Look at My Pants- Lose Weight Now – YouTube

So you have a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight? So what’s new? Haven’t you had this resolution before? What are you going to do differently this time?

Trust me. I want to help you. Get the 24 Day Challenge Bundle. Just click on the link/words to get to the website to purchase. Follow the plan and you will lose weight, inches, and gain muscle. It’s guaranteed.

To see what is in the 24 Day Challenge bundle watch THIS video:

Lose Weight- New Year’s Resolution.

A wonderful side benefit of AdvoCare is you can be a Distributor for only $79 with no obligation to buy any amount of product. But you do get paid for everyone you introduce and get involved in AdvoCare. I don’t know if $1000-$5000 per month in monthly income from a part-time job interests you or would make a difference in your life. But it did for us.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

What if Your World Ends Tomorrow?

3759: Mayan Calendar - Aztec Stone of the sun

Mayan Calendar – Aztec Stone of the sun

 

All over the world scared and misguided people are preparing for an apocalypse they believe was foretold by the Mayans over 1000 years ago. Major movies have been made based on this predicted catastrophe. Books have been written. TV shows, documentaries have spoken to the subject. The History Channel on cable is loaded with End of the World programming all week.

 

The Mayan calendar prophesy is not one I worry about or believe. If anything catastrophic or particularly unusual does happen it might signal or bring about a change in culture worldwide. But the end of the world is not in my plans for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to Christmas and to the year 2013…and 2014 and 2015 for that matter.

 

But the Mayan Calendar phenomena combined with the tragic shooting and murder of 26 wonderful people in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday got me to thinking about this question, are you ready if your world ends tomorrow? What if you died? Certainly, it’s extremely likely everyone reading this today will be here tomorrow. But none of the 26 in Newtown or anyone who knew them could have fathomed that last Friday December 14, 2012 would be their last day on earth. It’s certainly cliche` but true; nobody knows when their time will come.

 

I’m not trying to be dark or morbid. Death is part of life and we all will leave this place someday. In most cases you’ll have some idea the end is near. But for far too many the end comes suddenly, and unexpectedly.

 

Do you have a Will? Do you have funeral plans? What happens to your body once you’re done using it? Who decides?

 

Are you square with God if you believe in God? What about those you leave behind? Do they know you love them? Do you tell them enough and demonstrate it enough for them to be certain once you are no longer able to tell and show?

 

In my adulthood I’ve lost two people close to me and been affected by their deaths both emotionally and tangibly. My Grandmother on my Mom’s side, and my father both died in 2001. One had a Will, the other didn’t. They both left behind a mess, one worse than the other.

Jerome Mathis Schuett

 

 

My Dad died poor, with very few assets. So were he to have had a Will there wouldn’t have been much to dispense. But absent that little document the passing on of his possessions fell to his wife, who was not my Mom. She chose to allow my older brother the pick of seemingly anything he wanted. I was left with what he and she didn’t want. This in spite of the fact that I was closer and more involved with my Dad’s life the last 10-20 years of his life than was my far-away brother. You can imagine my frustration with my stepmother’s decisions. Worst of all was how she handled my father’s most materially valuable possession. He had a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Convertible of which he was the original owner. He kept it in pretty good condition. It was the car I drove when learning how to drive. I wanted it. She didn’t. She offered to sell it to me for a price twice what its sales value was. I happily passed on the offer, but asked her to give me the right to match any offer she received in her efforts to sell it. She agreed but then traded it straight-up for a used Volvo and never told me of it until afterward. Again, you can imagine how I felt about that.

 

Grandma Zella and Aunt Sharon

My Grandmother had a Will and left a modest estate of cash and antique furniture. But she used her Will to punish a daughter who for reasons I can’t fathom fell out of her favor. She also used the Will to attempt to control from the grave the life of her other daughter. And she put in charge of the estate a grandson who she’d not had significant contact with for 20 years simply because she, again, wanted to punish others close to her and because she was not a trusting person. Further details aren’t necessary except to say that estate exists today, more than 11 years after her death, and it’s still causing problems, issues, with those she left behind. It’s really sad. I watch it from a mostly disinterested distance and shake my head wondering if the old woman had it as part of her intention to cause so much strife within her surviving family.

