Health, Wealth and Happiness

I wanted to be the first to say it.  The Sugar Bowl will be June’s last game.  But no one wants to hear that here.  Joni Mitchell said “You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.”

After the game, give it a week, he’ll announce that he’s sooooo grateful  for all the time he’s spent here on the Rock.  He wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Then he will ride out into the sunset on his white horse….for the last time.

It’s time.  If they win the game, (oh yeah the game) HE WILL HAVE ACHEIVED ALL HE CAN HERE.  I hit caps lock by mistake, but I think I’ll leave it.

BTW, Dave Reardon in the Star Bulletin ’scooped’ me on this.  He said what I was thinking, beating me in print by about 10 hours.  No worries.

Imagine you are flipping burgers at the golden arches for 10 bucks and hour.  You have seven good months of big mac building and the CEO comes walking in with Ronald at his/her side and says  “How would you like to teach hamburger stacking at Hamburger U for 100 bucks an hour?”

Are ya gonna say “no,   “ah   ah  it snows in Elk Grove Village,” or    “ah    ah  I really like it here in Hawaii where I get that 10 bucks an hour.”  NO, you’re gonna shake their hands and slink out the side door after signing the contract. 

Let’s say, just for fun, that Arthur Blank who’s had a bad year, everyone would agree, comes calling.  And he says “June, great job on the team, the Sugar Bowl (thanks for not beating our Dogs,)”    perhaps.

How’d you like to come in and coach the Falcons, and we’ll even give you a LOT of  leeway with picking some players for your offense.  We’ll even try to get the Colt kid on the squad.  No, not the one in Texas.  We”ll pay you 4 million per for 5 years.  That job is a gravy spot in the NFL, and a heckuva PR move for Mr. Blank.  And it doesn’t snow that much there.

What’s he gonna say,    NO?

And you wouldn’t?

June Jones hasn’t said anything about his plans for next year yet.

He got a raise which he took and gave to his assistants.  Ya might think that’s cuz he doesn’t care so much for the money.

Here’s my take.  He DOES care about the money, so he’s gonna get his when the season is over.  His sorely underpaid assistants need it now, and also since they may be out of a job this spring if he jumps ship.

This could be the start of his last rodeo, and he’ll be one of the top free agent cowboys after the first of the year.  If not Atlanta, the line will form to the left of places that will pay him more through commercials than what he makes for a whole year here.

As long as Hawaii has the budget of a mid-major conference team, and can’t pony up to keep him, it will be hard to keep a truly top name coach,  ever.

I hope I’m wrong.

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There’s no getting around it.  Not that I would want to get around it, but God came into my life at a time when my life, as it was, was kinda iffy.  As Leon Russell once said “one side’s ice and one is fire” in Tightrope.  That song-how cool was THAT song when it came out?  Glad I was alive for that, cuz the newer version is kinda watered down. 

But anyway, I was about to fall off the tightrope of life.

God MAY have caught me,     or not.  I was living my life in self-destruct mode.  Drinking, staying up all night, then going to work in the factory.  And more.  Go ahead and read between the lines.

This was not the first OR last time I was in danger, but it was a turning point.  I was headed down the slippery slope.  Psalms 107: 10 says “Some sat in darknness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains”  Those chains of bondage involved drinking and other pursuits, and a pretty low self-esteem.

That was my time up to about 16 years ago.  I looked good, most of the time, but I really had some bad moments.  I always thought after the fact that if someone had had a video cam and followed me around that college town I lived in, we might have hastened the process of making wholesale changes.

I will never forget walking down the middle of a street in Whitewater, WI and actually crying out to God.  I was at the end of my rope, and He heard me.  It was soon after that I got some help from a minister in town, and I chased down an old friend that opened up the Good Book to/with me.

Within a week, I had gotten a job an hour away, that put me smack dab (that’s right, I’m bringing “smack dab” back too)  smack dab in a work environment where I was surrounded by Disciples of Christ.  They loved up on me, and I was invited to their church.  Even better,  I went.

