MONEY- MAKING MONTHLY
Volume II Number 5 | May 2014 | $97
THE Monthly Magazine For Sharp Entrepreneurs
HOW TO GET RICH
SPIRIT
AIRLINES:
THE. WORST. AIRLINE.
In Un-Rich Times
EVER.
By Dan Kennedy PAGE 2
By Steve Sipress PAGE 10
EXPERT INTERVIEW BRYAN BINKHOLDER “THE FINANCIAL COACH” SMART MONEY STRATEGIES FOR ENTREPRENEURS
PAGE
6
ABOUT STEVE | MAY 2014
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! 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. 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. If you’re in the Midwest, you can meet other like-minded business people in person and learn from the world’s leading entrepreneur experts at one of Steve’s many “Chicagoland’s Sharpest Entrepreneurs” live events that he’s hosted since September 2008. You also have the chance to work with other entrepreneurs, business owners, executives and professionals like yourself who want to learn better, more effective ways to market their businesses and grow their incomes, thanks to Steve’s online group and personal coaching programs. 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.
Pg II | Money-Making Monthly Magazine | www.SteveSipress.com
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
THOSE WHO WALK THE WALK WILL ALWAYS WIN | MAY 2014
By MaryEllen Tribby
Those Who Walk The Walk Will Always Win
I was told the following story the other evening and I was so touched I needed to share this narrative with you . . .A few years ago, at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with the relish to run the race to the finish and win. As you know, I recently re-launched my new and improved Inbox Empire program. In doing so, we asked for very limited joint venture support. The responses were fascinating. I was able to divide the folks whom we contacted into three separate groups: Group #1 – The Givers These were friends who are also my colleagues. This group jumped on board instantly. They followed through exactly as they said they would. And, in doing so, they were not only rewarded by incredible response rates and extremely high EPC’s leading to healthy affiliate commissions, but they also have my undying gratitude. Group #2 – The Fair Weather Friends These were folks that were more colleagues, not close friends. Yet, when they dropped my name at industry functions, they would position us as good friends. This group chose not to participate. However, they very politely wrote back to us and said the program either did not fit their current business model or that their marketing calendar was full. Group #3 – The Fakers Again, these were folks that were more colleagues, not close friends. But yet again they dropped my name at industry functions where they positioned us as very close friends for their benefit. Only this group did not even have the decency to respond to emails, text messages and phone calls. You may be saying, “So, what? They just did not want to participate.” Fair enough . . . However, what you don’t know is that every person in each one of these groups has asked me for multiple business favors over the years. I have either mailed my community for them, spoken at their conference, let them interview me, or participated in their webinar or tele-summit. As far as the interviews, webinars and tele-summits, I did not benefit from these time commitments monetarily. I truly did it for their benefit. And frankly, it made me feel good to do so. I was not afraid that by helping others that I would come in last, just like the children in the race. However, I will tell you that group #3, The Fakers, the ones that did not even respond, will not have access to me or my time going forward. Please do not think of this as holding a grudge – I am not. I wish them the best. However, I will not tolerate disrespect in any aspect of my life. Also, I do not believe in passive aggressiveness. Please look back into your business relationships and determine which you group you fall into today, determine what group you would like to be in, and take action to make the necessary changes in your life.
