A Christmas Story - Paulo Coelho

What is now becoming a Christmas Tradition, I received another story from one of my favorite writers, Paulo Coelho, which I am glad to share with you:

"Dear reader, As a way of thanking you for your support in 2009 and keeping with the tradition of the previous years, I am sending you the Christmas Tale I wrote for the columns I have in several newspapers around the world. May God illuminate us all in 2010, Paulo Coelho"

Merry Christmas (I know this is not politically correct but please accept it in the way it is meant - for hope to enjoy time with our family and friends and to give thanks to all for our lives) from my family to yours - Ray MacNeil

A Christmas Story



According to an old and well-known legend, a week before Christmas, Archangel Michael asked his angels to visit the earth. He wanted to know if everything was ready for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. He sent them in pairs, always an older angel accompanying a younger one, so that they could have a broader picture of what happened in Christianity. One of these pairs was assigned to Brazil, where they arrived late one night. Since they had nowhere to sleep, they took shelter in one of the great mansions that can be seen in certain parts of Rio de Janeiro. The owner, a nobleman on the verge of bankruptcy (which, incidentally, happens to many people in that city), was a fervent Catholic, and soon recognized the heavenly pair by the golden halos on their head. However, he was too busy preparing a big Christmas, and so as not to disturb the completed decorations, he requested that his heavenly guests to sleep in the basement. lthough Greetings cards are always illustrated with snow falling, Christmas falls in the middle of summer in Brazil, the sun was
scorching hot and the air, full of moisture, it was almost suffocating. The angels laid down on a hard floor, but before starting their prayers, the older angel noticed a crack in the wall. He got up, repaired it using his divine powers, and returned to his evening prayers. The two felt as though they had spent the night in hell, it was so hot. They slept very poorly, but they needed to fulfill the mission entrusted to them by God.


The next day, they went through the big city, with its 12 million inhabitants, its beaches and mountains, its contrasts, its beautiful landscapes and its horrible places. They completed their reports, and when night fell back they began to travel into the country. But, distracted by the difference in hours, they again found themselves with no place to sleep. They knocked on the door of a humble home, where a couple came to meet them. Lacking access to medieval engravings that portrayed the messengers of God, the couple did not
recognize the two pilgrims, but told the angels that if they were in need of shelter, the house was theirs. They prepared a dinner, presented their little newborn baby and offered his room to the angels. They apologized that they were poor and that while the heat was great during the day, they had no money to buy an air conditioner. When the angels awoke the next day they found the couple in tears. Their only possession, a
cow that gave milk for cheese, and support for the family, was found dead in their field. They quickly parted with the pilgrims, embarrassed because they could not prepare a breakfast.


While walking through the mud road, the younger angel showed his anger, “I can not understand this way of doing things! The first man had everything he needed, and yet you helped him by repairing his wall. Then with
this poor couple, who received us so well and kindly, you did nothing to alleviate their suffering!” “Things are not what they seem,” said the older angel, “when we were in that awful basement, I noticed there was plenty of gold hidden in the wall of the mansion, left there by a previous owner. The crack was exposing the treasure, and I decided to hide it again, because the landlord did not help those in need. Yesterday, while we slept in the bed the poor couple offered, I noticed that a third guest had arrived, the angel of death. He had
been sent to take the child, but since I've known him for many years, I convinced him to take the life of the cow in its place."


Remember the day that is about to be celebrated; since people didn’t give much value to appearance, no one wanted to take Mary in. But the pastors welcomed her, and because of that, they had the grace to be the
first to behold the smile of the Savior of the World.

Blog Management Is A Full Time Job

Although I have written many posts and imported some posts and articles, my time is very limited to keep a daily monologue going. I do my best to submit a blog post with ideas and thoughts, information of relevance to business owners and budding entrepreneurs that I believe are of quality and substance. For me, this means less than the average bloggers number of posts. However, to generate repeat traffic to your blog with a loyal following and to support any internet marketing strategies you have in place, Blog Management Is A Full Time Job.

A blog for your business website is a powerful tool to help with your Search Engine Optimization 'SEO'. But, you should consider hiring someone as an employee or by contract to work with you on the content writing and helping you to stay in touch with your customers. Otherwise, you come out of the gate with your blog launch fully committed but like many before you who have tried, you may fizzle out to nothing. This may in fact cause you harm to your online marketing strategy as customers may interpret your now stale blog as an attitude of lack of caring for your clients.

