Greetings Blog Family,

The time has come for us to stop having one night stands in pursuit of our worthy goals and dreams. It is really frustrating to see us waste our energy, dissipating our energy and efforts with all the starting and stopping in pursuit of our goals and dreams. We need consistency.

Consistency is the key

Consistency is a monster because it provides you with two of the essential elements of success that you need to take your business, life, endeavors to the next level.

The elements that I am talking about are confidence and motivation. Confidence grows internally when you perform day and day and create a track record of success that you can feel and is tangible in your life. The momentum comes from from this consistency and creates the energy, enthusiasm, and belief that you need to make everything you desire to happen.

Get the video in your life and share it with others. Now is our time!

First in the Mind, then in Reality!

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Blog Family,

Health is wealth and I want to encourage you to get some and pass it on. I have been on this kick for the past few weeks because I have set out to accomplish one of my major life goals, running the Chicago marathon. But instead of just throwing myself into 26 miles of pain, I plan on running an half marathon this year and next year tackling the big boy marathon.

Believe me Health is Wealth!

Some of you out there might be thinking that health isn’t all that important to your future, but I say that it is very important to your future. Think about it, regardless of what your goals are health is at the center of it. How would accomplish any of your goals if you were not in at least decent health? How could you travel around the world, climb a mountain, or even climb the corporate ladder if your health is out of whack.

Often times, I get someone that says health isn’t wealth, nor their goal. They want to create financial freedom for their descendants. But I say how can you do this if your health is not in order? Seriously, it is going to take massive energy and effort to make this a reality, but if you are not working out where is it going to come from?

Then, let’s say you hit your goal of financial freedom. Don’t you want to be around long enough to watch your family enjoy the fruits of your life long labor? I would think that you would.

Check out the video

Enjoy the video and make sure you let me know what you think, but I hope it is able to inspire you to get off your butt and get into the fitness game.

Big Shout out to Chase Harris as he is taking the iBeachBody.com Fitness Challenge!!

Check out his website site at http://www.iBeachBody.com or keep up with his fitness challenge on his YouTube page at http://www.YouTube.com/iBeachBody

Half Marathon Workout Plan

This is the half marathon workout schedule that I am working out with. It is a great workout plan for beginning runners. Check it out here: http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm

First in the Mind, then in Reality!

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Greetings Blog Family,

Today I wanted to share a great quote with you that is particularly close to me. I have been reading and studying Burton Kaplan for years and this is one of his most profound quotes. We often times get caught, and wrapped up in what other people think and feel about us cause we would like for them to realize our importance, but this is not the way to live a powerful existence.

“You, me, everybody – we’re all subject to a basic fact of human nature; we all need to feel important and to feel that other people recognize our importance.  This means that when we deal with others, the temptation is always present to impress them.  RESIST IT. – Burton Kaplan

I have three reasons for you that you should resist the temptation of impressing other people. These are simple life truths that we should all take to heart, employ in our lives, and thrive as a result.

1. Not Being Your Genuine Self – Stop short changing the world by being like the multitude of people in this world that is unoriginal. You were created to be your magnificent self and by not doing so, you are actually cheating the world of your existence. How will anyone respect and appreciate you if you are never being yourself.
2. They Can See Right Through You – Give other people some credit. If you are not being your original self, it is going to come across that you are being fake. And the people that you are trying so desperately to impress is more than likely sharp enough to notice a fake when they see it. You will actually lose respect and admiration in the process.
3. You Can Still Earn Respect – Being yourself has gotten you this far in your life and remaining that way is going to take you where you desire to be. If you remain steadfast to who you are, continuously add value to the lives of people around you, and live a life of service, then you will not only impress those that you want to, but also others that you might not even realize is watching you.

At the end of the day, be you; cause that is the only one you have and it is the blessing that world needs.

Enjoy the video!

Check out the video and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. If you really like it, be sure to tweet this message to your following or share it on Facebook.

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Greetings Blog Family,

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but if you have seen my I’m Thinking episode when I talk about the failing public school system you will not be shocked. However, I cannot stand the public school system. It is faling us terribly. Now, I understand that it is necessary, so I am not advocating it’s demolition or even supporting school vouchers, but something needs to be done.

Instead of my typical bitching and moaning about the situation, I want to offer some practical, factual steps every parent can take to rid this problem in their homes. This video is dedicated to that aim.

Now, if you are one of these parents that just want to send their children off to day care, I mean public schools, close your eyes and wish for the best, then this might not be the best video for you. Because inside are some actual tips and goals that my wife and I have used to raised what most would call “intelligent” children.

For years it seems, our friends and family have urged us to tell them how we have managed to raise such sharp children in a sea of mediocrity. Well, it wasn’t easy, but now is the time to shed some light on our methods and ideology.

Enjoy the video!

Check out the video and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. If you really like it, be sure to tweet this message to your following or share it on Facebook.

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Greetings Blog Family,

Today I want to talk to you about a great little analogy that I have come across and added some juice to as well. The phrase “Eat That Frog” comes from a book written by Brian Tracy where he claims that you should start your day by complete the biggest, most hairy, difficult goal that you have first. By doing this, you will make the rest of your to do list seem short, easy, and attainable. This will give you the momentum to continue through your day and dominate through achievement.

And achievement is the only way you can kill the crabs. You have surely heard of the phrase, Crabs in a barrel. Well, they say these crabs are always trying to hold you back from the achievement and success that you desire. Don’t let them hold you back and pay them no attention. Continue to thrive, achieve more everyday in your life.

Check out the video and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. If you really like it, be sure to tweet this message to your following or share it on Facebook.

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Greetings, Blog Family.

Welcome to the very first episode of 3B TV. It stands for Business, Branding, and Blogging with Freddie Taylor. I am very excited to introduce this segment of my site to you. I have been working on it for some time now and feel like it should add an interesting element to my line up.

Yes! I said it, property values will remain stagnant for the next 35 years or more. I know this is contradictory to everything you have been hearing in the news and according to the experts, but take a moment to watch the video and hear my argument.

The best part of the argument is that I will lay it out for you step by step so that there will not be any guessing. All of my sources can be referenced, but they are based on my understanding of supply and demand.

I don’t doubt that many people might not like to hear this opinion or see it come true, but I feel it is very important because if you move forward making financial decisions based on wrong information it can be very dangerous to your financial well being.

Please, leave your comments, thoughts, and feelings at the bottom and let’s start a dialog.

VIEW PART TWO

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Greetings Blog Family,

Another week has come and gone. This time it has found me ready for it and aiming for the stars. I am fired up. As you will see over the next few weeks I have some very special material planned for this blog and am very excited about it.

It dawned on my not long ago that I wanted to own a media empire and have the influence and reach that many of the power stations had. This realization made me began to look at this blog and my other ones a little bit differently. Blogs and the Internet has given ordinary people like myself without hundreds of billions of dollars the power and access to reach millions if we have the ability or chops to make it happen. Well, I am going to find out because I love to get in front of the camera and share what I know. The wild thing is that I know many other people that feel the same, so as little organization and effort can make all of this a reality.

Last Week Goals

1. Video Blog at FreddieTaylor.com – I was successful in getting back on the video wagon here at FreddieTaylor.com with the launch of my weekly series, Balance. That was a lot of fun and it is replacing my Monday Motivational Moments that was a feature on this site.

The reason I changed the name is because I wanted to motivate, but there are some other subjects I want to get into as well and Balance will allow me to do so. As entrepreneurs, we cannot be so one sided and focused on money and the bottom line, there is just way too much more to life than that. Balance is my effort to discuss many of these issues as well.

2. Study New Business - I was able to study my new business model and am very excited about it. There is a little bit more understanding to go, but I will have to learn that on the fly. Now is the time to get out and get it going, so I will.

