Here’s a question many have asked and that has stirred up controversy in the world of online marketing. Is using “hypnotic” marketing techniques considered evil?

The answer to that question will carry the solution to your marketing and business woes if you’re struggling.

I’m not going to simply tell you that the answer is “no”. That’s only part of the answer.

The full answer will mean the difference between you keeping your day job while struggling paycheck to paycheck, and making a full-time living from home through the internet.

Before I explain why hypnotic techniques are not only ethical, but really the ONLY way you’re going to start generating sales for your business on a massive scale, I’ll tell how I answered it through an email once.

Someone wrote an email once about how she was "put off" by the idea of using hypnosis in marketing. She said it removed choice from people. She thought it was evil.

My response to her was that hypnosis never removes choice. You can't be made to do something under hypnosis that you didn't already want to do while fully awake.

Hypnosis is not evil. Dentists, doctors, and psychologists use it so they can help people get more of what they want out of life. It's been sanctioned by the American Medical Association since the 1950s.

Anyone still thinking hypnosis is evil is caught up in a cultural myth, which is actually a kind of trance all by itself!

So what is hypnosis?

My definition of hypnosis is anything that holds your attention. A good movie or book is a type of hypnosis. So is a good sales letter, or sales pitch, or infomercial.

I'm not talking about manipulating minds. I'm talking about entertaining them.

Brittney Spears is pretty hypnotic, but not everyone buys her music. (I don't.) Dan Brown, author of "The Da Vinci Code", is pretty hypnotic, but not everyone buys his books. (I don't.) Harry Potter has much of the world in a trance, but not everyone buys the books. (I don't.)

The bottom line is that hypnosis is just another tool. It does not control people and it does not give Divine-like powers to anyone. In marketing, it simply gives you an edge.

If you are selling a quality, ethical product that benefits people, then all hypnotic marketing does is help you do that even better! It also helps more people, and exchange more value for value.

You want to learn hypnotic writing and hypnotic marketing because it helps you get and hold your prospect’s attention. After all, if you aren't getting attention, and you aren't holding it, you aren't doing any selling, are you?

The backbone for all hypnotic marketing is having an understanding of the "Hypnotic Language". And today I am going to share with you three breakthrough techniques you can use right away to make your websites and sales letters powerfully hypnotic, resulting in great results.

#1. Make your sales letters personalized for the reader by using his or her name.

Technology is a beautiful thing. There are software programs and simple tools you can use to have any web page carry a person’s name in the headline, the introduction, or anywhere else in the content.

The more you can make your web page personal to the reader, the more hypnotic it will be for the reader. Doing this will give you an incredible increase in response instantly.

#2. Make your websites interactive.

A great way to do this is to have a quiz or a survey on your site. It’s powerful because the browsers of your website get to DO something. Getting people to take some sort of action is often the key to have them eventually buy from you.

#3. Make your site focused with strong copy to get the reader to do only one thing.

The more singularly focused you can make your sales letters, the more effective they’ll be in persuading your readers to purchase. Giving them options can often confuse the reader, which almost always leads them to doing nothing.

Instead, make your ad copy purely focused on just one desirable action, whether it is to buy your product, to opt in, or anything you want them to do on your site.

The bottom line is that hypnosis is the key to every marketer’s success, and it’s used in many different forms. Use these techniques, and become a student of Hypnotic Marketing to see the results you want.

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The secret "sauce" to hypnotizing the masses and getting massive web traffic over-night is 'PO' — or "Practically Outrageous".

I'll explain what that means. But first, you know that in order to succeed in business today, you have to stand out from the crowd.

I know… that’s just another cliché you've heard over and over again. And it's easier said than done. However, I'll also tell you that you have to do MORE than just stand out from the crowd. You must stretch your mind, and be risky, bold, and downright DARING!

That's what I mean by "standing out from the crowd". You have to think BIG.

The first step of the 4-step Hypnotic Marketing formula is to give your business massive exposure quickly through the use of publicity. And publicity only admires OUTRAGEOUS things!

The quickest way to boost your traffic is to come up with ideas that are zany, clever, or borderline crazy. You have to be "Practically Outrageous" to get the attention of the masses, but you want to do it in a way that also makes you money.

This may sound like a challenge, but it can be done pretty easily, even if you're a one-man business. Think “attention grabbing”!

