DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE RICH? TAKE THIS REVEALING QUIZ AND FIND OUT...

Which camp are you in?

Have you pledged yourself in writing to having a certain amount of money by a certain date?

1) / / Yes, I've taken The Pledge and review it every day.

2) / / No, I haven't set any precise amount of money I'd like and haven't written anything down. I just know I'd like to be rich some day.

3) / / Rich sounds good but I'm not into making any definite commitments.

Comment: People who earn their money have a plan. This plan consists of a precise dollar objective and a date they want to achieve it. Because they know that it's easy to get distracted, they write down their objective in this way: "I promise myself that by (date) I will have (amount) in assets." Then they sign it, just like they would any legal document. They post this document where they can see it daily... and carry it with them so that it helps inform and direct their behavior. If you're not doing this... you're handicapping yourself.

Have you figured out how many units of your product or service you need to sell to make the money you need each day, week, month, and year until you reach your objective?

1) / / Yes, I know just how many units of my product/service I need to sell to reach my objective on time.

2) / / I have a vague idea how much business I've got to do, but frankly, I've never bothered to create a precise plan.

3) / / I know I'm destined to be rich, so why bother? It's just too much work to figure these things out for myself anyway. I've got better things to do!

Comment: Achieving millionaire status is certain if you

1) set a precise dollar objective,

2) determine how many units of your product/service you need to sell by what date, and

3) factor in the expense of doing business. That is, millionaire status is the result of a certain number of dollars raised less the expenses of business. It's pure mathematics.

Thus, what you've got to do is set your objective and then create a chart taking into account all the time in between the present and the date you say you want to achieve your objective. You need to determine just how many units of value you have to sell each year to reach your objective given the expense of doing business. Start your chart with last year, the most recent period of time for which you have actual numbers. Then do your projections for this year... and for all the intervening years until your objective. Obviously, the projections you make are based on certain assumptions. List these assumptions and why you think they're valid. Attempting to jump from an annual salary of $40,000 a year to one of $200,000 a year so that you can go from having $20,000 in assets at age 40 to having a million dollars of assets at age 50 is probably unrealistic. Thus, you'd better be very clear about your assumptions and why you think they are accurate and the results attainable.

Can you achieve millionaire status simply by selling your current product/service line... or do you need to diversify?

1) / / I've reviewed how many units of value I have to sell to reach millionaire status and I know whether my current line of products/services will enable me to reach my objective or how much diversified I need.

2) / / I'm not really sure about what I need to do; I haven't done an analysis yet, but, believe me, as soon as I get the time I'm going to do it.

3) / / I don't know whether I can get rich or not with my current line, but I'm sure that if I need some more products or services to make some more money I'll be able to find them. I'm not worried!

Comment: Either your current line of products/services is sufficient to make you a millionaire in the time you've allowed yourself... or it isn't. There aren't any other choices. If it is, fine. You've got to concentrate on aggressive client-centered marketing. If it isn't, you've got another problem. You need to find and/or develop new product/service lines. The truth is, when you review the product/service lines -- and, of course, the ways of doing business -- of most businesses, you discover that it would take several life times before their owners could possibly get rich. Both their offerings are too narrow and their ways of doing business too passive. Don't let this happen to you!

Are you clear about the precise groups of people who constitute your target markets?

1) / / Yes, I've studied my markets, and have a precise idea of the people who can benefit from what I'm selling, and these are the only people I invest my money marketing to.

2) / / To tell you the truth, I'm winging it. I've got a hunch who my market is, but I'm not too sure which of my marketing makes money for me. You see, I've never really taken the time and trouble to be certain about who my market is and where I should be investing my scarce marketing dollars.

3) / / I'm a scatter shot marketer. I've never read a marketing book. Never done any marketing research. I figure pretty much everyone is a candidate for what I'm selling and so I dabble in lots of different kinds of marketing. I don't keep any records about returns and, to tell you the truth, haven't got a clue what's making money for me and what isn't. I'm not worried, though. I'm sure to be a millionaire. Just you wait and see!

Comment: The cost of marketing is substantial. When you factor in such variables as copy writing services, ad design and lay out, mailing list rental, producing marketing communications, the cost of telephone and fax (both user fees and supplies), and the expense of lead follow-up, you know that marketing is a very significant expense to your business. That's why you've got to target your efforts. Marketing is both an art and a science. It's dedicated to targeting just the right people for the benefits you have available and approaching them in the most cost efficient and motivational way. When you're marketing properly, your offer is targeted to just the right people, is presented in the most focused and economical way, and is designed to get the best qualified lead in the shortest period of time. Is this what you're doing? I doubt it. Despite the large costs involved, most business people continue to waste the bulk of their marketing dollars going after the wrong people either because they keep hoping that they will respond... or because they just haven't got a clue that they are, indeed, the wrong people for their offer.

Have you done everything to create "cash copy" in your marketing documents, or are you still trying to motivate a response from your market with inadequate, passive, "me- centered" marketing communications?

1) / / I've worked hard to pack all my marketing communications -- flyers, cover letters, ads, brochures, media kits, post cards -- with client-centered benefits and motivational offers that have everything to do with what the prospect GETS and little to do with what I've got or want. The results are helping me become a millionaire right on schedule!

2) / / I know I ought to be spending more time creating client-centered communications but I'm just too busy. I know I ought to translate features into benefits... get client- centered testimonials about results I've helped my clients achieve, and generally change the focus from myself and my products/services to the prospect and what he GETS. I know this, and, by golly, I'm going to get around to it.

3) / / "Client-centered?" What's that? When I want a brochure or some other marketing communication, I just sit down and start writing. I don't bother about leading with benefits... I rarely include an offer and never stress it. I figure that the prospect can take his own sweet time about reading what I've sent. I'm sure he'll call me... sooner or later!

Comment: Marketing is a motivational game. If you want to win, you've got to turn the discussion in your marketing communications from yourself... to the prospect. You've got to tell him all the BENEFITS you've got for him, and you've got to make these benefits as specific as possible. You need to cut the adjectives and stress what the prospect will get when he uses your product/service. You've got to add credibility to your argument by telling him what others have achieved with your product/service. These testimonials need to be specific and they need to be specifically attributed. Moreover, you've got to provide an offer for immediate action... something special that the early bird gets when he takes action. Every marketing communication has got to have an offer... and the offers have got to be focused on something the prospect wants and which will make his life better because he takes faster action. The only action in marketing that's meaningful is fast action. And it is your job to stress the benefits and provide an offer that gets the prospect to act quickly to acquire them. Most marketing communications don't do this, and that's why most marketing communications aren't worth the paper they're printed on; why they're an expense to a business, not an investment helping to bring in new dollars.

Have you explored all the marketing alternatives available to you... and done everything you can to find and use the least expensive first?

1) / / I know I've got limited marketing dollars, and I need to invest my scarce dollars where they're going to do the most good. Therefore, I made a study of all the marketing alternatives available to me and how I could save money with them and get the best values. I'm certain I'm investing my money in the right places.... the places where I'll get the best return and where I can build my wealth fastest.

2) / / To tell you the truth, I'm never sure I'm getting the best values. I don't plot out my marketing in advance. It's pretty much catch-as-catch-can. All of a sudden, I need some more leads. So I go out and buy an ad at full price or will do a mailing. Nothing's coordinated though, and I never seem to get either synergy or the best prices. I know I ought to do something about this, but I'm always too busy putting out fires around the office to get the chance.

3) / / Hey, when I want to do some marketing I don't plan: I buy. I can play with the big guys. When I want to market, I go first class all the way. I pay top dollar for my ads and marketing services; I don't bother to shop around for either mailing lists or mail services. And I certainly never stoop to haggling about price. After all, I'm going to be a millionaire. Why should I behave like a fish wife?

Comment: Future millionaires know the value of a dollar. They know that they've got to make the scarce marketing dollars they have go farther and that they can't afford to waste a penny. Therefore, they are always exploring how to get more marketing bang for less business buck. Thus, they:

# see about swapping lists instead of always renting lists;

# use reciprocal package stuffer programs;

# use a screened color in their marketing communications instead of paying for two colors;

# tell ad sources they want to buy remnant space, instead of paying full price;

# know what ad space costs, so they can get away with paying a reasonable mark-up and not inflated prices;

# always attempt to get free publicity in all media sources, instead of paying for ad space;

# make good use of their postage costs by filling all their mail with piggyback offers, etc.

The objective of marketing is to make yourself a millionaire, not to spend all your money in marketing. Dim "marketers" forget this. Remember, the only marketing expenditure that makes sense is the expenditure that can help make you rich. All others are just a drain on your resources.

Do you understand and abide by The Rule of Seven?

1) / / I understand that I can't just approach my target markets once and expect them to buy... no matter how client- centered my offer. I know I've got to plan a campaign that brings my offer to their attention a minimum of seven times in no more than 18 months. I must keep my offer and benefits compelling... and keep hitting, hitting, hitting my market. And I do!

2) / / I know that when someone is marketing to me, I don't always get around to responding the first, second or even third time I've heard about the product/service, even if the marketer has a benefit I want. I know I ought to approach my target markets the same way, but the truth is, I don't do this. I run one ad for one group, then send a direct mail letter to another group altogether, and do some telemarketing to a third group. I don't always have the time or money to follow up... and I rarely create a campaign that brings the benefits I offer aggressively home to these people time after time. Any day now, I'm going to do better, believe me!

3) / / I don't even know what The Rule of Seven is, and I certainly am not implementing it! All I know is that I figure if I tell people in my target market to get what I'm selling, they'll either do it right away or they won't. But I just don't have the time or money to follow up.

Comment: Millionaires run marketing campaigns. We (for I am one myself) understand that the prospects in our target markets are inundated with offers, both from competitors and others anxious to absorb the precious, limited dollars of our target markets. We understand that even the most client- centered offers, those rich with client-centered benefits and meaningful offers don't get everyone to take immediate action. We understand we have to hit them and hit them again... until at last they do act, either to make an inquiry or to buy what we're selling. Unfortunately, while most marketers understand this point, they don't live by it. Their marketing is episodic and disorganized; it never achieves the meaningful impact of synergy. It is neither client-centered enough nor sufficiently repeated to achieve substantial results. When the initial results aren't what the "marketer" expected, instead of analyzing to see what could improve them, including instituting a far more focused effort, he changes to an altogether different market... and starts the same losing sequence all over again! Without ever figuring out that the process he's following is doomed to failure.

Do you discard flat worms and others who show you they are not prospects... and both seek to find and concentrate on the better prospects, the ones who can buy what you're selling -- and will?

1) / / I understand all prospects are not equal. I understand that, particularly in a weak economy, while the same number of people want the benefits I have available, their ability to take action now to buy them is more limited. Thus, I do spend my time actively qualifying my prospects. Instead of defending what I have available, carelessly sending out free information about my product/service, and treating all people as if they were real prospects, I put these "prospects" under a microscope to determine if they are real. Only when I am reasonably certain the investment of my time and resources makes sense with this individual, do I process him as a prospect -- and not a resource waster.

2) / / I have an inkling all prospects are not of equal weight, but I find myself wasting a lot of time and money servicing people who turn out not to have been real prospects in the first place. I'm not a good qualifier and don't have in place a good qualifying process. As a result, I not only continually waste my resources but am disappointed by people whom I've treated well... but who buy nothing.

3) / / Whenever anyone requests information I send it; whenever anyone calls I drop everything to deal with him. In short, I make no effort whatsoever to qualify anyone or to weed out the less good from the better prospects. I figure if I keep shooting at prospect targets, keep sending information, and just keep asking for their business, enough of them will buy so that I'll be okay.

Comment: Just because a person sends in a lead card, or calls you, or even walks in your door, doesn't mean he's a prospect. And, take note, only real prospects deserve your attention and assistance, because only real prospects who become real buyers can help make you wealthy. The rest simply waste your resources. Thus, it's your responsibility to ask the key questions: What do you want? When do you want it? Do you have the money to pay for it? Are you ready to get started NOW? If the answers to these questions are unsatisfactory, the "prospect" isn't a prospect, he's a waste of time and money and must be treated accordingly. Do you do this? Or do you keep hoping against hope that the people who give you vague and unsatisfactory answers, who don't answer your letters or return your phone calls are prospects and keep wasting time on them -- as far too many businesses do? A millionaire trains himself to determine who is and who is not a real prospect, and who is deserving of his time and attention. Everyone else he tosses out of his life without regret. You should do this, too! Your Score And What It Means Now the moment of reckoning. Do you want to be a millionaire? Are you running your business so you can be? Or are you simply huffing and puffing, talking about an objective but not doing what's necessary to achieve it? See for yourself...

If your score is between 11-15, you've got a lot more work to do. If you're not just talking about becoming a millionaire, you'd better buckle down. You're insufficiently organized and haven't formulated -- much less implemented -- your Million Dollar Plan. You're at a critical cross-roads, and if you really want to be rich, it's time to take your fate and your business in hand and start running it like a money-machine. Otherwise, what you say you want is going to elude you.

If your score is over 15, you're a sad sack. Stop talking about becoming a millionaire. You'd better start being nicer to your richest relative; get over there now and clean her cat-box. Since you obviously have no intention of doing what's necessary to make your own money through your business, inheritance is your likeliest option. Good luck to you. If you handle sweet-talking your rich relation like you've handled becoming a millionaire through your business, you'll probably strike out there, too! Don't call me. I can't afford to know people like you.