What He was saying was that whatever is inside of us seems to find its way to our lips. Usually we are unaware of this.

Someone once said, “When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail.”

The things we habitually say tend to indicate what sort of tools we have available inside us for dealing with our life problems and challenges.

Start paying attention to things you repeatedly say.

They may give you a good indicator of the secrets of your heart that even you were unaware of.

And perhaps point you to the work you need to be doing — work that will grow your character and prepare you for new, higher-level challenges.

SPECIAL NOTE: For a limited time, you can become a member of my new Writing Riches Community at our special Preferred Member Rate. Right now, membership is a no-obligation $97… but in the near future, we may raise the price to $147. Click here right now to lock in your Preferred Rate and save $50.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
- Hebrews 10:23

God makes many promises to us in the Bible.

He promises health, prosperity, and blessings to those who accept his Son, Jesus Christ.

As we will see in the coming days, these promises are too unequivocal to ignore; too straightforward to dance around with “verbal gymnastics”.

When you deny that God means to keep His promises, you willfully engage in unbelief. This is because you are thinking like a human being. That’s understandable, but no longer acceptable to you and me, as followers of Christ.

Beloved, you are a new creation. God wants you to stop following the pattern of the world (for instance, entertaining unbelief) and He wants you to allow Him to “renew” your mind. He promised that He would.

The next time you seize upon one of the Lord’s promises for your life, and the voice of unbelief begins speaking in the back of your mind, remember what the writer of Hebrews said: “He who promised is faithful.”

You and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given us the “abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness”. And He has promised us that He knows how to take good care of His children.

Hold fast to that confession. Do not waver. And if you do, pray something like this: “Lord I believe in You. I thank You for Your gift of grace and of righteousness. I accept the blessings that You have for me, and I thank You for washing me in Your Spirit, even when I falter. Keep on reminding me, Lord, that You have made promises to me, and that You are faithful. Thank You for what You’re doing in my life. Give me eyes to see and recognize it as it unfolds. Thank You for being the kind of Daddy that knows how to give good gifts to His children.”

Have you ever been frustrated and felt unproductive, overwhelmed by the tasks that lay before you?

Perhaps the problem is not that there isn’t enough time, but the challenge may be the fact that you’re focusing on things that are not part of God’s plan for your life. Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate how you’re actually spending that precious commodity called time.

Let’s start with this… Psalm 90, verse 12 says, “Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.”

Making the most of your time — being productive, being efficient, making wise choices — is not merely a measure of how you can “get things done”. It’s also a measure of how good a steward you’re being of the most precious commodity God has given you.

When you start thinking of your “time management” skills in this light, doesn’t it make you feel differently about the whole subject? Feels a bit more important, right?

Even when you’re very productive, have you ever stopped to think about this question: What is it, exactly, that you’re producing?

Something to think about.

If your copy provokes that reaction in the reader, you lose.

Make sure your copy — and all your marketing — passes the “so what” test.

And I didn’t check email over the Holiday, so I was shocked to see what a huge response we got.

After all, the email wasn’t about a “magic button”.

And I made it clear I had identified an opportunity, but that the opportunity would require work…

…but for those who can write, and want to make their living from doing so, I believe this can be a true game-changer.

If that’s you, this is important.

I have identified what I believe to be the biggest “hidden opportunity” I have seen in a long, long time.

If you have any writing chops, you need to see this.

If you also have some marketing know-how… you’d be foolish to ignore this.

Strong words? Yes. But I think I can back them up.

This is a potential windfall for anyone who can write a basic business memo.

I believe this to be the most potentially lucrative, high-leverage, low-risk opportunity for anyone with writing skills that I’ve seen since I started writing copy.

I think (with good reasons for thinking it) anyone who ignores this opportunity, who fails to make this distinction, faces more potential “hard times” in 2011…

…while those who can grasp the reality of the situation stand to profit (with relative ease).

I am sharing this opportunity during a live webinar tomorrow (Thursday) evening.

Click here to register for that webinar now.

This webinar WILL NOT BE REPEATED, and there is NO replay.

