6 Strategies That Make Writing Easy

Issue #2446

• WEALTHY: Wait ’til Christmas to benefit from this sector (Rick Pendergraft)
• HEALTHY: 11 natural energizers (Dr. Jonny Bowden)
• WISE: Ralph Waldo Emerson on speed

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• 6 strategies that make writing easy (Clayton Makepeace)
• $1.49 million a year for mastering one thing (Suzanne Richardson)
• It’s Good to Know… how to prevent hearing loss
• Add “panoply” to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

The Missing Piece of the Internet-Riches Jigsaw Finally Revealed…

All this time, so many of the “gurus” kept this a secret, while they use it to make themselves big online profits.

I’ve had enough, and I’m telling all.   If you want to make money online, all it takes is 3 easy steps and a push of a button. No kidding. And there’s nothing stopping you from doing this time and again, until you are tired of the profits that come in. You’ll be shocked to see how much money is out there for you, and how you were kept in the dark all this time.

To discover the truth and get started on the road to making real money, click here…

Commodities Falling, but Prices Are Not

By Rick Pendergraft

Commodity prices (especially oil, gold, and silver) have been falling sharply since July 15. Unfortunately, prices at the producer level and the consumer level are still rising.

Commodity prices had been soaring since last November, and producers couldn’t raise the prices of their end products fast enough to keep up. So you can understand if they are hesitant to freeze prices or lower them now that commodity prices are falling.

Combined with inflation running high and consumer confidence running low, this means the retail sector will struggle in the coming months. Most of the companies in the sector have already reported second-quarter earnings. And most were able to meet or beat expectations. However, a number of them have lowered expectations for the third quarter.

Unfortunately, there isn’t an ETF that makes money when the retail sector goes down. However, staying away from the retail sector can benefit your portfolio. Should the economy turn around in the fourth quarter, retailers will benefit at Christmas time. By then, their earnings expectations could be extremely low and easy to surpass. So stay away from the retail sector for now… but look at it again come the holiday season.

[Ed. Note: Making money these days is as much about knowing what NOT to buy as it is about buying right. Investment analyst Rick Pendergraft can show you an embarrassingly simple system he uses to make investing decisions. Learn the details here.]

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“In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lickety-Splittedness: How to Write Better Sales Copy, Faster

By Clayton Makepeace

If you’ve ever felt like the Earth cooled in less time than it takes you to crank out a respectable first draft of your sales copy, listen up. I’m going to tell you about some of the things I do to tear through the process.

Here are six little tricks that help me a lot…

Trick #1. Compartmentalization.

Writing an out-of-the-park grand slam promotion is a process that consists of many steps, hundreds of actions, and thousands of tiny decisions:

• Thinking about who your prospect is and why he needs your product…
• Coming up with your attention-getting strategy - your theme, headline, and lead…
• Researching your product, your competitors’ products, and their promotions…
• Organizing your attack - determining the order in which you’ll guide the prospect through your reasons why he should buy…
• Pouring the appropriate research, notes, and ideas into each section of your outline…
• Writing your first draft…
• Buffing and meticulously detailing each succeeding draft until you know that you couldn’t improve it even if someone held a gun to your head - and that any change you consider at this point will actually weaken the copy…
• And, finally, sticking a fork in it, because it’s done.

Now if you have a lick of common sense, you’re going to feel overwhelmed when you contemplate all the steps you have to complete in order to perfect the project at hand. And that’s okay. It just means you’re in touch with reality.

But you’re going to have to get past “overwhelmed” and on to work. And the only way I know to do that is to mentally chop the job into little, tiny, manageable pieces. So you tell yourself something like this: “I do NOT have to write a promotion today. All I have to do is the research. Or part of the research.”

Thinking about the work this way does more than just relieve your anxiety. It blows all that procrastination you’re usually guilty of at the beginning of a project right out of the water.

Trick #2. Something my pal Rich Schefren calls “getting into a flow state.”

Ever have a day when you sit down to work and the next thing you know it’s time for dinner… you have to force yourself to stop… and when you reflect on the day, you’re amazed by the quantity - and, more important, the quality - of what you accomplished?

That, my friend, is the flow state Rich talks about. And getting into that flow state is my goal every time I sit down at my desk.

Fact is, flow state equals money. Because the more flow states you experience during a project, the faster the project goes and the better your work output is.

But flow states don’t “just happen.” They’re kind of like hummingbirds: They show up naturally if you just create an environment that attracts them. For me, that means a light dinner and a good night’s sleep. An enclosed work space. No interruptions. No distractions. And every tool I need to do that day’s job readily at hand.

That’s just me. You’ll have to figure out what works for you.

Trick #3. Constantly visualizing success.

Yes, I know. What could possibly be more hackneyed than dusting off the decades-old concept of “positive thinking”?

Thing is, like all laws that survive the test of time, positive thinking works.

My fantasy is the phone call I’ll get from a wowed client when he sees my copy for the first time… the call telling me he had to put on three shifts to handle the orders… and, of course, all the great cuddling I’ll get when my wife sees the royalty deposit on our bank statement.

Whatever your motivation, try keeping it in mind as you write.

Trick #4. “Know thyself.”

Feelings are more intense than thoughts. So they can have a way of blanking your mind and freezing you like a biker who just spotted a grizzly in his headlights. That’s why you have to understand how negative emotions affect your work. For example, you may feel overwhelmed at the beginning of a project. Discouraged when a solution doesn’t come fast enough. And then your inferiority complex kicks into overdrive when you see how others have done it.

It helped me when I realized that 99.9 percent of all negative emotions are probably not caused by objective truth. And, therefore, the vast majority of all bad feelings are baloney.

So when I experience a negative emotion while I’m working, I pause for a moment and ask myself, “What thought zipped through my mind just before I got bummed out?” After recognizing how ridiculously wrong that thought was, I can almost instantly dismiss the negative emotion and dive back into the work.

Try it. It works.

Trick #5. Screw the rules!

You’ve learned too many copywriting rules. And, frankly, they’re getting in the way. So instead of worrying about the rules, focus on your prospective customer and be a salesman in print. Think, “If I were in a room with my best prospect and needed to get his attention, engage him, present the reasons why he should buy and close the sale - what would I say to him?” Then let the conversation flow naturally out of your fingers to the keyboard and into your document.

There’ll be plenty of time in later drafts to think about which rules you broke or didn’t follow. The first draft is about speed.

Trick #6. Do some bedtime reading.

Let your last action each day be to read what you wrote that day. File it away in your subconscious mind. And go to work the minute you wake up in the morning so the connections your brain made overnight find their way onto the page.

Take advantage of the above six “tricks” religiously on your next project, and you’ll be surprised by how much more quickly it goes and how much easier the writing feels.

[Ed. Note: Master copywriter Clayton Makepeace publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits. Claim your 4 free money-making e-books - bursting with tips, tricks, and tactics that'll skyrocket your response - at MakepeaceTotalPackage.com.

Copywriting is just one skill you can master to help your business grow. Learn the ins and outs of copywriting, marketing, search engine optimization, and more from some of the best experts in the business at ETR's Internet Ultimatum Bootcamp. Find out how to reserve your spot right here.]

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== Highly Recommended ==

Are You Embarrassed of What You Do for a Living - or Just Tired of Doing It?

One woman was both, and while her “acquaintances” at a dinner party snickered and poked fun, she had the last laugh. In as little as two weeks she started a new business for less than $99, soon had to hire additional employees to handle the work, and now lives a life without money worries of any kind.

Here’s how you can do the same, even easier and faster than she did.

Dear ETR: “Are there any foods that can energize my 80-year-old father?”

“I am the caregiver of my 80-year-old father. He is diabetic, hypertensive, and experiences dementia, a symptom of his Alzheimer’s.

“My dad is on multiple medications. I carefully plan his meals, but, depending upon his mood, he does not always eat properly or get the rest he needs. So he is typically grouchy, uncooperative, and combative when he wakes up in the morning, late in the evening, and occasionally throughout the day. Also, he is so boring and sedentary that his behavior can be unduly stressful and alienating for me. Moreover, he gives me the impression that he has lost the will to live.

“He can walk - usually with a cane for support. And his brain seems to be okay, because he remembers the names and faces of his friends and relatives. But are there any foods that can energize him?”

Alicia McDonald

Dear Alicia,

First, let me say that I really sympathize. You are describing my own father in the last years of his life. This is not a picnic.

Don’t be lulled into thinking that everything’s okay with him “brain-wise” because he remembers family and friends. His brain may not be working on all cylinders, and that may be why he doesn’t interact well with people or have any interest in what’s going on around him. Plus, don’t underestimate the enormous power of medications to produce all sorts of unwanted side effects.

Start by finding a holistically minded MD or a naturopathic doctor and revisit his med list. See what is really essential and what isn’t. If you can get him off ANY of his drugs, do so. And if one of them is a statin drug for high cholesterol, be sure to talk to your doctor about dumping it. “Lowering cholesterol” has absolutely no benefit for a man his age, and may even be a risk factor.

