Will to Fail or Succeed?

Do you have the will to fail or the will to succeed?

Are you ready to shed your unproductive “busyness” starting today?

Make sure you are creating a life instead of just making a living.

Found out how HERE

Stop worrying and start living!

Feeling sorry for yourself is the worst habit you could possibly have. Stop worrying and start living, find out how HERE

What are the 5 essential secrets of success?

There are certain constant factors to be found in true success. There are essential factors, independent of wealth or achievement, poverty or asceticism. They can be found HERE.

Season's Greetings!

Here's a direct link to the Strickland Family letter for 2009:

http://bit.ly/4nggwy

Enjoy your December!

Learning about life from a jigsaw puzzle...

Don't force a fit.
If something is meant to be, it will come together naturally.

When things aren't going so well, take a break.
Everything will look different when you return.

Be sure to look at the big picture.
Getting hung up on the little pieces only leads to frustration.

Perseverance pays off.
Every important puzzle went together bit by bit, piece by piece.

When one spot stops working, move to another.
But be sure to come back later.

Establish the border first.
Boundaries give a sense of security and order.

Don't be afraid to try different combinations.
Some matches are surprising.

Anything worth doing takes time and effort.
A great puzzle can't be rushed.

So, You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore by Jake Colsen

This is probably the book that has impacted me the most so far this year. The book is "So, You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore" by Jake Colsen (Wayne Jacobsen/Dave Coleman). Here are some important points directly from the book:

I’m not talking about what you’re doing. Are you filled with the love of Jesus like you were the first day you believed in him?

It’s about life-God’s real life filling your own. He moves in so that you will no longer entertain any doubts about his reality. It is freedom. It is joy and peace no matter what happens. This is the kind of life that he came to share with everyone who will give up trying to control their own lives and embrace his agenda.

Just be real with Father and resist the urges to crawl back into your shell and silently endure lifelessness. Ask him to forgive you for substituting anything for the power of his love and invite him to show you how your diligent efforts at good works for him may be obscuring his love for you. Let God do the rest. He will draw you to himself.

We’re not changed by the promises we make to God, but by the promises he makes to us. When we make commitments that we can live up to only for a brief period, our guilt multiplies when we fail. Upset that God doesn’t do more to help us, we usually end up medicating our guilt with something like drugs, alcohol, food, shopping or anything else that dulls the pain or it creeps out of us through anger or lust.

We sin to fill up broken places, to try to fight for what we think is best for us, or by reacting to our guilt and shame. Once you discover how much he loves you, all that changes. As you grow in trusting him, you will find yourself increasingly free from sin.

Don’t use our conversations to try to change others. Until they are looking for the same things you are, people will not understand.

Real body life isn’t built on accountability. It’s built on love. We’re to encourage each other in the journey without trying to conform people to the standard we think they need.

When you can trust his love in each moment, you’ll really know how to live free. Just keep coming to him and watch what he will do. He’s the Father who knows you better than you know yourself and even loves you more than you love yourself. Ask him to help you see how much he loves you. That will make all the difference.

Simply let God connect you with those brothers and sisters he wants you to walk with for now. Think less about ‘starting’ something than just learning to share your life in God with others on a similar journey.

When we’re looking to the future, we’re not listening to Father. Anything we do to try and guarantee stability on our own terms will actually rob us of the freedom to simply follow him today. We’ll resort to our own wisdom instead of following his. The greatest freedom God can give you is to trust his ability to take care of you each day.

Instead of trying to build a house church, learn to love each other and share each other’s journey. Who is he asking you to walk alongside right now and how can you encourage them?

No church model will produce God’s life in you. It works the other way around. Our life in God, shared together, expresses itself as the church.

The freedom to be honest and the freedom to struggle are key to a real friendship.
Honestly, there’s not one thing you can do to make him love you any more today; and there’s not one thing you can do to make him love you any less either. He just loves you.

