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In Getting Paid 101 I talked about how to be pre-emptive and simply run your business in a way that helps (a lot) to make sure you get paid by delinquent clients. In Getting Paid 201 I talked about skip-tracing; or tracking down those fly-by-nighters that skip out on paying you.

Well, sometimes, you don’t get paid but you still have to do business with a company that owes you money.

It might be because they’re a significant portion of your revenue. And if they owe you a significant amount of money and you’re a significant supplier of theirs, it’s usually in your best interest to help them keep the ball rolling, generating revenue … so they can pay you!

This can be a very maddening situation so the first thing to do is get rid of all that emotion. Take a few minutes to yourself and cuss them out.

Good? Alright … moving forward, you have to play it smart and use your advantages. Here they are:

1. Hold Their Assets

“Possession is 9/10ths of the law” is an old decree that stems from Old English Law. Basically it means that if it’s in my hands, it’s up to you to prove it’s yours. In this case, if they owe you money, why would you give them their stuff.

So if you store goods or materials of theirs, or if you carry an inventory of items that are labeled with their brand or whatever, hang on to it. It has worth, so use it to bargain with.

Most of the time you can just tell them you’re hanging on to this collateral until they pay you. If you have to bring in the lawyers (and some industries have specific rules for this) you can put a lien on their property. What happens then is you hold on to it until they pay you. If they don’t pay you within a certain timeframe, you can sell their property at public auction.

Regardless, make sure you talk to your lawyer about your options when it comes to holding their assets.

2. Put Them on C.O.D.

They already owe you money. And you don’t want to get in any deeper than you already are. But you need to keep the business rolling.

This is where COD or “cash on delivery” comes in. The key to putting a customer on COD is to stick with it. No matter what. The longer it goes on, the more they’ll need something “right away” without you getting cash in hand first.

No payment, no delivery. Period. Call them up and tell them the order is on hold until you receive payment. If they need the order and they have the money, you’ll get a wire transfer or someone coming by with a check within a couple hours.

COD also offers a good opportunity to add a premium to your price. You can apply this premium to their outstanding balance (sort of a payment plan), but I generally just call it a price increase.

3. Get a Secured Promissory Note

When a business fails there’s a certain order as to who gets paid first. It goes like this:

1. The government (taxes, fees, etc)
2. Financial institutions (loans and lines of credit)
3. Secured creditors
4. Unsecured creditors

If the amount they owe you is significant, then really push to get a secured promissory note. A secured note is registered with a government body (talk to your lawyer) and it basically says they promise to pay you and they’re backing that promise up with collateral assets they own.

As a secured creditor, you’re one step up from the bottom of the totem pole and you’ll get paid before any unsecured creditors will.

So there you go. Hopefully you don’t run into too many situations where you don’t get paid. But it will happen. That’s business.

Fortunately, you’ve got a few more tools in your bag now to deal with it.

In reference to the great California gold rush of the 1800s it’s really popular to say “Don’t dig for gold, sell shovels”. The logic is sound because rather than investing in high-risk speculation, you can take a much more certain road and sell the tools that these high-risk, high-reward speculators need.

But there’s a limit to how many shovels you can sell. And there’s something bigger that both the gold diggers and the shovel sellers need. And that’s the railway to get to California and back.

When you build a “railway”, you’re building a platform, a gateway. The backbone of it all. You’re building a conduit through which all things must pass.

Examples of Business Railways

1. Industry Standard Formats. Format wars are intense and Sony recently won the hi-def war when Toshiba bowed out. Sony now owns the hi-def railway and there’s a whole host of businesses that have to pass over it; companies that make DVDs, players, recorders, authoring software, films, and video games … they all ride the Blu-ray train now.
2. Platforms. The MS Windows and Mac OSX operating systems are both platforms. Railways. Every piece of software needs an operating system to run it. And the beauty of creating a platform is you can make both the railway and the trains. In this case, that’s the OS and the software.
3. Technologies. The Legaignoux brothers developed a simple yet amazing kite design for kiteboarding using inflatable struts. Every other kite manufacturer licenses the right to use their patented design. And those license agreements also set the price ranges at which each company can sell their kites. Can you say “All our competition are belong to us”.

There are lots of examples of business railways out there. And you don’t need to be a billion dollar company to do it. Microsoft started somewhere. So did the Legaignoux brothers. Any business can build a railway. You just need to recognize what people need, be innovative, and set the standards in your niche, local market, or industry.

Start small. And think big.

When you build a format, a platform, or an innovative technology, you’re building a railway. And everyone; gold diggers and shovel sellers included, needs to get to California somehow.

