Holiday Fun Fact: Baby New Year
The New Year is often personified as a baby wearing a diaper and a top hat — but there’s nothing new about it. Using a baby as a symbol of rebirth has its roots in ancient Greece and Egypt.
READ MOREHow to Become Wealthier in the Next Year by Creating a Second Income
I have a suggestion for your 2010 wealth goal: To create a second stream of income by starting your own business. This is not the only way to get rich, but it is — far and away — the most reliable way. It’s also the way that most wealthy people…
READ MOREWho Are You?
When someone asks, “What do you do for a living?” there is only one correct answer. It’s not “I have a business.” A business is something you own; not something you do. The correct answer is to declare loudly and proudly… “I’m a marketer! My specialty is attracting new customers……
READ MOREYou Don’t Need to Be a Creative Genius
You don’t need to be a marketing genius to have a successful entrepreneurial business. You can get by very well by identifying marketing genius in someone else and leveraging it. I had lunch recently with “John.” He owns and runs one of the most successful direct-marketing jewelry businesses in the…
READ MOREOur Own Worst Enemies
Consumers — yes, that means you and me — know what we want. More choices! May we have more sizes, colors, and flavors? And could you add soy milk, skip the cinnamon, then top it off with ice cubes… to go, please? And that’s just to get a cup of…
READ MOREIs Your Product Trapped in “Commodity Hell?”
I shaved this morning thinking about “commodity hell.” That’s when a market for a product is so crowded that every version of it is practically the same. Interchangeable with the competition. And the only way to give yourself an advantage is to slash prices until the pain of profit loss…
READ MOREDeception Works… Like Drugs
In your eagerness to get more customers, you may one day be tempted to make promises and claims that are deceptive or misleading. Resist the temptation. Why? Not because it won’t work. I can tell you from experience that hype and deception do work. At least they do at first.…
READ MOREIs Your Company Growing Too Fast?
By their very nature, growing companies tend to change direction frequently. This is especially true of information-publishing companies whose success depends on quickly developing new ideas. When your business is growing fast, it is easy to ignore the inevitable chaos that ensues, thinking that cash flow will take care of…
READ MOREThe Simple Letter That Launched a Nine-Figure Business
The year is 1979. And entrepreneur Bill Bonner sits down to write a simple sales letter for a new publication he’s ready to launch. Bonner’s letter starts like this: “You look out your window, past your gardener, who is busily pruning the lemon, cherry, and fig trees… amidst the splendor…
READ MOREWould You Like to Be My Partner?
I’d like to make you a business offer. Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can’t turn me down, as you’ll come to understand in a moment… Here’s the deal. You’re going to start a business or expand the one you’ve got now. It doesn’t really matter…
READ MOREClayton and “the Coroner”
As The Redhead and I were chatting with some new friends between sessions at the Early to Rise Bootcamp, a big guy approached our little group. To other attendees, his tattoos, piercings, the skull on the front of his black tee — and the large yellow letters reading “CORONER” on…
READ MORE“Planting Seeds” in Someone’s Mind Pays Off — Sometimes Big Time
Want to get someone to do something he doesn’t want to do? It’s amazingly easy. All you have to do is plant a seed and wait for it to sprout. This is a phenomenally powerful business secret I learned from JSN when I worked with him many years ago. He…
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