* Highly Reccomended *
Reminder: Don't Miss Dave Lindahl's "Massive Passive Income with Apartment House Investing" Rebroadcast
This is a quick reminder about the one-time rebroadcast of a very important teleseminar I'm hosting tomorrow night.
There's so much competition these days among real estate investors. The good news is that great bargains still exist in most markets, because they're passed over by the vast majority of investors. Many of those bargains are in apartments.
Most investors think they must unclog toilets and deal with tenants in order to make apartment-sized profits. That suits my friend, Dave Lindahl, just fine: He buys apartments from burned-out landlords at great prices. Best of all, Dave's figured out ways to deal with no tenants.
On tomorrow night's call, Dave's going to tell us how to buy apartments with no money down; how to manage them without ever dealing with tenants, and how to make it work in YOUR real estate market.
Dave's also an expert at market cycles. He'll talk to us about his secrets for finding the next hot markets, and how to quickly and easily "read" where a market is in the up/down cycle.
If you can make this call, and while there are a few telephone lines left, be sure to register now. If you've already registered, please remember to show up 5 minutes early, because Dave's calls are ALWAYS overbooked.
Dave's the "real deal". He built his fortune from scratch, in tough neighborhoods. He's entertaining, knows his stuff, and you'll greatly benefit from this call.
Look forward to having you on the call tomorrow night!
Justin Ford
Editor, Main Street Millionaire
The Three Biggest Bulls of the 21st Century
By Andrew Gordon
Listen. You don't have to read the financial news to find out what the stock market did yesterday and what it might do today or tomorrow. Unless you're a day trader or options trader, you're just spinning your wheels. (That's right. The Wall Street Journal isn't written for you.)
The secret to earning outsized gains is to invest in something you know will get a great return no matter what the Fed, economy, or stock market does.
So stop worrying about heading into a recession. If you invest the right way, it won't matter. In fact, some of the world's most successful investors - like Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater - make most of their money when the economy and/or stock market are in crisis. When things go from bad to worse, your investment opportunities can go from good to great.
Right now, there are three mega-bull markets that stand out from other growth markets because of their size, expected duration, and immunity against economic/stock market slowdowns. They are: (1) the China bull market, (2) the commodities bull market, and (3) the oil sands bull market.
As good as these mega-bulls are, they are not without risks. Investing in them should bring substantial returns - but only if you do it right. In upcoming issues of ETR, I'll be showing you the safest and best ways to leverage these markets.
[Ed. Note: Andrew Gordon, ETR's financial expert, is the editor of our investment service, The Wealth Advantage. Join now and you'll get a free special report on Andrew's specific "finds" - companies that have the very real potential of giving you up to 1,000 percent on your investment.]
"Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your product or service, and that bring friends with them."
- W. Edwards Deming
Keeping the Service in Customer Service
By Bob Bly
Last week, I went to my local drugstore to pick up a prescription - and they made an extremely common customer service mistake.
The drugstore shall go unnamed.
I was second in line at checkout, and there was only one cashier. The woman in front of me was taking an inordinate amount of time with her purchase, because she thought she was being overcharged. (There was a special photo package advertised in a store flyer ... but when the clerk rang up her sale, a slightly higher price came up.)
Like most ETR readers, I am busy and I value my time. So perhaps I am less tolerant than the average Joe when a customer argues because she isn't getting a dollar discount on her photos or the store won't honor a coupon for 10 cents off a box of crackers.
In fact, when I'm really in a hurry, I've been known to tell the customer in front of me: "Just go ahead and buy the thing without the discount and I will pay you the difference" ... and I take out my wallet to show that I mean it.
(This is never appreciated, by the way.)
So I politely said to the cashier: "While this nice woman is deciding whether or not she wants her photos, could you ring me up?"
"I already started to ring her up and I can't clear the register," the cashier replied.
"Why not open the register next to yours and ring me up there?"
"I can only work one register at a time. Store policy." (I guess this store had never heard of multi-tasking.)
The woman in front of me was still hemming and hawing over her photo package.
"Well, why not get someone else to work that register so we (by this time, there were four people in line behind me, almost as annoyed as I was) can make our purchases and go?" I asked the cashier. Politely.
At this point, the manager came to the front of the store and attempted to help the cashier clear the register - unsuccessfully. So we were all still trapped in line.
I repeated my suggestion, this time to the manager, that they open the second register and put someone on it to clear up the growing line.
"I have no one else in the store to put there," he replied.
And I thought: Why don't YOU do it?
Apparently that thought never occurred to him.
After several more minutes, the problem was finally resolved, and we got out of there.
So what's the point of this long story?
The manager was obviously impressed with himself, because he had risen to a management position. He probably figured, "I'm a big-shot manager. Managers don't make change - they manage cashiers who make change."
Here is where he ... and so many others who are owners or managers ... misunderstand their position. They think they are the boss of the business - and, therefore, somehow exempt from mundane labor.
But you are NOT the boss of your business ... even if you own it.
Your CUSTOMERS are the boss. Your business exists to please and serve them.
Whenever you fail to make serving your customers your number one priority ... and you place something else above that (like your dignity or self-importance) ... you are telling them, "I don't value you, and I don't want your business."