James Sterling Moran was a legend in the publicity business by pulling crazy STUNTS. Here’s an example of some of the things he did that grabbed the public’s attention like a pink elephant in the middle of a crowded room:

• He once sat on an ostrich egg for over 19 days before it hatched, just so he could publicize his soon to be best-selling book “The Egg and I”.
• He searched for a needle in a haystack for 10 days to publicize some real estate he had up for sale.
• During the 1944 Presidential Campaign, he changed horses midstream – literally – in a Nevada river after Democrats urged voters not to “change horses midstream” by voting for Republicans.

Now, I’m not saying you should do something that will make you really look insane. Whatever you do, it must be practical. Even though Moran did outrageous things, he always tied what he did to a product, and he was brilliant at it.

It’s time for you to start having some “practically outrageous” thinking to put the Hypnotic Marketing principles to work for you.

Publicity Why Your Marketing Needs A Stunt Man

These days our customers are demanding more and more in the way of Internet privacy and with todays statistics who can blame them?

Here are just a few scary figures for you:

Approximately 15 million Americans were victimized by some sort of identity-theft related fraud in the 12 months ending in mid-2006, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. These statistics represent more than a 50 percent increase since 2003 when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported 9.9 million American adult identity theft victims.

Consumers reported fraud losses totaling more than $1.1 billion.

According to the Gartner survey of 5,000 online U.S. adults in August 2006, the average loss was $3,257 in 2006, up from $1,408 in 2005. At the same time, the percentage of funds consumers managed to recover dropped from 87 percent in 2005 to 61 percent in 2006.

Credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft constituting 25% of all reported frauds.

Have you ever filled out a form on the net and then for the next 6 months you are getting 100’s of SPAM e-mails a day?

I was looking for health insurance a few months ago. I went to one of those “compare prices here” sites. And I kid you not, before I had finished reading the confirmation e-mail, my phone was ringing…and it still has not stopped.

I am glad that I opened a separate e-mail account for just that purpose because I still get about 200 per day…this is months later. I know I was looking for health insurance but I am pretty sure they don’t sell you Viagra and Cialis or replica watches.

As I said, I set up an e-mail account that day with the express purpose of using it for that insurance site, so I know that it was them. Their site had a privacy policy too but it was just for show. Clearly they are not worried about repeat customers.

When a client purchases something from you, they are basically saying they trust you and your systems enough to keep their information safe. It is imperative that we, as merchants, take that trust seriously.

Here are a few ways in which to do so.

• Privacy Policy: Develop a privacy policy and use it
• Secure orders: This is a no brainer but always, always use a secure order form
• Limit access: Limit the access to a few employees as possible
• Permissions: Never, never, never share a client’s information with a 3rd party without permission
• Double Opt in: Use a double opt-in process for all mailings, that way you are as sure as you can be that you are in contact with the correct person
• Data Security: Protect data by firewalls, virus protection and any other means available to you to ensure that the data is secured
• Verify: If an order comes in that looks fishy, IE billing address is in AK and the shipping address is in Nigeria, take a moment out to call that person and do a little verification
• Trends/volume: If you have a company that sells eproducts and a new client comes through and purchases 10 products on the same day, this should throw up a flag for further investigation
• Secure updates: Allow your client a way to update the information in a secure fashion. Example: Have a secure credit card update form rather than requesting they e-mail it or use an unsure ticketing system
• Explain up front: If you use a local means of storing data (ie. on the customers PC, like cookies), explain why and how you use this information
• Enforce: Make sure you enforce this privacy policy

Again, this is information that most of you know, and probably already use, but all it takes is one bad experience to turn someone off of purchasing from Internet Marketers. You have enough challenges without adding sloppy security to the mix.

If you already do all of the items above, that is great. If not, take stock and see where you can improve your system.

- Meredith

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If you haven’t utilized this tool for your marketing yet, then you’re really missing out. NFL Head Coaches BEWARE…

The right marketing tool can have a huge impact on your lead generation and sales, but it can also make or break your credibility with your prospects.

And if you haven’t heard of Jim Fassel, he is a former head coach that led his team to the Super Bowl in 2001, and then lost his job a few years later (such is the harsh reality of professional sports).

Recently, Fassel got another chance to become the head coach for another team.

He didn’t get the job much to many people’s surprise.

But according to Fassel, what was single-handedly responsible for costing him the chance to become a head coach again…?

BLOGS!

In a recent article, here’s what Jim Fassel had to say about losing the race for the new head-coaching job:

“You know, you cannot hold the lead in these jobs in major markets… because you’ve got BLOGGERS, and they’re saying ‘No, this isn’t the right guy, and that ain’t the right guy’…”

Now, if this doesn’t open your eyes to the power of using blogs for your marketing, then I don’t know what will. They’re effective enough now to (supposedly) cost NFL head coaches their jobs, and open doors for other ones.

Go explain that one to ESPN.

Now, by no means are we advocating using blogs to destroy someone’s credibility. But they’re powerful enough to establish your leadership and earn you great respect in your market place.

It’s true that prospects are always eyeing you with skepticism, and they’re not completely sure if what you’re telling them or selling them is for real.

But when you shine in their eyes, they’ll follow you. You become their leader and problem solver. And blogs create a great way to let you do this.

They allow your readers to place comments and provide feedback, which FORCES you to provide high quality content that people will want to read and comment on.

In turn, your readers will respect you more and buy from you.

And since your blog is dynamic, it’s always changing with new articles and quality information. More good quality, updated content means more love and respect from the search engines!

Can you say “free traffic”?

- Shiraz

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In a day and time where it costs more to travel to get your groceries than the actual groceries themselves, it would be no surprise to see a correlation between paying astronomical prices at the pump and increased infidelity. Follow me here…

Let’s say my husband has a thirty minute commute to work in both directions. In his gas-guzzling 2005 Yukon (it seemed like a good idea pre-economic-meltdown) that we are too upside-down on now to trade in, that is a gas bill of nearly $250 a week. In the town where he works, a one-bedroom efficiency apartment rents for $450. For him to stay there, in this other town, away from his family and me for the entire week actually saves us $550. No little difference these days.

Now, my husband is a genuinely good guy. Being away from his family at night during the week is not going to make him cheat. But for some other men or women…overworked, underpaid, majorly stressed and now sleeping apart from their loved ones 2/3 of every month…not too big of a stretch to imagine that such a situation could result in a little extra-curricular “diversion”.

On the other hand, can we really blame everything on the economy? The media would like us to believe we can. The Democrats say it is the fault of the Republicans and the Republicans…they say the Democrats did it. Many people say in started in the housing and mortgage sector. Others say we can trace it back to 9/11.

I say this whole “economic crisis” is the best example of “Viral Marketing” I have ever seen. Long before there were actual signs of these dire straits, we were warned they were coming. Viral Marketing has commonly been referred to as “word-of-mouth” advertising…on steroids. You spread an idea to one “susceptible person” who then spreads it to at least two other “susceptible people”.

Because of the concept of doubling and “exponential growth”, pretty soon everyone is “infected”. This whole process…from seed to total saturation…is amazingly rapid because of the way it spreads…like a virus (former Intelligence Agent Mark Joyner explains this whole process—from idea to inception to annihilation—very well at www.viralmarketingcrashcourse.com).

Basically, the impending doom and gloom of the whole “economic meltdown” spread in this way. It transmitted globally in a manner that can best be described as “viral”. Therefore, it’s a great example of how this process can work—for positive or negative messages.

The good news? We can learn very valuable business lessons from this case study. These being, that if you want to spread your marketing message quickly and effectively, you need to: a) Develop a compelling message; b) Find a “hungry” audience; c) Provide some incentive (or result) that is so powerful that it makes the initial audience feel like they must tell everyone they know or they will absolutely die. If you can find a way to do those three things…there is no doubt that we’ll be reading about you (and your business/site/organization) in all the papers…very soon.

- Kim

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So you're a social marketer. You have your own blog, you're a proud member of "digg-nation" and you even Twitter…but where's all the traffic?

(If you're not a social marketer, but want to be one, then check out the Authority Black Book. It's hands-down the best step-by-step guide on how to get started with social marketing today. Get your free copy now at http://www.Trafficology.com/abb)

Let's face it…twitter is addictive. It's so much fun that you probably make a half-dozen posts a day without even trying. But if you want to use it to create traffic and sales then you must stop posting random notes about your daily routine and start using it as a way to communicate your marketing message to top prospects.

No, that doesn't mean you should start spamming all your twitter friends with a blatant sales pitch…far from it. Twitter is not a banner-ad network and the people who follow you will not tolerate "ads".

