Dan Kennedy - March 2007

March 2007

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Dan Da n Kennedy’ s

MARKETING LETTER How-to strategies, examples, News, opinion…a seminar in every Issue.

MARCH 2007 IN THIS ISSUE Lucky Charms for every business owner

What To REMOVE From Your Customers’ Experiences With You, To Dramatically Increase Your Income BILL GLAZER’S Outrageous Advertising  A Money Mo ney Tri Trick ck A Lepr L eprech echaun aun Wou Would ld Lo ve

When is a Deadline a BAD idea Direct-Mail Example Of The Month: Al Gore’s Mistake

YANIK SILVER’S Internet Marketing From The Trenches RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES CALENDAR with Important Up-Dates & Additions THE BIG LESSON: The Direct-Mail ‘Package’

RENEGADE MILLIONAIRE Back Page: How To Be Lucky IMPORTANT SPECIAL INSERT

May those who love us, love us And those that don?'t love us, may God turn their hearts. And if He doesn?'t turn their hearts May he turn their ankles So we?'ll know them by their limping Old Gaelic Blessing

Happy St. Patrick’s Day/Month . As a kid, the trek downtown to sit on a wall, with a bag of White Cast

burgers, and watch the parade with my father was a big deal. A year I recall when we could not go due to

blizzard, feet of snow, bad roads – well, I remember it because not going was such a loss. When I was drinker, this was a very big day for me. On St. Patrick’s Day I always switched from Scotch or vodka Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey. It was a day calendared well in advance, protected from any activity that mig require sobriety. It was important. Not so much now. It’s a reminder that few things sustain grave or gre importance for us, in our lives, over a lifetime. Something your whole life revolves around during o decade becomes completely unimportant, goes away altogether, or is taken away and surprisingly n missed that much. For about a decade and a half, my life revolved around speaking. Now I do it hardly all, turn down nearly all invitations outside GKIC, and it has no importance to me whatsoever. There a other things just like that, I could say the same things about. We should still take most things seriously, b not life-or-death seriously. Missing that flight, being late for whatever, annoying or embarrassing people not being there, well, it is serious at the time and would be better avoided. But anyone who still remembe it five years later, you’re better off without. At the moment I write this, it appears that Britney Spears h completely self-destructed and the TV pundits are pronouncing her career dead; her next stop a guest sh on The Surreal Life. Maybe, maybe not. The idea that there are no second acts is not borne out by fact How quickly most have forgotten that today’s hottest property, Donald Trump, was not that long ago havi all his loans called, on edge of bankruptcy, financially embarrassed, a pariah in the investment communit of little interest to the public, and pronounced by pundits as all washed up. Britney could be all done; b she’s young; this could be but a blip in a long career, looked back on 20 years from now as nothing mo than an incidental “youthful indiscretion.” Who will that be up to? Her. In this month’s Renegade Millionai Back Page, I address “luck”, good and bad, random and manufactured. If you would like to be more lucky, tell you how. One of the many goals I have for this Letter is to straddle a big gap successfully; to provide “instant mone for impatient folks of short sight, who need to judge value in terms of quick, directly measurable results; b also to provide insight, strategy, story, example that have long-term implications, that build sol foundations for longevity and sustained success. This Issue puts both on the table. You need two forks.

4 REMINDER ...

The Gold and Gold+ Inserts are now being delivered each month with your Gold CD.

Don't Miss This! MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW FOR A “MYSTERY DATE”: September 29 and 30 will be something available to those who qualify FREE OF CHARGE which you will not want to miss o on. Details will be revealed at the SuperConference and in the April or May newsletter. Until then, nothing said other than o encouragement to put those days on ice and hold them available until you hear more. One little hint: this FREE gift could eas DOUBLE any business owner’s or sales professional’s sales without an extra dime added to advertising or marketing. Gold+ TeleCoaching Calls:

3/29 - Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer, “How To Increase The Results Of All Advertising”, 4/26, 5/31, 6/28. Note: I (Dan) participat in just about all the Gold+ Tele-Coaching Calls. Time: 1:00-2:30 PM EST. You can UPGRADE to Gold+ at dankennedy.com.

SCHEDULE: BILL GLAZER: Speaking: 3/19

Chapter Meeting for Cleveland/Akron and Columbus Chapters (combined meeting)

4/18

Chapter Meeting in Chicago

4/20-22

2007 Annual MARKETING & MONEY-MAKING SuperConference - to register: www.dankennedy.com

5/18

Loan Officer Success Insiders Seminar III and Mortgage Marketing Makeover Super Conference - contact Cheryl Foster at 410-356-5353, ext. 102, Fax 443394- 8566, Email: [email protected] OR [email protected]

6/8

Ben Altadonna's 2007 Marketing & Lifestyle B oot Camp, contact 925-743-3779 for details

11/1

Newly Updated A-Z Information Marketing Blueprint Seminar - Fax 410-825-3301 for details

11/2-4

2007 Information Marketers' Summit - Fax: 410-825-3301 for details

11/2-4 2007 Information Marketers’ Summit - Fax: 410-825-3301 for details 2007 Coaching Group Meeting Dates

Gold+ Peak Performers (with Bill Glazer and Lee Milteer): 6/4-5 and 9/17-18 Info-Mastermind: 6/11-12, and 10/8-9 Gold+ VIP: 3/12-13, 7/9-10, and 11/12-13

DAN KENNEDY: OPEN CALL-IN DAY WITH DAN: May 18th. Each caller who gets through gets 10-minutes for private, one-on-one coaching. For the uninitiated, you dial until you get through, akin to trying to be the 38th caller to a radio show to win tickets to Cher’s 112th farewell tour concert. You may or may not ever get through. Be prepared and make it productive. IMPORTANT WARNING: The phone number provided here is ONL

FOR THIS CALL-IN DAY AT THE LISTED TIMES. If you abuse the privilege and call at another time or day, your Membership will be terminated, and I’m not kidding. The number is provided to Members only. SCHEDULE: Gold+ Members and/or No B.S. Marketing To Affluent Subscribers Only: 7:30 AM-9:00 AM and 1:00 PM-2:00 PM. Gold and Silver Members: 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Platinum, Info-Mastermind VIP and Gold/VIP Peak Performers may call anytime  AND can call from 11:00 AM-Noon. NOTE: Al l  times are EST. Speaking The Most Incredible FREE Chapter Meeting Ever.  Coming to the SuperConference and Renegade Millionaire Day? Fly in early on 4/18 and attend The Most

4/18

4/19

Incredible FREE Chapter Meeting with Dan K ennedy and Bill Glazer both in attendance.

Renegade Millionaire Day - New this year, Dan PERSONALLY teaching the entire Day with in-depth show en tells from his private clients, Platinum Members and other selected entrepreneurs who demonstrate RM strategies. Call 410-825-8600

4/20-22

2007 Annual MARKETING & MONEYMAKING SuperConference - To register go to www.dankennedy.com and click on the link for the SuperConference. Hurry, there's still a $300

6/15

MiracleEar Franchise Owners' Conv, Florida

7/13

11/2-4

Dr. Tom Orent's Ultimate Dental Success Conference: PATIENTS, PROFITS AND POWER. A rare goutside GKICh speaking engagement for Dan, with a new presentation exclusively for Dentists. Boston, MA. For info, Fax 508-861-1550

2007 Information Marketersf Summit. The gathering of Glazer-Kennedy info-marketers and Information Marketing Association Members. Advance Registration HIGHLY Recommended. Fax 410-825-3301 for details.

Consulting

3-27 Clate Mask, Infusion Software, Loc. TBA* 5,6,7 Dates Not Yet Assigned (*Indicates Platinum 07 Consulting Day) (New Fee/Availability Notices. (1) Consulting Days/Services and Copywriting Services reserved, with rare exception, for Platinum Members. A certain number of days designated for consulting per quarter, first offered to Platinum Members – if any remain available, offered to individuals on Waiting List, with priority consideration Members of Glazer Coaching groups or VIP/Peak Performers. Fee to non-Platinum Members: $12,800.00 U.S. day. (2) Speaking: with rare exception, no speaki engagements other than Glazer/Kennedy accepted. In special circumstances where engagement, audience, etc. is of sufficient interest to Mr. Kennedy, fee is $12,800. U.S. plus private air travel cost RT Cleve., Ohio or Reston, Va.; average all-inclusive cost $20,800.00 to $23,800.00 U.S. No travel cost to clients with events in Ohio Reston, Va./Washington DC. Mr. Kennedy is available for a limited number of tele-seminar speaking engagements. (3) Referrals to other speakers, consultan copywriters personally selected by Mr. Kennedy are being made. Contact Vicky Tolleson @ Kennedy Inner Circle, Inc., Phoenix Office, Ph. 602/997-7707, FAX 602/2 3113. Also, Official Renegade Millionaire Experts profiled @ www.RenegadeMillionaireMarketing.com . (4) For placement on Platinum 08 Membership Waiting Li contact Vicky @ Phx. Office. These Notices supercede any out-dated information that may remain yet uncorrected on web sites or in other printed material.)

Coaching

Platinum 2007 Meetings: 3/20-21, 6/19-20, 10/16-17 Platinum Call Days*: 4/10, 5/15, 7/24, 8/21, 9/18, 11/20 (*Each Platinum Member has an assigned time slot for 07. If in doubt, contact Vicky.) Gold+Calls: 1:00-2:30 EST: 3/29, 4/26, 5/31, 6/28, 7/26, 8/30, 9/27, 10/25, 11/29, 12/20 GoldVIP/Peak Performers Special Group Calls: 4/12, 7/19, 10/11, and 12/7. All calls are from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST. (All GKIC Members and Clients are encouraged to participate in the Official Kennedy Study/Mastermind Groups and GKIC Chapter Meetings conducted by Certified No B.S. Business Advisors in cities in the U.S. and Canada. Directory @ www.DanKennedy.com )

CELEBRITIES ARE GOOD LUCKY CHARMS. More of my relentless nagging about this. Our friends at Boardroom Reports* did their first TV infomercial

their health books with a no-name host; had good results; replaced that host with retired ABC News host Hugh Downs and – whammo! – they have a v big hit on their hands, running constantly. Celebrities matter for non-profits too: EXHIBIT #1 is the back of the reply envelope, in which you put your donati to a charity I contribute to, TheSmileTrain (which provides dentistry to underprivileged kids here and abroad)….as you can see, there are six celebriti shown on the envelope endorsing the charity. Why six? Because six is better than five. Why there? Very smart, in my opinion. A person hesitant ab

donating, wondering about the credibility of this charity will be reassured. Donors may be motivated to up the amount of their donation too. We have j secured Art Linkletter for a client that Bill and I work with, MiracleEar®. Art will appear in the hearing aid company’s print ads, direct-mail campaigns, w sites, and on an audio CD; MiracleEar® has paid a fee, and will promote Art’s book for seniors. For this target demographic (60+), he’s perfect. The ot day, in a consulting session with a client who flew in from California to Ohio to meet with me for just 5 hours, I gave a single piece of advice re. one of planned projects with a high degree of difficulty: get a celebrity to use on the envelope. And he will. Most who get this advice, though, do not heed it, judgi it too complicated or too expensive. However, there are ways to attach yourself/your business to celebrities without paying anything for the privilege, and at least doing that is inexcusable. If you are a Gold+ Member, you heard a terrific discussion of this on the February call/CD with Joe Vitale (author of t P.T. Barnum book, ‘There’s A Customer Born Every Minute’ ; one of the 24 authors featured in ‘The Secret’ DVD), Bill and myself. (If you are NOT a Gol Member, pity, ‘cuz this discussion was worth a year’s price of admission.) And the reason you want to get in gear with your use of celebrities is….. *Brian Kurtz, Boardroom’s list wizard, spoke at last year’s SuperConference. THE PRINCIPLE OF ATTACHMENT . I just spent quite a bit of time discussing certain applications of this Principle at the Advanced Coaching/Consulti

Sales Boot Camp, but it has a place in every business and for every businessperson. Simply summarized, in your prospects’ and customers’ minds, you who you are with. If you can attach yourself, your business, your products or services either specifically (Dan’s Brand Of Diet Pills) or generically (diet pi made from Himalayan sea weed, which is in Dan’s Diet Pills) to celebrities, athletes, the rich and famous by even the thinnest of connections, you instantly more interesting , you are elevated in status, you have more appeal. And – this is very important – the more attachment, the better. You should constantly alert for any opportunity to hook yourself at hip to somebody more famous or interesting than you are. Do strive for legitimate connection, not j a photo where the celebrity appears to be trying to get away from you. Concurrently, be alert for celebrity or credible authority linked news stories you c link to and utilize. You ought to take note of how much of this I’ve done throughout my career and do today, all the different ways I do it, and how I h clients do it. DO YOU SUFFER FROM FREQUENT OR PERSISTENT ANXIETY? David and Lucinda Basset, long-ago clients, have made millions by asking t

question. It has broader appeal than you might think, because, it turns out, just about everybody is anxious and nervous and on edge about all sorts things. The media makes part of its living by hyping various “terrors” in order to keep us tuning in to the news programs – consider: Y2K; anthrax; bird f  how terrorists could poison our water supply; etc. John Stoessel just did a 20/20 program on ABC about everything people are worrying about in sizea numbers – in almost every case, hazards grossly magnified by their own negative imaginations. It was particularly interesting to see the unintend consequences – for example, that forcing by law the wearing of bicycle safety helmets by cyclists had increased the number of injuries and deaths rat than decreased them. (Emboldened cyclists rode more recklessly; motorists can be observed driving less cautiously around helmeted cyclists th unhelmeted cyclists. One of my hobbies is cataloging unintended consequences.)  As marketers, it’s important for us to remember that, while we may be confident, self-reliant, most others are not. Inside everybody, Woody Allen. They walking around in a constant state of high anxiety. Or at least low dose anxiety. And their ability to respond to us, send us money, make and ke appointments to come in and see us, buy from us, etc. rests on a continuum of “anxiety” vs. “confidence”; are they comfortable or not? In other words, t more anxiety you can remove from your customers’ experiences with you, the more attracted to you they will be . Many Vegas hotels have no Fl #13, because staying on that floor, staying in a #13 room, carrying a key with a #13 on it causes anxiety in gamblers. They may not want to admit it. Th may not ask to be moved to a different room for fear of sounding foolish. But they may gamble less or make a point of staying somewhere else next time town. Years ago, I determined the number one reason that prospective patients made but failed to show up for appointments at chiropractors’ offices w anxiety over the uncertainty of what to expect, so I invented a block of copy titled “Your X# Of Questions Will Be Answered During Your First Visit”, and some doctors literature added an illustrated presentation of what would happen step-by-step, with photos and captions. One good thing to remember is t people HATE not knowing where they are going (maps!) or what to expect or how they are supposed to behave or dress. They HATE looking foolish. Th HATE feeling confused. That’s why EXHIBIT #2  from Disney is such a brilliant little page. It has the restaurant reservations on it from our most recent st there. And with each listing, there is a sentence of directions, so that you know where the restaurant is. Of course, if you arrive at the Wilderness Lodge a do not know where Artist Point restaurant is, there are signs; you can ask the bellman or desk clerk. You won’t die of starvation wandering around lost th for the remainder of your life. But you do feel more comfortable having the directions, not having to ask, not feeling lost. This is a theme carried through Disney’s operations – from the maintenance folks sweeping up in the parks urged to be alert for anyone appearing confused and approaching them to he not waiting for them to ask; to Imagineers constantly re-tooling signage when too many people evidence even momentary confusion there. I ignore this at seminars, rarely putting out an agenda – simply telling everybody that they’re coming to work, we start Friday at 8:00 AM, we finish Sunday before midnigh what else do you need to know? But truth is, everybody’d be happier and feel better if they knew when breaks were, what was going on. So, if you want do some “ micro work” on your business, here’s a good place to do it: meticulously dissect everything, hunting for anything stated or omitte that might make your prospects or customers anxious. Err on the side of informing .  A TRICK A LEPRECHAUN WOULD LOVE . Leprechauns are constantly having to re-fill their pots at the end of the rainbow, and much prefer doing it w

trickery than work, so they’d love the sale of never-used, pre-paid services. To-date, 1 out of 5 gift card recipients (with cards from 05 and 06) have not us the cards, leaving $972-million in unredeemed dollars. 26% of the non-use is due to lost cards or expired cards. 50% “just haven’t had time.” This is call “breakage”, and countless businesses profit from it, even rely on it in different ways. Disney gets you to exchange your real dollars for “Disney dolla they’ve printed and, colorful though they may be, a $20 Goofy Bill costs about 3-cents to print. Each one that goes home unredeemed or forgotten i pocket, suitcase or drawer provided giant profit margin. The non-redemption of gift cards is double-edged sword. The sale of the 50-cent plastic card for $1 $25 or $100 is certainly very profitable. But, most of the time when cards are redeemed, more money is spent on that visit to the store or restaurant, and t business has a fresh opportunity to capture or re-capture that customer’s interest and repeat/frequent patronage, so there may be more lost than gained fr  non-redemption. I don’t know and can’t imagine how anyone could know. But if I had an appropriate business I might be tempted to redeem any expired card for $X, and use that as basis for a promotion.

The strategy questions it raises for YOU are:  (a) should you be selling pre-paid services or goods or both bundled?...(b) should that be in form of a car 

certificate?....(c) should the value expire over time or at an expiration date?....(c) should you relish the non-use or try to stimulate use? This can also be a form of free financing. Bob Stupak built his Vegas World (now: Stratosphere) hotel towers one floor at a time, using cash generated fr  the sale of pre-paid “Vacation Club” packages for $396.00. Delayed redemption gave him the equivalent of interest free cash to pay construction costs. non-redemption turned about $1 worth of paper into $396, a nifty “slack adjuster” to support full-page advertisements in everything from ‘Parade’ to ‘Playb Mortgaging future revenues to pay for current investment is a tricky business, but in the right circumstances, done cleverly, can be a breakthrough, as it for Bob. (*Source re. Gift Cards: Consumer Reports Nat’l Research Center) WHEN IS A DEADLINE A B AD IDEA?  Never. But good ideas can be badly executed, and turn something intended to create goodwill and repeat

purchasing into something that creates ill will. EXHIBIT #3  comes from the usually sure-footed marketers at 1-800FLOWERS. (Jim McCann, its CEO, spoke at one of our SuperConferences and delivered a brilliant presentation. Remember ... But they botched this.) This is a nice Thank You card I got after a purchase. And that’s cool, because I so rarely get thank you cards from anybody. Inside, the 15% discount voucher, which I set aside to use the next time I Expire dates and deadlines wanted to send flowers. Unfortunately the 7-31-06 expiration date is buried in 4-point invisible at the bottom of the should be big, bold, front and back of the voucher, unnoticed by me until I went to use it a few weeks late. (And, the Thank You Card arrived center, displayed early and early in July.) So I wound up irritated and, for spite, placed my next flower order elsewhere….even though I own often stock in 1-800-Flowers! Expire dates and deadlines should be big, bol d, front and c enter, displayed early and often.  In this case it should have been in the Thank You Card (big blank panel on left side!) and on both sides of the little voucher, as big as anything else. They hid it in fine print like a sleazy used car dealer’s contract, written by an equally sleazy lawyer. Weasels!  Apparently hoping for non-redemption. They’d be far better served trying for redemption. Direct-response is differentiated from image advertising by offers and deadlines, but keeping them secret sort of undermines the entire effort. And this is typically what you get if you entrust your graphics to bonehead ad agency types or artists fretting over aesthetics; beware them. DIRECT-MAIL EXAMPLE OF THE MONTH : I’m going to be very lazy and re-use EXHIBIT #1. And ask you to consider such ‘real estate’ as: the back of y

outer envelope; the back of your reply envelope; backs of order forms; and any other blank space. I can’t stand unused blank space. It is like paying taxes vacant land. It’s wasteful. Blank space never persuaded anybody of anything that I know of. What to do with blank space? Well, it’s tough to top testimoni whether from celebrities or your best customers. You can’t over-use ‘em or use ‘em in too many places. Almost everybody under-uses ‘em. It’s been wid reported that at the end of the last Presidential competition, the Gore campaign had $5-million or so in its account, unspent. Given the margin he lost many people were upset that every penny wasn’t used. Given the thin line between profit or break-even vs. loss in many direct-mail efforts, leaving sp unspent is just as dumb. My motto is: paper’s pricey, ink’s cheap. NEWS: JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE PARANOID DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE NOT OUT TO GETCHA!  Platinum Member Stephen Oliver and Gold+ Mem

Bill Burniece both sent me this doozy: a candidate for dumbest state legislator in all of America for 2007, Representative Sara Gagliardi, a Democra course, is planning to introduce a bill creating a statewide Do-Not-Mail List, modeled after the do-not-call lists. Consumers placing their names this list would be protected from all unsolicited mail, with fat fines levied on mailers….but with non-profits and politicians exempt, of course.

 A spokesman for the USPS objects, citing free speech, small business’ needs, and the thousands of postal worker jobs to be lost. He neglects mentioning thousands of other jobs in print shops, mailing houses, assembly shops employing the handicapped, all the way up to paper mills, and in the coffee sh and stores supported by the employees of such businesses. Ms. Gafliardi is a Democrat, though, happily ignorant of all ripple-outward ramifications of crusade to solve a non-existent problem, and, in truth, caring not one whit about protecting jobs; the Democrats need high unemployment for their agend Democrat Senator Schumer has previously proposed this nonsense for the state of New York and for the entire country. Perhaps Kucinich will suggest transmit our information by transcendental meditative brain waves, thus bypassing the need for mail altogether. It’s a shame such nutbags get elected, they do, in growing numbers, and silly as they may appear, they represent a real and growing threat . They all laughed at do-not-call but then it was l They all laughed at do-not-fax but then it was law. Laugh if you like at the spectre of do-not-mail and do-not-email, but ignore the stupidity of politicians l these at your peril. Should you wish to communicate with Ms. Gagliardi, you can – at the moment – legally e-mail her at: [email protected] Be sure to use big words and simple sentences. And remember, while she may make it illegal for you to send her any mail to sell her your services, sh preserving her right to send you her unwanted horseshit asking you to donate to her campaign. After all, we wouldn’t want the wheels of politicians’ mo raising to come off now, would we? If you live somewhere other than the Communist Republic of Colorado, you may want to be vigilant for this sort of asini and organize e-mail campaigns, petitions, etc. before it’s too late. When such a politician in your area surfaces, do as Stephen has done: contact all customers, all his vendors, his employees and their families and sound the alarm, encourage voting her butt out of office, encourage folks to send her eand other communication attempting to teach her Economics 101. Do NOT sit idly by on this one. And IF you think this assault on free enterprise is rando contained, you are wrong. It is orchestrated; it is representative of the liberal ignorance and philosophical bias; and if America gives these children controls, a wreck is certain. In the meantime, specific to m ail, e-mail, phone and fax: yo u MUST make it TOP PRIORITY to RACE to bu ild, buil d, bu build your list(s) of people from whom you have express, signed permission to communicate  – because the day’s fast approaching when that will the big advantage or fatal disadvantage owned by each business. Better not laugh this one off.  A brief historical reminder, attributed to Martin Niemoller, a German Protestant pastor who spent years in concentration camps: “In Germany, first they ca for the Jews. I was silent. I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists. I was silent. I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionist was silent. I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me. There was no one left to speak for me.”  Ah. First they came for the smokers, and many w

glad and others did not care because they did not smoke. Ah. First they came for the telemarketers, and many were glad and others did not care, for no in their family worked as a telemarketer. And then they came for….

Outrageous Advertising That’s Outrageously Effective By Bill Glazer 

What it’s like to be Bill Glazer’s Daughter? I’ve got two ‘great’ kids! My son, Josh graduated from The University of Maryland in 2004 and has a great job working for a Compu Consulting Company. My daughter, Mara, is a senior at Drexel University in Philadelphia and is a regular monthly attendee at IBA Mi Cappuzi’s Chapter meeting in Philly. Recently Mike asked my daughter to write a brief profile for his monthly Chapter newsletter and I thought all of our GKIC Members wo find what she wrote of interest. Here’s what she had to say: “After 4 long years of being a Design and Merchandising student at Drexel University, I am about to venture into the “real world.” Why  people call it the “real world” anyway? Have I been living in the “fake world” for the past 21 years? I am now faced with the challenge inding a “real” job, making “real” money, and “really” supporting myself (instead of living off my parents). What is it I “really” want to do? Sitting at the number one position on my list of goals is my dream to establish my own handbag busines would do this using designs I have created while acting as a wholesaler to boutiques and department stores nationwide. I hope to achieve t  sometime within the next several years or when I finally talk my Dad into giving me a huge chunk of change to use as my start-up capi (whichever comes first). My “real” passion is product development and I hope to find a “real” job doing this when I graduate in June.  I currently represent Van Aken ( www.vanakencustom.com), an exclusive clothier offering tailor-made dress shirts for men and women. most recent project has been scheduling “Made-to-Measure” events in the Philadelphia and surrounding areas, where we offer people exclusive opportunity to purchase custom-made dress shirts specifically handcrafted to fit each client’s individual measurements. Our expe would travel to your location to provide this complimentary service to employees and members, and allow them to purchase shirts a discounted rate. These services are available to individuals as well. People ask me all the time what it’s like to be the daughter of Bill Glazer. I like to respond by telling them that it is no different than being son or daughter of your own father, with one “real” exception; mine sends me way too much reading material. Keep it “Real.”  Mara Glazer 

Well, it appears that Bill Glazer is NO longer the only copywriter in the Glazer family (and I’ll bet you can hire Mara to write co for you for a whole lot less than her Dad charges!!!) Speaking of our Independent Business Advisors, on a recent trip to Florida I had the opportunity to spend an entire day with two of our IB and their terrific groups. In the morning I visited with Tampa IBA Dave Dickson during his Mastermind Meeting. I gotta admit….even I impressed with the quality of the entrepreneurs in the room. Even more impressive were the results his Members were reporting fr   belonging to the group. For example, Gold+ Luxury Member Brian Deacon shared a very impressive 6-page letter (EXHIBIT #4) he created for his company t  provides quality reliable contractors and service professionals. Let me point out a couple of important direct response t echniques that he u in the letter: 1.

