In Search Of Heroes Program

July 23, 2005

"Jason Potash's In Search Of Heroes Interview Was Amazing" by Ralph Zuranski

Jason Potash is one of the most amazing people I have met at the internet conferences. Click Here to listen to his words of wisdom. He actually looks like a young Clark Kent. He produces ezine article submission training programs that are the best in the industry. He looks and acts like a hero in every sense of the word.

Recently he published an expose about the status of internet marketing. It is well worth your time to read this valuable information by clicking here. His E-zine Announcer is on the cutting edge of perfection. It really works. I use it to submit articles to the different E-zines to increase traffic to my websites.

If you want to learn how real heroes conduct their lives and their thought process, this is a must hear interview. You will be happy and inspired when you listen to one of the indiviudals with the highest integrity on the internet.

Posted by isoh at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2005

"Perry Marshall's In Search Of Heroes Interview Was Incredible" by Ralph Zuranski

Click Here to listen to Perry's In Search Of Heroes interview.

Perry Marshall is an author, speaker and consultant in Chicago. He is known as "The Wizard of Google AdWords" and is one of the world's leading specialists on buying search engine traffic. His company, Perry S. Marshall & Associates, consults both online and brick-and-mortar companies on generating sales leads, web traffic, and getting maximum advertising results.

Prior to his consulting career, he helped grow a tech company in Chicago from $200,000 to $4 million sales in four years, and sold it to a public company for 18 million dollars.

Like direct marketing pioneer Claude Hopkins, Perry has both an engineering degree and a love for persuasive copywriting. He's published dozens of articles on sales, marketing and technology, and his books include Guerilla Marketing for Hi-Tech Sales People and The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords.

He’s spoken at conferences around the world and consulted in dozens of industries, from computer hardware and software to high-end consulting, from health & fitness to corporate finance.

Perry Marshall is a Google marketing expert and spoke at Armand Morin's Big Seminar Series and Carl Galletti's Internet Marketing Super Conference.

The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords

Google has a new system that makes it possible, for the first time in the history of the world, to deposit five bucks, write a couple of ads, and instantly get access to over 100 million people - in less than 10 minutes.

It's called Google AdWords and it's hot. In fact it may be the first and best thing to do to get traffic to your site. But it's not always as easy as I just made it sound - AdWords has some nuances, and most people have a rough time at first.

Perry Marshall has written a very helpful e-course called "5 days to success with Google AdWords" and there's no charge for it. You can find out about it here.

The Definitive Guide to Writing & Promoting White Papers

If you sell any kind of complex service, technology or sophisticated product, a White Paper is the best way to educate your customers about that technology.

You can use a white paper to build your credibility, get free exposure in the press, attract new customers, and drive new technology into change-resistant, conservative markets.

Most white papers are either too technical (boring) or too commercial (thin and cheesy) - but Perry Marshall has written a guide that shows you how to strike the perfect balance.

But what's most important of all, though, is promoting and publicizing your white paper - because the best white paper in the world is no good unless somebody reads it!

How to sell my Marketing Toolkit for Hi-Tech Sales

Most sales people spend all day dialing for dollars, chasing prospects who are mentally if not physically backing away from them, and they waste most of their time chasing deals instead of closing them.

At the same time, most companies spend all kinds of money on advertising and don't get nearly enough bang for their buck.

Perry Marshall's "Guerilla Marketing for Hi-Tech Sales People" is an information-packed audio CD that discusses 21 principles that you can use to eliminate cold prospecting and wasted advertising dollars in today's fiercely competitive B2B marketplace. You can get your copy here.

Posted by isoh at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2005

"Richard Merbler's In Search Of Health Heroes Interview Is Thoughtful and Insightful" by Ralph Zuranski

Richard Merbler has been a dear friend for a long time. He is one of the top rolfers in the world today. He transformed my life for the better after I was injured when I was crushed between two elevator doors that closed prematurely. Click Here to hear his interview.

Rolfing works with connective tissue, which forms a web-like structure throughout the body.

From superficial to very deep layers at the core of the body. Connective tissue, or fascia, envelops every structure in the body, all the muscles, bones, nerves, blood vessels and internal organs. Because of injury, stress, illness, repetitive use or simply the aging process, this tissue will shorten, thicken, become more rigid and twist according to the pattern of strain to which the body is subjected.

Rolfing works to release the restrictions, strains and adhesions that create pain, inflexibility and general discomfort and fatigue.

Then, the body is a freer and more balanced and there is a sense of inner strength because the body is working as a whole rather than disjointed segments. After Rolfing, there is a sense of aliveness. Energy levels usually increase. Daily chores simply take a lot less effort. Body parts are working together rather than against each other. (think of a car performance after alignment and tune-ups.)

Spirits have been known to soar after Rolfing.

There is pure joy and delight as we move toward greater integrity of body, mind and spirits as we merge with ourselves, that blending is a true homecoming.

You can learn more about rolfing by Clicking Here.

Posted by isoh at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2005

"Imagine What It Would Be Like To Work With Someone Like Frank Garon Who You Know, Love and Trust And Who Treats You Like Family?" by Ralph Zuranski

Frank Garon Is a Very Successful Internet Pioneer Who Quickly Learned That Establishing a Good Personal Relationship With Your Newsletter Subscribers Is the Pathway To Great Riches and Emotional Fulfillment
 
His In Search Of Heroes interview was amazing.

Ralph: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski. I’m on the phone with Frank Garon. He’s an outspoken webmaster of the widely successful Internet Cash Planet. He is a former bankrupt truck driver and he pulls no punches about what you need to know right now to make your internet business a success.
 
Frank treats his readers like family, going out of his way to help them any way he can. He’s got a great newsletter and I’ve been a subscriber for a long time. It’s just like conversing with a friend. I’ve had the opportunity to listen to Frank at a number of different seminars that I’ve taken photos at.
 
Frank really lays it on the line and tells people in a straightforward simple way on what they need to do to be successful on the internet. How are you doing today, Frank?
 
Frank: Hey Ralph, I’m doing great. Thanks for having me here and I’m looking forward to help get the message out to your people.
 
Ralph: I really appreciate you taking your valuable time to answer the Hero questions. I wanted to ask you the first one. What is your definition of heroism?
 
Frank: I probably have two different definitions. One, heroism would be anybody that does the right thing under any circumstances without seeking any reward, just because it’s the right thing to do. In today’s day and age, it is kind of heroic when people stay the course and do the right thing without any gain or without anybody watching them.
 
I think that is heroic, because day to day we face challenges that test our spirit, our strength, and in reality, our soul. And every time each one of us comes back with a great way to treat another person or the right thing to do, even if it causes us a little bit of trouble to do it, I think that is something to be celebrated and recognized in some way as heroism.
 
The second way I would define heroism is anybody that overcomes adversity in their lives and remains positive and optimistic. I’d also like to combine that with somebody that – I mean obviously, the standard definition of heroism is somebody that lays down their life or puts their life in jeopardy to help or save somebody else.

So I don’t know if that is two and half definitions, Ralph, or three, but it’s a little bit more than the two I promised.
 
Ralph: Yeah, well that really covers the spectrum of heroism. Did you ever create a secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with life’s difficulties?
 
Frank: I guess one way of answering that is to say my grandmother on my mom’s side was my hero, my role model in life. She raised a total of five kids on her own. She had two husbands. The first one got stabbed to death in front of her. The second one was a drunken bum. And this was in the forties, going into the fifties that she had to deal with all this.
 
She kept the family together. She kept a house. She kept the kids together. One daughter died tragically. Another son died and a third son has been institutionalized most of his adult life. Yet, she always smiled. She always had a kind word. She never really complained, even though she had more reason to complain than a hundred other people.
 
She was awesome to her grandkids. She was supportive and understanding right up until the bitter end. So her and maybe to a little lesser extent, my grandparents on my dad’s side - those are my heroes. I prefer real life heroes rather than sports figures or Hollywood heroes or whatever.

Did you ever create a secret hero inside your mind? A lot of times people go through difficulties in their lives and they develop what I call a right brain hero or character inside their brain that’s always encouraging them and telling them that they can be successful and overcome difficult obstacles that everybody has to face.
 
Frank: I would have to say I haven’t done it. My conscious mind is too busy yelling at me to keep me on track. There’s probably not room for an imaginary friend in my brain right now.
 
Ralph: [Laughter] Well, what is your perspective on goodness, ethics, and moral behavior?

Frank: I’m a big fan of all three. I can’t get enough of them. How would we define that? Well, my perspective is the right thing to do IS the right thing to do, and that’s why they call it that. It is the right thing to do. I can only worry about myself and where I’m headed and what I’m teaching my two kids.
 
My son is four and half. My daughter’s nineteen. My thing is no matter how big I am on the internet, no matter how much money I make, no matter where I go business-wise, none of it matters if I’m not good and kind, if I don’t have ethics, if I don’t conduct myself morally. I think my perspective is I try to live everyday with keeping that in the forefront of my mind.
 
I wish I could say I do a better job at that than I’m currently doing. We should always seek to strive to do better. But I’m concerned about it and I want to live it. Like I say, I know what I’m supposed to be doing. My view is if you know it’s the right thing to do, then you should be moving towards that and working towards that at all times.
 
I guess that’s the best way for me to define the way I view myself. And I do. I hold myself responsible. I hold myself accountable, not only to myself, but to God. I’m going to be pretty disappointed if I fall over dead tomorrow and I get yelled at for not doing as good as I could. I’m always looking to do better and I’m honest.
 
I’m honest. I’m not perfect. I am fallible. I do need improvement and that’s why I really don’t judge other people. I guess that’s why probably I’m able to treat my readers so good, because I know what I feel and I know what I go through. And maybe I have a few extra breaks.
 
Thank God for the internet. I’m well connected. I have a mind for business. I’m home full-time. People come to me with opportunities. So I’m able to take advantage of things that maybe in some ways the average person can’t.
 
So I figure if I’m having challenges and problems and obstacles in life, then people that are just getting to where I’m getting or not quite there yet, must have even more. Again, why not have compassion and understanding for them.
 
Plus, on top of it, getting at a spiritual mode and getting in a capitalist mode. Quite frankly, if I don’t treat everybody else right, they have no reason to do business with me. As we spoke privately before this call, I’m here for the money. I am here for the money.

I’m here to get a few million in the bank; take care of my kids; make sure that I’m set for life. And then I’m off to do charity work, volunteer work, and philanthropic work. That’s where my heart’s called. That’s where my I think my true fulfillment in life is going to lie and I definitely feel called to it.
 
I need cash in order to be able to do that. How you get cash is by serving other people and doing the right thing. So, even if it didn’t come naturally for me, which thank goodness it does, from a business standpoint, it just makes a lot of sense.
 
Ralph: Boy, that’s so true. What principles are you willing to sacrifice your life for? I know that there’s a real question about real heroism. Like somebody, there’s a burning building and just on the sake of adrenalin, they race into the burning building and either die or pull somebody out.
 
But then there’s the other idea of sacrificing your life for a principle or sacrificing your life for somebody that’s sick in your family. What do you think about that?
 
Frank: I guess I won’t know until I’m tested. And we could actually do a whole call on that. Don’t ask me how I know, Ralph, but I just know. On a very deep level, at some point in my life, I’m going to be called accountable for protecting or saving somebody that could die without my help.
 
And I don’t know if it’s car accident, plane crash, burning building, mugging, I don’t even know. I just know that at some point I am going to be called accountable for that. And I’m going to have to make a decision at that moment in time.
 
And at that moment in time, my character, all my talking, all my telling other people what’s the good thing to do and how they should do it, and all my truth about how I think I’m trying to raise my kids is going to be called into account. And that’s where the real tire is going to hit the real road.
 
So the answer is I won’t know until I get there. I like to believe I would lay it down for my fellow man, even if I didn’t know them. If they were in peril, I don’t think, Ralph, I could walk away from a burning building knowing that people were inside of it.
 
When I drove a truck, I drove over a million miles commercially. I saw accidents routinely. There were several that happened right in front of me that I did stop at to help and so forth. Certainly, my kids – I mean I’d die this second if it meant having my kids safe and protected. I mean that’s automatic.

That’s the most primitive sort of brain function I have is to protect my kids, and to protect my views and beliefs. I mean, I don’t know. I’m pretty opinionated. I never did back down as a kid from somebody else that said, “You’re stupid,” or “You’re crazy,” or “This won’t work,” or “That can’t work.” I guess one way of saying it is that there’s not really a lot that I’m afraid of.
 
I guess we’ll see what happens when it happens, but there’s not a lot I’m worried about. I think if anything, I’m worried about dying before I’ve fulfilled what I’m supposed to do, which is really helping other people, really making a difference, through, like I say, volunteer work and so forth. That and my kids getting hurt, are probably the only two things that I’m afraid of.
 
The only third thing would be if they stop making pizza and vanilla ice cream. That would probably have me wanting to move to another planet, Ralph. Those are two of my staple foods, I’m happy to say.
 
Ralph: You’ve had some real ups and downs in your life. What was the lowest point in your life and how did you change your life path to one of victory over the obstacles?
 
Frank: Well, you know what, Ralph? Who’s to say that I’m not at the lowest point in my life right now? If I was able to look back and look at my entire life history and how the story ends, that’s one way I look at it.
 
I like to look at it as I’m not in as good of shape and I’m not as happy and I’m not as healthy and well-rounded and successful as I am going to be tomorrow. Because, like I say, I try to work on continuous improvement.
 
On the other hand, it is also important to know where I came from. I think going bankrupt was pretty low. That was pretty low. I think when my grandmother on my dad’s side died on Christmas day 1980 – that was pretty low.
 
I think choosing to leave my previous marriage, knowing that I would never raise (then Frankie wasn’t even two years old), knowing that the decision that I was making that was “best” for all of us, was a decision that would have me not under the same roof as him to love him and protect him and kiss him goodnight every night.
 
I’d honestly have to say that that one right there, now that I think about it, that was a low point. There’s not too much lower than you can get, than saying, “Alright, this relationship is very unhealthy. If I stay, it’s going to destroy my son, too. Teach him bitterness, and anger, and spite, and fighting and things like that. So I’ll just be a man about it and leave, so he can live a better life.”

I’ve got to say, that was not a good day, Ralph. I laid on the floor and I cried once my ex-wife and my son drove away. I felt like my world ended. I would still make that decision again at that moment in time. That would be my answer.
 
Ralph: How did you recover from that? That’s pretty devastating when your family falls apart and your son leaves. I think that our family and our friends, that’s where the greatest joys and sorrows of our life are.
 
Frank: From your mouth to God’s ears, Ralph.
 
Ralph: So how did you recover? Was there anybody that helped you, or did God help you, or positive thinking? Because everybody goes through situations like that, I don’t know anybody that isn’t having difficulties in some relationships in their lives. And they’re always questioning what’s going on in their lives. What did you do?
 
Frank: To be honest with you, I just worked through it. I just worked through it. I mean my heart still hurts, but the show goes on. The weird thing about things like that is every day that goes by, your heart recovers even if it’s almost immeasurable, to a very, very small extent, your heart recovers and you are able to move on.
 
I guess it just happens one day at a time. Like now, when he still comes out for the weekend. I get him for a full weekend, now that he’s older. He likes to do stuff. And I’ll tell you what – I still cry after I drop him off at his mom’s. I mean, that’s my kid, that’s my blood. I made 50% of him. I’m 50% responsible for the rest of his life.
 
And to just drop him off. I mean, his mom, Marie, she’s a wonderful mom. She’s devoted her life to him. I don’t have anything but good things to say about her. But at the same point, not being there, I don’t care who’s in charge of him. I don’t care if God’s in charge of him while I’m not there; you’re still going to worry about it. That’s what parents do.
 
Ralph: That’s true.
 
Frank: That’s the only way I can put it. And on top of that, I’ve got a nineteen year old that’s going into her second year of college. She’s a thousand miles away down in Florida. She’s gorgeous, five eight, tall, gorgeous body, legs that go on forever.

And I’m like, “Oh, great. I’ve got a supermodel for a daughter.” And here she is – a thousand miles away. Don’t know who she’s with. Don’t know who’s got designs on her. But all I can do is trust her.
 
Come to think of it, Ralph, my kids stress me. They’re supposed to be fun – yeah! I don’t know what happened there.
 
Ralph: I think probably every parent can make that statement.
 
Frank: They’re supposed to get easier as they grow up. The nineteen year old has me more stressed than the four and a half year old. He’s a walk in the park compared to that one.
 
Ralph: The only thing I can tell you for sure is your kids will always be with you, no matter what age you are.
 
Frank: This call is bringing me down, Ralph. Suddenly, I want my mommy. I don’t know what just happened.
 
Ralph: What’s your dream or vision that sets the course of your life? Is it the idea of generating enough income so that you can work philanthropically full-time by helping others?
 
Frank: Oh, absolutely. I guess threefold. Number one, my dream would be to finally get to some point of homeostasis where I feel like I’ve gotten the whole ‘kindness’ and ‘do unto others’ and ‘Golden Rule’ and ‘do the right thing’ down to a science.
 
In other words, it’s automatic. I have to say that right now I still walk in this world, so I’m definitely not perfect. I would absolutely like to do better. So that would be number one. I’d love to get to that point.
 
Number two is I would like to get to the point in a relationship where it was healthy and loving and productive and everything was talked out and dealt with honestly and openly, rather than via yelling and anger, or even be emotionally shutting down. To me that can be just as deadly.

Then the third thing would be to have that kind of money where I’ve got millions in the bank and I can just cut a check for some kid in the inner city that’s getting good grades, but he needs to get out of the hood. Or there’s a village in Paraguay that just got washed away in a mudslide. I’d like to cut the check and say, “Here people. Do what needs to be done.”
 
I think out of everything, being able to do that would probably take care of the other stuff. If you’re in a position to give like that, I think the universe is going to give back to you and you’ll reap so much more than you give. If I could only pick one of the three, I think it would be serving other people.
 
Really, without that, you could be Simon Legree and what do you have? I’ve been alone at Christmas and I had a few options. I chose to be alone. Even by choice, that stinks. I would never want to be in a position where money meant more to me than people.
 
On the other hand, you know me. You know I’m a capitalist. It takes money to make money and it takes money to make changes. I’m absolutely not money adverse. And I don’t particularly want to be poor, and I hope I’m never poor. I like being comfortable just like the next person.
 
I guess it’s the serving and the wanting to help people. If that costs me money to be able to do that, hopefully I’ll be okay with that fact if it ever hits that point.
 
Ralph: Now, everybody experiences setbacks and misfortunes and makes mistakes in their lives. How important is it to have a positive view of those things?
 
Frank: I might be the wrong person to ask, Ralph, because sometimes I still get down and frustrated.
  
Frank: Just when it rains, now it’s going to start pouring awesome. Can’t I get a break here? I don’t know that I’m the most qualified to [inaudible]
 
Ralph: How about being an optimist? What do you think about being an optimist?

Frank: I can tell you what I’d like to do and what I do do sometimes. It is to keep moving, keep trying, and you only fail when you quit. That much I can honestly say. You only fail when you quit. I’ve gone bankrupt. I’ve had tax issues due to the marriage that are only now being settled, and still aren’t totally settled.
 
There are just things that happen. My thing is that if I quit now, number one that is pretty stupid because I don’t know how the story ends. Number two, it’s like, well I came this far, why would I bail now? Its decent now, but I want to get to great.
 
So quitting now, I would have had a decent life. By keeping on moving, I have every chance of having a great life. And again, I don’t mean that in a selfish way. I’m just being honest. And I define great as being a fulfillment of the goals that I seek to achieve.
 
So I’m just like, “Okay, that kind of stinks.” I’m using words you can use in public here. But then I just keep going. I’m like a human cockroach. You’re not going to kill me. You’re not going to keep my down. Drop a thousand bombs on me, I might need to recover a little bit, but I am not going down and staying down.
 
Personally, I refuse to anymore. I refuse to.
 
Ralph: Well, you changed to a lot of different paths in your life, in going from truck driver to MLM to the internet, and to an assortment of all the different business opportunities that are out there. Does it take a lot of courage to pursue new ideas and new business opportunities?
 
Frank: I would imagine in some circumstances it does. However, truth be told in my case, most of it was for capitalistic reasons. In other words, when I left truck driving and got into network marketing [inaudible] that was the first arena that I dabbled in. I still do have a residual income from that.
 
Quite frankly, it was for capitalistic reasons and the fact that here was a way to get out of a job that I was going to wind up strangling my boss at if I stayed there. I wish I could say that took courage, but maybe another way of saying it was it took faith. I’ve always kind of just laughed.
 
Maybe that’s a rhetorical statement, or a chicken and egg statement. Does it take courage? Does it take nerve? Does it take bravado? Are they the same thing described, you know worded differently? Is that courage? Is it something on a more primal level? Is it something you don’t think about? Is it your inner voice or something spiritual guiding you?

I guess on that one, I really don’t know, but I definitely knew there was opportunity moving forward. And I definitely knew there was not opportunity staying put. Each time I made a move.
 
There are not many moves I’ve regretted. I would even say that the marriage and the divorce – because if I had never met my ex, I never would have had Frankie. So all the pain that I went through there - If you said to me, “Hey, Frank. You don’t have to go through that pain. Maybe you’ll marry this girl and have a happy family instead, and whatever. But this particular child won’t be born.”
 
Yeah, I guess I’d still go through it again. I honestly wouldn’t even have to think about that. So I tell you all that to say some of it is courage. It has to be courage, because anybody that moves or makes changes has to deal with it courageously on some level. But I want to be up front and say I was also there to make the money.
 
I was also there to make the creature comfort improvements. And I was also there to better myself. Better myself financially.
 
Ralph: So do you think it’s important to have the courage to believe in your dreams, that they will eventually become reality? A lot of times people around you, they try to kill your dreams. They’re sort of locked into where they’re at and it’s just incredibly hard for them to move anywhere.
 
And you have dreams, whether they’re caused by your life being so miserable, you’ve got to make changes or opportunities look so great, you can’t not help but make that change because you want to have a better life. What do you think about that?
 
Frank: I will say I think it takes courage for the average person to dare to dream different dreams and to dare to do better and dare to be stronger and smarter and live a life that most people… I mean 99.9% of the people out there in the world are going to tell you you’re crazy for doing this.
 
The internet is all scam. Network marketing is a pyramid scheme. “What are you? One of those spammers?” “Do you own a porno site?” All the stupid things people say, instead of not saying anything, or instead of saying something supportive.

It takes courage to face all that and to keep moving. That’s one thing I try to keep in mind right now. If I’ve got to be honest, I’m a little bit more stubborn, and I’m a little more opinionated than the average person. At least I feel anyway.
 
When I was driving a tractor trailer, and I’d hand somebody one of my tapes that I was listening to, or whatever, and I’d say, “Here. Check this out. Here’s what I’m doing. Here’s what I’m in to. Here’s what I’m going to do in life.”
 
And they say, “That’s all garbage. None of that works.”
 
I always thought they were the nutty ones and that I was on the right track. I felt bad for them. And that’s the way I thought, but I do need to keep in mind that other people, and the people I deal with in my organization, my newsletter list, my various endeavors, that they may or may not have the resilience and the bravado that I did.
 
It does take courage. What you’re doing is you’re being the one who climbs out of the boiling pot. All these other people are pulling you down and saying, “Stay with us. Don’t rock the boat. You belong here.” That act is courageous.
 
And I’ll say this for the men listening to this, buying another eBook, downloading another product, going to another conference, taking one more swing at it, knowing that you’re going to have to show your wife the credit card bill, that my friend is courageous as well.
 
Ralph: Boy, isn’t that the truth. Everybody is affected by doubts and fears. Some we create on our own and a lot of them are put into our minds by the people around us. How do you overcome your doubts and fears?
 
Frank: Continuous immersion in self-improvement material, combined with surrounding myself with other people that are of a similar mindset. You really do have to leave this world in many ways to move forward with what you want out of life. You literally have to detach and depart and disengage from the “real world,” or I tell people, the civilian world, in order to move your life forward.
 
Your friends mean well, but forget about it. They’re going to say, “Ah, don’t do this. Do that instead. You’re no fun. You’re a party-pooper. All you do is this. Blah, blah, blah, blah.” All those things take inoculation and immunization. If you don’t do that and if you don’t motivate yourself and if you don’t stick with that, it’s never going to happen for you.

I did it. I was very fortunate to find one person in particular, and that’s a fellow by the name of Guy Finley. He can be found at GuyFinley.com. I found him ten years ago, whether it was by accident or by Providence, I don’t know.
 
Listening to his material and to hear that other people thought like me, and to hear that I was on track, and I wasn’t crazy, and that there was another path. There was a path of peace and a path of positive thinking, a path of saying, “No. I don’t accept what other people tell me I need to accept.” I’m not living that life. I can actually design my own life.
 
That was crucial and critical to me. I’ve since found two other extremely helpful things. One is Centerpointe and that’s at Centerpointe.com. And then the third one is Doctor Robert Anthony. I don’t actually have a URL for that one handy.
 
Those three studies, or those three journeys – Guy Finley, Centerpointe and Dr. Robert Anthony – if I took those and the Bible, because for me whether I'm religious or not, I got to say I probably come down right in the middle. I believe in God but I also get angry with Him at times and don’t necessarily always do what I should.
 
I’m not going to tell everybody, “Oh, follow my way. Follow my path religiously.” But I will be honest and say that no matter what you do, if you listen to Guy Finley, Centerpointe, and Dr. Robert Anthony, well, you're, I don’t know, a hedonist, or a Christian, or Protestant, Orthodox Jew, whatever. It does not matter.
 
Listening to this sort of stuff is impartial religiously but there are basic truths that we all need to hear and we all need to live with and we all need to abide by. They can be found, I feel, and I say it humbly and respectfully, in these three bodies of works.
 
They are what have gotten me through. They are the things that I hold myself accountable to because I know deep down they're very true. That’s a little bit deep of an answer, Ralph, but I'm hoping that answer made sense.
 
Ralph: Yeah. It’s important, I think, probably. And what those guys say is, “It’s important to forgive others who upset, offend, and oppose you,” since there are always people that seem to be antagonists in our lives. How important do you think it is to forgive others that offend us?

Frank: Well, let me say that I know it’s important and I know it’s necessary and I also know if you don’t do it, all you're doing is giving yourself a bigger problem by keeping the anger, the rage, and the hurt in your heart. Then, you are hurting the other person that you're holding that grudge or problem against.
 
But, you know Ralph, I like to think of myself as very forgiving but I'm up against a couple things right now where I am hurt, angry, and upset. I got to be honest with you. I know I'm not doing as good a job as I should be doing.
 
I'm just not because I know me enough to feel me inside. I am not doing everything I need to be doing in order to be bettering my life, myself, and my way. I'm just honestly not doing it right now. I'm disappointed in myself, but hey, I'm hurt. What do you want from me?
 
Ralph: That’s true. It’s a daily challenge I think, even a moment-by-moment challenge, just to do the right thing. Some days, it’s just overwhelming. There’s just nothing you can do. No amount of prayer, positive thinking, or anything can just pull you out of the doldrums. The good thing is that life will change.
 
Frank: That is true. I kind of backed myself into a bit of a corner here. I'm probably just as frustrated at myself as anybody else because I'm also not a hypocrite. I think we have free will and I’ll say this:
 
We all would do a lot better if we just held ourselves accountable for the decisions that we make and say, “Yeah, you know what, that was a dumb decision. I won't do it again. But I've learned from it and I'm going to love myself enough to forgive myself.”
 
I can tell you this. I'm a million times better at forgiving other people than I am forgiving myself. I still beat myself up over things I did twenty years ago. I guarantee you that’s had a bad effect on my life.
 
Again, Ralph, I tell people this because I am not a hypocrite like that. You read on my introduction that I am right up front. I'm very direct with people and I tell people like it is. I think a lot of us could learn to forgive other people better.
 
I think probably our biggest problem is we don’t forgive ourselves fast enough and quick enough. I know for a fact that I don’t forgive myself. I’ll make a mistake and maybe I had good intentions or maybe I meant well, but I’ll still say, “You know what Frank, you're an idiot. You're stupid. Why did you do that? Why whatever?”

This is a guy that makes very good six figure income a year. This is a guy that on paper has the world by its tail. I'm feeling these things. It doesn’t matter whether you're a millionaire because I know millionaires and I will be a millionaire in the next couple, few years.
 
Or, you're dirt poor because I know people that are dirt poor. Everybody feels this and everybody hurts. Everybody on a base level feels the same emotions. I recognize that and I know I need to do better.
 
Ralph: Do you experience service to others as a source of joy? I know that when I first approached you about the Heroes program back at the Big Seminar in Dallas, you were one of the first persons that said, “Yeah. Anything I can do to help out, just let me know.”
 
Frank: Well, I think that probably came through on some of my other statements so I won't get into it, but I have to say that the three joys I would most like to experience in life would be seeing my kids, and hopefully grandkids, grow up to be moral and just people that contribute to society.
 
That would be number one. Number two is experiencing the kind of romantic love that I've always dreamed about because I'm a mush. I cry at chick flicks, Ralph, I got to tell you. I'm this big manly truck driver.
 
I can get out of a bad situation, either through brains or hustle. But you put on “Terms of Endearment” or “Beaches,” I’ll tell you what man, I'm tearing up. Then the third thing is service to others.
 
Evidently I have what I need. How I know that – I'm talking physical possession-wise is because the more physical possessions I buy the less content I am with the spiritual aspect of my life. What that’s telling me, now that I'm old enough and wise enough to listen, is that possessions don’t equal happiness.
 
So what I need to do is go back and retrace my steps and say, “Okay, if buying things, and pampering myself, and watching out for number one most of the time, and making sure that I'm taken care of are not making me happy” – and as a side note, I'm not saying, “Ignore yourself and I'm going to donate my house and my entire internet business to charity and live off the street and God will provide,” I guess I'm not that brave yet.

But what I am saying is obviously buying things isn’t bringing more true joy and inner peace to my life, then something else must be the thing that will do it. The only thing I can figure, Ralph, is spirituality and living according to the spiritual, moral, and religious guidelines that I personally believe in combined with doing the right thing and serving my fellow man more than I am.
 
I'm looking at it like Mr. Spock. I'm looking at it logically. I'm looking at it from every which way I can figure. All I know is the money things were rocking and rolling. The other things were rocking and rolling.
 
But if all that has not gotten me to a point of bliss or Zen or at peace with the universe spiritually, then we need to drop back and punt and reevaluate and say, “What else could the answer be?”
 
Ralph: What place does prayer have in your life, the power of prayer? Do you pray?
 
Frank: I have to say I don’t do as much as I should. I'm probably just like everybody else. I pray more for me getting what I want than other things I probably should be focusing more on. Again, do I pray? Sure. But is there room for improvement there? Absolutely. Is it routine and every day? No. Would I like it to be? Yes.
 
Ralph: How important is having a sense of humor in the face of serious problems? I know being an emotional person like you, my wife is very similar, and you just take the cares of the world and the hurts of others just onto yourself. Sometimes that’s either laugh or cry. How important do you think that humor is?
 
Frank: I’ll say it’s so important that I really think that and sheer bravado are the only two things that have kept me alive.
 
Ralph:  Other than your grandma and I think you said one other person in your life, who are the heroes in your life now or who were the heroes in your life? I know that you talked about your grandma. Who are the heroes in your life now that you want to give credit?
 
Frank: I guess honestly the other two people that have been in my life that I would consider heroes are two kids I went to school with. One kid Algal Shaskee sat in front of me in home room all the way up until he either died in Junior High or High School and I can't remember now.

He went through cancer and chemo and being different from all the other kids, being sick and missing classes, while he should have been listening to Van Halen’s first album and playing hockey, this probably was about 1980 or so.
 
While he should have been doing that and celebrating life, he was facing death, and he did it with dignity, and courage, and helping other people understand what it was that he was going through. He taught me how to be happy even when things were absolutely without fail going to go bad.
 
There is no getting out of this. You're sunk, and yet you can still be happy. You can still laugh, still have some sort of spirit and zest for life inside your heart. The same thing with my friend Stu. When they closed my school in fourth grade and shipped us across town to the other school in fifth grade, Stu was the kid that welcomed us and made us – we were the Hill Toppers and they were sort of like the Kennedy Park kids.
 
Those were the different neighborhoods. He was the one kid out of the class of thirty that made the ten of us that were transplanted feel welcome. He was very friendly, very good kid. His mom and my mom were the class moms in fifth grade and all.
 
Then, later in life, he got I forget if it was meningitis or encephalitis, but they had to do brain surgery. They took the top of his skull off to work on him and relieve pressure and everything else. He was never right after that and most people disowned him because he had a head injury, short to anger, didn’t always make good judgments, and didn’t take care of himself.
 
Deep down he was the same kid. He also taught me courage and dignity because he kept on going. He forged new friendships. He had dreams and interests and plans for life even though, unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way and he died in his early twenties.
 
He taught me kindness, and courage, and the simple fact of treating people right was the correct thing to do. So my grandma and those two school kids taught me more about life than probably most everybody else ever has.
 
Ralph: Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?
 
Frank: I guess because today, based on what I know, young people really don’t have a lot to look forward to, sorry to say. It’s definitely not as fun as it was when we were kids. You got to worry about AIDS, getting stabbed, other kids shooting in school, terrorism, pollution, just all this crap that is just stuff that no child should go through.

Music is not even as good. It’s violent and destructive, a lot of it. Losers that beat their wives and treat people like garbage are held up as heroes. Sport figures, movie stars, musicians and whatever. So what does a kid look up to these days?
 
I think more than ever it’s important to have heroes because if you don’t have goals and dreams, what else is going to keep you alive? I'm forty. If I didn’t think tomorrow was going to be better and if I didn’t think I could do better and be better and have better, honest question is what in the hell am I still alive for? Why not end the pain, right?
 
Ralph: Do you think there are any heroes in our society today that aren’t getting the credit and the recognition they deserve?
 
Frank: Yeah, obviously. Just like I talked at the beginning, I know that the day-to-day heroes, the people that do the right thing, the people that – I have a friend whose mom is dying and dad is elderly and infirmed himself, but he’s busy taking care of her and trying to keep her home. I mean, it’s inevitable she’s going to go to a hospice or nursing home.
 
It’s just to the point where she really should’ve been in a while ago. This seventy or eighty year old guy that can barely move himself is keeping his wife home and he’s hurting himself physically and draining himself mentally just to keep his wedding vows. When she goes in somewhere, they're going to take the last fifteen thousand of his money.
 
That’s going to be it. To me, hey, that guy’s a bigger hero than I am right now. Yet he’s not recognized. He can't get aid, he can't get help, and he can't get support. What’s wrong with this picture?
 
Ralph: I think that a lot of people in my generation, the baby boomer generation, I'm taking care of my parents now after catastrophic illnesses. I think that is something that a lot of kids that are my age, that’s something that they're going to have to face.
 
Are they going to step up to the plate and take care of the people that took care of them or are they just going to stick them in nursing homes or put them on Medicare? I think that those people that do step up and do the right thing are not only heroes but those that take care of people that are sick in their families are true saints.

Frank: Well, again, it goes back to that’s what you're supposed to do. I don’t know how society started thinking that that was an option. You know that you didn’t have to do things and you know, “Hey, she gave birth to me and I didn’t ask that.”
 
I definitely have a strained relationship with my parents because I'm independent and I'm definitely different than my mom, and my dad, and my sister. But at the same point, I know when they need help and they're old and infirm, I know that I will be there.
 
That is for two reasons. One is it’s the right thing to do. Two, if I don’t do it, where am I going to wind up? What’s going to happen to me when – do unto others, man. Quite frankly, I don’t want to be seventy and have my kids feed me dog food and abuse me and this sort of thing.
 
Ralph: How does it feel to be recognized as a hero yourself? I know that a lot of the people that I've interviewed some accept that they are heroes because they have an ability to know that they are helping others. Some people are just straight forward like yourself that struggle with the struggles that everybody goes through. A lot of people just won't admit it.
 
I think that even though we do go through all those struggles, the reason why I selected you was that you are honest about the struggles you are going through. And yet you still help other people that are struggling to achieve a better life. So how does it feel to be recognized?
 
Frank: I guess the way to say it is if it helps other people feel better about themselves, motivate themselves, keep themselves on track, see that they can do better, be better, and have better then I'm okay with it.

But as far as personal gain or how it makes me feel personally, I take pride in my work. I take pride in that I made it from bankrupt truck driver to six figures a year. Quite frankly, the only reason I went bankrupt was because I was dumb and didn’t manage my money.
 
I don’t know how heroic it is to bounce back from that. I suppose it is, and I suppose I could’ve let it keep me down and so forth. But I really don’t think I'm a hero. I think I have a lot of room for improvement.

I think that once you get that much pride that you do see yourself as a “hero,” I think there’s a real risk for losing the humbleness, and humility, and the willingness to serve others. Ralph, the internet could blow off tomorrow. What would I have left? This is how I make my living.

Ralph: You’d have all the friends that you’ve made.
 
Frank: Yeah. Well, you know, so then that’s got to be what’s heroic about me if anything is that I've been nice enough to other people that they value me enough to keep me in their lives, even when they're busy and sometimes thousands of miles and sometimes continents away.
 
But even then, is that heroic or is that just doing the right thing, Ralph? You can make the case that everybody is a hero. You can make the case that nobody is a hero. It’s all in how you look at it.
 
I have an ego in a sense that I’ll compete, and I’ll try to do my best because I think you need to have that in business, but I don’t have an ego as far as, “Oh, are people looking at me and thinking good of me and are they looking up to me?” I could give a rat’s patoot about that to be honest with you. That’s meaningless to me because that can all be taken away literally in a heartbeat.
 
Ralph: That’s true. Well, my definition of a hero is somebody that helps out at any moment in their life. As Gregory Alan Williams, the actor (He was a cop on Baywatch TV program. Actually saved an Asian guy’s life during the L.A. riots.) says, “There’s a little bit of bad in the best of us, a little bit of good in the worst of us. When we step up to the plate and help somebody, at that moment in time, we become a hero because we didn’t have to do that. But we chose to make another person’s life better by our sacrifice.”
 
So I think that everybody, including you, has the potential of being a hero. I know that you have because there are a lot of people that you’ve touched their hearts, and touched their lives when helping them in different areas just because of your transparency and ability to share that you're successful. But you’ve had failures and you're going through difficult times.
 
It’s refreshing to have people admit that their life isn’t a bed of roses, that you suffer from the same doubts and fears and griefs and sorrows that we all suffer from. But yet you don’t let it get you down for long. You get back up and you just keep on going and I think that is the true definition of a hero, is somebody that presses on in the presence of fear and failure but yet refused to give up.

Frank: I appreciate that and all I know is that I will not give up because there’s more to life. I'm happy in many ways with where I am at now. I'm not going to complain. I got it pretty well made compared to most people because I work out of the house. I don’t have to get up. I don’t have to go to work. I don’t have to work today if I don’t want. I don’t have to work tomorrow if I don’t want to.
 
But at the same point, Ralph, there’s so much more that I need to achieve in life and so many more things that I want to do that I really do think it’s important that you keep perspective and maintain the humbleness and the humility that has gotten me to this point because it would be easy to say, “Oh, man, I’m Mister Internet Dude and I'm the man and whatever and whatever.”
 
Where does that get anybody? Where is that getting me? Also, where is it getting the people that I'm trying to serve?
 
Ralph: I think that it’s important that people look at individuals’ lives and see them over a time period and see how they react to the ups and downs that everybody has. I think that it is inspirational for everybody when they see others that they have that desire to do more, to be more, and to help others to a greater degree. That’s what the Heroes program is all about. What do you think about the Heroes program and its impact on youth, parents, and business people?
 
Frank: Well, Ralph, I think it’s great what you're doing. I think it’s a celebration of the average person and a reaffirmation that doing the right thing has its own rewards, that you're not alone. You can find heroism, fulfillment, enjoyment, and satisfaction just in day-to-day events because I celebrate the average person.
 
If you gave me the keys to a Peterbilt a big white freight liner or tractor trailer, I could drive across the country tomorrow and not hit a curb, not miss a gear or not whatever. I still walk with the average person in very many ways.
 
If I walk back to work driving a truck or working in an auto parts store tomorrow, I would do okay with that because I know what the average guy goes through. But at the same point, Ralph, what a wonderful opportunity we all have here to take advantage of the internet and some of the things we’re speaking about and just move up in life.

The internet has been very, very good to me. That’s all I can tell you. It’s definitely been a blessing. It’s definitely been a blessing. I really can't complain. Anything I don’t like in my life, I could change now, this second.
 
I have a world full of opportunity at my feet, and so, to sit there are cry and go, “Ooh, I got it so bad.” That’s stupid. I'm not sick. I'm not in the hospital. I'm not dying, I didn’t just lose somebody in a tube train in London so basically, just shut up and get back to work, Frank. That’s the way I look at it.
 
Ralph: Let me ask you the final question. What are the things that parents can do that would help their kids realize that they too can be heroes and make a positive impact on the lives of others?
 
Frank: Why, just from parenting, the thing that they can most do to help them realize their child’s potential is to spend time with them and not outsource parenting. I know we all have to work. I know we all have to do this and that. I'm not going to lay claim to the world’s greatest parent, but we’re going to lose a generation here if we don’t do things differently.
 
Actually, we’re going to lose a civilization is the way I truly see it, because we’re losing compassion. We’re minimizing morality. We’re calling people in groups stupid and ugly. We’re encouraging culture that demeans people. It is just at what cost.
 
Believe me, I'm not a prude or an old fogy. I'm a truck driver from New Jersey. I know curse words just as well as anybody listening does. It doesn’t mean you need to embrace garbage talk and garbage thinking and garbage mindset and a garbage lifestyle.
 
It starts with parenting. You're old enough to have a kid; you're old enough to raise them. And if you're old enough to raise them, you're old enough to raise them right. I guess that’s really all I can say, Ralph, is leading by example you teach your kid heroism.
 
I see people who work, but they always make their kids’ games, or they always make their kids’ school functions. What’s that teaching them right there? What’s that teaching them about family?

Okay, we live in this house because it’s closer to the grandparents and it has a better school system than the house I would like to move into, and the house that I could afford. But I won't move because it would negatively impact the family, in spiritual and non-visibly lifestyle types of ways. Things like that to me are heroic as well.
 
Ralph: You know, I totally agree that the examples of the parents are going to have a big impact on how their kids turn out, that the kids see actions and listen to words and see if they match up. Well, Frank, I really appreciate your time.
 
I know that a lot of people enjoy this interview because it’s rare that you find somebody that is willing to share what’s going on in their heart, their fears, joys, failures, or successes and still is able to have a positive attitude and a desire to make the world a better place. I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your time and what a good job that you're doing.
 
Frank: I appreciate that, Ralph. Like I say, it’s always good to hear that other people believe in what I'm doing because it at least shows me that I'm on the right track and I'm making some kind of progress because otherwise you wouldn’t have had me here and the thought of using me wouldn’t have even crossed your mind, right?
 
Ralph: That’s true. A lot of times it’s not what you say about yourself, it’s what other people say about you that’s the most important.
 
Frank: Well, that is true because the funny thing is I really can't get any bad press. As hard as I am on myself, maybe if I stopped and thought a little bit more about the fact that people do business with me and people love me and care about me.
 
My business is booming. It’s just growing ever stronger. I guess I am on the right track and I guess I am doing the right thing. I guess I am in the right place at the right time. All of us need to recognize that if you have somebody that loves you, somebody that believes in you, and somebody that says, “You know what, I like being with you. I want to be with you,” however we put that forward, then that’s a good place to be. That means you're on the right track.
 
Ralph: I think that’s why people call you Uncle Frankie and that you have such success with the people that are in your newsletter list is because everybody wants a relationship with somebody that’s a real person, that actually cares about them.

Frank: Like I say, I appreciate that. I can only hope that I continue to do the right thing and that I help people and serve others. Because without that I would be embarrassed to show my kids any other thing that I think is right and correct.
 
I'm just happy that people think good about me. That’s probably all I can add. I’m more worried about where my soul’s going and what my kids think about me and how I’m raising them. But, at the same point, I want to make people happy. I want to make things work right and make a difference in other’s lives.
 
So, yeah, I appreciate that Ralph.
 
Ralph: Frank, again, I really appreciate your time.
 
Frank: Sure am happy to be here Ralph. Thanks for having me.
 
Ralph: Okay, see you soon.
 
Frank: Okay. Bye.
 
Ralph: Bye.  

Posted by isoh at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2005

Frank Deardurff's In Search Of Heroes Interview Is Inspiring" by Ralph Zuranski

Frank Deardurff Is One of the Top Website Designers and Is Co-creator of the AskDatabase That Is the Epitome Of The Socratic Method of Asking Questions.
Frank has the air of quiet competence. He is one of the most amazing creative web designers and programmers on the internet. He is the secret weapon of many of the top internet marketers on the internet.

Frank has been instrumental in manifesting into reality the brilliant marketing and traffic conversion ideas of Alex Mandossian. He invested thousands of hours in programming the back and front end of the AskDatabase.

Frank is a man of few words. His answers to the heroes questions are inspiring and well worth listening to. He also is a successful entrepreneur who overcame doubt and fear to follow his dreams of being a business success.

Posted by isoh at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2005

"Bret Ridgway's In Search Of Heroes Interview Proves You Can Be a Hero and Not Bask in the Limelight" by Ralph Zuranski

Bret Ridgway is an unassuming individual you would not notice in a crowd. He is not flamboyant or outrageously outspoken...never seeking attention.

