* Highly Recommended *

The number of foreclosures has doubled since last year

You may have noticed quite a few articles about foreclosure real estate in ETR lately.  There’s a good reason for that – the number of foreclosures has doubled since last year, and that’s beans compared to what’s on the horizon.

In other words, we see a real opportunity for you to make some money right now.  When we spot a window of opportunity like this one, we try to pass it on.

To that end, I worked out a pretty sweet deal with foreclosure investing expert Ted Thomas.  ETR readers can receive FREE admittance into his 3-Day Foreclosure Workshop in Orlando, Florida.  Click here to learn.

- Will Bonner

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You Need More Than a Big Income

By Michael Masterson

It's amazing how many young people (and lots of older people) equate making mucho dinero with being rich. But you need more than a big income.

A good example: the cable show Entourage . In Entourage , the main character is a fictionalized version of Mark Walberg after he became famous as a Hollywood actor. Mark's character and his friends spend all their time and money buying toys and chasing girls, while their accountant sits in his office and screams at them.

The entourage is hell bent on spending every cent of the multimillion-dollar income their buddy is earning. And that makes them feel rich. The truth is, they are just as broke as they were when they were living in Brooklyn . The only difference is that they are spending more.

To be rich, you need lots of money in the bank. A big income can give you a great lifestyle, but if you are spending it as fast as you are making it (like the entourage), when you stop working or a financial emergency arises, you'll very quickly find out how un-rich you really are.

If you want to become wealthy - in terms of having lots of money put away for a rainy day ... or money to spend after you stop working for it - you are going to have to learn how to save and invest a significant portion of your income.

But here's the good news for those of you who are just starting on a career. The best time for you to start saving money is now. If you get yourself into the habit of doing so, you'll be rich before you know it.

(Ed. Note: This is an excerpt from Michael Masterson's new book Automatic Wealth for Grads... and Anyone Else Just Starting Out. For Michael's step-by-step advice on building wealth through saving and investing ... get the book!)

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"Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood."

 - William Penn

Give a Great Talk, Part 3

By Bob Bly

With my previous article for ETR, I thought I had covered everything you need to know to be a really terrific speaker. But when I showed it to Terry Smith, my ex-boss at Westinghouse and author of the classic book Making Successful Presentations, he suggested a few more tips for me to pass on to you.

1. Have something worthwhile for the audience.

In other words, show them how they will benefit from the advice or content in your talk. For instance, if your talk is announcing a new treatment for varicose veins, tell the audience some things they can do to prevent or relieve the symptoms of the condition - like mild exercise or wearing special stockings.

2. Rehearse.

Your presentation will never be great the first time you give it. So you want to give it many times before you're actually in front of your audience. That means rehearsing.

You can rehearse by yourself ... or in front of your staff or family. Or you can accept speaking gigs in venues that aren't critical to you (e.g., the local library or YMCA) before unveiling your talk to the people whose response really matters to you (your target market).

3. Be yourself.

Avoid the well-meaning but misguided advice of speaking coaches and trainers who teach you theatrical techniques or tell you to change your manner, voice, and posture. Just be yourself. Audiences respond much more positively to real people than to mannequins and phonies.

4. Keep telling yourself, "I'm glad that I'm here, and I like what I'm doing" - even if it's a lie.

My experience is that even if you don't like giving talks and don't look forward to doing them, once you step up to the lectern and open your mouth, your distaste will vanish and you'll gain enthusiasm.

Okay. So now you have a complete mini-course on how to give a great talk. Terry's advice - combined with what I already told you in Part 1 and Part 2 of this article - is everything you need to know about public speaking. And, as you can see, it is not rocket science.

NOW ... how can you use this skill to promote your business? I have a few suggestions.

The most obvious is to find local business meetings where the attendees are your potential clients, and offer to speak to them for free.

There are thousands of meetings, luncheons, and dinners held each year throughout the country that routinely feature speakers. Since small local groups don't have the budget to hire professional speakers, but want to deliver valuable content to their members, they are always on the lookout for volunteers.