3. Prepare for my Picking Comps presentation - This past weekend, my partners and I held a 3 day event called the Ultimate Foreclosure Workshop. You can view it at UltimateForeclosureWorkshop.com. It was a stunning success. We had 17 paid participants, so there was some margin made and most importantly, the participants were excited about the information they received and pleased with their purchase. In short, we delivered, which is what you want when you are taking people’s money. Our thought is to under promise and over deliver….that we did.

As for my presentation, I thought it could have went better, but not a bad job. Like most entrepreneurs, I am pretty critical of myself and always expect better. Next presentation, I will do better.

This Week

Now is the time to roar into the next week and get it crackin! Here are my major goals for the week.

1. Plan – It is official in my mind that this is my last year in the appraisal business. I have to cut the cord and get out now. The question is what exactly will I do in the future, so I want to lay out a detailed plan to ensure that I am making solid progress everyday. This may take a week or so as I have several projects in the works, but need to tie them together in a cohesive way to capitalize on their synergies.

2. Complete Landing Page – One of my new ventures requires that I complete a video for this landing page I am creating. This has to get done and the sooner the better. So, I will be all over that early in the week and hopefully able to make it happen.

3. Full Week @ FT.com – I want to follow up my last week with another solid week here on this site. You will see a few more post as I back away from appraisal business and get more into my online work. I am very excited, but like any transition there is always some anxiety…However, I am ready to strike!

Let’s go get’em!

Now is our time to shine. I have defined my week and plan on being all over it. Will you do the same? If you don’t make the goals public, that is cool. Write them on your board, look at them, intimidate them, and get them done!

First in the Mind, then in Reality!

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Greetings Blog Family,

That’s right! I am back into video blogging and planning on doing it big. It is my honor to introduce to you the first of my recent brain child’s, Balance. Balance, get some in your life, is a show I will be doing that focuses on motivation, inspiration, quotes, and personal development for entrepreneurs and bloggers. We all need and must have balance.

Ready to Strike!

These economic times are raining down around us and many people are scared because they cannot predict the future. I feel and understand where they are coming from, but entrepreneurs must stay in the pocket, poised and ready to strike. It is these times that the world needs entrepreneurs to step up, so I want to share three keys with you to help you in this journey.

Watch the Video!

Balance Question:

What are some of the things you do to prepare yourself for opportunity?

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Greetings Blog Family,

Yes! It has been a while since I have actually done a blog post and it feels good to be back. The other week, I went on vacation to Tampa Bay, Florida for days of rest, relaxation, and great times.

The picture feature here is the view I woke up to every morning as I ventured out on the terrace to clear my head from the night before and get ready for the day ahead.

The reason this post took so long in the making is that I was waiting on the pictures from my friends that went on the trip with me. I had my camera, but managed to take no pictures during the trip, buy my friends did and they haven’t made the pictures available yet.

The House

I will try to give you a visual of the house, rather mansion, we rented for the trip. It was larger than most anything that I have seen. And as an appraiser, I have seen some wonderful homes, but this one was incredible. It rocks my world to think that people live like this everyday, but they do. Anyway, my favorite feature of this home was the double deck terrace that wrapped the sides and back of the home which led to the views in the picture. It was simply amazing. And every morning I began my day there on that terrace enjoying the sunshine, breeze, and happy feelings.

That break was much deserved and I had a wonderful time, but I am really excited to be back in the Command Center ready to build my Internet empire. Are you ready?

My Plans

While I was on vacation and during the past week, I have been pouring over my plans for the immediate future and they are exciting. I am so fired up to get into this week it doesn’t make sense. I have decided that I am going to build FreddieTaylor.com into the media outlet I have desired for so long. While on vacation, I realized that they Internet and the skills that I have been developing for the past few months have really given me all that I need to make my dreams a reality and now is the time to start creating them.