But just because twitter readers are accustom to receiving short, pithy updates about everyday life, that doesn’t mean they want to know about the baloney sandwich you just ate. There’s a line between interesting and personal, for Twitter to be a useful marketing tool you must stay on topic and on message. Every single post you write must work towards the overall goal of building rapport, establishing creditability, and driving people back to your blog or website to get more information.

If you lose sight of this, your posts will be ineffective and your readers will quickly abandon you.

So how do you find the balance between personal and profitable? Well, as a marketer, things you should be sharing on Twitter are:

• Updates on marketing projects you’re working on: “Just finished the final chapter of my new ebook…it goes on sale tomorrow” or “Only 3 copies left…this baby is almost sold out for good.”
• Customer testimonials: “Jan Thomas just used my system to beat her speeding ticket – good job Jan” or “Tommy Thompson just made $15,000 using what I taught him in last week’s seminar – see the full results here”
• Case studies: “I just wrote up the details of exactly how Mikey Myers set the new World’s Record”
• Blog posts you made: “I just made a great post about…”
• Blog posts you read: “I just read a great post about…” (linked to a summary on your own blog with a trackback to the full article).
• Tips and ideas you just came up with: “I just thought of a great new way to cook chicken…”
• Places you’re going to be speaking at in person: “Just agreed to speak at the seminar in Los Angeles next weekend (get your tickets now)” or “Just finished my presentation in Los Angeles, it was great…get a copy of the recording now at…”. Or, “Just had a great dinner with my friend and mentor, Johnny Smith here at the seminar, I’m so glad I came, wish you were here!”
• Teleseminars or webinars you’re giving: “Speaking with Mikey tonight about my new system, the call in details are:…” or “What a great call that was, get the recording now at…”
• Teleseminars or webinars you’re attending: “Listening to Ed and Eddy talk about….get the call in details on my blog”. Or, “Listening to the recording of last night's call…Matt is too funny, get a copy of the recording on my blog”.
• Books you are reading: “Reading: Waiting for My Cat to Bark (see my notes from chapter 1).”
• Things you read or saw that were interesting: “Just saw Simon in Whole Foods, maybe he was there to buy some of my yummy all-natural tomato basil pasta sauce”.
• Websites you are visiting: “Reading the recap of last night’s big game, not good…looks like they need some of my energy boosting vitamin drink.”
• People you are talking to: “Meeting with the bank about taking this thing public”.
• Things to get feedback from readers like polls or contests or trivia: “Just posted today’s trivia question, the first right answer gets a free copy of my new home-study course”
• Affiliate products you are reviewing (using your affiliate link): “Just got a FedEx delivery…I’ve only gone through the first 5 pages and I’m already amazed” or “Wow…while reviewing this product I discovered…” or “everybody’s talking about this thing, but I don’t like it, this other thing is much better”.
• Blog posts you are making, guest blogs you contribute to, articles you are syndicating, interviews that you are doing, any other content you are writing or sharing elsewhere: “Just wrote an article for this blog” or “Just posted my favorite article this week here…” or “Just got interviewed by Danny Dannon…I can’t believe he asked about the monkey”.
• Social sites you’re active on or forum threads you’re posting about: “Chillin out on Facebook…join me now by clicking here…” or “Just logged on to Forum.com, someone actually said…”
• Articles you are Digging…so people can go Digg what you are Digging too: “Just Dugg this great article about re-growing your own teeth (see all my Diggs from today right here).”
• Blog posts you are commenting on: “Left my 2-cents about what just happened at blog.com…I can’t believe they did that without telling anyone.”
• Updates for Affiliates: “Just posted the top 10 affiliate result for the promotion” or “Just delivered the new 2008 Hummer to our top affiliate, Robbie Robins” or “Just launched phase 2 – now’s the time to start sending out those pre-written emails to your list”.

Hopefully these ideas will help you get started effectively microblogging. It may be a little scary at first to share this much information about your life with the general public, but after you get the hang of it, I’m sure you’ll find it really quite fun.

Just remember that every post should link back to your site and always share something interesting about your marketing…you want it to be something so good that people will stop everything they are doing and click on your link, right now.

Enjoy,

- Dearl Miller
Editor, Trafficology.com

PS: For more info about creating traffic and sales with Twitter check out Trafficology Issue #33, which explains exactly what is microblogging, how to get followers and 10 more Twitter best practices. Claim your two free months of the Trafficology Newsletter right now at http://www.Trafficology.com/nmblog. (Offer Ends May 21st).

