Issue #2656
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Find a problem. Solve it. And charge people for the solution.
If you’re wondering why your online business isn’t doing better, put it through this three-part marketing audit.
• Have you found a problem? A problem that matters to people? To enough people?
• Are you selling the solution to that problem? The best solution? A solution that’s different enough from the other options? Can you prove it?
• Are people willing to pay for the problem to go away? Are they able to pay for it? Does your marketing make it clear that the benefit outweighs the cost?
If your site passes this three-part test, Google AdWords will drive qualified prospects to your Problem/Solution/Charge factory. And you’ll make money.
If you aren’t sure, AdWords will help you find out… quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively. You can test your value proposition with your target market. And test variations until you either hit the magic formula… or drop it and find something else.
[Ed. Note: Howie Jacobson is an expert in using Google AdWords to create monster sales for your online business. Get his complimentary AdWords ER Report "Why Most AdWords Campaigns Fail - and How to Make Yours Succeed" at www.AskHowie.com.
Find out how Howie increased his income five times - by accident... and how his unintentional good fortune can make YOU rich right here.]
I am frequently asked: “Jon, can I work out in my home or do I have to go to a gym?”
The answer: You don’t have to go to a gym. You can work out in your home – with little to no equipment – and make very good progress. Here’s how…
1. Get yourself a really good plan. Having a plan is crucial. If you try to “catch a workout,” you will probably end up being inconsistent.
You can find thousands of systems that may work for you on the Internet or in books. Just pick one and USE it. Don’t try to wing it.
2. Make a commitment to stick to that plan. Results for in-gym training tend to be better (on average) than in-home training. One big reason: When you pay for it, you’re likely to take it more seriously. (This is not always the case, of course. Some people waste their money on a gym membership.) But if you have a good system and you commit to it, you can do well.
3. Include lots of variety in your workouts. Home workouts are not nearly as exciting as going to a gym and being around other fit-minded folks – not to mention all that equipment. It’s up to you to keep it interesting by making sure your system includes plenty of variety.
4. One more thing: Keep track of your progress. Making progress is key, in the gym or at home. So no matter which workout environment you choose, keep a written record of what you’re doing. And every time you perform a particular exercise, add a rep or two here and there or some extra resistance. Perhaps less rest between sets.
Always try to do a little more. Some days you will, others you may not – but maintaining a mental attitude of progress is essential.
The bottom line is this: If you can make the commitment and get yourself a good, solid, in-home plan, you can make in-home workouts work for you.
[Ed. Note: Fitness expert Jon Benson just released his in-home fitnesss plan, The 7 Minute Muscle Body System. It requires only bands, a rubber ball, and your bodyweight to tone your body and help you burn fat. Try it for yourself.
For effective strategies for burning fat, getting fit, and feeling better than ever, sign up for ETR's FREE natural health newsletter right here.]
To “assuage” (uh-SWAYJ) – from the Latin for “sweet” – is to make milder or less severe.
Example (as used by Euripides in Medea, edited by David R. Slavitt and Palmer Bovie): “If only she would come outside / and let us meet her – face to face; / perhaps our words could turn / her anger’s tide, perhaps / we could, if not erase, / at least assuage her rage.”
[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
For decades, stock market participants have been led to believe that “investing” is safe… while “trading” is risky. But the way most people “invest” is about the riskiest way you could possibly manage your money. The prevailing advice has been something like this:
“Diversify your investments. Buy quality companies and hold them until you retire. Whether it is stocks or real estate, the values always go up over time.”
That is… until they don’t.
The past two years have shown us how unwise (and unsafe) that advice really is. Diversification helps very little when everything is falling. And while real estate and the markets generally do rise over the long term, that is not much consolation if your retirement is five years away. Millions of people have paid for these misconceptions with huge losses in a short period of time.
Michael Covel, the author of Trend Following: Learn to Make Millions in Up or Down Markets, points out some major pitfalls of the “investing” mindset:
“Investors put their money, or capital, into a market, such as stocks or real estate, under the assumption that the value will always increase over time. Investors typically do not have a plan for when their investment value decreases. They usually hold on to their investment, hoping that the value will reverse itself and go back up. Investors typically succeed in bull markets and lose in bear markets.”
Most investors have no idea how to respond to or, better yet, how to capitalize on a falling market. Clinging to the idea that the markets “always rise over time,” they “hang on” and continue to lose.
If you have any money in the markets – even if it is just your 401(k) – you need to begin thinking of yourself as a trader. That doesn’t mean you have to buy and sell stocks every day, or even every month. But it does mean having a selling strategy for when the market goes against you. It should also mean having a strategy to make money when the markets rise… and when they fall.
There is no doubt that we are in the worst economy in decades. Corporate earnings are falling. Unemployment is rising. And while the stock market recently experienced its sharpest rise since 1933, the overall trend is still down.
But what is bad for the economy and terrible for the market does not have to wreak havoc on your investments. By employing the right strategies, you can multiply your wealth safely in just about any market. In fact, there are a number of strategies that have never been as safe or as profitable as they are today.
Here are two that you should consider right now:
1. Selling Covered Call Options
Selling (or “writing”) covered calls is one of the safest ways to generate extra income from the stocks in your portfolio. And due to the volatility in today’s market, option premiums are currently much higher than their historical averages. As a “seller” of options, that works in your favor. This is a strategy that could easily and safely generate 20 percent annual income for you.
Selling covered calls is probably the lowest-risk form of options trading. It involves selling someone the right to buy a stock that you own at some time in the future. For this privilege, the option buyer pays you cash up front, thus lowering your cost basis for the shares you’ve purchased.
Here’s how it works…
Let’s assume you own 100 shares of stock ABC. The stock is trading for $10 and the July call options on it – with a “strike” price of $11 – are selling for $1. So by selling one call option on your 100 shares of ABC (each call option represents 100 shares), you immediately receive $100 in your account. Therefore, your cost basis on this transaction is $900 ($1,000 – $100).
There are three possible outcomes to this trade:
• If ABC is trading for more than $11 before the option expiration date, the buyer would exercise his right to purchase the 100 shares of stock from you for $1,100. (He would then turn around and sell those shares, making a quick profit.) In this case, you would make 22 percent, based on your cost basis of $900.
• If ABC is trading for less than $11 but more than $9 at the expiration date, you would still own the shares – at a gain – and you would pocket the cash you received up front. You could then repeat the process to generate another round of income.
• If ABC is trading for less than $9 at expiration, you would be holding your shares at a loss. But the income you received up front by selling the call option would offset that loss. And, again, you could repeat the process to recoup more of the loss and generate additional income.
The key to this strategy is to use it with stocks that you would like to hold for the long term. They could be stocks you already own or stocks you buy specifically for the purpose of writing covered call options – stocks you believe to be very safe and cheap. And you should employ this strategy at a time when option premiums are large – as they are now. Ideally, you will be selling options that expire within three to five months.
By writing covered calls on high-quality dividend-paying stocks, you can get an extra bonus. Best-case scenario, you keep the option premiums, you keep the dividends, and you keep the stock too!
2. Selling Put Options
Selling puts is a strategy that can generate an annualized yield in the neighborhood of 30 percent to 50 percent. When executed properly, this strategy can be highly profitable and carry very low risk. That is especially true in the kind of market we have today, where fear is high and option prices are elevated.
This is a great way to buy stocks at a discount. Let’s say you would love to buy IBM at $81 a share, but it’s selling at $89 a share. In this case, you could sell the $81 put option. If the price falls below $81 before the option expiration date, you get your shares at the price you like. If the price stays above $81, you keep the premium and you can repeat the process.
You can also sell puts with the goal of generating income. In this case, you’d want the puts to expire worthless so you can capture the option premium. To accomplish this goal, you sell puts that are “out of the money” on stocks you believe to have very little downside risk… and which you would be willing to purchase at a much lower price.
Here is an example…
Let’s assume that stock XYZ is selling for $13. We’ll also assume the stock has already fallen by a significant amount (not too hard to find in today’s market) and you believe the rock bottom liquidation value of the company is $8.
With the stock trading at $13, the July $10 put option is well out of the money and selling for $1.50. You decide to sell those puts. When the trade closes, $150 will automatically show up in your account for every put contract you sold.
The only way you could lose money on this trade is if XYZ trades below $8.50 ($10 minus $1.50) on or before the option expiration date in July. That would be a 35 percent drop from the depressed level the stock is trading at when you sell the puts.
And in the unlikely event that you are obligated to purchase those shares below $8.50, you should still come out okay. After all, the liquidation value of the company is $8 a share, which makes the downside risk very small.
This strategy should be employed on stocks where you believe the downside risk is minimal. And you should only employ it on stocks that you would be glad to own at a price below where you sell the put.
You should also have a reasonable understanding of the true valuation of the company. For this reason, I would exclude most financial and insurance companies, as few people (including insiders) have any idea how much these companies are worth or what is on the books.
By selling put options, you could buy super-high-quality stocks as much as 50 percent cheaper than today’s historically low prices. Plus, you’ll get cold, hard cash deposited in your account instantly… adding to your annual income!
Where You Can Learn These Strategies… and a Lot More!
By no means are these the only strategies that can be highly profitable in today’s market. We are also seeing a once-in-a-generation opportunity in high-quality corporate bonds. Invest in the right ones and you can enjoy significant capital gains plus income… without taking stock market risk.
This is also an excellent market for shorting stocks. But you should not just go out and short any stock. The inevitable bear market rallies could put you in the poorhouse. The lowest risk opportunity is to short those stocks that are almost certainly going to zero – companies with an impaired business model and a massive debt load. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of them out there.
The good news is that putting these strategies into action can be a lot simpler than you may think. The better news: You don’t have to do it on your own…
Nine top investment experts have been asked by Investor’s Daily Edge and Mt. Vernon Research to share their number one strategies and top recommendations that are making a fortune in today’s market. It will take place in June, at the Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Miami.
To learn more about this conference and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities we’ll be discussing (including the two strategies I introduced you to today), click here.
You should be making it a habit to study your competitors’ advertising promotions. If they’re direct marketers, get on their mailing lists. If they use other channels to market their products, keep track of what they’re doing with those media.
Why bother? Because by keeping an eye on your competition, you can improve your own marketing efforts.
Be especially on the alert for sales promotions that you see over and over again. If your competitor keeps running the same ad… you can be pretty sure it’s working (i.e., bringing in lots of money). That’s your cue to try something similar.
[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is an entrepreneur and business author who's started over a dozen profitable enterprises with under $100 in capital. For more information on his Street Smart Business Program, click here.
For 12 marketing methods that can help you reach your prospective customers exactly at the moment they want to buy, pick up a copy of the Amazon.com bestseller Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business.]
Despite a recession-related dip, the “green energy” industry is still pretty hot. And it’s about to get hotter thanks to new federal regulations mandating that the country draw more of its power from alternative/renewable sources. One of those alternatives is wind. Jobs in the wind-power industry grew 70 percent last year, and associated industries (like windmill manufacturers) expect significant growth.
U.S. wind farms had a combined capacity of 25,300 megawatts by the end of 2008. And in 2009, industry watchers expect wind to generate enough electricity to power nearly 7 million homes. Texas is the king of wind power, with 7,118 megawatts produced each year, followed by Iowa with 2,791 and California with 2,517.
(Source: Associated Press)
Issue #2655
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
No longer content with the odds (tens of millions to one) of winning the lottery, more and more Americans are buying fewer lottery tickets. Sales of lotto games and scratch-offs are down 5 percent in California, 7 percent in Florida, and 10 percent in Indiana.
Industry watchers contend that spending on the lottery has fallen due to the recession, along with dips in other types of discretionary spending. But the states aren’t sitting back and taking it. They are actively recruiting new vendors and extending discounts to customers, including buy-one / get-one-free coupons.
(Source: USA Today)
Issue #2654
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
“Just like me… they long to be… close to you…”
Okay, okay. You probably think ol’ Rich has fallen off his rocker this time, but hear me out…
Because there’s a whole lot of wisdom in that one line from the Carpenters’ 1970 smash hit. And it has absolutely nothing to do with birds suddenly appearing every time you are near.
Let me explain…
Ask anyone who works with me at Strategic Profits and they’ll tell you I’m a pretty private person. I like to come in, focus on my work, and keep my personal business… well, personal.
But over the last year or so, I’ve been slowly cracking the door open and letting everyone have a peek at my life outside the office. And there’s a reason for that.
Back when I was first dipping my toes into the Internet marketing waters, I attended a copywriting seminar hosted by none other than the great John Carlton.
John’s legendary in this business, generating multiple millions of dollars with his masterfully crafted sales pieces. In fact, many consider him one of the greatest copywriters living today.
And I was enraptured by John’s teachings. His breakthrough ideas on writing sales copy were instrumental in my initial success online, and from time to time I still I refer to the notes I took during that seminar whenever I need a copywriting boost.
For instance, about a year ago…
I was in the office working on some copy, and I quickly glanced at those seminar notes to get a kick-start.
What I got was a kick all right – a kick in the HEAD!
These are the exact words that popped out at me in all caps and yellow highlighting:
YOU ARE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE IF YOU ARE NOT PERSONALIZING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
Ever had an epiphany?
I did. I suddenly realized how closed and impersonal I had become in my sales copy, and how I had alienated many of my readers because of it.
I realized that, no matter how I may feel or think, in order to become a trusted advisor to my prospects and customers I needed to open up about myself, about my family, and about my life outside of Strategic Profits. And if I opened the curtain a little, they would most likely respond very positively.
In other words, John Carlton reached out from that sheet of paper, slapped me upside the head, and said: “Yo, Schefren… take a lesson from Karen Carpenter. They long to be ‘close to you.’ So LET ‘EM!”
I made a vow right then and there that I was going to create a stronger bond with my audience.
So I started focusing more on empathizing with them, understanding their situations, feelings, and motives. I dug deep to find out what kept them up at night… what gnawed at their very core… and how my products could help solve that problem.
Then I immersed myself into their conversations. I studied the forums and social networking sites they frequented. I made note of the buzzwords they tossed out. I wanted to learn the language they spoke so I could talk to them more effectively on their level.
Finally, I just tried to be myself. I know that sounds overly simplistic, but it’s so crucial. Because we all know people who tried to be someone else. And they failed miserably because there was no truth or integrity in anything they said. So I let my personality shine through a lot more, making a point of telling my readers about the little things – not just the big things – that affect how I live, work, and play.
And guess what? The response was AMAZING! Our subscriber rates went through the roof, we saw significant increases in sales, and my “likeability” factor was suddenly off the charts. All because of this shift in my copy.
What about you? Is your copy stiff, stale, and lacking in personality? Are you pulling your prospects and customers “close to you” with your e-mails, sales letters, and blog posts? Or are you pushing them further away?
Because in the words of John Carlton himself, “Good copywriting is like sitting down, cracking a beer, and shooting the sh**.” I don’t know how to put it any better.
If you can integrate this mindset into your copy, you’ll create a stronger bond with your prospects, customers, and subscribers. As a result, you’ll make LOTS more money (and get a lot more enjoyment out of being a copywriter).
[Ed. Note: Rich Schefren - one of the world's best small-business strategists - knows a thing or two about what it takes to be successful. The businesses he coaches have done over $500 million every year - piling up more than $1 billion in sales every two years. Visit his blog to learn how to streamline your business while skyrocketing profits.
The ability to write strong, persuasive sales copy is the key to building trust with your prospects and converting them into paying customers. You can learn how to do it from Gene Schwartz, one of the world's best copywriters. Get the details here. ]
Sleeping in… Barbecues… Dinners out with friends. Weekends can be rough! At least, as far as your body is concerned.
But it’s easy to prevent weekend weight gain. Just make sure you work out regularly. (Doing it early in the day is best, and you’ll get a more powerful workout if you combine short-burst exercises with multi-muscle techniques.) And watch what you eat.
That said, here are three easy “eating strategies” to keep the fat off.
Weekend Strategy #1: Avoid all liquid calories.
Much of what you drink is full of sugar – which can lead to excess fat. Plus, research shows that liquid calories don’t “register” in the brain and, thus, do not satisfy the appetite. Cut out the soda, the booze, the booze mix, and even the orange juice at breakfast. There’s just no room for liquid sugar in your diet if you want to lose belly fat.
Weekend Strategy #2: Get outside with your family and away from food.
We sometimes eat too much because we are bored. So if you’re finding it hard to keep your hand out of the candy bowl, get your hand (and your butt) out of that room!
Go play with the youngsters outside. Get together with some buddies in the neighborhood for a game of pick-up basketball. Take the dog for a run. Go for a really long walk. Just do something!
Weekend Strategy #3: Treat yourself.
Say you’re visiting family and you know Aunt Sue is going to make her amazing lemon meringue pie for dessert. Simply schedule that “treat” into your eating plan. To make up for it, set limits on all the other goodies you get offered.
And remember, if you can’t keep treats in the house without eating them, get RID of the junk.
[Ed. Note: Extending your life and living out your years in tip-top health is really a matter of making simple lifestyle choices - like consuming less sugar and fewer high-glycemic carbs. For more easy-to-implement ideas about how to live longer and feel better, click here.
Want to burn more fat? Follow Craig's Turbulence Training exercise program.]
“Travail” (truh-VALE) – from the Latin for a three-staked instrument of torture – is painful or arduous work.
Example (as used by Rafer Johnson with Philip Goldberg in The Best That I Can Be ): “Every sport entails physical and mental travail, but the decathlon is a veritable factory of pain.”
[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
Real estate investing has given my husband and me a great deal of freedom to do what we want with our lives. Whether we decide to putter around the yard, go mountain biking, or focus on our Internet business, we are making money from our properties. Many would say we’re earning passive income, but we no longer do.
The problem with pursuing “passive income” is that you’re telling yourself you don’t have to do any work to make that money. Keith Cunningham, author of Keys to the Vault says, “The label becomes the experience. Using the word passive for anything means that you are going to do the least to get the most.” Trying to build wealth through passive income is like trying to get six-pack abs without working out. It isn’t going to happen.
When you buy a property, hire a property manager, and then do nothing more than deposit the rent money into your bank account, you’re setting yourself up for trouble. We know! As I mentioned in my articles “The Problem with Fire“ and “An Easy to Prevent Scam, “we had a property manager steal rent money from us, we were featured in the newspaper as owners of “local crackhouse,” and we were fined in court for fire code violations. All of these things happened to us early in our real estate investing career because we had been in pursuit of passive income. We worked hard to find the properties, bought them, and then passively let things fall apart!
Now, my husband Dave reviews all the bills and talks to our property managers on a regular basis, and we both carefully track and monitor the money that gets spent on each building.
Listen, I’m not saying you have to treat real estate investing as a full-time job. It really doesn’t require a lot of time and attention. It takes us less than five hours a month to actively measure, monitor, and adjust to maximize our profits and minimize our struggles. And since we stopped considering real estate to be a passive income stream, we’ve been sleeping better… and making more money!
[Ed. Note: Real estate expert Julie Broad can show you how to create your own million-dollar real estate portfolio with her new program. Get all the details here.]
It must be the only hotel in New York City, nay, the world, that doesn’t have automatic doors.
But wait! It does have a doorman. Seems friendly enough when you pull up in a cab. Offers to take your bag.
But if you dare to reject his offer to carry your bag into the lobby… he lets you get the door yourself.
Or perhaps you’ve been waited on by an ultra-helpful server at your favorite restaurant… But when she realizes you’re just in the mood for a salad (Read that as: Small bill = small tip), she’s suddenly nowhere to be found.
Some people make it all too clear that they’re only in it for the money.
Those people leave a bad taste in my mouth.
The NYC hotel I mentioned earlier? It was beautiful. And my room was comfortable. But what I remember most is the doorman who wouldn’t hold the door for me. Remembering that, I don’t want to stay there again. Nor would I recommend it to a friend.
On the flip side. My husband and I were apartment hunting a few weeks ago. One of the leasing agents we spoke to asked us where else we were looking. Then she went through our list of places with us, giving her opinions on each neighborhood. She was honest and thorough, and when we left she told us to call her if we had any questions at all – about the city, about anything – whether or not we ended up leasing through her.
We didn’t end up renting from her – the location wasn’t right and the apartment wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. But I won’t forget how friendly and helpful she was, and I will happily refer people to her.
I think it comes down to building relationships. Showing your client – or prospect – that you actually care about solving her problem or making her life better in some way.
If you do so, you won’t have to worry about getting business… or a nice fat tip. The money will come to you.
[Ed. Note: Providing top-notch customer service is just one aspect of running a successful Internet business. ETR's Internet Money Club Independent Learner Edition takes all the guesswork out of getting your business up and running. It doesn't just focus on one aspect of business building - it gives you the whole shebang. Get the details here.]
Do you suffer from restless leg syndrome (RLS)? Until 2003, no one had heard of this “common yet under-recognized disorder” that keeps Americans awake at night.
In 2005, the FDA approved Requip, a dopamine agonist used to treat Parkinson’s disease, for the treatment of moderate to severe RLS. In 2006, Mirapex, a similar drug, was released.
But what is the cause of restless leg syndrome? What is your body trying to tell you?
Well, it’s not that you have a Requip or a Mirapex deficiency. It’s that you’re not getting enough calcium, potassium, and magnesium – the three minerals that affect muscle contraction and nerve transmission.
You can calm your legs naturally and get sound rest by ensuring you get enough of all three minerals. Opt for a daily dose of between 800 and 1,000 milligrams of calcium, 300 milligrams of potassium, and 500 milligrams of magnesium at bedtime.
One final note. If you’re taking any pharmaceutical drug, your risk of RLS is higher. That’s because most over-the-counter and prescription medications deplete vital nutrients. Learn more in Dr. James LaValle’s book The Nutritional Cost of Drugs.
[Ed. Note: For more advice about which health breakthroughs are good - and bad - for your health, sign up for ETR's free natural health e-letter.
One of the best ways to stay healthy and live longer is to eat good foods. Nutrition expert Kelley Herring has collected dozens of her healthiest and most delicious recipes in her e-book, Guilt-Free Desserts. Pick up your copy today ]
Stanley Bergen has a problem. As a regular reader of ETR and a new member of the Oxford Club, he’s getting so much good stuff from us (he’s especially interested in learning how to “eliminate some debt” and retire one day) that he “can’t figure out what to read.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” he says. “I love ETR and the Oxford Club publications, and I look forward to reading them. But it’s too much information all at once.”
“What should I do?” he asks.
What should any of us do?
We live in a world that is absolutely flooded with information. Consider these facts:
• The average person receives 32 e-mail messages per day.
• There is enough scientific information written every day to fill seven complete sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
• The world’s production of print, film, optical, and magnetic content in just one year would require roughly 5 exabytes (5 trillion megabytes) of storage, about 800 megabytes per person.
So if you – like Stan Bergen – are feeling overwhelmed by information, you’re not alone. Information overload is a serious problem for just about everyone.
“One of the most anxiety-inducing side effects of the information era,” Richard Saul Wurman says in Information Anxiety, “is the feeling that you have to know it all.” That is especially true for smart, ambitious people – people who want to improve their lives and realize that getting the right information is a big part of success.
As an ETR reader, that probably means you.
When you begin a new project or become interested in a new idea, do you have an insatiable desire to learn more about it? Do you find yourself buying – and reading – every book, report, newsletter, and magazine you can find on the subject? (That’s what I do.)
In the beginning, it feels great. You are riding high. Then, all of a sudden, you realize that you’ve become an information junkie. You’ve been spending so much time reading about whatever it is you want to do that you don’t have any time left to actually do it. You feel like crying for help.
Bob Bly calls this “analysis paralysis.”
“All the information you are taking in has overloaded your circuits,” he says. “You can’t process it all, sort through it, and figure out what to do first. So, instead, you do nothing. You take no action – other than to order yet another course or report to read.”
Does any of this sound familiar?
Bob has a formula for preventing analysis paralysis. He calls it the 25-50-25 rule. It is based on the fact that there are only three ways to learn a process (e.g., how to start an Internet business) or a skill (e.g., copywriting): studying, observing, and doing.
The 25-50-25 rule says that you must divide your time as follows:
• No more than 25 percent of your time studying – i.e., reading books, attending workshops, listening to instructional CDs in your car.
• No more than 25 percent of your time observing – watching what successful people are already doing.
• At least 50 percent of your time actually DOING the thing you are studying and observing.
For example, if you want to sell information products on the Internet, you would spend 25 percent of your time studying material on the way it’s done, 25 percent of your time observing the way other people are doing it, and 50 percent of your time creating your first product… designing your website… and building your list.
I like Bob’s rule because it emphasizes action. And when I found out about it, I wondered if it could be applied to my daily working life. In thinking about it, I concluded that it depended greatly on what sort of work I was doing. If I was learning a new skill, Bob’s rule seemed to apply. But when I was going about my normal workday activities – creating new products and growing businesses – my time was spent very differently.
My daily working life, I realized, has three common components:
• Gathering information
• Analyzing that information and using it to make plans
• Taking action
I tend to do my information gathering at specific times. I read newspapers in the early morning, magazines during breaks, and e-mail at the end of the day. I read to encounter useful ideas. I analyze those ideas both as I’m reading them and later on, at odd moments throughout the day. I spend most of my workday – about 80 percent of it – taking action. The rest of my time – 20 percent – is devoted to gathering information, analyzing it, and making plans.
I like that 80 percent number. It corresponds with Pareto’s Law – the 80/20 rule that you can apply to just about everything.
I decided to ask some of the most successful people I know (from many different industries and countries) the following questions:
1. How much time each day do you work?
2. How much of that time do you spend gathering and analyzing information?
3. How much of that time do you spend planning?
4. How much of your day do you spend taking action?
Only half a dozen have responded so far, but their answers are interesting. In terms of hours worked, it ranges from 4.5 to 12, with an average of 9. In terms of planning, the range extends from 15 minutes to 90 minutes, with an average of 45. Time devoted to information gathering ranges from 90 minutes to 3 hours, with an average of 145 minutes.
Those numbers correspond to mine. A typical workday for me is 10 hours long, with an hour and a half devoted to gathering information and 45 minutes devoted to some form of planning.
That’s not a ton of time for inputs. And that means the minutes I spend each day taking in information must be absolutely golden.
What I didn’t expect to get from my brief survey were the comments and insights my colleagues have been sharing. They’ve not only told me how they spend their time, but have offered tricks and techniques for getting more done, faster.
Responses are still coming in. When I get all of them, I’ll be sure to make them available to you. So keep reading ETR for more details.
Next week, I’ll give you a clear and useful strategy for reading all that information you’re being bombarded with, to help you sort through the clutter. While you’re waiting for solutions, compare the way you allocate your time to the numbers above that I’ve already collected.
[Ed. Note: Information overload isn't the only stressful situation you deal with on a regular basis. For a powerful guide jam-packed with advice about how to bypass life's most difficult problems and stickiest situations, simply click here.
Get more of Michael's surefire strategies for getting ahead in business and in life in True Path to Profits: A Master Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Success. Find out more - including how you can get a bonus subscription to Michael's VIP newsletter, Ready Fire Aim - right here ]
Issue #2653
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Since the market turned around and started doing its rocket imitation, most people I have spoken to are shaking their heads saying, “It isn’t real,” “It has no legs,” and “It’s 1933 all over again.” Since when are we supposed to be suspicious of a rally?
We moved from an intra-day low below 6,500 to 8,000 in a matter of weeks. It took nine months in a red-hot market, the hottest of all times for the DOW, to make the same move the last time. That was from October 14, 1997 to July 16, 1998.
The average investor missed that move, and is missing the big money again because he has to be convinced by the increase in the price of an investment, or the market indexes, that it’s okay to get in. That’s why most people buy high and sell low. It’s also one of the major reasons why most people lose money in the market.
If the key to real estate is location, location, location, then the key to this market is time, time, time.
If you give this market time, you will have to try to lose money in it. That’s how perfect this environment is for making money over the next three to five years. Yes, years! Not weeks, months, or even one year. Three to five years! If you have any other time horizon in mind, you are setting yourself up for another big loss. If you haven’t learned that making money takes time, save yourself the worry and bury your money in the backyard.
Here’s how easy it will be to make money in this market, if you give it time to work. Just pick the top companies or the appropriate ETFs from the following industries: oil, healthcare, and technology. The easiest way to find these companies is to look at the top 10 holdings of any of the sector funds for those three industries. That should do it.
[Ed. Note: Get the scoop on more emerging investment opportunities from Steve McDonald in Investor's Daily Edge, ETR's sister publication. Sign up for free right here
This June, Steve and 8 other top investment experts will show an elite group of investors how to make a fortune in today's market. They'll be revealing their #1 investment strategy and top recommendations for making 2009 the best year EVER for your portfolio. Get the details here.]
The stock advice for American travelers seeking safety information for other countries is to check out the advisories at travel.state.gov. It is also recommended that you register with the State Department before your trip, and then check in with the local U.S. embassy or consulate once you get there.
But those should be the first – not only – steps you take, especially if you’re traveling to areas known for conditions that make them unstable or dangerous (e.g., civil unrest or disease outbreaks). You see, the U.S. isn’t always up to date when it comes to issuing travel warnings. And in emergency situations… well, U.S. travelers in Mumbai during the recent attacks report calling the embassy only to be told to watch TV news for more information.
So you should also register for e-mail alerts from the Australian (smarttraveler.gov.au), British (fco.gov.uk), and Canadian (voyage.gc.ca) governments. Their worldwide travel advisories tend to be more current and more frequent than those from the U.S. Plus, they’ll send you e-mails and text messages quickly and often during emergency situations.
(Source: Conde Nast Traveler)
[Ed. Note: Staying safe when traveling is just one of hundreds of situations you can learn to handle with aplomb with Unscrew Your Life. It's a monthly newsletter with tips for overcoming life's sticky situations, large and small. Find out more here]
Before my wife Zhannie emigrated to the United States from China, she always ended her messages the same way: “Bu yao tai nu li gong zuo.”
Translation: “Don’t work too hard.”
This statement always bothered me. I didn’t like it because I honestly believed that “hard work” was the key to success in anything. Today, I have a different way of looking at the “hard work” principle, and I’ll explain it in a moment. But first, what did Zhannie mean when she said “Don’t work too hard”?
Years ago, Zhannie’s good friend was working hard in the assembly line at the aluminum factory in her hometown.
Suddenly, an explosion.
The lady’s beautiful face caught on fire. She suffered third-degree burns and was instantly scarred for life. She didn’t leave the house, other than to see a doctor, for more than 10 years.
And with the communist system, you can imagine the health care she received for her wounds.
Shabby at best. Until the doors opened to capitalism and doctors arrived who could perform the complicated surgery she needed.
Under China’s non-capitalistic system, there were few high-level doctors – and no money to pay a specialist if there was one.
Why no high-level doctors?
No icentive. They all got paid the same, no matter what.
Another worker my wife knew lost his arm while working hard. Others lost their lives. In fact, my wife saw so much death when she lived in China that she became numb to it. Life was not precious. Everyone was the same. Just an eggshell to be discarded.
So my wife’s refrain, “Don’t work too hard,” meant the same as the Chinese saying, “Yi lu ping an.” Travel safely.
Safety was valued far more than hard work. Don’t take a risk. Don’t do anything where you could get hurt or injured.
When Zhannie came to the U.S., she no longer believed in “Don’t work too hard.” She believed in taking risks, in doing whatever she could to make life better for herself.
At one time, she held three jobs. She worked part-time in three different restaurants. She went to a school to learn English. Later on, she attended a junior college to learn more.
And she encouraged me to take risks – to write books, to give seminars, to increase my income. She never said “Don’t work too hard” to me AFTER she moved to the U.S.
Years later, when I began teaching Psycho-Cybernetics and Zero Resistance Living on my website, in my products, and at live coaching programs, Zhannie dived into the subject with enthusiasm.
From me she learned that the key to success is the proper use of your imagination and something I call the Law of Practice.
Dr. Maxwell Maltz called it “practice, practice, practice.”
But not hollow practice.
Enthusiastic practice. Putting your body, mind, and soul into what you’re doing – but doing so in a relaxed way.
All great achievers do what they do in a spirit of calm and relaxation. They may pay lip service to the slogan “It’s ALL HARD WORK” – but the reality is that when you work hard and are not relaxed, you’re not very effective.
The best of the best understand this. So next time you hear “It’s all hard work” coming from the mouth of a champion athlete or successful businessman, ask for video footage of him in action.
While watching him, you’ll discover an amazing fact: Even in the heat of battle, even when time is of the essence, even when a life may be on the line – the winners are those who make what they’re doing look easy.
Two summers ago, I watched a man in Xinjiang Province in China walk a tightrope. I also watched him run on the tightrope. And I watched in awe as he stood upon a chair on the tightrope. He made the seemingly impossible look easy.
How?
First, he imagined being the tightrope walker he became.
Second, he practiced more than anyone else until he became that person.
Relaxed, enthusiastic practice is the key to greatness.
Are you relaxed? Are you enthusiastic? Are you willing to practice more than anyone else?
Then nothing can or will stop you from becoming a successful human being.
[Ed. Note: Matt Furey is a national collegiate wrestling champion (1985) and a world shuai-chiao kung fu champion (1997). He publishes the Zero Resistance Living program that teaches average Joes how to change themselves into the person they've always wanted to be. Discover how to relax, imagine, and put enthusiasm into all you do at the highest level possible. Order NOW and make a quantum leap forward.
You can access dozens of powerful strategies that can help you reach new heights in your business and personal life with ETR's Total Success Achievement Program. Get the details here ]
Another weekend, another two or three pounds of fat? No way! Doesn’t have to work like that.
Here are two “real life” fitness techniques that can help you just say “NO” to gaining weight.
Weekend Fitness Strategy #1: Work out first thing in the morning.
There’s nothing magical about training first thing in the morning. I don’t believe it will help you lose fat faster than exercising at any other time of the day.
HOWEVER…
Exercising first thing in the morning gets it out of the way. And if you have a busy weekend coming up, complete with family visits and household chores, the truth is that the morning may be the only time you’ll get a chance to burn belly fat.
Weekend Fitness Strategy #2: Do short-burst workouts with multi-muscle exercises.
You can train your entire body with just two exercises. For example, you could perform a quick, powerful workout just by doing dumbbell squats and push-ups.
The dumbbell squat trains your upper back and your lower body. The push-ups obviously train your chest and arms, but your torso (abs) as well. That’s a complete workout right there.
Do 8-12 reps for squats and 15-30 reps for push-ups. Don’t rest between exercises and keep going for 10 or 20 minutes, whatever you have time for. That’ll hit all of your body’s hot zones.
[Ed. Note: Extending your life and living out your years in tip-top health is really a matter of making simple lifestyle choices - like making sure you exercise even on the weekends. For more easy-to-implement ideas about how to live longer and feel better, click here.
Want to burn more fat? Follow Craig's Turbulence Training exercise program. ]
When you start looking for a rental property to buy, you might find yourself overwhelmed by all of the places that are on the market. Your realtor may be sending you a bunch of listings, and you may have a list of properties you’ve found on websites like Realtor.com. How do you know which ones are worth looking at further?
I use a simple calculation to make a quick decision, and it saves me a huge amount of time. When my husband and I look at a spreadsheet of potential properties to buy (that is how we compare opportunities), I will tell him which three or four we should look at closely in less than five minutes. He will spend hours going over the details and analyzing the numbers only to come to the same conclusion as I did.
So, what’s my trick?
All you need are two numbers: the price of the property and the rental income you will get from it each month. If the monthly income is at least 1 percent of the purchase price, it’s worth investigating further. If, for example, you have a property that costs $300,000 and it gets $3,000 per month in rent, it’s highly likely you will get positive cash flow from it. And that is a key ingredient to successful real estate investing.
You can even drop the 1 percent to 0.8 percent, and you may still have a positive cash flow property. One percent is just a rule of thumb. You can decide on the exact number you’re looking for based on your objectives, the strength of the area where you’re buying, the size of the down payment, and the cost of financing.
Once you’ve found a property with cash flow potential, you still have a lot of work to do to make sure it is a good one to buy. But by using this trick, you won’t waste time running the numbers on properties that don’t have much potential to be a good deal.
[Ed. Note: This is the PERFECT time to scoop up real estate at bargain prices and set yourself up for massive wealth creation when the market recovers. In the meantime, you could be putting money in your pocket every month! Real estate expert Julie Broad can show you just how to do it. Get hands-on coaching and step-by-step instruction to create your own million-dollar real estate portfolio with her new program. Get all the details here.] ]
A “doppelganger” – literally German for “double-walker” – is a ghostly image of a living person, especially one that haunts its counterpart.
Example (as used by Don Hauptman today): “Here’s another roundup of doppelganger words that are often confused.”
[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
Issue #2652
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
This year’s salary increase not up to your standards? Your request for a promotion denied?
Why not retaliate by kidnapping your boss? It’s the latest fad in France.
There have been more than five “bossnapping” incidents connected with labor disputes so far this year. No violence or weapons are involved. Union officials simply detain executives until their demands are met (which has happened) or let them go when further negotiations are promised.
(Source: Agence France-Presse and The Times)
Here’s another roundup of doppelganger words that are often confused. I encountered all of these misuses in my routine reading:
• “With flawless, crystalline hindsight, Henry laid out the causes of our present affliction, and prescribed remedies therefore.”
The word therefore means thus; the word wanted here is therefor.
• “There is no shortage of data to support the notion that walking is imminently healthy.”
Perhaps walking helps you right away, but I suspect the writer meant eminently.
• “Of course, even if you use a social phone number, your hidden digits are likely to be announced through caller ID to anyone you deign worthy of calling back.”
The verb deign means condescend; the writer probably meant deem.
• “The dissembling of Malcolm Forbes’s assets culminated in the 2004 sale of nine Faberge imperial Easter eggs for about $100 million.”
To dissemble is to deceive; the writer undoubtedly intended to convey the idea that the estate was broken up or disassembled.
• “There’s no other word than ‘groped’ for having one’s breasts palpitated in public.”
The verb palpitate means tremble or quiver; what the writer meant was palpate, to touch a part of the body, usually for medical purposes.
• “But concerns that the new terms gave Facebook too much leeway with the hoards of data shared by its 175 million users quickly spread….”
The word hoard is a noun or verb meaning stash or cache; a large number or amount is a horde.
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
“Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry,” Donald Trump once said. “I like making deals. Preferably big ones.” And, indeed, coming up with appealing deals and powerful offers can be an art form unto itself.
Luckily for those of us who don’t have The Donald’s talent, there are formulas on how to do it. And books that lay out those formulas in simple yet thorough detail. One is Cash Copy by Dr. Jeffrey Lant.
As an example, you could build any number of deals using Lant’s most basic premium offer formula. It goes something like this: Successful Premium Offer = FREE + limited time +stated real benefit.
But you can get even more fancy, with impressive results. Here are some of the offer structures Lant suggests, followed by details on how marketers might use them… along with added details on how to apply them directly in sales copy.
Challenge: By the time your prospect gets to the sales close, what’s he worried about? He wants to know (a) if you can solve his problems the way you say you can, and (b) if you can’t, can he get his money back.
Solution: Money-back guarantees are standard fare for all kinds of product offers. Trial samples work here, too. Personally, I prefer strong guarantees to weak ones. Marketers sometimes fear a flood of refund requests. But when you’re working with good products and honest sales promises, that shouldn’t be much of a problem… right?
Technique: I usually push for the strongest guarantee possible – 100 percent money back, even 110 percent back for dissatisfied customers. For the extra 10 percent, maybe you could tally that up in the form of freebies the refunded customer gets to keep. Make it look substantial, too. Certificate borders help. So can signatures and a photo next to your guarantee copy. Also, try putting a strong testimonial in your P.S. or on your reply device.