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 co-authored 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 II Number 4 | Pg 1
HOW TO GET RICH IN UN-RICH TIMES | MAY 2014
How To Get Rich In Un-Rich Times
By Dan Kennedy
In the Renegade Millionaire System, I dispense this advice: #1: BE the Wizard, #2: BEWARE the Wizard. Wizards are very powerful, so it is better to be one than to be influenced by one. Everybody welcomes the convincing Mystic. People so desperately wish to Believe. That there is a long lost, ancient or a revolutionary new Something: cure, elixir, formula for easy riches or happy relationships or better sex or children that mind or growing 12 foot high tomato plants; a gizmo that turns corn into fuel or tree bark into gold doubloons; an Answer Man, Seer, Keeper of Secrets. And in dark times, this desire intensifies. In dark times even kings subjugate themselves to the Mystics – which you know if you’ve studied history. People really don’t want rational explanations for how you do what you do, they prefer Believing that you possess Mystical Powers and Magical Secrets that you will use for their benefit. To underestimate the power of secrets and secret powers is to ignore how humanity has been manipulated, controlled and ruled since its beginnings. In these times, you can rise to greater heights of influence and power than at any other time, by turning up the wattage on your mysticism. In the dark, you glow. Doesn’t matter if you dispense investment advice or lawn care advice, are a dog whisperer or a presidential candidate, or a tax attorney or a mattress manufacturer – now, more than ever, is the time to speak of secret techniques and magic ingredients and unique abilities. To offer absolute certainty in an uncertain world. To declare unique and profound importance. I’m speaking now about how you present yourself to the world. If you sell a particular kind of mattress, you must present it as THE – emphasis on key word: THE – first, best, only “magic,” based on top secret technology invented for NASA and Olympic athletes – that relieves all back pain, delivers 10,000 more REMs per night, lets cellular structure rejuvenate thus slowing aging, helps you lose weight while you sleep; is THE secret to eternal youth and vitality. It must be THE GREATEST discovery in medical science of this century. And you, as its spokesperson, must be the Grand Mystic of Sleep Science. You need an arsenal of Amazing Facts at your disposal. You need practiced language and Profound Statements. You must convincingly promise THE Cure. For whatever ails them, economically, emotionally, physically. To advance your education, I strongly suggest getting and reading the book CHARLATAN. It reads like a novel but is non-fiction. Not that you should be a charlatan; I presume you deliver legitimate value in whatever you sell or do. But that you should use the techniques of the master-charlatans of the ages. Nothing less will do. When a group becomes lost and frightened in a dark cave, the man with the only flashlight automatically becomes their leader. Key word: only. It’s time to present yourself as the person with THE ONLY flashlight.
About Dan Kennedy Dan S. Kennedy is a serial, multimillionaire entrepreneur; highly paid and sought after marketing and business strategist; adviser to countless first-generation, from-scratch multimillionaire and 7-figure income entrepreneurs and professionals; and, in his personal practice, one of the very highest paid direct-response copywriters in America. As a speaker, he has delivered over 2,000 compensated presentations, appearing repeatedly on programs with the likes of Donald Trump, Gene Simmons (KISS), Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies), and many other celebrityentrepreneurs, former U.S. Presidents and other world leaders, and other leading business speakers like Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Tom Hopkins, often addressing audiences of 1,000 to 10,000 and up. His popular books have been favorably recognized by Forbes, Business Week, Inc. and Entrepreneur Magazine. Check out Dan’s Elite Gold Crown Program and receive his Look Over My Shoulder Newsletter by going to: www.EliteGoldGrownProgram.com
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YOUR WEBSITE “MUST-HAVE FEATURES” CHECKLIST | APRIL 2014
The Chicagoland Entrepreneur Event To Kick Off A Kick-Butt Summer…
Volume II Number 4 | Pg 3
HOW YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION IS EFFECTING YOUR BOTTOM LINE | MAY 2014
How Your Online Reputation Is Effecting Your Bottom Line
By Jimmy Nicholas
Now that more and more people do online research before they choose a business to work with, your online ratings are more important than ever. You can’t afford to have low ratings – and you can’t afford having no ratings at all. If you want your business to be seen online, you need to start seriously thinking about the management of your online reputation. One of the most effective ways to do this is to have many legitimate, online positive reviews for your business on public review websites, while minimizing any negative reviews. When potential customers search for services in your local area via Google, Bing, or Yahoo!, the first results that usually come up are the businesses with the highest and the most customer ratings. And, if you show up first, potential customers are more likely to check out your business first before they check the rest of the businesses on the page – especially if your competitors have no reviews and ratings – as your listing will stand out with a high rating. Potential customers tend to trust businesses with a reliable track record, and the way they do this is by checking existing reviews and ratings left by previous customers. That’s why you should gather high-quality, positive reviews that can help new customers quickly decide to come to your business rather than your competitors, leaving the competition in the dust while you divert new, incoming customers to your business. Your business will be THE trusted, credible brand in your local market. All of your reviews should be from your actual customers, so you don’t have to worry about search engines flagging your business as a scam. Make sure that when search engines dig deeper, they’ll know that your customers are sincere about the high ratings they give you and that your reviews and 5-star ratings are 100% genuine and legitimate. However, be careful of using “shortcut” solutions. You may not be aware, but Google recently celebrated its 15th birthday by releasing Hummingbird, a significant technological update to its search engine algorithm. The world’s #1 search engine decided to no longer display third-party reviews, and only displays reviews posted onto their website directly. Millions of reviews that were originally posted via DemandForce.com, for example, are no longer displayed in the initial Google search results. Thanks to Hummingbird, businesses using search engine optimization to establish authority must adjust their online publishing strategies - again - or sink to the bottom of search results. Businesses should be focused on generating social proof instead of constantly tweaking SEO. The best way for businesses to establish authority in their market has never changed. You must deliver an excellent product or service and create a satisfying customer experience. Your satisfied customers will share their experience with potential customers. The way to establishing social proof never needs updating. Businesses should encourage customers to submit a review on a customized site with the chance of winning a valuable price such as an iPad. The customer should have a chance of winning the prize regardless of whether their review is positive or negative. You should then ask 5-star customers to post their reviews on sites such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Implement this strategy and say goodbye to obscurity and say hello to being the number one brand that your target customers will trust!
