Happy post Halloween…

Hope you enjoyed your little ghouls and goblins ransacking your house for sweets. We literally (no exaggeration) had probably 250 kids hit our house. I swear they bus them into our neighborhood. I was really worried we were going to run out of candy at some point and raided the pantry for anything we could give out.

Zak had a great time with his first ‘real’ Halloween. He was Thomas the Tank Engine and loved it! Last year, he went to 3 houses and just walked right in. He didn’t get the concept. This year – he got it in a big way!

Hmmm…..knock on door, say a few words, people give me candy.

Rinse. Repeat.

Here are a couple quick pic of Zak at the neighbors place:

Poor Zoe, she was too pooped to even make it out. She stayed in her Giraffe costume for about 8 minutes before crawling up to bed.

Across the street from us, our neighbors are totally into Halloween with an entire graveyard scene, a big inflatable pumpkin coach, you name it. (Those are where I took Zak’s pics above.)

Now I love Halloween too and I had to get into the act. I bought this big archway with the words ‘Cemetery’ on top of it. It looked really cool online but when I put together – it took a slight breeze to knock it over. I secured it every which way from Sunday but it still wasn’t enough. Finally, the last time it fell over – I just left it there like an ancient ruin. Don’t know it seemed cool enough. Then I took the cemetery sign and stuck in my shrubs (you can just make it out to the left of the house).

The kids did go crazy for a fog machine I had on porch. (That’s right street cred with the 13-year olds!)

Next year we’ll have to have more fun with the kids and maybe get people in the yard scaring them. Who knows? Or my neighbor across the street, Deb, and I might form an alliance and build a huge archway spanning the street and have a makeshift haunted house in there. Something fun….

And that brings me to another point – where I need your help…

I just mentioned having fun…that’s definitely something I strive to do in a big way from jumping out of airplanes at cruising altitude to little silly ways like being “Count Yanik” for Halloween promos. (Yes, I know he didn’t make an appearance this year. I know you’ve been sobbing for hours about it.)

Having fun is one part of my Maverick philosophy for ‘Making more, having more fun and giving back more’.

Sounds good, right?

To me that’s the quintessentially ‘holy grail’. But not everyone thinks that’s possible – or maybe you’re struggling in one (or more of those areas). I want to help. I’m working on new content including videos and a free webinar for the release of the new Maverick Business Insider newsletter on Nov 6th. I got lots of stuff to share…but I need your help.

What’s your biggest questions or things holding you back in these 3 areas?

Give me your thoughtful answers and you’ll get a chance to win the ’34 Rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs’ book and 2 CD Audio Set.

Here’s the quick survey

It’ll only take a few minutes and it’ll help me make sure I’m covering what you want. Thanks!

Who am I talking about?

Well, if you ask most people – those words above are associated with people in business.  

Plus you can throw in a few more choice ones like “greedy”, “rip-off”, “crooks”, etc. Or some well-worn phrases easily slip off the tongue like “Filthy Rich” and “Money is the root of all evil”.

Throughout history, in the media or just day-to-day interaction entrepreneurs and business owners have been negatively portrayed?

In fact, just today in the car with my Father-in-law he mentioned a company with a multi-billion dollar 1st quarter earning and how ‘sickening’ it was. Like it should be criminal to earn that kind of profit or something immoral was done to get it.

Why?

Maybe it’s because we haven’t quite had the words or perhaps a big enough reason to defend ourselves?

A few months ago, while at Necker Island, one of guests there, Jon Butcher, showed a video to everyone there during our Virgin Unite brainstorming session. We didn’t know what to expect but we politely obliged.

After it was done, it seemed to have a tremendous impact on everyone there including Sir Richard Branson. You see, Jon had taken a lot of our thoughts on entrepreneurship, value creation and even the morality of capitalism that were swimming around in our heads, and finally expressed it. Yes, in our hearts, as entrepreneurs, we seem to instinctively realize as “producers” we provide incredible value – but have never stopped to put it together in this way.

The original video was pretty rough around the edges and after our reaction at Necker Jon went back to his house to polish it up. I believe it’s only been seen a few dozen people so far and I told Jon it’s time for the message to be heard by tens of thousands of entrepreneurs. I posted it below so you can view it. I must warn you it’s a bit long – 15 minutes and 10 seconds. But the points raised are incredibly important because the stakes (as Jon will explain) are high.

Check it out and leave a comment – would love to hear your thoughts.

Note: Jon is the founder of ‘My Lifebook’. It’s a new innovative life development company to help you create your own dream life. I have not had a chance to go to Chicago yet to experience – but I will be soon.

* Update: Some people are having trouble with the video – I’m asking Jon to upload to YouTube also. *

Additionally, as I was thinking about this topic I also came across the transcript of “Francisco’s Money Speech” from Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shurgged” (one of my all-time most influential books).  I think it’s especially pertinent.

“…If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose–because it contains all the others–the fact that they were the people who created the phrase ‘to make money.’ No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity–to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words ‘to make money’ hold the essence of human morality. Yet these were the words for which Americans were denounced by the rotted cultures of the looters’ continents…”

You can read the whole speech here.

Here’s an article I wrote a few years ago – I think the lessons here about freedom and independence are still incredibly timely so I’m reprinting it.

And in other exciting news – it’s Zoe 1st Birthday on Sunday so we’re getting ready around here for a crazy horde of hopped-up-on-too-much-sugar-kids to swarm our house! Wish me luck! (BTW – I’m thinking we’re going to do a sale on her actual birthday for a day or two – so keep your eyes peeled if I decide to.)

* Update: I decided to do it. It’s a 48-hour sale. Here’s the link *

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July 4th for Americans is a chance to celebrate our independence. Trust me, I’m not going to get on a soapbox and start waving the flag – but I do think it’s important no matter what country you live in to really think about that word “independence” and its meaning for you.

