The traditional way of running a retail business is that the seller names the price and then the customer decides whether he is prepared to pay it.
Thanks to the internet, some modern businesses are turning the model on its head. For example, Buystand enables extreme sports fans to name their own for products and accessories at the start of the season rather than waiting for the spring sale.
Customers create an account and then browse products for sale. When a bid is made, Buystand put it to their panel of retailers to see whether any are prepared to match the price.
If a taker is found, the customer is charged the bid price and the retailer ships the product. Both parties benefit; the customer gets a discounted price and the retailer makes a sale he would otherwise have missed at a price he’s happy to accept.
It seems to me that there’s room for a business operating this type of model in myriad markets. If there isn’t already one serving a market you’re familiar with, this could be worth investigating further?
Motivational Quote Of The Day
“Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.”
Paul Tournier
Alternative Quote Of The Day
“A spa hotel? It’s like a normal hotel, only in reception there’s a picture of a pebble.”
Rhod Gilbert
Calculated Profits
It’s not unusual for groups of consumers to have quite transient needs, and when this happens, a business opportunity often opens up. Students are one such group.
They often study a subject for a short period, and are required to source quite expensive resources, which they will only need for a short period of time. Previously, we’ve talked about services set up to rent books to students, thereby negating the need for them to make an expensive purchase.
A Canadian company has spotted another need they can satisfy in a similar way-by renting out expensive graphic and financial calculators. Students often need these for just a couple of classes and can save 70% by renting rather than buying. When the rental period is complete, they simply mail them back to the company.
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL VISIT YOUR RELATIVES DAY!
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Hello,
My name is Michael White, and what I’d like to share with you now is a total game-changer. With your permission, over the next few minutes I’ll explain a money-loophole that could be your ticket to the laziest and fastest retirement imaginable.
Please let me first put your mind at rest about a few things…
There’s no limit to the number of times you can use this under one person’s name. You could use this secret regularly…
. You DON’T need to already have a bank account with a particular bank or building society.
. You DON’T need to have been mis-sold a pension or investment.
. You DON’T need to buy shares of a specific company or bank.
. You DON’T have to pay this money back- it’s NOT a loan. It’s YOUR money, free and clear.
. You DON’T have to own a home, and you can use the money for ANYTHING you like.
. You DON’T need a credit rating or be at any particular earnings level or be on benefit.
. You DON’T need a computer or any technical know-how. You could even place a call instead of make a few clicks if you don’t have a computer.
NOBODY else knows this secret because I discovered it – through the application of an ancient code. I will share it with you HERE for legitimate reasons I’ll explain in a moment. And I guarantee you’ll be stunned at how this powerful secret could force the banking system into letting you retire early…
Anyone who’s undergone any sales training will be familiar with the idea of the puppy dog sale. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, here’s how it works:
A customer is in a pet shop with a child who is begging for a puppy. Not at all sure this is such a great idea, or perhaps not sure if this particular puppy is the right fit, the customer will not commit to the purchase. The salesperson then plays his Ace.
He offers to let them take the puppy home for a few days, assuring the parent that the puppy can be returned, no questions asked, if they decide they don’t want to keep it. How could you refuse? Of course, the child falls in love with the new pet, and there’s no way it’s going to be returned. Sold!
It’s an idea which can be applied to the sale of many products. Get the product into your customers hands on a trial basis and there’s every chance that they will keep it.
That could be because they find it’s just what they want, or because they form an emotional attachment to it (as with a pet). Either a sale is made or you’re not much worse off if the customer decides to return the product.
Give some thought to whether this is something you can apply to your business. Making it completely risk and obligation free for your customer to try out the product in their own home is a very powerful technique. It won’t apply to everything, but where it does, you should use it.
Motivational Quote Of The Day
Alternative Quote Of The Day
“A man walked into the doctor’s. The doctor said, ‘I haven’t seen you for a long time.’ The man replied, ‘I know. I’ve been ill.’
Tommy Cooper
Selling The Unsavoury
Not every product is attractive in either appearance or function. Many fall into the yucky-but-necessary category. So how do you go about selling them? The makers of Naposure, a saline product designed to wash out a mucus laden nose, (apologies if your eating!) faced just this problem.
Their solution was to soften the whole thing by using attractive children in the advertisements, demonstrating the product. The cute and funny videos they made seemed to do the trick of making an unglamorous product visually attractive to the target market.
It’s a trick that toilet paper manufacturers have used for decades of course. What Labrador puppies have to do with the quality and effectiveness of Andrex is anyone’s guess, but they serve the function of making the product attractive, while very subtly conveying the benefits.
Perhaps if your product lacks a little glamour, you could think about making it more attractive and appealing by associating it in customers minds with something more acceptable. Something to give some thought to.
As an aside, I just discovered that toilet paper was first marketed in the United States just 150 years ago, and up until that point in time, everyone made ‘alternative arrangements’. Just give some thought to that the next time you’re bemoaning the fact that some modern day luxury you’ve become accustomed to isn’t working quite the way it should!
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL BIKE TO WORK DAY!
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
If you were to design a money-making strategy from scratch to take advantage of the circumstances we’re currently experiencing, here is exactly what you’d come up with – a business where…
. You can work exclusively from home and never have to leave the house
. As long as you have a computer with internet access, you’re in business
. The method behind it doesn’t just cope with turmoil and uncertainty…it positively thrives on it.
. You can get started and be making money in days rather than weeks or months.
. Start-up costs are virtually zero.
How do I know this is perfect for now?
Because the guy who developed it is something of a recluse. He started ‘self-isolating’ years ago before it became a thing, and has run this business from the top of a French mountain, from a remote Swedish farm and from the wilds of northern Scotland…
He didn’t have to self-isolate…he just chose to!
If you find yourself having to live and work a little more remotely in the coming weeks and months…or even if you just like the idea of doing that…then this is perfect for you.
Take a look now and respond today. In every crisis, there are opportunities. Even if you’ve looked at doing something like this before and decided against, think again. Now is the time.
I returned from a holiday in a large hotel and I was struck by how much waste there must be from the breakfast and dinner buffets. Dan Blake noted this too back in 2010 and decided to do something about it.
The result was an eco-friendly business with has been named one of the ‘Top 25 Most Promising Social Ventures in America’. EcoScraps takes the waste from ‘All-You-Can-Eat’ Buffets and turns it into a sustainable compost mix.
The business has proved highly profitable and diverts 20 tons of food waste a day from local landfills.
Obviously this is a locally based business – it involved physically picking up the waste – so here’s the question… Who will be first to take this up and run with it in the UK? You’ll have to be quick, I like the idea of this one myself!
Motivational Quote Of The Day
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
Jim Rohn
Alternative Quote Of The Day
“You know you must be doing something right if old people like you.”
Dave Chappelle
Climbing Profits
I’m sure you’re well aware of the fact that health and fitness products are big business. Getting fitter and losing weight are high on the priority list of a lot of people at the moment, and as a result there are hundreds of fitness related machine’s, gadget’s and gizmo’s on the market.
A lot of them are poorly designed, executed and a made, but we recently came across something new which could have a longer life and more appeal than average.
MtEverClimb is a continuous rope climbing machine that (as the name suggests) simulates rope climbing – an activity with long term proven benefits with regard to strength, endurance and cardio vascular training.
The device appears to be very robustly built – it would need to be as it’s endorsed by the Pittsburgh Steelers American football team – and as far as I know, isn’t yet available in the UK.
Could it be the next big thing in UK gym’s? If so, who will introduce it to them. Perhaps something for an ambitious entrepreneur to investigate.
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL DECENCY DAY!
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
If you were to design a money-making strategy from scratch to take advantage of the circumstances we’re currently experiencing, here is exactly what you’d come up with – a business where…
. You can work exclusively from home and never have to leave the house
. As long as you have a computer with internet access, you’re in business
. The method behind it doesn’t just cope with turmoil and uncertainty…it positively thrives on it.
. You can get started and be making money in days rather than weeks or months.
. Start-up costs are virtually zero.
How do I know this is perfect for now?
Because the guy who developed it is something of a recluse. He started ‘self-isolating’ years ago before it became a thing, and has run this business from the top of a French mountain, from a remote Swedish farm and from the wilds of northern Scotland…
He didn’t have to self-isolate…he just chose to!
If you find yourself having to live and work a little more remotely in the coming weeks and months…or even if you just like the idea of doing that…then this is perfect for you.
Take a look now and respond today. In every crisis, there are opportunities. Even if you’ve looked at doing something like this before and decided against, think again. Now is the time.
When Linda Katz was learning how to make a website, she set up a tongue-in-cheek site to sell tumbleweed. Being a farmer in Texas, she had an over-abundance of the stuff growing wild.
And then a funny thing happened – people started buying it. A single tumbleweed sells for between $15 and $25 depending on size. Not bad for an unwanted weed.
I’m not suggesting you start selling tumbleweed, but I am suggesting you use this as a mental springboard. People will often pay good money for something which others regard as a waste product or a nuisance.
Do you have access to anything in your life or business which you are currently throwing away or destroying, but which others might be persuaded to buy?
Motivational Quote Of The Day
“Action is the foundational key to all success”
Pablo Picasso
Alternative Quote Of The Day
“I have been privileged to get to know Kenny Daglish and I would call him a friend – though his lawyer would call me a stalker (I don’t know why – just because I was in his garden!).”
John Bishop
Filling The Gaps
The internet has created a number of opportunities for individuals and businesses to make money by helping companies to profitably dispose of their spare capacity.
Companies like Lastminute.com were set up on that premise. The growth of mobile phone apps has created even more opportunities to do the same thing.
Yum Table is a mobile app which connects hungry diners with spare tables and special deals at a location near them. If a participating restaurant has either a spare table or cancellation they can have it listed on the app and find a paying customer quickly. In one sense, plane seats and empty tables are very similar.
They have to be filled within a short time frame or the opportunity to sell them is lost forever. Yum Table attempts to do for restaurant tables what Lastminute did for plane seats.
Might this be something you could emulate or copy? Is there some other product or service category crying out for someone to come in and deal with the spare capacity problem? Something to give some thought to.
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL JOIN HANDS DAY!
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
If you were to design a money-making strategy from scratch to take advantage of the circumstances we’re currently experiencing, here is exactly what you’d come up with – a business where…
. You can work exclusively from home and never have to leave the house
. As long as you have a computer with internet access, you’re in business
. The method behind it doesn’t just cope with turmoil and uncertainty…it positively thrives on it.
. You can get started and be making money in days rather than weeks or months.
. Start-up costs are virtually zero.
How do I know this is perfect for now?
Because the guy who developed it is something of a recluse. He started ‘self-isolating’ years ago before it became a thing, and has run this business from the top of a French mountain, from a remote Swedish farm and from the wilds of northern Scotland…
He didn’t have to self-isolate…he just chose to!
If you find yourself having to live and work a little more remotely in the coming weeks and months…or even if you just like the idea of doing that…then this is perfect for you.
Take a look now and respond today. In every crisis, there are opportunities. Even if you’ve looked at doing something like this before and decided against, think again. Now is the time.
The big news as I write this, is that John Prescott apparently suffered from bulimia for a number of years. At the risk of stating the obvious, there’s something that doesn’t feel quite right about this story…
It may be true, but if it is, he must have been suffering from amnesia at the same time – because he was obviously forgetting to be sick. If this continues, we can probably expect to hear of Sir Cliff’s booze, drug and sex addiction hell , any day now.
The real reason for the story appearing now of course, is publicity. The chubby member for Kingston Upon Hull East has a book out at the moment, and he’d quite like people to buy it so that he can invest the royalties in pies. There are a lot of books out at the moment (and indeed at every moment) so the competition for shelf space and sales, is fierce.
I spend quite a bit of money on advertisements in the national press, and so I know that the amount of publicity Prescott has generated over the past two days in the press alone, is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. And that takes no account of the TV and internet coverage.
The key to securing all this coverage is that he’s revealed something negative about himself. I don’t know whether newspapers and news programmes focus on bad news because it’s what interests people, or whether it interests people because it’s what they focus on, but the end result is the same…
You have a much greater chance of getting something featured in a newspaper or on TV if it’s got a negative slant, than you have if it’s got a positive one. But from a business generating point of view, there’s a delicate balance to be struck here…
It’s okay for John Prescott, to do this because:
. He’s revealing an illness, and will therefore get some sympathy.
. His only goal is to sell the book, and his poilitical career is all but finished.
. Everyone knows he’s an incompetent buffoon anyway, so it can’t get any worse.
But it’s not so easy for a company that is looking to build a long-term relationship with customers. Any revelation or negative information revealed mustn’t be so damaging as to put doubt in the customer’s mind as to their ability to fulfil their obligations.
Probably the best kind of ‘bad news’ to reveal, is something that isn’t really your fault. Prescott used an illness. If you or I revealed such a thing, nobody would be interested, but we might get some press interest if we’d been the victim of an accident, criminal activity, or if bizarre circumstances had conspired against us. None of these things would call our competence into question, but would meet the media’s bad news criteria.
I’m not suggesting for one moment that you should be actively looking to engineer such a thing, but am merely alerting you to the fact that there may even be opportunities to profit from free publicity, in the most unlikely of circumstances.
I’m sure when Mr Prescott was tickling his tonsils after a night on the spare ribs, he didn’t see it as a profit opportunity, but someone at his publishers thought differently. And it looks like they were right.
Kind Regards
John Harrison
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
If you were to design a money-making strategy from scratch to take advantage of the circumstances we’re currently experiencing, here is exactly what you’d come up with – a business where…
. You can work exclusively from home and never have to leave the house.
. As long as you have a computer with internet access, you’re in business.
. The method behind it doesn’t just cope with turmoil and uncertainty…it positively thrives on it.
. You can get started and be making money in days rather than weeks or months.
. Start-up costs are virtually zero.
How do I know this is perfect for now?
Because the guy who developed it is something of a recluse. He started ‘self-isolating’ years ago before it became a thing, and has run this business from the top of a French mountain, from a remote Swedish farm and from the wilds of northern Scotland…
He didn’t have to self-isolate…he just chose to!
If you find yourself having to live and work a little more remotely in the coming weeks and months…or even if you just like the idea of doing that…then this is perfect for you.
Take a look now and respond today. In every crisis, there are opportunities. Even if you’ve looked at doing something like this before and decided against, think again. Now is the time.
I’ve always held the view that business plans can be a monumental waste of time, and it seems that the academic world may be catching up – or at least part of it.
Steve Blank is a serial entrepreneur, turned business school professor. He argues that entrepreneurship is about getting out into the world and doing it, rather than researching and writing about it. Blank says that business plan classes and competitions are ‘dead in the water’ for new ventures.
My take on this is that creating a detailed business plan is often used as a device for procrastination by would-be entrepreneurs. And even the best thought out plan is pretty useless if you take your product or service to market, and nobody buys it. It’s a bit like designing a car that will handle perfectly at 70mph without firstly ensuring that you have a means of making it start.
I’ve heard the correct sequence of events described in a number of ways, but probably the best is this…Ready, Fire, Aim. Test your ideas out in the real world as quickly as possible. You can do detailed planning later once you know you have something with potential. Don’t waste time planning diligently for something which may prove to be a non-starter.
Motivational Quote Of The Day
“All generalisations are false, including this one.”
Mark Twain
Alternative Quote Of The Day
Décor to Door
As we’ve discussed here before, businesses employing self employed agents to sell products direct to end users in their home, are enjoying a bit of a boom at the moment. We’re all familiar with the Avon’s and Bettaware’s of this world, but the concept is now being adopted by companies selling products at far higher price points.
Décor to Door uses a self employed representative system, but the product is home décor and furnishing. Independent representatives earn commissions by presenting the company’s products in a party plan setting.
This an American company and I’m not aware of anyone doing anything similar here yet. Might this be an operation you could emulate, perhaps partnering with a traditional furniture retailer? Or is there some other product category which would lend itself to the direct sales treatment?
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL JOIN HANDS DAY!
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
If you were to design a money-making strategy from scratch to take advantage of the circumstances we’re currently experiencing, here is exactly what you’d come up with – a business where…
. You can work exclusively from home and never have to leave the house
. As long as you have a computer with internet access, you’re in business
. The method behind it doesn’t just cope with turmoil and uncertainty…it positively thrives on it.
. You can get started and be making money in days rather than weeks or months.
. Start-up costs are virtually zero.
How do I know this is perfect for now?
Because the guy who developed it is something of a recluse. He started ‘self-isolating’ years ago before it became a thing, and has run this business from the top of a French mountain, from a remote Swedish farm and from the wilds of northern Scotland…
He didn’t have to self-isolate…he just chose to!
If you find yourself having to live and work a little more remotely in the coming weeks and months…or even if you just like the idea of doing that…then this is perfect for you.
Take a look now and respond today. In every crisis, there are opportunities. Even if you’ve looked at doing something like this before and decided against, think again. Now is the time.
I’ve never been particularly interested in clothes…
In days gone by, you may have called me a scruff or a tramp. But we’re in more politically correct times now, so I prefer to use the term ‘sartorially challenged’. I’m sure it’s a disability of some kind. Maybe I can get a grant?
Anyway, my idea of ‘designer’ is George at Asda, and I’m a little shame-faced to admit that many of my clothes date back to the last century – and not necessarily the last decade of it. Just yesterday, I was persuaded by my wife to part with a pair of boots that date back to a skiing holiday in 1986. I’d like to say they were the oldest item in my wardrobe, but it wouldn’t be true.
Occasionally I get the idea that I’m going to rectify this minor blot on, what is undoubtedly otherwise, a perfect visual package. But there’s a problem ~ a bit of a Catch 22 if you like…I never feel well-dressed enough to go in the shop. It’s a bit like turning up at the Ferrari dealership in a Lada. You just feel like you shouldn’t be there, and so does everybody else. When your entire ensemble cost less than the socks you’re looking at, you’re bound to feel a bit self-conscious – or at least I am.
A few weeks ago though, I had a bit of luck…
An upmarket men’s designer shop has opened up not far from where I live. I was walking past one day ~ thinking it might be nice to go in ~ but then looked down at what I was wearing (Russian meat queue ‘look’, circa 1978). I decided, perhaps not today…when I saw someone waving frantically at me from inside. I waved back, and then thought I’d better go in to see who it was.
It turned out to be a bloke called Pete who I’ve known forever. I was best mates with his brother, and I’ve known Pete since I was eight and he was three. Anyway, we got chatting and it turned out that it’s his shop. He’s just starting out in business with a partner after 20 odd years as an employee. And he seems to be making the transition reasonably well, judging by the wallet wound he managed to inflict on me before I left. But I’m not telling you this to announce the new improved me…
You see, while we were talking, I couldn’t help noticing that the door was open, and it was freezing outside. It was obviously deliberate, and so I asked him about it.
“We have to do it,” he said, “otherwise people just won’t come in.”
Now I’m no psychologist, but when I looked at the position and characteristics of the shop, there were clues to the reasons why. It’s set back a few paces from the main pedestrian walkway, and the door is quite small. In addition, there are a couple of small steps up to the door. It seems to me, that the combination of these factors may cause a physical/psychological barrier which people are reluctant to cross ~ particularly if they just wish to browse.
Maybe it has something to do with appearing committed (you have to make a conscious decision to go through all these barriers to get into the shop) or maybe it’s some primeval response linked to ease of ‘escape’, but for whatever reason, people weren’t going into the shop until one of those barriers was removed.
What I find really interesting (and potentially business-transforming) about this is that most businesses simply aren’t in a position to easily identify ‘barriers to entry’ like this. Pete and his wife were physically standing there, watching people glance over and then elect not to cross the divide, but most of us aren’t in that position.
Either we don’t have businesses where people enter in such a tangible and identifiable way, or if we do, we’re not in a position to view the decision-making process.
I think this is something all business owners should look at, and it really isn’t confined to those where the entry point is a physical one – far from it. Every business has a point at which new potential customers show themselves. That could just as easily be making a phone call, writing a letter, sending an email or visiting a website, as turning up in person.
For each of those options, there are barriers which will turn people away, before they’ve even got ‘in through the door’. And the scary thing is that you’ll never find out about it, because you only know who turned up – not who didn’t, and why not.
I can’t go into all the possible barriers here, but if it’s your business you’re looking at, you’ll be able to figure them out for yourself. Having a phone system that keeps enquirers on hold isn’t going to help. Neither is a website that forces visitors to jump through hoops before getting access to any information.
Ever looked into a shop and seen a bunch of assistants, standing talking, and you feel like you’d be intruding by going in? Me too. Or how about over-eager assistants, poised to pounce the minute you put a toe over the threshold? That doesn’t help either. And of course, you’ll pay dearly for any physical barrier that makes things harder for your potential customers.
The bottom line is that anything that makes the experience of entering your business more difficult, more time-consuming, more irritating or more intimidating will be paid for in cash in the bank.
Make it easy, quick and non-threatening to find out what you have to offer, and while you’ll deal with a few more time-wasters, you’ll make a lot more money as well.
Kind Regards
John Harrison
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
Imagine sitting down this afternoon and tapping out a simple letter. It takes you perhaps a couple of hours to get it right…
And Then Over The Next Few Years It Brings In Over £5 Million.
Pure fantasy?
Not at all. I’ve done it. I’ll even show you the letter. And I’ve written lots of others just like it, although they weren’t all quite as successful as that one.
But Even So, Many Of Them Landed Thousands Of Pounds In My Bank Account Within Days, and Hundreds of Thousands Within Weeks.
Like to learn how to do the same?
Well there has really Never Been A Better Time for three reasons…
1. These letters bring in serious money when times are tough – and they don’t come much tougher than thet are right now.
2. These letters are even more powerful when the world is relying on the internet for its requirements, just like it is right now.
