Joel Block, Business Writer
Often dubbed a "Growth Architect" by his clients, Joel Block advises companies on explosive growth strategies by driving revenue and sales. Well known in the capital markets, Joel is a successful entrepreneur, speaker, advisor and faculty member of the iLearningGlobal community. To bring Joel into your company, visit http://www.joelblock.com or http://www.growth-logic.com.
| Do You See What I am Talking About? | |
| The applications for this are enormous; possibilities include improvements or enhancements to any company's customer service. But there are also tremendous opportunities to improve sales and marketing opportunities. | |
| 13:57 Jan 27, 2011 PST | |
| Go Golla and Show Your Laptop How Much You Care | |
| The Europeans always have an edge whenever it comes to style. But they don't always get it right for 'bigness', comfort and utility - at least by American standards. The Golla Company got it more than right, they did a great job. | |
| 17:23 Dec 27, 2010 PST | |
| Who's Got You Covered? | |
| The first product in our series comes from a company that we have become good friends with. Otterbox makes some of the finest phone cases (and more recently iPad cases) available in the marketplace today. | |
| 11:54 Dec 16, 2010 PST | |
| Can't We Just Have the Forms? | |
| I'm regularly asked by people who get involved in our real estate syndication and capital raising program if they can simply get the forms and fill out the securities documentation on their own. | |
| 16:41 Nov 3, 2010 PST | |
| Can You Syndicate Anything? | |
| The objective of the conference was to show the attendees they could syndicate capital and form a pool so rather than brokering hard money transactions, they can become the principal and make the loan decision. | |
| 14:47 Oct 23, 2010 PST | |
| Should You Try It Alone Or Join with a Vulture Fund? | |
| This morning at the health club, I ran into one of my long time friends, and I asked him if what I read in the newspaper was true. The paper reported that the bank where he is chairman was sold to a much larger institution. | |
| 18:43 Sep 27, 2010 PST | |
| Where is Your Horse - In Front of or Behind the Cart? | |
| Real Estate syndication is by far the most profitable aspect of the real estate industry. The reason is that it encompasses all the other areas including brokerage, lending, ownership, management and more. | |
| 10:03 Sep 22, 2010 PST | |
| Only Your Haircutter Knows for Sure | |
| Today was the one day of the month I go and get a haircut. One of the first things that my haircutter said to me was that his clients have been telling him he needs to get into the real estate short-sale game. | |
| 05:34 Sep 1, 2010 PST | |
| How Intelligent is Your Business? | |
| I have recently been exposed to a whole new side of business operations and management. This underutilized tool combines accounting, finance, technology and operations. It makes smart companies smarter, and executives across the country and around t | |
| 14:57 Aug 22, 2010 PST | |
| Can an Imperfect Market Produce Perfect Results? | |
| In economics, it's well known that a perfect market is one in which everybody has access to information instantly, accurately, and uniformly. The closest market in the United States to this is our stock market... | |
| 11:13 Aug 22, 2010 PST | |
| Niche Markets: These Guys Know Parking | |
| I always recommend that people and companies position themselves as world-class experts. Pick a niche that you can be great at, go after that niche ferociously, and make sure the world knows you're one of the best at the tiny little niche that you | |
| 08:47 Aug 22, 2010 PST | |
| Picking Properties in an Anomaly Market | |
| The conditions that real estate is facing right now can only be described as irregular: the free market is not working freely. Banks are holding properties and the Fed has not mandated the sale of these properties. | |
| 05:58 Aug 22, 2010 PST | |
| Should the Concept of Estate Tax Apply to Big Corporations? | |
| The founding fathers of this country, and many of the leaders that followed, watched the wealth accumulated by the early industrialists such as Getty, Rockefeller and Carnegie. | |
| 12:05 Aug 5, 2010 PST | |
| Can Lone Wolves Work Together? | |
| A few days ago, I shared my view on how entrepreneurs are being squeezed out in this economy - even more so than our bigger company counter-parts who have also been struggling. | |
| 18:45 Jul 26, 2010 PST | |
| The Death of Entrepreneurship? | |
| In business, nothing matters more to me than free enterprise and the success of entrepreneurship across America. The values that entrepreneurs bring to business are what have made this country great over its 234-year history. | |
| 17:02 Jul 22, 2010 PST | |
| Is Now A Good Time To Buy Real Estate? | |
| There's tremendous distress in the market place, and the number of anomalies that exist are nothing short of amazing. There are huge amounts of opportunity in certain pockets of the market. You just have to know where to look. | |
| 19:10 Apr 9, 2010 PST | |
| How to Cash in on the Recent Health Care Legislation (Part 2 of 2) | |
| It turns out that my instinct is exactly where I am on the topic right now. My sense about the health care legislation is probably pretty close to accurate. | |
| 16:05 Apr 5, 2010 PST | |
| How to Cash in on the Recent Health Care Legislation - part 1 of 2 | |
| The ink isn't even dry, and we're already starting to find out one surprise after the next about the recent health care legislation approved by Congress and signed by President Obama. | |
| 09:37 Mar 27, 2010 PST | |
| Where Can I Get a Good Grant Writer? | |
| This is not a joke, and it's not semantics. The difference between a good grant writer and a good grant getter is millions of dollars and an enormous amount of experience to boot. | |
| 05:20 Jan 7, 2010 PST | |
| CES Preview: Put A Glove On It? | |
| This box is incredible: if it fell in and went to the bottom of the lake and if it ever was found, those cigars would be as good as the day that I dropped them! | |
| 06:50 Jan 1, 2010 PST | |
| Do You Want To Join Us At The Consumer Electronics Show In Las Vegas? | |
| Next week, I'm going to the Consumer Electronics Show with my son. He and I are both avid electronics buffs, and we are anxious to see all of the new gadgets that are on their way out for the year 2010 and beyond. | |
| 06:09 Dec 31, 2009 PST | |
| Could Your Business Use A Few Good Volunteers? | |
| Do you dream of winning the business lottery? If so, I might have found the jackpot that you have been looking for. I hope that you can benefit tremendously from this windfall program which is a real sign of the times. | |
| 12:26 Dec 28, 2009 PST | |
| Does A New World Need a New Way? | |
| The world has gotten sufficiently complicated, where many of the rules that have been written in the past need to be broken or disregarded so that we can move forward and break through the log jam. | |
| 13:54 Dec 14, 2009 PST | |
| Growth Minute - Couldn't Everybody Use A Buddy? | |
| It's clear and obvious when you walk out of the film that there is a social responsibility that each of us has, that most of us have been ducking for years. | |
| 06:39 Dec 8, 2009 PST | |
| Is Social Networking Making Us Less Social? | |
| I love social networking. Facebook, LinkedIn, and all of the different tools that are out there to help us connect and re-connect are great. | |
| 09:31 Nov 30, 2009 PST | |
| If the Economy is Down, Why is the Stock Market Surging? | |
| Many of us in the world of finance are staring at the financial pages day after day wondering how is it possible that unemployment is off the chart, yet the stock market is surging. | |
| 10:40 Nov 24, 2009 PST | |
| Christmas: Will it Be Merry This Year? | |
| For the first time in the history of marketing, there may actually be some truth in advertising. This year, when retailers advertise, 'get it while we have it', that might actually be true. | |
| 07:44 Nov 20, 2009 PST | |
| Where is the Bottom? | |
| The best way to make money is to find real estate or businesses that have some form of distress that we as owner/operators can come in and correct. | |
| 14:41 Nov 13, 2009 PST | |
| Does Customer Service Get Any Better Than This? | |
| A couple years ago, I leased a new car for my oldest daughter when she turned 16. She drove the car for a couple years, went off to college, and at then we gave the car to my son when he turned 16. | |
| 08:03 Nov 3, 2009 PST | |
| Can An Electronic Tool Change Everything? | |
| From time to time, I like to deviate from my typical business rants and tackle some technologies and gadgets that I stumble upon which help entrepreneurs to be incredibly more efficient and more productive. | |
| 10:44 Oct 22, 2009 PST | |
| The Real Estate Market: How to Claim Your Piece of The American Dream | |
| There probably isn't any question asked of me more often then if now is a good time to buy real estate. It's my opinion that everyone in the investment community knows that there are more distressed assets for sale now than in recent memory. | |
| 10:45 Oct 16, 2009 PST | |
| Sensitivity to Words | |
| Being a salesman at heart, I am very sensitive to the words that people say - and the body language that they say it with - so that I can figure out what people really mean. | |
| 16:38 Sep 29, 2009 PST | |
| Using a Formula to Focus on Owner Distress and Building Distress | |
| In order to move the money in from the sidelines, you have to show the investors that you have a business plan that's not dependent on market timing - because the smart money knows that no one can predict the bottom of the market. | |
| 05:33 Sep 20, 2009 PST | |
| How Bad is The Economy? Can It Get Worse? | |
| I never liked to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I can tell you with near certainty that everything that the media is telling us is nearly opposite from the truth. | |
| 09:19 Sep 12, 2009 PST | |
| Is The Home Stretch of Your Year Bringing the Finish Line Closer? | |
| Every year about Labor Day weekend, I am reminded how the business world operates a lot like a horse race. If you have ever been to the race track, you'll know that the horses jet out of the gate with incredible speed. | |
| 08:49 Sep 8, 2009 PST | |
| The Mathematics of Your Credit Score | |
| The way that our credit scores are actually calculated is 'top secret.' No one seems to know exactly how they are calculated - and that means that no one can actually take decisive action to improve one's score. | |
| 11:21 Aug 28, 2009 PST | |
| Serious Networking is a Serious Responsibility | |
| During the course of a year, I host or moderate more than 50 substantial networking functions. These are highly social but intensely business-oriented functions where millions and millions of dollars worth of business gets done. | |
| 09:46 Aug 21, 2009 PST | |
| What a Sophisticated Conference | |
| What a great conference! I feel so proud of the program that we put together and of the audience that we assembled. These were true professionals who were able to take advantage of the material that we presented. | |
| 14:49 Jul 31, 2009 PST | |
| $35,000 For Your Business? | |
| The banks got billions of TARP dollars over the past 9 months. And now, the Small Business Administration has announced that TARP dollars will start flowing through to small businesses... | |
| 11:59 Jun 24, 2009 PST | |
| If You Are Too Big To Fail Are You Too Big To Be In Business? | |
| We've all gotten used to the logic put out by some of the brilliant marketing people in Corporate America that their companies are too big to fail. | |
| 11:16 Jun 22, 2009 PST | |
| Looking at My Birthday as a 'Re-Birth Day' | |
| I normally don't get terribly philosophical, but today is one of those days that I'm thinking about my life and my business in a new way. | |
| 16:47 Jun 5, 2009 PST | |
| Can You Win the Game With Perfect Pitching? | |
| It is said that in baseball pitching is 75 to 90 percent of the game. Pitching is defensive, but you cannot win a baseball game with 90 percent excellence in pitching. | |
| 09:22 Jun 1, 2009 PST | |
| Do You Want Google to Find You? | |
| Sometimes, if my colleagues produce articles that are excellent, I will run those articles inside of my blog or inside of my columns. | |
| 11:16 May 29, 2009 PST | |
| If the Bad Economy is a Rainbow, then where is the Pot of Gold? | |
| Is There a Silver Lining to this Bad Economy? So many people who I know are whining and moaning about the effects of the bad economy on their business. | |
| 16:02 May 26, 2009 PST | |
| Why is Now the Time to Work Together? | |
| My theme - especially in these difficult times - is that we have to help each other. That means if you network with other people, now is the time to be looking out for their welfare. | |