My father reminded me that July 3, 1976 was his “Independence day” since that’s the date my family came over to the United States from Russia. (Pretty cool since it was right before the bi-centennial celebration.)

For me, my independence day was on July 1, 1999.

That’s the date I left my father’s business to work on my own. It was by far one of the hardest decisions of my life. You see, I had worked for my dad since I was 12 and he thought I was going to take over the company. I had that same thought as well until I got the “bug”. In fact, my wife, Missy, and I were talking about this recently. She was talking about how when she met me 11 years ago, I had only one thought: “how to grow my father’s business”. I would stay late working on new ads and marketing pieces. I was in early calling my accounts trying to make sales, etc. etc.

Now I had been studying direct marketing, and results were really paying off for my dad’s business. (Actually they still use a lot of the ads I wrote in 1998 because they still work today.) But with every ad I wrote I was getting more and more aggravated. Not because the ads weren’t producing sales – they were – but because of the grief and politics I had to deal with. Everybody seemed to be an advertising expert even though they’ve never studied or read anything on the subject. People mistakenly believe that if they wouldn’t “read all that copy” then nobody will. Or if the ad is “ugly” and has no pictures or pretty graphics it won’t work.

Complete and total crap.

For every ad I wrote I had to fight to get it out there. I got sick of it and decided I would create my own product so I could write ads for myself. My first product was to help dermatologists who wanted new cosmetic patients. It was a big kit (manual, tapes, reports, diskette, etc) based around some marketing consulting I was doing on the side for some of my customers.

I ran my first ad in April 1998 in Dermatologic Surgery magazine. I got 10 responses so I sent them the 20-page sales letter I’d written selling this $900 kit. Not one order.

I waited…

Sent out a 2nd notice to those 10 respondents.

Nothing…

Then I sent a 3rd notice telling them the expiration date to get all the free bonuses was only 10 days away. Finally on the very last day of the expiration date I got one order over the fax machine.

Yipeee!!

I still remember that doctor’s name in Flushing, NY. What an incredible feeling. That was the start of my independence. I realized I now had the power to chart my course as I wanted. That first sale. That’s one of the greatest feelings in the world – when something you’ve created is sold. It took me a little over a year after that first order to realize I wanted my freedom and I finally quit on July 1, 1999. Maybe it’s the new confidence you get when you realize you’ve created something that people want and are willing to exchange money for. That first sale is usually the hardest (but also the most rewarding).

It’s wonderful when I help turn on that light in people. I’ve seen it first-hand working my Apprentices and seeing them launch their products. How amazed they are by the money pouring from around the globe. I love it!

So when will your independence day be?

If you’ve already achieved it – I bet you can remember it perfectly. Sometimes the bleakest times that we believe are terrible actually turn into a perfect opportunity.

Take my good friend, Jim Edwards, for example. His independence day came because he got fired. To him that wasn’t a blessing at first but as he looks back on it – it’s the best thing that ever happened.

I remember the conversation we had right after it happened. I was drinking a Maker’s Mark & Ginger and Jim was having a beer. We were talking about different projects he could try and pursue and do now. We were throwing around some ideas and we came up with “33 Days to Online Profits“. It was right there during that call that we outlined each of the days and moved forward from there. And “33 Days” has been a tremendous six-figure income earner for both of us and it hasn’t stopped yet.

So what can you do to achieve your independence?

I’ll give you a couple things to take to heart. I can’t remember the author who said this but he said, “If you show me what a man does in his spare time I’ll show you the type of man he’ll become.” What are doing with your spare time?

- Watching TV or reading?

- Napping or practicing your copywriting?

- Yakking to your friends or studying direct marketing?

It all comes down to the choices we make every single day.

In fact, you shouldn’t let one day go by without making sure you are taking at least one proactive step towards your own independence. Just because the thought of you doing what you want when you want may seem so far away – don’t let that stop you from taking those baby steps each and every day. That’s one of my rules and I hope you’ll
adopt it.

What else?

Learn to be different. The truth is you need to become extraordinary to achieve extraordinary results. You can’t be like everyone else (and why would you want to). That means doing the things other don’t (or won’t) do. That also means NOT listening to their advice (unless they are doing what you want to do). Frankly, if you simply did the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing you’d turn out okay.

Why? If only 5% of people are truly successful and the 95% are the mediocre majority – doesn’t that mean the majority is wrong? Don’t engage in their thinking. Don’t follow their lead. Don’t adhere to the same values and standards the “95-percenters” do.

Two people who really helped me clarify my thinking on this was Earl Nightingale and also Dan Kennedy.

Please don’t get me wrong – in no way am I trying to be elitist. I’m not. But it is tremendously important to go through your day with your eyes wide open. The truth is most of your friends (right now) probably don’t want you to change and succeed. That would imply that they are losers. That would mean they are failures. Nobody is going to propel you to succeed except yourself.

So get on it and proclaim your own Independence Day starting, as Neil Diamond sings, “T-O-D-A-Y!”

*

Quick side note: My buddy, John Reese, just released some very cool videos for his upcoming Traffic Secrets 2.0 release. Check it out – he’s giving up some good info to expand your thinking about generating traffic to your sites. It’s yours without jumping through hoops or giving up your email.

Have a great 4th of July!

Two days ago Missy woke up with her stomach in knots because she had to call our maid, M., to fire her. M. had been cleaning our house for the last few years but she’s been getting progressively worse. She went on vacation for 2 weeks and we started using Missy’s sister’s maid and they’ve been way more thorough. So now it was time to let M. go but Missy had been procrastinating about it.

She’s been putting this off for nearly 2 weeks now and it got me thinking about our ‘tough’ decisions. Like most everyone else I too have struggled with making the kind of decisions that leave us feeling uncomfortable.

It’s easier to keep putting them off but that doesn’t do any good.