It’s been a “Long Strange Trip” to make another 60s/70s/80s/90s reference, and I am so blessed each and every day.  It’s a new day.  I’m getting tired of crediting the rockers for their phrases/song titles, so I will let that one slide.

Anyhoo, I studied the Bible, heard the word, believed it, repented, became a Disciple, proclaimed Jesus as Lord and got baptized.  There was much rejoicing in heaven.

I didn’t write this to preach.  I have someone that really brings it, and I think he’ll do a blog-in Jesus for me.  That WILL be preaching. 

God gave me hope, and has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams since then.  (That’s at least a couple more blogs.) 

I wanted to get it out on the table, though.  I enjoy being a little on the edge as a writer, but my life is not the Hunter S. Thompson version.  Although as I stated, I was going in that direction at one time.

And, as we all know, if you don’t like what I am writing at one time or other, don’t read it.  Move on down the buffet to the next item….or not.  Skip the poi though, it’s over-rated.

The little bottles are here.  WOW. Our Zrii Amalaki business will now take off…..for sure.  This is one of the things we were waiting patiently for.  We are also waiting for some people to decide whether to get into business with us, but I have a feeling that we will always have to have that type of patience.

Our company is still in Pre Launch and there have been a few little holdups, or delays.  Good thing our CEO Bill Farley has deep pockets.  Legend has it that when we were behind on the shipping of the little bottles, (3 oz. samples) he went to the vendor to talk about it.  Hands on, I like that.

When there, they decided that this was an assignment that was way over their head.  When he was figuring out what to do, he realized that he would need the bottle molds to be able to resume production when he DID find a bottler that could handle it.  Obviously the molds were NOT for sale.

Well, he reached into the deep pockets and after some negotiation it turned out they were for sale after all.  The molds, perhaps worth about 500 dollars could be had for a mere…..Ten Thousand Dollars.  (Ya gotta be careful in New Orleans at midnight in dark alleys with huge diamond rings on too, btw, but I digress.)

So, then,  “Who would bottle our tonic, then?”

He then found a new bottler that would take on the project.  But one problem remained for them.  They could not meet the production demands.  “What will it take”  Bill asked?

Well, the answer came after a hem and a haw, remember hemming and hawing?  It’s making a comeback in my blog.  The situation required a …..new machine.  “And how much is that new machine?”  he asked, seemingly with the checkbook already in his left hand?

One point five million dollars!  Aha, let’s write the check then!

He’s my kind of guy, that Bill.  Not that MY checkbook is exactly like his.  My checkbook can LEARN from his though.  But that was the kind of decision that has to be made in the life of a network marketing company in startup.  Many times a company makes these decisions based on a LACK of funds, or makes the wrong decision altogether.  Good thing we are over THAT hump.

These type of critical decisons separate great network marketing companies from the rest.  I will cover the 5 Pillars for Success in Network Marketing in a (near) future blog.

The Zrii train is on track and heading down towards the Launch date in May.  When are you going to get on board?

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Leads, what are they?  How do I utilize them to build my network marketing business?

I am going to prove that I don’t have to be an expert to write a blog on a subject.  If you’ve read previous blogs, you may be already nodding your head.

The best leads are those that have network marketing experience, and are looking for something right now.

There are leads for the cost of 3 million for 100 bucks, and they range all the way up to 20 bucks each, even more.  Watch out Einstein, here comes!  The fresh leads and the ones that cost the most MAY be better than the other ones I mentioned.  And they may not.  How do you get them?  Usually you purchase and hope.

Some have answered surveys and questionnaires, and are ready to be approached.  But you never know.  If you believe every thing you read, there are leads so good, they can’t wait for you to call them, or hit them with an autoresponder.

There are some that are really not quality.  These are so-called opportunity seeking sites that draw one in with the promise of a free laptop, or free whatever.  These sites never let you out until you purchase something, or subscribe to some magazine or something.  The other way is to disconnect your laptop and throw it out of the 11th floor window.  I know, not everyone lives high enough up…..Anyway, some of these people as if they weren’t tortured enough, end up as so-called network marketer leads.  Good luck.

The best leads I get are free, from my mentor.  He gets them in various ways, but I must say he is very creative.  Most of the time, the people are not surprised to be called, and I can almost always carry on a complete (short) conversation without a hitch.  Of course, if you are NOT in business with us, that is not an option.

No matter what, if you are power recruiting it takes a lot of dials to really see results.  Plan on making a thousand, then stepping back to take a look.  In my routine, I usually get 1/4 to 1/2 of those I contact to listen and allow me to send them more information.  There are days where the numbers are lower, sure.

Note, I did NOT say SELL them something, or pitch them.  I am simply calling to get permission to send more info, after which I follow up.  I make very short calls, and then get right back on the phone for the next ones.

If it’s internet marketing you are doing, you will need to deal with much higher numbers of leads.

If you want to find out how I do my calls, planning, follow-ups, strategy, etc, go to the Ultimate Success Coaching link in blue.  Go ahead, get the free stuff anyway.

If you are looking for a network marketing that has all of the 5 pillars in place click the blue link for Zrii Amalaki.

No matter what, happy 2008 and I expect we will cross paths on the trail……rick

This is an interesting time in my business.  Zrii, the Original Amalaki is the most wonderful company AND product.  I have told some friends, and of course, family knows.  (There are still many who say “He’ll never make it”)  We can see the organization creeping downward like the web that it will be.  We are growing, as leaders.  My wife and I TRUST the company, and throughout some small hiccups, we have maintained.

I know I have stressed NOT building that warm market list that all network marketing businesses over the years have encouraged.  It does not work, usually.  Let me explain.  The list of friends and family that I had done for a previous company totalled 343.  So, in the old suggested way of doing things, I would be knee deep in rejections now from all those that I have come to know over the years.

Some would have probably told me off, and worse that that, I’d really be doubting myself by now. 

That’s why the list does not work.  Instead, I chose to call about 10 on that list.  At least two were just wrong for this.  As of this moment, I have gotten 3 of those, with one more leaning.  A couple that I thought of later, good friends and patients of my wife, Dr. Malia are with us also.

So, what else have I done?  I have averaged about 100 calls a day, with a gust to 252 one day.  I call network marketing leads, and have talked to many great people.  Our group hands out free leads to those that are responsible with them.  Guess what, I have had wrong numbers, wrong people, non-English speaking phone picker-uppers, people I guess in a daze, and one or two that were upset at the call.

We’re putting in people with all types of backgrounds, but almost all of them have excelled or perhaps just experienced, network marketing.

Oh yeah, I have NOT made much money yet, though I am earning it with volume.  I have seen checks, and I know more are coming.  The volume starts in January. 

The incentives are there-the carrots to reach for.

When you make this many calls you DO come across some diamonds in the rough, and that’s why I am power dialing steadily.  We know that some of those are either not that excited in their company anymore.  I am not actively seeking those that are active, but I know that it happens….I have no idea how involved (if at all) someone is that picks up the phone.  I mean, the lists are never purged by companies that we receive them from.

My wife and I also enrolled a couple that came over and watched the video with us and sampled the drink.  It was that simple.  Ya know, they haven’t taken off like gangbusters, but I feel that they will.  At this part of the game I still believe the illusion that everyone of my personally enrolled will do well.  I am officially stopping that feeling right now.

So, if you read this and you are one of my personals, I love ya, and you and me are going places.  From now on, I will treat those like everyone else in my organization.  The product is fantastic, you and yours will be healthier if you use it.  It will sell itself.  By following our coaching-see Tracy Biller-Ultimate Success Training CDs, you can and will knock it out of the park.  If you take people to the recruiting and overview calls, and get it in front of people, you’ll succeed.  Targeting network marketers is essential.  EXPECT to be at the Convention, and expect to hear your name called.  Use that as an inspiration.

