I am sure that every manager, business owner, entrepreneur, net-worker, team builder, religious leader, non-profit director… has faced the issue of loyalty at some point or other.

Loyalty is the end-goal of a well-traveled mountain path littered by barriers and detours.

I’m just sounding off on the topic, as I ponder on this after 2 years of developing and overseeing the growth of a non-profit. The core program of the non-profit is to provide community relief in the sector of housing counseling; with ancillary programs of youth development, community education, and food drives.

The initial mission was targeted towards youth development, but as the housing crisis blossomed the need for housing counseling services grew. Without a fund raising portal to hold the foundation together, the need to create a work program around the counseling service was identified.

We brought in the first core of close acquaintances and taught them in the areas of marketing, team building and housing counseling. Providing countless hours of training via website information, conference calls, quarterly training and many selfless one on one session.

Many people came through the unseen doors of The Helpful Hands Foundation receiving more than they ever gave. Some were in foreclosure and learned key points on home preservation and lender requirements. Many were at the doors of court houses and were empowered with hope; armed with confidence and knowledge they were able to talk to judges and attorneys and restore home ownership.

In a period of two years over 1,000 people were saved from foreclosure.

In those same two years we watched over 600 people come into the housing counseling work program of the non profit and… we watched them leave. People were paid on commission. What ever money came in for services was all disbursed back to the counselors. Incentive was built into the same commission so that managers can rise and build teams and get compensated for helping the non profit grow and train more counselors. This effort would maximize the community outreach.

Today The Helpful Hands nonprofit organization survives on hope, the income generated barely covers the office and overhead.

What pains me is that those that have been brought into the inner circle claim to want to help… but money is their boss. Not loyalty to a cause.

The Cause at The Helpful Hands Foundation: Helping People. The motto: “helping one hand at a time”
How do we help? Through service.

Many say they will support you … but that support comes when they pay their bills. Does your opportunity help fill other peoples pocket?

Is your organization filling a need? What kind of need? Does it create jobs? Does it fill an emotional need? Does it educate others?

I still find myself with the initial question, how does a non profit create loyalty when income margin is based on volume? People helping people. What a novelty: people helping people!!?

Why would anyone want to join a non profit and help it grow (or church, company, team etc)?

Again, I find myself at the mercy of God defining my mission as one that serves the many. Reminding myself that if I share my knowledge, my love, my compassion then in His wisdom I will be blessed.

If you are a leader and believe in your company, if you believe in its mission statement, if you believe in touching peoples lives… then let that define you. Become the best at your trade whether it be leadership, recruiter, trainer, manager.

If you are a leader and believe in the money your position can attract. Then let that define you and follow the money.

Don’t stay in a company where you will not be fulfilled (whether you are the founder or a manager).

If you are a hiring manager, recruiter or trainer (church leader, business owner etc)- remember you are influencing the make-up of the organization by the people you bring and train; and it is a privilege to be a mentor to someone. The opportunity of interaction and giving to another human being is priceless.

I have learned that many people place ZERO value on knowledge that is given freely or even emotional goodwill they receive from a kindred spirit. If they don’t see it with their eyes, if they can’t touch the results with their hands you just haven’t done enough for them.

I have been a trainer for over 25 years and I’ve embraced with much pain the lesson from the above sentence and practice the Catch and Release philosophy.

Many walked through doors of The Helpful Hands Foundation and this has allowed me to be on many Catch and Release expeditions; in these expeditions some were saved from foreclosure, others were hungry and were fed, and I’m not talking just about food… I’m talking about knowledge. Knowledge that now is theirs to grow and share with others.

The Helpful Hands Foundation the non profit that changes peoples lives.

Perhaps one day we will find a few good people that will help it grow.

Your actions will soon DEFINE… YOU.

This blog is dedicated to all my friends that are in any company that may require them to sell a product or service.

Sales is not for everyone, yet each one of us at some point though-out our day attempt to persuade others to understand our point of view. It all starts with asking questions and a lot of listening.

If you joined a company to “help” people whether you are selling a product or service that would benefit your customer please understand that you are in the profession of SELLING.

Tell yourself that you will be successful as a sales professional and that you will learn something today that will make you even more professional tomorrow!

Asking the right questions and listening to the answer is a great relationship builder and important to the persuasion process. Zig Ziglar once said: Talking is sharing, listening is caring.

In life, some people will treat you rudely, on occasion many will let you down, some people may even avoid you. With all the negative externals out of the way one benefit about the sales profession: You get to be your own boss, you’re in business for yourself but not by yourself.

Wouldn’t you agree that it is time to take your sales profession seriously and begin developing the skills that will make a difference to your customer and your bottom line?

If you feel that you have aligned yourself with a company or product that you can endorse there could be no greater satisfaction of being able to save someone time, money and frustration because of the services you have to offer.

I will share with you a couple of points that will make a difference in your sales profession: conduct yourself with honesty and integrity.

YOUR:
Values determine behavior – behavior determines reputation – reputation determines advantages.

Remember – people with a job could walk in and get their pink slip, you “as your own boss” create SECURITY by creating activity. Creating activity starts with PROSPECTING, without prospecting you will never have a chance to develop your sales skills. Prospecting is an all the time activity.

One of the most dreadful words for an ‘unprofessional’ sales person is the word: NO
Yet, when your prospects say no, they most often are conveying a message to you letting you know that they ‘do not know’ enough to say yes! Your job is to empower your customer with knowledge so that they have new information (reasons, features and benefits) that will guide your prospect to the YES decision today!

Begin today developing a genuine interest and concern for other people and you will be on your way to becoming a professional in sales.

Daisy Says: There is no greater mountain to climb than to the peak of your infinity.

When we begin to develop the habit to be aware of all that we can be grateful for the obstacles and challenges begin to appear meaningless in respect to the scope of the bounty of Life that we have before us.

Each one of us was given the same gift – 86,400 seconds in the day… how many of those seconds do you use to say “thank you”? Use a few of those seconds to reflect with a sense of appreciation on meaningful experiences you had during the day. You will be surprised at how many things we can find that are pleasing to us if we just take a moment to think about them.

As for myself, I am always grateful for the opportunity to serve.

Who would have known that my trip to New Jersey was about inspiring people to action?

The whole while I thought I was going there to bring the goodwill message of the work of The Helpful Hands Foundation and to promote our foreclosure assistance program… and it turned out more than that.

You know, in life we have a plan yet God has a bigger plan.

While on our trip to New Jersey we decided to visit George’s cousin Lubos and his wife Dana. A brief side story here, Dana is from Czech Republic and has been in America for about 5 or 6 years. She is very sweet and has an endearing accent. Together they have a beautiful little daughter. Currently Dana is going to school to become a nurse. What I found fascinating is that Dana lights up when you talk about agriculture and farming, growing vegetables and of course … her cookies.

They were both very hospitable and Dana is a fantastic cook. During one of our girl conversations Dana told me about her cookies that she does every year, and how she wanted to make a batch for our luncheon.

I knowing how delicious Czech cookies are… immediately asked: “What?! You just GIVE them away? — People WOULD BUY them!”. She says… ‘oh, I never thought about selling my cookies, I don’t know what people will think.” …. I said, ” It matters not what people think, it is all about you and what you think.. and one thing you know… your cookies ARE great”.

Well… to make a long story short, I gave her consultation on marketing and website presence…. and she put it to the test IMMEDIATELY. (You can visit and order her cookies right from her website at: Dana’s Cookies). She rented a booth at a local event… baked up her quickly becoming famous batch of European cookies AND WITHIN MINUTES SOLD ALL OF THEM!

Now.. she is booked for the holidays at various places! I am VERY proud of Dana, she embraced her gifts and now is sharing it with the world. When we embrace our gifts and talents and share it with others, we in turn become BLESSED.

We received a batch of her European Artisan Treats which we will share at The Helpful Hands Foundation Gratitude Luncheon this weekend; her simple packaging foretold of the delicious treat inside. Beautiful presentation and each cookie was deliciously perfect!

Sometimes in life all we need is someone to believe in us, someone to say it’s okay to LIVE, it’s okay to CREATE, it’s okay TO BE YOU! If you are one of those people that find it hard to listen to your inner guide.. then you need to walk out your door and put yourself out there so you can hear the message as it comes through other peoples voice.

Do a self analysis and discover what your unique gift is, perhaps you love being around people, you may be a great trainer, a great presenter, a great sales person, a great carpenter, a great assistant, a great teacher, a great coach, a great leader. Once you discover it, go share it with the world — Yes, it’s time to LIVE OUT LOUD!

Daisy Says: Embrace your fears and believe in your talents.

What if you hunger for more than what your current circumstances dictate? Who would you turn to for guidance, who can you say this very minute in your immediate circle has attained the type of goal you are seeking?

And what if you could take your friends on the adventure so that they can join with you on the ride to success and self discovery?

I had that opportunity a few days ago. I attended an event where inspiring leaders convened under one roof to share their secrets to success. Tamara Lowe has done an extraordinary job in hosting one of the biggest motivation seminars across the country.. and who would have known that she started all this as a meeting planner… what heck of a meeting!

Great people such as:

Zig Ziglar: Embrace The Struggle (from the online blog)

Zig Ziglar, my father, is in a struggle right now—a struggle so profound and so real that by sharing it with you, I believe you will be filled with hope and encouragement. The gift that God has given Dad is the gift of encouragement and the ability to transfer hope to others so that they can rise above whatever circumstance they are in. As Dad has always said, “Getting knocked down in life is a given. Getting up, starting from where you are and moving forward, is a choice.”

On March 7, 2007, our family experienced what Dr. James Dobson calls “a suddenly.” I was out of town when I got the call. I went numb as I listened to my sister Cindy’s voice. “Dad fell down the stairs. He has a serious head injury.” Suddenly, our family joined millions of other families facing similar circumstances, and life became very different. Dad, at eighty years of age, lost the vitality for which he was renowned, he no longer moved with the energy and agility of even a sixty-five-year-old man. Almost overnight he aged fifteen-plus years and, thus, began his struggle to live with and overcome the effects of a brain injury.

Colin Powell: American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State (2001-2005), serving under President George W. Bush. He was the first African American appointed to that position.

Rudy Giuliani: Giuliani gained international attention for his leadership, during and after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Robert Shculler: Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s positive messages are a source of strength and hope, motivating and encouraging people of all nationalities, races, creeds and faiths. He is a pastor, speaker, motivator and author appreciated by countless millions worldwide for his ability to encourage and inspire.

Lou Holtz: “Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.”

Krish Dhanam: A native of India , he arrived in the United States with nine dollars in his pocket and a vision of promise in his heart. The American Dream from an Indian Heart is the unfolding of that journey and its hidden promise. In a practical and informative way, Krish showcases how the American Dream is still alive and well.

Want to get more out of life? Find out what your Motivational DNA is: CLICK HERE

Daisy Says: You can go to all the great seminars and workshops but if you want to experience change it will not come for you until you make a decision to get motivated about discovering you!