by Todd Brown

Day-to-day management of freelancers and/or employees is not always a walk in the park. But, with a simple shift in your attitude, you can ensure you get and keep everyone on your team “right”.

Years ago, while working as a manager, director, and eventually vice president at a company that owned eight premium 40,000 sq. ft. health clubs, I learned a lesson about managing staff I’ll never forget.

It’s not only allowed me to better manage, control and lead a staff of employees; this same lesson has helped me maintain the sanity within many of my personal relationships.

It’s a principle based on eliminating the overwhelming cause of most ineffective management styles.

Sadly, most managers operate from a position of fear.  Often, managers are afraid to say certain things to their staff for fear their staff will get angry and/or possibly resign.  So, managers often bite their tongue, holding back what they would ideally like to say to an employee, and instead have a watered-down discussion or reprimand.

The result is a staff that’s never fully corrected, managed, or lead. And, a manager never fully satisfied with the performance of their team.

Instead, you need to adopt the attitude of…

Be Willing To Lose Them To Get Them Right!

In simple terms, that just means you need to be willing to have the tough, uncomfortable conversations with staff and freelancers if you ever hope to get your relationship with them, and their performance, where it needs to be.

You can’t operate as a manager from a position of fear. You can’t be afraid that if you say certain things to your team they’re going to get pissed and/or quit on you.  Instead, you have to be willing to lose them if you ever hope to get them right.

In other words, you always… ALWAYS… must say whatever it is that needs to be said to staff as a manager and leader. You must adopt the mindset that the tough conversations are the exact ones that are going to have the greatest positive impact on your staff performance and ultimately your company.

Think of it like this…

When you’re brutally honest and forthright with your staff one of two positive things will happen:

1. You’ll get your staff operating at the level your company deserves of them.

2. They’ll resign because they’re not willing to live up to your company needs.

Either way, you’re better off.

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by Todd Brown

I’ll admit…

Prior to about the age of 23 I despised reading. Back then I was more interested in playing a little Sega Genesis or simply goofing off with my buddies.

It wasn’t until I was bit by the business and marketing bug that reading became one of my most treasured joys.

Today, I love books. I love buying them. Flipping through them. Reading them. Highlighting them. And, putting them to work in my life.

Having invested in an average of about 2 books a week for the past 14 years, I can honestly say… the acquisition of actionable knowledge via reading has… no-doubt… altered the course of my life.

There are about 15 or so books that I credit for having the greatest impact on my thinking and actions.

Today, I want to share 10 of those books with you.  In a future blog post I’ll share the rest.

For now, scan the list below to see what books, if any, you haven’t read.  Then, go get ‘em. More important – go get ‘em, read ‘em, then put what you learn into action.

Psychology Of Winning by Denis Waitley

This book was one of the first “self-help” books I was really exposed to.  I was given the 6 CD version of this book by my, then, employer. It radically changed my thinking about success and failure. More than anything, it taught me how winners think, and that with some practice, I could train my mind to think the same way.  I credit a lot of my mindset today to this book.

Goals by Brian Tracy

This quite possibly could be my favorite personal development book of all time. Because I’m a huge believer in goal setting, I fell in love with the depths this book goes into as it explains and lays-out the goal setting process.  At the end of almost every year, I go through this book to refresh my memory of the goal setting process and help me prepare for another coming year.

Triggers by Joe Sugarman

As someone who spent almost 12 years in fitness-related sales, I really enjoyed the way Sugarman breaks down 30 different sales principles in this book, and shows how they’re used effectively in business every day.  This is one of those books you’ll refer back to periodically. And, every time you do… you’ll be reminded of a gem.

Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan S. Kennedy

When I first started learning about direct response marketing and long-form copy, this book was a goldmine. It really gave me a great foundational understanding of the format and structure of a good sales letter.  Even to this day, I still reach for my original copy of this book and flip through it for random ideas and reminders.

The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier

When I started to get serious about writing great sales letters I decided to grab a copy of this classic. And, boy am I glad I did.  It contains some incredible examples of quality salesmanship in print.  It was this book that really opened my eyes to many of the principles we still use today when writing sales letters and crafting email promotions.  I guess that’s why this book is recommended by almost every legend of marketing and advertising.

How To Write A Good Advertisement by Victor Schwab

What makes this book such a gem is how Schwab breaks down, in detail, the process every marketer needs to follow to get the attention of the marketplace.  He actually reviews 100 great headlines and explains why they’re so effective.  This was the book that really showed me the mandatory elements of a response-generating marketing or advertising piece.

