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Low Cost Opportunities to Spread Your Message (How to save an arm and a leg)

Posted on by 28

iStock_000003049742XSmall fineOnce you know who your market is and what you want to tell them, now you have to know how you’re going to reach them in a way that doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg.

There are dozens of different ways to market and promote a product or service. Everything from advertising on radio and television, print, magazines, newspapers of course; and email is great today if you know what you’re doing.

But of all the mediums that are available today, I believe there are two that are the most effective for the least amount of money.

The first one is referral marketing. That’s right, just what it sounds like: people telling other people. Word of mouth is not only extremely inexpensive, but the best part about it is it’s the most credible!

The second one is absolutely critical here: endorsed mailing or joint venture endorsed mailing. Bulk junk mail can cost a freaking fortune to mail out. Instead you partner with someone else who is interested or believes in your product or service. You give them a deal on that product or service, but also use their mailing lists to sell your product or service to their mailing lists with their endorsed approval. That’s not the only way but it just gives you an idea.

The people on the list have already given their interests or trust to your partner, now you have a wider field of people who may trust you too, which for me on one occasion turned out to be a 4% increase in response rates, 20 times more than my original mailing without the joint venture.

Next, I am going to suggest that instead of doing single step marketing you do multi-step marketing! What’s the difference? Single means trying to get them to buy from you on the first date. ‘Multi’ means trying to get them to test you out with very little risk and after they like you going for more. So I believe in not only getting them in the door but doing so in massive quantities.

Finally, there’s a saying: ‘The headaches are in the front end but the money is in the back end’. The most expensive part of any business is getting the customer in the first place. But isn’t that your biggest asset? It’s your current customers!

Once they are in, they know you and they like you. It’s easy to sell to them and offer them more. Your own customer database is the most efficient and effective arena. That is your business. You’re going to make way more money on the back end of what you offer people you already have than the front end of people you’re still trying to get in. Good or good?

Now it’s your turn! What are two or three things you can offer on the front end of a business that are low risk in time and money, and completely outrageous—where people go ‘Is this for real? Wow! I’ve got to try this out!’  Share your thoughts below.

What’s Your Niche?

Posted on by 16
We can take that existential question, “Who are we and what the heck are we doing here,” apply it to business, and call it marketing. What am I all about, and who would or should care?
File this entry into the “I already know that” bin. Isn’t that the case with a lot of the things we say we know? “Oh, I already know how important marketing is.” The only distinction is between those who know and those who put that knowledge to use consistently and effectively.
So even though I can sound like a coo-coo clock sometimes, I do it on purpose because there are certain areas of business that you must, must, MUST get right or else stay broke. One of those areas is marketing.
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard it. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve looked at it.
You need to relook at it, tighten it, tighten it again, and tighten it some more. The more you can tighten that marketing down the better off you are. Sometimes you find out different things as you proceed.
So what does that mean, ‘your market’? Back to basics: your market is who is ‘most likely’—very important words—to buy your product or service.
One of the biggest mistakes most people make is trying to be all things to all people. And they end up being no-thing to no one. When I was doing private consultations for many years, I would say that was 80% of my clients’ biggest problems—trying to be too much to too many different people. That’s a hard way to do business.
Why? It’s far too expensive to try and reach masses. Your message is watered down dramatically and never lands. It’s really hard to focus in and stay tight. This is where self-awareness comes in handy. Our ego mind says more is better, but that’s not true.
Less is better! Tighter is better! More focused is better!
Our marketing methods are going to focus in on two arenas: Who it is that you’re selling to and what’s your product? What it is that you do specifically for those people? How are you perceived? Are you perceived as the specialist for a certain group? If you’re not, you’re fighting a very tough uphill and expensive battle.
The key is to be a big fish in a small pond. The idea is to identify your specific market, your primary or your best prospects. The more you can define the people who buy, the more you know about them, the better you can find them and the better you can serve them. Marketing is all about finding those people and letting them know how you are going to serve them.
So here’s one to internalize as sincerely and with as much energy as you can: ‘If you can’t define them you can’t find them.
Now it’s your turn! In this community, knowledge is power, so what’s your marketing experience? What are some important lessons learned or issues that you’ve come across? I’d love to hear from you!
Next week we’ll highlight some more important features of marketing.

