Successful business ownership and living the business owners lifestyle is what we’re all about here at the Business Owners Coaching Club. That lifestyle includes making an impact on the world around us, and leaving a legacy of capitalist freedom.

Now if you’re looking for one book that states clearly why small business ownership, entrepreneurship, and capitalism matters — this is it! It’s by Carl Schramm, president of the Kauffman Foundation.

Schramm does praise America’s nurturing environment for entrepreneurship, but he puts out the challenge for all of us to be more entrepreneurial.

The Entrepreneurial Imperative: How America’s Economic Miracle Will Reshape the World – And Change Your Life

Not only is it his passionate goal to see a greater expansion of start-ups domestically and globally, he feels the promotion of entrepreneurial capitalism is a key formula for bringing about peace, prosperity, and stability in the world. You can read more about Carl Schramm in this article form The Economist.
http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5108000

John Paul Micek (aka "the Commando Capitalist") and his partner Deborah Cole Micek, (the Motivation M.D.) are founders of the business coaching company RPM Success Group ® Inc. With four multi-million dollar businesses under his belt and over 17,500 hours of research and study working with thousands of business owners around the world — John Paul and Deborah have created a simple scientific system that maximizes your performance, persuasion, and wealth in just 60-Seconds. They both are in demand speakers, published authors, and certified trainers in persuasion and Self Influence™, and experts in Marketing with New Media. Their latest book ‘Secrets Of Online Persuasion’ is the definitive guide on getting more customers and cash online with New Media. You can reach John Paul by contacting [support@rpmsuccess.com]

	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
Attribution (text and links) must be given to RPM Success Group Inc.and Business Owners Coaching Club. Full copyright is retained by RPM Success Group Inc.

Controversy surrounding the book, “A Million Little Pieces” endorsed by Oprah’s famous book club, may just be pure marketing strategy by author, James Frey - or, pure con strategy.

Either way, thanks to the arduous research by The Smoking Gun surrounding the facts and lies of A Million Little Pieces, we learn the “supposed” non-fiction book was more fiction than non.

A million little lessons

If anything positive can come from this fiasco, that was, more than anything, an insult to Oprah and her work with her book club that got millions of people back to doing what’s really important - reading - is that “bad PR” is sometimes just that - bad PR.

Oprah teaches Frey about what a lie is and the consequences of conning powerful women… I guess he still has a million little lessons to learn - and perhaps if he submitted himself to going through a 12-steps program, that he demeans and puts down in his book, then perhaps he wouldn’t be in the hot water that he is, because he would have learned this lesson from his sponsor.

To me - the bottom line is that even if controversial marketing works, and despite the fact that he’s getting a ton of attention - I would never advise my coaching clients and authors to engage in something that you would not be proud of down the road.

It doesn’t matter that his book is making more and more headlines than ever with this controversy - the fact that he deceived others by letting them think it was all truth, will diminish trust in the author - which means - good luck with any future book you ever thought of writing as a sequel.

Why was Oprah embarrased?

People trust Oprah - so when she recommends a book, people automatically pick it up and say, “Hey! This MUST be a great book because OPRAH says so!”

Oprah knows she wields this type of power and influence on millions of Americans - and she takes that responsibility very seriously.

But this doesn’t mean any of the journalists should be taking jabs on Oprah - because all she did was share a book she found interesting with her audience. We’re all still responsible to decide whether it’s a book WE would enjoy reading.

I must admit… the cover of the book is interesting, and I was tempted to pick up the book the last few times I was in the book aisle at Costco. But something kept stopping me. Something about the back cover, or the text inside. And then, when I did a little research when I returned home on the internet, I found an audio clip of the author reading his book. And that did even more to convince me this book was not for me.

Within the first few sentences, this guy insults people who have addictions, insults the 12-step program, which I’ve seen help dozens of people when I worked at a social service agency, and he pooh-poohs the concept of God.

Well - perhaps if he believeed in the power of prayer - he might have gotten “the message” from a “Higher Power” that what he was about to do, deceive the American people - was simply… wrong.

Oprah questions him in un-Oprah-esque fashion
Looks like Dr. Phil is rubbing off on Oprah - in a good way. Oprah sure helps Frey understand what a lie is and the consequence of telling lies when he came back on her show so she could ask a million little questions. And boooooy! Did she let him have it!

I’ve never seen Oprah like this. I have an all new respect for her.

She knows how to captivate and entertain an audience, but ultimately she delivers a product that she can be proud of. And it infuriates me that something like this would happen, and thereby discourage her from continuing to invite authors on her show to talk about their books, and put her seal of endorsement on her favorite books.

