Issue #2029
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2028
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2027
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Doing long-duration aerobic exercise ("cardio") for weight loss is inefficient and often ineffective. (For a longer discussion of the harmful effects aerobics can have on you, read Dr. Sears’ article, "The Aerobics Craze – a Monumental Mistake." But that may not be the worst thing about it.
According to Alwyn Cosgrove, a personal trainer in Santa Clarita, CA, "Research has shown that aerobic exercise programs result in injury – in fact, one study found a 50 to 90 percent injury rate in the initial six weeks of training." And yet, the typical weight-loss cardio program for an overweight person almost always includes thousands of repetitions… which almost inevitably leads to overuse injuries.
According to Cosgrove, "A superior system would be to use strength training to prepare the muscles for more exercise. By reducing the rest periods between sets of strength exercises, you can still achieve the same calorie-burning and cardiovascular-boosting benefits."
A bodyweight circuit of squats, push-ups, and step-ups will help strengthen the muscle groups of the entire body. Do a set of 10 repetitions for each, resting as little as possible between exercises. Once you have finished the circuit, rest one minute, and then repeat two more times.
[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine. If you're looking to burn fat, build muscle, and quickly step into the body you have always wanted with just three workouts each week, check out Craig's fat-loss system, Turbulence Training for Fat Loss.]
Issue #2026
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2025
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2024
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2023
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2022
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2021
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2020
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2019
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2018
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2017
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2016
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2015
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2014
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2013
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
In the world of direct marketing, a one to two percent conversion rate is standard. In other words, if you have a list of 100 subscribers to your newsletter and you send them a sales letter selling a product (whether it is your own product or an affiliate’s), you can expect one or two people out of your 100 to buy.
Let’s say your vision of "success" is $500 in sales per week from your newsletter list. If you have 2,000 people on your list, one way to hit that number would be to send them one sales letter per week selling a $25 product. (Assuming a one percent conversion rate, one percent of 2,000 is 20, 20 x $25 per sale = $500 = success!)
But in the world of Internet marketing, that doesn’t happen. You can’t assume that 100 percent of your e-mails will be delivered … and you can’t assume that more than 50 percent of those that are delivered will be opened and read. So, in reality, you’d need at least 4,000 people on your e-mail list (if not 6,000 or more!) to reach that same $500 goal. (By the way, a good way to increase your e-mail delivery rate and track your e-mail stats is with Aweber.com.)
How do you get more people on your e-mail list to make it easier to hit your sales goals? Here are 11 ways:
BONUS TIP:
Look outside your industry for opportunities to promote yourself and your website. For example, writing articles for Early to Rise has taken me outside my regular health-and-fitness environment. Look for similar crossover opportunities, and you’ll have access to a previously untapped audience.
Use all of the above methods to build your e-mail list – and be patient. A list with thousands of e-mail addresses on it doesn’t happen overnight.
[Ed. Note: Besides being a master Internet marketer, Craig Ballantyne is a world-renowned Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Check out his Turbulence Training for Fat Loss system - and get a look at his marketing techniques - on his website.]
Issue #2012
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Hello Bob,
I finished The Billionaire Way about 10 days ago. Now I promise you I did not cheat on this so hear me out.
I started the first two or three days I think and there was a transaction I was involved in that I was not comfortable with but had an emotional attachment to. I sat down one night and crunched the numbers and made some tough decisions, all emotion aside.
Then about two weeks into the program there was the day when we had to exclude our emotions and cut off dead baggage. Wow, I felt like yeah, OK I’m getting this because I just did that.
OK so now I’m tearing along the program, accepting things that I am already doing and working on the things I am not comfortable with. Vigilantly everyday, watching the DVD after the kids were in bed and working my work book.
Two days after I finished the program I saw an opportunity which I could assess very well given my clarity of vision, my assessments of my talents and the work I had accomplished.
It is my joy to tell you that I am founding executive of a new international network marketing company, the likes of which have never been seen and I have already built my team Australia wide within 10 days, using the billionaire way techniques.
I lost my fear, opened my mind and listened and I cannot believe the result. Thank you so much…
Regards
Kathy
Learn more about The Billionaire Way program today…
"First, thanks for the excellent newsletter and your book, Automatic Wealth for Grads. I’ve been a loyal reader of yours for over two years now, and really appreciate all of your insight.
"I wanted to ask you a question regarding something that you have discussed: the topic of owning versus renting real estate.
"The conventional wisdom – which, as I recall, you echo in your book – is that it is a good idea to buy real estate as soon as one is financially able. The rationale is simple: Renting means throwing your money away and seeing none of the appreciated value of the property. But, to play devil’s advocate for a minute, people seem to ignore the fact that owning has many (significant) costs associated with it. There’s the interest on the mortgage, of course, the property taxes, the upkeep/maintenance, and utilities (which are probably going to be higher than what you’d pay renting).
"My boyfriend and I recently came very close to buying our first home, but when we crunched the numbers, we realized we’d be better off financially to rent. The money we’d save could be invested in stocks (which historically average higher returns than real estate). And we even accounted for the tax advantages of owning when making our calculations.
"So what gives? Why is real estate considered such a great investment? It usually entails huge throwaway costs, it’s the least-liquid investment, and I’d likely make higher returns investing in stocks. The only way I see around this is if I bought property to rent it out. What am I missing?!"
- Emily Katz
St. Louis, MO
Dear Emily,
Buying a house is not always a better deal than renting. Depending on where you live, there are times when it is much smarter to rent. This isn’t because of the ancillary costs of ownership (which you correctly point out in your letter). It’s because sometimes the cost of acquiring property is so high compared to the cost of renting that the advantage of owning real estate – as opposed to stocks, for example – is eliminated or reversed.
This is the case now in New York City. And it was the case recently in many other "hot" areas of the United States, including my own hometown, Delray Beach, FL. Here, for example, you could rent a three-bedroom home for $1,200 a month that would cost you $450,000 to buy. Only a financially foolhardy person would buy real estate in that kind of scenario. The numbers just can’t work out unless the over-inflated price actually goes up further. But that investment approach – to buy foolishly and sell to a bigger fool – I don’t recommend and never have.
When the cost of buying homes is not so inflated, buying a house, despite the additional costs, is well worth it and will generally give you a better return on investment (ROI) than you’ll get on stocks. Why? The short answer is leverage. Real estate offers you an opportunity to ratchet up your ROI by using a mortgage.
You can leverage your stock purchases, but that involves a great deal more risk – for two reasons: (1) Stocks are typically much more volatile, and you can have your leveraged stocks forcibly cashed out by the broker with a "margin call" if they fall enough in value. (2) More important, using leverage with stocks is not as prudent as it is with value real estate, because stocks typically do not generate enough income to pay for the cost of the leverage (borrowed money). But when you buy real estate right, the rental income more than pays for the interest on the mortgage loan – plus all other costs associated with the property (taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.).
Finally, you need to remember that for many people buying their own homes, real estate represents a forced-savings plan, a method of investing money every month (via the principal part of the mortgage payment) that would otherwise be spent on depreciating assets. Also, the interest on the mortgage and the property taxes are tax deductible. Renters get no such reductions.
I don’t know anything about the real estate market in St. Louis, Emily, so I can’t say whether it makes sense for you to buy there. But when you are figuring your returns, be sure to calculate the multiplying effect of a conventional mortgage. It tends to triple or quadruple your yearly rate of return over time, even counting those extra costs.
If you’d like to learn more about real estate from someone who does it every day for a living, read Justin Ford’s essays in ETR and check out his Main Street Millionaire real estate investment program.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve made lots of money lots of different ways. But I’ve done better with real estate – and with much less trouble and time – than with any other passive investment, including stocks.
Good luck to you!
- Michael Masterson
[Ed. Note: Have a question for Michael Masterson? Write to him at AskMichael@ETRfeedback.com.
Learn how you can be part of an exclusive group of 25 to 50 ambitious businesspeople that Michael will be leading through an elite 5-day program that can help you dramatically increase the profitability of your business here.]
"Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic."
Dan Rather
By Craig Ballantyne
In the world of direct marketing, a one to two percent conversion rate is standard. In other words, if you have a list of 100 subscribers to your newsletter and you send them a sales letter selling a product (whether it is your own product or an affiliate’s), you can expect one or two people out of your 100 to buy.
Let’s say your vision of "success" is $500 in sales per week from your newsletter list. If you have 2,000 people on your list, one way to hit that number would be to send them one sales letter per week selling a $25 product. (Assuming a one percent conversion rate, one percent of 2,000 is 20, 20 x $25 per sale = $500 = success!)
