I'm on Tyler Perry's e-mail list and he sent this e-mail today regarding his gift to some children in an orphanage. His gift was really special and I admire him for giving back. For those who may have missed it, here's Tyler message in total. Merry Christmas and a blessed and prosperous New Year to all!
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FROM TYLER PERRY:
Hello there,
Merry Christmas to all! Sorry I haven't written in a while, but these holidays are tough for me since my mother died last year. But I'm getting through it. Thank God!
I wanted to write today to ask you a question: If someone said to you, "Go and get anything that you want free of charge!", what would it be?
Well, listen to this: Every year I do a lot of Christmas giving to battered women shelters, feed the hungry organizations, homeless shelters and so on. Well, this year, Cassi Davis, who runs my foundation, found an orphanage. I didn't even know they had orphanages in the US. Anyway, this place is amazing and these kids' stories really show you how strong the human spirit is. They are from the ages of 14 to 18. It is unfortunate, but as kids get between these ages the probability of them being adopted is highly unlikely. Hence this great orphanage that houses them until they're adults. This place has so much history it should be a movie.
Anyway, I took all of these children to a Target. I gave each one a shopping cart and told them to go and fill it with whatever they "WANTED".
Now I thought this would be easy. I had no idea that these kids had a different idea of wants and needs than most kids in this country. I'm thinking they are going to go for the video games, toys, make-up and things that teenagers are into. Well, they didn't!!
I was shocked because most of them went for cases of water and juice. I thought, "Water and juice?" Then they went on to undershirts, underwear, deodorant, soap, etc. You get my point. All the things we take for granted were huge for them. HUGE!
As they shopped, my staff from the studio escorted them through the store.
A lot of us were tearful watching these kids. They were happy, but so confused. They couldn't wrap their brains around being able to have anything they wanted. How sad is that? They didn't know that they could have it all. One child sat in front of two shirts for a long time. One was 10 dollars the other was 30. He was wondering which one to get. It took one of my folks a long time to explain to him that he can have them both.
After a lot of cajoling and pushing, he finally got it and so did the other 23 kids. To see their little minds start to believe was a powerful thing. To go from one level of belief to believing you can have it all in moments was something to see.
They came to the checkout with their red Target baskets looking like overloaded Santa sleighs. Boy that did my heart good! I could see my mother smiling in my mind about this. They were so happy. I wish you could have seen the joy on these kids faces. It was contagious. I caught it, and it helped brighten up these rough days for me. It was just wonderful. I left them on a high BIG TIME! It made me remember to be thankful for the little things. I hope it does the same for you...
Merry Christmas,
Tyler
To respond to this message, please go to http://www.tylerperry.com/messageboard
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
3 Black Book Web Sites Lead the Way w/Group Economics
I know you've heard the old saying that "black folks can't work together." There is usually some truth to old sayings and I'll admit that I've made this statement myself a time or two. But, for three years, my husband, Willie, and I, through Cushcity.com, have been part of an effort by the nation's three leading African-American book web sites to provide an opportunity for authors to affordably market their books. This partnership, among Cushcity.com, AALBC.com and Mosaicbooks.com, has endured for the past three years and has been surprisingly drama-free.
Cushcity.com, AALBC.com and Mosaicbooks.com all went online in the late 1990s and all three sites had the goal of promoting African American books, both old and new. We all quickly became aware of each other, communicated frequently and viewed each other as friendly competition.
Over the years, all three sites have evolved. Cushcity.com expanded its retail operation beyond books and also started offering marketing services. In addition, our company hosts the annual National Black Book Festival in Houston. AALBC.com and Mosaicbooks.com kept their focus on books, but expanded their sites to include author web pages, marketing services, contact lists and discussion boards.
About three years ago, we received a call from Troy Johnson of AALBC.com and he proposed the concept of our three sites working together to offer an author promotion program, where a book could be promoted on all three sites simultaneously. At first, we were skeptical, since we had been burned more than once by people who proposed joint ventures where we ultimately did all the work, acquired all of the clients, but had to share the revenue. In order for any partnership to be successful it has to be win-win: All partners have to share the risk and rewards equally. Troy seemed to understand this so we took the conversations a step further.