I know any time I’ve had a decision weighing on me it’s something that keeps nagging at me and leaves me feeling uneasy. But when I finally make the hard call or have the difficult it’s never really as bad as I had worked it up to be. In fact, I’ve found the longer you ruminate on it the worse it gets.

Thinking back here are a few vivid examples that spring to mind…

Buying Our First Place…
When Missy and I were engaged we lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Bethesda, MD. It’s a great place because you can walk everywhere and there are towns of restaurants and quaint shops. (In fact, I tell visitors that Bethesda has the most restaurants per square foot of any city. I’m not 100% sure that’s an accurate fact but I think it’s true and it sounds good.)

Anyway, the two of us really loved it there but wanted some place bigger. Plus, this was the time when my online business first started taking off. So we went searching for a place in Bethesda – but everything was pretty over-priced (or we thought it was anyway). But we found a nice 2-bedroom apartment in our building but it faced the opposite side from where we lived at the time. It overlooked NIH (National Institute of Health) and the view was nothing special. What’s more, the sun hit that side in the morning instead of the afternoon like our other place we were currently renting.

Regardless, we wanted to buy our own place and decided within a few days to buy the place. Then it started…

We both should have been really excited but we weren’t. Come to think of it we were sort of depressed the next day. What had we done?

Missy ended up calling up one of her sorority friends, Gina, who was an attorney to see what we could do to get out of the contract. I can’t remember the exact specifics on number of days but it was something like 3 days you could rescind the contract with a written notification. We had a letter drafted and delivered it our real estate agent (who also lived in our building) at the 11th hour. But it was done and we didn’t have to go through with buying the apartment. Ahhhh…..Joy & relief took hold again.

The big lesson for me here was we didn’t listen to our gut feeling about it not feeling right. I know that sounds wishy-washy and woo-woo – but I don’t think enough people (especially men) pay attention to their gut. 2 interesting follow-ups on this:

1) My best friend, John, did buy an apartment in our building too. His faced the side of the street we liked and he ended up making a tidy profit when he sold a few years later.

2) When we bought our first house – the gut feeling was right and Missy instantly knew she was in the right spot. (Same with our current place.)

Breaking Away from My Dad’s Business…
Definitely one of the biggest decisions gnawing at me for awhile was whether or not to leave my Father’s medical equipment sales & service business. Originally when I started working with him (since I was 14 selling latex gloves) and thought that I would work in it to really grow it. But I started getting the ‘itch’ to go on my own in 1998.

That’s when I started experimenting with the information marketing business selling to doctors resources and tools on how to get more cosmetic patients. I remember the very first ad I ran – it was a little classified ad in Dermatologic Surgery Journal. I ended up getting exactly 10 leads. Now I didn’t have my course ready but I had a 30-page sales letter to mail out. I sent it to all 10 leads and waited…and waited…and waited.

Nothing.

Every time the fax machine rang at my Dad’s office I’d go up there to see if it was an order. (I was using his fax # on my order page to save money.) It was like some sort of Pavlovian conditioning where I’d hear the dial tones and start running – but to no avail.

I sent out a 2nd notice and still nothing. Finally, I mailed out a 3rd notice highlighting the approaching deadline for all the bonuses (I had yet to create). On the final day of the deadline – I went up to the fax machine to watch it slooooooooowly print out my very first order for $900! It was awesome! I can still remember that feeling. After I peeled myself off the ceiling – I realized I had to create the product and bonuses that were only an outline. I wrote a letter back to my first customer telling him the material was going to be republished and would be available in 30 days – and that we would not charge his card until then.

And that was the start of my little info marketing empire.

My Dad was pretty flexible and let me continue using his office as my home base. I would seriously answer my cell phone under my desk when it rang with customers to talk to them or take orders. It got to the point where I was literally counting the minutes until 5pm so I could work on my own stuff. And then my Dad let me start taking Fridays off so I could work on my own projects.

The idea that I was somehow ‘betraying’ him and the family business was eating me up. I knew my heart wasn’t into his business anymore and I finally decided I had to break away. My Dad wanted me to grow his business and work with him side-by-side. I decided I couldn’t continue living my life under the expectations of someone else. I had to do what was right for me. And it was actually nearly 9 years ago to the day that I left the company – July 1, 1999.

It was bittersweet as they had a small going away party for me but I knew it was the right decision. Looking back, it’s was by far the best decision I ever made for my financial future. My Dad was worried that I might fail – but that’s okay too. Part of independence is getting your nose bloodied a little in the real-world.

Attending My First Seminar…
While studying and applying the direct marketing methods I began learning – I got sent an invitation to attend a high-priced copywriting seminar put on by Dan Kennedy. This was back in October 1998 I almost passed up an opportunity that I would later realize was the turning point in my business (and bank account).

My fledging information marketing business to doctors might have been pulling in maybe $2,000 or $3000/mo – so no great shakes. I was really hesitant and unsure about spending several thousand dollars and missing several days of work (both of which I couldn’t really afford) to head out to Phoenix to attend this seminar.

I asked my Dad about it and he was making fun of me and telling me I shouldn’t go. He would chide me (in his thick Russian accent) “Mr. Yanik, why do you want to throw away your money. If you have so much of it I can help you get rid of it. Don’t you already have enough of these books and tapes?”

But I bit the bullet and decided to go.

Frankly, if I had listened to him I know I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today. I can directly attribute that single event to the moment when several things all ‘clicked’ for me and I “got it”. I discovered the power of how to use words and turn them into cash windfalls. Of course nobody ever looks back on an opportunity they DIDN’T take and remembers that as the turning point in their lives. [Side note: Speaking of seminars and missing out on opportunities – there is a limited window to pick-up the Underground® 4 DVD & CD recordings. They go back into the vault on July 1, 2008.]

Personally, I’ve found that people regret the things you don’t do much more than you things they do. And that’s exactly how I want to live my life – not thinking of ‘shoulda’, ‘coulda’ or ‘woulda’s.

In fact, I believe most of what we consider tough decisions are really illusions that we’ve built up in our own heads. (btw – if you haven’t read the book Illusions by Richard Bach – get it!) Most of the really tough decisions are a whole lot easier once we reach that decision – it’s simply the wavering, the gestating, the thinking, the unease that comes from being in limbo that really hurts. But once the decision is done – there this wave of calm and tranquility that sweeps over me.

With that in mind – here are 5 things you can try when you are faced with a tough decision:

1) Think about what’s the worst case scenario – What is the worst possible thing that can happen if I make the wrong decision? With going off on my own – I had those wild thoughts of my Father disowning me. He might have been disappointed but he didn’t flip out.

2) Listen to your gut – this is huge! Don’t try to rationalize your way out of decision making – you’ve got incredible wisdom stored inside you that is willing to help if you allow it.

3) Create a deadline for a decision – if you give yourself an indefinite amount of time to decide on a course of action you’ll drive yourself crazy. Think of yourself as a high powered CEO of your own life who MUST make decisions quickly. Even if they are wrong 49% of the time – you’ll be ok more often than not.

4) Visualize your ideal outcome – anytime I have a real nagging dilemma or something I’m worried about I use my friend, John Harricharan’s, “Power Pause” exercise. You take 3 minutes (1 minute for each part) to think about #1 – What you want to happen. #2 – How you feel when this happens. #3 – What you are grateful for in your life.

5) Band-aid solution– you know how it sucks to pull off band aids (especially for us hairier people)? Well the secret is just pull it off quickly! Nothing is worse than paralysis by analysis. You’ll never have ALL the information you need. Get what you can – and do the best you can. Then move on.

And bonus decision making tip – flip a coin. That’s how I decided to propose to Missy. Seriously (shhh….don’t tell her)

Actually getting back to Missy. She couldn’t get a hold of M. so she came to clean our house as usual on Tuesday. Missy told her in-person that we weren’t going to use her anymore and M. seemed relieved. It seems that there were some other clients she wanted to work for but couldn’t because she was at our house on Tuesdays. There you go – all that angst and gut-wrenching turmoil could have been avoided.

Do you have a decision making technique you use that helps?
Or how have you made it through tough decisions in your life? If you’re comfortable leaving a comment on that – it’d be great to hear that…

As some of you know I was just in Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson’s private island. I came as a guest of my friends, Joe Polish and Dean Graziosi.

They had developed a relationship with Richard and set up for us to hold a brainstorming session with Virgin’s charity foundation – VirginUnite. Branson has always been one of my business heroes from the way he lives his life to the fullest to his business success. I’ve been fortunate to have the chance to meet many of my mentors/heroes and most of them left me feeling uninspired. With Branson – it’s the opposite. I’m even more impressed and inspired.

I met Richard for a few moments at SpaceShip Two’s unveiling but this was exponentially different. Being with him and about a dozen other guests created a cool, intimate environment for real conversation and interaction. Here’s a quick pic of us at the first night’s dinner BBQ on the beach:

And here’s my view every morning on Necker:

I’ll be sharing some more pictures, videos, observations and insights shortly. (A little teaser – I’ll tell you about how I got kicked off Necker Island in the next post.)

Getting back to it, I was flying on the way home from Necker and I was so inspired with our time there that I started creating my rules for successful entrepreneurial endeavors. I thought it would be top 10 list but I kept writing and writing in my journal and it came to 34 tenets that I’m calling…

34 Rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs

1. It’s got to be a BIG idea that you, your team and your customers can “get” in seconds.
2. Strive to create 10x – 100x in value for any price you charge. Your rewards are always proportionate to the value you provide.
3. You must charge a premium price so you have a large margin to provide an extraordinary value & experience.
4. Provide a ‘Reason Why’ customers should do business with you and pay you a premium.
5. Get paid before you deliver your product or service. And when possible figure out how to create recurring revenue from transactions.
6. You get to make the rules for your business. Don’t let industry norms dictate how you’ll work or who you’ll work with.
7. Create your business around your life instead of settling for your life around your business.
8. Consistently and constantly force yourself to focus on the ‘critically few’ proactive activities that produce exponential results. Don’t get caught up in minutia & bullshit.
9. Seek to minimize start-up risk but have maximum upside potential.
10. Get your idea out there as fast as possible even if it’s not quite ready by setting must-hit deadlines. Let the market tell you if you have a winner or not. If not – move on and fail forward fast! If it’s got potential – then you can make it better.
11. Find partners and team members who are strong where you are weak and appreciate being paid on results.
12. Your reputation always counts. Honor your obligations and agreements.
13. Never, ever get paid based on hours worked.
14. Leverage your marketing activities exponentially by using direct response methods and testing.
15. Measure and track your marketing so you know what’s working and what’s not.
16. Bootstrap. Having too much capital leads to incredible waste and doing things using conventional means.
17. Your partners and employees actions are their true core – not what they tell you.
18. Keep asking the right questions to come up with innovative solutions. “How?”, “What?”, “Where?”, “Who Else?” & “Why?” open up possibilities.
19. You’ll never have a perfect business and you’ll never be totally “done”. Deal with it.
20. Focus most of your time on your core strengths and less time working in areas you suck at.
21. Make it easier for customers to buy by taking away the risk of the transaction by guaranteeing what you do in a meaningful way.
22. Always have something else to sell (via upsell, cross-sell, follow-up offer, etc) whenever a transaction takes place. The hottest buyer in the world is one who just gave you money.
23. Always go back to your existing customers with exceptional offers and reasons they should give you more money. It’s 5x less expensive to sell to happy customers than go find new ones.
24. However the flip side is – fire your most annoying customers. They’ll be replaced with the right ones.
25. The marketplace and competitors are always trying to beat you down to a commodity. Don’t let that happen.
26. Develop and build your business’s personality that stands out. People want to buy from people.
27. Create your own category so you can be first in the consumer’s mind.
28. Go the opposite direction competitors are headed – you’ll stand out.
29. Mastermind and collaborate with other smart entrepreneurs if they have futures that are even bigger than their present.
30. Celebrate your victories. It’s too easy to simply move on to your next goal without acknowledging and appreciating the ‘win’.
31. Make your business AND doing business with you FUN!
32. Do the unexpected before and after anything goes wrong so customers are compelled to ‘share your story’.
33. Get a life! Business and making money are important but your life is the sum total of your experiences. Go out and create experiences & adventures so you can come back renewed and inspired for your next big thing.
34. Give back! Commit to taking a % of your company’s sales and make a difference. It this becomes a habit like brushing your teeth pretty soon the big checks with lots of zeros won’t be scary to write. If you think you can’t donate a percentage of your sales simply raise your price.

