By: Bo Sanchez
I’m Now In A Remote Island…
July is my birthday and wedding anniversary month.
So what am I doing now?
I’m in a faraway island, together with family and friends.
Picture me: I’m lying on a hammock, reading a fat book, sipping a tall glass of mango juice (complete with a tiny umbrella on top). While being fanned by a love slave in a bikini.
Who happens to be my gorgeous wife. (What were you thinking?)
Oh I love the sun, the food, the sand, the food, the sea, the food… And what else… Let me see… Uh, did I mention the food?
Actually, what make vacations fantastic are the people I take them with. Right now, I’m with the most phenomenal human beings in the world—my family and my friends.
I’m surrounded by love!
I have a confession to make. I skewed a little detail in the picture I gave you above.
It was my wife who was actually lying on the hammock, sipping mango juice with a little umbrella on top. And I was the love slave standing beside her, fanning. (But this secret is just between you and me. Shhhhhh.)
But You Need More Than Love
I wish I could tell you that you only need love to be happy.
But many times, you need a little money too.
Here’s the harsh reality: Taking a vacation with the people you love is expensive. There are plane fares (no matter how discounted they are). Resorts. Tours. And Food.
Yes, I’m spending a thick wad of cash to make this vacation possible.
But honestly, I’m happy spending. Why? I thank God that my little businesses and investments are doing so well, they’re churning out cash everyday. They’re like little printing machines that chug out many P1000 bills every hour, every day.
Believe me, I wasn’t in this financial position before.
Once upon a time, I couldn’t take vacations with my family. Goodness, I couldn’t take a vacation, period. Even if it was in the neighborhood park.
I was so poor, I didn’t even have enough money for a haircut. My hair got so long, people complained that it was unbecoming of a Preacher. They only kept quiet when I told them that Jesus, and all the heavyweights of the Bible, had long hair.
I was so poor, I didn’t even have bus money. So I walked everywhere. I comforted myself by saying that Jesus walked everywhere too.
How did I become financially blessed?
I want to teach you how.
Here’s the key: Do not to look for money. Look for wisdom.
Before I continue, let me tell you a story. This will reveal to you the mindset you need to create abundance in your life.
Imagine…
One morning, an Angel appears in front of you.
And the Angel says, “I’ll give you a gift. You have a choice.” The Angel hands over a scroll to you.
With trembling fingers, you open it. On the parchment, you read the following text…
Please Choose One Gift
Gift 1: Ten million pesos will appear on your lap right now.
Or…
Gift 2: You’ll learn how to earn money. On the first two years, you earn nothing. Zero. But on your third year of learning, you earn P100,000. After that, your profit increases by 20% every year.
Now tell me, what would you choose?
Believe me, it’s so tempting to choose Gift 1.
Because you can buy whatever you want.
P10M is so much more than P100,000.
But don’t be deceived.
Gift 1 is cold cash. Nothing else.
Gift 2 is wisdom, character growth, skill development, increased self-esteem, strong relationships, and yes, money too. (Let’s do the Math: If you chose Gift 2, thirty years later, you’ll be earning P23M a year. Not a bad choice, right?)
Gift 1 (P10M) can disappear in a few years. Not only that, but money without wisdom is toxic. It can kill people and break-up families.
Gift 2 will last your entire lifetime.
Always Choose Wisdom More Than Money
I’d like to personally invite you to join me for my How To Be Truly Rich Seminar on August 6. I’m positive it will change your financial life.
Why? Because through my Seminar, you’ll gain wisdom. Money is fleeting. Wisdom will stay with you forever.
Change your finances this 2011 by increasing your financial wisdom.
Join me on August 6.
For more information, click on at the link below.
Tell me more about the How To Be Truly Rich Seminar
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
PS. Here’s my belief: A shift in your understanding will cause a major shift in your financial life. That’s what will happen when you attend my How To Be Truly Rich Seminar. To join, click the link Truly Rich Club
PS2. Sorry, but I don’t usually give this Seminar anywhere else. But if you’re living outside Manila or the Philippines, there’s a solution. I’m personally inviting you to become an exclusive Gold Member of the TrulyRichClub—and I’ll send my seminar to you online. For more information, log on at www.TrulyRichClub.com now.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Success or Failure: The Choice Is Yours
By Rich Schefren
In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger devised a thought experiment known today as "Schrödinger's Cat."
Schrödinger asks us to imagine a cat inside a box. The box also holds a mechanism that could - but might not - kill the cat. The box is constructed in such a way that no one can see the cat. Likewise, there's no way to know if the deadly mechanism has detonated.
Because there's no way to determine whether the cat has been killed, it is equally possible that the cat is alive or dead. In a sense, the cat is simultaneously alive AND dead.
Only when the box is opened will we know for sure what has become of the cat.
In some ways, your dream of a fulfilling, successful life is like that cat.
Sounds like a stretch, doesn't it? Well bear with me for a minute...
You see, every day, you make dozens of choices. What you do, how you act, what you read, who you talk to, what you eat for breakfast, how you treat your prospects and customers, what you say to your team... and on and on.
Everything you do or don't do every day either moves you toward success or away from it.
But the thing is, it's likely that you don't know which direction you're heading in. I call this the Delay Between Cause and Effect. Most of the small, seemingly insignificant choices we make each day don't result in immediate feedback. There's a delay. So, whether you make the right choice or the wrong choice doesn't make a noticeable difference immediately.
That's why - like Schrödinger's Cat - your dreams are both alive AND dead at the same time. It won't be until some point in the future when you "open the box" that you'll discover whether you've achieved the success you dream of... or need to start from scratch.
As I said before, in some ways, your dreams are like Schrödinger's cat. But in other ways, they are completely different.
For instance, your dreams are not dependent on a random mechanism inside a sealed box. You can take specific actions to help ensure that you achieve the success you long for. You can direct your destiny.
You Can Choose Success with Every Action You Take
It may seem to you that today is much like yesterday. It isn't. It is different. Every day is.
