Aug

31

Burning Desire

August 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I’ve been around only a few people who have exhibited sustained, burning, overwhelmingly intense desire to accomplish a particular goal or learn a particular skill and it’s my observation that such people rarely waiver from an optimistic, enthusiastic, constructive attitude.  “Fire in the belly” seems to prevent distractions in the mind.

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Aug

27

Honor Your Commitments

“To be punctual in all of your appointments is a duty resting upon you no less obligatory that the duty of common honesty. An appointment is a contract and if you do not keep it you are dishonestly using other peoples time and, consequently, their money.”
- S.D. Bremer

This is a big “hang-up” of mine; I detest being late and I detest being inconvenienced by others who cannot get where they’re supposed to get on time. I sometimes go to extreme and extraordinary lengths to honor my commitments, as small as a lunch appointment - and “honor” is a chosen word. I think peoples’ behavior with regard to honoring their littlest commitments very accurately reveals whether or not they can be trusted with bigger and more important things.

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Jul

12

Lead in niche markets

Although I’ve rarely found the opportunities to do this personally, because I do not come from any niche, when I have done it and do it, it is always exceptionally profitable, and I’ve evolved into the practice of steering clients in this direction whenever possible as well as choosing clients to work with who possess such opportunities. Personally, I’ve made extraordinary profits in publishing, mail-order and seminar businesses in the niches of chiropractic, dentistry and professional speakers; and exceptional earnings by consulting in information product publishing and marketing, business opportunities, and TV infomercials (although I hasten to add, my total consulting activity is much broader). 

Niche markets offer smaller opportunities than the mainstream, public marketplace, but they also provide a long list of appealing, offsetting benefits, including lower testing costs and investments, more predictable results, ease of message-to-market matching, affordable use of many media, high dollar units of sale, high margins, and so on. There is also this opportunity: to quickly and (relatively) inexpensively establish a visible, recognized leadership position.

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Jul

6

The Successful Business Life

“To be in business is to be assaulted by relentless adversity and crisis; it comes with the territory.”

                        - Carter Henderson.

I’m very happy that I read this book fairly early in my entrepreneurial career, because this statement leaped out at me - everything else I’d read seemed dedicated to the premise that if you did things right, you could do business problem-free. This certainly was not my experience, and I was beginning to wonder if I was hopelessly screwed up when I first encountered this simple statement. With 25 years of entrepreneurial experience and 20/20 hindsight, I appreciate this profound statement even more. You see, it is my experience that even doing everything to the very best of your ability, and even trying to do everything with integrity, you will still deal with “adversity and crisis” constantly. When you are in an aggressive stage; growth, building, creating, then dealing with adversity, opposition, crisis, etc. is an unpreventable, unavoidable part of the game. The important thing to do about that is to make mental peace with it so that you do not overreact, or become so frustrated you can’t function or can’t enjoy what you’re doing, or conclude there’s something wrong with you, or worse, quit altogether. You’ll find throughout my writings about entrepreneurship a philosophical acceptance of the truth of the entrepreneurial experience as stated by Henderson.

How to build an exceptionally successful business life…….

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Jun

26

Selling Prevention

“How many people buy medicine to prevent athlete’s foot, compared with those who buy to cure it?”

 

- Clyde Bedell

When facing the need to sell “prevention”, the very first thing to do is look for a way to reposition the product or service as a “cure.” If that turns out to be impossible, I advise finding some other business to be in. Selling “prevention” IS that difficult.

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Jun

10

The newsletter is, I think, the most useful tool in maintaining relationships with customers and keeping them interested in you, your business, your products and services. Since “publications” get better readership than “sales materials”; articles get more readership than ads, it simply makes sense to put your messages into the format of a publication, and into the context of articles.

Sadly, many marketers are terribly lazy about this, and can never get their act together, to put out a good, interesting newsletter every month. 

Content Tips

  1. Information/education directly linked to your products and services
  2. Information/education linked to the customer-type (egs.  homeowner; CEO; parent)
  3. Customer recognition and appreciation
  4. Promotion of new/selected products, services
  5. Stimulate

 

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Jun

8

The Power Of Results

“DON’T TELL ME ABOUT THE LABOR PAINS -
JUST SHOW ME THE BABY.”

Ordinary people are process focused and task focused, but exceptional success comes from being results focused. People who are obsessed with the telling and retelling of all the details and minutiae they went through to get to a particular result waste your time and slow down the entire organization.

People around you have to be taught, conditioned and constantly reminded how to communicate with you. Here are two examples of employees, same situation:

“Bill, we had a problem this morning. All the phone and FAX lines were out and we couldn’t get any calls or orders. I went across the street to the pay phone and called the phone company. I was on hold forever. Then the first person told me they’d look into the problem as soon as possible and get back to me by tomorrow. I got to a supervisor and pushed. Finally, somebody agreed to put a repair crew on it immediately. They were here an hour ago. The head guy said we’ll be up and running by noon at the latest.”

****

“Bill, we had a problem this morning. All the phone and FAX lines were out. I already got a repair crew out here and the head guy says we’ll be up and running by noon at the latest.”

Which do you prefer?

By the way, the biggest Negative Power anybody has is in usurping your valuable time. If you have somebody around you who is “high maintenance”, you need to get rid of them.

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Jun

4

Although I’ve rarely found the opportunities to do this personally, because I do not come from any niche, when I have done it and do it, it is always exceptionally profitable, and I’ve evolved into the practice of steering clients in this direction whenever possible as well as choosing clients to work with who possess such opportunities. Personally, I’ve made extraordinary profits in publishing, mail-order and seminar businesses in the niches of chiropractic, dentistry and professional speakers; and exceptional earnings by consulting in information product publishing and marketing, business opportunities, and TV infomercials (although I hasten to add, my total consulting activity is much broader).

Niche markets offer smaller opportunities than the mainstream, public marketplace, but they also provide a long list of appealing, offsetting benefits, including lower testing costs and investments, more predictable results, ease of message-to-market matching, affordable use of many media, high dollar units of sale, high margins, and so on. There is also this opportunity: to quickly and (relatively) inexpensively establish a visible, recognized leadership position.

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May

20

“You may depend on the inner-mind absolutely. Everything you need to know will come to you when you need to know it.”

- Dr. Edward Kramer

Decisiveness is one of the most prized and valuable of all personal characteristics, but it is also often misunderstood; many books written equate being more decisive with learning better processes for making decisions, but this is not the way super-decisive individuals operate. Instead, individuals in this category have a hyper-active “inner voice” and they listen to it and act on it confidently, unhesitatingly. Some call this “intuition”, although that term has been tainted over the years with gender issues. And this is not “hunch betting”; but the environment of wagering is a place where the distinction can be explained. At the track a “hunch bet” is picking a horse because it’s name is the same as your cousin’s. An “inner voice bet” occurs, for example, when you are suddenly reminded by your subconscious that a certain jockey has only one mount all day in a late race, which is very unusual for him, and it is unlikely he would take the trouble to come out to the track just for that one mount unless it had a legitimate chance of winning. In that instance, “stored information” rises up out of the recesses of your subconscious. The trick of course, is developing the ability to recognize this and the confidence to act on it.

Kramer goes beyond this. The essence of Kramer’s ideas is that each individual’s mind (sic. subconscious) is directly connected to all intelligence (”universal intelligence”) and therefore all the knowledge of the universe, past and present, is stored in your mind and accessible for the asking. This follows demonstrations by a Harvard prof, Dr. Sidis, in which very young children were able to do complex math problems or recite poetry, etc. without it being taught to them, but by it being stimulated from them. Sidis/Kramer argued that formal education errs in “stuffing in” information as opposed to helping individuals develop the powers of the mind. It’s conceivable that many things little children do that, in observing them, we pass off as “instinctive” is actually know-how. Just for example, little children are often able to calm and befriend a scared or violent horse when adults fail - is it possible the child is using know-how that is later “un-learned” as adults?

Even if the Sidis/Kramer idea of essentially unlimited innate intelligence and knowledge existing in each person isn’t totally valid, it certainly is true that the subconscious mind stores every little bit of information it is ever exposed to and has it all available for lightning speed recall, but we find all sorts of ways to jam up that machinery. Learning to get out of our own way consciously and let the subconscious mind do more of the heavy lifting is a path to much greater, less stressful achievement.

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May

18

“You are subject to your environment. Therefore, select the environment that will best develop you toward your desired objective.”

