I’m continuing to read and to be inspired by Napoleon Hill’s excellent “Grow Rich!: With Peace of Mind”. My gem quote this time is about what happens when you start being successful. Interestingly, I also think it is a caution to watch out for basing your business on affiliate marketing.

Let nobody bribe you away from being yourself. You are going to make money, and as soon as you do, others are going to see you have what it takes. Fine! — but this is the point at which many a man loses himself. Having build himself from within himself, and having thus attracted attention, he yields to a “big opportunity” to stop building his own wealth and peace of mine, and ties himself to another’s business.

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As part of my preparation for launching eBookTribe, I’ve been reading the excellent book “Web Copy That Sells” by Maria Veloso.

I unreservedly recommend this book, which breaks things down so much more cleanly and in a much more organized manner than my other favorite copywriting book, “Call to Action”.

As an example of how straightforward she makes the topic, here are her:

Three Fundamental Rules for Writing Web Copy That Sells

• Rule 1. Don’t Make Your Website Look Like an Ad
  
  “Your website should provide the solid information that your prospect is looking for, and it should have an editorial feel to it.”
• Rule 2. Stop Readers Dead in their Tracks
  
  “Fact: If your website is little more than an online brochure for your business, then your website is a very weak selling tool.”
• Rule 3. Capture Email Addresses.
  
  “The odds are low that people will buy from you the first time they visit your website. After all, they don’t even know you.”

Technorati Tags: marketing, Maria Veloso

Todays gem is from
“Never Eat Alone : And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time” by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz.

This is the best self-marketing and networking book I’ve ever read. Actually I bought it twice. The first time was an Audible book, which I listened to with full attention for the whole unabridged 12 hours (in the car, of course). The audiobook was so good that I had to by the hardback, so that I could take notes and properly quote it for this blog.

In this gem, Ferrazzi shares his 10 tips to become a sought-after expert. I’m going to give his titles verbatim, and paraphrase the details.

1. Get out in front and analyze the trends and opportunities on the cutting edge - Identify the movers and shakers, meet them of possible and take them to lunch, read their newsletters, learn from them.
2. Ask seemingly stupid questions - Question the unspoken bases that people are using for their understandings. This is how breakthroughs are made.
3. Know yourself and your talents - Work on your talents and let others fill in your weaknesses.
4. Always learn - Read books and magazines, take classes, talk to experts. I’d add to this list, “write a blog on the topic”.
5. Stay healthy - don’t burn out, take vacations, do things to nourish your spirit.
6. Expose yourself to unusual experiences - Learn things out of the mainstream, to spark creativity.
7. Don’t get discouraged - Passion keeps you going through inevitable hard times.
8. Know the new technology - If you can’t then adopt a geek who’ll help you.
9. Develop a niche - start small and expand, don’t take on the world at once.
10. Follow the money - you can’t make money if there is none to be had in your chosen area.

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Todays gem is from
“Book Yourself Solid : The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling” by Michael Port. This book is primarily for service professionals, looking to get more business than they can handle. With a little mental wrangling, most of the book is extremely relevant to any sort of marketing.

This quote is from one of the earlier chapters in the book, and I wanted to share it because I think it says very plainly a rule of thumb that so many companies ignore to their own detriment. For example, my last employer, Via Training. They never turned down a job. They tried to be everything to anyone, never focusing, and certainly never even think of dumping a paying client. They should have. If they had, I’m absolutely certain they wouldn’t have had to trim the company by the 30% they did last month.

Why have clients, or anyone else for that matter, in your life who zap your energy and leave you feeling empty? In the first year of being in business on my own, I cut 10 clients in one week. It wasn’t easy. It required a major leap of faith, but the emotional and financial rewards were astonishing. Within three months I had replaced all 10 and added 6 more. Not only did I increase my revenue, I felt more peaceful and calm that I ever had before, and I enjoyed my clients and my work more.
[…]
If you’re struggling with the idea of pruning your client list, keep in mind that it’s for your client’s benefit as much as it is yours. If you’re feeling empty and drained, or frustrated and dreading the interaction with the client, you’re giving that client far less than your best, and it’s both of you who are suffering for it. You owe it to these clients to refer them to someone who can, and will, do their best work with them. If you are working with people with whom you do not do your best work, you are out of integrity.
pp. 5-6

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This Marketing Gem comes from Joe Vitale’s great book,
“The Attractor Factor : 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or Anything Else) from the Inside Out”. The book is about how to attract wealth into your life. It is an expansion of an older book titled "Spiritual Marketing".

That’s when I first learned about the concept of levels. That is, people tend to stay on the same level of business or social status. When they meet friends, it’s usually in their circle of activity, whether church, work, school, or some club. As a result, they rarely get out of the level they are on.

That’s not bad. You can stay on the same level you are at and do well. But if you want more, or if you find yourself starving on the level you’re on, you’ll need to go up a level or two.

Reading internet marketing books and forums, I am constantly told to build a list. “Build a list! Now!”

I am pleased to report that I’ve set up my very first autoresponder. I’m finally convinced that I need to learn how they work and to start building a list of my customers.

Email Aces

I’m using Email Aces to run my campaigns. They have a stellar rep at the equally-great Warrior Forum, and from what I’ve seen so far, they earn that reputation.

I was fairly nervous for some reason, before I created my first autoresponse campaign, but they made it quite straightforward for me. I went from never having created anything like an email campaign, to having my first multi-email sequence all set up with trackers, double-opt-in, and email content in about an hour. That’s impressive.

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On Another gem from “Grow Rich! : With Peace of Mind” by Napoleon Hill.

This one is particularly appropriate today, since it is my second-to-last day at my current job.

A job that is past opens a new door to the future. Suppose you have lost your job through no fault of your own. Suppose, then, you nurse a great resentment and a festering hatred of your former employer who was so unjust to you.

[…]

What if you are questioned about your former employer? Say noting bad about him! What was bad must always stay in the past and never be allowed to hinder the future.

Jobs also seem to be favorite spots in which to grow grudges. Of course you have rights and it is no part of success or peace of mind to allow yourself to be stepped upon. Many little scratches in human relations, however, are nothing but that, just little scratches, and need not be reacted to as though they were deep wounds.

[…]

But a nursed grudge is a viper in the bosom. It is a treasured negative, and you not only let it take away your peace of mind, you also encourage the formation of ulcers and many other ailments which the mind can inflict upon the body. Close the door!

It is wonderful and gratifying to see how the habit of closing the door upon the past becomes one of the greatest of sustaining habits. It helps you take possession of your own mind and condition it for the attainment of any purpose you desire.

-p.30

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On The Warrior Forum, one suggestion was to read and learn from the classic sales and personal development books. Taking the advice, I dove right into “Grow Rich! : With Peace of Mind” by Napoleon Hill. It really is a great book, and I can see that so much modern “self-help” got its start with this one.

One paragraph from the book really spoke to me as a marketer and a budding entrepreneur. It speaks directly to motivation & money-guilt in a refreshingly direct manner.

Is there a definite connection between being wealthy and having peace of mind? There is a connection, but it is not absolute. There certainly are poor people who have peace of mind; but they are far more rare than folklore would have us believe. You need not be a millionaire, but without sufficient money you are cut off from much in life that sustains the spirit. If you are continually worrying about where your next meal is to come from - when you’ll be able to get your shoes repaired - how you are going to pay your dentist bull - how many more years your how can go without paint - you have no peace of mind. If your lack of funds forces you to live in a shabby neighborhood so that you constantly worry about the influence upon your children, you have no peace of mind. If you cannot occasionally buy and cherish something that is beautiful - if you cannot afford a vacation you really enjoy - if you cannot partake of a motion picture or a stage show which you know is very much worthwhile - your mind does not have the chance to satisfy itself. Money brings much good into your life and much that nobody should have to do without.

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This book is full of quotable sections, that’s the great part about reading books written by professional speakers. My second gem from “No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs” (Dan Kennedy) is from his chapter titled “Passion.” It is a welcome counterpoint to the oft-heard “alternative wisdom.”

“There’s Also a popular metaphysical idea - don’t pursue money, pursue passion. Pfui. […]

The very unbusinesslike arrangement would be: passion, purpose, market, market demand, money. Pursue your passion, indulge your purpose or mission, with no regard for a market or market demand, and hope to attract wealth. I again say to you that hope is not a strategy.

The business arrangement would be: market, market demand, purpose, passion, money. Identify a viable, preferably underserved market, determine market demand (what it wants most and will pay for), then align your purpose, and do something for the market that you can feel passionately about.”

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I just finished reading my latest marketing/entrepreneur book, “No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs”, by Dan Kennedy. This is the first book I’ve read by him, and I am impressed.

He certainly didn’t offend me, though it seems to me that he prides himself on being blunt and usually offending people in some way. That’s OK, I’m hard to offend. In fact, the quote I’m sharing in this post is one of his more-likely-to-offend.

“If I wake up three mornings thinking about you and I’m not having sex with you, you’ve got to go. P. 160

I think that sums up one part of the attitude he displays in this book. You have to be clear in vision, you cannot be scattered, or allow others to distract you, or to "vampire" your time.

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