Appearances are almost always deceiving. In life, you never stay in the same place.
Which means that today you are either closer to your goals or you are further away. Period. The delay between cause and effect is always there, working behind the scenes. And right now it's either helping you or hurting you.
Now, let's apply this daily reality to your entire life: Right now, the journey of your life is following one of two paths. One path curves upward toward success, the other curves downward toward failure. The best way I've ever seen this reality described is with the following diagram...
Notice, there are no straight lines. Every entrepreneur's life and business is either improving or declining. You're either curving upward or downward.
So, the question is: Which way are you headed?
Not sure? Perhaps in the middle, you say? Sorry.
There is no middle. You are either going up or going down.
The early part of both curves is fairly flat, so it can certainly look like you're moving along on a nice, even keel, heading neither up nor down. But appearances are deceiving until it's too late.
Often times it's easier to figure out where you stand by looking at the subcategories of your life. In other words, look at which path you are on in each important area of your life and business.
On a personal level:
- Your relationships are either improving - growing deeper and richer... or degrading... growing more stale and distant...
- Your health is either building day by day, or it's ebbing away slowly...
- You're either getting smarter - more knowledgeable, more skilled, and more capable - or you're getting dumber...
- Your finances are either improving - taking you closer to security and financial freedom - or the days and/or the dollars are slipping away, driving you closer to dependence and the poor-house...
On a business level:
- You either know your prospects' mindset better - their beliefs, frustrations, and dreams - or you're more out of touch with the people who have final authority on whether or not your business dreams come true...
- Your products and services are either improving or they're falling behind your competitors...
- Your marketing is either getting better - getting more customers to spend more money more often - or your competitors are receiving a greater share of their wallet...
- Your overall business is either growing - getting all the necessary conditions in place - or it's simply getting closer to going out of business because you're sacrificing the essential to chase the non-essential...
This is too important to simply know and understand the concept. So let's take a moment to get very honest with yourself. Check the box that corresponds to the curve each area of your life and business is on right now. Which ones are on the success curve and which ones are on the failure curve?
How's that for a wake-up call?
If you are honest with yourself, I'm sure you realize you could be doing better. And that can be either good or bad news. It all depends on what you decide to do about it.
You see, if you decide this essay is really a wake-up call - that you can do better - and you decide to start doing things the right way immediately, then you are on the right path.
Make the right choices... Constantly strive to improve rather than decline... And you can ensure that when you "open the box," your dreams will be alive and well.
In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger devised a thought experiment known today as "Schrödinger's Cat."
Schrödinger asks us to imagine a cat inside a box. The box also holds a mechanism that could - but might not - kill the cat. The box is constructed in such a way that no one can see the cat. Likewise, there's no way to know if the deadly mechanism has detonated.
Because there's no way to determine whether the cat has been killed, it is equally possible that the cat is alive or dead. In a sense, the cat is simultaneously alive AND dead.
Only when the box is opened will we know for sure what has become of the cat.
In some ways, your dream of a fulfilling, successful life is like that cat.
Sounds like a stretch, doesn't it? Well bear with me for a minute...
You see, every day, you make dozens of choices. What you do, how you act, what you read, who you talk to, what you eat for breakfast, how you treat your prospects and customers, what you say to your team... and on and on.
Everything you do or don't do every day either moves you toward success or away from it.
But the thing is, it's likely that you don't know which direction you're heading in. I call this the Delay Between Cause and Effect. Most of the small, seemingly insignificant choices we make each day don't result in immediate feedback. There's a delay. So, whether you make the right choice or the wrong choice doesn't make a noticeable difference immediately.
That's why - like Schrödinger's Cat - your dreams are both alive AND dead at the same time. It won't be until some point in the future when you "open the box" that you'll discover whether you've achieved the success you dream of... or need to start from scratch.
As I said before, in some ways, your dreams are like Schrödinger's cat. But in other ways, they are completely different.
For instance, your dreams are not dependent on a random mechanism inside a sealed box. You can take specific actions to help ensure that you achieve the success you long for. You can direct your destiny.
You Can Choose Success with Every Action You Take
It may seem to you that today is much like yesterday. It isn't. It is different. Every day is.
Appearances are almost always deceiving. In life, you never stay in the same place.
Which means that today you are either closer to your goals or you are further away. Period. The delay between cause and effect is always there, working behind the scenes. And right now it's either helping you or hurting you.
Now, let's apply this daily reality to your entire life: Right now, the journey of your life is following one of two paths. One path curves upward toward success, the other curves downward toward failure. The best way I've ever seen this reality described is with the following diagram...
Notice, there are no straight lines. Every entrepreneur's life and business is either improving or declining. You're either curving upward or downward.
So, the question is: Which way are you headed?
Not sure? Perhaps in the middle, you say? Sorry.
There is no middle. You are either going up or going down.
The early part of both curves is fairly flat, so it can certainly look like you're moving along on a nice, even keel, heading neither up nor down. But appearances are deceiving until it's too late.
Often times it's easier to figure out where you stand by looking at the subcategories of your life. In other words, look at which path you are on in each important area of your life and business.
On a personal level:
- Your relationships are either improving - growing deeper and richer... or degrading... growing more stale and distant...
- Your health is either building day by day, or it's ebbing away slowly...
- You're either getting smarter - more knowledgeable, more skilled, and more capable - or you're getting dumber...
- Your finances are either improving - taking you closer to security and financial freedom - or the days and/or the dollars are slipping away, driving you closer to dependence and the poor-house...
On a business level:
- You either know your prospects' mindset better - their beliefs, frustrations, and dreams - or you're more out of touch with the people who have final authority on whether or not your business dreams come true...
- Your products and services are either improving or they're falling behind your competitors...
- Your marketing is either getting better - getting more customers to spend more money more often - or your competitors are receiving a greater share of their wallet...
- Your overall business is either growing - getting all the necessary conditions in place - or it's simply getting closer to going out of business because you're sacrificing the essential to chase the non-essential...
