* Highly
Recommended *
The
2006 ETR Year End Sale!
Incredible
Bargains on Our 12 Best Programs
As
2006 comes to a close, ETR has compiled 12 of our best products
and put them into a blowout YEAR END SALE. These are
our lowest prices ever, guaranteed, so there’s no better
time for you to begin working on your goals for 2007.
Whether
you want to start your own profitable business, invest in real
estate or simply become more productive and proficient at the
things you’re already doing - there are programs to help
you get there faster.
These
crazy bargains will move fast - and when we run out of product,
we cannot guarantee you’ll ever get the chance to buy
at these prices again.
Stop
by our ETR YEAR END SALE now.
Foreclosures
Can Mean Big Money
By
Kam Weiler
The
word “foreclosure” can conjure up images of houses
selling for mere pennies on the dollar. But how much
of a discount are foreclosure buyers really getting?
In
a study of 2005 foreclosure sale prices in more than 600 counties
nationwide, First American Real Estate Solutions found that
foreclosed properties sold an average of about 15 percent less
than comparable homes in the same area. Not bad, but not any
better than a sharp buyer can do on the open market.
And
what about states where real estate has been white-hot, such
as Arizona, California, and Virginia? In these highly
competitive markets, foreclosed properties sold for within
just five percent of full market value.
So
do those super-cheap deals you hear about on late-night infomercials
actually exist?
In
short - yes. These ultra-bargains happen about 3,800 times
per year in the U.S.
At
least that’s how many foreclosed homes sold nationwide
for $1,000 or less in the first 10 months of 2006, according
to First American Real Estate Solutions.
Before
you get out your checkbook, there are a couple of things to
be aware of. For starters, there are additional risks
in foreclosure purchases. You may not even be given the
opportunity to see the inside of the house, let alone inspect
it. Another consideration: These sales are happening in places
like Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, where dying industry
has left behind a surplus of what once was middle-class housing
in neighborhoods now known for crime and bad schools.
That
doesn’t mean these aren’t good deals. It’s
simply a reminder that no matter how little you pay for a property,
you can still get a bad deal.
Whenever
you buy investment property - and especially when dealing with
the added risks of a foreclosure - you should do proper
due diligence. Know the average price per
square foot of the area, the rental value, repair costs, and
after-repair value of the home.
If
you objectively evaluate foreclosure properties, you stand
to make a fortune. If you don’t do your due diligence,
you could find yourself back at foreclosure ... on the losing
side of the deal.
[Ed.
Note: Kam Weiler is a contributing editor for Main
Street Millionaire, ETR’s real
estate investment success program.]
"Language
is the dress of thought."
-
Samuel Johnson
Is
ETR Teaching You the Wrong Words?
By
Michael Masterson
We
got a nice letter from a bright man the other day that I wanted
to share with you. It’s about our Word to the Wise column.
Bill Lampton, Ph.D., (author of The
Complete Communicator: Change Your Communication, Change Your
Life!)
writes:
"Although
I believe that the vocabulary-building word definitions you
provide daily can help people with their reading, I urge Early
to Rise editors to point out that you are not encouraging
people to use these obscure words in their speaking - either
informal conversations or professional presentations - or
writing.
”In
the communication seminars I direct internationally, I remind
participants of James Michener's advice in his autobiography, The
World Is My Home. Michener said the
writer's challenge is not to use big words, but to accomplish
extraordinary things through ordinary words.”
I
read an article Bill wrote on the topic, and I enjoyed it.
(You can find it at businessknowhow.com/growth/words.htm.)It
began with a personal anecdote. While taking a walk, he came
upon a sign that said:
Experimental
Turf Area
Please Avoid Pedestrian Traffic on Turf
What
is wrong with the simple and straightforward “Keep Off
the Grass,” Bill wanted to know? And he’s right.
Using multi-syllabic words just because they are available
is unwise. More often than not, it will get you into trouble.
Bill
notes that in The World Is My Home, James Michener
said that he followed “the pattern of Ernest Hemingway,
who achieved a striking style with short, familiar words."
I
like Hemingway too. He may even be the most influential prose
stylist of the 20th century.
But
there are other styles that I like almost as well. Think of
the elevated beauty of Thomas Jefferson’s prose, the
dense complexity of Faulkner, Joyce, or, for a contemporary
example, Cormack McCarthy.
When
I teach copywriting to beginners, I stress the importance of
working with a smaller vocabulary. But I dispense with that
sort of advice when I speak to experienced copywriters who
understand what good writing is.
When
I talk to editors about writing well, I tell them “Good
writing is good thinking expressed cleanly.”
And
I mean it. But good writing can, and should, be more than clean.
It should be exact. And powerful. And suggestive.
And
sometimes the simple, one- or two-syllable, words can’t
do that. Sometimes the right word is “taciturn” or “desultory” or “recalcitrant.”
That’s
why we include them in Early to Rise. Because we believe
these are words that can, if used wisely, make your writing
and speaking stronger and brighter.
It’s
not enough to simply recognize these good, rich words. Writers – if
they want to be great writers – need to use them.
And speech givers, too – they need to be able to say
them at the right time.
See
how some of our most beloved authors (though admittedly in
a time when the prose style was more complex than in the post-Hemmingway
era) sprinkled their prose with so-called “big” words:
- Mark
Twain, writing in The Atlantic: "He took a
great liking to this Rev. Mr. Peters, and talked with him
a great deal: told him yarns, gave him toothsome scraps of
personal history, and wove a glittering streak of profanity
through his garrulous fabric that was refreshing to a spirit
weary of the dull neutralities of undecorated speech."