But in the world of Internet marketing, that doesn’t happen. You can’t assume that 100 percent of your e-mails will be delivered … and you can’t assume that more than 50 percent of those that are delivered will be opened and read. So, in reality, you’d need at least 4,000 people on your e-mail list (if not 6,000 or more!) to reach that same $500 goal. (By the way, a good way to increase your e-mail delivery rate and track your e-mail stats is with Aweber.com.)
How do you get more people on your e-mail list to make it easier to hit your sales goals? Here are 11 ways:
BONUS TIP:
Look outside your industry for opportunities to promote yourself and your website. For example, writing articles for Early to Rise has taken me outside my regular health-and-fitness environment. Look for similar crossover opportunities, and you’ll have access to a previously untapped audience.
Use all of the above methods to build your e-mail list – and be patient. A list with thousands of e-mail addresses on it doesn’t happen overnight.
[Ed. Note: Besides being a master Internet marketer, Craig Ballantyne is a world-renowned Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Check out his Turbulence Training for Fat Loss system - and get a look at his marketing techniques - on his website.]
Practical tips for every parent.
There may be no joy greater than that of having a child… and no worry greater than that of being a parent.
As a parent, how do you do the right things now to ensure your children’s future happiness, self-confidence and success in life? Parents need to learn the facts and the reassuring good news. Parents need to have a plan for their kids, and not leave their future happiness to chance, or to frantic pressure-packed planning.
Children and parenting do not come with a manual to read, which is why if you are a parent or concerned about childhood happiness and how it affects adulthood you absolutely must attend an event on April 18th that will give you the answers.
In an exclusive interview and live teleseminar, regular ETR writer and expert David Cross interviews eminent Harvard doctor, parent and four-times Oprah guest, Edward Hallowell, M.D. author of the best-selling book, The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness.
Dr. Hallowell is a warm and engaging speaker and will share the practical skills every parent needs to help raise happy, emotionally mature and self-confident children.
Learn more about this even here
By Dr. Loren Cordain
From well-meaning (though misinformed) nutritionists to the government’s Food Pyramid to food companies themselves, the message to eat more grains is being trumpeted loud and clear. But following this advice can be harmful to your health.
Yesterday, I wrote about the main problem with cereal grains: the fact that consuming these high-glycemic foods can promote obesity and diseases of insulin resistance. But these are not the only adverse health effects they cause. In addition to their low nutrient density (compared to fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood), cereal grains also contain a variety of "anti-nutrients." These are substances that directly interfere with the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. For example:
The primary nourishment of many animals is grains, and those animals generally have multiple stomachs to facilitate the process. Humanity, on the other hand, is not designed to eat these foods, especially in the quantities we eat them in today.
If you want to optimize your weight and improve your health, a good place to begin is by strictly limiting the whole and refined grains in your diet.
[Ed. Note: Dr. Loren Cordain is the author of the e-book The Dietary Cure for Acne and publisher of The Paleo Diet Newsletter
"You can't guess at what's going to be popular. You have to use your instinct, intuition, and intelligence to try to help you determine what will be high quality. I think if you err on the side of quality, you never really fail."
(Source: Business 2.0)
The smell of Crayola crayons is one of the 20 scents most-recognized by American adults (along with peanut butter and coffee). For many, the scent is so soothing that sniffing it reduces blood pressure.
(Source: Infinity in Your Pocket by Mike Flynn)
Now you can outwit, outmaneuver, outthink, and outsmart all the folks who are putting a crimp in your day-to-day happiness. I’m talking about life’s little (or sometimes big) annoyances like: overpriced repairmen, family feuds, stock market losses, and relationship problems.
Consider having a team of self-made multi-millionaires pulling for your success all year long, offering you their years of wisdom and experience, and cheering you from the sidelines.
Act now, and a copy of ETR's latest book, Unscrew Yourself -- absolutely FREE!
"Pastiche" (pas-TEESH) - from the Italian for "hodgepodge" - is a literary technique that employs a lighthearted imitation of the style of some previous work. Though somewhat tongue-in-cheek (like many modern stories featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes), it is usually respectful of the original source.
Example (as used by Steven Heighton in a New York Times review of The Solitude of Thomas Cave by Georgina Harding): "Harding describes Cave's solitude mainly in the third person, and in language that has a period flavor (though happily it's not a slavish pastiche)."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007
Issue #2011
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2010
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2009
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2008
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2007
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2006
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Issue #2005
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: