Your Million-Dollar Business May Be Closer Than You Think
TG tells me he has accepted a job selling water-purification systems. He will visit homes bearing gifts — turkeys around Thanksgiving, Easter baskets in April, etc. — and demonstrate the wonders of water filtration. “I figure I can close two presentations a week. At a thou a close, I can…
READ MOREThe Wealth Machine
Dear ETR reader, There are numerous benefits of owning your own business… · Being financially free · Reduced stress · Getting rid of your boss · Working from next to your new pool · Having more control over your life · Doing something you care about These things are very…
READ MORECreate Change Safely
“When you are right, you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.” – Martin Luther King Jr. For years, Kimberly-Clark had made nice, steady profits selling paper wholesale. But when Darwin Smith took over as CEO, he believed the future was in consumer paper…
READ MORE12 Insider Secrets to Successful Interviews
Any article (or sales letter) that you write must have its fair share of facts. And that’s where interviews come in. So, today, let’s talk about how to conduct a really productive interview. Secret No. 1: Ask questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. Though a “yes”…
READ MOREProfessional Consulting
Did you know you can take your own expertise… and turn it into a lucrative and flexible career? You give advice. People pay for it. Handsomely. I’m talking about the business of professional consulting. According to the American Consultants League, consultants typically make $50,000 a year, even those that work…
READ MORESecret Ways to Close a Sales Pitch
“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.” – Henry B. Stendhal Have you ever bought a car from a dealer? If so, you’ve probably been hit with every one of the sales techniques cited below and then some. Likewise, if…
READ MOREAn Honest Way to Make a Buck
“Honesty is the best image.” – Tom Wilson (in his “Ziggy” cartoon strip) Legendary adman James Webb Young, who started selling fruit by mail around the same time that Harry & David did, tells the story of an apple-growing season that nearly ruined him. Violent hailstorms bombarded his apple trees…
READ MORE10 Reasons You Should Write a Book
“Believe one who has proved it. Believe an expert.” – Virgil (“The Aeneid”) When Internet marketing was becoming popular, Bob Bly, a specialist in writing direct mail and the editor of ETR’s Mailbox Millionaire program, worried that his lack of experience in this new field could harm his freelance copywriting…
READ MOREDon’t Waste Your Money on “Name Recognition”
“There is nothing worse than a sharp image of fuzzy concept.” – Ansel Adams Smart people do dumb things . . . and so do successful companies. Of all the foolish mistakes businesses make, the two that I see most often involve marketing. They are: 1. failing to develop and…
READ MOREUnderstanding Motives is Central to Successful Leadership
“When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.” – Dolly Parton People who are emotionally engaged in their work perform at higher levels than those who aren’t. When we bring emotional energy to our work, we increase commitment, creativity, productivity,…
READ MOREA Fundraising Tip that Can Help Direct-Mail Promotions
“Funny how the new things are the old things.” – Rudyard Kipling When I first got into direct marketing, I took a course in direct-mail copywriting with legendary copywriter Milt Pierce at New York University. One day, a student asked, “Professor Pierce, why is it that as soon as I…
READ MOREWhen to Kill Off a Business Idea
“What man knows is everywhere at war with what he wants.” – Joseph Wood Krutch Most people will spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars trying to keep a favorite business baby breathing. Yet studies say (and my experience confirms) that it’s almost never a good idea. After the…
READ MORE