WHO IS TONY PUCKERIN?

Why Should I Listen To Him?
Welcome my international Facebook friends, fellow Americans and my fellow Trinidadians.

I use this forum today not to brag about my marketing skills but to share the knowledge that I have acquired and the mistakes I have made over many years of being involved in marketing. I m no Ceasar but its only now that I can appreciate the Shakespearian line “friends, Romans Country men,lend me your ears”. It’s a perfect salutation, except here I want you to lend me your eyes and mind for a few minutes so you can an understand the motivation that drives this effort.

I was born in Trinidad and spent most of my formative years here. I immigrated to the US in the early 70s and immediately joined the US Army in the era of the Vietnam conflict. Honorably discharged, I matriculated into a computer programming school in Raleigh NC and soon discovered that I was no programmer. I enrolled into the University of Massachusetts, Boston with financial assistance from Uncle Sam and graduated with a B Sc. Business Management & Marketing.

Upon, graduation I immediately returned to Trinidad and took up an assignment with the Alexander Proudfoot Co. a Miami based consulting company. That assignment turned into permanent employment with their client, the now defunct National Commercial Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. Three years later I was back in Boston.

I think that I was fortunate to have had the cultural experience and citizenship of two very progressive countries. Well, one imitates the other and I have been told that Trinidad is considered “little America” the jury is still out on that one.

I’m telling you all this so that you understand that although I now live in Trinidad and like we say “Trini to D bone”, I also have an American perspective and I must add that it’s not a conservative Bostonian perspective. I returned to Trinidad in 2007. Since I have been back I have…

• Co-authored, self published and marketed an educational aid entitled “Caribbean Student Daily Organizer”.
• Developed a marketing plan for a construction company
• Directed the marketing of a school for slow learners
• Developed marketing strategies for one of the largest suppliers of building supplies in Trinidad.
• Developed and directed marketing strategies for an automotive training school
• Developed, created and sold a merchant coupon program in two business centers
• Developed and delivered “Basic Sales Training” course for retailers
• Presently marketing a GPS tracking device to businesses and individuals

I'm also,

* President of my community's Village Council
* Vice-President of the current government's PNM Party Group A supporter not a fanatic.
* Member Aster Foundation Of Trinidad & Tobago

I share what I've done with you so that you know that I’m a doer. I do not just write about good ideas that I read about. You being here means that you are also a doer. I'm assuming that your the only reason you joined is to learn about marketing. But I digress.

That’s the condense version of who I am. Stick around, participate share a little about yourself. This could be an interesting experience.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING THE GROUP. I HOPE THAT YOU CAN EITHER FIND A USEFUL TIP OR CONTRIBUTE AN IDEA THAT RESPONDS TO THE NEED OF OTHER MEMBERS.

This blog/group is not about me but I think that it’s important you know who I am. I feel like a broken record but I must play it again “I’m not a marketing guru” and will never make that claim. I prefer to be known as a dedicated marketing student learning by sharing, articulating ideas and taking action in the market.

To be clear, the purpose of this group is to share basic marketing strategies from a Caribbean perspective; particularly a Trinidad/American perspective. Ideas that can help you understand marketing so that if and when you are called upon to do it, you understand what it means and where you should begin.

If that’s not what you expected, it’s understandable and I will not take offense if you decide to leave. If you do, I hope we can still remain FB friends. I have quite a few other Facebook friends who have absolutely no interest in marketing.

This Guerilla Marketing Group was started last December ’08 with the specific intent of providing the Trinidad and Tobago network with guerilla marketing information. The decision to take this group international was prompted by a short survey conducted last month. See the post on the survey if you are interested.

Reviewing the members list of people who have joined recently I must admit it’s truly an inspiration. I see friends who I have known for years; on line as well as off. I see people who I have made a special effort to align myself with because I admired not only their success using marketing skills but their willingness to share. I also see new Facebook friends who I know absolutely nothing about and who prior to this knew nothing about me except for what’s on the Facebook profile. More importantly I see a group of people interested in marketing enough to join this group.

To link to this group on Facebook profile. Go to the Guerilla Marketing Group.


Want to learn about free leads Click Here

Thank you for reading all this, have a productive week.

As always be well.

Tony

How Does The Largest Organization In The Western Hemisphere Develop Positive Quality Of Life Ideas?