But if you wanna sit back and hope it gets done……As Judas Priest could only put it

YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!                                            http://www.rickemmerich.myzrii.com

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It’s a dream season when YOUR team goes undefeated.  As we all know the Hawaii Warriors have yet to get any respect.  They looked ahead at the end of last year having beaten a pretty good bowl team then.  They planned, envisioned it, had summer practice picturing the undefeated season.

And they handled it.  Not just because of Heisman candidate, Colt Brennan.  Colt had a year that would be heroic for any other QB, but many of us sighed and said “it was OK.”

He rebounded from “The Hit” which put him out of that game and yet another the following week.  It just plain knocked him into next week.  I was there.  We were about half-way up the lower stands and it happened right in front of us.

I saw another big one like that, almost exactly 20 years ago.  Tim Lewis of the Packers had his career ended by a textbook (legal) head-on block by, of all people, Willie Gault.  Now Willie wasn’t exactly Hulk Hogan then, and I assume now.  He just caught him right….or wrong.  Kida wierd that I had almost the exact same view.  The sound of plastic on plastic shoulder pads rang throughout that corner of Lambeau Field.  But I digress.

Anyway Hawaii beat everyone that stepped into the ring with them.  Only a few were KOs, most were not the blowouts that we came to expect from last year.  Some happened long after those that vote on the polls in the East and Midwest were in their jammies and tucked in bed.

It ain’t the Warriors’ fault that big powerhouses chose to weasel out of their contract to play here (Michigan State) or ignore a possible made-for-ESPN opener (Michigan).  How DID that home opener with App State work for ya, you old wolverines?

Herm Frazier, who’s middle name is not ‘job-security’ struggled mightily getting capable opposition to come here.  Of course you have the jet lag babies, and those that are afraid of the lost time in the next week after they return home.  Waaaaah.  Hawaii had to tough it out and travel evey other week on average.

He did get-r-done for the following years, though.  Check out this scenario.  Assuming the 12-0 Wariors take it to the Georgia Yard Dogs, I mean Bulldogs, and end up 13-0, they will earn respect going into next year.

THEN, Week one, 08 with them heading into the Swamp in Tally, FL to take on those pesky Gators, a win there would surely force the early season voters to put the Warriors up there in the polls.

(In case you were wondering, Hawaii is NOT used to swamps, and  gators and snakes, but they do have a mean system in place.)

I know we have a LOT of games to play now, and next year, but this is how dynasties start.  I gotta hurry, I am waking up here.

No disrespect meant to the oft-dissed Bulldogs, but you can’t stop destiny.

Remember Manifest Destiny back in fifth grade?  It was the United States’ excuse for plowing across the middle and western parts of the land to claim it for us.  Of course, they got in boats and plowed right over to our rock in the middle of the Pacific, but I don’t want to discuss that with a bunch of readers here in Hawaii.

It’s Hawaii’s destiny to make believers on New Year’s Day.  Some of the same pajama wearers that missed the Colt Brennan express throughout the year can order pizza and eat at the big person table on the first.  Just watch.

I can think of at least 3 NFL teams that sorely need him the first round in April.

Anyway, to back it up:    Hawaii Warriors 41; Georgia Bulldogs 31.  You can put it on the board….  

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The class has started with the typical go-round of names and businesses.  If I hadn’t appreciated the worldwide aspect of this, I do now.  Fellow tribe-members from the UK, Canada, Australia, and many states, including us in Hawaii are checking in.  Wow, I am NOT alone.  Not everyone has the technical background, or a real focus (yet).  We are comrades working toward our internet future.

Perhaps a year from now we will gather to discuss our domination of internet business worldwide, but now we are laying the foundation.  I’m excited.  It’s new to me, but I am in this for the long haul.  The legendary story.  I grew up where we played with rocks and sticks, not video games and personal computers.  Now, look at me!

It’s the New Media (that I have attempted to explain to others already).  Now I am learning for real.  I am in the trenches.

