www.earlytorise.com
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Message #1688

WEALTHY:
Dripping for dollars (J. Christoph Amberger)

HEALTHY:
Are vitamins a waste of money?

WISE:
John W. Blake on advertising

ALSO
IN THIS ISSUE:

Reversing
the drop in America's advertising IQ (Clayton Makepeace)
The
underpaid/underappreciated dilemma (Michael
Masterson)
Add
the word "subaltern" to your vocabulary

*Highly
Recommended *

The
Three Magic Words to Building Wealth Online

Remember
the first time you tried to ride a bike? You’d spent
your life missing out until then.

But
once you got on that bicycle… you felt a special moment
when suddenly, the magic happened. You were free! Since then,
you’ve never “unlearned” that knowledge.
Doing it again is easy… automatic… instinctive.

That’s
how it feels once your first Internet income stream is up
and running. The magic hits you… the next one is even easier…
the rest are almost automatic.

I
know… because I have done it myself. And one man I know
turned $10 into over $500,000.

Let
me show you how to get a similar Internet income stream started
for almost
nothing.

-
Patrick Coffey

Thoughts
on the Nature of Value

By
J. Christoph Amberger

The
concept of value in modern art becomes more tangible when
you consider the current stir about the 32 Jackson Pollock
paintings discovered in a storage locker a few years ago.

Now, "Jack
the Dripper" is famous for creating paint splatters.
Every parent with a kid in elementary school knows that,
because in first grade, every little tyke has to produce
a Jackson Pollock-style painting in art class.

From
a fundamental value perspective, there is very little difference
between a genuine Pollock and my daughter's art: fractions
of a penny's worth of paint assembled on paper in random
patterns. Yet my daughter's art will end up in a big cardboard
box in the basement, along with her other memorable works.
And one of Pollock's large drip paintings ("Number 12" from
1949) was sold by the Museum of Modern Art last year for
US$11.65 million.

But
as the recent discoveries show, it is not the absolute value
of the paintings that creates perceived value, but the authentication
– the art world's equivalent of analyst coverage. To make
sure that the paintings from the storage locker are priceless
Pollocks and not the worthless drop cloth of his idiot housepainter,
the Pollock-Krasner Foundation has enlisted dozens of experts
… and even commissioned a fractal analysis.

As
with a stock or commodity, however, the real value of a Dripper
painting will not be created until there is a buyer willing
to pay more for the canvas and paint drops than a competing
bidder.

(Ed.
Note: J. Christoph Amberger is the Executive Publisher of
the Taipan Group, a financial advisory service. The above
is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Taipan's free
daily e-letter, Dynamic
Market.)

"There
is just one justification for advertising: Sales! Sales!
Sales!"

-
John W. Blake

Creativity
vs. Proven Sales-Boosting Techniques

By
Clayton Makepeace

Sometimes
I wish I had gone into advertising instead of direct-response
marketing.

I
can see myself nestled in a posh Madison Avenue corner office,
pulling in six figures a year … creating taco-eating Chihuahuas
and other madcap characters … faithfully worshipped as
an "advertising genius."

And,
the best part – knowing nobody will ever question whether
or not my creative, entertaining, and image-based ads actually
work.

Fortunately,
I didn't take that route … and neither should you.

Instead,
I wound up in direct-response marketing – where every order
and every penny generated by every ad, direct-mail package,
and Internet campaign that I create is carefully tracked.

Within
a few weeks, days, or – in the case of TV and Internet promotions
– a few hours, everybody knows whether I'm a genius or a
hack.

If
my client puts $500,000 in the mail, he expects at least
$500,000 in net sales back – PLUS 10,000 or so new customers.
If my copy does that for him, I'm golden. If not, I'm a schmuck.

But
most of the ad campaigns created by ad agencies are NOT measurable.

Plus,
millions of small- and medium-sized businesses trust their
ad messaging to the account executives who sell them their
local TV and radio time and print space. As a rule, these
salespeople know very little about salesmanship and next
to nothing about advertising.

And
these two simple facts are now creating some of the worst
ads ever produced.

Don't
get fooled into following their lead.

Your
prime directive is quite simple: You should demand that every
dollar you spend on advertising produces a measurable, trackable,
positive return on your investment.

