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If your entrepreneurial life isn’t what you want it to be, you might be suffering from “Intention Deficit Disorder.”
Intention Deficit Disorder occurs when you have no real clarity about WHAT result you intend to produce and (even more importantly) WHY you want to produce it.
You see, many internet entrepreneurs spend all their time searching wildly for “how to” advice, yet neglect strengthening their “want to.” And that, my friend, is a big mistake.
Because when you’ve got your WANT TO tweaked and fully torqued, you’ll always find the HOW TO.
Think about this… My daughter Ava is seven years old. She’s relatively a neat little girl. But what if she wasn’t? Let’s just say her room was always messy. It would never occur to me to send her to a seminar on “how to clean her room.” The reason is the “how to” isn’t missing… the “want to” is missing.
Continue reading My Online Business: What To Do Today…
Tags: my online business
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by Todd BrownBecause of what I read yesterday, I finally committed to do something many mentors have been telling me to do for some time now.
Our very own Rich Schefren does it and has been preaching its benefits to me for at least 2 years. Michael Masterson of Agora recommends it and has also been a long-time fan. Even my wife has been egging me on to get started.
What am I talking about?
Daily writing in a journal.
Many high-performance entrepreneurs swear by the increased clarity they receive from daily thinking and writing within a personal journal.
Thoughts about business, AHA moments, weekly reflection, brainstorming, success reviews, and anything else that’s on your mind are all great topics or categories you can journal about.
But, if you’re at all like me, sitting down to a blank page that’s awaiting your deepest thoughts and desires can often be a bit daunting. So much so for me that I’ve chronically delayed getting started. Until yesterday, that is.
I was sitting outside by the pool at the hotel I’m staying at here in Orlando enjoying a nice robusto. I was flipping through 55-pages of personal notes Rich Schefren shared with me from his read of a very deep, very profound, and very thought-provoking book about success and psychology.
Page after page I continued to notice an enormous number of questions being posed by the author. His purpose: to help readers get deeper and deeper clarity on who they are, what they want, and where they want to go with their lives.
And that’s when it struck me…
I could just use the questions posed by this author as the jumping-off point for my journal entries. I could simply tackle one question each day… and this way… I would never have to worry about sitting down to a blank page. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do as soon as I return from my trip.
If you’d like to give it a try along with me, below are some of the first questions I’m going to tackle:
* How do I define personal success?
* How would I describe a life well-lived?
* What is my vision for my life?
* What were the most successful moments in my life?
* What were the biggest failures I’ve experienced? (Describe the lessons I learned)
* What do I really value about my life?
* If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I attempt to do?
* Who is the real me?
* What am I most grateful for?
* What am I really talented at?
* What relationships in my life do I value the most?
* How much success do I believe is possible for me?
* What are the most unhelpful, limiting beliefs holding me back?
* How do I measure success?
* How can I make today a success?
* Who do I want to be?
* What is it that makes me happy?
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Tags: business clarity, business thinking, journal, journaling
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by Todd Brown
Since the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us here in the States, I have a simple 3-step exercise for you that will add an exciting new dimension to your life, boost your overall health and well-being, and… flat out… make you feel good.
Recently, the University of California published a summary of results from a series of highly focused, cutting-edge studies on the nature of gratitude, its causes, and its consequences.
Below are just some of their findings:
- * In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
* A related benefit was observed in the realm of personal goal attainment: Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.
* A daily gratitude intervention (self-guided exercises) with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy compared to a focus on hassles or a downward social comparison (ways in which participants thought they were better off than others). There was no difference in levels of unpleasant emotions reported in the three groups.* Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or having offered emotional support to another, relative to the hassles or social comparison condition.
* In a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, a 21-day gratitude intervention resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more optimistic ratings of one’s life, and better sleep duration and sleep quality, relative to a control group.
* Children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008).
It’s clear – from studies and personal anecdotal evidence – that spending time each day reflecting on the aspects of your life your grateful for is both healthy and rewarding.
So, with the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, here’s a little 3-step exercise for you.
I call it the Entrepreneurial Gratitude Intervention:
Step #1: Spend 20 minutes thinking about and writing down all of the things in your life you’re grateful for.
Step #2: Spend 10 minutes meditating on one of the things on your Gratitude List. Think about why you’re grateful for it. How thankful you are for having it in your life. Think about what it truly means to you.
Step #3: Each day going forward, spend 10-minutes meditating on another item on your Gratitude List. As you realize you have new areas, items, or aspects of your life to be thankful for, add them to your Gratitude List and the daily meditation rotation.As I said, engaging in this little “intervention” will add an exciting new dimension to your life, boost your overall health and well-being, and make you feel good.
