How To Bite Back At The ‘Recession’ /Dan Kennedy & Brian Sacks

June 30, 2008

For those who don’t know, Dan Kennedy is a multi-millionaire serial entrepreneur; author of 11 bestselling business books, a popular speaker who has often appeared on programs with a wide variety of legendary entrepreneurs including Donald Trump, Jim McCann (1-800-Flowers), Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies) and even Gene Simmons (KISS) as well as leading business speakers Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Tom Hopkins; and, through his newsletters and networks of consultants and coaches, directly influences over 1-million business owners a year.

BrianSacks: Let’s start right out with the so-called elephant in the room, the economy, and the dreaded ‘R’ word. Economists have been arguing over technicalities. The news media has had us deep in a recession for months. People do seem affected by gas and grocery prices. What’s your take on it all?

 

DAN: First, you always have to temper what people say with objective reality. For example, if you listened to all the weeping and wailing about gas prices, you’d presume everybody had their cars up on blocks, huddled in their homes as if in caves. But the recent Memorial Day weekend had only a 1% reduction in people driving 50 miles or farther from home according to AAA. There is no doubt that there are segments of the population severely affected….others slightly affected….some unaffected by this very specific inflation of gas and groceries. In big-ticket spending, the inevitable hitting of the wall with using appreciating home equity as an ATM has whacked big, dumb, slow to adapt companies like Home Depot and Lowes. Cities and businesses dependent on summer vacation dollars may be hurt this year. However, it’s also important to look at all this in full context. For example, as recently as May, we were in the 4^th straight week with declines in jobless claims – less people each week filing for unemployment. In early June, a number of retailers’ quarterly sales and profit reports beat Wall Street expectations. The stock market still reflects a fairly optimistic analysis of the overall economy.  Real estate is not, as media reports, in an across the board collapse. In the Cleveland area, where I have one of my homes, foreclosure numbers are roughly 25% to 30% higher than normal, putting the area in the top 5 markets in the U.S.  for foreclosure problems, but luxury home sales are healthy, and even more telling, commercial real estate transactions were up in 2007 vs. 2006 and are apace to grow again in 2008, and there’s more new investment in significant development in and around the city than anytime in the past 7 years. In short, saying “recession” is a big, fat, over-broad, over-simplified generalization. There are plenty of consumers, plenty of investors and plenty of business owners spending plenty of money – and that’s one of the things I want to talk about, related to one of my new books. Further, there’s no profit in buying into this concept of a giant black cloud of doom descending over the entire land – and every business owner must constantly be asking himself ‘where’s the PROFIT in that ?’ – with regard to his own thinking, his own analysis and his own actions.

 

BrianSacks: Before we get to the practical cures, if you will, let’s talk a little more about this thought process. How should businesspeople manage their own thinking about the economy?

 

DAN: This is a presidential election year, during which well over a half-billion dollars has been spent, and between candidates, parties, and independent groups called 527-c’s – for which I write some ad and direct-mail copy – another billion dollars will be spent, most of it aimed at convincing voters that we are in crisis here, there and everywhere. One side cries “crisis and change.” The other side threatens “crisis requires steady, experienced hand.” Either way, everybody’s selling crisis. There’s also a ‘media mental illness’, a very unbalanced emphasis, excessively reporting bad news, nearly ignoring good news. On CNN, which I call the Communist News Network, you get good economic news only in the little type crawl across the bottom of the screen. You actually have to go to Fox Financial News or CNBC or the Wall Street Journal to get a fully balanced presentation and, of course, most people don’t. So the gloom ‘n doom sales machine is cranked up on high. To quote one of the success authorities I studied very early, Earl Nightingale, “we become what we think about most.”  So if you DON’T actually MANAGE your thinking about this….if you let yourself accept the mainstream media’s and politicians’ selling of crisis, if you think about it, regurgitate it in conversation with others, hang out with others regurgitating it to you….you’ll undoubtedly find yourself upside down in it, shit up to your ankles!  It’s up to you to seek out better, more complete information.

 

But beyond that, here’s how true entrepreneurs think about this: it is a set of circumstances, of changes in the marketplace, to have foreseen and prepared for, now to respond to, in which there is enormous opportunity  - and REDUCED competition pursuing that opportunity diminished by fear, indecision, emotional paralysis, resentment toward the need to adapt, and in many cases, lack of agility. This is a good time to be grabbing market share, marketing aggressively. There is always a ‘set of circumstances’ and there are always winners and losers. A lot of business owners do well only in a generous economy. But a lot of other business owners get their traction, outpace their competition, and create their greatest wealth during economic times widely regarded by others as “poor.”   To complain about there being circumstances or changing circumstances is to complain about there being weather. There is no denying that gas at $4 a gallon – that could go to $6 – has a big, negative impact on peoples’ behavior and attitudes, on transportation costs, etc. But I came up in business in the Jimmy Carter economy, with double-digit inflation, gas lines and gas rationing, double-digit unemployment, double-digit interest rates, and I found ways to make money, and found people to do business with who had money to spend. Further, the bigger picture is, this is what I call a time of transition to a New Economy that’s going to last, and that you need to adjust to.

 

As an investor, I don’t worry a lot over a company’s dip in stock price at a time like this, because that reflects the mass public’s foolish acceptance of recession as a universal reality, as a completely dark time. I look for companies where insiders are buying up more stock at bargain prices and  the company is expanding, growing, launching new initiatives. In a recession, everything goes on sale. Stock in very good companies. Real estate in very good areas. “Eyeballs” for advertisers and marketers – less people sending out direct-mail means less clutter in my customers’ mailboxes means more space and better opportunity to gain their attention and interest for me.  Less pages of advertising in the magazines or newspapers my customers read, lower rate negotiated and more attention for me. When others cower, you want to be bold, aggressive, opportunistic.

 

BrianSacks: Okay, let’s talk about being opportunistic. What are the big opportunities you are emphasizing for business owners right now?

 

DAN: There are two big topics I’m spending a lot of time talking about with my clients, coaching members, and readers right now, reflected in my two brand new books: NO B.S. GUIDE TO RUTHLESS MANAGEMENT OF PEOPLE AND PROFITS and NO B.S. GUIDE TO MARKETING TO THE AFFLUENT.  One topic is using this sea-change from generous, indulgent economy to grumpy, demanding one as motivation and mandate to re-assess your business inside out, and get smarter and tougher and more diligent about managing for maximum profit. In fact, one of the chapters in my Management book is titled ‘How to Profit From The Age Of Mass Incompetence And Coming Monster Recession’. As you can see, this is a very timely new book.  Second, is the grand and glorious, newly developing opportunity to re-direct a business to attracting, serving and securing more affluent customers– the subject of my new MARKETING TO THE AFFLUENT book. So, the hot words are: re-assess, re-tool and re-direct.

BrianSacks: Sounds like a lot of unpleasant work – who wants to do all that re-assessing and re-tooling and re-directing?

 

DAN: Hardly anybody!!! -  which is why there’s such abundant, exciting opportunity for the few who do.  As I said, I started in business myself during a real recession – that makes where we are now look like a light summer breeze in comparison to Katrina. Thanks to Jimmy Carter, we had the reality of double-digit base interest rates, unemployment rates and inflation….all more than double the current numbers, high gas prices and gas rationing, a credit crunch…and a widespread emotional malaise as well. It wasn’t pretty. For most. But I prospered. And I got to work with quite a few agile entrepreneurs who did. I have absolute understanding that the best time to speed up and gain position is when others are riding the brakes. Most people hope to get their business arranged a certain way and then never have to tinker with it again. But success in business doesn’t work that way. I’d love for that to happen with my houses too. One of our homes is just 6 or 7 years old. Re-paint the deck; next replace the deck. Carla wants to put a new floor in the kitchen. Paint this. Change that. Why, oh why, oh why, can’t it all just be left alone?  Well, even if you want to, you can’t. Style changes, tastes change, furnishings wear out, water tanks wear out, garage doors wear out.

 

Look, in business, the surest path to disappointments in income and wealth short-term and long-term is resentment or procrastination over the need for constant change. You have to see the need for change as exciting opportunity, not as burden. You have to be mentally agile. With full disclosure, some of the companies I invest in now: Disney, Landrys Restaurants, amazon, 1-800-Flowers…all of which have been good to me and I expect them to be even better in the future….have creative, agile, innovative, opportunistic leadership and corporate culture. Nothing stays the same. If you are striving for same you’ll be slaughtered.

Especially now, but really at any time.

BrianSacks: Then let’s move on to: change. And let’s start with the second topic you raised, marketing to the affluent. Why should business owners be eager to learn about and do this?

 

DAN: Without delving into the kind of statistical and in-depth detail that I’ve assembled and presented in the book, let me paint a broad strokes answer. Domestically, here in the U.S., all the real spending growth is toward the top. The middle class is shrinking, with 1/3^rd moving down but 2/3rds moving up. That 2/3rds is literally a new class of ‘middle-class millionaires.’  These mass-affluents’ buying behavior has also served to motivate more status spending by the affluent. Across the three groups – mass-affluent, affluent, ultra-affluent – there has never been more discretionary income and more spending on a broader and more diverse range of premium, premium-priced goods and services including newly invented categories.  Further, there is convergence and overlap with the biggest part of the boomer population hitting their peak discretionary and non-necessity spending years, spurred on by very different attitudes about both retirement and spending than the previous generation. Anyone who has the sense that money is tight, consumer spending restricted, prosperity not rampant is simply paying attention to the wrong information. Essentially, there’s a gigantic growth industry, an unprecedented boom underway, getting rich by selling to the rich, near-rich, soon-to-be-rich.  Many business owners’ knee-jerk reaction to this is either to deny it because it is not their personal experience or to feel it is not what their business is about or that these exceptionally valuable buyers or investors are somehow beyond their reach. Well, ignorance is forgivable and fixable, but as comedian Ron White says: you can’t fix stupid. If that sounds harsh, it’s supposed to.  Earlier I said that THE question is always: where’s the profit in that?  There’s never profit in making the lists of why we can’t do something, why we can’t capitalize on emerging opportunities. Making such lists is low-grade, low-pay work. Any idiot can do it. If you want high pay – especially at times when a lot of business owners are taking pay cuts – you have to do more high pay work. And certainly, finding ways to follow the money, to appeal to and attract more affluent, willing to spend people is such work. Making excuses, sucking your thumb is not.

 

So, the basic facts: 22% of the U.S. households own 55% of the earned income. The spending power is concentrated with 1 out of 5.  You have three basic choices: one, promote yourself to anybody and everybody, taking whatever you get….statistically insuring you’ll get more of the 4 out of 5’s than the 1 out of 5’s and risking getting none of the 1 out of 5’s.. Two, you can – out of ignorance, denial, fear, low self-esteem, sloth – actually focus on the 4 out of 5’s. Or three, re-tooling any and every aspect of your business you must, in order to target market to, appeal to, attract, not just satisfy but thrill, and grow with more affluent customers….for whom price is a non-factor…and who are least and last affected by recession. My two new books, combined, in concert, can help you successfully act on the third option.

