Let’s think about super high performers and what you can learn to become one yourself and expose many of the myths you may have about them.

John F. Kennedy said of P.T. 109: “ I had to be a hero. My boat sank.”

Very, very, very few un-squeaky wheels ever get oiled. Very, very, very few non-deadlines are ever met. The dirty little secret of high performers’ high performance is not the glamorous, laudatory or self-effacing virtues of exceptional initiative or self-discipline.

It is a mistake of self-sabotage to believe that others who seem to be performing at a much higher level than you are, or who are accomplishing more than you are, faster than you are, are somehow superior to you in discipline or initiative or capability or genetics, that they possess some sort of internal advantage, some sort of hard-wired power you lack.

This is only rarely the case. For the most part, the super performers, the super successful, the super rich are every bit as weak of character as everybody else. Oh, Nap Hill was right when he listed qualities like initiative, discipline, persistence among his 17. He just failed to emphasize what caused the high achievers he studied to exhibit these qualities: deadlines, commitments, enormous risks and investments that required those qualities.

Consider the highly paid, experienced professional football player. Why is he required to come and be kept under lock and key in a pre-season training camp. He surely knows how to get himself physically and mentally prepared to perform in games. But if left to his own devices, he won’t. So he has to be placed into a certain environment, with requirements and benchmarks and measurements and accountability.

If you want to accomplish more, you need to put yourself into a set of circumstances, conditions and commitments that require you to accomplish more…that require you to develop and exhibit the qualities of people who accomplish more.

Left to my own devices, I might have slept in. Or taken the whole day off to go shopping. Or gone to the track all morning. Or fumbled away the day, on trivial pursuits. And you wouldn’t be reading this e-mail.

Some people think I’m some paragon of discipline. I wish. Actually, I just have a lot of people squeaking.

As secrets go, it’s kind of disappointing, isn’t it? Most secrets are.

Let’s talk about an important question you need to be asking yourself. “Why The Hell Not ?”

If you don’t know who Kinky Friedman is, or that he ran for Governor of Texas, y’all need to get out more. But in case you’re oblivious, Kinky Friedman, as his name suggests, is a barrel of laughs. He’s the former lead singer of the dangerously named band ‘Texas Jewboys’, satirical songwriter, accomplished musician, author of a series of mystery novels starring himself (one featuring Willie Nelson) — funny novels so beloved to President Clinton he invited Kinky to the White House.

It may have started as a gag, but voters took it seriously, and the media’s not sure – but the media covered him. In fact, he got national media coverage, including CBS’ Sunday Morning program and CNN. Because he is irreverent, routinely offensive, extremely politically incorrect, and says what he thinks without editing, one might predict a short political career.

On the other hand, his little band of operatives includes a couple from Jesse Ventura’s successful campaign. Molly Ivins, newspaper columnist, long-time Bushbasher, humorist and Texas politics chronicler was asked about Kinky’s campaign. Her answer was: “Governor Kinky Friedman? Why the hell not?”

And that is a fine question for you, as you contemplate whatever you’d like to change or do differently or quit or take up or do or be – why the hell not?
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Now let’s talk about guarantees and how important they are to your business.

My position on guarantees is as follows:

1. if you cannot unconditionally guarantee what you sell, you ought to look for something better to sell.
2. If the people you sell to are too abusive and unethical to offer guarantees to, you ought to find others to sell to.
3. As long as you are going to offer guarantees, you ought to offer big, bold, exciting, dramatic ones. Oh, and strategy: multiple guarantees usually out-perform single guarantees.

Gold/VIP Member Ron Caruthers sent me this news: even comedian Pauly Shore has offered a guarantee for his quasi-reality show ‘Minding The Store’ on TBS-cable. If you watched the premiere and didn’t find it funny, you could send a letter explaining why and get $1.00. The offer had a specific end date or when they hit 250,000 requests whichever came first. I saw the show, and I’d bet on the 250,000. Still, this was a very clever idea but then poorly promoted.

Which is the next point: if you are going to offer really different, dramatic guarantees, try not to keep it a secret. I see an awful lot of ads, sales letters, etc. where the guarantee is buried.

Still, the best USP ever is “fresh, hot pizza in 30 minutes or less – guaranteed”. If you’re struggling with the USP question, guarantees might be the answer.

