After I spoke at a conference of presidents of Chambers of Commerce in Lafayette, Indiana yesterday, my beautiful bride and I spent the night in Muncie with my father-in-law. While he was driving us to Indianapolis to do a little shopping today, I got a phone call from our realtor in Nashville, who just received a contract on our old house, for full asking price, one week after we listed it ( the same day USA Today ran a story about how no one is buying houses). We needed to find a Kinko’s, so my father-in-law used OnStar in his new Cadillac to navigate us to one, which was only 4 miles away in the Indy suburb of Fishers. The realtor faxed the contract there, I signed it, Kinko’s scanned it in, we then emailed it back to him, and continued on with our shopping. It is truly amazing how easy technology has made our lives.
Archive for the ‘The Economy’ Category
Sold in 7 Days
Friday, August 27th, 2010Should Public Servants Be Paid $385,000 a Year?
Monday, August 9th, 2010In a time when voters are up in arms over out-of-control government spending, I’m surprised there’s not more outrage over a recent political shenanigan here in Tennessee. Our state board of regents has elected former deputy governor John Morgan as the new chancellor of our regents system, which oversees state colleges and universities.
Since the job description required a doctorate and he has only a bachelor’s degree, they changed the job description so he could get the job. It didn’t seem to matter that he has NO experience in education. They also increased the salary for the position from $305,000 to $385,000.
Yet the state continues to struggle with budget shortfalls. 
How to Turn a $5 Investment into a $100,000 a Year Job
Thursday, July 29th, 2010Speaking of opportunity, I heard Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love and No More Mondays on Dave Ramsey’s show today. He told the story of a woman whose husband left her with four kids. Even though she had few marketable job skills, she had the only two things she really needed to put food on the table – motivation and willingness to work.
At Dan’s suggestion, she bought a squeegee and bucket at WalMart, and then began walking up and down Nolensville Road here in Nashville, offering to wash storefront windows. She is now making $40 – $50 an hour, and has two of her kids working with her.
It’s not what most people would want to do for a living, especially in this 95-degree heat, but that’s exactly why she’s doing so well – no competition.
Who Says There are No Jobs Out There?
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010On this month’s open call-in day, one of our Gold Inner Circle members who owns 9 Subway franchises in Texas told me about one of their employees who’s been with them for 5½ years. The interesting part was that she started out as a “Sandwich Artist”, an entry-level position, and worked her way up to store manager in 18 months. She now oversees 5 stores. No matter what the economy is like, there is always opportunity for people who are willing to work hard and grow.
DK 11K!!!
Friday, April 9th, 2010The Dow Jones Industrial Average got above 11,000 today, which is another huge benchmark. In March 2009, it had fallen from its 2008 high of over 14,000 to down around 6,700. it has now recovered around 70% of those losses. Somebody call Katie Couric and tell her the sky is not falling.
Thank You Iowa
Thursday, April 8th, 2010Thanks to all the great folks in Iowa and Minnesota who attended our seminars in Cedar Rapids, Mason City, and Des Moines this week. We had attendance of 114, 72, and 107 respectively, which is the first time we’ve broken the century mark (attendance has exceeded 100) twice in the same week. And it happened in the middle of the recession that everyone keeps using as an excuse for failure.
Of course, this didn’t happen by accident. We used some very aggressive and unusual marketing tactics we learned from marketing guru Dan Kennedy, like adding a lift note in the mailing, that surveyed people on whether they think more people today have an entitlement mentality (Marketing Principle #17: Talk about something that gets people riled up, and they’ll listen to what you have to say).
Whether you’re running a company or just trying to get a job, your level of success will be directly determined by how well you learn how to market yourself. (Wish someone had told me that 25 years ago).
Will Americans Actually Buy an Electric Car?
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
The Chevy Volt
The first Chevrolet Volt rolls off the assembly line in Michigan today. While I hope electric cars take off and reduce our dependency on foreign oil, I don’t think most Americans are ready to give up their horsepower and freedom for a car that only goes 100 miles per charge. I hope GM is right and I’m wrong, because the last thing GM needs is to lose more money. Only time – and the free market – will tell.
The Man who Repossesses $18,000,000 Private Jets Says His Business is Up by 600%
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Great artcile from the Wall Street Journal about a “High End Repo Man”.
Click here: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109141/cries-of-hey-thats-my-jet-dont-deter-high-end-repo-men
But I Thought We Were in a Recession . . .
Saturday, March 20th, 2010Apple is reportedly selling 10,000 iPADs a day at $500 each, even though it hasn’t yet been released and no one has even held one yet. Kim Komando reports that Panasonic has sold out of all of its 3D TV’s in the first week. All of which proves what I’ve been saying for years – people will always find the money for the things they want to find money for.
What Makes America Great
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Glenn Shepard, Bradley Rogers, and Luke Montgomery
I’ve said it a million times, as has Dave Ramsey. It’s small business owners who create the most jobs, not huge companies like General Motors.
Last night, I had dinner in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with Bradley Rogers (center) from Stuttgart, AR, and Luke Montgomery (right) from Fulton, Mississippi, who I’m proud to say are members of the my Gold Inner Circle (GIC). I often tell my GIC members that they’re the most impressive group of movers and shakers I’ve ever known, and Luke is a perfect example of why.
He first attended my seminar at Mississippi University for Women 12 years ago, when he had one store and two employees. He now has 32 stores in multiple states. That’s impressive, but when you consider that he’s 34 years old – which means he was 22 when we first met –
that’s phenomenal.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing all the way. A few years ago, Luke’s business partner Bradley got “the call” they’d been dreading. In the blink of an eye, the politicians in one state where they do business had legislated them out of business in that state, instantly causing them more financial losses than most people could fathom. But they battled back and continued to succeed, like successful entrepreneurs do.
If Washington really wanted to know how to create more jobs, they wouldn’t hold those ridiculous “summits” with bureaucrats and professors who’ve never created a single job. Instead, they’d find all the Luke Montgomery’s in small towns across America, and bring them to the White House. It’s the people like him that hold the key to the economic future of this country, and ultimately, the world.