Searching for a Niche Group - Magnifying Glass

We can take that existential question, “Who are we and what the heck are we doing here,” apply it to business, and call it marketing. What am I all about, and who would or should care?

File this entry into the “I already know that” bin. Isn’t that the case with a lot of the things we say we know? “Oh, I already know how important marketing is.” The only distinction is between those who know and those who put that knowledge to use consistently and effectively.

So even though I can sound like a coo-coo clock sometimes, I do it on purpose because there are certain areas of business that you must, must, MUST get right or else stay broke. One of those areas is marketing.

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard it. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve looked at it.

You need to relook at it, tighten it, tighten it again, and tighten it some more. The more you can tighten that marketing down the better off you are. Sometimes you find out different things as you proceed.

So what does that mean, ‘your market’? Back to basics: your market is who is ‘most likely’—very important words—to buy your product or service.

One of the biggest mistakes most people make is trying to be all things to all people. And they end up being no-thing to no one. When I was doing private consultations for many years, I would say that was 80% of my clients’ biggest problems—trying to be too much to too many different people. That’s a hard way to do business.

Why? It’s far too expensive to try and reach masses. Your message is watered down dramatically and never lands. It’s really hard to focus in and stay tight. This is where self-awareness comes in handy. Our ego mind says more is better, but that’s not true.

Less is better! Tighter is better! More focused is better!

Our marketing methods are going to focus in on two arenas: Who it is that you’re selling to and what’s your product? What it is that you do specifically for those people? How are you perceived? Are you perceived as the specialist for a certain group? If you’re not, you’re fighting a very tough uphill and expensive battle.

The key is to be a big fish in a small pond. The idea is to identify your specific market, your primary or your best prospects. The more you can define the people who buy, the more you know about them, the better you can find them and the better you can serve them. Marketing is all about finding those people and letting them know how you are going to serve them.

So here’s one to internalize as sincerely and with as much energy as you can: ‘If you can’t define them you can’t find them.

Now it’s your turn! In this community, knowledge is power, so what’s your marketing experience? What are some important lessons learned or issues that you’ve come across? I’d love to hear from you!

Next week we’ll highlight some more important features of marketing.

Million Dollar Babies (Part II)

Posted on by 30
Ideas aren’t hard to come by. They’re all around us, sometimes right in front of our noses and we don’t see them. But they’re there. And if people were more honest with themselves, everybody’s got some kind of idea that they’re excited about, or were excited about at one time or another.
That doesn’t mean all ideas are great. We’ve all heard someone’s enthusiastic brain leak only to feel like that cricket in a quiet, packed amphitheater. But there are simple methods that can help focus vague ideas into coherent, sensible choices.
Like modeling a proven winner. This is so easy. As far as I’m concerned, if someone doesn’t get rich in business while having the right people at the right time within his/her reach—which is half of it—you’re either not listening, not paying attention, or a little on the lame side. Harsh but true, and sometimes we need to just own up to it if we want to do something about it.
There’s never an excuse not to copy someone who’s already making a fortune now. The word ‘copy’ strikes people oddly because in school we learned we shouldn’t copy, but like most things we learn in school it keeps people broke.
You definitely want to be unique but do you need to be an original? Heck no! There really isn’t that much new under the sun, and if there is, let somebody else deal with unveiling it. It’ll cost them way more than it will cost you.
But we also leave ourselves with alternatives. Copying not your M.O. or forté?  Instead of copying, look for a hot product or service in a field you love and piggy back, or affiliate, with them.
Why would you affiliate with them versus doing it on your own? They might already be in the market, they might have exclusive product or a great product, they might have major distribution or a major database, or expensive equipment or technology, or the operation size is already established.
In other words, they may already have a lot of the headache kind of stuff that you didn’t have to build yourself or expense yourself or bother with at all. You’re simply there to fill a gap that is mutually beneficial.
This next one is so very simple. Change the niche of an already existing product or service.
By the way, some people call it ‘nitch’ and some people call it ‘niche’, yes? I choose nitch because it rhymes with rich.
You take something that was for the public and then say ‘I am going to make it for women’ or ‘for men only’ or ‘for seniors only’ or ‘for golfers only’. Change the market!
We’ve got target market and we’ve got product niches. Product niche is something specialty, or the biggest, or ‘only’ of some sort. Think about a store that only sells something that everybody uses, like towels. Moving into a new home? Buying a house-warming gift? Where are you going to go to get towels? Towels Only! Product nitches equal your riches!
Now it’s your turn! Give me your feedback to these tips and steps. What do you think generates million dollar ideas for business and for life? I want to hear from you!