Source: http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/
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Tags: online business tips
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by Todd Brown
Getting the top authors within your niche to contribute to the creation of your information products is one of the quickest ways to gain tremendous credibility within your marketplace.
Imagine having the names of two, three, or four of the most recognized authors and experts in your niche alongside your name on your next info-product, on your sales letter, and in your email follow-up messages. It instantly makes you more trustworthy. Makes your offer more believable. And positions you and your product well-above your competitors.
In essence, it’s a true business shortcut.
And, fortunately, making it happen… with zero cost or expense… is easier than you might think.
It all comes down to TIMING.
If you want to get virtually any top author within a field to contribute to your next information product via an interview, you need to approach them at the “right time”.
When is the right time to approach a top author, you might be wondering?
When they’ve released a new book.
Why?
Because when they release a new book, authors are eager to get as much exposure for their book as possible. So they’re almost always excited about doing an interview. Plus, when a top author releases a new book, they typically get and welcome interview requests from several sources.
Here’s how you do this:
Step #1: Go to Amazon.com.
Step #2: Search for books using your potential product’s main keyword or keyword phrase.
Step #3: Sort the books by publication date. This lists the newly published books first.
Step #4: Make note of the top 5-6 authors names. Then, find their websites on Google. This is so you can get their contact information.
Step #5: Contact each author about wanting to interview them about XYZ topic and their book. Let them know they can plug their book, and that you’ll be including their interview with a collection of other interviews from their fellow experts for customers who just so happen to be their target market.
That’s it.
Timed correctly, there’s no doubt you can easily get 90% of the experts you approach to participate in a great interview for you. I’ve used this technique on several occasions. Have interviewed at least 7 top authors. And, used this very technique to break into a brand new niche in 2003 when first starting in the info-product business. And, it’ll work for you as well.
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Tags: online business
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by Todd Brown
While hanging out at the ETR Bootcamp last week I heard a great little “gold nugget” about testing and optimizing your marketing results.
Mary Ellen Tribby, one of the sharpest business women I’ve ever encountered and good friend of our little Strategic Profits crew, was on stage along with the the other expert panelists. Attendees were lining up at the microphone to grab their few minutes of “consulting time” during the Q&A portion of the event.
Personally, I was in the back of the room checking my email on my iphone. So, I didn’t hear the exact question posed. But, the moment I heard Mary Ellen’s answer I perked up. Here’s what she said…
“You want to test the things that scream. Not the things that whisper”
What a great way to articulate the importance of testing the truly impactful things, I thought to myself.
And, it’s totally and completely a savvy point.
Testing and tracking is essential to optimizing your marketing results. In fact, you can’ t improve the results you’re getting without proper testing and tracking. And, that’s really where the beauty of marketing online comes into play.
No matter how poor your results are today, you can always improve what’s happening by optimizing the key areas within your marketing and sales funnel. And, your optimization efforts come from the tests you conduct on the areas within your marketing and sales funnel that can have the biggest impact on the bottom line.As I explained in our recent Conversion Clinic, when testing to improve conversions, you want to invest your time and attention on the big things. On the things that can have a significant impact on the numbers.
You don’t want to invest your time on minor aspects of your promotion or funnel (i.e. the color of your signature, the font you’re using, words that are bolded or underlined, etc.).
You want to focus on the things that play a massive role in conversions (i.e. the big idea or hook behind your promotion, the headline, the lead, the offer, etc.).
Think of it like this:
If your job was to double, triple, or even quadruple conversions and sales, what would you test? Whatever the answer; go test it.
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Tags: your online business
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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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Tags: leadership skills, management skills, managing employees, outsourcing
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by Todd Brown
It’s been said from the shrewdest of salesmen… “People buy products and services from people they like and trust. And, people like people who are most like them.” This is why establishing the feeling of commonality (rapport) with your prospect is such a critical step in the marketing and sales process.
It’s also why the use of something coined – “the common enemy” – is such a powerful copywriting gambit.
If you’re not familiar with the “common enemy” within copywriting, it’s a tactic to gain rapport with your prospect by bringing-up and highlighting the person or entity they blame for the existence of their problem (the problem you’re focusing on in your sales letter and the one your product or service eliminates).
Talking to medical doctors in your copy about the horrors of getting reimbursement from the dreaded insurance companies is an example of using the “common enemy” tactic. So is talking about the “evil IRS” to folks undergoing the pleasures of a tax audit.
When employed correctly, this can be a very powerful sales technique. Because people tend to band together when facing a common enemy. And, when used in your sales letter, it significantly increases the level of rapport your prospects will feel for you (which is always a plus when selling anything).
But, what do you do if there is no explicit enemy to bring up and side against with your prospect?
You use something called the “Secret Enemy”.
