Posts Tagged ‘renegade millionaire’

Seven Tips For Getting And Keeping Your Financial House In Order

By: Darcy Juarez on: April 4th, 2013 7 Comments

It didn’t take her long to go out of business.

She was 22 years old and it was the first time she’d owned her own business.

Why was she forced to fold her business?

Not for the reason you might expect: lack of sales.

She went out of business because she was uneducated about keeping records for taxes, budgeting finances and keeping cash flow positive.

This story was told to me recently by a GKIC member who I’m proud to say is doing much better in business these days.

Depending upon your own personal experience, it may or may not come as a surprise to you that one of the top reasons small businesses fail is because of their lack of keeping their financial house in order.

Taking care of billing, tracking your expenses, taxes and other financial tasks can seem overwhelming and stressful for new business owners.

Even those who have been in business for themselves awhile can find managing their finances intimidating or perhaps not your favorite thing to do.

However getting and keeping your financial house in order makes things not only less stressful, but can help ensure you don’t overspend and that you have enough money for your savings, investments and retirement.

Here are seven tips for getting your financial house in order.

1)     Get some advice. If you’ve never been in business for yourself or if you struggle with managing your finances, get some advice. It’s an investment that could prove crucial to your survival and one of the smartest investments you can make. It may be as simple as meeting with an accountant to get advice or finding a seasoned, successful business owner who can give you advice on how to run a profitable business.

2)     Create a budget. When starting a business, your income may fluctuate. Therefore it is very important to have a budget both for your business expenses and your personal expenses. Use your lowest income or your average income, rather than your highest income, to base your budget on. In your business budget, you’ll want to include items such as tax payments, marketing, education, Internet service, your cell phone, and so on.

3)     Manage your expenses. While you want to avoid carrying debt, you may find it necessary to incur some debt, especially when getting started.

For example, you will need to invest in marketing materials to show the world you are open for business and looking for clients, customers or patients. Using swipe and deploy marketing systems proven to work will help you prevent costly mistakes and help you feel confident about getting a return on your investment. (A great place to start is to use the marketing systems found in Magnetic Marketing, our number one recommended resource by GKIC members.)

If you need to incur debt, don’t take on more debt than you think you can reasonably pay off. The key is to manage your debts by paying on time so that you avoid additional charges, using the lowest interest rate credit cards or loans possible, paying off debts as soon as possible and only incurring debts that are absolutely necessary.

4)     Use financial management tools. Keeping track of expenses, income, invoices and past due invoices, estimated taxes, etc. can feel daunting at times, especially if you’re a new business owner. However, not keeping track of these can cause your business to fail or even put you in hot water legally.

Fortunately, there are financial management tools you can use that will make this much easier and require a minimal amount of your time and effort. Most are inexpensive and some are even free. A few to check out are Zoho, Freshbooks, and Get Harvest. Each has varying features and track things like your time, invoices, and expenses. Some you can set up things such as automatic invoice reminders or scan receipts in your phone to create automatic expense reports.

5)     Put money aside every time you make a deposit. Dan Kennedy discusses setting a percentage of your income aside for both savings and charitable donations each time you get paid in his book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy.  There are multiple reasons for doing this. The obvious reasons are that you have money “for a rainy day” and you get into the habit of saving. But even more important are the psychological benefits you get from this habit. Read more about this and Dan Kennedy’s “90-Day Experiment” in chapter 14 of No B.S. Wealth Attraction For Entrepreneurs

6)     Track whether you are “on schedule.” Dan Kennedy suggests you track day by day whether or not you are on schedule to hit your income and wealth targets for the week, month, quarter and year. By assessing where you are frequently, you have an opportunity to correct when you fall behind. If you wait until July to see if you are on schedule to hit your financial goals, you may already be too late to correct your course to reach your financial goals.