A blog is great if done right. Do it right by first seeking out professional advice from a specialist in Internet Marketing and Social Internet Marketing. For example; search out a WSI Internet Marketing Consultant near your business. They have been in this industry since the beginning and working with Small and Medium size Businesses Globally since 1995.

Innovation In Franchising

Here is a great blog article from Daily Franchise News on how franchisors accept or don't accept innovation from their franchisees Click Here

Smart Companies Flourish Online

The following article appeared in the Emirates Business online paper written by a WSI Internet Consultant in the UAE. Clearly what I read is that there is a gold mine of oportunity for businesses in the Middle East and North Africa to grow with Internet Marketing. This WSI Internet Consultant, Mr. Husam Jandel, and other WSI Internet Marketing Consulting Franchisees are in the right place at the right time.

Click Here to read the Emirates Business article written by Mr. Husam Jandal

What Makes The Web Different From Other Media?

I love the following image to answer the question 'What Makes The Web Different From Other Media'. A picture really can be worth a thousand words:

Retail Marketing Thinks Inside The Box

Many, many years ago I started in Automotive Sales working for a small two store but well established Jobber. My job was to sell automotive parts to the local mechanics both professional and hobbyist. I remember one day learning from my mentor at the time, Dev, who had me fill a big box in the front of the store with a variety of miscellaneous items that had sat on the shelf so long that the dust was making me sneeze with my every movement. I questioned Dev on his strategy of burying items people don't want into a box they now have to dig through to investigate what is 'on sale'. His response was simple and quickly understood; "people (mostly men in this environment) like treasure hunts". He was right. Every person who walked in the store could not leave without at least a quick rummage through the box. I watched over an over the items being picked through with most people walking out with their unique treasure.


To this day when I see a box in a store I still can not resist the temptation to explore and treasure hunt in the box. Another 'Retail Marketing Thinks Inside The Box' technique for moving slow moving inventory is to package three or more items into one box marked on sale. There is always one item that appeals to someone and the rest of the items... well, wanted or not, they are all an added bonus.

The next time you are trying to think outside the box in your business, exploring for creative ideas, ask yourself if perhaps the answer can be found; inside the box?

WSI & Make Child Poverty History

As Successful business owners we need to give back to our community. Kathy and I contribute our money and time to MS, Breast Cancer, The Princess Margaret Hospital and The Sick Kids Foundation (click here to donate to Sick Kids). What are you doing? Let me know with your comments. Here is a great example of a Canadian company leveraging their Global presence as the Internet Marketing leaders for business owners who are giving back to the world of children living in poverty. WSI & Make Child Poverty History.

Sick Kids Foundation

My significant other Kathy and I have started to support Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as one of our Top 3 Charities. Sick Kids in Toronto has a history of not only specializing with the best research and doctors in the world but also the best care of children from around the world. We provide monthly a financial support and now we have launched a fundraiser website. We started with a very low and achievable goal of $200. Our hope is that with your help and the help of our family and friends that this goal is proven to be way too low. Check out our site and help the kids if you can: click here

rantUout.com - Speed Trap Cash Grab

As many of you know, I just finished a 4100 km road trip down east in Canada and back through Lake Placid, NY, USA. Not once did I have a problem with the police. I also have a clean driving record after 35 years of driving. Yet yesterday I get stopped for speeding 2 minutes from my office. I work on a side road in a business district next to the international airport. This road is 4 cars wide but with one line down the center. It has no posted speed signs so as a result driving 81 km's per hour in what is supposed to be a 50km per hour zone as per municipal by-laws is defensive driving. In other words, if I exit my parking lot and enter the traffic accelerating to 50km per hour will get me rear ended or at a minimum passed by angry motorists flipping me the bird.

I have worked in this office for 7 years and it has always been this way. On my first day back at the office at lunch I get stopped doing 81 in a 50. I accept this and move on. What I don't accept is that the police nor the city have ever dealt with this street (signs, lines and radar) in the past or since I received the ticket. The net result is that they get my money and others money from that one afternoon. I now drive 50 km's per hour trembling with fear watching the fast moving car approaching in my rear view mirror and the obvious cursing of my slow driving from that driver.

