http://www.relationship-economy.com/?p=9557

strategic planning: innovation: management:success

SOME DO’S AND DONT’S OF THE PROCESS

You’re finally going to do it. You are a born again believer in the benefits of business and strategic planning. To prepare you for the plunge here’s some rules of the road to guide you through the process.

The planning process can be exhilarating, frustrating, enlightening, demanding and a host of other descriptive adjectives. Hopefully you’ll find a nugget or two in these do’s and don’ts that will keep the emphasis on the positives of your unique organizational growth experience. Carpe Diem!

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.“-Dwight D. Eisenhower

SOME PLANNING DO’S:

• It’s the process that counts! Think verb rather than noun. Bringing your team together, fostering interaction, and forming a climate of mutual interdependence and commitment is the real achievement. The final document is not as important as the process that gets you there.
• Do trust your instincts. You have lived and breathed what your company is all about. Your plan has to feel right in your gut. Contemplative logic and passionate emotion are good tools. Use them both.
• Keep the emphasis on communication. Your planning is the linkage between your future, the team that will take you there and the other stakeholders in your enterprise. It’s the glue that binds it all together and drives performance. Communication is the oxygen for your organization’s future.
• Focus on EXECUTION. Remember, results are what count. The best plan in the world is worthless if it can’t be executed. Unfortunately, they don’t give Pulitzer Prizes for business plans. An executable plan on a napkin is a preferable alternative to an elaborate document that gathers dust.
• Keep it flexible, adaptive and evolving. As Yogi Berra said, “the future ain’t what it used to be”. Your planning should be an ongoing living process that can adapt and change as competitive, technological and social conditions evolve. Keep it dynamic not static.
• Stretch. Challenge your organization to extraordinary achievement. Your plan should inspire, motivate and paint a compelling vision for performance. It should keep everyone’s juices flowing.
• Expect unintended consequences. There’s an old English Proverb that states “every path has its puddle”. Regardless of your collective wisdom, there will be unforeseen ramifications, pro and con. Acknowledge this as part of the planning process.
• Enjoy the process. What a wonderful opportunity to bring together the people you admire to form a compelling future together. Getting a lot done and having a lot of fun. Go for it.

SOME PLANNING DONT’S:

• Don’t delegate responsibility (embrace it). This is one management project you can’t delegate away. As CEO, you have to embrace and champion the process. Leadership goes with the position. Rise to the occasion.
• Don’t get caught in the terminology trap. Planning terminology (vision, mission, strategy, tactics, performance metrics, etc.) can murk things up. It should help your team communicate not hinder them. The challenge is to keep the process understandable to all. It’s not important what you call it as long as it drives team performance.
• Don’t get overwhelmed. Keep it simple. If it seems to complex, then back off. Try to rephrase and simplify the process. A plan doesn’t have to read like “War and Peace” to be effective.
• Don’t look for the perfect plan. Perfection is for the next life. As Patton’s’ law expresses it, “a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow”.
• Don’t deny the facts. Reality can be harsh, but the sooner you accept it, the sooner it can be addressed. There is a fine line between rationalizing failure and denial of reality. The challenge is to know the difference.
• Don’t get trapped by your plan. The purpose of the plan is guide and drive performance. If it becomes unrealistic don’t continue to follow a bad road map. Change it.
• Don’t do it if you’re not going to use it. Be committed to the process. Your passion must be overwhelming if it’s to be effective. You have the opportunity to develop a culture of performance. Don’t go through the motions if it won’t make a difference.

“It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”  Howard Ruff

Greg Pashke , CMC is  President of Pashke Consulting and provides business mentoring, strategic and tactical planning, and financial modeling services. Greg is a big proponent of The One Page Plan approach to managing the day to day performance of an organization. It’s simplicity in action. He is committed to continuous learning and skill development. Greg’s mantra is “to get a lot done & have a lot of fun”.
Website: http://www.pashkeconsulting.com/

Consciousness: true selfishness

By Bob Martin

DON’T MAKE THEM LOOK FOR YOU!

About a year ago, I saw a great pizza shop ad on the back of a newspaper tab. It was full color, full page and it looked great. The ad actually made me hungry for pizza, so I decided to order. There was this great effective ad, but no phone number or address. I had no idea where the shop was. My resolve was to order from a competitor.

THIS AD WAS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY.

It made you go “looking” for the business and as we all know, consumers are too lazy to go to that much trouble. Hundreds of dollars down the drain not to mention the sales potential.