This is too important to simply know and understand the concept. So let's take a moment to get very honest with yourself. Check the box that corresponds to the curve each area of your life and business is on right now. Which ones are on the success curve and which ones are on the failure curve?
How's that for a wake-up call?
If you are honest with yourself, I'm sure you realize you could be doing better. And that can be either good or bad news. It all depends on what you decide to do about it.
You see, if you decide this essay is really a wake-up call - that you can do better - and you decide to start doing things the right way immediately, then you are on the right path.
Make the right choices... Constantly strive to improve rather than decline... And you can ensure that when you "open the box," your dreams will be alive and well.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
10 Things You Don't Know About Working From Home
1. You'll suddenly realize that housewives are totally busy people -with hardly any breaks.
2. You'll be challenged not to work because your cute baby is staring at you, saying "play!".
3. You'll be asked constantly, "What do you want to eat today" by your spouse.
4. If you're not careful, that DVD collection will be your #1 distraction from work.
5. You don't remember when was the last time you took a bath/shaved.
6. You're suddenly more interested in nice looking shorts and pajamas in the mall.
7. Your cellphone isn't getting much use unlike before.
8. When you walk to the neighborhood park, pool, all you see are yayas and their wards.
9. When it rains, you're happy you're indoors and won't be going anywhere!
10. In the hot months, you're happy that you can afford an aircon for your room!
-Jomarhilario.com
So there it is --the honest good and bad. Find out how you can work from your nice bahay --even if you're already abroad: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1265497
Nilo M. Sarmiento
P.S. Don't worry, this is no s-c-*a-m. I know the guy. Read and judge for yourself: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3980510
2. You'll be challenged not to work because your cute baby is staring at you, saying "play!".
3. You'll be asked constantly, "What do you want to eat today" by your spouse.
4. If you're not careful, that DVD collection will be your #1 distraction from work.
5. You don't remember when was the last time you took a bath/shaved.
6. You're suddenly more interested in nice looking shorts and pajamas in the mall.
7. Your cellphone isn't getting much use unlike before.
8. When you walk to the neighborhood park, pool, all you see are yayas and their wards.
9. When it rains, you're happy you're indoors and won't be going anywhere!
10. In the hot months, you're happy that you can afford an aircon for your room!
-Jomarhilario.com
So there it is --the honest good and bad. Find out how you can work from your nice bahay --even if you're already abroad: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1265497
Nilo M. Sarmiento
P.S. Don't worry, this is no s-c-*a-m. I know the guy. Read and judge for yourself: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3980510
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
How to Give "All" Your Advertising And Marketing a HUGE B-O-O-S-T in Response
By Bill Glazer
Before I became a coach & consultant to small business owners, sales professionals and internet marketers, I was running the family owned menswear business when a disaster struck.
To be honest, it could have been a disaster. Instead, it was an OUTRAGEOUS success.
Here's what happened. I came into the store one morning and discovered a sprinkler had malfunctioned and we had three inches of water in the store. I called the insurance company and made a quick settlement and then I realized I had a lot of merchandise but most of it wasn't really damaged. Yet I had to liquidate it... F-A-S-T!!!
So I wrote an advertisement and I put in all the facts.
Imagine that. I was so OUTRAGEOUS that I used facts!
The facts were these: I had a sprinkler malfunction, I made a quick settlement and now I needed to sell merchandise... fast! I put the name of the insurance company and the policy number and other settlement information in the ad so that readers would understand this was real.
I also presented the ad as an advertorial - meaning it was designed to look like an actual newspaper story (see below). Thus, surrounded by real news, the ad looked like real news. So not only was I presenting the facts; I was presenting them as news. News you, the reader, needed to know.
I had a great sale but here is the truly OUTRAGEOUS part. The insurance adjustor who handled my case saw my ad and wanted to know why I didn't put his name in there. So I ran another ad telling the story of my insurance guy and the best part is - he paid for the ad!
Yes, that's O-U-T-R-A-G-E-O-U-S!
Here's an interesting fact about the Sprinkler Malfunction story and why I used an advertorial. I used an advertorial because they are read three times more often than other types of ads.
But why is that?
That's the beauty of OUTRAGEOUS Advertising. You don't need to know why. You only need to know that it works. These are not guesses I am presenting you. These are proven OUTRAGEOUS techniques that work.
Why do they work?
It works because people notice OUTRAGEOUS things.
Why do it? Because everything else is boring, and there is a lot of it out there. Each day, you may think you see 20, 30, maybe 40 advertising and marketing messages - but the truth is that each person each day is exposed to about 3,700 marketing and sales messages. Thus, your job, as an advertiser, is to stand out among that clutter. Yes, each person sees 3,700 or so marketing and sales messages every single day. Most, we don't even notice because they are boring.
Cutting through that clutter and boredom is not easy - unless, of course, you are OUTRAGEOUS.
The Gage Menswear Sprinkler
Malfunction OUTRAGEOUS Ad
Stand Out or Get Thrown Out!
The competition for attention is intense. As a consumer, you know that, and you know what gets your attention.
Facts are hard to ignore and the facts are these:
- People are bored
- People are overwhelmed
- People like to be amused
You can be like everybody else and be treated like everybody else. Or you can be OUTRAGEOUS.
Think about the biggest day for advertisers in America - the Super Bowl. What happens? People watch the biggest football game of the year, and they watch the commercials. Why is everyone interested in the commercials? Because they are OUTRAGEOUS, and people love OUTRAGEOUS advertising!
The best part is...you can be OUTRAGEOUS without spending Super Bowl money. People will love you and you'll earn super money!
7 Steps to Apply OUTRAGEOUS Advertising in Your Business and Your Life
Step #1: Understanding that everything you do to advertise and market your business can be OUTRAGEOUS. In fact, I've found that OUTRAGEOUS Advertising works in every media there is from Offline to Online. It doesn't matter!
Step #2: Understanding that you are NOT your customer: Whenever I deliver a seminar on OUTRAGEOUS Advertising there is always somebody who approaches me after I finish speaking with..."Bill, I love your kind of advertising, but it won't work in my business because my customers or clients, or patients, or prospects are too sophisticated for that kind of advertising."
While I seldom get into a heated discussion over it, they are typically dead wrong. They're wrong for the same reasons that I mentioned earlier in this article. Their customers, like everybody else's customers, are bored and overwhelmed with the advertising they see and generally like to be amused.
Step #3: Train your brain to look for ideas in "obvious" places. In chapter '4' in my book, OUTRAGEOUS Advertising that's Outrageously Successful, I show the "now" somewhat famous Diner Placement mailer that I created for my Menswear stores. This idea came to me when I was sitting in a Diner having dinner with my wife.
The truth is you can receive inspiration for your OUTRAGEOUS Advertising in just about anything that you encounter in your everyday life if you train yourself to constantly be on the lookout for it.
Step #4: Train your brain to look for ideas in "unobvious" places. I thought of ideas for creating OUTRAGEOUS Advertising while I was riding a Donkey in Santorini, Greece and riding on a Camel in the Negev Desert in Israel.
The important point is that you can get inspiration for OUTRAGEOUS Advertising ideas anywhere and everywhere if you are constantly thinking of how you can use them.
Step #5: EVERYTHING can be OUTRAGEOUS including YOU! Throughout my book you'll see example after example of how people position their businesses OUTRAGEOUSLY, position their products and services OUTRAGEOUSLY, and position themselves OUTRAGEOUSLY.
The point is, don't limit your thinking about OUTRAGEOUS Advertising. Once again it can be anything and anyone.
Step #6: S & D: This is a concept that is so powerful that I wrote an entire Chapter (Chapter 10) in my book about it titled: Swiping Ideas and Deploying Them Into your Business. The important thing is that even if you don't consider yourself creative or you can't find ideas to apply OUTRAGEOUS Advertising as I suggest in Steps #3 & #4 above, you can S & D (Swipe and Deploy) them from others.
Step #7: Discover that OUTRAGEOUS Advertising is FUN! This is one of the biggest bonuses to applying OUTRAGEOUS Advertising. You'll find out very shortly after you apply it that not only will your customer love it, but you'll find it to be the one thing that you do in your business that you'll enjoy doing more than anything else (with the possible exception of making the extra income that the OUTRAGEOUS Advertising brings to you.)
This was true in my retail menswear stores and it's still true in my Glazer-Kennedy Insider's Circle marketing company. Sure my customers and now Members are always looking forward to the next piece of OUTRAGEOUS Advertising that comes from me, but I really find it fun to think of or discover the next one that I create.
Now don't get me wrong. My menswear stores were hugely successful as my marketing company is today, but I no longer think of the how much money I make. I just know that by applying OUTRAGEOUS Advertising that's OUTRAGEOUSLY Successful, the money will come and I have a great time figuring out how to attract it.
Before I became a coach & consultant to small business owners, sales professionals and internet marketers, I was running the family owned menswear business when a disaster struck.
To be honest, it could have been a disaster. Instead, it was an OUTRAGEOUS success.
Here's what happened. I came into the store one morning and discovered a sprinkler had malfunctioned and we had three inches of water in the store. I called the insurance company and made a quick settlement and then I realized I had a lot of merchandise but most of it wasn't really damaged. Yet I had to liquidate it... F-A-S-T!!!
So I wrote an advertisement and I put in all the facts.
Imagine that. I was so OUTRAGEOUS that I used facts!
The facts were these: I had a sprinkler malfunction, I made a quick settlement and now I needed to sell merchandise... fast! I put the name of the insurance company and the policy number and other settlement information in the ad so that readers would understand this was real.
I also presented the ad as an advertorial - meaning it was designed to look like an actual newspaper story (see below). Thus, surrounded by real news, the ad looked like real news. So not only was I presenting the facts; I was presenting them as news. News you, the reader, needed to know.
I had a great sale but here is the truly OUTRAGEOUS part. The insurance adjustor who handled my case saw my ad and wanted to know why I didn't put his name in there. So I ran another ad telling the story of my insurance guy and the best part is - he paid for the ad!
Yes, that's O-U-T-R-A-G-E-O-U-S!
Here's an interesting fact about the Sprinkler Malfunction story and why I used an advertorial. I used an advertorial because they are read three times more often than other types of ads.
But why is that?
That's the beauty of OUTRAGEOUS Advertising. You don't need to know why. You only need to know that it works. These are not guesses I am presenting you. These are proven OUTRAGEOUS techniques that work.
Why do they work?
It works because people notice OUTRAGEOUS things.
Why do it? Because everything else is boring, and there is a lot of it out there. Each day, you may think you see 20, 30, maybe 40 advertising and marketing messages - but the truth is that each person each day is exposed to about 3,700 marketing and sales messages. Thus, your job, as an advertiser, is to stand out among that clutter. Yes, each person sees 3,700 or so marketing and sales messages every single day. Most, we don't even notice because they are boring.
Cutting through that clutter and boredom is not easy - unless, of course, you are OUTRAGEOUS.
The Gage Menswear Sprinkler
Malfunction OUTRAGEOUS Ad
Stand Out or Get Thrown Out!
The competition for attention is intense. As a consumer, you know that, and you know what gets your attention.
Facts are hard to ignore and the facts are these:
- People are bored
- People are overwhelmed
- People like to be amused
You can be like everybody else and be treated like everybody else. Or you can be OUTRAGEOUS.
Think about the biggest day for advertisers in America - the Super Bowl. What happens? People watch the biggest football game of the year, and they watch the commercials. Why is everyone interested in the commercials? Because they are OUTRAGEOUS, and people love OUTRAGEOUS advertising!
The best part is...you can be OUTRAGEOUS without spending Super Bowl money. People will love you and you'll earn super money!
7 Steps to Apply OUTRAGEOUS Advertising in Your Business and Your Life
Step #1: Understanding that everything you do to advertise and market your business can be OUTRAGEOUS. In fact, I've found that OUTRAGEOUS Advertising works in every media there is from Offline to Online. It doesn't matter!
Step #2: Understanding that you are NOT your customer: Whenever I deliver a seminar on OUTRAGEOUS Advertising there is always somebody who approaches me after I finish speaking with..."Bill, I love your kind of advertising, but it won't work in my business because my customers or clients, or patients, or prospects are too sophisticated for that kind of advertising."
While I seldom get into a heated discussion over it, they are typically dead wrong. They're wrong for the same reasons that I mentioned earlier in this article. Their customers, like everybody else's customers, are bored and overwhelmed with the advertising they see and generally like to be amused.
Step #3: Train your brain to look for ideas in "obvious" places. In chapter '4' in my book, OUTRAGEOUS Advertising that's Outrageously Successful, I show the "now" somewhat famous Diner Placement mailer that I created for my Menswear stores. This idea came to me when I was sitting in a Diner having dinner with my wife.
The truth is you can receive inspiration for your OUTRAGEOUS Advertising in just about anything that you encounter in your everyday life if you train yourself to constantly be on the lookout for it.
Step #4: Train your brain to look for ideas in "unobvious" places. I thought of ideas for creating OUTRAGEOUS Advertising while I was riding a Donkey in Santorini, Greece and riding on a Camel in the Negev Desert in Israel.
The important point is that you can get inspiration for OUTRAGEOUS Advertising ideas anywhere and everywhere if you are constantly thinking of how you can use them.
Step #5: EVERYTHING can be OUTRAGEOUS including YOU! Throughout my book you'll see example after example of how people position their businesses OUTRAGEOUSLY, position their products and services OUTRAGEOUSLY, and position themselves OUTRAGEOUSLY.
The point is, don't limit your thinking about OUTRAGEOUS Advertising. Once again it can be anything and anyone.
Step #6: S & D: This is a concept that is so powerful that I wrote an entire Chapter (Chapter 10) in my book about it titled: Swiping Ideas and Deploying Them Into your Business. The important thing is that even if you don't consider yourself creative or you can't find ideas to apply OUTRAGEOUS Advertising as I suggest in Steps #3 & #4 above, you can S & D (Swipe and Deploy) them from others.
Step #7: Discover that OUTRAGEOUS Advertising is FUN! This is one of the biggest bonuses to applying OUTRAGEOUS Advertising. You'll find out very shortly after you apply it that not only will your customer love it, but you'll find it to be the one thing that you do in your business that you'll enjoy doing more than anything else (with the possible exception of making the extra income that the OUTRAGEOUS Advertising brings to you.)
This was true in my retail menswear stores and it's still true in my Glazer-Kennedy Insider's Circle marketing company. Sure my customers and now Members are always looking forward to the next piece of OUTRAGEOUS Advertising that comes from me, but I really find it fun to think of or discover the next one that I create.
Now don't get me wrong. My menswear stores were hugely successful as my marketing company is today, but I no longer think of the how much money I make. I just know that by applying OUTRAGEOUS Advertising that's OUTRAGEOUSLY Successful, the money will come and I have a great time figuring out how to attract it.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
How to Make 2011 Your Best Year Yet
By Rich Schefren
The very best way to make 2011 the best it can be is to leverage your past experience.
In other words, you simply must take a long, hard look at what happened in 2010.
I figured out years ago that doing an honest analysis of my previous mistakes and accomplishments is the best way to continually improve my company and my own performance.
Let's all face a cold, hard fact of life: no matter how good or bad your results, you can always do better.
Yet the single biggest key to improving both performance and results is ignored by almost everybody. If you want to be at the top of your game, you absolutely must learn from what has already happened. Unfortunately, most people either can't or don't want to use their missteps and achievements as learning experiences. And they end up becoming stagnant... or repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
I am going to share with you how I leverage all my experiences into greater levels of success. Follow my lead, and you can make 2011 your very best year (so far).
All you need to do is answer five questions. If you're serious about your success, you should do this today! Ready, set, go...
Question 1: What were your greatest accomplishments in 2010?
Even if 2010 was the worst year of your life, odds are, if you look hard enough, there's something somewhere to be proud of. If 2010 was a great year for you, that makes answering this question even easier.
After you've listed all your accomplishments, go back to them. This time through, identify several takeaways for each one - what you learned from or were reminded of by it.
Question 2: What were your biggest disappointments in 2010?
Practically every company and individual resists analyzing their mistakes.
That's a shame, because this is where the best learning comes from.
No matter how well everything is going, we all make mistakes. The trick here is to examine what preceded them, what you could have done differently, and how you can prevent making the same mistakes in the future. Even though 2010 was the best year of my life (so far), I still had my share of disappointments, both personally and professionally. (Don't worry, I won't bore you with the details!)
As you did with your accomplishments in 2010, list your biggest disappointments - and then identify several takeaways for each one.
Question 3: How did you limit yourself last year, and how can you remove those limits in 2011?
Were there certain actions you took or didn't take that came back to haunt you? You need to bring these self-defeating actions to the surface, shine light on them, and, most important, determine what you must do differently to make sure you don't limit yourself the same way all over again. Here are just a few of mine...
* Not reviewing my goals daily
* Not sticking to a daily sleep schedule
* Hoping things would work out well in situations where my gut told me not to
Once again, make a list and identify the takeaways. For example, one of the self-defeating actions on my list was not reviewing my goals on a daily basis (even though I know better). When I don't review my goals daily, I get sucked into what's currently happening and distracted from what's most important. That caused me to miss the mark on a few goals I had set for myself in 2010. The takeaway: I'm determined not to make the same mistake in 2011.
Question 4: What did you learn from your answers to the first three questions?
This is where it gets interesting. Remember, the purpose of this exercise is not simply to know yourself and your business better... but actually to use what you learn to make certain that 2011 trumps 2010.
What are your main takeaways from the first three questions? What do you now know about yourself or your business that you didn't realize or weren't thinking about before? Here are two random nuggets from my complete list of 62...
* Creating products, programs, and free material to help entrepreneurs and their businesses grow consistently gives me my greatest feeling of accomplishment. Therefore, I need to spend time daily on creating these materials and not let the fast growth of our business pull me too far away from what I do best.
* For Strategic Profits to positively impact even more small-business owners, we have to religiously stick to our schedule of introducing new front-end products. We cannot allow ourselves to deviate from the schedule, no matter how well things are going, because client acquisition is the lifeblood of any business.
You should shoot for as many takeaways as possible, because it's here that the rubber meets the road. It's these takeaways that'll practically guarantee that 2011 will be the best year of your life.
Of course, it's not enough to just make your list (although that, by itself, will get you part way there). You still need to take this information and USE IT!
And that's where our final question comes in...
Question 5: How can you use this information to make 2011 your best year yet?
The idea is to take everything that surfaced in your answer to Question 4 and build it in to your schedule, your interactions, your management style, and so on. For example, I've already scheduled on my calendar two hours a day of content creation and 10 minutes every morning to review my goals. Plus, I've slotted a weekly 20-minute appointment with myself to surface and then analyze whatever concerns I have.
There are lots more on my list - but you get the point. And besides, what's important here is not what I am going to do to make 2011 great for me... it's what YOU are going to do to make 2011 great for YOU.
The very best way to make 2011 the best it can be is to leverage your past experience.
In other words, you simply must take a long, hard look at what happened in 2010.
I figured out years ago that doing an honest analysis of my previous mistakes and accomplishments is the best way to continually improve my company and my own performance.
Let's all face a cold, hard fact of life: no matter how good or bad your results, you can always do better.
Yet the single biggest key to improving both performance and results is ignored by almost everybody. If you want to be at the top of your game, you absolutely must learn from what has already happened. Unfortunately, most people either can't or don't want to use their missteps and achievements as learning experiences. And they end up becoming stagnant... or repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
I am going to share with you how I leverage all my experiences into greater levels of success. Follow my lead, and you can make 2011 your very best year (so far).
All you need to do is answer five questions. If you're serious about your success, you should do this today! Ready, set, go...
Question 1: What were your greatest accomplishments in 2010?
Even if 2010 was the worst year of your life, odds are, if you look hard enough, there's something somewhere to be proud of. If 2010 was a great year for you, that makes answering this question even easier.
After you've listed all your accomplishments, go back to them. This time through, identify several takeaways for each one - what you learned from or were reminded of by it.
Question 2: What were your biggest disappointments in 2010?
Practically every company and individual resists analyzing their mistakes.
That's a shame, because this is where the best learning comes from.
No matter how well everything is going, we all make mistakes. The trick here is to examine what preceded them, what you could have done differently, and how you can prevent making the same mistakes in the future. Even though 2010 was the best year of my life (so far), I still had my share of disappointments, both personally and professionally. (Don't worry, I won't bore you with the details!)
As you did with your accomplishments in 2010, list your biggest disappointments - and then identify several takeaways for each one.
Question 3: How did you limit yourself last year, and how can you remove those limits in 2011?
Were there certain actions you took or didn't take that came back to haunt you? You need to bring these self-defeating actions to the surface, shine light on them, and, most important, determine what you must do differently to make sure you don't limit yourself the same way all over again. Here are just a few of mine...
* Not reviewing my goals daily
* Not sticking to a daily sleep schedule
* Hoping things would work out well in situations where my gut told me not to
Once again, make a list and identify the takeaways. For example, one of the self-defeating actions on my list was not reviewing my goals on a daily basis (even though I know better). When I don't review my goals daily, I get sucked into what's currently happening and distracted from what's most important. That caused me to miss the mark on a few goals I had set for myself in 2010. The takeaway: I'm determined not to make the same mistake in 2011.
Question 4: What did you learn from your answers to the first three questions?
This is where it gets interesting. Remember, the purpose of this exercise is not simply to know yourself and your business better... but actually to use what you learn to make certain that 2011 trumps 2010.
What are your main takeaways from the first three questions? What do you now know about yourself or your business that you didn't realize or weren't thinking about before? Here are two random nuggets from my complete list of 62...
* Creating products, programs, and free material to help entrepreneurs and their businesses grow consistently gives me my greatest feeling of accomplishment. Therefore, I need to spend time daily on creating these materials and not let the fast growth of our business pull me too far away from what I do best.
* For Strategic Profits to positively impact even more small-business owners, we have to religiously stick to our schedule of introducing new front-end products. We cannot allow ourselves to deviate from the schedule, no matter how well things are going, because client acquisition is the lifeblood of any business.
You should shoot for as many takeaways as possible, because it's here that the rubber meets the road. It's these takeaways that'll practically guarantee that 2011 will be the best year of your life.
Of course, it's not enough to just make your list (although that, by itself, will get you part way there). You still need to take this information and USE IT!
And that's where our final question comes in...
Question 5: How can you use this information to make 2011 your best year yet?
The idea is to take everything that surfaced in your answer to Question 4 and build it in to your schedule, your interactions, your management style, and so on. For example, I've already scheduled on my calendar two hours a day of content creation and 10 minutes every morning to review my goals. Plus, I've slotted a weekly 20-minute appointment with myself to surface and then analyze whatever concerns I have.
There are lots more on my list - but you get the point. And besides, what's important here is not what I am going to do to make 2011 great for me... it's what YOU are going to do to make 2011 great for YOU.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Top 10 Reasons Small Businesses Fail
By:
JAY GOLTZ, On Wednesday January 5, 2011, 2:05 pm EST
One of the least understood aspects of entrepreneurship is why small businesses fail, and there's a simple reason for the confusion: Most of the evidence comes from the entrepreneurs themselves.
I have had a close-up view of numerous business failures -- including a few start-ups of my own. And from my observation, the reasons for failure cited by the owners are frequently off-point, which kind of makes sense when you think about it. If the owners really knew what they were doing wrong, they might have been able to fix the problem. Often, it's simply a matter of denial or of not knowing what you don't know.
In many cases, the customers -- or, I should say, ex-customers -- have a better understanding than the owners of what wasn't working. The usual suspects that the owners tend to blame are the bank, the government, or the idiot partner. Rarely does the owner's finger point at the owner. Of course, there are cases where something out of the owner's control has gone terribly wrong, but I have found those instances to be in the minority. What follows -- based on my own experiences and observations -- are my top 10 reasons small businesses fail. The list is not pretty, it is not simple, and it does not contain any of those usual suspects (although they might come in at Nos. 11, 12 and 13).
1. The math just doesn't work. There is not enough demand for the product or service at a price that will produce a profit for the company. This, for example, would include a start-up trying to compete against Best Buy and its economies of scale.
2. Owners who cannot get out of their own way. They may be stubborn, risk adverse, conflict adverse -- meaning they need to be liked by everyone (even employees and vendors who can't do their jobs). They may be perfectionist, greedy, self-righteous, paranoid, indignant, or insecure. You get the idea. Sometimes, you can even tell these owners the problem, and they will recognize that you are right -- but continue to make the same mistakes over and over.
3. Out-of-control growth. This one might be the saddest of all reasons for failure -- a successful business that is ruined by over-expansion. This would include moving into markets that are not as profitable, experiencing growing pains that damage the business, or borrowing too much money in an attempt to keep growth at a particular rate. Sometimes less is more.
4. Poor accounting. You cannot be in control of a business if you don't know what is going on. With bad numbers, or no numbers, a company is flying blind, and it happens all of the time. Why? For one thing, it is a common -- and disastrous -- misconception that an outside accounting firm hired primarily to do the taxes will keep watch over the business. In reality, that is the job of the chief financial officer, one of the many hats an entrepreneur has to wear until a real one is hired.
5. Lack of a cash cushion. If we have learned anything from this recession (I know it's "over" but my customers don't seem to have gotten the memo), it's that business is cyclical and that bad things can and will happen over time -- the loss of an important customer or critical employee, the arrival of a new competitor, the filing of a lawsuit. These things can all stress the finances of a company. If that company is already out of cash (and borrowing potential), it may not be able to recover.
6. Operational mediocrity. I have never met a business owner who described his or her operation as mediocre. But we can't all be above average. Repeat and referral business is critical for most businesses, as is some degree of marketing (depending on the business).
7. Operational inefficiencies. Paying too much for rent, labor, and materials. Now more than ever, the lean companies are at an advantage. Not having the tenacity or stomach to negotiate terms that are reflective of today's economy may leave a company uncompetitive.
8. Dysfunctional management. Lack of focus, vision, planning, standards and everything else that goes into good management. Throw fighting partners or unhappy relatives into the mix, and you have a disaster.
9. The lack of a succession plan. We're talking nepotism, power struggles, significant players being replaced by people who are in over their heads -- all reasons many family businesses do not make it to the next generation.
10. A declining market. Book stores, music stores, printing businesses and many others are dealing with changes in technology, consumer demand, and competition from huge companies with more buying power and advertising dollars.
In life, you may have forgiving friends and relatives, but entrepreneurship is rarely forgiving. Eventually, everything shows up in the soup. If people don't like the soup, employees stop working for you, and customers stop doing business with you. And that is why businesses fail.
Jay Goltz owns five small businesses in Chicago.
JAY GOLTZ, On Wednesday January 5, 2011, 2:05 pm EST
One of the least understood aspects of entrepreneurship is why small businesses fail, and there's a simple reason for the confusion: Most of the evidence comes from the entrepreneurs themselves.
I have had a close-up view of numerous business failures -- including a few start-ups of my own. And from my observation, the reasons for failure cited by the owners are frequently off-point, which kind of makes sense when you think about it. If the owners really knew what they were doing wrong, they might have been able to fix the problem. Often, it's simply a matter of denial or of not knowing what you don't know.
In many cases, the customers -- or, I should say, ex-customers -- have a better understanding than the owners of what wasn't working. The usual suspects that the owners tend to blame are the bank, the government, or the idiot partner. Rarely does the owner's finger point at the owner. Of course, there are cases where something out of the owner's control has gone terribly wrong, but I have found those instances to be in the minority. What follows -- based on my own experiences and observations -- are my top 10 reasons small businesses fail. The list is not pretty, it is not simple, and it does not contain any of those usual suspects (although they might come in at Nos. 11, 12 and 13).
1. The math just doesn't work. There is not enough demand for the product or service at a price that will produce a profit for the company. This, for example, would include a start-up trying to compete against Best Buy and its economies of scale.
2. Owners who cannot get out of their own way. They may be stubborn, risk adverse, conflict adverse -- meaning they need to be liked by everyone (even employees and vendors who can't do their jobs). They may be perfectionist, greedy, self-righteous, paranoid, indignant, or insecure. You get the idea. Sometimes, you can even tell these owners the problem, and they will recognize that you are right -- but continue to make the same mistakes over and over.
3. Out-of-control growth. This one might be the saddest of all reasons for failure -- a successful business that is ruined by over-expansion. This would include moving into markets that are not as profitable, experiencing growing pains that damage the business, or borrowing too much money in an attempt to keep growth at a particular rate. Sometimes less is more.
4. Poor accounting. You cannot be in control of a business if you don't know what is going on. With bad numbers, or no numbers, a company is flying blind, and it happens all of the time. Why? For one thing, it is a common -- and disastrous -- misconception that an outside accounting firm hired primarily to do the taxes will keep watch over the business. In reality, that is the job of the chief financial officer, one of the many hats an entrepreneur has to wear until a real one is hired.
