A Three Hour Tour

Today we rented scooters and drove around the island to see something other than our resort and beachfront. What a gorgeous glorious place we're in! It's incredible, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I feel so blessed to be here.

Yesterday I was retelling my scuba story to some of the people in my group when another group of folks joined us. They are from the Bellingham, Washington area and are professional divers (some are pros, some are recreational I should say). A few of the men were telling me they had similar experiences when they began diving and that I should definitely try again when I have more one on one attention so I can take my time getting accustomed to the underwater breathing thing.

Well one of the men and I began talking on our own and eventually we got to talking shop (business). It turns out his business is very much in need of some press releases (and more PR). He donates some of his work to charities and does great things for them. That is the absolute perfect story for a press release.

So of course we exchanged information and continued talking about other stuff. Eventually we made plans to meet up today and rent bicycles to check out the real Cozumel. We planned to meet in the lobby at 3pm.

Today I arranged my scootering around the 3pm bike ride. I arrived back at the hotel around 3:15pm, a few minutes late because we took a wrong turn on our mopeds. He was nowhere to be found and I have not seen him since.

I'm sure he'll pop up again before the week is over and if all else fails, I have his business card so I can be in touch.

I did find it fun to talk to him and get to know his business, his family, etc. It's so great meeting so many wonderful people and finding ways to help them! Whoever thought I'd get paid for it?! I love it!

Now I'm off to dinner. I'm feeling a little under the weather so this post is very brief.

See you soon!

Lara

Just Another Day In Paradise

Cozumel is absolutely wonderful. I am having a fantastic time. This entire trip is fabulous. I feel incredible. I AM incredible! :)

This morning I signed up for my intro to scuba course and we went about our group training session. I simply could not get used to breathing under water. I simply couldn't do it and I gave my all. By my 12th attempt at sitting on the bottom of the pool (you have to go in the pool first), I was shaking from head to toe and crying. Yeah, crying.

It's the oddest feeling to breath underwater and my mind wouldn't accept it. Normally when I panic or feel uneasy, I take deep breaths to calm myself down and I find my center very easily and naturally. The problem today was that I didn't feel like I could breath! So instead of calming me, I panicked even more. It was not my finest hour but I did try (and yeah that's all I did was try. You know what trying is right? Failing with honor and I certainly did today).

So I've decided to just relax this afternoon and read by the ocean. I may give it another go on this trip but I'm not certain. I will definitely sign up for a scuba diving course because I CAN overcome this fear. I just don't seem to be there yet. And it's all mental, I know it. One day I will be a certified scuba diver. :)

And that's about all I've got for you. It's warm, sunny and the Caribbean breezes are blowing so it's time for me to sign off and enjoy paradise!

Be well,

Lara

Another Day By The Sea

Well not a lot to report in the way of copywriting news today...just spent the day hanging out by the water and relaxing under the sun.

We've got a few new apprentices who have come on board recently and one who has risen from the ashes. I thought she had fallen by the wayside but she emailed me yesterday and asked to join in again.

So we're well on our way to my goal of 10 world class copywriters. My goal was April 2008. I'm excited to see us create that, I believe it will happen.

You should definitely be here in Cozumel. Sand, sun and surf. It's amazing. I feel so incredibly at peace (well except for last night's drama but that's for my personal blog). I really needed this trip! I had no idea how tense I was. Well, that's not entirely true. I knew I was fairly tense and concerned about life but the more I unwind and decompress here, the more I see just how high strung I felt!

No photos from last night yet but they are floating around out there. I just have to make sure they're suitable before you see them! We've got some wild and crazy people in this group...I am not one of them. I just enjoy watching them do wacky things!

There are about 40 of us, almost half men and half women...I believe all but 4 of those 40 are single. Yeah, it's made for some interesting situations already!

So I'm off to snack before dinner and have a drink. And then more dancing, dancing, dancing! I have been voted the Dancing Queen of the group so it's time for me to uphold my title. It's salsa night so we'll see how that goes! Should be fun.

Til tomorrow...

Lara

Fate or Circumstance?

Well you've seen that I can create situations based on my desires. This week has been a virtual waterfall of experiences in that vein. Today was the same.

I woke up at 3:15am (yes, 3am) and prepared to leave for Mexico. We made our flight with time to spare, got settled and eventually we were in the air. I sat next to a woman named who is part of the social group I'm in Mexico with and on the other side of me was another woman. I actually never got her name. She was nice but quiet and clearly wanted to be alone. (Most of us had been awake since at least 4am so I can understand not being interested in conversation with a stranger).

Eventually the no-named quiet woman got up and left. She switched seats with another man for some reason and he sat down quietly, absorbed in a book.

After about 2 hours of flying, we all got restless and started chatting and hanging out in the aisles. My friend interrupted the man next to me to apologize for our chattiness. He was cordial and we all began talking.

He runs a property management company based in Colorado but with rental properties in Cozumel (where we flew into today) and Playa del Carmen. We chatted a lot about what he does, how he got into it, what he loves about it (makes good money, travels, meets great people) and what he doesn't love (misses time with his kids and wife). After about 20 minutes of learning about him, he asked what I do. I told him I'm a copywriter and that I create content for web sites, press releases, ads, etc.

His interest perked up and he was curious to know more. He asked if I'd be willing to look at his web site and give him feedback in terms of what we could improve and what it would take for me to make those improvements (ie payment). I said it would be my pleasure to help him and that I'd be in touch when I got back from Mexico.

So we may have stumbled upon a client who has a terrific business (he gainfully employs 19 Mexican residents and provides them with significantly more income then they'd make elsewhere), terrific product and good cashflow.

And he's a terrific guy to boot! I had a great time chatting with him. We must've talked for at least an hour.

So what do you think...fate or circumstance?

I think neither. I think it was my intent and request to the Universe.

I must admit, I'm fairly impressed with myself. :) I'm even more excited to see what will happen. It's only the first day here - we could 7 new clients by the end of the week!

That's it for me though. I've now been awake for way too long and I'm simply exhausted. But it's a long night ahead - dinner, drinks and dancing!! Hopefully you'll see some crazy photos.

Til tomorrow...

Lara

Off To Mexico - Think You Can Fit Inside My Luggage?!

