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You could have been born in Yemen

Whenever we used to see someone less fortunate than we were, my mother used to say, “But there for the grace of God go I.”

I’ve used this idiom with my own daughter. But, I’ve never interrogated its real meaning until recently.

I get to hang out with super successful people in my line of work. Many are grateful and humble of the largess bestowed upon them. But some are arrogant, entitled, selfish, self-indulgent assholes. They bitch and moan about having to pay tax and try their utmost to evade it. They look down on those less fortunate than them. They complain if anything is not up to their “standards”.

They’re confused and ignorant, of course. They think that their ‘success’ is there because of their own labour.

What they forget (or choose to forget) is that the universe conspired to make them successful.

Think on it.

Like you and I, they competed in their first race against 300 000 other sperm. Like you and I, they won and got to fertilise their mother’s egg. But we didn’t win, the others lost. Some were too weak, some got their navigation system screwed up and some were clueless.

That they even got a shot at fertilising an egg was the perfect storm of good fortune coming together.

How did their parents find themselves in the passionate embrace that produced them? What circumstances had to happen for this event to take place? What had to happen to their parents, and their parents, and their parents and their ancestors? But there for the grace of God go I.

Think on it.

How is it that they came to be born in countries like the USA, UK, France, Germany, Belgium and South Africa? They could have been born in Palestine, Myanmar, Yemen, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Syria.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must know that these countries abound in human rights abuses, war, starvation, depravity and utter desolation. But there for the grace of God go I.

Think on it.

What sacrifice did their parents have to make to get them in a position to be ‘wealthy’? What did those who came before have to go through? Who did they meet that gave them a hand up? So, it’s pure arrogance to think that they became successful because of their own efforts.

They should be bowing down every day and thanking the benevolence that got them here in the first place. Their arrogance and and self-indulgence should be replaced with awe and gratitude.

They should also not be deluded. Who is to say that the beggar on the street hasn’t found the path before them? The path of course is paying attention to sorting out the soul so that we can arrive at our final exam in relatively good shape. Who is to say that when a beggar who has found the path looks at someone rich, doesn’t say, But there for the grace of God go I.

There can be an argument made that the less one has, the freer one is. One has less to lose. And, one knows how to roll with the vicissitudes life throws his way. If you’re not used to suffering, when it comes, you’re not equipped to deal with it.

“He who flows with the changes that come upon him is free, whereas he who is reliant on things is their servant and existence owns him.” Shaykh ‘Ali al Jamal

So where does this leave us … the rich, the middle class, the poor and the destitute?

Whatever our station in life, we need to pay our taxes and make donations. These are not financial matters, but matters of morality. Would you rather not pay tax and go and live in Palestine? I wouldn’t, that’s for sure. Would you rather be the giver of the donation or the receiver or the donation. You know the answer.

And all, rich or poor have a moral imperative to look out for our brothers and sisters in humanity. Rich or poor, there is definitely a tax to pay. And, that tax comes in the form of awe and gratitude to the creator who blessed us with this consciousness. Because, “but there for the grace of God go I.”

And, it is because of the grace of God that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be right now. Both rich and poor have lessons to learn so that they can meet their creator with grace and gratitude. The alternative, regret and remorse, is too ghastly to contemplate.

February 17, 2018
Great artists crave appreciation
There’s one thing artists crave more than food. And, that’s appreciation.

All humankind craves appreciation.

The thing is that we were created to be appreciative by the great artist.

When he spoke his first words, “Let there be light”, he got the ball rolling. He called light, day and separated it from dark, night.

He was pleased. And, this was only day one.

Like all artists, God wanted someone to appreciate and be in awe of his great work.

So he created humankind in his own image to be in awe of his creation.

He saw the world through each one of their eyes and he was pleased.

Humankind appreciates little

But, soon he must have realised that humankind appreciated little.

So, he manufactured the original sin. Humankind fell from grace and was separated from Eden. And from him.

He brought darkness and separation to humankind.

It was only when humankind was disconnected from God that they realised what they’d lost.

And, ever since then, humankind has been trying to get back to their source and reconnect with it. That’s our real journey, today.
- If there’s not darkness, there cannot be light.
- If we don’t struggle and suffer, how do we know what happiness is?
- If we don’t struggle and suffer how do we appreciate it when the struggle and suffering ends?
- How can we be grateful?
- How can we be in awe?
Our greatest sin

Our greatest sin is ingratitude. We were given the perfect home and the perfect life. All that was required of humankind was to be in awe and gratitude for the great work of art we live in.