Can I see your ticket please.

Tunnel vision is probably one of the best ways to create unproductive time. At a certain point it’s not focused concentration anymore. It’s just ignoring everything else and a lot of better opportunities. And it’s also limiting the angles and creativity you can apply to the current task.

Now surround yourself with a whole flock of tasks like that. It’s like being in the middle of a forest but you can’t see the forest or anything beyond it. No matter what direction you look in, all you see is trees.

You’re trapped.

Each one of those trees wants your attention. You have to get through one tree only to be greeted by another. And you have to clearcut valuable trees out of the way just to get some help in there.

Taking Strategy Breaks

Without a strategic plan; without seeing the whole forest from 20,000 ft up, it’s really easy to stay lost in the trees or to hack away without really getting anywhere.

This is where taking strategy breaks throughout the day comes in. A lot of people talk about how task-switching is a big time killer. And it can be. If you’re checking your email constantly or putting out little fires or losing your rhythm, you can lose a tremendous amount of time.

But I’m not talking about task switching. That’s just going from one tree to the next. Strategy breaks are about leaving the forest. So you can look at it from a different perspective.

Walk away and get unstuck. See everything. See all the trees and notice the ones that really stand out. The gems. See the ones that don’t matter. See the ones that will one day grow tall and strong.

That’s strategy.

The Trees Aren’t Always Green, But the Forest is

It’s those ideas you get in the shower that are gold. Those flashes of clarity when you’re sitting there mindlessly strumming a guitar or kicking back to cool down after a hard workout.

I’ve generated more revenue just staring stupidly at the mountains than I ever have hammering away on a mountain of tasks.

Trees are easy to see.

It’s seeing the forest that takes vision.

I get a fair amount of traffic to my post on Visa Stock. And it’s clear by the search terms that a lot of people are wondering ‘Should I buy Visa’?

If you got in on the IPO at $44, you’re a pretty happy camper. Even if you got in on opening day at around $60 it’s still a pretty sweet deal. But what about now? As the price continues to rise?

Hindsight is Not 20/20

You know how people buy lottery tickets and they’re just one number out from winning a couple grand. “Ohhh, I had 42 instead of 43″.

Well, you could have had 10 or 7 or 22 and you’re just as far away from 43 as you are with the number 42. A different ball came down the chute. Period.

What hindsight does is give us history. It gives us experience. And that’s the true value of it. It can’t tell us the future, but it can lead us in the right direction the next time a great opportunity comes along.

Yeah, Yeah … So What About Visa?!

Visa is a long term hold (1 to 5 years). It could experience rocket growth, or it could experience very conservative growth. I can’t tell the future. No one can.

But we can learn from history. Huge ROI, limited-risk opportunities do not come everyday. You have to be ready to jump on them when they come along. So I’d say Visa is a great place to park some cash if you’re getting in now.

And then, watch, wait, and listen. When another killer opportunity comes along, you can cash out a few lots of V or whatever and jump on it.

Always watch what’s coming down the chute.

Your ball 43 is in there somewhere.

Video on the internet is huge. And it’s only getting bigger. So I thought I’d put together a Wordpress theme to take advantage of that. It’s a great way to build content-rich niche sites, and use the power of YouTube at the same time.

Videographer Features

1. Most bloggers know that you can easily embed YouTube videos in your blog. What’s not as well known is YouTube creates thumbnails for all the videos uploaded to them that you can also embed. That makes it really easy for us to create an index of clickable thumbnail pics.
2. I’ve put together a modification to Wordpresses get_excerpt in functions.php that tightens it up nicely. 
3. Videographer also has some ad blocks (ad_header.php, ad_sidebar.php, and ad_singlepage.php) that allow you to easily throw in your ad code.
4. The sidebar shows “Latest Videos” except on the single post page where it shows “Related Videos” or the most recent videos in the same category as the video you’re viewing. Which is good because most people will find your video blog through those single post pages so you want to show them related content.

Setting up Videographer

1. Just upload it like any other Wordpress theme. NOTE however, that this theme is meant for a NEW blog, not a blog with existing content. The theme is specifically designed for creating a video blog.
2. You need Jens Tornell’s WP YouTube plugin. Upload and activate the plugin. In your Wordpress admin panel, go to Manage > YouTube Profiles. Create a profile with the Tag Name “video” and set the video width to “500″ and the height to “418″. Check “Valid XHTML” and save your profile.
3. I’d also suggest getting Lester Chan’s WP PostRatings plugin as it allows users to rate your videos and adds a lot to the site. The code to run this plugin is already in Videographer.
4. Create a page called “Archives” (post slug: archives) and apply the XHTML Sitemap template to the page. This will give the top navigation link “Categories:” a destination. 

