As I’m watching the Olympic Games, I’m just absolutely amazed at the mental toughness that these athletes have.

Can you imagine preparing your entire life for this one moment.  As in most of these athletes cases it really all comes down to a moment.

Yesterday, Lolo Jones from United States, hits a hurdle with her leg in a 100m women’s hurdle.

The thing is that she was on track to be first and get the gold.  She finished first in U.S. Trials, and was clearly a contender for the medal.

As a result of this moment, a minor mistake of either not raising her leg to high, or starting the jump too soon, she finished 7th.

Or you watch these gymnasts who are seem like they’ve got springs in their feet, as they do triple somersaults and land on one leg on a beam, and all of a sudden they fall or a small balance check shaves points right off and the medal goes to someone else.

The thing is that every one of these athletes have superior ability.  Incredible strength and perseverance.

They’ve done their routine thousands and thousands of times.

They’ve visualized the successful accomplishment and the outcome, and one little nano-second can be the difference that gets them the gold or nothing.

And yet they gracefully get themselves up and keep going.  What’s more is that a lot of them push themselves harder to be back in 4 years and do even better.

Now you think about the world that we live in.  I mean the business world where we get to perform every single day.

It doesn’t come down to any one moment does it?

The Olympians have one shot at the gold.  We don’t.

Everyday you have the opportunity to go for the gold in your business.  Everyday we have choices we can make that can move us forward.

If you make a mistake, don’t get the deal, lose a client, your ad fails, or whatever…. so what?

What’s the worst that can happen?  Nothing?  So be it.  You pick yourself up and do it again, and again, and again.

There’s no trials to compete in.  There are no judges that deduct points whether fairly or unfairly.

There’s just a marketplace and they vote with their wallets.

For a long time I was quiet mediocre in sales.  But I’ve drilled this thought into my head.  “There are people out there.  Whether I do anything or not, they will buy financial products from someone.  So what do I have to do to get them to buy from me?”

And I held this thought for a long time, reminding myself of that every time something didn’t go my way.

It led me to believe that:

1.    It’s possible
2.    That I can do it.

It also led me to get better in sales, take courses, read books, excel in communication.  And I developed this almost cocky confidence that I’m good.  My belief level changed and so did my results.

How can you do the same?

Does your market have room for one more?  If you’ve been affected by the economy, look deep into your niche and be brutally honest with yourself.  Is it you or the marketplace.  Are there others who are doing great, and it’s something you can model, or do you need to go into a different niche?

Maybe that’s the answer.  The brilliance of marketing is not trying to create a need and force the market to conform to your wants and needs, but rather to tap into an existing one and get better at providing that.

And even if you make a mistake, and we all do, time and time again, as long as we have more wins than losses, than we too get to take home the gold.

And we don’t have to wait 4 years for that one shot.

Posted in Marketing | No Comments » | Tags: business success, Marketing, olympic games

Today I’d like to share with you something that I see missing in so many marketing campaigns.

If you’ve been trying to break into the internet marketing world, you probably get daily emails about new product launches.

It seems as though every day there’s a new “magic” pill that comes out that will flood your bank account with money without you having to lift a finger.

And a lot of these marketers have carefully crafted their sales messages to make them so compelling that it’s hard to resist.

But there’s one thing that I see missing in most, not all, but most of these campaigns.

I guess, I was lucky that I’ve spent over 10 years in direct selling before going online, because in that world you had to have it.

It’s also one of the reasons why I was able to develop a large client base in my old business, that still calls me today to do more business with me even though I haven’t done a damn thing to promote my other business in almost 3 years.

Would you like to know what it is?

It’s Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Copywriting, Information Marketing, Marketing, Videos | No Comments » | Tags: business success, Copywriting, Marketing, Sales, small business marketing

One of the questions that often comes up from people is – ‘how do I get started?’

It’s also one of the things I’ve noticed about a good majority of people who take courses, go to seminars and try to educate themselves in new areas.

They get all this knowledge but some fear inside of them keeps them from starting.

In training dozens of people in the financial services industry, I’ve seen the same thing happen.  They would attend all the trainings and learn everything about business, sales, and financial strategies, except most wouldn’t get started.

A few days ago I wrote a post about the #1 reason why people fail to get started.

You can read it here.

Today I’d like to share with you a follow up to that.

