The Profit Prophet

Yes, a new year and new decade is fast approaching, but I would like to point out a few things about this New Year’s Eve that are pretty unique. First, tonight we will experience a Blue Moon. For those who do not know, it is when a full moon occurs within the same month, and it is very rare to have it on New Year’s Eve (next one is in 19 years). Secondly, instead of looking back at the year, some time ago I made a list of the MOST. These are kind of universal in their application, and thought it would make a nice addition as I wish you a very Happy New Year. THE MOST LIST The most destructive habit: Worry The greatest joy: Giving The kindest word: Thanks The greatest loss: Loss of Self-respect The most satisfying work: Helping Others The ugliest personality trait: Selfishness The most endangered species: Dedicated Leaders Our greatest natural resource: Our Youth The greatest "shot in the arm": Encouragement The most effective sleeping pill: Peace of Mind The most c

"In the history of man, there have always been more horses' asses than horses." --Jeffrey Fry

While I keep a blog of quotations ( http://wordecho.blogspot.com ) I found these idioms, quips and idioms funny and an interesting spin on the obvious. Hope you enjoy them? 1. A day without sunshine is like night. 2. On the other hand, you have different fingers. 3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot. 4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 5. Remember, half the people you know are below average. 6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest. 7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap. 9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture most people have. 10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. 12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments. 13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand. 14. OK, so what's the speed of dark? 15. When everything is comin

Marriage and Heaven On their way to get married, a young Catholic couple is Involved in a fatal car accident. The couple find themselves Sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to Process them into Heaven. While waiting, they wondered if they could possibly get married in Heaven? When St. Peter showed up, they asked him. St. Peter said, 'I don't know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out,' and he leaves. The couple sat and waited, and waited. Two months passed and the couple are still waiting. As they waited, they discussed that if they were allowed to get married in Heaven, What was the eternal aspect of it all. 'What if it doesn't work?' They wondered, 'Are we stuck together forever?' After yet another month, St. Peter finally returns, looking somewhat bedraggled. 'Yes,' he informs the couple, 'you can get married in Heaven.' 'Great!' said the couple, 'but we were just wondering, what if

Recently I was reading a passage from Tom Morris’ Wisdom Institute that outlined the Seven Degrees of achievement. They include: Conception , Confidence , Concentration , Consistency , Commitment , Character , and Capacity The art of successful achievement requires that we focus our energies toward favorable outcomes by living in accordance with seven universal conditions for positive achievement. In times of change, uncertainty, doubt, and turmoil you need to use these seven Cs constantly and relentlessly, as individuals and teams. A summary of each is listed below A clear CONCEPTION of what we want, a true and obtainable vision, and a goal clearly imagined and a passion easily followed. If you do not know where you are going, you will most likely end up there. Setting a goal is often difficult when the world around you is rapidly changing or in a state of flux, but it is the most important thing you can do if you ever hope to truly be successful. A disciplined use of our intellects

Almost 9 months ago the government pumped in $757 Billion, that is right Billion, into the economy, but for some reason, they still do not realize that what they did, though noble, was not the most effect way of stimulating the economy. Why? It is because they do not understand the power of money’s momentum. Essentially, the faster money flows, the stronger you economy. Why? Well, as money moves through the system, its “effect” in multiplied by the number of times it exchanges hands. This velocity of money actually makes it seem like there is more money in the system than there actually is, or that the multiplicative effect of the existing money is greater as the velocity increases. Back in school, I learned a few interesting equations about how velocity effects things. These include momentum, kinetic energy, and finally Einstein’s equation of relativity. To review these equations are: Momentum momentum = mass * velocity Kinetic Energy (KE) KE = ½ mv 2

