Thursday, June 30, 2011

"They are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they can see nothing but sea."

Francis Bacon

Cultivate Creativity to Grow Success
By Harvey Mackay

Paul was majoring in zoology at college. One semester he took a course in the study of birds - ornithology. For the final exam, Paul studied until he had the textbook nearly memorized. He knew his class notes backward and forward. He was eager to take the exam, certain of getting a good grade.

The morning of the exam, Paul took a seat in the front row of the big auditorium where the class was held. Over 100 students were in the class with him. On a table at the front was a row of 10 stuffed birds, each one with a sack covering its body so that only the legs were visible.

The professor announced, "For this test, which counts for 80% of your final grade, I want you to identify each bird up here by its legs, and then discuss its species, natural habitat, and mating patterns. You may begin."

Paul stared at the birds. All the legs looked the same to him. After spending half the exam period in growing frustration as he tried to determine which bird was which, he picked up his exam and threw it on the professor's desk.

"This is ridiculous!" he shouted. "I studied the textbook and my notes all night, and now you're asking me to name these birds by looking at their legs? Forget it!"

The professor picked up the exam booklet and saw that it was blank. "What's your name, young man?"

With that, Paul yanked one leg of his pants up. "Why don't you tell me?"

Paul's response probably didn't earn him a passing grade, although I must admit,

"Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea," said English psychologist Edward de Bono. "Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more interesting."

Everyone is born with the ability to be creative, but some people seem to lose it as they grow older, whereas others are better at accessing their creativity throughout their lives. Studies show that there is no correlation between IQ and creativity.

Here's how to regain or retain your creative spark:

Be aware of what's going on around you. A scientist needs to analyze all available facts and every bit of research. Stay on top of current business trends. Learn from other people's ideas and mistakes.

Explore. Examine all of your options and alternatives, no matter how far-fetched they may seem at first. Don't rule anything out as you look for solutions and new approaches.

Be courageous. You've got to be fearless and not worry about what others may think. Don't try to be like everyone else. Take your own approach, whatever you're doing. Prepare to accept some criticism but don't take it personally.

Rely on your instincts. As you assimilate the information around you and assess the possibilities, factor in your instincts to come up with creative solutions. As legendary film director Frank Capra said, "A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something."

Assess your options. Sort your ideas into categories, and rank them. Try combining ideas, and eliminate any that don't fit what you're looking for.

Be realistic. Step back and evaluate how your idea or solution is likely to play out in the real world. Look at the upside, but consider the downside as well. Not all great ideas will work, but they may lead to other solutions.

Stick with it. You need to be persistent if you want to achieve anything significant. A novel takes a long time to write; a successful business may take years to build. Keep a detailed picture of the intended result in your mind to help you stay focused and move forward.

Be patient. You can't hurry creativity, so take time to ponder your ideas. Sit back and take time to think things over. That's usually how the best ideas bloom.

Evaluate the results. At the end of the process, ask yourself: Has my vision been realized? Learn from what works and what fails so you can move on to your next project.

Creativity isn't just a process. It's a value. If you value success, get creative!

Mackay's Moral: It only takes a little spark to ignite a great fire.

I admire his creativity!


Monday, June 27, 2011

Sales Tip of the Day
Monday, June 27
WHILE YOU SEE A CHANCE


Not far from my home, a Shari's restaurant has closed.
If you don't know the name, they are a basic diner style restaurant, very similar to IHOP or Denny's.
It wasn't because they had any problem bringing in customers; they couldn't reach a new agreement with the landlord and so their lease expired.
Six blocks away, a Denny's took note of the development, realized the "regulars" would need a new home, and they decided to roll out the carpet, so to speak, with a new banner.
Nice, right?
Every day there are developments going on in your market that might mean an advantage for you, but you must be prepared to move swiftly while you see a chance to gain the competitive edge.
Spend some time strategizing how you could respond to various developments in your market, and create contingency plans.
Stay aware of what is going on in your customers' lives, and act fast when the right opportunity presents itself.


"We all get swept up in the hype machine. Nobody is immune to that."

Steven Cojocaru

Bubble Theory and the Madding Crowd
By Daniel Levis

In the investing world, we talk about bubbles. A bubble happens when stocks in a particular sector are over-hyped, and greed starts driving the market.

In a stock market bubble, investors stop thinking about what they're buying and start looking around them to see who else is buying it.

Joe Investor sees a sizable group of other investors piling into a stock or sector, driving the price higher. He figures they've thought things through, so he'll go along for the ride.

Jill takes Joe's lead, figuring he knows what he's doing. Jerry follows Jill. Julie follows Jerry. The blind are leading the blind.

Well guess what?

There are marketing bubbles too...

Some marketing tactic or strategy is hyped beyond all reasonable expectation... newbies who don't know any better jump in... and a bubble is born. As the hype grows, it creates a kind of vortex that sucks in more and more people. The number of dupes and the number of promoters both skyrocket.

Some investment analysts are calling the recent LinkedIn IPO a warning sign that a new tech bubble might be upon us. The stock debuted at $45 and immediately started gyrating between $80 and $120, hundreds of times 2010 earnings. In plain English, there was no justification for these prices.

Groupon and Facebook are planning IPOs as well, and they will most certainly garner the same kind of senseless, nosebleed valuations. The bubble will balloon and burst. And overnight, billions of dollars will change hands, just as they did during the dot-bomb bust of the late nineties. Foolish investors holding these stocks will get the shirts ripped from their backs.

With marketing bubbles, the damage is subtler...

Each day, a new crush of wild-eyed marketing neophytes rush in, lured by the promise of easy money, like ants to a Twinkie. Hungry for knowledge, they buy up info-products right and left. And do they learn?

Bubble stuff. All about Facebook and Twitter and mobile marketing and Groupon and other so called "game changers." Now I'm not saying there is no value in these things. It's just that they are hyped into the ozone... out of all proportion... beyond anything even remotely real.

And that hype drowns out the importance of learning the basic, bread and butter stuff, without which these neophytes are going to get their heads handed to them.

In the world of investing, the basics are things like earnings growth, return on equity, and profit margins. The boring, common sense stuff that allows you to rationally compare one stock to another. In the marketing world, it's return on resources invested (RORI). Is marketing this way worth my investment? Is it the best use of my resources?

The fact that there are umpteen million users with a Facebook account makes for great hype. Heck, if it were a country it would be the third-biggest. But what does that mean in terms of the RORI for your particular business?

Most people who market with social media haven't a clue. Their behavior is driven purely by peer pressure.

They're going gaga for likes and friends and fans and followers and the rest of it. But they have no idea how many new subscribers or customers or dollars all that exertion is netting them.

Worse, many of them are paying zero attention to the fundamentals of online marketing - like copy and conversion. They don't even know these things exist. Bubbleheads.

I read somewhere that for many people Facebook IS the Internet...

Pretty strong hype, isn't it?

I suppose there are people quaking in their cyber-boots at the thought of venturing into the savage outer reaches of the Web... that bastion of evil lurking beyond the safe, mediated womb-world of Facebook. But do you really want those people as YOUR customers? Maybe you do. Depends on what you're selling.

For the kind of fierce individualists who make good customers for me, Facebook-addicted prospects are about as attractive as a bag of chicken giblets.

And then there's the whole Groupon thing...

We're seeing Groupon copycats popping up everywhere, like Whac-a-Mole. They're hyping the slashing and burning of prices to blue blazes. There are even Groupon wannabes for information products. I'm willing to bet that if it hasn't happened already, you're about to get pitched by one of them.

"Let us expose your company to the multitudes," they say. "You'll gain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of brand-new customers. All you have to do is let us sell your $1,000 info-product digitally for $17 bucks and pay us a commission." Come again?

What should you do when they come knocking? If you've got a stale old info-product that few are buying and you can still sell it with a conscience, think of it as lead generation.

But to sell a genuine $1,000 product that offers real commensurate value for $17... get serious. Do you really want to pimp your brand and the perceived value of your products in exchange for a bunch of bottom feeding bargain hunters who will probably never even open your files on their computer?

Let your decision on all things bubbly be based on good old-fashioned RORI, not peer pressure.

Friday, June 24, 2011

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."

Henry Ford

Is It Really Possible for Anyone to Be Successful?
By PJ McClure

While I stood at the bottom of the mountain, looking at all the people at the top, I wondered if I had what it took for them to get there. Every time I pushed myself to climb and then slipped or fell, it became that much harder to believe I was capable.

It's a defeatist attitude. Like the mantra "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer," it makes you think you can't be successful unless you were born for success - or are just plain lucky. That notion is a temptation and a trap.

What people at the top have in common is a mindset that affords them the power and flexibility to have success on their terms. What this means for all of us? We can define and create that mindset for ourselves and get started toward our own mountaintop.

If we give in to attributing the success of others to factors out of our control, we lose. We assume the victim stance and retreat to the safety of mediocrity.

My well-reinforced theory as to why people do this is that they believe it relieves them of responsibility. ("If I don't control my own accomplishments, I can't be held accountable for my lack of effort.")

I've heard thousands of excuses and watched people argue passionately in defense of their unwillingness to go for it. ("Success is for other people and I could never do what they've done because I don't have their advantages.")

The way people react to my message of hope, opportunity, and systematic success can be comical, bordering on alarming. Here is an example from a conversation I had with a woman who'd just listened to a talk I gave on the subject:

"So you mean to tell me that I can apply what you're telling me and have success like Donald Trump?"

"I don't know. Do you define success the same way Trump does? Do you consider him successful?"

"What do you mean? Of course he's successful! He makes billions, has his own TV show..."

"Yes, and is that how YOU define success? Do you have to make billions and have your own TV show to be successful?"

You can see where the conversation was headed. This woman had made many assumptions regarding success. One of the big ones was that success is always the same for everyone. But to become successful, we must appreciate that success is relative.

Everyone has the right and responsibility to define success on his or her terms. What do you want your life to look like? As I quizzed the woman, she admitted that while Trump is financially wealthy and famous, she really didn't know if he was successful by her definition. He seemed lonely and shallow.

I reminded her that we don't really know if he is lonely or shallow because we don't know him personally. And her job isn't to pursue his success anyway. Her job, and ours, is to define success by our standards and go after our own version of it. Vision, purpose, belief... they are all individual exercises to begin that journey.

The woman had also assumed that success is a place - somewhere you arrive and stay. But success is not static.

We define success from where we are at this moment. While we work to reach the goals and milestones we have defined, something else happens. Our view of the world changes and our definition of success expands.

Think of it as progressive horizons. When I stand at the foot of a mountain, all I can think of is getting to the peak. From where I stand at that moment, success is defined according to what I can see.

With every step toward that goal, I gain perspective. My elevation changes and new things come into view. As I approach the summit, a new world opens up in front of me. This new perspective fuels my desire to explore and experience more.

That is the essence of life. Continual growth and exploration makes us appreciative of where we are and excited about where we can go.

In my coaching practice, I teach what I call The 7 Elements of Personal Choice. Through their repeated use, I've watched thousands of people joyfully climb one mountain after another because they finally understand how to create their own success and they've engaged their mindsets to lead the way.

Becoming successful isn't nearly as magical or mystical as many believe. It is the result of repeated, intentional effort toward your definition of the life you want to live.

The common trait that we share with all of the truly successful people throughout history is mindset. Using our mindset, we define success, lay the groundwork for achievement, make it happen, and repeat.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

"If you ask the wrong question, of course, you get the wrong answer."

Amory Lovins

Are You Still Stuck on Affirmations?
By Noah St. John

Traditional success coaches are big advocates of "affirmations" - repeating statements that you'd like to be true. For example, a classic "affirmation" is: "I am rich."

Okay. Try it. Say "I am rich."

What just happened? Did you hear a voice in your head that said: "Yeah, right!"?

The problem with "affirmations" is that they don't work for most people. Why? Because you're trying to convince yourself of something you don't really believe.

Have you ever been persuaded to try "affirmations"... and then had... absolutely nothing happen?

Me too. And about a billion other people.

Well, one morning in April 1997, I was taking a shower and thinking about how the human mind is always in the process of asking and seeking the answers to questions. For example, if I were to ask you "Why is the sky blue?" your mind would start searching for the answer.

So I asked myself a logical question: "If the human mind is always asking and searching for the answers to questions, why are we told to repeat positive statements we don't believe? Instead, why don't we ask ourselves empowering questions - questions that will force us to change our thought patterns from negative to positive in order to answer them?"

Take a statement like "I am rich" - to which the brain replies "Yeah, right!" What's the empowering question you should be asking instead?

That question might look something like this: "Why am I so rich?"

Try it. Ask yourself "Why am I so rich?"

Do you know what your brain is doing right now? Searching for a positive answer to that question!

The staggering realization I made that morning in April 1997 was that you create your reality in two ways: by the statements you say to yourself and others, and by the questions you ask yourself and others. Until then, no one had fully realized, or shown how to harness, the awesome power of what happens when you ask the right questions.

I named my discovery The Afformations Method.

The 4 Steps to Creating Afformations That Change Your Life

Step 1: Ask yourself what you want.

You can use a goal you've previously written down or start from scratch. You decide.

Please note that traditional success coaches stop right here. They tell you to "set your goals" and then say "affirmations" in an attempt to convince your brain that you will have what you want... sometime, somehow, somewhere.

Let's use Brandon from Utah as an example. He wanted to make more money by doing something he loved. He was an insurance salesman who'd spent $30,000 on every "how to succeed" program out there, with no results. So for his goal, he wrote: "I want to be all I can be in life."

Now, the breakthrough step...

Step 2: Form a QUESTION which assumes that what you want is already true.

Forming a question which assumes that what you want is already true is the key to creating Afformations that change your life.

Your life is a reflection of the subconscious assumptions you make. That's why Step 2 of The Afformations Method is to change your communication with the world inside yourself. Afformations are the fastest, most effective way I've ever seen to immediately change your communication with the world inside of you AND the world outside of you.

So Brandon began afforming: "Why am I allowed to be, do, and have all that I want in life?"

Step 3: Give yourself to the question.

The point of Afformations is not to find "the answer" but to ask better questions. When you ask better questions, your mind automatically begins to focus on what you have as opposed to what you don't have.

Once Brandon began to afform what he wanted, his mind automatically began to search for the answer. He started doing things a little differently and talking to people with new confidence.

Which brings us to Step 4 of The Afformations Method - the one you MUST do to get optimum results...

Step 4: Take new ACTIONS based on your new assumptions about yourself.

Even though Brandon had spent thousands of dollars on every "how to succeed" program out there, he subconsciously assumed they wouldn't work for him. So they didn't.

After reading my book, he realized that this was what was keeping him from what he wanted. So he began to take new action on the very programs that had not worked for him.

He began calling more people. He followed up with more confidence. By focusing on what he had instead of what he lacked, positive results naturally followed.

Once Brandon followed the four steps of The Afformations Method, his sales tripled in 30 days. In less than nine months, his income increased 560% and he was named Agent of the Year.