Don’t make your potential customers look for you. Make sure every print ad has your phone number for additional information and your address so we know where you are. I even encourage clients to use “landmarks” as a reference i.e. “across from Walmart” or “next door to Acme Motors”. The easier it is to find you, the more likely potential customers will be willing to come in.

Remember, without your address or phone number you’ve lost the “call to action” needed to motivate your client.

Next week… “Advertising’s Acceptable Lie”.

Make it easy for your customers to find you!

Bob Martin is principal of Martin Creative Consultants, providing advertising consulting and services to manufacturing and retail businesses. His MCC VoicePros division creates  audio voiceovers for radio, TV, internet ads and presentations.

network marketing: global trends

NETWORK MARKETING AS WELFARE

We have reached the number 10 pet peeve I believe most people have with network marketing. I began this rant more than 10 weeks ago with my first post, People Don’t Dislike Network Marketing, They Dislike Network Marketers.

In that post I outlined 10 behaviours I believe need to be changed for network marketing to undergo the revolution I know will occur when we discover the potential this economic model has to lead business into the future. For the ten weeks following that initial post, I have expanded on each of those 10 behaviors. (click for a complete listing to all posts on this subject).

IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A BUSINESS THAT PAYS YOU FOR NOT DOING ANY WORK?

Does it sound tempting? “Wow, I just sign up and buy this guy’s kit of goods and tell him/her the names and phone numbers of my friends and relatives and sit back and wait for the postman to arrive.”

You may laugh and think “how foolish, surely that doesn’t happen” and if it did, “well, who would fall for such a line”?

Well, get rich quick schemes are the one industry currently undergoing a huge growth in this turbulent economy.

When you are desperate, afraid, low in self-esteem because you have lost your job, or are at risk of losing it, or you are just finding there is more month than money… it can be very tempting.

There are also some network marketing pay plans, like the binary plan, designed to pay out bonuses only when each of the legs produce the same volume. In a plan like this, it  rewards lazy people or non-workers and is tempting for the person who is highly motivated to make such statements as he/she juggles to place people down each leg and balance the volume so they can receive their bonuses.

There are also occasions in organizations where the pay plan does not require such juggling, but overly ambitious distributors make this offer to help them reach quotas or incentive levels. “If you just sign up and buy some products I will be able to move on to the next pay level and you don’t have to do a thing.”

I believe these methods are rampant in network marketing businesses as a culture of fear, of loss, and of competition takes hold. It loses touch with ethics and, most importantly with SUSTAINABLILTY.

There are many incredibly ethical companies in the industry and there are hundreds of thousands ethical distributors who have built a business based on excellence in customer service and relationships with their team and downline. If you are just looking into the industry, and I do believe you should be, as now is when you should be  thinking about a Plan B…now, more than ever. This industry affords an opportunity for you to earn whatever amount of money you are prepared to work to earn.

But you must do your research, choose your company wisely, and choose your sponsor wisely. That will make all the difference.

Good luck – and good success!

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG
If you know a company that is making a Mindshift towards serving humanity while still turning a profit, we would like to know about them. Let us know by contacting::
attractingsuccess@soulabundant.com... or leave the information in the comments section of this post.

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
network marketing consultant and trainer
author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.theconsciouscorporation.com www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

network marketing: global trends

IF IT DOES…YOU HAD BETTER RUN

Ah, greed. How quickly it can seep into our brains and cloud our, otherwise, clear thinking. I have spoken to people about legitimate network marketing companies, only to have them reply,“I just don’t do that type of thing”.

Then, astoundingly, later, I have had some of them call me to propose a blatantly illegal pyramid structure they would like me to participate in. In response to my confusion as to why they would turn down a legal business opportunity, to be taken in by this obvious scam, they reply, “But all kinds of doctors, lawyers, accountants are doing it!’

IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE …IT IS…

Network marketing is a legitimate direct selling business structure that has been regulated by government legislation since the 1970’s.

The size of this industry may surprise you. According to the Direct Sellers Association, the  worldwide workforce looks like this:

• 68 million distributors
• 110 billion in annual sales
• only 12% work 20 or more hours per week
• 71% have more than a high school education; 29% technical school, 32% college graduates, and 10% postgraduates

YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR BUSINESS

Legitimate companies are those who take quality products into the marketplace at a fair pricing structure. The advantage of direct selling to the consumer, is they can purchase from someone they know and trust, they can access the product in the comfort of their homes, and with many new technology or wellness products, they gain the benefit of education and support to learn how to use the product…a feature no longer offered in the world of discount “Wal-Mart” marketing.

