Today we will discuss how to manage your time with your attorney for the biggest bang for the bucks…

At Big Bucks per Hour, you need to plan ahead…

You need to plan ahead before meeting with your corporate lawyer so that you do not waste money, and remember it can add up fast.  Business lawyers usually charge by the hour, so waiting till the meeting to gather your thoughts is a bad idea. As the Boy Scouts say, Be Prepared!  And this is true for those of us that own S corps and LLCs as well.

For the first meeting, ask if there is any pre-questionnaire to complete and fill it out and send it in advance of the meeting.  Sometimes they will ask for a few supporting documents- have these ready.
 

What is the Major Purpose for the Meeting?

You need to put together an adenda and a list of questions.  This will help you to focus and get back on track if you start going off on tangential discussions. 

I personally like to write out about a page or two that outlines the situation I want to discuss mainly for my own use to crystallize my thinking.  It can also be put into a letter form and sent to the lawyer ahead of time so that he can be prepared with any relevant answers or documents.

During the Meeting, Be Focused… (Avoid Tangents and Goosechases)

In our “regular” conversations with people, we might be the sort of person who likes to have deep interesting conversations and really learn a lot about people and their topics.  When dealing with a lawyer we need to suppress that urge and remain on topic.  A well-planned agenda will go a long way towards keeping the meeting flowing.

Effective Advice Requires you to Be 100% Honest…

I assume that you’ve heard about Garbage In, Garbage Out? 

Assuming that you are looking to get relevant, solid advice, it is important that you are totally honest with your attorney about your concerns and situation.  In some cases, they can minimize or dismiss your worries by putting them into the proper legal context.  In all cases, they need to know the truth so that they can take all factors into account.

I am a huge believer in the concept of Accurate Thinking (click for PDF chapter).  I first heard it mentioned in Napoleon Hill’s work.  (You have read Think and Grow Rich haven’t you? If not, you can get a free copy online here: Think and Grow Rich e-book)   In order to make great decisions, they must be based on accurate facts.  But that is a topic for another day…

Thanks for reading,

Rob

I came across this video which alerts us to the importance of being prepared for potential financial problems in the years ahead.

The video speaks for itself…

Just something to think about as you go through your day…

“Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time.” — Brian Tracy

Are you using your 168 Hours Per Week wisely?
Are you focused on the Big Picture?
Are you protecting your most valuable resource?

Or are you taking it for granted?

Mark Kohler has written an excellent book introducing the concepts of Asset Protection for regular people and small business owners. This book gives a good understanding of when asset protection is necessary, and walks you through the basic methods, starting with the simplest that people can do themselves… and working up to more complex strategies that are needed by a relatively few number of people.

It is called “Lawyers Are Liars”…

He lays out his multiple barrier approach which puts up sequential lines of defense up against potential creditors, and makes a strong case for using such a system.

He also talks about the values of corporations in protecting personal assets, and I think this is a good intro to my www.corporateveilpro.com step-by-step corporate records system to avoid having your corporate veil pierced.

I recommend Mr. Kohler’s book to every small business person I talk with about these corporate formalities…

One way we lose our assets is through confiscatory levels of government taxation.  They force us to give them money for things that they are not authorized to handle, and they turn around and give the money from one group of citizens to another group.  (Cash for Clunkers is a good example, there are thousands more…)

This 5 minute and 37 slide presentation from the Tax Foundation is quick and to the point…

The march to have the top 10% of American citizensd pay the entire cost of government is well underway.  Please take 5 minutes and watch this…

http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/25206.html

One way to protect your assets is to assist fiscally conservative, smaller government candidates to get elected to local, state and Congressional races.  And make sure that you get like-minded businessmen and -women out to vote in EVERY election. 

Rob

Have you heard the phrase “closing the barn door after the horse has already left”?

Current economic conditions have people scrambling to put asset protection strategies in place.

They may be attempting to close the barn door too late…

Fraudulent transfer laws are in place which typically have a four year statute of limitations or thereabouts.  They KNOW that people in trouble will try to “hide” their assets and they want to make it hard to do so.