3. You probably have some free time available to learn how to do this at the moment.
This is an exciting and realistic alternative to the gloom which is all around us today – an escape route. It’s an alternative that can quickly see you banking more than enough money to see yourself and your family right through this current crisis and then into uncharted financial success when all this is over.
This comes with a 100% cast iron 90 day money back guarantee. There is absolutely no risk to you to take a look.
Do you feel that you are spending a lot of your time working and going nowhere?
Maybe you feel tired, underrated and skint. A lot of people do.
Living costs are going up, but wages aren’t and people are working longer and harder to simply cover their bills. They are nearing burn out… but they must go on… dragging themselves out of bed just to keep the wolf from the door.
Life becomes a cycle of work – sleep – work and wages – debt – wages.
If you are feeling fed up with it all and need to do something about it then here are our 5 tips to…
Reclaim back your life
Take control of your finances
Regain your happiness
Put a smile back on your face
Put a song in your heart
Live a happy life of peace and security
Five Steps To Take Back Control Of Your Life
1. Have A Budget
Having a budget is one of the best ways to control your finances.
When you have a budget you know how much you are spending and how much you have coming in each month. It’s vital that you know how much you are spending. You should always know which are the essentials like food and bills and those which are not such as takeaways, treats, and entertainment.
Having a budget means that you can make sure that you make only decent purchases and that you are not simply buying things on a whim.
Humans are emotional buyers. People purchase items on impulse because of the emotions they are feeling at that time. Very few people buy using their heads.
You need to become a head buyer and not an emotional buyer.
Buying things that you can ill afford, is very detrimental to your finances and can cause all kinds of issues and problems at a later date. You never know when you really need money. The boiler or the car may break down and that big splurge on clothing back in April which you hardly touch won’t seem like a good buy when you can’t afford the repairs.
When wanting to make a purchase, you should ask yourself…
Do I really need this?
Do I need this or is it simply something I want?
Will I survive if I don’t buy it?
One thing you should consider when you are spending money on the non-essential items is the time it took to earn that money. It really helps if you see money as time and not money.
What I mean by that is, that for you to earn the money that you spend, you have to give your time to someone else. You exchange your time for money. As an employee receiving a wage you earn money by giving your employer your time, and they pay for that time you spent working for them by giving you money.
You exchanged your time for money so when you buy a coffee, a cake, or some kind of snack from a sandwich shop which you really don’t need, you are actually paying for that with hours.
Think about the food you throw into the bin.
You buy vegetables and perishables from the supermarket, it goes off and then you bin it. That is your time being thrown in the bin.
It isn’t money that you are using. It is your time, and time is precious.
The one thing you need more of is spare time and personal time. If you spend less money then you need to earn less. Now that’s not so easy when you’re working for an employer, if you are contracted to work 40 hours then you have to work those 40 hours a week. You can’t simply do 10 hours less one week. You can enjoy having more money though if you still reduce the amount you spend on non-essential stuff.
When you’re working for yourself though, you can reduce your hours and spend more time doing the things you enjoy. (That is if you choose the right way to make money when self-employed… more on this later, please keep reading.)
When you have a budget and you know what money is coming in and how much is going out, and you are on top of your spending, you can use any extra money you have to help pay off any debts that you may have.
It is important that you try and pay off any debt that you have as fast as you can. This is key to taking back control of your life.
Any debts that you may have, you must pay those off first because if you decide to put money away into a bank account instead and pretend that you have savings, you will lose money. And as we know, money is your time.
The reality is that you’ll be paying more on interest on those debts, than you will be earning on those savings.
So it always makes sense to pay off any debts as soon as possible.
When you have a budget you can make sure that you are spending only on the essentials, maybe a little bit on entertainment, but on the whole should be putting more money into paying off any debts and working towards becoming debt free.
Being debt free is one of the most important factors for a happy and controlled life..
2. Eat Healthily and Exercise
It is very important that you eat as healthy as possible. You should reduce the amount of sugary rich foods that you consume because they will have a negative effect on your health, on your immune system and on your mental state. This will all have a negative effect on your daily life and your productivity.
It is well documented that eating healthily can have a huge benefit to your mental wellbeing and your body as a whole.
The foods that you put into your body which are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, make a person sluggish. They also have a negative effect on a person’s mental clarity. You are not achieving the best results that you can because of the food that you eat.
There is a well known saying, you are what you eat and it’s true. Basically if you eat crap sugary foods, then you are going to feel crap and have crap life results.
People are so protective when it comes to their cars, they wouldn’t dream of putting diesel in a petrol car so why expect the human body to be any different. At least a car can be repaired easier with replacement parts and money.
Sugary rich foods are linked to many health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and several cancers. After smoking, the second biggest cause of cancers in the UK is obesity. No one gets obese without eating sugary crap food and drink and consuming copious amounts of it.
An unhealthy and diseased person cannot have total control over their lives.
Try fasting, it reduces the amount of food which goes into your system and you do not need to count calories. Focus on eating better food and you will lose weight (if you need to) without trying and feel a whole lot better.
It is important that you try and get some form of exercise even if you are not a gym bunny or into exercising in general. You need to do something to keep you fit and healthy. If you dislike exercising then you want to go and find something you enjoy doing, like going for a walk, dancing or going for a bike ride.
Those who have a dog will probably get their exercise by walking the dog on a regular basis, which is great… but there are those who don’t. There is a rather large and unfit looking gentleman living not too far from me. He regularly brings his dog to exercise on the grass land across the road. He lives less than a minutes walk from the land yet he drives the dog here and then while the dog is running around, he leans against his car smoking a fag.
