Posts Tagged ‘Information Marketing’

Six Tips For Using This Shortcut To Success Tool

By: Darcy Juarez on: March 14th, 2013 3 Comments

Last week at the Fast Implementation Boot Camp, I witnessed the magic of networking.

Connections were made, budding friendships and accountability partners started, alliances were formed, and even some possible joint-ventures emerged… all through networking.

Networking is one of the best ways to make powerful connections that can propel your business forward and shortcut your path to success.

Of course, there are tons of opportunities for networking, (too many, actually) some better than others.

But here’s the thing…

You don’t want to end up with a stack of business cards you’ll never look at again or spend time in a room with non-decision makers who are schmoozing you.

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your networking encounters:

Find learning environments. Business card exchanges and other networking focused events are high pressure. People are there to meet others for the purpose of doing business, which means their defenses are up. Educational events, such as seminars, conferences and bootcamps are more relaxed, therefore defenses are lower. People are more at ease.  Plus, because the most successful people are continually learning, you are more likely to meet high quality like-minded contacts..

Start conversations. Don’t wait for someone to come to you. Sit next to someone you don’t know or cross the room to talk to someone. Strike up a conversation with the person standing in line next to you. Find out what they are working on or trying to accomplish. A simple conversation can turn into ideas, alliances, new business, referrals, joint-ventures, and a host of other opportunities.

Focus on making quality contacts, not quantity. The goal should not be to meet as many people as possible, it should be to build quality relationships. If you are in a conversation that is going well, stick with it rather than trying to move on to meet more people. That said, don’t hang with one person the entire time.

Do more listening than talking. Ask a lot of questions, then listen and respond to what you hear. By listening you may find you can provide a solution they are looking for.

Do your research. Find out about the speakers and what their specialties are before you attend an event. Pick a couple that you want to meet who work in something related to your field, have a similar business set-up or might be able to answer a question or help you with what you are working on. Then seek these people out. To prepare write down three intelligent questions about your most pressing matters. For example, if you are attending SuperConference and have a brick and mortar business you might want to seek out extraordinary entrepreneurDonna Krech with 25 years’ experience, a thriving local brick and mortar business, a national coaching and franchise business, and a direct-to-consumer products business. She is sure to have plenty of answers about what it takes to make your business ultra-successful.

Write down what you are looking for before you go. Are you looking for someone to give you feedback on an idea you have? Similar businesses to compare promotions? A good “power partner” for referrals? An affiliate or joint-venture partner? Advice about a particular business problem? When you take the time to define what you are looking for from networking, you’ll ask better questions and get much better results.

Armed with these ideas, you’ll be able to brilliantly network and use these opportunities to blast your business forward.

NOTE:  SuperConference Countdown has begun. You’ve got less than two months to prepare for this life-changing event. I recommend you get ready by clearing as much off your plate as possible before you go.

That’s because once you get there, you’re likely to be flooded by the opportunities and new promotion strategies that come out of the event.

And that’s just the beginning. Come prepared to network with some of the most successful GKIC members. You’ll get a ton of value out of the event, no question. In fact, here is a quick list of six of the best things you’ll receive from SuperConference:

1)     Kindred spirits. You’ll meet entrepreneurs from all over the world, of all ages, and varied backgrounds. Yet you’ll share a burning desire to be top dog in your industry, niche or marketplace, bust through barriers and recognize GKIC as the vehicle that can get you there. Since most of the people “back home” can’t relate to what it is you’re trying to do with this “direct-response stuff” and “deliberately positioning yourself against trends,” it’s an awesome feeling to finally connect with people who share your passion for independence.

2)     Meet GKIC Experts Face-to-Face. Sure you’ve “met” Dan Kennedy, our expert panel and GKIC crew members through emails, teleseminars and Google Hangouts. But it’s even better to meet people face-to-face.  You’ll meet the entire GKIC crew, some living legends including Dan Kennedy himself and Brian Tracy, and members of our GKIC Expert Advisory Panel. They are living proof that GKIC strategies work. Meeting them in the flesh will highlight the advantages of this lifestyle, not to mention ramp up your enthusiasm. (If you’re new to GKIC and our successful direct-marketing strategies, check out our flagship product Magnetic Marketing)

3)     Supercharge your professional network. Events in general tend to host the most ambitious, most successful entrepreneurs, sales persons and business owners. SuperConference is no different. These are the go-getters who make things happen. This is a great shortcut for making a list of go-to professionals, joint venture partners, and peers willing to swap promotion ideas.

4)     A reality check. It’s easy to doubt whether the freedom and independent lifestyle really exists…until you meet people actually living it. This is the perfect place to meet people living their dream lifestyle… and find out their best tips for getting there yourself.

5)     Cash, Investment, “Brain Capital” and a Free Vacation. If you participate in GKIC’s Marketer of the Year or in GKIC’s Shark Tank, you could walk away with a winner’s weekend win Dan and an all-expense paid trip to sunny Florida or up to $50,000 in cash, investment opportunity or “brain capital” for your business.

6)     An adrenaline shot. You’ll hear stories that will remind you it’s possible to have complete control over your life, the best and most current information of what’s working now, and loads of tools and strategies to propel your business forward. Not to mention how fired up you’ll be when you leave. You’ll be ready to take on…and conquer your biggest goals.

And if you haven’t registered yet – don’t delay!

Take advantage of the special early-bird discount until March 21, 2013 at midnight!

Register Now by clicking here…

ALSO!!! On Monday, March 18, 2013 at 8:00PM EST Dave Dee will be doing a FREE TRAINING Tele-seminar with Brian Tracy and Barbara Corcoran where he Guarantees: “This FREE 60 Minutes Call With These TITANS of Marketing Will Reveal At Least 7 GIANT Secrets You Never Imagined Existed That Could Easily Double, Even Triple Your Business’s Revenue”

During the call they’ll reveal:

  • Core secrets to programming your subconscious mind for superstar sales results — and they only take moments!
  • Barbara’s contrarian secret to success and how not knowing and implementing this secret is hold you back. (This will surprise you!)
  • The single biggest mistake entrepreneurs make and how to overcome it to get from where you are to where you want to go- this is NOT what you think.
  • The powerful lesson from Barbara’s journey to the star of ABC’s hit show, Shark Tank — this might be exactly what you need to hear now.
  • How to accomplish more in a mere 90 days than you ever imagined possible… you’ll discover how to apply MASSIVE ACTION on a number of fronts to ramp up your business exponentially!
  • And lots more!

Just Click Here Now…to reserve your spot and then mark your calendar, your phone and tie a piece of string around your finger…because this is 60 minutes you won’t want to miss if you want to grow your business.

Are You Hunting In The Wrong Place?

By: Dan Kennedy on: March 12th, 2013 9 Comments

I’ve been in the advice dispensing business for 40 years.

Throughout my career I’ve been paid millions and millions of dollars by CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, small business owners, even my peers, professional speakers, authors and consultants.

Whether the economy is good or bad, I remain fully booked and in demand.

On occasion I have run up against ‘professional norms and guidelines’ dictated by some association or certifying organization, and had my fees and the fees I recommend others charge criticized. Some say they are unethical, some say they are impossible to receive.

Nevertheless, I’m fully booked with demand left over.

And people I’ve guided routinely command premium prices in return for their products and services.

I’m not telling you this to brag.  My ego doesn’t need the boost.

I’m telling you this to let you know that these sort of opportunities exist and are there for the taking by people who may have never dreamed they could command such, “aggressive compensation.”

(I reveal how I’ve done this in detail in my course Super Powers of Price Elasticity which right now you can try for just a single dollar by clicking here!)

And at no time is it more critical than right now thanks to the rising costs of marketing and customer acquisition and the overabundance of marketing streams fighting for people’s attention.

Right now you may be asking yourself, “Given the habits of consumers seemingly flocking to pay the lowest price is it still possible to find consumers willing to pay top rates?”

It is, I assure you. In fact, I guarantee that hugely valuable customers exist for every business. It may just be you’re looking in the wrong place.

The truth is if you lack the kind of customers, clients or patients I’m talking about, you are most likely lacking specific customer focus and using ineffective approaches that are dangerous to your business’ long-term survival.

Amir Karkouti, owner of a successful group of restaurants in San Diego and an author, speaker and mentor to other restaurant owners wrote this letter…

“It wasn’t that long ago that my restaurants were going to fail and I was losing hope. I spent the last money I had to go to the SuperConference, and I went home determined to utilize everything I learned from you and all the other marketers.

I went straight to work. I got lists, created letters, improved my copywriting.

I realized that my business wasn’t failing—I was failing at marketing it. “

Amir says since that time his restaurants are booming. He’s been written up in publications, began speaking to and coaching other restaurant owners, and written a book on how restaurant owners can market their business to explode their profits. He developed a Marketing System that includes a turn-key, automated email marketing program, the “4X2 SECRET”- which brings customers back 4 times within 2 weeks and The Restaurant Sales Letter Template.

Amir used specific-customer focus—targeting the right customers—and combined that with effective marketing strategies to get him out of peril and onto a prosperous path.

Any business owner can attract higher value customers and clientele. Ask yourself, if you could double your net profit, without getting any more customers, wouldn’t you want to do it?

NOTE: Is your business positioned properly? At this year’s SuperConference during one of my two entirely new presentations, I’ll show you how to rate and judge your positioning strengths and weaknesses and help you determine whether consumers see you as a one-of-a-kind business that people can’t ignore or one that is swimming to keep up with the competition..

Find out how to correct your course and locate, target and attract those consumers which will be highly valuable to your business. Plus the five X-Factors found in exceptionally successful businesses that “own” much higher value customers or clientele than 90% of their competitors or peers.

You’ll also have a chance to win free advice from me and an all-expenses paid vacation in sunny Florida in our Marketer of the Year competition.

And if you have a great business or product idea that could use a surge of cash or “brain capital” to get it off the ground or take it to the next level, enter “THE TANK.” I along with Barbara Corcoran and the other GKIC Sharks are giving you a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to pitch us on giving you cash, investing in you, or providing “brain capital” for your business.

Don’t miss these opportunities and your last chance to save over $1000 on registration.

Nine Questions You Must Ask Before Creating An Information Product

By: Darcy Juarez on: February 12th, 2013

People.

You, me everyone…

We have a voracious appetite for information.

We want information on how to do things better, faster and easier.

We want information on how to be more successful, how to be healthier, how to play guitar, how to be thinner, how to create wealth…the list goes on.

Over half of this country’s economy is on expenditures on information and information products according to an article I read recently.

However, with a demand for so much information, how do you know which niche will be successful for you when considering what information products you should sell?

I once read that 90% of success in relationships is in selecting the right partner. The same holds true for picking an information product to sell.

Here are nine questions to ask yourself when picking the topic for your next information product. Your answers will greatly increase your chances of success:

Do you really enjoy it?  Not everyone loves and has a passion for what they do even if they know it inside and out.  So although you might have expertise in a specific area, if you don’t really love and look forward to working within it, you might want to consider going with something you are really passionate about instead.

