Comments on: Gates to Give http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:41:39 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Vanessa http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549921 Vanessa Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:48:21 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549921 What would you do if you were losing almost one-fourth of your clients each year? I'll bet you'd be pretty concerned until you discovered that the national average for a client/accountant relationship is five years, which translates into a twenty-percent annual drop rate. Of course you'd feel better, but then again, it still means that on average, you have to replace one out of every five clients each and every year. Please visit for more details : http://instantpracticebuilder.com What would you do if you were losing almost one-fourth of your clients each year? I’ll bet you’d be pretty concerned until you discovered that the national average for a client/accountant relationship is five years, which translates into a twenty-percent annual drop rate. Of course you’d feel better, but then again, it still means that on average, you have to replace one out of every five clients each and every year.

Please visit for more details : http://instantpracticebuilder.com

]]> By: kirk ward http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549920 kirk ward Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:43:19 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549920 http://instantpracticebuilder.com Imagine having clients seek you out rather than you going out and soliciting their business. By putting your practice building program on autopilot, you are essentially able to "reverse" your marketing and eliminate cold calling or working to convince anyone to do business with you. They come to you because they already want to do business with you. Please visit: http://instantpracticebuilder.com http://instantpracticebuilder.com

Imagine having clients seek you out rather than you going out and soliciting their business. By putting your practice building program on autopilot, you are essentially able to “reverse” your marketing and eliminate cold calling or working to convince anyone to do business with you. They come to you because they already want to do business with you.

Please visit: http://instantpracticebuilder.com

]]> By: Vanessa http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549919 Vanessa Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:41:00 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549919 http://instantpracticebuilder.com One of the trickiest aspects of practice building is the process of gaining a reputation as a knowledgeable expert. And, as you've undoubtedly heard, it's also the single most important thing you can do to attract quality, profitable, clients. The more you are recognized and requested, the better the quality of the clients will be that you attract � and the more you can increase your fees.. The challenge for most practitioners is having the time to develop speeches, lesson plans for small business coaching, creating press releases, writing articles and newsletters, and producing books for publishing, along with having a system for updating these materials on a regular basis and keeping them current. So, the secret is to . . . http://instantpracticebuilder.com

One of the trickiest aspects of practice building is the process of gaining a reputation as a knowledgeable expert. And, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, it’s also the single most important thing you can do to attract quality, profitable, clients. The more you are recognized and requested, the better the quality of the clients will be that you attract � and the more you can increase your fees..

The challenge for most practitioners is having the time to develop speeches, lesson plans for small business coaching, creating press releases, writing articles and newsletters, and producing books for publishing, along with having a system for updating these materials on a regular basis and keeping them current. So, the secret is to . . .

]]> By: jonson http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549918 jonson Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:39:07 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-549918 http://instantpracticebuilder.com The big two in the payroll business have spent many years convincing accountants that it is easier and more profitable to refer their payroll clients rather than to perform the service in-house. More than 80% of their marketing dollars are geared toward keeping accountants convinced that there is no profit in processing payroll at the local level, while they build billion dollar revenue streams and make hundreds of millions of dollars. Look at the PayChex annual 10-K and see where they make a 40% net profit year-in and year-out on a billion dollars in revenue. http://instantpracticebuilder.com

The big two in the payroll business have spent many years convincing accountants that it is easier and more profitable to refer their payroll clients rather than to perform the service in-house. More than 80% of their marketing dollars are geared toward keeping accountants convinced that there is no profit in processing payroll at the local level, while they build billion dollar revenue streams and make hundreds of millions of dollars. Look at the PayChex annual 10-K and see where they make a 40% net profit year-in and year-out on a billion dollars in revenue.

