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Here's the picture that shocked the world…
http://www.foragreatercause.org/thepicture.html
Please read the post below entitled: Do YourSelf A Favor - Help A Friend In Need …
In that spirit, Business 2.0 magazine sent senior writer Paul Kaihla and a team of reporters on a quest to find some of the best "best practices" in business today. The companies they interviewed have stumbled upon their own unique methods for doing everything from running meetings and generating product ideas to troubleshooting M&A deals and keeping board directors on their toes.
Following are 25 ideas that are truly gems, broken down into five categories: finance, HR, management, marketing, and R&D.
They're methods that help keep some of the best-run companies, like Procter & Gamble (Research), Google (Research), Southwest Airlines (Research), Microsoft (Research), Intel (Research), and Coke (Research), at the top of their game. You've probably never heard of most of these practices — but you might want to start implementing them tomorrow.
HEWLETT-PACKARD CEO Mark Hurd loves numbers–and insists that his managers learn to love them too. Since Hurd came onboard last March, one of the key tools he's used to keep pace with rivals is his extreme form of industry benchmarking. Instead of comparing HP's sales and profits with Dell's or IBM's, the company now tracks itself against rivals by every conceivable measure. "We want to make sure we break down every unit and business function," explains Marius Haas, senior strategy officer at HP, "so we can become best in class in each one."
Here's how it works: Imagine a matrix with various business units running down the side (printing, servers, storage, IT services, etc.) and business functions across the top (finance, HR, marketing, R&D, etc.). Now create benchmarks for each of the 72 resulting cells and you have a good idea of how Hurd is managing the $87 billion company. The benchmarks are the best guess of where HP's rivals are going to be in 2007, based on more than a dozen variables, from real estate cost per square foot to operating expenses as a percentage of gross margin.
Before Hurd took over, HP measured itself primarily against IBM, using one very blunt tool: costs as a percentage of revenues. That ignored IBM's higher gross margins and the fact that it has more gross profit to spread around. Hurd's new benchmarking method formed the basis of HP's reorganization effort announced last July, through which HP has promised to save $3 billion by 2008. Already there is key evidence of success: Operating expenses as a percentage of gross margin dropped 2 percent in 2005, helping to fatten profits by $385 million. — E.S.
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Hi - found this great article in Early To Rise - read and get wise!
By Tim Ferriss
I just landed back in CA from a long overdue mini-retirement through London, Scotland, Sardinia, Slovak Republic, Austria, Amsterdam, and Japan.
Some unpleasant surprises awaited me when I checked in on the evil e-mail inbox. Why?
I let them happen.
I always do.
Here are just a few of the goodies that awaited me this time:
It's not that I go out of my way to irritate people - not at all - but I recognize one critical fact: Oftentimes, in order to do the big things, you have to let the small bad things happen. This is a skill we want to cultivate.
What did I get in exchange for temporarily putting on blinders and taking a few glancing blows?
Once you realize that you can turn off the noise without the world ending, you're liberated in a way that few people ever know.
Just remember: If you don't have attention, you don't have time. Did I have time to check e-mail and voicemail? Sure. It might take 10 minutes. Did I have the attention to risk fishing for crises in those 10 minutes? Not at all.
As tempting as it is to "just check e-mail for one minute," I didn't do it. I know from experience that any problem found in the inbox will linger on the brain for hours or days after you shut down the computer, rendering "free time" useless with preoccupation. It's the worst of states, where you experience neither relaxation nor productivity. Be focused on work or focused on something else, never in between.
Time without attention is worthless, so value attention over time.
Here are a few questions that can help you put on the productivity blinders and put things in perspective. Even when you're not traveling the world, develop the habit of letting small bad things happen. If you don't, you'll never find time for the life-changing big things, whether important tasks or true peak experiences. If you do force the time but puncture it with distractions, you won't have the attention to appreciate it.
Will "bad" things happen? Small problems will crop up, yes. A few people will complain and quickly get over it. BUT, the bigger picture items you complete will let you see these for what they are - minutiae and repairable hiccups.
Make this trade a habit. Let the small bad things happen and make the big good things happen.
[Ed. Note: Timothy Ferriss is author of the #1 New York Times best-seller, The 4-Hour Workweek. He is the world's top lifestyle blogger - more than 20 million hits per month - at www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog, which details all of his latest experiments and how-to case studies.]
How can we reflect on something that has not yet come to pass?
In a sense, all of the thoughts and plans we have formed and discussed
for the coming year have already occurred
in our mind's eye.
Reflecting on our plans and goals is an important part of realizing them.
We have a chance to commit to those thoughts and plans through action.
But we also have a chance to change our plans and take another route
in business, in our personal lives… a chance to make a difference in the world,
even if that means creating more harmony in our private lives,
or earning our first dollar online,
or creating jobs for thousands of people,
or writing a book that will change the lives of many people around the world.
