Smart Business & Career Tips

Solving the Mystery of Letting Go

Sometimes the greatest truths are laid right before our eyes, in the simplest of things, and yet we just can't see them. Take for instance our own hands: what a miracle they are. If we consider for even a moment all they are capable of doing, it's evident that a great wisdom sits hidden behind their incomparable design. But, with this thought in mind, permit me to add one other to help us see another part of their special purpose that lies "hidden" in plain sight.

What good would our hands be to us or, for that matter, to the world they are made to help shape, if all they could do was close down around something and cling to it? How stale and old everything would soon be for us if the act of "holding on" to things were all our hands had the power to do? Just imagine what life would be like if we were unable to touch anything new.

To be able to touch and appreciate what is new, our hands are also created to open up -- and, as needed -- to let go of whatever is in them that is no longer useful.

This same basic truth applies, even more so, when it comes to our need to release those old feelings and worn out thoughts that first clog up, and then compromise our heart and mind. These tiresome states of ourselves have become "stuck" within us because we haven't learned how to release them.

Once we understand that letting go is the missing half of the whole happiness our heart longs for -- that it is a necessary and full partner in the power to discover and complete our True Self -- everything about our life grows easier. Old regrets dry up and blow away. We awaken to a quiet kind of faith that fears nothing. New possibilities for us appear almost moment to moment because we've hung an "open for business" sign on the door of our life. And, as our contentment grows with who we are -- within ourselves -- we stop compromising ourselves in order to win the approval of the world around us.

And best of all, as a result of our growing discoveries about the secret of letting go, we find ourselves on the threshold of solving the greatest mystery on earth: who are we? Why are we here? And what is our true role in this world? For as we start to see reality -- as it is -- in its timeless expression of creating life, perfecting it, and then letting it go, only to start all over again, we realize that we ourselves are an integral part of this Great Endless Story. And if the whole of Life is being made new in each and every moment -- and we ourselves are a part of its never-ending process of perfection -- then letting go isn't some distant and difficult faculty to be acquired. To the contrary: letting go is an effortless state of our own consciousness; it is a natural power of ours needing only to be actualized in order for us to realize the freedom that it alone can grant.

- Guy Finley

Wealth and Wealthy People

by Michael Masterson

There is no shortage of billionaires today. In 1985, there were fewer than 20 of them. Today, there are more than one thousand.

Wealth is gradually moving away from the United States. In 2003, eight Americans made the top 10 in Forbes’ annual list of billionaires. This year, only two (Warren Buffett and Bill Gates) made the list. And less than half of the entire list is made up of Americans.

Still, 443 American billionaires is nothing to sneeze at. Nor is their collective net worth of around $1.6 trillion. At least for the moment, the U.S. still has the world’s largest and most profitable economy. But India and China are catching up. Their economies are growing fast. And they are not wasting trillions of dollars on foreign wars.

With the dollar falling and our economy on the brink of a depression, it’s highly likely that Americans will continue to get poorer in the next few years. It’s also quite possible that the U.S. will be passed by China or India and become a second-tier economy. Even if that doesn’t happen, Americans will have to take quick and drastic action to protect themselves and preserve the wealth they have.

One of the best ways you can create and maintain wealth is by following the lead of people who’ve already done it.

About 33 percent of the very rich got their money through inheritance. The Waltons, for instance. The rest - two out of three - created their wealth through business. About half of those mega-entrepreneurs started with family money, and the other half started from scratch. These are the people - like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page - who earned the wealth they have. These are the people I’d listen to if I wanted advice on how to succeed today.

I don’t know any of these billionaire entrepreneurs (BEs) personally, but I’ve done a lot of reading about them. I figured you might want to know what makes them tick and how they got where they are. Here is what I’ve discovered:

• Formal education matters - but not always.

  The great majority of BEs - about 90 percent - have a college degree. But it’s not necessary for success. Among the world’s super-rich today, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Fred DeLuca, David Geffen, and Andrei Melnichenko didn’t graduate from college. And David Murdock (Dole Foods), S. Truett Cathy (Chick-fil-A), and Richard Desmond (British publishing magnate) never finished high school.

• BEs work harder and longer than the people who work for them.

  Most say they work 50 to 55 hours a week. Some, like centibillionaire Canadian communication mogul Ted Rogers, work 12 hours a day. And some, like Bill Gates (when he worked at Microsoft) and eBay founder Jeff Skoll, took no vacations for years while their businesses were growing.

• BEs are constantly looking for profit opportunities.

  When they hear about an economic or business development, they think, "How could I profit from that?"

• BEs don’t dwell on mistakes.

  They view problems as learning opportunities. "I don’t remember any mistakes," the late pharmaceutical billionaire James Sorenson told Forbes, "only the opportunity to overcome problems."

• BEs think neither completely positively or negatively, but strategically.

  Instead of thinking, "That’s impossible" or "I can do anything," they think, "Is that possible?" and "If it is, how could I do it?"