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Now its Wednesday, April 30th, my 3rd day in New York.

I didn't have anything specifically planned except for my trip to the House Ruth Built, a Yankees game that night.

So, I slept in! All this walking is starting to tire me out. That meant no museum trip today.

After a leisurely morning, I hit the streets to go down and get myself a famous Double Stack Burger (plus their amazing fries and an awesome chocolate custard ice cream shake).

It was awesome food and scenery… sitting in the park on a beautiful New York spring afternoon.

Then, on my way back I stopped and picked up a new battery for my camera so I could capture these memories.

I ended up walking up to Grand Central Station and catching a subway ride up to Central Park.

By this time I was starting to feel all the walking in my feet and legs but I wanted to explore the park.

What I ended up doing was walking all the way up the east side to the giant lake, then across and all the way down the west side and then back over to where I started.

Central Park is amazing, it is a GIANT park right in the middle of Manhattan and some of the most valuable real estate in the world.

That is one of the great things with the original planners for the city, they made it a point to include a lot of city park areas. I believe I read somewhere that Central Park is the largest park located within a city.

Within the park there are parents with their kids, people playing a game of touch football or soccer, people having a picnic or reading a book. I'm sure it would be one of my favorite places to relax if I lived here.

Now it was time to hop onto the Subway up to the Bronx and go to the Yankee game. (And rest my VERY tired feet that had enough.)

I left early so I could explore the area in advance of the game. But that also meant it was in the middle of rush hour (5pm) and the Subway was completely packed. Yes! Another first for me, the packed subway experience.

The other week I read up on Yankee stadium at Wikipedia to fully understand the history, heritage and stories that went into it. The stadium is one of the 3 oldest and most treasured in the county (along with Fenway in Boston and Wrigley in Chicago.)

And they are building a brand new billion dollar stadium right next door that will open next year (with the old stadium turned into a parking lot.)

Once you get inside you realize why. It is nothing like the nice new stadiums we have in Texas with the latest concession stands, clean bathrooms, comfortable seats and every luxury you would want.

Despite all that I still loved everything about it.

You could feel the tradition and see the passion in the fans. These were Yankee fans for life.

Unfortunately, after a fast 2 run start, they ended up going down by several runs. And the temperature was going down even faster while the breeze picked up. To put it bluntly this Texas boy was COLD! And no matter how much hot chocolate I had by the eight inner it was no longer fun and I took off.

By the time I got home my feet, legs and butt had a bigger workout these past 3 days than they would see in a month. The Heavenly Bed felt, well, heavenly!

~ Kevin

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Okay, so it’s not quite that “next generation”. But Six Apart’s “Blog It” is pretty darn close.

With this new software that is currently a plug-in for Facebook users, you can update all your personal blogs and services (10 are supported including Blogger, WordPress, Blogger, Twitter, Vox, Movable Type, etc.) at once. Then, your web-based social or business network(s) can be instantly informed about your post(s)—using Twitter and Pownce text-messaging services that shout out to all your buddies at once—no matter where they typically follow you on the Internet.

Never has getting a message spread been so rapid…and easy. But what really blows my mind is how connected the whole world is becoming. Yet, I guess “interconnected” might actually be a better word…The implications that this interconnectivity has for web traffic is immense.

In fact, many bloggers are already reporting big increases in traffic from using Blog It. Of course, many of these are currently people that work for the application’s parent company—TypePad. On the other hand, it is not hard to conceive that such a service would—and could—boost the amount of traffic such a personal blog network could attract.

One thing is for sure. The abundance of networking sites (personal, business and “blended”) and marketing within and through these networks seems to be here to stay. Yet, some of the bigger ones like MySpace and Facebook are actually experiencing growth losses while some smaller, more-focused, independents (like Windows Live Spaces) are rising in popularity and effectiveness. The trend seems to be moving toward diversification and segmentation of such communities based on things like demographics, hobbies, interests or industry.

It should be no surprise then that major players in the services and technologies are striving to come up with more and more software integrations like Blog It to dispatch information across multiple platforms quickly and easily—helping to create and achieve “openness”. Smaller newcomers in the social networking technology services and applications are trying to get their hands on a piece of this profit “pie” as well.

Likewise, almost every marketer, corporate professional…and “average-Joe” I know is using and participating in this form of modern-day networking to either generate revenue, increase visibility or to simply stay connected with friends and family. Even major corporations and organizations have profiles on some of the larger ones like Digg.