In a world in financial crisis, the advantage to the distributor is the power to be totally in control of when, where, and how much effort you put into earning an income. The only one who can lay you off…is you.

KNOW WHAT A PONZI SCHEME LOOKS LIKE

If  it seems the sole emphasis of a company is making fast money, it is time for you to sit back, take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself, “If it is really so easy to get a swack of money, why isn’t everyone doing it?”

I listened to a radio program a couple of days ago alerting local people to the rerun of a very old Ponzi scheme, Women Helping Women. I was astonished at the naivety of the callers who said when they attended these meetings and saw lots of credible people from their community, they thought it must be ok!

Listen to your intuition! Do you really think a legitimate business would be one in which you give someone $5,000.00 and you sit back and wait for your $40,000.00 to materialize!

The sad thing for me was the confusion the callers and the hosts had with thinking what they had just signed on for was no different than the juice company their brother was asking them to take a look at. They still did not get it!

IT IS A BUSINESS

Let go of the belief that maybe, somewhere, there is a bunch of money just waiting for you, if only you were in the right place at the right time. How many ‘Madoffs’ or ‘Nigerian Scams’ or other versions of Ponzi schemes, have to be exposed before people… get it!

1. There must be a sale of product, ideally a consumable product for you to have repeat customers

2. There must be customers - you cannot just get paid for signing people up

3. Is the product something you or your friends would like to purchase?…if so, there will likely be a market demand

5. You must have a passion for the product, beyond just thinking about the money you will make

6. The pay plan needs to reflect a reasonable bonus for you, but the company also has to make a profit if they are to stay in business. Typically, successful network marketing companies pay out between 21 – 52%.

7. You should not have to carry a large inventory.

8. The signup kit should not exceed $500.00 by law. You may choose to buy more products, but that is your choice.

9. You should expect to work... it is netWORK marketing. If you are being told all you have to do is sign up and the money will appear, you KNOW it is not legitimate, so quit hoping maybe you will get the money and get out before anyone is charged.

10. Expect to put in several years to build a full-time income. This is no different from any other business. You will have good days and bad days, but those who continue to work the business will reap the rewards.

Honesty – Integrity – Ethics ...are the best compensation plan…if what you are doing does not feed that basic criteria, you are in the wrong place.

HAVE FUN!

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG
If you know a company that is making a Mindshift towards serving humanity while still turning a profit, we would like to know about them. Let us know by contacting::
attractingsuccess@soulabundant.com... or leave the information in the comments section of this post.

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
Network Marketing Consultant and Trainer

author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about:  www.theconsciouscorporation.com www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

corporate mindshift: management

CHANGING ONES OWN MINDSET CAN BE CHALLENGING – BUT CAN YOU SHIFT AN ENTIRE ORGANIZATION?

If you have ever tried to make a lifestyle change, perhaps to exercise more, eat healthier, spend more time with loved ones and less time at the office, you know what a challenge it can be just to make a small change in behaviourial patterns.

If you think it is challenging to change behaviours, consider how much more challenging it is to make significant mental or consciousness shifts, for oneself, and particularly, for an entire organization.

So, how on earth do you begin to shift?

A DIFFERENT KIND OF LEADERSHIP

If you have been following our posts on the changing nature of the work place, and if you agree organizations are in a transition between an industrial, manufacturing , capitalistic model; to a model of social and spiritual capitalism, you will appreciate how everyone in the organization needs to think very differently than they have in the past.

There are a few ways or circumstances under which a leader can effect consciousness change.

1.  A SIGNIFICANT EMOTIONAL EVENT

Unfortunately, the most common trigger for making a huge mental shift will arise from a significant traumatic or emotional event. Such an event dos not guarantee change will occur but it does set up the context for awakening to the need for things to be done very differently than they have been in the past. The current global economic crisis could be such an event. Some organizations will see this as a temporary inconvenience and will continue to do what has always worked in the past. Others will see it as a wake-up call and will seek to make totally new connections with their customers, shareholders, products and services.

2. THE LEADERS CHANGE

Most great achievements have been accomplished through the vision of a small number of leaders. For your organization to adapt to changing circumstances, it is necessary to either replace the leadership team, or for the leaders themselves to desire to make a transformational shift in their own consciousness, and, in the way they provide leadership to others. David Hawkins, in his book, Power vs Force, believes it takes only a few people operating a higher consciousness to skew the curve in a positive direction.