These laws have mechanisms in place to reverse or set aside any transfer or conversion that was made within the statutory period.   These laws will nullify transactions that are meant to put assets out of the reach of creditors

If you wait until you are concerned about a claim on your assets, your interest in asset protection is simply too late.  The horse has left the barn already.

I hope your horse is still in the barn…

In that case, it makes sense to educate yourself about asset protection AND CLOSE THAT BARN DOOR.. .

Hi all,

Back in the old days, people built forts and castles to protect their stuff and their families…

Now we have corporations to help protect our assets… if we use them correctly.  If we don’t they are like a fort with all the gates open.

I want to help as many corporate owners as possible to get their records in order during this economic downturn.

I want them to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done everything you can to strengthen the liability protection of your business… and protect your family.

And, at the same time I don’t want to make people wait a few days for the physical product to make its way through the Priority Mail process to their house.   I want them to get the info immediately…

So, I have decided to create a lower-cost digital version of the 7-step CorporateVeilPro system that has helped protect many small corporation owners.

I will be calling the digital product CYA: Cover Your (Corporate) Assets… (the name came from a brainstorm at Kevin Hogan’s Wealth Camp by Mike Morgan, David Garfinkel, Kevin, and some other superstar marketers)…

This will be a lower cost version of Corporate Veil Pro, which is the full multi-media version including CD interviews,etc. 

I will probably also put this on Clickbank… Any thoughts?

This will be available on October 15th so look for the special announcement…

I think that everyone should own some gold and silver as part of their personal assets. 

These precious metals are not likely to provide massive gains or losses like a stock could- that isn’t their purpose.  The purpose is to preserve their value with respect to other things.

At the turn of the century, you could purchase a fine men’s suit for the price of an ounce of gold (about $35) and the same is true today (about $1000). Gold holds its value while dollars and euros are just paper.

Having some of your portfolio in gold and silver is just a common sense thing to do in my opinion. Diversify.

The easiest way to purchase gold is American Gold Eagles, and the easiest way to purchase silver is either Silver Eagles or pre-1965 circulated quarters and dimes. Click the links for more info on Silver and Gold…

This is a major no-no for corporate financial record keeping.  It can hurt you in so many ways. 

First, what is co-mingling?

Co-mingling of assets involves the owner using business resources for personal purposes, or the business using the owner’s personal resources for business purposes.

First things first.  You need to have separate bank accounts for your corporation and for yourself personally.  This is an absolute must.

In the next few days, we’ll discuss several scenarios of co-mingling…

Howdy,

Sorry for the long absence, I’ve been busy getting some important things done that you’ll see soon… Tonight, I wanted to bring to your attention…

My mentor and good friend Kevin Hogan has posted a great interview on his website titled…

Will You Succeed or Fail in 2009? (click to read)

I always read his two new articles each week and often find much that is of value there.  I think that the Success or Failure article hits the nail on the head in the current climate.

We all need to be very adaptable and willing to make changes to ensure our continued success.  Stagnation is a recipe for disaster.

Kevin also discusses the differences between short-term goal-setting (good) and long-term goal-setting (not so good).

And while you are at it you need to sign up for his weekly “Coffee with Kevin Hogan” e-zine which he publishes almost every Sunday night.  It is a great e-zine that gives you a glimpse of Kevin’s worldview. In addition, Coffee reminds you about the great new articles as well as frequent “Coffee-only” content that is very valuable.

You can sign up for “Coffee” here…

I am off to Vegas on Saturday morning for my good friend Steve Chamber’s wedding to his awesome fiancée Trisha (Elvis will preside!) followed by a Sunday all-day Mastermind meeting with Kevin’s Platinum Inner Circle, which I am proud to be a part of…

Everyone should be part of a Mastermind group…

Rob

And if you are looking for Part One of the Success or Failure interview by Kevin Hogan, it is here…

The Difference Between People Who Succeed and Those Who Don’t

Michel Fortin, on his superb blog, said it all today with the title, “Purging my way to freedom from email clutter.” But his entire post is still well worth the read:

http://www.michelfortin.com/purging-freedom-email-clutter/

You should likewise purge YOUR email box of newsletters that don’t consistently deliver excellent content;

hold those who’ve been given permission to interrupt you to a HIGH standard;

and get yourself free, too.

Purge without remorse.

Many asset protection strategists tell you that you need to incorporate in Nevada and they’ll help you do it.  Now, if you actually live in Nevada and plan to operate the business from there, then Nevada is most likely the best place to incorporate.  But if you plan to operate elsewhere and have no other ties to Nevada this is probably not the best place to incorporate.

The major reasons that they usually give for a Nevada Corporation are privacy, better lawsuit protection, and tax savings.

Let’s look at these three reasons—

1.      Privacy.  The thinking is that it is possible to incorporate in Nevada and not declare who the owners of the corporation are.  This would supposedly allow you to remain under the radar of any creditors.  But in reality, there is no way that you can remain anonymous and still operate the business.  Even if you were able to have a surrogate (they call them nominee agents) listed as the directors and officers of your business, how are you going to operate the business day-t0-day and sign paperwork etc?  Lastly, if your business is sued, the opposing lawyers are going to be able to get your names anyway. Strike 1.

2.     Better Lawsuit Protection. Basically, if the event that prompted the lawsuit occurred in another state, you will not be able to hide behind Nevada’s favorable laws and you will not see any higher level of lawsuit protection.

3.     Tax Savings. Nevada has no income tax or corporate tax, but if you are doing your business in another state then you are almost certainly liable for the taxes in that state.  So, no tax savings. Strike 3.

For most people, the best place to incorporate is their home state…

Have a great day.

Rob

PS: This is not intended as legal advice, check with your own attorney and accountant for the specifics of your case.  Just look long and hard at anyone telling you that you need to buy a Nevada Corporation through them…

Happy Sunday Night!

As a reader of this blog, I would like to also connect with you through Facebook and Twitter…

Please “Add Me as a Friend” over here on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/people/Rob-Northrup/1165743984

and “Follow Me” over here on Twitter… http://twitter.com/RobNorthrup

Have a great night!

 A few Graceland and Sun Studios photos…

We had a great day today, we were in the first group to arrive at Graceland where we went through the entire house and grounds tour twice…

At the front door of Graceland, it is a very humble (and very cool) house considering how wealthy Elvis was….

Everyone should have a Jungle Room in their house.  I am convinced of this.

Kevin looked closely at all of the Elvis clothing items, he is looking for a more rockstar look for Influence 2010! Maybe Gold Lame with sequins would work great…

Elvis and his parents are buried on the Graceland property and we showed our respects to The King…

We had lunch on Beale Street and the Blues City Cafe where I had a half rack of the best ribs in Memphis, and we walked past B.B.King’s and down Beale Street.  Then I felt that no trip to Memphis is complete without a trip to the Peabody Hotel roof for a view of the mighty Mississippi and downtown Memphis.  (Of course we also saw the ducks in the fountain, and their new Duck Palace on the roof)…

Then we headed on to the legendary Sun Studios where Elvis Presley recorded his first song which he paid them $3 to record.  Others who have recorded in this studio: Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, U2, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, and a who’s-who of Blues and Country legends…

Here’s the original office and desk where the 18 year old Elvis approached the Memphis Recording Studio (later Sun Records) to record his first record.

The Million Dollar Quarter was L-R Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.
When you add Kevin Hogan, you get the Million Dollar Quintet…

They claim this is the real microphone, and they asked us not to lick it!  There is an ‘X’ on the floor where Elvis stood to record, and Bob Dylan came to Sun Studios recently, walked into the studio, went to the X, kissed it, and left… True Story!

After the Sun Studios tour, Kevin picked up the Gene Simmons guitar and strummed a few chords.  He didn’t sing and he wasn’t arrested.

A close up of Gene Simmons autograph on the Guitar..Notice the $ in $IMMONS

Total elapsed time 7 hours to see it all.  We took hundreds of pictures and videos today and look forward to sharing more in the future.

