It's Amazing what you can learn from shovelling snow!

As promised here are 10 of the many things I learned from shovelling driveways!

1)Discovered my Passion while Shovelling?? Hmmm?

I was most passionate about the copy in my flyer. It was my first attempt at copywriting and I really enjoyed the process. It pulled a 3.75% response. Not bad for a first attempt at copy.

2) People care only about What is in it for them REGARDLESS of What the flyer states.

My flyer specifically stated the Day and the Times, I would be doing driveways ie ONE DAY ONLY. I got calls for a couple of days afterward.

3) K.I.S.S ( Keep it simple Shoveller)

My first Voicemail, was from an older lady that could hardly speak english. She said that she didn't understand everything in the flyer. She even asked me how much I was charging?

After Rereading the letter, I could have gotten the point across with LESS words. "My passion about writing got the better of me"

4) "DO" Knowledge (Action) beats Book Knowledge hands down!!
Book knowledge is filled with experiences of others..."Do" knowledge has made the principles my own.

5) The Power of a CLEAR Goal

$100 dollars cash in 48hrs simple, specific, measurable, attainable

6) The Power of a deadline to get Me Off my BUTT!

"48 hours" was the timeline I chose.
The other ideas, would require a LONGER LEARNING CURVE for me. Because I did not attain my goal in the first 24hrs, I was forced to find another method (selling the old computer equipment) to attain the goal.

7) BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE! BEGIN NOW!

I began at 3a.m DEC 12 2000 on a Very snowy day although after writing the flyer, I didn't really FEEL like running around the block to deliver them. ( I was tired)

That "NOW has quickly become a "THEN"

8) MY little formula for Action:

A) What do you Want?

B) "Are you willing to DO Whatever it

takes to Get what you Need"

C) If Yes? then... DO...Else DON'T!

9) I enjoy a good CHALLENGE! Because it forces you to THINK Creatively and ACT in BOLD ways!

10) I will have to put in the HOURS to gain more Experience in other methods of making money that won't Hurt my back :-> That way they will become EASY to me.

What lessons have you learned from some of your Projects??

Thanks for reading!

Duane Adolph

Hi Duane!

Thanks! You gave great advice if you want to attain freedom and independence....

If you want to control your own destiny, what you did is the way to begin!

What you wrote reminded me of something I had read a long time ago....

I believe it contains the keys to financial success.

It unlocks the doors to prosperity....

Some of you have read it before, but many have still to read it. Even if you've read it already, you probably haven't read it for a while....

It's Gordon Alexander's "7 Steps to Quick Money"....

What Gordon says there, in my opinion, contains the fundamental keys to prosperity.... I've linked to it below.... :)

Thanks Duane for sharing your experiences! Your posts will help many here attain our goals and dreams! :)

And what you said is absolutely true.... It's POWERFUL advice!

- Dien




7 Steps to Quick Money

Hi Dien,

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Thanks for the link to the 7 steps. I had actually read that a while ago, however it was a Fantastic Reminder!

That "formula" could be applied to all areas of your life not just monetary! Very helpful.

I believe it is time to set the Monetary amount a little higher now!

I will continue to POST!

P.S

How is your brother Thomas doing with the All Ages Party?? If he needs any help, my brother and some of my other friends Promote Clubs regularly here in Canada. My friends have been doing it for over 6 -7 years now. Please let me know!

Duane Adolph

> Hi Duane!

> Thanks! You gave great advice if you want to
> attain freedom and independence....

> If you want to control your own destiny,
> what you did is the way to begin!

> What you wrote reminded me of something I
> had read a long time ago....

> I believe it contains the keys to financial
> success.

> It unlocks the doors to prosperity....

> Some of you have read it before, but many
> have still to read it. Even if you've read
> it already, you probably haven't read it for
> a while....

> It's Gordon Alexander's "7 Steps to
> Quick Money"....

> What Gordon says there, in my opinion,
> contains the fundamental keys to
> prosperity.... I've linked to it below....
> :)

> Thanks Duane for sharing your experiences!
> Your posts will help many here attain our
> goals and dreams! :)

> And what you said is absolutely true....
> It's POWERFUL advice!

> - Dien

Hi Duane,

Your posts are true guides to success! I've enjoyed every one of them! :)

> How is your brother Thomas doing with the
> All Ages Party?? If he needs any help, my
> brother and some of my other friends Promote
> Clubs regularly here in Canada. My friends
> have been doing it for over 6 -7 years now.
> Please let me know!

Thanks.... Thomas reads the Sowpub forum regularly, though he only posts now and then....

He decided to put the party idea on hold until later this year (we're in summer holiday time now in Australia for the school kids).

He's currently doing very well with his new distribution company, distributing Pyrod brand CD-ROMs. He's in fact getting some office and warehouse space soon and won't have to work out of home any more.... :)

He's a fast mover that young brother of mine.... :)

He also applied what we've spoken about here on the forum, about leveraging other people's time -- by outsourcing or taking on employees. He employed two sales people to help convince the stores to carry their brand....

He's a university student, but now it's summer holidays in Australia, and believe it or not this started out as his summer project! It looks like it will be bigger than that though....

This isn't his first business (he wrote about his bulletin board business earlier on in the forum), so he already has some business experience under his belt.... :)

Let me say, he's doing excellently for someone who's only 20!

- Dien

Thanks Dien!

After reading Thomas's reply below, I can see that the "Summer Project" has quickly grown in Scope!

I can see the concepts of leverage being utilized in Thomas's example! This is very encouraging!

Thanks for keeping me posted.

Duane

> Hi Duane,

> Your posts are true guides to success! I've
> enjoyed every one of them! :)

> Thanks.... Thomas reads the Sowpub forum
> regularly, though he only posts now and
> then....

> He decided to put the party idea on hold
> until later this year (we're in summer
> holiday time now in Australia for the school
> kids).

> He's currently doing very well with his new
> distribution company , distributing Pyrod
> brand CD-ROMs. He's in fact getting some
> office and warehouse space soon and won't
> have to work out of home any more.... :)

> He's a fast mover that young brother of
> mine.... :)

> He also applied what we've spoken about here
> on the forum, about leveraging other
> people's time -- by outsourcing or taking on
> employees. He employed two sales people to
> help convince the stores to carry their
> brand....

> He's a university student, but now it's
> summer holidays in Australia, and believe it
> or not this started out as his summer
> project! It looks like it will be bigger
> than that though....

> This isn't his first business (he wrote
> about his bulletin board business earlier
> on in the forum), so he already has some
> business experience under his belt.... :)

> Let me say, he's doing excellently for
> someone who's only 20!

> - Dien

Duane,

As Dien has mentioned, I decided to delay the All Ages Party as my target audience (primarily grade 11 and 12 students) were on holiday or about to be when I thought about it, so targetting them through schools, being what I think is the most effective medium to reach them, would be unavailable.

As such the thought was to delay it until April or May, when school is back on and perhaps try to hold it during the first term break, using the time before that to somehow use schools (or their Student Representative Councils) to promote the event.

In the meantime, I've been focusing on a new company I set up called Elysium Distributors Pty Ltd, which distributes Pyrod-branded blank CDs to retail stores throughout the Melbourne Metropolitan area.

Originally I was just acting as an agent, but recently I've taken over handling of stock and delivery also, which is a fair bit of work, so I've been concentrating on how to do that efficiently.

In the next 2-3 weeks I'll be moving into an office & warehouse to set up a more permanent base, which is also on my mind. At the moment I effectively work from home.

It's going fairly well so far. There are lots of orders, and I'm employing one full time salesperson with plans to hire 1-2 other people in the next month, after the office is fully setup.

My goal is to establish a set structure and system whereby the company operates smoothly, and we have a regular customer base to deliver to. From this point I can then expand into additional product lines, and perhaps expand interstate. We'll see.

Once this structure is established, my plan is to get in additional staff to be responsible for most of the tasks, to minimise my personal workload and allow me to concentrate on more expansion planning, and also on university studies, which I return to in March.

But I'll let you know how it goes. :) Thanks for asking. :)

Best Regards,

Thomas.

> How is your brother Thomas doing with the
> All Ages Party?? If he needs any help, my
> brother and some of my other friends Promote
> Clubs regularly here in Canada. My friends
> have been doing it for over 6 -7 years now.
> Please let me know!

Hi Thomas,

Thanks for the update! Sounds like your company Elysium is growing steadily. (Elysium was actually the name of a night club here in Canada)

With all the Snow up hear, It is sometimes difficult to imagine that in your neck of the woods, Students are on summer vacation.

Especially when some of my friends are complaining about having to go back to school.

Here in Canada school the school year is from Sept. - June (for highschool)

I look forward to hearing about your companies progress.

Continued Success!

Duane Adolph

> Duane,

> As Dien has mentioned, I decided to delay
> the All Ages Party as my target audience
> (primarily grade 11 and 12 students) were on
> holiday or about to be when I thought about
> it, so targetting them through schools,
> being what I think is the most effective
> medium to reach them, would be unavailable.

> As such the thought was to delay it until
> April or May, when school is back on and
> perhaps try to hold it during the first term
> break, using the time before that to somehow
> use schools (or their Student Representative
> Councils) to promote the event.

> In the meantime, I've been focusing on a new
> company I set up called Elysium Distributors
> Pty Ltd, which distributes Pyrod-branded
> blank CDs to retail stores throughout the
> Melbourne Metropolitan area.

> Originally I was just acting as an agent,
> but recently I've taken over handling of
> stock and delivery also, which is a fair bit
> of work, so I've been concentrating on how
> to do that efficiently.

> In the next 2-3 weeks I'll be moving into an
> office & warehouse to set up a more
> permanent base, which is also on my mind. At
> the moment I effectively work from home.

> It's going fairly well so far. There are
> lots of orders, and I'm employing one full
> time salesperson with plans to hire 1-2
> other people in the next month, after the
> office is fully setup.

> My goal is to establish a set structure and
> system whereby the company operates
> smoothly, and we have a regular customer
> base to deliver to. From this point I can
> then expand into additional product lines,
> and perhaps expand interstate. We'll see.

> Once this structure is established, my plan
> is to get in additional staff to be
> responsible for most of the tasks, to
> minimise my personal workload and allow me
> to concentrate on more expansion planning,
> and also on university studies, which I
> return to in March.

> But I'll let you know how it goes. :) Thanks
> for asking. :)

> Best Regards,

> Thomas.