Therefore, you will see a few new features coming to FreddieTaylor.com starting this week. I don’t want to bore you with the details, but rather just jump in a get them started. This post was actually suppose to happen on Sunday, but we had a dinner party that ran a little longer than antipated and I had to too much wine. (Just keeping it real and telling you the truth, Blog Family.)

Anyway, it is on! Also, I have decided to be accountable for a few more goals on a weekly basis. I find that you keep me honest and if I share them with you, I will get them done more-so on a regular basis.

This Weeks Goals:

1. Video blogs at FreddieTaylor.com 

I mentioned above my aspirations for FreddieTaylor.com, so this is the plan….to get started. Getting started consist of two more post this week. And I will leave it there. ((((clap clap)))) Let’s go get’em!

2. Study new business

I started a new business that helps small businesses reconnect with their communities. It is phenomenal and I will be talking about it soon, but I need to study the business to be able to present it concisely. The fact is right now I don’t fully understanding the business. This week it needs to change. Then I will review it for you.

3. Prepare Training on Picking Comps

I am part of af team of people that are producing The Ultimate Foreclosure Workshop and of my contributions is a presentation on How appraisers Pick Comps, which should be about an hour. I need to prepare and practice that presentation.

Let’s get it!

First in the Mind, then in Reality!

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Blog Family,

I confess. From time to time, I watch QVC. I said it. But you have to hear me out before condemning me as an outcast to know that I was doing market research for you. While 

watching a sale for pediatric posturepedic pillows,  it hit me.

The lessons to be learned from QVC are invaluable.

What is QVC?

QVC is one of the largest multimedia retailers in the world, and broadcast live 24 hours a day, 364 days of the year. This is the live show that sells the products constructed by the worlds entrepreneurs in a quick hitting, in your face, shop at home style.

According to their website, QVC is a wholly owned subsidiary 

of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group. Trades under the Nasdaq as LINTA. QVC was founded in 1986 by Joesph Segal. In it’s first full fiscal year of business, QVC’s revenues exceeded $122 million. This is outstanding and was a record in American business history for sales of a new public company.

Additional information on the QVC website reveals the company received more than 181 million phone calls last in the United States alone, shipped 166 million units worldwide. Net sales for 2007 was more than $7 billion and they reach more than 166 million cable and satellite homes worldwide.

What does QVC have to do with Entrepreneurs?

I think it is safe to say that QVC has a winning business model and is doing a lot of things the right way. Therefore, I thought that maybe as entrepreneurs and bloggers, we could gleam some insight from QVC that has made them so successful and apply it to our individual businesses.

QVC sales the products of entrepreneurs like you in real time. There tactics and influencers have been effective enough to drive the kind of numbers that they are reporting. Maybe there is something to learn from this phenomenon known as QVC for each of our businesses.

Marketing Lessons from QVC

1) Prominent Product Positioning. Although they are only limited to your television screen, the QVC administrators have mastered art of prominently placing their products on the screen to maximize visibility and give the potential buyers an idea of how big the product is they are viewing and how it is used. This is done by showing the product next to common items in the home or someones hand to give an idea of size. And they are always demonstrating the use of the products as well as giving suggestions on how it can be used by the end buyers.

2) Repetition of your message and selling points. Repetition seems to be one of the key strategies that QVC employs to move their products. And moving their products is their specialty. Watching the show on pillows, they sold over 52,000 units while I was watching the show. Simply amazing! And one of the key points I noticed during this segment was how many times and variety of different ways they repeated the product name and unique selling points. The lesson for you is to make your offering visible and repeat the benefits as often as you can without driving the customer or readers crazy. The point is you have to get your message into their minds so they can realize this is something they need. This can only be done through repetition.

3) Urgency. I love the way QVC uses urgency to convert sales. Yes, they spokes person does let you know that this is a limited time only offer. But the subtle way they do it is the best….with the clock. They will have a countdown clock in the corner of screen letting the viewers know that this product will only be available for the next 5 minutes, so they better act now. Another way they utilize this tactic is by saying there is is only 1,000 of these units available and they show how many are left in stock. Again, emphasizing the urgency the viewer needs to use to get one of these great deals. In your business, maybe you could have time sensitive dates for your readers or customers to act on to take advantage of your offerings.