The point of Afformations is not to find "the answer" but to change your questions. When you follow The Afformations Method, you will form empowering questions that immediately change your subconscious assumptions.

For example, Andrea had been trying to get pregnant for more than a year but had a huge mental block. She thought she didn't deserve it, her body couldn't do it, and so on. After her psychologist told her about Afformations, Andrea began asking herself "Why do I conceive so easily?" and "Why am I so fertile?" Within a month, she was pregnant. Now she's asking herself, "Why do I carry my babies full term?"... "Why am I free from morning sickness?"... and all kinds of other questions that are making her feel great.

Omar, a car salesman, was selling one or two cars a month and making less than $600 in commissions. Then he started afforming "Why am I so successful at selling cars?" And in just two days, he sold four new cars, three used ones, and made more than $1,800.

Judy, a 55-year-old grandmother from Texas, wanted to lose weight but told herself she was too old. In November 2008, she joined my Platinum Weight Loss Club. I recommended that she start asking questions like "Why do I lose weight so easily?" and "Why do I love eating healthy foods?" During the holidays, while most of America was gaining weight, Judy lost 24 pounds. And by February 2009, she was down over 30 pounds and feeling fantastic.

Can you see how this process must, by definition, change your life? Using Afformations, you can take conscious control of your subconscious thoughts . Change the questions, change your results, and change your life!



Monday, June 20, 2011

"Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life."

Henry L. Doherty

Effectiveness Is Not Inborn
By Rich Schefren

Just as each and every one of us had to learn to tie our shoelaces, no one was born knowing how to be a successful entrepreneur.

Every entrepreneur had to learn how to be effective at what he was trying to accomplish - and practice being effective until it became a habit.

I don't talk about it much, but before I opened my chain of hypnosis centers, I traveled all over the world, learning from the best neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and hypnosis teachers. I was certified in NLP by Richard Bandler himself, the creator of NLP. I studied with Robert Dilts, Michael Hall, and every other big name out there.

I am telling you this because I want you to know that when I share something I know about learning new skills, you can pretty much bet it is based on a concept I was taught by a master.

Today, I want to share an NLP learning model with you. Once you understand the model, you can leverage it to establish new skills rapidly.

First, I'll explain the model. Then, I'll give you examples to make it easier to understand. And then, I'll show you how to use it to make yourself more effective at any skill you've chosen to pursue.

The 4 Stages of Learning a New Skill

Stage 1. Unconscious Incompetence. This is when you don't know how to do it, and you don't even know that you don't know.

Stage 2. Conscious Incompetence. This is when you know what you don't know, and you begin to work on learning it.

Stage 3. Conscious Competence. This is when you know what you need to know - and you can do it. But it takes all of your concentration.

Stage 4. Unconscious Competence. This is when you can perform the skill without even thinking about it. It's now a habit.

Okay. Now let me give you two examples of how this works.

Learning the alphabet...

Stage 1. When you were very young, you didn't even know that there were 26 letters in the alphabet. You didn't know what you didn't know. Hence, you were unconsciously incompetent.

Stage 2. You learned that there was such a thing as an alphabet, and that it had 26 letters, but you didn't know them all. You knew what you didn't know. Hence, you were consciously incompetent.

Stage 3. You finally learned all the letters. So you knew what you needed to know. But in order to write a word, you had to really concentrate on each letter. Hence, you were consciously competent.

Stage 4. Now, you can write words without even thinking about it. Hence, you are unconsciously competent.

Just to make sure you really get it, let's look at another example.

Driving a car...

Stage 1. There was a time when you had no idea of what was involved in driving a car. Hence, you were unconsciously incompetent.

Stage 2. You started to learn about driving. You read the book. Your parents explained what they were doing while they were driving. You asked questions and got answers. You gave it a try - with Mom or Dad in the car - and realized you still had a lot to learn. You were consciously incompetent.

Stage 3. After a lot of practice, you could drive. But you had to really concentrate on what you were doing. You were consciously competent.

Stage 4. By now, you've driven so much that it's become automatic. You no longer have to think about what to do, you just do it. You are an unconsciously competent driver.

But... are you unconsciously competent at parallel parking?

Most people are not. They haven't parallel parked enough. They are consciously competent at it - meaning they can parallel park. But first they have to turn down the radio, stop talking, and focus.

What all this has to do with the achievement of your goals...

The parallel parking example illustrates that when you are working on developing the skills you need to achieve your goals, simply being effective from time to time won't help you fully establish the habit.

To become unconsciously competent at those skills, you must recognize which stage you are at - and then understand what you need to do to move to the next stage.

More than likely, there are still a few areas where you are unconsciously competent - things you simply don't know you don't know.

So your job right now is to become cognizant of what you need to know to achieve your main goal.

That will help you transition to Stage 2.

In Stage 2, you will start to learn what you need to know to be effective.

In Stage 3, you will apply your newfound knowledge. But you must do it consciously, consistently, and often.

Before long, you will pass on to Stage 4: unconscious competence. At that point, you will be effective by habit, performing the skills that ensure your success without even thinking about it.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

"Advertising is what you do when you can't be there in person."

Fairfax Cone

A Highly Profitable, Laughably Simple Lesson From the Great Depression
By Drayton Bird

I have a daughter in Montclair, New Jersey - hometown of the inimitable Yogi Berra.

As a result, I have made a bit of a study of his remarks. And one of my favorites is, "You can observe a lot just by looking."

Well, one thing I have observed a lot is the disinclination of most marketers to look at the past - and see what they can learn from it. They just don't study enough.

Coincidentally, a client recently asked if I had any good examples of marketing during shaky economic times.

I was stumped for a moment, because wise marketers do the same things in any economy:

They avoid trying to be "creative" like the plague; don't settle for the first idea they come up with; test everything - and, for God's sake, do everything they possibly can to get that response.

That last point is so important. And so often ignored. When I look at marketing copy - which I do every day - I am struck by how weak the calls to action are, especially when I consider how much difference even tiny changes can make. For instance:

  • When I worked briefly with the astonishing Gene Schwartz, I learned that writing "tear out this coupon" instead of "cut out this coupon" made a significant difference in response rates.

  • When I got into catalogue marketing, I discovered that if you put ordering details on every page, sales went up.

  • When I wrote my first insurance mailings, tests showed that doubling the size of the order form boosted sales 25%.

  • And one of the first things I learned about TV direct response was that the longer the phone number is on the screen, the higher the response.

I just looked in my files and found the following - the end of a leaflet. It dates back to the Great Depression of the 1930s.


Now that final paragraph really is a call to action. You can tell that whoever wrote it really wanted people to reply:

"Let nothing, absolutely nothing, interfere with immediate action," he wrote. "A change for the better justifies no delay. Don't watch others make money which you can make. Be up and doing now. Some other time may be too late. Place your order and application this very minute. Take the action now that means more money next week, independence next year."

The business promoted by that leaflet was successful for many years. And if you read the copy, you can see that it is in a field that's very popular now on the Internet - making money by selling stuff.

How to Go for the Sale

It is easy to forget that your advertising merely acts as a substitute for a live salesperson. If you could afford it, you would send the finest salesperson you have to do the job for you. So when you look at your marketing copy, you must constantly ask yourself, "Is this how a great salesperson would do it?"

If you want to make a sale, you must:

  • Remind people what they get when you ask for the order.

  • Put a value on what they get. ("You could pay more for a lunch for two.")

  • Remind them what they will miss if they don't respond to your offer.

  • Emphasize the deadline or the limited numbers. (I've seen that boost response by 50%.)

Here are some of the ways I like to end my sales copy:

  • "Why not make this the very next thing you do?"