Humankind and its self-indulgent, entitled nature stuffed that up good and solid.

As instruction, let’s take a tiny event in time. The impending ‘Day Zero’ in Cape Town is almost upon us. The day the taps run dry, darkness will descend upon South African humankind.

Nobody appreciated the Eden we were in. Nobody appreciated the water supply. There was no awe and gratitude for this great blessing. Judging by the way we’re destroying God’s masterpiece, the darkness is only going to get worse.

Oh, you thought you were his masterpiece?

Maybe.

But, perhaps you and I are just meant to be the witnessers of his masterpiece.

And, if you believe we are his masterpiece, then we’re stuffing that up as well. Our smoking, drinking, drugs, avarice, selfishness and carelessness is destroying humankind.

Can you imagine how aggrieved we’d be if someone defaced Leonardo da Vinci’s, Mona Lisa? The world would be in uproar. We would find it hard to believe that a right-thinking human could commit such a terrible thing. Why, it could only be psychopathic degenerate who could do such a revolting deed, couldn’t it?

By that logic, then it can only be a degenerate who would stuff up his or her own body and the planet that houses it, couldn’t it?

It’s sad that we would be more upset by the destruction of a Mona Lisa than the destruction of our own bodies and planet.

Thus, we were created to bear witness to God’s great masterpiece. He sees every nook and cranny of his art through our eyes.

He painted this picture and gave us this story to enchant and entertain us. All he wants in return is appreciation. He doesn’t get that enough (or at all) so he gives us his great gift, the gift of suffering. It is only when we don’t have that we appreciate what we do have.

For there to be light, there has to be darkness. It is the way of things.

The trick for us is to appreciate every moment we have left on this plane. Let’s be in awe and gratitude for this great gift that we have right now.

God’s an artist. You’re an artist. Let’s celebrate and appreciate this.

Jacques de Villiers helps organisations, professional speakers, authors and entrepreneurs triumph through: sales training, motivational speaking and consulting.
February 7, 2018
Cujo the Alsatian

It was 1980 something, somewhere in Namibia (then South West Africa).

We’d heard that a new tracker dog was being sent from South Africa.

Finally, the big day arrived. The whole company came to see the dog. It was something to break the interminable boredom of camp life and walking patrols.

It’s handler brought it out of the Buffel.

It didn’t disappoint. It was an Alsatian. Majestic and mean. Barking and foaming at the mouth, Cujo-style.

I thought if this thing is let loose it will win the war single-handed (pawed).

Our other tracker dogs looked pathetic against its majesty. Pathetically thin, pavement specials … they wouldn’t stand a chance against the tracking and endurance of ‘Cujo’ (as I named him).

The fuss of seeing the new dog soon died down and everyone went back to their tents.

Cujo was kept in confinement for two weeks (like a boxer that is kept away from the soft living) so that he could acclimatise to the harsh Namibian heat.

One day we get the call … we need to go and track some spoor. It is decided that Cujo should have his first outing. We drive out to where the spoor was picked up.

He’s wild, chomping at the bit, ready to track and tear anything in his path.

Off we go, his handler battling to hold his excitement back.

Nose in the ground, sniffing the hot road, looking for a scent.

Two kilometres on the scent and ….

he DIES.

WTF

Heatstroke is a bitch.

February 6, 2018
Why our past narrative shapes our future

I was chatting to some friends the other day, and we got onto the subject of a peculiar and powerful tribe.

There are an estimated 67 000 of them living in South Africa. That, of course would be our Jewish brethren.

We speculated as to why proportionally they’re the most successful body of people on the planet. Just in case you have any doubt let me put it into context. There are around 2,3-billion Christians and 1,9-billion Muslims on this planet. Cape Town and Gauteng have a bigger population than the entire Jewish community worldwide which is estimated at 16-million.

The most powerful economy on this planet, the USA (although I think they’ve run their race and China is taking over) is considered the head of the world and protector of Israel. Then the Jewish tribe must be its neck. A neck that turns the USA in any direction it chooses.

It appears to me that in the main, they also seem to rise to the top of the social and business strata – film directors, actors, lawyers, accountants, doctors and dentists are some careers that come to mind.

