Preserving and Protecting Your Reputation From People Who Want to Destroy You

Your reputation is one of your most cherished and prized possessions. It represents who you are, what you stand for, and how you will likely treat others who come to know you. In business, your reputation (how you’ve treated people in the past) is indicative of how you’re likely to treat your customers or clients in the future, and can make you a fortune or cost you your business, your lifestyle, and your life savings.

Unfortunately, there are people who may for one reason or another seek to destroy what you’ve taken years… sometimes decades… to create, even though you’ve done nothing wrong or have even bent way over backwards to satisfy them. And once again, unfortunately, once something is published on the Internet, it’s “out there” and very difficult to recall, eliminate or delete.

So how do you counter negative posts, comments that may not be true, and a vindictive person who has nothing better to do than try and destroy your good name, your reputation, and prevent you from obtaining additional business?

Such a thing happened to me recently, and I had a decision to make. Should I lay down and take it and just let it go? Or should I fight back? If I let it go, the negative opinions of one person would be out there for everyone to see, and potential clients would only have that person’s word. If I fought back, I would have to determine the best way to do so, and then calculate the cost in time and lost opportunity that I might otherwise have had if I were to invest that time and effort in getting more clients.

Here, briefly, is a recap of what happened to me and what I decided to do: Several years ago, a man named Gordon Bell responded to one of our ads, and contacted our office to get more information on becoming a TopLine Business Solutions Business Development Consultant. We spent considerable time with Gordon, and asked him to submit our standard Expression of Interest form so we could learn a little about him, what his qualifications were, and if he would be a good fit for our team.

In Gordon’s Expression of Interest, he indicated that he had good qualifications, that he had business consulting experience, and that he had contacts he could work with and get off to a good start. And in our conversations, he said that he didn’t have the entire amount of money it would take to go through our training. So I gifted Gordon a ticket to Joel Bauer’s $3,000 seminar so he could get some good ideas and raise the necessary funds. Plus, I gave him a gift of only paying 25 percent of the TopLine training down, and the balance to be paid at just 10 percent of his earnings… something we had never done before, but because of what Gordon represented to us, we thought it would be an investment worth taking.

Gordon came through the training… spent the entire four days, and even gave us a glowing video testimonial at the end. Following training, our TopLine staff worked very diligently with Gordon to help him with some projects he was working on. Then several months later, Gordon complained that he wasn’t getting the support he was promised. We checked our Infusionsoft CRM, and found that we had sent him 28 emails that were sent out via autoresponder, and that the “status” on everyone of them registered “Unopened.” After bringing that to Gordon’s attention, he admitted that he had moved, and that Comquest (his Internet provider) didn’t provide service in his area and that he had changed his email to a .me account. Well, as you might imagine, it’s difficult to get an email to someone who has changed their address.

We continued to work with Gordon on a project he was working on for his own business. But then he complained again that we weren’t helping him with his consulting business and filed a report with RipoffReport.com. It was scathing. So I responded to each paragraph and every one of his allegations. Gordon then countered with more half-truths and accusations. I once again answered every point in detail.

I even offered to retrain him with a full day of one-on-one coaching if he would get himself to Phoenix. He didn’t take me up on the offer and again wrote some derogatory remarks. So I offered two full days and I would even pay for a night’s stay in a hotel for him, and I gave him five different dates that would work for me. No response from him for 32 days. Then he complained that he couldn’t travel and spend two days because it would be too taxing on him. So I offered one full day of one-on-one coaching so it would be less taxing. He complained that he couldn’t get from Medford, Oregon to Phoenix, Arizona and back in one day, and that it was unrealistic.

In my mind, if someone who has had so much success with so many other people (more than 1,100 consultants in 36 countries), were to offer me a full day on one-on-one coaching to bring me up to speed, it would be worth my while to go a day ahead of time and pay for a night in a hotel myself. But that was out of the question for Gordon.

