Made the mistake of watching the news this morning while having breakfast.

Had just walked in the house from the gym and wanted to see the weather today (nice as usual) and also see how much press Apple was getting on their new iPhone (they’re getting a lot).

Also, was not surprised to see that a very well known Mexican chain was declaring bankruptcy.

“The owner of Mexican restaurant chains Chevys Fresh Mex, El Torito and Acapulco filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, pressured by years of slipping sales and the country’s economic malaise, executives said.”

The article goes on to say that they are seeing fewer diners and blamed their tough times on the economy and national recession.

NOW… at the same time — in the same economy, you have other restaurants and businesses doing extremely well.

With a 2 minute search I found these types of articles:

“Papa John’s continues to enjoy record profits”
“Dine Equity is also reporting an increase in sales this quarter.”
And two of our San Diego members continue to expand their restaurant chain (Surf Brothers Teriyaki) in spite of the “country’s economic malaise”.

It all comes down to whether or not you want to take responsibility or try and pin it on someone else.

If your business failed, guess who’s fault it is?

Nope, not the economy’s fault.
Nope, not Obama’s fault.
Nope, not Congress’ fault.
Nope, not your vendor’s fault.

It is your fault. And that’s OK.

Why? There is nothing wrong with that but you need to take ownership of the problem and then work hard to make things better.

Complaining doesn’t work.

One of my favorite questions is if you hear someone complaining about their business – whatever it is – is to ask them:
“Is there anyone in your industry who is doing WELL right now?”

Guess what, there ALWAYS is. I know a contractor coming to our Monthly Marketing Summits who had his best year EVER in 2009.

A contractor.
In San Diego.
In the midst of the recession.

In his own words:
“I want to thank Henry and GKIC-San Diego for opening my eyes to the power of proper marketing.
I’m a contractor and things have been TOUGH in California for us. For sure my business would be extinct if it was not for getting started with this local group and the things I’ve learned from them about marketing.
Thanks for everything Henry.”

- Clinton Halley, CRH Enterprises, Inc., Temecula, CA

The reason this article really struck me is that I dined at one of these restaurants very recently while at the Joe Polish “I Love Marketing” event in Phoenix with about 10 others.

The report card was not good and I’m not just sharing my own experience here but the collective experience of everyone who was at our table:

1. The service was extremely slow and caused us to be late getting back to the event.
2. The food did not taste very good and nobody was very happy with their meal.
3. There was virtually nothing in the way of marketing to try and make things better or collect any of our contact information so they could compile a database. (Smart marketers know that you need to collect customer names to build up a database. This allows you to do promotions ‘on-demand’ for cash flow surges at will.)
4. There were no upsells (no dessert offer, no drink offer, no appetizer offer).
5. The bathroom wasn’t clean.

I could go on but you get the idea.

There are literally 100′s of things that they could have done to turn things around. Instead, they blame it on something or someone else instead of taking responsibility.

Now the good news is you have the power to fix any issue that you’ve gotten yourself in to.

Responsibility works both ways.

One of my favorite Dan Kennedy quotes says something like this:

“If you aren’t happy with what you’re making, then you need to take on more responsibility.”

Lot of truth in that statement.

Are you ready to take on more responsibility?

One way to do that is to join us for our Halloween Monthly Marketing Summit on Tuesday, October 18th.
Why not take the action right now to RSVP for yourself?
But go beyond that and take the responsibility for a friend that is ready to make their business even better.

http://timezonemarketing.com/gkic-san-diego/rsvp

I’ll do my part and have an incredible meeting lined up for you where you can walk out charged up, filled with good ideas and ready to take responsibility to see those ideas through to completion.

We’ll see you there.

Henry Evans
President, Timezone Marketing

If there’s one “secret” I can point to that has made the biggest difference in my life and that
allows me to now take time off Guilt-Free and Worry-Free is figuring out how to get my mind
working for me.I didn’t realize that when I first left my corporate job and went into the entrepreneurial world
I was actually REPELLING money and opportunity.

Why?  Because I NEEDED to close the deal and make the money.
I HAD to make the deal work or I would be in trouble.
When you really NEED something is when it becomes harder to attain.
No I focus on what I WANT, and what I need always gets taken care of.

