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Extra! Extra! Business Owners Have Lost Their Cojones.
January 24, 2012
If you don’t know what cojones means… it’s Spanish slang for balls, nuts, testicles or even the family jewels. Or it could
This applies to women, too.
I know you think I’m crazy but I have perfectly good reasoning for saying what I just said… and I’ll give you that reasoning in a bit.
Right now I want to digress for a second…
I really hate what this economic “problem” that we’re in right now is doing to people’s mindsets. I put the world “problem” in quotes because I really don’t believe that we’re in a bad economy right now. Yeah the politicians and the media are telling you that we’re in deep shit but we’re really not.
The United States is one of the biggest importers of goods from other countries if not THE biggest.
And on top of that, there are millions of people in the United States right now who are doing BIG things in business. Not counting the Google guys, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or any of the other internet tycoons that developed from within the states… there are still MILLIONS of other people who are doing great things in business, and making a killing doing it.
So there really is no possible way by stretch of my imagination that the U.S. could really go under… everyone else are trying to just catch up.
I say all of this because I see on a daily basis so many people who are terrified of “what’s happening with the economy.”
Don’t worry about what’s happening with the economy. Worry about what you’re going to do with your life.
These people have literally lost their cojones… they don’t have the guts to take the risks required to build a big business.
Now, let me explain what I mean by risks because that is a term that is too often misused.
Starting a business is usually a risk all in it’s own… especially if you don’t do the research about what you’re selling and just go into it “blind”. If you’re reading this, you’re probably already in a business or looking to start one. So you’re aware of this risk and are somewhat comfortable with it.
The risk that I’m talking about today is the risk involved in creating marketing.
Marketing is getting really… boring.
I have yet to see anyone other than Frank Kern (who happens to be the top of the class for unconventional marketing) do something crazy for their marketing.
The grand majority of business owners just set up some random ad that they think will perform without considering what their audience will think or feel about it. They don’t do anything more than the bare minimum required to be active… they don’t try to “Wow!” their audience… they don’t try to get the viewer’s blood boiling.
A great friend of mine said something very cool about making popular Facebook status updates. Virtually every time she makes a status update on Facebook, there are literally dozens of people who either “like” it or comment on it, and she only has a friend’s list of a few hundred people.
And we actually just launched her blog a few days ago because so many people were asking her to start one. She has a brilliant writing style and is excellent at engaging the reader into what she’s saying. You can learn a lot about copywriting by visiting her blog.
This is what she had to say about making great status updates… and this advice can be applied to your marketing as well…
“Your status update should piss off a quarter of your friend’s list and entertain the other quarter… the other half of people don’t do anything except sit there and take up virtual space.”
Now, I’m paraphrasing, of course… but you get the jist of it, right?
You will NEVER be able to please everyone. That applies to real life and business life, as well. It’s impossible to please everyone.
Knowing this, it’s completely okay for you to intend on pissing off a few people in order to entertain and please everyone else. If you really pay attention to it, a lot of the most successful marketing campaigns ALWAYS had a group of people trying to diss it and say it’s crap.
In my opinion, if you don’t piss of a few people… if you don’t have “haters”… you’re not doing a good job in business. Don’t get me wrong here… your customers should LOVE you. There should be NO negative emotion between you and your customers.
Have a clear mission statement. Mine is to give sound advice to start-up business owners and help them succeed. Anyone who is against that, or doesn’t like that can go screw themselves. And that should be your attitude towards your business, too.
Your job is to be polite to whoever comes your way, provide them with value, turn them into a customer and keep them happy. Forget the haters.
You do you. Let them do them.
Talk soon,
- Arman
Posted in Business Mindsets | 
Tags: business advice, business mindsets, marketing advice, personal development | 
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How To Turn $89.95 Into $368,187.00 In 6 Months Or Less…
January 23, 2012
It’s been a while since you’ve gotten any content from me, and I am pleased to say that I’ve been away working on some pretty awesome things…
… And as the headline says, you are about to learn how to turn $89.95 into $368,187.00 in less than 6 months.
Those numbers are very real, and you can see exactly how it works in the video that we’ve created for you. You’ll learn how to start an affiliate marketing business & make a killing selling affiliate products.
The system that is talked about in the video works on 3 different factors:
- The GetSubscribers.com Lead Generation System
- A 3% conversion ratio… which is the average amongst the internet business world.
- And a $37 product.
When all those 3 things are present, there is a great potential for profit… no matter what you’re selling.
There really isn’t much I can say at this point other than go watch the affiliate marketing video and see exactly how this system works.
There is no opt-in form or anything like that… you can watch the video as soon as you click on the link.
There’s also a comment box right below the video and all I ask is that you leave a comment to tell me what you thought of the content.
That’s pretty much it. Short & sweet.
I’ll talk to you soon,
- Arman
How Do I Start My Own Business In Investments?
August 20, 2011
Becoming an Investment Adviser was actually my 1st choice when I originally asked the question “how do i start my own business?” about 5 years ago.