There are, occasionally, situations where you may opt not to offer any guarantees, and then to use that position to sell aggressively with, but these are rare, and require rare courage.

There are a few successful marketers who disagree with me about this entirely, never offer guarantees, even stubbornly refuse refunds to unhappy customers. While I have a philosophical and emotional appreciation for their independence, I still think it’s bad business.

Of the seven I can name, five have gone to jail or been bankrupted and destroyed by regulatory attack, two have prospered without adversity. But I’d still refer both of them to items (a) and (b) above.

WARNING:  If you are easily offended skip this post.

More than half — 56% to be precise — of women feel that their household pets are more affectionate than their human partners, and 45% find the pets more physically attractive.*

I believe I am ahead of Oprah, Phil and The View on this one. Apparently, the term ‘desperate housewives’ has deeper meaning, far beyond the frothy TV show.

Humor or, depending on your perspective, fear aside, I link this to the subject of the two prior posts, as the end to my little presentation on ‘selling by psyche.’

You see, the bottom line of the human experience and the human psyche is restless dissatisfaction, the vague, always there feeling that there must be something better just down the road, over the next hill, in the home diagonally across the street, in someone else’s marriage, bedroom, corporate boardroom.

Presumably this is genetic, hard-wired, from the beginning. All progress has come from such dissatisfaction. Without it, caves and candles and everybody thinking, “what’s wrong with this?”.

The only reason there’s a stapler on your desk is somebody got fed up with folding corners together. But the price of all human progress is, apparently, unrelenting human dissatisfaction. Anybody who says God lacks a sense of humor just isn’t paying attention.

What motivates all action, all buying action, is, at foundation, such dissatisfaction.

From an advertising, marketing and selling standpoint, I am about to risk a very vivid but very ‘adult language’ analogy . If you are easily offended, you might stop reading now. However, the analogy seems especially appropriate given this post’s title.

As analogy, the G-Spot. There is that spot, if stimulated, that produces very predictable response. If really stimulated, it suspends all thought, common sense, reason, and unleashes a totally visceral, physical, emotional response. (My private phone number is…)

Well, think of the D-Spot located elsewhere, in the brain. D for Dissatisfaction. In advertising, marketing and selling, you want to locate that D-Spot in the prospect’s brain (which may very well be a simpler task than locating that other spot) and stimulate it until the prospect is in seizure, back arched, every muscle taut, eyes rolled back, breathing in gasps, drenched in sweat, desperate for release. Then present your, uh, solution.

* from BizRate Research, ‘Pets & Women.’

I want to share a discovery I just made from well over a century ago and how the simple rules still apply today.

I recently got some reprints of a newspaper from the Civil War era. In its advertising section, I found an ad selling a book on how to meet and marry your ideal mate, a home study course to learn to play the piano at home, an ad for goop to grow hair, an ad for breast enlargement padded bras and corsets, an ad for a tonic that gives you energy, and an ad recruiting sales agents for a line of Union pins – “everyone will want one.” The best ad offered its booklet “free, for $2.00.”

I repeat: during the Civil War.

Who was it? – Coolidge? – who said “The business of America is business.” The one certain thing is commerce never stops, so advertising, marketing and sales never stop. Other kinds of jobs, careers and business skills may come, go, die; there are few buggy whip manufacturers left, few typesetting businesses. But there will also be salespeople, always be direct marketers and direct marketing. Different media perhaps. Same game. THE evergreen, ever-valuable skill is to put words together in a way that motivates people to buy things.

And peoples’ fundamental motivations for buying things fortunately do not change either.

People want to know how to do things, mostly to improve their lives, entertain themselves, impress others, save money or make money. People want to be attractive to others, to influence others, to impress others; to be the life of the party, the envy of the neighborhood, the leader of the pack. They want to feel good (better), emotionally and physically.

They want to know what others know that they don’t even if they are using little of what they already know. They want to get what they don’t have, get whatever’s new, even if what is old, that they already own, that fulfills the same purpose perfectly sits unused in cupboard, closet or garage.

They want to go where they aren’t, even if where they are is just fine, and they haven’t yet explored or taken advantage of the things in their own neighborhood. They want a magic potion or pill, a way to make money without work, a simple solution to a complex problem. We aren’t, after all, all that complicated.

We like to think we have evolved from primitive caveman to sophisticated, complicated creatures*.

But we remain easily mesmerized by bright shiny objects. And Robert Collier’s sales copy works just fine today.

*Dr. Laura has now famously advised women: “Offer him sex. If he’s not interested, make him a sandwich. He’ll be happy.”

Let’s continue our discussion on fame and fortune and the easiest ways for you to have both.

I find it kind of funny when people see, but don’t model; when they say they want my kind of success and wealth and autonomy, but then don’t emulate the visible strategies that made and make it possible or aren’t willing to do the work.

Happens all the time, though. Envy is pointless. Modeling is extremely useful.

Almost everything I’ve done, I’ve done because I’ve observed others who had some piece of success I wanted doing it.

At the time I first encountered Jerry Buchanan, he had some things I envied and wanted: a following, making a good living as a writer, people seeking him out and paying him for advice. So I paid attention to what he was doing

One of those things was a newsletter. Around the same time, I took note of Gary Halbert’s success and the fact that he wrote and published his own newsletter. So I started my own newsletter.

I can assure you, the most certain path for an “ordinary Joe” to become both a sought after expert and a celebrity to a target group is by writing and publishing….newsletter, books, in some cases “white papers” or reports.

If you were going to model me, you would observe a number of things about my writing and publishing. For example, I frequently contribute a chapter to others’ anthology books. I did it in 1978, in Dottie Walters’ anthologies, and, by the way, got one of my first fee-paid speaking gigs as a result.

I’ve got a chapter in Linda Forsythe’s ‘Walking With The Wise Real Estate Investor’ (along with Ron LeGrand, Jeff Kaller and Donald Trump.) I made it possible for a lot of my clients, Platinum Members, etc. to participate in books with me. Some did, some who should didn’t. They don’t get it. They see what I do, but don’t see the lesson.

Another example, you would see I get myself mentioned in a lot of peoples’ books. I provide a lot of free articles for others’ newsletters and web sites.

I pay a publicity guy to get chapters of my books printed as articles in magazines. I write and get published “real” books; I self-publish other books; I self-publish ‘viral’ books for others to buy in bulk and give away, like ‘Farting Cat.’ And, of course, I write newsletters.

You ought not make any assumptions that I am on an ego trip, insane or stupid. I’m smart, sane, and care very little about ego stroking.

So you should ponder why I do these things now, still, and have done them for nearly 30 years. And you should emulate me, on either a global, national, niche or local scale as your circumstances and aspirations warrant.

Do you recall watching the coverage of the Pope’s death and funeral on TV?

The founder of the Nat’l Speakers Association, Cavett Robert used to say that the size of your funeral will be determined by the weather. Maybe with that in mind, the Vatican moved the Pope’s funeral from afternoon to morning, to avoid predicted late day inclement weather.

As you know, millions came to Rome to pay respects. Some number of less than sincere world leaders and politicians more to be seen paying respects. But most, sincere. And without commenting on religion in any way, you have to stop and give some thought to any man who can draw that kind of a crowd, especially post-humously. And maybe wonder if the size of your funeral will be determined by rain.

At an Eagles Club meeting in Chicago, I was asked why I write books. I explained the business reasons. I did not specifically enunciate the more global answer; that it is a way to reach and constructively influence people I might never reach otherwise. It has been an underlying life mission to sort of get the word out. The message about opportunity and responsibility.

But you don’t need to be a speaker or author or be in the information business to do that. Little eye-droppers of water at ocean’s edge cause big ripples. The kid you pay to write book reports on books like Think And Grow Rich and Compassionate Capitalism and – hey! – my books, may start a business that creates 10,000 jobs or revolutionizes an industry or he may grow up to be the U.S. Senator who stands firm against some idiotic, socialist legislation.
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On Friday,  I discussed the courage needed to do business on your own terms. Now I would like to show you how you can Sooner Or Later, Sleep In Your Own Bed by sharing with you a little bit about my business and how it has evolved.

I flew home to Cleveland from Chicago on a Saturday, leaving O’Hare on time, 2:40 PM, sunny day, scheduled to land 5:15 PM, at the track before first race post time. Unfortunately, the flight required 7 hours and visiting two airports before finally braving the barely plowed runway, blizzard and 35 mile an hour winds to skid to a stop at the furthest gate from the terminal at 9:20. Half hour to parking shuttle, to snow buried car, to 10 MPH drive on one lane all the way to Northfield. On the puddle jump plane, 11 children, 4 throwing up. For last hour or so, no cups, no coffee, no water.

In 1996, I made a tick over a million dollars from speaking, and it was a hefty chunk of my total income. That required about 60 days of manual labor on the platform, plus another 120 traveling, 180 total. Nearly half the year in airports and hotels. This was fortunately prior to the monstrous cellphone noise pollution, but still.

In 2004, I made a tick under a million dollars solely from my coaching groups, and it was about 1/3rd my total income. It required (only) 42 days, all in my home cities, everybody coming to me, or phone days, me taking calls while sitting on my backyard deck or in my comfortable recliner. I’m not pointlessly bragging.
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In my last post, I discussed knowing what your customer is worth and knowing who to get rid of. Let me now ask you these questions.

What is YOUR TIME worth? What is YOUR EXPERTISE worth? Here is an even better question. What are YOU worth?

You must NEVER permit competitors, industry norms, community norms to set YOUR prices.

Let me use my friend Pete Lillo, in his business as Pete-The-Printer (Pete-The-Printer.com) as simple example. Sometimes you save a lot of money by working with Pete. But sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you could get the exact same printing job for 5% less, 10%, even 15% less. But none of that matters to Pete. He knows what the added value of his reliable service, his understanding of our kind of marketing, his project management is worth to certain clients, and what his time must be worth to satisfy his own financial objectives.

For some buyers, lowest possible price will be the determining factor, and a printing buyer may scour the nation, pit vendors against each other, get bids, and fight to shave each price even by pennies, and I am not suggesting such a buyer is wrong – presumably he knows his business’ economics, the value of his time and his staff’s time, and is making the right decision for his circumstances.

But for other clients price is only one of many factors, and being able to have a truly watchful eye, getting wise counsel, having a complex project done right and done on time, that matters more. If you are Pete, you are worth more to the latter client than to the former.

In my business, I can find you lots of copywriters who will write an eight page sales letter, brochure and order form for as little as $1,500.00. I will charge at least $15,000.00 plus a royalty. And I would rarely take that assignment as is, instead getting involved in strategy, developing a multi-step, multi-media campaign. And my fee might rise to $35,000.00, $50,000.00, $75,000.00. For any number of clients, I am the wrong choice. For someone dealing in ‘small potatoes’, for example, I can’t be the choice.

But for the client attempting to launch a business with multi-million dollar potential or to fill a boot camp from which a million dollars will be earned, I may be the bargain of the century. It does not matter one whit to me what any other copywriter is charging – other than taking pleasure in being the guy charging the most.

Think of it this way: YOU decide what you are worth. Then find the kind of client or customer who has reason to accept your evaluation of that worth.

When I first began speaking at Boot Camps, conferences, and seminars, I was always flattered by how many people would come up to me after my presentation and tell me that they would like to go into business with me.

Of course, I seldom ever took them up on the offer even if I thought they actually had a good idea.

Why?

Because each activity you undertake eliminates the opportunity to pursue alternate (and more profitable) activities.

This is a very BIG problem that I often see with clients. They are so busy chasing the next thing that they never perfect the current thing. This then inevitably creates a whole new problem for them. Because they ignore the current thing, it leads to problems that require attention and fixing. Another waste of time!! (Or as Dan would call…Time Vampires.)

Instead, you should always ask yourself this question: “Is what I am doing bringing me closer to my objective than an alternative activity that I could be doing?”

Only concentrating on ‘winners’ will help maximize your profits and make your life a whole lot more fun.

Now, let me take this a step further for all of you out there that have employees. Not only do you want to make sure that YOU focus on those activities that will bring you the highest level of success, but you also have to make sure your team is doing the right things. This is clearly a leadership component that is up to you.

Anything that decreases focus on these right things inhibits progress. Along with this thinking, investing unlimited effort in failing projects also does not create success.

So, here are some other smart questions to ask yourself:

1. Are you focusing on doing the things that you do best?
2. Are you eliminating activities that decrease focus?
3. Are you focusing on the fewest, but most important activities?
4. If ‘Less is More’ are you committed to the right “less?”

In your next post, Dan will be back and will be discussing the idea of knowing exactly what a customer is worth to you and why that one question is so critical to your bottom line.