Books, CDs and Publications

Down the years, I have read so many books, listened to CDs and read publications of every variety.

Even after 30 plus years of business experience, I still have books on the go today with at least two being read in each month. Every time I go to an event and there is a book stall, I soon head there and have a browse.

Some books a few pounds and others head into big double figures.

Often it is the smallest book with the biggest impact.

My friend Jackie Barrie produced a series called Little Fish books. They are probably the most well thumbed that reside on my bookshelf. Packed full of tips, tricks and useful ideas.

So which are your favourites and why?

Here are some I suggest should be read and why:

How to win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

……… and Death Came Third by Peter Roper and Andy Lopata.
For both networking and public speaking. Simply brilliant book.

The four following are all by Nigel Risner. Public Speaker and coach

The Impact Code – my favourite out of his four
You had me at Hello – all about networking
It’s a zoo around here – about better communication
Ten Heads are better than one – team building, and dream realising

Key Person of Influence by Daniel Priestley – how to become the Go To person in your industry.
Over Subscribed by Daniel Priestley – this book is about your marketing mindset

Selling for Dummies by Ben Kench. Brilliant speaker and teaches you about sales
Steve Clarke is also great at Sales and his business is called Eureka Sales.

Think #Digital First by Warren Knight. New economy thinking in 7 simple steps

Robert Craven – Runs The Directors Centre. Find him online and sign up for the newsletter. Loads and loads of books, talks and CDs. Superb. Knows everything about being successful in business. Good juggler too, especially with machetes.

Four Colour Personalities by Tom ‘Big Al’ Schreiter All network marketers must read this.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki

The Impact System by Stephan Longworth. Real teaching from a top leader.

Passion into Profit by Andy Harrington – top speaker trainer

Do Less, Get More – Shaa Wasmund – speaker, trainer and all round good egg. Pretty new on the scene, and has a Wednesday wake up broadcast each week on Facebook.

Fans not Customers by Vernon Hill – this is man who created Metro Bank. Very good

Big Profits by Adele McLay – former Franchisee with BNI, and understands business.

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson and The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
Similar message in both, but from different directions.
Follow them and you will be successful in network marketing

Beach Money by Jordan Adler

79 Network Marketing Tips by my friend and colleague Wes Linden. We are both leaders in the same business and have combined experience of almost 40 years in the industry.

Making the First Circle Work by Randy Gage. Also has a weekly Prosperity Video on YouTube
How to Build a Multi-Level Money Machine by Randy Gage

Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Go for Pro by Eric Worre

The most important publication for any network marketeer – Your Compensation Plan. Read it, and read it again, and understand how you can make money. In my business, it appears I have a reputation for knowing how to maximise my income. It is not something I boast about, it was something I heard from a leader when I first started. They all say copy the Leaders and that is what I do.

There are loads more books and I will add to this list from time to time.

So which are your favourites? Please add them to the comments section below, and why not share this blog too?

John Coleman fires back on the IPCC Synthesis Report

so, not just me …….. do read on.

Watts Up With That?

A RESPONSE FROM CLIMATE SKEPTIC JOHN COLEMAN FOUNDER OF THE WEATHER CHANNEL

When you read a news story about the United Nations Panel on Climate Change issuing new climate warnings and making a plea for immediate action to counter the impending climate crisis, do you ever wonder whata climate change skeptic thinks when he reads that news report.

I would like to share such an experience with you.

This is the Associated Press news report with mythoughts as I read itinserted in bold.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Climate change is happening, it’s almost entirely man’s fault and limiting its impacts may require reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero this century, the U.N.’s panel on climate science said Sunday.

The first four words are very important. “Climate Change is happening.”  You bet it is.  The climate of planet Earth has been constantly changing for 4.5 billion…

View original post 3,874 more words

Rise and Rise of Zero Hours Contracts

Updated details here:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN06553/zerohours-contracts

Are these contracts positive or negative in your view?

