Volume IV • Number 9 • September 2016 • $97
MANY’S BLOG:
Hooray for Dollywood
OLYMPIC BUSINESS LESSONS
3 LESSONS LEARNED FROM A TITAN OF COPYWRITING expert interview with
Janak Mehta
Facebook Advertising Success
September 2016
ABOUT STEVE
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
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
Olympic Business Lessons
By Steve Sipress The 2016 Summer Olympics recently came and went, captivating the world for two weeks and turning all eyes to Rio De Janeiro. Threats of crime, terrorism, and disease kept many away from participating or attending in person, but over a billion people around the world were glued to their televisions and mobile devices day and night for the duration of the event. Maybe you watched some of the action on TV. Maybe you asked yourself why you felt compelled to follow along with obscure sports that are immensely unpopular and practically unwatchable – other than once every four years.
NBC used three critical strategies to ensure that millions of Americans were temporarily mesmerized by heat after heat of swimming, track, and rowing preliminaries where even the athletes themselves refused to give their best effort, and by obscure sporting events where we got a huge hint of how silly we were to be watching them by the fact that there were likely more people watching on TV on our block then there were in the actual stands themselves. Here’s what all business owners can learn from the way NBC televised the Olympics in the U.S.
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OLYMPIC BUSINESS LESSONS
TARGETING I assume that in other countries around the world, television coverage included whatever sports were most popular with their viewership. But here in the U.S., we were treated to very little Badminton, Handball, Taekwondo, etc. and an over-abundance of gymnastics, swimming, track and field, and volleyball (does playing in a skimpy bikini somehow improve one’s performance?). In past Olympics, we’ve seen more coverage of other sports instead – depending on whether there were prominent Americans competing in them, or a compelling American-themed story could be told through them. As I teach in The WOW! Strategy™, everything revolves around your chosen WHO. NBC strategically chose to focus their coverage on what their chosen WHO (Americans) would be most interested in – basically manufacturing interest and attention in the sports and athletes they chose to feature. Are you communicating with your chosen WHO based on what they want – or are you making the mistake of telling them what you want them to hear?
ENTHUSIASM NBC brilliantly used different announcers for every event. Each one was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his or her particular event, and their enthusiasm was clearly evident. They would often scream with excitement during otherwise monotonous events like preliminary swimming and rowing heats. If you watched any of the Olympics with the sound turned off, you had a clear example of just how important this excitement and enthusiasm of the announcers was to your enjoyment of the event itself. Without it, many of the events were practically unwatchable. I’m sure you are also extremely knowledgeable and passionate about your business. But are you also enthusiastic when you communicate with your prospects and clients? The late, great Zig Ziglar taught that “selling is the transference of enthusiasm.” NBC “sold” millions of Americans on the idea that they just couldn’t possibly miss whatever event was coming up. Do you adequately sell your chosen WHO on why they should choose you – instead of all other possible options – to solve their problems, and why they should do it now?
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STORYTELLING NBC has long displayed their skill at going “up close and personal” with their Olympics coverage, making sure to produce and televise emotional stories about the athletes, coaches, and the host cities – and not making the mistake of thinking that the events themselves could be compelling without them. Take away these emotional back stories (including continuous shots of athletes’ families in the stands), and there would be little to differentiate one swimmer or runner from another, or to keep us believing that we just couldn’t bear to miss the next “big” event. Do you make sure to tell your own personal, emotional back story to your prospects and clients over and over? People love to know that you have a great personal story about why you do what you do. Without it, you make it far too easy for people to see you as “just another ________” – which means you’re likely to be frustrated by always having to explain why you’re different, always having to fight your competitors for business, and always having to compete on price instead of getting paid what you’re really worth. Bottom-line: The next time you think that what you do is just not all that interesting to your prospects and clients, remember how NBC got millions of Americans to temporarily care about sports we otherwise have basically zero interest in. The Olympics come along for NBC only once every two years, but you need to use these three principles in your business every single day, if you want to win your own gold medal for success.