- W. Clement Stone

The reason that conditions of parole typically prohibit associating with known felons, past criminal associates and, in many cases, frequenting certain previously frequented establishments or even sections of town is simple: there’s abundant evidence that doing so dramatically increases, in fact, virtually guarantees recidivism.

It is hard enough converting from criminal to citizen without trying to keep one leg knee deep in a criminal environment. When I decided to end my heavy drinking, I found it very helpful to stay out of bars. Yes, I can sit in a bar or lounge and not indulge. These days I can have one, enjoy it and stop. But I still do not make a practice of frequenting bars. Why subject myself to such an environment, unrelated to achievement of my goals and potentially distracting or destructive?

People can and do escape their environments, as we see that in people who grew up in ghettos or received nominal education or were raised by abusive parents, etc., who become stellar citizens and successful individuals. However, there’s also a great deal of “you can take the boy out of the _________, but you can’t take the __________ out of the boy” to be observed as well. It is very clear that environment has enormous impact, and I doubt you’ll find a dissenting psychologist or sociologist.

In recognition of this, I began selecting my environments fairly early. I sure didn’t do a perfect job of it, but I did a better job than most. And I’m very conscious of it as an adult.

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May

12

“What would you do if you HAD to make your next mailing work? What if you could only mail ONE letter and if you didn’t get a response you would, quite literally, be beheaded?”

- Gary Halbert

This is the prelude to Gary’s discussion of “A-pile vs. B-pile mail”, based on the correct insistence that America sorts its mail over a wastebasket. (In biz-to-biz mail, the gatekeeper sorts it first over her/his wastebasket, then the intended recipient sorts again over her/his wastebasket.) And, of course, this is the argument against envelopes with “teaser copy”. It is this thinking that has led me to favor “a-pile look” in 90% of all situations - except when mailing to established, responsive customers who welcome mail from the mailer.

However, here’s an interesting FACT: direct mail covered with teaser copy is used more than “a-pile mail” by about a 100-to-1 ratio, and thus, far more goods and services are sold via the “junk mail look” than with the “a-pile look”. Some of this can be chalked up to more mailers using bulk mail than any other class and thus losing the opportunity to use a pure a-pile look, some to stupidity, but, still, this fact also suggests the wisdom of testing the one approach against the other in just about every situation.

The most important point I would make is that if or when you violate pure a-pile - such as having a corporate name or logo in the return address or mailing bulk - once you’ve crossed that line, you are best advised to go way over the line……to use every available inch of both sides of the envelope as billboard space.

My preference remains a-pile.

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May

9

“The opening sentence of a letter IS the letter. If these words do not say anything, there is no conception of philanthropy that could reasonably urge any man to read more.”

-J. George Frederick

Here’s a very simple copywriting test: put only your first sentence on a page. Looking at that and that only, would you go onto the next page to find the next sentence? Or try this one: if you received the letter with nothing but the first sentence* and all the other pages apparently, accidentally omitted from your letter, would you chase down the sender to get the rest? (*Same tests for first paragraph. For first page.)

I spend a lot of time working in environments where all circumstances conspire against grabbing the attention of the prospects. All my speaking at the Success events is at the very end of a ten hour day, after 8 to 10 speakers, after the last celebrity, with a crowd leaving. In my work in the infomercial industry, we battle the “clicker” with every word, the “ugh, it’s an infomercial” reaction at the start of every program. I think; I hope these kinds of situations sensitize me to the importance of the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first page.

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May

3


Recognition creates repetitive behavior (just as non-recognition does!). Again, with the manufacturing business, we started a formalized “thank you” program aimed at those who paid as agreed, and we very quickly turned good payers into great payers.

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Apr

30


Lewis Waterman was an insurance agent. After persuading a man to take out a large policy, he handed him the pen to sign with and it leaked ink all over the contract. By the time Waterman got another contract prepared, the prospect changed his mind. Waterman was so disgusted he quit insurance and devoted his life to the invention of a reliable pen.

I’m not sure where I first found or read this story, but it stuck in my mind and has never left. In my book ‘How To Succeed In Business By Breaking ALL The Rules’, I tell a very similar story about the inventor and invention of the product, THE CLUB. The idea demonstrated by both stories - and hundreds others like them - is the way these people responded to an annoying, adverse experience; instead of just being angered or frustrated, they saw the opportunity inherent in the problem - and acted on it. It is interesting to me how many great products and businesses have this unique inspiration behind them. Disney’s unhappiness with dirty, unimaginative parks; Kemmons Wilson’s grumpiness about the lack of clean, reasonably priced lodging for families traveling cross-country by car, etc., etc. You might call this The Principle Of Constructive Dissatisfaction.