So then one excuse after another came, like (and these are Gordon’s own words as recorded in his RipoffReport posts and other documented correspondence)”

“I am 71 and live on Social Security [and] can’t afford to pay rent.”

“I’m making payments on the $5,000 I borrowed on a credit card. And we all know that credit card interest rates skyrocketed.”

“I am financially desperate.”

“The banking system has me over a financial barrel and I’m paying 26.24% interest on the credit card I made the purchase with.”

“I’m afraid that too much time has passed for me to get value from your program.”

“Our finances are such that our backs are firmly against the wall and liquidation of whatever can be liquidated must be liquidated immediately.”

“I have met good people who have waived their tuition just to see us again become successful,and that makes me happy no end.”

“I can’t drive without glasses and do not at this moment have the funds to buy glasses and other vital things.”

“You may have done a more thorough job of filtering and found me unqualified because I have NEVER been able to accomplish a new venture on my own.”

“Having once been a business consultant… had the traditional steps of business consulting been a part of your course, I would have gone out there with or without your follow-up support. Because I knew how to act in that role from past experience.”

“If Mr. Howey is sincere and even honest, he would honor the fact that I am not only financially desperate now, I was then. Any honorable businessman would have made the refund just to get rid of the annoyance much less this now public forum.”

“I am not young, I do not remember the basic course, I need to start over.”

“When the student doesn’t apply what he is taught, it has always been the teacher who is needed to change. That is how successful schools work. They know they failed and need to make changes.”

“I don’t travel well and the flights in and out of this airport makes it infeasible for me to even attempt. It would take too long to recover from what would be about 20 hours.”

Did you read those “excuses” carefully? Did you notice that in none of them did Gordon take any personal responsibility? It’s always something or someone elses fault. The second to last excuse is one that really got me. “If the student doesn’t apply what he is taught it is the teacher who is needed to change.” So in Gordon’s mind, if I graduate from Harvard Law School, and don’t apply what I learn… I become a stock broker, for instance… it’s Harvard’s fault that I’m not a successful attorney. (I’m still trying to get my mind around that one.)

A side-note here: Gordon says he’s so “financially desperate.” Yet he claims to have “authored one of the very best books ever written on the topic of sanity and honesty, related to retirement funding.” Really? Then why doesn’t he apply what he claims to be an expert on to his own life?

And this copied directly from his http://www.prudentsolutioninc.com/ website. “Gordon Bell Accredited Investment Fiduciary Auditor, Certified Asset Protection Planner Certified Wealth Preservation Planner. Author of ‘Tell ‘Em ‘That’s MY Money You’re Messing With!”,” actually teaches you how to…

• NEVER lose money.
• Never run out of money during retirement.
• Actually increase income and lower taxes at the same time.
• Re-design your portfolio so you’re never negatively affected by a collapse of the stock market.
• No longer be reliant on a rate of return to reach your goals.
• Employ a new mathematical understanding that will place you far above the investment rat race.

And again from another of Gordon’s own websites, http://instantsale.org. He claims his “21st Century System (for short-selling your home) Works.” If that’s the case, then with the real estate market in the condition that it’s in, Gordon must be raking in the cash. The fact is, Gordon speaks out of one side of his mouth about how successful he is, then cries poverty out of the other side.

Now tell me… does this sound like a guy who should be “financially desperate,” “can’t afford glasses and other vital things,” who “can’t afford to pay rent”, and who actually told the judge in court that he has paid over $3,000 in interest on the $5,000 he borrowed over four years ago?

The fact is, Gordon Bell is a fraud!

But even with all that, evidently, the Ripoff Report wasn’t enough. So just as Gordon wrote in one of his lengthy emails, he filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s office. They sent me a copy and asked for my response. I answered all of Gordon’s points, and the Attorney General summarily dismissed Gordon’s complaint as baseless.

