"I Wish I was a headlight on a northbound train, I'd shine my light in the cool Colorado rain."

-- Lyrics from "I Know You Rider," traditional folk-blues song

Trains played an important role in American history and culture. In the nineteenth century, they opened up the West to settlement and helped drive the Industrial Revolution across the North American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Burlington Northern Railroad, which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway just acquired, came out of a merger between Burlington, Northern Pacific, and the Great Northern, which is mentioned in the iconic Grateful Dead song "Jack Straw", and in 1993 it merged with the Santa Fe Railway to become Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). Many people today look at railroads as a nuisance, as they wait at railroad crossings watching car after car rattle by. Most people who wait at these crossings do not consider the incredible tonnage of goods, particularly in regards to energy and raw food, that rolls across these steel rails. Some may even think the railroad business is a quaint nineteenth century industry, and that it is perhaps even bit old-fashioned. That is why many 21st century investors reacted with surprise when they heard that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) just bought Burlington Northern (BNI) lock, stock, and barrel. Buffett looks at the long term with his investments, even as he pushes eighty years old. Yet his investment moves make other investors prick up their ears. What is behind this move? Well, firstly, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) moves most of the grain crops, especially corn, that come out of the American Midwest. Secondly, coal, particularly from Wyoming and Montana, makes up half its tonnage and accounts for about a quarter of its revenue. Everyone needs food, even in economic downturns, and currently coal provides over half of the electricity in the United States, according to the US Department of Energy. In addition to these two major commodities, Burlington Northern also hauls imports from Asia from West Coast ports, especially out of Seattle and Los Angeles. China's export driven economy will assure that goods will continue to flow into US ports and onto Burlington's trains. These are the foundations on which Burlington Northern Santa Fe's business is based. There is another element to this acquisition that also makes it look even better. Trains are the most efficient transportation system for heavy freight, offering better fuel efficiency per ton than trucks do. Edward R. Hamberger, CEO of the Association of American Railroads, says this:

(F)reight trains conserve energy. In 2008, freight trains were able to move a ton of freight an average of 457 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel, more than three times as far as a truck can move it. Just since 1980, railroads have improved their fuel efficiency by 80 percent. If just 10 percent of long-haul truck tonnage moved instead by rail, the nation could save more than 1 billion gallons of fuel annually.

So freight trains are green as well. With the Obama administration's focus on greening the US economy and making it more sustainable, railroads are certain to play an important role. With petroleum prices rising as the world stumbles out of recession, trains can haul more for less, something that will allow businesses to frugally build back up their stock of goods. On the surface, Burlington's heavy reliance on hauling coal seems to negate the positives of rail's fuel efficiency. However, the coal that BNSF hauls comes from the Powder River Basin, which has lower sulfur and ash as well as offering high electrical output. Demand for this type of low emissions coal will increase in the near term as there is no need for scrubbers to clean emissions from burning it, and alternative energy sources will take some time before they are competitive with coal. As the US depends on coal for so much of its electricity, it is unlikely that the country will cut coal production in the next few decades. The re-emergence of the rail industry will not kill the trucking industry. Trucks are versatile, and can go where there are no rails. Rather, we will see the rise of inter-modal transport, as railways take goods on long hauls and trucks deliver goods and commodities short distances from the rail yards to the end user. Warren Buffett has also covered one final base. In order to eliminate any element of perceived monopoly in the railroad business, Berkshire Hathaway is set to sell its shares in Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. In short, this is not a gamble. This is a smart, long term move to set Berkshire Hathaway into the thick of an industry that will only continue to grow in importance in the 21st century.

A Simple Way to Increase Demand: Provide a Good Product and Work Hard

Anyone can talk about marketing and growing demand for a product or service.  Many marketers, usually when trying to sell their own marketing system, in essence “their” product, will talk about a formula that will magically increase demand. What most marketers fail to mention is just how much work actually goes into generating demand.

Increasing demand is actually very simple.  It takes having a good product to sell and lots of hard work. 

Demand for a product or service depends intrinsically on its value to any potential customers.  If a product or service is of no use to anyone, no amount of advertising or marketing will make it sell. 

That said, there’s also no accounting for a person’s tastes.  People like different stuff, and that’s the joy of marketing: finding out which people want what. Some people enjoy vanilla while others like chocolate. Some people delight in eating fish eggs.  Some people get a thrill from jumping off high bridges attached to rubber bands.

Whatever product or service you are trying to sell, make it the best it can be and you’ll find that demand for it will grow. Keep working at it, and your customers will help you by spreading the word about it.  Word of mouth marketing is in many ways the best marketing tool there is, and all it takes is having satisfied customers.