Think about what you continually gravitate towards. What do enjoy reading about and researching? Is it something you like to learn about without the promise of making money from it? Chances are if you pick a topic that you find interesting, you’ll not only enjoy creating information on the subject but it’ll also be easier for you.

Does it appeal to buyers? The key to developing an information product that people buy is picking a subject that attracts readers, gets them to drop everything and then holds their interest over the long haul.

Look for a strong  emotional connection to your product that will attract new buyers. Emotions can be good or bad.  For example, there might be a common distrust of big government or a common good of wanting to cure cancer. When you find a strong emotional connection, you are on the right track.

Is it long-lasting? It’s true you don’t know the future and what will or won’t be popular, however, you also want to make sure your topic isn’t a fad. Fads come and go which means your so will your income. In the health arena, fad diets such as the “grapefruit diet” and the “cabbage soup” diet. Hobbies are another common place you’ll find fads, such as latch hook rugs  or friendship bracelets. Sure, you could sell a book on “How To Lose Weight By Adding This Miracle Fruit To Your Diet ” and make a quick buck if your timing is right, but in the long run, fads fade and so does your money-making opportunity.

Is it usable? In order to get repeat customers, you’ll want to make sure your idea is usable. You want to make sure your information fills a need for people. For example, a newsletter about when and where restaurants are having specials (saves them money) and reviews restaurant menus is a very usable product.

Is your topic narrow enough that you can you dominate your niche? Often topics are too broad to dominate. Picking a topic like gardening or health will give you a lot of competition and make it difficult for you to dominate. However, if you narrow to say, organic vegetable gardens, you’ll have a much easier time becoming the leader in your field.

What makes you better or different than your competitors? Take the time to make a list of your competitors. What makes you better or different than them? Why would someone choose you over your competition?

Can you think of “endless” ideas you could develop for this niche? You’ll want to be able to write about multiple ideas within your niche and even have ideas for different products you could develop in order to dominate your niche.

Is it timely? Information needs to be relevant and timely to succeed. If you are too far ahead or too far behind a product’s time, it won’t do well in the long run. A publication that discusses social media for musicians, you might not want to focus on MySpace, but you would want to include YouTube and Music Clout.

Will people buy it? You can have the most relevant, timely, usable, interesting idea in the world, but if you can’t sell it, you’re wasting your time. Define who your target market is and determine how you will market and sell your product. As Dan Kennedy says, “50% of your success is in the list.” Make sure you know who your customers are and how to find them.

Ask yourself these questions before you commit to an information product to sell.  When you do, you will help you increase your chances of success and eliminate wasted time, money and frustration.

Do you have any other tips for helping pick the right topic to focus on when picking an information product to sell? If so share your ideas in the comments below.

NOTE: Today’s your LAST CHANCE to sign up for Dave Dee’s

FREE training call happening in just a few hours at 8PM ET.

He’s calling it:

 ”How to make $117,000 in 67 Minutes… Starting From Scratch… With Your Own Info-Marketing Business!”

Dave’s going to lay out exactly what he does to create information marketing businesses from SCRATCH – in fact, he’ll go through actual case studies of real people he’s helped launch 5-6-7 figure businesses… several times from absolutely nothing!

You’ll discover:

* How to unlock and identify exactly who it is you can best serve with the skills, experience, and knowledge you already possess.

* The #1 thing your prospects are looking for and exactly the way you need to describe it to draw them irresistibly to you like a moth to a flame.

* The single most important component of your entire onlinearsenal – in fact, if you get THIS right, you can practically build a thriving business from just it alone!

* The key secret to creating an information product that practically SELLS ITSELF!

* A SIMPLE three-step formula for having a real deal information products business that takes all the head-scratching out of what most Gurus tell you is an extremely complex process… and makes it easy.

* Plus a whole lot more!

 

ONLY a few seats remain – this has caught on like wildfire! And note – there won’t be ANY kind of replay or recording.

You get one shot and that’s today at 8PM ET.

So I suggest you sign up now before it’s too late.

 

Make Something Happen NOW

By: Darcy Juarez on: January 29th, 2013 1 Comment

Can you believe it’s almost the end of January already?

In an attempt to help members stay on track with their new 2013 goals, the other day we asked members to share what they were doing to improve their business…

A variety of answers came in such as attending mastermind meetings and conferences, studying courses like Magnetic Marketing, finishing a website, working on blog posts, articles and newsletters, writing a book and more.

Another question we asked, “If you could only share one thing, what is the one piece of business advice you would give?”

Again a variety of answers flooded in…

“Create your own product or service and promote it like crazy.”

“Don’t compete on price.”

“Test and tweak, and test and tweak, then test and tweak again.”

Lots of great answers to consider.

Some look at the most successful business models for inspiration.  It’s not uncommon to see successful entrepreneurs doing 20 different things all at once—from lead funnels to newsletters to events to releasing books to coaching programs.

Seeing and hearing all these ideas, it’s easy to come up with ideas and be inspired to do some of them in your own business.

But sometimes instead of ending up with “a success story” you end up with a big “to do” list and a case of overwhelm.

After all, with so many great pieces of advice and so many different ideas to choose from, how do you pick what to do first?

I mean, even just seeing 18 different ideas that are shared as the one “best piece of advice”, makes it hard to pick. Am I right?

If you’ve ever felt that way, I’m here to help with a few suggestions to eliminate overwhelm and get your business moving so you can make things happen in 2013.

Clear out the clutter. Sometimes our lists simply have too many things on them and they need to be simplified. At the end of the year, the GKIC marketing team sat down to evaluate where we were, where we were going and what we wanted to achieve. We realized we were trying to execute too many ideas. We needed to focus more on automating and on making core initiatives run well. So we removed a few items from our list…for now anyway.