• BEs don’t believe in luck.

  In a recent Forbes poll of the 400 richest people in the world, none said they had become wealthy entirely by luck. Some said they considered luck to be a minor factor. Most, like Oprah Winfrey, consider luck an outsider’s way of describing someone who works hard and seizes opportunity. "Luck," Winfrey says, "is preparation meeting a moment of opportunity."

• BEs are not driven primarily by money.

  "Studies show that the desire for financial success is no stronger among entrepreneurs than among those not starting a company," says entrepreneur expert Kelly Shaver. Wharton School management professor Raphael Amit agrees: "No one is saying they don’t like their wealth; but what matters more is the innovation, the intense commitment they have to an idea and the difference it can make. Money is a byproduct."

If you want to survive and prosper in the first decade of 21st century, emulate the habits of the world’s richest people. Educate yourself about money. Make conservative investments. And seize opportunities to start and/or invest in entrepreneurial businesses.

[Ed. Note: Michael Masterson has said it before: One of the very best ways to get wealthy is to start your own business. At ETR’s upcoming 5 Days in July Internet Business Building Conference, you’ll learn how to build your own Internet business from the ground up. Check out the details here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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You, the Movie

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today."

Robert McAfee Brown

By John Carlton

Have you ever wondered where the knack for finding stories and hooks — the main ingredients of any great copywriter’s bag of tricks — comes from?

Here is my insight (after a couple of decades on the advertising front lines): It comes from observing life as an ongoing movie. With characters, story angles, plot twists, and endings that arrive like punch lines.

This is how the legendary copywriters I’ve known go through their day… seeing nearly everything in terms of a movie script. It’s an unconscious habit, and wickedly effective at keeping your writing chops chugging on all cylinders.

Even the most mundane errand can be retold as a raucous tale full of shocking revelation when you put this talent to work. Nothing interesting or weird or funny gets by a top scribe.

So, when faced with clients needing killer ads… it’s easy to find, and flesh out, the stories hidden in products, campaigns, and markets. Because it’s all a movie.

Think about your own life.

No, seriously. Think about it.

Most people have trouble "seeing" themselves in the world at all. Without a mirror, they’re not even sure they exist. Their daily experiences are like watching a "monkey cam" - the filmed result of attaching a camera to the back of a chimp and letting him wander off.

It’s not a smooth, thought-out, coherent narrative. Instead, it’s jerky, chaotic, and (unless there are "happy accidents") mostly boring.

There. I’ve said it.

Most people lead boring lives.

For any savvy copywriter, that’s a tremendous advantage. All you have to do… is be the one thing your bored-to-death prospect reads today that gets his blood moving. And you’re well on your way to closing the sale.

Again, think about your life.

Consider how it has progressed in actual chapters, or acts… just like a long-running serial flick.

Maybe your story is as straightforward as childhood, adulthood, starting a biz, getting married.

Or maybe it’s more nuanced, in peculiar ways that make sense to you… but may sound exotic to outsiders. I know one guy, for example, who catalogs his past using whichever car was in his life at the time: The ancient ‘55 Buick Special (junior year in high school), the only slightly abused ‘67 Mustang (freshman year of college), the brand-spanking-new Toyota (first full-time job), the Pontiac mini-van (first kid), etc.

This guy will fry your ear with great stories, too. All starring him and his wheels.

The more precise and anchored you can be, the better your stories will become.

And the better your OWN parcel of stories is, the easier you can spot - and use - stories from the world around you when you’re writing to influence and persuade.

I was lucky to grow up in a family of storytellers. And since I was the youngest by eight years, I learned quickly to be pithy and interesting… or risk losing the attention of my audience. (Few adults have much patience for meandering stories with no point, even from their own kids.)

The trick is to focus on short, crisp, rollicking tales that get to the payoff quickly. With a beginning, a middle, and an end. Or, like a good joke, with a premise, a set-up, and a punch line.

In fact, I suggest you start crafting your tales - both the personal and professional - in three brisk sentences.

They can be serious or funny or rueful or just hmmm -inducing snippets of action.

But they must be complete stories.

So start editing, with an audience in mind. For example: "Suzy and I, at 17, started out convinced no one had ever felt a love so wild and crazy before. However, that dizzy high of shared hormonal bliss… was cruelly followed by heartache and misery when her attention shifted away from me. And I ended up as a sad, sad boy, convinced no one had ever felt such pain before."

Set-up, plot synopsis, and tidy ending with a hook (the "completed circle" of the phrase convinced no one had ever felt...). You can go into more specifics (should your audience crave it), but you’ve laid out the story very efficiently here.

If the point you were trying to make… say, in a sales piece… was that you’ve been around the block emotionally, you scored. Any further detail would muddy up the yarn.

Here’s another one: "I interviewed for my first real job right out of college. Cinched up my tie, answered every jackass question seriously, shook hands like a candidate. Got the gig, hated every second of my life for six months, never quite caught my breath, got fired, and happily collected unemployment checks for the next three months."