After a few more discussions which included Ron Kavanaugh of Mosaicbooks.com, we formed the outlines of our agreement. We called the new venture the "Power Campaign" and agreed that each site would retain its autonomy while promoting this program. To date, we have assisted dozens of authors with promoting their books this way -- achieving simultaneous exposure at an extremely affordable rate.
We've had a few bumps in the road and have revised our agreement when problems arose. Yet we've never had a disagreement that would cause the relationship to dissolve because each person involved operates with integrity and believes in the win-win principle.
For those who may want to pursue partnerships, here are some tips we've learned from this relationship and other ones we've had:
Cushcity.com, AALBC.com and Mosaicbooks.com all went online in the late 1990s and all three sites had the goal of promoting African American books, both old and new. We all quickly became aware of each other, communicated frequently and viewed each other as friendly competition.
Over the years, all three sites have evolved. Cushcity.com expanded its retail operation beyond books and also started offering marketing services. In addition, our company hosts the annual National Black Book Festival in Houston. AALBC.com and Mosaicbooks.com kept their focus on books, but expanded their sites to include author web pages, marketing services, contact lists and discussion boards.
About three years ago, we received a call from Troy Johnson of AALBC.com and he proposed the concept of our three sites working together to offer an author promotion program, where a book could be promoted on all three sites simultaneously. At first, we were skeptical, since we had been burned more than once by people who proposed joint ventures where we ultimately did all the work, acquired all of the clients, but had to share the revenue. In order for any partnership to be successful it has to be win-win: All partners have to share the risk and rewards equally. Troy seemed to understand this so we took the conversations a step further.
After a few more discussions which included Ron Kavanaugh of Mosaicbooks.com, we formed the outlines of our agreement. We called the new venture the "Power Campaign" and agreed that each site would retain its autonomy while promoting this program. To date, we have assisted dozens of authors with promoting their books this way -- achieving simultaneous exposure at an extremely affordable rate.
We've had a few bumps in the road and have revised our agreement when problems arose. Yet we've never had a disagreement that would cause the relationship to dissolve because each person involved operates with integrity and believes in the win-win principle.
For those who may want to pursue partnerships, here are some tips we've learned from this relationship and other ones we've had:
- The relationship has to be win-win. If the scales tip too far in any one direction, the other people involved are going to be short-changed and the relationship will eventually be severed.
- The partners all must operate with integrity. No cutting corners, no shenanigans, no half truths, falsehoods or lies. Mistakes happen, but each partner has to be upfront and honest.
- Communication is key. If something is bothering you or one of the partners, get the issue out on the table immediately. Don't let a disagreement fester and grow like a cancer, thus poisoning the relationship. Communication keeps drama to a minimum.
- Be flexible. As the relationship evolves and situations arise, adjustments will need to be made from time to time. Everyone will not always get exactly what they want but, as long as the relationship remains win-win, the adjustments can be made and the partnership can move forward.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Our Nightmare with Comcast Business Services
In August of this year, we made a decision to move our business office to a new location. This was a cost cutting measure as well as a move to a nicer facility. At our old location, we had a T1 for Internet access and phone service which was costing us about $500.00 per month. A Comcast sales person stopped by and introduced Comcast's new Triple Play service for businesses: Internet access, phone service and cable television for less than $200 per month. Sounds great, huh? We signed up, it's now Dec. 2nd, and we still don't have our service complete.
It all started with the salesman, who said that the building we were moving to wasn't wired for Comcast. But Comcast was interested in adding a new office building to its roster, we'd be the first client in the facility and it would take 45 to 60 days to wire the building. We signed the paperwork on Aug. 11th and, based on the salesman's assurances, were expecting to have service by early October. We relocated as of Aug. 31st and our plan was to forward our primary line to our cell phone for one month until the service was put in. We've been in business for 12 years with the same phone number, as well as a toll-free number, and it was important to us that we retain the same phone numbers.
We checked in with the salesperson periodically, who assured us that everything was on schedule. When September 30th rolled around and the service had not been installed, we tried contacting the salesperson who was hard to reach at that point. Meanwhile, Comcast had a computer virus infiltrate their corporate e-mail system (this event actually made national headlines) and, when the salesman finally responded, he said he couldn't get into any of his files and it would be two weeks before he'd have access to everything. Keep in mind that we are still paying our primary phone service $500.00 a month because the lines are forwarded.