  • "Why not reply the minute you finish reading this?"

  • "It's so easy to put things off, isn't it? Why not reply now?"

  • "Why not order now, while this is fresh in your mind?"

I always try to ask for the sale at least three times at the end. And if I'm working with long copy, I ask early on too. (That gets people who are keen to buy right away.) And then I keep asking at intervals.

How Many Ways Can You Sell People on Responding?

Now, here is an instructive little exercise for you. Read through the last paragraph of copy in the leaflet example I gave above. Here it is again:

"Let nothing, absolutely nothing, interfere with immediate action. A change for the better justifies no delay. Don't watch others make money which you can make. Be up and doing now. Some other time may be too late. Place your order and application this very minute. Take the action now that means more money next week, independence next year."

Now count the number of reasons it gives for acting.

I got eight. Did you?

That gives you some idea how hard you have to fight for business in tough times. (Remember, that leaflet was written during the Great Depression.)

The moment of truth comes when you ask for the order.

Believe me, few things cost less or make more difference than doing that as though your life depends on it - because it may.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Conscious Eating for Perfect Weight

By Sheila Patel, M.D.

What is perfect weight? It is tempting to think that there is a certain number on a scale that defines a person’s “perfect” weight. The problem with this, as many recognize, is that even when they reach their goal weight, they still don’t feel healthy and vital. On the other hand, some people may not meet the criteria for “ideal weight” by some standards, yet they still feel vibrant, healthy, and happy. Perfect weight isn’t a number. It isn’t about how someone looks. Instead, it is a natural state of balance, where we feel healthy and energetic.

The healing system of Ayurveda teaches that we each have a unique mind-body type, known as our dosha, that guides how we look and feel when we’re healthy. Since our individual state of health and balance is different from everyone else’s, the perfect weight for each of us will vary, and no single dietary regimen will be appropriate for everyone.

According to Ayurveda, by understanding our true nature, strengthening our connection to ourselves, and living in balance with our natural rhythms, our perfect weight is revealed. This knowledge doesn’t come from an external source, but comes from within each and every one of us. Once we understand this, we can begin to listen to our inner intelligence and engage in practices that strengthen our mind-body-spirit connection and lead us towards the weight that is ideal for us.

3 Keys to Healthy, Mindful Eating

From an Ayurvedic perspective, there are three vital factors to consider when it comes to healthy eating and optimal weight: 1.) your digestive power, 2.) your doshic type, and 3.) conscious eating. Let’s look at each of these elements in more detail.

1.) Optimizing Our Digestion

The first, and possibly the most important, aspect to evaluate is the state of your digestion. Before considering the kinds of food that you’re eating, you want to find out whether your ability to digest that food is optimal. In Ayurveda, the term agni, or “digestive fire,” refers to the body’s ability to break down and subsequently absorb and utilize the nutrients and energy that you ingest.

There is an ancient Ayurvedic saying that states that if your agni is strong, you can turn poison into nectar, but if your agni is weak, you will turn nectar into poison. In other words, if your agni is weak, you can eat very nutritious food, but your body will be unable to digest and absorb it. Just as a weak campfire produces a lot of smoke and leaves behind pieces of charred wood, a weak digestive fire can’t completely digest your food, which may then accumulate as toxic residue in the body. Alternatively, if your agni is like a roaring campfire, it will completely “cook” or break down the food that you eat so that it can nurture your health and vitality.

I have seen patients who were eating a healthy, low-calorie diet and exercising appropriately with a combination of cardio, yoga, and weights, yet they were unable to lose even a pound after months of this regime. More important, they weren’t feeling healthy despite “doing everything right.” In these cases, we need to explore what factors may be weakening a person’s agni. By addressing these underlying issues, we can help the body restore its natural balance and health and arrive at the perfect weight for that individual.

Here are a few of the major sources that weaken agni and what you can do to address them:

Excessive Stress

Having too much stress in your life keeps your body in a heightened state of “fight-or-flight” and weakens your digestive fire. When we are in the fight-or-flight mode, our body releases stress hormones such as cortisol to deal with whatever immediate stress we are presented with. Cortisol stimulates our appetite in anticipation of needing more energy, and it also stimulates a cascade of hormonal reactions that cause us to store excess energy around our abdomen in the form of fatty tissue.

Fight-or-flight is an ancient biological mechanism that helped our ancestors protect themselves from life-threatening threats such as saber-toothed tigers. However, in today’s modern world, unless we serve in the military, police force, or some similar occupation, we rarely face major physical threats in our environment. Yet our body continues to gear up with the same flight-or-fight response to much smaller events that violate our sense of safety – such as someone cutting us off on the highway or being passed over for a promotion. Unless we find adaptive ways to manage stress, over time this chronic stress may lead to chronic disease states, and a change in how we metabolize and store energy.

Activities or practices that reduce stress, such as meditation and yoga, will increase your ability to digest and incorporate food properly into your body. Engaging in any form of exercise that you enjoy, as well as being out in nature, can also decrease the stress reaction in the body. By reducing stress, these practices also strengthen your agni.

Overeating

When we overeat, we are physically interfering with our stomach’s ability to move the food around and break it down. In addition, we are giving our body more calories than it needs, which weakens our digestive fire. This is similar to putting too much wood on a fire and “smothering” it. Current research is showing that simple “overnutrition” or eating more than our body needs causes inflammation in the part of the brain that regulates hunger, the hypothalamus. This can then lead to an increase in appetite, as well as the release of hormones that promote weight gain.

There are many reasons why we may overeat. Some people have learned from childhood that food can soothe the emotions, and this leads to emotional eating. Managing our emotional reactions to events in our lives in a healthy way will reduce our need to eat for emotional reasons.

Our cultural and social conditioning may also contribute to overeating. Many of us were taught as we were growing up that we needed to “clean our plate,” or that it was rude to refuse food that someone offered to us – even if we weren’t hungry. Today we may continue to follow the “eating rules” we learned so long ago. Many social events revolve around food and can easily lead to overnutrition. Others may find themselves eating out of boredom or habit (as in mindlessly eating large tubs of popcorn at movies). Identifying and changing these “eating rules” that aren’t based on your body’s need for nutrition can minimize overeating.

Honoring Your Appetite

Ayurveda teaches us to honor our appetite and to eat only when we are hungry – when we actually need the nutrients and the energy contained in food. As opposed to current Western medical trends in treating obesity, which focus on developing more pharmaceutical options, Ayurveda focuses on honoring the natural cues of our body. However, many people have learned to have a negative relationship with their appetite, and common weight-loss strategies focus on appetite suppressants. This is a misguided approach because “diet pills” tend to blunt our body’s signals for nutrition, as well as hamper our digestive process.

In the past I sometimes prescribed appetite suppressants to patients thinking that I was helping them. In reality, although some were able to lose some weight initially, the results were never long-lasting. When my patients eventually stopped taking appetite suppressants their body gave them signals to eat more, to catch up on the nutrition they had deprived themselves of. In the end, because we were not focusing on understanding and working with their appetite, the weight came back.

Just as appetite suppressants don’t work in the long term, popular diets don’t provide long-lasting results because they aren’t based on body-centered awareness but on a temporary and often overly severe restriction of calories. While people may lose weight on a diet by limiting their food intake, they ultimately gain back the weight and then some because they haven’t developed healthy eating patterns and learned to tune into their body’s true needs.

Tuning into Your Body

Listening to your body’s cues and eating only until you are physically satisfied will help prevent overeating and strengthen your digestion. Becoming conscious of when you eat too much and why is the first step. I have had many patients over the years who have been able to lose weight and keep it off simply by listening to their body’s signals of fullness, and eating only when they are hungry.

