The Four Levels of Business Knowledge | BNET

The Four Levels of Business Knowledge | BNET

Ben Franklin

I consider Benjamin Franklin the original copywriting superstar.

Here's why …

Franklin is remembered most as an inventor, statesman, and diplomat.

But if he hadn't been a writer, those things may have never happened.

Franklin only had two years of formal schooling and taught himself to write. The New England Courant published his first article when he was only 16.

At the age of 22, he became the publisher of a newspaper called The Pennsylvania Gazette. Five years later, he started writing Poor Richard's Almanac under the pseudonym Richard Saunders. From 1733-1758, it sold almost 10,000 copies per year.

It was these two publications that gave Franklin a forum for his writing. The Gazette and Poor Richard's Almanac allowed him to start selling his ideas.

"Selling in print" – we've heard that definition of copywriting before, right?                         

There are four things about Benjamin Franklin's writing that we can apply two and a half centuries later:

1. Try to get ahead of the curve. Franklin was ahead of his time with his ideas about colonial unity, self-governance, and the cultural movement in general of the American Enlightenment. What can you get "ahead of the curve" on? Is there an emerging copywriting niche that hasn't been flooded yet? Do you have a different angle on an already established area? Look into trends, and like Franklin, capitalize on them.
2. Develop a unique voice in the marketplace. Franklin used the pseudonym Richard Saunders in Poor Richard's Almanac. Saunders was a somewhat funny and intelligent country fellow who believed in hard work and simple living. It helped Franklin sell a quarter-million copies and left us with the proverb, "Early to bed, early to rise …" How would someone describe your natural copywriting voice? Claim this style and be yourself.
3. Use your writing to build other business interests. Franklin became wealthy in large part from printing and publishing. Do you have some big ideas you could use your copywriting skills for? Do you have a book inside of you? Maybe an idea for a self-publishing niche? Once you know how to "sell in print," doors of opportunity will open. Look for one way you can parlay your copywriting skills into a further business venture.
4. Keep it simple. Franklin stuck to one simple writing rule: Make it smooth, clear, and short. Still good advice today.

If these four ideas intrigue you, check out The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (not a light summer beach read, though).

Stephen Pierce: Internet marketer and author

"Having a why—a powerful, compelling reason—is the one thing no one can give you."

From The Secret Daily Teachings

What is the most powerful thing you can add to the process of creating what you want? Ask for others as you ask for yourself. An easy way to do this is to ask for ALL, which of course includes you. Ask for a good life for all, peace for all, abundance for all, health for all, love for all, and happiness for all.

When you ask for others, it comes back to you, so the law has it ALL covered.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

#1 Sales Challenge

It's no surprise that there are literally
thousands of books on selling - after all, there
is a lot to learn in order to become a top
salesperson.

In fact, I never stopped learning about sales,
whether it was reading books, listening to CDs,
going to seminars, or attending sales training
from my employer.

When looking at everything we're taught in sales,
the list of skills runs the gamut -

- Prospecting
- Qualifying
- Objection handling
- Presenting
- Profit justifying
- Solution development
- Referral selling
- Follow-up

…and so much more.

In fact, just one of those subsets can be drilled
down and made into an entire category of its own.
Take sales closing for example - there are entire
books, programs, seminars, and even entire selling
systems and methodologies that revolve around
closing tactics.

After all, it makes sense, doesn't it? Closing is
the culmination of all selling! As I like to point
out, we're not paid to prospect, or show up for
meetings, or go to networking events, or even meet
with prospects. We're only paid to make sales.
That's it. That's the entire concept of commission
payment.

There's something that's frequently overlooked,
though, and it's this: All of the closing tricks,
tactics, strategies, and even real-world skills
and experience won't do you any good unless and
until you have someone to close!

And therein lies the #1 fallacy and the basis of
all the counter-intuitive thinking that powers the
world of sales and sales training: Most
salespeople spend 90% of their time learning how
to develop and close leads, but once they get out
in the real world, 90% of their time is spent
simply looking for someone to sell to!

Does that really make any sense? I don't think so.

Let's take it a step further: Let's say we have
two salespeople. One is a master closer, who can
sell anything to anyone without objections.

The other can't "close the lid on a jar" as the
saying goes. If he happens to make a sale, it's
because he got lucky and the customer was going to
buy anyway.

But there's a catch: The first salesperson, the
master closer, has no leads, and no reliable way
of getting them. The second, the one with no
selling skills, has a pile of leads on his desk
and more coming in every day.

Which one will be more successful?