3.  MEDITATION

Considerable research has been conducted on the power of meditation to create stronger links to the pre-frontal cortex brain functions where we access capacity for empathy, ethics and spirituality. Practiced on an individual level, this would be significant but consider the synergistic impact of a group meditation in the workplace to create a context of calmness, and to open doors for higher cognitive reasoning and creativity.

4. MENTORS

When highly skilled athletes realize they need to change their game plan, they do not attempt to do it on their own. They change coaches. Consider hiring coaches for your organization to facilitate your team and your leaders to a new awareness. To use this approach, however, it must be heavily supported and fully-engaged in by the leadership team. This is not about getting someone to fix “those people” while the management team does little or nothing to shift their consciousness. This is not about a change in behaviours, it is about a shift in consciousness, which then creates a new way of seeing the world, a new way of accessing options. This new consciousness becomes ingrained and forms the new culture of the organization.

5. ALIGN WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE ALREADY MAKING THE SHIFT

When we are in transition, it is easy to slip back into the old behaviours and thinking patterns. Identify organizations who have made or who are making a shift in consciousness. Create discussion groups or mentoring teams. Helping your organization will strengthen their commitment to the direction they are headed, so they will also benefit from this relationship. Make certain the discussions are open to provocative comments designed to move both organizations to a better place.

I do not believe this Mindshift is about choice…maybe we will do it, maybe we won’t…this is about survival. The organizations who “get it”, early on, will be the ones who survive the current global financial crisis. And they will be the ones who also, very soon,  become aligned with the current global social, environmental and spiritual awakening that is growing at a monumental speed.

Your organization can BE tomorrow’s success story – through  a shift in consciousness.

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG
If you know a company that is making a Mindshift towards serving humanity while still turning a profit, we would like to know about them. Let us know by contacting::
attractingsuccess@soulabundant.com... or leave the information in the comments section of this post.

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.theconsciouscorporation.com www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

network marketing: global trends

“YOU LOOK LIKE A SHARP GUY (GAL)”…

This most be the oldest “Pick Up” line in the network marketing book. It is the subject today of our 7th post in a 10 part series on network marketing No-No’s. This list of behaviours that I wish network marketers would immediately stop using, grew out of a post I wrote titled, People Don’t Dislike Network Marketing, They Dislike Network Marketers.”

WHAT IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY?

It was probably six decades ago, with the intention of showing interest and sincere flattery, that this phrase entered the training manual for network marketers. Most likely the underlying reason for it, though, had more to do with, “doing whatever it takes to grow my organization.”

So now, let erase it.

“Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.” – Dr. Joyce Brothers, psychologist

LISTEN – LISTEN – LISTEN

If you can HEAR what I am saying here, you will be exceptionally successful in your network marketing business.

Active listening is a much talked about skill and, like mother-hood and apple-pie, everyone preaches the importance of listening but in reality, I see few who do it.

To become an accomplished listener, you need some basic complementary skills:

1.  Patience - know that a truly successful, sustainable network marketing business will be built over time.

2. Service - your role is to be of service to those who may be looking for what your product or company has to offer. You will only know that if you ask a lot of questions.

3. Empathy – understand and be sensitive to where the other person is coming from – it is ALL about them.

4. Honesty - only speak truth; about your products, your business, your experience, and your opinions of them.

5. Professionalism – act at all times as you would if you were the ethical CEO of a huge corporation, because that is what you are wanting to be.

6. Relationships – this is relationship marketing and your job is to build lasting relationships. Anything less than that is not worthy of the industry or of you.

If you are using this check list to govern your behaviour, you would never be tempted, or trained, to give false flattery or any other artificial means to draw someone into signing up in your business.

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
Netowrk Marketing Consultant and Trainer

author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

enlightened orgs: inspiration

ALBERTA’S WINDIEST CITY

That seemingly constant, gusting wind I cursed when I lived in Grande Prairie, Alberta, had a different look and feel for Drennen and Jamie Hallett. It was the whiff of opportunity.

The Hallett’s, owners of Golden Sheep Power, officially opened their doors for business in Grande Prairie on February 1, 2009. They will be the first company in Alberta to offer home-owners a chance to get off the grid by using home-based wind turbines and solar panels.

A NEW WIND IS BLOWING

Their timing could not be better. The provincial government just passed regulations to allow for micro-generation in Alberta. And the City of Grande Prairie, a city that has seen explosive growth in the past 5 years due to oil and gas exploration, has shown its openness to explore other sources of energy by allowing the Halletts to set up a pilot project to demonstrate and test the home-based units.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE PILOT IS SUCCESSFUL?

