Glenn Livingston was arrested for drinking on January 4th, 2012, and you can see his mugshot here.

It’s pretty scary what you can learn using Google Alerts!

Like most marketers, I have routine alerts out on my name, and for just a moment when I saw this come through I wondered if perhaps I’d been out on a bender I’d forgotten last week (even though I haven’t had a drink in 20+ years… not ’cause I’m an alcoholic–I detest that term–just because I find life more interesting and satisfactory without screwing with my mental state)

I also learned, of course, about the myriad of people stealing my products (we pursue them legally now), and a few things about yet ANOTHER Glenn Livingston who’s a pastor in Illinois up to some interesting things from time to time.

But none of these rather mundane results from Google Alerts come anywhere close to the REAL power of this FREE utility…

(Even though tracking your namesakes’ activities can from time to time generate an attention getting headline)

Because most marketers have absolutely NO idea how to use it…

The REAL way to leverage Google Alerts is to first know with crystal clarity EXACTLY what keyword defines your ideal prospect, plus a very small set of related keywords which surround it.  Taken together these become your “archery target”… the small space which defines EXACTLY WHO YOU WANT TO BE on the internet, and allows you to more or less ignore everything else.

Once you’ve done that, you can combine Google Alerts with Google Reader Feeds (and some anti-RSS-spam code) to automatically collect pretty much EVERYTHING that happens on the internet that’s relevant to you…

And stop getting distracted by everything else…

Which is the ONLY way to build a hyper-responsive marketing system in my humble opinion.

Have any of you found effective-yet-novel uses for Google Alerts we should know about?

Tell me, I’d like to know!

Dr. G

PS – I’m considering organizing my network and resources to build a “performance-pay-based-conversion boosting-done-for-you” service.  Curious if that’s of interest to any of my readers today

Seriously though, there are a few things I think marketers casually banty about as if they were psychological fact which really bother me… And there are others which tell only HALF the story.

So let’s start there with…

UNUSUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL MARKETING FACT #1: “Impulse Isn’t Everything”

Impulse isn’t everything.

Yes, it’s true you’ve gotta appeal to the Lizard Brain with greed, lust, envy, jealousy, etc in order to induce action on your offer. (Which is one of the reasons I’m fond of saying “try to appeal to the lizard brain without seeming like a lizard”)

But the other half of the story is,  this only produces TRIAL BUT NOT NECESSARILY REPEAT…

Satisfying the lizard brain is only PART of what we need in this world…

As sappy as it sounds, the other half is help mastering our environments, our relationships, our place in society, and life as a whole.

Don’t get me wrong, you won’t get ANYWHERE trying to sell people self-actualization, self-improvement, or simple self-mastery solutions unless you can link them to the lizard brain…

It’s just that lizard brain satisfaction is a necessary but not sufficient condition for REPEAT purchase and customer loyalty.

So it’s not enough to sell luster and shine if you’re selling shampoo…

Or even to sell the emotional end benefit (I feel attractive)…

To really take the market you need to sell the aspirational character… how your product is going to MAKE YOUR PROSPECT INTO THE PERSON THEY WANT TO BE…

Think L’Oreal “Because You’re Worth It”: when a woman buys L’Oreal, she’s not just trying to look sexy, she’s supporting a character trait which translates to self-care across a wide variety of life areas… she’ll also more likely invest in vitamins, a gym membership, life insurance, a spa, etc

Or think Gillette “The Best a Man Can Get”:  a guy’s not just buying Gillette razors to get the cleanest shave possible, or to attract a desired mate… he’s partaking of the best the world has to offer alpha males, and this informs WHO he wants to be across market categories

Or Intel “Intel Inside”:  when you buy Intel, you’re not just getting a high speed processor, you’re committing (whether you know it or not) to recognizing, developing, and leveraging the value of intelligence across many areas of your life…

Or Kodak “Share the Moments, Share the Life”:  when you buy Kodak, you’re not just getting sharp pictures, or even crystallizing memories… you’re committing to family and community as a value you want to demonstrate as a person… it enhances your sense of participation in life with others, and re-affirms your desire to build more of these relationships as part of WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON…

See what I mean?

These brands engender MASSIVE REPEAT PURCHASE and loyalty because they’ve managed to integrate themselves with the user’s aspirational self image!

What you should be asking yourself now is, WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOES YOUR PROSPECT BECOME when they purchase your product or service?   Is your advertising set up to support this message?

Onward and Upward in 2012,

Dr. G

PS – When you join Hyper Responsive Marketing Secrets you affirm yourself as a person who gets enormous leverage for their  time  and consistently “organizes and executes around priorities” because you know HALF your profits are driven by only ONE in 2,000 visitors.   This radical paradigm shift not only transforms your business, but syncs with your commitment to apply the 80/20 rule throughout your life to achieve maximum results with minimum time.   Join now

PPS – Keep your eyes glued to your inbox for “weird psychological marketing fact #2″, coming soon.

CreaLern promotes and administers an amazingly effective method for helping children with learning difficulties jump several grade levels in record time.  More exciting is that this is so well documented, Joe guarantees the RESULTS to his clients (not just satisfaction).

Joe does approximately 1/2 million in Germany with a very nice profit margin, and is looking for a direct response marketer to help expand the company to the English speaking world.  (He speaks English fluently himself)

I suggested he let me interview him about the development of his business (definitely a Jay Abraham story!) including as many specifics as he could possibly feel free to share (which he did)…

So that you could benefit from the marketing lessons and he could benefit from the exposure.

I will take NOTHING from whatever deal he happens to strike… this is one from the heart (Joe is really helping children during a critical developmental period… I used to work with kids this age and I know how devastating school difficulties can feel to them… I hope this will be a good match for someone well schooled in my methods)

Enjoy,

G

PS – You can email Joe here

Proof Hiding Disease (PHD) is a tragic illness which spreads from marketer to marketer faster than a stud rooster in a chicken coup…

You know what I mean…

PHD is that disease which makes you say “I think I’ll bury my accomplishments on my About page,  because that’s where nice, proper people with good breeding put them.  We can’t be bothering the prospect with good reasons they should trust me… it’s just not polite”

(As opposed to plastering it all over the page and near every claim… like I do on www.HyperResponsiveMarketingSecrets.com for example )

PHD is that creepy feeling that makes you forget to screenshot your Facebook or Twitter account when someone says something cool about you or your product…

It’s that sick feeling in your gut which prevents you from organizing your publicity mentions…

Or talking about your successes…

Or implementing a testimonial gathering system…

Or shooting that product demonstration…

Or holding a free seminar just so you can get people raving about your product or service ON VIDEO.

Yes, Proof Hiding Disease is very real indeed, and it’s costing our economy millions.

Go.  YES YOU.  Right now!…

Dig through your site for hidden proof and move it front and center to back up your claims.   It’s probably the #1 thing you can do to bump your conversion this month…

And if you’re like most marketers I’ve met, I’ll bet my left testicle you’ve got some powerful proof, sitting buried somewhere polite people wouldn’t think to look.

Come back here and tell me what you did OK?

Dr. G

PS – One of the things which drove my success more than any other was gathering any and all proof about ME over the years, even if it seemed irrelevant and I had NO  idea how I was going to use it.

For example, I did a lot of surveys back in the late 80s and early 90s about weird and diverse topics like “Who calls 900#s?”, “Are fat people happier?”, “Do smokers have trouble eating cheese?”, “what’s your money personality?”, etc.   Whenever I’d get any press (sometimes they were feature stories, but lots of times they were just one liners), I’d xerox it for my files and add “his work has been covered in ____” to my CV.  Before I knew it I looked like a giant, and I could say so on any project I was working on.    And people stopped asking for references on the large projects… all because I got me cured of that pesky proof hiding disease.

GO!  YOU!  Now!  :-)

In other words, a conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.

Now, I know none of you loyal readers would EVER do that, but I thought I’d use the situation to point out something interesting…

Namely this…

It’s always curious to me that people who want to learn how to sell information over the internet (in order to be compensated for their knowledge and contributions), don’t think twice about cheating existing, proven, valuable contributors.

If they wanted to live in a world where people don’t respect intellectual property rights, then how could they ever hope to build an internet business?

Some people might say “Oh Glenn, c’mon, like you never copied a product before you got ‘big’?”

I won’t say I was never tempted, or that I’ve lived a 100% perfect life, but yes, I made a decision to NEVER copy products (or songs) which were obviously for sale many, many years before I “made it”, had money, or was well known in the slightest… in fact, while I was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Why?

Because I believe property rights are not only the foundation of internet business, they’re the foundation of civilization as a whole.   And the degradation of conscience  begins with little crimes, not big ones.

Moreover, my dream was to sell my knowledge.  I wanted to believe my knowledge was valuable… how could I ever achieve that if I treated other’s valuable knowledge as nothing more than shoplifting fodder?   (And actually, something which rises to the level of a felony when you’re talking about higher priced products)

In the past, I’ve let this type of theft go as it seemed to only drain a very small percentage of my profits, and such website owners usually take steps to protect themselves from prosecution (not steps which make the theft any less illegal, just steps which make it more difficult to prosecute).

I also reasoned to myself that the people who would resort to copying and stealing the products must not have very much in their lives,  probably wouldn’t succeed given the above reasons, and were their own worst punishment. (Same for those who buy products at the outset with the intention of refunding by the way)

But more recently I’ve had several important changes of heart due to the following:

• First, my programs are always reasonably priced, with installments available, and always come with guarantees I honor.
• I provide at least as much valuable, free information as anyone else online (I’m told I might provide the most, but I know of no objective measure!)
• It’s occurred to me that the sites which support this kind of organized shoplifting are actually CULTIVATING criminal minds.  Many of the people who participate in these forums might never have had the idea of stealing if it weren’t for the site’s organized “group buys”, and the attractive manner in which they present them.

Moreover, I think in part it’s just a matter of having the “shop owner’s pride” to stand  up for myself and say “Listen, if you believe in me, do business with me ethically.  If you don’t, then take your business elsewhere.  And if you really can’t afford my higher end products, start with my free materials and work your way up.”

I’m really curious what you all think?

How do YOU deal with intellectual property theft in your own businesses?

Let me know OK?

G

Now it turns out this was actually good news (created by an enthusiastic reader sharing one of last week’s posts about YouTube SEO with some interesting anchor text based upon some self-deprecating humor I utilized in the MP3 on that post), but it brought up a good point for me…

It’s not my goal to be offensive…

But I’ve learned over the years that if I’m not WILLING to offend anyone, it’s extremely difficult to write or record ANYTHING worth talking about.

Thus I’ve got many posts with unusual titles, and hard hitting (though compassionate) straight talk within them.  For example, you may have enjoyed (or been offended by) some of my more offensive posts:

• The Cockroach Conversion Secret
• Are You Willing to be Hated?
• Constipated Marketing Secrets
• I Am Ugly, So Very VERY Ugly
• It’s Better to Sweat in Training Than to Bleed in Battle
• The Strange Psychology of Money

Some people have even told me they were offended by posts I considered entirely innocuous, like “Marketing With Your Bald Spot“, “4 Things I No Longer Believe“, or “Human Nature and Your Marketing Mindset”

But here’s the point..

If I had NOT risked offending people… indeed if I had not deeply offended hundreds (if not thousands) of people, I would NOT be where I am today.

I wouldn’t have had the chance to deeply connect with the entrepreneurs who make my life as rich as it is.

I wouldn’t have gotten the feedback I needed to grow as a marketer (and as a person)…

I wouldn’t have been able to kick-start Rocket Clicks, build the hyper-responsive club, get my video seo agency going…

And instead of being a nerdy-geek-marketing-psychologist with thousands of customers and a brilliant audience for the hundreds of things he has to say each year–the good, the bad, AND the ugly…

I’d just be a nerdy geek.

Which is not to say that’s the end of the world (more power to geeks!)…

But how much richer is my life, for the simple willingness to risk offending you?

SO… Have I offended you yet?

Onwards and Upwards,

Dr. G

PS – This week, I decided to open up a few extra coaching slots now that I have completed the Total Conversion Code project.   I’ve got 2 slots left, and my slightly-less-ugly counterpart Ryan has 2 as well.  So please click here now to read about how you can  get coached by a real ugly bastard with a damn strong track record of success.

1. Stop asking for first names on your opt in forms (at least on the first page).    Tests show first names suppress response.   And you know what?  You’re probably not using the information correctly when you’ve got it anyway.  (If you DO have first name, don’t use it in the subject line, and don’t you dare use it in the greeting of the email… instead, embed it several times deep in the body of your email like your best friend might when she’s writing to you)
2. Call a dozen of your competitors and analyze their phone messages. Seriously… it’s amazing to me just how many people spend a fortune on generating the call, only to totally neglect to address the customer’s most common concerns on their voicemail, or via their customer service.  Your voice mail should immediately reassure your prospect AND convey your point of difference benefits, just as succinctly and professionally as your landing page (if not more, because of the value of the opportunity). Don’t just read this… go do it now, really… I’ve never had ANYONE come back and tell me they did this and regretted the time spent.
3. If You’re Stuck, Spend a Full Day Trying to Fail:   Seriously.  If you feel stuck in your business, take a day off and think of all the ways you possibly can to destroy it.  I’m not saying to DO those things, I’m just saying to brainstorm them, capture the energy encapsulated within them, write down your idea, call your friends and ask how they could make them worse.    The ACTUAL SOLUTIONS these business-destroying-ideas will stimulate (in a kind of Zen-like paradoxical “use the force Luke” way) will astound you.  Really, seriously, 100% straight up… don’t say bullshit, say “I’ll try it Glenn”. (Repeat after me “I’ll try it Glenn”, “I really will try it”)

Well, I guess you caught me in one of my moods.

Aren’t you glad you did?

Visit  Sharon’s “Multimedia Newsletters That Sell” Web Site”

Probably no one knows better how to create audio and video interviews that sell your product than my darling wife Sharon.  After all, she’s interviewed literally 60,000 consumers, doctors, purchasing agents, and other professionals about their emotional response to advertising.

And you’ve experienced her work first hand in MY audio newsletter system.

Ever wished you could have someone like Sharon help YOU create an audio or video newsletter series, just like mine?

You don’t have to wish much longer… just have a look at her “multimedia newsletters that sell” site now (she’s taking on just a few people right now, so if you’re seriously interested, please review today).  The link will open in a new window so it won’t interrupt the video above.

Enjoy,

Dr. G

Follow my logic for a moment please.

The Unique Selling Proposition (a term first coined, if I’m not mistaken, by Rosser Reeves), is the reason your prospect should do business with you as compared to every other option in the market. (For example “Guaranteed First Page Video Rankings for the Keywords of Your Choice on Google” or “Double Your Visitor Value or Double Your Money Back”)

Given this definition, it follows a USP should be built upon the strongest “point of difference” benefit you can offer your market (as compared to the “price of entry” benefits every other vendor provides just to get into the running).

Which is why my research methods have always been centered around finding points of difference.

But to truly leverage your USP, you need to know the emotional environment it operates within… what human needs does your real point of difference fulfill?  What heartstrings does it tug on?

And you need to know THAT because you’re going to have to support your USP with a full set of advertising materials.  That starts with a full sales presentation of course (whether in long copy, short copy, video, etc), but extends to every word you communicate, every image you select, every person you choose to represent your company… everything about your “brand”.

(Please don’t shoot me for mentioning “brand”… brands actually DO matter online for direct response marketers… and they’re nothing more than a consistent set of expected benefits and features associated with your company due to repeated presentation)

For example, “Double Your Visitor Value or Double Your Money Back” is a VERY  unique point of difference.  And I know it captures the serious attention of anyone with a web business.