I first learned about the power of the “secret enemy” from Michael Masterson.
To paraphrase; the “secret enemy” is something the prospect doesn’t realize is causing their problem or hasn’t thought of… that you can highlight and bring-up in your sales letter to create that needed rapport and further your sale.
For instance, if you were selling a diet pill for men, you could talk about how the cause of your prospect’s weight struggles is not due to their lack of will-power or self-control… but… is actually because of the hidden and insidious sugars slipped-in under the radar into their “organic” snacks. In this case, the hidden sugars are the “secret enemy”.
If you were selling a gardening book, you could talk about the sneaky little nocturnal bugs that quietly devour the precious plant roots within your prospect’s garden leaving them to stand-by baffled over the lack of flourishing vegetables and their vacant garden. In this case, those darned bugs are the secret enemy.
The point is just this…
If you can identify and side with your prospect against a common or “secret” enemy in your sales letter you significantly increase your feeling of commonality and rapport, and hence, bolster your chances of closing the sale.
Remember, “People buy products and services from people they like and trust. And, people like people who are most like them.” If you feel the same way your prospect does about your prospects’ enemy, you’re viewed in a much more favorable light.
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Tags: online business plan
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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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Tags: breakthrough advertising, business books, dan s. kennedy, eugene schwartz, greatest marketing books, marketing books, robert collier letter book, victor schwab
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Yeah, I went there with the Jetsons reference. And no, I’m not going to announce the addition of the Spacely Sprockets to the Strategic Profits family…
But I wanted to get your attention. Because not long ago, I took a good hard look at my business. And I didn’t like what I saw.
Let me explain…
About a year ago, I decided to take a step back and do a quick assessment of Strategic Profits.
And at that time, things were going pretty well. With the help of my mentor, Jay Abraham, and a crack team of specialists, I had built this company from nothing into a multi-million dollar marketing and business building powerhouse .
So money was coming in at a steady clip, our reputation was stellar in the marketplace, and the future looked very bright.
Which meant the overall picture was very positive, right?
WRONG!
Upon further inspection, I saw that we weren’t growing nearly as fast as I wanted to.
Even though things were going good, I really wanted to take things to the next level, a level that we had never experienced before.
I kinda felt like George Jetson on that crazy treadmill. Doing a lot of running in the right direction, but not getting where I wanted to go.So I did what I always do when I need sound advice and wisdom: I went to see Jay Abraham and did my George Jetson impersonation:
“How do I get OFF this thing?”
Jay just smiled like he always does, and said something so profound that it changed my business perspective forever:
“Rich,” he said, “I can give you my insight on which direction you should go. But I think you should also get a second opinion. And a third. And maybe even a fourth.”
Huh?
“Listen,” he continued. “You’re at a crossroads in your business, and the next step you take will be crucial. So you need to gather input from a variety of different sources to give you an enhanced view of your current status–and a clearer picture of where to go.”
Now, Jay ’s never steered me wrong about thing like this. So for the next several months, that’s exactly what I did.
I dove into dozens of books, audios, and videos from over 50 of the world’s most highly respected and successful business people
My goal was simple: To get to the next level in my business and continue the record-breaking growth we had experienced.
What I discovered was INCREDIBLE. There were so many amazing viewpoints and ideas…strategies I would have never considered before…tactics that were mind-blowingly simple, yet profitable beyond anything we could have ever dreamed of…and new twists to current ideologies that opened up a world of possibilities.
I took all of this explosive information and started connecting the dots, putting together an aggressive growth plan that would take Strategic Profits into the next decade.
Slowly, we began climbing the mountain once again. Step by step, our team took action and implemented the new techniques that had been revealed to us by these masterminds.
That was about 8 months ago. And today, we’re seeing the fruits of that labor.
We’re poised to have one of our biggest years yet, while my workload is less than half of what it used to be.
Which means more time for me, for Deb, for the girls, and for the things I love doing most. And that’s what it’s REALLY all about.
So what’s the moral of this story?
Simple. It wasn’t until I started seeking the business advice of MANY (rather than the business advice of one) that all these monumental insights were handed down to me.
If I had just stuck with one viewpoint, I would have never been exposed to the multiple perceptions of others. And I wouldn’t have seen the unending possibilities–and the tremendous profit opportunities–that were available to me.
But by tapping into their vast areas of expertise, I was able to view things with a perspective I would have never experienced before.
Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?
Well get ready…because over the next few days, I’m going to reveal exactly how you too can leverage the credibility and influence of the same world-famous business advisors that I did.
It’s called the “League of Extraordinary Minds”, and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before (or will ever seen again).
So keep an eye on your inbox. Because we’re about to make business history.
To Higher Profits,
Rich
Tags: my online business
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