Side note on #34: Now after meeting and brainstorming with the team at VirginUnite – I’d strongly recommend them as a candidate because of the way they are creating entrepreneurial solutions to significant problems and a force for good. As entrepreneurs we know we can foster innovative solutions to business problems – this is the same force being tapped for the greater good. I’m really excited about some of their projects and what us, as entrepreneurs, can do together. You’ll be hearing more about this soon.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these.

* Update 11/2/08 *

From the incredible feedback of people asking to translate the list, post to their site, send to their list, etc – I decided to turn the 34 rules into a full blown “real” book, expanding each rule into its own section with examples and more insights. Plus, I had best-selling author, Mike Litman, interview me to go even deeper into the 34 rules.

* * And I want to give you a copy of it and a bunch of other goodies! * *

With the New Year – I wanted to show you the way I plan my year. This is some very candid insight into my process and it’s probably a little different than what you’ve seen before.

This is a segment from a private webinar I hosted all about the Ulitmate Internet Lifestyle for “Yanik Silver’s Ultimate A-to-Z Information Marketing brain-in-a-box” customers.  (Right now there are a few remaining copies left at $1000.00 off!)

Watch the video of the webinar by clicking the link (not the picture). This is 19+ minutes of solid info to create a major breakthrough this year. Let me know if it helps and what you think by posting  a comment. (Note: it’ll take a few moments before the slides show up.)

Click Here To View Webinar

Update #1: Maverick Business Adventures has been the in the news quite a bit lately. 2 days ago I was on Fox Business channel with Carl Banks (NY Giants 2-time Super Bowl winner) and we had a feature story in the Boston Globe on Monday. You can watch the TV clip – I think I look like a deer in headlights during the first 15 seconds.

Update #2: “Moonlighting on the Internet” was hovering at about #800 without much promo on Amazon and now it’s around #2000. Buy a 1 book (or 18) It’s the best $15 bucks you can spend! Promise.

Words are words, right? If we make a mistake and tell ourselves “I’m an idiot” but we’re joking – that doesn’t really matter. Of course, we know the difference…or do we?

Most likely not.

In fact, the more you say the same things over and over to yourself the more you internalize it. For instance, let’s take your vocabulary about money. Play back your built-in recorder regarding money & success. Are you guilty of using words like “filthy rich”, “stinking rich”, “hard-earned money”, “I can’t afford that” or “oh well – they’re just chips” (oops just practicing for my Mastermind meeting in Vegas next month)

Many times you don’t even notice you are using self-defeating language unless you consciously stop to think about it. If you call someone “filthy rich” what is that saying about your view on money? On a deeper level you’re affirming to yourself that money is somehow dirty and bad. That’s not the positive energy you need to draw money to you quickly, easily and without drama.

If you pay attention you can hear people’s self-limiting beliefs revealed in the language they use everyday.

I remember a few years ago Missy & I were on a Pontoon boat with 3 other couples. We were cruising down the Chesapeake Bay and one of girls, M., looked towards and the shore and pointed to one of the exceptionally big houses. She blurted out, “Look at that –they’re so lucky!” I gave Missy a quick glance and she shot me back a look to be quiet – but I decided I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I asked M., “Why are they lucky? Don’t you think they’ve earned it?” She was speechless. I don’t know if she stopped to consider her beliefs there for a moment or she might have been surprised anyone wouldn’t agree those homeowners were lucky.

My step-mother will frequently tell me, “I’d rather be happy than rich.”

Okay. Her and my Dad aren’t doing bad at all but I find this comment so interesting. I call her on it and ask why you can’t be both. Seriously. So many people believe that happiness comes at the price of having money and that somehow being poor makes you happier or a better person. Why? I’ve always said money simply amplifies who you are.

If you were a jerk before you made money – you’ll be a bigger jerk! But if you were a generous, fun and caring person – money gives you the freedom and resources to being more generous, more fun and even more caring!

Stop yourself as you’re talking to yourself and to others and you’ll be shocked. Even little self-defeating words like “try” sneak in. This is one word I’ve tried to get got rid of in my own life. You can catch yourself on the phone with a friend, “I’ll try to make it tonight.” Or with a customer, “I’ll try to get that over to you today.” Umm…bullshit! Either you will or you will not. As Yoda from Star Wars says “There is no try – only do or not do.”

Look, I’m not perfect either. I get into trouble myself when I keep telling others and myself that “I’m so busy” or “I’m buried in work”. What’s that affirming to myself? Stress. It stresses me out repeating these words over and over because I have to say NO to so many things right now. However the way I say ‘No’ doesn’t have to be training myself I’m so busy.