“The Summit Of The Americas”

Every few years policy makers around the hemisphere look towards the Summit of the Americas for new directions in standards of governance.

The Summit brings together 34 democratically elected leaders to analyze and discuss the problems and challenges that face our people in order to =jointly seek solutions and improve the quality of life of citizens.

The Summit of the Americas is committed to hemisphere integration and historical and collective responsibility for improving the economic well-being and secularity of our people.

Since 1884, four Summits and two special summits of the Americas have been held. They are as follows:

First Summit: Miami Florida, USA December 9-11, 1994

Special Summit on Sustainable Development: Santa Cruz de La Sierra, Bolivia December 7-8, 1996

Second Summit: Santiago Chile, Apr 18-19, 1998

Third Summit: Quebec City, Canada April 20-22, 2001

Special Summit: Monterrey, Mexico January 12-13, 2004

Forth Summit: Mar del Plata, Argentina, November 4-5, 2005

Which countries are included in the Americas?

Antigua & Bermuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El. Salvador, United States, Guatemala, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela.

What is the theme of the Fifth Summit?

“Securing Our Citizens’ future by promoting human prosperity energy security and environmental sustainability”

How are decisions made at the summit?

By consensus of the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG)

Who makes up the SIRG?

National coordinators assigned by the government of the 34 members of the Organization of the American States OAS. Its job is to follow up and implement the mandates decided on the Summits.

For more summit information go here: 5th Summit of The Americas

Access one of the most powerful marketing online portals on the internet Check out the free marketing tools here Marketing Portal

As always thank you and be well.

Tony

30-SECOND SURVEY WAS A MARKETING TEST

Imagine asking me that?

The survey is over and here are the results. In a group of 48 members, at the time, 20%, responded to the 30-second survey. That 20% spoke for everyone because they represented a significant enough sample size to draw some conclusions. If you are here to learn, this was a marketing lesson.

Think about it, the first thing you should try to do is understand your market. Find out what they want and what they are doing. In fact, find out as much about them as possible. So, was the survey a success? Here is what I found out from the short 30-second survey.

I was impressed with the results and the yield. But, what must be going through your mind right now is well if only 20% of the population responded, that could not have been very successful.

Well there is a proposition advanced by neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) that questions cannot be “not answered” . Sometime we may not want to face it but the answer is always there. Think on it for a moment. When a question is not answered, is that not an answer in itself? That’s the reason why the subject of the email announcing the survey was very specific on the time it would take. This was a marketing test. I learned…

That 80% of the group members, at that point in time, thought that 30 seconds would slow them down. Too busy, don’t think it mattered or had too many emails on FB that they are all deleted. Point is that the reason does not matter; it’s the results that counts. I don’t think that there was a possibility that the 80% of the members did not get that email or did not check their FB account for 5 days.

Remember that these members voluntarily opted in to receive tips and marketing strategies delivered into their in box at free. And that it right there,” free”. The internet is about free and joining many programs are free so we stack them up and forget about them. If you don’t like the free stuff you can freely leave. Apparently, our instinctive, almost insatiable desire to learn more exceeds our available time.

I happen to think it’s perfect, because one thing we do know in marketing is that free works. But it must be understood.

Free gets you a crowd of hand raisers and in that population you will find your conversions. Let me share another interesting thought; the member who don’t read these emails are not reading this either. Takes too long and must be digested with the speed of broadband. I think now you can see why a 20% response is considered successful. But that was not the only surprise.

On the first question about the single most important thing you wanted to learn from this group> Most respondents picked strategic planning (54%), how to advertise (45%), writing marketing plans (27%) and selling your own product or service (27%) direct response advertising (2%) and copy writing(2%). Those were very interesting revelations on that question.

On the question of how much you read the majority ended up in the 60-80 percent. So, does that mean I cut down what I write about 20%? There were a few on the lower range in term of how much was read but that only represent 3% of the respondents.

Here is another interesting fact, 90% of the respondents are engaged in some type of marketing. Maybe they look at reading about marketing as work?

I hope that your questions about why we went international was answered in the results of this survey. The lesson to be learned here is that you must know your market, audience, customers or clients. The only way to know is to ask. Ask in a way that it’s easy for them to respond. Don't expect a response from everyone and make decisions based on what they tell you.

As always be well.

