* Highly
Recommended *
The
Early to Rise 2006 End-of-Year Blowout Sale
What
are your resolutions for 2007?
To
increase your salary by $15,000? To finally start your own
profitable online side-business? To locate an incredible real
estate deal?
Whatever
your dreams, hopes and aspirations may be… ETR is here
to help!
As
2006 comes to a close, we’ve compiled a dozen of our
best success programs into a year-end blowout sale with our
lowest prices ever… so there’s no better time
for you to start making your dreams come true in 2007 than
right now.
This
offer ends when the New Year begins, so don’t put it
off and risk paying more a few days from now. Act today and
you’ll get the best deal we’ve ever offered, guaranteed.
Stop
by our ETR 2006 End-of-Year Blowout Sale now.
-
MaryEllen Tribby
"Call
me a braggart, call me arrogant. People at ABC (and elsewhere)
have called me worse. But when you need the job done on
deadline, you'll call me."
-
Sam Donaldson
What's
the Hurry?
By
Bob Bly
One
of the facts of life for a freelance copywriter like me - any
writer, in fact - is deadlines. We live with them. They're
always looming. And they never go away.
Ask
anyone you know who's ever worked as a reporter or editor for
a daily newspaper.
"I
feel sorry for you," MB, a contractor who specializes
in kitchens and bathrooms, told me the other day when he saw
the pile of work on my desk.
"Why?" I
asked as I happily clicked away at my PC.
"You
have all those deadlines," he answered.
I
stopped typing. "Don't you?" I replied.
"No," said
MB. "We just take on a lot of remodeling jobs, and we
get to them when we get to them."
"Don't
you have schedules in your contracts?" I asked.
"Sometimes.
But no one expects us to stick to them. After all, we're contractors."
MB
is dead wrong in thinking he doesn't have deadlines ... or
that his customers don't care about his slow turnaround. I
know, because I am one of his customers. He is remodeling our
master bathroom right now.
He
told us it would be done in June ... and the job is still not
finished.
Is
my wife steamed? Don't even ask. And, frankly, so am I.
The
point?
Every
service business ... every business, in fact ... is deadline
driven. If you don't think yours is, you just don't realize
it yet.
The
instant you promise to do something for a customer, he is waiting
for it to be done or delivered. Even if there is no contractual
deadline or agreed-upon delivery date, your customers want
what they have ordered - the sooner, the better.
The
longer you take to deliver, the more impatient and irritated
they become. Dissatisfaction increases with the delay.
If
there's no deadline in your contract ... or oral promise to
deliver by X ... that doesn't mean your customer has no deadline.
It just means your customer hasn't told you about it.
Not
asking for a timeframe - and agreeing with it - is negligence
on your part ... and an invitation to disaster.
Now,
your customer may not himself know what his deadline date is.
But there will come a time when ... if you haven't yet delivered
... he will suddenly wake up, angry that you are taking so
long.
He'll
be annoyed ... and feel ignored ... and call you every other
day until the job is done or the merchandise is delivered.
And even then, he'll complain to his colleagues and friends
about your company. ("Their quality is okay, but their
turnaround is slow, and customer service is terrible.")
So
my advice is simple ...
First,
if there is no set deadline - either written or verbal - volunteer
to set one.
The
deadline should be not only a date, but a specific time of
day. ("X will be delivered on or before January 15, 2007,
no later than 3:00 p.m. EST.") If you do not specify a
time, you will get a call first thing in the morning on the
15th from an annoyed customer asking "Where the $@#$@
is my stuff!"
Second,
don't miss your deadlines.
If
difficulties arise that will cause you to miss a deadline,
let the customer know as early as possible about the problem
- and ask for an extension. Do this the instant you have an
inkling that a delay may occur. Don't call the customer the
day before the deadline and tell him you won't make it.
Third,
set generous deadlines up front.
If
the customer wants it in two weeks, ask for four weeks ...
and then negotiate a three-week turnaround. Then make every
effort to deliver earlier.
If
the customer expects it in 14 days and you deliver in 15 days,
you are late - and he will be irritated. But if the customer
wanted it in 14 days, then agreed to a 21-day turnaround, and
you deliver it in 15 days, you are six days early - and the
customer will be delighted.
Make
this your motto in business: "Under-promise and over-deliver."
This
goes for service, quality, price ... and deadlines.
[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 University: The Masters Edition -
a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail
business.]
* Highly
Recommended *
Jump
On Now and Make 300%... Before Wall Street Discovers the
Stealth Market in Uranium
Thirty
years ago, the biggest energy giants walked away from millions
of acres of land with proven uranium reserves… land
that wasn’t worth exploiting when prices hit rock bottom.
But one company grabbed the best of that land for as little
as $1 an acre.
Now,
with the price of uranium skyrocketing, the value of those
reserves has increased more than 1,300%... yet you can still
purchase this company’s stock for pennies on the dollar.
