It’s one of the greatest business lessons I’ve learned…
And it came from my former employer, Porter Stansberry.
During his meetings with the copy team, he would often espouse the virtues of building a business whose ultimate goal isn’t to make a one-off sale… or keep a customer for 90 days… or even 5 years.
The goal was to create products and experiences that are so consistently good, that your customers buy them for life.
There are many benefits of this approach, he explained…
A loyal, engaged fan base
An endless supply of life-changing testimonials
Frequent referral sales
Lower churn, refunds, and chargebacks
Higher customer lifetime value
Higher affordable cost-per-acquisition (CPA)
Bigger profit margins
I could go on.
But despite these advantages, many entrepreneurs often take the opposite approach.
They focus on making big piles of moolah in the present, even if it means ruining the relationship with their customers.
They sell crappy products, make hyperbolic promises, or ignore a customer’s needs once they’ve cashed their checks.
And as a result, these “quick-buck businesses” burn through clients faster than napalm.
Granted…
You should never let perfection stop you from launching a new offer or venture.
And you need short-term income to make payroll and cover your expenses.
But by reinvesting in your product and making small improvements…
One at a time, over a lifetime…
You’ll put yourself on a profitable path toward the ultimate (but unattainable) goal of turning every customer into a buyer for life.
Okay, before you start thinking that I’ve gone all “Gandhi” on you today, hear me out…
Because I want to take your business to the next level. And before this blog post is finished, I’m going to hand you some tools to help you do exactly that.
Let me explain…
The call we did earlier this week was phenomenal. We had more people register, more people listening in, and more people commenting on it than any other call we’ve ever done.
But what’s even more satisfying than setting new records is the fact that you obviously got a lot of valuable, life-changing content from this.
Because the comments we’ve received so far are blowing us away. Here’s a few…
“Massive value is an understatement in regards to the information you shared with us…” — Chaney Alulis
“Stunned. At the end, it even brought a few tears, that I thought I was beyond.” — Bruce Brodeen
“For the first time it provoked me to think effectively what is really holding me back.” — Dr. Kazi Anam
“Anyone who is serious about success in online marketing would do well to listen..” — Roger Johnson
“I can’t wait to see what you unveil later in September!” — R. Newhart
(hang on–we’ll get to that in a moment)
Now, we appreciate the fact that this call really opened the eyes of thousands of entrepreneurs, and we’re grateful for the chance to bring it to you.
But there’s something that I’m grateful for even MORE…
In reading your comments, I can see that your truly GETTING IT.
Stated more clearly, you get the fact that:
my guru clients have struggled with the same stumbling blocks you now need to overcome…
your mindset matters and getting the right mentor is critical to side-stepping the land mines in your path
fast growth involves identifying and eliminating the one core constraint currently holding both you and your biz back…
your strengths determine your potential, but your constraint determines your level of success…
most entrepreneurs spend the majority of their time achieving false-efficencies which have little impact on your success…
Believe or not, writing those past five sentences gives me goosebumps, because I know your now getting on the same path my biggest success stories have traveled on…
Because as a teacher, mentor, trainer, and coach, I know what happens to entrepreneurs who don’t know those five facts. I’ve seen thousands of online entrepreneurs thrash around in the same nasty (opportunity-seeker) pit for years on end…
They pursue success as if it were a race… and end up spinning their wheels in a desperate attempt to track down the “magic pill” that promises some mysterious shortcut to be an ‘instant-winner’, and we both know where that leads (nowhere)…
No matter how hard they work or how much they spend, they never realize success can be so much simpler if they stopped looking outside and started looking inside to determine the single constraint holding them back. The one thing guaranteed to give the fastest, and biggest payoff.
In other words, they never GET IT.
But with Monday’s call (and the replays), I’m ecstatic that my guru clients were able to pull back the curtain and shed some light on your situation.
And now, you’re ready to take that next big step on your way to the success you’ve been seeking.