Testing Advertising Methods by John Caples

In combination with the previous two books I mentioned, I feel this book really took my understanding of effective copy to a whole new level. This is one of those books that you’ll want to keep close when you’re writing any kind of copy. Caples’ does a superb job of handing readers actionable lists you’ll refer to over and over. I still do.

The 26-Hour Day by Vince Panella

A couple of years prior to going full-time online, I got hooked on the idea of time management and productivity. I started reading everything I could get my hands on about the topic. More importantly, I started putting into action the things I was learning. And, very quickly I realized… the better I controlled my actions and time, the more I got done.  I was so impacted by this book, I requested an interview with the author.  And I got it. It provides some great advice about managing your time.  (Honorable mention here: Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy. The main concept of this book also changed my view of tasks and prioritization. It’s definitely worth a quick read.)

Influence by Robert Cialdini

This book is the mother of all persuasion books. Almost everything you need to know about persuasion and the way the human mind can be “controlled” you’ll find within this book.  Not a day goes by that something I learned from this book isn’t used in our marketing efforts.  I think almost every top marketer would agree.

Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz

From a pure marketing perspective, there’s probably no other book that’s had more of an impact on me than Breakthrough Advertising.  The way Schwartz breaks down and explains the process of creating winning marketing and advertising is just outstanding.  This book shares what no other book does – the appropriate communication style and approach for each stage of marketplace maturity. This little book is truly been worth it’s weight in gold for me!

That’s all for now.  In a future post I’ll share the rest of my list of books that I credit for having the greatest impact on my thinking and actions.

What about YOU?

What books have had the greatest impact on you, your thinking, your actions, your business, your marketing?

Share it below. Leave a comment.

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It’s been just a few minutes since Rich Schefren finished delivering his Lessons From The Marketing Legends Live Training. WOW!… Rich led a gathering of marketers thru the MAJOR marketing breakthroughs of the past 100 years… and how they can and should be applied today.

If you listened live to the Lessons From The Marketing Legends training, we’d love to hear your biggest takeaways.

Go ahead and share your comments below:

From: Todd Brown

As a serious student of the marketing and advertising game I’ve certainly come across my share of big lessons and “Aha!” moments.

But, there’s one lesson that stands out far above all the others in how it’s impacted my ability to create marketing that pulls like crazy. I can easily say this one lesson alone has been worth hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars to me personally.

I’m going to pass it on to you today.

Sound good?

Then let’s get to it…

The lesson comes from the late Eugene Schwartz.

If you’re not familiar with Mr. Schwartz… he is a legend in the world of advertising and copywriting and is often referred to as the “Greatest Copywriter Who Ever Lived!”

In his book Breakthrough Advertising (that regularly sold on ebay a couple of years ago for over $900.00) Mr. Schwartz outlines a concept I’ve never seen or heard anyone else talk about.

He calls it, “The 5 Sophistication Levels of Your Market”.

He explains that you must… MUST… market your product or service differently depending on what “stage of sophistication” your market is currently in.

(I recommend you read that sentence again before moving on)

The different “levels of sophistication” are determined by how many competitors there are in the marketplace, what claims they’ve made about their products or services, and how long prospects have been hearing about their products and claims.

For example, let’s take the weight loss supplement market.

Years ago, when the weight loss market was in its infancy, you could market a supplement by simply promising “Take This Pill And You’ll Lose Weight”.

But as the market matured, and saw that promise over and over, it quickly became an inadequate claim in your marketing if you were selling weight loss supplements.

In essence, the market progressed to a new “level of sophistication”.

So the marketing of those supplements had to evolve to the next level.

This required marketers to take those original claims and promises and enlarge them.

For instance, “Take This Pill And You’ll Lose Weight In 7 Days Or Less”.

But, just like before, as more and more marketers were enlarging their claims, the market became more sophisticated, moving on to the next level of sophistication.

Again, it was no longer adequate to simply make bigger, bolder promises.

Now that the marketplace was in the third level of sophistication, marketers had to make sure their marketing evolved as well, if they wanted to continue to generate sales.

At this… the third stage of sophistication… marketers had to now include what’s called a “UNIQUE MECHANISM” to their claims and promises in order to keep their marketing producing.

For instance, “Take This Pill… That Blocks The Absorption Of Fat In Your Intestines… And You’ll Lose Weight In 7 Days Or Less!”

Eventually, though, as the market accepted these new mechanism, it evolved to the next level, like all markets do, and the marketing lost it’s potency forcing marketers to shift once again.

According to Schwartz, in the final stage of sophistication, marketing must shift from bigger, bolder claims and a focus on the “unique mechanism” to being more prospect-centric.

Meaning: now, in the final stage of sophistication, marketing must focus and identify with prospects experiences if it’s going to resonate and be effective.

