True Financial Freedom

How to be a Man

2010-05-04T13:03:00.001-07:00

by Steve Pavlina

What does it mean to be a man today? How can men consciously express their masculinity without becoming cold or closed-hearted on the one hand… or wimpy and emasculated on the other? What’s the most loving way for a conscious man to express himself?

Here are 10 ways to live more consciously as a man:

1. Make real decisions.

A man understands and respects the power of choice. He lives a life of his own creation. He knows that life stagnates when he fails to decide and flourishes when he chooses a clear path.

When a man makes a decision, he opens the door he wants and closes the doors he doesn’t want. He locks onto his target like a guided missile. There’s no guarantee he’ll reach his target, and he knows this, but he doesn’t need such guarantees. He simply enjoys the sense of inevitability that comes from pushing the launch button.

A man doesn’t require the approval of others. He’s willing to follow his heart wherever it leads him. When a man is following his heart-centered path, it’s of little consequence if the entire world is against him.

2. Put your relationships second.

A man who claims his #1 commitment in life is his relationship partner (or his family) is either too dishonest or too weak to be trusted. His loyalties are misplaced. A man who values individuals above his own integrity is a wretch, not a free thinker.

A man knows he must commit to something greater than satisfying the needs of a few people. He’s not willing to be domesticated, but he is willing to accept the responsibility that comes with greater challenges. He knows that when he shirks that duty, he becomes something less than a man. When others observe that the man is unyieldingly committed to his values and ideals, he gains their trust and respect, even when he cannot gain their direct support. The surest way for a man to lose the respect of others (as well as his self-respect) is to violate his own values.

Life will test the man to see if he’s willing to put loyalty to others ahead of loyalty to his principles. The man will be offered many temptations to expose his true loyalties. A man’s greatest reward is to live with integrity, and his greatest punishment is what he inflicts upon himself for placing anything above his integrity. Whenever the man sacrifices his integrity, he loses his freedom… and himself as well. He becomes an object of pity.

3. Be willing to fail.

A man is willing to make mistakes. He’s willing to be wrong. He’d rather try and fail than do nothing.

A man’s self-trust is one of his greatest assets. When he second-guesses himself by worrying about failure, he diminishes himself. An intelligent man considers the prospect of failure, but he doesn’t preoccupy himself with pointless worry. He accepts that if a failure outcome occurs, he can deal with it.

A man grows more from failure than he does from success. Success cannot test his resolve in the way that failure can. Success has its challenges, but a man learns more about himself when he takes on challenges that involve risk. When a man plays it safe, his vitality is lost, and he loses his edge.

4. Be confident.

A man speaks and acts with confidence. He owns his attitude.

A man doesn’t adopt a confident posture because he knows he’ll succeed. He often knows that failure is a likely outcome. But when the odds of success are clearly against him, he still exudes confidence. It isn’t because he’s ignorant or suffering from denial. It’s because he’s proving to himself that he has the strength to transcend his self-doubt. This builds his courage and persistence, two of his most valuable allies.

A man is willing to be defeated by the world. He’s willing to be taken down by circumstances beyond his control. But he refuses to be overwhelmed by his own self-doubt. He knows that when he stops trusting himself, he is surely lost. He’ll surrender to fate when necessary, but he won’t surrender to fear.

5. Express love actively.

A man is an active giver of love, not a passive receiver. A man is the first to initiate a conversation, the first to ask for what’s needed, and the first to say “I love you.” Waiting for someone else to make the first move is unbecoming of him. The universe does not respond positively to his hesitation. Only when he’s in motion do the floodgates of abundance open.

Man is the out-breath of source energy. It is his job — his duty — to share his love with the world. He must wean himself from suckling the energy of others and become a vibrant transmitter of energy himself. He must allow that energy to flow from source, through him, and into the world. When he assumes this role, he has no doubt he is living as his true self.

6. Re-channel sex energy.

A man doesn’t hide his sexuality. If others shrink from him because he’s too masculine, he allows them to have their reaction. There’s no need for him to lower his energy just to avoid frightening the timid. A man accepts the consequences of being male; he makes no apologies for his nature.

A man is careful not to allow his energy to get stuck at the level of lust. He re-channels much of his sexual energy into his heart and head, where it can serve his higher values instead of just his animal instincts. (You can do this by visualizing the energy rising, expanding, and eventually flowing throughout your entire body and beyond.)

A man channels his sexual energy into his heart-centered pursuits. He feels such energy pulsing within him, driving him to action. He feels uncomfortable standing still. He allows his sexual energy to explode through his heart, not just his genitals.

7. Face your fears.

For a man, being afraid of something is reason enough to do it. A man’s fear is a call to be tested. When a man hides from his fears, he knows he’s fallen out of alignment with his true self. He feels weak, depressed, and helpless. No matter how hard he tries to comfort himself and achieve a state of peace, he cannot overcome his inner feeling of dread. Only when facing his fears does a man experience peace.

A man makes a friend of risk. He doesn’t run and hide from the tests of fear. He turns toward them and engages them boldly.

A man succeeds or fails. A coward never makes the attempt. Specific outcomes are of less concern to a man than his direction.

A man feels like a man whenever he faces the right way, staring straight into his fears. He feels even more like a man when he advances in the direction of his fears, as if sailing on the winds of an inner scream.

8. Honor the masculinity of other men.

When a man sees a male friend undertaking a new venture that will clearly lead to failure, what does the man do? Does he warn his friend off such a path? No, the man encourages his friend to continue. The man knows it’s better for his friend to strike out confidently and learn from the failure experience. The man honors his friend’s decision to reach out and make the attempt. The man won’t deny his friend the benefits of a failure experience. The man may offer his friend guidance, but he knows his friend must fail repeatedly in order to develop self-trust and courage.

When you see a man at the gym struggling to lift a heavy weight, do you jump in and say, “Here… let me help you with that. Maybe the two of us can lift it together”? No, that would rob him of the growth experience — and probably make a quick enemy of him as well.

The male path is filled with obstacles. It typically includes more failures than successes. These obstacles help a man discover what’s truly important to him. Through repeated failures a man learns to persist in the pursuit of worthy goals and to abandon goals that are unworthy of him.

A man can handle being knocked down many times. For every physical setback he experiences, he enjoys a spiritual advancement, and that is enough for him.

9. Accept responsibility for your relationships.

A man chooses his friends, lovers, and associates consciously. He actively seeks out the company of people who inspire and challenge him, and he willingly sheds those who hold him back.

A man doesn’t blame others for his relationship problems. When a relationship is no longer compatible with his heart-centered path, he initiates the break-up and departs without blame or guilt.

A man holds himself accountable for the relationships he allows into his life. He holds others accountable for their behavior, but he holds himself accountable for his decision to tolerate such behavior.

A man teaches others how to treat him by the relationships he’s willing to allow into his life. A man refuses to fill his life with negative or destructive relationships; he knows that’s a form of self-abuse.

10. Die well.

A man’s great challenge is to develop the inner strength to express his true self. He must learn to share his love with the world without holding back. When a man is satisfied that he’s done that, he can make peace with death. But if he fails to do so, death becomes his enemy and haunts him all the days of his life.

A man cannot die well unless he lives well. A man lives well when he accepts his mortality and draws strength from knowing that his physical existence is temporary. When a man faces and accepts the inevitability of death… when he learns to see death as his ally instead of his enemy… he’s finally able to express his true self. So a man isn’t ready to live until he accepts that he’s already dead.

How to Be a Woman?

Now who will write “How to Be a Woman”?

I’ll tell you what. If you can write the “How to Be a Woman” article, go ahead and post it on your site, and email me a link to it. Next week I’ll make a post linking to all the quality submissions. Erin and I will select the article we consider the most insightful, and that link will be given special prominence at the top of the results post. So basically the prize is a permanent link and free traffic.

I’ll only link to new articles I believe offer genuine value to the reader (i.e. interesting, original ideas), so don’t bother submitting a sloppily written fluff piece or an old article just to get a link. I’d rather link to 5 thoughtful articles than 50 mediocre ones. If you can write reasonably well, you should be fine.

There are no requirements for how you format such an article (you don’t have to follow the ten-item format above). You can use any personal style you like, including writing a strictly humorous piece. The main consideration is how much value and insight you deliver.

Let’s give this a deadline of about 4 days, so all submissions must be received by 7pm PST (that’s GMT-8) on Tuesday, May 13. I’ll post the results as soon as Erin and I have had sufficient time to review the submissions. I’ve never done this before, so I have no idea how many submissions we’ll get, but I imagine it will be somewhere between 1 and 50.

You don’t have to be a woman to submit a “How to Be a Woman” article, but there’s a good chance it will help.

P.S. If you happen to be offended by all or part of this article, you should be able to find plenty more articles that offend you in the Archives.

What Really is Wealth?

2010-02-06T03:37:00.000-08:00

by Stan Sarkauskas,

Q. A group of our friends was sitting around the other night and we had a question. What is wealth? We thought we would ask you and find out your opinion.

A. What is wealth? That is a question most of us don’t ponder very often, but we should. I have my own definition for wealth that I have simplified over the years. Wealth is freedom! I believe that wealth frees us from worry, worry about how we will live and eat. Wealth frees us from the worry about how our children and grandchildren will live and be educated. Wealth frees us from the concerns of educating the next generation of our blood line.

So my simple definition of wealth is freedom!

It is the freedom to live the kind of life that is meaningful to each of us without compromise. I have found that the amount of money needed for each individual or couple varies depending on each person’s definition of wealth.

So it only makes sense that wealth is NOT defined by how much money you have. If you are still worried, then regardless of how much money you currently have, you are not free and if you are not free, you, by definition, are not wealthy.

But for most of us, wealth is not only about the type of lifestyle we will have, but about subsequent generations. If your investments continue to grow, even as you receive all the income you need to support your lifestyle, you will be able to leave your financial freedom to subsequent generations and provide freedom to others. And that ability is my definition of “wealth”, regardless of how many or few dollars are involved.

So how does one become wealthy? It all starts with a plan, then implementation of a plan and ultimately a great advisor that will keep you from making big mistakes, especially when it appears that the entire world is in a state of panic.

If you really want to achieve wealth, you need the professional services of a great adviser. No one would try to do their own brain surgery, even if they were a surgeon. No one should try to make financial decisions about their own lives without the assistance of a great financial adviser. Why? Because of the emotional factor and fear. A good adviser will see the truth, beyond the fear and around the emotions that surely are tied to such decisions.

So here are the 5 keys to wealth;

1. Be an owner and not a loaner.

2. Don’t panic: the key to wealth in equities is not to panic out of them.

3. Don’t try to time the market: you can’t and don’t need to.

4. You can’t predict but you can plan: month in and month out, patience and discipline should be your core values.

5. Don’t try to go it alone: hire an adviser whose primary function is to help you be better than you are.

The Entertainment Blog

How To Save Money

2010-01-28T01:14:00.000-08:00

Consider yourself first when it comes to saving money. Get yourself turned on to the idea that your financial future will be prosperous as a result of your efforts.

Set aside 10% of your income, just for you. By that I mean set them aside on a savings account with higher interest rate then your normal account.

What is important is that the money is out of reach. If you save them on an account where you have easy access, you will more easily spend them. Get them out of your life! Not in your pocket!

You can also be well off saving in funds. Pick safe funds when you pick, do not go for high risk investment funds or you might end up resenting your saving plan.

Be also careful with credit cards, as a consumer you are better of with no credit on your account. This does not mean that you should not use plastic cards. You can easy use a debit card that does not allow you to withdraw more than you have on your account.

Let the planning of saving and budgeting be fun and be creative with it. Do not look at it as something you have to do, then it becomes very heavy and you might end up felling poor since you have to deprive yourself from all ‘The good things in life’.

Now, watch out for this one. The ‘I deserve it’ mentality lets you spend money like crazy without thinking of the consequences.

You might think that you have done well for a while, so now its time to spend money again. If you follow that impulse you will have great difficulties in saving anything. You need to be consistent with your financial planning and not go in fits and starts about it.

Remember this: all the good things in life are not necessarily expensive. If you plan ahead and prepare yourself a nice lunch box instead of going to the restaurant you can actually save a lot of money.

Stopping yourself from buying things on impulse also gives you a lot of power and personal financial freedom, because you have money left over for the things that is really needed. Plan your shopping ahead and stick to the list.

Next time you come home from shopping try and recall what you actually went out to get. Most probably you will see that you have ended up buying something that you did not plan. Plug these leaks and you will prosper!

Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.

Benjamin Franklin

Too Many Ideas Are Bad For Business

2009-06-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." - Carl Sagan

The Risks of "Idea Addiction"

By John Forde
Are you addicted to ideas?I am. I admit it. I love the creative process. No, it's not just that I love it. It's that I can't escape it. Seriously.I carry an idea pad in my coat pocket in winter. In summer, no napkin within 20 feet is safe. I steal Post-its. At home, I fill one notebook after another.I have files on my computer more than 700 pages long, filled with capsules of ideas. For novels. For New Yorker cartoons. For screenplays. For non-fiction books and business books.Even the folder that keeps my "future Copywriter's Roundtable" ideas, right now, holds 2,238 items. Many that I've never had a chance to glance at a second time.In brainstorming meetings, I'm the guy you can't shut up. (Though now I know to ask more questions than to force answers on people.)Early in my career, I wrote two- to three-page memos filled with nothing but one bulleted idea after another. "Here's a sales promotion we could do..." or "This is a possible new product..." and "We should set up this protocol to speed up the design process..."Ad infinitum.I don't know if I impressed anybody else doing that, but I certainly must have impressed myself. Because I kept on doing it. Until I had a revelation: Ideas without execution aren't worth much of anything at all.And that's the point I was just reminded of recently, after stumbling across the website for the Behance Group, a company that develops "organization tools" for creative types in every industry."Ideas," one of their senior execs had just explained to a new intern, "are our greatest cost. If anything, we have too MANY ideas."Crushing news for the intern, who was bummed by not seeing many of her ideas light the rest of the company on fire. But just too true. Get engaged in anything, and the ideas will flow. What really tests your merits, though, is the ability to isolate the best of those ideas and actually make them happen.Behance has a process for moving ideas from ether to reality. They call it the "action method."It's pretty simple. First, at the end of every creative meeting, you need to decide which ideas are "action-worthy" and which are solid "backburner" projects. Fill up the backburner shelf, make a list, and save it somewhere. Now you're ready to focus.Second, you take the action-worthy ideas and - as a group - clarify and assign every single, relevant "action step" you can think of. Schedules, follow-up meetings, research, design. It all goes here. Culpability is the key. Get names and deadlines on paper.Third and last, you don't leave the room without creating or identifying your "reference materials." That is, you make a list, as a group, of what you'll need to make a project happen. Then you identify where it will come from. Be thorough when you make this list. Don't let a worthy project get derailed because you don't have the materials you need to make it happen.Do these three things, and you'll be a lot more successful than any pure, otherwise-inert idea-generator could ever be.

How To Live In Perfect Freedom

2009-05-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader,

Not long ago, I was playing golf with a friend who is an attorney. Between shots he began telling me how much he detested his job.

"Why?" I asked.

"You have to understand my business," he said with a huff. "My day basically consists of writing nasty letters on behalf of my clients. Then we get nasty letters back. This goes on for a while until my clients realize how many billable hours they've run up. Then they start getting nasty with me. The whole business," he said with a shake of his head, "is kind of nasty."

"Why don't you do something else?" I asked.

From the look on his face, you would have thought I suggested he stop breathing.

"Do something else?" he said. "You don't understand. I live in a big house. I have two big cars. My wife and I like to take big trips. She runs up big bills. What am I gonna do?"

"I don't know," I said. "But it sounds like a big mistake to me."

The sad part is my buddy is a bright, talented guy. He's giving up a lot. With his experience and law degree, there are plenty of other things he could do.

But he doesn't believe that's realistic. Why? Because he can't tolerate even the thought of a temporary loss of status and income. And, ordinarily, that's exactly what it takes.

As the psychologist Laurence G. Boldt once wrote, "The life spent doing what you love is a different life indeed from putting your life out for hire to the highest bidder. The only way you can say it makes no difference is to say life makes no difference."

These words hit me between the eyes when I first read them seven years ago. At the time, I had spent 16 years working on Wall Street. It paid well, but I had grown increasingly bored with what I was doing.

I loved analyzing investment opportunities. But I'd grown tired of having the same repetitive conversations with my clients about their accounts every day. So I decided to write about the financial markets, instead.

My coworkers thought I had lost my mind. "Nobody gets to the point where he has all these clients, all these accounts, all these assets - and all these fees coming in - and then just walks away," one colleague told me, incredulous. "If you leave, you're going to regret it."

But I haven't. Not for a minute. If anything, I wish I'd done it sooner. The writer Joseph Campbell was right:

"If you follow your bliss," he wrote, "you put yourself on a kind of track, which has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living… I think the person who takes a job in order to live – that is to say, just for the money – has turned himself into a slave."

That may sound harsh to some. We all have commitments and responsibilities, after all. But that doesn't mean change isn't possible. It hurts to spend your days doing something that is not really suited to your talents, especially when you know you could be doing far more than you are.

In a recent MONEY survey, 43% of boomers said the idea of a new job was appealing. "Now's the time to ask yourself," says financial planner Sheryl Garrett of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, "do you want to keep doing what you're doing for the rest of your life?"

Especially when work you enjoy is invigorating. It gives your life meaning and structure. You feel like you're expressing yourself, making an impact.

As the British historian and philosopher R.G. Collingwood said, "Perfect freedom is reserved for the man who lives by his own work and in that work does what he wants to do."

Unfortunately, too many folks approach the job market thinking of nothing more than money, security, and benefits. I'm not saying these things aren't important. None of us would survive long without them.

But for a true sense of fulfillment, there has to be more than just money and security. As George Bernard Shaw said:

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

Some may call Shaw an idealist, a dreamer. Perhaps. On the other hand, this is not a practice round. This is the only life we get. You can work a job. You can pursue a career. Or you can choose a livelihood.

Ultimately, the choice is yours.

The Law Of Investing Nolonger Works

2009-04-24T11:03:00.001-07:00

Diversifying your investments is like boarding up your windows against an approaching hurricane. It gives you some measure of protection, but isn't going to prevent the roof from falling in.

Diversification is one of the fundamental and unquestioned rules of investing. It's supposed to protect you from huge losses. But what if it doesn't? You could be facing potential disaster. Could conventional wisdom be so wrong? And if it is, what can you do about it?

The idea behind diversification is intuitively compelling. If you spread your investments around, chances are not all of them will get hit at the same time or with the same severity.

But it's not a bulletproof vest. You don't necessarily get off injury-free. And the flip side is that when the markets are going strong, your gains are somewhat curbed. But giving up some upside is well worth the price of not losing your shirt in a free-falling market.

Or so the theory goes. The only problem is, it doesn't work anymore. Or at least you can't count on it working.

Just look at the sharp January 22 correction and you'll see what I mean. When the U.S. market slipped the week before that, so did markets in Europe, Asia, the sub-continent, and Latin America. And the slide continued the following Monday, when the U.S. markets were off because of the Martin Luther King holiday. For a few days, even gold and silver fell. Oil didn't escape. Nor did blue chips, tech, and small caps. In other words, practically everything went down.

Then, after the Fed cut the benchmark interest rate 75 basis points to 3.5 percent, everything went back up. The China market ticked up. Europe and Asia made up some lost ground, and the U.S. market rebounded. Oil stayed down, but gold and silver, copper, nickel, corn and wheat, and cocoa all rose.

Yes, practically everything went back up.

The China market has since wandered down a bit, but you get the idea. If everything pretty much goes down and up together, what's the use of diversifying? Good question.

It seems that many of the correlations (corresponding and inverse) we've relied on for so long are deserting us. If you're sensing that the markets are getting more and more unpredictable, that's probably a big part of the reason.

Oil used to move in step with the market. (Because a thriving economy stimulates oil demand and allows the market to grow.) But oil prices declined as the Dow was reaching new highs over the second half of 2006, and went up last year as the economy showed signs of slowing down.

And gold is supposed to strengthen as the market goes (or threatens to go) into decline and vice versa. But the long-running bull beginning in 2002 saw gold go up. And, for a few days anyway, gold was unable to escape the recent downturn.

Why the heck are some of our most cherished notions of market behavior crossing us? Because the market has transmuted in some very fundamental ways. Four historic shifts have altered how the market behaves. As a smart investor, you need to know what they are.

1. The global reach of multinationals. Recent studies have shown that multinationals from different countries are becoming more and more correlated. It makes sense, doesn't it? They're in the same major markets, and the mix of minor markets they sell to in the developing world doesn't have much of an impact on their stock prices.

2. The world is drowning in money. Global liquidity knows no national boundaries in either its origins or destinations. It comes from China's enormous one-trillion-plus dollar reserves, the carry trade (from Japan, Switzerland, and elsewhere), petro-dollar countries, and cheap credit from both east and west. And it ends up wherever there's a quick (as opposed to safe) buck to be made.

Now I'm not saying that China invests the same way as Saudi Arabia. But all that money looking for a place to land has caused asset inflation in many markets and submarkets around the world. As these markets rise, investment flows into them at a sometimes furious pace because much of the money is leveraged. And at the first sign of the bubble bursting, the hot money leaves just as quickly.

3. Risk modeling reinforces herd behavior. Technology has made such synchronous investment behavior possible. As a common tool of institutional investors worldwide, computer trading based on risk models directs the flow of a great deal of money.

The problem is, the trend is toward more aggressive (and riskier) models, since they get the better returns... at least in the short term. It's not so bad that funds are getting into rising markets at the blink of an eye. What worries me is that they're getting so adept at fleeing markets first and asking questions later.

It's a worldwide meltdown waiting to happen, feeding on its own out-of-control momentum rather than reason (even besotted reason). That makes me very nervous.