I like reframing negative talk and turning it around so you can benefit from it. For example, Robert Kiyosaki frequently mentions in his “Rich Dad” series about his poor Dad saying “I can’t afford this” and his Rich Dad asking “How can I afford this?” That’s a completely different and empowering question. Think of words like “can’t” or “won’t” and when appropriate change to “How can I…..?” or “How will I…..?” One closes you down to solutions – the other causes our brains to naturally search for the answer to the problem.

Personally, I used this same idea when I decided to purchase a space flight on Virgin Galactic. My answer was to create a new product to pay for the $200k flight. But it’s gone well beyond the $200k because I now have another asset that will continue to pay me for years to come. [Side note: I’m super excited to meet Richard Branson next month at the unveiling of Virgin Galactic’s Space Ship Two in NYC. Will keep you posted.]

Want to share the self-defeating words you’ve caught others saying or even yourself if you’re brave enough…post a comment.

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A couple updates on other items…

Update #1: There are 2 spots left for the premiere Maverick Business Adventures™ trip to Baja and I’ve just confirmed Jesse James will be coming in.

Behind his bad boy image and tattoos – Jesse James is one sharp business Maverick.

He has become a cable TV and pop-culture phenomenon who now brings in more than $200 million a year between his West Coast Choppers, a growing apparel line, appearance on Discovery Channel’s “Monster Garage”, inking a 2-year production deal with Spike TV, his new burger chain and more. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he’s married to actress Sandra Bullock.

Jesse’s humble beginnings start with West Coast Choppers in 1992 out of a corner of a friend’s garage. Now he has over 50 employees, an 18,000-square-foot facility in Long Beach, CA and sells his bikes for $60,000 to $150,000 each to a clientele that includes celebrities such as Shaquille O’Neal, Keanu Reeves, Kid Rock and model Tyson Beckford.

And Jesse will be on the Ultimate Baja Experience with Maverick Business Adventures™ members. You’ll be able to ask questions, learn from him or just hang out since he’ll be with us for 2 solid days.

There are 2 spots remaining. If you want in – I suggest you apply immediately.

We’re also bringing in former NFL Pro Bowl linebacker and 2-time Super Bowl champion Carl Banks. Carl will give you a true insider’s view as we watch the “Big Game” together in Cabo.

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Update #2: Public Domain Goldmine™ CDs are selling out quickly

Every few months we release a new volume of public domain works that you can start profiting from right away. If you’ve been wondering “what do I sell online?” – this is for you. Nearly EVERYTHING is done for you including all the market research, competitive analysis, keyword analysis, locating back-end affiliate revenue sources, finding potential joint venture partners, clearing the copyrights, etc. – All for a TINY fraction of the time and money you would have to spend if you did it all yourself. Check it out before it sells out again.

I hate to say it but “I told you so…”

I’ve been talking about Frank McKinney “Palm Beach Experience”  for awhile and telling my friends, Mastermind members and subscribers they had to be there. I had about 10 of you guys take me up on it and for the people there, including me, it truly was life changing.

Yes, that gets thrown around a bit too much – but let me just recap the weekend and give you a few solid take-aways.

First, a quick background. Frank McKinney is truly a Maverick real estate “artist”. He builds 8, 9 and even now 10-figure oceanfront properties for the ultra wealthy on spec (meaning no buyer). Even more amazing is the man is like a modern Robin Hood. He takes many of those profits and channels them to the desperately poor and homeless in Haiti. It’s part of his Caring House Foundation Project.

A couple highlights from the event….

First off, I stayed at Frank’s house in one of his guest cottages, and for some reason I couldn’t sleep. So I ended up awake at 4 AM and decided I’d make a cameo appearance and go for a 5-mile jog with Frank and some of the other crazy attendees who got up that early. I figured this would be the only time Frank would see me awake at that hour unless we passed each other when I was going to bed and he was getting up. This is the guy who just came back from the 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon. and I probably haven’t run in 5 years. Surprisingly I didn’t even notice the mileage because I was talking business & life with a bunch of people as we were running. Frank videotaped the entire event (including this run) so I have real proof for Missy.

After hitting the showers we all boarded luxury motor coaches to check out Frank’s meager beginnings in real estate investing with his first $50,000 fixer-upper. A lot of people will see someone as successful as Frank McKinney and never believe he started in the exact same place everyone else does…at the beginning. He told us he passed up several deals because he was so scared to part with his “hard earned” money. He was nearly shaking when he pulled the trigger to buy his first house in one of the rougher areas of Palm Beach County.

Then we traveled forward in time and up (significantly) in price touring 3 mansions worth over $75 million. Truthfully, I’ve never been in a house valued at more than probably $7-$8M. It really was something to sit there for a moment and truly visualize yourself being able to afford one of these magnificent properties. In the brief time I’ve known Frank I’ve learned some powerful things from him but during an off-comment I picked up something huge.

Frank said at every house he creates “conversation pieces”.

Now stop and think about that for a second. To me that was profound. A quick example will help here. In one of the homes (actually John Ferber’s who you’ll hear about in a second) we toured there was a floor to ceiling custom fish-tank and the actual bar top was an adjoining tank. You could be sitting there at this bar and watching the tropical fish through your Jack & Coke. Plus, when you were behind the bar it looked like you were walking on water because there was a clear plexi-glass floor with a thin layer of water and a shark head image. I wish I took a picture. It was pretty damn cool!  You walk into the house and you have to talk about this feature.

[Update: I got pics from one of the other attendees]

It got me thinking about what I could do for Maverick Business Adventures™ that would create conversation pieces. People want to be able to ‘show off’ just a little bit to their friends and get that ego stroke.

Moving on…

Lunch that first day was on the site of Frank’s $135 M spec house. Yes, that means a 10-figure house without a buyer – I have to give the guy credit. In his book (that’s well worth reading) he talks about flexing your risk muscle and strengthening it. He’s done that in spades here. [Side note – you can listen to a special interview I did with Frank here. He talks about this success secret and several others.]

Right next door to his $135 spec house is his current $30 million ‘green home’. Currently the world’s largest green home. If there was any house on this tour that I wanted – my heart had a little flutter for this one. But I’d need to sell a few more ebooks to cover the mortgage on this bad boy. ;) 

Here’s a pic of the model in the meantime: (One of the conversation pieces on this house is you can drive into your subterranean garage and there will be a clear wall where you can see into the pool above. Cool!)

The next morning there was a special VIP breakfast with coach Don Shula. Here’s a few moments of his inspiration and a quick pic:

 
For lunch that day we boarded a yacht to make a 2 ½ hour cruise down the Intracoastal Waterway to arrive at the Governor’s club. That’s where Rich DeVos, co-founder of Amway and owner of the Orlando Magic, shared his insights.

I loved it! He is Frank’s personal mentor and I could see why. I took a few key notes with his presentation. A couple of the biggies for me were:

1. Become the biggest cheerleader in your organization
2. Plan your yearly calendar with family events first
3. Buy a huge yacht and then an island so your family (kids, grandkids) can’t get away and they are ‘forced’ to spend time with you.
 
I grabbed a quick pic with Mr. DeVos before we had to sprint back to the boat.

On the return trip John Ferber, co-founder of Advertising.com, talked about how he survived and thrived through the dot-com bubble. Oh did I mention the guy sold his business for $500 Million to AOL? Pretty sweet. John and I exchanged cards in the buffet line and he’s definitely got a sense of humor. He named his company “Vandelay Industries”. (Any Seinfeld fans out there get it?)

This was the guy Frank said I had to meet and as luck would have it we ended up sitting right next to each other because my first seat got taken by an attendee’s husband.

I took a few minutes of his presentation to share:

[Side note: I must mention again Frank videotaped the entire event so my little snippets aren’t  even close to what was shared there and it’s worth getting the recordings when he makes them available.]

That night all the guests took part in Michael Israel’s “Art in Concert”. Really cool! The guy painted 6 original portraits on the spot with rock music going. I’ve never seen anything like it. The guy is an amazing talent - you can see some video of what he does on his site.

Of course I just had to purchase one of the pieces during the auction especially since it went to a good cause to benefit the Caring House. I called Missy after the auction and used a little “compare/contrast”. Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: “Hi honey – just checking in and letting you know I bought a few things at the auction.”

Missy: “I knew you would.”

Me: “Yeah, I spent $100k. It’s okay though – it all went to charity.”

Missy: “Shut up!”

Me: “Okay. It was $50k.”

Missy: “Right…how much?”

Me: “It was $20k.”

Missy: “Um….I have a charity for you. It’s called Zak & Zoe’s college education.”

She was kidding obviously. I think.

The auction raised over $140,000 for Caring House Project Foundation.   And after the auction there was a “Midnight PJs, Pizza & Popcorn” session where attendees and co-host presenters could hang in a casual environment. We left at 1:30 and barely had time to hit last call down the road. Mike Litman was buying shots for the whole bar in honor of me selling my “dot-com” business. I told people it was my ChicksinChickensuits.com site. I said there were a lot of people with weird poultry fetishes.
 
I was hanging out with Mike and Frank’s brother, Bob, until 3:30 AM. Believe it or not, he was considering going running the next morning….errr….in 1 hour. I told him to count me out! Of course, he didn’t make it up either. 

The next morning we finished up with a question and answer session on the beach. It was killing me because 50 feet away was a beach volleyball net – but good thing the guys playing pretty much sucked or I might have been really tempted.

Not sure if Frank will ever do an event like this again – but if he does I’ll be the first one to sign-up. Oh, and if any of you buy the $30M green house I sure hope I get an invite to your party!

 If you’ve ever felt like you’re stuck in a rut or simply not hitting your goals fast enough here are 5 unusual and slightly unorthodox things I do to motivate myself.

Unusual Motivator #1 – Go Public

I like the pressure the happens when you tell people, who’s opinion you care about, what you want to get done. For instance, maybe your sister’s opinion of you really matters to you. You’d feel incredibly stupid if you told her something and then you let her down. Perfect. That’s exactly who you want to share your next idea with and make them hold you to the completion. But don’t tell someone who is a negative person – they’ll only try to talk you out of anything you’ve got planned or rain on your parade.

I like to do this in a big way.

You’ve already seen this in action if you’ve read the blog at all. You know I made a very public promise on here that by January 2008 I’d have my first Maverick Business Adventures™ experience. I put it out in a very public way and I’d feel silly if I didn’t move forward with the project. I have tens of thousands of readers who would, in some way, hold me to it. [Side note: You may or may not want to reveal everything publicly if you feel like someone will steal your idea.]

Unusual Motivator #2 – Make a bet - Or even better make an embarrassing bet

Every notice how you’ll do more to win a silly bet than you would in other situations? You bet!

Why not make a silly and possibly embarrassing bet (back to #1) with a friend of yours for something you want to get done. Maybe it’s taking off 10 lbs. Both of you agree that you’ll lose 10 lbs within 6 weeks or the person who doesn’t needs to strut around town in the lime-green, thong bathing suit Borat wore (pics below). Get creative and make sure you really don’t want to be the loser of the bet.

Unusual Motivator #3 – Create a Big Enough Reason Why

If you have a big enough reason to get something done there’s almost no way you can fail. It’s the people with the biggest reasons (or the most reasons) who seem to pull through anytime the deck is stacked against them. My friend, Frank McKinney, recently completed the grueling Badwater Ultra Marathon. It’s a 135-mile run in Death Valley where the temperature frequently tops 100 degrees. Frank does it to raise funds for his Caring House Foundation Project and that’s his ‘why’.
For my family and other immigrant families the biggest reason why was simply because there wasn’t really another alternative. My Father came over from Russia with $256 in his pocket for me, my Mom and her Mom. He barely spoke English but he still managed to build a nice 7-figure business. What’s your reason why and it’s got to be bigger than simply “I want to be rich”?
 

