Amway's Fred Harties - Never Quit

I read these comments about Fred Harteis and Linda Harteis. I agree completely with what they say here. Fred Harteis has a never-give-up attitude. You want to be around him because his persistence inspires you...


Fred and Linda Harteis, owners of Harteis International, thank you for demonstrating by your life one of the keys to success as stated by Conrad Hilton: "Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit."

Fred and Linda Harties, owners of Harties International, Thank you – Thank you – Thank you… What more can you say to a couple whose integrity, loyality, honesty, sincerity, teachability… has impacted so many people. Thank you for leading the way, and helping us help others in changing the world!

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - What We Repeatedly Do

It is really hard to just have one favorite quote. There are so many great ones. This would certainly be high on the list. It is short but very insightful. Our habits are so important. Aristotle learned this so many centuries ago. Our habits are as important today as they were then. Our daily habits determine where we will be in the future.

Billy Florence - Leadership Favorite on Habits

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

I also like these great quotes on habits...

"I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time." - Charles Dickens

"Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit." - Vince Lombardi

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - The Right Outlook on Failure

Failure. It isn't a very fun word. No one "likes" to fail. It is much more fun to "succeed" than to fail. But is failing really failing? It is important that we have the right outlook on failing. When we fail at something that doesn't make us a failure as long as we learn from it. The bigger the goals you have in life the more you will need to fail to get there.

John Maxwell calls it Failing Forward. I love that. Leaders must understand that failing is part of the process. But just fail forward by learning and moving on. Try to learn from other people's failures and certainly try not to make the same mistake twice.

Enjoy these great thoughts on failure.

Billy Florence - Failing Forward Favorites

"He is foolish to blame the sea who is shipwrecked twice." – Publilius Syrus

"One’s best success comes after his greatest disappointments." – Henry Ward Beecher

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." - Henry Ford

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Orrin Woodward - Man of Purpose

I read online where someone thought this quote reminded them of Orrin Woodward...

"Great minds have purposes, others have wishes." - Washington Irving

I can't agree more. Orrin Woodward is a great leader and a great friend. I am constantly amazed at his drive and determination. He knows his purpose and stays focused on it. It is easy to be distracted along the way but Orrin Woodward sets a great example for us by not letting those distractions get in the way of his purpose.

Orrin Woodward does a great job of painting the picture of where you can be. Knowing his real purpose helps him to be a great visionary.

Thank you Orrin for your passion!

Team MMP Jody Victor: Boldness In Habits

Habits determine our future. Success doesn't come over night. When we do the right actions or habits for a long enough time they compound in to great results. Bad habits compound as well over time. So we should pay attention to our habits and work on replacing the bad ones with the good ones like Jody Victor shares here...

Jody Victor: Goethe’s couplet has been paraphrased by many and lived by only a few. W. H. Murray of the Scottish Himalayan Expedition is an example of “the few” and that’s why we selected his words for an example. He powerfully states, “Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it.” It can require boldness to change a habit.

Jody Victor & Kathy Victor – Leadership Moment

Exchanging a bad habit with a good one can present enormous and to some impossible challenges. It takes time. Over time we overwrite our brain with the more productive behavior.

Williams James suggested three keys to acquiring new habits and losing old ones: (1) start the desired behavior immediately; (2) consistently repeat the behavior until it seems a natural rather than an acquired trait; and (3) express the new behavior as soon and as often as possible.
Any of us who have started and stayed with a new exercise program, have experiences this success formula for ourselves.

About Jody and Kathy Victor

Jody Victor and Kathy Victor are members of independent business owner (IBO) trade association, IBOAI.

IBOAI, the official trade association, leadership team including Billy Florence, Jody Victor, Randy Haugen, Joe Markiewicz Don Wilson and Jim Janz serves and protects the business interests of independent business owners, (Quixtar IBO’s ) throughout North America.
Jody and Kathy Victor lead Markerman Productions Team.

© 2007 JODY VICTOR & KATHY VICTOR. Reprint permission provided to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - Financial Favorites

Money and finances can certainly be the source for many arguments in most American households. I don't know the exact percentage but I know it is a high percentage of arguments that trace back to money issues in most families.

