My God. Is this an important newsletter!
How many people do you know who are highly
successful?
I’d be surprised if you know more than a handful in
your entire life.
But suppose I asked you a different question.
How many people do you know who are both truly
happy and successful?
I’d wager a lot that you’d be hard pressed to name
even one or two people who are blessed with both
of these rare qualities.
I’ve known many, many, self-made millionaires.
Indeed, I’ve mentored many of them. And I know
numerous heirs to a large fortune.
Whether inherited or earned, it’s indeed rare to find
even a single person in a lifetime who has unlocked
both the secrets of happiness and success.
Let’s look at what does and does not provide
happiness.
For sure happiness is not about money. As
mentioned, lots or even most wealthy people are not
at all happy.
Indeed, contrary to common thought, instead of
enjoying life, many rich people are extremely
miserable and depressed.
It’s not even about health. You can be physically
very healthy. But mentally you can still suffer from
sadness and depression.
Happiness is not about how big your house or yacht
may be. Or toys, fame, influential friends, or even
business success.
I’m a happiness freak!
As a small boy I concluded I didn’t want to be as
miserable as the adults around me seemed. So I
decided to study the topic.
In a lifetime pursuit of personal happiness I’ve
invested lots of time and money in books. Seminars.
Group therapy. And studying various philosophers
and religions.
None of these pursuits, while helpful, fully
answered the crying human need we all have for
happiness.
** What is the answer to happiness? **
The good news, I believe, is surprisingly simple.
I like what President Abraham Lincoln, who
suffered so much in his life and overcame it all,
said. He made the most intelligent comment I’ve
ever seen on the subject of happiness.
Lincoln said, “Most folks are about as happy as they
make up their minds to be.”
By contrast, most people suffer from stress and are
in a constant state of worry and anxiety. A big
contributing factor to unhappiness is to observe
others and copy them. Simply do what most humans
do. Get up in a hurry. Never examine your life.
Instead stay stressed all day long until you flop into
bed at night.
** The key to happiness **
I find that the closest any of us can come to being
happy each and every day of your life rests on a
simple important principle.
How you start your day.
It’s all about how, upon awakening, you spend the
first 20 minutes.
Here is what I do each and every day. (Before I
shower or have breakfast.)
1. When I awaken the first thing I do is verbally
acknowledge what a priceless gift this day of life
really is. We both know in our heart of hearts this
day, or any day, is promised to no one.
Our life is finite. It could end at any moment. I
simply thank my higher power for this special day.
(I won’t get into long a religious discussion here. I
believe it suffices to say this. I believe there is a
higher power out there, however you wish to define
it for yourself.)
2. I count my blessings each and every day. Both
the great big massive ones. And smaller ones too.
Big blessings for me include my health and that of
my loved ones. My children and grandchildren. My
friends. My clients. My career. My readers. My
freedoms. Books I’ve written. My business ideas.
Somewhat smaller blessings include my toys. My
houses in three countries. My travels. My
acquisitions. My sports, tennis, swimming, walking
and weightlifting. Books I love to read, etc.
3. I say several personal affirmations out loud. If
you’d like a free copy of what I use, click here:
http://snipurl.com/x70r6
After the first 20 minutes I’m now mentally ready
to take on the challenge and opportunities of this
special day.
I believe that I’m a truly happy person. And the
more I follow the above procedure the more
successful and happy I seem to become.
I strongly recommend you try my 20-minute
program. Be sure you let me know your results.
Your correspondent,
Ted Nicholas
—————
“This article appears courtesy of THE SUCCESS
MARGIN, the Internet’s most valuable success and
marketing e-zine. For a complimentary
subscription, visit http://www.tednicholas.com/
Filed under Success, Ted Nicholas by on Jun 8th, 2010. Comment. 
Perhaps the best-known secret of the world’s most successful Internet marketers is this.
Applying the hard-won lessons learned in building successful marketing campaigns offline to the online marketing arena is the reason for the really big successes.
While, of course, everything offline does not apply exactly to online marketing, the major principles do.
As attractive as marketing on the Internet can be, I submit it’s a big mistake to limit yourself to any advertising medium, online or offline. Ideally, you use a combination of both.
Today I’m going to discuss offline space advertising.
It’s a great and profitable skill to actually sell products and services right off the page in magazines and newspapers.