Taking back control of your own life means taking control of your health and wellness too.
If the more physically demanding forms of exercise are not for you, go for a walk, or maybe take up something like tai chi or yoga. These are really good because they are a form of moving meditation and are great for your mental wellbeing.
Exercise is vital to a healthy body and it’s great for sleep and is great for productivity.
It is the lack of productivity which is often the biggest downfall for most people. It pushes them down into a life which becomes a prison of their own making. A prison they cannot escape from.
There are many kinds of exercises that you can do at home. I’ve mentioned tai chi and yoga, they are perfect for doing at home if you have a bit of space.There are other exercises that you can do when you have 5 minutes spare.
Even just doing squats when you’re brushing your teeth, or do a few star jumps while waiting for the kettle to boil. You can walk or run up and down the stairs several times a day to get the heart beating and burn off some excess energy and fat.
It doesn’t need to be a full on hour long gym session, gentle exercise is better than nothing. But you do need to keep your body healthy and functioning properly if you want to reclaim your life.
3. Get More Sleep and Meditate
Doctors and scientists are all in agreement that a person who isn’t getting around 8 hours of sleep is causing their body damage. Lack of sleep has a negative effect on a person’s body and their mental state.
This is not good news for anyone who has conditions like M.E. or fibromyalgia where they are in constant pain which makes sleeping a struggle. They are usually fatigued and need sleep but sleep eludes them. It is a vicious circle. But for the rest of us, we can decide to get more sleep… or at least try.
Scientists say that a person needs to have at least 6 or 7 hours sleep. If you can do the full 8 hours, that’s brilliant, but if you cannot, at least aim for having 6 hours minimum of good sleep. If that means having to go to bed early then do so. One of the best ways to get an early night and go to sleep early is to not watch TV in bed. Go to bed early, maybe do a bit of reading but make sure it’s nothing overly stimulating.
You won’t get much sleep if you are reading a few chapters of the latest zombie story!
There is a half substitute for sleep, and that is meditation. Now I’m not saying that meditation is as good as sleep, but if you are struggling to sleep then you should consider taking up meditation because meditation is really good for the brain, for the mind and the body.
Meditation has been shown to have all the brain waves working at the same time. When you are sleeping one set of brain waves is more active than the others and while awake it’s the opposite. With meditation all the brain waves are functioning together so you are asleep and awake at the same time. Meditation is incredibly refreshing for the brain.
With meditation, you relax and calm the mind and body. It is perfect for stress management. You focus your awareness on your breathing, a physical item such as a picture or a candle flame, a mantra, or parts of your body, and silence the mind.
You do not need to sit for hours meditating to get benefits. No one is asking you to become a Zen Buddhist Master. 5 to 10 minutes a day will do. If you can take just a few minutes from your day to make meditation a habit it can and will have a huge positive effect on your life.
With meditation the idea is to stop thoughts from taking control of your attention.
Do not try and stop thinking when you’re meditating, the idea is to allow your mind to focus on something else and when thoughts come into your mind, you just do not get involved with them. You allow thoughts to drift back off into the ether. The whole purpose of meditation is to focus your mind on one thing and one thing only.
Eventually, if you practice regularly, you’ll be able to allow your mind to quieten and be still. You will become mindful of what is happening in and around you, you become aware of your thoughts without having to get involved with them.
Thoughts will come and go, like a giant media player on constant shuffle. You will see images, you will have memories, you will hear sounds and voices, there will be smells, there will be all kinds of mental activity going off in your mind like fireworks.
The art of meditation and mindfulness is simply to not allow yourself to get seduced by those thoughts and be pulled into a spiral of thinking which can be detrimental to your calmness and your happiness. Getting involved in prolonged negative thinking patterns can be very detrimental to your health and very damaging to your life in the long run.
4. Watch Less Television And Do More
This one is quite self explanatory.
People enjoy watching the telly, myself included. I am a huge fan of Sci-Fi and British dramas, especially crime dramas. There is plenty to watch. We have access to NetFlix, BritBox, and Amazon TV. We are spoilt for choice. There is probably too much choice really.
There’s a lot of great dramas, films and reality TV for people to get lost into when they get home from a hard day at work. But the problem is that TV can rob people of a good future.
What’s worse is that very few people realise that.
Watching too much TV means that people are not doing the things they need to do to improve their life, build a better future or simply change the circumstances that they are currently experiencing.
If you are in a bad financial situation where you need to earn money, watching excessive television is not going to help. It won’t help earn the extra money needed to get yourself out of that current situation. Now, before you shout at me, I know you know that. I am not trying to insult your intelligence, but the problem lies in switching the television on itself.
Once the gogglebox is on, it is distracting. People get so absorbed into the progammes they have on, even if they are not fully enjoying them, they simply forget about their life situation and forget to go and do something better instead. It happens to me too.
People generally watch between 4 to 6 hours of TV a day, and that time is something that could be used being more productive and engaging in acts which would be more beneficial to a person’s life.
For example, that 4 – 6 hours could be used for reading books. Books which could be educational. A person could learn a whole new set of life changing skills instead of watching reruns of Star Trek or people argue in Albert Square.
I have swapped watching the morning news for reading and as soon as the good lady goes to bed, I turn off Family Guy and do another hour of reading before bed.
In fact, reading itself iseducational, if you have wanted to be a writer, reading more will help you to write better.
Instead of watching the telly you can write, you can paint, you can go to classes in the evening, you can listen to podcasts and audiobooks, you can study an online course, you can exercise. You can do a lot more with your time if you’re not watching TV.
People enjoy watching TV, it’s a comfort for them. It can take away the pain of having to work a job they don’t like or work with people they cannot escape from. TV is a drug which anaesthetises an unhappy life. However, the sad truth is that by watching so much telly regularly they are keeping themselves stuck in the unhappy life they are trying to escape from.
People watch far more TV than they need and it is often that one thing that holds them back and stops them from becoming successful and taking back control of their own life.
The people who stop watching TV in the evening generally do go to bed earlier resulting in them getting more and better sleep. They often get up early in the morning too and have a longer and better day. They become more productive and have more meaningful lives.
5. Become Your Own Boss And Make Your Own Money
One of the most important steps to taking back control of your own life is to sack your boss as they say. Get rid of the day job, or at least, your dependence on money from one source.
Taking control of your finances and your own work means that you can control your time better and you can decide as and when you work and what you do… and how much you charge and earn.
Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, life is hard when you do not have money. Our society is set up around money. We pay our bills with it, we buy food with it, we buy entertainment with it… we use it for everything.
Money isn’t bad, it can’t be, it’s just money. It is a tool which can be used to make our lives better. Money is a universal tool. The more we have, the more we can buy and do.
To Get Your FREE Copy Of How To Stop Working And Make A Million Pounds Instead by John Harrison CLICK HERE:
Money gives us security and peace of mind. When we have plenty of it that is… when we don’t have much… then life becomes really hard.
Being skint in the middle of winter is no joy when the boiler suddenly stops working and then to lay the boot in, work suddenly dries up. I know, it happened to me many years ago when I was working as a joiner.
People who have jobs, are generally working from pay packet to pay packet. Living month to month.
There is a saying, the word job J-O-B means…
…just over broke.
A person who is employed and working for other people, is very rarely going to earn more than what they need each month, unless they are on a fantastic wage.
Basically a person who has a job is very unlikely to become wealthy.
Very often many people who are employed run up some kind of debt. Whether it is credit cards or loans, a lot of debts come from families struggling to survive and keep a roof over their heads.
People love to think it comes from irresponsible people splurging out on holidays or products they cannot really afford or need. They love to blame people for being bad spenders but it’s not always true… statistics show that a huge amount of debt comes from people simply trying to live.
They struggle to get out of debt because the money that they earn each month is simply not enough to cover living costs and debt repayments. There is rarely enough to pay extra towards debts meaning that their debts become long term shackles which are hard to shake off.
Taking Control Of Your Income
When you become your own boss, or you work for yourself, you can decide what you do and when you work. It sounds easy doesn’t it, and it can be, but the biggest problem is that most people who try to take control of their own income do so by choosing a wrong career.
They often choose to do something which they know they will loveand enjoy, which is great as it can make doing the work easier… to a degree, but it can also become a prison of your own making.
Why?
Well, unless what you choose to do is a premium service which costs little to do and requires little of your time, you can be working hard, working long hours and spending a lot or money trying to earn money.
You need to decide carefully about the kind of work you’re going to do.
For example:
A joiner requires a van, a workshop, insurances, and a hell of a lot of tools. I know… I have been there.
It is a lot of hard work.
Not only do you need to do the work people are paying you to do, you need to find future work and that requires you measuring up jobs, taking phone calls and working out quotes and estimates. Add the invoicing and TAX paperwork, you can end up working twice as many hours than you actually get paid for.
I myself have… and I know of others in the building trade who have worked very late in the evening pricing up jobs and doing paperwork just so that we can spend at least 6-8 hours the following day getting the actual work done.
Occasionally midnight became the marker to stop and go to bed.
In the video below I look at opening a coffee shop… another romantic business. Looks great on paper… but is it really that good for making money and reclaiming your life back?
To Make Money Or To Earn Money? That Is The Question
Becoming self-employed and becoming your own boss can be extremely hard if you get it wrong.
Ideally, you need a system, a method or a set of skills which will allow you to make big returns on the least amount of effort.
In the video below we discuss the five points that a person should consider when they want to work for themselves or if they are looking for a part-time job or a second job to generate extra money.
The 5 Crucial Points For A Perfect Money Making System
Requires very little upfront or ongoing expenditure unless you are leveraging money itself.
It doesn’t require too much training and learning.
It requires very little actual work… especially hard physical work.
Requires very little of your time.
The returns are the highest possible.
Maybe I should throw in a 6th point and that is… can you replicate it and create more than one income stream? Multiple-income streams are the way to wealth and security.
So when you are looking for a way to make more money, whether it’s going to be full-time, part-time or just a second job you need to consider those 5 points. You would do right to find work which gives you the most returns for the least amount of work, using the least amount of tools and time.
One such job is Letter Writing. This is a skill which anyone can learn, requires nothing more than a good laptop and internet connection (a tablet and smartphone could do) and the returns on the work and time can be astronomical.
With one letter which took an afternoon to write John Harrison made over £5 million… there are loads of multi-millionaire letter writers… and the reason is that there is a HUGE demand for letter writers and copywriters.
If you write sales letters for your own products then you build up a portfolio of income streams.
If this interests you then click the link below to learn more:
So you don’t have children, but your friends or relatives do. You have to buy them Christmas and birthday presents, that’s where NeverMissGift comes in.
Site users register and then answer a few questions about the child they’re buying for, including age, gender and their budget. Any number of children can be added to a user’s profile, and NeverMissGift sends an email shortly before a birthday or special occasion comes up.
The company recommends its top gifts matching the child’s profile and customers who are happy with the selection don’t have to do anything-the gift is automatically sent to them or the intended recipient. The company also offer personalised wrapping for those choosing to send the gift straight to the child.
This is a US based service. Could the same service work here in the UK? I see no reason why not. Thinking more widely, could there be a gap in the market for a service designed to solve other gift buying problems-men buying for their wives or girlfriends for example? Something to think about.
Motivational Quote Of The Day
“Victory belongs to the most perservering.”
Naploleon Bonaparte
Alternative Quote Of The Day
“I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance-waiting for the bathroom.”
Bob Hope
I’ll Have Vows With That
Speaking as someone who got married in Las Vegas, I’m probably the last person to comment on the wedding plans of other people. But even I would draw the line at what’s going on in Hong Kong, where you can now get married in your local Macdonalds.
In the West this would be seen as tacky, but Hong Kong is different. Many people there look on it with a sense of nostalgia relating to their student days, whereas here or in the United States it’s generally perceived to be a bit downmarket and certainly not suitable for the most important day of your life.
There are a couple of lessons and ideas to take from this. The first is that we can’t just assume that a business, service or project can be lifted wholesale and set running in another environment or culture. Things may be viewed in a completely different way there, so it’s important to do some research first.
And the second lesson is that it’s worth taking a hard look at the wedding market, wherever you are. Tastes and practices are changing which means that there are new opportunities opening up all the time. People spend small fortunes on their wedding. It would be nice to figure out a way to get hold of a share.
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL BEVERAGE DAY!
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
Imagine sitting down this afternoon and tapping out a simple letter. It takes you perhaps a couple of hours to get it right…
And Then Over The Next Few Years It Brings In Over £5 Million.
Pure fantasy?
Not at all. I’ve done it. I’ll even show you the letter. And I’ve written lots of others just like it, although they weren’t all quite as successful as that one.
But Even So, Many Of Them Landed Thousands Of Pounds In My Bank Account Within Days, and Hundreds of Thousands Within Weeks.
Like to learn how to do the same?
Well there has really Never Been A Better Time for three reasons…
1. These letters bring in serious money when times are tough – and they don’t come much tougher than they are right now.
2. These letters are even more powerful when the world is relying on the internet for its requirements, just like it is right now.
3. You probably have some free time available to learn how to do this at the moment.
This is an exciting and realistic alternative to the gloom which is all around us today – an escape route. It’s an alternative that can quickly see you banking more than enough money to see yourself and your family right through this current crisis and then into uncharted financial success when all this is over.
This comes with a 100% cast iron 90 day money back guarantee. There is absolutely no risk to you to take a look.
We’ve covered coffee-by-post style services before, but this is different. Israel based Cups Tel Aviv gives members unlimited coffee at participating venues in return for a monthly subscription.
Around 40 coffee shops and cafe’s have enrolled on the scheme. Members can pay a monthly subscription and then have as many coffees as they like at any of the participating venues. Members are updated on new venues and offers via a related app.
The price structure is such that it offers great value for members. They’re effectively in front after about a dozen cups of coffee. But the venues benefit too. They get a share of the revenue, plus knock-on benefits through the sale of sandwiches and cakes to people who may not have visited them otherwise.
This is a fascinating business model and one that could form the basis of a number of profitable businesses in different locations. It seems to me you could do something like this in any town or city in the UK. And why stop at coffee? What other products might lend themselves to this subscription based approach?
Motivational Quote Of The Day
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a dream.”
C S Lewis
Alternative Quote Of The Day
“I don’t do drugs. If I want a rush I just stand up when I’m not expecting it.”
George Burns
Dating Deal Of The Day
We’ve covered quite a range of dating related concepts over the years, and here’s another interesting one which cashes in on people’s desire to get hold of something in short supply, or only available for a limited period.
EDealduJour, features a different single man each day, giving woman a limited time to respond. The mans photograph, profile and video information are posted up on the site for 24 hours and there’s a timer indicating how long is left in the corner of the screen.
At the moment the service is free for both men and woman, with a charge being made for access to archived and upcoming profiles. I can see this generating an enormous amount of traffic, which could easily be turned into lucrative advertising revenue.
Could this be copied here in the UK, and even adapted to have a woman as the bait? (I’m going to ask for my money back on those political correctness lessons!) I’m sure it could. In fact I’m quite tempted myself!
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL COMPLIMENT DAY!
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear Streetwise Customer,
Imagine sitting down this afternoon and tapping out a simple letter. It takes you perhaps a couple of hours to get it right…
And Then Over The Next Few Years It Brings In Over £5 Million.
Pure fantasy?
Not at all. I’ve done it. I’ll even show you the letter. And I’ve written lots of others just like it, although they weren’t all quite as successful as that one.
But Even So, Many Of Them Landed Thousands Of Pounds In My Bank Account Within Days, and Hundreds of Thousands Within Weeks.
Like to learn how to do the same?
Well there has really Never Been A Better Time for three reasons…
1. These letters bring in serious money when times are tough – and they don’t come much tougher than they are right now.
2. These letters are even more powerful when the world is relying on the internet for its requirements, just like it is right now.
3. You probably have some free time available to learn how to do this at the moment.
This is an exciting and realistic alternative to the gloom which is all around us today – an escape route. It’s an alternative that can quickly see you banking more than enough money to see yourself and your family right through this current crisis and then into uncharted financial success when all this is over.
This comes with a 100% cast iron 90 day money back guarantee. There is absolutely no risk to you to take a look.
