Issue #2508

• WEALTHY: What’s wrong with that big sign I saw this morning? (Charlie Byrne)
• HEALTHY: Why raw broccoli is best (Kelley Herring)
• WISE: Goethe on taking action

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• The next time your mind wanders… (Bob Cox)
• What do these familiar words have in common? (Don Hauptman)
• It’s Good to Know… about Google searches for the budget conscious
• Add “logophile” to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

The Missing Piece of the Internet-Riches Jigsaw Finally Revealed…

All this time, so many of the “gurus” kept this a secret, while they use it to make themselves big online profits.

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To discover the truth and get started on the road to making real money, click here…

How to Avoid the World’s #1 Copywriting Mistake

By Charlie Byrne

I’d say it’s the #1 mistake most untrained or beginner copywriters make…

I’m talking about focusing inward on yourself instead of outward on your prospect or customer.

I was reminded of it again just this morning as I drove by a local sub shop.

“Under New Ownership” read the huge sign covering most of the front of the store.

Well, isn’t that special.

Nothing about a “Grand Opening 25% Discount.”

Nothing about “Your meal in 3 minutes or less, guaranteed, or it’s free.”

Nothing about “Check out our new spotless open kitchen – the cleanest in town.”

At the very best, “under new ownership” might be mildly appealing to the small group of customers who were somehow disappointed with the previous owner.

But is that really the Big Idea you want to send to the world?

I’m sure the new owners are excited about their new venture. But in their excitement, they need to address what that means for the customers they’re trying to attract. Just saying “Hey, here we are!” is not exactly going to blow the world away.

When writing a headline, tagline, or even if you’re hanging a sign in front of your store, remember…

Read the copy and then imagine your prospective customer thinking “And for me, that means _____.”

If the answer isn’t a powerful benefit, then your copy is not doing its job.

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Johann von Goethe

5 Simple Steps to Staying Focused on Your Goals

By Bob Cox

About eight years ago, I started noticing that other people seemed to be having more fun than I was. And I realized that if I wanted more fun in my life, it was up to me to do something about it.

One thing I did to introduce more fun into my life was to take up golf. I felt it was a natural fit for me. I love the outdoors, I enjoy watching golf on TV, and I consider myself a natural athlete.

If you know me at all, you know I don’t believe in half measures. I applied the same vigor to this new hobby as I apply to my business goals. My action plan included scheduling and taking golf lessons, keeping a journal of swing tips, and buying almost every training aid as soon as I saw it promoted on The Golf Channel.

In the end… after more than 100 golf lessons and with 400+ pages of golf notes and a closet full of training aids… my scores have definitely improved. I don’t think they’ll ever be as good as I would like – still, embarking on my “learn to play golf” goal has yielded many benefits: a mountain of fun memories, new friends, and great experiences. Golf remains an enjoyable challenge.

I’m not telling you this to try to convince you to take up golf. But I do want to encourage you to take action on whatever goals you have set for yourself. Acquiring any kind of knowledge is worthwhile. Yet, that knowledge is absolutely worthless unless you use it to develop a plan, take action, and channel that action into success.

A good approach is to use the following formula:

1. Dedicate 25 percent of your allotted time to studying.
2. Dedicate 25 percent of your allotted time to observing.
3. Dedicate 50 percent of your allotted time to DOING!

And I think you’ll find that the DOING part of the formula is integral to the studying and observing.

In my case, it was easy to assign 50 percent of my time to DOING by taking golf lessons, practicing my swing on the driving range, and practicing chips and putts around the greens. But if I hadn’t dedicated the other half of my time to making notes, thinking and visualizing my game, and observing proper course management, I wouldn’t have gotten much better.

All three elements linked together. I needed all three to be successful. It will be the same for you and the goals you set for yourself.

When you are dedicating yourself to achieving a specific goal, you must promise yourself to use the time you’ve blocked off for it ONLY for working toward that goal. Avoid mental and physical distractions. If, for example, you start thinking about your job, family, friends, or the party you’re hosting next weekend during the block of time you’ve scheduled for learning golf, you’re stealing time from your goal.

It’s easy to let your mind wander away from what you should be focused on doing. In fact, studies have shown that the mind wanders every chance it gets. This has probably happened to you many times. For instance, you could be reading an important financial report and suddenly find yourself thinking about an unpleasant encounter you had earlier in the day.

What to do? Take charge of your brain. After all, it is YOUR brain!

Here are five techniques I have used to get my mind back on track whenever I find it wandering away from the task at hand:

• Check your emotions.

If I’m stewing about something unrelated to what I’m supposed to be working on, I remind myself that “emotions have no cash value.” And I refocus.

• Let it go.

If I’ve done my part and the ball is now in someone else’s court, I remind myself that there’s nothing I can do about it at the moment. And I refocus.

• Take a breather.

To refresh my mind, I take a quick break. Even stopping to get a glass of juice helps me refocus my attention where it should be.

• Keep a notepad handy.

If the distracting thought that pops into my head could be useful – maybe an idea for a solution to a client’s problem – I write myself a note and refocus. That way, I know I won’t forget that idea. I’ll get back to it later, AFTER I’ve finished what I’m doing.

• Reschedule.

When I’m tired my mind tends to wander even more. In that case, unless I am on a tight deadline, I reschedule what I’m working on.

It is far more productive to stay focused on the work you are doing WHILE you are doing it. Although studies suggest that 30 to 40 percent of the time most people don’t really think about what they’re doing, YOU can be different. It takes practice and willingness to discipline yourself to be “in the here and now.” But it is worth it.

[Ed. Note: The only way to achieve success - no matter what you're trying to accomplish - is to take action. Learn 3 powerful but surprisingly simple success strategies from success expert and mentor to billionaires Bob Cox right here.

Bob can also give you the "insider secrets" that helped four Average Joes become billionaires. Best of all, you can master these billionaire success techniques in just 30 days. Learn more here.]

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== Highly Recommended ==

Your Chance to Take Your Business to New Heights

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And a hotly sought-after marketing superstar who can triple a company’s revenues in under 2 years…

Who’ve come together to lay out, in simple, easy-to-follow terms, the most effective marketing strategies they’ve ever used.

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Or, if you prefer, to finally start that side business you’ve been dreaming about… and watch it soar.

Your financial independence is right in front of you.

All you have to do is reach out and take it.

For Cancer Protection – Fresh Is Best

By Kelley Herring

While some of us love the taste of broccoli, most of the time it’s eaten for its health benefits. But new research suggests that if you cook it, almost all of the cancer-fighting nutrients are lost.

A recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that sulphoraphane – the primary cancer-fighting nutrient in broccoli – is significantly reduced during cooking. In fact, the bioavailability of sulforaphane was calculated to be 37 percent from the raw vegetable and only 3.4 percent from cooked broccoli.

So what option does that leave you with… raw broccoli crudites? On the contrary! There are plenty of delicious ways to enjoy raw broccoli. Make chopped salads with broccoli, buy broccosprouts and add them to your sandwiches, and fold tiny fresh florets into omelets to add delicious crunch and powerful protection.

[Ed. Note: For more advice on the best foods to eat - and those you should avoid - as well as how you can apply the latest health breakthroughs to your own life, sign up for ETR's natural health newsletter. Get your free roadmap to feeling better and living longer right here.

Who says dessert can't be healthy? Nutrition expert Kelley Herring's brand-new recipe e-book, Guilt-Free Desserts, reveals 40 easy-to-make, mouthwateringly delicious, 100% healthy dessert recipes you can make at home. Order today, and you'll receive the e-book Healthy Holiday Hors d'Oeuvres for free.]

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The Language Perfectionist: The Game of the Name

By Don Hauptman

Did you ever stop to think about the many words you encounter and use that are derived from the names of real people?

Linguists call such words eponyms (EP-uh-nims), from the Greek for “named after.” Eponym can also mean the person who inspired the word. The adjective is eponymous (eh-PON-uh-mus).

The list is long, but here are a few interesting examples:

• axel – a figure-skating maneuver. Named after Axel Paulsen (1855-1938), a champion skater.

• bowdlerize – to remove objectionable material from a written work. Named after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who did so to Shakespeare.

• boycott – an organized social, economic, or political protest. Named after Charles C. Boycott (1832-97), a victim of the tactic.

• quisling – a traitor. Named after Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945), pro-Nazi leader of Norway.

• sandwich – a… you guessed it!… sandwich. Named after the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-92). As the story goes, he couldn’t tear himself away from the gambling tables, so an aide brought him a hand-held meal consisting of meat placed between two slices of bread.

Finally, let me tell you about the fascinating origin of the word “silhouette.”

Etienne de Silhouette (1709-67) served as finance minister of France. As my logophile friend Charles Harrington Elster notes, the parsimonious official imposed severe luxury taxes and stringent austerity measures in an attempt to revive the French economy after the Seven Years’ War. As a consequence, many things became, as people scornfully said, “mere shadows” of the originals. Thus, his name inspired the phrase “a la Silhouette,” meaning “on the cheap.” The phrase was used to describe pants made without pockets, coats made without folds – and the inexpensive shadow portraits that had just become popular in Paris.

If history is any indication, the names of at least a few people now living will one day inspire the creation of new words.

[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.]

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It’s Good to Know: Google Searches for the Budget Conscious

Google’s a great place to start comparison shopping. You know the drill. Type in “cowboy boots,” and you’ll get about 4.3 million search results – including thousands of retailers that sell cowboy boots. It’s up to you to find the right boots at the right price.

But Google can help you narrow down those results… and help you stick to a specific budget, too.

Let’s say you can spend only $150 on those cowboy boots. Simply type “cowboy boots $50… $150″ into Google’s search field. Now, you’ll find that your results have been narrowed down to about 19,500 options – all of which fit into your price range.

(Source: Google Cheat Sheet)

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== Highly Recommended ==

$3,012 in Online Income in Just an Hour?

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Word to the Wise: Logophile

A “logophile” (LAW-guh-file) – from the Latin for “speech” + “lover” – is a word buff.

Example (as used by Don Hauptman today): “As my logophile friend Charles Harrington Elster notes, the parsimonious official imposed severe luxury taxes and stringent austerity measures in an attempt to revive the French economy after the Seven Years’ War.”
[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, 2008

Similar Articles:

• 5 Simple Steps to Staying Focused on Your Goals
• Google Searches for the Budget Conscious
• Logophile
• For Cancer Protection – Fresh Is Best
• The Game of the Name