To increase your awareness of your body’s true hunger signals, use this technique: Whenever you’re considering eating, place your hand on your abdomen and bring your awareness to your stomach. Then ask yourself, “On a scale of 1–10, (with 1 being absolutely ravenous and 10 uncomfortably stuffed) how hungry am I?” Don’t eat until your appetite reaches a 2 or 3, and stop eating when you reach a 7. It’s important to leave your stomach about one-quarter to one-third empty at the end of a meal. This will make your digestive system work more efficiently. Also, if you leave a little room in your stomach, you will feel more energetic, light, and buoyant.

What Are You Hungry for?

Practices that strengthen our mind-body connection help us to understand what hunger truly feels like. We often misinterpret the physical sensations that accompany unmet emotional needs. We interpret the feeling “in the pit of our stomach” as hunger, rather than identifying it as anxiety or fear. This can lead to emotional eating, or soothing our emotional needs with food. When we learn to identify our emotional state more accurately and find out what we are really hungry for, we can stop using food to self-soothe and find more satisfying, conscious ways to fill our emotional needs.

One of the most powerful practices for stopping compulsive overeating and getting in touch with our true appetites is meditation. When you meditate, you connect to your essential nature and expand your capacity for self-referral, which is looking within and taking actions based on your internal value system.

2.) Eat for Your Mind-Body Type

Once you have considered the strength of your digestive power, next consider the foods that you’re eating. In Ayurveda, there are three mind-body types, or doshas, and the types of foods that are optimal for you depend upon your individual dosha. The foods that keep one person in balance and at their ideal weight may not be the right choices for someone with a different dosha. The doshas explain why some people can eat a hot, spicy meal and feel fine, while others could eat the same meal and experience heartburn or indigestion.

Each dosha has a different type of metabolism, which affects how we process the foods that we eat. Two people can eat the same foods and have the same activity level, but look and feel quite different. One dosha may naturally be able to handle a heavier type of food, while another dosha may be more in balance with lighter foods. When you are eating according to your individual mind-body type, it is easier to keep the body in balance. Learn more about your dosha here and take the Dosha Quiz here.

Ayurveda divides food into six categories based on their taste and the effect they have on our bodies. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. By incorporating all six tastes into each meal, our bodies feel satisfied, often with much less than we are used to eating. When we are satisfied, our body does not give us signals to look for more food, and cravings begin to disappear. We no longer feel the need to snack because our body feels satisfied with the meal we have eaten. Ayurveda also offers specific guidance on how each of the six tastes affects the doshas and which tastes to favor depending on your doshic type. In addition, by eating a variety of foods, especially densely pigmented foods of all colors and from all six taste categories, we give our bodies all of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that it needs.
Learn more about the six tastes in the Chopra Center’s On-line Library.

3.) Paying Attention to How We Eat

In addition to choosing foods that nurture our mind-body type, Ayurveda teaches that how we eat is very important as well. Our digestion is most effective when we eat consciously or mindfully and in a relaxing, peaceful environment. Unfortunately, in our fast-paced society we have developed eating practices that interfere with our ability to achieve our own healthy weight. We eat too quickly, and on the run. We are taught that multi-tasking is the key to success, so we often eat while we are working, or while our attention is on things other than our food. We also haven’t learned the value of silence, so we eat with the radio or TV on, or while we’re on the computer. All of these activities interfere with our body’s ability to fully experience eating.

When we slow down and pay attention to eating, this is called conscious eating. When we eat mindfully instead of mindlessly, we notice the signals that our body is sending us that we may not have recognized before. We learn to identify the signs of satiety, or when our body has had enough food, so we don’t overeat. We also are more satisfied after meals, because we have taken the time to actually taste and appreciate the food. After enjoying and fully experiencing a meal, we will not feel the need to snack later.

Eating in Tune with Our Body’s Rhythms

Once we become familiar with what hunger feels like, we will notice that our appetite cycles according to our body’s natural rhythms. We feel hungriest in the middle of the day when we are most active. Ayurveda recommends that we eat our biggest meal of the day between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when our digestive power is strongest and we have the greatest need for energy. A lighter meal in the evening is more aligned with our natural cycle of slowing down. It’s best to eat dinner several hours before you go to bed to give your body time to digest before settling into sleep. Many people notice that eating a meal later in the evening gives the body a feeling of heaviness, since our natural ability to digest is weaker at that time.

Ayurveda offers us many useful principles that we can use in our efforts to achieve the right balance for ourselves. Through practices such as meditation and yoga, we begin to enter a state of self-referral and can spontaneously make better choices for ourselves. We stop reacting to external cues that govern our behavior, such as messages from the media or other sources outside ourselves. Instead, we begin to effortlessly move toward behaviors that are right for us, governed by our own internal intelligence. We can then discover for ourselves what our own “perfect weight” really is.

*Note: The information in this article is intended for your educational use only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and before undertaking any diet, fitness, or other health program.

Top 5 Tips for Your Business Blog

1. Own your own domain name. You want to use a domain like mycompany.com/blog or mycompanyblog.com instead of mycompany.blogger.com or mycompany.wordpress.com. This way you're building up trust for your domain, not your hosting company's, and you'll keep all the inbound links you build up in case you ever want to move. We did that with our own web marketing blog: flyte blog, and it turned out to be incredibly important when we moved to the WordPress platform.

2. Blog so that the search engines can find you. Every blog post you create, creates another web page. Every web page is another opportunity to rank well for specific search your prospects are doing at Google or Bing. For more on blogging and SEO check out the article Ultimate Blogger's Guide to Search Engine Optimization.

3. Create keyword rich links back to your main website. Blog about topics related to your products and services and then link the keywords to your web pages. For more detail check out Magnetic SEO: What Electromagnets Can Teach Us About SEO.

4. Engage your audience on and off your blog. Respond to commenters on your blog. Away from your blog, use social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to engage people and bring them back to your blog.

5. Be patient and persistent. You will not get page one results on day one. Plan to blog 2 - 3 times a week for six months to get results.

In Conclusion

While there's no magic formula to blogging success, by taking these best practices to heart, you can expect better results from your business blogging activities. Blog on!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

"I can give you a six-word formula for success: 'Think things through - then follow through."

Sir Walter Scott

Touching All the Bases
By Robert Ringer

"Touching all the bases" is an appropriate metaphor that may well have its roots in the tragic tale of Fred Merkle. At the time, Merkle was only 19 years old and in his second major league season with the New York Giants.

Merkle's infamous mental lapse took place on September 23, 1908, in the last half of the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs. With the score tied and two outs, the Giants had runners on first (Merkle) and third (Moose McCormick), when Al Bridwell singled to centerfield.

On the hit, Merkle was still on his way to second base when McCormick crossed home plate with what appeared to be the winning run. But when Merkle saw McCormick score, he thought the game was over and didn't bother to go all the way to second base. Instead, he headed straight for the clubhouse.

Unlike Fred Merkle, however, the Cubs' Johnny Evers was alert to what was going on. He immediately realized that even though the runner had already crossed home plate, the run wouldn't count if a forced runner (Merkle) was thrown out at second. He yelled to the Cubs' centerfielder "Solly" Hofman to throw him the ball. The ball went over Evers's head, and Cubs third-base coach Joe McGinnity scooped it up. Realizing what was about to happen, McGinnity threw the ball into the stands.

