Monday, January 17, 2011

Building productive groups by getting to know people's strengths.

 This was the information presented at our meeting this past Thursday.

If you happen to come across Malcolm Gladwell's first book Tipping Point, you will find it an excellent introspective into why things go from a great idea among a very few people into a movement of the masses. The second chapter in the book is called Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. It's about the people that make it happen. If you haven't read it, your in luck, I'm going to give you a brief overview along with some practical applications to turning the group of people around you into something much more effective. A way tip the scales in your favor. Now I'm not one to put people into boxes and I most certainly put myself at the top of that list but I think what Malcolm has uncovered is important.


Although I read the book, I derived most of my information from the following blogs.


Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen  - Mary Jacsch


Connectors, Mavens and Salesman: The Secret to your Success - Pam Slim

Connectors are people specialists.


“These people who link us up with the world, who bridge Omaha and Sharon, who introduce us to our social circles – these people on whom we rely on more heavily than we realize – are Connectors, people with a very special gift of bringing people together.”


Connectors are fantastic at expanding your network. They say things like:




“Oh you should talk to …”


“Have you heard about…”


“Let me introduce you to ..”


They think in nodes, not individuals, and like nothing more than to help you. They see people first, then money.


Think of five common last names, Carter, Gardner, Johnson, Nelson, Smith, for example. Now survey your friends and those around you. Ask them to quickly put a number to the number of people they know with those last names. The one who has the highest number is probably a good bet to being a connector!

Mavens are information specialists.

“A Maven is a person who has information on a lot of different products or prices or places. This person likes to initiate discussions with consumers and respond to requests … they like to be helpers in the marketplace. They distribute coupons. They take you shopping. They go shopping for you … This is the person who connects people to the marketplace and has the inside scoop on the marketplace.”


Mavens will dig deeply into your product and give very specific, detailed and relevant information on how it can fit within the marketplace.They will say things like:


“I was researching that last month, and I noticed a slight discrepancy in ….”


“Your work fits right in the xxx part of yyy’s essay on the zzz topic.”


“You could add videos to this to bring the lessons alive! And you could expand on the content in Chapter 3, Section 2, by listing …”


Think to yourself, who always seems to have an answer? Who do you go to when you need a recommendation or advice? Who do you know that just loves playing Trivial Pursuit, Millionaire or Jeopardy and is good at it? These are probably people to consider as Mavens.

Salesmen are charismatic.

Salesmen: “Mavens are data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue: they spread it. But there is also a select group of people – Salesmen – with the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing, and they are as critical to the tipping of word-of-mouth epidemics as the other two groups.”


Salesmen will take the idea that you have been working on for years and help you package it, price it and sell it. They say things like:


“But if you do that, you won’t make any money!”


“Here is how you should position it, and here is the upsell…”


“You have to have an offer. Traffic means nothing if it doesn’t lead to a sale.”


“What is your pricing structure?”


“What specific value will this have to your market? How much is that worth?”


Who do you know that just seems to know how to talk people into anything? Do they have a energetic and charismatic personality? These are certainly possible salesmen.


When you identify your primary “Tipping Point archetype,” you know how to leverage your strengths, and most importantly, you identify the archetypes you lack in spreading your message.


Understanding this with the proper preparation and discussion will lead you and those around you to conclude:


A) They should celebrate who they really are, and ignore advice to change into something they are not.


B) By surrounding themselves with other archetypes, their business will grow to a whole other level.


Translation: We need to work together! We need to know what our greatest assets are to others... and what qualities in others can help us get where we want to go. And finally, we need to celebrate and reinforce the strengths we have and those in others! There might just be more than three!





Do you see the tipping point in the following video?

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Buy Silver?

This past month one of our long time member passed away. Cat was many things along the way but in the past few years his message was "Buy Silver!" The following was a bit of my look into Silver as an investment and I can certainly say he was right! Silver might very well be one of the best investments in the coming few years.

With the governments around the world teetering on financial collapse and in the US, numerous municipalities, states and even the federal government running head long into bankruptcy... this can only boost the run towards something safe. Some are speculating 2011 may be the year we see the end of the EU and the Euro. And with all the secret deals cut behind the scenes between the Fed and the European central bankers, it might not be long after that the US Dollar will also be in dire straights, even with the Chinese kicking in a trillion or two (I tend to believe that's more theatre than reality).

From what I can gather my gut feeling is about March we'll start to get a good picture of all the actions of the governments and the Federal Reserve... and I don't think it's going to be good news. One must also weigh in new regulations (like the idiots trying to regulate the internet at the FCC), the pending Obamacare debacle and the rising Bond interests rates, these all point to further erosion of confidence and hindrances to business growing. In addition, the budget cuts to state and local public services will only increase the drag on the economy... which means either more federal stimulus or QE3. More money printing!

The following graph shows how borrowing has lost its value to the economy... more borrowing is actually reducing output yet the government continues to borrow more!




If you look at the graph below... notice that if one prices the US economy in gold... the drop in real value of the economy becomes obvious. The papering over by the Fed is very apparent. And if one compares this to other charts like US housing starts, the state and local government revenue, or the real unemployment rate, it certainly gives the gold line much more credibility than the government's figures. And this can be repeated in other commodities or currencies and in almost every case it reveals the economy isn't growing, it's sinking.





What this graph should also reveal is the suppression of gold's true value.Which only means another upward indicator for precious metals. We certainly know the economy hasn't been cut in half!

In addition, there is still a rather blatant issue hanging over the commodities market regarding trading practices and paper inflation of the actual physical amounts of gold and silver. There is also a "Buy Physical Silver" grassroots campaign that, with the help of the internet, is gaining momentum. And I haven't even mentioned some of the unique things that make Silver even more valuable. The fact that it is an industrial metal used in many modern applications, the cost to mine an ounce of silver, it's ratio to gold traditionally has been 10-15 to 1 throughout recorded time and it's currently in the 50 to 1 range or, and most importantly, it's a much more appealing commodity for the average individual to purchase in a time of upheaval compared to other commodities. You can't store barrels of oil in your basement very efficiently!

The gold and silver ratio over the past 20 years.


Do you see a trend? And here's a little more historical perspective on the relationship. This has happen before.



I'm saying... silver looks pretty damn good! Here's just a little more information that's important.




And here's some of the "Sell" signs I'd consider. 1) the Fed dramatically raises interests rates in an attempt to save the dollar... 2) a ounce of gold and the Dow come to equilibrium 3) Everybody is buying in... even the average person on the street is trying to get their hands on silver... 4) all the troops come home, they dismantle the interventionist foreign policy and slash government spending.

How likely are these to happen?

In regard to the market manipulation allegations. Here are a few short videos.



Andrew Maguire, the CFTC and GATA in regard to Silver manipulation in the market.



And did you know silver has many other useful characteristics?

Silver in Health


Is there proof Silver works against disease?




It's amazingly simple!





I had to add the article from The Asia Times...near the end of the article... And the best part is that buying gold and silver is so obvious, and so easy, that you laugh in merriment, "Whee! This investing stuff is easy!" 

Paul the Brave

And some other articles for reference.


The price of gold and Silver from 1919 to 1923 in the Weimar Republic

An interview with Max Keiser in Paris on market manipulation

NIA's Predictions for 2011



***Update***
Unprecedented buying of Silver in January