LET’S CREATE A MASTERMIND MARKETING GROUP TODAY:

An open invitation for you to join a Master Mind Marketing Group Online
WHAT IS MASTER MINDING?


"The process of mind-blending here described as a Master Mind, may be likened to the act of one who connects may electric batteries to a single transmission wire, thereby 'stepping up' the power flowing over that line. Each mind, through the principle of mind chemistry, stimulates all the other minds in the group, until the mind energy thus becomes so great that it penetrates to and connects with the universal energy known as ether, which, in turn, touches every atom of the entire universe.

A Master Mind may be created through the bringing together or blending, in a spirit of perfect harmony, of two or more minds. Out of this harmonious blending of the chemistry of the mind creates a third mind which be appropriated and used by one or all of the individual minds. This Master Mind will remain available as long as the friendly, harmonious alliance between the individual minds exists. It will disintegrate and all evidence of its former existence will disappear the moment the friendly alliance is broken."

Excerpted from Napoleon Hill, The Law of Success

Contact me by email if you are interested in joining this group. I have already prepared a site that allows for interactive platform to share and help develop ideas.

Our first project would be maximizing the potential created by the upcoming Summit of the Americas.

Thanks

Contact me today or here to join my Facebook Group
As always, be well

IMPATT NETWORKING EVENT

The Independent Media Producers Association of Trinidad and Tobago (IMPATT) held its first networking meeting last Saturday 21st March 21, 2009. The event was advertised on Facebook and I felt it was the perfect opportunity to do some networking. Here's what happened.

I was so impressed that as soon as I got to my computer I had to tweet “big up” with on Facebook. I thought that the coordinators did a superb job in planning the “speed networking” . At a guesstimate I would think that maybe 35-40-people attended.

In my opinion, the event was a completely innovative approach (for Trinidad) to build their database of practitioners. Simultaneously, it provided the participants with a unique opportunity to connect with others in their industry, people who could possibly assist with ongoing projects. Definitely a sweet guerilla tactic if there ever was one.

Everyone was provided with name tags with their name and area of specialty written for everyone to see. The actual networking with each other took place like musical chairs with participants going around in a circle introducing themselves for 3 minutes. The timing could have been managed a little more precisely but all in all it worked fine.

Not being a member of any media, employed or do freelance with producers in the media the question may have been asked. Why was I there? No one asked. That’s because this group of individuals know that marketing is an important aspect of what they do. I think that they all understood that even if they were creative prodigies, to get the value for the work they produced they will eventually need to market it. Having a “marketing” label on my chest drew a lot of producers, writers, videographers, lawyers and even another marketer asking questions.

I spoke to a lot of people and was sure to take their cards and give them mine. It was only after I got home and looked at the cards that I noticed something peculiar. In fact, I had started a conversation with one Managing Director of a Television Production Company about it but never got to finish because things were happening so fast.

Almost without fail, none of the cards had a Unique Selling Proposition (USP), not one. Now this is not unusual for people who are not involved in marketing. To them a business card is just a business card with the name of their company, their name, contact numbers, email address and their position like “Managing Director”. Some had lines that read “Television Production Company” “Photographer” “Productions” “Videographer” or “Media Producer”.

Some of these cards were particularly cryptic, almost as if its saying if you can guess what my company is doing then you can use the number below to call me, if not… well.

So what is a USP and why does it’s absence show that a company needs marketing help. If the concept is new to you take the time and read it. It is the easiest, no-cost way of defining your business and setting you in the right marketing path.USP

Each of these businesses needs to spend the time to develop USP. It is not particularly difficult especially since most employ writers and editors with a command of the English language. Well, honestly, that’s not all it takes but anything is better than nothing.

A good USP will not only help attract new clients but it could provide the company and its employees with a standard of operation and help in targeting a market more specifically. Well now that you know what the real thing is, go out and do it.

THE SUMMIT - A GOLDEN EGG FOR TRINIDAD BUSINESSES

Invitation To Join A Master Mind Group To BrainStorm.

Are you ready? In exactly 28 days the 5th Summit of the Americas will be hosted by Trinidad and Tobago government.

The question is: As a small or medium sized business are you positioned to capitalize on this opportunity?

Think of it this way. The summit will bring literally millions of dollars into this country. Trinidad will host over 24 nations, each will have its entourage, media and literally hundreds of followers.