But
you’ve got to jump on this now before Wall Street discovers
the stealth bull market in uranium. Once they do, this stock
is going to POP. Get
the full story here.
ETR
Insider Report: The New Synergy Between our Website and E-Letter
By
Mary Ellen Tribby, ETR's Publisher
In Message
#1923, my colleague and good friend
David Cross told you about our new, soon-to-be-launched Early
to Rise website. Not only will this be a valuable
tool for our readers, it should also increase our visibility
in the online marketplace by optimizing our site for
search engine placement. That will increase our conversion
rates so others can benefit from the advice in Early
to Rise.
(By
the way, in January - and all year long - look for essays by
our Internet experts sharing specific tactics for search-engine
marketing. They are sure to make a difference in your business.)
But
I have yet another surprise for you. We have also redesigned
our e-letter. Yes, the ETR e-letter that hundreds of thousands
of people read each day is changing. Of course, it will still
include cutting-edge and thought-provoking content. It will
still feature the experts you have come to know and trust.
So
why are we changing a good thing?
The
answer is simple:
First,
we wanted to make reading ETR easier for you. And we are doing
that by making a few design changes - for example, using optimal
line length. We are also adding a "Printer Friendly" button,
because we recognize that you may need to take some ETR information
with you or share some content with others who may not be as
Web savvy as you are. All of our past issues will now be more
easily accessible. And wait until you see Sunday's Week in
Review issue!
Second
(as every online marketing expert can tell you), in order to
maximize your conversion rates, there has to be a recognizable
connection between the look/functionality of your website and
your e-letter. Here's why ...
Imagine
spending thousands of dollars on your Pay-Per-Click search
campaigns to attract your potential reader/customer to your
website. He takes the next step and opts in to receive your
daily (or weekly or monthly) e-letter. But if the first e-letter
he receives looks nothing like your website where he was first
introduced to you, he may have no idea the message is from
you. He thinks to himself, "Who is spamming me?" And
instead of staying with you and giving you that chance to bond,
he opts out. Worse yet, he might even report you as a spammer.
ETR
was guilty of creating that kind of confusion ... till now.
Everything you get from ETR is going to have the same "look" -
one that you will instantly recognize as coming from us.
Tell
us what you think of our new website and e-letter design on Speak
Out, ETR's readers' forum.
Onions
and Garlic ... "Powerful" in More Ways Than One
By
Jon Herring
If
you're like me and enjoy the taste of garlic and onions - and
you eat them often - you're doing a lot more than adding some
flavor to your meals. You could be adding years to your life.
The
allium plants - particularly onions, shallots, and garlic -
have been used as food and medicine for thousands of years.
And modern science has confirmed that these pungent vegetables
are some of the most medicinally potent foods we can eat. Hundreds
of population and laboratory studies have shown that they have
strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and immune-boosting qualities.
Onions,
shallots, and garlic have also been shown to reduce inflammation,
lower cholesterol, and normalize blood pressure. And a large
Italian study, recently published in the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition, shows a strong inverse correlation
between onion and garlic consumption and cancers of the mouth,
esophagus, breast, ovaries, kidneys, and prostate.
So
whenever you have a chance to slice a shallot for your salad,
put an onion on your sandwich, or press some garlic to go with
your mixed vegetables, do it!
Notes
From Michael Masterson's Blog: How Sid Got a Free Ride in
Vegas
By
Michael Masterson
Sid,
my 87-year-old accountant, told me a great story yesterday.
About
30 years ago, he was in Las Vegas on vacation. He became friendly
with some local guys he was playing craps with. They invited
him to play golf the next day. At the third tee, they were
joined by an older guy that Sid's new friends seemed to know.
He suggested they play for money. Sid was reluctant but agreed.
The stakes were something like $10 and $20 a hole.
[Ed.
Note: Read the rest of this article on Michael
Masterson's blog.]
-
Michael Masterson
* Highly
Recommended*
You
Can Import Goods From Overseas For Pennies On the Dollar!
It
may have been hard in the past for small entrepreneurs to import
cheap products from countries like China, but things have drastically
changed.
For
example, In 1986, total trade between the United States and
China was $7.9 billion. By 2005, this total has reached over
$170 billion, making China the United States' third largest
trading partner.
You
can't believe how easy this is. With the right information,
you just find products that cost a couple of dollars each and
sell them for 1000%+ mark-ups by the thousands with your own
Internet sites.
Please
click here to read this urgent report.
-
Patrick Coffey
Word
to the Wise: Rubicund
"Rubicund" (ROO-bih-kund)
- from the Latin for "red" - means inclined to a
healthy, ruddy complexion, often associated with outdoor life.
Example
(as used by Edmund Morris in Dutch:
A Memoir of Ronald Reagan): "Rubicund
from his cocktail, big, broad, lustrous with power, he exuded
what Walter Pater called the 'charm of an exquisite character,
felt in some way to be inseparable from his person.'"