Therefore, so long as we don’t forget that traffic does nothing without quality content, we probably cannot afford to ignore this trend—or the applications like Blog It that help us to do so with reduced effort. I expect this is only the tip of the iceberg.

- Kim

P.S. A new free video crash course featuring Mark Joyner finally shows you how to create
an unlimited amount of free web traffic…automatically. http://viralmarketingcrashcourse.com

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Today was my first day to learn how to wakeboard.

I can barely close my hands, my forearms feel like jello, I could barely open the zipper on my laptop bag… and I'm loving every minute of it.

Not to mention today is Cinco de Mayo, which is almost an official holiday here in Dallas, and means I'm having a tasty margarita tonight!

While I was driving home from my first lesson, I realized the experience I am going through is much like the experience you go through with your online business… especially if you are still in the beginning phases.

First, when learning anything new in life, from playing the guitar to getting in shape, I always find a coach to shortcut the process and help me get results faster and easier than trying to figure it out on my own.

If you do not have your own Internet Business Coach yet, then all I can ask is why not? Are you not serious about your success or are you just playing around?

Second, before we even got in the water, he started by teaching me some fundamentals. First how to properly drive the boat. Then how to get up on the wakeboard by showing me first then having me practice. Next the basics to do once I am up.

Now, I'm sure some people would want to "screw these fundamentals" and want to jump right in the water and have fun.

They are the same people who wouldn't see instant success, blame everybody but themselves and never see them again.

Now it came time to get in the water and I was nervous.

Was I going to be able to get up, would I look like an idiot, would I be his worst client ever, and 100 other unsupporting thoughts were going through my end, including how cold is that water!!

I won't pretend, thoughts of "quitting" and just going home also crept in.

I put on the board and got in (water not so bad, yeah!!)

We get ready to go and my mind is trying to remember every detail, why am I trying to make this harder than it really is?

Off we go and I wasn't ready for what happened, as the board pushed through the water and I got up a little, the handle ripped out of my hands.

Hmmm, I'm going to have to hold into that sucker tight.

IMPORTANT LESSON NEXT:

What did Matt my coach do now?

Did he point out the 10 different things I did wrong, did he call me a little sissy for not holding on tighter?

Nope, he kept saying how great I was doing and how close I was to getting up.

I was impressed.

When starting anything new, you are going to screw up and fail, a lot. Just remember back to how many times a baby falls down before it is able to walk.

Is it your fault you are not an instant success at it?

Nope, it takes time to learn a new skill and "engrain" that into your brain so it becomes a natural skill to repeat.

Yes, at this point in time some coaching is definitely helpful. But MUCH more important is the positive encouragement so you keep moving forward.

The next attempt I got up for a few seconds and then went off to the right out of the wake and did a summersault.

More enthusiastic praise and encouragement from Matt and then a little more coaching on what I did right and what to do differently next time.

I was feeling pretty good.

Then we went 3 or 4 times in a row with me not getting up.

If it wasn't for Matt's continuous encouragement I would have become very discouraged.

Instead I keep focused on "testing" small changes each time and visualizing myself successfully getting up.

Then it all clicked and I popped right up and was off and running.

Now was time to use what he told me before we got into the water, how to position the board, my body and my hands and the rope.

Wow, it was so exciting to see it all come together, even though I'm sure I looked like I had a margarita or 3 before hand with all the wobbling around I was doing out there as I had my first experience standing on a little board, with my body twisted around, gliding on water behind a boat going 20 miles an hour.

After what seemed like an eternity (was probably all of 15 seconds) my legs were on fire, my arms were jello and I lost my balance and let go of the rope before I did a very painful face plant into the water.

Wow, the praise and excitement from Matt was at a peak. You would have thought I was his first client to ever get out of the water!

And like each time before, after the praise we did a recap of what happened, what worked and what I could learn from it.

We tried to go another time after that but by then my hands and forearms had enough.

While driving back in we talked more about what I did and learned. I shared with him some of the things I was trying and doing and he would say, yep, that's good or nope, that was what was causing you problems but I couldn't see happening.

When we sat at the dock and our lesson was over I felt like a success, even though I just got up 1 and 1/2 times.

And as I probed him to get a feel for how my results were compared to others he did a great job - he gave me both extremes so I knew I was not horrible (some people take 2 entire lessons or more before they can get up) but also the people who did great usually had past experience like skateboarding or snow skiing.