The US has officially announced that their delegation will be over 1000 strong. Of course that means there are immediate and obvious implications for services such as hotel accommodations, transportation, food services and alcoholic beverages. But there are some not so obvious opportunities.

As a business owner, have you given any thought to how you can use this opportunity? Can you see how as a singer, record producer, song writer, lawyer, web designer or even a fashion model could capitalize on this? This blog is about guerilla marketing, marketing that takes advantage of the available resources. The Summit qualifies as an available resource.

What if you can devise a strategy to position your business to capitalize on the Summit visitors at very low/no cost?

Not every business will qualify of course but first ask yourself.

Does the business I’m in lend itself to taking advantage of short term visitors?

If the answer is no;

Is there something I could add to my services or product line to take advantage of this opportunity?

No again and you pretty much out of the game.

Or you can join me in a master mind group that will brainstorm with you online to come up with ideas for your business to capitalize on the potential opportunity. There is not guarantee that you will find a solution there may not be any but the process may trigger an out of the box solution to your problems.

So who would not want to brain storm to improve their business. Well if you own a hotel or a night club in Port of Spain you would, although it may help if you did. But if you own any other business, book sales, stationery, ice, couriers literally any business.

Unfortunately, this is not for everyone who is reading this. We have prepared a site that allows you to share information with other members of a mastermind group. In the interests of making it valuable for the participants we have opened up 10 spots for individual businesses people.

There, we hope to stimulate your creative juices and get you to start thinking outside the box a little. We will also suggests strategies to position your company to capitalize on the opportunity.

This is by invitation only and you must agree and adhere to some basic ground rules before being allowed access to the site.

Although this is targeted to businesses in Trinidad, anyone who can provide meaningful contribution is welcomed. If you are interested please either leave a comment below or contact me by email or on Facebook.

There is no cost associated with this Master Mind Group.

Visit the site for 5TH SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS

Thank you and be well.

Tony

10 Ways To Grow Your Business

by Maria Gracia

Growing a business is similar to tending a vegetable garden. Knowledge, careful planning, organized systems, use of proper tools, continuous care, and dedication give you the very best chance of producing a beautiful and abundant garden that brings forth fresh veggies for years to come.

The same is true when it comes to growing your business. By following a specific sequence of steps, just like growing a garden, you can succeed. Neither can be accomplished with a haphazard approach.

Discovering how other businesses are growing, thinking through your marketing strategy, taking an organized approach, using the proper tools to get the word out and focusing on achievement will help you reach your business goals and set you on the right path towards accomplishing your greatest success.

1. Prospecting: For most services and products, it is imperative to first generate qualified prospects. Only then do you work on converting those prospects into first-time buyers, repeat customers, and finally, lifetime customers. If you’re trying to generate an immediate sale, chances are, you’re going to be disappointed with the results. You will make most of your sales by following up with your prospects repeatedly.

2. What is a prospect? A person is a prospect only if they:
a) have a genuine interest in the particular service or product you provide
and
b) have responded to one of your offers
and
c) they have provided you with contact information (name, e-mail, etc.)
and
d) they have the authority to buy your service/product and can afford it.


Everyone else is a stranger. Not a prospect.

3. Target: You can’t try to market to everybody. When you do, you’re marketing to nobody. Pick a niche market and focus on your main audience. Target them in all of your marketing materials.

4. Offers: To get people to respond to your marketing, develop an enticing offer and get it in front of as many people in your target market as you can. Perhaps, a free tips report, free e-zine or free sample. The best offers are generally the FREE offers.

5. Getting the word out: There are multitudes of ways to get the word out about your offer. You can try traditional marketing, such as direct mail, press releases, networking, ads, etc. Or, you can use the Internet, such as online networking, joining in discussion forums, submitting to search engines, link exchanges, affiliate programs and so on. Whatever you choose, schedule time each day to market your business. Write it on your calendar. When it’s written down, it is more concrete, and there is a better chance that you will do it.

6. Follow-up: Once you begin to generate prospects, it is imperative that you get their contact information (i.e., name, e-mail address, and any other pertinent information) into an organized database. Why all the work? Because follow-up is the key to successful marketing. Once you have contact information, you can continue to make enticing offers for your product and/or service (discounts, gift certificates, 2 for 1 deals, etc.)

