A Non-Entrepreneurial Slap of Reality
Archives: Daily Issues
Issue# 2716
- WEALTHY: In defense of entrepreneurs
(Howie Jacobson) - HEALTHY: Smoothie sabotage (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Abraham Lincoln on working
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Working "out of order" (Clayton Makepeace)
- Why do info marketers avoid this strategy for making extra sales? (Bob Bly)
- It’s Fun to Know… about a nightmare workplace for claustrophobics
- Add "agon" to your vocabulary
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"My father taught me to work;
he did not teach me to love it. "
- Abraham Lincoln
A Non-Entrepreneurial Slap of Reality
My buddy – author, CEO, and consultant Peter Bregman – recently wrote a commentary for CNN.com advising people to embrace the recession as a chance to reconfigure their careers to be in line with their passions.
"Focus your time on what you’re truly passionate about," he said. "Successful people are passionate, obsessed. And obsession isn’t motivated by money. It’s deeper than that. Find your obsession. Let it loose. …
"You’ll work at your obsession all the time because you want to. And that kind of persistence, that kind of focus, is worth a lot of money. But don’t make the mistake of chasing the money."
The interesting thing about this article turned out not to be the article itself, but the comments about it that were posted by CNN readers. It was like people were responding to two completely different articles. Some were wildly favorable… thanking Peter for his inspiring words or saying that his philosophy can be backed up by their own experience. But others were downright hostile.
For example:
"Someone throw this guy off of the roof of Harvard Business School. People are starving to death looking for work and they’re supposed to find their inner child?"
"You are a jerk and should keep your trap shut until you learn a thing or three about hard work."
"Is the author’s passion in life to write stupid articles? Or does he do this for the money? I’m guessing he wrote this to get a paycheck."
"I think it’s great when people with high paying jobs and a big savings account tell us not to worry. Bite me, Peter."
"This is (nearly) the stupidest article I have ever read on a news website. CNN is supposedly a news network, not kumbayah, feel good, ideological BS. Work isn’t necessarily fun, which is why it is called work."
So what’s going on here? Why does the idea that work can be soul-fulfilling anger so many?
My guess is that Peter’s message will resonate with you and the other folks who read Early to Rise. If only because you’ve seen that it’s possible to make a good living online. Whether you sell industrial equipment or massage services or coaching or travel advice or radio-controlled toys or juggling equipment, you don’t think that entrepreneurship is simply "pie in the sky" talk by delusional ex-hippies or meaningless advice from the wealthy to the impoverished.
We’re entering a new phase in human history. The Internet is part of it. The unsustainability of our assault on our planet is part of it. A stirring of the soul – a wave of recognition that life is more than molecules and atoms – is part of it.
And saying it ain’t so ain’t gonna make it not so.
In my opinion, the CNN readers who decried Peter’s lack of "reality" are the ones with their heads in the sand. They’re looking at the world and saying, "This isn’t how things should be" – rather than looking at what IS and asking themselves, "What’s the opportunity here?"
Those of us who’ve been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug know that we humans can dream a reality into being. And that if we don’t, we’re abdicating our responsibility to stand up to those who seek to minimize and disempower us. Those who want us to be good little consumers and not passionate seekers and boat-rockers.
Of course, entrepreneurs are not the only ones who understand this. But we’re the ones who get to test it out in the world of molecules and atoms. And when we succeed, our advice is sought out by others who want to follow in our footsteps.
My mentor and good friend Perry Marshall writes in defense of entrepreneurs on a regular basis. I confess, sometimes I’ve felt that he goes overboard in seeing "anti-entrepreneur" sentiment almost everywhere. But I’m reconsidering.
It’s important to recognize that the irrational anger is simply misplaced and projected fear. The fear is understandable. So don’t think I’m looking down on those caught in its grip. When I’m afraid, nothing anyone says or does matters. The fear projects its own rules upon reality, and anyone who tells me the monster isn’t real is just trying to get me killed. Hence, my anger. It’s self-preservation.