These days, the Internet can spread the word about a product in an instant. Look at Jibbitz, which latched on to the Croc shoe craze by providing decorations that allowed Croc customers to make their shoes unique.  They started online, and most of their marketing was via the Internet.  

Offering something beyond what others do will get people to buy what you sell. Maybe not at first, but if you offer something that’s better than another business down the street, and if you’re willing to go out of your way to ensure that your product or service does what you say it will do, then you’ll be on your way to creating your own demand.

A good example of this kind of simple marketing is Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders. After running a very successful restaurant for many years, he had to sell his operation when the new Interstate 75 bypassed Corbin, Kentucky. Instead of giving up on his dreams, he travelled across the country marketing his Original Recipe for fried chicken.

Sanders believed in hard work, and in the end that is what made his recipe a success. He had a good product, and devoted his time and effort to making sure restaurant owners knew about it, and he then got a percentage off each of their sales. Hard work in marketing will result in more customers, and hard work at pleasing those customers will inevitably result in these customers returning for more and bringing more customers with them.

Marketing Using the Survey Resource Center

As someone with a marketing and sales background, I appreciate what the Survey Resource Center does to ensure that sales people have good leads from which to sell their products or services. I was a tad bit sceptical when I read that their leads generate two to three times the national average, until I looked into how they do it, and their guarantee.

I have made lists myself for my own marketing efforts, so I know a bit about how difficult it is to ensure that every single one of your leads is a good one. That means valid phone numbers and addresses, and in some cases valid e-mail addresses. Survey Resource Center will replace any leads for which the address or phone number is no longer valid, and this it does at no cost to the client. Now, this seemed like a very generous offer, but Survey Resource Center includes two other guarantees with this. They guarantee the exclusivity of the list for six months, meaning that the sales team using it can be assured that no one else will be competing with them. And here's the real kicker that shows that this company is serious about its product: they will refund in full 100% of the customers purchase price if they do not make at least $1000 per hundred names off of their lists. Now that's a company that believes in its product!

A New Source for Leads: The Survey Resource Center

I research all sorts of things on the net in a search to find ways to earn money. Today I came across the Survey Resource Center. The company originally began to generate leads for people in the insurance industry, but it looks like they have branched out to include other financial market offerings as well. I know a bit about generating leads, as last summer I made up lists to develop leads for a construction company in Minnesota.

From what I read about Survey Resource Center, they have developed a massive database and have further found a way to generate appointments from these lists to enable appointments rates two to three times the industry average. I know that the more appointments that are made, the more sales that result, and that translates into more money.

They seem to have caught on to this fact quickly, and have categorized each contact by geographic location and product need to enable sales people to use their time more efficiently, thus enabling them to make more sales. From what I have read, they certainly have their priorities in order and I would recommend any sales people in the insurance industry or other financial planning niches to check out the Survey Resource Center.

Death & Taxes

Well, if you're looking into taxes now for 2009, you better be contacting American Tax Relief... or someone else who deals in delinquent taxes. Hiring someone who knows how the IRS works is imperative if you've attracted their attention. Government tax offices of most countries tend to be the most efficient, and a company like American Tax Relief may be able to help. Not here in South Africa, of course, but a company like that sounds as if it would do well, as SARS, the South African Revenue Service, is very good at their job of separating taxpayers from their money.

The I.R.S. cautions that consumers can only be represented by an I.R.S. enrolled agent, CPA, or a tax attorney in tax matters. Because of this, consumers need to make sure that those who claim to be tax experts are what they say they are, so make sure you do your research and speak to a legitimate representative of American Tax Relief or other organization that can help you with your delinquent taxes.

Internet Reputations & Bass Fishing

Carl Sgro fixes reputations. Carl Sgro also likes to fish for bass. Both of these elements of who Carl Sgro is are congruent... and here's why...

(Find the rest of this article at The Creating Wealth Blog published on 4/22/09)

Rising Unemployment Brings Rising Numbers of Students

Yes, things are bad all over, and unemployment in the United Kingdom is adding to the stress of consumers there. But there may be a silver lining to this cloud. Application for enrollment in universities in the UK have increased dramatically, as people of all ages become increasingly pessimistic about employment opportunities and instead turn towards furthering their educations. The Universities & Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has indicated that applications increased by over five percent from twelve months previous, and the University of Dundee in Scotland saw applications increase a whopping 16.5%.


(Find the rest of this article published at The Creating Wealth Blog on 3/31/09)