This post is broken up into tow segments: The first is about actual comments made by New York City public school teachers about their students (of course, these teachers were reprimanded, but boy are they funny (and sad)). The second is about what police officers said to drivers taken from the police cams. Thanks Steve Ackley for the forward! ___________________________________________________ These are actual comments made on students' report cards by teachers in the New York City public school system. All teachers were reprimanded (.....but, boy, are these funny!) 1. Since my last report, your child has reached rock bottom and has started to dig. 2. I would not allow this student to breed. 3. Your child has delusions of adequacy. 4. Your son is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot. 5. Your son sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them. 6. The student has a 'full six-pack' but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together. 7. Thi

Recently, I have read a lot of blogs and articles voicing the concern that America is loosing its desire to "work" and that we are outsourcing all our manual or manufacturing work overseas.  If you have ever seen the show Dirty Jobs on the Discovery and/or Science channel, you'll recognize Mike Rowe. Below is a fidoe he made concerning this topic: http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2009/07/mikes-mission-video/ This video introduce mikeroweworks.com and his plea to keep the "honesty" in an honest day's work. The synopsis of his plea is that his experiences as a traveling short-term apprentice for trade-type jobs has lead him to conclude that Americans are avoiding hard work or "dirty jobs" and that America is loathe to do the type of work to keep American strong. He feels that we have all become American Idles (not Idols). So this begs the question:  " What is the likelihood that the tide can be reversed to show that jobs once considered "

"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." * Adrian Rogers, 1931 *

For all those who remember Art Linkletter’s show, “Kids say the darndest things” will appreciate this listing. For those who do not, some of these comments are so funny I just could not stop laughing. Look for the double entendre and malaprops. The following were answers provided by 6th graders during history test. Watch the spelling! Some of the best humor is in the misspelling. 1. Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate of the Sarah is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere. 2. Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten Commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada. 3. Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines. 4. The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history

This is a sad tale of technology that I hope you will enjoy? An unemployed man is desperate to support his family of a wife and three kids. He applies for a janitor's job at a large firm and easily passes an aptitude test. The human resources manager tells him, "You will be hired at minimum wage of $5.35 an hour. Let me have your e-mail address so that we can get you in the loop. Our system will automatically e-mail you all the forms and advise you when to start and where to report on your first day." Taken aback, the man protests that he is poor and has neither a computer nor an e-mail address. To this the manager replies, "You must understand that to a company like ours, that means that you virtually do not exist.. Without an e-mail address you can hardly expect to be employed by a high-tech firm. Good day." Stunned, the man leaves. Not knowing where to turn and having $10 in his wallet, he walks past a farmers' market and sees a stand selling 25 lb.

With times being so tough, most companies feel that the only way to attract new customers is to lower their pricing. While doing so in some cases will generate a short burst of activity and increased revenues, as a standard, long term course of action, it is not a wise thing to do . The first reason why it is not a good idea to lower your prices is that your associated costs have not been lowered, and in order to make the same amount of profit, you have to sell a higher percentage of product just to stay even. A case in point, if you lower your prices by 20%, you need to increase your sales volume by 25%. If you reduce your prices by 30%, then you need a correspondent increase in sales VOLUME of 42%; a 40% discount needs a 67% increase in sales. I think you see where this is going. Unless there is a huge amount of elasticity in your pricing (where volume increases appreciably more with a price reduction), that without corresponding lowering of your costs, a reduction in price is

Having to do a job search under any circumstance is absolutely no fun. Sending out your resume again and again over the internet onto job sites populated by thousands of people just like you is draining at best and a total waste of time at worst. How many times have you rewritten your resume in the hopes of landing one or two interviews for the hundreds of job openings you find? Every day your self esteem is being destroyed by a process you have absolutely no control over. Would it not be better to try and create something of value and where you are directly benefiting from the effort, skills and talents you put into it? Seize the Day As a talented or skilled professional, searching for a job is actually a very shortsighted endeavor. We are all aware that gone are the days when people worked at the same company for twenty to thirty years and retired with a pension large enough to sustain a comfortable retirement lifestyle. Since the mid-1980s, most professionals have cha

This video piece features the late great Bob Hope (maybe one of the best comedians ever). The delivery is spot on, and it is amazing how things that come around go around. For some, this piece of political humor is just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago, and for the others, well sorry if it offends. Sometimes, the truth hurts (wink, wink). In any case, I hope to all there is a chuckle! Warmly, The Profit Prophet.