4. U.S. and China rule. In the political and military realms, the U.S. dominates. But as far as investment goes, it's a bipolar world. Despite its huge economy and robust consumerism, the U.S. has to share the stage with China - with its huge appetite for energy, technology, and raw materials.

These two markets exert so much influence over individual companies as well as major country markets worldwide, it begs the question: Can we avoid a bear market if either of these two economies seriously stumbles?

I don't believe so. Let's imagine for a second that the U.S. can't control inflation at the same time as the economy encounters serious headwinds. Where can we invest? How about Australia? Their economy is commodity-driven and they don't rely that much on the U.S. to buy their exports. But they do feed China a big chunk of raw materials.

Safe bet, yes? Not exactly. China fills the shelves of American stores from Wal-Mart to Lowe's. If these stores begin milking their existing inventories and stop buying from China, China's economy would downshift from fifth gear to second virtually overnight. And Australia would have just lost its main customer.

The period culminating in the sharp January 22 downturn could have been the "perfect storm," a scenario in which markets everywhere crashed when the economies of China and the U.S. encountered big problems at the same time. It turned out to be a false alarm, but only because the Fed cut interest rates that day.

The real day of reckoning still lies ahead of us. But we did get a hint of what could happen to the markets... and to your portfolio.

China and the U.S. are supposedly dealing with opposite problems: China's economy is growing too fast, and the U.S. economy is growing too slowly. I don't buy that view. When you look a little deeper, you see that both are suffering from too much liquidity and asset inflation.

So what can you do about all this? A few things.

Convert your holdings to cash.

You could take your money out of your IRA or 401(k) and put it into your savings account or a CD, but why subject yourself to the stiff tax penalties? Instead, look for money-market options or mutual funds that invest in short-term (1-2 year) Treasuries. If you're having trouble finding them, call up your IRA or 401(k) administrator and ask, "Do you have money-market accounts?" "Do you have 1-2 year Treasury investments?" Any decent 401(k) plan should give you a choice of several such cash offerings.

Invest in funds that invest in dividend-paying companies.

Companies that pay dividends are the only ones that can withstand a sudden or serious market downfall and still fork over the cash. Since 1965, the cash payout of the S&P 500 has never fallen significantly. And in the brutal crash of 2001-2, dividends dropped just six percent (compared to the 50 percent downturn in profits).

Don't confuse "income" or "dividend" funds with funds that invest in dividend-paying companies. Income and dividends can come from bonds and other debt instruments too. Most of the funds I'm talking about come with even more specific mandates - like investing in blue-chip dividend-paying companies.

Most likely, your 401(k) or IRA will give you a choice of dividend company funds to choose from. In general, they're all safe. It's a matter of personal preference. But keep in mind that overseas dividend-paying companies could be a little more volatile than domestic ones.

Go with what you know.

Even if what you know is one thing (which, of course, is the opposite of diversification). The business or sector you choose to specialize in may not be immune to a bad fall. But you'll have such a good feel for it that you should be able to see any downturn a mile away and get out in plenty of time.

In such circumstances, there's no shame in holding your investments in cash until the nastiness blows over. That's pretty much how legendary billionaire Warren Buffett invests, and it's made him more than $52 billion.

It's better than employing a diversification strategy that's showing signs of becoming less and less reliable.

How to Get Motivated to Work Out

2009-04-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

How to Get Motivated to Work Out

By Craig Ballantyne

Sometimes you just don't feel like doing your workout. It even happens to me, and I'm a pro! But I know that I feel like a million bucks after my workout. And I know I can't let myself get "soft" and start skipping sessions.

I have to lead by example. But what about you?

If you are set on achieving your fitness goals, you've got to grit your teeth and do the job. So here are some suggestions to inspire you.

1. Reward yourself when you finish a workout. Treat yourself to a magazine, a TV show, some extra time with your family, some new songs for your iPod, or even a little extra time for yourself.

2. Punish yourself when you miss one. Skip the workout, put $20 into a jar to spend on home repairs. (Make sure your spouse controls the jar.)

3. Review your goals every day and every night. Keeping your goals fresh in your mind will help you stay on track.

4. Realize that the hardest part of the workout is often getting your butt to the gym. Once you get five minutes into it, you will be over the hump. So tell yourself, "I'll just go in and do one set of the first two exercises. Then I can leave." Next thing you know, you'll have done the entire workout.

5. Visualize yourself performing a great workout and finishing strong. Get yourself mentally prepared, and you will have better workouts every time.

6. Crank the tunes. Seriously. Nothing motivates like music.

Keys That Unlock Your Doors To Success

2009-04-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

By Bob Cox

It is easy to get caught up in the supposed urgency of a situation. You start thinking, "I must get this done NOW or else." But there are few times when you must do a task NOW. More often than not, it is a matter of making a good decision about when to do it.

Let's say you discover that you have put about 5,000 miles on your car since your last oil change. You need to schedule an oil change. But you don't need to do so this minute. The car won't stop running right away. You have some time.

You know that it is a good idea to change your oil to keep your vehicle running as efficiently as possible. But the oil change is not so urgent that you must drop everything and run off to your neighborhood service station.

Keeping your car's engine running properly is your motivation to change the oil regularly. By working this task into your schedule, your car will run smoothly, the engine will last longer, you won't have to buy a new car for several years. If you didn't have that motivation, you might push that non-urgent task to the bottom of your to-do list. You might even forget about it. It becomes non-urgent and non-important.

Your long-term goals are "non-urgent," just like that oil change. But, like that oil change, they are important. You just need to find a way to motivate yourself to add those goal-setting tasks to your schedule and take action to complete them.

Here are five Motivation Keys you can use to activate your "completion mentality" and unlock the door to success:

KEY #1: KNOW WHY YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL

Ask yourself about the "whys" behind your goals. Perhaps you are a runner and your goal is to win the next Boston Marathon. Why do you want to accomplish this goal? Is it the health benefits of getting into shape? Is it the possibility of meeting new people? Or do you simply want to be able to say you participated? No matter what your motivation, you still have to endure months of disciplined, rigorous training.

But picking the right motivation is crucial to whether you actually follow through. If your motivation is to get into shape, for instance, you might find it difficult to push past the point of "being in shape." After all, you'll be fit as a fiddle long before you are actually ready to compete. If you hit a snag - maybe a week of being sick with a cold - it will be easy to fall behind on that goal. "I'm already fit," you might think. "Why push myself to train for a marathon when I'm already in shape?"

KEY #2: HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS

A personal sense of accomplishment is very motivating in and of itself.

About two years ago, I set out to get a private pilot's license. Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of taking off into a clear blue sky. Once I turned that dream into a goal, I achieved it in eight months.

I do not come from an aeronautical or engineering background, so learning this new skill was incredibly challenging for me. However, I was highly motivated by my own personal expectations. And once I became a licensed private pilot, I was even more motivated to continue the process. (In flying we say, "Once you have your private pilot's license, you now have a license to LEARN flying.")

Challenges make us define our commitments and implement a "do what it takes" attitude. Stretching yourself expands your horizons.

I obtained my private pilot's license after about 100 hours. I now have over 450 hours under my belt that include too many joyful memories to share in this message. Suffice it to say that none of those memories would have been possible had I not started with lessons... had I not kept going and going... and going. The simple desire to accomplish this lifelong goal was huge motivation for me, and it powered me forward.

Don't underestimate the power of expectations. You have your own expectations of what you can accomplish. Plus, you have the combined expectations of your teachers, parents, friends, clients, employers, and colleagues. Research has shown that most people live up to these expectations. A sales manager who sets a higher standard than her counterpart will likely see greater production from her sales team than if she sets a lower standard. In other words, our motivation to meet the expectations of others - and those we have for ourselves - propels us to succeed.

KEY #3: KEEP UP A "CAN DO" ATTITUDE

Whatever you aspire to do, you must believe that you can do it. In reality, the bigger your goal, the bigger the obstacles you will face along the way. Having faith in yourself and your abilities is the key to success.

When you have a defeatist "I can't do this" attitude, your negative expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sure, you may not be able to accomplish your goal right this second. But remind yourself that every goal is a journey, with many steps along the way.

Harris Rosen, one of the inspirations for my program, The Billionaire Way, started his career as a front desk clerk after graduating from a prestigious hospitality school. If he had not set about acquiring additional skills (learning everything about running a hotel, for example), he would not have become the owner of Rosen Hotels and Resorts, the largest privately held hotel chain in the southeastern United States.

I am sure Harris had mornings when he woke up with doubts. Had he succumbed to those negative thoughts, he never could have achieved his goal.

Fear and negativity limit your imagination and ability to "look outside the box." Inspire and motivate yourself by maintaining a "can do" attitude.

KEY #4: TAKE A LOOK AT THE LARGER PICTURE

Winning a sales contest or receiving a bonus is an incentive to achieve... but only in the short term. The key to sustaining your progress over the long haul is to have a larger picture of what you want to accomplish.

Let's say your 2008 health goal is to lose 10 pounds. But that's only a short-term, one-year goal. Your "larger picture" goal may be to keep healthy so you can live longer, which will allow you to spend more time with your spouse, children, and grandchildren. To travel the world like you always wanted to... to live out your retirement without heart problems or diabetes.

Focusing on the "larger picture" will get you over the inevitable low points you'll encounter on your path to success.

KEY #5: TAKE ACTION

Only YOU can decide to be motivated. Nobody else has that power. Accomplishing your goals begins with your decision to take action. Yes, fear and lack of confidence can creep into your mindset. And, yes, those things can extinguish your motivation. Toss them out. Choose to be positive. Then take action. You'll find that taking even a single small step toward accomplishing a goal will motivate you to take the next step.

You may be scared, but push on ahead into that joint venture or new job and see where it takes you. What's the worst that can happen?

6 Motivating Questions to Ask Yourself

As you work toward your goals, ask yourself:

Am I willing to challenge myself to reach this goal?

Can I leverage my "ordinary" skills into extraordinary results?

Do I know the "bigger picture" of what I want to achieve with this goal?

Am I clear on why I want to accomplish this goal?

Will I choose a "can do" attitude while pursuing this goal?

Can I dig a little deeper to make this goal happen?

Think about it!

Simon Matovu

www.simon256.co.nr

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The Most Stupid Vice

2008-04-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

Economists Sara Solnick and David Hemenway recently conducted a survey where they asked participants if they would rather earn $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000, or earn $100,000 a year while other people get $250,000?

Sit down for this one. The majority of people selected the first option. They would rather make twice as much as others even if that meant earning half as much as they could have.

This is completely nuts, of course. Yet other findings in the study confirmed the envious nature of contemporary culture. People said, for instance, they would rather be average-looking in a community where no one is considered attractive than merely good-looking in the company of stunners.

When it came to education, parents said they would rather have an average child in a crowd of dunces than a smart child in a class full of brilliant students.

What is going on here? In his new book " The Mind of the Market," Scientific American columnist Michael Shermer writes that, "Our sense of happiness tends to be based on positional and relative rankings compared to what others have."

There's one problem, however. It doesn't work.

As the philosopher Bertrand Russell pointed out, "Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon, but Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed."

Of all the dissatisfactions we face, surely none is more menial than envy. It denies us contentment, is a waste of time, and is an insult to ourselves. Worst of all, it's completely self-imposed.

"Envy is the most stupid of vices," wrote the novelist Honore de Balzac, "for there is no single advantage to be gained from it."

Face it. We all know people who are smarter, fitter, richer, funnier, more talented or better looking. But so what?

Thinking this way only keeps you from appreciating your own uniqueness and self worth, things that, not incidentally, do lead to greater happiness. Especially when combined with a strong sense of purpose.

As Shermer writes, "Feeling ennobled is a pleasurable emotion that arises out of this deepest sense of purpose. Although there are countless activities people engage in to satisfy this deep-seated need, the research shows that there are four means by which we can bootstrap ourselves toward happiness through purposeful action." These include:

1. Deep love and family commitment.

2. Meaningful work and career.

3. Social and political involvement.

4. Transcendency and spirituality.

Note that psychologists have yet to discover the route to happiness by comparing ourselves to others. (Although it never hurts to measure yourself against your own ideals.)

Concentrating on your own fortunes - and improving those of others - is guaranteed to generate more satisfaction than sizing up the Joneses. Besides, if you knew everything the other guy is dealing with, you might prefer your own circumstances anyway. (Remember Richard Cory?)

In other words, don't begrudge the other guy his blessings. Count your own, instead. As Mark Twain said, "Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead."

The Problem With Internet Entreprenuers

2008-03-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

I recently got an e-mail from a man I'll call Jim, a longtime ETR reader. His question is probably the most common question I get. If you are interested in breaking into the Internet, pay attention. What I have to say to Jim might give you the information you need to get started.

Jim writes:

"I have been struggling with the idea of starting my own Internet-based business. The question is, how and with what product or service?

"I have been a loyal fan of ETR for many years now, and you guys throw so many sound ideas and businesses at me it gets a little confusing. I would like to start small with some proven methods and techniques and build from there. I do not have countless thousands of dollars to experiment with, nor do I have the luxury of being able to sit in front of my computer day in and day out. I need your help to get me started in the right direction with a system that will hopefully start generating some return fairly quickly.

"I believe in and trust your advice more so than anyone out there when it comes to building an Internet-based business - or any other type of business, for that matter. Please help me make this the year I finally took the plunge and started achieving success!"

Everybody knows what a great opportunity the Internet offers. It is the only medium where someone without a lot of money can start a multimillion-dollar company. There are lots of good programs available that teach the ins and outs of Internet marketing. But choosing the right product or service to market... there's the rub!

I'm going to give Jim some general advice. And then MaryEllen Tribby (ETR's publisher and CEO) and Patrick Coffey (ETR's Director of Internet Marketing) will jump in with some specific suggestions.

Which product to choose is a big question. Not the kind that can be answered simply and quickly. It depends so much on you - who you are, who you want to be, what you know, what you don't know, etc.

That said, a few general suggestions apply.

First, and most important, it is always best to start a business in or around an industry/area that you understand. So many of the most expensive mistakes first-time entrepreneurs make are "outsider" mistakes - errors that someone with experience in the field would not have made.

Lots of first-time health publishers, for example, spend too much time explaining the disease or health problem they hope to cure. They do so both in the publications they create and the promotions they use to sell those publications. What these novices don't understand is that the most active health buyers don't need to know more about their problems. They can find out all they want to know on the Internet - for free. What they need are solutions.

So the first thing you must do is make a list of all the things you know about. Start with the business you are in (or employed by). But don't stop there. Include all your hobbies and interests too. You don't have to have any professional experience to know enough about a subject to start a business based on it.

I have a friend who started a successful business providing advice about astrology. She'd never taken a course in it or received certification. But she'd read about it for 30 years, and her knowledge was deep and wide. Because of that, she began her enterprise with a good idea of what kind of astrology she would practice and what kind of products and pricing would work.

Another friend started a successful Internet business selling martial arts information. He was a world-class black belt who had been competing for 20 years. He knew the industry inside and out. So he had some good ideas about new and exciting instructional videos he could produce that really caught fire.

This brings us to my second-most-important suggestion: If you are not an expert at direct marketing, you should become one before you spend a nickel on your new business.

I cannot overstate the importance of understanding the techniques of direct-response marketing. Direct marketing is the primary method for generating profits on the Internet. Other forms of advertising - from public relations to event marketing to social media and branding - are usually not nearly as effective.

Luckily, there are plenty of good information products and educational programs available that teach direct marketing for the Internet. On top of the list, I'd put ETR's own Internet Money Club, The Magic Button, and Instant Internet Income. But I'd also recommend Bob Bly's Internet Marketing Retirement Plan.

My third and final suggestion is this: In addition to focusing on an industry you are already familiar with and becoming an expert at direct marketing, you must learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Starting a business can be a daunting task for the beginner. Most of those who try fail. And with good reason: They make some very basic mistakes.

The biggest mistake first-time entrepreneurs make is spending too much of their time and money on all sorts of secondary business concerns (getting business cards, setting up a website, finding a business location). But when you're starting any new business, your priority has to be on making sales. In fact, at this stage of the game, at least 80 percent of your time should be devoted to selling.

To bring yourself up to speed, I recommend that you read Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat. The book is based on my own experiences with building small businesses. It's all about how to get your business off the ground and continue to grow it.

Okay. Those are my general suggestions. Now, here's some specific advice from MaryEllen and Patrick:

To develop your marketing materials, hire a copywriter who has in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of your niche. They should be on the cutting-edge of their specialty and always learning, whether it's the financial markets or alternative health. "I never hire a copywriter who says they can write about anything," says MaryEllen.

Do some quick research, then TEST your idea. Says Patrick, "One of the biggest problems I see is that people will take too much time analyzing what market to get into. I'll talk to people who have been studying one of our programs for months and they'll say, 'I'm still in the market research stage.' In my opinion, market research for a new online business should take no more than a week."

A week is plenty of time to decide what to sell. In fact, it's a generous amount of time. At ETR's annual 5 Days In July Internet Marketing Conference, attendees have to make this decision in a day.

To figure out what market to enter, you need to look for two things:

1. Are people looking for this information?

2. Are people buying this information?

"And," says Patrick, "you can get the answers to these questions very quickly with a few key strokes.

"One of the best ways to find out who is looking for what is with a free tool like WordTracker. And to determine if people are buying, simply enter a few search phrases for your product in Google. Then check the Web pages of the advertisers that come up. The fact that they're paying for advertising and selling stuff is a good indicator that the market they're selling to is buying.

"Sign up for e-mail lists of potential competitors, study their marketing materials, and even purchase some of their products. After that, you immediately begin working on your own offer so you can start testing. That's what students of our Internet marketing programs who become most successful do."

Will all the ideas you'll come up with work? No. But the only way you'll find out is by trying to sell to the market. If an idea does not work, simply try to re-work the offer or explore a new idea.

Remember that starting an Internet business - just like beginning any worthwhile venture - will take work. In his e-mail, Jim talked about wanting to generate some return "fairly quickly," despite the fact that he does not "have the luxury of being able to sit in front of [his] computer day in and day out." You need to have realistic expectations when you begin a new business. And one thing you must be prepared for is that it takes time and energy.

One last piece of advice from Charlie Byrne, ETR's Editorial and Creative Director: Get started. Now. By no means is this all you need to know about starting an Internet business. But the best way to get it going is to begin. Ready, Fire, Aim. You can take time to adjust your product or marketing later. What's most important is taking that initial leap.

The Best Way To Enter A New Market

2008-03-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

When I was in college, I was desperate to find a way to make some money. And I wasn't crazy about the idea of working at the usual part-time, minimum-wage jobs available to students. So I came up with a business plan and put it into action. One hot summer day found me trudging from door to door, passing out flyers and praying that I would get some customers from the effort.

By the time I returned home, I'd received my first inquiries. And those quickly resulted in my first customers. Within a week, I had a business that was earning more money than I needed. Within a year, that business earned over $100,000 in profits. Not bad for a college kid living at home with his mom!

That first successful start-up was a pool service. Since then, I've launched more than a dozen very profitable small businesses. When I analyze what made those businesses successful, I can pinpoint several reasons. But my pool service was successful because of one business strategy: price.

I got people's attention by offering a monthly rate that was 20 percent lower than the competition. On top of that, I had an introductory "special."

Michael Masterson says that underpricing the competition may be "the most important secret a businessman can know, for it is the most powerful and most reliable way to make a small business grow." It's also one of the best ways to enter a market and grab a share of the customer base.

When it comes to consumer merchandising, a small business can't compete with giants like Wal-Mart. But a new service business can usually offer a better price than larger established companies providing the same service. That's primarily because a small start-up can keep overhead low and sometimes accept a smaller profit margin. So if you can operate your small service business out of your back bedroom, without hiring a lot of employees or needing a lot of fancy equipment, you can almost certainly afford to underprice the competition.

But just because you enter the market with the lowest price in town doesn't mean you stay there forever. For example, one of my entrepreneurial ventures later in my career was a ballroom dance instruction business. When I entered the market, I was a one-man operation, and I offered lessons at $29 when most studios charged $60. Sure, I made less money per lesson, but it was still pretty good money for me at the time. And once I had a nice little client base, I gradually inched up to the going market rate. That allowed me to hire other instructors to teach the lessons... and freed up my time to develop additional sources of income.

I already had considerable experience as a ballroom dancer - and teacher - before I decided to go into business for myself. But with the pool service business, the only "skill" I needed was the willingness to do the work. So let's go back to that example so I can show you how well the underpricing strategy works.

Here in South Florida, where I live, the average monthly rate for pool service is about $65. In this particular industry, an account is generally worth six times the monthly gross. So an average pool account would be worth $390.

But let's say you decided to get into the business by undercutting the competition by $15 a month. That means your average account would be worth $300. That's a difference of just $90. Would you be willing to give up $90 a month to get a loyal, long-term customer?

And you'd only have to give up that $90 for the first six months. I can tell you from experience that if you do a good job of servicing your pool customers for six months and then raise your price by $15, at least 95 percent won't drop you. In fact, most of them will feel that they got a bargain, because they enjoyed a very low price for a reasonable period of time. It's not like you low-balled them and then jacked up the price right away.

And, let's not forget that you were still making money on all those initial $50 accounts... just not as much.

Here's how to use this strategy to start a small service business:

Identify a service business where you see a chance to compete on price.

Some of the easiest service businesses to get into are house cleaning, lawn maintenance, exterminating, and car washing. Services like these are often offered by big operations that have been in business a long time. But they tend to have big overheads, and aren't hungry for new business, so their prices are somewhat inflated. Crunch the numbers and see if you can offer the same level of service at a better price.

Create a marketing campaign that emphasizes the price savings.