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
Steve Sipress The WOW Strategy™ Creator
To find out if The WOW! Strategy™ Results Group could be right for you, go to:
www.SteveSipress.com/results
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.”
expert interview with
Janak Mehta FACEBOOK
ADVERTISING SUCCESS Steve Sipress: Welcome to the Rhino Daily podcast, Janak Mehta. Janak Mehta: Hey Steve. How are you? Steve: I’m doing fantastic, thank you. But more importantly, how are you doing? Janak: Pretty good, pretty good. Steve: Excellent. I know my audience
is in for a treat. You are an expert in the world of advertising with Facebook. Now, first of all, for anyone that’s listening, business owners who have not yet experienced the joy of a successful Facebook advertising campaign, can you share with the audience why it’s so powerful and so beneficial to advertise using Facebook? Steve: Absolutely. I get this question a lot, especially for someone who has not even dabbled into this. So let
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me start by letting you know what Facebook has done. Facebook has in about the last eight to nine years grown to 1.7 billion users worldwide, and pretty much they have almost everyone within the United States and North America, including Canada. So if you ask me if a potential business owner – especially small business owners with service-based businesses, local businesses – their client is actually hanging out on Facebook.
EXPERT INTERVIEW
I actually call it, “Direct response marketers’ nirvana,” because this is a medium where you can not only precisely target, but you can actually costeffectively test all of your funnels, your website, your different offers.
Now they might not be looking for their specific business, they are not looking to find a solution to a problem on Facebook. They’re hanging out on Facebook. But Facebook allows you to precisely target your target market. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say if you are a lawyer, and if you are servicing within a certain zip code, and you have a certain kind of clientele you want to work with... One example: If you want to work with someone who is working at a certain company. I’m here in Michigan, so let’s say someone wants to target people working at Ford Motor Company, and a zip code, let’s say 48188. You can do that on Facebook. And that precise targeting is the best thing Facebook has allowed us to do.
that’s, I’m guessing, what you’re getting at. That’s the big difference between advertising on a search engine, like Google pay-per-click, or doing Search Engine Optimization there. That’s where people type in – we all do – type in phrases when we’re looking for solutions to problems, or information, or anything. But on Facebook, people aren’t on there to be looking for solutions, they’re on there just hanging out. So what’s the difference in how you advertise, based on the two different ways to get to people? Janak: Absolutely. I’m glad that you brought that up, because most of the people, they think that Facebook and Google, or Bing, or Yahoo is the same thing. This is how you think about for those two different networks. So for Google, Yahoo, Bing, you want to think about what people are typing. The “what” is the big question. So they actually go to the search engine typing for looking for a solution to their problem. So they might type: “Lawyer x, y, z”
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or “lawyer in Canton, Michigan” or “lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona.” Or they might be more specific about the type of lawyer, let’s say, “Elder law.” So they are looking for a solution. They might be looking for a plumber, for an example, or a dentist. But it’s all about they’re looking for something, they’re trying to find a solution. And they’re literally working on their “what.” So the way you target as an advertiser is: “What are your clients’ pain, hopes, desires, problem, challenges?” On Facebook it’s totally different. Facebook allows you to target who they are. So, you need to know your ideal client avatar. You need to know who your ideal client is, you need to know who they are, their behavior, their psychographics, their demographics. And the beautiful thing about Facebook, Facebook has this tool called “Audience Insights,” and it allows you to – if you know one or two things about your target market, or even if you guess – you can actually start drilling down, and go much deeper into this audience, and suddenly find out about who your target market is.
In fact, I actually call it, “Direct response marketers’ nirvana,” because this is a medium where you can not only precisely target, but you can actually cost-effectively test all of your funnels, your website, your different offers. And there is nothing out there which allows a marketer, or an advertiser, or a business owner to do what Facebook allows you to do. Other social media networks, like Twitter and Pinterest, they’re following suit – but nothing like Facebook. So to me, this is the best thing under the sun right now. Steve: Got it. So, I love how you said that nobody is looking for a solution to a problem when they’re on Facebook, but they are hanging out there. So
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EXPERT INTERVIEW
So the biggest difference between search engine and the Facebook is, on search engine, the way you focus as advertiser is “what,” and on Facebook you focus on “who.” And literally you have to interrupt them, because they are not there to “hang on” or look at your advertising message. They’re there to be… it’s about their friends and family. They want to look at their friends’ and family’s life, what’s going on. They’re there to spend about 55 minutes on average a day. So it’s all about figuring out what their friends and family are doing. And you just happen to be there – you as advertiser or marketer – in their feed. They will notice as long as you trigger emotions, you trigger certain pain points, and they might say, “Oh yeah, maybe I’m interested in this. Let me click on this.” So, that’s the difference, and that’s how it works. Steve: All right. You threw around a whole bunch of jargon there, so I don’t want to send people running away from the Rhino Daily Podcast, that “I don’t get it, this guy is talking all kind of gibberish here,” like the “psychographics and demographics,” and Audience Insights, and all this kind of stuff. Is it really, Facebook advertising is that complex, or is it something that every business owner really ought to be doing? Janak: So this is how I’ll answer this question: Facebook advertising has become a lot more advertising- or advertiser-friendly. It has become complex in a way, in terms of what you’re able to do with that. At the same time, Facebook is constantly improving tools. For example, as I was telling you about this Audience Insight. Audience Insight tool is available to anyone who actually has a Facebook account. So let’s say you or I can log into our Facebook ad account, and then we can literally look into… Let’s say, if you know one thing about your target market, and I’ll tell you I know one thing about my target market is…
My target market, my clients, tend to love Shark Tank. I figured this out by asking a lot of questions. So, my students or my members…
free of cost. Steve: Well, we like the “free of cost” part, because of course it’s free of cost until you do the advertising.
Steve: So Shark Tank – you’re talking about the TV show, the entrepreneurial…
Janak: Of course.
Janak: Yeah, the TV show, the entrepreneurial TV show. Steve: I’m just making sure that the audience understands that your clients are not deep water fish experts. Janak: [laughter] No, no. My clients are entrepreneurs. So they love this show, Shark Tank. And they watch it, they watch it with family, they’re into it. So, one of the interests I have for my clients, my prospects, is Shark Tank, for example. And once I know about that in my target market, I can just type in “Shark Tank” in Audience Insight, and Facebook will tell me people who like Shark Tank, what other interests they might have, or what does their income level look like, what is their family, their household situation. Are they married? Do they have kids? What are they reading? What kind of magazines they read, books that they read, what kind of other shows they like. There are a lot of things Facebook will give you if you just know one or two things about your target market. And that’s, pretty much, a beginning point for most of the small business owners, in terms of doing research within Facebook. And Facebook allows you to do all of that
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Steve: So, the research is free of cost of money, but we’re business owners, and we understand that time is more valuable than money. So, that’s why I’m asking about how easy it is to use, because I think you’ve explained that even somebody who is paying big money, or taking the time to be found on Google, or paying for ads on Google, this is a whole different ballgame – that you’re able to find the WHO, which I love, because this is right in line with my WOW! Strategy™, that the first thing we’re focusing on above everything else is the WHO, and once we’ve figured that out, then we can really start targeting them with Facebook. We’re at the end of today’s segment, but I think tomorrow we can get into a little more about the WHO, because I think that small business owners that are listening here tomorrow are going to fall in love with what they can do, and how powerful Facebook ads can be for them. Can we talk about that tomorrow? Janak: Absolutely. To listen to the full interview, go to: www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
Janak Mehta helps small business owners with Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Social Media and various other marketing strategies to help them grow their business by 10% - 90% within the first year. Get your free Facebook marketing and advertising review by going to:
