Randall Blaum's Marketing Blog

5 Tips for turning national publicity into your own local gold mine

National Publicity in Your Local Market

Once you start being interviewed especially on radio, since you can do radio interviews on any station in the country from the comfort of your living room, your name will start to appear on the radar of the regional and national press.  So the question is, should you do national media and how do your turn this into more free publicity in your local market?

As the old saying goes any publicity is good publicity, unless it’s an obituary. Therefore, any national publicity you receive can only help you get more publicity in your local market. The sample here is just one piece of regional exposure that we used to create hundreds of local articles and electronic media exposures, which led to thousands of internet exposures.

If you are an infopreneur, or are able to do business country or worldwide, go after as much national publicity as possible.  It will elevate you to expert status faster than you thought possible which will translate into more visibility for your business.

If you only do business in a local market, and national exposure won’t necessarily lead to direct sales or awareness of you and your business unless someone in your local market happens upon the national story, there’s still benefit to be gained. The 5 tips for turning national publicity into a local gold mine are:

Randall's Goldmine Tip #1
If you do a regional or national print interview, get reprints made of the article and pass them around to your clients.  You may also use these reprints to entice prospects because you will be seen as an expert due to the national coverage.  It’s also a way for you to tell everyone about your accomplishments.  If your interview was on the radio or TV, get a local media clip service to get you copies of the interview and send them out.

Randall's Goldmine Tip #2
Once you get national exposure (an any exposure for that matter) You can cite "as seen in (or on)" in all of your advertising, e-mail signatures, and point-of-purchase marketing. "As seen in Time magazine" or even “As seen on News Channel 8” can give you tremendous credibility and set you apart from your competition in a big way.

Randall's Goldmine Tip #3
National publicity leads to more national interviews on TV, radio and so on and this can be followed up by even more free publicity; it starts feeding on itself. If it doesn't automatically come as a result of the original publication, you can generate press releases talking about your press releases. For example: "XYZ Co., a local company, was recently featured in the national business publication Fortune magazine. Mr. Smith is available for interviews, on-air appearances and visits."

Randall's Goldmine Tip #4
National publicity can give you an air of celebrity status in your market. This will truly separate you from your competition. Rarely are there two celebrities in the same market from the same business. There is only room for one, and it might as well be you.

Randall's Goldmine Tip #5
National interviews can be taped and distributed to clients and prospects. These can be offered for sale or as a free incentive to get people to contact you or to send in for more information. These leads can then be followed up with sales calls and closed for eventual sales.

These are just a few ways national publicity can aid your business in your local market. In some cases, it may even give a local business the impetus to consider taking the business to a more national level or at least investigate the feasibility of a regional business.

You should be using multiple strategies that work well together, offer results and raise awareness for you and your company.  These strategies are a great place to start and will bring you great notoriety and increased revenues if you create a good public relations strategy, write killer press releases and follow up with the media.

I am yours in success,
Randall

Free Publicity and the Radio or Television Interview

Success Strategies for Maximizing Your On-Air Time

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked these questions:

“How do I get free publicity on the radio and television?”
“Help!  I just got a radio (or TV) interview, what do I talk about?”

Don’t panic.  Just like getting your press release into a publication so they can write a story about you, radio and TV publicity is just another form of free advertising if you know how to play the game the right way. And just like publicity in a publication, some of the same considerations must be given to radio and television publicity.

First, your information needs to be newsworthy, or if the radio or TV program is a talk show, you and your topic need to be interesting and relevant. In radio, for instance, your interview must be interesting to their specific "listenership." You don't interview a tractor salesman on a show about cooking pies. And just like the print media, interviews and news items for the radio and TV are generated by your killer press releases—so don't forget to add your local radio and TV stations to your press release distribution list.

WEALTH TIP:  The way to generate as many radio and TV interviews as possible is to attach a list of frequently asked questions to your release that are pertinent to the topic.   This actually become the “cheat sheet” that the host may go by to help them give you a great interview.

In just about every situation, the host of the radio or TV show will read from your list of questions (or use the list as a place to start) and lead you through the discussion of your topic. The reason they do this is because they almost never have enough time to totally research your topic and they are depending on you for the direction of the conversation.  One thing to remember, regardless of the questions the host decides to use, is that you must always deliver your key message(s).

WARNING: When you get a radio or TV interview and if make the biggest mistake in the history of the word and you turn the interview into an on-air sales pitch, consider it your last interview at that station.  I assure you it is 100% guaranteed to turn off the audience and will upset the host and producer.  Stick to the topic, don’t sell, and make sure to use the three main points of your public relations strategy so that the audience will remember you and your key points.

Prepare yourself for curve balls thrown by the host. Don't expect him or her to read your FAQ sheet verbatim or go in a specific order. Practice this strategy with someone you know, much like you would practice for a vocabulary or other test. In order to be perceived as a professional try not to say, "That's a good question" if you’re “thrown a curve ball” by the host.  That usually implies that your answer will not be as good as expected.

When you are being interviewed, you’re considered the expert on your topic, so talk with confidence and use facts. Tentative answers and conjecture will ruin the interview and you’ll never be called back.  In this vein, it's OK to say, "I'm not sure about the answer to that" or "I don't know." Just make sure you use this as an opportunity to bring the host back to your key points and messages.

A great way to kill the interview is to answer a question from the host with a question. The fact is, the host wants to do less work than you during the interview and doesn’t want to start answering your questions. Make it easy for them and make it interesting.  This is YOUR interview, not there's.  In most cases, this strategy makes for an unhappy host. And take it is fact, a happy host is a good friend to have in the radio and TV publicity business (they’ll give you more free publicity).

Practicing your message and knowing your content is important because even though you are prepared and you have your list of questions, a question could (and will) come your way that will totally throw you off guard.  Stay flexible and “go with the flow.”

WEALTH TIP: If the interview is scheduled in advance, don't forget to issue a press release announcing your time slot on the station. This will double the effect of your Amazing Free Publicity.  You can send this type of release to all of your lists as well.  Can only build your credibility with them.

The great news for you and your business is that radio and television stations have a lot of time to fill. Listen to how many subjects they cover during a particular time slot on the radio. Multiply this by all the radio and TV stations in the country and the time slots during the day. There's a greater demand for radio and TV appearances that generate free publicity than you think.

As we have talked before, contacting the producer of each show via a press release is the start of your radio and TV media relationships. The good news is if you're good in your interview, the producer will be asking you back.  You can also start this process with a phone call, or email.

One way to get on the producer’s “good side” is to offer yourself as an emergency backup if a particular guest doesn't show up for their interview.   (This same free publicity strategy works for radio and television.) This means that the producer can call you just about any time and ask you to “fill in” for a missing guest.  It’s a super easy way to have your free publicity machine go into overdrive.

Free radio and television publicity is out there for the asking and the taking. Honing your skills on how to ask (and take) will make you seem like a professional, publicize your business, and add to your media status.

I am yours in success,

Randall

p.s.  For all of you that asked, I will do additional follow ups on previous campaigns over the next few days.  I had no idea they would be so popular.

Per Your Request... Randall Blaum is Finally Showing it All...

Hi everyone,

I hope the 1st brought with it success for you all.

I have had many people over the years ask to see examples of my past ad and marketing campaigns as well as some more detailed information on me, my family and the like.  I normally do not post this kind of material, but I have been told my ideas are great and the way I put 2 and 2 together helps many of my readers.

So, to that end, and to help all of you have a better undertanding of how some killer marketing and adverising can work, I have opened a Flickr account where you can view quite a few, but by no means any where near all, of my ad campaigns, and other photos.  Go to www.flickr.com/randallblaum to start viewing.

And, I have also added a Facebook account.  Some of the photos are the same in both places, but please go to Facebook and sign up as a friend.  Happy 2009 and I'll have a reguular markeitng blog for you later today.

