From Board Breaks to Board Rooms

An App That Makes You More Social!

2010-08-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

What type of Software do I need to grow my business? How can I get my website to generate more leads? I keep hearing how social marketing is what every successful business is doing, how do Itap into it? It can be very overwhelming to face these questions, and ifyou are feeling that way right now and are trying to keep your website, your social networks, and your contact management software all up to date - we have an app that does it all for you in one place:It's WebSocialR from PerfectMIND!

Let me explain; A few years ago, a strong domain name, and a balanced set of marketing campaigns were the essential components in generating new customers. This is because back then, people bought from the companies that managed to rank high in search engines, and had an easy-to-navigate professional website. In short - people used to buy based on what company presented itself the best.

In today's business world, people no longer just buy that way! They also buy based on what their colleagues recommend. It is crucial that you get people involved in your business and develop a network of loyal customers.This has already been illustrated by politicians and companies with strong social media representation. Simply put, the companies with the most fans and followers are the companies who will survive in the new world of social business. Unfortunately, starting late on this could mean ending soon, however, PerfectMIND new WebSocialR can help!

WebSocialR has been engineered in a way that not only makes it easy for you to grow your customer network and social networks at the same time, but it also reduces your business expenses by converting your sales and marketing departments into self-serve entities that your customers can interact with on your website.Just having a website with a shopping cart to sell your products and a few lead forms scattered amongst different landing pages will no longer be effective. You need to allow your customers to interact with your website and the database, this way they can easily refer you to others, share your company blog posts, and interact with information that is relevant to them.

WebSocial turns your website into an interactive hub where your customers are encouraged to write comments about your products, and share them back and forth with their friends on social media network sites like facebook or YouTube.

WebsocialR allows important information about your customers seamlessly to be shared with you - learn what other companies they are working with based on patent pending profiling permission and win more bake-off's by knowing what to do proactively.Your customer database is currently in isolation! This is a problem we would like to solve for you with WebSocialR. It has too many great features to list in this post, but here are the 5 most important!

Create apps that work with both mobile and desktop browsers, or choose from our app store, the process is much quicker and easier than you would expect!
Book Me app - An app that makes your online booking simple for your product tours, event booking, sales webinars or any type of booking for your business calendaring needs.
Customize your business apps to act differently for your website guests vs leads or customers - Pick and choose what you want to be shared in your social media channels
Create and share graphical reports with your website visitors, make it easy for them to see what your most popular products or services are and who "likes" them. Visitors will be able to see who in their own network has worked with you as well as outside of their network. Imagine the buzz...

Congratulation, President Obama!

2008-11-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

I was 22 when I tried to get a visa to go to the United States of America. Unfortunately, because of where I came from, they denied my entry to the country, so I ended up going to Canada instead. I always wished to live in the USA, not because Canada is not a great place to live, but because I always felt that I could achieve more in the United States of America. I am now a Canadian Citizen, but never stopped looking at doing business or traveling to the United States!

I became friends and did business with many great Americans and developed a strong sense of affinity for the country. I followed their politics like I was from the U.S.! When 8 years ago President Bush got elected, I was very disappointed, because I did not believe in his policies and belief. And when 4 years ago he was re-elected, I knew that things in this world would no longer be the same! I had a hard time seeing happiness and unity for this world and this great country once called The United States of America!

This year with Barack Obama, I started gaining hope, that this once great nation has now a chance of coming back! Every time I traveled to the USA, I started talking to people. I started doing my part of promoting The Change that Barack Obama was talking about! I would ask clients, Cab Drivers, and even Hotel clerks to vote for him! It was a little strange for people, when they found out that I was a Canadian Citizen and asking them to vote for Obama!

Tonight, I am very proud of Americans for their decision! This great nation once again proved to be a country of Democracy, Opportunity and Hope! Congratulations to all of you! Because of your decision, we will be living in a better world no matter where we are from!

A 1000 days of Pushups!

2008-08-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

I started a 1000 days of pushups, or a 5 minute work out, everyday for 1000 days-- whether sick, tired, or traveling-- on July 1st 2008. I started this work out in the mornings starting with 40 pushups, 70 squats and 50 sit ups.

Every week or so, I would add the number of repetitions, and that’s only if I felt like it. It’s amazing how our mind can achieve this personal power with just 5 minutes of workout a day. Now after 40 days I am at 80 pushup, 150 squats and 100 sit-ups.

