DECEMBER 2003
Greetings & Salutations:
This month, we're going to answer the burning question ...
"What is the major difference between people
making an extra $1,000 per month on the Internet and the ones
that make 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 ... is 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 mailorder 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 may 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 customers 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 ... importing the wigs myself
... 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' x 60' 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
process follows what mine was back then, your thoughts are most
likely 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.
If you're interested in learning the "natural diversification"
that catapulted me from a successful business as a wig merchant
to world-renown as a writer, publisher, mailorder marketer, buy
a copy of my Mailorder Marketing course ... "Own Your
Own Mailorder Business"
... turn to page #64 and read the story starting with the last
paragraph on the page.
Throughout the years, I have observed that all successful
business people ... especially my most productive dealers
... have developed that all-important tunnel vision
approach in their businesses.
My all-time best, most productive dealer ... may he rest in
peace (he died in 1995) ... became a dealer for one of my products
in 1978. -- I remember it well because his first check bounced
and he had to pay for his future orders with Money Orders ...
after he made his check good.
At first, his efforts were sporadic. -- Some months, he would
make a couple thousand dollars. Then, he might
go 2 or 3 months without producing an order ...
followed by a couple months when he would pick-up a few hundred
dollars per month.
In mid-1983, his orders leveled-out at about $3,000 per month
... by the end of the year, his monthly order volume was just
over $5,000.
Five years later, he was earning over $20,000 per month ...
selling over $40,000 worth of my products each month. I
met the man for the first time when I attended a seminar in Chicago.
After we laughed about his first check to us bouncing, I learned
that he had retired ... with a reasonable pension ... a couple
years before he became a dealer for my products. At that
time, he was dabbling in a number of small businesses and thought
mailorder might be a money-maker for him. He chose one
of my products to start - but - kept looking for other ... better
... opportunities.
At the end of 1982, he had looked back over what he had been
doing and ... to his amazement ... discovered that he had made
more money ... dollar for dollar ... selling my products, than
from any other opportunity he had pursued. So, he decided
to put all of his efforts into selling my products.
In 1991 ... his last year in business with me ... he was earning
over $100,000 per month from my products - plus - however much
he made beyond that on the other, related, products he sold for
other drop shippers.
So, the major difference between people making an extra $1,000
per month on the Internet and the ones that make big money, is
the same as the difference between beginning entrepreneurs who
just eke out a living in business and those who build empires.
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. -- 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.
Now, here's a trick you can use to ...
Organize Your Time & Efforts
At least once a month, I get something from "Day Timers"
... they're the people who produce all of those appointment and
scheduling books you see Real Estate agents carrying around with
them.
In one of their offerings, they included this "Success
Tip."
"Start Each Day by Making a List! Jot down everything
you need to do that day. Then go back and number each item
by priority. Work on your #1 priority first and try to
stay with it until you're done. Then start on #2 and so
on."
Very good advice - but - about 25 years ago, I found a better
way ... for me, anyway.
Every time I have an idea, or learn of a job I need to do,
or think of a topic for this e-Letter, I print it ... in red
... on a 3"x5" yellow Post-It note and stick it on
the top of my desk. Then, when I have some time, I do the
jobs that need to be done; move the "idea" notes to
my BIG Idea Notebook; and move the "topic" notes to
my e-Letter Notebook.
When a job has been done, or an idea has been implemented,
or a topic has been covered, I simply throw the note away.
That way, I don't have to continually move jobs, ideas or topics
ahead in a diary ... besides, I don't need a daily record of
everything I do, or think. -- Once it's done, the note is gone.
Hey, it works for me. -- Try it. It might work
for you.
Copyright - 2003, J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved.