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REVEALED:
The Internet Marketing Secrets of a Multi-Million Dollar Online
Powerhouse.
This
is an urgent message regarding a very important teleconference.
If you have an Internet-based business, or if you have ever
thought about making money online, you will not want to miss
this call.
One of the world's most successful direct marketing companies
recently announced that they will reveal the secrets of their
online success. They are planning to provide a select group
of people with a literal blueprint for achieving wealth and
success online. This company has used these strategies and
techniques to generate over $250 million in online sales.
http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/700SFTC/W700F535
WEALTH
Take
Advantage of "Picture-Perfect" Weather
Even
if you don't think you'll be selling your house in the next
year, you never know. Unforeseen things DO happen. Just in case...
now is a great time to take some exterior photos.
Springtime
shots featuring flower garden beds, freshly mowed lawns, and
just-watered landscaping will be much more appealing than dreary
winter shots, should you decide to sell when it's cold and gray.
-
Charlie Byrne
HEALTH
Cut Your Exercise Time in Half... and Get Better Results
In
his most recent book, "The
Doctor's Heart Cure", Dr. Al Sears outlines
a formula you can use to get the greatest cardiovascular benefits
from your favorite exercise regimen. The formula has been trademarked
as PACE - Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion.
"Progressively"
means that you do a little more this week than you did last
week. But it doesn't necessarily mean that you should work out
longer. As Dr. Sears says:
"In
the belief they are building a stronger heart, many people increase
the duration of their exercise as they become more capable of
exercising longer. But think about it! Your heart already has
the ultimate endurance challenge - it must beat all the time,
even when you're sleeping. Instead of working longer, strive
to condition your heart to pump more blood faster and harder
for a short period of time."
In
other words, when you accomplish the same amount of work in
increasingly shorter periods of time, you will automatically
dial up your intensity. At the same time, you'll be decreasing
the amount of time you spend exercising.
-
Jon Herring
WISDOM
Bjorn
Borg on Persistence
"My
greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match.
However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches
shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable
defeats into victories."
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TODAY'S
MESSAGE
The
Ultimate Secret to Achieving Outrageous Success in Any Business
by
Bob Bly
Most
people, when they go into a business, think that if they are
good at what they do, they will be successful. For instance,
a photographer believes that all he has to do is take good pictures...
and he will have more business than he can handle.
Unfortunately,
it usually doesn't work out that way at all.
There
are legions of small-business owners, especially in service
industries, who are technically competent or even excellent
at their professions... yet make a modest living, at best. That's
because they don't know the ultimate secret to achieving outrageous
success in any business, which is this:
Those who make the most money in any profession or service
business - from accountants and ad agencies to window
washers and Web designers - are those who are the best
at marketing and selling themselves... not at performing
the actual function or service.
|
Doctors,
attorneys, and other professionals have traditionally held the
opposite point of view. They criticize competitors who advertise,
saying, "If your service is any good, you wouldn't have
to promote it with such hype."
Nice
to think so, but naive.
Problem
is, there are too many options for any product or service that
a customer might be interested in buying. So if you want him
to choose yours, you have to get your message to him. He's not
going to go looking for you.
How
do you get your message across to him? Through a simple 4-step
process that I teach for continually selling and promoting yourself
and your small business.
Over
the years, I've shared this process with dozens of copywriters,
graphic designers, consultants, and people in many other service
professions. Those who apply it consistently enjoy a number
of benefits, including increased income, elimination of slow
periods, greater cash flow, and enhanced prestige and status
within their market or industry.
Here's
the process in a nutshell:
1.
Find out what makes you different from all your competitors.
If there is no difference, work to create one. This difference,
your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), is what enables you
to convince prospects to hire you instead of your competition.
2.
Engage in reputation-building activities that boost your visibility
and credibility among your target market - and establish you
as an expert in your field. By this, I mean things like writing
articles, giving speeches, having your own website, and publishing
your own e-newsletter.
3.
Create a "lead machine" that uses tested
lead-generating promotions (e.g., space ads, sales letters,
postcards) to bring you a steady stream of qualified leads.
The idea is to keep your new-business pipeline filled to overflowing.
