How many times have you sat and dreamed about changing your life ?
What would it mean to you to be your own boss, answering to no one but yourself ?
How would you like to earn enough money, when you wanted to in order to live the kind of lifestyle you want ?
There are many people out there who live their dreams. They work for themselves, making money and enjoying the good life.
What would it mean to you if you could join that happy band of people ?
Wealthy people have known certain "wealth creating secrets" for generations. "Secrets" that have opened up huge riches. These "secrets" are based on everlasting principles, which endure from age to age. The detail may vary but the principles are eternal.
Those born into wealth, grow up and are tutored in an environment which consolidates these principles. However, for the rest of us we either have to find a rich benefactor to teach us the principles.
Alternatively we might win our riches on one of life's lotteries.
Until now that is ! For in a series of articles I will show you exactly what those principles are. You will also learn exactly how to apply them to your own situation, whatever that situation is. Learn these principles and you will open up a worls you currently only dream of.
Living the life of your dreams is about to become reality.
The principles are presented as a set of strategies. Clearly, everyone will use not all strategies. However, the more of these strategies you can bring into your life, the more successful you will be in achieving your goals.
================================================= Strategy - 1 Choose The Right Business
Choosing the right business to be in is the single most important wealth creating decision you are ever going to make.
Burn this simple statement into your brain and from now on let it be the guiding principle whenever you are faced with evaluating a new "business opportunity."
Your business choice has to match your skill set, it has to fall within the limits of your capital resources and it must above all else compliment your character and personality.
When you have this optimum set of circumstances then your business will be a pleasure and not toil. This is a clear recipe for enjoyment and success.
Characteristics Of "The Right Business"
==> The business must service a large market - Niche markets can also be very profitable but require specialist products and customer service. Unless you have access to such specialist products and can deliver the specialist customer care it is best to steer clear of highly targeted markets until you are more confident in your business abilities.
==> The business must adapt and change with the market. However, beware faddish businesses can be very difficult to operate because of the rapid rate at which market perceptions change. Nevertheless "The Right Business" must be able to predict, lead and dance to the market tune.
==> Capital outlay must be minimal in order to maximise margins, cash flow and profits.
What Business Fits These Characteristics ?
A home based, direct response marketing business, dealing in Information has all these characteristics and offers unparalleled flexibility for the serious Wealth Creator.
If you take this a stage further and link this business to a presence on the Internet then the opportunities to make serious money increase almost exponentially.
What is Direct Response Marketing ?
Direct response marketing entails the targeting of a specific market by use of direct mail shots.
These can be sent in paper copy by snail mail as in the offline world of marketing lists or by e-mail as happens in the online Internet world.
In the meantime before I show you how this business opportunity can make your fortune, here are some little known facts about direct mail.
These figures are relevant to the US, but the same general Principles apply for most other Western, capitalist countries including the UK.
=>Direct Mail is the 3rd-highest allocation in media budgets after magazines and newspapers.
=>Studies show that, on average, every dollar spent on Direct Mail advertising brings in $10 in sales - a return of more than twice that generated by a direct television ad.
=>Amount of money donated to non-profits in response to bulk mailings $50 billion.
=>By using Direct Mail to reach out to consumers, businesses can expect sales to increase more than 7%.
=>Direct Mail accounts for about 50% of all pieces of mail handled by the U.S. Postal Service. =>Adding a promotional product to a mail promotion increases the response rate by 50%.
=>The use of promotional products as an incentive to respond generates 4 times as many responses as a sales letter alone.
=>The use of a promotional product as an incentive to respond reduces the cost per response by two thirds.
=>A print advertisement with a bind-in Direct Mail reply card will outpull the same ad without a bind-in by up to 600%.
=>Over 50% of recipients of Direct Mail read it immediately and of those, over 40% found the information they received useful.
=>Percentage of bulk mail that is thrown away unopened: 44%
=>Those who receive a promotional product in a dimensional package respond at a rate 57% higher than those who receive the same item in an envelope. Response rate for the dimensional package is 75% higher than those who receive only a sales letter. =>Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster of the United States, was also one of the early practitioners of the Direct Mail. He offered replacement parts and accessories for his famous Franklin stoves with Direct Mail. He also used Direct Mail to raise funds for the Pennsylvania Hospital.
