Written By Loren Woirhaye, September 27th, 2010
Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes
(part 1 of 5)
(If your mom is crazy or mean, you may have good reasons not to listen to her, but my mom is a cool, peace-loving person, so her advice tends to be constructive.)
When I was in college my mother reminded me to “do your reading” from time to time. I was more interesting in having the kind of fun that didn’t involve books. You (probably don’t) know the catch tune by the Scottish band the Proclaimers:
“Come on nature, I don’t want to read a book or talk about the world
Come on nature, I just want to spend some time being boy to the girl”
Well, those randy Scottish lads just wanted to get busy in the clover. While the group is still active and probably making money, the lads are in their late 40s now and I bet are a bit more interested in books than chasing girls.
In any case, in college I majored in English for some odd reason I’ve forgotten. I had a lot of reading to do, and much of it was long, tedious 19th century novels. To be fair, I did get exposed to some excellent old-fashioned literature but it 
Written By Loren Woirhaye, September 27th, 2010
Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes
(part 2 of 5)
“Poor People Have Big TVs. Rich People Have Big Libraries.”
The late Jim Rohn said that often. It sounds like a glib statement to be sure. and it might offend you if you enjoy your TV. That’s not the point. These days, many rich people do have big TVs of course. The point is that successful people continually invest in developing their minds and creative pursuits, while unsuccessful people just seek instant self-gratification, which tends to default to doing stuff like watching junk television.
A secondary point is that when you buy a TV or any other toy or new car or even a house, it won’t make you more money – in fact it will usually either decrease in value (TVs, Ipods, computers) or it will cost you money to maintain (houses, boats).
Of course with real-estate your investment may be worth more in the future, but if you buy more than you can afford, you’re investing in a liability that sucks up your monthly cash, not an asset. Of course you need a place to live, and having more space than you need can be a pleasant luxury – but the truth
Written By Loren Woirhaye, September 27th, 2010
Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes
(part 3 of 5)
“They” say “cash is king”- presumably because when you’ve got cash you have superior negotiating power in your money-making activity.
I used to buy and sell machinery – and I always bought low because I wouldn’t even look at the machine unless I knew I could sell it for more than I paid and had cash in my pocket to buy it on the spot.
One of my weaknesses is I’m not a very aggressive price negotiator – I want the other guy to feel good about the deal too. But if a seller ran an ad and said he wanted $600 for a machine, I would call up a seller and say “I’ve got $500 in cash and I’ll come and pick up that machine today if you’ll sell it to me for that,” – I never even went to look at a machine unless I knew I could take it home right then. I was “Johnny on the spot with cash”.
When making deals, you do need to strike when the iron is hot. In buying, you’ll get your best advantage by finding a motivated seller who will make a deal on the
Written By Loren Woirhaye, September 27th, 2010
Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes
(part 4 of 5)
If you’re looking for a way to make a lot of money without the pressure of making sales calls, direct response marketing is the most low-pressure form of selling there is. No sale will actually happen without pressure. Direct response is so low-pressure in fact, you have to elicit the sales pressure within your prospect, which is the selling skill that trumps all others and all master marketers have it.
Apple computer actually uses direct response marketing methods like perceived scarcity and elitism, which is an emotional hot-button in some people. Apple claims they cannot meet demand for their latest products, Ipads or whatever, which causes people to be desperate to be the first person they know to get one. It’s a bit of reverse psychology really and also very well integrated with the intentional elitism embedded in all of Apple’s branding and advertising.
When you buy the pressure you feel is your own desire to get an advantage for yourself or meet some basic need. Without pressure coming from either outside of you (your spouse pressuring you, for example), or inside of you (need to keep up with the Joneses, perhaps), you aren’t
Written By Loren Woirhaye, September 27th, 2010
Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes
(part 5 of 5)
Learning direct response marketing gets you out of person-to-person selling. The only reason to do it is because it lends itself to automation and leverage because you can reach a lot of people with one effort. The internet is the most perfect medium for direct response marketing ever because people can pay on the spot with a few clicks. The internet makes buying deliriously easy for consumers.
The problem is the internet has matured a bit and now the selling environment online has become competitive. There’s no easy or straightforward path to internet riches these days (sorry to burst your bubble), but if you educate yourself about proven direct marketing principles.
Just because the internet is the perfect medium for direct marketing doesn’t mean it’s the best. That’s because the barrier to entry with internet marketing is low so there’s a lot of competition. With direct mail, your costs will be higher but the competition tends to be sparser.
Most of the best copywriter/marketers are also intense students of human nature and salesmanship. We read widely because you really cannot learn to be a great direct marketer at school – you have to teach yourself.
If