Relentlessly, Evers climbed into the stands and retrieved the ball (or, according to some accounts, "a" ball), called to one of the umpires that there was a force play at second base, and touched the bag. The umpire, who also had been alert enough to note that Merkle had not bothered to touch second base, called him out. Because of the ensuing chaos, and with darkness setting in, the game was ruled a tie. The Giants disputed the ruling, but the National League office upheld the umpire's decision.

After that historic game, the Giants, who had been in first place, fell apart in the last two weeks of the season. Further, to rub insult into injury, the Cubs won the pennant.

Today, more than a century after the fact, this historic moment is still referred to in baseball lore as "Merkle's Bonehead Play." And Fred Merkle became forever labeled "Bonehead Merkle."

Poor Fred Merkle. He got labeled a dunce for making the same kind of mistake most of us make many times throughout our lives. Everyone forgets to "touch all the bases" at one time or another.

As an author, I can assure you from firsthand experience that writing a book is all about following through and touching all the bases. For each book I write, I have a checklist of over 100 items that I painstakingly address after I work my way through 20 to 25 drafts. If a writer's aim is to produce quality work, he has to be willing to invest an enormous amount of time and effort in making certain that no important steps are missed.

The broader message I've been leading up to in this article is that you shortchange yourself if you fail to touch all the bases during your short stay on this planet. Take reading, for example. The last thing in the world you want to do is miss the one book that might have a major impact on how you end up living your life.

Touch all the bases. Make the effort to get up out of your chair, walk over and pick up the camera, and take a picture of that special moment in time that will otherwise be lost forever. Take the time to listen to your kids... play sports with them... laugh with them... communicate with your spouse... exercise... listen to good music... be active. Make a conscious effort to touch all the bases while you're here, because you have no way of knowing if you're ever going to pass this way again.

Monday, June 13, 2011


Vintage Essays By Judy Williamson, Director of the Napoleon Hill World Learning Center at Purdue University Calumnet

Dear Readers,

Ask anyone and they will tell you that they want to be healthy. Conduct an on the spot man-on-the-street interview, and regardless of who you ask, nearly 100% of the people surveyed will tell you that it is their desire to be healthy, to be happy, and to be terrific! Probe a little further and either ask or observe how most people approach working toward the healthy lifestyle that they claim to want. Examine some of the findings below as you observe and "measure" the results.

1. What time do they rise in the morning? What time do they go to bed at night?
2. What do they consume for their daily diet?
3. What type of exercise do they practice? Does any of it extend beyond normal movement? Do they push themselves to do a little more than they feel capable of doing at the time?
4. What do they claim to have as a passion in life? In other words, what is their definite major purpose? Can you see any passion in their lives?
5. What manner do they have for expressing daily gratitude? Do the have a positive mental attitude, do they pray, do they extend acts of kindness towards others and themselves? Do they give without the expectation of return?
6. Do they consider themselves part of the solution or just part of the problem? In other words, do they attempt to correct wrongs they encounter, or do they just accept what is and move on?

Now, reverse your role, and ask yourself the above questions noticing yourself "from a distance." If you are healthy, happy, and terrific, you will find that these questions and your responses contribute to your overall well-being. Why? Because you choose to be involved in the life you live. Your purpose is not to be a space holder on the sidelines sitting on the bench.

The reality is each one of us is the MVP in our game of live. Recognize this and treat your health and well-being as the most valuable asset that you possess. Because it is!

Friday, June 10, 2011

"Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners."

Laurence Sterne

How to Rid Yourself of a Little Flaw That's Holding You Back
By Peter J. Fogel

When transitioning from my former career as a stand-up comic into my new one as "The Reinvention Guy," I realized that one of the things that had been holding me back from accomplishing my goals was the desperation of wanting success too badly. I swore that once I transformed myself, I would do my best to get rid of it (the desperation)!

Sure, I would still have tenacity. But I would pull back more, give people a chance to get to know me, and not be a jackhammer in trying to land engagements.

Like me, there's a good chance that the little flaw that is holding you back has to do with the way you communicate with people. In general, correcting that flaw is a matter of withholding judgment about them and trying to see where they are coming from.

It Begins With Mutual Respect

Let's start with this: If I asked the people you work with what kind of person you are, what would they say?

Would they say that you are friendly, hardworking, and dedicated?

Would they say that you are easy to work with?

Your co-workers and bosses will put up with a wide range of behaviors from you, just as you do with them. But one thing they won't put up with for long is disrespect! I know this might be common sense - but just as they have to earn your respect, you must earn theirs. That means getting to know them - and getting rid of any preconceived notions you may have about them.

Dr. Todd Kashdan, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at George Mason University, says lack of curiosity is a breeding ground for stereotyping and discrimination, ignorance, rigid conformity, inflated confidence, and dogmatism.

No matter how unprejudiced we think we are, we all tend to make assumptions about people who are different from us. It's human nature. But you must rise above this if you are to communicate with others effectively.

Getting in the Mood

Could the people you work with say that you are prone to wild mood swings? If so, that's something you have to learn to control.

Here are three things you can do:

  • Notice your mood swings. Go off by yourself while you work through your problems. (Have your own personal "time out.")

  • If you go off on someone, apologize. As much as you may think the opposite, apologizing isn't a sign of weakness on your part. It's a sign of respect.

  • If you are having serious emotional issues, get help from a counselor.

The Invisible Co-Worker

There's a great episode of the old Twilight Zone television series where a guy was sentenced to be invisible for one year. A mark was put on his forehead and no one was allowed to speak to him or acknowledge he existed. Naturally, he went crazy.

Are you treating any of your co-workers in this fashion? Could you be disrespecting these people by NOT acknowledging them at all?

Doing so makes them feel unappreciated - like their contributions to the business aren't important. But these are people who affect your own job security. They're the grease that keeps the engine of the company you work for running.

Here's what you can do to "see" them:

  • This may sound like a no-brainer, but it truly is the little things you do that get noticed. One of the most important things you can do is to say hello to others as you walk down the hall or past their offices.

  • Regardless of the size of your company, try your best to actually learn and address everyone by their first names.

As Dale Carnegie said, "If you remember my name, you pay me a subtle compliment; you indicate that I have made an impression on you. Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance."

  • Smile at people, shake their hands, and introduce them to others. I guarantee you they will not feel invisible after that.

  • Surprise them. I have an assistant who is handling a lot of tasks and assignments for me. She recently sent me an invoice for her services. I paid her immediately (which I always do), and I added a bonus. She sent me a heartfelt thank you, telling me her other clients never do what I did... and that they could learn something from me about how to treat people who work for them.

Think my assistant isn't always going to go the extra yard for me?

Take-Away Tip: Really examine how you communicate with your co-workers.

  • Do you treat them with respect?

  • Do you treat them fairly?

  • Do you make an effort to implement their ideas?

  • Do you make it clear that you value their input?

No matter where you are in your career, the advice I gave you today can help you get a little further toward achieving your long-term goals.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off."
~ Gloria Steinem



"Making Up Your Mind" To Have More Money & Miracles
By Maria Andros


I can still remember that day clearly, sitting at my kitchen table in my small one bedroom apartment in Vancouver, Canada - feeling stuck and frustrated. I had lost my passion, and joy. I knew I had to find a way out.

Does your life sometimes feel like that movie Groundhog Day? Some days you feel like you're finally getting closer to your dreams.

Then something happens...

You hit a roadblock, someone in your life upsets you, or your business hits a plateau.

You start beating yourself up for not being a "happy" or "positive" enough person.

The good news is that I'm not going to sugar coat anything. I am not going to tell you that you have to be a Pollyanna - happy all the time - to manifest what you want. That would be unrealistic and inauthentic.

What I am going to share with you today are specific tangible principles that I've personally used in my life. These tools have created more money and miracles than I could have even dreamed were possible.