He quietly does his job every day with out much praise or recognition. The only time he gets noticed is when the inevitable mistake is made or problem arises.

Yet, he has an air of quiet competence and excellence and a desire to serve. Bret is an integral part of almost every internet conference because he is the secret product creation and fulfillment service used by most of the top speakers and conference organizers.

When you listen to his In Search Of Heroes interview, you immediately realize here is a person who knows how to stay out of the public eye while providing a valuable service. He is the embodiment of a true servant and outstanding entrepreneur...who many of the other heroes believe are the true heroes of the world.

Isn't it amazing that the people who have dreams and act on them in a responsible, determined and dedicated way, are the individuals who make the world a better place because they know where they are going.

They provide a great example of what to do and how important it is to face our fears of failure, success and rejection and overcome them through conscious action.

The major irony is that the people like Bret are providing the "picks and shovels" to those who want to mine the gold out of the pockets of seminar attendees. They experience long term success rather than being a "flash in the pan" like those who want instantaneous fame without providing great value and enduring quality.

Posted by isoh at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2005

"Frank Garon's In Search Of Heroes Interview Is Thought Provoking and Emotionally Stimulating " by Ralph Zuranski

Frank Garon has been a leader in internet marketing for many years. As a former truck driver who went bankrupt, he has a down-to-earth quality that proves anyone can be successful on the internet.

Frank believes the most important thing to be successful on the internet is to be yourself, be just a little better than anyone else in your field and establish a personal relationship with everyone who signs up for your newsletter. His database of subscribers are perhaps the most loyal because of Frank's emotional transparency and honesty.

His readers know who he is and how he thinks. Frank gives them the opportunity to take a glimpse into the most private areas of his life...his doubts, fears, successes and triumphs. Most people want to work with someone who is not ashamed to tell you like it is.

When you listen to Frank's interview you realize that he is the real deal. No punches are pulled here. His interview is the raw material that make a person who they are.

If you want to learn how to relate to the readers of your newsletter and your audience, Click Here to listen to the uncensored version of the inner-most working of Frank's mind and emotions.

Posted by isoh at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2005

"Scott Alliy In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

Scott Alliy is an Internet pioneer and technology veteran. Over his career he has owned more than 400 internet domain names and websites. His interview contains valuable information on how to get traffic to your website through press releases. He also created a program to help disadvantaged youth called "Give Kids A Chance."

As far back as 1990 Scott was pushing the technology envelope. In October 1990, Scott was a guest speaker at the Houston Realtors conference. During that live presentation Scott showed his condo in New Hampshire to the event attendees using a digital camera and a 386 model computer.

Scott is the president of the Online Business Ethics Association as well as Allied Internet Solutions Inc a Houston based Internet consultant firm. He is helping to make the Internet more productive, time saving and user friendly for all users via the creation of niche market directories including Findaseminar.com, a National training seminar search engine, AddPR.com a news and press release portal and distribution service and JVDeals.com, a joint venture search engine.

Scott is helping make the world a better place for young people. Below is an article that was written about his "Give Kids A Chance" program in the magazine "PPPeople."
What’s In A Word Shirt?
For schoolchildren participating in project Give Kids A Chance, the answer is enlightened education. The numbers are daunting, to be sure, but Scott Alliy, President of Houston, Texas-based distributor Premium Enterprises, takes a deep breath and lunges forward into battle.

The mission Alliy chose is to get his creation – Word Shirts – into not only the 400 elementary schools in the state of Texas, but onto the backs of more than one million students in the Texas elementary schools. For good measure, Alliy envisions the effort taking off (or in this case, putting on) nationwide.

“My reason for this project is I simply believe we should be creating
a better society,” Alliy says. “We start building that better society from the ground up with our kids. I mean, when we’re producing a 75 percent or less success rate of graduates, then maybe we need to be doing something different.”

Each T-shirt features an educational message and illustration on the front relating to a subject of interest to children – beach, farm, zoo, nature, religion, safety, geography and more. On the back are the sponsor’s name and the project name, “Give Kids A Chance”.

Sponsors purchase the shirts for the schools. The benefit to children is the opportunity to use the T-shirts as a jumping off point to learn more about the world around them. Sponsors benefit by linking their company with a project that helps kids and through the obvious exposure to customers and prospective customers.

“We have two problems in our communities that our project addresses,” Alliy says. “First is an abundance of students in a school system lacking adequate funding, and second is fulfilling a basic need each child has for recognition. We must realize that supporting education is a way to build a brighter and safer future for us all. Community involvement is the best way to show we care about the children and our education system. We have to make a difference.”

Alliy’s project is still in its infancy stage, but its goal has already been felt at Walter Hall Elementary in League City, Texas. Cheryl Stephens, principal of the school, told Alliy, “The teachers feel that the shirts were educational and motivating to the students. The concept worked well in the classroom setting and the students liked them.”

Beyond the recognition and education students receive, the shirts have value to the community. “The project is a reason to get the community involved,” Alliy says. “In order to ask somebody’s help, you have to have a good reason why you need the help.”

From a promotional standpoint the shirts provide individuals, businesses and organizations a means to “show they care” about education and the future by getting in project ‘Give Kids A Chance” as a sponsor. “We believe this project stimulates community interest,” Alliy says. “That’s why we’ve set this up as a donation process.”

The project obviously promotes education and businesses, but another aspect of promotion is in fund-raising efforts. “If a school does not have sponsors or does not have a budget, we will provide them cups with the “Give Kids A Chance” logo imprinted for them to sell as a fund raiser to purchase the shirts,” Alliy says.

In addition to the shirts, Alliy sends to the participating schools information concerning the Word Shirt benefits and a Word Shirt Teacher Workbook on how to get the most from the shirts. He also sends a letter to PTA directors explaining the project and its merits.

Alliy like to let his imagination run wild when thinks of how the promotional products industry could affect schools by participating in the project. “My one donation had an impact on 500 children. We have more than 5,500 member in the association…the math becomes astronomical,” he says.

Alliy’s goal is to find 12 sponsors per school “to create more of an opportunity for community involvement,” he says. “Getting involved is the spark that lights the fire, and the more people we get involved the bigger the fire’s going to be.” PPB

(For more information on the “Give Kids A Chance” project, call Scott Alliy at 281-692-0652; fax 281-692-0615)

PPB addition August 1995

About Us: Allied Internet solutions Inc. is a Houston based Internet solutions company. AIS has a track record of Internet success helping businesses of all types develop and implement Internet strategies that work for their specific business. We own over 360 websites and have created Online businesses that have produced as much as 3,000,000 in gross sales a single year.

Contact Info: Scott Alliy President
Allied Internet Solutions
800 349 1935

To Get started on the 20 weeke system and start receiving better search rankings and really get to know your company product or service as you want the market to see it AddPr.com

Company: Allied Internet Solutions Inc.
Country: United States
Contact: Scott Alliy
Website: http://www.successplanningint.com
Bus E-Mail: webmaster@expressseek.com
Phone: 800 349 1935

Posted by isoh at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)

"JJ Childer's In Search Of Heroes Interview Was Filled With Valuable Information" by Ralph Zuranski

J.J. Childers is an attorney dealing primarily with the topics of asset protection, estate planning, and tax reduction. He travels the country extensively working with individuals and companies to help them with their small business wealth structuring.

JJ.. is actively involved in real estate and is the owner and operator of a number of businesses. Through the dynamic courses that he teaches, anyone can learn the strategies for creating, accumulating, and preserving vast amounts of wealth.

His "In Search Of Heroes" interview was packed with valuable information and tips on how to become wealthy. It is not how much money your make but how much you keep. The secret of incredible wealth is making your money work for you, rather than you for it.

J.J. definitely knows the secret business and financial strategies that can help you and your children attain the level of financial success you dream about. His interview is a must for anyone wanting to work smart rather than hard.

Posted by isoh at 02:32 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2005

"In Search Of Heroes Interview of Dr. Margaret Wright" by Dan Mader

Dan Mader: “Dr. Margaret Wright is a journalism teacher at Coronado High School and was one of the founders of the Heroes in Training program. Since its beginning, she has supplied student journalists to work in the program and helped coached their writing.

Dr. Wright: “Thank you very much.”

Dan Mader: “Dr. Wright, the first question I’d like to ask you is as a teacher, since you really have a strong connection with the youth of America here in Coronado and overall, I’d like to know what do you think is important when it comes to heroes and what values should the youth of America be looking to?”

Dr. Wright: ”Well, when I think of a hero I think of a person that has had an experience perhaps that has changed his or her life and he uses that in a positive fashion.”

Dr. Wright: “For example, one of our, early experiences was with a young woman who had been a victim of an automobile accident and it created a tremendous emotional and physical and financial drain on her and her family. And, she became a hero to our students because she could relate her experiences as a teenager having gone through all these things to our students, our journalists, who then wrote their stories using that as background information.”

Dr. Wright: “I also think of a hero as one who lives his life in such a way that people want to emulate him or her. For example, if I have to think of a hero in my own life it would probably be my dad because there wasn’t a single episode in our life or a single experience, it was my entire experience with him throughout my life with him.”

Dr. Wright: “He died when I was quite young, but he was a hero to me. He established values that he expected me to address and to be…to be part of. And, he lived that way and I think for, for us to deal with our students today, we must live the life that we’re expecting them to live.”

Dr. Wright: “We want them to be around people that are people who have positive, or are positive role models...and I think that, in and of itself, becomes heroic. It doesn’t have to be a person who has done something great like a John Wayne type thing, but someone who like a single mom, who works every day and finds it very difficult to meet some of the demands on her, but she still raises her children well.

These kinds of things, I think, have to be the experiences and the examples that students will live by.”
Dan Mader: “Okay, how valuable do you think the Heroes in Training program is in guiding students and showing them where to find those responsible heroes that they should emulate?”

Dr. Wright: “Well, I think that if writing an assignment or an experience of any kind is going to be valuable to the person that’s doing it, he or she must, relate to it in a positive fashion.”

Dr. Wright: “This Heroes program has given us examples, not just the one I referred to previously, but others, and opportunities for the students to use those as role models, become part of their writing. And if you can feel some of what that person is,  that hero is trying to get across, you can write better.

You can, you can express it better…if you can adopt some of those ideas to your own thinking.”

Dan Mader: “Okay, thank you very much, Dr. Margaret Wright.”

Dr. Margaret Wright: “You’re very welcome.” 

Posted by isoh at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2005

"Heroes Interview of Gregory Alan Williams, Star of Bay Watch" by Dan Mader

Dan Mader: “Gregory Alan Williams is perhaps best known for his role on the TV show Baywatch, where he plays Sergeant Elerbee. But, he’s also a Shakespearian trained actor and served in the Marine Corps.

He’s also a real-life hero, having saved the life of a man in the LA Riot. And, he has recently written his memoirs titled “A Gathering of Heroes.” Mr. Williams, I’d like to present you, on behalf of the Heroes in Training Program, with the picture of the previously interviewed cast of Baywatch, David Charvet and Nicole Eggert.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Grand.”

Dan Mader: “And here are the certificates and hero cards to go with them.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Thank you very much.”

Dan Mader: “The first question I’d like to ask you, in keeping in the vein of heroism, I know as we’ve interviewed different people through the course of this program, what comes up often is that the real heroes are parents, and especially single parents. I know that you were raised by a single mother. Can you give me your thoughts on parents as heroes?”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Well, I think that heroism can often be defined as a commitment to others long term…long, steady and constant.

And, I think parenting requires that kind of heroism.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “We often think of heroes as being extraordinary people, people who accomplish great feats. But, when you consider paying the rent or the mortgage on a regular basis, keeping groceries in the refrigerator, keeping the utilities on, the gas and the lights and so on and so forth, putting bandages on wounds, putting love and kind words on hurts of the heart, those are ongoing commitments and I think that that is heroism. And, I think if we look at our parents, we will find heroism very very close to home.

Dan Mader: “Can you tell me a little bit about the events in the LA Riots, tell me what happened?

Gregory Alan Williams: “Well, I was in the intersection of Florence and Normandy in hopes of being a voice of reason with those few individuals there who were committing acts of violence against strangers, but, strangers who were human beings and fellow Americans.

When I arrived, a brown Ford Bronco pulled into the intersection and debris struck the vehicle from almost every corner. The driver stops, people ran out to the vehicle and began beating the driver inside.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “The driver turned out to be a Japanese-American named Tatao Hurata. I was standing on the southwest corner. As he slumped forward unconscious, I moved into the crowd and was able to get him out of the truck.

As I pulled him from the truck, I was joined by a Mexican-American law student named Jorge Gonzalez who moved to intervene on our behalf, to help us out.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “And, he was struck and knocked to the ground and kicked and beaten. His assault - I should say, his intervention, served as a diversion and I believe the folks that struck him were about to strike myself and Mr. Hurata again.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So I was able to get Mr. Hurata down the street where other neighbors in the neighborhood intervened and summoned a passing police cruiser and brought a paper towel to wipe his wounds and asked me to set him down on their grass. And, folks came along and asked if they could take him to the hospital.

And finally he was taken to the hospital by an African-American man in a van. And, at that point, he was bleeding from – I believe it was his left ear.

And, that single entity was hurt very badly and had it not been for that man that took him to the hospital, Mr. Hurata may well have died.”

Dan Mader: “Saving that man’s life, I’m sure everyone agrees, is certainly a heroic act and makes you a hero. But, when we talked earlier, you said a few things that I thought were very interesting.

You said that was your responsibility to act like that. And you also said that it was a selfish thing.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “No question. We ask that proverbial question, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ ‘What is my responsibility to another human being?’ Dr. King told us that we are tied in a single garment of destiny and whatever affects one directly affects one indirectly.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Mr. King quoted another writer saying, ‘Never seem to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.’ Some folks talk about karma. Other folks say, ‘What goes around, comes around.’ Some folks say, ‘You reap what you sow.”’ In every culture, there is some sort of saying that suggests that you get back what you put out.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “If that is so, then it is in my best interests to look out for my neighbor. As Americans, we have throughout our lives, taken a pledge to preserve liberty and justice for all.

The day Mr. Hurata was beaten, his liberty was stolen…liberty in this instance defined as security of person, the right to go to and from one place to another unmolested, unafraid, and so on.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “It is then as an American, I’ve taken the pledge, made the oath, that I would preserve liberty and justice for all. It is then my responsibility as an American to do that when I can and wherever I can. The promise of Democracy is fulfilled person to person.

The principles of the Constitution are honored person to person. And, so is the Bill of Rights. If I wish to demand justice, then I must be willing to preserve justice.”

Dan Mader: “So, does it all come back to the Golden Rule?

Gregory Alan Williams: “Yes, and that’s why it’s golden, because it is universal. ‘Do unto others as you would have them.’ Certainly, were I in a vehicle at an intersection being beaten, I would have others do unto me as I did unto Mr. Hurata.

I would have someone – if it was in my power to mesmerize someone to come rescue me – I would do that. I would want that. I would need that. I would require that. So then, with Mr. Hurata, I did unto him what I would have others do unto me.”

Dan Mader: “Isn’t that just one of the greatest parts of human nature, though, that we are willing to help?”

Gregory Alan Williams: “It is one of the parts of our nature. Our natures are varied. We are as capable of great acts of compassion as we are horrible acts of intolerance and of course indifference.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “So our natures are varied and that is one of the things that I have to come to accept.

There is a bit of bad in the best of us, and a little good in the worst of us. I must be on guard for those aspects of my nature that are not compassionate. I must be on guard for my racist nature which is brought about by my fearful nature…afraid that I’m not going to get something I want or I’m going to lose something I’ve got.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Our lives generally speaking are shot through with fear. We don’t see it as fear because it manifests itself as anger, righteous indignation. And, we don’t acknowledge that it’s really fear based.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “I’m afraid of these people, of this person, because they might take something away from me or they might prevent me from getting something that I need or my children might not be getting something they need, and that sort of thing.

So, we have to be on guard for those ugly things in our nature, and be willing to accept them and embrace them as being a part of our nature.”

Dan Mader: “When you saw the man being attacked, it would have been easy, probably the easiest thing to do was just walk on by. And, earlier we talked about possibly what makes a hero is that the great people we talked about…Martin Luther King, Malcolm X…they have the strength to overcome the desire to conform and stand up for what they believe in.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Hale, great men all. Likewise, Robert E. Lee. All these men, men who made choices, difficult choices.

It certainly would have been easier to acquiesce to the rule, the king’s rule, for learned men of property as Mr. Jefferson was a learned man of property.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “It would have been easier. He could have gotten his perks and even become a wealthier man. But, he went against the grain. He chose liberty. Malcolm X also chose liberty. His father was murdered by a mob. His mother died of – of grief induced – or madness induced by grief. She lost her mind. He too opted for liberty.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Martin Luther King opted for liberty. Robert E. Lee opted for what he felt was liberty, you see. The right to choose, to make choices. All of these men, great American patriots. Being a patriot is not necessarily going along with what the government thinks is right. Going along – going for what one thinks is best for the people.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “There’s also a thing – an issue of honor. I am an ex-Marine, and you know, I was taught that honor was being willing to die and often dying…that that was the ultimate sacrifice.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “The ultimate sacrifice was not how you lived, but how you died. I am not exactly sure how I feel about that. But, if I consider myself an honorable man, then how in the name of Heaven can I stand in the face of another man who’s being deprived of his liberty and call myself an honorable man?”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Which is another reason why the act was selfish. I could not! How could I look my son in the eye. How could I talk to anyone about honor, having stood in the face of a man being beaten to death and not made a move? How could I call myself a man? Now, I could lie to you and I could lie to me, but, I’m not comfortable with that, with lying to myself.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So as I stood there and watched Mr. Hurata slump forward, I’m saying to myself, ‘Well, first of all, buddy, if you don’t do something, you’re going to have to live with this dishonor. Nah, don’t want to do that.’”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So I moved forward to preserve my honor. And, you know, I know that in this day and time, honor is not a politically correct kind of term or attitude. But, one thing I’ve learned about living is that you take what is good from your experiences…what you can use, and leave what you can’t.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Rarely should we write an experience off wholesale. There is much good that we can take from even things that may be a bit unpleasant. And, one of the things that I took from the Marine Corps was the concept of duty and the concept of honor and faithfulness.”

Dan Mader: “You talk about Jefferson. You talked about all the great Americans, and is it fair to say that this is really a country founded by heroes? I mean, the American dream is the dream – to desire for freedom – you have the right to freedom.

No one can deny you your freedom. And, these heroic men set all this up so people today can live with that. And, so you knew that you had to step in.

Gregory Alan Williams: “They set it up, but they were shortsighted. Mr. Jefferson himself demanded liberty for himself, but was unwilling to preserve liberty for the black folks who he owned.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “There’s a bit of bad in the best of us, and a bit of good in the worst of us. And, the humanity in all of us…shortsightedness, misunderstanding, a failure to see the forest for the trees.

Here, on one hand, Mr. Jefferson demands justice for himself and is unwilling to preserve justice for other human beings.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Now one can say, well, he really – he really didn’t make a mistake because he didn’t consider black people to be his equal. He considered them to be beasts.

Well, if that’s the case, why did Mr. Jefferson then have so many black children? Why did he sleep with one of his black slaves, if she was a beast…an animal? Well, I’m not going to condemn Mr. Jefferson. I’m as flawed as he is. I suffer from the same kind of shortsightedness.

But, because one has flaws, because one fails, does that make one less heroic? It perhaps makes them more heroic because we see in the face of their failings, in the face of their shortcomings, they still were able, at moments, to rise to pinnacles of greatness.”
Dan Mader: “If we look for perfect heroes, we will always be disillusioned, won’t we?

Gregory Alan Williams: “There will be no heroes! If perfection is a requisite for heroism, there are no, there will be, there are no heroes.

It is often, however, a person’s flaws that inspire. As I mentioned, if a person, if a man or a woman can achieve great things and by great we mean… remember that consistent, steadfast kind of commitment to purpose and to our own lives and to the lives of others. If we can maintain that, even in the face of our fear and our anger and our shortsightedness, then we are, we are truly heroes.”

Dan Mader: “Do you think of yourself as a hero?

Gregory Alan Williams: “No. Yesterday’s scores will not win today’s ballgames. If the Padres go out and win on Tuesday and they’ve got a game on Thursday, and when they hit the field, they say, ‘Well, you know what, folks, we won Tuesday so…’The fans will say, but today is Thursday, you see.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So, my actions in the intersection of Florence and Normandy are, will not hold me today in the face of a indifferent injustice, of a new injustice, in the face of a new victim, new perpetrators and new mobs and new bystanders, you see.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Heroism is a commitment. It’s steadfast. It’s – it’s – it’s ongoing. Perhaps, all that’s required to rush into the midst of a mob is a rush of adrenaline. I have a firefighter friend named Newman.

I asked Newman one time what requires greater – which requires greater courage, rushing into a burning building or taking care of your family one day at a time.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “He said, oh, most certainly taking care of my family. And he was the one who said rushing into a burning building requires some degree of skill.

Primarily, it’s about a rush of adrenaline. But, the compassion that is required as a husband, a wife, a father, friend, teacher, disciplinarian, that, my friend, is where the struggle is.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “We may want to go bowling, you know, but they, it’s, it’s bazaar night at the kid’s grade school, you know. This is your big bowling night. What do I do? Do I go and be with this child who will probably not remember this, you know, or do I go bowling. That is where our heroism comes in, our willingness to commit.”

Dan Mader: “So we need to be able to see the difference between true heroism and heroic acts?

Gregory Alan Williams: “There is heroism in, certainly, heroic acts. I guess what I’m saying is, is that we, we can find heroism in other than extraordinary acts.

Or, because I think that the daily commitment and fulfillment of a commitment is extraordinary.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “As I became an adult and realized what was required to be an honorable adult, I realized. And I – I – I – oh, goodness gracious, I tried to avoid it.

I mean, I tried all kinds of ways, because I thought, oh, my goodness, this adult thing, this responsible thing, this is, you know…let me hang out and go party, you know.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “But there’s definitely heroism. We need to look in other places because as long as we say that heroism is an extraordinary act of courage or bravery at great risk to one’s self, to one’s physical self, for example, then I can deny my responsibility to other people because I can say, oh, well, that guy was very strong. He was very brave. He was very courageous, and I’m not very brave, and I’m not very strong.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So I can never do what he did. I could never be a hero. And, so that allows people then to disassociate themselves from their responsibility to other people.

If they come to believe that that responsibility requires great bravery, great courage, great strength, you see, then they can say, oh, they can distance themselves and say, ‘Well, no, I don’t have to raise my voice in the face of mob violence because that man who did was strong and tall.’

You see, so I don’t have to do that. But, the truth is, that we all must raise our voices in the face of a mob.”

Dan Mader: “I believe that no matter what the age of a person, I mean, people say that teenagers lose their respect for heroes, adults lose their respect for heroes, but I think that we’re always searching for heroes, someone to pattern our life after. So, who do you feel would be the best hero today?

Gregory Alan Williams: “I call my book A Gathering of Heroes because I think that’s what we require – a gathering of heroes. And those folks come in all different forms. Sometimes they enter our lives for only a brief moment, passionate moment. A word, a phrase. There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “I wonder how many soldiers in the Second World War remember Mr. Roosevelt’s words in battle, ‘There’s nothing to fear but fear itself when you are scared to death.’ So for some, see, that’s a moment, you know, someone we can – oh, that’s a hero. I’ll take that.

Here’s a man who, once vital and healthy, finds himself in a wheelchair, but yet he kept pushing or perhaps that was inspirational to people and he saw Mr. Roosevelt as being his hero in his life.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “There is a gathering of heroes in our lives… all kinds of different folks, I think, who come in. I think it’s best for us to be pragmatic. If we say I want to pattern my life after this person, the moment we see imperfection, then what happens to the pattern, you see.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “My mother sews and I remember when I was little, we used to go to J.C. Penney’s, she used to get a pattern. And, she would make that dress based on that pattern.

If the pattern was messed up, the dress would be messed up. I guarantee you, that any human being that you pattern your life after will be imperfect, therefore, the pattern will be messed up.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “So, what one wants to do, perhaps, is to take from a variety of experiences, situations, and people, and create their own pattern for your own life, you see.

Take a little from Bob, a little from Bill, from Ellen, little bit from Susie, little bit from Confucius, little bit from Roosevelt, little bit from Kennedy, little bit from Cain, little bit from Malcolm, you see.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “What we’re so used to doing is throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Oh, he’s a republican…write him off. He’s a democrat…write him off.

He’s white…write him off. And, there may be all sorts of good things coming out of this person which we can learn, but if they aren’t a member of our group, if we aren’t affiliated with their sect, if we don’t speak their dialect of English, then, oh, write them off. And we lose.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “You have two men. And one has a parcel of land and the other has seed. Well, the man with the parcel of land says, ‘Well, you know what, you don’t speak my dialect of English so I’m not going to let you plant your seeds on my land.’ So the man with the seeds says, ‘Oh, yeah, well, no big deal.

You don’t speak my dialect of English, you know what I mean, so I’m not going to plant my seeds in your land.’ And come spring, they find them both dead of starvation.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “See what I’m saying? One’s got the land and the other’s got the seed. But, they got these things going on with each other which keeps them from coming together cooperatively and sharing the value that they both have.

One has valuable seed, the other has the land, and one without the other is worthless, you see. They both die. They both starve to death. And, so very often in our lives, this is what happens.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “We starve spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, physically, because we’re unwilling to exchange with people what we need because we are not a part of their group, you see. It’s a dangerous way to live, so I suggest that we be pragmatic.

And if we see a person with some seed, and I know I’ve got a little land, even if I don’t have some land, I’d say, ‘Hey, listen, you’ve got some seeds there. Could I get a couple of those, you know.’ And maybe I can, you know, and I could start my own garden.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So I think patterning our lives after a specific person may be a mistake. I think we may be doomed for disappointment. But, if we recognize that people are imperfect and we go about gathering what we can from people, from a gathering of heroes, we may be a lot better off.”

Dan Mader: “Does it all start with tolerance, then?”

Gregory Alan Williams: “I think that’s a major part. I think it starts with tolerance of ourselves. You know there are days when I’m intolerant. There are days when I pull into a gas station in California, I’m looking for directions, and it seems the people in the gas station don’t know where they are let alone where I need to get to.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “See, I grew up in a place where you could always count on directions at a service station. At a filling station, you could get your car fixed.

You could get water. You could get air. For me, a service stations was a landmark and it was a place where the people who worked there knew their community.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So today, I live in an area that has a very new immigrant population. Where I grew up, we didn’t have any new immigrants. All the immigrants were old immigrants, and everybody in the community was an immigrant or a descendant of an immigrant. But, it was old immigrants.

So I now live in a community where there are a lot of new immigrants. And I’m paying for gas and asking for directions and no one can tell me where I need to go and I get upset, and I say, oh, man, these people. Oh, these people! Why don’t they learn to speak English? Why don’t they go back where they came from? They don’t even know where they are.

‘Oh, Man!’ goes through my head like a shotgun blast. And, then two or three minutes later, I say, ‘Hmmm, what’s that all about, pal? You know, what’s it all about? These people go back where you came from, even learn to speak the language.’”

Gregory Alan Williams: “We’re a nation of immigrants, voluntary or involuntary. That’s what we are. There was a time when my descendants didn’t know where they were. Didn’t want to be where they were. So I have to be tolerant of myself knowing that I’m going, I’m not going to beat myself up and beat my head with a baseball bat.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “I’m going to be aware that I can be intolerant, and I have to be tolerant of myself to work with that, to work on that, and it will get better over time. And, it has gotten better over time. And, I need to be, not only tolerant of other people. St. Francis of Assisi said, ‘It is better to understand than to be understood if one wishes to be a channel of peace.’”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So, and indifference is the other current scourge. I mean, Ellie Fazel says that, the great Nobel laureate, writer, Holocaust survivor says that, ‘The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.’

But, indifference is more dangerous than hatred. And, that is the other thing I have to be on guard for, indifference. Well, it’s not me being beaten, it’s not my family…couple of guys on my soccer team. Hey, it’s not my business. That is what is dangerous, indifference. So intolerance and indifference.”

Dan Mader: “Right now, you hear the 'naysayers,' the media – I hate to bring the media up – but specifically the media projects a negative image of the teenagers of America are apathetic. They don’t care about anything. They don’t hold any values dear. What do you feel about that?”

Gregory Alan Williams: “I think to a large degree, the news is the news. Used to be the news was what was happening, but now the news is the news. You must understand that the media is a profit-based, a profit-based organization.

They’re in business to make money.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “It is perhaps easier to make money feeding a people images that they will more readily accept than it is to feed them images that require them to think or wrestle with. It is perhaps easier to go along with the popular mindset than to be about the business of changing minds.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Certainly if I wish a greater constituency, a greater demographic, a bigger audience, what will I do? Show that audience things, images that they are not familiar with, or show them images that they’re already comfortable with so they can tune in to my station, they can tune to my station and say, ‘Oh, this is my station because I’m comfortable with the images.’ No one likes change.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “So it’s easier to make money by showing images that people are familiar with. I think there’s one thing we need to understand. The youth of America or the youth of America is more underdeveloped than it’s ever been. Youth of America is always, it is, it is natural for youth to be at odds with age and for age to be at odds with youth.

That is the nature of things.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Each generation says, ‘Oh, those kids today. Wasn’t like when we grew up.’ I don’t know how it is that we come of age and seem to forget we were 16 and 12 and – it’s a weird thing, you know.

It’s a very strange thing. I don’t, I think youth today are facing challenges. We all face new challenges. The information superhighway, the speed which information is transmitted from one person to another and the modes of transmission mean that genocide and madness can also be disseminated much more quickly. And, I think that’s our current danger.”

Dan Mader: “Okay. Mr. Williams, thank you very much for meeting with us.”

Gregory Alan Williams: “Thank you.”

Posted by isoh at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2005

"Craig Garber's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

Ralph Zuranski: Hi, this is Ralph: Zuranski, creator of the in search of heroes program; I’m interviewing Craig: Garber today, the King Of Copy.  He was a protégé of Gary Halbert for about six months, and is probably the hardest working man in internet copywriting and offline copywriting for a lot of business people that are looking for the best and are wanting a fair price, Craig: how are you doing today.

Craig Garber: Great Ralph:, thanks it’s real nice to be here and real good to be talking to you.

Ralph Zuranski: I appreciate the opportunity to interview you, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions, what is your definition of heroism?

Craig Garber: The definition of heroism, well to me it’s someone who makes life better either by eliminating some of the existing pain your going through or by giving someone a chance to enhance their life in some way, shape, or form.  An unexpected opportunity also.

Ralph Zuranski: What is your perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?

Craig Garber: Goodness, ethics, and moral behavior.  Well, I guess to me the definition of integrity is doing the right thing when no one’s looking, if you know what I’m saying, so if you maintain your level of integrity, that covers all of it.

Ralph Zuranski: What principles are you willing to sacrifice your life for?

Craig Garber: That’s a good question, I think that’s the kind of question that is really easy to answer on the surface because it’s easy to say ‘well I’d give My life for this’ or ‘I’d give my life for that.’  But I think when your pressed up against the wall in real life situations I don’t think the knee-jerk answer you’d have is the reality. 

I think if your pressed up in a situation like this that people who do sacrifice their lives for things, they’re probably not the things that they would’ve imagined they’d be sacrificing their life for.  Whether it’s to jump in front of a complete stranger and push him out of the way of a car or something like that that you end up sacrificing your life for. 

I think it’s those things you wind up sacrificing your life for.  So as far as principals I think that it would be really hard for me to tell you what I would sacrifice my life for, I would say without a doubt that, unquestionably I would always sacrifice my life for my wife and kids, to protect them and keep them safe.  So that’s the only realistic answer that I can give you.

Ralph Zuranski: So you’d say that it’s sort of a moment by moment thing, so you’re saying that if somebody’s in danger of being run over by a car or somebody’s in a burning house it would be hard to do it at that time, like a lot of people look at heroes as firemen and soldiers and stuff that are actually being paid to do those types of things, and I think that this person is a much greater hero if they’re not being paid to do a job, but actually you’re willing to sacrifice your life in a moment to save the lives of others.

Craig Garber: Yeah, I think that people who sacrifice their life, most of the time don’t go into something thinking that, Okay, I know I’m going to sacrifice my life for this.  So, that’s kind of a hard question to answer, I think about 9/11 for example. 

I think in that situation that a lot of the firemen and the cops, and the guys who ran in there, they probably had a conscious level of awareness of, I’m probably going to be sacrificing my life to do this.  But that situation doesn’t happen to often, when it’s, ‘I know I’m going to be giving my life up for this cause.’ 

I think you do things that are important to you and, Hey, Who knows what the outcome of anything is going to be, what actions are going to be taken.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I think that those guys are real heroes because you can just walk off the job, to have the courage to basically go in and know that that may be your last day on Earth, I think that that is real heroism.  That’s the same with our troops.

Craig Garber: Absolutely, that’s balls.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, so did you have a dream or a vision that set the course of your life?

Craig Garber: I did, but I guess I had two different, you know as you age and evolve or should I say mature instead of age, as you mature, your vision, and what’s important to you changes.  That has evolved like that for myself as well.  I guess when I was younger my dream or vision was just to get the hell out of where I was. 

I had a pretty miserable childhood, I guess.  I just wanted to get out of where I was.  I grew up in a violent and abusive household with a lower income, you know, you see the projects on T.V. in New York City that’s where I grew up in, the Bronx, that’s where I grew up.  I didn’t know the rosy side of the world.  I had a sense that better stuff existed out there, but I was never exposed to it, but people will often say, how can these guys in the ghetto be holding people up and be so violent, that’s all they know.

They don’t know that if I work hard and I study, that I can go out and make a million dollars.

No, all they know is that they live in poverty, my mother lived in poverty, my mother’s mother lived in poverty, and my kids will live in poverty.  So they’re programmed for all that negative stuff, so I was programmed for that, but in the back of my head I knew that my dream or vision at that time was to get the hell out of that place.

I didn’t know how to do it, I didn’t know what it looked like, didn’t know where it was but I knew I had to do it, and I knew that’s what I wanted.

Ralph Zuranski: You know that’s interesting because the scope of the in search of heroes program is to give those people in the communities that you grew up in hope, that they can compete with the profits in drugs and in crime by marketing the products in their local community on the internet or just come up with products on their own.

Craig Garber: There’s a huge need for that, no doubt about that, if you can reach out and change some lives, you really will be changing the course of the world for these people, because there is a shortage of hope in places like that, I know there was in my neighborhood, in my house, and you know there still is for the rest of my family, I was just fortunate.

Ralph Zuranski: How did you become an optimist?  Because, to be able to get out of that situation you had to actually have a positive view of the future and you could change your life.

Craig Garber: I have no idea, I don’t know, I thank God every day to tell you the truth.

I just beat the odds, I really don’t know how I became an optimist, I think how I became an optimist was I had faith in me.  I knew I was better than where I was living.  Not that I was a better person than the people that were living there, but that I could do better.

I just didn’t know what was out there, I had to know what better looked like, so that was the pain and the growth process for me was how to act in better, how to act when your in better, what does that mean.

The other thing was I realized how little I knew and I always sought out information, I realized the importance of information.  I was schooled in everything what “not to do”, which is a valuable lesson, but I had know idea what “to” do.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, obviously it took a lot of courage to pursue new ideas, because most people are trapped in the place where there at for fear of doing anything new, or disrupting their peer group that they hang around with.

Craig Garber: Well, in a way I had it easy that way because I’m a risk taker and I’m at the bottom, so what if I fail at this, where am I gonna’ go?  There’s no way that I can be worse off than I am now.

You know, there’s no way that things can be worse than they are now.  If I screw up, then just go on to the next thing and maybe that’ll screw up, so you know I think in a way from the fear of failure, you know some people are to lazy to take action, that stuff never bothered me because I had always known that there’s only up.  It may not work, but you know I probably couldn’t get further down.

Ralph Zuranski: So you were willing to experience discomfort in pursuit of your dreams?

Craig Garber: Oh yeah, Look you have to, you know everybody sees the end result of people, you know, ‘you’re a success, you’re this, you’re that.’  It’s like a band, these guys came out of nowhere, you don’t know the ten years of sleeping in vans, and laying in vomit in hotel rooms with fifteen other guys. 

You have to be willing to sacrifice a little bit, it’s a misnomer and it’s something that people don’t want to believe, but nobody has it easy.  Everybody’s had a struggle, some people have to struggle more than others, some have to struggle a lot more than others, but there are very, very few people that are actually given something.

Ralph Zuranski: How important to you, was it to believe that eventually your dreams would turn into reality?

Craig Garber: I had to, I had no choice, what was my choice?
The pain of living in the reality I was, was much greater than the pain of these setbacks on the road ahead.  It was easier to go with these wacky thoughts going through my head.  I thought, I was put on this Earth to do something a lot better than where I am now, I don’t know what that something is, I don’t know what it’ll be, I don’t know what it will look like, but let me go and find it. 

I always believed that.

Ralph Zuranski: You’re paralyzed by doubts and fears and they just won’t let up, most people are afraid and that fear keeps them from being successful.  How were you able to overcome your doubts and fears?

Craig Garber: Look, I still have fears when I do things, but they’re not fears of failure.

Like I said that I’ve never had fears of failure.  In fact to be perfectly honest with you, I struggled for years and years with fear of success, again because of that programming I had as a kid, that failure, that scarcity mentality, that failure programming, and you know what happens is every time you’re about to embark on a new adventure that can turn out positive that old dodgy, rusty tape recorder in the back of your head flips that play switch. 

Flips that negative programming play switch in your head, and it spills that garbage out.  So, you have to know, and it takes place now once in a while, but now I’m aware of it, now I’m aware of what’s going on, now that it’s just, I think Steven Pressfield said  in the book I don’t know if you’ve read it, “The War Of Art”,  he said that’s just resistance coming up, but now I’m aware of it, again as supposedly I’m a mature adult guy and I can talk myself through it, acknowledge it, and recognize it, and I think to some extent it might be healthy because it keeps me hungry.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, yeah, I understand that.

Craig Garber: And also the other thing is I’d be lying if I didn’t say my wife had a really big role in this, because there were times I did want to give up, she stuck with me and said Craig: I don’t want you doing this, I don’t want you giving up, I’m willing to hang in no matter how desperate or no matter how bad times get, I’m willing to hang in there as long as you will. 

I want to you to do this I believe in you, I know what you can do, and so quite often, there were times where I did want to give up and fold up when things weren’t going well in business. 

I said God, I don’t know if I can do this anymore, what a loser I’d be if I didn’t at least try.  She deserves this, at least.  That got me through a lot of tough times to be honest with you.

Ralph Zuranski: So, she’s the one that gave you the will power to change the things in your life to make it better?

Craig Garber: My wife has been a real strong catalyst for change in my life, and I think we’ve done that with each other, we’ve been real lucky. 

I’m one of those one in ten jillion people that actually finds a soul mate, I mean I like hanging out with my life, I mean she’s my best friend, she’s always my first choice of people to hang out with, she’s been a tremendous influence of me, and support of me, my cheering section. 

She’s a strong woman too, because I’m the kind of guy, I’m a pretty strong personality, when I’m down I need someone to be there for me.  She’s always done that, and I think we’ve done that for each other.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I feel the same way about my wife also.  She won’t let you get over on any of your you know what.

Craig Garber: Yeah, I mean look you know, it’s good, if you get something like that, you truly are blessed, you’ve hit the lotto.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, that’s the truth in relationships and I’m sure this is true in your relationship also.  How important is it to forgive those who upset and oppose you?

Craig Garber: It’s very important, but I got to be honest with you for me very few people upset, offend, and oppose me. 

As long as I’ve got my wife and kids, there’s really nothing outside of that nobody can really rub me the wrong way that I’m going to be all up and on them about anything. 

Look, in business sometimes people accommodate you and sometimes they don’t, that’s just business, I don’t take any of that stuff personally.  You just figure out another way to do things, or you work around it or you work with someone else. 

You got to compromise to, you know that’s part of life, you don’t get everything you want, you got to compromise.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you experience service to others as a source of personal joy?

Craig Garber: Yeah man I love helping others, I don’t just like helping people out, I like showing people that they could do things that they thought they couldn’t. 

Like when it comes to marketing for example people call me and we’ll have consults, you know they say, I’ve given up, I can’t do this, this, and this.  Sometimes it’s a real simple answer, have you ever thought changing x, y, and z. 

Or, change your headline, it really puts a spin on it, you see the light go on in peoples lives then.  You see them walking around their house and the shades are drawn, and the windows are taped up, and all of a sudden, boom!  It’s sunny like it is here in Florida, the windows are open, it’s bright, the house smells good all of a sudden, so yeah I love doing stuff like that.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to contain a sense of humor in the face of serious problems, because you know that everybody has serious problems in their lives and, how important is humor in that?

Craig Garber: It’s tremendously important, I mean, people who know me well, know me, I love to cut up and crack jokes at people, I do it with my kids, I do it with my wife, sometimes when you’re down in the skids, that’s the only thing that gets you through, poke fun at your situation and, I think the other thing that gets you through is having a high energy level. 

A can-do attitude, a humor, and a high energy level, that’s the kind of thing that gets you through.

Ralph Zuranski: We know your wife’s a hero in your life, who are some of the other people that you consider a hero in your life?

Craig Garber: Other people that are heroes in my life...  My older son is probably one of my heroes, he had to deal with some stuff when he was a kid that certainly wasn’t fair, I say that he shouldn’t have had to deal with it, and he did, how he handled himself, I’m real proud of all my kids, but he’s taught me a lot, and he communicates real well, he tells me ‘Dad your screwing up’, you know, I respect that he’s a together neat kid.

Like you said, my wife’s a hero of mine, and she’s definitely been a guiding light for me and has been a huge catalyst for change.  That’s probably about it, as far as that goes. 

If I use my definition of heroes, to some extent Gary Halbert was a bit of a hero of mine, he came in and gave me the confidence, he took me under his wing and gave me the confidence, switched what I was doing, I owned a financial planning business for 9 years, he told me that I was the greatest copy writer he’d ever met. 

That wasn’t a testimonial, he sent me that after I did a couple of jobs I did for him, I thought he was winding me up, I thought he was giving me a bunch of crap. 

I called him up and I said I got this e-mail from you, and he said ‘yeah, I meant every word.’  That gave me the confidence to make a change in my life and so I could live the lifestyle that I wanted which was for me, was spending more time with my wife and kids.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s really great so those people have made and continue to make a positive difference in your life.

Craig Garber: Yeah, well I’ll tell you what there’s another guy that, again going by my definition of heroism, is someone who’s unselfishly given from himself, a client of mine, this guy came to me about six or eight months ago, a guy named Chet Roland, you might have heard of him he’s a, Dan Kennedy’s always talking about him.

Anyway he lives down here.  He’s a client of mine, and he’s turned out to be, using that definition of a hero, he’s a hero, he’s promoted me, and just so influential in my career with a lot of other things, and a lot of prominent information marketers, and he’s just a great guy to be around, he’s just inspirational, he’s a high energy guy like me, and just a good guy to be around, so I’d have to say Chet’s you know not only a friend, but to some extent using that definition of heroism, a hero as ell.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s great, who do you feel the real hero is in our society today?

Craig Garber: Okay, the real heroes are not Oprah and Doctor Phil, not that they don’t do heroic things.  To me I think the real heroes are good parents.

Ralph Zuranski: I do to.

Craig Garber: See, there’s a big difference, Ralph:, and as a parent I know this, it’s not easy. 

There’s a huge difference between giving your kids things and giving your kids a sense of independence, the sense of responsibility, and being able to hit the pause button, if you want to call it that, whenever they need to of things going on right then and there and help teach them a life lesson.

Ralph Zuranski: Boy, that’s so important.

Craig Garber: Yeah those are the real heroes, the little, the people doing those little random acts of kindness in your life, especially when they’re being consistent with your kids.  Those are the true heroes.

Ralph Zuranski: That is so true.  So, why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

Craig Garber: Well, like I reference myself when you don’t have a guide post when you don’t have someone you can model yourself after, I think a lot of people have role models, but they’re not comfortable with them, like me. 

You sort of feel like a sailboat out in the middle of the ocean, without a sail,  you’re just going along with the waves, and you’re just trying to figure out what’s going on trying to figure out what is what. 

So if a child can get an anchor and someone to help them steer their lives, they’re going to grow much quicker, they’re going to be much more successful people, much earlier, and therefore they can contribute positively to themselves and other peoples lives in their world.

Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think that heroes like the moms, and the dads, and the grandpas, and the grandmas, and the coaches, and the teachers, and the spiritual leaders, that they’re not getting the recognitions that they deserve today?

Craig Garber: You don’t want to see them on the T.V.

Ralph Zuranski: I would, I’d like to see it.

Craig Garber: I’d like to see it to, but it won’t sell.

Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think that is? One of the great people I interviewed, Gregory Allen Williams, was a cop on Baywatch, he said that ‘If it bleeds it leads’.

Craig Garber: Yeah, right, it will sell as a tail end of a show, tonight’s closing story we have grandma Essy, who is 97 years old and takes care of fifteen kids.  Yeah, I think that’s too mundane and people discount it.  I think that people don’t acknowledge that that’s the way the world goes round.  Whether you have different opinions, or similar opinions, but that’s the thing that makes the world a great place to live in.  It’s to mundane, people want to see sensational stuff.  They’re not going to stop and consider stuff like that.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you think that people’s emotions are so jaded that they need one catastrophe, after another catastrophe just to feel stimulated?

