BP Gets Closer To Stopping Leak but Most Small Businesses Still Battle Their Own Leaking Pipelines

While some positive news finally came out of the Gulf today that BP was able to cut the leaking riser on the Gulf floor bringing them one step closer to putting a “Top Hat” on the leaking pipe, there are gaping holes in the Pipelines of far too many businesses across the U.S. according to Frank Donohue of the New Jersey based Marketing Firm “Business Building Now.”

When asked how he is able to correlate the situation in the Gulf to small businesses in the U.S. he replied, “It’s easy. When I think of the oil being released from the pipeline in the gulf, I think of the prospective customers being lost from the pipelines of small businesses. In sales, customers of a business and prospects of a business are referred to as being in the pipeline. In other words, these are people you want to continue to market to because they have either bought from you in the past, or have shown an interest in your product or service. Unfortunately for a lot of businesses who aren’t taking advantage of some of the technology we have available via the internet, they are losing prospective sales from the pipeline, and business profits continue to suffer.

When I asked Frank what specific internet technology could be used to prevent businesses from losing prospects from the pipeline he said, “Businesses could start with a simple ‘Opt in Form’ on a website. The business could offer something of value in exchange for a name and email address of the prospect. An example of something of value would be, possibly a free report educating the prospect on a topic related to your business. Once the business has the name and address of the prospect, they then have the ability to continue to market to the prospect by email. That’s one way to increase sales in the new economy.”

Business Building Now is offering free marketing services to small and medium size U.S. businesses this summer to help jump start the economy. To learn more, visit www.businessbuildingnow.com or call (609) 694-1280.

New Jersey Marketing Firm Offering Free Help to Retail Businesses

New Jersey Marketing Firm Offering Free Help to Retail Businesses

Business Building Now marketing firm is offering free business website evaluatons to businesses all
summer to help stimulate growth and increase US business sales.


With the dog days of summer quickly approaching along with a stagnant economy continuing to devastate
small and medium size business sales, the marketing firm Business Building Now based in New Jersey
wants to do their part to try to help.
Mike Martinez, Co Founder of BBN, and the company’s signature “Lema Marketing System” explains
“We’ve all had enough bad news and bad times for the past couple of years. We want to give business
owners some good news and some hope for a change. We want to provide them with some answers and a
direction for them to start heading in to create prosperity. My partner and I have been brainstorming some
ways for us to do our part to jump start this quagmire of a business climate we’ve all been wading through
for too long.”
The partner Mike is referring to is Frank Donohue. Frank, the founder and partner of BBN agrees with
Mike. “People sometimes forget that if we don’t jumpstart this economy in the private sector and get
businesses thriving again, all the government jobs will quickly go away too, and then where will the
unemployment rate be? Mike and I are going to create our own stimulus package for business owners the
only way we know how. By sharing what we know to help businesses grow sales in the new economy”
When asked what the “New Economy” is, Mike replied, “The New Economy is something that no one is
talking about, and most don’t know about. Simply put, it is the economy post- “Housing Bubble Bust”. Not
just as a result of the recession, but it is the silent decision consumers have made to only patronize
businesses that offer the best value for their dollar. They are no longer going to accept subpar quality
products, or poor customer service. They can’t afford it. The bottom line is, if you don’t treat them like
royalty, they will buy from someone who will.” Frank chuckled, “Welcome to the New Economy.”
Frank and Mike boast of a system they use (The Lema Marketing System) which is able to drill down into
any business to identify areas where they can quickly leverage existing marketing assets to dramatically
increase sales.
“For the rest of the summer, Mike and I are offering a free video evaluation of a business’s website to
show them how they can do a couple things to drive customers to their stores. We will look at their
websites and send a 5 minute video to them by email showing them specific recommendations that can
drastically help them increase sales.”
To learn more you can call (609) 694-1280, or visit www.businessbuildingnow.com

Business Building Now Marketing Consulting helps small to mid size businesses optomize sales growth
through highly effective online/offline marketing strategies which are unknown to most business owners.

E-Marketing For the Brick and Mortar Business

Most businesses are unaware that there is a "New Economy" taking shape let alone how to posture
themselves to successfully compete in it.


Drive thru “Anytown” USA and you will notice a disheartening trend. Dozens, and in some extreme cases,
hundreds of vacant store fronts. Dozens more hanging signs that read, “Going Out Of Business.”
Millions blame this on the down economy. However one man, Frank Donohue of Business Building Now
(www.businessbuildingnow.com) calls it the “New Economy.” “What brick and mortar businesses have to
quickly realize is that this “New Economy,” mainly brought on by the incredible growth of the Internet, has
changed consumer buying habits world-wide” says Mr. Donohue.
Frank Donohue, a Medford NJ resident and president and founder of The LEMA marketing system, often
states that many businesses that have shut their doors, or are considering it, are actually “three feet from the
gold mine.” He explains, “Because most small to medium sized business owners are not educated on how
to fully utilize the electronic marketing power that exists today, they are leaving tons of money on the table.
That money is being swept up by the few that are using the Internet effectively. It’s an understandable
problem simply because most small to medium size business don’t have marketing departments like larger
corporations do. Many brick and mortar business owners mistakenly believe advertising is marketing.
Advertising is simply a small facet of marketing, but in no way is it, or should it be, your entire marketing
system.”
Echoing his thoughts, Mike Martinez, Co Founder of The LEMA Marketing System points out, “In the late
nineties Bill Gates was quoted as saying that those businesses that didn’t learn how to effectively utilize
online marketing would soon being closing their doors. Those words have become profoundly prophetic.”
The LEMA (Leveraging Existing Marketing Assets) marketing system helps to address many of the
current issues facing small to medium sized businesses. Its strength is found in helping business owners
leverage current assets that will in turn magnify marketing efforts without increasing out of pocket
expenses.
When ask for an example on how The LEMA system has helped others Frank responded, “My partner and
I recently worked with a Martial Arts school in New York. After analyzing his business practice and his
marketing system, which in fact wasn’t a system at all, he merely advertised, we were able to identify 6 or 7
areas of improvement. One specific technique he now uses much more effectively has helped him take his
business to the next level.”
Mike Martinez adds, “What is really interesting about that example is that this particular Martial Arts
school is surrounded by competing schools that are attempting to under-price him. Yet he continues to
grow, while at the same time charging the highest prices in the area. Mistakenly, price is the first place most
business owners run to in an effort to drum up more business. But believe it or not, lowering price is rarely
the answer.”
Frank Donohue and Mike Martinez give E-Marketing workshops across the tri-state (NJ, PA, and DE).
They also provide a FREE 30 minute telephone consultation to help businesses develop effective marketing
strategies to increase sales growth. You can learn more at http:www.businessbuildingnow.com

It's the New Year!! Now What?

So it's New Years. If you are like many, you know it is supposed to be a big deal closing out the old year and ringing in the new. But why? It seems too many people just use New Years Eve as another excuse to go out (or stay in) and party like its 1999 and not like its 2010. Hey- that's cool. But wouldn't it be better to look back on the last year and review how it went? The fact is 2009 was a very difficult year for a whole lot of people. With 14.2 million Americans losing jobs in 09, chances are pretty good that 2009 might not have been an exactly stellar year for you either. It wasn't for me. I was one of the 14.2 million. It happened to me last February. But it doesn't matter what happens to you that counts, its what you do about it that counts.

The one resolution I think that everyone ought to work on this year is Personal Development. I'm not talking about vowing to lose those 12 pounds you put on since Thanksgiving. Everyone makes that a New Years resolution. I'm talking about developing your mind to put you on the offense in 2010 as opposed of the defense like a lot of us found ourselves in 2009. This year if you vow to take more control of the direction for your life, you won't be hoping and praying that your name is not on the list of the next company re-organization plan at your job. Why not beat your employer to the punch and develop your own reorg. plan? You see if you don't develop your own plan for your life, chances are very good that you will end up in someone elses plan and chances are good that they won't be as good as the plan you can come up with for yourself.

So what should you read to start developing your own plan? Where should you start? The first book I would highly recommend for every American is "Think and Grow Rich" If you never read this book, you are in for a treat like you have never experienced. This book written by Napoleon Hill will teach you exactly how to think to start getting the things you want for your life. Too often we lose the ability to start dreaming and thinking about what we would like to be and acomplish in life. Circumstances beat us down to the point that we just start waiting for things to happen to us and how to defend against them. We lose our ability to dream and to aspire to do and be more like we used to do when we were children. As children everything was possible to us. Why aren't they now? They still can be. We just have to re-program our minds to realize we still can be and do whatever we set our minds to.