| 11:42 May 11, 2009 PST | |
| Taking on the Motion Picture Industry for a Good Cause | |
| April Showers was shot and cut based on the MPAA's stated standards for a PG-13 rating and does not contain sex, cursing or on-screen graphic violence. The MPAA stated that the film is rated R for 'some disturbing violent content.' | |
| 14:20 Apr 8, 2009 PST | |
| How Can We Use TARP to Create The Financial Recovery? | |
| Following a recent heated discussion about the economy and our recovery, my friend and colleague Mark Pearl agreed to put his thoughts in writing for my readers to consider. | |
| 05:38 Mar 18, 2009 PST | |
| When Will the Real Estate Market Hit Bottom? | |
| Imagine sitting around a conference table with world class experts in economics, finance, credit, bonds and the markets. That discussion happened last week and it was recapped by my good friend Jeffrey F. Sax. | |
| 05:54 Mar 17, 2009 PST | |
| Why Is Now The Best Time To Raise Pools Of Cash? | |
| In the history of the United States and quite possibly in the history of the world, a transfer of wealth may never occur as substantial as the one that's in front of us right now. | |
| 09:36 Mar 16, 2009 PST | |
| What's the Problem with Having a Sugar Daddy? | |
| It's a little harder at first, but I promise that if you follow this advice it will make your life significantly better for years into the future. | |
| 15:51 Mar 6, 2009 PST | |
| 10 Tips for Minority Shareholders | |
| We often kick around concepts that affect the entrepreneurial community and below, I want to share another piece of work that Steve produced as a result of a recent conversation that we had. | |
| 10:05 Feb 26, 2009 PST | |
| How Can We Avoid the Traps in Managing Customer Credit? (Part 2 of 2) | |
| Joint-check agreements. These agreements are useful for companies that don't qualify for high credit limits but happen to have a big order from a respectable customer. | |
| 07:55 Feb 24, 2009 PST | |
| Do You Want a Little Friendly Advice? | |
| This particular company was very interesting. They were in the business of prepaid credit cards or gift cards that could be used at malls and other shopping environments. | |
| 08:40 Feb 23, 2009 PST | |
| What Business Lesson Comes from a Hot Dog Stand Operation? | |
| Within half an hour, he parked his car in front of his plant. Pausing momentarily, he reluctantly stepped out of the car and began the short walk to his office. | |
| 06:29 Feb 17, 2009 PST | |
| Isn't it Just Economics 101 | |
| My kids have been asking what exactly is going on with the economy and what exactly happened that made the situation so bad, so fast. | |
| 09:51 Feb 16, 2009 PST | |
| Value: Is That Where the Bang for Your Buck Comes From? | |
| At the end of the day, how much money you make is always about how much value you deliver to the person who has engaged your services. | |
| 10:52 Feb 13, 2009 PST | |
| Where are the Loopholes in Corporate Liability Limitations? | |
| Shareholder immunity, even if not pierced, is somewhat a misnomer because any shareholder who acts in an additional role opens himself to liability for actions in that other role. | |
| 07:22 Feb 12, 2009 PST | |
| How Can We Avoid the Traps in Managing Customer Credit? (Part 1 of 2 Parts) | |
| It is always tempting to sell to a customer who promises to pay promptly. Unfortunately, even so- called 'good' customers delay payment-and some default-on trade credit. | |
| 07:02 Feb 10, 2009 PST | |
| Is It Ever Worth Taking A Short Cut? | |
| Earlier today, some crazy guy flew by me on a Los Angeles freeway. First, he was in the far left lane. He cut in between everybody, moving himself to the far right lane. | |
| 06:17 Feb 9, 2009 PST | |
| Would You Try to Sell a Blue Car to Someone Who Wants a Yellow Boat? | |
| These weren't 'wannabe' filmmakers. These were sophisticated people - people who had advanced degrees. One was a CPA who prepared the private placement memorandum for his production company so that they could produce their latest film. | |
| 07:01 Feb 6, 2009 PST | |
| Business Advice on LLCs and Securities Law - A Word to the Wise? | |
| We often kick around concepts that affect the entrepreneurial community and below, I want to share another piece of work that Steve produced as a result of a recent conversation that we had. | |
| 07:07 Feb 5, 2009 PST | |
| Secret Weapons to Boost Sales and Improve Collections | |
| Credit is a specialized area. Make sure that experts are helping you to gather the correct information. There are many 'tricks of the trade'... | |
| 10:00 Feb 4, 2009 PST | |
| Don't Your Business Meetings Deserve Your 'A Game'? | |
| The judge gave us very strict rules about not talking to one another and not discussing the case. No one became friends, and although we exchanged niceties, I never noticed that anyone violated those rules. | |
| 07:23 Feb 3, 2009 PST | |
| What are the Boundaries for a Successful Competitor? | |
| Steven A. O'Rourke is a business lawyer that other attorneys go to when they want to debate the law. But he is also a guy that entrepreneurs and business owners should go to when... | |
| 07:24 Jan 29, 2009 PST | |
| What are the Red Flags that Point toTroubled Accounts Receivable? | |
| Eric is a rock star when it comes to networking. He has a lot to offer and I would like to bring it to my readers over the next several weeks... | |
| 14:46 Jan 28, 2009 PST | |
| Are Business Decisions Our Most Important Responsibility? | |
| I spend a lot of time in my own little bubble, thinking about my own little world, worried about my own little problems. Unfortunately, we don't always step outside of our bubbles to consider really serious problems. | |
| 12:30 Jan 28, 2009 PST | |
| Do We Need Business Advice on being More 'Eco'nomical? | |
| Brilliant lighting architect, savvy deal maker and environmentally conscious citizen, my client and friend, Gerald Olesker, and I regularly talk about how we can work with companies to be more environmentally aware | |
| 10:51 Jan 28, 2009 PST | |
| Why Won't You Just Give Me the Money? | |
| They make their pitches with great enthusiasm. They have projects. They have talent. They have attachments. And they may even have some credits to their name. | |
| 07:31 Jan 21, 2009 PST | |
| What is the Key to Collecting Business Revenue? | |