RhinoDaily.com/facebook
MANNY’S BLOG
September 2016
Hooray for Dollywood Hi, friends. My entourage and I just got back from a trip to Dollywood, near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. True, four-legged guests usually aren’t allowed into the theme park, but Dolly pulled some (guitar) strings for me– sort of one Great American Success Story helping another. I was surprised to see that the park has a sanctuary for bald eagles, those majestic birds that symbolize the American spirit. It was a bit incongruous that not too far away there were restaurants where one could purchase turkey legs for eating. It’s like I always say, “It’s not what you know that counts. It’s who you know among the Founding Fathers.” I was fascinated by the mountain craftsmen (as they made pottery, candles, taffy, wooden items, and the like), but I was also a bit jealous. It was as if they were subtly saying, “We’ve got imagination, we’ve got heart, we’ve got opposable thumbs – well, all but Clumsy Cletus. Remember, Cletus, the jug with the corncob stopper ain’t the spring water!” When we went to the roller coasters and water rides, I had never seen so many warnings and disclaimers in my life. There were all sorts of signs about prosthetic limbs, neck injuries, pregnant women, etc. Steve and Michele said it’s all part of “cover your own rear end” legalese. I’m not really up on liability issues; for dogs, if you “cover your own rear end,” that means you’re in the Witness Protection Program! You really must see the faithful reconstruction of the humble cabin in which Dolly, her parents, and her 10
siblings lived. I have a hard enough time reconstructing the living room after Steve and Michele have left me home alone too long. (“What’s that? Don’t you remember that the sofa cushions were leaking stuffing and the newspapers were on the ceiling fan when you left?”) The park also had an old one-room schoolhouse, with no air conditioning, no electronic audio-visuals, etc. Quite an eyeopener. Whenever I talk about going “old school,” I mean playing Pokemon Go on a 3G network. I was advised that we would be traveling back to simpler times, but I thought they meant like “before cats were domesticated.” I enjoyed riding a steam-powered locomotive and listening to the iconic sound of the train whistle. It’s nice to know that there can be someone leaving tracks without getting scolded. Steve and Michele said it was good to have a dog along. With all the charges for tickets, parking, storage, souvenirs, photographs, and the like, they said I could help them “roll over” their Roth IRA straight into Dolly’s bank account. With all the tributes to the indomitable spirit of the mountain people, showcases for tomorrow’s musical stars, and amenities to make people from all over the world feel welcome, it was quite an uplifting experience. What’s that, Spike? No, not uplifting like Dolly’s bra! Get your mind out of the gutter. Hey, wait – there’s a barely eaten turkey leg in the gutter! Never mind.
Manny (full name Emanuel or “Dog With Us”) brought non-stop joy, affection, and energy into the lives of Steve and Michele Sipress for over 13 years. He also shared his wit, humor and insights with readers here every month. Thankfully, as he got on in years and knew that his time on this Earth was growing short, he poured himself into his writing, leaving many, many columns behind, so that his fans can have the continued pleasure of being entertained and enlightened by him for a long time to come. He is no longer physically with us, but his memory lives on…
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WOULD THIS CLUB HAVE YOU AS A MEMBER? By Sydney Barrows I received the results of a survey taken by Patrea O’Donoghue that started off saying, “You might find it comforting to know that you are not alone in your… stuckness!”
80% of those surveyed were unhappy about their progress regarding major goals they’d set for themselves, and of those 80%, nearly half (40%) of them were “super unhappy.”
Them’s not good odds. If a brain surgeon told me there was an 80% chance I’d be unhappy with the outcome and there was a nearly 50% chance I’d be super unhappy, I don’t know about you, but I’d say “no thanks.”
Does this sound familiar? The number one reason people gave for their lack of success was, “I know what to do, but I’m just not doing it.” Other explanations were not being consistent (I can relate to that one), getting distracted and not being as efficient as they could be. Sounds like the most popular thing clients ask to work on: being more focused, efficient, effective and productive. Really makes a difference.
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WOULD THIS CLUB HAVE YOU AS A MEMBER?
A not-so-good Plan B What do most people do when they find themselves not doing what they know they should be doing? Aha! They eat! Next on the list, they do what I call dicking around (relax folks, it’s a Hindi term picked up by British soldiers during colonial days and means “generally appearing to look busy whilst doing nothing”). According to the survey, this consists primarily of doing some kind of “screen activity” like watching TV or a video, gaming, social media, or shopping, or doing research online. And the third most common coping mechanism is to just ignore or avoid the issue entirely. Sleeping seems to be a popular way to do this.