When I started this, I wasn’t thinking just about building more muscles but the ability to discipline myself for 1000 days. I think our minds and bodies are very much connected and when you get the body into working, you start feeling better, work better and simply do better in all aspect of your life.

Since July 1st, I have also encouraged my parents, friends, students and employees to do the same…I think it’s about 40 of us now that are on this “1000 day pushups” routine (By the way, I have lost 5 pounds of pure fat and now it feels better looking at my self in the mirror as well. A bonus I didn’t expect).

Push ups work out your triceps, biceps, chest, lats and back muscles. You don’t need to go to the gym, you don’t need any equipment and because the workout only takes 5 minutes, you don’t have any excuses that you didn’t have time.

All you need is a strong desire to reach the goal of a 1000 days and stick with it, because when you do, you will feel so good. Join me in this 1000 days of pushups and send me your feedback!

“PerfectMind” Platform as a Service

2008-07-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

After months of research for a name for our new project development code named “G4” we finally found the best name to represent this new phenomenon—“PerfectMIND”. In its core, “PerfectMIND” allows one to create applications in hours rather than months, and brings together the minds of others to collaborate in building and sharing applications and services.

We have finally completed the first version of the platform and now we are building applications for the martial arts and other Fitness and Health industry businesses using the PerfectMind platform. Users around the world can now try the platform with a few applications ready to go. More applications will be added to the Platform Application Directory (Mind Exchange) as we get closer to our first version of our martial arts vertical application.

One of the most unique features of the PerfectMind platform is that you can build applications across multiple verticals. For example, the planner App will be customizable to all types of businesses. With the PerfectScan Application you can use it to track student attendance, scan a bottle of pop from your retail shop or use it to scan an employee to keep track of his time sheet. All applications within the platform have been built to allow for greater flexibility and customization.

The upcoming application will be available in the Mind Exchange market place:

CRM
Martial Arts Solution
Event Management
Task Management
Billing and Invoicing
Attendance
Scanning
Campaign Management

We have designated separate teams working on PerfectMind Platform and specific vertical applications and Services. This way, we will ensure both the progress of the platform’s functionality and fulfillment of different industries’ needs.

PerfectMind Service Connect will allow you to connect and use all types of services like Payment Processing, Voice Broadcasting, Mailing, and Payroll without writing a single line of code. We are expecting the first public release of our platform and Martial Arts applications in early fall.

"G4" Comes to Life!

2008-04-17T17:13:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Readers.

You may be wondering why I haven’t posted on the blog in recent weeks. Its not that I have forgotten you guys… Its that I, along with the entire team, have been working around the clock to deliver on what we’ve been promising you for the past 2 years – and now on a much bigger scale than once thought.

Here is a video of our PerfectMIND ( code named “G4” ) Alpha Release Party!

We’re almost there!

I look forward to your comments.

A Better Life Through Better Goal Setting.

2008-01-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

In my previous post I spoke about the importance of New Years resolutions and goal setting, but what if you don’t know how to achieve your New Years resolutions or how to effectively set a goal?

Through years of attending seminars and reading hundreds of achievement-related books, I have learned a few things. Of all of the new techniques, methods and systems I’ve learned about, one of the most important skills I’ve picked up is how to set high goals and achieve them.

Below, I describe a method for achieving goals that I find to be incredibly effective. It works so well for me because it allows me to focus on the big picture and work towards it - I hope it works just as well for you!

Once you’ve read the article, please take a moment to post a reply. I appreciate your comments, your success stories and your wisdom.

Enjoy!