7)     Plan for your retirement.  There is no retirement funded by someone else when you are a small business owner. That means you are entirely responsible for your retirement. On the flip side, setting up a retirement plan can also help you shelter your business profit. In the U.S. the two most common self-employment retirement plans are a Simplified Employee Pension plan (SEP) and Keogh plan.

In 2013, in either one, you can put in up to twenty-five percent of your net earnings or fifty-one thousand dollars (whichever is smaller) from your self-employment income. Like an IRA you can deduct this money off the top of your income, which gives you a big tax savings.

Compare that to an IRA with a cap of $5000 (or $6000 if you are 50 or older) and you can easily see the advantage of the SEP and Keogh plans.

Of course these are just a couple of options and I am not a financial advisor, so I’d advise you to

seek professional counsel to ensure you set up the best plan for you. The point is to set up a retirement plan and start saving immediately.

Integrating these tips will help you get your financial house in order making the financial end of your business more profitable and less stressful.

 

NOTE: Do You Want To Discover The 8 Steps To Growing Your Business By 25% to 75% in Just 48 Hours?

Then come to one of GKIC’s Fast Implementation Boot Camps where you’ll walk away with the blueprint in hand of what you need to do to grow your business and see results almost immediately!  This event is totally FREE to GKIC Insider’s Circle Members.  Simply go to www.dankennedy.com/bootcamp to reserve your spot now.

Not a member?  Take GKIC’s FREE Trial Membership by going to www.dankennedy.com/incrediblegift now and get access to thousands and money-making strategies, this FREE two day workshop and best of all…full access to the GKIC Insiders Circle area online.

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.

Four Ways Shark Tank Entrepreneurs Grew Their Business Without Spending Money

By: Darcy Juarez on: March 5th, 2013 4 Comments

Last year I met Barbara Corcoran at GKIC’s women’s event.

Her credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and being unsuccessful at twenty jobs by the time she turned twenty-three.

But it was her next move that made her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the U.S.

Turning a loan of $1000 from an ex-boyfriend into a five-billion dollar business.

An investor/shark on the hit reality show, Shark Tank, she has invested in multiple businesses and is also a bestselling author offering tips to small business entrepreneurs.

The thing is… it isn’t just Barbara’s investment that helped make the companies she invested in successful.

Find out four ways Barbara’s entrepreneurs found business success and grew their business using something other than cash, brain capital or investments.

Find out who your target market really is. Cyclists Erin Whalen and Tim Stansbury created a patented formula to clean cyclist’ dirty hands on the road called Grease Monkey Wipes.

The problem was that sales were only trickling in. What they discovered the night they presented their product to the sharks was that cyclists weren’t their only market.  In fact, it turned out that the automotive, gun and farming industries were hugely interested. Their newfound target audience turned their product into a booming business literally overnight.

Are there other markets you can test to see if your product or service will sell better to a different target audience?

Use celebrity. Brett Thompson got cash from Barbara to expand his BBQ Sauce business. But it wasn’t just the cash that helped. The notoriety he got from being associated to Barbara gave his business what it needed to go from selling sauce in 5 small stores to selling it in 500 large grocery stores within only months.

Copy Brett by creating your own celebrity marketing with Barbara Corcoran.  You can not only get your picture taken with her at SuperConference 2013 to use in your own marketing, but you’ll also have a chance to get up to $50,000 from her when you pitch your business to Barbara and the other GKIC sharks for the chance to gain cash, financing, partnership or contribution of “brain capital to your business.

How else can you use celebrity in your business to boost sales?

Tell your story.  Jack Barringer couldn’t lose his beer belly which caused him to have high blood pressure. His doctor told him he needed to do push-ups but he wasn’t physically strong enough. So he invented a simple push-up device to drop the pounds. The sharks said they would invest if he lost 30 pounds using his device. Jack lost over 36 pounds using his fitness product and is now featured in his infomercial, giving it a story and more credibility.