To the city of Mississauga and the Peel Regional Police...don't use the street (Explorer Drive) as a one time cash grab. Fix the problem. You let it go for years and allowed a culture of fast driving to be created. Don't expect it to be stopped in one afternoon collecting cash from the safest of the drivers.

rantUout.com - New Social Media Tool For Your Rants

I'm working with partners to build a web site to collect your personal rants about anything through the many social media tools online today. You can rant about the guy in the coffee shop who can't place his order quick enough using your mobile phone with a text message and or a video. You can participate in an ongoing rant through the site forum and blogs. There will be categories for rants for ease of use. Imagine sending a rantUout.com of the car in front of you who just cut you off in traffic. How about sending a rantUout.com of the poor customer service you just received in a restaurant that builds the gratuity into the bill. What if, with your high traffic usage of ongoing rants, we could make this so powerful with videos, instant messaging, blogs and forums that a threat of a rantUout.com to a service provider was enough for them to fix your situation. Well this is the plan and it can be done with your help. Send me your rants so we can start populating the first draft of our site. Let me know your thoughts of such a great site that you can use for free. Keep reading my blog for updates on our progress and the launch of our site sometime soon in 2009.

Can Ethics be Bought?

Where do we get ethics? Can you buy them off a shelf? Can you be taught ethics? Do we get them from our genetic makeup or from watching our parents? All great questions.

Let me tell you a story of my early days in Purchasing. I was asked to sell off a large pile of scrap metal at our municipal Works Yard. I asked all the dealers to meet me on site to view the scrap and then to later provide me with a written quote. All arrived on this misty yet warm summer morning in the early 1980's. All but one drove near to the pile and began their inspections. One dealer however drove his dirty old pick up truck over to where I was standing. He got out of his truck beer belly flapping with gravity and his arm stretched out to greet me with a hand shake. I reached out my hand to receive him and stopped when I saw a $50 bill folded up in his creased hand. I asked him "what is that?" He proceeded to tell me it was a token of thanks because we were going to do business. I said, "keep your money, inspect the pile of scrap and present your price. If you are the highest bidder, we will do business". He did as advised. When I told this story to my Senior Buyer back at our office in City Hall he said "good for you. If you accepted the $50 you would have told the world you could be bought for $50." I was stunned by this. It suggests that we all have a price. His by the way is $1 million. I said I can't be bought. He said, sure you can. Someone just needs to find your price.

So what is Ethics? Is it black and white? Is their a grey area? Let me know your thoughts? By the way, I can't be bought for any price.

Holding The Cash Is A Great Motivator

If you ask a poor man to set his goals high and dream big he will generally picture food on the table or a roof over his head. Another man might dream of owning a 42' sailing boat. We each have different vantage points and therefore see the world differently. And as a result, we dream differently. If we believe this to be true, then how can I as a leader of my staff ask them to dream big by providing a chance to win a trip or a leased luxury sedan for year, etc. These are what I believe to be great goals from my vantage point. However, from my employees perspective, paying down the mortgage or stocking the fridge for a few weeks might be more exciting. So, what should we do to motivate staff?

Let them hold the cash. Holding The Cash Is A Great Motivator. Take it one step further and get them to think about how they would spend the cash. Send them on a mission to find it, touch it, smell it, take a picture or get a picture of it for their office. The dream now becomes more real. It is their dream. Take a picture of them holding the cash and provide them the picture for their office. This will become a great reminder to go out and get their dream. The system or step by step process of how to make it happen is important but, without the desire and emotion, their dream will never be achieved.

You Can't Make An Entrepreneur

'You Can't Make An Entrepreneur But, You Can Break One!' I was speaking to a friend of mine who has been involved with franchise sales for many years. Arnaldo Vieira has been a Master Franchisee and a Broker in North America and we were discussing what it takes to be a successful franchisee. What you first need to understand is that a true entrepreneur generally works outside the box, does not like to be controlled and would rather lead. They are also more of the risk taker. Most start up business owners would fall within the definition of a true entrepreneur.

A typical franchise business, a mortar and brick franchise, has a very tight system with many rules to ensure that a positive brand image grows and is not damaged. Imagine the true entrepreneur who is told he will be penalized for not opening on time or closing too soon or not having the toilets cleaned, the floors washed to the standard expected and the list goes on. Now, these are all important to ensure all the franchisees within the system benefit from this high standard. However, only a certain type of franchise owner works well in this environment.

This personality needs to be instructed and told what to do. Sounds much like an employee, doesn't it? The true entrepreneur in this environment will be broken. The same person who will succeed and, in fact, flourish with a system that allows them freedom will as Arnaldo stated; "...be broke". They will lose their initial excitement and passion and in some cases fail. A true entrepreneur is born, not made. Hence, what Arnaldo stated is correct; "You can't make an entrepreneur, but in the wrong franchise system, they can be broke".