• Set 3 goals per quarter and try to achieve them. When goals are in 3’s, you will remember them by heart and can remind yourself of them more easily.
• Goals should not be what you do on regular basis or daily tasks. Examples of some things that wouldn’t qualify as goals are: call my leads, manage my team or shower every day.
• When goals are complicated, it is hard to achieve them… SIMPLIFY your goals. For example: “I want to make $1,000,000.00 this quarter” or, “I want to lose 50 pounds”.
• Have one strong reason or motive as to why you are setting these goals. People without a strong reason are far less likely to achieve their goals. You need to have incentives like looking good, getting married, obtaining a higher salary and so on.
• Goals are not tasks, when you start thinking in the level of tasks you are actually moving away from you goals.
• Goals can be broken into tasks. Tasks can be changed but goals can not. Goals might not be achieved on time but tasks should.
• Once every quarter, you must look at your goals and measure how close you are to achieving them as a percentage. You should analyze your goals a min of 2 weeks before the end of the quarter. You should know ahead of time if you will be able to achieve them. Do NOT wait until the time you have set for yourself is over before you analyze your progress!
• You should normally set your goals at a slow and relaxing time away from work. On a weekend or at night when you’re away from the office tends to be best. Being in a good mood also helps you to think logically and set realistic goals.
• Most people have trouble multi tasking. If that is the case with you, focus on one goal per month. Once you have completed that goal, start your new one. Also consider that there may be times you need to start all 3 of your goals at once in order to complete them before the end of the quarter.
• You don’t always have to be the only person to complete all of the tasks that are needed to achieve your goals. Sometimes they can be completed by other members of your team.
• All smaller goals and tasks should be categorized into the 3 main goals to ensure you’re focusing on the big picture.
• If you don’t’ achieve your goals in the first quarter, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure or a low achiever, you can always extend them into your next quarter’s goals - just make sure to achieve a minimum of 60% of your goals each quarter!

I hope this helps you achieve more by bringing a new level of focus to your goals! Please take a moment to ‘post a reply’ and share your thoughts on the article, goal setting or about your own experiences with setting goals.

New Year Resolutions

2007-12-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

Like every year, I look forward to the New Year! It gives me a chance to really look back and see what I have achieved, where I went wrong, and how I could have become a better person. If you are really honest with yourself, usually you can see where you were in life and where you would have liked to have been! Sometimes getting help from people close to you can help you to get a better perspective. I know that 2008 will be a big year for me personally and professionally.

My professional 2008 resolutions:

Build closer relationships with people I work with. Relationships need to be nurtured regularly and cannot be ignored.

Allow people to prove themselves to me before I put full trust on them!

Get ready to build a 100-employee company where teamwork and team recognition is everyone’s number one priority.

My personal 2008 resolution:

I am a perfectionist and sometimes my workouts have to be at least an hour long for me to truly enjoy them. I believe that to stay in shape, it is possible to get away with only a five-minute daily workout! Doing some daily push-ups, chin-ups, and sit-ups (which only take a few minutes) is better than waiting for those elusive days when I actually have enough time for a serious session. This way I release more stress, allow myself to love my workout, and come away happier knowing that I have done something productive for myself.

Try This Tip

I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before: Write your goals down. If they are not written down, they are only dreams.

So why do statistics show that only 2% of Americans actually write down their goals?

I challenge you to change that stat. Share your goals with the world, and I promise that you will increase your levels of achievement.

Write your goals in the comments field below so you can look back and see just what you successfully accomplished.

What's New

2007-08-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Due to our focus on improving internal customer service practices in an attempt to create an amazing experience for our customers, we have learned what it takes to be a solid 50 employee company. Also, with the help of our management team we now have one of the most useful and usable software programs in the industry - MAS. Further to that, I have personally been working day and night on our new technology code named “G4”, and it’s coming along beautifully. We have at least 50 new innovations in what we call “G4 OS”, which is like a machine that can make other machines, but in the application world.

With this OS (Operating System), business owners and developers will be able to build, publish and sell their own applications within weeks, which traditionally would have taken years to do. The OS also gives great flexibility to customers around the world to do minor or major customizations to their own applications so they can run their businesses using their own methodologies.

This means we are getting set to compete with major software companies like Microsoft, SAP and Salesforce head-on!

Our next step is to raise our first round of investment, which will be about 10 million dollars. Then, in another 12 months we will raise another 20 million dollars.

Being an industry leader in the martial arts and fitness industries has taught us a lot in the software business – in fact we are preparing to become a billion dollar company within 5 years. I know 5 years might sound like a short time for such big goal, but wait until you see G4 with your own eyes…

G4 isn’t just an exciting new technology - it’s a product that will help companies achieve amazing results in short periods of time. It will allow employees to be more productive and companies to bring in more sales, while everyone enjoys benefits of the new era of higher intelligence and collaboration.

Some of my old fights.

2007-07-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning out my computer and ran into this old video. I thought I would share with you guys.

It really seems like such a long time ago.

I look forward to any of your comments.

Keeping Your Eyes On The Ball!