About Jimmy Nicholas Jimmy Nicholas started his web design company in 1997, at the age of 15, when he built and sold his first website to a local jewelry store. His mission is to help organizations grow and succeed, and he has helped thousands of small business owners throughout the world. He was named GKIC 2013 Marketer of the Year. Get your free copy of Jimmy’s #1 bestselling book “Small Business Marketing – Your Ultimate Guide” and your free customized (NOT machine-generated) Online Reputation Analysis Report by going to: www.JimmyFreeGift.com
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Volume II Number 4 | Pg 5
EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN BINKHOLDER, “THE FINANCIAL COACH” | MAY 2014
Expert Interview
with BRYAN BINKHOLDER,
“THE FINANCIAL COACH”: Smart Money Strategies For Entrepreneurs Steve Sipress: Steve Sipress here with the one and only “The Financial Coach,” Bryan Binkholder. I really thank you for being on here. Bryan Binkholder: Well, Steve, I tell you what, I’ve had you on my radio show a couple times, and you and I always have so much fun discussing business, discussing all the goofy things that go on in our society, and economics and government, so I am excited about this time together.
payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. But taxes in general, this is something that a business owner and other entrepreneurs have to be very aware of. Because if you’re not taking steps to minimize taxation - Judge Learned Hand many years ago said it’s our duty to pay the least amount of taxes legally acceptable.
So this idea that we just have to go along with it is very wrong. What individuals have to begin understanding is, number one, there’s only 53% of the people that are paying taxes, so that means that it’s an unequal distribution. And that’s going to continue to happen, because one of our founding fathers noted that an entity such as ours, a republic such as ours, will last only as long as individuals realize that they can vote politicians in to then give them benefits.
And that’s really where we’re at, and that’s going to continue to occur, because of the administration that’s in place right now. But then also, because people really don’t understand, we’ve got this horrific mess that’s coming up. Politicians have continually kicked it down the road - and that’s Social Security, and that’s Medicare - and now with this crazed health care plan, we’ve got an expansion of the Medicaid rolls, because people are joining Medicaid now.
And then you’ve got this crazed entity of this wealth transfer between individuals who are already paying taxes but now don’t qualify for “subsidies”, which is another entitlement program, which is taking money from your pocket, Steve - because we’ve talked about our health insurance increases. Mine went from $345, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, to my plan was cancelled, and so I was going to have to go the Exchange. The cheapest plan was $781 a month for my family, because of course I get all these neat little benefits that we don’t even use. Thankfully, the Emperor - I mean the President - he ended up getting us a reprieve (which was unconstitutional, I might add) that I got to keep my plan for another year.
Steve: Well, now the pressure’s on for us to be goofy and exciting. Bryan: There you go. And we can do it. We can accomplish everything we set forth to do. Steve: I think we will. So let me get started. Right off the bat, this is being recorded just closely after Tax Day, April 15, 2014, so income taxes are already not on people’s minds, since the deadline has passed, but they’re definitely still on mine. And probably on my listeners’, who tend to be very sharp, forwardthinking, aggressive, action-taking business owners, entrepreneurs and sales professionals, so there are some really nice incomes going on in this group. And more and more, in today’s society and with the current administration, everything that’s going on, the call is for more and more taxation on people that work hard and produce success for themselves. What are your thoughts on that? Bryan: Okay. What a question. Here’s a couple things. You know, Steve, I’ve owned many different companies in my life, had some successes had some failures. One of the keys that always astounds me is that business owners are out there risking their own capital. We’re putting forth our own capital to make something happen.
So when it comes to tax time - I put up some posts on this with taxes - it’s frustrating, because only 53% of the people out there are paying federal taxes. Now, don’t get that confused. People are paying Pg 6 | Money-Making Monthly Magazine | www.SteveSipress.com
EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN BINKHOLDER, “THE FINANCIAL COACH” | MAY 2014
“An IRS report said, 6.1 billion dollars is wasted every year by Americans who have to pay accountants just to file their taxes.”
But what I’m trying to say in all this is, as we keep marching down the road, what we’re going to find is that more and more of the budget is going towards Social Security and Medicare, and now Medicaid, and there’s very little room for these other areas such as the military and such as all these other things we always hear about - roads and bridges and everything else. So it comes to a point, that before the system explodes, there’s going to be more money that comes in. So I believe that the 53% of us out there have to continually be on the lookout for strategies that we can implement to save money on taxes. And that’s one of the things that I encourage individuals to do before the end of the year - see, you’ve got to understand - Steve, you use an accountant?
Steve: Yeah, you’d better believe it. Bryan: Okay, you use an accountant, and there’s great accountants out there Steve: How could I not? First of all, I’m afraid out of my mind to not use one. And second of all, I’d be an idiot to not use one. I saw some recent study that said the IRS gave a sample return scenario to twenty different accountants, and they came up with twenty different returns. What the heck would I do? -
Bryan: Yeah, here’s a couple things that you just said there. I tend to be a little bit ADD, because my mind’s racing and running (I think that’s one of the keys of a good entrepreneur, by the way, you just have to harness it). You said an interesting thing there about how complicated taxes are. Donald Rumsfeld made some news - I don’t know if you saw that just recently. Every year, he sends in with his tax return a letter that says, “I’m filing this return. I cannot certify if this is correct or not, because the tax code is too convoluted, too confusing, and I’ve done my best, my CPA has done his best, but I have no idea if this is accurate.” That’s pretty true, because if you realize then, and this is the thing people don’t understand Steve: I love it! Bryan: Yeah. What people don’t understand is that they keep adding all these rules and these layers to the tax code - and everything that we do in life, regulations with businesses - it’s all designed for control. Because nobody - absolutely nobody - can do it absolutely correct.
One of the reasons that you and I are so adamant about changes to the tax code is because number one, the money that we spend right now on filling out forms, and getting things together and everything else - I would gladly pay a higher percentage, because it would eliminate so much wasted time.
It would eliminate when you get the nasty-grams from the IRS, then you’ve got to call and spend an hour on the phone, to then get three different answers if you call back three different times, from the IRS. I’ve got one tape-recorded, and I’ve got it over on my radio show site, www.FinancialCoachShow.com, Steve.
I called the IRS and I asked the guy - I told him I was recording the phone call. All of a sudden, he told me I couldn’t record the phone call. And I said, “Excuse me? You work for me.” And he puts me on hold, because he had to check with his supervisor if it was okay for me to record my phone conversation with the IRS. I mean, that’s what we’re dealing with!
Bryan: There you go Steve: I would mess them up. If they mess them up, I’d mess them up totally! I don’t even understand - I went one year to amend a tax return from previously - and I had changed accountants because I had moved - and the new accountant was like, “I don’t even understand why this guy did this. He should have done this and that and whatever.” I put something in a recent blog post that as an IRS report said, 6.1 billion dollars or something is wasted every year by Americans who have to pay accountants just to file their taxes. Geez.
Don’t get me wrong. I have accountants and attorneys to do tax work, but come on - they’ll find something else to do.
Volume II Number 4 | Pg 7
EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN BINKHOLDER, “THE FINANCIAL COACH” | MAY 2014
So, as we look at all this, here’s something that I note in my book, “Everything I Learned About Business I Learned The Hard Way:” CPA’s are great people. They’re very knowledgeable, depending on the area that you get. You have to make sure your CPA knows that. I own 80 rental properties, and so, for instance, 3 CPA’s I had, had no clue about how to accurately strategize with rental properties. So I finally found an accountant that is very good at that. So, for example, with this company that I had, I set up a separate company for some marketing that I did, I ended up having about $100,000 worth of income that was coming through. It was going to flow directly through to my personal tax return, after some of the expenses and everything else. So what we ended up doing was we made a change in classification.
That strategy alone saved me over $7,000, just by doing some advanced planning before the end of the year with that company. Now, again, I still had to pay federal taxes on this income - couldn’t escape that - however, I did escape some of these payroll taxes for Social Security that I would have been hit with.
However, I’m the one that brought that up to him, because as I talk in my book, one of the biggest problems that people have - business owners and entrepreneurs - is they have horrible financial literacy. They have no idea, and they blindly trust the people around them - their financial advisers, their CPA’s, everything else. We’ve got to take it upon ourselves to be proactive and be smart in what we’re doing.
Steve: Okay, so you mentioned a whole bunch of things there. By the way, and I have a law degree from way long ago, that I can’t remember anything I learned in it anyway (probably that happened about a month after I got out of school). But one thing I do know that I’ve lived by and that I’ve seen: You mentioned strategizing with an accountant, but it’s my opinion that for the most part, attorneys and accountants are both pretty much meant to be backwards-looking professions. They are meant to be -
(and you are The Financial Coach, so you know a lot of them). But that’s another thing that every business owner and entrepreneur and successful sales professional really needs to do: Just like with direct response marketing, there’s a lot of testing.
