• A week or so ago, I announced 2 special contests for our loyal blog readers…

    And today, we have our winners (but actually, everyone who entered is a “surprise” winner…more on that in a moment).

    The first was a “Why Do You Deserve To Be My All-Access VIP Guest At Disney?” blog contest. And after poring over all the entries (and some beautiful, heartfelt and compelling ones at that) we’ve settled on 4 outstanding submissions.

    So without further adieu, here they are!

    First Prize – Dan Ricci

    Dan Ricci wins a VIP 7 day pass including Luxury hotel accommodations:

    Rich-

    My name is Dan and I want to start by saying thank you for everything you’ve given to your public as it has really made a huge impact in my life and my academics.

    I’m currently in my 4th year at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. When I first got to college, I really had no idea what I wanted to do and started taking a bunch of random classes. My strengths always revolved around communicating messages with others. In addition, I grew up in the house of an entrepreneur: my father. Growing up watching him run his own construction/insulation company in the economically-disastrous city of Cleveland taught me a lot. Mainly to persist even when conditions are at their worst.

    I started off my academic career taking business classes and took Japanese as my foreign language hoping that it would help me acheive my dreams of traveling the world. I’ve always had a knack for speaking in public and conversing face-to-face.

    It wasn’t until my 2nd year that I discovered online business. The idea of being able to conduct business anywhere in the world via the internet grabbed my attention tightly, and I haven’t looked back since. I spent most of my 2nd and 3rd year of college researching and testing as much as I could online. Instead of going out and partying at the one of the nation’s top party schools, I chose to instead spend my weekends learning as much as I could about Internet Marketing and successful online business practices. It drove my friends crazy.

    At the end of my 3rd year, I decided to stop looking at school and online business as two separate things, and try to incorporate this obsession I had with my major. I decided to pursue a Bachelor of Specialized Studies degree that would allow me to take classes from different fields of study and combine them to create a distinct major.

    I am the first student at Ohio University to ever major as an “Online Marketing and Advertising” student. I have combined Advertising, Business, Visual Design, and Communication classes to help me achieve this degree. This is the start of my frustration.

    You see Rich, the biggest problem that I’ve found in school is that there are NO online-related classes being taught in college. When I take marketing and advertising classes, even at a school who specializes in those fields like OU, they don’t have the information needed to teach anything directed towards the internet. I basically have to take everything I learn and relate it to online practices on my own. It’s the most frustrating thing I can possibly explain. I even have taught some of my marketing professors SEO and Search Engine Marketing, and they were astounded that they had never heard of it earlier.

    This is a huge epidemic in the academic world and it’s depressing that Online Business is not a course you can take at some of the nation’s top schools.

    Which brings me to the contest you’re having and the answer to why I should be chosen for this opportunity.

    I have taken a risk that I can never erase when I created a major revolving around Online Business. I’ve made it my passion, my education, and my career. To me, Online Business is not something that I’m doing just to pay the bills, or to become famous for, or become extremely wealthy. I’m doing this because I love it, because it provides the freedom that I need to be able to travel the world, and because it will allow me to help many others in the process.

    The biggest problem for me is not that I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a problem starting a business, dedicating myself to it, finding opportunities, or finding information that I need.

    My problem is that I have ABSOLUTELY NO GUIDANCE. No professor helping me practice. No mentor directing me and telling me when I’ve made a mistake. Not even a friend to share my successes and failures with.

    All I get are people who don’t understand what I’m doing, family who thinks I’m wasting my time, professors who are too controlling to take advice from a 21-year-old student, and friends who don’t care enough to listen to the opportunities that Online Business entails.

    I’m in this on my own. The reason I deserve to be chosen for your workshop is because I’ve dedicated so much of my life to this field. I want to be able to have someone who’s achieved so much success like you have to teach me what I’ve been dieing to learn for years.

    You’re a legend and there’s no one else who can teach online business better than you can. I want to take the knowledge that you can provide me with and give back to the academic world so that other students can have the opportunity to learn online business the way it should be taught instead of having to go online and try and learn it themselves.

    As someone who learned all of this himself, I would never wish on anyone what it took for me to get where I am today. All the money, research, testing, failing, testing, failing…no one should have to go through that.

    I want to join you in Florida so that I can take what I learn and not only improve my own business, but to help others businesses, and most importantly, show the Ohio University marketing department exactly what they need to be showing their students in today’s business world. The way they see it, internet marketing and business is so new that they have no way of seeing any proven results that will motivate them to teach in classrooms. I want you to help me change that.

    If not this contest, perhaps an independent study, an internship, even an interview. No matter what the case, tomorrow, next week, and next year, I’m going to be conducting Online Business and helping others improve their online business. With your help, I can take everything to a new level and truly get the guidance that I need to be more successful.

    I don’t know the exact answer that you were looking for, but I hope this it. Again, I’m a big fan and I really want to thank you for releasing the information that you’ve given to your public. It has already helped me beyond what I’ve ever had the chance to learn in the classroom. I hope your workshop is a success and wish you good luck with all of your ventures in the future.

    Thank You and God Bless,
    Dan Ricci

    Runner up: Arbe wins a VIP 7 day pass Runner up: Peter K wins a VIP 7 day pass Runner up: Trevor wins a VIP 7 day pass

    Oh, and one more thing to add…I’ve decided to award an extra scholarship prize for a family that really blew me away with their blog posts…

    So the first Schefren Scholarship for Most Compelling ‘Entrepreneurial Family’ goes to Zara, Merisa and Sue Miller for their entries into the contest.

    The Miller family will be joining us in Orlando as VIP attendees. Kudos to them!

    Congratulations all–please e-mail to Anna Bonjour at abonjour@strategicprofits.com the complete, correct spelling of your name so Anna can register you for the week-long VIP event.

    Now, for our Video Contest Winners…

    This one was a toughie.

    But in the end, 3 stood out as Most Compelling, Most Humorous, and Most Outrageous…and here they are!

    1. Martin Luxton (Most Humorous)
    2. Keith Carberry (Most Outrageous)
    3. Michael Enos (Most Compelling)

    Here’s Michael Enos’s video, the winner for the most compelling category:

    You’ll all be joining me in Orlando with a 7day VIP pass. Please e-mail to Anna Bonjour at abonjour@strategicprofits.com the complete, correct spelling of your name so Anna can register you for the week-long VIP event.

    Way to go guys!

    Everyone’s A Winner!

    Okay, now for that “everyone’s a winner” thing I mentioned earlier…

    We decided to do something extra for all of you who made the effort to submit entries into each contest.

    So as our way of saying thanks, everyone who entered will receive a FREE DVD recording of the entire main event.

    That’s right. As soon as they’re ready, we’ll ship you your very own DVD copy of the Strategic Profits Live Main Event being held next week from February 24-26.

    You’ll experience all the excitement…all the amazing pitch-free content…and all the fun in the comfort of your own home.

    How does that sound?

    So if you made a blog or video submission, please e-mail your complete name, e-mail and street addresses directly to paul@strategicprofits.com so we can send you your FREE DVD by mail just as soon as they’re ready.

    Thanks again to everyone and congratulations to all– see you in Orlando!

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