You can strengthen your business position and inspire people with your own business story. Knowing how to tell effective stories is one of the most powerful ways to influence consumers and motivate them to buy. Plus they are great for attracting media attention.

How can you use or create a story in your business?

Use personality. Using personality in your advertising, marketing and communications can add instant results without having to spend an extra penny. Kim Daisy is the founder of Daisy Cakes. Part of Kim’s unique character that shows through is her southern charm, passion for her cakes, using only all natural and preservative free ingredients, and that she is hard working.

She sold $100,000 worth of cakes within three weeks of her appearance on Shark Tank and is now a regular top selling brand and personality on QVC. (Learn the 7 elements of a personality-driven business and how to develop your character in How to Create Personality in Copy.)

How can you bring your character to life in your marketing?

It’s common to think you need money to start a business or expand a business. But often all it takes is one good idea or one new strategy to create a breakthrough.

What one GKIC strategy has created a breakthrough for you? Share in the comments below.

NOTE: LIVE FREE TRAINING!  How To Write a $5,000 E-mail for ANY Business!

On Friday, March 8th at 9:30AM Eastern GKIC Chief Marketing Officer Dave Dee is doing a live VIDEO Training entitled:

“E-Mail Marketing Made Easy.  How One Quick E-mail Strategy Brought In $5,000 From Dead Leads”

During this live broadcast Dave is going to give you:

  • His proven e-mail templates that not only get your e-mails read…but also move dead leads to buy
  • The recipe to his “Secret Sauce” on exactly what to do and what to say to achieve maximum engagement with
    your list
  • A powerhouse follow-up system that will triple your profits from using these types of e-mails.
  • And lots more besides!

You Don’t Need To Sign Up Or Register, just Click Here Now and bookmark the page…then join Dave for the most profitable breakfast you may ever have this Friday, at 9:30 am Eastern.

Do you have an idea, are a start-up, or are already operating successfully and looking to expand? If you feel you have a lucrative business idea and could use some backing whether financially or a joint venture, GKIC SuperConference is the place to be.

This year you will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to pitch your business to Barbara Corcoran, Dan Kennedy, and the GKIC Sharks to receive up to $50,000 cash, financing, partnership, or brain capital.

Plus, millionaire and multi-millionaire business owners attend SuperConference. This is your chance to network with them, get ideas and feedback on your business, and perhaps find someone to joint venture with. And it’s not uncommon for people attending our events to pick up the one strategy they’ve been searching for that causes them to have a breakthrough year.

Are you ready to join them?

This is your last chance to save up to 68% off your registration. You can register here, or learn more about our upcoming SuperConference at www.dankennedy.com/sc2013.

Brian Tracy Shows You How To Accelerate Your Success

By: Dave Dee on: February 7th, 2013 2 Comments

Early in his career, he was very poor.

He wore shoes two sizes too big with holes in them. He owned one clip-on tie and one shirt that he washed out every night.. He had to make a sale every day in order to have enough money to pay for a place to sleep each night.  There were even times he lived out of his car.

This made him wonder why some people are more successful than others. 

You know the ones I referring to…

They easily make more money.

They come up with the best ideas that get them ahead.

They drive nicer cars. Live in bigger homes. And have the best relationships.

He wanted to know why some people had it and why others, like him, didn’t.

That was more than three decades ago.

Today he’s one of America’s leading authorities on the enhancement of personal effectiveness, the development of human potential, and the art of salesmanship.

A dynamic and entertaining speaker, he has motivated and inspired thousands of people toward peak performance and high achievement and his seminars draw capacity audiences.

He’s written 55 books.

And he’s built, managed or turned around 22 different businesses.

I’m, of course, referring to success expert Brian Tracy.

His early years inspired him to make studying success his lifelong quest. In fact, Brian has spent more than 30,000 hours studying why some people are more successful than others.

He’s read everything ever written about success including the writings of Socrates and Aristotle. And on top of that he’s collected information from more than 10,000 companies in 55 countries to discover what the common equation is for success.