2007-05-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

It’s not easy to own your own business! You have to constantly focus on the right things or you could lose whatever you have worked for all these years. One of the things that you need to be focused on is your Numbers. At any given time, you must be able to measure your numbers!

Some of these numbers are dollars and some are simply numbers. You have to watch them to see if they are decreasing or increasing in order to compete in this economy. A business that does not grow in their numbers is a business that will go bankrupt eventually. Some of the numbers that you will need to watch are as follows:

Number of Leads you are generating vs. last month.

Number of sales you have done vs. last month

Number of your expenses vs. last month

Number of lost business vs. last month

Watching your numbers helps you to set new goals and not lose the sight of what is important. Focus on your numbers at least once a week! Whether you’re an employee working for a company or if you own your own business, you have a job to do every day, and part of that responsibility is keeping your eyes on the ball at all times.

How to communicate better in your relationships!

2007-04-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

It’s not easy to communicate if you don’t know how, when you face difficulties or when others decide not to listen, but it is one of the most important reasons behind the success of every personal or business relationship!

No one really knows why we fail when we want to say something important or why we fail to understand others when they try to say something that is important to us, but one thing is for sure - you can get better at communication if you really decide to educate yourself about it!

I am not saying that I am an expert on this subject, but I have learned a lesson or two that I would like to share with you.

How our Brains work:

Fact 1:

We store information in our brains and then, based on who we are talking to, we retrieve what’s necessary. We then organize that information accordingly before communicating it to our audience. This action in the brain is called ‘Outlining’. If we want to talk to a child and an adult about the same subject, we retrieve the same information from our brain but we then organize it differently before talking to them.

Fact 2:

Some words or information could mean different things to different people. For example the word “Cold” could mean insensitive to some people and chilly to others. “Success” could mean money to some people and happiness to others.

Fact 3:

The same information could trigger different emotions in different people. For example “You Lost Weight” could make someone feel good about themselves or make someone who is insecure feel bad about themselves by thinking “was I fat before?”

In order to become a better communicator, we must learn more about ourselves and things that we fear the most:

Fear of Acceptance

Wrong: What if others do not accept what I am trying to say? It’s too much work, forget it!

Right: Even if she doesn’t accept what I am telling her immediately, I know she’ll eventually see my point.

Fear of causing pain to others

Wrong: What if he gets hurt if I tell him the truth?

Right: Pain will be replaced with trust. It’s okay to cause short term pain for a long term happy relationship.

Fear of being wrong

Wrong: I am not sure about my own feelings, what if I start this conversation and then I realize that I was wrong.

Right: It’s okay if I am wrong, because it’s better to be wrong then to ignore my feelings and stop learning to become a better person.

If you knew that the single reason behind every successful personal or business relationship is communication, wouldn’t you really try to overcome your fears and educate yourself about it?

Some great books to read:

How To Get What You Want At Work

20 Communication Tips For Couples

I Love Snow Boarding!

2007-04-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

I have been skiing for about 25 years and I was kind of getting bored on the mountains.

This year, I decided to start snowboarding even though I have been disputing it for many years. I have heard horror stories of how people got major injuries boarding, so it kept me away for long time. I was given a board for Christmas this year so I no longer had an excuse of why I shouldn’t start.

It’s been great fun this winter on the mountains. I am loving it! I have learned to do the twists and turns and I feel like I am in my 20’s again. It feels great to start a new sport where I can be out in nature and enjoy the snow.

Learning a new sport is not only fun but it also helps me with my co-ordination and balance. I am sad that winter is almost over and I look forward to next winter.

The Formula of Success

2007-03-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

There are 3 types of work to be done in
every business. “The Thinking, the Managing, and the
Doing”. If you fail in any of these, you will fail the
business to survive or to expand.

Thinking:

This type of work is when you write a
business plan, strategize to expand your business, or work
on new marketing ideas or competition plans for a new
market.

Requirements to do this type of work
are as follows:

Logical thinking

Analytical thinking

Research ability

Market study

Finance management and budgeting

Vision

Planning and execution skills

Managing:

You get into managing when you have
someone else working under your supervision. The more
employees you have, the more complex this type of work will
get.

Qualities needed to do this type of
work are as follows:

Critical Thinking

Strong communication skills

Motivational skills

Co-ordination and multi tasking
abilities

Organizational skills

Doing:

This type of work requires you to be in
the front line. You are the face of the operation. You are
the one who gets the job done everyday. Operations without
you will fail.