Creating Posts in Videographer

Just as you would create any Wordpress post except you also have to add the YouTube video ID. To do that:

• Go to YouTube and find your video. The web url of your video will be something like hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F9RJSPnf8A&feature=related
• The part you want is after the “v=” and before the first “&” symbol, which here is: _F9RJSPnf8A
• Copy that video ID and paste it into the “Value” box of your post’s Custom Fields section. Call the Key “vids” and save your Custom Field
• Then finish writing and save your post. It’s pretty much that simple.

Download Videographer

Download Videographer and give it a spin. And don’t forget to get the plugins mentioned above. You can also check out my Videographer test site.

Videographer Support

None. Zip, zilch, nada. Nothing. Sorry about that, but I just don’t have the time so you’re pretty much on your own. If you need help …

• With html, php, or wordpress basics … Tubetorial is an excellent site for beginners.
• I put up a basic powerpoint video on my test site that goes through the basic setup.
• Post your questions or comments here. If you’ve got a problem, maybe I (or hopefully someone smarter than me) can find an answer for you. If you find a bug, leave a comment and I’ll try to address it as well.

Enjoy it. And let me know about your sites so I can check them out.

A friend emailed me these pictures of the hiking route up to the Huashan Teahouse in China. It’s your typical viral-entertainment email … but the pics tell a pretty cool story and I like hiking and other mountain sports so check this out …

1. First, you’ve got to get to where you’re going. Pretty cool, and yes, I’m one of those people that jumps up and down on trams …

2. Next, walk the plank. Luckily there are some chains anchored to the wall for you to hang on to … so it’s not scary at all …

3. Er, no special equipment needed. Just jeans and a t-shirt. Oh, and a hat to keep the sun off your noggin (wouldn’t want to get heat stroke and do anything crazy) …

4. Keep going …

5. And going …

6. Stop for a second and enjoy the view … and the climbing technolgy that’s almost as old as the hills …

7. Of course there are a few steep parts …

8. Ah, the home stretch …

9. And bam! You’re there. It’s tea time …

So the obvious question is …

How good is the tea?

The real hurtle is that in business, and in life, we’re often confined to operating within certain constraints. It’s called being “normal”. People will tell you to think outside the box, but when it comes to actually stepping outside that box …

Radical change requires radical action. It’s time to push your keyboard to the side and learn some serious brainstorming techniques to get the ideas flowing:

1. Go big. I use a pen and a simple pad of lined paper to organize my day most of the time. But when I really need to whip up a storm I have an 18″ x 24″ artists pad to scribble over. Think “whiteboard”. Think “that wall looks pretty bare”.
2. Take it to the street. Get yourself some chalk and find yourself a bare piece of asphalt (preferrably traffic-free) and start crafting ideas.
3. Wage a table-top war. 50 bucks will get you a trunk load of little green army men. Set ‘em up on the boardroom table and game out how you’re going to storm the market.
4. Oxygenate your team. Pull out the football and hit the field. Make it a rule to only discuss business, not plays. The game is just a conduit to get the blood pumping and the ideas flowing.
5. Take a field trip. One of my favorites. Visit your competition, your suppliers, or your point of sale and chat up a storm. You will get amazing ideas from the outside and instantly see how you can incorporate them and make them even better.
6. Captains log. Grab a video camera and start recording/acting out your ideas and bring a supporting cast with you. A camera changes the whole tone and has a way of bringing out everyone’s inner superstar. And even Captain Kirk didn’t have a video log.
7. Go barefoot in the park. Just loosen up. Take off your shoes and walk through the grass. Or the creek. Or the waves on the seashore. Scan the sky or the horizon and just let your mind wander into new territory.

The key here is that when you’re stuck, new ideas won’t solve your problem. You already know you need new ideas. It’s how to get them that’s the problem.

And for that you need to get out and find a different approach. Now, up in the right hand corner of your computer you’ll see a little button that says IO.

Push it.

Good times and bad times start at the top, and then the effects “trickle down” to small businesses and regular people.

Right now, we’re seeing the trickle down effect from a bursting property bubble and mile-high piles of consumer and government debt. So what’s the best way to deal with that?

Well, trickle “up” of course.