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Non tax deductible costs of not doing business It’s costing you the money you never made because you didn’t do what you could have done to bring in that revenue. It’s costing you the enjoyment of all the experiences you never had because you couldn’t afford them. It’s costing you all the things you could never buy that would have made your life easier, more fun and more fulfilling. No wonder nearly half of the people in that survey said they were very unhappy with their progress.
How do I make this work for me? Getting out of your own way is the only solution I can think of. Either that, or reconcile yourself to what you have and where you are right now, and forget about trying to be someone you could be, but aren’t.
What’s the lesson here? If it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only one who isn’t doing what you could or should be doing. If 80% of the people she surveyed weren’t where they wanted to be and the primary reason is because they can’t get out of their own way – join the club! Membership is free and there’s no dues or minimum amount of money you have to spend every month. But there is a COST. Membership in this club is costing you time (which you can’t ever get back), it’s costing you peace of mind (for which there are no refunds), and it IS costing you money.
A descendant of the Mayflower Pilgrims, Sydney Barrows was born into am affluent family in Philadelphia. After losing her job in New York’s fashion industry, she worked the phone for an escort service. She opened her own escort service, and gained a reputation for providing high-class prostitutes. She was arrested in 1984, and has since become a best-selling author of business books and has enjoyed a highly successful career as an author and business consultant. Sydney invites you to spend an hour on the phone with her so you can get some great Sales Choreography strategies and ideas for your business, so you can ramp up the impressions and experiences you deliver to your clientele. To schedule a complimentary 30-minute private conversation to talk about it further to see if it’s right for you, email: Sydney@SydneyBarrows.com
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3 LESSONS LEARNED FROM A TITAN OF COPYWRITING
Those who spend more time storytelling and less time figuring out the next big “Ninja technique” will be the winners for the long haul.
By Brian Kurtz My observation (as well as Carlton’s) is that the best copywriters are always ahead of the curve. And because of their insatiable curiosity and need to research everything at the deepest level before putting pen to paper (or pixel to screen), they are in the best position to “heed warnings” of what is happening in the marketplace and what will make people move to action.
Steve Sipress and Parris Lampropoulos
Today, I thought I’d share three insights I’ve gleaned from working alongside master copywriter Parris Lampropoulos at Boardroom, Inc. Parris is part of what I privately call my “Mount Rushmore” of Boardroom copywriters, along with Eric Betuel, David Deutsch, and Arthur Johnson. LESSON
I was on the phone earlier this week with copywriting legend John Carlton and we were ranting about all sorts of topics. (You know, like you do when you’re on the phone with John Carlton.) He made the observation that the next “big thing” in marketing may not be in the areas of whiz-bang technology, but rather in the blocking and tackling techniques of adept career direct marketers. That’s not to say that technology won’t continue to move at
the speed of light. But certain methods just don’t change. Great writing still rules. As they say at Copyblogger, The writer runs this show. And those who spend more time storytelling and less time figuring out the next big “Ninja technique” will be the winners for the long haul. Ninja techniques create revenue events. Great copy and creative approaches create businesses.
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THE BEST CREATIVE PLATFORM MIGHT BE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU A Boardroom trademark was bringing our experts together on a regular basis — whether at our famous “Boardroom Dinners” or just assembling experts from a particular discipline to meet, debate, and see what sparks fly when they get together in a moderated discussion.
3 LESSONS LEARNED FROM A TITAN OF COPYWRITING
Those sparks had a way of turning into terrific story ideas. Boardroom founder Marty Edelston once brought all of our tax experts together in one meeting. He was smart enough to not only invite our editors, but also one of our copywriters. The meeting produced dozens of superb story ideas and a blockbuster control package for our newsletter, Tax Hotline. Parris found the hook in that meeting — a “secret meeting of the country’s top tax experts, spilling the beans on things they would not normally talk about in public.” The copy Parris wrote made Tax Hotline the most attractive publication of its kind at the time.