You just mentioned testing with accountants. You had one, you had another, you had another. You’ve got to keep going ‘til you find the right one who is a forward-looking, strategizing one, because for the most part, that’s not in their DNA. They are, like you say, historians. They’re backwards-looking, and they’re all about - they’re also - I have a lot of trouble with them because they are anti-entrepreneurial, because they are averse to risk-taking.
They see their job as to save you from taking risks. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an accountant say to me, “Oh, looking at the numbers here, the industry norms in your industry say you’re only supposed to spend this much money on marketing, and you spent this much, and so you ought to spend less on marketing.” And I’m like, “Wow, so you just want my income to plummet. Is that what you’re saying?”
So I can’t even talk to them. They’re clueless. Now, here’s the big thing, though, I want to mention: Now, my listeners and my readers, again, tend to be successful, forward-thinking, aggressive, actiontaking entrepreneurs, business owners, sales professionals. So we are increasing our incomes and making much more than the 99% “I’m-goingto-sit-in-on-Wall-Street-and-beg-for-a-job” crowd.
But once in a while, someone will slip in onto my social media, or onto my blog site or listen to a podcast or whatever, who is one of these misguided... they’re loving handouts and whatever. And just the exact conversation you just had - and exact teaching you just did - is the stuff that they go crazy over, which is how to strategize, how to save money on taxes, where they’re sitting there going, “See, that’s everything that’s wrong with America.”
I’ll give you an example. When Mitt Romney was running for president a few years ago - and I can’t stand either party, so you’re not going to talk to me about being political or anything - but this guy, one of the things was, “Oh, he’s not disclosing his taxes,” or “he’s not paying a lot of taxes,” or “blah-blah-blah, makes him un-American,” or something.
Bryan: They’re historians. Yeah, they’re historians. CPA’s are historians. Steve: Yes, so you can’t plan on having an accountant – I mean good for you, Bryan, to do the due diligence
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EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN BINKHOLDER, “THE FINANCIAL COACH” | MAY 2014
I’m like, “Really?” Of course, my response is, “Man, I hope he gets in and teaches all of us how to do that! I want to know how to do that. How do you get to be a multi-billionaire and only be paying this percent of taxes? That’s great! If he could teach everyone in America how to be a billionaire and how to pay very little percent of that in income taxes, I’m pretty sure we would no longer be broke.”
Bryan: Yeah. Here’s a couple little things that drive me up the wall. You made a very accurate point. Somebody hears that statement about some of the strategy that I just talked about, and, “Oh, see? That’s the problem.” Well, this again goes back to the conversation that you and I have had many times. You shocked my listeners the one time, when you came on my radio show and you talked about that no Americans should have jobs.
And you were so right, from the standpoint that we live in this system that is created in such a way to build your own business, to produce your own goods and services. So most of these people who are out there are working every day, and they can’t really take advantage of too much, because they get their paycheck and at the end of the year they get their W-2, and here’s their income, and that’s it. Maybe they get a few deductions for charity and for homes and whatever else, but that’s it. As a business owner, we’ve got to deal with a little bit of other things that people don’t realize. Let me give you a prime example. I have one of my companies in real estate, that is almost like a Real Estate Investment Trust. We have a private placement offering that we have outside investors, and yada, yada, yada. At the end of the day, Steve, because I own the company, we ended up having a profit the one year of $65,000, after we paid investors and expenses. Problem is, I didn’t get to take any of that money as pay. That money sits in the company. But, due to our crazed taxation system, that money flowed through to my personal tax return, where I had to pay taxes on it - something that was totally out of my control. I couldn’t do anything about it. So there are some things that we just can’t use any strategies on - we’re just at the whim of it. And another really crazy thing is...
