“Blind” Landscaper Reveals 3 Amazing Tips on Business, Motivation and Success

I firstly found about this Virginia-based, “eye-challenged” landscaper in a book I’ve read by Larry C. Farrell - “Getting Entrepreneurial!” – one of the most intriguing compilations talking on human potential in life and business.

I’ve read many “self-help” and “business” books, but this one has something apart. I don’t get paid to review books, but your reward for listening to what I’ve learned from this guy that I’ll share with you next, will hopefully payoff!

One of the most appealing stories I’ve found inside “Getting Entrepreneurial!” that changed the way I look at businesses and the potential hiding inside the many individuals, professionals and companies I work with, is one of this “blind” guy named Buel Messer, Messer Landscape, Inc. founder.

Here’s some “background” info on him…

* blind cattle rustler turned landscaping entrepreneur
* started out shoveling snow with his two small boys in the winter of 1980
* eye-sufferer; he can only see with one eye, not being able to use more than just 5% of its full power

Concepts I learned from his inspiring story:

1. There are as many reasons to “condition” yourself to succeed as there are to “block” yourself and fail. Is the “reason” you say to yourself leading you towards your goal, or detracting from it? Why do you want to achieve your goal in the first place? And what is it that you really want? Why?

Buel didn’t let his infirm sight stop him, instead, this “pushed” him into finding new solutions for the challenges he faced with and thinking strategically about his situation.

2. Growth opportunities are found “hidden” in yourself, in your profession, in your company. Stop looking elsewhere. Focus on what you already have. Can you find GOLD nuggets in other people’s garbage? Train yourself to do it!

Everything you want to get or achieve can be found in yourself, for as long as you know what you want, and for as long as you keep asking yourself clear, provoking questions…

Meditate, brainstorm and ask yourself… what are the best, easiest, most enjoyable ways to get what you want, pray if you like it. All this combined helps, as it helped me, and the people I “touch” frequently.

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” [Bible: Luke 17:21]

3. No need to get an MBA to run a business or perform in a profession. What you can’t afford to miss on is the knowledge, and the skill sets you need to acquire in other to manage yourself and others and “force” you to achieve your goals.

As Buel said… “You’ve got to make people feel strong about themselves and be motivated. I would say being able to manage people might be the secret to everything”

I can’t recommend enough this book. If you want to hear more, get in touch with me. And we’ll see how to work together and “upload” the strategic thinking and breakthrough methods I use, in your brain, to generate the cash windfalls “hidden” in your profession or business.

Hope this post did more than just inspire you;

I want you to realise and recognize the true human potential and how to implement these concepts in your profession or business. If a blind man can do it, imagine what you can do, in order to unleash your true potential and skill sets!

If you want to share your opinion, or get in touch with me, get heard!

Email marketing tips from Lynn Terry at ClickNewz.com

Today’s interview features full-time marketer and super affiliate blogger, Lynn Terry…

Right-click here to get a PDF printer-friendly version
of this interview and read it offline!

Please introduce yourself to our readers…

I’ve been working online and from home for 13 years. My name is Lynn Terry, and I am best known for my candid blog at http://www.ClickNewz.com . I am a Super Affiliate, a seasoned expert at Internet Marketing and a variety of online business models, and am also a single mother to two children. Now teens, they were just 5 months and 5 years old when I started my first business.

When, how and why did you get started with blogging @ ClickNewz.com?

I have been blogging full-time for more than six years. I originally started blogging on blogger.com and then moved to ClickNewz.com and a WordPress platform about 18 months later.

I started the blog to 1) try blogging as a business model and platform, and 2) to share my personal daily finds and challenges with Internet Marketing. In the beginning it was as much the personal journal of an online business owner as anything, but it has grown into a popular Internet Marketing blog with a large readership.

What is your experience with list building so far?