Best-
Randall

Using Twitter Backgrounds to Promote Yourself

Good New Years to you all.  Over the past several weeks people have been asking me a lot of questions about Twitter and how I do what I do within the Twitter environment.  For my final blog of 2008 I’d like to share with you a theory of mine about Twitter, which as evidenced by the number of direct messages I get seems to work.  The theory is that the more often you change the background on your Twitter home page, the often people come back to look at what you are doing now.

This is similar to why department stores change their window displays and why new commercials come out for the same product.  Keep ‘em guessing and keep ‘em coming back.  I have started a test on Twitter and have changed my backgrounds five or six times in the past few weeks.  Each time I make a change I get comments, so for 2009 I will change the background once a week and make a game out it.  I will offer prizes and incentives as well, so make sure you follow my tweets at www.twitter.com/randallblaum.

Here are just a few of the Twitter backgrounds I have used in the recent past, why I chose to create that background and what results came from the usage of the background.

This was the first background I used to get me going and to identify me with Hollywood, in which I have spent almost 30 years working with and promoting A-list stars like Madonna, Paula Abdul, George Lucas and all of the major Hollywood studios as well.  I have helps to create hundreds of marketing campaigns that are still being seen 'till this day around the world.

This background was used for the week that we launched the new KickBrix Energy Chew nationwide.  Since we were launching to retail as well as affiliates on the internet, this was a good billboard at no cost to me and it attracted several high-end affiliates that did not know about KickBrix until they saw my background.

This background is on my Twitter.com/RBlaum experience and is dedicated to helping people dump their credit card and other debts.
I directed a major motion picture a couple of years ago called UR Pre-Approved and it was about how the credit card companies and our own government want us in debt and how you can beat that system.  It is now available at www.urpreapproved.com on DVD.

This one is pretty straight forward.  A holidday background for the week prior to Christmas.  Note the photo I used of me is the one from my trek to Mount Everest Base Camp... A foreshadow of things to come (this week's background).

This background again brings in my ties to Hollywood and also shows a lighter side of Randall with the photo of me looking up and the coat over my shoulder.  This lets people know I'm not un-reachable, although most people cannot get hold of me without going through my assistant, Jolene.  In fact, one of the only ways for people to get hold of me wihtout going through the front door (this is a big tip) is to respond to items in this blog.  I read every comment and I try to respond to as many as I can.

Which brings me to the final background for 2008; me at the Mount Everest Base Camp.  This is to not only celebrate a huge accomplishment of mine, but also to lay the groundwork for upcoming themes I shall use for my backgrounds, which will lead people to be even more interested in what I am up to, which should translate into sales in the long term. 

For me, it's all about experiences, not just about the content and through lots of testing I have found that people enjoy the way I write, but also the way I use photos, videos, and audio squibs to enhance their experience with me.

Have a safe New Year and I am yours in success,

Randall

Twitter... Tweets... Terriffic...

Happy Thursday!

If you are interested in selling your products online, getting our of debt, writing a book, becoming famous, or just plain 'ol making some cash, join me on twitter.  The people I am in conversation with are seriously going after new business.  So, you can see what I;m up to on a day-to-day basis, but you can also learn for free how to do and what to do to create new business for yourself.  Go tohttp://twitter.com/RandallBlaum to follow me and get the goods from all the people I work and partner with.

Best-
Randall

Follow Me on Twitter

Hi Everyone, 

For the past several weeks I have been getting requests from people for me to allow a closer look at my thought process, the actions I take during certain processes, and to get an inside look at how and why I do what I do. 

Because of these requests, I have joined Twitter and can communicate with all of you in the short form that Twitter offers.  So with that, if you would like to follow what I do, how I do it, and get it unfiltered, simply click on the link here:  http://twitter.com/RandallBlaum and you'll get instant access.  Join Twitter and see who else is there, too.  You can join the conversation, and people will follow you, too.