- John
Stuart Mill in his famous essay "On Liberty": "Men's
opinions, accordingly, on what is laudable or blamable, are
affected by all the multifarious causes which influence their
wishes in regard to the conduct of others, and which are
as numerous as those which determine their wishes on any
other subject."
- George
Eliot in The
Mill on the Floss: "He was often
observed peeping through the bars of a gate and making minatory
gestures with his small forefinger while he scolded the sheep
with an inarticulate burr, intended to strike terror into
their astonished minds."
- Robert
Louis Stevenson in The
Master of Ballantrae: "You would
naturally not think so flat a rogue could cozen you. But
have a care! These half idiots have a sort of cunning, as
the skunk has its stench."
ETR
readers should feel assured that Judith Strauss, ETR’s
senior editor (and my personal editor for 20 years), selects
only the sort of words that we actually use in ETR and that
our readers might actually use in their writing or speaking
... now and then.
Bill
Lampton is right in saying that in most cases the simplest
word is the best - but he’s wrong to offer, as he does
in his article, a substitute list for dumbing down diction:
Some
examples from his list:
- Instead
of fortuitous, use lucky.
- Instead
of prevarication, use lie.
- Instead
of optimal, use ideal.
- Instead
of feasible, use possible.
- Instead
of peruse, use read.
- Instead
of interrogate, use question.
- Instead
of altercation, use argument.
- Instead
of surrogate, use substitute.
Here
are my suggestions:
1. Expand
your vocabulary with words that you might one day use.
2. Trust
ETR to provide such words.
3. Learn
these words both passively (so you recognize them when you
read them or hear them) and actively (so you can use them
when you want to).
4. And,
finally, use big words when they do a better job than their
little counterparts.
Of
course, just because you learn these wonderful words doesn’t
mean you’ll ever have a chance to use them. As Bill points
out, Somerset Maugham started a notebook when he decided to
become a writer, jotting down words with nice sounds ... big,
impressive words. Yet in reviewing his notebook years later,
Maugham realized he had never used a single word from it.
[Ed.
Note: Statistics prove that people with bigger vocabularies
earn more money. Not to mention that a broad vocabulary can
help you read and speak better. With ETR’s Vocabulary
Builder program, you can improve your mind as well as the way
others perceive you. This
new vocabulary-building program is in the works right now.
To get on our exclusive "hotlist" and be one of
the first to find out all the details of this brand-new program, please
register here: There's
absolutely no obligation and we'll let you know as soon as
it is available. Pick up a copy of this brand-new program,
and you’ll be sounding - and feeling - more intelligent
in no time!]
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The
Brand-New You Starts TODAY!
By
Jon Herring
If
you are not already eating healthfully and exercising regularly,
you might be saying to yourself, “Come January, I’m
gonna ...”
Well
enough of the “I’m gonnas.” Why not
start today?
Instead
of rolling (literally!) into January overweight and depressed
about your appearance, why not give yourself the gift of a
fit, trim body? If you even suspect that you will resolve to “lose
weight” or “get in shape” in 2007, don’t
wait.
When
I made my own health transformation, I started about this time
of year. I knew there would be distractions and temptations
and times when I would go overboard. And I realized that a
few overindulgences here and there were not going to make or
break my efforts. But I did my best to avoid the “all-or-nothing” trap.
During
the holiday season, too many people think, “Well, I already
blew it... I’ll just binge my way through the rest of
the year and get serious on January first.” But all
that will do is ensure that you will have a tougher time come
January.
You
have to begin making small changes and developing the habits
you know are necessary to achieve your health goals. What’s
the most important habit you can develop? I believe it is to
exercise consistently. If you intend to “start” exercising
in January, you will be far more likely to continue if you
start today.
[Ed.
Note: Need a little help keeping your fitness goals in check
- and meeting all your other goals for next year? ETR's
2007 Total Success Achievement Program could
be just what you’re looking for.]
The
Worst Thing About the Holidays: Spreading Yourself Too Thin
By
Jessica Kurrle, ETR’s Marketing Department
The
only thing I don't like about the holidays is all the running
around my husband and I inevitably do. The holidays are wonderful
for hanging out with family and friends and having some good
times. But driving from my Mom’s to my Dad’s and
finally my husband’s parents’ houses on Christmas
Day is hectic ... to say the least. There isn’t much
time to spend at each location, and I am always sad when we
have to leave one place to go to another.
However,
there is one holiday ritual/tradition that I really enjoy.
In lieu of exchanging gifts with each other, my Dad’s
side of the family chooses to adopt a needy family. We each
select one of our adopted family members to purchase gifts
for.
In
Baltimore, where I grew up, we use My Sisters Circle (mysisterscircle.org),
but there are many, many such organizations across the country.
It makes you feel good to know that you can offer a kid the
chance to wake up on Christmas morning and still believe in
Santa Claus.
* Highly
Recommended*
The
Only Three Ways to Grow a Business
Did
you know that there are only three ways to grow a business?
1. Increase
the number of customers.
2. Increase
the average transaction value.
3. Increase
the frequency of repurchase.
Find
a way to maximize each one, and your business will experience
an astonishing rate of growth.
In
his "9 Pillars of Business Growth" program, acclaimed
consultant Jay Abraham outlines hundreds of proven, frequently
unrecognized, and almost totally underutilized ways to grow
these three key areas of your business. If you own a business
(or would like to), be sure to take
a look at Jay's program.
-
Patrick Coffey
Word
to the Wise: Tutelary
“Tutelary” (TOO-tuh-lair-ee)
- from the Latin for “guardianship” - means being
or serving as a protector.
Example
(as used in an article by Charlotte Weber in Feminist Studies): “In
its twentieth-century incarnation, then, Western imperialism
assumed a tutelary capacity: Its benevolent mission was to
teach formerly subject peoples the Western art of self-government.”