 

Under normal conditions, only 10% of consumers always buy by price, their decisions governed by price – because they have no option. This group is largely made up of “working poor”, low wage working people with more mouths to feed than they can afford food for. Nothing wrong with them as people. A lot to admire – except the choices they make that keep them poor. But no good reason to have them or, worse, seek them out as customers. Yet, strangely, most business owners focus 90% of their energy on price even while only 10% of the customers decide based on price. In recession, this percentage may jump as much as 3X, to 30%. However, there are 20% who make most buying decisions with little weight given to price or cheapest price and 5% who never consider price. In the middle, people who consider price in context and only buy by price in absence of other persuasive information. That top 5% is admittedly considerably more difficult to get to and satisfy, but infinitely and disproportionately more valuable. The 20% is a little more difficult to get but also considerably more valuable. So, picking up rocks from your driveway is easy and cheap to do but rocks have value only in giant bulk. Mining diamonds actually uses the same skills as picking up rocks applied differently, with admittedly the difficulties of traveling beyond your driveway, investing in mining equipment, etc., but each little diamond you find is worth more than ten tons of rocks. What’s important to face up to is that you choose the business you’re in. Rocks. Diamonds. Up to you. If you feel you’re working too hard to make a living, have no leverage, aren’t gaining and may even, now, be losing ground, I’ll safely wager you’re in the rocks business. Ultimately, all suffering and all prosperity, self-inflicted.

 

if there is a protracted recession, across a wide swath, or in segments; either way, I’ll prefer investing as much of my resources as possible in selling to those least and last affected by recession. And a number of business owners are already, quickly finding themselves in deep and worsening financial trouble by not being agile about this, by continuing to waste their resources selling to people with dwindling resources, easily and quickly affected by a rise in the price of gas and Starbucks, and easily and quickly scared silly. There’s no better time, and it is arguably an urgent time to move to where the money is in the hands of confident spenders.

 

BrianSacks:  Seems hard to argue with all that. You make a convincing case. But people are still thinking: sounds great, but deliberately marketing to the affluent must be different and difficult. So, just how different is it, marketing to the affluent?

 

DAN: It IS different. First of all, there are profound – and in most ways, beneficial – psychological differences. These people think differently. That’s why they are affluent.

So you have to be in sync, you have to connect with the way they think, with what appeals to them emotionally. You also have to acknowledge different hurdles; they are more thoughtful, critical, and in some ways, skeptical buyers, more demanding customers. Fair, because they are a lot more valuable. So you have to be customer focused not product focused to an even greater degree. I devote about half the book, about 200 of its 400+ pages to just who are these people? - where did they come from? - how do they buy, why do they buy? - even specific behaviors in different buying categories – such as health, investments, for grandkids, for pets, even B2B.  Second, there are process differences. While direct marketing fundamentals, systems and system structures don’t change, application does. In the book I diagram and describe a complete marketing system as a template, from lead generation through to the sale and post-sale relationship. Third, is the issue of finding them, knowing where they are, so you can directly and efficiently reach out to them. The information about that in the book affects both offline and online marketing and media choices. This is a way to take all of your most effective tools and techniques and apply them more profitably, something akin to taking superior farming practices and genetically improved seeds and applying them to more fertile ground. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Now, not later or someday?

 

I think my MARKETING TO THE AFFLUENT book is URGENT reading for most business owners. There is a fundamental path to progress, all progress, that looks like this: Step 1 – Awareness, Step 2 – Decision, Step 3 – Resources, Step 4 – Action. In the MARKETING TO THE AFFLUENT book, I provide a whole new Awareness of the mass-affluent, middle class millionaires, affluent and ultra-affluent populations, their psyches, their buying criteria and behavior, who they are, what they buy, why they buy, how they buy – plus an even broader awareness of why and how money moves from person to person and place to place. Step 2 – I guide you in making informed decisions about how you can best connect your business to the best segment of this affluent market for you. And I get you convinced, confident and motivated to do so. Step 3 – I hand you the resources. For example, specific instructions for finding and directly reaching out to the best affluent customers (clients/patients) for you, in your area. For example, a detailed, diagrammed, step-by-step ‘affluent entrapment system’ for your marketing. Step 4 is then up to you. This can quickly change your fortunes. It can rescue you from and immunize you to recession. It can convert an ordinary business providing ordinary income to an extraordinary business providing exceptional income, spinning off extraordinary wealth.  Within this context, incidentally, are very specific ‘price strategies’ that have led to huge income breakthroughs. It’s all illustrated with real-life examples. And the book comes with an audio CD inside featuring highlights from my Price/Profit/Power Seminar, which cost $995.00 to attend, and was recently attended by more than 600 people. But to zero in: your key to changing your income for the better, even at a time when peers’ and competitors’ incomes are changing for the worse, is: changing the “who” you are deliberately attracting to do business with.

 

 

BrianSacks: Okay, way back when, in this discussion, you said you were working with your clients on two big areas – this one, attracting more affluent customers, but also a second, managing for profit. And in that book title, you use the word ‘ruthless’, which has to rattle some people right off the bat. So, what’s that all about?

 

DAN: It connects two ways. First, affluent consumers and investors are less tolerant of unsatisfactory, even unimpressive sales and service practices. Second, the recently generous, forgiving economy tolerant, even indulgent of sloppy sales and service practices has turned grumpy, irritable, intolerant and punishing.  Maybe as it should. And very frankly, a lot of business owners have been making their way across the lake everyday satisfactorily in very leaky boats. Those days are over. There are going to be a lot of fatalities, large and small, of poorly run businesses. There’s also going to be a golden-age for those businesses that provide start-to-finish and continuing exceptional experiences. As to the word ‘ruthless’, that’s to telegraph that this is NOT a warm ‘n fuzzy book with happy stories about such customer experiences, the equal of a smiley-face sticker. The shelves are full of those books. Fun to read. Maybe inspiring. But now what?  Ruthless management is mandated by ruthless times. This is about setting and enforcing standards that yield the best customer experiences and the best attainable profits, by micro-managing the profit impact of every job, every employee and every step in the marketing, sales, delivery and service aspects of the business. It is about creating a winning Program and having everybody get with The Program – or get gone. I call this book the permission slip business owners have been waiting for, to manage their people and their businesses for maximum profit – without anxiety, guilt or squeamishness. It’s a liberating and empowering book.  Then it has very specific, in-depth how-to strategies.  I’m told people laugh out loud reading it, because of its unbelievably blunt and candid, and to some, outrageous and radical revelations. I’m glad people have fun with it. I put some very pointed, original cartoons in it for that very reason. But make no mistake, this is a very serious manifesto for serious business owners in serious times.

