Victor Lustig was one of the great con artists of the 20th century. He managed to sell the Eiffel Tower not once, but twice, to two different sets of investors. He identified 10 steps to being a great con artist. And one of the most important was the ability to listen. He claimed, rightly, that… Continue reading What this great con artist can teach you about negotiations
Category: Small Business
Learning to say “no”
After years of hustling and grinding in a wide range of businesses I am now in the enviable position of being able to turn away work. In fact, it is in my own interest, I believe, to say “no” and turn away work. Not out of arrogance or laziness or indolence or any other reason,… Continue reading Learning to say “no”
Commodity trading-how has it gone so far?
I started commodity trading earlier this week with a demo account, just to see what would happen. I have traded for 4 days as I write this and I am showing a profit of €15,439.69. I have only executed 1 or 2 trades per day and have not spent any time on technical or fundamental… Continue reading Commodity trading-how has it gone so far?
2 rules for investing or starting your own business
The 2 most important rules when starting your own business or investing your money are Shrewd investors and entrepreneurs are not concerned with dreams of how much money they might make with the business or investment. Not at first. First, they look around and ask themselves the question, “how can I lose my money here?”… Continue reading 2 rules for investing or starting your own business
Contacting me by mobile
I provide a great number of ways by which to make contact with me: phone, email, the various social media sites. My contact details are on my many websites, too. So, when somebody who should not have my mobile phone number contacts me by mobile I will usually ignore them and block their number. There… Continue reading Contacting me by mobile
The most valuable lesson I have learned about management over 37 years
I have been self-employed since 1986. And I have been running businesses in a wide range of industries such as retailing, building/construction, investment and development, and the law business. One thing I have noticed looking at others operating in the same industry is the importance and value of good, basic, management. I am not talking… Continue reading The most valuable lesson I have learned about management over 37 years
Declining the gatekeepers’ call
I would imagine that the chap who contacted me last week to go a national radio station was surprised when I declined his invitation. But it did not suit me, notice was too short, and I do not place the same importance on once powerful media outlets as most people do. I have my own… Continue reading Declining the gatekeepers’ call
How to excel as a service provider
I have discovered, after being self-employed for some 37 years, that if you are a service provider you can make a good living by doing what you say you will do when you are supposed to. This may seem like a simple, trite, self-evident observation. But I have noticed that most service providers struggle to… Continue reading How to excel as a service provider
The key to successful content marketing-this bird photographer gets it
I started following a guy-Simon d’Entremont- on YouTube recently, whose channel deals with photography and bird photography. The quality of his videos is of such high quality that it did not surprise me to find that he has built a community of 155,000 YouTube subscribers in a relatively short period of time. If you check… Continue reading The key to successful content marketing-this bird photographer gets it
Managing people-one of the most valuable lessons I have learned after 37 years
I have been managing people since 1986 or thereabouts. I admit that managing employees has not been something at which I excelled. In fact, I may not even have achieved competence. But as the years have elapsed and I have managed different individuals in widely different roles I have become a little better. After 37… Continue reading Managing people-one of the most valuable lessons I have learned after 37 years