A Great Opportunity
Since agreeing to write a book on getting wealthy I’ve been thinking about how I – and the wealthy people I know – made their money. I’ve come up with four ways: · Saving more · Increasing your acumen · Investing in real estate · Creating a second stream of…
How to Increase Responses
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” – Mark Twain Experienced direct marketers know this — even though businesspeople who are not direct marketers find it hard to believe: The way you state your offer can make…
Turn Your Favorite Pasttime Into a Moneymaking Venture
“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.” – Reggie Leach What’s your favorite thing? Golfing? Gardening? Poetry? Sports? It doesn’t make any difference what it is, there is a way to make a living from it — maybe even a very good living.…
Understanding What Makes Your Customers Tick
“‘Cherry-ripe, ripe, ripe,’ I cry, / ‘Full and fair ones; come and buy’” – Robert Herrick Conventional marketing wisdom says that people buy most products and services for emotional reasons — and that the emotions that most motivate buying are greed and fear. If you can figure out how to…
12 Business Basics I Learned From a Start-Up Company
“The process of learning requires not only hearing and applying but also forgetting and then remembering again.” – John Gray As a favor to an old friend, I’ve begun working with his start-up company. It’s low-tech — and funding comes mostly from a whopping home mortgage and several shaken-down relatives.…
3 Things You Must Know About Mailing Lists Before You Do Direct Mail
“Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes.” – James A. Froude A common mistake made by novice direct marketers is to create a promotion and then, almost as an afterthought, look for a list to mail it to. They have it backward. The right way to do direct…
How Well Are Your Customers Being Treated?
“A thousand things advance; nine hundred and ninety-nine retreat: That is progress.” – Henri Frederic Amiel As a general rule, customer service today stinks. Little businesses tend to be sloppy and forgetful. Big businesses and organizations are even worse. They seem to have policies specifically designed to infuriate you. Trying…
The Myth of the Limited Market
A request I received this morning reminded me of a little-understood but immensely important principle of advertising. I call it the “infinite-universe” principle. If you know this principle and apply it to your business, you can make a lot more money and avoid a lot of needless bickering. The particular…
What New Freelancers Can Learn From Tiger Woods
“Gather in your resources, rally all your faculties, marshal all your energies, focus all your capacities upon mastery of at least one field of endeavor.” – John Haggai Remember when Tiger Woods won his first Masters Tournament? A lot of people figured he won simply because of his outstanding talent.…
Six Myths About How to Manage People
“I have come to the conclusion that my subjective account of my motivation is largely mythical on almost all occasions. I don’t know why I do things.” – J.D.S. Haldane There are six major myths about the “people dimension” of management — all of which ignore the “it-all-depends” aspect of…
The Magic of a Dollar
“You can stroke people with words.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald It’s common knowledge that the word “free” is the most powerful word in the sales-and-marketing lexicon — and that the free offer is almost always irresistible. But experienced marketers know that, at times, charging a dollar can be more effective…
Two Things You Must Do to Make Sure Your Good Business Doesn’t Fall Apart
One of the first things I did upon taking on AP as a client, many years ago, was to revamp the customer-service department. Employing models of other customer-service systems I’d established in the past, I replaced most of the staff with better-educated, more articulate, and more conscientious workers … I…