BrianSacks: I’ve, of course, read the book, and I was struck by three things I’d like you to talk about, that I would call: process improvement, people improvement and profit improvement. Let’s touch on each one.

 

DAN: It all starts with accurate measurement of what’s really happening versus having or establishing standards for what’s supposed to be happening. For three or four years, I was on a speaking tour, at seminars with 10,000 to as many as 35,000 people in the audiences, and I frequently followed – and got to know – General Norm Schwarzkopf. A line I wrote down from him is: shined shoes save lives. What he means is, being undisciplined, casual, sloppy about seemingly little things inevitably permeates to affect all things, and on the business battlefield where we operate just as on the actual battlefield, it’ll get you killed in tough times. So, you need standards for everything. And everybody. Number of rings before phone is answered. Number of referrals per customer per 90 days, a certain ‘under’ triggering a series of pre-planned actions. Etc. Etc. In other words, you have  to measure to manage, and what you can’t or aren’t measuring, you can’t be managing. Face it. Get real about it. That’s foundational to all three opportunities for improvement you named: process, people, profits.

 

So, as an example, let’s take the sales process, which I write about extensively in the RUTHLESS MANAGEMENT book.  I have a client with this process: leads are generated by advertising; leads are moved to the setting of appointments; salespeople make presentations at those appointments; some buy, many don’t. There are lots of things to be measured here. Conversions of visitors to the web site to requests for information; percentage of those sent info setting appointments; percentage of those setting then keeping appointments; and, of course, percentage buying vs. not buying. And there are many variables that can be worked on, to try and improve each of those results. If, for example, the percentage of appointments kept is 72% when they speak with Betty when they call in, but only 64% if they speak with Helen, we either find out what Betty’s saying or doing differently than Helen and keep training and coaching Helen until she gets her efficacy up to Betty’s, or we get Helen off the darn phones.  We definitely measure both in real time, day to day; don’t keep the results a secret. If there’s a script getting Betty the 72% we insist that it be memorized, practiced and  used by Helen….we “mystery shop” and record her calls….and if she won’t get with The Program within a reasonable probation period, we fire her.  But here’s a big, hidden opportunity found in this business. The non-buyers, left to the salespeople for follow-up, were nearly worthless; fewer than 5% came back and bought within 60 days. Mostly because the salespeople believed them worthless and wouldn’t do – and lied about doing – the prescribed follow-up, let alone working earnestly on finding ways to improve the result.  Taking that away from the salespeople and implementing a series of three follow-up letters over six weeks, we got 16% back to buy. That’s big. This company had been doing “just fine” tolerating the 5% when 16% was available during the generous economy. They can’t afford it during the turned-grumpy-and-intolerant economy. They shouldn’t tolerate it at all. So, that’s process improvement. The Helen-Betty situation might be resolved by process improvement, a better script, training, better supervision. Or it might require people improvement. Now, given the 5% to 16% improvement created, this business can actually afford a dip in first presentation sales that might be caused by a price increase. Let’s play. As example, if their salespeople average 20% sold, plus 5% after the fact, at $1,000.00 each, that’s $25,000.00 per 100 people getting presentations…if at a 50% profit: $12,500.00 profit.  If I raise the price to $1,500.00 (thus DOUBLING the profit from $500.00 to $1,000.00)….the percentage buying at presentation drops from 20% to 15%, and that 16% drops to 9%, I’m at 24% vs. the old 25% (down only 1%)…24 x $1,500.00 gross, $36,000.00 instead of $25,000.00, and more importantly $24,000.00 profit vs. $12,500.00 profit. That’s profit improvement. And, by the way, contrary to common fear, price increases do not necessarily cause significant drops in sales made. Then we can go back around the horn, to try to improve the at-presentation sales with better scripts, new answers to price objections, new financing options, sales training and/or new and better salespeople. And, of course, we could combine all this with deliberately seeking more affluent buyers. That’s what my RUTHLESS MANAGEMENT book is all about. In short, squeezing a lot more good juice out of each orange you have, so even if, temporarily, your tree produces fewer oranges – the recession effect, you still get more juice, not less.

And please don’t say: that example doesn’t apply to me because – because whatever. I don’t use that business model. I don’t have salespeople. Yada yada. You just have to be smarter than that. The principles apply everywhere. And ruthless management starts with ruthlessly managing yourself.

 

BrianSacks: We’ve been plugging your book, but I know you have blatant and crass commercial messages…

 

DAN: I’m willing to sing for my supper – but I want my supper. And I think I’ve done a lot of singing here, don’t you? So.  First, the books; they are available at amazon.com, BN.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, other booksellers, and free info about the entire No B.S. book series is perpetually up-dated at www.NoBSBooks.com.  If you want bulk quantity discounts, if you’re buying dozens or hundreds of copies, try 1-800-CEO-BOOKS, or your local Barnes & Noble store has a corporate/business discount program.  Both books have audio CD’s included right inside, plus online resources at web sites provided in the books.

 

BrianSacks: Now, Dan, any closing thoughts?

