I also thought it important to inform everyone that all our newsletters are completely free again! They come out every two weeks. The majority of the time on Wednesdays. We are realizing that many subscribers are not getting them because of blocking issues from network servers. So if you are reading this and haven’t been getting newsletters regularly, please contact us immediately so we cant remedy the issue for you.

The truth of the matter is their is so much information out their and so little time that I wondered if anybody was reading the posts. Then I remembered a story my dad told me about how it didn’t matter how many people my grandfather tried to help and if they ignored or didn’t appreciate his efforts as long as over time you make a difference in at least one persons life.

I remembered a time after a seminar in Las Vegas that a long time business associate and friend told me that his wife, who had been struggling was tremendously impacted by my seminar. Coincidentally we were on the same flight back to Chicago and she elaborated on her positive seminar experience.

Then it dawned on me. I reflected back on that morning and walking into the room and feeling slightly deflated because attendance was down and I wasn’t presenting to a standing room only crowd.

Maureen’s sharing her positive experience afterward made my memory of that session uplifting. Perhaps if the room was packed she wouldn’t have had the same benefit. The complexion of the audience can make or break a presentation. Regardless of the circumstances I touched someone in a positive way and in return she touched me back by letting me know.

I am in the process of updating some seminar topics and creating new ones. It is my goal not to just entertain but to make a difference it peoples life. If you would like to know more about upcoming seminars please contact me by email and let me know what area you are in. I will be happy to forward you cities, dates and topics.

On another note, you may have not heard as much from Ron or I lately but be assured we have been hard at work behind the scenes working on updating the filthyrichcontractor.com website. In fact we have some big surprises coming your way. Check back often because you are going to see more regular posts. Write us something worthy of posting for you. You too can help other people by sharing your knowledge.

One last request, if you are reader of this Blog and we make an impact with you, positive or not, your feedback and constructive criticism is essential.

Thanx,

Guy

Finding skilled, creative, affordable web designers borders on the impossible.

We’ve been searching for a graphic designer who could create a couple of dozen minor images for our website. The design needed to be consistent with the color scheme of our new logo and banner. Most of the images were identical except for text.

My normal, incredibly talented and fun, designer was swamped remodeling her house and couldn’t get to us any time soon. So we had to branch out and find a substitute designer. Who would of thought it would take us three months to find one that was (1) qualified (2) available and (3) interested. We’ve got our fingers crossed he will work out well for us.

We will not bore you with the dozens of stories we’ve heard from contractors who have ended up being held hostage by their web programmer. Suffice it to say it happens more often than not. So if you have been suffering these types of problems, don’t feel like you’re special. You a member of a very, very large group.

I had an interesting conversation with a field guy the other day. My gym decided it was time for a  “freshen up”. New paint, TVs, ceiling tiles, lights, etc. The gym would be closed for 9 days while the work took place starting at 10:00 PM on a Friday night. Naturally, the contractors were allowed to start prepping Friday morning.

As I walked into the locker room, I ran right into the scaffold a drywaller was working on. He looked familiar and sure enough we had met a couple of years earlier on a large prison project. I asked him how things were going for his company – an outstanding union drywall sub that is well run.

He proceeded to tell me that when we last saw each other the company was keeping 225 field guys busy. Last fall (2009) they were down to the 18 senior foremen. Those 18 guys were the only field workers at the company. He felt fortunate to have remained fully employed the entire way. The company had since crept back up to about 25 field guys. Remember this is a very well run company, that enjoys a great reputation among GCs, that can perform both new construction and tenant renovation. Their work load had slipped 90%!

This is not a doom and gloom blog. Things are turning around. Just thought you might appreciate reading about the depth of destruction this recession has had on our industry. Even the best run companies took a huge hit and the impact was felt nowhere harder than on the front line.

Hope your world is considerably brighter than this company’s.

Ron & Guy

Anything For A Buck

He understood that his recent pattern of doing anything for a buck (AFAB) was re-enforcing several poor habits among his team – himself included. It was teaching them to act like typical me-too contractors who fight clients and designers every step of the way over every little cost add as he had no other choice due to the manner in which the jobs ended up in their hands (by being the low bidder).

All the result of AFAB.

Companies that grow do not pursue AFAB. They identify profitable niches and customers they can excel with and build their businesses around those customers.