Whatever advertising medium you choose, make sure the discounted price is mentioned prominently. For the pool service business, I used flyers and direct-mail pieces. But for the ballroom dance business, I started with classified ads in newspapers and the local Yellow Pages.

A good way to emphasize the savings is to show how it adds up over time. For instance, in the pool business, I didn't just tell prospective customers that they'd be saving $15 a month, I pointed out that they'd be saving $90 over six months.

One thing to keep in mind: Make sure your customers know they won't be getting a lower standard of service from you. Explain that you can provide high-quality service with a lower price because, for example, you're doing the work yourself and have practically no overhead.

Be ready to begin operations immediately.

When you launch a marketing campaign that offers a greatly discounted price, you can expect to get customers ready to do business with you in as little as a few hours. So make sure you're prepared. Providing the promised service efficiently (and well) will assure your profitability.

The Power Of Visualisation

2008-03-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

Years ago, very early in my career, I attended a two-day training session on the power of visualization and goal setting. I believe it changed my life.

I was working for a financial division of General Electric in New York City. GE was very big on continuing education for their employees at every level of the organization.

Most everyone in the training session that day, including me, was in their early twenties and had administrative positions. A few of my co-workers were skeptical about the session. They thought it was hokey and would have no real, tangible benefit for them. They looked at it as two easy days out of the office.

The session started with a series of mental exercises. Then the facilitator asked us to close our eyes and see ourselves in 10-15 years.

We went around the room, listening to each person's visualization, one by one. Most of the participants weren't very enthusiastic. They had little to say and just a vague idea of where they saw themselves in the future.

Finally, it was my turn. I announced to the room that I saw myself in a professional office environment, wearing a red "power" suit. I was confident and respected. I seemed busy, but in control. I was knowledgeable and successful. I described a complete scenario, right down to the wood my desk was made of (mahogany).

Now I wasn't sure what my actual job was in that scenario. (At the time, I was an administrative assistant in the company's marketing department and was going to college, majoring in pre-law.) Yet, I could see myself as an accomplished, corporate professional.

Until then, I'd never envisioned with such clarity what I wanted to do with my life. However, after seeing in my mind's eye where I wanted to be, I was inspired to put in the time and education needed to get there.

As with any journey, having a map helps you get to your destination quicker than if you try to go it alone. And that's what visualization is: a mental blueprint or personal roadmap for success. The image I had of myself and my future made it easier for me to take the actions I had to take.

In two years, I advanced from an administrative to a directorial position. And because I was so eager to achieve my "vision," I continued to work full-time while going to school full-time to complete my Bachelor's degree. The fire within me continued to burn, and I went on to graduate school, completing my Master's degree several years ago.

So for those who say the power of visualization is baloney, I say "It works." And I'm not the only one.

Bob Cox, the "voice" of ETR's Total Success Achievement program, is a big believer in the power of visualization. "It helps you reconnect to the 'why' behind your goals," he says. "Why do you want additional income? If the reason is to buy a new car, visualize what your new car looks like and what features it has. If you want to take your family on vacation, visualize in detail where you're going and what you're doing. Visualizing in detail will keep your goals real and motivate you to take action."

Robert Ringer has been an advocate of visualization for many years. He uses "active visualization" to handle obstacles in the boardroom and on the baseball field. Michael Masterson has used visualization to help reduce the anxiety of facing a challenge. And Brian Tracy recommends using visualization to transform bad habits into good ones.

You can apply the technique of visualization to attract success, money, love, health, power, and more.

What do you want? Where do you want to be in five or 10 or 15 years? Get a mental snapshot of the "big picture," then let your mind fill in the specifics. You may even find a picture in a magazine - a beautiful house, a sports car, or a person with a super-fit body - that will be your motivation for success.

Once you have a concrete vision in your head, you'll be much more excited about doing what's necessary to turn it into reality.

See what the power of visualization can do for you... and put yourself in control of your own destiny. You won't be disappointed.

[Ed Note: Wendy Montes de Oca is ETR's Vice President of Marketing & Business Development. People from all over the country have already experienced the power of managing their destinies through motivation, determination, and goal setting. Discover the secrets that have made them successful. Click here now to learn more.]

* Highly Recommended *

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Rick Pendergraft makes as little as $300 an hour... more often it's up to $5,200. He will teach you his step-by-step system on how you can do the same this April at Early to Rise's Profits in Paradise conference in Orlando.

Best part: You need little money to get started. And no experience necessary, please!

Just make sure you are in Orlando along with the rest of us to attend Rick's session. For more details, click here.

Getting Tough and Taking Names

By Michael Masterson

Matt Furey is changing his sign-off line from "Kick butt and take names" to "Get tough and take names." And I understand why he's doing it. It's important to be tough - mentally tough. And Matt's a master at it.

There is no question. To be successful at anything, you have to be prepared to endure criticism - some unjustified and some justified. (Does it surprise you to know that the justified criticism hurts more?) The more successful you are, the greater the criticism you will endure.

But if you last long enough, you become immune to criticism. Your emotional skin toughens. This takes a long time.

When someone tells you they don't care what other people say, it usually means they do. Too much. But if you push forward and don't allow your detractors to distract you, you will eventually get to a height they can't reach.

I'm not there yet, but I can see it just above the next ledge. At those aerie heights, legends live. Like Galileo, Einstein, Ezra Pound, and George Carlin. On the very-soon waiting list are Howard Stern and Jerry Springer.

Ascending that cliff takes many skills. One of them is honesty - admitting your mistakes and shortcomings. Another is openness - admitting them publicly. Another is shrewdness - admitting them before anyone else does. And, finally, there is forgiveness - forgiving your critics and forgiving yourself.

Which is to say that getting tough is sometimes a matter of getting tender.

How To Make Your First Product Launch A Resounding Success

2008-03-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Every time you launch a new product online, you have the chance to drastically increase your profits. As I explained last week, the best way to generate momentum, interest, and monster cash flow is to turn the launch into an event. Internet users have millions of messages vying for their attention all day long. And by creating an exciting event, you'll break through the clutter and get tons of eyeballs looking in your direction.

I've already given you some ideas on how to do that. I showed you how to use a "pre-launch" to get people salivating for the actual launch. And I talked about how to use different media to grab the attention of as many potential customers as possible.

Now, here are five more strategies to make your first Product Launch a huge success.

1. Use social proof.

Social proof is a mental trigger that makes people want to do what other people are doing. So if you can show that other people are buying your product (or planning to), you will have an easier time selling it.

During your pre-launch, for example - when you get lots of people commenting on your blog or on message boards about how much they like your product... that's social proof. Your prospects can see that other people are excited about buying it. That will make them more inclined to buy it as well.

How do you get all that buzz? One easy way is to run a contest where you give a prize to whoever posts the best comment on your blog.

Another good example of social proof is testimonials from people who have benefited from your products in the past. So be sure to include lots of them in your marketing copy.

Yet another way to use social proof is with "case studies." (Actually, a case study isn't much more than a long testimonial.) For example, when I began the pre-launch for my new Product Launch Formula 2.0, I published an extensive video case study of a man (John Gallagher) who literally went from food stamps to having a six-figure business. At the end, I invited my readers to comment on the case study on my blog. Within a couple of days, I had more than 300 "rave reviews" from people who had seen it.

You can see the John Gallagher case study here.

2. Use scarcity.

Scarcity is another mental trigger that makes people want to buy. When there is less of something, they want it more.

You can create scarcity by limiting the quantity of whatever it is that you're selling. But I usually don't like to do that because it limits the amount of money you make. I prefer to limit the amount of time people have to take advantage of the deal. So I set a deadline, after which the price will be higher. And I offer extra bonuses that people will no longer get after the deadline.

I do this with almost every launch. For example, in the pre-launch for a membership site for loan officers, I offered bonus teleseminars for people who signed up on the very first day. This gave them a big incentive to act right away when the launch went live.

Your prospects will respond to a deadline like you wouldn't believe. Don't forget to send a last-minute notice 24 hours before it expires. And again about six hours before the deadline. Get ready for a rush of orders right at the end.

3. Get joint venture partners on board.

When you get other people promoting your launch to their lists on an affiliate basis, you multiply its effectiveness.

Give your partners a reason to mail to their lists when you are still in pre-launch by giving them some high-quality content to use. The content should lead people back to your site so they can sign up to be on your pre-launch "priority notification list."

Communicate with your partners throughout the launch. Let them know what's coming and why they should continue to send you traffic. And keep giving them reasons to mail to their people multiple times. The best way to do that is to give them a series of pre-launch content pieces to be released at different times.

For example, in a recent launch in the massage therapy market, one of my students released a series of content-rich downloadable PDF reports. These reports not only had solid information that would appeal to massage therapists, they were designed to get people excited about the launch. The joint venture partners were encouraged to send their lists to a page where they could download these reports... and join the pre-launch priority notification list.

4. Don't be afraid to keep e-mailing your prospects.

I call each e-mail leading up to a successful launch a "touch"... and you want to keep touching your prospects. But you have to have a reason for each touch. (No one wants to get an e-mail telling them to watch out for another e-mail in a day or two.)

For example, long before the product launch (and while the product is still actually being developed), I often send a survey to my list, asking them what they think the product should have or do. When I get their feedback, I send another e-mail to thank them for their responses and tell them what I learned. I follow up that e-mail with one or more e-mails that answer any questions or concerns they may have raised about the product. (I take one question per e-mail, and answer it thoroughly.) What I'm really doing here is pre-selling the product.

None of these e-mails are hype-filled sales messages. I am either asking for or giving solid information in each one.

As I get closer to the launch, the frequency of my e-mails increases... and I start to talk more specifically about the product and the offer.

Now this might sound like a lot of work. But it really isn't hard to do... especially when you consider the enormous payoff.

5. Perfect the launch process.

The single best thing about your first product launch is that it's just your FIRST launch.

You can take what you've learned and do it over and over again. And each time, it will get bigger and bigger. Soon enough, you'll be thinking about your own six-figure (or even seven-figure) launch.

So good luck. Go get 'em!

What Comes First? The Product?The Promotion?

2008-03-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

At last year's ETR/AWAI Bootcamp, I was chatting with Michael Masterson before we were to give a presentation together. We were talking about what motivates people to buy the kind of programs that ETR and AWAI market.

"People, especially as the years pass, don't just care about becoming a millionaire or making six figures," he said. "What they are after most," said Michael, "is a certain kind of lifestyle... and living that life on their own terms. Money for them is mostly a means to that end."

I am convinced he is right, and marketers who simplistically trumpet "get rich" in their ads are making a mistake. Instead of selling the obvious benefit, they could be reaching their prospects on a deeper and more powerful level.

I saw this principle in action in a series of TV commercials for ITT Tech, an institute offering career training for adults.

In the old days, ads for career-training places implied that if you took their program you'd make a lot of money.

One of my clients in the career-training field back then ran an ad featuring a student standing proudly next to his new Jaguar. What the ad failed to mention was that he bought the Jaguar with money he won in a personal injury lawsuit, not with money he earned as a result of his training.

Anyway, the new ITT Tech ads are different. They feature interviews with students who graduated and are now gainfully employed. But they don't talk about money.

One of the graduates talks about how proud his kids are to see him put on a suit and tie and go to work every day. Another one talks about the overseas business trips his company sends him on, and says how he loves to travel, try new foods, see different cultures, and meet new people on the job. He says nothing about money. His mother is in the commercial, too, saying how proud she is of her son.

I have coined a name for this type of marketing. I call it "lifestyle promotion."

The marketing for the ROM Cross Trainer is an excellent example. The machine looks something like Santa's sleigh. It costs $14,615. The ad claims it can get you fit in only four minutes a day. And the company has been selling them since 1990.

Given the $14,615 purchase price, I'm guessing the target market for this product is upper-middle-class people earning six-figure incomes. They want to look and feel better, tone their bodies, and lose weight. They are told by doctors and trainers to exercise at least 20 to 30 minutes - maybe even an hour - anywhere from three to seven days a week.

But these are busy people. "I don't have time to exercise!" they say. So the ROM Cross Trainer is the perfect fitness solution for them: You can get all the exercise you need - a complete workout - in just four minutes a day!

Plus, for many of them, time is money. For an executive or entrepreneur whose time is worth, say, $100 an hour, the ROM Cross Trainer is, again, the perfect fitness solution. By cutting his exercise time by five hours a week, it will pay for itself in less than eight months - making it a good investment instead of an expense.

Instead of taking time out of your day to train at the gym, your daily exercise routine is over in less than five minutes - without leaving your home or office. Instead of going to work out at night, you can get home at a reasonable hour and have dinner with your spouse and kids.

It's all about lifestyle.

Lifestyle promotions can be written for almost any product and any market. But I find they work best with "lifestyle products" that have been "reverse engineered." In other words, instead of starting with the product, you start with the lifestyle desired by your target market. Then you design a product that helps them achieve it.

You can even write the lifestyle promotion first, creating copy you are confident will sell like gangbusters. Then you design a product that delivers on the promises in the copy.

MP, a copywriter, tells the story of how he was hired to write a direct-mail package to sell a book on decorating. As MP tells it, when he handed in his copy, the marketing director told him, "It's great - but the book doesn't fit what you've written."

MP swears the publisher had the author totally rewrite the book to fit his promotion. (And it was a big success.)

Winning The Private Money Lender's Trust

2008-03-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

In my last article for Early to Rise, I revealed 14 ways that private lenders can help you take your real estate business to an incredible level of success.

Today, I'll show you how to take the next step: building trust between you and the people who can fund your deals.

When I decided to work with private lenders, I knew the individuals I wanted to reach were financially savvy and could appreciate the generous interest rate I offer. But people with ample finances get tons of requests for their money. So my biggest challenge - and a challenge you're sure to face when finding private lenders - was getting them to trust me enough to do business with me.

I named my company "Integrity Home Buyers" because the word integrity has meaning for me. It is the way I run my business and my life. The people around me know this, but when I decided to seek out private lenders outside my own circle of friends, they simply didn't know me. And I was asking those people to give me large sums of money and trust me to do what I said I'd do. So I had to convey my philosophy to them.

You can build trust in dozens of ways. But there are four trust-builders that have helped me find more than enough private lenders to fund all the real estate deals I want to do.

Trust Builder #1: Reach Out to the Right People.

When I started looking for potential lenders, I first determined common denominators among my target group that would help me reach them effectively.

I found that I could get an extremely targeted list of names of potential lenders from a list broker. (You can find a list broker in the phone book or on the Internet.) The list can be tailored almost any way you want, so I requested the names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who met the following criteria:

1. They owned their own home.

2. They bought items through the mail.

3. They owned bank Certificates of Deposit (CDs).

4. They were located in our county.

Here's the logic behind my choices:

1. They owned their own home.

People who own their own home are probably already aware of what a great investment real estate can be.

2. They bought items through the mail.

If they buy things through the mail, I figure they will take time to read things that I send to them through the mail. (One of my primary marketing tools at the time was a postcard.)

3. They owned bank Certificates of Deposit (CDs).

These people obviously have available money. With the banks paying a pathetically low rate on CDs, my program is that much more attractive. (That was true when I got into the business - and CD rates are even lower today.)

4. They were located in our county.

This criterion is crucial to building trust and credibility. I focus on my local market, because it is likely that they already know about me from my other marketing efforts. They've seen my "I Buy Houses" signs for years. I sponsor Little League teams, so they may have seen the T-shirts with "I Buy Houses" and my phone number. And they may have read newspaper articles the local paper has done about my company.

In short, I believed from the start that lenders would be comfortable loaning to one of their neighbors. Plus, since they'd already seen my ads and heard about me in the community, they'd believe I was the real deal. And I figured they'd enjoy being able to drive by the house on which they held the mortgage while my crew was doing the work. (This turned out to be another huge trust builder. It made them feel safe, seeing exactly where their money was.)

Trust Builder #2: Crush Your Prospects with Credibility.

Once I received my list of targeted names, I mailed postcards inviting them to a luncheon. I didn't have a tremendous crowd, but I didn't need one. The number of guests didn't matter as much as the number of guests in my targeted market who could take advantage of my program.

One of the best ways to establish your integrity is to create a "credibility kit" that you can hand out to potential lenders. Mine is a 30-page, spiral-bound book. On the cover are color pictures of more than a dozen houses I've bought and rehabbed. Before they even open the book, they see before-and-after pictures that show I have a seasoned real estate business... evidence of my work that they can drive by to see in person.

Inside the book, you want to include information that sends a strong message that you are a trustworthy person who knows his or her business. My book includes a brief history of my investing career, my company philosophy, pages of testimonials, certificates from training I have completed, and information-packed special reports.

Trust Builder #3: Become a Household Name.

The credibility kit is a great start, but you can't stop there. To grow your business, you want your name out there. You want the prospective lender to say, "Hey, I've heard of you." Or "I've seen the T-shirts on the Little League team you sponsor." Or "You're the 'I Buy Houses' guy." Familiarity makes an impact, and recognition conveys credibility.

For example, about a year ago I was able to add something new to my credibility kit: a copy of an interview with my local newspaper. They did a long article with lots of great information about my company and my lender program. Then, recently, the reporter came back and did an article focusing on the lender program - which, of course, I am now adding to my packet.

Talk about credibility! That's the kind of publicity money can't buy.

Trust Builder #4: Join the BBB.

Another credibility-building tool is to join the Better Business Bureau. It's a great way to let people know that you consider yourself a serious, responsible businessperson. It also authorizes you to use their logo on your materials, which further conveys credibility.

People frequently check with the BBB before making a major financial decision. With good reason. To be a member of the BBB, you have to agree to "follow the highest principles of business ethics and voluntary self-regulation" and "have a proven record of marketplace honesty and integrity."

Early in my career, all of the above strategies combined to take my real estate investing to new heights. I had targeted my market correctly, won the trust of several private lenders, and had awesome results. After just two luncheons, I had $1 million to buy houses with... without having to hassle with a bank.

Progressing Towards Your Most Neglected Goals

2008-03-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

To Master Plan your new life, you must begin with long-term goals that correspond to your core values. From that good start, you must establish yearly and monthly objectives. Based on those objectives, you create weekly and daily task lists. Doing all that will help greatly. But if you want to really change your life, you have to learn how to prioritize.

I didn't always know how to prioritize. For much of my business career, I relied on goal setting and task lists and was happy with the results. But when I turned 50 and started writing for Early to Rise, I began to read how other business leaders achieved their goals. And that's when I discovered what a huge difference prioritizing can make.

The most important lesson I learned came from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. In that book, Covey presents a technique for prioritizing that impressed me greatly and soon became a central part of my planning process.

Divide your tasks, Covey says, into four categories:

Not important and not urgent

Not important but urgent

Important but not urgent

Important and urgent

In the "not important and not urgent" category, you would put such things as:

Catching up on office gossip

Shopping online for personal items

Answering unimportant phone calls

Responding to unimportant e-mails

In the "not important but urgent" category, you would include:

Returning phone calls from pesky salespeople

Making last-minute preparations for an office party

Attending a required meeting that doesn't help your career

Planning for a meeting that doesn't matter

In the "important and urgent" category, you might list:

Making last-minute preparations for an important meeting with the boss

Making last-minute sales calls to key clients

Solving unexpected problems

And, finally, in the "important but not urgent" category, you might include:

Learning how to write better

Learning how to speak better

Learning how to think better

Working on your novel

Getting down to a healthy weight

When you break up tasks into these four categories, it's easy to see that you should give no priority at all to "not important and not urgent" tasks. In fact, these tasks should not be done at all. They are a waste of time. Yet many people spend lots of time on them because they tend to be easy to do and sometimes enjoyable in a mindless sort of way. Or because they are afraid to get to work on important tasks because they are afraid of failure.

Even worse than spending time on tasks that are not important and not urgent is spending time on those that are not important but urgent. They should have been dealt with long before they reached the crisis stage.

If you discover that you are spending a lot of time on unimportant tasks, you've got a serious problem. Unless you change your ways, you're unlikely to achieve any of your important goals.

So which tasks should you give priority to?

In Seven Habits, Covey says that most people think they should give priority to important and urgent tasks. But this is a mistake. "It's like the pounding surf," he says. "A huge problem comes and knocks you down and you're wiped out. You struggle back up only to face another one that knocks you down and slams you to the ground." You are "literally beat up by problems all day every day."

All urgent tasks - both unimportant and important - are problematic: They are urgent because you've neglected something or because they are important to other people (like your boss). In either case, you need to find a way to keep most of them from winding up on your daily to-do list. This means making some changes in your work habits - usually a combination of being more efficient and delegating more chores to other people.

Urgent tasks will burn you out. And turn you into an unhappy workaholic. If you want transformation in your life, you have to give priority to the important but not urgent tasks - because those are the ones that will help you achieve your major, long-term goals.

It's not easy.

The important but not urgent tasks whisper, while the urgent tasks shout. But there is a way to get that critical but quiet stuff done in four simple steps:

Step 1. When planning your day, divide your tasks into Covey's four categories: not important and not urgent, not important but urgent, important but not urgent, and important and urgent.

Step 2. You will, of course, have to do the urgent tasks - at least until you get better at taking charge of your schedule. And you will have to find a way to get rid of the tasks that are not important and not urgent. But make sure you include one important but not urgent task that, when completed, will move you closer to one of your long-term goals.

Step 3. Highlight that important but not urgent task on your to-do list. Make it your number one priority for the day.

Step 4. Do that task first - before you do anything else.

Initially, you will find it difficult to do an important but not urgent task first. There are reasons for that.

Since it is not urgent, you don't feel like it's important. But it is.

Since it supports a goal you've been putting off, you are in the habit of neglecting it.

You are in the habit of neglecting it because you don't think it's important and because you might be afraid of doing it.

You might be afraid of doing it because you know, deep down inside, that it will change your life. And change, even good change, is scary.

But once you start using this little four-step technique, you'll notice something right away.

The first thing you'll notice is how good you feel. Accomplishing something you've been putting off is energizing. It will erase some doubts you have about yourself - doubts caused by years of "never getting to" your long-term goals.

That extra energy and confidence will grow, and will fuel you throughout the day. This will make it easier for you to accomplish other important but not urgent tasks.

As the days go by, you will realize that you are making measurable progress toward your neglected goals. In just a few weeks, you will be amazed at how much you've already done. And in 52 weeks - a short year from now - you will be a brand-new, much more productive person.

That year is going to pass by anyway. You are going to spend the time somehow. Why not do it by taking charge of your schedule? Why not spend that time on yourself - on what's really important to you?

Dominate Your Market with A Product Launch

2008-03-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

If you want to give your business instant momentum, the best way to do it is with a major product launch.

I mean, why bother starting off slow if you can start off with "both guns blazing" and big-time cash flow?

And I do mean big-time cash flow. Some of the launches I've been doing lately are generating six and even seven figures in a matter of a few days.

Now I know those numbers might sound crazy and just plain unthinkable... but they are quite real.

Of course, this didn't happen overnight. It took me a long time to develop my formula for product launches. And, initially, they were much more modest. The first one generated about $1,400. But I kept testing and tweaking my process... and the results kept getting better.

I remember the one where it seemed like I had it all figured out. That product launch did $34,762 in one week, and I was walking on cloud nine. But it turned out that was just the beginning. Soon afterward, I had a launch that did about $106,000 in a week. And then I helped a friend down $1.08 million in just 24 hours!

And things have kept rolling from there.

A couple of years ago, I released a home-study course that taught all my product launch techniques... the Product Launch Formula. And the results have been staggering. We are talking about $65 million in product launches... and that number grows almost every day. That qualifies as big-time cash for just about anyone.

Okay, so how do you put together a product launch?

Here are some of the key things you must do:

1. Turn your launch into an event.

People today are bored. They are also busy.

Because of this, it's difficult to get their attention... and even more difficult to keep their attention.

That's why you need to turn your marketing into an event. It will set you apart, hook people in, and keep their attention.

I'm talking about making your marketing more like a soap opera or reality TV show that leaves you hanging from episode to episode... where your prospective customers are dying to know what happens next.

Every step of the process should set up the next step. Make them wonder what you are going to do. What's going to happen. And make them think that even you aren't sure.

My good friend Rich Schefren did this recently when he launched his Attention Age Doctrine. The pre-launch started months before the actual launch, when he told his subscribers that he was working on a groundbreaking report - the Attention Age Doctrine.

For weeks, Rich talked about the Doctrine and gave hints about what it contained. Anticipation grew and grew. Some of his subscribers actually posted videos on YouTube telling Rich how anxious they were to get it.

Excitement is contagious. If you want to create anticipation and buzz for something, show how other people are already excited and buzzing about it. So, of course, Rich pointed out those videos in his marketing.

Finally, as the release day drew closer, Rich gave almost daily updates on his blog. He also sent out e-mails about the upcoming report and the exact schedule for the release. He even posted a timer on his website that ticked down the seconds to the exact moment of the launch.

When the report was finally released, more than 50,000 people downloaded it in just a few days.

The best product launchers do this. They create anticipation and excitement by turning the launch into an event. And when you really do it right, it almost looks like an accident.

2. Think in terms of sequences.

Treat the entire marketing effort like an ongoing story... where each piece builds on the last piece. Don't expect one e-mail or one sales letter to do the trick. Think in terms of both a pre-launch sequence and a launch sequence.

Your pre-launch sequence can be anywhere from one week long to four weeks long (or even longer). This gives you time to pre-sell your prospects before they even get to your sales letter.

Start off the pre-launch by gathering feedback. I like to do this with a survey. I vaguely define the product, and then I ask my prospective customers to tell me one or two things that they think the product needs to have or do.

A survey like that will give you lots of material to work. It will also raise lots of questions (potential objections) about the product that need to be answered. So the next step of your pre-launch sequence is to answer those questions.

Finally, toward the end of your pre-launch, you will start to define your product and offer.

This way, your prospects will hit your sales letter after you've already fielded their objections. Plus, they already have a pretty good idea of what your product is and why they need to have it.

3. Use a variety of methods to reach your prospects.

Different people like to "consume" information in different ways. So mix things up in your pre-launch by using several methods - e-mail, blogs, video, and audio - to reach your prospects.

This also helps create buzz. The more ways people hear from you, the greater their perception that other people are talking about you... and the more likely it is that they'll want to talk about you too.

These three strategies will help you build anticipation for your new product. In my next article for ETR, I'll reveal five more techniques you can use to make sure your next product launch creates huge cash flow for your company.

The Key To Perfect Freedom

2008-03-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, I was playing golf with a friend who is an attorney. Between shots he began telling me how much he detested his job.

"Why?" I asked.

"You have to understand my business," he said with a huff. "My day basically consists of writing nasty letters on behalf of my clients. Then we get nasty letters back. This goes on for a while until my clients realize how many billable hours they've run up. Then they start getting nasty with me. The whole business," he said with a shake of his head, "is kind of nasty."

"Why don't you do something else?" I asked.

From the look on his face, you would have thought I suggested he stop breathing.

"Do something else?" he said. "You don't understand. I live in a big house. I have two big cars. My wife and I like to take big trips. She runs up big bills. What am I gonna do?"

"I don't know," I said. "But it sounds like a big mistake to me."

The sad part is my buddy is a bright, talented guy. He's giving up a lot. With his experience and law degree, there are plenty of other things he could do.

But he doesn't believe that's realistic. Why? Because he can't tolerate even the thought of a temporary loss of status and income. And, ordinarily, that's exactly what it takes.

As the psychologist Laurence G. Boldt once wrote, "The life spent doing what you love is a different life indeed from putting your life out for hire to the highest bidder. The only way you can say it makes no difference is to say life makes no difference."

These words hit me between the eyes when I first read them seven years ago. At the time, I had spent 16 years working on Wall Street. It paid well, but I had grown increasingly bored with what I was doing.

I loved analyzing investment opportunities. But I'd grown tired of having the same repetitive conversations with my clients about their accounts every day. So I decided to write about the financial markets, instead.

My coworkers thought I had lost my mind. "Nobody gets to the point where he has all these clients, all these accounts, all these assets - and all these fees coming in - and then just walks away," one colleague told me, incredulous. "If you leave, you're going to regret it."

But I haven't. Not for a minute. If anything, I wish I'd done it sooner. The writer Joseph Campbell was right:

"If you follow your bliss," he wrote, "you put yourself on a kind of track, which has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living� I think the person who takes a job in order to live � that is to say, just for the money � has turned himself into a slave."

That may sound harsh to some. We all have commitments and responsibilities, after all. But that doesn't mean change isn't possible. It hurts to spend your days doing something that is not really suited to your talents, especially when you know you could be doing far more than you are.

The Difference Between Getting Rich And Being Rich..

2008-03-12T00:27:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, Donald Trump wrote a book entitled "How to Get Rich." Ho-hum.

Far superior, in my view, is "How to Be Rich" by J. Paul Getty, originally published in 1965.

Trump focuses almost exclusively on making money. Getty - the world's first billionaire - is more concerned with wealth as a way of life.

"After all," he writes, "'richness' is at least as much a matter of character, of philosophy, of outlook and attitude, as it is of money. The millionaire mentality' is not - and in this day and age, cannot be - merely an accumulative mentality. The able, ambitious man who strives for success must understand that the term rich' has infinite shadings of meaning."

Getty's consuming passion, aside from building a considerable fortune in the oil business, was art. Throughout his life, he collected hundreds of paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and fine antiques. (Many of them are now on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.) He was a great believer in the enriching qualities of art. And he viewed with disdain the lowbrow culture of our time, often referring to his fellow men as "educated barbarians."

"Entirely too many Americans insist that they can see no reason for developing any cultural interests or appreciation of the arts. Some say they haven't time' for cultural pursuits. Yet, week after week, they will spend dozens of hours at country clubs, loafing here or there, or slumped in easy chairs in their homes staring blankly at the vulgar banalities that flash across the screens of their television sets."

(Bear in mind, this was written 40 years before the advent of "Reality TV.")

"Americans must realize that an understanding and appreciation of literature, drama, art, music - in short, of culture - will give them a broader, better foundation in life, and will enable them to enjoy life more fully. It will provide them with better balance and perspective, with interests that are pleasing to the senses and inwardly gratifying."

Personally, I've always had an amateur's interest in the arts. But lately I've been stretching out a bit, experiencing things I wouldn't usually bother with. In the process, I've made a few surprising discoveries.

Last night, for instance, I ventured out in a pouring rainstorm with a good friend to hear a concert sponsored by a local art gallery. It was Le Trio Joubran, three oud players (and a percussionist) from Palestine. It was highly improvised Middle Eastern music, definitely not the kind of thing you'd hear at The House of Blues. It was pretty exotic - and exceptionally good. (For a brief taste, visit the website, and click on the audio sample.)

Last Saturday, too, I dropped in on the Kerouac Festival at a local community college to hear a recital by Billy Collins, the nation's Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003. Some of you may spontaneously recoil at the thought of listening to 90 minutes of poetry, with no place to run. But settle down. This is not "Shall-I-compare-thee-to-a-summer's-day" stuff.

Collins writes in a lucid, plain-spoken style that even lay readers can appreciate. And he, too, finds poetry in the most mundane aspects of everyday life. For example:

Dharma

The way the dog trots out the front door

every morning

without a hat or an umbrella,

without any money

or the keys to her doghouse

never fails to fill the saucer of my heart

with milky admiration.

Who provides a finer example

of a life without encumbrance.

Thoreau in his curtainless hut

with a single plate, a single spoon?

Gandhi with his staff and his holy diapers?

Off she goes into the material world

with nothing but her brown coat

and her modest blue collar,

following only her wet nose,

the twin portals of her steady breathing,

followed only by the plume of her tail.

If only she did not shove the cat aside

every morning

and eat all his food

what a model of self-containment she

would be,

what a paragon of earthly detachment.

If only she were not so eager

for a rub behind the ears,

so acrobatic in her welcomes,

if only I were not her god.

Okay, this is not "Death Be Not Proud," but so what? When was the last time you heard an audience laughing and applauding all the way through a poetry recital?

J. Paul Getty was on to something - the idea of being rich, not just having riches. Sure, exposing yourself to art is just one aspect of enriching your life, but an important one. As the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a couple hundred years ago, "One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words."

Take a few minutes to peruse the Weekend section of your local paper and I'll bet you'll find a concert, a gallery, a play - something - new to appreciate. And to share.

In the end, not everyone among us will get rich. But we each have the opportunity to live a rich life.

How To Get Search engines To Love Your Site.

2008-03-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

"Like China, the Internet is a huge new market. It's up to you to figure out what to do with it. Use it as a prospecting tool, make connections with people, add value for your existing customers."

- Larry Chase

In the world of search engine marketing, links are extremely important. Search engines view inbound links to your website as votes - endorsements of your site and its content. The more of these votes your site receives, the more the search engines regard it as a trusted source and the more likely you are to rank high in their search results for your keywords.

There are many different kinds of websites you can get links from. There are links from big trusted sites and directories like Yahoo and DMOZ, links from relevant vertical search engines, links from respected industry organizations, links from forums and blogs, and so on. And there are almost as many techniques for getting the links from these sites that the search engines love.

Today, I'll talk about one of those techniques: how to use social media for building links.

The term "social media" typically refers to social news sites like Digg, social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and StumbleUpon, and social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook. Social news and social bookmarking sites are the most common social media sites used in a link-building effort.

These sites were designed specifically for people with shared interests to post and vote for content all over the Internet. Social media is a great way to get your articles and website content in front of a large group of people in a relatively short amount of time. And this can generate lots of traffic to your site.

Now you may be thinking: "Um, didn't Patrick Coffey just tell me that social media will bring my site useless traffic?" Yes he did. And he's right... mostly.

Through my own recent experiments with link building through social media (as Patrick mentioned), I attracted over 28,000 visitors to our health-newsletter site, Total Health Breakthroughs. And a measly 0.2 percent of those visitors signed up for the newsletter. If this were the only marketing technique we were using to build the e-mail list for the newsletter, we'd be in some seriously sorry shape.

We've made some improvements to ensure that our conversion rate will be higher next time. Still, despite getting a disappointing number of subscribers from all that traffic, my little experiment with social media did have a positive side. It also resulted in about 600 inbound links.

This is how social media can give you a big boost, especially if you are just starting out building links for a new site. If a page of your site makes the first page on Digg or gets a lot of reviews on StumbleUpon, you get that much more exposure to Web users who have their own sites and blogs. If these bloggers and website owners like your content, they'll link to you. This has the potential to build your links exponentially! And remember, the search engines love it when your site has lots of relevant inbound links.

"All right, you've convinced me! So now what do I do?"

1. First, you have to have interesting content.

For some ideas on how to create top-notch content that will help your website's pages do well on social media sites, take a look at David Cross's "Bad Writer's Guide to Creating Website Content" and Patrick Coffey's "Creating Content for Your Website."

2. Then you have to present that good content in ways that will get the attention of social media junkies.

Here are four types of content that social media users love:

Lists - Some would say lists are cliched or overused by now, but they still work. Top-10 lists seem to do really well, particularly on Digg. As I write this, there is a story on the first page of Digg with the headline "The Top 10 Places to Take a Techie on a Date." So if you can rework a page of your content or one of your articles into a Top-10 list, give it a shot.

How-To Articles - Like lists, how-to guides do well. If you're in the business of teaching people how things are done, you're one step ahead of the game.

Controversial Topics - People love controversy, but use this tactic wisely. You don't want to misrepresent yourself or your site. You just want to create a buzz.

Catchy Headlines - As with every other form of marketing, your headline is key in social media. Craft it carefully to attract the most attention.

3. In addition to having the right content on your website, you have to comply with social media's unwritten code of conduct.

There is a reason social media is also known as social networking. When you create an account on a social media/networking website, you are literally signing up to be part of a community. Kind of like a condo association, the early adopters and hardcore users of social media sites take their communities very seriously. And they like it best when you play along.

If there's anything this society hates, it's overt marketing. If they suspect you are participating in their network purely to promote your site, they will report your submissions as spam and can even have the site disable your account. So here are some tips to help you appear more like a real person and less like a loathsome marketer.

Upload an Avatar - An avatar is a little picture that's associated with your account. It's a pixilated ambassador that represents you and all the actions you perform on your account. An account profile without an avatar is a pretty good indicator of a marketer.

Don't Submit Content Solely From Your Website - This would seem like a no-brainer, but it is often forgotten. If the only pages you submit to a social media site are from your website, chances are you're a marketer.

Add Friends - Friends will usually vote for the content you submit. The more friends you have, the more votes for your content. The more votes you have, the better your chances of getting content on the first page of the social media site. But remember to reciprocate. Nobody likes a taker.

Be a Real Person - A surefire way to look like a real person and not a marketer is to actually be a real person. Social media sites are fun! That's why they're so successful.

Let yourself go, and truly participate in the community. Make friends. Comment on posts. Discover new websites. When you do submit something from your own site, it will simply be another genuine contribution of great content. After all, marketers are people too, right?

Using social media to build links to your website can help boost your search engine rankings. It's a lot of work, but it can also be rewarding... and entertaining. Follow these tips and you'll be well on your way to driving useful traffic to your website.

Enjoy Every Sandwich

2008-03-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Steve Sjuggerud, editor of True Wealth, used to call me occasionally to ask if I'd read any good business or investment books.

Since both of us already had shelves groaning with them, it got tougher each year to find new ones offering any fresh insights. That was before I read Eugene O'Kelly's "Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life."

Three years ago, O'Kelly, the Chairman and CEO of KPMG, one of the largest U.S. accounting firms, was diagnosed with inoperable, late-stage brain cancer. He was told he had three to six months to live.

He was 53.

Suddenly, the life of this rich, powerful and privileged man, whose days were filled with executive meetings and business appointments, became something very different. "Chasing Daylight" is his memoir, the story of his final journey.

"I'd always aspired to be a Renaissance Man. To know about wine and opera, to read books," he writes. "But after a quarter-century at my firm, I rose to the top position. My life changed. The balance in it faded. Spontaneity died... I was always distracted by work."

Suddenly, he was left with less than 100 days to live. "I had so little time left to learn," he says, "yet � ironically � the first (and maybe the last) thing I needed to learn was how to slow down."

With dignified restraint, O'Kelly describes discovering the world around him � nature, family, friends, living in the moment � as if it were all brand new.

"No more living in the future. (Or the past, for that matter � a problem for many people, although a lesser one for me.) I needed to stop living two months, a week, even a few hours ahead. Even a few minutes ahead. Sixty seconds from now is, in its way, as elusive as sixty years from now, and always will be. It is � was � exhausting to live in a world that never exists. Also kind of silly, since we happen to be blessed with such a fascinating one right here, right now. I felt that if I could learn to stay in the present moment, to be fully conscious of my surroundings, I would buy myself lots of time that had never been available to me, not in all the years I was healthy... I would soon discover, though, that staying in the present and being genuinely conscious of my surroundings were just about the hardest things I'd ever attempted."

If you've ever tried to meditate � to still your mind for even a single minute � you know exactly what he's talking about. Sadly, we sometimes need a terminal illness to remind us to embrace the fleeting moments of our lives.

"Enjoy every sandwich," he writes.

With the clock counting down, O'Kelly makes a list of his closest friends and colleagues and plans a final encounter with each one.

"I stopped at each name and made myself recall, in the closest detail possible, all the moments the two of us had enjoyed together. How we met. What made us become friends in the first place. The qualities in them I particularly appreciated. The lessons I learned by knowing them. The ways in which having met him or her had made me a better person."

His friends were touched � usually overwhelmed � to know how much they had meant to him.

In the course of saying goodbye, he would sometimes invite a friend or acquaintance to take a stroll in the park. This "was sometimes not only the final time we would take such a walk together," he writes, "but also the first time."

Most of us promise ourselves that one day � not too long from now - we'll slow down. We'll spend more time with our family. Enjoy a lazy day out with friends. Or just take a walk alone on the seashore. Some day�

If � like me - you're one of the millions who has often deluded himself this way, O'Kelly has just three words of advice: "Move it up."

Eugene O'Kelly died on September 10th, 2005

What It Takes To Be Great

2008-03-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

"Whenever I feel the urge to exercise, I just lie
down and it goes away."

- Mark Twain

In the movie Rocky, there's that pivotal scene. You know the one. It's cold. It's early. And the Italian Stallion, Rocky Balboa, is bounding up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Earlier in the story, he barely reached the top. But today, this day, we have the swelling of the trumpets... the soul-stirring chorus... and he's been working hard. He's strong. He's ready. He's... inspiring. Does he make it?

Here's the thing.

I grew up in Philadelphia. I know those steps. In fact, the doors of my high school were a scant 1.3 miles from there. And from October until March, I ran that distance - and back again - almost every day after school. With about 50 other guys on our crew team. And with all of us playing that same Rocky theme in our heads. Only it wasn't the same for us as it was on the big screen.

Our high school crew team was one of the best in the country - and one triumphant run up the steps wasn't enough for us. On reaching the bottom of the steps, you would line up with the other guys and wait for a coxswain to jump on your back. (For those who don't know, the coxswain is that annoying little guy with the bullhorn whose job it is to yell at you while you're rowing the boat.) And then up the steps you'd go. And down again. And up. And down again. Over and over... and over. Until your legs turned to rubber and you were desperately sucking oxygen from the icy air.

It was grueling. And let me tell you, there were no trumpets.

So this is my message?

No, not yet. See, while my high school went on to win the nationals and all kinds of other races that year, I didn't. I quit.

Given a second chance, would I have stuck it out? Maybe. Meanwhile, there was another guy on that same team named Rich G.

Rich was different. He worked harder. Not just harder than me, but harder than just about anybody. Even as a sophomore, he already had a captain's slot on the senior varsity crew team. And when he wasn't rowing, he was an emerging star on the football field too. No question, he was a born athlete. But he had a secret beyond that. One that eluded the rest of us.

Conventional wisdom would say that Rich had the willpower to be great. But I don't think that was it. Not at all.

You might know Rich, by the way. After high school, he went on to college ball. And then turned pro. He ended up with the Oakland Raiders, where he really hit his stride. In 2001, they voted him Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Pro Bowl. They did it again in 2002. That same year, Rich was voted MVP for the entire NFL. Nowadays, you can catch him - Rich Gannon is his full name - as a regular NFL analyst on CBS.

It plays like the American dream. Kid works hard, excels, and the rest of us are left to learn - yet again - that you can't be a quitter if you want to get ahead. But like I said... I've come to realize that achieving something great, in sports or career or relationships or anything, is not just a question of willpower.

Let me explain...

The Myth of Willpower

No pain, no gain. Just do it. If it doesn't taste good, it's good for you. And I love that logic. It feels solid. It feels honorable. But here's the problem: It doesn't add up.

Think about it. How many enviably successful people hate every minute of doing what it takes to get ahead? How many runners grimace every time they strap on their running shoes? How many "A" students tear up when they crack open a textbook? How many entrepreneurs still complain about getting up early after years of growing a moneymaking business?

Not many at all.

Pick someone, anyone, in that position. They didn't succeed because they're masters at suppressing their displeasure. They don't hate their lives or their choices. When they're grunting their way up the mountain, they're loving it. Every step of the way.

How often have you had to will yourself to do the things you love? Not often, I'm guessing. Maybe never.

So the next question is how they got there from here. And how we can get there ourselves, given what we want out of life.