It's not difficult to get on their schedule. Just send a letter to the person in charge of arranging for speakers. Tell her your qualifications, the topic of your talk, and the key points you will cover. If your topic is relevant to the interests of the group, you'll get your opportunity to talk to them.

Don't use this opportunity to deliver a speech that's a thinly disguised commercial or pitch for your services. Your audiences will hate it ... and dislike you for giving it. Which won't produce the leads you want.

The best way to get potential customers in the audience to want to do business with you is to give a great talk that's packed with valuable how-to tips they can use. The only mention of you and what you do should be in a brief introduction about you that's given by a member of the group. (Type it out on a card so the person can read it, word for word.)

Want to bring your speech to a broader audience? Arrange to professionally record your presentation. Then duplicate the presentation on a CD or audiocassette with a nice label. Send an e-mail or postcard to your mailing list, tell them the title and content of the talk, and offer it to them free.

You could also post your talk as a downloadable MP3 on your website and offer to send a link to it. Or you can make a transcription, which you could send to prospects as a downloadable PDF file.

I recently gave a talk on software marketing to a group of software publishers. I then mentioned the talk ... and offered a free tape recording of it ... in my monthly e-newsletter. Within 24 hours, I received more than 200 requests for the tape ... many from software companies interested in hiring me to write copy for them.

From this one-paragraph mention in my e-newsletter, I landed an immediate $12,000 in copywriting business.

(Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a popular Early to Rise columnist, self-made multi-millionaire, and the author of more than 60 books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Direct Marketing and The Copywriter's Handbook .

He is also the editor of ETR's Direct Marketing Masters Edition - a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail business.)

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Today's Action Plan

How could you promote your business by giving talks to people who could benefit from whatever you're selling? Make a list of possible topics. Then make another list of groups that might be interested in hearing what you have to say - and start making phone calls.

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* Highly Recommended *

I've Already Done All the Hard Work for You!

One of my jobs at Early to Rise (ETR) is to come up with powerful ways to help you - our loyal reader - make money on the Internet. After all, the promise we make is that by using the tools we give you in ETR, you can become healthier, wealthier and wiser.

Now I'll be the first to admit it...

I'm no Jack LaLanne or Arnold Schwarzenegger when it comes to fitness and health... and I've never claimed to be Socrates or Einstein as far as wisdom goes.

But with all due modesty, I am the ideal person to tell you about making a nice new side income from the Internet.  I can give you techniques and strategies that you can put to use immediately and without great expense or unnecessary complications.

Let me show you how to get your first Internet income stream up and running for almost nothing.

- Patrick Coffey

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Boost Your Brainpower With Green Tea

By Jon Herring

Green tea is one of the oldest - and healthiest - beverages in the world. A recent study of more than 1,000 people in Japan showed that the more green tea the subjects drank the lower their odds were of having cognitive impairment.

In addition to boosting your brainpower, green tea is brimming with nutrients that have been shown to fight viruses, slow aging, and protect against cancer and heart disease. Its most powerful antioxidant, EGCG, has been shown to be significantly more potent than vitamin C, vitamin E, and resveratrol (the healthy compound found in red wine).

While most people drink it hot, green tea is also a refreshing summer treat. Try it over ice with a wedge of lemon.

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It's Good to Know: Computer Basics Shortcuts for Selecting Text

Here are some easy-to-remember shortcuts for selecting text in a document:

1. To select a word , double-click it.

2. To select a line , click next to the line in the left margin.

3. To select a sentence , press and hold < CTRL > and click the sentence.

4. To select the entire document , press and hold < CTRL > and double-click in the left margin or press and hold < CTRL > and the letter < a >.

(Ed. Note: This tip comes to us from AWAI's new special report, Computer Basics: A Step-by-Step Guide to Learning Computer Basics the Fun and Easy Way.)

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Is There a Book In Your Future?

Learn how to go from a “wannabe” to a published author by the end of this year: Click here.

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Word to the Wise: Bombinate

To "bombinate" (BOM-buh-nate) is to buzz or hum.

Example (as used by Cheryl Glenn and Robert J. Connors in New St. Martins Guide to Teaching Writing : "Sometimes the computer bombinates into the night, stops for a bit of rest, then resumes its hum at the early hours of the morning."