WHAT IF I DIDN'T HAVE A COACH?

I would be out there with a buddy of mine, who also had no clue how to wakeboard and extreme chaos would happen.

We would be driving the boat wrong and making everybody else mad, we would be giving each other bad advice on what to be doing, the guy in the boat would get frustrated with the guy in the water who "can't even get up out of the water" even though he has never done it himself either, I would be in the water beating myself up mentally and stuck in a negative feedback loop.

When that "blind leading the blind" opposite experience would be all said and done I may have ended up giving up on this whole "wakeboarding" experience and go back to the "same old same old" and find another dream to go after another day.

Unfortunately 9 times out of 10, the latter experience is what most online entrepreneurs experience. Of course they end up with little or no results and in most cases failure.

Just like me learning to wakeboard, you becoming a success online can be faster, bigger, more fun and more rewarding if you have your own coach.

If you want to see how you can have your online business coach, just like I have mine, then go to this site today.

http://www.internetbusinesscoach.com

~Kevin

P.S. I signed up with Matt's 10 session package because I know by the time we are finished I will be a successful wakeboarder, having a blast out on the water, and able to share what I learned with my friends who want to learn too.

For example, this first lesson (getting up) is like picking your market and setting up your blog for the first time. Doesn't seem like a big deal but most people never even get that far, they spend their entire lives watching wakeboarding videos on YouTube, talking about how they are going to learn and everything else (except for actually DOING something.)

Then lesson 2 I will learn how to "cut an edge" and move around while I am up and jump out of the wake. That is like creating your product that your market wants to buy that you will sell them.

Then, eventually, after you finish with your last coaching session you will be the online marketer who is making sales every day and have mastered ways to get traffic, build your list, generate "revenue on demand", have a lucrative backend profits and more. You are in all aspects an online success.

The first step is to recognize that having a coach is the smart thing to do and take the first step in getting one by going here.

http://www.internetbusinesscoach.com

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Reason for the delay…

No, it was not as some asked due to a New York mugging (I felt completely safe the entire time) nor attack from giant mutated sewer rats.

After typing up the first post in this series last week while I was in New York, I realized something.

My time there were "Free Days" for me (this comes from the Strategic Coach program I am a part of.) That means no work on those days.

Since I made the commitment to following the program and I set these 4 days aside as free days, that meant no blog post writing until I got home.

Lesson learned - if you make a commitment to following a new system or improving your life, take that commitment seriously and follow through with it.

Wednesday was my second day in New York and it was a blast. I love this city.

I was a bit nervous when I left the hotel, it was cloudy and drizzly, not the best weather to be exploring but I was on a mission.

It was time to visit Danny Meyer's first restaurant, Union Square Cafe next to the Union Square Park.

I was going to catch a cab since it was on 16th Street (I was on 43rd) but after getting started I decided I could make it there walking, plus I had plenty of time.

I ended up arriving 15 minutes early so I walked around the park only to discover it was the location of a cool Improv Everywhere event. Their site is one of my favorite fun sites to check out the cool and creative things they get large groups of people to do in public. Their most famous is the "Frozen Grand Central Station" which has been viewed by millions on YouTube the past 2 months and even featured on the TV show CSI last week.

One of my favorites is "Mobile Desktop" where they drag full size computers (with the massive old-school monitors and everything) into a Starbucks to work just like somebody who brings a laptop. It was hilarious… one of the computers was running Windows 95 it was so old. Also one of people pulled the massive monitor and keyboard onto her lap to work. They even had people waiting in line thinking they were for public use.

Anyway, they did their "Look Up More" event in the building looking out on Union Square Park. It was cool to see where it went down.

Unfortunately with my dead camera battery I left without pictures.

Then it came time for my visit to the restaurant and I was a bit concerned… had I built up in my mind too lofty of expectations that would be impossible to be met?

Without a long minute by minute recap, I will keep it short with the following.

The food was flat out amazing. I was in heaven. And Scott my waiter was perfect. Friendly and helpful when making a choice and later, when I struck up a conversation eager to contribute.

Then it came time for dessert. Normally I would skip it but I wanted the full experience. Except one problem, nothing on the menu grabbed my attention, especially the items Scott recommended. So after some hemming and hawwing I passed on dessert and got an espresso.

A minute later I changed my mind and was going to get something just to try, flagged down Scott and told him to get the frozen custard dealio which was most interesting sounding one he mentioned.