This piece maybe a little sexist so to all my powerful female friends forgive me; but for most guys out there this is unfortunately true! Some things woman are just better at than men. Enjoy and I hope it brings out a smile! I sent this out as part of my weekly email mailing, and many suggested that I add it to this blog. Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business. When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune. One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away. 'I may look like just an ordinary man,' he said to her, but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit $65 million.' Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother. Women are so much better at financial planning than men.

As I go from network meeting to network meeting during these very uncertain times, I notice two types of people. One type is hoping, praying, and desperately searching for a job. The other type is looking to start a new endeavor or more precisely create their “own” job. As I have been fortunate to be associated with a number of successful entrepreneurs and some successful start up endeavors, one theme keeps recurring: Entrepreneurs are the closest thing to God on Earth! Why? Well, as the story goes, God said “Let there be Light!” In small words, God had a thought, and that thought manifested itself into reality. Essentially, God created something that was not there earlier. So too, an Entrepreneur has an idea and then goes about creating a product, service, company, system or whatever. Essentially, there was nothing and then “poof” there is something! I believe that my background as an engineer, entrepreneur and American it is my duty to create new ideas, companies, jobs, p

I was watching the movie "Dune", by Frank Herbert the other day and there is a very famous line known as the Litany against Fear that goes like this: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." The reason why this is so important is that most people do not make the right decisions about thier careers or companies MOSTLY out of fear. They are afraid of being wrong, of failure and rejection, or making themselves better, of growing, or of the unknown, or of having to start over, or of really getting the success they deserve. Right now the Economy is in the grips of FEAR. Companies are afraid to hire employees, make purchases, create new products, start new ventures. Governments are afraid of doing somethi

I wrote a blog post about a year ago titled " The Moldy Middle " which went into detail about how companies that target the statistical "mean" are doomed to fail primarily because they try to be all things to all people, and end up becoming irrelevant to anybody. Recently, Seth Godin posted a blog about this subject entitled " The paradox of the middle of the market ." In this blog, Mr. Godin actually says it is OK to seek out the middle because he believes that this is where "profits meet scale." Now, Seth might be right for a short period of time, but over the long haul all the things that he lists will come to saturate a organization and eventually paralyze its ability to respond to any changes in the market. I respect Mr. Godin immeasurably, but find it hard to believe that he still believes that there is a monolithic "mass market" of middle of the road anything. Oh how the old ways die hard even with enlightened individuals. New

Some time ago I read a great book concerning leadership by John Maxwell titled, "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership." On this father's day, I thought it appropriate to list these laws and encourage anyone (moms too) who would like to develop into a fuller, richer, and more developed individual, to read this book. Leadership is not necessarily about leading as much as it is about helping others achieve their goals and future potential. Here is the list: 1. The Law of the LID Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness 2. The Law of Influence The True Measure of Leadership Is Influence – Nothing More, Nothing Less 3. The Law of Process Leadership Develops Daily, Not In A Day 4. The Law of Navigation Anyone Can Steer the Ship, But it Takes a Leader to Chart the Course 5. The Law of E. F. Hutton When the Real Leader Speaks, People Listen 6. The Law of Solid Ground Trust is the Foundation of

Part and parcel of being an entrepreneur is the ability to extend your wisdom and experience to other people. In this vein, Regina Brett, a 53 year old writer of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland Ohio put pen to paper and wrote an article of the 45 Lessons that life taught her. It has been the most requested article she has ever wrote, and I have transcribed it below for your enjoyment. Thank you Regina! 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month. 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. 8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it. 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.