I gave my friend the answer to his financial problem, but he did nothing with it!

A friend of mine is the maintenance man for a condominium complex. His pay is average (gross around $2400 a month)and he complains about not having enough money to do what he wants and just lives paycheck to paycheck.

One of his responsibilites is to pressure wash the walkways and parking stalls and that gave me an idea that would be of great help to him.

I drove around the surrounding neighborhoods and noticed several homes with rather small to medium sized driveways. Pressure washing those sizes could easily be done in an hour or less.

My idea was to create two versions of a simple flier offering driveway pressure washing. One would list a price of $85 for the larger size (still on the small side) and $65 for the smaller driveway that could be done in around 30 to 40 minutes.

I would distribute fliers to only those homes with relatively small driveways. Then, if the response was low, I would go door to door with flier in hand and offer to pressure wash driveways for those who would schedule a job THAT DAY for the reduced price of $59 for the larger size (instead of the flier price of $85) and $45 for the smaller size (instead of the flier price of $65) if they would agree to before and after photos for our marketing.

Based on my past experience, I know this will work.

I told my friend about this and offered the following: I create the flier and he distributes them. Then, if the response is low, I would go door to door while he is with me and I would do all the pitches and secure all the jobs and then he would do the work and keep all the money.

He gets off work at 3:30 pm and has Friday and Saturday off. He also has use of the pressure washer.

Just two pressure washing jobs a day at an average of say $60 per job from direct flier response and going door to door would give him around $600 a week working 5 afternoons. That would match what he already makes and literally double his income.

He's still "thinking about it" and it was almost a year ago that I proposed this to him and he's still complaining about lack of money.

Go figure!!

Lawrence

Hi,

I know the feeling. I've been talking to people in my own family (who you would think would know me enough to trust me) about my predictions concerning the future of the world economy and political state for years, and they just listem politely, change the subject, and I can almost see my words sliding through cracks in the floor and disappearing forever, never to be remembered and certainly never to be acted on.

GRRRRRRRRR!!!

Sorry for the rant.

- Boyd

I live in a high UNemployment area. Men whose families were loggers for years are now having to look for other ways to earn a living.

I know a lot of these guys so I try and come up with programs that takes little cash to get going and has the potential to earn them 10 times what they would be earning cutting down trees.

Deck Renewal and Oil Stain Removal for 2 recent examples.

I put the programs together AND even go out and get them their first few jobs BUT...for some reason they just will NOT even try to get jobs themselves. I do not know what the heck scares the bejeebers out of people as to "Selling" something.

All they have to do is drop off some flyers and they'll get calls....or just simply ask the people where they just finished a job (that I got for them)...if they can give a name of a friend or relative who might want to have similar work done.

Simply pick up the phone and CALL! Ya think they'd do that? No way Jose!

They want ME to make the phone calls and get the jobs.

Maybe their genes tell them that they are ONLY to "take orders"...do NOT initiate anything on your own...you might fail.

Who knows. Whatever it is...they refuse to even try and get jobs on their own.

Such is the mind of the "working class"...I guess.

Don Alm

> Hi,

> I know the feeling. I've been talking to
> people in my own family (who you would think
> would know me enough to trust me) about my
> predictions concerning the future of the
> world economy and political state for years,
> and they just listem politely, change the
> subject, and I can almost see my words
> sliding through cracks in the floor and
> disappearing forever, never to be remembered
> and certainly never to be acted on.

> GRRRRRRRRR!!!

> Sorry for the rant.

> - Boyd




Reprint Rights to 3 of my Proven Products!

that people might be afraid of what others will "think" of them....

The BAD salespeople sometimes give sales a bad name. People are "afraid" of what their friends and family will think if they "sell"....

On the other hand, once you learn more about sales, you come to appreciate the real skill a great salesperson has. Especially after you've done some selling yourself...

But I think that's probably the reason why, "fear" of what others might think. That's my guess, anyhow....

What do you think?

- Dien

I sense a new "Don Alm" project comin' on. Hire a couple (few?) local gals to solicit jobs/orders and perhaps organize flyer distribution, etc. They could work for several different sales-shy entrepreneurs at the same time on some sort of commission basis. I'm sure you could work out the details a lot better than me. Sounds like an opportunity...

> I live in a high UNemployment area. Men
> whose families were loggers for years are
> now having to look for other ways to earn a
> living.

> I know a lot of these guys so I try and come
> up with programs that takes little cash to
> get going and has the potential to earn them
> 10 times what they would be earning cutting
> down trees.

> Deck Renewal and Oil Stain Removal for 2
> recent examples.

> I put the programs together AND even go out
> and get them their first few jobs BUT...for
> some reason they just will NOT even try to
> get jobs themselves. I do not know what the
> heck scares the bejeebers out of people as
> to "Selling" something.

> All they have to do is drop off some flyers
> and they'll get calls....or just simply ask
> the people where they just finished a job
> (that I got for them)...if they can give a
> name of a friend or relative who might want
> to have similar work done.

> Simply pick up the phone and CALL! Ya think
> they'd do that? No way Jose!

> They want ME to make the phone calls and get
> the jobs.

> Maybe their genes tell them that they are
> ONLY to "take orders"...do NOT
> initiate anything on your own...you might
> fail.

> Who knows. Whatever it is...they refuse to
> even try and get jobs on their own.

> Such is the mind of the "working
> class"...I guess.

> Don Alm

Well, now if you'd charged him a consulting fee of $50, he might have acted on your advice.

If you'd charged him a consulting fee of $500, he'd probably have acted on your advice.

If you'd charged him a consulting fee of $5,000, he'd have a profitable business by now.

And, if you'd charged him a consulting fee of $50,000, he'd be looking at franchising his operation or an IPO ...

Family and friends make the worst clients. After all, they remember how you forgot the hot dogs for that beach party five summers ago (or was it six), or how your closet is filled with Buffy the Vampire Slayer memorabilia, or (INSERT PERSONAL QUIRK OR PUBLIC MISTAKE HERE). Hard to take someone seriously who forgot the hot dogs back in '98 (or was it '96 ...)


Tightwad Marketing: free advertising and marketing advice and resource reviews for small business

Over the years, I have been paid some BIG bucks for advice.

Believe it or not, I have had people pay me as high as $25,000 ... then, not do a diddly thing with the advice they paid for.

It ain't the money ... it's the nature of people who "want" but aren't willing to do anything to "get."

Jim

P.S. -- You may want to attend the FREE seminar in Chattanooga, TN, June 28 ... I will be giving advice worth millions for free.


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> It ain't the money ... it's the nature of
> people who "want" but aren't
> willing to do anything to "get."

I completely agree. However, for most people - particularly the fellow Lawrence describes - money is a definite filter. It filters out the committed from the uncommitted.

That filtration happens at different levels for different people. Those folks who paid you $25,000 to ignore what you said - would they have done the same at $250,000? Perhaps they would have, come to think of it. Like you, I have been well-compensated for wise counsel that went unheeded. There's no accounting for sheer lack of stick-to-it-iveness, regardless of relationship or cost.

But, relationship and cost do enter the mix for most people.




John Kuraoka, freelance advertising copywriter

Hi Lawrence,

I took a friend with me one day and he watched me earn over $500 that day installing address signs.

That was 2 years ago and he is still broke but every other month he spends another $50 to $200 to join the latest MLM deal. He always thinks that everyone will buy whatever the product of the month is but he won't go out and do retail sales. He dreams of building a large downline that will sell the product for him. I showed him a copy of your MLM flyer but he still looks for a way to make $$$ without working. After a while when he makes nothing because he did nothing he looks for another hot deal to make him rich. He thinks that money will solve all his problems for him and just can't see that the problem isn't a lack of money but a lack of focused action and other bad habits. But you already know that don't you?

My flyers don't always pull in a 2 - 4% response rate. It depends on the area. To average that kind of response you have to flyer over a wide area for at least 30 days.

I was lucky on my first day of posting flyers because I got 31 orders off of 300 curb painting flyers. If I had posted flyers in another area and got no response I most likely would not have continued. But my first days results proved to me that it does work.

Then my luck changed when the city called me and said that I couldn't paint curbs because of some stupid anti-graffiti law. I switched over to the address signs to get around that problem but at $39 or more my response rate stayed at 1 - 2%.

I started to test different wording on my flyers and got the flyer response rate up. But this created another problem. People would misunderstand what the flyer was saying and think that the city was forcing them to buy a sign from me and the phone at city hall would ring off the wall from angry senior citizens calling to complain. My name and number was on the flyer but too many people still called city hall.

I managed to overcome this by preparing the people at city hall for the calls but it was still a hassle for them. So I had to re do my flyers again and print in large bold face type that I was not associated with the government in any way. The calls to city hall went down some what but not completely. But my response rate went back to 1 to 2%. Following up by knocking on doors would get me over a 10% response. So in some towns I get 2 - 4% and less in others.

Most towns in my area won't permit curb painting so I have to stick with the signs. The signs work a lot better but at $39 each or more you can't get the flyer response to stay high so...

This year I'll take your advice and focus on just the door knocking with a full color brochure in one hand and a sample sign in the other! If I get just half the response rate that you do I'll explode my income and move into a much nicer house and maybe even buy the RV I been dreaming about!

You told me about how you're using a copy of the addressing requirements for reflective numbers in your area but here all the homeowner is required is to have numbers at least 3 inches high in a contrasting color and no scripted numerals. However I did discover that some cities near me require address numbers on the back of the house as well as in the front but only if there is a street alley behind the house. Almost no one does it even though they could be fined up to $300 per day for not doing so. But the police never enforce these laws because they only want to help people and not have to hassle them over something that could help save their life.

The numbers on my signs are 4 inches and SUPER REFLECTIVE for night use. I'd like to see the laws get updated here but I'm not going to wait for that to happen because it will still take people like you and me to educate homeowners. And door to door is still the most effective sales technique there is. It's much harder to say no to some smiling face who just gave you a 30 second presentation and who gave very logical and emotional reasons to act right now versus saying no thanks to some stranger who called on the phone or mailed a letter or posted a flyer.

My friend recorded the TNT movie Door to Door about Bill Porter's career with the 102 year old MLM company "Watkins" but he ignores the message while dreaming of reinventing the wheel or finding a easier way.

If our friends really wanted to make a little extra money - posting flyers would do it for them. If they want to earn a lot of extra money - knocking on doors would do it. But that would mean they would have to stop dreaming, cut back on the web surfing, shut off the TV and invest much more time in taking action. It boils down to changing our habits from time wasting to productive. Changing habits is not so easy to do is it?

First you make your habits and then your habits make you. To change them requires more then wishful thinking. Self-Discipline separates Winners from Wishers and ACTION SUPERCEDES EVERYTHING.

That's something I still struggle with. Too much talk and too little action.

Thanks for sharing what works for you Lawrence. You're a real go getter!

Steve


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