That’s what my client is working towards and that’s what you should be working towards too!

I am not writing this because I am a Philadelphia Flyers hockey fan because I am not. Hockey is my favorite sport so I enjoy any good game. The importance in this lesson is to NEVER give up.

Even in game seven Philly was down 3 goals and fought back to score 4 unanswered goals and win the series.

The Flyers coach Peter Laviolette called his one time out after Boston scored their 3^rd goal. I don’t what he said in that huddle during that timeout, but it inspired his team to a rare comeback.

Some of you may have experienced a tough business environment. You don’t need to be one game away from elimination to motivate your team. How you handle leading your company when under pressure will have tremendous impact on your future success.

What is interesting to remember is the hockey coach doesn’t actually play in the game however; he brought the team together through adversity to help them win. You too can motivate your team to victory. If you want some tips on how to coach under pressure to rally your team give Ron or I a call for advice.

Here’s the short version: this man’s union local was requiring members who owned a stake in their companies to pay union dues and benefits on at least 40 hours a week…whether they worked it or not!

The local’s goal was to drive the small union contractor out of business so that the larger union companies would have less competition. Crazy.

Doesn’t our industry have enough challenges these days with the economy and all? Don’t the unions have bigger fish to fry than hurting each others’ business? Crazy.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you come across a hard-working owner of a small company that shares a nearly impossible to believe story.

Their are many talented individuals in the marketplace if you are in a position to add people to your team. Their are also professional interviewers who are seeking jobs. Unfortunately with this group you really do not who is going to show up to work once you hire them. If you’d like to know more about advanced interview techniques give Ron or I a call. We can help take the mystery out of recruiting and interviewing.

Being a master of technology, Frank made it nearly impossible to copy and share with others. I’m not even sure Guy has seen it.

The presentation is a real eye opener. Frank calls it “Core Influence” but it really should be titled “Your Perfect Groundhog Day”. Frank leads the viewer through an exercise that helped him finally understand what he truly valued and enjoyed in life. It’s a fun little exercise that grows more and more difficult and valuable the more thought you put into it.

Frank’s exercise is perfect for every business owner who isn’t sure what his or her long term goal is. What life he or she is striving to build. What the end of the journey would ideally look like.

Frank has never before made this presentation available before outside of the one package I was involved with. He is now sharing it with the world. All it takes from you is an active email address and about 60 minutes of your time.

To watch the video, click on the link below. You don’t want to miss this. Frank is always good for dozens of laughs and he is at his most entertaining and most thought provoking in his Core Influence video.

Click here to watch the video.

You can thank me later.

Have a great night (day, afternoon, whatever).

Ron

My heart goes out to everyone who has lost their job, but it especially goes out to our architects. Few in our industry realize how hard an architectural degree is to earn and how poorly they are paid.

I will never forget my first week in college. My dorm floor was flooded with wanna be engineers who were getting settled in to our new digs, getting used to a class load of physics, chemistry, and calculus and figuring out who our new friends were. We had all received a shock at the difference between our college courses and our high school courses. But we had it easy compared to the guy that lived across the hall.

One week into school, literally our first full weekend, this guy was having to pull an all-nighter. And guess what field he was studying?

You got it.

Architecture.

His all-nighters didn’t stop that weekend. He pretty much had to pull them for five years. That degree is crazy. It takes such incredible talent and dedication to earn and when they enter the working world, they get paid peanuts.

The article went on to mention a trend that contractors have been experiencing: even when you make a selected short list, the list isn’t really very short and it is filled with competition that is every bit as qualified.

Guy’s last blog entry mentioned that his show audiences had enjoyed decent years.  Those contractors probably represent a very small segment of the industry. The cold hard data shows that the implosion of the banking industry has taken a severe toll on the construction industry.

A lot of great, hard working, salt of the earth people are struggling to get by. Hopefully, the people in D.C. and on Wall Street can get their act together and straighten this mess out.

The interesting question is what are they doing differently?

I will be sharing in an upcoming newsletter some of the informal results I have experienced as of late. One thing I can report back now,  is that the trade-show attendees were serious about getting good information and intent on learning new concepts to help further develop their business.

Stayed tuned for my next newsletter in just a couple of weeks.

Guy