I WANT A TRIBE.  I have a blog.  No one reads it yet…….even my mom, who I tried to trick into reading it, has passed on it.  Soon, it will be read, and become a profit generator for me.  I LOVE to write.  I expect that there are at least some out there that will enjoy reading at least half as much as I love writing it.

Network Marketing is an interesting animal.  It’s a tiger.  Are you a tiger or a bunny?  Eagle or a duck?  OK, I digress.  I expect to adapt this opportunity to be profiting as a result of the blog, the Google Rankings, just the possiblility of having a huge, global sphere of influence, due to my internet involvement.

Using the Power Triad, and the Charm Formula will allow me to be aware of the tools avaliable to me.  I am really fired up now.  The New Media Matrix brings the big picture into focus.  There is SO much at my fingertips.  WOW.  Stay tuned. 

How’s Zrii going for you?  OR  How’s that home business working?  I hear it all the time.  Well meaning (or not) friends ask on emails, phone calls, and at functions.  It’s going great.

 My wife and I are not finanacially wealthy from the biz yet, but we see the progress.  We have friends that have joined us during the early months due to our excitement.  We are HEALTHIER today than yesterday cuz we are putting something in our bodies that has been recommended for the last 5000 years by Ayurvedic Drs. 

I have met wonderful employees at Zrii, the general manager, some of the founding VPs, even Bill Farley.  What an honor.  We know one of the Drs that helped formulate the drink.  I have met and joined Craig, my mentor in business and that’s also changed my life.

I’ve made a ton of calls, meeting great people out there.  Not just the ones that have chosen to do biz with us, but many that did not as well.  It is an honor to represent such a quality product, as well.  The endorsement of the Chopra Center for Well-Being is golden, and hearing the Drs expound about the drink in Chicago was special. 

So, what happens while we toil away on the phone online and in person?  We envision future success.  We create the future we desire.  We look forward to the actual Launch of our company, which happens in May.  Sometimes we wait patiently for the product, cuz btw, we are still in PreLaunch.

It is comforting to know that we earning volume bonus in January, the fourth month of the business. 

Zrii, the original Amalaki, it enlivens the tongue.  It has changed my life and my wife’s, and we are just getting started.

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It’s always the prettiest, most smiling young lady in the Pharmacy.  She cranks up the friendly smile to an 11 and asks THE question:  “Would you like your flu shot today?”  She maintains the level 11 even as I say no with a look of horror on my face.  It moves to a level 10 as I comment  “Please don’t poison me.”  She keeps smilin’ and simply looks for her next victim.

It’s really hard to find fault with the new Safeway.  They have raised the bar for groceries in Honolulu.  Heck, this would raise the bar in Laguna Beach.  It’s full of class, and cool departments….probably 200 kinds of cheese.  But then there’s the flu-shot lady.

See, we were brought up to TRUST the MD, the Family Doc.  We did what we were told.  Now many of us in the baby boomer department are finding that our parents are in nursing homes totally dependent on multiple prescriptions.  Some of those pills are there simply to ward off the bad effects of the other pills.  I mean the big Pharmaceutical Companies have larger budgets than some European Countries.

People that push these pills to the Drs get paid an awful lot.  I know a lady that got fed up and walked away from her (high) salary with a Pharmaceutical giant cuz they insisted she ‘push’ one day ritalin pills for kids. 

Anyway, where was I.  Yeah, when the ‘experts’ tell us that we shold have a flu shot, some of us say “OK, which arm” or is it the shoulder?

Blindly we allow them to put Thimerosal carrying along with it a host of heavy metals into our system.  And btw, the flu virus itself.

My 85 year old friend.  Stop right there.  Anyone that has made it to 85, living healthy, with genes of the men that hit a hundred before him.  Who still drives, works, manages people and makes a lot of money.  I’m gonna pull up a chair and listen to what THAT guy has to say about health.

He, who btw has raised at least 6 children that are Drs, was ‘tricked’ into taking a flu shot this fall.  The Dr was not honest with him, and before my friend knew it, the Dr was about to stick him.  He sighed and said, OK, but really did not like the whole scenario.