Challenge: Immediate action-takers want immediate results. They want to see the benefits as soon as possible after deciding to buy.
Solution: Bill-me-later options, installment payments, and trial offers can help scratch the “instant-satisfaction” itch.
Technique: Emphasize ease of ordering and speed of delivery, with simple language like “You pay nothing up front. Just let me know where to send your trial sample, and I’ll rush it to your mailbox.” Tell the customer what they’ll get and, if possible, when.
Challenge: Even with good copy and a good product, sticker shock can be a problem.
Solution: Quantity offers, limited-time offers, and trade-in offers are good ways to show prospects that they’re getting a good deal.
Technique: Emphasize the discount with call-out boxes. Do the math in $$ if the savings is a percentage discount. In the body of the sales close, try showing the cost and efficiency of your product compared to similar, more expensive products. If you can make the offer time-limited, do so. And put that deadline in a call-out box on the reply page, too. Another idea: Try emphasizing the savings by creating a “price-off” coupon that gets sent back along with the reply card.
Challenge: If you don’t get immediate action on a sales decision, you probably won’t make the sale at all.
Solution: Seasonal offers have a natural time limit, but contrived time limits can work just as well. The “speed-reply” bonus is another common device.
Technique: If there’s a limit on the number of customers who can sign up, give specifics. For example: “Frankly, after these 2,000 slots are filled, I’m going to have to close the doors. If I don’t hear from you by then, you’ll be turned away. I’ll have no choice. Which is why I hope to hear from you soon.” Emphasize benefits the prospect sacrifices by waiting too long. Fax and toll-free ordering can also be used to help speed up orders: “If you want to get started immediately, call or fax your order to…”
Challenge: Even eager customers can get confused by complex order forms, missing business reply envelopes, elaborate information requests, and worse.
Solution: Multiple ways to place an order help – but more than three options (fax, phone, mail, or e-mail) is probably too much. These days, the ability to take orders around the clock is a big plus.
Technique: Try numbering the steps. (“1. Fill out this invitation below. 2. Put it in the envelope provided. 3. Drop it in your mailbox.”) Add this phrase here and there, too: “It’s that simple.” And if you’ve got a toll-free number, be sure to put it where the prospect can see it. Make it large. Make it easy to find. And put it on every piece in the envelope.
Challenge: People like to feel that they’re getting privileges. “In a world where everyone is as important as everyone else,” says Lant, ”people are dying to feel more important than everyone else.”
Solution: Create limited editions, clubs, and “societies.” Frequent-flier miles and favored-customer incentives work on this principle.
Technique: Use design to make the invitation look exclusive. Write in “whispered” tones. The reply device could be constructed like a real “R.S.V.P.” document. When you start the sales close, make sure you summarize the benefits in the form of privileges for exclusive invitees.
Challenge: Some people fear commitment.
Solution: “No-money-down” offers are effective – but for real fence sitters, consider collecting their contact information for future use. E-mail is great for this. Give free information up front. Then keep in touch to deepen the relationship and set the groundwork for future sales.
Technique: Here’s where emphasizing freebies can come in handy. But remember, it’s not worthwhile if (a) the freebie is of no benefit to the prospect and (b) you fail to collect their contact information.
A caveat, says Lant, is that “‘free’ by itself is almost never the strongest possible offer you can make.” However, he says, when you’ve got a really strong offer – no matter what kind it is – one of the best things you can do is bring it out right up front.
Added evidence: Many of the most successful direct-mail letters of all time lead with a strong sales offer right in the headline or on the first page. By the way, Lant himself credits another copywriting expert with some of the best insights in his “offer” chapter – our prolific pal Bob Bly, author of the all-time classic The Copywriter’s Handbook
Pick up a copy if you haven’t already.
[Ed. Note: To get more of copywriting expert John Forde's wisdom and insights into marketing (and much more), sign up for his free e-letter, Copywriter's Roundtable, at http://www.copywritersroundtable.com. Or send an e-mail to signup@jackforde.com. Get a free report about 15 deadly copy mistakes and how to avoid them when you sign up today .
To create a powerful offer, you need to have top-quality products and a list of people to sell them to. Discover how to set up an e-mail list and website, create products the market is hungry for, and much more with ETR's Internet Money Club Independent Learner's Edition. Get all the details here.]
Issue #2651
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
When investigating companies to invest in, I look at several margins – gross, operating, pre-tax, and net profit margin. But I focus on operating margin. Operating margin is the difference between how much you make and how much you spend to operate the business. If the “making” is at least 15 percent higher than the “spending,” I’m interested.
But there’s something else I need to know…
Was the operating margin lower or higher last year? And the year before? And the year before that? I like to see margins on an upward trend. It could mean several things, like…
• Strong and/or rising pricing power
• A shortage of products (Think Harley-Davidson, which deliberately makes fewer bikes than they could sell.)
• Technological leadership
• A transition from lower-end to higher-end products
• Rising productivity
• The ability to effectively manage costs
It takes more homework to figure out what is driving higher margins, but all of the above possibilities are good. So with an operating margin on an upward trend, even without doing the homework, you already know the company is running its business from a position of strength.
Profit margins go to the core of what makes a business successful. If you want a reality check, consider retailers.
Many retailers sold more product than ever during the 2008 holiday season. But because they had to slash prices to get customers to buy, their margins were squeezed to the max. So while sales were up, profits were down. That’s what happens when margins go in the wrong direction.
If you want to do the research yourself, the numbers are provided online by Reuters Finance. Just look up a specific company and click on “Ratios.”
[Ed. Note: This June, investment expert Andrew Gordon is just one of 9 investment experts who will show you exactly how you can make a fortune in today's market. Find out how to get their top recommendations for making 2009 the best year ever for your portfolio right here. ]