Harvey Mackay makes it so easy with his sales advice!!
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Golden-Rule-of-Selling.html?soid=1101309807919&aid=pdLto2msYG8
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
A Great note from the Other Coast!!
Another GREAT post by my California Friend Jeff Kane - the Sales Friendly ex-CFO
http://kanejeff.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/should-we-be-happy-jerry-brown-was-elected/
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
http://kanejeff.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/should-we-be-happy-jerry-brown-was-elected/
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Celebrating Life!!!!
A good friend of mine commented recently and I wanted to share his great thoughts!!
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Celebrating Life!!!!
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Monday, October 25, 2010
November 2nd 2010 is 'Take Out The Trash Day,'
Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference inthe world.
Members of our Armed Forces don't have that problem." ...Ronald Reagan
IN GOD WE TRUST
Remember, 'Take Out The Trash Day,' Nov. 2, 2010
Remember, 'Take Out The Trash Day,' Nov. 2, 2010
|
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
WWE fans should cover up garb at polls | wtnh.com connecticut
What more insanity do we need to tolerate from people who feel they need to be gainfully employed in feeding us BS!
Maybe if they were laid off or had their homes in foreclosure instead of voting for more self beneficial perks they would see what was really important!!
WWE fans should cover up garb at polls | wtnh.com connecticut
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Maybe if they were laid off or had their homes in foreclosure instead of voting for more self beneficial perks they would see what was really important!!
WWE fans should cover up garb at polls | wtnh.com connecticut
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Skim Scam: Did Aldi Invite 11-State Coordinated Attacks?
Skim Scam: Did Aldi Invite 11-State Coordinated Attacks?
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Skim Scam: Did Aldi Invite 11-State Coordinated Attacks?
Written by Frank Hayes
October 6th, 2010
When a gang of thieves physically tampers with point-of-sale systems, the tampering is usually a local operation. But that may be changing. Discount grocer Aldi said Friday (Oct. 1) that it has found tampered payment-card readers in stores in 11 states, spread from the east coast to Illinois. The retailer said the tampering was only in a limited number of its 1,100 U.S. stores, and all those stores were clustered near 10 cities—but the stolen data is being cashed out thousands of miles away.That's reason to worry. Physical tampering with PIN pads is typically local because it's labor intensive. Thieves have to physically modify or replace the card terminals, which is why hacked terminals are usually found in a local cluster. This time there are clusters, all right—10 of them, stretching from Illinois to Georgia. Meanwhile, part of what made this $70 billion global grocery chain so successful—both in terms of European shoppers and fiscal profitability—could be playing a key role in making it a cyberthief target today: The scarcity of store employees.
The 10 areas hit with tampering were Chicago; Indianapolis; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia (including stores in New Jersey); Atlanta; Washington, D.C. (including stores in Virginia and Maryland); Rochester, N.Y.; Hartford, Conn.; Raleigh, N.C; and Charlotte. N.C. The retailer won't say exactly how many stores got the tampered devices, but a spokesperson said that they were found in only a "limited number" of stores, and they were probably placed there during June, July and August.
By September, the thieves started using the stolen data. Customers of a single suburban Chicago Aldi store reported $130,000 in fraudulent ATM withdrawals using their debit card information, according to the Chicago Tribune. Local police said most of the ATM withdrawals were made in southern California, in amounts ranging from $100 to $900, although some withdrawals were also made at ATMs in Ohio and in the Chicago area.
Aldi said that the chain has examined card readers at every U.S. store, removed suspect readers and tightened security.
It's not hard to guess why Aldi was targeted. "Have you even been in an Aldi store? There are almost no employees," said payment systems specialist Andy Orrock, COO of On-Line Strategies.
The chain's stores, which are all in the eastern half of the U.S., are the very definition of "no frills," and staffing is minimal. That makes it much easier for a thief to steal a PIN pad from an unattended checkout lane, or to swap in a PIN pad that's been outfitted with a skimmer, Orrock said.
And because Aldi only accepts debit cards, not credit cards, at most stores, the card information collected by a skimmer (complete with PIN) would give direct access to a customer's bank account.Still, if hacked card readers had been installed in one Aldi store, or in a group of stores spread around a single city, it would be unremarkable. But over the summer, it happened in 10 urban areas—and all the cases appear to be related.
Look at those cities on a map, and the striking thing is that they're so spread out. How could one gang of cyberthieves hit that many stores in that many areas at once, swapping the skimmer-equipped PIN pads in and out to collect card information?
Maybe they didn't. It may be that this really was a summer road trip by one set of thieves. It could be a simple enough process: Steal PIN pads from a few Aldi stores. Install skimmers in them. Distribute them to stores spread across a city and its suburbs. Wait a day or so, then swap the original PIN pads back in the stores, collect the card information and head for the next city on your list to repeat the routine.
If the thieves waited until their trip was done before using the stolen card information, they might have spent weeks collecting it without getting caught. That would explain why the money started being taken from ATMs suddenly—and thousands of miles from the tampered card readers.
These kind of physical attacks should be much less common than they are, and they would be that much less common if retailers were more meticulous about reviewing their network activity logs, said QSA-and StorefrontBacktalk PCI Columnist-Walter Conway. "There should be huge red flags in the logs if anyone disconnects a terminal. That should immediately trigger an alert," he said.
If the thieves are especially brazen-and come prepared with vision-blocking props and a couple of accomplices skilled at distracting an employee-they might be able to attack the machine without actually disconnecting it from the network. "Done properly, it should only take 5 to 10 minutes and probably closer to five," Conway said. "You solder a couple of wires and you put the top back on. You could do it very quickly, but you have to expose yourself."
However, on-the-spot tampering would also be very risky, requiring that the cashier be distracted for as many as five or ten minutes without noticing someone hanging around the unattended checkout line. Even with minimal staffing, that wouldn't be easy in a typical Aldi store with its shotgun layout, where everything is visible from anywhere in the store.
Truly sophisticated tampering might even include setting up the hacked card readers to transmit card data by Bluetooth or across the Internet. But that seems less likely. It's a lot more work and expense to collect data from just a few hundred cards at each store.
There's another, more unnerving, possibility: that there were actually 10 groups of thieves, one in each of the areas where the skimmers were installed. That would involve a lot more coordination among the thieves, and might signal far more headaches for retailers facing the prospect of gangs of cyberthieves who could hit stores in multiple cities at once.
Then again, cyberthieves are known for being found of Internet discussion groups so finding like-minded thieves wouldn't be that difficult, which would explain the wide geographies hit and the ease with which the numbers could be cashed out thousands of miles away.
The 10 areas hit with tampering were Chicago; Indianapolis; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia (including stores in New Jersey); Atlanta; Washington, D.C. (including stores in Virginia and Maryland); Rochester, N.Y.; Hartford, Conn.; Raleigh, N.C; and Charlotte. N.C. The retailer won't say exactly how many stores got the tampered devices, but a spokesperson said that they were found in only a "limited number" of stores, and they were probably placed there during June, July and August.
By September, the thieves started using the stolen data. Customers of a single suburban Chicago Aldi store reported $130,000 in fraudulent ATM withdrawals using their debit card information, according to the Chicago Tribune. Local police said most of the ATM withdrawals were made in southern California, in amounts ranging from $100 to $900, although some withdrawals were also made at ATMs in Ohio and in the Chicago area.
Aldi said that the chain has examined card readers at every U.S. store, removed suspect readers and tightened security.
It's not hard to guess why Aldi was targeted. "Have you even been in an Aldi store? There are almost no employees," said payment systems specialist Andy Orrock, COO of On-Line Strategies.
The chain's stores, which are all in the eastern half of the U.S., are the very definition of "no frills," and staffing is minimal. That makes it much easier for a thief to steal a PIN pad from an unattended checkout lane, or to swap in a PIN pad that's been outfitted with a skimmer, Orrock said.
And because Aldi only accepts debit cards, not credit cards, at most stores, the card information collected by a skimmer (complete with PIN) would give direct access to a customer's bank account.Still, if hacked card readers had been installed in one Aldi store, or in a group of stores spread around a single city, it would be unremarkable. But over the summer, it happened in 10 urban areas—and all the cases appear to be related.
Look at those cities on a map, and the striking thing is that they're so spread out. How could one gang of cyberthieves hit that many stores in that many areas at once, swapping the skimmer-equipped PIN pads in and out to collect card information?
Maybe they didn't. It may be that this really was a summer road trip by one set of thieves. It could be a simple enough process: Steal PIN pads from a few Aldi stores. Install skimmers in them. Distribute them to stores spread across a city and its suburbs. Wait a day or so, then swap the original PIN pads back in the stores, collect the card information and head for the next city on your list to repeat the routine.
If the thieves waited until their trip was done before using the stolen card information, they might have spent weeks collecting it without getting caught. That would explain why the money started being taken from ATMs suddenly—and thousands of miles from the tampered card readers.
These kind of physical attacks should be much less common than they are, and they would be that much less common if retailers were more meticulous about reviewing their network activity logs, said QSA-and StorefrontBacktalk PCI Columnist-Walter Conway. "There should be huge red flags in the logs if anyone disconnects a terminal. That should immediately trigger an alert," he said.
If the thieves are especially brazen-and come prepared with vision-blocking props and a couple of accomplices skilled at distracting an employee-they might be able to attack the machine without actually disconnecting it from the network. "Done properly, it should only take 5 to 10 minutes and probably closer to five," Conway said. "You solder a couple of wires and you put the top back on. You could do it very quickly, but you have to expose yourself."
However, on-the-spot tampering would also be very risky, requiring that the cashier be distracted for as many as five or ten minutes without noticing someone hanging around the unattended checkout line. Even with minimal staffing, that wouldn't be easy in a typical Aldi store with its shotgun layout, where everything is visible from anywhere in the store.
Truly sophisticated tampering might even include setting up the hacked card readers to transmit card data by Bluetooth or across the Internet. But that seems less likely. It's a lot more work and expense to collect data from just a few hundred cards at each store.
There's another, more unnerving, possibility: that there were actually 10 groups of thieves, one in each of the areas where the skimmers were installed. That would involve a lot more coordination among the thieves, and might signal far more headaches for retailers facing the prospect of gangs of cyberthieves who could hit stores in multiple cities at once.
Then again, cyberthieves are known for being found of Internet discussion groups so finding like-minded thieves wouldn't be that difficult, which would explain the wide geographies hit and the ease with which the numbers could be cashed out thousands of miles away.
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Sharing Jeff's Kane's Blog
Take a few minutes to read Jeff's latest opinion - an excellent read!!
Jeff Kanes' Opinion on Taxes
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Jeff Kanes' Opinion on Taxes
Pete's Place for All your Amazon Shopping!!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A History Lesson - Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire
This song & its title was answer to a Final Jeopardy -- only one person got it right. Question was (paraphrased) "What 1980's song do history teachers praise for its educational value?" Never could understand all the references on Billy Joel's song -- fortunately, with this VIDEO, given the picture(s), now can "see" what our "ears" couldn't. Anyway, checked to see purpose behind the song. Apparently, it's Joel's homage to the 40-years of historical headlines since his birth (1949). Wish we could have appreciated the depths of this song when it was released. Twenty years later, it's amazing what Joel was able to put into music and lyrics lasting only a few minutes.
Whether you are a Billy Joel fan or not, you probably remember his great song, 'We Didn't Start the Fire..'
Here it is, set to pictures... . It's a neat flashback through the past half century. I never did know all the words. Turn up volume, sit back and enjoy a review of 50 years of history in less than 3 minutes! Thanks to Billy Joel and some guy from the University of Chicago with a lot of spare time and Google. Top left gives you full screen....top right lets you pause. Bottom left shows the year. The older you are, the more pictures you will recognize. Anyone over age 65 should remember over 90% of what they see. But it's great at any age. If you have clicked on the full screen to start also click on full screen to end.
click below
We Didn't Start The Fire--
The guy who did this - yeli - made an investment of his time!! Check the links to wikipedia by clicking on an image
Taken from a write up by a lady name Karen -
Whether you are a Billy Joel fan or not, you probably remember his great song, 'We Didn't Start the Fire..'
Here it is, set to pictures... . It's a neat flashback through the past half century. I never did know all the words. Turn up volume, sit back and enjoy a review of 50 years of history in less than 3 minutes! Thanks to Billy Joel and some guy from the University of Chicago with a lot of spare time and Google. Top left gives you full screen....top right lets you pause. Bottom left shows the year. The older you are, the more pictures you will recognize. Anyone over age 65 should remember over 90% of what they see. But it's great at any age. If you have clicked on the full screen to start also click on full screen to end.
click below
We Didn't Start The Fire--
The guy who did this - yeli - made an investment of his time!! Check the links to wikipedia by clicking on an image
Taken from a write up by a lady name Karen -
"It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe." Muhammad Ali
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
A Few Good Sales Activities
The Certifiable Salesperson: The Ultimate Guide to Help Any Salesperson Go Crazy with Unprecedented Sales!
A long time good friend suggested this might be a general description of how a Salesperson works with Good Customers!!
Propose to the customer what he needs AFTER listening to the customers problems and concerns.
Offer an HONEST assessment of what can be done to resolve his issues.
