer different types of business opportunities. We do not promote these opportunities to everyone, we actually don't "PUSH" these opportunities on anybody. If you are looking for a home based business opportunity, we may have something that will trip your trigger. If you are interested, you are more than welcome to ask us about the particular business opportunity.

As you look at some of those opportunities, you will notice that they are based on several different direct sales models. Not every model works for everybody, so we offer a sampling of models that, for us, seem to work well, and our experience with those companies are positive. You may also bump into people who really hate the direct sales models, in any way, shape or form. As stated earlier, not all models work for all people, sometimes there is not any model that will work for particular people.

I would like to point out though, that on occasion, the hatred displayed by some toward direct selling can be very misplaced. Granted there have been many companies that have taken advantage of their distributor base, and you can go almost anywhere to hear the horror stories. I can even tell some hair-raising stories about some direct sales companies I have had dealings with. That does not make all direct sales companies bad, or evil. To put it in perspective, in your personal work experience, wasn't there that one job that you believed was worse than Hell on Earth? Wasn't there a time or two or three when you had the boss from Hades? Did those experiences cause you to quit working for all businesses? Granted, you probably would not work again for the particular company that treated you badly, but that doesn't mean you would quit working altogether.

If you worked for a horrible company sometime in your adult life (and I am sure that we have all had at least one very bad experience with employment) what you usually ended up doing was quitting that job and moving onto another job at a different company. Not getting along at one company does not mean failure, it just meant that you and that company's philosophy did not go well together. The same holds true for various direct sales companies. Not all direct sales companies are made the same, and not all of them treat their people like pieces of meat. The key is to not assume that all companies are bad based on your experiences with one or two. Are all people who ride motorcycles part of the Hells Angels? The same theory applies.

Let's use a different type of example. How many of you have known personally or heard of someone getting into a bad motorcycle accident? When a group of motorcyclists get together, the conversation inevitably turns to who got into what accident and how much damage ensued. These discussions may be morbid, but, they usually don't stop the majority of motorcycle riders from riding motorcycles the next day. These accidents may not even stop the people who were in the accident from riding once they are all healed up either. Basically, it all boils down to attitude.

Your attitude will decide whether you are successful at business or not. Your attitude will decide if you will do well in a home based business model or not. Your attitude will also decide which companies you may choose to work for and how successfully you rise in that organization. Whether a company is good or bad is partially predicated on your attitude toward the company and it's management. Some people may claim that direct sales companies are pyramid schemes.

Since this blog is getting long, we will continue this discussion on what a pyramid scheme is and what direct sales is tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

Working for Tomorrow

Tonight we are going to wander off into a little bit of a political direction. As a child, I loved to read Aesop's fables. One fable that I took to heart was the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper. In it the moral of the story was that you must work hard in order to survive the hard times. This is especially true in today's economic environment. As small business owners, we must continue to work hard and not quit. As the political climate has changed, I have found another version of the fable of Ant and the Grasshopper and hope that we will never see this situation come to fruition in this wonderful country of ours.

In case you do not remember reading this as a child, here is a short version of the old Aesop's Fable:

"In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to it's heart content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with a great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

'Why not come and chat with me,' said the Grasshopper, 'instead of toiling ad moiling in that way?'

'I am helping to lay up food for the winter,' said the Ant, 'and recommend you too do the same.'

'Why bother about winter?' said the Grasshopper, we have got plenty of food at present.'

But the Ant went on it's way and continued its toil. When the winter came, the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain fro the stores they had collected in the summer.

Then the Grasshopper knew: IT IS BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE DAYS OF NECESSITY."

As in a home based business or a small business, you may find that some months you will bring in large amounts of income. The object is to be sure to always put away some of that excess income in anticipation of the lean times because there will be lean times in business. Do not spend all of your income now, because you will need it down the road. The sheer nature of economics dictates that there will be peaks and valleys in profit for all types of businesses.

If we are not careful in the coming years, the following modernized version of the Ant and the Grasshopper fable may come to be true:

"The Ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the Grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the Grasshopper's sake. President Obama condemns the Ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the Grasshopper's plight.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the Ant has gotten rich off the back of the Grasshopper, ad both call for an immediate tax hike on the Ant to make him pay for his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Ant Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The Ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the Grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the Ant's food while the government house he is in, which as you may recall, just happens to be the Ant's old house, crumbles around them because the Grasshopper doesn't maintain it.

The Ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again. The Grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood. The entire Nation collapses, bringing the rest of the free world with it."

I hope to never see that occur in the United States of America.

Until tomorrow...

Ethics and Business Opportuntities

Tonight I am going to briefly discuss ethics in general and ethics when discussing business opportunities and income opportunities with others. (I say brief because there are classes taught in ethics, we are only brushing the surface here) Let us first consider what "Ethics" are.

If you look up "Ethics" in wikipedia, you will get the following definition, "Ethics (also known as moral philosophy) is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality, such as what the fundamental semantic, ontological, and epistemic nature of ethics or morality is, how moral values should be determined, how a moral outcome can be achieved in specific situations, how moral capacity or moral agency develops and what its nature is, and what moral values people actually abide by."

Basically, in the business opportunity spectrum, ethics is treating people fairly and with respect. Ethics means that you are not going to tell untruths to people, that you are going to represent business opportunities fairly and equally, and you are going to be as honest as possible when asked questions about various income opportunities ("I don't know" is an honest and valid answer). There are many people out there that are going to give half-truths and make promises that they know, deep down, are never going to occur. Many sales people are going to use everything they can to sway the customer into believing what the sales person wants them to believe. They seek to manipulate values and behavior for their own gain.

This type of unethical behavior is what has given salespeople in general bad reputations, and multi-level marketing a major black eye. You see it on the Internet, get rich quick schemes, how to make $1,000 a week, etc. Everybody has their own spin on how to make money with their specific business opportunity. It is our responsibility to be honest with customers looking into second income streams and various business opportunities.

Ethically we need to let the people know the risks involved, that you may not make a lot of money, also that there is a tremendous amount of work involved in this type of income opportunity. Many who are looking at second income opportunities are not willing to put in the time and effort (especially if they are tired after working at their first job). It is our responsibility to work with each individual and find out what they really want and what they are willing to do to achieve that result. As much as I would love to say, "all you have to do is show the product and it sells itself", it is not ethically correct to do that. True, if someone sees a particular product work, they may be impressed enough to want to make a purchase. But first you have to get yourself in front of that person.

We have been so bombarded by people selling us stuff (from the Fuller Brush man and going forward) that we have become very cynical. This cynicism is probably generated by the unethical practices of some sales people. If sales people continue to make false promises of wealth, and falsely state that "with minimal work you too could earn thousands", when an ethical person comes along, nobody is going to believe them.

As you build your business, it is critical to treat people ethically. That treatment will pay dividends in all future dealings with the public. Once people realise that you are really stating the facts, you are not giving false promises, and that you are not "white-washing" the work involved, you will begin to be trusted. Once you are trusted, these customers will tell their friends of the ethical way you treated them. Then word spreads and business begins coming your way. But the minute you treat someone in an unethical fashion, they will tell EVERYBODY and even people they don't know. In a heartbeat, you will have developed a reputation for being unethical and continued business will not be in the stars for you.

We (Hawgwash, LLC) make it a policy to not promise more than can be achieved by a reasonable person. We do not approach anyone with a statement that with our business opportunity, they can earn thousands of dollars in the next few weeks. We allow people to see that we are in business, we let them know we have business opportunities available and opportunities to earn a second income, but after that, we expect interested people to and ask us further questions. I will not chase someone down and insist they must get into any particular opportunity. My personal feeling is that we are all adults, if someone is interested in what I have to offer, they will ask me, otherwise I leave them alone. Again, bringing back the advertising angle, I let people know I am in business, give very basic information and then, if the person is interested, I will provide more detailed information. I will not burden anyone with too much information initially and then badger them into getting involved in one thing or another. I put more emphasis in becoming a trusted, reliable source instead of how many people I can sign up in a particular business opportunity.

So in a nutshell, if you want to have customers come back for more of what you and your business have to offer, treat them ethically. Don't lie, don't candy-coat, don't make promises that either you or the opportunity cannot uphold. Treat people as you want to be treated. Your customers will thank you, your friends and family will thank you too and good quality business will come your way.

Until tomorrow...