Craig Garber: I think people are busy, I think that people are so caught up in their lives, we talked before about taking action, most people don’t want to take action. 

I think that the hustle and bustle of today’s world is so draining on most people that not only do they not have time for other people, but that they don’t have time for themselves, few people take time out during the day to sort of do something for themselves, do something good for themselves, read a book, I mean watching T.V. is not good for you.  So, I just think that people are too involved in their lives.

Ralph Zuranski: Watching the shows on T.V. puts fear into a lot of people’s lives, and it’s a fear that they absolutely cannot overcome, why do you think that people have such an addiction to T.V.?  I know that some people watch it 40, 50 hours a week.

Craig Garber: I have no idea; I watch 2 hours of T.V. personally, that’s a lot.  But, it’s escape, again most people, I think Thoreau said most men lead lives of quiet consternation, quiet desperation, and I think that’s true.  

People want to escape, it’s nice to turn to T.V., and imagine, I mean I can’t believe these reality shows, it cracks me up, I see USA TODAY everyday, who got thrown off American Idol or something like that, and to me how you can be preoccupied by other peoples lives that have nothing to do with you, it’s funny, not funny but people do lead lives of desperation. 

Too many bills, not enough money to pay it, to much on their plate, schedules are hectic, too many kids, blah, blah, blah.  And so hey, I get to watch hot half-dressed women on T.V. or I get to see how someone’s new car is getting pimped, you know.

Ralph Zuranski: How do people become heroes?  From your definition.

Craig Garber: Giving hope to others.  You introduce hope into other peoples lives, and sometimes, you know where I grew up it was hard to be a hero. 

You’ve got to attract those people to you, you can’t go and seek them out because, looking at marketing, you’re talking to an audience that’s not interested.  The people who want hope, you’ve got to put that out there and let people come to you, because it’s hard to find people who have hope in those areas.

Ralph Zuranski: You know I’ve been on the internet for the past three years, taking photos of all the seminars, of all the speakers doing their power points, and just to see what kind of people they are and to see who would help out the heroes program.  I’m finding out who has followed through with their promises.  How does it feel to be recognized on the internet as a hero, because you’re following through in a big way?

Craig Garber: Well, I’m flattered, I really appreciate it.  The good thing is, I don’t know what it’s going to do for my life.  That’s the beauty of life, and I’m ready for the adventure, I’m ready to find out.  Then contribute what I can, and something will come out of it in some way, shape, or form.

Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think you were selected for this unique honor?

Craig Garber: I was thinking about that Ralph:, I met you and we talked real briefly, I would suspect either we had good chemistry, or you saw something in me, or I my voice, or the way I held open the door for somebody, or something in my body language that said “hey I think this is somebody that I might want to get with to help me with this good cause”.  I don’t know, why was I selected Ralph?

Ralph Zuranski: You were selected because you volunteered to help, you heard what the program was, to recognize moms and dads, and the people that don’t get the recognition that they deserve, and the impact that they make on the lives of their kids and other people in the community, just by offering, and following through, and that was the reason why I gave you this unique honor, you are a person that follows through, you are a person with integrity, and you do respond to my e-mails, you wanted to give your best on this interview, and you want to do it even when you’re tired, you are a person that should be recognized as a hero, you do love your family, you do love your kids. 

You work hard for your family, you take care of your body.  That’s the example that I would like to hold up as a role model for young people.  You are actually making the world a better place.

Craig Garber: Well I don’t blush too easily but I’m blushing now, and I really appreciate all those things you said.  I’m just doing my thing you know, doing what I can to make this little world a better place.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, I know that you’ve been through a lot in your life, and I know that you’re from the projects, and there is always problems facing society.  How do you have or do you have any ideas on how to get rid of the problems in the society?

Craig Garber: Okay, well I probably have some thoughts on that, but they’re going to be hard to do. 

Number 1, people have got to start taking responsibility for their own actions.  It’s so easy to write sales copy, you know, “it’s not your fault”.  It’s kind of a funny drop back amongst copywriters.  “It’s not your fault”, but it is your fault, it is 100% your fault man. 

The sooner you take responsibility, the sooner your life’s going to become better, in everything.  “It’s not my fault that I have a low paying job, it’s not my fault that I’m late paying my bills.”  So, the first thing, is taking responsibility. 

The second thing to deal with some of those problems, child abuse, racism, is just be open-minded a little bit.  Understand that not everybody’s going to agree with you.  You don’t have to agree with anybody, you don’t even have to like anybody, but you know what?  There would be so much less stress in the world and so much less stress in your life if we accepted everybody. 

I don’t like all my neighbors, they probably don’t like me, in fact I know they don’t like me.  I don’t sit there and obsess about it, hey people are different, you know that’s the way it is, you’re going to disagree with people in your own household sometimes.  Just accept that everybody’s got a different opinion and that’s okay.  You don’t all have to agree.  I you could do those two things, if people can be open-minded, except that things are different, not judge them, and then just take some responsibility, I think you’d eliminate almost all those problems.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I agree, that’s one of my dreams of the heroes program, once it starts going to every community that the kids would realize that, that reading the blogs, from other kids in other communities that they have an open mind and are able to allow new information, and accept that and ponder it, and try to believe that they are good, but may not have the same perspective on life as they do.

Craig Garber: Yeah, see why is it, kids are a perfect example.  Kids, you tell a kid hey man would you like to interact with this kid over in England, or this kid in Japan, or Vietnam, or Denmark and kids are like yeah, what’s going on, what’s their world like? 

Why is it that adults are like, screw that, I just want to stay in my little corner, or my little block, my neighborhood, or my street, or myself in my house?

Kids are definitely more open and into accepting things, so if we can implement your program, to the kids, that’s where we’ve got to get it.  You got to get them open, because they are open minded, they are very open minded, and wide-eyed with anticipation of what the world has top give them, and it’s just...  Why do people beat kids?  They beat them because they had a rough day, and they can’t handle it, and they don’t know how to deal with the energy. 

They’re miserable, and, “It’s not my fault that it happened”, but it is, just fix the freaking problem.

Ralph Zuranski: Yep, you know I really believe that, that’s true.  If you had three wishes in your life that would instantly come true what would they be?

Craig Garber: Well they would probably be, number 1 and 2 like you asked me before, is for people to take responsibility for themselves, love their fellow man and start accepting people. 

I think that immediately people would chill out a lot.  I guess end suffering from poor health -- watching someone suffering -- that’s got to be brutal, and emotionally agonizing.  Suffering because of poor health is terrible, it’s brutal.  I’ve gone through some of it myself.  That would be my third wish I guess.

Ralph Zuranski: What do you think about the search for heroes program and what it’s done for kids, parents and business people?

Craig Garber: Ralph: I think it’s a great program, any time you raise awareness about children’s needs for heroes is fantastic.  Getting people talking about those things is great. 

Like my son yesterday, he came home from the bus, and he said kids were arguing about the war, or the presidency, and I said look, even if you guys disagree, at least you guys are talking about it, being aware about it. 

Either way if you and these kids vote at least you’re getting involved in a positive decision in your life.  So, raising awareness is important.  Look, you’re trying to save peoples lives, especially young people,  as I said before you’re the hero here, not me.  You’re the one setting all this up, and making a positive approach to things.  I think it’s fantastic.

Ralph Zuranski: We’ve got tell kids that they can change the paradigm that was something great once.  Either they were surged on by adrenaline, or make that one act, that it’s more of a daily action, of choosing the way that you’re going to act. 

As Gregory Allen Williams said ‘there’s a little bit of good in the worst of us, and there’s a little bit of bad in the best of us.’  The hardest thing about that is finding the equilibrium, I think we all suffer from that.

Craig Garber: Absolutely, absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: What are the things that parents can do to help their children realize is that they to can make a positive impact on the lives of others?

Craig Garber: That’s a really good question, it’s something I’ve given a tremendous amount of thought to, because having three kids, and knowing all the wrong ways to raise kids I had to because I didn’t want to make those same mistakes with my kids, my own children.

I would say that, my oldest son is fifteen so I would have a bit of experience about this, so if had to sit and reflect, and say the most important thing is let your kids be kids.  You only get one childhood, there’s no do-over.  Okay, let them be kids.  You ask a six year old, why are you doing this, I’m six. 

I’ve got a five year old and a fifteen year old, and one in the middle, so believe me, I’m much more realistic of that with my five year old than I was with my fifteen year old, because you’re older and you’ve made these mistakes, so you realize these things.  Don’t judge them, don’t judge your kids let them be who they are. 

Some kids will not be good students, that’s okay you’ve still got to love them, that’s just the way they are.  They’re not into school, are they good people that’s what’s important.  

Don’t set expectations for them either, like I said before, your kids are separate individuals from you.  I coached all my kids, and my daughter’s five so she’ll be starting to play sports soon. 

I coached them in soccer, my wife and I actually coached, and then I coached one or two years after that.  And then with my middle son in basketball for years.  I see these parents and they live or die with these kids, about foul shooting.  It’s almost like the kid is definitely more well received when he’s doing well, than when he’s not. 

The parents hang onto their kids.  I was the oddball, I could care less of what my kids do.  I just wanted them to have fun.  They were playing sports, not for me, I could care less of how they did.  My kids are in karate, and now I know they’re red belts, but there was a time there when I was sitting in karate one time and someone asked me what belt my kids were, and I didn’t know. 

It’s not that I didn’t care about my kids, it’s just that I didn’t care what ranking they were.  I think one was orange, I didn’t even know.  That’s not why I was there, I was there for them to have fun, and maybe something good would come out of it for their lives.

Ralph Zuranski: So you think that parents are just pushing their kids to hard, and they’re just forcing them to achieve the level of success that they never achieved in their lives?

Craig Garber: Yeah, I think they’re pushing them too hard for the wrong things.  These same people that push their kids hard to score another soccer goal, or make sure they make 90% of their lay-ups.  Then when the kid’s rude he doesn’t say hey, you know, why don’t you say thank you or please.

In the long run, they’re going to have a lot more easier time getting along in this world learning how to say thank you and please than learning how to make foul shots or getting lay ups in.  So, I think they’re looking for things to put on the wall, and I think the mistake that most parents make are looking for tangible signs of evidence of success in your children’s life, I don’t think tangible signs of evidence measures their success. 

Now, if you have seen people say ,oh that guy’s lazy, or his kids aren’t performing well, I have wall-fulls of stuff, I don’t care about that stuff though, what means a lot more to me is that when a parent comes to me down the block and says, your son Casey is so polite, all the other kids come to the house, he is such a nice kid, so nice to deal with. 

That to me says that Anne and I did a pretty good job of what we’re doing with our kids.  It happens with all three of our kids, and I see how they interact with others, they’re polite, they say hello, they care about other people, they don’t step on other people.  They care about other kids.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s one of the reasons why I created the In search of Heroes program, is because to honor the moms and dads, and the kids that act that way.  I’ve talked a lot with professional sports stars here in San Diego and some of the stars up in L.A., I’ve found that their just absolutely the worst role models possible.  You see the kids taking on the same activities that the sports stars that are on steroids or have attitudes that are anything but inspirational for kids.

Craig Garber: Right, because your kids, you know, you don’t realize the role you play in their lives, they will imitate everything you do.  You don’t realize this because it’s going on behind the scenes.  The other thing that’s really important is that you’ve got to give your kids confidence, and the way to do that is letting them be independent, not doing everything for them. 

My son’s working, one of my weekly tips was about the job that I helped him get, he’s almost fifteen, he’s been working almost a year.  He’s doing real well. I think it’s important, he’s earning quite a bit, he’s going to get his permit soon, we’re going to have to deal with that, it’s the thing to do, I don’t feel safe putting him on the road, but I do feel safe teaching him how to drive.  It’s better to sit out there with me for a year, so I know what he’s got, rather than, “Here’s your license.” -- we’re both screwed then. 

I’ve always tried to be there for them, so we can talk about it, but, now they’ve got the courage, the more things you do the more things you think you can do.  You just build on that, you build on it, and build on it. 

All my kids are extremely independent and I’ve let them fail, as long as we’re here for them that’s all that matters.  It’s important to know what’s going on in the world, letting your kids know.  Good times, and bad times.  My kids have come to me and said they heard me saying that we can’t go out to eat tonight or something like that.  They always say if you need any money we’ll give it to you.

Ralph Zuranski: Thank you for contributing your time, I know you’re very busy, and have a tremendous amount of clients that really respect you and appreciate what you do, once again thank you very much.

Craig Garber: Ralph:, I appreciate your time and I appreciate being part of the program, I’m just looking to contribute and help out and I think what your doing is a great thing, thanks very much for including me.  Thanks for asking me all these questions.  If I could help you out with anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Ralph Zuranski: Thanks, I’m really looking forward to looking at your sales letter to promote the In search of Heroes book, which contains the best of the best of what I’ve found in marketing, copywriting, and technology, and just ask for promotion for the foundation thing that will help every community to be successful. I’m just thankful to you and for all the help you offered.

Craig Garber: No problem, take care Ralph.

Posted by isoh at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2005

"Interviews of Military and Charitable Organization Heroes Coming Soon" by Ralph Zuranski

Recently, two heroes of extraordinary capabilities have come into my life. I am so inspired by their lives and ability to serve and protect others, it is time to kick off the interviews of military heroes and charitable organization heroes.

The first military hero will be Captain Tony Gonzales, the Commander of the Point Loma Naval Base. He has proven to be a man of great integrity and compassion for the members of his family, church and command.

Click Here to see the photo albums of the Grand Re-Opening of the phenomenal "Oceanview Room" on the Point Loma Naval Base that had to be almost completely rebuilt because of major storm damage. Captain Gonzales assembled a crack team of military specialists and civilian contractors to complete the repairs in record time.

Captain Anthony J. Gonzales was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert A. Gonzales. He entered the Navy following High School and commenced his first sea duty in July 1969, aboard USS RUFF (MSCO 54) in Long Beach, California. Following this tour, he then served onboard USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64) and was selected for the Navy Nuclear Power Program as an Electrician's Mate. Following Nuclear Power School and Prototype training, he sailed on USS SKATE (SSN 578), USS PHILADELPHIA (SSN 690) and pre-commissioning unit of USS OMAHA (SSN 692).

Following commissioning as a Limited duty Officer, he served as Electrical Technical Assistant and Electrical Officer onboard USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) from June 1980 to July 1983 in Alameda, California. He then served as a Nuclear Ship Superintendent and as the Assistant Nuclear Repair Officer at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington from July 1983 to February 1987.

Captain Gonzales completed his Department Head tour as Auxiliaries Officer onboard USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) from March 1987 to March 1990. From March 1990 to March 1993, he served as the Assistant Material Officer for the Pacific Fleet Trident Submarines on the Staff of Commander, Submarine Squadron 17.

Selected for command, Captain Gonzales took command of the WATERFORD (ARD 5) in Groton, Connecticut, from May 1993 to April 1995. During his tour, WATERFORD was selected as the COMSUBLANT Battle Efficiency "E" recipient for 1994, and the Medical & Supply "E" recipient for 1993 and 1994.

Following his command tour, Captain Gonzales stood up the Naval Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and served as Production Officer for the Navy's first and only Integrated Surface and Submarine Maintenance Facility in May 1995. During his tour, he established the baseline for regional maintenance in the Navy, and NAVIMFAC was the Secretary of the Navy's nomination for the Department of Defense Maintenance award 2 years consecutively.

Captain Gonzales then served as Executive Officer of USS MCKEE (AS 41) from March 1998 to September 1999. During this tour the MCKEE completed a 6-month MIDPAC Deployment to support regional maintenance and a subsequent homeport shift of the ship from San Diego, CA to Norfolk, VA for decommissioning.

Captain Gonzales then reported to the staff of Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific Fleet where he served as the Deputy Ship Material Officer from September 1999 until March 2000. Captain Gonzales then served onboard USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) as Chief Engineer from April 2000 to June 2003. He completed two extended deployments including a combat deployment for Operation Enduring Freedom. He assumed command of Naval Base Point Loma in August, 2003.

In addition to the Surface Warfare Insignia and the Submarine Warfare Enlisted Insignia, Captain Gonzales is authorized to wear the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (five awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and numerous campaign and unit awards.

Dr. Asa Morton, MD also served time in the military. He is a surgeon who specializes in facial reconstruction. Six years ago he assembled a team of doctors, surgeons, dentists, nurses and civilians to travel to a small city in Guatemala to provide medical and dental care to the community. This program is a part of the HELPS Organization that speicalizes in missions of mercy around the world. Click Here to see the photos of his Special Thank You Event For Donors and Supporters.

Asa Morton, M.D., a native San Diegan, received his undergraduate degree from Revelle College, University of California, San Diego. Prior to pursuing a career in medicine he took time to fulfill a childhood dream of flight and served five years as a Navy jet pilot. Having realized his dream of flight Asa Morton, M.D. was able to pursue his medical training. He received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland. During this time he was honored with selection to the prestigious Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, later serving as President of the local chapter. Upon graduation Asa Morton, M.D.was awarded the Surgeon General Award for academic excellence, medical professionalism and leadership skills.

Asa Morton, M.D. completed his internship and ophthalmology residency training at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, during which he was selected as the Intern of the Year. Upon completion of his residency Asa Morton, M.D. was assigned to the Naval Hospital Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, where he ran the Ophthalmology Department. Selected for the highly competitive University of Michigan program (Go Blue), Asa Morton, M.D. spent 2 years studying and operating with innovators in the field of Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery of the eyelids, forehead, midface, orbits and lacrimal system.

Asa Morton, M.D. served as the Director of Oculoplastics and Orbital Reconstruction, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, more commonly known as the "President's Hospital". At present he is on faculty at the Naval Medical Center San Diego and is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University.

Asa Morton, M.D. is committed to volunteering various humanitarian surgical missions and education programs for medical providers in developing nations. Over the past decade he has served as both teacher and surgeon in Pakistan, India, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala. Asa Morton, M.D. is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a fellow of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon.

Asa Morton, M.D. brings this extensive training and experience to Eye Care of San Diego / California Laser Vision Inc., offering Facial Rejuvenation services.

Their In Search Of Heroes Interviews will be coming soon. These unique individuals will set the tone of the future interview of individuals who are making the world a better place on a massive scale.

Posted by isoh at 03:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 11, 2005

"Sharif Khan In Search Of Heroes Interview Set For Saturday" by Ralph Zuranski

Sharif Khan is President and founder of Diamond Mind Enterprises, an organization devoted to transforming coal minds into diamond minds through the applied pressure of higher knowledge, wellness education, and leadership training. His vision is “to inspire the world with hope, faith, love, respect, excellence, and the courage to dream”. He is the author of the inspirational book about Promoting Heroes in the Workplace and Everyday Life "The PSYCHOLOGY OF THE HERO SOUL.

Sharif has dedicated over ten years of research in the field of human potential development and studying great leaders. He is a very dynamic, highly engaging, and much sought after public speaker who lectures about topics on what makes great leaders, the winning qualities of leadership, success, and what makes a hero, to a wide range of audiences from university students to associations to the corporate world.

Having had the opportunity to live abroad in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and America, and experience world travel, Sharif was exposed to people of different faiths at a very early age. In his travels, he saw the shared humanity and divinity within every soul.

Yet, he also saw the hatred in people towards those of a different creed or color. Having been a victim of racial hatred himself, Sharif has embarked on a lifetime quest to understand and share how one overcomes adversity, how one maintains a positive concept of self, and how world leaders triumph over the bonds of ignorance.

The author now also serves as a book consultant specializing in helping people successfully produce, sell, and market their information products. After finishing his Bachelors in Psychology at York University, he went on to successfully manage and operate a Bestsellers Franchise for over five years selling, marketing, and promoting books and various multi-media.

Questions and Answers About Sharif Khan

For the past couple years, there has been, to the author’s delight, much fascination and curiosity with his recent project, Psychology of the Hero Soul.

Because so many people have approached the author with very interesting and penetrating questions about his work, Sharif has decided to share with you some of his personal answers to many of these recurring questions:

1. Q: What originally inspired you to write about this book topic?

A: This book started off as a mini research project to help me create a heroic protagonist in my work of fiction (a novel which I am still working on) that would be unforgettable – a colossal figure that was largess universal as the sun.

I wanted to deliver to my audience a little moment of truth in my fictional character that would be memorable. So I started researching the psychology of heroes around the world and what makes great leaders great. I combined my research with years of study in personal growth, spirituality, psychology, mythology, philosophy, the dramatic arts, and comparative religions.

In my studies I learned that all heroes or leaders share common spiritual values such as respect, justice, industry, humility, generosity, strength, honor, duty, courage, compassion, and love. As I immersed myself in these principles I became inspired. In my inspiration, I was overtaken by a vision. Instead of beckoning the muse, the muse came and beckoned me. My vision was to inspire the world with these tremendous healing principles. I became consumed by this vision every waking day.

2. Q: What genre do you categorize your book?

A: Many people ask me what type of book this is: Is it a self help book? A book on spirituality? Is it a business book on leadership development? Is it a ‘New Age’ title? Is it a book on mythology or the hero’s journey? Is it a motivational book on success, health, and personal growth? Is it a book on Psychology?

My answer is that the book defies traditional categorization because it takes elements from all these areas. It is the most comprehensive, holistic, and integrative approach to heroism and leadership that I have ever come across. My argument here is that one cannot fully understand and intimately connect with a subject matter unless he or she studies all aspects of it.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in his recent book, An Open Heart, states, “The more you explore a topic and subject it to mental scrutiny, the more profoundly you understand it.” By studying all aspects of the hero soul you can become a multidimensional leader: a person of rich character, influence, substance, breadth, and scope.

If I were to categorize the book, I would call it a literary non-fiction book written to inspire, entertain, and quietly transform. The main purpose of the book is to awaken and illuminate the hero soul within rekindling the reader’s passion for greatness.

3. Q: Who does this book appeal to? Who can benefit most from reading your book?

The primary readership this book would appeal to most are people who devour inspirational books on personal growth, success, leadership, and enlightened empowerment. This book is for anyone who wants to embark on the hero’s journey in search of greatness and inner fulfillment. Psychology of the Hero Soul is also for political, business, and religious leaders who wish to promote heroes in the workplace and everyday life.

Finally, this book serves as an ideal foundation for writers, playwrights, screen writers, actors, creative directors, marketing executives, producers, and anyone who needs to develop a heroic figure, brand, or protagonist in their creative work.

4. Q: What is your definition of ‘Hero’?

A: The original meaning of the word hero comes from the Greek root servos and heros, which means ‘to serve and protect’ (incidentally the motto of the Toronto Police). Self-sacrifice for the higher good and betterment of humanity is at the heart of being a Hero or Leader. I’ve never met a ‘successful’ person who is living his or her dreams without sacrifice and service to others. To reach the top, they had to serve their clients, their co-workers, their employees, and their people and deliver real value.

A true leader knows their potential while pseudo-leaders ignore their potential. We live in a world of darkness or ignorance. We live in what Alan Greenspan called an era of ‘infectious greed’ that threatens to destroy the social and economic fabric of the world. The hero’s responsibility is to stop and change direction. Excellence is knowledge plus knowledge plus knowledge. Mediocrity is limited knowledge.

A tremendous conscious effort and personal sacrifice is required by the hero to lift oneself out of darkness and into the light, which is a high degree of awareness and self-knowledge. Only then can our heroes raise their station in life and elevate the rest of humanity by illuminating and liberating our collective soul which lies trapped in darkness. It’s time to initiate a new era: this is the Great Revolution of the Soul.

5. Q: What is the first step towards the path of herohood and becoming an effective leader?

A: The first step is awareness and self-knowledge. Know your strengths and weaknesses, your desires and fears. Know yourself, where you begin and end – and beyond. We can learn from the Greeks who said, “Know thyself, and you will know the gods and the universe”.

Once you begin to understand your true potential, a dream or vision will take shape. Go after your dreams. Stick to your dream with focus and determination and never let go. You will become inspired in the process and others will naturally be inspired in your presence. Without even consciously knowing it, you will begin displaying leadership traits and success and success-minded people will begin seeking you out.

There are many ‘steps’ towards developing leadership skills, powerful success strategies, and higher and higher degrees of excellence to be achieved. This is what I teach about in my seminars, key-note speeches, and individualized coaching.

6. Q: What other areas do you teach and speak about?

A: Anybody in the creative world, whether they are writers, actors, directors, Film and English students, creative directors, sales people or marketing executives will benefit greatly from understanding the Psychology of the Hero and the Psychology of the Villain, which is what I teach about.

How can an actor or writer create a believable character that is psychologically true without understanding the psychology of the hero soul? How can you understand the qualities of the hero unless you also understand the psychology of the villain, which is the dark side that lives within us all? Both have to be understood.

Aside from teaching and speaking on topics about the Psychology of the Hero, Leadership, and Psychology of the Villain, I also teach people how to successfully produce, market, sell, and promote their own books and information products. From personal coaching to inspire people to get started on their writing project and developing peak levels of motivation and creativity, to more practical ‘how to’ advice on effectively marketing and selling their information products once they have completed their ‘creative work’.

This teaching comes from my personal experience of working on and completing my book project for Psychology of the Hero Soul as well as drawing from over five years of direct experience managing and operating a Bestsellers (Book and Multi-Media) Franchise where I honed my skills in selling, marketing and promoting books and other information related products.

[To find out more about how you can book Sharif’s seminars, speaking engagements, or to arrange for coaching and book marketing consultations, you can contact him directly by email: sharif@herosoul.com or by phone: 416.417.1259]

7. Q: What was it like working on your book project for Psychology of the Hero Soul?

A: It was challenging yet enormously rewarding. Rewarding in the sense that it opened up my soul, made me a better person, and improved every area of my life. Challenging in the sense that it involved total commitment and SACRIFICE! I learned very early on that if I was going to write and talk about important topics such as inspired leadership, heroes, self-improvement, and personal growth that I would really have to walk my talk and practice what I preach.

Working on this project required a tremendous conscious effort to give the best of the best I had and more. It involved much sacrifice. I sacrificed many evenings, weekends, and holidays spending countless hours reading, studying, attending lectures, and writing and re-rewriting major sections of this book. It required dedication, focus, and self-discipline. Instead of of going out every weekend and partying, I was home writing – slowly and quietly chipping away, one step at a time.

I would not let anything or anyone get in my way, and did not allow too many distractions. The end result has been a finished book that I can really be proud of. It gives me great joy to know that when the Angel of Death meets me in my dreams, and cuts that silver chord between soul and body with a sweet kiss, that I shall have left a lasting gift to humanity.

8. Q: What is the most important distinction you have learned in all your studies?

A: I would have to say the most important distinction goes way beyond something I ‘learned’. The Power of Faith is the most important thing I have ever experienced in my life. With faith ALL things are possible. With faith even the impossible is made possible. Trusting, believing, and having faith in a Higher Power I call God has made all the difference in the world.

Call it whatever you want, the Creative Genius within, Spirit, Soul, Love, the Divine, it’s there – a powerful force unstoppable. By surrendering myself to a Higher Power, the doors that were once closed now open, the mountains that were once insurmountable, impenetrable, and unmovable, can now, with faith, be surmounted, penetrated, and moved in ways unforeseen. I’m not asking anyone to believe in what I’m saying. I don’t care whether people believe or do not believe, because I ‘know’- I have experienced.

9. Q: What is the most important quality of a Leader?

A: After faith and having a sense of calling or purpose which becomes a vision that sets a leader on fire, HEART is the most important leadership quality. I’m talking about the ability to deeply and genuinely connect with people on an emotional level. Leadership is ultimately about people and relationships.

I once heard someone say, “Love things and use people, you lose both, love people and use things, you gain both” and that is so true. Think about it. Everything we have in life that is meaningful, whether it’s love, relationships, career, health, or wealth, comes from people. Money does not talk. People do. Knowing this, one cannot help but to serve people.

10. Q: Can ‘greatness’ be taught?

A: I believe anything can be taught if one is willing to learn. Greatness is our birthright. It is in every one of us. Unfortunately, it lies dormant in most people from cradle to grave. This is because most traditional educational institutions do not teach this.

I don’t ever recall taking a required or ‘elective’ course on leadership, personal growth, success principles, or ‘awakening the hero soul within’ in high school or university. I had to go out of my way to look for these precious gems of knowledge. Today, it is easier for students to get drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol on or off campus then knowledge that has the power to transform.

11. Q: What are some of your favorite books?

A. Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”, Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, and recently Herman Hesse’s “Siddhartha”. I also like all the works of Joseph Campbell. Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” also had a profound impact on me. I really enjoy the classics, but also, from time-to-time, will pick up a more ‘contemporary’ book. After all, many of the classics were once contemporary too.

12. Q: What are your hobbies?

A: Believe it or not, ‘personal growth’ is my main hobby! Some people think I’m a bit ‘weird’ in that respect, but I don’t care. I just eat up inspirational books, tapes, videos, and lectures. Ever since I was about 8 years old, when my father enrolled me in a Silva Mind Course on meditation and started handing me books by Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Wayne Dyer, James Allen, and Shakti Gawain, I got hooked!

A&E’s Biography Channel is also a favorite pastime of mine.

I’m an avid reader and film buff with a wide ranging taste. The term most people and friends use to describe me is “Renaissance Man”.

I love to live life to the hilt. I enjoy plays, Shakespeare, Opera, Comedy, Drama, Classical Symphonies, Rock/Pop Concerts, Yoga, Museums, Jazz, Blues, Techno, Retro, traveling, art, painting, clubs, parties, dancing, a quiet time of reflection by the fireplace, coffee shops, discussing history, politics, and philosophy, and experiencing just about anything that moves and opens the soul.

13. Q: Do you have a motto, a certain philosophy or quote that you live by?

A: “The place is here. The time is now. Just do it!”

14. Q: Can you expand further on that?

A: No.

15. Q: Do you consider yourself to be a hero?

A: No. I am nothing special. I am just an ordinary citizen with an extraordinary vision. I am just a baby while an ocean of wisdom lies before me. I’m still learning to walk spiritually and psychologically. I’m not perfect. There is still much ego in me that needs to be annihilated. There are many inner demons that need to be slayed along the way. A long journey lies ahead. My purpose here on earth is still not done.

16. Q: What is your purpose?

A: My purpose is to use all my God-given talents, in the best way I know how, to enrich the lives of as many people as I possibly can.

My vision is ‘to inspire the world with hope, faith, love, respect, excellence, and the courage to dream”.

Q: What’s next?

A: "Live well, laugh often, love much". (Unknown). That’s what’s next. – Sharif N. Khan

Copyright © 2001 by Sharif N. Khan
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Posted by isoh at 02:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 08, 2005

"Stephen Pierce In Search Of Heroes Interveiw Was Transcendental" by Ralph Zuranski

The interview of Stephen Pierce is incredible. He has the most amazing rags-to-riches story I have ever heard. Stephen went from being a gang-banger to one of the most successful marketing consultants in the internet industry today.

Even at an early age, everyone realized Stephen was brilliant. Unfortunately, he was a problem child. He was so violent his family was kicked out of their apartment because of his actions. Anger, frustration, depression and poor role models launched him into a career of crime and drug dealing at an early age. Hanging with a bad crowd does more damage to young people than you can imagine.

It is a miracle he survived beyond his teenage years. Who would have imagined a gang member could make such a dramatic transformation.

Stephen finally wised up when a bullet missed his head and penetrated his thigh. It is still there as a reminder of the mistakes he made as a teenager.

His life story is definitely worth listening to. In fact, if you are a parent, this story is exactly what young people can benefit from immediately. Every young person should listen to the interveiw at least twice.

Stephen provides advice and information that are priceless. He knows what you need to do to become successful and attain your dreams. His knowledge about so many areas of life is incredible. Don't miss this interview!!!!

Stephen is also the creator of "FibonacciSecrets," "Amazing Trading Plans," "Rapid Fire Swing Trading," "The Whole Truth" and "Smart Pages." In his Secrets of Creating Wealth, Stephen reveals the mindset he personally used to create his massive success personality.

More importantly, he has uncovered the single reason why most people fail to attain their goals in life despite reading all the self-help literature in the world.

It's called the Power of the Third Influence and Stephen reveals exactly how it can be your friend or foe. (It's never neutral.)

Stephen's latest creation has only been available to members of his exclusive coaching club.

Now, you can access the same secrets they have used for less than 1% of what they've had to pay for it.

Now, here's the warning. A huge online company (bigger than Nightingale Conant) has discovered Stephen's Secrets of Creating Wealth and is negotiating to buy the whole inventory lock, stock, and barrel.

Stephen has agreed to set aside some copies of this set for members of my list.

Folks, I urge you to learn more about Stephen's Secrets of Creating Wealth right now.

Posted by isoh at 09:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 07, 2005

"T. Harv Eker In Search Of Heroes Interview Was Incredible" by Ralph Zuranski

T. Harv Eker is a an amazing person. His best-selling book, "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" in its first week of publication was number one on the New Yourk Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestsellers list. In a short period of time they have sold over 160,000 copies of this incredible book.

Using the principles he teaches, T. Harv Eker went from zero to millionaire in only 2 1/2 years! He combines a unique brand of ‘street-smarts with heart’. T. Harv Eker is the president of Peak Potentials Training, the fastest growing personal development company in North America.

Eker is the author of the best-selling book, SpeedWealth™ as well as several highly-acclaimed courses such as The Millionaire Mind Intensive, Life Directions, Wizard Training and Train the Trainer. He is also the producer and trainer of the world-famous Enlightened Warrior Training.

T. Harv Eker is considered to be one of North America’s most exciting presenters. He has worked with and shared the stage with some of the top authors and speakers in the world including: Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, Wayne Dyer, Robert Allen, Jay Abraham, Jay Conrad Levinson and Richard Carlson.

Eker’s high-energy, ‘cut-to-the-chase’ style keeps his audience spellbound. He teaches using ‘breakthrough’ techniques and high involvement, ‘accelerated learning’ technologies so that participants learn faster, remember more and achieve maximum results. The change in people is immediate and permanent.
T. Harv Eker’s motto is “talk is cheap” and his unique ability is getting people to take “action” in the real world to produce real success.

Over 250,000 participants have come from all over the world to attend T. Harv Eker’s seminars. His events change people’s lives!

Posted by isoh at 06:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 02, 2005

"Troy White's In Search of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

Ralph: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski; I’m speaking with Troy White. Troy is the president and founder of “The Fresh Idea Company” and is an internationally known expert in turning your words into wealth. If you run your own business or are planning to, then the ability to market yourself and your business is critically important.
 
From direct mail sales letters, postcard campaigns, press releases, cover letters, attention grabbing mail outs, new product promotional rollouts, classified adds, space ads, faxes, scripts, web pages, email marketing…anything you need to communicate to your clients Troy can do it for you with the right words.
 
Troy works with people all over the world in creating marketing programs for them and is one of the best copywriters around. How are you doing today, Troy?
 
Troy: I’m doing great. Thanks for having me on.
 
Ralph: Well I appreciate it. You are definitely one of the wonderful people I’ve met going to the different seminars. I appreciate your offering to help with the heroes program.
 
Troy: Oh, it’s a great cause and I’d love to help.
 
Ralph: I really appreciated you including me in your Entrepreneurial Spirits book
 
Troy: Thank you for your fantastic contribution as well.
 
Ralph: Thank you. It’s always interesting to go back and read what people had to say.
 
Troy: I’ve met a lot of people who have read what they said and say, “Did I say that?” But yeah, it’s always nice to get the first thoughts down on paper because usually when they go back and re-read it they usually edit it a little too much. But it’s from the heart.

Ralph: That’s absolutely true. What is your definition of heroism?
 
Troy: To me heroism really means that you put other people’s best interests first before your own. I think that the most important thing is that you put other people before yourself. Also, you need something to aim towards and aspire to.
 
A lot of people go through life and they really don’t have a big picture that they go after. A real hero is someone, to me, who shows them how to find that big picture and how to bring that into their own life.
 
Ralph: So do you think that it’s important for people to follow through on what they say where their actions speak as loud as their words?
 
Troy: Yes, definitely. And that’s a big thing in this day and age. With the internet, it’s easy to say a lot, but what I have found, and I’m sure you have too, there are very few people out there who say one thing and deliver the same thing. It’s usually two very different things that you get.
 
It’s quite unfortunate, but it’s true. The ones that do deliver what they promise are the ones, interesting enough, that are all in your “In Search of Heroes” program. They’re the ones that do deliver.
 
Ralph: Well, I chose them very carefully and definitely was looking for people who had integrity. That’s what I think really shows the person’s integrity is what they do when you are at the lowest point in your life, whether they still follow through on what they said they would do.
 
When was the lowest point in your life and how did you change your life path to overcome all the obstacles?
 
Troy: I think it probably hit me just over three years ago. I had spent eleven years in sales in the computer industry. I worked for some very large companies like Hewlett Packard. It was an industry that paid very well but I did not enjoy.

Right now my twins are four, so three years ago they were one. I came home from work one day bummed out because I was not enjoying my day and not enjoying my life and the direction of my life. Every time I came home my kids seemed to be getting bigger and I wasn’t seeing any of it, and I think to me that was really when I hit rock bottom.
 
I decided I was not going to live the rest of my life hating what I do for a living and missing out on everything that is so important to me. It was right then and there that I made a fairly quick decision. I talked with my wife, Kari, and we decided that it was time for me to go off on my own and start following the dream.
 
I have always had businesses on the side but it was time to commit fully to one. So I kind of took my low point and I said, “Well, what do you really want to do? Who do you really want to be?” And I just started following that dream and never looked back. It’s been the best journey of my life.
 
Ralph: So what is the dream and vision that sets the course of your life?
 
Troy: I have what is called a “vision board”. I put pictures up at my work, right in front of my desk, visions or dreams of what I want to be and where I want to live. So I have a definite mission on using words to help other people build their businesses, to help people realize their dreams with strongly worded messages that get the point across and to help entrepreneurs do what they are really supposed to be doing which is helping other people. So my dream is to use the power of words to create an entire network of businesses that I’ve helped to improve their sales and help their customers.
 
Ultimately where I’m going is I want to create a foundation that helps young entrepreneurs with the marketing side of it and getting their businesses going quickly. Helping them get a business off the ground and getting money in the bank so they can continue to run the business. That’s my ultimate vision is to have a foundation that helps young entrepreneurs because there’s not a lot of good programs out there that do that and they need it.
 
Ralph: That is one of visions for the “In Search of Heroes” program is to help them with just that same thing, so I really appreciate your help in the program itself. I know you had a fair amount of setbacks and misfortunes and made some mistakes. How important is it to have a positive view?

Troy: I think it is a must. Right on top of my computer screen I have a little card that says, “Believe in yourself. If you think you can, you can.” To me, that’s kind of how I run my life. I believe in myself. I know where I am going.
 
Right under that I have another little card that says, “Whatever it takes.” Those two things kind of drive my direction. They keep me up on the down times. The entrepreneurial journey is definitely not always positive. There are some negatives you run into, some down times. You’ve been through them, too.
 
But the main thing is you just have to keep that belief strong. Whatever it takes to keep that belief there and empowering you, then you can get through anything in life. If the belief is there and the passion is there for what you want to accomplish then you can make it through anything.
 
Ralph: How important was courage to pursue new ideas? When you were doing the job for the computer company, it could have been fairly frightening to make that big change and get into copywriting. How much courage does it take to pursue new ideas?
 
Troy: It takes a lot. Back to that day when I decided to quit my job, my wife was not working and we had twin one year old girls at home, but the passion was there and the dream was there and I had the support and I just took the plunge.
 
A lot of people will question you, too, when you do make that bold move. The majority of the people are going to question you and try to deter you because most people are scared of following a dream. They are scared of taking action.
 
The way I look at it is that the top five percent of the people in the world, the most successful people in the world, have as one of their strongest traits the ability to take action despite what everyone else says, because usually you have to trust your gut instinct above anything else in the world. And when it says to go and go hard, then you are much better off following that than any other piece of advice you can get from people.
 
Ralph: That’s true. Do you think that a lot of people don’t want to pursue their dream because it’s uncomfortable and that they experience a lot of pressure from people to not make that change?

Troy: Yes. That comfort zone thing is one of our big problems in society. We get so caught up in being comfortable that we don’t strive for being more, for being better. I hate to say it but a lot of our schooling these days teaches us to be mediocre. It doesn’t teach you to strive for bigger things, better things, to visual yourself doing the ultimate dream. And most people are very scared of stepping outside the comfort zone.
 
I don’t remember the exact percentages, but a prime example is public speaking. A large majority of the population in North America would rather be in a casket lying dead than up in front of a group of people because that is far out of their comfort zone.
 
That amazes me that people would rather lay in a casket and have nothing else than to get up and push yourself a little bit just to get up in front of a crowd. Public speaking used to be a major fear for me. I enrolled myself in Dale Carnegie and did that as a student and as an assistant trainer for many, many years and it is the best thing I ever did. I still get nervous up there, but I have to push myself. That’s just part of life is that you have to push yourself.
 
Ralph: How important is it to be able to believe in your dreams that they will actually become reality?
 
Troy: I almost look at it that you don’t have to believe in them but you just have to know it. I really think you have to know that your dreams will come true, as long as you keep that dream there and in front of you at all times. That’s part of the reason why I use my vision board in front of me with homes and cars and boats. Whatever it is that you want in your dream you have to keep that in front of you. I just know that my dreams will become reality. Maybe not in two months and maybe it’s not even in two years.
 
But as long as I keep that vision there, and anyone who keeps that vision there on what it is they want to do and what they want to be, it’s a given. It’s the way the universe works. When you visualize something and believe it as being true and know it is true and just trust that it will happen, it will happen. You have probably seen this happen many times, Ralph, and I have too. When you believe something, no matter how impossible it may seem, it can happen and it will happen as long as your belief is there.
 
Ralph: One thing that fights against belief is doubts and fears and everybody has those on a daily basis. How do you deal with the doubts and fears that come into your life?

Troy: I do a couple of things. Doubts and fears are always there, you can’t get rid of them. Things will just happen. You can’t turn on the television or open a newspaper without getting fearful about something. One of the ways is I eliminate as much of that as I can; I don’t read the newspaper every day. I don’t watch the news every day because very rarely is anything good in there.
 
So one of the things I do to overcome my doubts and fears is I’ve become a real advocate of just taking action. When I have an inspiration to do something, no matter how scary it may seem, I just do it and try it and see what happens.
 
This is another thing with schooling. I wish schools would teach kids that there is no such thing as failure, but yet schools pound that into their head. It’s all failure. You would think that after all these years they would have learned their lesson in the education system but they still continue to do it. But there is no such thing as failure in my eyes. You just have to try it and see if it works. If it doesn’t work you just look at it as a lesion.
 
Ralph: So you believe that it’s just a learning experience of how things don’t work rather than being a failure. You’re only a failure if you just don’t get up and keep on working at it.
 
Troy: Exactly. There are some prime examples of that. People like Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He went to 1001 restaurants before somebody finally said they would carry his recipe. And here’s somebody in his 70’s. If that’s not an inspiration on overcoming fears and doubts and just keeping at it, what is?
 
Pounding on that 999th door, I’m sure he probably felt like that’s enough. But he kept at it and he finally got it. I think no matter what your situation in life as long as you keep after your dream it is going to happen. There is no other alternative. As long as you keep at it and don’t give up on it, it’s going to happen.
 
Ralph: Who do you feel are the real heroes in our society today?
 
Troy: The real heroes to me are a lot of entrepreneurs because they go through a lot to get to that stage where people look at them as successful. A lot of people call it overnight success, but it was never that case. So I look at them as heroes because they are willing to do whatever it takes to keep on going. They fuel our economy. They provide jobs for people. It’s amazing when you really look at what entrepreneurs do for the worldwide economy, how they are the fuel for it.

The second are the parents and friends and family out there who help young people learn more about themselves and more about the universe and more about how to make things happen and more about beliefs and visions. I really think that there is so much opportunity out there now and the people who are working with others, be it children or adults, and showing them how important it is to keep that dream alive and to keep at it, to me those are the real true heroes. They are the ones who will fuel generations of creative thinkers and successful people and amazing success stories, too.
 
Ralph: Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?
 
Troy: Everything in a young person’s life is big, and if somebody is not there to bring it back home, it doesn’t mean that it is insurmountable. Superheroes make it seem like anything is doable and achievable and that’s why I think it’s important because young people need to understand that anything is achievable and heroes can help them see that. They can help them learn that because kids and adults get frustrated and want to give up, but a true hero can say, “Try it again. Try it this way; try it that way.”
 
I really think that the heroes are so important to kids for that reason: they can just teach them that so critical trait of keeping at it. To me one of the most important things you can have in life is tenacity. There are very few people who have a strong tenacious attitude to keep at it no matter what. But those are the people who succeed, the ones who develop that tenacious attitude, and it can be built at any time in life.
 
Ralph: Are there any heroes today who are not getting the recognition that they deserve?
 
Troy: There are a lot of them. And a lot of them are educators. We’ve all had one teacher in our lives, be it at school or a friend or a family friend of something. And it’s funny how all it can take is just one little thing that will stay with you for the rest of your life and drive you to achieve great things.
 
