Ethics, honesty, and helping the community - are these compatible with business?
 

You might not believe some of the things I've been told by various people over the past year. Here are some quotes, as best as I can remember them.

"To succeed in business, you have to give up some of your moral standards."

"If you are going to succeed in business, you have to rip people off."

"You cannot succeed in business if you are honest."

In all these cases, I politely disagreed. I believe you can be honest and ethical, and succeed in business. In fact I think that honesty and ethics helps with keeping long-term customers and business relationships. You can fool someone once, but once they know they have been fooled, they won't want to deal with you any more.

But it is possible to go beyond even basic honesty and ethics. Many businesses both help the individual customers, and by doing so may even help humanity as a whole. It may be only in a small way, but even a small positive change is a good change to have.

One example of someone who helps others is Gordon Alexander and his products. His "Chattel Report" showed many people how they could make money to help them survive and even thrive. Many people got their first real experience of being in business by following the Chattel Report (and I include myself in that list of people). Gordon Alexander's "Remote Hypnosis" is practically unique among products which show you advertising techniques since it shows you how to succeed without needing to HYPE.

Another person who helps others individually and in so doing helps on a larger scale is Michael Ross. He has many years of experience as a business consultant and through that experience he has seen countless business problems and helped to solve them. His insights into business which you find in his products are priceless.

I will also mention Julie Jordan Scott. She is a life coach and I am always amazed at her insights. She helps people to be more harmonious and balanced, and by working with individuals she not only helps them individually but plays a part in helping us all to have a healthy and happy community.

There are PLENTY of others I could mention who paticipate in this forum. While our specific businesses may be targeted at individuals, by helping these people through our products and services many of us are also helping the public good, as there may be many follow-on effects we may not see.

To take one example, it wouldn't surprise me if Gordon's Chattel Report could have helped to prevent some families going homeless in tough times. All the products and services I have mentioned here, and many of the products and services I am aware of which have been offered by Sowpubbers, have these beneficial follow-on effects too.

If you want to, you certainly can make money by exploiting others or taking advantage of their trust in others (some might say gullibility). Or you can sell products which most people might consider immoral. But why would you want to do this when instead you can succeed financially, while both helping people as individuals and helping the greater community as well? Of these options, I know which one sounds more attractive to me.

I guess in a roundabout way, this is my answer to those who told me that you cannot succeed in business without ripping people off or lowering your moral standards. It would be a very sad world we live in if that was true. Thankfully, it is not.

Not only can you be honest and ethical, but you can help both individuals and the greater community as well, if you choose your business with care. If you do this, you can do your business with peace of mind and a quiet pride in what you do.

Thanks for reading. :)

Dien Rice

Reminds me of an interesting book I recently read...
 

I recently read a book called Honest Business by Michael Phillips and Salli Rasberry. I thought the book was very good; but I haven't seen many companies that follow their advice. I'd be curious as to what others who have read the book think of it.

Most interesting for me was the chapter on "community." These authors make no distinction between working in one's business and serving a community -- in fact, they argue that the purpose of a business is to benefit some community of people. They present that idea in contrast to many of the current ideas of "marketing" -- that is, as I understood them, they advocate that instead of using demographics and psychographics to isolate potential targets, you find a community of people with a common interest, become a participant, and then work to make the community itself "advertise" for you (via word of mouth or whatever).

I don't know if that would work for every business, but I think the word of mouth idea is what some business people are trying to promote when they use lots of testimonials in a sales letter, as an example.

Thoughts?

-Phil Gomez

Why your promotions might need a rubber chicken
 

Hi Phil,

> I recently read a book called Honest
> Business by Michael Phillips and Salli
> Rasberry. I thought the book was very good;
> but I haven't seen many companies that
> follow their advice. I'd be curious as to
> what others who have read the book think of
> it.

I haven't read that book yet but a couple of years ago I read another book by Michael Phillips, "The Seven Laws of Money." I remember I liked it at the time, but I should re-read it since I have learned much more about entrepreneurship since then (through both reading and experience).

From what you say, "Honest Business" sounds like an interesting book.

> Most interesting for me was the chapter on
> "community." These authors make no
> distinction between working in one's
> business and serving a community -- in fact,
> they argue that the purpose of a business is
> to benefit some community of people. They
> present that idea in contrast to many of the
> current ideas of "marketing" --
> that is, as I understood them, they advocate
> that instead of using demographics and
> psychographics to isolate potential targets,
> you find a community of people with a common
> interest, become a participant, and then
> work to make the community itself
> "advertise" for you (via word of
> mouth or whatever).

Sounds like a good approach - thanks for mentioning this! I will find out more about it.

By the way, I noticed on Amazon.com that Michael Phillips and Salli Rasberry also have another book called "Marketing Without Advertising," now in its 3rd edition. (I haven't read it though.)

> I don't know if that would work for every
> business, but I think the word of mouth idea
> is what some business people are trying to
> promote when they use lots of testimonials
> in a sales letter, as an example.

I think testimonials work largely as "social proof" (to use Robert Cialdini's terminology from his book "Influence"). That is, they give the impression that lots of people like the product, and most people feel a natural urge to "follow the crowd."

One interesting book I am reading now is "Marketing Outrageously" by Jon Spoelstra. His approach to get people talking is to do something outrageous.

Spoelsta's specialty is marketing sports teams. One of the incredible ideas he talks about in his book was an idea to get people talking about a sports team by handing out free jock straps to every fan at games (each jock strap with the team's name of course)! Due to some difficulties in getting enough jock straps quickly enough, this particular idea was not implemented.

Spoelstra calls this the "rubber chicken" approach. It is like the AIDA formula - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.

Step One is Attention, without that the other steps are useless. Jon Spoelstra just likes to use something outrageous - like a rubber chicken - to get that attention. And yes, he has used a real rubber chicken before. One of his promotions to sell season tickets to fans came in a package connected to a very attention-getting rubber chicken. It seems to work!

Sowpub jock strap anyone? :)

- Dien Rice

Dien... Absolutely. It's the ONLY way to do go!
 

Hello Dien,

I believe high standards, honesty, and giving more to your client than he/she paid for is the ONLY way to do business... at least it is for Jim and me.

What I noticed in the past, when I worked for others, was that my standards for customer service was *always* higher than my boss or the company I worked for.

And it caused problems. My customers loved me, and my referrals were always numerous.

But, I think my attitude toward my customers were seen as a threat by my employers. ???

Honestly, I just couldn't lower my standards. So, I came to the realization, "Diane, I think you better figure out how you can be your own boss and run your own business."

And, with Jim's support, I did. :-)

But, before I did that, I had found out Tom Hopkins(the #1 real estate saleman in the USA) was going to be in Indianapolis. After making numerous calls, I was able to set up an appointment with Tom.

We spoke and he *highly* recommended several business owners in Indiana for me to check out that he knew personally. Also, he recommended that I strongly consider going into business for myself.

Now I am able to provide quality service, quality products, and give my customers the respect they deserve.

And as you know... it's much more fun when people trust you. :-)

Cordially,
Diane Everroad

P.S. Dien, sorry I can't visit your board more often. I started another business in Oct., and now my time is more limited than ever.

Now I *really do* wish there were 68 hours to a day... because there is so much I want to do! :-)




Want Results? You need a Proven Product!

Ethics leads to LONG TERM SUCCESS - while lack of ethics can lead to a "long term" somewhere else...
 

Hi Diane!

> I believe high standards, honesty, and
> giving more to your client than he/she paid
> for is the ONLY way to do business... at
> least it is for Jim and me.

Yes. I personally believe that people who do business ethically do the best in the long run. However, some people look only to the short term, whereas long term success in my opinion is a better goal. I think there is NO WAY to be successful in the long term except ethically.

> What I noticed in the past, when I worked
> for others, was that my standards for
> customer service was *always* higher than my
> boss or the company I worked for.

> And it caused problems. My customers loved
> me, and my referrals were always numerous.

> But, I think my attitude toward my customers
> were seen as a threat by my employers. ???

Yes, I can believe it. Being employed can have lots of limitations.... I always loved the idea of succeeding or failing purely on my own merits. While you may have to work hard to bring everything together, and you may have to endure hardships, when you succeed there is an incredible sense of exhiliration which to me has no comparison. I guess I'm kind of like a "success" thrillseeker. Succeeding, especially after hardship, gives me some kind of adrenalin rush. :)

> Honestly, I just couldn't lower my
> standards. So, I came to the realization,
> "Diane, I think you better figure out
> how you can be your own boss and run your
> own business."

> And, with Jim's support, I did. :-)

Diane, that is fantastic!

I don't think I could go back to being an employee, personally (unless I was forced to). I enjoy my own freedom to choose how to spend my time too much. :)

> But, before I did that, I had found out Tom
> Hopkins(the #1 real estate saleman in the
> USA) was going to be in Indianapolis. After
> making numerous calls, I was able to set up
> an appointment with Tom.

> We spoke and he *highly* recommended several
> business owners in Indiana for me to check
> out that he knew personally. Also, he
> recommended that I strongly consider going
> into business for myself.

Yes, I think finding good role-models and mentors is very important. :)

> Now I am able to provide quality service,
> quality products, and give my customers the
> respect they deserve.

> And as you know... it's much more fun when
> people trust you. :-)

That's very true!

> P.S. Dien, sorry I can't visit your board
> more often. I started another business in
> Oct., and now my time is more limited than
> ever.

> Now I *really do* wish there were 68 hours
> to a day... because there is so much I want
> to do! :-)

Heheh, I know what you mean!

Diane, some time I would LOVE to hear more details of your story and your husband Jim's.

For those who may not be aware, Diane's husband Coach Jim Everroad wrote the best-selling book, "How to flatten your stomach." I read that it started out as an article, and then became a self-published book, which became a best-seller!

Diane, I hope you can write more about yours and Jim's experiences some time. Success stories like yours are among my most FAVORITE reading material, and I have no doubt many people will be inspired by your story!

Thank you for posting, Diane. I have no doubt your new business will be a roaring success! :)

- Dien Rice