They all have equal value
because we do things, create things,
to the best of our ability,
and there is, in truth,
no comparison in deeds
and no judgement of deeds,
"good" or "bad",
"higher" or "lower",
"more" or "less",
"better" or "worse".
Our thoughts and actions are simply reflections,
of what was, what is and what could or shall be,
all at once.
When looking back, we see what we have accomplished,
and we see our mistakes and our lack;
often seeing the glass half-empty,
instead of half-full.
Writing that seems almost like a stereotypical comment;
so abused…
but life, when seen from this perspective, is so much easier
when we see what we have
when we acknowledge what we have accomplished
and when we receive the love coming into us
than when we only see what is not there,
when we dwell on our failures,
and when we syndicate our sorrows.
We seldom have the ability
to just "be" in the present moment;
we either live in the past, or in the future,
and thus we feel remorse and sorrow
because we have forgotten the ever present,
and we constantly feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled.
When looking forward,
we often see far too many alternatives of what could come to pass
and thereby hinder the manifestation of our desires and our goals;
as our desires are many and our goals are diffuse.
But the ancients say
that we can clearly see
what we are in the process of creating,
when our minds and our emotions are still,
like a reflection in a clear, glassy mountain lake.
So, my New Year's wish for you,
and for me,
is that your mind and your emotions are still,
like a reflection in a clear, glassy mountain lake,
that our minds
are One Mind,
that our separate hearts
are One Heart,
and that our spirits,
become One Spirit
in Peace and Love and Understanding,
Angela Wickenberg
Since I recently participated in a contest but did not win, it feels important
to focus on what I succeeded in doing; what did I accomplish?
When I focused on why I did not win, I contracted a very bad case of the
post-competition blues… we all like to receive something of high value
from someone we admire or from an organization as a proof of how much
THEY value us. It's like proof of how much we are loved and recognized.
Funny how we, as humans, need that kind of confirmation from others to feel self-worth.
More
Dear Friends,
I once heard someone say: Make it a regular practice to offer to help people out without expecting immediate compensation. If you do this every week, you'll soon find yourself wealthy with appreciative genuine friends that want to help you.
One of the best ways you can not only make yourself feel good, but benefit yourself in the future is to offer to help other people out with no immediate expectation of compensation.
Every human society has a value system that includes reciprocity. That is, a system where one party does something for another and then the favor is returned at a future date.
Reciprocity is one of the critical elements that has allowed humans to prosper. So, it's a very powerful ingrained force in people. Think about it. When someone does something to help you out, don't you feel a strong urge to return the favor?
And this goes the other way. Because in today's cut-throat world there seems to be less and less people willing to help others out without immediate compensation, when you do offer to help someone out, it's highly appreciated.
So, you not only get to do a good deed where you can feel a glow inside because you did something nice, but it's quite likely that someday that favor will be returned. Quite often, it's returned with much more interest than you ever expected the favor deposit to earn.
Naturally, you need to use common sense. You don't loan someone you hardly know your life savings since they had a tough day. But, you might offer to give someone a ride when their car is in the shop, or help your elderly neighbor fix something in their house. Other ideas are to be a father to the fatherless child, bring along a less fortunate child to the movies or to your weekly family dinner at the restaurant, help someone without a car and sufficient funds buy groceries, sit and watch tv with a lonely old person. One day you will be old too.
Remember however, it may not always be the person you gave the favor to that will return the favor. I believe that somehow "the universe" returns the favor or favors in big and/or small ways, but not from the exact same kind of situation or person.
Last night, I received three emails with the same content. Stephen Pierce has taken the initiative to raise enough money to feed one million children. Armand Morin and John Reese were the other two to send messages, as well.
Here's the message. It's about feeding 1,000,000 starving children in the world.
Please read this IMPORTANT MESSAGE.
http://www.ForAGreaterCause.org
Feeling hungry?
My guess is yes. Chances are, you'll be running to the
snack machine to grab a candy bar soon. Or hitting the
drive through for a combo meal. Or possibly sitting
down to a nice dinner at home with the family.
Whatever it is, you have the capacity to quiet your
hunger pains with very little effort, correct?
Great. Now hang on to that thought for a moment…
Because right now, there's more than 850 million people
hungry in the world. Right now. This very second.
850 million That's 100 times the population of New York
City, folks.
And I don't mean "Boy I sure got the munchies" hungry.
This is "I haven't eaten one bite of food in days"
hungry. The type you and I have never, ever
experienced.
Not even CLOSE.
Think that's shocking? What 'til you hear this…
Before morning, 16,000 kids around the world will drop
dead from starvation.
Newborns. Babies. Toddlers. Grade schoolers. Teenagers.
All fresh, young faces looking for a chance to make
their mark in the world.