I had a teacher in university that taught me the power of preparation and visualization and it was because of her that I got a job at Hewlett Packard. I was up against 500 people in the first round and I made it to the final two and got hired. It was because of what she taught me on how to be prepared and then how to visualize that final agreement when they hired me.

It’s people like that who are the true heroes in our lives and it doesn’t take a lot for them to inspire and lead you and take with you the rest of your life. I wish there was some way to get more credit to those people because there’s lots of them out there who have done amazing things for kids.
 
Ralph: Hopefully through this program they will get the recognition they deserve for helping so many young people in their lives. There are some people who just help tons of kids and change the universe just because of their consideration and strong leadership and integrity which I think is so important in these days and times. Do you think that is what it takes to become a hero: having integrity and following through and thinking about others?
 
Troy: Yes. I think first it’s getting the big picture. What is your dream? Who do you really want to be? If you had nothing holding you back, unlimited powers, who do you really want to be?
 
Then, having the will power to just keep going, having a tenacious attitude and following through when you promise things to people, too, and making sure you deliver what you promise. To me those are some of the most important skills anybody can develop, and which I would consider a necessity to being a hero.
 
One other thing I think that a hero always has is they know their legacy. They know that there is some kind of a legacy that they want to leave to people. It’s a conversation that a lot of people don’t like to talk about. But I’ve thought about this for a long time: what do I want to leave to my kids?
 
I think if you can think what you want to leave as a legacy to the world, that that is a true hero, because all true heroes have something they want to leave. And your “In Search of Heroes” program is a true legacy that will live on forever.
 
Ralph: Let’s hope that it does in the hearts and minds of all the people that help and are helped through the program itself.
 
Troy: Oh, it will. I know that. Definitely.

Ralph: If you had three wishes for your life and the world that would instantly come true what would they be?
 
Troy: Probably number one would be that everyone in the world could realize that no matter the situation they are in right now that if they put their mind to it and used their inner powers as they can, that they can achieve anything. A lot of people don’t know that because they’ve never been taught that.
 
I would love to somehow get the word out there to everybody and show them how to do it. That would be number one because if everyone in the world knew how much power they really have with their mind it would not be in the state of affairs it is. I think that would be number one.
 
Another wish would be for my life and the people I know and work with, I wish they all could understand the power of pigheaded determination. It’s something that very, very few people have and I really wish I could give what I’ve got to the people I know. A lot of people can’t figure Troy out because Troy is like that Energizer bunny that just keeps going. That ability to just implant that determination to keep going, keep after it.
 
Lastly, on a world scale, it would be to eliminate all the garbage that is going on all over the place. And it happens no matter where you live. I’m in Canada and we have some amazing garbage going on in our politics right now. It doesn’t matter where you are, if we could just eliminate that and people would finally clue in that it’s very unnecessary and that to create a good, solid, advancing society you don’t need that.
 
Ralph: I totally agree. Sometimes you think the politicians are a part of the problem rather than a part of any solution.
 
Troy: I think they cause a lot more problems than solve any problems.
 
Ralph: That’s absolutely the truth, isn’t it? So what do you think about the “In Search of Heroes” program and it’s impact on youth, parents, and business people?
 
Troy: I think it’s an absolutely wonderful thing you are doing, Ralph, and I look forward to helping spread the word because this is what the world needs. Kids especially need more heroes, and not the video game heroes but real life heroes who having something to teach kids and to share with kids and to leave with kids. It’s an amazing program you’ve got here. It’s going to change a lot of lives.

For those listening, there are some amazing people in this program. Listen to their interviews and listen to their stories and most importantly put into action some of the ideas that they give you.
 
One thing I do is right next to my vision board in my office I have a sheet with a thousand squares on it. It is my goal to become one of the best writers in the world, so every hour I spend writing I mark an “X” off on that sheet. It’s a painful process to start with a blank piece of paper, but does it ever feel good when you fill up that 1,000th square.
 
And that can apply to anybody no matter what it is you are trying to do. In 1,000 hours you can become very proficient in something. It’s that simple. Just mark off an “X” every time you spend an hour in whatever it is you are passionate about. And when your 1,000 squares are filled up, start a new sheet because I guarantee that your second sheet will fill up quicker because now you know how good it feels. So that would be something I would like to leave that has made an amazing difference in my life.
 
Ralph: What are the things that parents can do that will help their children realize that they too can be heroes and make a positive impact on the lives of others.
 
Troy: As parents it is our responsibility to help our kids understand this; it’s not the school’s responsibility, it’s your responsibility. They don’t have to be difficult things, but simple things such as having your kids take money out of their piggy bank and buying toys for underprivileged kids and then being the ones that deliver the toys to those kids and seeing the look on the faces.
 
When they see it firsthand you can see the light bulbs going off in your own kids. It’s an amazing thing when it clicks that that little bit of good that they just did brought that other child tears of joy.
 
Simple things like helping people or helping animals, or helping them understand things like what we’ve been talking about like keeping at it and keep trying. I teach my girls to keep trying. They get frustrated and give up so I show them different angles or different ways to try it just so they get that in their head that there is no failure. They learn that if that way didn’t work, try a different way.

Ralph: If they learn that, that would be one of the most valuable things that kids could learn.
 
Troy: It’s one of those things I wish they taught more of school, too, so they would have it at home and have it at school. By the time they got out of high school they would be unstoppable.
 
Ralph: Well, Troy, I really appreciate you taking your time to answer some of these questions because it’s always interesting to hear insights of people that I’ve met on the internet that I recognize as heroes for the good things that they are doing. I just really appreciate you taking your time and wonder if you have one parting shot that you wanted to share with us?
 
Troy: First, I just want to say thank you, Ralph. This is a wonderful thing you are doing here for the millions of people across the world who will be impacted one way or another through this.
 
Ralph: Thank you, Troy, for being a part of it.
 
Troy: One thing I will leave is a quote that I just found but I think it sums it all up for me. It says, “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly which is essentially invisible to the eye.” It’s by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
 
Basically what it says is that you have to trust your heart. That will lead you in the right directions. What you see out there is not the way to go. You have to follow what your heart feels. If you follow your heart and your intuition and your gut feelings you will go far in life.
 
But if all you do is follow what you see in the papers and what you see your friends doing and your family doing and everyone else doing, you are heading in the wrong direction. You have to follow yourself, your true inner feelings. If you follow where those are taking you, you will go far.
 
Ralph: That’s great.
Troy: Thank you, Ralph. Thank you again. This is fantastic.
 
Ralph: Thanks again, and I really appreciate your time.

Posted by isoh at 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 01, 2005

"Yanik Silver's In Search of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

Ralph: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski, and I’m on the phone with Yanik Silver. Yanik is just thirty-one years old. He is recognized as the leading expert on creating automatic moneymaking websites. He’s only been online full-time since February of 2000. His friends were rolling on the floor laughing when he told them he was going to put up a website.
 
They had every right to be amused, since Yanik had absolutely no web skill design experience, zero HTML coding knowledge, in fact, he didn’t have much knowledge about computers. But that didn’t stop him from going ahead with a simple key page website, and the flood of orders hasn’t stopped since.
 
Yanik is highly sought after speaker, and attendees regularly pay close to $5,000 a person to hear his secrets. He’s the author and co-author of many different books, and has published several best-selling online marketing books and tools, including Public Domain Riches, Instant Sales Letters, Instant Internet Profits, Web Copy Secrets, Mind Motivators, Instant Marketing Toolbox, and Instant Stampede Success.
 
He has a lot more products that are really great, and you can see them on his heroes’ page. He also, when he’s not working on moneymaking projects, enjoys playing beach volleyball, ice hockey, skiing, and traveling with his wife Missy. Yanik, how are you doing today?
 
Yanik: I’m doing great. Thanks for having me on Ralph.
 
Ralph: I really appreciate your taking your valuable time to answer these questions. I know I really enjoyed hearing your presentation at Bob Silber’s seminar down in Florida a couple years ago.

Yanik: Yeah, that was quite a fun time. One of the things that I really loved about that was that was the first time I ever really went deep-sea fishing. I was one of the few people on my boat that wasn’t puking their guts out.
 
Ralph: Really? So were John and Armand and Alex throwing up?
 
Yanik: Armand wasn’t on my boat, but John Reese was, and Stephen Pierce was throwing up, and his wife Alicia.
 
Yanik: It was only Rich Schefren and I who were having a good go at it.
 
Ralph: Oh boy! That was a beautiful time. Did you guys catch anything?
 
Yanik: I caught something, yeah. I'm not a real fisherman. It wasn’t a tuna. It was some kind of mackerel.
 
Ralph: Uh-huh.
 
Yanik: Spanish mackerel maybe, I don’t know. I probably have it wrong, but it was something good and we had it for lunch.
 
Ralph: Oh, that’s great. Oh, it was beautiful down there. It was a quite a unique gathering of individuals.
 
Yanik: Yeah.
 
Ralph: Well, let me go ahead and ask you a couple questions.
 
Yanik: Okay.
 
Ralph: I’m really interested to hear what you have to say. Do you have a dream or vision that sets the course of your life?

Yanik: You know I don’t have a real solid one or something that I would say that runs kind of like the Meta profile on everything that I do. But I have a couple things. I have my values that I look at each and every morning. And that really runs the course of my business life and my personal life.
 
One of the things in there that I've found especially rewarding has been a statement that says, “I get rich by enriching others ten times to a hundred times what they pay me in return.” Kind of like the Zig Ziglar philosophy of “You can get anything you want by helping enough people get what they want.”
 
That is one of the things that has really driven a lot of my success, online and offline, is making sure that I'm always, hopefully, over-delivering in value because one of my favorite mentors is Earl Nightingale and he always talks about how the marketplace cannot possibly underpay you if you're delivering great value and over-delivering.
 
The other thing that I have a vision for really is helping young people becoming more entrepreneurial. I think our society has really just taken a couple steps backwards from when everybody used to be an entrepreneur, when a couple hundred years ago, maybe even as short ago as maybe a hundred years ago. Now, it’s just more of this employee mentality that’s taught in schools, and I can't stand it.
 
Ralph: Yeah, boy that really destroys the creativity and seems that the school system is just designed to set kids up to be employees.
 
Yanik: Yeah, absolutely, and something that if I can have my way, is I will always have a soft spot for younger people. And I'm not that old myself. But for instance, one student of mine, he emailed me up and typically I don’t go out to lunch or do coffee with anyone because normally I'm too busy, but I had a real soft spot for this guy.
 
Actually, it’s two of them, now that I come to think of it. They're both college-aged, and they both had their own little online businesses where they were selling information products based on what I had taught them.

One of them was making about $3,000 a month from his college dorm. I was really impressed and he had driven up about five hours just to see me, so I took the time out and had coffee with him and really helped him out.
 
Ralph: You know that’s amazing. It seems that that’s one of the themes that went through all the Heroes interviews is that the entrepreneurs, the people that start businesses, that have the courage to do so, are the real heroes to those that I'm interviewing.
 
Yanik: Yeah, I can see that.
 
Ralph: You know how important is it to take a positive view of step-backs and misfortunes and mistakes because that seems that’s inherent in being an entrepreneur?
 
Yanik: Well, you're always going to have set-backs, misfortunes, and mistakes. The real interesting thing is to always think about two things. One, I think about, “How can I turn this problem into an opportunity?” I don’t know where the quote came from and I'm probably going to screw it up, but “Within every problem lays some kind of opportunity.”
 
If I can figure out the opportunity in there, the faster I can get out the other end of where the problem is. If you look back on your life, in most cases, now obviously there are some things like an illness that is very close to deathbed. When you find out about that, it’s not really a good thing.
 
But most set-backs or misfortunes or things that are mistakes are, if you look at them in the long run, they are pretty positive. There's an interesting story, and I can't remember the gentleman’s name, but he was a big, either stockbroker or bond broker or some kind of money mover.
 
He got caught doing something illegal. He went to jail. So he was sitting in jail. He got convicted, I think, maybe a month or two months before 9/11. Maybe you know this story, Ralph. He’s sitting in his jail cell, and 9/11 comes, and obviously the airplanes go smack into the Trade Center, the World Trade Center Buildings.

They came in right where his offices would have been. Everybody in his office perishes and dies who was there. He would’ve been there. So something that looked pretty horrible - he’s going to jail for these investment-related crimes that he’s committed - all of a sudden, didn’t look so bad.
 
Ralph: Yeah.
 
Yanik: And there are lots of things where perhaps you're fired from a job and that gives you the freedom to finally start your own thing. There's lots of thing where when you look back at it, it could be a set-back or misfortune and it really is a turning point for you if you just go back and think about it.
 
For me in my own case, I can't really think of anything too tragic but the only thing that comes to my mind right now is growing up as a kid, I worked for the family business, my father’s business, selling medical equipment. And, every summer, I wanted to live at the beach.
 
He wouldn’t let me live at the beach. He made me work at the company selling. I was either telemarketing, or out cold-calling on doctors or designing their marketing pieces and so on, but just working there. To me, I thought that that was a horrible, horrible misfortune to befall a young high-school kid, instead of living at the beach and having a lot of fun, I had to work.
 
But looking back now, it gave me a tremendous head start over anybody else because at the age of fourteen I was telemarketing. At the age of sixteen, I was out doing sales face to face, so it gave me a big head start over almost anybody else.
 
Ralph: That’s amazing. Well, I guess it’s important to be an optimist. What do you think about optimism?
 
Yanik: I really would consider myself an optimist, and not kind of a Pollyanna-rose-colored optimist, where everything is great, no matter what’s happening. I’m almost like a pragmatic optimist in a way. So maybe you’ve got you're backup plan. Something that I love, and I’ll go back to Earl Nightingale is, he talks about cheerful expectancy.

To me, that is kind of what optimism is because you have to have something to the foundation of your optimism. It’s like walking into a test when you're a kid, and being really optimistic that you're going to do well.
 
But guess what? If you didn’t study or you have no clue about what the test is on, or the subject, or the things that are going on there, it’s pretty hard to be optimistic that you're going to get a good grade.
 
Ralph: Yeah.
 
Yanik: There's no reason for you to be optimistic. But if you have a reason to be optimistic, let’s say, you’ve studied, and you know your stuff, then you should definitely be optimistic. That’s the way that I think about it, like I talked about cheerful expectancy.
 
When I first got online, there were a lot of people already in there, and it gets more crowded each and every year, and more competition and so on. But when I got online, I had a very positive, cheerful expectancy that I was going to succeed because I could see some of the models that were successful.
 
I also saw some of the key course skills that were required, and I already had them, because I had studied like Earl Nightingale. I’ll go back to him again and you can tell he’s been a pretty big influence, where Earl Nightingale talks about, if you want to become an expert, read for one hour a day for three years.
 
If you want to become a world expert, read for one hour a day for five years. So I thought, “Well, what would happen if you read for two hours a day on a subject, or three hours a day?” So I had the foundation. I had the direct marketing principles down and so that gave me that cheerful expectancy that I can walk in and really do well.
 
Ralph: So you're dad, making you work during the summertime, gave you a huge foundation. Did you sort of look at him as an ogre at the time that he made you do that and changed your opinion of him later on?

Yanik: Yeah, absolutely. I wasn’t too happy with that. At one point, I even remember quitting and trying to work at TCBY, the little local yogurt store. And I hated it because I had the evening shift after high school, where I’d have to just take apart the yogurt machines and clean them. It was ridiculous for maybe eight dollars an hour, or seven dollars an hour. I thought, “Oh, I'm going back.”
 
So, yeah, I definitely was not thinking that it was in my best interest to be doing all the stuff that I was doing. But right now I definitely think of my father as one of my heroes.
 
And he’s got a really interesting story. It’s something that I really enjoy because I think that this applies a lot to entrepreneurs as well. My family is from Russia. We came over from Moscow in ’76 and I was two and a half at the time.
 
They came over, you know, not really knowing the language, not having any kind of advantage that people who’ve grown up here have. He came with $256 in his pocket for me, my mom, himself, and my mom’s mother.
 
He went to work at a hospital here. He got a regular job, and on the side, he was moonlighting, repairing doctors’ medical equipment for doctors in the hospital. Pretty soon, the hospital found out about it. This was in 1978.
 
They said, “Well, you’ve got two choices, Joseph. You can either keep working here and give up what you're doing with the other doctors on the side, or you can be fired. ” And he said, “Well, okay, I’ll start my own thing.”
 
He’s gone on to build this multimillion dollar business. Just this immigrant-type philosophy is something that I've always been interested in, and entrepreneurs really have the same thing, because it’s starting from nothing and building something. A lot of people who have many advantages and benefits that immigrants don’t have, somehow fail to take advantage of all this.

Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger - perfect example. He came here from Austria. Who would’ve thought that this guy with a very funny accent could become this mega superstar actor and also an Olympian bodybuilder? He proved everyone wrong. There are so many stories like that.

Ralph: Well, how much courage do you think it takes to pursue new ideas?
 
Yanik: I think it depends on the idea. It depends. If it’s a pretty radical, new idea, I think that then it takes a lot of courage because there are a lot of naysayers. You know what, even if it’s a mildly new idea, it still takes courage, because a lot of times, your friends, your family, they're not going to get it.
 
It’s kind of like this crab mentality. I'm from Maryland, and Maryland is, I don’t know if it’s official, I think it is the official state slogan, “Maryland is for crabs.” So, I've never been crab fishing, or crabbing, or whatever it’s called.
 
But I know for a fact that if you have a bucket with one crab in there, he’s going to escape and get out of there. But as soon as you get two crabs in there, you're safe. You don’t need to have a lid on the bucket any more, because as soon as one crab tries to make his way out, the other crab’s going to reach up, grab him, and pull him back down.
 
Ralph: Really?
 
Yanik: Oh yeah, and it’s the same way with people, it seems like. If you're not with positive people who are happy and excited about where they're going in life, they want to bring you back down to where they are.
 
They have something in Australia that my Australian friends told me about this saying, and I can't remember exactly what it is. It’s something about the tallest poppy, that they want to cut down the tallest poppy. And so just like the crab analogy, that if there's a big poppy plant that’s risen above the others, that’s the one they want to cut down.
 
The courage is you got to be courageous enough to follow your own ideas; follow your own ambitions; follow your dreams and goals, really. And as you start moving up and having these things become a reality, you're going to start hanging out with a whole different group of people. Typically, for them, it’s natural that if you have an idea and you want to make it into reality, it’s natural for them to have that happen.
 
Ralph: Yeah.

Yanik: That’s one of the things that I absolutely love. I love ideas, but I love even more ideas that I implement and turn into cash, because that’s the way I know that it’s had a profound effect on people.
 
Ralph: Do you feel that it’s an uncomfortable experience to pursue your dreams?
 
Yanik: No, I don’t think so.
 
Ralph: Let me clarify that as far as just the amount of conflict that you have in your circles of your peer group and your family that it is going to be uncomfortable because you're going to make a change. That scares everybody, and so they resist change in most cases. They basically make life uncomfortable for you because you want to do a different thing.
 
Yanik: Yeah, well, in that case, that is true. Of course, it’s going to depend on your family and your friends, but in most cases, it’s the same thing. They know you as one way and if you start exhibiting different characteristics, they get uncomfortable.
 
People want you to remain consistent. You decide, “Well, I’m not going to do it this way.” One of my best friends, attorney, CPA, he works now for a government agency, before he was working in private practice and he still doesn’t get what I do.
 
He doesn’t understand. He just knows that I drive around in a really nice car and take vacations whenever I want. He calls me up and kind of laughs and he’s like, “Do you ever work?”
 
I’m like, “Yeah, I do work.”
 
But you definitely are going to experience some discomfort and that’s just kind of par for the course. Like I said, then you're going to start getting around other people who share these same kinds of attitudes and beliefs. There are other people that are just like you.
 
Some of the best advice, I can't believe how often I've gone back to Earl Nightingale, but Earl Nightingale talks about, I don’t remember which program it is, but you should get everything that he put out, either Lead the Field, or The Strangest Secret, and he has some other, not as widely known, stuff.

He talks about, “If you want to be successful, just look at what the average herd does.” I don’t know if he called them this, but I call them this - it’s the mediocre majority. If you look at what most average people are doing, just do the exact opposite, because most people aren’t successful.
 
It’s typically only about the top five percent of people. I'm not trying to say this in an elitist type way. It just seems that most people would rather be yakking on the phone, or plopping themselves down in front of the T.V. instead of doing something constructive.
 
If you do the exact opposite, so let’s say the average person comes home and watches four hours of T.V. at night. Okay, well, I'm going to be successful. I don’t have a successful role model, even though there are tons of books and biographies and different things that you could study if you wanted to.
 
But let’s just say you don’t have a personal role model in your own life. Just think about what these people are doing and do the exact opposite. So for four hours a night, I would, instead of watching T.V., I’d actually read something productive.
 
This is not to say that I'm a big nerd and read for four hours every single night. For the people that know me, I'm a pretty social person and I actually love to have a good time. But when you could put the work in once, and that’s a great thing with the Internet business too, is you could put the work in once and profit from it over and over again.

But you’ve got to pay the price initially.
 
Ralph: Yeah, but did you believe your dreams would eventually become reality?
 
Yanik: Yeah, like we talked about the cheerful expectancy I had. I had every notion that I would be successful online when I applied what I saw working. I don’t know if I would have imagined what I’ve got right now and where it’s leading up to. That’s one of the things that really stops a lot of the students and clients that I work with is that they don’t see every little step along the way.

My favorite analogy to this is, let’s say you’re walking in a really thick pea soup-type fog. You can only see a hundred yards ahead of you. Well, you know, let’s say your end goal is a mile down the road. You’re not going to be able to see it. So that stops people from going any further, because they can’t see where the end goal is.
 
But if you go this first hundred yards as far as you can see, you’re going to be able to see the next hundred yards, and then you’ll be able to see the next hundred yards. And that’s what I’ve always believed in.
 
Ralph: Well a lot of people are paralyzed by doubts and fears. How are you able to overcome your doubts and fears?
 
Yanik: Well, it would be a lie if I told you I don’t have doubts and fears anymore. I think anyone who tells you that is lying. There’s a great book title, and I can’t remember the name of author, but it’s called Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.
 
I really like that because it makes a lot of sense. You’re going to be fearful. Maybe it’s something new, or maybe it’s someone you have to call for business and this person seems completely unreachable, but you feel the fear, dial the number and just do it anyway.
 
Something that has helped and I don’t do this enough as I should, is some mental rehearsing; vividly imagining what you want the ideal outcome to be. If you do that, you will find that that does help you a bit.
 
Ralph: Who helped give you the willpower to change things in your life for the better?
 
Yanik: For me, it’s been listening to a lot of mentors, typically via tape or video program or written material; from trying to study the people that have been really successful and just seeing what they’ve done.
 
On the more personal level, it’s been my family. My dad, like I mentioned, is an entrepreneur. He came over here as an immigrant and started with nothing, and built up something.

My mother, who just passed away a couple of weeks ago actually, she wasn’t an entrepreneur, but she was incredibly encouraging. It doesn’t matter what kind of silly, dumb idea I had, it didn’t matter to her. As long as I wanted to do it, she was behind me all the way.
 
She had a long fifteen year battle with cancer. A lot of people, if they have cancer, that’s the end of their lives for them, but that’s not the way that she was. She had cancer, but the cancer didn’t really have her, if that makes sense. She would live life to the fullest. In between chemo treatments, she’d be out there dancing until midnight or 1:00 a.m. having a good time.
 
So just seeing the strength that she had, with what she was able to overcome, in a way, with what she had been dealt with, made me realize that all the stuff I had been trying to do was a lot easier.
 
Ralph: Yeah, I can imagine so. Do you think that perseverance is really important?
 
Yanik: I do think perseverance is important. There are two parts to that for me anyway. I think there is a certain amount of perseverance that is good and then at some point it just becomes banging your head against the wall and you’ll be much better off going in some other direction.
 
So let’s say you’ve been trying to make a go at your business and you keep trying a bunch of different ways. You keep trying a bunch of different ways and nothing is working. At that point it is time to say, “Okay, well, next. And let’s move on.”
 
For perseverance to be a positive aspect, from my point of view, you’ve got to be trying something different. You can’t just be – let me do this exact same thing over and over again, because I know perseverance is a good quality. So if you keep doing the exact same thing over and over again, you are going to get the exact same result over and over again.
 
So to me, perseverance is positive if you are trying new ways to try and get the end goal that you are shooting for.

Now, if you’re not getting your end goal, there are a lot of ways to skin the cat. Let’s say you want to be a millionaire. That’s your goal. There are a whole lot of ways to become a millionaire. It could be through real estate. It could be through stocks. It could be selling your own products like I do. It could be any number of ways. There are tons and tons of different ways.
 
So like I said, if you are banging your head against a wall, there is a point where you’ve got to say this is not the right course for me.
 
Ralph: Well, in business, there are a lot of people that you come across that upset you, offend you, and oppose you. How important is it to forgive those people?
 
Yanik: To me, I’m never one to hold a grudge. I typically think that, not even just in business, but in your personal life, I think it takes a lot more energy to hold a grudge, and to be really pissed off and mad at somebody than it does to just let it go and forget it. Just say I’m not going to do business with this person anymore.
 
Okay, they’ve proven that they’re not worthy of my trust. Get over it. But a lot of people love to hold on to the negative feelings. To tell you the truth, the negative feelings affect you. It’s not affecting them. They don’t care if you’ve got negative feelings towards them. It’s not bothering them typically. But it bothers you.
 
Ralph: Yeah, it seems that people who hold on to those feelings are hoping that they can affect you because of the way they are feeling about you.
 
Yanik: I think it is pretty immature.
 
Ralph: I agree. Would you experience service to others as a source of joy?
 
Yanik: I do. That’s one of the things that keeps me going in this business. I probably have enough now that I really don’t need to work too much harder. But I really enjoy meeting with a couple of the college kids that were my students and having them tell me about my influence on their lives.

At the seminar I went to last weekend, I was actually attending, and I ran into one of my students. He told me about how he had no money in his pocket. He bought one of my courses which he really couldn’t afford. It turned the lights on for him. He created his own information product.
 
I have to give him credit, because it’s not just me. He went out and took action. But he made over one and half million dollars in 24 hours, selling his product. And it came from a starting point. And he was almost getting very emotional about how much it affected his life and how it helped him out.
 
I felt very grateful for it, but I told him that I can’t take the credit for it. He’d done so much by himself. But if I gave him a nudge in the right direction, then I feel very grateful.
 
I just had this big seminar a couple of weeks ago called my Underground Online Seminar. We had a real private dinner with just a couple of my friends. It was very spontaneous where a couple of them got up and gave me toasts. I had no idea that they were going to do this. And even at the higher level, it is really rewarding to hear from people who I had no idea I had affected them this much.
 
It is rewarding to hear even just an email from a customer who tells you that they didn’t think they could do this. Then all of a sudden, they’ve quit their job, and they’re making a hundred thousand dollars a year on the Internet, or whatever the case is. That’s definitely some of the most satisfying, rewarding accolades that I can get.
 
Ralph: How important is it to maintain a sense of humor in the face of serious problems?
 
Yanik: I think it is pretty important. I think your sense of humor is important for every aspect. As soon as you start taking yourself too seriously, then there’s a pretty steep decline. Especially, like you said, if you are facing a serious problem, laughter has been proven to be a way to de-stress yourself and sometimes even cure yourself of some major illnesses.
 
There’s a famous anecdotal evidenced by Norman Cousins. I don’t remember what he had, but…

Ralph: He had cancer.
 
Yanik: Okay. He was in his hospital room and he sent for all the funny videos he could possibly get and he just watched them nonstop. And he cured himself. So I definitely think there is a very therapeutic value in laughter and trying to find something amusing in your situation.
 
Ralph: Other than your mom and dad, who are the heroes in your life?
 
Yanik: Well, definitely my mom and dad. The other heroes in my life have been some of the mentors who I’ve learned a tremendous amount from. They’ve kind of shown me the way, really. I’ve been talking about Earl Nightingale a bunch of times, so he’s definitely up there on the list.
 
Dan Kennedy, who’s a direct marketing giant, and who I’m fortunate enough to know. It’s interesting how things come full circle. I remember reading all his newsletters and just being blown away and very excited to meet him; I would love to have the opportunity to even work with him. And now I’m running Dan Kennedy’s affiliate program. I even have a page in his monthly newsletter.
 
So it’s exciting when someone you look up to as a hero, and has influenced your life so much, and when you’re able to now stand on a relatively equal footing.
 
Some of the other heroes are pretty much the unsung heroes, like entrepreneurs. I think any entrepreneur is a hero to me. Anyone who has the gumption to start their own business and to really decide to go out there and make a go out of it, even if they fail at their business, is a hero to me.
 
They are providing something of value back to society, or else they’re going to be out of business pretty soon. They’re providing jobs. Our whole economy, or a lot of it, is based on small entrepreneurs. So to me, those people are really deserving of the title of hero.
 
Ralph: Well, as an entrepreneur, most people, right out of the gate, aren’t successful. A lot of people fail. You’ve heard the statistics of small businesses on how fast they fail. How important do you think it is to be willing to fail at what you do in order to learn how to be successful?

Yanik: I think that you should be willing to fail. You shouldn’t expect to fail. Like we talked about a cheerful expectancy and having a reason for this cheerful expectancy, so do your homework before you go into any venture.
 
It’s not enough to say, “I want to open a restaurant.” But if you want to open up a restaurant, let’s say, I want to do that. I have not a clue about the restaurant business. I’ve never worked in the restaurant business. I’ve maybe talked to someone who owns a restaurant maybe once in my life. I’ve eaten at a bunch of restaurants. That doesn’t mean that I have the skills necessary to run a successful restaurant business.
 
Now if you go out and you interview ten top restaurateurs from all over the country,  if you sat them down for a day and took copious notes and did a bunch of research. Then you go out and fail, then that’s different than just saying, “Okay, I want to start a restaurant,” and going out and failing.
 
Though there is something to be said for failing forward as much as possible. I’m a direct response marketer and I like the way direct response marketers look at things. We look at things as tests. We can go out in the market place. We can go out with a new promotion and it could bomb. You know what, it’s not a failure. It’s just an unsuccessful test.
 
It’s all about the way that you frame things, is the way that to me makes a lot of sense. There is no good or bad value until we attach it to something, to an event, to a situation.
 
So if you say, “Well, okay, this restaurant went under.” You can say, “Yes, I’m a failure.” And attribute that to it and frame it that way. Or you can reframe it as something else. Here’s all the things that I’ve learned from it and it’s going to make my next entrepreneurial adventure even stronger.
 
Ralph: So you think it’s important for people to learn from the mistakes that they make?
 
Yanik: Absolutely. You’ve got to be able to learn from the mistakes that you make, but even more so. This is something that I’ve tried to do is I’ve tried to avoid making the mistakes as much as possible by learning from people that have done it ahead of me.

There are so many books out there that you can learn tremendous amounts of information from. People who have spent twenty, thirty, forty years in their particular business or venture, or whatever, and they have all this information out there for you in a $10 book or $20 book, or in some cases it is a more expensive home study program.
 
Whatever the case is, it’s all worth it because it shortens your learning curve and you can find out how to avoid those mistakes without having to actually do it yourself. So that’s a smarter way of doing it to me.
 
Ralph: Yanik, how does it feel to be recognized as an Internet hero?
 
Yanik: For the people that know me, I’m a pretty modest, humble guy. Like I said, the accolades and the emails and the notes and coming up and meeting people in person who talk about me helping to change their lives is something that is very, very rewarding to me, and the same as this being recognized as an Internet hero is.
 
Ralph: So by your ability to help others in the success that you’ve had in making them successful, do you think that’s why you recorded this honor?
 
Yanik: I would have to imagine so. Hopefully that’s the case.
 
When I sit back and think about some of the people that I’ve helped kind of turn the lights on for, and then they’ve gone out and taught other people, or had tremendous influence in their community, or been able to support their family in new ways, it’s something that really almost boggles my mind. When you think about the kind of influence you can have, by just helping to get people to where they want to be.
 
Ralph: That’s basically the primary way you’re making the world a better place, by helping people become successful?
 
Yanik: Yeah, right now that is my primary way. In the future, I’d like to do some other things.

One of the things I don’t publicly talk about, there are certain charities that we donate five percent of every dollar that comes into us, in the business, too. I’ve done other things like, I think you were there Ralph; I had my big 30th birthday bash. I invited all my customers in for a free seminar which typically would have cost about $2,000 or $3,000 and all I asked for was a $50 donation to Make A Wish. We raised $25,000 for Make A Wish Foundation.
 
So, things like that are some of the ways that I’m trying to make my little contribution in the world if possible.
 
Ralph: Well, I really appreciate your time, Yanik. Is there any parting piece of wisdom you want to pass on to young people?
 
Yanik: The only thing that I’ll leave you with is:  it doesn’t matter how you start, but just start. Whatever venture you’re trying to get into, even if you do it badly, it is worth doing badly at first.
 
There’s never going to be a perfect time for anything. I thought when I was starting my business that I would wait until this certain time, or I’d wait until this happened, or whatever happened. And the truth is, there’s never, ever a perfect time. So just get out there, and in the words of Nike, ‘just do it.’
 
Ralph: Yeah, that seems to be the advice of most of the heroes that I’ve talked to, is just do anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect, nor will it ever be perfect.
 
Yanik: Nor will it ever be. I still don’t think my business is perfect. There are a lot of things I could do to make it better, but it’s a lot better than when I started. And it’s probably going to be better next year, and the year afterwards, as long as you’re always on this upwards trajectory, where you are kind of improving along the way.
 
Ralph: Well, I’m amazed at what you’ve accomplished at such a young age. That’s the reason for the Heroes program. It’s to get kids to realize there are people out there that are like you that have incredible information that can help them be incredibly successful before they’re twenty-one.
 
Yanik: That would be terrific. I’d love to create some new millionaires before they’re even legally able to drink in the United States, before 21, would be really cool.
 
Ralph: I’ve got the best of the best as far as the heroes in the information we put up in the In Search of Heroes web blog. So I just really thank you for your contribution and just really appreciate what you’re doing for the world.
 
Yanik: My pleasure. Thanks, Ralph.

==========================================================
Just 31-years old, Yanik Silver is recognized as the
leading expert on creating automatic, moneymaking web
sites...and he's only been online full time since February
2000!

He is the author, co-author or publisher of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at www.SurefireMarketing.com

Copyright 2002 by Yanik Silver All rights reserved

Yanik's Awesome Products

----------------------------------------------------
Instant Sales Letters:
------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Instant Internet Profits:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
33 Days to Online Profits:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
33 Days to Online Profits Video CDroms:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Internet Marketing Lab Videos:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Mind Motivators:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Web Copy Secrets:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Public Domain Riches:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Magnetic Marketing:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
"Copywriting Seminar in a box":
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Power Pause:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
5 Minute PDF Creator:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Autoresponder Magic:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Million Dollar Emails:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------

Posted by isoh at 08:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 27, 2005

"In Search Of Heroes Interviews" by Ralph Zuranski

The interviews with Alex Mandossian and Yanik Silver were pretty amazing. After you listen to their answers to the heroes questions you know why they are so successful in the field of marketing.

Hopefully, by the end of July the book "In Search Of Heroes On the Internet" will be ready for prime time. This book will tell a fascinating story about the search for heroes in our society over the last 50 years. It is so amazing to see how heroes reflect what is going on in society. The book "In Search Of Heroes in Alternative Medicine" will be ready for publication in September.

The wealth of information that has come out of the interviews, from the internet and health heroes, will be polished down into the gleaming nuggets of truth and presented in a super-learning format.

So many timeless principles have emerged as the dominant theme of the people chosen to be recognized as heroes. Their thought processes are a clear pathway to attaining incredible levels of success. The health secrets of the doctors will help you and your family members achieve levels of health you only dream of.

The bottom line is that to achieve incredible success in all areas of life, your thoughts, diet and exercise program are the primary determining factors.

"What you think about and believe becomes your reality!"

"You are what you eat and assimilate."

After attending so many internet and medical conferences over the last 20 years and listening to the movers and shakers, scientists and researchers in the internet and health industries, their strategies and advice is priceless.

To make it easier for everyone to understand, I will soon start providing this valuable health and internet marketing information in a super-learning format, using colorful mind-maps and animated powerpoint presentations.

This will be the course material for the training program for everyone involved in the "In Search Of Heroes Program." To access this valuable information from the best and most brilliant, there will be a special membership only area. This monthy or yearly membership fee will provide you access to the inner sanctum where the most valuable informaion and ideas are worth their weight in gold.

It is really exciting to see my dream for 13 years nearing completion. My goal to help young people spread good news about local heroes and achieve their optimal levels of performance in all areas of life is fast becoming reality. I am very greatful for everyone who is helping with the heroes program.

It is about time we focused on the good things people do rather than the bad. I don't know about you, but I belive, "If you cannot say something positive about someone, it is better not to say anything at all."

I am so sick of the politicians, media moguls, business icons, famous athletes, movie stars and spiritual leaders acting like spoiled children, spreading bad news, lies and rumors about their opponents. "What kind of example is that for our children?"

In the immortal words if Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

Posted by isoh at 02:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 26, 2005

"Yanik Silver In Search Of Heroes Interview Today" by Ralph Zuranski

Today is another big day for the In Search Of Heroes Program because I have the opportunity to interview Yanik Silver. He is a great example of how a young person can generate massive amounts of income with the right knowledge, hard work and a high degree of personal integrity.

Yanik Silver is one of the most successful internet marketers. His seminars are usually sold out because his strategies work. He is known as a leader in teaching people how to create websites that generate residual income automatically. Once the work is completed each site becomes a potential cash cow that requires very little maintenance.

I first met at Bob Silbers seminar at Hawk's Cay in Florida. Yanik gave a phenomenal presentation on the advantages of using Public Domain books and materials to provide content for your website and books.

==========================================================
Just 31-years old, Yanik Silver is recognized as the
leading expert on creating automatic, moneymaking web
sites...and he's only been online full time since February
2000!

He is the author, co-author or publisher of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at www.SurefireMarketing.com

Copyright 2002 by Yanik Silver All rights reserved

Yanik's Awesome Products

----------------------------------------------------
Instant Sales Letters:
------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Instant Internet Profits:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
33 Days to Online Profits:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
33 Days to Online Profits Video CDroms:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Internet Marketing Lab Videos:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Mind Motivators:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Web Copy Secrets:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Public Domain Riches:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Magnetic Marketing:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
"Copywriting Seminar in a box":
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Power Pause:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
5 Minute PDF Creator:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Autoresponder Magic:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Million Dollar Emails:
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------

Posted by isoh at 08:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 25, 2005

"Alex Mandossian In Search Of Heroes Interview Today" by Ralph Zuranski

Wow! I am so excited to hear Alex's answers to the In Search Of Heroes questions. He has been helping with the In Search Of Heroes Program from the beginning. I will be interviewing him at 12 noon PST today and will have his interview posted on Alex's heroes page by 1:45 PM.

Alex Mandossian is one of the best copywriters, speakers, teleseminar and traffic conversion consultants in the internet industry. My first exposure to Alex was when I discovered his Marketing With Postcards Course that I purchased for a marketing program for an alternative medicine clinic in Dallas. I realized that using postcards to contact patients was the least expensive way to keep in touch.

I was blown away when Alex called me personally. We immediately bonded. He suggested I attend the first Big Seminar in Dallas. The rest is history. The Big Seminar was the first event where I started seeking internet heroes to help create the training course for young people.

Alex is the co-founder of AskDatabase.com, AudioGenerator and InstantVideoGenerator, as well as being one of the first online pioneers to develop and use Audio Postcards, Video Postcards and online surveys to capture more sales and profits, faster, better and with less effort. These services are an important part of the In Search Of Heroes™ Program because people want to listen to and see the interviews of the hereos.

Alex co-created the ASK Database with Frank Deardurff III. This is an incredibly valuable service because it allows everyone to ask questions that are important to them. Then we provide people with the information they really want. It takes advantage of the "Socratic Method" of asking questions.

Alex has created the website Access To Leaders that provides the secret wisdom of the greatest marketing geniuses in the world. The In Search Of Heroes™ Program will have a similar format for all the different heroes programs. The initial programs will be "In Search Of Heroes™ on the Internet" and "In Search Of Heroes™ in Alternative Medicine."

Alex and Armand Morin, another of the program's heroes, created an internet marketing training program and unique Master Mind group called AM2Gold. Both Alex and Armand are sharing all of their cutting-edge marketing techniques and resources with a select few individuals who realize the monthly investment of $499 is cheap when only one idea generated will be worth millions of dollars.

The first individuals who will be offered the opportunity to host In Search Of Heroes Programs in their community will be selected from this elite group of internet marketers who already know the secrets of marketing. As Armand and Alex continue to train the members of the AM2Gold Master Mind group, I could not find any business people more prepared to spread Good News about local business heroes with the help In Search Of Heroes Interns.

Posted by isoh at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 24, 2005

"Read Michel Fortin's In Search Of Heroes Interveiw" by Ralph Zuranski

Ralph Zuranski: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski. I’m on the phone with Michel Fortin. He’s one of the leading copywriters in the world today. He is so successful in his writing that he’s helped a number of the Internet marketers achieve $1 million dollar days in sales.

Ralph Zuranski: He has been at a number of the Internet conferences. Michel Fortin knows more about copywriting and testing copy than anybody that I’ve ever met.

Ralph Zuranski: I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s such a great teacher and also such a great copywriter. He tests every aspect of copywriting to find out what works. I know that most of the time, on any of the copywriting pieces that he creates, he has four or five tests that all run simultaneously…the color, the fonts, the placement of images.

Ralph Zuranski: It is truly amazing. He is a copywriting scientist.

Ralph Zuranski: How are you doing today, Michel?

Michel Fortin: I’m doing well, Ralph. Thank you very much for asking.

Ralph Zuranski: I really appreciate you taking your busy time. I know you get thousands of emails a day. You’re in incredible demand. I hope that’s not all spam.

Michel Fortin: Oh, actually those are real emails. I probably get two or three thousand emails that include spam.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, I remember that you’re one of the first people to help volunteer with the “In Search of Heroes” program back at the big seminar when I put the wrong name on your photo.

Michel Fortin: Yes, that’s right.

Ralph Zuranski: I was so embarrassed. You contacted me and said you’ve got somebody else’s name on my photo. I think that endeared yourself to me immediately. I was so embarrassed.

Michel Fortin: Well, I didn’t mind it so much. The other guy was a little bit better looking than me.

Ralph Zuranski: What is your definition of heroism?

Michel Fortin: If somebody goes out there and does one tiny little thing that makes some kind of a change in the world it is good. It doesn’t have to be a huge legacy-type thing.

Michel Fortin: It could be one tiny little thing, like going to an orphanage and just spending ten minutes with an orphan. Or you go to a seniors’ home. Or you see somebody who’s trying to cross the street and has difficulty. Whether it’s a person who has some kind of handicap or even a person who is fearful. You help them cross the street.

Michel Fortin: To me that’s somebody who’s a hero. They impressed in that one person’s tiny little timeframe of their life, that little grain of dust, something that means a lot to them.

Michel Fortin: You know, there’s an old proverb, an old story of a person who was walking along the beach. And they saw starfishes that were beached. They took one and threw it back into the ocean.

Michel Fortin: And the other person said, “you know, how can you make a difference when there’s so many of these starfishes on the beach?” He said, “Well, I made a difference with that one.”

Michel Fortin: And that’s the point! You don’t have to be a huge success. You don’t have to do some tremendous thing in order to be a hero. You can do something that is a blink in eternity, that can mean something to someone. To me, that’s a hero.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, and boy that’s true. Gregory Alan Williams, a person that wrote a book about saving a man’s life in the L.A. riots, says “There’s a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best of us. When somebody just does something good for somebody else, they actually become a hero.”

Michel Fortin: Absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: Does that fit your definition?

Michel Fortin: Absolutely. Oh, yeah. You know, one thing I do, for example, when I go to a seminar. Whether I’m a speaker or just somebody in the audience and somebody comes up to me and asks me one simple question, I spend time with them.

Michel Fortin: Now, it could be something business-related, but it also could be something in terms of the seminar. It could be something as easy as what kind of, what do you think about the speakers, whatever.

Michel Fortin: You know, those are things of course, but the thing is that person values my opinion. Whatever I say I am going to make a difference…maybe not in that person’s entire life. I may make a difference in that person’s day or that person’s, next hour. But, I made a difference and that’s what a hero is, to make a difference…big or small.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, that’s one of the things that really impressed me. You took the time. No matter how many people came up to you at the different conferences, you always drop what you’re doing. You made sure you developed a relationship with that person. That’s pretty rare for somebody that’s attained the fame that you have in this industry.

Michel Fortin: Well, there is some point where I’m about to burst. I need to take some time out. Ralph, it has happened to you.

Michel Fortin: But, I can tell you that I truly believe in the Will Rogers dogma where he says that he finds a little bit of something interesting in every single person he meets.

Michel Fortin: And that’s true. I meet people where that person may be to a degree, in my business, insignificant. But “holy geez,” when you spend just five minutes talking with that person you’ve either made a difference in that person’s life, and that makes you feel good, or that person might have given you one tiny little tidbit of an idea…some information, feedback that will make a difference in your life

Michel Fortin: To me, I don’t want to lose those opportunities. Every single person I meet I will try. I cannot guarantee, but I will try to spend some time with each and every person.