And this is HUGE!!!

You see… it’s not just a matter of throwing together some marketing that focuses on the benefits or claims of your product or service.

It’s FIRST about understanding the sophistication of your market and then making sure your marketing addresses the specific demands of that level.

If your marketing is at still at Level 1 or 2 and your market is at Level 3 or 4, your marketing is going to flop. Period.

Hopefully, you can see why this such a MASSIVE PIECE OF ADVICE and LESSON.

Masters and the legends of marketing like Eugene Schwartz are the guys who pioneered the most effective, most powerful, and most profitable marketing tactics and strategies of history!

If you haven’t studied… and re-studied… the classic marketing books and experts… you’re really, really missing out on experiencing a true breakthrough with your marketing.

But, if you’re not a reader or just don’t want to invest the money or time studying and analyzing the works of these masters… you’re in luck.

Because Rich Schefren has a brand new training called Lessons From The Marketing Legends: The Most Powerful, Proven, And Profitable Marketing Tactics Of The Last 100 Years!

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In fact, regardless of what you’ve read or haven’t read, I highly recommend you get this training from Rich.

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So, just a few minutes ago Rich Schefren finished up his live training about becoming your niche’s expert and authority.

It was called Instant Expert.

And, if you were one of the lucky entrepreneurs to get your spot for this live training, we want to hear from you.

Let us know what your biggest takeaway was from the Live Training and what you thought about the quality of information, guidance and advice Rich shared with you.

Go ahead… leave your insights and comment below.

by Todd Brown

If you’re at all like most internet marketers, you have a desire to increase your productivity and… plain and simple… just get more done.

As somebody who used to struggle on and off with being consistently productive, here are 10 recommendations (in no particular order) you can use to be a HECK of a lot more productive in 2009.

1. Use self-imposed discipline.

In other words, put yourself in a position where you have to get XYZ done. For example, instead of waiting until you have the Power Point presentation done to schedule the webinar… schedule it today and announce to your list, so you then MUST get the presentation done.

2. Every project, task, milestone you work on should have a deadline.

Periodically throughout your workday, ask yourself… “does what I’m working on have a deadline”. If not, put one on it. If it’s not worthy of a deadline, dump it.

3. Only check your email 2x a day… and never before getting at least one hour of focused work done.

I try never to check my email before noon and then not again until 4PM.

4. Have the least amount of unscheduled time each day.

In other words, try to schedule every hour of your work day. This has been one of the most effective productivity tools for me personally.

5. Have productivity goals, along with your financial and business goals.

In other words, have goals for focused time and completion of tasks.

6. Have rewards at incremental stages of your goal achievement.

Far, far off goals tend NOT to motivate us. Close goals, that we can see, tend be a lot more motivational.

7. Pre-schedule repetitive tasks into your calendar in advance.

If there are certain things you do every week, they should get a permanent place in your calendar and they should be treated just like an important appointment.

8. Monitor the time it takes you to go from idea to implementation; and try to speed up the process.

9. Try to estimate the amount of time every task will take, then put it in your schedule with a start and stop time.

This will force to work faster and more efficiently. Think… the day before vacation.

10. Regularly consider the consequences of not doing something or of procrastination.

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Shocking Video Split-Test Results Prove Most Marketers
Are Going About Many Aspects Of Their Business All Wrong…

And 2 Simple Business Tweaks You Can Make Right Now To
Seize The Gobs Of Extra Cash You’re Currently Leaving On The Table!

This may come as a surprise to you…

Over the past week we’ve been conducting a top-secret video split test on this blog.

None of our readers knew about the test. Yet, for many the results will create a serious degree of discomfort. Probably for you as well…

Why will the results of our secret video split test cause you discomfort?

Because if I write this post correctly, it’s going to force you to look at how you approach your current business activities, and face this cold, hard truth: Your current approach is possibly leaving a ton of extra money and opportunity on the table.

A blunt statement, perhaps… but one I’ll back up as you read on…

Listen, if you want to reap maximum financial and business-growth rewards from your efforts, and achieve founder-status in your business (i.e. build a business that grows, thrives and “gets better” without you) you simply must be able to do two critical things:

1. Translate winning strategies and tactics into action so you can consistently increase your own performance and the performance of your business.
2. Be able to consistently, methodically, and strategically step outside your individual and business comfort-zone, which is where all growth and business breakthroughs inevitably come from.

But I’m jumping way ahead of myself here.

So let me tell you about our secret split test, the logic behind it, the surprising results it delivered, our readers polarized reactions, and what it should mean to you about growing your business rapidly to the point of absolute freedom.
…continue reading Secret Video Split Test Proves Most Marketers DEAD WRONG!

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