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If Your Message Sucks….Social Media Won’t Save You!!

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Hey Kevin Pritchett here:

I wish I had a dollar for every blog post and article I’ve read recently professing to tell me aka SELL ME the latest, greatest magic bullet that will guarantee me people will stay glued to whatever message I’m sharing with them…I believe the new buzzword is “engagement.”

I’ll be darned if there aren’t even Vice Presidents of Engagement…what the ????

A Stroll Down  Memory Lane  

Remember just a few short years ago when EMAIL was supposed to be the business ‘game changer’  and most especially in ‘sales conversion’..fancy language for convincing prospects to buy your stuff!!

Then it was AUTOMATED EMAIL FOLLOW UP..not just one email but a series of emails in order to stay in front of your prospects until they bought from you.

Then came VIDEOS in your emails…seems if you showed a movie of yourself selling people stuff (without any real regard to what you were trying to sell them…) it was supposed to AUTOMATICALLY make them like you, trust you and buy from you…ok!!

Next, SMS or TEXT messaging was supposed to be the end all…97%+  response rates i.e. people are curious and open texts more than emails…and THAT was the secret to making sales…uh huh right!!

Ok..then the bold new world was….yep…SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT.  Yep..if somebody put something on Facebook or Instagram or Linkedin or a blog  or wherever…. that was supposed to make us  engage with it more and like it and you more….YEAH RIGHT!!

First of all…nobody who’s successful spends much time on social media…we’re out in the world doin stuff!!      The people who are on social media are people trying to sell us stuff….yeah dammit I said it!!

                        There Is Only ONE Magic Bullet…

And it ain’t (yeah I said ain’t!!)

–email
–autoresponder follow up
-SMS
-social media…

or ANY type of media.

The ‘magic bullet’ of business and human interaction of ALL types for that matter is ….

PROVIDING VALUE 

If you understand your audience well enough to know what keeps them up at night, what they desperately want…..

and you give them what they desperately want….

People will read your letters, emails, videos or whatever.  But if you’re a horse’s arse and offer nothing of value in your emails, videos and social media posts but more emails, videos and social media posts…THE MEDIA WON’T MATTER…AND NEVER WILL

If I want a Porshe 911 sports car and you keep offering me a family minivan…will your social media posts matter one bit???   NOPE!!

Engagement comes from offering somebody something THEY want…not something you want to give them..PERIOD…END OF STORY!!

Sending lame videos day after day after day without providing solutions to what your prospects want irritates your audience and is ultimately a waste of your time.

So save your shekels..you don’t need the latest course, high priced coaching, social media video software or whatever……

The only magic bullet there is and will ever be is….

Working hard at knowing what your target market desperately wants…..And giving it to them!!

I don’t know about you…but I sure feel better now!!!

Remember…..
“Things don’t get better with neglect….”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder-Founder/CEO Business Collective

 

 

 

 

What Is The ‘Tax Never’ Bucket ?

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Happy Tax Filing Day Everyone….
(Of course not business owners who had to file last month…)

Kevin Pritchett here with the third in my ‘The 3 Tax Bucket’s Series.

Previously I explained the ‘Tax Now‘ and ‘Tax Later‘ buckets and showed how each is designed to suck your hard earned money from you like a vacuum cleaner.  Today, I’m going to talk about the realm where you want to place as much of your assets as possible…..

‘The ‘Tax Never’ Bucket

I’ll bet 9 out of 10 of you had no idea there was even a ‘Tax Never’ bucket!!!  Well there is….and in fact there are 2 different ways to get there.

Roth IRA
The Roth IRA is a special IRA or retirement account where your money grows tax deferred and then when you take your money out …YOU ACTUALLY PAY NO TAX!!!  Yep…a true TAX FREE realm.

There’s some carve outs…of course…its the government!!

Carve out #1: Income Limits

Specifically,  if you make over a certain amount of income you don’t qualify for the Roth.  If you make less than the maximum income amount you may be eligible for a partial contribution.

A “full contribution” for 2017 and 2018 is $5,500. And if you’re 50 or older, it’s $6,500 because the IRS lets you contribute an additional $1,000. This is called a “catch-up” contribution.

If you qualify for a partial contribution, your financial advisor can help you determine how much you can contribute.

Carve out #2:  Contribution Limits
$6500 is the most you can contribute to a ROTH IRA in 2017 and 2018.   Hard to build up a large portfolio with only $6500 ($5500) per year….THAT’S THE POINT MY FRIENDS.  The government does not want you to build up a big TAX FREE next egg!!.  They want their tax.

But there IS a powerful, super conservative, legal, tried and true technique to build up as big a true TAX FREE income stream as you desire and place as much money in this strategy as you desire….stay tuned tomorrow!!

Remember…..
“Things don’t get better with neglect….”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder-The Founder/CEO Business Owners Collective (FBOC)

P.S.  If you just can’t wait and want all the details on how
to achieve true TAX FREE income, put your email
in the box to the right.

So Paying Taxes May NOT Be Inevitable After All!

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Hey Kevin Pritchett here:
You’ve heard the old saying…

‘2 Things In Life Are Certain…Death and Taxes’

Well it appears that old saying is only HALF right…    There is a safe, legal, tried and true strategy for receiving TAX FREE income.   First, a little background on how we’ve ALL be suckered punched!!

The 3 Tax Buckets
 To keep things simple, there are 3 main ways your money can be taxes…

1.  The ‘Tax Now’ Bucket.
‘Tax Now’ category…otherwise known in tax parlance as ‘ORDINARY INCOME’..the highest tax rate there is.

This is money that is taxed immediately upon and and in most cases even BEFORE you receive it. Examples of ‘Tax Now’ money include:
-current W-2 wages
-bank CD income (outside of an IRA or 401k)

‘You’ll NEVER Accumulate Wealth in ‘Tax Now’
This category should be most familiar those of you who have a regular job.   Uncle Sam (and your state tax agency) take their money even before you get yours…and you get what’s left.   You want to remove as much as possible from this category as fast as you can.

This tax categorization is the main reason (in addition to wealth accumulation) we all became business owners.  The extent to which you can minimize exposure to this ‘Tax Now’ category is the extent to which you will accelerate your wealth accumulation and advance yourself toward TAX FREE income status

Tax Free Income Plans
    When you know the tax traps and how to avoid them, you truly can exclude almost all of your wealth from taxes.  In fact I have clients who I have created TAX FREE income plans who receive $50,000, $100,000 or more in TAX FREE income every year and will receive it for the rest of their lives.

Tomorrow I’ll unpact the second of the 3 Tax Buckets…the Tax Later Bucket.

“Remember,things don’t get better with neglect…”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Law Office of Kevin Pritchett
JPI Ventures LLC
Founder- The Founder/CEO Business Collective (FBOC)

P.S.  If you just can’t wait put your email in the box to the right and receive my 7 part Business Owner Tax Free Income Special Report and Videos in your email inbox immediately.

 

 

Kevin’s Rule Number 3

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Hey Kevin Pritchett here

Kevin’s Rule Number 3
‘Only Deal With People Who Want To Deal With You.  If They DON’T, The Reasons Don’t Matter

Now just stop and think about this rule for a moment…..
Makes incredibly good sense doesn’t it?  Too many times business owners fret over ‘the one that got away’ or ‘why didn’t he/she sign the deal?”

Now for sure, honest critique and evaluation of your sales processes are absolutely important in correcting problems and seeing where you could do better.

The Reasons They Say’No’ Don’t Matter…Seriously!!

Through bitter experience I have learned that the customer that doesn’t choose me, for whatever reason, by definition is NOT the RIGHT customer for my business…I hope you get this!!

Unfortunately, most business owners don’t.  They  dwell on the failure to gain that WRONG customer  much more and with much more energy than they think about ways to attract the RIGHT customer…I hope you get this too!!

The RIGHT Customer

The RIGHT customer is the person who

  1. Has a problem/need they are ready to solve NOW
  2. Appreciates that you have the solution they seek
  3. Is ready, willing and able to move forward with you NOW.

If for whatever reason someone is NOT every one of those 3 points above that prospect is NOT the right customer for you and the reasons why they are not are not in your control and shouldn’t be of concern to you.

This Is Where Most Mess Up….

Your big mistake is worrying about why Fred didn’t sign your contract .  FORGET WHY FRED DIDN’T DO BUSINESS…

Instead, continue to follow up with that FREEDA, preferably in an automated fashion, that allows you to stay  in front of that prospect or ‘top of mind’ until they ARE ready, willing and able to do business with you NOW.   This is where most business owners mess up…they don’t follow up the right way.

There’s A Right Way And  Wrong Way To Follow Up

And why don’t you follow up…it sucks that’s why.  Let me clarify a bit…. It sucks because  in many cases you’ve been brainwashed into believing ‘effective follow up’ consists of:

–badgering the prospect on the phone,
–leaving endless voicemails and texts, and now facebook
messages….all in the vain attempt to break through…
–sending expensive and useless direct(JUNK) mail

Listen Up And Listen Good….
If someone doesn’t want to deal with you, all the phone calls and texts and facebook messages in the world won’t change that!!!

Instead:
–Discover who you your target market is
–Discover what they desperately want/problem they have
–Offer to solve it
–Stay in front of them (using automated follow up and
appointment setting tools) with your targeted solution to their
searing pain…and over time the ones who want to do business
with you will.

