A Simple Formula for Business Success

by Early To Rise (10/8/2007)

Issue #2167

  • WEALTHY: A chance to profit no matter what the market is doing (Andrew Gordon)
  • HEALTHY: Intervals will scorch those love handles (Craig Ballantyne)
  • WISE: Robert F. Kennedy on being ruthless

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

  • Must you be cutthroat to succeed in business? (Michael Masterson)
  • Putting an end to long-winded voice mail messages (Will Newman)
  • It’s Good to Know… about product recalls
  • Add "paroxysm" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

You Already Know Fortunes Are Made from Trading. The Question Is: WHAT Are "They" Trading Most? (And It’s Not Shares or Commodities!)

… Thirty times more trading going on than the stock market and mostly investment banks doing it. Ummm… Maybe "they" know something you don’t? Click here to learn more…

ETR Insider Report: Just Like a Hedge Fund, but Without the Fear and Greed

By Andrew M. Gordon

Ran into old friend GS the other day. GS runs the international portfolio of one of the more reputable hedge funds. Last time I talked to him - about 10 months ago - we were making fun of all those banks making stupid loans to home buyers with shaky credit.  So I was pretty shocked when he recently told me that his fund was caught with a bad investment in one of those banks - American Home Mortgage (which had recently declared bankruptcy).

“A lot of people in the company are embarrassed over this. But it wasn’t my decision,” he said. "To make up for its losses, the fund is now doing what I do all the time with our international portfolio - investing in discounted and distressed assets."

When I related this conversation to my colleague, Charles Delvalle, he said: “How hard is it to avoid bubbles, play expensive assets short (meaning you profit if their price goes down), and invest in bargain assets? We could do that with our eyes closed.”

Well, while not that easy, it certainly plays to our strengths. Of course, we’re not a hedge fund nor do we plan to become one. But between Charles’ short plays and my nose for bargains, we can give investors a chance to profit no matter what the market is doing. That’s why we started a new service - The Global Profit Hotline - that plays the market both long and short. It also capitalizes on long- and short-term market moves.

Thanks to Wall Street’s greed, hedge funds couldn’t resist the sub-prime market - and thanks to their fear, they got burned when they all fled this corner of the market. Instead of their greed and fear, we’ll be offering subscribers our independence. For example, with the dollar going down, this is a great time to invest in silver, which hasn’t gone up nearly as much as gold and has some catching up to do.

We have our own way of investing - apart from and often against the Wall Street crowd. We wouldn’t do it any other way. Do you blame us?

[Ed. Note: ETR’s Investment Director Andrew Gordon is the author of nearly a dozen books on global markets and the hot growth sectors of China and Russia. Together with Charles Delvalle, Andrew has put together The Global Profit Hotline, a brand-new trading service that helps investors see gains of 90 percent, 114 percent, even 133 percent, no matter what the market does. For more information, click here.]

“People say I am ruthless. I am not ruthless. And if I find the man who is calling me ruthless, I shall destroy him.”

Robert F. Kennedy

A Simple Formula for Business Success

By Michael Masterson

Many people assume that successful businesspeople are ruthless, but it’s not true. Not in my experience, at least. A young man who is beginning what I hope will be a long and profitable career in business said this to me recently: "But isn’t that the way you have to be in business? Like ruthless and all?"

He is climbing up the ladder of success with the grease of this very common but wrongheaded notion all over the soles of his shoes.

Most of the successful businesspeople I know are relatively benign. Some few are evil. And some fewer still are saints. The great majority of them (including almost all of the preachy, moralistic, mystical, and religious types) wander in the gray to-err-is-human zone.

If cutting throats isn’t a requirement for business success, what is? What makes a businessperson successful? My experience suggests…

  • hard work
  • long hours
  • the ability to focus
  • marketing know-how
  • the will to keep selling

If you screw customers and colleagues, it will cost you. People have memories. Especially gullible people. You can sometimes make money (even a lot of money) by duping, deceiving, and cheating them, but there’s a price to pay.

In the long run, Machiavellian business tactics are self-defeating. All those people you suckered and robbed will remember you. In their own quiet but powerful ways, they will do whatever they can to see you punished. That may be as little as ignoring your next sales effort to as much as reporting you to the authorities - or blowing your head off.

Same is true with employees. You can exploit them for a while, but, over time, they will get even with you.

The wise businessperson acts benevolently, because he understands that the trust and loyalty he develops by being good and fair will pave a golden path of opportunity for him as the years pass. With each decade, every dollar he earns will be made easier because of all the goodwill, trust, and useful relationships he’s developed along the way.

I am fortunate enough to work with at least a dozen "good" businessmen. All of them are open and honest in dealing with me, generous with their time and knowledge, always willing to share and cooperate in areas of mutual interest, and respectful of my need to profit as well as their own.

EP is a great example. We started working together about 10 years ago on some real-estate deals. I knew nothing about real estate at the time - at least the kind of real estate he was involved with - so he could have easily written a one-sided contract with me. Instead, his deal was generous to a fault. It ensured that he wouldn’t make a nickel until I did. And there were no hidden cash flows or escape hatches that are so common in real-estate limited partnerships.

As I became more knowledgeable about real estate, EP’s fairness (to the point of goodness) became obvious to me. As a consequence, I never hesitate to invest in his deals.

He calls me up and says, "I’ve got a project you might be interested in."

"How much do you want?" is my reply.

This is the kind of relationship you want as your business or career grows and matures. (And not just one like this, but dozens of them.) If you can have that, making money easily will be only one of the blessings of your work. The formula for such relationships? Give first; get later.

One caveat: Just because you are a good guy in business, don’t expect everyone to like you. Some employees, for example, are not satisfied with a good deal. They want to goof off and make a fortune for doing it. Same is true of the vendor who wants a better-than-fair deal. Or the professional who wants to own your business for giving you advice.

Be good and fair, and most of the people you deal with will make your life easier, more productive, and more profitable. Most - but not all.

[Ed. Note: Michael Masterson is one of the core contributors behind ETR's new Internet business-building program. If you're interested in profiting from all the benefits of starting an online business, click here to join our priority notification list.]

== Highly Recommended ==

Make Over 541% from the Silver Supply Crunch!

If you can spot which commodities are undergoing huge supply shortages, you’re on track to make huge gains. Consider:

  • Uranium Prices soared over 1,200% in the past five years as new nuclear power plants went online.
  • Copper prices have zoomed over 426% as world demand hits unprecedented levels.

But had you owned resource companies that took advantage of these supply crunches, you could’ve made MUCH more.

Click here right now to learn the name of one company poised to make early investors over 541% from the silver supply crunch.

Reader Feedback: “I discovered a new world of information.”

"I love your newsletter and I try to follow some of your advice. I’m not a high-educated woman, but I’m very curious about everything and I try to be updated with what is going on around me.

"I’m originally from Brazil, living in Georgia now, and when I learned a little English and started doing my own research on health, I discovered a new world of information right from the source in front of my eyes.

"I’ve learned a lot about health and economics from your site. Thank you very much for your good work."

- Angela Ferreira
Marietta, GA

Leaving Voice Mails Like a Pro

By Will Newman

I know you’ve listened to voice mail messages where you found yourself waving your arms to get the caller to get on with the point he was trying to make.

This type of long-winded message is not only unprofessional, it wastes time for the person you’re calling - something you do NOT want to do with a customer or client.

Here’s a 30-second voice mail strategy/script that guarantees you’ll leave short, informative messages your listeners will appreciate.

  1. Before you make the call, write down the key points you want to make - ideally, no more than two of them.
  2. Speak slowly.
  3. Give your first and last name. Spell your last name if it’s a tough one.
  4. Give your telephone number with area code next… SLOWLY.
  5. Leave a brief message.
  6. Say whether you’ll call back or wish to be called back. If asking to be called back, leave the times you can be reached.
  7. Give your phone number once again… SLOWLY.
  8. Thank the person you called.

"Hello, Mr. Smith. This is Will Newman at 555-555-1234. I’d like to discuss the project you posted on the AWAI Direct Response Job Board. I’ll call back tomorrow at 3 p.m. Eastern time. But if it’s more convenient for you, I can be reached between 7 a.m. and noon weekdays at 555-555-1234. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you."

[Ed. Note: Will Newman is the editor of AWAI's The Golden Thread online newsletter - a free weekly alert loaded with writing and marketing secrets, tips, and insights.]

The 5 Best Ways to Do Interval Training

By Craig Ballantyne

If you’re doing the same long, slow, boring cardio workout over and over, don’t expect results. You have to change your program, work out with more intensity, and do shorter, less-frequent workouts - using intervals.

Intense workouts like this will lead to more fat burning and more fat loss. And, in fact, Professor Steve Boucher of the University of New South Wales in Australia believes that interval training allows you to achieve the magic of spot reduction, because intervals specifically work to burn stomach fat.

You can do interval training by using the stairmaster, rower, elliptical, and crosstrainer machines or by swimming (if you’re already a competent swimmer). But here are the top five methods I’ve seen work time and time again for men and women to lose stomach and chest fat:

  • Sprinting outdoors (and hills might be the absolute best place to do it)
  • Strongman movements (farmer’s walks, tire flips, car pushing)
  • Kettlebell swings, dumbbell swings, sandbag swings, or dumbbell squats
  • Bodyweight interval circuits
  • Treadmill running
  • Stationary cycling (upright preferred)

[Ed. Note: Fitness expert Craig Ballantyne is the creator of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss system. If you want a free online source of information, motivation, and social support to help you improve your health, lose weight, and get fit, sign up for ETR's FREE natural health e-letter.]

It’s Good to Know: Product Recalls

Massive recalls of lead-laden children’s toys from China have been in the news quite a bit lately. But the potential for lead poisoning is just one of many reasons for product recalls in the United States. Burns, lacerations, electrocution, drowning, strangulation, and choking hazards due to faulty products are common.

For an up-to-date list of products that have been recalled for safety reasons, check out the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website at cpsc.gov.

(Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission)

== Highly Recommended ==

Do You Need To Start Out Small?

If you don’t have an Internet business yet, or if your company is smaller than $1 million then you need something different… something that lets you start off small.

One man I know turned $10 into over $500,000. How’s that for starting small!

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

- Patrick Coffey

Word to the Wise: Paroxysm 

A "paroxysm" (PARE-uk-siz-um) - from the Greek for "to irritate" - is a sudden, violent outburst.

Example (as used by Dominique Browning in a New York Times review of An American History by Howard P. Chudacoff): "Lately, we seem to be in a paroxysm of worry about the way [our children] spend their time. We’re worried about their imaginations, about their sense of fun, and about the way they play."

[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

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