NOVEMBER 2005
Greetings & Salutations:
It seems almost all of you like the Q&A format ... using
questions I have answered for wannabee publishers - so, here's
some more of'em:
Q: I'm starting a small
business. How do I go about finding a management team and
locating qualified employees?
A: Whoa! -- If you were
to come into my office and ask that question, I would have a
ho'bunch of questions for you before I could even begin to answer.
-- What kind of business? Tell me all about the product
or service? Where will the business be located? What
is your background? What are your financial strengths and
weaknesses? etc., etc., etc.
If you are looking for a management team, your business is
either very sophisticated - or - you just want someone else to
do the work for you; while you pull the strings and make the
profit.
Assuming that your business is sophisticated enough to need
a management team, you can find good management teams advertising
in the trade publications for your industry. Once you employ
one of those management teams, they will locate and employ the
qualified employees to operate the business.
If, on the other hand, you are just looking for someone to
do the work for you, I heartily suggest you get a JOB and stay
out of the business community ... there are already too many
ne'er-do-wells pretending to be business people.
Q: Who are your
business heroes and why?
A: My heroes are like
my successes ... I couldn't count them with all of fingers, toes
and hairs on my chest.
I am forever in awe of people who succeed in business ...
any kind of business ... from the local Mom & Pop grocery
store to the mega-corporate types.
Any one who succeeds in business is my hero.
Q: What do we need to
learn to become business minded people?
A: Hey ... I ain't got
the time to write a thousand pages.
The main thing a wannabee MUST first do is attempt to lose
their "consumer" mentality. That means they must
give up their attitudes about privacy, security and "the
evils of making money."
To succeed in any business, you must be willing to give up
your privacy and rely solely upon yourself for your security.
-- You MUST let your customers know who you are ... not just
a fictitious email address ... and where they can find you.
Otherwise, you are only playing at being in business.
Learn to respect "money," in all its forms and embrace
the fact that "making money" is NOT evil - but - there
are some evil people who make a lot of money. By and large,
MOST people who make a lot of money are far more honest than
the customers they serve.
Q: What businesses would
you recommend staying away from? How can I spot an illegitimate
offer?
A: Who is the ugliest
woman in the world? -- Depends on who's looking, doesn't it?
As I have said before, there are millionaires in every imaginable
business - so - if a business interests you, pursue it.
How do you spot an illegitimate offer? -- To which the learned
gurus would respond, "If it sounds too good to be true,
it is."
There are as many legitimate businesses that sound too good
to be true as there are illegitimate ones. - Why? - Because,
most beginning business people are still thinking like consumers.
They don't yet know the real facts about business, so they dismiss
legitimate business opportunities because they simply don't understand
the business of business.
For example: Would you believe it if I told you that
"passive" earnings of 3% to 7% PER DAY were possible?
-- Too good to be true? -- But, it happens every day. Then
again, it doesn't happen every day to the same person. -- You
can only do; maybe, 5 or 6 deals like that in a year's time (it
takes 30 to 60 days just to set up the deals) ... even with the
best sources and resources. (I've done it more than once.)
That kind of offer would be known and acceptable in the International
Forfaiting field ... and those knowledgeable in that field would
know it couldn't be done every day - BUT - every day, con-men
around the world are separating people from their hard earned
money by promising those returns every day on every dollar invested.
You can't tell the legitimate from the illegitimate in the
business community until you fully understand the business of
business as it really exists. -- A knowledgeable money-man would
know that the con-man's offer was illegitimate because the money-man
would also know that you can't do a deal every day ... even under
the best circumstances.
The ONLY way you can protect yourself from illegitimate offers
is by "knowing" the business of business. That
means losing your consumer mentality and studying the business
or industry in which the opportunity may; or may not, exist.
Q: How do I find joint
venture partners and silent business partners?
A: How do you find anything
you want in business? -- You "advertise" for it.
There is no big mystery about finding venture partners or
silent partners. You just advertise for them in the publications
they read.
Every trade, industry, field of business endeavor and hobby
has publications directed specifically to people who participate
in those industries ... the "best" are newsletters
that; although very small in circulation, go to a very tight
niche readership. -- Get'em. Read'em. Then, advertise
for the partners you need.
Q: What are the most important
parts of a business plan and how would I develop them?
A: Whoops! This
question is a bit out of my field of knowledge.
Over the past nearly 50 years, I have never found it necessary
to write a business plan in order to interest investors.
I have bootstrapped all my businesses without financing. -- SO
...
I recommend you do a search on "business plans."
-- I've read a number of good articles on the subject and remember
receiving a FREE template for writing business plans from one
of the Internet companies that provide business plan assistance.
By the way, although I have never written a formal business
plan for any of my businesses, I ALWAYS have a written plan for
doing any business in which I decide to get involved.
Q: What would you say
are 5 to 10 keys to your success in business & life?
A: There are only two
... study and testing.
No matter what business you attempt, you MUST study everything
you can find on the subject of your business endeavor.
Then, you MUST test every method, concept and technique in that
business until you find what works for you.
For example: When I decided to go into the banking business,
I bought over $3,000 worth of books on banking and the financial
industry. Read them cover to cover ... all of them.
Then, I tested and retested methods to make my bank do what I
envisioned it doing.
Another example: When I got involved in gold mining,
I bought copies of over $1,500 worth of gold processing patents;
from the U.S. Patent Office. Studied all of them until
I had some ideas on how to get the gold from the placer deposits.
Then, I tested and retested those methods until I found one that
worked.
Whatever you want to do in business, you MUST pay the price
for your education. You either pay for books on the subject,
or you pay the price by cold, hard experience. Then, no
matter what you learn, you can only make it succeed if you test
and retest what you have learned.
Q: What online and offline
companies/businesses do you use and admire?
This is the kind of question that gets most beginners in trouble.
- Why? - Because, all too often, beginners believe that, if they
use the same resources as a successful person, they too will
succeed.
Each person must make their decisions about what businesses,
services, suppliers and/or vendors they will use for their business
... based solely upon the value provided by the sources they
choose.
For example: Back in 1983, we went looking for a new
typesetting system for our paper and ink publications.
We had been using the Compugraphics system ... typesetting one
line of type at a time; then retyping any errors, cutting &
pasting them over the error. -- Price quotes for a typesetting
system with pagination were from $80,000 to $120,000. -- Then
I received information from one of my subscribers; Steve Jobs,
telling me about the Aldus PageMaker that worked on his Macintosh
computer. -- The whole system cost me just over $20,000 ... you
can buy it today for less than $3,000 with a lot more bells &
whistles. -- SO ...
You could say I use and admire the Apple Computers; with the
new Adobe Pagemaker system and the fantastic PageMill website
maker - but - that's because they were the system I started with.
-- Would they be right for YOU ... I don't know. It is,
as always, a matter of perception.
Q: What advice can you
give the person who has "tried everything" but still
can't seem to put all of the pieces to the "success puzzle"
together?
A: Quit "trying"
and start "doing."
You can "try" to do something all your life and
never get it done - but - when you quit "trying" and
dedicate yourself; heart & soul, to doing it, you will succeed.
Pick just one thing. Do it every day. Test it
every day. Do it some more. Test it some more.
"The work will teach you how to do it."
-- Estonian Proverb
Q: The internet is maturing
- it seems more difficult to find a niche and separate my site
from others. Are the opportunities for the small start-up
disappearing?
A: Back in the late 1800s
... before automobiles & airplanes ... it was decided to
close the U.S. Patent Office, because, "Everything that
can be invented has already been invented."
Niche marketing is great - BUT - instead of trying to "niche"
yourself into a marketing corner, try expanding your efforts
to include others into your niche by either adapting your
product to a larger niche; or finding another audience
for your products outside your niche.
As an example ...
When I wrote the report the report, "Get $1,000 -
$5,000 Free & Clear Within 30 Days!," it was directed
toward people who needed some help with their financing. -- Then,
I started receiving notes like this one that I used in an ad
campaign for it. -- Here's the actual email message I used ...
In the information publishing business, THIS is what we live
for:
Cynthia P. (Pismo Beach, CA) recently bought my report, "How
To Get $1,000-$5,000 Free & Clear within 30 days." --
She sent me this and I got her permission to share it with
you ...
"Just wanted to let you know, I ordered your report about
making $1,000 in 30 days. -- I've made $400 in just under 2 weeks,
and can't believe how easy it seems to be (well, aside from the
'elbow grease'). I've teamed up with my teenage son, and expect
to really go at it over the next month or so. He is wanting money
to buy his first car. -- I'm happy to have found something we
can do together, and that he will now also have as a 'fall-back'
in the future."
If you want to learn what Cynthia learned, check it out at:
That opened up a whole new market for the same product.
Then other readers found another market for the report and
I included it in a new campaign. -- Here's the actual email
message I used for it ...
Over the past 3 months, 8 of my readers have told me about
the great-gobs of money they are making on "eBay" using
the method I teach in my report, "Get $1,000 - $5,000 Free
& Clear Within 30 Days!"
But ... but ... but ... the report has absolutely NOTHING
to do with selling on "eBay." As a matter of
fact, "eBay" isn't even mentioned once in the report.
My readers tell me the quality merchandise they get for Free,
using the method in my report, sells like hotcakes on "eBay"
- and - because the merchandise is Free, 100% of everything they
sell it for is pure profit.
SO ... if you're into "eBay" selling, you might
be able to do the same thing. -- Check it out at:
Hey ... it's only $10. A pittance to pay, since my readers
tell me they are easily making $1,000 to $5,000 per month using
the method I explain (in detail) in "Get $1,000 - $5,000
Free & Clear Within 30 Days!"
Try it. -- You're bank account will love it.
I feel sure, in time, there will be another unseen "niche"
appear for that report ... I just ain't thunk of it, yet.
When it comes to the Internet, "It won't be over
until YOU say it's over." Which will mean that YOU
have given up on the Internet ... not that the Internet
has quit being a viable market place.
Q: What software tools
do you use to automate your business?
A: Actually, I use very,
very few automation programs for my business - and - neither
should you, unless you know for an absolute fact that those programs
will benefit YOUR CUSTOMERS ... not just your desire to get out
of doing the work.
Until just a couple years ago, I did ALL of my Internet marketing
on a 14.4K dial-up modem connection ... not because I wanted
to but because that was the only connection available out
here in the woods. -- I consider that one of the most fortunate
problems I have ever encountered.
By only having a very show dial-up connection, I was forced
by circumstances to devise ways to accomplish the things I needed
to do in order to serve my only assets ... MY CUSTOMERS.
That made me develop the best methods to serve my customers.
When I did get faster dial-up connection, I found that the
systems I had developed were far better than any of the
"automation" programs I could find. Although
the "automation" programs did "speed up"
the process, they (in too many cases) abandoned my customers
... making my customers no more than a series of email addresses;
rather than the "real people" my methods serve.
So ... before you "automate" determine whether it
will serve your customers or will it only serve your desire to
get out of doing the work.
Q: What standard of computer
knowledge do you have to develop, to run a successful Internet
business?
A: Have you ever heard
it said, "A poor workman always blames his tools."
When I started on the Internet, I was just about as
computer literate as my ol'yella cat. Today, I know more
than the cat and I am constantly reading, studying and
learning anything and everything I can about my tools ...
my computer and the applications I need to make it do the job
I want to do.
Anyone with basic computer skills can run a successful
Internet business - but - those of us who are making the
big bucks are unceasingly studying and learning about the tools
we use in our profession.
You'll never know enough.
Copyright - 2005, J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved.