MONEY- MAKING MONTHLY
Volume III Number 2 | February 2015 | $97
THE Monthly Magazine For Sharp Entrepreneurs
EXPERT INTERVIEW
The Icon Builder
DAVID T. FAGAN
Are You A Game C han ge r ? By Dr. Will Moreland
What Your Customers Really Want By Robert Skrob
ABOUT STEVE | FEBRUARY 2015
About the Publisher, Steve Sipress
If you want to grow your business slowly – or just maintain it as is, you’ll have to do that all on your own. But if you want dramatic growth in your income and lifestyle, then Steve’s out-of-the-box and time-tested strategies and tactics could be the keys to your dreams. You can benefit from Steve’s coaching experience and expertise to revolutionize your business – yes, even in this challenging economy – at one of the many in-person entrepreneur events he hosts, OR from the comfort of your own home anywhere in the world. You can also learn basic and advanced direct response marketing strategies and tactics from 150+ hours of video instruction, plus use any or all of Steve’s multi-million-dollar, proven “done-for-you” marketing materials at SSSMarketingUniversity.com. That website has been called The Single Most Powerful Client Attraction Program Available Anywhere, and you could be using it to skyrocket your income anytime you want, 24/7, along with hundreds of other sharp, successful business leaders. If you’re just starting up your new business, you’ll want to take advantage of all of Steve’s training, guidance and resources at NewBusinessAcademy. org. Steve is a successful and award-winning serial entrepreneur, who has created and built nearly a dozen successful companies of his own, and he can help you do the same – more quickly and easily than you’ve ever imagined. In fact, you can immediately use plenty of his simple and powerful strategies and tactics that work especially well in this current frustrating economy. You can discover the basics of Steve’s powerful “The WOW! Strategy™: How To Solve All Of Your Marketing Problems” by watching a short video at www.SteveSipress.com. Steve is a celebrated author, speaker and business coach who has established profitable businesses and helped thousands of ambitious and aggressive business owners, entrepreneurs, executives and sales professionals all around the world. He has written numerous newsletters and articles on sales and marketing for a wide range of publications and has appeared on radio and television, helping millions of people along the way. For over five years, Steve was the #1 “Dan Kennedy Certified No B.S. Business Advisor,” and was Runner-Up out of 25,000 members for 2010 GKIC Marketer Of The Year. If you want the very best, hard-hitting, no-nonsense, caring advice and help you can get, then “Straight-Talk Steve” could be exactly what you and your business need most. Whether you’re a current or future business superstar, Steve can help you get exactly where you want to go as quickly, easily and powerfully as YOU want – with massive results both short-term and long-term.
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www.SteveSipress.com www.SSSMarketingUniversity.com
www.NewBusinessAcademy.org
www.Facebook .com/SmallBizHelp
www.Twitter.com/SteveSipress
“An Incredible Experience!” "When we first started, I was terribly in debt and we were just a few months away from bankruptcy. We started seeing a boost right away in our business, we took what Steve's given me and we just started implementing and implementing, and it's just totally transformed my business. Steve has helped me with my laser focus, he helps me implement, he's taken my business to a whole new level. We went from a half a million dollars to a million dollars in two years. It's just an incredible experience to know that where you think you're just dead and things are horrible, to now anything is possible. I can see taking this to a whole new three or four types of businesses -- it's going to be huge. Steve is all business, he is an unbelievably smart, brilliant man. I can't say enough about him. Everything he's told me, I've made so much money it doesn't matter what it costs. They don't make enough money in this world that somebody could pay me so I would stop listening to Steve. Steve is the exact reason why I have a retirement fund now. It's probably illegal how much fun I'm having!"
Jon Bockman
Owner, Bockman's Auto Care Sycamore, Illinois
THE MONEY IS IN THE MARKETING – NOT THE DOING | FEBRUARY 2015
The Money Is In The Marketing – Not The Doing I don’t own an Xbox or PlayStation or Wii, but I’m sure that I’m among the general target market for violent video games, because I see television commercials for them all the time during basically the only live television I watch (in other words, where I can’t fast-forward through the commercials): NFL football games. I often remark how much commercials for video games look like advertisements for movies; because of the quality of the graphics, I usually don’t even realize that the ads are for games until the very end, when they say so. One such commercial that caught my eye (again: largely because I didn’t have the choice of fast-forwarding through it), was one for a video game called, “Game Of War.” Maybe you’ve seen it, too. Sure, my attention was captured by the heaving bosom of the buxom model at the center of the ad, and her invitation to “come play with me,” but what REALLY jolted me was the screenshot of the actual video game itself at the end of the commercial – and in particular the AMAZING and extraordinary difference in quality and appearance between the commercial and the actual game itself. My immediate thought was one of respect and admiration for the video game company executives who apparently have their priorities straight, evidenced by how much thought, effort, skill and money they obviously put into the marketing of their game, as opposed to concentrating on improving the game itself, which appears to have fairly rudimentary graphics and looks to be completely rinky-dink, compared to its movie-quality commercial. Am I saying it’s okay to produce a sub-par product or service? Of course not. If you’ve been around me for any length of time or paid attention to any of my teachings of how to build and sustain a successful business, you’ve definitely heard me say that I consider an excellent product or service to be “the ante to get into the game” – in other words, the most basic requirement for every single business.
By Steve Sipress
However, you’ve also heard me repeatedly urge small business owners to focus less on the doing of their business and more on the marketing of their business. For my clients, that means that they keep working IN their business, while I work ON their business to increase and improve their leads, customers, sales, repeat sales, referrals and, of course, PROFITS. If for some reason you’ve chosen not to have an experienced, accomplished marketer working for you, it means YOU putting the majority of your time, money and effort into the effective marketing of your business instead of just the doing of it. From the high-quality appearance of their big-budget television commercial as compared to the relatively amateurlooking graphics of their game itself, it looks like the folks at “Game Of War” have gotten this exactly right. According to Forbes, the budget for these ads was a staggering $40 million, which, as with all effective advertising and marketing, is practically nothing compared to the nearly $1 million per DAY in revenue that the game brings in, according to ThinkGaming.com. And that brings to mind the second main point to be learned from this Game Of War ad campaign: The power of an Irresistible OFFER (the “O” in my The WOW! Strategy™). In this case, the Irresistible OFFER is that people can download and play the game completely for free, with “in-app purchases” made by players who wish to enhance their game-playing experience being completely optional. The question you need to ask yourself is whether YOU have a truly Irresistible OFFER to attract new customers, clients or patients to YOUR small business. Such purchases by these video game players may be optional, but making the effective marketing of your business your #1 priority is not – not if you want to grow and sustain a successful business that affords you the income and lifestyle you deeply desire and deserve.
To find out more about Steve Sipress and how he can help you have more fun and make more money with your business, see the Inside Cover Page. To get new money-making strategies and tips every weekday from Steve and other top business-building experts from around the world, go to: www.RhinoDaily.com
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ARE YOU A GAME CHANGER? | FEBRUARY 2015
ARE YOU A GAME CHANGER?
By Dr. Will Moreland
How can you make 2015 your best year ever? Simple, become a 10X Game Changer. What is a 10X Game Changer? A person that goes BIG. And I mean real BIG. You do know that it takes the same amount of energy to think small as it does to think BIG. Right? I remember reading an article where Donald Trump, the BIG TIME real estate developer and TV personality said, “The same effort it takes to build a small hotel is the same effort it takes to build the BIG hotels I build, so I go BIG.” I love what the great late Jim Rohn use to say. “It’s not that people aim too high and miss, it’s that they aim too low and hit.” For 2015 to be your best year ever, you have to carry around a BIG BAG. What do I mean by carrying around a BIG BAG? You have to set…
BIG BOLD AUDACIOUS GOALS Many times when I tell people about carrying a BIG BAG they get intimidated and want to shrink back to small goals.
A lot of people ask me, “What If I Don’t Accomplish My Big Audacious Goals?” The first thing I reply is, “What If You Do?” We are so trained to gravitate to the negative and think failure first. But failure is not always bad. Let’s say you wanted to get out of debt and you needed $50,000 to accomplish that goal. If you set a goal to earn an extra $50,000 but you only earned $25,000, you may have failed, but you are better off at $25,000 at this new number than before. But let’s say you went BIG and decided to carry a BIG BAG and set a goal to earn $150,000 extra this year. And on December 31st 2015 you only managed to earn $90,000. You would be $40,000 over what you really needed. See how setting BIG BOLD AUDACIOUS GOALS puts you in a better position? This type of thinking will help you produce at higher levels in all areas of your life. Don’t just aim to lose weight, aim to live a heathier life, that’s a BIG BAG. Shoot to take 3 or 4 vacations this year, not just one. Aim for the Marathon, not just the 10k this year.
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ARE YOU A GAME CHANGER? | FEBRUARY 2015
Each year professional athletes and teams, the ones that set BIG BAGS for themselves, always shoot for the championship. I can tell a sub-par thinking coach or team when they say, “Well we just hope to make it into the playoffs or have a good year.” That type of thinking will never get you to the top. You hear people say things like:
1. I want to be REALISTIC. 2. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. 3. I don’t want to be disappointed. When you think like this, notice where all the focus is. It’s in “I.” High achievers know once they set BIG Bold Audacious Goals, they can’t do it alone. They don’t focus on the HOW or themselves. They immediately start to focus on the WHO. Once you set Big Bold Audacious Goals, you start looking for the team that can help you accomplish the goal. Build a team that helps you win the championship. You are the centerpiece, but you need the supporting cast members to help you reach the top. Write down your Big Bold Audacious Goals. Make sure they are Clear, Concise and Concrete. CLEAR My Big Bold Audacious Goal is CLEAR when I can easily convey it to others. This is important because those you elicit to help need to understand your goals. CONCISE Your Big Bold Audacious Goals should be short and to the point. Easy to remember and repeat at will. CONCRETE
About Dr. Will Moreland Growing up in Compton, California at a time where the drug problem, gang violence and murder rate were at an all-time high, Dr. Will Moreland made a critical CHOICE in his life. He wasn’t going to let his start determine his finish. Over the last two decades, he has studied and implemented the tools, habits and mental perspective it takes for ANYONE to achieve success in life. He has read over 500 books and listened to countless audios and video recordings on the subject of personal development, leadership and success. Dr. Will is a serial entrepreneur, having started or helped start over 15 companies. He currently oversees three companies: Will Moreland International, LLC, More-Land Investments and Moreland Enterprises.
In 2015 and beyond you can’t afford to play small, think small or set small goals. We are living in a time where life is throwing out some big time obstacles. For you to hurdle over them, you need to take a BIG JUMP.
If you are ready to set Big Bold Audacious Goals for yourself and your business, you need to join Dr. Will for his 4-Week Training called “10X GAME CHANGER.” He will walk you through how to get over your selflimiting beliefs, how to create a winning attitude, how to defeat the doubt in your mind, and so much more. To learn more about this training and secure your limited spot, log on to:
This is the year you CRUSH it!!!
www.10XGameChanger.com
Your Big Bold Audacious Goals should have measurable time frames and achievement markers.
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EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH DAVID T. FAGAN | FEBRUARY 2015
EXPERT INTERVIEW
The Icon Builder
DAVID T. FAGAN Steve Sipress: David T. Fagan. Fantastic to have you on this interview. Thanks so much for taking the time out of what I know is an incredibly busy schedule to do this for me and my readers and my listeners. Thank you so much. David Fagan: Yeah, thank you. Glad to do it. Steve: You know, I’ve got to tell you. I first met you years ago, and the first thing I knew about you was that you were the former CEO for Jay Conrad Levinson, who I hope that name is extremely familiar to my readers and listeners. Wrote the book Guerrilla Marketing, and then put a whole business together around it, and you were the CEO with that. I only had a chance once to meet Jay, and already that was just an amazing experience. I’ve just got to ask you, what was it like getting to work with Jay Conrad Levinson? David: It was amazing. I really benefitted from kind of riding
his coattails and listening to his stories. For the few people out there that don’t really know who he is, he was really the creative director for the Leo Burnett Ad Agency, also in Chicago. If that hasn’t shaken your memory, then Jay and the Leo Burnett Ad Agency, they are the guys who created Tony’s Frosted Flakes, Jolly Green Giant, Morris the Cat, Lonely Maytag Salesman. The list goes on and on. Charlie the Tuna, Diehard Battery, Jolly Green Giant, Pillsbury Doughboy.
This was just a brilliant mind that really understood emotional triggers, how to frame ideas, how to say a lot with very little, and this was the man that I got to hang out in his home and travel on the road with and work on projects together, and even write a couple of books together. It was my privilege and honor to even do his eulogy. Some people don’t even realize this, but it was about a little over a year ago that Jay passed away at 81 years old. He was both a mentor and a dear friend.
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THE ICON BUILDER | FEBRUARY 2015
Steve: You just said a little bit. If I could just ask a little more. We all know what a creative genius he was, and so besides just getting to be around him in that genius, and not to mention maybe you can talk a little bit about it. Just in the short time I spent with him, and from everyone I know that spent time with him, just one of the nicest people that there is. One of the most nicest, caring people, which you would think if anyone could have a super humungous ego, and say, “I’m not talking to you, kid.” It would be Jay Conrad Levinson. As a person, what was he like? David: You nailed it. There were several people that I was looking at going to kind of joint venture with and kind of be a CEO for. About the same time, very, very big names in people, but yeah, at the end of the day I really wanted to align myself with Jay because not only was he extremely smart and very strategic, but yeah. He was one of the nicest guys you would ever imagine. Something that really defined Jay is a lot of us, as we make more money and have more success, it becomes contagious,
and we want it even more and we want it even more. We sacrifice, and we will only be happy when we get the next thing and the next thing. Jay was the opposite. The more success he had, the less he worked. He got to the point in his late 50s where he only worked three or four days a week. Every time he got more money and more success, it’s like, “Well great. Now because I can live on this amount, now I only need to work four days and three days. Now I work three days, 12pm to 7pm,” and that takes a lot of constraint. That’s not him being lazy, that’s him wanting to enjoy life. That’s him wanting to spend time with his wife. That’s him wanting to see the world and just live. I think sometimes we get so busy kind of building the empire that we forget to kind of really just live a life and make a life for ourselves. He knew that, he knew how to do that. He did it. Steve: Now I have an understanding, and I want to talk a little bit about your most recent book, although you’re so prolific that by the time this hits the pages of my magazine and my podcast, it’s likely you’ve authored a few more books by then.
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EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH DAVID T. FAGAN | FEBRUARY 2015
taking out a highlighter. I’m going to sit down. I’m going to read this. I’m going to read through it again. I’m going to think about it.” It’s been a few weeks since I read it, and I still can’t stop thinking about it. Jay had to be a big influence to this. Who else was an influence to you writing this tremendous, fantastic book? David: There were several people. Jay was definitely one, but it was almost kind of like groups of people. As people like me and you travel around, we see how other people live, we see how other cultures live. I just spent 24 out of the last 60 days in Australia, and there are still a lot of places in Australia where the stores close down at 5 or 6. Places are closed on Sunday. We as Americans, we’re very competitive, and that’s good. I think that’s great, but we do give up something. It’s interesting just seeing some other cultures out there where they still leave time for a life. When that time isn’t left, we’re kind of forced to work even more, at least where we’re teased with that. I think there’s something even more important about that book that I wanted to share, and that is when I started writing that book, it was really about making your presence felt. It was the art of being heard and being seen. I’m a marketing guy, I’m a PR guy. We’ve represented some big people, even some movie stars. There really is an art to being seen and being heard. How do you be unforgettable? How do you be memorable? How do you stand out? This one really hit me, this book From Invisible To Invincible. It sounds like it had a lot of inspiration from what you just talked about. This is a book about how to… I’ve got to tell you, I really needed this book because just like you just talked about, I’m one of those hard chargers who is always moving onto the next thing, and doesn’t even take the time to celebrate. I certainly don’t say, “When I make more money and have more success that’ll allow me to work less,” which of course it could. I’ve just been this achieving, “Got to win. Got to do something new” mode.
I started writing that book, and I just felt like it was so manipulative, or at least it would come across so manipulative, and I thought, “If I really think this way, then am I this manipulative?” and then I think, “No. I’m really not.” What is it that I have, or what is it that Jay has that kind of balanced out the knowledge of knowing all these ways to kind of persuade people and get what we want? What I came up with was that people like Jay, they want good things. They want the right things.
Then your book just hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m looking at it right now, the subtitle: Learn How To Make Your Presence Felt With Both Body And Spirit. Right away, I’ve got to tell you, I blasted right by that, and said, “Yeah, whatever. It’s another marketing book by a friend of mine who’s a brilliant marketer, so let’s just speed read through this thing, and it’ll be the same old-same old, but I know I’ll get a couple of golden nuggets out of it. That’ll be great. Then we’ll go to the next one.”
To be able to persuade someone to do what’s best for themselves, maybe that’s a pretty good thing. Then the book became about, “Well, how do I help people not only know how to persuade people and be unforgettable and get what they want, but actually want more of the right things?” I’m sure the “right things” are very debatable. What the right things are to me aren’t necessarily the right things to you, but I took the time in the book to lay out a path for people to figure out, “What is right for them? What will be the most rewarding?”
Almost right away, it was what you just talked about, how to actually live life. I had to make the decision right away. Right away, I was like, “I’m not speed reading this one. I’m actually
I took some big leaps, and I really kind of laid my heart on the line, and I was very transparent, and I shared some stories that were very self-effacing and definitely got vulnerable.
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THE ICON BUILDER | FEBRUARY 2015
The book’s only been out for a couple of weeks, but I think that it’s paying off because it is starting to resonate with people that there is a way to combine both. There is a way to understand more of what they want, and then use these ways that I teach, some of which a lot of people already know to persuade, to influence, to be unforgettable and to make your presence felt. Steve: Now that you mention it, it’s only been out a couple of weeks. I think I said I read it a few weeks ago, but I think you’re right. It’s only been a couple of weeks. It just seems like longer to me. Now I’m talking too much. I’m gushing about this book. Maybe because I stay in my own little world of business and sales and marketing, and more, more, more making money and helping all my clients hit home runs and make money, and I’m not taking the time to stop. The fact that it came from you, someone that I tremendously respect and admire and like as a business person, really hit at home with me, and I hope it has the same results for everybody else. You mentioned also, I wonder if you’ve had a change recently as you went through this process and wrote this book and doing this traveling, because I remember the time - it’s only a few years ago - where you came to speak at one of my entrepreneur events in Chicago, and it was actually on Father’s Day weekend. I remember this because the first person I think of when I think of “father” other than my own father of course, is you. You have eight kids, I think? David: Yeah. Steve: I remember introducing you and telling the crowd they’d better better stand up on their feet and applaud and appreciate you like never before. Because if anyone is going to be with their kids on Father’s Day and has eight presents to open, and has eight breakfast in beds, this is the day of the year for him, and he’s here helping you guys to make more money in Chicago. If today you got invited to speak on Father’s Day weekend, are you saying that maybe you would say, “Hey, Steve. That’s the time I spend with my family. Let’s do it some other time.”? David: Yeah, I suppose so. I think when we all start out, and I think at that point in time I was starting something a little bit new, a little bit different. I think we all kind of have to pay the price, we have to do things, and I was very flattered that you offered me. But yeah, I think as time goes on for all of us, we can afford to be more choosy. I think there was a point in time where I didn’t really care if I personally liked the person or got along with a person. If they were going to pay me what I was worth to be a client, then I was going to take them. Steve: Well no wonder you came to speak at my event. Now the secret is out.
David: As time has gone on, I think that I’m at more at a point now where I want to work with the people that I like and I enjoy, and we have similar values. But I do think that’s something that you work up to. To listen to the complete interview, go to: www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
About David T. Fagan David T. Fagan is best known as a Speaker, Author, and Entrepreneur as the Icon Builder with his marketing and PR company based out of Beverly Hills, CA. He is the former CEO of Guerrilla Marketing that sold over 23 million books in 62 languages all over the world. He’s also the former owner of LCO Communications that has represented 58 Academy Award Winners, 34 Grammy Winners, and 43 New York Times Best Sellers. David owns Icon Builder Media, is a guest lecturer at UCLA, and has been recently featured in Fox & Friends, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Today Show, Fox’s the Five, Your World with Neil Cavuto, The Doctors Show, ABC’s 20/20, Investor’s Business Daily, Yahoo! News, The Wrap, the Daily Mail, the Los Angeles Business Journal, and many more media outlets. David is an International Speaker in places as far away as Bangladesh and Australia. David has shared the stage with Former Secretary of Defense Dr. Bob Gates, Mark Victor Hansen, Dan Kennedy, Harry Dent, and John Assaraf to name a few. David also has a passion for training Teen Entrepreneurs and for a movement he calls Guerrilla Parenting: How to Raise an Entrepreneur, which is his next book coming in Spring of 2015. For information about his live event, go to: www.TheBookBootcamp.com
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MANNY’S BLOG | FEBRUARY 2015
Manny’s Blog
HAIL (To The Chief ) DAMAGE
Will you spend February 16 thinking about legislative vetoes, motorcades, and the state of the union? My human friends tell me that people used to celebrate Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday separately, but that somewhere along the line all the chief executives got lumped together on something they now call “Presidents’ Day.” I would like to sympathize with the Washington and Lincoln fans, but then, poor cousin Pluto no longer has a fullfledged planet named after him. Things are tough all over. Ah, yes, George Washington. You remember the old saying about the Father of Our Country: “First in war, first in peace, but waaaay back in line for getting modern dental care.” Did you know that President Woodrow Wilson actually had sheep grazing on the White House lawn during World War I? I could make a catty comment about this being an easy way to pull the wool over the voters’ eyes, but then you’d think I was a baaaaaad boy. President Kennedy was misquoted about America’s ambitions. What he actually said was, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because we want to find out what in Sam Hill Mrs. Forbush’s dog has been howling at all these years.” President Reagan was another misquoted leader. What he actually told the Soviet leader was, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this invisible fence!” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt inspired the nation with
his proclamation of Four Freedoms. I hate to quibble, but I think the Four Freedoms should be freedom from ticks, freedom from fleas, freedom from intestinal parasites, and freedom from having a cat move in next door. I don’t know if President George H.W. Bush was a dog lover or if someone was just messing with him when they altered his TelePrompter message to read “Who’s a kinder, gentler nation? Who’s a kinder, gentler nation! You are! You are! Have a treat!” Even the infamous President Richard Nixon gets praise for what he accomplished with China. My uncle Tonoose only gets vilified for what HE did with china. I mean, just because he tugged on the tablecloth and everyone had to eat off of paper plates for a month… I read somewhere that the majority of presidential wives have secretly disliked the term “First Lady.” I think Walt Disney brainwashed them to think one of the obligations of First Lady is to share a strand of spaghetti with some tramp. I believe the presidents take a lot of naps. My proof? Why else would you build an Oval Office unless you want to turn around and around several times before lying down? My study of presidential history shows that many chief executives met tragic ends. Speaking of tragic ends, I’ve met more than my share in my lifetime. Note to self: we canines have GOT to come up with a better way to greet one another. See you next month!
Manny (full name “Emanuel” or “Dog With Us”) is Steve and Michele Sipress’ crazy, rambunctious cocker spaniel. He has a weak leg (despite a mostly-successful back surgery), grey hair, is totally deaf and partially blind. But he still enjoys barking at the mailman and landscapers, pulling dead frogs out of nearby ponds and chasing after his beloved squeaker toy. He loves everyone (even the mailman and landscapers), and everyone loves him.
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WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS REALLY WANT | FEBRUARY 2015
What Your Customers Really Want By Robert Skrob Here are the two possible ways your marketing message will be greeted by your customer: 1. Disengagement; examples are cynicism, not for me, overload, annoying, sameness
2. Engagement; examples are connection, inspiration, reinforces what I believe, trust and credibility, makes me smarter The examples above are a few of the thousands articulated by consumers in a recent Northwestern University Media Management Center study. I know, I know, academic studies are often out of touch and don’t relate to the real world, but this is going to answer a lot of questions for you. Right now the research is in its early stages, but this will be the subject of the next BIG business phenomenon like Tom Peters’ In Search of Excellence or Jim Collins’ Good to Great. Read on and you’ll get the use of this information years ahead of everyone else. The study sought to determine why consumers were moving from higher quality content in newspapers to lower quality blogs and news websites. The question was this: Is there a preference for digital content versus newspaper, or is there something else going on? While many people will be quick to tell you newspapers are dead, thousands of Internet companies go out of business for every newspaper that fails. And it could be the newspapers that fail do so because of their content and not because of the actual paper and ink involved.
As info-marketers, we believe our job is to inform or educate. It’s the same misperception journalists have. They believe it’s about getting the scoop and checking their facts. Instead, it’s all about giving consumers a “time-out experience.” It’s about allowing your customers the opportunity to escape into a world that interests them and gives them a reward for their hard work. I can hear it already, mostly because I said it myself in the back of my mind: “Great, one more thing to implement!” This isn’t another thing to implement; instead, this is a change in what we are already delivering. Info-marketers tend to measure value in bulk: the more the better; 600 pages is twice as good as 300 pages; and two conference calls a month is twice as good as one monthly call. Customers, however, have a different yardstick, even if they cannot communicate it. Your customer is looking for a release, validation and an escape. When YouTube piano-playing cat videos came along, viewers realized their usual television shows were boring. When blogs providing strong partisan commentary grew in prominence, television news programs had to adjust or lose their audience.
For five years, researchers studied the reactions of 37,000 readers encountering 74,000 stories within newspapers, television, magazines, blogs and online media content. As the research progressed, the common themes went far beyond traditional news and information questions. What emerged was something the journalists and news writers never considered. Most journalists believe they are “informing” their audience or “making them smarter.” This turned out to be one of the least important reasons people consume information. Here are the reasons researchers heard from consumers and the real basis of whether a consumer liked a particular newspaper, blog or magazine: • “It takes my mind off other • “It is my reward for doing things that are going on.” other things.” • “It’s an escape.” • “I like to kick back and • “I like to go to this site wind down with it.” • “It’s a quiet time.” when I am eating or taking a break.”
About Robert Skrob Robert Skrob is the author of the five marketing books, including, “Your Association Shortcut: The Definitive Guide for Generating Customers Through Associations.” Watch a special free training video, “5-Easy Ways to Solve the 7 Biggest Marketing Problems by Marketing Through Associations” by visiting: www.YourAssociationShortcut.com
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*FACT: 95% of Small Business Owners work WAY
too hard, have WAY too much stress and make WAY too little money – then go out of business in their first five years.
Steve Sipress The WOW Strategy™ Creator
I help Small Business Owners who want A LOT more out of life systematically attract their ideal customers, clients or patients using The WOW! Strategy™, so they totally transform their income and lifestyle.
To request your personal, 1-on-1 The WOW! Strategy™ Session, go to:
Jon Bockman Sycamore, IL
“Steve is all business. He is an unbelievably smart, brilliant, brilliant man. I can't say enough about him. Steve has put probably more, I would say, thousands, and thousands, and thousands of dollars... I mean, I probably can't even put a true figure on it, because it keeps coming back, and keeps coming back, just more and more money all the time.”
“One suggestion that Steve gave me, well, without question, put $300,000 more in my bank account. And we are going to be using it forever. This is not a one-time deal. We’re going to be using this idea that Steve helped us with... and we’ll be using it until it doesn't keep working like it is. And so, the value over time could literally be way over even the $300,000 number.”
Mary Forte Bensenville, IL
Keith Lee Seattle, WA
“He's helped me learn how to market my business, and today I can say that we're more successful than we've ever been… I needed to learn how to market the business better to create more revenue, and that's what Steve has helped me with. The financial difference is considerable. We've probably close to doubled our revenues. We're on track now to do another close to $500,000 more than we did last year. So that's awesome. I do owe all of that to Steve.” Volume III Number 2 | Pg 11
THE REAL PERFECT STORM FOR MAKING MORE MONEY | FEBRUARY 2015
THE REAL PERFECT STORM FOR MAKING MORE MONEY By MaryEllen Tribby I recently saw a quote by Abraham-Hicks that read “It’s as easy to create a castle as a button. It’s a just matter of whether you’re focused on a castle or a button.” What that means to me is you can do anything once you put your mind to it and really focus on accomplishing that certain thing. And that is what I did five years ago when I started Working Moms Only. I was laser focused on starting my own business. I had enough of working for someone else. Now don’t get me wrong and I have said it many times before, I feel very blessed that I had the opportunity to be president of Weiss Research and CEO of Agora’s Early to Rise. But I had a certain fire inside me that was striving to do more, to do live a dream, and to create my castle. So last week we celebrated our five years in business. It all started with Working Moms Only. But since then we have expanded into an international publishing company with multiple websites and products, we also have a consulting franchise, a book writing franchise and a public speaking franchise.
The Perfect Storm And as I reflect on our financial success and our personal freedom and being able to live a life completely on my terms - it really comes down to three major things. Number 1: Commitment - I know so many folks who say they want to start their own business. Yet they will find excuse after excuse not to. Some will say they don’t have the time. Well we all have the same 24 hours in a day. And frankly when you start a business, you will have to give some things up - but the reward is so worth it. When I was ready to start my business, I gave 10 weeks notice at Early to Rise where I was CEO. During those ten weeks I worked very hard all day at ETR and came home and worked just as hard in the evening at my own business. Keep in mind five years ago my children were very young, 11, 9 and 4. Now I was very fortunate that my husband was just as committed and we were able to split up the household responsibilities.
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THE REAL PERFECT STORM FOR MAKING MORE MONEY | FEBRUARY 2015
During this time, I did not play tennis, I did not watch TV, I did not do “girls night out”, and I did not attend holiday parties even when friends tried really hard to get us there. What I did do was work off a plan. I knew I had 10 weeks and I was committed to doing everything I had to in order to launch my business on January 6, 2010.
Priorities Are Key My priorities were set and I knew there were only four things I would focus on during that time. They were: • My health - Yup, I still got up every morning at 4:30 and went to the gym. I knew it was important for me to keep my energy up and have some “me” time.
out of 10 of them fail? That is 5,212,800 failed businesses a year! But here’s the bigger question, do you know why they fail? Well according to Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Forbes Magazine and myself, they fail because they do not follow a proven business model. Well failure was not an option for me. That is why five years ago, I followed the exact business model I used at Weiss and Agora. Of course I have tested, changed and perfected things along the way. But I started with a PROVEN business model. Now I can proudly say not only do I use this business model, but so do so many of today’s savvy entrepreneurs. If you are ready to make more money this year - take action on the three items above - it really is the perfect storm.
• My family - I still had dinner with my family and helped the kids with their homework. My husband and I also explained that we were launching a new business and for a few months, things would be a little different but in the end it would be worth it. • My leadership at ETR - Even through I was leaving the company, I worked harder then anyone else in the company. I made sure that everything was taken care of before I left including finding a replacement for myself. • My new business - There was not a single night or weekend that I did not spend time on my new business. I was leaving an incredible position at ETR where I was making good money but I knew that by starting my own business I would be able to have even a better life. Number 2: Passion - There is nothing worse than seeing a sad kid. And usually when there is a sad kid, there is a sad mom. It was my passion, my purpose, my calling to start Working Moms Only. To start a company that would give all working moms the tools for a healthier, wealthier and more blended life. And when working moms have that - they are happy. A working mom sets the tone of a household and when a working mom is happy, the rest of the family is happy, including the kids! When your business is your passion, you look forward to building it. And five years later I have discovered that I am a multi-passionate entrepreneur. That has helped create many different facets to the business hence expanding the universe of people we can help and increasing our revenues. Number 3: Never Reinvent the Wheel - Did you know that there are 543,000 new business started each month, and that 8
About MaryEllen Tribby MaryEllen is the proud Founder and CEO of Working Moms Only .com, the world’s leading media company for the empowerment of the working mom. Prior to founding WMO, MaryEllen was Publisher & CEO of Early to Rise where she was responsible for growing the business from $8 million in sales to $26 million in just 15 months. Before that, she served as President of Weiss Research where she led the company to $67 million in sales from $11 million in just 12 months. MaryEllen is a highly sought-after business consultant, speaker, and author. Her first book, which she coauthored with Michael Masterson, is Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions For Your Business. It hit #1 on Amazon.com within just 10 hours of its release. If you have been yearning to start a business, but are confused, overwhelmed or scared about the thousands of programs out there, go to: www.MaryEllenFreeGift.com
Volume III Number 2 | Pg 13
MONEY-MAKING MONTHLY Volume III Number 2 | February 2015
www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
This Month’s Money-Making Info
1
THE MONEY IS IN THE MARKETING – NOT THE DOING
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By Steve Sipress
2 9
ARE YOU A GAME CHANGER? By Dr. Will Moreland
HAIL (TO THE CHIEF) DAMAGE Manny’s Blog
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WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS REALLY WANT By Robert Skrob
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THE REAL PERFECT STORM FOR MAKING MORE MONEY By MaryEllen Tribby
EXPERT INTERVIEW DAVID T. FAGAN:
THE ICON BUILDER Publisher
Steve Sipress Successful Selling Systems, Inc. 869 E Schaumburg Rd #237 Schaumburg, IL 60194 (p) 773-236-8134 (f ) 847-232-1535 Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
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Editor Michele Tiberio
Layout & Design JDO of SPX Multimedia spxmultimedia.com Publisher’s Notice: Copyright 2015 Successful Selling Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Neither the author nor the publisher make any express or implied warranties concerning the legal or ethical appropriateness of any of the marketing documents, materials or instructions in or enclosed with the magazine and/or your use of the same. If in doubt about the appropriateness or legality of any materials or instructions, you should obtain competent guidance, just as you would with any marketing documents, materials or marketing plans you have developed or would develop on your own. In the interests of disclosure, we want to be open about how we may, from time to time, make money from this magazine. Certain third-party links contained in this magazine may be affiliate links for which we get paid a commission if you buy the product or service through the affiliate link.