Giants
like John E. Powers … John E. Kennedy … Albert Lasker
… Claude Hopkins … John Caples … Rosser Reeves …
David Ogilvy and others taught us that the ONLY reason to
advertise is to increase sales and market share.

And
they taught us that, to accomplish its mission, every ad
must … at the very least … accomplish these four essential
goals:

1.
It must create or intensify your prospect's desire for the
type of product you're selling by presenting the benefits
it will bring to his or her life.

2.
It must convince your prospect that because the key benefits
of your product are unique (and therefore superior to all
other competing products), that makes it his only rational
choice.

3.
It must leave your prospect feeling that it is urgent for
him to buy your product as soon as possible.

4.
It must compel your prospect to action by providing a way
for him to purchase your product immediately or at the very
earliest opportunity.

I
am absolutely convinced that if every advertiser insisted
that his ads did these four things, the U.S. economy would
double virtually overnight – and it would do so without enlisting
the services of a single taco-chewing Chihuahua.

Meanwhile,
although the dumbest ads seem to grow dumber by the day,
many advertisers are actually helping to offset this cumulative
drop in America's advertising IQ. Recognizing the importance
of accountability, they're using their creativity to find
ways to scientifically measure the response to their ads.
They are asking consumers to call a toll-free number or visit
a website – or they're adding some other tracking device
to their advertising (like coupons, contests, etc.).

Don't
let any ad executive or media rep tell you that your product
or service is different … and that creating measurable,
trackable advertising campaigns just isn't possible for the
kind of thing you're selling.

That's just an excuse. Here's a prime example:

Prescription
drugs have to be the world's hardest products to track. A
consumer sees the ad for a new anti-allergy pill and is told
to ask his doctor about it. The doctor then has to prescribe
the drug. The consumer then has the prescription filled.

How in the heck do you track that? Is it impossible? Not when
real creativity is applied.

For
years, drug companies advertised their drugs simply by telling
consumers to ask their doctors about them. But today, they're
asking consumers to dial a toll-free number

receive
a full information kit on the condition the drug treats,
including money-saving coupons and even trial doses.

Instant
accountability!

Moral
of the story: Accountability counts. Sure, life is easier
when you don't have to own up to your mistakes. But that's
a treacherous path that invariably leads to talking Chihuahuas
and billions of wasted advertising dollars each year.

(Ed.
Note: Clayton Makepeace offers help in reaping maximum profits
through the Internet, direct mail, and print advertising
every week in his free e-zine, The
Total Package.

Learn
177 of his surprising secrets that have doubled his clients'
profits in a year and quadrupled them in 36 months in his
newly published e-book "Double
Your Profits in 12 Months or Less!”)

Today's
Action Plan

Challenge
yourself to find ways to scientifically measure the effectiveness
of every ad and every campaign you run. It's the only way
to consistently improve your return-per-advertising dollar
over time.

Applying
what you know about persuasion and salesmanship in print
can help any business multiply sales and profits. And the
increase in sales could make you a bundle.

*
Advertisement *

What
Wall Street Doesn’t Want To See In Your IRA

It’s
the strongest, safest investment vehicle in America, and
Wall Street is desperately hoping you won’t find out
how much money it could be making you…without them. Read
on to find out more about this “forbidden” IRA
strategy.

The
Wall Street Journal's "Case Against Vitamins"

By
Jon Herring

Last
year, 70 percent of American households bought vitamins.
And, if you can believe a recent full-page article by Tara
Parker-Pope in The Wall Street Journal, most of that money
was wasted. The article – "The Case Against Vitamins" -
highlighted several studies which showed that vitamins are
either ineffective or, in some cases, harmful. It went on
to suggest that "antioxidant supplements serve no purpose" and
that the case for vitamins is "not based on scientific
evidence."

We've
made a strong case for nutritional supplementation countless
times in ETR, so I'm not going to debate The Journal's points
or explain why some of the cited studies were flawed (although
health journalist Bill Sardi does
a good job of it ). But I will point out
that the paper just might have a commercial bias toward pharmaceuticals,
considering the $250,000 (according to the WSJ rate card)
full-page ad for Lipitor on the facing page.