=> Direct mail success is based on the following: 40% of your success=The Mailing List 40% of your success=The Product or Service Offer 20% of your success=Copy
=>Top 10 Uses For Direct Mail:
Generating leads Generating store traffic Responding to competitive activity Generating customer loyalty Generating new customers/referrals Improving sales force efficiency Improving customer service Increasing customers' average purchase amounts - generating higher sales Announcing store hours/sales/new locations Augmenting media advertising to top prospects and select customers
These figures have been sourced from - http://www.ambroseprint.com/aa013003a.htm
Now lets get specific and see how direct response fulfils the characteristics of "The Right Business"
** Large Market **
Direct Response is a multi billion dollar industry and growing. For a statistical analysis see http://www.sherpastore.com/store/page.cfm/1988. The US leads the world as a market place, principally due to the geographical spread of the country, the acceptance of direct response marketing as a valid means of buying and selling products.
The UK is a very sophisticated direct marketers environment, where many US trends manifest themselves as a result of the close cultural, economic and political ties between the two countries.
Why Should You Start An Information Direct Marketing Business ?
=> People like Information. They seek it everywhere. On the TV, on radio at the cinema, in newspapers, in books and reports and since the mid 1990's increasingly on the Internet.
=> The need for Information seems insatiable - the more a person knows about a particular subject, the more they want to know. It is also true that the less someone knows about something which is of some interest to them the more they will seek out information to expand their knowledge
=> Advances in technology in the computing and electronics worlds means it is now unbelievably easy and cost effective to engage in the Information provision business.
=> People will pay money for access to good, useful sources of information. They have little time to do the required research themselves and will pay someone else to distil the information they require into useable forms.
=> There are numerous Information product types and it is more than likely you will find one or more of the following financially rewarding.E-zines (Internet name for Newsletters), audio tapes, video tapes, CD, DVD, Live tele-conferences, workshops and Seminars.
** Adaptable Business **
A direct marketing business working with Information affords you the opportunity to change with your market as quickly as it takes to produce a new Information product.
This can literally range from a few hours for news, short shelf life information products to a few days or weeks for longer lasting Information items.
In some cases the changes you need to make to your products to stay ahead of changing market trends may be as simple as title changes and a few amended paragraphs in the content.
** Low Capital Outlay **
Many of your good ideas go by the wayside for one simple reason. It costs too much to successfully float the idea, and then to sustain it through the early years as it becomes established.
An Online direct response information product business can be started for less than $300 per annum in the USA or £200 per annum in the UK. At the very minimum, you will require an Autoresponder service to serialise your Information product. An autoresponder is an e-mail service that sends out your information to your e-mail list at pre-defined intervals.
For those with a little bit more cash a secure e-book publishing tool will help safeguard your hard work against cyber theft. After you have compiled your material, the last thing you want is for it to be "stolen". Secure tools exist to help protect you against cyber fraud and theft.
Finally, you will require some means for accepting payment for your Information Product.
One of the truly remarkable things about this business is that all these requirements can be achieved for the low capital outlay described above.
It's all very well to be able to start your new business on a shoestring, but adverse cash flow causes more startup businesses to fail than failure to make a profit.
When it comes to money there is one golden rule - Your business must generate more cash, than you pay out !! Long term survival is more dependant on this "law" than it is on making profits.
How then do you ensure that the business you started up on a shoestring doesn't become a bottomless pit, swallowing up more money than it generates ?
Information marketing via direct response offers you the perfect Business setup to ensure a positive cashflow.
This is the one business in which you can test your product for profitability using a subset of the large market you have identified. If it proves successful you then roll it out to the rest of the market.
If however, the inital small scale, inexpensive test indicates that the product is wrong, or the market is not ready then you ditch the product and move onto something else.
The key message here is Test your product before you commit money to the project.
I can hear you asking - And how exactly do I do that ?
The simplest way to conduct a test is to
=> Identify a large, hungry, market
=> Using a sample from that market ask what information products they would like or
=> Generate your own idea for an Information product and then write to a sample of the market and solicit their views as to it's usefulness and value.
Summary Strategy 1 - Choose The Right Business
Choosing "The Right Business" model is fundamental to your success.
Make it easy on yourself and choose a proven business model like Information marketing via direct response techniques. Add in Online, Internet technology and suddenly your chances of achieving your lifestyle ambitions are increased exponentially.
This is not to say you should not consider other Business models. Ultimately the business has to be right for you and you alone. It must match you skills, and compliment your character and personality - this then becomes pleasurable, something you look forward to doing. Something worthwhile getting up in the morning for.
================================================== Charles Kangethe has published various articles and e-zines showing YOU exactly how you can turn your dreams into reality. This article is the introduction to a series of over 50 wealth creating strategies.
If you are serious about wanting to build a new, more fulfilling lifestyle for yourself and your loved ones then visit
www.simplyeasier.com.
Turning your dreams into reality is Simply Easier if you follow good advice. Get your good advice at www.simplyeasier.com
About the Author
Charles Kangethe has published various articles and e-zines showing YOU exactly how you can turn your dreams into reality. This article is the introduction to a series of over 50 wealth creating strategies.
