"For
SFS to continue with out Steve they/we would need someone who has the same passion, integrity, speaking skills, first hand CCing knowledge, humbleness, wit and drive that Mr Toburen just oozes from his pores."
Thanks, Mike ... I think.

BTW, I gotta ask where do you come up with this stuff? Ya really oughta write for the movies, Mike! You really know how to wake a guy up at 5:17 AM in the morning with a headline like that. (Sioux says I should just sleep in my computer chair since "You obviously love those guys a lot more than me!")
Anyway, in time honored Island Boy fashion let me respond with a logically numbered outline:
1. It's really not all about me- it is the concepts that are so powerful in
Strategies for Success. Valued Added Service, the 80% Principle, Giving the Illusion of Control, Making It Easier to Do It Right than Do It Wrong, Answering Unspoken Questions With Unspoken Answers, etc just to name a few. These timeless
SFS principles immediately grab people simply because they are so transformational.
SFS WILL live on without me. That being said ...
2. Sorry, Mike, I'm not planning on going anywhere. Why not?
a. I really enjoy teaching
SFS. Watching a motley crew of carpet cleaners that arrived on Monday and then over the next five days become transformed and energized is an incredible experience. Seeing them leave with a completely new vision and renewed hope (along with the tools and suppoort to accomplish it) on Friday afternoon (this board is adangerous place to confess this) almost brings tears to my eyes.
b. Hearing from our excited
SFS members that "hey, this stuff actually works" with actual experiences on how their business and families have benefited from the seminar is the "gasoline" that keeps all of our
SFS team, including "Poppa Nick" going. And speaking of a team ...
c. I'm still having fun! Over the last 12 years (and over 50
SFS seminars) our
SFS group has morphed into a very competent and mutually respectful team where we spend just enough time together that we look forward to each and every seminar. Why would I want to bail out on this much fun? And finally ...
d. I'm still excited about our future projects.
SFS has always been about so much more than just a seminar.
SFS is an ongoing PROGRAM of support with our quarterly TIPS (Techniques, Ideas, Procedures and Systems) mailings. (Not to mention our members get free and unlimited consulting with Big Billy Yeadon and yours truly.) But now we are working hard on developing our industry's ONLY "information portal" where many of the transformational
SFS concepts that have transformed over 2,000 owners and managers in this business will be available to everyone. Soooo ...
Just go to
http://www.StrategiesForSuccess to read more about this new site AND to sign up for e-mailed updates on exactly what we are up to. (And yes, the site will be free to all.)
NOTE: One of our biggest challenges over the years with
SFS has been to A) explain exactly what the heck the seminar is! and B) reassure people that
SFS is not some high-pressure "snake-oil" seminar where we get you in the room and then spend five days berating you for not spending more to learn the "real secrets of success" and C) explain that you really can attend
SFS for free- no strings attached. So I should mention that when you go to
http://www.StrategiesForSuccess.com you can sign up for a free 30 minute DVD that will answer all of these concerns and/or questions. Just fill in the form and we'll ship the DVD to you at no charge. (People say it is pretty good.)
Steve "Island Boy" Toburen
Director of Training
Jon-Don's
Strategies for Success
http://www.StrategiesForSuccess.com
PS Oh, and finally, Mike, not to rain on your parade but I'm not really all that old. (Despite what Yeadon has been promulgating.) I'm at 55 and holding and (up till now) enjoy excellent health. (I'm not real fond of traveling but I do it to enjoy all the benefits I point out above.) I really do live by one of my favorite
SFS sayings:
"Find a job you love and you will never work another day in your life." *
* My guess is every single member of our
SFS team feels exactly this way about their involvement with
Strategies for Success. My personal thanks to Big Billy, Chuck Violand and Angela Buege (along with all of our hard working branch managers when a turbulent
SFS week descends on them) and of course most especially our "caterer" and
SFS "Godfather", Nick Paolella! The owners of Jon-Don, Nick and John Paolella, have poured incredible resources into the
SFS program over the years and have committed to continue investing in our over 2,000
SFS members for the long term. I am personally grateful to both of them for sharing and supporting my vision of transforming our industry.