28 Apr 11 Art And Science Of Making Money

Are YOU making enough money?

If not, you’re probably using the wrong tools.

Check out the “POWER TOOLS for Entrepreneurs“>“

You won’t be disappointed.

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Competition!

To compete or not to compete? — Should we even ask the question?

by: J.F. (Jim) Straw

To compete or not to compete, that is the question. Whether it be nobler in the minds of men to accept the challenges and rewards of competition, or turning away from competition, endure the apathetic indolence of a non-competitive society.

The United States of America was founded and grew upon competition; the struggle to survive, achieve, and accomplish. Yet, at this juncture in our history, we are faced with the possible destruction of our existence by our own hands. We are, more and more, becoming a nation of people who demand all of the rewards of competition, without the challenges and struggles.

Trade Unions demand higher wages, more benefits, and guaranteed jobs; without the challenges of increased production, job responsibility, or elimination of non-essential or redundant work units. – Big business demands sanctions, restrictions and limitations on their competition; rather than accepting the challenge of the market place. – Welfare recipients demand higher paychecks for not working; without competition in the job market.

In days gone by, if a business was confronted by a competitor who could produce and sell a comparable product at a lower price, the business scrutinized its production and attempted to meet the challenge in the market place. Today, the business contacts one of the many and various governmental agencies, bureaus or commissions; or one of the trade, consumer or special interest organizations, and attempts to eliminate the competitions ability to compete. If they can incite a Trade Union to organize the competitors work force; or enjoin the competitors from doing business under the thousands of fair trade regulations; or limit the competitors ability to compete by enacting restrictive legislation or trade limitations, the business need not compete.

Remember when you could buy a “brand new” American-made automobile (less than 20 years ago) for under $3,000? – Then, the American automobile makers waged war against the Japanese automobile makers; but not in the marketplace. Rather than trying to compete with the Japanese, the American automobile industry lobbied for import restrictions and limitations levied against that competition.

Unfortunately, this attitude of gaining an unwarranted, non-competitive edge has permeated our society. – Students can no longer “fail” in school; as evidenced by a 60% functional illiteracy rate among high school graduates. They are “passed” because requiring them to toe-the-mark and earn a passing grade would violate their human rights (it is their human right to remain ignorant and unlearned). – People want to receive a paycheck without working; get rich without effort; lose weight without dieting; live forever by taking a pill; and be a winner without playing the game (Monday-morning quarterbacks are the rule, not the exception).

Competition forced this nation to be great. To compete, we have developed new technologies, advanced methods, and diverse approaches to production. Without competition, we would still be riding horses (or walking), firing muzzle loaded muskets, and tilling the soil with our bare hands. – If necessity is the Mother of invention, competition is the Mother of necessity.

A business, nation, or person, that accepts, embraces, and relishes the challenges of competition has the opportunity to succeed. Those that strive only to eliminate the challenges of competition are doomed to self-destruction at the hands of the self-same methods they use to eliminate their competitors.

To learn to compete more effectively, check out our “Power Tools for Entrepreneurs.”

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Having spent over 50 years in business; doing business successfully, J.F. (Jim) Straw now shares “Practical Instruction in the Arts & Sciences of Making Money” at the Business Lyceum. — http://www.businesslyceum.com

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Do you know the “secret” to success?

Sorry, I hate to tell you this – but …

There is NO “secret” to success. — That’s the problem.

Most people who say they want to succeed, go around all their life looking for some “secret” that people like me are sure to know. They just know that if they ever learn that “secret” they will be successful, too. — Ain’t gonna happen because there ain’t any secret.

All they need to do is start “doing” something. — That’s all it takes. — Once they start “really” doing something … other than searching for the “secret” to success … whatever they are doing will expand and grow into the success for which they couldn’t find the secret.

Over the past 50 years in business, I have heard it thousands upon thousands of times from “success secret seekers” …

“I ain’t gonna get into no nickle and dime business. I want to make millions, not nickles and dimes.”

So, they keep buying what they think are “secrets”. They never “do” anything, longer than it takes to find out they didn’t learn any secrets, they just learned how to “work” at something … instead of making them rich. Then, they go on to the next “secret,” hoping against hope that the new secret will “give” them the riches they seek (without doing anything other than knowing the “secret”).

The funny thing is, they all seem to think they are better than me … and all the other successful people … because they honestly think that I just woke up one morning, learned the secret, and made a fortune. When, in pure fact, I started selling nickle and dime items, door to door, in my youth … selling one item to one customer, one sale at a time, making a nickle or a dime on each sale.

As I matured, my endeavors expanded and grew … changed course … adapted to the ever changing economy … moved onward and upward. Each instance of my growth predicated upon providing what my potential customers needed or wanted. Making sure that I gave more value in return for the value I received – and – even today, I still sell one item to one customer, one sale at a time.

The VAST MAJORITY of people who say they want to succeed, only want to succeed if they can make it all at once … just one sale won’t do it. They want big sales, or thousands of sales, immediately. — So, when a new opportunity only produces a few sales, they move on rather than making those few sales over and over and over and over … until those few sales have grown into thousands upon thousands of sales.

Most of them are looking for someone to help them do it, rather than looking for the tools they need to do it themselves.

If you want to succeed, “do” something. Let what you are “doing” lead you onward and upward until you have the success you seek. — There are NO “secrets” to it.