 

Are you ready if your world ends tomorrow? Would you want your surviving friends and family members to speak or write about you as I just have about my Grandmother?

 

Planning for when you aren’t here is not fun, and its difficult. But take it from someone who knows, its important for those you leave behind. Just thought you’d like to know.

 

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome

The Fear of Buying

Advice for sales persons of all products and services, packaged in personal terms.

Whenever any one of us buys something we’re faced with fear. Except my wife. She has never seemed to manage this reasonable emotion (Just kidding, Honey). But in all seriousness you can be faced with fear of making a mistake; the fear the sales person is lying to you; the fear of parting with your hard-earned money; and in some cases the fear of embarrassment. Such fears paralyze many from decisions that clearly could be in their best interest.

For professionals, like myself who rely on sales for our living and our families well-being, we must find ways to overcome these fears and continue on in spite of them. Because try as we might, these fears aren’t going away. As correctly pointed out by the blog Wheelhous “Goal-oriented sales people can’t overlook the risk their sales prospect is taking on by giving them their time and attention.” …or the fear that accompany that “risk”. 

This subject has been on my mind lately because my wife and I are AdvoCare Advisors, distributors of fantastic nutritional, energy, and weight loss products that have positively changed our lives in the past 6 months.

AdvoCare allowed me and my wife to lose 30 lbs each in just 4 months.

AdvoCare allowed me and my wife to lose 30 lbs each in just 4 months.

I just can’t belief everyone we know is not more willing to take my word-for-it that this company and these products are “the bomb” (’90s term, right? Oh well). Of course, the fault is with me and not with them. In sales terminology I need to earn their trust, and upon doing so confirm it. The “closing” parlance calls for this confirmation to be acquired by simply asking, “You trust me, don’t you?”. Let’s face it, your best friend and even your Mother withholds trust unless you ask this simple question. Upon asking they tend to feel a little sheepish about saying they don’t trust you. And with the exception of only the worst of us fellow human beings, why would I or any sales person lie to you? Especially if they’re family or friends already? You just need to remind them that they do…trust you, that is.

Affordable Weight Loss

 

As for the fear of parting with their hard-earned money you just have to convince those you’re presenting your sales proposition that their lives will be better without that money. In my case with Advocare it’s usually easier to convince someone that they would live and feel better minus the extra 40-50 pounds they’re caring around than it is to convince a another very fit person that they too will feel better, have more energy, and probably look better too. But both are true. But we have to get past their fear.

 

The fear of embarrassment is easier to overcome. But I’m not like most people. I have a pretty high tolerance for embarrassment. With Advocare there’s the embarrassment of admitting that *gasp*, your fat! My own fear is in approaching clearly over-weight people with a product that I know will help them, and that if they or I are embarrassed by their girth we need to get over it in order to help a fellow human being. The other embarrassing aspect of Advocare and similar products or companies is that they are a Direct-Sales company. This doesn’t embarrass me in the least. But it does others. Here we just have to be tough and correctly point out how AdvoCare does hundreds-of-millions of dollars in business every year and has been in business for 20 years. Direct Sales is a common form of dispensing products and has been used for a variety of companies for well of 100 years. So as the expression goes, get-over-yourself. What’s good enough for Mary Kay, and Avon, and Fuller Brush, Pampered Chef, etc, etc. The list is endless.

Whether you are selling cars, homes, knickknacks, or AdvoCare you will be faced with your prospects fear. Failing to overcome it is your fault. Know that you are doing them a favor by helping them over-come it too.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

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Be Yourself on Social Media.

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

I joined Facebook with my personal profile page in May 2008, and some would say at that point a monster was made. The truth isn’t quite so dramatic and was in fact a slow evolving process. Now I’m very active on Social Media and a lot of it is for fun, but most of it is a calculated effort to promote my company Total Broadcasting Service, and recently my wife and my Advisor status with the direct sales company, AdvoCare.