To do this, you need a "lead machine" that can generate
a minimum of one or two qualified leads for every 100 names
you contact.
4.
Run prospects that flow from your new-business pipeline through
a "funnel" in which, through follow up, you gradually
convert 10% to 50% of them from inquiries into orders - and
then into repeat customers.
Over
the past year, I have fine-tuned this 4-step process and it
is now available as a simple program that I call "Selling
Yourself."
Although
"Selling Yourself" was originally designed for freelance
copywriters, all of the self-promotion secrets in this system
can work - and have worked - for dozens of other kinds of self-employed
professionals.
- Carla
J. followed these steps and, within the first year, reached
goals that she had set for year three of her business.
- David
W. said that the process I teach "would have taken
years to learn on my own, not to mention the tens of thousands
of dollars my mistakes would have cost me."
- Steve
S. wrote to say that this program helped him attract more
and better clients - and earn higher fees. (He already makes
well over $100K annually.)
- Victor
E. says he's actually afraid to keep promoting himself.
"I've landed so much work I may not be able to do it
all."
Anyone
who sells a professional, creative, or trade service can significantly
boost their business by using the self-promotion steps that
this program teaches.
It's
certainly possible to "do it yourself" and be very
successful. But if you want a much higher chance of getting
ahead, please check Today's Action Plan, below, for the details
of my upcoming personal workshop. (Only 5 spots are still available,
so if you're interested, you need to sign up quickly.)
[Ed.
Note: Bob Bly is the editor of ETR's
Direct Marketing University: The Masters Edition
- a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail
business.]
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I
Used to Be Ashamed of What My Wife Was Doing for a Living...
But
everything changed after she started her own "microbusiness".
Microbusinesses can give you immediate income -- not
a fortune, but a solid, extra cash stream -- plus, they
can be accumulated, one after the other, so that one
day they may be worth more than everything else you
have put together.
Learn
how to launch your own microbusiness for less than $100:
http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/700SPLMB/W700E688
TODAY'S
ACTION PLAN
On
June 10-12, 2005 in Miami Beach, Florida, Agora Learning Institute
and the American Writers & Artists Institute will be holding
a weekend workshop - hosted by Bob Bly - on "Selling Yourself."
In
just 2 1/2 days, you can master this proven, field-tested process
for marketing and self-promotion that can help you fill your
client roster with prestigious accounts, generate more work
than you can handle, and enable you to earn $100,000 a year
or more as a self-employed professional or independent service
provider.
For
more information on the "Selling Yourself" workshop
(only 5 seats are still available), call Barb or Scott at 866-879-2924
or click
here now.
BUSINESS
SKILLS
Write Better E-mails
BB,
a hugely successful businessman and great essay writer, does
a miserable job writing e-mails.
A
typical e-mail from BB includes an indecipherable subject line
(e.g., "jk tht badly re pp deal"), an incomprehensible
first line (e.g., "I completely agree"), and then,
often, an extended length of back conversation that only a patient
cryptographer could get through.
If
BB is reading this, he'll benefit from the following good advice
from Steve Robbins, writing for Working Knowledge.
1.
Write a good subject line.
A
good subject line succinctly (see "Word to the Wise,"
below) makes your most important point. Example: "Recommended
we ship product April 25." Specificity is key to writing
a good subject line. Get as many critical details as you can
in the small space required. A great e-mail message can be understood
and acted upon just based on a perfect subject line.
2.
Set the context in the beginning of the message.
Don't
write "I agree" as BB does and then leave it up to
the reader to figure out what you agree with (by sorting through
a trail of attached conversation). Better to summarize the context
yourself first - in a single sentence, if possible - and then
give a terse, helpful response.
3.
When you have copied various people on the e-mail, indicate
what action, if any, you would like each to take.
Robbins
recommends practicing these three rules for a few months before
recommending them to others.
(Source:
Briefings)
-
Michael Masterson
WORD
TO THE WISE
Something
that is "succinct" (suk-SINGKT) is
clearly and precisely expressed in few words. It is derived
from the Latin "succingere" ("to gird from below").
Example
(as I used it in "Write Better E-Mails," above): "A
good [e-mail] subject line succinctly makes your most important
point."
