Be Relentless in Pursuit of Your Dreams

Are You Prepared to Do What It Takes?

Although virtually everyone agrees that "time is money," I'm convinced most people only pay lip service to this truism. If you're really serious about it, you need to come to grips with the reality that the key ingredient for converting time into money is self-discipline.

The greatest catalyst for an undisciplined person is pain, and pain comes in many forms.

Physical pain, for instance, can be the catalyst for becoming self-disciplined when it comes to exercise and healthy eating. Financial pain can be the catalyst for having the self-discipline to work when you're tired or sick, or when you'd rather be out having fun. And then there's the pain that comes from a lost love, which can give you the self-discipline to be a better partner when love comes your way again.

Well, I've certainly been in the financial pain category! I know that many of you have been in the same situation: Going to a job every day, that you knew in your heart would never give you the life you dream of.
Seeing others "living the life", while your were struggling just to make ends meet. Feeling that you were just as good as those in positions that you reported to. Oh, and how about missing family events or time with your friends because you couldn't find someone to cover your shift.

Unfortunately, most people in this situation eventually give up on their dreams over time. They just settle for their lot in life, as they see it. A small percentage of this group, about 20%, stay opportunity-minded, looking for a way to make their dreams come true. But, again, about 97% of this smaller group, give up when they feel they are not making progress. That leaves about 3% that are absolutely relentless in the pursuit of their dreams.

In my years in direct sales, I have seen many people come and go. The initial excitement soon fades into disappointment and discouragement. Some have unrealistic expectations, while others let family and friends get inside their heads. Lack of leadership is also a huge detriment.

The bottom line is that you have to be persistent and determined to make it, no matter what. Your future depends on you sticking it out. You will work harder on yourself than you have on anything else in your life. Success is not easy, but you must not give yourself the option of failure.

Self-discipline is about restraining, or regulating, your actions -- repressing the instinct to act impulsively in favor of taking rational, long-term-oriented actions. I was not very self-disciplined earlier, and it really set me back. Now I realize that self-discipline -- a trait that every human being has the capacity to develop -- gives me the power to outperform people who may be more intelligent and talented than I am.$

[Ed. Note: If you're not happy with your financial situation, you're in the perfect position to change it for the better – right now. Ray has just released a special video that covers an online business system that you can use to start growing your wealth. To watch this short video, click the following link: http://www.raybuckner.com]

The Magic Formula For Online Business

If you’d like to run an Internet business but have no clue what type of business, what you need is an idea.

But coming up with the right idea — one that will not only get you excited and motivated but also generate profitable sales — can be elusive. And even if you have an idea, putting it into action, and making it work, can be even more of a challenge.

And this is where I can help you…

1. If you have no ideas whatsoever: Surely there’s something that piques your interest, even if just a bit. Maybe some sport or hobby. Identify a product related to that interest, and start your business with that.

There are two ways to do it — instantly and without having to buy or worry about holding inventory: You can work with a company that “drop-ships” products you think you can sell. (You take the order and payment online. They fulfill the order. The website worldwidebrands.com has a good selection of companies that do this.) Or you can become an affiliate for a company with a product line that appeals to you. (As an affiliate, you get a commission every time you sell something for them.)


2. If you have loads of ideas, but haven’t taken action on any of them: Maybe you haven’t yet come up with an idea you truly believe in. Or maybe the problem is a lack of self-confidence.

Don’t let that hold you back. It’s okay to be unsure of your idea, yourself, or your abilities. Even people with all the skills and resources they need fail to take action — delaying, planning, and procrastinating. “Procrastiplanning,” as I call it.

Planning how your business could work but still not taking any action — well, it’s like trading on the stock market with paper money. You can shake this off today by picking one of your ideas — any one — and starting on it. Try a few pay-per-click ads on Google. Or buy a domain name and set up a blog. Even starting with dingdongdang123.com right now is better than waiting until you can think of the “perfect” domain name. Start. You can always makes some changes later on.

3. If you’ve started an Internet business, but it stalled or flopped: My grade school science teacher used to say that even the result of a “failed” experiment is a result. The question is, how fast did you fail? More important, what did you learn from that failure? Based on what you learned, start again… perhaps taking a slightly different approach. In my experience, even a small shift in direction can make a big difference.


Don’t Try for Perfection

As every successful businessperson knows, perfection isn’t possible. Even handmade Swiss chronometers — the finest mechanisms on the planet — are only 99.99 percent perfect, with a tolerance of -4/+6 seconds per day.

