A FREE electronic magazine... December 20, 2001
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B I G B U C K S I N A B A T H R O B E
Make More Money & Have More Fun With Your Small Business!
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Publisher: Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO"(tm)
(Scroll to end for subscribe / unsubscribe instructions)
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Happy Holidays!
This is the last issue of the year, so I'd like to take this
opportunity to wish all of you a very happy, healthy, AND SAFE
holiday. See you next year!
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
The "Big Bucks Boutique" is now open! Resources and materials
that will help you "Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your
business are now available online with secure ordering. Take a
look now! Limited time... FREE T-SHIRT WITH ANY ORDER OVER $30!
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/boutique.htm
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I n T h i s I s s u e . . .
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1. A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
2. Feature: Topic of the Month
3. Feature: Article "Attitude Check"
4. Feature: "Ask Dave" - Can I help with a business problem?
5. Feature: "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."
6. About "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" Newsletter
7. Who the Heck am I, Anyway?
8. How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe
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PLEASE FORWARD THIS to each of your friends who have small or
home-based businesses; they'll LOVE you for it! (Be sure they
know it's from you, or they'll think I spammed 'em!) Thanks!
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(c)2001, A Few Good People, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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11111 A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
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Do you actually use your own product or service to see how well
it works? I am constantly amazed at the number of products that
are simply "unusable" for one reason on another.
We purchased a large spill-proof water bowl to bring in the car
when we take the dogs for a ride. For $30, it ought to work(!),
and it does.
But...
It is nearly impossible to remove the lid for cleaning. It is
very well made of heavy plastic, with a perfect 'snap' fit. Oh,
the illustration shows that it CAN be removed but not HOW, so if
there is some special trick to it, I don't know. I believe that
it is not possible to remove the lid without breaking a nail, and
I almost ripped an entire nail OFF in the process.
Don't these people use their own product????? If they did, they
would know of this major shortcoming.
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22222 T o p i c o f t h e M o n t h
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HELLO OUT THERE?!?! I did not receive anything from you for this
month's topic, so I have nothing to share.
Nada. Zilch. Nothing.
C'mon, folks! Send in that contribution!
mailto:Dave@DaveBalch.com
This month's topic...
What do you consider to be the most difficult thing about
owning your own business?
Take a look at prior "Topics of the Month" along with
their responses at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/tom.htm
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33333 A r t i c l e "Attitude Check"
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by Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO"
Attitude is like the foundation of a building: it doesn't matter
how well the building is designed, built, or maintained; it will
fail if the foundation isn't sound.
When you run your own business (or, for that matter, when you
live your life) there will be ups and downs, successes and
failures. Your attitude will determine how you handle them, and
how you handle them will determine your success.
Basically, attitude is about choices and expectations. First,
let's talk about choices. Everything you do or say is a choice.
There is always a choice. Paying taxes, for example, is a
choice: you could choose to go to jail instead of coughing up
the dough. Why you would do that is beyond me, but it is still a
choice.
Attitudes affect more than your choices, though; they affect your
expectations. I am a firm believer in the old axiom "Things tend
to happen the way you expect them to happen". If your attitude
affects your expectations, and your expectations affect the way
things happen, then your attitude affects the way things happen.
Either consciously or subconsciously we do things that tend to
sway the outcome of any given situation to match our
expectations.
For example, if you are making a sales call and you are sure that
there won't be a sale, you probably won't give a very convincing
argument to buy, will you?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this: ATTITUDE IS THE
SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF SUCCESS IN YOUR BUSINESS AND
YOUR LIFE.
At one point I needed to hire a salesman (selling software to
large corporations). I had been through several different guys
and none of them really had what I needed. Enter Andy.
Andy is my first wife's brother. (It helped that I'm still on
good terms with my first wife, and that my current wife is too!)
There were two things wrong with having Andy as my salesman: 1)
he had no computer background or experience (he couldn't even
spell "PC"!) and 2), he lived in Phoenix, about 400 miles away.
Talk about a round peg in a square hole! But... he had a great
attitude; that "Whatever-it-takes-I-can-do-it-the-customer-
is-always-right-and-I'll-always-treat-them-well" attitude that
you just can't easily teach somebody. I figured that I could
teach him about computers and my software and that the attitude
would be part of the package.