What has shaped this tribe into such a formidable force in the world?

I have a notion that what sets them apart from most other tribes is their ability to endure and survive, no matter what.

And, they’ve had to survive a lot whilst they’ve been persecuted and hounded from one end of the earth to the other.

From as far back as 250 C.E. when they were expelled from Carthage a litany of atrocities befell them … forced conversions, book burnings, synagogue burnings, stake burnings, property confiscations, massacres, pogroms, forced to wear badges, forced to wear horned hats, mob attacks, executed, slaughtered and enslaved.

Nobody who has read the bible can forget that the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians for more than 200 years. And, once they were freed from the Egyptian yoke, they still had to spend another 40 years wandering the desert.

Just when they thought it couldn’t get worse … came the final attempt to eradicate them from the planet; the Holocaust from 1938 to 1945 where an estimated 6-million souls were taken before their allotted time.

This history of subjugation and suffering has shaped the Jewish tribe into what it is today – tough-minded, indefatigable, paranoid, focused and proud. No matter how harsh their circumstances, they have each other’s back, and they’ll carve out something that works and works well.

The hard question I suppose is did they have to go through all the horror to become who they are today? If it were easier, would they be in a different space, something like the Greek historian Herodotus said, “In soft regions are born soft men?”

The Brits

Let’s take the British tribe for example. Rome invaded Britain in 43 A.D. and put its people through the harshest subjugation for the next 367 years. Did this experience not produce one of the toughest tribes on the planet? Did this not in some ways prepare them for the horror that was Hitler? At one stage they were weeks away from being defeated by the Axis. But, they withstood the onslaught with the same courage and tenacity that they displayed against the Romans. That’s why today we all speak English and not German.

I think every tribe is shaped by its history. Those experiences become part of their DNA. Many tribes have a back story of perpetuating tyranny, colonisation, genocide, slaughter and slavery. In its quest to colonise the world, the British tribe has a spectacular record when it comes to cruelty (you’d have thought they’d have some empathy after their experience with the Romans).

10-Million Souls

America and Belgium (Under King Leopold II) are neck and neck when it comes to genocide. They made Hitler look quite tame. They each killed around 10-million souls. The former wiping out the Native Americans through plague and sanctioned killings and the latter, slaughtering mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters in what was then known as the Belgian Congo.

All Tribes Are Stained

Almost no tribe is without blemish when it comes to mass murder, subjugation and slavery. Some that can take a bow: Romans, French, Chinese, Spanish, Dutch (they had a stock exchange for slaves), Portuguese, Egyptians, Japanese, Koreans, Russians, Germans, Zimbabweans, Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaner. All these tribes and more have a stain on them. It’s a stain that plays out today.

Today, most tribes are still trying to dominate, subjugate and enslave other tribes so that they can better their lot. Most tribes compete for limited resources instead of collaborating so that everyone can win.

As Individuals We Compete

And, of course, as individuals we mirror our tribal DNA, don’t we? Most of us compete. Most of us want to win at the expense of the other. Most of us only think about ourselves and the short game and don’t give a damn about the long game and what’s left after we depart. We really do just pay lip service to the oft quoted, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Can we change our path? We can. Our history and our DNA shouldn’t just define who we are At this moment, but should shape who we can become.

Of course, there’s something more powerful than our tribal history. We’ve just forgotten about it and maybe it’s time to remember it. It’s called our soul. It’s older, wiser and more powerful than any tribal history. We’ve just lost our way, and we’ve forgotten who we are and who we still have to become. Connect with your soul now and hear It whisper. It has the answers you and I seek.

What’s your narrative?

Photo Credit: GetStencil

February 2, 2018
Find your purpose in 5 minutes
Find your purpose in 5 minutes with a pencil.

Do you remember Forrest Gump’s iconic quote, “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

He clearly had a smart mom.

I was writing a piece of text with a pencil the other day.

It soon became blunt and I had to use a sharpener to get it back into shape again.

In that moment it occurred to me that maybe our lives are like a pencil and sharpener too.

Let’s see if I can help you find your purpose in 5 minutes (and mine too).

Imagine that the pencil is the length of our life. When we get to the stub, our life is over.

A graphite pencil has approximately 45 000 words in it. If we get to the end with some eloquence and grace, we have approximately 70+ years.

Of course, the pencil can break.

That’s game over. Ditto for our lives.

A pencil can get lost and never found.

This means it can never fulfil its purpose which is to write our life story and make some kind of meaningful impact on humanity.

It is difficult to find your purpose in 5 minutes because things don’t always go according to plan.

It can get lost and found by someone else and be used.

Our lives don’t always turn out like we expect and through getting lost and taking wrong turns we still fulfil our purpose.

Just not in the way we planned it.

For as long as the pencil is used, it makes an impact.

Of course, with use, the pencil blunts. It needs constant sharpening.

Find your purpose in 5 minutes with a sharpener.

The sharpener is our intent.

It shaves off the wood that is not needed to reveal the sharp graphite.

Each time our pencil is sharpened it reignites so that it becomes useful and fulfils its purpose.

If we don’t sharpen our pencil, it remains blunt and eventually becomes useless.

How do we then keep our pencils sharp and make sure that we are useful?

How do you find your purpose in 5 minutes? The first step is to understand that we are here for a purpose.

We need constant sharpening otherwise we forget our purpose. Sharpeners come in many shapes and forms:
- positive attitude
- meditation
- journaling
- exercise
- mentors
- friends
- reading
- acts of kindness
- philosophy
- religion
- friends and family
The metaphor of a pencil and sharpener may not help you find your purpose in 5 minutes, but it might give you something to think about.

Every conscious interaction we have is there to sharpen our intent and remove what is not useful to achieving our purpose.

So, use your pencil. Take those 45 000 words and write a worthwhile story. A story that makes a mark and a difference to everyone who is touched by it.

Yes, I know, who the hell can find your purpose in 5 minutes? All I know is that you only have one life (unless you believe in reincarnation), make the most of it so that when you meet your maker, you can give it up with grace and not with regret.

You may not be able to find your purpose in 5 minutes – but whether it takes 5 days, 5 years or a lifetime of striving to find it, you need to give it a shot.
January 23, 2018
Professional Speakers Listing Campaign

This is a campaign that was aimed at professional speakers, trainers, coaches and consultants who need more exposure in the search engines.

Professional Speakers Listing Campaign was sent to a mixture of my database and LinkedIn.

Sales Landing Page: Get Found

Sent: 1200
Visits to landing page: 121
Conversion to sales: 20 (16,53%)
Secondary conversion: Speaker Services Another 10 sales.

Sales @ R1 200.00 per sale.

So, the conversion rate was good.

The reason is that I aimed at a very specific market.

Top Professional Speakers

I never aimed at the ‘top’ motiational speakers. I.e. Those that have been around for 15 years+. The goal was to reach professional speakers, coaches, trainers and consultants who are relatively new to the business and haven’t found traction yet with their marketing.

The Professional Speakers Offer

The main benefit is that the site will get high rankings over the next six months with the keywords, ‘motivational speakers’ and the like.

To do this, the site has to generate in the region of 2000 new pages in the next six months. All the professional speakers and coaches will be adding ‘original content’ to the the actual website.

The content strategy is combined with a linking strategy (both internal and external) and a social media linking strategy too.

The big challenge is going to be to get content from the business speakers coaches, consultants and trainers.

Currently it is coming in drips and drabs and I’ve only managed to complete Dawn Klatzko’s profile.

If you want Jacques de Villiers to run your next direct marketing campaign, build your sales landing page or tune up your website, please reach out and connect.

Have a look at the last direct marketing campaign website tune up. This one is still in play but has not worked as well. Will be sending it to a new database soon.

December 10, 2017
Executive Coach – Dawn Klatzko
Executive Coach, Dawn Klatzko’s profile page has gone live on Professional Speaker Services.

Of course, Dawn isn’t only an executive coach. She’s also a motivational speaker and author.

She’s written a book called The Art Of The Suit. She also has a keynote and a workshop by the same name.

The first 35 years of her working life was spent in the advertising industry.

She shares this hard-won knowledge in the advertising and marketing trenches in a keynote speech called Take Your Brand To Work.

Her keynote speech, The Art of the Suit Boosting is directed a setting you up for success in your business life. The speech will teach you effective, yet simple tools to become fully engaged and successful at work.