The truth is the “monster” reference above refers to both my frequency of posts and my willingness to break some long-standing “rules” for business and networking. The big one of which I refer is “never talk religion or politics”. It’s long been believed crossing the line into those two subjects is a sure way to lose customers or potential customers. Well, I’m a happy example of how that “rule” is largely myth. And I’ve come to the conclusion that the politics and religion banishment from social media discussion or business and networking discussion is created mostly by people who are personally more reserved anyway.

Nothing is wrong with being more tightly guarded about your thoughts, actions, or beliefs. But those who are ought not unfairly judge those of us who are happily more vocal. After all, if everyone held ideas so closely to the vest and never shared them how would people learn and grow and solve problems. It’s the more boisterous in society who call attention to problems and those problem’s solutions.

FB Tower pic w-number

Total Broadcasting Service is an eight year old company. We’re a radio advertising brokerage and audio production company that has added video production for internet marketing to our list of services. We experienced four years of growth after beginning operations in 2005, and then fell on hard times like so many others in 2009. We saw a lot of customers close their doors that year. Since then every year has gotten progressively better. And in 2012 we have recorded our best year ever in terms of gross income.

What I find interesting about this is the fact that 2012 was an election year and I made no secret about my support for what the election determined was a minority opinion. Not only was it a minority opinion nationally, but my Conservative politics was and remains an extreme minority opinion where I live and where most of my business originates from, in King County, Washington. So how can it be possible that my business has continued to grow and support my family with what amounts to an above-average income and life-style?

Stephen Colbert in New York City at Border's s...

Stephen Colbert

As Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert demanded to know during the Chick-fil-A vs Gay Marriage controversy last Summer, “I’ve got to know what positions my food has taken on all the issues. For example, I love Carl Jr’s Western Burger. It must be anti-ObamaCare, because it is clearly trying to kill us. And whenever I go to Applebee’s, I insist that they only give me right wings. After all, you are what you eat. And now, you also believe what you eat.”

The absurdity of Colbert’s comment should be obvious. And to me the obvious conclusion I’ve come to is that most people don’t care about politics or religion. Traditionally poor voter turnout proves this fact. Studies showing only about 50% of Americans regularly attend church further proves it.

Like Adam Smith clearly enunciated in his seminal book, The Wealth of Nations“, 

Profile of Adam Smith

Adam Smith

everyone cares about their own selfish interests. And that’s a good thing. Because in caring for our own selfish interests we as individuals and individual businesses are stronger and better able to serve specific customers and the general populace. Weak people and weak businesses serve very few. And in caring for their own selfish interests people care little about my politics or religion. They care about whether my business can make their lives better, something we constantly strive to do. And we strive with equal fervor for our Liberal customers as for our Conservative customers; for our Christian customers as for our Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist, or Muslim customers. Doing so is in our best interest.

My efforts on Social Media now include regular posts to my Facebook personal page, business page, and personality page. In 2010 I added Twitter and LinkedIn personally and for business to my Social Media promotional efforts. And in 2012 Pinterest began receiving our attention. And we are bloggers here on M Schuett blah blah blah. (We’re also on Biznik. But since they started charge money for even their most basic profile page we discontinued our subscription). Selfish advocacy of my political and moral points of view are frequent subjects of my posts. But foremost at ALL TIMES is merely to be interesting to as many people as possible in order to promote my business interests; Total Broadcasting Service, and in the past 3-4 months, AdvoCare health and nutrition.

AdvoCare allowed me and my wife to lose 30 lbs each in just 4 months.

AdvoCare allowed me and my wife to lose 30 lbs each in just 4 months.

Social Media experts will tell you that marketing through social media is not intended to get you direct business; but instead to keep your brand, product or service in the front-of-mind for potential customers. That’s true. But when you make yourself interesting on Social Media and are not afraid to “show a little leg” and make yourself vulnerable you gain credibility with even those who disagree with you. And in gaining credibility you gain direct customers. As we have. And we’re grateful.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

Seahawks Looking Good! Can you say Super Bowl?