You need to  decide right now if this is important to you.

AND YOU NEED TO SHOW UP FOR THE WEBINAR.

I wonder if you’ll take the time to register right now? Click this link:

Click here to register for the webinar now.

Lies, on the other hand, are simply falsehoods perpetrated upon us for the purpose of robbing us of something.

Marketing, in its pure and noble form, uses mythology; it never uses lies.

Planning Produces Profits. The road to profit increases may be less traveled – but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

Creating Wealth Is Not An Individual Sport. Why entrepreneurs are not “bad guys”.

What’s New? Wondering why your life hasn’t changed? This is the answer.

And I’ve been reviewing quite a bit of Charlie’s material. He’s good.

Worth checking out: his free “New Profit Rules” ebook.

If your business is slow, and you’re thinking maybe it’s time to start doing some things differently — this ebook might be right up your alley. I found it fresh, generous, and filled with good ideas. You do have to cough up your email address, but I think you’ll find it worth the “investment”:

Also, Charlie is sponsoring a Social Media Telesummit next week that should be VERY helpful if you’re just getting into the whole Social Media thing.

I know several of the experts on the panel (Warren Whitlock, Ryan Healy, Jack Humphrey, and Carrie Wilkerson) and I think this will be quite different from the usual “teleseminars” you may be accustomed to.

If you want to unravel this whole social media “mystery”… this seems like a good place to start.

This is not an either-or proposition.

It’s a “both-and” reality.

The amount of money you have directly affects how you deal with certain requirements of life.

The amount of money you have also directly affects how much time you are required to invest in certain activities – and how much time you have free for others.

Having a lot of money – or having very little – is not “good” or “bad”.

Consciously choosing the balance of these two resources – time and money – is a major key that unlocks the door to fulfillment… or leaves you facing a closed and immovable door.

The choice — for almost everyone — is yours.

I’ve always found that an instructive thought experiment – and also a little vague.

Here’s a refinement: what if you only had 1 project left to work on?

• Which project would you choose?
• How would you go about it?
• What would be your criteria for success?

My guess is: the answers to these questions will be different than the way you’ve been approaching your projects up until now.

My question is: will that continue to be the case?

What if you approached every project (business, personal, or any other category) as if it were your last?

You probably know what I’m talking about: the kind of copywriter who positions himself as a “badass” and a “rockstar”. Usually this persona comes with a large dose of attitude. Often the persona is accompanied by disdain or even contempt for his customers — who are often portrayed by the “rockstar copywriter” as mentally challenged at best… and complete idiots at worst.

I hope, Constant Copywriter, you are not guilty of this.

Because it doesn’t help anyone.

It’s also ugly and mean-spirited.

So if you, as a copywriter, have been guilty of patterning yourself after a “badass copywriter” – stop it. Just be yourself, respect and honor your clients, and you will experience the prosperity you’re after.

To The Clients Of The Bully Copywriter

If you happen to be a client of one of these copywriters, or you’re thinking of becoming a client of one – stop. Trust your gut. There are people who can write your copy and treat you with the respect and honor you deserve.

Take the time to find one of those people – and don’t fall into a co-dependent relationship where you are the victim and the copywriter is the bully.

Most notable: people don’t read them.

Marketers, take note.

Because if people don’t thoroughly and attentively read the instructions that come with something they’ve already paid for… what makes you think they’re going to thoroughly and attentively read your ad?

Something to think about.

The site is a marvel of simplicity – simple copy, simple navigation, simple user interface.

What’s amazing  is: the conceptual “sale” they have to make to get you to share your financial information with them (necessary for their site to be of any real use to you) is a complex sale. They have to overcome a very rational fear on the part of their prospect (“why should I give these guys all my passwords? What will they do with that information?”).

Add to that the following complexity: after they’ve convinced you to give up all your usernames and passwords for all your financial accounts, then they have to interact with all those other websites to aggregate the data into a very user-friendly online “dashboard” of your finances.

It all appears very simple to the end user.

But it’s all very hard to do.

And they appear to be making a fortune.

So how does one do such a thing?

1. First, lots of thinking and planning.
2. Then lots of hard work.
3. Make a big investment in infrastructure and programming.
4. Take a huge risk that it will all work.
5. Spend time and thought on marketing that is smart, effective… and simple.

Probably not what most entprepreneurs want to hear – especially the part about “thinking and planning” and “lots of hard work”.

But that’s how you make a  Mint (.com).

Now, you may protest. You may say you don’t lie, cheat or steal.

I understand. You adhere to the letter of the law, you follow the rules, and you resent the implication of any dishonesty.

But even if you are “clean” as a marketer, guess what? It doesn’t matter.

You see, what matters is if your customers think you lie, cheat and steal, it might as well be true. Because its true for them, and that’s all that matters.

Perception is the reality.

What do you do, then, to change things?

Well. Change things.

Be more than just “clean”. Be honest. But not just to the letter of the law — be honest to the point that it makes you uncomfortable. Be refreshingly honest.

Want examples?

Think of Southwest Airlines. People love this airline, even though it has the most degrading boarding process of all airlines, has the least amount of service offered in-flight, and has the highest percentage of screaming babies and inexperienced travelers.

So why do people love Southwest? Simple: they have been refreshingly honest about what they offer, so our expectations are always met.

Grit your teeth and ask: in what ways can you be refreshingly honest with your customers?

That might be so broad a topic it isn’t helpful.

What might be more helpful: what can you – you – do differently?

You. One person.

You see, there is no such thing as One Economy. There are individuals who each have their own personal economy. When those individuals move in concert on a mass scale (such as selling their stock because they’re afraid, or reigning in their spending for the same reason), we see the effect and call it “The Economy”.

It seems  a useful question might be: what is one thing you can do differently that will have a positive effect on your personal economy?

Just pick one thing. Then do it.

My contention: it’s impossible to take a positive action on an individual level without that action affecting others.

If enough people do one thing differently… and that one thing is positive… and that one thing creates value… what happens to the mass result we call The Economy?

And looking back, ask yourself: what happened when a mass number of individuals did lots of little “one things” that were not positive, and that did not add value (such as borrowing too much money, cutting corners on quality, and failing to add value in every transaction)? Is it possible this is how we got into our current situation to begin with?

So. What one thing can you do differently today?

I think one of the real tricks of success is to simply recognize these things you tend to do, and then find ways to make these tendencies support your success. In fact, I think most people are miserable because they fail to do just that. Instead of working with their tendencies in order to succeed (almost effortlessly), they identify their tendencies as the problem and vow to change.

That, my friend, is called swimming against the river. And while you may get credit for working your tail off while doing it, you’re not going to make much progress relative to the shoreline.

Case in point: for the longest time I was worried about my information addiction.

And make no mistake… I am an info-addict.

Just this morning, I read the six magazines I bought yesterday. Read part of a book. Checked out the over 1,000 new items in Google Reader. Watched a brilliant little video by Ed Dale over at the Thirty Day Challenge site. And sifted through 52 emails (it was early, and it’s the day after a US holiday, so email was light this morning).

I have dozens of PDFs in my “To Read” folder on my Macbook Pro. I have dozens more videos and audios to go through in my “To Listen” and “To Watch” folders.

And once upon a time I thought something was wrong with me because of this kind of behavior. So I struggled against it. I read books about it. I read articles about it. I listened to self-help material about it. Is anyone other than me seeing the irony yet?

One day I stumbled across an article by Dan Kennedy in which he detailed his working habits… and I was shocked to discover they were identical to mine (at least when it came to info-consumption)! And Dan saw it not as a weakness to be changed… but rather as a strength to be nurtured.

That was life-changing for me.

It gave me a way to stop struggling against my natural tendencies, and to embrace the way God made me. That tendency to process large quantities of unrelated information allows me to form connections between ideas, concepts, and methods that I would not possess if I limited my information intake. So now I structure my work and my routine in such a way that my behavior in this regard in strengthened, reinforced, and nurtured — and then put to profitable use in my writing.

I look for ways to channel that stream of information so that it’s not wasted.

For instance, I found this excellent piece by Chris Brogan on focused blogging just this morning. You can bet I will be implementing many of Chris’s suggestions in my own routine.

Another source of inspiration and information on effective ways to channel my own natural tendencies is at the blog of my new friend Brian Clark (we met in Vegas last week at a blogging/marketing get-together). Brian’s site, Copyblogger, is an excellent resource no self-respecting copywriter or blogger should ignore.

So what does this all mean to you?

In my experience, it means that if you find yourself fighting the same old battles (chronic lateness, procrastination, forgetfullness), you’ve probably unwittingly been holding yourself back by resisting your own gifts.

If you have trouble with authority, why work in a job when it’s clear you’d be happier as an entrepreneur?

If you are always late for appointments — why not just stop making appointments (Arnold Shwarzenneger reportedly refuses to make appointments with anyone, and he seems to be doing okay running the state of California).

And if you have tendencies that are frowned upon by others — for instance, sleeping during the day and staying up all night — why not look for a way to turn the tendency into an asset (for instance, by working via Internet with clients or companies in a different time zone… where suddenly YOU are the early riser!)?

My friends Frank Kern and Jason Moffatt are both self-admitted “lazy surfers”… yet they’ve managed to turn these personality “quirks” into a financial asset. Frank and Jason both market products and information to other people who are drawn to the very personal traits that would be frowned upon in most business settings.

Just because certain tendencies, behaviors and attitudes are not “acceptable” in one context does not mean those qualities are “bad”. It simply means — at least in my experience — you need to find a different context! And that decision — how you live your life — is (for most of us) entirely a choice.

(And to ward off the inevitable objections to my premise: yes, I recognize that there are behaviors and “tendencies” that are illegal, immoral, and unethical. That’s not what we’re talking about here, okay? Anything that falls into those three categories should be jettisoned from your life. ‘Nuff said on that.)

Now take a moment to think about this…

In what ways could your “limiting tendencies” become strengths?

How could your re-arrange your life to make it so?

If you can find positive, proactive ways to answer those questions, you just might find yourself more productive, profitable, and happy.

He also has a fascinating list of 34 rules for “Maverick Entrepreneurs”.

Good reading.

The Answer: Pick the one teacher you “resonate” with — and pay attention to that one teacher.

How To Overcome Guru Confusion:

1. Pick the one teacher or program you’re going to focus on.
2. Commit to going through that teacher’s program until completion.
3. Finish that program before you start working on another program!

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Answer: Simplify and use the Marketing Funnel to get started.

5-Step Plan For Building Your Marketing Funnel:

1. Start building an email list.
2. Get attention by giving away free content.
3. Offer entry-level products so customers can experience doing business with you.
4. Sell higher priced products.
5. Sell continuity or subscription products.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Get information or products to your customers… in the format they prefer!

The Resource: AskDatabase.com

3-Step Plan For Finding The Right Way To Sell Online:

1. Find or develop a list of your customers and prospects.
2. Ask your customers or prospects what they want.
3. Give them what they want.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

Naturally, I clicked on the ad. I quickly realized it was placed by one of my students, Darrel Hawes. I had no idea he was going to do this.

I was even more surprised to see that Darrel has written a report about… me. I certainly had no idea he was going to do that.

Now, I’m a little weirded out by this.

Of course, it feels good to have someone say nice things about me. And I would not deign to argue with Darrel about any of the nice things he said in the report.

But that’s not the reason I’m pointing it out here. The reason is: I admire it when people take positive, proactive action. And I think such things deserve to be recognized.

So: good on you, Darrel! I admire what you’ve done here. Not necessarily that it’s about me — but rather that you did something clever, and a bit daring, to make your goals into reality.

And if I can be forgiven for promoting something that speaks so highly of me… the report is darned good.

I’m not sure if I deserve all the praise Darrel heaps on me. But I am sure that his report contains good advice. So check out Darrel’s report.

It means that as a salesperson, if you don’t take time to relate to your potential customer, to get to know them and their needs…

If you just jump right in and hit them with your cheesy, canned sales presentation right off the bat…

…it’s like saying “hi” by throwing up on their shoes.

Gross analogy, I know. But apt, yes?

Jeff Sexton wrote a great little piece on how to avoid this phenomena at GrokDotCom (and that site should definitely go into your RSS reader).

Check out their post on web copy that makes you sick.

I refuse to tolerate it any longer in my life.

This week my wife and I hauled off several small truckloads of clutter to Goodwill (and some to the dump). We’re got more to haul away — but we’ve at least identified it all and we know what we’re doing about the clutter conundrum.

Next on my clutter-blusting list: paper.

Man, do I have a lot of paper. And I have found the solution (I think). If you haven’t read Ken Silver’s post on the Paperless Office, go read it now.

In his article, Ken says:

Here’s what I do each day to win the paper war:

When paper of any kind…a magazine article I clip, an invoice, notice or bill… gets to my desk, I run it through the ScanSnap which is permanently on.

The item shows up on Windows Explorer in the supplied Adobe Acrobat 6.0 program as an untitled PDF file. I name it immediately in a COMPANY NAME – DOCUMENT NAME – ITEM – DATE format and drag it to the appropriate folder.

I have only 2 folders for all my files, marked BUSINESS and PERSONAL. The Business folder has sub-folders, each labeled as a financial year… 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 etc. There is one other sub folder which I’ve labeled PROJECTS.

Since my scanned files are shown in alphabetical order in Explorer – and that’s the way I retrieve them too – there’s no need to get any more complicated than that.

I ordered my Scansnap today and it should arrive tomorrow. I’ll have more to say about this soon — but for now check out Ken’s article. If you’ve had any experience with “going paperless”, let me know by posting your comments below.

It’s called “An Obvious Truth”.

I actually read the first draft of this a few weeks ago, and I have been itching to be able to tell you about it. Now, I can actually give you a copy… and you don’t have to “opt in” to get it.

Just click the link to download “An Obvious Truth”.

I think Armand lays a few things out in the open that others are afraid to talk about. What do you think? Post your comments below (after reading the report, of course).

Eliminate all the adverbs.

What’s an adverb?

It’s a word – often ending in the letters “ly” – that modifies a verb (or even adjectives or adverbial phrases). Examples of adverbs: quickly, instantly, amazingly, powerfully.

If you find the above passage puzzling, don’t worry about it; just go through your copy and try to eliminate as many of those “ly” words as you can. Here’s an example:

“Quickly and easily motivate clients to buy stuff.”

~ becomes ~

“Motivate clients to buy stuff.”

Now you may be tempted to ask: “But Ray, I want them to know it happens quickly and easily!”

No problem. Just be specific.

“Motivate clients to buy stuff starting the minute you install the software, without any extra effort on your part.”

You may need to do a bit of rewriting to make the copy flow without the adverbs, but your language will be stronger and more persuasive for the effort.

Stories are attention magnets.

The Point: Too many online marketers adhere to the “just the facts” approach — or worse, they engage in “hype”.

This costs these unfortunate marketers sales and profits.

Integrate a powerful story into your copy and test the results.

The Resource: All Marketers Are Liars, by Seth Godin

3 Ways To Use Stories In Your Marketing:

1. Attention grabbers that draw people into the copy.
2. Rapport builders that mirror your reader’s dominant emotion.
3. Proof elements that create mental images of your product working for the reader.
Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Spend an hour adding audio to key parts of your website and watch conversions soar.

The Resource: AudioGenerator

3 Places to Use Audio For Better Conversions:

1. Squeeze Page
2. Sales Page (in the Guarantee!).
3. Order Page.
Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: For a quick boost in the results your copy brings, bone up on these books.

The Resource: SFS Bookstore

3 Books on Copywriting… And One Other:

1. The Robert Collier Letter Book, Robert Collier
2. Scientific Advertising, Claude Hopkins
3. Reason Why Advertising, John E. Kennedy
4. Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here