Dawn isn’t only an executive coach

Dawn has been an executive coach since 2012 after re-inventing herself after taking a 4-month sabbatical at the Amalfi coast in Italy. She has recently branched out into professional speaking. To this end, she has 3 signature keynotes:
- The Art Of The Suit
- You Are The Cheese In The Sandwich
- Take Your Brand To Work
She is driven to achieve goals and help other people achieve theirs. To this end, obtained her pilot’s license, speaks Italian and is an indoor cycling instructor (that’s her hobby job).

Dawn is a member of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa.

“Dawn’s ‘The Art of the Suit’ motivational talk is a fresh, honest take on how to survive in business. The insights shared through storytelling made them relatable and the success Dawn has experienced through these insights is inspiring!” Nicole Cunnigham, Lecturer, Faculty of Management, University of Johannesburg.

About Professional Speaker Services

The website was launched in the middle of November 2017. The big idea is to help professional speakers, coaches, trainers and consultants build their knowledge businesses. Jacques de Villiers is the driving force behind this venture. He believes that every subject expert has a place in this world and should have the opportunity to share his or her hard-won knowledge.

Professional Speaker Services wishes executive coach and professional speaker, Dawn Klatzko years of success in this amazing field she’s chosen.
December 8, 2017
Mindfulness

Mindfulness: Why do you play so small?

Mindfulness. This is a weekly newsletter I send out called Find a Path With Heart.

Here are the statistics:

Date: 30 November 2017 – 17h05
Sent: 653
Opens: 409 (62,83%)
Clicks: 73 (11,21%)

Hey Friend,

In today’s mindfulness article I’ll be short and sweet. Strangely enough.

Why Do You Play Small?

I wrote Why Do You Play Small? to try and make sense of my self-loathing issues
(don’t judge, I’m not the only one) ;-).

Weirdly, this stems from coming from an intellectually brilliant family.

A brilliant mind, a world-renowned surgeon and a mule breeder
(who also happened to run a little company called the KWV) caused all
the kak in my mind.

If you’re trying to fill big shoes and have small feet, maybe this
blog post will resonate with you.

Size Does Count

Help me out, please. My girlfriend, Celia really thinks that size
does count and I’m coming up short on that score.

She thinks that I have a big …

database. Yes, the one you’re on now. She thinks I have 15 000 peeps on it.

Shame, poor woman. There’s only 700 on this list. Only 30% actually open my stuff.
And, less than 1% click through.
If you’re in database marketing, you know how depressing this is.

But anyway, she sells teepees for children. Who even knew that it was a thing?
But, she makes more money than me, so that’s cool thing.
Except she wants to make more money and has been nagging me to send a
marketing mailer out to you.

“But, darling, they’re not interested in teepees for their children.
This is a serious business-minded lot.” I said.

So, now I’m on the couch. So, please, just go and look at her offer, you’ll be doing
me a favour. Evidently, she has some teepees on a special offer sale.
One of these Black Friday or Cyber Monday things. Just go and have a
look please. Oh, and consider buying one so that I can get off this couch. Go here.

How I Got My Ass Handed To Me

Because I’m so arrogant, I think I can do anything. So, I tried my hand at designing
a book cover for one of my author clients, Colleen O’ Donnell. Well my friend,
Deborah du Plooy from Skoobs Theatre of Books, said it was k#k.

She got me in touch with a book jacket designer called Gregg Davies.
Based on his work, I’ve decided to stick to my knitting.
He really showed me what a pro can do.
Go have a look at my effort and his effort. You make the call. Look here.

If You’re a Successful Motivational Speaker, Don’t Read The Next Article (working 10 days or more)

Most professional speakers battle to get found for keyword terms like “motivational speaker”,
“business speaker” and the like on Google.

I help solve this so that they can be found. Check out how being #6 in Google equals R70 000
per month in speaking and training gigs. Oh, there’s an offer you can’t refuse.
But it ends Friday night at midnight (tomorrow night). Then I switch the landing page off. Go here.

LinkedIn and Dux-Soup Experiment

I’m going to get the paid for version of Dux-Soup so that I can visit up to 1000 LinkedIn profiles a day.
On the free version I can only visit 100 profiles.
Supposedly, 7% of those connections I visit will come and visit my profile page. That’s 70.
If only 10% connect, that’s 7 extra connections a day. I can live with that.
So, let’s see if it works out. I’ll keep you in the loop. Speaking about LinkedIn,
check out my profile page – I’m experimenting with problem-promise-solution copy.
It’s been quite successful as I’m getting 10 new connections a day.
I’ve also had more than 3000 post views in November.
It may work for you too. Go here.

