Your Opinion.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt." ~ Mark Twain.

What do you think about opinions? Everyone has them. We tend to love our own don't we? Nowadays the ability to broadcast our opinion to others is enormous. With the internet, social media, comments, blogs and so on... We get to say a whole lot of stuff. But let's put opinion in perspective. Some very smart people have said some very stupid things over the years. ~ Opinions that they really believed.

"Two years from now spam will be solved." ~ Bill Gates 2004.

"I don't need a bodyguard." ~ Jimmy Hoffa.

"It doesn't matter what he does, he will never amount to anything."   Albert Einsteins teacher.

"There is no chance the I Phone is going to get any significant market share, no chance." ~ Steve Ballmer, Microsoft, 2007.

Freedom of speech affords us the luxury to opine on everything.
What we say can turn out to be brilliant, banal, or blithering idiocy.

But when all is said and done - It's just our opinion.

How To Sell.

"Sales are contingent on the attitude of the salesperson, not the attitude of the prospect." ~ W. Clement Stone.

The young salesperson wasn't doing very well. It wasn't through lack of effort, or presentations, he was sure that he was giving more than the senior salespeople who were closing deals left and right. Something was missing. So he went into the old mans office and asked...

"What do I need to work on?"

The old campaigner leaned forward in his chair and said to the young rookie ~ " Every presentation you ever make ends up in a Buy, Sell, or Hold situation. The people you talk to will inevitably buy, sell you on why they can't, or put you on hold. ~ So what do you think you should be working on to ensure that more people buy from you?" he asked.

I don't know the young protege responded - I think I'm doing all I can. Alright the old man said... Let me ask you three simple questions...

• Are people buying the stuff you sell from others?                     ~ Yes, he said.
• Are they buying it for about the same price that you're asking? ~ Yes again.
• Are they buying it from you?                                                   ~ No.

Now you're a smart person ~ So if I understand you correctly...

• People are buying.
• They are buying from others.
• They're just not buying from you.

What do YOU think you need to work on?

Time Forgets.

"When one has not had a good father, one must create one."   Nietzsche.

We get called a lot of things in our lives. Some good and some not so good. Over the years I've been called Kid, Dan, Sarge, Boss, Gaffer, and Old Man but the one name that I treasure the most is...  Dad.

A friend once asked me for the very best advice I could give him as we went our separate ways ~ my response was... "Be A Good Dad"
It seemed to be the most important and sincere thing I could say.

Time forgets most things we do but the view from my window is...

If you're a man ~ "Be A Good Dad."