A headline that ‘pulls’ the reader into the letter by offering a curiosity provoking question as well as a guarantee

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

A deadline that is not hidden in the copy Testimonials throughout with full names and cities t hey live in (hallelujah!!) Copy that agitates a problem, tells a story, answer objections A compelling offer  Multiple PSs that restate the offer and deadline An easy-to-follow order form

 Nice job Brian (I think he’s a graduate of my Online Copywriting Course). In the afternoon I visited with Orlando IB A Chris Hurn’s Chapter Meeting where he had 107 GKIC Members in attendance. Those of you who are Gold+ Members will probably know Chris as one of the two top winners of our 2006 Gold+ Contest. What did Chris do to win the Gold+ Contest? Well, the main thing he did was that he was relentless in his marketing to achieve his objectiv with a very impressive multi-step campaign. Here is an example of one of his latest ‘full-color’ self mailers (EXHIBIT #5 ), where he used PERSONALIZATION* throughout. * Personalization will typically increase response by an average of 30%. It is becoming even easier to use and cheaper, as digital printing h  become more available at larger printing houses. This postcard promotes a FREE event that he holds every year for his clients and their friends, all designed to create the law of reciprocity f  his Commercial Mortgage business. This strategy works in j ust about every business and it’s a shame that few use it.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Yes it’s true….the recent Advanced Coaching & Consulting TRAINING taught by Dan Kennedy was outstanding event. Let me apologize to all the Members who called and said that they heard how great the event was but did n hear about it until after it was over. The TRAINING was designed for just 75 attendees and we sold it out early and had to st all of the marketing. On the other hand, we are ecstatic to report that there are over 918 Inner Circle Members registered for t MARKETING & MONEY-MAKING Super Conference in April. If you haven’t yet registered, either contact the GKIC office register online through dankennedy.com. As always, when we are SOLD OUT, my office will notify you and place you on waiting list. (NOTE: We’ve got a bunch of surprises in store for you at this year’s SuperConference. This event will be talk about for years to come.)

The BIG Lesson(s) Of The Month By Dan Kennedy

How To Assemble A Direct-Mail ‘Package’ When a pro freelance copywriter talks about a direct-mail ‘package,’ he is most often referring to the outer envelope, sales letter, brochure and order for  We tend to be much more creative and varied in the number and variety of enclosures, but the result is the same; a collection of pieces and items assembled and placed in a particular order, to go into an envelope or other container, for delivery to prospect or customer. The point is that situations be served only b y a simpl e sales letter are quite rare. Most of the tim e, you want to mail a mul ti-piece package.

The reasons for this are many. There is what I think of as ‘the Publishers Clearinghouse effect’, when all sorts of different colored, different sized pieces s from the envelope all over the table. It’s a game of pick-up-sticks just to get it all to the trash. Any one of the dozen or so loose pieces has a chance catching your eye, getting your attention, sucking you in. There is the Principle of Involvement. There is the making of a bulky or lumpy package, to ge opened by aroused curiosity. And there’s more, all not needing mention here. EXHIBIT #6  is a great example of one of our folks, Gold Luxury Member Mark Vestrand, pulling together often used and shown ideas from different

Glazer, Gage Menswear, Glazer-Kennedy, Kennedy and Kennedy clients’ packages. One from pile A, one from pile B, one from pile C. The letter its features the now famous Chauncey Hutter-lice-in-hair, crazed person pulling hair photograph. (Kudos for caption beneath photo, even including the pho number.) The hand-drawn coupons are on fake yellow legal pad paper. (Two coupons are better than one!). This direct from Bill’s examples. The ‘Ho Selling Stress Reduction Kit’, also on the fake yellow legal pad paper, is a very old and oft-used chestnut we’ve shown several times over years. It’s o people like, chuckle at, will show their spouse or a friend – thus prolonging the life of this mailing’s message and attempt to influence. The photocopi newspaper article (shown only in part here) is “junked up” with hand-written margin notes, underlining, circling. (He got cheap here. Blue ink would ha helped the markings.) Not to take anything away from Mark, but he didn’t do anything here beyond anyone else’s reach. He borrowed, tweaked a assembled. And from this plus a second step he reported a 3% response, which in his business, given its high transaction size, is terrific – it proba

represents a return-on-investment of at least $8.00 to $20.00 for every $1.00 spent. 3rd, 4th, etc. steps are definitely called for. However, he’d like to get better response, higher than 3%, since he has a finite number of prospects in his area mail to every month. When I critiqued the piece, I focused on cosmetics, copy and testimonial improvements for the letter. But I erred in not al recommending adding more loose pieces to this package. If 4 pieces are good, 8 might be better! One thing to experiment with a lot, as added pieces : audio CD’s and/or DVD’s. This allows you to communicate with different media. Some who wo

read may listen – and listening may then interest them in reading. Some who read may also listen and get enough reinforcement to be motivated to act. A so forth. Each of the media ought to stand alone, to get to the desired response AND reinforce the other pieces. If you want an instant boost in credibili celebrity and status, you include a copy of a book you’ve written. Next best, reprints of articles you’ve written or that have been written about you. If you w to heighten interest, add something with a celebrity’s or celebrities’ picture on it. If you want to try to obligate readership, add a “kakatchka” of some val they’ll like keeping, like a coffee cup with a clever saying or cartoon or even personalized cartoon (which we’ve shown you in the past) or a mousep coasters, water bottle, nice pen, etc. If you want to be playful, enclose some odd or funny object that you hook your copy to. Of late, for different clients, I’ used inflatable monkeys, little toy monkeys, pirate treasure coins, a giant “big mistakes” eraser. A review of a year or two of all the Exhibits shown a discussed in this newsletter will provide more than enough ideas for assembly. Don’t just send a letter – send a ‘package’ !

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH CERTIFIED NO B.S. BUSINESS ADVISORS Member Profi le Named the “Top Male Forty Under Forty” by the Orlando Business Journal; Chris Hurn, the IBA for Orlando, FL is the owner of Mercantile Commercial Capital which was named by the Orlando Business Journal as the “Best Places to Work” in Orlando for the second year in a row. Chris was the co-winner of the GKIC Gold+ Contest of 2006 and was just named the Marketing Guru of the Year for 2006 by his industry’s leading trade publication, the Coleman Report. He successfully launched his Area-Exclusive/High-end Coaching Program for mortgage brokers wanting to get into the commercial mortgage business called the “ACE Program.” The GKIC Orlando Chapter is averaging 65 attendees at their monthly meetings. Chris says, “If you want to dominate your niche and make the kind of money that leads to true autonomy, you’ve got to take MASSIVE, SIMULTANEOUS ACTION and get comfortable watching your competitors disappear in your rear-view mirror. I’ve also realized within GKIC exists one of the few places where other people really ‘get’ me where people actually implement the platitudes others merely hang-on their walls in attractively framed photographs.”

UPCOMING CHAPTER MEETINGS  ARIZONA,

East: 2/15, 3/15, 4/12

MINNESOTA,

 ARIZONA,,

Pheonix West: TBA

MINNESOTA,

W. Minneapolis: TBA Minneapolis/St. Paul: 3/22, 4/30

CALIFORNIA,

Sacramento: TBA

MISSOURI,

St. Louis: TBA

CALIFORNIA,

Los Angeles (North): TBA

MISSOURI,

Springfield: 3/6, 4/3, 5/1

CALIFORNIA,

Oakland: TBA

MONTANA:

TBA

CALIFORNIA,

San Diego: TBA

N. CAROLINA,

Charlotte: TBA

CALIFORNIA,

Riverside: TBA

N. CAROLINA,

Fayetteville: TBA

CALIFORNIA,

San Francisco (North): 3/22, 4/26

NEW HAMPSHIRE,

Manchester: 3/3, 4/7, 5/12

CALIFORNIA,

Orange Co: 3/28, 4/25

NEW JERSEY:

TBA

CALIFORNIA,

Fresno: 3/21

NEW MEXICO:

3/13, 4/10, 5/8

CALIFORNIA,

San Jose: 3/21, 4/18

NEVADA,

Las Vegas: 3/28

CALIFORNIA,

Chico/Redding: 3/15, 4/26, 5/17

NEW YORK, NY City: NY City: TBA

CALIFORNIA,

Chico/Redding: 2/15, 3/15, 4/26

NEW YORK,

Brooklyn: TBA

COLORADO,

Colorado Springs: 2/27, 3/27, 4/24

NEW YORK,

Rochester: TBA

COLORADO,

Denver & North: 3/21, 4/25

NEW YORK,

Long Island: 3/14, 4/11, 5/9

COLORADO,

Denver & West: 3/21, 4/25

OHIO,

Cleveland/Akron: 3/19

FLORIDA,

Daytona Beach: 3/28, 4/25

OHIO,

Cincinnati/SW: 3/23, 4/27

FLORIDA,

Ft. Lauderdale: 3/15

OHIO,

Columbus: 3/13

FLORIDA,

Sarasota, FL: 3/28, 4/25, 5/23

OREGON,

Portland (West): TBA

FLORIDA,

Tampa: 3/14, 4/11

OREGON,

Portland (East): 3/14, 4/11, 5/9

GEORGIA,

Atlanta, (North): 3/27, 4/24, 5/22

PENNSYLVANIA,

Philadelphia: 3/14, 4/11, 5/

IDAHO:

3/15

RHODE ISLAND:

3/28, 4/25, 5/30

ILLINOIS,

N. Chicago/N. Suburbs: 3/21

SOUTH CAROLINA,

Columbia: 3/7, 4/4

ILLINOIS,

N. Chicago/W. Suburbs: 3/21

TEXAS,

Ft Worth: 3/18, 4/16

ILLINOIS,

Chicago, S. & SW: 3/20, 4/14, 5/22 TEXAS,

Dallas: 3/12, 3/30, 4/4, 4/9, 4/27

ILLINOIS,

Chicago, S. & SW: 3/20, 4/14, 5/22 TEXAS,

Ft Worth: 3/18, 4/16

INDIANA,

Indianapolis: 3/31, 4/28

TEXAS,

Houston: 3/31, 4/28, 5/26

KENTUCKY,

Louisville: 3/15, 4/12, 5/24

VIRGINIA,

MARYLAND:

Baltimore (South): 3/21, 4/18, 5/16 VIRGINIA,

Charlottesville: TBA

MARYLAND,

Baltimore (North): TBA

WASHINGTON,

Seattle/N.E.: 3/7, 4/4

MARYLAND,

Potomac: TBA

WASHINGTON,

Seattle/S.W.: 3/27, 4/24, 5/29

MARYLAND,

Southern Area: 3/28, 4/25

WISCONSIN,

Milwaukee: 3/22, 3/27, 4/26

Northern: TBA

MASSACHUSETTS, Boston (South): TBA

WISCONSIN,

Green Bay: 3/7

MASSACHUSETTS, Boston (North): TBA

WISCONSIN,

Madison: 3/8

MASSACHUSETTS, Worcester: 3/1, 4/12, 5/10

CANADA,

Edmonton: 3/10, 4/14, 5/12

MICHIGAN,

CANADA,

Vancouver: TBA

Ann Arbor: 3/28

Notes: (1) Chapter Meetings are open to all Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle Members and your guests. In most areas, you may attend one meeting free. Kennedy Study Group/Mastermind Groups may or may not have availability. Contact YOUR local Certified No B.S. Business  Advisor. (2) If there is no A dvisor in your area and you would be interested in joining us in our businesses, contact Howard Zeiden at 410-825-8600.

To contact your local IBA go to www.dankennedy.com . Locate the No B.S. Certified Business Advisors box on the right hand side of the screen and click on “CLICK HERE”. Select an area on the map. A list of No B.S. Certified Business Advisors will come up. Contact the IBA in your area for Kennedy Study Groups/Mastermind Meetings.

Member’s Talk I believe my biggest “Ah-Ha” is the fact that “this stuff” can work and allow me to stand out as truly unique in the financial services arena. I plan to implement this creativi immediately into my core practice. Between my local GKIC Mastermind Group and the Info Summit, I have come to realize that there are a whole lot of ordinary people doing some extraordinary things. I plan to implement information marketing in several formats immediat ely. I’m even getting my oldest son who’s 23 involved in starting h own operation. Marty Higgins---GKIC/Philadelphia Chapter  “Thank You”! First of all for accepting the “Gig” at the FW Chamber of Commerce. Without that first meeting of you and Travis I am absolutely positive that I would not have run into you otherwise. Next, for asking the simple question, “What business are you in?” Then telling me “that if you’re not in charge of the marketing for your company then you’re in the wrong business”. Wow, if that doesn’t get someone’s attention I don’t know what will. Then the invitation to the first chapter meeting. Keith, I knew that if I wanted to do this I was going to have to get as close to you as possible. So joining the Mastermind Group was an easy decision……… So at the heart of my thanks is more money and confidence that if I can write one letter and have success then let’s do another one and find even more success. Thank you for th encouragement on becoming a participant rather than just sitting there watching others do well and wishing it was me. Shawn Slattery----GKIC/Seattle Southwest Chapter 

Internet Marketing From The Trenches

By Yanik Silver  In this month’s interview, you’ll be hearing from Inner Circle member Steve Morsa, a real estate broker, “Domainer”, and invent from Thousand Oaks, California. Steve can be reached at www.GetRichSlowly.com and his site has more information domains. Q. First, just to be sure everyone’s starting fr om the same page, why don’t you s tart by telling us what domains are.

Sure. Domains, explained simply, are the addresses for the Internet. Also known as uniform resource locators (URLs) or doma names, they allow us all to find and connect our computers to the many millions of websites run by individuals and compani around the world. Examples include NoBSshoppingcart.com, DanKennedy.com, etc. Q. What are the best sources fo r domains?

Besides my own site, there are actually 100’s of other sellers of domain names. While it’s easy to locate many of these sellers doing a simple search at Google, Yahoo, or MSN for the terms, “domain” or “domain names,” some of the best known and mo often used ones include Afternic, GoDaddy, and Sedo. Also, a company called Snapnames auctions off domains where t previous owner didn’t pay the renewal fee (though; as should be expected with domains where people normally consciously a purposely decided not to renew them; over 99% of them are junk domains and poor choices for use in business). Some peop get the one they want by tracking down and negotiating directly with the owner (the website NSI.com will identify most doma owners). Q. Are there any good r easons to own mul tiple domain names?