7. One service/product: Choose ONE product or service to market at a time, or you’re liable to confuse your prospects. You can have more than one product listed on your Web site. However, when you contact your prospects, it’s best to focus on one product at a time.

8. Guarantee: Guarantee your products or services. Offer, at minimum, a 100% Money-Back Guarantee. When it is clear that you stand behind your services/products, you will have accomplished a trust-factor. This is called risk-reversal.

9. Proactive: Don’t use the Passive Marketing technique. That’s when you distribute general information, verbal and written, about your company, and then just sit around waiting for the phone to ring, or for your e-mail inbox to fill up with orders. In the real world, it doesn’t work that way. You have to be proactive.

10. Track: Track. Track. I can’t say this enough. Keeping accurate numbers will help you make good marketing decisions. If you don’t know what’s working, you’re going to waste a lot of time and money. However, if you do know exactly what’s working for you, you’re practically guaranteed to reach your goals.

Want to get organized? Get your FREE Get Organized Now!™ Idea-Pak, filled with tips and ideas to help you organize your home, your office and your life, at the Get Organized Now!™ Web site, http://www.getorganizednow.com/

HOW TO BECOME AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD

Just read an article which I would have loved to share with you verbatim but its protected by copy write laws; so that’s not possible. Fortunately, ideas cannot be copy written.

The idea is that anyone can become a professional doing anything as long as they put the time into it. One example the writer used is Tiger Woods. We stand in utter awe when we see him execute a perfect shot.

We think; how in the hell did he do that?” Same thing with Brian Lara, Chandrapaul, Russel Latapy or Panday or even the notorious drug criminal who was hanged in Trinidad, Dole Chadee.

What we don’t see is the 1000s of hour they spent practicing either consciously or unconsciously working on their skills.

You see, there are four stages of learning:

Stage (1) - Unconscious Incompetence - you don't know what you don't know
Stage (2) - Conscious Incompetence - you now know what you don't know
Stage (3) - Conscious Competence - you now know it, but you must concentrate to use what you know
Stage (4) - Unconscious Competence - you know it, and you can do it without thinking about it

According to the writer it takes approximately 1000 hours of dedicated time at doing anything to become competent. It takes 5000 hours to become an expert and 10,000 hours to become a virtuoso at anything you do.

So take a look at yourself. How many hours have you put in at what you are doing? Are you competent? Can you consider yourself an expert? Just count the hours; if you could.

Most people stop at being competent. They exist in mediocrity. There are laterally millions of golfers, cricketers, calypsoian, mas maker, footballers, politician and even criminals. Yet we can count the real experts and virtuosos on one or two hands.

Somewhere along the line of becoming competent, the realization hits. This is something that you enjoy and love doing; or not. If it does then you seek a greater degree of skill and more spend time honing those skill.

If it doesn’t you spend a lot of more time “hating” what you are doing. In other words “spinning your top in mud” without progress. As it is becoming an expert is not an automatic progression it needs a conscious decision to improve your competency.

The fact is that it does not matter what you spend the time doing. Do over 1000 hours of it and you will become competent at it. If you are a lawyer, a criminal, a baker or a nurse and spend dedicated time doing it you will not only become competent but will open the possibility of becoming an expert.

That’s the reason why the question always arises; How long have you been doing what you have been doing? School? Job? Business? Sports? Each has its own yardstick of measurement. School , it’s credits, job it’s time-in, business it’s money and sports can be goals scored, games played or some other scientific measurement.

The bottom line is your competence can be measured. If you put your 1000 hours of serious dedicated time into anything you can become competent at whatever you do.
Learning does take time.

What you give back to the world is value for the time you spent doing what you do. That’s where money and value in your life materializes. By giving back for pay or just for the sake of giving you get your just reward from the universe.

Be Well

Tony

A Simple No-Cost Marketing Tactic for Retailers

This Guerilla Marketing retail sales tactic is simple yet very powerful and will cost little or nothing to implement. Fact is that this tip is not new. Currently 18% of businesses are using it. Unfortunately, these are major businesses like grocery chains and other larger businesses.

A whooping 82% of businesses ignore or are unaware of this potentially powerful tactic. Even when it is fully understood only 20% businesses “get it” and take action. The other 80% brush it off as a good idea.

