I want to share with you two facts of life that many folks, especially online, just don’t get.

FACT OF LIFE #1: Just because you’ve put a website up based on an idea you think is brilliant, doesn’t entitle you to any monetary success. This is a biggie. This insidious thing called entitlement. Many folks feel entitled to the great outcomes, without doing the work needed to bring about such a rewarding result. Look, this may sound silly to you but I tell you, this is what many people feel.

Case in point: A couple of weeks ago I made an online offer to do critiques for just 500 bucks. This was a one-off offer and only 10 critiques were offered. Anyway, I knocked them off over a two day stint and I spoke to each client about his or her marketing piece. In many cases, I discovered three critical flaws in what they were doing.

First: They had spent a lot of time and money on building the perfect product without first identifying exactly who was going to buy the product; who exactly was their ideal market. (101 marketing mistake.)

Second: They slapped together a sales letter they did themselves having had no training in copywriting because they think it’s not that important and besides the product is that good it will sell itself.

Third: They get defensive and go into denial when confronted by my observation that their sales letter is crap. “No, no, no, Pete… you don’t understand… what I’m doing here is…” They try to explain to me that the letter is good, that I do not see the point they are making. Basically they are telling me I am wrong and they are right.

NOTE: Not all talks were like that. I had a great chat with a sharp-minded lady who is a friend of Private Wealth Group Member Lindy Bonnet. Smart lady and she was very open to my suggestions.

Look there are many lessons here I’ll briefly touch on.

One, market first then product.

Two, copy is king.

Three, listen to good advice.

There, the secret to online biz success in under 140 characters; shit, I could even fit that on Twitter (if I twitted).

FACT OF LIFE #2: The last thing we need is another (fill in the blank). In the Western World we have an abundance of choice and we do not need another pizza shop, restaurant, make money product or whatever you are selling. We have ample choices and we can compare quickly and easily between offers online.

This doesn’t mean all the good opportunities are gone and that you can’t be successful in a cluttered marketplace. It just means now, more than ever, you need a clear and compelling reason for your existence, a clear benefit-driven message on why they should buy from you and not your competitors.

This is your U.S.P., in our world it’s marketing 101.

However, just because the idea is old and maybe you’ve read it a hundred times doesn’t devalue the importance of a clearly defined U.S.P. And creating this message is harder than you think. Living up to it is even harder. But now, more than ever, you’ve got to be about something; that special something that connects with your market so they know instantly that what you’ve got is for them.

POST SCRIPT: I’m all for pumping people’s tyres to make them feel good and inspired and bursting at the seams with motivation. That’s what a good coach does. We coach. We motivate. But filling people’s heads with unrealistic expectations is just plain wrong… and those who do this are causing real damage and need a good kick up the arse!

It’s something I have taken note of these past few years; these leaders who hide the truth behind vague ideas and unrealistic expectations… giving folks ideas without any consideration of the economic reality of such advice and without any clue on how the hell they are gonna implement the advice. Makes my blood boil. That’s why I give it to you straight. I’d rather you take the time to do your due diligence, do the research needed, before blindly plunging into something that anyone with experience will tell you is doomed from the start.

I’ll coach you. I’ll motivate you. But I’m not gonna bullshit you and tell you the lemon you’re holding is in fact a juicy sweet orange. I’d make more money pandering to people’s fantasies… but I like to sleep soundly at night, with a clear conscience, knowing that I’m giving it to you straight. Might upset a few, but the ones who embrace my kinda thinking seem to have success… they seem to get actual results in the real world.

POST POST SCRIPT: If you’re following any mentors at the moment, here’s a quick way to find out if they are the real deal. Ask them for results based testimonials. Don’t settle for anything less like: “I love Joe Blow’s ideas, he gave me a tip that’s worth millions.” Yeah? Bullshit! That’s feel good drivel. Get them to show you something like the one below from Catherine Powell after she did one of my master classes.

$112,368.00 in 3 days then $178,625.00 in 7 days!
“Based on what Pete taught me at the Master Class, I sent an email to my database and I was hoping for a $50K response as the ticket items varied between $69 to $97. The email was sent on the Tuesday morning, and by that Friday we had $112,368.00! I was so excited that I carried it through for another week … the end result was $178,625.00 in the bank paid up front over the phone by credit card. I didn’t stop with this I continued on I ran another campaign that went for Xmas, which resulted in 2,968 NEW clients joining my website. I then followed through with a Xmas Gift Voucher promo that was sent out via email our Xmas gift voucher sales were up my 60% on last year’s figures.” Catherine Powell, Business Owner, Melbourne

Now that’s a real testimonial and I’ve got plenty of them. Not all advice is equal so be careful who you listen to.

For the past decade I’ve been helping business owners and sales professionals boost their profits by building stronger relationships with their clients or customers.

Basically, that’s what business success is all about. It’s about you developing a healthy and productive and profitable relationship with those special folks that give you money.

It’s no accident, my most successful clients and members all have a healthy relationship with their tribe of customers.

They spend time focusing on their customers’ changing wants and desires.

They realise the importance of staying relevant in a fast changing world.

Although different in many ways, these smart clients and members have a few things in common.

1. They are either good at copywriting or they understand what good copy is and looks like.
2. They are all great marketers and shameless self-promoters.
3. They all possess a winning, abundant mindset.

These are the core skills you need to thrive in business and in sales.

It’s no accident my Emotional Ad Writing & Marketing Letter covers these 3 pillars in detail in every issue.

And it’s no accident my smart clients and members possess these skills.

If you wanna get good in business and or sales, hone your copywriting, marketing and mindset chops. Because without doubt, this is where the money is.

And if you wanna check out my new-look newsletter, you’ll be pleasantly SHOCKED by what I’m giving away when you join.Related Posts:

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• What’s Sitting Around Gathering Dust That Could Be Making You a Whole Lotta Money?
• Start-Up Business Secrets
• We Do Not Sell To Virgins
• Give It Away and Make Someone’s Day

I was on the Gold Coast recently when my mate and young gun Copywriter Bret Thomson visited.

So we thought we do a little fun video that shows you the power of great copy and how it can transform your life.

PLUS, Bret’s got a new weird hair-do that I’d thought you’d like to see.

Go check it out…

Related Posts:

• It’s Not My Fault
• What’s Sitting Around Gathering Dust That Could Be Making You a Whole Lotta Money?
• The Illustrated Sales Letter
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• The Price Of Petrol

FOREWORD: Something a little different today that you should enjoy. It’s a little story of mine based on a tale written by Margaret MacDonald, which she based on an old folktale.

You see, I’ve been polishing my story telling chops in preparation for our Cash Characters Academy Workshop in February.  I’ve been pouring through my files, organising my notes, getting templates together and writing a few more stories. The ability to write or tell a good, strategic story is an underrated skill in the minds of the masses. We know different. Copywriters, speakers, coaches, anyone who presents a case, know the value of stories… especially when it comes to teaching… we know the story remains with the audience long after the lesson has ended. Anyway, here’s a little one I wrote the other day… it contains an important lesson, one a few Gurus could take on board. Enjoy! And if you’ve got feedback on this, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer.

NOTE: On Thursday, as I promised last week, I’m going to give you 6 Tips For Writing YOU Focused Copy. And I’ll throw in a bonus tip to make it 7. Why? Well I’m a generous kinda guy and I like the number 7… so instead of 6, you now get 7… you can thank me later.

The Travelling Speaker

There once was a motivational speaker who used to tell mesmerising stories that captivated his audience. Whenever he was around other speakers, they would plead for him to tell a story.

“Tell us the one about when you were a boy, when you had that accident.”

“Tell us the one about the book that changed your life.”

“Tell us the one about…” and on it went. They just loved the way this guy told stories. No one could do it better. Sure they all knew his stories like the back of their hands, but no one else ever told them; because they loved the way HE told them.

Then the speaker began to travel, telling his stories on stages throughout the world. Thousands of people would show up to hear his stories, the audience spellbound, leaning forward in their seats with ears straining to catch his every word.

After a few years he decided to go home. On his return, the speakers of the town threw a big party for him.

That night at the party, the speaker began to tell a story.

“Oh, that’s Jim’s story,” the party goers said.

Puzzled, the speaker began telling another one of his stories.

“Oh, that’s Mary’s story,” said a woman in a red dress, the other party goers nodding their heads in agreement.

With a jolt of clarity, the speaker realised all of his stories were being told by other people.

He felt annoyed, angry, as if they had stolen his identity… so he left the party early and the next morning, visited his wise old speaking mentor.

“These are my stories, about me, about my life,” said the speaker to his mentor. “They’ve always been mine and now everybody is telling them. Surely they know the stories belong to me? What can I do? How can I stop them?”

The wise old mentor sat back in his chair, a smile forming on his lips as he puffed on his pipe. After a short pause, he looked at the speaker and said, “That’s an easy one to answer. Bring me your pillow.”

“My pillow?” asked the speaker, a little confused.

“Your pillow,” confirmed the mentor.

The speaker rushed home and returned with his pillow, giving it to his mentor who in turn held the pillow high, and slit it open with a hunting knife.

The feathers went everywhere. The strong wind carried the feathers down the street, into the neighbours’ yards, in the air they drifted amongst the town.