To listen to the entire interview, go to: www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
About Bryan Binkholder Bryan Binkholder is widely-known as The Financial Coach™ and America’s Motivational Mindset & Leadership Coach™. He’s a business consultant & coach, national speaker and syndicated radio show host. Bryan is the author of five books & programs on investing, including The 401k Conspiracy and The Six Pitfalls of Retirement Planning. He has also authored and produced numerous resources in the motivational leadership arena, including his most recent book What You See Is What You Get—How to Create & Live the Life of Your Dreams. As an entrepreneur having started over six companies in his career, Bryan has seen his own share of success and big-time failure. From this experience, he’s able to relate to business owners and entrepreneurs as they go through the stages of pain and success in their businesses. Bryan knows what it takes to start with nothing and grow it into a success. On a personal note, Bryan and his wife, Lisa, reside in the St. Louis area with their three children—Faith, Nicholas, and Daniel. They are currently adopting a daughter from the U.S. after they suffered the heartbreaking death of their son, Josiah David in 2006. Close to their heart is the belief that charities - not the government - should help people in times of need. Due to this, since 2001 they have been blessed to donate over $500,000 to their church and charities. For more information on Bryan visit: www.FinancialCoachShow.com Volume II Number 4 | Pg 9
SPIRIT AIRLINES: THE. WORST. AIRLINE. EVER. | MAY 2014
Spirit Airlines: The. Worst. Airline. Ever.
By Steve Sipress
Today, a cautionary tale from the Repeat And Referral Sales Prevention Department.
board meeting in New York City, I immediately called my travel agent to have him make my flight and hotel arrangements.
The lesson is: You can attract a lot of new customers, clients, members or patients with low prices, but if your product and/or service sucks, you had better be exceptionally good at attracting A LOT of new buyers – because you won’t get anyone to buy from you again or encourage anyone else to.
When got his voicemail message that he was out of the office and would be back soon, I said to myself, “Heck – it’s just a one-day trip to New York (where I lived for the first 18 years of my life and return to often for both business and pleasure) – how tough can it be for me to just go to an online travel website and book it myself?”
In fact, if you execute this Incredibly Stupid Strategy really well, you’ll even ignite a firestorm of hate about your company and even lose some potential new customers you may otherwise have bamboozled into giving you their money even once. Our story begins innocently enough… I was recently invited to join the Board of Directors of the Financial Policy Council (“FPC”), a results- and action-oriented organization dedicated to its mission to influence decisionmakers and to educate the public about both the dangers of the will-destroying and self-esteem crushing “The-role-ofgovernment-is-to-provide-for-the-well-being-of-its-citizens” mindset that has America heading squarely in the wrong direction, and the powerful attitudes of personal freedom and self-reliance that built the U.S. into The Greatest Country In The History Of The World, but that have become demonized over the past 100 years or so, to our nation’s tremendous detriment.
Famous last words… I did a quick scan of the available flights around the time I wanted to travel, and one airline’s offer CLEARLY stood out from all of the others as The Obvious Choice, because its fare was about 10% lower than any other. That airline? The infamous rip-off machine known as Spirit Airlines. Now, for some reason, I had never heard of this despicable excuse for an airline, even though it’s been merrily mistreating travelers for the past seven years, ever since the inception of its current strategy to be what they call an “Ultra Low Cost Carrier” (not to mention the only 2-star airline in American history). Well, I’ve heard of them now.
More on that in upcoming posts; now back to today’s story…
I arrived at O’Hare airport bright and early for my 5:54am flight – even before the security screening area opened for business. Little did I know that my hate affair with Spirit Airlines was about to begin…
When I was informed by the FPC’s President, international financial expert Ziad Abdelnour, that I would be officially introduced to my fellow board members at an upcoming
I handed my boarding pass and ID to the TSA agent as I entered the screening area, and was immediately alerted to the absurd and alarming fact that Spirit charges its passengers
Pg 10 | Money-Making Monthly Magazine | www.SteveSipress.com
SPIRIT AIRLINES: THE. WORST. AIRLINE. EVER. | MAY 2014
“Go ahead and make every mistake. But make it just once.” an obscene $100 fee for each carry-on bag checked at the gate. Therefore, the agent gently suggested that I go to the Spirit counter and check my bag there – for a mere $45 (or just the low-low fee of $50 if I chose to carry my bag onto the plane instead) – even though it weighed less than 20 pounds, containing little more than a suit and a pair of shoes.
each row of non-reclining seats of any U.S. airline by about 20% (Spirit packs in 178 passengers on an A320 Airbus, compared to only 150 for other carriers).
WHAT???
1.
“Consumer Reports said Spirit’s rating was among the lowest of any company it has ever rated.”
Suddenly, that “10% lower” fare wasn’t such a bargain after all. In fact, I had now already paid more for a ticket on this worstof-all-possible-airlines than I would have on any other carrier.
2.
“Spirit was the only American-based carrier in Business Insider’s analysis of the world’s worst airlines.”
