“Redux” (rih-DUHKS) – from the Latin – means brought back or returning.
Example (as used by Don Hauptman today in the title of his “Language Perfectionist” column): Confusables Redux.
[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
I never run out of examples of word pairs that are commonly confused. Here’s another list:
• “Fear of weight gain may mitigate against effective psychiatric treatments.”
The writer meant militate, which means to exert a force or influence. To mitigate means to alleviate, moderate, make something less severe. Thus, the latter word is never properly used with against.
• “Whatever food other people are eating around her, it doesn’t phase her.”
The word wanted here is faze, which means disturb, disconcert, daunt.
• “So, I’d do some digging before I went full boar into streaming.”
Although full boar conjures up an interesting image, the correct expression is full bore. The origin of the metaphor is disputed, but the term originally described the widest capacity of an engine cylinder or gun barrel, thereby suggesting the idea of maximum power.
• “Staff may be reticent to express themselves freely in the presence of supervisors.”
This is one of the most common linguistic mix-ups. The writer meant reluctant. The word reticent means reserved, quiet, taciturn. Thus, one is never reticent to do something.
I found all the examples quoted above by searching the Internet. The tens of thousands of incorrect citations that turned up demonstrate just how frequently these words are misunderstood and misused.
[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.]
Issue #2676
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
To “prink” (PRINGK) – from the Middle English for “to show off” – is to dress for show; to primp.
Example (as used by Raffaella Barker in the Daily Telegraph): “Tara has supermodel legs and is already getting used to being prinked and coiffed as she prepares for her first beauty contest in the autumn.”
[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
Faced with chronically overcrowded emergency rooms (often filled with patients unable to pay), hospitals across the country are partnering with supermarkets, shopping malls, and drugstores to open walk-in clinics. Patients get access to physicians, as well as “back-up” hospital services (like lab testing). And they have to pay before being seen – either with cash or insurance.
Hospitals like the arrangement. Not only do they cut down on emergency room visits and get paid up front, they establish relationships with patients that can lead to future (and more lucrative) business.
Patients like it because they can get a side salad with their flu shot.
(Source: New York Times)
As bad as too much sugar is for you, its cousin is even worse. I’m speaking, of course, about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the sugary goo that’s been added to soft drinks, salad dressings, cakes, cookies, and cereals for over 30 years. The darling of food manufacturers everywhere, HFCS made its debut as the ideal solution for extending the shelf life and reducing the cost of producing commercially sweetened foods.
While it might have been a magic bullet for manufacturers and retailers, it’s been a bullet of a very different kind for consumers. According to nutrition expert Jonny Bowden, writing in Total Health Breakthroughs, HFCS comes with a veritable laundry list of associated health risks, including raising triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, reducing insulin sensitivity, and causing dangerous intra-abdominal fat (the kind that’s a precursor to heart disease).
Not enough to make you think twice? Here’s another frightening twist: mercury contamination!
Mercury can damage the heart, kidneys, nervous system, and immune system. In pregnant women, mercury can cross the placenta and affect the neurological development of the fetus. (Is it any wonder we’re seeing so many cases of autism and ADHD?)
The latest news regarding the dangers of HFCS came to light in late January when several news outlets published the results of two eye-opening studies. In the first study, it was reported that, in 2005, an FDA scientist tested 20 commercial products containing HFCS and found that nine were positive for mercury. If that wasn’t bad enough, the FDA, asleep on the job as usual, did not release these dangerous findings to the public until recently.
In the second study, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a non-profit watchdog group, analyzed 55 commercial products containing HFCS that were purchased in the fall of 2008. They found that nearly 1 in 3 of the foods and beverages it tested contained mercury.
At this point you might be wondering what a toxic heavy metal has to do with high-fructose corn syrup. Was it an accident or shoddy manufacturing practices that caused mercury to be found in these foods? No. In creating the corn syrup, a mercury reagent is typically used with a caustic soda to separate corn starch from the kernel. In the process, the mercury cells can contaminate the caustic soda, which is then transferred to the corn syrup.
A spokesperson for the Corn Refiners Association claims that the industry has not used mercury reagents in the manufacturing of HFCS for several years and the study is therefore outdated. But can that really be true if the products tested in the second study were purchased off the shelf by IATP in 2008?
And even so, that feeble excuse cannot reverse the damage done to countless Americans who unknowingly ingested mercury-contaminated food for 30 or more years, clogged their arteries, and possibly affected the neurological development of their unborn children.
What’s the takeaway advice here? It’s obvious. Get high-fructose corn syrup out of your diet. The health dangers are just too alarming to ignore. Don’t wait for the FDA or food manufacturers to do the right thing. If their track record is any indication, the wait will be a long one.
[Ed. Note: Melanie Segala is the Managing Editor of ETR's free health newsletter, Total Health Breakthroughs. You can learn more about food safety and natural health solutions from today's leading experts by subscribing now.]
When starting a small business, your first steps should be researching your target market, developing a marketing plan, and testing offers. In other words, taking action to turn your business idea into a real business by making sure you can sell your products at a profit.
Unfortunately, many first-time entrepreneurs let their anxiety about such things as tax codes, website security, and the right corporate structure sidetrack them into spending all their time on endless rounds of research.
Sure those things become important, but only after your business is up and running. And once the business is actually making money, you can afford to hire professionals (an attorney, accountant, Web designer, etc.) to worry about them for you.
It may seem like you are working on your business while you are trying to figure these things out for yourself. But as MaryEllen Tribby, ETR’s publisher and CEO, points out (often in her “tough love” comments to attendees at our conferences):
“Instead of helping you get ahead, these things could actually be preventing you from achieving the success you want.
“Whenever you think you MUST do something to help get your business started, ask yourself, ‘Will this help me achieve my marketing goals?’ If the answer is no, it may not be worth worrying about it.”
[Ed. Note: With ETR's 5 Days in July business-building conference, you may not learn much about advertising laws or accounting practices. But you WILL get a comprehensive education in starting your own profit-producing Internet business. Get the details here.]
Issue #2675
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
What products and services sell best in a recession?
Hint: This is not a trick question. The answer is the one that immediately popped into your head when I asked it.
Before you started over-analyzing this…
The products and services that sell best in a recession are the cheaper ones. That’s right – the ones that cost less.
I recently read in a biography of Milton Hershey that he believed his business was recession-proof and depression-proof because he sold an affordable product. He reasoned that, even if a person couldn’t afford new shoes or a new car or a vacation, they could always afford a nickel for a Hershey’s chocolate bar. (That was the price in those days.)
Milton Hershey was right.
According to an article in Ad News, as the economy continued to tank in the fourth quarter of 2008, the Hershey company increased its advertising budget by 23 percent. And as consumers switched from expensive premium chocolates they no longer felt they could afford to Hershey’s, the company’s net income for the fourth quarter of 2008 rose 51 percent to $82 million.
Similarly, with the restaurant business in its worst slump since 1991, McDonald’s worldwide sales rose 7.1 percent in January 2009. Diners may not be able to afford steak anymore, but they can still afford a Big Mac.
I have found the same thing – consumer preference for lower-priced goods and services during an economic downturn – to hold true for the two little businesses I run: information marketing and freelance copywriting.
In my online publishing business, my low-priced products are e-books selling in the $19 to $79 range. My mid-range products are DVD and audio CD albums selling in the $100 to $150 range. And my high-end products are multimedia programs selling in the $300 to $1,000 range.
In recent months, my customers have clearly been telling me that (a) they are worried about money, (b) they really appreciate my reasonable prices, and (c) for now, they prefer offers for low-priced products.
They are not asking for special discounts or “recession sales.” They just want me to focus on offering products that sell for under $100, which seems to be the magic recession-proof price point for my market.
Whenever I advertise mid-range or high-priced products to my customer list, I always get at least one e-mail from a reader telling me she wants to buy the product… but can’t because she has lost her job!
If you are an information marketer, I suggest that, rather than fighting this trend, you accommodate your customers by:
• Expanding your product line, especially with the lower-priced products (like e-books).
• Offering your readers more free content (such as special reports and teleseminars).
• Bundling products into packages that enable customers to get related materials at handsome discounts (e.g., buy two e-books, get the third one free).
I am also finding that offering low-priced service options works for my freelance copywriting business.
To make $10,000 as a freelancer, you can either do one $10,000 project or five $2,000 projects. These days, I am doing a lot more $2,000 projects for clients who want to continue their marketing but are focused on controlling costs.
For instance, I am saving my clients money by helping them do more marketing online and a bit less offline. We are also using marketing methods that can be tested at minimal cost before rolling out the campaigns (e.g., small test mailings of 1,000 instead of 10,000).
One thing that has worked especially well is a new service bundle I call the “Starter Package.”
Normally, I charge $500 an hour for consulting. With a 10-hour minimum, payable in full in advance, that works out to $5,000 – affordable in normal times, not so affordable during an economic crisis. With the Starter Package, I offer new clients 90 minutes of my time for a flat fee of $750.
There’s no reduction in my hourly rate. I merely allow people to start working with me for a lower initial commitment.
I picked 90 minutes deliberately. Not only is it enough time to give prospects a taste of how my advice and copy can benefit them, but it comes in at a price point under $1,000. And that is within the comfort zone of a new client who doesn’t know me all that well.
More important, the Starter Package shows prospects that I empathize with their desire to cut back on spending and have designed a service to accommodate their smaller budgets.
Interestingly, what usually happens is that, after reviewing the Starter Package offer, prospects call me to get a quote for the full service they really want. And more often than not, that’s what they choose to go with.
So while I don’t actually do a lot of copywriting and consulting under the Starter Package arrangement, it makes prospects more comfortable with me as a vendor who respects their budget concerns and limitations. And that’s been keeping my freelance business active and profitable.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now.
It IS possible to make sales during a recession. As Bob Bly explained, you need to know what to sell... but you also need to know HOW to sell. Tomorrow morning, we're unveiling a brand-new power-packed program that will give you everything you need to become a master of ultra-profitable sales. Keep an eye on your inbox for this limited-time opportunity.]
Conventional buy-and-hold stock investing is not working in today’s market. Trading E-Minis is a great alternative, because you can take full advantage of the market’s volatility.
You can easily make money in a market that is going up or down. You can, for example, make a bundle if you go “long” or buy an E-Mini contract and the market goes up. And if you go “short” or sell an E-Mini contract, you can just as easily make money when the market goes down. This adds an entirely new dimension of opportunity for investors.
An E-Mini is an electronically traded futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) that represents a smaller version of a standard futures contract. E-Mini contracts are available on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, S&P MidCap 400, and Russell 2000 indices. One example: The E-Mini S&P 500 futures contract is one-fifth the size of the standard S&P 500 futures contract.
E-Minis have a low margin requirement, which makes trading them easy and affordable. You can get started for as little as $500 per contract. And because standard stock and index options currently have high premiums due to market volatility, your leverage and profit potential is higher with E-Minis.
E-Minis allow investors with small amounts of risk capital to participate in the Dow and S&P 500 at a fraction of the cost of purchasing the actual stocks outright. You would have to pay thousands of dollars in commissions alone to buy all the stocks in the S&P 500, for example. But by buying an E-Mini S&P 500 futures contract, you can participate in all those stocks for a commission of less than $10!
Bottom line: Start trading E-Minis if you’re looking for an exciting, highly versatile, efficient, and economical way to capitalize on the daily swings in the stock market.
[Ed. Note: Ted Peroulakis is a writer and analyst with Investor's Daily Edge (IDE), ETR's sister publication. Find out more today.
The best way to learn the ins and outs of trading (and making huge gains with) E-Minis is with the Velocity Strategy, developed by IDE editor Rick Pendergraft. Using this simple strategy, he was able to make 99.15 percent gains in 2008. Learn more here.]
If you subscribe to Michael Masterson’s “Ready, Fire, Aim” philosophy, you’re no doubt going to notice an unappealing side effect.
Sometimes, you’re going to screw up.
But don’t be too hard on yourself. Making mistakes – even downright failing – is a part of the learning process that you should welcome with open arms. Michael Masterson calls this the secret of accelerated failure. “If you tense up and focus on avoiding mistakes, you will learn very slowly,” he says. “If you relax, let the mistakes happen, and learn from them, you will advance quickly.”
Take ETR for example. We recently made changes to the look of our e-newsletter. Our goal: to make ETR easier for you and the rest of our 480,000 subscribers to receive and read.
The ETR team figured out what we thought we needed to do to make the newsletter more readable, more spam-proof, and less high-tech. We tested our ideas using many of the most popular Internet service providers and mail-reading programs… made a few changes… and tested again.
But instead of testing forever, we decided that the test period was over. We knew we were “Ready,” so we “Fired” by sending out an e-mail in the new format. When Murphy’s Law struck and we discovered that some e-mail providers made ETR less readable in the new format – the exact opposite of our intention – we immediately fixed it. And we’ve been continuing to fine-tune (”Aim”) the new format ever since.
If you want to make an improvement to your business, you need to make it happen fast. Every second you wait, you’re wasting precious dollars or losing potential customers. That’s why it’s so important to “Fire” quickly.
Yes, you need to do the appropriate research and testing to make sure you’re “Ready.” But then you need to stop angling for perfection and throw your project out into the real world. And THEN you can take the time to “Aim.”
[Ed. Note: How do you like ETR's new format? Let us know at AskETR@ETRFeedback.com.]
Issue #2674
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Inflation is being kept in check right now. But you can guarantee that it will rear its ugly head at some point in the future. Too much money is being printed by the government. And eventually all those dollars floating around in the economy will be chasing a supply of goods that simply isn’t large enough.
So how do you invest for inflation that isn’t here yet?
First, you want to wait until you see the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index creeping up. Don’t wait until everybody is worried about it. You want to take action when the numbers start increasing slightly.
At that point, diversify your portfolio with a balance of investment vehicles: bonds, precious metals, and stocks. How much do you allocate to each one? That is really up to you. But you should consider such factors as your age, your comfort level with risk, and how many years you have until you retire.
I will probably leave approximately 50 percent of my own portfolio in equities (diversified among various markets and sectors), and put approximately 25 percent in bonds and 25 percent in precious metals. And I’m talking, here, about the 80 percent of my portfolio that I view as long-term. The 20 percent that I trade on a short-term basis changes from day to day.
[Ed. Note: Rick Pendergraft's take on the market and approach for investing with confidence despite the Great Recession is available every day in ETR's sister publication, Investor's Daily Edge. Sign up for FREE right here.]
Issue #2673
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
On a recent bike ride down one of Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains, I noticed a fairly large tree root sticking up from the ground on the trail ahead. I had enough room to pass on the left, but it was tight. I was in control of my bike and I was able to slow down, but my front tire hit the root dead on.
In what felt like slow motion, my back tire came off the ground. I felt my body lift from my seat, and I was thrown over my handlebars headfirst into the bushes to the right of the root. Thankfully I had a helmet on and was going slowly. I was stunned, but not badly injured.
My husband was, of course, relieved that I was okay, but he was also surprised that I had hit the root. He knew I was capable of maneuvering my bike around it. I had navigated tougher terrain before. So what went wrong?
I did the same thing on my mountain bike that many new real estate investors do. I focused on the problem instead of looking ahead to my destination and figuring out how to get there. As Henry Ford so eloquently stated, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
I focused on the root – instead of my path – and I hit it.
If you focus on the fact that you don’t have any money for a down payment, or you have bad credit, or you don’t think you can find financing for a property, you will hit those barriers and you probably won’t get past them. Yes, you have to be aware of the challenge you face in order to navigate past it – but you shouldn’t make your obstacle the focus. Your focus should be on where you’re going next and how you’re going to get there.
If you don’t have money for a down payment, start putting together excellent property deals that people with money would want to invest in. If you have bad credit, take measures to repair your credit and learn all about real estate investing in the meantime. If you think you can’t find financing for a property, talk to people who are getting financing and learn how they’ve done it.
The next time I ride a challenging mountain bike trail and encounter a scary looking root or rock, I will focus on the options I have for getting around it – not on the obstacle itself. Keep this in mind when you pursue your own dreams.
[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]
If you could create a steady side income by putting in just a few hours a week, would you do it? Listen, it’s entirely possible – and today I’m going to show you how.
I very recently started a new Internet business in a niche market that I am very passionate about. I’ve already started to collect names to build a subscriber list – and I’ve even made a handful of sales!
A handful of sales might not sound like much, but I’m excited. Why? Because the hardest part – getting this new site set up and starting to drive traffic to it – is out of the way.
I’m using the proven business model that helped ETR triple its revenues in three years… the same model that helped ETR’s parent company explode into a nearly $300 million Internet juggernaut. So I know I can realistically expect my site to (eventually) churn out significant income on virtual autopilot.
By no means am I putting a full-time effort into this project. (And most would argue that I’m not even putting in a part-time effort.) It’s just something I’m doing on the side. Of course, that’s one of the major benefits of Internet and information marketing. You can get started as a “chicken entrepreneur“… without quitting your day job.
You, too, can create a home-based Internet business that will provide you with a steady side income. Here are the seven simple steps:
Step 1. Identify Your Market
The biggest mistake I see budding Internet entrepreneurs make is to start by trying to figure out what they’re going to sell. And that can be tough. There are hundreds of thousands, even millions, of possible products and services.
It’s more important to decide what market or niche you are going to target. When you identify your market, you will know who your prospects are, what problems they have, and what solutions they are looking for. And once you have that information, it’s not hard to find a product to sell to them.
So how do you decide which market to go after? My recommendation is to make a list of all the things you are interested in and choose from that. Why make a list and not just zero in on your number one passion? Because you want to give yourself some options. Just because you have a strong interest in something doesn’t mean there are enough people out there who share your interest and (very important) have money to spend on it.
Golfers, for example, are passionate about their game. They also have a lot of money and like to spend it on golf-related “stuff.” On the other hand, though teenage boys may be into rough sports and fast cars, you won’t have much luck selling them anything anytime soon.
Here’s the formula: Your Passion + Profitable Market = Great Niche Website
Step 2. Choose – and Purchase – a Domain Name
Another mistake that online entrepreneurs make is to try to come up with a domain name that is cute or creative. (With the popularity if Web 2.0, I am seeing more and more of this.)
Your domain name should be descriptive of your website topic and benefit-driven. Ideally, it should also include your main keyword. And, of course, it should be easy to spell and easy to remember.
A good example of a domain name that is easy to remember, easy to spell, descriptive, benefit-driven, and includes the main keyword of the website’s topic: FreeCreditReport.com.
Step 3. Put Up a Website
If you can use a word processor, you can create a website with similar software.
I use and recommend XSite Pro (which ETR includes with its Internet Money Club Independent Learner Edition ). This is one of the best website content management systems out there. Another option is to use a website HTML editor like Microsoft Expression Web (formerly Front Page) or Dreamweaver by Macromedia. These two programs aren’t as powerful or easy to use as XSite Pro, but can get the job done.
There are many other lower priced and free programs – but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for.
Step 4. Add an Opt-In Form to Your Site
When you visit any of ETR’s websites, including EarlyToRise.com, InvestorsDailyEdge.com, and TotalHealthBreakthroughs.com, you’ll notice that there is a box – an opt-in form – near the top right-hand corner.
Having an opt-in form is one of the key things that separate successful online businesses from those that fail. It allows your visitors to give you their name, e-mail address, and any other information you may want to collect.
The entire Agora Model of Internet Marketing is based on this concept.
By capturing your visitors’ contact information, you can follow up with them on a regular basis via e-mail. You can send them valuable content, build a relationship with them, and bring them back to your website to sell them products they are interested in.
Step 5: Offer a Freebie
The best way to get people to give you their contact information is to offer them something of value in exchange. At Early to Rise we offer a free subscription to the newsletter you’re reading right now.
You could also offer a free special report or some type of tip sheet. Putting one together can be as simple as coming up with 10 questions that people in your niche are likely to ask and answering those questions. It can be just 5 or 10 pages long. Better yet, unlike a daily newsletter, you only have to write it once. Then you upload it to your autoresponder (the same software you use for the opt-in form) and have it automatically sent to everyone who gives you their name and e-mail address.
I recommend using a third party autoresponder service such as Aweber.
Step 6. Drive Traffic to Your Website
There are many ways to drive traffic to your website, but when you’re starting out you’ll want to focus mostly on free traffic.
One of my favorite ways to get free traffic is by writing and submitting articles to article directories. I submit most of my articles to EzineArticles.com. (Make sure you include your website’s URL in the blurb or bio that runs with the article.)
Another good way to get free traffic is through social media marketing. Search for blogs and forums that are related to your niche and answer questions and post comments. Most forums and blogs will allow you to link back to your website. Just be sure that you are providing good content and that what you have to say is relevant to the forum’s or blog’s subject matter.
Keep in mind that most of the people you attract to your website by submitting articles and through social media will not purchase anything from you – at least, they won’t purchase anything on their first visit. But that’s why you have the opt-in form – to capture their contact information so you can keep bringing them back.
Step 7. Follow Up… and Start Making Sales
The final step is to follow up with the people on your opt-in list and start selling them products. These can be your own products or products you are promoting as an affiliate.
This, too, can be done with your autoresponder. For example, you could write a series of five to seven e-mails, each one promoting a different product. And as soon as people opts in to get your freebie, you have those e-mails automatically sent to them, one at a time, every couple of days.
You don’t want people to think they’re just going to be getting sales messages from you, so mix it up. Include some valuable content in your e-mails too. This will help you continue to build your relationship with them.
Those are the seven steps you can take to quickly and easily launch a new online business. Once you have this basic system in place you continue to build on it by learning more ways to bring traffic to your site, building a bigger opt-in list, and starting to promote what we call “backend” products.
If any (or all!) of this sounds daunting, don’t worry. I can give you hands-on help to get your own Internet business up and running at ETR’s 5 Days in July conference.
MaryEllen Tribby, Charlie Byrne, Edwin Huertas, David Cross, and I – as well as other experts in Internet marketing and website building – will be there to walk you, step by step, through the entire process.
We’ll teach you how to pick a domain name, set up a website, choose products, start driving traffic to your site, and much more. And at the end of the conference, every attendee will leave with a fully functioning Internet business that has the potential to churn out income for life.
[Ed. Note: It takes only 5 days to start an Internet business. Learn why right here.
Are you coming to ETR's 5 Days in July conference? What's the most important business-building technique you want to learn? Let us know right here.]
Issue #2672
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
In his thoroughly entertaining book The Prime Movers, Edwin A. Locke gives this example of the way entrepreneurs think:
An average person observes evergreens growing along the roadside and thinks that they look pretty, especially when partly covered with snow. At this point, his thinking stops. An entrepreneur observes the same trees and thinks, “These trees would look good in people’s living rooms at Christmas. I wonder what people would pay for them?
And he would continue to ask such questions as:
• How hard is it to grow evergreens?
• What investment is required?
• How big should they be before being cut?
• How difficult would it be to cut and transport them?
• How much would it cost?
• How long would they keep before losing their needles?
• Where would they be sold?
• What would the competition be like?
• Could I make other, related products – e.g., wreaths?
• Can I make money in such a seasonal business?
• How much?
• How can I get started?
This kind of active, directed thinking is one of the things that separate entrepreneurs from the rest of humanity. In fact, the most successful entrepreneurs in history – all of them mega-billionaires by today’s standards – seemed to have dynamic, pragmatic minds.
Locke gives plenty of examples, including these:
• Thomas Edison: He was a “virtual thinking machine. Almost until the day he died, his mind poured forth a torrent of ideas, and he might track as many as 60 experiments at a time in his laboratory.”
• Steve Jobs: He bombarded people with his ideas – his investors, his board of directors, his customers, his subordinates, and his CEO John Scully.
• Henry Ford: “He threw himself into every detail, insisting on getting small things absolutely right…. But he never lost sight of the ultimate, overall objection. He had a vision of what his new car (the Model T) should look like. From all the improvisation, hard thought, and hard work came a machine that was at once the simplest and the most sophisticated automobile built to date anywhere in the world.”
You may be thinking, “Hey, I’m no Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs or Henry Ford.” Well, neither am I. And I could rattle off a dozen multi-millionaire entrepreneurs I know who don’t have that kind of brain capacity either.
Raw intelligence is not the issue. If it were, Einstein would have been wealthy. What matters in the world of commerce is how you think.
Some people, whether because of their upbringing or their DNA, have a natural billionaire mind. But just about anyone who is smart and ambitious can learn to think like a billionaire.
You can transform your mind completely and permanently in a matter of a few short months by making small changes, one at a time. It will take some effort, though. As Joshua Reynolds once said, “There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking.”
Begin by vowing to talk to every successful person you know or meet. Tell them how much you admire what they have accomplished and ask them how they do what they do.
You may be amazed at how open they will be to such inquiries. Nine times out of 10, they’ll be eager to tell you just about everything they know.
Unfortunately, many of the twentieth century’s greatest entrepreneurs have been disparaged by historians and the media. As Locke points out in The Prime Movers, if you mention the names Andrew Carnegie or John Rockefeller or Cornelius Vanderbilt to most people, they think “greedy robber barons who took advantage of their circumstances.” They know nothing about their accomplishments. What they know, for the most part, is based on persistent myths that prevent them from learning from these men and prospering.
Locke says:
“It is often claimed that the Prime Movers have been viewed with suspicion at best and with distaste or repugnance at worst…. The most basic motive [of those who envy them] is… hatred of the good for being good… it is hatred of the Prime Movers because they are intelligent, successful, and competent, because they are better at what they do than others are.
“The ultimate goal of the haters of the good is not to bring others up to the level of the most able (which is impossible) but to bring down the able to the level of the less able – to obliterate their achievement, to destroy their reward, to make them unable to function above the level of mediocrity, to punish them, and, above all, to make them feel unearned guilt for their own virtues.”
When you become super-successful, you’ll have to learn how to handle the people who are going to resent you for achieving what they themselves have been unable to do. But first, you have to get yourself into that enviable position. And you do that by practicing the thinking of the great entrepreneurs who thought like billionaires and so amassed billions.
I’ll be writing more on this subject in the future. But for right now, here are eight characteristics of the billionaire mind that you can emulate:
1. A “normal” person is concerned with protecting his ego. When dealing with a problem he doesn’t really understand, he pretends he understands the contributing factors and doesn’t try to find out what anyone else thinks. A person with a billionaire mind asks questions incessantly. He has no ego when it comes to learning. He knows that knowledge is power.
2. A “normal” person has a consumer mentality. He looks at a hot new product and thinks about how he would like to own one. A person with a billionaire mind has an entrepreneurial mentality. He looks at it and thinks, “How can I produce this or something similar in my own industry?”
3. A “normal” person is wish-focused. He daydreams about making gobs of money. A person with a billionaire mind is reality-based. He is always analyzing his own success and the success of others and wondering how he could learn from it.
4. A “normal” person, when confronted with a challenging idea, thinks of all the reasons why it might not work. A person with a billionaire mind sees the potential in it and disregards the problems until he has a clear vision of how it might succeed.
5. A “normal” person resists change. A person with a billionaire mind embraces it.
6. A “normal” person accepts the status quo. A person with a billionaire mind is always looking to make things – even good things – better.
7. A “normal” person reacts. A person with a billionaire mind is proactive.
8. A “normal” person looks at a successful business owner and thinks, “That guy’s lucky.” Or “That guy’s a shyster.” A person with a billionaire mind thinks, “What’s his secret?” And, “How can I do that?”
Start by being humble and asking questions. Do this until it becomes a habit. Then take on another characteristic of the billionaire mind – like looking at a successful new product and thinking, “How can I do something like that?”
Go through the list, mastering one characteristic at a time, and within three months you will be able to create new businesses almost automatically. You will become a natural leader. Money will flow to you like water coming down a hill. And then you’ll be ready to deal with all the “normal” people who are jealous of your incredible success.
[Ed. Note: Get more of Michael Masterson's surefire strategies for getting ahead in business 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 his VIP newsletter, Ready Fire Aim) here.
You can learn more about how to develop a billionaire mindset - straight from a man who mentored four billionaires. Discover how to get proven achievement advice and powerful success techniques that can help you reach new heights in your business and personal life right here.]
Issue #2671
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Most of us think that bad things can never happen… or that they only happen to “the other guy.” But what happens when you become “the other guy”?
You – and I – need a “back-up plan.”
This could be:
1. Investing prudently and building your net worth to the point where you can live off your investments.
2. Learning a second skill or profession.
3. Creating and selling a line of products – anything from candles and perfume to exercise videos and how-to books.
4. Collecting a sizeable inheritance that will enable you to live the life of a gentleman or lady of leisure.
5. Marrying someone with a good income who will support you in the style to which you would like to become accustomed.
Of these options, my own back-up plan is #3 (mainly because #4 and #5 didn’t pan out).
A few years ago, I began to think, “What if something happens that makes me unable to continue making a living as a freelance writer?” So I started my own Internet marketing business, creating and selling information products – e-books, audio programs, and videos – online.
Today, my little Internet marketing business generates a six-figure income for me… yet I spend only an hour or two a day on it!
Do you have a back-up plan? If not, do you intend to put one into place soon?
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is the author of more than 70 books and is an undisputed master of the art of selling. Subscribe to Bob's free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116.
If you don't have a back-up plan, here's an idea: Do what Bob did and set up your own Internet business selling information products. ETR can help you get started. Learn the details here.]
Consider the following sentences:
• “Whey protein has been proven through scientific research to be very beneficial….”
• “Yet few of them understood the investments they held, many of which had proven to be junk.”
• “It’s not as if this exact rumor hasn’t been proven false time and time again….”
In each of the above examples, proven should be proved.
According to Bryan Garner in Garner’s Modern American Usage“Proved has long been the preferred past participle of prove. But proven often ill-advisedly appears….” He goes on to explain that proven “properly exists only as an adjective,” as in “a proven success.” An exception is traditional legal terminology, e.g., “innocent until proven guilty.”
• • •
Follow-up: In a recent column, I pointed out that the word antisocial implies hostility and aggressiveness, so someone who simply wants to be alone should be described as unsociable. “What about the word asocial?” a reader asked. “How should that be used?”
Here’s my answer: The prefix a- means not, and asocial can mean both unsociable and antisocial. Because of that ambiguity, I recommend that you avoid it. Choose unsociable or antisocial, depending on which meaning you want to convey.
[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.]
The summer of 2009 will mark two years of the housing crisis being in full force. Nothing in recent times has wreaked as much havoc on the lives of homeowners. On the other hand, nothing else has created as much opportunity for you to make a fortune in real estate. Even if you have bad credit or no credit, even if you don’t have any money to invest.
Sound too good to be true? Give me a few minutes and I’ll make you a believer.
Today, I am going to give you two ways to bring in extra income (or build yourself a small fortune), starting this week, in spite of the economy.
Strategy 1. It’s a Numbers Game
One of my students, Matt, impressed me so much that I began partnering with him on investments. And we evolved a system that works like a Swiss watch.
You start by looking at lower-priced houses, $150K and under. You are going to buy them for about half of what the fair market value is, and you are NOT going to do anything nasty to achieve this. The catch is, you need to make about 25 offers in order to get one deal. You want to focus on houses that are already listed below fair market value – and the longer they have been on the market, the better.
Your formula for this: Fair Market Value x 60% = Your Offer
In other words, for a house that has a fair market value of $100K, you would plug in $100,000 x 60% = $60,000. That would be your maximum offer, give or take. If you have good credit, banks will very likely lend you the money because you’ll be getting the property for so much less than market value.
Matt does this and, in most cases, he rents the property out for cash flow. You could also flip it to another investor. Buy it for 40 percent off; sell it for a 20 percent profit. If you find a property that is already discounted 20 percent, you offer less – say, 30 percent less than the asking price. Matt offered 10 percent less on a bank-owned house that was already at 50 percent and it was accepted. He had a buyer lined up before he closed on it, and presold the house for a $20K profit.
By the way, only 10-20 percent of the properties we buy are foreclosures. The rest are owned by people who just want to get out immediately.
If you don’t have the money or credit to use this strategy, find private money. There are plenty of people out there who would love to earn more than their 401(k) or IRA is delivering now, and would be delighted to invest in properties where you’ve done all the legwork.
Remember, it’s a numbers game. You’ll need to make 25 offers (on average) to get one deal.
Strategy 2. Control With Contracts
This strategy allows you to put cash in your pocket in 5-20 days. Ideally, you’ll have a few people lined up to help you when you need them: a realtor to help you find deals, a broker to help you get your buyers approved for loans, and a lawyer to draft/okay your notes/contracts.
You also have to create a list of people who buy investment properties. To find them, simply run ads in your local Pennysaver, put out flyers advertising “Houses 50% off,” get phone numbers from “I Buy Houses” signs, check out REI (Real Estate Investing) Clubs, etc.
Then you build a list of potential tenant-buyers – 10-15 people who would be interested in a lease-option deal (renting with the option to buy). Again, use Pennysaver ads and flyers. In addition, advertise on CraigsList, tell your realtor that you will do some rent-to-owns, and post signs at apartment complexes, bookstores, convenience stores, etc.
And then it’s time to find the properties.
You’re looking for motivated sellers. People who are behind on their payments are perfect. Find them with the same advertising techniques mentioned above, using phrases like “stop foreclosure” and “debt takeover.” Get expired listings from your realtor, and look for “For Sale by Owner” signs.
You’re also looking for houses that don’t need much in the way of repairs. You’ll wrap the cost of necessary repairs into the down payment you ask for from your investor or tenant-buyer, so get an idea of what you might have to pay for painting, carpeting, roofing, door and window replacement, etc.
Now you put it all together.
You get the houses under contract as cheaply as you can. (Check comparable prices on homes in the neighborhood on sites like zillow.com and realtor.com and in local real estate listings.) You tell the sellers that it will take you anywhere from 5 days to 60 days to pay off their notes because you are going to wholesale or lease-option the property. And you write the contracts as “and or assigns” so you can turn them over to someone else.
As soon as you get a property under contract, call the people on your investor list. Tell them all about the house. Mark up the price a little (or as much as you can). But make sure they can still make plenty of money on resale or they will move on to another deal.
If you cannot flip the property to an investor, go to your tenant-buyer list. Pick the one with the most money for a down payment or the best credit. (Your mortgage broker will help you.) Offer to put that person in the house with a 12-month lease-option. Let as much money as you can stand go toward the down payment for three months or so. The mortgage company likes that – and you should have their mortgage done in 3-6 months.
Basically, none of it is your money. You use the tenant-buyer’s money to get the house.
Go and Invest!
I always look for positive solutions to problems. That is why, instead of giving in to the gloom and doom of this down economy, I look at the current real estate market as an opportunity to make money while helping others.
Let’s say property values in your area are down 20 percent. Put out 25 offers at around 60 percent of market value. (If a property is listed at $200,000, maybe you offer $120,000.) In my experience, you can expect one of those offers to be accepted. Now you have a house with a fair market value of $200,000 that you can purchase for $120,000 – and you can easily find someone who will want to purchase it for $145,000, because that is still $55,000 under value.
You have just made $25,000 without risking any of your own money… and you have helped someone else find a great deal.
[Ed. Note: Dean Graziosi has been an active real estate investor for over 20 years. His first two books, Totally Fulfilled and Be a Real Estate Millionaire, were New York Times bestsellers. And his newest book, Profit From Real Estate Right Now, is already out-selling his previous book - which was the fastest-selling real estate book in America.
Dean offers proven programs that teach people to succeed as investors, starting with little or no money, credit, or experience. His free online investors' website and free training calls reach thousands of people every week. For more information, please visit www.deangraziosi.com.]
Issue #2670
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Keeping your blood pressure in a healthy range is essential to prevent heart attack and stroke. And while you probably already know that maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly are two ways to keep blood pressure under control, a recent study indicates that eating eggs can help too – especially fried eggs.
When you eat an egg, enzymes in your stomach and small intestine produce blood pressure-lowering peptides. And those peptides act like ACE inhibitors, the widely prescribed blood pressure-lowering medications. But unlike pharmaceuticals, eggs don’t come with a long list of warnings and detrimental side effects.
[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring - founder of Healing Gourmet - has created a revolutionary health transformation program called Your Plate, Your Fate. In this 7-part program, you'll learn how to protect your health and optimize your weight by maximizing the nutrients in your food. Plus, you'll get 3 bonus books to help clear your kitchen of harmful ingredients, spot the nutritional deficiencies that could be setting you up for disease, and the 20 tests your doctor should perform (but probably hasn't) to guard your health. Learn more here.
For more advice about which foods you should - and shouldn't - be eating to stay in top health, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter.]
It’s often said that you can use certain sales messages over and over because, let’s face it, your target market is a marching army. Over and over, they revisit the same points in life… they discover the same needs and wants… you show them how to satisfy those needs and wants… and the cycle just repeats.
That may be only half true.
While a lot about selling never changes, consumer expectations can change quite a bit. Take today’s “lifestyle” cutbacks, thanks to the economy. What feels like “cutting back” to today’s crowd is actually a step up in living standards when you roll back to nearly 30 years ago. On a more subtle level, that’s even true when you roll back to just 10 years ago… or five years ago… or a couple of years ago.
Modern consumers expect more. In some ways, they also expect to work less hard to get it. This just goes to show you that the promises you’ll make in your sales pitches can’t remain static. They have to keep getting bigger. Or at least sounding bigger.
Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, I can’t tell you. After all, innovations happen when everyone from big companies to mom-and-pop outfits are pushed to compete.
On the other hand, it can go only so far. There’s only so much luxury and service we can sell before the expense of it breaks us… or drains the consumer’s bank account and available lines of credit.
So what happens when no marketers can afford to offer more… and no customers can afford to pay for it?
A while back, two marketing experts saw a whole new consumer trend coming down the pipeline. After the wake-up call. After the bust. After the recovery.
The boomers, they predicted, would sideline their ambition for a life of luxury and convenience… and start yearning for something a little beyond the material. When they said that, I figured they’d gone a little loopy. But now I’m wondering… could they be right?
Gene Schwartz once wrote, in his landmark book Breakthrough Advertising, that people’s superficial desires weren’t all that tough to spot.
But only the best marketers knew that all people share an even deeper, second “secret” desire.
It’s the desire not just for products, services, or pitches we “like”… but a deeper desire for products and services that help us flesh out our own idea of who we are. Not to mention who we could be. And maybe most important of all (to us), who OTHER people think we are.
I’ve long said – and I wasn’t the first – that the deepest desire shared by most prospective customers (a.k.a. people) is the desire to be loved and respected. Or at least respected.
In good times, when it feels like everyone is getting richer and living larger than the next guy, respect comes from living like a king. Piling up stuff. Earning luxuries. Getting pampered.
In tougher times, character starts to matter as much… or more. Austerity becomes honorable. Excess, an embarrassment. Security, prudence, sound judgment – those become the hot sellers.
We start rolling back to the fundamentals. Looking for answers. Or at least looking for people who seem like they have the answers… and the substance to back them up. Credibility, always important, becomes even more so.
Could it be that this is where the boomers – the biggest market in the history of capitalism and the driving force behind more than six decades of economic growth – are headed next?
Maybe.
Look, for instance, at how many things have trended back toward fundamentals. People walk more, use glass instead of plastic, cook at home, eat healthier, cut up their credit cards.
It might well be out of necessity. Yet even necessity has a way of wooing her bedfellows. By simplifying, we may very well find ourselves in a position to rediscover the things that matter.
Is that why advertising hype is dead? Is it why “relationship marketing” has become the most powerful force online? Is it why so many marketers love to talk about “brand,” not realizing that brands don’t matter until a consistent relationship of quality has been established?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Personally, I’m guessing yes.
[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 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.
Knowing what your customers want, what keeps them up at night, is one of the keys to success. Discover how to identify products the market is hungry for, create a website, and get prospects to buy at ETR's upcoming 5 Days in July business-building event. You will set up your own Internet business... and discover how to set yourself up for income for life. Find out more here.]