In fact, you can make a huge fortune quickly once you learn the secrets of marketing utilizing space advertising.
But perhaps because there are several critically important things which very few people in the world know, almost all marketers who try space ads fail miserably.
Failed space advertisers tend to quit in disgust. And considerably poorer. And not necessarily wiser. Even worse, they simply don’t know what they did wrong.
Those who have followed my career know that for 21 years I was perhaps the most successful user of space advertising in the U.S. to sell products directly off the page.
Frankly, most people think my unprecedented space ad success is due completely to my copywriting skills. And while, of course, powerful copy plays a big part, there’s much more to the picture.
Here are some basic tips regarding what I learned the hard way in over 20 years.
** The look of the ad **
The way most space ads are laid out, whether created by direct marketers or ad agencies, practically scream, “I’m an ad.” This is a huge mistake.
Consumers don’t like to read advertising as such. They do seek and enjoy information. Your ad should scream “Here is some valuable information.” That’s why all my ads have an editorial look.
Copy should be dense. Column length of body copy should be no wider than a good newspaper or magazine. A full-page ad should have 3 columns.
Photos when used should be mostly of people, not products. Products in an ad will immediately flag out that you may–God forbid–be selling something. This tends to turn people off. People should be looking directly at the camera. Photos should always, always be captioned.
Tip: Once again, for the umpteenth time, a great headline is critical to the success of the ad. Without a compelling headline, your ad doesn’t stand a chance of succeeding.
** The position of the ad **
In a magazine, a space ad should always be on a right-hand page. And it should be up front in the magazine, ideally on the first five right-hand pages. When a space ad is, for example, on page 177, your results will be extremely light. Reason? Most people are so busy they do not get a chance to read the entire magazine.
Ads on left-hand pages generally produce less than half the sales of a right-hand page. You must insist on a right-hand page. Or pull the ad.
In a newspaper, urgently request your ad also be above the fold.
** The media selection **
A great ad in the wrong media will bomb. You must choose magazines and newsletters carefully. In the U.S., Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) can be subscribed to or found in a good library. Every magazine and newspaper published and worth considering is listed. A good basic approach is to simply call publications in which you may be interested and request a media kit.
The media kit will contain all kinds of useful demographic information and a sample of the magazine.
Tip: Avoid publications which have no direct response or mail order ads. This indicates the readers are not accustomed to buying off the page.
** Cost of media **
Advertising rates are almost always negotiable. At my seminars I teach a negotiating technique which usually reduces advertising costs by 50% to 80%.
** Space ad copy **
The copy style, beginning with the headline, must be even more powerful and “tighter” than a sales letter, where comparatively you get away with murder. You must mercilessly cut any unnecessary words or sloppy phrasing.
** Legal factors **
While the following is not legal advice (I am not an attorney), I will give you a few practical ideas.
Once you seriously begin advertising in space, your activities are much more visible to everyone. This includes, of course, your competition. And government agencies.
Tip: More people will try to cash in on your success, “rip off” your successful ads. My ads have been ripped off by many marketers (the names of some of them would shock you).
A good protective step which costs nothing is to add to each ad you produce the copyright symbol © followed by the words Copyright, followed by the year and your company name. This helps to provide you common law copyright protection. Often a cease and disease letter from you or your attorney will prevent further violations of your copyright.
As to government agencies, if your ad is on the edge or actually breaking some law, you will undoubtedly hear about it sooner than otherwise.
Adding space advertising done correctly to your marketing program can easily put millions of additional sales in your bank account.
But, you must get the details right. As with all marketing, success is in the margin.
Your correspondent,
Ted Nicholas
—————
“This article appears courtesy of THE SUCCESS MARGIN, the Internet’s most valuable success and marketing e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.tednicholas.com/
Filed under Ted Nicholas, advertising by on Jun 2nd, 2010. Comment.
I just got a message from “The IDMF Team”. The people who run the International Direct Marketing Fair.
What is this obsession with initials? Aren’t there enough around? And what is this obsession with teams? Are we all playing football?
It’s like being greeted by “the onboard team” – when I was on the train hopelessly delayed somewhere between Stafford and Crewe.
- If I want to reply to this message, who do I reply to? (I did – and got no response).