Qualities needed to do this type of
work are as follows:

Positive thinking

Reliability

Repetitive work

Team work ability

Focus on given tasks

The point that I am trying to make is
that every business should have enough resources to cover
all 3 positions at all times. When a business fails to
cover for any of the above positions, they will reduce their
chance to survive or expand in their industry. For those of
you who are interested in improving your business, I have
created this formula based on my own experience. I hope it
can help you to take your business to the next level. Look
at the formula of success and see if you are currently doing
the same!

The Formula of success:

Systemizing for Cookie Cutting!

2007-03-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

You have probably heard the term ‘cookie cutting’ before! What it really means is repeating your success.

A lot of businesses don’t know exactly how they need to do this!

How do you get a customer, and then how do you get thousands of them? How do you save one customer from quitting and then how do you turn that into a system so you can stop future customers from quitting?

It sounds really easy when you think about it, doesn’t it? First you try to do it once, and then you do the same thing 1000 times! The biggest problem small businesses have today is not the fact they don’t know how to run their businesses, but the fact they don’t know how to expand on what they already know! Growth could only come with systemization. How do you systemize what you know? How do you systemize what you do, so you can succeed in achieving more?

There are three rules in systemization that you would need to follow.

1. Job Processes: Write down how you do a job
2. Application Tools: Have a tool that employees can use to do a part or full portion of your job through organized steps
3. Stats: Watch the stats to see if others are doing your job as good as yourself

Again, it sounds easy but in reality taking these 3 steps could take some people a lifetime to figure out. Some people don’t know how to do the first step, where to break down the job in easy steps so that others can get it done. Here are some tips on how to do the first step.

Job Process

1. Break down the process into smaller, easier, more idiot-proof steps
2. Make sure you can measure the success of each stage of your process
3. Create detailed training materials on exactly how others are supposed to do this job

There are consulting companies out there, like Accenture, who help businesses by studying their processes and then find the right tools and business applications for them. These companies charge businesses hundreds to millions of dollars to help them find and implement new tools, so they can be systemized and profitable. Buying the tools is not enough if you do not know how you are going to implement them in a customized way for your business and processes. Sometimes a tool doesn’t fit your processes or your processes are not organized to fit an already available application. So here are some tips on how to implement a tool for your business processes.

Application Tools
1. Your application must be flexible
2. Your application must have built in proven processes so you can use it for your business
3. Implementation takes time! Be patient, systemization is the key in winning the cookie cutter methodology
4. Your tools must be re-evaluated and change as your business grows. If your processes change regularly in a growing business, so should your tools or business applications

It’s one thing having stats, it’s another having the ability to analyze your stats! Many employees could not make the right decisions, because of a lack of training or experience. When an owner does a job, they do it well, because they know their products best and they have experience selling or maintaining their customer base. But given the same job an employee may not produce the same result because of the lack of knowledge or training. You can not cookie cut if you have the best process and tools, but are not able to stop employees misjudging early on in your processes. Here are some simple tips on how to read your stats:

Stats
1. Your stats must show you the success of every stage of a process
2. Stats must measure the success of employees who are working on those processes
3. As you are looking at a report, try to find what the report is translating to! Is it telling you something about your employees, or something about the process that is or is not working? Most reports should translate into: what are the concerns, what are the actions you must take next, and who are the people you need to work with to improve the stats

So let me give you an example of how to start this cookie cutting from beginning to end with these 3 simple rules. Since most businesses deal with leads, I am going to use the example of converting a lead to a customer.

Process called Lead Conversion
This process is made of 5 stages. If you’re doing it by yourself, you can easily see if you are doing it well or not, but since you are cookie cutting this process, it can be done by more than one person to handle its volumes and proper follow up.

Job Process
Gathering leads →→ Emailing Leads →→ Contacting Leads →→ giving Leads incentive to buy →→ converting Leads to customers

Tools
Any software that can manage this process must have the ability to give you stats on whether a lead was taken from the beginning to the end of this process and then give you stats on the success of the people who were supposed to do this job.

Stats
We started with 100 leads and ended up with 5 customers. Maybe if we double our number of leads, we could also double the number of our customers!! Could we have ended up with more customers if the employees who were supposed to email the leads would have done their job? Did we have enough employees on stage 3, or should we hire more? Maybe we should change our incentives or give no incentives if the stage 4 has very little or no impact in this process.

