July 4th for Americans is a chance to celebrate our independence.
Trust me, I'm not going to get on a soapbox and start waving the
flag - but I do think it's important no matter what country
you live in to really think about that word "independence"
and its meaning for you.
My father reminded me that July 3, 1976 was his
"Independence day" since that's the date my family came
over to the United States from Russia. (Pretty cool
since it was right before the bi-centennial celebration.)
For me, my independence day was on July 1, 1999.
That's the date I left my father's business to work on my
own. It was by far one of the hardest decisions of my life.
You see, I had worked for my dad since I was 12 and he
thought I was going to take over the company. I had that
same thought as well until I got the "bug".
In fact, my wife, Missy, and I were talking about this
recently. She was talking about how when she met me 9 years
ago, I had only one thought: "how to grow my father's
business". I would stay late working on new ads and
marketing pieces. I was in early calling my accounts trying
to make sales, etc. etc.
Now I had been studying direct marketing, and results were
really paying off for my dad's business. (Actually they
still use a lot of the ads I wrote in 1998 because they
still work today.) But with every ad I wrote I was getting
more and more aggravated. Not because the ads weren't
producing sales - they were - but because of the grief and
politics I had to deal with. Everybody seemed to be an
advertising expert even though they've never studied or
read anything on the subject. People mistakenly believe
that if they wouldn't "read all that copy" then nobody
will. Or if the ad is "ugly" and has no pictures or pretty
graphics it won't work.
Complete and total crap.
For every ad I wrote I had to fight to get it out there. I
got sick of it and decided I would create my own product so
I could write ads for myself. My first product was to help
dermatologists who wanted new cosmetic patients. It was a
big kit (manual, tapes, reports, diskette, etc) based
around some marketing consulting I was doing on the side
for one of my customers.
I ran my first ad in April 1998 in Dermatologic Surgery
magazine. I got 10 responses so I sent them the 20-page
sales letter I'd written selling this $900 kit. Not one
order.
I waited...
Sent out a 2nd notice to those 10 respondents.
Nothing...
Then I sent a 3rd notice telling them the expiration date
to get all the free bonuses was only 10 days away. Finally
on the very last day of the expiration date I got one order
over the fax machine.
Yipeee!!
I still remember that doctor's name in Flushing, NY. What
an incredible feeling. That was the start of my
independence. I realized I now had the power to chart my
course as I wanted. That first sale. That's one of the
greatest feelings in the world - when something you've
created is sold. It took me a little over a year after that
first order to realize I wanted my freedom and I finally
quit on July 1, 1999.
Maybe it's the new confidence you get when you realize
you've created something that people want and are willing
to exchange money for. That first sale is usually the
hardest (but also the most rewarding).
It's wonderful when I help turn on that light in people.
I've seen it first-hand working my Apprentices and seeing
them launch their products. How amazed they are by the
money pouring from around the globe. I love it!
And my wife is striking out on her own with a little bit of
my help. She set up her first web site -
( www.InstantThankYouLetters.com ) and she's getting
checks each month.
So when will your independence day be ?
If you've already achieved it - I bet you can remember it
perfectly. Sometimes the bleakest times that we believe are
terrible actually turn into a perfect opportunity.
Take my good friend, Jim Edwards', for example. His
independence day came because he got fired. To him that
wasn't a blessing at first but as he looks back on it -
it's the best thing that ever happened.
I remember the conversation we had right after it happened.
I was drinking a bourbon and Jim was having a beer. We were
talking about different projects he could try and pursue
and do now. We were throwing around some ideas and we came
up with "33 Days to Online Profits".
(www.33daystotoonlineprofits.com)
It was right there during that call that we outlined each
of the days and moved forward from there. And "33 Days" has
been a tremendous six-figure income earner for both of us
and it doesn't seem to let up.
So what can you do to achieve your independence ?
I'll give you a couple things to take to heart. I can't
remember the author who said this but he said if you show
me what a man does in his spare time I'll show you the type
of man he'll become. What are doing with your spare time?
- Watching TV or reading?
- Napping or practicing your copywriting?
- Yakking to your friends or studying direct marketing?
It all comes down to the choices we make every single day.
In fact, you shouldn't let one day go by without making
sure you are taking at least one proactive step towards
your own independence. Just because the thought of you
doing what you want when you want may seem so far away -
don't let that stop you from taking those baby steps each
and every day. That's one of my rules and I hope you'll
adopt it.
What else?
Learn to be different. The truth is you need to become
extraordinary to achieve extraordinary results. You can't
be like everyone else (and why would you want to). That
means doing the things other don't (or won't) do. That
means not listening to their advice (unless they are doing
what you want to do). Frankly, if you simply did the exact
opposite of what everyone else is doing you'd turn out
okay. Why? If only 5% of people are truly successful and
the 95% are the mediocre majority - doesn't that mean the
majority is wrong? Don't engage in their thinking. Don't
follow their lead. Don't adhere to the same values and
standards the "95-percenters" do.
Two people who really helped me clarify my thinking on
this was Early Nightingale and also Dan Kennedy. (See
next article for his insight and a special gift I've
arranged for you.)
Please don't get me wrong - in no way am I trying to be
elitist. I'm not. But it is tremendously important to go
through your day with your eyes wide open. The truth is
most of your friends (right now) probably don't want you to
change and succeed. That would imply that they are losers.
That would mean they are failures. Nobody is going to
propel you to succeed except yourself.
So get on it and proclaim your Independence Day
starting T-O-D-A-Y!
(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.
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Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on
creating automatic, moneymaking websites...and he still
doesn't know how to put up a website.
He is the author, co-author or creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at http://www.SurefireMarketing.com
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