Being on top of your finances is big relief for families. I don't mean just making more money. Having your finances in order begins with living within your means. Making more money can be very helpful but first and most importantly we must live within our means.

I thought I would share a few great financial common sense quotes...

Billy Florence - Financial Common Sense

"A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life." - Suze Orman

"People first, then money, then things." - Suze Orman

"Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantities to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family." - George S. Clason

"Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invest it under the advice of men wise in its handling." - George S. Clason

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Bill Florence - Search For Internet Answers

This article was first published on http://www.e-quadnews.com/.

People say there are no stupid questions. Well, try this one: Are people willing to pay for something they can get for free? After four years of trying, Google has finally admitted what many of us could have told them in the first place – “Of course not! If we are given the choice.” In December Google Answers, the search engine giant’s contribution to the growing online answers industry, closed its virtual doors for good, surrendering this popular quadrant of cyberspace to chief rival Yahoo and its many wannabe competitors. Why did Google think a pay service would compete with the gratis offerings of Yahoo et al? And why is there an et al at all? What's the deal with online answer services? Read on for the answers to these and other questions about online answers.

Free or Free

Online answer sites divide very naturally into pay services and free services. Leaders in the former category include Kasamba and AnswerBug. Such websites are full-fledged marketing enterprises. They are well-built and carefully maintained, with easily navigable instructions, FAQs, and other cyber-corporate necessities. Questions are asked only to registered experts in the field of focus and fees are negotiated before any responses are delivered.

Yahoo and other free answer sites are more concerned with the social web aspect, providing open forums in which virtually any user can post an answer to any question. While the noise-to-data ratio naturally skyrockets on such sites, the payoff is in the building of cyber-community. To paraphrase Bill Cosby, these sites are fun, and if you’re not careful, you just might learn something before you’re done.

The jury is still out as to exactly why Google Answers failed (the Google blog entry announcing the closure offers nary a clue). It seems the service may have tried to straddle the fence between the two strategies outlined above, attempting to offer a businesslike expert-driven fee service from a platform much better suited for throwing an internet block party. Google clearly did not allocate the capital or the care invested by the others, relying instead on the strength of its name and its broad user base.

Looking For Answers

Where one should go for online answers depends first of all on what kind of answer one is looking for. When seeking advice or opinions of the kind normally expected from a coffee shop discussion group or an impromptu neighborhood conversation, a free service may be all that’s needed. Such sites serve well to expand the breadth of personal experience and evaluative insight to which we have access. On the other hand, if one needs factual information or guidance on an issue of great import, then pay services may be the better road. There experts are available and can be assessed via their personal profiles, accumulated user evaluations, and other tools.

Wade Roush of Technology Review recently perused six popular free answer sites, evaluating them based on their answer archives and on their responses to two posed questions, one factual and one opinion-based. He awarded 0-3 points in each of these three areas and an additional 0-3 points for “the richness and originality” of each site’s features. The following chart summarizes his findings for the three highest scoring sites.

Go e-QuadNews to view the chart: http://www.e-quadnews.com/index.php/m/articles/id/172/t/Search-Research-Internet-Answer-Services

Roush’s summary statement is especially insightful: “It’s important to realize that the social Q&A sites are intended as much for the entertainment and aggrandizement of the answerers as for the education of the questioners. The site that gives answerers the most exposure, therefore, is likely to be the one that thrives the longest.”

Answering Service Trends

Like any internet development, the answer site is a phenomenon in process. Already at least two major evolutionary trends are identifiable. First, there is the specialty site, offering expert answers or advice in one particular field –everything from plumbing to law. These services may be fee-based or free, depending on whether they are intended primarily to provide professional service online or to help build a customer base for more traditional services.

The second major trend is library-based answer services, bringing online research full-circle to that most venerated of all information resources. At the vanguard of this trend is the free service provided by the Library of Congress. While other sites are available free to the general public (such as that provided by the Internet Public Library), many – like university libraries and city or county libraries – restrict their services to their specific clientele. Nonetheless, such answer services are beginning to offer a free alternative for those requiring expert answers.