- Come to that, do you like dealing with a “team” or would you prefer to talk to one person and maybe build a relationship?
- “Team” is a negation of direct marketing – and service – which are about serving individuals better, based on their special characteristics.
- Somebody made a fortune by calling it “one-to-one” marketing – which it isn’t, by the way.
Don’t be a team – unless you’ve got 11 heads. Write from me to you.
By the way, their e-mail included a game. They call it an involvement device as it sounds posher than game – but which would you prefer? A game or an involvement device?
The team told me it was “an innovative” idea.
That’s a word people use because they think it sounds a posher than new. Actually it sounds like something you’ve heard a million times before – and it bores you.
It really means something less than new. Sort of “new-like“.
Don’t use hackneyed language like that, please. It makes you sound like a politician.
Best,
Drayton
P.S. This is number 10 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas. You can sign up on the link below for the rest.
—————————————–
Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com
Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.
Filed under Drayton Bird, copywriting by on May 10th, 2010. Comment.
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Featured Article
How to Make a Fortune Promoting Other People’s Products
By Jimmy D. Brown of “Affiliatenaire”
There must be a reason why some affiliates succeed and some
fail, a reason why some affiliates profit moderately and some
affiliates profit substantially.
There must be a reason.
There is.
And that reason is this: “super” affiliates start, sustain and
strengthen relationships with subscribers.
It begins and ends with a list. Even a small one can be a
powerful, profitable mechanism if you follow these 7
guidelines…
1. CAPTURE THE OPTIN FIRST.
Instead of sending traffic directly to your affiliate link,
send them to YOUR site where you offer some kind of list for
them to join. (Hint: Mini-course works best) Once you have
them on a list, they become an asset. If you send them directly
to an affiliate page and they don’t buy, they’re gone forever.
On your list, you can follow-up with them
indefinitely.
Note: You can even redirect them to your affiliate link AFTER
they join your list, effectively getting them where you wanted
them to go in the first place.
2. DIFFERENTIATE THE OFFER.
Instead of sending out the same, tired, lame advertisement that
every other affiliate in the world sends out, write your own.
Trust me when I say that many people find it OFFENSIVE when
they receive two dozens duplicate emails from two dozen list
owners all promoting the exact same thing in the exact same way.
And even if they don’t find it offensive, it’s not as effective
if you simply rinse and repeat what everyone else is doing.
Hint: Here’s how you differentiate…
3. SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE.
Nothing – nothing – nothing speaks louder than RESULTS. If you
want to lose a few pounds, who do you turn to? Someone who is
still struggling with their own weight or someone you’ve seen
drop 35 pounds? Exactly.
The way you make your mailings / ads different is you speak
from your own personal experience. This product or service that
you are promoting as an affiliate, how has it been useful to you
personally? What results have you personally achieved? When you
used it, what happened?
Note: If you haven’t personally used the product, then shame
on you for trying to make a quick buck from it hocking it to
others!
4. OFFER A COMPELLING INCENTIVE.
Another way to be different – and to dramatically increase your
chances of getting a sale as an affiliate – is to offer some
kind of compelling incentive if someone buys the offer through
YOUR referral link. Whether it’s a special report or access to
an audio recording, personalized consultation or advertising, a
private training call or existing products and services, this
can be a highly effective method of converting fence-setters
into paying customers.
In order for it to work well, it must be UNIQUE (I.E. You’re
the only one making the offer) and USEFUL (I.E. Something of
great perceived value to the reader).
Note: Don’t have anything to offer? Don’t worry! There are
many ways to easily obtain extra incentives: conduct an
interview, hire a ghostwriter to create articles / reports for
you, buy reprint rights to other products, assemble a bunch of
free articles and other resources into a private access site,
etc.
5. LOOK FOR RESIDUAL OPPORTUNITIES.
Rather than exhaust your efforts on purchases that give you a
one-time commission, why not make the most of your marketing by
looking firstly for offers that pay out ONGOING monthly
commissions for your referred sales?
There are many different residual income generating services
such as membership sites (ranging from PT Cruisers to weight
loss), stock photos and clipart, hosting, autoresponders,
databases (from hiking trails to sermon outlines) online
magazines and a variety of other subscription based
opportunities that reward you with monthly recurring commissions.
While you definitely want a mix of types of affiliate programs
to promote, your priority should be in identifying and promoting
those services and programs that will pay you month after month,
instead of only one time.
6. BUILD A SALES ARMY.
One of the biggest untapped sources of income in any list is
that of “turning subscribers into partners”. In other words,
find those on your list who are interested in making money and
provide them with training and materials to promote affiliate
programs as well.
This has a two-fold advantage for YOU:
* First, if you find 2-tier affiliate programs, you can get
your subscribers to join the program through your referral.
Anytime they get a sale, you’ll earn a commission as well. You
effectively get free commissions from their effort.
* Secondly, you can use their efforts to build your own assets.
For example: If you provide them with a 10-page report to give
away to promote their affiliate link, you can include a page in
the report promoting YOUR list! You effectively get free
subscribers from their effort.
7. MONETIZE FOR MULTIPLE STREAMS.
As your own list continues to grow, you certainly want to
diversify in your offerings. (Not to the point of bombarding
your list with offers every day of course!)
* Promote other affiliate programs.
* Create your own products.
(Even short $10 reports will earn profit!)
* Establish joint ventures.
* Co-author products.
* Cross promote.
* Conduct surveys.
There are MANY ways to make money from you list and keep your
list growing, growing, growing!
Remember, it all comes down to: starting, sustaining and
strengthening relationships with subscribers.
And that’s how you make a fortune as an affiliate promoting
other people’s products.
Jimmy D. Brown is the author of “Affiliatenaire”, teaching
you how to create big-time affiliate commission checks in
only 1-3 hours each week. Discover how you can get cash in
the bank without a website, experience or even an idea!
Visit http://directanddigitalmarketing.com/affiliatenaire/
———————————–
Filed under Affiliate marketing by on Mar 8th, 2010. Comment.
Here’s a quickie for you today.
Do you know that dire old joke about a man waiting for the bus who had a carrot in his ear?
A helpful passer-by said, “Excuse me, do you know there’s a carrot stuck in your ear?”
The reply (in case you didn’t know) was, “Sorry, I can’t hear you. I’ve got a carrot stuck in my ear”.
Ba-doom!
Sorry about that – I’ll find a better joke next time.
But the reason I told it was that it’s relevant, because quite a few businesses have carrots stuck in their ears, and it’s costing them a fortune.
I gave you a good example not long ago – the “IDMF Team” – that hydra-headed beast that sends out e-mails – but doesn’t reply.
But there are plenty more: usually people who broadcast e-mails, but also big, fat, lazy, greedy, stupid firms like AOL – which fittingly rhymes with rot in hell.
Not to mention all the people like them who ask you to fill in a questionnaire about their alleged service – then never reply to a specific comment you have, let alone tell you what the results of the survey were.
Years ago the direct marketing business was often called the direct response business. But of course, it’s not a one-way affair – and those who act as though it is are being exceptionally stupid.
Always make it easy for people to respond and never send out a message where they can’t.
That means, if they want to write, let them; if they want to phone, let them; if they want to e-mail, let them. And if they want to come and see you, let them.
There’s an old phrase that applies: the customer is always right
Rather obvious, you may say – but many seemingly intelligent people running big organisations ignore it.
Who are the biggest culprits? Probably the banks and broadband “suppliers”. True, they often allow you to reply – nowadays usually to somewhere in India.
And I feel really sorry for the poor souls who answer. They don’t know Streatham from Iceland, they’re given a script which makes no allowances for anything beyond the predictable, and they’re being harassed to handle so many calls an hour.
Of course the consequence of all this never occurs to the supercilious “strategic planners” in Canary Wharf.
They get away with it, in the case of things like broadband because when everyone wants it, marketing doesn’t matter.
But it will all come back to haunt these people as increasingly we sheep refuse to be shorn so easily.
And there are two reasons:
1. The internet, which allows people to shout their grievances to the world.
2. Competition.
You don’t believe me? Well, remember when the banks only opened when it suited them.
They’ve come a long way – but not far enough.
Enough of this ranting!
Best,
Drayton
P.S. This is number 21 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas. You can sign up on the link below for the rest.
—————————————–
Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com
Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.
The Drayton Bird Blog – please do not visit if you are easily offended.
Filed under Drayton Bird, marketing by on Feb 15th, 2010. Comment.