 

DAN:  Kate Hepburn said: old age isn’t for sissies. The older I get, the more I appreciate the remark. Business success, especially in difficult economic times, isn’t for sissies either. This is a time to ruthlessly hold yourself, your every process, every employee, entire business and its profits accountable. To have a zero tolerance approach to anything or anyone depressing profits. This is also a time for new thinking, new approaches, new initiatives, and bold action. And this is a time when it is more important than ever to be cautious of toxic influences of relentlessly negative pessimists, cry-babies, complainers as well as media mouths and politicians magnifying crisis and gloom for their own purposes – and to seek out and associate in every way possible with tough-minded, creative, innovative, forward-thinking people in your field, leaders of your field, as well as qualified, credible advisors outside your specific field who keep you focused on opportunity. Frankly, the tendency, the temptation thoughtlessly given into by so many is to cut back on that which should never be cut back on, drop out of what should never be dropped out of, to isolate. Whatever small savings comes of it, the true cost is infinitely higher. Conservation has its place, but never as substitute for investment.

 

 

 

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DAN KENENDY OR DISCOVER HOW YOU CAN GRAB ” THE MOST INCREDIBLE FREE GIFT EVER OFFERED?” GO TO www.freegiftfrom.com/briansacks

and make sure you check out the source I learned all of my money making secrets from at www.whatiused.com

Thoughts? Comments? Share them below and make sure you let all of your friends, family and associates know about this article by sending it to them using the button below….    

DO You Clear Your Mental Calculator- Cure For Entrepenurial ADHD

June 28, 2008

Do you have Entrepenurial ADHD? If you are not sure what that means let me explain. There are several symptons so think about this as you read this.  Do you start projects but not finsih them? Do you seem to have way too much work and not enough time? Work on one project but are thinking about something else. Have multiple businesses?

WHICH DESCRIPTIONS FIT YOU ?

All of them fit me or used to? I peronsally manage 2 multimillion dollar businesses, am the sole owner of 3 other successful  buisnesses, have 2 more I am growing and just started, have real-estate investments. Of course there is also my beautiful wife and 2 great kids AND a mother who is 87 and who I personally and financially responsible for.
TIred yet? I just got tired writing all this. So the question is how does this all get done?

HOW CAN YOU MANAGE TO GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY AND GET THINGS ACCCOMPLISHED?

Entrepeurial ADHD is not really a bad thing..It is the sign of a creative genius BUT you still must get things done if you want to succeed and extract any real money out of a business. Anyone can just think of great ideas but nothing happens until you implement. You need to not only be creative but also effective.

I FOUND A CURE THAT COSTS LESS THAN $20.00 BUT HAS MADE ME MILLIONS

Actually there are 2 tools I have used for the cure. One is a planner. I know it sounds simple but I actually plan my work in scheduled blocks of time. BUt I still found myself thinking of other things while working on these projects. So while my book said work on project A I was actually thinking of what i need to do on project B,C,D and E. Ever have that happen. You just can’t control what sort of ideas just pop into your head.

I love to read and 2 books helped me fix this. The first one was Pschyocybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. You can see more about it by going to the resources section on this page above. In this MUST READ book Dr Maltz talks about clearing your mental calculator. What he means is that you need to pause before getting started and mentally clear all other thoughts out of your head.. GO AHEAD AND TRY IT NOW . I’ll wait.

Then I was reading a book that is a marketing classic and another must read for any serious copywriter or marketer called  Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. In it he explains that he also suffers from a sort of marketing ADD and found a simple , inexpensive , yet very effective tool that helped him accomplish more output in a day than most people accomplish in a week.

WHAT WAS THIS TOOL?

I am also embarassed to tell you because it is so simple. Ready? The tool is an egg timer. You set the timer to 30 or 45 or 60 minutes depending on your personal comfort level and all you do is work on that one project until the timer goes off. If you get stuck, or draw a blank that’s fine BUT YOU DON”T work on anything else during that time.

HERE IS THE SECRET “RECIPE”

1. Schedule the tasks as appointments in your planner.

2. Clear your mental calculator before you start.

3. Set your egg timer and go to work until it goes off at which time you stop and take a short break and go to work on your next project or task.

Try it and let me know how it works.. Come back to profit and wealth and post your results in the comments section below.

Know anyone else who might  benefit from this profit stimulator?  Then please send it to them … the link is below and right next to that button is the place for you to leave me your comments.. Really would love to hear your thoughts. Are there any Topics you would like to see me cover? Tell me !

To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

www.profitandwealth.com

PS- If you would like to hear my “phenomenon” story go to  http://www.brian.in12months.com

If you would like to learn from the same “masters” I learned from go to http://whatiused.com

ARE YOU TOO AVAILABLE? PROFIT STIMULATOR #1

June 24, 2008

Is it possible for you to be too avialable. Well read on and I will tell you the way I found to charge premium prices for goods and services. Ready? I spent 23 years in the real-estate /mortgage banking field before getting into information marketing. I think everyone would agree that real -estate and mortgage banking are both very competitve fields and that many buying decisions are based on price.

Part of this is solved by being a specialist NOT a generalist but I will discuss that in detail in another post. For right now let me give you the first of many profit stimulators that I will be sharing.

IT IS THE POWER OF SCARCITY

For years I operated like a mortgage 7-11 .I was open ( attached to my cell phone and pager) 24/7/365. I even took them on vacations. Unfortunately I did not take many vacations and when I did they were only short 2-3 day ones. See I didn’t think I could afford to be “away” and risk losing business.

MY MODEL WAS LOW PRICES AND GREAT SERVICE WITH 24/7/365 AVAILABILITY

The result of course was that I was burnt out and not making alot of money but man was I working hard. What I discovered is that availability actually HURT me .. Let me explain with an example. Actually I’ll be generous here and give you a few examples so I can really drive the point home for you . YES ! It is that important.

Have you ever been attracted to a person and they didn’t really pay much attention to you? And.. Didn’t you want them more when they continued to ignore you. Human nature forces us to want what we can’t easily get.  When you are always available you actually hurt your position and become viewed as a commodity.. Sort of like a head of lettuce. You can purchase lettuce at any grocery store so why not shop for the cheapest one.

So now that you know how I feel about this let me ask you a few more questions ok?