That didn’t work, so Gordon sued me in court. One of the rules of the court was that each party had to submit their evidence to the other party as “discovery.” I sent Gordon a packet of nearly 100 pages of what I was to present in court. In response, Gordon sent me the following email:

“I am in receipt of your documents.

At a quick first glance, I see misstatements or bold faced lies that certainly require deeper research.

Thus, it may take up to July 26 to be able to present my response.

The court indicates that all I need do is provide you a copy of my statements at the time of trial.

All I can say now, is this: If you had spent the time and effort you obviously spent on this enddeavor in keeping your agreements, you would have saved a lot of money.

You are a character of dichotomous factors.”

A quick analysys… July 26 was the court date. The actual court rules regarding disclosure state that each party must submit their evidence to the other party within 40 days of filing. I complied with that, and sent Gordon my packet on April 25th.

When we went to court, Gordon attempted to present his packet to me and I refused to accept it. Then he tried to present it to the judge, who also rejected it, and told Gordon that Justice Court isn’t like what you see on TV… you can’t spring a surprise witness or documents at the last minute in an attempt to “ambush” the other party.

So Gordon presented a very flimsy case about how we didn’t provide the support we promised. Then I had my turn. I countered every point Gordon made, and Chad, the president of TopLine told about how he worked with Gordon and gave him more time than any three of the attendees of his class combined. I even told the judge that I was still willing to give Gordon two days of personal one-on-one coaching and would pay a night’s lodging form him if he would get himself to Phoenix.

Gordon had made statements of being “financially desperate” and unable to travel. Yet he was able to come up with the funds and the strength and energy to get to Phoenix for the trial. He was claiming $5,000 (amount he paid down for the training), and an additional $5,000 for expenses. Of course, he had no documentation for that amount. If Gordon would have invested that time and money into a trip to Phoenix for his one-on-one coaching with me, he’d be WAY farther ahead. Now he’s out the money he paid for his airfare, rental car and two nights lodging… plus time away from his business and the income he could have generated if he stayed home. As for me, the suit cost nothing but 2 hours of my time… and that included travel to and from the court.

Needless to say, the judge ruled in our favor and dismissed Gordon’s complaint.

Okay, still not enough for Gordon. He actually registered a domain using my own personal name and set up a website (martinhowey.org) to tell his story to the world. (Can you see how desperate and vindictive this guy is and the ends that he’ll go to to try and destroy and discredit me?)

So let’s get back to my original question: What would you do? Would you let this character get away with it by using your own name and posting derogatory and misleading comments on that website? Or would you fight back? Really, what would you do?

I know, some would have refunded the money at the outset. After all, Gordon said others have done it just to “avoid the annoyance.” But that’s not me. It’s not right for someone to steal your information and your time, not do anything, and then make public complaints that you didn’t deliver, when you actually over-delivered, and even won the opinions of the Attorney General and a judge in justice court. The fact is, this man needs to be stopped.

So after careful consideration and pondering, I decided to look at this entire process in the context of “marketing.” Gordon claims to have several people who agree with his point that Martin Howey, Chad Howey, and TopLine Business Solutions are frauds. He says that all of those who agree with him choose to remain anonymous, and refuses to tell who they are or how many there are. That’s okay. I do know for a fact that several people who were considering become TopLine Business Solutions Business Development Consultants came to us because of what Gordon wrote. They checked out RipoffReport and saw his postings and my responses. Some of the comments they made are hilarious. Things like:

“The guy is a idiot!”

“What a loser. He needs to get a life.”

“I can’t believe that anyone (especially at his age) would borrow $5,000 at 26% interest not knowing if he could realistically pay it back!”

“There are enough ‘kooks’ in the world who will go out of their way to try and destroy someone’s reputation, but this guy is the ‘King of Kooks’. You should counter sue him and stop him from taking advantage of others.”

“Doesn’t he have anything more productive to do with his time?”

