Leveraging, Goal Setting and Multiple Streams of Income

Gordon, Michael Ross, Dien and other respected members of this board have talked at great length about these topics…essentially all are geared at helping you get more out of life and your business.

While a specific example incorporating all three areas may be difficult to find, I have uncovered one recently…my own.

As you well know, leverage is wonderful. It allows someone to multiply the results of their efforts by many times, without a comparable increase of effort.

One of the great marketing books of the last few years is “Mischief Marketing” by Ray Simon. It’s too bad this wonderful read doesn’t get the chat and ink it deserves.

This book is a gold mine…pure & simple.

I’ve read (and underlined…and flagged) the book numerous times. I’ve also had numerous conversations via email and the phone with Ray.

Essentially, the book shows how you can get ahead by breaking the rules, being unconventional. One of its key points is the “Very Leveraged Person”, which is by Ray’s definition anyone that has leverage over your target market. This is a pretty simple definition but very powerful. The “VLP” concept may be the best form of leverage…ever.

I’m here to tell you there are more “VLP’s” out there than you can shake a stick at. Pick a market, pick a product and there is a VLP all ready to gift to you thousands and maybe millions in sale’s dollars (or whatever kind of “currency” you’re looking for).

I’ve been working at getting a successful direct marketing company off the ground for a long time. About 5-years from my recollections.

First it was the standard “It’s not the right time” excuse. “I’ll start my company when I_______________ (fill in the blank, you know all the flimsy reasons one could stick in there).

Then I had the same experience Gordon did, namely work for a direct marketing company that ‘had made it’. Not only did that give me more knowledge (for those of you wanting to create a successful DM company and don’t have the ability to work for an experienced DM company—don’t worry that same knowledge is out there in countless books and other informational sources) it gave me confidence in my own abilities. All successful DM companies operate on very similar principles. Namely, they find a hungry market and then give that market what they want—this results in sales and profits. You know what happens when you don’t follow that simple rule.

Anyway I started promoting a few products…got my nose bloodied, retreated and then tried promoting a few more. I had a little success here and there. Truthfully in all my flops, I broke the “DM” rule of success. I tried selling products to a market they (the market) didn’t want…and it was completely my fault.

About a year ago or so, I found Ray’s book. I took the VLP principle to heart and did what everyone needs to do when they find possible life-changing information, and that is I applied it.

I knew what I my goal was and is, and that is to have a successful DM company. I want a minimum of $16,000,000 per year in sales. Why $16 mil? Gordon knows why $16 mil is an important figure. I won’t tell you here but if anyone asks I will.

Anyway back to leverage and VLP’s. You attract potential customers to your products and services with marketing, as we all know. Money is used most of the time. Money is exchanged for ad space in a newspaper or magazine or a direct mail piece or an email campaign or a spot on a menu board.

The VLP cuts through all that just like a knife. They can instantly introduce your target market to your product or service. The VLP takes your marketing dollars and multiplies their effectiveness by many times. Soon I’ll show you how many times.

I found a VLP I could build a successful DM with. It didn’t take a lot of effort either. One trip into one bookstore and I found my VLP. It was that easy.

And while it took a couple months to get off the ground by January of this year I was ready to make sales with the help of my VLP. Then it started, through January and February of this year I sold $41,259 worth of products (average sale about $27). Do you know how much I spent on marketing? $0. Not a single dollar to create a customer list that now stands at 1,528. Do you realize how much money you would have to spend in order to create 1,528 customers (not too mention a couple thousand more that remain interested prospects)? Even at a very-low marketing cost of say $20 per customer I would be looking at more than $30K. Yet they cost me nothing. Now that’s leverage!

I’m on my way to my goal. I don’t expect it to be this easy forever; bumps are already popping up in the road. But I can tell you having a VLP makes things a heck of a lot easier. There’s no doubt in my mind you too can find a VLP, they are literally everywhere.

Multiple Streams of Income (MSOI). It was Gordon a couple years back that made me realize I’m like him, an ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) person. It’s not an excuse, it’s just something I’ve had to deal with. ADD people (and many in general) love the idea of MSOI. It gives us a ready-made excuse to have our fingers in multiple pies. I do not think that MSOI is a bad idea. Where I’ve botched it at is I’ve never been true to the principle. My friend Barbara Winter (author of “Making a Living Without A Job”) says the key to MSOI is getting a plate spinning and then going to another and getting that plate to spin. Your job is to keep all your plates spinning at one time (making $$). For me if a plate didn’t spin immediately I let the son-of-a-gun crash to the floor. Eventually I had a lot of broken plates and few sales to show for it.

Today I resist the temptation to get involved in multiple projects that don’t relate to my ideas of direct marketing. No matter how great I thing another idea is like the menu-boards I just can’t take the attention from my ultimate goal. All I need is another half-finished project that gets shuffled off to the back of my mind as I jump into something new and unrelated.

That being said, adding additional products to your DM product line is a good thing and a successful implementation of the principles of MSOI. Make money with one product and add another and another.

Hopefully I haven’t bored you too much with this long post. I just wanted to give you some real-life feedback of the principles often talked about on this board.

Take care,

Mike Winicki

Good post, Mike. Another question - how did you find your VLP in the bookstore - perhaps a magazine article?

Bob

> Good post, Mike. Another question - how did
> you find your VLP in the bookstore - perhaps
> a magazine article?

> Bob

Bob,

The average US Corp. makes 6% before taxes and owners comp (Ben Suarez, "7 Steps to Freedom")...
6% of $16,000,000 is about one mil. I think that is a solid, reachable goal.

My VLP is an author but many magazine articles are either written by or about VLP's...they (magazines) are a terrific source of influence.

Take care,

Mike Winicki

Hi Michael,

Thanks, that was a great post!

> While a specific example incorporating all
> three areas may be difficult to find, I have
> uncovered one recently…my own.

> As you well know, leverage is wonderful. It
> allows someone to multiply the results of
> their efforts by many times, without a
> comparable increase of effort.

> One of the great marketing books of the last
> few years is “Mischief Marketing” by Ray
> Simon. It’s too bad this wonderful read
> doesn’t get the chat and ink it deserves.

I agree - this is a great book. I LOVE all his great examples of what he calls "Mischief Marketing". I have a copy (real paper and ink) sitting on my book shelf. You can also read excerpts from their web site, or get the ebook version for a paltry $5 donation. (Or just get it from your local bookstore.)

Thanks for the excellent advice on utilizing VLPs! That's something I'll have to do more of!

I agree with what you say about focus too (regarding multiple streams of income). I see having multiple streams of income as having many "fall-back" positions. I have several fall-back positions, and I'm increasing them as time goes by. However, I don't work them all the time, since some of them are time-consuming....

If whatever I do at a particular time doesn't work out, I know how to survive financially by buying locally, and selling through eBay.

If for some reason that doesn't work out, I know how to make money by trading chattel through the "trader"-type weekly papers. (I used to do this profitably with notebook computers, though the markup I could get with notebooks was relatively low percentage-wise. However, sufficiently powerful notebooks are ALWAYS in demand - you make your money when you buy. If you can buy them low enough, selling them profitably is never a problem.)

Gordon Alexander's "Chattel Report" is the "Bible" if you want to make money from chatteling.

And if that doesn't work out, I've got my stock market investments to fall back on too (my investments keep growing, gradually, as time goes by).

Having several fall-back sources of income is a form of security.... It's more secure than a job is, in my opinion, in today's job climate!

I'm still working on my direct response marketing... At present, I've had a few hits and also a few misses, but by studying what's worked and what hasn't, I think I'm starting to close in on a winning formula.... :)

Thanks Michael - your post was a great inspirational post! I think there's nothing more inspirational than hearing of someone who's tried, perhaps fell down a few times, but who eventually succeeded!

I'm also curious, why $16 million? :)

Thanks for sharing your story and great advice!

- Dien Rice