Freedom vs. Security

I wrote a post on the subject of freedom vs. security. This subject goes way beyond politics. Every day we make decisions that are towards freedom or security, or atleast what we think is security.

Here's a different way of thinking about freedom and security:

It’s easy to choose security - it’s familiar, it’s stable, and it’s predictable - i.e. we gain a sense of control.

The choice of freedom on the other hand is unpredictable. It may come out as assisting an employee towards their dream job or career - knowing full well that you’ll “lose” a great employee if you do that. But imagine how happy that employee will be for the duration they remain under your employ. What’s the ripple effect of that on your customers?

4th week referrals

We're at 287 referrals for the month of April and 887 for the year. We're at 29% of our goal! So far in April 37% of the referrals have been second generation. Let's keep up the good work of giving qualified referrals!

Managing Conflict

I wrote a post on managing conflict. When it comes down to it, regardless of the obstacle, what matters is how we look at the situation. Do we respond with an emotional reaction, or do we see the experience as a learning opportunity?

This past week, I was presented with a conflict. My initial reaction was one of anger - a very normal response. I was not happy about the situation. I wanted to publicly confront an individual about a situation.

Then I decided that being angry wasn’t going to solve anything (and would probably make the situation worse), so I decided I would determine what I could learn from the situation.

What I learned first was a reminder that I cannot control other people - either in what they do or how they think.

Read the rest here.

Change vs. Status Quo

Recently, I wrote a post on the idea of change and status quo. The deeper issue is control - what is control? What do we have control over? How do we use this? How does control affect entrepreneurs? All great questions.

Here’s a short part of the post:

It’s been said that the only thing that stays the same is change. Yet how often do we attempt to hold on to something? Why is it that we attempt to keep things the same?

The simple answer is control. As human beings, most of us are obsessed with control - especially us entrepreneurs. We will do whatever we can to prevent change and hold onto the status quo in order to have control of a situation or our lives.

Read the rest here.

Power of PRE

“No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”

Napoleon Hill , Author of Think And Grow Rich

Welcome New Members

I’d like to welcome our 2 new members -Mike Davis with IsXperia and William Seiler who is now with SourcePoint. Please take the time to meet these new members and learn about their businesses!

April week 2 referrals

Today we had 54 referrals. That takes us to 140 for the month. We are at 26% of our yearly goal. 39% this month are 2nd generation. This week was a little light on referrals - let's make it up next week by working hard to refer our clients to a fellow PRE member. Also talk to the first 10 people you see today about Jodie and Wendy's businesses! Let's help our fellow members get referrals.

Josh mentioned giving a specific example of who is a good referral for you so that it paints a picture in people's minds of someone they might know who needs your business. Example a Florist might say "A good referral for me would be a decision maker at a church since they need flowers for Sunday morning and they also have weddings". Rather than saying "anyone who wants flowers".

On a last note, Thank You to Mark for filling in for Matt today. Great job!

Control

Today I wrote a post about control. Here’s an excerpt:

What do you have control over? Be honest, and I mean really honest, with yourself - what do you really have control over?

The answer is - not much. You really don’t have control over much of what happens. About the only control that you have, to some degree, is how your react to things. Even then, our subconscious habits control most of how we react.

Regional Website

Our Region of PRE now has its own website! http://www.pre-sepa-md.com There are testimonials from PRE members, member listings, online Forums to share ideas and many other great resources for all members. This also is a great resource to show anyone who is considering becoming a member of PRE.

April Referrals

We're off to a great start in April with 86 referrals. 46% were 2nd generation. We are at 740 referrals for 2008, which is 24% of our yearly goal.

Some referral housekeeping items:

1. Make sure your referral is qualified - this means your friend/family/client is expecting a fellow member to call and is truly interested in their product or service.
2. Fill in the referral slip in it's entirety - make sure you mark whether it is a 1st or 2nd generation and fill in who the referral it is to and from. If it is a cross chapter referral, mark as such across the top
3. Which Copy? The Yellow copy goes in the bucket when you give a referral. The While copy goes to the PRE member for whom you have a referral for. The Pink Copy is for your records. Upon completion of a referral sale, please fill in the dollars generated on the white copy and return to the bucket (even if it is zero/not interested). If you cannot return white slips due to client privacy, simply email me a monthly total of the dollars generated.
4. Follow Up - When you receive a referral, follow up in a timely manner

If you ever have questions about what is or is not a referral, how to fill out the slip, or any other information about referral, please ask me and I'll be happy to help you out!

212 Degrees - The Extra Degree

If you haven't heard of the book, it's not surprising. It is actually out of print. It is written by Sam Parker and filled with brilliance. The concept is that at 211 degrees, water is just hot. But at 212, it is boiling give off steam which can power a train. One degree can turn water into power. Now take this concept on to referrals. If you just give one more referral than you usually do, what a difference that will make in someone's business. Don't hold back, go the extra mile and give just one more referral. You could change someone's life and business.