I had a writing teacher who said, "You're not a real writer until you can't wait to get home to a blank page." I understand that now... because while I'm writing, time evaporates. And willpower has zilch to do with it. What makes it happen? I'm not sure myself. But if I had to guess, I can only pin it down to a simple but powerful shift in desire.

Throwing Sparks Across the "Desire Gap"

I see two lessons here.

First, if you've got a goal, forget about toughing your way toward it. You'll need to work, sure. But you'll never make it if that's all the juice you've got powering your engine. Instead, take the time to embrace the process that's going to get you there. How? By going past the superficial reasons you want to achieve that goal. ("To get rich.") By digging deeper to connect that goal to what it really means to you. ("My family will be so proud of me!")

In the abstract, lots of challenges don't look worth the trouble. But in the details, the process becomes real... and rewarding in itself.

Now here's the second lesson, and this one is more specific to us as marketers and business owners: What's true for us is true for our customers too.

That is, much as you'll try, your advertising can never "trick" a customer into doing something he doesn't want to do... or into buying something he doesn't want to buy. But somewhere in the details of what you're offering, you might find those things that connect your product or service to something he deeply desires. So much that, simply by making that connection, he's going to enjoy giving you his money.

It's that simple.

This is almost entirely what good salesmanship is all about - finding the spark that bridges the gap between a prospect's most deeply held desires and what your product can do.

How to get there?

The secret is nearly as accessible. All you need to do is look beyond the cliches and beyond the superficial assumptions other lesser marketers will almost certainly leap to. And, instead, venture into the specifics, the details.

In his classic book Breakthrough Advertising, Gene Schwartz called this "picking out the vital fact from a maze of information."

"What you are looking for in this product and in this market," he wrote, "is the one element that makes them unique. The idea you want - the headline you want - the breakthrough you want - are all wrapped up inside that product and that market. Nowhere else."

In your advertising, paint the picture of your prospect feeling the way he wants to feel. Talk about it, develop it, let him enjoy that feeling... as you walk him subtly down the path that will lead him there. That's all there is to it.

Sounds easy, don't you think?

A Small Business Success Formula

2008-03-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

"The people who get on in this world are the people who
get up and look for the circumstances they want, and,
if they can't find them, make them."

- George Bernard Shaw

Stuart and I clinked glasses, toasting our upcoming success. It was New Year's eve. My entrepreneurial career had just begun. I was a college student living at home with my mom. I didn't have much money, but I felt good about the $500 each of us had just invested.

About six weeks later, we'd lost our precious money.

We'd been suckered into investing in a poor business idea. The idea? Buying the rights to distribute video memberships where customers could rent videos through the mail for 35 cents. It sounded good, but there were a couple of catches. For one thing, the customer had to purchase an expensive membership. For another, the customer had to pay an exchange fee on every transaction. (Details that weren't included in the sales literature we saw.)

Eventually, I picked myself up from the disappointment of that first business failure. But several other failures followed. And they all fit the same general pattern: Identifying a product that seemed great, trying to sell it, and then discovering it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

For the longest time, I couldn't see what I was doing wrong. In fact, it took me several years before I figured it out and made a major change in the way I did business. That single change had an enormous effect on my success as an entrepreneur. By implementing it, I was able to create a string of profitable small businesses.

What I'm talking about here is a strategy I call the F.A.N. ("Fill A Need") Formula.

What I had been doing was first coming up with the product or service to sell, and then going out into the marketplace to see if anyone would buy it. But with the F.A.N Formula, I first studied the marketplace to look for customer needs that were not being met. Only if I discovered a hole would I create or find something and try to sell it.

And it's not hard. You don't have to come up with revolutionary new ideas. Sometimes you can find a need for a "bread and butter" type of business that just has to be tweaked a bit to make it stand out from the competition.

My first successful business was a pool maintenance service. I was cleaning my mom's pool when a neighbor peeked over the fence and said, "Hey! You're doing a good job!" Then he started complaining about how expensive and unreliable his pool company was.

A light bulb went off over my head. I realized that there was a big need right there in my own neighborhood. And where there is a need, there is an opportunity for an entrepreneur to make money.

I printed up some flyers advertising my "reliable pool cleaning services at good prices," and began distributing them. Within hours of posting the first ones, my phone was ringing. This led to what eventually became a six-figure business... a nice accomplishment for a college student with no capital.

Later in my entrepreneurial career, I became interested in the ballroom dance industry. While working in a dance studio, I discovered two holes in the market. First, virtually every dance studio in the area aggressively sold "packages" and persuaded clients to learn all the dances. Second, I noticed that it was hard for many busy people to make the time to get into the studio.

So I came up with the idea of "pay as you go" lessons. People didn't have to buy a package, and they could learn only the dance or dances they were interested in. Plus, they didn't have to come to a studio. They could take the lessons at home.

My approach was so novel that several major metropolitan newspapers did feature stories about me. (Free publicity!) And the business took off. I was soon earning $40,000-$50,000 a year with it. And since I was only working that business part-time, I was able to develop other businesses simultaneously.

Applying the F.A.N. Formula to Your Own Ventures

Here's how to start a business with the F.A.N. Formula:

1. Pay careful attention to markets that interest you. Then search out information about customer needs that aren't being served efficiently.

Keep your eyes open. Just look around for things that annoy YOU. Keep your ears open too. You can sometimes hear about a need that's not being met straight from a disgruntled customer. (That's what got me started on my pool cleaning service.) You should also read local newspapers, particularly stories about consumer problems. And articles in national magazines can help you identify trends that could inspire you to come up with a business idea.

2. Once you've pinpointed a need in the market, figure out how you can fill it. What will your product or service offer? How will it benefit the customer?

My dance instruction business had three main selling points:

No contracts to sign or packages to buy

Learn only the dances you're interested in

Convenient, private in-home lessons available

3. Evaluate the feasibility of the business.

Just because you see a need for the product or service you intend to offer doesn't mean you can sell it profitably. Sometimes, the reason nobody is doing it is because there's not enough of a market for it. So crunch the numbers first.

With my pool cleaning business, I figured out that by being a "no frills" operator with little overhead I could undercut the competition by about 20 percent. And I found that I could still make an acceptable profit even if I hired other people to do the work.

Operating your own small business is rewarding in many ways. It offers you job security. (You'll never be afraid of a boss letting you go.) It's a good way to accumulate wealth. And it allows you to spend your days doing something you can enjoy and be proud of. By using the F.A.N. Formula, your odds of success will increase exponentially. Try it.

Ever Wanted To Quadraple Your Productivity?

2008-03-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

"Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result
of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning,
and focused effort."

- Paul J. Meyer

Using Daily Task Lists to Accomplish Your Goals

By Michael Masterson

I didn't always plan my days. For most of my career, in fact, I didn't.

I had written goals. And I referred to them regularly. My goals kept me pointed in the right direction, but I was always moving back and forth. Often for no good reason.

Driving to work in the morning, I would think about my goals. That helped motivate me and often gave me specific ideas about what tasks I should accomplish that day. I'd walk into work meaning to complete those tasks... but by the end of the day, many of them were not done.

What happened? The same thing that may be happening to you right now. You sit down at your desk, and there is a pile of new mail in your inbox. You pick up the phone, and 15 messages are waiting for you. You open your computer, and find that you've received 50 new e-mails since you last checked. You tell yourself that you will get to your important tasks later. Right now, you have to "clean up" all these little emergencies.

Before you know it, the day is over and you haven't taken a single step toward achieving your important goals. You make an effort to do something, but you are tired. Tomorrow, you tell yourself, you will do better.

Does that sound familiar?

If so, don't feel bad. You are in good company. Most people deal with their work that way. Even people who set goals and achieve them. Over the long term, they get everything done. But on a day-to-day basis, they are constantly frustrated.

You can be successful without planning your days... but you will have to work a lot longer and harder. The reason? When you don't plan your days, you end up working for other people - not just for yourself. You feel that before you get to your own work, you should first deal with their requests.

Starting your day by clearing out your inbox, voicemail inbox, and e-mail inbox is just plain dumb. Most of what is waiting for you every morning has nothing to do with your goals and aspirations. It is work that other people want you to do for them.

If you want to be the captain of your soul and the master of your future, you have to be in charge of your time. And the best way to be in charge of your time is to structure your day around a task list that you, and only you, create.

As I said, simply writing down my goals helped me accomplish a good deal. But my productivity quadrupled when I started managing my schedule with a daily task list. If you use the system I'm going to recommend, I'll bet you see the same improvement.

I have used many standard organizing systems over the years, but was never entirely satisfied with any of them. The system I use now is my own - based on the best of what I found elsewhere.

At the beginning of the year, I lay out my goals for the next 12 months. I ask myself "What do I need to achieve in January, February, etc. to keep myself on track?" Then, at the beginning of each month, I lay out my weekly objectives. Finally, every day, I create a very specific daily task list.

Here's how I do it...

My Personal Daily Task List

I begin each day the day before.

What I mean by that is that I create my daily task list at the end of the prior day. I create Tuesday's task list at the end of Monday's workday. I create Wednesday's at the end of Tuesday's workday.

I begin by reviewing the current day's list. I note which tasks I've done and which I have failed to do. My new list - the next day's task list - begins with those uncompleted tasks. I then look at my weekly objectives to see if there are any other tasks that I want to add. Then I look through my inbox and decide what to do with what's there. I may schedule some of those items for the following day. Most of them, I schedule for later or trash or redirect to someone else.

I do all this in pen on a 6" x 9" pad of lined paper. I divide the paper vertically to create columns for the tasks, for the time I estimate it will take to do each one, and for the actual time it takes me to complete it. I also create a column for tasks I will delegate to my assistant.

On most days, I end up with about 20 15-minute to one-hour tasks.

Here is a typical daily list. (Click to enlarge.)

Michael Masterson's To-do-list

I like doing this by hand, in pen and ink. You may prefer to do it on your computer. The point is to enjoy the process.

Because longer tasks tend to be fatiguing, I seldom schedule anything that will take more than an hour. If you have a task that will take several hours, break it up into pieces and do it over a few days. It will be easier to accomplish. Plus, you will probably do a better job because you'll be doing it with more energy and with time to review and revise your work as you go.

A typical day for me includes two or three one-hour tasks, three or four half-hour tasks, and a dozen or so 15-minute tasks. The kind of work you do may be different, but I like that balance. It gives me flexibility. I can match my energy level throughout the day to my task list.

Ideally, you should get all of your important tasks and most of your less important tasks done almost every day. You want to accomplish a lot so you can achieve your long-term goals as quickly as possible. But you also want to feel good about yourself at the end of the day.

You may find, as I did, that when you begin using this system you will be overzealous - scheduling more tasks than you can possibly handle. So set realistic time estimates when you write down your tasks. And double-check them at the end of the day by filling in the actual time you spent on each one.

When you complete a task, scratch it off your list. One task done! On to the next one! I've been doing this for years, and I still get a little burst of pleasure every time.

Creating each daily task list should take you less than 15 minutes. The secret is to work from your weekly objectives - which are based on your monthly and yearly goals.

This system may not work for you, but I urge you to give it a try. I think you'll like it.

Before your colleagues, competitors, and coworkers are even sipping their first cup of coffee, you'll have figured out everything you need to do that day to make you healthier, wealthier, and wiser. You will know what to do, you will know what your priorities are, and you will already be thinking about some of them. You will not have to worry about forgetting something important. And you will have a strong sense of energy and excitement, confident that your day is going to be a productive one

Finding Customers On The Web

2008-03-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

"We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we're in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There's no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either."

- Steve Ballmer

By Wendy Montes de Oca

You've probably heard about Web 2.0. It's all the rage these days. But do you really know what it is? More important, do you know how to use it to your advantage?

Today, I'm going to reveal one Web 2.0 technique you can use to help attract targeted, qualified prospective customers to your website. But first, here's the 411.

Web 2.0 isn't a newfangled Internet technology or software. And it's not a marketing tactic, per se. It's simply the evolution of the Internet into an environment of interactivity, reader participation, and usability. This, in effect, changes users' Web behavior. As Tim O'Reilly - founder of O'Reilly Media and the guy who coined the term "Web 2.0" - puts it... it's "harnessing collective intelligence" through user-generated content.

Web 2.0 opens up the dialog between user and website or blog. This connection can help generate traffic and a viral buzz. Patrick Coffey pointed out in a recent ETR article that not all Web 2.0 traffic is a good thing. But from a search engine marketing (SEM) standpoint, the benefits are clear and measurable: More traffic and frequent interactivity (or posts) equal better organic (free) rankings in search engine results.

Getting good organic rankings is a powerful way to find qualified prospective customers. A recent eye-tracking survey of people doing an Internet search showed that 70 percent of the time their eyes go to the upper-left side of the search results (the organic listings). Their eyes go to the right side of the search results (the paid listings) only 30 percent of the time.

One way to increase your organic rankings - and take advantage of Web 2.0 user behavior - is with targeted online acquisition polls.

Online polls can help you collect names and e-mail addresses, gauge general market (or subscriber) sentiment, and generate sales via a redirect to a promotional page. They also allow for interactivity, where a user can sound off about a hot topic. I've been including polls in my online marketing strategy for at least six years now, and have rarely been disappointed with the results.

Some websites, like surveymonkey.com, allow members to set up free or low-cost surveys and polls. However, they may not allow you to include a name-collection component or a redirect to a promotional offer. If that's the case, either ask your Webmaster to build you a proprietary poll platform or use a poll script. (You'll find examples at hotscripts.com, bgpoll.com/, ballot-box.net/faq.php, micropoll.com, and 2enetworx.com.)

Here are eight ways to help make your Web 2.0 poll a success:

1. Make it engaging.

Your poll question should engage the reader, encourage participation, pique interest, and tie into a current event. And be sure to have a "comments" field where people can make additional remarks. Sample topics: politics, the economy, health, consumer breakthroughs, the stock market, foreign affairs. Sites that highlight the most talked-about (and searched) topics on the Web include buzz.yahoo.com/, 50.lycos.com/, and google.com/press/zeitgeist.html.

2. Be relevant.

Your poll question should also be related to your product, free e-zine topic, or free bonus report topic. This will greatly improve your conversion rate (the number of people who actually participate in your poll) and your up-sell rate. Let's say your free offer is a sign-up for an investment e-zine and your up-sell is a redirect landing page promotion for a paid investment newsletter. In that case, your poll question should be something like "Do you think the Dow will rise or fall in 2008?"

3. Offer an incentive.

After people take your poll, tell them that to thank them for their participation you're automatically signing them up for your free e-zine or e-alerts... which they can opt out of at any time. To reduce the number of bogus e-mail addresses you get, offer a free "must-read" e-report too. And assuming it's your policy not to sell or rent e-mail names to third parties (and it should be), indicate that next to the sign-up button. This will reassure people that it's safe to give you their e-mail address.

4. Tag the responses.

Having your poll question somehow tie into your product line makes the names you collect extremely qualified for future offers. Each name should be "tagged" by your database folks according to the answer they gave. Segmenting the names into such categories will make it easier for you to send targeted offers to them later.

Let's say your product line includes an investment e-zine on equities. In that case, your poll question might ask people which investment product they think has the best returns: money market, gold, equities, or options. Those who answer "equities" will be prime candidates for a promotion for the e-zine.

5. Use the results for new initiatives.

In addition to collecting names, online polls will help you gauge general market opinion - and could help you come up with new products. Keeping with our above example, you would flag all of the responses that come in. Then, if an overwhelming number of responders indicate an interest in an investment product you don't have - maybe one on gold - you should consider developing one. Because you now have an instant market of people to sell that product to.

6. Strengthen your new relationships.

You need to reinforce the connection between the poll people just participated in and your e-zine or e-alerts. So make sure each name that comes in gets an immediate "thank you" (for taking the poll). Then send an automatically generated e-mail with the link for the downloadable free e-report you promised. Consider sending a series of "bonding" e-mails to them too - to help them get to know who you are, what you do, and how it will benefit them. This will help improve their lifetime customer value.

7. Gratify participants with the results.

Don't just leave poll participants hanging. Make sure you tell them that the results will be published in your free e-zine or on your website (to encourage them to check it regularly). This will help increase readership and website traffic.

8. Publish the best reader comments.

On your poll landing page, mention that some user feedback may be published (anonymously) in your e-zine or on your website. Pick the very best, most powerful responses to use. Republishing user feedback is fundamental to the Web 2.0 concept. And it has been extremely successful for social networking communities and blogs.

Marketers have used polls to collect names for years. However, with the recent surge in (and buzz about) Web 2.0, now - more than ever - polls should be included in your online marketing mix.

Polls aren't just for finding new customers. They allow you to measure customer sentiment - which, in turn, can impact customer retention and service

Turning Your Abstract Ideas Into Personal Power.

2008-03-03T22:25:00.000-08:00

"Everything in nature contains all the power of nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Autism-spectrum disorders are a result of damage to certain cells in the right hemisphere of the brain. Among other things, such damage can cause difficulties in the processing of abstract thoughts and ideas. Which, in turn, can make life very frustrating for the afflicted individual.

Abstractions play such a major role in day-to-day life that this got me thinking about just how important they are for all of us when it comes to functioning in our modern world.

An abstraction is theoretical in nature - i.e., it is not a tangible reality. It has no form or substance. Examples of abstractions include such concepts as time, infinity, negative numbers, zero, gravity, motivation, resourcefulness, love, justice, fairness, dreams, intuition, common sense, conceptualization, and axioms.

Among the most interesting abstractions are axioms, because even though we rely heavily on them, an axiom cannot be proven. That's right. An axiom is an unprovable, though self-evident, truth.

Negative numbers are also fascinating. A negative number is nothing more than a theoretical supposition - a presumption that it exists, but not in concrete form. (How can you have minus six oranges?)

One of the most difficult abstract notions to grasp is infinity. The way we throw the word around, you'd think we have a clear understanding of what it is. But can we really comprehend what infinity means? We know that space, time, and numbering are infinite... yet, at the same time, they are incomprehensible.

Entire phrases can also be abstract, which presidential hopefuls demonstrate when they use such nonsensical terms as "in the best interest of society," "social consciousness," and "the will of the people." What in the world do these things mean? They are concepts that can be defined only subjectively.

What I'm driving at here is that we live in an abstract world, a world filled with abstract thought, existence, and causality. A world where time, being, and substance are not provable. Yet, through firsthand experience, we can be pretty certain that all of the phenomena mentioned in this article exist.

Which brings me to the phenomenon of the power that flows from thought.

If, through our thoughts, we possess the power to influence the course of our lives, there are two questions that should be of utmost importance to us: (1) How much potential power do we have for altering events through our thoughts? (2) How can we best tap into this reservoir of power?

If we do not have the power to manifest our destiny, we are the victims of a bad cosmic joke. It would mean that our awareness is a Catch-22. We would be conscious, yes, but conscious of the fact that we are on autopilot and have no say-so in the way our lives play out. It would be the ultimate nightmare - being conscious of our impotence.

But to me - and, I hope, to you - it is obvious that we do have the power to manifest our destiny. Which brings us to the concept of the "metaphysical world." Technically speaking, all abstractions (time, negative numbers, love, fairness, axioms, etc.) are part of the metaphysical world in that they do not have form or substance.

But when people use the term metaphysical world, they generally are referring to more weighty phenomena, such as the soul, afterlife, and - the ultimate abstraction - God. The problem many have with abstractions such as these is that - unlike time and infinity and negative numbers - we have no firsthand experience to support the belief that they really exist.

Which is why, from a secular viewpoint, none of these things make any sense. But after you've lived on this earth for a while, experience teaches you that there are "reasons beyond reason" for things that have no secular explanation.

The Dalai Lama sums it up well in The Universe in a Single Atom when he says, "There is a fundamental difference between that which is 'not found' and that which is 'found not to exist.' If I look for something and fail to find it, this does not mean that the thing I am seeking does not exist. Not seeing a thing is not the same as seeing its non-existence."

In other words, there's a lot more to reality than the material world we are able to see. Clearly, we ignore intangible realities at our peril. We cannot see gravity, but firsthand experience teaches us not to attempt to defy it.

Results of the Hubble Telescope project have scientifically underscored the Dalai Lama's position. Hubble scientists long ago discovered that not only is all matter moving away from all other matter at unfathomable speeds, but that those speeds are accelerating.

This indisputable evidence forced them to conclude that there is an invisible power in the universe - which scientists refer to as "Dark Energy" - that is greater than the gravitational pull of all matter in the universe combined.

It therefore stands to reason that if you are able to tap into this infinite power source - whether you refer to it as Dark Energy or positive thinking or God or something else - your own power is theoretically unlimited. And if your power is unlimited, it logically follows that you should be able to have a great deal of control over your destiny.

So, how do you tap into this infinite power source? I believe you have to make a conscious effort to concentrate on connecting. This is not a learn-it-once-and-you've-got-it-for-life proposition. It's a lifetime project... but one that becomes easier with age. (Which is more than you can say about most things.)

In other words, you become the product of your most dominant thoughts. Which is why I believe that the more you think about your connection to an infinite power source, the more power you will have to control your own destiny.

Think about it...

The Great Two Words

2008-03-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

"Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone."

- G.B. Stern

I'm going to share with you a business-building technique that is extremely powerful, yet almost totally overlooked (or used improperly).

It's simply... saying "thank you" to your customers.

You might be thinking, "Saying thank you to our customers for their business is not any big secret. What are you trying to pull here?"

Just hold onto your horses, and I think you'll see how wonderful this can be.

You might be sending out some kind of a thank-you note to your customers - maybe with a special "gift" offer attached to it. But unless you have a strategic use for the sales those notes generate, it's usually not worth it to send them out. Remember, you want to elicit direct actions from your customers. The stuff that results in dollars being directly deposited into your account.

That said, let me show you what I'm talking about.

A few years ago, I completed a series of teleseminars. The people who listened to this "Web Copy Secrets Mastery" series live" each paid $397 to be on the calls. I thought that would make them good prospects for some of our other higher-end Internet marketing training programs.

