One of the best books that you can purchase if you really want to access the minds and ideas of millionaires is a book by Thomas J.  Stanley called The Millionaire Mind.  Mr. Stanley has taken a great deal of time and complied, interviewed and documented the minds of millionaires in an effort to chronicle what actually goes through their lives, how they think and make money.  We all have seen some of these people on TV but it would surprise how most of these wealthy millionaires live quite a different life than what most of us would think.  Most of them drive very economical cars, don’t wear flashy clothes or even have organized desks.  When I read the book, I was amazed at how many of the traits that I was so accustomed to thinking wealthy people possessed was quite a bit different than what i was accustomed to thinking about.  If you haven’t read Mr. Stanley’s book yet, then I would highly recommended it, because as I have already stated, it is quite an eye opener. Anyway, rather than write an entire book for you, what I can do is give you at least two or three traits of millionaires that I think you will find helpful in your endeavors, or at least, satisfy your curiosity a bit.  So, here are at least  three traits that I think you will be able to use:

1. Millionaires work on their educations all  of the time.  They not only work on their educations, but they do so in a live setting.  Now I am not talking about a classroom necessarily, but that is one method that they do use.  Actually, a lot of their on going education is also conducted by way of seminars and mentors. (Not to forget telesiminars, webinars and many other sources of communication.)  I don’t know if you read my last rant on how people that will either get a job, or start a business and then pigeon hole themselves into that position by not improving themselves.  Sooner or later folks, if you don’t learn anything new, you will be shredded.   Even if you decide to get a regular education, in some cases, you can get a degree for the price of a used car.  Just make sure the college or university you choose is a regular one that will have transferable credits.  I received my Master’s Degree from Boise State University this year and the whole thing was completed over the Internet.
2. Millionaires read a lot.  Some of them read an entire book a week.  The books they read are not usually about the same subject, but they aren’t non- fiction books either.  I really don’t see how reading the Twilight Series of vampire books will help you as an entrepreneur, but if you can enlighten me I’d be interested in hearing about it.
3. Create worthy goals. Some people refer to the acronym SMART whenever they talk about this process.  “S” stands for Specific – You need to create goals that have a certain degree of focus. “M” is for Measurable.  If you think you can set goals without having some sort of measure of success, then think again.  You must be able to track you success on a regular basis.  too many times, people will give up on their goals because they have no way to track what they are doing.  “A”  for Attainable is the next word we need to be concerned.  If you can’t have an attainable set of goals then you will get burned out very quickly.  The best thing to do is to break down a big goal into smaller steps, that way you can see some progress and you will be able to see your progress better.  “R” is for Relevant.  You need to make sure that whatever efforts you are putting forth are congruent to your overall plan or goal.  If your goal is to build a hotel, then having  an activity of  learning how to spray paint cars is not relevant. Finally, the letter “T” stands for Time. Make sure that you set a date as to when the goal should be attained.

Christmas is fast upon us again and for some reason we all feel like our lives and businesses are on the back burner until the new year starts up.  Anyway, I have taken it upon myself to forge on, no matter what happens, to help you stay on track with your business and goal, because, Lord knows, we just can’t have too much of a good thing.  So, here is my latest bit of wonderful advice concerning business and I hope that you can glean something useful from it.  As a matter of fact, this post kind of enhances the last blog post I did wherein I quoted the great ad copy writer, Gary Halbert.

Like a popular song says, “1 is a lonely number” and in business it is a deadly number.   Several years ago Google based its method of determining search relevancy on an algorithm that only Google’s top secret, Area 51 wizards understood.  For those of us that need plain language to understand what I just said, if you typed a word into Google’s search engine like the word “boat”, Google had a formula that it would use to determine which web page with the word “boat” should be first.  Internet marketers were pretty sure that they could crack the code on how Google determined what page should be first, second, etc.

Search engine gurus knew that if there were loads of links coming into a site, that Google rated you higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).  That meant that if you had loads of links pointing at your site then you would rank higher.  Also, if you had a keyword like the word “boat” on your site a certain number of times, then you were also ranked higher.  You got points on Google’s scorecard if you had your keywords in bold print or if you had your keywords in the title bar and a host of other “top secret” factors that Google used to determine where you would come up in the SERPs.

back in 2005, Google decided to change all of that in an effort to make sure that it had the best search engine results on the planet.  Google knew that people were paying other people to buy links from all over the Internet.  If you wanted a higher page rank and to show up high on the SERPs then you needed tons of links into your site and you could easily get them.  So, with this sort of thing in mind, Google decide to change its algorithm.  Google created what is probably one of the most brilliant, yet complex algorithm on the planet.

However, for some  people’s businesses on the Internet , the change was  was catastrophic.  For one thing, Google now wanted RELEVANT links.  In other words, just having links wasn’t good enough, you had to have a site or web page that was relevant to your content pointing to your page or site.  If you had a website about boats, then a site or a page that was about water skiing would be relevant.  However, if someone pointed links back to your site and they were a site about casino gambling, then Google wouldn’t pay much attention to them.

I remember how bad it all went down, because I saw so much weeping and gnashing of teeth that it would blow your mind.  The online forums were loaded with people in multi-million dollar businesses that started losing their shirts and shorts because they were no longer at the top of the SERPs.  I remember one computer parts business owner blaming everything and everyone for his plight, to include his poor dead mother.

Well, all I can say about that is 1 is a lonely number, or as I said before, a deadly number.  You see, if you make the monumental mistake of believing that the Internet is the only method of acquiring new customers or business for yourself,  you are in error.  Anyone that makes this type of mistake will sooner or later find out that this is a gross miscalculation.  For one thing, every business owner should clearly understand that if you are using only one method of marketing or you are selling just one type of product, then you are not only hanging your wienie -roast out to dry, but you are missing out on all sorts of great opportunities that could help you weather any kind of business downturn that you might have.

Looking back on the computer parts man that was whining earlier, I asked him in the forum he posted to whether or not he kept up with his customer database.  (I never got a response, probably because he was still busy blaming the entire universe for his situation. )  However, whenever I talk to new clients and people I am trying to help out I usually run smack dab into a wall.  Yeah, they have been keeping databases, they just never use the darned things.  So a real good idea would have been for Mr. Computer Parts Guy to market back to his customers through email, direct mail and any other method he could think of.

This whole scenario actually reminds me of a factory that I used to live next to when I lived in Central Virginia.  There was this bus parts factory several blocks from my house and one day while I was driving past the factory I saw a whole crowd of people that were wearing signs, protesting and virtually worked up into what would appear a riot.  the reason?  The owner of the business was forced to shut down the factory because he could no longer compete with cheap foreign labor.  He did not want to shut down his business, but he was forced to due to economic reasons.  The people that worked for the man called him every name in the book and he was forced to leave town because his life was in danger.  This is a man that, by the way, employed all of those people fore years, gave them their livelihood and this was the thanks he got.

Now, let me ask you a question.  Who told those people NOT to better themselves?    You can get a Master’s degree for the price of a used car and take all of the courses over the Internet, so why didn’t these people better themselves?  If you aren’t book smart, you can always go to a cheap trade school and get more skills.  The point I am trying to make here is, that if you are a business owner and you are only using one method of marketing yourself, then  you are making a huge error.  If you are someone’s employee and you can only do one specific thing, you should acquire more skills so you can better market yourself.  As a matter of  fact, if you are making all of your money from only one source or direction, then you are making a terrible mistake.

Here are a couple of points that I think are real important to your economic survival:

1. Always better yourself.  I am a self taught composer, web designer, writer public speaker.  If I did it,, anyone can.
2. Never, ever rely specifically on one method of marketing your business.  You need an entire arsenal of  marketing weapons to complete your mission.
3. Always keep in mind that one of your marketing methods or income streams could become obsolete in the future.  Remember telemarketing?  It has been greatly diminished by federal laws.  Don’t think for a second it can’t happen to the Internet or email.

Peace Out

ELMO

I was out sick last week, so I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog posts, but I feel much better this week so I can actually start writing again.

Whee!  Where do I start? I thought that this week I would try to approach the subject of  Internet marketing from the common man’s view rather than to try to come off as an Internet marketing Guru, which I am not anyway.  I have been involved in Internet Marketing for the last 10 years or so and have seen a small amount of success with it.  I do enjoy reading and writing about it, but quite honestly, I have not achieved a great level of success from it.   Perhaps it is because I have not achieved the level of success that many of the online gurus have because I’m not smart enough. Another possible reason why I haven’t been so successful at it is that I can’t seem to find the right product or niche, but whatever the case, I have not made enough money from it to call it significant.

Now, I’m not saying that marketing your business on the Internet is not an important and viable marketing medium for you to use.  Quite honestly, I can’t imagine a business owner that wouldn’t have a website these days.  It is almost the equivalent of carrying around a business card, you just can’t imagine a business owner that wouldn’t have one of those. So, for any business to not have a professional web presence is pretty neglectful for both businesses on and off the Internet.

The problem for most people to understand is how to use a website effectively in order to generate interest in your business.  If you have an offline business, then you shouldn’t have to worry as much about generating customers online as a purely online company or business would.   You would simply make sure that you would put your Web address on your card, your car, your kids forehead and any other creative place you can think of to include your yellow page ad.

However, and I really want to reiterate this point, that Internet marketing by itself and used improperly, will get you nowhere fast.  Used correctly, it can generate a lot of business for you, insure an easy way for your customers to do business with you and give you a world – wide presence for pennies on the dollar.  In that vein the Internet is incredible!

Gary Halburt the famous ad copy writer, used to tell people at his seminars that if you could rank the most effective methods of marketing from top to bottom, face to face selling  being the most effective that here is where the Internet would rank:

1. Face to Face Selling ( The absolute most effective method)
2. Selling on the Phone
3. Public Speaking
4. Referrals from Friends
5. Direct mail Campaigns
6. Advertising on TV and radio
7. Advertising in printed media
8. The Internet ( To include Email)

As Halburt put it, The Internet is actually way in the gutter, as far as effectiveness goes.  The reason?  Massive competition for one thing.  On the Internet, there is literally no new thing under the sun.   So many people that get into affiliate programs or begin to sell their wares on the Internet suddenly will find themselves absolutely overwhelmed by the vast number of people involved in just about every niche that you can imagine.

(As a side note, finding a competitive niche is a pretty good indicator that the niche is viable and the ability to make money there is a strong possibility.)

If you are just getting your feet wet in Internet marketing, here is what I would suggest: First of all, integrate it into your business marketing efforts.  Get your site address (URL) onto the side of your car, letterhead, business card, etc.

Second, get into your database and see if you can acquire or ask your current customers for their email addresses.  offer them something because if they give you permission to send them email then send it as often as you can. You can connect with them every day and that’s about 365 days of pure advertising and branding that you can’t beat. Don’t try to sell them something all of the time, just send out email to them and let them know you are thinking about them.

Third, learn every thing you can about maximum exposure, like online video, email marketing, blogging and all of the stuff that goes along with these mediums.  Sound like a lot of stuff to keep up on?  Well, look at it this way, most high paying executives that make 5 times more than the average working person reads at least 5 books a month.  So, any education that you can give yourself, can really help out.

Time is up for today! I’m going to wind this little act with a clip from one of Gary Halbert’s best videos.  pay close attention students, this is important stuff, ya know!

Peace Out!

ELMO

I like to have fun.  I also like watching people having fun with their businesses.  As a matter of fact, I can’t forget the time I saw Donald Trump wearing chicken suit on Saturday Night Live.  As ridiculous as that sounds, it was a great promotion for his business and branding. ( If  branding is really the term I wan to use here.)  Anyway, you are gonna have to market your business somehow, you might as well have fun when you do it.

For example, I used to have an artist make single panel comics for one of my music websites.  I would then offer a prize to anyone that could come up with the funniest caption for the comic.  It amazed me how many really fine captions that people came up with.  I would then take the best one and have the comic reproduced into coffee mugs, T-shirts and other promotional items that I could sell or give away later.

Here’s an idea  that I think is really funny and I’ll bet it will stick in the minds of people long after the see it.  Advertise on your animals.  There was a farmer that at  one time, that used to advertise on the sides of his cows.  He would shave or use a non-toxic type of dye to put messages on his cattle.  People would drive by and freak out at the bovine marketing messages. So, you too can utilize this type of advertising if you have your own cattle or  if you run a dairy farm or an ice cream business. You could put your message on the side of  ol’  Bessie and send out a marketing message that people which were driving by would really get a kick out of .

Really funny bumper stickers are another marketing method that if used properly, can get a memorable message out.

You can put your web address onto a bumper sticker as well as a call to action.  You could probably tell someone that they can get a free e-book if they go to your site and sign up for your free newsletter.  A good thing to always keep in mind about your promotion, not matter how wacky it is, that you must make sure that it has some sort of call to action to it.  You’ll notice that in the above bumper sticker, that there is a very brief call to action which simply says “call”.

If you want to get really noticed, then you will want to get your hands on as many industry publications that you can which are related to your industry and business.  There are tons of marketing ideas and methods in those industry publications that you could easily use.  In the information age it is pretty easy to use trend spotting sites like Google’s Trends site or you could actually use Amazon.com to spot trends as well because they carry best sellers lists across a wide variety of products (Not just books!!)

One other  method of self promotion that I think that is very important to utilize right now is on-line video.  On-line video, if used properly can boost your company’s message all over the Internet.  I will write extensively on this easy to use method in my next blog piece.

Oh, and by the way, here is a real wacky method of getting your message out there:

Peace Out & All that Junk!

Elmo

I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t say to someone, “I’d love to be rich but I’d hate to be famous.”   I was bouncing around Youtube last night ( it’s just a thing I do right before I go to bed, don’t ask me why)  and I stumbled upon a clip by an online video business called Video Xposure.  It is basically a video posting business that follows big time stars like Jack Nicholson, Cate Blanchett or Jack Black and posts videos of them to services like Youtube all over the net.

It’s a scream, I gotta tell ya.   What could be  stupider than watching about a hundred morons with cameras of every kind running after Jack Black as he merely tries to ride his bicycle?  Here, check out this clip.

Man, I’d hate this kind of attention.  However, I must admit I did get a entertainment value out of watching this.  I’m not interested in Mr. Black, although I love his movies and I think he is a really talented actor, what I laughed my butt off about was the crowd of stupid idiots chasing him down the street.  Wowie-Kazowie that was really funny.  They are so stupid and obsessed that it kills me.

Of course, I couldn’t help but look at the links of other videos posted by similar companies on Youtube either.  There is just nothing funnier than watching Toby McGuire leap out of a car and blast the morons with every foul word imaginable because they were blocking his car.  He’s not just Spiderman, he’s Spider-MAN! Wow.  Or Lindsay Lohan trying to drink a cup of coffee at Starbucks, or Richard Drefruss trying to eat a Ruben sandwich.   Yep, I can’t live without this stuff. NOT!

Quite personally, I think the people that intrude like this are of the lowest order and I think that if you, dear reader, are actually paying to either watch or read this kind of crap then you ought to stop.  It is one thing to watch a video clip once in awhile for free, but it is pretty stupid to pay for it and allow these parasites to bother these people.

However having said all of that, there is something to be said for celebrity status if you are in business.  For one thing, if you have a niche or are popular in a particular area of expertise, then being well known is pretty cool.  It clearly establishes that you are an authority on your subject.  The cooking shows on the food channel are a great example of this.  I’m sure Paula Dean has profited from her celebrity status as well as Rachel Ray and others.  Also, big time entrepreneurs like Gene Simmons of KISS fame and George Foreman who really know how to license and parlay their status to make themselves even richer.  In the case of Simmons, he has licensed loads of products and different businesses that he is involved in to include products from his KISS franchise.  The celebrity status certainly has helped him in his endeavors.

There is a new book on the market that tries to show you how to become a celebrity in your own niche no matter what you are into.  I was at a local bookstore last night and I had a chance to read quite a bit of it before I put it on my wife’s Christmas list for ME.  The title of the book is Where’s My Fifteen Minutes? By Howard Bragman ( I hope the last name isn’t a pun) and it’s a book that can show you how to create an image or a brand for yourself utilizing public relations.

From what I could tell, anyone that wants to create a name for him or herself and establish themselves as an authority could use the advice in this book.  As we all know in marketing, branding is very important and image is everything.  As a matter of fact, I have actually seen people sell all sorts of products that were substandard even, but had great marketing behind them.  As we all know, creating a crappy service or product is not a good idea especially in the Internet  age, where word can get around very fast.  The movie industry has been whining about this a lot lately because you can go to Yahoo! Movies and check out the ratings by movie goers and critics alike to see whether or not the flick is worth paying $8.00 a head for.

Yet, if you have a great product or service and can utilize PR strategies like the one’s in Where’s My Fifteen Minutes then you can very quickly build a niche for yourself that can help you establish as an authority in a particular field.  Oh, and don’t worry about becoming a total expert on your subject because you can actually create that too.  I have a Website and blog on the subject of electric bikes and scooters called  ( get this) Electric Bikes-N-Scooters.

