Jul

20

Adapt To Your Circumstances And Make Them Work For You

“I am never frightened by revolutionary changes in my life, whether they are voluntary or forced upon me by circumstances for I do at least have control over my reaction to circumstances. And I exercise this privilege not by complaining but by searching for that seed of an equivalent benefit which each experience carries with it.”

- Napoleon Hill

Hill was a master at knitting many important ideas into a single affirmative statement like this one. I think that’s one of the main things that has so strongly attracted me to his works. Anyway, if we dissect this beauty we first get “I am never frightened”. Since fear is one of the paralyzing factors that inhibit most peoples’ performance, a statement of fearlessness is pretty significant. Saying he is not frightened by “revolutionary changes” acknowledges that there are frequently such changes. The flaw in most peoples’ approach to goal-setting is a lack of flexibility toward means of achievement, which causes over-reaction, negative reactions and, often, fearful reaction to unexpected changes. “Control over my reaction” - well, this is the only thing over which we do have total control. “Privilege” - Hill viewed his unique human ability to exercise control over his reactions to changing circumstances as a great privilege. I doubt that most people ever think of it this way. But it is. It is exclusively through this ability that we can control the outcomes of our lives. “Seed of equivalent benefit” represents a key part of Hill’s entire philosophy; that EVERY (apparent) adversity conceals opportunity.

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Jun

19

For many retail and service businesses, Val-Pak and Money Mailer are “basic” advertising media, and they should be. Their virtues are low cost* and high readership; reliable research indicates 80% get opened and browsed through - probably because everybody knows they’ll be a couple coupons in there they’ll want.

This media can work for “unusual” businesses, too, and probably should be tested by a much wider variety of businesses. Just for example, several years ago, I did a couple days of consulting with the hypno-therapist with the largest stop smoking/lose weight seminar road show in the country - and, unike all of his competitors, who used newspaper and radio advertising - he sold out his seminars using Money Mailer inserts. I believe this is an overlooked advertising opportunity for many businesses.

The nationwide, business-to-business equivalent: card decks. The simple truth about card decks is: quantity, not quality. The companies that consistently make card deck advertising work have sophisticated, multi-step, aggressive follow-up systems usually including outbound telemarketing OR a very high transaction/customer value.

Of course, local merchants/professionals can and should do their own shared cost, co-op mailings. A chiropractor, dentist, optometrist and podiatrist are logical co-op candidates. All the stores in a shopping center. A carpet cleaner, a gardener, and a plumber. Area merchants can have much greater impact by working cooperatively rather than individually. And when threatened by new “giant” competition, like when Wal-Mart comes to town, the small merchants often either prosper together or hang separately. (Re. this: read or re-read and circulate the Chapter on “Mastermind” in Napoleon Hill’s book, “Think And Grow Rich.”)

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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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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

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

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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Apr

7

Here it is.

Finally.

A place to read what marketing genius Dan Kennedy has to say about Marketing, Business, Copywriting, Sales and EVERYTHING.

Think of this as a place of Dan Kennedy’s “Tips & Tricks” for success.

Many successful Entrepreneurs have listened to Dan Kennedy’s advise and PROFITED immensely! I am one of them.

I enjoyed Dan’s NO B.S. style so engaging and refreshing that I became a licensee of MANY products from the Dan Kennedy library. To view the list, please use the link below:

Dan-Kennedy-Auctions.com

This blog will be seen in many places, but the main domain for it is:

Dan Kennedy Says BLOG

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