Business Lyceum

e-Letter
Practical Instruction in the Arts and Sciences of Making Money


Editor/Publisher:  J.F. (Jim) Straw

APRIL 2006

Greetings & Salutations:

Trust ... on the web (Internet), in mailorder, or anywhere else in business or life ... can only be "earned."  Therefore, to inspire 'trust,' you must do those things which will allow you to "earn" the trust of the people with whom you deal.

To begin with, how many times have you gone to a website and discover there is absolutely no way of knowing 'who' operates the site ... or how you can contact them (other than through the website itself)? -- Then again, even when you contact them through the website, how often do you get a prompt response that actually "answers" your inquiry?

Unfortunately, too many petty crooks, phonies, flakes and fakes love the Internet for the simple reason that they can claim just about anything in their materials ... without much chance of discovery ... because no one knows who they are. -- I have also observed that too many otherwise honest people use this same anonymity to simply hide the fact that they are beginners in the business community, working from home, or just a small operation.  (A lesson they learned from the Internet-Gurus who have told them that "on the Internet, you can look like a BIG company.")

Throughout my 50 years (man & boy) in the business community, I have found that "real" business people put their "real" names and addresses on everything they do. -- If YOU don't want to put YOUR NAME on the products or services YOU sell, either YOU or YOUR PRODUCT are suspect.

Even when I was barely dry-behind-the-ears, I used my real name and address on everything I did. -- I never tried to change people's opinions about dealing with a kid. -- If people didn't want to deal with a kid, I accepted that as just another factor I had to overcome by providing "superior" service to those who would deal with a kid. -- I let my "customers" convince the skeptics that I was worthy of their business.  (That's what "testimonials" are all about.)

Beyond that, if anyone ever asked, I admitted that I was a kid. -- I didn't try to pretend I was anything other than what I was.

Granted, I always attempted to present the best "professional" appearance in all my dealings ... just like the Internet-Gurus who tell you that you can have the appearance of a BIG company on your website ... but, my "professional" appearance was adopted because I tried in all ways to "conduct" myself as a professional would in my dealings ... my purpose was not to deceive.

Building "trust" in the business community requires only that you identify yourself, put your best professional-foot forward, admit your shortcomings, and "do exactly what you say you can do" promptly and professionally. -- "Trust" will come ... when you have earned it.

You can NOT earn anyone's trust, if your are anonymous.


Now, let's do some ...

Questions & Answers, Comments!

In  February, 2003, a very pregnant Mama Cat showed up on the doorstep at our offices ... half-starved.

My sweet, soft-hearted wife; Delores, had pity on Mama Cat and fed her some luncheon meat from my lunch.

Mama Cat spent the rest of the day on our doorstep and Delores fed her again before we left for the day.

The next morning ... you guessed it ... Mama Cat was sitting on our doorstep when we arrived.  Of course, Delores fed her again that morning and again before we left for the day ... my lunches were getting smaller and smaller.

Sympathetic Delores bought some cat food that evening.  The next day, she even let Mama Cat come into the office to  be fed ... whereupon, Mama Cat took up residence in a mail tray in the mailroom.  But, we put her out for the night.

It wasn't long before Mama Cat knew our schedule as well as we did.  She would arrive each morning just as we arrived and each afternoon at closing time she would meow at the door to be let out.

On March 30, Mama Cat didn't show up.

At about 10:30 that morning, Mama Cat came to the office door with a little bundle of fur in her mouth.  Upon depositing her package in her mail tray, she went back to  the office door and meowed to be let out.  After 4 such trips, we had 2 black & white and 2 solid black kittens ... still wet ... residing in our mailroom.

While Mama Cat was making her second trip that morning, Delores'  motherly instincts kicked-in. She got the old Army blanket from the trunk of the car.  By the time Mama Cat had finished bringing her babies to the mailroom, Delores had set up a cozy cat nursery for them. -- Delores watched with delight as Mama Cat  meticulously bathed her babies.

At about lunch time  that day, Mama Cat meowed at the office door to be let out.  She returned right before closing time and was escorted to the cat nursery for the night.

Next morning, upon our arrival. Mama Cat was waiting at the office door to be let out (amazingly there were no cat-accidents during the night). -- While she was gone, Delores installed the ltter box and litter  ... completing the cat nursery.

Over the next weeks, Mama Cat left the office mid-morning; returning early afternoon, each day.  Caring for her babies; when Delores wasn't there to do it.

After the kittens were fully weaned and trained to use only the litter box, Mama Cat simply didn't return one afternoon. -- We haven't seen her since.

Our son; Phillip, and his wife; Cynthia, took the 2 black & white kittens home.  Delores and I took the 2 solid black ones.

