In This Issue:

- Marketing Tip
- Product Update
- Minimize Business BS
- Success Tip
- Business Black Belt
- Support Spotlight
- Partner Announcments
- Tips & Tricks

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Does Birth Order Determine Success?

This is an interesting study for all of us and again there can be exceptions.

By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor

All men may be created equal; but a look at their pay stubs will tell you that their incomes are not. Blame it on social class, education -- even luck, but according to Dalton Conley, New York University professor of sociology and public policy, inequality begins at home.

In his book "The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why," Conley says that 75 percent of the income inequality between individuals in the United States occurs between siblings in the same families. He points to the diverse fortunes of Bill and Roger Clinton, and Jimmy and Billy Carter as examples.

Research shows that first borns (and onlys) lead the pack in terms of educational attainment, occupational prestige, income and net worth. Conversely middle children in large families tend to fare the worst. (Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!)

"A child's position in the family impacts his personality, his behavior, his learning and ultimately his earning power," states Michael Grose, author of "Why First Born Rule the World and Last-borns Want to Change It." "Most people have an intuitive knowledge that birth order somehow has an impact on development, but they underestimate how far-reaching and just how significant that impact really is."

Conley concedes that birth order is significant in shaping individual success, but only for children of large families -- four or more siblings -- and in families where finances and parental time are constrained. (In wealthy families, like the Bushes and Kennedys, it has less effect.)

Here's a look at what impact your birth-order may have on you:

First Borns:
More conscientious, ambitious and aggressive than their younger siblings, first borns are over-represented at Harvard and Yale as well as disciplines requiring higher education such as medicine, engineering or law. Every astronaut to go into space has been either the oldest child in his or her family or the eldest boy. And throughout history -- even when large families were the norm -- more than half of all Nobel Prize winners and U.S. presidents have been first born. Famous eldest children include: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, J.K. Rowling and Winston Churchill. And macho movie stars are First Born, too, including Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and all the actors who have played James Bond.

Middles:
Middle children are more easy going and peer-oriented. Since they can get lost in the shuffle of their own families, they learn to build bridges to other sources of support and therefore tend to have excellent people skills. Middle children often take on the role of mediator and peacemaker. Famous middle children include: Bill Gates, J.F.K., Madonna and Princess Diana.

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http://www.jian.com/resources/articles.html?id=1148082884

"Never carry someone longer than their mother did."
- Jay Shelov (referring to a possibly problem employee)

How to end a letter the RIGHT way

By Ivan Levison, Direct Response Copywriter

Every copywriter knows that it's extremely important to start a sales letter (paper or email) correctly. In the first couple of sentences you have to grab the reader's attention and get them on your side. If you don't, the greatest product features, the most wonderful benefits in the world, won't get you anywhere.

What is not as widely appreciated is the fact that you also must handle the ending of your sales letter with equal skill. All too often, copywriters seem to run out of steam and settle for a flabby, weak ending which can really hurt response. Let me show you what I mean. Here is the last paragraph from an old Symantec sales letter intended to upgrade their WinFax Pro installed- base to the latest version:

"Don't wait . . . call 1-800-631-8118 today to upgrade to the new WinFax Pro 9.0 for only $49.95. I guarantee you'll enjoy its new features right from the start! If not, return it within 60 days for a full refund (excluding shipping and handling).**

Sincerely, P.S., etc.

**Subject to the terms of our license and warranty."

What a downer! Out of all the upbeat, motivating ways to end a letter, why highlight the fact that you are excluding shipping and handling from your guarantee - then add insult to injury by adding asterisks that refer to the terms of your license and warranty? Not a good choice! You should never end your letter with a reference to a legalism. (Another thing to avoid is ending with your fax or 800 number. I would guess that about HALF of all direct mail letters end with a phone or fax number!) Nope. It's much better to end on an upbeat note that really has some energy, some spirit, and some motivating power.

Let's take a look at the ending of an old Quicken 99 sales letter from my file that works much better:

"After all, you've worked hard getting where you are today. You deserve to have your money work hard for you. And there's no better, easier way to do that than with Quicken 99 - the indispensable financial tool that helps you recognize when opportunity is knocking... and opens the door to a brighter, more comfortable, more secure future!

Sincerely, P.S., etc."

Yes. Intuit used a copywriter who stayed awake on the job all the way to the end and it shows!

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http://www.jian.com/resources/articles.html?id=1148356502

Do you have an article or some useful advice that you you'd like to share?
Please email the editor with your news to appear in Business Black Belt as well as on our website.

To use the self is to forget it. Anxiety turns into purposeful action. Brooding disappears, daydreaming disappears. All beings enrich the universe with uniquely varied creativity. Our experiences in practice, education, and realization function in synergy to give that enrichment its fullest possible blessing. It is the self forgotten that achieves this.
- Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words

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"A change in your plans requires an eraser.
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- R. Buckminster Fuller

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"You, you and you... Panic.
The rest of you, come with me."
- U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt.

Make your business meetings worth the time

Are your organizational meetings dull, uninspiring, and inefficient? Do they drain morale, waste time, and focus on the past? Would you like them to be vibrant, engaging, productive, and future focused? If so, here are some suggestions to supercharge your business meetings.

· Assess your current situation. Be honest. Determine what is and isn’t working and commit to improvement.

· Raise your expectations. Demand more from your sessions. Agendas should be circulated in advance. Attendees should be on time, prepared, and ready to actively participate.

· Set ground rules. No Web surfing or crossword puzzles. Keep your sessions disciplined and business-like. But don’t forget the benefits of humor to lighten things up and reduce stress.