| Eric Shaw has a motto: If you give good credit, collections will follow. Shaw, president of New York Credit Inc. in Marina del Rey, California helps big and small businesses manage their credit and collections problems. | |
| 12:03 Jan 20, 2009 PST | |
| How Do You Get Suppliers To Provide Start Up Capital For Your Venture? | |
| One of the best questions that people ask me came to me again this morning from someone who is connected to me on LinkedIn. | |
| 12:57 Jan 19, 2009 PST | |
| Do You Want To See My Company's Business Plan? | |
| In the spirit of motivating you to create a great plan for your company, I would like to share the first chapter of our company's plan with you. | |
| 15:33 Jan 16, 2009 PST | |
| The Rest of the 10 Critical Mistakes That Real Estate Syndicators Make | |
| The syndicator raises too little money: As a fiduciary, the syndicator has to be certain to properly capitalize the transaction. | |
| 08:25 Jan 15, 2009 PST | |
| 10 Critical Mistakes That Real Estate Syndicators Make - Part 1 of 2 | |
| Tax structures are ineffective: Ever since the Tax Reform Act of 1986, real estate syndication has been much less about tax and much more about economic gain. | |
| 05:48 Jan 14, 2009 PST | |
| Can CDFI Funds Provide a Reasonable Business Structure in this Economy? | |
| My colleague Bruce Dobb of www.concernedcapital.org is a recognized expert in community redevelopment financing. | |
| 09:29 Jan 5, 2009 PST | |
| Is There Any Business Credibility Left After the Crisis of 2008? | |
| The business world left many dazed and confused after a wild ride filled with economic turmoil and criminal wrongdoing. Is it possible to trust the people on Wall Street, in Washington DC or regulators after this train wreck? | |
| 07:00 Dec 29, 2008 PST | |
| Is the New Entrepreneur Training a Course in Values? | |
| Get used to it and start living within your means. It'll be a good exercise and it'll be fun for grandma and grandpa to say 'we told you so'. | |
| 10:46 Dec 24, 2008 PST | |
| Is the Credit Crisis Costing Your Business Revenue? | |
| I've been a customer of Chevron for 15 years and have had a corporate account with them for that many years. My account is in good standing. | |
| 04:30 Dec 19, 2008 PST | |
| Where Does My Information Come From? | |
| Readers of this column frequently write in and ask where my information and insights come from. I review a lot of news articles and a lot of information. | |
| 16:49 Dec 17, 2008 PST | |
| Put a Mayo Jar on Your Thanksgiving Dinner Table | |
| When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. | |
| 09:57 Nov 26, 2008 PST | |
| The Secret to Making the 2009 Economy Work for You | |
| My goal is to help entrepreneurs to make this happen. And to this end, we have a wide variety of programs designed to help entrepreneurs in every way. | |
| 07:30 Nov 24, 2008 PST | |
| Opportunity and Initiative | |
| Every once in a while, you see somebody spot an opportunity and take the initiative to address it in a way that is different from everybody else. | |
| 06:50 Nov 20, 2008 PST | |
| The Ripple Effect | |
| After you read the Coface update, take a guess as to where the next big crash will be. How about the commercial real estate market? | |
| 09:54 Nov 7, 2008 PST | |
| A Program to Show Independent Filmmakers How to Raise The Money | |
| As a reader one of my columns, I want you to know before the rest of the marketplace that we are launching a program to show independent filmmakers how to raise the money they need. | |
| 04:25 Nov 6, 2008 PST | |
| Thirsty Horses | |
| One of the main problems that I notice in business owners is that they generally don't understand the difference between sales and marketing. | |
| 06:36 Nov 3, 2008 PST | |
| Joel G Block Selected to Join Most Elite Business Success Faculty Ever Assembled | |
| There are over 1 million mentors, coaches, consultants and professional business advisors assisting companies large and small across the United States and around the world. | |
| 10:16 Oct 31, 2008 PST | |
| Business Matchmaking | |
| The generally agreed upon definition of distressed assets is 'loans, mortgages or other types of financial assets that are nonperforming for a variety of reasons.' | |
| 09:12 Oct 29, 2008 PST | |
| New Positioning for a New Economy | |
| I wrote about the opportunity that will come to entrepreneurs from (what was several months ago) the upcoming financial problems about to grip the country. | |
| 14:14 Oct 27, 2008 PST | |
| Raising Capital From Friends And Family: Use of Funds | |
| One of the most important questions that any investor wants to know is 'what will you use this money for?' You have to be able to demonstrate that you have a serious business purpose for using the money. | |
| 06:49 Oct 24, 2008 PST | |
| Raising Capital From Friends And Family (Part 2 of 3) | |
| Profits and Payback The primary reason that an investor puts money into a business is so that they get that money back, plus more. | |
| 07:13 Oct 22, 2008 PST | |
| Raising Capital From Friends And Family | |
| It's critical that you plan your business concept before you speak to anyone about asking them for money. That doesn't mean you have to create an investment grade business plan complete with financial statements... | |
| 09:29 Oct 20, 2008 PST | |
| An Investment Banker's Dream | |
| Imagine being an investment banker who is given the full force of credit of the federal government, along with $700 billion to spend aggressively with a mandate to go out and buy assets at will. | |
| 08:56 Oct 17, 2008 PST | |
| The Secret Credit Default Swaps That Crashed Wall Street | |
| I have wanted to share this information for some time now, but it's so complex and it's so esoteric, that the mainstream media has shied away from the topic. | |
| 02:43 Oct 15, 2008 PST | |
| Angel Investors Modeled on Horse Racing Gamblers | |
| Always remember that bankers, lenders, shareholders, and investors of all kinds have many different choices. And you have to make yours be the one that they want to put the money on. | |
| 12:27 Oct 6, 2008 PST | |
| Speak Softly, But ... | |
| So, as you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, speak softly, be nice, and carry a big stick while you're trying to bring success to your organization. | |
| 10:19 Oct 3, 2008 PST | |
| A Home Run Out Of The Park: Lumineers | |