I was right. He had to learn about sales, about mainframe
computers and how programming organizations worked, he had to
learn how to use a PC and how to use the software that ran on it.
He learned it all and did well... how? ATTITUDE. He was one of
those people that you just can't help but like, and even if
someone wasn't interested in our product they were always happy
to hear from him. These are skills that are much harder to teach
than computer and selling skills, so I was happy to invest in
him.
It's time for an attitude check. Yours and your employees'. Is
it pushing you forward or holding you back? Think about it; it
could mean the difference between success and failure.
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44444 "A s k D a v e"
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(Can I help you with a business problem? I will field
business questions in every issue. Send them to
mailto:DaveEZ@DaveBalch.com )
Ask whatever you'd like... all letters will remain anonymous.
Maybe my 2-cents'-worth will make you "Big Bucks"!
(Maybe not!)
Today's question:
----------------
How do you go about getting media attention? We sent a press
release through Wells Fargo press release service. Not one phone
call. I have heard of something called "per inquiry" commercial
time on television but have no idea how to go about this. I have
e.mailed Cox Cable Rep Service for information regarding prices
of cable television commercials and received no reply. Can you
give us some information?
A.C.
Dear A.C.
I am not a publicist (and I don't play one on TV...), but this
I do know: you need a 'hook'. There must be some news value
in what you are trying to get them to print. This may sound
cold, but it is the real world: they don't care about you,
they care about their readers, so unless it pertains to THEM
(the readers), you'll have a hard time getting their attention
among the bazillion press releases and other information that
they receive daily. Just "Here I am" won't do the trick.
Here are a couple of ideas:
1 Can you relate your product or service to a major news
event, social issue, or holiday? There are designations,
anniversaries, and other date-related events for everything
you can imagine, so tie in as appropriate. "It's National
Gerbil Month, so be sure to check out our line of cages" sort
of thing.
2. Apply for some sort of award. Winning recognition for
something is always news. "Local business wins award..."
3. Pick up a copy of "Brag Your Way to Success", which will
give you more ideas on how to promote yourself and your
business. It's available at the "Big Bucks Boutique" at
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/boutique.htm
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55555 "M e a n w h i l e, b a c k a t t h e r a n c h..."
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A glimpse into the life of this "Stay-at-Home CEO"
(Photos and short bios of the complete "cast of characters"
are posted at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/theranch.htm )
Emma saw her first real snow today. We had had a dusting last
week so she got some experience with cold white stuff, but last
night we got about 1 1/2 inches. Granted, that isn't much, but
it was the most she had seen and was enough to get stuck in her
hair.
She went bounding out and stopped suddenly... "What the heck is
this?" She sniffed it, pawed it, and then went completely nuts.
She ran and ran and ran all over the yard, bounding and leaping
like the puppy that she is. She bit at it, she ate some of it,
and she barked with sheer delight. She just thought it was the
best thing EVER!
Now she has to learn about "The towel"...
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66666 A b o u t "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" N e w s l e t t e r
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Welcome! You are receiving this because either:
-You requested it on my website or after seeing me at a
speaking engagement
-I know you personally and thought you'd like it
-I asked you if I could send it and you said "Yes"
-Someone forwarded it to you because they thought you'd
like it. Scroll to the bottom for subscription instructions.
My goal is a bi-weekly newsletter that will:
-help you with your small or home-based business
-share articles of interest
-be informal and informative
-answer specific questions asked by readers
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77777 W h o t h e H e c k a m I, A n y w a y ?
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I've generated over $5 million (so far!) from my own home-based
software business and I have a lot to share with you about how I
did it and what I learned along the way. Now, as a professional
speaker, I offer programs that will help you and your employees
"Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your small or home-based
business!
Visit me at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com for descriptions of
the programs and educational resources that I offer.
The "Big Bucks Boutique" offers resources and materials that will
help you "Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your business.
Take a look at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/boutique.htm
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88888 H o w to S u b s c r i b e / U n s u b s c r i b e
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Please note:
- This newsletter is sent every other week.
- Comments and suggestions are always welcome!
- Subscriber information is NEVER shared with
anyone for any reason. PERIOD.
- Contact me at mailto:DaveEZ@DaveBalch.com
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A Few Good People, Inc.
P.O. Box 824
Twin Peaks, CA 92391
1-800-366-2347
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