He laughed and said he had already ordered that one for me on the house. Wow, I was impressed, he had the insight to know I wanted to try dessert but wasn't drawn to any of them by the description.

So he picked the one he thought I would enjoy most so I didn't leave with the thought "I wished I would have gotten dessert" which would have overshadowed the amazing food and experience I had leading up to that.

By now the skies were clearing up and the sun was out… a perfect day to walk the streets of New York and for my next adventure - the top of the Empire State Building.

But first, I passed by the Madison Square Park. I love this about New York. The city has these great little parks all over the city, and they are full of people hanging out during their work break or any time during the day.

This was also the location of 3 other Danny Meyer restaurants. One of which I knew I would be coming back tomorrow to eat at, Shake Shack, his version of a hamburger, hot dog and milkshake stand.

Next up was the Empire State Building. Like a typical tourist I took the full package - 86th floor observatory, plus the 105th floor ticket, plus the audio tour and the special map of the city so I knew what I was looking at.

Interesting business observation - this place makes a FORTUNE!!

Via my rough (and conservative) estimates. They have 4000+ people go through a day (probably a lot more during prime tourist times), each paying on average $20 (most likely more, I paid $41).

That's $80,000 a day, $2.4 million a month, $28.8 million a year with no product costs.

Not bad for a little side business.

Another business lesson - upsells.

They charge $14 for a ticket to the 86th floor (this is their main product).

Then $15 to go to the 105th floor (even though the view is basically the same, some people will pay for it because its offered) and another $8 for the audio and $7 for the map ($12 if you get both). And then they had other tours you could purchase too, including a movie tour of the city… it is like taking a tour but you watch it like a movie. And don't forget the picture they take before you enter that you can purchase when you leave.

We will be showing you our proprietary upsell formula at the upcoming sold out Quattro Workshop. It is one very effective way, if done properly, to radically change your business and profits.

While up there I got to see a number of places in the area I wanted to check out including the famous St Paul's Cathedral. (It's amazing that these 100+ year old churches are all over this city, where a little speck of land is worth millions of dollars.)

An interesting observation while I was leaving. When I arrived the line was "short", meaning it was still inside the building and only took 20 to 30 minutes.

When I left, the line was out the building and around the block and would most likely take an hour to 90 minutes or more to get through. So that 4000 people number is probably really low.

Freak Meeting!!

While walking down the street this guy taps me on my shoulder and goes "Hey Kevin do you remember me?"

There are something like 8 million people in New York City, none of which I know.

The chance of me running into somebody on the street here is virtually zero.

But I did.

It was one of the guys from my Strategic Coach group. This is a high-end coaching program Matt and I are a part of that meets 4 times a year. (Yes, I practice what I preach and have a coach to help me become more successful.)

It was the craziest thing that he noticed and remembered me in a crowd of fast walking New Yorkers. The coolest part, he said I look just like a New Yorker and not a tourist!

Next on my walk around - Rockefeller Center. Been there, saw it, checked it off my list.

I eventually found myself back home in the hotel room for a short rest, (quick estimate is I'm doing 10+ miles a day in walking!) Also confirmed my trip out to the middle of nowhere Long Island to stop by Mike Filsaime's office to see him and Tom and check out their operations.

Next I head out to catch the 7pm showing of the musical Jersey Boys. It is the story of the Four Seasons. A group of 4 jersey boys from the wrong side of the tracks that end up selling over 100 million albums in the 1960's.

Not only did the story sound inspiring, but it also won the 2006 Tony Awards. Sounded like a great choice.

Unfortunately I left with mixed feelings. It was good, but not great. I knew most of the songs, but they were not from my generation and they tended to go rapid fire through skits at times. My seat neighbors loved it though, they grew up in that era.

To wrap up the day I wondered around the Times Square area to find a place that sounded interesting to eat.

It ended up being a BBQ place that seemed to be popular and well ranked. I thought it would be a good judge against the Danny Meyer BBQ at Jazz Standard the night before.

Wow, what a huge difference! The food was bad (burnt and dry ribs with bland coleslaw, but at least the brisket was tasty) and service was uninspiring, the poor lady was hopelessly going through the motions.

That's the recap for Day 2 (Tuesday).

Tomorrow will include my first New York Subway experience (hopefully better than my first cab experience from Monday) and my trip to the iconic Yankee Stadium!

~Kevin

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