Stop Worrying About The Ones Who Say No

Take-home message, STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHY SOMEONE WON’T DO BUSINESS WITH YOU AND START FINDING THE ONES WHO WILL.

In future posts I’ll show you how to make a FORTUNE from the ones who say ‘No’ (without spending one second worrying about why they said ‘No’..how bout that!!!)

Remember…..
“Things don’t get better with neglect…..”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder-Founders/CEO Business Collective (FBOC)
JPI Ventures LLC-Private Equity
Managing Director

P.S. Starting next week, on the ( CLICK HERE TO JOIN FBOC Linkedin Group, I’m beginning my much anticipated series entitled:
How To Create Tax Free Income For Life…

Or you can leave your email in the box to the right to start receiving the series….

How To Create A Business Plan That Gets You Money

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Hey Kevin Pritchett here:

Forget All The Crap You’ve Been Taught…Seriously!

As the Managing Director of a Private Equity Fund and as a business attorney who has represented high net worth business owners and gets pitches and business plans presented to me  for over 30 years…..

I can tell you there’s a bunch of crap floating around about how to REALLY raise money using business plans, pitches and such.

The truth is:

–the format of the business plan/pitch is NOT the critical issue

–the ‘credentials or firm’ of the person/entity does NOT make as much difference as people would have you believe…

-Here’s what DOES matter a TON

The 4 ‘No B.S’ Business Plan Components

1.How Much Money Do You Want?
I can’t tell you how many times people approach my Venture Capital firm or my law firm wanting to ‘pitch’ their plan…but they NEVER make clear how much money they want!!

You must make clear up front early how much funding you’re seeking and…DON’T MAKE ME ASK YOU HOW MUCH MONEY YOU WANT…or worse..don’t have me ask you and you don’t know or you say ‘it depends…WRONG WRONG WRONG.

2.  How Much Money Are You Going To Give Me?
“What’s In It For Me‘ applies to venture fund sponsors like it does for ALL human beings…you MUST tell me how much money you are promising in exchange for the investment..again…upfront…early.  Don’t make me guess or wonder what my return will be…a kiss of death to any pitch…’ask me how I know..and how many pitches I toss in the trashcan?!!

3.  When Am I Going To Get Paid?
After your ‘better mousetrap’ is completed and you ‘rock the world’ how soon are you going to pay me? As an potential investor, I must know upfront and as early as possible how soon I’m gonna get paid.  It can be short or long as fits the investment program,…but it MUST be clearly stated and as early as possible in your presentation. Get the themes here….

4.  How Likely Is It That You Will Pay Me What And When You’ve Promised?
This is the section where you put your operators profiles, spreadsheets and operational guidelines, market niche, intellectual property uniqueness, other barriers to entry for competitors, sales forecasts yada, yada, yada.

Bottom line here though, after all the song and dance,  you MUST convince me that everything you promised me (or most of it at least LOL) is logical and is likely to occur. Proof trumps puff and the more sales examples to act as your ‘proof of concept’ the better.

Ideally you can show a track record of sales successes or performance successes that then can be ramped up by the investment you’re seeking.  Alternatively, its the ‘kiss of death’ when someone asks me for money for something that hasn’t been tested with sales…think Mark Cuban’s questions on Shark Tank..”how much have you sold?”

Granted there are some early stage applications where the proposed plan is groundbreaking, never been done before…mostly in the tech space.  That’s fine but you STILL must connect all the dots and show how your proposed product fills a void, solves a pressing problem with a huge market, etc.

Even with first impression, first in space applications…proof trumps puff!!

The Bottom Line
So the form of your business plan software, your damn logo, your ‘Steve Jobe-seque- ‘Apple-like’ cool-ass presentation style matters far, far less than your business proposal containing substantive components containing the information above.

Hope this helps…it sure is the TRUTH!!

“Remember..Things Don’t Get Better With Neglect…..

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder-Founders/CEO Business Collective
www.KevinPLaw.com
JPI Ventures LLC
www.JPIVentures.com

Do ‘Business Texts’ Irritate You?

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Ok…I REALLY should be writing today about Business Owner tax free income strategies (given its the day after business tax filing deadline…) but I’ve got another ‘stone in my shoe’ to share first.  Let me ask you a question…

DO BUSINESS TEXTS IRRITATE YOU?

They irritate me and let me tell you why…..
For YEARS I never understood the whole point of texts..just pick up the phone and call me already!!!

Then EVERYBODY started texting as the standard way to communicate with me…so much so that it seems NOBODY answers the phone now!!!

The thing that irritates me about texts (and why the promoters of texting are pushing it so) is because texts are IMMEDIATE.

By that I mean, we all immediately read a text and presumably immediately act on it….unlike email now that can sit for hours and sometimes days without opening and response.

