Issue #2618
- WEALTHY: A financial-survival checklist for business owners (Clayton Makepeace)
- HEALTHY: Another point for “early to rise” (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Sir Francis Bacon on prosperity and adversity
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- The “first things first” productivity technique (Brian Tracy)
- You’ve got a GREAT idea… can you make it sell? (Paul Lawrence)
- It’s Fun to Know… about the world’s worst commute
- Add “vacuous” to your vocabulary
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“Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.”
Sir Francis Bacon
A Guilty Glance Inside Your Prospect’s Bedroom
Right now, our prospective customers are experiencing some of the most intense and contradictory emotions they’ve had in their entire lives.
The saner ones blame their financial problems on decisions made by the White House, Congress, the Treasury, and the Fed for the last couple of decades. Others – those with a more tenuous grip on reality – blame “those greedy bankers” for having the unmitigated gall to actually approve every loan and credit card application they ever submitted.
But regardless of who our prospects may blame in broad daylight, it’s not so easy to escape the real villain as they seek the sweet release of sleep at night. In the privacy of their own bedrooms, they’re confronted with the humiliating truth that they and they alone created their own, personal financial crises…
By spending more than they should have.
By saving less than they should have.
And by accumulating far more debt than they should have.
They regret scoffing at old-fashioned admonitions to be prudent with money. To live sensibly, modestly, and within their means. To accept debt sparingly or not at all. And to save extravagantly.
They marvel at how much money they’ve earned over the last decade or two… how fast it vanished… how pathetically little they have to show for it. And they torture themselves, thinking how much better life would be if they had that money now.
They excoriate themselves for plunging into debt to buy more house than they needed, and then borrowing even more to create the illusion of success: the fancy furnishings, the expensive cars, the designer fashions, the lavish dinners, the trophy vacations, and all the crap they bought to impress others.
So every night, in bedrooms around the world, billions are teaching themselves timeless lessons…
They’re learning that the law of personal responsibility is as intractable as the law of gravity. And that when entire societies consisting of billions of individuals lose their way, no government can save them from the inevitable consequences of their actions.
We – all of us – sowed the seeds of this financial whirlwind with profligate spending, with excessive debt, and with a dearth of savings. And now it’s time for us, our children, and our children’s children to reap the inevitable hurricane.
This, too, haunts many of our prospects each night as they think about the pile of bills awaiting them on the kitchen table. They wonder and worry about what will become of their families in the weeks and months ahead. Some are even doing the math, calculating and recalculating how long they could survive if their income suddenly stopped.
How can I know our prospects are feeling all this guilt, regret, and fear? Simple: I’m feeling it myself!
No, I’m not pleading poverty. By working backbreaking hours all my life… enduring the hard times without giving up… and trying to make prudent decisions with my money… I’ve become one of the “lucky” ones.
Plus, I’ve taken my own advice. I’ve focused my business on niches that tend to do well in tough times. So not only is my income still in the top fraction of the top 1 percent of all Americans, I’m actually earning more than I did this time last year.
Better yet, I saw this crisis coming two years ago and began curtailing my spending, paying down my debt, and building up my savings as if my life depended on it.
But now, I can’t help but worry anyway.
Frankly, I often kick myself for self-indulgent purchases I’ve made over the years and for failing to sock away millions more in the salad days of the 1990s and early 2000s. Because at a time like this, there’s no such thing as having “too much” money saved for the rainy days ahead.
And I know in my heart that if I’m having wim-wams – forgoing all but the most essential purchases and saving every dime I can lay my hands on - millions of our prospects are, too.
What we are now seeing take place in the hearts and minds of ourselves, our customers, and our prospects is nothing less than a massive, global reversal of attitudes- a change in the way our customers view reality that will have an enormous impact on the kinds of products we develop and the way we market them.
We are witnessing the rapid demise of the spendthrift mindset that has grown so many companies for so many decades – and the birth of a new generation of far more rational, cautious, thinking consumers…
These consumers have suddenly realized that the “old fashioned” virtues of common sense, prudence, and thrift are time-honored for a reason: They have been proven to be lifesavers over many millennia.
This is the financial Judgment Day my mom and dad so often warned me about – the day of paying the price for scoffing at their stingy ways. When Mom saved every scrap of string and every rubber band in big tangles under the kitchen sink. And when Dad went ballistic when I left the lights on in an unoccupied room or blew my allowance on some useless doo-dad.
The new generation of consumers has learned the hard lesson their parents and grandparents learned during the Great Depression: The only thing that’s more important than saving money for a rainy day is to use money to make more money that will see you through tough times.
Somewhere, Mom and Dad are nodding their heads in grim agreement.
And somewhere, my dad’s gloating: “So what are you going to do if this crisis outlives your money? Huh, smart boy?”
Cool your jets, Dad. I get it!
It’s not going to do me one damn bit of good to cry over spilt milk. What I can do, though, is expend every ounce of energy at my command to make as much money as is legally and ethically possible, every hour, day, and working week. Because only more money can get my family safely through this global financial crisis… no matter how long it lasts.
That means recognizing that every promotion I write must work even harder to prove the value my product brings to prospects’ lives… to demonstrate as graphically as possible that the offer is the bargain of a lifetime… and to create guarantees that make buying that product… from me… NOW… an absolute no-brainer.
I also need to vastly improve how I spend my workdays – to find new ways to get more work done… better work done… more profitable work done every hour I spend at my desk.
And it goes without saying that I need to review my client list – make absolutely sure I’m working ONLY with clients whose products and services are likely to do well if this crisis intensifies.
Most important, I need to find ways to structure more productive working relationships with those clients – relationships that will make them more money so they can pay me more money.
How about you?
I’m willing to bet that if you give the above “financial-survival checklist,” a few hours of thought, you, too, will have taken a big step toward coming through this thing smelling like a rose.
[Ed. Note: What are YOU doing to prove your value to your prospective customers? Let us know right here.
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 moneymaking e-books - bursting with tips, tricks, and tactics that'll skyrocket your response at MakepeaceTotalPackage.com.]
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The Law of Forced Efficiency
By Brian Tracy
The law of forced efficiency says: “There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.”
The fact is that the average person today is working at 110-130 percent of capacity. And the jobs and responsibilities just keep piling up. One recent study concluded that the average executive has a backlog of 300-400 hours of reading and projects at home and at the office.
What this means is that you will never be caught up. Get that out of your mind. All you can hope for is to keep on top of your most important responsibilities. The others will just have to wait.
The key question you can ask is: “What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?”
Every hour of every day, there is an answer to this question. Your job is to ask yourself that question, over and over again – and to make sure you’re always spending your time working on whatever is most important at that particular moment.
The more accurate your answers to this question, the easier it will be for you to set clear priorities and overcome procrastination.
[Ed. Note: In his book, Eat That Frog!, personal effectiveness expert Brian Tracy shows you how to zero in on the critical tasks and organize each day - you'll not only get more done faster, but you'll also get the right things done! Get your copy and learn how to stop procrastinating right now.]
How to Make Your Ideas More Valuable
“Adam” seems like a nice guy. He subscribes to Early to Rise, and, in a recent e-mail, said he is especially interested in my articles about how to get into the movie business. He said that he doesn’t have time to try to get into the movie business himself, but he has tons of ideas. So he would like to offer his ideas to me – and, if I wanted to do something with them, he would get a percentage of whatever money they brought in.
You might think this sounds like an attractive deal for me – but it’s not. Here’s how I explained it to Adam: I get about 20 of these offers a week. Not only that, but I have no shortage of my own ideas that I want to develop. And those ideas are my babies. I only wish I had enough time to work on them all. So do I need his ideas? Nope.
Compare Adam’s e-mail to the one I got from “Cara.” She wrote to tell me that she has the signed life rights of one of baseball’s biggest stars. She also has a finished script based on his story – one she claims was written at a professional level. She wanted to know if I would be interested in helping her market it in exchange for a cut of the profits.