If you're ready for your personal "shift", then let's get started!

We're programmed from a young age as women to put our needs last, to be the "good girl" and to worry about everyone else first. Because of that, it's easy to feel resentful, exhausted, uninspired, unhappy and confused.

My definition of mindset is simply, "making up your mind" that you're not going to live that way anymore.

It is being willing to start trusting one of your own super powers, INTUITION, which is like your internal GPS guidance system.

Only you know what's best for you and can decide that you're now willing to step into being the radiant, beautiful "Goddess" that you were born to be. Full of purpose, happy, loving life, powerful, generous and financially free.

Step 1) Reinvent Your Life

This is where you need to bring in CLARITY and get back in touch with what it is that really lights you up.

I want you to imagine you're an artist and in front of you is a big white canvas. You can start over, there's no past or future. This is your masterpiece just waiting to be created.

What is it that you really want? Not what you think you should want, or what society influences you to think you "should" have.

I want you to get radically honest with yourself and ask yourself the question "what would really make me feel alive, happy and fulfilled inside?" Is it an extra $2000 income working from home, or writing your first book?

Is it living in a home along the ocean, being in the relationship of your dreams, or having a baby?

When you allow and give yourself permission to have those desires, you'll be in the flow and you'll automatically start attracting more abundance into your life.

Action Step: Take a journal and write out your Top 50 desires on your "Wish List". Remember only you can hold yourself back here, nothing is too big or too small, if it really lights you up. Have fun and get in touch with your heart. When you do you make the process even more powerful.


Step 2) Create a Vision Board

When I made my first vision board, I had no idea how quickly things would shift in my life. I never imagined that I would be living in sunny California along the ocean, and that I would have met the amazing friends and leaders that I've met. I would never have guessed in a million years that I would go on to inspire over a million people now through my videos.

Your mind works in pictures, we're visual beings. The key here is to re-program your mind with images that match up and are in alignment with your highest vision for yourself and your life.

Images activate your subconscious mind. The most important part of a vision board is to pick pictures that make you feel as if you already have your desired outcome.

The next step is to pick affirmations or words that will trigger your mind to go into a higher vibration state. Choose power words or phrases that inspire you.

I often like to say that your words create your world and that's why declaration's or mantras are very helpful in assisting your shifting mindset.

Here are some examples that you can borrow or make up your own.

I am in love and in the relationship of my dreams
I am at my perfect weight and I feel great
My business is growing and thriving
I now make $100,000 + per year online
I am irresistible

Action Step: Buy a white poster board or cork-board and some magazines. Choose images that make you feel a positive or evoke emotion. Write out some affirmations and then type them on your computer, print them out and add them to your vision board.


Step 3) Remove Resistance

Resistance is one of the biggest challenges we face as human beings. It's easy to put things off until tomorrow, or until "someday".

While resistance can be very frustrating you can use it to your advantage to have breakthroughs and to create results in your life.

Whenever you feel resistance coming up, see where you feel it in your body. Is it in your stomach, in your chest? Just notice and be aware of it. You can even say "Hello fear, you're safe here, what do you want to bring to my attention?"

What makes the resistance monster get out of control is when you ignore it, make yourself wrong or judge yourself.

So instead of doing that we're going to take small steps every day - like take things off our "to do list".

As you build momentum you will feel a sense of integrity within yourself, you'll feel empowered instead of disempowered, and things will become a lot easier.

My mind has a tendency to race and sometimes it's so bad I can barely sleep through the night. What I've found that's completely helped turn that around is meditation.

My friend Max Simon showed me how to focus on a mantra for 20 minutes a day every morning and it's completely changed my life.

Action Steps: When resistance comes up don't make it wrong, just feel it in your body and then choose one action step you can take to focus on. I also recommend finding a daily meditation practice that works for you, to help calm your mind so that you can have a sense of peace of mind and clarity.

Step 4) Celebrate Your Wins and Victories

We're taught by society to focus on our problems. The news is a perfect example of this with all the negative fear based messages being broadcast constantly.

The Law of Attraction teaches that what you focus on expands and thoughts become things.

You aren't taught in school to love yourself, to celebrate your wins or to acknowledge your unique potential and gifts.

Instead society show's us that it's all about striving to do more, to get more, and to compare ourselves to others; which only robs of us of our energy, joy and power.

Let's try on something different instead. How has focusing on your problems worked for you so far? If you're ready for a shift in consciousness and a radical new way of being, then you'll love this discipline.

Why not focus on what you're doing right, and the progress you're actually making in your life, even if you feel it's too slow. It's about training yourself to celebrate the every day small wins that can be the game changer for you.

The fastest way to create more money and miracles is to get into an attitude of gratitude. What you appreciate, "appreciates". The universe or God can't give you more if you're not open to receiving more and thankful for what you have already.

So a simple thing you can do is to put your attention on what's already working instead of what's not working.

A great mantra I personally like to say is:

"Everything is unfolding perfectly...exactly how it's supposed to."

Action Steps: Make a list of your recent wins, maybe you were patient with a friend, you treated yourself to a pedicure instead of putting in overtime at work.

Celebrate all of this and as you do your self worth will go up and your net worth will rise.

It all starts with a choice. Everything you want is possible when you step outside your comfort zone.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

"A strong foundation increases the value of everything you do."

Aaron Wall

Make Me an Offer I Can't Refuse
By MaryEllen Tribby

"Why are you so upset?" my husband asked.

"Because this woman has been online and in the marketing world for two years and she is teaching people things that are incorrect," I replied. "It drives me crazy!"

Yes, I will admit it - it makes me freaking nuts when I see this kind of irresponsibility. And I see it all too often. Men and women who tout themselves as experts... yet supply information that's flat-out wrong.

I try to tell myself that she is probably a nice person and she probably believes the advice she is out there hawking.

But I want to shout at the top of my lungs, "STOP!"

It's not as though the right information is hard to find. Hundreds of GREAT marketing tools - books, newsletters, DVDs, and white papers - have been published over the years. These resources explain the fundamentals, the tried-and-true strategies and proven methods that have been making sales for decades.

Of course, this includes the masterpieces written by David Ogilvy, Claude Hopkins, Dick Benson, Robert Cialdini, and Eugene Schwartz. But plenty has been written by successful businesspeople and marketers working today. Experts like Michael Masterson, Clayton Makepeace, Bob Bly, and your very own MaryEllen Tribby. (That's right. The bestselling book I wrote with Michael Masterson, Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business, is all about direct-marketing fundamentals.)

If the misguided woman I mentioned earlier had only taken the time to study these resources - understand the fundamentals and apply them in a real business setting - then and only then would she (and anyone else in her position) be qualified to proclaim herself an expert.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. What bothers me so much about so many so-called marketing "experts" is that they have never built or run a real business.

Often, they run a "copycat" business - a company that's based on a modification of what other marketers do. They simply duplicate it, add a little twist, spice it up with their own little flair, and Shazzam!

Well, guess what? It is a whole different ballgame when you are the one to brainstorm, test, and roll out REAL marketing campaigns. When you are the one to either hire the copywriter or write the copy yourself. When you craft an offer and select the media. Until you:

  1. Understand what the marketing fundamentals are...

  2. Test, test, and test some more...

  3. And have a "braggable" track record...

You cannot consider yourself an expert.

And, dare I say, you cannot assure yourself of your next paycheck.

Mark my words, until you've mastered the basics, you will always be scrambling to find the next "magic button," the next "instant fix."