So what’s the takeaway? Here are a few contenders:
1. If you’re an entrepreneur, realize that no matter what happens to the economy, you’ll be in a better position than almost anyone to land on your feet.
2. If you’re doing well these days, keep your mouth shut. Most people will not celebrate your good fortune.
3. Don’t give advice to anyone who doesn’t ask for it. Heck, who doesn’t beg for it. The only people you’ll be able to influence are those who envy the spirit you bring to your work and life… not those who envy your money.
[Ed. Note: Howie Jacobson is an expert in using Google AdWords to create monster sales for your online business. You can master AdWords from the inside out with Howie's book AdWords for Dummies. Get his complimentary AdWords ER Report "Why Most AdWords Campaigns Fail - and How to Make Yours Succeed" at www.AskHowie.com.
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Splitting Tasks Between Your Right and Left Brain
Every copywriting or marketing project requires copious amounts of creative, right-brain skull sweat, plus plenty of detail-oriented, left-brain elbow grease.
So when I’m fresh and full of mental energy, I focus on the creative tasks associated with the project. And when I’m running a bit low on creative juices, I use my time to handle the left-brain, detail-oriented stuff.
In other words, I approach my copywriting projects modularly and out of order, much like the way they make movies in Hollywood.
If I’m feeling frisky, I’ll work on my theme, my headline, and my opening copy – or maybe on the first two-thirds of my body copy. If I’m feeling sluggish, I may simply outline the project. Or focus on the research, number-crunching, or the charts and tables I’ll need.
Sometimes, if I’m kind of in between, I may rough out the last third of my copy first – the factual product description, premium description, offer, guarantee, and response device. Or, if I’m further along and have a complete draft, I may spend my time on editing what I’ve written.
This is what works best for me – the approach I’ve developed through trial and error during my four decades in this biz. It fits me like a glove.
It may work for you, too. It might make you tons more productive and improve your sales copy (or whatever else you do) by an order of magnitude.
Or, who knows? My way could prove to be the absolute worst way for you to approach your work.
There’s only ONE way to find out. Test. Analyze the results. Improvise with new ways to work that may fit you better. Repeat.
[Ed. Note: Master copywriter Clayton Makepeace publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits. Claim your 4 free moneymaking e-books - bursting with tips, tricks, and tactics that'll skyrocket your response - at MakepeaceTotalPackage.com.
Staying productive is critical to keeping your goals on track. For specific tips, click here.]
How to Triple Your Sales With an Overlooked, Under-Used Marketing Technique
By Bob Bly
Internet buyers LOVE discounts, yet most info marketers don’t use them nearly enough.
A case in point: On 4/9/09, we sent an e-mail to my list offering one of my e-books at the cover price of $79.
It generated 32 orders and $2,528 in revenues. Not great, not bad.
Last Thursday, we sent the identical e-mail to the same list. But we added a P.S. offering the book at $49 (a $30 savings) if they ordered by midnight Sunday. So far, we have sold 155 copies at $49 each, generating $7,625 in revenues, and orders are still coming in.
Does it bother me to let people have a $79 product for only $49? Of course not. What’s important is not profit per sale but profit per e-mail blast… which the discounting tactic will more than triple.
This works with products that have a large enough profit margin – and in the case of e-books, the margin is close to 100 percent.
[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.
When and how to discount is just one of the secrets Bob reveals in ETR's Internet Cash Generator program, the complete guide to jumpstarting your online business. Find out more about it here.]
Doing This After You Exercise Kills the Benefits
A friend of mine spends hours in the gym each week, but hasn’t been able to get a single pound or inch to budge. Despite her clean diet (I’ve checked her cupboards) and doing the "right" kind of exercise, she can’t seem to reach her fitness goals.
Why not?
Looking for clues, I asked her to tell me a little bit more about her diet. High in protein and fiber, low in carbs, a good balance of healthy fats. It sounded great. Until I heard this: "I even refuel after every workout, like my trainer told me to, with a banana chocolate smoothie."
Uh oh.
