*
Highly Recommended *
You Deserve Answers...And Now You're Going to Get Them
If you haven't gained the wealth you crave, you need to do something differently.
Why? Because all change, all progress begins with a single decision, a single action.
Are you ready to seize the final piece of the puzzle? The missing ingredient to coast you all the way to financial freedom? You deserve answers and now you're going to get them.
In just 30 days from today your life could be in an entirely different place. Don't delay.
- Charlie Byrne
"The world moves, and ideas that were once good are not always good."
- Dwight David Eisenhower
The 7 Secret Qualities of Successful Information Products
By Gary Scott
Expenditures on information and information products account for over half of this country's economy. That's roughly $5 trillion!
Why so much? Americans have an unquenchable thirst for information. We crave information to make us healthier ... wealthier ... more beautiful. But most of all, we want information so we can show others how much we know.
So how much money do you think you could make by publishing some of that information yourself?
It can be done ... and I'm proof. I've developed a highly successful publishing business selling information that people want. The key is to develop an information product that people not only want to buy but want to continue to buy (or renew). This isn't hard - if you understand the following 7 Qualities of Successful Information Product Development.
Quality #1: Is the Idea Interesting?
The first person an idea has to interest is you. If you pick ideas that interest you, researching and writing about them will be fun. Of course, your ideas have to be truly interesting to your reader too.
For example, my first retail publishing idea in the early 1970s was to help U.S. investors understand how to invest globally. The idea was sound and remained very interesting to a lot of people for a long time.
On the other hand, look at collectibles. There will always be a collectibles market - yet many collectibles are in vogue (and, therefore, interesting) only briefly.
If, for example, you had a publication about Beanie Babies back when they were in vogue, you could have done well with it. Today, that publication would fall on its face.
Fads offer attractive publishing opportunities, but they don't last. Publications about fundamentally interesting topics survive.
Quality #2: Is the Idea Legal and Ethical?
I once got a sales letter from somebody who said that - for $12 - he could tell me how I could mail First-Class letters for only 3 cents. Indeed, the stamp on his envelope was 3 cents.
This seemed interesting, since I spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on postage. And though it was too good to be true, I sent in my $12.
A few days later, I got one photocopied page telling me how to do it. The page claimed that, as a business, the Post Office had made an offer to send my mail at the current rate. And it claimed that, as a businessman, I could counteroffer by putting a 3-cent stamp on my letters instead. If the Post Office mailed my letters, that meant they accepted my offer.
The idea was to simply mail all your letters with a 3-cent stamp, because most of them would get through. And the idea was neither legal nor ethical.
The Postal Service's Revenue Protection Department operates by spot inspection, true enough. So, yes, many of those 3-cent letters would get through. But anyone mailing lots of them could expect to be investigated by the U.S. government. So, in the long run, it wouldn't have been profitable. The fines (not to mention prison time) for these kinds of actions are very heavy.
Quality #3: Is the Idea Attractive?
Your idea has to attract first-time buyers. It doesn't have to be pretty or pleasant, but it must attract. And to attract, it must appeal to emotions in some way. The emotions can be good, bad, or even ugly. For example, one ad that worked very well started with this: "I'm mad as heck at the government for cheating us - here's how to get even."
It's not a pretty idea. But it's certainly attractive.
To succeed in the long term, the publication you're selling must hold your reader's interest. But initially, it's the attractiveness of your idea that gets potential readers to drop everything, read your sales story, and buy.
Quality #4: Is the Idea Usable?
Your idea has to fill some need for your reader. This is vital to gaining repeat customers for your publication.
Let's say you're selling a golf publication. In that case, you could make it useful to your reader simply by making it entertaining. Or you could help him get lower golf scores (pride). Or show times at various courses when greens fees are reduced (savings).
Quality #5: Is the Idea Understandable?
A Brief History of Time was a New York Times best-seller for over a year. It was called one of the most-purchased/least-read books of all time. The author's next books - all of them about quantum science - didn't sell well. They were just too complicated.
Ask yourself: Is my information understandable for my target market? As the example of A Brief History of Time illustrates, being interesting can sell a book. But if it's not understandable, you won't build repeat business.
Quality #6: Is the Idea Timely?
A successful publication is tuned to the times. Being too far ahead is just as bad as being too far behind.
I failed to understand this in the mid-70s when I was writing about investing internationally. I'd lived abroad for nearly a decade, so the idea seemed obvious to me. However, it ran contrary to public thought. Twenty years later, most U.S. investors were ready for it - and today, it is so common that local stockbrokers give free talks on the subject.
Now that I understand the importance of timeliness, I change, update, and innovate my publications constantly.
Quality #7: Is the Idea Salable?
You can have the timeliest, most usable, most interesting and easy-to-apply idea in the world. But if you cannot sell it, you won't make money. Defining your market and deciding how to sell your idea correctly is an integral part of the creation of an information product.
I learned this lesson while pioneering the idea of investing abroad. As I said, my idea was right ... but ahead of its time. Because I was out of sync with most American investors, my original marketing plan failed.