Another place that clutter can get in the way is in your head. Instead of lying awake at night with mental clutter, write down all the ideas you like or think of. Then put them aside for when you have time and are ready to implement something new.

Realize there is really only ONE thing you need to do.   There is an old proverb that says, “Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder what has happened.”

Of the three, you definitely want to be in the category of the people that “make things happen.” To do this you have to take action immediately.

Disney ran out of money before they finished Disneyland and couldn’t finish some landscaping. So he had his people make up some signs with phony Latin names on them and stick them in the ground next to the weeds.

There are a lot of people with good ideas out there. But very few who take immediate action. They wait to gather all the information, or have enough money, or for the “perfect timing.” Don’t worry about having all the details figured out, just get moving. Because as Dan Kennedy says, “Just by getting into action you’ll leapfrog ahead of 95% of the people around you.”

It’s a million little things. Not one.  Often we hear of the “overnight success” story. People want to know, how someone arrived at success so quickly? The thing is, there is no such thing as overnight success. It’s doing a lot of different things that all add up.

So just pick one or two things and focus on getting those done. When you’ve finished with those, pick two more from your list and focus on those. Give yourself a deadline to shoot for so you keep moving forward. Before you know it, you’ll have done a million different things and you’ll have leapfrogged ahead.

It’s great hearing from members that they are already making things happen in 2013…

Keith Madison writes,

“Though it’s only 14 days into the new year, GKIC has helped me discover some damn stellar breakthroughs for my clients…No B.S. has me generating B.S. (big sums.)”

I hope I’ll be hearing from you soon about the “Big Sums” you are making as a result of clearing the clutter and taking action immediately.

Share your tips in the comments below for clearing out the clutter and making things happen in your business.

NOTE:  Tens of thousands have been on the same road you are now traveling…but only those that take immediate action and implement reach the finish line. If you are new to GKIC, having trouble deciding what to do first or just need some direction on what to do first, check out our FREE Fast Implementation Bootcamp. In just two days’ time, you’ll walk away with a fully loaded marketing campaign ready to send out. Our next Bootcamp takes place March 7-8th. But you’ll want to register now, because seats are filling up quickly and there is only limited room available.

How To Build Your Own “Million Dollar Rolodex”

By: Dan Kennedy on: January 24th, 2013 4 Comments

This month, in the No B.S. Marketing Letter I talked about the only two ways to think about the 1% and 99%.

If you read it, you got a big lesson in how certain thinking and complaints can virtually guarantee you will never be rich—and what to do if you want to change your circumstance and become a member of the 1% club.

Another complaint that comes from the unsuccessful is that success or wealth has more to do with WHO you know than WHAT you know.

Some people may think this is unfair. When they see someone getting ahead because of who they know, they think it’s not right.

But why they feel that’s bad or unfair is beyond me. Like it or don’t, it’s the way the game is.

For as long as people have been conducting business, one of the ways to win at it is to surround yourself with successful people.

In NFL football, it takes 10 yards to get a 1st down. Maybe it should be 8 or 12 yards instead, but it’s 10.

So the coach and his team need to figure out how to get 10 yards in three plays.

It’s the same with your business. Determine your goals and put a plan together to achieve them. For example, if you know you need to get some “who’s” on board, you’ve got to figure out how to get to know the people who can contribute to your success.

My “Million Dollar Rolodex” is called that because I value it that highly. Case in point, a specialty printer I use came from my rolodex. At the time, we had called and gotten three quotes from local printers and one from a little-known, specialty printer, out of state, who did the kind of printing we needed. We saved 55% by knowing about the existence of this printer.

In preparation for February 3rd’s Superbowl, next week, the NFL’s annual traveling NFL Experience will be underway in New Orleans.

The “interactive theme park” spans more than 850,000 square feet and costs $25 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under.

If you’ve ever been to one of these things, there is plenty to do. Interactive stations where you can test your football skills such as punting and throwing. Obstacle courses and chances to try on actual pro football gear. There is a Pro Football Hall of Fame. Food vendors and, of course, an NFL shop.

This is also a good place to meet one of your favorite pro football players, celebrities or some of the major players in business as they are known to be there for the big game and will wander near or around the “Experience”.

There’s a lesson here if you look for it. First of all, if you want “who’s” that can help you be successful, you need to do your homework to figure out who those people are or what type of people they are. If you don’t know who would be helpful to you, how can you expect to recognize them should the opportunity arise let alone find anyone to introduce you to them? It’s worth mentioning that while you may not always have specific names of “who’s”  that can help you, identifying a specific industry or company will help you quickly recognize a successful “who” for you to connect with.

Second, once you’ve identified some “who’s” you should do a little research to figure out what they are interested in, something about their company, etc. This way if you happen to get the opportunity to talk to them, you can establish immediate rapport by discussing something you know they will be interested in.

Third, determine if you know someone who might be able to make an introduction for you.  Remember it’s a small world. You may already know someone who is friends with, works with or plays golf with your “target who.” Usually they are more than willing  to make an introduction for you.  You just have to ask.  (Hint your GKIC membership might be a good place to start. Use your online Success Club, GKIC Chapter meetings, and GKIC events as place to meet “who’s”. Not a member yet? You can take a test drive FREE here.)

Not that I’m suggesting stalking, but if you see that a “who” is an active member of an organization or club or you find out from scanning the paper that they will be speaking at an event, attend the meeting or, if it makes sense, become an active member of that club.

Fourth, know what you are going to say ahead of time.  Make a great first impression and good things are bound to happen. Almost every event I speak at, people want to ask me about their business. Unfortunately, what I often hear are vague generalities. Be specific about what it is you are looking for. No one can help if they don’t know what you want.

Fifth, you should have a follow up plan in place.  Just like a sales letter that is sent out with no follow up, not following up on a potential hot lead will have a similar result.

Start to build your “Million Dollar Rolodex” by putting yourself in situations where you will be surrounded by quality people and then taking action to build rapport and relationships with them.

NOTE: Leeza Gibbons may be best known for her role as one of the original hosts of Entertainment Tonight, but for almost a decade, Leeza has been the force and face behind one of the most successful direct response products ever. She is a made from scratch entrepreneur, a brilliant marketer, a savvy media insider, and a dynamic and exciting speaker. Wouldn’t she be a powerful “who” to meet and have in your corner? Everyone who attends the GKIC Women’s Next Level Summit will have a meet ‘n greet photo opportunity with Leeza.

Of course this is only one of the many “who’s” that will be featured speakers at this event. And it has been my experience that events with this caliber of speakers tends to draw the best, brightest and most successful entrepreneurs as they understand the value of being there. That means chances are good you’ll be sitting among some pretty successful people who might just be able to help you out.

Even better, you’d expect to pay for an event like this. But we’re giving it to members FREE, with a refundable seat deposit. That means you pay $97 to reserve your seat and once you show up at the event, we’ll give you your money back. www.gkicwomen.com

P.P.S. Last I checked, this event was pretty close to being filled to capacity. And of course, this is going out to over 100,000 people who receive our content emails. So if you want to attend, you’d be wise to hurry and register now.

The Best Thing You Can Do To Improve The Lives Of Your Children…

By: Darcy Juarez on: January 17th, 2013 3 Comments

“One of the biggest gifts that you can give your daughter is to show her that you love what you do.”
—Maggie Wilderotter, Frontier CEO and one of the 21 female Fortune 500 CEOs

When Brittany Lynch was 15 or 16 years old, she remembered her dad getting a lot of “junk mail.”

Curious about it, she asked him, “Dad what is all this junk mail you keep getting from Dan Kennedy? And more importantly, why do you seem to be reading it every month?”

Her dad kind of laughed and said, “One of the best things you could do to improve your life and your future is to read this “junk mail” every day.”

So she started reading the GKIC newsletter and Dan Kennedy right then and there. Now, at the age of 23, Lynch owns and operates a million dollar a year information marketing business.

2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the “Take our daughters and sons to work” program.

The program was started as a way of creating “an enriching educational experience for our nation’s daughters and sons” and offering expanding opportunities that can transform the lives of girls and boys both nationally and internationally.

With the budget war and talk about how the debt will affect the well-being of future generations, today, in honor of the “Take our daughters and sons to work” anniversary, I want to talk about how you can positively influence your children’s future so that, no matter the state of the economy, they can be prosperous and escape the burden of worrying about money.

Speaker and author Tom Maxwell says,

“Transformation must happen in the life of a leader before it can happen in the life of a company or nation.”

In order to do this, he says you need to “create a growth environment.”

Growth thrives in favorable surroundings. It follows that if you make your environment conducive to learning about success, marketing and business, you can help transform the life of your child so they will be ready to lead their own company. Here are four ways you can create a growth environment:

Get them in the habit of reading.  In his blog post READ THIS If You Want More For Your Life, Dan Kennedy discusses books to transform your life and how a common exchange among the uber-successful is to discuss what they are reading. He says, “Earnest acquisition of electric knowledge is the “secret” of the successful. Not having time for it is a choice of the poor” (if you missed this article you can read it here.)

Brittany Lynch credits a lot of her success to reading what turned out NOT to be “junk mail” from Dan Kennedy.  Give your No B.S. Newsletters and No B.S. books to your kids to read and discuss them at dinner. You might even see what ideas your kids have for your business after reading them and reward them if they come up with an idea you use. (If you aren’t currently receiving the No B.S. Newsletters, you can sign up to receive them along with your free gift of $633.91 worth of money making information here.)

Can’t get them to read the material? Author John Maxwell says that when he was growing up his parents paid him to read books off a list instead of paying him to do chores.

Give them space to think. Dan says you should give yourself time to think. And you should give your kids time to think too. Between school, studying, social networking, sports, music and other activities, kids are tightly scheduled. Give your kids space and make sure they have free time to devote to doing kid things and an atmosphere that will inspire and promote kid creativity and self-discovery.

Make discussing business at the dinner table the norm. Much-discussed sister act of the corporate world, are Denise M. Morrison, CEO of Campbell Soup, and her sister, Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter. They are the first sisters to make Fortune‘s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. They are also only two of the family’s super-achievers as they have two other sisters who have also risen to the top in business, one as a regional vice president for a tech company and the other a former senior vice president of sales at AT & T. They credit their parents for their confidence and business savvy.

Wilderotter says it was normal for them to discuss business, set high standards and great goals at the dinner table. She never thought it was boring or out of the ordinary because that was all they knew.

They learned about profit-margin goals, marketing plans and customer sampling. They learned to work hard, be independent and not give up.

Have them write business plans for what they want. Wilderotter and Morrison talk about how they picked jobs out of a jar every Saturday.  In order for them to receive an allowance, they had to complete the tasks they drew out of the jar.  They could also barter to do a different job.  Wilderotter also says, “We did business plans on anything we wanted. Like getting our ears pierced.”  The sisters had to wear screw back earrings for a year to prove to their dad that it wasn’t a fad. In their plan they also showed that getting their ears pierced wasn’t a big alteration to their appearance and that they could save money by taking advantage of a two for one special to get their ears pierced and share earrings.

The sisters say the attention to detail, being thorough, and being innovative at a young age helped them with future business plans.

Help your kids unlock their greatness by creating an environment that helps them develop and grow into the most successful people they can be. When you do, you’ll help ensure their successful and profitable future, no matter what the leaders of today do to affect the economy.

NOTE:  One more way to create an environment conducive to growth?  “The challenge”, Wilderotter says, is for girls and young women to find the people and networks that will support their aspirations.”

Why not celebrate the 20th anniversary of the “Take our daughters and sons to work” program by bringing your daughters to a place where they can tap into a network of some of the most successful women (and men) on the planet?

Imagine how inspiring that would be and what an opportunity you would give her—an opportunity that could truly transform her life. Not to mention getting the chance to expose her to Dan Kennedy live for the first time.

Whether you are a father bringing your daughter or a mother bringing your daughter, this is a great opportunity to bond with her in a new way and give her tools to make her future better and brighter. Best of all you can register for FREE and bring a guest for a low fee. But you’ll have to hurry, the GKIC Women’s Next Level Business Summit, which takes place February 8-10th   only has 49 spots left. Click here for more information or to register now.

For Ladies Only? You Can’t Be Serious…

By: Dan Kennedy on: January 15th, 2013 5 Comments

Over the years I’ve become known as “the professor of harsh reality.”

I was dubbed this because I was the only one in a chorus of yes-men who would ever point out the flaws in a proposed idea.

Not everyone always likes to hear about flaws. In fact, I learned early in life that most people prefer delusion to reality. Dislodging people from their delusions often winds up making you the brunt of their anger—the “shoot the messenger syndrome.”

However, you and I need to relentlessly seek out reality in our own businesses and our own lives, even when unpleasant or uncomfortable as real success is based on truth.

I suppose that sounds elementary, but in actuality,  people  often avoid hearing unpleasant truths.

Next month I’ll be speaking at GKIC’s Women Entrepreneur’s Next Level Summit where I’ll be delivering some straight facts. I’ve decided to toss caution and tact aside and deliver a very ungentle collection of reality and advice that comes from my experience and dealings with the most successful women entrepreneurs, thought leaders and celebrities I’ve worked with over 38 years—and there have been many.

Last year we began this event which is exclusively for women entrepreneurs leading or engaged as partners in business, not as an exercise in segregation, but as what Walt Disney called a “plus-ing.” A plus-ing is an additional opportunity for exploration of shared interests, exchange of knowledge, networking and inspiration. To simplify: more knowledge is better than less knowledge.

I’ve heard from some of what I –affectionately and respectfully—call the “women with balls” in GKIC that they were not happy about this event. They wanted to know why they were being singled out. They felt they were being asked to sit at the kids table. Admittedly I can see their point. A lot of what I see merchandised to women in business by women coaches and gurus doesn’t have much substance.

But I don’t see this event that way…

To me, it’s another means of expanding and providing additional opportunity to a group with special interests—similar to what we’ve done with Info-SUMMITs just for info-marketers.  Or what we’ve done within our mastermind groups like Lee Milteer’s Peak Performers/Implementation Coaching Group, or our Platinum and Titanium groups.

Members helping members, encouraging, networking, entering joint ventures and creating another productive community within GKIC.

It’s also been my experience over 30 years that women do have a different mindset about business than men.

After working with both women-owned and men-owned businesses, some of the broad observations I’ve made between men and women are as follows.  You will find some of these observations truer than others because everyone is unique. And you may find that you don’t want to hear some of them.

I’ve noticed that men tend to be more short-term, immediate outcome, and any-means-to-an-end thinkers, while women entrepreneurs are interested in a more complex collection of issues.

Both are double-sided coins. For instance, men tend to be less concerned than they should be with how customers or clients feel after a sale is made, and with sustaining relationships over time. Women tend to be overly concerned with how customers feel, which can foster timidity and inhibition.

Overall, I think men are less wealth-inhibited, but women are smarter about money, or at least inherently capable of being smarter about money – and there is factual evidence to support the latter conclusion, from long-term studies of male and female investors.

Women, statistically, are paid less than men inside hierarchies, but also tend to price lower than men, charge lower fees than men, and avoid negotiation and confrontation more than men – although that has not always been my experience—Joan Rivers, comes to mind.

I don’t see anything wrong with airing these matters, facts from research about them, opinions that may or may not be accurate, considering and discussing the differences.

Ultimately, I don’t believe there’s anything I would advise or say to a man in business I wouldn’t to a woman in that same or similar business, but there is advice I would give the woman that I wouldn’t give the man.

There is different conditioning, and there is bias. To deny either is, I think, delusional. To deny it in the interest of political correctness or to avoid risking offending women is, I think, counter-productive.

Exploring reality like this isn’t for everyone. But it can be useful to entrepreneurs who are will to open up to find out what may be holding YOU back…What is getting in YOUR way, what conditioning or belief is getting in YOUR way, what conditioning or belief systems or barriers do YOU have, what business, marketing or selling strategies might best fit YOU?

I invite you to be relentless in your pursuit to seek out reality in your own business and life…and be willing to develop the habits of being brutally honest with yourself and insisting that others you rely on give it to you straight.

NOTE: I’ll be presenting at the GKIC’s Women Entrepreneur’s Next Level Summit on February 8-10 along with some brilliant and savvy entrepreneurs and marketers. I’ll talk about some of the ways that women get in their own way. Some of these are universal, shared by men. But men also have certain self-sabotage attitudes and behaviors that are uniquely theirs. Women have a Dolce & Gabbana bag full that are uniquely theirs too. There are some strategies and tactics worth borrowing from men. There are some very male ideas that should be avoided as if explosive toxic waste.

I think you’ll find my thoughts about this provocative and it may just liberate you from a lot of limiting B.S., and empower you to achieve faster and with less struggle than you ever imagined. I hope I’ll see you there. [www.gkicwomen.com]

The 3 Biggest Mistakes To Avoid When Creating Info-Products

By: Dave Dee on: January 10th, 2013 3 Comments

“Anyone who never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”—Albert Einstein

Recently I was reading about some of the top mistakes made in 2012.

From political campaign miscues to Apple’s Public Relations nightmare with their new mapping service to Facebook’s mobile strategy which relied too heavily on one type of technology…companies talked about what they did wrong.

Mistakes are inevitable when you are out there giving it your all to create the business and life you want. I know I’ve made my fair share of them and my guess is you have too.

There are two things about not getting it right: Don’t be afraid to mess up. Failures, mistakes happen more often to those who are most successful. So it goes to follow that the more mistakes you make, the more successful you will be.

Secondly, whenever possible learn from others’ mistakes so you don’t have to repeat them.

So here are three of the most common mistakes made when creating Info-products (and how to avoid them).

1) You create a product your clients, customers or patients don’t want.  Sometimes, especially when starting out in info-marketing, businesses create a product that their target audience doesn’t want. In fact, this happens more often than you think.  You have a great idea for a product, but it turns out that your clients have no interest in it. Or maybe they don’t like the format it’s delivered in. For example, you create a set of videos or an audio program when your customers would prefer something they can read and write notes on instead.

How to avoid: Find out if your new product or service will be successful BEFORE you create it.

With the help of computer-generated imagery, you can design a virtual product and showcase it on a web page. You can test colors, the price of your product, the benefits of using it and more before you ever actually create the product. Then, take orders and with sales already in hand, create the product.

Using Pay Per Click (PPC) is one of the quickest and cheapest ways to gather information about key points such as pricing, features that are most important to your potential consumers, who your target audience is, offers, guarantees and more.

Focus on things that will make the biggest difference, such as your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), the benefits of your product or service, pricing and things that make your product different.

You can also write a sales letter for your product and see if your target audience will buy it. If they do, then create the product, and try mailing to a larger segment of your target audience. Remember to start small when testing, using a small geographic area to test first.

What to do if you’ve already created the product and it didn’t sell? This doesn’t mean it’s a bad product. It might just mean you need to market to a different audience. Test different audience segments to see if the product will sell in a different market.

2) A weak guarantee. Two facts you have to get used to with the info-marketing business are that there will be returns and there will be people that try to cheat you. However, most people won’t cheat you and as Dan Kennedy says, if you aren’t getting at least 10% asking for a refund, you aren’t selling hard enough.

How to avoid: Because people are afraid of refunds and being cheated, often times the guarantee is weak, if there even is one. You will sell far more with a strong guarantee, even with refunds, when you have a guarantee that removes all the risk from your customer making a purchase.

The instinct here is to have a short money-back guarantee. A week, two weeks, maybe a month. However testing has shown that a longer guarantee, 90 days or a year, out pulls the shorter guarantee.

3) You take too long to create your info-product. Of course, if you follow my advice to not create your product until after you know there is a demand for it, you’ll have no choice but to create your product quickly, because you’ll have orders waiting. However, if you don’t follow my advice, you may fall into this category.  Keep in mind that the longer you take, the less money you will make. Plus, if you have a great idea and take too long to bring it to market, there is a chance someone else will start marketing an info-product based on your idea before you do. Get it done and out there.

How to avoid: Instead of waiting for the perfect version, plan to create new versions with updated or improved material. Or, if you’re having trouble, invest in whatever you need to get it done, whether that is a ghost writer or resources that hand you shortcuts to creating an info-product. For instance, Dan Kennedy’s Info-Product Recipe includes the ingredients and how to’s for developing an enduring, successful million dollar info-product that cannot fail.

Adding info-products to your business is one of the smartest (and most lucrative) business decisions you can make. Don’t let the fear of making mistakes stop you. But avoid them whenever possible. And remember every day you wait is another day you aren’t making money on your idea.

NOTE:  Make this the year you reach an incredible new level of success with new info-products. And if you really want to avoid making mistakes and create the most profitable info-marketing business possible,  plan to sign up for Dan Kennedy’s A- Z Info-Biz Blueprints Re-boot in April. No one has guided more people to millions through info-marketing than Dan. Spending three days with him you will quickly get the most complete and detailed and valuable training on this subject that he has ever created. [Link]

8 Steps To Making More Money in 2013!

By: Dave Dee on: January 3rd, 2013 4 Comments

The end of the year and beginning of a new one tends to make one reflect on the year’s successes and failures…

What were your top achievements?

What was your biggest failure?

What had the biggest impact?

And so on…

Instead of focusing on generic achievements, I thought it’d be fun to put a little twist on this year’s achievements by relating them specifically to your marketing successes and failures.

So here’s how to review your 2012 marketing and 8 easy steps to making more money in 2013:

1)   Map out how you did sales-wise throughout the year. Write down your total sales per month for the entire year. Which were your biggest months? Why? For instance, did you hold an event or launch a product that created a spike in sales? This will give you clues of things you might want to be sure and repeat next year.

2)   Which were your three most important marketing initiatives for the year? Why were they important? At GKIC, one of our most important initiatives is membership because without members, we have no one to attend our events, buy our products, etc.

3)   What were your top three marketing campaign results of 2012? Maybe you launched a product that generated twenty percent of your income this year or added a lead generation funnel that has created a new source of qualified leads.

4)   What was your biggest marketing failure this year? What did you learn from it? Marketing is never successful 100% of the time, however when you test things, you can learn to be more successful the next time. Think about your marketing failures and what the biggest lesson was that you learned last year so next year you can do better.

5)   What are three marketing techniques or strategies you used that had the biggest impact on your bottom line? Did you incorporate direct mail? Or add one of the 12 Business Building Strategies or Magnetic Marketing famous 3-step sales letter system? Write down what the strategies were and how they impacted your business.

6)   What are three things you want to achieve with your marketing in 2013? Do you want to get better and more qualified leads? Increase your sales or membership? Be able to charge more with less resistance to price? Create a steady stream of customers, clients or patients that come to you? Shorten your sales cycle? Determine what it is you want to achieve and that will help you define where you should focus your time, money and resources.

7)   What marketing (already in place) would you most like to improve or change? How and why? Sometimes we have marketing in place that needs a tune-up. For example, maybe there is a sales letter or an email sequence that isn’t working as well that could use some freshening up. Or maybe your website needs a tune-up.

8)   Describe what your marketing will be able to do for you in the future. What marketing do you need to get in place or what do you need to do to create that? For example, you might say…

“I want marketing that will attract well-paying customers that love my products and services to me so that I don’t have to chase them.”

or “My marketing will develop customers into raving fans who tell others about my products and services and are willing to pay premium prices without resistance.”

or “My events will fill quickly and easily. And when I launch new products and services I’ll sell a minimum of $500,000.”

The next step would be to figure out what you need to do to make your marketing picture a reality. In the above examples, an integrated lead generation strategy would need to be in place which means you might need to develop a lead magnet. Or you might need to take a course on how to market to the affluent.

Spend a few minutes reviewing your marketing from last year and it’ll be easier to develop a more successful plan for 2013. Plus you’ll find it easier to make decisions about what type of resources you need to get in order to fulfill your marketing goals in the coming year.

NOTE: If you want to be sure to make your marketing better in 2013, consider joining myself and Lee Milteer in the Peak Performers Implementation Coaching group. New this year we are adding ways to find money fast and a marketing hotseat. For more information or to apply, click here.

Four ways to add quick profits to your business…

By: Darcy Juarez on: December 28th, 2012 2 Comments

“Publish or perish.”

That’s what Dan Kennedy and Matt Zagula say in their new book, No B.S. Trust-based Marketing.

Dan continues, “Even if you are a proprietor of a local hardware store, landscape company, home remodeling company, etc., …you need to write and publish your own book as well as other information media such as newsletters, special reports, how-to-guides, and more. Anyone who seeks trusted authority and advisor status will publish, or perish.”

In an age of diminishing trust, establishing credibility and authority are increasingly becoming key factors to success. And there’s no doubt that published authors are considered trusted authorities.

In chapter 7, Dan starts out by saying that Matt Zagula points out that “author is in the word authority.”

But before you start thinking you need to run out and write a book, I’ll let you in on a little secret: That is not what I, nor Dan are suggesting here.

There are many things you can publish. In fact, information products don’t even have to be written. You can create video and audio information products too. Or create an audio program and have it transcribed to create a book or report.

Here’s a sample of some of the info-products you might want to consider for your business:

  • Newsletters
  • E-books
  • Special Reports
  • How-to Guides
  • Lists of resources
  • Insider reports
  • Expert interviews

Information products establish trust and credibility—making it easier to sell your core products and services at premium prices.

In addition, here are four additional reasons why you should consider adding information products to your business:

  1. High profit margins.  Consider that people value information differently than they do physical products. For example, the cost of an iPhone is worth a set amount. But an information product that promises to double your income in 90 days is worth a subjective amount to each person considering purchasing it. Combine this with the fact that you can create information products at a very low cost (especially if you create digital products that consumers download) and you have an extremely high profit margin.
  2. Create enduring information products once, get paid on them forever.  When you create evergreen information products they retain their selling power year and year. That means you do the work once and make money year after year.
  3. Easy and low cost distribution. You can create an e-book or a video series or special report with very low costs. You can use video, audio, and PDF files to create low-cost information products and with inexpensive distribution channels such as email, you can distribute your products instantly, automatically, easily and inexpensively.
  4. Eliminate commoditization. In a world where commoditization is a problem, you can set yourself and your business apart by leveraging your knowledge to create information products. Plus while there may be products similar to yours, there is virtually no competition for your product because no one knows exactly what you know, nor will they present it in exactly the same way you do. That means your info-product will be unique and won’t exist in any other place. You can also use your info-product to set your business apart even further by incorporating your unique selling proposition throughout your product. For example, if your unique proposition is that you are the only health club that includes a custom diet for your customers, you might want to talk about the benefits and importance of combining proper diet with exercise throughout your info-product.

Increase your credibility and authority this year by creating an information product. You’ll find it a low-cost way to increase your income  and set yourself apart from your competition.

NOTE: As you know GKIC is an Info-marketing business created and launched by Dan Kennedy. For the first time, Dan is going to reveal the single most important and powerful concept on which he based his entire business, that made possible what you know of today as GKIC, an inspiration that has “launched a thousand ships.”

Dan has NEVER taught this concept as he’ll describe it during his A-Z Info-Biz Blueprints Reboot. He will also reveal the checklists behind his approach to info-marketing and their sources, and the very-short-list of authors that he’s most closely emulated.

If you are sensibly curious about the “SOURCE(S)” of the power Dan’s demonstrated during his successful career as a professional info-marketer, builder of brand and empire, and builder of others’ info-businesses as well, then you will walk barefoot across a 500-mile fire walk if need be, to be at this event. To Learn More About This Event Click Here