The next book I would highly recommend is "Why We Want You Rich". In this book Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki share some very terrifying facts about just how bad the state of our economy really is. They explain how impossible and naive it really is for us to think that we can just continue to work at our jobs and expect to retire on our 401k plans, Social Security, and Medi-Care. The bottom line is our Government is broke and going more in debt every day. They explain how rapidly the middle class is disappearing in our country. Very soon every American will either be rich or poor. They lay out a pretty comprehendable plan for everyone to start changing their thinking from one of entitlement and expecting a broke government to take care of us in the golden years, to one of personal responsabilty to create wealth for ourselves and to be self sufficient. A must read for anyone who has any dealings with money. That is everyone.

Well there are two suggestions from me to you to start you on a better path this year then you may have found yourself on last year. We should all make a commitment this year to work on living an intentional life. One where we decide to make things happen for ourselves before we simply let things happen to us. Our country has a lot of problems that we must deal with. But I personally believe we can eliminate a great deal of them if we all just start to take care of ourselves and quit waiting for someone else to solve them for us. This starts with a paradigm shift in our value system. Please join me in fighting this year to achieve everything we want for us and our family. This time next year you will be glad you did. I wish for you all a year full of health, happiness, and prosperity. You can do it. Cheers!!

4 Steps To Becoming A Business Big Shot

Nothing will get you results more than activity and a mind set that if you keep at it long enough, you will make it huge.

We all see the big shots in our companies, and have been blown away by the salaries they are making. You have to understand that they all started from from the same spot you did. Sure, some people have bigger networks to start with than others, but here is the formula for your success:

1- Dream big and set goals. It takes no more energy to set a goal to make a million dollars a year than it does to make $100,000 dollars a year.

2- Remember- you can have or be anything you see anyone else have or do. We are all here on the same planet with the same resources to pull from. What you may lack in talent, you can make up with in heart and hard work.

3- Devise a plan of what activities you will do everyday to reach your goals. Don't let anything stop you. If you don't feel like doing it one day, suck it up and do it anyway. Get in the zone. Be relentless.

4- Last but not least, Never forget:

"The only difference between the big shot and the little shot is the big shot, was a little shot that just kept shooting. You can do it!!

How To Close The Sale

Before we get into the mechanics of the title, we first need to squash a couple of misconceptions popular in some Network Marketing circles.

The first one is- Close is not a dirty word! Yes we do close prospects when we are Network Marketers. I hear a lot of experienced marketers say "I don't close people" If you are selling memberships or signing people up to join your business, you most certainly do close people, and there is nothing in the world wrong with that.
The definition of close, courtesy of "The Free Online Dictionary"
Close- "To complete the final details or negotiations on: close a deal."

People close doors all the time. Detectives close cases, which means the mystery has been solved and the case does not need to be opened any more. It has been completed.

When we close prospects, they have completed their period of prospect status and are now joining our team in business. Isn't that a better place for your prospect to be? Of course it is.

The second one is this crazy notion that Network Marketing is not sales. People like to say silly things like "I am not in sales. I don't sell anything. I share information" Yeagh whatever. Keep telling yourself that, but do it at the risk of missing out on a lot of good information and training out there on how to become better at what we do everyday. That's selling. Go look in the mirror and repeat after me three times: "I am in Sales. I sell products and services." Remember- 3 times. Now wasn't that liberating?

Okay. Now that we got that out of the way, let's get into it.

First thing to remember: Although we are in sales, do not come off as Sales-ey, needy, pushy, or desperate at all. Ever. I was on the phone with a Network Marketer a couple of weeks ago who claims he's been in MLM for 13 years. He was trying to recruit me into his business for about 20 minutes. In the first 90 seconds he told me to hold on and then he started a recorded call with no warning that it was coming. He had me curious on how he was going to try to close me so I listened to the whole call anxiously awaiting for him to get back on the line. When he came back, he asked " So, what did you like best about what you heard?". I said, " Hey man, it sounds good. Really. But I'm not interested. I have a business." From there he went to straight up pushy mode. I started to ask him if that's how he always approaches prospects, but he kept trying to push his business on me. He was even bragging to me about how much money he was making. God Bless him if he is. I can't see how when he comes off as that desperate and pushy. Always be professional when you are representing your company. If you don't, it will come back to haunt you. I promise.

People like to buy, more than they like to be sold to. Always remember that. The secret to getting people to want to buy is to create a buying environment. The only way to know how to create the proper buying environment is to do a thorough assessment of your prospect to find out what problems they are currently facing, what needs they currently have, and what wants they have. Keep in mind, most people don't make it a habit of telling strangers things like that until they feel they can trust you. Once you have established trust, you can then start to explain how you can help them solve their problem, want, or need. You have to link your product or service to the specific things mentioned by your prospect though. If you did a proper job of linking the two together, ask if there are any other questions or concerns about the information you provided. If yes, answer them honestly. If no, ask for the sale. If at this point you receive an objection, find out what the problem is, address it, and ask for the sale.