Many people know the facts. — Many people have the talent. — Many people have the need. — Many people have what it takes. — But … very, very few succeed because they are seeking the “secret” to success rather than doing something.

Jim

P.S. — Let me be your Personal Mentor!

http://www.businesslyceum.com/YourMentor.html

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“Work” is a four-letter word …

When you say the word “work” most people think about having a J.O.B. that consumes their time and keeps them Just Over Broke. So, they start a business and it consumes their time and; all too often, they remain Just Over Broke.

How do I know? I’ve been doing it for over 50 years – but – I’ve very seldom been Just Over Broke.

Wanna know why?

My everyday; day-in and day-out, businesses have consumed my time and produced solid incomes for me – but -I made my really big money doing deals. Just 2 or 3 good deals each year let me enjoy the jobs I had created for myself with my everyday businesses. — I’m sorta a “Type A” personality needing something to do all the time. Even today, I spend 3 or 4 hours each day doing my everyday business … I enjoy it.

Most people really don’t want to be tied down to a job – but – they go looking for a way to start a business and create a job for themselves.

Instead of getting a job, or creating a job for yourself, why not change your life … do 2 or 3 (maybe 4or 5) deals each year making far more money than a job.

Check it out … http://bit.ly/jAClYZ

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Where To Place Your Classified Ads

One of the least kept secrets in the Mailorder industry.

by: J.F. (Jim) Straw

If I have been asked once, I’ve been asked a thousand times; in different ways…”Where Should I Place My Classified Ads?”

Well…the renowned philosopher/sage/pundit; Anony Mouse, put it this way, “Give a man a fish and you will feed him for today. Teach a man how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.” – So, instead of telling you “where” to place your Classified Ads, I’m gonna tell you “how” to figure-out for yerself “where.”

Besides…I can’t find enough fish to feed everybody.

What I am about to tell you is probably one of the least kept secrets in the Mailorder industry…but…I’ve done it so long and so often, I even forget to tell my best friends about it.

Let’s pretend for a moment that you want to sell “Fishhooks” (keeping with our ‘fish’ story). – You are ‘new’ to the industry but you have a very-fine fishhook that will catch fishes by the ton.

You have created a dynamite sales piece; selling your fantabulous, revolutionary fish-catching fishhooks…everybody who reads your sales piece buys…and, you have written a slam-bam Classified Ad – but – you don’t know “where” to place your Classified Ad to get the best bang for yer buck.

What do you do?

Well … in the ‘fishhook’ industry, old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company is one of the oldest and biggest in the world. They’ve sold more fishhooks than all the other companies combined. – You know that old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for advertising, SO…you start looking through the ‘Classified Ad’ sections of publications to see if ‘XYZ’ has an ad.

Right now, you’re probably thinking, “Aha. That’s it. I just place my Classified Ads where old ‘XYZ’ places theirs.”

You’re half-right – and – half-wrong!

Since old ‘XYZ’ has built an empire selling fishhooks, you can bet yer bippy they aren’t completely stupid about placing their Classified Ads – but – like the rest of us, they don’t know if a publication is worth advertising in until they test it…test it again…and, then, test it some more. So, the Classified Ad they have in this month’s “Fishhook Times” might just be one of their tests.

How can you tell?

Simple. – Check the Classified Ad section in back issues of the publication…the further back, the better. As a matter of fact, go back 2 or 3 years (or even further), if you can. – If old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company has been running a Classified Ad in that publication month after month, year after year, you can bet your eye teeth that that publication is “profitable” for them. If it wasn’t profitable, they wouldn’t be doing it…and they wouldn’t be the biggest fishhook company, either.

What? You say you don’t know where to find back issues of a publication. – Well…try your local public library. If the publication is a mass-circulation publication, your library may have back issues in its archives. Or, if your local library doesn’t have the back issues you need, have your librarian check with their ‘regional’ library (if the regional library has the back issues, they will lend them to your library for you to peruse).

Of course, you probably won’t find back issues of lesser-known and small-circulation niche publications in your local public library – but – all is not lost. In most cases, you can “buy” back issues; or, in some cases, the publisher will send you 2 or 3 back issues over the past couple years if you ask their advertising department, politely.

Then again…whether it’s a mass-circulation publication or a small, niche publication; either one…you can usually get the info you need by simply calling their advertising department. – Just tell’em, “I’m considering placing an ad in your publication and noticed that old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company has a classified ad in this month’s issue. Does XYZ run their ads with you very often?”

If old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company runs their ad in that publication every month, the advertising agent you are talking with will glow like a firefly-in-heat as they tell you all about it…how often XYZ runs…how many years XYZ has been in their publication, etc. – But, if old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company doesn’t advertise in that publication regularly, the ad agent will befog you with obfuscation (give you the old double-talk run-around).

When you find a publication that old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company runs its ads in…every month…that’s where you place your ads, too. – Remember, old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company didn’t get to be the biggest without testing, testing again, and testing some more. They’ve done the testing or they wouldn’t be advertising in that publication every month. So, let them do the ‘testing’ for you, too. Then, go ye and do likewise!

But … be careful!

Here’s a Little Trap That Might Catch You!

Some few years ago, I was planning an Ad campaign for a new product one of my clients had just developed.

Note: The same method I use to figure out ‘where’ to place my Classified Ads also works for all the other forms of advertising and media. – I just go where the ‘big boys’ are…they’ve already done the testing!