Does your doctor do home visits on Saturday afternoon? Does your attorney see you at 8pm on Thursdays? Think of any proffessional you do business with and you will notice two things. First it usually takes some time to get in to see them and usually their secretary is the one who schedules the appointment.

MY WIFES EXPERIENCE

Many of you may know that i have a son who is dyslexic. It was suggested by his school that he get some specilaized tutoring help. The issue was that school had already started and after my wife contacted about 10 tutors she became very frustrated because they were all booked and couldn’t fit him in. Then someone gave her the # of  another specialized tutor and she got very excited.

When she called him he answered the phone , asked what my son’s issue was and started to discuss fees. She asked him what he had available and he told her that he was open mornings , had 4 evenings available and would happily see him anytime on Saturday if that worked better. 

You would think she would be excited right? I know I thought she would be , after all, problem solved right?WRONG– My wife said that she would never use this guy. WHY? Well she continued, ” If everyone else is booked solid , and this guy can see us pretty much anytime , then there must be something wrong with him”

The key to having a successful business or practice is creating more demand for you than there is a supply of you available. Just to go a bit further with this in case you are selling a physical product…. What is more expensive- a honda or a Rolls Royce?  Well there are a lot more Honda’s than Rolls Royces. Both are cars but very few are able to get a Rolls Royce. So the Rolls Royce is not only more expensive but even their dealership hours are different than the Honda’s. In fact when was the last time you saw a sale on Rolls Royces in the paper? Or for that matter when was the last time you even saw an ad for one in the newspaper.

BOTTOM LINE : Scarcity is a key ingredient in any ad or promotion you have. Aside from creating scarcity of “you”     There are 2 ways to create Scarcity in  your ads or promotions.

The First type of scarcity is in #’s … So if you are offering a service you can tell your prospects that are only able to handle a certain number of appointments for the month.  If you are offering a product at a discount you can tell them that you only have X number in stock and when they are gone that’s it.  Many companies offer bonuses with a purchase and those usually have a limited supply.
The Second Type of Scarcity can be a deadline: Adding you must respond by X date. Or the sale or offer ends at the end of X MONTH.

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS — YOUR GOAL IN ANY AD AND PROMOTION MUST BE TO GET YOUR PROSPECT TO ACT NOW… NOT LATER— NOT TOMMOROW– NOT WHEN THEY GET AROUND TO IT !!!! 
THEY MUST ACT NOW !!!!! The  reality is that we are all constantly distracted and bombarded so if your prospect doesn’t act right away you can pretty much count on losing that sale….

KEY POINT : IF YOU DON”T USE SCARCITY AND HAVE A DEADLINE THAN YOU DON’T HAVE AN OFFER !

Know anyone else who might  benefit from this profit stimulator?  Then please send it to them … the link is below and right next to that button is the place for you to leave me your comments.. Really would love to hear your thoughts. Are there any Topics you would like to see me cover? Tell me !

To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

www.profitandwealth.com

PS- If you would like to hear my “phenomenon” story go to  http://www.brian.in12months.com

If you would like to learn from the same “masters” I learned from go to http://whatiused.com

PPS— I just posted a great  book in the resources area that are just loaded with profit stimulators and another MUST READ book. In fact this is a book I give to all new clients and read at least twice a year. You can see the link to the resources page on the tab at the top of the page…

My BIG “AHA”

June 20, 2008

First I guess I might need to explain what an “AHA” means. It is the opposite of a “DUH” which means you know what to do and when you hear it mentioned again somewhere you go “DUH” .. I knew I was supposed to do that .. and when I did it I actually got good results but for some reason I stopped.

It amazes me when I have a DUH or see many of my coaching and consulting clients have one.. BUt let’s move on for the purposes of this post and talk about the opposite of a “DUH” which is an “AHA”

“AHA” is a revelation… Like a baby taking those first steps or uttering those first words. When you get an “AHA” real breakthroughs happen for you and your business. Of course there are really only 2 ways to have an “AHA” First is to discover it by being open to new ideas while trying to find solutions to your everyday problems and you then just stumble upon it.The other way is to learn about it and then implement it.

Sounds simple — BUT STOP- How many times do you “learn” something but never implement it? Probably alot I am guessing if you are like most people. So an immediate “take away” here is to always implement and do it quickly..

SO WHAT WAS MY BIG LIFE CHANGING “AHA”? AND WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM IT?

For over 30 of my 44 years I worked hard… and I mean really hard. Mostly 7 days a week and 12-14 hours a day. I always designed my personal life around what was happening in my business.  As an example I usually only took small 2-3 day vacations and only once or twice a year. Didn’t think I had time for relaxation and certainly no time for exercise or just “hanging out”

I missed being able to watch my 2 kids grow up in their early years.  MAN — it hurts just writing all this stuff down. I was burnt out and mostly lived in a constant state of grumpiness. In my mind I justified all of this by saying I am working really hard for my family , to be  a good provider, so my kids can have more than I had, so my wife can have nice things…  Do you feel that way?

During all of this I had dreams of having the great lifestyle that the money I would earn could provide. I figured I would save enough and then one day when I was old I would just retire and relax. But do you know what the reality is? Most people retire poor meaning they can’t really retire. Go to any grocery store these days or even McDonalds and you will see these ” reitrees ” in their  late 60’s 70’s and even 80’s still working. Doing menial, low paying jobs because they HAVE TO !

The other scenario I see are those who really can retire financially but cannot enjoy it due to their physical issues.. No GOLF ! No Travel ! just getting around is an issue and the money doesn’t change the situation!

HERE IS WHAT I DISCOVERED !

You might want to stop right here and brace yourself. It certainly took me a while to embrace and finally implenet this ! READY????

_______________> YOU CAN DESIGN YOUR IDEAL LIFE AND MAKE YOUR BUSINESS WORK TOO <___________

Don’t know how you feel about this but it was a HUGE SHIFT for me. In fact it really changed everything for me mentally and finacially. When I finally I realized I could control my life and not be a ping pong ball that was controlled by my work I became happy.. No Not at first because I didn’t really believe it.