Or, here’s a tidbit from my own biography: "We were vandals as kids, mostly ineffective and innocent, but occasionally stunning models of anarchy. Asked an engineer, once, how many railroad ties his cow-catcher could handle… and the next day, put all those plus one on the tracks. Derailed the train… and our genuine horror of success was deepened by the realization we’d better watch our butts if we were gonna engage with the adult world like that."

Three sentences. Yeah, long ones. But three coherent, grammatically correct sentences. A complete story, with entry point, action, and a quasi-moral ending.

Consider how looooooooooooong I could have dragged out that tale, and been absolutely justified in doing so. Because, hey, events took place over a couple of days, and there are details of our gang and the neighborhood and the derailment that are fascinating.

Just freaking fascinating.

But longer stories should be told only if you’re invited to tell them. As in, writing your thousand-page biography and selling it. Anyone buys, it’s a tacit agreement to put up with every long-winded saga you’ve got up your sleeve.

Okay… now it’s your turn.

Leave a three-sentence story from your life in the new "comments" section on ETR’s website here.

Don’t be shy. We’re all trying new stuff this year. (Or should be, because the business landscape is changing so dramatically and rapidly. The best marketers I know are trashing old limitations, stretching new boundaries, waking up and engaging the world on fresh terms.)

I promise to read every submission. I’ll even toss a few comments into the pile myself, when warranted.

And I can guarantee you this innocent little exercise will sharpen your chops as a storyteller. Some of you are already damn good, I’m sure… while others can use a lot of work. But we ALL need to remember how critical stories are for communication. (As in, communicating your sales message in a way that grabs attention, persuades, and closes.)

C’mon. Three lines. That forces you to be concise, to consider every single word carefully, and to crunch often-rambling experiences into tidy little narratives with a point.

Just like a top writer does it.

I’m not looking for funny. Not looking for tears. Not looking for anything profound.

Just a story.

For some writers, this will be a true test, because you aren’t used to pushing yourself. However, the best already do.

Good luck.

[Ed. Note: John Carlton is an expert copywriter, a pioneer in online marketing, and a teacher of killer sales copy. Get the details here on how to get your hands on the kick-ass secrets of the world’s smartest, happiest, and wealthiest marketers. And be sure to read his insights, tactics, and advice on copywriting and marketing at his blog.

]This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Bring Your Story Home to Your Reader

By John Carlton

Let's go deeper into storytelling, what d'ya say? My last article in ETR ("You, The Movie") seems to have hit a nerve.

In that article, I discussed the importance of storytelling as a skill, especially for copywriters attempting to persuade prospects to become customers. The brief exercise I suggested was aimed at sharpening your ability to weave a pithy tale... and the response was overwhelming. At last count, more than 160 folks posted their efforts in the new "comments" section on ETR's website. (And I read every single one. Thanks, again, to everyone who participated. It was fun, wasn't it?)

Today, if you're up for it, I have another exercise that will help hone your writing chops to dangerous "street-wise salesmanship" levels.

But first... let's do some triage.

In case you missed it, I reviewed specific submissions in the comments section. But, in general, if there was one glaring fault in the three-sentence stories that were posted, it was the lack of a clear punch line. This is the most common error rookies make (and it's an easy fix, once you get hip to advanced storytelling tactics). Many of the narratives sort of "floated," without moorings. And while meaningful to the writer, the tales remained mysteries to the reader.

Great storytelling sucks people into your world. This is especially important when one of your ultimate goals is to use your writing to sell stuff. (Most legendary ads involve some type of storytelling.)

Even the most rollicking yarn can put people to sleep if it's too complex, goes off on too many tangents, or doesn't tickle the reader's short attention span.

And most people are not natural storytellers... so they sometimes ramble off on quirky paths, repeating themselves, unable to clearly explain plot points, and bombarding the listener with irrelevant details. "Did I tell you about the UFO that attacked us? No? It was Tuesday last week. No, wait, it was Wednesday. Yeah. It must have been Wednesday, because I was headed to IHOP to meet Suzy for waffles. You know they have specials every Wednesday, don't you?"

This is how people get strangled.

In my long experience trying to force folks to tell better stories, the first task is nearly always to trim the excess verbiage and fluff.

The outline to follow is: the set-up (the tease of the payoff to come)... plot elements (relevant details)... action (the fulfillment of the tease)... and punch line.

Focus on your reason for telling your story... which could vary from pure entertainment to providing insight to persuading someone to buy. When you're done, you want your listener or reader to FEEL something. Happiness ("Aww, the puppy got rescued")... alarm ("My God, I'm gonna keep a loaded gun by my bedside from here on out")... astonishment ("My neighbors are doing what at night?")... or, yes, even greed ("Hey! I want that kind of deal too!").

The process can also be described biologically. Like this: foreplay... climax... resolution.

