Yesterday, I shared with you this thought…

YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR MASTERPIECE….NOT YOUR PRISON!

Today, let’s expand on it…

Online entrepreneurs can be separated into two different groups by the way they think…

Owners -or- Victims

Here’s what I mean…

Right now in your business you are either an owner of your outcomes, or you’re a victim of your circumstance.

Entrepreneurs who are victims, don’t realize the power they have to alter the results they’re getting. They fail to exercise their creativity to solve the current challenges standing in their way. Instead they give all their power away to circumstance. The net result — their business ends up getting worse and worse.

Entrepreneurs who are owners take ownership of every situation of their business.  They realize they grow with each challenge they overcome. So they come up with creative solutions to their current obstacles. And in the process their skills get better and better…

Entrepreneurs who act like owners stay in the “profitable now.” They give all themselves to what they’re doing in the moment. They stay committed to the outcomes they’ve established and invest all their energy into achieving them.

You see, owners realize this…

Future business success is only created in the present moment. The small task, activity, or project you’re focused on right now will impact your business’ future more than all the excuses, worries, and fears you could possibly stack on top of each other.

Owners embrace the philosophy shared by Ralph Waldo Emerson when he wrote…

“Don’t wast life in doubts and fears. Spend yourself on the work before you, well-assured that the right perfromance of this hour’s duties will be the best preperation for the hours and ages that will follow it.”

So, for today, pick one excuse you’ve been using in your business and come up with all the different actions you could take that would begin to eliminate it once and for all.

If you get stuck, or you come up with a great new approach – share your obstacle or success by commenting below.

Your business exists to make a profit.

Simple statement, right?

Well, before you agree, do a self-check to determine if your actions are congruent with this simple statement.

Are you currently prioritizing and managing your time (at work) according to what’s profitable and what’s not?

Yesterday, we talked about intentions — how entrepreneurs need to be crystal clear about the outcomes we’re committed to achieving each day.

Today, I want to take the conversation further…

Continue…

If your entrepreneurial life isn’t what you want it to be, you might be suffering from “Intention Deficit Disorder.”

Intention Deficit Disorder occurs when you have no real clarity about WHAT result you intend to produce and (even more importantly) WHY you want to produce it.

You see, many internet entrepreneurs spend all their time searching wildly for “how to” advice, yet neglect strengthening their “want to.” And that, my friend, is a big mistake.

Because when you’ve got your WANT TO tweaked and fully torqued, you’ll always find the HOW TO.

Think about this… My daughter Ava is seven years old. She’s relatively a neat little girl. But what if she wasn’t? Let’s just say her room was always messy. It would never occur to me to send her to a seminar on “how to clean her room.” The reason is the “how to” isn’t missing… the “want to” is missing.

Continue…

It’s been just a few minutes since Rich Schefren finished delivering his Lessons From The Marketing Legends Live Training. WOW!… Rich led a gathering of marketers thru the MAJOR marketing breakthroughs of the past 100 years… and how they can and should be applied today.

If you listened live to the Lessons From The Marketing Legends training, we’d love to hear your biggest takeaways.

Go ahead and share your comments below:

So, just a few minutes ago Rich Schefren finished up his live training about becoming your niche’s expert and authority.

It was called Instant Expert.

And, if you were one of the lucky entrepreneurs to get your spot for this live training, we want to hear from you.

Let us know what your biggest takeaway was from the Live Training and what you thought about the quality of information, guidance and advice Rich shared with you.

Go ahead… leave your insights and comment below.

by Todd Brown

If you’re at all like most internet marketers, you have a desire to increase your productivity and… plain and simple… just get more done.

As somebody who used to struggle on and off with being consistently productive, here are 10 recommendations (in no particular order) you can use to be a HECK of a lot more productive in 2009.

1. Use self-imposed discipline.

In other words, put yourself in a position where you have to get XYZ done. For example, instead of waiting until you have the Power Point presentation done to schedule the webinar… schedule it today and announce to your list, so you then MUST get the presentation done.

2. Every project, task, milestone you work on should have a deadline.

Periodically throughout your workday, ask yourself… “does what I’m working on have a deadline”. If not, put one on it. If it’s not worthy of a deadline, dump it.

3. Only check your email 2x a day… and never before getting at least one hour of focused work done.

I try never to check my email before noon and then not again until 4PM.

4. Have the least amount of unscheduled time each day.

In other words, try to schedule every hour of your work day. This has been one of the most effective productivity tools for me personally.

5. Have productivity goals, along with your financial and business goals.

In other words, have goals for focused time and completion of tasks.

6. Have rewards at incremental stages of your goal achievement.

Far, far off goals tend NOT to motivate us. Close goals, that we can see, tend be a lot more motivational.

7. Pre-schedule repetitive tasks into your calendar in advance.

If there are certain things you do every week, they should get a permanent place in your calendar and they should be treated just like an important appointment.

8. Monitor the time it takes you to go from idea to implementation; and try to speed up the process.

9. Try to estimate the amount of time every task will take, then put it in your schedule with a start and stop time.

This will force to work faster and more efficiently. Think… the day before vacation.

10. Regularly consider the consequences of not doing something or of procrastination.

The Insider Secrets Billy Knew About Turning Ordinary Household Products Into Muli-Million-Dollar Businesses…

How They Can Revolutionize Your Sales Process And Turn EVERY Product You Sell Into A Sales Windfall

Last week the airwaves were saturated by coverage of celebrities’ deaths.

If you’re a client of mine, it’s no surprise which one hit me the hardest. If you’re not, it was none other than Billy Mays, the greatest TV Pitchman ever.

In fact, when news of his death hit the airwaves, within the span of twenty minutes I received 5 text messages about Billy’s departure.

You might wonder why everyone was texting me about his death. Well, first off, I was a big fan of Billy’s. I told everybody I knew to watch and study the series Pitchmen on Discovery Channel.

And, second, my closest confidants knew I was considering creating a product with Billy on how to best sell through video.

Why would I want to create a product with Billy? Because Billy knew how to do something that very few marketers realize is even possible. He knew how to create and stir up demand for a product in less than two minutes.

That’s right, in less than 120 seconds he was able to introduce you to a product, get you to want it badly enough, and then get you to pick up the phone and crack open your wallet to order it. And once again – all in the span of two minutes.

It’s like the opening line of Pitchmen asserts “Two minutes of television wow that makes you buy now.”

And Billy was dammed good at it. Over the past decade the products he and his partner Anthony Sullivan sold on TV racked up combined sales of over $1 billion – and made each of them a personal fortune.

In 2008 alone their ads cumulatively ran for some 56,000 minutes on U.S. television at a cost of about $170 million, according to Icon Media. And just like A-level copywriters, these A-level pitchmen get a cut of every sale.

So, while banks are scrambling for bailouts, retailers are slashing prices, and industrial giants are cutting headcounts, Mays and Sullivan were thriving.
Why? Because recessions don’t daunt you when you are able to do the impossible – Getting people to buy something they didn’t even know existed in 120 seconds or less.

But, with Billy’s untimely death – all that has changed.

Unfortunately my product with Billy will never happen, the pitchmen series will probably not broadcast another season, and there won’t be any new Billy May’s pitches screaming through the TV at us.

Like I said, I was a huge fan of his show, Pitchmen. I watched every episode and took copious notes in order to improve my own marketing skills. And to honor Billy I’d like to share with you many of the gold nuggets I learned…

Continue…

…. You’ve gotta ask yourself a question: “Do I feel lucky?”

If you’re a movie buff, then you recognize those immortal words of Clint Eastwood from “Dirty Harry”.

It was a chilling sight…the sneering face of Eastwood staring down the barrel of a .44 Magnum, as the criminal pondered his choices (which ultimately would be the last thing he ever did).

But I bring this to mind because of a discussion Brian and I were just having about “being lucky.”

Have you ever known somebody who seems to have the best luck in the world?

It’s like everything they touch turns to gold. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s in their business affairs or their personal life, they just seem to have luck on their side all the time.

I can add myself to that list. Because I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky.

I’ve built an 8 figure business, married the woman of my dreams, and have 2 beautiful daughters who are healthy and happy.

And along the way, I’ve had lots of lucky breaks–things that just sort of “happened” which ultimately resulted in me becoming more successful.

Business and Success Coach Tom McCarthy knows all about luck, He’s been studying it for years and claims that there’s an actual science to being lucky.

We’ll tell you more about Tom’s findings later, but for right now I want to give you 3 things that have always helped me increase my luck:

1) Get Out There: I’ve found that luck stems mostly from opportunities, and the more you put yourself in front of others, the more opportunities you’ll have. So don’t be an extrovert. Meet new people. Shake their hands. Look them in the eye and find out more about them. This will increase your luck exponentially.

2) Go With Your Gut: I can’t count how many times I’ve made an important decision based on a gut feeling and it’s turned out to be the right one. You should be doing the same. Follow your instincts and go with what you feel is correct. More often than not, you’ll see your luck increase.

3) Grab The Silver Lining: The most successful people I know don’t wallow in their misery when their luck goes sour. They find the best in the situation and focus on that. And guess what? They always turn their fortunes completely around very quickly. You can do the same.

That’s a few of the strategies I use to bring better luck to my life. But what about you?

What is your definition of “luck”?

Is it mere coincidence, a supernatural happenstance, or something else entirely?

Why is it that some people seem to be lucky in everything while others have no luck at all?

And how can you change your luck from pitiful to prosperous?

I want to know how luck has affected your life, both personally and professionally.

Tell me your take on this subject, and why (or why not) it’s important to your success. Post your comments below and let’s see if we can uncover the mysteries of good fortune.

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts…

To Higher Profits,

Rich

P.S. There’s LOTS of cool things happening here at Strategic Profits this summer, and the office is virtually buzzing with activity.

Some of these things you’ll be hearing about very soon, so keep an eye out for more emails and blog posts from me.

In the meantime, answer those 4 questions in the comments below and let’s hear what you have to say about the mystery of good luck.

Today’s  post comes courtesy of Brian Johnson, COO of Strategic Profits, golf enthusiast and single-digit handicapper.

So when is it ok to piss-off your customers?

I can hear all of you now; “What do you mean? the customer is King!” or “The customer is always right”. Well, I have an answer for that in a moment.

As I am writing this, I am sitting in the Phoenix airport just a day after playing golf at the TPC (Tournament Players Club) in Scottsdale Arizona. And, I am reflecting on a run-in I had with staff there while I was playing…

Before I start, understand that this is a course that any great golfer would love to play. They sometimes charge over $350.00 per round to play and it is part of the club that the PGA professional golfers own. In fact, this is one of the PGA tour stops (Tiger Woods had a hole-in-one here a few years ago).

So, picture this; for weeks now I have been all excited to fly out here to play this course. I have been talking to everyone about going. I get here, check into the hotel, pay hundreds of dollars for my cart and greens fee, buy my TPC hat and all proud to wear it, buy brand new fresh balls new glove, get some drinks, head to the driving range, meet my friends that I am playing with, and get all jacked up to tee off in 15 minutes. AAAHHHHHHH

“We now invite Mr. Brian Johnson and guests to the first tee”… comes over the loud speakers while we are getting warmed up on the driving range.   All excited I say “let’s go guys, time to have some fun” We jump on the carts and speed up to the first tee where the starter is awaiting for us. He greets us and gives us some background on the day and welcomes us to the first tee. Things are great. The weather is beautiful. I am hanging with good friends, and we shake hands and say have a good time guys. The day begins.

Jon Walker tees off and puts it in the middle, Aaron from InfusionSoft hits a great one in the faraway and I put one on the left side. And we are off…

We get no further than the third tee where we were met by a ranger waiting for us. In a militant voice he says; “OK guys, you need to move it along, there are two holes in front of you and you have to rush through and catch up.”

WOW. What the heck just happened?

I was no longer excited, and the guests I was with were just as mystified as I was. The day was going well so I simply responded with an friendly; “OK, no problem” and we do our best to keep things going.

As a side note, we are all avid golfers and no slouches. We were only a 3-some and playing at a pretty quick speed. If you know golf, you know that you want to be courteous to people behind you and not hold them up. However there was not anyone behind us, we were not holding anyone up AND there was space in-between the group in front of us when we started to play in the first place.

It was just their “rule” that you should play at the speed that they (the non customer) feels you should play. It’s a lot like going to a fine restaurant and placing your order. Then they bring your appetizers and then immediately 5 minutes later bring you the main course. Then 5 minutes later come to you and say “Listen you can’t be here all night and we need the table for someone else, you should be able to eat in 15 minutes” How irate would you be?

Fast forward to two holes later. We now have gone through each hole putting without even taking the flag stick out of the hole, did not get a drink when the snack cart came around so we could try to catch up (which during summer in Arizona is not the best idea), ran back and forth to the cart and made up some time while we DID NOT enjoy the golf.

So we get to the tee at the 6th hole and the same ranger is there and says “let’s go guys, you need to hustle” at which point I was at a boiling point and said to him “Listen, we are not holding anyone up, no one has complained about us and there was already space between us when we started” His response was; “If you don’t like it you will be missing golf and I will move you into position where I think you should be”.

My response (in a manner that is unlike my collected self) was “@%#! THIS!” I just spent hundreds of dollars to play here, traveled across the country and have been looking forward to this for a while. Needless to say, I did not enjoy any more of the day and my opinion of the place went in the tank. I can’t even remember most of the golf I played. I felt violated, ripped off, scorned, and totally deflated. The guests I was with were even more upset than I was.

This Ranger does not know me at all, my golf experience or golf etiquette and still he is dismissing me? That’s crazy and customers should never be treated like that.

Right?

Ok, on the flip side I put my business founder hat on. I am thinking that they do this with the intention of taking care of all customers and not just one. Should they piss off one client in the spirit of keeping the other clients happy? Keep in mind we were NOT a hindrance to anyone and the Ranger was “Just following the rules put in place for all customers.” You have to have some rules or policies in place to handle situations where some clients will hurt others.

Right?

I can say that even here at Strategic Profits I am very protective of our company and anyone trying to take advantage (in my view) will have a hard time with me. Notice I said “in my view?” The client might not feel that way. But if I break the rules for one client it might snowball into many clients and now I have hurt the company as a whole, which in turn hurts all clients.

Right?

So the big question is; if the customer is always right… are they always right for YOUR company? This is a question that Spike Humer at Jay Abraham’s office brought up to me when I was telling him this story, and one that I want you to think about today.

It’s truly an interesting dilemma that company owners and founders need to deal with on a consistent basis. What you do, how you handle or not handle or how effective you resolve issues like this can make or break the company you founded.

I am interested in hearing what you would do if you were the owner, manager or founder of this golf club. Please post a comment and let me know. I will tell you what we would have done after we hear from you. Also, I look forward to us helping you with more of these types of issues so that you can avoid costly pitfalls in your company’s future success.

Post a comment, and let us know how YOU feel about this.

To Higher Profits,

Brian Johnson