Starting in early October, we called Comcast every other day to see when the service would be installed. Then we were contacted by our cell phone provider, Verizon, regarding our usage. We had used 600 minutes over the amount for our plan and we had a big bill that was due. In other words, at that point we're paying double for phone service. The first month, our cell phone bill didn't increase at all, but due to the billing cycle, we were impacted on the second month. Verizon gave us the solution to temporarily increase our plan to include more minutes but, unfortunately, it wasn't retroactive. This added another $400.00 in phone charges for one month to what we were already paying. This caught up completely off guard since our cell phone usage is always several hundred minutes below the maximum.
After about 50 phone calls and several more weeks, Comcast finally put our phone lines in on Friday, Nov. 26th. However, we still have to wait another two weeks for our original numbers to be ported over (another fact the salesman failed to mention), which means we have to retain our old service and keep paying them for another two weeks until the process is complete. The cable T.V. is in too, but it's a joke. We only get local channels, C-Span, Disney and HLN. If we want the usual channels that are included in basic cable (TBS, TNT, CNN, MSNBC, Lifetime, etc.), we have to pay an additional $30.00 per month.
This was a costly lesson for our company, but we wanted to make others aware. Lord only knows where we'd be if we hadn't been persistent with our phone calls. One would think that a company as large as Comcast would have better customer service, but you know what they say when you assume. If a Comcast salesman offers your business what appears to be a good deal, be skeptical and know that the rosy picture he is painting is likely a mirage. Let the buyer beware!
It all started with the salesman, who said that the building we were moving to wasn't wired for Comcast. But Comcast was interested in adding a new office building to its roster, we'd be the first client in the facility and it would take 45 to 60 days to wire the building. We signed the paperwork on Aug. 11th and, based on the salesman's assurances, were expecting to have service by early October. We relocated as of Aug. 31st and our plan was to forward our primary line to our cell phone for one month until the service was put in. We've been in business for 12 years with the same phone number, as well as a toll-free number, and it was important to us that we retain the same phone numbers.
We checked in with the salesperson periodically, who assured us that everything was on schedule. When September 30th rolled around and the service had not been installed, we tried contacting the salesperson who was hard to reach at that point. Meanwhile, Comcast had a computer virus infiltrate their corporate e-mail system (this event actually made national headlines) and, when the salesman finally responded, he said he couldn't get into any of his files and it would be two weeks before he'd have access to everything. Keep in mind that we are still paying our primary phone service $500.00 a month because the lines are forwarded.
Starting in early October, we called Comcast every other day to see when the service would be installed. Then we were contacted by our cell phone provider, Verizon, regarding our usage. We had used 600 minutes over the amount for our plan and we had a big bill that was due. In other words, at that point we're paying double for phone service. The first month, our cell phone bill didn't increase at all, but due to the billing cycle, we were impacted on the second month. Verizon gave us the solution to temporarily increase our plan to include more minutes but, unfortunately, it wasn't retroactive. This added another $400.00 in phone charges for one month to what we were already paying. This caught up completely off guard since our cell phone usage is always several hundred minutes below the maximum.
After about 50 phone calls and several more weeks, Comcast finally put our phone lines in on Friday, Nov. 26th. However, we still have to wait another two weeks for our original numbers to be ported over (another fact the salesman failed to mention), which means we have to retain our old service and keep paying them for another two weeks until the process is complete. The cable T.V. is in too, but it's a joke. We only get local channels, C-Span, Disney and HLN. If we want the usual channels that are included in basic cable (TBS, TNT, CNN, MSNBC, Lifetime, etc.), we have to pay an additional $30.00 per month.
This was a costly lesson for our company, but we wanted to make others aware. Lord only knows where we'd be if we hadn't been persistent with our phone calls. One would think that a company as large as Comcast would have better customer service, but you know what they say when you assume. If a Comcast salesman offers your business what appears to be a good deal, be skeptical and know that the rosy picture he is painting is likely a mirage. Let the buyer beware!
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