Ron Werner said:
I've been to Joe Polish's bootcamps and seminars, been to a couple of Howard's talks but never to a round table, been hearing about
Strategies for Success.
What are the procs/cons/benefits?
Recommendations?
Any other program out there?
Ron, this is a great question, because it has a flawed premise that anyone's "system" is going to create success.
It's like fitness and health - there are a BAZILLION books, programs, gyms, trainers... and no one is the "best" - all have success stories.
So the question is not what is POSSIBLE with your choices here, but what is PROBABLE. What are YOU most likely to take action on, and create success with? Because every one of these choices can be successful, or unsuccessful, with the only determining factor being you and your actions.
Joe Polish told me to go take the Strategies course years ago. That was when Jon-Don and Piranha worked a bit more closely together, they recommended Piranha for marketing, and
SFS for the business basics. It is a good program. You get a huge binder of materials, which I've never actually implemented into my own company (I have my own systems for rugs) BUT the value came from the conversations and the thinking exercises, especially Chuck Violands numbers part - it truly gave me a new outlook on my company at that time. Toburen as well, I enjoyed the taking "E-Myth" and making it cleaning niche specific. Joe and Steve did an interview together that still gets great reviews on the topic of customer service.
That said... if your marketing is fine, if you are getting the quality clients you want, and are looking more on how to build your business to a point of making it better to delegate, or sell, then take the time to go to
SFS. Just getting away from your business a week to focus, and see how others are doing it, will be valuable to you.
Howard build his company by buying 3 (one being a Piranha Member) and merging them. That is not "building" up a company from the trunk of a car. But I'm sure he has some good stuff here and there to share, though he's surrounded by all of the MLM pitchers these days, so if going to a Joe Polish event and not liking having anything "sold" to you makes you uncomfortable, you will feel truly shaken upside down by the ankles at a Howard event. Mostly because he needs the money more than Joe does. =)
However, you can get lots of marketing training for free at
www.ilovemarketing.com - and in particular, I'd suggest watching Dean Jackson's video on focusing. Go to the site and type "focus" in the search bar and you will find it. The I Love Marketing event was last week in AZ, we had a packed house... and again that event is like anything here, if you sit in the audience with your arms crossed thinking "where's my magic bullet" then you have already laid out your own plan of failure. There are no magic pills, there are no magic programs that make millions with no work... you need to choose one thing, and get it fully done, and repeat it until you can hand it off for someone else to do. Most business owners are too lazy to do it right, and so they are always looking for that "secret" that does not exist.
The real seed to success is simply that successful people do the things that unsuccessful ones are unwilling to do.
And if you are going to take advice from anyone... make sure it's from people who are actually making more money than you are. Everyone has advice to give, it's just that from most people, it's worthless. You don't take marriage advice from someone divorced 3 times... and you don't take money advice from BD's.
Lisa
P.S. If you want to grow your rug business, and want technical training and marketing and operations systems - then send me an email. In December I'm choosing another 20 companies for my program with Jim Pemberton, but be warned... we are not picking people who buy "make me successful" program and just let them collect dust on the shelf. Our program is active work, and we are looking for people who want trade school specialist training and not magic pills and potions. The only reason I mention that is because I know you Ron, and you are not lazy, and it's time to ramp what you've built up to a new level and have a lot more fun doing what you are doing.