I couldn't sell that product until I (1) identified the small percentage of Americans who were interested in it and (2) really understood what motivated them. This process is crucial to information-publishing success.
In this case, I found that though I had marketed across the country to all professions and religions, a large percentage of my original readers were Jewish, Southern, or chiropractors - groups that tend to have less trust in the establishment. Once I understood that all three of these groups perceived that the establishment had been, at one time or another, biased against them, I was able to zero in and focus my marketing efforts.
[Ed. Note: Gary Scott is being shy when he says he developed "a highly successful publishing business." He's currently sitting on top of a multimillion-dollar publishing empire. Learn more about how YOU can build a rewarding self-publishing business. ]
Today's
Action Plan
It's much easier to start your own information-publishing business - or just about any business, for that matter - if you can write your own marketing copy. So sign up for the AWAI Copywriting Program. Then make the first move toward the business of your dreams with Gary Scott's self-publishing program.
* Advertisement*
The
Safest 100% in Technology Today
Right now, one of the world’s most successful technology firms is selling at the same price (adjusted for splits) that you would have paid 10 years ago! And the company’s prospects could not get any better!
Wall Street has overlooked MASSIVE hidden value in this company and I expect this stock to at least double in the near term. In the coming years this stock should easily trade at six to ten times where it is today. I tell you all about it in The 1000% Report... click here to learn more about it.
Learn More
Fouling up Fish
By Al Sears, MD
The media has given fat a terrible image over the last 20 years. But eating the right kind of fat can actually help you stay fit. In fact, the more fat there is in a meal, the lower its glycemic index will be. So if you keep the calories the same and increase the percentage of fat you're eating, you'll lower your insulin. Lower insulin decreases the percentage of calories converted to fat and increases the burning of stored fat in the body.
What should you eat to get more of the right kind of fat in your diet?
In the modern West, dietary surveys link red meat to heart disease, arthritis, and cancer. Yet in other cultures, this link evaporates. Why? Because Western ranchers feed their animals grains. This change from their native diet of greens makes them obese and diseased (just like us). That's why, in The Doctor's Heart Cure, I advised getting your animal fat from grass-fed meat or from fish. But now, research for my next book has uncovered a similar problem with fish.
If you buy fish from an unspecified source, it is more and more likely to be farm-raised. This is worse than you might think. Farm-raised fish feed on wheat, corn, soy, and the same crap that makes livestock unfit for consumption. And here's an eye-opener: This has actually reversed the ratio of healthy omega 3s to inflammatory omega 6s in those fish - to a level that approaches the level in grain-fed red meat.
Birds are the only major group of animals naturally equipped to eat grains. And birdfeed for fish is just as disease-producing as birdfeed is for us or for cows and pigs. So to keep yourself healthy, eat only guaranteed-wild seafood and certified grass-fed beef.
[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor's Heart Cure, is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and heart health.]
Making
Effective Business Calls
By Bob Bly
Have you ever had to hold the receiver about a foot away from your ear to dim the voice on the other end? Conversely, have you ever strained to make out what the person on the other end was saying?
Put the receiver against your ear. Hold the mouthpiece close to your lips and speak clearly in a normal tone of voice. If people can't understand you because you talk too fast, make a conscious effort to slow down. This may seem elementary, but it can prevent garbled communications and listener frustration.
If it's a business call, keep it short. Plan what you're going to say ahead of time and stick to the point. You might even want to write down the major points you want to cover on a sheet of paper and check off each one as it is covered.
Finally, be gracious and pleasant when ending the call, even if you're not happy with the outcome. Thank the person for his time and summarize the points agreed on or actions to be taken. Then say "good-bye" and hang up ... gently.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is the editor of ETR's Direct Marketing Masters Edition, a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail business. Sign up for Bob's e-zine, The Direct Response Letter www.bly.com/reports.]
It's Good to Know: When You're Traveling Overseas
By Michael Masterson
You've made a reservation for your flight to Shanghai, and you show up at the airport, ready for the trip. Your travel agent has assured you over the phone that "everything is okay" and "you'll have no trouble." Don't believe it.
I've been frustrated too many times at the ticket counter when my reservation has mysteriously been cancelled or altered without my say-so. I've spent frantic hours rushing to get everything straightened out, only to have to buy a second ticket at the last moment so as not to miss the flight.
A copy of your itinerary or a hand-scrawled confirmation number isn't going to get you on that plane. Always get printed confirmation for your international flights from the carrier that is taking you. This rule goes for hotel rooms, trains, tours, and any other reservation-only service.
*
Advertisement *
Secure Your Future...TODAY
In 6 hours and 35 minutes, you can be in business - well on your way to making upwards of $100,000 per year! That's how long it takes to "create" what is without question the world's easiest, most profitable and infinitely rewarding business.
Word
to the Wise: Pusillanimous
"Pusillanimous" - derived from the Italian for "tiny" + "soul" - is another way to say "cowardly."
Example (as used by Ann Radcliffe in The Italian): "You are now anxious to form excuses to yourself for a conduct so pusillanimous."