| The right question about a problem can turn it into more money than one can ever dream of when you answer it correctly. | |
| 08:03 Sep 29, 2008 PST | |
| Case Study: The Amazing Success of the Thinset Tile Lock Company, Part 2 | |
| Make sure that you are asking the right questions so you get the right answers. You only get once chance at the golden ring, so make the most of it. | |
| 07:53 Sep 26, 2008 PST | |
| Case Study: Thinset Tile Lock Company - Part 1 of 2 | |
| It is after watching the process that the genius occurs. One of the tile guys asks the million dollar question: 'Isn't there a better way to do this? | |
| 19:48 Sep 24, 2008 PST | |
| The 90 Second Rule | |
| My experience is that people who 'over-talk' tend to do so because they're nervous and they feel a need to fill up the air with noise. | |
| 10:39 Sep 19, 2008 PST | |
| The Value of a Blog | |
| Rely on modern techniques and the principles of marketing. Throw out the old books. A lot of what you learned in college doesn't apply anymore. You have to use the Internet. | |
| 12:01 Sep 16, 2008 PST | |
| Conduit to the Money: My Friend, Jerry Knotts | |
| The money people are very hard to find. It is a closed business, and most everything in this business happens by referral. | |
| 16:48 Sep 12, 2008 PST | |
| The Picture of Perseverance | |
| Perseverance takes many forms, but every once in a while somebody perseveres with such precision that the word needs to be revisited and shared with those who are trying to reach a goal. | |
| 07:51 Sep 2, 2008 PST | |
| Desperation and Dumbness | |
| Take somebody like me with you when you go into a critical meeting. Don't let your desperation drive you to do dumb things. It's really critical that you get yourself on the right track. | |
| 05:43 Sep 1, 2008 PST | |
| Vacuum of Leadership | |
| As they say, 'plan your work and work your plan.' Otherwise, you'll have brilliant people who are moving in so many directions that nothing important actually gets accomplished. | |
| 15:42 Aug 25, 2008 PST | |
| Meet My Friend Mike Podolny | |
| That roughly means that you put cash into a deal, the cash generates some amount of return to you, and that is the return on investment that you receive. | |
| 12:36 Aug 19, 2008 PST | |
| Big vs. Small | |
| Big companies and small companies do not get along. Big companies are worried about covering their backsides, and small companies take aggressive risks as they have relatively little to lose. | |
| 06:20 Aug 11, 2008 PST | |
| Bear Stearns Got Caught Holding The Bag Full of Potatoes | |
| In this economy, where the mortgage debacle is taking down some of the biggest financial institutions that exist in the country, it's all related to the concept of the hot potato. | |
| 10:04 Aug 8, 2008 PST | |
| I Don't Get It! | |
| There's a very good chance that people who follow trends and follow technologies and platforms are seeing something powerful in the technology and that is why they recommend that you get involved too. | |
| 07:27 Aug 6, 2008 PST | |
| Leave The World Better Than You Find It... | |
| The world is complicated enough and our relationships already strained. Work hard to repair these situations and one of the most important things that we can do is clean up after ourselves. | |
| 06:40 Aug 1, 2008 PST | |
| The Entrepreneurial Roller Coaster | |
| Get help from someone you trust. Get help so you and your company cross the finish line, because the entrepreneur game is a great game. But make sure you turn the game and your chips into real wealth. | |
| 09:30 Jul 29, 2008 PST | |
| Money is about Priorities | |
| Everybody gets to spend their own money in exactly the way that they want to, so you have to tie yourself into their priorities. | |
| 10:11 Jul 28, 2008 PST | |
| Are You Ready For Business? | |
| Make sure when you talk to people, that you're well prepared and that you know your stuff. You owe that to them and yourself because if you are not well prepared, your close rate will be disappointingly low. | |
| 10:24 Jul 18, 2008 PST | |
| Experts Open Up 'Syndicating Real Estate' Teleseminar | |
| Joel Block shares his experience syndicating real estate and how to avoid the pitfalls that could cost you your business. | |
| 09:05 Jul 9, 2008 PST | |
| Market To The Soft Spot | |
| Make sure you know who you're selling to. Find the person who is going to have the greatest influence over the person that controls the purse strings. | |
| 15:08 Jul 7, 2008 PST | |
| Why Lock Down LinkedIn? | |
| I would be embarrassed to be in a senior management position at a company that used policies of secrecy and protectionism to retain employees. | |
| 06:23 Jun 30, 2008 PST | |
| Creating Great Content is King | |
| Focus on being in touch with people on a regular basis. Be aware of providing them value in a variety of different ways. | |
| 04:26 Jun 28, 2008 PST | |
| Recession Repression: How is The Economy? | |
| It's important to get into a strong cash position. Since cash is tight and we are in a more difficult economy, the people who have cash are going to win the game. | |
| 09:37 Jun 23, 2008 PST | |
| Tread Lightly in the Money Business | |
| Money is one of the most expensive components of any business, and being able to save money on your money is absolutely imperative. Don't pay for risk in capital that's any higher than it should be. | |
| 06:06 Jun 21, 2008 PST | |
| Show Me the Money: How to Find the Money to Fund Your Film | |
| Hollywood insiders spill the beans on getting a film funded and then making enough money to pay it back. | |
| 10:37 Jun 19, 2008 PST | |
| The Most Dangerous Word in The English Language is Very Scary | |
| I frequently hear people use the most dangerous word in the English language. It is really scary in a little phrase. | |
| 07:38 Jun 16, 2008 PST | |
| Keep Going Back to the Drawing Board | |
| Going through the process of debriefing is critical for teams. It's much more difficult to do this by yourself, but you have to sit and ask hard questions about what you've done... | |
| 16:24 Jun 13, 2008 PST | |
| More Thoughts on $5 Gasoline | |
| I'm anxious to see what kinds of behaviors people are changing. In just a week or two, I'll have to change the concept of my column to 'The Silver Lining to $6.00 Gasoline.' | |
| 13:49 Jun 11, 2008 PST | |
| Boom Time for Entrepreneurs: Keeping the Core | |
