Possibly the Best Business/ Career Advice You’ll Ever Receive!

Because some of my freelance writing through e-zines and my blogs, I received several e-mails from people asking for some business advise. The six months ago, I begin really stretching myself way outside my comfort zone personally and professionally. Now some people noticed and asked me for advice.

The main question is “how do I make more money?” I must say I am very jaded in my opinions about this – almost a renegade. Every time I talk about business matters, people tell me that I am crazy. I have heard so many people say that “I can’t do that” or “It won’t work”. Only to find that it does work.

So what is the secret?

Don’t think about making money – think about creating more free time.

Yes, it’s that simple. What most people are looking for is not more money but more time. We think that more money will equate to more freedom and time. Not so!

The problem, you see, is that most people have a 9 to 5 attitude towards making money. To make X amount of money, I need to work X amount of hours. This is far from true. When I worked as a Customer Service Manager, I discovered that people tend to grow into their day. I know that to perform most mission critical activities at work takes about 2 hours and they fill the rest of the day with meaningless activity so that the boss will think you are a good worker.

How to free up more time and make more money

• Refused to perform useless daily tasks
  
• Concentrate on the most important tasks – I can almost guarantee that the tasks you avoid are the important ones. Discipline yourself to do them first… especially if they are money-generating activities.
  
• Set time limits to perform the important tasks – jobs seem to grow exponentially according to the time limit set. I prefer setting small time-limits for completion and break large jobs in the small task possible. For example, write a 400 word article in 30 minutes
  
• Automate everything – anything that you can put on autopilot, do it today.
• Turn off your e-mail - E-mail tends to manage your priority instead of you. E-mails stuck you into urgent but unimportant requests. I suggest turning off your e-mail while working on the important tasks.

Freeing up time will not only give you a piece of mind but it will also force you to make more money. I know this works because my business income continued to rise higher as I seem to work less.

Do you think I am crazy?

Breakthrough Psychological Barriers

For October, a made the goal of reaching $9,000 in income which is $1,000 higher than my best month. I focused on the right things - new enrollments, and upgrade. Last week, I smashed that goal and $50 away from making $10,000.

I have three days to find $50. Why is it so important to achieve $10,000? Because… $10,000 represents a psychological barrier and a huge landmark. One year ago, it seemed almost unachievable, and now it seems inevitable. I find once the landmark is achieved it’s easier to repeat the results.

On the other side of the coin, last month was the most expensive month. I had some huge unexpected added expenses. My business landlord back charged us for all of the additional maintenance for the last year. The cost was an additional $1500. One of my goals is to buy commercial property so that this stuff will not happen. Plus, I had some lawyer fees to pay in the amount of $500.

Next month, my goal will be to maintain the $10,000 in income and reduce my business expenses by $2000.

Filed Under Simple Living

Cutting Out Coffee

Okay, I am not quite cutting out coffee, but I am cutting out purchasing coffee from the Bagel Shop next door. Every morning, I stop by and grab a cup of coffee there. I decided to save the Styrofoam and make my own coffee instead.

I figured out that cutting out one 16oz cup of coffee per 5 day work week saves you a whopping $438.20 per year. I bet many of you are drinking more than one cup a day. Thats almost $1000 per year. For someone making $50,000, that equals 2% of your yearly salary. Can you believe that!? 2 PERCENT in coffee.

For you scientists out there, check my calculations yourself.

(Cost of one 16oz coffee per workdays
$2/day) X (5 workdays) X (52 weeks) = $520 per year

Cost of Coffee at Home
One pound of coffee makes 600oz of brewed coffee or 37.5 - 16oz cups per pound

Ground Starbucks from the grocery store costs about $12 per pound.
($12 per pound) divided by 37.5 = $0.32 per cup
($0.32/day) X (5 workdays) X (52 weeks) = $83.20 per year

Grand Total: $438.20 per year

Its interesting how expenses can add up everyday like doing 150 pushups for a year adds up to 52,000. David Bach"s Latte Factor in action.

9 Interview Tips for a Great Radio Show Appearance

Yesterday was my first radio interview with Bruce Barber. His new weekly show, airing in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York called “The Real Life Survival Guide”, features useful tips for living, based on interviews with people from all walks of life, sharing personal experiences and advice. Check out his new website at http://www.reallifesurvivalguide.com/. The interview stemmed from a blog I posted on “Halloween Safety Tips” at my other blog at timrosanelli.blogspot.com.

