A F*REE electronic magazine... May 7, 2003
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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)
" David made over $5 million at home and wants to help
you do the same or more "
Mark Victor Hanson, co-creator of the #1 best
selling "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series
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I n T h i s I s s u e . . .
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1. Feature: The Stay-at-Home CEO Recommends
2. A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
3. Feature: Article
"Newsletters"
4. Feature: "Ask Dave" - My take on your business problems
"Business opportunity"
5. Feature: "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."
"A tree comes down"
6. About "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" Newsletter
7. Who the heck am I, anyway?
8. How to get on or get off of this list
You are on our list as <$email$>
(To be added/deleted from this list scroll to end for link.)
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PLEASE FORWARD THIS issue 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 sent
it without asking, which is a big no-no!) Thanks!
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(c) Copyright 2003, A Few Good People, Inc. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED.
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11111 The Stay-at-Home CEO Recommends:
According to my recent subscriber survey, many of
you wanted my recommendations on various books
and products.
You can read past recommendations here:
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/reviews.htm
(While it is true that I may make small amounts of
money on some of these recommendations, my integrity
is NOT for sale: I would never recommend something I
didn't believe-in 100%, just to make a buck or two.)
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"The Stay at Home CEO Marketing Tips" Newsletter
... and it's FR'EE
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I am very excited to announce a new newsletter focused on
Internet marketing.
"The Stay at Home CEO Marketing Tips" will be delivered
to you by email twice a month, containing lots of tips and
tricks that will help you increase your business and exposure
on the Internet.
Read all about it here:
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/nl/bbbmt.htm
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Learn Internet Marketing - REAL Internet Marketing
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It is truly sad that there are so many people out there that
truly believe the hype and unbelievable results that can be
obtained using bulk e-mail. "100 Million 'Fresh' Email
addresses for $99"... uh-huh. They would have you believe
that you just buy this list, send an ad to it, and you'll be
rich.
I'm sorry... it just doesn't work that way.
If you are serious about learning the CORRECT way to market
your products and services on the Internet then I heartily
recommend "The Insider's Guide to Marketing Your Business on
the Internet." As soon as it arrives, you will realize that
you have some learning to do; it's huge! Consider yourself
back in school and go through the individual lessons.
Between the binders and the CD-ROM that's included, there
are over 1,000 pages of information!
You will get a first class education on what is acceptable
and what is not, and how to do what you need to do in order
to either run a successful Internet business or use the
Internet effectively for your existing business.
This is not an eBook, but an actual course that comes in two
binders along with a CD-ROM and lots of bonuses as well.
If you truly want to be successful on the Internet, bite the
bullet and order this course; when you look back on the
value you received you'll laugh at how inexpensive it was!
If you decide to go with the "Fresh Email Addresses," good
luck to you. It won't be long until you come back to learn
how to do it the right way.
(NOTE: I just checked their web site and they are offering
a special price for a limited time. If you even THINK that
you may be interested SOME DAY, I suggest that you check it
out now so you can take advantage of the special pricing
should you decide that it's what you need.)
For more information about this extraordinary course:
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/nl/isecrets.htm
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22222 A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
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I received a bill in the mail yesterday, but I almost threw
it away because the outside of the envelope was blank.
There was not a single thing to identify who it was from.
Not even a return address. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
I was certainly willing to pay the bill, but I thought it
was junk mail and almost discarded it. Good thing I didn't!
Are your business communications clear as to who they are
from??
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SIGN-UP FOR MY F^REE MIN-E-SEMINAR:
"Secrets of an Actual $5 Million Home Business"
Eight e-mails in eight days that will change the way you run your
small business!
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/secrets/mine1.htm
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33333 A r t i c l e "Newsletters"
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By Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO(tm)"
Newsletters are a great way to establish a new, more
personal relationship with your customers. You can keep
them up to date on your products and services, give them a
little insight into the lives of your employees, and much
more. For example, you can "spotlight" one individual in
each issue, talking about their interests, families, etc. I
think it's a nice touch to let your customers know more
about the people that they deal with; it has a nice
"touchy-feely" quality to it and makes the business
experience a little more personal.
Another thing you can do with a newsletter is offer
specials, provide information about your operating schedule
and any vacations or planned special closures. Are you
getting new equipment that your customers might be
interested in? Are you adding a new department to better
handle such-and-such? What about new products or services,
or modifications to existing products and services? All of
these things and a lot more make your newsletter interesting
for customers.
How should you send your newsletter; U.S. mail or e-mail?
There are definite advantages and disadvantages to both.
U.S. mail has the advantage of being universal: everyone
has a mailing address. The disadvantages are that it is
relatively slow, and also expensive because you have to pay
for postage and printing, plus the labor to get it in the
mail. E-mail has the advantage of being free (no postage or
printing) and fast, but not everyone has an e-mail address
and some that do are sick of junk mail and may accidentally
delete your message because they think it is spam.
But...