But here’s why texting in the business area irritates me ( if you’re a regular reader of my feed, you’ll notice how a BUNCH of stuff irritates me…I digress!!)

JUST BECAUSE YOU TEXT ME DOESN’T AUTOMATICALLY MEAN I’M REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO YOU!!

Isn’t the pace of our business world fast enough?
In MY world of working with Founders and CEOs and their business succession, tax planning, income planning and estate planning issues… I MUST have a clear, thorough audit trail of communication…and text snippets just don’t cut it.

But more to my own personal point I don’t care for a perfect stranger or even a business client expecting me to stop EVERYTHING I’m doing at whatever time of the day or night and respond to him or her…not going to happen!!

So here’s my ‘take home’ message for you business types…

text your wife, significant other, child or buddy to let them know you’re home safe, on your way, thinking of them,…..

But for your business associations….

PICK UP THE PHONE!!

Remember…
“Things don’t get better with neglect…..”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder The Founders/CEO Business Owners Collective (FBOC)

P.S.  I’m starting a series on TAX FREE Income Planning for the members of my Founders/CEOs group.  To receive the series CLICK HERE.

 

These 3 Things NEVER Lie!

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The 3 Things  That NEVER Lie…

  1.  The Scale
  2. Your Mirror
  3. Your Bank Account

The Scale
You eat Doritos, donuts and Frappachinos all day every day but just can’t figure out why you can’t lose weight….RIIIIGHT!!

Guys, suck in their guts and ladies well, I don’t even want to start to describe what YOU do…smaller sizes, tight jeans…you know what you do!!!

But the great truth teller is the scale.  You either carry more weight than you should or you don’t…and the scale tells the truth!!

The Mirror
You all know the famous question..
“Do these pants make my butt look big?”
A bachelor will say…YEP
A married guy will lie…and say ‘oh no dear.”

Guys will stand sideways, and try to hide the protruding gut…
But here again, the great truth teller is the mirror..look and see what REALLY is.

Your Bank Account
Now before you all go ‘PC’ and rant on about how money is NOT the measure of all things and such…I’m NOT repeat NOT saying money is the measure of all things.

But  for BUSINESS OWNERS, the bank account ABSOLUTELY IS a measuring stick to how you’re doing in your business.

You can have all the fancy- pants branding, and social media presence and web site opt in and Search Engine Optimization prowess you want…..but at the end of the day if you don’t have more money in your business and personal bank account than you did the week, month and year before…SOMETHING’S WRONG AND NEEDS TO BE FIXED.

Why I’m Ranting About This Right Now

And why am I ranting on about this right now??
I just completed my 2017 tax returns for all my businesses (they’re due March 15 sports fans!!!) and the monthly and yearly income and expense compilations are EXTREMELY REVEALING.

I see EXACTLY where I failed and where I need work.  It should NOT have come as a surprise but it did…because I was in denial about certain projects and businesses  However. the the numbers on my balance sheet and the money NOT in my bank account for those businesses doesn’t lie.

Tell yourself the truth…always.  It is WAY easier in the long run!!

“Remember…things don’t get better with neglect.”

Kevin Pritchett
Founder-Founders/CEO Business Owner Collective FBOC
P.S.  If you want to join the sharpest CEOs and business owners  in a no holds barred community..CLICK HERE

Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Work Today…

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Funny thing happened on the way to work this morning…
I was searching the major news feeds in order to come up with a business topic to write about…you know …valuable business content that would help my business clients, colleagues and Founders/CEO Business Collective Members????

After about 20 pages and countless posts all that came up was crap about Donald Trump’s alleged affair with Stormy Daniels, what White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders did or didn’t say about it….

Ok..there were some stories about a proposed gun bill ban in Florida..but even then the coverage of it was less about the content of the proposed bill than it was about politics, gossip and nonesense.

Here’s the point of my rant…..

As business owners/Founders/CEOs you MUST and I mean MUST ignore the nonsense, focus on what’s important to your business and leave the rest behind…WAY BEHIND!!

Case in point….

While all this  Stormy Daniels crap is floating in the media( don’t get me wrong its BEYOND awful that this discussion even has to occur about the President of the United States…) …

–brand new tariffs are being put in place on steel and aluminum
–new tax laws will have a SIGNIFICANT impact on business tax
rates..if you know how to apply the new laws and regulations
–enormous opportunities are now opening up that will literally
obliterate certain industries and create brand ones

You gotta keep your eye on the ball….
and don’t become distracted!!

“Remember….things don’t get better with neglect..they get worse!”

Kevin Pritchett, Esq
Founder-The Founder/CEO Business Owners Collective (FBOC)
Managing Director-JPI Ventures LLC; Private Equity

P.S. Click Here To Connect With Me On Linkedin