There’s an old story on the Internet that’s been retold over and over again.

From Snopes.com:

“A man answers a classified advertisement offering an “almost new” Porsche for the ridiculously low price of $50 and finds that the woman really is selling the car so cheaply, because her husband ran off with a younger woman and asked her to sell the car and send him the money.”

Whether it’s true or not is irrelevant.

My personal commute to work is 1.2 miles each way. 2.4 miles total. I currently drive a Honda CRV with low miles in proportion to how old it is.

I can go 2 weeks without filling up. Am I in the market for a brand new BMW X5? No! If I came across one for $1,000, would I? Read more

My wife and I watched the 2nd presidential debate town hall style last night between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

Disclosure: I’m a registered independent / non-declared voter.

Here’s 3 lessons you can learn whether you’re supporting Barack Obama or Mitt Romney: Read more

I came across an article this morning on a book review. Here’s the link:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3001086/failure-only-option-if-success-end-goal

Key points verbatim:

“Unfortunately, many of us don’t pursue the trial because we are fearful of making errors. ”

“Jim Owens, former CEO of Caterpillar Inc., told us we actually learn more from our failures than we do from our success. He states that our most important lessons as leaders come from our toughest losses.”

“Mistakes are part of taking healthy risk. They provide us with new ways of thinking and give us new insights into how we can improve as leaders. Real failure doesn’t come from making mistakes; it comes from avoiding errors at all possible costs, from fear to take risks and from the inability to grow. Being mistake free is not success. Still, we avoid challenges and hide mistakes. We don’t like to talk about them and bring attention to them. It’s safer to look the other way or sweep them under the rug.”

My 2 cents: Looking back, when I started my company, I had no freaking clue of what I was doing. I had a vague idea but like the mirror after a long shower, it slowly but surely has become more clear each and every day.

Every email, sales pitch, etc that I put together has been refined and tweaked countless times. You don’t know until you try.

Expecting to get it right the first time is pointless and unrealistic.

I’m consulting with 2 guys right now who started their own tax, accounting, and financial consulting firm. I’m proud of them they started. My advice to them was to network, pick up the phone and start reaching out to prospects and don’t worry about failing. They’ll perfect their pitch in due time. You can only read so many sales books and articles.

I can have you read a ton of books and watch a lot of videos on how to ride a bike and you’ll have a lot of knowledge.

OR

You can hop on the bike, take action, and learn how to ride successfully on your own despite falling down numerous times. But you’ll gain invaluable experience and wisdom.

I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000 and hope you have a great Friday!

 

Happy Post Labor Day to you all.

Summer is about gone. Fall is almost here. The NFL kicks off tonight! College football started last week.

I came across an article that may benefit you. Since I don’t have all the answers, this might be a good resource for you companies that are considering farming out the process of setting sales appointments for your sales reps.

Here’s the link:

http://www.business2community.com/b2b-perspective/why-your-company-needs-b2b-telemarketing-services-0264662 Read more

I downloaded Mark Cuban’s book “How to Win at the Sport of Business” on my Nook last night. Great and easy read so far.

As I’ve chatted with folks across the country, it seems the consensus is that a lot of people and companies are:

1. Cautiously spending

2. Waiting on the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Election

3. Agree that we are in a very skittish and unpredictable economy Read more