Have a super weekend and I am yours in success,

Randall

Credit Card Fine Print Will Get You Every Time

Asterisks and small print in huge nonsensical  paragraphs are the bane of your existence, right?  You know what I'm talking about.  You see it on store signs  that scream "EVERYTHING 50% OFF*" from the windows.  You see the dreaded asterisk and go to the bottom of the sign to find: "*except whatever it is you wanted to buy. " Okay, so maybe it doesn't say that, but it might as well.  Here, at the bottom of the poster, on the back of the brochure and in 4 point type on the back of your credit card offer lives the fine print, the dragon, or beast that you cannot slay and yet is in waiting for you to make one simple mistake and then pounce!

So what is an ordinary person to do?  We get bombarded with small print everyday. I.e., blackout days for frequent flier tickets, discounts that really don't exist, and don't even get me started on the car industry which is second to one (the credit card industry) when it comes to small print.

Have you ever taken the time to read the small print with your credit card?  During the filming of the movie, "UR Pre-Approved" I interviewed Dr. Elizabeth Warren, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and she had dozens of "3-L" students (almost lawyers) try to figure out the answers to some questions on the small print of a credit card agreement and these almost-lawyers got just one answer right and never got any other answer to any of their questions...and they're lawyers!  So what chance do you have?  None.  Zip.  Zilch.  Bupkiss.

To try and go over this material in a blog is almost impossible, but PBS's Frontline program did an "inside the credit card industry program a couple of years ago and it had some very interesting information on what is inside all that small print.  Here is a link to the PBS website where you can see for yourself:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/more/fineprint.html.  You need to be an expert on all these issues if you stand any chance of succeeding at the credit game.

So what do you do if you think you have been fooled by the small print?  COMPLAIN!  There are several ways to do this and do it you must.  Even if it leads to no resolution at the moment, if you have to go to war with your bank or card issuer, having taken the first step in the battle will most likely play in your favor down the road.

If you do have a problem with your credit card try to resolve it directly with the store, bank or the credit card company that issued you the card in the first place.  You can also communicate with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) but you have to talk to the BBB in the state or city in which the card issuer is located (not necessarily your home town).   You can also go the to Feds for help.  Now hang onto your hats here, because even this (what should be a simple thing) system is complicated for no legitimate reason I can fathom.

If your credit card is issued by a state bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System, here's the contact information:

Federal Reserve Board
Division of Consumer and Community Affairs
Mail Stop 801
Washington, DC 20551
(202) 452-3693

If you have a complaint about a credit card that was issued by a bank with "national" in the name or "N.A." after the name, here's who to contact:

Comptroller of the Currency
Office of the Ombudsman
Customer Assistance Unit
1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450
Houston, TX 77010
(800) 613-6743 (toll-free)
www.occ.treas.gov 

If you have a credit card that was issued by a state bank that is not member of the Federal Reserve System, here' who to write to:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Consumer Response Center
2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 100
Kansas City, MO 64108
(877) 275-3342 (toll-free)
www.fdic.gov 

I know this is a lot, but you have to know where to go for help.  So, if you have a credit card issued by a federal savings and loan association or a federal savings bank, get in touch with these folks:

Office of Thrift Supervision
Consumer Programs
1700 G Street, NW 
Washington, DC 20552
(800) 842-6929 (toll-free)
www.ots.treas.gov

 

So there it is.  You are being messed with when it comes to the small print and it is ALL written to confuse you, and allow the credit card issuer to "win" the game.  (You pay them after all, don't you?")  When you think you are being really messed with, let someone know.  You can also make comments to you Senator or Representative.  If you do nothing, you get what you deserve.  So what are you going to do the next time the fine print dragon attacks you?

Be well and I am yours in financial success,

Randall

NEW BACK FROM THE EDGE TRAILER

What a Country

Namaste everyone. 

I am in the edit suit almost every day and today while I was working on the budget for an international book our company is releasing next March, I found myself wondering how marvelous the world is and also reflecting on the passing of Tim Russert, the moderator of Meet the Press.  There's been about a million hours of press coverage on Tim, but it all hit me at the same time and I was able to put it all into a single thought, one that Tim had frequently.  That being, "What a country."

It is so simple and yet so very elegant and complex a thought, especially for me.  You see, my family was poor when I was growing up.  Not your everyday average poor, but dirt poor.  My two brothers, my mom and dad, and I would share a single hot dog with a bowl of rice for dinner.  On really good nights we would enjoy chicken wings (back then they were about 10 cents a pound).  I very rarely had new clothes and wore hand-me-down coats, shirts, and pants from my brothers all the way through high school.  In fact at my junior prom, I wore my father's Shriner's jacket as my tux and had a short-sleeved white shirt with black pants.

My parents gave me everything I needed to live and I always knew I was loved, but anything above subsistence level, I was on my own.  So it all began when I was seven years old.  What began you ask?  Thanks for the question.  What began was my entrepreneur's journey which has lead me to this blog entry today.  What a country.

Each Christmas my family would get the tree on Christmas Eve as part of our family "tradition."  Come to find out years later the reason we had the tradition is that we could get a tree late on Christmas Eve for a $1.  It's all we had.  And we always had a grand, loving Christmas.  Every year, each of us would get an MJB coffee can filled with home-baked cookies (I loved the spritz cookies) and the tree would look more beautiful each year and we all knew we were loved.  (I'm the one on the right in the yellow shirt.)

I know I've gone back in time here, but I want to set the context for you.  Only in America, even with all its problems and $5 a gallon gas, can a poor boy from Philly, grow up to be a movie director, work with the A-listers in Hollywood, run a company, create sales plans and strategies for soon-to-be- best-selling books, and have everything I want and need to live my life on my terms.  What a country.

Last week I wrote about some nay-sayers that popped up in my life and I hope I got across to you all that these people are simply idiot energy-vampires and you just have to ignore them and stay away from them.  If I listened to them (and in my early years I did) I would not be able to do what I want for myself and for others.

Since that time a close friend of a friend of mine has died, Tim Russert died, and both deaths were 100% out-of-the-blue and unexpected.  They both just simply stopped.  I was talking to a good friend and mentor of mine yesterday and we agreed that the only thing to say was, "Thank God for living one more great day."   Each of us only has the promise of "one more great day" to live and each day is ours to make of it what we want.  My mentor likes to say that "Each of us is writing our own book.  If you don't like the story, write something else."   It's a great thought and forces you to take responsibility for all of your own life.

When I was trekking to Mount Everest base camp last year I found myself being thankful for everything I have and everything I am.  Just to live one more great day was what drove me to 17,500 feet and to enjoy every moment, event the hard ones.

Those thoughts are still with me today and those thoughts form the basis of my life.  So when I look back at the poor days, when my brothers were sports stars in high school and college and I was the kid with leg-braces on, constantly being teased, I wonder how I was being prepared for what I am now doing.  I've been a fighter all my life and in many ways I have been taken advantage of because I want to see the whole world live in peace and happiness and it boggles my mind that we can't seem to do that.

If Tim Russert, a poor boy from Buffalo (Go, Bills!) and Randall Blaum, a poor boy from Philly, can grow up to have great lives and help people in their own way, why can't everyone?  Why do so many people live in fear and in a life of chaos?  Doesn't everyone know that we all have enough?  That we can all actually live as one?  Evidently not, but the tide is changing and the fact that you are reading this now is proof of that.  The internet is the great leveler.  We can all communicate with each other on our terms and in our own way.  That's why the world's governments are coming apart at the seams... They are afraid we'll all get together and say, "No more.  We're done."

In Second Life they are already using the Linden as a means of currency.  What happens when we all decide that the almighty dollar just isn't worth fighting for anymore?  What if we, like the city of Ithaca, New York and their "Ithaca Hours" program, start trading for everything?  What happens to the power brokers then?  Do you see???  We are all poor as long as we don't work together for the betterment of all people.  Every moment we waste, people die.  Every minute we do nothing, people starve.  Every gallon of gas we pump, a child goes without a roof over their heads.  What the Hell's the matter with us?

