Are You Too Smart?

May 30, 2008

Today I am off to a seminar in Orlando and it made me think about how some people ( usually the unsuccessful ones) think they know everything and don’t invest in their education. Really smart and successful people always seem to invest in their education ….They are looking for that “slight edge”

Often times I attend a 2 or 3 day event and only get 1 good idea. Now lets say I earn 1,000,000 per year and this little item I learned gives me a 10% increase in income when I implement it. And lets also say this event cost me 5000 to attend.  The math is really simple- I earn an extra 100,000 for my 5000 investment

Let’s just say I get a 1% increase- that is still 10,000 for a 5000 investment. This is what I mean by that slight edge…

Let me rattle off some excuses here and see which ones have passed thru your mind.

1. Can’t afford to go

2. I already know all that

3.Can’t take the time

4. Can’t afford the registration

5. They are all full of #*&$%

The most vaild of all of these excuses is probably # 5.. so you owe it to yourself to ONLY Listen to real experts instead of “pretend ones”  When I was learning the information marketing business I “invested” in attending seminars given by Dan Kennedy and went on to build several multi-million dollar on -line and off-line businesses..

Could I afford it - NO   —- Could I afford the air and hotel– NO

Could I afford NOT TO GO — again a resounding NO .. See I felt that this information would help me get where I wanted to be fastest.. I not only attended the Dan Kennedy events but I also went on to buy each and every program he offered. 

Then I was lucky enough to take another major shortcut and have the benefit or being mentored by Bill Glazer and went on to invest in all of his programs. Here they are if you want to check them out—-

http://www.whatiused.com

At the time I was over 43,000 in debt just in credit cards and my future as a loan officer and mortgage company owner was not looking too bright. So why would I incur more debt? The answer is simply that in my mind I was already in trouble and close to bankruptcy.. So what’s the difference… My feeling was that if I am going down I am at least going to have a shot at turning things around.

And that is exactly what this information did for me… It turned everything around.

So if you have a chance to get knowledge , coaching , programs etc. from people you have checked out and know are “true” gurus than go for it.. Your bank account and family will thank you just like mine has.

Want to hear my “Phenomenon” story ? go to http://www.brian.in12months.com

Let me know what you think .. post a comment …

To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

PS- For full disclosure here I want you to know that not only did I invest in Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazers products and programs … but I used that information to become their partner in the glazer-kennedy webstore .  Check it out and sign up for the FREE Success Marketing Strategies Course there..

http://www.whatiused.com

 

What Would You Do First?

May 29, 2008

When I traveled around the country speaking one of the first questions I always asked my audience was “WHAT WOULD YOU DO FIRST IF I TOLD YOU TO GET TO KALAMZOO BY MIDNIGHT TOMMOROW AND I WILL GIVE YOU ONE MILLIONS DOLLARS?”

Most of the responses I got were ” book a ticket” - “get in my car and drive” - “get on a train” etc. etc. and I guess at first glance that is really good. IMPLEMENTATION is a real key to success as I have shared in my portion of THE PHENOMENON(tm) DVD ADVENTURE http://www.brian.in12months.com

NOW stop and take a step back for a moment. Most people reading this have no idea where Kalamazoo is? Do they have an airport? How long does it take to drive there? What route do you take? Does the train stop there or in another town which means you would have to drive? If you did drive how long will it take ? Will you get there in time.. Remember there is a time limit here.. if you don’t get there by midnight you don’t get the one million dollars.

I know you are probably saying .. GET TO THE POINT BRIAN… so here goes..

Ask anyone if they want to be successful and of course they will say “YES” .. some even take action possibly even too much action because it is not focused action? So just doing stuff will NOT make you wealthy or produce profits for you … So let me go into some detail on exactly what TO DO ..

Step 1 - Know what you want - write it down EX - get 1 million dollars

Step 2- Know what you must do to accomplish it –write them down– EX: get to Kalamazoo by midnight

Step 3- Create a plan– again write it down— EXAMPLE– Map the route to Kalamazoo

Step 4- Monitor Your Progress- Do this weekly - EX: Did you take the wrong exit or highway?

I know this may all sound very simplistic to you but it DOES work … Knowing what you want, knowing when you want to get it by ( date) knowing how you are going to get it and finally — monitoring your progress will get you there ! It might be the fact that you write it down or it might be the whole constant exercise of reviewing your progress which makes you keep that “dream” or goal on your radar constantly….
As Nike says “just do it ” — don’t just read it !

To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

http://www.brian.in12months.com

Is Your Marketing Chair Broken?

May 26, 2008

You are probably sitting on a chair while reading this so let me ask you a quick question. Imagine for a moment that the chair you are sitting on only has 3 legs… now only 2 … now only 1.. If you are still with me here than you just picked yourself up from the fall you just took because you were not on a stable chair.

NO- I have NOT lost my mind so stay with me here and I will explain what this chair has to do with marketing.

Most businesses rely on only 1 or 2 methods for generating business and that is a BIG MISTAKE. Why? Just go back in time a few years and think about the businesses that only used blast faxing , or blast e-mails, or blast anything else. Laws were passed making many of these activities illegal without the permission of the receiever. Nowadays -even if they do give you permission it is almost impossible to reach prospects using these mediums anyway.

So you must use multiple ways to contact your prospects and used multiple media. For example you could use.

-direct mail

- e-mail optins with autoresponders or broadcast

- on-line pay per click traffic

- referrals from past clients and current prospects

- free publicity ideas

-joint ventures with other types of businesses your prospect visits

- ads in publications

The list goes on and on and is only limited by your own creativity and desires.