Simple Church

What Is Simple Church? from Expectation Media on Vimeo.

Notes from The System Seminar 2009 continued

In continuation of the first installment, here are Ken McCarthy's remaining six points...

7) Market Selection is everything

Try to play in a rich playground. You need accessible buyers to whom you can offer something unique. By playing in a rich playground you will stand out, be able to repeat sales, and move customers up to premium sales. Also, you will experience word of mouth referrals, and be able to focus on an endless loop, never-enough product.

8) Sell to a hungry market

The late Gary Halbert wisely observed that even more than the best hamburger, the lowest price, and the best location, a hungry crowd was the most important factor in selling hamburgers.

While it may be possible to get a stuffed person to buy one more burger, it is almost impossible to keep a famished person away from that same burger. Offer your product or service to people who really want it.

9) How to start a business

Find the market first. Product development comes second. The process is to get intimate with that marketplace and really understanding it. Next, you need to identify a point of entry to that market, and then launch a desired product or service into that market. The word picture that Ken used was that instead of driving down the road (marketplace) simply walk along the road. Potholes you find along the road are gaps in the market. When you find a pothole in the road (or marketplace), remedy it.

10) A sale is a fragile thing

Ken recommends following the AIDA formula.

A = attention. You get that with good headline.

I = interest. Know what your potential buyer wants.

D = desire. Make them prove that they want it by putting a small obstacle in the way. Create honest scarcity.

A = action. Show what action you want them to take, and ask them to take that action.

Some other things to remember about the sale:

Nothing happens without a deadline. An example of this is the birth of a baby. If people could delay babies being born, there might not be a civilization today.

Also, the real sale begins after the initial sale. You need to service people properly. Being satisfied
with a single sale is not pathway to a successful business.

11) Find your song and sing it

Whether it be rock, opera, jazz or hip-hop, earn a place in the customer's mind with your unique song and constantly reinforce it. Ken's song is that he was the first one to host an Internet marketing seminar.

12) How a business really grows

There are three main phases to growing a business:

Phase 1 is the wandering in the wilderness phase. This is when you are stumbling around in search of that oasis – your idea. People will think you are a bit crazy during this phase, that's just the way it is.

Phase 2 is the ramp up to critical mass. It is messy and crazy and you are working 18 hour days implementing your unique idea.

Phase 3 is the process of removing yourself from the mechanics of the business. Finally. This is when you want to automate and outsource.

So, there you have them, the 12 things Ken wanted to communicate if this were his last presentation on direct marketing.

I hope you found these as useful as I did/do.

~Barak

PS If you'd like more of this kind of quality information check out Ken's System Secrets book. System Secrets is a collection of lessons from Ken's popular Pre-System seminar series. It covers topics like:

how to find hot markets...
what to sell on the Internet...
how to write killer copy...
how to get traffic to your website...
how to avoid common marketing mistakes...
the eight fundamental principles of The System...
and how to achieve anything you want including success online.

Click HERE to find out more.

Notes from The System Seminar 2009

Ken McCarthy, founder of The System Seminar, initially laid out the
following three principles that this seminar is known for:

1) Focusing on fundamentals, these are the important elements that
ensure success

2) Detecting future trends

3) Cultivating a culture of learners

Ken also stated that identifying actions and following up on those
actions was important. I agree and that's one of the reasons I'm
providing these notes. As I go through them I'm reminded of the
action items I wrote down and can then complete them.

Ken's presentation identified the 12 things he wanted everyone to
know in case this was his last presentation (so dramatic).

Here are the first 6:

1) Internet marketing is direct marketing.

It is:

- measurable

- testable (results can be counted)

- can be improved (if you can test it, you can improve it)

- adaptable (as you look for and find new markets)

- you can automate it

The important point is to be measuring your marketing efforts all
the time so you can constantly improve.