My corporate employment background is banking so I was pretty used to giving people advice about where to put their money… but the crappy thing about banking, was that the amount of money I would get paid in commissions was HORRIBLE compared to the guys who were doing investment consulting through their own licenses.
When you sell investments – whether they’re stocks, mutual funds, cash value insurance policies, or even real estate – and you sell them through your own license you make 20 times – 50 times what you would make if you were working out of someone else’s brokerage.
So I decided to get my investment license, and started selling.
There are two huge advantages to going into the investment consulting business.
First, you don’t need to have millions of dollars to start investing. You can use other people’s money, and you’ll get paid accordingly. For example, instead of starting with $100 per month with your own money, you can get a client that has MILLIONS in their portfolio and you would get paid commissions on Millions instead of a few hundred bucks.
Side Note: You really have to be careful when you’re managing other people’s money, because not only can they come after your license, but they will never refer any new clients to you. That’s why you study and get licensed before you make any recommendations.
Second, you get paid residual commissions every year based on the size of your portfolio. So let’s say it takes you 5 years to get $10 Million worth of clients in your portfolio, and let’s say that you’re getting paid a 2% annual residual commission… 2% of $10 Million is $200,000.00.
Which means you will get paid at LEAST $200,000.00 every year that those accounts are in your portfolio. And if you’ve done your job correctly, that $10 Million will turn into $12 Million the next year, and $15 Million the year after and so on and so forth.
So every continuing year, you’ll be getting 2% on the new amount… so your residual income will be growing exponentially every year.
So all this sounds great right? But there is a pretty obvious question that’s floating around right now, which is…
“Arman, isn’t it a ‘bad time in the market’ for investments? Isn’t that a dangerous place to start my own business?”
And that’s a perfectly logical question to ask… and the answer is no, it’s not dangerous at all.
Let me explain…
When I said investments, I didn’t mean stocks only… or mutual funds only… there are literally hundreds of ways to invest and grow money. And there is ALWAYS something that is performing well. Your job as an investment adviser is to be up to date on what’s doing well.
For example… The stock market and the real estate market perform in the same patterns. Meaning, if the stock market isn’t doing all that well (which it isn’t at the time of this article) it means that real estate prices aren’t doing well either (which they aren’t at the moment).
There are 2 points I want to make about the stock market & real estate “problem” that’s going on right now.
First. Yes, it’s true that stocks and real estate prices have been dropping more lately than they’ve been going up… but if prices are low, that means it’s a BUYER’S market.
So as an adviser, you’ll be looking for people who have the money to invest. And you EDUCATE YOURSELF on what the best options are for your clients.
Second. When the stock market and real estate markets aren’t performing well, the Gold and Silver markets are. At the time of this article, the price of silver has gone up over 100% during the last 6 months. And you don’t have to take my word for it… just Google it and you’ll see. 
So it all depends on how informed you are and how carefully you study the patterns of the economy.
Which brings me to my last point…
Starting your own business in investments is probably one of the cheapest ways to start a business. Outside of the initial cost for your licenses, and the cost for continuing education (which is less than a few hundred dollars per year) you don’t have any other costs.
There is no product to buy in bulk stock, because your products are the new account applications which will be given to you for free from which ever product provider you choose to work with.
You don’t have to hire any employees for the first year or two because you won’t be doing much “maintenance” as far as the business goes. You just focus on building your client list. The upfront commissions from the sales will be more than enough to afford a great lifestyle for you and your family. And the residuals from the money that’s under your management will guarantee you a GREAT retirement.
As long as you get a good grasp on the economy and the features and benefits of the investment options you choose to promote, you can sell MILLIONS of dollars worth of investments with the use of a pen and a piece of paper.
That’s how I started and actually continued to do business when I was doing consulting. I had a nice zip-up folder that I would carry around with me to my appointments with some charts that I had laminated, and that was it.
I sold over $25 Million worth of investments in less than 3 years of consulting. (Sadly, more than half of that was done when I was still in banking)
If you don’t have a problem sitting in front of people and explaining investment concepts to them, you won’t have a problem making money in your own investment consulting business.
There is a reason why so many millionaires are made in this business model… because the profit per sale ratio is SO huge. From one hour’s worth of work, you can make $200,000.00. No joke.
And if you’re really comfortable talking big numbers, you can make a few million dollars from that same hour’s worth of work.
Pretty cool huh?
I just want to give you a few of the licenses that you can get if you wanted to go into investments. These are not all of the licenses that are available BUT they are the most common and with these you can pretty much sell ALL types of investments. And they ALL have the potential to turn someone into a millionaire.
Life License – This is technically a Life Insurance license but the way the Life Insurance industry has developed, you can sell 70% of investment products with this one simple license.
Series 7 - This is THE investment adviser license. With this license you can sell anything outside of Real Estate. Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Annuities, etc.
Real Estate – This one shouldn’t require much explanation. Get this license to sell Real Estate. I believe that if you’re trying to sell Commercial Real Estate, you will need a separate license.
Also, if you’re looking for some independent reading into the subject, below is a list of some of the best books written on investing within the Stock Market, with Precious Metals and with Real Estate.
Good luck.
Trump Strategies For Real Estate – Donald Trump
Warren Buffet Invests Like A girl. And Why You Should Too – Warren Buffet
Rich Dad Advisors: Guide To Investing In Gold And Silver – Michael Maloney
Post any questions or comments below. I’d love to hear what you think.
Talk soon,
Arman Vakili
Thanks For visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind: The Secret Psychology To Wealth
August 7, 2011
A lot of people are under the impression that rich people make their money illegitimately. They believe that rich people scammed someone, or stole from someone or ripped someone off to make their money. If not that, they believe that sich people got rick by luck. And the truth of the matter is… it’s none of those things. Sure there are SOME bad apples, and there are a few people who hit the lotto or inherited their wealth from a rich relative… but the grand majority of rich people got rich through their own efforts and ideas. But Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind explains that there is a much deeper root to their success. Rich people get rich because they are hardwired to get rich. They have carefully analyzed themselves, their thoughts, and their feelings when it comes down to money… and have made the necessary changes to themselves, their thoughts and their feelings so that they can attract, hold and grow a LOT of money. On the surface, that’s really the main difference between rich and poor people. The way they think about money. Their psychology of money. but as Harv explains in Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, the human psychology is a tough cookie to crack. You see, we were not born doing money. We didn’t come out of the womb knowing what to do with our money and how to make a lot of it. So it’s safe to say that every single one of us, learned about money through other people and other sources. And there is a very high likelihood that the people who taught us about money, had absolutely NO clue about how to manage their own finances and they were probably broke, too. Let’s look at some of these main sources of influence:
As a child, you are very susceptible to the things that you see, hear and experience… and these things really affect the philosophies that you develop down the line. For example, you may be familiar with the phrase “it takes money to make money”… right? Well, that’s actually not entirely true… it doesn’t take money to make money, it takes creativity to make money. How about this one? “Money is the root of all evil” That one is pretty intense. Money is the root of all evil? That is everything BUT the truth. The reality of it is, money just amplifies who you are as a person. I know some rich people that are very greedy and very miserable. But I also know some rich people who are VERY generous and give a lot of their money away to different charities and organizations. So if you’re naturally a jerk, then when you get rich, you’ll be a rich jerk. If you’re a nice guy, then you’ll be a rich nice guy. That’s all. So it’s important to really analyze what your beliefs are with money. Think about all the things that you learned about money through out your childhood… what specific phrases can you think of? What experiences can you think of? How did these experiences affect the way you think about money now? Do you think it’s hard to make money or easy to make money? Do you think it’s hard to invest or easy to invest? What kind of jobs do you take? High paying? Low paying? Are you in businesses? Do your businesses succeed or fail? Or do they just stay stagnant (which is pretty much the same as a failing business) Everything you do now and the way you think now, is nothing more than a series of patterns that you’ve developed through out your adult life. And the root of these patterns can be found by examining your childhood. You can learn a lot more about this in the actual book. But why is all of this important? Who cares about what happened that long ago? And is it really affecting your life now? Well, let’s look at it.
Most people look at their tree of life and they only focus on the fruits. “I don’t like these fruits” “These fruits are too small” But what they don’t realize is that the ROOTS are what determine the FRUITS. If you’re not happy with the results you’re getting in your life… if you’re not happy with your health, or how much money you’re making… you shouldn’t focus on the physical actions of exercise and work. Sure, those things are important, but they’re not nearly as important as the thought processes and the feelings behind them. You are in the position that you are because of a long term pattern that you’ve developed. Working harder for a few days, working out hard for a few days is NOT going to undo what you’ve built up with years of practice. You have to figure out what started these patterns, and you have to change them. That’s the only way you can create long term change in your life… and that’s the only way you can bring your goals and dreams into fruition. Read the book.