So don’t get caught in the trap of trying to make everything perfect before attempting to launch your Internet business.$

[Ed. Note: If you're not happy with your financial situation, you're in the perfect position to change it for the better – right now. Ray has just released a special video that covers an online business system that you can use to start growing your wealth. To watch this short video, click the following link: http://www.raybuckner.com]

No Time Like The Present

What's your excuse for not working toward your most cherished dream?


It could be to start your own Internet business or learn a new language or travel to Asia.

Do you think you're too old? Too inexperienced and unqualified? Too busy with other things? Too broke?

Age means nothing, other than time is running out for you to act. And other obstacles can be overcome easily... with the right attitude.


Spend Most of Your Time on What You Know Best


You may be used to working as part of a team. Somebody does the graphics. Somebody writes promotional copy. Somebody else develops the marketing plan. But when you're solo, you're in charge of everything.

Some tasks you can just ditch. And some you can delegate. Establish your priorities. Should you spend time on the phone with your website hosting provider? No, you should delegate that. Should you spend time on content and offers geared toward your market, which you know better than anyone else? Yes.)

Make Technology Your Friend

You may be used to letting others handle the "tech" stuff in your workplace. But when you're running your own business, you're the tech guy. And, as you will discover, it turns out much of it is pretty easy. For things you can't figure out, take a class. If it's really complicated, hire a freelancer.

You don't have to know everything. But you need to know enough so you're not at the mercy of your outsourced help. You don't want to be overcharged or told something is impossible when they just don't want to do it.

Don't Ask for Favors, Ask for Advice

At meeting with the mega-successful entrepreneur Richard Branson, MaryEllen Tribby was invited to talk about her business. Instead of asking for help, she simply explained what her venture was about and asked for suggestions. Richard offered his support. And, already, his charitable organization, Virgin United, has been in touch with her.

You don't have to know Richard Branson to take advantage of this approach. Just think about it. If you're constantly asking people for favors... how long will they feel like granting them?

Create a Network You Can Brag About

Get the best people in your industry in your network. Not people you've only met once or see once a year. I'm talking about people you can call at any time. People who will do anything for you. (Of course, you have to be willing to do anything for them, too.)

When you're starting out, you probably won't be in touch with industry giants. But you can still make great contacts. Start with likeminded people who are as focused as you are on growing their businesses. As your businesses grow, you will be able to help each other.

Create Accountability Partners

You are 65 percent more likely to accomplish your goals if you have someone watching over your shoulder. It probably has a lot to do with not wanting to admit to not doing what you said you would do. That fear keeps you motivated.

So set up a time to speak with a colleague or business partner once a week. Talk to each other about what you've been doing with your businesses. Call them out if they've been slacking. Ask them to do the same for you.

Understand Your Market Intimately

One of the first things you should do is research your market and your competitors. Using keyword research tools from Google, you can find the number of searches a month for search terms related to your ideal market. Visit every site in the organic results and pay-per-click ads.

Look in depth at their site layouts, sales letters, offers, products, and marketing strategies. Figure out what other marketers are doing right. And what they are doing wrong. (For example, many don't have sign-up boxes on their home pages to build their e-mail lists.)

Work on Your Business Every Day

You can't just work on the weekends. You have to do something every single day to advance your business. If it's important to you, you'll do it. Get up extra early if you have to.

If you want to sell supplements online, for example, you could start researching which products are hot right now. You could contact some suppliers. Buy a domain name. Build your website.

Learn, Understand, and Strive to Master Direct-Response Marketing

Direct marketing is the key to online success. An e-commerce site like Amazon may work. But you're not Amazon. You can't wait for customers to find your site. You must reach out to them, get their contact information, and start building relationships that lead to sales.

Don't Fall Victim to the Biggest Entrepreneurial Curse

Four projects halfway done yields ZERO revenue. One project 100 percent finished brings cash in the door.

Focus on one thing at a time -- the one most important thing -- and complete it before you start another project.

Stop trying to come up with rationalizations for not taking action. The truth is, now is always the best time to start a business.$

[Ed. Note: If you're not happy with your financial situation, you're in the perfect position to change it for the better – right now. Ray has just released a special video that covers an online business system that you can use to start growing your wealth. To watch this short video, click the following link: http://www.raybuckner.com]
www.raybuckner.retirevillage.com

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Business Is Selling

"Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence, and income."  Jay Abraham


As I keep telling you, just about anyone can start a business. But there's an important caveat - and it jumped to mind when I got an e-mail from Lynn, who wants advice on starting a newsletter. She writes:

"I've worn many hats, juggled them off and on in my years as Mother, Grandmother, Realtor, Concessionaire, and Artist Retailer/Wholesaler. Love, divorce, custody issues, death, inheritance, bankruptcy, accidents, health issues, friendship, betrayal. I've either been through it or carried someone through it.

"What I seem to do best is calm nerves and give good advice, to the point where it often interferes with other endeavors. I've seriously thought about your copywriting/ Internet ideas, but I'm wary of selling things. It seems that, among family and friends at least, I am the oracle of issues, the witchy woman matriarch with the final answer. The trendy term 'life coach' isn't quite it. I want to be like an e-mail comforter. A listener of last resort. A sounding board.

"It's the only thing I think I'm really quite good at. Could this be a business?"

Yes, it could be a business. But not if you are leery of selling.

Business is selling. You can't make money unless you sell something. As Robert Louis Stevenson said, "I find it useful to remember, everyone lives by selling something."

So the first thing Lynn needs to determine is what it is she is going to sell.

People will pay for comfort... but not if it's billed as comfort. Think about what therapists do. They charge pretty good money to give people comforting advice. Yes, there are some who deliver discomfort, but they don't stay in business very long. People pay money to have their therapists make them feel good. If you've ever been in therapy with a successful therapist, you already know that.

But if therapists said that they were in the business of comforting their clients, no one would take them seriously and no one would pay them good money for their comforting advice. Rather than advertise what they are really selling, therapists advertise their methodology (Freudian, Behaviorist, etc.) or the type of "problems" they deal with (addiction, obsessive compulsive disorders, etc.).

Since Lynn isn't a trained psychotherapist, she can't honestly advertise those sorts of things. So she will have to come up with her own ideas about why people get themselves into trouble and how they can find solutions. These ideas will form themselves into a unified whole, if she thinks about them long enough. This unified whole is what we call an "intellectual franchise." That's what Lynn needs to develop. And then she needs to test it and see if it sells.

Remember, starting a business and making it a success is not just a matter of having a good idea. The idea has to be one that people will be happy to pay money for.

So if you are in Lynn's position - looking to turn your idea into a profitable business - you have to become comfortable with selling.

How do you develop the skill of selling when you are "wary" of selling, as Lynn puts it?

The first step is to understand that there are really two kinds of selling:

1. pushing people (to buy things they don't want)

2. helping people (to select those things they do want to buy)


Pushy salespeople - the telemarketer who calls you while you're eating dinner, the broker who calls you on the weekend with a "hot deal," the proverbial used-car salesman - take delight in persuading you to do what you don't want to do. Such salespeople see the selling process as a kind of battle where they bully and beat you into submission. It's an ego game for them, and your acquiescence - even if you really do want the product - is an indication of submission.

Such salespeople should be tarred and feathered, run out of town, dunked, and pilloried. They are the same people who delight in not letting you merge in traffic and cutting ahead of you in the supermarket line.

Helpful salespeople are actually more common than their obnoxious cousins.

If you understand that the job of a salesperson is to solve a customer's problem or help him meet a need, selling won't seem so odious to you.

Let's say your prospect's main concern is the future of his marriage. What you would do, in this case, is ask him questions about it and find out, in as much detail as possible, what his worries are. Having done this, you are then in a great position to address each one - to explain how your product (in Lynn's case, her advice) can give him effective solutions. By driving home the benefits of your product that the prospect cares about, you are making a very strong sales presentation. You are telling him exactly what he wants to hear.

Remember - your prospect wants to be sold. So long as you help him understand how your product can help him achieve his desires or solve his problems, he will be prejudiced in your favor. You lose your prospect when you start talking about other things - your interests, for example, or product features that he doesn't really care about.

So don't sell him, help him. Begin by finding out what he wants and needs. And then (if and only if you can really help him), make the strongest, most specific case you can make to convince him that his desires will be achieved and his problems solved.

Once you've figured out how to sell your product, and have gotten over your distaste of selling, you need to start testing... preferably on the Internet... until you find some way to position the product that catches on.

And then, to grow your business, you will have to produce lots of products that tie into your initial business idea and lots of sales letters to convince people to buy them.
Does this sound like something you can do? If so, you are on your way!$

Why Common Knowledge Kills Success

Picture this:

A hot prospect stumbles across your blog...

