Nov
20
So are you feeling the pinch these days?
Most people would say "yes". With the current economic climate, it's hard not to be affected in one way or another.
And when times like these come around, it's easy to start chopping blindly at your business budget to keep you in the black. After all, if you don't need it right now, why keep it?
But what I want to offer to you today goes against this concept. In fact, it's nearly a 180 degree turn from the norm.
Let me explain...
When the economy slides like it has over the last year or so, the knee jerk reaction is to tighten the belt.
Business owners will look at the bottom line, see what's not absolutely necessary, and get rid of it.
But what I want to suggest to you today is to look BEYOND the bottom line.
Because downturns like we're experiencing are just that--downturns. Which means the logical next step is what?
That's right--UPturn.
So if you can brave the storm and stay focused on the future of your business instead of the immediate, then you'll be perfectly positioned when the pendulum starts to swing the other way.
Which means while everyone else is scrambling to get back in the game, you'll already be miles ahead of your competition. Why? Because you didn't panic when times got tough--you just worked smarter.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
But I know what you're thinking, "Easy for you to say, Rich. You're not the one feeling the pinch"
Oh really?
Truth be told, we've made some very difficult decisions at Strategic Profits over the past few months.
Some of them I struggled with for weeks, spending more than one sleepless night tossing and turning while trying to decide what to do.
But eventually, we made our decision. And those decisions--no matter how tough--were engineered with one goal in mind: to make our company more profitable both today AND tomorrow.
And it's working. We're on our way to a record-breaking year and 2009 looks bigger and brighter than ever before.
So how can you keep your head above water while still finding ways to increase profits and grow your business?
Here's my #1 tip for you...
Never--EVER--skimp on investing in your business development.
I'm serious. You should always focus on the areas where you may be weakest and search for learning opportunities to help improve those skills.
Is it traffic generation? Product creation? Branding and promotion? These are crucial elements in your journey to become successful. And now's the perfect time to dive in and get educated.
And even though it may seem like a new coaching program or business building system is detrimental to the bottom line, you're actually making huge strides towards GROWING it.
Because soon, you'll find yourself becoming stronger and more confident in those areas. And when the Upturn happens (it will happen, trust me), you'll be perfectly positioned to maximize your efforts and experience tremendous profit growth.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
Now, you and I both know there's a lot of fantastic business development resources out there. And many of them cost a pretty penny.
But there is one that can deliver everything you need to make 2009 your biggest year ever...without costing you an arm and a leg.
You've heard of "business-in-a-box"? Well, my CashMaps are more like "business-on-a-page"...
Because each Cashmap is the equivalent to thousands of dollars worth of marketing and business building courses--at a fraction of the cost.
It's true--while other higher-priced products hand you pages of theory and hours of useless, unrelated info, these CashMaps boil it down to the very essence of what works--and what doesn't.
And since each CashMap contains nothing but the best quality, no-fluff content, we can offer it for a much lower investment than 99% of the other programs out there.
They're the same roadmaps I follow when I need a step-by-step process for making a difficult task easier and less time consuming, and they can be yours today as well.
But you'd better hurry...on Friday the 21st, we're pulling the page down.
So I'd jump on this right now if I were you.
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. These CashMaps are, in my opinion, the most effective way to "pinch back" at today's economic state and keep your business humming along smoothly for very little investment.
But I'm sure you've discovered a few sources of your own that are helping as well. So why not share them with the group?
Post your comments below and let's help each other out!
Nov
14
The Inner Sanctum Exposed
Filed Under Rich Schefren | Leave a Comment
I just finished up with several presentations at the Early To Rise Boot Camp this week...
What a fantastic event. Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby really went over and above for this one. And I was honored to be one of the speakers.
As it usually happens with these types of seminars, most of the speakers gathered in a private suite to relax, catch up, and talk shop.
I was able to reconnect with old friends like Alex Mandossian and Yanik Silver, as well as get to know brilliant people like David Cross and Marc Charles a lot better. Plus, it's always good to see Buck Rivzi and Brock Felt.
Now, I know what many of you are thinking, because I get it all the time when I mention these "inner sanctums"...
"Wow, Rich... I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in there!"
I can understand that. When you get some of the world's greatest marketing and business building minds in one room, creative sparks tend to fly. And million dollar deals tend to be struck.
But I'll let you in on a little secret...
Our private suite wasn't where the REAL action was.
Nope--the meaty, juicy stuff was inside our COO Brian Johnson's circle.
Let me explain...
If you read my "Man Behind The Curtain" post a week or two ago, you know Brian takes care of the business at Strategic Profits. He's my number one guy.
And whenever there was a break at the event, Brian was huddled with a handful of his contemporaries, comparing notes on recent promotions, future launches, and current trends.
But all that took a back seat to the main topic of conversation--how to effectively run the day-to-day operations of a multi-million dollar business.
Because Brian opened the proverbial can of worms with this call.
Internet Business Secrets Revealed
A couple of weeks back, Brian got a few of the top operations people on the phone to discuss their most productive strategies for keeping these mega-empires running smoothly.
And the call was a major success. We had masses of people flooding the phone lines when it ran live, and even more when we offered replays last weekend.
It was so good, in fact, that many of his pals at the event were scampering to get an MP3 and transcript to the call (which he promptly gave them).
But then I got to thinking, "If we give it to them, it's only fair that we make it available to everyone else for the asking."
So here you go.
Listening to this call will be like stepping inside Brian's huddle this week...
You'll get the inside scoop on what it takes to REALLY make things happen--from the people who pull all the strings.
We're talking the brains behind the scenes for leading gurus including Jay Abraham, Joel Comm, Eben Pagan, Mike Filsaime and more--all in one place and all spilling their biggest secrets for multiplying sales and creating a business that virtually runs itself.
It's unlike anything call you've ever listened to before, and you can hear every word--with my compliments--right here.
I implore you--do NOT miss this. We'll even throw in the transcript for free so you can highlight your favorite parts.
Sound good?
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. Once you listen (or if you heard it earlier) let us know what you think by posting in the comments below...
I'd like to hear your biggest takeaways from the call along with one strategy you'll be implementing into your own business immediately.
I'll be monitoring your responses and chiming in myself from time to time. So make sure you post your comment below, okay?
Can't wait to hear your input...
Nov
11
(DISCLAIMER: Let's just go ahead and get this out of the way right now...
This blog post is intended to examine the successful marketing aspects of each campaign and what we can take away as marketers and entrepreneurs. It is in NO WAY intended to endorse one candidate over the other.
Last time I mentioned a candidate there were some inflammatory comments posted and subsequently removed. We will follow the same format with this post.
So let's keep everything in perspective here. Cool?)
Hey, we got us a new president!
Now maybe my phone will finally stop ringing 72 times a day with a recorded message from some guy running for the Assistant County Clerk's office.
You too, huh? 
Anyway, the campaigns fascinated me to no end. Never before have we seen two candidates generate such a passionate response.
But let's face it--an election is really no more than a marketing campaign. You're basically trying to sell people on your product over another, right?
Well, one campaign did it BRILLIANTLY. Guess which one it was?
You got it--the winning one.
Now, we can argue until we're blue in the face why Obama won over McCain last week...
Things like making cultural history...the sliding popularity of the previous Republican administration...a younger, hipper candidate who seemed to relate better...McCain's controversial choice of Sara Palin as a running mate...they all hold water in this debate.
But I'll tell you the BIGGEST reason why Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the Untied States on January 20, 2009.
And it can be summed up in 2 words--social marketing.
Obama campaigned to the social marketing crowd perfectly, generating a HUGE amount of support from a variety of online resources
Just check out these amazing statistics from Trendrr...
--Since the conventions, blog posts mentioning Obama outnumbered those referencing McCain by more than 3 to 1.
--Obama's number of MySpace friends grew steadily over the past few months while McCain's remained relatively flat. By election day, Obama had almost 4 times the number of friends McCain had
--While those MySpace figures are remarkable, the Twitter stats are even more eye-popping. Obama had nearly TWENTY FOUR times the amount of followers that McCain had.
UNBELIEVABLE!
And it doesn't end there. I found similar numbers for FaceBook and YouTube usage as well, with Obama clearly outpacing McCain.
Obama's tactic was a masterpiece--targeting the younger, more technically literate crowd (many who had never voted or even bothered to register) and hit them right where they live--on social networking landscape.
The subsequent result was a MASSIVE following that grew larger and larger by the day. And those same people made a huge impact at the polls.
So what does this all mean?
Simple--like I said a year ago in the Attention Age Doctrine 2, social marketing is now a factor that cannot (and must not) be ignored.
When the American political climate can be shifted by a blog, a forum, or a social networking site, then you have an 800 pound gorilla staring you right in the face.
And it's HUNGRY.
Obama worked this element with a surgeon's precision, generating a buzz very early on and feeding the frenzy until it grew to mammoth proportions.
But do you think Obama merely pulled a few net-savvy supporters together and said, "Go talk about me on those internet site thingys"?
Nope--he had a PLAN. A carefully conceived, painstakingly constructed plan. And it worked to perfection.
And that, my entrepreneurial friends, is what I want you to take away from this election...
No matter what it is in your business--be it traffic generation or product creation or copywriting--you need a solid, proven-to-work plan for getting from point A to point B.
Without it, you're basically flying by the seat of your pants. And although there have been a few rare instances where this was successful, 99.9% of the time you end up crashing and burning.
So where do you get these "plans" exactly?
Click Here To Claim Your First FREE Month Of Cashmaps
With my CashMaps, you'll have an entire series of step by step process maps that deliver big results--FAST.
Each CashMap highlights a different piece of the online business puzzle, with every step laid out in an easy-to read-fashion anyone can understand.
And these aren't just pie in the sky ideas here. They're the very same process maps I've been using for years to build Strategic Profits.
So they've been tested, re-tested and then re-tested again to achieve maximum impact with minimal effort.
Isn't that what you've been looking for to make things easier?
Click Here To Claim Your First FREE Month Of Cashmaps
Right now, I've opened the CashMaps program again for a limited time...
In fact, you can get your first one right now for FREE (just pay for shipping and handling). I'll even throw in some sweet bonuses worth hundreds of dollars just for checking it out.
And if you don't like it, you can keep the bonuses with my compliments.
Talk about a risk-free deal...
Click Here To Claim Your First FREE Month Of Cashmaps
Next year, we'll not only have a brand new president. You could also have a successful new business thanks to CashMaps.
Ready to get started?
Click Here To Claim Your First FREE Month Of Cashmaps
See you inside...
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. Okay, I know many of you are chomping at the bit to add your comments below. So please go ahead and do that now.
But remember--no nastiness. Let's stick to the marketing aspects of both campaigns and stay away from the volatile stuff.
Agreed?
Click Here To Claim Your First FREE Month Of Cashmaps
Nov
4
QUICK UPDATE: Since my last post about using process maps for trick or treating, I've received a bunch of emails asking how the girls did this year.
Well, it worked like a champ once again. We set out with a specific plan, made our rounds, and came home with the biggest pile of Halloween treasure in the Schefren history.
So everyone's happy--except maybe Debi. Because I left our sugar-buzzed kids with her while I flew out to Vegas to spend the weekend with Eli Goldratt, the founder of the theory of constraints. (Mental note: send flowers.)
I'll go into more details about that meeting in a later post (AWESOME experience) but right now, I want to talk about an epiphany I had on this trip...
See, Vegas is the biggest money-sucking vortex on the face of the earth. No other city on the planet pulls more cash from the wallets of its visitors than Sin City.
And I gotta admit--the entire thing fascinates me to no end. And here's why...
The whole town is one big marketing lesson in itself. Seriously.
Think about it...every hotel, from the ceiling tiles to the wild, outrageous carpet patterns, is engineered to pull your focus to one thing--the profit center known as the casino.
They don't want you to eat. They don't want you to sleep. They don't want you to leave. Just play. Hand after hand, roll after roll, pull after pull. And keep on playing.
From a logical standpoint, it all seems rather silly. Because we know how often gamblers come away winners, right?
But this isn't logic we're talking about. This is Vegas, baby. Easy riches at your fingertips. And from a marketing viewpoint, their methodology is BRILLIANT.
Because these mammoth hotels are specifically designed to funnel you towards the casino...and funnel your cash into their pockets.
Front desk? Gotta go through the casino. Elevators? Through the casino. Restaurants? Through the casino. Meeting rooms? Through the casino.
You simply can't ignore its presence. And the allure of the non-stop action is hypnotic, to say the least.
Soon you find yourself dropping a few bucks on the slots...maybe a couple hundred at the tables. And next thing you know, you're heading to the ATM for more money--and you haven't even checked in yet!
Now don't get me wrong--I'm not anti-gambling. I enjoy the occasional double down or Pass line bet. But there's a lesson to be had here...
Just like a Vegas hotel, everything in your business needs to funnel towards your profit center. And I mean EVERYTHING.
If it stands in the way of helping you make money, get rid of it. Period. Your time and energy are too precious to devote towards anything besides maximizing your profit streams.
And if you're sending your prospects anywhere else besides the funnel, you're wasting their time--and yours. (Not to mention leaving humongous stacks of cash on the table). Simple as that.
I know it might sound a little harsh, but it's sound business. Because really, if it's not making you money, why are you even messing with it?
Think of it this way...imagine if one of these monster Vegas theme hotels decided to tuck their casino way back in the corner someplace like a gift shop. Would they be as profitable?
Of course not. They'd lose hundreds of millions of dollars because they're not funneling prospects into the profit center. And they'd be out of business before you can sing the first few bars of "Danke Schoen".
So what's the best way to set up a business that sucks your prospects into your own profit vortex with Vegas-like efficiency?
Oh, that's TOO easy.
On Wednesday the 5th, Brian's going to show you EXACTLY how to do it the Strategic Profits way...
