Issue #2555
- WEALTHY: 1974 all over again (Rick Pendergraft)
- HEALTHY: 10 x 3 cardio (Jon Benson)
- WISE: Gabriel Garcia Marquez on the most difficult part of writing
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Resolve to get your creative juices flowing this year (Charlie Byrne)
- A return to Christmas (Michael Masterson)
- It’s Good to Know… about the big January 3 meteor shower
- Add “plaudit” to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
How to Not Only Survive but Prosper in 2009
Prosperity in the midst of a worsening economic recession might sound like a pipe dream going into 2009.
But the reality is that those who’ll prosper in 2009 will be those with a definite plan in mind and a lot of courage.
As we’ve seen during the 2008 holiday season, most Americans are focused on survival right now.
They’re circling the wagons in an attempt to protect themselves.
But some lone guns are out in the hostile economic wilderness searching for gold mines of opportunity.
Prosperity Road won’t be easy to travel at first. There’s bound to be plenty of cactus and wild weather to hamper the journey.
But in the end, those gold mines will be worth the effort.
So how will you find your gold mine?
By mapping out where you want to go and how to get there.
If you want to go from survival mode to Prosperity Road, click here.
How Can the Worst Employment Report Since December ‘74 Be a Good Sign?
The November employment report showed that 533,000 jobs vanished from the U.S. economy for the month. This, along with a revision to October’s numbers, brings the total number of jobs lost this year to 1.8 million – making it the worst employment report since December 1974.
In December ‘74, the economy showed job losses of 602,000. And that month also marked the end of the bear market that had gripped the U.S. for two years. From December ‘74 through June ‘75, the Dow rose an incredible 42 percent.
Could we be looking at a replay – where things look the bleakest right before a turnaround?
The market is certainly due for a bounce, and the oversold levels are where they were in ‘74, so the similarities go further than just the employment numbers.
If the next six months play out like things did in ‘74-’75, where would it take the market? The Dow would jump from where it is now to approximately 11,800.
So how do you bet on history repeating itself? The best way is to use limited capital with options – and if you are going to stick with the comparison, you want to buy calls in the AMEX Diamonds Trust.
[Ed. Note: The market may be volatile, but it still offers plenty of ways to profit. Knowing the personalities of the stocks you control could keep you ready to tackle opportunities as soon as they present themselves. Market analyst Rick Pendergraft has put together an educational program that lays out the simple steps you need to take advantage of these chances to prosper. Not only do you get three months of Rick's best recommendations, you also learn how to make good investment choices yourself. Get the details here.]
“One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent many months on a first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily.”
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever – Resolution #11: Overcome Writer’s Block Forever With These 6 “Quick Start” Techniques
As the train pulled out of station Montparnasse in Paris I was surprised by who I saw at the end of the car.
I already knew that Michael Masterson, one of the world’s top copywriters, was on board and heading to the French countryside for the three-day writing conference I was attending. But now I saw John Forde taking a seat beside him. To have Forde presenting at the conference as well as Masterson would be a fabulous extra bonus.
I walked up towards the front of the car to say hello, but as I approached, the two writers were embroiled in an animated discussion. Michael had already laid out a few pages of scribbled notes on the spare seat beside him. It turns out these were the seeds of some golden writing nuggets that I would be getting at the conference… and which I’m going to share with you today.
At 8 a.m. sharp the next morning Masterson and Forde began revealing the secrets of their copywriting craft to some 25 fortunate protégés at the conference center in Courtomer.
The first order of business?
“Introduce yourself, where you are from, and what got you interested in writing,” John Forde said.
We started going around the room.
“I was raised in a family of book lovers in Johannesburg. There was never a television. Our house overflowed with the classics, from Aristotle to Shakespeare. As a life-long reader I naturally drifted towards trying out writing myself,” said a charming young lady from South Africa.
A portly Englishman was up next. “I love rock music, and I used to read the Rolling Stone magazine from the U.S. They had some good journalists… Hunter Thompson and some others,” he said. “It got me hooked on the whole writing thing.”
Lars from Deutschland spoke next. “I read The Sun Also Rises eight years ago and immediately knew I wanted to be a writer.”
By the time we’d gone around the room, John Forde had noticed an interesting trend.
“No less than half of you have mentioned great storytellers as being a major influence or at least something you’re interested in. And maybe that’s not a coincidence,” Forde said. “Because the ability to tell good stories – even in sales copy – can be a powerful skill.”
“And as luck would have it,” Masterson chimed in, “over the next three days, you’re going to learn all about how to write more powerful story leads… and five other kinds of leads as well.”
An ETR Reader Faces a Common Problem
If you’re not familiar with the term, a “lead” is the beginning portion of an article. I was reminded about story leads, and my trip to the France writing conference, when I received a letter from ETR reader Heidi Walter.
Heidi writes, “I have recently started creating and selling e-books and other products online. I am a fairly good writer and an excellent editor. But where I fall down is in getting ideas to begin the sales letter.”
She continues, “I make a list of features and benefits and write some headlines, then I stare at them and nothing happens! Do you have any tricks you use to get your own creative writing juices going?”
Well, Heidi, yes. It just so happens that thanks to John Forde and Michael Masterson, I do have a “trick.” And it’s a very powerful one that Early to Rise readers have never heard about until today.
You already know that copywriting is a lucrative career opportunity. And writing – whether it’s sales copy or articles for your e-mail newsletter – can help you become an expert, gain recognition, and make more money.
That’s why I want you to resolve – today – to use the technique I’m about to show you to write better and more often.
There are dozens of ways to begin a sales letter. But at the France conference, in a breakthrough session, Masterson and Forde explained for the first time ever that there are six core ways to begin a sales letter:
- Offer/Promise
- Invitation
- Prediction
- How To
- Secret
- Story
So as a writer facing that blank screen, the first thing you can do is think about your product or service and then decide which approach you would like to use.
Let’s say for example you have a llama obedience training service. You should come up with some headline ideas for each lead type that would indicate how your sales letter would then start.
Examples:
Offer: “Now Raise Healthy, Happy Llamas in 90 Days or Less for Under $100 – or You Get Every Cent Back.”
Invitation: “You Have Been Selected to Join a Private Group of the World’s Leading Llama Enthusiasts.”
Prediction: “This August 15, a Global Crisis Will Strike the Animal Kingdom. But a Few Savvy Pet Lovers Will Profit Dramatically. Here’s How to Get In…”
How To: “How to Make a Killing in the Surprising New Llama-Training Franchise Market”
Secret: “Bizarre ‘Miami Method’ Behavioral Program Shocks Experts”
Story: “We Were 15KM Outside Brisbane When the Road Began Trembling…”
Masterson and Forde went on to explain how these six leads further fall into two broader categories, direct and indirect.
An example of a direct lead is, “Here’s a pill that will lower your cholesterol level.”
An example of an indirect lead is, “John felt a sharp pain in his chest…he bent over…”
Direct leads are more “in your face” because they come right out and tell you about the offer.
Indirect leads do NOT come right out and say what the subject is all about. The reader needs to follow the story; he needs to get into the action and the emotion before any solution (product or service) is offered.
Deciding Which Type of Lead to Use
Typically, the closer the relationship between the reader and the writer, the more direct the message is. So in your marketing, you would often use direct leads for ads or promotions to your existing customers (i.e., back-end packages).
Offers to prospects who don’t know you yet (i.e., front ends) need to be “softer” so that in the writing you have time to lay the groundwork of trust.
Entire books could be written on this topic of leads. In fact Michael Masterson is doing exactly that (stay tuned to ETR for details).
But until Michael’s book becomes available, the next time you are facing that blank screen, here what to do.
First decide: direct or indirect.
Then pick out one of the six core lead types.
At the very least, you’ll have a fairly well-defined frame of reference or starting place that can help you get the ball rolling. And as we all know, once the ball is rolling, it only gets easier from there.
[Ed. Note: Getting started with your sales letter is the hardest part. Once you’ve used Charlie’s strategy for getting the ball rolling, you need to fill your promotion with tried-and-true techniques for getting your customers to buy. Explode sales growth with a $10 million book by a true marketing master.]
Your Special Holiday Gift from Early to Rise
Charlie Byrne offers a simple strategy that can help you attract more customers, write stronger sales copy, and make more sales.
[ETRVideos]Rnzj6jM51F4[/ETRVideos]
You Can Keep Your Current Job While You Quickly Transition Into Your New Business
How in the world do these money-making programs expect you to work tons of hours building up a new business while holding down your current job? Many just aren’t practical. But I’ve found a new program that is loaded with methods to get you into a new business while you are working at another job.
You can put in as little as 2 to 3 hours a week in your new business, and still bring in nice profits fairly quickly – often in just a week or two. And once your business is bringing in enough income, you can quit your current job and focus full-time on your new business. You get to choose which business to get into (there are 20 to choose from), there’s no limit on what you can make, and it is easier than ever to get started.
There is, however, a limit on how many people I am sharing this with. You’ll learn why when checking out all the exciting details here.
A Little Post-Christmas Holiday Spirit
One of the best things about the holiday season is the Christmas spirit. But just because Christmas has passed doesn’t mean you need to give up that joy. To get yourself back into the spirit – and to find some always-needed motivation – check out The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford.
The book is a good read (Les Standiford is a very good writer) and its subject – how Charles Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol - will inspire you. Here are some key points I took away from it:
• By writing about poor and powerless people triumphing over adversity, Dickens became hugely popular. (One-third of England’s reading public bought The Old Curiosity Shop.)
• Like all people of great accomplishment, success for Dickens did not come easy. He worked like a horse throughout his career. While writing The Pickwick Papers, for example, he was also writing new material for the second edition of Sketches by Boz, editing a literary magazine, and working on Gabriel Vardon, the Locksmith of London.
• After a run of amazing success, Dickens went to America and then wrote two books bashing Americans. Neither was popular. Lesson: When you have a working formula, stick with it.
• Depressed by his recent failures, he conceived of A Christmas Carol as a way to get himself back on top. And it did. Lesson: Don’t give up.
• Because of his previous run of bad sales, he had to joint-venture with a book publisher, Chapman and Hall, for A Christmas Carol. Dickens took on risk and responsibility in the venture. And although he didn’t make much money for his efforts (because he overspent on the book cover, among other things), he learned about the business side of publishing novels, which he used to his advantage for the rest of his career.
• He had been thinking about the story for many years – but he wrote the book, while editing the color plates and working on the cover, in six weeks!
• A Christmas Carol promotes Dickens’s enduring themes: “the deleterious effects of ignorance and want, the necessity for charity, the benefits of goodwill, family unity, and the need for celebration of the life force, including the pleasures of good food and drink and good company.”
• The book changed the bird we traditionally eat on Christmas from goose to turkey.
[Ed. Note: As a special thank you to our best customers, Michael has started a new VIP service in which he gives insider business-building advice usually reserved for his private clients - a twice-weekly newsletter called Ready Fire Aim: The Michael Masterson Dispatch. If you have bought an ETR product or attended a conference and are not receiving Ready Fire Aim, please let us know by sending an e-mail to Michael@ETRfeedback.com.]
Reader Feedback: “Your newsletter serves to remind folks like me that the fight is worth it.”
“I’m an aspiring writer and poet. Your vocabulary and grammatical lessons have helped me find more readers. People notice those ‘little things!’
“Plus, since subscribing to ETR, I’ve taken up yoga, lost around 20 pounds, write better articles, and I’ve re-discovered an attitude that remembers that all is not lost, as far as my financial future goes.
“It’s almost like becoming 18 years old again.
“I just want you all to know that your newsletter serves to remind folks like me that the fight is worth it. Overcoming the challenges is better than giving up. To know that there are others like me, who choose not to quit, is your gift to the world.
“Thank you for letting me give you guys a little feedback.”
Don Pennington
donpennington.info
Borger, TX
[Ed. Note: What's your favorite part of ETR? Let us know at AskETR@ETRFeedback.com.]
The Ultimate Stress-Reliever
By Jon Benson
There is good news for those of us who have hectic schedules and still want to exercise to lose weight. It’s even better news when it comes to combating the nation’s number one silent killer: Stress.
Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined short bouts of cardiovascular work as compared to longer bouts for weight loss efficacy. And no difference was found between the group that exercised for only 10 minutes, three times a day, and the group that exercised for 30 minutes in the same session.
In addition, exercise reduces stress, and multiple 10-minute sessions can reduce stress at key moments in the day. It’s easy to get in 10 minutes before work, during lunch (just walk up and down a flight of stairs for 10 minutes), and then later in the evening. Ten-minute sessions are also easier for most people to handle mentally, as boredom becomes less of a factor.
Give 10 x 3 stress-busting cardio a shot. You’ll be surprised at what it can do for your stress levels and your productivity… not to mention weight loss!
[Ed. Note: Exercising in short bursts throughout the day is a simple way to stay healthy and keep your weight under control. For more natural, easy-to-implement strategies that can help you burn fat, get fit, and stay healthy, sign up for ETR's natural health newsletter.
Getting fit doesn't have to be difficult or time-consuming. You can build muscle AND burn body fat with nutrition and fitness counselor Jon Benson's newest book, 7 Minute Muscle.]
It’s Good to Know: The Big January 3 Meteor Shower
Pray for clear skies tonight. The Quadrantids, a meteor display first noted by astronomers in the 1830s, will be making an appearance. The “show,” most noticeable in western North America, will peak with an expected one or two meteor sightings per minute in the hours just before dawn. The Quadrantids actually make their way here every year, though conditions often make viewing difficult. But astronomers predict the 2009 run will be a “stellar” year for Quadrantid-watching.(Source: Space.com)
== Highly Recommended ==
Could You Make a Few Thousand Dollars Online in Just a Few Days?
By complete accident, one person discovered an Internet “golden door” that helped her make thousands online for just an hour or two of work. The money showed up in her account a few days later.
Here’s the thing though. This isn’t some one-off fluke. It’s entirely repeatable. Sometimes more, sometimes less money comes in. But one thing’s for sure… there’s no limit on how often you can copy this simple process.
In fact, I guarantee this new program does exactly what it promises. You can try it entirely risk-free. Just click here to get all the details and get started today!
Word to the Wise: Plaudit
A “plaudit” (PLAW-dit) – from the Latin for “applaud” – is enthusiastic approval; an expression of praise.
Example (as used by James T. Fisher in Dr. America): “A large, robust man, he had earned the plaudits bestowed on him at that testimonial dinner through a lifetime of earnest toil.”
[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.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2009
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