Stories, like sex, benefit from a focus on the goal. The less extraneous interruption, the better.

In other words: It's not about you at all, even if you're the star of the story.

It's about your reader.

Ideally, he will "see" himself in your story. Or feel like he's temporarily privy to the world you create with your words - a world he would not otherwise have access to.

Have you ever read a story to a child? Once they get a taste for it, just saying, "Once upon a time..." will glaze their eyes over, as they eagerly prepare themselves to be transported to a world far different than their own.

The concept of "transporting" is critical. You're driving the story, and it's your responsibility to keep it on the road. Your reader will abandon you at the first hint that you don't know where you're going. And he'll despise you for getting his hopes up for a good tale if you then dash them with a feeble punch line.

That's why striving for pithy, concise stories is so important for writers. Set-up... plot elements... action... punch line.

And the three-liner is classic. One of the best: "I've been poor. And I've been rich. Rich is better."

No need for any details. In this example, the words "rich" and "poor" carry their own payload of emotional backstory with them, because, in this context, nearly everyone will have a feeling about being rich and a feeling about being poor. A long-winded rant about HOW poor you were, or HOW rich you became, is excessive.

Concise, memorable stories pack a punch.

Even better, there is a segue into the life of the reader in that three-line beauty. "Rich is better" may seem like an obvious statement, but coupled with the set-up lines, it delivers a strong message that smacks of truth. You want to hear what else this guy has to say.

The flow of a quick story, told with feeling, is always ripe with implications for the reader.

However, good ad copy doesn't rest on implications. It's got to move quickly to specifics.

So here's a simple tactic from my own bag of tricks that has helped bring many a story "home" to readers: First, you tell your tale, aiming for the kind of breathless prose that makes your prospect afraid to exhale for fear of missing a delicious detail.

Then, you deliver the punch line or the moral or just the ending. Don't try any clever transitions back into your sales pitch. Instead, you merely say: "And here's what that means for YOU..."

When reading fables to kids, any attempt to explain the moral would ruin the transcendent pleasure of listening to them. Ideally, you want the ending to rattle around in their heads, while they mull over the ethical implications and come up with their own conclusion. (Kids hate it when adults wag fingers and try to force lessons on them.)

But when you're writing to adults, you no longer have that luxury. Especially with ad copy. Adults are so numb to incoming data, they will hear even a great story, store it away somewhere in their cluttered brain, and move on to the next volley of arriving stimuli without coming to any conclusion whatsoever.

So, as the copywriter, it's your job to complete the thought.

You just continue the thread, going deeper into your sales message.

"I've been poor. And I've been rich. Rich is better. Here's what that means for you: You can continue on with your life believing that 'money can't buy happiness,' if that makes you feel better. But I'm here to tell you that having a pile of extra cash is actually a fabulous feeling... and your life will get better almost immediately. Plus, since I've already done the hard work of going from clean broke to filthy rich, I know all the shortcuts... and I'll share them with you..."

Et cetera.

So, if you're up for it... here's your next assignment: Tell a short, three-sentence story (using the set-up, plot, action, and punch line outline). And then write a one- or two-line segue that brings the story home to your reader. Leave it in the "comments" section on ETR's website here. 

You're allowed to be nonsensical for this exercise. In other words, you don't actually have to be selling anything. You can make it all up.

Just think - really, really hard - about how the punch line of your story MIGHT lead into a sales message.

Be concise, and bring it home to the reader. That's the key to world-class sales messages.

You cannot "fail" at this exercise, because you're just warming up your chops.

You don't learn to ride without hopping into the saddle. And it's okay to fall off, as long as you climb back on.

Again, I'll read every submitted story, and comment as needed.

[Ed. Note: Think storytelling doesn't matter? Think again. John Carlton is an expert copywriter, a pioneer in online marketing, and a teacher of killer sales copy - and he's honed the storytelling craft to a fine point. From John, you can also discover how to get your hands on the kick-ass secrets of the world's smartest, happiest, and wealthiest marketers.

And be sure to read his insights, tactics, and advice on copywriting and marketing at his blog.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Setting Priorities

Setting Priorities by Brian Tracy (05/8/2008)
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

In 1970, sociologist Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University wrote a book entitled The Unheavenly City. He described one of the most profound studies on success and priority-setting ever conducted.

Banfield’s goal was to find out how and why some people become financially independent during the course of their working lifetimes. He started off convinced that the answer to this question would be found in such things as family background, education, intelligence, influential contacts, or some other concrete factor. What he finally discovered was that the major reason for success in life is a particular attitude of mind.

Banfield called this attitude "long time perspective." He said that people who were the most successful in life and the most likely to move up economically were those who took the future into consideration with every decision they made in the present. He found that the longer the period of time a person took into consideration, the more likely it was that he would achieve greatly during his career.

