Seductive Selling Radio Show Today, 1pm Eastern

Gosh, this is scary: Me, LIVE, on the radio. Lord knows what I’m going to say, who’s balls I’m going to be busting or who’s going to be calling in?

The show is called “The Seductive Selling Marketing Hour For Entrepreneurs” and the truth is, I have absolutely NO idea what I’m going to be talking about, but I’m going to be approaching this the same way I approach everything else. Which is like this: I “believe” it’s going to be an absolute smash, and as my subscriber Kevin Mahoney says, I’m expecting to get syndicated on satellite radio sometime soon, but...

Who the hell REALLY knows? I left my crystal ball with my ex-wife, and besides, it didn’t seem to work too well for us with that “till death do us part” stuff, so it doesn’t matter anyway.

If it works, GREAT. If it doesn’t, I’ll just move on to the next idea.

But really, it doesn’t matter what I think -- what REALLY matters is what YOU think. So today, at 1pm Eastern time, mosey on over to http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssradio and then just click on the “Listen To This Show” link right above my picture.

I’ll also be taking LIVE call-in phone calls during this time, and I’m going to have a few guest surprises if I can pull it together by then. You can call in LIVE at 1-866-613-1612 or International calls at 001-858-268-3068, or you can e-mail us your questions, thoughts, or words of wisdom to radio@kingofcopy.com

Hey look, Mentoring Group member Jeff Pettitt recently sent me this item, quoting Alexander Graham Bell, "When one door closes another one opens, but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."

For me there really IS no worse pain than the pain of regret, so join me today because in my opinion, opportunity isn’t just knocking at MY door here... it’s practically kicking my door down!

Let’s see what’s behind this door -- me, I think it’s time for some fun.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Remember, just go to http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssradio and click on the “Listen To This Show” link right above my picture and then just sit back and listen to the magic happening.

P.P.S. Wanna get this party started early? Test-drive my Offline Seductive Selling Newsletter for free right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

LAST Day You Can Get This, Forever!

Today is the absolute LAST day you can get your hands on the January issue of my Offline Seductive Selling Newsletter, AND my Audio Success CD of the month interview with John DiLemme, a motivational speaker who lectures world-wide -- and who was diagnosed as a stutterer until he was 19 years old.

Here's just a small sampling of what you're missing inside this issue:

• A “Naughty” Press Release that 98,609 people checked out in the first 18 days it was released! (Example 6)
• How to position yourself as THE “wizard” in your industry, simply by lifting one of these savvy names! (page 3)
• The REAL lesson I learned by “turning on, tuning in and dropping out” in December, and how you can use this NOW... before it’s too late! (On page 9)
• How even a fat, sloppy, poker player can be successful using voyeurism and how to leverage this success in communicating with your prospects and customers! (Example 1)
• The cold harsh reality of the impact of reality shows on your marketing! (page 1)
• A little-known way of piggybacking off the marketing ideas that have launched MEGA-successful online poker rooms, and two different ways of using this same idea in your business! (On page 3)
• How to get your prospects to buy WITHOUT selling: this one’s a little more complicated than you think! (see page 6)
• What happens when you become a victim of your own success! (Watch out!) on page 12
• Why you’d better have a support system on your side -- what to look for... AND, maybe even more important -- what to look OUT for! (See page 10)
• And, much much more! (No kidding!)
  

To get your hands on this issue and take a FREE trial subscription of the newsletter, and get $1,391 Dollars worth of FREE gifts, go to: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl - but do it NOW, because in this case, there really IS no tomorrow!

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

For Some, Desperation Is The Mother Of All Action

Some people are inspired to action by important things in their lives. That’s pretty much how I am now.

However, at one point, I was inspired to action by desperation, and I think a lot of people -- maybe most people -- get their start this way.

Here’s what happened: It was 1990 and I’d just started my first sales job as a recruiter. I was new to sales, new to this industry, and VERY desperate to make money. I had a newborn son at home, a new house to fill up with furniture, and a fat wad of debt piling up interest -- fast.

I knew nothing about the business or about selling. All I knew was that I needed to make a ton of dough -- fast. Knowing nothing about direct-response, I’d simply go into the office and “dial for dollars.”

I made more cold calls and schmoozed more people than anyone else in that office. Lucky for me, I “give good phone” and so in a short time-frame I was able to establish rapport and start growing a little business, but don’t kind yourself -- the only thing I was running on was fear and fire, nothing more.

I didn’t realize the pace I was working at until one day someone from another office was visiting us and he asked me how I was managing to do so well in such a short time, when most of the office was struggling. I told him the truth, that I had a shitload of debt and a young child in tow, plain-and-simple.

The truth is, desperation will never pave a path to riches for you for a number of reasons, but mostly because FEAR can only take you so far. But that’s another subject for another day.

The point is not WHERE you get your emotional “shove” -- your motivation is irrelevant. The only thing that counts is that you’re actually IN motion. Much more so than why you’re in motion.

SO, what makes you tick? Why are you doing the things you need to do?

And... why aren’t you?

FINAL CALL: LAST DAY to get your hands on this month’s Seductive Selling Offline Newsletter where you can discover an IDIOT-PROOF trick any entrepreneur can use, that positions you as THE authority in your field. Try it FRE.E right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Make sure you listen and call-in to my new Radio Show, The Seductive Selling Marketing Hour For Entrepreneurs, starting TOMORROW at 1pm Eastern Time. Go here for details: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssradio

Just Grab Your Balls And Do It

Not my words, but powerful indeed. They were spoken by Jeff Pettitt from Kent, England.

Jeff’s a man who doesn’t mince words and gets right to the point. It’s why he was one of the TOP referees in England for 15 years and it’s why he runs such a tight ship in his businesses. A tough man, but there again, you need to be tough in business. Success is most definitely NOT for the weak.

It’s also why Jeff just landed the biggest contract of his life -- one that will generate more income for him over the next four years, than some folks will earn in TEN lifetimes. And, according to him... he did it with my help.

Check out what Jeff has to say on this live video feed right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer

If you are still uncertain as to whether or not this group is for you, at a MINIMUM, the first step I’d encourage you to take, is to sign up for a fre.e trial of my OFFLINE Monthly Seductive Selling newsletter. This will give you about as best glimpse as possible into what you’re looking at and who I am. You can do this right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

And if this doesn’t make you sit up and think, then you should probably get a nice comfy job working for your local government office.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. That’s http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl -- be there. Aloha.

Now THIS Is Pure Kool-Aid Sippin’ Devotion

I’ll tell you what, those Starbucks fans are really sippin’ the kool-aid, for sure. You know, no matter how many times I hear that “people go to Starbucks for the experience”, I just don’t understand it.

Maybe I’m a retard or something, but WHAT experience? You get to stand on line for 20 minutes to speak a foreign language to get burned acidic coffee? Or, you get a cup of “glop” that has 1 ounce of coffee, cream, milk, sugar, flavor of the month, a trip to the dentist AND the cardiologist all in one!

Whoopee! Yeah, I’m the retard alright, but they’re laughing all the way to the bank, huh?.

Nevertheless, there I was last week, standing in Jim Jones house of coffee, right there on Dale Mabry in Tampa, when a nice young lady and her kid places their order ahead of me. I was here because frankly, there’s literally NOWHERE else to go for a cup of Joe, unless you want to go 10 miles out of your way to grab a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee -- which tastes INFINITELY better.

Anyway, this woman places her order in 15-words of javascript or less (Reminds me of when we used to go into the Chinese restaurant at night when we were high and had the munchies. I didn’t understand how “1 Egg Roll” could turn into something that sounded as long as the Declaration Of Independence, and I don’t understand how “coffee, medium” can get so twisted here at Starbucks either, but... like I said -- I’m the moron here.), and she also orders a “kids sized” beverage for her little girl.

She turns around to me and says, “Gotta get ‘em started early so they can drink Starbucks when they’re older.” A Starbucks addict passing the addiction on to her kid. I was going to call child protective services, but it slipped my mind in all the confusion of ordering.

Truly, she was a Nielsen ratings pop-culture dream.

Then, two days ago Anne comes home with a little pink container-sized coffee travel mug -- looks more like a coffee sippy cup. Says it’s the “kid sized” cup for Sammy, so when they go to Starbucks she can get the kids sized beverage.

I really am retarded.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Tomorrow is the very LAST day to get this month’s Seductive Selling Offline Newsletter and the INCREDIBLE interview I did with a WORLD-WIDE motivational speaker who grew up as a stutterer and was diagnosed as learning disabled on top of that. How did he overcome THAT? Find out AND get $1,391 Dollars worth of FRE.E Bonus gifts just for trying it.E right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

PPS. Make sure you listen and call-in to my new Radio Show, The Seductive Selling Marketing Hour For Entrepreneurs, starting THIS Thursday at 1pm Eastern Time. Go here for details: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssradio

You CAN Live Like This, But Who The Hell Wants To?

Some people, no matter how successful they are, spend their entire lives cloaked in poverty consciousness. I often see a lot of these folks at various seminars.

Dripping with success, yet living their life as if they’re just getting by, week-to-week. Nickel-and-diming absolutely every decision they make, sleeping peacefully at night knowing they’ve gotten the “best deal” possible.

Here’s an example of a very successful guy, whose lead you most definitely should NOT follow. Ingvar Kamprad founded a company back in 1953, which today has 230 stores in 33 countries and 90,000 employees.

As the owner of Ikea Furniture stores, Kamprad can do and own anything he wants, yet... he still flies coach, takes public transportation, and haggles with local merchants where he lives in Lausanne, Switzerland. He doesn’t wear suits -- too costly -- yet once-in-a-blue moon, he’ll splurge on himself and buy a nice shirt.

He’s also a die-hard penny pincher, a recovering alcoholic, and he once was involved with the Nazi party. His philosophy is “How can I lavish myself with luxuries and ask others (in his company), to be penny-wise?”

True, but there’s a HUGE difference between lavishing yourself with luxuries, and buying a suit for goodness sakes. Sheesh! You don’t need to be able to quote chapter and verse of “Think And Grow Reech” to know this.

It’s the feelings of unworthiness and undeserving that prevent people from enjoying their success, nothing more. Calling things like flying first class a luxury when you’re the CEO of a $12 Billyun dollar company, is like saying buying soft toilet tissue is a luxury as opposed to buying the stuff that scrapes your booty like a shovel scraping snow off concrete when you use it, but it’s 50% cheaper.

At some point, things go from being luxury items, to being “normal.”

Like I said, you CAN live like this, but who the hell wants to? You certainly can’t take it with you, and you don’t get bonus points for being thrifty. BALANCE is key.

Ingvar’s way out of balance.

And don’t fool yourself here - don’t mistake having a good “work ethic” with having “scarcity mentality.” The two are mutually exclusive, even though for some reason, a lot of people have difficulty separating them.

Look, getting a good deal is important. This is business, after all. But... what’s your time worth to you? And at some point, if you really are who you say you are, and you’re really experiencing the success you say you’re experiencing, getting a good deal on the price of your copier toner, really shouldn’t matter, no?

Only TWO DAYS LEFT to get your hands on this month’s Seductive Selling Offline Newsletter where you can discover an IDIOT-PROOF way even a backwards man or woman can use to name their business or service, which will position you as THE authority, in Example 5. Try it FREE right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Make sure you listen and call-in to my new Radio Show, The Seductive Selling Marketing Hour For Entrepreneurs, starting THIS Thursday at 1pm Eastern Time. Go here for details: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssradio

Do NOT Read This Unless You’re Interested In My Mastermind Group

Last week we had our first quarter Mastermind meeting, and frankly, new testimonials, feedback, comments and “thank you” messages have been pouring in ever since. The truth is, I have a hard time keeping up with them at this point.

Since it’s INFINITELY more important what other people have to say about me (except my ex-wife), than what I could ever say about myself, and since my office is now getting at least a few inquires every week about the group, this weekend I’m going to share a few of these comments with you.

I recently posted two videos along with a few other comments from some of my members. But before I tell you where to see them, here are just a few of the things they had to say:

“I truly feel that this first meeting will allow me to more than triple my income this year.”

“...if you have anyone who is sitting on the fence about joining your program, feel free to give them my phone number and I will gladly talk to them.”

“I only wish I had met you sooner.”

“...a life changing event occurred for me in that very moment.”

If this is the kind of experience you’re after, then mosey on over to http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer right NOW because in a case like this... better to be 6 months too early... then spend the rest of your life regretting you were even one minute too late!

If you are still uncertain as to whether or not this group is for you, at a MINIMUM, the first step I’d encourage you to take, is to sign up for a free trial of my OFFLINE Monthly Seductive Selling newsletter. This will give you about as best glimpse as possible into what you’re looking at and who I am. You can do this right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Just FOUR Days Left to get your hands on this, forevermore! Discover an IDIOT-PROOF way even a backwards man or woman can use to name their business or service, that will position you as THE authority, in Example 5 of this month’s Seductive Selling OFFLINE Newsletter, by trying it FREE right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

This Really Was A Magical Moment.

14 Years ago today, I had my first date with my wife. We went out and had dinner and a couple of drinks, and talked and talked and talked until 3am. We necked in the front seat of my car like teenagers, listening to music and giggling.

It felt like time was frozen, and yet, at the same time, the entire night passed by faster than any other night I’d ever had in my life.

I can honestly say that the time I spent falling in love with my wife, was BY FAR, the most exciting period of my life. Every day was incredible. Not just some of them, but all of them. Obviously, no one can re-create that EXACT same experience, because it is so unique, but since that time, we’ve managed to do lots of other things to make sure we’re always “in love,” because this is important.

This really was a magical moment, something some people never get to experience, and I’ve experienced it and burned it into my brain so deeply at every level, that I get to “almost” re-live it whenever I want.

I’ve been very very lucky in that we’ve shared loads of other magical moments together over the course of the last 14 years, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we make loads more memories for all our family over the next 14 and many many more.

Starting right now.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. What I DIDN’T Do On My First Day With My Wife: Just FIVE Days Left to get your hands on this, forevermore! “Only $97,000 To Watch Me Smoke Cigars... Belch... And Drink Coffee!” See for yourself what I’m talking about on page 4 of this month’s Seductive Selling OFFLINE Newsletter, by trying it FREE right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Monster Love: Real Controversy Or Simple Discomfort?

In this month’s OFFLINE Seductive Selling Newsletter, I talk a lot about reality TV and its impact on your marketing and on the marketing persona you need to portray, if you’re looking to communicate with your prospects successfully.

The other day though, I read about a new reality show that’s cloaked in controversy.

It was first called “Monster Love”, and then the powers that be dubbed that too racy, so the name was changed to “Love at Second Sight.”

The show is basically a dating show, only instead of pairing some smokin’ hot babes with a magazine-model looking hunk who’s sporting a six-pack of abs; this show is a dating program that matches up men and women who are physically disfigured.

Yes -- this is W-A-A-Y outside the box here.

And while the producers claim the point of the show is to “remove” public prejudice about folks like this, there are a lot of other things that need to be noted.

For starters, the amount of “public” prejudice (at least in the short-term) against visibly disfigured people WILL probably be reduced. But others will say “Sure, but these folks are making spectacles of themselves.”

So what? ANYONE who goes on a reality show makes a spectacle of themselves, whether they’re disfigured or not. Should you penalize someone who’s disfigured from voluntarily doing the same thing? That’s BLATANT discrimination, isn’t it?

You can see then, why this show’s raising such a ruckus -- for “some” reason, maybe because it’s just not something you regularly see, or have to think about or deal with -- this just doesn’t seem to be as straightforward as you’d like it to be.

Perhaps the answer is to do nothing. Let the marketplace be the determining factor about the show’s success - just like it pretty much determines the success of everything else.

How do you feel about this issue? Post your comments to my blog at http://www.kingofcopy.com/blog

P.S. “Only $97,000 To Watch Me Smoke Cigars... Belch... And Drink Coffee!” See for yourself on page 4 of this month’s Seductive Selling OFFLINE Newsletter - try it FRE.E right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

An Open Letter To Every Non-Believing Skeptic On My List.

Let’s face it: when it comes to “marketing”, everyone’s a supposed “expert”, right?

So, what winds up happening is, in the end, you get hit with so many messages every single day... so many choices... and so many chances to order something, it’s a lot easier to be safe than sorry, and simply choose “delete”, “delete”, “delete” as your “final” answer.

Sometimes this is a good move.

But other times, this is a foolish move, because in a few cases, you simply “don’t know... what you don’t know.”

I say this because many people on my list are wondering whether or not there’s something worthwhile in my Offline Newsletter, Seductive Selling. After all, you get so much information and so many copywriting lessons (or so you “think” you do...) in my weekday online newsletter, how could there possibly be more behind the “subscriber wall”?

Good question. And, it’s one you definitely deserve an answer to.

And the plain truth is, I can sit here until the cows come home telling you how wonderful it is, but in the end, it’s not going to mean much.

However, this morning, my office received an e-mail from one of my members that may just put things into perspective. The e-mail was sent from Chris Dimitris out of Richmond, Virginia, and here’s what he had to say:

“Dear Craig,

I am a new subscriber to your Seductive Selling newsletter. As a small independent used car dealer, I need every advantage that I can get, going up against the big franchise dealers. I read about you on Jeffrey Gitomer's e-zine, when I purchased his Little Black Book Of Connections.

I want you to know that I was very skeptical of your newsletter at first, but decided to give it a try, anyway, since I am a big fan of Jeffrey's. I can honestly say that I am very glad that I did so!

Just the other day the AutoTrader representatives came to my dealership to tell me that I'm 'Da Man! They even took me to a very expensive restaurant for lunch!

The reason? My on-line shopper click-on rate has averaged 7.11% in the past two months, since I started using and applying your methods. If you are wondering what the industry average is... it's 2.5%!

I told them that if I divulged my secret, that I would have to kill them afterwards! How did I do it? How did I become an overnight sensation in my field? I did it by using bold, compelling, and irresistible headlines that incorporated your seven elements of good advertisement copy! By the way...I studied my competition, relentlessly, and I found that even the large franchise car dealers write the worst ad copy on the planet. I am totally convinced that my 6 year-old, Nikolas (aka Niko), could do a much better job than 90% of my competitors! I don't think they even spend one minute thinking about how to differentiate or stand out. In fact, I am personally challenging you to read some of their on-line ads at Cars.com or AutoTrader.com! You will be amazed! Craig, this field is in dire need for someone like you! But, it is my sincere hope, that they do not become SSNL readers! That way I can keep attracting more customers to my website, and ultimately, my dealership!

My only regret is that I didn't sign up, sooner! It really has turned out to be a terrific investment!

Warmest regards, Chris Dimitris - Richmond, VA”

Now I’m no math whiz, but if I punch 7.11 divided by 2.5 into my calculator, the answer comes out to 2.844. And in the real world, that means Chris is getting 284.4%, or nearly THREE TIMES as many leads (which again, in the real world, should translate into three times as many dollars in your pockets) as before.

So now you tell me if this offline Seductive Selling newsletter thing is a good idea or not?

And now you can test-drive Seductive Selling for fre.e! And since there are only a few days left in January to get this month’s bang-up issue -- perhaps the best one yet -- you’ll also get $1,391 Dollars worth of bonus gifts, just for trying it out. So check out http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl right NOW, or be filled with regrets, later. And then you only have yourself to blame.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. That’s http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl -- be there. Aloha.

Why Knock?

This morning, I was upstairs in my office working, when suddenly I heard the dogs barking. I knew this meant either someone was at the door or one of the neighborhood dogs was walking outside past our house.

Sure enough, someone was ringing the doorbell.

I came downstairs and noticed a white van had pulled across the street from our house. (There’s a 20-acre forest across the street -- no homes.) Presumably, the guy outside my doorway -- casually dressed in neatly pressed jeans and a medium-length green waistcoat -- was the driver.

He introduced himself and said he was an arborist and a tree-trimmer and that he had a job that got cancelled in the area and he wanted to fill the slot. Also, since it was off season (which it is, for tree-trimmers) and he was slow, his prices were 50% off and would I want to take care of my trees and get a good deal on it.

He began talking about the one tree near the side of my house and how he could get rid of it and all, and that if I let him around the back, he’d fix the place up.

We’d just had a few trees removed, and some trimming done recently, so I knew exactly what he did and how much it cost, so unfortunately I wasn’t a prospect for this fellow, but I went along with him just to hear his pitch.

There were a bunch of smart things this guy did.

First of all, he came to a qualified prospect: we have loads of trees and in this area, especially during this time of year; the place is very messy and “feels” like it needs tidying up.

He made me an offer: 50% off. Doesn’t matter if it’s real, just matters if I THINK it’s real.

He gave me specifics about what he does.

He also told me a very believable story and presented it very matter-of-factly. He did get a little pushy with me so this compromised his story somewhat. Remember, especially with strangers, be consistent or else your credibility and how much they trust you, is blown.

If he’d have shown a little more scarcity, maybe saying something like, “You have cypress trees. I have the top cypress tree expert here in Hillsborough County on my staff, but he’s really booked. Not sure if he can get out here...”

This would have IMMEDIATELY increased my demand for his services (assuming I was interested in the first place.) Remember, you always want more of what’s not easily available.

If you think door-to-door sales is for amateurs, that you’re “too good” to do this, then you are the fool. Here’s why:

I have two clients in my Mentoring Group - http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer - who are leading experts in their field and who’ve been VERY successful at this. Patrick Precourt, from Connecticut does this and his average transaction value is $27,000 a pop. Robert Brown from Maryland has done over 2,000 door-knocks, and his average transaction value is a little lower at $20,000.

After hearing this, and after spending some time with Pat and Robert, another member of the group, Tom Keill, said he’s going to start using this technique right away.

Cool, huh? Nothing really left to say after this, except...

“Ding-dong.”

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. “How To Get Your Prospects To Buy, Without Selling!” Discover for yourself on page 6 of this month’s Seductive Selling OFFLINE Newsletter, and get $1,391 Dollars worth of FREE gifts, while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

A VERY Sneaky, But Highly Effective Way To Sell Under The Radar

Yesterday I almost fell for a sales pitch that was very cleverly done. Here’s what happened:

Over the course of any given month, I probably have my hands on 20 or more newsletters, magazines, or some kind of “subscription” based publications.

One of these newsletters is about “trends” and consumer preferences, and it comes monthly. For some “strange” reason, about 5 months into my subscription, I suddenly received an issue of a sister publication, about licensing.

This isn’t something I have any interest in, but because I am who I am, I did go through all the material inside, just in case one of my clients could use the information, and to get a handle on any kind of marketing they might be doing.

Turns out, they enclosed a very ‘soft-sell’ order form, referencing my paid subscription to their sister newsletter, and telling me about a special offer.

Now appreciate that the kind of people who subscribe to BOTH of these publications, are the kinds of people who are information junkies. They study LOADS of data, and have a number of piles of stuff gathering dust around a variety of places in their homes and offices.

Most of these folks don’t necessarily pay close attention to detail and they have SO much going on all the time, they don’t even pick up any of the issues they get until several months later. (I’m not too bad -- but mostly because I can’t take the feeling of “being behind.”)

I have a large 6-foot table up here in my office, with several neatly organized piles spread around it, and I also have a “current” reading pile down near my kitchen table on a decorative chair who’s actual “seat” you haven’t seen since the day we put it there, at which point it became a table for my “stuff.”

So anyway, a month goes buy and I get a second issue of the licensing newsletter -- this time with an even “softer sell” coupon to subscribe.

But the following month is when the sneaky little buggers started working their mojo. Yesterday I received a “Continuation Notice” for the licensing newsletter subscription. It’s basically a subscription notice / bill and on it, it says, “To continue receiving... return the bottom portion of this notice with payment. Or for faster service, call...”

