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If
Only My Ex-Boss Knew About This…
About
once a month my ex-boss Harold used to
complain about his brother.
His
big crime?
He
was a plumber with a couple of guys working
for him and he made 3-4 times as much
as Harold did, despite not making it past
high school. Harold had graduated from
Georgetown and could dissect public policy
every which way til Sunday.
“So
why don’t you start your own business?”
I asked him.
“I
will,” he swore, "as soon as
I get the 10 grand I need."
But
he never did. As smart as he was, Harold
lacked a road map to entrepreneurial success.
If
you have 30-40 years, go ahead and invest
in bonds and mutual funds. You should
end up with a tidy nest egg.
But
if you want a better home, nicer cars,
more exotic vacations…in 5-10 years…then
you have to dramatically increase your
income - and the fastest way to do that
is by starting your own business.
With
the help of The Quick and Easy Microbusiness
System, it’s easy to do. You don’t
need a lot of cash -- $100 dollars will
do in most cases. The author did it for
under $50 and struck it big.
Why
not start on the road to freedom and the
lifestyle you deserve today?
http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/700SPLMB/W700F778
-
Andy Gordon
WEALTH
How
to Spend Your Profit Dollars
Don't
co-mingle your real estate investment capital or profits with
your personal income. If you do, it will be tempting to think
of it as spending money - and you'll risk stunting your financial
growth. When you have made a profitable transaction, try to
reinvest at least 90% of your after-tax gains into another deal
or two. (In fact, as I explained in Message
#1435, with a 1031 Exchange, you can reinvest
100% of your profits tax-deferred.)
-
Justin Ford, editor of ETR's Main Street Millionaire real estate
program
HEALTH
Hidden Facts on Nutrition Bar Labels
Nutrition
bars can be a convenient and healthy alternative when your busy
lifestyle makes it difficult to sit down and eat a nutritious
meal. But be aware that the labels on these popular snacks may
be misleading.
ConsumerLab.com
conducted a study of 34 nutrition bars and found that the labels
on ALL of them were inaccurate. One product, for example, contained
33% more carbohydrates than what was listed. . The manufacturer
got away with this by listing ingredients like glycerin and
sugar alcohol separately, instead of as carbs (which they are).
So
read the labels carefully. And if you don't like what you see,
reach for a piece of fruit instead.
-
Virginia Thomas
[Ed.
Note: Virginia Thomas is a certified Pilates instructor, professional
personal fitness trainer, and licensed massage therapist, currently
working from Delray Beach, Florida. She will be conducting massage,
yoga sessions, stretching, and relaxation exercises at this
year's Wealth
Building Bootcamp in October.]
WISDOM
The Why and How of Good Manners
Good
manners are created by trial and error, by noting which actions
lead to resentment and/or reprisals and which to warm feelings
and good wishes.
For example, it is bad manners to cut into a line. And anyone
who cuts into a line is - at least for the moment - a bad person.
You are a bad person for cutting into a line because you are
doing something that if imitated by everyone would result in
the end of the very sensible and useful function of lines.
And in most civilized countries, we want and use lines.
Yet, cutting in line is not - or was not - an accepted cultural
standard in Chad during the 1970s. I know, because I was there.
If you wanted to withdraw money from your bank account, you
had to push your way into a crowd that had massed in front of
the bank teller's window. By jostling and shoving, you'd eventually
make your way to the teller. But if you merely waited in what
you thought was a line, you'd wait all day.
So, while some manners are universal and absolute (see Word
to the Wise, below), some are local and relative. And though
I don't believe in absolute manners, I do believe absolutely
in manners.
-
Michael Masterson
TODAY'S
ACTION PLAN
Give
yourself this Good Manners test. How strongly do you identify
with the following comments:
1.
"If I'm in a rush, I don't have any trouble
cutting into a line."
2.
"I see nothing wrong with farting or belching
at the dinner table."
3.
"Forks and knives - chopsticks too - are merely tools
to assist nature's finest cutlery: the fingers."
4.
"It's such a bother to get out of the car and
go up to the doorbell. I'd rather just honk the horn till
she looks out."
5.
"If my spouse can't wait an extra half-hour while I change
my outfit for the 16th time, screw him and his insensitivity."
6.
"A good way to get a bartender's attention is to shout,
'Yo!'"
7.
"When you are introduced to someone who couldn't possibly
do you any good, it's a good idea to give them the coldest
shoulder possible."
How did you do? How many of these comments do you completely
agree with?
If you scored a perfect "7," you are an amazingly
interesting person. If you scored between "3" and
"7," you may not know it but almost nobody that you
like likes you. If you scored low on this test (less than one,
for example), you don't need any advice from us about good manners.
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TODAY'S
MESSAGE
The
Proof Is in the Promotion - or Should Be
by
Bob Bly
Nowhere
do some marketers think less like consumers than when it comes
to proving the claims they make in their promotions. And to
the reader, an outrageous claim that is not backed by one single
iota of proof sticks out like a sore thumb.
For
instance, I was writing a sales letter to sell subscriptions
to a magazine covering the defense industry. When I asked the
subscription manager what made their product different, she
said:
"We
aren't usually the first to report on a story. Since we are
a monthly, TV, newspapers, and the Internet all beat us to the
punch. But we analyze and interpret the news so our readers
can make better decisions based on what the facts really mean."
"That's
fascinating," I replied, scribbling eagerly. "Can
you give me an example?"
Her
reply: dead silence.
Imagine.
The USP (unique selling proposition) of this publication was
that it analyzed military events accurately and in great depth,
so people in the defense industry could use their interpretations
of the facts to make better strategic decisions.
And
no one at the publication could give me a single example to
prove it!
Finally,
I did get a story from them ... just one story ... and it was
a beauty.
One
of their editors had analyzed a photo that had been published
in the newspapers, and was able to correctly identify the model
of an enemy tank in the picture - something the newspapers had
gotten wrong.
Why
did this matter? Turns out, it was an inferior model. The editor
explained: "By knowing that a 'cheap' tank had been deployed,
we knew the enemy did not consider that to be a strategically
important area ... or else they would have deployed premium
tanks there. The enemy's strategy was revealed, and our readers
could plan accordingly."
Can
you imagine claiming that you could help a general plan a victory
in battle ... or help people get better jobs ... or help companies
reduce their insurance costs ... without producing even one
good story or example to prove it?
Sounds
absurd, but dozens of promotions do just that. Often, these
promotions have no proof for their major claim because the marketer
never bothered to collect it.
If
you're going to aggressively market your product through the
mail or online, collecting such proof from satisfied customers
should be your #1 priority.
It's
easy to do:
First,
identify the claim that you want to prove or demonstrate. For
example: "XYZ is the only product that does [Benefit] for
[Audience] by [Method]."
Then,
send a simple letter or form to your customers. Ask them:
"Has
our product [XYZ] ever helped you achieve [Benefit] by [Method]?
We are looking for success stories from customers like you.
If you have a success story to share with us, please summarize
it below and send this form back to us. If we use your story
in our marketing, you will receive a [NAME OF GIFT]."
Offer
a nice gift in the $50 to $100 price range to anyone whose story
you use. This will be sufficient to motivate people to take
the time to think about your product and relay the story of
how it helped them.
Do
this until you have, ideally, 12 really good stories you can
use. Then use them as follows:
1.
In an ad, lead-generating letter, or e-mail, you can build
your copy around a single compelling story.
2.
In a traditional direct-mail package with a multi-page
letter, pack your letter with proof. Tell three of the stories
in detail, and three to six more in summary.
3.
Reprint all of them as a single page of testimonials
that you post on your website or include when you mail your
sales literature.
The
bottom line: The more thoroughly you demonstrate how your product
delivers a particular benefit in a unique fashion - and prove
that it has done so through user success stories - the more
effective your marketing will be.
[Ed.
Note: Bob Bly is the editor of Direct Marketing Masters Edition, ETR's program to help you start
your own successful direct-mail business.]
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MOTIVATION
Make
Your Goals Specific
Whatever
your dreams or aspirations, you've got to transform
your general desires into specific objectives if you're
going to have any chance to make them happen. In "The
Success Principles", author Jack
Canfield shows how to do it:
-
Instead of "I want a new oceanfront house,"
say "I'll own a 4,000 sq. ft. house in Malibu
by April 30, 2007."
-
Instead of "I'm desperate to lose some weight,"
say "I'll weigh 185 lbs. by 5 p.m. Jan. 1,
2006."
-
Instead of "I need to treat my employees better,"
say "I will acknowledge at least six employees
for their contributions to the department by 5 p.m.
this Friday."
That's
the way to turn vague ideas into real achievements.
- Charlie Byrne
WORD
TO THE WISE
Something
that is "absolute" (AB-suh-loot)
is not to be doubted or questioned. The word comes from the
Latin "absolutus" ("unrestricted").
Example
(as I used it in today's Wisdom brief): "While some manners
are universal and absolute, some are local and relative."