Depending upon the size and scope of your current (or future) business, there can be. First, where possible, in addition owning the .com (dotcom) version of your business/company(ies) (for maximum memorability, repeat business, and refer  business) and; if applicable, each company division; it’s ideal for the same reasons to also own the actual .com version of ea of your products and services. Since most of the generic words .com product and service domains were registered many years ago (i.e., RealEstate.co Jewelry.com, Doctor.com , Gardener.com , etc) and are in many cases today worth $250,000 to $1,000,000 or more eac what you’re looking for are those dotcoms that exactly match the name of each of your products and/or services. For example, company with the name of Wonderful Weddings would want to own and use WonderfulWeddings.com as their website. And they’re calling the photo-taking service they offer “Picture Perfect,” they’d also want to own PicturePerfect.com. A chiropract who’s company is called California Chiropractic should own and use CaliforniaChiropractic.com. The reason why this is so important is this: Especially in the case of the US, and most of the Western world as well, “Dotco had become the de facto language of the Internet. When we want to find a particular company’s website, what do we do? Wh we don’t use a search engine like Google, Yahoo, or MSN to find it, most people take the company name (i.e. “Ford”) and ju stick a “.com” at the end: Ford.com . Virtually no one takes “Ford” and sticks a .net, .org, .biz., .info, or any of the other over 1 domain extensions on it to find the official Ford company website (even though a huge international company like Ford ow many of these other extensions). Having the right .com domain/s insures that your company, and each of your marketing channels, are closely aligned with ea other . . . and in the minds of your customers.  Also, companies which do—or plan to do—a lot of business in countries other than the US might want to also register t country code domains for those places as well (called “country code” domains, or ccTLDs). So if Wonderful Weddings was (als operating in, or selling into, the UK, they might also register WonderfulWeddings.co.uk. In Canada, WonderfulWeddings.c etc. Some domain registrars push for also registering the .net, .org, etc versions of companies, products, and services. This i however, a money generator only for them, as few if any people ever use such extensions. If you can’t get the .com version the domain you want, using any of these other “junk” extensions will only serve to drive your customers to whoever does o the .com version. And if you do own the .com version, these other extensions aren’t worth the cost or bother. Because of its importance, I advise people and companies wherever possible to choose the name of their company, product and services based in part on the availability of the .com version of each; and especially so when it comes to their compa name. Q. An yt hi ng els e ou r r eaders sh ou ld kn ow abo ut do mai ns ?

Yes; three important things. First, like virtually everywhere there’s money, there is also fraud in domain sales. This includ “sellers” who don’t actually own the domains they say they do, sellers who take buyers’ money but then don’t transfer t domains (or who sell the same domain to multiple buyers). Domain buyers who get sellers to transfer domains to them but th don’t pay for them. Even domain “escrow” companies that run off with the buyer’s money, the domain, or both. For the reasons, it’s important that domain buyers and sellers deal only with reputable companies. Second; if you’ve found a memorable domain and want to be sure it’ll be as effective as you expect it to be in generating sal and profits, see if the seller is willing to include a 6-12 month unconditional buyback on it. It should also be noted that when us for business purposes, domains, like most business investments, are tax deductible (check with your tax advisor). Third; the best resource for tracking the latest domain sales, to see how others are profiting with domains, and to generally st current with most anything having to do with domains, is the very popular industry website DNJournal.com. 

Platinum member, Yanik Silver is the creator and author of several best-selling o nline pro ducts bu t he still can’t b uil his own web site. You can find more info rmation at www.NoBSinternetprofits.com and www.NoBSwebcopy.com. An his newest breakthrough is www.PublicDomainMoneyMaker.com

RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXISTENT OR ASPIRING INFORMATION MARKETERS : WHO ELSE WANTS TO PICK THE BRAINS OF THREE FU

YEARS OF ‘THE CHAMPIONS OF INFO-MARKETING’? The cave full of editors now busy at Glazer/Kennedy has gone throu all the recorded sessions from the past 3 years of Information Marketers’ Summits….THE official annual gathering of in marketers…and assembled the best of the best of the presentations, including those by Bill and I, niche-marketing millionair  like Rory Fatt, copywriters like John Carlton, and on and on….a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ from the entire world of offline and onli info-marketing, publishing and copywriting. Over 1,200 people combined paid from $3,000.00 up to attend and hear the outstanding experts and entrepreneurs, but no Time Machine exists for you to go back and join them, at any price. But fo fraction of just one of the year’s registration fees, you can have all the ‘Champions’ arrive on your doorstep! INFORMATION IS  A SEPARATE ENCLOSURE WITH THIS ISSUE, and there is a Special Offer that only the first 37 people to respond are eligi to receive. If your enclosure is missing, call 410-825-8600 immediately. FOR THOSE SERIOUS ABOUT USING THEIR OWN NEWSLETTER(S), BOOK(S), AND OTHER WRITING FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT   in attracti

retaining and optimizing the value of customers, I am conducting a one-time-only, very advanced 3-day Workshop on INFLUENTIAL WRITING, strictly limi to 24 participants. When I wrote this, 14 of the 24 spots were taken, 10 left available. This is an expensive, very specialized Workshop, obviously appropriate for many. In it, I will be dissecting my newsletters, weekly faxes, books, etc. spanning 20+ years and explaining the hidden psychology, motiv techniques and “secrets” behind them, engineered to sustain the interest of customers month after month for decades, and providing formulas for doing same thing with your own media. I will be conducting this one time only, late this calendar year. If you have strong interest, we’ll need to hear from IMMEDIATELY. A Fax-in Form to request info is enclosed. FAX to Vicky at my Phoenix office, 602-269-3113. If you fax without the Form, be certain to let know you are responding to this notice in the 3/07 Issue of the No B.S. Marketing Letter. PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS ASK ING ME WHAT I’M READING …so….Sara Gruen’s novel ‘Water For Elephants’ is coming out in paperback on May 1 st. If haven’t read it, I encourage doing so. It was on the NY Times  bestseller list for 12 weeks last year, deservedly so. When he was here to video tape

interview with me, Platinum Member Ted Thomas gave me a copy of Frank Luntz’ book ‘Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People He which I’m 1/3rd of the way through, and it’s terrific. You see Frank on CNN as a political analyst. He’s a pollster, focus group organizer, and communicati advisor to candidates and corporations. In preparing for the Advanced Consulting/Coaching Boot Camp, I re-read ‘48 Laws Of Power’, which is pr  advanced stuff – but a must for those interested in my ‘takeaway selling’ strategies. REMEMBER, I’M BLOGGING . Yes, me. Personally. Frequently. At the online Gold+ Registry, only for Glazer/Kennedy Gol Members. It’s easy to get started. To log on, go to dankennedy.com and go to the right side menu bar to The Register - Gol

Login. Enter your email for both the user name and the password (you should change that after your first login). That should ta you directly to the home page of The Register where you will find:  A place to enter your personal and business profile as well as a

picture of you and your business.

  A calendar of all GKIC, Dan Kennedy and Gold Plus events.  An image gallery for you to upload and share (as well as see all

other) successful marketing pieces and campaigns.  A place to enter and view all winning websites that you and other 

Gold Plus Members can share.  An on-line Forum - the best place for you to leave questions and

talk to other Gold Plus Members.  A Dan Kennedy blog that will be updated on a regular basis.  A slew of archived articles and inserts for Gold Plus Members.  Promotions and prices offered on web products for Gold Plus

Members only.

****************

Final Thoughts, This Month I just finished writing an ‘in memoriam’ ad for Dottie Walters, to appear in the trade journal she founded an published, ‘Sharing Ideas’, for professional speakers as well as authors, consultants and other circus folk. guess the particulars don’t matter all that much here. Few reading this would know Dottie. Her one-time huge bestseller of a book, ‘Never Underestimate The Selling Power Of A Woman’  was likely “dated” even before many of you were born. What might be important, though, is a reminder of a very old, now generally ignored rule of life: respect your elders. In the small speaking world, I have often been saddened or p.o.’d by peoples’ general disrespect for the profession’s elder statesmen and women, their lack of curiosity about these peoples’ experiences, about the roots and evolution of the business. In mail-order, I have to nag and prod people t study Joe Cossman or Jerry Buchanan or Harvey Brody, and then they are often viewed as irrelevant curiosities. Actually, the term “contemporary wisdom” is an oxymoron, and those who build their own businesses only on contemporary references are morons. In the last year of his life, I spent about 100 to 150 hours with Joe Cossman, ostensibly working on a project but also listening to stories, probing, looking at old ads, soaking up what I might. It wasn’t always pleasant. Joe’s age made him hard of hearing, irritable, temperamental, and at times also meandering, unable to stay in the here and now. Still, viewed accurately as ‘a Napoleon Hill of mail-order’, the distractions a small price paid for the access to the life experience. This is not an isolated incident with me. Whenever possible and whenever given opportunity, I am quick to get to see, hear, spend time with or learn from ‘old masters.’ At the same time, I can see the rocking chair on the old masters’ porch reserved in my name, not so far away. And I know that someday in the not very distant future I’ll be a historical footnote; I’ll be viewed as irrelevant by many; the long line waiting patiently and urgently to see me now may likely be replaced by no line at all, perhaps only a rare, curious visitor. I’ fully prepared for it, and unlike others before me who have deeply resented it, I believe I will actually

welcome it. But it is sad that the world focus turns too easily to what was said yesterday by Bush or Blair o Clinton or Streisand, Cooney or Rosie, rather than re-reading Churchill. That the 28 year old wunderkind who has managed to make a million this year on the Internet is of greater interest than someone who mad millions year after year after year in mail-order, before the ridiculous convenience of the Internet. There’s infinitely more value in learning from the latter than the former. For what it is worth, I suggest you be smarter. Be a student and seeker of history, a respectful and diligent investigator of your field’s beginning and evolution, its pioneers and elder statesmen. I am all for speed, but not so hastily building the mansion the foundation is forgotten.

DAN

SUPER-CONFERENCE UP-DATE .  As of this writing, I understand 918 attendees are registered, leaving just 17 places available. If you’ve dithered, you MIGHT still squeeze in by acting immediately and calling the GKIC office.

The Back Page

Ideas Of The Month

How To Be Lucky St Patrick’s Day, the luck o’ the Irish, the symbol of luck: the shamrock. You never change your underwear game to game in the World Series if you are winning . Ladders, mirrors, black cats, 13th floors,

lucky numbers. I’ve been a gambler my whole life. We treat lucky streaks reverently. And any real gambler’ll tell you, if you don’t make at least one bet everyday, you might be walking around lucky and not know it. This sort of belief in luck doesn’t seem to do much harm. For years I had a St. Christopher Medal on my keychain. I wasn’t Catholic, but didn’t see how a little extra protection could hurt. So why tempt bad luck by stepping on sidewalk cracks? Superstition has played a major role in ev society and culture since time began. Anyone who denies all superstition lies. For the most part, it’s childish but harmless. However, there is a belief sys tem about luck that is dangerous, harmful and insidi ous . Vast numbers of people look at those of us who achieve wea

or fame or influence and power, and chalk it all up to luck – thus absolving themselves of any responsibility for their less satisfactory situation, making better situation wholly undeserved, laying the foundation for redistribution of wealth demagoguery. Many people also believe they are cursed with relentle bad luck, thus absolving themselves of responsibility. Two sides of a non-existent coin. Renegade Millionaires do recognize the reality of good luc k  – but as just another of the many good things that come to those who hustle and learn a

work and network and promote; not as random. More importantly we are uninterested in the odd, incidental occurrences of luck, like the winning of a lotte We are very interested in establishing and sustaining a continuous attraction and experience of good fortune. We do not deny luck. We do not hope for rely on luck. We expect and welcome good luck as the natural by-product of our initiative. The other day I overheard one person commenting to another, enviously, saying “Oh, you are so fortunate.”

If “fortunate” means lucky, and that means rained on at random with opportunity and success so that it might just as easily have been her or her neighbor somebody miles away, no, that’s b.s. If “fortunate” refers to the individual’s state of being, created through her own thoughts, preparation, behavior and d to day actions, that’s correct. The word’s okay. It just depends on what you mean by it. I consider myself very fortunate not to have been able to afford to go to college as planned. I consider myself fortunate to have had my ‘rich Dad, poor D same Dad’ experiences. I consider myself fortunate to have had my marriage collapse so we could put a better one together. It seems good luck quite oft arrives disguised as bad luck, some cosmic game of hide ‘n seek. Make of it what you will, spiritually or metaphysically. But do not ignore the principle. A take note that Renegade Milli onaires live the “in every adversity lies the seed of equal or greater opportunity/achievement” as their own person superstition. When I say “live”, I mean just that, and it’s worth thinking about your own behavior in this category. When presented with an (appare adversity, how do you immediately react?...how quickly do you get to the investigation, the digging, the creative thinking, the making of the list opportunities it conceals? Do you pounce upon it or recoil from it? We believe that being fortunate is largely a matter of choice. That does not expand to ungratefulness. I am certainly grateful to have been born in Ohio rather than in Baghdad. That is one of the few factors in lif  equation to be random luck. I am grateful, as a writer, that my work has a receptive, supportive audience. That’s not random luck at all, but it is something to be grateful for. And I recognize there are so many other writers, better writers, who never discover how to develop such an audience. So I privileged. To the degree that I choose to view such things as debt, I discharge it via contributions of money or service to recipients entirely of my choosi But gratitude never becomes guilt. Recognition of good fortune never extends to belief in a universal randomness divorced from behaviors and ‘trigge totally within our control. I no longer travel with a St. Christopher key chain. As I understand it, he was de-sainted or something, so I guess he has no more influence than I anymo However, should I win a race, I wear that lucky underwear until I lose one. Fortunately for the world at large and the ozone layer, I rarely win many races i row.

Back to the Newsl etter Index  2007/Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle, Inc.

♥

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