March 30, this year, the twins; Alex & Felix, celebrated their third birthday ... weighing in at almost 20 pounds each (the biggest cats I've ever seen). -- They have been a joy.

I told you that, because ...

Carolyn Bartz wrote asking me  to review her cat-website. -- I  found it  delightful. -- So ...

If you love cats ... or a cat  owns  you ... check it out at:

http://www.catsaflockin.com



Increase your profits... improve your sales...  and make your Internet business grow exponentially.

New breakthrough information (for your eyes only):

Breakthrough

This is limited to a select group of my clients and subscribers.

Do not share this URL with anyone else please.

Believe it or don't, you really can learn how to double, triple, or even quadruple you sales and profits ... using tested and proven, fail-safe, profit-certain systems.

Breakthrough


Dennis Doherty wanted to share this with you ...

"I have an interesting thought or idea for your readers to shelter income and am  willint  to pass it along so you can pass it along. -- I have a 10 acre lot that I can split in two.  My house is on one lot.  The other lot I will sell.  Prior to the sale, I open a self-directed  Roth IRA with after-tax dollars, put the real estate in the IRA, then sell it and keep the  profit tax-free.  I can then use the money to fund other business ventures and increase my wealth."

If you think about it, the idea can also be adapted to a wide variety of assets ... even intangible ones.


Chuck Huckaby thought he could stump the ol'master ...

"I'm trying to stump the master. -- Here's my question ... it's a real life product.  How would you market it? -- It's a FREE discount prescription plan card for people with no pharmacy coverage.  It's sponsored by the major pharmaceutical companies.  Participants save 25-40% on name brand prescriptions for the most popular prescriptions.  It's free to sign up as long as they're under 65 and not on a prescription plan or medicaid.  It's designed by the big drug companies for the "working poor"... The field rep earns $2.50 per enrollee ... Family of 4 earns $10 (4 x $2.50). -- Any ideas?"

Chuck:

If I were doing it ...

I would create a flyer with the heading ... "A Gift From Your Boss" or " A Gift From Your Employer" (for larger concerns). -- For bosses/employers with over 25 employees, under the heading I would insert the name of the employer.

You can get the flyers printed at any quick-print shop, or Kinko's, or Office Depot.

The flyer would outline the many benefits of the program ... all for FREE.  With some kind of response coupon where the employee could get the application (or whatever).

Should be an easy sale to bosses/employers because they pay nothing but can give their employees a perceived benefit.  Just get the employers to agree to give a flyer to each of their employees and even use the benefits themselves.

Although you might be able to interest some fairly good sized companies  in giving away the "Gift" to their employees, you will probably have the most success with small employers.  Even those with only 2 or 3 employees could be profitable and they will like the idea of giving their employees a "benefit."

Try it ... your bank account will love it.



Benton Williams needed to  know ...

"Do you know where I could find info on writing up an executive summary? -- Howlong should it be and what should it contain that will spark the interest of  a prospective investor?"

Benton:

There isn't any course on writing executive summaries - but - there are a number of courses on writing Business Plans.

First you write a Business Plan.  Then, you condense it into a 1 page summary of the plan  ... sort of like an outline of the complete plan.



Joe Trevison tells me ...

"I created a forum just for finders. They can ask questions or get answers. I just put it on my site."

You can check it out at:

http://www.Joetrevison.com



Barry Brindle was thinking  ...

"I thoroughly enjoy your monthly newsletter and thought I would take you up on your vast business knowledge and ask a question or two of you: - I would like to place an ad in a publication directing the reader directly to an affiliate website; provided the ad was placed in the right publications, the ad contains good copy and the product was appealing to the consumer. - Would this be an efficient and effective way of driving traffic to an affiliates website? - I'm thinking that I could (potentially) reach a much wider, more targeted group of interested prospects for the least amount of money. - What do you think? - Are commercial loan affiliate programs a good choice?"

Barry ...

Yes - but - the only way you can tell for sure is to test a number of ads to see which works best for your offer.  Also test the various publications in your nich to find out which ones have the highest response.

It is time consuming; and sometimes costly, but the results can be highly rewarding.

Loan brokering can be profitable.  Selecting an affiliate program, AGAIN, requires testing to find out which  ones work best for you.

To get started right, read my free report  at:  finance.html



Dennis P. & Deborah Dalton wanted some direction ...