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DON’T LEAVE YOUR BEST MATERIAL ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR The best copywriters know this: Always take the time to probe your editors, gurus, and experts to make sure there is not more material in those incredible brains that could create breakthrough articles or concepts. The process will lead to more compelling promotion copy — and yes, more sales of your product or service. I’m not recommending disrespecting people’s time, or pushing the envelope A speech writer for Kissinger went off to write a speech for him, brought in his
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first draft, and Kissinger sent it back to him to improve it. This happened seven or eight times. Finally, the writer brought the ninth version and said: “This is the best I can do … I can’t do any better…” To which Kissinger replied: “OK, now I will read it.” You get the point. To be an A+ copywriter, don’t consider showing any of the first eight versions to a client. Only present the most complete version, after you have squeezed every drop out of your topic experts, trimmed every ounce of fluff from the copy, and immersed yourself in everything you needed to know to write world-class copy. I don’t know about you, but that’s who I want as my marketing partner.
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Brian Kurtz helped build Boardroom, Inc. to over a $100 million company. Brian has overseen the mailing of approximately 1.3 billion pieces of third class mail over the past 20 years. He has been able to market and sell newsletters and books via direct response television (infomercials) and using e-mail and the Internet in huge numbers.
I’M NOT A DOCTOR, BUT I PLAY ONE IN DIRECT MAIL I don’t mean to be cute here, but when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, one of the first calls I made (after family and some friends) was to Parris. I knew I had a lot of research ahead of me in terms of choosing the right treatment and doctors. But I also knew that one of my ace copywriters had read more about this particular cancer than most doctors I would talk to, especially in the alternative treatment area. I knew that with one phone call to Parris, I would benefit from the fact that he was a copywriter who never wrote about anything before he researched everything. You may have heard the Copyblogger folks talking about authority. Authority is a concept embedded in copywriting — not only writing about a topic but making a sustained commitment to knowing it at the deepest level.
At the height of his infomercial success, he was responsible for buying media in excess of $80 million, and sold over 3 million books via directresponse television over a three-year period. And since he’s never met a medium he didn’t like, he’s learned the ins and outs of every possible medium where direct marketing lives and thrives. Brian is proud to have cut his teeth in the offline world of direct marketing, and finds that the principles he’s followed over the past 30+ years all apply to any and all “new media.” He is committed to educating any and all online marketers who will listen, and is also committed to “learning while teaching” – because there is still so much to learn. Brian recently discussed some very important concepts about how best to treat your customers/prospects/friends/followers with another top direct-response marketer, Joe Polish. Watch this powerful video titled “Everyone Is Going Right… Time To Go Left!” by going to:
www.BrianKurtz.me/steve
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NO LEVEL OF SUCCESS
EXCLUDES ANYONE FROM FEAR OR INNER VOICES
By Tom Beal The topic of fear has come up time and again, and this is a small summary of how I continually push myself out of my comfort zone and squelch my inner voice as it tries talking me out of doing things that I know are right for me to do, as they are congruent with and necessary for achieving my goals. For me, I do
things daily to push myself past my fears and inner voices that still try and talk me out of taking actions that I know I must take and know that they are needing to be taken in order to attain my goals. But the chatter is still there, and I choose to not let it stop me from taking those actions.
12 I RHINO MONTHLY I www.SteveSipress.com
One seemingly simple, yet very valuable tool is that I take a COLD shower EVERY DAY at least once and sometimes twice. “That’s silly, Tom! What does that have to do with me reaching my goals?” Even though I do it every day, and actually enjoy the refreshing feeling immensely after getting in, my mind STILL tries
NO LEVEL OF SUCCESS EXCLUDES ANYONE FROM FEAR OR INNER VOICES
inner chatter telling us all to not do it, and doing it anyway.