During my planning, I had determined what companies were the leaders in the industry and discovered ‘where’ they were advertising. – One of the biggest had advertised in one particular publication, every month, for over 2 years…so, I did likewise; placing my client’s ad for 6-months in advance to get the best rates.

A couple months after my client’s ad began running, I noticed that the big company’s ad was no longer running in that publication. – I also noticed that my client’s ad in that publication wasn’t producing the results we had hoped for. – So, I called the ad manager at the big company and simply asked him “why” he wasn’t running his ads in that publication anymore. – Just as I had suspected, the ad manager told me that the ad had quit pulling, so they had canceled it.

Returning to our ‘fish’ story…

Even if old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company has run its Classified Ad in every issue of a publication for 5-years, don’t take it for granted and just place your ad and leave it in that publication. – Check the ads each month to be sure old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company is still there. – If old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company quits advertising there, so should you – UNLESS – your ad is making money for you.

Just like they say in the investment industry … “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”

Then again, “Past results are no guarantee of future performance, either.” – Which simply means…don’t just advertise where old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company advertises. Test, test again, and then test some more in the publications that old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company isn’t advertising in. You might find a new media that outpulls all the others – but – you’ll only find it if you test, test again, and test some more.

By the way, if you employ this method to find out ‘where’ to place your Classified Ads, you may also learn, as I did…

What To Advertise

That slam-bam Classified Ad you wrote for your fishhooks might focus on the “hooking power” of your fishhooks – but – old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company’s ad focuses on the fact that their fishhooks are “snag proof.”

In a case like that, you might want to “test” your ad about your fishhooks’ hooking power…to see if the ad will pull – and – run a second ad in the same publication focusing on your fishhooks’ snag-proof design. – If that approach works best for old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company, it may well work best for you, too. Then again, maybe your ‘hooking power’ approach will outpull their ‘snag-proof’ approach – but – you won’t know until you test it.

As a matter of fact, if you will look through the back issues of the publications where old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company runs their ads, you will probably find some months where they have run more than one ad (each with a different ‘key’ in their address). The second ad will be different from the ad they had been running in the preceding months.

When you see this happen, move ahead about three months and check the ads again to see which ad survived.

If they’re running the same old ad they had been running, you will know that the ‘new’ ad didn’t pull as well as the old ad. – If, on the other hand, the ‘new’ ad is running and the old ad is gone, you will know that they found a better ad. – If both ads are still running, you’ll know both are profitable (or old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company wouldn’t be running both of them).

Of course, while you are looking through the Classified Ad sections in old back issues of the publications, don’t just check the ads run by the old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company. Check out the ads that used to run in the publication…every month…some years ago. – You might be able to…

Recycle Some “Old” Classified Ads

Consider this…

Before the old XYZ Fishin’Hook Company became the ‘biggest’ in the fishhook industry, The Fishin’Hook Company of Podunk was the biggest – but – that company went out of business when the owner died or retired.

Checking through the Classified Ads in back issues of the industry publications, you might come across some dynamite ads that The Fishin’Hook Company of Podunk used to run… every month (which means the ads were probably profitable or they wouldn’t have continued running them).

Since The Fishin’Hook Company of Podunk is no longer in existence, those “old” Classified Ads might be super-winners for your new fishhook company. – Don’t “steal” the ad…just “adapt it” to fit your product.

Remember:

Mailorder … including Classified Advertising … is an “art” – but – it becomes more scientific when you use only tried, tested, proven and repeatable methods.

I should know …

Over the past 30 years, I have sold over $250 Million worth of products and services by mail. Everything from Beauty Supplies to Heavy Equipment…Burglar Alarms to Sleeping Bags…Fishing Lures to Women’s Wigs…Automobiles to Wheelchairs…Investment Opportunities to Seafood…Consulting Services to “How To” Courses…all by mailorder.

To learn a more scientific approach to mailorder, check out our Will you be the next Mail Order Millionaire? Report now!

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Make your Internet fortune as anAffiliate Marketer

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EARN YOUR FORTUNE IN

FINDER’S FEES

The Easiest Money You’ll Ever Make!

by: J.F. (Jim) Straw

Would you like to earn $75,000 per month for 5 years?

One Finder did. He saw an item in a newsletter offering 10,000 barrels of Crude Oil per day for 5 years. Putting that seller together with a buyer at a small refinery, he earned a fee of only 25¢ per barrel, and collected his fee of $75,000 every month for 5 years.

How about trading less than $1 in postage and a couple hours easy work for $100?

Not a big fee but it was so easy another Finder couldn’t pass it up. Reading a “collectors” magazine, he came across an ad seeking some college memorabilia from a college near his home. He made some local telephone calls, located the items wanted, wrote a letter, and earned an easy $100.

Do Fast-Food Franchises interest you?

More than one Finder makes staggering fees each year by just finding “locations” for fast-food franchises. Others earn smaller, but consistent fees, finding locations for Vending Machines and Coin Operated Games. It takes some research, time, and an eye for consumer buying habits, but some of the fees would boggle your mind.

Two Finders – Two Fees!

One Finder had a “seller” offering a warehouse full of closeout & surplus inventory. The other Finder had a “buyer” looking for closeout & surplus inventory. They saw each other’s listings in the same newsletter. After a few telephone calls and letters, they earned over $25,000 each.

Did you know there are firms in this country who “manage” hotels, mobile home parks, apartment buildings, etc., for the absentee owners?