The main concern with wind turbines is noise, or the perception of noise.

The City of Grande Prairie have agreed to test a home-based unit and, if it is not too noisy, the City will change its bylaws to allow individual home-owners a choice for energy production – stay on the grid, or employ a home-based wind or solar unit to fully meet or supplement your requirements.

The pilot turbine is being erected in the centre of the city at the Fire Hall. It will not be set up to generate energy, but to gauge public reaction. The Hallet’s say the noise level of 15 to 30 decibels when it is running at its peak is equivalent to a whisper. Following the six month pilot, a survey will be conducted to get public reaction.

AN ALBERTA FIRST

If all goes well, that would make Grande Prairie the first city in Alberta to change its bylaws to allow for home-based generation. Only the tiny southern Alberta town of Cardston currently has bylaws to allow for wind turbines for residential use.

The Halletts have previous experience with micro-generation in Ontario where it has been approved by government for a few years. They believe homeowners will recover their installation costs (between $11,000 – $30,000.00 CDN) within 3-5 years. Most households, they say, will be able to produce enough energy for their needs. If a household uses more energy, they will just draw the additional from the grid.

The purpose of the Monday Enlightened Orgs Best Practices post is to draw attention to companies that are doing the right things – and doing them well. They become listed in our directory as Enlightened Orgs.

Today we recognize, not only Golden Sheep Power for taking the initiative and risk to become the first company in Alberta to offer residential micro-generation options, but we also take our hats off to the Mayor and Council of the City of Grande Prairie for their willingness to be…the FIRST!

We will keep you posted on the outcomes of this pilot project.

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG
If you know a company that is making a MindShift towards serving humanity while still turning a profit, we would like to know about them. Let us know by contacting::
attractingsuccess@soulabundant.com... or leave the information in the comments section of this post.

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.CorporateMindShift.com www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

network marketing: global trends

THE COMP PLAN IS SO GOOD – I CAN’T LEAVE IT WITH YOU!

Today I want to talk about network marketing pay plans, what works, what does not, what is legal, what is not; and how you can save yourself a lot of grief by telling the difference.

This is the 6th post in a series of articles on behaviours in network marketing I think need to stop immediately for the industry to attain the level of professionalism it deserves. This series of articles began with a post titled “People Don’t Dislike Network Marketing, They Dislike Network Marketers.”

SHARING THE PLAN – OPENLY AND HONESTLY

This 6th behaviour is about being open and honest with information about your compensation plan. My recent encounter with a “flash of a plan” was related to a company selling something about travel. It was “so hot and so amazing” that the individual could not let me see a copy, nor could I go to a website. The only way I was going to get information was if I attended a public meeting.

Not only is this an insult to my intelligence, it is also a warning to run. Making a decision about which network marketing company you should become involved with is a decision based on due diligence. Unfortunately, because the cost of getting started is low, many people do not take the time to check it out.

FOUR BASIC TYPES

Following are the basic compensation plans but there are many adaptations of each type. One of the best sources of information on compensation plans in the industry is Rod Cook, whose book I have profiled and whose research is behind much of this post.

UNILEVEL

There is a lot of success out there with this plan which usually has 50% of profits going back to consultants. It is one of the most popular at the moment. There is no limit to front line width and usually a limit of 5-10 levels in depth. It favors those who are willing to treat this like a business. For more information on this plan.

MATRIX

This plan has guidelines that limit the width and depth of your organization. A typical structure will by 2×10 or a 3×9. You have 2 recruits on your frontline and each leg can be built to 10 levels. You want to know what happens with attrition occurs. Can you fill in the empty spots with new people or does the bonus cheque break away to the company? This plan has often been linked to illegal pyramid schemes and is consequently losing popularity in the industry giving way to unilevel or binary plans.

BINARY
This plan allows only two legs with infinite depth that pay out whenever the volume in each leg matches. It is simple to work, but the problem occurs when you cannot get the volume in each leg to match. You have to wait to get your bonus cheque until this happens or you may be paid based on the volume in the weaker leg. It also means you are often doing all the work by placing recruits to earn your cheque. It rewards those who do not work. You need to keep a sharp eye on what is happening in both legs in order to earn your bonus cheque. The company can also often end up paying out too much, which can happen in the first 6 months to 2 years of operation, resulting in corporate bankruptcy if the commission payout is not properly controlled or managed.