Let me tell you this... If you cannot overcome your mind chatter to step into a cold shower, GOOD LUCK in turning your dreams into reality. talking me out of it EACH and EVERY time. So daily, first thing in the morning, I overcome that mind chatter, and do what I set out to do anyway without letting my mind chatter talk me out of it. This is reinforced during the day when my mind tries talking me out of doing the things I have chosen to do again, as it always tries, I once again overcome that mind chatter and DO IT ANYWAY! Just like a muscle gets stronger as you work it out, so does my habit of overcoming my mind chatter and not letting it steal my future rewards waiting for me by taking the actions I know and have chosen are right for me to take. “Oh that sounds easy. I’ll read this, chuckle, and will not be taking a cold shower” is what 99 out of 100 of you reading this may even say, do, or not do. Let me tell you this... If you cannot overcome your mind chatter to step into a cold shower, GOOD LUCK in turning your dreams into reality. If you can’t conquer your mind over something as simple and harmless as this, how do you plan on conquering your mind when REAL challenges, obstacles, and tasks you know you should take, which are congruent with your goals, but your mind is talking you out of it, occur. Here’s a quote from Jim Rohn which summarizes the steps necessary to take your life and results to new levels (including taking a simple cold shower): “Problem with things that are easy to do is, they’re easier not to do.” Two weeks ago I was training a group of 14 highly successful entrepreneurs, who heach invested 15,000 euros, plus travel & accommodations, to be in
September 2016
attendance, at a resort on the Canary Island of Tenerife. I brought this task up and challenged them to go down to the spa and enter the cold plunge tank immediately with no hesitation (which I was doing about five times per day) to feel what it takes to overcome that mind chatter. Guess what? They did it THAT EVENING! Why? They’re successful enough to invest in that week, and smart enough to know that if they want to reach their goals, which are higher than what they’re currently attaining, they themselves need to think and act at a higher level. What got them to that level will not get them to their goals, which are at a higher level. It all begins with overcoming that
How about you? Are you ready to take actions that you know must be taken in order to turn your goals and dreams into reality, even if and especially when your mind chatter is telling you not to, trying to talk you out of it? That answer lies in the cold shower challenge. There’s only room for “Yes, I did it. It felt amazing, literally and figuratively” or “No, I didn’t. My mind won and talked me out of it.” Stories and excuses don’t fit into the answer. You either did it or you didn’t. Which category do you fall into? By the way: It is not, “Yeah I did it...10 years ago.” I’m talking NOW, today. As a matter of fact, I’m putting my laptop down and literally going to go take a cold shower RIGHT NOW. I will conquer my mind once again, and feel amazingly refreshed and energized all at once. How about you? “Easy to do. Easier not to do. Most choose the latter.” That’s my summary of Success by Jim Rohn. Make Today Great!
After being born to teenagers, raised around four divorces & six marriages, going to nine different schools by 8th grade, and raised on welfare, Tom was able to become a National Bicycle Champion, the #1 Honor Graduate in Marine Corps Boot Camp at Parris Island, recipient of three meritorious promotions in four years while in the Marine Corps, #1 in five sales organizations, Publisher of The North Carolina Home Book, and President of Kelly-Media, Inc. (NFL Hall Of Fame Quarterback Jim Kelly’s company), and work side-by-side with Mike Filsaime from 2006-2011 (producing over $20 million in online results) and President of Strategic Profits for Rich Schefren from 2011-2013. Tom will assist you in understanding that it doesn’t matter where you came from or where you may be right now; there are steps you can take TODAY which can lead you to fulfilling your dreams, personally and professionally. Check out how Tom can help you Achieve Your Top 4 Goals In The Next 12 Weeks by going to: RhinoDaily.com/goals
www.SteveSipress.com I RHINO MONTHLY
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RHINO MONTHLY Volume IV Number 9 | September 2016
www.SteveSipress.com/magazine
CONTENTS: Lessons Learned from 1 Olympic Business Lessons 10 3a Titan of Copywriting 7 Hooray for Dollywood Level of Success 12 No Excludes Anyone From Fear or Inner Voices 8 Would This Club Have You as a Member? By Steve Sipress
By Brian Kurtz
Manny’s Blog
By Sydney Barrows
4
By Tom Beal
INTERVIEW WITH
Janak Mehta Facebook Advertising Success
Publisher Steve Sipress Successful Selling Systems, Inc. 20701 N Scottsdale Rd Ste 107-509 Scottsdale AZ 85255 (p) 773-236-8134 (f ) 847-232-1535 Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
w w w.AskSteveSipress.com
Layout & Design Bobbie Miltcheva www.33graffics.com
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