Michel Fortin: That’s why I think that’s crucial. You don’t want to blockade yourself because the biggest amount of learning I have made in a seminar is in the hallways, in the bars, in the restaurants, outside the seminar when people are chatting and smoking or whatever the case may be.

Michel Fortin: Those are the opportunities for you to learn a little something that can make a dramatic difference in your business. If somebody passes you by and even if you just needed to take 30 seconds, you miss that opportunity. You could have made either a lot of money or changed your life, made you happier at least for that day.

Ralph Zuranski: Boy, isn’t that true? Well, I know that you had a pretty rough childhood. Did you ever create a secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with those difficulties?

Michel Fortin: Well, not necessarily. I have been on the Internet for quite a long time. And the date was pre-Internet, like Bulletin board services and stuff like that. There were some games that I used to play like Dungeons and Dragons.

Michel Fortin: One of the things that I loved about playing those kinds of games was people didn’t know who I really was. So people didn’t have to disapprove of me because I had this huge fear of rejection, this huge need for approval when I was growing up because of the abuse of my childhood.

Michel Fortin: So the people, the friends that I’ve made on those Bulletin board services, even though I was lost, I really wasn’t a sociable person...a quasi-agoraphobic, I guess those people were my heroes.

Michel Fortin: Those people were the people who every time I logged in, and I remember having a 300 baud modem in those days on a Radio Shack Color Computer 64, which is comparable to the Commodore 64 with a one-line text browser where you type in one line of text. You press “Enter” and it takes about 15 minutes for you to respond.

Michel Fortin: Well, those people were my heroes. And later on as I grew up and became a teenager, there was a gentleman who became a mentor of mine. He was a big fan of motivational speakers, spiritual thinkers, psychologists and people who actually have made differences in the lives of other people. So, I became a fanatical student of Jim Rohn.

Michel Fortin: Jim Rohn is probably the premiere gentleman who has made changes in my life. In my business life it was Dan Kennedy, who’s also a big believer in having a positive mental attitude, in making the best out of your day.

Michel Fortin: So those were my, I guess if you want to call them secret heroes. They were my heroes. You know, I’ll give you an example. There is a quote that’s hanging above my desk.

Michel Fortin: I’m looking at it right now as I speak to you, Ralph. It’s been hanging there for almost a decade. It’s from Jim Rohn and it says, “There are some things you don’t have to know how it works. The main thing is that it works. While some people are studying the roots, others are picking the fruit. Life or success or whatever you want to call it, it just depends on which end of this you want to get in on.”

Michel Fortin: And that, to me, changed my life around because I was always overanalyzing. I was always trying to perfect. I was always trying to figure out ways to deal with the certain problems I had when I was growing up as a child.

Michel Fortin: And that made me realize just do what needs to be done. Do what works and don’t question it, and that changed my life around.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, there’s a real controversy these days about goodness, ethics and moral behavior. What is your perspective?

Michel Fortin: I can debate about this and we can go into big philosophical arguments about what is right, what is morally right and all that stuff. I’m a big believer in something that is very special to me. It is that we all have three minds.

Michel Fortin: We have the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, but we also have the super-conscious mind, a term that was originally coined by psychologist William James.

Michel Fortin: What happens is that the super-conscious mind, your intuition, your conscience, is telling you every single moment of every single day what to do. And what is right. And when people feel shame or guilt or something that makes them feel that they’ve done something wrong. It is not because it’s either wrong or right. It’s simply because it was not in a proper alignment with their own set of values, their own intuitions, their own super-conscious mind.

Michel Fortin: If you are in the process of thinking about doing something, take some time out to think about it twice rather than just going at it. Sure, sometimes you need to be expedient but look at it from the perspective of, “Is this something that meets and matches my conscience?” “Is this something that I feel is right?” And that’s the point.

Michel Fortin: We can talk about the arbitrary gray area of what ethics is and what it isn’t.

Michel Fortin: I don’t think that it’s a legal thing. It’s not black and white. But, everybody has a conscience. If you really want to do what is good in the world, if you want to do something that’s “ethical”, it’s not a religious question and it’s not a moral question. It is an inner question. Does it meet your conscience? Does it follow your intuition? Does it feel right rather than is it just right. Or is it textbook right. Or is it right according to the law right?

Ralph Zuranski: There are certain principles that people are willing to sacrifice their lives for. Are there any principles that you’re willing to sacrifice your life for?

Michel Fortin: I think so. The one thing that I believe in terms of principles is, the biggest one is, humility. And it’s something that I’ve learned in the process of my growing up and learning from problems, going through the problems that I went through when I was a child.

Michel Fortin: People have egos and it’s normal and it’s natural and we all have things that are near and dear to every single person. People will fight for what their egos tell them that they need to fight for.

Michel Fortin: I’m a very humble person. I always like to take the low road. I do like the approval. I do like the limelight. But, if I feel that somebody else can take it for me, if I feel that if there is something that I can do, that it takes away from me, but it makes somebody else’s life better, I will do that. That’s a really hard lesson to learn in humility.

Michel Fortin: Whenever you look at, for example, some of the discussion boards that I’m participating in, sometimes you get these really fierce battles. And there was a couple of times when people actually were against some of the things that I’ve either actually said or had done.

Michel Fortin: And I will go into the board and I will say, “You know, I so understand how you feel.” I have to look at it from the perspective of the other person. And I humble myself by saying, “Listen, every single person in this world is a teacher.”

Michel Fortin: Everybody teaches you in some way, the people who are nasty to you as much as people who are good to you. They’re all just teachers. They’re not good. they’re not bad. It’s not black and white. Things that happen to you or things that people tell you, it’s all teaching you something. Your consciousness is where you come to the realization that I am ready to learn, just like the old Confucian saying that, “When the student is ready the teacher will appear.”

Michel Fortin: To me teachers are people or events or things that happen. And as a humbled person, my guiding principle is to always look at every single thing as some kind of a lesson. And that’s the principle I would sacrifice for. Yes, absolutely!

Ralph Zuranski: Everybody has low points in their life. I know you’ve had a fair number of those events in your life. What was the lowest point in your life and how did you change your path to have victory over the obstacles at that time?

Michel Fortin: I recently wrote – that’s actually not true. I wrote a book over ten years ago that I just recently put on the Internet for free. And it was a book that I’d written as a way to teach my self how to go through some of the hardships that I was going at that time. I was a go-getting, goal-achieving, goal-oriented, Type A personality, do as much as you possibly can-type person. And I realized that I was achieving a lot.

Michel Fortin: I was making a lot of money. I was a salesperson working on commission. And I was doing very well until I realized that I was neglecting and ignoring other things, especially my own self, the quality of my life. I was focusing too much on quantity of time rather than quality of life.

Michel Fortin: Well, “lo and behold,” in what seemed like a matter of hours I lost everything in my life…my home, my car, my furniture, my wife. I lost everything and then I went into bankruptcy. I even had to look at sleeping at the YMCA for shelter. And then I started writing that book. And I realized there are far more important things out there than material things. First of all, people are more important. Second is time.

Michel Fortin: Time is a commodity, a scarce commodity. And what you don’t do in this moment is something you will never be able to do, in that moment anyways. When that moment’s gone, it’s gone.

Michel Fortin: Do you want to spend it working on your business? Sure, if it gives you some kind of feeling that I’m doing something that I absolutely love to do. Or do you want to work in a job dreading those years until you retire?

Michel Fortin: Or are you going to work so much that you neglect the people that you love or the people who love you? So the point, I’m saying, is that the low of the low that I have gone through was the most precious and beautiful gift that I have ever received. It was the biggest lesson that I had to learn. And that’s what encompasses everything I just said up until this point.

Ralph Zuranski: People fear to do anything because they fear they’re “gonna” fail. And when catastrophic events like that occur to some people, they never recover. Would you say that it’s those events that change the course of our life for the better?

Michel Fortin: Those are events that do change your life. But you have to know there are things like death. There’s a grieving process to go through. When you’re in the thick of things, at that moment in your life, you’ll probably be depressed. You’ll probably have a hard time trying to see the lesson for what it is.

Michel Fortin: But when you have a chance to go through the grieving process, this pseudo-grieving process, you need to take a step back and look at your what is happening.

Michel Fortin: That’s why I’m a big believer in writing in journals. In fact, the book that I just mentioned was a book that was actually a way to write to myself on how to deal with the things that I was going through in my life. But, it was like writing in my own journal because that way you can teach yourself to be better.

Michel Fortin: You can teach yourself to accept things better. You can teach yourself to get out of that rut. Jim Rohn said it best.

Michel Fortin: If you are in a low point in your life, go help out somebody else who’s in a low point, the same low point as you. By teaching others or by helping others, you are actually helping your self. Because, then you can take a step back and say, “Well, gosh, I’m telling this person how to get out of this situation and I’m in the situation myself.”

Michel Fortin: And then you realize, because what happens is you let this intuition flow, this consciousness flow and you realize that you will get out of that rut by helping others. To answer your question, that’s what I would do.

Michel Fortin: Actually, writing in a journal is good. But, most often when you have an opportunity to go through the grieving process, do, be depressed. Be sad. Those are things, if you’re unhappy because something really bad happened to you, that is perfectly fine. When that’s done take a step back. And then you’ll learn. You’ll see the lesson for what it is. And you’ll grow from it.

Michel Fortin: Some people don’t step back. They keep themselves in that depression mode. Some people have bad things happen to them in their lives and they stay there for a very, very long time simply because they want to stay there.

Michel Fortin: Wayne Dyer said it best. “Your body has a natural ability to heal itself.”

Michel Fortin: If you have a cut on your arm are you going to force it to stay open because you want the world to see, “Hey, look.!, I have an open wound here. I’m hurting. I’m hurting. Take care of me.”

Michel Fortin: It gives you some feeling of grandeur, the fact that you are hurting, that it means something to you. No, your body’s natural process is to heal itself, the same way if something bad happens to you emotionally or psychically as well as physiologically.

Michel Fortin: Your body has a natural tendency to heal itself. Let the healing do its own job. It takes time. You don’t heal overnight of a cut wound, just as you won’t heal overnight of a bad situation or a bad event that happened in your life. But once you heal, now is the chance. That scar tissue is your body’s process to strengthen that one area that was broken.

Michel Fortin: You know bones that are broken, when they heal become even stronger than they were before. That’s the process of even a bad event that happens in your life. Something bad happens to you. Once you’ve healed, yes, you will have scars. But, you can turn your scars into stars! Because those scars are like shields that will protect you in case this stuff happens again. And it will make you stronger. And I believe in that totally.

Ralph Zuranski: It’s funny that you talk about journaling. Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, who’s another copywriter, suffered sexual abuse as a young person. She’s now creating a course using journaling to help other women overcome the same trauma of that situation while growing up. So it’s fascinating that you would talk about journaling. Did it really help you also?

Michel Fortin: Oh, absolutely. I hurt in my journals so much, especially in those, those dark times in my life. It’s also a great reference tool because it makes you more resilient that next time something happens in the future. If it happens again, or whenever, you do have a chance to go back and reflect and review entries in your journal. You realize how far you’ve grown and that in itself it is a strengthening process. Because, then you can see, “Wow, I really went through that. I really felt that way? Oh my goodness, how far I’ve grown.” And that in itself makes you grow even more, even in good times.

Ralph Zuranski: What is the dream or vision that sets the course of your life?

Michel Fortin: I live by one motto and one motto alone. I don’t believe in goals. I don’t believe in an end result specifically in my life. You know, there is two types of people in this world.

Michel Fortin: There are the people who always will live in the future where they always have something that they want to look for, a vision or a dream or whatever. Like you just said. Then there are people who are in the rapture of the moment, people like artists. I think it was, I can’t remember exactly who, but I believe it was Dr. Tony Alessandra who said, “You’ve got rowers and you’ve got drifters and then there’s nothing bad with either one of them.”

Michel Fortin: People who row, going toward a destination, will row. People who drift will enjoy the scenery along the way as they drift in that river going towards the ocean. Me, that’s what it is and the point is this. If you want me to say that I do have a dream or a vision it is this, to always do what I love. Joseph Campbell said it best, “Follow your bliss. Do what you love. The money will follow. The business will follow. The success will follow.”

Michel Fortin: Even if those things don’t, the fact that once you go through your life and you end up looking back on your life and you say, “I really enjoyed my life. I’ve really done something that I totally love.” So do what you love or love what you do. That’s the ultimate vision and it’s my vision.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, in everybody’s life, there is positive. There are setbacks. There are misfortunes and mistakes that we make. How important is it to be an optimist and take a positive view of things?

Michel Fortin: Well, optimism has a lot of sometimes bad connotations as much as good connotations.

Ralph Zuranski: Really?

Michel Fortin: Optimism is not motivation and people misinterpret that. Optimism is a positive mental attitude. The one thing that you need the most and that’s beyond being an optimist is not just being a realist but being a student. If you have a bad situation, try to learn as much as you can. That’s why journaling is so important. Try to learn as much as you can in terms of looking at the positive aspect of what happened.

Michel Fortin: There is a technique called the “best and better technique.” Look for what’s the best you can pull from every situation and how you can be better next time, how you can better your own self from the event. Is that an optimist? Not necessarily. People will take optimism and look at it as some form of motivation.

Michel Fortin: Jim Rohn said it best. “If somebody’s going down the wrong road, they don’t need motivation to speed them up, they need education to turn them around” So being an optimist is not some “Pollyanna,” bang your head against the wall and hey it hurts but hey, I’m happy about it and I’ll keep, you know, bumping myself against the way.

Michel Fortin: No, I think if you want to look at optimism in the best way is to look at it as an educational process. Learning is part of it...sitting down with people, talking with them, spending time with them, reading books, spending your time on learning as much as you possibly can.

Michel Fortin: You will be able to go down the right road. Fast or slow doesn’t matter and that’s not optimism. That’s just being. That’s just following your conscience. That’s just being a realist. It’s not being a pessimist. It’s not being optimist. It’s probably an optimal point of looking at it, an optimal point or way to look at things, but it’s not necessarily optimistic.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you think it takes courage to pursue new ideas?

Michel Fortin: It absolutely takes courage. You know courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to take risks when there is fear. As the old saying goes for people who, like speakers when they speak onstage, they say you’ll never be able to get rid of those butterflies. Your job is to make those butterflies dance in formation and that is courage.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is prayer?

Michel Fortin: If I pray to any one God or any one Spirit or any one process in this world, I pray for three major things strength, courage and wisdom. I pray for the strength to be able to do what is necessary, the courage to be able to go ahead and do it, the courage to be able to also accept defeat when you need to accept defeat, and wisdom.

Michel Fortin: Exactly, that’s the prayer of serenity that they use for example in “Alcoholics’ Anonymous,” And that’s the most beautiful prayer in the world because then you have the wisdom to know the difference, the wisdom to know what to do, when to do it, how to do it, who to say it to, at what time, and when not to do things, when to shut up, when to stop yourself from doing things that you shouldn’t be doing and stuff like that. So to me courage, yeah, that’s it, absolutely.

Michel Fortin: If you have a new idea, you’re always pushing the envelope in every day of your life because you’re always growing and evolving. The problem is are you going to be pushing it by a millimeter today or are you going to be pushing it by a yard. And that takes courage. It also takes courage to realize that in the first place, not just the courage to do it. That takes strength but to me courage is absolutely necessary, absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you think that in the process of pursuing new ideas and using that courage that you’re going to experience discomfort in the pursuit of your dreams?

Michel Fortin: Well, absolutely. It’s going through life. If you’re ever going to do something, you have to take the goods and the bads with it. The good will outweigh the bad, of course, but there will always be bad. There’s always going to be discomfort.

Michel Fortin: Here’s the point. If you do what you love. If you do something that you have zest and passion for and you’re so fully absorbed in the process, you tend to not even think of the discomfort even though you are actually feeling it. Your body is feeling it. If I’m doing something that I love I’m going to finish this because it’s important.

Michel Fortin: If I do something that I love, the discomfort level will be on the back burner in my mind, although it will always be there. Yanni, a very famous composer who writes New Age-type music, he’s like me in a certain way. Whenever he writes a whole CD or a new song or even a new kind of symphony, he locks himself in his room for two, three weeks at a time. He forgets to bathe. He forgets to eat. He forgets to sleep, because he is so engrossed in the moment.

Michel Fortin: Discomfort, yes, but are you actually focused on your discomfort? No, if you do something you love, then you’ll have a chance to look at all the things that are uncomfortable, drudgery, perfunctory or even painful, as things that are important to you. They’re part of something that gives you purpose. You will turn the important into the urgent.

Michel Fortin: You will turn the discomfort into comfort. It’s a natural, physical knee-jerk reaction. I can’t really express it well enough in words. Essentially you’ll be able to turn the uncomfortable into the comfort. Or you’ll be able to accept or have a tolerance level higher if you were doing something you absolutely love because that purpose drives you. Everything that happens to you, that may be bad or may make you uncomfortable, is so in the back of your mind, you just trudge along. You will be going wherever you want to go.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is the belief that your dreams will actually become reality?

Michel Fortin: First of all it is extremely important, but it’s not important to the degree that you might think. I don’t feel people should believe that their dreams become reality because belief is something you can’t change on a whim. How can you believe something that you don’t believe?

Michel Fortin: Can you force yourself to believe in something? Can you believe in your dream? No, you can’t. It’s not something you can change on a whim. If I don’t like asparagus today, do I have to force myself to like asparagus? No, I mean, I can’t change the way I feel. If I don’t believe in my dreams today, I can’t switch it just like with one flick of a switch and say, “I’m believing in my dream,” but here’s the difference.

Michel Fortin: If I have dreams and I do tiny little things that will make me consciously purposeful every single day as I head towards my dreams, the more and more this internal switch will flick on for you, not only to believe in your dreams but to know that your dreams will become reality. And there’s a big difference between belief and knowing.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s a profound point. When you are trying to achieve your dreams there’s a tremendous amount of doubts and fears. And, a lot of people in your life will try to crush your dream because they don’t want you to change for fear of having to change themselves. How did you overcome your doubts and fears?

Michel Fortin: By journaling is the one way. The other point is to always constantly listen to yourself. Be true to your own self. You know, to thine own self be true, in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” And the one thing that you have to understand is, this is absolutely so true.

Michel Fortin: I don’t mean to proselytize for any religion. And I don’t mean to sound religious, but we are all like Jesus, where we’re crucified between two thieves, tomorrow and yesterday…in other words, fear and guilt.

Michel Fortin: The fear of what’s going to happen tomorrow and the guilt of what happened in the past, they are always gonna be. But, like Jesus, he was true to himself. He did what he needed to do. If you have fears and you have doubts, that’s perfectly fine as long as you realize that the more focused you are on yourself the more you let the “inner you” tell you what to do, guide you in what you’re doing.

Michel Fortin: The more you write to yourself as much as even talking to other people about how you feel about certain things, that is learning process that will give you the ammunition to destroy lack and limitation.

Michel Fortin: There’s also another thing. I know, I think it’s the most important. The greatest creator of fear is a low self esteem. Any lack and limitation in your life that are there, you know. They’re not just lack and limitations, because they exist. They’re lack and limitations because you believe they are lack and limitations.

Michel Fortin: The only way to circumvent, to overcome, to destroy those fears, at least to reduce it, is to increase the belief that you have in your own self. The more you work on your own self-esteem, the more you have confidence in yourself.

Michel Fortin: The more you work on having confidence in yourself, all the other fears and all the things that are destroying or attempting to destroy the things that are good to you in your life, the things that you want to do in your life, will almost dissipate by themselves. The reason is because you’ve become a bigger believer in the best thing that ever happened in this world, and that’s you.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, is there anybody that helped give you the willpower to change things in your life for the better?

Michel Fortin: Well, like I said, whenever I grew up, I had a mentor. And I’ll tell you one thing that really had the most profound impact in my life. He kept telling me every single day and it may not sound profound, but he said, “turn off the tape recorder”. Okay? Now, let me explain what that means. I was a salesman and as I grew up and I was trying to make sales. I had fears and doubts but a lot of times it was because I was saying that to my self.

Michel Fortin: There was a tape recorder in my mind that kept telling me, “I’m stupid. I’m a failure. I don’t. I’ll never amount to much. I will always. I’m going to fail. This is not for me. This is too lofty of an ambition for me. Or, this is impossible for me to reach! Blah, blah, blah.”

Michel Fortin: My mentor sometimes he would just look at me and I wouldn’t even say a word. He would look at me and say, “Turn the tape recorder off, Mike”.

Michel Fortin: And that is the most profound thing that I’ve ever, ever been taught because we all have tape recorders in our minds. We do become what we think about. You reap what you sow.

Michel Fortin: If you think you’re a failure, if you think that you will fail, if you think that you’re not good enough or whatever, then you are. You are what you think! And, a big philosophy that I go by is by the Latin philosopher Rene Descartes. In 1637 he said, “I think, therefore I am”. If you think you’re a failure, you are!

Michel Fortin: If you’re thinking you’re a success, you are. So that thing that my mentor kept telling me, “turn the tape recorder off” is just a very modern way to look at it. But it’s so true! And, that has changed my life.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to forgive others who upset, offend or oppose you?

Michel Fortin: Ralph, did you now that forgiveness is a very selfish thing? Did you know that actually forgiving is not because you’re doing it for the other person? You, you know, forgiveness is probably the most selfish act you could ever do. And it’s a good selfish act because when you forgive you are releasing all the tension, all the bad stuff that you’re holding on to that’s going to cause you great problems, great turmoil.

Michel Fortin: If you forgive and you let go, it’s unbelievable the release that you get in your life. I used to be stubborn. I would look at each person and the person who would do me wrong. I would be stubborn enough to say, “I hate that person and I’ll never talk to that person again.” But who’s really being hurt here?

Michel Fortin: Now, I’m doing it because I’m thinking that I don’t want to give the person either the pleasure of my forgiveness or I just don’t want to show the person I’m really mad at that person.

Michel Fortin: Once you forgive, you let go. Guess whose life is going to be more enriched? Both of yours, of course, but the most important person is you. So forgiveness is extremely important because the more you forgive the more you can let go rid of all the nasty stuff and start working on the good stuff in your life.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is service to others as a source of joy? Do you find joy in serving others?

Michel Fortin: Well, it’s the same idea. Jim Rohn said, “Don’t become wealthy at the expense of others. Become wealthy in the service of others.” Every person who is happiest in this world serves others.

Michel Fortin: Whether you’ve built wealth because you produce a product or provided a service that was at the service of others or you gave value to other people’s lives or you gave your life to charity serving others, to me that is so important.

Michel Fortin: By doing that it is like forgiveness in a sense, where you can get out of that this huge feeling in yourself that you’ve accomplished something that is true to you, not something that is going to be a goal that you reach in the future, not something that is going to be true to the other people around you who you’re serving and you’re thinking that you’re just doing this for other people.

Michel Fortin: No, you’re doing it for yourself. Gosh, you know, it’s so important for you to understand and I’m speaking to the people listening to this call. It’s so important for you to understand that when you give of yourself, the law of karma is there.

Michel Fortin: You get back, and sometimes ten times more, what you give out. It’s the same thing in a bad way. If you are bad to the world, if you don’t serve others, if you withhold the goodness that you can put out in the world, it will come back and bite you in the butt. So yeah, I believe in being at the service of others, absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to maintain a sense of humor in the face of adversity?

Michel Fortin: The greatest cure for pretty much all disease that has actually been scientifically proven. Although it’s premature now, but there are more and more tests proving that laughter is the greatest immune system kicker.

Michel Fortin: I don’t know where these tests are, This is anecdotal so I can’t back this up. I read so much about it, but there are tests that have proven in the moment of laughter that your endorphins get kicked in. The dopamine in your brain and your body gets kicked in.

Michel Fortin: Your hormone levels get kicked up a notch and those things in turn increase the immune system. Those things help to fight off disease. I’m not saying that that’s true in every case. I mean, I don’t want to say a person who has cancer should laugh their way until they’re healthy again.

Michel Fortin: That’s not my point. But, maybe if they’re hurting while they have cancer, laughter is a good way to take their mind off of it.
Michel Fortin: It is basic and fundamental to being able to help cure yourself. Laughter is the source of goodness in the world but it is also the source of goodness in your own self, body-wise as much as mind-wise.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. Other than Jim Rohn, who are the other heroes in your life?

Michel Fortin: Oh, my goodness, do you have a couple of hours?

Ralph Zuranski: Sure.

Michel Fortin: I have a lot of mentors in my life but I think there’s quite a few of them. I’m not a religious person. I am a very spiritual person. I read a lot of spiritual leaders because I believe they have a lot to teach us…whether it’s Jesus or the person actually I’m really referring to is the Buddha.

Michel Fortin: I’m not a Buddhist, but I enjoy reading a lot about the Buddha. I’ve read the Dharma and the Boddhissatva, for example, and other books of other spiritual leaders. They’re mentors to me because they show and they lead by example.

Michel Fortin: They’re the perfect example of love and goodness in this world. What they teach is important.

Michel Fortin: Now, I’m not going to say that you should not believe in the virgin birth and the crucifixion and all that stuff in Jesus’ life but, did you actually take the chance to stop and just read the words that Jesus uttered, for example, on the Mount?

Michel Fortin: The lives that they led were inspirational and I don’t mean to say that from a religious perspective. I’m just saying, “Listen to what people teach you. Listen! You want people to realize you are saying, “Yes, I hear what you’re saying.”

Michel Fortin: Those are the mentors that mean a lot to me. Another few mentors, modern-age mentors…I’m a big fan of Brian Tracy. I’m a big fan of Jim Rohn, of course Tony Alessandra. And, the funny part about it is I have learned a lot of things from current spiritual leaders. I do believe that Joseph Campbell, who is probably one of my biggest mentors in that realm, has taught me so much about the power of the inner self. Joseph Campbell is the one who uttered those famous words, “Follow your bliss.”, He is one of them.

Michel Fortin: Florence Scobelshin is another and John Mandall Price. Those are more of the spiritual kind of guys, but also Luis Haye. I read a lot about that stuff. Now, you can say it’s all “metaphysical mumbo-jumbo.” The point is not to believe in whether it’s metaphysical or not.

Michel Fortin: The fact is I just listened and learned to apply whatever I learned in the way I want my life to go. That’s the whole point of any religious, philosophical and thinking process. It is not to believe in what people tell you. It is to make use of it.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you feel that there are any real heroes in our society today that aren’t getting the recognition that they deserve?

Michel Fortin: Absolutely, but you know, those who are the real heroes are people who don’t seek recognition in the first place. They’re not heroes for the sake of recognition. They’re heroes because they’re heroes.

Michel Fortin: To answer your question with a very blunt answer, “Yes of course there are heroes out there today in the world that do deserve more recognition!” But when you ask them that question, what do you think they’ll say? “I don’t care. I do what I feel is right, point, period.” And that’s the more important thing about that.

Ralph Zuranski: Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

Michel Fortin: Everything that’s going to happen in this world, even today, is molded, created, prepared by, built on by first of all people. And people were once children.

Michel Fortin: They were once kids. Their lives today very often are molded by the things and the people and the instances and the events and the circumstances of their childhood as much as what is going on in their lives today.

Michel Fortin: I was lucky. Well, I guess I’m not lucky because I believe everybody has that capacity. It’s not luck. But I was lucky. I guess a better way to say it is, “I was fortunate to look at my lessons in my life and look at them as the most beautiful gifts in the world, and to have mentors and heroes in my life that have helped me.”

Michel Fortin: But there are so many kids out there that fail to go through this “fortunate” process that I went through. So if they have an opportunity to have heroes in their lives, boy oh boy, can you imagine the goodness that we can unleash in this world? They will be molded. Their future will be molded so that they will be the molders of the future.

Michel Fortin: So today the people that make differences in people’s lives is because they had differences made to them in their own lives when they were young. It is when you are young that your entire life is almost dictated. Now, good or bad, you can have bad stuff happen to you and it dictates your life in a good way.

Michel Fortin: You know, there’s an old story about the two sons of an alcoholic father who grew up. One became an alcoholic and one became a very successful businessman. When an interviewer asked them the question “why are you who you are today?” and they both answered the same answer, “Well, I didn’t have any choice; look at my father.”

Michel Fortin: One blamed his father for being the way he is. The other one looked at his father and used that as a springboard for not being like him. So fortunately, they might have had heroes in their lives that made them go that way, especially the one that’s positive, but the thing is whether it’s true or false. The thing is we all need heroes but the kids need them the most because they are the molders of the future.

Ralph Zuranski: How does it feel to be recognized as an Internet hero?

Michel Fortin: I would be very misleading if I said it didn’t feel good, because it does feel good. I think that’s the ego part of me. But what I feel best about is I have testimonials on my website about the lives that I’ve changed. And that makes me feel good. But what I put on my website, what I put out in the world as a way to prop my own self up is just the tip of the iceberg of what I get every single day.

Michel Fortin: We talked at the beginning of this call about all these emails I get every day. A good percentage of those emails are just tiny little words from somebody who I made a difference to in their lives. It doesn’t have to be this huge thing that I can actually use as a testimonial.

Michel Fortin: It doesn’t have to be an actual business or a success or whatever. I had people who emailed me after the big seminar and said, “Michel Fortin Fortin, you’re a person that I’ve been following for so many years and it was such a huge honor and pleasure to have met you.”

Michel Fortin: That brightened up my day. To me I don’t need to have recognition in the other way where I actually have to put out stuff in the world to get recognized. One tiny little email made the difference in my life just as much as what we were talking at the beginning.

Michel Fortin: About spending just five minutes with somebody at a seminar somewhere, how much of a difference you made in that person’s day. And that’s the kind of recognition I enjoy, even more than the actual pats on the back that I get in the public way. I prefer the small private little ones because they put a smile on my face.

Ralph Zuranski: How are you personally making the world a better place?

Michel Fortin: By being me. That’s probably the best answer I can give you. I follow what I believe in. I am true to myself and most important, I do what I love to do. When you do what you love to do, we were talking about giving good service or being at the service of others.If you love doing what you do, how much better are you going to serve the people around you?

Michel Fortin: How much more passion and zest will you have for not only what you do but what you expresses about service to others. If you had a choice to buy a product from two different service providers or two different stores and one person hates their job and the other one absolutely loves their job, how much more willing will that second person be to help you.

Michel Fortin: How much more in service of you will that person be? Of course, a lot more. So, how do I expect to make a change in the world just by being me? Just by being Michel Fortin! Just by being the person who loves to do what he does because that will give all these byproducts of everything we just talked about on this call.

Ralph Zuranski: There’s a lot of problems facing societies all over the world today, like racism, child and spousal abuse and violence among young people. Do you have any good solutions for those problems?

Michel Fortin: Education! Education. We cannot change the world by forcing it but we can change the world by educating it. I was once a college teacher. There’s such a great sense of fulfillment that one gets when they teach other people.

Michel Fortin: If you look at the laws and rules and all that wonderful stuff, they do exist for a purpose. And I understand that. But I also believe in education because the more you educate people the more you will change the world rather than forcing it to change. So, if you’re going to help out somebody in their own lives you need education. If you’re going to help out people to realize maybe they are bad people and they’ve done hurt to others education is the answer.

Michel Fortin: It’s not proselytizing. It’s not trying to argue with them. It’s just teaching them and teaching them until they’re ready to be taught and they’re ready to change. I’ve met a lot of people who change their lives because they’ve learned and they’ve decided to learn and that’s the key. Education is probably the most profound answer I can give to that question. It’s just education.

Ralph Zuranski: What do you think about the “In Search of Heroes” program and its impact on youth, parents and business people?

Michel Fortin: Well, that’s the point. This is exactly what it is. What do you think it’s doing? It’s educating. This is exactly why I love this program and I was one of the first people to actually be fully aware of it and fully aware of my potential contribution to this program.

Michel Fortin: I do believe that this program is not just a point of going out there and being heroes. It is going out there to teach other people the power of being a hero. It educates them and then makes changes in their lives and the lives of the people around them. This will grow exponentially.

Michel Fortin: Ralph, you’ve seen the movie “Pay it Forward” haven’t you?

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah.

Michel Fortin: That’s my point. You don’t necessarily have to be a hero or you don’t necessarily have to get somebody to become a hero. All you have to do is to educate others on how powerful it is to become one. If they do become one, then they do it to others and then they do it to others and then they do it to others. It’s one huge multi-level marketing process.

Ralph Zuranski: What are the things parents can do that will help their children realize they can be heroes and make a positive impact on the lives of others?

Michel Fortin: Well, if I had to, if I could boil it down, I think I said two core actions or two core activities on this call. They are teach and listen.

Michel Fortin: How can parents make changes in the lives of their kids – the first thing, of course, is to listen.

Michel Fortin: A lot of the strife that we have in today’s world, I believe, and I’m a firm believer, is because we are all so busy with the goings-on in our lives. We don’t stop and listen as much as to our own selves and as much as to the people around us and more importantly to the kids in our lives…if you take a chance to sit down and just listen! And, the second part, is to teach, to educate.

Michel Fortin: Teachers are probably the most underrated people in our society, the most underrated profession in our society. I’m a big believer in teachers. I mean, I used to be one. I’m a teacher right now, being a copywriting coach as much as a motivational speaker or whatever you want to call it, but it’s all teaching. That’s all it really is. It’s not motivation. It’s not all that stuff. It’s teaching. So, yeah, that would be those two fundamental activities:listen and teach.

Ralph Zuranski: If you had three wishes for your life and the world that would instantly come true, what would they be?

Michel Fortin: That I would, well the first wish is that I wouldn’t have any wish. I believe in just being. This might sound a little “woo-woo” to some people, but I don’t want any wishes because I just want to enjoy my life now. I don’t want to wake up at 67 years old and look back on my life and say is this it? And then those are the times that you wish.

Michel Fortin: Those are the times when you realize what you’ve done wrong. No need to wish; just do. Don’t wish for something now. Just be!. And then you enjoy the process. Then when you are 67 you won’t need to have any wishes because you’re going to look back and say I’m happy. I’m satisfied. I’m fulfilled. I did what I needed to do. I did what I loved to do.

Michel Fortin: The second wish would be that more people followed those two things I mentioned earlier, to listen and to teach. And the only way that I can do that is not necessarily to wish for it but to actually do it myself.

Michel Fortin: The more you actually listen and teach yourself, the more you’re actually teaching other people to listen and to teach. The third one is a little hard for me because I don’t wish for much.

Michel Fortin: I wish that if people listening to this call found some grain of something that helps them, whether it’s at that very moment or later in their lives. It doesn’t matter. To me that would be the one wish I have.

Ralph Zuranski: Those are wonderful wishes and I just really appreciate your time in answering these questions and just sharing your wisdom with the world. I just can’t tell you how much I appreciate you.

Michel Fortin: Oh, same here, Ralph, same here. I think that we are both kindred spirits. You know, the thing is when we meet at seminars sometimes and we just discuss some of the things that are going on in our lives like you and your parents and all that stuff, the fact is that it’s not that I just stand there and take time to listen to you, but you also do that to me.

Michel Fortin: You are the perfect embodiment of everything I spoke about so the whole point is I appreciate you as much and I appreciate what you are doing with this program, Ralph, this is a great program and I wish you the most, the best.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, I thank you for that. You offer to help in the early part of the program really inspired me. I have been working on the program for 13 years.

Michel Fortin: I understand absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: And I just want to thank you again.

Michel Fortin: You’re most welcome.

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker and consultant. His specialty are long copy sales letters and websites. Watch him rewrite copy on video each month, and get tips and tested conversion strategies proven to boost response in his membership site at http://TheCopyDoctor.com/ today.

Posted by isoh at 12:17 AM | TrackBack

May 17, 2005

"In Search of Heroes Interview with Randy Charach" by Ralph Zuranski

RALPH: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski and I am on the phone with Randy Charach. Randy for over 20 years has been helping people achieve their goals and he’s done it in memorable, meaningful fashion. As a professional mystery entertainer and speaker, he’s made over 5,000 presentations worldwide since graduating from high school in 1981. Randy is uniquely qualified. He is the consummate professional entertainer and expert in the area of communication, marketing and success. I’ve seen Randy at some of the different Internet seminar presentations. At one he did his magic show and it was just incredible. I mean it was mind-boggling.

In addition to his stage and platform skills, he has authored 18 audio learning programs ranging from topics from goal setting to problem solving. His book titles include Fifty Ways to Leave Them Laughing, Synergy Talent, Secrets of a Millionaire Magician, and Niche Magic: How to Maximize Your Net Profits in Small Niche Markets.

Randy has the ability to quickly achieve an unusually high level of success in his chosen fields and he shares his methods in his entertaining, inspiring and practical presentations. As a rising star in the Internet marketing world, Randy is in demand at the different seminars across the United States as a speaker. He explains in detail how he made over $100,000 in his first five months as an Internet marketer and the principles that he now applies to propel multiple and equally profitable and diverse ventures by harnessing the power of the Internet.

Randy, how are you doing today?

RANDY: I’m doing great, Ralph. And thank you very much for having me participate in this program which I know that you’ve worked very hard on for many years. It’s a fantastic effort that you have put forth.

RALPH: I appreciate that and I know that you appreciate my desire to help kids because you’ve got a lovely wife, [Tana] and daughters [Leilani, Shera, and Kyla], and you know how important it is for kids to have some type of future.

RANDY: I love children. I always have. In fact, I remember thinking as a child how weird it was how much I loved children and I was a child. Usually, it’s more, you know -- and that hasn’t changed. I just always and still am quite childlike with my family and friends and sometimes with strangers as long it won’t get me locked up if they think I’m a loony. I love fooling around and being childlike and keeping that childlike mind. I don’t know if you know this, but when I was 20 I was hired to be Ronald McDonald the clown and I did that for six years.

RALPH: Wow!

RANDY: Yeah, and that was a really great opportunity. I had the privilege and the honor of visiting sick children in hospitals and at the Ronald McDonald House and just really being able to connect with children at a level which was quite dynamic. Ronald, put all the corporate stuff aside for a moment, is loved and highly revered by many children and definitely recognized by children all over the world. So instantly, it made it easy for me as a person behind the mask to go in and connect with the children and brighten up their day. So I had that walking in with my big red shoes.

That was a big part of the job and that was the part of the work that I enjoyed the most, actually. The meet and greets at the restaurants were okay. I did that because that was part of the job. But really going to the telethons and the hospitals and the schools and Ronald McDonald House was something that I really appreciated.

Another thing is as a child I spend a lot of time in hospitals, too. I gained a great appreciation of children and suffering that children experience that sometimes adults who haven’t gone through the same path have trouble understanding. It’s much different for a child than it is for an adult to deal with things which may seem trivial to adults.

RALPH: Boy, that’s absolutely true. You know a lot about heroism being Ronald McDonald. He is sort of a hero to a lot of kids. What is your definition of heroism?

RANDY: My definition is very simple. It’s a selfless act. I don’t know if that requires a lot of elaboration, but I’ll offer some.

RALPH: Yeah.

RANDY: A selfless act can be anything that somebody does for the good of any other sentient being, whether it be an animal or a person. The degree of heroism I think is completely relevant to the individual themselves. So heroic acts for me may not be for someone else and it works both ways. A selfless act for somebody, for anybody, falls into the realm of heroism, the degree of which a person goes beyond their comfort level and their means to help other people. That’s where I think other people start recognizing and noticing different people and categorizing them as heroes. But I think that almost everybody in the world does heroic acts on a daily basis. It is just that it is not widely recognized by most people.

RALPH: I know. I totally agree. One of the heroes in the original program, Gregory Allen Williams, who is a star on Bay Watch, he actually saved a man’s life during the L.A. riots and pulled an Asian guy out of a car that was being beaten to death by the mob and a Mexican guy stepped in take the beating that he would have gotten trying to save the Asian guy’s life. It’s just amazing in those moments when somebody steps up and does something that they don’t have to but they are motivated to help save somebody else. I think that that is just incredible when people do good things every day that nobody sees, nobody recognizes them for, in fact. What is your perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?

RANDY: Well, again, I think that’s also something that’s actually a good segue from the other question. It’s all relative to the person doing the best they can at that time. So just like the hero, if somebody -- let me give you an example. If somebody has just crawled out of jail who has spent most of their life in jail for some heinous crimes and have been surrounded by miserable situations their entire life and everything going against them, and they get out and they open a door for somebody. In my mind that still falls under heroism. That’s kind of an illustration of the point that I was trying to make when I answered that question, the first question about the definition of heroism.

That same thing isn’t a heroic act for somebody else who jumps into the fire and saves people like a firefighter, that sort of thing. It’s the same with the question about goodness and ethic and moral behavior. Anybody who does something -- and of course it’s always based on their individual circumstances at that given moment -- they do something that is categorized as the best they can do at that moment, whatever that best might be. I think that they are living ethically and under moral standards that are within their environment, within their capabilities.

RANDY (con’t): Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that somebody who -- this person who got out of jail -- if they went and did something bad to someone but it wasn’t as bad as what they’ve done before, I’m not saying that’s good, ethical or moral. But I am really a strong believer that we all come from different places. We all have different situations at any given moment. So goodness, ethics, morality, it’s all going to come back to us one way or another.

I do believe in karmic consequences. If somebody acts unethically or immorally or in a damaging, harmful way to others, it is going to directly hurt themselves and they will suffer those ramifications sooner or later, in one way or another.

RALPH: That’s absolutely true. It’s funny. Gregory Allen Williams said that there’s a little bit of bad in the best of us and a little bit of good in the worst of us, and that when a person steps forward and does something good at that moment in time they become a hero. I believe that’s absolutely true.

There is a real dichotomy as far as what heroism is these days. It’s like a question, well, what would you be willing to sacrifice your life for? We had the heroes like the firemen, the policemen. Those people are getting paid to sacrifice their lives, to be in dangerous situations. What do you think is the difference between people that are actually getting paid to do heroic things and people that just do heroic things on a daily basis, like somebody that takes care of the sick family member?

RANDY: I think most people, the firefighters, the policemen, the military, etc., who are getting paid for doing things where their life is at risk to help others are not doing it for the pay. I think that’s something that it just happens to be how they earn their living. I don’t even consider that really a factor as far as comparing or judging those acts to someone who is doing something where they are not getting paid. The same with -- here’s kind of a new argument that I hear people say. Oh, well, so and so donates $10 million to charity but he’s worth $100 million or $3 billion and he just does it to promote his company or he’s an egomaniac, whatever.

I say, well, okay, so? The point is let’s look at the result. This person donated money to charity, which was helpful for the charity. It’s a separate issue if they go and they need to flaunt it or if they have ulterior motives. I look at the good that’s done. I would say the same answer for this one, that whether you’re getting paid or not, it’s all circumstantial and it doesn’t really matter. It’s just a matter of if they are doing good or not.

RALPH: That’s absolutely true. Everybody has low points in their lives. They have low points and high points. What was the lowest point in your life? How did you change your life path so you would have victory over any of the obstacles that you were facing at that time?

RANDY: I can offer a couple of different -- I don’t which one was lower. I’ve had several low points in my life. Let me discuss the first one that came to mind.

When I was 20 years old I started waking up routinely, like clockwork, in the morning -- I forgot the exact time, and it wasn’t exactly to the minute, but around four or five in the morning -- with excruciating pain down my left leg. This went on for some time. I went to see my general doctor and he thought maybe it was like from exercising and weights, a slipped disc or something. I went to therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractors, all sorts of different things. Nothing helped, even pain killers. The pain was excruciating. This went on for probably for about half a year.

Finally, I don’t know how or why, but I tried using just plain aspirin instead of Tylenol 3s and this sort of thing, because it was affecting my life, being medicated and being in pain all the time. And that worked. It was interesting. I mentioned that to him and he said well, you know what? I want to send you for an X-ray because maybe it’s something else. I went for the X-ray; that didn’t show anything. I started inquiring more with the X-ray technician and started doing a little research. My doctor was on to something. The aspirin was related to a rare bone tumor which we discovered I had, which was benign, fortunately. And that was discovered through a CT scan.

It wasn’t so bad. It might have been a year into it by the time we actually found out what it was. When I found out what it was, I was relieved because I honestly didn’t want to live any longer. The pain that I was having was so intolerable and the drugs that I had to take to live with it were creating other side effects. So I was relieved. All I cared about was can you fix it? And, yes. And is it cancer? No, it’s benign. They explained what that meant, the difference. And no big deal; simple situation.

It’s funny, Ralph. You know how whenever you go to a doctor they’re always the best? Have you ever heard anybody say I went to a doctor and I had this done and he’s the best? You ever hear them say and he’s like second best or the worst or for them to leave out the part that he is the best. Everybody goes to the best. It’s quite funny that way.

RANDY (con’t): Anyway, I went to this guy who is supposed to be the best. He removed the tumor and then I was okay but only for five or six months and then the pain came back. I recognized this pain, this very distinct pain. It was like something hitting the nerve. Not just a regular pain; I knew the difference. So I had it re-X-rayed and it was discovered that he didn’t quite get it all. And so far we haven’t hit the lowest part. I am just building up to it, because this part wasn’t all that bad comparatively to what you’re going to hear, although it doesn’t get that much worse, either.

Then my father, who is a very loving father, he looked at this with me and said, you know, if you really want to take care of this, I will take you to Mayo Clinic in Rochester because they are supposed to be the best. And obviously the first guy wasn’t because he didn’t get it all for whatever reason. Let’s just go to these guys. So we went to Mayo Clinic.