Well, guess what.  As he had the previous 2 times when he got a shot, HE GOT THE FLU.

Anyway, we need to be more healthy.  There are so many alternative health options today.  I went to my Acupuncturist today and left feeling great.  My Integrative Medicine Dr almost refuses to offer a prescription.  There are so many other ways.

My wife, (Dr. Malia) a Holisitic Chiropractor has opened my eyes to so much more where the body heals itself.  She has made it (Real) clear how my past diet had led to my past health issues.

I don’t use caffeine anymore, watch the sugar, salt, red meat and anything with preservatives.  (Want to know where THEY come from?)  For years I have used vitamins, now I use the BEST, along with other recommended supplements.  Each day I drink Zrii, a tonic based on 5000 years of Ayurvedic Medicine.  It is endorsed by the Chopra Center for Well-Being.

Dr. Deepak Chopra says in his new book  “The scientific community has shifted from outright rejection and ridicule of alternative healing approaches to serious investigation.  If you access the National Library of Medicine’s database, you will find over forty thousand articles on alternative and complementary medicine with over sixteen hundred on herbal medicines alone.  Meditation, yoga, massage, and nutritional approaches are increasingly embraced as maionstream tools for healing……Almost every pharmacy in America (is) carrying its own line of natural medicines.”  Read the book Perfect Health, now.  You will see why it is a best seller.

Anyway, I gotta go to the Safeway and get some natural apple juice for my wife.  Her gall bladder is acting up.  (No flu-shot lady at THIS time of night.)

she hasn’t, I know it….I think it’s cuz I didn’t read my neice’s story she wrote for HS Lit class.  I admit it, I did not read it.  It sat, neatly typed on my mom’s desk for me all 4 days that I was there back in Oct.  I guess the Bears game, and some late night Google searches on her lap top were all more important.  I just kept putting it off.

C’mon, it wasn’t flagrant.  I spaced it.  Honest uncle mistake.  Chelsea doesn’t know, (I don’t think.)  Heck, we’re both on Facebook, talk about uncle Rick being progressive, or is it regressing.  I don’t know. 

Since I enjoy writing.  So I know I gotta read others’ stuff.  I’ll just sweet talk her, and we’ll be cool again. 

Not sure, though, she HAS over 600 friends, I think.  What if she told them all how cruel her uncle is.  I am going back to thinking she doesn’t know I didn’t read it.

And how does uncle Rick act cool with the neices and nephew anyhoo?  I mean, Chelsea swore on her Facebook entry today, I guess she’s ‘in trouble’ Monday.  That’s the edited version.  I mean, should I say something?  HELLO, she’s got like 600 friends.

That’s crazy.  I haven’t met 600 people in my 51 years, and she’s got that many to say that she’s their friend.  WOW.  What if I said something to her about her swearing, she could tell 600 people how square her uncle is!  Heck they probably say that word too.  (I know, I know, I used to say that word, but I gave it up about 14 years ago, btw, I never typed it for 600+ people to see.)

I know, by the time I wake up tomorrow, she’ll have edited it, and moved on to another crisis.

Oh yeah, back to mom.  You know I married the coolest lady in the world and she gives great gifts.  Mom just got her Harry and David fruit basket from us, and I know we BOTH signed the card.  It’s time to get back on her good side.

BTW, I DID read one of my mom’s books, actually two.  She is a rather well-known children’s author, and her book, The Legend of Lady Ilena, by Patricia Malone is great.  Order it from your local book store, and give it to a girl from the age of 10 to 16.  I bet she’ll love it.  See mom, I got your back.

Note to any of mom’s writing buddies that may read this.  Come on, help me out here.  Tell her to back off.  I am good most of the time.  Heck, my dark years are all in the rear-view year.

And besides, I gotta be on all of your good sides, I am part of a book that will come out next year.  (Thank God I Have A Home Based Business)  I’ll get to THAT later, but suffice to say that I will preview my chapter in the book here, so stay tuned….and Chelsea, just email me that thing to read.       Uncle Rick