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - Leadership Thought for Today

I read this quote and thought it was a great leadership thought for today. There is a lot of truth in this little statement. We have to trust and believe in those people we lead that they can get the job done. People work best for those who believe in them and don't look over their shoulder all the time...

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." - Theodore Roosevelt

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Team Randy Haugen – Traveling Through Pages Of History

Randy Haugen points out the words "fitly chosen." Books can be your best friends and mentors. They can give us wisdom and help us to learn what it took another a lifetime. But the key is in choosing the "right" books...

Randy Haugen, “It is possible to spend the day with some of the greatest people in history; no particular timeline of introduction is required. Your local library is filled with biographies of men like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, and Marie Curie. Be sure and note the words, “fitly chosen” in the Douglas Jerrold statement below.”

Haugen – Quick Quote Favorite About Books

A blessed companion is a book, - a book that, fitly chosen, is a lifelong friend . . . a book that, at a touch, pours its heart into our own. – Douglas Jerrold

ABOUT RANDY HAUGEN: Randy Haugen and Val Haugen are members of independent business owner (IBO) trade association, IBOAI

IBOAI, the official trade association, leadership team including Billy Florence, Jody Victor, Randy Haugen, Joe Markiewicz Don Wilson and Jim Janz serves and protects the business interests of independent business owners, ( IBO’s ) throughout North America.

Billy Florence leads Team DCI and owns Bill Florence Enterprises and Equad News.
Jody and Kathy Victor lead Markerman Productions. Fred Harteis owns Harties International.

Key words: Bill Florence, Colombo DiSalvatore, Don Wilson, Randy Haugen

© 2007 Randy Haugen. Reprint permission given to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - Breaking Through Mental Barriers

I love to hear the stories of people who broke through huge barriers. It continues to happen all the time. There are always the critics and those who say something can't be done. But then there are those men and women who ignore the voices saying something can't be done. They believe they can do it. They work hard and believe in themselves.

My favorite example of this is Roger Bannister. Previous to him setting this record, most people considered it impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes. In fact, I dare to bet that there were people in Bannister's time who were physically capable of running a four minute mile, but were held back by their mental limitation that said it was impossible to do so simply because no one had done it yet. But Once Bannister did it, many people followed. In fact, the record has been broken since by almost 17 seconds!

Billy Florence - Wisdom from Bannister

"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."

Breaking barriers is not easy. It may be painful as Bannister says. But people continue to push through and do things that people thought impossible. What are your barriers? What are things you want to do but maybe have doubted or others have doubted in the past? Read and study other great mean and women who have pushed through barriers. It can be great inspiration for us in our own lives.

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - Vision for the Future

Vision! Great leaders must have it. How can anyone lead a group if he doesn't know where to take them? But vision isn't just important for a few leaders "at the top." Vision is important for everyone. We must have personal vision for our lives. Where do we want to be in the next 5 years? Having a vision and goal for our future helps us focus on what is really important. It can be easy to get distracted so our vision can help us identify those distractions...

Billy Florence - Vision

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." - Peter F. Drucker

"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision." - Helen Keller

"Vision is the art of seeing the invisible." - Jonathan Swift

"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision." - Theodore Hesburgh

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - Encourage Others

Encourage others. People want to associate with people who encourage and build them up. Wouldn't you rather be around an encourager than a critisizer? Many managers believe they need to constantly critisize their employees. There may be a time for instruction but most people would get far better results from their team if they spent less time critisizing and more time encouraging.

Billy Florence - Favorites on Encouragement

"Start your child's day with love and encouragement and end the day the same way." - Zig Ziglar

"You already have every characteristic necessary for success if you recognize, claim, develop and use them." - Zig Ziglar

"Get around the right people.Associate with positive,goal-oriented people who encourage and inspire you." - Brian Tracy

"When someone we love is having difficulty and is giving us a bad time, it's better to explore the cause than to criticize the action." - Zig Ziglar

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Randy Haugen: Winning Is A Process Not A Game Score

I love this story. This is a great example of true sportsmanship by Emmit Smith...

Randy Haugen, “Emmit Smith recently won a national dancing competition. The discipline he applied to that opportunity was learned during his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys. His win reminded me of a story I’d heard about Emmitt and Thurman Thomas.”

Randy Haugen Leadership Favorite: Leaders Encourage

In 1994, Thurman Thomas, head bowed with his hands covering his face, sat on the Buffalo Bills bench following his team’s fourth straight Super Bowl loss. His three fumbles had helped seal their awful fate.

Suddenly, standing before him was the Dallas Cowboys’ star running back Emmitt Smith. Just named MVP for Super Bowl XXVIII, Smith was carrying his small goddaughter. Smith looked down at her and said, “I want you to meet the greatest running back in the NFL, Mr. Thurman Thomas.”

About Randy Haugan and Valerie Haugen

Investor Randy Haugen, owns Haugan Corporation. He is a part owner of Legacy Business Group and serves on their Board of Directors. Through his background in business management and customer service, Haugen’s businesses have matured fruitfully.

Randy Haugen has serves on the International Business Owners Association International (IBOAI).

IBOAI, the Quixtar IBO official trade association of Quixtar Ibo’s, serves and protects the business interests of independent business owners. Association leadership includes Jim Janz, Randy Haugen, Brad Duncan, Don Wilson, Billy Florence, Jody Victor. 2007 IBO association board members include: Kanti Gala, Bill Hawkins, John Merris, Joe Markiewicz, Orrin Woodward, Chris Brady, Kathy Victor, Bob Andrews and Bill Hawkins.
Amway and Quixtar are sister companies owned by Alticor Inc.

© 2007 Randy Haugen Amway / Quixtar IBO. Reprint permission given to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence: Patton - A Man of Action

When you hear different quotes and learn about General George S. Patton, you can tell he was a man of action. That is an important leadership quality. We are full of great ideas. We all know what we need to do or should do. But taking action on those things is what matters most.

Orrin Woodward says of Tim Marks, "Tim is one of the best I have seen at problem identified to problem solved." What he is saying is that Tim Marks takes action on what he know needs to be done.

Be a person of thought, yes. But we should also work to be men of action like George Patton and Tim Marks...

Billy Florence - Favorites from Patton

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - George Patton

"A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood." - George Patton

"Better to fight for something than live for nothing." - George Patton

"Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory." - George Patton

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Orrin Woodward - Courage

I read these great quotes on courage on one of Orrin Woodward's blogs. Orrin Woodward is a great man of courage. He dreams big dreams and has the courage to go after them. It does require courage to take personal responsibility and go after your goals and dreams. Don't put the blame on others. Have the courage to move in the right direction. Thank you Orrin Woodward for your example...

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."- Henry David Thoreau

"A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort."- Sydney Smith

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Team Billy Florence: Historic Changes In Business

Billy Florence, “Two business events of major importance from the past are the passage of NAFTA and what was happening at Microsoft 20+ years ago.”

1993 - The U.S. Congress approved the North American Free Trade Agreement on November 20. It took effect the following January. Under NAFTA the U.S., Canada, and Mexico become a single, integrated market with $6.5 trillion worth of goods and services traded annually.

1985 - Microsoft released Windows 1.01 on five 360kb 5.25 inch floppy disks. It ran on MS-DOS v5.0 (called “MS-DOS Executive” in Windows).

We now carry on small flash or travel drives more memory capacity than could be imagined in 1985.

Billy Florence and Peggy Florence are members of IBOAI

Business Owner Trade Association Facts:

Billy Florence and Peggy Florence are members of the IBO Association, IBOAI. The trade association serving and protecting the business interests of Quixtar IBOs. Jim Janz, Don Wilson, Randy Haugen, Billy Florence and Jody Victor serve on the trade association board.

Keywords: Billy Florence, Peggy Florence, Quixtar IBO

© 2007 Billy Florence Quixtar IBO. Reprint permission given to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Jim Janz IBO: Team Members Setting The Tone

"Books by Coach John Wooden are some of my favorite on leadership..." - Billy Florence

Jim Janz, “Leadership is often highlighted in sports. John Wooden is a role model for focused and caring leadership. One of my favorite leadership thoughts from him is…”

Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you. – Coach John Wooden


Jim Janz and Sharon Janz Are Members of IBOAI, IBO Trade Association.