Find a path with heart,

Talk soon,

Jacques
082 906 3693

Subscribe to more mindfulness articles here.

Mindfulness

Whilst we’re on the subject of mindfulness, let’s figure out what it is.

Join our mindfulness Facebook Group.

Here’s a Wiki definition: Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training.

I think that more and more people are practicing mindfulness because their outer lives are a shambles.

This striving for status and money is a futile exercise to achieve happiness.

We are all striving for some kind of security, power, fulfilment and harmony.

We tend to focus more on the security/power aspect than on the fulfilment/harmony aspect.

As Etsko Schuitema said, “No amount of zeros on your pay cheque will fill that hole in your chest called insecurity.”

And, this is true. Striving for an having possessions never leads to happiness, does it. I’m not denying that ‘things’ make one’s life easier.

We all want food, a roof over our head and someone to love and be loved by. But the car, the house, the shoes and the like are like Will-o’-the-wisps (foolish fires) that are normally found in bogs and swamps. They lead the traveller off the safe path. As soon as we think we’ve caught up with the wisp, it moves on. As soon as we get the new car, that amazing ‘new car’ feeling moves on. Now we want another, better car. We want a better house. We want better shoes. We want a better wife. We want a better husband. And so on …

The trick to it all is to go inside and find inner happiness.

In my opinion, this can only be done through prayer, meditation and journaling (and maybe yoga ;-))

These 4 elements are an essential part of mindfulness.

December 6, 2017
Direct Response Sales Letter 1
I wrote this direct response sales letter to my email database of 646 people on 5 December 2017.

Direct response sales letter: Share the journey of a direct response copywriter. Sometimes great highs … mostly lows. But all of it is good and makes someone a living.

Date: 5 December 2017
Database: 646
Opens: 155 (24,41%)
Clicks: 17 (2,68%)
Sales: 0

Hey Jacques,

How to figure out if your website needs a tune-up

There’s a simple way to figure out if your website needs a tune-up
or a complete overhaul.

But, there’s a trick to it.

Go to www.google.co.za and type in the main keyword that describes
your business e.g. “motivational speakers”, “IT support”, “life coaching”
and so on.

If you’re not in the first 3 pages of Google (or top 30), you have some
work to do on your search engine optimisation.

By the way, your name is not a keyword.

“Suck on that, Jacques. I’m in the top 30, so take whatever you’re
selling and shove it,” you may say.

Awesome … awesome, email me … I want to know your strategy.

But, hang on one second.

Here’s the trick.

Go back to www.google.co.za and do the search again …

… but this time, do it in ‘incognito mode’ or guest mode.

This will mean that your history and search pattern is not recorded.

If you’re still in the top 30 after going into incognito mode, then
I will “suck on it” and send you an information gift for your efforts.
(send me a note to let me know).

But for the rest of us mere mortals trying to eke out a a couple of
leads from our websites, my proposition may resonate.

Let me use one of the many SEO tools at my disposal and run a
website audit.

I’ll send you a full report on the dangers, opportunities and strengths
of your website SEO-wise. I’ll then schedule a 1-hour Skype call and
walk you through the report because the thing is hardly ever in
language you and I can understand.
And, then I’ll help you set up a roadmap for getting your
website better rankings for 2018.

Ranking Smangking

Who gives a brass farthing about rankings?

It’s clear that both you and I should when you read following case study …

… if it doesn’t make your jaw drop open a little bit, then nothing will.
Well maybe another Gupta, Eskom, SAA scandal will (but there are so many
scandals that we’ve kinda become a bit immune, haven’t we?).

Here’s the story …
- A professional speaker friend of mine is ranked at #6 on Google for
  a specific keyword.
- He gets in the region of 4% of the monthly searches for that keyword.
- The keyword is searched around 18 000 times a month in South Africa.
- That means he gets 720 visits a month.
- Let’s say he closes only 1% of those visitors (I called him to verify.
  I’ll give you his number if you don’t believe me).
- That’s 7 speaking or training assignments a month.
- His fee is around R15 000 per keynote speech.
- Do the math (he earns around R105 000 per month).
- Not a bad pay cheque for having his website set up correctly.
So, look at your industry.
What if you could get an extra 7 deals.
Let’s be uncharitable and say, even 3.

