We were honored and privileged to have business and marketing legend Dan Kennedy visit our offices yesterday. Over the last two days Dan has been in Orlando to talk to members of the GKIC Orlando chapter and also to make a visit behind the scenes at Walt Disney World.

The behind scenes VIP tour at Disney was simply awesome and it was our pleasure to organise this trip for both Dan and the GKIC members living in Florida.  Some of the guests on the trip had travelled several hours to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity and everyone had a great time as we explored behind the scenes at Disney Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom and the “Can Do” people at Disney’s Central Shops. One of the highlight’s of the trip was venturing “underground” at Magic Kingdom as we walked through the “Utilidor” system but the real high point was listening to Dan speak about the Walt Disney Company and it’s culture. It was a fascinating insight and gave everyone something to think about.

For those of you who don’t know Dan Kennedy as yet, here’s a brief bio of his achievements: Dan S. Kennedy is the provocative, truth telling author of thirteen business books including seven best selling No B.S. books; he is a serial, successful, multi millionaire entrepreneur; trusted marketing advisor, consultant and coach to hundreds of private entrepreneurial clients running businesses from $1 million to $1 billion in size. He influences well over 1 million independent business owners annually through his newsletters, telecoaching programs, local Chapters and Kennedy Study Groups meeting in over 100 cities, and a network of top niched consultants in nearly 150 different business and industry categories and professions.

As a speaker Dan has repeatedly appeared with four former U.S. Presidents; business celebrities like Donald Trump and Gene Simmons (KISS, Family Jewels on A&E); legendary entrepreneurs including Jim McCann (1-800-Flowers), Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies), and Nido Qubein (Great Harvest Bread Company / High Point University); famous business speakers including Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, Tom Hopkins and Tony Robbins and countless sports and Hollywood celebrities. Dan has addressed audiences as large as 35,000… for more than ten consecutive years, he averaged speaking to more than 250,000 people per year. Corporate engagements have included American Honda, Floor Coverings International, IBM, Pitney-Bowes, Sun Securities.

Dan is the ‘hidden genius’ behind many full page magazine ads that you read, TV infomercials you see, online marketing and direct mail you receive. His ads, created for clients, have appeared in over 200 magazines from industry trade journals, airline magazines, The Wall Street Journal to USA Today and Readers Digest to Cosmopolitan. He has created winning campaigns for health, diet and beauty products and companies, business to business and investements including Canadian land sold to Asian investors.

It has been a wonderful experience to spend two days in the company of Mr. Kennedy and we are extremely grateful for the time he gave to us during his visit.  If you would like more information on Dan or would like to get hold of his books, they are available at amazon.com, BN.com, bookstores and some free information is available at www.NoBSBooks.com.

Also, if you’d like to know more about staying in a vacation home in Orlando or more about the VIP behind scenes tours we do at places like Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios and many more, give us a call at 1-800-576-0229 or visit us at www.FloridaLeisure.com

So, from all of us at Florida Leisure Vacation Homes we’d like to say a BIG “Thank You” to Mr. Dan Kennedy and to everyone who was fortunate to attend over the last two days. It was “awesome”.

If you’d like to see some of the pictures we took of the trip to Disney… please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/38435377@N02/

Just finished watching “Farrah’s Story” on TV tonight and it moved me so much I just had to write about it. First I should explain why I’m so interested…cards on the table, make no bones about it…Farrah was my first crush.

She was the amazingly beautiful “Angel” married to the Six Million Dollar Man…Steve Austin, better known as Lee Majors. Her beauty was amazing and 70′s TV, for a time, revolved around Charlie’s Angels …but more particularly Farrah Fawcett Majors. Sure Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson were essential to the program but it was Farrah that stole the show.

Watching the documentary tonight about her battle against cancer  just proved that this woman has an amazing inner strength. Years ago she was cast as a typical blond but she proved she could act when she took the lead role in “Extremities” both on Broadway and in the movies. Her cancer fight and the way she has allowed the whole world to see what she is going through eclipses all that. How easy it would be for her to say “no thanks…leave me alone” but she hasn’t taken that route and now many more people will become aware of what the real ravages of the worst disease there is for a human being to suffer is really like.

It’s going to be a very sad day when Farrah leaves us…but for now all we can really do is wish her a peaceful and painfree time as she battles the big ‘C’. Her courage is truly admirable and the way she continues to battle for her life puts everything in perspective. At the end of the day what else really matters?

Adam Lambert

V

Next weeks final will be between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen. Danny Gokey leaves the show tonight after a superb performance of Joe Cocker’s “You are so Beautiful” that in previous years would surely have seen him coast to the final.

Danny Gokey

Even Simon Cowell was impressed as he called it a “vocal masterclass” but it wasn’t enough to get him the votes he needed to get into the last week. It’s a great shame as I personally think he’s a better performer and singer than Kris Allen but you really can’t argue with a night that saw over 80 million votes cast. This show goes from strength to strength and the idols this year have been the best ever. Well done to all involved. So…who do you think will win next week?

JOAN RIVERS

Congratulations to 75 year old Joan Rivers who showed amazing durability and endurance to win the Celebrity Apprentice. Personally I thought Donald Trump got the decision totally wrong and for the wrong reasons.

Joan’s adversay was Annie Duke and throughout the series she proved she was a very capable business woman and clever opponent. She raised the most money and she managed to pull off some amazing wins…most notably when she beat county music legend Clint Black in producing a jingle for some chicken product that no-one will ever care about.