This simple tactic is guaranteed to increase transactions by at least 4% - 18% of current sales level. It will definitely make a big difference in meeting the expense of running a business. Imagine being able to purchase more adverting, get a new employee or purchase additional inventory by implementing this simple tactic. The official marketing term is “the post sale offer.”

It requires that every sale be accompanied by an offer for another item that compliments the item purchased. For example, if the purchase is a writing pad, the offer would be on a writing pad case, a pen, paperclips, staples, or even markers. If the purchase is a suit the offer will be on ties, shirts, belts or socks. It works just as well for services, if you are in the carpet cleaning service, offer drape cleaning, upholstery cleaning, fabric sealants or even a discounted annual service contract. Get the picture? Know why it works every time?

You have been a customer and you know how it feels. Purchasing anything from someone require a degree of trust. You must like them. They must have satisfied you and made you happy, assuming they actually did. At that point you are at a peak buying mode, you are vulnerable. All you need now is a little encouragement and you will purchase something else. But that’s not all.

It depends on the industry and the point of purchase. In the case of a retail establishment it usually happens in the store. This may take the form of what is called an “utterance” where the cashier or salesperson utters a predetermine pitch at the customer that informs them that because of their current purchase they are entitled to a special offer. This also may be done in one of the following ways:

• A pre-printed offer on the receipt, invoice or purchase order
• A flyer that is given with a receipt or invoice
• A post sale letter/email to the customer

The idea here is to include an offer in any post-sale communication preferable not a new communication but with normal post sale activity. And here is another guarantee; not everyone will accept your offer. Statistically, 2 – 3 out of 10 people will say yes. For the effort involved in setting this up to get a 20 to 30 percent increase in the number of sales, this should have been done last week.

If you sell any product or service consider implementing this tactic into your sales operations. The benefits will amaze you.

Have an awesome week.

Be well.

Why Did Karen Lie?

This blog is certainly not politically motivated and its definitely not going to change. But some things just need to be mentioned. Headline news today is that one of the Finance Ministers, Karen Nunez-Tesheira, has been caught in a lie that she told in Parliment. There she defended her actions with untruths and dared others to prove her wrong. Well somebody did.

The entire issues surrounds her withdrawing funds when she learned that CL Financial would fold. Forgive me if I'm wrong. But wouldn't you? I know I would. She was not responsible for the CLICO mess why should she lose money when she saw the ship sinking? There is a military saying that goes "rank has its privileges". She did what most of us would have done.

The sad thing is she lied. Blatantly and callously lied to the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. As a Finance Minister, in a position of trust with the nation's finances, lying is a no-no. Least not when it can get to this. In my opinion she would have been better served by telling the truth. Public opinion would be more with her. She is human and who among us could say we would resist that temptation. Only a hypocrite would have damned her for that. If the allegations that she owns significant shares in CLICO are true,the entire landscape of the developments so far.

The thing that is not being mentioned in any of the medias however is how and why was her confidentiality broken. This information did not come from the Integrity Commission. Is not bank confidentiality an issue here? Yes she is a public servant but she is also a client and that information should never have been make public. That's just my opinion.

Would she be removed from office. I don't think so but what do I know.

Do you have an opinion on this.

Take care and be well.

Tony

READ THIS TO PREPARE FOR THE SUMMIT

Security Will Be Tight So Plan Accordingly.


The Fifth Summit of the Americas will be held in Port of Spain from April 17th – 19th 2009, which the 34 leaders of the nations in the Americas will attend along with their delegations. As a result of this Summit , there will be certain restrictions in Port of Spain.

13th – 16th & 20th - parking restrictions on Dock Road
15th – 20th - Caricom Jetty closed
16th – 20 - Container operations at the Port of Port of Spain halted
17th – 19th - entire Port of Port of Spain closed

It is to be expected that there will be an exclusion zone around the area where the Summit will be held, Hyatt Hotel. Given the proximity of the Hyatt Hotel to Wrightson Road it is more than likely this exclusion zone will involve the closure of Wrightson Road and is likely to also extend eastward to involve the closure of Richmond Street.

The closure of Wrightson Road will result in traffic problems in Port of Spain because this is a major traffic artery through the city and so there will be difficulty for people moving around the city. On April 19th the Summit activities shift from the Hyatt as the leaders will hold a retreat at the Diplomatic Centre in St Anns.

There will therefore be an exclusion zone that will involve the Queen’s Park Savannah, another major traffic artery. You should therefore plan for staff having travel difficulties around Port of Spain during this time.

Summits bring out protestors and these will not just be local protestors, but will most likely involve international groups. In other countries there have been riots, when the protesting groups included anarchists. Only persons from Bolivia , Haiti and Paraguay require visas to enter Trinidad and Tobago and so persons can enter Trinidad relatively easily.

The Government has not stated what steps it will be taking to screen persons entering Trinidad during this time. When the Cricket World Cup was held in the Caribbean, an Advanced Passenger Screening System was introduced to try to exclude trouble makers and it is to be expected that this system will also be used during the Summit.

This system however may not capture all potential trouble makers. To coincide with the Summit of the Americas , local labour leaders have planned a Summit of Labour for April 15th and 16th and 60 trade unions are expected to participate, with the unions being from outside Trinidad. A Summit of the People is also planned for the same time.

There will be a large security presence in Port of Spain during this time and it is expected that assistance will be given to the Trinidad and Tobago Police by other Caricom police forces who are most likely to supply manpower. Notwithstanding the security presence, you should advise your staff to stay away from the area of the Summit , if they have no reason to be in that area.

This advisory was put out by the Neal & Massey Company.

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THE BUSINESS WHEEL: BY ERIC OLSON:

Understanding how every business works is important to understanding your own business. As a small business owner you wear many hats in fact sometimes you wear all the hats. Eric explains the four essential functions in a business and how you can put yourself in control of all the functions.





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The Most Important Business Skill Is?

Marketing, Without it You're Toast by Frederic Blondeau

No business can exist without marketing. Everyone in business should always be marketing.



Whether you are home, at work or out on the time you should always be marketing your business. Marketing comes in all kinds of shapes and forms. In order for any business to be successful your must adopt an attitude of constant marketing. You can never stop. Think of a shark hanging out in the currents so his gills are always filled with water and oxygen. That is you as the business person. Marketing is the very breathe of your business.



Too often marketing is lumped in with sales. While it is true sales is the most important function of marketing, it is also true that it leads to the sale. You bring people to your store, website or even your social networking page through marketing. Once you get there you make the sale. This concept exists in all aspects of life. We market ourselves, our products even our friends and family. Of course, it is not to actually sell them or us but to sell our attributes. That's the same thing with marketing products or services. The old saying goes you market the sizzle and sell the steak.


The sizzle in marketing is anything surrounding the product or service. They why's and wherefore's of why you should consider the product or service and why it should be bought from you. Once hooked the sale is all about the product or service itself. Everything is the result of marketing. There are so many ways to market and trying all of them will behoove you. It can be as simple as telling someone about your business and as complicated as developing a media barrage. And, it can cost nothing or a lot depending on your goal. Getting the right mix may be tough but once you have it down your business will prosper.


It doesn't matter how you do business or what kind of business you are in you absolutely need marketing to be successful. Online or in the real world a good solid ever changing marketing plan will keep you on the right track for the best business growth and profitability. Back in the old days it wasn't as needed due to the scarcity of goods but now with some many options for consumers marketing is needed to differentiate the seller and the product from everyone else in the market place.

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Men Could You Say "I Love You" To Another Man?

I did not write a word of what you will find below but liked it so much I felt I should share with you. It is what I believe so I left everything the author said in tact, even the title below. That's a tough one if you are from the Caribbean. Enjoy.

How Unconditional Love Raises Your Internal Thermostat For Success"

Our previous message was focused on the importance of a positive
vibrational state. In summary, when we are in alignment with the
energy vibration that comes from the feelings we know we would have
when our dreams are manifest, then those dreams are manifest and
will show up. There are no exceptions although it can seem like
there are.

Unconditional love is a way to elevate your positive vibrational
energy to the stars. Being in a state of unconditional love is also
a challenge for many of us depending on what we are experiencing.

Think about this, if you are man (or if not ask one of your male
friends) how comfortable you are saying I Love You to anther male?
Consider the last time you heard about a tragedy. Could be abuse,
murder or some other act against life's right to live in freedom
and peace. Imagine being able to say I Love You to the cause of
that act which is opposite your value system.

Here is the lesson and opportunity for us all. Understanding we are
all one at the level of Source energy is very helpful. In our
culture and belief system we have many names for this Source
including, God and Divine Energy. Every resource book in the
Manifest Mastermind library refers to this Oneness and one in
particular spends quite a few pages on this topic.