Now, as you know from reading ETR, a customer is a better prospect for another similar product right after they make a purchase than if you wait weeks or months to contact them. Which means that the sooner you contact a customer to thank them (and offer them something else), the better.

So when the Web Copy Secrets sessions were over, I sent the 65 people who had initially signed up a simple postcard. When I say simple, I mean it. I did it with a service called "Amazing Mail" (amazingmail.com) that sends out color postcards for you. It costs about a buck each. (Of course, that's higher than what it would cost to have postcards printed up locally and mail them yourself. But with this service, you can do it with just the click of a mouse. And you can do only one postcard, if that's all you want.)

It was very cool. It took me about 10 minutes to get the 65 postcards out. I just picked one of their pre-done designs - one with a colorful ocean scene that said "Thanks" across the top. And then, on the back, I wrote this:

"Thanks so much for being part of the recently completed 'Web Copy Secrets Mastery' course. I really hope you got a lot out of it. In fact, I learned a lot just by moderating and interviewing all of our wonderful guests! :)

"Now, as a special thank you, I want to give you a discount on a terrific new product we've recently released, called 'Yanik Silver's Internet Marketing Secrets Exposed.' It's a 3-volume video set from my presentation at the sold-out, $4,995/per person 'Internet Marketing Lab' in Washington, DC.

"Here's the special link for your $50 savings: XXXXXXXXXX

"Best, Yanik"

Could it be any easier?

I don't think so. It cost me $65 to send out my 65 thank-you postcards. And I wound up making three sales for $750. Figuring in my cost to fulfill the product (the video set), I made about $625. That's more than a 1,000 percent return on my money. Not bad for something that took me 10 minutes.

Ready to try your own thank-you postcard to make more sales? Here's a little template any business can use...

"Thanks so much for {your recent purchase of _____, taking part in _____, having your gutters cleaned, etc.}. I really hope you _____. {Say something about the benefit your product/service provides.}

"Now, as a special thank you, I want to give you a discount on a terrific new product/service we've recently released, _____. {Give the name of the product/service, and add just a sentence or two about it.}

"Here's how you can get your $XX savings: {Give instructions on how the customer can get the deal - by going to a website address, calling a specific number, etc. What action do they need to take?}"

Thank-you notes like this work well for several fundamental reasons.

First, they make your customers feel appreciated. By thanking them, you're showing that you really do care about their business.

Second, thank-you notes that include a discount or other deal trigger a feeling of obligation in your customer. By giving them something (that's for real), they want to reciprocate by buying something.

Finally, they work because of a solid direct-marketing principle: "A buyer is a buyer is a buyer."

Here are the five easy steps you can take to use thank-you notes to build your business:

1. Right now, gather up the names of your best customers - those who just bought something from you. They are excellent prospects for another one of your products/services.

2. Create a simple spreadsheet file with their names and addresses.

3. Come up with a preferential deal you can offer them.

4. Go to amazingmail.com and sign up for an account.

5. Send these customers a simple postcard using the template above.

Are You Satisfied With Your Life?

2008-03-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, management consultant Dr. Gerald Kushel studied a representative sample of America's top executives. He found that only a small group - just 4% - rated themselves "very satisfied" with both their personal and professional lives.

I doubt many people were surprised to find that genuine contentment is a rare commodity in corporate boardrooms. We've all known hard-driving businessmen who ended up frustrated and burned-out, even if they met their professional and monetary goals. And, of course, the executive who sacrifices his personal life to meet his business objectives is almost a proverb.

Yet this 4% maintained a remarkable sense of balance in their lives. Kushel found that "in addition to success in the marketplace, they manage to have extremely pleasing private lives, enduring and satisfying relationships with friends and family, and enjoy many quiet pleasures alone."

Yes, these executives had an uncanny knack for managing skillfully, delegating effectively and reaching important business goals. But a couple of important characteristics separated the 4% - the ones who were "very satisfied" with both their personal and professional lives - from the burned-out majority.

For starters, Kushel found that the 4% met none of these stereotypes:

They take their work, the company and their career very seriously.
They ruin their family lives with their preoccupation with work.
They operate under great stress.
They are weighed down with multiple problems.
They are real infighters.
They have a strong need to control others, including both their peers and their subordinates.
They stick to their guns when they're right.

It turns out that these qualities - which together represent almost a caricature of the harried business executive - were almost completely absent among those who were happiest with their lives, both at home and at work.

Instead of seeing themselves as driven executives whose careers define their lives, Kushel discovered that the 4% have a sense of identity that goes far beyond their job description or even their family's definition of who they are.

Instead, they define themselves on their own terms. They see themselves as more than any one role at home or at the office. In fact, their identities are generally drawn more from their values, their principles, their interests or their philosophy of life.

Of course, we've all known artists, academics, 9-to-5'ers, and assorted slackers with this point of view. But top executives?

Absolutely. One CEO of a national manufacturing company pled with Kushel, "Please don't let anyone know. If the people back at my company found out how lightly I take my job, they'd feel very much let down. They enjoy thinking of me as a workaholic. So sometimes when things go wrong, I feign worry and upset. They love it. Sometimes I act angry just to get my people moving. Acting angry can be productive, but really being angry usually makes very little sense. Deep down, I never forget that there are many, many more important things in this world than making profits."

Kushel found this heightened sense of self makes it easier for these men and women to achieve their objectives, and accept occasional setbacks - even serious ones - with relative equanimity.

The 4% also had an overwhelming tendency to take responsibility for the circumstances in their lives. They virtually never saw their problems as the result of their spouses, their colleagues, their children, bad luck, or "the breaks." Instead, they consistently went out of their way to place the responsibility for unhappy outcomes on their own shoulders.

Of course, acknowledging that we are largely responsible for the circumstances in our lives creates the power to change them.

Yet Kushel's survey reveals that those who want nothing more than money, power and prestige are often frustrated by their inability to achieve it. Why? Because they want it so badly, he discovered, that they cramp their style, turn potential allies off, and inadvertently undo their own efforts. Those who put money and status in perspective, on the other hand, often achieved material success with relative ease.

I think the 4% are onto something here...

Conventional wisdom says that to get everything you want, it's often a matter of trying harder and "wanting it more." Kushel found just the opposite: Success at home and at work is more likely the result of putting yourself and your objectives in perspective... and, ironically, wanting it less.

Carpe Diem

The Power Of Focussing On One Goal

2008-03-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

"A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns
to its original dimension."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

One of the biggest lessons I've learned about writing came to me after about a year of writing . Like many writers, I often tried to put too much into each essay. I began with a main idea, but when that idea suggested a second one and then a third, I put those in too. That was a mistake. It made the essay too long and cumbersome. And instead of gaining power, the message weakened.

My strongest pieces - the ones that got the most positive responses from ETR readers - were those that focused on one good and helpful thought. By restricting myself that way, I managed to say more in fewer words.

Readers, I realized, didn't want to hear everything I had to say about a particular topic every time I fired up my computer. They were looking for a single, useful idea that could make them more successful.

So I came up with a rule that I asked everyone writing for ETR to abide by. I called it "The Rule of One" - and it was very simple: Write about only one thing at a time. Because one good idea, clearly and convincingly presented, is better than a dozen so-so ideas strung together.

I truly believed that following this rule would always produce better writing... and it did.

Several years later, I introduced the Rule of One concept to Agora writers and copywriters at a creative retreat. Many of them have used it since then, to great effect. Then, last year, I divulged it to more than 600 people at the AWAI/ETR yearly Bootcamp in Delray Beach, FL. I'm sure that many of them, too, have used it to improve their writing.

This rule is not ironclad at ETR. That's because some of our writers just don't buy it and others can't always reduce their pieces to a single idea. I occasionally violate it myself. (If I have six good reasons for this or 12 techniques for that, I sometimes can't stop myself from including them all. The results are always disappointing.) But almost all of ETR's best essays have followed this rule. If you are interested in looking at some of them, here are seven:

* How to Become a Chicken Entrepreneur

The idea: The best (and lowest-risk) way to start your own business is to keep your day job while working on your entrepreneurial venture at night and on weekends. You can quit when your new business is bringing in more than your regular income.

* Do You Own Your Business or Does It Own You?

The idea: Entrepreneurs who want to create a valuable business they can retire from some day must organize it so that it doesn't require their constant presence to be profitable.

* How to Avoid the Conceit of Outside Knowledge

The idea: Just because you have been a longtime customer of a restaurant or another type of business doesn't mean you are capable of running a similar one. There are many hidden "secrets" to every type of business - not visible to outsiders - that are critical to success.

* Don't Let Perfect Ruin Good

The idea: Don't wait for everything to be perfect before launching a new product or business. Put serious effort into getting it right, test it in the real world, and then you'll know what improvements you need to make.

* The Best Way to Surpass Your Peers and Rise to the Top of Any Business

The idea: Working harder than your co-workers and competitors will guarantee your success.

* A Business Question You Must Be Able to Answer

The idea: Before you can sell a product, you need to find out if people will buy it.

* How to Become What You Want to Be

The idea: You can't actually BE a writer unless you write - just as you can't be a pilot if you don't fly planes, a philanthropist if you don't give away money, an entrepreneur if you don't start a business... and so on.

Recently I have been thinking (and writing) about how best-selling books are crafted. Many of them seem to follow the Rule of One. Consider these classic business best-sellers:

* What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles

The idea: Finding a life-changing new job that you love is the key to happiness.

* The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The idea: There is a pattern to commercial and cultural trends. If you understand the pattern, you can use the knowledge to benefit yourself and others.

* Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins

The idea: The purpose of advertising is to sell, not entertain or win creative awards.

* The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

The idea: Extremely low storage and delivery costs for digital information products have made marketing niche products extremely profitable.

* Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton

The idea: The best way to motivate employees (and improve your business) is to focus on their strengths rather than correct their weaknesses.

* Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

The idea: Change is inevitable. So you must be prepared to change or you'll be left behind.

And here's a very recent example: Suzy Welch, a former editor of the Harvard Business Review (and the wife of Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric) was given a million-dollar contract by Scribner (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) to publish 10-10-10, a book based on a variation of a single good idea that's been around for years: Before you make a decision, consider the impact it will have on you in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.

We have taught ETR readers to think that way many times since we began publishing in 2000. But we never thought of turning the idea into a book. Shame on us.

If you are planning to write a book, you probably have lots of ideas that you want to include. Figure out which one is the strongest, and focus on it. That's what I did with Ready, Fire, Aim. Though this book contains just about everything I know about starting and growing entrepreneurial businesses, the title zeros in on the one idea I thought was the strongest and most useful. And this may be the reason it got so many positive reviews. Most of the industry people we showed it to - professional businesspeople and writers - said it was the best book I've ever written. My other books have plenty of good ideas in them. But they were designed to be comprehensive and were titled that way. This one took better advantage of the Rule of One.

The best thing about the Rule of One is that it's not just for writing books and articles. You can also apply it to your business goals.

Before you go into a meeting, for example, think about the one thing you'd like to accomplish. Make that one thing your priority, and hammer away at it. You'll be amazed at how often you will end up leaving the meeting with that goal accomplished.

Use the Rule of One at business lunches, too, and even parties. Challenge yourself: "Who is the best person I can network with here?" And "What is the one best thing I can say to that person to capture his interest?"

Spend some time today looking at work you've done - ads you've written, products you've created, goals you've set. How could you make them stronger by applying the Rule of One?

Is Good Customer Service Over rated?

2008-03-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

"The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be
paid for more than he does."

- Napoleon Hill

How Hard Is It to Go the Extra Mile?

By Suzanne Richardson

"You have to try this restaurant," Jason told me. "It has the best Szechuan noodle bowls I've ever tasted. But watch out for the service. You might end up waiting half an hour before the waiters remember you haven't ordered. Plus, they usually forget to bring out your drinks and appetizers. And occasionally, they forget to put in your order at all."

I stared at him. "You're kidding, right? That place sounds terrible."

He shrugged. "It's my favorite restaurant. Sure, I curse it up and down. But the food is absolutely worth it."

I had a similar conversation with Charlie - this time about bagels. (You'd think all we talk about at ETR is food!)

"Even though Florida is overrun with New York natives, I've always had a tough time finding a decent New York City Bagel," he said. "You know - moist and chewy on the inside but with a flavorful, crisp crust on the outside.

"Finally, a new deli opened nearby, and their homemade-in-the-store bagels are spectacular. Maybe even better than anything from the Big Apple itself. (Heresy, I know!) The problem? The owner is gruff, you can tell the staff is miserable, and one time when we were on line, an argument even broke out behind the counter! Plus, the service is slow and the line moves at a snail's place, even during slow times. But the product? Unparalleled!

"I despise this place," Charlie said. "But my mouth waters every time I imagine going back."

Let's be honest. You don't really NEED to offer good customer service. If you've got the best product (the best bagels outside of New York)... the only product (the only Szechuan restaurant in the city)... or the cheapest product, you'll have plenty of customers. Even if your service stinks. But when you aren't superlative in quality or price, going the extra mile - or, heck, even the extra inch - can give you a leg up on your competition.

The power of going the extra mile for a customer hit home a few months ago.

While searching for invitations for a special holiday party we were giving, I came across Momental Designs. Artist Kristy Rice runs the company, and sells custom invitations and stationery. Her prices are fair. She even hand-paints details on the invitations and stationery she designs.

Her holiday invitations looked beautiful in her online gallery. But I was suspicious. None of the samples I'd been getting from other companies looked as good as they did online. Some of the designs looked different in person. Some weren't on high-quality paper. And one handmade sample looked like a toddler had made it in art class.

So I was prepared for yet another disappointment. But time was running out. The party was a month away, and we needed to send invitations to people in several states. So I called Kristy to ask if I could get a sample.

"Boy," she said. "No one has ever asked me that before."

The way she runs her business, you call her, explain what you're looking for, pay a small deposit, and Kristy begins the design process. She then works directly with you to make sure the design is up to your standards.

But for me, that wasn't enough. I wanted to make sure - BEFORE paying a deposit - that the cards would be good. I wanted to hold the card in my hands, feel the paper, look at the detailing up close. And I didn't want to be "locked in" to the purchase if I didn't like the work.

She told me that no one she's worked with has ever been dissatisfied. No one has asked for a refund. And she has plenty of testimonials on her website to back her up.

So I told her about my bad experiences. Time and again, I'd liked a card online but it had been a huge letdown in person.

Kristy didn't get frustrated. She didn't get defiant. And she didn't say, "This is how I do it, and that's that." Quite the opposite. She was willing to work something out. "If you don't like what we end up with," she told me, "I could refund you a portion of the deposit."

That sounded reasonable to me. After all, I'd had to pay a small fee for the other samples I'd received. So I told her I'd think about it.

A few hours later, I got an e-mail from Kristy. "I am working on some holiday cards right now for other clients," she wrote. "How about I send you a couple of samples from those orders?"

I already liked Kristy. We'd spoken on the phone. She was friendly, professional, and gave thoughtful answers to all my questions about pricing, design, and her order process. Plus, she'd been willing to refund part of the deposit if I didn't like the cards she came up with. But then she took this extra little step. She'd listened to what was important to me, and she'd come up with a solution.

A few days later, I got an envelope in the mail. She'd included two sample cards. And let me tell you - they were beautiful.

I called my mom. "I've found the perfect invitation designer."

How much did this little extra step cost Kristy? Adding up the cost of the cards and the cost of the postage, she was out about nine bucks. In return, she got a new customer.

But here's something else...

Because Kristy was so willing to go that extra mile to satisfy my request, I'm telling you about her. And I'm going to tell anyone who needs holiday cards, baby announcements, wedding invitations, stationery, or greeting cards about her too. That's a lot of free publicity... just for popping two cards in the mail.

The word-of-mouth and repeat business you'll get as a result of providing excellent customer service is free. And priceless.

Take Nordstrom. Its reputation for service has spawned tall tales about just how far employees are willing to go to please the customer. Maybe you heard the one about the gentleman who returned a set of tires to Nordstrom, even though Nordstrom doesn't carry tires. The Nordstrom employee gave the customer a refund, and then returned the tires to the store they actually came from herself.

Lands' End is another retail store with a legendary history of service. One story - reported in CRMBuyer.com - tells about a man who received a London taxicab as a gift in 1984. (The taxi was a luxury gift item in the Lands' End holiday catalog.) In 2005, the man returned the cab for the full $19,000 his wife had paid for it - and it has become a symbol of how willing the company is to stand behind their products... even after two decades.

Do these companies actually offer excellent customer service? Maybe. Or maybe the stories are apocryphal. But that doesn't matter as much as the fact that everybody thinks they do. Their reputation for top-notch service has helped these brands maintain their market presence for years.

But you don't have to be a giant in your industry to reap the benefits. No matter how big you are, or how small (Kristy of Momental Designs is just one person!), you can grow your business and impress your existing customers just by making a little extra effort.

"Your customer-service policy should be bend-over-backward," says Michael Masterson. "Your employees should be trained to do everything they possibly can to please customers - even the most demanding ones. They should be taught not only to give customers what they want but also to do so with a smile."

Giving your customers what they want isn't the only thing you need to do. You need a good product and you need good marketing. And, according to Michael, "You need a set of standards... clear standards that YOU set. For instance, make sure the phone gets picked up after one ring every time. You also need a way to monitor the quality of your customer service, either by posing as a customer or creating a feedback system. Keep in mind that the natural tendency in service is entropy... to get worse. Unless you constantly fight to make it better, it will get worse by small degrees."

True, good customer service isn't 100 percent necessary for success. Plenty of companies have mediocre service at best and manage to make millions. But it doesn't take a whole lot of time or energy to do a little something extra. And that tiny step can help grow your customer base by leaps and bounds.

The Best Way To Find good Employees

2008-03-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

"Hiring good people is hard. Hiring great people is brutally
hard. And yet nothing matters more in winning than
getting the right people on the field."

- Jack Welch

You Are Going to Have to Kiss a Few Frogs to Find Good Employees

All the really smart businesspeople I know have exactly the same challenge when it comes to building a business. That includes every single attendee at the Michael Masterson Wealth-Building Retreat we held last April, regardless of their business sector or gross revenues.

The challenge: Finding good people.

One of the entrepreneurs at the Wealth-Building Retreat had a $20,000,000 printing business. Yet he was still working 60 hours a week (or more), and wearing almost all the hats in his company. Simply because he could not find the right people to help him run it.

Because hiring good people is one of my core competencies, I am often asked how to do it. Now don't get me wrong. It's not easy. But it is extremely doable.

Finding good employees is like dating. It's a numbers game. Unless you're truly lucky, the first person you date doesn't end up being your spouse. Think about all the uncomfortable dates you had to endure... the many times your heart was broken... and the frogs you had to kiss... before finding "the one."

Finding the right employees is no different. You are going to have to kiss a few frogs before finding the superstars who can help your business grow. And if you are not prepared to do that, you will have a staff full of mediocre employees... or continuous turnover. Neither of these things is good for your customers, your one or two good employees, your reputation, or your bottom line.

To make it much easier to get past the frogs to my ideal employees, I make sure I can clearly define three things whenever I'm looking to hire someone:

* The kind of person I want

* The level of the position and, thus, the experience the person needs

* The skill set required to do the job

Knowing the Characteristics of Your Ideal Employee

Regardless of the actual position you're filling or the skill set the employee needs to have, everyone you hire should have three important traits:

1. A strong sense of urgency. A good employee is someone who understands that deadlines are made to be met and that speed is money. They also understand that business is business... and it is serious. We have a lot of fun here at ETR, but everyone is well aware that our customers invest their time and money with us. That means our primary mission is for our customers to reach their goals, whatever their goals may be.

2. A great work ethic. You want someone who shows up early and is ready to go, someone who is on time for meetings and appointments. A pattern of showing up late for anything is a sign of not caring.

When I explain this to job candidates, they often ask, "What if I am just not a morning person? Couldn't I come in late and stay later in the evening?" My answer is "Absolutely not." Showing up early indicates eagerness. Staying late indicates disorganization.

3. Intellect. Your ideal employee is someone with great ideas. Equally important is that the employee is not afraid to express those ideas.

People are often surprised to hear that I require intellect in employees at every level of the company, not just management. But don't forget that every single employee you have is an "ambassador" for you, a direct reflection of you. And at some time or another, they will speak to your customers, your competitors, and your industry associates.

Defining the Position You're Trying to Fill

In addition to knowing the kind of person you're looking for, you need to have a very good understanding of the position - and of the experience necessary to do the job properly.

I break down all positions into three categories: executer, manager, and leader.

1. The executer is an entry-level employee. She is not responsible for strategic planning, but rather the execution of the plan. This is generally someone fresh out of school or with little or no direct experience within your niche.

Some of her core responsibilities may include:

* Setting up marketing campaigns in your system

* Producing reports

* Posting website copy

2. The manager is responsible for managing processes and/or other employees. He usually has five to 10 years of direct experience within your niche. He can think strategically, teach others, and start developing big ideas.

Some of his core responsibilities may include:

* Analyzing reports, trends, and competitors

* Product development

* Creating partnerships and affiliate deals

3. The leader's primary job - 50 percent or more of it - encompasses meetings with staff, brainstorming, and business planning. A few examples of people in a leadership role would include marketing directors, editorial directors, and IT directors... all the way up to the CEO. The leader is someone with eight or more years of experience within your specific niche. Someone with a proven track record of success. This is a person who can come into your organization and be up to speed and make a difference immediately.

Some of the leader's core responsibilities may include:

* Creating a departmental or company vision

* Contract negotiation

* Hiring staff

Note: "Leader" may be a high-level position - but all of your employees should showcase leadership qualities.