“The official Trade Association, IBOAI, is dedicated to serving and protecting the interests of Quixtar powered Independent Business Owners (Quixtar IBOs) throughout North America,” says Jim Janz of IBOAI.

Governed by a Board of Directors, the IBOAI: Protects the best interests of IBOs and serves as an advocate in IBO issues with Quixtar Inc.

IBOAI, the IBO official trade association of Quixtar Ibo’s, serves and protects the business interests of independent business owners. Association leadership includes Jim Janz, Randy Haugen Brad Duncan, Don Wilson, Billy Florence, Jody Victor. Additional board members include: Bill Hawkins, John Merris, Joe Markiewicz, Orrin Woodward, Chris Brady, Kathy Victor, Bob Andrews and Bill Hawkins.

Keywords: Jim Janz Quixtar, Don Wilson Quixtar, Billy Florence Jody Victor Quixtar

© 2007 Jim Janz Amway Quixtar IBO. Reprint permission given to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Billy Florence - Servanthood in Leadership

I love when I hear great leaders teach about servanthood leadership. There was a time when maybe people wouldn't have really thought about leadership and servanthood in the same sentence. But true leadership is about serving others. And there are some great leaders who are out there teaching this concept. It may not have been the norm in corporate America in the past to teach servant leadership. But great leadership teachers like John Maxwell have been doing a great job of teaching this concept.

We all must work to put this in practice. This teaching is for every person. Serving others is important and it is the true base for leadership.

I know of some great examples like Orrin Woodward & Chris Brady. They are both great leaders and really have a heart to serve others. They are great examples for us to watch and learn from.

"The first step to leadership is servanthood." - John Maxwell

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Bill Florence - Walt Disney: Entertainment Champion

Walt Disney: Entertainment Champion
by Billy Florence

Normally when we call people dreamers, we do not mean it as a compliment. We want them to get their heads out of the clouds, wake up and smell the coffee, be realistic. But there is no better word than “dreamer” to describe Walt Disney, the most influential and successful man in the history of media entertainment. And as far as he was concerned, there was no greater compliment we could have paid him.

“If you can dream it, you can do it,” he once said. Again, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” And make dreams come true is exactly what he did. Disney produced the first animated film with sound, the first animated color film, the first full length animated film, and the first film combining animation and live action. He was also a pioneer of feature productions for television and children’s television programming. And along the way he invented the theme park. He had many dreams, and he had the courage to make many of them come true.

By Disney’s own testimony, his dreams were spawned by his insatiable curiosity. “Ideas come from curiosity,” he observed. “When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.” Like inventing a talking mouse that took a nation by storm, winning 19 Academy Awards, and turning a Florida swamp into the greatest entertainment complex in the world.

Disney’s curiosity caused him to wonder about everything he saw – why it worked the way it did, how it might work differently – and about things he didn’t see but only imagined – why they didn’t exist and what it would take to bring them about. He wondered and he dreamed and he acted. And he changed his world.

“Always remember that this whole thing started with a dream and a mouse.” – Walt Disney
To learn more about the life and career of Walt Disney, go to Disneydreamer.com.

About Billy and Peggy Florence:

Billy Florence is a veteran, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Billy Florence and Peggy Florence are frequently featured guest speakers on subject of business ownership, leadership skills, business development and personal motivation.

© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.

Jody Victor - Freedom Is The Victor

I just love Ronald Reagan. Jody Victor shares here one of his most famous speaches! It is so powerful!

Jody Victor, “Freedom leads to prosperity,” stated Ronald Reagan. He was absolutely correct.”

A Reagan Favorite from Jody Victor and Kathy Victor

In the 1950's, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health; even want of the most basic kind -- too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Ronald Reagan, June 12, 1987

About Jody Victor & Kathy Victor

Kathy Victor and Jody Victor are members of IBOAI, independent business owners association international.

IBOAI, the official trade association of Quixtar Ibo’s, serves and protects the business interests of independent business owners. Association leadership team includes Jim Janz, Randy Haugan, Brad Duncan, Don Wilson, Billy Florence, and Jody Victor.

© 2007 Jody Victor and Kathy Victor. Reprint permission given to Billy Florence Team Dream Chaser site.