"My wife and I have been very interested in the off-price overstock merchandise market.  We have been researching it for 2 YEARS!  All we have been able to find is thousands of company's offering merchandise by the pallet "direct from the reclamation center. -- Stores like TJ Maxx, Bargain City, Factory 2-U and Ross Dress for Less are purchasing and profitably reselling this merchandise. . This merchandise must be coming from either the manufacturer, importer, and or distributor. -- I know there are sources for this merchandise, I just don't know where to look. -- Can you please help us?"

Dennis & Deborah:

For over 20 years, the bible of the closeout industry has been the "Closeout News" -- you'll find it at:

http://www.thecloseoutnews.com/

You'll also find a number of items about dealing in closeouts in the back issues of my eLetter:

archives.html


Allan Mullin wanted to know...

"I am just starting out as a Mortgage Broker but have been in the financial industry for over 10 years, I have received different advise as to how to generate leads. I decided to start out dropping off 240 flyers a day myself everyday of the week for the entire month as a way to start. -- Do you have any suggestions or do you know of other information available specific to this field."

Allan:

If I were doing it (again), I would contact all of the Real Estate Agents and let them know about the  services provided.



Phil Gomez
asked ...

"When starting a mailorder business in a field where you have no previous experience, is there a minimum number of products you would recommend having lined up before beginning? -- How many would you feel is too few?"

Phil:

FIRST ... find one product that sells well.  You may have to test a bunch of them until you find just one.

Once you have a product that sells well, look for other similar and/or related items to sell to the  same people.

You can't start  a stable until you have your first horse.



Christine Carter had an idea ...

"I live in the Caribbean on a little island where tourist are coming daily.  I have land by the seaside but no money to build a hotel.  My desire is building a 200 room hotel where people can come and enjoy themselves, then go back to there homes and talk great about us.  I always envision the lobby having a large wall aquarium with a variety of tropical fish swimming in it. -- I would like your insight in approaching this endeavour that I have."

Christine:

The easiest way would be to contact the MAJOR Hotel/Resort companies ... like Hilton ... and sell them on the idea of building one of their hotels on your site.



Thomas  J. Lewis had an ages-old problem ...

"I own a small Print Shop and have to go out and do a lot of cold calls to get business customers.  Do you have any information available on how to make this process more effective?"

Thomas:

There is no easy way to sell anything.  All of the methods work - but - none of the methods  work.

What you have to do is try every method you can find.  Then, continue doing those that produce customers and don't repeat those that don't produce.

When you find something that works exceptionally well, just do it over & over, more & more.

Check the eLetter archives for various items on selling:  archives.html



Vlad Slavnic has a brilliant idea ...

If you are ever looking for a solid, wholehearted and evergreen gift for friends , family or relatives ... then you cannot go past this little gem.... "How To Play Guitar In 2 Hrs Flat" ... by Louise Slavnic.

I guarantee that you can by-pass all those headaches associated with learning to play guitar and absolutely be playing songs on guitar in 2 Hours FLAT . . . no matter what your age or ability.

www.guitarmadeeasy.net



Well ... that's it for this month. -- In order to make every issue responsive to YOUR needs, please send me your questions; or tell me what sources or resources you need to build your business; or give me any thoughts you want to share with your fellow members.

Believe it or don't ... I ain t a mind-reader. -- If n you doesn't tell me what you need, I may never touch upon the information, sources or resources you need.

This is your publication for you to use to your benefit ... I am just your moderator.

 Until next month, keep well ...

J.F. (Jim) STRAW
Grande Panjandrum


Thought For The Month!

"The secret of success is sincerity." -- Jean Giraudoux


Can you stump the old master? -- Betcha can't!

Over the past 40 years (man and boy), I have made bundles of money in direct selling, service contracting, wholesale merchandising, entertainment (I was a professional Trumpet player, vocalist & Radio Announcer), freight forwarding, import/export, retail merchandising, warehousing, real estate, electronics manufacturing, finder's fees, closeout merchandising, financial brokerage, business consulting, steel fabrication, gold and coal mining, offshore banking, mailorder, writing, and publishing. -- That being the case ...

No matter what business you're in ... whether you're just starting, well on your way, or at the top of the heap ... I've probably been where you are, done what you are doing. -- So ...

Anytime you have a question about 'how' to do something in your business - or - if you have any comments about anything I've said in issues of this e-Letter; or if you want to add your 2 cents worth ... just "ask" me or "tell" me.

Send your Questions, Comments or 2 Cents Worth to ...

with "Question" - "Comment" - or, "2 Cents Worth" in the SUBJECT.

If I, personally, don't have an answer to any question you may ask, I will contact some of the professionals in your field of endeavor (I will probably know one or more personally) to get the real 'skinny' for you.

Note: If you want to ask a question anonymously just tell me so when you send in the question. -- Nobody but you and I will know who asked the question.


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