But wait! There’s more…
Now where was I? Oh, yeah…
I called my beautiful wife Michele to let off some steam about how I fell for the Spirit Airlines scam by not reading the fine print when I first booked my flight. She reminded me that I had told her just the night before, when I went to the SpiritAir. com website to check-in online, how amazed I was that they wanted me to pay anywhere from $10 to $50 in fees to choose my seat for the flight in advance. That’s right – Spirit Airlines even charges an additional fee to select the worst seat on one of their World’s Worst Airline’s flights!
So not only was I in a middle seat, but I also spent the entire three-hour flight with my knees bumping right up against the hard plastic tray table in front of me – AND with the knees of the guy behind me jabbing into the small of my back.
Just on principle (*NOTE: That’s code for “temporarily forgetting that successful people are RESULTS-oriented, and don’t let their emotions get the best of them”), I declined to play their game and fall for their fee-gouging attempt. You guessed it. I was “randomly” assigned seat 17B – a dreaded middle seat. But wait! It gets worse! Upon conducting a few quick Google searches while waiting at the gate*, I discovered that Spirit Air is well-known for jamming as many rows as in-humanely possible into every one of their planes, resulting in the least leg room between
*NOTE: Here are just a couple of the results Google found when I searched for “Spirit Air Sucks”:
I have a tendency to become claustrophobic, so I literally “pulled the wool over my own eyes” (I was wearing a wool hat due to the near-freezing Chicago end-of-March temperature) and did my best to drift off into sleep. Somehow I made it through to the ridiculously bumpy landing in New York. I gulped down some of the water I had brought on board, avoiding the $4 fee Spirit Airlines charges its passengers who want a drink of water, and made a beeline for the plane’s exit. As I entered the airport terminal after The Worst Flight Ever (and felt an urge to kiss the ground), I was reminded of the sage advice a very wise mentor gave me decades ago, when he urged me to “Go ahead and make every mistake. But make it just once.” You can bet I’ll never fly on Spirit Airlines ever again.
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, and to read over 50 comments to this article and join in the conversation, go to: www.RhinoDaily.com
Volume II Number 4 | Pg 11
5 SECRETS TO GET ASSOCIATIONS TO GET NEW CUSTOMERS FOR YOU | MAY 2014
5 Secrets To Get Associations To Get New Customers For You By Robert Skrob Imagine for a moment assembling your best potential customers into a huge stadium. They are all assembled there for something big and exciting. How would you like the opportunity to walk out into that stadium and deliver your best sales presentation? Wouldn’t you like to sell on a one-to-many basis rather than to have to go around selling one-on-one? Marketing through associations allows you to sell on a one-to-many basis in 5 different ways. Join Identify the right association for you to participate in and then join as an associate member. Get yourself into the same stream of information your customers enjoy, and learn as much about the industry as the individuals you are marketing to. As a member of the association, you’ll receive newsletters, email notices and, often, access to the association’s members-only website with additional resources. Participate Association events provide a lot of ways for you to meet and interact with your prospective customers. For many, attending events provides the opportunities they need to interact with customers. For additional exposure, exhibiting or sponsoring events elevates your presences and brings you to the attention of your best prospects.
creates a new marketing funnel for you with the association motivated and excited to send you a steady stream of new customers. Partner Build a platform where the association can recruit and retain members while you grow your company. The association promotes you and your expertise to members as well as prospective members benefiting the association by encouraging these individuals to join. You are promoted to an entire industry of prospective members as the go-to resource for what you offer, building your credibility and value with the very individuals you are endeavoring to impress and convert into new customers. The Stadium Associations already have lists of their current and prospective customers. These associations are sending direct mail and emails to promote their key member benefit programs. Working with associations makes you and your company into something the association will promote and allows you to tap into communication that you don’t have to pay for. It’s as if the association were assembling your best prospective customers into a huge stadium and giving you the opportunity to convert them into new customers for your company!