Do you see how I analyzed this report? A statistic is talking to you, and you must be able to look at a report and have the ability to translate it. If you don’t have that ability, you definitely need to read my next weeks’ blog where I talk about where you fit within an organization and how you could change that if you wish to!

My next blog is called “The Thinkers, The Coordinators and the Doers”.

The Secret of Becoming Rich

2007-03-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Getting rich is not all about having lots of money, but having a fulfilled life. We all know that human nature is to desire more. More money, more love, more vacation, more friends, more fun and more and more….we are built to always desire more, even when we get all the things that we already wished for! Desiring more in life is the reason behind human's advancement by giving us more drive to achieve more, but it can also be the reason behind poor achievement and unhappiness!

The secret of becoming rich is learning how to desire more while keeping the balance of appreciating what you have. It sounds easy, but most people have a hard time following this simple life lesson.

We are trained to think only about what we don’t have and forget about things we already have. Our society, our family, schools and people around us only encourage achievements but never teach us how to be thankful for what we have already achieved. We forget about things we already have unless something major happens to us to remind us of them. When you get sick, you appreciate your health. When you live in a cold place, you wish you lived somewhere hot! When you have money, you waste it on things that are not so important until you lose it all. When you have a loved one, you don’t appreciate them until you lose them. When you have a good job, you look for a better job.

What if you could get rich by practicing daily to appreciate your life no matter what?

Every day from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, find 3 things that you could be thankful for! Yes that is the secret behind becoming rich. It’s simple but yet if you start it tomorrow, it’s possible that you will forget to do it by the end of the week. I started a new subject in this blog called "To Be Thankful For!" You can come here any day and write 3 things that you are thankful for. It could be anything, even something small. For example, it could be the fact you are healthy and live in a great neighborhood. It could be that you own a car to drive around in, or that you don’t live in a violent country in one of the most troubled areas of the world, and so on and so on…

Share what you are thankful for everyday for the next 7 days, maybe others can learn from reading your positive thoughts that you don’t need to have money to be rich. Most successful people in this world have this great quality, and you could have it too! Share what makes you rich everyday!

Click here to write what you are Thankful for Today

Thankful For Today

2007-03-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

Share what you are thankful for every day for the next 7 days, so others can learn from reading your positive thoughts that you don’t need to have money to be rich.

Just click on "Comments" at the bottom right corner of this post to add your thoughts.

Is Listening an Art?

2007-02-28T18:29:00.000-08:00

Is Listening an Art?

What do you do when your mother starts screaming at you? What do you do when your employees gets upset and start venting? Or, most importantly, what do you do when your customers start complaining?

By being a great listener, you give people a sense of caring, and when you care you allow them to help you to become much more. I know it is not easy to listen to people who are saying bad things about you or your company, but what if you could really go beyond ego, emotions, and judgment and give yourself a chance to see things from their point of view?

We have few customers who call us day and night to tell us what they don’t like about us, but a lot of customers will call us regularly to tell us how great we are. To be honest, I appreciate the ones who take the time out of their busy day and call us to tell us things that we are not doing well the most. I think any business who puts their complaining customers on their payroll can win big-time. When people vent, you have an opportunity to learn something new - but only if you start listening. Remember you have absolutely nothing to lose by listening to people who are not saying the right things about you!

Have you ever had someone complaining, and the only thing you can think about is what to throw at them when they are finished? Things didn’t go very well, did they? How about, if the next time someone starts venting, just let them and really focus on your listening skills!

Here are some tips on becoming a better listener when talking to frustrated friends, family members or customers:

1 - The 5 Second rule. Pause for 5 seconds before you respond to someone who is venting, if they talk again in these 5 seconds, you have to start the 5 seconds rule all over again.

2 - Don’t Disagree. Venting simply could mean, “Please understand how I feel”, so you don’t always have to have an answer! you can simply say, ”I understand” and say nothing more.

3 - Learn the Lesson. Think about the lesson you will be learning when someone vents - this is your chance to get better. Try to find the lesson in everything they say, and ignore their tone of voice if it’s inappropriate.

4 - Be Apologetic. If you find that the reason behind their frustration is you or your company, always apologize and be honest about your mistakes. People understand that anyone can make mistakes as long as you are willing to do something about it.