I have over 10 years experience with list-building and email marketing. In the beginning it was easy to build email lists, and many publishers built large (mostly untargeted) mailing lists. Users are more cautious about giving away their email address now than they were then, and publishers are finding that micro-targeted mailing lists work much better than general topic lists.

What are the TOP areas I should concentrate on when building my list first time?

First, you want to make sure you have a good mailing list manager. This is super important when you’re just starting out, as it’s difficult to move a mailing list without losing 90% of your hard-earned subscribers. I use and prefer Aweber, which is the industry leader in mailing list management.

Second, create a targeted topical list. Know exactly who you want to subscribe, and what you are going to offer them in the way of content. Consider your market, and how you can best serve that market. Create an incentive that appeals directly to that market, and keep your mailings on topic as a follow-up to that download.

Do you have a formula for writing subject lines that get opened?

The absolute best thing you can do is split-test subject lines with your list. Every list and every niche is going to be different, and respond to different things, so split-testing subject lines yourself is the only sure bet.

I never, ever use misleading subject lines. While they may get a good open rate (at first) they are deceptive and they create a sense of distrust between you and your reader.

What would you say is the one most important thing you’ve learned about writing openings?

I use specific subject lines that will appeal to the exact person I want to read the email, and I make it personal. Often I will ask a question, or use the word “you” in the subject line.

From there, I open with a personable statement that asks the reader a question, or otherwise draws them into what I want to share in that message. Make it a point to address the reader personally, or use words like “you” and “yours”. Avoid saying “I” or “me” too much, and avoid generalizations like “my subscribers” or “all of you”. ONE person is reading your email.

What about getting clicks?

Getting click-through’s is all about having a strong call-to-action, and one that is a direct match to the expectations you set with your subject line in that email. It starts with the subject line, then the opening, and should end with a highly relevant call-to-action. Don’t just include a link and expect readers to click on it – Tell them what it is, and why they should click on it, and what result to expect when they do (and if they don’t).

So how do you make money with your list[s]?

The best way to make money with your list is to have their best interest in mind at all times. Serving your market. Instead of trying to sell them products all the time, be their niche advocate. Keep your eyes peeled for special offers, coupon codes, deals, exclusive content – something over and above what your competitors are offering. Gain your readers’ trust and interest through these methods, and they will buy from you over anyone else!

Who are you learning from or getting inspiration when it comes to writing your emails?

In most of the niches where I market, I am my target market. Meaning I am a consumer in that market as well. That being the case, I pay special attention to the emails and advertisements, or blog posts and content, that gets my attention. I add that to my personal Swipe File, and use that for inspiration in creating my own high-response content & subject lines.

What are your list building plans for the future? And what do you expect others do once they finish reading your interview?

My plans for the future are to continue to build micro-targeted niche lists, and continue to look for ways to serve those markets. My advice for you, after reading this, is to take a look at what you are doing now and consider ways that you can improve it. And if you haven’t started your own mailing list yet, do it today! ;)

Thank you very much for the great amount of email marketing tips and advice you shared with us today.

We appreciate your insights and invite our readers to comment on the blog and ask any other questions they might have.

A Self Improvement Blogger’s Secrets About List-Building

Let me begin by saying that I am no expert on list-building and neither am I someone who makes a fortune from internet marketing (not yet at least).

What I’ve Learned About List-Building and Traffic

In my 2 years since I started with internet marketing and blogging, I have read many resources about many types of marketing on the internet. The majority of ‘gurus’ definitely claim that the real money is in the list. It is always in the list.

Lists give power to build up a relationship with thousands of readers on a very personal level. Best of all, it is totally automated. All the work lies in initially creating a sequence of follow-up messages that will get delivered in regular intervals to anybody who signs up to your list.

