* Highly
Recommended *
How
Much Money Can YOU Make By Copying This "Mistake"?
How
did Vicki Smith accidentally ‘hotwire’ the Internet
and turn it into the goose that laid the golden egg?
Well,
imagine a huge fortress with steep, heavily defended walls
and a great big, drawbridge to get through. Inside that fortress
is the huge pile of wealth there is to be made on the Internet.
Now imagine trying to scale those walls with no equipment and
never having done anything like it before. That is what many
people try to do...
But
what did Vicki do? By mistake, she got ‘lost’ and
wandered around the back of that fortress and found a ‘hidden’ door
which lead straight in. A solid gold door which opened up a
gateway to riches…
It’s
an opportunity which really does work, that anyone can follow
and put into practice quickly in just an hour of your spare
time from home.
Read
about Vicki’s good fortune...
-
Patrick Coffey
Don't
Let the Economy Wreck Your Portfolio
By
Andrew Gordon
The
economy has slowed down so much that it's not giving inflation
much of a chance to grow. Is that good or bad? Economists,
Wall Street, and market pundits all have their own widely diverging
opinions ... and that's all you need to know.
As
a careful investor, you have to prepare your portfolio for
the worst contingency, no matter what the investment world
is saying at the moment. So here's what you do:
- Take
15 to 20 percent of your portfolio out of your riskiest investments
(like small growth stocks, for example).
- Invest
40 percent of that money in a short-term bond or CD. (Two-year
CD yields are currently over five percent.) Do this soon.
Yields on short-term instruments are still extremely attractive,
but I expect them to start dropping shortly.
- Invest
another 40 percent in a utility or non-residential REIT (real
estate investment trust). If you're unsure how to pick these
kinds of stocks, I have some great ones in my INCOME portfolio.
Both REITs and utilities give out dividends. If the market
dives, getting cash several times a year will seem like manna
from heaven.
- Invest
the remaining 20 percent in gold. When everything is going
to pot, gold holds or rises in market price.
There's
no way you will regret doing this - but you may regret not doing
it. If the economy and market find their second wind, these
investments will still give you solid returns. And if the economy
and market dive, you will have given your portfolio an extra
layer of needed protection.
[Ed.
Note: Andrew Gordon, ETR's financial expert, is the editor
of ETR's new investment service, INCOME.
Each month, he uncovers specific stocks that promise safety
(first and foremost), along with much-higher-than-average profit
potential.]
"In
modern business it is not the crook who is to be feared
most, it is the honest man who doesn't know what he is
doing."
-
William Wordsworth
What
Direct Marketers Taught Mickey D's About Making Sales
By
Bob Bly
The
other day, I heard a radio commercial for McDonald's. I'm not
a big fan of general advertising, but I thought this commercial
was moderately clever and effective.
In
the commercial, a guy walks into work late carrying a cup of
McDonald's coffee. The irate boss (or was it a colleague?)
berates him: "You're late because you stopped and bought
a cup of McDonald's coffee?"
"Nope," the
worker replies.
"What
do you mean, nope?" the boss/colleague says, irritated. "It's
right in your hand."
"But
I didn't BUY this cup of McDonald's coffee," our hero
corrects him. "I got it FREE when I went to McDonald's
and bought a delicious breakfast meal."
What
they are selling, of course, is not the brand or the food.
They are selling the offer: Buy a breakfast and get the coffee
free.
As
all direct marketers know, offers are essential for generating
advertising response ... and free offers are usually the most
attractive.
Take
Oreck vacuum cleaners, for instance. In their mailings, the
offer is a risk-free trial of their 8-pound vacuum cleaner.
The incentive for you to respond is a gift - specifically,
a free "dust-buster" type of handheld mini-vacuum.
We're
starting to see more and more general advertisers taking a
cue from direct marketing - and creating and promoting strong
offers designed to get their cash register to ring.
For
example, my local dry cleaner recently made this special offer:
Bring in any two garments to dry clean, and we will launder
your shirts for just $1 each. And a local Italian restaurant
puts out free bread (a common practice in restaurants), but
accompanies it with a plate of fine aged parmesan.
One
of the best offers out there, in my opinion, is the free coffeemaker
from Gevalia. The deal is this: Sign up to get a monthly shipment
of Gevalia coffee at a discount price, and they will send you
a free coffeemaker. It's a handsome machine, and it makes great
coffee. (I should know. We have one in our kitchen.)
What
kind of offer can you make that could attract more business
and sales? Yanik Silver got you started yesterday with
a few ideas for making "irresistible" offers. Let
me expand on that here:
- Stress
your guarantee. ("Satisfaction guaranteed or your money
back.")
- Let
your prospects use the product for a month without risk -
meaning if they don't like it, they can return it for a full
refund. ("Send for your FREE 30-day home trial.")
- Give
them a discount ... with a reason for the discount, if possible.
("Save 40 percent during our 25th anniversary sale.")
- Like
Oreck and Gevalia, give them a free gift with their order.
("Reply now and get this valuable FREE bonus gift.")
- Have
a two-for-one sale. ("Buy one, get one free.")
This works well for products the customer might want more
than one of, such as cleaning materials or plastic storage
containers for the kitchen.
- Offer
to pay shipping charges via UPS if your customer decides
to return the product for a refund. ("If you're not
100 percent satisfied, we'll come to your door, pick it up,
and take it away - entirely at our expense.")
- Make
a logical connection between the product and the offer. For
example, the Sovereign Society, a financial newsletter on
offshore investing, offered a free Swiss bank account to
new subscribers.
- If
you can't think of a reason to justify why you are making
a special offer, get creative. A record store, for example,
could have a half-price sale - one day only - on Elvis's
birthday.
- A
good source of ideas for product tie-ins is Chase's
Calendar of Events, which gives you
all the special events and celebrations for every month,
week, and day of the year.
- No
logical tie-in for your product? Create your own. If you
run a photography studio, declare "National Family Togetherness
Month" ... and send out a press release to the media
suggesting a family portrait to celebrate.
By
the way, although I have spent the last 25 years in direct
marketing, the first few years of my career were spent in general
marketing (for a couple of large corporations, selling big-ticket
items to business and government buyers). Our ads (this was
way before the World Wide Web) always told the prospect about
the product and its many benefits. But there was never an offer.
We almost never said anything like, "Respond to this ad
today, and you will get these specific materials, services,
and benefits."
Then,
in one ad, we offered a "free engineering design guide" -
and response rates soared.
One
more tip: Although I said that free offers are usually best,
there is an old direct-marketing technique called "the
magic of a dollar" that says offering something for a
penny or a dollar can be as effective - or sometimes even more
so, since it is less common.
A
local janitorial service, for example, sent a letter with a
penny glued to the upper-right corner of page one. The copy
said, "We will clean your entire plant or office for a
penny ... and I've even enclosed the penny, so it really costs
you nothing!"
And,
yes, it worked like gangbusters.
[Ed.
Note: Bob Bly is a popular Early to Rise columnist,
self-made multi-millionaire, and the author of more than 60
books. He is also the editor of ETR's
Direct Marketing Masters Edition - a program
to help you start your own successful direct-mail business.
Subscribe
to his free monthly marketing e-zine, Direct Response Letter,
and claim a free marketing library worth more than $100, at bly.com/reports.]
* Highly
Recommended *
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Protect
Your Kidneys With Fatty Fish
By
Jon Herring
Scientists
at Sweden's famed Karolinska Institute have discovered that
eating fatty fish just a few times per month can significantly
reduce the risk of kidney cancer. In the late 1980s, these
researchers carefully surveyed 90,000 Swedish women - and then
reviewed their health status 10 or more years later.
They
found that the women who consumed at least one portion of fatty
fish per week reduced their risk of kidney cancer by 74 percent
compared to women who never ate fatty fish. That is a remarkable
risk reduction - but here is the important part. The scientists
found NO risk reduction from consuming lean, white-fleshed
fish.
So,
what's the difference? According to a recent article by Dr.
Ralph Moss, a noted cancer researcher, "oily fish contains
up to 30 times more omega-3 fatty acids and three to five times
more vitamin D than lean fish." Laboratory studies have
shown that these two nutrients are strongly protective against
a variety of cancers, in addition to their multiple cardiovascular
benefits. (They can reduce LDL cholesterol and triglycerides
and lower the risk of stroke and heart disease.)
Wild
fish (known to be free of mercury) is an excellent source of
protein. But if you want ALL the nutritional benefits of fish,
be sure to include those with high fat content in your diet.
Tuna, cod, and shellfish are poor choices in this regard. Wild
salmon, sardines, and mackerel are best. All of these fish
are available canned - and canned wild salmon, in particular,
is not only delicious but also very high in healthy fat.