Consider giving him some supplements - notably, COQ10 and L-carnitine, which may help with energy. Consider, too, the super trio for brain health: acetyl-L-carnitine,
phosphatidyl serine, and GPC. All of these have been shown to help with memory, thinking, and sharpness.

Your challenge is going to be to get him to eat. People in your father’s age group are frequently under-consuming protein and, thus, vitamin B12, an important vitamin for both energy AND thinking.

Without question, get him on a vitamin D supplement immediately. It’s been shown to increase both mood and physical performance in older adults, not to mention stronger bones.

Try to center his meals on protein (eggs - whole eggs!), grass-fed beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, and - most of all - fish. Both fish and fish oil will be a vital addition to his diet. Fish oil is highly anti-inflammatory, which your father really needs. It also helps with mood (which could help with motivation and engagement). I can’t begin to tell you how important that is.

The less sugar and white stuff (potatoes, bread, cereals, etc.) he eats, the better, though you may not be able to or need to cut them out entirely. But to the extent that you can give him more protein, you’ll be able to energize him more. And don’t skimp on the fat, especially from egg yolks, coconut and coconut oil, olive oil, almond oil, nuts, dried fruit, and even butter.

- Dr. Jonny Bowden

[Ed. Note: Natural methods - including the foods you eat and the supplements you take - can have a powerful effect on your health. For more natural ways to feel better and live longer, check out nutrition expert Jonny Bowden's book, The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth.

Have a question for an ETR expert? Write to us at AskETR@ETRFeedback.com and we just may print a response in an upcoming issue of ETR.]

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The Skill That Can Make You Rich

By Suzanne Richardson

How’d you like to make $1.49 million a year… or more? There is a way, and it’s simpler than you may think. Learn how to sell.

Michael Masterson has been saying it for years: Knowing how to sell is one of the most financially valued skills you can possibly have. And here’s the proof. According to research from AdAge and executive-compensation research firm Equilar (reported by MarketingCharts.com), high-level marketers earned an average of $1.49 million in 2007. (That includes salary, bonuses, stock options, and stock awards.)

Of course, these marketers work for major corporations, including Target, Netflix, and Dell. But if you aren’t lined up to interview for a CMO position at a Fortune 500 company, don’t worry. It’s possible for you to make much more than a measly $1.5 million. Just start your own business.

That’s because the ability to sell is what’s behind the success of every monster company. Do they have smart, forward-thinking people manning their businesses? Sure. Innovative product ideas? Absolutely. But they wouldn’t be anywhere if they didn’t know how to make sales.

Once you’re an expert at selling, the sky’s the limit for how big you can grow your own business.

[Ed. Note: Learn how to sell, and the world is your oyster. Couple that with your own online business, and there's no telling how much money you stand to make. Get step-by-step instructions for creating your own business... plus plenty of secrets from master marketers... right here.]

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It’s Good to Know: How to Prevent Hearing Loss

You won’t be surprised to learn that listening to your iPod at a high volume for long periods of time - via headphones - can cause hearing loss. The cells destroyed by constant, loud music are irreplaceable. But some headphones - those that block out background noise - can help keep your hearing safe. With these headphones, since the music is no longer competing with other sounds, you can listen to it at lower levels.

(Source: Archives of Internal Medicine)

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== Highly Recommended ==

How to Make Fast Profits From Your Own Internet Import Company

for Just 48 Cents a Day – Starting in Less Than 24 Hours

Right now, corporate America is getting filthy rich off of you.  And they do it every time you shell out money for almost any item – large or small.   These profits come from the massive mark-ups on imports from places like China, where a widget may cost a buck or two, but sells for $19.95.

But now the tables have turned on the corporations - thanks to the Internet and our global economy. And you can be the one reaping windfall profits from the import business.  Best part:  You can easily run the entire business online, with no employees, no previous experience or knowledge, and with as little as $50 in start-up costs.

All you need to do is simply follow a proven, step-by-step plan that is handed to you with this turnkey system. Just a few hours of “work” (if you want to call it that) is all it takes to set your business up.  Then, the whole thing runs on autopilot, freeing you to live life however you wish.

OK, so let’s get going - learn how you can get started right now!

Word to the Wise: Panoply

A “panoply” (PAN-uh-plee) - from the Greek for “a full suit of armor” - is a splendid or impressive array.

Example (as used by Michael Chabon in Werewolves in Their Youth): “The beige plastic bedpan that had come home from the hospital with him after his deviated-septum operation… now held ail his razors and combs and the panoply of gleaming instruments he employed to trim the hair that grew from the various features of his face.”

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

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