Hey, even if you are the store owner, when you see that the sidewalk is littered with trash but your stock clerk hasn't come in yet, pick up a broom and sweep it yourself. You are not so important that you are above the need to continually provide exceptional customer service - whether that means a clean sidewalk or prompt checkout at the register.
The only really important person, at least as far as the customer is concerned, is the customer.
Another story ...
SR, a friend of mine, was one of the top freelance copywriters in direct marketing before he retired - a brilliant writer of conversational style sales letters.
He was so successful that he had a full-time secretary to handle his grunt work (like making photocopies and going to the post office). All SR wanted to do was the high-level work: thinking, researching, and writing for his clients.
One Thursday afternoon, the marketing manager of a potential client - a major company with tons of work and money - called him. They were eager to establish a working relationship with SR ... and to send big, fat checks his way. But, the marketing manager asked, could SR overnight a package with some samples of his copy first?
The marketing manager had to convince a few senior executives to sign off on the purchase order, and one of them wanted to see SR's work before doing so. They were in a hurry to get started, so the marketing manager hoped to present SR's samples to the group at a meeting the next day.
(This was pre-Internet, so SR did not have samples posted on a website.)
Feeling full of himself (as SR described himself to me), he said: "Well ... my secretary puts packages together ... and she is out today and tomorrow. I can have her send them on Monday."
There was dead silence. Then the marketing manager, much less friendly, came back on the line and said, "Hey, this is a major new campaign. I tell you what ... maybe, if it isn't too much trouble, YOU could put those samples in an envelope and overnight them to me yourself?"
"Of course, I was too arrogant to do it," says SR. "I was wrong ... and I never heard from that company again. Customers want what they want when they want it. To not give it to them is to risk losing their business."
Customers want what they want when they want it. To not give it to them is to risk losing their business.
Sage advice.
Today's Action Plan: You've no doubt had experiences similar to the one I described about being stuck in line at the drugstore. Customers pawing through piles of discount coupons when they get to the cash register ... moviegoers waiting until they get to the front of the ticket line to examine the listed features and decide what they want to see ... store managers behaving badly. Share - and vent - your exasperation at ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your full name and hometown. (We'll pass on the most interesting ones.)
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly, author of 70 books including The Copywriter's Handbook, is the editor of ETR's Direct Marketing Masters Edition, a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail business.]
* Highly Reccomended *
Are You Prepared to Profit on the Next Major Move in Oil?
The recent pullback in oil prices caught many traders and investors by surprise.
But the fact is, the sharp drop in prices was totally predictable. Just three
weeks ago, several highly reliable indicators were screaming "SELL!"
Click here to
learn what these indicators are pointing to next... and how you can profit!
Learn From the Health Mistake the Chinese Are Making
By Al Sears, MD
There's a new trend in China that reveals a key to staying lean. The increased intake of fast and processed food, vegetable oils, and man-made fats has triggered an obesity scare in the world's most populous country. More than 20 percent of Chinese are now overweight - and that number is growing.
Back when the Chinese ate nothing but locally grown rice, vegetables, and meats, their reputation for being slim was well-deserved. But whenever a culture strays from its traditional diet, obesity seems to follow.
While rice is a starchy grain, it has a lower glycemic index than most of the starchy grains (like wheat and corn) in processed foods. Those high-glycemic grains cause a spike in blood sugar, which stimulates insulin. Too much insulin packs on the pounds like nothing else, and boosts your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
To lose fat, eat foods that score a 40 or lower on the glycemic index.
[Ed. Note: Get your free copy of the glycemic index Dr. Sears gives his patients here]
Networking Tip: Make First Impressions Count
By Michael Masterson
According to Nicholas Boothman, author of How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less, what you do in the first few minutes of every personal encounter determines how people will respond to you later on. First impressions do count, Boothman believes, more than most people realize.
I agree. And it's not just the very first impression. It's the first impression you give each and every time you greet someone. So each and every time you encounter a friend, family member, or business associate, do the following:
1. Make yourself feel positive and allow that feeling to be reflected in the way you hold yourself.
2. Make eye contact. Always look the other person directly in the eye, even if only for a moment.
3. Be the first to smile. Let your smile, as well as your body language, show that you're happy to see him.
4. Make your "Hi!" or "Hello!" sound sincerely welcoming.
5. Take the lead. Extend your hand first.
6. Shake his hand strongly. Shake it like you mean it. Remember, your handshake provides an instant message about you. Are you an important person? A friendly person? Someone who can be trusted? Answers to these questions - and more - can be conveyed by your handshake.
Ask a few trusted friends or colleagues to check out your handshake. Make sure the signals you are giving are those you intend. If they aren't, make changes.
7. Lean toward him. An almost imperceptible forward tilt will very subtly indicate your interest in and openness to the other person.
[Ed. Note: Take advantage of Michael's advice whenever you meet people who could be important to your career - when, for example, you attend events like this year's Info Marketing Bootcamp. And for more of his tips on how to present yourself in a positive way, pick up a copy of Power and Persuasion.]
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Word
to the Wise: Sylvan
"Sylvan" (SIL-vun) - from the Latin for "forest" - means of, pertaining to, or inhabiting the woods.
Example (as used by Henry Petroski in The Washington Post): "They choose to live where they do because of the beauty and peacefulness that a sylvan setting affords."