This may seem like a rant, but be well and calm.  It is not.  It is a pointed attempt to have you examine your own life and see what you can do for you and your family to make your world better.  I'm not talking about keeping up with the Jone's. I'm talking about real change that matters to us all. 

When I was in the edit suite working on the next trailer for the Back From the Edge movie I was awe struck at how long and hard making a trailer that works (sells tickets) is.  To tell a story in two minutes requires, so far about 70 different shots, all types of music and over 100 hours to create.  And I, Randall Blaum, the poor kid from Philly, am sitting in the director's chair doing what most people can never even think of doing.  What a country.

They say that you can be anything you want to be when you grow up.  I'm not sure if I've grown up, yet, but I know that I have a cadre of protectors in my life that let me enjoy my life and perhaps my hallucination that we can all be at peace and live as one.  To those people and you know who you are, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be me and I pray that each of you reading this have your protectors, too.  You need them.  I know it can be a harsh world, and because I have people watching my back and clearing my path of land mines I never even know are there, I get to help others and live in light.

To bring this expose to an end, I'd like to say that if this blog went on in a few directions at the same time, that's okay.  It's written to jog your brain, to stir the pot, and to get some of you to begin to ask more questions about life, about yourself, and about what's really going on.

Here's to Tim Russert, here's to each of you, and here's to America.  We are all a part of the one and if we injure another, we injure ourselves.  There are powers out there that want us to all live in fear, but remember that the darkness cannot live in the light.

What a country.

I am yours in success,

Randall

   

Honor, Wisdom, Success, and Honesty

This is a photo of Werner Berger, the 69-year old (at the time) that climbed Mount Everest.  I just head a meeting with Werner and the other team members and production staff of the film and it got me thinking about honor, success, wisdom, and honesty. 

First a quick update on the film, "Back from the Edge." We are jammin in the editing suite every day now and we have two full-time editors, plus David, the story-master / writer and me working non-stop on the film.  There are over 2000 pages of transcripts from the almost 40 health and wellness doctors and experts we interviewed for the film and we have over 100 hours of footage.  In addition to the main health and wellness film, we are negotiating two one-hour television specials with a major outlet that focus not on health and wellness so much, but the climb itself with Werner and then the behind the scenes (BTS) of how John and I created  the shots and interviews over the 50+ day adventure.

A new trailer is in production and should be out this week and will be available for download and sharing.  Right now the film is slated to be released in theatres in March 2009 with some very inspirational and dramatic world premieres just before the open of the film to the public.

It has been just slightly more than a year since my trek to base camp (17,500 feet) and I still remember with a lot of emotion my time in Nepal and on the mountain.  It is the type of journey that changes you forever.  It puts into perspective what is important and also lets you know that the "village idiots" and naysayers actually have no power over you.

So why did I select the headline I did for this blog?  Well, there are people who judge you only by information they see on the internet or other information sources and have the temerity to think they know you.  They could not be more wrong, and I'll bet this has happened to you in the course of your life.  People say things or do things that have nothing to do with who you are, but they (as my mother would say) "Take a button and sew a vest on it."

There are people out there that have to tear you down for them to succeed and in my experience they are to be pitied at best.  These so-called "do-gooders" have no idea about you and they literally make waves to toss you off the boat so they can make a buck, look good to the boss, or out of plain old stupidity and ignorance.  Let me ask you a question.  How many of you have ever had someone tell the truth about you (hard core facts) and yet not be telling the whole truth because they don't know the context of the facts?  Here's an example...  If you saw a woman screaming at a child at an intersection at the top of her voice would you think she was being mean to the child or loving?  No matter what you answer, how do you know you are right without the context of WHY she is screaming?  Maybe she is being mean.  But, maybe she sees that the child is about to be hit by a car and then it is a loving action.  How do you know without all the information?

The fact is that no one can know anything about so-called facts without the context of those facts.  And in my book, anyone that reports "facts" to anyone else without determining the context of those facts are liars, evil, and  never to be trusted.  They should at least have the common courtesy to ask you as the individual about the facts so that some context might be offered.  (Treat others as you wish to be treated.)  This doesn't happen often because people are frightened of success and they think that someone must lose in order for them to win.