Have a great day…

Rob

Hi, Just landed in Memphis. Beautiful evening… Here’s one of my favorite songs to listen to with this post…

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I have been to Memphis twice before in the past ten years.  It is even more of a Music City in my mind than Nashville.  There are so many great historical roots of the Blues here and they culminated in the birth of Rock and Roll in the form of Memphis’ most famous son– Elvis Presley.

Elvis was (maybe still is) a master at total domination of his market.  I think there are many things that come in to play here:

1. originality
2. authenticity
3. a little luck- right place, right time
4. massive over delivery to his audience
5. willing to embrace new popular media (like movies)
6. raw talent
7. a flair for self-promotion
8. a solid team to support him

There are more, and I’ll be looking for them tomorrow as I tour the grounds. Stay tuned.

And isn’t this song by Marc Cohn, “Walking in Memphis” great?

Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered ’round his tomb
But there’s a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room

Seize the Microphone…

Rob

I was really busy this week, so I’ll keep this short…

When you start a corporation, you are bringing a new entity to life that is separate and distinct from it’s owners.  This is true even if there is only a single owner.

When your customers buy from your corporation, they are not buying from you personally.  This is one of the big advantages of a corporation because if something goes wrong within the company and someone is harmed, the assets of the corporation are used to pay off the claim—NOT THE assets of the owners. This is critical.  No one would buy ownership of a corporation (stock) if doing so put everything they own at risk.

Because it is NOT you, there are certain things that you need to do in order to ensure that the corporation is properly documented and that your records are sufficient to provide this legal liability protection.

Simply put, if you are not doing these simple things then you don’t have liability protection in the event of a lawsuit.

And just because you are REALLY BUSY trying to build your business, that is no excuse.

I have put together a clear, concise step-by-step system that walks the small business owner through all the steps that are needed to get your records shipshape.  To get your copy, click on Cover Your Assets right now.  When you order, you will experience the pleasure of knowing that your family’s personal assets will be protected.

If you act before Sunday May 17 at midnight, I will knock $100 off the selling pricefor readers of this blog. Just use the Coupon Code PROTECT when you check out.  I have ten copies all shrink-wrapped and ready to go, and I’ll include a special bonus with these first ten orders…

Rob

How to Quickly Build Trust With Customers…

In yesterday’s post we discussed that most people don’t do what they say they will do. 

We also discussed that keeping your promises will put you ahead of 95% of your competition and build trust.

Lastly, we showed a simple 3-step system to ensure that you keep your word.

Now, we are going to turbo-charge that advice…

Since keeping your commitments is a proven way to build trust, it stands to reason that we would want to make and keep as many commitments as possible as early as we can in the relationship.  Of course, showing up on time is critical for the initial meetings and/or phone calls.

Right now you need to think of three or four “promises” that you can make when talking with a customer that will be easy for you to keep.  Depending on the conversation, you simply drop one or two of these commitments into the discussion, and then you fulfill on them after you are done with the conversation.

A few examples:

1.      You saw an article in the newspaper or trade journal that is on a topic of interest to your customers.  You get a good original copy of this article and make some copies.  When you are talking with a client ask them if they saw the article about “X” and briefly describe it to them. At the end of the discussion, tell them you will send them a copy… And do it.  (you have built some trust that you do what you say)

2.     You know an event is coming up that is of interest to your clients—say a trade show.  Ask if they are going and tell them you will send them information about the show… Then send it…

3.     As a plus to #2 above, if they aren’t going to attend tell them you will send them an after-action report on what you saw at the event that might be of interest to them. Then do it…

4.     Promise to put them in contact with someone you know that they might benefit from also knowing…

5.     Discuss a great book and send them a copy…

6.     Tell them you will send them a customized proposal and then do it.

7.   Say you will follow up at an exact date and time, write it down and do it.  When you call, if you get a answering machine leave the message that you are calling at the time you said you would call…

8.     You get the idea…think of some of your own.

The concept is to pro-actively look for ways to keep your commitments, and to do this as much as possible to build your credibility as someone who follows through.  At the same time, you are also building up a favor bank with the potential client which will invoke the Law of Reciprocity which is one of the fundamental tactics of Influence as taught by Kevin Hogan and other persuasion experts..

This may sound simple. It may sound like common sense.  But if you do it, you will be on your own level in most cases.  Because not very many people are willing to go the extra mile.  Always be thinking of ways that you can add value to your customers lives…

Tomorrow, I plan to shift gears and switch away from building your business and your assets to using your business as vehicle to protect your personal assets.

Stay tuned…

Rob

Most people don’t do what they say they will do.  This puts them in a huge hole credibility-wise with their customers and associates.

They create every excuse imaginable, often fabricating an excuse takes more effort than just doing what we say we’ll do.

This is very simple behavior to correct…

Step One. Only make commitments you plan to keep.

Step Two. Write down all commitments in a place where you will not lose them, and where you can cross them off when done.

Step Three. Spend time each day clearing the list.

Having a system to ensure that promises don’t get broken will put you ahead of 95% of your competition.  And you’ll have to work less hard to build trust.

Have a great day…

Rob

A little detour into entertainment…

I went and saw Star Trek with my 13-year old son yesterday and it was great fun.  And it stayed very true to the series as well… For me, this was kind of like watching the last Star Wars episode (Revenge of the Sith) as the last half hour or so as they were filling in all the pieces of the puzzle to setup the story that we all know and loved…

Each time one of the beloved Star Trek characters would arrive, it was like another piece of the puzzle falling into place… Kirk, Spock, Bones, Chekov, Uhura, Scotty… I thought they did a good job with the backstories too.  And the effects and the overall plot was very entertaining (except for the fact that they violated one of the major no-no’s of science fiction which only Sci-fi and StarTrek purists will likely care about. I can’t say more without spoiling the plot)

They even kept the most annoying (yet endearing) feature of Star Trek-  whenever there is danger, the absolute top leaders head off to battle the leaders of the enemies usually hand-to-hand… As if World War 2 was won when FDR and Churchill swam the English Channel, gained the beach at Normandy and then marched to Berlin to finish off Hitler personally in a sword fight. 

Highly recommended, and it makes a few good business points as well—

If you know you are right, fight for what you believe in.

There is always a little more that can be had, even when you are being assured that they’re “giving her all she’s got”

Never back a Romulan in an important business negotiation.

And then last night was the bloated three-hour finale of The Celebrity Apprentice which was a pretty entertaining season until the final five minutes when the despicable exceuse for a human being Joan Rivers won.  (even though Joan had already lost repeatedly over the prior weeks because of Godwin’s Law which states that when you compare your opponent to Hitler, you lose automatically)

I used to respect Joan’s business acumen although I never liked her (and her talentless daughter Melissa’s) red-carpet schtick or Joan’s version of shrewish comedy… But Trump crowned her the winner over poker champion Annie Duke who mopped the floor with Joan Rivers the entire season.  Annie raised 3x as much money for charity in the final challenge– $465,000 plus vs. $150,000—yet she lost.  Trump is a buffoon, and this show lost all credibility for me—it is nothing but a scripted drama as far as I am concerned.  I hope they go back to real people on this show, the Celebrity version is pretty much dead for me…

Grrr…

Rob

Hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day!

Hit the Play button below for a musical accompaniment to this blog post… and per Don’s request yesterday I went with one of my favorite Willie Nelson tunes…

 
(I know this music stuff is getting old but I made a few more changes and I want to make sure I’ve got the audio all figured out before moving on to video)

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Now I’m getting ready to go see customers this week up in the Carolinas.  I have eleven meetings scheduled for Tues-Thursday, eight of them are with people who have active projects.  Things are starting to get better for manufacturing plants out there in flyover country…

The only way to really stay close with some of your customers and find other opportunities is visiting them and seeing them face-to-face.  One of the greatest assets any small business has is the relationship that the sales pros have with your customers…

Once I get back home Thursday night, I have a quick trip to Memphis and Graceland planned for the weekend with a big Elvis fan!  That is going to be a blast…

Have a great week and talk to some of your customers in person!

Rob