“What have you done?” asked the speaker.

“Your stories are like these feathers,” replied the mentor. “Once the story leaves your mouth, it is carried away in the hearts of your listeners… it no longer belongs to you.”

“Is there nothing I can do?” asked the speaker.

“Oh sure,” said the mentor, watching the feathers drift down the road. “You can let them go.”Related Posts:

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• The Price Of Petrol
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It’s been so long since I’ve posted an article here, I forget what the place looks like. As a serial entrepreneur, I’ve been busy. Busy launching new businesses. But all will change shortly. I’m determined to start posting regularly on this blog. So watch out.

Today, I’m gonna share some big lessons on launching new ventures. Lesson I didn’t get from textbooks; but by actually doing. Let’s get going.

When launching a new company, you need energy and commitment. Frankly, if you’re not willing to put in the hours, especially at start-up, you’re best off with a job, not a business.

That’s why when I’m in this business-building mode, I don’t even think about taking a break; don’t even think about taking holidays. In fact, taking a holiday is the last thing on my mind… I’m too busy getting stuck in and building my new business into what will become the Biggest and Best Coaching Group for small business owners in Australia. It’s a lofty goal. It WILL happen… it’s only a matter of time.

But time is finite isn’t it? That’s why SPEED is such an important thing for so many reasons.  You need to push hard, especially at start-up, to get momentum. You need speed to get the runs on the board and to fill you with justifiable optimism. When you go slowly, nothing much happens, and your enthusiasm may falter as the weeks drag into months. Enthusiasm is everything for the entrepreneur!

Put it this way: It’s like taking a child fishing and you catch nothing… don’t even get a nibble; the only bites you get are from the Mosquitoes and Sand Flies. It’s disappointing, but the promise of another day’s fishing usually gets a sparkle in the child’s eye. Usually, to get the child to go fishing again takes little coaching.

But if you go fishing again and then catch nothing… it’ll take a bit more positive reinforcement for the kid to go again. You’ll be able to do it; you just need to do a bit more coaching. But, go fishing again and STILL get no fish… then it’s going to be pretty damn hard getting the child all worked up about going fishing the next time. I wish you luck. The kid’s enthusiasm is at an all time low. This is understandable. The child got motivated, took the necessary steps, and nothing happened. In fact, the child then repeated the steps twice more; and twice more he took a beating. There’s no more juice left in the tank.

It’s the same in life and business.

We need to keep moving, keep busy, and get a few runs on the board to give us the energy and excitement to keep moving forward.

Speed isn’t just important in Start-Ups, it’s everything. Doing things one at a time might sound good in some lame-brained Business Book written by some old University Professor; but in the real world, doing things one at a time leads to stagnation and death. So you need to be able to let go, delegate (a skill I’m still learning), juggle many different hats and have many balls in the air. Realise you’re always going to be playing catch up but that’s the price we pay for success.

But more than anything speed gets results quickly. If results are bad, you can correct your course and then draw some first blood. Because just like the kid without any fish, an entrepreneur without any wins is as dead as a dinosaur. Not only financially, but his or her confidence takes a battering. And confidence is the #1 thing we entrepreneurs need in abundance.

And here’s another tip for Start-Ups: 80% of your time must be focused on sales. Don’t worry about the office furniture or a great location. Don’t worry about putting in complex and costly systems. What’s the good of freakin’ systems without sales? Get the sales first. Get busy making sales. Get the money in. Then you can clean up the mess with systems. But in the beginning, SALES and plenty of them is what’s needed… and that’s where you should be focused. This Sales Process should NEVER be delegated. Sure, delegate the grunt work; but we all should be the marketer of our businesses. Call in outside help such as copywriters and consultants when needed; but make sure you keep holding the reins.

If you have a manager, he or she must be made aware of the importance of sales. You’re a marketing company, not an administration company. I’ve seen too many businesses stagnate and ultimately fail because no one was focused on the key to winning in business: Getting a shit-load of sales!

This is the attitude that MUST prevail throughout your whole company… from managers right on down. Any plodders should be offered the door without hesitation.

Here’s a secret: Mediocre people get flustered with just a few things on their plates. Successful entrepreneurs are different. We thrive on the chaos, revel at the mess we’ve created and we’re juggling numerous projects at the same time… from major ideas right down to the nitty gritty minor details, all without breaking a sweat. This is what we live for! If you do NOT feel this way, making a lot of money in business is gonna be very tough for you. Because this is how success is made… in a messy kitchen, with many chefs, and with multiple dishes to prepare. Plodders should not apply.Related Posts:

• The Unreasonable Man
• The Price Of Petrol
• Procrastination Is Not ALL Bad
• The Travelling Speaker
• Business Profits Triangle