| These difficult economic times are opening up doors for entrepreneurs that have never been opened before. Corporate America is shedding its excess weight at a pace that we haven't seen in years... | |
| 10:31 Jun 9, 2008 PST | |
| Make a Friend, Do Business Later | |
| Friendships are what ultimately turn into long-term vendor and supplier relationships, and customer relationships as well. Let people know who you are. Show your best side and plan to make as many friends in business as you can. | |
| 07:17 Jun 6, 2008 PST | |
| 12 Critical Strategies For Improving Sales | |
| I love selling. I love everything about selling. This might sound strange to some people but I love helping people to solve their problems. | |
| 10:44 Jun 4, 2008 PST | |
| The People Who Get You Into Trouble Usually Can't Get You Out Of It | |
| Pay careful attention to how you get into trouble and compare that to how you need to get out of it. New people bring new strategies, new ideas, and new talents to the table. | |
| 10:54 Jun 2, 2008 PST | |
| Practice the Way that Doctors Practice | |
| So, as you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, remember to practice on 'cadavers.' | |
| 10:33 May 31, 2008 PST | |
| Which Part is the Hard Part? | |
| I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but marketers and sellers usually tell stories that leave out most of the important pieces that you need to be successful. What a shock. | |
| 08:01 May 27, 2008 PST | |
| How Do I Raise Money? Here are the Basics | |
| The question that I'm asked more than any other is 'How do I raise money for my deal?' | |
| 10:02 May 23, 2008 PST | |
| 'Walk the Walk' and 'Talk the Talk' | |
| It's always shocking to me when I run across people who don't 'walk the walk' and 'talk the talk' that they promote to others. | |
| 06:52 May 19, 2008 PST | |
| Don't Do It All By Yourself | |
| As you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, make sure that you pay attention to what you are good at and let others do what they are good at. | |
| 04:45 May 16, 2008 PST | |
| Growing Your Business: Make a Mistake Every Once in a While | |
| Even if you make an occasional error, it gives you an opportunity to strengthen the bond that you have with your customer. | |
| 13:48 May 12, 2008 PST | |
| Take Responsibility | |
| Of all the business principles that we could discuss, taking responsibility for your actions and for the outcomes that are generated by those actions has got to be at the top of the list. | |
| 05:45 May 9, 2008 PST | |
| The Silver Lining to $5.00 Gasoline | |
| At $5.00 a gallon, all sorts of alternatives will begin to emerge. The entrepreneurial flame will burn brightly. | |
| 06:10 May 5, 2008 PST | |
| Leverage Turning on a Dime to Your Advantage | |
| Did you ever wonder how somebody's opinion could change in a second? Did you ever wonder how the opinion of the entire nation could turn in just one moment? | |
| 06:28 May 2, 2008 PST | |
| If You're not Out There, You are Out of There | |
| Business networking is a huge part of business growth. Put more effort into building your business and the time you spend will reward you for a long time afterwards. | |
| 07:20 Apr 28, 2008 PST | |
| Great Customer Service | |
| Think hard about how much goodwill you get when you do something nice versus how much bad will accrues when you make mountains out of molehills or when you're more focused on pennies than you are on dollars. | |
| 12:06 Apr 25, 2008 PST | |
| Would you like to pay me now or later? | |
| Pay me now or pay me later, but whether you engage a professional or not, you don't get to keep the money to spend on family vacations because the money's going to go out the door one way or the other. | |
| 06:23 Apr 21, 2008 PST | |
| Fixing the Newspaper Industry | |
| Several issues have affected the newspaper industry over the past 20 years and these issues have been impairing the industry's ability to rebound. | |
| 10:14 Apr 18, 2008 PST | |
| The Shortest Distance to No Customers | |
| Be clear not only about who your customers are, but about factors in the marketplace. In the absence of customers who do business with you, you may have no competition, but you also might have no customers. | |
| 08:00 Apr 14, 2008 PST | |
| Catch Me Doing Something Great at Hilton | |
| As you are working hard every day to build your company, or your career, reward employees like the Hilton Hotel in Palm Springs did and in the same way that the Hilton family of hotels is doing worldwide. | |
| 08:28 Apr 11, 2008 PST | |
| Ego Can Take You Down the Bunny Hole | |
| Think carefully about when your ego gets in your way. Work hard to regroup to take advantage of resources and opportunities, especially those that help move your business forward. | |
| 10:07 Apr 7, 2008 PST | |
| Chevron Knows How to Do It | |
| So, as you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, make sure that you put your message out there and tell customers and prospects exactly what they need to know | |
| 06:23 Apr 4, 2008 PST | |
| Don't Look Straight Ahead, Look Sideways | |
| Sometimes, the solution that an inventor, scientist, or other person invents is for a specific purpose, but it ends up not being optimal for the problem at hand. | |
| 07:43 Mar 31, 2008 PST | |
| Live Your Dream | |
| If you can think of anybody who is more creative than somebody who wants to take a jet ski to work and change into business clothes from water clothes every day by using a waterproof backpack, then tell me. | |
| 03:46 Mar 24, 2008 PST | |
| Follow the Example of The Patron | |
| Make sure that you don't go to the low end. Don't go to the place where you have to compete on price. The low end usually declines as it matures. The high end continues to increase. Don't be a drink; be a brand. | |
| 08:16 Mar 21, 2008 PST | |
| Incorporating Marketing Language - Talking Like a Marketer | |
| Think about how you can incorporate marketing language into your campaign and when you are a consumer at someone else's store, beware of marketing language and the way it impacts the way you think - and the price you pay. | |
| 10:18 Mar 17, 2008 PST | |
| Don't Put Your Eggs In Someone Else's Basket | |
| Be very careful not to put your eggs in someone else's basket. Don't put your fate in someone else's hands. Don't let somebody in a little blue car drive off to decide your fate. | |
| 05:55 Mar 14, 2008 PST | |
| Are You Making Business Decisions? | |