The San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl XXIX troph...

Since the writing of this blog the New England Patriots defeated the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football 42-14. 

This Seattle Seahawk season ticket holder was pretty darned impressed with what he saw in Sunday’s 58-0 record blow-out of the Arizona Cardinals. It’s got me thinking of…dare I say it…the Super Bowl.

Call me crazy if you will but my dreams could be realized if a few small things fall our way. And we could be making plans for a trip to…NEW JERSEY? Ya…New Jersey. The fact that the game is being played in a northern climate again is one other reason why I feel optimistic. Seattle’s only other trip to nirvana occurred in 2006 when the Seahawks lost to Pittsburg in Detroit, MI.

(Oops! It has been correctly pointed out to me that the Super Bowl in New Jersey won’t take place until after next season in 2014. This season’s 2013 Super Bowl will be in New Orleans.)

Picture taken by me of Qwest Field at night fr...

CenturyLink Field where Seattle is undefeated.

Here is the situation: Seattle is 8-5 with three games left. Sunday they travel to Toronto to play the Buffalo Bills. On Christmas Eve eve, December 23rd, the Hawks host division leading San Francisco at CenturyLink Field. And then they close out the season at the “Clink” against the improving St. Louis Rams.

Before anyone gets too excited let me remind you that Seattle has played and lost to both the 49ers and the Rams this season, and at this point in the season they haven’t clinched anything. Having said that I like our chances.

Tonight’s Monday night game, Houston at New England, in Foxboro could be important. If Houston wins New England would not want to lose two straight when they host the 49ers next Sunday night. So come-on Texans! If the Pat’s win tonight they might start shifting into coast-mode before the playoffs when they play San Francisco. (New England won 42-14)  If San Fran loses their game in New England, while Seattle beats Buffalo the game in Seattle would decide the division lead with only one game to play.

Seattle will beat Buffalo for several reasons. First, they exorcised that “can’t win on the road” ghost in beating the Bears in Chicago last week. Second, the game is not in Buffalo so the Bills will not have that much of a decided home field advantage. Lastly, besides the crowd the other huge advantage Buffalo has over all its opponents in December is the weather. But the Seahawk game will be inside what they used to call Skydome.

I think the Hawks can break the 49ers win streak of them and take the division lead. What a nice Christmas present THAT will be. A division crown would come down to beating the Rams on December 30th at CenturyLink; a proposition I favor. But it won’t be easy. The Rams play an up-and-down Minnesota club next week and a declining Tampa Bay after that. They could come to Seattle 8-6-1 needing a win for the playoffs. Still, you can’t bet against Seattle at the Clink, no matter who they’re playing; as evidenced by their victories this year over possibly the 2 best teams in the league, Green Bay and New England.

Seattle would then host at least one playoff game and probably earn a bye the first weekend. This scenario counts on G.B. to lose at least once more. which I think they’ll do. Seattle and the Packers would be tied with an 11-5 record and thanks to Russell Wilson, Golden Tate, and a Replacement Referee Seattle would host their first playoff game after taking a week off.

Seattle would be favored over whoever they played and I would expect them to win, putting them into the NFC Championship game.

NFC Championship Game logo, 2005–2010

Under my scheme that game would only be in Atlanta or Seattle. If it’s Atlanta, well, the Falcons would be deservedly favored. If it’s in Seattle against the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers or the last playoff entrant (Who cares. They won’t win), then I like my teams chances of going to East Rutherford.

I’ve never been happier being so wrong. I’m referring to Pete Carroll’s pick of Russell Wilson as the teams starting quarterback this year. I was the first in the Matt Flynn camp, dating back to last January. And as good as Wilson has played, who’s to say Flynn couldn’t have done the same thing? Having said that, clearly Wilson is a special player and can lead this team to the Super Bowl provided a few not-so-unlikely things fall our way. Go Seahawks! Go Texans! Go Patriots (next week)!

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.