It is not all bleak...  There are those people that accept you for who you are and what you do for others and the world and know that you are not "just a bunch of information" on the web and they love you for what you do and who you help.  These are the people to keep close to you.   These are the people who judge you by your actions and your words in addition to your capacity to love and respect others.  These are the people who respond to you when you write an apology and let the past be the past.  These are the people who do not think they are better than you just because they have a bigger job (it's still just a job) and these are the people who will tell you the truth, ask for clarification, and then make a decision as to what to do with any information they may have.

To the naysayers, party-poopers, liars, and evil-doers I say, "To Hell With Them!  Let's Go!!" 

To do that you have to come to the understanding that only you can stop yourself from true success.  Only you can make the choice to be rich, happy, in love, and more of anything you want.  Only you can choose to live a healthy life, or not. 

It all comes down to...You.  I have shown you the image here from the Cans Film Festival with Act III Theatres and then Regal Cinemas which I ran (with my team) for ten years and generated millions of pounds of food for the hungry because some naysayers went after me and my team last week.  They went on Lexus Nexus and found out I went bankrupt.  Oh, no!  Horrors of horrors!!

What they didn't seem to find out is that I have taken the education I got going through a BK and directed a film on debt that is helping thousands of people get out of debt and stay out of debt, that I am working with the US Military to promote financial literacy for our vets, and that I donate a vast amount of my time and money from the Dump Debt program to teach people about debt that cannot afford to pay me for my time and information.  I am happy with that knowledge and it only shows the naysayers how stupid and uncaring they are.  They are so greedy for cash that's all they can think of.  I sleep very well at night knowing I help people live better lives.  I wonder... Do they?

The point is that Lexus Nexus or any information source doesn't show all details of who you are, or what you do and yet in my case parents, children, and grand children ate nutritious food because of our efforts with the Cans Film Festival and people around the US and the world are getting out of debt and living better lives because of what I and my teams have done with our Dump Debt Program and the UR Pre-Approved film (wwwurpreapproved.com).  This is just a couple of examples of how everyone can help each other (and should help each other) and I bet you do some of the same things in your neighborhood, your church, at work, etc, don't you?   

So what now?  Here I am at Mount Everest base camp last year and am now editing The Back From the Edge film (www.backfromtheedgemovie.com) and it is coming together in a way that will shock many, and be a clarion call to moviegoers across North America. 

Since my trek to base camp I have had and great year and I hope so have you. But a dark cloud attempted to interrupt my successful life last week and you need to know about this, because a person just like this will probably show up (or already has) in your life and you need to be prepared.  A person called me and told me how bad I was, how much puffery I created and that I could not possibly have done all that I have said that I have done in my life.   

It was odd as I listened to them as I had no reaction at all.  I wondered if I had tuned out, or I didn't care.  Then it occurred to me...  A good friend of mine says, "Let the idiots speak."  What he means by that is that the frightened, miserable wretches among us will do and say almost anything to hurt us and they will self-destruct because of their actions that are out of integrity.  I was letting the idiot speak, got it.

What I want to share from that experience is that "they" cannot harm you if you are true to who you are and what you do.  I am here to tell you that if you make the choice to succeed, you can, no matter what people say.  If you are true to who you are and take the time to help others, the Universe will help you.  I am proud of who I am and what I have done and my life is pretty transparent for those who care to take the time to actually do the work it takes to find out what kind of person I am.  The same should hold true for you. 

So, when you go to work tomorrow, or go to wherever you go on Monday, remember to "let the idiots speak" because they will in their own time destroy themselves and all those around you and them will know them for what they really are (frightened lairs and miserable people).  They will lose all their integrity and you will be seen as the person that took the high road and your integrity will remain intact.  No one can take your sense of yourself away, unless you allow them to.

Remember... "To Hell With Them!  Let's Go!!"

I am yours in success,

Randall