The countdown has begun...in about 9 hours I will be on a flight to gorgeous Cozumel. If you can fit inside my suitcase you're welcome to come! I'm just so excited.

Since I have to get up in about 5 hours, I'll quickly recap the day's activities and then sign off.

• 7am breakfast networking meeting...I met 3 fairly strong leads. Now I simply have to quote them a rate and see what they can do with that. I also picked up a man who is interested in the apprenticeship program. He has plenty of clients who need copy and he's tired of writing bad sales copy for them. Voila! We fill his need and as our apprentice, he learns how to write great copy. Cool huh?!
• Met with the other 2 folks til almost noon today. There's potential there, we'll see what happens.
• This afternoon I uploaded more keywords to MSN.
• I also made a few phone calls to friends who have leads for me.
• We sent our weekly status report and then I packed. :)

So now I'm off to bed so I can get at least a few hours of sleep. I have to admit the 5 hours of networking was pretty exhausting! It's wonderful to be a part of a business owner's vision and dreams...definitely energizing. It's also very easy to get caught up in their conversation.

Today I learned how to better keep someone on task when discussing their business. :) I'm improving, there is still plenty of room to for growth though!

Anyway, I'm off to bed. I'll see you in Mexico!

Look At Our Newest Apprentice!

I was so impressed with this young man's first copywriting assignment. I think you will be too. View it below:

http://edwardwrites.googlepages.com/lara.html

Pretty good huh?!! Boatloads better than my first solo ad was!! It's exciting stuff we've got going on.

Like I said, it's only going to get better and better...like starting Friday when I'll be writing to you from the sandy white beaches of Cozumel. Jealous aren't you?! :) I'd be if I weren't already going.

Wish me blue skies, happy fishes and wonderful new friends of all kinds.

Quick recap of the day and then I've got to get to sleep early tonight because I have a 7am networking breakfast. Frankly, I don't usually roll over til about 7am so this is going to be a stretch! Thank heavens someone invented coffee.

Today I met with a friend about copywriting projects for her. Things are picking up in her arena and we'll projects are coming in.

I did have to spend part of my afternoon reinstalling all of my information on my computer. The hard drive died on this laptop about 2 weeks ago and the new hard drive arrived. The essentials are installed and working properly.

Beyond that I did some more networking at the gym tonight, got my business cards ready for tomorrow and contacted a few other friends about working for them. Things are picking up and the energy is flowing. It feels good as I know I'm in control of the situation and its outcome. It is definitely time to put the grapes under some stress and create an exceptional wine.

Did you know that vineyards actually stress their grapes? There is a certain level to which grapes must be stressed in order to produce fantastic wine. Wine makers know this and they stress their grapes and bring out their very best.

Interesting when you think of that as a metaphor for life. I know I think of myself in that respective and it completely changes my perspective on things. I am thankful for the opportunity this challenge presents. It is yet again moving me out of my comfort zone which is wonderful! This is the very best thing that could happen to me.

I guess I didn't give you the details did I?! Currently I live rent-free in exchange for cooking and cleaning for my roommate. He has decided he needs to rent out my part of the house so he can buy a home in the mountains. Good for him and even better for me! No more cooking and cleaning, no more messy roommate! Although I will miss his dog a lot but for what he's asking in rent money, I can afford to get my own dog. :)

So now I'm in a situation where I would strongly prefer to increase my business profits and fully support myself. My goal had been to do this by August of 2007 but we'll just speed up the process. (There's a definite theme here...I move much slower than the Universe wants me to. How long do you think it's going to take me to figure that out???).

Although at times I am nervous as I don't know where I'll be living in June...wouldn't you be?! But then again, none of us really know anything beyond this moment do we?! We don't and if you think otherwise you're fooling yourself.

Anyway, we are now generating more revenue and moving right along. I'll have plenty of money by June...in fact, my business will be awash in green energy by then! It already is. :)

Now I'm off, time for my one lovely hour of Holosync and then sleep! What a busy bee kind of day...very fun.

Til tomorrow...

Lara

Boost Your Online Traffic In A Matter of Minutes With This One Technique From PortalFeeder

Remember the additional money-maker I promised? Ok so it's not specific to your blog but it is a very handy tool to have in your toolchest.

Check out this is a clip from PortalFeeder on how to generate more traffic to your web site.

You'll see that it ties in quite nicely with my earlier post about press releases. :)

Since the embed code on YouTube.com isn't working, I can only share the URL here.

I hate to do that for fear you'll leave and never come back but I'll post the link anyway because it's valuable information and because I care about you dear reader. Come back when you're done!

It's late, I'm tired so I'm off to sleep. Stay tuned, you're going to see some incredible things happen in the next 6 weeks. We have to make miracles, there's no other choice...otherwise I won't have a roof over my head in June.

Til tomorrow...

Lara

How To Write A Killer Press Release

What is the most underused marketing tool today? It’s the press release.

In today’s edition of the Information Marketing newsletter we’ll unlock the secrets to writing a good press release. In this first part of a two part series, we’ll look at what a press release is, what should go into a press release and how to best capture the news media’s attention.

Press releases are often overlooked by a lot of self-employed folks but not you! Take advantage of this type of marketing and you’ll be three steps ahead of the
competition.

What is a press release?

You may be asking yourself what exactly is a press release? You’ve probably heard the term before but you may never have written one yourself. Your business will benefit from knowing what it is and how to use it.

A press release is a pseudo-news story that shows an editor or reporter why your particular person, event, service or product is worth being covered in their publication or media outlet.

What’s in a press release?

Now that you know what a press release is, let’s find out what actually goes into your press release.

As we said earlier, a press release is newsworthy. It’s something important that has happened or will be taking place such as a grand opening of your new business, the
newest addition to your product line or a recent promotion for someone in your company.

Still not sure if your news is really news? Ask yourself these questions:

*Is your topic or subject matter relevant?
*Does it add value to the marketplace?
*How does it add value?
*Does it matter to a journalist?
*Do you have a story to tell?

These are key questions to ask yourself, they will create your best possible press release. When you can answer these questions, you’ve got a great start!

Angles Angles Angles

The easiest way to write a press release is to write a story. The media loves a story, it makes their jobs easier, their bosses love the tales and readers prefer to hear about other people versus just plain old news.