... pulls up a recent post...

... starts to read it...

... stops midway through...

... leaves your site...

... and never returns again!

An unfortunate, costly event? YES, but...

It Happens All the Time

What can you do about it? PLENTY! (Just keep reading.)

There are six types of content that immunizes your website from the sad story above... six types of content that sucks your prospects in, instead of sending them away.

Briefly, here they are:

1. Counter-intuitive content -- an approach to solving a problem that runs counter to conventional thinking.

2. Complex made simple -- where you take something that seems complex, then break it apart and make it simple to understand and use.

3. A unique process -- where you solve a problem or challenge your prospects face with a process you developed that's easy to execute.

4. Paradigm shift on the problem -- where you share a new perspective that gets your prospects looking at their problem in a new and different way.

5. A powerful tool -- where you give your prospects a tool that transforms something that was difficult into something easy.

6. Fast shortcuts to time-intensive activities – this is where you take an important task or activity that usually takes considerable time to complete and make it push-button to finish.

Let's expand on content strategy #1 -- Counter-Intuitive Content. Here goes...

First, let's define counter-intuitive content:

Counter-intuitive content expresses an idea that doesn't seem likely to be true. Often, it contradicts common wisdom, conventional thinking, or common sense.

Still unsure? Here are some examples...

• Give your best ideas away for free to get rich...
• Do less to achieve more...
• Self-help can ruin your life...
• Fail more to succeed...
•  Learning more tactics will make you fail faster...
• Send fewer e-mails to make more sales...

 Do you notice how each of these examples stirs up your curiosity?

They stimulate the little voice in your head to say...

  

"SAY WHAT?"

 And that's the reason counter-intuitive ideas are so powerful. They provoke your readers to want more.

Let's contrast that with an idea that isn't counter-intuitive: Persistence, discipline, and hard work lead to success.

  

Ho-hum. That's common knowledge, right? So repeating it is unnecessary and won't have a WOW effect on your readers.

In fact, common knowledge bores your readers into bailing on your content and your site... often permanently.

But if common knowledge says one thing and your content proves the opposite...

  

Your idea is counter-intuitive. It's original. And...

It's More Valuable!

Okay.

So how do you go about creating counter-intuitive content?

Glad you asked. Here's how...

Step 1. Make a list of the common problems and goals of your prospects...

Step 2. List as many conventional, common-wisdom solutions as you can -- next to each of those problems and goals...

Step 3. Brainstorm ideas that contradict the solutions you came up with in Step 2...

Step 4. Highlight the ideas (from Step 3) that you believe are true or could be true in certain situations...

Step 5. Circle the ideas you can back up with your own experience or the experience of others...

Step 6. Pick the idea that you feel like riffing on.

That's it. It's a simple process. But make no mistake, it...

Boosts Readership...

Multiplies Traffic, and...

Increases Your Influence.

Easy-peezy, right?

  

Well, one more important point.

  

In order for your counter-intuitive content to work, you need more than just the idea.

  

You need to back up that idea with enough evidence, logic, and persuasion to make your readers believe it's true. Which is why I told you to circle the ideas you can back up with experience or the experience of others (Step 5). Because if you don't back up your idea... all you have is a clever headline and an unresolved promise.

  

And don't make the mistake of thinking that what I just shared with you is only for your blog. In fact, it can be used on your website, in your e-mails and presentations, and practically anywhere else that communication occurs.

  

But one of the best things to populate with counter-intuitive ideas is your information products. Because it gets your prospects excited... and referring others to you in droves.$

How To Develop A Multimillionaire Mindset

A man observes evergreens growing along the roadside and thinks that they look pretty, covered with snow. Another man sees the same trees and thinks, "These trees would look good in people's living rooms at Christmas. I wonder what they would pay for them?"


The first man has an ordinary mind. The second, the mind of a natural-born moneymaker.

In The Prime Movers, Edwin A. Locke provides some interesting insights into the way moneymakers think:

He argues that an active, inquisitive mind is a hallmark of the successful entrepreneur. The most successful entrepreneurs in history, he says, had this sort of mind.

Thomas Edison: He was a "virtual thinking machine. Almost until the day he died, his mind poured forth a torrent of ideas, and he might track as many as 60 experiments at a time in his laboratory."

Steve Jobs: He bombarded people with his ideas – his investors, his board of directors, his customers, his subordinates, and his CEO.

