Trinidad: The America of The Caribbean

Commentary

Ramin Ganeshram 04.20.09, 11:50 AM ET

Reprinted from www.forbes.com

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- When I was a child visiting my father's

country of Trinidad, where progress, it was often said, was roughly

about 20 years behind the States, I could see this was true. By 1980,

we had two color television sets in our home in New York, but the small

12-inch black and white TV my father brought to his family in Chaguanas

was the only one on the block.

The cases upon cases of beer and soda he bought to stock the kitchen

when we visited were a wonder of excess to the neighbors, and our

American clothes and shoes were a source of endless fascination to the

local kids. Except for Coca Cola, Pepsi and some Nestle products, there

were few American conveniences to be had at the local supermarket,

which was little more than what would be called

a corner shop in New York.

By the 1990s, progress had leaped to being just 10 years behind the

States. My father's village had become a bustling metropolitan area in

its own right. American jeans, T-shirts and sneakers jammed shops vying

for space with locally made Panama suits and East Indian clothes. Major

American health and beauty companies peddled their locally branded

lotions and cosmetics on the shelves of the local chemist shops.

Bootlegged CDs sold on the street featuring both American pop music and

as-yet-unreleased soca and calypso tracks.

When I was there in 2005, the gap had reduced to five years. Malls had

popped up around the country, mostly featuring Trinidadian versions of

American products. "Bling" abounded: cellphones, baggy pants and thick

gold chains on young men; girls with belly shirts and cleavage, a far

cry from the socially conservative society I knew, influenced by Hindu,

Muslim and conservative Christian mores, carnival-time being the only

exception. Click Here for more.

Always Have Plan B Ready When You Launch Plan A

A Technique of BIG Achievers:With your body relaxed, form a mental picture of what you want. Concentrate! Hold that picture for two minutes. Picture it so clearly that you can see yourself doing it, or being it, or having it.



by Michael Masterson

Enthusiasm is a valuable emotion, and determination is a necessary trait for success. But neither or both of these qualities will make a bad idea work. I recommend that you develop the countervailing discipline of creating a Plan B.

Over the years, I have trained myself to recognize when an idea that I thought was good was actually bad. (There are plenty of signs - but unless you are looking for them, they are easy to ignore.)

So the first step is to see the writing on the wall. And the next step is to immediately switch to another course of action before you lose a ton of money and months (or even years) of time and energy.

You'll be much better at both of these critical business-survival skills (recognizing when your ideas are not working and reacting swiftly/smartly) if you establish a bailout scheme - a Plan B - at the outset of every project.

Don't make the mistake of thinking failure won't happen to you. I can tell you stories...

For example, there was a "brilliant" idea for a record club that cost me $125,000... a "can't-fail" celebrity health newsletter that sucked up an astonishing $780,000 before I gave up on it... and a perfume business that was "absolutely sure to work" that wasted $85,000 of my (and my partners') money.

When Ted Turner was planning to launch CNN, he found that he had done such a good job of promoting the idea that his partners weren't even willing to entertain the possibility that it might fail. Since Turner knew full well the value of being prepared for failure, he kept asking the question "What if it fails?" until they finally agreed to put together a fallback plan.

CNN started off terrifically, and when it ran into financial problems seven years later, they already had a solution. In this case, it was to sell a portion of the business to cable operators. Because of Turner's early insistence on a Plan B, crisis was averted without anyone breaking a sweat.

What is the most important project you're working on right now? Do you have a Plan B... just in case?

[Ed. Note: Maybe you've got a good job. Or lots of money to invest. Or a bunch of real estate holdings. But if all your eggs are in one basket, you REALLY need a backup plan. Let ETR give you a recession-proof Plan B that can help you secure your financial future. Get the details here.

Get more of Michael's surefire strategies for getting ahead in business and in life in True Path to Profits: A Master Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Success. Find out more - including how you can get a bonus subscription to Michael's VIP newsletter, Ready Fire Aim - right here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

When A Toothless Tiger Roars

Where Were They?

The sleeping tiger woke up and roared but she will soon be asleep again. This ostrich like mentality of the defenders of the rights of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago is in fact the reason for the abuses of the Constitution of T&T. Economic colonialism ensures that our legal representative toe the line or be “put out to pastures”. These abuses are not new, where was this legal body when these violations occurred when they are known internationally.