But you can’t maximize the value of that USP without knowing the EMOTIONAL REASON WHY the market desires it.  Without knowing WHY, we can’t “fortify our position” with message after message, video after video, word after word, etc.

And there could be DOZENS of reasons .

On the surface, people want to double their visitor value so they can afford to buy more advertising and grow their business.  Duh. (As an important side note… you only THINK you’ve got a traffic problem, you really have a CONVERSION problem… which you’ll realize as soon as you’ve got an extremely high converting offer and can suddenly afford to pay outrageous bounties/commissions for traffic )

Buy why does this particular market want to grow their business?  Is it for Power?  Control?  Safety?  A Sense of Accomplishment?   Independence?  Financial Security?  Adventure?  To Feel Intelligent?  To Take a Leadership Role?

I’m sure you can envision vastly different advertising messages dependent upon which emotional end benefit this particular USP was associated with.

If it were for Power, I’d highlight the ability to “make deals happen” at will, and at-your-fingers paid traffic available for the taking…

If Safety was the prime emotional mover, I’d talk about how a high visitor value site makes you immune to “Slaps”, or even the disappearance of any media, because you can afford to test and optimize multiple channels (and I’d agitate the pain of business after business failing because they didn’t diversify their lead acquisition methods)…

If it were for a Sense of Accomplishment, I’d tell stories which illustrated there was “nothing like the feeling of building something from the ground up” and seeing the fruits of your labor come to fruition in a real business, helping real people…

If it were for Financial Security, I’d talk about families which had to put their loved ones in shoddy nursing homes, or couldn’t afford to pay for their children’s college (with all the negative implications of same), simply because the bread winner couldn’t ever quite figure out how to turn visitors into dollars at a good enough rate.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

I guess what I’m saying is, a USP is infinitely more powerful when you can isolate the Emotional context in which it operates.  And your Emotionally Unique Selling Proposition is the whole package… it’s something nice you help your prospect to say or feel about themselves because of a powerful benefit your company offers which no other competitor can match.

For example you, (Mr. or Ms. prospect) will feel more powerful when you double your visitor value, and you can feel confident about this because if you don’t, I’ll give you double your money back.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is the E-USP… a critical insight for you as a marketer.  But it’s NOT how you would present it to the prospect.  99% of the time, when it comes to delivering emotional benefits, you want to SHOW the prospect via stories, analogies, and metaphors… NOT telling them directly, because that interferes with their need to feel like a smart shopper.  (Sharon and I call this “Rational Purchasing Consciousness” and it’s the emotional marketer’s worst enemy)

How do you figure out the emotional component of your USP?

Well, first, it goes without saying that you’ve gotta have a USP!  (You DO have one, right?  If not, get thy behind into my club and learn how to identify point of difference gaps in your market!)

Once you know your point of difference, you need to talk to your prospects and customers, and use the “ladder” exercise to find out which of these 37 emotional benefits it’s connected with.   Sharon and I did two MP3s you can download (Self Esteem & Purchase Behavior Part One | Self Esteem & Purchase Behavior Part Two) to demonstrate this technique.  NOTE: these interviews are  several years old, so the audio quality isn’t great, but they’re EXTREMELY powerful and you’ll be able to hear every word if you listen closely.

There’s more material on emotional marketing in the club, and Terry and I are really going to town on this in the Total Conversion Code because emotion is  what bridges my ultimate research methods and Terry’s superior copywriting/conversion system.

Last thing… did you know most all my previous audios are available on iTunes as a FREE podcast subscription?

Onwards and upwards,

Dr. G

PS – Henry Ford once said “If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.” The older I get, the more truth I see in this, and the more I treasure the insights I’ve gleaned from others.   So please SHARE below!

#1 -YOUR NEW CRITERIA FOR SAYING “NO”:

Never say yes to any marketing project where you don’t have all three of these (a) desperate problem; (b) a unique promise; (c) overwhelming proof

I’ve blogged about this previously, but I can’t underscore it enough.  If you’ve got these three covered, odds are you’re going to have much more of an operations and capacity problem then a sales problem.