Doctors, for example, invest many years of hard work and study to finally earn the right to practice medicine. After university courses, internship, residency, and practical training, they may be more than 30 years old before they are capable of earning a good living. But from that point onward, they are among the most respected and most successful professionals in the United States. They had long time perspectives.

If you take additional courses in the evening to upgrade your skills and make yourself more valuable to your employer, you’re acting with a long time perspective. Because it can have a long-term effect on your career and your life.

The key to setting priorities is to have a long time perspective - and that usually requires sacrificing present enjoyment for future enjoyment. It requires giving up a short-term pleasure in the present in order to enjoy a far greater and more substantial pleasure in the future. And it begins with deciding what you want most in life and then organizing your time and activities so you can achieve those objectives.

With your larger, long-term priorities in order, you can much more easily decide upon your short-term priorities. Setting short-term priorities begins with a pad of paper and a pen.

Sit down, take a deep breath, and list all the tasks you need to accomplish. Although there is never enough time to do everything, there is always enough time to do the most important things.

Once you have listed your tasks, ask yourself this question: "If I were to be called out of town for a month and I could finish only one thing on this list, which one thing would it be?" Think it through, and circle that one item. Then ask yourself: "If I could do only one more thing before I was called out of town for a month, what would it be?" This is the second thing you circle.

Continue with this exercise until you have sorted out the highest priorities on your list. Then number each according to its importance. You are now ready to begin working effectively toward the achievement of your major goals.

Another good way to set priorities once you have determined your major objectives is with the A-B-C-D-E method. You place one of those letters in the margin before each of the tasks on your list.

"A" stands for "very important; must do; severe negative consequences if not completed."

"B" stands for "important; should do; but not as important as my ‘A’ tasks, and only minor negative consequences if not completed."

"C" stands for "nice to do; but not as important as ‘A’ or ‘B,’ and no negative consequences for not completing."

"D" stands for "delegate or assign to someone else who can do the task in my place."

"E" stands for "eliminate if possible."

When you use the A-B-C-D-E method, you can easily sort out what is important and unimportant. This will focus your time and attention on those tasks that are most essential.

Once you can clearly see the one or two things that you should be doing above all others, just say no to diversions and distractions and focus single-mindedly on those priorities.

Much of the stress that people experience comes from working on low-priority tasks. The amazing thing is that as soon as you start working on your highest-value activity, your stress disappears. You begin to feel a continuous stream of energy and enthusiasm. As you work toward the completion of something that is really important, you feel an increased sense of personal value and inner satisfaction. You experience a sensation of self-mastery and self-control. You feel calm, confident, and capable.

Here are six ideas that you can use to set priorities and keep yourself working at your best:    

1. Take the time to be clear about your goals and objectives so that the priorities you set are moving you in the direction of something that is of value to you. Remember that many people scramble frantically to climb the ladder of success, only to find that it is leaning against the wrong building.    

2. Develop a long time perspective and work on those things in the present that can have the greatest positive impact on your future. Maintain your balance in life by setting priorities in the areas of your health, your personal relationships, and your financial goals.    

3. Make the commitment to improve those aspects of your life that are most important to you. If you’re in sales, learn how to be an excellent salesperson. If you’re a parent, learn how to be an outstanding mother or father. The power is always on the side of the person with the best practical knowledge.    

4. Take the time to do your work right the first time. The fewer mistakes you make, the less time you will waste doing it over.

5. Remember that what counts is not the overall amount of time you put in. Rather, it’s the amount of time you spend working on high-priority tasks. You will always be paid for the results you obtain, not merely the hours you spend on the job.    

6. Understand that the most important factor in setting priorities is your ability to make wise choices. You are always free to choose to engage in one activity or another. You may choose a higher-value activity or a lower-value activity, but once you have chosen, you must accept the consequences of your choice.

Resolve, today, to set clear priorities in every area of your life, and always choose the activities that will assure you the greatest health, happiness, and prosperity in the long term. The long term comes soon enough, and every sacrifice that you make today will be rewarded with compound interest in the great future that lies ahead for you.

[Ed. Note: Brian Tracy is one of America ’s leading authorities on the development of human potential and personal effectiveness. With Brian’s Ultimate Goal Achieving Package, you can discover a simple and easy-to-learn way to get everything you want out of life.

The 25-50-25 Formula for Business Success

by Bob Bly (03/26/2008)

   

 

"I was quite eager to learn about marketing, and began reading everything associated with it," one of my subscribers, KM, told me in a recent e-mail. "However, with AWAI’s Golden Thread e-zine, ETR, and, of course your insightful newsletter, I find myself reading more than applying. How do I sift through the worthy (but time-consuming) information that would benefit my business? Sometimes I force myself to read, fearful I may overlook some exceptional nugget. Help! Where do I stop?"

I hear similar stories all the time…

You are interested in some aspect of marketing - whether it is copywriting, Internet marketing, whatever. But you are overwhelmed by all the information being offered on the subject. (After all, we live in the Information Age.)