Annie Duke can clearly feel herself unfortunate but Trump bowed to the popular vote despite Ms. Rivers tendancy to get emotional, to side with her daughter Melissa and at one point, walk out of the competition because her beloved off spring had been “fired”.  Since when has Trump allowed quitters to walk back in?

I find it very odd that Trump can fire Khloe Kardashian for her crime (not committed on the show) yet Joan’s insults towards Clint, Brande and Annie with such turns of phrase as “worse than Hitler”, “stupid blondes”, “white trash”, “whore pit vipers” and “mafia ties” is seen as the behaviour of a winner.

Still, it seems we’re in different times thesedays and we can probably consider this the “Rivers Bailout”.

Despite today’s economic woes, people are still traveling and taking vacations; it is my experience that they are just doing so with a lot more focus on their budget. Hunting for deals and ways to cut costs while on vacation has never been more important and one budget-friendly trend has emerged as the solution for those who want to travel for less: vacation home rentals.

 Vacationers may wonder how renting a Florida Leisure Vacation Home can actually cost less. First, vacation homes usually come equipped with all the necessities to cook meals. Just cutting one restaurant meal a day out of a vacation budget can save hundreds of dollars over the course of the trip. By eliminating all of those little extra food outings and instead stocking up at local grocery stores, vacationers could possibly cut trip costs in half.

In addition to saving money by eating in, a vacation home is a much larger space so more people can travel together and split the cost of the rental. And with multigenerational travel on the rise — grandma, aunt, mom, dad and kids all traveling together — it’s an easy way to be comfortable and share intimate travel memories together in a larger space.Do the math. If renting a four-bedroom villa for a week costs $1,000, two families of four will pay only $500 each for accommodations and that same price sometimes only covers one or two nights in a hotel simply because you have to get more rooms to accomodate everyone. In addition, many homes have extra amenities at no additional cost, meaning none of those pesky “resort fees” to use the pool or other extras. Financially, vacation rentals make a lot of sense.

Been playing catch up on my Tivo tonight and decided to watch The Apprentice UK. I’m not sure if this is the first series that’s running on BBC America at the moment but it’s pretty entertaining even if Alan Sugar isn’t Donald Trump.

The men are kicking ass at the moment and the women don’t seem to have a leader or, what’s worse, a clue. The way things are going I don’t see the women winning a task.

And talking of The Apprentice, I met with another person from the program just recently. I bumped into Bill Rancic, the first ever winner of the Apprentice and he’s a really great guy. He’d certainly knock the spots off most of the UK crowd!

Allison Iraheta has become the latest singer to leave American Idol last night and that leaves us with just three contestants left on the show.

Allison Iraheta leaves Idol

Wow…life has been hectic over the last two weeks and I’ve been so busy that the blog has had to miss out. Sorry folks.

The good news …or bad, depending on how you look at it is …”I’m back!”

So where have I been…well last week I attended a conference and one of the guest speakers was Ivanka Trump. She gave a speech to us that helped us understand a little more about The Trump Organization, the dynamics of the relationship between herself and her father and some basic philosophies that all of us should emulate.

In economic times like this we are all looking for something to give us an edge. Something that will make a difference and something that will make us better. Ivanka made a very important point when she spoke of being employed by her father. She joined the company with the right attitude; “there may be more intelligent people, there may be people with more experience…but I’ll work harder”.

Now that’s an employee all businesses would love to have!

In today’s age it’s easy to be cynical, to be depressed and to moan about one’s lot but your attitude has a great deal to do with your success. Of course, having a great attitude is one thing but you’ve also got to do something to achieve greatness and that’s why Ivanka’s “I’ll work harder” is such an important lesson.

Success doesn’t come easy, never has and those who have had to work hard to get it, value it so much more. You may find yourself in uncertain times at the moment but it’s only by being determined and resolute to succeed that you can.

Of course, Ivanka is a smart cookie and she’s had a very sensible upbringing that shines through. She hasn’t been allowed to emulate people such as the Hilton sisters and she has been taught straight forward old fashioned values.

One of the other things that was revealing was the comment “look for talent in unique places but be watchful as they don’t know anything…but give them an opportunity“. This is something I have always tried to do…to give people a chance. Some people turn out to be superstars while others fade away when in the spotlight but you’ll never know until you give them the chance.

Another comment and one that resonated well with me was the famous Trump “attention to detail” call. Ivanka spoke of how her mother, Ivana, “could spot a lightbulb that was out from two miles”. This is something that I have tried to instill at Florida Leisure Vacation Homes. Every employee is tasked with paying “attention to detail” simply because it makes the ultimate difference for our guests having a great vacation or not.

Many businesses are suffering at the moment and this is the time to pay attention to detail. To make the small things count and to find ways to keep customers coming back. Sure, we offer some great vacation homes that people really enjoy but we have also been paying attention to detail and offering our guests even more…experiences like backstage tours at Walt Disney World, Sea World and many other exciting possibilities at various attractions in the Orlando area.

Ivanka gave me a timely reminder that we must stay on the right track at times like this. There is a temptation to do as so many businesses have and that is to cut costs and offer less…and ultimately that leads to less customers and the increasing chance of going out of business. That’s something we’re going to avoid and we can only do that if we are truly focussed on delivering what our customer wants.

Thanks for the reminders Ivanka!