Now had I not been alert, and frankly if I’d had any interest in the subject matter, I would have completed the form and mailed it right in, to “continue” getting my subscription, simply because I’d have thought this was one of the magazines I receive regularly.

Is this deceptive?

Well... it depends. It’s deceptive in the sense that you didn’t ask for the newsletter, and it’s not likely you’re going to notice this, but no one said you did, any more than you requested that phone call in the evening from one of the local newspapers asking you to subscribe.

Here’s the rub though: Unless you’re REALLY on top of your game, you’re going to think you ARE receiving this magazine as part of your “repertoire”, simply because you’ve been used to getting it regularly.

Sneaky, yes. But it’s effective.

Frankly though, what you need to think about isn’t how effective it is on a one-to-one basis -- it’s all about the numbers. Are your ROI and your continuity rate enough to keep this kind of a marketing campaign included in your overall customer acquisition mix?

That’s what you should be thinking about, and that’s what you should be evaluating. NOT whether or not it’s sneaky. That’s an ethical question you have no way of answering, because it requires you to presume your client’s wherewithal and competency levels, as well as their desires.

And neither one of us is qualified to do that.

Agreed?

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. “How To Get Your Prospects To Buy, Without Selling!” Discover for yourself on page 6 of this month’s Seductive Selling OFFLINE Newsletter, and get a handful of VERY unusual bonus gifts, while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

I Can Go Longer. Does This Mean It’s Working?

So here I am about 7 or 8 spinning classes under my belt. I no longer feel like my lungs are going to explode after 10 minutes -- in fact, I don’t really start looking at the clock and wishing the classes were over until 30 to 35 minutes into the whole deal.

Instead of focusing on just “getting through”, I try and sit next to some of the better spinners in the class and look at what they’re doing, so I can get motivated, and so I can be challenged. If I’m challenged and sort of “competing” with the guy (or gal) next to me, I definitely won’t feel like quitting the race or giving up, no matter how spent I am.

Also, when you’re competing with someone, it raises your standards, your performance levels, and your expectations of yourself, and this is really the only way you’re going to start setting benchmarks you can live with and start accomplishing things you need, to achieve the level of success you want.

No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, this is generally a good formula to stick with - working with people who have already been where you want to go, and who can REALISTICALLY raise your standards -- and frankly, it’s why all the members of my Mentoring Group had such an incredible experience in last week’s two-day mastermind meeting. I’ll be updating you with a few specific stories about these folks this week, because what THEY are accomplishing in their lives is really tremendous. You can get more information on my Mastermind and Mentoring Group, right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer

What are you accomplishing?

On page 6 of this month’s Seductive Selling OFFLINE Newsletter, you’ll discover the formula that answers this question: “How Can You Get Your Prospects To Buy, Without Selling?” Test-drive it FRE.E and get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber!

Why Teens Crack.

According to a study conducted by well-known study experts MTV Networks, 57% of 16 to 34-year olds are unhappy with “the way things are now,” and over half are “stressed out.”

Ironically, the more industrialized countries like Japan, the UK, America and Germany, have far less happy teens than less developed countries like Mexico, Argentina and Indonesia. Now I’m no shrink, but this goes to show you that the more you have... clearly, the more you want.

Most kids (although there’s no way you can call a 34 year-old a kid), are stressed out about things like getting a good job and figuring out what they’re going to do when they grow up (Shit, I still haven’t got that one nailed down myself.)

Some are concerned about their image, some about their popularity, others about (this is amazing) “owning the right brand”, and ALL of them, oddly enough, listen to music to cope with their stress.

Not surprising that this is the conclusion of the MTV study. If I was doing the study, the conclusion would probably be that to relieve stress, most people watch the DVD’s in the Seductive Selling System - http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

One reason young folks are so stressed out is because they’re concerned about their financial future. They think they’re going to make less money than their parents, except in the lesser-industrialized countries where they think they’ll make more.

I’m not sure if you took this study 15, 25, or even 35 years ago, that you’d find any different results. Human nature really doesn’t change, and although cultural differences may broaden and narrow themselves over time, or temporarily through events or experiences that may occur, people today don’t act or RE-act any differently than your parents or grandparents may have acted.

And THIS is the thing you want to focus on when you’re selling. Not whether your web page should be green or yellow, or do you use times new roman or arial fonts. When it comes to persuasion, you’re massaging emotions first, so keep that in mind.

*****
FREE: Test-drive my OFFLINE newsletter Seductive Selling, and get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars here, while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl*****

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

Are We Ever REALLY ‘Ready’?

Today and tomorrow I’ll be meeting with my Mastermind and Mentoring Group here in Tampa at the Grand Hyatt. I really enjoy these meetings because I get to see a great group of VERY motivated entrepreneurs moving forward with their businesses -- and with their lives, and this is not only rewarding, it’s also very inspiring.

One of the things I know will come up, is the fact that some folks will, for a variety of reasons, be delaying their progress because in their mind (“their” being the key word here), they don’t feel “ready” yet.

I’d like to suggest that feeling ready is something that doesn’t exist. You can’t “feel 100% ready” for success, anymore than you can feel “100% ready” to...

Have surgery...

Get married (my first marriage failed)...

Start a business (my first 2 failed)...

Have children (had my first at 26)...

Travel to a new country (I didn’t travel to another country until I was 29)...

Fly on a plane (I didn’t fly until I was 21)...

Own a home (not until I was 34)...

Get involved in a mastermind or coaching program...

Or even try to patch up old relationships that have gone south.

You either WANT something bad enough, or... you finally believe deep inside of you that you DESERVE it, and this is what makes you “ready.” Simple as that.

It’s not like the “ready fairy” is going to come along and give you a “thumbs up” on the ready thing, and it’s not like you go to Walgreens and insert your arm inside the “ready” cuff that signals you now’s your time.

So don’t look for outside signals. Instead, look for inside signals or just fight like hell until you get what you want. But don’t wait to be ready. For most things, death will come before “ready” will.

And that’s not good.

Earlier this week, we had our monthly Seductive Selling Coaching Call. We spent a little over an hour talking about a variety of strategies and techniques -- even “tricks” if you want to call it that -- to keep yourself focused on what it is you’re trying to do, and so you can overcome any obstacles that may get in your way.

Another thing I discussed, was I revealed a lot of personal things I had to go through as a kid, and how they held me back as an adult, and what finally “broke the dam” and allowed me to accomplish my own goals as well.

You’ll get this call free, along with the transcript, when you order my Seductive Selling System right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.
*****
FRE.E: Get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars here, while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Chew On This, Spud

Here’s a few interesting facts to chew on and discuss during your day:

* Did you know men are more than twice as likely as women are, to get up and crawl down to retail stores by 4am to try and get bargains the day after Thanksgiving?

Duh! That’s because women don’t know how to program VCR’s and TIVO’s. Now if Bed Bath and Beyond and Target opened up at 4am, you’d have a different story altogether.

* According to consumer company Proctor & Gamble, given the choice, 35% of women would remain 21-30 years old forever, 29% would stay 31-40 years old, 14% would stay 41-50 years old, and 9% would be 51 or older.

Yeah, but 90% of men would wish their women would stay 21-30 years old forever. (I think I’d actually keep mine at her current 44.)

* Talk about a slack adjuster!: Apple owns only 6.1% of the computer market, but... 70% of the digital music devices market. Holy Cow! I just switched over to a Mac and I’ll be setting it up sometime this month, so I’ll let you know how this goes.

* According to the AMA, patients over age 65 are more likely to remember to take their medication when they have to pop it out of a blister pack than when it is in a pill bottle. This makes perfect sense actually. After all, how many times have you gone through someone’s closets in their bathroom and seen dozens of half-empty blister packs lying around?

Not often, right? Proves the survey’s right.

* And lastly, did you know that New York City used to have an “official greeter”? It’s true! Grover Whalen used to greet all the dignitaries and celebrities visiting The Big Apple from 1919 to 1953. In 1954, after they officially unionized, he was replaced by the guys who play 3-card Monte on street corners after rush-hour starts.

Next, chew on this:

*****
FREE: Get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars here, while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl
*****

Then go sell something, Craig Garber

6 Months In Heaven, Or 6 Months On The House

Top dating site match.com, is now offering a killer guarauntee as incentive to get new customers to sign up. They’re saying, “We’re so sure you’ll meet someone special within 6 months, that if you don’t, we’ll give you 6 months free.”

There are a few cursory rules that go along with this -- all of them very reasonable, like... you must create a truthful Match.com portrait with a primary photo and keep it visible to the public... and you must either respond to, or initiate email communication with at least 5 Match.com members each month using the Match.com service.

Both of these, as well as a couple of other ones, are controllable and verifiable by match.com, to weed out any weasels who may try and pull something on them.

Now for you skeptics, pull your head up out of your rear for just an air-freshening moment and looky here and see what’s goin’ on. Let’s say EVERY single person who a sign up for an account, turns out to be a deadbeat, and winds up getting 6 month’s worth of free service. So for argument’s sake, let’s say each NEW person who signs up is only worth 3 months of revenue for match.com, instead of twelve.

Ridiculously conservative and absurd numbers of course, but humor me for just a moment here. Do you realize how many NEW people will sign up with a completely risk-free offer like this? And do you also realize that EACH ONE of them, represents revenue that match.com would NOT have had without this guarauntee?

When you look at it like that, this seems like a no-brainer, now doesn’t it?

See, unlike the dating business, the marketing business is driven by numbers, NOT emotions. And even though you may “feel” queasy about offering something like this for yourself, your “feelings” about this don’t really matter. The ONLY thing that matters are your results.

And backing up your deal with a promise like match.com has done, makes signing up with you a VERY easy decision for your prospects to accept.

O.K.? Make sense now? See, daddy won’t steer you wrong.

In fact, what if I told you I’d guar-un-tee you’d be $10,000 fatter, at a minimum, if you invested just $997? Doesn’t this sound good to you too?

If your answer is a very WISE yes, then get your buttocks over to the Seductive Selling System web page and get your hands on it NOW, because that IS, in fact, the promise I make you. So put your money where your mouth is and take a big bite, bubba. Oh, and by-the-way -- do it this morning, because the monthly call takes place this afternoon, and it’s gonna be a DOOZY! Get it right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive
*****
FREE: Get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars here, while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl
*****

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

6 Months In Heaven, Or 6 Months On The House

Top dating site match.com, is now offering a killer guarauntee as incentive to get new customers to sign up. They’re saying, “We’re so sure you’ll meet someone special within 6 months, that if you don’t, we’ll give you 6 months free.”

There are a few cursory rules that go along with this -- all of them very reasonable, like... you must create a truthful Match.com portrait with a primary photo and keep it visible to the public... and you must either respond to, or initiate email communication with at least 5 Match.com members each month using the Match.com service.

Both of these, as well as a couple of other ones, are controllable and verifiable by match.com, to weed out any weasels who may try and pull something on them.

Now for you skeptics, pull your head up out of your rear for just an air-freshening moment and looky here and see what’s goin’ on. Let’s say EVERY single person who a sign up for an account, turns out to be a deadbeat, and winds up getting 6 month’s worth of free service. So for argument’s sake, let’s say each NEW person who signs up is only worth 3 months of revenue for match.com, instead of twelve.

Ridiculously conservative and absurd numbers of course, but humor me for just a moment here. Do you realize how many NEW people will sign up with a completely risk-free offer like this? And do you also realize that EACH ONE of them, represents revenue that match.com would NOT have had without this guarauntee?

When you look at it like that, this seems like a no-brainer, now doesn’t it?

See, unlike the dating business, the marketing business is driven by numbers, NOT emotions. And even though you may “feel” queasy about offering something like this for yourself, your “feelings” about this don’t really matter. The ONLY thing that matters are your results.

And backing up your deal with a promise like match.com has done, makes signing up with you a VERY easy decision for your prospects to accept.

O.K.? Make sense now? See, daddy won’t steer you wrong.

In fact, what if I told you I’d guar-un-tee you’d be $10,000 fatter, at a minimum, if you invested just $997? Doesn’t this sound good to you too?

If your answer is a very WISE yes, then get your buttocks over to the Seductive Selling System web page and get your hands on it NOW, because that IS, in fact, the promise I make you. So put your money where your mouth is and take a big bite, bubba. Oh, and by-the-way -- do it this morning, because the monthly call takes place this afternoon, and it’s gonna be a DOOZY! Get it right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive
*****
FREE: Get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars here, while this offer’s still available: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl
*****

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

Where's The Passion, Where's The Fire? Snuffed out.

A few days ago, my son’s high school wrestling team had a meet here at home against another local team.

It was a very close competition, our guys losing by ONE match, at the very end. One of the things I noticed was that during the closest matches, the other team was up and cheering their guys on along the outer edges of the wrestling mat. They were screaming for each other to win supporting one another and supplying each competitor with energy and passion.

I saw how energized these guys were, but when I looked over to our team's bench, the guys were stoic. Lying back on their chairs, not saying a word. It was almost as if each of them had already checked out of the match long before it was even over, and if you didn't know any better, you'd think something was seriously wrong with them.

I know almost all the kids on this team and they are a great group of boys, so I figured something must be wrong.

I mentioned this to a few of the parents, to see what their take on things was, and one of the comments I heard was that the coaches don't let the boys cheer each other on. I was astonished at the utter absurdity of what I was hearing -- this couldn’t be true, right? -- so at the end of the night I asked one of the coaches, in a non-confrontational way, what the deal was about this.

He told me that since it's hard for the kids to hear him coaching them during the match and since they "don't listen anyway", he tries to keep it quiet on the sidelines. Now I don't pretend to be an athletic genius, but I do know a little bit about competition and success, and something is VERY wrong here.

For starters, when you’re out there wrestling, you can’t hear your coach or anyone else for that matter. You’re in the heat of the moment, focused on your match. All you can hear is a global “yelling” from the stands.

But suppressing the emotional excitement of your athletes and performers -- especially when they’re kids -- is like dousing the roaring flames of your fireplace with cold water. You wind up wasting loads of energy that can ordinarily be put to good use.

Seems silly to me.

But lo and behold, at the end of the New England Patriots playoff game last night, a penalty was issued against them for "taking their helmets off and jumping up and down in celebration."

So it seems like this “being happy” stuff, is going by the wayside.

Yes, sports are about winning, the same way business is about making money. But if the thrill of victory, or at least the energy that goes into creating the thrill of victory, isn’t celebrated and is instead suppressed, we’re headed towards a society that’s not only stunted, but dangerous.

The LAST thing you ever want to do is suppress emotions, especially in our kids. This is why our prisons are filled to the brim with socially and emotionally immature adults.

Your passion is the foundation of ALL your relationships, business and personal. Why snuff that out?

*****
Don’t worry, there are NO suppressed emotions in my OFFLINE Seductive Selling Newsletter, and you especially do NOT want to miss the article on page one, called... “Deal Me In, Hotshot!” So check it out right now, by taking a fre.e test-drive here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl
*****

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. THIS JUST IN! My Mentoring and Mastermind Group, is meeting here in Tampa this Thursday and Friday. You are too late to get in this quarter, but you can still apply to this group and change your business (and therefore your personal) life.

Here’s a VERY satisfying e-mail I received from one of the group’s new members, Robert Brown: “I've got a new client coming to my house tomorrow afternoon and is paying $1,797. So you see I really do listen to the things you tell me. What a revelation.” A few months ago, Robert was chasing clients down, schlepping all over town to meet them, and NOT charging fees for his services. So, Robert’s made more in one transaction than it costs to belong to my group this month. How much will this be worth to him over the next year?

How about the next 5 years? How about over his lifetime?

And how much is my advice worth to you? Or an even better question is... how much are you losing each moment that passes by, from NOT having access to me?

Check out http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer and find out for yourself. It really is up to you how far you go.

Or, how far you don’t.

A Curious Story About The Mayonnaise Jar & The Two Cups Of Coffee

This story came to me from one of my coaching group members, Bill Bowman from Apex North Carolina. I think you’ll like it -- especially as an uplifting way of closing out your week.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle... when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

Here’s the deal: A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full, and the students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

The professor them produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

Now, said the professor, as the laughter subsided, I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things. Your family, your children, God, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions. And if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

And the sand is everything else. All the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. And the same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of your golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities -- the rest is sand.

One of the students raised her hand and asked what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, “The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem... there’s always room to sit down and have a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

Good advice, don’t you think?

If you want more info about my Mastermind & Mentoring Group, check it out right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer

On page 9 of this month’s Offline Seductive Selling Newsletter, I reveal the HUGE upswing in your life that comes from “time off” -- something I learned a hard lesson about recently. Check it out and take a fre.e test-drive subscription, right here -- so you don’t make the same stupid mistake I made, and suffer the same stupid consequences: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl
Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Looks like my Seductive Selling Radio Show will be delayed a few more weeks, stay tuned for more info.

How To Pollute Your Brain: Why The Newspaper Sucks

About 18 months ago when we moved from our house just outside of Fort Lauderdale, to our lake-home here just outside of Tampa, I began reading the local paper again.

I’d stopped for many many years, but I wanted to get a sense of “what’s going on” here in our new home area, and I figured, what better way to do it than by reading the Tampa Tribune?

I usually skipped the “main” section and instead read things like the business section, and the metro and local sections.

No more.

Here are some of the headlines in today’s metro section:

“State Pays Up To Treat Jailed Mentally Ill”

“Dead Boy’s Dad Arrested On Drug, Gun Charges”

“3 Charged In Girls Death. Drugs likely involved in the 17-year olds slaying, police say.”

“Police Suspect Deadly Shooting Was Self-Defense”

“Friends Tell Of Last Times With Torture Case Victims”

I could go on and on here, but I think you get the drift. Mind you, this section is only 8 pages long, and Tampa is a much safer “city”, then... let’s say New York, Los Angeles, and certainly Miami.

I can’t take even THINKING about events like this happening, let alone actually reading those articles (which I would never do). Letting stuff like that get into your head, is the same as letting dirty water get into your bathtub -- you can’t really scrub yourself “clean” with dirty water, and you certainly can’t keep your mind “clean” with negative thoughts inside of it -- even if they’re just lurking in the background.

And even though the universe rewards ACTION, and not thinking... since your actions are 100% guided by your thoughts, why not do EVERYTHING in your power to eliminate anything negative from creeping inside those thoughts?

There’s no shortage of negative energy out there, you’ve got to work to avoid it -- but this “work”, and if you want to call it that (I call it survival.) -- is critical to your success AND your mental health.

So, I just re-subscribed to USA Today, where I can get the pulse on the American public, without all the torture and shooting in tow.

Take Time Off -- You DESERVE It!: On page 9 of this month’s Offline Seductive Selling Newsletter, I reveal the HUGE upswing in your life that comes from “time off” -- something I learned a hard lesson about recently. Check it out and take a fre.e test-drive subscription, right here -- so you don’t make the same stupid mistake I made, and suffer the same stupid consequences: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Looks like my Seductive Selling Radio Show will be delayed a few more weeks, stay tuned for more info.

Is Bill O’Reilly’s Head COMPLETELY Up His Ass?

I know a lot of people like Bill O’Reilley. And I know this posting will offend many of his fans, but frankly...

I don’t care.

This isn’t about conservative versus liberal... “left-wing” against “right wing”... justice against corruption... AFC versus NFC.

Not at all.

Nonetheless, what I have to talk to you about is something that’s near and dear to many of my subscriber’s warm masculine hearts.

Today I have to talk to you about... boobs.

Not just any boobs, but women’s boobs.

Nothing lofty like religion or politics, just boobs. (Sorry, but underneath this savvy marketing veneer, I’m just a shallow, hormone-raging cigar-smoking guy at heart.)

Here, check this out: While discussing the results of a recent poll on his radio show on December 19th, O’Reilly’s co-host was mentioning that the poll showed 62% of all Americans will have a Christmas tree this year, but that most of the trees will be artificial.

O’Reilly’s response to this incredibly dull and mundane information was: “Yeah and here’s something they didn’t poll, but I know -- that most women who like artificial trees have artificial breasts.”

I’m offended by this comment. Why is he being so judgmental here? It appears that O’Reilly’s trying to imply that women who have fake ta-ta’s are shallow and artificial, like fake Christmas trees, and this is simply NOT true. (And no, my wife is au natural, so this isn’t personal.)

Sheesh, you don’t need to be a statistical sampling genius, or an expert in quantum physics, to know that boobs and artificial Christmas trees are completely unrelated.

Or am I the one missing something?

I rest my case, and I’d like to suggest that in the future, if Mr. O’Reilly wants to insult an important subset of America -- perhaps even the bedrock of what makes America simply GREAT, right now in the year of our Lord 2007, that he gives a little forethought to what he says before he opens his big fat mouth.

Look, no boobs -- just a BIG set of brass balls -- in this month’s Offline Seductive Selling Newsletter. Test drive it for fre.e, right now, and get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars, while this boobalicious offer lasts: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

*****
Now go sell something, Craig Garber

A $48.53 Stupid Mistake I Regretted

Of all the mistakes I’ve made, this one I should have known better, because there were too many signals ahead of time about what was to come.

Last weekend, Anne and I went out to dinner. We hadn’t been to this place before so we figured we’d give it a try. It’s a local steakhouse and it’s been in town for a long time, plus, the parking lot is always packed so we thought it would be “safe.”

Bad thinking on our part.

For starters, when we were seated, they put us into a room that felt like a cultural time-warp “reality show.” Most of the men there had big giant bellies, covered up by overalls or some other kind of sans-a-belt pants -- all of them with worn polyester suspenders tucked over their shoulders holding them up.

Long untrimmed beards and wispy threaded pony tails coming through the backs of baseball caps were definitely “in” in that room. Polyester collared shirts (mostly yellow and grey) were all the rage that night as well.

A few of the hillbilly’s were “dressed up.” They had on polyester shorts or “Dickies” with sneakers and black socks pulled up high -- just underneath their knee caps.

The women looked very similar to the men actually. They were dressed like women but sort of “gender repellant” if you want to call it that. Hair up in buns, all screaming at their kids (none of whom listened), usually they talked and yelled a lot while they were chewing their food, so this wasn’t too seductive.

The gals too, had the hillbilly theme going as well. No suspenders -- but the same kinds of polyester shirts, mostly with horizontal stripes though, no solids. I guess that’s a gender differentiation, if you want to call it that, stripes versus solids.

The hillbilly room frankly didn’t matter much, but it was a leading indicator of what was to come, just like new home sales is a leading indicator for how well the economy’s doing.

Where the mud really started sliding down the side of the mountain was when our drinks came out. I ordered a Margarita and it was God-awful. How can you screw that up?

Anne ordered a Vodka drink -- like Vodka with OJ or something like that -- and still again, bad bad bad. If you can’t mix two liquids together, or if what you’re mixing tastes that bad, it’s time to go.

But we were tired and didn’t feel like going anywhere else. We wanted the easy way out.

Bad thinking on our part again.

Leading indicator number 3 was the fact that the prices on the menu were CHEAP.

W-A-A-Y too cheap for me to be sitting there eating. “Cheap steak” means “bad steak.” It’s like when you see a sign for “cheap lakefront property.” It means there’s a swamp for sale and you can plop your crappy trailer on it and fit in just fine.

The final blow was that even the appetizers were awful.

By that time, we were just in it too deep to bounce out of there. We were too vested in our stay, time-wise, and of course when we left (a very short 20 minutes later, with our plates still filled with food sitting in front of us), we were both frustrated at ourselves for sticking around so long.

The price we paid to eat -- about $50 bucks, was nothing compared to the price we paid wasting our time by not being decisive and by taking the easy way out.

Look, the bottom line is that there really is no fre.e lunch, and you really DO get what you pay for.

Like success, the price you pay to stay in your comfort zone and take the easy way out, may SEEM “cheap”, but it is always FAR greater than the price you’re going to pay to ultimately get what you want and go where you want to go.

The old adage of “you get what you pay for” is true, and equally true is that you also DON’T get what you DON’T pay for as well.

You most definitely DO get what you pay for though, when you subscribe to my Seductive Selling Offline Newsletter. For example, this month I’ll tell you why at $97K, you’re getting one HELL of a bargain, to hang out with me and watch me belch. I kid you not! Just check out page 4 -- and if you act now, you can actually test-drive your subscription for fre.e, AND get $1,361 Dollars worth of bonus gifts, right here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl
Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Listen to my Seductive Selling Radio Show, premiering January 11th on WorldTalkRadio.com

Do THIS, And ONLY This -- And That’s It. O.K.?

This past weekend, I spent Saturday morning checking out the very first show of this year’s Ringling Brothers And Barnum & Bailey Circus season’s tour, with my wife and daughter.

It was nothing shy of fantastic, and you’d never know this was the show’s first stop, because from my perspective, everything went off without ANY glitches, and all the performers (human and animal) were incredible.

It was somewhat nostalgic being there -- not because I saw the circus as a kid -- but because we’d taken my sons to the circus years ago, long before Samantha was born. Now, they were off doing things which had a higher priority in their teenage lives, and the circus was just for “little kids.”

Ahhh... the joys of aging, right?

Since the circus perfectly illustrated several metaphors and examples of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, I’m going to be talking about some of these lessons during the week.

Before we get on with the first lesson though, I wanted to share with you a video testimonial I received over the weekend. I was flattered as I watched this, and you can check out the video either on this web page: http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer or on today’s blog posting right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/blog

Now let’s talk about success.

I hate rules, but there are a few critical rules you MUST observe and adhere to, if you want to get everything you can out of your business and out of yourself.

See, I was watching the circus very intently, and one of the most impressive aspects of the show was... while one act performed in one area of the ring, there were as many as several dozen assistants, either breaking down an act that had just finished, or setting up for the next act.

This all went on mostly in complete darkness, and every person involved did a separate task. There was no confusion here about who did what. One person hoisted pulleys... another fellow cleaned up some of the “pooh” left from the animals that performed... and still another person wheeled in or dragged out some kind of equipment the next act needed.

They all worked in tandem together, and this made it all possible.

But you know what I didn’t see?

Here’s what I didn’t see: I didn’t see the guys who walked on the high-wire tying all their props up near their wires... I didn’t see the clowns setting up their stage... and I didn’t see the AWESOME trapeze artists stringing up their nets and swings either.

You know why?

The answer is simple: You should ONLY be doing those things you do best -- and frankly, those things that make you the most munney.

For instance, in my business, the things that make me the most munney, are creating, writing, consulting and coaching, marketing, and thinking. And even though I still have to do some other tasks outside of this realm, that are sort of ancillary to getting each of these things done (like speaking to clients on the phone, or setting up a meeting with a JV partner), you’d better believe I focus almost 100% of my time on those 4 or 5 things, period, and that’s it .

I’m not answering phones (unless it’s to speak to a client on a pre-scheduled call)... I’m not making photocopies... and I certainly not posting all those entries into QuickBooks either.

Doing ANY of these things slows you down to a crawl. It doesn’t let you use your energy to focus on the things that get you closer to your goals, allowing you to increase the quality of your life and of your family’s life.

Now don’t get me wrong. There was a time when I did ALL of those things and much much more! And let me be the first one to admit that I hung on to doing LOADS of things, far too long. I hung on because of a combination of fear of the unknown, fear of spending munney to have someone else do it, and PRIMARILY because I wasn’t ready to step up, and when you’re not ready to attract success, you basically stick any two-bit chore in front of you as an excuse for why you can’t break through that invisible glass ceiling you’ve barricaded yourself underneath.

Oh, and in case you’re still at the “afraid of paying someone else to get these things done” stage -- rest assured, this will probably be one of the wisest investments you ever make. You see, as you start focusing all your attention on more important tasks, your earnings can’t HELP but go up, because... as Earl Nightingale said in “The Strangest Secret”, “Thoughts... are things.”

You become what you think about, and Lord knows you think about the things you spend the most time doing.

So take a lesson from the worker bees at the circus, and work the asset that’s the most valuable asset you have -- and for most people reading this, that’s the space right between your ears that controls all your marketing activity -- or not.

The choice is yours.

Here’s ANOTHER critical lesson I spill the beans about! In this month’s OFFLINE Seductive Selling Newsletter, you’ll discover the Valuable Lesson I Learned, By Doing “Nothing”, and you do NOT want to miss this -- it will impact your life forever, and as you know, I don’t make statements like this very often. Test-drive it NOW, for FREE, and get $1,361 Dollars worth of bonus gifts before this offer’s gone: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl
Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Listen to my Seductive Selling Radio Show, premiering January 11th on WorldTalkRadio.com

Dwight Miller - Listen to his experience with Craig Garber from kingofcopy.com!

Here's an unsolicited video story I received from one of my members. What's your story going to sound like? The choice is yours.

Even Betty Crocker’s Doing IT

When you think of Betty Crocker, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

If you’re a baby-boomer like I am, “cooking,” right?

Old-style traditional cooking -- mom wearing an apron while hustling around the house, in between her cleaning and shopping chores, and fussing over her hubby’s meals is probably what you’re picturing.

But today’s Betty Crocker isn’t like this at all. No siree. She’s one hot seksy smart momma who knows a thing or two about making a few Benjamins.

Apparently, Betty’s in touch with her buyers and with her marketplace. She’s targeting a HUGE variety of buyers using different marketing strategies to reach each segment of the marketplace. (And if you’re not doing the same thing, you are only capturing a very small sliver of your market.)

For example, she’s now got:

* A blog for newbie cooks.

* Online entertaining tips for people throwing or hosting parties.

* An updated edition of her classic “Betty Crocker Cookbook”, now in Spanish as well as English.

* A special “Adult Industry” cookbook for those people who really like to “spice it up.”

Just kidding on that last one, of course.

If Betty Crocker’s doing it, then you need to be doing the same thing -- carving up your marketplace into niches and then sending out niche-specific messages to them. You simply can’t eat the whole elephant -- no matter how hungry you are. You need to break it up into little pieces and then digest them one at a time.

A VALUABLE Lesson, now yours pain-free: In this month’s OFFLINE Seductive Selling Newsletter, you’ll discover the Valuable Lesson I Learned, By Doing “Nothing”, and you do NOT want to miss this -- it will impact your life forever, and as you know, I don’t make statements like this very often. Test-drive it NOW, for FREE, and get $1,361 Dollars worth of bonus gifts before this offer’s gone: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Listen to my Seductive Selling Radio Show, premiering January 11th on WorldTalkRadio.com

What Dick Clark Doesn’t Have A CLUE About!

I remember as a kid growing up in New York City, it was always such a thrill to watch Dick Clark broadcasting on Channel 7 ABC, directly from Times Square. And even though it’s not so thrilling any more, and Dick’s probably seen better days, New Years Eve is always exciting.

This New Year’s Eve, my wife and daughter fell asleep and my sons and I got to “watch the ball drop” together. It’s not often I spend time alone with the two of them nowadays, and I think they enjoyed it just as much as I did, and this is good -- makes ANY evening memorable, let alone New Year’s Eve.

But while most people are VERY familiar with what goes on in Times Square, did you know there are a whole SLEW of other seemingly bizarre celebrations going on around the world to ring in the new year?

It’s true!

For example, in South Africa, it’s customary to throw refrigerators, beds and trash bins out of tall buildings. (You know, I read this in an article that cites Wikipedia as a reference, but somehow this is just W-A-A-Y too stupid to be true, right?)

In Greece, they make a St. Basil’s Cake, which has a gold coin hidden inside. Whoever finds the coin is supposed to have a new year filled with good luck. (Or a broken tooth.)

In the Philippines children jump up-and-down at midnight to make sure they will grow tall. Now with all due respect, they’d better make this a weekly event, since most of the Philippine folks I’ve met are FAR south of even 5-foot 10.

In Iran, they serve “Ajileh Moshkel Gosha”, which means “problem-solving nuts.” (I won’t touch that one with a ten foot pole. Literally.)

In China, they celebrate by shooting off loads of fireworks.

In Japan they celebrate by paying off all their debts so they can move into the New Year with a clean slate. Thank goodness Japan isn’t in the U.S. -- if it was, no one would be leaving last year.

In Ireland, legend has it that if the first person who sets foot inside your front door during the New Year is a dark-haired man, then you’re in for good luck... if it’s someone whose “eyebrows meet above his or her nose” (over here we just say if it’s someone with a uni-brow), then watch out! And if it’s my ex-wife and her lawyer, slit your wrists!

And lastly, in Venezuela, some folks believe wearing yellow underwear on New Year’s Day brings good luck. Here in America we call wearing yellow briefs something else.

Anyway, the point is there’s lots of things’ going on out there in the world. And lots of cultural customs and behaviors that may seem unusual to you, but are totally normal to others who live with them.

You can apply this as a marketing lesson as well, and the lesson is, “You are not your customer.” And you are also NOT your prospect, so unless you REALLY know what you’re doing, making decisions about your own marketing, and not taking a significant amount of input from others (who either DO know your marketplace, or who ARE your marketplace) is the very LAST thing you should ever do.

Outside of throwing beds out the window on New Years Eve of course.

Look at how your business -- and especially how your communication comes across -- from your prospects point of view and with an open mind. It will be an eye-opening experience for you if you do it right.

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To kick off YOUR new year, this month’s Offline Seductive Selling Newsletter has more content in it than any other issue I’ve EVER published. So take a test-drive of it NOW, for FREE, and get $1,361 Dollars worth of bonus gifts along with it, before this offer’s gone: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl
*****

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Listen to my Seductive Selling Radio Show, premiering January 11th on WorldTalkRadio.com

How To Get EVERYTHING Done In 2007

Yesterday I revealed a couple of reasons why some people are always getting stuff done, and why others seem to sit around watching the world pass them by. For most people, life is what John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

The strategies we talked about were:

One, setting a deadline for whatever it is you want to accomplish. Without a deadline, a goal is nothing more than an “open wish.” A deadline makes it real.

The second thing you need to do is reward yourself for accomplishing your goal, OR... even better, deny yourself something for NOT accomplishing it. Rewards, especially DENYING rewards, are VERY powerful motivators.

One of my Mastermind and Mentoring group members, Jeff Pettitt, from Kent, England, sent me two MORE strategies that are CRITICAL to your success.

Jeff said, “Hey Bronx Boy, Everyone and their mother is at the gym on January 2nd. It's the amount of times you go in December that counts. It's called persistence.”

And Lord knows he’s right. Jeff knows about success and performance. He used to be a professional referee in the FA (Football Association), which means nothing to us over here, but is a VERY big accomplishment over in England, and in fact, it’s well-regarded all over Europe.

So add “persistence” to your list as well. If you think you’re going to get it right on your first time out, you are SORELY mistaken. Things take time, and your ability to “hang in there” while you’re developing or while you’re making your mistakes, is critical to your success.

When you’re frustrated, days often seem like months, but in the end... the warm feelings of “You hung in there and YOU DID IT!” make all that pain go away. Here, listen to what Jeff said:

“Just back from my lunchtime session at the gym. Oh and I went exactly 100 times last year. So I'd add "record your successes" so you get that smug feeling that says I'm doing it.”

And this is very true.

MEASURING yourself and your performance ALWAYS (if you’re a competitive person) lets you accomplish more. That’s why they time athletes when they’re running, for example. If you know you’re being measured, you’re going to want to measure out at the top.

I’ll give you a VERY simple illustration of how this impacts you all the time. Yesterday afternoon, I was working out in the gym with my son Nick. We decided to finish up our chest workout with a few sets of dips.

I figured I’d do a few sets of 6 to 10 reps each, but before we got on the dip bars, there was a guy doing them ahead of us. He was a big guy, outweighing me by at least 30 pounds, and he knocked off 12 dips.

I counted them. I MEASURED them, and therefore I now had to measure up against them.

Of course, now that I was being measured against him, I banged out 13 reps nice and evenly. Had I not been measured against something (in this case, against another guy), I definitely would have done less.

So put in some kind of standard you need to beat, or some kind of barometer you can consistently put yourself up against, and you will SURELY get much closer to accomplishing whatever it is you want. And you’ll also find out, how badly you really DO want it in the first place.

If you’d like to try and hang out with winners like Jeff and myself, and REALLY hold yourself accountable and be measured, then apply here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/maverickmarketer
*****
FREE: Get a handful of VERY unusual gifts worth $1,361 Dollars here, before this offer’s gone: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl
*****
Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Listen to my Seductive Selling Radio Show, premiering January 11th on WorldTalkRadio.com

Dateline: 5:21 am, January 2nd 2007

Why is it that some people never seem to get moving on things, never seem to make the kind of progress they want, while others make more progress than seems possible?

Today I’m going to tell you a little secret how they do it, and how YOU can do the same thing in 2007, if you put your mind to it and use these two tricks.

I’m pulling into the driveway of my gym at 5:21 am this morning, hoping for a great spin class workout, but wishing I was still in bed underneath the warm covers next to my wife.

But by 6:17 when I’m walking out, as out of breath and fatigued as I’ve ever been, I’m glad it’s over and I’m glad I made the effort to get in there. I’ll be back later on to hit the weights with my son. He’s got another day off before school starts back up, so we’ll be training together later this morning.

Not a bad way to start off the New Year, right?

Now here’s something you’ll probably find hard to believe. It has to do with getting the government to do something that’s almost unheard of, and that is -- taking FAST action on something.

22 years ago today, in 1974, amidst a crushing fuel shortage (Remember those long lines at the gas stations?); President Nixon signed a bill requiring the states to lower the maximum speed limit to 55 miles per hour.

The White House said all states now had 60 days to “fix a maximum speed of 55 miles per hour on all highways,” subject to certain exceptions.'"

Any state that didn’t achieve this directive by the 60-day deadline was going to be cut off from ALL federal highway funds - not something easily overlooked or desired.

Oddly enough, all states complied.

And therein lies not one, but TWO lessons about getting stuff done. One, set a deadline. A goal without a deadline is like an “open wish list” -- maybe it gets done... but maybe it doesn’t get done. No deadline means no pressure.

And two, give yourself a reward for accomplishing your goal -- or, even better -- give yourself a penalty if you don’t accomplish it. For instance, I’ve got to complete my Seductive Selling book this month, or ELSE!

If I finish it, the reward is that I’ll be able to use it to generate more leads than I can shake a stick at, in offline space ads and direct mail -- and if I don’t finish it, I’ll be screwed because my schedule gets out of hand after this month, for at least the next two, but probably three months.
The pain of NOT getting the book done will be far greater than the pain of getting it done, and the truth is, that is an IDEAL situation if you’re looking to accomplish something.

Motivation comes from penalty as much as (or usually more) than from pleasure. I’ll be talking about this some more on this month’s Seductive Selling Coaching Call as well. (You get to participate on these calls if you own the Seductive Selling System: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive )

As a side note, once the energy crisis was over, the government hung on to the 55 mile an hour speed limit because they felt highway deaths dropped with the lower speed limit. In 1995 though, President Clinton signed a $6 billion road bill that ended the federal 55 mph speed limit and gave power to the states to set their own limits.

Zoom, zoom, zoom.

FREE: Get a handful of VERY special gifts, worth $1,361 Dollars, here: http://kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Listen to my Seductive Selling Radio Show, premiering January 11th on WorldTalkRadio.com