So you go "information crazy"… buying every course, attending every conference, reading every e-book, listening to every recording, and dialing into every teleseminar you can find.

Before you know it, a month… six months… or a year has gone by - and you are no closer to your business or career goal. That’s because you’ve spent all your time reading, studying, and learning the thing you are interested in… rather than actually DOING it.

Sadly, you are suffering from a syndrome I call "analysis paralysis."

All the information you are taking in has overloaded your circuits. You can’t process it all, sort through it, and figure out what to do first. So, instead, you do nothing. You take no action - other than to order yet another course or report to read.

You have become a marketing-information junkie - avoiding the harsh realities of the business world by retreating to your favorite comfy chair with yet another neat marketing book.

You spend all your time reading about starting a business. So there is no time left to actually start or run a business. You are an "armchair entrepreneur" - more enamored with the idea of entrepreneurship than the actuality.

Fortunately there is an easy solution: the 25-50-25 rule. It provides a simple guideline to help you get unstuck.

The rule says there are only three ways to learn a process (e.g., how to start an Internet business) or a skill (e.g., copywriting): studying, observing, and doing. The 25-50-25 rule says that to master a skill or process, and put what you learn into practical action, you must divide your time as follows:

• No more than 25 percent of your time studying - i.e., reading books, going to bootcamps, attending workshops, listening to recordings in your car.
• No more than 25 percent of your time observing - watching what successful people in your field are already doing. If, for example, you want to become a direct-mail copywriter, this means reading and analyzing the direct mail you get in your mailbox.
• At least 50 percent of your time actually DOING the thing you are studying and observing. For example, if you want to sell information products on the Internet, you are spending 50 percent of your time creating your first product… designing your website… or building your list.

The idea is similar to Michael Masterson’s Ready, Fire, Aim approach. He says that you should take action right away, and then learn as you go.

Acquiring business knowledge is a worthwhile activity. But without action, that knowledge is worthless to you.

KM’s worry that, by not reading everything, he may miss a "nugget" of information is accurate: You will never know everything there is to know in your field, or even most of it.

But so what?

You don’t have to know everything - or even most of what there is to know - to succeed in most endeavors.

For example, there are hundreds of strategies for making money on the Internet. But you can make a six-figure annual income online using only a few of them, even if you never bother to learn the others.

In freelance copywriting, there are many top writers who write only one type of promotion. Or work in one narrow niche. And they make a fortune doing so.

When we were kids, our parents and teachers told us to study, study, study. But I see many people today much more enamored with studying and reading about marketing and entrepreneurship than actually doing.

Well, I understand that. Reading about marketing is fascinating - and fun. But the money is in the doing, not the reading.

Follow the 25-50-25 rule, and you’ll be doing - and making money - at least half the time.

[Ed Note: Freelance copywriter Bob Bly is the creator of The Direct Response Letter, the author of more than 70 books, and co-creator of ETR’s Direct Marketing Masters Edition program.

Learn specific strategies for how to take action on all your business and personal goals with ETR’s Total Success Achievement program. It’s not too late to sign up and learn how to make your longest-held dreams come true. Click here to learn more.]

Scheduling Stress Breaks

   By Michael Masterson

If you work as hard as I do, you will be forever on the verge of a nervous breakdown unless you do something about it. One of the best things you can do is schedule at least two (and preferably three or four) stress breaks every working day.

A stress break is not a stress break unless:

1. You get at least 10 feet away from your desk.
2. You are completely distracted by it.
3. It lasts at least five minutes.
4. It relaxes you.
5. It energizes you.

If you have good control over your daily schedule, you can plan stress breaks between tasks. Ideally, you’ll want a five-minute break every 90 to 120 minutes. If your schedule is too frenetic or unpredictable to do it that way, use an egg timer and simply break away from whatever you are doing when it rings.

Suggested stress-reducing activities:

1. Stretching
2. Yoga
3. Billiards
4. A walk in the sun
5. Meditation

What will NOT reduce stress?

1. Lifting weights
2. Any strenuous exercise
3. Talking about work
4. (Probably) talking about anything
5. Sex

You will notice that the stress-reducing activities suggested above are solo ventures. That is not a coincidence.

This is something you can start today. If you think you are too busy to start today, you really, REALLY need to start today. If you have no problem with the idea of taking stress breaks, you don’t have enough stress in your life because you are not working hard enough. Get to work.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

 

How to Ace Your Next Job Interview

"Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent."

            

- Dalai Lama             

How to Ace Your Next Job Interview

 

By MaryEllen Tribby             

During the course of my business career, I have interviewed literally hundreds of candidates for various positions. Some people make the cut. But more often, I wind up saying,"Thanks, but no thanks."

 

I can think of dozens of reasons I might pass on a particular candidate. Maybe she's rude during the interview. Maybe he shows up in jeans and a T-shirt to meet with me. Or maybe she just doesn't have that"it" factor I'm looking for.          