“He’s REALLY strange. One excuse after another, after another, after another. I guess if one thing doesn’t work, why not try something else? It’s the old story: Throw enough crap at the wall and something is bound to stick.”

Those aren’t my words… they came from emails we’ve gotten from people who were drawn to Gordon’s RipoffReport post and checked us out. I know for a fact that several people have come into our program that we would never have had if it weren’t for Gordon’s posts. So thank you, Gordon. You’re helping us get the word out!

I know I could be spending more of my time doing marketing in a positive way to attract more consultants. But for me, this IS marketing. The more Gordon does in a negative way, the more eyes he will attract. And the more eyes that he attracts that are serious, the more people will read what we’ve done to try and help Gordon be successful in this business, and the more they will see Gordon for who he is… a desperate man who refuses to take adult responsibility and accountability for his own actions… or better yet, his own inactions, and continually looks for other things or other people to blame for his lack of success.

In my 45+ years of business, Gordon Bell is the ONLY one who has complained and has taken things this far. In contrast, the number of success stories from more than 1,100 consultants now operating in 36 countries worldwide, is overwhelming.

I truly feel sorry for Gordon and wish him the very best. And my offer of spending two full days of one-on-one consulting time with him AND pay for one night’s stay in a hotel stands. All he needs to do is get himself to Phoenix.

So what about you? This has been a very long story. But I wanted you to see the entire picture and then ask yourself what would you would do if you got a vicious, vindictive person on your tail, and even though you went overboard trying to please him, and even though he complained to the Attorney General and sued you in court… and you won in both instances, then he stole your name and put up a derogatory website to try and destroy your name, reputation, credibility, business, and personal and family life.

What would you do? Lie down and take it? Refund his money? Fight it? Or use it as a marketing strategy? That’s what I chose to do… and it’s working out very well for me.

I’m very interested in what you have to say and what you would do in a similar circumstance. Anonymos comments are always welcome. At TopLine have an “open book” policy and nothing to hide, so what you have to say carries a LOT more weight and credibility if you identify yourself.

A “Private Testing Lab” That Helps Ensure TopLine Business Solutions Consultants’ Success

One of the things that I’m so proud of, and that helps generate such massive successes for our TopLine Business Solutions Consultants, is the “private testing lab” that I use on a regular basis to try out our new ideas, new systems, and new strategies before introducing them to our other consultants around the nation and in other countries.

My “lab” is made up of some of TopLine’s top consultants… those who are actually out there getting it done. But not “just getting it done”… getting it done in BIG ways. The place I always start, when introducing new strategies to be tested, is very close to home… with consultants that I can visit with in person, talk to, and teach the concept to in person. Then, very often, I will go with them or work side by side with them as they implement it so I can see, first hand, the reactions and the results they get.

Once I’m convinced that we’ve worked out most of the bugs, I’ll introduce that system to our other top consultants… some of them U.S. based, and others who are offshore working in one of the other 36 countries where TopLine has a presence. Then, when we get the results back from them and make any necessary tweaks and adjustments, we’ll roll out the new systems to the rest of our consultants.

So where do all these ideas come from that we test, tweak and introduce? I’ve written about it before, and I’ll say it again… I constantly attend talks, seminars, workshops, and training events, learning from other people, seeing what’s new, figuring out how we can apply what they’ve taught to our consultants’ businesses so they can be more effective in dealing with their clients. It’s the new, innovative, and creative things that I learn that keeps us on the cutting edge and constantly delivering value to our consultants, and our consultants to their clients.

All day yesterday, was one of those “research” days for me. I started out visiting with a good friend and speaker who is working with a New York creative marketing and positioning agency. She wanted to meet with me to see if there was a way that we can include some of our materials in their system so they can introduce them to their database of 32 million clients and prospects. This is HUGE! And it could mean really big things for our consultants.

From there, I visited with Joel Weldon, one of the top-rated corporate speakers and presenters in the business, and one of the founders of National Speakers Association. Joel and I have been great friends for over 35 years. I give him credit for introducing me into Toastmasters and NSA, and being my first real mentor who taught me the finer points of speaking, communicating, and presenting. We talked about a lot of things, and will be getting together again soon to discuss even more things that I know will benefit our consultants.

After that, I went to Gail Barsky’s home, and the two of us hammered out some systems that I recently learned from visiting with the top corporate partnership strategist in the country, that we’ll be introducing to our new consultants in our upcoming workshop. Gail has a lovely place on a lake with a great view, and her “office” is in a room with a huge picture window that allows her to take it all in. It’s a great place to be inspired when writing a new book or developing strategies for her clients.

While we got a lot of work done there and shot several videos in the process, it was a chance to sit back and work in a very relaxing environment and let inspiration come as it may. When we finished, she had a very workable game plan that she is now able to take to the market and implement right out of the box. Then we she gets the results, we’ll get together again and make a system out of it and introduce it to our other consultants.

Jeremy Cundiff, is another “local” that I can tap into with new strategies and ideas that I want to test. This guy is on fire, and has been right out of the box. In his first 60 days following training, he had 3 clients, and was earning $11,500.00 per month, plus a percentage of the revenue increase he generates for them, and he has even negotiated for the master franchise rights for an entire state from one of his clients. I love this guy, and can always depend on him to take a new idea and run with it.

The reason I’m telling you all this, is because I want you to realize that the TopLine system is not static. It’s living, always changing, always being updated and improved so it will work in today’s environment, no matter what it’s like. We are contantly removing parts of the system that aren’t working as well as they used to, or that our consultants aren’t in love with, and replacing them with new things like I just described. And that’s what makes our consultants so successful.

So your take-away from this post, is that you should always be on an “Idea Alert”… always looking for new ideas that can improve what you do or if you’re working with clients, ideas that can improve the value you bring to them and make them better. Next, find a good place to work… a place where you can be inspired. It doesn’t have to be on a lake like where Gail lives. But make your working environment comfortable, inspiring, and fun to be in. A place where creativity can run rampant. Then test your new ideas on a couple of clients or businesses. You don’t have to roll it out big time… not at first. Start small with one or two clients. Then make tweaks, adjustments and improvements, and when you’re happy with what you have, get it out there in a massive way. And then watch the business and the profits start to roll in.

Finally, if you have knowledge that can help other business owners run their businesses more effectively, more efficiently, and more profitably, and you’re holding it back from them because you don’t know how to introduce it to them, you’re not doing them or yourself any favors. The market for what you have is bigger and hungrier than it’s ever been, and our consultants are making more money than ever before. The TopLine program may be just the system you need to give you the training, the support, and the “push” you need to get out there and make a difference. If you’d like to know more, please drop Chad a note at chad@toplinebusinesssolutions.com, and let him know that you’d like more information. He’ll be happy to help in any way he can.

As always, please let me know your thoughts and comments. I’m always interested!

Martin Howey
Founder and CEO
TopLine Business Solutions

Major Corporations Are Now Working With TopLine Business Solutions Consultants To Sponsor Qualified Consulting Candidates

The past couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy around the TopLine offices. Personally, I’ve been on the road speaking at other events, consulting with some of my high-level corporate clients and Platinum member consultants, and working on some very exciting things that are revolutionizing our TopLine business and our consultants’ practices.

One of the mastermind groups I belong to is made up of very successful entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketing experts. Each of them earn well into the high 6-figures or 7-figures in personal incomes. We get together on a regular basis for two days and discuss the newest and latest strategies for growing our businesses.

Each of us gets an hour and a half to tell what we’ve been doing, what’s working and what’s not, where we want to take our businesses in the next 3 months, and then ask for help, insights and assistance from the others in the group. I came away from that meeting loaded with great ideas that got me thinking about several new markets we’re going into this year.