iStock_000012425671XSmall

Ideas aren’t hard to come by. They’re all around us, sometimes right in front of our noses and we don’t see them. But they’re there. And if people were more honest with themselves, everybody’s got some kind of idea that they’re excited about, or were excited about at one time or another.

That doesn’t mean all ideas are great. We’ve all heard someone’s enthusiastic brain leak only to feel like that cricket in a quiet, packed amphitheater. But there are simple methods that can help focus vague ideas into coherent, sensible choices.

Like modeling a proven winner. This is so easy. As far as I’m concerned, if someone doesn’t get rich in business while having the right people at the right time within his/her reach—which is half of it—you’re either not listening, not paying attention, or a little on the lame side. Harsh but true, and sometimes we need to just own up to it if we want to do something about it.

There’s never an excuse not to copy someone who’s already making a fortune now. The word ‘copy’ strikes people oddly because in school we learned we shouldn’t copy, but like most things we learn in school it keeps people broke.

You definitely want to be unique but do you need to be an original? Heck no! There really isn’t that much new under the sun, and if there is, let somebody else deal with unveiling it. It’ll cost them way more than it will cost you.

But we also leave ourselves with alternatives. Copying not your M.O. or forté?  Instead of copying, look for a hot product or service in a field you love and piggy back, or affiliate, with them.

Why would you affiliate with them versus doing it on your own? They might already be in the market, they might have exclusive product or a great product, they might have major distribution or a major database, or expensive equipment or technology, or the operation size is already established.

In other words, they may already have a lot of the headache kind of stuff that you didn’t have to build yourself or expense yourself or bother with at all. You’re simply there to fill a gap that is mutually beneficial.

This next one is so very simple. Change the niche of an already existing product or service.

By the way, some people call it ‘nitch’ and some people call it ‘niche’, yes? I choose nitch because it rhymes with rich.

You take something that was for the public and then say ‘I am going to make it for women’ or ‘for men only’ or ‘for seniors only’ or ‘for golfers only’. Change the market!

We’ve got target market and we’ve got product niches. Product niche is something specialty, or the biggest, or ‘only’ of some sort. Think about a store that only sells something that everybody uses, like towels. Moving into a new home? Buying a house-warming gift? Where are you going to go to get towels? Towels Only! Product nitches equal your riches!

Now it’s your turn! Give me your feedback to these tips and steps. What do you think generates million dollar ideas for business and for life? I want to hear from you!

Million Dollar Babies (Part I)

Posted on by 14
Ideas are like babies. When you get them, you feel the simple excitement that a baby feels in a happy moment. The possibilities seem infinite in those moments. If you take your ideas seriously, you’ll nurture and protect them until they’re standing on their own, off and running.
Who wouldn’t want to see that sprint end with seven or more figures at the finish line? If everybody could generate million dollar business ideas, who wouldn’t?
If only everybody knew they could if they just learned how to do it. Generating ideas is a skill. It’s a rare skill. It’s a lucrative skill. Whether you’re looking for a new business to get into or you want to find new opportunities within your current business field, your biggest problem isn’t finding ideas. It’s choosing between all the amazing opportunities you’ve got in front of you. Good or good?
To narrow down all the options, choose a field that you love. It’s got to be the right business for you! If you don’t like the business or product, are you going to be very passionate and enthusiastic about it? That’s why passion is so important. Passion is your energy! And what are people buying? They’re buying the energy and if you’re not excited and passionate in what you’ve got there’s no way you can market or sell it.
Also, think about people’s two primary motivators … pleasure and pain. Which is stronger? Avoiding pain! If there’s a problem people want it solved. So there we have the definition of an entrepreneur: a person who solves problems at a profit!
Another way to create million dollar ideas is to improve something. Nothing is perfect. That means every single thing can be improved! Everything of the millions or billions or trillions of products and services out there can be made or done better. All you have to do is find the way! So you have at least a million business opportunities right there.
By the way, why is improving a product or a concept even better than creating it from scratch? It’s already a proven entity, a proven market. You don’t have to spend a fortune educating anyone. They’re already buying it. There’s a good chance that if you make it better they’ll buy it from you.
Let somebody else educate the heck out of them and then you come in when they are already educated. You’ll have the money left over to expand while the first guys spent all their money educating. It’s better to be second than first!
There’s a saying: you can always tell the pioneers because they’re the ones with the arrows in their backs. I didn’t make up that one up. I’m just saying.
Ideas are not as hard to come by as people make them out to be. With a little focus, knowledge, awareness and insight, anyone can literally create a million dollar baby!
Now it’s your turn! Do you have any experience with an idea coming to fruition? Or regrets about an idea you had that someone else soon after made happen? It’s your turn to share your insights and experiences. Your sharing could generate even more ideas!
Next week we’ll look at three more ways to generate million dollar ideas.
iStock_000006932812XSmall

Ideas are like babies. When you get them, you feel the simple excitement that a baby feels in a happy moment. The possibilities seem infinite in those moments. If you take your ideas seriously, you’ll nurture and protect them until they’re standing on their own, off and running.

Who wouldn’t want to see that sprint end with seven or more figures at the finish line? If everybody could generate million dollar business ideas, who wouldn’t?

If only everybody knew they could if they just learned how to do it. Generating ideas is a skill. It’s a rare skill. It’s a lucrative skill. Whether you’re looking for a new business to get into or you want to find new opportunities within your current business field, your biggest problem isn’t finding ideas. It’s choosing between all the amazing opportunities you’ve got in front of you. Good or good?

To narrow down all the options, choose a field that you love. It’s got to be the right business for you! If you don’t like the business or product, are you going to be very passionate and enthusiastic about it? That’s why passion is so important. Passion is your energy! And what are people buying? They’re buying the energy and if you’re not excited and passionate in what you’ve got there’s no way you can market or sell it.

Also, think about people’s two primary motivators … pleasure and pain. Which is stronger? Avoiding pain! If there’s a problem people want it solved. So there we have the definition of an entrepreneur: a person who solves problems at a profit!

Another way to create million dollar ideas is to improve something. Nothing is perfect. That means every single thing can be improved! Everything of the millions or billions or trillions of products and services out there can be made or done better. All you have to do is find the way! So you have at least a million business opportunities right there.

By the way, why is improving a product or a concept even better than creating it from scratch? It’s already a proven entity, a proven market. You don’t have to spend a fortune educating anyone. They’re already buying it. There’s a good chance that if you make it better they’ll buy it from you.

Let somebody else educate the heck out of them and then you come in when they are already educated. You’ll have the money left over to expand while the first guys spent all their money educating. It’s better to be second than first!


There’s a saying: you can always tell the pioneers because they’re the ones with the arrows in their backs. I didn’t make up that one up. I’m just saying.

Ideas are not as hard to come by as people make them out to be. With a little focus, knowledge, awareness and insight, anyone can literally create a million dollar baby!

Now it’s your turn! Do you have any experience with an idea coming to fruition? Or regrets about an idea you had that someone else soon after made happen? It’s your turn to share your insights and experiences. Your sharing could generate even more ideas!

Next week we’ll look at three more ways to generate million dollar ideas.