The book Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch provide
great insight as well as the books by Esther and Jerry Hicks. The
Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton may help those who would like more
scientific evidence of our Source energy.

Once you believe Oneness in the literal sense meaning you
understand that the Divine Source Energy is in all then it is easy
to express and feel the words "I Love You" because we are
expressing that love for the Divine Source energy in another even
while possibly being repulsed by the physical act of that person.

You have just received very important information. By practicing
the deep feeling of I Love You for another regardless of their
appearance and actions you will naturally raising your vibrational
level. You have heard "what goes around comes around." In this
instance we are sending out positive vibrations when we say I Love
You even if it is silent. As you learned these positive vibrations
are multiplied and come back to us.

Practice I Love You. If you are a man, go ahead and tell another
man I Love You. Get out of your comfort zone. Women do this also
but normally this seems easier for woman. Also the next time hear
of a story or see something that is just not right, send love to
essence of the people involved.

Manifest Mastermind teaches and provide you all the tools,
processes and resources for you to transform your life. It is your
responsibility to follow the guidance to allow your pure
potentiality to flow free without the blocks of fear, stress, anger
and other negative emotions.

When you are in the positive vibrational state, then you are in the
best place to help another achieve what they want and allow the
multiplier effect to kick into high gear. You'll have the cooperation of
the Universe. You simply have to play your role.

We look forward to sharing more with you!

Enjoy the energy of peace, happiness, prosperity sent you!

Brian Campbell, Steve Pohlit
Co-Founders
Manifest Mastermind

Should Anyone Be Above The Law?

Hey look, I don't want to write this but is that man crazy. I mean it, I know that many people will disagree with me but I have always had a mind of my own and just hate to hold it inside. Think on this for a moment.

Most people are not yet aware that a draft copy of the proposed Trinidad and Tobago Constitution has begun to circulate. Well I admit it is a long boring document and I just scanned it but scanning was enough. Look, Trinidad and Tobago has problems. The crime situation is out of control. Murders are occurring at an alarming rate and basic infrastructure is lacking. Throw in a good measure of uncertain economic times and draw your own conclusions.

Did the proposed constitution address this? Well, you be the judge. In my humble opinion, our newly elected government(the same old one) is exerting tremendous energy on implementing changes to the current constitution. I agree that something should be done with the current constitution, amend, modifY to synchronize it with changes in our society and our economy. But that's not whats happening.

OK, I think if I have any bias it would be from another perspective. I belong to the PNM party group in my community. The party of the ruling government. And I don't agree. I realize that this is a draft proposal but it is the basis on which the country will be ruled. If it starts here; where will it end up? In fact, I glad that I am a low level member in the Party and I maybe a lone voice but it will be heard. Like someone said, "I'm a supporter, not a fanatic". In the constituency meetings I must hold my tongue, but there is no reason to do it here.

Could be that I'm stupid for thinking that because the country's major priority is crime. This problem will NOT solve itself. In my opinion everything else should be less important. Hey, WAKE UP people (WE) are dying here, 100 in 60 days. Only 8 murders "solved". Is that acceptable? Take a quick scan of the proposed draft constitution and give me your opinion.

There are a couple paragraphs on the Witness Protection Program, small paragraphs. Knowing that one of the biggest weaknesses in our court system are cases where fear rules the testimony of witnesses, especially in criminal cases involving murder. You would think that any change in the constitution would deal with issues related to protecting witnesses and beefing up the security afforded. See how that is addressed.

But if you read between the lines you will discover something interesting. Our draft constitution is about crime. Its about empowering another human being to live above the law for as long as he lives. Is that Chevez thing contagious?

The major proposed changes is about creating a position that in effect immunizes this supreme human being from prosecution for criminal or civil offences. I'm not here to judge but to ask tht you participate in this process. See for yourself, you don't have to read the whole thing it might put you to sleep. Its a pdf doc you will need abode pdf reader. To speed up the process see the table of content on the issues raised here. Take a quick look and you tell me.

The link is a pdf document is: THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION

Or just take my word for it. But if you are a Trini to D bone now is the time to stand up and be counted. You are now front and center. What do you say?

Opposing opinions are gratefully accepted. We all have one but are we willing to share it. Its not just for sitting on.

Be well