4) Appeal to Desire to Belong. I had trouble naming this, but it works. The point I am trying to illustrate is they use of “everyone else is doing it, so you should as well” tactic utilized by the QVC. Example, on the screen they would flash how many orders have been sold. As mentioned above, during the sale of the pillows they kept flashing the number of sales they have made. This was done for urgency because they said only so many units would be sold, but also to let people know that others have found this to be a great buy. Sometimes as entrepreneurs and bloggers, we utilize this tactic in the form of testimonials, which QVC does as well with live callers that are buying the products. They allow the presenters to interview them after making a purchase. The viewer identifies with the buyer and thinks maybe this will be a good deal for them as well. The desire to belong is great in a many of our markets, so consider using this tool at your disposal as well.

5) Show Savings. Regardless of the market and especially today, people are looking for a savings. You should not allow the consumers to calculate the savings they will benefit from buying your product or service. QVC does this with the side bar on the screen where they will show the retail price of an item, the marked down price, and the difference is the saving. In addition, they will have specials if someone bought two items, then they would get the second one for $5 off. Instead of just letting this savings slide, they would highlight that and encourage the buyers to get two in order to save more money. The more they buy, the more they save. It is a great way to get your potential buyers one step closer to making a purchase with you.

6) Make Purchase Recommendations.  As mentioned in #5, QVC will make various packages that the buyers can choose from and illustrate the savings involved. This is a great idea, but don’t loss the other recommendation in there. The opportunity to tell your audience what they need. QVC was selling pillows in sets of two, but encourage the viewers to buy two sets of two pillows for the savings, their spouse, even the guest bedroom. If you can build your ethos, trust, with your audience, then they will believe you and take your council in purchase decisions.

7) Connect Features & Benefits to Buyer Needs. You are aware that QVC utilized spokespeople to promote the products during the individual segments. The people are not talking aimlessly about the products they are selling, but they strategically mentioning the features and benefits of each item and drawing a directly relationship to the needs of their buyers. As an example, the pillows were to provide great support for the users and this point was demonstrated by having someone lie on their pillow and a regular store bought pillow. Once this demonstration was made and you could clearly see the difference in the two pillows, the presenters spent a lot of time telling the viewers how and why this will benefit them and solve their needs. Everything from the quality of the pillow will save you money because you will buy less, to the better nights rest and refreshed feeling you will spring out of bed was covered. Your buyers will not buy if they don’t understand how your product will help them out specifically. Spend time driving that point home.

8 ) Easy, Visible Purchase Options. If you watch QVC, there is no doubt that you can find out how to purchase their goods. First of all, the spokesperson is going to mention how you can do this every so often, but it is also plastered all over the screen. They have the phone number visible (large) and the website clearly visible. They let their viewers know exactly how they can pay for the goods, by credit card, eCheck, PayPal, but not C.O.D. It is very important to never leave your potential buyers guessing. Every delay is a moment for them to turn away and entertain someone else’s offer. Don’t give them that chance, provide them the information they need to make a purchase decision.

The Monster Marketer that is QVC

Without a doubt, the people at QVC have mastered their business model and does very well with it. As entrepreneurs, we should not spend out time trying to talk down or bad about another business, but instead we must learn from their successes. Everyday QVC runs in most countries, take a few moments to watch their broadcast from time to time. You might find a bargain that is right up your alley, but I am certain you will feel the power of their marketing efforts, notice the tactics I mentioned, and more.

Now go into the world, find your markets, implement the marketing strategies of the QVC and dominate. These tactics can be used on your website, commercials (if you run them), flyers, during presentations, radio spots, news paper ads, and more. If you find any additional strategies they are using, be sure to share them with us here. We are all here to learn and grow from one another.

First in the Mind, then in Reality!

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