Dear Entrepreneur,

It’s nearly the end of 2009, which means that it’s a good time to reflect upon what you’ve accomplished and what you’re hoping to accomplish in 2010. My personal reflection got me thinking about everything that I hope to achieve in 2010, and brought me back to the wisdom of a legend…

Recently I wrote a Tribute post for Jim Rohn, who passed away earlier this month.

Jim Rohn was full of wisdom , and one of his most important messages was something that I do every day…I had just forgotten that it was he who advised me to do it. My success has increased dramatically as a result of doing what Jim told me to do, and yours can too. The message is simple:

Set Goals.

You want to be successful and wealthy, but you don’t have a clear view of exactly how much money you want to make, how to achieve that, or where to even begin. You NEED to create your own blueprint for success, and that starts with setting goals

Jim Rohn said, "Success is steady progress toward one’s personal goals." If you really want to have a successful 2010, then decide what are the most important things for you to accomplish. Make a list of everything you want to achieve by 2011…think about health, exercise, relationships, property, travel, investments, savings, salary, profits, etc.

One of Mr. Rohn’s greatest messages is this: "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."

After you set your 2010 goals, you need to come up with a plan to achieve those goals, and then STICK TO THE PLAN! Reward yourself when you reach your goals, and be hard on yourself when you fall short. Only through self-discipline will you turn your goals into reality.

If you need to invest in your education - do it. If you need help - get it. If you are worried - don’t be! You need to take action, because without doing so you are signing a contract to be stuck right where you are for the rest of your life. Jim Rohn said, "When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it."

Mr. Rohn also said, "If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us."

Here’s a quick video of Michael Phelps, who won an astonishing eight gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His message is short, but it is clear that goals played a big role in his phenomenal performance at the Summer Games.

I challenge you to create your own goals for 2010. After you create those goals, write down why you want them, and what you are going to do to achieve them. Then take the necessary actions to actually achieve them and make 2010 your most prosperous year yet!

Merry Christmas!

Tim Schmidt

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Dear Entrepreneur,

The biggest MVA (most valuable asset) mistake is not knowing what your MVA is…

You’ve started getting people interested in you and your product/service…You’ve even collected a bunch of email addresses. Now what?

There are a lot of opinions on what should happen next. A lot of people force their new subscribers/prospects into an unfortunate series of auto-responders. Don’t get me wrong, auto-responders can be GREAT time savers and can bring in a lot of new revenue. They can also make your new prospect dislike you.

You have to realize that getting prospects to give you their email addresses is only a fraction of the battle. The most important thing for you to focus on is what happens AFTER they give you their email addresses…Because Your Most Valuable Asset is your Relationship With Your Prospects/Customers.

In order to tell you what should happen after you get their email addresses, let’s start with what NOT to do:

First and foremost, do not start slamming affiliate promotions down the throats of your new prospects before building a relationship with them. If you do this, your prospects will regret signing up to receive emails from you, and are far more likely to unsubscribe.

Second, DON’T overdo it by sending way too many emails!  People will get annoyed if you fire off too many emails at them!

You REALLY should work on your relationship with your prospects before recommending products for them to buy (including your own).

Focusing on your relationship with your prospects is one of the best things you can do to increase your success. If you build a relationship with someone and they like you and what you give them for free, then it is far more likely that they will purchase from you when you do try to sell them a product.

And by nurturing your pre-sale relationship , your post-sale relationship building process will be a piece of cake. Customers who buy products they like from people they like are more likely to continue buying from the same seller, GUARANTEED.

This concept makes a lot of sense, but is OFTEN overlooked. Allow me to lay it out for you in the simplest of terms:

Give people something really cool in exchange for their email addresses. Then give them more cool stuff for free, causing them to like you. Then sell them ultra cool stuff they’ll like a lot. Continue to make them like you even more. Then sell them more ultra cool stuff, make more money, and be able to afford to go to Starbucks 3 times a day…etc.

Prospects and Customers that REALLY like you are more likely to:
-Buy More Stuff
-Refer and Promote Your Products to Their Friends
-Give Great Reviews/Testimonials
-Not Return Products
-Be Happy

Take care,

Tim Schmidt

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That’s right!  I completely contribute all of my success to discovering an easy button and pushing it.

And for a limited time, Easy Buttons come in two great holiday colors!

NOT! Everything above this line is a LIE!

THIS is the truth…there’s NO SUCH THING as an Easy Button.

You are not going to start a business today and make $50,000 tomorrow.  It just does not work like that.

The true keys to any great entrepreneur’s success are: (in no particular order)

1. Hard Work: This seems too obvious to even be on the list, but some people think they can get by without it.  Hard work goes a LONG way.  Diligently working hard to meet goals and get the project done is #1 on my "keys to success" list for a reason - even if these are in no particular order ;).

2. Smart Work: If you aren’t working smart, you’re wasting your time.  Focus on doing the things that you are best at, and outsource or hire someone to do the things that you shouldn’t be focusing your time on.

3. Productivity: Productivity is more or less a combination of hard work and smart work.  Always be on the look for tools and resources to increase your productivity…Increasing the ROI (return on investment) of your TIME depends upon it.

4. Education : $1.3 Million…That’s roughly the amount of money that I have spent on my personal marketing education.  You don’t need to spend that kind of money to be a successful entrepreneur, but you do need to educate yourself to increase the success of your business.  Are you an expert in your niche?  Are you the best copywriter around?  Can you quickly and easily make a great webpage?  There’s always something more that you can learn - whether regarding your niche or how to market and sell your products.

5. Value: No matter what you are providing, whether its a product or service, the best thing you can do to ensure success is to provide a SERIOUS amount of value…By that I mean if the customer pays $10 for your product or service, they should feel like it is worth at least $100.  You can’t fake real value.  Customers will appreciate you and come back to you if they find value in your product.

6. Love what you do: If you don’t LOVE talking about your niche and the products or services you sell, then why do it at all?  If you’re just in it for pay day, then you are only basing your success on money.  I’d rather make $100,000 a year doing something I LOVE than $1,000,000 a year doing something I DESPISE.

7. Action: Simply put, don’t sit back .  Do you have an idea?  Create criteria for it, Brainstorm options, Select what’s most important to you, and Implement it…. NOW!

Here’s a quote that sits on my desk.  I look at it every day. 

This is my Easy Button:

"Dreams don’t work unless you do."

Think about it…

Take care,

Tim Schmidt