Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners

I’m lazy.

No one believes me, but the reality is that I am really lazy and get a lot done because I’m a believer in systems. I like to set things up and let them run on auto pilot for as long as possible.

I’ve got more than 35 little “businesses” that I run, most of them secret, and most of them involve absolutely NO EFFORT on my part. Today I’m going to share with you ONE of those secret little businesses with you.

For sure, you have to accept that none of these little guys are making me five or six figures annually, but I promise you that they aren’t taking up ANY of my time, so even if I only make a few thousand dollars, or even a couple of hundred bucks every year, it’s all gravy.

So here’s the super simple business I’m sharing with you today:

I don’t know much about computers, but I have a lot of geek friends who don’t know much about business. We talk, they share their geeky ideas, and then I figure out how to make money with them. All of us end up better off.

CASE IN POINT: When you visit a web page that has been removed, altered, renamed, misnamed, or you just did a typo while entering the URL, you get a very common error message.

Try this: go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fksldfkj and you will see a typical error page.

Now go to your own domain name and enter a non-existent URL (ex: www.YourDomainName.com/blah-blah-blah )

They look rather similar, right? You’ve probably seen these error pages before, but you probably didn’t know that you have control over the error pages that show up on your own domains.

Not sure? Visit a fictitious page on any of my sites. (ex: http://JulianSpeaks.com/blah )

Pretty cool, huh?

Now, here’s where it gets cooler. I’ve put together a short, step-by-step description of exactly how to create your OWN 404 Error pages that you can use to keep people on your site, AND to sell whatever you think they might want.

This is what I normally sell on my own error pages (as you can see when you attempt to visit a fictitious page or a broken link on my site), and it has a normal retail price of $27.77 but for this week I’m slashing the price by $20 so you can have it all for just $7.77.

Because it is an instant PDF download you pay no shipping charges, so when I say $7.77 that’s exactly what I mean. That’s crazy cheap!

But here’s where it gets even better. I like things to be automated. This particular business of mine is completely automated. I don’t have to actually send you anything. Instead it is all powered by The Amazing System (an integrated shopping cart, database, digital product delivery system, broadcast email system, and autoresponder system). That’s why I can offer this so cheap. I don’t do any work.

(FYI: Even this email and a matching blog entry were both written weeks ago and scheduled to go out while I am currently in front of an audience).

I’d like to expand my automated business and help YOU join me on this particular model that involves no work and no marketing on your part. So, if you purchase the system and decide you’d like to re-sell it to people on your own site who stumble across YOUR error pages, I will set you up as an affiliate and waive all affiliate set up charges.

You start an online business in which you do NOTHING and it costs you NOTHING to run or maintain. All you have to do is set up your own error pages which is something you should do anyway and I teach you exactly how to do it for less than you will spend on coffee today.

Imagine having a sustainable business that will work for you forever knowing that you spent less than $8 to get it all going.

To get started just visit any fictitious page you can imagine on any of my web sites and then purchase the product for a 72% discount. The instructions for becoming an affiliate are included in the INSTANT pdf download.

Your automated business could be up and running before your next meal!

http://JulianSpeaks.com/dkweo460f346jv8kg4edc

(or any other string of random letters after the “/”)

Julian Uncategorized

How often do you hear someone talk about “reinventing themselves”? That seems to be such a common phrase as to almost be considered cliché, but the fact is that in this fast-paced, constantly-shifting world we live in, where the internet and communications technology has sped things up to incredible levels, the need to constantly innovate and reinvent oneself has become one of the more valuable skills you can develop.

So, I thought I would share the pattern that I’ve seen among people who consistently and successfully reinvent themselves, their careers, and their companies. It seems that these shifts in direction seem to fall into one of four basic categories, which I have labeled: Complete Redesign, Lateral Reinvention, Vertical Ascension, and Experience Integration.

By understanding these patterns you should be able to better understand the process and exactly how you can use it to continually grow and improve your market position, no matter how big or small your current business model. At the end I’ll share with you how I’ve used these ideas to create http://therealtruthaboutspeaking.com and what it might mean for you if you choose to reinvent yourself as a high-paid speaker.

Complete Redesign is easily recognized in the recent college grad who is moving from student to either employee or entrepreneur. However others frequently find themselves in a position of complete redesign. The internet can quickly change entire industries. Travel agents used to exist in retail locations all over the place but their entire existence was redesigned for them when information became readily available to anyone with an internet connection.

As industries shift, as employees are laid off, as laws are enacted, many people find themselves in a position where they are forced to completely redesign who they are and what they contribute if they hope to stay competitive.

This is a tough position, but for many it can be very liberating to start with a completely blank canvas upon which to paint your vision of who you are and where you are going.

Lateral Reinvention is a more common method of reinvention that involves a shift from one aspect of what you currently do into an other, similar aspect of the same thing. When Mark Walberg went from rap singer “Marky Mark” into being a serious actor it might have seemed like a complete reinvention, but Walberg contends that entertainment is entertainment. Will Smith followed a similar path and seems to agree as do many of the stand up comedians who have successfully moved into acting.

Other examples of lateral reinvention include actors who become directors (Jodi Foster, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, etc), magicians who become high paid professional speakers (Giovanni, Shep Hyken, etc), and employees who (usually after getting laid off) become high-paid consultants to the same companies that used to employ them.

Vertical Ascension is the most difficult to recognize, but the most widely celebrated. The reason it is difficult to recognize is because it is an upward climb within the same field and so there is always the skeptic who contends it is not reinvention at all.

Madonna has done a fabulous job of staying relevant over her 30+ year career by constantly reinventing who she is and what she does, but all within the framework of being an edgy vocalist. Similarly, Steven Jobs has been able to consistently push Apple as an innovator of technology though the technology is constantly shifting and expanding.

Experience Integration is simply blending two or more previous fields of experience into a new endeavor. For years I worked as a teacher and all my life I’ve been a magician so it seems obvious (in retrospect at least) that I would be successful creating entertaining school assembly programs. In fact, the company I created in 2002 offering educational assembly programs has been my most successful endeavor to date just by strategically melding these two fields of experience.

What method are you going to use to create a leap to the next level in your personal and professional development? If you aren’t yet sure, I suggest you consider joining us this August in Houston for a life-changing event.

Garrison Wynn, one of the country’s top speakers is holding a very limited, small-group event sharing the real truth about the speaking business and what it takes to make sure you are able to earn the high fees you are worth. Whether you’ve been speaking for years or aren’t yet sure what you will be speaking on, Garrison will help you pinpoint your unique skill and experiences and then show you exactly how to exploit them for maximum pay-off.

All the details can be found at:

www.TheRealTruthAboutSpeaking.com

Julian Uncategorized

For too long now all the lazy, dysfunctional people of the world had to make their way by either sapping the charity of others or living on the government dole.

I’m not talking about un-skilled people who often have to take menial jobs until they learn valuable trades or develop the discipline that will allow them to move up through an organization, adding greater and greater value as they grow. I’m talking about the people of the world who are so emotionally disturbed that they simply can’t (or won’t) hold down a job where they work to contribute to society in a way that rewards them for their labors.

I just learned that T.O. (Tyrell Owens, professional-football-player-slash-gangster-wannabe) is now on a reality Television show. This is GREAT!

He’s following in the footsteps of other world-class losers like the Octo-mom who has no job, no husband or partner, and no source of income but was able to convince a fertility doctor to impregnate her with eight viable, fertilized eggs and gave birth like a bitch to a litter of puppies (I use the term here only in it’s legitimate use, not as the more often used slang definition, though either might apply).

Fortunately for the taxpayers, the Octo-mom was able to secure a deal for a reality TV show as well. While some have lamented this as a sign of the imminent collapse of society as we know it, I contend that this is proof that Capitalism works if we give it a chance.

I still think the doctor in question should have his license revoked as he clearly failed to uphold his moral duties charged him as a graduate of medical school. But I am also glad that this otherwise non-producer (and rabid RE-producer!) is able to earn a living and should hopefully be able to pay for at least the basic needs of her ridiculously large, single-parent family without too much assistance from you and me as taxpayers.

Of course, we owe all this to the likes of Paris Hilton, who had a monthly allowance from daddy bigger than most of us earn in a really good year but was willing to sacrifice her thin wisp of dignity in order to blaze a new trail for fellow whack-jobs who were not so fortunate to be born multi-billionaires. Her willingness to expose her lunacy on national TV for money that she clearly did not need, opened doors for fellow lunatics who might otherwise have to live on taxpayer assistance.

So for all the people who hear voices in the night telling them to shave their heads or drown their babies, for all the washed-up celebrities and musicians who squandered the millions they made when times were good, for all the athletes who could make hundreds of millions of dollars playing a game they love if they could only learn to get along with others, EMBRACE your new career as a reality TV star and thank Paris Hilton for showing you the way.

Julian Uncategorized

As many of you know, for more than six years now I’ve been writing a monthly column in “The Linking Ring” (the world’s largest, most widely distributed trade journal for professional magicians).

Distribution of the magazine is limited to the membership roles of the somewhat exclusive and secretive society, The International Brotherhood of Magicians. For those of you who are not members but would like to hear the business advice I’ve been providing the world’s top performers and entertainers I’ve recorded the various articles over the years and released them as audio products.

The most recent edition (Year Six) is now available as an instant, digital MP3 download. I work purposely to keep the total time of the recording under 80 minuts so that if you want, you can burn the recording to CD, if you prefer that format. Here’s the button to buy the MP3 if you want.

Year 6, instant MP3 download with no shipping - $12

Years 1-6 (8 HOURS!) instant MP3 download, no shipping - $59

Alternatively, you can visit my website http://www.julianspeaks.com/ and click the link to products. There you’ll find most of my 20+ books, all my CD programs including Business of Magic years 1-5 AND the entire set of years 1-6 as a “Boxed Set” discount in both downloadable format as well as CD that we can ship to you.

Julian Uncategorized

So the Cowboys cut T.O. from the team. They were sick of putting up with his ****, I guess. Already there are several team owners who have voiced the fact that they will NOT be entertaining the thought of hiring Tyrell at ANY price.

Tyrell Owens is an amazingly talented athlete. His skills on the field command a premium in the marketplace.

But because he is so difficult to work with and because he causes friction among his team mates his value in the marketplace diminishes. When there are fewer and fewer team owners willing to offer you a jersey, you end up with a lower and lower salary.

So his skills earn him millions of dollars for as long as he is able to deliver, while his attitude costs him millions of dollars and will continue to do so long after he is no longer useful on the field. And the history of football says that he doesn’t have all that many useful years left on the field.

If he manages his money as poorly as he does his behavior (and I would bet he does worse) then my bet is that he will be selling life insurance during his retirement years instead of living the lifestyle of a man who earned what he did last year.

Julian Uncategorized

There are several trends that you might or might not have noticed that are changing the economic landscape right now. These trends WILL impact your livelihood. For those who see them and understand them and know how to use them to their advantage, the impact will be profitable. For those who are caught unaware, the impact could be disastrous.

I’m going to openly share my personal and professional strategy for dealing with these trends, but first I think it is important to expose the changes that are already affecting your business.

1) The first of the trends is the pervasive encroachment of technology into every aspect of our lives. Things that used to be too ridiculous a concept to even include in a science fiction story are now mainstream toys. Think about the computing power in a typical smart phone compared to what NASA used to get men to the moon.

2) The second trend is a shift away from owning “things” and toward “experiences”. Kids today think of CDs as antiquated and bulky. You don’t want the LP, cassette, or CD, you want the MUSIC. The CD was just the best tool (at one time) to deliver that music and now it is no longer the best tool. CDs can get lost, stolen, or scratched. But the music in a digital format can remain viable forever and transfered to whatever medium is the choice of the time. This trend goes far beyond music into other forms of entertainment and information distribution as we shall see.

3) The third trend is that of the Green Movement: regardless of your beliefs about the cause or even the existence of global warming, it is lunacy to ignore the rising trend toward having a lessening impact on the environment. There is a LOT of potential here for you to capitalize on this trend and I’ll share some ideas with you.

4) The fourth and last trend I’m going to discuss today is the ever-present concerns about the current economic situation. Again, regardless of your personal experience or your belief about what the future holds, you simply cannot ignore the concerns of most of America during this time, and the economic situation ranks #1 in the minds of most Americans right now.

Real quick, I want to share with you a strategy that I’m implementing that I think will take these four factors and use them to my advantage and by extension, you will also benefit.

I’m currently in the process of converting all my information products into digital format so that CDs have become MP3s, my books have become e-books, and DVDs are becoming .MOV files. This not only embraces the technology as it exists today, it also reduces waste, eliminates the carbon footprint involved in delivering physical products in trucks burning fossil fuels, and because there is no shipping costs, those savings are passed on to the consumer in a lower overall product price.

But there is this invisible hurdle to overcome: For those of us born before 1984 (the year 1984, not the book 1984) we still have an emotional attachment to holding physical product. I remember how much I resisted direct deposit checks because I wanted to touch the paper to know it was real. I want to HOLD the CDs to know I have purchased something even though the plastic and paper is NOT what I am really buying.

So, here’s what I am doing…I’ve created a package of some of my e-books, and some of my MP3s, bundled them together and am “selling” them at a total cost of ZERO dollars. It’s like a chance to practice the new economy from beginning to end, with absolutely no risk at all as there is nothing to pay for.

What you do is go to http://JulianSpeaks.com/freegift.html and you will see the “Add to Cart” button. Click that and you will see that it is a zero dollar item. You will also see all the files I’ve included in that bundle. Some of you may already have some of this stuff but no one has all of it.