Well, it's time. It's time that we say "No more B.S." That we resolve to practice the same thing we preach to our kids: Education is the key. That we sit down and master the marketing essentials that have always worked in the past and will always work in the future. Let's get started.

Art and Science, the Perfect Marriage

All of your marketing campaigns should be a mixture of art and science. The art is in writing sales copy and crafting an irresistible offer. The science is in tracking responses and using statistical computations to plan future campaigns.

Writing successful sales copy is a creative process - a matter of figuring out the market and devising a promotion based on the customer's current concerns. List and media testing and analysis, by contrast, are left-brain activities - tracking responses accurately and running them through statistical models. Although entrepreneurs should be comfortable with both parts of the marketing process, most tend to favor just one. Those who are more mathematically inclined focus on lists and media. Those who feel more comfortable as communicators pay attention to copy.

Today, let's look at how to create the offer - a critical, yet sometimes underestimated, element of any marketing campaign.

The Offer: What Is It Good For?

A good offer can easily double response rates. A bad or botched offer can easily kill a campaign that would otherwise be profitable.

The offer is the deal you make with your customer and the terms of that deal. The offer lays out what he gets for what he gives you. It includes the product or the service, all the promises made about the product or service, the price you're asking, any bonuses you're including, the guarantee, and how the customer can make the purchase. All of these details are important, and all of them need to be spelled out.

Your Offer Must Be "Hercules" Strong

The offer should include an incentive or reward that motivates prospects to respond, either with an order or with a request for more information (depending on your goals).

To be effective, your offer must pass these "10 Tests":

Test 1: Is your offer specific? Will prospects understand exactly what they get and how to get it?

Test 2: Is your offer exclusive? Are you making your offer only to a select few (and making them feel that they are an exclusive bunch), or are you making your offer to everyone?

Test 3: Is your offer valuable? Will your prospects perceive your offer to be of value to them? Your offer may be inexpensive for you to fulfill, but it must have a high perceived value to your potential customers.

Test 4: Is your offer unique? Is the deal you're offering only available through your business?

Test 5: Is your offer useful? Make sure your offer helps your prospects improve their lives in some way - by, for example, saving money, saving time, or doing their jobs better.

Test 6: Is your offer relevant? Do prospects want what you are offering?

Test 7: Is your offer plausible? Some offers are too good to be true, and others are just plain silly. Your offer needs to be credible.

Test 8. Is it easy to take advantage of your offer? The harder you make it for your prospects to take advantage of your offer, the lower your response rate will be. So make your order form clear, simple, and short; your toll-free telephone number obvious on the page; and your terms and conditions of purchase concise.

Test 9. Is your offer urgent? Your offer should have a deadline - and that deadline should be made clear. Is it an early-bird special? Are you limiting the offer to the first 250 people who respond?

Test 10. Does your offer have a guarantee? Did you strengthen your offer with a money-back guarantee? Did you make sure the prospect knows that there is no risk whatsoever?

Take a look at the offers in your current marketing campaigns. If you are just starting out and do not have any examples of your own, look at offers that you have responded to, either in the mail or online. Examine each piece to see how many of the above tests the offer passes.

Going forward, be conscious of the "10 Tests." You will find that the more often you see an offer repeated, the higher its "grade" will be.

The promotions you see over and over again are the ones getting the most responses. And aren't those repeat money-makers the kind of marketing packages you want for your business?

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Brookfield-Art-Festival-2011--June-11th---12th.html?soid=1101950876462&aid=EAg0Ghc08zk

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Brookfield-Art-Festival-2011--June-11th---12th.html?soid=1101950876462&aid=EAg0Ghc08zk

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

"Here is the basic rule for winning success. Let's mark it in the mind and remember it. The rule is: Success depends on the support of other people."

David Joseph Schwartz

Secrets of a Last-Minute Launch
By Ryan Lee

I just put together a super-fast product launch.

From product idea to affiliate recruitment to launch, it took just a few weeks. In today's market, that is almost unheard of. And we still hit six figures in sales.

How were we able to get people behind us on such short notice? I attribute it to two major lessons I've learned through the years. Today, I'm going to share them with you.

LESSON #1: Get Face-to-Face

Okay, this one might sound like common sense. But just about every person who mailed for us was someone we have met in person, often numerous times. I can't stress how important it is to step away from the computer, get off your ass, and go to LIVE events in your market.

There's NOTHING that comes close to looking someone in the eye and shaking their hand. E-mail, phone, video chat, or Skype can't hold a candle to meeting people in person.

A few tips:

  • Attend AT LEAST two live events a year.

    If a guy like me with four young children can attend at least two live events a year, you can do the same. It's THAT important to your bottom line.

    Just make sure the events are in your market.

    For example, if you want to sell products to professional DJs, go to association events for DJs. Going only to "Internet marketing" events and skipping the DJs is not a good idea. You can go to both, but don't miss events that are specifically geared to your market.

    Again, this might sound like common sense. But it really was a KEY part of getting affiliates to mail for us (and push other programs off their calendar).

  • When you meet someone at an event, don't be "that guy."

    You know the guy I'm talking about. The annoying one. The person who always wants to talk business. The one who is there every time you turn around.

    Go to industry events with the intention of meeting potential affiliates and asking those magic words... "How can I help you?"

    And for goodness sake, loosen up and have fun. Laugh, smile, and don't be so serious. No one wants to be around a big fat bore!

    Annoying plus boring is a deadly combo.

LESSON #2: Give potential affiliates a reason to want to promote your products.

If you pay good commissions and have a strong conversion rate, your affiliates will have a bigger EPC. And that's what most really care about. EPC stands for "Earnings Per Click." It's the average amount of income they earn from traffic they send to your website. And most big affiliates want to know that number.

BUT...

There are some affiliates who have a really strong relationship with their list. They don't care much about EPC. They only care about sharing the best products with their subscribers. And because the trust level is so high, their EPC ends up being higher anyway.

These affiliates always review the product first. They offer special bonuses. And they personally endorse it. We've had some affiliates without a strong list relationship that had low EPCs of $.33, and we've had some with an EPC of $5.00 and higher.

Same product. Same offer. Different relationship.

The ideal situation is to have a great offer with compelling copy that provides tremendous value. A lot of my original students in the health/fitness space have done that with integrity, and their bank accounts are proof. (The list is a mile long, but here are just a few examples of people doing it right: Mike Geary, Isabel Del Los Rios, Vince Del Monte, and Joel Marion.)

But sometimes you have to make sacrifices. For example, I could have sold more if I had made outrageous promises with Nano Continuity. Fake Paypal screenshots and headlines that promised wealth with no effort would have certainly increased the EPC for my affiliates. That would have made me more sales up front, but it would have been harmful in the long run.

This shortsighted approach always leads to...

  1. More refunds. Some of the big "Clickbank" offers that over-promise and under-deliver have refunds up to 50%. (Ours is around 3%.) Remember, it's not what you make, it's what you KEEP that matters.

  2. No trust. When you lose the trust of the people on your list, you won't be able to sell them more products/services in the future. And forget about having them sign up for your continuity programs. So your list will have no value. It's much easier to resell existing customers than to try and find new ones.

  3. A bad name. With social media, discussion forums, and the viral nature of the Internet, if you provide a sub-par product or wrong your customers - word will spread like wildfire. And people are just a Google search away from seeing all those pissed off comments.

  4. More expense. More refunds and more chargebacks = more customer support staff. And that means more costs for you!

So there you have it. Get out there and MEET potential affiliates in person. Come up with the magic mix of a compelling offer that also provides great value - one that would earn a nice EPC for them. And you, too, will be in a position to successfully launch a new product - and start bringing in profits - in record time.