| If you find yourself making a decision based on limited cash resources, be extremely careful and make it your highest goal to solve the problem, so that you can start thinking about the long term. | |
| 18:25 Mar 10, 2008 PST | |
| Bonding with Your Customers | |
| So, as you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, remember first and foremost, even though you're an entrepreneur who renders services... | |
| 07:55 Mar 3, 2008 PST | |
| How Much Does it Cost? | |
| Meeting new and interesting people is a continuing process. Be sure you are strategically networking all the time with different kinds of people because you never know who will provide insight and assistance to you in the future. | |
| 02:35 Feb 29, 2008 PST | |
| Real Estate Syndication Questions & Answers | |
| In the coming weeks, I will continue to answer the real estate questions that come in using our Wednesday column. Feel free to submit your own questions as well. | |
| 15:22 Feb 27, 2008 PST | |
| Strategic Networking for CEOs | |
| The CEO of any company has two primary responsibilities. First, to get people to bet on the company, and second to give the people who work inside the company the resources to make good on his promises made to outsiders. | |
| 06:53 Feb 25, 2008 PST | |
| Taking Responsibility | |
| Are you doing everything that you possibly can to structure a fundable and investable business? Are you creating a business that people will want to become involved in? Is it a business that employees want to work for? | |
| 07:59 Feb 18, 2008 PST | |
| Which Company Do You Want to Be? | |
| So, as you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, think about the kind of company you operate - or what kind of company you would like to operate. | |
| 03:06 Feb 11, 2008 PST | |
| You Can't Start in the Middle | |
| You only have one chance to convince a prospective investor that you're doing something exciting and worthy of funding, and if you can't articulate that in ten seconds, you'll lose their interest. | |
| 04:38 Feb 4, 2008 PST | |
| Target And Reposition | |
| Remember to reach out for help, focus on your guru niche, and reposition material again and again - because that is the way that you're going to make a lot of money and solve the most problems for the most people. | |
| 07:11 Feb 1, 2008 PST | |
| Should You Be David Or Goliath? | |
| It's always better to control your destiny than to be at the mercy of someone else. After all, isn't that why you started your own business? | |
| 03:54 Jan 28, 2008 PST | |
| Don't Make a Bad Situation Worse | |
| If you watched the NFL championship game on Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants, then you know that this exact situation occurred. | |
| 09:58 Jan 23, 2008 PST | |
| When Random Isn't Random | |
| I talk business with entrepreneurs and business owners all day long, every day of the week. It's my passion. It's what I love to do more than anything else. | |
| 03:05 Jan 21, 2008 PST | |
| Learn How to Raise Money for Real Estate Through Syndication | |
| By now, you are probably well aware of the fate of Countrywide Financial Corporation, the leader in the sub-prime mortgage debacle that has gripped the United States' economy as fiercely as a shark that thrashes its prey before consuming it. | |
| 11:38 Jan 16, 2008 PST | |
| What Gets You In Takes You Out | |
| A friend recently shared a pearl of wisdom that he learned from his father many years ago: What gets you in can take you out. If you compete on price, price can knock you out, while if you compete on quality... | |
| 07:33 Jan 14, 2008 PST | |
| The Best Productivity Tool for 2008 | |
| If you want to take your personal productivity to the limit, then you should consider acquiring a skill that very few people have. | |
| 02:44 Jan 11, 2008 PST | |
| Coming Out of the Gate Strong in 2008 | |
| I also suggest that you make it your goal, if we don't know each other, to give me a reason to write a recommendation about you. | |
| 04:31 Jan 7, 2008 PST | |
| Working the Southwest System | |
| In early November 2007, Southwest Airlines announced a new boarding procedure - and this procedure has been difficult for some people to catch on to. | |
| 18:11 Jan 2, 2008 PST | |
| A Chance to Give Back by Helping Others who are Down and Out | |
| I know that I have a lot to be personally thankful for but there are some people who wonder how they will get through the holiday season. They face cold, dark nights without shelter, food and clothes. | |
| 22:44 Dec 25, 2007 PST | |
| A Product is Not Necessarily a Business | |
| I've seen many products that have multiple applications or that could be added to a line of products and marketed much more effectively than if they were presented on a stand-alone basis. | |
| 09:43 Dec 18, 2007 PST | |
| A Book for Every Business Library - Yours Free | |
| It goes over some of the most fundamental aspects of business and accounting, but sheds light on issues that entrepreneurs and business owners face every single day. | |
| 06:48 Dec 11, 2007 PST | |
| A Triangular Relationship | |
| It is critical that investors and lenders know that by putting too much downward pressure on the entrepreneur, in the long run, they are hurting their own interests. | |
| 03:47 Dec 5, 2007 PST | |
| Think of Yourself as a Talent Scout | |
| As you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, make sure that you think of yourself as a talent scout looking for talent that can help you to build your business | |
| 05:16 Nov 27, 2007 PST | |
| Don't Push the Envelope Too Far | |
| I usually write columns about business topics that help entrepreneurs make good business decisions. Sometimes, however, the most important lessons come from non-business situations. | |
| 02:51 Nov 13, 2007 PST | |
| If Only It Was the Good Old Days | |
| I've got news for you: life has never been better than it is right now, and since you'll never have a chance to go back, anyway, stop looking backward and start looking forward. | |
| 01:03 Nov 8, 2007 PST | |
| You Become Who You Hang Around | |
| How often do you talk to kids about the kinds of friends they make, tell them to stay away from the kids who do drugs or cause trouble because if they become friends with bad kids, they're likely to get in trouble, too. | |
| 06:04 Oct 29, 2007 PST | |
| Look Beyond the Obvious | |