I saw other successful people leading “ideal lifestyles”  I invested in Dan Kennedy’s Renegade Millionaire system and read everything I could get my hands on that related to money and wealth. I knew it could be done but didn’t think I could do it.

Remember as a mortgage banker I was taught you need to be accessible 24/7/365/  .. that you were only as good as your last deal. That working evenings and weekends was normal.. etc.etc.

Thru many of the marketing ideas I learned from Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer I was able to put my marketing on auto -pilot and even create several multi- million dollar businesses that I could run from remote places and that didn’t require my daily involvement.

RESULT: I became a better father, a better husband, a much much happier guy and of course I became a multi - millionaire.

For those of you who don’t me  I am not telling you things to boast.. Just not my style .. Nor have i ever felt the need to impress anyone. In fact I really couldn’t give a flying )#$($&* what anyone thinks of me. The reason for mentioning it all is to let you know that it can ( and should) be done.

YOU CAN BUILD YOUR IDEAL LIFESTYLE AND CREATE YOUR BUSINESS TO ACCOMODATE IT !

To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

PS- If you would like to hear my “phenomenon” story go to  http://www.brian.in12months.com

If you would like to learn from the same “masters” I learned from go to http://whatiused.com

— Leave me your story and thoughts by clicking on the comments button now—-

WHAT IF A ZEBRA WANTED TO BE A LION?

June 16, 2008

THEY ARE ONLY ZERO’S RIGHT?

June 14, 2008

Read that sentence again.. Ready? This is a statement that holds many people back from acheiving great wealth and a great lifestyle. I know it was one of my personal issues for many years. Confused? Well I will take this space to explain it in great detail so you don’t let a zero or two stop you from what you are capable of accomplishing.

It all starts with your current point of reference. In other words where you are in life. So for example - As i was growing up we were barely holding on to middle class.. Likely to slip at anytime. To me 100,000 dollars was as out of reach as 1,000,000.

As I grew my mortgage business, started investing in self storage and investment properties and grew information marketing businesses my point of reference has  been able to change to 1,000,000 being a totally resaonable and attainable figure. Now I am going on to start thinking about 10,000.000  dollars and making sure my self image is compatible with those ZERO’S.

Funny story here- This was all brought to my attention by two brothers who are multi- millionaires. Both friends. Both retired before the age of 40 with no need to ever work another day in their lives.

One brother made his fortune in the direct marketing business which he built to millions of dollars and sold with enough money to permanently retire. The other brother started with residential properties than graduated to apartments and shopping centers. He then went on to build a luxury apartment building that was purchased for many millions more than it cost him to build. He too is retired and a multi millionaire before 40.

What each of them told me on separate occassions and while discussing different businesses was that “IT IS ONLY A ZERO-DON”T BE AN IDIOT BRIAN”

The real estate brother said while you are killing yourself with those single homes and tennants I will only look at deals that can generate millions. It is the same effort.

The other brother who is the information marketer told me that while I was happy making hundreds of thousands to 1 or 2 million in niches  - he would only consider opportunities that provided 5-10 million dollars. He told me it was the same effort so why not go for the bigger payoff.

THEY WERE BOTH RIGHT …. AND WRONG

They were right in the fact that the only thing holding you and me back from “the big money” is ourselves and our fears of JUST ANOTHER ZERO.

However they were both wrong when they told be it was just as easy .. In realtiy as I have made my own transition ( mentally) from 100,000 to 1-2 million to tens of millions I have found that is actually not just as easy but easier..

BOTTOM LINE: STOP LETTING THE ZERO’S GET IN THE WAY— THEY ARE AFTER ALL ONLY DIGITS.

Brian Sacks

brian.sacks@gmail.com

Want to learn from the same systems I learned from? Go to http://www.whatiused.com

Want to learn how to acheive more in  your next 12 months? go to http://www.brian.in12months.com

I would love your comments and feedback.. tell me your experiences by clicking on the comments button below — AND– before you leave take a second to fill out the form above so you can be notified each time a new article or profit/wealth producing tip is added.

 

 

The New Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

June 14, 2008

The New Psycho-Cybernetics - Maxwell Maltz
This is the one book I recommend more than any other. For all of the years that I ran my coaching program this was THE BOOK I gave to every new client when they enrolled. WHY?
While most people think business is all about knowing how to “do things” in reality business is more of a mental game. You must be prepared mentally or else you will fail. I know that sounds harsh but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

For a real life example just stop for a minute and think about yourself, friends and family. Have they accomplished some level of success and then snapped back to where they were before or even lower.

See I used to think that you could just know what to do then do it and you would be fine.But it always felt like I would hit an imaginary ceiling that was impossible to break thru… Read this book NOW! In fact I read it every 6 months and have for the past 6 years. Get your mind ready for success in your business and personal life. I know it sounds very cliche but this is a must. Read this book if you want to create real profit and wealth… AND KEEP IT !
Click Here To Get “The New Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz

Influence by Robert Cialdini

June 14, 2008

INFLUENCE - Robert Cialdini

This is one of my favorite experts on why people buy or don’t buy things. It is loaded with ideas you can apply to your business IMMEDIATELY and see results from. They are explained with examples that are easy to follow. Make no mistake– You can influence how people buy from you and how people respond to you in personal situations as well. Influenece and Persuasion are NOT dirty words. Everyday in everything you do you need to know the tactics displayed in this book. It is a classic.

Click Here To Get “Influence” By Robert Cialdini

Is Brian Sacks “Socially Retarded?

June 7, 2008

This is the phrase my wife uses to describe me “SOCIALLY RETARDED” so i want to fully explain and then ask for your feedback in the comments section below. Deal?

