Hello, one of the companies we work with at Grunder Landscaping Co. and Marty Grunder! Inc. is Focal Point Communications. They are a very creative firm that handles all our printed marketing. They send out a newsletter via e-mail. The most recent issue was so good, so “right on” and so simple, yet brilliant, I wanted to share it with you. Read it and take a look at what your prospect sees and, by all means, fix what the client and prospect can see right away!

Click to enlarge.

Thanksgiving is the time of year to spend with family and be thankful. So, I felt it very appropriate for me to tell you what I’m thankful for and ask you what you’re thankful for. Here are just some of the things I’m thankful for:

1).	My family. I have a wonderful wife and 4 healthy children who try very hard in school and hopefully are on their way to being successful in life. My Mom and Stepdad Tom are doing great and my brother still makes me laugh even though he lives far away and my sister still amazes me with her talents.
2).	My good health.
3).	The 40 or so people that make up my 2 companies. (Photo #5) I am reminded constantly that alone I can’t get anywhere but together we’ll go anywhere we want to go.
4).	The thousands of clients I have in my 2 companies. Can’t get anywhere without clients; this includes most of you!
5).	I am thankful for this country and the freedoms we have.
6).	I am thankful for you; you let me come into your world for a few minutes each week and that means a lot to me.

What are you thankful for? Please share your comments below; if we get 50 or more comments, I will sponsor a young person in Mexico for a year. My family already sponsors a young lady and we enjoy it very much. So, share what you’re thankful for and another young person in Mexico will get meals to eat, clothes to wear and an education.

Happy Thanksgiving!

	1) Mark Sanborn’s The Fred Factor. There is not a better book written on the subject of passion in the workplace. The book is an easy read and one you should read with your whole management team. There’s a reason that it’s an international best seller! My best students know I follow Mark religiously and have even had him speak at one of my Boot Camps. Expect to see him again; he’s had an enormous influence on my business! Buy it by clicking here.
	2) Joe Calloway’s Becoming a Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison. Calloway makes the point in this best-selling book that you have to be different to be successful in business. All small business owners need to read this book and come to GROW! 2011 to meet Joe and see him speak. I read his book several years ago and searched him out to help me and, man, has he ever helped me! Buy the book by clicking here; better yet, come see Joe live and in person.
	3) William H. Matthews Ph.D., Don’t Step in the Entremanure! This is a little, simple book but it’s a dandy. If you’re looking for a book that will help you systematize and organize your business, this is the book for you. I subscribe to the theory that all planning is good. This book proves it. At my urging Dr. Matthews has worked with a countless number of my clients and he has helped me for the past 11 years. Get his book by clicking here.

Three books that you need to buy and inhale and read again. They helped me. I hope that’s enough reason for you to just go buy all three books today. I know you’ll see why I love the books as soon as you read them.

Here are a few quick tips to help you with managing your time:

1. Do a To-Do List for the next day the night before. This is so simple and you’ve heard it a million times, yet for some reason many don’t use one. They instead go to work each day, look around and just let things happen. When you do that, you will not use your time wisely. Try this suggestion for one week and you’ll see its value quickly.
2. Delegate simple items that others can do; focus on what you do best. I used to drive to the Dry Cleaners, go to the Bank, go to the Post Office, and Drive the Delivery Truck. (The latter I would do because I wanted to.) At a certain point, we have to understand what the best use of our time is and do that. Do you know how you make your company or your department the most money? If you know what that is, do it and delegate the rest.
3. Take an hour each week and sit in a quiet place with a blank sheet of paper and think about what you need to do. I find this simple exercise to really help me get focused. There is a misconception and a hesitation on entrepreneurs’ parts to feel they have to constantly be doing something, when in reality, doing nothing for an hour will help you tremendously. You clear out your head, get focused, and in most cases see clearly what you need to do.

I hope these tips help you!

Talk to you next week.

PS – I am strongly considering a private one-day sales/marketing meeting for a select few clients in Dayton, Ohio. If there is enough interest, we’ll do it. It is limited to approximately 30 people and it is going to cost $495 bucks. There will be a VIP option, for an additional charge, that entails a quick tour of Grunder Landscaping the day before and dinner at my house, where we will be able to spend time talking about your business and answering your questions. If you are interested in attending, it will be Tuesday, December 7th (VIP on December 6th), and it will cover sales strategies and sale management for Landscapers as well as marketing. Everyone that attends will leave with a marketing plan for their company. If you are interested in being invited to this, please reply to this e-mail. First-come, first-served.