Every time you get in front of your customers you are making
an impression on them; will your newsletter create a good
impression or a bad one? Sure, the information is important
to build rapport, confidence, and loyalty, but what if it is
poorly written or poorly edited? What kind of image are you
creating if your newsletter is full of grammatical,
punctuation, and/or spelling errors? I know what kind of
impression that type of newsletter leaves on me, and believe
me you don't want to do that to your customers!
There is a wonderful restaurant in Redlands that my wife and
I just love. The food is terrific, the prices reasonable,
and the service impeccable. The owner recently came by our
table and gave us a newsletter that she had just finished.
It was very newsy, explaining the origin of the name of the
restaurant, news about menu changes, and other interesting
items that we enjoyed because we enjoy the restaurant.
But it was difficult to read, for me anyway, because there
were so many grammatical and spelling errors. It was
embarrassing, I'm not kidding. You know how uncomfortable
you feel when you are watching an entertainer that's bombing
terribly? That's how I felt reading this newsletter.
Typographical errors are one thing. Ignorance and poor
education are quite another. I can certainly understand an
occasional misspelled or omitted word, but this newsletter
had 40 errors (yes, I counted them) on three pages! The
errors were spread among spelling, grammar, and punctuation,
and they weren't simply my style preferences; these were
hard errors. Sorry folks, that's just too many. I enjoyed
the content, but it left me with a sad feeling for the
writer and a new perspective on the restaurant. Am I being
a snob? Maybe, but I don't think so. After all, I'm a
customer too.
Don't be frightened off; a newsletter is a very good way to
create a good impression on your customers. It's also a
good way to create a bad one, so make sure that your content
and quality properly reflect who you are.
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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:Dave@DaveBalch.com )
Ask whatever you'd like... all letters will remain anonymous.
Maybe my 2-cents'-worth will help you make "Big Bucks"!
(Maybe not!)
Today's question:
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Dear Dave,
Today I ran across an interesting business during a computer
search related to Federal Jobs (a pop up window) that had
this rather amazing description of a Home Business. The
idea is to be a refund processor of amounts owed to UPS and
like companies that are supposed to deliver packages by a
deadline. If the deadline is missed by 60 seconds the
customer is owed a refund of the shipping cost. This
business supposedly will provide me with software to track
and download the names of all the customers who did not
receive their package on time and therefore are to receive
this refund. I would receive half the monies for doing the
tracking and recovery of the refund.
Do you or your readers know of this business? Has anyone
had experience? Where can I go to check out this company.
There was no phone number in their presentation, just a sign
up now. Cost to get involved is $79 which is refundable in
30 days. If it is legitimate I think it would be a super
stay at home business.
Please advise. Any and all information you might have
related to this home business would be greatly appreciated.
By the way your newsletter are uplifting, folksy and
whimsical. Thanks for being out there.
Regards,
M.A.J
Dear M.A.J.
My advice: RUN!
The first red flag is no phone number. Any legitimate
business would give you a way to contact them. Money
back? From whom? How do you find them?
The next thing is that you will get half of the monies
owed, but how much work do you have to do, along with
follow-up, to earn half of a $15 shipping cost? Will it
be worth it?
Who else will be doing this, searching through the same
data that you are? If my package is late and there are
100 people out there doing this, which one of them is
going to get me and get the refund on my behalf?
I've seen schemes like this for collecting judgments, but
the good ones (i.e. the large ones) are already taken by
the professionals, and all that's left are the small or
uncollectable judgments... it's very difficult if not
impossible to collect anything from anyone who is made
available to the collector. My guess is that this is
similar.
I think that you would be better off starting a business
of your own doing something you love to do or something
related to something you love to do. It's a dangerous
place out there, with sleaze-balls and scumbags lurking at
every corner ready to jump at the chance to take advantage
of you.
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55555 "M e a n w h i l e, b a c k at the 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 )
Unfortunately a very large tree in front of the house died
because of root damage during the construction five years
ago. We had it cut down last week, and they had to bring in
a crane to lower the logs because it was so close to the
house.
They cut up the trunk into "rounds" every 22 inches or so,
ready to be split into firewood. The way they arranged it
all it looks like the tree is simply laying on the ground,
but in 22-inch sections.
It was a large tree (about 100-feet tall), and the trunk
diverged into two separate trunks about 70 feet up, so the
presence of the cut-up trunk on the ground is substantial.
We think that we will use the rounds to decorate around the
house, using them for steps, seats, and platforms for
birdbaths and the like. Some of them, though, are quite
large because of the diameter of the trunk (almost 4 feet)
and unbelievably heavy. I'm not quite sure how we're going
to move them, but it sure will look cool when we do!
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66666 A b o u t "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe"
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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.
If you don't want to receive future issues, scroll to the
bottom for instructions on how to be removed from the list.
No harm, no foul, no hurt feelings!
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!
- Your information is NEVER intentionally shared with
ANYone for ANY reason. PERIOD.
- Contact me at mailto:Dave@DaveBalch.com
- HOW TO GET ON OUR LIST: If this issue was forwarded to
you and you would like to receive your own copy (and OF
COURSE you DO!), you can sign-up here:
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com
A Few Good People, Inc.
P.O. Box 824
Twin Peaks, CA 92391
1-800-366-2347
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