5 - Take action. Do something about their frustration, don’t just be a good listener. Tell them exactly what kind of action you are going to take to make it better.

Comments are welcomed!

Our New Technology will change small businesses forever!

2007-02-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

We are working on a technology that will change the way small businesses do business. This new technology is so exciting that I am not sure where to start, but here it is...

Imagine having the ability to come to work everyday, and to know all the tasks you must accomplish that day without thinking. Imagine never losing an opportunity to convert a lead to a customer or missing out on a chance to process information that you need every time, on time and on budget. This new technology could also help you to manage your employees more efficiently by giving them direction more accurately and without constant supervision.

Everything in business is a process, and process is the way G4 Organizes, measures and executes a job. Process is the way business owners systemize the way they work, accomplishing tasks or managing employees to do certain jobs. For example: taking a lead from a phone call to turning them into a customer is a process that would need to be managed properly in order to make it successful.

Why is it that some businesses are successful while others in the same industry can not even make ends meet? Is it because they do not manage and measure the success of their processes and don’t have the ability to change accordingly? No business software in the world currently allows you to manage these processes on a consistent basis based on your needs.

Our new technology will not only offer you the ability to customize your own processes, but also gives you the ability to share, buy and sell successful business processes through the ChampionsWay network. Small businesses will be able to grow quickly by using the right processes that will help them to make the right decisions every time.

Look for code name G4 scheduled to be released in 2007!

My 106 year old Grandmother passes away.

2007-02-12T09:29:00.001-08:00

Today for me is a sad day, not being able to be there for my Grandmother when she got sick and passed away. She lived a happy life and lived to be 106 years old. This lady was an amazing person! I never remember her being negative, no matter how much hardship she had gone through.

It was amazing how many people came to pay their respects when she was buried. People remember her always with her beautiful smile, her white hair, and her beautiful blue eyes and most importantly how unselfish she was in helping others her whole life. My grandmother was an inspiration for me. Every time I wanted to motivate others, I would always use her spirit and strength as an example.

We would call her Naneh Joon, and she left this world having 8 Children, 29 Grandchildren, 72 Great Grandchildren and believe it or not 5 Great Great Grandchildren. I will miss you Grandma, thank you for bringing me to this world and God bless your soul.

4 ways to create passion in everything you do!

2007-02-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

I don’t know about you, but I have learned this lesson the hard way. In order to do what you love in life, you can’t just get there right away; you must first go through steps.

You can’t just one day wake up and see yourself in the perfect job if you haven’t gone through some experiences. You can’t find yourself in the best university, if all you did was slack off in your high school years.

For some of us it might take few years while for others it might take a life time to get to do what they really love, but wouldn’t it be a waste of life to live an unhappy life because you are not doing what you really love to do?

Whether it’s a relationship, a job or a course that you’re taking from school, I believe that you must learn to love what ever you do in your daily life. By learning how to bring passion into what ever you do, you become more positive and productive and you get to what you want a lot quicker. How do you do it? How can you bring passion to everything you do?

Be Curios! Curiosity creates interest in everything you are doing and interest creates passion
Be Positive! Stop focusing on things you don’t like and appreciate what you have
Be patient! To get to where you want to be, you will need to learn how to go through its steps. Speeding up the process makes you not enjoy the process and in return not to be good at it.
And most importantly Be the best! No matter how un-passionate you are about what you do, you must learn to do your job perfectly everyday, every time. When you are the best at something, you will find passion in it and enjoy its process.

If you have any thoughts that you would like to share with me or my readers, please don’t hesitate to write your comments.

How to motivate Employees: Pressure Vs Pleasure!

2007-01-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

We had our monthly employee meeting yesterday and it was so interesting to hear our employees talk about what motivates them the most. When I asked them to share with me whether there are driven by Pressure or Encouragement, some of the things they said were surprising

“It’s different all the time” said one employee, “with some managers I am more motivated if they encourage me, while with others I do more when they tell me that I am not doing a good job”

“A deadline drives me to achieve more”

“I can’t perform under pressure, I do worse”

“If you encourage me, I stop performing. I need to feel under pressure”

The lesson to learn was that everyone is so different! To help people achieve more in their lives, you need to first get to know them. Pay attention the next time you put someone under pressure, focus on the result and you will soon know what works best for them. Managers, who pay attention only to company results, most likely lose sight of what makes people achieve more. Whether you use pressure or encouragement, every employee feels good when they set goals and learn to achieve them. If you switch your train of thought from company results to employee results, you might have a chance to win both. Balance is also the key; you cannot constantly put some one under pressure! Remember encouragement is the food for the soul and can make any of us feel better about ourselves and in turn do a better job at work.