Tending Your Turf

Posted on by 17
In developing strategies for millionaire success, there are crucial truths I couldn’t say enough: start with the end in mind; create a business to sell it, not run it indefinitely. Create systems that can be imitated and duplicated. Increase its value and worth. Sell high!
As redundant as it seems, those words never get tired to me. It’s part of my gospel.  I’m talking about creating a business with the full thought, knowledge and intention that you won’t be running it one day.
How powerful is that intention? It’s the difference between being a poor business owner who gets by and a rich business owner who isn’t working anymore. He or she is doing exactly what he or she wants and intends to do.
Knowing your intention to sell your business will determine who you’re bringing in on your team and in what capacity you’re bringing them on. In order to systemize as well as grow value and worth, you have to have people who are going to help you achieve that effectively.
One of the most important areas to focus on is building a team that you trust, a team that is reliable, and will be held accountable for their performance.
To increase accountability and get the results you need, you have to define your role as leader. It’s your turf and your responsibility. One of your responsibilities is to create winning situations for your team, where winning is defined as meeting the business’ top priorities toward profit making.  Once these priorities are identified they should be clear, measurable and achievable if not easy.
To help your team win, you have to remove the obstacles that stand in their way. Have each team member identify three things they need to accomplish, have each set a goal and review. These suggestions may work or may not, but give the respect and practicality of seeing the plan from their point of view. Finally, reward results. Whatever stake you have in profit, make that stake relative to their performance and results.
But remember, one way or another you’ll ultimately be held just as accountable for your decisions and commitment as should your team, and this accountability will show in one simple result—can that business run without you, and can you sell it for gobs of money?
Here a few quick tips on how to build a strong organization and system to facilitate smoother operations, growth, success and win-win scenarios for you and your team:
Write down your top three objectives and how to measure them.
Write down the three most important ways for you to improve your leadership abilities.
Who needs to delegate better? How can you get him or her to do that?
Finally, here’s one last point on the importance of choosing a good team to grow the value and worth of the company. The more exclusive products or service you offer that no one else in your market has or can get, the more your company is worth! This means higher quality candidates, but as we saw before—more money means more energy, hence more or higher quality people—it depends on how far you want to go.
Now it’s your turn! What about your Millionaire Mind community? Do you have any quick, simple tips or suggestions on how to spot great potential team members, what to look for, signals that tell you to steer clear? Leadership suggestions? Share them below.
iStock_000004633733XSmall Tree

In developing strategies for millionaire success, there are crucial truths I couldn’t say enough: start with the end in mind; create a business to sell it, not run it indefinitely. Create systems that can be imitated and duplicated. Increase its value and worth. Sell high!

As redundant as it seems, those words never get tired to me. It’s part of my gospel.  I’m talking about creating a business with the full thought, knowledge and intention that you won’t be running it one day.How powerful is that intention? It’s the difference between being a poor business owner who gets by and a rich business owner who isn’t working anymore. He or she is doing exactly what he or she wants and intends to do.

Knowing your intention to sell your business will determine who you’re bringing in on your team and in what capacity you’re bringing them on. In order to systemize as well as grow value and worth, you have to have people who are going to help you achieve that effectively.

One of the most important areas to focus on is building a team that you trust, a team that is reliable, and will be held accountable for their performance.

To increase accountability and get the results you need, you have to define your role as leader. It’s your turf and your responsibility. One of your responsibilities is to create winning situations for your team, where winning is defined as meeting the business’ top priorities toward profit making.  Once these priorities are identified they should be clear, measurable and achievable if not easy.

To help your team win, you have to remove the obstacles that stand in their way. Have each team member identify three things they need to accomplish, have each set a goal and review. These suggestions may work or may not, but give the respect and practicality of seeing the plan from their point of view. Finally, reward results. Whatever stake you have in profit, make that stake relative to their performance and results.

But remember, one way or another you’ll ultimately be held just as accountable for your decisions and commitment as should your team, and this accountability will show in one simple result—can that business run without you, and can you sell it for gobs of money?

Here a few quick tips on how to build a strong organization and system to facilitate smoother operations, growth, success and win-win scenarios for you and your team:

1. Write down your top three objectives and how to measure them.

2. Write down the three most important ways for you to improve your leadership abilities.

3. Who needs to delegate better? How can you get him or her to do that?

Finally, here’s one last point on the importance of choosing a good team to grow the value and worth of the company. The more exclusive products or service you offer that no one else in your market has or can get, the more your company is worth! This means higher quality candidates, but as we saw before—more money means more energy, hence more or higher quality people—it depends on how far you want to go.

Now it’s your turn! What about your Millionaire Mind community? Do you have any quick, simple tips or suggestions on how to spot great potential team members, what to look for, signals that tell you to steer clear? Leadership suggestions? Share them below.
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