Issue #2624

• WEALTHY: How a rental property is like a chocolate bar (Julie Broad)
• HEALTHY: 3 fat-burners you can add to your meals (Jon Benson)
• WISE: George Washington Carver on making excuses

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• The "Professional’s Code" (John Carlton)
• Does your website reflect your reality? (Howie Jacobson)
• It’s Fun to Know… about a surge in online coupons
• Add "algorithm" to your vocabulary

== Advertisement ==

How Two-Timing Blue Chippers Can Give You Gains of Up to 148%

One day you love ‘em because they’re so reliable and predictable…

The next day you hate ‘em because their overpaid CEOs decided to cut dividends and throw shareholders under the bus.

How would you like to avoid these losses and make gains of 100.93%, 148.48%, 105.57%, and 102.73% from the very same companies?

Over the past half-year, I’ve been racking up one 100%-plus winner after another. And now I want to show you exactly how you can do it too.

Real Estate Investing Partnerships: Breaking Up Is Never Easy

By Julie Broad

The main reason my husband and I were able to build a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio in less than eight years is because we found a few trustworthy partners.

After we made two purchases, one of our partners became preoccupied with a rapidly growing business he had recently started. It got to the point where it would take weeks to get in contact with him. After a few years of struggling to make the partnership work, we agreed to split up. We figured it would be an easy split. We owned two rental units, so we each could take one. Except we both wanted to own the same unit, and we couldn’t agree on how much more that unit was worth!

So we decided to use what is known as the "I Cut, You Choose" method. In other words, to break up the partnership as though it were a chocolate bar. One partner would cut the "chocolate bar" in half, and the other partner would get to choose which half they wanted.

This is a simple yet fair way to divide up just about anything. If you’re the one doing the cutting (in this case, figuring out how much it would be worth to get – or not get – the more desirable unit), you want to come up with two options that are as even as possible… because you get the one the other party doesn’t choose.

We let our partner establish the terms of the deal. Meanwhile, we set a range for what we would be willing to pay to get the more desirable unit. When his number came in higher, we selected the option of selling him the unit for that price.

We didn’t get the unit we wanted, but we did sell it to our partner for more than we had been willing to pay for it. Our partner bought the property he wanted for the price he’d determined to be fair. We were all happy.

Our other partnerships are strong, and we don’t expect to have to split up any properties in the near term. But if we do, we have a good system to use.

[Ed. Note: For more insider strategies for getting started as a real estate investor, sign up for real estate expert Julie Broad's free monthly newsletter. Get your free report for making money with real estate here.

Real estate is a great way to make money - even in this economy. But it's just one of many strategies you can use to reel in big profits. Learn how to get your hands on over $17.3 million in money-making ideas right here.]

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The Reason You Screwed Up

By John Carlton

Several generations of Americans have now graduated from the education system believing that a good excuse is a Get Out of Jail Free card. Flunked a test? Forgot to finish your essay on time? Late for class? No problem… IF you have a great excuse.

I knew a girl in college who killed off her grandmother three times in three semesters. Got her out of taking a final (didn’t study), out of being penalized for skipping a week of class (rock concert), out of not having a paper written on time (didn’t even try). Granny never found out. And lived a good many more years. And this girl went on to the Dean’s List, grad school, and a PhD.

The lesson learned: You can be instantly forgiven… even felt sorry for… if you just deliver a good enough excuse for screwing up.

That’s a really, really, really bad lesson to absorb. Because once you get out of school and into the real world, you have a very rude discovery to make: No one gives a rat’s ass about WHY you screwed up. The fact you DID screw up is all that matters. Your excuse will comfort no one but you, as you lick your wounds and look for another job.

The hardest thing to teach budding freelancers is the "Professional’s Code." It’s very simple: You show up where you’re supposed to be… when you said you’d be there… having done what you said you’d do.

That’s it.

The phrase "show up" includes the physical act of appearing where you’re supposed to be… as well as the virtual act of meeting your deadlines.

I did NOT grow up with this code.

I was a victim of the school system, where few consequences couldn’t be negotiated. (Hell – the cops back then even poured out your beer and sent you home after pulling you over. I knew dozens of guys who’d been nabbed while driving with a bottle of Schlitz in one hand, and not a one of them ever suffered a DUI. Right or wrong, that’s how my corner of the generation grew up.)

As a low-level employee with no skills – my standard gig for the first decade or so of my adult life – half the job really was just showing up on time. However, once the idea of going solo as a freelancer copywriter took hold, I started looking seriously at how the really successful dudes were conducting themselves in business.

I vowed, going in, that I would meet all deadlines, no matter what. And BE that guy who could be trusted with delivering the goods to anyone who paid me.

I saw the alternative, in gruesome detail, during my time in a catalog art department.

There were multiple deadlines for photo separations, camera-ready art boards, and every word of copy. And anything that wasn’t done by the printing deadline… didn’t make it into the catalog.

The printing presses were in Nashville. They ran 365 days a year, and you booked your slot six months in advance. You missed your deadline, too bad. You paid anyway for the time and manpower. And your catalog didn’t mail.

Missing a hard deadline was a mortal wound to your ability to continue doing business. You had nothing to mail. No money came in. Clients wandered away. Banks were not nice about outstanding loans coming due.

Wow. That’ll sober you up.

In 25 years of writing copy for clients, I have never missed a hard deadline.

Let me repeat that: 25 years, zero violations on my deadline record.

This concept of never missing a deadline is the hardest thing to teach rookie freelancers. It’s almost like you gotta experience disaster first… and it’s gotta make a deep impression on you… before your mind can shift into Professional Gear.

This is why surgeons endure such rigorous training. Saying "Sorry, I was distracted" after botching an operation doesn’t cut it.

Pilots, too. Accountants. Snipers. Astronauts. Film editors. Lead singers.

You screw up… you disembowel the entire gig. And your fabulous excuse doesn’t fix anything. No one wants to hear it. Because of you, other people now have an emergency on their hands.

Entire kingdoms have crumbled from screw-ups by people who thought they had a great excuse. ("I had that 3-penny nail right here, sir. I dunno, it must have slipped from my hand back there. My arthritis has been really bad, you know, and…")

In school, a well-crafted excuse will get you sympathy and a do-over. In real life… not so much.

And yet… I am NEVER surprised when confronted with a fresh case of someone I’ve put massive trust in… screwing up. And offering an excuse. It’s the default brain setting of almost everyone out there.

It’s really not that tough to adopt the Pro Code. It takes a commitment, and requires the skill to tell others "no" when faced with a tough choice. And to tell yourself "no" when your very natural urge to flake out and bail on your responsibilities flares up.

Everyone would rather party, or even veg out… instead of buckling down and finishing the job they signed up for. That’s the easy path. Being a true rebel nowadays means embracing responsibility with gusto and energy. The last rebellious act in business, really, is to commit to success. No matter what.

Your social life will suffer. The family will get mad at you. No one will understand, and you will toil without immediate gratification from outside sources. (Your rewards must come from your own heart and sense of self-respect.)

And it all rests on a simple foundation. If you take on a job, you do it. You kill the whiny beasts in your head, wrestle your attention deficit disorder into submission, push through pain and grief and disaster to do what you promised you’d do.

That’s how that US Airways pilot saved all 150 passengers and crew in an emergency landing in the Hudson River. That’s how all professionals worthy of the title treat every responsibility they have.

It’s hard to do. It’s kinda lonely at times. But committing to it will instantly change your life forever.

And remember: It’s no crime not to have this code already in your bag. But once you’re made aware of it, you lose big by choosing to ignore it. (So, yeah, it’s a dirty trick on my part to throw it in front of you like this.)

Today – in business and in conquering the mounting ills of the world – we need professionals more than ever. The hardest and most rewarding jobs will not get done through excuses.

[Ed. Note: John Carlton is an expert copywriter, a pioneer in online marketing, and a teacher of killer sales copy. He knows marketing inside and out. Discover how to get your hands on the kick-ass secrets of the world's smartest, happiest, and wealthiest marketers.

Think you have a good excuse for not yet having an Internet business? Wrong. With ETR's Internet Money Club Independent Learner Edition, you'll get a step-by-step playbook to making money online. All you have to do is take action.]

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== Highly Recommended ==

I Can’t Take It Anymore…

When you are in the know about something – like I am about generating sales online – you can see right through the smoke and mirrors. You clearly see the true money-machine the Internet could be… in the right hands. Now I’m going to show you exactly how to make money online in 3 easy steps. 

Yes, it’s that easy. And some have been hiding the real secret all this time. Check out everything for yourself by clicking here…

A Marketing Self-Assessment Tool

By Howie Jacobson

One nice thing about a business website is how easy it is to change.

So when I change – when I grow as a person, lose some fears, embrace new beliefs, etc. – I want to make sure that the website where I sell my services represents my current reality. Not just the details, but the heart of my business. I don’t want to broadcast an outdated message and attract clients who won’t be in sync with me.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when you change and want your site to reflect that change:

• Is the information on my site still technically accurate?

• Is it missing anything?

• By making this change, am I focusing more on my own needs instead of the needs of my prospects and clients?

• Am I speaking with confidence? Do I deeply believe my own claims?

• Am I teaching a technique that, when applied, supports or raises the standards of my client’s industry?

• Does this Web page sound like me today? If I were writing it now, for the first time, what would be different?

This process has nothing to do with split-testing or a scientific march to higher conversions rates. It’s not a technical fix for a poorly performing site. Instead, it’s an acknowledgment of your personal discovery that your business is a projection of your self.

I’m sure I’m missing some pretty important questions. But I trust that the ones I’ve listed above will move you and your website in the right direction.

[Ed. Note: Howie Jacobson is an expert Internet marketing consultant specializing in Google AdWords and pay-per-click marketing campaigns. In fact, he literally wrote the book on the subject: AdWords for Dummies.

Keeping your website updated is just one small part of running an online business. Find out how to plan marketing campaigns, create products, build your e-mail list, and more with ETR's Internet Money Club Independent Learner Edition.]

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Burn Fat With Spices

By Jon Benson

Not only can spices save an otherwise boring (but healthy) meal… turns out they can help you burn body fat through the process of thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is simply heat. And since a calorie is a unit of heat, guess what? More thermogenesis = more calories burned.

A recent issue of The Journal of Physiology and Behavior cited numerous studies on several spices that increase thermogenesis, including these findings:

1. Capsaicin, the compound that gives red chili pepper its heat, increases energy via heat expenditure by up to 23 percent after being ingested at breakfast.

2. Black pepper increases body heat (thermogenesis) by bonding to TRPV1 receptors in the brain.

3. Turmeric has both anti-cancer and pro-thermogenic support.

Combine these three spices – red chili pepper, black pepper, and turmeric – and use them liberally (as much as your taste buds can handle). Just be careful not to overdo – or you’ll end up with more heartburn than fat burn.

[Ed. Note: Start eating better today with help from ETR's natural health newsletter. You'll find dozens of healthy eating strategies plus delicious recipes for meals that can help you feel better and live longer. And that's not all... (read on here)

If you want to build more muscle in less time while you burn body fat, pick up nutrition and fitness counselor Jon Benson's book, 7 Minute Muscle. It's a complete system for dropping fat and building muscle that's guaranteed to work for you. Try it for 60 days and prove it to yourself.]

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It’s Fun to Know: A Surge in Online Coupons

Though online coupons make up only 1 percent of the 2.6 billion coupons offered each year in the United States, cost-conscious shoppers are using them more than ever before. The trend is making retailers happy, because the coupons are bringing people into stores in record numbers.

Thirteen percent of available online coupons were redeemed in 2008, compared to only 1 percent of their print cousins. And use of online coupons grew by 140 percent over 2007.

(Source: eMarketer)

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== Highly Recommended ==

Transform Your Life In Only 15 Minutes A Day!

Would you be willing to set aside 15 minutes a day if it meant you could…

• Pay off your credit card bills?
• Rebuild your financial portfolio?
• Buy or sell a house?
• Grow or start a business?
• Lose weight?
• Prepare for early retirement?

I thought so.

I’d like to show you exactly how you can dramatically increase your chances of achieving these (or other) goals in 2009.

Click here to continue…

Word to the Wise: Algorithm

An "algorithm" (AL-guh-rith-um) is a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem in a finite number of steps. The word is derived from the title of a book written by a ninth century Persian mathematician – Kitab al jabr wa’l-muqabala (Rules of Restoring and Equating) – which is also the source of the word "algebra."

Example (as quoted by Margaret Kane on CNET News.com): "’It’s through algorithms that we’re able to do things like make recommendations and tell you what customers who bought this item also bought,’ said Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith."

 [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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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 5:10 am and is filed under Daily Issues .