Issue #2235
- WEALTHY: Is there a point where you should STOP improving your product? (Bob Bly)
- HEALTHY: The best way to lose your belly bulge (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Salvador Dali on perfection
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Get motivated and change your life with your third gift from ETR (Patrick Coffey)
- 10 little things Andrew loves about the holidays
- Breaking down the regifting taboo (Bob Cox)
- It’s Fun to Know… about the word "regift"
- Add "neologism" to your vocabulary
The Early to Rise 2007 End-of-Year Blowout Sale
What are your resolutions for 2008?
To increase your salary by $15,000? To finally start your own profitable online side-business? To become a better and more persuasive communicator?
Whatever your dreams, hopes and aspirations may be… ETR is here to help!
As 2007 comes to a close, we’ve compiled a dozen of our best success programs into a year-end blowout sale with our lowest prices ever… so there’s no better time for you to start making your dreams come true in 2008 than right now.
This offer ends when the New Year begins, so don’t put it off and risk paying more a few days from now. Act today and you’ll get the best deal we’ve ever offered, guaranteed.
Stop by our ETR 2007 End-of-Year Blowout Sale now.
- MaryEllen Tribby
"Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it."
Salvador Dali
Is Donald Hall Insane?
By Bob Bly
Donald Hall said in a recent interview with The Writer magazine that most of his poems go through something like 100 drafts. He says none of his published poems have gone through less than 50… and that he revised one of his poems 400 times.
This may make artistic sense, but it hardly makes economic sense. (To be fair, neither does writing poetry.)
Let’s be generous and say that Hall is paid at the top of the scale and gets $50 for one of his poems. Let’s also assume that he’s fast… and each draft only takes him a half-hour to revise and rewrite.
With 100 drafts, that’s a minimum of 50 hours of labor to produce one poem paying $50. That comes out to a dollar an hour – or less than one-fifth of minimum wage.
Donald Hall apparently doesn’t care about money.
But I am betting you do. So, like many productive people who produce a product or service, you’re conflicted…
Like Donald Hall, you’d like nothing better than to work on your current project – whether creating a website or writing a sales letter – for weeks on end. On the other hand, the more time you spend, the lower your return on investment… and the longer it takes to finish the work.
I think I have the solution – a tool to guide you on how much time to put it… and when to stop and consider your work to be "finished." It’s called the "Exponential Curve of Excellence," and is shown in the graph below:
As the Exponential Curve of Excellence illustrates, the quality of the work you produce – the degree of perfection – increases with time and effort.
Everyone knows that.
However, quality does not improve with time spent in a linear fashion, but according to what mathematicians call an "exponential curve."
As you can see, the earliest efforts produce the largest improvements in quality. This is true with writing, design, programming, art, musical performance, sports, and just about everything else.
As you get closer to perfection, the curve flattens out. You still get improvement with time and effort. But the amount of improvement attained per unit of effort diminishes with each additional hour or day invested.
The value of the Exponential Curve of Excellence is that it gives us a clear guideline for how much time and effort we should invest in a project… and when we should stop polishing and just put it out there.
Many people, because they are so pressed for time, do not put enough effort into their work. They stop at Point A on the Exponential Curve. And so the quality of their work – and the results it produces – is not as good as it should be. On the opposite end of the scale, perfectionists go to Point C and beyond.
The problem with perfection is twofold. First, if you are a perfectionist you will be unproductive. Second, the market usually is not willing to pay for perfection.
Excellence, yes. Perfection, no.
As a result, your economic rewards will not be commensurate with your efforts.
So how much work should you put in? And when should you stop?
When you get to Point A, where you would normally stop, push yourself to do one more draft. One more version. Work at it one more day or week, getting to Point B on the Exponential Curve of Excellence.
At Point B, you will still get significant improvement in quality in proportion to the extra effort. You will produce work significantly better than the competition. And you will be rewarded for your efforts by your boss, customers, or clients.
So improving quality with a reasonable effort isn’t rocket science. It’s really as simple as A-B-C.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter, the author of more than 70 books, and co-creator of ETR's Direct Marketing Masters Edition program.
For more information on Bob's "Internet marketing retirement plan," click here now.]
What Would You Do with a $3,000,000 Payday on a $5,000 Investment?
“You should hear about the ones I missed,” Dr. McDougal said as he pointed to a page on the statement. “I bought this company for less than $1 a share… sold it later for around a 200% gain.
“’I thought I did pretty well, too. But in the years after I sold, the stock ran up to $300 a share AFTER a 2 for 1 split. If you want to lie awake at night… Just play with the numbers on a 60,000% winner.”
He’s right. Wondering what to do with a $3,000,000 payday on a $5,000 investment could certainly keep anyone up at night!
And now he’s ready to lead a group of investors to gains like 3,851%, 2,912%, even 2,445%… returns he has already enjoyed over the past five years.
Read his special report here and find out how you can pick up multi-thousand percent gains while you relax.
Are You Trapped on Someday Isle?
By Patrick Coffey, ETR’s Director of Internet Marketing
I’ll never forget when Brian Tracy, one of the world’s top business and motivational experts, caught the attention of everyone in the room at our 2005 Bootcamp with this powerful question: "Are you trapped on Someday Isle?"
Just think about it…
How many times have you said "Someday I’ll start a business"… "Someday I’ll start going to the gym"… "Someday I’ll move to the peace and quiet of the country"…
We’ve all used "someday" as an excuse for not taking action. Action is the key, but where do we find that spark to finally get us off our butts? And what about when we hit a roadblock that stops us dead in our tracks? Where do the experts get the motivation to continue?
You can find out how ETR’s experts get that extra motivation by clicking here to get your third free gift: "How to Get Motivated, Change Your Life, and Start Living in 11 Simple Steps."
Fight Stomach Fat
You can see it just by walking down Main Street, USA: Americans are getting bigger and fatter. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention, between 1994 and 2004 the average waist size increased from 96 cm (about 38 inches) to 100.4 cm (about 39.5 inches) in men, and from 89 cm (about 35 inches) to 94 cm (about 37 inches) in women. The rate of stomach-fat obesity also increased, from 29.5 percent to 42.4 percent among men and from 47.0 percent to 61.3 percent among women.
More than 50 percent of Americans have to lose their gut in order to improve their health. What’s the solution? Professor Steve Boucher, an Australian expert on interval training, says that "high intensity intermittent exercise may result in greater fat loss in the abdomen."
This is welcome news for all men and women who want to achieve a lean midsection. They can say goodbye to slow cardio or endless crunches.
If you are new to interval training, start conservatively. Begin by doing one-minute rounds at a slightly-harder-than-normal exercise pace. Then spend one minute at a slow pace as a recovery interval. Do up to six intervals per workout, going between the hard exercise and the easy exercise for a total of 12 minutes. Always include a four-minute warm up and four-minute cooldown in each 20-minute session.
As your fitness improves, you can increase your interval intensity. Perform this type of workout three times a week after your resistance-training workout.
[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.]
10 Little Things I Love About the Holidays
By Andrew M. Gordon, ETR’s Investment Director
1. The day after the first snowfall. With a little luck, it comes to Baltimore before or during the Hanukah/Christmas holidays. The white snow against a brisk blue sky is the best.
2. Chocolate everywhere. It’s almost too easy.
3. Wrapping. I’m so bad at it, my giftees think the big holes and rips are an artistic statement against our excessively ordered lifestyles. Yeah, that’s it.
4. Watching everyone’s expressions as they unwrap their presents. They’ve made some of my best holiday pictures.
5. Doing my food and gift shopping at the same time. "I’ll have a rotisserie chicken with that diamond bracelet, please." (I shop at Sam’s.)
6. Getting the annual letter from my old friend Jeanette. (I met her in London 32 years ago.) It’s light and breezy and SHORT… and she makes fun of her kids’ "accomplishments" in it. It’s the opposite of ALL the other letters I get this time of year.
7. Chanting the traditional prayers while the menorah candles are being lit. I get to sing off-key and nobody says a word.
8. Sweet potato latkes. My brother makes them every year and invites us over for a nosh.
9. The smell of Frasier Fir. We have dogs, and their smell permeates every nook and cranny of the house. Except for two weeks during the holidays.
10. The menorah game. Each person picks the candle they think will last the longest. The winner gets bragging rights for the night. My kids used to get so excited playing this simple game. Now that they’re "too old" to play, I miss it.
"Making" Money by Regifting
By Bob Cox
The basic concept of regifting is simple: You get a gift that you don’t want, and you give it to someone else. The obvious benefit is that you avoid the hassle of returning it or the guilty feeling of knowing it will never be used. And it saves you money.
So that’s regifting in the classic sense. But you can also "make" money with regifting. Here are two ways:
- Instead of giving it away, sell it. If you have a platter you’ll never use… a sweater you’ll never wear … a chess set you’ll never open… sell it on eBay or CraigsList. Someone else will get a bargain, and you’ll have some extra money in your pocket.
- Turn an unwanted gift into a tax deduction. Donate it to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or another charitable organization that can sell it, auction it, or use it. Ask for a receipt when you make the donation, and file it with your tax-prep papers.
[Ed. Note: Bob Cox is the creator of The Billionaire Way and the voice of ETR's Total Success Achievement Program. Members get weekly motivational Power Surge Messages packed with advice on how to accomplish their goals... twice-monthly teleseminars with Bob and Patrick Coffey... and personal coaching calls. Click here to learn how you can achieve all your goals in 2008.]
It’s Fun to Know: The Origin of the Word "Regift"
Though the practice of "regifting" has probably been around as long as fruitcake, the word itself was coined in a Seinfeld episode – titled "The Label Maker" – that first aired on January 19, 1995. That same episode gave us another neologism: "degift."
Remember this conversation between George and Jerry…
George: The wedding is off. Now you can go to the Super Bowl.
Jerry: I can’t call Tim Whatley and ask for the tickets back.
George: You just gave them to him two days ago, he’s gotta give you a grace period.
Jerry: Are you even vaguely familiar with the concept of giving? There’s no grace period.
George: Well, didn’t he regift the label maker?
Jerry: Possibly.
George: Well, if he can regift, why can’t you degift?
Jerry: You may have a point.
George: I have a point, I have a point.
When the CAR gets stuck in a rut you can call AAA – But who do you call when YOU get in a rut?
Feeling like your life has stalled? Wondering where all the excitement has gone? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. All of us get dragged down in a rut now and then.
But you’ll get back out on the highway of life a LOT faster if you have a friendly “towing service” looking out for you 24×7.
So put on your seat belts, rev up those engines… and let’s get going with our motivational kick-in-the-pants program.
- Charlie Byrne
Word to the Wise: Neologism
A "neologism" (nee-OL-uh-jiz-um) is a new word or expression. It is derived from the Greek for "new" + "word."
Example (as used in "It’s Fun to Know," above):"… the word ["regift"] was coined in a Seinfeld episode… that first aired on January 19, 1995. That same episode gave us another neologism: ‘degift.’"
[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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