In one of the comments about my “dog” post, someone said that there needs to be a training program for people transitioning from a J-O-B to an entrepreneur.

It’s true that most people who take a shot at the free life of an entrepreneur, focus basically on the freedom without having a specific schedule of things to do.

Who can blame them?

After all, they’re used to the 9-5 mentality, of coming to work at a specific time, going to lunch and finishing also at a specific time.  They’re told what to do, from school through college, and then for 10, 20, 0r 30 years at their jobs.

Then one day they get the freedom of not having to show up anywhere and no one to report to.

And that’s just half of the problem.

The other half, is that all these years they’ve been told very specifically what to do, and now there’s no one to tell them what to do.

They have to CREATE work.  And this the biggest challenge of all.

Most people aren’t used to creating work, they’re used to processing it.  Even at a high level corporate positions.

Now you see, I was lucky.  I started on my own very early in life, and I didn’t develop this bad habit of processing work.

I knew I had to go create it.

So what’s the best way to get started and get yourself moving?

One of my mentors early on in my career, said something very profound that has been forever burned in my mind.

He said, “Where do you start?  Take Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Law of Attraction, Marketing | No Comments » | Tags: business success, Law of Attraction, Marketing, marketing secrets, time management

Here’s a very profound idea about marketing your business.

This one could make all the difference in your response and how people perceive you.

Before I share it with you, I assume you do want to grow your business and your bottom line, right?

Let me illustrate it for you out of my own file cabinet of experiences in sales.

In my previous life, I had to call a lot of prospects and set up appointments to go see them.

Now who likes getting a phone call at their home from a sales person. And then having that sales person come to their house and sit there trying to sell them something (even if it’s good for them and they need it).

So I had to always make it look like NOT a sales situation. Of course when I start talking to them about coming over and meeting with them to discuss their financial situation, they knew that it was going to be a sales call, BUT I always made it look like a very casual experience.

On the phone I would tell them that I’d like to pop by and share some ideas with them. Same ideas that I shared with their friends who thought that you would benefit tremendously by taking a look at it.

When I came over, I always dressed business casual, never a suite. That’s a big no, no. Someone in a suite with a briefcase, has SALESMAN written all over him.

I would talk to them about them and their kids. I’d ask them some questions about their goals and dreams, to make them very comfortable with me, and only then I would go into some of the details of what I do.

I would do everything in my power to make it look like I’m not there to sell them anything.

Let’s go back to your marketing.

Look at your marketing material, however you market. Whether it’s a sales letter, a website, or an ad in the paper.

Does it have SALESPERSON written all over it? Does it smell like someone trying to sell you something?

The minute they sense sales, they’re gone forever never to return again. And you’ve just wasted an opportunity to tell your story.

So look over your pieces, and see how can you make it stand out, and yet be inviting and non-threatening.

Don’t worry about making huge claims and big promises. Everyone does that. Be different and unique.

Make it look valuable.

Posted in Copywriting, Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments » | Tags: business success, Copywriting, Marketing, small business marketing

I’m spending the entire month of June in Florida with my family.

We were in the Universal Studios’ City Walk, as we decided to go to Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant.

I’ve never been to that restaurant, and since I’m a seafood lover, that’s a great place to visit.

The food was excellent, the service was really outstanding, at great prices too.

Dan, our waiter would stop by literally every 5 minutes or so, just to check up on us.

But here’s an interesting observation.

This guy was so smooth like no other waiter I’ve ever seen.

He started off with the usual, here’s our special of the day, and here are the drinks I recommend … Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Marketing, Sales | No Comments » | Tags: business success, Marketing, Sales

I’d like to pick up where I left off yesterday and get a little more specific about staying focused.

We talked about the power of your subconscious mind staying focused on the things you need to do by programming it with a specific objective you’re trying to reach.

Napoleon Hill called it your Major Definite Purpose, in “Think and Grow Rich”.

In the 2nd part of this post, I’d like to share with you what helps me stay even more focused.

There’s Pareto Principle of 80/20, that states that in life we get 80% of the results from 20% of the efforts.  It can be applied in other areas, like 80% of your sales come from 20% of the sales people.  Or 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers, and so forth.

As it relates to our topic, I’d like to point out, that we get 80% of productivity from the 20% of the activities that we do.

So to help stay focused on the specific things that you need to do, it’s good to also prioritize your activities.  I make a list of things that need to get done, and then circle the ones that I personally need to do and that are the most important.