I am clearly not an expert on the subject although I have written and studied the matter enough about it in order to write articles related to electric bikes and electric scooters .  Also, I have had people that actually design the e-bikes come from States away to demonstrate their wares to me, because they have perceived me as an authority. Well, I have written extensively about them for the last 3 years, so whatever!

Before I wind up this little party, I want you to have a couple of hard and fast rules that you can use to get the paparazzi to chase you down the street of your expertise and get you some free PR.  Here ya go:

1. Write a blog, e-book, book or magazine article about your particular area of expertise.  If you ever get published, this will clearly establish you as an authority in your field.
2. Stay current on your chosen industry and be well informed.
3. Publish or produce research on your chosen field.
4. Push the envelope and challenge the current dogma.  This will really get you noticed.
5. Learn to write PR pieces and send them to local media.
6. Once you start to get any kind of a fan base, stay in touch with them through newsletters and email.  Your client/fan list is gold!

These are just a few ideas that will help you to get started on becoming the next Elvis in your own niche or realm. Thank-Ya…Thank-Ya very much.

Mark Elmo Ellis

www.EllistratedWebsites.com

Procrastination is a disease that I have.  I have to admit that I have gotten better at tackling this monkey on my head, but it hasn’t been very easy.  I have another blog that I write frequently, and I have really gotten behind on that one and now I’m starting another one which I’m sure some of you will find rather crazy.  Since I have my new website up and running, I had to get on the ball and get this started, otherwise that monkey will be sticking bananas in my ears too!

Anyway, I need to get started on this blog, because I have found that they do help SEO (Search Engine Optimization for all of you that are sick of acronyms) so that I can validate that I can 1. Create a sharp looking blog and 2. Begin to give you some information that you can use to create your own online presence.

Back to the procrastination thing for a second.

People overlook one of their most prescious commodities in life which is time. I went out shopping with my wife at 3 ahem on he dreaded “Black Friday” right after National Turkey Day and we could not believe the massive lines of people that were lined up down the street to get into a department store.  Not only were they lined up at an ungodly time of the morning, but they had been there since 11:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day just so they could be the first in line.  I told my wife that I wondered if these people ever added up their time to see if it was really worth waiting outside like this.  Fortunately for us, our whole shopping experience took 45 minutes.  We knew exactly what we wanted and we got in the check out pretty quick.

Time is something that people don’t really consider as a commodity.  If you are an entrepreneur, you always have to track your time to see whether or not something is worth doing.  As a matter of fact, there are many reasons people don’t get things done in a timely manner and one of them is the fact that most of the business owners I know, try to wear every hat they can in their business.  Result: overwhelmed, worn out, frustrated and then procrastination will set in because they have such a large load to bear that they can’t seem to move.

One thing you can do as a business owner is to either delegate out responsibilities to someone on your staff, or hire out work that you just can’t do for yourself.  Do you really think Donald Trump pours concrete or handles legal matters on some of the high profile and complex projects that he deals in?  I don’t think so.  If you are going to be an entrepreneur, you are going to have to know how to hire and delegate responsibilities or you will burn yourself out.

Here are a few tips on how to handle time more effectively and get more done:

1. Hire out work that you don’t like to do or can’t do yourself.  You can easily find people that can help you out on Google by searching there.
2. Delegate responsibilities to your staff.  After all, they should be reporting to you anyway. Right, boss?
3. Start planning your day by either planning the day before or at the beginning of the week.
4. Watch out for the time vampires! Don’t let losers waste your time with trivial stuff. Your time is way tool precious!
5. Read a couple of books on time management.  You can find a ton of ideas on how to manage your time better as well as resources as to where you can get planners calendars, etc. to help you on your quest to save your most precious commodity.

If you really want to follow a good model on how to manage your time, read a book or two on Ben Franklin. Franklin was a printer, politician, scientist, ambassador, publisher,architect of our postal and library systems, signer of the Declaration and Constitution and the list can go on and on.  One of the things that people don’t know about Franklin, is that he was also a master of time management.  Franklin made and utilized planners for his own personal use and as a matter of fact, the company Franklin-Conant that sells time planners and calendars have named their business after Ben.

Well, I hope that you didn’t thnk you wasted yourtime reading this blog posting today.  Pleasecontinue to tune in because I will be posting loads of ideas, tips and techniques that wil help both your offline and online business and life!

God Bless!

Mark