Can Niceness and Firmness Coexist?

by Early To Rise (10/24/2007)

Issue #2181

  • WEALTHY: Does giving 100% mean giving it 24 hours a day? (Michael Masterson)
  • HEALTHY: Kick up the power of your food with this spicy condiment (Kelley Herring)
  • WISE: Frances Bacon on being nice to strangers

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

  • What determines your degree of success? Certainly not this (Robert Ringer)
  • When a 300% ROI isn’t as good as you might think (Wendy Montes de Oca)
  • It’s Good to Know… about getting it for cheap
  • Add "gnomic" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

"I lost my fear, opened my mind and listened and I cannot believe the result."

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…

Dear Michael Masterson: Is moonlighting unethical?

"ETR is wonderful. I read it every day, learn a lot, and enjoy it. Thank you and your team.

"Many articles in ETR advocate getting another job, working extra hours after a regular job, and working on weekends. Any moonlighting one does may be legal, but is unethical.

"One can be physically or mentally tired after moonlighting and still be ‘working’ for the primary employer with less than 100 percent efficiency. Think about a night job somewhere and then a day job somewhere else! How can someone give 100 percent to either the day job or the night job? And that is not fair.

"What are your thoughts? My question is about people who are not self-employed and are getting salaries for their job(s)."

- Bihari Mehta
Anaheim, CA

Dear Bihari,

I understand your question and admire your ambition - to give 100 percent to your employer. But good employers don’t expect 100 percent of all your time and energy. Should you neglect your family and friends? Should you neglect your intellectual life? Your education? Your hobbies? Your charities?

If you are an executive who makes a yearly salary and is not paid by the hour, then you should work more than the 40 hours you are paid for. But that extra time is an investment you are making in your future. And if the time you invest is helpful to your employer, he has an obligation to repay you for it with more income and responsibility.

If you have that kind of relationship with the company you work for, it makes sense to invest some of your extra hours with them. But if you are not sure they will give you the opportunities you want, it might be better to spend some of your extra time moonlighting.

In choosing a side job, it behooves you to select a line of work that will teach you a skill that you can use to further your career. Any job in sales or marketing is usually a good idea. In the beginning of my career, I spent several years moonlighting as a salesman of pots and pans and then aluminum siding. Those experiences taught me a great deal about why and how people buy things.

Another great moonlighting option would be to work in an entrepreneurial business, especially if you have direct contact with someone who can teach you the ropes and introduce you to industry secrets.

We all have the same 365 days a year - each filled with just 24 hours. How wisely you use the extra time you have will determine how much money you make now and how much wealth you acquire in the future.

- Michael Masterson

[Ed. Note: Have a question for Michael Masterson? Write to him at AskMichael@ETRfeedback.com.]

 "If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them."

Francis Bacon

Can Niceness and Firmness Coexist?

By Robert Ringer

While channel-surfing recently, I happened to catch a glimpse of Tony Dungy sitting on the sidelines during a football game. Dungy, of course, is the coach of last year’s Super Bowl champs, the Indianapolis Colts. It crossed my mind that rarely does a coach in professional sports have the majority of fans rooting more for him than for his team, but there’s no question that this has been the case with Dungy for many years.

Dungy and his Baltimore Colts - oops, I mean Indianapolis Colts (still haven’t gotten over the Colts’ middle-of-the night escape from Baltimore in 1984) - are off to another great start, and only the three-time-champion New England Patriots appear to stand in the way of their winning a second straight Super Bowl.

You don’t have to meet Dungy personally to know that he’s a genuinely nice guy. Your television screen doesn’t lie. Dungy is soft-spoken, respectful, and gracious in both victory and defeat. He sums up his nice-guy philosophy simply by saying, "If you’re prepared, you don’t have to yell and scream."

Now, compare Dungy to the legendary Leo Durocher. Durocher was the in-your-face manager of the New York Giants when Bobby Thomson hit his "shot-heard-round-the-world" pennant-winning homerun against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951. He was one of the most quotable characters in baseball history, and will always be remembered as the person who said "Nice guys finish last."

Durocher’s quote has become part of the American lexicon because many people believe it to be true. But is it? Is Tony Dungy an anomaly? Are nice guys destined to fare poorly in life? Does it take a boorish personality to succeed?

There’s no question that some of the most successful people in our culture have been bombastic, egotistical, cold-hearted, and/or just plain nasty. Coaches are perhaps the most notorious examples in this respect - Bobby Knight, Woody Hayes, and Bill Parcells are just a few of the names that come to mind.

In business, Donald Trump is the poster boy for nastiness. And in the media world, broadcasters such as Katie Couric and Dan Rather have never seemed to be able to hide their snarls, even while on camera.

Now, here’s the good news: Being mean-spirited is not a mandatory component of success. We know this to be true, because plenty of nice guys have succeeded on a big scale. In this regard, two people whom I have had the pleasure of knowing come to mind.

One is Hugh Downs, 86 years young and still living life to the fullest. In all my dealings with Hugh, I have found him to be a gracious, polite, and kind man. It’s no wonder he has appeared on television more than any other person in history.

Ditto the late Merv Griffin. I was a guest on Merv’s talk show twice, and, as with Downs, it’s no surprise to me that his popularity stood the test of time. When he interviewed me, I felt like he was genuinely interested in what I was saying.

I won’t deny that many obnoxious people become successful. But don’t be misled into believing that their turn-off personalities are responsible for their success. In truth, success is separate and apart from one’s disposition.

What determines your degree of success is how well you execute the basics - like being prepared… your willingness to stick your neck out and take bold action… paying attention to detail… and finding opportunities in perceived problems.

The primary reason for embracing positive personality traits such as calmness, graciousness, humility, and kindness is to enjoy the mental rewards of such intangibles as peace of mind, self-esteem, and self-respect. If you’re going to succeed, why not feel good about yourself in the process? And, as a bonus, you might just experience less stress and live a longer and healthier life.

We should always keep in mind that we tend to attract people who are most like us. And surrounding yourself with a cadre of Tony Dungys makes life a whole lot more enjoyable than having to deal with a bunch of Leo Durochers day in and day out. So, the reality is that attracting decent people into your life begins with you.

One last point: Being nice does not mean that you have to let people take advantage of you. On the contrary, the ideal is a combination of niceness and firmness. I bring this up because I believe that many people think they have to be pushovers in their business and personal lives in order to be liked.

Nothing could be further from the truth. People will like you if you’re thoughtful and polite, which is a good thing for both you and them. But, at the same time, they will also respect you if you are firm when it comes to doing what is in your best interests and sticking with your decisions.

In other words, being a good guy and being tough are not mutually exclusive objectives. It’s just as easy to say no in a calm way, with a smile on your face, as it is to say it with a scowl. And why not make life easy?

[Ed. Note: Take a gigantic step toward achieving all your personal and professional goals - faster than you ever imagined - with Robert Ringer's best-selling personal-development program. And sign up for his Voice of Sanity e-letter here.]

== Highly Recommended ==

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Reader Feedback: "Your article was perfect for me and for my sanity!"

"I read your article about ‘employees liking you‘ after terminating a contract with one of my staff. I’d been feeling bad about it because of her reaction to my decision, in which she attacked me personally for holding her accountable. She has been a part of my staff for three years, so she was ’shocked’ that I would hold her to the high standards I have set for myself and for everyone on my staff. She demanded ‘respect and equality,’ but wasn’t even showing up for work!

"I know I have done the right thing for my business, but I still felt bad about how it made her feel. Your article was perfect for me and for my sanity."

- Eileen Warner
Salt Lake City, UT

[Ed. Note: Want to get your name and opinions published in ETR? Let us know how reading ETR has helped you - maybe even changed your life. Send your comments to ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your name and hometown... and we may print your e-mail in a future issue.]

What’s Your Marketing ROI?

By Wendy Montes de Oca

Marketing metrics - measurements of how well your marketing efforts are performing - are a critical part of any online marketing campaign. Knowing the key performance indicators for your marketing efforts can help you save money and show you just where your campaign needs improvement.

One of the most important metrics you should know is your marketing ROI (return on investment) - in other words, your revenues divided by the cost of your marketing effort. This calculation will help you determine how much money you’re making on your advertising investment.

Ideally, you want to get back 100 percent of the investment you made. So if you’re not getting a 100 percent ROI - with your front-end or your back-end efforts - you need to consider marketing elsewhere.

There are inexpensive ways to get your ads in front of potential customers. For instance, you can reach a broad audience by marketing through an ad network like Advertising.com and ValueClick.com. Since ad networks usually buy bulk ad units from a variety of popular websites, they can charge a low CPM (cost per thousand impressions) rate.

You can also go directly to the websites that appeal to the same audience that would be potentially good customers for you and ask if they have remnant ad space available. Remnant space is an advertising unit that’s less popular than other ad units and is unsold. You can usually buy remnant space at a discount, so, depending on your marketing goals, this might be a money-saving method to try.

Then there are blogs and blog networks, like blogads.com. I’ve been leveraging the power of blog advertising for several years now, and have always been pleased with the results. The key is to find the right blog audience (which on a blog network is relatively easy, since sites are sorted by genre), a high number of impressions (illustrating blog traffic), and an attractive CPM. There are some blogs where my ROI was in excess of 150 percent and my CPM was only $0.17!

On the other hand, if you have an ROI of 200 percent, 300 percent, or higher, you must be doing something right. But it’s also a flag that you’re not marketing enough. You’re taking in good revenues but not re-investing some of those dollars back into your overall marketing budget.

[Ed. Note: Wendy Montes de Oca, ETR's Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, is a core contributor to ETR's new Internet business-building program, designed to show you how to take an online business from concept to execution and beyond. If you're interested in profiting from all the benefits of starting an online business, click here.] 

A Hot Way to Fight Cancer

By Kelley Herring

Do you savor the heat of horseradish? If so, you may be giving your body an extra layer of armor to fend off cancer.

New research published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that horseradish contains 10 times more cancer-fighting nutrients (glucosinolates) than broccoli. And it doesn’t take much.In fact, as little as one gram (less than a teaspoon) can provide a significant benefit.

Unlike most foods, which are best enjoyed fresh, horseradish has more anti-cancer properties when processed. When prepared, enzymes in horseradish combine with the glucosinolates and break down into the compounds that are nutritionally beneficial.

So go ahead and add an extra dollop of horseradish to your shrimp cocktail and apply liberally to your roasted wild salmon. You’ll add wonderful (calorie-free!) flavor and boost your body’s defenses against cancer.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), a multimedia company that educates the public on how foods promote health and protect against disease, and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series, including Eat to Fight Cancer. You can learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR's free natural health e-letter.]

It’s Good to Know: Getting It for Cheap

You might think bargaining only works at the flea market, but a new study from Consumer Reports found that almost all the study participants (more than 90 percent) who asked for discounts on items like furniture, electronics, and even medical bills were successful at getting a lower price at least once in the last three years.

The organization recommends asking for a better price when making any large purchase, especially with items already on clearance or with a short shelf life. The key to success is being prepared with competitors’ prices and focusing your efforts on store managers (who usually have more authority to reduce prices) rather than lowly sales clerks.

(Source: Reuters)

== Highly Recommended ==

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If you’re like me then the simple sight of a police car in your rear-view mirror is enough to send shivers down your spine, but…

When the lights start flashing…

There Goes That Safe Driver Discount… Right? Not anymore…

Click here to read more.

- Patrick Coffey

Word to the Wise: Gnomic

"Gnomic" (NOH-mik) - from the Greek for "intelligence" - means uttering, containing, or characterized by maxims.

Example (as used by Gary Kamiya in a Salon article): "But the young man’s gnomic utterances - that life is ‘a journey’ and ‘a big circle’ - might reflect not Buddhist-tinged wisdom so much as the fact that he has been skating around in circles for years."

[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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