My Friend Kyle....

A friend of mine sent me this story and I KNEW I had to share it with everyone here:


One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends
tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, 'Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."

He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends
He said yes.

We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

I stopped him and said, 'Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends... When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke.

I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never
be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation.(I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak!)

On graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in his glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.

Finally, the time came in the ceremony for Kyle's speech. He walked up to the podium and readied himself. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began:

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.

Never forget that.

The Dummy Tax....

Ever heard that term before? "The Dummy Tax." Doesn't sound very good, does it? Well, you are right. It's not good. And unfortunately, most of us fall into the "dummy" category, and pay this tax.

Actually, I should pluralize it: The Dummy Taxes...because they are EVERYWHERE and you are a victim almost everywhere you go, and everyday you live.

"Well then, I'll just stop buying..." Sorry, you'll still be taxed. You still pay.

"Still? What is this "dummy tax" or "taxes" as you say...?"

Ready? Are you sitting down?

The Dummy tax is the humongous fees that you pay VISA, because you couldn't pay MasterCard, so you borrowed from Paul to pay Mary back. Then, it gets worse because you need VISA again to pay for your darn trip to Disneyland.

Sound familiar? I'm not through yet...

The Dummy tax is the fee you pay to remain in the lowest sector of societies income scale because you think earning OUTSIDE of what college taught you to do is somehow wrong or that you have no time. Now look at people like Mick Jagger, Oprah or Tom Hanks...they work where they are CELEBRATED.

Dummies earn a paycheck from a job that only tolerates them.

The Dummy tax is the higher interest rate on credit cards and mortgages because your credit is less that 620....

Ouch! That was me...

It's about being so dumb that you allow an employer to pay you per hour rather than per customer or actual work performed. Also, the employer gets to earn money over and over off YOUR CUSTOMERS even if you leave the company, or are laid off.

So, who's prospering from your efforts? You, I hope. That's what I've always felt is fair. If I do the work, obtain the client, win the account, shouldn't that be mine? If their business continues for 20+ years, don't I deserve a cut?

Yes, you do. But you won't get it, because you signed your "rights" (compensation) away when you accepted the job. But no one tells you that.

Mick Jagger. Tom Hanks. Oprah. Remember them? They know better. It's called residual income.

Ever heard of a song called "(I can't get no) Satisfaction?"

Well, Mick and his bandmate/buddy Keith Richards wrote that one afternoon early in 1965. That was 43 years ago.

Since then the song has been estimated to have made nearly 500 million dollars.

FIVE HUNDRED MILLION. DOLLARS.

Does that happen where you work? I don't think so.

Be CELEBRATED. Not just tolerated. You're worth more than they are willing to pay you.

Start working for yourself. Stop working for Visa and Mastercard.

You're worth it.

You don't have to sell, just find people who want to buy....

I was listening to Joe Schroeder speak with us today, and he was talking about selling. To be honest, I can't even recall his exact quote, but he was saying "you aren't trying to convince people to buy, you are looking for people who want to buy already, and they are looking for you".

Wow. I never thought of it like that before. Oh sure, as a real estate agent, obviously I was looking for people "who were looking to buy or sell..." but I didn't apply the principle to ALL sales.

Think about it. Now think of any product. Lets look at NIKE. They've just come out with a new running shoe. Who can they sell to? Nearly everyone; anyone with money anyway. But...do they target everyone? No. They place ads in Sports Illustrated, fitness magazines, ESPN, gyms, etc. You won't find their ad at Home Depot, or McDonalds. Why not? Because even though "everyone" goes to McDonalds or Home Depot, they don't go there looking for NIKE. It's misplaced advertising.

So the same is true for us, the internet marketer. Who is your target market? Everyone? No, (look again at your product) not everyone. But make no mistake:
People are looking for your product and they are looking for you. Your job is to make sure that they can find you so you can provide the product to them. You did not SELL them. They already wanted it.

We just need to grasp this concept, because I talk to many people (and I was this way myself) that don't "feel like selling". GOOD! WE ARE NOT SELLING! We are offering and providing a service.

Have you ever been really sick? How much is the Theraflu or Nyquil? $10? Sounds a bit expensive so you don't buy it. Then you suffer another miserable day...now you can't wait to go out and pay the $10. In fact, you'd probably pay $15 if they'd deliver it to your door.

So how does MONEY work itself into this equation? Well, money is really nothing more than a tool; something that enables you to get something that you really want. We use it to exchange for other goods and services. The goods and services have actual and personal value to us as individuals. Don't be afraid to ask for the money either. You have the product that they want. Exchanging money for product is as simple as exchanging phone numbers. (K.I.S.S, remember?)

Now its true that don't know exactly what the other person is thinking. We DO know however that they are human, so their thought processes are just like ours. Every day there are things that we tell ourselves that we need. If someone contacts you,(about your products) you don't have to sell them, you just need to confirm to them that you have what they are looking for. Then exchange your product for their dollars and voila! Another satisfied customer...

Good Luck!