SERVE the customer.
NEVER seek to “make a killing”.
FOLLOW-UP
to INSURE the CUSTOMER is not only satisfied, but thrilled with his relationship with you, your product and your company.
INTERCEDE at ANY LEVEL if the customer is displeased in any way.
RESOLVE
his problems, for they are YOUR problems as well.
A long time good friend suggested this might be a general description of how a Salesperson works with Good Customers!!Propose to the customer what he needs AFTER listening to the customers problems and concerns.
Offer an HONEST assessment of what can be done to resolve his issues.
SERVE the customer.
NEVER seek to “make a killing”.
FOLLOW-UP
to INSURE the CUSTOMER is not only satisfied, but thrilled with his relationship with you, your product and your company. INTERCEDE at ANY LEVEL if the customer is displeased in any way.
RESOLVE
his problems, for they are YOUR problems as well.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Kanejeff's Blog | "Help a Friend"
A Must Read - Jeff's "Help a Friend" blog for this week!!
Kanejeff's Blog Just another WordPress.com site
Kanejeff's Blog Just another WordPress.com site
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
What a Great Gift Idea Getting Ready for Back to School!!
Back to School is almost upon us. Many parents
, grandparents 
and good friends are looking for the perfect way to get the student in their life money for supplies, books, clothes or just to say "Good Luck."
Gift Cards are a preferred gift for all high school and college students, as well as their parents who purchase these supplies for their kids, young and old.
Not only can you help the student with much needed funds, but you can personalize these with a favorite Picture!!
And what a great back to school "apple" for the teacher's desk!!
, grandparents and good friends are looking for the perfect way to get the student in their life money for supplies, books, clothes or just to say "Good Luck." Gift Cards are a preferred gift for all high school and college students, as well as their parents who purchase these supplies for their kids, young and old.
Not only can you help the student with much needed funds, but you can personalize these with a favorite Picture!!
And what a great back to school "apple" for the teacher's desk!!
Safety Tidbits
Not at all about sales, but thought it worthy to share!~!
Please take a brief moment and watch this important message about seat belts; save a life and pass this on.
This is the new "wear your seatbelt
" ad the UK is doing – started by some dude not hired to do it, but because the cause is important to him, he came up with this idea, and now it's being hailed across the world as a ' beautiful' commercial.
The video has become so popular with the general public that people are forwarding it to friends/family
on their own so quickly that it has spread all over the world in a very short time.
GO TO:----> http://embracethis.co.uk/
Please take a brief moment and watch this important message about seat belts; save a life and pass this on.
This is the new "wear your seatbelt
" ad the UK is doing – started by some dude not hired to do it, but because the cause is important to him, he came up with this idea, and now it's being hailed across the world as a ' beautiful' commercial. The video has become so popular with the general public that people are forwarding it to friends/family
on their own so quickly that it has spread all over the world in a very short time. GO TO:----> http://embracethis.co.uk/
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A Real Market Man - Manager and Sales Frank Defina
Some people you meet in life really understand what the "whole team sells" thing is - Frank Defina
is one of those. When I met Frank, he was President of Panasonic
USA and I was a National Account Manager trying to work with our partners and improve our sales to them while improving their relationship with us!! Frank UNDERSTOOD!! Unique in that way and always memorable, he now has written a book available through Amazon and it is a must read!!
Just my thoughts!!
From Frank
To all my friends,
My new Book; "PowerZone Sales System" has just been published and is available on Amazon. Thanks to everyone who has influenced my life and career.
If you would, please write a review on Amazon's web page. I would appreciate it. The book is about organization of the sales effort and is not another "how to sell" book.
I hope you enjoy.
Frank
is one of those. When I met Frank, he was President of Panasonic USA and I was a National Account Manager trying to work with our partners and improve our sales to them while improving their relationship with us!! Frank UNDERSTOOD!! Unique in that way and always memorable, he now has written a book available through Amazon and it is a must read!! Just my thoughts!!
From Frank
To all my friends,
My new Book; "PowerZone Sales System
" has just been published and is available on Amazon. Thanks to everyone who has influenced my life and career. If you would, please write a review on Amazon's web page. I would appreciate it. The book is about organization of the sales effort and is not another "how to sell" book.
I hope you enjoy.
Frank
Simply Outrageous Advertising!
Harvey Mackay's Column This Week
Outrageous advertising 
for outrageous results
for outrageous results"Outrageous" is rarely a way we'd like to be described. It implies that we are way over the top, attention-seeking, bold, wild, defying convention, and a few other descriptions that we might prefer not to be called.