| If you can control an asset or create third-party credibility for yourself by being an organizer and bringing value to people, you may have a great opportunity. | |
| 02:39 Oct 22, 2007 PST | |
| Growing Your Business: Don't Fight the Tide | |
| Frequently, people see a trend right in front of them. They're sharp enough to spot the trend, yet they believe they can fight it and swim upstream to accomplish their objectives. | |
| 03:28 Oct 18, 2007 PST | |
| You Can't Save by Saving | |
| Some entrepreneurs think they can cut corners or take shortcuts and still cross the finish line the same way they would if they had played it smart in the first place. | |
| 01:17 Oct 11, 2007 PST | |
| Don't Regurgitate Someone Else's Material | |
| Using his words, she told me that she would perform X number of procedures and apply X systems exactly as the guru she had identified would. | |
| 08:21 Sep 27, 2007 PST | |
| I See The Vision | |
| In my experience, people seem to fall into one of two categories: they either see the vision, or they believe the vision when they see it. | |
| 07:33 Sep 17, 2007 PST | |
| Build to Own | |
| One of the great tragedies of the last 10 years is the large number of people who built companies with the expectation that they would be able to sell them immediately after they were launched. | |
| 04:54 Sep 10, 2007 PST | |
| Be Careful with Corporate Credit | |
| Be smart about how you acquire credit. Get counseling to help you determine what credit is right for you, whether business, personal or otherwise. | |
| 08:05 Sep 4, 2007 PST | |
| Don't Want it Too Badly | |
| Be careful that you don't want something too badly. This can cloud your judgment and make you do things that you either don't want to do or that you know you shouldn't do. | |
| 03:28 Aug 29, 2007 PST | |
| The Personal Touch | |
| When you are growing your business, you must remember how much customers appreciate the personal touch. Business owners who are extremely busy frequently fall down in the area of staying in touch with their customers. | |
| 10:54 Aug 21, 2007 PST | |
| Somebody's Always Mad | |
| They are concerned more about their own longevity than about the welfare of the organization that the whole team is trying to address. | |
| 10:40 Aug 17, 2007 PST | |
| We Succeed at What We Focus On | |
| Did you ever notice how when you take your eye off the ball, the ball seems to get away from you? It happens to all of us at one time or another. | |
| 01:35 Aug 14, 2007 PST | |
| Reality Check v. Living in Denial | |
| It is the nature of some human beings to sit on their hands and be in denial - and that's what my friend did. Before long, it was his turn on the chopping block. | |
| 11:23 Aug 10, 2007 PST | |
| Not Every Dollar is Created Equal | |
| As an entrepreneur, you must understand that some of the dollars flowing into your business are more important than other dollars. | |
| 02:07 Aug 7, 2007 PST | |
| Tomorrow Will Be Better Than Today! | |
| If we didn't believe that, we wouldn't be able to tolerate the hardships, distractions, and frustrations that come with entrepreneurship. | |
| 06:55 Aug 3, 2007 PST | |
| Don't Sell on Price | |
| I always counsel growing businesses to stay away from price competition if at all possible. Growing businesses, which typically are rather small, can never really compete on price. | |
| 17:15 Jul 27, 2007 PST | |
| Choosing Your Vendors | |
| Who do you do business with? How do you select your vendors? How do you figure out who the best person is to render services to you or your company? | |
| 02:25 Jul 23, 2007 PST | |
| Only Charge for Your Expertise | |
| Unfortunately, many consultants who are hungry to take in dollars don't recognize that they should only charge for those things in which they possess expertise. | |
| 01:52 Jul 21, 2007 PST | |
| Ask for Directions | |
| Navigators exist in business. They're a little harder to find than people who know a geographical area, but as you grow your business, you'll want to hook up with an expert navigator. | |
| 05:08 Jul 16, 2007 PST | |
| Having a Partner | |
| Entrepreneurs need to remember that the goal is to get to the other side of the river. It's not quite so important who paddles the boat. | |
| 03:27 Jul 14, 2007 PST | |
| When is a Great Idea No Idea? | |
| It's great to identify the problem - and it's always great to ask how you can monetize the solution to the problem - but if you can't actually solve it, then you can't monetize it. | |
| 04:13 Jul 9, 2007 PST | |
| The Perception of Partnership | |
| On the vendor's side of the formula, that business needs to out-perform the expectations of the client company so that the client will want to elevate the vendor to partner status. | |
| 09:44 Jul 6, 2007 PST | |
| Pigs Get Fat | |
| In the tax business, this means that taxpayers should push the law as far as they can, but if they are overly abusive, they will get nabbed and probably end up spending time in the Cross-Bar Hotel. | |
| 10:40 Jul 2, 2007 PST | |
| How Much is Enough? | |
| How much is enough? I'm not talking about money, houses, boats, cars, or other trinkets of wealth. I'm talking about information. | |
| 13:00 Jun 29, 2007 PST | |
| You Go First | |
| Have you ever been in a situation in which someone wants you to make the first move? I'm in that situation all the time. Here's how I think about who should make the first move. | |
| 03:11 Jun 27, 2007 PST | |
| The Biggest Opportunity of the Decade - For Speakers & Bureaus | |
| There's a trend underway that has the potential to affect nearly every investor, business owner, and worker in the U.S. Its hoof prints are all over the front page of The Wall Street Journal | |
| 04:43 Jun 24, 2007 PST | |
| Perception is Reality | |
| When you are running and growing your business, you need to know what your perspective is. Are you looking down from a great height, or up from a great depth? | |
| 01:20 Jun 23, 2007 PST | |
| Know What You Know | |
| When you are growing your business, it's imperative that you know what you know - and what you don't know. I always recommend that entrepreneurs and service providers of all stripes specialize in some field. | |
| 13:14 Jun 18, 2007 PST | |
| Should the Shoe Fit? | |
| Developing a company culture that works is one of those growing pains that every successful business experiences. | |
| 04:45 Jun 15, 2007 PST | |
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