If
you're not a big fish eater, you can get the benefits of both
omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D in cod liver oil. My favorite
brand is Carlson's, which you can find online or in just about
any health food store.
Dear
Michael Masterson: "What would you suggest to get my
book published?"
"It
is as if you wrote your article "How
to Get - and Stay - Motivated" about
my own life. I had similar experiences in high school and
into college, although my college experience still had a
major emphasis on becoming a DI National Wrestling All American,
while getting straight A's.
"I
started reading ETR late in my freshman year. It has helped
me realize that I don't have to take what life gives me and
be content. I can take what I want out of life simply by
outworking everyone else.
"I
am in the process of starting two online companies, and just
recently finished my first book, "Success - Make a Choice." As a
22-year-old MBA student, I am having a hard time getting
publishers to even look at my proposal. What kind of publishers
should I look for? Most are unwilling to talk with me without
a literary agent. What would you suggest to get my book published?"
-
Joshua Pniewski
Boiling Springs, NC
Dear
Joshua,
First,
let me congratulate you on your academic and athletic accomplishments.
And thank you for letting me know how ETR motivated you.
You
know, ETR began as a non-commercial venture. I was regularly
sending out messages to some younger people I was mentoring.
They suggested that ETR be turned into a business. Nowadays,
we have so many older readers that I sometimes forget younger
people read ETR too. I like that. The help I give to someone
your age has huge benefits, because young people have many
years ahead of them to put that advice to work. Knowledge compounds
just like bank interest - and the effect of compound knowledge
is immensely powerful as time passes.
Now,
for your question ...
How
do you find a publisher for your book? You don't need a publisher.
You can publish it yourself online.
The
problem with using a publisher is that (a) they won't pay you
much for your book and (b) they aren't all that vested in your
book's success. (I don't have space here to explain how the
publishing business works - but the bottom line is this: Their
profit model depends on throwing lots of stuff against the
wall and seeing what sticks.)
You
want to be in charge of marketing your book - not only because
you want to maximize its profitability, but also because you
want to learn as much as you can about marketing information
products on the Internet. Why? Because that's the biggest and
fastest-growing industry in the world.
If
you attended our Info Marketing Bootcamp in November, you heard
me explain just how big this opportunity is and why now is
the perfect time to get into it. If you weren't able to join
us this year, you'll be able to get the same valuable strategies
and techniques from the recordings we had made of the Bootcamp
presentations. Once you have them, study them
diligently to learn how to take full advantage of the information-marketing "revolution."
Your
book is a perfect information product to start with - but it
may need some revising. The title seems too general. It needs
an angle, a unique selling proposition (USP). Get the Bootcamp
recordings and you'll see what I mean.
-
Michael Masterson
* Highly
Recommended *
Start
Making Money Today
Interested
in getting a nice little side-business going on the Internet?
Or maybe even from your living-room table?
But
you don’t have too much money, you don’t have too
much time, and you’re not exactly Bill Gates when it
comes to technology. Sound familiar?
A
lot of people are in the same boat. The good news is that ETR
has heard you. And now we’ve done something about it...
We’ve
asked our colleague Marc Charles to be on the lookout for profit
opportunities that can be run from a kitchen table, your desktop
or out on the road.
Criteria?
They’ve got to be inexpensive, easy to start, and still
have great income potential, but without a lot of red tape.
They
say when you’re first getting your feet wet with a side-business,
the most important dollar to make is the first one. Well, Marc
is an expert at taking beginning entrepreneurs and showing
you how to make that first buck. He knows, because he's done
it dozens of times for himself, his family and his friends.
If
you've been dreaming about starting your own business ... now
you can get started for about the price of 2 lattes.
And
get this - you could be making money literally just hours from
now. Imagine the feeling of finally getting a side business
launched -TODAY!
Why
not go for it?
-
Patrick Coffey
Word
to the Wise: Carapace
A "carapace" (KARE-uh-pace)
is the thick shell that covers turtles, crabs, and other animals.
The word is often used to refer to something that serves to
protect or isolate.
Example
(as used by Evan Thomas in Robert
Kennedy: His Life): "Desperate to
win his father's attention and respect, Kennedy became a hard
man for a long while, covering over his sensitivity and capacity
for empathy with a carapace of arrogance."