Identifying the Skill Set Required

When people ask me to help them find a good employee, I am always amazed when they aren't really sure what they want that person to do. You can't find the right person for a particular job if you don't know what the job requires. For example, if you are hiring a receptionist whose main duties are to answer the phone, schedule your appointments on your Outlook calendar, and type your speeches and companywide e-mails, you would not want someone with a hard-to-understand accent who has never seen a computer.

So before you can initiate your search, you have to write a job description. If you have never done this before, start by writing down everything you think you want your new employee to do. List their responsibilities. And next to each responsibility, write down the necessary skill. Be specific.

Let's use the example of a receptionist:

Responsibility

Skill

Answer the phone

Excellent verbal communication skills

Type speeches

Types 90 words per minute

Schedule appointments

Excellent understanding of Microsoft Outlook

Once you know the characteristics of your ideal employee and can define the job and the skills that employee needs... you start looking.

How to Find Your Ideal Employee

The first rule of hiring is to be patient. Remember the old saying: "Hire slow and fire fast."

Think about what executive recruiters do. They build their Rolodexes. When they call Person A with a job opportunity and Person A is not interested, they end up with three phone numbers or e-mail addresses of people Person A knows.

So the second rule of hiring is to think about all the people you know, especially when you're looking to fill a middle- or upper-level position. If none of them are right for the job, call them anyway. They may know people who are. Keep collecting names and numbers.

If you are looking for more of an entry-level employee, advertising in a trade publication is good. But do some research first. Read the ads the publication normally prints and make your ad better. Make your position sound rewarding and exciting. If there is room for advancement, mention it.

You can also use Career Builder, Monster, eHire, and other online job search engines. Of course, you'll probably have to sift through hundreds of applications, 99 percent of them useless. And you may luck out.

But you're not going to find most of your potential superstars this way.

Even better than advertisements... and far better than online job search engines... is networking.

I will use ETR as an example. In 2007, we added seven new positions. In 2008, we have plans to add 10 additional positions. Because I know this, I look for possible employees everywhere I go.

When I attend industry events (which I often do), cocktail parties are my favorite networking places. (You get a real feel for the personality and style of the people you meet.) When I speak at industry functions, I tell the audience that I am available to talk about job opportunities. I talk to other parents while attending my kids' soccer games. I have even talked to my doctor about having her write for our sister publication, Total Health Breakthroughs.

You can network ANYWHERE. Wherever there are people, there's an opportunity. Don't be afraid to ask your friends, colleagues, and competitors about people who might be a good fit for your company. You will be glad you did.

Remember, you don't have to be the smartest person in the world to succeed in business. You just need to be smart enough to hire the right people to help you do it.

Starting A low Capital Business With Huge Potential

2008-02-27T05:11:00.000-08:00

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
- John Quincy Adams

I've discovered a small business you can start for as little as $100 - one that can make thousands in a single night. Better yet, once you've got it going, you can rapidly expand it. I'm talking about the event-promotion business.
I've been promoting events part-time for over 10 years. In 2006, for example, I promoted the International Sketch Comedy Championship in Los Angeles. Because of the success of that event, I expanded it for the 2007 Championships to include three preliminary competitions in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Top sketch comedy groups competed in comedy clubs in the preliminaries. Then the winners went on to the finals, held at the world-famous Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. All of the venues were packed, and the entire competition was a resounding success.
I like the event-promotion business for several reasons:
It can be started with little capital.
You don't need experience or "connections."
You can easily run it part-time.
It can be extremely profitable.
You can promote many different types of events.
It has enormous growth potential.
All of these qualities make this business exciting for aspiring entrepreneurs. But today, I'd like to focus on just one of them - its enormous growth potential.
Whenever I'm considering launching a business, I always ask myself one crucial question: "Does this business not only have the ability to make a profit, but also the potential to make BIG profits?" Since profits are tied to revenues, the question becomes: "Once this business is off the ground, is there an easy way to expand it and bring in more money?"
Depending on the kind of business you're in, you can increase revenues by (1) charging more for your product or service, (2) selling more of it, or (3) doing what you're doing, but more often and/or in more places. This third method works perfectly with the event-promotion business.
You see, once you've developed a formula that works, it's pretty easy to simply do the same thing in other, similar markets. Hit more markets, and you pull in more revenues. Which means more money in your pocket. That's what I did with the sketch comedy competition. I took a formula that worked for one event, and turned it into four events. In doing so, I quadrupled my profits.
Here are some of the most important things I've learned about successfully creating and expanding an event-promotion business:
Choose venues for your events that don't require a big advance payment.
As a fledgling event promoter, you're not going to be able to rent out a stadium and produce a giant concert with a famous rock band. That would be an enormous cost up front, which would tap resources you don't have. That's why you want to host smaller events at venues that can be secured without making a major financial investment. Some ways to do this are by signing with venues that will accept little or nothing in the way of an initial deposit, by signing with venues that will do revenue-sharing deals, or by obtaining sponsors who'll fund the cost.
The trick is to make them an offer that can make them money with little risk or effort on their part.
For example, I have promoted ballroom dance competitions that were videotaped and shown on local cable television. These events drew enthusiastic crowds to the dance halls where they were held, so the owners of those places were not only willing to do a 50-50 split with me on the price of admission, but also paid additional promotional fees. I've also promoted many comedy shows at clubs that allowed me to keep the entire admission price if they got to keep the food and beverage revenues.
Choose to promote events that will not only attract audiences but also local participants.
Ice shows, circuses, theater companies - there are many promoters that produce extravaganzas that travel around the country and even the world. They may make lots of money... but think of what it costs to transport all of those people (not to mention costumes, scenery, and equipment)!
I prefer to keep my business simple (and low stress). So I make sure any event I produce will attract audiences in many different parts of the country, as well as lots of local participants. You might, for example, decide to promote a series of beauty contests... or hot rod exhibitions... or stand-up comedy nights... or even dog shows. These are all events that, once you have a winning formula, could be easily expanded to additional cities.
Develop a marketing plan that can be executed the same way in each city.
Most cities have a local newspaper or two, radio stations for popular music genres, various cultural and ethnic groups, and entertainment venues ranging from theaters to nightclubs. This will make it easy for you to produce your event in different places with similar demographics, just by using your already established and proven marketing strategy.
In the case of my sketch comedy competition, I used a three-pronged approach:
1. I took out small classified ads in local entertainment-orientated publications.
2. I got the comedy clubs to promote my events to their customer base. They put up signs, mentioned my competition in their local advertising, had the hosts of other comedy shows mention it to their audiences, and included it in their online advertising and e-mail promotions.
3. I strongly encouraged - but didn't require - the groups that would be participating in the competition to promote it to their friends and relatives. I pointed out that professional judges are human, and are bound to be influenced by audience laughter. So having a room full of supporters couldn't hurt their chances of winning. I also noted that if we had a good turnout, the club would probably be happy to hold sketch comedy competitions in the future - something that was important to all the participants.
The potential profits from the event-promotion business vary quite a bit, depending on the type of events you choose to produce. But even smaller events - such as a local fashion show - can net around $1,500. Larger events - such as concerts or athletic competitions - can bring in $5,000 to $10,000 a night.
There's one more advantage to this business that I want to mention. Once the event is over, it's over. You can go back to your regular life until you decide you want to promote something else. It gives you the best of both worlds. You can be involved in the glamour and excitement of a live event... but you don't have to disrupt your entire life to do so. Plus, there's almost infinite room for this business to grow, which means it could help you achieve the wealth you've always wanted.

How To Get Those Potential Customesrs Calling You.

2008-02-27T05:06:00.000-08:00

"Any time that you're making cold calls..., you're going to call 100 people, and if you get one good result you're happy. It's a numbers thing."

I won't deny that cold-calling can work. Yet in 99 out of 100 cases, my advice is never to do it. The reason is that, even if the prospect on the other end of the phone expresses interest in your services, the very fact that you cold-called him puts you in a weak position - for three reasons.
First, people want to deal with vendors who are successful, not those who are desperate and need the work, right? Well, when you cold-call, your prospects assume that you are not busy. After all, if you were, you would not have time to sit there calling strangers and asking them for their business.
Second, cold-calling puts you at a disadvantage when estimating prices and quoting fees.
A large part of what determines how much you can charge is the law of supply and demand. When the demand for what you sell outweighs your supply, it's a seller's market and you can name your own price. By cold-calling, you are signaling to the prospect that the demand for your services is less than the amount of time you have available. Therefore, prospects generated by cold-calling are more price-resistant - and more likely to haggle.

Third, cold-calling puts you in a weak position when negotiating terms.
Again, cold-called prospects know that you want and need their business. You are perceived as being easy to hire, and, therefore, they feel they can dictate things like deadlines, payment schedules, and work arrangements.
Why is cold-calling so ineffective? Because it violates the "Silver Rule of Marketing."
The Silver Rule is a universal principle, first stated to me many years ago by my friend, marketing consultant Pete Silver. The Silver Rule of Marketing states: "It is better for them to come to you, rather than for you to go to them" (with "them" being your potential clients).

You can see why the Silver Rule makes sense.
If you go to a potential client, seek them out, ask for an audience, and plead with them to use your services, you are seen as needy and desperate. Your prospects think you can't be any good at what you do. After all, if you were good, your schedule would be filled to overflowing - and you wouldn't be spending your valuable time on the phone, dialing for dollars.
The only prospects who buy from needy and desperate vendors are those looking for the cheapest bid. So cold-calling risks dooming you to being the low-priced provider.
When they call you, the dynamic reverses. They call because they have a need or a problem... and they are hoping you can help them.

But how do you get prospects to call you? There are two methods. The first is good, and the second is better.
The first method is to generate inquiries through traditional marketing. This includes Yellow Pages advertising... magazine ads... TV commercials... direct mail... radio spots... billboards.
When someone calls in response to your ad in their industry trade magazine, you know they have either an immediate need - or at least some interest in what you are offering. Otherwise, they would not have called you. However, all they know about you is what they read in your ad. Therefore, they may not be convinced that you are the right one to hire.

The second method of getting people to call you eliminates this problem. I'm talking about establishing yourself as a recognized authority in your field. You can do this by writing articles for an industry trade publication... being interviewed on radio talk shows... writing a book... giving speeches at industry meetings... and/or publishing an informative print or online newsletter on your specialty.
When people call you because they read your book, they - like prospects who respond to your ad - are telling you that they have a need. However, unlike those who merely saw your ad, they are already predisposed to buy from you.

After all, prospects are skeptical of advertising claims. But authors are perceived as experts. So by writing the book (or the article or column or content-rich website) on the topic your prospects are interested in, you will be the one they call first when they need help solving problems in that area.
Think about how you can establish your reputation as a leading expert in your field or industry. Can you volunteer to be a speaker at the next big industry conference? Publish a white paper? Write letters to the editor? Publish a blog?

The best place to start: Write an article about the solution to a big problem your prospects are likely to have and publish it in a magazine, periodical, or on a website where they are likely to see it.

The Cardinal Rule Of Marketing.

2008-02-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

Recently, I reviewed some copy from a copywriter who's been writing for a while. It wasn't bad. But it didn't rise above the vast heap of promotions clamoring for attention.
So - as it stood - I knew it wouldn't get read. And the product wouldn't get sold.
The problem? Simply this: The copywriter was trying too hard to sell the product... by focusing too much on the product itself.

It's a common mistake made by novice and B-level copywriters. They put too much effort into describing the product... what it is... and how it works.
That breaks the cardinal rule of copywriting: Keep the product invisible.
Michael Masterson calls this the "Secret of Transparency." The idea is to make your product transparent, or invisible, by focusing on the benefits and the ways the product improves your prospect's life.
This is a VERY important copywriting rule.

Your prospect doesn't want another book, manual, or gadget. What he wants is to be successful... or wealthy... or healthy... or attractive. The copywriter's job is to get to that "Aha!" moment where he'll suddenly realize that what you're selling will help him get there.
Let's look at a concrete example.

Imagine you're selling a new personal success program written by a self-help guru. The basic promise of the program: "You can be successful without really trying, simply by switching on an internal mental switch."
If your copy focuses on the product from the beginning, you run a very real risk. First, your product will sound very ordinary - like so many programs out there. Second, your prospect - spurred by your copy - can easily go to Amazon and buy a book that makes a similar promise. You made a sale. But the wrong one.
In our example, you're selling the secret to automatic success... in anything your prospect sets out to accomplish. You're selling a "secret" that's used by some of the world's happiest and wealthiest people... something they learned very easily that transformed their lives.

So you focus on your underlying big promise, which, in this example, might be simply "automatic success." You do it by revealing just a little bit of the program here and there - and focusing on the benefits and the resulting impact these simple little secrets can have on your prospect's life: wealth, success in business, better personal relationships... and that magnificent feeling of knowing that he can accomplish anything. All because he alters his thinking in a very small but profound way.

What you don't want to do is give him a long-winded dissertation on the history of the program and how it works. This sort of approach gives the prospect too many chances to opt out. It's boring to him because it isn't about his needs, wants, desires, fears, or passions.

The bottom line is this. Your prospect needs to leave your sales letter convinced he's found the "missing key" to his success. Finally, he's discovered what makes successful people successful. This is his lucky day. Had he not read this letter, he might never have known about it.
And now he wants more.
One more thing...
When you use the Secret of Transparency by keeping the product invisible and focusing on benefits, be sure that, throughout the copy, everything you say is subtly connected to your central and main promise - "automatic success," in our example. Always keep in mind that once you slip into explaining what the product is, it loses its luster. It becomes ordinary. And you risk having your prospect lose sight of the "big idea" behind your sales message.

And how do you find your product's "big idea"? After collecting and studying all your research, step back and ask yourself: "What's the most exciting thing this product can do for me? What can it do for my prospect?" Get excited about the product's benefits - and share your enthusiasm with your prospect.
Adopting the Secret of Transparency may seem counter-intuitive. But when you apply it to your marketing copy - while less-informed marketers continue to focus their copy on the product - your sales campaigns will be successful when your competitors' fail.

How To Build Real Estate Portfolio.

2008-02-27T04:50:00.000-08:00

When done right, foreclosure investing can be one of the most lucrative ways to build your real estate portfolio. And with foreclosures soaring, there's rarely been a better opportunity to buy quality properties at steep discounts - and have owners thank you for getting them off the hook.
You can't just show up at the door with a handful of cash and expect to be welcomed with open arms. But by using three proven - and cost-effective - techniques, you can get your foot in the door with foreclosure owners, convince them that you're the best solution to their financial woes, and make sure you're spending your time on the best prospects.

1. Distinguish yourself from your competition.
The moment a lender files foreclosure papers with the court, the information is a matter of public record. Anyone can get their hands on it. In fact, some people organize this information and sell it to the many investors who are trying to find motivated sellers.
Within days of the foreclosure filing, the homeowner will be deluged with mail from would-be buyers. People will be pounding on the homeowner's door, too, calling her on the phone, leaving notes in her mailbox. Buyers would contact homeowners via smoke signals if they thought it would work.
Problem is, the letters from these buyers are all pretty much the same. Most of them ask the homeowner to make a call right away to get a quick offer. Often, the homeowner hasn't yet decided if that's what they want to do. This is one reason these letters get a poor response.
But you don't want to be wasting money on ineffective marketing. To make sure you get your message noticed in the sea of other offers, you must be different.
Don't send your letter in an ordinary envelope. Capture the homeowner's attention by using a different-sized envelope, a colored envelope, a postcard with a compelling headline, an audio CD. The possibilities are endless. We have even sent letters in brown paper lunch bags. The point is, you want the homeowner to pick up your letter and read it - not toss it in the trash with a dozen similar letters.

2. Educate your prospect and establish credibility.
Most people facing foreclosure haven't been in this position before. They don't know what to do, and they are mistrustful of everyone. So if you hope to get them to contact you, you must establish your credibility.
A good way to establish credibility is to educate the homeowner about his situation. In particular, make sure he fully understands all his options. In your letter, explain that he could file for bankruptcy, refinance the property, or deed the property to the lender. You also want to explain why selling the property to you is in his best interest.

Then lead the homeowner to your website to get more information. On my website, sellers see testimonials from people I have helped. I then ask them to fill out a form to see if I can help them too. By first educating them about their options, I get many more leads than my competition.
Here's a perfect example of how this strategy works...
Steven and Pam were in a tough financial situation - and a few weeks away from losing their house. Since they'd entered foreclosure, they'd been bombarded with mail from investors offering to "help." They contacted some of those investors, but were disappointed.
I sent them a letter that was not only educational, it outlined a precise "remedy" for their situation. I even offered them some guidance on steps they could take to help themselves.
Now even the best letter with a perfect message is worthless unless it gets opened. That is why I mailed the letter in an unusual-looking envelope, addressed it by hand, and added a personal return label. When Steven and Pam saw something that stood out from the other mail they were getting... and read the useful information inside... they could not resist calling me.
The very afternoon that they called, we put a deal together that helped them avoid foreclosure, save their credit, and get paid for part of their equity. I ended up with a nice house that had over $60,000 in equity - and with a 30-year fixed loan at a low six percent interest rate. (I used the existing loan that had been originated by Steven and Pam, and I brought the loan current by paying the late fees.)

3. Pursue only the best leads.
Whether you hire an assistant, set up a lead-tracking database, or automate common clerical tasks, leveraging your personal time will free you up to focus on the activities that maximize your potential to make money. People without systems trust their memories. (A terrible mistake!) So they never really know what they are doing from day to day, don't know if their marketing is effective, and, consequently, don't do well in this (or any) business.
I have automated systems for my marketing, and automated systems that sort and sift my leads. For example, my computer sends faxes while I sleep. When I get a response, I know I've found a motivated seller. I never waste time where there is no chance of a deal. I spend my time ONLY when the situation matches my search criteria and I have a high probability of success.
The name of the game for me is to lead a self-directed life, with lots of time for family and friends, travel, and other things that interest me. You can do this too if you systemize your business and leverage your time.
Don't spend another dime on advertising and marketing until you memorize the above three rules. Foreclosures are at an all-time high, and the opportunity to make good money is here. Take advantage of it.

How To Get That Traffic To Your Website

2008-02-22T03:35:00.000-08:00

"Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success."

- Christopher Lasch

How to Get a Bunch of Useless Traffic to Your Website

By Patrick Coffey

The Internet has been buzzing with praise for "social media" as the way to drive traffic to your website. By "social media," I'm talking about sites that (1) allow you to submit content and (2) allow other people to comment - and even vote - on it. The higher they rate your submission, the more exposure you get, with lots of people clicking on your link.

But today, I'm going to show you that this massive traffic isn't all it's cracked up to be.

So far, some of the major players in the social media world are:

Digg - digg.com

Stumbleupon - stumbleupon.com

Sphinn - sphinn.com/

Reddit - reddit.com

Del.ico.us - del.icio.us/

Myspace - myspace.com

Facebook - facebook.com

These sites - and dozens and dozens of others that I'm sure I'm forgetting - have quickly become behemoths in the online world. In fact, many of them are getting even more traffic then the all-powerful Google.

At first, this might seem like an online marketer's dream...

"If I could only get my article or blog post on the home page of Digg or Stumbleupon, my site will be flooded with traffic."

It's easy to see why so many marketers are foaming at the mouth over the idea of tapping into all that traffic. But real online marketers understand that traffic does not mean anything without conversion. In other words, if you can't turn your traffic into sales or e-mail sign-ups, it's pretty much useless.

You may have heard of website traffic referred to as HITS. I'm sure you've been to websites that have a little counter at the bottom that tells you exactly how many HITS the site has received.

Well, this is my definition of HITS: How Idiots Track Success.

Just think about it. What should you really care about? How many people visit your site? Or how many people buy from your site?

Now you might be thinking, "Patrick, how do you know the traffic you get from social media is useless?"

This thing is, Alexis Siemon, ETR's resident Search Engine Marketing Specialist, has been experimenting with trying to drive traffic via social media channels.

You can see how this is done by looking at the funny little logos at the bottom of each Early to Rise issue. These logos allow you to submit our content to various social media sites. And they have been helping us get "free" traffic. Through some trial and error, Alexis was able to help our natural health e-letter site get a boatload of traffic from Stumbleupon. In fact, in the last month, one page generated over 28,000 new visitors.

When I heard this, I thought it was great news. You see, when we get traffic from outside sources, we can generally convert at least 10 percent of it into e-mail sign-ups.

So how many of these 28,000 social media visitors do you think signed up for our natural health e-letter?

500? 1,000? 1,500? 2,800?

No! Try 80. That's a conversion rate of just over 0.2 percent.

Compare that to the conversion rates we're getting from search engine optimization (SEO), e-mail marketing, website advertising, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and even direct mail. I've seen traffic from these sources convert to e-mail subscribers at rates of up to 50 percent.

That's not the only reason I say social media traffic isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Recently, several of the top marketers here at Early to Rise and I went to the Webmasters World Conference in Las Vegas. We wanted to learn directly from many of the world's top search engine marketers and see what they made of all the buzz surrounding this supposed traffic goldmine.

When I looked at the schedule, I was excited to see a panel discussion titled "Monetizing Social Media Traffic." After all, isn't making money the point of getting website traffic? So we all attended this session with great anticipation...

The consensus of the panel was that it's difficult to monetize social media traffic. For whatever reason, this traffic is resistant to advertising and tends not to stay on the site very long. In fact, it appeared to them that one of the only ways to monetize this traffic is by using a CPM (cost per thousand) advertising model. This is where you sell ad space on your site and charge the advertiser based on the number of people who see their ads. Certainly not a good model for those of us who run direct-response websites - because not only are these visitors not buying from us, they're also not clicking on our advertisers' links.

Even worse, this heavy influx of traffic can put a strain on your hosting servers and cause your site to crash. So you have a bunch of people visiting your site who don't buy, don't subscribe, and wind up crashing your server. Talk about turning your social media traffic dream into a nightmare.