A few quick and obvious benefits of building a list are:

  • Lists are permanent
    While Rss feeds are great, if the providers stop their service, then you lose all your readers. A list of email addresses can be exported and saved and its existence will never rely on a 3rd party that could cease to exist at any moment.
  • Lists are highly-targeted
    Usually people who sign up to your list and opt-in are people who are very interested in what you have to offer. This is what makes a list so profitable, because of the fact that your audience is highly targeted to your product / niche and you have a very good potential to sell to them
  • Lists are re-usable
     Imagine for a second that you are selling a product. You set up a site and when a reader lands on your site and your sales pitch is good enough, the visitor is convinced and makes a purchase from you and then leaves your site. The chances are big that this visitor made a once-off purchase and will not return to your site for repeat-business. With a list, you have the opportunity to build a relationship with your subscribers and sell to them over and over again (until they opt out of your list). So, instead of making a once-off sale, you have the opportunity to make multiple sales from a single visitor.

With most websites, large or small, there are always new visitors arriving on your site for the first time. If your site is not exactly what that visitor is looking for or your site is not convincing enough, he will leave. This is in my opinion a waste of a potential customer. You can optimise your traffic by offering an incentive that will make the visitor want to sign up to your list to receive future updates. While this visitor may have left your site on the first visit without buying anything from you, now you have him signed up to your list and you have the possibility of providing him with something that he needs and wants to buy from you.

What Kind Of Incentive?

If I have convinced you to create a list you might be wondering what kind of incentive you should give in order for people to opt in and sign up to your list. While it is not set in stone, you always need to provide some form of value that is going to make your visitor’s life better. Make your promise sound great or over the top exceptional, but be sure to deliver on your promise. This is a good way to win your new subscriber’s trust and respect which in turn opens them up to the idea of buying from you.

Here are a few possible incentives that you could offer in return for your visitor subscribing to your list. You will have to use some of your own common sense and creativity to decide which option would best suit your visitors and your target market.

  • eBook
    An ebook is an awesome incentive for people to sign up to your list. It is the incentive I am personally using for my own list on my blog. The reason why I like this method so much is because it is possible to create a totally fantastic resource (50, 100 or 500 pages) that will provide a lot of value to your visitor. The ebook is timeless and will stay around for a very long time, it can be downloaded and shared amongst many more people than you alone could reach with your own marketing efforts. Besides that fact, you can include affiliate links in your ebook that can result in some very nice commissions on top of the fact that you gain subscribers for your list.
  • Newsletter
     A newsletter is also a popular incentive for people to sign up to lists. This is the promise of a regular email (weekly or even monthly) with extra information that is not to be found on your site. It is not that hard to create 20-50 follow up messages in a newsletter format, but in that case it is always good to remember to make the messages timeless. (Not relating to current events)
  • X Day Course
     Offer a course that will last for x days, broken down into very oversee able portions of knowledge or information
  • Software Program or Tool
    Create or develop some sort of software or tool that is really useful. Then give it away to visitors in return for them signing up to your list. You can either create the tool yourself or you can just outsource it and get a qualified person to do it for you.
  • Exclusive Access for X Days
     People love being part of a special group or getting something for free that others do not have. If you have some sort of membership site or forum, why not allow your visitor access to the membership site for x days in return for them signing up to your list.

The Mindset Of Providing Value

I feel that it is important to mention the correct mindset of building a list.

You are not there to take from your visitor. You are not there to take his money or take his email address and just profiting from him. That is a win-lose scenario.

Always strive to create a win-win situation. You are there to provide value to your subscriber. To provide a good solution for a problem that your visitor has. To provide an opportunity for your visitor to gain and to profit.

You should strive to make your list a mutually beneficial relationship where you give your subscriber what he or she wants and in return he or she pays you for it. (Directly or via a commission).

This is the mindset and approach that will lead to many happy customers that will buy from you on a regular basis. It may not be important to you, but I always think it is good to have correct business ethics. When you create win-win situations you have no guilty conscience to worry about, because you are providing value to your subscribers and they are rewarding you with money.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and start setting up your system to create a list right away. If you’re not doing this, you are missing out!

Diggy writes all about self improvement and personal growth. Spread the word and subscribe to his blog via RSS or Email