Personal confession time. I am by nature very shy and private. Most find that very hard to believe since I have spoken to tens of thousands around the country as a success trainer, been on over 42 radio stations around the country being interview as an expert and appeared on ABC , CBS , COMCAST , and The local NBC affiliate ( WBAL TV 11) for over 9 years. Most have been live shows with very little room for mistakes or mispeaks. Plus almost every job I have ever had since age 15 has been in sales — from shoes to real-estate- to mortgages to information.

So how is it that a shy person can be “un-social” or socially retarded as my calls me? I have really given this some thought… Last night for example we were invited to a neighberhood barbeque party where there were about 2 hundred people. I went but we took 2 cars… WHY?
Well after about an hour I had enough and went home. This has happend numerous times so noone was shocked.

More confessions: I really don’t like being around people I don’t know because of my shyness BUT I really hate being around people I don’t like especially the braggers- the moaners- the aren’t I smart ones and especially the arrogant assholes.

So now let’s tackle each of these issues — shyness and social rudeness.
In terms of the shyness I have spoken to many well known guru’s about this and have observed about a dozen of them up close over a period of years.. and guess what– they are just like me. Fine in a big room or on tv/radio but very awkward in a social setting. I have disuccessed this with some of them and I agree with their assessment that being on stage is easy since you are speaking to a group. However a one on one at a social gathering with someone you don’t know is a totally differnt interaction at which shy people like us often fail..

Now to the issue of being “socially retarded” There are a number of reasons for this and as I get older the symptons seem to become more pronounced and severe.
First– I hate arrogant people who are full of themselves and nowadays just refuse to be with them.
Second- I hate negative people who feel they are always the victim.. With these people I STRONGLY suggest that you also stay away from them so that their negativity doesn’t rub off.
Third- Some people are actually intimidated by me? Imagine that.
Fourth - I hate small BS talk .. let’s talk about something important — like marketing !

You really are who you hang out with.. I am fine being called socially retarded because in fact I guess I am .. I love being alone and listening to a great marketing or persuasion or copywriting dvd or cd
or reading a great book.. I have also been known to spend hours talking with someone about the topic of wealth creation and profits. The problem is that I find very few people who “get it” To the ones that do get it I probably seem like the most “social” person on the planet…

You may be reading this and feeling sorry or confused.. Don’t !
Watch any person in any field- whether it be business, politics, sports and you will find more Brian Sacks than you can imagine.. They DO “LIVE and BREATHE” their passion and I bet they are socially retarded too !
What do you think ? Really would love your feedback on this topic now in the comments section.  Feel free to send your friends over to give their opinion as well.. Unless you are like me …
To Your Next 12 Months,
Brian Sacks

want to accomplish more in your next 12 months?
http://www.brian.in12months.com
Check out the systems I used to learn marketing and wealth creation
http://www.whatiused.com

 

Do You Take InfoAgra? - Exploding the Myth

June 4, 2008

What a title huh? Well sometimes I think I have taken some..
WHAT EXACTLY IS INFOAGRA?

It means having the stamina to get the job done… It means getting up early and staying up late… Especially when you are first starting an information business or any business for that matter. The idea that you do NO WORK AND MAKE ALOT OF MONEY actually does work– IF YOU ARE BORN INTO A RICH FAMILY….

If that is your case the rest of this article will be a waste of time for you so you can leave now….. But if you are like many who are reading this.. You maynot have been fortunate to have been a member of what I call the “lucky sperm” club.. ( sorry if I have offended you but i think you know what i mean here)

Most of us have to work and please stay with me here because I want to explode some myths and I know you will get some BIG IDEAS here.

First- Working hard is NOT a virtue - It is indeed stupid and harmful to feel you have to work hard all of your life and then you will retire. I can tell you just from my own family experiences and from the experience of those I have coached and consulted with. They all worked hard.. and died old and unhappy.
Some had money and now can’t enjoy it because they are old and broken down from all the hard work. Others worked hard but not smart and have no money and are also old and broken down.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO ?

Work smart– By that I mean work once on something that will create a continuous stream of income for you for years to come. One great business is real-estate investments . I  spent a year putting together a self storage facility and I have been receiving  BIG CHECKS every month for the past 3years. Another is the information marketing business. I have built and sold several multi- million dollar info businesses. Do the work once and than just manage it.  I learned how to do this at http://www.whatIused.com

Second- Decide what your F- U number is .. What is an F-U # ? It is the number that will allow you to wake up and go to work because you WANT to not because you HAVE to. As an example if you need 250,000 to live comfortably each year than you have 2 choices.
A. Get 5,000,000 dollars and put it in an account earning 5% which should be easy to do.

B.  Work hard.. take some Info-agra and put in the hours and effort to build businesses or investments that are run by others that will produce this income for you … Hire the best people to run your business. Make sure they know what is expected of them and then inspect it .  Get regular reports and pay very very close attention to your numbers ..and patterns
Is income going up or down? Are expenses going up or down? Is your profit margin headed up or down. There are many other things you can /must manage and it can all be done in a report sent to you wherever you might be.
When I am in Israel or The Caribbean or on a cruise or at the beach — I can  receive this report and spend about 30 minutes checking these stats and figures and metrics and know exactly where we stand.

BOTTOM LINE— You MUST work hard.. don’t listen to anyone who tells you its easy.. they are either really stupid or they are simply LIARS trying to sell you something..

You Will need to have the stamina to build the business and put the systems in place… THE SECRET is that you should only being building it so that it can be run by someone else , not require your day to day involvement and WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH A CONTINUSOUS STREAM OF INCOME FOR YEARS TO COME

Even better if it is built from the beginning to be a “saleable ” business like mine are.

To Your Next 12 Months,

Brian Sacks

Want to accomplish more in your next 12 months?  go to http://www.brian.in12months.com

Want to see where I learned how to really create wealth and grow profits? http://www.whatiused.com

———–> what do you think? leave your comments below<————-

 

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