Let’s say you choose to only use direct mail. What then happens if the post office goes on strike or postage goes to 1.00 per stamp because gas has skyrocketed..( don’t laugh - who expected 4.00 per gallon gas 1year ago). If all you did was direct mail then you would be in serious trouble.
THE BOTTOM LINE:: IF you want to stimulate and maximize your profits than you should use as many prospect attraction methods as possible .

Another part of this equation is the mistake I often see marketers and businesses make by selling to people the way YOU want to instead of the way THEY prefer. What I mean by this is that some people buy from a fax, some buy on-line, some buy from a well written sales letter while others will buy from an ad.

You turbo charge your marketing by using all of the methods above simultaneously so you are casting the widest net possible and making your advertising dollar produce the highest results. I have often heard my marketing mentors Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer

http://www.glazer-kennedywebstore.com

that they don’t know of one way to get 100 customers but they do know 100 ways to get 1.

Now read that one again and let sink in… then fix your chair and watch the money start flowing in.
To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

http://www.brian.in12months.com

Are You Really There?

May 25, 2008

I am writing this post on Memorial Day Sunday 2008 and have really been enjoying the past few days with my wife, 15 year old daughter and 11 year old son. So what you might ask?

Let me give you a little backround. For 23 years I was a mortgage banker, regional vp of a big company ,branch manager and eventually a company owner… Then back in 2002 -2003 I caught the “infomarketing bug” and went on to launch 4 multi-million dollar info-businesses.

Don’t worry — I am not telling you this to brag-that’s not my style– but at that time I was working my tail off. I was traveling alot to do speaking engagements , which I truly enjoyed, and then coming back to create more products, work on newsletters, coaching etc.etc.

My wife and kids were on my case because I wasn’t spending enough time with them… How could I between running 4 info businesses and a mortgage company. For those not familiar with the life of a mortgage banker — I was working 24/7/365 and took my pager , cell phone and calculator with me EVERYWHERE… see in this business most people need you during the evenings and weekends.. and you spend your days working on getting new business and taking care of the deals you just brought in.

I did finally figure out how to only work about 20-30 hours a week and make 5 times more money but I will share that with you in a future post. For now though I just wanted you to get a sense of what life was like…

So I made a real effort to be home more … but there was a real BIG PROBLEM that I didn’t even realize was going on. See in my mind I WAS HOME . But they quickly pointed out to me that even though I was physically home I was not mentally home. I was simply working out of a different location. In fact my home office was set up with all the equipment of my real office and with gotomypc.com it really was just as if I was at work .

Yes my ass was in the chair at home ( in my home office of course) but mentally I was elsewhere….

So ask yourself.. “AM I REALLY HERE?” Here are a few solutions I found you might want to try.

1. Plan this time in your planner

2. Turn off all communication devices while you are home with family.

3. Allow ZERO interupptions. If you allow yourself to be distracted it is your own fault

4. Set expectations with all business contacts of when you will and won’t communicate. This is really important- People will be fine if they know what your parameters are. The problem comes in when you try to portray yourself as accessible when you really aren’t. In fact what Iearned is that the less available I am the more money I make and the happier the clients are when they finally do get me.

5. Stop being so e-mail or blackberry obesessed. Unless you are a physician no one will die if they speak with you a few hours later or the next day.

6. BE THERE– Be fully engaged not just physically but also mentally..

I can never get back the years I missed while my kids were growing up but I can make it a habit ( and do) to be fully engaged NOW during the few years I have left with them before they go off to college.

OOOPS ! I almost forgot number 7- Create streams of income from work you do one time that will continue to pay you automatically ( with little effort on your part) for years to come… I will talk more about that in a future post but it sure is a hell of a lot easier to be “MENTALLY THERE” when you know you have money coming in consistently without doing anything additional for it.

Hope you enjoyed this post and I welcome your feedback.

Brian Sacks

http://www.brian.in12months.com

What’s This All About?

May 24, 2008

I have decided to start a blog to share some of my thoughts, successes and failures as a salesperson, marketer of services , info - marketer and serial entrepeneur. Like most ADHD successful entrepeneurs I often have thoughts or bursts of genius that are worth sharing.

Not only can they be inspirational but they are usually profitable as well. So the bottom line is that since I never know what I will be writing about it may be worth checking back often..

My latest project is called “The Phenomenon(tm) and it is all about acheiving more in the next 12 months.  If you want to check it out go to http://www.brian.in12months.com

Now to be honest I would not have believed most of what is taught here had I not personally experienced The Phenomenon(tm) myself. I also know the majority of the other practioners personally and know their stories as well. Anyway — go check it out.

If you have a topic or question about marketing, success, or info marketing let me know.

IN my next post I guess the logical thing to tell you would be the reasons you should be listening to what I say.
See— one of the BIG LESSONS I learned and have always taught is that you need to be very careful who you listen to. If you want to earn 100,000 why would you ever listen to the knucklehead earning 23,000 sitting next to you?

OR the “GURU” who has never done what they teach. In fact , that is one of the main reasons i dropped out of college ( it was actually more like grade 13 at a community college) I had a teacher who only knew how to teach what was in the text book.

Being the Ball buster that I am sometimes I asked a “Real World” question that the teacher not only could not answer but actually got angry at me for even asking…

That was it for my college days !

Hope you enjoyed this first post and I will post some other real world tactics you can use soon…

To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

www.brian.in12months.com

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