You'll discover how we set up different processes to pull in customers and lead them down an ultra-persuasive road to becoming lifetime buyers.
Plus, we'll pull back the curtain and show you how we streamline the day-to-day business and generate millions of dollars a year in profits.
Ready to hit the jackpot?
And to top it all off, he's bringing in some very special guests to compare notes with and see how they run their multi-million dollar business like clockwork.
Check out that all-star guest list here.
As of this writing, we've almost maxed out the bridge lines. Yes, there's still a chance you could get on this call, but it decreases with every moment.
So you'd better secure your spot right now before they're all snatched up.
See you inside...
To Higher Profits
Rich
P.S. I gotta tell you...if I had to choose between automated profits and having to scramble and scrape to make every buck, I'd take the former in a minute...
Automation is the key to real freedom as an entrepreneur. And the main reason we've been able to automate much of our business is because of process mapping.
These step-by-step blueprints have had a MAJOR impact on how we do things. I really don't know where we'd be if it wasn't for my dog-eared, coffee-stained copies.
Wanna know what's on them? Tune in Wednesday to find out.
Oct
30
The Great Pumpkin’s Got Nothing On This Foolproof System…
Filed Under Rich Schefren | Leave a Comment
So it's Halloween again, one of Ava and Elle's favorite holidays...
And this year they're going as "Pink Supergirls". Not really sure what that means exactly. but I've seen the costumes and my kids will be the cutest on the block--bar none. Just like yours will be.
All this brings me back to the excitement of going trick or treating as a kid. Remember?
Spending hours at the local store, eyeing up this season's coolest costumes (all with the words FLAME RETARDANT in massive letters on the box, in case anyone would attempt to trick or treat with a burning torch instead of a flashlight)...
Finally deciding on the Batman over the Fonzie and the Evel Knievel (Yeah, I'm aging myself here)...
Then it was house to house, pillow case in hand and a hard, scratchy mask glued to your face. How did we ever breathe in those things?
And let me just say for the record...at the end of the evening, when everyone got together to compare their loot, I always--ALWAYS--came out with the biggest pile.
How? It was easy. I had my own little process map.
Seriously. Every year, I mapped out the entire trick or treat route in my head before leaving the house. Sometimes I even jotted it down on a piece of notebook paper.
I knew every house in a 3 block radius like the back of my hand. For example...
--The old lady at the end of the block? Avoid at all costs. She smelled like mothballs and her popcorn treats tasted like Elmer's glue.
--The new family down the street in the Brady Bunch house? Definite must-stop. They always gave out the expensive stuff, like 3 Musketeers and Milky Way. (And not those mini ones either--full size, baby!). We'd try to hit them several times if we could swing it.
--That weird guy around the corner? Not in a million years. He never wore a shirt and his dog would hump your leg at the drop of a hat. Plus, he never gave you anything but that cheap, mystery candy in the plain black or red wrappers. Ewwwww...
And so on, and so on. I mapped the entire route in my head beforehand so I could maximize my efforts in minimal time. And the results were OUTSTANDING. (Unless of course, you asked my dentist.)
Those memories are wonderful, to say the least. But here's what I want you to take away from all this...
When it all comes down to it, figuring out my little trick or treat route is really no different than figuring out how to build a business.
You have a set goal in mind, you're starting from square one, and you're trying to find the path to achieve success in the fastest, easiest way.
And the most effective way to do that is piece together a roadmap that takes you from A to B to C to D until you reach your goals. Simple right?
Well, it was when we were 10. But as grown ups, we tend to make things a lot more difficult than they need to be.
Stuff gets in the way, interruptions stall our progress, and setbacks abound. And when we peek inside our pillow case, all we see inside is a ball of lint...and a lot of frustration.
That's why you need to be on this call.
Brian's pulling some of the top operations people together to reveal how process mapping helps their multi-million dollar businesses thrive--even in a tough economy--and how those same principles can apply to your business.
These are the behind-the-scenes masterminds who work for the biggest gurus in our business, all together for one landmark call.
And they're going to reveal some mind-blowing techniques and strategies for making your candy sack virtually overflow with goodies--every time.
How does that sound?
But it's filling up fast, so you'd better grab a seat now before all the lines are taken.
I gotta go...I'm working with the kids on their own Halloween process map. Lesson One: Stay away from Brian Johnson's house. Talk about CREEPY!
(Sorry--but after Brian and I got lambasted for our inside joke in my last post, I had to throw that in.)
Happy Halloween everyone!
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. I know I took a stroll down memory lane here. And I gotta admit...it was FUN.
But what about you? Do you have any great Halloween stories? Wear some embarrassing costumes? Have some "interesting" people on your block?
I'd love to hear them. But first, you need to register for the call here. Then chime in below with your favorite Halloween memories.