I woke up from the surgery and there were two types of pain. There was the pain from the surgery where they cut open my leg. They removed some bone. They did some bone grafts, this sort of thing. Can you imagine how -- think about this -- that pain was like 5 percent compared to the other pain that I had been living with. The other pain was overriding it, so I knew when I woke up from the surgery they didn’t get it. I just knew it. They just, oh, no, no. You’re confused, dah, dah, dah. They sent me back home and I was right, they didn’t get it.

What happened was they didn’t re-X-ray and it had shifted a little bit, so really they went in and just sort of took out the wrong piece of bone.

RALPH: Oh, man!

RANDY: It was horrible. So I had to recover from the next six months and then found another doctor locally in Vancouver where I live. He said, look, I can guarantee that this can come out. And what I would have to do is remove a bigger chunk of bone, put a metal plate in there to make up for that lost of structure. I’ll get it out. And I said, okay. Now, by the way, right now, just before talking to him, I’m at my low point.

RALPH: Yeah, I guess so!

RANDY: Now to end that story and then come back to the lesson, he did perform the surgery and it was successful and I’ve been more or less fine ever since.

RANDY (con’t): The lowest point was at that point after Mayo Clinic being unsuccessful, just thinking this is now going on like two years. I had to drop out of college for it and that’s a bit of excuse. I probably would have done that anyway. I went for one year of college while this was happening and I didn’t go back. I could have gone back, and again, there were different reasons I didn’t. I couldn’t go to school.

What it did do, and your question is how did I overcome this obstacle, is I had a change of attitude. The low point, the manifestation of my feeling, though, was like throwing food at people and swearing and hating doctors, people and just being a miserable guy, right? I was horrible.

That didn’t last too long. That lasted about a couple of months until I realized what I was doing. All of a sudden, and I’m not sure what it was, what I read or listened to or what somebody said to me, but it clicked that this is not a way to live, I should be happy. There are people with way worse. It was benign, I’m okay now or I’m going to be okay now. And I came back with vengeance.

I overcame it. It was just a simple like switch in my mind, that’s all it was that I switched. Just turned -- okay, forget it. I’m just going to do whatever I can. And I went out on crutches after that. In fact, that Ronald McDonald job, they hired me for it based on seeing some of my magic shows prior to me being laid up. I did some shows in between surgeries as well. When they approached me for the job, I said, well, yeah, but I have a surgery coming up and it’s going to be a few months recovery and then I will do it.

My very first Ronald appearance was the very first time I walked without crutches after quite a while and it was on stage at the Variety Club Telethon for the children’s hospital, walking on stage on this televised program as Ronald. So that was something that really did change, truly did change my life, to be able to do that and overcome that obstacle and turn it around and come back with a whole different attitude towards people and life and challenges. It was something that, although I wouldn’t wish it on anybody and of course I’m not happy it happened, but a lot of good came from it.

RALPH: So you believe it’s important to take a positive view of the setbacks and misfortunes and mistakes that occur in your life?

RANDY: I believe that when people don’t do that, that’s when depression sets in and all sorts of other physical manifestations, other illnesses. When your mind is not easy, then you get dis-ease, that’s what disease is. Sure, there are physical things. I don’t think that my tumor was caused by a bad attitude because it wasn’t really bad before that. It was only temporary. But I do believe that we can go out and create real physical problems for ourselves that manifest from negative attitudes.

RANDY (con’t): From that accumulation of what we talked about earlier, which in my mind is relevant to everybody’s life, and that is the karmic consequences of our actions. And that’s why when somebody who does something which is unethical or immoral or when they do anything that’s going to hurt somebody else, that it’s going to affect their ability from there on and forever to live a life in which they are going to be at their fullest potential. They are directly hurting themselves.

RALPH: How important was it for you to have a dream or a vision that set your course of life?

RANDY: It was and continues to be really important. For some reason, I don’t know why, but I started off quite young as an entrepreneur. It was not really a family thing. I’m kind of odd that way in my family. One of those things, when I came out of that final operation for my leg, I wanted to make money. I had a vision to make a lot of money. I thought, well, here’s an opportunity. Gee, I can use the pity thing here now. I’m on crutches. And I have an idea.

Have you seen those big hockey games? They are almost like a video game but they are like foosball, the big bubble and then the sticks. It’s like Chexx is the manufacturer, Chexx Hockey. Do you know what I’m talking about?

RALPH: Yeah.

RANDY: They’re coin-operated. I saw that, and they were just coming out back then and we’re going back now about 25 years. I somehow saw that somewhere in a small business magazine or something. I’ve always been reading those Entrepreneur magazines and biz-op things. I’ve always been reading those and interested in that kind of stuff as even as a kid. So I saw that and I was one of the first people to actually buy them. I remember they were like $3,500. I had already made money at that point as a magician, so I had money to invest.

I bought a few of those plus a few other machines. I went down in my crutches -- and I had my mom drive me around -- I’d go to different bars and laundromats and donut shops, that sort of thing, thinking I’d put these games in here, kind of like the whole video game thing was just starting. Pac Man was a little bit before that. They said sure and, you know, the deal was 50-50 on the coins. Then I would come along with the bag and the coin wrappers and my mom and collect these coins. The vision that I had was to go out and be successful and to make money and have a little business and I didn’t let anything stop me.

RANDY (con’t): Right now at the moment, as you are aware, and it’s been going on now for a good six months, I’ve been restructuring my business and I have a vision for my business. But my vision wasn’t that clear up to maybe a couple of months ago, so for those first four months it was really hard because I was running around trying to fix things but I didn’t know why or where I was leading. I just knew things weren’t working that well in certain areas. I wanted to fix them, but until I sat down and really had a clear vision of what I wanted to do in the near and in the long-term, it’s really difficult to take strong, positive action that’s going to be effective.

RALPH: Do you think that it’s important to have courage to pursue the new ideas once they pop into your mind?

RANDY: Absolutely. Courage for one person, again, is different for another person. For me, it takes courage, and my wife -- for everybody it takes courage -- but my wife has, [Tana], she has different viewpoints on things, which is good. She encourages me and that offers courage for me to try new things and take risks in areas that I may not. And courage to try new things outside of business to improve your physical health, to help others, to step outside your comfort zone, anything. Really, an idea is something that always starts with a thought and then we take these thoughts and we evaluate them and we decide do we want to invest the time, money, energy to pursue this idea?

Then typically what we do is we turn that idea into a vision, a goal, a target or destination. Then we commit to that idea and then we follow through with the critical tasks that will lead us to that destination. All along the path, it requires courage to continue because any worthwhile idea is not going to be a completely clear, easy path. It’s important to realize that and to have the courage to continue or not continue, as you go along to continue to evaluate. It all involves courage.

RALPH: Yeah, and of course in what you’ve done over the years, it was pretty uncomfortable to go through a lot of the stuff that you did. How important is it to realize that people are going to experience discomfort in pursuing their dreams?

RANDY: Accept it. Understand that discomfort in your dreams and all areas of your life will be present. I and others that I know in work -- I will speak for myself. I’m not comfortable sitting at a computer and typing. Physically it bothers me because I don’t have proper typing skills. Now, that’s something that I can and am scheduling into change, to learn how to type, but I end up cramping up my back and this sort thing. But I do it because it’s something that I need to do to pursue my dreams. I do way less than I use to because now I’ve understood the concept of delegating, and I delegate what I can, and also using alternatives to getting my thoughts to other.

RANDY (con’t): For example, right now this conversation is being recorded instead of being written. It can then be transcribed by somebody else and then edited. I’ve done similar things now when I am creating articles or contributing to books or even writing books where I use other ways that are more comfortable for me. But the point is there is some discomfort involved and there was definitely during the beginning of starting writing my first book where I didn’t have as many luxuries, although I did find ways around it, too.

Moving away from business, there’s discomfort in all sorts of things, with my children. I have a lot of dreams for my children. To help me in my pursuit to assist in my dreams for them, and of course they are going to adjust these dreams and change them and have their own as they grow. Right now they are infants. That requires discomfort at many different levels.

So discomfort is part of our human condition. It’s something that we have to accept, that without pain and suffering, it’s really hard to live a fruitful life. And that sounds really negative, I know.

RALPH: That’s true. That’s just the facts of life, though on the other side of that coin there are doubts and fears. Everybody has doubts and fears. There are so many things to fear. That’s the reason I created the Heroes program is to try and get some good news out there compared to all the bad new and the doubts and fears created by the conventional media. How do you overcome your doubts and fears?

RANDY: Well, that’s where it helps to have people around you that you love. When I have doubts and fears, I am very fortunate that I have a very loving wife and parents. I am very close with the rest of my family, even my uncles, cousins, friends. I have some really wonderful friends. So I am in a terrific situation where when I have doubts and fears, I have someone that I can talk to and share them with.

I also have a -- how do I say this? -- it’s not always another person that I go to to help me with my doubts and fears. When I meditate, go beyond myself and beyond the human condition into a realm which I won’t even try to understand or explain. I get help there overcoming my doubts and fears.

RALPH: How important is it to forgive those who upset, offend and oppose you. It seems that there as so many people that just take any opportunity to make you have a bad day. How important is forgiveness?

RANDY: It is right up there at the top of importance on that importance ladder. The only person you are hurting when you hold grudges is yourself. When you have hatred or when somebody’s actions personally offend you in your mind, because that’s really the only place it exists, all you’re doing is hurting yourself. You’re not hurting that other person. You might be hurting other people around you who love you. So it’s very important.

The way around that is to have compassion for the person and understand that they are doing the best they can at that given moment. Whatever they are doing really has nothing to do with you. It may appear to be pointed towards you, it may appear to be directed towards you, but it doesn’t have anything to do with you. It only has something to do with that other person.

That’s where the compassion lies, to look at this other person and to feel for them and forget about yourself. If you are walking in a hospital for people who have mental illnesses, somebody walks out, maybe they have Tourette’s and they start swearing at you and that sort of thing. Are you going to take it personally? Probably not. So that’s an extreme example, but take that and look at every situation with people. Look at somebody who honks at you when you cut them off, whether it’s intentional or not. Does it really have anything to do with you?

RALPH: Yeah, all that’s true. How important is service to others? Is that a source of joy for you?

RANDY: It is. It is something that -- I think it’s a source of joy for everybody. I don’t think anybody could answer no to that. I believe it would be a source of joy at some level, whether conscious or not, for everybody.

RALPH: How are you able to maintain your sense of humor in the face of all the serious problems that you’ve had?

RANDY: Well, first of all, you don’t know the half of it as far as the serious problems that I’ve had. Again, that’s all relative. Somebody else might be listening and go, oh, you want to hear my problems? You’re lucky! And I am lucky, actually. I am a very lucky person.

How do I maintain my sense of humor is what you asked? It goes back to that whole childlike attitude that I have towards life. It’s true that I had lost my sense of humor in many situations and I will continue to do so, which is good because that keeps reminding me that I’m human. I usually need, in order to regain my sense of humor of a situation where I’ve lost it, which has happened very recently. I’m talking like in the last 48 hours, I need to actually step away from the situation for a little while and then come back to it and put it in perspective. And I ask how serious is this problem?

RANDY (con’t): And here’s the question I ask myself, literally. Did somebody die? I’ll go did somebody die? No. If the answer is no, then I start going down the list until I realize how trivial it is that I’m belaboring over and affecting the people around me and my ability to move forward. That’s pretty much the exercise that I use and it’s worked well for me.

RALPH: Who are the heroes in your life?

RANDY: My wife, my children, my parents. I look at a lot of public figures who I think are very, very -- doing a great job for humanity and for others. I’d rather not mention who they are. A lot of them are commonly acknowledged; some aren’t. None of them are evil, that’s for sure. Well, I will give you a hint of where I am going. You know, I happen to think Elton John is a hero, and that’s why I kind of want to avoid not naming people because people would go, what? I look at the way he -- well, certain things stand in my mind. I will use him as an example and then you can just imagine what other sort of quirky examples are in my mind.

There was like a musical award program, it was within the last couple of years, and Eminem, the rapper who was on it and he had been widely criticized for anti-gay lyrics in his songs. Of course, Elton John is homosexual and is quite open about it. They were performing together, which was really, really nice to see. Whatever the reasons for it, whether it’s for someone to prove a point or not, it doesn’t matter, I don’t even think about that stuff. The fact that they would work together on this I attribute the heroism in that respect mostly to Elton John and not so much to Eminem. Not that I am saying anything negative about Eminem.

Then when they came out for their applause, which was plentiful, Eminem stuck both hands out, gave the finger to the audience. Elton John went to hug Eminem. Eminem kind of like shrugged him away. But Elton John didn’t react negatively to any of that. He instead was probably coming from a place of compassion to this Eminem guy.

Let me give you one more similar example in case this one, people don’t -- some people are wondering what I am talking about. There is a fellow who is a Canadian well-known business man named Jimmy [Patterson]. I have happened to actually met him many times. I know him. Every time I’ve met him, he’s been a really nice man. I’ve only heard things about him that, other than nice, which are just things him about being eccentric. Nothing really bad, right?

RANDY (con’t): But where he really gained my respect, not so much with my personal interactions with him, but during 1986 in Vancouver, he led -- he was like CO of Expo 86 -- that may not be 100 percent; maybe he wasn’t CO, but he was huge, definitely right up there in organizing it or a figurehead for it. Somebody actually, some sort of a protester or whatever, threw an egg at his head. You know, this guy is worth, I don’t know, billions or hundreds of millions or whatever. He is one of the richest men in Canada. He didn’t even flinch. All he did was just, nothing. I don’t even think he took his hand and wiped it off. He just kept going. It wasn’t important. What was important was the task at hand and what he was there to do, whatever it was, cutting a ribbon or something.

Again, same idea; same concept. They are doing what’s important to them, they’re doing what they think is right. They are not taking things personally. They are not letting other people’s problems -- they’re not making those other people’s problems their own.

RALPH: Yeah. Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

RANDY: Well, because the young people are the future older generation. Well, not so much anymore, but it depends on where you cut off the age thing because now a lot of 20-year-olds pretty much run the entertainment industry and a lot of other industries as well, high tech and that sort of thing. So if we’re talking teen, pre-teen type of thing, they are going to be the next leaders shortly. Those are the people who are going to have the control -- the politicians, the head of media, this sort of thing.

RALPH: That’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

RANDY: Well, yeah, they get younger and younger. Ralph, maybe we’re just getting older and it just seems that they are younger because, well, maybe when I was 10 and looking up and looking at all these people, maybe they were 20 then, too, and they just seemed like they were 100, but I don’t know. It’s important because it’s our responsibility to set good examples for them so when they come into more power they handle it responsibly and also as youngsters as they live their life that they do good, they don’t do harm, and they have good role models. So the heroes are real important.

You know a whole other category of heroes? It’s a generalization because there will be people within this category who certainly aren’t, certain types of individuals who do horrible things crawl into all sorts of different organizations. But when I look at people like Big Brothers, you know, those are heroes. That’s a heroic act to help young people. And I think that’s great. It’s important because they are the future of our civilization.

RALPH: I agree. How does it feel to be recognized as an Internet hero and gratitude for offering to help with the program?

RANDY: Well, Ralph, I in my mind think that the only person who recognizes me as an Internet hero is you, simply because you asked me to be part of this program. I don’t consider myself, and I don’t know that anybody else does, consider me an Internet hero. I do appreciate the acclamation from you, definitely.

RALPH: Well, I created the HERO as an acronym of somebody who helps enthusiastically, responsibly, optimistically, exceptionally, socially and/or spiritually. And you are definitely doing that. So it goes back to the idea of Gregory Allen Williams, that there is a little bit of bad in the best of us and a little bit of good in the worst of us and that anybody, whenever they help in any way possible, that that is a heroic moment.

You’ve entertained so many people as Ronald McDonald. I’ve been to your magic shows. And you really encourage people and you entertain them and that makes a big difference in people’s lives because it just makes them happy, you know, they love to laugh. I think that your magic programs and just some of your presentations are inspiring. And so I think it makes a big difference in the lives of other people when you actually make it better; better for them just at that moment in time.

RANDY: Well, since you put it that way, it feels great. Thank you.

RALPH: Well, good. I’m glad that you realize that. I know you’ve helped a lot of people along the way and helped them be successful, also. Do you have any good solutions to the problems facing society, especially racism, child and spousal abuse and violence among young people?

RANDY: Prozac.

RALPH: Prozac?

RANDY: Oh, gee. Yeah, I do have one. I know it helped me a lot and it was a big turning point in my life. Also, going back maybe 10 years is when I discovered meditation and that really helped a lot. It actually, without consciously doing anything, by meditating and by simply calming my mind on a daily basis, it did develop within me a more compassionate being and a less egocentric person. That was a great, positive byproduct of the meditation. There have been many positives.

RANDY (con’t): I think that if those people in the situations that you just asked me about, and the prejudices and all these things, I think if the people who fell into those categories were to sit quietly for twenty, thirty minutes a day every day, relax their mind, it would make a huge difference in the world.

RALPH: I’m sure that’s true. Well, if you had three wishes for your life and the world that would instantly come true, what would they be?

RANDY: One would be that everybody would meditate. The other one would be that we would all study the great, various, great and only the ones that fall into a legitimate category, not cults for example, religious scriptures like the Dhammapada of the Buddhists and the Bhagavad-gita which is referred to as the Hindu Bible. Of course the first and the second testaments. I’ll stop listing, but you get the idea. Studying that and looking -- and finding and recognizing the commonality among all these great sages and great scriptures. That would be the second one. The third one. That’s a good question. Those two alone--.

RALPH: That would do it, huh?

RANDY: That would do it. Can I just go with two? I’m sure tonight at 5 in the morning I’ll wake up and I’ll go, oh, there is third good one! Why didn’t I think of that? Of course!

RALPH: What do you think of the impact of the In Search of Heroes program will be on youth, parents and business people?

RANDY: I thought of a third one.

RALPH: Okay, give it to me.

RANDY: And this won’t be possible for everybody living in all parts of the world. If we treat ourselves well, if we eat healthy foods and exercise and don’t abuse our bodies and our minds with chemicals and drugs, this sort of thing, that would be my third. I think that would also make this world a much better place to live in.

Okay, and I’m sorry. What was your last question? I knew I had to have--.

RALPH: The last one was what do you think about the In Search of Heroes program and its impact on youth, parent and business people?

RANDY: I think it is absolutely wonderful, I really do. I’m happy and honored to be part of it. I know that other people that you’ve categorized as heroes and have invited into this program who are participating, I am fortunate and blessed enough to be friends and acquaintances with many of them and I know that they are well-meaning people who are successful who are going to have a great impact on the lives of others. I am really happy about it and I fully support you and your efforts and the entire program.

RALPH: Well, thank you, I appreciate that. As a final question, what are the things parents can do that will help their children realize that they, too, can be heroes and make a positive impact on the lives of others?

RANDY: They can be heroes. That’s what they can do. They can lead by example. If they do all the things that heroes do, their children will likely follow suit.

RALPH: Boy, that’s true, isn’t it? The examples of the parents have such a big impact on the kids.

RANDY: Absolutely. I believe that parents who set good examples and love their children unconditionally, treat themselves and their children and all the people around them with the utmost kindness and respect and compassion and who understand the laws of unity, of all sentient beings and karmic consequences, I believe that most of the children of those types of parents will turn out to be real great contributors to society.

The flip side of that, children who are born into families where their parents are not spiritually evolved, who are maybe living lives that are selfish and harmful to others, still have an opportunity to live life in which they do selfless acts and where they live compassionately and help other people. I don’t think we are locked into it as people when we are born.

There is genetics and there is environment. The genetics is something that people can’t necessarily change completely. Our environment we can as we grow up, as the children grow up and become thinking individuals. Of course they’re thinking right away before they are born, I realize that. But as they get older in the world and they can make decisions and understand concepts and realize they do have the ability to change. They don’t have to be like their parents.

RALPH: Yeah, I totally agree with that. Well, Randy, I really appreciate you taking your time and answering those questions. I just thank you and ask you if you have one parting comment?

RANDY: Yeah, Ralph, keep doing the great work you are doing and any time I can help you, I’ll be there for you.

RALPH: I appreciate that. Thank you so much, Randy.

RANDY: Sure.

RALPH: I appreciate your help!

Posted by isoh at 11:34 PM | TrackBack

May 14, 2005

"Paul Colligan's In Search Of Heroes Interview Was Very Informative and Inspiring" by Ralph Zuranski

"Paul Colligan Is a Leader in Website Consulting, E-commerce Creation and Software Development and Training along with Podcasting...the New Internet Technology Ready to Sweep the Planet"
 
Click This link to listen to Paul's heroes interview

Paul Colligan, the Affiliate Guy, Premiumpodcasting.com and Podcasttools.com, is CEO of Colligan.com Inc. an online provider of consulting, technologies, and Web properties for Internet marketing. He is also the Webmaster of several popular Internet Marketing sites that include FrontPage World, Affiliate Marketing World and You Can Sell Online. Paul recently launched AutomateSales.com and FrontPageCart.com to help businesses get their e-commerce programs up and running quickly.

Mr. Colligan has played a key role in the launch of dozens of financially successful Web sites and Internet marketing strategies that have seen millions of visitors and millions of dollars in revenue. Previous clients have included InternetMCI, the Oregon Multimedia Alliance, Rubicon International, Microsoft, the Electronic Boutique, and Pearson Education.

He is also is a popular presenter on Internet technology topics and frequently speaks online, on the air, and before audiences about his passions. He has presented at events around the country that include Internet World, Linux World, Commission Junction University, Armand Morin's Big Seminar, the X-10 Seminar, and Microsoft Tech-Ed.

Paul writes regularly for a number of popular self-published email newsletters with more than 60,000 subscribers. He has also co-authored and been technical editor for a several books about Microsoft FrontPage, his most recent being Special Edition Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003. Microsoft awarded Paul MVP status in 2002 for his efforts with their product.

Paul lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and daughters and enjoys hiking, theater, music, fine dining, and travel.

Paul also periodically updates a blog of his Internet Marketing efforts. It can be found online a http://colligan.blogspot.com.

Ralph Zuranski's Interview with Paul Colligan
  
Ralph Zuranski: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski. I’m on the phone with Paul Colligan, he’s the Affiliate Guy, the CEO of Colligan.Com, Inc., and you can find him at http://www.colligan.com. He’s an online provider of consulting technologies and web properties for Internet marketing. He is also one of the pioneers in podcasting. He has a pod casting site called http://www.premiumpodcasting.com where he’s working with new technologies to actually send information to people’s iPods directly over the internet through their computers, all automatically.

Paul is also a Webmaster and has a number of Internet marketing sites that include Front Page World, Affiliate Marketing World, and You Can Sell Online. Paul recently launched AutomateSales.com and FrontPageCart.com to help businesses get their e-commerce programs up and running quickly.

Paul Colligan played a key role in the launch of dozens of financially successful websites and Internet marketing strategies that have seen millions of visitors and millions of dollars in revenue. He is a FrontPage genius.

Previous clients have included Internet MCI, The Oregon Multimedia Alliance, Rubicon International, Microsoft, of course, Electronic Boutique and Pearson Education. He’s also a popular presenter on Internet technology topics and frequently speaks online, on the air and before audiences about his passion. I met Paul at two of the Big Seminars. He is a speaker at numerous events around the world.

Paul writes regularly for a number of popular self-published email newsletters with more than 60,000 subscribers. He’s also co-authored and been technical editor for seven books about Microsoft’s Front Page. His most recent book is Special Edition Using Microsoft Front Page 2003. I’ve checked that one out and it’s really great.

Paul was awarded the Most Valuable Player status in 2002 for his efforts with Microsoft.

He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and daughters, and enjoys hiking, theater, music, fine dining and travel. Paul also makes periodic updates on a blog that is found at http://colligan.blogspot.com.

Wow! That’s a lot of things that you do Paul, how are you doing today?

Paul Colligan: I’m doing OK; I’m a little exhausted after that list!

Ralph Zuranski: Yes, well I guess so! It’s amazing, all the stuff that you do. I’m excited about your launching into podcasting and getting involved in premium podcasting. I know that is an integral part of what we want to teach the kids how to do. Maybe, before we get started with your Heroes questions, you could tell us a little bit about it.

Paul Colligan: Well you know, pod casting to me is probably, no, it just is, the most exciting implementation of Internet technology I’ve ever seen. It goes ahead of e-commerce. I think it goes beyond web design. I think it goes beyond anything because it’s an amazing, enabling technology. You know, right now we think of all the stuff in terms of time spent in front of our computer.

You know this morning, I had to go visit a friend of mine. I had breakfast with him. I spent twenty minutes in the car, each way. The average person spends that time listening to shock jocks, or drive-time radio or something like that. I had a couple of podcasts in there. I was bettering myself on that ride.

Everybody thinks of the Internet in terms of what they do on their computer. They download music and listen to it in front of their computer. And they do stuff in front of their computer.

But with pod casting, you take it with you. You go for a walk, a hike and you take it with you. I’m actually driving the whole family down on Thursday to go visit my parents. My wife and I are probably going to be listening to Podcasts on the entire way down, just catching up on things.

And, it’s just amazingly empowering! The guy I had breakfast with this morning wants to utilize it with what he’s doing in his efforts. As I was walking him through it, his eyes were just exploding with just the potential for what this thing means. I’m just absolutely thrilled about it.

Ralph Zuranski: Would you mind telling us what it is. I’m sure most people are in the dark just like I am.

Paul Colligan: Well, the great thing is, first of all podcasting is nothing new. There’s absolutely nothing new in the world of podcasting. That’s very important for most people to realize.

What it is, we took four or five pieces of technology and when I say we, somebody else did it. I’m just thrilled about it. They took four or five pieces of technology and just combined them all together and made them a lot more powerful. The first technology is Mp3 audio. You know, people have been doing Mp3 audio for ages. Right now, this interview is probably going to be an Mp3, right?

Paul Colligan: Right, yes.

Paul Colligan: This interview is going to be an Mp3 but the typical paradigm, the typical approach people take, would be take this file, download it and sit in front of their computer and listen to the audio.

Well, most people don’t do that. Most people don’t listen to audio in front of their computer. That’s where they do their email. That’s where they do their web. And there’s sort of a disconnect.

You know people could certainly take that Mp3 audio and put it on any Mp3 player. They want to and a lot of people do, but that takes a lot of steps. It takes a bit of a geeky approach.

And the fact of the matter is, they still have to go to your website. They still have to find the page. They still have to download the file. They still have to transfer the file from the computer to their Mp3 player. That is eight or nine steps that you have to perform flawlessly.

Pod casting is different from the old way, which is basically pull. You have to go to your website and you have to pull down information.

Podcasting is push. Once somebody subscribes to a Podcast, once somebody says, "Hey, I want to get this," for lack of a better term, they call them shows.

You tell a Podcast client that every night your computer goes out and looks to see if there’s anything new. If there is, your computer downloads it onto your computer automatically. It puts it on the Mp3 player.  

So this morning when I got up to go visit my friend, the computer was on but I didn’t have to click anything, I just unplugged my Mp3 player and took it with me. I checked what was new and played it.

The best analogy is kind of like a TiVo that is getting pretty popular these days. That’s the hard drive in a video recorder.

People always ask me, “What’s the difference between TiVo and just taping a show?”

Well, when you TiVo something, one of my favorite shows right now is 24. I just absolutely love that show. I told TiVo once, "Tape me this season." That’s all I ever did.

Every Tuesday morning, “24” is there. If I work a little late Monday night and I miss the first 30 minutes, I don’t have to rush upstairs and click a button or do anything.

When I’m gone for the weekend, like when I went to the Big Seminar, I got actually snowed out and had to spend an extra day in Atlanta. If I was a VCR guy and had to rush home, I would have missed 24. But it’s just sitting there waiting for me when I get home.

That’s the real power of this. Some people are arrogant enough to think that once a week somebody is going to find your website and download your file and then sink it with their MP3 player. These are people think much too highly of themselves.

You know, when you use the technology of podcasting and let it come automatically, that’s where it starts to get interesting. That’s where it starts to get exciting.
2
Ralph Zuranski: People want to do podcasting. What are the steps that they have to take. Do they need special software?

Paul Colligan: There’s a website that I’ve put up called “PodcastTools.com” and there are a lot of videos there that actually walk you through the process. It’s really not that complicated. We have actually got videos that show you how to do a completely 100% free Podcast.

Ralph Zuranski: Really? That’s great…

Paul Colligan: Yes. What we’re doing with premium Podcast is we’re leveraging that same technology and we’re just enabling the same people to actually charge for their Podcast, using the imagery of television.

For a long time it was just what we got over the air. It was what we got over antennas and at some point somebody said, "Dang, I’ll pay a few bucks to get something better" and HBO was born.

HBO claims to be in 1/4th of all American homes, I don’t know if that number is true or not, personally, but people are willing to pay for content. I mean, the Big Seminar, you brought that up. You know, that was hundreds and hundreds of people willing to pay good money for good content. And so premium podcasting is just a way to leverage this really exciting technology through a paid paradigm.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, that really is exciting, if you think it’s that important. You’ve been in computers and software for a long time writing the Front Page manuals and I know that if it’s happening, then you know about it.

Paul Colligan: Thanks.

Ralph Zuranski: Let me ask you a couple of questions about the In Search of Heroes program.

Paul Colligan: Sure!

Ralph Zuranski: What principles are you willing to sacrifice your life for?

Paul Colligan: You know, I grew up in West Germany, which for some people, they don’t know what that means any more. But, my folks were in the U.S. Military during the 1980’s. For a while Eastern Europe was chopped up. It was one half freedom and one half communism. I grew up there on a U.S. military base.

I went to Berlin. Berlin was a really interesting city because the city was one half freedom and one half communist. You could actually take a bus. You could take a double-decker bus to a little city on the outskirts of Berlin. You could peek over this famous wall that separated these two areas. It was just amazing that here I was 100% free and somebody else on the other side of the wall was 100% not free.

Ralph Zuranski: Wow.

Paul Colligan: That always freaked me out. And what was really interesting was about four years ago when I still had a day job; I worked in a consulting agency with an international focus. The gal I shared the office with grew up in East Germany. She was my age at the same time I grew up in West Germany. We were both programmed and taught about how the other one hated us.

Ralph Zuranski: Really?

Paul Colligan: And about how the other one had different programming. In the fourth grade, she trained in a distorted paradigm. I just wouldn’t believe her. In the fourth grade, she was learning male “chauvinist pig” in her English vocabulary.

Freedom is incredibly valuable. I would sacrifice my life for freedom.

It’s very important, because if you don’t have freedom, you can’t do anything else. You can’t act. You can’t pursue commerce the way you want to. You can’t create. You can’t worship. You can’t do the things that are just vital to the human existence.

And that has to come first. A lot of people have died for freedom in the past. But it’s always been good. People are dying for freedom right now.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s true. Do you have a dream or a vision that sets the course of your life?
2
Paul Colligan: Absolutely. You’ve got to! You have to have a purpose. My dream is really a simple one. It’s a wonderful family culture. I want a family that just reflects God’s gifts and impact on our lives. I want a family that people look at and go, “Wow, look at that.”

And that comes from a family culture that comes from the combo of me my wife, my kids, and that’s what I do. Everything I do is really based on that. People sometimes say, “You’re trying to take over the world and what not.”

No, I want a wonderful family culture. Working at home allows me to do that a lot better than working a day job.

Ralph Zuranski: Yes, I can believe that.

Paul Colligan: For all this is I just want to create revenue from creating value. A lot of people, they try to create revenue by fooling people, by taking from people. I try to create revenue by creating value for people.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s really important. Well, I know you’ve had a few setbacks, misfortunes and made some big mistakes in your life. Is it important to take a positive view of those setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?

Paul Colligan: Well, absolutely. If you don’t, you’re just going to end up curled up in a ball, kind of whimpering and whining to yourself how bad things went. And if a setback takes you down, then it won. If you learn something from the setback, you’re far better off for it.

And it's almost like I don’t want them to win. So as a result, you’ve got to pull what you get out of them. You’ve got to pull what was there to teach you. And I tell you, I’ve learned more from my setbacks then I have from the good stuff because, the good stuff is easy. The setbacks are the hard ones. Those are the ones that make you think.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s true. A lot of people have said that. How important is it to be an optimist? I know there are so many people around us that are negative and just try to destroy our dreams. How important is it to be an optimist?

Paul Colligan: It’s the only option because, like you said, a lot of people are out there are trying to destroy your dream. A lot of people are trying to take away freedom. A lot of people are trying to stop you.

And if you are an optimist, you are not going to let that happen. And it’s got to come through the heart of what you are. It’s got to come from you.

I wake up every day happy. It’s got to come from a reason to wake up every day happy. You’ve got to be an optimist. It’s really the only option.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, I know that you are always anxious to pursue more new ideas. Does it take a lot of courage to do that?

Paul Colligan: Sure. But that’s the fun part. I think, there are so many people who are just stuck doing somebody else’s stuff, completing somebody else’s vision, fulfilling somebody else’s dream. And that’s needed. I don’t want to disqualify anybody whose doing that, you know. And sometimes there’s a time in your life…

When I worked for that consulting agency, it certainly wasn’t my dream. That agency was a time for me to learn. It was a time for me to grow…a time for me to understand bigger business and how to work with people.

It was great stuff for me, but in the back was always, “I’m going to take this and make this my own.”

Everybody’s got to do that. That’s the fun part. Why go someplace else when you can explore something new? It would be like opening up the refrigerator, every day, having the same TV dinner in there. You’ve got options! Why not take them?

Ralph Zuranski: That’s true. How important is it to believe that your dreams will eventually become reality? I know that is one of the hardest things to do. And in daily life, there are always the doubts and the fears. Sometimes it’s hard to believe in your dreams. How important is it to believe?
2
Paul Colligan: Well first of all, if you don’t believe in your dream, you don’t have really anything. I mean, a dream by its very definition is something you believe in. If it’s not that, then it’s just a nice idea. It's not a question of believing in your dream. It's more like an understanding of what dreams really are.

And, I had great influences in my life, I’m sure we’ll talk about that later. But, I realize that was a gift and I know that I want to act on that. There’s got to be a reason to wake up, a reason to pursue, and a reason to do the next step. That’s because the dreams and the plans and the goals are going to become something some day.

Ralph Zuranski: Who helped give you the willpower to change things in your life for the better?

Paul Colligan: My parents, without a doubt. It was never questioned what I couldn’t do. It was a question of how do we do what it is we’re trying to do.

They are absolutely amazing. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t realize more, especially now that I’ve got girls of my own, that I realize what an important role that my parents played.

My faith is very, very important. I believe in a God who cares for me, wants the best for me, and if that’s true, which I believe it is, well then I look out for it. If I don’t believe that, then I am kind of on my own.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s true, I believe the same way.

Paul Colligan: The last part is just friends. We all have the opportunity for friends who bring us down. Those people at the end of the day are such a drag!

So I’ve always had friends who pick me up and bring me up. They are not all Internet entrepreneurs. I have some of the most ungeeky, unentrepreneurial friends on the planet, but they don’t bring me down. They lift me up, and it’s that combo that does it.

Ralph Zuranski: There are a lot of people that may be having a bad day or whatever, and they have a tendency to upset others, to offend and oppose them. What do you do when people do that to you. Do you totally forgive those who upset, offend and oppose you?

Paul Colligan: Yes, it’s not as hard for me. Sometimes I wonder if it’s arrogance more than it is anything else. Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion. That’s part of the freedom thing I talked about. If two of us disagree on something, that’s absolutely great. That’s what makes the world go around.

Planet "Paul" would be just so painstakingly boring.

And so if somebody upsets me, well, what is it that upsets me about what it is they are doing? If the upset nature is just my reaction to what they’ve done, great, I could change the reaction and they didn’t win.

And it’s the same thing with offending and the same thing even with opposing. You know, basically if its something I can control, I do. If it’s not something I can control, I really try to let it slide off the back, because it’s the only option. I could spend all day dealing with, “Oh man, this person really bothered me or I could just deal with it.”

Ralph Zuranski: Well you know a lot of people experience great joy in serving others. Do you find service to others as a source of joy?

Paul Colligan: Yes, because it’s a chance to say thanks. I’ve been given so much, been served so much, been handed so much. I realize I worked my butt off. But, I’ve been blessed in a lot of ways. And a lot of these people you can’t say thanks to directly, so serving others is a way to say thank you…almost back down the line.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, what power does prayer have in your life?
2
Paul Colligan: Well again, it goes back to the perception of who God is. And if God is who I believe He is, and what I certainly hope He is, then it’s got to be a part of my every day life and it is.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you maintain a sense of humor in the face of serious problems?

Paul Colligan: You’ve got to! That one’s easy. A sense of humor is one of the most precious gifts out there. You know its funny. I remember satire and humor is a great way. If you are involved in something, you know it could be full of humor.

If you are stuck in the middle of something lame and boring, which we often are, even in my job, humor helps break the cycle. The paperwork I have to do, once a month is bookkeeping day. There is nothing I hate worse than bookkeeping, but if you keep a sense of humor through it, it absolutely gets you through it. And you’ve got to go that way.

Ralph Zuranski: Other than your parents, who are the heroes in your life?

Paul Colligan: Well, historically, I think the biblical character of the apostle Paul is an amazing one, because this guy did what he thought he was supposed to be doing 110%.

And then, he had a change in his life and he believed he completely saw the error of his ways. He completely turned around and did 110% change. But always with fervor, always with excitement, always with complete dedication and I really appreciate that.

I like to think that if this all goes to pot one day, that that part of me won’t change. And historically that’s one that I look to. Everybody loves to talk about what he did after the fact.

I think he made a decision on the right side of things, but the fact of the matter was it is part of who he was from the very beginning…to really pursue what he believed in. And I think that’s important.

It’s a reminder for me too that if something changes radically, one of the big things I try to do with my business, if you look at Colligan.com, we’ve have a mission statement. One of the big things there is, I want to be willing to change everything if the technology dictates it.

Right now you talked at the beginning about my e-commerce sites that I partner with. I truly believe that those are the best e-commerce options on the planet. I truly believe that.

Is it possible that one day a better e-commerce solution could pop up? Yes. Could I, will I lose money if a better e-commerce engine pops up? Yes.

But, am I going to hold on to my system and not let anyone know about this new system because I want to keep the revenues? I hope I’m not going to do that.

So that’s one hero.

There is a flip side of it.

I just think of what is happening overseas, the soldiers over there, what they are going through and what they’re doing. A lot of them don’t necessarily, 100% believe in what’s going on. But they believe in the higher call and I just applaud that. I just cannot comprehend the courage that goes on over there.

You know, we were in Germany and my dad actually was a teacher for the dependent kids. He was in the military before I was born. We had it easy. There was good beer, good sausage and friendly people.

These people are in the desert and people want to kill them. It’s a whole different world. So the soldiers right now, I just cannot think enough of them in every way.

And then my family…my daughters are so gorgeous because they have no sense of the inability to do anything. Now, they’re five and two, so they haven’t gone bitter on me.

You know, my daughter will look at me and say, “I’ve got a plan, I need two boxes, some wire and some paint” and I just want to pursue that to the fullest. For her 4th birthday, she told me one day, she said, “I want to do a lemonade stand”. I said “Why?” and she said, “To make money like you do!” It was awesome.

Ralph Zuranski: That is amazing. It’s important to recognize the heroes in our personal life and this society at the same time. Do you think there are any heroes that aren’t getting the recognition they deserve?

Paul Colligan: Absolutely. I think the soldiers overseas aren’t getting the recognition they deserve. I had a really interesting experience. I don’t talk about this a lot because I don’t want it to get in the way of things.

Actually the day I launched my store online was 9/11. And, I got up early in the morning. The store had been completed. Everything had been completed, but I didn’t want to do the release until that day.

I woke up in the morning and I did a mailing to 25,000 about the store and then I switched over to “My Yahoo!” to find out what was happening in the news. And it just devastated me.

I felt terrible about doing it. Obviously nobody knew what was going on. I watched in horror as it all happened. I just…the firefighters who went in and the police and the average people, the people who brought water and food and all that kind of stuff.

That was a sad, sad tragic day. But, man, we got to see real heroes that day in a way that we needed. I don’t think we needed the towers to go down, but it was good for us.

Anybody, anybody who accomplishes what they aren’t supposed to accomplish, anybody who doesn’t recognize the limits, they’re heroes.

There is not an American alive who wouldn’t have understood a guy who freaked out at that moment and couldn’t handle it, but these guys didn’t. And, that just blows my mind.

And I think about all the stuff that happened behind the scenes the same day I launched my store…the attacks, and the people dealing with the attacks. All these things happened in the background.

These guys went into the World Trade Center for a very specific reason. It wasn’t two tall buildings. The terrorists went after…commerce the day I went after commerce. And they tried to destroy it, and they couldn’t.

And man, that’s awesome. I get everybody involved there. Anybody who just does what they aren’t supposed to do and doesn’t recognize the limits does great things. Those are the heroes of the day.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s so true. Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

Paul Colligan: Well, if all young people do is aim to be like their friends, then they’re all kind of standing in a circle and pointing at each other. I remember what it was like and we all do.

There’s a time you want to be with your friends and you want to be like your friends, but it just stops there.

You’ve got to have a hero, because you’ve got to have people to aim for…something bigger than them. You’ve got to aim for something outside of the box. So you have got to have that or else you’ve got nowhere to go.

I’ve been reading some stats lately; just the amount of time that young people spend with adults is becoming less and less and less. Sadly schools having 35 students in the classroom, even with the best teachers, the laws of physics are going to prevent them from interacting with kids.

So you’ve got to have a hero, it’s just a way to look up. It’s very, very important.

Ralph Zuranski: How do people really become heroes? I know you talked about people that achieved beyond the limitations other people put on them; and people that just stepped up to the plate and helped wherever they could without getting any recognition. Are there any other ways that people can become heroes?

Paul Colligan: Well, you know, you can go to Toys “R” Us today and you can buy the Great American Hero action figure type things, and they are great, but there a lot of heroes out there doing a lot of things that aren’t necessarily getting the press.

Any time someone does something bigger than they are, any time someone does something not expected of them, that’s heroic. And I think anybody can look for a place to be a hero and be one.

They don’t have to join the Fire Department or join the military or something like that, and you can look for the option. And if you look for it, you’ll find it. There are so many options out there, today.

Ralph Zuranski: You know, a lot of people say there are no heroes in our society. Where are the heroes located?

Paul Colligan: Everywhere! Some of them are loud. Some of them are quiet, but they are everywhere.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, how does it feel to be recognized as an Internet Hero? I know you are out there pioneering on the Internet. I listened to you at a couple of the conferences and liked what you had to say and your personal integrity. How does it feel to be finally recognized for what you do?

Paul Colligan: Well, I am thrilled and humbled, but at the same time I’ve got to think of Woody Allen. Woody Allen said, “Never join a club that would let you in as a member.”

Ralph Zuranski: That’s true.

Paul Colligan: I like to do what I’m doing, but man, there’s some heroes well before me, much more worthy.
2
Ralph Zuranski: How are you making the world a better place?

Paul Colligan: I’m trying. The first of all is the legacy of my family. It starts there. And that’s the number one for me. And the second thing, as I alluded to this earlier, just build a business around tools and services that enable people to do great things.

I had an absolute thrill. I was at a movie website about a month ago. It’s a pretty popular movie website. He is kind of an Internet character out there.

The reason I visited the website is that he had just turned on a thing where you could buy ads directly at his website as opposed to going to an ad agency.

I wanted to see how that worked, and I was looking at the different ads and there was somebody selling a “How to Salsa” DVD which is something I just can’t think of further away from me, than learning how to salsa.

But I looked, you know, I’m a geek, I always peek under the covers and this person who was selling the salsa DVDs was using my Front Page cart service.

I didn’t know the person, knew nothing about the person, didn’t know about the website, didn’t know about the tool, and didn’t know about the product. But Front Page Cart was enabling (for some reason, I envisioned her as a gal, I hope it is) this gal produced a "How to Salsa DVD" and sold it on the "Ain’t It Cool" website.”

And that just gave me such a thrill…such a tickle because my work enabled other people to do great things and see their dreams.  That was one of the most exciting moments I’ve had in quite some time, just on my own work because that’s what I try to do, tools and services that enable people to do great things.

Ralph Zuranski: Well do you have any good solutions to the problems facing society? I know some of the tough ones are racism, child and spousal abuse and violence among young people.

Paul Colligan: That’s an easy one. I played in politics for a little while and it’s for some people…not for me. I played in different community service elements and realized that’s for some people and not for me.

I think we all have our paths we’re supposed to take in these areas. But, the simple fact of the matter is you mentioned racism, abuse and violence. If we’re all created in the image of God, like I believe we are, we all have value.

Ralph Zuranski: Yes, I believe that also.

Paul Colligan: Then racism, abuse, violence, it’s abhorrent. You’re beating on God. You’re abusing God. And, if that’s the case, then I think an answer is to get people believing that we are created in the image of God.

I think if you believe that deep down, it’s going to change the way you act. It’s going to change the things you do.

That’s going to do more than a politician who makes some law or opens up some center or who accomplishes something. There’s a need for that, and a place for that. I’m not trying to disqualify that in any way. But, if the person is pondering this action, they go wait a minute, this is bigger than me. They stop because of that. That’s what’s going to happen.

Ralph Zuranski: I agree. If you had three wishes for your life in the world that would come true instantly, what would they be?

Paul Colligan: Oh gosh, another easy one! I would love to see true freedom for everyone, the freedom to make a decision, the freedom to act if they want to.