The
article did make an important point, however. And it's one
that we have also made in Early to Rise. Parker-Pope wrote, "Another
concern is that while vitamins from food sources are necessary
and good for you, consumers today often scarf down vitamins
at levels that are more like a pharmaceutical dose than something
found in nature."

This
is true. In addition, many so-called "vitamins" are
simply synthetic, isolated nutrients that do not behave the
same way as the real vitamins in whole foods. That's why
we advise you to skip the cheap, drugstore multivitamins,
and choose concentrated whole food supplements. (They're
the ones that have whole-food ingredients listed on the label.)
For an excellent overview of the subject, see this article
on Dr.
Mercola's website.

Dear
Michael Masterson: "From where I sit, indispensability
is in fact a danger."

"Dear
Michael Masterson,

"In
Message 1678,
Christina Anderson of Springfield, MO pointed out that 'indispensable'
employees can become exactly that – so indispensable that
they have no upward mobility. You responded that this reflects
foolish management.

"Of
course, you're both right. Christina's concern plays out
particularly for the more 'corporate,' less entrepreneurial
employers.

"I
was just having a similar discussion with my wife last night,
because at my last review, I was told that there's really
nowhere to promote me to. (Let's see, there are 3 levels
of management above me ….) And I'm in the highest pay range
I can be in without a promotion. The review itself was fine,
but supervisors are always careful not to get too glowing
– it might give employees some ammunition to fight for raises
and promotions. But no performance problems have ever been
raised, either.

"I've
been told (i.e. given lip service) many times how important
I am. (Yeah, I'm so important that I'm paid under-market
and annual raises are sub-inflationary.) You should hear
my boss panic when I'm going on vacation! So, from where
I sit, indispensability is in fact a danger.

"I
guess the writing's on the wall, for me, and unless I can
figure out what I can change here, I'll need to start looking
elsewhere. Which is a shame, because most of the time, I
like what I do. But stagnation is not an option.

"Interestingly,
in the original 'Gold
Collar Worker' article, Brian O'Connell
wrote, 'Gold collar workers know how their workplace operates.
They figure out whether most promotions in their company
are based on creativity or attention to detail, sales or
production/operations experience, computer or interpersonal
skills. Then … that's what they work on.'

"At
this company, and many others from what I'm hearing, promotions
are based on being at the right place at the right time.
I'm not saying that's impossible to work on, but it's difficult."

-
A. S.
Los Angeles, CA

Well,
A.S., I'm sure you are the exception … but here's what
I think: Out of every 10 employees who believe they are underpaid/underappreciated/etc.,
only one actually is.

Yes,
big companies tend to run themselves by the numbers. And,
yes, this means that your earning trajectory is somewhat
limited. That's the tradeoff you make when you accept the
(imagined) security of a corporate job. If you are as good
as you think you are (and, like I said, I'm sure you are),
then – as you correctly point out – you have two choices:
Get another job at higher pay or start your own business
and pay yourself whatever your business can afford.

The
bottom line is this: If you want to maximize your working
potential … maximize your pay … give yourself the best
chance of moving up the ranks … ensure yourself a better,

more
interesting, and more profitable future … you must devote
your spare time to developing financially valuable skills.
Then, you have to be willing to sell those skills (and sell
them hard) to your current employer, to your employer's competitors,
or to the clients/customers of your new business.

-
Michael Masterson

(Ed.
Note: To join the ongoing "Gold Collar Workers: Indispensable
or Stuck?" discussion, post your comments on the ETR
Speak Out forum here.)

*
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Word
to the Wise: Subaltern

A "subaltern" (sub-OL-turn)
is a person in a subordinate position. The word is derived
from the Latin "sub" ("under") + "alter" ("other").

Example
(as used by Christina Vella in Intimate
Enemies): "The letters are never those
of a groveling subaltern to his superior; they are rather
like advisories from one soldier to another."

Michael
Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2006

Have
a Question for Michael Masterson?

Want
to know the secrets to his success? Have a perplexing
business problem? ETR welcomes your thoughts. Post
them online at  http://speakoutforum.com/forum/

or
send questions directly to Support@EarlyToRise.Com

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 28th, 2006 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Daily Issues .