The Biggest Internet Marketing Mistake ... Finding "Love" in Your Business ... the One Person You Must Meet Today ... and Much, Much More We've got a great lineup of essays for you this week from a terrific bunch of world-class experts. Today, I'm going to talk about the most important relationships in business. Without my mentors, I wouldn't be who I am today. If you don't have a mentor, you need one. And I'll show you how to find the best. Tomorrow, we hear from Clayton Makepeace. He's one of the most successful copywriters on the planet. And he explains a huge mistake made by many, many Internet businesses. It's costing them millions. I found his essay to be scary and convincing. I'm sure you will too. And on Wednesday, Rich Schefren asks, "How fulfilled are you?" Following your passion doesn't mean losing out on profits, he explains. Thursday, we'll continue with our discussion of Web marketing. Our own Edwin Huertas tells an inspiring story about a young lady he helped get online. Using a handful of his basic techniques, she quickly added $120K to her revenues. Friday, Brian Edmondson writes about how he finally turned a profit after failing at many businesses. His luck changed when he discovered a trait shared by all successful entrepreneurs. In today's issue: - Wealthy: Do You Have Your Buried Treasure?
- Healthy: Why Comedians Might Make Great Doctors
- Wise: How I Helped a Drug Dealer Get Rich
---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended ---------------------------------------------------- Don't Make a Trade Until the Market "Tells" You - His software applications and trading books are required tools on Wall Street. And now, for the first time, he's released a new program tailor-made for private investors. One of the first people he trained in his method made $37,948 in just a few days. Insiders are already flocking to sign up. In fact, as of today, there are only 89 spots left. If you'd like to know more ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Experience is the teacher of all things." - Julius Caesar Mentor Protege Magic
How Mentors Can Change Your Life
By Michael Masterson A man looks at his youth and says, "I wish I knew then what I know now." That's what "Eric," a pot dealer who spent four years in jail, said to me after he had become a multimillionaire. Eric was talking about what he had learned about direct marketing. I gave him a job after he got out of jail. He was bright and hardworking and honest. (Honesty is an essential quality for a pot dealer.) And so I taught him what I knew. It took Eric 10 years to accumulate a fortune dealing drugs. And all that money disappeared to lawyers and the government when he got busted. It took him only two years to become an expert at marketing. Two years later, he had his own multimillion-dollar business. He would have been much, much richer if he had learned what he learned from me earlier on. This is not an essay about legal vs. illegal businesses. My purpose is to point out how valuable it is to have someone help you, like I helped Eric. It can take a decade or more to become the successful person you want to be. But you can shorten your learning curve -- even drastically curtail it -- by using a mentor. With the advice and support of an experienced person in your field, you can avoid the most common mistakes you are likely to make. You overcome the stickiest problems and find shortcuts to success. Let me give you another example. This one comes from Business Week. Russell and Gayla Bentley wanted to start an apparel company, specializing in upscale, "extended-size" women's clothing. The idea was solid. And they had experience. (Gayla had been a fashion consultant for 25 years. Russell had an MBA.) Russell wrote a detailed 100-page business plan. The plan had them investing their life savings, $250,000, along with loans, into a catalogue showcasing their original designs. Luckily, their bank suggested they have their business plan vetted. That's how they met Allen Shapiro, a retired executive with more than 30 years of retail experience. Shapiro told them -- at their very first meeting -- that their marketing plan was way off base. "He answered questions I never thought to ask," said Russell. "He made us see the pitfalls of starting too big too soon." Shapiro guided them to "a more realistic approach." Instead of starting with a catalogue, he suggested they open a showroom and sell directly to retailers. Shapiro's advice worked. Before long, NeimanMarcus.com and Nordstrom stores began stocking the Gayla Bentley Collection. Two and a half years later, they were selling into moderately priced lines for outlets like Dillard's and QVC. Talking things through with Shapiro, Russell admitted, saved them from disaster. "We probably would have gone broke pretty fast if we'd have gone forward with the big-scale plan," he said. I've had similar experiences many times in my career, both as a mentor and a protege. In Early to Rise, I've often talked about my mentors. - From Leo, my first post-college boss, I learned the importance of persistence and dogged determination.
Leo once had me call Honda Motors more than 100 times to convince them to give us a new engine after the one we had died (from lack of oil). We didn't have a single, sensible argument in our favor, but that didn't stop Leo from pushing me. Finally, after I got all the way to the top, the Honda execs decided they had wasted too much time on us and gave in. I didn't feel good about getting something we didn't deserve, but I never forgot Leo's lesson. - From Joel, my second major mentor, I learned a great deal.
The first lesson he taught me -- by firing the lady who wanted to get me fired -- was that a good leader needs to surround himself with the strongest people he can find. Another lesson I learned soon thereafter had to do with the fundamental nature of business. "Until you make a sale," Joel explained patiently, "nothing else happens." - From Bill, a client, partner, and part-time mentor, I discovered -- relatively late in my career -- two important business secrets that have made me a better leader.
For one thing, I no longer feel compelled to solve every problem put at my feet. I've watched Bill ignore countless squabbles and come out much the better for it. Before getting involved in a dispute these days, I ask myself, "Can these people eventually come up with a satisfactory solution themselves?" If the answer is affirmative, I do nothing. Thanks to Bill, I'm also now a big believer in product quality. Having mastered the secrets of selling through my relationship with Joel, I tended to underestimate the importance of the product. I was one of those marketers who actually wanted to sell snow to Eskimos. In working with Bill, whose focus is always on quality, I've seen how much better a business becomes when that's what you stress. Don't Fall Into This Trap The popular view of the entrepreneur is a maverick who strikes out all on his own. The truth is, the great majority of successful businesspeople were proteges at one time. And those who did it on their own wish they had been lucky enough to have had a mentor. But don't be seduced by the promise of "free" advice. If you believe the popular books on the subject, you have no doubt come across the idea that you can get great free advice from retirees. They recommend contacting your local Chamber of Commerce or taking advantage of a national non-profit group like SCORE. Indeed, you can locate lots of formerly successful businesspeople that way. But I'm skeptical about this approach ... for two reasons. 1. Volunteers for such programs are usually long retired. And businesspeople who are out of their industry for more than five years no longer know its most important secrets. 2. Any advice you get for free is ultimately worth nothing. Not because the advice is bad, but because people don't value anything they get for free. If you want the right kind of mentors in your life, you have to be prepared to pay for them. You must pay for what you get in dollars. And you must pay for it in gratitude too. (More on that in a minute.) What You Can Expect From Your Mentor It doesn't matter where you are along your career path. Getting yourself a good mentor will be enormously helpful. A study commissioned by the Elliot Leadership Institute at Johnson & Wales University confirms this. Researchers surveyed senior executives and middle managers in the food service and hospitality industry about leadership competencies. Those who had been mentored reported that the experience was invaluable. They said their mentors helped them build all kinds of leadership skills, including decision-making, strategic thinking, planning, coaching, and effectively managing others. You may have no idea what you need to learn to make the next leap forward in your career. But someone who's been there and done it before does know. Getting the help of that person will speed up your success by light years. It will save you tons of money too. But those advantages of mentorship are just the beginning. Another study I read recently -- a detailed and comprehensive study from the University of Georgia -- found that people who had been mentored enjoyed their jobs and felt less stress than those who hadn't. That makes sense to me. Because the right mentor will do more than simply tell you trade secrets. Your mentor will be your learning coach -- someone you can talk to and trust. He will provide you with guidance, feedback, and support. He will help you focus on your goals and give you direction. He will offer advice on skills he's found valuable. He will counsel you on opportunities in your industry and different paths to success. He will share his personal experiences, but he won't inundate you with unsolicited advice. An article I read in Black Enterprise magazine put it this way: "Your mentor is not a savior." He's there to help you help yourself. Or as leadership consultant Ron Yudd put it: "[Mentors] hold the flashlight so others can see the path." Getting Started with Your Mentor Before I tell you how to find a mentor, let's talk about how to handle your first few meetings with him. For your first meeting, come prepared with a list of your business goals. And a list of questions too. - What do you want out of the relationship?
- What do you feel you need to learn?
- What do you want this person to teach you?
Prior to each succeeding conversation, outline what you want to get out of your time together. And keep track of your progress. It's important for you to set specific goals and monitor your own progress. That's not his job. And if you don't do it, he won't be able to help you continue to achieve. Respect the Mentor-Protege Relationship To maintain the relationship with your mentor, you must recognize his value and reward him for it. Keep in mind that the advice he is giving you is likely to have a profound effect on your career. Although you can't measure the financial value of any specific suggestion (i.e., "Stop spending so much time on this fulfillment project. Get to work on improving your advertising."), you can bet that, in the long run, the effect will be significant. Show him you appreciate what he is doing for you. Tell him, in specific terms, what you have learned from him, and thank him every time you meet. The psychological reward of knowing he is helping you succeed is his primary reward. That said, once the relationship has been established, it's time to offer to compensate him for his time with money. (It doesn't have to be with cash, if you don't have it. You can offer him a cut of the profits he's helping you make instead.) One of my current mentors, Sid, gets a check for several thousand dollars whenever I spend time with him. On a per-hour basis, he's extremely well paid. But for the help he gives me in making key leadership and wealth-building decisions, the $30,000 to $40,000 a year I invest in him is a bargain. How to Find Your Mentor(s) There are many ways to find mentors. I'll begin with the best but most difficult. Look around your industry for five successful business leaders who retired within the past five years. This five-year timeframe, as I've said, is important. If they've been retired any longer, they will almost certainly be out of touch. That is especially true today. The Internet has changed marketing hugely and forever. Anyone who hasn't done business since 2004 can't possibly give you anything but general advice. Write each of these five people a short letter expressing genuine admiration. Compliment them on specific achievements. Then ask for advice on your own career. Offer an invitation to go to lunch. Or, if they're located out of your local area, ask for a 15-minute phone call. If you make five personal contacts, odds are that one of them will grant you an interview. If not, pick another five and repeat the process. Spend most of your time asking questions and thanking your prospective mentor for his answers. You must show him right away that you are someone who (a) pays attention to good advice and (b) appreciates it. If you find that you hit it off ... you've got yourself a mentor. The other, faster and easier, way to get a mentor is to invest in one of the many good mentorship programs available. You can find dozens of them through the Internet. ETR offers several that I -- quite naturally -- recommend. Don't Let This Moment Pass We all make mistakes. We all waste valuable time. But we are all capable of changing our lives for the better. And that change can happen much more quickly with a mentor. If you don't have a mentor now, you should get one. If you have one, consider using multiple mentors. This makes enormous sense when you think about it. It gives you not only the wisdom of one person, but also the perspective you get by comparing the ideas and judgments of several experts. Don't wait another year. Don't wait another day. Now is the best time to jumpstart your success. Seize the day. Adopting a mentor or mentors requires a temporary abnegation of pride. Or perhaps something beyond that -- the wisdom to understand that one's own ideas are not always the best ideas. I consider this to be a truly great secret of success. [Ed. Note: As you've just learned, a mentor will speed up your business success. Now meet Brian Edmondson from ETR's new video-based Internet Power Coaching program. He retraces all the steps he took to create his own six-figure autopilot Internet business. And you get to follow along. You'll do exactly what he does on your own computer as you watch the videos. You start with an idea. You end up with a real, moneymaking business with the potential to make $40K+ per week. Find out more about Internet Power Coaching here.] ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended --------------------------------------------------- How to Get Cash Flowing Into Your Bank Account Instead of Out of It Instead of spending money 4, 5, even 10 times a day ... imagine collecting cash that often. I know a way for you to ... - Snag $1,200 a month to get a higher paying job (This is not a loan!)
- Pick up as much as $75,000 to buy a home or make home improvements
- Get $1,000+ every time you go on vacation (at the world's top resorts)
Can you say, "Ka-Ching!"??? That's the name of ETR's newest publication -- and every month, it will give you dozens of practical ways to bring cash into your life, hour after hour after hour. Get all the cash-generating details right here. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More from Masterson... Bit by the Gold Bug An ETR reader nearing retirement writes in. He's started to invest more in gold because of what's happening to the value of the dollar. He's got 5 percent of his assets in gold so far, and is wondering if he should make it 10 percent. But he's worried he might be falling prey to gold "hype." "What's your view?" he asks. To help him -- and you -- make a smart decision, here's my answer: I am not an investment advisor. So I can't tell you whether I think that gold is a good investment right now. But I can say that I have bought enough physical gold to pay my living expenses for about four years. Physical gold, for me, is a hedge against disaster. I like it because it is portable, hideable, and non-taxable. To take advantage of market opportunities, I have also put some money into a fund that invests in gold and other natural resources. It's gone up more than 15 percent in a year's time. So I'm happy about that. But I consider that type of investing to be high risk, so I put in a modest sum -- about 1 percent of my net worth. I don't use gold to hedge against the dollar, because more than 90 percent of my financial obligations (including taxes) are in dollars. If you use gold (or any other investment) for that purpose, you risk being wrong. The IRS doesn't care if you are wrong. If you owe them $50,000, they are going to take $50,000 -- even if the $50,000 you invested has been reduced to less than that. Laugh Out Loud If you've been reading ETR for any length of time, you know that the first thing I do every morning is stand in front of the mirror and laugh at myself. I laugh at myself not just because I deserve it, but because it makes me feel better. It lifts my spirits and helps me face the day with optimism. I mentioned this to our health expert Melanie Segala the other day, and she told me about a new study that validates my little ritual. "Turns out that laughing improves blood flow to the heart by 50 percent," she said. "It also reduces the risk of blood clots and lowers inflammation." So laugh every time you get the chance. And if you don't have many chances, just do what I do: Look at your reflection in the mirror and crack up. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Your newsletter truly stands out." "This was long due. Just want to thank you for every issue you put together. Your articles are truly classy, informative, and a catalyst to my performance at work and home. No frills and fancies. Just plain thinking and clear speaking. "I keep sharing your articles with my family and friends and suggest they subscribe too. Will keep doing that. "In this age of fast information and faster dissipation, your newsletter truly stands out." Amritha Alapati
Hyderabad, India ---------------------------------------------- Highly Recommended --------------------------------------------------- Making Money Online Is Not Complicated If You Are Not Greedy - Most Internet marketing programs promise you millions. But they deliver only huge instruction manuals filled with arcane language and sophisticated strategies that a normal person could not possibly follow. But if you are not greedy -- if you are happy making an extra $250 to $500 a day, working less than an hour -- there is a new marketing method you should know about. It takes advantage of the most commonly used Internet application -- e-mail. Read more... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Words That Work: Vet To vet is to carefully examine or evaluate, checking for such things as accuracy, validity, and authenticity. Example (as used by Michael Masterson today): "Luckily, [the Bentleys'] bank suggested that they have their business plan vetted. That's how they met Allen Shapiro, a retired executive with more than 30 years of retail experience." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: AskETR@ETRFeedback.com | 
No comments:
Post a Comment