STAIRSTEP – GENERATIONAL – BREAKAWAY

This plan is the oldest and most common plan with companies that have survived any length of time in the industry. It has been the most popular plan in the marketplace but the generational nature of the plan can create conflict between upline and downline. The plan allows for infinite width but restricts depth from usually 6-10 levels. It is important to make certain this plan has a no breakage aspect which means if a distributor does not qualify for his/her bonuses it does not breakaway to the company but instead gets paid to the next qualifying active consultant. Stairstep plans require additional investment to qualify for monthly bonuses which can be seen as a deterent over time. These plans have been the most successful but in the recent marketplace are tending to sag and many companies are making adjustments to these plans.

OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK

1.  How old is the company? Just like traditional businesses, most fail in the first 3 years. Here are the average survival rates in this industry. If the company has been in operation for…

less than 1 year – less than 10 % survival
1-2 years – 30% survival
2-3 year – 50% survival
over 3 years – 70%

2.  Are the cheques paid on time and can you see evidence of that?

3. Can see you a copy of a cheque – either from the person who is recruiting you, or someone else in the organization in your area?

4. It, by law, should not cost more than $500.00 to join. Buy the minimum and test the water.

5. To be healthy financially, and to survive, the company should not be promising a payout of more than  38 – 55% in bonuses.

6. Are you able to understand the plan or at least ask questions until you can?

7. If it promises to pay only for signing up people – run – it is illegal. You must sell to customers.

8.Most of all, the products should be something you can get enthused about.

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
Network Marketing Consultant and trainer

author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

enlightened orgs: inspiration

A NEW BLACK GOLD

In the debt-free province of Alberta, where the black gold that first gushed from the ground in the 1950’s, has resulted in a Heritage Trust fund worth of billions of dollars being set aside for a “rainy day” – getting anyone to think about alternative energy sources is not an easy sell. But two framers from the tiny farming community of Vegreville have risen to the challenge.

Their innovation to create Biogas from cattle manure seems a perfect fit for a province that has ranching as it second largest industry. It is also timely for a province aware of the implications of the depleting sources of non-renewable oil and gas, and the challenges of a reliance on an industry with a Boom/Bust economic cycle.

“Inventing a new technology is a pure Alberta story… a great example that building a knowledge economy can happen on the farm, not just in ivory towers” – Evan Chapko, CEO, Highmark Renewables (Edmonton Journal, 02/08/09)

FROM POOP TO PROFIT…Alberta’s new Black Gold…

ALBERTA’S FIRST GREEN ENERGY MEGA-PROJECT

Shane and Evan Chrapko are taking the cattle manure from a 30,000 cow feedlot, owned by partners Mike and Bert Kotelko, and turning it into Biogas, something their company Highmark Renewables, markets as “renewable natural gas.”

They have just tapped into what is probably Alberta’s most abundant and renewable resource…cattle poop.

The greenist electrical generating plant in the province is now producing one megawatt of power which is enough to meet the electrical demand of the feedlot and 700 homes in the tiny communities of Vegreville and Two Hills. When the construction on this plant is completed, it will also produce ethanol to be added to gasoline without the current problem of having to take away from farmland to produce ethanol from crops like corn. Together, with the help of Xiaomei Li, a scientist from China, they have developed more than 40 recipes for turning waste, including slaughter house waste and municipal sewage, into biogas. Patents are pending.

Their motto: “Where there is waste…there is opportunity.”
Chrapko calls it a “virtuous loop – producing power, cattle feed, fuel and fertilizer .”

The goal is to have a string of plants across the prairies at sites where manure is plentiful. When you consider each cow produces the manure equivalent of six humans, the idea of continuing to spread this volume of waste and its resultant methane gas, over the land forever, without negative consequences, is to ignore a looming environmental problem.

Travis Nickel who heads up the company, Growing Power, responsible for the electrical side of this innovation, sees a time when every feedlot in the country will have such a plant to provide fuel for nearby towns and will deliver ethanol to the big refineries for production of gasoline.

Shane and Evan Chrapko are no strangers to successful ventures. They launched, built and sold The DocSpace Company for 811 Million (538 Million USD) in just 30 months from inception to final sale. Both are graduates of the University of Alberta. Shane is the recipient of the rare Early Career Achievement award awarded to one graduate from a pool of 100,00, who has achieved remarkable success in business within ten years of graduation.

ANOTHER LOCAL, HOME-GROWN SOLUTION…a company to watch in the future!

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG
If you know a company that is making a Mindshift towards serving humanity while still turning a profit, we would like to know about them. Let us know by contacting::
attractingsuccess@soulabundant.com... or leave the information in the comments section of this post.

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.