Three Steps To Making Your Direct-Mail Copy Super-Strong
I’ve been directly or indirectly responsible for more than a billion dollars’ worth of direct-mail copy over a span of more than 20 years. During that time, I’ve never stopped trying to find new and better ways to make the copy stronger. What follows is a simple but (for me,…
READ MOREDo You Have What It Takes To Make Big Money With Stocks?
“There are men who gain from their wealth only the fear of losing it.” – Antoine Rivaroli (L’Esprit de Rivarol, 1808) I’m not an expert in stocks, but I have been involved with stock-market publications and stock-market gurus for more than 25 years. During that time, I’ve met a…
READ MOREHard Access Versus Easy Access Businesses
“For easy things, that may be got at will, / Most sorts of men do set but little store.” – Edmund Spenser (Amoretti, 1595) In a recent issue of Inc. magazine, business expert Norm Brodsky says “given a choice, I’d always go for a hard-access business over an easy-access one,”…
READ MOREHow To Invest Safely in the Stock Market: MMF’s Three Rules for Amateur Investors
As you probably know, I have spent a lot of time in the investment advisory business. Not on the financial planning or brokerage side, but as a consultant to investment book and newsletter publishers. I’ve also created, marketed, directed, and spoken at more than 100 investment seminars and conferences. All…
READ MOREThe Best Stock Tip I Ever Received
Martha Stewart is cold busted. Unless her lawyers can do some serious sweet-talking, it seems certain that “America’s favorite homemaker” will soon be found guilty of insider trading. As you no doubt know, late last December, Martha sold her 4,000 shares of ImClone … just before an important announcement that…
READ MOREAn Important Question About the Product You’re Selling
“How few are our real wants! And how easy it is to satisfy them! Our imaginary ones are boundless and insatiable.” – Augustus William Hare (Guesses at Truth, 1827) There are two kinds of products: need-to-have products and want-to-have products. Knowing which kind you are selling is critically important to…
READ MOREThe Perfect Portfolio for You
If only you had the perfect portfolio … one that grew 12% a year like clockwork — without a losing year — then you’d be set for life. But just what is the perfect portfolio for you? And what’s the easiest way to get there from where you are now?…
READ MOREInteresting Trend in the Advertising World
Dear Early to Rise Reader, Last Monday, The USA Today reported on an interesting trend in the advertising world. Many of the world’s biggest and most successful companies, the paper reported, are now turning to direct-marketing (which they call the “ugly step-child” of the advertising world), instead of traditional, glitzy,…
READ MOREThe Easiest Way to Fix a Broken Business
“Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.” – Robert F. Kennedy (“Federal Power and Local Poverty,” The Pursuit of Justice, 1964) She was very impressive. Smart. Assertive. And had exactly the working history we wanted for someone to run our business. We…
READ MOREA Basic Success Secret That Many Self-Help Gurus Just Don’t Get
In a recent e-mail article titled “Attitude is a very important word,” Earl Nightingale says that “of all the words in all the languages of the world … ‘attitude’ is the most important.” “More than any other single thing,” he says, “your attitude will determine … what happens to you.”…
READ MOREThe Traits of Leadership: Let’s Call It Like It Is
“There are men, who, by their sympathetic attractions, carry nations with them, and lead the activity of the human race.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (“Power,” The Conduct of Life, 1860) To command the respect of your subordinates, you must lead with self-awareness, honesty, authenticity, and humility. So say Larry Bossidy…
READ MOREThe “Centralize/Decentralize” Dilemma
“Some people like to make a little garden out of life and walk down a path.” – Jean Anouilh (The Lark, 1955) In a centralized business, each department forms part of a division and each division reports to the headquarters. In a decentralized business, work is organized around profit centers.…
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