It’s definitely worth the time and the few bucks you’ll be spending on it. I’m sure you can even get a used copy and pay less than you would for a new one. Either way, it’s way worth it. And there are a lot of specific strategies that the book shows you for changing your patterns and developing new, more healthy ones. Let me know what you thought of it. Talk soon, Arman Vakili Thanks For Visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com |
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Sales Dogs: You Don’t Have To Be An Attack Dog To Be A Sales Champion
August 6, 2011
 Sales & Marketing are the most important parts of a business’ development. Every other department in a business exists merely to support the sales side of that business. That being said, your most important job as a business owner is… guess what… sales. The development of your product isn’t nearly as important as having the skills to sell that product. This is a common misconception among new business owners. I’ve literally had people come up to me and say something like, “I have an awesome product but I don’t know how to sell it. I just need someone to do the marketing and the selling…” If that’s you, I’m going to tell you exactly what I told that person… You need to learn how to sell your own product… there is a very simple and important reason for this. Let’s say that you really have your heart set on hiring someone to do your sales and marketing for you, which is fine… you have to be able to assess their skills, and assess their approach when they create new marketing and sales messages for YOUR product. You see, the last thing you want is to hire someone without having any knowledge about how the sales & marketing game works. That’s a very risky situation to be in… because some jerkoff could tell you that he’s the best sales person since Zig Ziglar and you’d believe him… only to find out six months laters that he couldn’t give away shoes to a shoeless person. All of the business people that I know, both personally and the ones that I have studied, have their fingers on the sales and marketing “pulse” of their businesses. They may not be the ones writing the sales letter and the advertising… BUT they are very aware of every message that goes out and they have the final word on whether or not it gets approved. So knowing how sales and marketing works is very important. Now, if you have little to no sales experience… or if you already have experience and you’re looking to get a LOT sharper, you’ll want to read the rest of this article. One of the first books I ever read about sales was Sales Dogs by Blair Singer. If you’ve never heard of Blair, he’s Robert Kiyosaki’s original business partner and sales consultant. This guy is great at breaking down the sales process into easily consumable parts and helping you understand how it works. Another thing that he’s great at is identifying what type of sales person you are. His belief, which is also a belief that I’ve adopted, is that everyone can be a great sales person. The only difference between us, though, is that we don’t all sell the same way. Each person has their own way of approaching sales. That’s what Sales Dogs is all about. It talks about all the different types of sales people who exist, and helps you figure out which one you are. And once you’ve figured out what type of sales dog you are, you can then develop your sales skills based on that assessment. And now let’s talk about the different Sales Dogs (and these aren’t listed in any particular order)… The 1st Sales Dog On Our List Is The Pit Bull. This type of sales person is probably the most aggressive and stereotyped one of the bunch. And I’m sure you’ve dealt with one at some point. These are the sales people that can make 200 cold calls a day, and the last call will be with just as much aggression and energy as the first one. The Pit Bull’s power comes from shear power and fearlessness. They will make more calls, field more rejections and keep on selling than any other breed… even when they should really back off. However, what they make up for in aggression and perseverance, they may lack in tactfulness and strategy and therefore, they must be trained properly. Pit Bulls can be very rich or very frustrated. The 2nd Sales Dog On The List Is The Bassett Hound. When they sell, they have that distinctively humble approach that is genetically designed to drive an arrow deep into your heart. If their pathetic look doesn’t get you and begging doesn’t work… beware! You may be about to experience Plan B – the picture of their family and stories about having to pay for braces, bicycles and ballet classes! They will do anything to solicit your sympathy. Their tenacity is only rivaled by the Pit Bull, but their quiet strength comes from their lack of self-consciousness and inbred ability to keep asking until you have to give them something – if only to get them off your back. They have a face that is hard to say “no” to and their favorite word is please. “Please place this order,” or “Please give me an answer today.” Their ability to follow a scent, combined with their intense “look you in the eye” approach, undoubtedly results in potential for great success. Never underestimate the kicked back appearance of a Bassett Hound Sales Dog. They have incredible ability to sniff out deals and to win hearts. 3rd On The List Is The Chihuahua. These guys are technical wizards. Their product knowledge and understanding of processes is astounding. Don’t ever get a Chihuahua started on a subject they are passionate about. They won’t just talk, they will shout, scream, rant and rave a mile a minute. Prospects can only be amazed and impressed with the incredible exhibition of passion, emotion and technical detail. Chihuahua Sales Dogs are always needed on a team when digging up data and putting together vital presentations. With boundless energy, Chihuahuas can pull off all-nighters better than any other breed. The 4th Sales Dog Is The Golden Retriever. These guys are everyone’s favorite. They are the sales person with a big smile, their jowls bursting with eternal optimism, hoping, simply that their prospect still loves them. They will fetch any ball, do any favor and bend over backwards to please the prospect. They are actually affronted when you talk in terms of “sales.” To the Retriever Sales Dog, customer service is everything. The more you give the prospect, the more they will appreciate you and the more they will ultimately buy. The Retriever sells through providing extraordinary customer service and they will go to great lengths to grant favors for their customers. The wise Retriever is successful because they know that by continually taking care of prospects, clients and members of their team, customers will keep coming back and the referrals will flow. Long-term service is the key. 5th On The List Is The Poodle. This is one of the more sophisticated Sales Dogs. They are very knowledgeable and very conscious of their presentation. Sharp suits, buffed out shoes or stiletto pumps, and cool cars are not considered to be luxury items by the Poodle, but merely tools of the Poodle trade. They are the best connected and have probably the most extensive network of all the breeds. they know who’s who and they want you to know it. They love to speak in front of groups and be the center of attention. A Poodle’s sales pitch is delivered with such style and panache that even the ones without a shred of logic sound visionary. This breed of Sales Dog is constantly looking for ways to reach the most number of people in the simplest way. they are the Ultimate Marketing Dog! Their abilities to market and to articulate a message can make Poodles large sums of money. (Now that I think about it, I think I’m pretty “Poodle Dominant” in my sales approach) 6th And Last, But DEFINITELY Not Least Is The Top Dog Sales Dog. While not limited to any particular breed, the Big Dog is a category of sales dog. It only takes one Big Deal to create a Big Dog. Big Dog talks a big talk, walks a big walk and only does big deals. This Sales Dog wouldn’t be seen dead working on multiple sales. Big Dog doesn’t eat scraps – it’s prime rib or nothing. This approach can make the Big Dog lean and hungry over the course of a year but it can also win in spectacular style. When they do win, get ready to hear about it morning, noon and night for days, weeks and even months to come. There’s no middle ground for the Big Dog; it’s high risk, one-on-one, all-or-nothing. And whether they are incredibly rich or incredibly hopeful is deteremined by how well they educate themselves. Learn your strengths and weaknesses, tips on creating personal sales and tips for avoiding the pitfalls so you can play your natural talent. There is a LOT more information on each Sales Dog, along with recommendations on how to develop their skills. You should already have a pretty good idea of which Sales Dog you are, or the combination of which Dogs you are. The rest of it will be explained in the book, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy. It’s a MUST for anyone who’s trying to go into business… and that includes you. It’s available for sale on the Sales Dog website. And as always, if you have any questions or comments about this book, come back to this blog and post them in the comments section below. Alright, talk later… Arman Vakili Thanks For Visiting www.How-Do-I-Start-My-Own-Business.com
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SpeedWealth: How to Go From Zero to a Million In 3 Years or Less
August 1, 2011
… to how to appraise your business, so you can get the maximum number of millions, if you plan on selling it down the line. T. Harv Eker is a very well known name in the business & personal development world. And there is very good reason for it. Along with his 2 best selling books – Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind & SpeedWealth – he’s done seminars ALL over the world, and has over a million students who attend his work shops. I bought my copy of SpeedWealth while I was attending his Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar… and I finished reading the book by the time the 3 day weekend was over. I couldn’t believe that there was so much high quality information in one little book. (It’s like 100 pages) It had such an impact on me that I ended up using the content in the book as the outline for a LOT of my trainings… back when I was in Network Marketing. The reason why it was so relevant to my business at the time is because SpeedWealth is really all about how to create a money making system, and sell it for millions… and network marketing world is ALL about systems. So needless to say it was pretty much a home0run with my trainings. I did that training for over 5,000 people and every single person loved it, and ended up buying the book later on. The book is written in a “checklist” format and it involves 7 steps. And these steps are designed to help you start a business from scratch, and when I say scratch I mean literally nothing… Harv start his 1st business with $2,000 that he borrowed on his credit card, to pay his 1st and last month’s lease on his retail space. Then with some creativity and ambition… he built a million dollar business. Without giving too much of it away – because I really want you to read it – I’m going to give you these 7 steps and a brief explanation of each one. The book goes much, much deeper into each step so make sure you pick it up. So here we go:
Using this checklist T. Harv Eker took his first business, Fitness Land, from one location to 11 in less than 3 years… and sold half of his shares to the H.A. Heinz corporation for over 1.6 Million dollars. And every business that he developed after that took the same route and generated the same results. His businesses now generate more than $10 Million per month. It didn’t happen over night… but it DID happen. And it happened systematically. That means it didn’t happen by accident. That also means that if you follow this SYSTEM… there is a high likelihood that you’ll get the same results. It worked for me. So make sure that you read this book. If you click on that link, you’ll instantly be taken to the pdf file where you can download it and read it for free. I’d love to hear your opinion of it so come back here after you read it and let me know what you thought. Talk soon, Arman Vakili |
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Subliminal Persuasion: The Art Of Selling Without “Selling”
July 22, 2011
Warning: The technique that I’m going to share with you is directly from this book… and it’s probably the most powerful technique for getting people to do what you want. It’s a very powerful form of manipulation and should only be used with the right intentions. This book was one of the most recent that I read, and the information and ideas that were shared in this book were nothing short of phenomenal. Many ideas about Public Relations, Direct Response Marketing, and mass promotions were shared in this book. There were improvements made to old ideas, and some ideas that were completely new to me… … and it was all amazing. I really don’t think there is a possible way to sum up the whole book in a single post, so I’m not going to try. What I will do though, is share what I think were the most important pieces. To properly promote a business or a product, you need to know EVERYTHING there is to know about that specific niche, its competitors, and the group of people who make up the consumer base for that niche. The research phase of a business is a VERY important part of whether or not that business will succeed. You need to know everything there is to know about everything that is involved with that business. Let’s look at the two main parts: The Competitions Answer these questions about your competition:
The Market Answer these questions about your target market:
It takes some time and effort and a lot of research to truly understand the psychology of your target market. And it’s pertinent that you do… because without that understanding, you’ll be wasting your time, energy, and money. But outside of the obvious stuff, there is one other major reason behind why you need to understand the psychology of your target market? There are psychological “back doors” to the minds of the people in your target market. If you were to take the traditional approach and went at your market head on, you would face a lot of resistance and objection. But if you used one of these “back doors”, you would get into their mind without them really knowing that you’re there, and you can very effectively deliver your message. Learning this technique means you can get virtually anything you want from people. Knowing this, it is your responsibility to make sure that you only use this power with good intentions… for all parties involved. Let’s talk about what it is… The reason why every marketing teacher tells you to study your target market closely is because knowing what makes your target market “tick” is the ultimate leverage in marketing. If you know what to say to get their emotions boiling, then you know how to get them excited… and if you know how to properly channel that excitement, you can get them to do whatever you want. There is an old rule that I learned from my studies in martial arts… When emotion goes up, intelligence goes down. Now I’m not saying that your target market will become stupid when you get them emotional, but they won’t use their logical mind as much as their emotions. Meaning their emotions will overpower their logic… and at that point, the only way that they can calm their emotions would be to take the action that you want them to take… …as long as it’s relevant to the main idea. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this means you’re supposed to sound excited to get them to be excited… that’s not it at all. The idea is to understand what makes your target market’s emotions rise… so as an example, if your target market has kids, then chances are if you bring up their kids, they will be very emotionally involved with your conversation. Or if you talk with them about a topic that they’re interested in… maybe they’re golf fanatics… maybe they’re car fanatics… maybe they are having problems with their significant other… whatever it is, there has to be a strong emotional base behind it. That’s the only way that this technique will work. So let’s say, you’re promoting alternative education for kids who are considered to be “bad apples”. Kids who don’t do well in school because they get in trouble a lot. If you talk with the parents of that child, you’ll find very quickly that their biggest wish is for their child to be more well mannered and hard working. You’ll notice the tone of their voice will change… and their body language will start to change as well. That means that they’re very invested in what you’re talking about. At that point, as long as I show them that I understand what they’re feeling… I can simply tell them that I have something that may help them. NO HARD SELLING. Just informational advice… a course of action that they can take that MAYBE will help them. You leave the actual decision making up to them… THEY have to choose to take you up on your offer. If at any point they feel like they’re being sold, you’re done. And your offer won’t work . This idea is discussed much deeper in Subliminal Persuasion. Along with many other great marketing ideas. In my opinion, it’s a must read if you’re serious about business and marketing… but then again, that’s just my opinion.
But I’ll tell you this much… if you end up reading it, I guarantee that you’ll come back and thank me for recommending it. Hope you enjoy it… Arman Vakili |
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Three Feet From Gold: Why Persistence Pays In Business.
July 19, 2011
There comes a time in every new entrepreneur’s journey, where they start to seriously doubt whether or not they can make it in business. Whether it’s because of a miscalculation in costs, too much rejection, or just plain fatigue… doubt starts to sneak in to the back of the mind and the new business owner doesn’t believe they have what it takes to finish the job. Napoleon Hill said in his book, Think & Grow Rich, that your biggest success lies right behind your biggest failure. This means that at the moment where you feel like there is absolutely nothing else you can do… at the moment where you feel like throwing in the towel and giving up… DON’T! Because even though you may not be able to see it at that immediate moment… your biggest success is just around the corner. No where is this point delivered more clearly than in the story of Three Feet From Gold. Three Feet From Gold is the story of a guy named R.U. Darby and his gold seeking uncle. Back in the Gold Rush days, Darby’s uncle had a dream of striking it rich in the gold mining business. So without any hesitation, he began digging for gold. After weeks of hard labor, he finally hit a beautiful golden ore. He needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface, so he went back home to his family and neighbors and told them about the discovery. They put their money together and purchased digging and mining equipment… and after they dug out the first car of ore and sold it, they came to the realization that they had found one of the richest mines in Colorado. After a few more cars, they would be completely out of debt… and then the real profit would start kicking in. So with new high hopes, Darby and his uncle went back to work. And that’s when “disaster” happened. The ore disappeared. No more gold. They kept digging… and digging… but nothing came up. After trying over and over, and not being able to find the vein of gold again… they finally decided to quit. They took all their digging equipment and sold it to a junk man for a few hundred dollars. The junkman, however, was a pretty savvy guy. Before he destroyed the equipment to turn it into scrap metal, he decided to call on a mining engineer to come and examine the land… maybe there was something there that Darby and his uncle missed… … and after a short examination of the land, they found out that there was something that Darby and his uncle missed. The engineer informed the junk man that if he dug only three more feet… he would hit a vein of gold so big that it would go down in history as one of the largest gold discoveries in the world. And sure enough… when the junk man dug three more feet… he struck gold. Giving up too early cost Darby and his uncle hundreds of millions of dollars. He had to work years to pay off the rest of the money that he owed to friends and family for the equipment. There’s more to the story, but the main point of the whole thing is perseverence.
