Could You Be the Next Direct-Response Millionaire?

“Forget the lottery. Bet on yourself instead.” – – Brian Koslow

Not long ago, eight lucky co-workers at a meat-packing plant in Nebraska came forward to claim the highest-ever winnings in the Powerball Lottery … a staggering $368 million. Three of the eight were immigrants who had came to America to make a better life – and, boy, did they ever! They’ll each take home a healthy $15.5 million after Uncle Sugar takes his cut. And I say “Good for them!”

Have you ever thought about what you’d do with that kind of money? Sure you have.

The freedom it would bring … the choices it would give you … the adventures you could have. Unfortunately, lottery odds are something like 175 million to one.

But, hold on just a minute. This doesn’t have to be a fantasy!

The truth is, there are more ways to get rich today than you can possibly imagine. And you don’t have to accept near-impossible lottery odds to do it.

Every time you turn on the TV and see an infomercial that you’ve seen many times before … every time you see a direct-mail package or e-mail promotion for the umpteenth time … every time you open a favorite magazine and see an ad you can almost recite from memory …

… you’re watching someone get rich by using direct-response marketing.

It’s happening all around us. Scores of folks are raking in hundreds of millions of dollars through the Internet, direct mail, print ads, TV and radio. And they’re living lives that, right now, you can only dream about.

A few years ago, Jay “The Juiceman” Kordich visited me in Florida. Over lunch, he told me that he’d sold more than $120 million worth of his juicers in a single year.

120 MILLION bucks just for promoting a contraption that turns carrots into carrot juice!

A few years ago, I heard a story about a poor inner-city family that inspired me …

Nobody in this family was even close to being qualified to be an entrepreneur. There wasn’t a single business school graduate in the bunch. All they had was a passel of kids, precious little closet space, and a little ingenuity.

To make more room in their closets, Mom simply connected three coat hangers with twine, and instantly TRIPLED her family’s closet capacity!

Realizing a nifty idea when they saw one, they found a manufacturer, and then ran a small ad in their local paper. Before long, they had a national infomercial – and sold more than $100 million worth of Mom’s brainstorm in a single year! Suddenly, that family wasn’t poor anymore.

Do you have what it takes to become a direct-response millionaire?

Take this simple, five-question test and see …

1. Do you believe you’re worthy?

I’m amazed by the number of folks who are convinced that they don’t deserve anything better in life … that success is for “other people,” not them.

Do you believe you’re worthy? Do you believe with all your heart that it’s only a matter of time before you hit the big time and your entrepreneurial brilliance is revealed?

If you say, “Yes! I DESERVE to be just as successful as those guys on TV” – and you believe it with all your heart – congratulations: You’ve taken the first step toward making it happen!

2. Do you have a dream?

I’m talking about a dream that so excites and motivates you that you’re willing to invest the energy and the time necessary to make it a reality.

Not just the dream of building a successful business … but a healthy obsession with all the rewards that come along with success: the prestige … money … freedom … and rewarding life experiences that considerable wealth can bring.

If the thought of these things keeps you up at night … if you envision yourself enjoying them … if your heart skips a beat when you imagine your accomplishments …

… and if you’re absolutely convinced that your obsession is powerful enough to keep you going when things get tough – there’s an excellent chance you have what it takes!

3. Are you willing to learn what it takes to succeed?

Every successful entrepreneur I’ve ever known shared one standout trait: They were eager to learn new things.

Are you willing to recognize what you don’t know – and eager to do the legwork necessary to fill in the gaps?

Unless you can afford top people, you’re going to have to learn how to create a business and marketing plan … how to select the best media for promoting your product … how to write an effective sales message … how to best process and deliver orders. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The great news is that the Internet gives you hundreds of ways to learn all this and more. If learning as you grow your business excites you, you just may have what it takes!

4. Are you willing to take a risk?

Sure, it takes money to make money. But you don’t have to have a million to make a million.

Getting started promoting a product on the Internet costs very little. You can get a professional website designed for a few thousand bucks – or, you can learn to do it yourself. And you can learn how to drive prospects to your website online too.

If you prefer, you can use eBay as your marketing department … or test local newspaper ads, cable TV, or even radio. However you do it, you’re going to have to invest – and risk – some time and money to get started.

How does that make you feel? Completely terrified? If so: Do NOT give up your day job!

But if your heart races at the thought of risking a few hundred or even thousand bucks to make tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, the odds of becoming an Internet millionaire are strongly in your favor!

One more question …

5. Are you willing to be patient and persistent?

A few years ago, I spent a day at Bill Guthy’s home in California. Bill and his partner, Greg Renker, are the geniuses behind Guthy-Renker – the world’s most successful infomercial company.

But they weren’t always rich and successful. They started out as poor college students, trying to figure out what to do with an idea for a cassette-tape duplicating machine that one of them inherited.

First, they produced a series of “how-to” tapes and advertised them locally. They were so successful that they started advertising on TV nationwide. And today, they sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stuff on TV every year. But they wouldn’t have a dime if they hadn’t made that decision to take a risk those many years ago.

Direct-response marketing is the BEST when it comes to starting small. You invest a couple of thousand dollars to run an ad. You plow 100 percent of your profits into running two ads … then four ads. And pretty soon, your paltry investment is generating hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.

Are you willing to invest that kind of time? If you are, I’m betting that you have what it takes!

So … how did you do?

If you answered “YES” to all five questions, maybe you should rethink your day job … or at least augment it!