But I don't want you to think social media is all bad. Of course, we are delighted to allow our readers to share ETR articles that they think are good. And we are very grateful that, in one case, 80,000 people read our extremely valuable content as a result of this free traffic.

Many of the top stories on Digg and Stumbleupon get picked up by blogs and other websites. And when an article from your site is being bounced around the Internet this way, you'll get inbound links from various sites. These new links help you get direct traffic from the linking sites. Plus, they help you with search engine optimization, which can, in turn, lead to more converting traffic and more subscribers.

At Early to Rise, we will continue to test social media and use it as a link-building tool. But if you're looking to build your online business, it's better to focus on the proven direct-response marketing methods we've been telling you about. Don't be afraid to pay for traffic through e-mail list rental, text-link ads, and pay-per-click advertising. These methods might cost a little bit of money... but you'll be attracting targeted visitors who will buy from you.

Conquering Your Greatest Creativity Killer

2008-02-14T04:14:00.000-08:00

"There will be good days and bad, which means that some days I may be cranky and some days really cranky!"

- Peter Jennings

Despite all the great things going on in my life, I began feeling a little down in the dumps last week.

That's not good. For creative folks like me - and for all marketing pros - depression can be a career killer.

When you're depressed, your energy flees, your focus fuzzes up, your creativity goes AWOL - and if you don't do something about it (and quick!), your income craters and your reputation and career chase it right down the tubes.

In short, depression is one of the costliest business problems any of us ever deal with!

Conversely, the ability to identify and neutralize depression quickly are two of the most valuable skills any entrepreneur or marketer could possibly acquire. They empower you to add scores more productive and profitable hours, days, and weeks to your year.

In my experience, depression comes from three places...

1. Too many drugs, so little time

When I say "drugs," I'm referring to my three personal favorites: (1) Grey Goose, (2) Starbucks, and (3) Marlboro Lights.

Once upon a time, I could pretty much party for 48 hours straight and never pay the piper. I could do Friday and Saturday at Sloppy Joe's, ride the 14 or 15 hours home from Key West, and still show up for work bright and bushy-tailed first thing Monday morning.

These days, not so much. My 54-year-old body demands at least 72 hours to get over a weekend like that. And it puts me through a period of pretty intense chemical mopery before my wife, friends, total strangers, the local constabulary, my lawyer, and my creative muse begin speaking to me again.

Goes without saying: Losing 72 hours of creative time each week would make it nearly impossible for me to continue living the comfortable life to which I've become accustomed. And so I've been forced into a life of relative abstinence - punctuated, of course, by the occasional not-so-graceful swan dive off the wagon at vacation time.

Caffeine and nicotine are something else altogether. I can't walk, speak, or think until I've had a couple of mugs of Joe in the morning. Problem is, it's 2:00 p.m. before I know it, and by then, my get-up-and-go has got up and skedaddled.

And of course, it's even worse if I'm inhaling nicotine - an infamous depressant - with all that coffee.

What's the solution? The dreaded "M" word: Moderation.

On the plus side, there is a mood-brightening drug I can't recommend highly enough - one that I absolutely hate getting.

I'm talking about endorphins. You get them by doing exercise: swimming, walking, running, that kind of stuff.

Work out for two weeks in the morning before you go to work, and you'll be absolutely amazed at how much happier you are, how much more productive you become, and how much more moolah you rake in!

2. Lies your brain tells you

Has some terrible thing happened that gives you the right to be depressed? The promotion you just knew would make you a gazillion bucks flopped flatter than a flapjack? You're broker than a sailor after shore leave, and the bill collectors are calling non-stop?

Hey - I've been there. It sucks.

But it doesn't mean you have to suffer from depression-related brain-block, too!

The fact is, you get to choose how you feel in response to just about anything that happens to you.

See, everything that happens to you passes through a little "belief filter" in your brain - a conviction you've come to hold about yourself and/or the world around you.

These filters can be positive - as in "I'm brilliant," "I'm a winner," "I always come out smelling like a rose"...

... or they can be negative - as in "I'm a dope, a fraud," "I'm a loser," "Everything I touch turns to crapola."

Here's the golden key: Nearly all the belief filters we have are utter nonsense.

The objective truth is, nobody is always a winner or a loser... creative or dull... brilliant or a dunce.

So the next time depression has you creatively hog-tied, try this...

First, identify the negative thought that triggered your lousy mood.

Then, ask yourself, "Is that thought valid?" (99.9% of the time it is not!)

And then ask yourself, "Is the belief filter that triggered that negative thought valid?" (Again: Almost never.)

Finally, ask yourself, "How should I change that belief about myself and/or the world to bring it in line with reality?"

You'll be amazed at how quickly even the lousiest mood evaporates in the blinding light of the objective truth.

3. Self-obsession

I learned this simple fact of life many years ago - and re-learn it all the time. In fact, you could say it was my guiding principle for launching The Total Package e-zine last year.

The simple fact is, when my focus is on others' well-being, I'm happier.

Conversely, I notice that when I'm trying to find things that will make me happy - new toys, vacations, etc. - I'm actually less happy.

So where's your focus? Are you obsessed with your own feelings and the state of your life? If so, there's a good chance those feelings are not positive ones.

Try doing something to improve someone else's life today. You'll be amazed at how quickly your mood lifts!

What do You Do When An Investment Law Stops Working?

2008-02-14T04:07:00.000-08:00

"Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing."

- Warren Buffett

Diversifying your investments is like boarding up your windows against an approaching hurricane. It gives you some measure of protection, but isn't going to prevent the roof from falling in.

The idea behind diversification is intuitively compelling. If you spread your investments around, chances are not all of them will get hit at the same time or with the same severity.

Or so the theory goes. The only problem is, it doesn't work anymore. Or at least you can't count on it working.

Yes, practically everything went back up.

The China market has since wandered down a bit, but you get the idea. If everything pretty much goes down and up together, what's the use of diversifying? Good question.

It's a worldwide meltdown waiting to happen, feeding on its own out-of-control momentum rather than reason (even besotted reason). That makes me very nervous.

4. U.S. and China rule. In the political and military realms, the U.S. dominates. But as far as investment goes, it's a bipolar world. Despite its huge economy and robust consumerism, the U.S. has to share the stage with China - with its huge appetite for energy, technology, and raw materials.

The real day of reckoning still lies ahead of us. But we did get a hint of what could happen to the markets... and to your portfolio.

So what can you do about all this? A few things.

Convert your holdings to cash.

You could take your money out of your IRA or 401(k) and put it into your savings account or a CD, but why subject yourself to the stiff tax penalties? Instead, look for money-market options or mutual funds that invest in short-term (1-2 year) Treasuries. If you're having trouble finding them, call up your IRA or 401(k) administrator and ask, "Do you have money-market accounts?" "Do you have 1-2 year Treasury investments?" Any decent 401(k) plan should give you a choice of several such cash offerings.

Invest in funds that invest in dividend-paying companies.

Companies that pay dividends are the only ones that can withstand a sudden or serious market downfall and still fork over the cash. Since 1965, the cash payout of the S&P 500 has never fallen significantly. And in the brutal crash of 2001-2, dividends dropped just six percent (compared to the 50 percent downturn in profits).

Don't confuse "income" or "dividend" funds with funds that invest in dividend-paying companies. Income and dividends can come from bonds and other debt instruments too. Most of the funds I'm talking about come with even more specific mandates - like investing in blue-chip dividend-paying companies.

Most likely, your 401(k) or IRA will give you a choice of dividend company funds to choose from. In general, they're all safe. It's a matter of personal preference. But keep in mind that overseas dividend-paying companies could be a little more volatile than domestic ones.

Go with what you know.

Even if what you know is one thing (which, of course, is the opposite of diversification). The business or sector you choose to specialize in may not be immune to a bad fall. But you'll have such a good feel for it that you should be able to see any downturn a mile away and get out in plenty of time.

It's better than employing a diversification strategy that's showing signs of becoming less and less reliable.

Protecting Yourself From An Insane World

2008-02-14T03:54:00.000-08:00

"Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

In a fit of insanity, I relented. I let my wife talk me into stopping off at a supermarket on the way back from D.C. You would think that, as a professional social observer, I would enjoy wandering through supermarkets. Not so. In fact, I would prefer a visit to my urologist.

As we were checking out (behind a woman who was writing a personal check to pay for her groceries!), I glanced at the magazine/tabloid rack. And there it was - that paragon of journalistic excellence: the National Examiner. Splattered across the front of this literary masterpiece were the following headlines:

In her own words: DI LETTER REVEALS CHARLES' PLOT TO KILL HER!

There's something about the name Charles that makes me suspicious. Charles Manson... Charles de Gaulle... but, most of all, the Prince himself - Charles Philip Arthur George. How can you trust a guy with four first names?

REGIS-KELLY FEUD EXPLODES!... nasty insults spark battle

Who's Kelly? What happened to Kathie Lee? What year is this, anyway? I wish someone would put me back in the time machine so I could get back to where I belong.

WIN $3,700 IN PUZZLES & GIVEAWAYS

Sounds like more of a sport than NASCAR. Which, admittedly, isn't saying much.

STUDY: BOOZE BEATS ALZHEIMER'S

Finally, alcoholics have a foolproof excuse for getting tanked.

LOSE 11 LBS IN 7 DAYS - on amazing peanut butter diet!

Yes! Alcoholics have nothing on me. This is the excuse I've been looking for all my life. I couldn't wait to get home and head for the pantry.

But the most meaningful headline of all was for the feature cover story:

WHO'S GAY... and who's NOT among Hollywood's female stars

Below were photos of Martha Stewart (still backlashing after finding her husband making love to their babysitter years ago?), Queen Latifah (Queen who?), Vanna White (the talent of the century), Mariska Hargitay (never heard of her), Jodie Foster (old news), Angelina Jolie (No! You're kidding!), and two gals, Drew Barrymore and Liv Tyler (another one I've never heard of), poised to kiss each other. (Arghhh!)

It gets better. Stamped on Vanna White's picture was a sunburst that said:

PLUS GAY SERIAL KILLERS!... ROUNDUP

Gay serial killers? Are they the guys who sing "Don we now our gay apparel" as they prepare to escape from prison? Hmm. Maybe I'm confused about that.

So, can we learn anything from headlines like these?

I would assume that most people already know that most Americans are addicted to nonsensical garbage in all forms - print, radio, TV, and Internet. Nothing new there.

We pretty much know why the Hollywood crowd is so screwed up: too much fame and fortune, usually achieved too quickly and almost always with too little real work. We've seen it over and over again, from Marilyn to Anna Nicole, from Elvis to John Belushi.

Yes, the rich and famous have an excuse. But what's the average American's excuse? Why is he so addicted to silliness, nonstop sports, trivia, perversion, thrill seekers, people in pain, and, above all, unreality?

One reason, of course, is that most people don't have a meaningful purpose in life. But I think it goes way beyond that.

We are taught, from a very early age, to believe in that which is unreal - known in street parlance as B.S. It becomes so ingrained in us that we jeer those who try to talk straight. Nothing can make a person more unpopular more quickly than daring to be truthful - especially when the truth threatens the instant gratification of others. "Woe to him," cautioned Will Durant, "who teaches men faster than they can learn."

Who wants to hear that the 60-year-old "Mideast peace process" (yawn) is an aberration that helps make U.S. presidents look important?

Who wants to hear that the only way to fix Social Security is to abolish it?

Who wants to hear that it's not the government's duty - or right - to "get the economy moving," create jobs, or redistribute wealth?

Which leads to the presidential primaries that have hijacked our TV sets. Who wants to hear that today's current crop of presidential candidates (with the exception of Ron Paul) are varying shades of charlatans?

If you want reality, try this: The Western world - and the U.S., in particular - has lost its collective mind. Which is very profitable for politicians and big corporations. Politicians promise to keep spreading the wealth, which gives big corporations an ever-expanding market of addicted buyers for their electronic gadgets and other toys.

That being the case, my advice to you is this: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, that is your best insurance policy to protect yourself from the financial and societal chaos that lies ahead.

If you happen to be one of those people who believe that today's world is a spinning insane asylum, be sure to stick around for another 20 years. I've already made a number of mental trips back to the future, and... well, I'll refrain from saying anything that might cause you to lose interest in whatever it is that you're watching on TV.

Heck, the Geico lizard and Aflac duck may be running for president by 2028. And, from what I've been seeing and hearing on television, they might just be a big improvement over the turkeys who are now on display.

Thanks for bearing with me after I carelessly stumbled out of my time machine. Now that I'm safely back on board, I'll do my best to stay away from supermarkets. It's a dangerous activity that could lead to my becoming addicted to the National Examiner.

Are You Setting Goals Or You Are Still Dreaming?

2008-02-12T03:16:00.000-08:00

We all have dreams. We all carry movies in our minds about how life could be for us in a better world. Sally dreams of a big house with a built-in pool. Harry dreams of an eight-car garage filled with vintage Porsches. Jill fantasizes about painting pictures at the seashore. Jack wants that corner office with the view.
Chances are, Sally and Harry and Jill and Jack will never get what they dream about. They will go on playing those mental movies for themselves or talking about them to friends and family members.

Failing to live your dreams is not necessarily a bad thing. Lots of people are perfectly happy dreaming of one life but living another. The problem arises when the gap between fantasy and reality results in unhappiness or even depression. When this happens, it's time to master plan a new life. And the first step is to establish goals.

Goals are different from dreams in four ways. They are specific, actionable, time-oriented, and realistic.
Specific: Being rich is a dream. Developing a $4 million net worth is a goal.
Actionable: Winning the lottery is a dream. Winning a foot race is a goal.
Time-Oriented: Developing a $4 million net worth is a goal. But developing a $4 million net worth in five years is a better goal.

Realistic: Developing a $4 million net worth in five years is probably reasonable. Developing a $4 million net worth in four months is not.
Goals are also different than objectives - more long-term and broader in scope.
Your master plan will be broken down into seven-year and one-year goals, monthly and weekly objectives, and, finally, daily tasks that will make it possible to achieve your medium-term objectives and long-term goals. For example:
Seven-Year Goal: Develop a $4 million net worth in five years.

First-Year Goal: Eliminate $36,000 worth of debt.
Monthly Objective: Land a part-time job netting $36,000 annually by year-end.
First Week's Objective: Get my first job interview.
First Day's Task: Write personal letters to CEOs of my top 10 "dream job" companies.

Okay, that's the plan. Starting today, you are going to be performing tasks every day that support weekly objectives that, in turn, support monthly objectives that, in turn, support yearly goals that, in turn, support seven-year goals. All of this will be done formally. All of it will be done in writing.

At this point, you may be wondering: "Does it really matter whether my goals are specific? Does it make any difference if I write them down?"
Glad you asked.
Several years ago, I found a very interesting bit of information in a book by Tom Bay -

Look Within or Do Without - that was completely mediocre except for this one little gem. According to Mr. Bay, Harvard Business School did a study on the financial status of its students 10 years after graduation and found that:

·As many as 27 percent of them needed financial assistance.
·A whopping 60 percent of them were living paycheck to paycheck.
.A mere 10 percent of them were living comfortably.
·And only 3 percent of them were financially independent.
The study also looked at goal setting and found these interesting correlations:
·The 27 percent that needed financial assistance had absolutely no goal-setting processes in their lives.
·The 60 percent that were living paycheck to paycheck had basic survival goals (such as managing to live paycheck to paycheck).
·The 10 percent that were living comfortably had general goals. They thought they knew where they were going to be in the next five years.
·The 3 percent that were financially independent had written out their goals and the steps required to reach those goals.

And that's just one study. Here's one that shows the power of setting specific goals:

Researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University asked 56 female undergraduates to do as many sit-ups as they could in 90 seconds. One group, told to "do their best," averaged 43 sit-ups on each day of the four-day study. The other groups, which had been given the specific goal to do consecutively more sit-ups at each session, performed significantly better, averaging 56 sit-ups on the last day of the experiment.
Studies are great, but personal experience is better.

I spent the first 17 years of my life dreaming about success but having none. In my freshman year of college I decided to change that. I learned to learn and became an A student. Twenty-two years later, I discovered goal setting. Three years later, I was a millionaire. When I began writing ETR in 2000 - eight years ago - I learned how to prioritize my goals. That allowed me to achieve my first and most cherished dream: becoming a successful writer.

At ETR, needless to say, we set long-term business goals and medium-term objectives. This helped us grow our revenues from zero to $25 million in seven years. And it will help us grow to the next stage of our development, above $50 million, in the next few years. Using a master plan to grow our business is gratifying - but what's better is seeing our employees use personal master plans to improve their lives.

One, for example, used a master plan to go from being a low-level employee answering the phone to a management position in a few years. He is now a major profit producer for the company. Several employees have used master plans to meet their weight-loss and physical-fitness goals, including one who lost 30 pounds through diet and vigorous exercise and overcame significant health problems.

These laudable results happened because these people took the time to turn their dreams of wealth and health into specific, actionable, time-oriented, realistic goals.

You can spend your whole life dreaming. And dreams are wonderful things. By all means, dream away. But if you want to turn those dreams into reality, you need to transform them into goals.

What's your wildest, longest-held dream? How can you make it specific? How can you make it actionable? How can you put a time limit on it? How can you make it realistic? Use these four questions to create goals you can aim for... then take action. And you'll be living your dream in a few short years

The Best Source Of Business Start Up Information

2008-02-12T02:53:00.000-08:00

The Best Source for Business Start-Up Information
By Simon Matovu Peter
About 50 percent of new businesses fail in the first five years, according to the Small Business Administration. But don't let a scary statistic like that one knock you out of the running. Keep in mind that the percentage of new businesses that succeed is just as substantial.
Of course, when you're beginning a new venture, you want to stack the odds in your favor. And there's a proven way to do it - one that's helped thousands of new businesses get off the ground and churn out cash for years.
The secret? Get inside your competitors' heads.
I mean your direct competitors - the people who are already making money in the business you want to start. What they've learned through hands-on experience is very different from what you're likely to learn from most academics and other business "experts."
For instance, conventional wisdom suggests that it's necessary to do a ton of technical research before you even think of launching a new business. And in the business classes I took in college, my professors taught us quite a few ways to do that. For one thing, they stressed the importance of studying market conditions to determine whether or not a particular type of business makes sense. (Because of the current writers' strike, for example, the production of many TV shows has been shut down. So now would not be a great time to try to start a business that caters to that industry.)
I don't mean to knock their advice. This is certainly the kind of information that every start-up entrepreneur should be aware of and consider. Problem is, it's easy to get bogged down in a lot of theory. And before you know it, you've lost the enthusiasm and momentum behind my approach to starting a business.
That's not going to happen with the "market research tool" I'm talking about.
So, how do you get people in the know to reveal the strategies they've used to succeed - and warn you about the mistakes they've made along the way? How do you get them to open up and reveal practical, nuts-and-bolts advice about running the kind of business you're interested in? You can't just call them up and ask. They'd probably just laugh in your face.
Here's the trick: You talk to people who are either scaling back or retiring and are, therefore, selling their businesses.
Naturally, you've got to take what they say with a grain of salt. After all, they have a vested interest in presenting their business in a favorable light - especially if they think you might be a potential buyer. Still, you're likely to walk away with some golden nuggets.
Before we go any further, let me make one thing clear. I'm not suggesting that you should mislead the seller. Fact is, you are a potential buyer. Although your primary purpose is to pick his brains, you may find that he's offering a great opportunity. Just tell him that you're thinking about (or are in the process of) starting a similar business, but thought you'd investigate the possibility of buying one that's already up and running. And that may happen. You never know.
Keep in mind that he knows he may need to "kiss a few frogs" before he gets a serious buyer. So if you turn out to be just another "shopper," no harm done - and no need to feel guilty.
I know this technique works, because I've used it myself. It helped me turn a cash-sucking business into a profitable venture in the blink of an eye.
I had started a business to produce local cable television shows. My plan was to lease time from local cable operators, and then sell enough advertising to pay for the air time and production costs while making me a profit.
But the cable company was charging about $750 for 30 minutes of air time. And it was killing my profits. One day, while scanning the classified ads in my local paper, I saw that someone was selling a business that produced local cable television shows.
I called and scheduled an appointment. When we met, the producer shared some of the basics about his business. One of these basics - a little-known rule mandated by the FCC - turned out to be critically important to me. He told me that when cable companies charge other producers for air time, it must be done according to a specific formula. And that formula made buying air time much more affordable for me.
By following this formula, the $750 I was paying per half-hour would drop to $90. I notified the cable company - and, suddenly, a business that was losing money became profitable.
Had I not taken a few minutes to talk with the producer, I would have continued losing money until I was forced to give up.
Now, you may not get such powerful insider information every time you interview a seller. But you will certainly get a perspective that you won't get from doing academic, impersonal research.
Here are three steps to take to put this technique to work:
1. Locate businesses that are being sold.
Classified ads are usually a fertile source of direct leads. Contact business brokers, too, which you can also find in classified ads, as well as in the Yellow Pages and on the Internet (CraigsList, for example).
2. Prepare your questions.
When you meet with a seller, come prepared. If you've got a good idea of the problems you'll be facing, you'll ask more. Where will you find suppliers? How much will they charge? What competition will you face? What regulations will you encounter? Where will your best customers come from? What's the best way to reach those customers? And on and on. The more knowledge you demonstrate about the business, the more interested you'll appear to be to the seller.
3. Keep an open mind.
Your main purpose is to get insider information from the seller - but your conversation with him could lead to a different kind of opportunity. Maybe some sort of partnership arrangement. Or perhaps he could act as a consultant to you in exchange for a small percentage of the profits.
When it comes to getting the real facts about how to make a buck in a new business, you can't go to a better source than a current business owner. The information you uncover could mean the difference between success and failure.