Henry Ford: "He threw himself into every detail, insisting on getting small things absolutely right... But he never lost sight of the ultimate, overall objection. He had a vision of what his new car (the Model T) should look like. From all the improvisation, hard thought, and hard work came a machine that was at once the simplest and the most sophisticated automobile built to date anywhere in the world."

 Some Preliminary Observations


To get started, here are some observations I've made from studying and from reading about great wealth builders like Jobs and Edison and Ford.

1. A "normal" person is concerned with protecting his ego. When dealing with a problem he doesn't really understand, he pretends he understands the contributing factors and doesn't try to find out what anyone else thinks. A person with a multimillionaire mind asks questions inces-santly. He has no ego when it comes to learning. He knows that knowledge is power.

2. A "normal" person has a consumer mentality. He looks at a hot new product and thinks about how he would like to own one. A person with a multimillionaire mind has an entrepreneurial men-tality. He looks at it and thinks, "How can I produce this or something similar in my own industry?"

3. A "normal" person is wish-focused. He daydreams about making gobs of money. A person with a multimillionaire mind is reality-based. He is always analyzing his own success and the success of others and wondering how he could learn from it.

4. A "normal" person, when confronted with a challenging idea, thinks of all the reasons why it might not work. A person with a multimillionaire mind sees the potential in it and disregards the problems until he has a clear vision of how it might succeed.

5. A "normal" person resists change. A person with a multimillionaire mind embraces it.

6. A "normal" person accepts the status quo. A person with a multimillionaire mind is always looking to make things – even good things – better.

7. A "normal" person reacts. A person with a multimillionaire mind is proactive.

8. A "normal" person looks at a successful business owner and thinks, "That guy's lucky." Or "That guy's a shyster." A person with a multimillionaire mind thinks, "What's his secret?" And, "How can I do that?"

Most importantly, a person with a multimillionaire's mind likes living like a multimillionaire. He doesn't shortchange himself when it comes to comfort and luxury. Rather than believing always that pain leads to gain, he thinks, "If I'm smart I can have my cake and eat it too.

You can start your mental transformation by studying this list and assessing your own impulses. Be honest. Identify the habits you don't have and try to develop them. Rather than think of this process as work, think of it as fun.$

[Ed. Note: If you're not happy with your financial situation, you're in the perfect position to change it for the better – right now. Ray has just released a special video that covers an online business opportunity that you can use to start growing your wealth. To watch this short video, click the following link: http://www.raybuckner.com]

Living Rich: It Really IS the Thought That Counts

Many years ago, I would rush through the holiday season. I ended up buying gifts in a hurry and spending far too much. In a way, I thought this was a chance to "make up" for being so busy with work all year. I figured that lavishing my loved ones with expensive gifts would show them how much I appreciated them.

Wrong! Expensive does not always mean better. You could spend thousands on earrings for your wife... when a CD of the band that played at your wedding would be much more meaningful.

No one expects you to shell out a week's salary on a gift. Your loved ones will welcome a less-than-lavish gift. Especially if it is a thoughtful gift that they need or will actually use.

In my experience, the more time I give to thinking about the person... the less money I end up spending. My formula: The right gift = the best value (in even more ways than dollars).

Here are some ideas that it's not too late to implement:

Think about your gift recipients' hobbies. Golfers are fun to shop for. They are always happy with new golf balls or gift cards from their club's pro shop.

Give a gift certificate for a few movie tickets or a meal at a nice restaurant. With all the hustle and bustle at this time of year, a night out on a gift giver's dime is a welcome relief AND an enjoyable experience.

Give a friend or family member who loves to read a recently published novel or a first-edition copy of their favorite book.

Be creative. Custom-make 2011 calendars for everyone on your list. Use pictures of your friend's children... photos taken during company events for your coworker... sunsets for the nature lover... city skylines for the travel buff. You get the idea.

Schedule an appointment with yourself to think about your gift-giving strategy. Make a list of everyone you still need to buy for. Write out a realistic budget. (Don't use "ghost dollars" that you'll get back from a tax refund in April.) Then give some serious thought to what you want to buy for each person. The more thought you put into a gift, the less you'll spend.$

[Ed. Note: If you're not happy with your financial situation, you're in the perfect position to change it for the better – right now. Ray has just released a special video that covers an online business system that you can use to start growing your wealth. To watch this short video, click the following link: http://www.raybuckner.com]

Identifying Your Ideal Customer

Google AdWords is nothing more or less than a medium for direct marketing. So every now and then, I put away my books about the latest online techniques and reach for the classic texts.


Here's some of what you can learn from the old masters:

There are three elements to any direct-marketing offer -- the offer itself, the creative, and the list.

The offer is the thing you're selling.

The creative is the copy you use to let people know about the offer.

The list is the group of people who will see the creative.


The list is more important than the creative or the offer.


It doesn't matter how good the product, or how well you build desire for it. If you're selling to people who aren't interested in the product, can't afford it, or don't like you, it ain't gonna work.

The entire art of direct marketing, in fact, consists of matching offers to lists with appropriate creative copy.

So it's useful to know as much about your market as possible.

Copywriting guru Ken McCarthy says it's more important to know your market than the techniques of marketing.

Online marketing guru Perry Marshall says that every commercial failure represents a lack of knowledge about the prospect.

Groucho Marx says, "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

And I say, keep reading to discover two simple exercises that can help you speak to your ideal customer persuasively and with emotional impact.



What Is an Ideal Customer?


Your ideal customer is the one who absolutely should buy your product or service. It's just perfect for them. They have the need, they have the money, they have the buy-in of any other stakeholders (spouses, parents, co-workers, etc.), and they have a natural affinity for you and your company.

Here's a quick and dirty "Ideal Customer" test:

When you think of them buying from your competitor, you become overwrought.

You hyperventilate. You sweat. You want to drive to their house and shake some sense into them.


The 7-Step Ideal Customer Exercise

1. Find a blank sheet of paper. (I recommend using pen and paper, not a computer, for this exercise.)

2. Take several deep breaths and relax as much as you can. (If you wake up several hours later with drool all over your paper, you obviously needed the sleep. Get a fresh sheet and continue.)

3. Imagine that you are your ideal prospect.

What's your name? (Really, give yourself a name. Don't skip this because it seems silly.)

What's your age? Marital status? Do you have kids?

Where do you work? What do you do for a living?

What do you look like?

What do you believe in?

What communities do you belong to?

What really ticks you off?

Who do you want to be like?

What's your role as you perform your online search for this product/service? Parent? Hobbyist? Employee?

What's important to you about your performance in that role? To be a hero? To avoid mistakes? To look good? To have fun?


4. Now imagine your ideal customer at the exact moment he or she is about to search Google for your main keyword.


5. At the top of the paper, write the following:


"If I could only..."

And complete that thought from the point of view of your prospect. What are you hoping for? What are you afraid of? How will you know when you've found the right solution?


Talk about the emotional as well as technical aspects of the task. Is it fun? Something you're looking forward to solving? Are you worried about failing? About making a mistake? Who might be judging or second-guessing you? What triggered your search? Your choice of keywords?


Write at least two paragraphs, more if you like. Try to fill the page with the thoughts and emotions of your ideal customer, as they relate to this search.


6. When you're done, search Google for your main keyword and look at the search results page from your ideal customer's eyes.

Do any of the ads or organic listings really speak to you?


What do you (as your ideal prospect) want the ad to say? What do you want to be promised? By whom?


7. Now take a fresh sheet of paper and start writing ads for your ideal customer. Don't edit or critique them -- just brainstorm and come up with at least five different ones.


Pay special attention to the headlines. Can you say something in the headline that immediately shows your ideal prospect that you understand him or her in a deeper way than anyone else?


The Alternative (Even More Powerful) Method:

Do the above exercise with a partner. Tell him about your ideal customer, and read him what you wrote after "If I could only..." Then have them sit and write ads for you for about 10 minutes.


You'll be amazed at the results!$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]

Your Optimum Selling Strategy

I hope, by this time, I have convinced you that when you are starting a new business, selling must be your primary job. (For network marketers, that includes selling your opportunity as well)

This is true even if you don't know anything about selling, if you've never taken a course in marketing and never sold so much as a glass of lemonade on a street corner. As an entrepreneur, you have to become your company's number one salesperson - even if you fear or hate the very idea of selling.

Selling is not optional for the Stage One entrepreneur: it's essential.

And if selling is essential, learning to sell (i.e., developing the knowledge and skills needed to sell your company's main product) is an obligation, not a choice.

In this blog post and the next several, I will show you how to become an expert at selling your lead product. Don't worry if you don't know anything about selling. Everything you are about to learn is easy. I will teach you one concept and four secrets. You will learn the concept in about five minutes. And it will take you about half an hour to understand the four secrets.

Discovering how to apply the four secrets to your particular business and your particular product - well, that will take a little time. But I am talking about  days or possibly weeks, not months.

Your educational objective during the start-up stage of your business is very narrow. All you really want to learn is how to sell one particular product to one particular market. You don't need to acquire any generalized marketing expertise or dozens of selling skills that won't apply to your situation. In essence, you are going to become a one-trick pony - someone who can do one thing, and perhaps only one thing, very well: selling the hell out of your lead product/opportunity.

If you have faith in this concept and the four secrets you are about to discover, your success at getting your business from zero to a six-figure income, from Stage One to Stage Two - will be virtually guaranteed. In fact, it's very possible that you could see your business grow on the fast-track, simply by repeating this trick over and over again. As long as it keeps working, you should keep doing it. Later, you will acquire other selling skills. For now, this one thing is enough.

The Optimum Selling Strategy

I believe that for every business at any given time there is one best way to acquire new customers. That best way is the way that meets the company's greatest current need. For the Stage One entrepreneur, generating positive cash flow is usually - or should be- the greatest need. Therefore, Stage One entrepreneurs should focus on that: figuring out how to acquire customers/prospects in a way that creates cash flow.

Most entrepreneurs never stop to think about cash flow or long-term profits when they are starting out. They are so excited about their product/opportunity that they imagine it selling itself.

Nothing could be further from the truth. How you sell your product/opportunity - the specific decisions you make about presenting and talking about it - has a huge impact on whether you will be successful.

The product/opportunity is important but almost never sells itself. To start your business and successfully take it to the next level, you have to discover what is called your optimum selling strategy (OSS).

Discovering the OSS for your product/opportunity will put your business on the right track. It will make everything that happens afterward easier. Problems will be easier to solve. Obstacles will be easier to overcome. And objectives will be easier to reach. Your business will grow quickly, because you will have taken care of its biggest problem: acquiring new customers/prospects without depleting your bank account.

Discovering the OSS for your product/opportunity has other benefits too. For one thing, you will always understand the most important secret of your business: how to acquire new customers/prospects. This understanding will allow you to lead your team with confidence as the business grows, and to help them fix problems if and when they arise later. There are many problems that can occur as a business grows, but there is only one that is deadly - and that is the inability to bring in new customers/prospects.

When you understand the basics of how to sell to your marketplace, nobody can fool your with worthless marketing strategies and idiotic sales programs.

By establishing your marketing credentials during the first stage (beginning), when you are just learning the selling secrets of your business, you will gain a deep understanding of your business that will serve you well for the rest of your career.$

The Supremacy Of Selling

Of the major functions of business - product development, customer service, accounting, operations, and marketing - the one that should always be given top priority in an entrepreneurial venture is marketing.

The other functions are important, but without marketing you will not have sales (or build massive downline) and without sales you will not have cash flow and without cash flow you will not be able to pay for all the other functions. Put differently:

Without sales, it is very hard to sustain an ongoing business.

Consider this to be Rule Number One of Entrepreneurship.

It's amazing how selling is not emphasized by business gurus and even business schools. Even at Harvard Business School, there are dozens of courses on marketing but not a single one on selling. It was if selling was something secondary and unappealing.

The Real Business Every Businessperson Is In

Most of a business owner's time should be spent on the real business that every business owner is in - selling. As a business owner, selling should be your number one priority - and you must act accordingly. This means spending the lion's share of your time on marketing and sales- related activities.

It doesn't matter what sort of expertise you bring into a new venture - whether you are a numbers person, a people person, or a systems person. To be a truly effective entrepreneur, you must become your business's first and foremost expert at selling.

There are many ways to get busy with a new business, but none that is more urgent than making the first sale (and helping your new business associates make their first sales). Making the first sale is critical for two reasons.

1. You need to create cash flow to keep your business going.
2. You will never really know whether your decision to go into business is a good one until you give it the ultimate test in the marketplace.

Think of it this way: When you begin a new business, you have no idea whether it will work out for you. The faster you find out, the better for you.$

Four Aspects Of Entrepreneurial Success

Every entrepreneurial business - regardless of what stage of growth it is in - needs four personalities at the helm:

1. A seller: someone to market the product.
2. An improver: someone to improve the product.
3. An organizer: someone to make sure things flow smoothly.
4. A pusher: someone to get people to do what they are supposed to do.