How did he find my blog? You guessed it, Google! I am starting to see the dividends for my work on Article Marketing.

I hate to go into things blind so I researched how to be a Radio Show Guest and wanted to share these tips with my audience.

9 Tips for keeping your composure during radio interview

1. Write down 3 points – You should write down three points in advance that you want to slip into the conversation. Instead of writing a whole paragraph, just write one or two words to remind you of each point. This way you can free talk about the point instead of reading it off a cue card.
   
2. Remain calm and focused – If you tend to get over-excite in these situations, consciously attempt to slow yourself down. If you start stumbling over words, it helps to stop for a second, take a quick breath, and continue with your point.
   
3. Watch your body posture – If it’s a phone interview, I prefer to stand over sitting because you tend to project and communicate more assertively. If you are sitting, find a comfortable chair and sit with good posture – no slouching. In fact, you should try to sit on the edge of the seat and lean forward slightly.
   
4. Give more than yes or no answers – When the interviewer asks a question, avoid giving just a quick yes or no, or a short answer. The interviewer asks questions to engage your topic. The audience will view short answers as dull. Talk fully about each point.
   
5. Talk enthusiastically about your topic – Nothing can ruin an interview more than not sounding enthusiastic. People respond positively to enthusiasm -- It’s contagious. So in turn, the audience gets enthusiastic about your topic, too. Don’t be afraid to show that passion you have for your topic.
   
6. Stay on topic – When the host asks a question, staying on topic is very important. By drifting too far off topic, the audience will label you as flighty. Give a sufficient answer to each question then let the interviewer engage the next question.
   
7. Use lead-in statements – Some examples of lead-in statements are “That’s a great question” or “I am glad you asked that”. Lead-in statements give you time to formulate a precise answer and further engage the host and audience.
   
8. Keep the tone conversational – Talk to the interviewer as if you are carrying on a conversation with a friend -- forget about the fact that an audience is listening. Occasionally, you should throw the host’s name into the conversation. It shows respect to the host and makes the conversation appear more personal and genuine.
   
9. Be graciousness – Let the host and audience know how it’s an honor to be guest and your excited to talk to them.

By observing these nine simple tips to performing a great radio or TV interview, you will project that confident and enthusiastic image that will make your interview shine. After the interview, follow the interview up with thank you note to the producer. Who knows? Maybe, you’ll become a regular guest.

The Scariest Movie This Year

Autumn arrived and the leaves are changing with the coming of cooler weather. With Halloween just around the corner, we watched some horror movies, but last night, I watched possibly the scariest movie ever. No, it was not the new Rob Zombie version of Halloween or John Carpenter's 1408. No, these didn't come close.

What's the movie that scared this tough Martial Artist.

MAXED OUT!

Maxed Out is about the rising consumer credit card debt in America. I swear this movie had me tossing and turning all night.

I felt empathy for the poor that these credit card companies victimize.

I felt sad how the people at collection agencies thought of peoples lives like a sport, laughed and turned a blinded eye on the damage they inflict.

I could not believe that credit card companies extend credit to people they know can't afford it because "they are the most profitable."

Folks, I barely watch TV but this is definitely worth the education.

So what to do?

• Become an strong advocate of simple living-- to live a Spartan lifestyle by choice.
• Kill all consumer debt -- I have some small business debts that I am going to destroy.
• Become more frugal with my business spending

If you have debt, please watch this movie. It's an eye opener

Key Strategy II: Creating More Value

My second key strategy is to create more value. Look at it this way.

In business, you have two choices:

1. Offer really low prices and get more customers
2. Ask for higher prices and add more value to the customers

Dan Kennedy says that if you want a miserable business existence compete for price with the competition. Do you really want to roll in the mud for the lowest prices? Imagine, competing with Wal-Mart or McDonalds. You will never be able to compete with them for price.

What you can do is go for the higher end niche that they are not in. The great thing is that there’s a huge market for high-end stuff. Also, think of it this way. Is it easier to service 200 customers or 100 customers? Of course, 100 customers are easier to service.

How do you increase your prices? By adding value to service and/ or quality.

Ideas for Increasing Your Product or Service’s Value

• Systematize your sales and marketing systems – Customers love consistency. Your sales process should be simple, straightforward, and most of all, always the same. By measuring results, you can make small changes and see how they affect your results.
  
• Benefits, Benefits, Benefits – Talk passionately about your product or service’s benefits to everyone who will listen.
  
• Red, White, and Blue service – Roll out the Red Carpet when people walk in, Make your facility White Glove clean, and Give Blue Ribbon service. The combination of these three things will cost you almost nothing but will make your product or service worth more money.
  
• Becoming the Obvious Expert – This is a link to my first key strategy
  
• Provide Something Unique – Customer’s will pay more money for things they cannot find elsewhere.

Well, I guess you get the idea. I am committed to improving everything about our service and finished with rolling in the mud with my competition.

How about you?

Request for a Radio appearance

Check this out! I spoke about my idea of becoming the Obvious Expert. In support of this goal, I wrote several articles and posted them on the internet in over 25 e-zine. For more information about this strategy, see my article on Article Marketing 101.

Today, I opened my e-mail and found a request from Bruce Barber from Barber Productions at www.barberproductions.com for a phone interview on the Connecticut Pubic Radio. He read an article I wrote “Halloween Safety Tips: How to Trick-or-Treat Safely with Your Children” at Associated Content.

Wow, it amazing how once you get the ball rolling how it starts to gain momentum.

Everything is negotiable

Here’s a quick tip that will save you and your business tons of money. On every purchase or service, automatically ask for 10% off to 15% off. I personally go for 10% because it’s easy to calculate in my head.

It never hurts to ask. Don’t worry if they say no. Remember, the answer is always no if you don’t ask for the discount.

I’ve had some great success with this technique. My wife and I bought a house from a builder, NV Home. Now, they obviously go through great efforts to create a sales presentation that makes you feel like you’re getting a great deal.

Don’t let it fool you. They gave us $40,000 dollars in incentives like a finished basement, wood floors, and granite countertops. After the presentation, we said we want an additional $10,000 off the base price and the site premium waive (this site premium is a new extra fee that builders are throwing in).

The sales representative talked to their manager and they called back to say “Yes”. By the way, you need to be willing to walk away if you don’t like the deal. When I talked to friends about this, they couldn’t believe that you can negotiate with the builder then they add that the builder must have been desperate to meet a quota. Yes, they may have been desperate but how would you know if you did not ask. Again, the answer is always no if you don’t ask the question.

Home Selling – The Secret that Realtor’s Don’t Tell You!

My wife and I are selling our house and I realized a secret that a Realtor won’t tell you.

What’s the Secret?

It’s not the Realtor’s job to get maximum value (read highest price) for your home. Getting maximum value is your job!

So what is your Realtor’s job?

The Realtor’s job is to sell your house – quickly, even if that means sacrificing the value of your home. Your home is most people’s greatest asset but most people listen to their realtor and crave into reducing the price of their home. Of course, your realtor will give plenty of reasons – “It’s a poor market” … “You need to sell it before the Day on the Market makes it stale”.

The Reason for this trend

Look at it from a money aspect. Your realtor, if only one side of the transaction, get 3% or less of the sell. The longer your house is on the market the more work it creates for them.

We own a beautiful townhouse worth about $400,000 in a very desirable area. My wife and I staged our house like a pro with fresh paint, immaculately clean, and removing extras. My realtor wanted us to reduce our house price by $10,000 because we had it on the market for two months.

$10,000 reduction in price equals a straight $10,000 loss to our net worth.

What does it mean to the realtor?

Well, a $10,000 loss for us only means a $300 loss for the realtor at 3%. Oh yeah, we negotiated a 2.5% rate so it’s only a $250 loss. This loss for the realtor is off of about a possible $10,000 to 12,000 commission. It’s even more if one of his clients buy your home.

Tips for gaining maximum value for your home

Traffic is King – The more people that see your home the better. Never say no to a showing if at all possible. Marketing guru, Dan Kennedy, would say that you want to find the buyer who your house features resonate to. Don’t worry about the all the buyer who say no, because it only takes that one yes.

On a side note: Is cleaning your home for these extra visitors worth it? Yes. Think about it. For an extra $10,000 dollars, how many hours would you need to work at you job to make $10,000. If you make $50,000 per year, that’s about $24 per hour. Oh yeah, after taxes, $50,000 equals 33% less or $16.08 per hour. That $10,000 dollars is worth 621 work hours.

Staging your Home - My wife and I visited plenty of houses in a search for our next home. Wow, I could not believe how poorly some houses show. Staging your home helps achieve maximum value for your home.

When we put our home on the market, I found and followed the tips at HGTV website. Click the following link to check it out:
HGTV Design Tips and Techniques

Statistics show staging helps homes sell significantly faster and gains equity increase of almost 5.8% (see home buying statistics). Another interesting point is these advantages are true even in a down market.

Make Realtors Love to Show Your Home – By say yes to all requests for showing and staging your home, Realtors will see your house as an easy possible sell and will love showing your home. That’s what you want don’t you.

Success Thinking: Meeting Your Monthly Income Goals

This month, I set the business goal of achieving $9,000 in gross income. Last month was a huge let down so I wanted to kick it up a notch this month. Amazingly, after only four days this month, I am more than half way to my goal. I guess the marketing seeds I planted last month started to blossom.

This brings me to a great point. When you set stretch goals for yourself, sometimes the number appears daunting at first. Most people take the approach of counting up to the goal. I think this is a recipe for disaster.

Why?

Because look at it this way -- if your goal is say $8,000 dollars this month, most people will break it down by week or … $2,000 the 1st week, $4,000 the 2nd week, etc. If after the first week, we make $1,500 then the second week, we need to make $2,500 to catch up.

So what is our focus now?

That you’re behind! The law of attraction says that your attracting the behind feeling into your life. You watch as ever week gets even worse until you finally give up, resigning to do better next month.

There’s a better way

Instead of counting up to our goal, everyday break the month into a daily goal. For example, your goal is $8000 and there’s 30 days in the month.

$8,000 divide by 30 = $266.67
On the first day, you attempted to make $266.67.

If you earned $4,600 by day 19,
$8000 minus $4,600 = $3,400 left to earn. Divide $3,400 by 11 days left equals $309.09.

This process puts your focus on the right questions (see blog on Power of Focus for information). Now, you’re morning question is “How can I make $309.09, today?”

These types of questions attract answers and action into your life that will help you achieve your goals.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Remember Clint Eastwood’s Classic movie, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I love the scene with the final showdown between Clint Eastwood and the other main characters at the graveyard. This showdown represents what the month of September was like for my business.

The Good…

In September, I focused on Website Design and article marketing to help my search engine rank. The results were outstanding! I wrote five articles and posted them on the e-zine websites.

In September, I increase my visits from 293 to 417 and my hits launched from 3996 to 16814. The articles were only online for the last two week! I added a lot of new and interesting content to my website which I think accounts for the increase in number of hits. I also saw a huge increase in the amount of AdSense dollars that I received last month. They swelled from only $0.30 to $12.02. Since I posted my last two articles just last week and the others were only posted two weeks ago. It will be interested how much I make from AdSense this month.

The last good thing that I saw at the end of the month was a great increase in the number of appointment for new students. I bet it will have a giant effect on this month.

The Bad…

In September, I saw to many membership cancellations. We had a week school closing because I tested for my 5th degree Black Belt. Every time I schedule a school closing, I loose students. I do not see any traveling in my future and one of my goals for the next year in getting a leadership team in place and to find students that I can mentor into teachers.

The Ugly…

Last month basically stunk for revenues. I was almost $1700 below the prior month – ouch that hurts. Why? First, September I held no special events and had no Birthday Parties scheduled. Second, it seems that everything you do in business has a lag. In other words, a bad September means that I was not doing the right things in July or August. I planted some good seeds in September and hopefully, we’ll see them take root in October.

October WIT (Whatever It takes) Goals

* Generate $9000 in Gross Revenues through my business
* 5-10 New Enrollments – I’ll increase my marketing
* Create $100 in passive income – I plan to write 5 more articles this month. I want to get this portion up to $1000 of passive income. That way, I could plow most of the money earned through the business back into the business.
* Nutritional Self-Defense Meal Planner Cards – I am working with a nutritionist to make a meal planner card to assist on weight loss. I will offer the cards for free shortly at my school website, www.maximpactkarate.com. I will use these cards to attract new visitors to my website, into my karate and kickboxing program, and to entice people to sign up for my newsletter. It may take a little time to complete because I may need to copyright the cards.
* Finish writing an E-book – I have an e-book that I am close to finishing. I will offer it online for a small fee and use it as part of my introductory packet for new students.

Man, am I getting excited just writing all of these things down. Like the final showdown in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, it's time to stare down The Bad and The Ugly so that The Good wins the duel.