First, The Vicious Trickle Down Cycle

Because of the property price implosion, a lot of things are happening:

• Lumber mills are shutting down temporarily or even for good
• Companies like Linens & Things are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• Many large companies are laying off thousands of employees

These things might not affect your business or even your industry. But the next stage of the trickle down will. Millions of people and companies will have to cut back their spending. Some will cut back severely and eventually this will trickle over into other sectors.

And of course, it becomes a vicious cycle because it’s exactly the sort of economic climate that’s going to depress property prices further.

How to Trickle Up

This is a tough task for most businesses. It’s literally an upstream battle. But with a few smart strategies it’s easily achievable …

1. Show me the money. No matter what’s going on in the world, some people always have money. Start gearing your products and services towards these people and companies. Think quality, and exclusivity.
2. Problems need solutions. The great thing about bear markets is there are lots of problems. And every one of those problems need a solution of some kind. Create those solutions and you’re golden.
3. It’s time for a new deal. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated a series of new reforms to help pull people out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. These reforms were called the “New Deal”. If you can’t beat the trickle down (and you don’t want to get caught in it) create a new direction. Be innovative and create new products and services that pave a new path forward.
4. Swim with a buddy. Sometimes the trickle down can be a raging whitewater torrent. Partnering up with another company that has different strengths is one way to make both businesses stronger. A partnership can give you access to new markets, additional expertise, and an avenue for creating innovative product and service packages you couldn’t create on your own.

The keys to trickling up and not getting caught in the trickle down are composure and creativity. Don’t get wrapped up in the mayhem. Get wrapped up in creating new avenues of unique and real value.

And don’t forget your umbrella.

Could it actually happen? Read on …

Google invests in (or buys) a lot of very innovative web projects; YouTube, Firefox, Android, and many more. And their share of search engine traffic is growing. It’s not inaccurate to describe Google as unassailable, even in the face of controversy.

All Roads Lead to AdWords

But despite all the innovation they’ve brought to the web, from a business perspective, they’ve often been described as a one trick pony.

And the trick is called AdWords.

It’s the only thing they’ve ever made serious money at, and serious money they do make. And this is where the problem lies. AdWords is a pinch point. Damage AdWords and you damage all that Google is.

The Kick is in The Code

Take, for example, this cool little browser plugin called Customize Google. The plugin has a lot of great features. It’s even on Lifehacker’s list of 10 Must-have Firefox Extensions.

One of the features in Customize Google is called “remove click tracking”. It’s disabled by default, but once enabled, it allows users to click away to their hearts content on Google AdWords ads … and Google can’t track them. No tracking, no getting paid.

I’m not saying that Customize Google or its developers have any evil intentions. Not in the least. I’m simply using this plugin’s functionality as proof of concept …

Similar code, put into a widely used browser, browser toolbar, or browser plugin could effectively wipe out tens of millions of dollars a day of Google revenue. AdWords Advertisers would have a heyday, at least initially.

Will it happen? Probably not. Could it happen? Stranger things have. The point is, it’s never wise to put all your eggs in one basket.

Especially if it’s a big basket.

The very nature of being an entrepreneur means you’re taking a bit of a shot in the dark with your business idea. You’re blazing a new trail. Going where (hopefully) no one else has gone before.

But you can make your startup a whole lot easier by following someone else’s trail in the beginning.

You Gotta Be a Prince Before You Become King

In the end, it’s that new territory that you discover and conquer that will make you the king in your industry. But you’ve got to start somewhere, and the best place to start is to follow the current kings around and learn from them.

No matter what you’re selling; products, services, affiliate marketing … there are already people and companies out there making an absolute killing in the market. Some of them spend millions of dollars develping packaging that sells, ad copy that stops you in your tracks, and websites that convert into sales.

Take advantage of that.

You don’t want to follow just anyone around. Track the best. If you’re into real estate, pay attention to Donald Trump, not the local ReMax dude. If you’re into internet marketing, pay attention to Yahoo rather than the average A-list blogger.

Don’t simply copy them or rip them off blatantly. Dig into what they do and understand it. Test it. Learn and emulate.

It’s an education in sales psychology, language, graphic presentation. They’ve spent millions on your education. Are you gonna pass that up?

Start Rolling Before You Rock It

It’s true, you can’t become the king by following others. But your goal here is to just get the ball rolling. You’re using what’s already proven to work to get started and start generating some real success. As you go along, you’ll understand what works, what doesn’t, and why.

That’s some serious capital that you can parlay into blazing your own trail once you’ve built a solid foundation and some sustainable earnings.

And from there, the sky’s the limit.

“Only thing worse than watching a bad movie is being in one.”
~ Elvis Presley

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