]]> By: Peter Burgess http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548585 Peter Burgess Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:37:22 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548585 Dear Colleagues About 15 years ago I did some post-conflict planning work in Mozambique ... the idea being that this plan would help mobilize resources for critical reconstruction. The logical approach of assessing needs, identifying priorities and figuring out costs was done ... and the result was far more than the donors would have ever considered. The next step was to rework the plan so that there was an optimization of development and a rethinking of priorities within the scope of the funding likely to be available. I expected this to be well received by the donors ... but was way off base. The next problem turned out to be that each donor had its own priority ... none of which had much compatability with any of the Mozambique priorities. It was a mess. In the end quite a lot of money was mobilized ... but if you do brutal cost effectiveness analysis it was a disgrace. After this and other experiences my simple rule of thumb is that development resources could be better used by a factor of between 10 and 100 if local commuity priorities were respected. This contrasts with some others with high profile reputations in the development arena who seem to think that all will be well if we would just disburse 10 or 100 times more money! Certainly a lot of people would be happy ... but would there be tangible sustainable development for the bottom of the pyramid (BOP)? Sincerely Peter Burgess Dear Colleagues
About 15 years ago I did some post-conflict planning work in Mozambique … the idea being that this plan would help mobilize resources for critical reconstruction. The logical approach of assessing needs, identifying priorities and figuring out costs was done … and the result was far more than the donors would have ever considered. The next step was to rework the plan so that there was an optimization of development and a rethinking of priorities within the scope of the funding likely to be available. I expected this to be well received by the donors … but was way off base.
The next problem turned out to be that each donor had its own priority … none of which had much compatability with any of the Mozambique priorities. It was a mess. In the end quite a lot of money was mobilized … but if you do brutal cost effectiveness analysis it was a disgrace.
After this and other experiences my simple rule of thumb is that development resources could be better used by a factor of between 10 and 100 if local commuity priorities were respected. This contrasts with some others with high profile reputations in the development arena who seem to think that all will be well if we would just disburse 10 or 100 times more money!
Certainly a lot of people would be happy … but would there be tangible sustainable development for the bottom of the pyramid (BOP)?
Sincerely
Peter Burgess

]]> By: GinnyD http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548584 GinnyD Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:07:24 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548584 Mr. Castaldo, no need to apologize. I love the chance to have a civil discussion. That's why I stopped visiting political blogs. All the people there want to do is call each other names. I really believe in what One is trying to do, and I appreciate hearing the different points of view. Mr. Castaldo, no need to apologize. I love the chance to have a civil discussion. That’s why I stopped visiting political blogs. All the people there want to do is call each other names. I really believe in what One is trying to do, and I appreciate hearing the different points of view.

]]> By: michael castaldo http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548581 michael castaldo Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:29:36 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548581 sorry ginny - did not mean to imply that the money we are commited to spending is not needed, wanted, or justified; just that no one WANTS to be in such a desparate place. and, that the reality is that a 1% increase in trade would mean a lot more than the dollars it would represent. the downstream results are almost impossible to define. we definatly do need the MCC. it is my hope that the in the long term or even perhaps even short term to see these poor countries not having their hands holding a begging bowl but to be able to hold out goods they have created with their own backs and offer them for sale on the open market at a competitive price... sustainable enterprise... fairness. dignity. pride. they are all any of us want. in lesthoto the garment industry is really taking off thanks to the MCC. there are other rock solid examples as well. we as ONE know how many lives are at stake if we do not meet our mdg's. we know that there are NEW hiv infections happening every day and that every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria. this is a uphill battle but we are fighting it together and we are trying as hard as we can. never before have so many good smart people put so much effort into helping on such a vast scale. i think the tide of public awareness is turning and the momentum can only lead to better things. thank you all for caring. sorry ginny – did not mean to imply that the money we are commited to spending is not needed, wanted, or justified; just that no one WANTS to be in such a desparate place. and, that the reality is that a 1% increase in trade would mean a lot more than the dollars it would represent. the downstream results are almost impossible to define.

we definatly do need the MCC. it is my hope that the in the long term or even perhaps even short term to see these poor countries not having their hands holding a begging bowl but to be able to hold out goods they have created with their own backs and offer them for sale on the open market at a competitive price… sustainable enterprise… fairness. dignity. pride. they are all any of us want. in lesthoto the garment industry is really taking off thanks to the MCC. there are other rock solid examples as well.

we as ONE know how many lives are at stake if we do not meet our mdg’s. we know that there are NEW hiv infections happening every day and that every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria. this is a uphill battle but we are fighting it together and we are trying as hard as we can. never before have so many good smart people put so much effort into helping on such a vast scale. i think the tide of public awareness is turning and the momentum can only lead to better things.

thank you all for caring.