Some people just have a problem pulling the trigger sometimes.

Last summer I needed a pair of new sneakers bad. I was out shopping with my wife one day when we stopped in a store and I saw a pair that caught my eye. I showed them to my wife. She told me that she liked them too. She told me to see if they had my size. They did. The price was also right in the range of money I was looking to spend. But for some reason, I told my wife to forget about it. I decided I would get a pair somewhere at another time. My wife Lori grabbed me by the arm as I was turning to leave and said "You need a pair of sneakers. You like these, they are the price you were looking to pay, they have your size and color, what are you waiting for? Just buy them. She was exactly right. There was no good reason to not just buy them. She closed me. Sometimes people need help making a buying decision. Remember this story because it will happen to you sooner or later.

There are a lot of different closing strategies and approaches. If you just remember to let the prospect do most of the talking, and you really sincerely listen, you will learn the skills to quickly decide which way you need to proceed. The more you do it, the better you will get.

My Flame Burned Out

This is dedicated to Sarah.


I turned my heat on today for the first time this Winter.
It's funny really. In my house, its like we have this game every year. I go as long as possible without turning the heat on. That is until of course my wife and son can't take it anymore in the house without it and they finally say- "That's it Dad. Give it up. You have to turn it on! So I know we've reached the point when its time.

Just like every other year, I got up off the couch and went to the thermostat. I slid the lever over to the "Heat On" position, and proceeded to set the desired temperature. Only this time unlike every other year, my wife called out to me from the other room "There's cold air coming out of the register!" I went over to where she was and she was right. Cold air. (I believed her.) Really. I just needed to verify that she wasn't suffering from a poor hand circulation condition or something.

I went down to the basement where the furnace lives and took the sheet metal cover off the side. I saw the blower there looking me in the face while hard at work. No problem there. I then took a quick glance at the filter. Nice and clean. Nothing wrong there. I then leaned in to look at the pilot flame. Bingo! There was no flame.

I then proceeded to follow the instructions for re-lighting the pilot. I shut off the main gas supply valve, turned the pilot valve to the "OFF" position, and turned the thermostat setting all the way down to the lowest setting. I waited a couple of minutes till I was sure all of the residual gas fumes had dissipated. I then turned the gas valve back on, put the pilot valve in the "Pilot Light" position, lit the pilot, turned the valve to the "On" position and set the thermostat back to the desired temperature setting. A little while later, Presto! Nice warm house.

Once this job was done, I needed a nap. Just kidding. Once this job was done, I started to reflect back on the whole process and noticed several similarities between the pilot in my furnace going out, and the pilot in some people's Network Marketing business going out.

When someone first turned us onto our Network Marketing business, we were shown the possibility and the vehicle to create wealth beyond anything we ever experienced, or in most cases, ever imagined for ourselves. Someone lit our pilot.

Once are pilot was lit, we were told to not be discouraged by the nay sayers and people who would have us believe that our new business is a pyramid scheme, ponsie scheme, or worse. We were taught to filter the fuel we would allow into our system.

We were also told to attend business meetings frequently, get on all of the training calls, read good motivational books, and listen to good tapes to make sure we were filling our lines and our minds with a good constant supply of clean, high octane fuel.

We were taught to set our thermostats for our desired results by setting long term goals. We were also told to keep our blower running and to perform the proper activities daily to help us propel our business forward.

What happens next is really a pretty common theme with most Network Marketers somewhere witin the first year of business. The pilot light gets smaller and smaller. For some it eventually goes out. Never to be lit again. So what happens to cause this? It could be a couple of different things.

For some it could be that they didn't believe that the bad, cheap, negative fuel of family and friends trying to discourage them from pursuing their dreams would clog up the filter and stop good clean oxygen from keeping the flame ignited.

For others, they may not have kept the blower running long enough by doing the daily business activities that always eventually delivers the warmth of the flame to all the registers of our lives.

Whatever the reason, did you properly troubleshoot the reason your light was dying and bring it back, or did you just let it burn out only to kill off whatever heat and energy you had generated to that point? Don't let your flame die. Keep your system running long enough to enjoy the heat of the fire of your desired setting. It takes a little while to heat a house and a life. Be patient. AS long as you keep your flame lit, it will come.