From that meeting, I went to Infusioncon to meet up with some of my friends and colleagues and reconnect and reestablish relationships, some of which will be turning into very profitable ventures in the near future.

I tell you these two things, because if you’re not involved in a mastermind group of people who are a higher level than where you’re playing, and you’re not keeping in contact with, and resolidifying relationships with key people in your business or your personal life, you’re missing out on some potentially giant breakthroughs and income opportunities.

Next in my journeys, was a trip to San Francisco, where I met with the top Corporate Partnership Strategist in the country for three days. The ideas and strategies I came away from that meeting with have completely changed the way we’re doing business here at TopLine, and will create some wonderful opportunities for people wanting to get into the consulting game, but haven’t had the finances to make it happen.

I won’t go into all the details here, because I’ve created a whole new website that explains how it works. The bottom line is, if you’re interested in becoming a marketing and business development consultant, and you’re looking for a way to make it happen quickly and without breaking your bank, you should check out www.TopLineBusinessSolutions.com/corporate.htm.

We have another new consultant’s training program coming up April 22-25, in Phoenix, Arizona, and will only be including 6 to 10 people. This program is being subsidized by some major corporations who are very interested in working with TopLine as sponsors so they can be introduced into the markets that our consultants are working in.

If you’re interested in learning how you might be able to get all or part of your TopLine tuition sponsored, then please visit that website as soon as possible. Our sponsors are being very selective about who they’re going to subsidize and how many people we can bring on board. This is your chance to make it happen if you’re a quick mover.

We have no idea at this point whether the Corporate Sponsorship program will continue or not. A lot of it depends on how this group of attendees does once you leave training. Obviously, I want it to continue, so we’re going to pull out all the stops to do everything we can to make everyone in the program as successful as possible, as quickly as possible.

So if you’re interested, think you have the qualifications a corporate sponsor may be interest in, and are a fast mover, get to www.TopLineBusinessSolutions.com/corporate.htm and see what it’s all about.

And… I hope to be speaking personally with you soon!

Martin Howey
Founder and CEO
TopLine Business Solutions

Sometimes It Just Takes Another Set Of Eyes

One of the things that continually amazes me is how some people can be so successful and overlook what seems to be the blinding obvious. It happens all the time to the most accomplished people, and it happens to me more than I’d like to admit.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from one of our highest performing and earning TopLine Business Solutions consultants, who wanted to schedule some time with me to help him work through a situation he was in. Steve, the consultant, has never been a worry or a concern to me for any reason. He continually creates BIG income numbers, has a great group of clients who love him and his work, does no prospecting, and has a lifestyle that would be envious of 99 percent of the population.

So when I got Steve’s call asking to spend the day with me to help him with his business, I was a little surprised.

Turns out that Steve, as successful as he is, was wanting to change directions in his consulting practice and work with a different type of client. Steve’s current client demographic is largely built around construction and blue-collar types of businesses. Nothing wrong with that, those businesses have provided well for him. But like most of us do from time to time, Steve wanted a change… something different, something more challenging. So he asked if we could get together and discuss it.

Steve flew into town and I picked him up at the airport at noon, and we spent the day going over his business, what he was doing, who he was working with, who he wanted to work with, what his inerests were, and what he wanted from his consulting practice. When we got to our meeting place, we dug right in. I asked a series of hard-hitting questions, Steve gave me his answers, and I began mapping out a strategy for him, getting his feedback and comments along the way to make sure I was on track with where he wanted to head.

I talked and Steve took notes. Because I’ve done this so many times, the ideas came fast and furious, and Steve was having a difficult time keeping up. To me, this stuff is simple… it’s easy… it’s as clear as day. I’m sure it’s largely because of two reasons… 1) I do it so often it’s almost second nature, and 2) I’m not the one struggling with a situation or trying to make a change. It’s always easier to help someone else solve their problems than it is your own.