Those firms often pay substantial Finder’s Fees if you can find properties for them to manage.

Would you believe over $50,000 per year by just matching Newspaper Classified Ads with the Telephone Book Yellow Pages?

One Finder makes that much and more each year by just matching-up the wants & availables in Newspaper Classified Ads from neighboring areas with the Yellow Pages in his town and other Classified Ads from other newspapers.

If you can think creatively, you might be able to pull-off one like this!

A company had been trying to dump a huge volume of lead weights for ages. They couldn’t find a buyer. Then a creative Finder figured out that those weights could be used in the commercial fishing industry. His creative thinking was rewarded with a substantial Finder’s Fee.

Television Advertising pays big bucks to Finders, too!

NO! You don’t have to run any TV advertising. Just find people who need TV advertising and connect them with TV stations who will run their ads. Of course, first you have to strike a deal for “dead” air time.

It would take a couple hundred pages to tell you about all of the Finder’s Fees earned in machinery & equipment deals.

As you probably know, there are literally hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of pieces of machinery & equipment setting around, in almost any industry you can name. Find a buyer. Earn a fee.

If a product or service can be sold or bought, there is a potential Finder’s Fee just waiting for a Finder with the “know-how” to earn it. There are Finder’s Fees to be earned in every small town or big city, in every state and country. All you need to do is match-up the buyers and sellers, put them together, sit-back and collect your fees.

And…you can start your own Finder’s Fee business for less than it would cost you for a good meal at a fine restaurant. – All you really need is a typewriter, business letterhead, and a telephone to get started.

“Why would any company pay a Finder’s Fee?”

There are over 240,000,000 people in this country — and millions of businesses (small, medium & large). Can any business know of ALL of the sources of supply, potential buyers, or providers of necessary services? — Not on your life!

Why should a company spend thousands of dollars, and tie up essential employees to do nothing but research the existence of these suppliers, buyers, and providers — when they can easily let a Finder go to the trouble of locating the contacts they need. And, those fees are considerably less than what they would have spent if they had done the research themselves.

Finders EARN their fees by weeding-through the unqualified leads and flakes; by following all of the dead-end paths; and eventually putting their hands on a real, honest-to-goodness source, buyer, or whatever. — THAT is what a Finder gets paid for doing.

A company, or individual, who pays a Finder’s Fee, pays it so they won’t have to chase down all of those unqualified leads, blind alleys, and dead-ends.

It is really far easier than you might imagine…but…if you don’t know how to do it (and do it right), you may chase down all the blind alleys without ever finding a profitable match. – That’s what happens to most amateur finders – a lot of blind alleys but NO Fees!!

I’ve spent over 30 years of my life as a finder – gathering facts and doing the things that you need to do to be a professional finder. Starting with a $42 unemployment check, I became a multi-millionaire.

During those 30-plus years, I made every mistake ever made by amateur finders – until I learned how to do it right. — I have earned Finder’s Fees for locating everything from a World War II bayonet (for a collector) to buyers for Oil Field Equipment.

Over the past 10 years, I have watched as literally thousands of men, and women, have tried to become Finders. – Most of them don’t even know, for sure, what a Finder’s Fee is, or how a Finder earns those fees.

The real tragedy of this situation is that there are literally millions, upon millions, of dollars out there just waiting to be claimed by someone who can “find” the buyer, or seller, needed to complete the transaction.

What Is A FINDER?

Unfortunately, most people…even many of those who call themselves “finders”…..don’t really know “what” a finder is, or how to start earning Finder’s Fees.

In order to define what a Finder “is,” let’s first point out what a Finder “is not.”

A FINDER is NOT a PRE-SELLER — Pre-sellers accept a selling price from a product source, add-on what they feel to be a fair margin of profit, and sell the item. After they make a sale, they then buy the product and ship it to the buyer.

A FINDER is NOT a DEALER — Dealers take-on a product, or service, for continuing promotion and sales. They are responsible for the distribution of a product, or service, from the prime source to the end user.

A FINDER is NOT a REPRESENTATIVE or AGENT for either the buyer or seller. — Representatives & Agents are empowered by their clients to negotiate the purchase, or sale, of specific products or services. They can legally sign documents obligating their clients.

Too many “supposed” Finders are not really Finders at all — they are Salesmen, Agents, Representatives, and/or Pre-sellers.

A Finder is nothing more than a “match-maker” for a fee. The professional Finder simply matches QUALIFIED buyers with QUALIFIED sellers, or vice versa – “FOR A FEE!”

Finders DO NOT sell anything; except their knowledge.

Finders DO NOT negotiate anything; except their own fees.

Finders DO NOT add-on their profits.

“Contacts Are A Finder’s Stock in Trade”

“Contacts” are the bread and butter of the professional finder. All he is really selling is names & addresses of QUALIFIED contacts.

The following are the most important points to remember:

(1) Be a FINDER; not an Agent, Representative, Salesman, or Pre-seller. DO NOT try to sell anything; simply offer QUALIFIED contacts to your clients who offer a Finder’s Fee. Nothing more.

(2) As a FINDER, let your contact and your client negotiate their own deal; once you have brought them together.

(3) Use the finest materials (letterheads & envelopes) available, and maintain the most professional business approach in all of your dealings.

(4) Furnish only QUALIFIED contacts to your client. UNqualified contacts only come from UNqualified “amateur” finders.

(5) NEVER give your client the name & address of another Finder. When you do, you start a Daisy Chain, and are not entitled to any form of Finder’s Fees.