The answer is easy, and I know it's true from
real-life experience: The second salesperson, the
one with little selling skill but piles of leads,
is going to make more money than the master closer
who has no one to sell to. The reason is that you
can't close a sale unless and until you have
someone to sell to. Or, as simple math tells us,
0 x 0 = 0.

On the other hand, a certain percentage of your
market will buy from you no matter what - *IF* you
can manage to uncover and find those people. Or,
as I teach in my systems, how to get those people
to find YOU.

When you're ready to stop spending day after day
frustrated because YOU don't have enough people to
sell to, it's time to get a copy of my Never Cold
Call Again® system. I'll even let you 'try before
you buy' it for a full 30 days. You can request
your copy here -

 https://www.nevercoldcall.com/ordernow.php

We'll ship the complete package direct to your door.
If you don't like it for any reason, simply send it
back to the return address on the package and
you'll never hear from us again. It's that simple.

If you're still not sure for any reason, please
click on the "see reader reviews" in the
upper-right hand corner of that page for real
world examples of the success people are
having with it.

To your success!
Frank Rumbauskas

2006 Sinkhole Statute Unconstitutional

Another Florida Circuit Court has ruled that the neutral evaluation section of the Florida Sinkhole Statute is unconstitutional. Similar to the Order noted in Sinkhole Neutral Evaluation Unconstitutional, Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge James Arnold's Opinion found:

Plaintiffs' objection that the original version of Fla. Stat. 627.7074 (enacted in 2006) is unconstitutional is GRANTED for the following reasons:

a) The Court finds that the statute is unconstitutional because it permits the Florida Department of Financial Services, an agency of the Executive Branch, to select and determine who will serve as a Neutral Evaluator for claims in litigation regardless of whether the Neutral Evaluator is qualified to render an opinion on the issues presented as part of the neutral evaluation.

b) Further, the Neutral Evaluator's opinions and written recommendations shall be admissible at a later civil trial as to insurance coverage issues without first permitting the Court to determine whether the designated Neutral Evaluator is qualified to render such opinions under Section 90.702 of the Florida Evidence Code or that the report and opinions are admissible in the first instance.

This reasoning is very similar to Pasco County Circuit Court Judge Judge Stanley Mills’ ruling last week which concluded:

Permitting a Neutral Evaluator to give an opinion which is admissible in court without any formal evidentiary rules or procedures, particularly with no right to cross-examination, constitutes a violation of the Plaintiffs' due process, under Article I, section 9 of the Florida Constitution.

These rulings demonstrate a trend in sinkhole insurance litigation. The legal reasoning is sound.

In recognition of these two Orders hot off the press and the hot summertime weather, how about this song to start your Fourth of July weekend:

The Language Perfectionist: Can You Be Too Correct? By Don Hauptman

English has rules that should be respected. One purpose of this column is to encourage proper use of the language. But a problem sometimes arises: People try to apply a rule with excessive conscientiousness and wind up, ironically, committing another kind of error. This phenomenon is called hypercorrection.
The classic example involves personal pronouns. Schoolchildren are taught not to use "me" in the subject of a sentence. Thus, "Jim and me are going to the baseball game" should be "Jim and I are going...."
But some folks misconstrue the lesson and say, for example, "I'll tell you how much he was paid, but the amount is just between you and I." In this case, because the pronouns are the object of the preposition "between" - not the subject of the sentence - it should read "between you and me."
Another common error - again mistaking the subject for the object - is the use of "who" where "whom" is correct. "Who do you admire most?" should be "Whom do you admire most?" In this case, "whom" is the object of the admiration.
But here, too, some people misapply the who (subject) / whom (object) rule and make the opposite mistake. I found this sentence in a newspaper article online: "He fully accepts responsibility... for the situation into which he put his wife, whom he knows is entirely blameless in all of this." It should read: "who he knows is entirely blameless...."
Here's a helpful tip if you're ever in doubt: Mentally remove the peripheral phrase - in this case, "he knows." Then it becomes clear that it's the wife "who is" blameless. No one would ever say "whom is."
Finally, usage guru Bryan A. Garner notes an interesting instance of hypercorrection, which he calls "false Latin plurals." Because people are aware that, for example, the plural of syllabus is syllabi, they mistakenly echo the rule where it doesn't apply - by saying, for example, octopi (octopuses is correct) or apparati (apparatuses is correct).
I'm reminded of an old joke about a bartender puzzled by a customer who orders a "martinus." Why? Because he wants one martini, not two.
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]