Times WILL get tough. There definitely WILL be times where you want to quit. But know this… to quit means that you’ll be giving up everything you strived so hard for. I heard a great quote once (unfortunately I don’t know who it’s from… if you can find out, let me know because I would like to give credit to the person)… The quote goes like this… “The pain of regret is much greater than the pain of discipline.” That means that if you give up when the going gets tough… you’ll end up regreting it later, years down the line. And the constant “if only’s” will come into your head. If only I would’ve stuck through it… if only I didn’t give up on my dreams of becoming a successful business owner. Don’t let that be you… regret is a serious waste of time and it’s completely unnecessary. Why regret something when you have the power in your hands, right now… to make sure you don’t have to regret anything? Really think about this. What did you give up on that you shouldn’t have? Now ask yourself this… What different angles haven’t you looked at yet? You see… whatever problems you’re facing right now in the development of your business… aren’t nearly as bad as you think they are. There is always a solution to your problems… you just have to look in the right places and with the right mindsets. Think outside of the box. Put aside your pride and ask for help. Do whatever it takes to find your answers… because it will be worth it when you’ve figured it all out. Your only other choice is to give up… and I really don’t think that you want to do that. If you give up, you will never be the same person. You won’t try to go for any other goals because you gave up on the most important one. You won’t believe in yourself the same way anymore. And the fire inside you will start to slowly fade out. That’s not the life I see for you. I see a life of prosperity. A life that was built from persistence, compassion and hard work… a life to be proud of. It’s what you deserve… and you deserve nothing less. So don’t conform. Don’t accept defeat. Keep going until you accomplish your goal… it’s the way of the world class. Let me know if you have any specific questions on this topic. When it comes down to this specific subject, people have very specific issues… specific challenges they’re facing and sometimes the general approach doesn’t help that much. So if that’s you… post your question at the bottom. You don’t have to necessarily use your real name if you don’t want people to know… but definitely post your questions. I’ll respond as fast as I can. Looking forward to reading your questions… Arman Vakili |
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Think & Grow Rich: Learning From The Original
July 16, 2011
| On a personal level… this book as been the cause of my life completely changing. |
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If you haven’t read it… you must. It really will revamp your life.
Anyone who promotes business and self-development products right now learned what they know from this guy. –>
If you ask anyone who’s anyone in business, they’ll tell you that the 1st business and personal development book they ever read was Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
If you haven’t read it… you should. Seriously.
Here’s why… Napoleon Hill was hired by Andrew Carnegie to interview 500 of the world’s most successful people and find out what their secrets to success were. It took Hill over 20 years to collect this information, and turn it into an easily digestible book for us to read.
The book reveals 13 secrets that ALL of those 500 people had in common. Not one person was different than the other when they revealed their secrets… the specific products that they chose, and the markets they decided to built their wealth in were different… but their main philosophies were the exact same.
So I would think that you would want to know what those 13 secrets are.
But to make it a bit more enticing for you… I’m going to give just ONE of the secrets… but it’s the one that I think is most important. And this secret is the root of everything else.
If you learn how to MASTER this… and I don’t use that word lightly… to master something takes a great deal of dedication and hard work. Someone who has mastered a certain skill did so after years of practice. So it will take you some time to really become a master at this particular skill…
… some people may take longer than others to master, and that’s perfectly fine. It really isn’t a race.
To explain this secret to you I’m going to start with one of Hill’s most popular quotes:
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”
It sounds like a simple quote, and it is, but there is SO much wisdom and depth behind that quote, that i can literally write 5, 1000 word articles on it. (And maybe I will)
Let’s break that quote down…
First, let’s talk about the human mind.
Einstein said that we only use 10% of our mind’s potential power. Later on, that 10% was given the name of the Conscious Mind. The Other 90% that we don’t use is commonly known as the Subconscious Mind.
He also said that if you can get the 90% of your mind to work in your favor, there is absolutely NOTHING you can’t accomplish.
Why? What’s so special about that 90%? What’s the big deal about the subconscious?
The subconscious is the part of your brain that manages your biological functions. It controls your breathing patterns without putting a single strain on your conscious mind. It controls the growth functions of your body. It controls how your body fights disease and bacteria… and many, MANY more things.
Now, think about this for a second. If you were consciously trying to control your breathing patterns, you would go nuts. The same thing goes with your growth system, your immune system, etc. It is impossible for your conscious mind to handle such a complex and sophisticated process.
Yet, your subconscious does it without “breaking a sweat”.
Here’s another example…
Think about a skill that you’ve developed that you are now a master of. A skill that at one point, you had to consciously think about when you were performing it. A skill that you were very uncomfortable with.
Chances are, you NEEDED to learn that skill because of your professional life or because there was some major necessity for it in your life. And after you practiced it over and over, you became a master at it.
At the master level, that skill or action is now ingrained in your subconscious process. you can perform that action without even thinking abuot it. And you can perform it exceptionally well, too.
Here’s a personal example from my life: At the time of this article, I can type an average of 85 words per minute (wpm). Not only that, I know exactly what I’m going to say next, and how I am going to organize the content of this article.
Now, the rule of thumb with typing is if you can type 60 wpm… you’re golden.
The thing is, I used to be horrible at typing. I mean I was like those people who stare at the keyboard and use their index fingers to type. At that time, I think I was typing 15 wpm.
And if I was planning to write an article, I would need to draw outlines and write a few drafts before the final product was done.
Fast forward a few years and now I’m just like him. It took a LOT of practice… very frustrating practice… but I got the hang of it and now I am what others would call a “master typer”. Creative title… I know.
During the beginning stages of learning to type, I was using my conscious mind to direct my fingers to the right letters. The after a while, I got the hang of where the letters were and I didn’t have to focus as much on typing with my conscious mind.
Now… I don’t even think about it. I can watch something on TV and still be typing the thoughts on my mind very easily. That’s because the skill has switched over from my conscious mind to my subconscious.