The purpose of your press release is get the media to notice you and cover you. A well-written story will do that for you. A story doesn’t mean making something up, it means you find a relevant and interesting angle and then write about
it.

For instance, got a great customer who has used your product for 35 years? Cover it.

Did one of your clients find a new use for one of your tried and true products? And that new use has increased their business by 15%? Perfect, write about it.

The best stories are the stories that come from your customers. They’re easier to write, they’re more interesting to the general public and journalists know that. Do yourself a favor, write your press release as a story!

So what if you don’t think you have story? There are plenty of other ways to angle your topic so the news media is interested. Simply find a way to tie your topic into current affairs and events of the day and there’s your angle!

For instance, let’s say your product is natural pet food. With the recent pet food recall you’ve got a great chance to capitalize on a hot topic of the day. Write a press release about how you now offer informational packets outlining the
ingredients in your pet food so owners know what they’re giving their dogs, cats, parakeets, etc.

Position yourself to show a human interest angle and how you help your customers. Simply show, don’t tell.

If you’re still stuck and wondering if your news is relevant, call us and we will help you figure it out. You can find our contact information here:

http://www.ZeroToProfitASAP.com/copywriting

With a bit of time and preparation, you can really increase the public’s awareness of your business with great press releases. They provide a lot of bang for your buck!

In next week’s edition, we’ll look at the specific parts of a press release such as the headline, subhead and body.

See you then!



Lara K. Loest
Managing Copywriter
http://www.ZeroToProfitASAP.com

P.S. Feel free to pass this information along to your
friends, family and anyone else you think will benefit!

When Does Attraction Work?

Life is an ever unfolding story and today was another exciting chapter! We landed our first copywriting project.

Let me tell you the tale...

Yesterday I went to church (Mile Hi Church, check it out when you're in the Denver area. It's based on Ernest Holmes Church of Religious Science) and set out the intention of creating one new client by this Friday, April 27th 2007. After attending service, I filled out a prayer request with the same intention and then I went about my day.

Last night I came home to work on a few things and received a PM from a woman in the Warrior Forums. I had offered to help her and provide a testimonial for her new book. She gave me the link, thanked me and offered to help me in any way she could if I would only ask.

So I did. I explained that I was a copywriter and was bringing on more clients. Perhaps she might know of someone and she could pass my information along. Free consultation I offered. :)

She wrote back and said she needed a sales letter for the book and would I be interested in writing it?

Well of course I would! I was ecstatic to say the least!!! And so our relationship began. I sense she is a very kind person, at least from all of her posts and from our email exchanges (along with her book which is wonderfully written in a loving manner).

And that is the story of how I created our first client. Wonderful isn't it?!

Naturally I spent part of my day analyzing and wondering how I had manifested this situation. I like to understand things fully so I can recreate them (or not create them again if they don't serve my highest good).

And I came to the realization that it was three steps: decide, commit and act. Or thoughts, feelings and actions.

I thought about what I wanted, I became very clear about it.

I felt how joyful it would be to have that client (and in so doing I committed myself to the goal).

And then I acted. Now that was the tricky step because at first I didn't see how I created this relationship or what actions actually achieved this goal. I know that I have helped others and it hasn't resulted in a client (not in such an immediate fashion anyway).

As I was analyzing and turning this over and over in my head (which is something I love to do by the way), I came to the understanding that simply because my thoughts, feelings and actions where in alignment I was bound to create my goal in some way. I realized I didn't have to know exactly how it was going to happen, just that it (my goal) was going to happen.

Let me tell you, that is not the simplest concept for me to grasp. And do you know why? You probably guessed it long before I did but it is because I have to trust, I have to trust the Universe, I have to trust myself and my role/responsibility in the creative process.

Trust has been an ongoing issue for my entire life. I admit it, I own that aspect of myself and I am changing it. I am trusting more and I am giving more and I am opening up myself much, much more.

And as I do, wonderful things unfold and happen all around me.

So I have committed myself to trusting more and learning that as long as my thoughts, beliefs and actions are aligned I can create whatever my heart desires.

I am trusting that I don't have to know exactly how things will happen, I just have to know that they will and act accordingly. It's so much easier and makes me feel so much lighter, calmer and relaxed! What a miraculous discovery!!

Til tomorrow...

Lara

P.S. I know I promised you a video clip about generating more traffic so you will have it tomorrow!

Weekend Wrap-up

It's Sunday night and I'm pretty tired again, my allergies kicked up again over the weekend so I've been dragging for a few days (hence the weekend-free posts here).

Very quickly I'll recap what I've been doing:

*wrote more ads for AdCenter campaign
*posted our copywriting services offer in the Rich Dad forums
*emailed two apprentices
*emailed our TA (no response)
*applied for more work at a couple of web sites

This week I'm gearing up for more of the same...networking, sending traffic to our copywriting services page and staying in touch with our apprentices.

It should be a fun week..busy too which I always enjoy. I leave for Mexico at 7am on Friday so I've got to prepare for that because I'll be out of touch for at least the entire morning. I'm looking forward to it though!

I promise tomorrow's post will be about a specific topic! I recently viewed a cool (read: FREE) technique to increase traffic to our site so I'll post that.

Til tomorrow...

My Top Five Daily Success Steps

This post was inspired by Joe Vitale's post which you can read here. Joe lists the top 10 things he does every day to be successful. And as you all know, I am a big big fan of Joe and his teachings. He asked his readers to post our top five and link back to him so here's my list.

1.) Gratitude
Every morning when I get up, I say thank you outloud. I thank the universe that I am alive and kicking that day! Each day is a new chance to learn, grow and create. Those are some of the best reasons to give thanks!

I also keep a gratitude journal and write a one page list of all the things I'm thankful for. My final line each day is the same: I'm so thankful for me, for the Universe (we are one and the same) and for the life I am creating. Gratitude is so powerful and it sets the tone for my day. It's a practice I learned from one of my other favorite teachers, James Ray.

2.) Write my goal and carry it with me.
Each morning before I start my work day, I write my goal on a post-it, tuck it in my pocket and keep it on my person all day. I take it out and review it at least twice a day (morning and evening)...usually more often. This is a tool I also picked up from James Ray (I think this may be a Stephen Covey technique..not sure).

I should add my goal and how I write it because that's important:

I'm so happy now that I'm creating $100,000 in profits for my business and am working with a team of 10 world class copywriters who also create the profits they desire.

You'll notice I write it in the current tense which is key. It puts me in a state of feeling the experience, not wishing or desiring it. That may sound like a slight distinction but it's very important.

3.) Get Outside!
This usually comes in the form of exercise whether training for my half-marathon or just walking the dog.

And I love the outdoors, it invigorates my soul and recharges my body. I live in the glorious state of Colorado where the sun shines over 300 days a year. I moved here roughly 3 years ago from the cold, overcast Midwest (Wisconsin to be exact) and the sun blesses me with her glory. And when I'm outside, I'm always thankful I had the courage to move across the country and settle in a place I love!!

4.) Read
Joe and I share this common daily tactic. I'm a voracious reader and am often reading 4 or 5 books at the same time (another trait Joe and I share). I've steered away from fiction of late and read most anything I can get my hands on in the realms of spirituality, psychology, copywriting, marketing and personal development. There's simply so much knowledge to be gained and explored. I honestly wish everyone read more! Go to the library people - it's good for you!! :)

5.) Holosync Daily Meditation
You can review my earlier posts about Holosync. I simply LOVE it. There aren't enough words in the English language for me to express my gratitude, joy and love for Bill Harris' amazing technology.

I have always enjoyed meditation but wasn't as disciplined as I could've been. It can be hard to sit still for an hour...especially if you don't see the results. That is not the case with Holosync. I feel so amazingly alive and vibrant. My world is clearer and more intense. Anyone who has ever had an incredible meditative or yoga session can understand what I'm expressing. Holosync is the only thing I have found that helps me create this same feeling every single day.

Not only that, it allows me to be clearer about my thoughts, feelings and intentions. I have a better grasp of me! How wonderful is that?!

And I'm only on the first level. Woo hooo!!!

I'm excited for the adventures, explorations and discoveries I'll uncover in next 11 levels!

6.) Top Six List
Yes I said I was only going to list five but I remembered a sixth step I take every day. I write down my top six items to accomplish the next day that will move me towards my goal. This was something I heard James Ray, Dan Kennedy and a few others say they do on a daily basis.

After I write the top six, I circle the one thing I fear the most and decide to conquer it first every day! That's a Robert Allen trick. Good one right?!

So there you have it, my top six daily tips.

What are yours? Link back to me and to Joe's blog..share your secrets!

Til tomorrow....

Lara

P.S. I'm also adding a 7th technique: to say I love you every single day and feel it!

Make Money With Your Blog

As promised, I'm delivering a few quick and easy ways to make money with your blog. These are just two ways I've discovered...AdSense and Amazon.com. They are both simple, quick and free (three things I like a lot!!!).

As far as AdSense goes, it's the easiest when you sign up for a Blogger.com account. Just sign in and Blogger.com automatically creates an AdSense account for you.

Then all you have to do is go under your template link, click on the page layout buttons and Blogger.com walks you through adding AdSense ads!!

It's quite simple. I don't know a great deal about web site creation and I could do this in just a few minutes.

So those are the AdSense pros..I see two basic downsides to AdSense. They are lack of control on your part. You don't choose which ads they run on your site. They simply pick up certain words in your entries and run corresponding ads.

Also, you can't call attention to your ads. You'll notice I haven't ever talked about my AdSense account before this post. I can't ask you to check them out or cl.ick on them for me. So again you don't have much control in determining your earnings from AdSense.

Amazon.com is just one example of an affiliate program. Many, many web sites are running similar offerings.

Basically you sign up as an affiliate and agree to their terms (similar to the AdSense terms I listed above in the cons section of my paragraph on AdSense). After filling out your information (ie where to send the checks! WOO HOO!!!), you can choose a few different types of graphics and links to add to your site.

You'll notice I have some Amazon ads flying about.

Again, it takes just a few minutes and between Amazon.com and Blogger.com you are literally led by the hand throughout the ad installation process.

It's so easy I swear a monkey could do it..and I say that because I often feel like a monkey when trying to discern online promotion. :)

So affiliate programs are pretty hot right now and most are free, easy and painless.

The downsides to Amazon.com are the same as AdSense...you don't have a lot of control over what is displayed on your blog.

I did get to choose the gift certificates ad but the other ads are based on categories I chose. So there is more specification than in AdSense but your ads are in broad categories. Again, a crapshoot.

Those are just two ways I'm making money with my blog. Stay tuned and I'll tell you about plenty more in the upcoming days! Til then, take a peek at my ads. :)

Til tomorrow...

Are Wishes Really Granted?

Yet again I am faced with a day full of more tasks than I accomplish! However the things I don't finish give me something to prepare for the next day so I'm not complaining.

This blog entry was going to be about how to make money as a blogger but I ran out of time yet again. That entry will appear tomorrow because I have simply more on my plate then I could completely tackle in one day (at least by myself..when my apprentices get up to speed we'll have plenty of hands on deck and hopefully a much bigger boat or fleet of boats to manage! Did you follow that analogy?!).

Instead I'm going to share a little story along with a quick recap on how I spent my day.

If you've read my previous entries you know I've discussed The Secret and the Law of Attraction (or Law of Vibration as it's also called). And I've talked about my Holosync meditation ritual.

So last night as I was meditating, I decided to send out this intention: I wanted someone to give me something for free today, Tuesday April 17th.

I didn't say what it was exactly, just something for free without a request on my part.

So I said the intention a few times and felt the happiness and joy I would feel when I received the freebie and then I let the thought and the feeling pass on and went back to meditating.

During one of my sessions in my Gmail account (lloest@gmail.com if you want to reach me), my friend popped in a message window. He is testing a new product and wanted to make sure his Paypal processing was all set up properly.

He asked for my Paypal email address and said he was going to send me some money to test his processing procedure. I gave him my email account and logged in to help him check everything out.

It went smoothly and I received a bit of money from him.

He thanked me, I thanked him and said it was my pleasure to be of assistance and we went about our days.

It wasn't until a short while later that it struck me I had received my previous night's request. I had asked for something free and I had gotten it.

When I realized and understood what had just happened, I smiled from ear to ear. And I did feel as happy and as joyful as I had imagined I would.

I'm sure many people would pass this off as a coincidence and that's fine. I prefer to believe we can create our worlds...scratch that, we DO create our worlds.