I am aware the Government proposes changes to present legislation to enable those on these contracts can take second or third jobs to ensure they earn some money.

Some already let people take extra work alongside, but not all.

Some additional points.

People on zero hours contracts, do not earn any money, unless called in to work.

As a result, a vast majority have to top up any pay with benefits already.

Also very few are earning sufficient to create any meaningful pension contributions.

Plus most, but not all, prevent people from taking a second job, to earn money.

So when they hear in the moring there is no work available that day – they are stuck.

The impact of zero hours contracts, means tax revenues are lower than expected, hence why the treasury has had to borrow extra money this year.

Great Reasons for Virtual Non-Geographic and Geographic Numbers

A virtual number is what is being referred to here is vital for some businesses, and many have lots of goodies attached.

Popular types:

0800, 0844, 0845, 0870 and 0871.

These are called Non Geographic Numbers or NGNs.

There are also a range of virtual geographic numbers too.

So my take:

1) Female working from home – you need one to provide a level of protection is this day and age.

2) Any business based at home with family – you need one to create a degree of professionalism, to stop kids answering, when you really don’t want them to.

3) Any business based at home – provides an ability to turn off from your business. I know some have garden offices or separate rooms

4) Provide flexbility – when you move, the number comes with you.

5) Provides additional features – some smart numbers can be programmed to deliver calls to lots of different locations, like a virtual switchboard.

6) Some of these numbers can be included in callers minutes, so zero charge for them to call you – the exception is 0843 numbers. Rarely included.

7) In the case of 0844, 0845, 0870 it provides a filter and ensures a better quality of call coming through. Less time wasters.

0800 numbers will come back into fashion when all mobile operaters include them in their minutes again – due to happen soon accoridng to OFCOM.

8) Virtual geographic numbers are becoming more and more popular, but the range is running out. You may find your local one has run out.

9) If you are using a phone answering service, then a virtual number is a great way of measuring the cost effectiveness of the service, since you can see how many minutes are being used.

10) Disaster recovery – just like you all do backups on your computer, this is like a backup too. For example, if you are unable to work from your premises or home for whatever reason, the number will keep working, which is why mobile phones have become very popular.

I have two case studies, where I kept businesses running after a flood and a fire respectively.

However, having just a mobile phone number could make you look a one person band. Not good when pitching for larger contracts.

And yes, I have been supplying all the above for 17 years.

To find our more, please call 0844 826 1730 or drop an email to info@combyne.co.uk

Also please visit www.go-fast.co.uk and click on For Business to see the range on offer.

Separately, if you are a regular caller to NGNs and find your costs on calls from your landline or mobile is high, please ask about our inclusive minutes deals for calls from a home landline, and equally the typical 50% reduction in call charges from a mobile, since many operators charge at 40p per minute as such a call is outside the bundle – our deal is 20p per minute.

Working from home? Things to consider.

UPDATE Thursday 2 April 2020
This was first written in June 2014, and now here we are almost six years later being enforced to work from home.

Today though it is vital whether in business or simply as a residential customer to look at what you are spending on essential services, and seek a value for money offering. We can look at broadband, landline, mobile and energy, plus some insurance. We also have CashBack on shopping for good measure, whether in store or online.

Here at Combyne Group, we have carried out a free utility and telephony audit for over 18 years – in the days, when we could meet there would be coffee too. Today, it can be done virtually.

Please give us a shout as long as you are United Kingdom based, please?
Initially by email is the best way forward: hello@combyne.co.uk 

Now back to the original article as still as relevant today as 2014. 

There are two elements of working from home:

1) working under flexi rules for the company that employs you, or

2) running your own business from home.

If the former, please agree with your boss what they are going to cover expense wise, and how they will agree the hours you work. You should also seek a bonus, since you are reducing company costs.

If you are renting, then you are obliged to inform the landlord and if you have clients visit, please have your insurance revised to cover that.