Today, an article appeared in the Trinidad Express Newspaper highlighting breaches of the principles of the Constitution as outlined by the Trinidad and Tobago Law Association. This is a body of lawyers who know that T&T citizen’s rights are being trampled on by the existing administrations. According to the Express Newspaper the Associations concerns was “provoked” by the following:

o Incidents of lockdowns of specific areas in Trinidad - citizens freedom of movement for essential services were curtailed for 6 days during the Summit of the Americas
o General detention, police brutality and “murders” There reports of Amnesty International stands as evidence.
o Abuse in the penal institutions - one measure of civilization is the treatment of inmates in their penal system
o The use of the military in police business – no investigative or police training but even the police are not properly trained so they are meeting the status quo outside of a state of emergency.
o Methods of surveillance – Cameras installed to monitor movements in specific areas are illegal because there is no legislation that support the installations.

It would appear that the intent of the article was to “remind” the government that these act were contrary to the constitution and nothing else. Truth is that all these violations have occurred and instead of these defenders of rights filing a suit or initiating some legal action they are reminding the government in a newspaper article. The citizens can now rest assured that things will change.

Taking a stand can be costly and it’s a lot cheaper to get an article published when “provoked” than to take any legal action. Hey, it’s a lot safer.

As always be well.

Real Time Story of Marketing Gone Wrong

Reprint MyFoxNY.com Reports:

KFC Coupon Promo Goes Wrong

Updated: Wednesday, 06 May 2009, 3:37 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 06 May 2009, 3:02 PM EDT

* By LILY FU

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - On Tuesday Oprah Winfrey announced she was partnering with KFC to give away coupons for the fast food chain's new grilled chicken, saying she wanted to give Americans a free meal.

Apparently millions have flocked to the KFC Web site to download the coupon , which gave each person two pieces of grilled chicken, two sides and a biscuit. Coupons can be downloaded until 11:59 p.m. CDT on Wednesday.

"I'd say the response has been exactly what we expected, and we expected it to be great," KFC spokesperson Rick Maynard told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution .

But reports indicate that downloading the coupon has been more frustrating than "finger-lickin' good." New York Magazine's Grub Street blog featured users who reported technical problems. "The chicken must be like air pudding ... no calories ... since I can't print the coupon," said one. Another added, "Nice gesture since I am unemployed and a free dinner would have been nice. I could not download the coupon."

Gothamist.com reports a possible sit-in taking place at the KFC on 42nd Street in New York City. An e-mail sent to the Gothamist read as follows:

"I went over to our nearest KFC a few minutes ago...and chaos ensued. Despite the very visible grilled chicken behind the register, the manager told everyone with coupons to leave and that the promotion was over for the day. The people there are currently holding a sit-in and refusing to leave until they get their free chicken...or the cops are called. Racial epithets were being spewed, people who actually wanted to pay for chicken were facing a potential beatdown, and the manager ran from the screaming horde. Oprah, what have ye wrought?"

Gothamist says its calls to that local KFC have been met with busy signals.

Tiger Woods Has Won

That’s not news.

Crystallize your goals. Make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline. Then, with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people's criticisms, carry out your plan. -Paul Meyer

THE BREAKING STORY BEHIND THE NEWS IS THAT HE HAS WON AGAIN BECAUSE HE HAS A COACH BOTH IN LIFE AND ON THE GOLF COURSE. THE FACT IS TIGER WOODS IS AN EXPERT GOLFER AND HE STILL NEEDS A COACH.

Of course, I have a coach too. I have known Shalini Verma for at least 2 years now. She is my coach in New Delhi India and has my utmost respect as a mentor. She never tells me what to do, her greatest skill is in getting me to articulate options so that I can make an intelligent decision. Issues in my life and business are discussed and evaluated before I act. It has helped me avoid a number of potentially negative situations in my life.

She is a Success Coach with a high degree of non-judgmental empathy, her favorite saying is that success is not a destination but a journey and she is willing to walk that journey with her clients. Her company, the Skyscrapers Academy partners with individuals/organizations to develop leaders and employees to achieve more success and satisfaction in both their personal and professional lives.

With a primary focus on leadership development, strengthening business relationships, conflict management, team building she act as a catalyst for change when performance requires a tune-up, turn-around or new focus. Like I said before she has become more than just a coach but a mentor guiding many of the decisions I have made with respect to my life and business.

She is the founder of the Skyscrapers Academy which uses the Co-Active Coaching Methodolgy to help her clients become more effective leaders and collaborators. Her intensive approach involves assessment and observation to increase self-awareness and self-understanding. This allows for behavior change, personal growth and effective performance both at the individual and team level. Check out her Relationship Blog

A member of The International Coach Federation and International Coach Academy, Australia, at present she is also serving as Onboard Coach at Midcareers.com to assist mid-career professionals redefine success, identify their ‘unique strengths’, and create more focus, vitality, and passion in their work. She has recently attained a distinguished and coveted accreditation as a Certified Associate Coach


Success is never accomplished alone. You need a coach too. Success “is a journey” a guide always helps. Get a coach, a mentor someone you can trust. If not Shalini Verma anyone you feel comfortable with and is qualified to guide you. Do it today.

There are a couple of reasons I have maintained my coaching relationship with Shalini Verma. First, in my opinion she is eminently qualified but more important is the trust I have built up over this short space of time. Secondly, she was willing to work out an exceptional deal for me and offer her professional coaching at a faction of what I would pay for a face to face coach.

I would recommend Shalini Verma to anyone looking to take themselves to the next level of personal success and professional development. Her first session is always free and you will never have to pay phone charges to India.

Thank you for reading.

Preempting Your Market, A Fundamental Marketing Strategy

How To Position Your Business For Exceptional Growth

By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. -Mark Victor Hansen


There is one basic element of marketing that if understood can propel any business to unbelievable success. This strategy acquired from one of my adopted mentors, Jay Abraham, he is one of the main primary reasons I’m still in marketing.

If you are unaware of Jay Abraham’s reputation he is universally accepted as one of the marketing geniuses of modern time. A quick google search should provide you with a complete background of his accomplishments. There are literally hundreds of web pages dedicated to him.

Let me confess that although I say he is my mentor, I really don’t know the man personally. I have been to one of his seminars, met him and own several boxes of his books, CDs and DVDs packed with marketing genius. One day, a few years ago, I realized that I had adopted his marketing style. But he is only one of the people I have chosen as a mentor. Although Mr. Abraham’s teaching was my primary influence I blended his concepts with other marketing experts like Jay Conrad Levinson, Dan Kennedy and John Calton.

One fundamental marketing philosophy of Mr. Abraham’s teachings resonated with me to such an extent that I now own it. It is a philosophy that incorporates ethical and spiritually enlightened concepts that recognizes the importance of everyone, the entrepreneurs, prospects and the market in general. In my opinion, as this marketing concept grew in the collective consciousness of mankind another marketer, Joe Vitale introduced a similar idea he called “spiritual marketing” . We are not going to delve into Mr. Vitale's philosophy today because that is a topic for another article. Today we want you to expound on the Jay Abraham philosophy. He called it...

The Strategy of Preeminence

This strategy is essentially a philosophical perspective that everyone in business should consider adopting. Mr. Abraham has made literally billions of dollars using it. For myself I cannot make such a bold claim but the value inherent in such an enlightened point of view cannot be measured with dollars. Personally, the satisfaction of starting from such a perspective ensures a foundation of self righteousness. It is a good feeling to know that any products and services offered can really benefit the recipient. It is the same feeling you have when someone accuses you of lying and you know what you are saying is the truth or what you believe to be the truth. But what exactly is the strategy of preeminence?

In a phrase it’s ”put your client's needs ahead of your own”. That is, in your business dealings, you do whatever is in the "best interests" of every individual prospect you encounter. You must believe that their lives is somehow enhanced, by saving them time, money or even just the convenience. It is an appreciation of the potential leverage that each transaction creates because each can be engineered to produce much more than just one purchase transaction. Effective marketing is philosophically positioning yourself and your business model to leverage this opportunity.

The strategy of preeminence is really initiated by your perception of the person with whom you are doing business. Do you see your prospects as an ignorant losers who you can easily be taken advantage of because they know very little of your business? Or, do you take the higher more enlightened perspective that everyone is in various stages of evolution and treat each prospect with the respect and integrity deserving of each human being? Fact is are they spending a dollar or ten thousand dollars? How long will you have to interact with them?

As an example of this, do you know why lawyers always consider their prospects clients and not customers? Or why most retail establishments prospects are customers and not clients? According to Mr. Abraham; it’s that professionals are charged with a duty to take long term care of all their “client’s” needs. In the case of a lawyer, their clients are under the long term continued care and protection of the lawyer and as such cannot be considered a customer. Take a look at the meaning of clients and customers in the dictionary they belong to two distinct categories.

On the other hand, most retail establishments operate from a perception that all transactions are isolated singular events. Although most know that to be untrue, retailers business model are usually not designed to leverage each transaction.

For example, someone is looking to purchase a music CD. What are they purchasing? They are not just looking to purchase a CD they are actually making a statement about the particular genre of music and that they are potentially a fan of the artist. If a singer or artist assume that they are selling CDs, they will always be relegated to be a peddler in the market place. This is not an enlightened strategic marketing position. The buyer may just hate the process of purchasing a CD.

They are really purchasing the many hours that they will spend listening and feeling however they feel when they listen to your music. They may not particularly like you or the packaging you think is so attractive on your CD. They are trying to enhance their experience, if your CD does it for them they will buy more. Unfortunately, if not they are not satisfied you can be guaranteed to use BAD word of mouth advertising. And that is the reason why the strategy of preeminence is so effective. So how do you preempt clients to sell your CDs?

You must put their best interests ahead of your own.

As a musician/singer, you can establish the strategy of preeminence by changing your mindset and thinking in the following ways:

You are not just selling music, you are selling quality listening/relaxing tool.
You must feel like they do when they listen to your music.
You must listen from your prospects perspective
You must have a unique appeal to and target a specific (client) taste in music.
Your business model and philosophical position must have been initiated by an in depth appreciation of your prospects needs.

As you can see, this strategy starts with you and your product or service. It maintains that your product or service must satisfy a client need in such a way that it’s not just the profit that you get from the transaction but from the fact that without your product the client is left wanting. You can differentiate yourself not only by the striking CD cover but you may want to take the next step of providing written lyrics so that your “clients” could follow along. Or, you could use the end of your CD to provide a short bio of yourself, provide information/ samples of other works. These are guerilla marketing strategies most other artists musician will not think about. You must differentiate.

An important aspect of this strategy is personal ethical standards. This is not for the individual out to make a quick dollar with very little conscious thought of the well being of others. It can only be adopted by people who know that they offer a superior product or service that will meet a specific need. As a business person or marketer using this strategy, you must sincerely believe that if the client does business with anyone else you will not be serving their “best interest”. At the same time, it means that if you realize that your product or service does not meet the needs of the prospect, you will be the first one to point it out to him/her. You may even go so far as to recommend a competitor.

Does that sound crazy? It’s not. It’s a unique perspective for sure but it is in line with what we have learned as children and what all the Good Books teaches. There is nothing as fundamental as “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. It is a strategy that should be adopted by any business. In fact, it has been proven to be very effective for Mr. Abraham in earning billions from his marketing genius.

I know that I will never do justice to Mr. Abraham’s entire philosophy so I’m providing a link here so that you can get it straight from the horses mouth his original thoughts on the strategy of preeminence. Go Here to YouTube and view a Jay Abraham Video

As always be well and thank you for reading. DON'T FORGET TO DANCE

A Magnificent Spin "Summit of the Americas"

If there is no signed contact, why should anyone pay?

Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon... must inevitably come to pass! -Paul J. Meyer

The Summit of the Americas is being hailed as a success. That is the biggest double talk ever uttered to the world. Here is why.

The objective of the summit was to get a declaration signed that held each leader accountable to members of the group and their respective countries on specific issues that are important to Hemispheric development. An impossible task at best with 34 super egos in a room each representing their own country’s interest to agree on anything other than saving their souls is not realistic. They said as much, well not in those words.

What actually happened is what was expected by a few. They agreed to disagree and came to a consensus to spin their disagreement so that the world could see the summit as a success. As has happened with three other summits before, the Heads of State did not agree on the final declaration for the summit and the chairman was required to sign. Are we to learn anything from history?

Very few of the resolution made in the last summit was rectified in the particular countries. Over 50 percent of the member country ignored the Human Rights resolutions, similarly the labor laws. The fact remains is that if a contract is not signed by an individual, group or country, to perform and implement certain initiatives the likelihood of implementation is significantly reduced. We all know that verbal contracts are not enforceable or accountable. Only when with a free mind and spirit legally and individual appends a signature to a document that it has relevance. Otherwise it means nothing to the non-signers.

Granted it has happened before and look at the result of those “Host Chairman” signings the declarations. It was hoped that this summit would be different. It was hoped that the leaders would have at least spent the time prior to discussions to read the declaration instead of nitpicking on ideological differences. But egos are hard to suppress even at the expense of countries.

Fortunately, Trinidad and Tobago was the host. This country can now say that we have a signed declaration by non-other than the world recognized very charismatic, illustrious PM Manning. The rest of the Heads may never have to think about it again, until the next summit. A lot can be deduced from the attitude of the host country.

For example, this is the same declaration that the various segments of the Summit were demanding but which was never seen by the people who submitted the draft. According to Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Affairs Minister, Paula Gopee Singh, the declaration will only be released when it is signed by all parties. So now what? Will anyone ever see it?

Mr. Manning by signing what will be forever known as "The Port of Spain Declaration" has assumed the charge to implement specific programmes and initiative proposed by the various sectors in the declaration. The big questions is can the special interest groups exert enough pressure to assure the implementations of the various resolutions. Especially, the rectification of the resolution on human rights which included issues such as human trafficking and preserving the environment. What is your guess?

OK, I have had my fill of the summit, I m going to do like most of the other Heads of State, forget about it. Let's return to marketing and continue on with life. But at least now you can understand what we mean when we say that this meeting was a dismal failure. What do you think?