I'm aware enough to know I don't know everything about creating the world I want otherwise I'd already have everything I want. But I do know enough to sit quietly and observe..and to believe in my wishes.

The more I study and the more I learn, the stronger my belief in myself and my ability as an Infinite Creator becomes. And that's where it's fun!

I'm not naive enough (or in the least bit lazy) to believe I can sit on my couch and meditate to receive millions but I'm already doing the work behind so many great ventures that when I add belief to the equation I think it will speed up the creation process.

So that was my story for the day. :) I'm sure there are lots more where that came from!

Here's a recap of what I did today when I wasn't receiving money for free:

*Morning update call
*MSN AdCenter ads - rewrote 26 (took 20 min)
*MSN AdCenter ads - uploaded more keywords
*emailed our traffic assistant person
*called our other traffic assistant contact
*emailed 4 apprentices
(2 of these emails were welcome emails and the other 2 were for actual tasks)
*hung out in Warrior Forums...turns out I have to be a contributing member for awhile before I can post in the special offer forum (the offer I posted here yesterday)
*met with my Payroll company so I can start paying myself. YIPEE!
*reviewed material by Clayton Makepeace, Gary Bencivenga, John Carlton and Gary Halbert
*Solo ad emailed to Listdotcom.com
*Emailed friend's friend about a type of web site building program

Things to do tomorrow:
*Blog entry on making money as a blogger!!!
*Networking luncheon (FUN!)
*Check on MSN AdCenter campaigns
*Go to directresponsejobs.com

And a litany of other things I am sure!! Actually I have made a daily habit of writing down the top 6 things I will do that day to move me closer to my goal.

If I haven't told you my goal yet, here it is:

My goal is to have 10 world-class copywriters working with me by April of 2008 and to generate a 100K salary for myself in the process...and to help them create whatever salary they desire as well.

I write this goal every day on a little slip of paper..usually a Post-It and I carry it with me.

I like that goal so I review it at least twice a day but usually more often.

There you have it, my day in a nutshell. Wasn't that fun?!!

Til tomorrow...

Special Copywriting Offer

As you no doubt have noticed, we're in high gear to get the copywriting services up and running. We have a special offer for new clients, it's posted below! Spread the word my friends, spread the word.

Dear Friends,

Can you imagine having world-class sales copy crafted for your business? Have you always wanted to hire a professional copywriter but thought you couldn't afford one?

Now you can! We're fast, effective and above all, the best copywriters available. Your business deserves service like ours.

Here's the greatest part...

For the next three weeks we have a very special one time offer available only to members of the Warrior Forum. Take a look at everything you'll get...

4 Google Ads
1 Solo Ad
2 top sponsor ads

Normally we charge $425 for this package. But for the next 3 weeks it's yours at a deep discount...over 50% off! All of this is only $200.

Check out our regular rates on our web site and you'll see it's definitely a steal!

http://www.ZeroToProfitASAP.com/copywriting

Be sure to mention you saw this on my blog to receive the discounted price! This offer is good for your first order when you contact us within the next 3 weeks.

Just think of all the time, effort and energy you'll save when you work with us! Let's make it happen.

To your continued success,

Lara K. Loest
Managing Copywriter
ZeroToProfitASAP.com

P.S. We have additional copywriting services available on our web site.

http://www.ZeroToProfitASAP.com/copywriting

Sunday Update

Well I had a terrific video to share with you from YouTube but the embed code on the video's site doesn't seem to be working...I've posted videos on blogs before but I'm not sure what the problem is with this one.

Anyway, the weekend was entertaining. At least today was, I was knocked out on allergy meds yesterday. I went to church in the morning (it's so fun to give!!!), looked at houses in the afternoon and did a little work tonight. I've got some editing to do on our JV Easter web pages (yes the same project we've been working on for what seems like an eternity) and get the apprentices moving. We picked up a 2nd apprentice late last week so I'm excited about him.

Now I'm going to watch The Apprentice and rest up for the upcoming week.

Still Sick

But I'm getting better! Or so I'm telling myself.

I think it's the flu actually, not a cold. I had a mild fever this afternoon and I ached all over so I took some Tylenol and napped for a little while. I'll be completely healed by Sunday I am sure.
So this post will be short.

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Quick Post

I seem to have attracted some little bug...I think it's a cold so I've been out cold on my couch most of the afternoon and am heading off to bed soon so I can recover and be healthy tomorrow.
And I can tell you this ridiculous Colorado weather isn't helping!! We've fluctuated between freezing rain and cold temps to 70 degrees within a few days. Tonight we're under a winter storm watch til 6pm tomorrow. We may have 6" of snow when I wake up tomorrow. At least my dog loves it!

One day I'm going to have a home in Hawaii or southern California and I will spend February, March and April there. The rest of the year I love Colorado but by April I'm ready for summer.
April teases and hints at summer but consistent warmth never fully arrives til May.

Anyway, there's my weather tangent!

I'll fill you in on where we're at and where we're going on Friday.

Til tomorrow...

I Believe It and So It Is

Today was one of my favorite days! I found the perfect mix of the work, play and learning. I think all 3 elements are important to every single day. Some days we have to work a lot more than others and that's fine, it goes with the territory but it's important to tip the scales in favor of play and learning when work slows down then. I'm tempted to say "balance" but I recently heard that balance is basically stagnation. When you see a perfectly balanced scale nothing is happening. And what does that mean as a human being? If you're balanced, you're dead. I like it when things are happening and moving.

The real highlight of the day has been the apprentices. Well just one apprentice actually. She's clipping along at a great speed and I'm doing everything I can to encourage that! She is definitely where I was when I began my apprenticeship and truthfully I'd never want to go back to the woman I was before. In fact, I don't think I could go back to being her if I tried. And if you've read any of my previous entries you know my mind has certainly tried to take me back there every chance it's had!!! But I won't let it and so we simply move forward.

But back to my apprentices...it's exciting!!! I want a team of 10 great copywriters and they'll be wonderful to work with. How cool will that be? I know it will present challenges as well but I like a challenge. I feel accomplished and fulfilled when I overcome an obstacle. It reflects onto my perception that I can do whatever I set out to do.