Unusual Motivator #4 – Make a must-hit deadline

I like this one a lot. The rule is the more unbreakable the deadline – the greater the chance you’ll get your task done. Ever notice how the day before you leave for your vacation you miraculously get everything completed? That’s right – you’ve got a deadline (and a reason why). I’ve seen this work time and time again. Set your deadline. Sometimes it takes a big leap of faith but events, people, situations conspire will conspire to make sure you get your deadline met once you really make it a permanent deadline.

Quick example is when I sold my very first information product to doctors. I ran an ad and got 10 leads and 1 doc bought on the deadline from the sales letter (lesson in itself about deadlines for customers). So after peeling myself off the ceiling from being so excited someone actually bought – I realized I had no product ready. I wrote the doctor back and told him we would not charge his card since we were “republishing” the material and it would be ready in 30 days. Boom! A deadline! You can bet I worked my butt off til 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning many of those 30 days after my regular job to get this manual out there and done.

Another example, the first year I held my Underground™ Online Seminar - I really had no idea how it would be do. I didn’t know it would sell out weeks in advance – but I did set a deadline. An event is the most solid deadline you could put out there. I stood to lose $100k+ if it didn’t work and I knew the date it had to get filled by. A lot of people don’t want to set deadlines because they simply want everything to be perfect before a product/event/service is ready. News flash: That will never happen! Deadlines are like magic productivity pills. Anytime a project of mine is not progressing – it means I don’t have a real deadline in place with real penalties. 

Unusual Motivator #5 – Document it and profit from it

Here’s one you might not hear anywhere else. One of my favorite motivators for getting off my butt is knowing I can document a certain process and others might be interested in it. That can take many different forms – anything from you having to have blogging material to actually turning what you do into some sort of information marketing product for sale. 

A few years back when Missy & I moved to Manhattan Beach, CA for the Summer – one of my motivators (aside from the weather, playing beach volleyball, etc) was to document running an online business from a remote location. I turned that into a little bonus report that I previously used as a bonus for one of our products.

Alright there you go – 5 unusual ways to motivate yourself to get moving on any project, idea or business you’ve got cooking. Do you have any other ways you motivate yourself – leave a comment for everyone to benefit from. Or let me know if you use any of these 5 ways and your results.

One quick fun thing…

Since Halloween just passed, I’m sure you guys were having sleepless nights wondering what I dressed up as for my favorite holiday. Okay maybe not. In our new neighborhood there’s a huge Halloween party across the street from us. Steve and Deb go all out. There’s about 150 people there and they hire caterers, bartenders even a tarot card reader (we’ll come back to her in a moment). The party was killer! I came as Borat and stayed in character the whole night – much to the dismay of Missy.

She’d cringe every time she heard “Veeery Niiiiice” or “Higha-Fiva” across the room. The great thing is I had watched the movie the night before the party so all the lines were really recent in my head. The poor tarot card reader – I kept calling her a gypsy and asking for her tears! Here’s a quick pic of me and another Borat at the party:

And those of you who saw the movie – might remember a certain lime-green bathing suit. Here’s a little peek of it under my suit (and no, it never came all the way out).

Zak had his first real Halloween and dressed up as “Bob the Builder”. He didn’t quite get trick or treating. I’d help him knock on the doors of neighbors and he’d just barge right in and check out their house. Here he is (eating some of his Halloween loot) with Mommy and his baby sister in a pumpkin onesie.

I wanted to take behind the scenes of the infomercial shoot I was part of last Friday. I’ve never been part of a real infomercial before so this was pretty cool. The celebrity guest was Hall-of-Fame Oriole’s pitcher, Jim Palmer. I’m not really a big baseball fan but I do know who Jim Palmer is.  Here’s the 2 of us:

Actually I got my nephew, Cody, a signed baseball. Cody is an excellent player. He’s 12 years old and plays on an elite team that took 2nd place out of 96 teams this summer.

I never realized how many people are required for a successful production. There were probably close to 20 people. I even got make-up done and they had people to touch us up and mop the sweat off our brows because those lights are frickin hot!.

Here’s Nancy coming to my rescue…

Here’s a candid shot from the day (you can see me in my stylish socks!):

And in between takes Brian Sacks (one of the guys behind the Phenomenon™) and I even got into a high-stakes game of basketball. The pot got up to $600 (you can see the cash on the suitcase) but nobody could make the final 3-point shot before we got called back in.

The Phenomenon™ is all about speed! Getting more done in 12 months than the previous 12 years.

You can check it out here. The DVDs are forty bucks! That’s it and it comes with over $600 in real bonuses – it’s quite a deal.

My personal Phenomenon™ story is pretty simple – I got out of bed.

I had an idea at 3’o clock in the morning and took action on it. That was the trigger for the massive success I’ve experienced. It was interesting listening to each person around the table their own story. From a guy literally living under a bridge to a typical 9-to-5 employee looking for a way out! At one point after we did our planned script they set us free to just freewheel and discuss different points around the table. I think that was some of the best stuff that came out of that 45 minute session and hopefully some of that will appear in the infomercial.

We talked about taking responsibility for your own happiness and success instead of waiting for someone or something else to do it for you. We mentioned how it was easier to succeed quickly than taking 20 years to get there. And everyone chimed in about the importance of money – it was important to the extent that money buys freedom! (I think that one topic will make a great blog post at some point.)

There’s lots more and in fact, I’ll be doing a special teleseminar with Dan Kennedy on the Phenomenon™ this Thursday October 25th. Details are here.

During the shoot I suggested they should license this song from the Muppets for the Phenomenon™ but nobody listens to Yanik.

Doo….doo….doo…doo…. “PhenMoma”…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW4TgdKoYo]