Jurgen Homola - For Good or for Bad...

It's always your choice... You Will have to bear the consequences of your actions. Be responsible.

"Only people who do things are criticized." Karen Sorbo

Ever wonder why some individuals choose to use the internet as a powerful tool to launch a smear campaign? Simple... 85% or more internet users 'Google' the names of individuals they meet and companies they want to do business with.

Another startling fact is that most readers simply accept - at face value - whatever is written on the internet, without questioning its authenticity. Sad? Absolutely. But that's the world we live in nowadays...

By applying search engine optimization strategies, some common sense, and an insight into a market, an individual can vastly increase the 'visibility' of their website. Then, by strategically selecting and promoting specific niche keywords and keyword phrases on which searches are being conducted, a website can achieve a high 'organic' ranking status. The less 'competition' from other websites for the same keywords and keyword phrases, the higher a search engine places a website on the search page.

The formula is simple. More visibility provides more exposure which creates more awareness and - in turn - can translate into more sales.

Sadly though, the internet is also being used for more negative and damaging purposes, such as spreading defamatory information about individuals, products and businesses. It is easy for individuals who want to cause harm to 'hit hardest where it hurts most' by destroying credibility through public defamation. They do this by using first and last names, product names and business names as keyword phrases, and apply search engine, social networking and keyword strategies to achieve maximum exposure.  The result? Defamatory information is now public. 

If you are going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. Winston Churchill

They know that most recruitment agencies, prospective employers and business contacts use search engines to conduct research on individuals they meet and businesses they want to interact with. And once the information is out on the internet highway, it becomes REALLY difficult to stop the effects of 'organic' ranking completely. There will be a 'trickling' down the search engines for quite a while - in my case, a whole two and a half years later, and still 'trickling'...

Hers is what happened to me - Jurgen Homola - in September 2007: At the time, I was engaged as Chairman and CEO of PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc - a boutique management consulting firm based and operating throughout the US. Two individuals hired PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc to advise them on a variety of business aspects, including business structuring, corporate credit building, and raising private investment capital.

Four months after having been hired and having provided extensive consultation services, the client's monthly bills remained unpaid. As a consequence, the Board of PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc decided to cut its losses and terminated services to the client.

Because of my association with one of the client individuals (who was a personal acquaintance), the Board agreed to forego their accrued U$76,000 of unpaid consulting services and disbursements. Besides that, I arranged for the client to retain all documentation we had prepared for them, in order for them to pursue their funding drive, with the prospect of them settling their bill.

The question that might arise: Why didn’t PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc take legal action to recover losses? Good question. There are several reasons:

• PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc had, by that time, already established structures on behalf of the client for maximum protection against losses of investments, assets and personal liability (one of the many benefits of incorporating for legitimate purposes). 
• To take legal action against the client would have meant incurring additional legal expenses at least equal to the amount owed to PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc by the client; 
• PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc would have been 'slapped' with a massive tax bill for the amount awarded by the court - even though there were no prospects of recovery of the outstanding amount; 
• Then, PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc would not have been able to recover its legal costs. And, as we all know, legal fees are paid in advance and only reimbursed once the attorneys recovered their expenses form a judgment issued. 

Besides the above reasons, we maintained principles and values which - we believe - contributed to PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc’ s and our client's successes. Based on Dr Albert Schweitzer's insights, these principles and values are:

• “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.” - Dr Albert Schweitzer 
• “A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything and anyone that lives.” - Dr Albert Schweitzer 
• “Search and see if there is not some place where you may invest your humanity.” - Dr Albert Schweitzer 
• “Do something wonderful, so people may imitate it.” - Dr Albert Schweitzer 

As you can see, these are pretty strong reasons not to pursue litigation.

In spite of our generosity, the client was not happy with the decision taken by PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc. The client further demanded that we reimburse the initial $6,200 they had paid us to establish their elaborate corporate structure and other disbursements. Needless to say, PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc thought it totally unreasonable to meet this demand, as we had already agreed to forgo U$76,000 of unpaid consulting fees for services provided by us.

At a meeting with the clients - held on September 13, 2007 - they openly threatened PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc and me personally with defamatory actions unless PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc or I complied with their demands. Initially, we thought nothing of these extortionate threats. Our counsel advised them to rather use the time wisely and, together with the documentation they had already received, raise the required investment capital. After all, it would be the most prudent decision to take.

When PowerWays Management Consultants, Inc would not comply with their demands, these individuals began their defamation campaign on the internet in October, 2007, targeting me as the CEO. By selecting 'Jurgen Homola' as their keyword phrase, they were guaranteed highest 'organic' ranking, with virtually no competition.

In addition to the internet onslaught, they also distributed deceitful ‘Wanted’ posters, urging anyone who saw me to contact their local law enforcement. These posters were distributed in countries and cities I visit frequently.  Remember, one of the individuals was an acquaintance of mine.

The accusations on the 'Wanted' posters? I cannot go into these allegations at this point in time - for legal reasons. What I can tell you is this: Their actions DID attract the attention of law enforcement - the FBI and Interpol. 

I was cross-examined by both the FBI and Interpol (all facts are documented and available to anyone who needs to confirm this), both of which have exonerated me internationally from any accusations. With tongue-in-cheek, I am now one of only few individuals in the world who can claim that they have full FBI and Interpol clearance (again, all facts are documented and available to anyone who needs to confirm this).

Based on this experience, I will shortly release a series of articles that will hopefully help others in similar positions. Be on the look-out for these on my personal website at www.jurgenhomola.com and on the internet.

by Jurgen Homola

About Jurgen Homola:  As a visionary leader, creative thinker, seasoned entrepreneur, persuasive communicator, prolific & dynamic public speaker and specialist consultant, Jurgen Homola's experience extends across the US, Canada, Europe, the UK and Southern Africa. For more than two decades Jurgen has served - and still does - as Chairman, CEO, both Executive and Non-Executive Board Member, Senior Adviser and Consultant to several companies and non-profit organizations internationally. His Biography can be found at http://www.jurgenhomola.com/bio.html.

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