A Unique Approach - "The Bonus Plan to Save America"

Hi Folks,

I have a very intelligent friend in Portland by the the name of Matt Samwick. Matt is an original thinker. Because I love incentive plans, I think he is onto something, here. Below is Matt's blog post from March 4th. His posts can be found at dontes.blogspot.com . My advice is to subscribe to his posts, because he does not post often (yet). You will always be entertained and enlightened by Matt's takes.

Until next time,

Chuck

The Bonus Plan to Save America

Stop Criticizing Big Bank Bonuses

Well if you can’t beat’em, join them. The issuing of big bonuses in the face of not being able to afford them is not always a bad idea. Here is the plan in a nutshell:

Essentially, America’s decisions, material or not, are being made in Washington by persons who are susceptible to lobbying. Those lobbyists create incentives for Senators and Representatives to vote according to the narrow agenda set by those who the lobbyists represent rather than for the good of America as a whole. Over the past decades or longer, the American people have suffered greatly and now America is financially crippled. For example, how did unregulated Credit Default Swaps become acceptable in the minds of the public stewards in Washington? Notwithstanding how or why, the reason we are here today is that we do not pay our Congress people near enough.

No lobbying firm, however, can match the power of the US Treasury. The people should demand that Congress be put on a very simple bonus plan. Every Congress person who serves during a legislative session which actually passes a budget that cuts spending 10% or more from the prior year should be eligible for a $5 million dollar bonus, payable immediately after the budget is passed. We spend less than $2 billion dollars in bonuses to ensure we cut spending hundreds of billions of dollars. Those unspent billions can then be used to pay down the national debt while the people who voted to reduce America’s spending are handsomely rewarded.

Year over year hundreds of billions will go to pay down the national debt. America could amortize anything with that kind of payment each year. Also, with this new incentive plan, the most talented people will run for office. Finally, the lobbyists would have to work harder and harder for less and less of the budget pie. It is all good.

If the greed of recent day demonstrates anything, it demonstrates that this plan is infallible. Let's get America going again by issuing these giant bonuses. We can thank the bankers later.

Posted by Matt Samwick.

545 vs 300,000,000 - I Could Not Have Said It Better

Hi Folks,

This was sent to me via email. Charlie Reese, a former Orlando Sentinel reporter, wrote this piece. Tomorrow I will share the thoughts of a friend, Matt Samwick, who is a great thinker.

Until next time,

Chuck


545 vs 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, theFederal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.
The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party.

She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red .

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... Is up to you.

What is Great Customer Service Worth to You?

Hi Folks,

The following content is from my friend Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring fame. I am a customer service fanatic. I expect to receive it and when I don't, I remember and look for opportunities to find a new place to buy.

I also preach it to my clients and demanded it in my former brick and mortar businesses. Mike talks about a positive customer service experience.

Here is Mike Dillard's story:

My Trip To The Pet Store...

I had an interesting trip to a local pet story yesterday afternoon.

(I had been playing with the idea of getting a fish tank for the living room).

On one hand, it sounds like it would be a really cool addition because I love fishing, scuba-diving, etc… But on the other hand, I’m aware that fish tanks require a lot of work.

So I walked into this local shop called Rivers N Reefs on South Congress here in Austin. It’s a tiny place that’s probably been there for decades, and the isles are crammed from the floor to the ceiling with every kind of pet related product you can think of.

I eventually made our way to the back of the store where the fish tanks were located.

Personally, I was interested in getting a large,
100+ gallon salt-water tank that could house a few sizable Lion Fish.

(The fluffy, and very poisonous little guys you see here...)

Was that reasonable, or even possible?

I had no idea. I was completely lost.

To be honest, I don’t know a single thing about developing or maintaining a fish tank, and the questions that started racing through my mind were numbing.

I needed some advice from a pro, so we approached the storeowner.

The following conversation was an experience I’ll appreciate for a very long time, and within minutes, this gentleman had turned me into a raving fan of his store.

Yes… Their selection is smaller than the large chains, their isles are cramped and dirty, and their prices higher, but I’ll gladly pay double the price if necessary in order to do business with them.

Why?

Because this guy has been in the fish business for 25 years.

He knew his stuff, and throughout our entire conversation, he had one goal…

To ensure everything was done correctly so that our fish would survive and thrive for years to come.