Yes, the Wall fell and communism fell. A good chunk of it is gone but true freedom isn’t there yet. I’d love to see true freedom for everyone, because once that happens, and then we’ve got the ability to make the decisions, pull ourselves up and do great things.

You’ve seen some footage of Afghanistan, allowing women to attend school. That’s going to do more for society than any aid package we could possibly send, because they are going to be educated, to do things for themselves. They are starting to get it. Are they at true freedom yet? No. But they are better than they were a couple of years ago.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s true!
2
Paul Colligan: So I believe in true freedom for everyone. The next thing I would like to see is just that the liars step down. This is the liars in politics, the liars in business, and the liars in religion. There are a lot of them in all areas. They should just step down.

Enough said there. And the last thing I’d love to see is just the most valuable commodity. I’d like there to be truth and wisdom. You know, if that’s what people look for, that’s what people look for, if that’s what people go for, it all begins to make sense.

Ralph Zuranski: Isn’t that the truth! Well, parents are incredible influences in kids’ lives. What are the things that parents can do that will help children realize they too can be heroes and make a positive impact on the lives of others?

Paul Colligan: Well, I learned from my parents it’s all about perspective. I remember once I read this article. It was like Ann Landers or Dear Abby or something like that, and it just changed my life.

It was a topic I knew nothing about. They were talking about adopted kids. And you know this woman wrote in and she said, "Hey, I’ve got an adopted child and I’ve got a natural child. How do I break the news that my child was adopted? How do I give her this bad news?"

And that was an interesting question, how do you do that and I kept reading and Ann Landers said no, or whoever it was, Ann or Abby, whoever.

They said no, that’s not what you do. You tell the adopted one that I chose you. You tell the adopted one that I went to the agency and looked at all these kids and picked you out.

You know, and I was like, “dang, that’s the difference, right there!” It’s not just two sides to every story…the other side of the coin type of thing. It’s just a true attitude towards life that you absolutely have to take.

One of the things that I’m trying to do with my girls, because my parents did it, was I don’t want to limit them. My five year old just had her birthday. She told me she wanted a pink iPod.

And part of me was like; no five year old needs an iPod. She doesn’t even know what an iPod does; she just thinks the pink one is cute. But if I tell her that, it’s “No, no, no.” So we’re sitting down, and trying to figure out how much a pink iPod costs.

Currently one of her favorite places to go in the world is the dollar store. So, the comparison there is 300 selections from the dollar store or a pink iPod. How much is $300? Well, let’s count out 300 pennies. And so part of what we need to do is, we don’t limit them.

There’s going to be times there’s stuff they shouldn’t do. There’s stuff they can’t do. There’s stuff you can’t afford to do, but just make it, how can they do this? How do we save? How do we make it happen?

And then the flip side of it is, at the same time you don’t push them. You know, my daughter wanted a pink iPod because she saw what fun we’re having with ours, and she made the decision herself.

And if you push people, they don’t make those decisions, and so I don’t think you push. I think you encourage. I think you enable. I think you don’t limit, but I don’t think you push because that’s how they’ll figure out who they are, what their part is, what their piece is.

And finally, and you hit into this earlier, society is going to pound them. When society pounds them, pick them up and that’s the big job.

It’s a facilitation role. In many ways it’s as strategic as the businesses I run.

Every day I get up, I look at the sales from last night. I look at trends. I look at things. Is there anything I need to deal with today to make this stuff bigger? I think in the same way it’s what you have to do with the kids.

Ralph Zuranski: I know a lot of people think that kids should be their best buddies, but others think that it's important to help discipline kids and help guide them in the way that they should go.

Paul Colligan: The problem with the “buddy thing” is it’s good to have friends and it's important to have friends, and I want to have friends. I want my kids to have friends, but again if we’re all friends, then nobody’s looking up.

And if somebody’s looking up, you know you can go hello, hello, and the kids will look up. And the kids who look up will go places.

You know, imagine society with no goals. I think a lot of parents do want to be their best friend and the heart to do that.

I truly understand the heart of that. I think kids are more and more alienated every day and sometimes, who knows, the parents might be the only ones.

But the real richness, the real joy of being a parent is being able to say, "Hey, look up here!" It gets better, there’s more and that’s kind of the goals.

So yes, I hear you and I think that does a lot of damage. I understand where it comes from but I think it does more damage than good.

Ralph Zuranski: Well Paul, I really appreciate your time and your wisdom. Is there any parting wisdom that you want to provide?

Paul Colligan: You know, I think this is a great program. I was peeking around the website. You’ve got to think bigger than yourself. It doesn’t matter where you are, and because you know, then you aim for something. If you are just aiming for what’s already there, there is no real reason to get up, no real reason to do much. And look for something bigger.

Ralph Zuranski: The reason why I’m doing the interviews is it’s astounding; some of the wisdom that pops out of people’s heads when they are asked profound questions and to just listen to what some of these people have to say.

It’s encouraged and inspired me to say the least. It’s really good to get the wisdom of some of the people that are already successful, that have made a lot of mistakes, that know exactly how to be successful and help other people to be successful at the same time.

And I know you are one of those people so again, I just really appreciate you taking your valuable time to do this interview with us.

Paul Colligan: No problem, Ralph.

Ralph Zuranski: Thanks a lot, Paul!

Paul Colligan: Thank you!

Posted by isoh at 10:36 PM | TrackBack

May 13, 2005

"Chuck Daniel's In Search Of Heroes Interview Is Inspiring Because He Is A Cancer Survivor and Has Achieved Incredible Success" by Ralph Zuranski

RZ: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski; I’m on the phone with Chuck Daniel. Chuck is one of the Internet Heroes that I met at Joel Christopher’s seminar, the Double Birthday Bash.

Chuck had a long career in technology working with Microsoft to write software programs.

I think he worked with Outlook and did a tremendous amount of work in that area and in the process of just being involved in technology, he got interested in internet marketing, because he knows now that the most important thing for any business is that you need to be able to sell the products and services of that business and the more successful the sales are, the more successful that business is if they provide good quality service and good quality products.

So how are you doing today, Chuck?

CD: I’m doing great, Ralph. It’s great to be on the call.

RZ: I really appreciate you offering to help. You are one of the heroes who offered to help with providing software for a number of the schools in the different programs, and I’m thankful that you’re willing to do that for the schools up in your area once we get ready to start the Heroes program in every community.

CD: I’m very glad to help that way, Ralph.

RZ: I really appreciate that and the first question I want to ask is what is your definition of a hero?

CD: Well, that’s an interesting question.

I don’t really have one single definition, because you know, I think people can be heroes in many different ways.

If you look at, say for example, the firemen or policemen or any of the others who helped with the 9/11 tragedy for example, that’s one type of hero.

But, I also think that people who consistently and selflessly help others, sometimes even at high personal cost or risks because it’s the right thing to do are heroes.

For example, people who walk their talk, even in the face of adversity are also heroes in my mind, or even people who inspire or motivate others to do their best are heroes.

Children who carry on as best they can with a positive attitude even though they may have a challenging disease, I think those kids are really heroes as well.

I don’t have one definition, but I hope you can get a sense of the type of person who I think are heroes.

RZ: I really agree with that. There are so many people around us, and sometimes you wonder if societies can’t find any heroes. They say, “Where are the heroes?” Well, they should probably look next door, look at your neighbors, and look at the people you work with.

Everybody goes through difficult times in their lives. What was the lowest point in your life, and how did you change your life path to one of victory over the obstacles, because I know you had some pretty big obstacles to overcome in your life.

CD: I guess a low point would have been when I was quite young. I was 21 at the time, and I was attending the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada.

I was off for the summer, and I woke up one morning with this giant swelling on my neck. At first, I was kind of freaked out because I hadn’t had mumps yet, and that can have some pretty severe consequences if you get it as an adult.

But it turns out I had something worse!

I had a form of cancer; the technical term is lymphoblastic lymphoma. It’s a form of cancer in which people of that age, the age of 21, it is normally fatal, and so I guess, you could say the low point for me is that at that age when you basically feel like you are invincible, you’re getting some news saying, "Hey, you’re not invincible and you have a pretty severe disease and you have to come to terms with it."

For me, that was one of the lowest points of my life, at least in terms of the news and then, you have to come and gain some perspective that way.

I guess you asked, "How did it change my life?" I guess it changed it in some pretty fundamental ways. I don’t know if I’ve been pretty victorious against everything I’ve come up against. I have taken what I’ve learned from having cancer and been successful for most things.

You get a perspective that says, I decided that no matter what, I was going to do everything that I could to try and beat the disease, even though the treatment that they had at that time was not the greatest. The standard treatment was chemotherapy and radiation, and it wasn’t an exact science. They just did the best they could based on how they had treated people previously.

And so, what I decided to do was that I decided I was going to try and beat it and I did beat it. I’m happy to say that I’ve been in remission for more than 20 years now.

The thing that happened from that is that I got perspective of, I’m not invincible. I think part of my cancer was caused by the stress of a lot of things going on in my life just at that time, and so I learned to put things in perspective and not get so stressed out about certain things. Also, the fact that something even as severe as cancer can be beaten if you believe that you can beat it and that attitude has really affected everything that I have done from that point on.

RZ: So having a positive view of setbacks and misfortunes and mistakes is important, you feel?

CD: Oh, absolutely. I don’t believe that I could have beaten cancer unless I had a positive viewpoint.

And I mean it was hard because at that time I was in shock. It was something that I thought, "This is not going to happen to me." I was very healthy and yet I still got the disease.

I believe that most things happen for a reason, and that you need to look at that reason, learn from it and move on. I also believe that people have personal responsibility for the things that happen to them.

Some things might seem beyond your control, but I don’t think that those things happen very often. And also, if you don’t take personal responsibility, then you’re really giving up your control or whatever personal power you might have over the situation, and I think it's better for me personally to be directing my life than leave it up to fate or in the hands of others.

I can depend on me, so that’s kind of a philosophy or viewpoint that I’ve had even before cancer but certainly after having that disease.

RZ: Well, I guess so, and how important do you feel it is to be optimistic about the future?

CD: I think it's incredibly important to be optimistic. I’d say that I’ve always been an optimist.

Sometimes it has gotten me into trouble, (laughs) but what I will say is that, being an optimist, I guess, how I define an optimist is, I always think, I have this perspective that the right things will happen and that people will do the right thing.

I think that having that expectation actually causes, most times, those things to happen just because having those expectations that has an impact that seems to affect the way that things go, and I’m certainly a happier person because of it.

Certainly, I’ve been disappointed at times but I would say the majority of times that I’ve expected something to happen it has happened so that’s kind of my outlook.

RZ: Well, I know that you were very successful at Microsoft and worked there for about ten years, I think, and you decided that you wanted to get into a new career as far as marketing things on the internet and teaching other people how to be successful in marketing things on the internet. Did it take a lot of courage to pursue those new ideas?

CD: Yes, it did take a bit of courage; at least I like to think so anyway. I’ve done many things in my life just purely out of interest and some of them were out of the mainstream and no one else was interested in them at the time; it was just my personal interest.

Part of it was I grew up in a small town, but I was interested in things like software, magic, martial arts and I didn’t really have friends that were interested in those and yet, I still went out and pursued a degree in computer science. I was a reasonable amateur magician. I studied martial arts and I continue to study them to this day.

If you look at my career path like you mentioned, I developed software for Microsoft in the electronic email server area for many years, like 10 or 11 years.

Then because of my interest, or my growing interest in internet direct marketing, I wasn’t quite ready to go it on my own at that time, but I decided that I would switch to a role in program management in the customer relationship management group because that group had a division that did electronic email marketing and also I thought that the skill set that the program manager would have to develop.

Like acting as a liaison to the customer, doing more presenting, understanding what customers really wanted, I really felt that in order to understand that better that would be a good role for me. So it was a big decision after ten years to leave software development and switch skill sets and go into that area.

When I did finally decide to leave Microsoft and become an entrepreneur in the internet and direct marketing business, in Big Ticket Marketing, all those changes required some courage to pursue because they pushed me personally out of my comfort zone in order to do it.

Because some of the skills, I didn’t have and I had to develop, and it was a new thing for me. I find learning fun and exciting.

In one respect, it is very challenging, but you have to go outside of your comfort zone and you know, I wouldn’t say it was a huge amount of courage but it does require courage just to pursue those things that are newer or just to get out of the every day types of things that we have been doing.

RZ: So, it is just sort of uncomfortable in pursuing your dreams. You have to grow as a person; you have to make definite decisions to change your lifestyle. How uncomfortable do you think most people have it when they have to make changes in their lives also?

CD: I think everyone has to experience discomfort of some sort to pursue their dreams.

I’ve been lucky in that outside of the cancer that I had, most of my discomfort has come from stretching, learning and growing in areas that I wanted to pursue.

There are many people that I have read about or heard about that have experienced far more adversity than I have, and it really amazes me to hear their stories.

It’s like we were saying before the call, Ralph, it’s really inspirational to hear about people’s stories and understand their background.

So I try to read as many of their stories, or hear about their stories or when I’m meeting people to learn about their stories because learning about the stories helps bring me up and helps put things in perspective.

So even if I might be feeling a bit down on a particular day or things aren’t going particularly well, just by trying to read a little bit or learn a little about somebody else, if you look at some of the things that they’ve gone through and then you say, " You know what? Maybe things aren’t so bad." Get off your butt and go do something about it because like I said, cancer was a tremendous shock and I did manage to conquer that, but I’ve read a lot of other people’s stories and boy, they’ve overcome even more adversity than I have.

RZ: You know, in the pursuit of your dreams, is it important to really believe in your dreams? I know a lot of people that are in your life, they have a tendency not to believe in your dreams and to try to squash what you want to try to do. How important do you feel it is to believe in your dreams?

CD: I think it's really, really important and that’s true, like you mentioned, there are people, part of why people try and dissuade you from your dreams is because you are growing in a certain way and they are comfortable with you the way that you currently are and so that’s kind of uncomfortable for them.

They may be a little afraid that the relationship that they have built with you will go farther apart if you go that route and perhaps they are right, but you have to follow what you want to do. If you want to go in a certain direction, and you make up your mind to go there, then you can set some goals and make it a reality.

I don’t think that I am a diehard goal setter, but I have always had some broad strokes for the direction I wanted to go in my life, and then I work toward them.

I also believe that you have to be very flexible when it comes to your goals. I am more of a short-term goal setter with broad strokes for the longer term, and then I’m flexible about what I do to get me where I want to go.

And it’s a model that seems to have worked pretty well for me, I do try to plan out about three months in advance, kind of on a weekly basis, but my goal is not as granular as others that I have seen.

Yes, I do believe that you have to believe in your dreams and follow them in order for them to become a reality, because it’s just too easy to give up if you listen to everybody else.

RZ: So you believe that goal setting is important?

CD: Yes, absolutely.

RZ: You know, as we go through life and we are seeking after our dreams, it seems that there are a lot of doubts and fears that plague us on a daily basis. How are you able to overcome your doubts and fears?

CD: Well for me, I had a lot of role models; some of them direct role models and some of them indirect role models, I definitely believe in mentorship.

Friends have helped me sometimes. I do believe in myself and that partly came from my background growing up and also the experiences I’ve had growing up in my life like with cancer and other things.

I also mentioned before that I try to read something positive or listen to something on tape and that has helped a lot. So those types of things, most especially the role models played a big role in helping me overcome doubts and fears.

RZ: You know it seems it’s a fact of life that people offend us, they upset us, they oppose us, and forgiveness is something that’s important. How are you able to forgive those people that upset, offend and oppose you?

CD: Well, for one reason I’m pretty optimistic and I have a very thick skin so I’ve never been one to hold a grudge anyway because it just takes too much energy.

I do get upset at people sometimes, but I try and think about it from their perspective. Sometimes I’ll find that it's me being the pain, but then of course if that’s true I can apologize and we can move on.

I do tend to move forward fairly quickly. I don’t dwell on things too much other than to try and learn whatever lesson I can learn from the experience, so that I can prevent repeat problems or performances like that in the future.

But I tend to just say, I either shrug stuff off or look at it and say, "What can I learn from this?" and then move on. I think the primary reason is that I think it does take a lot of energy if you don’t do that. I’d prefer to take my energy and apply it in more productive ways.

RZ: Well, I know that you are really interested in serving others and I wanted to know if you find that as a source of joy.

CD: I do. I’ve always liked to help people if I can, and you know, the service or the help that you can give to people can vary. Like for example, the help in my case might be technical help because of my background in computers or from my work at Microsoft, or it might be organizational in nature.

A simple thing, for example, I help run the Scholastic book program for my son’s class, which is something that they needed a volunteer to do, or just working for charitable organizations, like I’m currently involved with Ronald McDonald House in Seattle. What they do is they provide homes, kind of home away from homes for families of children with cancer.

Also St. Jude is another hospital for children with cancer, and part of that comes from my experience with cancer, but also because my feeling is that kids shouldn’t really have to deal with problems that are that big when they’re young. They don’t have any bad habits or real stresses or issues that could have caused that cancer.

They were unlucky enough to get it and what really amazes me is, you visit these houses or places like this, and they are still all so positive.

They are still kids and they are playing and that part of it really does give me a lot of joy and faith that these kids can really be so positive in spite of the fact that they’ve got to get these treatments and it’s really thrown their world around.

RZ: Yeah, wow, that is amazing. It’s funny that you talk about Ronald McDonald, Randy Charach, one of the heroes I interviewed yesterday, and he actually was Ronald McDonald for six years….

CD: Oh, was he?

RZ: And he went to all the different places. I didn’t know that too. He had benign cancer in his leg that caused him unbearable pain. His story is just amazing too, and how he was able to overcome that. It was probably one of the high points of his life, spending six years as Ronald McDonald, going to all the different places where kids were suffering from the different diseases.

CD: Yeah, I could see that. I could see him getting a lot of joy out of that, even in spite of the fact that the kids are going through what they are going through.

RZ: That’s amazing. How important is it to maintain a sense of humor in the face of serious problems since you’ve definitely had your share?

CD Oh, I think it is important. I mean, I know sometimes when things get tough, no matter what I’m working on; I just make fun of myself because it lightens my mood! You know, I’ll get on my own case, “Quit being so grumpy, or whatever”. There’s lots of stuff you can do.

I also know from reading that laughter is supposed to be very therapeutic and healing anyway. For example, I read someplace that when you are feeling down, just force yourself to smile because apparently it's impossible to feel down when you’re smiling. There’s something physiological about the way that curving your mouth upward that forces your mood. It’s linked somehow.

So I think that having a sense of humor kind of forces you to do that smiling process and so yes, I really think it is important.

And also, I think the sense of humor is one way of keeping things in perspective. If you can lighten your mood and really look at it and say, "Okay, what’s going on?"

I also think if you are working in a team, that it’s very important, because it eases the mood of the team and makes them focus more on solving whatever challenge you are trying to solve rather than getting down and griping about it.

RZ: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Who are the heroes in your life?

CD: Oh, I’ve had, like I mentioned before, I’ve had a lot, some indirect and some direct. You know, first of all, I guess my parents. From early on, my mom always said you’re going to university. You can do whatever you want, and you just have to decide what you want to do.

Just having someone tell you that when you are very young is very important, because you do form your impressions from people how they act and what their expectations are for you.

So, her expectations were very clear and I think that really helped me go to university and lots of things later on.

My dad, he was always kind of joking, he had a great sense of humor, and he did things like, he was very willing to change jobs many times, to stop being transferred around.

He was a bank manager for many years, but that job required him to move from town to town and we didn’t like it. So he kind of sacrificed that to have a more stable home life, so we didn’t have to move around as much.

Like when we were talking about what makes a hero, this is something that’s a very simple thing, but it’s something that they did that played an important role in my life.

My sister was also very important. She has a gift. She can work with kids that have disabilities like hearing impairment or maybe they are learning challenged. And so, I got a chance to see her work with those kids and that’s very inspiring.

There are lots of other role models as well. We talked about inspirational and motivational people. I really enjoy Tony Robbins’ work. I have almost all his complete library of stuff, and I enjoy listening to it because he does bring you up and he does give you some tools you can use.

Another guy, Bill Phillips, he had the Body for Life program. He single handedly helped a lot of people get in better shape than they were in and because of that, really opened up the possibilities that said, "If I can get out of the terrible shape I was in, into this fantastic shape; I can really do anything."

I have my own internet and direct marketing mentor in Joel Christopher, who is guiding me in that arena.

You look at someone like Bill Gates. He is very successful in business. He has created a very successful company. His software is in use almost everywhere, and he is very philanthropic as well. He’s given millions or maybe even billions to the AIDS effort.

And other people, Bill Phillips as well is involved with the program for terminally ill kids, where they submit a wish; Make-A-Wish foundation.

Most recently, if you just look at the internet marketing arena, there are lots of speakers and marketers who are always at events who are heroes of mine because of what they have been able to accomplish, just as entrepreneurs and in business.

RZ: Mine too.

CD: Lots of heroes, both direct and indirect.

RZ: When you think there is any group of heroes in our society today that aren’t getting the recognition that they deserve?

CD: I think there are.

Part of it is at the start when we talked about the definition of hero, we do have a lot of people who are heroes and they are very public heroes, but there a lot of people that work in the background, like the 9/11 folks.

Some of them were on TV and some of them did get coverage, but there were a whole lot of folks who were there and were also helping and they weren’t getting coverage, but they were heroes nevertheless.

And people, like I said, people can be different heroes in different ways. I think the ability to be a successful role model for someone else is a way to be a hero as well…

RZ: I agree.

CD: But, there are lots of people that you never hear about. Like you were mentioning, maybe the ability to point out to people, just look around in your neighborhood or indirectly at other people who are doing these types of things and get to know what they do and use that as a role model.

RZ: That’s a great idea. Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

CD: I think they are most important in the lives of young people because young people learn by modeling. You can tell people, I can’t even remember what the saying was, but basically, kids learn by what you do, not what you tell them to do.

RZ: Isn’t that true?

CD: The best thing that you can do if you want to be a role model or if you want to be a hero in the life of a young person whether they are your child or another child or you are involved in some sort of scouting program, Big Brother program, any sort of program like that. Or the kids in the neighborhood are over and you are the dad in charge.

You are impacting them from a very early age on, just by what you are doing. They are looking at it, they are evaluating it and they are seeing it and they are going to model it, because they are soaking up that type of stuff.

And so I think that’s why it’s so important that these people have a positive role model to look up to.

RZ: Well, you know, I totally agree. Kids watch what you do and don’t really listen to what you say unless those two things match.

CD: Yes, they can find the difference. They can pick it up even if it’s subtle.

RZ: How does it feel to be recognized as an Internet Hero?

CD: Well, I don’t really consider myself a hero, Ralph.

I mean, if someone can learn from me and benefit from me, I think that’s fantastic, and if I can help a worthwhile cause that I believe in, then I like to do that.

Like I mentioned before, I enjoy helping people and I try to do what I believe is right. I try to do it consistently and I think if everybody did that and tried to do their best at it then they could all be heroes in some way, to their families, to their communities, to their countries.

I guess it kind of goes back to why I don’t have one definition of hero. There’s lots of ways that people can be heroes.

RZ: Do you think the world would be a better place, especially if the media focused on the good people do rather than the evil and just the wrong things?

CD: I think so; it definitely doesn’t seem to be their model though.

I think bad news tends to sell better. I don’t know why we focus on it. I guess maybe that’s in some way the inherent nature; people tend to be attracted to bad news. In fact, I think someone tried to start a good newspaper once and it wasn’t very successful.

I know for me, I tend not to watch the news at all; I barely watch news programs on TV unless they are educational. I might run across some stuff on the Internet, but I just find it, it’s too distracting and it kind of focuses me on stuff that I don’t want to focus on.
Certainly I know that there are bad things happening in the world, and it concerns me, but I want to be able to focus on things that are positive and letting people know about those things because ultimately that will drive people’s behavior in the right direction, I feel.

RZ: Well, that’s so true. What do you think about the "In Search of Heroes" program and its impact on youth, parents and business people?

CD: I really like the concept behind the program, because, first of all, it teaches young people a set of valuable skills and it does it by providing them with role models who are already successful and so those role models can give them a great education and also opportunities to use what they learn.

If they can successfully learn the skills and use them to either help a business or create a business of their own, they can see how to provide valuable products, and they can also see that by providing that value that they can be compensated for that.

That’s fantastic, because they don’t teach this in regular school classes. You learn some valuable stuff in there but you don’t learn about entrepreneurship. You don’t learn about building a business. You don’t learn about how to figure out what is valuable in providing that value and it's that value that you get compensated for.

So I think it has a wonderful effect on the students involved, because they can actually see it work and then they can take those skills forward with them into whatever they ultimately decide to do.

And parents gain confidence because they can say this is something they can help encourage their children to do and this particular avenue is something that is probably more positive than if their time was occupied in other ways.

And of course, business people get the benefit of these student’s enthusiasm and they can get help to accomplish their business goals for probably a lot cheaper than they could if they actually had to hire the experts and the business people themselves can give back their expertise.

So it’s a nice big circle where every one benefits from everyone else. I really see that as the impact that it has on all of those people.

RZ: That’s really a great perspective. What are the things that parents can do that will help their children realize that they too can be heroes and make a positive difference in the lives of others?

CD: I guess that’s a great question! I guess what I would say is for parents; don’t say no if you can avoid it.

I mean, you have to be a responsible parent, and you have to give your children guidance when they need it. But really encourage children to try things, don’t discourage them right away because some times you might be surprised to find something that maybe you would have considered impossible or very difficult for your child, because he might have a unique or novel way of approaching it. Or maybe he’s got a way that he’s figured it out, and he brings a new perspective to the table.

Children are the most resourceful human beings on the planet, right? They’ve got enthusiasm, they’ve got dreams, let them see what they can do, don’t judge them too early, try and encourage them, be as good a role model as you can be.

Like I said before, kids learn by example in what we do, not by what we tell them to do. I guess, kids are the world’s best modelers, so give them something to model and let them try stuff.

They might find some disappointments but if you encourage them to say, "Hey, it didn’t work this time. Let’s find something else." Keep trying until you get it. If you are committed enough, you are likely to find the answer.

RZ: Well, that’s great advice. I really appreciate your time to answer these questions and I was wondering if you had any words of advice before you go?

CD: Well, I don’t know, I’m almost “adviced out” on the questions! But I think the last thing I said is probably the advice I would definitely give to kids, and I think the "In Search of Heroes" program can really help because of the way the program is structured and because of what I said there. So, you know it is a real opportunity for them to play a role and I would encourage them to do that.

RZ: That’s such great advice. Chuck, I really appreciate your time in answering these questions and what a tremendous difference you are making in communities and doing charitable work, and I’m excited about your offer to head up the "In Search of Heroes" program in your own local town, once we get the book “In Search of Heroes” on the internet published, so kids can actually go in and read about the local heroes that we found and use them as role models.

CD: Well thanks, Ralph, I was glad to be in on the call and I am looking forward to the upcoming challenge and just keep me in the loop.

I’m sure we will be in touch because there’s lots of stuff on your web page that I still haven’t explored yet, that I have to go back out and have a look at.

So I will probably call you up and say hey, listen to this interview and I guess that’s an other piece of advice I give people, go to the web page, http://www.insearchofheroes.com. Check out the program, and listen to what people have to say.

There’s a lot of really, really talented people out there and what they’ve said is inspiring, exciting and sometimes even surprising.

RZ: Yes it is. You never know what is going to pop out of a person’s head when you ask them a challenging question.

CD: I agree.

RZ: Well, again, thanks so much, I really appreciate your time!

CD: OK, thanks Ralph!

chuck@likemagicmarketing.com

Would You Like to Make
BIG Bucks

With BIG
Ticket Items Online?

http://www.bigtickethomestudy.com

http://www.bigticketblog.com

Big Ticket E-List
Signup

Posted by isoh at 04:59 PM | TrackBack

May 05, 2005

"The In Search Of Heroes™ Program is the family business opportunity of a lifetime." by Ralph Zuranski

As parents, children, educators, spiritual leaders, and businesses learn to work together as a team, to achieve financial independence, everyone benefits! If you are interested in owning the "In Search Of Heroes™" Program in you community, you would benefit greatly from the training provided by Armand Morin and Alex Mandossian, through their AM2 Gold MasterMind Training. They are two of the most successful marketers on the internet and "In Search of Heroes™" faculty members. Join the ranks of the Gold and Platinum members. Discover if you have what it takes to become a member of the best master mind group on the planet. There are still a limited number of charter memberships available.

Rhea Perry's In Search of Heroes Interview was incredible.
You can listen to her interview by clicking here. Her efforts to help families achieve financial freedom by working as a team is exactly what the "In Search Of Heroes" Program is all about. When families achieve financial independence, they can work together with other families to fund social and sports programs for the "poor who are always with us!"

By having community members being able to financially support valuable programs, the dependence on governmental aid is eliminated. Communities will not have to worry from day to day if their programs will get the funding they need to survive.

There is greater personal and financial accountability when private individuals provide funding.
As corruption and mismanagemnt in governmental institutions continue to cripple their ability to provide help in a timely manner, the future of our communities is our responsibility. If we work together with individuals who learn integrity for those who have it, anything is possible. No dream is to small or large to be fulfilled.

Posted by isoh at 11:45 PM | TrackBack

"Rhea Perry In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski and Rhea Perry

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "What is your definition of heroism?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Heroism is based on what a person does, not just on who he is. So many people are capable of being role models for others and for making a huge impact in their worlds, but for whatever reasons, they just choose not to. To me, that’s sad because life is so short. There are so many people we can help if we just get a vision for how we personally can contribute, focus the desire buried deep within our hearts by making a few good decisions, then acting on what we believe."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "A hero is someone who acts on his beliefs, instead of just thinking about them. Many of us have heroic qualities; those who qualify to be called heroes overcome fear to act in faith that impacts others."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "What is your perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "All of us struggle with sin and temptation; it is result of the fall of man at the beginning of time. But Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to overcome not only sin but death as well so that we might live abundantly and eternally with Him."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Realizing that it cost Him His very life to serve us, how can we do less than to live a good life and serve others? On our own, we can’t begin to keep the first law of man or of God; but as He lives His life through us, we become conformed to His image and His spirit leads us to do what we are here to do. I know that not everyone believes this but based on my experience in life, I will only make a mess of my life if I don’t surrender it to Him daily."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Do you have a dream or vision that sets the course of your life?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "There is a revival occurring in our land in which fathers are returning to the home to regain their position as active patriarch of the family. They are discovering that they can have a new influence in the lives of their children as they focus together on career preparation."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "I am dedicated to helping them educate themselves to learn to work from home so they can be not only present in the lives of their children, but also actively engaged. The Information Age has changed the game so I do what I can to help families learn the new rules."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Do you take a positive view of setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Absolutely! Good and evil seem to weave through life like parallel train tracks. When you discover the bad, search for the good. It’s usually right there beside it."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Do you have the courage to pursue new ideas?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "There are two motivators in life: fear and faith. If you operate out of fear, you’ll spend your life reacting to what comes along and find yourself drifting aimlessly. If you live by faith, you can live pro-actively and aim at the direction you want to go."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "As a Mom of Many Children, I have to get up earlier than the children to take control of my day before it takes control of me. I let them sleep late so I can spend time reading, getting my direction and To Do list for the day, and working on my home and business duties. When they get up, we go a different direction so I can meet their needs. When you live with a bunch of kids, you have to learn to be flexible."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "When new ideas come along, I view them as an adventure. And life should be full of adventure! Life itself is supposed to be one big adventure with a bit of romance and mystery thrown in. We weren’t made to go to work, come home, eat, watch TV, got to bed, get up and do it all over again for every day of our lives. The saddest thing to me is how many people live that type of existence. It doesn’t have to be that way. Pursuing new ideas doesn’t take courage for me; it’s just the way life is. And the bigger the challenge, the more exciting the adventure!"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Call it courage if you want to, call it faith. I call it fun!"

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Were you willing to experience discomfort in the pursuit of your dream?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Absolutely! The struggle out of the cocoon is what gives the butterfly the strength it needs to fly. The struggle out of the eggshell is what gives the chick the strength to walk. The winter is what makes spring so wonderful."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "If we had no obstacles to overcome, there’d be no thrill of victory."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Did you believe your dreams would eventually become reality?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Absolutely! Every month I hear about another family who has overcome financial struggles to become financially free and realize their dreams. We have many living testimonies on our Yahoo! Group, the Entrepreneurs at Home."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Who helped give you the willpower to change things in you life for the better?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "I wish I could contribute my vision to one person but in reality I have many incredible mentors who encourage me daily. Some of them I actually know, some of them are no longer alive. They don’t come to me, I go to them. I surround myself with many experts who are smarter and more experienced than I am so that I can keep a positive perspective and glean from them when I need encouragement or inspiration."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "My two oldest boys and I are in a mastermind group (AM-2Gold.com) that meets three times a year and many more times online. I learn constantly from many teachers about education, developing a motivating mindset, Internet marketing, real estate investing, the stock market, and selling on eBay. Email, books, audios, conference calls and going to seminars of all kinds inspire me and keep me refreshed."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "If you want to do something special with your life, you can’t do it alone. There is power in networking with those who are motivated."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Do you readily forgive those who upset, offend and oppose you?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Absolutely! Life is too short to allow misunderstandings to steal your joy!"

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "What place does the power of prayer have in your life?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Everything."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "Do you maintain your sense of humor in the face of serious problems?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Absolutely! Laughter is the best medicine!"
Question: Ralph Zuranski: "How do people become heroes?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "People are recognized as being heroes when they do something significant with their lives to help others. So often, heroes in ordinary situations serve others constantly, yet get no recognition for it. I’m convinced they’ll get their reward in Heaven. It’s just sad that they are so often taken for granted where they are in life."

Question: Ralph Zuranski: "How does it feel to be recognized as an Internet HERO?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Embarrassing. I’m surprised you even asked me to do this interview!"

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "How will being recognized as an Internet HERO change your life?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "My children will probably laugh hysterically as they print this interview to put on the refrigerator to use as their new dartboard."

Question: Ralph Zuranski, "What are the things parents can do that will help their children realize they too can be HEROES and make a positive impact on the lives of others?"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Parents have an incredible opportunity to train their children to be serious contributors to society instead of being dependent on it. I encourage families all the time to look around for opportunity and learn to create money out of nothing. With all the opportunity our free enterprise system offers, there is no reason why anyone who can read should be living paycheck to paycheck. If you don’t know where to start, consider selling something on eBay. Many families earn their living there by becoming experts in just one market."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "We have the freedom to control our own lives and not be enslaved to anyone else. It just requires the right type of education. Yet, most of us get caught up in day-to-day living and don’t look up from its mundaneness to set our goals on something higher. Working toward financial freedom is not something that comes easily. It doesn’t come from an inheritance or from winning the lottery. Getting money is only part of the game of life; managing and protecting it is important as well."

Answer: Rhea Perry, "If parents want to truly impact their children’s lives, they will teach them to own their own businesses, tithe, and channel their resources to positively impact society in whatever realm their hearts desire. Life is not about getting, it’s about giving. Yet in the giving, what we get makes it worth the effort. That’s what makes a hero!"

Answer: Rhea Perry, "Thank you Ralph, for asking me to be part of your program. You are my hero!"

Posted by isoh at 12:51 AM | TrackBack

May 04, 2005

"Read Bob Silber's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

Question: Ralph, "What is your definition of heroism?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "Heroes to me, are the ordinary men, women and younger people that try to make the world a better place in some way. Age or celebrity are not necessarily characteristics of heroes. Race and creed are definitely not characteristics. The true test for a hero how they treat others who can do nothing for them."

Question: Ralph, "How do people become heroes?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "When unselfishly, you have positively touched another's life. Doing something for others, for someone who can never repay you, now that is a characteristic of a hero. Most of the time, those acts of heroism are only known to the hero and the recipient."

Question: Ralph, "Where are heroes located?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "Heroes can be anywhere. The workplace, schools, or the community. If you leave the comfort of your house today you will see them just walking down the street."

Question: Ralph, "How do you recognize those heroes you see."

Answer: Bob Silber, "Too often you don't. Heroes come in all ages, sexes, shapes and sizes. Heroes don't act because of recognition or rewards. Heroes act because it is in the makeup of their soul, their hearts. They are the true unsung heroes of the world."

Question: Ralph, "How are you making the world a better place?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "I try to give back, on a daily basis, for the blessings in my life. Beyond that, I also consciously try to put a smile on the faces of everyone that I can. You can do that with little acts of kindness. A simple thing like taking the time to recognize the other person you come in contact with has feelings too."

Question: Ralph, "Do you have the courage to pursue new ideas?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "To a fault. I pursue new ideas routinely, taking risks when a more prudent action would dictate otherwise."

Question: Ralph, "Are you an optimist?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "Yes."

Question: Ralph, "Do you take a positive view of setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "I do. I treat setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes as a learning experience."

Question: Ralph, "What is your perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "I believe in the karmic action of the universe, as practiced in Hinduism & Buddhism. The total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny. In our religions it is the do unto others philosophy as you would have them do unto you."

Question: Ralph, "Do you have a dream or vision that sets the course of your life?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "I was lucky enough to realize my dreams. First by police work and then law school. My course in life is to do the things in life that I enjoy as long as it doesn't harm others."

Question: Ralph, "Were you willing to experience discomfort in the pursuit of your dream?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "My personal dream was to be in law enforcement and then to be a lawyer. Both were difficult goals."

Question: Ralph, "Did you believe your dreams would eventually become reality?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "Yes, as long as I actively pursued those dreams and did what was required of me, no matter how difficult."

Question: Ralph, " How were you able to overcome your doubts and fears?

Answer: Bob Silber, " Knowing I could start over if the worst happened. Failure can be a learning experience if you choose to make it so.

Question: Ralph, "Do you experience service to others as a source of joy?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "It is. You come to realize that true joy, is giving back to others, whenever you can and in whatever way you are able."

Question: Ralph, "Do you maintain your sense of humor in the face of serious problems?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "Always. If you can laugh about things, you will find it is a great equalizer."

Question: Ralph, "Why are HEROES so important in the lives of young people?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "Heroes are important in the lives of all of us."

Question: Ralph, "What are the things parents can do that will help their children realize they too can be HEROES and make a positive impact on the lives of others?"

Answer: Bob Silber, "Be a positive role model, that is most important. Teach as We all learn from those around us. We all make poor choices at times but break the cycle (abuse, alcohol, drugs) and realize that there but for the grace of god go I."

Question: Ralph, " Do you have any closing thoughts?"

Answer: Bob Silber, " One of my favorite quotes is by --Martin Luther King Jr.-- He said it eloquently, 'If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

I love those thoughts. You can apply that to anything. Apply it to being a hero to others in your everyday life. When you see someone in trouble, in pain, in difficulty, remember that they are brothers and sisters whose burdens are also ours to bear. Each one of us has the power to make the world a better place.

Thank you Ralph!"

His public domain product Public Domains Revealed is incredible. It has valuable information how you can use existing books and articles in the public domain for your newsletter for free.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Silber at many of the internet marketing seminars where I was taking photographs of the speakers and running their PowerPoint presentations. Bob Silber really knows the law and provides important legal information at every seminar. He was awesome. His story is inspiring and entertaining. He has a great sense of humor. His Internet Marketing Law Products site has great information. I am impressed with his in-depth information about how to avoid legal pitfalls on the internet.

He works with all the leaders in internet marketing. When I visited his website and read more about his efforts to protect his clients from major legal hassles, I realized he deserved to be recognized as one of the heroes I met at internet conferences. I decided to interview him as an internet hero because his information is so valuable.

Every person who has a website needs to use Bob's products and protect their assets from frivolous law suits and attacks by the Federal Trade Commission. His legal advice can help anyone in any industry avert legal disaster. I just wish I knew more of his information when I was younger and made some legal mistakes. It would have saved me so much suffering and misery and money.

Bob is outstanding. All his research and legal studies have paid huge rewards for many of the companies he works with. If you are seeking the information that will save your business from legal catastrophes, Bob can help protect your butt. Great Job Bob!!!!

Posted by isoh at 05:11 PM | TrackBack

May 02, 2005

"Carl Turner's In Search Of Heroes Inteview" by Ralph Zuranski and Carl Turner

RALPH: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski and I have the opportunity to interview Carl Turner, who is a nuclear engineer. He’s applying online and offline marketing systems that would make any nuclear engineer happy in contrast to developing ingenious but effective joint ventures, which he also does. He has worked with Jay Abraham for almost 9 years and now he’s working on his own. How are you doing tonight?

CARL: Fantastic. Nice to talk with you this evening Ralph.

RALPH: Well, I met you at Joel Christopher’s Double Birthday Bash and I was impressed with your presentation and your wonderful spirit. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about heroism. Do you have a dream or vision that sets your course in your life?

CARL: Yes, I’ve always had dreams Ralph. I don’t know how people can really exist without them. I grew up in a very poor part of central Mississippi and my first dream was to get out of there and experience life in the mainstream, so I pursued engineering. I’ve progressed down the years from working on nuclear power plants and having my own consulting companies to learning marketing and finally developing the marketing technology that allows entrepreneurs all over the world to benefit from more effective marketing.

RALPH: Why did you shift over from working on nuclear power plants to working on marketing?

CARL: Well, I really loved engineering. And then I decided that, after working with almost all the big companies, I wanted to have my own consulting company. And when I did that, I found the most fun part of engineering consulting wasn’t actually doing the consulting; it was doing the sales!

The most amazing experience I had was when I had my little company (which was in Texas) competing with the 17 biggest engineering companies around the United States and I got the work! It was so much fun to actually do that, and I figured that if I love marketing (which I did) then I should do it full-time.

So I went to find the best marketing consultant in the world, who was Jay Abraham, and I actually went to work for him initially and eventually did joint ventures with him toward the end. For me it was a natural progression, even though it was a strange one.

RALPH: Now it’s interesting, how does nuclear engineering relate to internet marketing?

CARL: Well, everything in life can be optimized if you use the right system. And all nuclear power plants are really is a series of systems. The systems are integrated together using certain feedback equations processed by computers. So, it’s very systematic. If you apply the same thing to marketing, you can get systematic, repeatable results. If you don’t use a system, then you can’t really optimize anything, so you are at the mercy of the world. By using systems, you can test, track, optimize, and essentially create whatever you want in your life.

RALPH: You know, you had some pretty incredible success with Jay Abraham. I think that you guy’s did $12 million in sales of his instructional material.

CARL: Yes, well what we did there was essentially five different programs in three years that generated a little over $11 million in sales.

RALPH: That’s pretty amazing. I imagine that through working with Jay, and just in life itself that you’ve had some setbacks and misfortunes and made some mistakes. Is it important to take a positive view on the things that didn’t go right?

CARL: Oh yes. One of our big successes was a program we called the PEQ, which was the “Performance Enhancement Quotient”. In that program, we made a little over $3.5 million in sales. The ironic thing was that the first letter we sent out on the subject, we sent it out to over 14,000 people and we got zero sales – which is a miracle… in reverse!

RALPH: How is that? How could that be?!

CARL: Well, in Jay’s list, if you sent out a letter to the top 14,000 clients, they’ll buy just about anything, or at least 5 or 6 will. So it was amazing that when we had a fantastic product, no one bought! So we knew that we had just articulated the offer the wrong way. We then wrote it the right way and people bought it in droves.

RALPH: So obviously, you had to be an optimist when that massive failure occurred. Did you have a positive view on trying something different?

CARL: Well, sometimes it’s hard to have a positive view! *laughs* But what we had to do was when we were about three weeks from the program and we had zero people signed up, we had to determine if we were essentially going to write off the whole thing or come up with an alternate strategy. So we dug in and came up with an alternate strategy and then made it pay off.

RALPH: Did you believe at that time that your dreams had become true?

CARL: Yes definitely. I wasn’t sure that they would come true in that particular program, though!

RALPH: I imagine so. When you’re working with people that are such high-powered individuals, do you readily forgive those who upset, offend, and oppose you?

CARL: Definitely. Most people when they do something that offends you or hurts you, they’re not really trying to. In general, they’re focusing on their problems and sometimes they lash out at you because you’re the only thing in front of them. And if you don’t take people’s reactions personally, you don’t have their problems. It’s only when you react personally to what they’re doing that you not only have your problems but theirs too. 

RALPH: How important is it to experience service to others as a source of joy?

CARL: Well, I think that in life we have certain joys, and one of the things is to do something really good for someone else. I loved working in the marketing field, especially when I was selling marketing-training products for entrepreneurs because I knew that the people who bought the programs from me were going to have much more success in their lives; They were going to be able to give to the community, to their families, and to the world at large. So, it really makes a big difference – when you can go home at night and feel good about just life in general, and especially what you’ve done.

RALPH: You know, in working with entrepreneurs, they’re a pretty unique group of people. Do you think a sense of humor is really important in facing the serious problems that you come across in dealing with those people?

CARL: Oh, yes. Entrepreneurs are really the life-blood of the world. And when you consider 9 out of 10 go out of business their first year, you really have to have a sense of humor and view life as a fun process.

RALPH: I know that Ted [Nicholas] thinks that heroes are really the entrepreneurs who are making a difference in the world. Do you believe that’s true?

CARL: Oh yes, definitely. If you think about all the little things that you do, whether you order pizza at night, you get food at a restaurant, you go to the grocery store – no matter what you do, you are dealing with entrepreneurs. They really provide the quality of life for you. And that’s what really makes the world go “round”; it’s not the Fortune 500 companies that make the cars and things like that, but rather the little guys that work with the Fortune 500 companies and make it possible for those companies to be there as well as do all the things which help us make our lives better.
RALPH: You know, you’ve been extremely successful in business and in marketing. Were there any heroes in your life that helped you obtain the level of success that you’ve attained?

CARL: Yes, I think everyone has heroes, whether they admit it or not. When I was growing up my grandfather, who had cotton gins, saw mills, stores and farms, was one source of the belief that I could achieve my goals because I had him to model. Then on my mother’s side, her mother (my grandmother) was really an inspiration because she was a very busy person, but she always took time out of her busy life to give back to the community. She was another role model for me.

And then I’ve had different role models in business and different things. For instance, when I was trying to change my life from being negative to positive…. when I was an engineer – I was sort of like an engineer’s engineer. I was one of the best. But you don’t want a positive engineer designing a bridge for you! You want a very negative engineer that will think of everything that can go wrong.
And so, when I got into business, I realized I needed to think positive, because you want to think of everything that can go right. So I met Tony Robbins and adapted his technology to change my life from being negative to positive, so he’s one of my heroes simply because of what he provided for me.

And other people – like Jay Abraham, who I worked with, is still a hero because he provided the marketing technology that I first learned. Everyone has heroes in their life that make their life enjoyable. Having heroes allows you to reach for something higher.
RALPH: So it was your grandma and grandpa that were the heroes in your life? What about your mom and dad?

CARL: Mom has passed on and dad is, happily, still alive. They provided a great home, loved and cared for me and my sister, and gave me a good environment to grow up in. They were great people but they never really understood life the way that it could be experienced. They did the best they could, but they never really saw what was possible.

RALPH: How did your grandma and grandpa make a positive difference in your life other than the example that you gave of their entrepreneurial success?

CARL: Well my grandfather on my father’s side, he was always doing things. He would buy foreclosed farms and sell them to people who couldn’t otherwise buy them for a bail of cotton per year! So he made it possible for many people in the community to move forward, and when they needed to plant crops, he loaned them money.
So he was a person who really helped the community. For example, when the local school house burned, he and the two doctors in the community essentially rebuilt the school. So, he was a giver. And when you’re a giver and you understand business, you can really achieve a lot in your life.

RALPH: You think that’s really important to be in business today – to be a giver and to help other people obtain great value through what you do?

CARL: Oh yes, I think it’s important in anything, especially if you’re in business for yourself. If you’re in business for yourself and you’re a giver, you get back so much more than you can ever give.

RALPH: There are a lot of people in our society – you have the sports stars, you have the movie stars, the rock stars… who are the real heroes, do you think, in our society today?

CARL: Well I think I’ve already alluded to it, Ralph. I feel the entrepreneurs are because they make things happen. And sure they work long hours, but they give - and by giving they get so much back. So I think they are the unsung heroes of our society today.

RALPH: You know, you look at the moms and the dads and the grandmas and the grandpas… they really do make a big difference in people’s lives. Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people today?

CARL: Well, young people tend to focus on themselves, especially during the teenage years when they’re trying to discover what they’re all about. And if they don’t have someone outside themselves to look up to, they tend to look inside and they get very confused because it’s not about what you want, it’s about what you are and loving yourself. And by seeing a hero or a person they look up to, they can finally understand this better and find a way that they can give back too and as such, become a valuable member of the human society.

RALPH: Who do you feel are the real heroes in our society today?

CARL: Again, I think it’s the entrepreneurs. And it’s also the moms and dads that help their kids grow and learn more about what they can achieve.

RALPH: Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

CARL: Again, it’s about what they can do to help the outside world. When they have people that they look up to, they have people they can model. And they can reduce the focus on themselves because when you look at yourself, you can always see pain, see things you don’t have, you can see lack; When you look outside yourself, you can see what other people are doing and get values that you can instill in your own life to become a hero and enjoy life.

RALPH: You know, a lot of times people are trapped in jobs that they hate, you know, and kids are just thinking, “What am I going to do with my life?” What advice would you give them?

CARL: Well I would advise them to find heroes and mentors, people that they admire - look outside themselves. And if it’s not someone in the community, maybe they can find people in literature as far as biographies because there are so many heroes out there that can give people what they don’t have, and that’s a positive outlook on life. They can see the joy of giving and the joy of creating something for other people.

RALPH: How are you making the world a better place?

CARL: I’m doing my little part to help entrepreneurs. The idea is if I help entrepreneurs be more successful, they can give more to the world in general, they can give more to their employees (because most of the employees in the world work for entrepreneurs, not the big companies), they can give more to their families.
And so in general, by helping entrepreneurs, I can help the world overall without really touching the world but only touching the people who make your and my life much better.

RALPH: You know marketing, marketing is the life-blood of any business; it’s where the sales actually occur; it actually brings in money so a company can employ other individuals. How important do you feel marketing really is in the scope of what’s going on in our community today?

CARL: Marketing is in everything, as far as the commercial aspects of it, and even the non-commercial aspects. You’re always marketing to the other individuals around you. If you’re with your wife, you’re marketing the fact that you’re a fantastic husband, or maybe you’re doing “sales” as far as “I’d rather have this particular meal than that particular meal”.

But marketing is about creating value there so that people can enjoy things. If you just had the necessities in life, you’d have a very bland life and the world economy would grind to a halt because all the world really needs is just food, water, and a minimum amount of shelter.

And by working with entrepreneurs, you get a lot more in life; you get cars, you get electronics, you get movies… you get all the pizzazz. But even if you had the pizzazz without the marketing, you really wouldn’t appreciate it as much as you do because the entrepreneurs spend a lot of their time marketing those products so that people can enjoy them even more.

RALPH: You know, this program: the In Search of Heroes Copywriting Program is about copywriting, and copywriting is about getting people to basically invest in things that are beneficial to them. How do you feel that copywriting can make a big difference in the lives of young people in trying to create ideas that make a difference in society?

CARL: Well, I believe it was in the early days that people called marketing “salesmanship in print”. Somehow that salesmanship has to get to print, and that’s the job of copywriters. So if you have copywriters trained in the principles you were talking about, they’re going to be able to help provide the world access to the goods and services that they really want. Because if you don’t have someone to help you understand what you want, then you don’t have commerce and you don’t really enjoy it as much. You know, if you had all this money in the bank but you didn’t understand what you could do to enjoy it, you wouldn’t have real value in life; you wouldn’t enjoy a first-run movie or maybe going to a museum; or maybe climbing up a mountain. So copywriting is the method of allowing those ideas to get captured in print.

RALPH: You know, when I was talking with you, you mentioned the sales letter that you wrote that helped bring a lot of people into Jay’s training seminar. What do you think are the most important aspects of copywriting?

CARL: In copywriting – well, in marketing there are three things: there’s the list, then the offer, then the copy. I would say that the most important thing in copywriting is the attempt to bring those three things together. You have to understand what your target market’s looking for and then you have to have a valid offer. There has to be an offer they can understand. That’s where copywriting comes in.

So it’s the combination of those three factors that allow people to go from the “paralysis of analysis” to enjoy a good or service. That’s where they exchange their hard-earned dollars for a feeling. That’s all that sales is – exchanging hard-earned dollars for a feeling. But those feelings really make the world go “round”.

RALPH: What do you think are the things that motivate people to actually invest in things that will be beneficial to them?

CARL: Again, I think it is successful marketing. Because otherwise, they would have to do all the research on their own and if you had to research every product you buy, you wouldn’t buy very much! So you wouldn’t have a chance to enjoy very much. So if you have good salesmen or good marketing people, they allow you to determine what you would like to have and to ultimately have it.

RALPH: Everybody talks about the importance of emotions and how every sale is basically based on the emotions of the customer. What do you think about that?

CARL: Well that’s true. You don’t buy a product; you buy a solution to a problem or an emotion. And all that does is allow you to understand what that is so you can again, exchange your money for that emotion.

It’s not about having a car; it’s about having the admiration of your neighbors. It’s not about having a life-insurance policy; it’s about having the comfort of knowing that your family is being taken care of. Someone needs to bring these things out in order to allow people to really experience them.

RALPH: You know it’s interesting that you as a person would be an engineer, especially a nuclear engineer! And the left-brain activity that’s required for that, as far as logical judgment, mathematic and verbal skills; How hard has it been for you to switch over to the other brain hemisphere that has the creative spontaneity, the intuitiveness, the emotional aspects that are so critical to marketing?

CARL: Well it was a little harder than I thought it was going to be!
But the thing that we tell people is, “find what you love in life and do it. The money will come.” See I knew I loved marketing, though I didn’t have the skill set. That was relatively apparent. It was highly dormant!

But I was able to develop that over a six year period, and by developing that, I was able to achieve tremendous success in the last three years that I was working with Jay. So, I would say that, yes it was a pretty dramatic change. It was not very easy. But since I loved it, it was fun – and life is about having as much fun as you can stand.

RALPH: What were the techniques that you used? I know that there are a lot of people that are trapped in the left side of their brain in the logical area. You know, but everybody realizes that you have to appeal to the emotional desires of the people that you are marketing to. What were the techniques that you used to shift over to the other side?

CARL: Well I tried to put myself in the other people’s shoes, and that’s highly crucial in sales. So I learned how to sell to my target market. My target market was entrepreneurs, and luckily I was one too so all I had to learn was marketing. I didn’t have to research my target audience. So basically I learned what I needed to do in sales, and then I was able to turn and take those same techniques and apply those to marketing.

RALPH: You know it’s funny that a lot of people think that sales is a dirty word and people that are salespeople, they’re despicable; they’re almost below politicians! What do you feel about the value of salespeople?

CARL: Well, salespeople allow us to enjoy the standard of life that we have. If we didn’t have salespeople, we’d all be probably out on a farm and basically eating what we produce ourselves. And our quality of life would be very minimal. So thanks to the fact that we have effective salespeople and marketing people, we are able to enjoy the standard of life that we enjoy today.

RALPH: Do you feel that marketing is one of the crucial aspects to the success of any business?

CARL: Oh yes, if you don’t have successful marketing, nothing else you do matters. The example I use all the time is the difference between Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft realized that how easy it was to use a computer was based on the operating system. And so that’s what they provided and they were able to achieve 90% of the market because of it.

Now Apple, who had a better product (especially the software), thought they were selling hardware and not solutions to people’s problems and as a result, they are struggling to keep 4% of the computer market. So it’s really about marketing. You can have an inferior product, as Microsoft had, and eventually gain 90% of the market or you can have a superior product and have only 4% of the market. So it’s not about having a superior product; it’s about having superior marketing (as long as your product or service works!).

RALPH: And that’s an integral part of the In Search of Heroes program – to help kids market businesses in their local community – the individuals who are really helping in the community and giving back to the community. What’s one word of advice that you would be able to give those kids that are going to help in the marketing of those businesses?

CARL: “Don’t be afraid to dream”, and then “allow yourself to think big” – have big goals. There’s no such thing as a goal that is too big, but there are goals that are too small. So you want to dream, dream big and go for it.

RALPH: If you had three wishes for your life and for the world that would instantly become true, what would they be?

CARL: Well, the first thing I would say… you want to learn to love yourself. And that’s easier said than done. Most people really don’t love themselves. If you love yourself, then you can love other people, and without reservation.

The second thing is to understand that you make your world. It’s not about the world impacting you. No one can hurt you or make you happy, either one. What happens inside your world is between your ears, and once you understand that and are able to apply that, you can have a good time anytime you want to just by realizing that you control the way you feel.

And the last part then is to know that if you want to enjoy the zest in life, go for your goals. That way you have a good time and even if you fail, you still have a great time trying for it. But if you don’t go for your goals, then you’ll work for someone who is working for their goals, and you won’t really have the value in your life that you could have. That’s the reason entrepreneurs are so successful in life: they’re willing to go for their goals, and the average people aren’t.

RALPH: So you feel that failure is an important aspect of becoming a better person and in the process of attaining your goals.

CARL: Oh yes. If you experience mistakes and you learn from them, that’s really what life’s all about. If you look at little companies versus big companies, the little companies are solving the problems that the big companies have solved a long time before. So as you progress in the world, you have bigger and bigger problems.

Some of the small companies have problems making payroll, whereas when you get up to the Microsoft area, then you have problems with anti-trust. Well these are still real problems. What you want to do is to move up in the world and have bigger and better problems – by having problems, by failing, and then solving those problems, and then finally to bigger problems.

RALPH: Well, I really appreciate your time Carl in answering those questions and I was wondering if you had any parting words that you would like to share with the young people about how to become as successful as you have in marketing.

CARL: I would say: dream big and then go for your dream, not somebody else’s.

RALPH: So it’s important just to follow your own path and believe that it is possible to attain them.

CARL: Yes, because it is.

RALPH: And the only way you can do that is how?

CARL: By first, daring to dream. And then saying that, “I really want this” and going for it. Otherwise, you’re essentially living someone else’s dreams for them, or providing their dreams for them.

RALPH: Now I did an interview with David Garfinkel the other night and he was just talking about the ability to fail and not consider yourself a failure, but to just learn the ways that things don’t work, do you believe that’s true?

CARL: Yes, especially in marketing. If you meet a marketing consultant that tells you he’s never had a failure, either he has a bad memory or he’s not telling the truth.

All marketing people have failures, but as you fail and learn from those failures, then you become better and better. And the differences between the real successes in life are the people who have made mistakes and learned from them, and the people who haven’t made those mistakes yet.

RALPH: I’ve talked to a fair number of people so far and they just seem to believe that the faster you fail, the sooner you become a success. Do you believe in that?

CARL: Yes that’s true. Now you want to do everything you can to avoid failure: learn from other people, model other people… but once you do that, then you want to experience and go for what you want as fast as possible. But do it conservatively. An example of conservatively: you test. Especially in marketing, you test small and then go for the gusto once you know what it is. Life is the same way: you test small and see what you can do, and once you understand that, then you go for your dreams.

RALPH: So you think that testing your abilities is crucial to being successful?

CARL: Oh yes. You don’t go out and run a mile the first time you go out for the track team. You want to try maybe a hundred yards, then maybe a quarter mile, half a mile, three quarters of a mile and then a mile. So you want to develop the skills, test, and then go for the gusto.

RALPH: Everybody seems to have certain abilities that make them unique. How important is it, do you feel, to create relationships with others that have abilities that you don’t have? 

CARL: In life, it’s about strengths. You want to go with the strengths that you have and then find other people to handle the things that you’re not strong at. Because you never really become successful if you do all things well.

What you want to do is develop a few things really well, and then find other people to handle the other items. For instance, when I did the $11 million in sales in three years, I did it with one assistant (toward the end of the third year I had two). And what I did was I delegated all the things other than the selling, and then I kept track of it. And so I was able to do that with one assistant. Before that, the company that had done the same thing I was doing had 16 employees. So by going for the strength I had (which was selling), I was able to do the same thing the other company did, and essentially do it with one other person.

RALPH: So you feel it’s important to find people that can compliment the strengths that you have.

CARL: Definitely. Also, as John Assaraf says, “find people that love to do the things that you hate to, and hire them to take care of those things.”

RALPH: *laughing* That seems to be a peculiar perspective on life, I mean there’s so many things that everybody hates to do, and I guess it’s hard to figure out what you do that’s good.

CARL: You know what you hate to do – it’s the thing you put off until last. Like, I hated paperwork and so I had an assistant that loved paperwork. As I was doing the sales, if I were to ask her to do a sale over the telephone, she would have froze up! She’d have probably quit! But she loved the paperwork.

She loved what she was doing and I loved what I was doing and we would have both hated doing what the other person was doing! That’s the secret of life, I think. I guess the unspoken secret to “success” in life is to find the things that you don’t like to do, find the ones who love to do those things, and then work in a complimentary relationship.

RALPH: So you would say that throughout your life, the people who gave you the greatest vision of being successful were your grandpa and your grandma, who were really entrepreneurs.

CARL: Yes, my grandfather had all the stores with all of the cotton gins and saw mills and farms, yet he didn’t do most of the work to run them; He found other people to do it for him.
He had the vision. And he had the strength of being able to pull everything together.

My grandmother, she did a lot of the things herself as far as helping neighbors and things, but the fact that she gave to them allowed them to enjoy a better life and really appreciate it.

RALPH: So you think that really, it’s the grandmas and the grandpas and the moms and the dads who are the people that have the greatest impact on the kids?

CARL: Oh yes, the people who really believe in themselves. See, you can’t give something you don’t have. If you don’t have love for yourself, you can’t give it to someone else. If you don’t have the belief in yourself, you can’t give it to someone else.

RALPH: Well Carl, I really appreciate your time in answering these questions. I know a lot of people will find it very inspiring – what you’ve been through and your suggestions on how to be successful. So again, I just want to thank you for your time and I really appreciate you being involved in the Heroes program.

CARL: Well thank you Ralph. I think you are one of the unsung heroes too because by finding out what other people can do, you can then let the young people of this world know so they can avoid some of the learning curves that you and I have experienced.

RALPH: Isn’t that the truth?! Nobody needs to have to go through and re-experience the failures that we have had!

CARL: Yeah, you try to avoid that as much as possible!

RALPH: Well again, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time.

CARL: Thank you Ralph.

Posted by isoh at 08:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Terri Levine's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski and Terri Levine

RZ: Hi, this is Ralph Zuranski and I am on the phone with Terri Levine. She is one of the top professional coaches in the industry, founded a leading coach training school and has worked with clients from every walk of life.

Terri is the founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U and the Coaching Institute, an internationally recognized program that provides training to individuals and organizations that want to learn coaching skills. She has compiled an impressive track record of growing million dollar businesses.

Terri is also a popular keynote and motivational speaker and a successful author. Her best selling books include Stop Managing Stop Coaching, Work Yourself Happy, Coaching for an Extraordinary Life, and Create Your Ideal Body. Terri is a nationally recognized authority on creating greater business and personal success and she is featured regularly on the media and on channel 10 NBC Philadelphia News as a coaching expert.

She lives in Pennsylvania and when she isn’t coaching, training, speaking or writing, she loves to race formula dodge cars.
I really appreciate you taking your time to answer some of the heroes’ questions.

I know I was so impressed at Joe Vitale’s Spiritual Marketing Super Summit where I first had the opportunity to hear you speak. It was incredible, and I’m just astounded by all the great things you have done.

Why don’t we go ahead and start with the first question.
Did you ever create a secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with life’s difficulties?

TL: I have an odd answer for that, Ralph. I’ve actually created a secret hero, but the secret hero lives in my tummy. I’ve found that the core of where I ground myself is in my stomach area, and still to this day, anytime when there is a trial, tribulation, something that’s not quite right, could be an illness, death, or major change, whatever it might be, I go and just start breathing in my core. I believe there is a secret energy, a secret little hero that lives in there, and anytime that I do that, I feel more grounded and more focused. So this super hero, for me, is just within me and lives in my stomach.

RZ: You know that sort of reminds me of Qi Gong masters where they believe that the energy comes from the stomach also. I know when I was working with Steven Segal, he was talking about building up your Chi and doing it through breathing, so I guess you’re far ahead of the pack and actually doing something that helps you according to the ancient masters.

TL: I didn’t even know that, so how about that!

RZ: You’re just too smart! It’s intuition I guess. When was the lowest part in your life and how did you change your life path to win a victory over all obstacles?

TL: I went through a very low period about nine years ago. It was just one incident after the next. My mom, who was probably the person I was closest to on the planet, passed away. A week later, one of my very good friends, who was only 40 years old, passed away. My cat, who was 22 years old and had been with me forever, passed away, and then a few months later, my dog passed away.

And it was just a lot all at once, as I’m sure you can imagine. And many things started to happen, like physically I started to feel ill and I started to gain weight. I really noticed that I needed to do something so that I could overcome the firewall that I was in. The first thing I did was to reach out to other people who had been in some of these circumstances.

I began to talk to people who had lost their mom and were also female and about my age. I just reached out to connect. I went on the internet and found some grief groups and read every single book that I could find. And one of the things that I did learn was to let in the sadness, not to push it away, just to be with it. And through my exploration of what else I could do, I hired a life coach.

And by the way, Ralph, I had never heard of a coach at that time. So I hired my own life coach and through that experience I not only began to deal with and accept all of the things that had come into my life, but it let my career change. I lost the weight I needed to lose and got a total attitude adjustment.

I also began to study Abraham Hicks and began to understand that we are not necessarily physical beings, we are eternal beings. And so, I’ve been able to come to more peace and more understanding and more spirituality. My life went from an extremely low point and then went to some of the greatest experiences that I’ve ever had in my life within the last 7 or 8 years.

RZ: Do you think it’s important that people experience those points in their life so it can be used as a catalyst to obtain the high points?

TL: Good question. I think we need to experience that and I think that we also need to look for and ask for help if it’s feeling too heavy.

RZ: Yes, I think that’s good advice. Well, did you have a dream or vision that sets the course for your life?

TL: Vision, very much so. I actually call it a Technicolor vision because my visions, my dreams, are so clear to me. And I’ll just quickly share this with you. When I was in the fourth grade, my parents and I were driving back from my grandmother's and it was about an hour drive.

I chattered away nonstop telling them everything I was going to do in my life. I remember this very vividly and I remember them humoring me. I was like: "I’m going to be on TV, and I’m going to write books, and I’m going to be famous, and I’m going to help other people." And my mom was like: "That’s all great honey", and I could see they were sort of laughing.

I started the Technicolor vision when I was very little. I don’t know where I got it from, but when I was very young, I used to see myself and what I was going to look like and who I was going to be married to, and where I was going to live, what kind of house I was going to have, and just continued to do this dreaming and visioning. It used to be on a yearly basis, but now I do it every single day.

I wake up every morning and I think about what else I want to experience, and I also live my dream very much in the moment. In other words I’m not sure when I’m going to check out of the planet, so I want to make sure I enjoy and get in as much as I can and make the most of the minutes I have today.

RZ: Wow, that’s really powerful.

TL: That’s how I live and my clients hear this from me all the time. My favorite quote is “How do you intend to experience the rest of your life?” And I believe through our dreams we get to design that.

RZ: That’s amazing. Well you’ve definitely had some major setbacks and misfortunes and I’m sure you’ve made some mistakes like anybody else. How important is it to take a positive view on those things?

TL: I can say to you that I LEARNED to have positive views on those things. I want to be really honest about that. About 15 years ago, I would have a setback and I would have my own self talk, “Oh my gosh this is awful, what am I going to do?

This is just terrible!" You know, kind of like the victim role. What I’ve learned, and this really came from studying a lot of coaching techniques and being coached myself, was that anytime there’s contrast and anytime there’s chaos, which is really what life is, that just means something else is going to be born, and I get excited about what’s going to show up next.

The other thing that I do in taking a positive view is that I really do believe there is somebody out there that’s in control. The universe is in control and Terri Levine isn’t, so I guess the word that comes up for me is trust.

I trust that the world is lining up for me. I trust that things are the way they’re supposed to be, and I definitely look for the good in any situation, even when there are setbacks and things go wrong. I see what was good, what is good, and I also expect good.

So I wait for more good to show up, and I really focus on this one question, which I think you’ve heard me say before, which is “What is working?” Whenever things aren’t quite right, I shift my mental attitude and my self talk and it makes me feel very, very different.

RZ: So you really believe it’s important to be an optimist?

TL: Absolutely! I think everybody needs to say as much as possible in their heads about what is working and focusing on the positive aspects of every single situation. Even in the worst situations, something did happen that can make you feel good.

RZ: How important is it to have courage to pursue new ideas? I know a lot of times we get locked in situations with our peer groups and everybody is afraid when you come up with new ideas, and when you strike out in that direction, it kind of scares everybody. Does it really take courage to change your life?

TL: It takes courage and I think that we all have the courage within us. I think that many people are very fearful of risks, so I like to switch it around and say to people, "Life is an adventure, so pursue all the adventures that are out there, give it a try".

And if you think about my philosophy, where you don’t know what day you are checking out, why not go try something new each day, every day? Wake up and go, "I’m still breathing, I’m still kicking", and go out there and try something.

And here’s the question that I love, “Really, what is the worst thing that could happen?” Because typically, in our heads we think there is such a big risk, but when you look at it, very often, it’s not the worst thing in the world.

RZ: A lot of the heroes I’ve talked to have talked about the importance of being willing to fail, and by learning through your failures how to make something work. What do you think about that?

TL: I think that’s absolutely true. I think that anytime you have a failure, or you have a setback, it’s a learning experience. It’s almost like a blessing, and you ask, “What did I learn from that? What did that show me? What can I do differently next time?” Everyone that I know that has been super successful in their own business was not successful the first time around, and they didn’t give up. They went “Ok” when they looked at it.

And some people lost tons of money. They said let me look at that, and let me see what was not quite right there, and now what can I do with it? That’s the most important thing versus saying “Woe is me! Poor me, well I’m never doing that again.” Instead, they look at every experience saying what way did I benefit and how can I grow and what do I know for next time?

RZ: Well, you know you experienced a lot of discomfort in pursuit of your dream, how important is it to be willing to accept uncomfortable experiences to achieve your goals?

TL: I think it is important to recognize it, realize it, but be prepared for it and be willing to go through the pain. I will say to people there are going to be bumps in the road, life is really a whirlwind. There is a lot of chaos.

When I quit my corporate job, you know I was making a very high 6 figure income and there were certainly great security and perks. But I was so serious and so ready to experience a huge change in my life that I said to my family; “Listen, if my coaching business doesn’t take off and I don’t make money, don’t worry. I can get really good at 'Do you want fries with that?' " .

I was willing to sell my car. I was willing to downsize my home and move into an apartment. I was even willing, if need be, to sleep on the street, and I’m really being serious about that. I had a mission, I had a quest, and I just said to myself, “This is within me and no matter what, I’m going to make it happen.”

I think that any time we set out on a strong vision, we have to understand there may be some bumps in the road. It’s not going to always be easy and effortless and comfortable. But if it’s really your dream, if it’s your burning passion, if it’s your desire, don’t let that hold you back. When it's not going easy, it's just a bump in the road.

RZ: I’ve been working on this program for close to 13 years, and you know, some things you have to invest everything you have to make your dreams come true. When you were a young girl and what you told your family your dreams were, how important was it that you believed in your dreams and that they become reality?

TL: Belief is everything to me. Whatever you believe, whatever you see, whatever you feel, whatever is your dominant vision, your dominant intention, that’s what makes it come to be. I know I talked a little bit before about a Technicolor vision. I always saw my vision; I even sort of scripted it.

I would write out, I’m going to be on television. I’m on TV and they’re interviewing me and I’m selling books. And I also tell people to live as if it were true. For example, I used to play this game when I was a kid. I don’t think I was even 13. We’d go to a restaurant or something and I would pretend that I was this famous author. I would sit at the table, very cocky, sort of like everyone knows who I am.

It was my own little head game but I was living in my head as if it were true. I believed it, I focused on it, and I intended it to be. If you think about the Laws of Attraction, whatever you focus on, like attracts like.

There is nothing more critical to me than absolutely believing in your dreams, no matter what, even if there is no sign of them becoming reality. Just keep on believing, keep on visualizing. Thoughts create your reality.

RZ: Well everybody has doubts and fears. I know you can’t wake up on any day and not fear failure, fear problems with health, fear of family, I mean there are so many doubts and fears that assail us on a daily basis. How are you able to overcome the doubts and the fears?

TL: Another good question. I do a couple things. The first thing I do is I keep an evidence journal, and I’ve been doing this for so many years, probably since I was about 17 years old. I look for evidence every day, just the smallest hint that gets me to see what’s positive, and what I call the driftwood, you know the sort of evidence that is there but you miss.

So even the smallest thing, it helps me trust more, like maybe it is coming. Maybe I can do this. I can give you an example. When I first started out owning an art business and I did my very first art show, everybody had told me I'd make about $300 that night. I made $50. And driving home there were the fears, you know, I’m just not good at this and probably in the wrong business. I worked really hard for this, this wasn’t worth it. And then I shifted it and said well what was positive?

Well my evidence was, 'hey, it was my first one and I made $50.' People told me they loved it. Some people wanted me to come to their homes and do it, and I had fun. So that began to give me some more self confidence.

I will share another tool that I use. I call it bridge belief. It’s actually a technique I use in coaching my clients, too. I list what I currently believe, all the doubts, all the stories, that sort of thing, and then I list what I would like to believe someday. I don’t believe it now but might in the future.

And then I find the smallest little bridge between the two. So if I was going to say, what do I believe today? I believe that it’s really hard to make money. What do I want to believe in the future? Money is just flowing to me. So my bridge might be, well at least, I have some money in my wallet or in my checking account. It just starts to change the belief a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, until the thing that you really want becomes reality.

RZ: You know I think everybody has these questions. Where do the doubts and fears come from? Do you think there is spiritual warfare, or do you think they just come from your non-dominant hemisphere? Or are they just programmed in there from childhood? Where do you think they come from?

TL: Certainly, I believe a lot of them are programmed in there from childhood and they’re programmed from people who genuinely care and love us. Whether it be parents, teachers, mentors, clergy, friends, family, it’s our society. It’s our way of thinking, it’s doubting and fearing.

Human beings are afraid of change. Our human brain is where it really comes from. Most of our self talk is between 80% and as much as 97% negative based. If we could hear what we’re saying, we’re constantly doubting and challenging and questioning. The good news is you can change your brain so that it’s more positively focused and so that it creates more positive thoughts, and therefore, more positive feelings and actions.

RZ: You know, it’s funny that you talk about good news. That’s one of the major purposes of our Heroes Program, and that’s to develop good news and what’s going on around us that is good and uplifting. Why do you think the media focuses so much on fear type events that we have nothing to do with and that we can’t do anything about?

TL: We'd need a whole hour or two on that one! The media’s role in our society is to create some news, it really is. And what they have found out is that people don’t really think it’s that newsworthy to talk about all the good stuff that’s happening.

For example, you’ll notice in Philadelphia we have this beautiful sunny day. So there is no interruption on television with people saying, “Hey everyone, it’s a beautiful sunny day. Get out there and enjoy it and do something!” But if we had a drop of snow there would be emergency broadcasts. “It’s snowing!” The focus is on what’s not working, what’s broken, what could happen.

It’s sensationalism, and in my words, that’s a tragedy because if our society spends a lot of time reading newspapers, watching television and being involved in the media hype, they’re programming their brain for negativity. It’s going to be a long time until the media changes, but we can change what we listen to and what we watch.

RZ: Do you think it’s pretty much a chicken little, the sky is falling mentality?

TL: Absolutely!
RZ: That’s kind of scary, isn’t it?

TL: It’s very scary and that’s why I say turn it off. We can all do that, we have remotes, turn it off!

RZ: That’s good advice. Where do you get the willpower in your life to change things for the better?

TL: I think it just comes from inside of me and comes from my core. I don’t think it came from anything or anybody along my journey. I’m just so filled with desire about my vision and about what I see for the world we currently live in. It’s just inside of me. And I want it so much. That’s where it comes from.

RZ: Forgiveness is a big thing in people’s lives. You can’t go through a day without usually having someone upsetting you or just opposing you. How important is forgiveness, do you feel? 

TL: This is a really personal, deeply touching question for me, because as a younger child and even into my really early teenage years, I would get so upset with anyone that offended me that I would hold a grudge and get a lot of pent up anger. I could just feel it. I remember the feelings.

I remember it was just a burning in my stomach, and as I grew into an older teenager, and as I grew into an adult, I realized that all of that energy was very draining.

I believe it’s so important to give over and give up those feelings. We don’t need to drain that much energy, and I prefer that people learn to live life in the present, in this moment. Let’s not rehash what happened a minute ago, or what somebody said yesterday.

The present is really the gift. So every time I have an experience where someone may upset me or offend me or whatever, I think about how can I learn from this person. I also think, well who’s to say that they aren’t right in their opinion? In other words, I can’t judge them as right or wrong.

And so I take off my judgment robe and just sort of say let me acknowledge the differences. Let me hear who they are, what their views are, what their truths are, what their beliefs are. And understand that’s their stuff, I don’t have to wear it around. I can let it go and I can just move on.

RZ: One of the heroes that the high school students interviewed was Gregory Allen Williams. He was the "black cop" on Baywatch. And you know, he was a real hero. He risked his life to defend an Asian man that was being beat to death in the intersection, and a Mexican guy stepped in to take the beating that he would have taken when these others were trying to kill the Asian guy.

So by the help of those three people of totally different races, he was able to help the man and get him to a neighbor who got him to the hospital and he survived. Gregory said there is a little bit of bad in the best of us and a little bit of good in the worst of us, and in David Garfinkel’s interview, he said that virtually everybody, no matter how bad they are, look at themselves as good. What do you think about that?

TL: I think there’s a lot of truth in that. I think in our own brains we program in and justify what we do, and we tend to judge others and we tend to come from our own place of beliefs. We believe that what we think is right.

It is THE truth. So I do believe that each human individual believes that there is good within. My view is that we’re all created from the same DNA and from the same creator. So there is good stuff in every single human being. For whatever reason, people sometimes take actions that don’t necessarily show the good in them, and that probably has to do with something not quite right within them. But it doesn’t mean we can label people as good or bad, from my view.

RZ: Well you seem to experience a lot of joy in service to others. How important is serving others as a source of joy for you?

TL: It’s pure joy. It’s ecstasy anytime that I can help someone, assist someone, love someone, or care for someone, because to me, it’s really the essence of being human. When that stops, to me, life stops.

RZ: In your presentation, one of the things that caused me to recognize you as a hero is that your belief in business and the people who own the business should be trying to help the people that are employees become the best that they can possibly be. Could you share that a little bit with us?

TL: I really do believe that our goal in life, part of our mission as human beings, is to help other people find their greatness, as we find our own, and help other people see it.

Coming out of corporate America, one of the things I noticed, which so inspired me to change corporate America, is the philosophy that people should be beaten up and beaten down and told what they did wrong. An employee review is usually, “Let me tell you what you’re doing wrong.”

So my philosophy, and it is working magically and it’s what we do with my "Stop Managing, Start Coaching" book, is getting out there and saying the people who work for you are good people, there’s greatness in all of them.

If they’re not performing and they’re not productive and morale is down and they’re taking a lot of sick days, or whatever, it’s you as their manager who isn't bringing out their greatness. And then we teach the managers tools to use to "coach" instead of managing people.

We look for those with the ability to find the good in people and who can support and encourage that. And as the manager becomes more coach oriented and helps people see their greatness, amazing things happen. We build up the self esteem in the employees.

You don’t have to talk about productivity after that because they want to be productive and do it on their own. It really should be the way all corporations run, no matter how big or how small.

RZ: Boy, that’s true, and was really revolutionary when I heard that. What really struck a chord in me is that this is what every young person should discover, a company that helps them be the greatest they can be.

TL: I agree.

RZ: People pray and everybody has different faiths and that can sometimes be a problem when faiths compete against each other. But what is the power of prayer in your life? How has prayer helped you?

TL: I use prayer in what I’d call a more informal way. I certainly do ask the universe for things, that’s sort of when I script and envision I want this, or I’d like to have this, but I’m not coming from a give me, give me, give me perspective. I’m coming from what else can I do to serve the world, and here’s some tools and things that I might be able to use to help serve the world better.

And then I’m noticing when things come in, no matter how small they are, and I’m showing gratitude. And I’m also trusting that if what I ask for doesn’t come or hasn’t come yet, it’s as it’s meant to be. I talk to this universal creator, this universal being that’s out there.

Even when I wrote my first book, yes, I wanted it to be a best seller, and I’m glad it was, but I didn’t want it to be a best seller because I thought that was going to make me famous or make me a lot of money.

I thought how can I get my book into more people’s hands, because I can’t go around the world and speak to everyone. I can’t coach everyone on the planet, yet I want everyone to be touched by this, because I think they will be. So I asked the universe, “How can I get this out there in a bigger way? And I got this answer back that was like, "You’ve really got to market it a lot so it can be a best seller, so the rights can be picked up by other countries and be translated."

So if you are constantly looking and coming from serving and being prepared to give as much as you ask for, I believe that’s important, and that's how prayer weighs into my own life.

RZ: How important is it to maintain a sense of humor in the face of serious problems because everyone has problems in their lives and a lot of them are serious?

TL: That’s true. Humor to me is a key; it’s probably a big essence of my life. I learned a skill years ago and that is to think, in any situation, of somebody or something that makes you feel a little humor. And my own personal "tool" is Lucille Ball, who is my very favorite comedian of all time.

I think she is a hoot, I think she is the funniest. Anytime there is adversity and I want to find the humor in it, I sort of put the head of Lucille Ball on my head and I start to think like her. My favorite scene is the chocolate factory and I try to think, how can I see the humor in this situation?

The other thing I do is step away from it and get myself out of it. I kind of say, what if this was a movie, a comedy, how would the writer/director find the comedy within the movie, and that really works. Though a lot of times, and my husband always laughs about this, we’ll be in the middle… like today.

I’ll give you a true life example. We are selling a home that we’ve owned and now we have “sold the home three times in three weeks” and every single transaction has fallen apart within the 3 day attorney review.

So my husband calls up this morning and says, “You won’t believe it, this one person…” and I could just hear how pent up he was. I was making my silly jokes and I put Lucille’s head right on, and he’s like, “I can’t believe you’re finding humor in this.” And within about 3 minutes into our conversation he was beginning to laugh and we started to brainstorm so that the next transaction holds. That’s how I use it. Don’t tell my husband, Mark, though!

RZ: Who do you feel are the real heroes in our society today that aren’t getting the recognition they deserve?

TL: Well I’m going to start with the folks that are still the real heroes to me, because as time passes since 9/11, we’re sort of forgetting. But certainly the 9/11 heroes, and I’m not just talking about the firefighters that took action, but I’m talking about every single person who gave, who went, who expressed, who loved.

There were coaches offering free coaching around the world, just for example. There were people setting up different gift banks, different food banks to help the families that mourned loss.
I also think that some of our heroes today are where ever we have troops, which is in so many areas.

And just look at our own country with our own protection here in the US. And then I want to look at the people that don’t get recognized, because I think there are so many people making society a better place. I mean there’s everybody from poets, to artists, to lifesavers, on a smaller scale.

Think about when you go to a pool, you’ve got a lifeguard. People who are creating peace, and scientists. I read an article yesterday about stem cell research and they really think it is going to be the answer for Alzheimer’s. Teachers are underpaid, in my view, for the awesome, incredible work they do.

We’ve got people in sports, we’ve got writers, movie characters, and characters in books that inspire us and create a desire within us. Our own families. Business changers, people who are really changing the way corporations think.

People who take care of the earth and make the earth greener or better. I have tons of respect and admiration for what astronauts have done and what they do and then what I call angels. We’ve all had them in our experience; just the person who shows up and they help you for no reason whatsoever.

It’s like you can’t quite figure it out, but out of nowhere they just offer you help and assistance… they’re heroes.

RZ: And do you think that some of those angels that do show up are supernatural beings?

TL: I always wonder that. I’ll share this experience with you. Many years ago, I was traveling by train and I got off the train and I was in Boston. I was totally confused as to where I was supposed to go and I was going on a very important job interview.

I had 30 minutes to get there and I was getting quite panicked. I was unfamiliar with the city and there was no one around to ask .You know everyone gets off the train and they sort of just run to where they’re going. And I’m thinking I have half an hour, I don’t know what to do; I don’t know where the busses are or how to get a cab.

Then out of the blue, and I have no idea where he came from, a young man probably 20 or 21 years old said, “You look lost, can I help you?” And I told him. And he said, let me just walk you one block, that’s exactly where you’re going, you’re only a block away and I’ll show you. And he walked with me and as I got to the door of this place and I turned around to thank him the young man was gone. That has stayed with me for so long, and it happened about 15 years ago.

RZ: Why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

TL: They’re important because everyone needs a role model. We need someone to aspire to, we need to see the good, because as we talked about earlier, the press is so wonderful, showing us the bad and the evil, we need to see the good.

We need to have the young people grow up and get excited and learn to be caring, passionate and giving people, who have high morals and who are inspirational. The best way, and the only way I know of for people to get that is to start when they’re young.

Let them have these heroes to learn from, aspire to be, study the traits of, get excited about. They will turn into such incredible, extraordinary human beings as they follow heroes.

RZ: One of the heroes interviewed, Tony Marino, thought that parents had such an impact on the lives of their kids and it would be one of the greatest things in the world that would create peace and happiness if parents would spend more time with their kids.

TL: Not only time, in my view, but it really is quality of time. I think we’ve gotten away from that. If you go back to the 1950’s it was real family stuff. There weren’t a hundred cable channels; people didn’t watch a lot of TV.

Life was different, the pace was slower. We weren’t working so many jobs. And back then, there was a stay at home person. We had time to have a meal together, time to just talk.

I think if parents not only find time to spend with their children but truly communicate with them and make that time learning, getting to know you, helping them vision, helping them find heroes, having great conversations, we would be creating more and more not only extraordinary children, but more extraordinary experiences for our planet.

RZ: Well Terri, I really appreciate your time and I was wondering if you had any final comment you’d like to make.

TL: Well first of all, I’m delighted to be here, so I want to thank you because I really believe that if people could understand and really get away from focusing on what’s not right in the world, and focus on the great things, focus on the potential people have and the greatness, we'll all enjoy a better life experience.

And if our young people can get out there in our community and do some service, it can be something really small, maybe planting a community garden or walking the dog of an elderly person, I just think we can change the planet one thing, one day at a time. And as our young folks begin to do this they’ll enhance their self esteem, they’ll see what an impact they make on the planet and it will just be a different experience as we go forward as a human race.

So I want to thank you for doing the work that you do. It’s important, it’s extraordinary, and you are a hero as well.

RZ: Thank you, Terri, I really appreciate that compliment. It’s something that I’ve been working on for a long time and I felt that if we didn’t start doing something now, the world would not be a better place in the future, especially for the young people. And I just thank you for the work that you’re doing and helping to bring out the greatness in every person no matter what age they are.

TL: Same to you and it really was my pleasure. Thanks again Ralph.

Terri Levine is a successful business coach and was a speaker at Joe Vitale's Spiritual Marketing Super Summit.

Terri Levine, MCC, PCC, MS, CCC-SLP, made the transition from senior executive to become one of the top professional coaches in the industry, founded a leading coach training school, and has worked with clients from every walk of life.

Terri is the founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., and The Coaching Institute - The Professional’s Coach Training Program. The Coaching Institute is an internationally recognized program that provides training to individuals and organizations that want to learn coaching skills and/or become Certified Comprehensive Coaches.

Terri’s coaching clients call her the “wisdom wizard”. Her background as a corporate executive paired with her marketing expertise is extraordinary. She has compiled an impressive track record of growing million dollar businesses.

She specializes in using Comprehensive Coaching principles to create extraordinary growth for her clients’ lives and businesses, and has been coaching professionals and companies, and training others to use coaching skills every day to experience much greater business, financial and personal success, discovering better ways to grow profitable businesses, restore balance in life, and bring greater joy to each day. She synthesizes the knowledge and wisdom of every leading organizational development guru, philosophy and process to create a results-oriented approach.

Terri, a popular keynote and motivational speaker, is also a successful author. Her much acclaimed book, “Work Yourself Happy,” (which hit #3 on the Amazon best-seller list early in 2002) is an example of her own coaching work and her clients’ success stories.

Her second book, “Coaching for an Extraordinary Life,” published in 2001, brings the tools of the coaching industry to ordinary people, so that all may enjoy a better quality life.

In her third book, “Create Your Ideal Body”, Terri shares her strategies and techniques which enabled 250 people to lose weight without dieting, struggle, deprivation or the use of gizmos, gadgets, pills, potions or rigid exercise routines.

Her last book, “Stop Managing, Start Coaching!” reached #6 on Amazon and deals with morale in the workplace. She also puts out weekly e-mail newsletters to thousands of subscribers worldwide. Terri is a nationally recognized authority on creating greater business and personal success and she is featured regularly in the media and on Channel 10 NBC Philadelphia News as a coaching expert.

Terri lives in Pennsylvania, and when she isn’t coaching, training, speaking, or writing, she loves to race Formula Dodge cars!

Terri is a member of the International Coach Federation, the Philadelphia Area Coaches Alliance, The American Society of Training and Development, and the National Women Business Owners.

If you are interested in becoming a coach, hiring a coach, or having Terri address your organization, call toll-free 1-877-401-6165 or email info@ComprehensiveCoachingU.com.
Visit her on the website: http://www.TerriLevine.com

 

 

Read the latest heroes interviews and benefit from tips on how to write better, improve your attitude and market your products successfully in the In Search Of Heroes Blog.

 

Home|Affiliate Partners|Brain Balancing|Faculty Marketing Resources

Heroes Hall Of Fame|Heroes Interviews|Photo Albums|Sitemap|Testimonials

©Copyright 2003 * InSearchOfHeroes.com All Rights Reserved

Ralph Zuranski * 619-990-9492 * E-Mail: ralph@InSearchOfHeroes.com

3639 Midway Dr. Ste. B299 * San Diego * CA * 92110

 

The In Search Of Heroes Program Spreads Good News World-wide Using Writing, Blogs, RSS Feeds, Photos and Audio and Video Interviews That Tell the Unique Stories of Local and International Heroes Who Help Others In Many Different Ways and Deserve Recognition For Their Good Works.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

 

Today's Date

Posted by isoh at 07:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack