Issue# 2697

• WEALTHY: Why “winning” isn’t everything (Julie Broad)
• HEALTHY: Why our kids are on a downward spiral (Melanie Segala)
• WISE: Thomas Edison on successful people

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• 4 ways to end failure for good (Paul Smithson)
• When “Dear [firstname]” just doesn’t cut it (John Forde)
• It’s Good to Know… about online advertising
• Add “animadversion” to your vocabulary

ETR Insider Report: MaryEllen Breaks the Rules: “Give ETR Readers $500.”

“I know it’s over,” MaryEllen said in Tuesday’s team meeting.

“But one of the big benefits of being CEO is that it isn’t over until I say it’s over!”

You see, one of the hard-and-fast rules of marketing is that you stick to your word. That’s because your business is built on trust. And if your readers don’t trust that you’ll follow through… well, your sales will surely take a nosedive.

That extends to deadlines. If you’re advertising admittance to a new investing club, and you say the doors close on Saturday at 10:00 pm… you should NOT admit a single new member after 10:00 pm on Saturday.

That’s why – when our 5 Days in July $500 Early Bird discount ended on Monday at 5:00 – we shut things down for good. We’d welcome anyone who wanted to pay full price to our exclusive 5-day business-building event. But no more discount.

Of course, MaryEllen knows that the exceptions prove the rules. And – savvy business woman or not – she’s got a soft heart when it comes to her customers.

So when she heard that Paul Smithson had a fantastic article in Early to Rise today, MaryEllen said, “Let’s reinstate the $500 discount – for today only!”

She knows that reading Paul’s article could be that final push you need to say, “Yes! This is the day I jumpstart my financial independence and decide to start an Internet business!”

And by signing up for our 5 Days in July Internet business building conference, you truly could be on the way to a career that allows you to do what you want, when you want, and where you want… a steady 5- or 6-figure income… and a lifetime free of financial worries.

Today only, MaryEllen is giving you one last chance to save $500 on this blockbuster event. Don’t delay – sign up now.

The Fatal Flaw in “Winning” Deals

By Julie Broad

Years ago, I spent several months backpacking around Guatemala. As my Spanish improved, I enjoyed going to markets to bargain for Mayan souvenirs or fresh fruit. My goal was to pay the same price as a local.

I was having fun playing this little game until my new Australian friend witnessed me in action, bargaining for a beautiful hammock. As I was walking away because the vendor wouldn’t lower her price a little more, my friend said, “You realize that you are getting all worked up over what is about 10 cents. At home, you would pay 50 times that much for a hammock like that, so this is a great deal.”

I suddenly felt a bit silly. But it helped me learn an important lesson that I try to remember when doing real estate deals.

As soon as your negotiation becomes about winning, it becomes emotional… and good judgment goes out the window. If you’re not rational, you are much more likely to enter a bad deal for the wrong reasons. And you’re quite likely to miss out on a good one.

I was trying to win by “buying at the same price as a local,” just like many people negotiating real estate deals try to win by selling at the absolute highest price or buying at the absolute lowest price.

Instead, figure out what would be a good deal for you before you enter the negotiation. If, for example, a house is listed for $325,000, anything under $300,000 might work for you. So if you can negotiate the price of that house down to, say, $295,000, consider it done. Don’t feel that you have to try to force the seller to take just a little bit less. Leave the emotion, specifically the desire to be a “big winner” in every deal, out of it.

[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.]

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“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.”

- Thomas Edison

How to Eliminate the Word FAIL From Your Vocabulary

By Paul Smithson

Do you ever wonder why some people succeed at almost every challenge they take on, while others never seem to be able to get out of the starting blocks?

There are four major reasons why people FAIL – and they very neatly spell out the word itself.

• The F in FAIL stands for lacking Focus.

Your chances of success are magnified exponentially if you have the ability to focus. Yet, in research we undertook a couple of years ago, we found that focus was the trait most online entrepreneurs struggled with.

It’s like watching a movie on TV. If you give it your undivided attention, you’ll be able to follow the plot, understand the characters, and ultimately enjoy the film. If, on the other hand, you keep jumping up to talk to your pals on the phone, cook a meal, or clean the room, you’re likely to miss some important things that are happening on screen. And it is highly likely that once you’ve lost track of what’s going on, you’ll reach for the remote and watch something else instead.

It’s not that the film wasn’t good. It might have been a real blockbuster. But if you don’t focus, one of two things – or both – will happen. You’ll lose the plot and/or you’ll simply lose interest.

The same is true in business.

Dwaine was a waiter in a popular New York deli. He had been trying to launch his online business for three years, but was making less from that part-time business in a month than he was making in tips in a single day.

After reading Focus: The Real Reason for the Failure of Online Businesses, he put into practice some of the advice in the book and saw an amazing change in his productivity. Within two months, he had reduced the number of hours he was working on his part-time business – yet the profits had grown tenfold. And that trend continued. After 11 months, Dwaine quit his day job to concentrate all his energies on his business.

“The mistake I was making was obvious,” says Dwaine. “I was spending lots of time on my new business, but I wasn’t focusing. I was just playing with it. Once I learned how to focus, everything changed overnight. The transformation was amazing. My only regret is that I didn’t learn how to focus sooner.” 

• The A in FAIL stands for not taking Action.

You may have dreams of success, but unless you take action it is unlikely that anything will ever come of those dreams.

Nearly 90 years ago, Frederick Terman, a Stanford professor, had a dream. He wanted to create a thriving industrial region with the University as its epicenter.

Few bought into his crazy vision, but he didn’t let that prevent him from taking action. Every year, he would take his students on field trips – to San Francisco to see the pioneering work being done by Philco Farnsworth with television or to Redwood City where Charlie Litton was working with vacuum tubes.

Professor Terman’s passion rubbed off on two of his students. A few years after they graduated, he helped them set up a business in a one-car garage. He even provided them with an idea for their first product. Within a few weeks, they’d made their first sale to Disney.

That fledgling company grew at a massive rate over the next few decades, and is now a household name: Hewlett-Packard.

If it hadn’t been for the action taken by Professor Terman back in the 1920s and 30s, it is safe to say that Hewlett-Packard would not exist, and that Palo Alto would not be the hotbed of technological innovation that it is today.

The professor had a dream, and he took that extra crucial step. He took action!

• The I in FAIL stands for not seeking out Ideas.

Without ideas, you’re at a creative standstill. This is particularly true when it comes to business.

Luckily, there are some terrific sources for ideas – and you’re reading one right now. The ETR daily newsletter not only gives you a dose of positive motivation each day, it also provides you with a non-stop flow of great ideas to pursue.

But remember the A in FAIL. Because even with the best ideas, nothing happens if you don’t act on them.

• Finally, we come to the L in FAIL – which stands for not having Longevity.

You need to be willing to pursue your good ideas over the long term, and not just give up when you hit the first hurdle. This is true whether your goal is to start a business, get fit, or make any other meaningful changes in your life. If you don’t have staying power, your dreams are likely to fall by the wayside before they come to fruition.

So whenever you feel like failure is staring you in the face, think of the word FAIL itself, and remember what each of those four letters represents: lacking Focus, not taking Action, not seeking out great Ideas, and not having Longevity.

Here’s to completely eliminating FAIL from your vocabulary so you can succeed at almost anything you set your mind to.

[Ed. Note: Online marketing expert Paul Smithson is the creator of the XSitePro website-building program. This July, Paul and ETR's team of Internet marketers will be teaching an elite group of ETR readers how to build their own online businesses from scratch. You WILL leave the conference with your own fully functioning Internet business. Get the details now.]

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He Might Be a Very Successful Investor, But You’ll Never See Him on CNN!

The Wall Street financial jackals extract their “take” from investors just like you. They perpetuate the myth, “Buy into good companies and hold on for the long term.” Sure, sometimes these stocks go up, but they also go down. In the meantime, these greedy insiders make money either way. They can do it because they’re playing with a whole different set of rules.

One Wall Street Insider has jumped ship and started on his own path to profits. And he’s ready to give you all of his insider secrets so you too can make money no matter what the market does.

Of course, he wants to keep making these cash withdrawals himself… so he can only share these secrets with a limited number of folks. If you want to stop being one of the sheep and join him at the table of success with all of those blueblood financial elitists, please read the following report.

What’s In a Name?

By John Forde

Personalized mailings were all the rage in direct marketing… back in 1975. They continue to be a staple today, online as well as off, based on the idea that no sound is sweeter than that of your own name.

Given my one or two experiences with hand-shaking, name-abusing car salesman over the years, I beg to differ. (”John, what can we do to get you behind the wheel of this beauty today… John?”)

That doesn’t mean personalizing a mailing doesn’t work. Only that the same principle that made it a good idea decades ago has matured today. That is, using your prospect’s name is a good beginning – but better is a stronger, fuller profile of what the customer cares about.

Think Amazon remembering past purchases and suggesting new ones. Think psychographic marketing, not just demographics. The baseline rule: The goal of getting personal with your prospect is actually getting personal, not just pretending to have a connection.

That said, one of the most popular pieces of copywriting advice you’re likely to hear is to write your sales pitches in the second person. This doesn’t mean developing a split personality at the keyboard. It means writing to the “you” – as in, your reader.

Of course, arbitrarily stuffing “you” into every sentence is no better than overplaying your reader’s name. If it isn’t genuine, it will irritate him.

The difference is often just a mindset. Really write to the “you” while you picture him in your head, and all the phoniness falls away.

[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, atwww.copywritersroundtable.com. Or send an e-mail tosignup@jackforde.com. Get a free report about 15 deadly copy mistakes and how to avoid them when you sign up today.

Personalized mailings are just one secret to having a profitable Internet business. Learn dozens more at Early to Rise's premier Internet Business Building Conference this July in Denver. Find out more about how you can change your life in just five days 
here.]

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ADHD: The Cure Is in Plain Sight

By Melanie Segala

Well-meaning parents and teachers rely on psycho-stimulant drugs to deal with children who might otherwise be unmanageable. But perhaps the cause and the cure of ADHD can be found at the dinner table and in the school cafeteria.

In 1997, the student body of Central Alternative High School in Appleton, Wisconsin was out of control and getting worse. On a typical day, the faculty would cope with discipline problems, drug use, truancies, expulsions, dropouts, and weapons violations. A police officer was on staff to help maintain order.

That same year, Natural Ovens Inc. of Manitowac, Wisconsin began a 5-year study to find out if healthy nutritious foods could make a difference in reducing behavioral problems and improving academic performance at the school. The company took over providing meals and managing the cafeteria. Junk food was banished. 

Gone was the typical cafeteria fare of pizza, burgers, tacos, and fries. In their place, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain breads, and entrees free of chemicals and additives. Natural Ovens had its own cooks prepare recipes the old-fashioned way. Students learned, maybe for the first time in their lives, how to eat properly. And the changes were dramatic. 

Teachers reported that their students were calm and well-behaved. Dropouts and expulsions became almost nonexistent and students who were on a downward spiral turned their lives around. Academic achievement went up, while discipline problems went down. Students became more focused in class and had more concentration to study.

The old argument that administrators used to justify feeding children junk food – “We might as well, because they’re only going to eat it outside of school anyway” – proved to be unfounded. Once students made the connection between nutrition, learning, and behavior, the change stuck. They weren’t running to fast food joints after school for a junk-laden fix. 

We can all learn a lesson from the young people in Appleton, Wisconsin. Bad food leads to bad behavior. And even worse – to a lifetime of failures and health problems. 

Michael Masterson has observed that children all over this country have a metabolism that is off balance and burdened with toxins and chemicals from processed foods, too much sugar, and dangerous additives that affect neurochemistry. Our solution has been to mask the problem with even more dangerous chemicals in the form of prescription medications.

How can we call this a cure? 

It’s time we paid attention to nutrition as the first and most important influence on health. If you have a child with ADHD or another learning or behavioral problem, take this article to your next PTA meeting. Join other concerned parents and lobby your school district to offer fresh nutritious meals that are free of additives and genetically modified ingredients. 

Start making the same dietary changes at home. Stop buying junk food. Spend the money, instead, on organic produce and grass-fed meats. Your grocery bill may even go down! If you need some recipe tips, sign up for a free subscription to our natural health newsletter, Total Health Breakthroughs. Nutrition experts Kelley Herring and Laura LaValle offer great-tasting, easy-to-prepare meal ideas that feature fresh organic ingredients and the nutrients our bodies need. 

You and your kids are worth it.

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle.Find out how to live the healthy life you've always wanted.]

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It’s Good to Know: Online Advertising

Industry watchers predict that overall online ad spending will increase by about 3 percent for the next two years, for a total of about $29.1 billion in 2010. The growth is being driven by search engine advertising (especially pay-per-click), which is expected to jump 13 percent by 2010.

Also growing rapidly is “Web 2.0″ advertising (on video and social networks), though it represents only a small portion of the market because advertisers are still grappling with the formats. It is expected to increase by 20 percent – to $1.4 billion – by 2010.

(Source: ClickZ)

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Word to the Wise: Animadversion

“Animadversion” (an-uh-mad-VUR- zhun) – from the Latin for “to turn the mind toward” – is harsh criticism or disapproval.

Example (as used by Robert Schwarz in an issue of World Literature Today): “This is neither a compliment nor an animadversion – just a conclusion.”

[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 Words to the Wise CD Library.]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 5:10 am and is filed under Daily Issues .