But they won't. Because after weeks of pain, weakness,
and suffering, they'll finally succumb to the slow,
horrible death of starvation.
And here's the worst part–that's just TODAY.
Tomorrow, there will be another 16,000 dead children to
take their place.
And the next day.
And the next day.
And the next.
Am I getting through to you yet?
http://www.ForAGreaterCause.org
From now until Tuesday, May 29, my goal is to put food
in the bellies of 1,000,000 children around the world.
Don't worry–I'm not going to go all Sally Struthers on
you here. I'm not asking for anything except a few
seconds of your time.
In fact, I'm going to give YOU something fre, just for
helping out. Here's how it works:
Step 1: Go to http://www.ForAGreaterCause.org
Step 2: Download my fre success report called The
Power Of The Third Influence
Step 3: I'll donate a plate of food to Feed The
Children on your behalf.
That's it. You download. I donate. Simple as that.
And with your few seconds of effort, a little child
will go to bed with a full stomach.
How can you pass that up?
http://www.ForAGreaterCause.org
Inside this success report you'll discover…
* How Stephen went from having 2-cents to my name to
earning millions of dollars online.
* How to turn around your life with a simple shift
of association.
* How to double your productivity and get more of
the right things done.
And much more.
It's all yours–fr*e for the taking. Just go to the
website, download it, and I put another plate of food
in front of a hungry little face.
All because of you.
http://www.ForAGreaterCause.org
4 days. 1 million kids fed. We can do it–but you gotta
help me.
This is your chance to really make a difference. As a
parent…a grandparent…a brother…a sister…a
friend.
All I'm asking is for one simple download, and I'll do
the rest. In fact, I don't even care if you read my
report.
Will The Power Of The Third Influence inspire you?
Sure.
Will it make you think? Absolutely.
Will you be closer to achieving personal success after
reading it? I believe so.
But the real power behind this report is not in what it
will do for you, but what it will do for a million
hungry kids.
All I'm asking is that you take 10 seconds to download
it. 10 seconds and a hungry child gets to eat.
Isn't that worth 10 seconds of your time?
http://www.ForAGreaterCause.org
Right this minute, there's 16,000 kids that won't live
to see tomorrow morning…unless something changes.
We might not be able to save them all. But with God's
help–and yours–we'll save a bunch of them.
Can I count on you? Or more to the point…
Can they?
Now it’s your turn. Visit:
www.foragreatercause.org
and Stephen will donate a plate of food for a starving child on your behalf.
Stephen is giving away a free report that will teach you about building wealth. (Stephen has gone from having 2 cents to his name to making millions of dollars online.)
This report is yours free.
Pick up your free report and help a starving child.
Go to www.foragreatercause.org
Take care,
Angela Wickenberg
As marketers, in 2006 and 2007 we saw several "Death of" reports;
First out was Scott Boulch in November 2006 with "The Death Of Adsense."
Scott wrote that within a few days, he had built a list of over 38,000 subscribers.
I don't know how many subscriptions to his software "thelistvirus" he was able to
get - probably a lot of them. It was a smart tactic that worked like money in the bank,
Just a short week or so after, we heard from Mike Filsaime with his
"The Death of Internet Marketing". He gave away his list building software
and built a list of over 50,000 people. He wrote that in just over 24 hours,
they had over 34,346 people create an account to get the report.
(and he thanked Keith Baxter and Scott Boulch in the email he sent
out to his list for their marketing campaign for Their Death of AdSense
report, inspired him on how to market his own report. The marketing
method was to pay for the referrals - so as a marketer using this traffic tactic
- it required money to make the money).
Next in line were a series of separate articles and pre-sales pages:
"The Death of Email Marketing", "The Death of Adwords for Affiliates",
"The Death of the Search Engine Spammer", and many spin offs of that theme.
Rich Schrefren also came out with a very popular series of reports last year
along the same lines.
Then Simon Leung came out with his "The Death Of Google Adwords" report as a
pre-launch to his adwords products. I never heard how the campaign went.
Just the other day or so ago, I received another "Death of" report.
The first thought in my mind was "Oh No! Not another 'Death of' report!".
I had to find out if it was the same kind of information in the report.
The title is "The Death of Information Marketing As We Know It"
Dan Lok writes that he spent close to three months working on his
"Death of" report, which is slightly over 40 pages.
http://www.deathofinformationmarketing.com
In it he claims to reveal exactly what's going on in the
high-powered world of info marketing.
He writes that the manuscript is the result of behind-closed-doors
conversations with a mastermind group he is a part of.
(It's a group where you have to be making at least 7
figures a year to belong to.)
He says there will be no pitches. No affiliate links. No product
launches. There should be some product or service trailing behind;
this is the way it works in the world of marketing.
actionable information in it that one could put into
immediate use for your business, so give it a read if you
haven't already downloaded the report.
Angela Wickenberg