]]> By: GinnyD http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548580 GinnyD Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:19:23 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548580 I don't think there is any doubt that all of the commenters on this site feel deeply about the issue of poverty. I really think the only difference of opinions here is whether the method of accountability is working. I think that the Millenium Challenge Corporation is the right approach. I certainly understand the opinion of Mr. Burgess. I'm not sure that I agree at all with Mr. Castaldo. I have not heard of any African country saying they want less money from the United States. I think what they are saying is we are looking for a helping hand, not a hand out. Give us the aid we need to help our countries, but make sure that aid money is getting to the right people. I don’t think there is any doubt that all of the commenters on this site feel deeply about the issue of poverty. I really think the only difference of opinions here is whether the method of accountability is working. I think that the Millenium Challenge Corporation is the right approach. I certainly understand the opinion of Mr. Burgess. I’m not sure that I agree at all with Mr. Castaldo. I have not heard of any African country saying they want less money from the United States. I think what they are saying is we are looking for a helping hand, not a hand out. Give us the aid we need to help our countries, but make sure that aid money is getting to the right people.

]]> By: michael castaldo http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548579 michael castaldo Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:11:55 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548579 interesting discussion. mr burgess does seems to care as much about finding a way to make poverty history as the rest of us. in fact with "community accountabilty" as his mantra he has a concrete plan. btw there are new ways of looking at the metrics. and simply repeating that word does not make your argument stronger. the problem is not just in following the money or some big conspiracy. you only need to look at our current cadidates for president to see how complex the challange is - one who voted for the farm bill and big agribiz and one who voted against... not it is not the usual gop on the side of big biz. this time it is the midwestern democrat who has to yield to his local constituancy and not be part of reform of a bill with global impact on the worlds food markets and the poorest and hungriest. if i am hearing them correctly - what responsible african leaders are asking for it is NOT more money (and therefore we can worry less about where it is leaking) it IS a fair trade policey that allows them to trade their way out of poverty. this is real reform. this is what was not being done in the 80's. there has been real reform in how oour aid is delived and comparing the MCC to any historical aid program is unfair. we do need to address life and death issues of health and extreme poverty this is not a joke. too much money has been wasted in the past but that is not a excuse to do nothing. the world is not perfect but neither am i. i will try harder today and tomorrow to do better. interesting discussion. mr burgess does seems to care as much about finding a way to make poverty history as the rest of us. in fact with “community accountabilty” as his mantra he has a concrete plan. btw there are new ways of looking at the metrics. and simply repeating that word does not make your argument stronger. the problem is not just in following the money or some big conspiracy. you only need to look at our current cadidates for president to see how complex the challange is – one who voted for the farm bill and big agribiz and one who voted against… not it is not the usual gop on the side of big biz. this time it is the midwestern democrat who has to yield to his local constituancy and not be part of reform of a bill with global impact on the worlds food markets and the poorest and hungriest. if i am hearing them correctly – what responsible african leaders are asking for it is NOT more money (and therefore we can worry less about where it is leaking) it IS a fair trade policey that allows them to trade their way out of poverty. this is real reform. this is what was not being done in the 80’s. there has been real reform in how oour aid is delived and comparing the MCC to any historical aid program is unfair. we do need to address life and death issues of health and extreme poverty this is not a joke. too much money has been wasted in the past but that is not a excuse to do nothing. the world is not perfect but neither am i. i will try harder today and tomorrow to do better.

]]> By: GinnyD http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548542 GinnyD Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:52:13 +0000 http://www.one.org/blog/2008/08/15/gates-to-give/#comment-548542 Mr. Burgess, you have not offended me. I have enjoyed the discussion with you. I just disagree with your conclusions, but certainly respect your opinion. Mr. Burgess, you have not offended me. I have enjoyed the discussion with you. I just disagree with your conclusions, but certainly respect your opinion.

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