Once a skill, habit, thought pattern is adopted by your subconscious… at that point, you are a master.
So let’s apply this to Hill’s quote… “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
If you get your mind to believe that you’re a hard worker and that your hard work is going to pay off 10 fold… and you truly BELIEVE that… then it will come into fruition.
Or if you want to get better at writing great ads and marketing pieces, solving problems quickly, become a better communicator, or any other skill… you just have to practice enough to move that skill into your subconscious data base.
At that point, performing that skill isn’t going to be a strenuous activity. You’ll flow through it smoothly and finish without breaking a sweat.
There are no if’s, and’s, or buts about it… that’s the law of the universe. If you get your mind to truly believe it… just like you believe that you’re a man or a woman… without a doubt in the back of your mind… it will happen.
This is the main idea behind Think & Grow Rich… to get your mind to work for you. To use it’s infinite powers to bring any of your fantasies and ambitions to life.
The rest of the book goes into specific techniques and ideas for how to get your mind to work for you.
I might end up doing a series on this book just for the hell of it… but till then, you should definitely grab a copy of it and get started. And to help you internalize the information better, you can drop by this blog and post the biggest lessons you learned from the book in the comment section below.Looking forward to reading your comments.
‘Til then…
Arman Vakili
Kids & Business: How Kids Can Make Money
July 5, 2011
I remember watching the news a few years back (I don’t really watch the news that often) and I saw a story about this little boy who had started a candy selling company.
He was 9 years old. At first he was just buying candy at a bulk, and selling them by piece… and needless to say he was making a pretty decent profit. Then he decided to make his own candy and sell it… to create his own brand.
The news story went on to say that this little boy had made over $40,000 from his little candy selling business during the previous calendar year.
That figure blew my mind. Here is this little boy who is making more money selling candy, than 90% of adults make in their professions that they studied so hard in school for.
Then I read about another kid who was making money from a blog he started about skateboards because he loved to skateboard so much and just wanted to talk about it with other people online.
The blog originally started as a way for him to connect with his friends but it developed into a cash machine. From the adsense ads that he had on his website, and a few affiliate links that were scattered through the blog he was making a full time income talking about his hobby.
A 6 year old girl was making over $20,000 per year selling hand made bracelelets through her website. Another little boy started his lemonade stand not in the middle of their neighborhood, but next to a track field by their local college… He sold TONS of lemonade to the thirsty athletes.
There are countless examples of kids starting businesses, succeeding at their small business and then building on their small accomplishments to launch companies like Zappos.com which has sales in the tens of millions per year.
Why am I mentioning all of this?
One simple reason, actually. Parents tend to think that their kids will always be “babies”… and although a son will always be her mother’s baby no matter how old he gets, at about 7 or 8 years old, that little boy can very profitably run a business.
How?
That answer is also very simple. Business is NOT difficult to understand… and it’s really NOT difficult to implement either.
The reason why so many adults have trouble succeeding in business is because they “mind-fuck” themselves to death… and make up all these different excuses for why they won’t succeed in business.
Where-as a little boy or a little girl doesn’t understand all that stuff… they aren’t worried about rejection or risk… they don’t care whether or not someone doesn’t like their product or service.
They only worry about the people who ARE interested… and they put all of their focus on finding those people and those people only. They literally don’t SEE the non-buyers.
Now, here’s the key. Once a “Little League Entrepreneur” has figured out a way to make a sale… all they focus on is how to duplicate that same sale over and over again.
They get a kick out of completing a transaction and making money from it. To them, the process is much more fun and interesting than the end result which is the money.
So what can you and I learn from all this?
Have fun! Business is honestly fun when you get past all the “I’ve gotta make money” stuff. A real successful business does more than just make a profit. It serves the community. It fulfills the business owner because they are doing something worthwhile with their life.
And if it’s a really good business… it creates a community within the infrastructure of the business and all its employees, and within the client base itself. All of the customers feel like they’re a part of a BIG family… that they own a part of something.
Apple customers are more than just customers… they are evangelists believing that their product is the best. If you’ve ever talked to someone who owns an IPhone, you’ll agree with this.
IPhone owners go to extreme lengths to protect the integrity of their phones. You’d think that they owned Apple or something.
Same thing goes with Blackberry owners.
These companies did a great job of developing a community within their companies. And although it’s not really in the best interest of the world at large, people feel like they’re complete because of their phones.
This is what you have to focus on when your’e building a business. Don’t focus on the money. Focus on the good you’ll be doing for people by providing them with your services. Focus on how great you feel because of your business.
Hint: If you don’t feel good about your business or your product, then there’s something wrong and you should switch businesses. The most successful business owners made their fortunes because they were passionate about what they were doing.
So, while it’s very important for our kids to learn from us… we can all learn a thing or two from our children, as well.
Talk to your child about his/her interests to see what they are really passionate about. And see if you can come up with an idea for a business.
Post your ideas on this post and our community and myself will give you our feedback and any ways that we feel you might be able to improve your idea.
I’m excited to see your posts!
Talk soon,
Arman Vakili