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Stuck? Unstuck. A Lifetime Of Homework.
Dear Friend,
Today I have a simple message, but if you're serious about becoming successful, it will hit you like a cold shower first thing in the morning after a long night out partying.
In fact, if you really have that BURNING DESIRE Napoleon Hill referred to in "Think And Grow Rich", it's a message that will kick you in the rear and get you moving faster than marching orders from General George S. Patton Jr., himself.
If it doesn't, then you just don't have that burning desire. And that's O.K. -- it doesn't make you a bad person or anything -- but it DOES prevent you from moving upwards in your business, and therefore in the rest of your life as well.
Like it or not, that's just how life works.
Here's the deal: In 1984, George Haylings published his semi-autobiography called "A Lifetime Of Homework: The Autobiography Of An Entrepreneur And His Imaginative Enterprise." (good luck finding it)
Haylings was a "small" direct-mail operator, who ran his business out of his home in the mountains in Northern California. He loved the lifestyle his business afforded him, especially the long walks through the cool crisp mountain air of Big Bear Lake, his 3 Laborador retrievers tagging along.
Haylings started selling information just after he got out of the service, and when it comes down to it, what he spent his lifetime doing was selling informaion to "dreamers". He didn't make a "killing" doing it, but he made enough to live in a nice home up in the mountains and he spent as much time as he wanted with his wife, and in the end, he left a lifetime of customers behind.
Most of the clients I work with are also interested in spending time with their partners and enjoying outdoor activities, but they also DO want to make a killing in business.
Anyway, back to Haylings. Haylings sold what he referred to as "treatises", which is just a fancy name for "Special Reports".
Some of the titles he sold between 1946 and 1960, included:
- Vacations Unlimited: A Retirement Kit Comprising Plans, Data and Secrets Dealing With Early, Successful Retirement...
- Profitunities, A Most Unusual Book...
- Easier Ways To Easier Dollars...
- Little-Known Ways To Lifetime Profits... and,
- Hidden Dollars
Haylings typically used small classified ads to generate leads, and then he'd mail out a long-form sales letter to get the sale.
Because he was so prolific, and because he was around so long, many of his customers became repeat customers, and he was also able to rent out his lists as a way of generating additional income over time.
Most of his material uncovered a variety of ways for budding entrepreneurs to make money, describing different money-making ideas and schemes.
Here's an idea taken directly from one of his books. You'll notice some of the more outdated prose from the period of time he was writing in (late 40's, early 50's):
"Picture Napkins - One girl sells an imprinted napkin but it doesn't carry the usual imprint. These napkins have the imprint of the owner's home, thereon. She makes a drawing of their home from a photo and prints the napkins from a cut made from the sketch. These caught on so well that she is now imprinting a line of napkins with sketches of known landmarks and buildings. These could be turned out in larger quantities and the local department stores and gift shops take just about all she can turn out. Her mother and father are now pitching in to help her with this project."
As Haylings says, what you're selling here is "a dream... some hope... and a lot of inspiration."
And you want to know why you're mainly selling dreams here?
The answer is simple. Oddly enough...
Virtually NO ONE Will Ever Take Any Action And Do ANYTHING With All This Information They're Buying!
And there are generally three main reasons why this happens:
One: You're afraid of taking risks.
And when it comes down to it, you will NEVER make any SERIOUS money at all, unless you get over this fear. Even if you're working in the corporate world, if you want to move up the corporate ladder, you're going to have to take risks sometime and in some way.
A lot of people say they're not "ready" to make a move because they feel the "need" to do more research or be "better" prepared, but in reality this is their way of logically rationalizing to themselves why they're still "stuck", when the real reason is because they're afraid of the unknown.
Which is sad, because when it comes down to it, the actual consequences of you failing at something (if you do fail), are usually pretty close to zero, outside of lost time and a few dollars, which, if you're like most people I speak to, is what you're doing now anyway: Wasting time and not making enough money.
Also, if you think about it, if people planned and waited this much to have children -- until you were finished "preparing" -- the population growth rate would be negative, I'm sure of it.
Two: You're too cheap.
Sorry to be so blunt here, but most people are too cheap to take action, and ultimately they're hurting themselves becaue of this. Instead of looking at money you're laying out as an investment in yourself, that you'll make back many, many times over -- most people are too busy trying to weasel out something for nothing.
And in life, you really DO get what you pay for, so this truly takes you nowhere.
Oh, and if you look at your "cost" as an investment in yourself, the other thing people struggle with here, is when you do this, you place the responsibility of "return on your investment", squarely on your shoulders, which is W-A-A-Y too much for many people.
However, blaming your financial advisor when your portfolio "investment" goes down, seems to comes easy to you.
Wait a minute -- something's wrong with this picture.
Three: You've got scarcity thinking.
This one is completely devastating and of the three, is the most difficult to get over, because it comes from years and years of bad programming, listening to the WRONG people, and looking at things from the wrong end of the financial win column.
Think about it: Believing money is the root of all evil isn't going to do anything but act as success repellant, because why would you strive so hard to do something you inherently are staunchly opposed to?
Thinking you were meant to struggle all your life and that only "the rich get richer" is a long and excruciatingly painful lifetime recipe for "sidelines success" -- you'll always be the cheerleader, never the star athlete.
This is horrible, because all this scarcity crap is just stuff you've got in your mind, and not even reality. The past is the past and what's done is done. Stop looking in the rearview mirror so much and start facing forward when you're driving -- after all, that's where all the traffic is, anyway.
Look, the joystick's in your hands, and you can play the game however YOU want to, the choice truly is yours.
Here, let me share a story with you that shows you exactly what I'm talking about.
Late last year, I received a fax that was simply BURSTING with energy. It was from a very successful guy in the health and fitness industry, who had a great story to tell, a seemingly fantastic outlook on life, and he said he was HIGHLY motivated to get into the information marketing business. He said at his age (48) he was sick and tired of trading time for money because he knew his earnings were limited this way.
(And by-the-way, I receive MANY faxes and e-mails similar to this. This one in particular though, seemed filled with potential.)
This man was happily married, his wife was 100% behind him, and he was RARING to go.
And also, because he'd reached a recognizable level of success in his field, he had the financial wherewithall to invest in himself, and start an information publishing powerhouse.
Honestly, it was one of the most compelling faxes I'd received in a while. This man said he was willing to listen to anything I told him to do, because he knew in his heart of hearts, I was "THE MAN" who could take him to the promised land, fastest and swiftest.
And I certainly am.
I was very encouraged by his man's spirit and energy, and I told him to get the ball started, he just needed to book some coaching time with me - http://www.kingofcopy.com/coaching - and we'd get rolling straight-away right after the first of the year, ready to explode out of the starting gate like a rocket-ship.
I never heard from him again after that.
I was so very disappointed for him because his potential to be the next guru in his industry, was HUGE. He had ALL the markings and necessary skills to transform himself into somebody really recognizable, and fill his life with dreams, thrilling experiences, and security, far beyond even his wildest imagination.
Oh, except for one important thing he was missing:
Balls.
His simply weren't big enough.
He was either afraid of taking risks and making a leap of faith... he was too cheap... or else he had scarcity programming and felt too much out of his comfort zone when it came time to taking action and potentially living in abundance.
Who knows, maybe he bailed out because I told him he needed to make an investment in coaching time - http://www.kingofcopy.com/coaching - although why he would think anyone would ever give out rock-solid high-level advice, expertise, and experience for free, was beyond me, but if I had all the answers to all these questions, I'd be the King Of All Answers instead of just the King Of Copy, right?
Now appreciate, if he ordered coaching time or not, or even if he became a client or not, my ability to spend time bass fishing out back behind my lake-house... or to grill up some filet mignon this weekend... or to take Anne out to dinner on Friday night... or to take our next vacation this summer... isn't going to be impacted at all. This isn't about me.
It's about what this poor bastard's doing to himself by freezing up like a deer in headlights, prolonging his own frustration and agonizing over this, FAR beyond the slight initial discomfort he might have, if he actually started taking action.
Think about the levels of success you'll never reach, the brass ring always one inch away from the tips of your outstretched fingers, if you're continuing to plod along through life this way.
Now let me tell you about another guy I know. He doesn't have two nickels to rub together. He lives at home with his mom, he's got a full-time day job he's just paying the bills with, and he's already made a go at a few direct-mail promotions on his own -- none of them meeting with any success.
But he's got great passion and a burning desire to succeed.
Now this young fellow -- in his early 20's right now -- could easily sit and piss and moan about what he's done so far, staying discouraged and dwelling on all the "failures" he's already experienced, giving up right now.
But instead, he called me and explained his situation and told me something like "I know I'm close. I KNOW the answer I need is out there somewhere, and I don't want to give up until I get my hands on it, no matter WHAT kind of a price I have to pay."
Then, this kid turned around and invested some money in an hour of coaching. He put it all on his credit card and in fact, he even had to make two separate credit card payments to do this, and after his second lot, he scheduled his time with me.
Now I don't have a crystal ball or anything, but I'd be willing to bet that by the time this young man is 30, he will have been a millionaire at least one or more times, and if he keeps his head screwed on correctly, he'll probably be a multi-millionaire with several different business ventures supporting him all at the same time.
Oh, and yes, he'll also definitely have a few more failures under his belt, too, but that's all part of the game. Even the Yankees lose the World Series once-in-a-while, but you never remember your losses, nearly as much as you savor your wins, now do you?
The difference between these two men is profound. Far beyond their physical characteristics, their age, industry, or their demographics.
You see, one realizes he's stuck and needs some help, and will do ANYTHING in his power to get it. The other is afraid of getting help because it may actually get him "un-stuck".
Strange, isn't it, how these things work?
Which side of the marker are you stuck on?
Now go sell something,
Craig Garber
Any comments?
Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them -- I appreciate your feedback!
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| “Craig Garber is America's top direct-response copywriter. Join the ranks of Garber's swelling list of global VIP's who subscribe to his unconventional weekly marketing moments, and discover how to dramatically boost your sales and improve the response to your sales copy, on his website at http://www.kingofcopy.com. Copyright © Craig Garber. All rights reserved.” |