Posts tagged motivation

“Did universal charity prevail, earth would be a heaven, and hell a fable.” ~Charles Caleb Colton

Hi all.  We are going to talk just a bit about growing your online business in the this post, but first – Wow!  I recently had the pleasure and honor of being recontacted by one of my personal heroes.  I am still excited about this and my posting to this blog was the reason that I was found at all!

Just a Bit about HomeClub

Some of you have heard about my time at HomeClub and all of the wonderful, and awful, experiences that I had there.  To recap in short, my first job out of college ending being at one of the fastest growing companies in American history – and I got to work with them from shortly after funding, thru rapid growth, thru massive cash struggles, thru their IPO, thru the death of a company president on the job, thru their acquisition by another company and thru the beginning of their death thru stupidity – and all of this in just a nibble over 5 years!  Wow!  Double Wow!!

One of My First Heroes

One of the founders of HomeClub was, and is, a man named George Handgis.  When I met George, I was a newly hired temporary worker, the ink not yet dry on my Bachelor of Science in Business diploma from CU in Boulder Colorado, and George was the Vice President of HomeClub.  George was already all of the things that I aspired to be:  He was friendly and genuinely concerned about the happiness and well-being of his employees.  (Thanks again for the box seat tickets to the LA Gran Prix, George!) He was creative and innovative.  He was a massive business success – an expert at rapidly growing a business.  He was elegant, he cared about his family and took good care of them, and of great importance to me at the time – he drove great cars!  This may sound unimportant, but let’s be honest, I still love great cars – I expect I always will! George became one of heroes and my desire to be similar to George Handgis became one of the reasons that I was able to retire the first time as young as I did.

A Worthy Cause

When Zayre bought HomeClub, and began the process of destroying their new purchase (I expect this was not their actual intention, but it certainly seemed that way), George retired and moved to Hawaii.  Of the many things that I am sure George is involved with, he runs a great charitable cause in Hawaii that has touched the lives of many people: The Jonathan Dale Miller Foundation. Here is an excerpt from their website:

The Jonathan Dale Miller Foundation

Jonathan was a very special boy who developed a terminal illness when he was 9 years old. Before passing away a year later, he was asked if he had any wishes.   He said, “I want to feed the hungry and give toys to children at Christmas that usually would not receive any.” His selflessness led to the formation of the  Jonathan Dale Miller Foundation, which does just what he wished for.

Our Mission: The Jonathan Dale Miller Foundation will establish the benchmark of how small charities should be operated.  We vow to honor the final wishes of Jonathan Miller of, in his words, “feeding the hungry people and giving toys (and clothes) to kids at Christmas that wouldn’t usually get toys.” There will not be any administrative  costs and 100% of contributions received will be used exclusively to help others consistent with Jonathan’s very specific wishes.

(Jack writing again: Now that is a worthy cause – real people directly helping real people)

“True charity is the desire to be useful to others with no thought of recompense.” ~Emanuel Swedenborg

Consider a Contribution

Some of you, after visiting the website of the foundation, could make a money contribution.  Please consider doing so.  (George did not ask me to make any contribution at all – I am just making my kind of contribution, at least in part, thru this blog post.) Many of you will not currently be in a position where you can make a financial contribution.  I understand.  Consider this instead: In today’s world, it is critical to be very visible to the online world.  What does visible mean?  For me and I hope for you, it means top of page ranking on Google and Yahoo for the search terms that most directly relate to you and your company.  For Jonathan’s Foundation in Hawaii, I would argue that high organic search engine ranking for the term: Great Hawaii Charitable Cause would be a beautiful thing.  (If that makes no sense to you, no worries, we will talk about it one day soon.)

Consider giving an Inbound Link

Here is a gift you can give almost anyone, anyone that has an online presence, give them an inbound link.  The more real inbound links that point towards a site, the better – the higher that site ranks organically.  So, for example, for Jonathan’s Foundation, the next blog entry you make or tweet that you post, consider adding this little piece:  “Here is a nice charitable cause that you might consider reading about: http://jonathansfoundation.org/”  Chain that link to the website and move on.  You have made a charitable contribution.  Use the terms “great Hawaii charitable cause” and you have made an even better contribution.  It’s as simple as that.  Consider doing that for any cause that you feel strongly about – it will make a difference for them – especially as the ranking of your own site increases.

What does this have to do with making money online?

It has to do with motivation.  If you, and I, are going to build a significant business online, it is going to take work and probably a significant amount of thinking – perhaps the hardest work of all.  Most likely, you will need to keep your “day job”, perhaps for an extended period of time, as you grow your online business.  Most likely, you will need to give up some activities that you enjoy, at least for awhile, in order to free up the needed time to grow your online business.  Most likely, you are going to need to move well beyond your current comfort zone, your vision of who you are and what you can do, and this will likely need to be a permanent change.  The energy to do all of this – the motivation – your why – this needs to stay in front of you where you can easily see it and stay in touch with it.  The motivation to do more, the motivation to make each day an investment in your future is key.  You will find this motivation in worthy causes – your own causes and worthy causes of others that touch you deeply.

“If you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.” ~Bob Hope

Come visit me again soon.  You are going to be watching me grow my online business live – day by day – as I convert from a 100% coaching and speaking driven income to an income that is largely driven by online business.  Watch, learn and please comment!

Thanks again George Handgis – wishing you and yours the very best!

Till next time…Jack

“Charity should begin at home, but should not stay there.” ~Phillips Brooks