But many who seem to have the whole package still get passed over when they're looking for a job. Because of that sad fact of life, young people often ask me for advice about how to ace the interview process. In fact, I got one such e-mail just the other day. Evan from Seattle wrote:

      

"Thanks so much for continually providing outstanding content and practical advice. Reading ETR is one of the first things I try to do once I get in the office. Thank you for pushing all of your readers, and especially me, to achieve more.             

"I am 25 years old and graduated from college in English Literature, just over a year ago. While going to school, I worked for one of the major retail chains, which allowed me to pay for my own schooling. Straight out of college, I landed an internship with a promising but small start-up company. After my internship, the company hired me on full-time in marketing, where I have since been working. Though the company continues to grow, I often feel bored, a bit underutilized, and unchallenged. I have spoken with our CEO and other coworkers to see if there are more responsibilities I can take on, but to no avail.

         

"I am considering changing companies, and am looking into pursuing an opportunity in a more established Fortune 500 type firm. Being an English major (as opposed to having a specialized Business degree) gives me a certain degree of insecurity when applying and interviewing for jobs. Do you have any rock-solid advice on the job interview process? I know a few of the basics - like remaining calm and collected while selling my best qualities and showing how I will help improve the company. What else might you recommend?"           

Here's my response to Evan. (And if you are in a similar situation,  pay close attention.)

      

First of all, Evan, before you jump ship, examine what is going on in your current position. You say you obtained an internship straight out of college - and after the internship, you were hired on full-time in the company's marketing department. You also said that you have been out of college a little over a year. So you only have a year's worth of marketing experience.          

If you came to me as a job candidate and you told me all that... along with the fact that your employer's company continues to grow (during a time where the majority of start-ups are failing)... and mentioned that you have asked others in your company (including your CEO) for more responsibility to no avail, I would wonder the following:

•           Are you doing your  current job to the fullest?             

•    

  That means doing the tasks you don't like to do... and the tasks you may not think are important but are still a part of your job.              

  Just yesterday, an ETR team member told me that he did not think he was moving up fast enough. During our discussion, I named three very specific responsibilities of his job that he has yet to do on a regular basis or has not done at all. I explained that until an employee does his or her current job to the fullest - and does so with pride and enthusiasm - I will not move them up or assign additional responsibilities. I did, however, make sure he knew why those tasks are important and how, by doing them, he would help our company's bottom line.

         

  Do you have a good  attitude?         

•    

  I have written about this before in ETR.               

  Do you come in and complain about being bored and underutilized? Remember, not only does everyone dislike a complainer... they avoid complainers like the plague.

     

  Are you a team  player?          

•        

  If you have completed your tasks for the day and you see someone struggling to get work done, do you offer to give them a hand... regardless of how large or small their task may be?             

            

Can you honestly answer yes to all the above questions, Evan? If not, you may want to take another look at how you've been approaching your current job. But if you can, then it is time to start looking.             

And here's some advice for your job hunt that will help you  impress any prospective boss.

                      

1. Don't be intimated  because you were an English Literature major and not a Business major.

       

I majored in Theater Arts in college, and that has worked to my advantage throughout my career. My theater background taught me how to look at situations, procedures, and challenges and make them my own. It taught me that things don't have to be done the same old way. More important, being a theater major taught me how to think clearly and concisely. And that offering an idea that may not be useable at that particular time was better than offering no idea at all. The things I learned as a result of my major have helped me make a conscious decision to surround myself with people and companies that encourage and promote good ideas.              

A business degree can certainly be helpful, but it is not necessary. The ability to think on your own and come up with good ideas should be more important than any degree in the eyes of a potential employer.

    

2. Do your homework.              

I am always taken aback when a job candidate shows up for the interview without first having checked out ETR's website. If they don't do the basic footwork up front, my feeling is they would not go the extra mile if they got the job.

      

So before you interview for any position, go to the company's website. Use the information on the site to get a good understanding of their business. Look at their product line. Study their marketing. If they have an e-newsletter, subscribe to it. If they have a blog, read it.              

But that's not all the homework you should do. You should also go to the company's competitors' websites to develop a broader understanding of their industry. In the Internet Age, there is simply no excuse for not knowing this stuff - the stuff that will make you shine during the interview.

       

3. Be prepared to  discuss how you keep up with new marketing strategies.              

I love job candidates who read. People who read books on marketing, read newsletters on marketing, and attend marketing conferences and events are clearly interested in the field. Plus, their love of learning shows me they won't be happy with the status quo.

       

4. Listen.              

I can't stress this enough. Yes, you may be anxious to answer the interviewer's questions. But don't interrupt. You want to show that you respect your colleagues and supervisors.

      

In fact, interrupting can be a deal breaker for me. I don't care how smart someone is. If they don't respect the company and the people who work there, I don't want them in my organization.             

   

So, Evan, I hope this helps. Please let us know how your job  search goes. And remember... I am always looking for smart, enthusiastic marketing  people.             