(6) READ…READ…READ…ever increasing the number and quality of your contacts.

(7) Keep chronological and complete files of all of your correspondence (even telephone calls) with both your contacts and your clients.

(8) Always FIND IT FIRST, before contacting a potential client. This one action, alone, will save you a lot of money in paper that doesn’t go into the waste basket.

(9) If you don’t get a response from the potential client, DO NOT do what childish amateurs do DO NOT blame the advertiser; blame yourself. You probably didn’t offer the potential client what he wanted; so, try again, or give up, on that particular finding opportunity.

NOTE: If one advertiser doesn’t respond to your contact offer, you should keep your eyes open for a similar Finder’s Fee opportunity; to which you can make the same offer. – BE SURE to re-confirm your contact.

(10) The “key” word in being a successful finder is PATIENCE. The reason most amateur finders never earn their first fee is because they push for a fast close. They try to negotiate the deal for the principals. DO NOT do it!! Let your principals close their own deal, in their own time. A “right” deal will close itself. A “wrong” deal will never close; no matter how hard you push and shove.

As a finder, you can work anywhere you want, at any time you want – just by keeping your eyes & ears open. Even an offhand comment overheard on the street can lead to a finder’s fee.

Whether you live in Podunk, or Metropolitan New York City, you can earn constant, and sizable, Finder’s Fees all year, every year.

Your family, friends, business associates, and local merchants (as well as people all over the nation, and around the world) can make you a fortune — if you know who will pay you a Finder’s Fee for information you hear and see every day.

Using the information in this report, you can be well on your way to earning your fortune in Finder’s Fees.

This report was excerpted from the complete, master course, “Finder’s Fees – The Easiest Money You’ll Ever Make” by J.F. (Jim) Straw; the only professional finder to ever write on the subject. The complete, master course has been the bible of professional finders since 1978. — Available in our Power Tools for Entrepreneurs.

FINDERS WANTED – Earn Exceptional Finder’s Fees. Click Here

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EXPORTING

The Fastest Way To Grow A Small Manufacturing Business!

by: J.F. (Jim) Straw

When most small manufacturing businesses start-up, they concentrate their sales efforts on the known markets here in the U.S. Defining their markets as the known users of their products; known distributors of those products; and known, or accessible, sales areas within the U.S., overlooking the larger, more profitable, markets outside this country.

Most small manufacturers who do investigate the possibilities of exporting their products GIVE UP after reading a number of Department of Commerce publications detailing the intricacies of export documentation, freight forwarding, and international banking instruments. (The same complex, intricate processing, paperwork jungle, methods I studied when I was 18 years old…and discarded after I made my first real sale overseas.)

What the Department of Commerce…and other learned sources…fail to tell you is that ALL of the necessary documentation, freight forwarding, and international banking aspects of exporting can be handled…easily and cheaply…by professional service providers who do it every day. As a matter of fact, the ‘cost’ of those services are so negligible it usually isn’t even necessary to make a provision for them in your pricing structure.

Exporting is, really, no more difficult than marketing your products here in the U.S. — All you have to do is…Make a Sale…Get Paid…and Ship Your Product. The rest of the procedures can be handled, inexpensively, by the customary service providers.

Beyond that, exporting can allow a small manufacturing company to grow…almost exponentially…because you will experience:

LARGER ORDERS — Importers in other countries won’t just buy one or two of your products (unless they are ordering samples). Due to the added costs of freight, insurance, and customs duties in their countries, they will order in bigger and bigger volume in order to reduce the per piece cost.

EASIER FINANCING — Since export orders are (almost always) accompanied by some method of payment…Letter of Credit, Sight or Bank Draft, etc…your local banker will (usually) be willing to advance funds against that documentation. Beyond that, both State and Federal Governments offer a wide variety of financing incentives…everything from free grants to production financing… for exporters. And, even the smallest of companies can qualify for that financing because the financial strength of the foreign buyer, not the manufacturing company, determines the creditability of the transaction.

LIMITED COMPETITION — No matter what you manufacture, you won’t have the heavy competition you might face here in the U.S. — Statistically, less than 20% of the manufacturers in this country export their products – and – of those companies that do export, fully 50% of them only export to one (1) foreign country. So, even if one of your competitors is exporting, the odds are you can still be the ONLY supplier in a number of other countries…without competition.

The only concern then is…

HOW TO MAKE THE SALES

…but, just as there are Manufacturer’s Representatives in the U.S. who will take a manufacturer’s products directly to the distributors, there are International Manufacturer’s Reps who will do the same thing for your company in the marketplaces of the world.

Usually, the employment of an International Manufacturer’s Rep doesn’t take any ‘out of pocket’ money…other than the provision of your usual printed materials, catalog sheets and brochures. — Like Manufacturer’s Reps in the U.S., International Manufacturer’s Reps pay their own way and earn commissions based solely upon the sale of your products. But, unlike their domestic counterparts, International Manufacturer’s Reps can, and do, assist the manufacturers in accessing necessary service providers, freight forwarders, banking and financing.

Exporting truly is the fastest … and easiest … way to grow a small manufacturing business. Just one export order can turn a small manufacturer into a mid-size manufacturer, virtually overnight. — As an exporter and international manufacturer’s rep for well over 30 years…with clients and customers in over 70 countries….I’ve seen it happen countless times. So…

If you are a manufacturer…looking to expand your business, exponentially, investigate Exporting today. — It’s much easier than you might think.