· Have an agenda but be prepared to leave it. If a stimulating and productive discussion develops, exploit it. Harvest those creative ideas. You can always revisit less important matters.

· Challenge your meeting time and formats. If your meetings get in a rut, try something different. Don’t underestimate the power of timing, location, and format.

· Know when to quit. If you hit a big breakthrough, consider stopping. End on a high note.

· Avoid the trivial. Handle routine updates via memos or e-mail.

· Stretch and challenge the team. Your meetings are valuable personal and organizational development opportunities. Treat them that way.

· Recognize excellence. Praise and reward performance.

· Focus on the positives and keep future-focused. Maintain a positive tone. Discuss your yesterdays only to improve your tomorrows.

· Recap and take action. Resolve issues, determine a course of action, and assign action steps. It’s important to make recognizable progress.

· End on a unifying note. Reinforce the common bond and move forward together.

You can make your business meetings more productive. Commitment, discipline, and a passion for excellence will make it happen.

- Edward Mitchell, Manager, Management Resources Consulting Group Inc., www.mr-cg.com

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us
to an understanding of ourselves."
- Carl Jung

Selling for a Change

By Burke Franklin, Author, Business Black Belt

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. . .
Try salting the oats.
- Anonymous

Selling is often not just convincing someone to buy your product or service but to change what they already have or what they are doing now.

Some customers are already interested in changing to something new and they know they need to buy your product or service. Others need to be made aware that something new is available and that they should upgrade as soon as possible. Either you sell the customer your product or service or your customer sells you that they don’t need it. Either way, a sale occurs. It’s your job to convince them to purchase your service or product. But after you educate them and they still won’t buy. . . what’s the problem? As you already know, most people are afraid of change. Where does the fear come from and why? Like many people, I developed a fear of change during childhood. Looking back, I sense that changes were not necessarily improvements in my situation, rather they were dictated and initiated by others for their convenience. Perhaps the changes were not ones that I would have made. As a child, things were not in my control.

You don’t need to be a psychologist to see that my mental association with change was somewhat negative. Perhaps you had a similar experience. Fortunately for me, my reaction later on in life to all of this was ultimately to take control of things and make changes that suited me. I developed the ability to make changes that improved my situation. To this end, I’m relatively easy to sell to because I like to invest in improvements. Some people, on the other hand, still resist change because they’re afraid that the change will actually make things worse. These people are difficult to sell to.

Some customers avoid change because they aren’t sure how they got as far as they have. They think they were lucky and they don’t want to rock the boat. Any change at all could upset everything! Without getting much further involved in the psychological details of the fear of change, consider it as a possibility behind your customer’s resistance to buying.

Finish reading this chapter
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Peer's Law:
The solution to a problem changes the nature of the problem.
- John Peers president of Logical Machine Corp

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Do you have an announcement or promotion you'd like to share? Please email the editor with your news to appear in the Business Black Belt and also on our website.

"The impossible is often the untried."
- Jim Goodwin

Beware of Invention Promotion Companies

The New York State Consumer Protection Board and the United Inventors Association (UIA) are warning would-be inventors to be wary of invention promotion firms that charge thousands of dollars in advance fees, but offer little help to their clients.

"Excited inventors often get caught up in the false claims and promises made by some invention promotion firms," said Teresa A. Santiago, Chairperson and Executive Director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB). "You can lose thousands of dollars relying on these promises and even lose the rights to your invention."

The CPB today joined the UIA in urging inventors to use government and private resources to investigate invention firms before paying large advance fees. This warning comes as ABC Television is the latest to highlight the work of so-called "basement inventors." At least two competitors on the program, "American Inventor," lost thousands of dollars to invention promotion scams.

To gather information on invention promotion and patent firms, inventors can use the website of the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/com plaints.htm). The agency features a list of complaints filed against specific invention promotion firms.

"More help is available from the United Inventors Association, a non-profit advocate for inventors located in Rochester, N.Y.," said Chairperson Santiago. "Since 1990, the UIA has been guiding and advocating on behalf of inventors. Its websites (www.uiausa.org and www.uiausa.com) contain an enormous amount of valuable information including links to other websites dedicated to the protection, education and encouragement of small inventors."

Finish reading this article (Includes "Signs of an invention scam")
http://www.jian.com/resources/articles.html?id=1148320629

Tax Tricks -- Know the tax impacts of remodeling

Walk around your neighborhood and you're likely to see homes being remodeled. Perhaps you, too, are considering a new deck, kitchen or bathroom this spring. If so, understand the tax consequences.

If your project qualifies as an improvement to your home, you’ll enjoy some tax benefits. But if the project is a repair, there’s generally no tax benefit. It’s not always easy to tell the difference.

An improvement is defined as something that adds value to your home or extends its life. So putting in a new kitchen, building an extension, or adding a new deck are improvements because they add value. Replacing the roof is an improvement because it extends the life.

A repair, on the other hand, merely keeps the home in good working order. Examples include painting inside or out or replacing a few missing shingles.

The tax benefits arise because you can add the cost of your home improvements to your original cost basis. That’s the amount you first paid for the home. When you sell, a higher cost basis means a smaller capital gain. And generally you’ll pay tax on a capital gain greater than $500,000 ($250,000 for singles). So the smaller your capital gain, the less likely you are to owe tax when you sell.

That’s why it’s important to save bills and receipts for any projects that may qualify as improvements. Make a note of what they were for. You may need to keep these for years until you sell your home. But when you do, they could be the key to reducing your tax bill.

- Edward Mitchell, Manager, Management Resources Consulting Group Inc., www.mr-cg.com