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Apr

27

“Don’t let the motive of material gain conflict with the motive of freedom.”

- Napoleon Hill

When you are scrambling to get ahead financially, it’s easy to trap yourself in situations that provide short-term economic gain but long-term lifestyle or emotional misery. I began consciously trying to balance the desire for exceptional financial success with definite lifestyle preferences in the late 1980’s. I was inspired by Hill’s late-in-life works and by a book by Harry Browne titled ‘How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World.’

When you are “cash without”, it is not only understandable but pretty much necessary to focus on getting some. And if you’ve really been broke, then once you figure out how to make money and transition from survival skills to success skills, it’s also natural to work at making a lot of money. This is certainly what I did, I see clients do it, and even with 20-20 hindsight, I can’t see where there was a lot of wiggle room in those years to have taken a more balanced approach. But I do think a lot of people fall into “there’s never enough trap” and wind up a victim or prisoner of their own success rather than the beneficiary of it.

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Apr

25

I just spent the last weekend with Dan Kennedy. I was at the Super Conference in Chicago listening to some fantastic speakers including recently injured, Dan Kennedy. I have spent the last three days just trying to sort through all my notes and put the advice into action as soon as possible.

He said a lot of memorable things, but the one that really stuck with me is this:

“The only person that counts is the one that gives you money” - Dan Kennedy

This is a major point for me as in my other business ventures I seem to give a lot of info away, which leads to lots of questions from the prospects. It seems the more I give away the more they want for free, which I am very much done with!

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Apr

25

You can now follow the adventures of BobbleDan, the bobblehead made in the likeness of Dan Kennedy! What will they think of next? I gotta get me one of those things…

http://bobbledan.com

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Apr

24


Considerations In Choosing And Using Lists (finished)

Do Not Be Intimidated

DO take a little time “out of the shop” to learn about mailing lists. DO get into SRDS and open your eyes to all the possibilities and opportunities–I promise you’ll be amazed, fascinated and, undoubtedly, stimulated with new ideas for promoting your business. Contact both local and out-of-town Brokers, explain your objectives, discuss the characteristics of the people you want to reach, discuss lists you’ve identified that might work, ask for and consider their suggestions. Do NOT hesitate to ask “dumb questions”. There really are no dumb questions except the unasked ones. There’s no reason to be intimidated by this process.

Why Not Direct All Your Resources At “Grade A”Prospects?

If I can motivate you to make this philosophical and practical shift; to choose to direct your resources at Grade- A prospects, I will have done you a great service! Big step ahead of the competition today.

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Apr

18

Considerations In Choosing And Using Lists (continued)

Selections

Each list will have different “options”. You may be able to order only homeowners and exclude renters or vice versa, only men or women, only those of a certain age, etc. The information in SRDS will show you what “selects” are offered with each list.

There is also “merge/purge” possible with many lists. For example, the HOME REMODELING MAGAZINE subscribers from your state could be “merged/purged” against a list of credit card holders. An interior decorator might want only those subscribers with credit cards. A furniture store owner offering his own financing, even for people with credit problems, might want only those subscribers without credit cards.

Minimums

Most lists have 3,000 to 5,000 minimum orders. You can whine and cry and try to negotiate a smaller test, but more often than not, you’ll have to rent 3,000 to 5,000 names from a given list. Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to mail them all. In fact, for local, small business purposes, a test of 500 names usually tells a lot.

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Apr

16

Considerations In Choosing And Using Lists (continued)

Choose Prospects That Match Your Clients
Generally speaking, if you can define who you want to reach, by their age, sex, income, magazines they read, credit cards they carry, other products they’ve bought, etc., you can get a list of people that match that description. These characteristics are called “Demographics”. You may have heard me refer to “Geo-Demographic Selection” in other Reports. That means a geographic area, by city, state, zip code, matched with certain demographic criteria.

Deliverability
No list will be 100 percent deliverable. You should ask how often the list is “cleaned” and updated. You may want names of certain recency — magazines often offer “hotline names” of very recent subscribers, for example. Sometimes you can get a deliverability guarantee–ask.

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