Healthy mind in a healthy body

2007-01-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

I am too busy to exercise! Does it sound familiar? It’s amazing how many people use this excuse to not exercise. Working out not only makes you happier but also helps you to make the right decisions that you have to make everyday in your business.

It’s proven that the best way to release work related stress is to work out. Why think about where you want to end up in 20 years if you are never going to make it there anyway? What are some tips for finding time to exercise? Early in the morning, on weekends with your kids or your friends, or simply play an organized sport once a week, like soccer or even martial arts. Use a stairwell anytime you can, and walk for 15 minutes everyday after lunch.

You can always find time if it is really important to you. Just remember a healthy mind exists only in a healthy body, so no matter how smart you are in your business, it would be hard to stay happy if you are not moving. Humans are made up of more than 90% water, what happens when water stays still?

Budgeting

2007-01-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

Learning to budget your personal finance is as important as budgeting for your small business.

Try to budget everything that you can monthly. Budget monthly for your personal tax, property tax, savings, vacations, and insurance. Most people who I know that live a financially happy life, are usually the one’s who have thought of their yearly expenses ahead of time!

Surprises at the end of the year not only create uncertainty about who you are but also could create unnecessary additional stress that you don’t need to have. Take a day and open up your excel sheet and type down all your yearly expenses and then divide those into a monthly budget, it’s that simple.

It’s not always about making more money when you have a plan on how you will spend it. A good book to read is: The World's Easiest Pocket Guide to Personal Budgeting

Planning Pays Off

2007-01-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

It’s a new year and I have been working on setting goals for 2007 and when I started comparing the upcoming year with last year, I realized that there is so much we can do better this year to increase profitability.

I've always been a big believer in the benefits of giving back to our customers. Investing in our customer service could have a major impact on increasing the number of our customers generated through referral. Instead of focusing on marketing and advertising, my focus this year will be definitely more on our current customers. If you have been in business for at least 5 years, you must have enough customers where you can clearly see what their needs are and how you can help improve your products or services to achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction. Retention can help any business to become more successful, all you have to do is listen carefully to your customers and change accordingly.

Biography

2006-10-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take some time to introduce myself to those of you I have not yet met.

I started being an entrepreneur probably at the age of 12 when I made my first sale, selling handmade kites to my neighbors. As I was growing up, I enjoyed very much watching success movies about people who struggled and fight to become their best. The movies influenced me to set high goals and one was to become a martial arts champion.

I started training in martial arts when I was 12 and by the time I was 18, I achieved my first national championship title. Having my picture on the front page of the most popular national sport magazine gave me a great taste of how pleasurable success could be, so I started setting new goals and that was to leave my country at the age of 21 and go to Europe not only for a better life but this time to fight with the best international fighters in the world.

Training in martial arts and fighting in the ring taught me a lot about myself and how far I could really push myself. It taught me to get up after every fall and to never accept defeat.

I always had two dreams, one was to live in North America and two was to become a world champion and at the age of 30 I achieved both. They say once you start setting goals and work hard to achieve them, you can never stop. I can’t stop. I love working hard at things and to become a world champion at everything I do. The purpose of life for me is not just happiness but it is to leave this world knowing that I am becoming more by learning and growing.

My company ChampionsWay is for me yet another sport that I like to compete in and to become a world champion at. ChampionsWay now with over 50 employees and 4300 clients is ready to go against the heavy weight champions of the world. Please watch us in the red corner as we enter into the ring of business competition with the big boys.

Thank you,

Farid Dordar

Hello fellow Business Owners

2006-10-18T12:14:00.001-07:00

Hello, my name is Farid Dordar, CEO and Founder of ChampionsWay Inc., and this is my personal Blog.

Here you will find my weekly business and personal related thoughts, ideas, concepts, and findings - as I see it. The floor is always open and I encourage everyone to post and share their comments with myself and the global ChampionsWay community.

Sincerely,

Fard Dordar