You’ll “check out” but it won’t ask you for a method of payment. Instead you will be asked for an e-mail address where you want the link sent. This should probably be the same e-mail address you use to get my monthly newsletter, but you can use whatever you want.

Within a few seconds you will have the link in your e-mail account to download all the files. See what you think of digital products. You can burn the MP3s to CD if you really want the plastic. And you can print out the PDFs if you really want the paper. But I think you’ll like the direction these trends are taking my business.

In a few weeks I’ll be sharing more about each of these trends and how you can take strategic advantage of each of them in your own business.

But right now, visit http://JulianSpeaks.com/freegift.html and feel free to tell a friend about the site as well. My goal is to open people up to this technology and open them up to what I offer as well and I think this little “sample pack” is a good way to start.

Julian Uncategorized

The other day I went into a fast food restaurant that will remain nameless just because some people will probably take this article the wrong way and I don’t want a good business to suffer because of it.

I ordered a simple combo-meal that included a drink and fries. The clerk, who happened to be a manager named Julienne asked me “Medium or Large?” It was such a quick and innocent sounding question that I almost answered before thinking.

“No, a small will be fine, thank you”. She completed my order and as she handed me my receipt and tray of food I asked her a question that she clearly didn’t feel comfortable answering.

I asked her how many of the people accepted one of her two options and went with either medium or large. She said she didn’t know. I pushed until she admitted that it was at least 85-90%.

This simple upsell adds either 59 or 99 cents to each meal ordered. As each combo normally runs about $5-6 that’s a 10-20% markup on EACH meal sold. The best part is that it costs the restaurant almost NOTHING to fulfill delivery. A slightly larger soda costs them a penny or two in syrup and fractions of a cent for a larger cup. The difference between a small and medium sized fries is non-existent. Only the cardboard box changes size. Basically the same amount of product fits in each size box. The large holds a little more than the small but even then, you’re talking about potatoes: just about the cheapest food product on the planet.

So for virtually no cost at all they are able to increase their revenue by 10-20% just by asking one single, very simple and almost automatic question. The secret is to ask the question systematically, to EVERYONE who orders a combo meal and to ask it EVERY single time.

I’m still trying to work out exactly how this principle can be applied in my business. There is something about the assumptive quality of the question and something also about the two-options format. But basically it is a simple question.

Do you do birthday parties? Are you willing to do Goodie bags? (I do the former, but not the latter). Maybe you could add a simple question like “Do you want us to handle the goodie bags for everyone or are you going to put all those together yourself?”

Not as clean as “Medium or Large?” but it gets that conversation started. I’ll bet that’s got to be worth a few thousand dollars a year for the right performers.

Or, if you do awards banquets you might ask “Do you want to include enough magic tricks for every seat at each table or just one trick per table and let everyone kind of share it?” Most event planners might not have even thought about the idea of including magic tricks for the guests, and when they find out that you can provide quality, PRE-SELECTED tricks for less than $2 per person you might just be able to bump up your revenue for the night by a pretty significant amount.

I welcome your thoughts on this. Remember, I’m not just talking about ways to increase revenue. There are countless thousands of ways to do that. I’m talking about doing it with a question. A single, very simple, question that is asked near the end of each transaction.

What is YOUR question for 2009?

Julian Uncategorized

All the marketing experts right now are writing about how you should be setting goals this week. So there is no need for me to beat you over the head with it. Instead I’m going to give you something they aren’t: real-world, valuable, solid, easy-to-implement advice that you probably haven’t heard before.

How novel.

Every January I try to go through my various web pages and update the copyright notice to reflect the new year. This does four things:

1) It automatically extends my copyright on the material on my web site for an additional year. This is important, but it is really the least important reason for doing this as by the time the copyright expires on the material that is posted on my web site it will probably be of little real value to my surviving heirs anyway. The more important reasons follow…

2) It lets viewers know they are seeing an up-to-date web site. Personally, when I see a website that proudly boasts that it was “recently” updated and the date mentioned is 3 years old, I really wonder why they mention it at all!

Seriously, if you aren’t going to regularly go in and change the copy on your web site, that’s fine. Just don’t be silly enough to put a DATE on the web site letting everyone KNOW! People appreciate up-to-date information when browsing the web. You don’t want to publicize if your information hasn’t been updated in years.

I renew the copyright date on my website, even if the copy doesn’t change as it lets the reader’s know that I am still actively involved in running the business and that I am attentive to details.

3) The third reason is that when you go in and look at each individual page as you adjust the copyright date it sort of forces you to actually read the copy that you’ve posted. You’d be surprised what things you will find when you read your own web site. From information that is no longer accurate, to misspelled words, to references that date the site even more than an old copyright notice.

