Does It Take Money to Make Money?

Issue #2352

• WEALTHY: "Wayne ’s World" for entrepreneurs (Paul Lawrence)
• HEALTHY: An easy way to regain your upper-body strength (Craig Ballantyne)
• WISE: Anita Roddick on entrepreneurship

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• 5 ways to show your boss you have superstar potential (Judith Strauss)
• Strike this faddish word from your vocabulary (Don Hauptman)
• It’s Fun to Know… about portraits on coins
• Add "disport" to your vocabulary

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"Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking."

Anita Roddick 

Does It Take Money to Make Money?

By Paul Lawrence

"I’m just so tired of working for someone else and making them rich," lamented my friend Mitch.

"You should start a small business on the side," I replied. "Then, once it’s big enough, you can quit your job."

Mitch shook his head glumly. "I don’t have enough money to start my own business, so I’m stuck."

I get so frustrated when I hear people say that. Now don’t get me wrong. I admit that having substantial cash to begin a new business can be very helpful. But having a lot of money on the line also means you’re taking a bigger risk.

The truth is, money just doesn’t matter all that much when it comes to starting a business. I know from firsthand experience that it’s possible to start a profitable business with virtually nothing.

When I began my entrepreneurial career, I was a college student living at home with my mom. And while there was enough money to pay the bills, there wasn’t much more than that. I had a part-time job, but I was desperate to find a way to make more money. And though I had zero start-up capital, I had no trouble starting a pool service business. Before I knew it, I was earning three times as much as I had been making at my part-time job.

That business made over $100,000 its first year. Since then, I’ve started more than 20 profitable enterprises with under $100 in initial capital. So having minimal capital should never stop you from starting a new business. And it shouldn’t stop you from marketing your business either.

Some people assume that they need to throw around big piles of cash in order to "properly" market a business. But a little creativity can go a lot further than money. Here, for example, is one zero-cost strategy I used…

When I was looking for ways to promote my ballroom dance instruction business, I discovered that most cable companies have a public access channel that’s available to almost anyone in their viewing area. And there’s more to public access TV than nutty shows like "Wayne ’s World." If you create a format for a show that’s informative, it can become quite popular and bring in lots of business.

Keep in mind that cable access is supposed to benefit the community, so the cable companies can be finicky about too much blatant self-promotion. But they do allow you to say who you are or what company you’re with, so people can find you.

One exciting thing about these shows is that the cable company bears the expense of producing them. For my show, I brought on guests and gave them a dance lesson on the air. I would arrange to have my guests meet me at the cable company’s studio, where they had a director, three camera operators, and other stage help to produce the show. And I didn’t have to pay anything for it.

You’d be amazed by how many people watch cable access. I was getting stopped on the street by people who were excited to meet that "dancing guy" from television. The show increased my business by about 25 percent. (I know that because I asked every new client how they heard about me.) And remember, I got this bump without spending a penny.

Not only did I get a steady stream of new clients, but having a television program gave me more credibility as an expert dance instructor. I began including the fact that I hosted a local ballroom dance TV show in my marketing materials, and I mentioned it whenever a prospective client asked about my credentials.

Almost anyone with a business that has a local customer base can take advantage of this strategy. If you’re an attorney, you could have a program where you answer call-in legal questions. If you sell real estate, you could interview guest experts on your local market. If you’re a copywriter or public relations specialist, you could provide information to help small businesses get more out of their advertising budgets. If you’re a marriage counselor, you could work with couples on the air. If you run a restaurant, you could give cooking lessons. The possibilities are endless.

If you’re interested in having your own local cable access show, here are the basic steps:

1. Contact the cable companies in your area to find out about their local access programming.
   You’ll want to know about any rules and regulations they have. If there are any costs that you’ll have to cover. When they shoot and how you get a slot on their schedule.

2. Come up with a format that will be entertaining but also have the potential to bring you business.
   Interacting with guests on your show is a good way to demonstrate your expertise. And you won’t have any trouble finding local experts who will be excited to appear on television. Getting the exposure will often be enough of a payment for them. Or maybe you can do what I did and give your guests free instruction in your area of expertise in return for their participation.

3. Plan the show.
   A half-hour can be a long time if you don’t plan it out well.

   When professionals plan a television program, they plot it out visually on a "storyboard." You can use a similar, though less formal, tool.

   Let’s say you will be producing a 30-minute show. Take a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line across it. Mark off five-minute increments, and then write in what the audience will be seeing during each of those increments. The first five minutes will probably be your introduction. The next 10, you might spend interviewing guest number one. The next 10, you might spend with guest number two. And then you’ll give a five-minute closing.

4. Do it!
   Most of the cable companies that produce public access programs are used to working with people who aren’t experienced, and they can help you a lot.

   Help them by making sure that you and your guests arrive on set early. Have an outline of the show for the director, so he understands what will be shot. Bring any props or other items you might need on the air. And if you’re going to be interviewing your guests, be prepared with a list of questions.

[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is the creator of the Quick and Easy Microbusiness System, ETR’s program for starting a business for under $100. Producing your own cable access show is just one method he teaches in his Cheapskate Marketing Program. Check out the details here.]

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How to Let a Mentor Find You

By Judith Strauss, ETR’s Senior Editor

In Greek mythology, when Odysseus sailed off to Troy he entrusted the raising of his son Telemachus to his old friend Mentor. Mentor’s primary job was to make sure Telemachus grew up to be a wise leader, which he did by teaching, counseling, challenging, and encouraging him.

That’s what your mentor will do for you while you’re building your career.

Michael Masterson has often written about the lessons he’s learned from his own mentors. And he’s given you specific advice on how to reach out to knowledgeable people in your industry to find one of your own.

He’s also written about the mentor/mentee relationship from another perspective, in articles about how important it is for entrepreneurs to find and groom superstar employees. But maybe you passed over those articles, because you didn’t recognize how that advice applied to you.

Well, think about it. When your boss is looking for a superstar to help him grow his business - and eventually take over his responsibilities so he can move on to other things that interest him - he’s looking for you. He just doesn’t know it yet.

So, yes, write letters to successful business leaders who might be interested in helping you achieve your career goals. But don’t let that blind you to an opportunity that may be as close as a few desks away from yours.

Turn yourself into an outstanding employee - and your boss’s number one protege - by following this advice from Automatic Wealth for Grads… and Anyone Else Just Starting Out:

• Understand how you can help your boss be more successful at his job. (Hint: Ask him.)
• Focus on what’s important to him. (Hint: It will have something to do with improving the company’s bottom line.)
• Don’t be afraid to say no to requests that will not contribute to his (and your) success.
• Keep improving your knowledge and skills.

And, very important, communicate your progress. Michael puts it this way:

"Doing your job well is good. And getting better at it as time passes is better. But unless you let your boss and other powerful people at work know about your progress, you can’t be sure they will help you. Make it a habit to update your superiors, in writing, on the challenges you face and the objectives you’ve achieved."

For more details on helping your mentor find you… get the book.

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How Many Push-Ups Can You Do?

By Craig Ballantyne

The push-up is the all-American exercise. Too bad most Americans would have a hard time cranking out a single repetition, let alone the number they should be able to do for their age.

It’s time to start re-gaining your upper-body strength. And in a challenge I put together for Men’s Health Magazine last summer, I set the bar very high. Here, for example, are the numbers I gave for men under the age of 45 to determine their level of fitness:

• Able to do less than 20 push-ups = out of shape
• Able to do 20-34 push-ups = average
• Able to do 35-49 push-ups = fit
• Able to do more than 50 push-ups = "Men’s Health" fit

(For a woman, cut the number of repetitions by 60 percent. So, to get an "average" fitness score, a woman under the age of 45 would need to be able to do at least 12 push-ups.)

If you are a beginner, start with kneeling push-ups to build strength. Do one set of 5-10 reps today, and add one set every other day until you are able to do three sets of 10 kneeling push-ups.

Once you are able to do that, you’ll be ready for the next level: lowering yourself to the ground for a 3-count, then relaxing onto your knees and getting back up to the start position. Work your way up to 8 repetitions… and then you’ll be ready to do full push-ups.

If you’re already doing full push-ups, here’s how to improve your fitness score: Start by doing half the number of repetitions you can do, rest 30 seconds, repeat that same number of push-ups, rest 30 seconds again, and then repeat the push-ups. Do this two or three times per week, decreasing the rest period by 10 seconds each week. Retest your max after three weeks.

[Ed. Note: Fitness expert Craig Ballantyne is the creator of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss system. For 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.]

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The Language Perfectionist: Avoid Adverbial Awkwardness

By Don Hauptman

Consider these three sentences, found in articles I clipped from newspapers:

• "The poet Phillip Larkin famously declared that the English discovered sex in 1963."
• "[Eartha] Kitt once famously told Lady Bird Johnson at a White House luncheon that the Vietnam War was irrational."
• "Donald A. Norman, a Northwestern University professor and author of Emotional Design and other books, has famously argued that attractive things work better."

Why is the word famously used to describe these utterances? Famously is an adverb, which modifies a verb. Were these statements made in a famous manner? Not likely. Rather, the writers mean that the statements themselves are famous. So why not say that?

The use of famously in this sense is not only incorrect but trendy and pretentious. Linguists call such usages "vogue words." Oddly enough, I could find only a couple of criticisms of this misuse in the many dictionaries and usage guides I consulted. The authorities may need time to catch up with fashions.

In the meanwhile, I recommend avoiding the word. As a poster on a blog commented, with evident irritation: "The word ‘famously’ should be drawn and quartered, burned at the stake, then fed to the pigs…. The word provides neither light nor heat."

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was a direct-response copywriter. He is author of the wordplay books Cruel and Unusual Puns and Acronymania, and is now writing a new book that also blends language and humor.]

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It’s Fun to Know: The Portraits on Coins

You may not have noticed, but the portraits of presidents and other dignitaries on paper money are usually full-face views, while the portraits on coins are almost always in profile. Turns out it is difficult to design a recognizable frontal portrait on the thin surface of a coin. It is also difficult to replicate such a delicate design on the high-speed machines that mint coins.

(Source: The Straight Dope)

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== Highly Recommended ==

You CAN learn to become wealthy!

Success is not encoded in an individual’s DNA and does not transfer from father to son or mother to daughter. It is a process - and learning the process is a major KEY to setting up for success.

Today I’d like to offer you two complimentary reports to help you get started: “How To Get What You Need To Succeed In Life" and "Simple Guidelines for Creating Abundance In Your Life."

There will be many steps you take towards your goals where it will feel like you’re taking two steps forward and one step back. You will have breakthroughs, triumphs, and opportunities to overcome adversity.

But to keep moving forward, you just might need a friendly kick-in-the-pants every once in a while. Here’s how to stay energized towards action and success every day of the year.

- Charlie Byrne

Word to the Wise: Disport

To "disport" (dis-PORT) - from the French for "to divert" - is to amuse oneself in a light or lively manner.

Example (as used by Eliot Gregory in Worldly Ways and Byways): "Few of the ‘carriage ladies and gentlemen’ who disport themselves in Newport during the summer months… realize that their daintily shod feet have been treading historic ground, or care to cast a thought back to the past."

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008