Apply that term to your advertising, however, and what you have is an over-the-top, attention-grabbing, bold, wild, unconventional message that people notice -- and that gets results!
Bill Glazer
, one of the most sought-after marketing strategists in the world -- clients routinely pay more than $25,000 -- is offering his outrageously successful system in a new book, "Outrageous Advertising That's Outrageously Successful" for a tiny fraction of his usual fee. It's one of the best bargains of the year.
, one of the most sought-after marketing strategists in the world -- clients routinely pay more than $25,000 -- is offering his outrageously successful system in a new book, "Outrageous Advertising That's Outrageously Successful" for a tiny fraction of his usual fee. It's one of the best bargains of the year.Bill wrote this book for the "99 percent of small business owners who are dissatisfied with the results they get from their current advertising." He summarizes his system in six points:
- Outrageous works. Why it does is irrelevant. It does.
Outrageous works in any media for any product.
People are bored and overwhelmed and want to be amused.
People love outrageous advertising.
Always be on the lookout for the next outrageous idea.
Discover that outrageous advertising is the number one most fun thing you'll do in your career.
Building on these ideas, he has built a system that works on ads in a wide variety of media, including websites, email, newspapers and magazines, yellow pages, business cards, signs, voicemail, trade shop marketing, help wanted and direct mail. He offers hundreds of examples as well as resources for even more ideas.
Bill has a very distinctive business card that I'm guessing few people file away and never look at again. It looks like a folded hundred-dollar bill on one side. The card folds out to reveal six quick selling points about what he offers. Even if the recipient never uses Bill's services, that card gets shown over and over again because it is so novel. Perhaps one of the people who see it will require Bill's services. Sure, it's outrageous, but it works!
Where do these outrageous ideas come from? It all starts with a headline, no matter what the medium, he says. Print ad headlines are obvious. In radio, the headline is the very first thing you hear. Bill warns not to jump at the first headline you think of: "When writing a marketing piece, I will never write less than ten headlines. I have written as many as 100 headlines before I have chosen one I wanted to use."
Bill says whenever he is stumped on an idea or just to get his brain working, "I look at a list of 350 of the best headlines ever written. These are great to turn into templates and create your own ideas. They serve as an Outrageous shortcut." So convinced of this inspiration, he includes 100 of his favorite headlines to get the reader started.
In addition to a killer headline, the ad also must contain an offer and a deadline. Bill's examples are clear, easy to follow and plentiful. He covers the importance of photos and illustrations, graphics and testimonials, which he says are "at least ten times more believable than what you say about yourself."
I was already pretty convinced that Bill knew what he was doing when I read his views on envelopes -- and how outrageous mail advertising starts with the outside of the envelope. The man must have been reading my mind! Everyone gets mail, he reminds us, and unusual-looking mail gets noticed.
In addition to all the good advice and outside resources to study, there's even a list of holidays (like National Hat Day) to connect your advertising to. National Hat Day? That is pretty outrageous. But if it helps you sell your product, would you still think it outrageous?
Bill describes his system this way:
- More outrageous gets more attention.
- Know your audience; don't be offensive but never be boring.
- You can advertise really outrageously in some really outrageous places.
- You can be really outrageous without spending a lot of money by identifying opportunities you already have such as an on-hold message, vehicles, signs, etc.
- You can be really outrageous by using the senses of hearing, seeing, feeling and even smelling.
results, you need to try outrageous advertising.Friday, July 9, 2010
Restaurants playing with iPads | Nation's Restaurant News
Now this is a great example of shared marketing!! Making the most from your ad dollars and "moving the cheese
" with the technology!!
Restaurants playing with iPads Nation's Restaurant News
" with the technology!!Restaurants playing with iPads Nation's Restaurant News
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Salesman with Business Acumen???
Seems like a strange thing, a Salesman who knows something about business?
Might be just an idea from times past or built out of an early reading (circa 1978) of one of my all time favorite books - "Swim with The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
" written by Harvey Mackay who created the Mackay 66 list!
It is even available today on your Kindle
!!
It struck me then, after really trying to gather that information for the 66 List (My first Database
), I might have to really know something about the business.
Might be just an idea from times past or built out of an early reading (circa 1978) of one of my all time favorite books - "Swim with The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
" written by Harvey Mackay who created the Mackay 66 list! It is even available today on your Kindle
!! It struck me then, after really trying to gather that information for the 66 List (My first Database
), I might have to really know something about the business.
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