We all get those e-mails from our family and friends that are sent to them by someone else. I rarely read that stuff because they take too much time. But Paul, in my office, sent me what is below and Paul doesn’t waste time. So, I read it and said, “Oh, my goodness” and felt I ought to send it to you. The Great Idea we bring you each week is my attempt to help you in all kinds of ways. This week’s Great Idea is one you might want to pass on to your friends and loved ones. It certainly made me talk to my wife about our cell phone and our GPS that we often leave in the car! Read on…..

This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.

GPS

A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football match. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard.

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean up the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

MOBILE PHONE

I never thought of this…….
This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet…etc…was stolen.

20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says “I received your text asking about our pin number and I’ve replied a little while ago.”

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text “hubby” in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Moral of the lesson: Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc…. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.

Also, when you’re being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don’t reach them, be very careful about going places to meet “family and friends” who text you.

Well, I hope I made you think. It seems, as times get tougher, the criminals in this world get more creative! We can outsmart them; honest people always prevail!

Recently one of my best friends sent me the video below. I actually took the time to watch it, during work hours. It’s 12 minutes long, so get comfortable, but it’s worth watching and sending to others. The video proves that while we all have challenges, our attitude enables us to see these challenges as opportunities. I hope you see the challenges we are all facing right now as opportunities like DJ in the video did and go out and make the most of what you can, with what you’ve got.

http://vodpod.com/watch/1165857-walk-on-espn-video

This week’s great idea is a simple one, folks. Since most of you who receive this weekly great idea own service businesses, I wanted to tell you about something simple we do that helps sell work. We hang door hangers. I know, not a big deal, not terribly creative, but they work.

Here’s a photo of ours:

When our crews arrive at a job, the first thing they do is go to the homes immediately surrounding the jobsite and place these door hangers on the neighbors’ doors. It’s all marketing and it works. We’ve sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work in the last 10 years using this simple tactic. And you could do the same. But you have to do it and I sure hope you will. Door hangers have been around longer than I…and they work. They don’t cost much either and that’s a Great Idea!

We’ve talked a little about this already this year, but I wanted to do so again. (It’s never too late to start!)

What would you do if you knew you would not fail?

What would the person you’d like to become do to get to where you want to be?

How would you know if 2009 was successful?

This week, take a pad of paper and a pen and go to a quiet place like the library and answer the above 3 questions. Then talk with the key people in your life and try to figure out what you need to do in the next 6 months to achieve these goals. Trust me; this is a very valuable exercise and one that might influence you to take some actions that change your life.

I like being blunt and I like straight talk. I think it is better just to bluntly say what you expect from your people than to allow them to guess or to get frustrated when someone does something you don’t like or agree with. This week, consider putting together your “nonnegotiable” list. This is a list of things that aren’t negotiable; they are things that have to be done and aren’t up for discussion. Here’s part of mine at Grunder Landscaping Co.

Marty’s Nonnegotiable List:

• We will be on time for all meetings with fellow team members, clients, and vendors.
• We will keep the gates in the driveway closed between the hours of 8 am and 3:30 pm.
• We will not put trash in the backs of the trucks and we will not dump trash in any of our composting piles. Trash goes in the dumpster.
• We will not wear muddy shoes in any of the carpeted offices.
• We will never compromise safety, never.
• We will never argue with a client.
• We will keep our shirt tails tucked in.

I have a few more, but you get the point. Remember, it’s your business or it’s your team; let them know what you expect, but don’t be afraid to tell them what is not up for discussion. Oh, yeah, don’t make the list several pages long. Just a few, please.