5. Lack of a cash cushion. If we have learned anything from this recession (I know it's "over" but my customers don't seem to have gotten the memo), it's that business is cyclical and that bad things can and will happen over time -- the loss of an important customer or critical employee, the arrival of a new competitor, the filing of a lawsuit. These things can all stress the finances of a company. If that company is already out of cash (and borrowing potential), it may not be able to recover.
6. Operational mediocrity. I have never met a business owner who described his or her operation as mediocre. But we can't all be above average. Repeat and referral business is critical for most businesses, as is some degree of marketing (depending on the business).
7. Operational inefficiencies. Paying too much for rent, labor, and materials. Now more than ever, the lean companies are at an advantage. Not having the tenacity or stomach to negotiate terms that are reflective of today's economy may leave a company uncompetitive.
8. Dysfunctional management. Lack of focus, vision, planning, standards and everything else that goes into good management. Throw fighting partners or unhappy relatives into the mix, and you have a disaster.
9. The lack of a succession plan. We're talking nepotism, power struggles, significant players being replaced by people who are in over their heads -- all reasons many family businesses do not make it to the next generation.
10. A declining market. Book stores, music stores, printing businesses and many others are dealing with changes in technology, consumer demand, and competition from huge companies with more buying power and advertising dollars.
In life, you may have forgiving friends and relatives, but entrepreneurship is rarely forgiving. Eventually, everything shows up in the soup. If people don't like the soup, employees stop working for you, and customers stop doing business with you. And that is why businesses fail.
Jay Goltz owns five small businesses in Chicago.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Top 5 Streams of Income in 2011
By Ronald Cagape
What money-making opportunities will 2011 bring you? Obviously, not everyone is going to make money in real estate so let’s take a look at other opportunities to create multiple streams of income in 2011.
#1 Real Estate.
Obviously Real Estate will top my list. There are increasing opportunities to make money in real estate. If you bought pre-selling condominiums you have the option to lease it or flip it to an end-buyer for a big bundle of cash.
There are still more condominium projects in the pipeline from top developers so there are also opportunities to make money as a broker or agent.
For the bold, there is opportunity for rehabbing, renovating and reselling properties. Beware, though, you don’t want to be stuck with a property when the property market goes on a downturn.
#2 Paper.
According to my online stockbroker, the Philippine stock market is on a bullish cycle. This means, the market is on a confirmed up-trend so there are opportunities for buying and selling of stocks. The PSEi is projected to rise to 5200 from the current level of 4000 – a projected 30% increase.
#3 Travel & Tourism.
Even with the Pilipinas Kay Ganda fiasco, travel & tourism will boom in 2011. Leading the charge is the Underground River in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, voted as a finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The boom in this industry will provide more opportunities for Tour Guides, Travel Agents and Travel Writers.
#4 Business Process Outsourcing.
The recent global recession has forced companies to cut costs and keep staffs lean. What better way to reduce costs than to outsource various business process overseas? This trend will provide income opportunities to Virtual Assistants, Web Developers, Engineering Consultants and Graphic Designers among many others.
And don’t forget that the Philippines stands to receive the lion’s share of Call Center outsourcing after being named the top call center destination in the world.
#5 Internet Marketing.
Next to real estate, this is current favorite. As broadband penetration in the Philippines increases, the use of the internet (and mobile internet for that matter) is bound to increase and create many business opportunities. There’s so many ways to make money in internet marketing and I’m sure you can already notice the many seminars and courses to make money online.
Exercise caution though because many of these so-called gurus have not actually made online but they make money teaching other people how to make money.
This list is a mix of opportunities for earned, passive and portfolio income. Depending on where you are in your journey, there are many opportunities to make money in 2011.
Also, this is not a comprehensive list by any means so feel free to add your income picks for 2011 in the comments section below.
What money-making opportunities will 2011 bring you? Obviously, not everyone is going to make money in real estate so let’s take a look at other opportunities to create multiple streams of income in 2011.
#1 Real Estate.
Obviously Real Estate will top my list. There are increasing opportunities to make money in real estate. If you bought pre-selling condominiums you have the option to lease it or flip it to an end-buyer for a big bundle of cash.
There are still more condominium projects in the pipeline from top developers so there are also opportunities to make money as a broker or agent.
For the bold, there is opportunity for rehabbing, renovating and reselling properties. Beware, though, you don’t want to be stuck with a property when the property market goes on a downturn.
#2 Paper.
According to my online stockbroker, the Philippine stock market is on a bullish cycle. This means, the market is on a confirmed up-trend so there are opportunities for buying and selling of stocks. The PSEi is projected to rise to 5200 from the current level of 4000 – a projected 30% increase.
#3 Travel & Tourism.
Even with the Pilipinas Kay Ganda fiasco, travel & tourism will boom in 2011. Leading the charge is the Underground River in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, voted as a finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The boom in this industry will provide more opportunities for Tour Guides, Travel Agents and Travel Writers.
#4 Business Process Outsourcing.
The recent global recession has forced companies to cut costs and keep staffs lean. What better way to reduce costs than to outsource various business process overseas? This trend will provide income opportunities to Virtual Assistants, Web Developers, Engineering Consultants and Graphic Designers among many others.
And don’t forget that the Philippines stands to receive the lion’s share of Call Center outsourcing after being named the top call center destination in the world.
#5 Internet Marketing.
Next to real estate, this is current favorite. As broadband penetration in the Philippines increases, the use of the internet (and mobile internet for that matter) is bound to increase and create many business opportunities. There’s so many ways to make money in internet marketing and I’m sure you can already notice the many seminars and courses to make money online.
Exercise caution though because many of these so-called gurus have not actually made online but they make money teaching other people how to make money.
This list is a mix of opportunities for earned, passive and portfolio income. Depending on where you are in your journey, there are many opportunities to make money in 2011.
Also, this is not a comprehensive list by any means so feel free to add your income picks for 2011 in the comments section below.
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