While many trainers encourage consuming a carb- and protein-rich meal or snack after a workout to promote muscle growth and speed recovery, recent research shows this can sabotage weight-loss efforts.
In fact, studies conducted at the University of Massachusetts found that walking on a treadmill for one hour per day improved blood sugar regulation by 40 percent. But that effect was completely wiped out when people noshed on carb-rich foods afterward.
Keeping your blood sugar stable flips your fat-storage hormone (insulin) off. So if you’re trying to drop a few pounds, skip the post-workout carbs. Opt, instead, for a balanced snack before your workout to make your time at the gym count.
[Ed Note: Eating a low-glycemic diet to keep your blood sugar stable is essential for weight loss. But when the pizza craving strikes (and you indulge), you can slash its fat-storing effects by up to 56% with eight foods. Find out what they are in Kelley Herring's revolutionary 7-part health transformation program, Your Plate, Your Fate. Get all the details and learn how to get 3 bonus books right here.]
It’s Fun to Know: A Nightmare Workplace for Claustrophobics
Scientists probing the secrets of "dark matter" will soon have a new home in South Dakota. Crews are building a lab in an old goldmine 4,850 feet below ground (picture six Empire State Buildings laid end to end), making it the world’s deepest science lab. Why go so deep? It shields their experiments from interference from cosmic rays bombarding the surface.
Short explanation of why they’re doing it: There is evidence that dark matter, which emits little or no detectible radiation of its own, can account for gravitational forces that have been observed on many astronomical objects. The scientists are hoping their research could reveal the origins of the universe.
(Source: Associated Press)
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Word to the Wise: Agon
"Agon" (AH-gahn or ah-GOHN) – from the Greek for "a struggle or contest" – is a conflict, especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work.
Example (as used by Lawrence Osborne in Salon): "It is the irresolvable love-hate agon between men and women that drives all cultures."
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If carbs soon after a workout can counter the fat-burning benefits, could Kelly or any other experts tell me whether the same applies to moderate alcohol? One of the pleasures of life is a good game (or workout), followed by a shower and a convivial drink. Do I have to drop it to optimise weight reduction efforts?
I Hate to sound cliche’ But, that “you can’t do that, it won’t work” remark that is so often said to discourage people is getting extremely out dated.
What doesn’t work for one person just might make someone else a millionaire. Can you imagine if people like Bill Gates would have listened to that type of comment, because we all Know he heard those same words, probably a great deal worse after all nobody had a Personal Computer back then. “Ideas”,”Pleasure and Goals” (hence the PC) of today.
What would the world be without Windows?
Let people Dream, don’t rain on someone else’s parade just because you may march to the beat of a different Drum. Hard work and perseverance doesn’t mean you have to dislike your job, actually the more you like it, the less it feels like work.
Thanks for the smile Peter!!
Sorry that some people just can’t comprehend or understand good advice even when it is presented to them with the best of intentions and so simple.
Perhaps, it will only inspire you to keep writing and to keep trying. Keep up the good WORK!!
I wonder was it the paycheck or the satisfaction of the completed well written article??
Oh yeah, for me too!!!
Greetings;
I realize that this article is several days old, but this is the first chance I’ve had to respond.
I agree with the author’s belief that fear is behind many of the emotions expressed against following one’s passion. However, I don’t think that’s all of it.
I don’t think they paid attention to what it actually said.
To be perfectly blunt, I don’t think people pay attention very well, anymore. I am 51 years old, and, when I was a pup, we were taught to listen. We got smacked if we didn’t, and that wasn’t uncommon to society at that time.
Americans have changed from a contemplative people to a people who shoot from the hip. People who shoot from the hip in business sometimes succeed, hence MM’s Ready, Fire, Aim philosophy. However, people who shoot from the hip when others are trying to communicate generally miss the mark by a wide margin.
Teaching people that attentiveness requires effort, and thought, is something that rarely happens, anymore. And I wish I knew how to change that. Maybe we should go back to smacking.
Cordially,
Ed R.