2) Top 3 recommended texts/books:

- My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins

- Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

- How I raised Myself from a Failure to Success in Selling by Frank
Bettger

3) The path that Ken recommends:

Take advantage of others' experiences. This can make you a fortune,
since you won't have to waste time re-inventing the wheel.

Do your own testing. Borrow substance from others, test it, and use
only the best.

4) What is successful business?

Selling products or services is not what defines a successful
business. Rather, it is creating a following.

A product serves the purpose of creating that following. A product
may be sold, but if there is no following, a new market will have
to be found every time.

The better approach to business, the successful approach, has a
consistent market at it's core - a following.

5) It's about the List

'The List' is your list of followers (the size, who is on it,
quality of your relationship)

To build a List:

- Get started (your List starts with one person)

- Be consistent in your efforts

- Encourage referrals (Example: "If you like this, please share
it.")

So, applying this principle, if you like these notes refer your
friends HERE so they can sign up to receive them as well.

6) E-mail

E-mail is an integral tool in Internet marketing. Have an opt-in,
which is simply a way for people to subscribe to what you are
offering.

Make sure that the offer you are making is completely consistent
with any advertising you have done.

E-mail your List whenever you have new and interesting information.

The challenges of E-mail are these:

Get it opened (have a clear purpose in the subject line)

Get it read (start with a bang, hook your reader, and use curiosity)

Get action (give your reader a concrete reason to take action. Take
inactivity out of the picture.)

That's it for now, points 7 through 12 will be posted shortly.

Notes from "Rich Like Them"

The following are the notes I captured from reading Ryan D'Agostino's "Rich Like Them" book. They are essentially the Chapter titles and main points of each chapter.

1-Open Your Eyes
Don’t Forget Your Goal-Even When You’re On Vacation
Where Others See Death, Imagine Life
When You Hear Someone Say “If Only I Could…” You’re Hearing an Opportunity
Connect the People You Meet (be the hub of the wheel)
Save Some Money for a Rainy Day
Once You Connect the Dots, Follow Through

2-Luck Doesn’t Exist
Choose Your Purpose, and Don’t Let Anyone Tell You You’re Wrong
Remember: With Time Comes Free Money (compounding)
Watch Your Pennies, No Matter How Many You Have
Keep Your Cool-It’s a Big Part of Persevering
Don’t Deviate from Your Planned Path to Get a Quick Gain
Perseverance Doesn’t Take Forever
Once You Find Your Calling, Persevering is Easy
Remember That You Can’t Do a Business Transaction with Yourself
Prepare to Get Lucky

3-The Economics of Obsession
Find a Driver Other Than Money-It’s Usually More Lucrative Than Money Alone
Do One Thing and Do It Well
Obsess Over Whatever Job You Have
Take Your Mind Off the Money-You’ll earn More
Don’t Plan a Career-Plan a Life
Obsession Makes You Work Harder
If You Look Forward to Going to Work, That’s a Good Sign
Discover Love Through Immersion (work for the love of it)
Turn Fear into Passion (pursue the idea)

4-The Myth of Risk
Never Stop Being a Student
Calculate Every Risk-Even the One You Live In
Look for Your Window to Go Solo
You Want Autonomy? Let It Motivate You
Be Cocky When It Counts
Don’t Worry About What Other People Think
Reduce Risk by Believing in Yourself
When You Fail Miserably, Rejoice
If You Hate Your Career, Um, Change It
Sometimes the Biggest Risk Is Doing Nothing

5-Humility
Never Let Pride Get in the Way of Profit
Be Humble Even If You’re As Rich As Brooke Astor
Don’t Be a Slave to Plan A-It’ll Prevent You from Seeing Plan B
Don’t Be Afraid to Make Less Than Your Spouse
Never Feel As If You’re Too Successful to Sweat
Remember That You Are Not, Nor Will You Ever Be, a God or Goddess

This was originally my idea, to go knock on doors of the apparently wealthy and ask them how they got that way, but Ryan beat me to it :-)