I hate when people talk about the person who was deceived (the victim) as though they were somehow inadequate - how they were “conned”. To me, that’s simply deflecting the real blame and the real issue - of the character of the con man himself. Let’s not cast expursions on those who have been “fooled”. Let’s put the real blame and responsibility where it lies. With James Frey- and James Frey only.

My message to Oprah:
Keep on promoting the practice of reading. And whatever you feel, don’t feel duped. Show women all across America that women never need to feel bad for trusting people. That’s a natural quality of the innocent. Only the people who are conning others should feel bad and suffer the consequences.

It reminds me of The Paradoxical Commandments, by Dr. Kent M. Keith where it talks about how people may treat you poorly and deceive you, possibly even use you, despite your goodwill towards them, yet - the author promptly encourages you to “Do the right thing anyway!”

We never want to allow others to change our personality, nor encourage us to behave against our character - and that includes how we market and engage in obtaining publicty.

Final Thoughts:
I saw an article that looked like a bookstore was offering refunds for anyone who bought his book. To me - that should come directly out of Frey’s pocket.

What do you think? Share your comments below…

And do you think it’s ever ok to lie to get more publicity?

Or do you think there’s a clear line between getting attention for your products and services, and that you should never compromise your character - even if it means less profit in your pocket.

Deborah Micek is known as the “Business Communication Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™.

Official Life Coach for the Dream Makeover Hawaii TV show aired on NBC, internationally published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. Deborah is a managing partner with the international small business coaching company RPM Success Group Inc.®

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Just a quick note about the Blog For Relief effort last weekend. Deborah and I were so impressed with the quick action of our business coaching clients and readers of the Business Owner’s Blog that we had our editor publish a press release on the results.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

Hawaii residents and owners of RPM Success Group Inc., Deborah and John-Paul Micek were planning on making some donations on their own, but when they saw what Hewitt, Reynolds and Bear were doing, they put their money where their mouths are.

Mr. Micek says, “As strong proponents of marketing with business blogs, Deborah and I decided to test the word-of-mouth power of business blogs. Our intention was to act as a catalyst to inspire some action from our business-coaching clients and business owners who read our blogs. We issued a $1,000 matching challenge on http://www.biz-ownersblog.com in the afternoon of August 31st. We had hoped to get at least $1,000 in donations that we could match. But, what happened in less than 24 hours blew us away! Including our matching funds, we received proof of more than $12,500 in donations by September 1st at 11:59 p.m. To me, that’s proof that marketing with business blogs works.”

At the same time that the Miceks were putting their Marketing With Business Blogs multi-media course to good use (http://www.marketingwithbusinessblogs.com,) the total tracked over at truthlaidbear.com was approaching $350,000. The momentum was building and Blog for Relief Day turned into Blog for Relief Weekend yielding nearly $1.3 million for the victims of Hurricane Katrina by September 5.

You can read the full press release on the business coaching effort here on PR Web.

Thanks once again for your donations of close to $15,000 in 3 days!

Enjoy!

John-Paul Micek is known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™. He’s a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and a managing partner with the international small business coaching company RPM Success Group Inc.®

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Blog For Relief Update 09/06/05:

The weekend’s Blog for Relief fundraiser effort is officially over. With over $1.25 M in donations logged, it was a great success! Here at the Business Owner’s Blog we had $600 more donated by business owners and members of BusinessOwnersCoachingClub.com, even though it was a holiday weekend. With our matching donation of $600 to Mission Harvest America, Inc. that makes the total for the weekend $1,200.

The grand total of donations from readers of the Business Owner’s Blog was $13,700 including the results from our $1,000 challenge on Blog For Relief Day on September 1. THANK YOU all you business owners who took action quickly and donated.

Many of you emailed us today after returning from your long 3-day weekend and were disappointed to have missed the Blog For Relief Weekend. Don’t let that stop you from continuing to give. The cost and human suffering this natural disaster is still not yet fully known. This is an excellent opportunity for successful business owners to step up and help out. Some of our business coaching clients are even planning trips to affected areas to share their resources with people impacted by hurricane Katrina. Think creatively about what you can do.

Be sure to check out the Web Relief Project Directory NZ Bear put together. It is a comprehensive list of web-based relief projects currently under way.

Thanks again for taking action!

John-Paul Micek is known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™. He’s a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and a managing partner with the international small business coaching company RPM Success Group Inc.®

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

With momentum just starting to build after yesterday’s Blog For Relief Day, thanks to Hugh Hewitt, Glenn Reynolds, and N.Z. Bear Blog For Relief Day has now turned into Blog for Relief Weekend (Sept 3 – Sept. 5.) The goal is to get international bloggers and corporations to participate to multiply those donations exponentially.

But Deborah and I both agree that business owners who are our business coaching clients, members of the Business Owners Coaching Club, or subscribers to our blogs and Business Owner’s Journal can (and want to) do more.

So we’re issuign another $1,000 matching challenge for this weekend.

Our Second $1,000 challenge for Blog Relief Weekend:

If you make a donation to any disaster relief organization between today and 11:59 p.m. Hawaii time on September 5, we will match total donations up to $1,000.

To make this possible, all we ask you to do is take TWO simple steps:

#1. Just post a comment here with the amount of your donation, and to whom you made it

#2. Email us a copy of your receipt to: “relief.support@rpmsuccess.com”

UPDATE:

#3. Please log your contribution for tracking of a running total for Blog For Relief Day/Weekend

I will post the total donated on Sept. 6 and then match your contributions up to $1000. As with our previous $1,000 donation challenge, Deb and I will make our donation to Mission Harvest America, Inc. due to our personal interaction with them and their local connection with the areas impacted.

If you would like a list of recommended relief organizations you can use, visit InstaPundit.com. And if you’d like to check out the credibility of organizations you’re not already familiar with (always a good idea in situations like this) then visit http://www.charitynavigator.org as recommended by Michelle Malkin.

Two top-line organizations:

If you’re a fellow business blogger, then please post about this and urge your readers to contribute over the weekend.

Please keep the people of the Gulf Coast in your prayers.

John-Paul Micek is known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™. He’s a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and a managing partner with the international small business coaching company RPM Success Group Inc.®

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Thank you for all you business owners who have stepped up to the plate and donated yesterday.

As you know, in support of Blog For Relief Day Deborah and I decided to get creative and try to catalyze some action from our business coaching clients and business owners who read our blogs. So we issued $1000 matching challenge on biz-ownersblog.com on the afternoon of the 31st.

We had hoped to get at least $1000 in donations that we could match — but what happened in less than 24 hours blew us away.

We received proof of over $11,500 in donations by 11:59 p.m. September 1. With our matching challenge amount of $1,000 we are humbled to have catalyzed $12,500 in donations for victims of hurricane Katrina in just 24-hours.

The total tracked over at truthlaidbear.com was approaching $350,000 at midnight Hawaii time last night. That total is now reaching towards $400,000.

And with momentum just starting to build, thanks to Hugh Hewitt, Glenn Reynolds, and N.Z. Bear Blog For Relief Day has now turned into Blog for Relief Weekend (Sept 3 – Sept. 5.) The goal is to get international bloggers and corporations to participate to multiply those donations exponentially.

Thans again for all you business owners who have stepped up to the plate and donated.

God bless you all.

John-Paul Micek is known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™. He’s a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and a managing partner with the international small business coaching company RPM Success Group Inc.®

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Tomorrow, Sept. 1, 2005 has been designated Blog Relief Day. Hugh Hewitt suggested “perhaps the bloggers could agree to set a day for a unified blog beg” and Glenn from InstaPundit suggested this Thursday, September 1. NZ from The Truth Laid Bear is tracking some of the action on a special blog relief participant page.

It’s a day where bloggers of all types, from business bloggers to political pundits will join together to make a difference. If what happened in the blogosphere with the Tsunami relief earlier in the year is any indication of what type of difference bloggers can make, than tomorrow is your chance to make a BIG difference in providing relief for our fellow country men and women.

What Deb and I have decided to do is put out a $1,000 challenge to all our readers and subscribers.

The $1,000 challenge:

If you make a donation to any disaster relief organization between today and 11:59 p.m. Hawaii time on September 1, we will match your donations up to $1,000.

To make this possible, all we ask you to do is take TWO simple steps:

1. Just post a comment here with the amount of your donation, and to whom you made it

2. Email us a copy of your receipt to: “relief.support@rpmsuccess.com”

I will post the total donated on Sept. 2 and then match your contributions up to $1000. Deb and I will make our donation to Mission Harvest America, Inc. due to our personal interaction with them and their local connection with the areas impacted.

If you would like a list of recommended relief organizations you can use, visit InstaPundit.com. And if you’d like to check out the credibility of organizations you’re not already familiar with (always a good idea in situations like this) then visit http://www.charitynavigator.org as recommended by Michelle Malkin.

If you’re a fellow business blogger, then please post about this and urge your readers to contribute tomorrow.

Please keep the people of the Gulf Coast in your prayers.

John-Paul Micek is known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™. He’s a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and a managing partner with the international small business coaching company RPM Success Group Inc.®

The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc.® and licensed under a Creative Commons License.