We talked about species compatibility, bacteria development, and coral. He told me why he only caries certain fish and holds them for 2 weeks before selling them, while other stores rush them out the door.

At one point, he mentioned a woman who had recently set up a salt water tank.

She was buying fish from another store and they kept dying. She wanted to try the same species again from his stock, but he wouldn’t do it.

He told her that she needed to wait another 3 months before the water in her tank would be ready to support a fish like that, but she wouldn’t listen. “I don’t want to hear anything negative”, she said. “Let’s be positive. Just tell me what I need to do and I’ll buy these fish right now.”

He walked to the door and kindly asked her to leave.

“Ma’am, if I sell you these fish, they’re just going to die. I don’t want that to happen and I don’t want you to throw your money away. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and if you’re not willing to listen, I can’t help you.”

It was a story I related to immediately.

I liked this guy’s style. He cared more about his store’s integrity and the long-term success of his customers than making a sale, and was even willing to ask his customers to leave in order to demonstrate this fact.

This was a guy who’s willing to tell it like it is, even when it’s not what you want to hear.

And you know what…

He may have lost a sale that day, but he gained a new life-long
customer named Mike Dillard at that moment...

If needed, I’d gladly pay twice the price just for the privilege to shop at his store because I know that I’ll end up saving money in the long run with a trusted resource like him at my side.

You see, there are only two ways to “get good” at things in life, whether it’s owning your own business, or a brand new fish tank…

You can learn on your own through trial and error like the woman in the story above insists on doing, or you can learn from someone else who’s already paid that price which is what I like to do.

And in case you haven’t figured it out yet, “buying” someone else's life experiences in the form of a book or consulting is ALWAYS 100’s or even 1000’s of times cheaper than trying to figure it out on your own.

That is the end of the story. I hope you enjoyed it. I sure enjoyed reading it! If you want to hear more from Mike Dillard sign up for his free, 7 lesson video course at MagneticDuplication.com .

Until next time,

Chuck Trautman

What Does The LA (Northern Trust) Open Have to Do With You?

Hello Readers,

Whether you are a golf fan or not this past weekends tournament was instructive on a business and personal level. There was good drama. The 72nd and last hole decided whether there would be anywhere from a 5 man playoff to 1 of 2 possible outright winners.

We know by now that Phil Mickelson won the event and Fred Couples was tied for third. They are two of my favorite players so it was really high drama for me.

Phil started with a 4 shot lead, gave it up and was down by 2 shots going into his 16th hole. He could have folded. The press would have skewered him and written about another “choke job”. Instead he birdied 16 and 17 with some great shots and made a difficult 6 foot par putt on 18 to win.

The lesson is that he lived in the moment. He did not beat himself up for his earlier mediocre play. If you have had a bad hour, day, week, month, year – get over it! Forgive yourself. Use your skill, experience, and courage to win in your life and business.

Fred Couples is 7 months shy of his 50th birthday. Even though he is hall of fame material, a guy almost 50 is not supposed to contend in a PGA tour event. On the 18th tee, he was in position to tie with a birdie or win with a birdie if Mickelson makes bogey.

After ripping a drive he makes a poor shot and catches a tree on his second shot. He could have given up, mailed it in, and have everyone say, “Good try Freddie”. Instead he almost knocked it in from 115 yards.

The lesson is the same as above. He put his mistake in the past.

I hear too many people talking in the “if only” language. Well, if “it” happened a second ago you can not change “it”. Learn from it and move on.

Until next time,

Chuck Trautman

Timely Quotes and Comments

Hello Readers,

To my subscribers, I swear that I have written a post since Feb 2nd. I just forgot to post it!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes that are old but certainly timely today. I, of course, have my take.

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
-- Will Rogers

If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read
the newspaper you are misinformed.
-- Mark Twain

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.
-- Anonymous

The last few days, the Phoenix news is filled with the "historic" presidential trip by Obama. Something we should all think about for a minute. The stimulus bill is 638 pages in length. The completed bill was given to the House and Senate members just minutes before the final vote (after it was given to the press). How many of the members of our congress actually read the bill?

Answer -0-! So the most expensive legislation in history was passed without the voters reading the entire bill on which they were voting. Amazing.

Why could they not agree to a stimulus package, have Obama and the congressional leaders (oxymoron here - we are talking Pelosi and Reid) prioritize the needs, and then debate them and pass them on an individual basis?