Many people objected to the idea the problem had to be desperate.  For example, lots of people buy water filters, DVDs on how to knit, and/or mundane things like hammers every day… and  there ARE  people making a fortune selling these items.

Here’s my counter-argument…

People are more desperate to hold onto their money (especially in this economy) than give it to you.

So if you can’t MAKE your prospect feel desperate about their problem (even if their problem is “I can’t play that guitar riff like Clapton” or “I want a clean shower or I’m gonna scream”, or “I can’t finish this wood shed for my son by Christmas without a friggin’ hammer!”), you’re gonna have trouble competing, to say the least.

The unique promise – well, now, that’s kind of a given.  We’re competing globally now… so how will you stand out from the other BEST 20 guys/gals on the first page of Google?

Overwhelming Proof – when I scan all the markets I’ve entered profitably, the ones which REALLY produced were those in which I had overwhelming proof.

And no wonder, with all the scammers and competition online.

Prove your claims or don’t make them.  (And if you’re left with NO claims to prove, pick another project).

• Action Question #1:  What’s the desperate problem your offer solves?  How can you highlight the prospect’s pain to make them more desperate to buy from you today?
• Action Question #2:  Look at your sales page or site.  How many of your claims have you provided proof for?  How else can you overwhelm them with proof?
• Action Question #3:  Why did you gloss over the previous two questions?

#2: Plan for Capacity Problems:

This will sound crazy to most of you but bear with me please…

My friend Jonathan Mizel once told me “Glenn, there are about a dozen critical pieces in your sales system, and if even ONE of them goes wrong, you’re not going to make ANY sales”

He was right.

Here are several practical implications.

First, if you want this internet thing then don’t give up.  Ever.   Decide to be successful and make it happen.

Second, be careful about pre-judging media, techniques, and methods.

Because ALL of them have to come together to create your first profitable project, most people tend to conclude they ALL don’t work.

Or they start “praying to the internet Gods”, or they walk around feeling befuddled.

That’s why 95% of people who start an internet business crap out of the game entirely (a sad but true statistic)

There IS hope, there IS a well traveled path.  But it’s a longer and riskier road than most people make it out to be.

Study research, study conversion, study traffic.

Keep managing your resources, put your head down to do the work, and keep going.  There’s a good chance you’ll make it.

But it’s the last practical implication which is idea #2 for 2011… plan for capacity.

Because what happens to many people when you get the 12th piece of the marketing pipeline in place is a FLOOD they’re in no way prepared to handle.

This is NOT a linear game.

It’s a game of debugging the bits and pieces of your system until money flows through it…

And you need to be ready when it does.

Because of the difficulty of the learning/debugging process, we all tend to feel  the sales system is EVERYTHING in our business.

But it’s NOT.

Marketing and Sales are necessary but not sufficient pieces of your business puzzle if you’re striving towards a 7 or 8 figure business.

Take the time to think through exactly how much business you WANT to create, and create a plan for controlled growth once your sales system is functioning smoothly.    Because growing too quickly will kill your business faster than poor salesmanship (seriously).

• Action Question:  How much business are you prepared to take on when you finally get your sales system humming?  At what rate?  How much in 1Q, 2Q, 3Q, 4Q this year?

#3 – Put REAL GUTS Behind Your Guarantees:

We’re reaching the end of an era … the power of the simple guarantee is fading.

Everyone and their dog gives money back for 90 days on an info product.

Most prospects realize this guarantee is standard and, well… wimpy.  (They know your costs of goods are relatively low)

If your product or service really produces results (and it should or else why bother selling it), then grow a pair and put your money where your mouth is.

For example, how about …  ”We’ll build you a business that makes money and teach you how to grow it… if you don’t want to keep it 12 months later, we’ll buy it back at an agreed upon price”

The only way to make such a guarantee is to BE “that good”

The pressure is on for us all to BE stellar… reliably.

The pressure is also on to know the math in your business inside and out, or these guarantees will kill you.

But I firmly believe this is what it’s going to take to sell high ticket items going forward.

Be stellar and guarantee it, or get out of the game.

• Action Question: “What level of guarantee in your business would make you so nervous you would literally throw up?   Now… can you carefully examine the mathematics and structure of your business so you actually CAN make that guarantee?”

#4: Understand Emerging Media Environments

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but a good part of my early success was fueled by cheap prices when PPC was emerging as a media in 2003 to 2005.

Sure, I stood out amongst the crowd because of my research and marketing abilities (not one in 10,000 marketers claims the same accomplishments even during those easier times), but it was a LOT  easier to profit in 17 markets when clicks cost 1/3rd what they do now.

The reason this is important is because you’ve gotta place your “start up” media in perspective if you’re going to judge the success of your project correctly. (It’s also important because there are always additional media popping up, and if you learn how to watch for the signs, you’ll know how to leverage the “money at a discount” opportunities in emerging media when they inevitably arise)

For example, I’ve had several students who’ve developed a funnel which aggressively builds a list of BUYERS (and thousands of opt ins) at break even in PPC.

It’s somewhat disheartening at first because if they had a time machine and could go back just 2 or 3 short years, these businesses would be earning 2 to 1 on the advertising on the front end.

But now, MOST successful ppc systems operate at or near break even ON THE FRONT END!

Which is why Terry Dean says “I never want to be in a business where I’ve got to make money on the front end”

Here’s another point in this light…

A break-even system in PPC today will often perform quite profitably in a joint venture arena.  Why?  Because to reach break even in PPC requires a very good knowledge of the market, a decent product, a good offer, etc.  And JV traffic LACKS the competition of PPC while GAINING an implied endorsement.

#5: Relentlessly Pursue Reality!

This is the hardest one for most people, but I think the most important.

Because we all had fantasies about this game.

We all thought it was going to be a LOT easier than it really is.

We’re all reluctant to admit that building a business on the internet is just as difficult, if not more so, than building a brick and mortar in the old days.

That we’ve got long days ahead.

With lots to do.

And sometimes months long or years long plateaus before we “jump” to the next level (and that IS how it happens, in my extensive experience and observation)

But you know what…

It’s OK.

I LOVE this game, don’t you?

Sure, I work a lot more than I thought I would.

But I’m working on MY projects.

I might be writing copy, doing research, building website, supervising designers, managing advertising, dealing with $@*&#*& Google, developing systems, supervising outsourcers, talking to attorneys, negotiating deals, making presentations, getting graphics designed, recording products all day on Sundays, forming corporations, dealing with customer service issues, studying new marketing media and techniques, going to seminars, speaking at seminars, coaching my students, talking to mastermind buddies, reading the endless FTC rules, making videos, recording audios, building new scripts, brainstorming products and services, writing a promotion, programming a database, fighting with my web host, managing my domain names, registering trademarks, editing an ebook, recording my marketing club, planning a campaign, doing a webinar, uploading podcasts, writing a blog post (like this one), or just watching the latest internet marketing video.

But you know what?

I’m HAPPY.

I’m doing what I want, when I want, where I want.

I wouldn’t trade this life for any other.

Would you?

Food for thought…

Dr. G

PS – Here’s a bonus idea for 2011… don’t check your email until after you’ve had 20 minutes to journal about your goals, frustrations, and dreams every morning.

Here’s a psychologist’s explanation of why this is critical…

We compulsively go to our email looking for nurturing.  It’s true.  We’re hoping to find money (orders in our inbox),  love (notes from friends and loved ones), and inspiration.

Now, there IS money, love, and inspiration in our inbox most days, at least some of it.

But the problem is, there’s also POISON.

LOTS of poison.

The way we marketers use email, virtually every PROBLEM we have to deal with comes at us through email.

And then there’s spam.

So don’t start your day with poison.  Start out by clearing your mind and nurturing yourself.  I’ll bet anything you’ll make more money if you do!

(I actually start my days by first making vegetable juice, taking my vitamins, and doing a little stretching… no matter what I’m expecting in my email.  THEN I do 20 minutes of journaling, before finally pressing send and receive)