Marketing Idea Shop

Musings on a Tired Friday

April 15, 2005


Greetings!

Thanks for visiting my blog. In this posting, you'll learn a lot about me--perhaps more than you want to know--and I'll tell you about lots of things I'm doing that you might learn from, too, so keep reading!

I'm not getting much sleep lately. It's not just one thing. One would be easy!

Let me explain...No, it's not that today's tax day in the U.S., either. My taxes are filed and behind me. I hope yours are, too.

There are a lot of little things that keep me from sleeping, and a couple of bigger ones. You see, I'm a very light sleeper, so it doesn't take much to wake me. The only thing I can sleep through is snoring. And that's a good thing, since both Don and I snore like freight trains.

First, it's allergy season for me (hence, the snoring). I've always taken over-the-counter medication in the past, but this year I've been bothered so long--actually since January--that the OTC stuff doesn't seem to work anymore. So, I talked to my doctor and she prescribed Zirtec-D. It's a miracle for me. No itchy, watery eyes. No stuffy nose. No miserable, want-to-be-in-bed-all-day feeling.

But I think there's a catch. Since it's a non-drowsy medication--you know where I'm going with this, don't you?--I think it's one of the things that keeps me awake at night. Even though I'm dead tired.

Then, I decided it's time--after almost 10 years--thatI absolutely, positively MUST get off my hormone drugs, which I started taking because I had such severe menopause symptoms beginning at a very young age. And it was a last resort after trying every nutritional supplement, herb, tea, getting rid of spicy foods, giving up coffee (Can you believe I'd give up coffee? That was a tough one), keeping it 50 degrees in the house (yes, I'm exaggerating), getting exercise, trying to lose weight (an ongoing battle), and so on. So I went on the HRT replacement and--another miracle--in two days I had NO symptoms so you can see why I'm loathe to give up my miracle drugs. But then, a few years ago, the studies came out saying we shouldn't take the drugs for too long or we could suffer increased risk of various cancers and heart attacks. Grrrr.

So I talked to my doctor and she said to start taking the pills every other day, then every three days, etc., but every time I'd get to every three days, I'd start to suffer. And boy, do I hate suffering. That was two years ago.

So now I've decided I'm just a wimp and I should just get off the HRT cold turkey. (Is it hot in here?) Anyway, that's another reason I'm not sleeping like a rock lately.

Then, it gets lighter earlier. So the birds pretend they're my mother. Her philosophy was, "If I'm up, everyone should be up," and she'd come in and vacuum right next to your bed. So about 4:30, the birds are pretending they're my mother.

Right after I got back to sleep yesterday morning, the phone rang. Yes, it was a wrong number. But who in their right mind calls ANYONE at 5:00 in the morning?

Okay, so now it's 5:30 and my husband's alarm goes off. He never gets up at that hour, mind you. He's someone who needs to have the alarm go off a half hour before he's really going to get up. Me? I'm not so tolerant of that since I set the alarm for the time I need to get up and when it goes off, I actually get up. Maybe it's because I'm a morning person. Or maybe it's because I've already been through 18 million things that wake me up all night long.

So, the alarm goes off at 5:30 and my brain starts working because I'm so jazzed about all the stuff I'm doing in my business. Besides the client and pro bono work I have to complete, I just listened to a teleseminar where Frank Kern interviewed Yanik Silver, who I think is the best copywriter alive today. Of course, I haven't read stuff by EVERYONE yet, but he's my favorite so far. He has recently announced his Internet Copywriting Home Study package. It's amazing!

Yanik's new course grew out of a two-and-a-half-day workshop he just did where he charged almost $5,000 per person to attend. He recorded the whole thing on 15 CDs that you can listen to anywhere, 12 DVDs that you can watch at your convenience, AND four complete manuals with copies of his best "swipe files." (That alone is worth big bucks!) Plus--and this is the BEST one--when you buy the course, as a bonus, you'll get 3 copywriting critiques by Yanik himself. And that can make you millions. It has for many others. And he's offering a bunch of other bonuses, too. If there was one course I'd love to buy, it's this one. Why don't you read all the details here:

The Ultimate Copywriting Home Study Course by Yanik Silver

I've also been trying to revamp my websites to incorporate AdSense ads in strategic places for better results. I listened to Christopher Knight's recent teleseminar with Joel Comm, aka Dr. AdSense, about how Joel makes $500 a DAY with the program (yup, that's $15,000 a month. He gets his check delivered overnight!). And, of course, I bought Joel's ebook,"What Google Never Told You About Making Money with Adsense!", which I've read a couple of times and I'm slowly implementing his suggestions.

It's a fabulous book. If you're thinking about puttingAdSense on your website, I highly recommend this ebook. It's very practical. You can pick it up with the link below, but you'll need to grab it soon if you want the discount because he just let me know he's raising the price to $99 (from$79). But he didn't tell me when. So save yourself 20 bucks and buy it here now:

And then I start thinking about the fun, cool thing that Joel did yesterday. He set up a new website and sent all of his subscribers an email to check it out. And of course I did. You can check it out, too, here:


If you "buy Joel dessert," you can get a permanent link backto your website from his high-traffic site. For as little as $2. Or become a sponsor and get a priority link for just 20 bucks.
Well, I'm always thinking about my clients, too, so got him to put up a picture and description of Rowena's Double Chocolate Cake. (Of course, he wanted to do it because it's a great looking--and tasting--cake and he can "charge" $25 for that one. Who knows? Maybe some people will "buy" Joel one of Rowena's cakes. I did.)

Anyway, since Rowena's is one of my clients, I like to promote the company. It's owned by Rowena Fullinwider and the company makes the most delicious pound cakes and fruit curd sauces. Yum! I never have to worry about holiday gifts.I just go to Rowena's website and send a cake to my clients. And you should, too! Later today, Rowena will also be listed as a sponsor with its own link. Go take a look.

And just as an aside, Rowena's makes the most fabulous sugar-free cakes. They taste EXACTLY like the full-sugar versions and each piece of cake is only 5 points on the Weight Watchers scale. (Yup. You got it. I'm still trying to lose weight. 12 pounds so far. Only 35 to 40 more to go.) You can see beautiful, full-color pictures of ALL the desserts at Rowena's. And if you want to read about Rowena Fullinwider and how she runs her business so successfully, visit:

Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs

Okay, so another reason I'm excited about everything I'm doing lately is that I've got Janet Switzer scheduled for my next teleseminar, April 27. Why am I so excited about Janet? Because I've heard her speak.

I have a CD of her interviewing a woman from Minnesota--sorry, I don't remember the woman's name or the name of her business so let's call her Mary. Anyway, Mary is in the "hotseat" with Janet--just like YOU have an opportunity to do at my upcoming teleseminar.

Mary bought a business a couple ofyears ago. Her company updates and prints a library-bound reference book telling people how to start a business ands he sells it to libraries for $159, grossing about $85,000 a year.

By the time Janet finished discussing how Mary could "slice and dice" the book to make other products and create compatible products, like a subscription for audiotapes, separate books on start-up accounting for businesses, marketing, sales, and so on, and a mentoring/coachingprogram for $99 per month (the same as mine, by the way. See Marketing Idea Shop Mentoring Program for details.) ... Mary is aware that she can actually make about $300,000 a year MORE than her current income. It's fabulous.

And the seminar I'm holding with Janet is going to be just as good, if not better, because it won't be Mary on the hotseat, it will be one of YOU. You can read more about it and sign up here for
How to Build a Million-Dollar Information Empire.


And, I'm jazzed because I'm working simultaneously on three new products that I could use your help prioritizing. So how about taking this short survey for me? I'll take you about 5 minutes. I'd love your feedback on my ideas. That's it. Just seven questions to answer. Go here now and take the survey, okay?

And here's one more thing I'd like to share. You know, I like things that are fun. My daughter, Erin, sent me a website that is hysterical. Well, actually, she sent me a link to a newspaper clipping about a guy she knew when she was young because they both went to the same babysitter.

His name is Johnny Lechner. He likes to be called JohnnyLechner.com and that's pretty funny in itself. Don'tyou think? Johnny's been going to the University of Whitewater in Wisconsin for 11 years...as an undergraduate. He thought he might graduate this year, but he decided to postpone it because the one thing he's never done while an undergrad is run for president of the student association. Of course, he has more than enough credits to graduate--250 of them, as a matter of fact. Johnny, who's 28, used to date Rhiannon, a friend of Erin's, for about three years.

And next weekend, Rhiannon is marrying another guy. I'll bet her parents were happy the relationship with Peter Pan--I mean Johnny Lechner--didn't end up in marriage. Take a look at his site for a little bit of entertainment today, and don't think about dating him unless you're about 19. That's one of the things Johnny likes about being in college. The never-ending sea of beautiful, fresh 19-year-olds. Go here to check him out:

JohnnyLechner.Com

Well, that's about as much entertainment as I can provide today. How about doing just 8 quick things for me?

1. Take my survey and help me prioritize my new products. And if you want to tell me anything, there's a spot for that, too.

2. Go right now and sign up for "How to Build a Million-Dollar Empire" with Janet Switzer.

3. Go visit Joel Comm's site and feed Joel dessert.

4. Buy Joel Comm's Adsense ebook and get busy with AdSense.

5. Take a look at Yanik Silver's new copywriting home study course.

6. Take a tour of Johnny Lechner's site and be glad he's not marrying your daughter:

7. Reward yourself for getting to the end of this crazy blog post with a delicious cake from Rowena's.

8. Enjoy your weekend. Get some sleep for me. And keep in touch.

Best,
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Marketing Guru
Marketing Idea Shop
411 Rainier Road
Massanutten, VA USA 22840
Voice 540.289.3840 or 800.203.8660

Websites: Marketing Idea Shop and Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs
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posted by Lois Carter Fay @ 9:38 AM