Unlike Adam’s offer, Cara’s seems worth looking at. I asked her to send me a copy of the script and the signed agreement on the life rights. If the script is good, I know I can make a few quick calls and get it seen by someone who might want to produce it.
What’s the difference between Adam and Cara? Cara has a complete package that sounds highly marketable. So by putting in a little effort on it, there’s a chance I could see a big payday. Adam might have some great ideas, but so what? As the saying goes, an idea and 62 cents will get you a phone call.
If you’re serious about making money with your great idea, don’t just offer it up to someone in the hopes that they will be able to turn it into something profitable. You’ve got to do the hard work yourself. Bring them a package that they can help you produce or market – a package that has the very real potential to make both of you a lot of money.
[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is a successful small-business entrepreneur who has sold and licensed the rights to both intellectual and physical products. The results? He receives quarterly checks for many thousands of dollars in royalty payments from other companies. For more information on his program - which teaches you how to obtain and license rights - click here.]
Another Reason to Exercise in the Morning
Back when I trained clients full-time, I always wondered what possessed them to get up at 5:00 a.m. and work out. Couldn’t they at least wait till 7:00 or 8:00?
But now that I’ve grown older, and busier, it’s easy to see why. First, it gets the workout done before other people and problems can get in the way. Plus, recent research shows that you will have a better workout when you are “mentally fresh.”
In a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers put subjects through a cardio workout to exhaustion after performing one of two mental tasks. The first task was cognitively demanding. The second task simply required them to watch a documentary.
Results showed that the mentally fatiguing task significantly reduced the amount of exercise the subjects could do. They tired out much more quickly if their minds were already fatigued.
[Ed. Note: No matter when you exercise, you don't need hours of cardio to get into tip-top shape. Learn how you can get fit with three 45-minute workouts a week with Craig's Turbulence Training program right here. For more easy-to-follow advice on how to stay fit, lose weight, and eat right, sign up for ETR's FREE natural health newsletter. ]
It’s Fun to Know: The World’s Worst Commute
Think your commute is tough? Well, consider what the residents of Los Pinos, Colombia do every day to get to work and school.
Because their remote village is in the mountains, “commuters” have to use a zip line cable to get across a 1,200-foot-deep gorge. And each one has to bring his or her own pulley, rope, and a piece of wood to act as a brake when they get to the other side.
The alternative is a two-hour hike around the gorge.
(Source: Ripley’s Believe It or Not)
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Word to the Wise: Vacuous
Something that’s “vacuous” (VAK-yoo-us) – from the Latin for “empty” – shows no intelligence or thought.
Example (as used by Don Frederick in the LA Times): “The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.”
[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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Clayton,
I’m going “virtual.” I’m offering webinars, videos, and “e” programs at a fraction of the cost of the in person consulting and training I do.
I became a Happiness coach five years ago and keep studying so I’ll have even more value to my customers (and to my own good health and well-being.) I want everyone in the world to have access to the common sense customer care ideas I have.
I’m also being more “intentional” in my thinking. Before I sit down to write a newsletter (every other week for me) or a program for a client, I put aside my own agenda, and hopefully my own ego, and just sit quietly to tap into my intuition. What does this client really need to hear? What are they not saying that is important to them? What does the marketplace need now?
I have faith – and lots of it – that those who consistently deliver value – and those that offer a little extra in the way of a positive attitude, an uplifting thought, a few kind words, will be remembered. I’m old enough to remember what you call “old fashioned” and am so grateful I have that rich base to tap into.
Thanks for a rich piece today – I’m a real fan!
All the best,
JoAnna Brandi
By simply acknowledging the pain that so many are feeling, I can win the respect of my customers. Some in my business are trying to avoid bringing up the obvious effects of the recession. My problem is no longer the competitor down the street; it’s my customer’s own mindset. Once I win their mind I can overcome any objection AND the competitor down the street. I tell them to try and turn off the TV for a few days. The media is hyping things as usual to the point that we are inundated with information to where my clients don’t know what to think. The chicken little syndrome is everywhere as a result. Being real goes a long way right now.