If you are buying then please inform the mortgage company. Insurance has to be amended too.

Such as contents and also public liability cover.

In most cases, flexi working does not see clients visiting.

So onto number two and running your own business from home – link to follow.

2) running you own business from home.

All the above apply and more so – I would seriously discourage having people visit – suggesting a coffee shop or hotel as better, especially for people who work alone. You really do not want a nutter in your house or flat.

Create a routine in your life and build in social, me time, otherwise you will become stale and very quickly. In an office there is interaction, on your own at home, there is not.

A daily To Do list done the night before is now vital. Too many distractions otherwise.

Go out for a coffee/tea or a walk at some point – I have made friends with all the independent businesses locally and often pop in for a chat.
Also look for support such as here in this group, where you can share your success and seek guidance.

Keep an accurate record of all expenses – they are tax deductible.
Don’t forget energy a percentage of your council tax charge.

If your profit is less than £10,000 then claim working tax credits – these apply to the self employed too.

Create a phone line for business use only – it is 100% tax deductible. My link will explain more. And of course good broadband, go fiber if your area supports it, especially if you have family too.

Check you can use your home address for correspondence purposes. If not, seek an alternative, such as MailBoxes Etc. or your accountant.

Don’t be afraid to seek help and see what grants may be available as a start up or small business.

Networking groups have already been mentioned – there are also others less formal that meet as a coffee morning and some Chambers of Commerce run lunch time events, plus offer training in skills you need.

That covers most of it and my link is here:

http://www.combyne.wordpress.com/small-business-offers/

Why do some people always struggle in being successful in business?

The subject line has been bugging me this last weekend, and I continually come back to it time and time again. I have made a few pages of notes, and tried to answer the question myself, but really have a drawn a blank.

I am aware of things like motivation being an important factor, and this includes goals, but I am now thinking there is simply something else that holds people back from success, and yes, I do accept sucess is defined differently for each person.

We have also discussed business plans to some degree too, here and on LinkedIn – a plan though as a standalone, simply doesn’t impact in such a way.

Let’s give you an example, and I am going to use the franchise model as the starting point. Some would argue this is a recipe for disaster in its own right, however, I see many people involved with franchises, who have become massively successful and financially independent, operating such a model. Even my own business is a cut down franchise, so I am writing from experience.

Person A buys a franchise, does really well. Is active in promoting it to a wider audience, attends all training provided, including sales and marketing courses, follows the system (& uses the support), and builds a successful business, and eventually buys a second and third franchise.

Whereas Person B buys the same franchise, is active in promoting it to a wider audience, attends all training provided, including sales and marketing courses, follows the system (& uses the support), and fails to build a successful business. They buy another franchise and fail again, eventually going bankrupt.

I can give you examples of a string of People A and People B – I meet them all the time in my business and at networking events. I expect to meet more next week at Business 2012. It can’t be about location, since I have seen businesses thrive in places, where I would expect them to struggle, and vice versa.

So what is the magic ingredient?

What am I missing?

Is there simply a type of person that is cut out for success and another for failure? And it can’t be about the business, since it is identical?

I am intrigued by this conundrum; is it simply because we are human, that these things happen?

So what is your view and suggestions for a solution?

Laurence

This was previously posted on Ecademy in March 2012, and now appears on Sunzu here with 30 comments.

 

 

Work one hour overtime for free – Monday to Friday

Imagine you are at work one day… your boss comes to you and says,

“Bad news – we’re going to have to fire you. Business is bad. And the economy stinks.”

You feel depressed. No more career. No more regular wage.

And then the boss says,

“You know what? If you were to work just one extra hour overtime every day for free, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, we’ll let you keep your job and you can continue collecting your same wage.”

Now, what would you do?

Well, most people would say,

“Well, I will work the extra hour of overtime just to keep my job. I know I will be working the extra hour for free, but it is important to keep my present job.”

And then the boss says,

“Well, I know it’s kind of bad news for you but there is some good news. If you work an hour of overtime, Monday to Friday for no pay, just one extra hour a day . . . at the end of two years, we’ll let you retire at full pay.”

All of a sudden, how do you feel?

You feel like saying,

“Wow! Excellent! What an opportunity!
Just work one hour overtime for free, Monday to Friday, and two years from now . . . I retire at full pay!”

So what would happen?

You’re working overtime and six months later one of your friends says,

“Hey, why don’t you quit doing that? You’re working an hour’s overtime and not getting paid for it.”

You say to your friend,

“No way! I only have 18 more months to go and then I’m going to retire!”

A year from now, maybe your partner says,

“You know what? You’ve been working that free hour of overtime for the past 12 months. Why don’t you spend more time here at home instead of working that hour’s overtime?”

You say,

“No, no, no! Just one more year and I can retire at full pay.”

And you would be at work faithfully, Monday to Friday, working that overtime so you could retire.

And you would be excited about the opportunity.

Well, we have the same opportunity to retire with our business.

We ask people to spend one hour a day, Monday through Friday building a residual income business. And all you have to do is
. . . talk to some people.

And you don’t have to worry too much about what you say or how good you are, because you know what? You’ll get better. The longer you do this business, the more you’ll learn.

So maybe after the first month you say,

“I really don’t know what to say.”

The second month you get a little better and say,

“Well, I know the name of the company is the Wonderful Company.”

The third month you get better at this and say,

“I think this is a neat business. You might want to look at it.”

And the fourth month you get better and better.

Just invest an hour a day. And at the end of two years you might be pleasantly surprised and say,

“You know what, I can replace my full-time income and retire for the rest of my life.”

So . . . would you take advantage of that opportunity?

If you are like most people, you will want to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity . . . but, you won’t do it.

Here is why you won’t do it.

A little voice inside of your head is saying,

“But what if it doesn’t work? What if I waste an hour a day over those two years? What if I’m not good at this? I don’t know anyone who has retired in network marketing. I only know people who retired with a pension from a job. This might not be a sure thing.”

Yes, you’re going to have some doubt. You will have a belief problem.

And that’s pretty natural.

So here is what we are going to do to help you with your belief.

To encourage you along the way, every month we’re going to send you money on the 21st to your bank account  — just to keep your spirits up as you build your two-year business. When you get these regular monthly credits, you will say,

“I know it works! I’ve got these credits to prove it.”

And that is why you want to start your business today.

Visit: www.future-biz.co.uk or telephone 020 8955 5678 for a FREE NO OBLIGATION information pack

Facebook are pulling the plug on free advertising

well not quite, but certainly has reduced the effectiveness of Pages Reach from 16% to less than 2%.

For many businesses that is quite a hammering.

Facebook being Facebook have offered a solution of paid advertising to replace this lost traffic and now many experts are suggesting businesses flood LI groups to continue their free advertising fix.

You can read more here:

http://topdogsocialmedia.com/facebook-organic-reach-dead/

I manage a number of LI groups and many are dead, a number of group owners will see this extra traffic as a boon, however, the challenge is this flood will look like a lot of spam.

I wonder how many other Group Owners and Managers are ready for this influx of unwanted traffic?

Separately, if you run a Facebook page, how will you counter this lost reach?

So what is your plan?

Blind Advertising versus Open Advertising

Blind Advertising versus Open Advertising.

Blind Advertising – no mention of company name
Open Advertising – company name is mentioned

I first started spending money on recruitment advertising in 1988, and that with a company called Encyclopaedia Britannica.

My budget was £100,000 per annum, so pretty decent amount to spend. I eventually moved to head office and my budget jumped to in excess of £2 million per annum.

One of the things I learnt were the benefits of both forms of advertising.

Open Adverts produced small numbers of responses, and the quality of the candidates were pretty fair. The number of responses though were just 10% of Blind Adverts.