You will find a complete “how-to” course on Exporting in our Power Tools for Entrepreneurs.“

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RULES

Yours – Mine – Ours – Theirs

by: J.F. (Jim) Straw

Throughout recorded history, man has decreed, written, enacted, broken, changed and revoked literally millions of rules, laws, ordinances, covenants, and codes. Each was established to direct the interactions of the parties subject to those rules; whether those rules were political, social, religious, contractual, or simply the procedures of play in a game of sport or chance.

Each time I am called upon to lecture on the subjects of business and/or finance; before groups of neophytes and professionals alike, the question of “rules” is always raised.

“What are the rules of doing business?”

“What rules do the lenders follow in granting a loan?”

By learning the rules, each hopes to play the game more successfully; for, only an egotistical fool would sit-in on a high-stakes poker game without knowing which combinations of cards, according to the rules, have a chance of winning.

There are, in this world, only four (4) “sets of rules” that govern your interaction with other people. Although these four “sets of rules” are interactive and dependent upon each other, each “set of rules” must be understood by you in order that you might govern yourself accordingly. Once you understand the four “sets of rules,” you will be better enabled to play the games of life and business.

Those four “sets of rules” can easily be classified as:

YOUR RULES – the rules that you have established, within yourself and business, to govern your dealings with others in your life or business.

MY RULES – the rules that I have established, within myself and business, to govern my dealing with others in my life or business.

OUR RULES – the rules that we; you and I, have either accepted or established to govern our dealings between us in life or business.

THEIR RULES – the rules established by “governing” bodies; usually referred to as Laws.

When I do business with you, I must either accept your rules; prices, terms, conditions, etc., or I must seek another whose rules are more acceptable to me. Once I know, and have accepted, “Your Rules” in our business dealings, they become “Our Rules,” and those rules govern our interaction. If, at a later date, I change my mind and decide I cannot do business with you under “Our Rules,” I cannot arbitrarily change “Your Rules,” nor demand retribution from our past dealings (unless “Your Rules” are in violation of “Their Rules”). I may, however, discontinue our dealings and seek another whose rules are more acceptable to me. – The same is true of your dealings with me, under “My Rules.”

If you cannot do business with me, under “My Rules;” and I cannot do business with you, under “Your Rules,” we may, before initiating any business dealings between us, establish a separate and distinct set of rules to govern our dealings. These rules, then, become “Our Rules” by mutual agreement and are, usually, set-down in some form of written contract or agreement. However, situations not specifically covered by our set of rules (contract) may be played either by your rules by you, or my rules by me. Conflicts of this kind are settled by mutual agreement, arbitration, or litigation; which establishes further or additional rules.

Once I know “Your Rules,” it is up to me to decide whether or not I will play by those rules. I cannot arbitrarily change your rules to suit my rules; unless we mutually agree to establish a separate and distinct set of rules. But, if I accept your rules, I am bound by those rules until you change your rules, or I find another whose rules are more acceptable to me. – The same holds true of my rules, and your dealings with me.

All too often, in the business world, beginners, not knowing or understanding the four “sets of rules,” try to arbitrarily change the rules to conform to rules they “think” should exist. Or, worse yet, they believe they can change the rules to suit themselves, once they get into the game. – These are the poor wretches who go through life blaming everyone, but themselves, for their mediocre existence. They want to play the game, but only if everyone else’s rules are changed to satisfy their avarice, stupidity, or ignorance.

A wise & successful businessman makes his rules to fit the needs (as he perceives them) of the people he will be serving; his customers. A foolish businessman makes his rules to serve only himself. – The successful businessman is as bound by his own rules as are his customers. A foolish businessman makes rules for his dealings and then violates them himself to serve his own purpose. – A successful businessman respects and abides-by the rules imposed upon him by those with whom he deals. The fool tries to arbitrarily change the rules of those he deals with to fit this perception of what the rules should be.

We are all bound by rules. Rules that we have established for our own dealings; rules of those with whom we have dealings; and rules that govern us and our rules.

To learn the rules of successful business, check out our Power Tools for Entrepreneurs.“

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Tunnel Vision

It separates the mediocre from the empire builder.

by: J.F. (Jim) Straw

Have you ever wondered …

“What is the major difference between people making an extra $1,000 per month and those who are making the really big money?”

The answer is simple. — Well, maybe not so simple – but – over the years, I have observed that one of the greatest differences between those who achieve mediocre results … or no results … and those who start a small business and build an empire is that they have developed a …

Tunnel Vision Approach!

Although “tunnel vision” … represented by a closed-in and very narrow view of the objectives of the company; like looking through a tunnel …i s one of the curses of big, bureaucratic businesses, it is an absolute necessity for the beginning entrepreneur.

Too many people who want to become rich and successful never reach their goals simply because they do not develop a tunnel vision approach to their goal. Instead, they are constantly searching for that one perfect business; that one BIG deal, that will put them on Easy Street … overnight … for the rest of their life.

One week they are trying to get into the export business. The week after they want to own a franchise, or buy an apartment building, or start a mail order business. Each new book they read creates a greener pasture for them to explore. They don’t miss out on trying any, and every, new opportunity. They manage to eke out an existence, or even achieve a modicum of success – but – they never make any real money.