What difference would that make to you.

My Offer

My fee will look like chump change on the return you’re going to get back.

So, check out the offer (and the investment) and book your place now.

Find a path with heart,

Jacques

PS. I can only give 10 peeps the offer in December as I’m going to
Cape Town on the 15th for a bit of rest and recreation.
So, it’s on a first come, first served basis.
From 11 onwards, I can only help you in the second week of January 2018.

This direct response sales letter is still an active campaign. As the opens, clicks and sales come through, I will add the information to this post.

Find out how I can help you write your direct response sales letter and sales landing pages.
December 5, 2017
Care and Growth: Let’s Challenge Modern Management Together

Socrates, the great Greek Philosopher, once said that the unexamined life is not worth living. I agree, but I also believe that unexamined leadership is just as bad.

Our Care and Growth One Day Executive Programme examines leadership and creates new paradigms that provide participants with a refreshing and empowering perspective on working relationships. To get in touch email info@schuitemagroup.com or call +27 11 867 0587.

Led by the founder of the model, Etsko Schuitema, this one day intensive, interactive workshop provides an inspiring overview of this management framework that has been used successfully in a variety of sectors from banking to agriculture – in over 26 countries and on 5 continents.

The Context

The purpose of the one Day executive overview is to provide senior management with an understanding of the fundamentals of the Care and Growth Leadership Model.

During the day, delegates will be taken through the ‘4 axioms’, which prove to fundamentally challenge traditional management beliefs. The result is an astonishing alternative to current conventional wisdom.

The Nature of Relationships

The very nature of the relationship between employer and employee as a trading relationship, as an exchange of X units of labour for Y Rands, is challenged. That labour can either be bought or sold is a fallacy. Also, this is not an exchange between equals because the employer has the right to ask employees to do things or to exercise power over them.

The relationship between employer and employee therefore is not a buying and selling relationship, but a relationship of power. The key issue in a relationship of power is not price, but legitimacy.

The Requirement for Legitimacy

Conventional wisdom holds that managers have the right to demand delivery because they pay a wage and because they are the boss. In fact this right is earned on the basis of very specific criteria. Namely, that the boss cares for the subordinate sincerely and enables the very best in the subordinate to be realised. Care and Growth are the universal criteria of any legitimate relationship of power.

Empowering Others

Growth or Empowerment has a very specific significance. It requires a willingness by leadership to entrust responsibility to people, ultimately to give up power or control. Empowerment in essence, implies an incremental suspension of control in order to enable the subordinate. In this process, there are three critical variables. The first two, the provision of means and ability, are the preconditions for the third, accountability.

The Role of Maturity

The product of the empowerment process is a mature person, someone who takes accountability and is held accountable for what they are entrusted with. The product of leadership is not a result, but exceptional people. The process of leading others, therefore is a process of enabling their maturity. Maturation is the process of the maturation of intent to give unconditionally, to serve. Giving is about being appropriate. It is about acting with generosity and courage.

The Program

If you are interested in examining leadership, discussing these ideas and more, then I recommend that you join us at our Care & Growth One Day Executive Programme.

Hosted at the lovely Thaba ya Batswana Eco Hotel, we have the perfect setting to challenge your current thinking, providing you with a fresh perspective on empowering working relationships that will help you and your team to achieve your goals.

This program has the potential to completely transform your approach to leadership and, indeed towards your life beyond leadership.

“Etsko created an absolutely excellent learning environment, he is a brilliant storyteller.”

–          Nthaba Sibanda

“I really appreciated the depth of introspection of the program and the redefining of concepts that we take for granted.”

–          Zayd Wadel

“Mature learning principles were so effectively applied. I couldn’t help but go on this mind shattering journey.”

–          Amanda Venketsamy

“I was amazed at how simple we can achieve success in our business. We just have to uncomplicate things by adopting the Schuitema Group Care and Growth model.”

–          Senzi Zulu

“The content & learning process has opened up my heart, eyes and mind. It has made me realize the importance of how leadership and power must be understood!”

–          Ibrahim Nana

If you are interested please contact us at info@schuitema.co.za or go to www.careandgrowth.com/events-list for more details.

October 17, 2017