The only thing we seem to be having difficulty overcoming is the money part of things. But I think my inability to allow money into my life is being turned around. Soon it will be like the floodgates of Niagara Falls opened up!!! I will only be able to create more and more.

So I envision that and I also envision our May 1st goal. I picture myself on the beach in Cozumel (which is where I will be on May 1st) and I'm telling myself how happy I am and how proud I am of me for allowing that money into my business. Sometimes it doesn't quite feel real but I continue to do it and let Holosync do it's thing. I allow myself to feel as though I've already created it.

Did I mention I moved on to the next section of my first level of Holosync? The 2nd track is actually my favorite part. Everything gets really slow and quiet in my mind. It's so soothing.

In many of Bill Harris' interviews he talks about how he had an addictive personality before creating Holosync so throughout the process he would take his listening to extremes. There were times he would listen for an entire day!

Based on the fantastic feelings I get from using Holosync, I can see where he could get addicted to it. I practiced meditation before but I wasn't always disciplined about it so my results reflected that. Anyway, I love my meditation hour every night ! No more lack of discipline on my part...it is so calming that I will continue doing it!

That's enough from me...I'm getting up early to run tomorrow morning. I'm excited to see what my apprentices have for me tomorrow!

Til tomorrow...

Busy Busy Promoting

This week I'm learning about the wonderful world of online promotion..something I know nothing about! Well not "nothing" ... let's just say I'm discovering a relatively unknown world!

And as you can imagine, at times I have struggled with the learning process. It feels like a lot of work and a lot of hard work at that. Of course because it feels that way, it is. So I'm practicing the art of letting go. I just shut off my brain and I do it. Things work a lot better when I'm in that mode!

Today I spent most of the morning on a conference call getting up to speed on the status of our projects. After that, I fixed up a couple of web pages, sent some emails, compiled more keywords for AdCenter and joined the Warriors Forum (which is a fun place by the way!)

The best part of my day was my new apprentice!!! Woo hoo!!!!! I'm doing a happy dance!

Overall it was a great day but I'm a bit tired so I'm off to relax and watch "What the Bleep Do We Know?!" I've seen it before but repetition is a good teacher.

Til tomorrow...

Busy Busy Monday

It was a busy day! There were lots of tasks to finish up and some new projects to tackle. I didn't finish everything but I did put a big dent in my To Do list. I feel pretty good about that!

Here's what I did:

• changed contact information on our Copywriting Creative Services pages

http://www.zerotoprofitasap.com/copywriting/

• emailed Traffic Assistant contact
• Sent welcome email to apprentices
• Received one response (YAY!)
• Opened AdCenter account
• Uploaded ads and keywords for two campaigns
• Rewrote two emails (two more to go!)
• Secured a fax number for myself
• added my tasks to Central Desktop
• uploaded 3 web pages to CD

And that's about it. I was working on tasks til about 7pm tonight so I decided to take a break.

Tomorrow I've got a JV partnership to delve into deeper in the morning along with a report on where we stand on all of our tasks. It's quite a bit but we can manage. And the faster we manage everything, the faster we'll generate profits. Wooo hooooo!!!!!

I'll keep you updated. :)

Til tomorrow...

Have You Ever Forgotten On Purpose?

Not much in the way of news today as far as work goes. I wrote some AdCenter ads and then went about my day. I was gone most of the day doing Easter-type things. I went to church and to brunch with a friend. Brunch turned into a very long conversation about life, religion, spirituality and the cosmos. We spent almost the entire afternoon sharing thoughts and ideas. It was a lot of fun.

Something interesting did happen after church. My friend wanted to pick up a copy of the day's service. This church is so large they record and telecast the services...being smart marketers they also sell DVDs, CDs and tapes of the services. My friend offered to buy a copy of the service for me but I declined (I'm not sure why...she was trying to give me something why would I turn away from that??). So she bought her own copy and we left to go out for brunch.

After brunch I dropped her off at home. As I drove around the block to head back to my house, I realized she had left her CD in my car. Clearly she wanted me to listen to the service again! So I emailed her and will return it this week. But before I do, I'll be burning it to my iTunes software!

The universe sent me a message so it's time to tune in and listen!

Til tomorrow...

Weekend Update

I used to love Kevin Neilen's Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. Just thought I'd share that!

There were a number of items I wanted to tackle today and I got to most of them. My goal was to wrap up as many of the highest priority tasks today as possible. Even if I couldn't complete them I would finish as much of the work as I could accomplish by myself. At least then the tasks would be ready when I received assistance. The only thing I didn't do today was my AdCenter ads. I'll have to finish them up tomorrow so we're ready to roll on Monday.

I set my goal today with the thought that tomorrow is Easter and I plan to spend as much of that in celebration. Easter and other non-Christmas holidays are sometimes a little sad for me. My family is back in Wisconsin and although I have friends here, it's still not the same as being with my family. My sister and brother will be with my mom and dad but I'll be here.

So on holidays when I'm in Colorado I make sure I enjoy the day as fully as I can! Typically I visit a friend in Fort Collins and spend the day with her family. We've known each other for almost 25 years I think so we have very close ties.

I haven't spoken to her so instead I'm going to church with a friend and then out for lunch. This is a new church. It's her spiritual home so I'm intrigued to see what it's like and how it feels for me. We've talked about having church & brunch together for the past 5 months and now we're finally making it happen!

She's a wonderful person and I very much enjoy talking with her. We share similar interests in the metaphysical/spiritual realm. In fact, she encouraged me to watch The Secret. It only took about 2 other signals from The Universe before I finally got the message and picked up my own copy. ;) She was the first beacon for me and several others followed until the light bulb finally lit up and I recognized this was a movie I was supposed to see.

That's another tangent I could continue on but I won't because I'm sure you're dying to hear all about my girls night out! It was a lot of fun. We had some of our male friends serve us drinks and appetizers for a few hours. After they left, we all put on our PJs and painted our nails and told dating stories (some good, some not so good).

It was so nice to spend time with a group of women and just generally enjoy the company!
I can tell I'm getting old though...we were all asleep by 1am!!!! Not that I mind. I always hated going to sleepovers because I would get tired but could never fall asleep if other people were awake and talking. So there are definite advantages to spending time with married women/women who are mothers!

Anyway, that's it for me. I'm quite sleepy for some reason. We've had awful weather for the past 48 hours and I've done some treacherous mountain driving today. It was quite scary and I think it took a lot out of me!

Til tomorrow...

Fun Friday

I've got to keep today's post brief as I'm already 30 minutes late for a fantastically fun evening. It's a girls night out! And I've been waiting for this for over 2 months so you can imagine I'm quite excited. :)

Today we got squared away on our upcoming tasks and got things in order. I've got a big plateful of work for the weekend.

But for now I'm off to enjoy a nice evening of food, drinks and laughter. Happy Friday!

Til tomorrow...

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Today I made a mistake or what I now prefer to call a learning experience. The phrase learning experience doesn't have the same connotations attached to it as does the word mistake (or so it goes in my mind).

I sent out an email without prior approval and didn't include all the information necessary. I wondered why I did this since I have been waiting to release several other emails for a few days. After pondering I came up with a few options. I sent it because I wanted to stay on top of my tasks (true). I sent the email because I thought I could do it myself (doubtful). I sent it because I thought I should send it myself (true).

My main reason appears to be that I wanted to prove to myself that I still needed someone to check me out for the best possible copy. That's a good reason really...it's much easier to work as a team than it is to work on your own. Things get done faster, better and smoother. So I perhaps I simply wanted to reassure myself that the team approach is best. And it is!

That wasn't my only learning experience today. I admit I had another struggle in some respects. I'm still learning to release negative thoughts and emotions...especially when it comes to money. It (money) was definitely on mind today. Through experience I've seen that the less I worry about my finances, the easier things are. So why worry? Not sure...but today I got hung up in those thoughts.

So I practice letting it go of those feelings and get back to my center. It will come in time. I'm also considering buying a Holosync CD designed for money and wealth creation. The level one program is working well so I'm pretty sure this CD would be good too.

Holosync has a terrific program! The customer service is pretty good but the best part is they go out of their way to take care of me. :) On Tuesday I received Bill Harris' latest book called "Thresholds of the Mind" and on Wednesday I received more free stuff...some CDs! They sent me a 6 disc set of Bill Harris speaking at a past Holosync retreat and a disc called "Making Change Easy".

If you recall from my post yesterday...I make change difficult. I've improved markedly in that area but my mind still fights it for awhile. Despite the struggle, I do end up going through that wall and the resistance either lessens or sometimes disappears completely. But I believe this CD will make things even easier. Perhaps the wealth CD will help in the financial arena. I could use it about now.

Back to today, I rewrote that mistake email (which took about 20 minutes), sent our apprenticeship email to the Listdotcom.com crew and updated my new laptop.

Tomorrow I'm going to get the details worked out for the apprenticeship program fees, edit the OTO one last time and see what other tasks I've got to take care of. Fun stuff!

Til tomorrow...

Have You Created Your Own Story?

Or have you let others create it for you? It's an interesting question to ponder and consider. Most of us have let others create it or we've simply created by default. Before the apprenticeship I had built most of my life by default and not by conscious choice. One of the few exceptions to that was my move to Colorado 2.5 years ago. I choose to be here and I choose when I came here. But I didn't learn the lesson in that choice clearly enough to apply it to the rest of my life. When I decided to move here I made the decision, I committed to it (my deadline was before I was 30. I actually made it here when I was 28) and then I acted on it. I had no clue how I was going to make it happen but I knew I'd figure it out. Eventually I did.

But the point of my explanation there is that I didn't apply that approach to the rest of my life because I didn't realize that was how you create your life instead of letting things happen. Letting things happen to me has never worked out well for me. I'm quite stubborn and strong-willed so it's much better if I just create my dreams into reality. It works out well for everyone. :)

Today I learned many lessons...and I think I only recognize a couple (the create your own story being one of those lessons). I also learned a little about negotation and about living with your purpose in mind. I'll get to the purpose-driven living in a moment but first I'd like to share my negotation story with you.

I needed a chair for my office. I have a nice desk and a nice laptop to go on that desk. However I did not have a chair (there's a definite metaphor there but I'll let you delve into that..I'm a bit tired after a serious gym workout). So we decided it was time to get one so I could sit at a proper desk like a proper world class copywriter. But instead of just walking into a store and buying whatever suited my fancy, we decided I should negotiate my way into a good deal. And we practiced. And practiced. And practiced..until we were both exhausted. I was not a fan of negotiating and hadn't done so regularly. Mainly because I didn't believe I was worth the effort and I didn't feel I was helping the other person. But we changed that today (YAY! Another pattern bites the dust!!!).

After our practice sessions, I found a used office furniture store, called them, got directions and went for a visit. The nice receptionist, Carla, found a salesperson for me, Dave. Dave and I chatted about what I was looking for..mainly interested in chairs under $50. They're used chairs so it was viable.

Dave and I strolled the showroom looking at different chairs and testing them out. I didn't find anything at first but after our second stroll down the aisle I found a nice black drafting chair. I LOVED it...wanted it immediately. So I asked Dave if we could see it, sit in it and roll it around. We did.

Dave looked at the price tag and said..well it's $49.99. I could go down to $25 for you. And I said "Well Dave, how about $20?" And he said "I'll meet you in the middle. How's $22.50?" I said "Perfect! You've got a deal!".

Now here's the really interesting part...when we rehearsed this negotiation our rehearsal was almost word for word the exchange I had with Dave. BUT in our rehearsal I asked the sales person if they could go down to half of the price (in reality Dave already went down to half the price..I didn't have to ask). AND in our rehearsal we practiced that same exact line that Dave said "How about if I meet you in the middle?"

Fascinating right?!! Did I create that story? Well we created that story but you get the idea.

So if I can create a simple negotiation for an office chair (and it's a fantastic chair I must tell you), why not create every other experience? Sure! I'm all for it. The negotiation was fun. Dave made a sale, I saved some money and everybody wins! In fact, that's exactly what I said to Dave...everybody wins. I took his card and will definitely give him more business because after he gave me that discount, he even loaded the chair into my car for me. I didn't have to ask - he just offered. And that offer was another part of our rehearsal.

Are you finding that as "trippy" as I am?? I'm just fascinated by it. Absolutely fascinated.

So before I go off into la-la-land to explore that let's get back to the purpose-driven living. I told you I had created my personal mission statement...but I never told you what it was. I think I was tired and lazy that night. Here it is...

I was born to inspire others with my growing personal greatness through my writing, my teachings and my abundant creations in all areas of my life.

I like it. It could be summarized I'm sure but I started with about 10 sentences and this is what fits for me right now. It basically says I want to lead a life to inspire myself and others and I'm going to share my stories through writing and teaching. That word teaching includes mentoring, public speaking and one on one coaching.

At first I thought it was a bit lofty but I realize I already do it almost every day. I talk to the people in my life about my experiences and they see the changes. They see how I'm much more positive, hopeful, joyful and loving. I'm a better me and I want to share that story with the world.

I understand there will be challenges in that journey but what fun is life if there aren't challenges? I read a quote recently that said something to this effect:...don't ask for an easier life but ask for the strength to embrace challenges and surmount them with greater ease and elegance.

I really like that idea. I don't want an easier life...that's boring. I believe with great challenges comes great opportunities. And if you want to improve your life, you take advantage of great opportunities.

I want to wrap my arms around each day and face the challenges head on with joy, love and grattitude. And to do a big ole happy dance at the beginning and end of each day!

That's what I call fun!!

Til tomorrow...

Are Those Your Beliefs or Are They Mine??

Today I mainly worked on emails for the apprenticeship program. We've got 15 interested participants and now it's a matter of lining up emails for each of the tasks. We'll see who makes it! It will be a terrific learning tool for me and for them.

I also tweaked the OTO for the web site so we could finish it and get it off our plates. It's time to move on to other paying gigs.

After those tasks I spent some time reading about negotiating because I know so little. I don't do it consistently but I have done it in the past. I've negotiated for better paying gigs, for the price I determined for my car and on other smaller scales.

Part of that negotiation entailed figuring out exactly what I need and exactly what I want. Right now my need is a different pay rate/salary than my need. This morning I met with a Paychex rep so I could better educate myself as far as taxes, fees, etc. I also emailed my CPA to make sure my salary was what the IRS would consider "reasonable".

Our email exchange (between me and the CPA) was a bit disconcerting initially. An entry-level copywriter in the Denver area makes a median salary of $36K. That's about $8K more than I've ever made so of course that looks good to me.

My CPA however encouraged me to aim lower and start at $1500 a month. He doesn't think my business can handle a higher salary yet.

While I understand his viewpoint, I felt discouraged by that. I felt like he was stifling my goal. And I felt that for a few minutes til I realized that was simply his reflection..his belief system..his thoughts. It had nothing to do with me personally and I respect his opinion. I hired him for a reason: he's a good CPA.

Now in his defense, I can always increase my salary take at any time and trust me, I fully intend to...to the tune of at least $5K a month by December 2007.

So that's where we stand with that. It's completely reasonable for me to aim for $5K by the end of the year and to aim for $10K a month by April of 2008.

I believe it's possible. I believe we will make it happen.

And it will be so fun when I have my own payroll! I like to think about that feeling and focus on it. It feels great!!!! A heckuva lot better than focusing on how I'm going to make that amount. I know I can do it and I'm moving in that direction so the how will simply unfold.

That's it for me for the day. I ran 4.5 miles tonight, I'm tired!!!

Til tomorrow...

Rockin' and Rollin'

We're moving forward fairly quickly and I like the momentum.

Today I worked on an invoice and the autoresponder emails for our apprenticeship program. It will be terrific to have these in place so when someone joins, they automatically receive email instructions on their next steps in the program.

Much more in the way of fun times ahead!

Other tasks I completed today:

• Email to Listdotcom.com
• Autoresponder emails (three)
• Blog
• Handwriting

There's plenty more to do but it will wait til the morning..I'm excited!

Til tomorrow...

A Few Additions...

I did accomplish several tasks this weekend in addition to attending church this morning.

Here's what I worked on over the weekend:

• bought Bob Bly's The Copywriters Handbook
• also bought Joe Vitale's The Attractor Factor
• email to Listdotcom.com members
• began first CD in Robert Allen's Empower Yourself!
• crafted my personal mission statement based on that CD
• watched Rocky
• watched The Apprentice
• finished the sales letter
• blog entries
• handwriting

I just want to say that I LOVE the fact that reading is a task. I have always been a voracious reader..the library and the bookstores are my favorite places (along with the spa and any spot in the nearby Rocky Mountains).

Isn't life grand?!

Til tomorrow...

What Does Your Reflection Say About You?

There's a belief I have come to accept and embrace and it is this...whatever you can see in someone else is something that exists within you.

Basically it means that if I see someone else's beauty and greatness, it is because I have beauty and greatness within me. Cool huh?!

Naturally that applies to "good" and "bad" qualities, everything from joy, passion and happiness to rude, insensitive and jealous behaviors. It's a really fascinating concept that I've recently learned. I understood it a little deeper today...

Today was a wonderful day. I spent the morning at a local church. I had intended to go to a church of religious science (go here to find out what that means) but ended up at a similar neighboring church. They both believe in similar doctrines and frankly any religion/spiritual practice absolutely fascinates me.

I've read and practiced a few different religions delving slightly into Buddhism (very briefly and I'm excited to learn more), Wicca and variations of Christianity. But every time I've gone a bit deeper into a certain faith, I've felt overwhelmed when I attended a service or a ceremony. I'm not entirely sure how to explain but I've felt such immense joy and love flow through that it overwhelmed and overtook my senses. I've often felt the same during yoga and meditation.

Because I haven't been able to channel those feelings or to stay centered when they occur, I've pulled away from the experiences. It's just been too much for to deal with. It feels a lot like an internal volcano exploding and billowing forth. I didn't know a damn thing about controlling the lava flow and although exhiliarating, it was too consuming for me and I couldn't experience it regularly.

For the first time I feel like I can contain that lava flow. I can stay centered and let the feelings pass in the middle of a service. Today I realized why that is true...in those religious services I came into the purest forms of love, joy and immense grattitude but until I could see and experience those feelings within myself I couldn't stay centered when I experienced them in outwardly.

I've tapped into those feelings of bliss inside myself when I'm not in church, yoga, meditation, etc so when I am in a service or a ceremony I recognize the feelings and I simply allow them to be. I'm not even sure that makes sense to anyone else but I understand it.

Just thought I'd share that with you..thanks for reading.

Til tomorrow...