Most of them keep their “day-job” while they explore opportunity after opportunity…never making a true commitment to any business…just dabbling in the business world; looking for that one big deal to give them “overnight success.” — If it wasn’t for their “day-job,” they…and their family…would starve to death.

The beginning entrepreneur who, on the other hand, develops a tunnel vision approach to making money usually makes it.

As an illustration, let me tell you a true story about my first successful full-time business…the business upon which I began building my empire.

Since the age of nine, I have been an avid reader of “how to make money” books. — Each time I read a new book, I discovered a new opportunity and chased around trying for a time to make my fortune in that field. The grass was always greener in this new pasture. After all, I had been trying my current business for a couple months and hadn’t yet made my fortune.

Back in the mid-1960s, as a result of some of my reading, and with my wife’s urging, I had opened a small retail Women’s Wig Shop. — There was supposed to be a real fortune to be made in that field.

In a few months, I had read another book and was ready to get started on yet another quick fortune. After all, I had opened the Wig Shop, like the “book writer” told me, and the world had not beaten a path to my door.

While I was explaining my proposed plans to my wife, she nearly floored me when she said, “Why don’t you just give up and let’s try to at least make a living from this Wig Shop.” (By the way, nobody ever becomes rich and successful until they “give up” and quit chasing non-existent rainbows.)

Her comment cut deep into my male ego. It intimated that I was less than a good provider and hadn’t really earned a living for us. It made me mad … mad enough that I told her, “All right, if that’s what you want, I’ll do nothing but run the Wig Shop. If it fails, we can starve together.”

In other words, I was going to show her that we couldn’t make it in the wig business. I would be right, and she would have to agree that we should have gone ahead with my latest plans.

Since I was no longer spending my time developing or investigating new plans, I had plenty of time to get involved directly in the sale of wigs in the shop.

In no time at all, I learned that I couldn’t answer the questions the customer were asking about the wigs. This led me to start reading everything I could about wigs. How they were made. Where they came from. The differences in construction. The tests of quality…what made one wig worth more than another. — All so I could answer the customers’ questions.

While I was learning these things, I also discovered that I was buying from third and fourth party dealers, and was paying entirely too much for my inventory…only allowing me a gross profit of from 25% to 40%. I found purchasing directly from the importers and manufacturers reduced my costs, and increased my profits.

Every time I got side-tracked and started working on a “new” project (outside the wig business), my wife would put it down by saying, “Look, we’re making money in the wig business. Let’s stay with it.” — Slowly but surely, with my wife’s urging, I developed that all-important tunnel vision.

To make a long story short, in less than three years I was one of the largest wig dealers in the southeastern U.S. My fortune was made. — I had bought a new Cadillac, a 14-room mansion with five bathrooms and a 20′x60′ swimming pool.

If you are now, like I was then, I can just about hear the comments running through your mind. — Hey, I’ve been there. I know what I was thinking at the time. — If your reasoning follows what mine was back then, your thoughts are probably something like this…

“If I put all my eggs in one basket, I could lose everything.”

Or…

“What if I get so involved in only one business that I miss that really big, one-time break that might come along?”

Or…

“What if the business only pays me a living wage? I’ll be trapped. I want to make a fortune, not just a living.”

Set your fears aside. If you develop and use a tunnel vision approach in any business, you will eventually make your fortune through a logical progression of accumulation, leverage and natural diversification.

I didn’t make my first fortune by only operating one wig shop. In less than six months, after I started really concentrating on, and dedicating my time to, the wig business, I had two shops, then three, then four. Each one producing more revenue, income and profit.

Then I discovered that I could buy-out whole wig shops that had bankrupted for pennies on the dollar and resell the inventory through my wig shops…at full retail prices. — I even exported some of the wigs…made in the orient…to wig dealers in other countries (at prices lower than what they would have paid if they had bought the wigs directly from the manufacturer).

Later, I began selling the bankrupted inventories to other wig dealers before I ever owned then. I didn’t even have the wigs shipped to me. I bought them on the West Coast, sold them on the East Coast, had them shipped direct, and pocketed the difference in prices. — In some cases, I just introduced the buyer to the seller and pocketed a fat finder’s fee…without ever buying or selling anything.

What I did was to take the techniques and ideas I had learned about in other businesses in which I had been involved and applied them, while staying within the scope of my tunnel vision…the wig business.

If you’ve been reading “how to make money” materials for any time at all…whether you realize it or not…you have soaked-up literally hundreds, upon hundreds, of business ideas, techniques and applications you can use in your business (no matter what that business may be).

As an example: At one time, I had thought about getting started in a “Party Plan” business. It didn’t pan out, but I applied the party plan idea to the wig business by going back to the party plan book and adjusting everything to fit my wig business.

It wasn’t unusual for one of my “wig parties” to produce from $300 to $500 in one evening. — More that a month’s salary back then.

Another book I had read told how a restaurant had increased its business by painting its building bright colors, adding banners and hand-painted signs.

So, I had the outside of one of my wig shops painted yellow, orange and red…using “day-glo” paint. The windows were painted red, green, blue and yellow in a carousel pattern. Hand-painted, brightly colored signs were everywhere…inside and out. — The business doubled overnight.

Reading about a novelty shop franchise, I had learned that they used a “loss leader”…an item they offered at cost; or less…to bring customers into the store.

Beauty salons in our area, at that time, were charging from $7.50 to $15 to style women’s wigs. So, wig styling became my “loss leader.” We did wig styling for $2…if the woman bought at least one wig from our shop.

When a woman left a wig for styling, or picked one up, we could show them new styles. They just kept buying. One lady bought over 50 wigs from us in less than 2 years. — We did all of her wig styling at $2 each…saving her a fortune in styling charges alone – plus – she was a walking advertisement for our wig shop and referred countless new customers to us.

Once I learned, developed and used a tunnel vision approach in my wig business, I made my fortune through a logical progression of accumulation, leverage and natural diversification.

“Natural diversification” catapulted me from a successful business as a wig merchant to world-renown as a writer, publisher, mail order marketer, when I began writing articles about making money in a Wig Shop…for publication in trade magazines…then, getting paid to write similar articles for other wig merchants to help them market their wigs.

Throughout the years, I have observed that all successful business people have developed that all-important tunnel vision approach in their businesses.

So, the major difference between people making an extra $1,000 per month and the ones that make big money … the difference between beginning entrepreneurs who just eke out a living in business and those who build empires …i s that, those who succeed are those who develop and use a tunnel vision approach. The others keep thinking there has to be something else … better, more profitable … that they could be doing, so they keep looking-for it, instead of using what they have to achieve the success they want.

Give up on finding a better, more profitable opportunity. Apply yourself to the opportunity at hand…whatever it may be (selling my products, or somebody else’s). — Give-up spending your time developing or investigating new plans. — Make what you have work for you. Accumulate, leverage and diversify logically. — You won’t succeed in anything until you develop and use a tunnel vision approach in your business endeavors…as all successful business people have.

To lose your mediocrity and learn to succeed, check out our Power Tools for Entrepreneurs.“

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Knowledge Is Power!

Or is it?

by: J.F. (Jim) Straw

When you have learned that 2 + 2 = 4, you have gained a useful piece of “information.” – When you have learned that 2 apples + 2 apples = 4 apples, but, that 2 apples + 2 oranges = 2 apples & 2 oranges, or 2 pairs of fruit, or 4 fruits, you have gained all-important “knowledge.”

Information is nice to know. It lets you answer the questions on tests (or when watching TV game shows). But, until you learn to use that information in a practical application, it isn’t knowledge.

Any child of 2 or 3 years of age can tell you that 2 + 2 = 4. They have heard it repeated, over & over, until they can repeat it themselves. But, when confronted with 4 apples, they are at a loss to apply that information.

The same holds true for older students (and even adults) who can readily tell you that Einstein’s Theory of Relativity can be expressed by the formula, E = M times C squared. – Until they know what the E, M & C stand for and can use the formula in a practical application, it is only information, not knowledge.

A fine line exists between information and knowledge. That fine line is nothing more than “use.” — You can memorize bits and pieces of information all day, every day, but, until you actually use that information, it is not knowledge. Once used, information becomes knowledge and, thereby, power.

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE; whether they be self-employed or wage-earners, executive or common laborer, are seekers after knowledge. They absorb information from every direction. The information they can use becomes knowledge, while the information they have no apparent use for is simply stored on the chance that someday it may become useful.

UN-SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE, on the other hand, claim to be seekers of knowledge, but, they believe that knowledge itself can be imparted. Because the books they read, the courses they take, and the plans they buy contain only “information.,” they are forever disappointed. Because it is ONLY INFORMATION (not the “knowledge” they thought they were going to get), they never use the information and, thereby, the knowledge they sought is lost to them forever.

Since I am the author of a great many books, booklets, reports, articles and editorials about success and making & using money (somewhere over 300 so far), those people stick-out like sore-thumbs on my customer lists. They write me long letters detailing their trials and tribulations and explain to me just why the information won’t work for them. But, not one ever writes to say “I used the information and it didn’t work.” – Had they ever used the information, that information would have turned into knowledge and they could have reaped the rewards they have coveted for so long.

If there was a way I could “force” those people to use the information they have, I could literally GUARANTEE their success. And, in those few cases over the years where I have been able to shame or intimidate people into actually using the information I have provided, those people have achieved successes they had only dreamed were possible.

The RULES OF SUCCESS used by successful people & businesses since the beginning of time have never really changed. Those rules have been written-down for all to read, learn and use, but they appear as “information” only and can only be changed to “knowledge” by use. If there were a way to “force” every person and every business to “use” those known and proven rules of success, there would be NO UN-successful people or businesses in the world.

Statistically, 90% of small businesses fail, and 90% of people live a life of sustained mediocrity, simply because they will not “use” the information available to them.

In your quest for financial independence you MUST learn to force yourself to use the information you have at your disposal. — No one (but YOU) is going to force you to assume that responsibility.

Of course, some smart aleck reading this is going to say, “Yeah! But, I’m not going to use any bad information.”

Granted, there is bad (counter-productive) information out there. BUT – there is NO WAY of telling good information from bad information, UNTIL YOU TRY IT. Judging the value of information without using it is like trying to judge the flavor of a pie without ever tasting it.

If you learn nothing else from life, learn that information only becomes knowledge when you use it – and – the information you have used or failed to use in the past is the reason you are where you are today.

YOU can be your best friend, or your worst enemy. No one forces you to be what you are, or do what you do (or don’t do). – What you have today is a direct result of what you did yesterday. What you will have tomorrow will be a direct result of what you do (or don’t do) today.

It’s up to you!

For information you can convert to real business knowledge, check out our “Power Tools for Entrepreneurs.“

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