The days of him worrying about having enough money to cover monthly bills are long gone. He’s at the top of his field. He’s prospering despite the current economic conditions. And he’s wealthier and happier than ever.

I share Brian’s story to show you that, no matter where you are, there is a formula for obtaining the business and life you desire.

How did Brian Tracy become so successful?

Brian says that at one point he noticed that everybody starts poor. But certain people rise to success faster.  That’s when Brian realized there was a formula for success.

He says that people who are more successful use this formula to speed up their success.

So what’s their secret? How do people go from nothing to successful?

Well, Brian says the single most important key to success is continuous learning.

In fact, in today’s fast-paced world, it is a necessity in any field. If you don’t constantly learn you’ll simply be passed by.

But that’s not the real secret to the kind of success we’re talking about.

No, the real secret to getting ahead is not just learning.  But in finding and putting into action the right information faster than your competition. 

When you do this you’ll suddenly:

  • Get to the top of your field and stay there
  • Become wealthier and happier than ever before
  • Never again worry that you don’t have enough money to cover your monthly bills
  • Prosper no matter what the economic conditions are, and
  • Remove barriers so there’s no limit to what you can accomplish

So how do you decide which is the right information?

One thing you can do is to put into action what Brian calls “one of the most helpful concepts of all time and life management.”

He’s referring to what is commonly referred to as the 80/20 Principle or 80/20 Rule. It’s also referred to as the Pareto Principle (named after Vilfredo Pareto (1843-1923) who was the first man to identify its existence.)

The 80/20 Rule says that in order to find success you need to focus your effort on the 20% of your activities that bring you the most reward, while eliminating or delegating the 80% that bring you little or no reward.

Take time to identify the twenty percent and you will know where to concentrate your efforts and which information will help you the most.

For example, many companies find that 80% of their profits come from 20% of their customers.  Knowing this you should be analyzing the profitable 20% of your client base.  What do they have in common? How can you bring in more customers that fit their profile?

You might spend time learning and integrating price strategies to sell bigger ticket items to your top 20% clients while studying strategies for not only attracting more customers like them, but reducing and eliminating the least productive customers.

Brian says, “More people are becoming successful at a faster rate than at any other time in history. There have never been more opportunities for you to turn your dreams into reality than there are right now.”

Never stop learning. Use the 80/20 Rule to concentrate your efforts in the right place. And implement what you learn immediately. When you do you will outperform your competition and speed up your success.

NOTE: If you’d like to meet Brian Tracy in person and hear him live, you’ll have your chance at GKIC’s 2013 SuperConference. Brian will present The 10 Navigational Principles of Millionaire and Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs. One of the great business thinkers of our time, he is able to convert facts, observations and others’ experience into PRINCIPLES that predictably define success and failure.  If you want to speed up your path to success, don’t miss your chance to hear one of the few living legends and one of the great teachers still with us.

The door is closing on your last chance to save up to $1900 off of the $2497 entry fee.  EARLY REGISTRATION Discounts and Incentives EXPIRE at midnight a week from today, on February 15, 2013. Click here to learn more and register.

Persuasion Secrets: How to Be Fascinating and Influence Other People

By: Dan Kennedy on: February 5th, 2013 1 Comment

In December, Barbara Walters announced her 19th annual list of the year’s “10 Most Fascinating People.”

Making the top ten were actor/director Ben Affleck; Alana Thompson, 7 year old star of the hit reality TV show Honey Boo Boo; the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie; Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas; E L James, author of 50 Shades of Grey; Boy Band One Direction; former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; multi-talented animator and director Seth MacFarlane; Prince Harry of Wales; and US Army General David Petraeus.

I’ve long been interested in what makes one person or company more fascinating than another. For instance, what made Honey Boo Boo more fascinating than say Mitt Romney?

Regardless of what you or I think of Ms. Walters’ list, the important point is to reflect on what makes a person or company interesting? If you want to persuade people to buy or seduce them in any way, for any purpose, being fascinating is key.

If you doubt this, look no further than the phenomenon of the online video “Gangnam Style.” Released in July 2012 by South Korean recording artist PSY, it became the first video to ever hit a billion hits on the Internet.

Why did this captivate people while other videos, people, businesses, events etc. won’t be remembered weeks, days or even hours after you first experience them?

Making yourself more fascinating and interesting is a shortcut to persuasion.  It helps make you exciting and memorable which helps you wield influence and attract favorable attention.

This begs the question: are there common traits in fascinating people? Is it possible to make yourself more fascinating and if so, how do you do it? Is there a process?

Take a minute to reflect on the people you’ve met in your life. What makes someone stand out to you? What makes you remember one person over another?

Many would say deciding what traits make a person fascinating is a subjective thing. You might even cite Ms. Walter’s list as confirmation.

After all, if you look at Ms. Walter’s list, it’s difficult to see common traits that everyone shares.  Although I’m sure we could come up with a few.

For instance, Gabby Douglas, Hillary Rodham Clinton and E L James were the “first to do something.” Douglas was the first African-American gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. Clinton visited more countries than any previous Secretary of State. And E L James sold more than 60 million copies of her book, 50 Shades of Grey, surpassing Harry Potter as the fastest-selling paperback book of all time.

However, not everyone on her list did something for the first time and I’ve met some pretty fascinating people who’ve never been first at anything their whole life.

There’s “celebrity,” which I would say they all have a certain amount of.

You can’t list trustworthy as a common trait on the list if you consider General Petraeus’ resignation as the Director of the CIA, due to his extramarital affair discovered in an FBI investigation.

But, there are fascinating people who are fascinating BECAUSE of their trustworthiness. International author, David Horsager, M.A., C.S.P. did his graduate research based on trust. Searching for what makes top leaders and organizations, defined as financially successful and making a significant positive influence in the lives of those they served over a period of time, unique, Horsager found one thing in common. The common trait? Trust. He found that trust is not a soft skill, but rather that it is a measurable competency that can be built into an organization’s strategies and goals.

And as revealed in my book, No B.S. Trust-Based Marketing, Warren Buffet’s secret on how to attract him to your company and make it so that he might want to buy it, is based on trust. He buys trusted companies that have invested in trust.

All these contradictions make it hard to define what makes a person fascinating. Which is why I have become so intrigued with the work of Sally Hogshead, the New York Times Bestselling author of “Fascinate!” (In fact, I am even collaborating with her on a new exclusive process for dramatically improving marketing messages that I’ll reveal for the first time ever at SuperConference.)

Sally tested a population of 120,000 people and identified seven triggers and 49 personality archetypes that make people fascinating. She has identified that each person has their own, unique “Fascination Fingerprint” which can be used to strengthen virtually everything you do to communicate, influence or sell, whether it’s person-to-person or via media.

Each person has a different primary trigger, which explains why it’s difficult to pull traits off a list of fascinating people.

The seven triggers are: power, passion, mystique, prestige, alarm, rebellion and trust.

For example, people with a primary trigger of power fascinate by leading with control while people with the primary trigger of trust fascinate by building loyalty.

Understanding these triggers and your own “Fascination Fingerprint,” along with your strengths and weaknesses, will allow you to improve your ability to attract favorable attention and become more fascinating, therefore giving you the shortcut to influence.

NOTE: If you want to be included in the GKIC Test Group that gets to take the special FREE Fascination Assessment, discover your “F-score” and  receive your personal reading at no charge so you can profit from Sally Hogshead’s secrets of fascination, don’t miss our early registration date of February 15, 2013 for SuperConference.  Based on science and data, this shows how you rank in fascination skills and is the ONLY assessment that reveals how OTHERS view you.

This is also the lowest price and your last chance to save up to $1900 on your registration. Don’t miss the deadline and three fast-acting bonuses (including your Fascination Assessment). It ends next Friday, February 15, 2013.

Sally Hogshead will provide you with the MOST fascinating and valuable evening at SuperConference you’ve ever had. I promise you that. I suggest you register now while there are still spots open.

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]

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.

Are You The Next “Casey Stengel” Of Your Marketplace?

By: Dave Dee on: December 27th, 2012 1 Comment

He never intended on being a coach.

In fact, his long-term goal was to be a dentist.

Athletically inclined, he played a number of sports including football, basketball and baseball, continuing on in the minor league in 1910-1911 where he saved enough money to go to dentistry school.

However, after having problems finding left-handed dentistry tools, he continued in baseball and was brought up to the Dodgers late in the 1912 season. It was then that baseball became his primary profession.

In 1914, after getting in touch with his former coach, Bill Diver, who was at the time the head coach of football and basketball teams at the University of Mississippi, he got his first coaching experience, coaching the baseball team at Ole Miss to a winning season.

While he was a good baseball player, he was by no means a superstar. But as a coach, he shined.

His name, Casey Stengel. Among his achievements as a coach, he was the only person to manage a team to five consecutive World Series championships.

He was nicknamed the “The Old Professor” or  “Perfessor” because he could talk at great length about anything baseball related. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.

Imagine if Stengel would have stuck to dentistry? Or if he’d never gone beyond playing baseball.  He would not have been remembered or in the hall of fame. Not to mention all the lives he impacted as a coach.

Like Stengel, you may find not only a lucrative income stream, but coaching is where you truly shine. And there’s nothing like the feeling you get when you help someone achieve success.

Aside from the great feeling you get from coaching or consulting, here are seven more reasons you should consider adding it to your business next year:

  • It can be very lucrative. Whether you have a big herd, a small herd or no herd, coaching and consulting is very lucrative which means you only need a few clients to earn big money.  I actually talk about exactly how to do this in my courses Coaching and Consulting Bootcamp and Advanced Coaching and Consulting
  • It can help you create info-products to sell. Coaching and consulting allows you the opportunity to find out the biggest challenges your coaching clients are having which gives you unique insight to what type of products you should create and sell.
  • It positions you as an expert. Coaches and consultants are viewed as authorities in their field. Being seen as an authority and expert gives you credibility which can boost sales of your products and services because people want to buy from experts.
  • It can help you position yourself as a celebrity. You can use your expert status to position yourself as a celebrity.
  • Leap to big money fast. Not only does coaching and consulting give you a back-end product that you can charge thousands of dollars for, but as an expert and/or celebrity, you can charge more for your products and services.
  • Your marketing becomes better.  Because you have special insight into the fears, challenges, and desires of your coaching and consulting clients, you’ll have a better handle on what your other customers, clients or patients are worrying about, wanting  or dealing with. You can then  infuse this information into your marketing.
  • Coaches and consultants are in high demand.  More and more people want to be led by the hand. They want someone to show them how to do things. As a result you can charge big money to help them find the answers.

If you’re looking to really boost your income in 2013, consider adding coaching or consulting to your business. It’s a great way to earn more with less stress. Plus, you can add $100,000 to $1,000,000 a year as a coach or consultant, even if you’re a newbie.

NOTE: If you’re thinking about adding coaching or consulting to your business or if you aren’t currently earning what you think you should from your business, you won’t want to miss getting Dan Kennedy’s coaching and consulting blueprints at his completely updated A-Z Info-Biz Blueprints Re-Boot.

As an example, a year and a half or so ago, Dan co-created a brand new coaching/portal to done-for-them business in the financial services industry (using a By-Pass The Ascension Pyramid/Speed Blueprint) and created over $2-million in revenue nearly overnight. Learn more about how you can get ahold of this blueprint and other info-product blueprints for your business. Click Here To Learn More