Blind Adverts produced massive numbers of responses, and therefore our position became one of selection, sometimes self selection by putting people through training.

With lots of split testing, some 40 approved adverts of both types were approved, and they all created a ready stream of candidates.

I still split test today using various online media across different platforms and some work and some don’t. My lastest split test has so far produced seven responses in just under 10 minutes, at this rate, this is going to be one of my best tests for quite a while.

What can you buy for £50?

£50 joining fee available for a limited period from March 2014 until 30th April 2014.

Many years ago (1997), an investment of £199.75 (inc Vat) [& tax deductible = zero cost] secured my position with a company called Telecom plus Plc (often referred to as Utility Warehouse).

I had no idea what I was joining, but something felt right, just how right would be proved by 2006, when I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

At the time, I was hugely active within networking circles; attending events all over the place at every time of the day, running them too, but that all came to halt over a three month period as I succumbed to the pain and has to be said confusion that my body was impacting upon me in a negative way.

Many tests later diagnosis was made, and referral to a consultant followed – here I have so much praise. Reassurance, guidance, support and solutions to ensure my life could continue in a way I would be happy. Drugs were prescribed; some worked, some didn’t, and eventually a balance found that means I could return to contributing to my business and people within.

Strangely, it mirrored the support I have from Telecom plus too, where it has been superb down the years as the business grew and grew; people there were equally concerned, and many stood in and supported my team members during my enforced absence. Fantastic.

Now almost seven years later, I can look back and say thank you to the many, who gave me direct support both health and business wise during that period. It is a great feeling.

It is something I want to share with others too.

None of us know what the future holds, whether it is our livelihoods, our pensions, our health and even family matters?

The fact, I made a decision, which in hindsight appears very prescient, means I have no major worries today.

That investment of £199.75 has been paid back so many times over regardless of the fact it is tax deductible = zero cost.

Here’s the best part, for the month of August 2013, it is just £50 (inc Vat) [& tax deductible = zero cost] to follow in my foot steps and those of many others and create a new part time business, which will eventually grow into a substantial benefit to you and your family and friends.

Presently, the company is seeking people to join the business on a part time basis and enjoy the success that is available.

There are share options, car plans (two), holiday promotions, cash promotions and overall a 13 part pay plan.

The support provided to people joining the business is quite comprehensive and training too:

HO Support available six days a week
Training [free to attend] – online and classroom
Support Network [multiple]
Annual Conference – Express Day
Six Monthly conference – Kick Off Seminars
Second Six Monthly conference – Summer Seminars
Tele Seminars every week
Weekly Newsletter
HotNews Updates
Back Office access called Extranet
Monthly Business meetings and business presentations [called Cops and pre-cops (as needed)] – 50 locations
Mentors – direct support in your locale.

There are countrywide presentations, once a month at over 50 different locations and one is bound to be near you.

There are immediate financial rewards for personal activity (Fast Start Bonus), and some of these are as follows:

Gather Three Customers during your first 60 days = £100
Gather Six Customers during your first 90 days = £150
Gather Twenty-Five Customers during your first 180 days = £250
Gather Fifty Customers during your first 365 days = £500

These bonus payments are in addition to standard Customer Gathering Bonus of up to £50 per customer and ongoing commission on usage.

The personal development provided by the company is brilliant too, and improves each year.

And all this is available for an investment of £50 and regular 5 to 10 hours a week activity on your part.

A lot has been covered here, and there is more to see.

Why not pop along to this link: www.future-biz.co.uk and watch a short video? Also when you enter your details online, the system will send you a free money making report too. It is an excellent read.

So what can you buy for £50?

A couple of nice shirts or blouses
A decent meal
A full tank of petrol
A decent bottle of wine
Some lottery tickets

or how about the start of a new future that you can create on a part time basis being supported by a successful company?

Please take a look here: www.future-biz.co.uk it could be your prescient moment.

Available for a limited period from March 2014 until 30th April 2014.