At the end of two hours, Steve was exhausted and his mind was overflowing with ideas… not to mention all the pages of notes he took, and the resources I had written down to send to him. We went to lunch at a nearby restaurant and tried to get away from business topics for a short time to relax our minds and get ready for the next round. Back at the “compound”, we hit it again and mapped out a complete start-to-finish strategy that would work for Steve.

I gave him a TON of forms, letters, scripts, strategies, and systems that he could go home and implement immediately. Steve is certainly not wanting for anything, and there is no excuse or reason for him not succeeding with his new plan, other than failing to implement what we discussed. I got him back on the plane at 6:00pm and he’s ready to rock!

The reason I’m telling you this story about Steve, is because you may be in a similar situation, but in a different type of way.

So many people are not fulfilled in their jobs, professions, or careers, and are looking for something different… something new, something exciting, something challenging… something that makes life more fun, more enjoyable, and more meaningful. The older I get, the more I realize that our time here on this planet is finite. We’re all going to disappear at some point. The questions is, what is the imprint or impact that will be left behind because of our having been here?

Sure, we may have family and friends, and the impact we’ve had on them through our teachings and examples may be significant… even character-forming or life-changing. And it should be. But I’m talking about something more. For most of us, more than half our waking hours are spent in some type of employment, job, or business-related activities… some way to earn the income we need to support our lifestyles and provide for our families and (hopefully) eventual retirement.

So what’s going on during those many hours? Other than getting the work done that you’re responsible for, what else are you contributing, and who is benefitting? On a regular occassion, I take time to reflect on my own situation to make sure I’m on the right path and not just spinning my wheels. Spending time with people like Steve… already successful people… but people wanting a different set of experienced eyes to look at their situation and give them insights and direction… is what turns me on and keeps me running from day to day.

I have my mentors that I look to for direction from time to time… people who help me in various ways to look inside and “keep it real.” Recently I met a person who sat me down over lunch, got me talking about myself and where I am currently, where I want to go, and what’s keeping me from getting there. It was totally unexpected and out of the blue, and I revealed to her and to myself (surprisingly), things that I had never verbalized to anyone… yet, things that I would soon discover about myself that are now having a profound impact on what I’m doing and where I’m headed.

This person is not a coach, not a counselor, and not a therapist. But her insights, intuition, and understanding were exactly what I needed at the time. Funny, that she did to me what I do (in a similar way) to the consultants who depend on me for my expertise and insights.

If you don’t have such a person in your life… someone you can bounce ideas off of and that they will respond to in a non-judgemental, but helpful and understanding way, you’re missing something BIG! Find that person, that mentor, that person who can give you the direction you need at the time you need it. Make your life and business direction the result of a “partnership” with someone you can trust, and like Steve, and like me, your life will change, it will improve, it will have more meaning, and you will be much happier!

Martin Howey
Founder and CEO
TopLine Business Solutions

It’s More About What You Do, Than What Happens To You

Life isn’t fair. Never was, never is, and never will be. Every one of us faces challenges, difficulties and obstacles on a daily basis. Some are more difficult than others, and some people have more than their share of trials.

But it’s not so much what happens to us, as it is how we handle those challenges. We have a choice. When things get us down we can lay their and do nothing, or we can take control, take actions, and get our strength back and get out of our predicament.

Right now, in these tough economic times, some people are doing very well financially and others are struggling to make ends meet, or perhaps wondering where the money is going to come from to pay the mortgage or to buy enough food to feed their kids their next meal. Some are being laid off from their jobs, and others are being promoted within their company, or being recruited away by another employer and offered substantial bonuses to defect.

It’s the same with businesses. Tough times for some are boom times for others. While some stores and shops are closing their doors, others are expanding their operations,  opening new locations, and hiring additional employees.

In our business of offering marketing and business development consulting services to businesses, we see it every day. Several times a week we get calls from business owners who are familiar with our company, or maybe have seen us on the Internet or in various media (radio, television, or print), and want to know if we can help them figure out how to help their businesses survive. Very often, they don’t have the funds to make payroll, pay the rent, or the utilities, let alone pay for consulting services. Their backs are up against the wall and they’re looking for solutions… cost-effective solutions that can produce FAST results and get them out from behind the eight ball.

Because I only work with a very limited number of high-level clients myself, we always refer these business owners to our onboard consultants. It’s always interesting to see some of the creative ways they work with a business that is financially strapped and doesn’t have enough money to pay a retainer fee. But what’s even more interesting is to see how quickly the strategies they introduce into their clients’ businesses begin producing additional profit dollars for them, and then hear the appreciative comments from those clients.

It’s a great feeling to know that we offer a service that helps so many people on so many levels. When a business is turned around and saved from financial ruin, it saves jobs for the business’s employees, the vendors and suppliers who provide products and services to that business, the landlord or mortgage company, insurance and utility companies and a host of other types of businesses and individuals that depend on income from the business.

A key player in that entire process is the person… the consultant… who “saved the day” for the business. Very often, this person is one who, just a few months earlier, was out of a job him or herself. Maybe they were laid off, downsized, cut out, or whatever term is in vogue today. Sometimes they are mid fifties six-figure earners with teenagers or college students to support, and can’t go back into the job market because they are “too old.” And if they could, it certainly wouldn’t be at the income level they were used to or that they require to sustain their current lifestyle.

It’s hard to express the feeling that I get when I see someone like I just described come through training, get some new skills, contact a handful of prospects, and land their first couple of clients. Their step is lighter, their pace quicker, and their confidence is at an all time high. They’re completely different people than they were when we first met. Once they get a little taste of success under their belts and they realize that they don’t have to depend on a “boss” or employer to tell them when to come to work, when they can go home, what to do on the job, how much they’re worth, and when (or IF) they can take time off for a holiday, vacation, or just to watch their kids’ ball games, it’s a whole new world for them.

This life is WAY to short to get all the things done that… well, at least that I want to get done. Just not enough time. And there certainly isn’t enough time for me to spend doing something that I don’t enjoy, that I don’t want to do, or that I have to do. I can’t answer for you or for anyone else. I just know that the older I get, the faster time goes. And every day I look back and think about how I spent my time… what I gained, what I might have lost, what kind of enjoyment I had, how I helped someone else, and how I grew as a person.

For me, it’s not about the money anymore. It’s about the value I can create for someone else. That’s why I do what I do. I absolutely help people who are ready to get out of doing the “have-to-do” things, and move into a world of “let’s-do-this!”

I have to be careful. Last year we conducted 14 of our 4-day TopLine Business Solutions consultant’s training events. We added 146 new consultants, and are now hitting right at 1,000 consultants operating in 34 countries around the world.

Why do I say I have to be careful?

‘Cause I worked my tail off! I worked WAY to hard last year. Yes, I enjoyed helping people go from broke (or nearly so) to mid six-figures, but I fried myself in the process. Won’t be that way this year. I’ll be spending more time with fewer people, and creating even bigger success stories than we’ve ever had before. And I’ll be taking more personal time for myself.

We’re getting ready to announce our next (and the first for this year) workshop that will be sometime in the first part of April. This will be open to a VERY limited number of people who are serious about achieving the most success possible in the shortest amount of time. We will be featuring them in our ads and in our media releases to help them get leverage, publicity, and exposure, and use that exposure to enhance their credibility. More information will be coming in the next week or so as the details are finalized.

In the meantime, be thinking about where you are in your job or career, and if you’re 100 percent satisfied. If you’re not, what do you need to do differently? What actions do you need to take to get on top of things and begin living life on YOUR terms, and not someone else’s, and not having to apologize to yourself or your family for not being able to give them everything you would like to.

Martin Howey
Founder and CEO
TopLine Business Solutions

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