As an example, there was a competitor of mine who also performed motivational school assembly programs in Texas. Her programs claimed to address specific issues covered in the state mandated test in Texas, however, she was calling the test by a name that hadn’t been used in Texas for almost FIVE YEARS!! I had to wonder how many opportunities she lost simply because her web site was promoting her ability to help students pass a test that had been phased out half a decade previously.

These are the silly sorts of mistakes that can cost you more than not having a web site at all!

So go in and read your own web site. Each page, one-by-one. Update the copyright years if you have them, make sure that all the other references are up to date, and keep an eye out for other opportunities to polish up your site going into this new year.

4) And for the last, but possibly the most important reason to update your web site copyright dates: search engines (e.g. Google and Yahoo) love current information. They can tell when the web page was last updated and that weighs heavily in your search engine rankings. They can’t tell how much information on your site has changed (maybe it was nothing more than “2008″ becoming “2009″) but they weigh current information far more heavily than information that hasn’t been updated in a year or more.

Julian Uncategorized

On another blog I wrote a post about achieving goals that created a little controversy, in part because I stood to make some money. So to make ammends to anyone who was upset I am giving a gift to everyone.

Okay, actually I’m not the one giving it. Seth Godin is. And the real truth is that it’s not even my idea. This gift was first given to me by a friend of mine from South Africa named Marcel Oudejans who is one of the savviest guys I’ve met in a long time.

He told me about the free download on his blog. So, to return the favor to him for sharing with me this resource, I’m going to have you get the link from HIS blog, not mine. Of course, he doesn’t profit from this either, but hopefully you’ll like the stuff he writes and start following his blogs as well as mine.

Either way, enjoy the Seth Godin book. I know you’ll enjoy the price ($0)

http://www.performmarketing.co.za/resources/create-tribe.html

Just for the record, you will have to follow a link from Marcel’s blog to get to the free download and you’ll need to download some free software from Audiobook in order to process the download. It is all very intuitive and easy and will take less than 4 minutes.

It’s worth it.

Julian Uncategorized

I read a great article last night in the November issue of Fast Company (p. 87 if you subscribe to that magazine).

It was about building good Powerpoint presentations and was written by Dan and Chip Heath (the guys who wrote Made to Stick, a great book about developing messages that stick with your audience).

So what does a Powerpoint presentation have to do with speaking in front of a live audience? EVERYTHING! The same principles apply and the same mistakes are made by 99% of the Powerpoint presentations as are made by 99% of the people calling themselves professional speakers (predictable, routine, and boring…)

Even though the article I read is about Powerpoint presentations, it is really about creating ANY sort of presentation that results in RESULTS. You have heard about people saying “Show, don’t tell” but yet even when I started a business for presenting school shows, library shows, and reading programs in schools and libraries I found that most of the presenters in that market are NOT getting RESULTS because they are not truly communicating their message.

Instead they are just decorating it.

“Show, don’t tell doesn’t mean to include a world map on your slide about “thinking gloabally”. That’s decoration, not communication. A good idea doesn’t need visual drapes” say the Heath brothers in this article.

Instead, in this article the Heath brothers give the example of a VP discussing the amount of paperwork required of their department store outlets (519 pages every two weeks).

“This is two weeks’ worth of the audit documentation that’s required of our stores. You’ve all heard the phrase that the road to hell is paved with good intentions?” The speaker then shoved the papers across the table “Well, this is the road to hell.”

No Powerpoint presentation needed. No graphs, charts, or statistical spreadsheets could convey the information better than 519 pages fluttering to the ground in front of a group of shocked executives.

And if you’ve ever been one of those speakers who worries about whether or not your shoes match your belt, or if people are judging you on your haircut, let me assure you that the people in the audience mentioned above were NOT wondering if the paper was recycled. Nor were they speculating about whether or not the printing on the pages was actual documentation or just some random text to make a point. They didn’t have a nagging desire to go up after words and count the pages to make sure there were exactly 519.

No, this audience was impacted. They got the message, plain and clear, with no distractions.

Three years ago I released a program titled “Developing Educationally Significant Programs” and it has become my best selling product to date. It is about this very topic. It is about creating programs that make a difference in the lives of your audience. It’s about doing more than entertaining. It is about changing lives.

The trend in speaking seems to be to figure out a way to force a message du jour into a routine or pet story that you’ve already done a hundred times. Superficial research, don’t learn anything new, just take a standard bit and force your square message into that round hole.

But these object lessons don’t illustrate the message. Instead they just decorate it.

Julian Uncategorized