In my case, it would be marketing and promotion.  The other things still need to get done, but they’re not as important, and also some could be delegated or outsourced for someone else to do.

It also helps to keep a list of things in front of you.  For example.  If you’re marketing with writing articles online as part of your strategy, then it’s good to keep a list of all these directories on top, in one place, so you don’t have to search for them, as it could get extremely time consuming.  Or if you’re doing social networking, and you have a bunch of sites you need to go to, you can do the same.

Copywriters also keep a swipe file of letters and ads near the top of their pile, so they can refer to it easily.

The point is, that whatever your most important activities are, get a little organized and keep everything in one place.

I know that it may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it’s a HUGE time saver and it also helps you stay focused on the project you’re doing, instead of focusing your energy on constantly looking for all the things you need.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas on what you do to stay focused.

Posted in Marketing | No Comments » | Tags: Marketing, marketing tools, small business marketing

I’m in the process of getting a new house now, and I was looking for window price online.

I did a Google search, and a bunch of typical sites came up.

But there was one that jumped at me.

Every other one said a bunch of stuff about windows, sizes, etc….  But there was one Google Adwords ad, that simply said – “Looking for New Windows?”

Now is that simple or what.  But guess what, made me click, because it was EXACTLY what I wanted.  I was looking for new windows.

Great ads, they pick up on the conversation the prospect has in their head.  This was the most perfect match to what I was looking for.

Most businesses would say, we have the cheapest, the best windows, we’ve been selling windows since 1955, the largest selection, and on, and on, and on …. Who cares?

Nobody cares about all this stuff.  The only thing a person cares about is what’s in it for him.

So when your prospects are looking for something, what are they looking for, and are you picking up on the conversation they’re having in their head?

Posted in Copywriting, Marketing | No Comments » | Tags: advertising, business success, Copywriting, Marketing, marketing tips, small business marketing

A big mistake most marketers and entrepreneurs make in their advertising is talking too much about the product or service they offer and NOT what it will do for their prospect.

Now I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times if you studied any sales or marketing courses or books, and that is, sell the benefits not features.

BUT that’s not the only thing I’m referring to.

I want you to recall one of the most fundamental rules in selling and marketing, and that is that people buy emotionally and NOT logically.

They make their decisions on emotion, and then justify it with logic.

Ok, so when you sell the benefits you are appealing to their emotions. Doing that you will probably be ahead of 90% of businesses out there.

But in this post I’d like to go a little deeper, and give you an advanced copywriting technique.

Are you ready?

Here it goes, Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Copywriting, Marketing | No Comments » | Tags: Copywriting, copywriting techniques, copywriting tips, Marketing, marketing tips, marketing tools, small business marketing

A friend of mine, who is in the printing business, recently put a magnetic sign on the side of his car, “5000 business cards for $119”. When I asked him if he’s getting any calls from that, he said that he’s got several in the 3 days since it’s up. He also had all the salespeople put the signs on the side of their cars.

Now isn’t that a brilliant idea. I’m sure you’ve seen similar signs, but they typically say general things, like “we do printing” or “computer repair” or “plumbing” (I had a post about this one recently.

My friend created a direct response offer. It’s not just “we sell business cards”, it’s very specific, “5000 cards for $119”. Anyone who is in business, or is self-employed and needs business cards from time to time will obviously be interested in that and will respond.

I would, wouldn’t you?

I’ve said that before, that I live, in a supposedly “declining” area of United States. That’s Michigan. According to the news and what people say, this is one of the states that got hit the hardest economically.

Yet for $70, Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Marketing | No Comments » | Tags: advertising, direct marketing, Marketing, marketing tips, marketing tools, small business marketing

As I’m in the process of buying a new house and having to deal with a whole slew of people, it amazes me how few people actually do what they’re supposed to do.

Today’s post is about excellence.  Whether you’re in selling or marketing or both, you have to deal with people.  Even if you sell through a website it’s people that buy from you, not machines.

I’ve been fortunate to have spent over a decade in personal one on one direct sales, which taught me some very important lessons about this concept of excellence.

If you want to attract more people to do business with you, here’s an idea: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Marketing, Sales | No Comments » | Tags: business success, Marketing, marketing ideas, marketing tips, marketing tools, Sales, small business marketing