As I have expressed in a previous post (Buying A Franchise...) follow my tips and make sure you know who you are when buying a franchise. Ask yourself how much control do I need and want and, how much freedom do I need and want?

A Franchise business is a great way to get into a business for yourself in an industry you have no experience in where you will be trained, supported and will not have to survive a learning curve most start ups go through to be successful in the long term. Just make sure you select the one that fits you!

Does The Internet Have a Future?

'Does the Internet have a future' seems like an odd question to ask considering I'm writing on a blog offered for free through Google Blogger and the people reading my posts are from around the world and in most cases I have not met or will never meet. The history of the internet is short in comparison to other economic world events and industries that have preceded the internet. Such as the first flight or the first land line telephone call. It would be 50 plus years for these industries to go from critical event to profitable business and industry.

The internet has achieved this in far less time. But, is this a Super Nova event like an exploding sun? Is the internet glowing so bright that it will feed off its own energy thus killing itself off? I think not. It is reasonable to ask these questions because we have no other historical benchmark. Our traditional thinking and views don't apply...anymore. The internet is changing the way we live our lives and as high speed internet, wireless and Mobile technologies reaches more and more people everyday, it is changing the way we communicate at all generational levels. Thus, it is changing the way we conduct and do business.

From a marketing perspective, the future of the internet might mean an end to marketing to demographic groups. For example; if globally our children and their Grandparents, regardless of culture, all use the internet for the same reasons and in the same way then how can user habits be different from age group to age group and so on. As a result, a new type of marketing is emerging on the internet; Social Media Marketing or Social Media Optimization. Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Linkedin, Twitter, eZine, etc., all fall within this category. This is where we are all going to and as advertisers we need to be aware of this and therefore ensure our marketing dollars are moving to the internet with the basics (SEO/PPC/Email/Web Analytics) but also learning and marketing in the Social Media arena.

The biggest message I have here is that as a business owner, the changes are happening fast, too fast for a business owner to do internet marketing without expert Internet Marketing advice, guidance and consultation. Search out an expert in your community such as a WSI Internet Marketing Specialist and beat your competition to the punch by not only maintaining your market share but perhaps taking some away from your competition.

A Cure For The Common Cold Is Found: 'Cold-FX'

The inventors of Cold-FX would never make the claim they have cured the common cold but I will. I don't have an army of lawyers telling me what I can or can not say. Bottom line is; I use the product and it works.


I started reluctantly and heard the many testimonials around me from family, friends and even the paid hockey celebrities but I did not listen. I suspect many of you will not listen to me and that is okay. The reality is that with a healthy diet, exercise and using Cold-FX as a preventative measure it will work.


I eat healthy, I exercise once in a while and recently started feeling the cold coming on i.e. sore muscles, sneezing, watery eyes, etc. I finally gave in and over one weekend the symptoms were gone and never came back. the amazing thing is that many in my office had the same symptoms and yet it lasted for weeks and in some cases they got better and yet it came back again. However, not with me. I was cured.


I will continue with Cold-FX as part of my daily vitamin intake routine and hope that my testimonial helps others remain healthy to keep running their business as owners must. If you have a great real life Cold-FX story I would love to hear about it. Add your story as a comment to this post.

The Holidays Are Over

The Holidays are over and for most people the New Years resolutions are a recent memory. It is time now to face 2009 as a reality and plan to succeed. But how?

First; accept the reality that there is more competition, great caliber competition, for fewer employment positions. If you have been complacent with your career to date and did not continually improve then you pale in comparison to others competing for the same job. It's not too late, get involved in community groups (great networking opportunities) and take an industry relevant class or two.

Secondly; if you are still currently employed, what are you doing to shine above the others in your company? Are you networking internally? Are you making yourself a valuable asset to all departments within your organization? Do your Seniors know your name in a good way? What have you done for them lately? Find out what hobbies or activities you share in common and invite them to a game of Squash or golf as examples.

Third; have you looked at self-employment? What better time to get into a franchise business and stop the bleed of your investment portfolio. Find the right franchise business opportunity in the right industry that thrives in all economies and you have a winner. The internet certainly fits that bill. (check out the WSI Internet Consulting banner on my blog) The fact is; 2009 will be rough and tough for many people. Who? Those people who do not Plan, Prepare and Practice what they plan. Be a leader and you can and will succeed.

If you have a motivational story to share of how you succeeded against the main stream in today's economy then please share with others in my blog as a comment to this post. We can learn from others which can become a great support network.

Also, my apologies to my loyal readers for the long delay in writing, I've been busy planning for 2009.