The aid would be better targeted, the speed of execution would be faster, and the cost to the taxpayers (you and I) would be far less. See quote 3 above.

Maybe we would not be paying to construct new schools in Milwaukie, where they already have 15 empty school buildings. Maybe we would not be allocating construction money by congressional district but by actual need.

Let's talk about the presidential visit to Phoenix. Some of the interviews of people attending the gathering at Dobson HS were astonishing (although also sad). How can anyone believe that a new president, in his first 30 days in office, can flip a switch and put them in a position of prosperity?

I obviously disagree with the way the "stimulus plan" is crafted. But that said, the expectations put on the president are unreal. The pressure on him is tremendous. I pray for him because I fear his followers will turn on him without giving him the time to accomplish anything. Then America loses.

And Pelosi - why the hell is she in Italy seeing the Pope. Did we pay for the trip? Is she on vacation? What economic gain does the USA get from this trip.

Marketing Tip

Do at least one positive thing each day, both in your personal life and business. A wise old coach once said, "Practice winning habits everyday and pretty soon you have a champion". If we all grasp this, the planet will be better off.

Until next time,

Chuck Trautman

Super Bowl Ads? Super Boring

Hi Folks,

Today I am suffering from the post Super Bowl blues. Yes, the home team lost. They gave us a hell of an entertaining run from game 16, throughout the playoffs, and finally the Super Bowl itself.

Take away the Steeler 100 yard int return at the end of the half or the 38 yard pass reception on the Steeler final drive where a defender fell down and the Cards may have shocked the world one more time.

Enough about football and on to marketing. Did anyone else think the Super Bowl commercials were lame? I thought a whole bunch of companies could have been a lot more memorable when spending $3 million bucks for 30 seconds.

Budweiser is always good for at least one for the memory bank. Not this year. The Clydesdale story about grandpa from Scotland was somewhat memorable but did it sell any beer? And the bud light lime commercial didn't make me put the product on my shopping list.

Audi had a good ad for its A6 Turbo. It made me want to test drive that car. As did the the commercial for the new Hyundai coupe. Good ads get you emotionally involved and make you want to take action.

I enjoyed the Go Daddy ad but Carol thought it was sexists. Maybe men purchase most of the new domain names. I am biased though, being a huge Go Daddy fan and being a man>

It seemed like we also saw a lot of "preview of coming attractions" clips from the movie companies. Do you think that's a good way to spend $3 million for them? I wonder how many movie tickets they would have to sell to people who otherwise would not attend the movies to break even on that ad cost?

My point on all this, is unless you are really a household name (like Budweiser), all your advertising needs to capture the prospect's attention and have a clear call to action that prospects will remember. You want them coming to you with money in hand ready to buy!

Until next time,

Chuck Trautman

Marketing for Change - Avoid the Media

Hi Folks,

I read an article from a nationally recognized economist who predicts that our recession will be "V-shaped" when discussed in the future. He said that we almost came out of it in August, but that negative news from our friends in the press made people think the worst was yet to come, so people stopped spending. Viola! Things got worse. Thank you news media.

The good news - this economist sees a reversal in the 1st half of 2009.

The January issue of No BS Marketing to the Affluent contained a short blurb titled "The Price of Panic". It was reported that when sales results were finally reported for "Black Friday" the day after Thanksgiving, sales were actually UP 3% over 2007.

Instead of telling us how great this was in the face of a growing recession, job losses, near collapse of the banking industry - the media report "smallest growth in years". Thanks again news media.

Since retailers were slashing prices 50% to 70% rather than their normal 30%, the growth could have been 6%. Think of all the dollars given away! Maybe some of our old household names would not be closing stores today? Maybe more folks would still have jobs?

The lesson taught here by Dan Kennedy is "The independent business owner needs to be very careful not to get caught up in such big, dumb company self-immolation". Amen, Dan!

Market to those in need of "the thing you sell". Do it smart and do it at a profit. Advertising huge "out of the norm" discounts will only cause you to give up money on what you would have sold anyway. It will not bring you new customers for life.

There are many ways to flourish in the new economy. Attend a local GKIC chapter meeting or call me to learn more.

Until next time,

Chuck Trautman

PS - Check out the website for my consulting business: www.goldcrownmarketingadvisors.com