Contribute Associations are always looking for great content to provide their members. These associations have to justify renewing memberships to their members. Take advantage of the opportunities that associations provide you to contribute to the community by submitting articles for association publications as well as making presentations at association events. These articles allow you an opportunity to get featured with the association’s members building awareness plus positioning within the association publications also builds your credibility as a go-to expert. Affiliate Associations are always looking for new member benefit programs they can promote to their members as a reason for belonging to the association. And, if the association can simultaneously generate non-dues revenue by promoting this new benefit it’s even better. Develop an endorsed provider relationship with associations to provide them with a membership benefit they can promote to their members. This
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
Pg 12 | Money-Making Monthly Magazine | www.SteveSipress.com
MANNY’S BLOG | MAY 2014
Manny’s Blog
Celebrating Sympathy
Forgive me if I don’t clown around as much this month. I’m not a melancholy collie or poignant pointer, but I do have my serious side. I’m seriously CELEBRATING something, though: recent changes in the way humans handle the pet grieving process. Whether you find your goldfish floating upside down in the bowl, discover a cat clobbered by a speeding motorist or hold your terminally ill pooch’s paw as the vet euthanizes him, death is a big deal. I’ve got my fair share of grey hair these days. I have a weak rear leg from a back surgery Steve and Michele broke the bank for soon after they first rescued me nine years ago from the“Animal House” shelter (yes, I’m lucky that’s Steve’s favorite movie – otherwise they never would have come and found me). I can’t see as well as I used to, and I’m not nearly as crazy and rambunctious as when I was in my prime doggie years. Fortunately, my sense of smell is as sharp as ever, since I’m also now completely deaf. I’m still great at my main job of loving Steve and Michele, and I even still run after my beloved squeaker toy and bring it back – although nowadays I only bring it back once, instead of never wanting to stop playing back in the good ol’ days. I fall down once in a while when we’re out hunting around one of the nearby ponds for dead frogs and other assorted goodies – but the important thing is that I always get right back up and trot along as if nothing happened. Steve, Michele and I all know that we’re committed to making the best out of the time we have left together – however much longer that will be. Not so long ago, a person was looked upon as the lead story for “News of the Weird” if he showed any strong affection for a dog, cat or other companion. Pets were supposed to be as disposable, replaceable, and interchangeable as razor blades. Mr. Bojangles (in the song of the same name) was an aberration, because his dog “up and died” and “20 years later, he still grieves.” As society and family structures have changed, open expression of grief has become more mainstream. There are now pet cemeteries, professional cremations, grief counselors, candle-lit public “pet
loss vigils,” and various other ways of dealing with death. A lot of businesses have started up just to deal with pets, but many traditional human funeral homes have branched out into serving the needs of pet owners. More and more newspapers publish pet obituaries (with photos). It’s a neat “circle of life” thingie when the dog who always fetched his master’s paper is memorialized with his picture in the paper. People talk about “service” animals (such as seeing-eye dogs); but all true pets perform a valuable service, filling a void for humans, giving them companionship and a sounding board. It seems silly to deny the pets a simple farewell service, when humans get all dressed up and buy expensive wreaths for the great uncle whom they had forgotten all about and who had cut them out of his will, anyway.People fear a canine’s bite, but nothing is as sharp as the pain of overhearing some insensitive lout snort,“It was just a dog”or“You can get another one easily enough.” Considering all the things humans have to be embarrassed about (check out your old high school yearbook for the hairstyles and fashions – yeah, I’m talking to YOU), showing tenderness toward a creature that showed you unconditional love is nothing to be ashamed of. I’ll always be grateful for the new paradigm every time one of my four-legged friends or relatives shuffles off this mortal coil. (Well, in the case of some of them, it would be more “scooting their butts over the carpet” off this mortal coil. Hey, I can’t keep up this serious stuff forever.) If you’ve recently lost a pet, don’t bottle up your feelings. And if a human friend has suffered the loss of a pet, take the time to listen to his anecdotes and give him a sincere hug. Let’s show B-I-N-G-O some final R-E-S-P-E-C-T. And hopefully this won’t apply to me for many more years to come, so I can keep sharing my doggie thoughts with you here every month. Speaking of which: I promise to be back to my playful, witty ways in my June column! You’re not getting rid of me yet!
Manny (full name “Emanuel” or “Dog With Us”) is Steve and Michele Sipress’ crazy, rambunctious cocker spaniel. He has a weak leg (despite a mostlysuccessful 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. Volume II Number 4 | Pg 13
MONEY-MAKING MONTHLY Volume II Number 5 | MAY 2014
www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
This Month’s Money-Making Info
1
Those Who Walk The Walk Will Always Win
10
By Steve Sipress
By MaryEllen Tribby
2
How To Get Rich In Un-Rich Times
12
5 Secrets To Get Associations To Get New Customers For You By Robert Skrob
By Dan Kennedy
4
Spirit Airlines: The. Worst. Airline. Ever.
How Your Online Reputation Is Effecting Your Bottom Line
13
Celebrating Sympathy Manny’s Blog
By Jimmy Nicholas
FEATURE ARTICLE
6
Expert Interview: BRYAN BINKHOLDER, “THE FINANCIAL COACH”: Smart Money Strategies For Entrepreneurs 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?
w w w.AskSteveSipress.com
Editor Jennifer Maks
Layout & Design JDO of SPX Multimedia spxmultimedia.com Publisher’s Notice: Copyright 2014 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.