[Ed. Note: MaryEllen Tribby  is CEO and Publisher of Early to Rise. Learn more about how new grads - or anyone starting out - can get a job or move up the ranks in their existing job in Michael Masterson's best-selling book, Automatic Wealth for Grads.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Email Job Application - Some Tips

By Milton Drepaul

Today some employers ask you to email them. Since most of us use email in a rather casual fashion it is useful to take your time and write carefully. Do not sacrifice quality because of the ease of using email. Remember that applying for a job is a serious matter and business etiquette is important.Here are some tips to help you.

Chose an email address that reflects your name instead of something which might make you look ridiculous in a business setting.It is a good idea to set up a special account for your job hunting emails.

Print out the advertisement, highlight the key requirements for the job and respond directly to them in the main part of your email.Briefly and succinctly state the experience you have which is directly relevant.

Ensure that your subject line is informative and pertinent by including the title(or Job code) of the position   you are applying for.

Create an email signature with your contact information-- home address,email ,fax and phone number.

A tightly written version of your cover letter would be your first paragraph in the email.

Your first important task is to present yourself to your future employer in the best possible way.

Resist any temptation to be clever,frivolous or even to hint at any criticism of your former employer or fellow employees.

Show that you have read their instructions carefully by following them.

if they ask you not to phone, or do follow up emails then do not do so.

Arrange your  email into carefully structured single-sentence paragraphs.

Proof your email and attached  resume extremely carefully.Employers or Human Resource personnel will react nd negatively to grammatical and spelling errors. Do not rely on software spell checking only. Use at least one other careful reader to proof read your writing.

Your resume  should be tailored for the post you are applying for, only contain relevant details, and be one page long.It's best to submit it as a PDF file(Portable Document Format) . This format  which is easily readable maintains your fonts and layout faithfully.If you cannot convert to PDF  then use MS Word or a text only version.

Many employers may not accept attachments. If they do not, paste your resume into your email message. Use a simple font. Take out any fancy formatting. Test the appearance of your message by emailing it to yourself and printing it out to do a final proofing. If all is well then send your message.

Milton Drepaul  is co-author of  CXC English and CXC English B . He is an Educator,Writer,Business Consultant and Resume Expert.

Article Source:  EzineArticles Expert Author --Milton Drepaul

Success: Key to Success is Self Confidence and Overcoming Inferiority Complex

Let me tell you a brief story. By the time you finish reading this quick article, you will see the key to success.

An inferiority complex, feeling not good enough, leads to less than desirable results, even failure.

I asked a doctor the characteristics of an inferiority complex. She said, "Symptoms can be attacking others, speaking negatively, propagating gossip and doing damage to self. A large number of people, who look like they have self confidence, suffer from the inferiority complex."

The key to success is to overcome the inferiority complex, either your own or someone else's.

After speaking to a convention of men and women in a large city, I moved from stage to an area of the auditorium near a sign saying, "Lori Prokop Book Signing."

At the autograph table I was greeted by a large number of people and signed books when a visibly intense man asked, "Excuse me. Lori Prokop, may I speak with you privately about self confidence and dealing with an inferiority complex?"

I answered, "Yes. Can you wait until the crowd has gone?"

With relief, he politely answered, "Yes, Lori Prokop, I would like that very much."

Once back stage, he began, "I need all the self confidence I can find. I have to achieve the biggest business deal of my life. Lori Prokop, if I have success, it means the world to me. If I fail, I'm done for."

I proposed he relax. Few situations or deals are so final, although they may feel to be the only key to success. An important step is to know if he did succeed that was fine. If he didn't succeed, there would be other days and deals. This is the beginning of overcoming an inferiority complex and achieving self confidence.

He continued, "I have a real inferiority complex. I just don't have the self confidence I want. Here I am forty-five years old. I've been plagued by my inferiority complex. Lori Prokop, I listened to your speech tonight about self confidence. I want to know the key to success you, Lori Prokop, would recommend to help me achieve self confidence."

"There are three steps to take," I answered.

"First step is to discover why you have these feelings. I have a free report at my web site that reveals the 12 Rules of Abuse, which are beliefs people learned as children that keep them from achieving what they want as adults.

"You must approach the inferiority complex and self confidence problems looking for a cause and removing it. This may require self-analysis or assistance of a counselor or therapist.

"To help you and be of assistance now with your immediate problem, I will give you my own Lori Prokop formula which works for me. Starting today, I want you to repeat this powerful phrase I will give you. Tomorrow, I want you to say it throughout the day. Do you agree?"

He replied, "Yes, Lori Prokop, I agree."

I said, "Here is the Lori Prokop Formula."

"I am free of worry about how to figure things out. God does that for me. Together, as partners, God and I achieve success in everything, whether overcoming obstacles or going straight to the top."

I continued, "You can substitute words for what God is to you. The main message here is that you are not alone. Your Life Partner is powerful and on your side always."

Posted by Lori Prokop