If you’re ready to proceed on your journey to a higher level of awareness (with even higher profits) and a better understanding of how you can leverage the very same tools I’ve used to skyrocket businesses in record time (while the entrepreneur slashes their work hours), then I’ve got something you’ll want to hear…
On this page, I’ve loaded up 3 case studies from the archives. These coaching clients were once struggling like many of you who commented on my blog…but their success skyrocketed in record time (you’ll get the complete inside story how). And check this out: all three of these entrepreneurial success stories continue on to this day, meaning the phenomenal success documented kept going and going (like the energizer bunny) dwarfing the already incredible results they had achieved.
Meaning, sustainable success – a fast growing business – along with a lifestyle that allows these entrepreneurs the ability to enjoy it.
You’ll hear from:
Jim Edwards. Jim came to me exhausted and completely overworked. In fact, he was very close to quitting the internet business entirely. Find out how Jim pulled himself out of this hole here…
Mike Filsaime. You heard from Mike on the call, but we only scratched the surface of the whole story. Mike’s profits multiplied over TEN TIMES after we made some simple changes in his business. Learn what they were here…
Hans and Dani Johnson: This husband-and-wife team had everything–a thriving business, a growing family, and a bright future. But after seeing one my presentations, they realized the single critical element that was missing. See what that was here…
Now it’s time for ‘Internet Success 102’ – we’ll take the same issues we touched on in the call, and go even deeper. giving you a better perspective on how to really build a profitable business that delivers the freedom and wealth you desire.
And right now, they’re yours for the taking.
So if you’re ready to take your understanding and your business up a another notch or two…
I promise you–there’ll be no chanting or incense. Just profoundly profitable advice 😉
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. BTW…I’ve already started getting questions about the coaching program I mentioned on the call. Don’t worry I’ll have more to share soon. But right now, with the record number of entrepreneurs listening to the conference call and even more reserving their priority copy of my next report (you can reserve your free copy here) I’d rather focus on you and what you and your business needs first.
But make sure to mark your calendar on Wednesday, September 17th, because that’s when the you’ll get your copy of my next report (if you’ve opted-into the priority list here) So, start getting ready to grow your business and reclaim your life, because it’s all going to get a lot easier real soon.
More to come on that…so stay tuned.
And don’t forget–when you’re finished listening to the case studies, come back and post your biggest takeaways here. (I was literally blown away by your comments on the last post… and it’s making dig deep to give you more (lots more) – I’m a sucker for appreciation)
Things are getting a little out of hand at Strategic Profits this week…
Tempers are flaring. Veins are popping. Normal conversations are turning into shouting matches.
I swear, you’d think this was the WWE instead of a marketing business (was that a chair that just went flying over my head?).
Seriously though, we did have a major rift in the office this week. And here’s what’s happened…
We were THIS close to releasing the new report. All the graphics were done, the formatting finished, and it looked fantastic.
The only thing left to do was cut it down to a more manageable size (if you recall, my first draft came in at over 300 pages). So I got the team together and the editors and asked them one question:
“What goes and what stays?”
We started poring through the report, line by line, and discussing how and where to trim it down.
And that’s where the trouble started.
Everyone had a different opinion. Some wanted certain sections left in, while others felt that they only hindered the main message. Still the editors thought most–if not all–of the content should be left as is.
And as we went on, it was blatantly apparent that nobody wanted to give in. Discussions became more and more heated. The fur started to fly. I even had to separate a couple of team members before they came to blows.
It was ugly. And I mean UGLY.
Like, why not put out all 300 pages right? That’s what some want because they felt it was so good.
I will explain why not soon.
Then, like a ray of sunshine through the dark clouds, a single voice spoke up:
“Why don’t we let our readers decide?”
It was Kristen, one of our newest (and quietest) employees at Strategic Profits.
Kristen is the voice you hear when you call our offices. She hadn’t said two words throughout the entire debacle until just now. But when she did, they were pure GOLD.
We instantly stopped arguing, looked shamefully at each other, and collectively thought the same thing:
“DUH!”
So long story short, we’re putting the editing job into your hands. We want to know what YOU want to know. And here’s how it works.
Clicking on that link above (or email to BlogReply (AT) Strategicprofits.com ) within the next couple days and it will send us an email where you can answer 3 simple questions:
How long have you had an online business?
Are you making the kind of money and achieving the level of success and freedom you thought you would be by now?
Why or why not?
That’s it. Once we get your answers tallied, we’ll dive back into the report and tailor it to your particular wants, needs, and desires.
I assure you that all your questions, concerns, and stumbling blocks will be addressed in your report–BUT you have to tell us what they are first.
So please go here now and do exactly that. It will only take a moment.
I’ll try to hold the fort until you do. Anybody got a taser I can borrow?
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. As if our in-office Battle Royal wasn’t enough, now we’ve got an even more serious situation brewing here in South Florida…
Hanna, Ike, and Josephine may sound like a 60’s folk singing group. But they’re actually 3 deadly tropical storms that are barreling through the Atlantic on a beeline towards our Delray Beach office.
So needless to say, we’ll be keeping one eye on your answer submissions and the other glued to the Weather Channel. Because when these things make landfall, they can wreak SERIOUS havoc.
It’s been rumored all over the internet, I’ve been teasing you about it for a while, and I’ve even let it slip in a few emails and blog posts.
But what you’re hearing is true–there’s a new report on the way.
Watch this video and see if it whets your appetite…
Now, I must tell you: this report is very unique from the others…
Because the previous reports only took me a few weeks, maybe a month at most to put together. All the info was upstairs–I just had to spill it out on paper.
But this one was totally the opposite. In fact, it’s been coming together, slowly but surely, for almost a year now.
See, I started noticing certain things about our business…certain “rules” that used to apply but don’t anymore.
And with each discovery, I would tuck it away in the back of my head, thinking “That’s something I need to change in my business right away and tell my blog readers about.”
But then something interesting happened. To put it into disc jockey lingo, “the hits just kept on comin’.”
As I went on, more and more discrepancies started popping up…significant differences in how things used to work and how they work now.
And we’re not talking about subtle changes. We’re talking MAJOR shifts in business building strategy.
These are died-in-the-wool principles and standards that are still revered as age-old gospel today…but in reality, aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
So as the “back of my head” began to get a little overcrowded, I began jotting them down into my notes.
And before I knew it, I had the makings of a KILLER report.
Now, I knew I had to get all this down as quickly as possible in order to get the word out to thousands of entrepreneurs who were still following the old paths.
And to be honest, there was no way to get it done around the office. Too many distractions.
So I got away from it all–and I mean GOT AWAY–jetting to the remote wilderness of the Canadian North.
I spent the next 3 weeks with no phone line, no internet, and nothing to lure me from my task at hand.
And when I finally returned to Delray Beach (tired, unshaven, and resembling Grizzly Adams), I was completely tapped out mentally–but BURSTING at the seams to show everyone what I had on my laptop.
Right now, I’m still putting the final tweaks and edits on this baby (first draft came in at 380 pages but the final report will be slimed down to the best parts…talk about your mother of all brain dumps).
And the best part is, you’ll be the first to see it.
That’s correct–when I unleash this report on the world, everyone on my lists will be the first in line to get their hands on a copy.
I’ll send out an email with a link to the download page.
So if you’re NOT on one of my lists (and why aren’t you?) and you want to be among the first to see what all the fuss is about, then go here NOW and sign up immediately.
Because what’s inside my newest free offering is unlike anything you’ve seen before. And it very well could mean the difference between success and failure for your business.
Don’t mean to scare you, but it’s true. In fact, some of these discoveries scared ME. Because I was buying into this baloney just like everyone else.
But I immediately put some processes in place to eliminate what was holding me back from doubling or even tripling my bottom line. And I began to move forward on the cusp of the most exciting trends to hit our marketplace since the web was born.
And it’s already paying off in a BIG way (more on that later).
So stay tuned…because pretty soon, things are going to get REALLY interesting around here.
Consider yourself warned. 😉
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. As you’ll see in the video above, the report is only the tip of the iceberg…
In September, we’re going to change the way you do business online (and offline for that matter) with a system that’s going to blow everything else out of the water.
It’s true–everything you’ve learned so far, all the dusty old tactics and tired, beaten-to-death methods are history.
It’s a whole new world out there…one brimming with tremendous opportunity for unprecedented wealth, success, and freedom…and you’re going to be among the first to capitalize on it.
I can’t wait until you see what I’ve got for you. In the meantime, want to speculate?
Because you can in the comments below. Tell me what you think is inside this breakthrough new system, and I’ll give you the hot-warm-cold signs.
As I toil away on research into Part 2 of the Attention Age Doctrine, a creative idea came to mind.
How about having an “open thread” on my blog that invites comments from you – my readers – about what you’d like to see in Part 2.
What are some the concerns you have about focusing attention on your business?
What are some of the top challenges you face when dealing with interruptions to your work flow?
What challenges have you come up against in getting the attention of your market?
I’ve made a commitment to have fun this weekend as well, so that may have something to do with this request. But don’t let that discourage you. If you can find time in your fun activities to give this blog some attention, I’d greatly appreciate it – and so would your fellow readers.
So, consider this an open thread… What’s on your mind regarding attention?
What kind of solutions would you like to see included in Part 2 of The Attention Age Doctrine?
Last night I got lucky. No, it’s not what you think (remember I am happily married) – here’s what happened- I was in San Francisco yesterday preparing for my upcoming client seminar Feb 10+11.
Anyway, I took the red-eye flight from San Francisco to Atlanta cause I am speaking this weekend at Jim Edwards’ seminar here in Atlanta.
Well, I am not much for sleeping on planes – it’s actually one of the best places for me to get work done because I am strapped in and the only other alternative to sitting and working is going to the bathroom.
Back to how I got lucky.
The person sitting next to me was a successful entrepreneur whose name you’d recognize if you read even half the number of business books I do. So I introduced myself, and to my surprise he actually knew my name and had read the manifesto. (Apparently it’s been passed around in a lot of circles outside of internet marketing which is why we still have over 100 people a day opting in to get a copy!)
We passionately shared our insights about small business, big business and where an entrepreneur fits into the process. We agreed on many things – but there was one especially important point he told me about, that he’d figured out after his second success, which I didn’t realize it until my third success.
That’s what I want to share with you today.
He said he knew he was really an entrepreneur when he started his second business – when his aspirations were to one day be the Senior Vice President in charge of acquisitions. When I pressed him to clarify what he meant – he told me that all the excitement for him comes during the startup phase and that he hates having to create all the structures and processes needed to build and grow the business. So, by his second business he decided he wouldn’t do that all himself and instead he would get the business going and then bring in the right CEO, President, and people to work it — until the business grew so successful that he only served one small role in the company — the one that was once just an idea in his head to head up acquisitions.
I was struck by how similar our experiences were because I had a similar shift when I started Strategic Profits. I knew my current role, in the content creation side and coaching successful entrepreneurs, was what I wanted to do the most and that the day to day operations, marketing, etc., would be handled by my superstar team. And it’s happened…
If you are a real entrepreneur this should sound very appealing to you. You get to do more of what you want as you build and grow. Plus, as my company continues to grow and I see our profits climbing, I also notice that my calendar is getting lighter and lighter. The company that my ideas gave birth to is now grown up enough to take care of itself without me shouldering the bulk of the day to day load – actually it has already started to take care of me.
And this gives me tremendous freedom. Which is the whole reason I am entrepreneur in the first place – to create and be free.
Two weeks ago I was reminded of how important freedom and fun are to me. Yanik Silver, Mike Filsaime, and yours truly went on a special flight called a Zero-G flight. It’s an incredible experience where you get to feel true weightlessness.
After the experience, Mike Filsaime and I were talking about how much fun we had and how important it is to make time for fun. We also promised each other we would make sure to plan a few extra fun experiences for 2007.
Think for a second. When was the last time you really had fun? Not just a giggle, but when you had a big stupid smile stretched across your face and you were laughing and feeling like you did when you were just a kid playing?
If it’s been over a month – then you’ve got to ask yourself: Why am I working so hard? What position do I aspire to have in my company? And what could I put on my ‘to do’ list that would be incredibly fun?
I’ve got more to share with you about what I was doing in San Francisco and the plane ride but I’ve got to run right now. Check back on Monday.
I intended to write this blog post about a week ago.
The reason I am writing this post now is that so many things have been happening and, changing for the better. I kept getting more and more info I wanted to share with you. But, I can’t wait any longer. Sometimes, you can have too many good developments in your life and business that, even one more piece of good news is not welcome because you simply have too much on your plate already.
Bottom line – too much is simply too much no matter what. Often, having too many great options leaves you frozen instead of giving you momentum, because just when you start thinking the option you’ve chosen is really the best choice, the other killer idea on that yellow pad laying on your desk may be even better, so you reevaluate, and reevaluate and you end up making absolutely the worst decision of them all… NO DECISION!
It’s a scary thought isn’t it? It absolutely sucks, so I’m just going to start writing.
First, I’ve noticed most struggling internet marketers are nothing more than hardcore information junkies. They just want to learn, absorb… absorb… absorb and they simply don’t have the power to turn off this constant craving for more.
But you have to be able to turn it off. Because it’s one of the single biggest obstacles to achieving lasting success online or offline.
Stated more simply- as long as you’re inputting, you’re not outputting.
Yet, getting everything you want out of your life hinges on your output.
So if you’re an info junkie, you must go on an information diet. Now I don’t know about you, but I know that when the double stuff Oreos are sitting on the top shelf in the kitchen it’s a whole lot harder resisting the temptation. What I mean is this: you’ve got to get all that extra info out of sight so you don’t even feel the temptation.
Make your office a rehab, no information is allowed to come in whatsoever for the next week. The only information you can have is the information you create. Stop studying, stop analyzing and start creating. Develop urgency in everything you do for the next week and you’ll be blown away at your level of output.
Sadly though it’s not enough.
Because if you really want to grow your business you are going to have to answer a single question that almost no struggling entrepreneur ever asks themselves. You want to know what it is? Of course you do, so let’s press on…
Now listen, don’t let the simplicity of the question fool you because it’ll be easy to dismiss it, but I promise you that if you do, you’ll never even achieve a fraction of what you are capable of. Ok, so here it is:
What Work Are You Willing To Leave Undone?
The sooner you realize that you can’t read everything, nor can you cross off every item on your to do list the better. Because at that very moment you are forced to realize that you absolutely must prioritize no matter what.
You see, realizing you can’t do everything helps you determine what you really must be doing, and realizing you can’t read everything forces you to decide which information you must read.
Now if you are wondering how you make these difficult decisions, have no fear because I have your answer. And it’s simple… You have to know what you want and what you must do to get it. Once you know then you can make effective decisions about what you should be doing, who you should be talking to, and what you should be studying.
So quickly, do you know what your top three objectives are right now in your business? Are they quantifiable, concisely stated, at your fingertips, so you always know precisely what you should be working on?
If your answer is yes – congratulations you are on your way towards business success. But, if you can’t rattle them off in rapid fire then it’s time to get serious and figure out what you really want, what you are willing to do to get it, and what steps you must take to achieve it.
Like I said in the beginning of this post, I’ve got a lot more to tell you – but it will have to wait until tomorrow — because I need to get some sleep. But before you run off, tell me what you think by posting your comments.
“The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.” – Bruce Lee
The past week was fantastic. In my elite coaching program I introduced my clients to their strengths using a test also used by Fortune 500 companies like Motorola, Microsoft, Intel, American Express, etc… I actually can’t wait until September when I can introduce my Business Growth System Members this amazing test and the powerful process they will go through.
What’s really interesting is for a few of my elite clients their test scores came back with the label “In Transition”. You see, many of these clients had been working incredibly hard with minimal results. And the test pointed out to them that they needed to stop what they were currently doing and regroup and then choose an alternative route.
The common theme for my “In Transition” clients was attempting to do many of the popular Internet money making strategies with no consideration of what they were good at, or what they enjoyed doing. As if their bank account wasn’t enough of a clue, now they were getting psychological proof that the methods they were trying were not going to lead to entrepreneurial success.
So what about you?
Is it getting easier or more difficult to increase your profits?
Are you working longer hours or less hours?
Remember, in business you don’t get an A for effort – it’s all about the results you are creating. And the easiest place to achieve spectacular results is where your strengths allow you to easily get them. And that’s why it is so very important to play to your strengths.
If you’ve been struggling in your business and it’s not getting any easier to produce the desired results that you want, it’s time to get real. That means take a good look at yourself and really considering whether or not you are following the right path for yourself.
If you are not on the right path – it’s time to stop what you are currently doing and begin your quest to find a business that plays to your strengths.
On a different note…
I have some very big announcements this week regarding bonuses for all of my clients. I wish I could tell you all now, but it’s only a few days away so mums the word for now.
Is business success just common sense? A lot of people think so. They think if you’re smart and you work hard, you will be successful. But you know what? Most people are wrong because it’s not common sense to success in business.
How do I know?
First of all, most businesses fail, so it takes uncommon sense to win. The biggest contributor to the high business failure rates is that most people were never trained on how to really make a business run and grow. Most people were never taught what an entrepreneur really is. and who you have to be in your business. Because of that, there’s a major price that’s being paid.
The price is the overwhelming majority of businesses fail, and even those that very few that last and still survive most of them are just glorified jobs, with the owner working his / her butt off to make a salary. They’ve got no freedom. They’re probably working harder than they would ever work for somebody else., and have little to show for it.
It’s a fair statement to say that most small businesses, almost all small businesses, do not reach their potential. The big question is why? Why don’t most small businesses reach their potential?
And while the truth stings… the research backs it up, the main reason for the sad state of affairs for small business online and offline is the entrepreneur’s lack of skills and knowledge (Dunn and Bradstreet).
So what are you doing (besides reading this) to improve your entrepreneurial skills?
In my coaching programs Module #1 is completely focused on becoming a better entrepreneur, and many of my most successful clients have told me that right after that first session they already started thinking differently.
Here’s a few of the most recent comments about the first module from current clients:
—Tons of info. Very fast paced, with no fluff or filler. Very refreshing. My mind was totally engaged for the entire 2 hours.
—First time I’ve ever heard someone make sense of the skills and the process of growing a business, in two hours, where I felt like I really learned something cohesive.
—Excellent. Exciting. Informative…Rich seems to have the timing of the material very well orchestrated.
—I am impressed so far by the depth of the information given by Rich. For the first time ever – and I have been searching for that information a long time – am I finally learning what having and building “a business” really is about.
—An excellent overview on entepreneurship, business ownership, the various roles I need to play as my business grows. Instead of diving right into tactics, you start with the basics that MUST be understood before moving forward. Answering the WHY of what I’m doing must direct the HOW’s. But without being told that, it could easily be missed and I could be lead down a path of building a business that becomes something I didn’t want in the first place. Solid information for our first real call. Has me thinking a lot deeper about my business already.
—I feel like a just drank from a fire highdrant, it was a mindblowing amount of information. That being said, the information is absolutely life changing. I had these questions for years, and I had not found real answers until now.
—It was great and it was overwhelming and a little intimidating. Good – what an amount of information to learn, how many changes to make… Guess the best way is to follow your steps and do whatever you figured out to do first and then worry about the rest.
—In my opinion, very valuable information, and lot’s of it. The call was a great overview, and I plan on spending time going through the material, taking notes and answering the questions to have it really sink in before the next call. I could see my perspective changing even as the call was proceeding.
—We’ve worked hard at building our business and have some success, but we knew we needed a shift to get to the next level. Today I had the what, how and why laid out in front of me with the challenge to take responsibility and make it happen! What a great start!
—This call was great, TRULY FABULOUS, but I hope every call is not exactly like this. My head hurts.
—Thanks for sharpening the cutting edge of designing and building a highly profitable business!
—This call absolutely blew me away. The quality of the material was 1st class and the amount was nothing short of mind boggling. It was difficult to keep up at times and that, I believe, was the most powerful aspect of Rich’s unique and cutting edge style. I will be going over this stuff in my head 24 hours a day even if I’m not aware of it. This material is truly inspiring.
Keep your eyes out, I got some big announcements to make.