It’s estimated that 300 million people in the world are obese.
While we know that eating too much food (and the wrong kind, at that) and not getting enough exercise are the primary causes of the obesity epidemic, researchers have discovered another factor: obesogens.
Obesogens are endocrine disruptors that affect the way the body uses fat. They also affect the distribution of fat and the development of sexual characteristics.
Here are the top three obesogens:
• Bisphenol-a (BPA) – found in plastics with recycling codes 3 and 7 and in liners of cans
• Organotins – biocides found in conventionally grown produce
• Phthalates – found in personal care products like nail polish, shampoo, lotions, perfumes, etc., as well as plastics
You may get only a small amount of these obesogens, but their effects are cumulative. To protect yourself, follow these rules:
1. Eat only organic foods that are not treated with pesticides.
2. Buy canned foods in BPA-free cans. Vital Choice and Eden Foods are two companies that certify their can liners are safe.
3. Drink spring water in safe BPA-free bottles or filter your water using reverse osmosis and store it in glass containers.
4. Read the labels on personal care products carefully, and choose organics. Better yet, put on your skin only products made with ingredients that you would put in your mouth.
5. Avoid plastics. The “new car smell” is a telltale sign that phthalates are present.
[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring - founder of Healing Gourmet - has created a revolutionary health transformation program called Your Plate, Your Fate. In this 7-part program you'll learn how to protect your health and optimize your weight by maximizing the nutrients in your food. Plus, you'll get 3 bonus books to help clear your kitchen of harmful ingredients, spot the nutritional deficiencies that could be setting you up for disease, and the 20 tests your doctor should perform (but probably hasn't) to guard your health. Learn more here.
For more advice about which foods you should - and shouldn't - be eating to stay in top health, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter.]
When I began searching for the secrets of success many years ago, I discovered something interesting: Success leaves tracks.
So if you want to be a big success, look for those tracks. Find out what successful people in your field are doing, and do the same things. You will shorten your learning curve and accelerate your results.
That’s what I did.
When I studied the interviews, speeches, biographies, and autobiographies of successful men and women, I found that they all had something in common. They were all described as being “extremely well-organized.” They used their time very, very well. They were highly productive and they got vastly more done than the average person in the same period of time.
I followed their paths and it made me who I am today.
Here are two things you can start doing immediately to put this idea into action:
First, develop a plan to learn from the actions of the experts in your field. This can save you years of hard work.
Then, study everything you’ve learned and choose one of those things – the most important one – to implement. Decide how to do it. Then do it.
[Ed. Note: With Brian Tracy’s Flight Plan, you can discover how to achieve more, faster than you ever dreamed possible. You also receive 2 BONUS CDS!
Although the markets of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have crashed along with those of the rest of the world, these countries have tremendous growth potential – which could mean investment opportunities for you.
Their growth potential is due to several factors, including abundant natural resources, low labor and production costs, and increasing foreign trade.
I gave you an overview of Brazil and Russia yesterday. Today, let’s look at India and China.
India has great long-term potential due to its stable economy and position as a low-cost producer of manufactured goods. And consumer demand is exploding as India’s standard of living increases. Because so many people in India speak English, many companies from English-speaking countries have sales and service operations in India. And India’s highly skilled and educated workforce has led to a strong software development industry.
The best way to play India: PowerShares India (PIN). This exchange-traded fund holds a nice basket of Indian stocks and seeks to mirror the Indian stock market as measured by the Indus India index.
Although China still has a communist dictatorship, the country is open to free trade and capitalism. China is the main outsourcing location for manufacturing today. Labor is still very cheap, and logistics between China and the U.S. are very good. It will remain the top low-cost producer of manufactured goods for years to come. Furthermore, with the Chinese enjoying a higher disposable income, domestic consumption is exploding. As a result, retail sales are hitting record highs.
The best way to play China: iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI). This exchange-traded fund holds a nice basket of Chinese stocks and seeks to mirror the Chinese stock market as measured by the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 index.
[Ed. Note: Investment expert Ted Peroulakis and 8 of his fellow moneymakers will be gathering in Miami this June to share exactly how you can use their top recommendations to make a fortune in today's market. Get all the details here.]
Issue #2669
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
BRIC is an acronym for the combined economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. These developing countries have seen their stock markets plummet along with those of the rest of the world, but now is a great time to invest in them. Their stocks are oversold and they still have high growth potential. Plus, BRICs typically have lower labor and production costs, so companies in other countries are looking into the opportunities they offer for foreign expansion and trade.
Today, let’s look at Brazil and Russia, which are destined to become the world’s leading producers of raw materials.
In the past, Brazil had high inflation, but the economic climate has been quite stable under President Lula da Silva. And the land is rich with natural resources. The ethanol industry, in particular, is very strong and growing. The world is seeking alternative sources for traditional fuels, and Brazil is well positioned to take full advantage of this.
The best way to play Brazil: iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ). This exchange-traded fund holds a nice basket of Brazilian stocks and seeks to mirror the Brazilian stock market as measured by the MSCI Brazil index.
Russia has some big negatives – with political issues and organized crime among the main concerns. And investors don’t like the idea of investing in companies that could be nationalized overnight. But Russia’s energy sector is still a powerful force in the world, and its cheap assets are quite attractive. Russia is one of the largest producers of palladium, platinum, diamonds, nickel, and gold, making it a natural resources powerhouse that should do well as commodity prices recover.
The best way to play Russia: Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX). This exchange-traded fund holds a nice basket of Russian stocks and seeks to mirror the Russian stock market as measured by the DAX Global Russia+ Index.
[Ed. Note: Investment expert Ted Peroulakis and 8 of his fellow moneymakers will be gathering in Miami this June to share exactly how you can use their top recommendations to make a fortune in today's market. Get all the details here.]