When you begin your business, if you don't have a partner, you may have to handle all of these functions. As your business grows, you will probably hire people to take on most of them - but at least during the first two stages (and probably longer), you should be in charge of one of them.

Which one should that be?

Most business experts would say that the most important role for the business leader is to be the organizer, to make sure that all the parts of the business work well together. That's probably great advice if you are running a Fortune 500 company. But if you're starting and developing an entrepreneurial business, I would focus on something else. To me, the most important job of any entrepreneur - and the one role you should not give up as your business grows - is to be in charge of marketing your products.

During the first two stages of growth, the priorities should be in this order:

1. Selling
2. Pushing (to make sales)
3. Improving (products and sales)
4. Organizing

This doesn't mean you have to do the marketing and selling all by yourself. You don't have to write your own advertising copy or become our company's top salesperson. But you do have to understand how your business creates its revenues, and you have to be able to step in and stimulate more sales when they are needed.

That is the ultimate strength of an entrepreneur: the ability to stimulate sales. There are many other important skills that can help your business succeed ( I would rank the ability to create great products very high on any list, for example), but there are none that will make as much as a difference as salesmanship.$

[Ed. Note: If you're not happy with your financial situation, you're in the perfect position to change it for the better – right now. Ray has just released a special video that covers an online business system that you can use to start growing your wealth. To watch this short video, click the following link: http://www.raybuckner.com]

Financial Independence Equals Time Freedom!

The Four Ws Of Career Satisfaction

They say that the three most important decisions in life are:

1. What you do.
2. Where you do it.
3. With whom you do it.

I think that is true. To have a great career, you must choose work that gives you satisfaction, a working environment that is pleasing, and coworkers/business partners who make it easier for you to achieve your objectives.

To those three Ws, I'd add a fourth: when - as in when you work and when you don't. Being in charge of the hours you work and the vacations you take is an important element in the mix that makes up the perfect working lifestyle.

This blog is all about business, about taking your business to the next level. But it is also a blog about personal power and satisfaction, about changing the way you work so that you can become increasingly in charge of the four Ws of career satisfaction and thus be able to say, "I have the greatest job in the world!"

Being In Control Of Your Time

My working time used to be directed by other people and measured by a time clock. When I went into business for myself, I began with the happy illusion that I could work the hours I wanted. But I soon discovered the truth about entrepreneurship: that the freedom it gives you is usually the freedom to work twice as long and twice as hard as you ever did, even if you thought you were working too much for someone else.

Nowadays, though, I don't work that hard. In fact, most days I don't do any "work work" until about two o'clock in the afternoon.

For me, "work work" is interviewing prospects for my business and helping families with their financial situations.

What I do during the rest of my day is pretty much up to me. Most mornings I spend writing and planning. I work out every day at 10 am. Sometimes I lunch with business colleagues, and sometimes I lunch with friends. Once or twice a week, I'll have hour-long brainstorming sessions with creative people - not because I need to but because I like to. I spend 15 minutes with my personal assistant every day, and that's about it.

Doing What You Like To Do

Except for about an hour a day of e-mail drudgery, my time is entirely my own and entirely enjoyable. I take off early when I want to and come in late anytime I wish. I have eliminated all the stress that used to characterize most of my workday.

The majority of my day is spent doing things I love to do:

1. Writing down my thoughts and experiences.
2. Having lunch with successful people.
3. Reading and learning.
4. Working out and playing sports.

This is, as you can see, pretty much what I always hoped my retirement years would be like, except that I'm getting paid to spend my time like this now. If you can do exactly what you want, where and when you want to do it, and get paid well for it - that's about all you can ask for.

Except for one more thing: I couldn't tell you that I have the greatest job in the world if I didn't also work only with people I want to work with.

Hanging Out With Great People

In determining where you want to work, when you want to work, and what you want to do, no consideration is more important than who you choose to work with. That's because if you fill your working life with really good people, the problems that usually hamper and plague a business at every stage of growth will be easy to solve and will eventually disappear.

Great people make all the difference.

Many times I have been told by an ordinary business partner that certain problems were impossible to overcome...only to find another partner who went ahead and fixed them so that they were never again troublesome.

That's the difference between an ordinary partner and a superstar.

Have you ever had a business that failed because your partner turned out to be unreliable, untrustworthy, or incompetent?

By surrounding myself with the right whos - lots of hardworking, problem-solving superstars - I have been able to master the whens, wheres, and whats of my business life.

I really do have the world's best job. And, by the way, I make a pretty good living at it.$