John Assaraf is a global MASTER at showing YOU this exact type of mind work -
how to go deep to get amazing results.
And, at our Marketing Summit, he’s going to show you exactly HOW to become attractive to money.
Our goal is for you to leave this meeting empowered to win the game of money.

Its going to be an incredible evening and is not-to-be-missed!

Yes, it’s the heart of summer but there’s never been a better time to get your
subconscious mind working on your behalf as there will be at this meeting.

Get all of the details below:

http://www.RegisterSD.com

I sincerely hope to see you there.

Henry Evans
President, Timezone Marketing
support@timezonemarketing.com

PS – I have been going thru John’s programs for months now and have seen an
amazing difference in my businesses and my personal life.

I can’t wait to have you experience what he’s going to present –
I guarantee you it will be INCREDIBLE!

At the recent Glazer-Kennedy SuperConference in Chicago over 1,200 entrepreneurs from around the world descended on the O’Hare Marriott to learn from the world’s highest paid marketing masters… Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer. We’ll be going through some of the many takeaways at our next Monthly Marketing Summit right here in San Diego. Visit www.RegisterSD.com if you would like to attend.

Here are three of my biggest takeaways – as you read these, pick ONE of them to implement for yourself in your business. Remember that when you take action, amazing things happen… You Get Results!

1. Newsletters are one of the best, if not THE BEST, form of marketing to keep your list warm.

Especially printed newsletters which I have been doing for nearly 2 years straight now without missing a month. Now what are some of the key elements of a newsletter? Well, the biggest one I was reminded of was making sure that you talk 60% about personal and non-relevant or semi-relevant content. If you’re an auto-repair shop, someone doesn’t want to read 2, 4 or even 6 pages about the latest news in auto-repair! That commits the biggest marketing sin… being boring. So, instead weave in some fun information about you, your life, your family, your kids, your pets, your travels, etc. That is what people will really bond with you about. I’m always amazed when I talk about my two girls (ages 7 and 8 now) how much response I get. Much more so than when I talk about a great marketing tactic or strategy.

So, get more personal and put yourself out there!

2. Michael Masterson spoke who has personally grown multiple 9 figure businesses.

That means that he has grown a business to greater than $100 million MULTIPLE times. That is a huge, huge accomplishment. And he spoke about the 4 stages of a business as it develops.

I especially liked his comments on Stage 1 which is 0 up to the first million in sales. He said simply that when you are under $1 million in sales its very simple where you should spend your time… 80% of your 60 hour workweek recommended by Michael should be spend on MARKETING your business. That is, figuring out how to get more customers in the door at a profit, as quickly as possible. Once you do this, every other business challenge gets a lot, lot easier.

So, commit to yourself if you are under $1 million in sales to put a full 80% of your time into marketing your business so you can get over that $1 million threshold as quickly as you can.

3. And the 3rd big takeaway was during Lenny Lieberman’s presentation.

He runs the Pro-Active line for Guthy-Renker and they do $1 billion in annual sales. During the question and answer portion of his presentation, he was asked several specific questions from the audience asking for “the answer” to specific marketing problems. He rarely gave a very clear answer because he said that… even at the size Guthy-Renker is… and with all of their resources… you just never know what is going to work and what isn’t going to work.

He showed a great video clip from one of their infomercials for a “How To Talk To Your Kids About Drugs” program which looked like it would be a huge success. It had an all-star cast, was professionally produced, and they thought they had a winner on their hands. Unfortunately, the show and the program was a complete bomb!

The answer to most marketing questions? Try it out, measure, and then see how well it worked. This also lends itself to trying lots of different things so you can get to the right answers much quicker.

See #2 above for where to spend most of your time, especially in the early stages of your business.
But, even a $1 billion a year company like Guthy-Renker is still in the marketing testing business.

Going to live event such as the SuperConference is also a great time to bond and connect with others from around the world and even in San Diego. We had 17 local business owners attend and the networking was amazing.

Below is a picture of my and Cathy Ireland – she was also fantastic as she has built a huge worldwide brand all from scratch. I especially liked how she prioritized her faith and her family before business. I think that’s a huge reason that she is so successful.

So many business owners and entrepreneurs confuse features vs. benefits.
It is a critical marketing concept so I’d like to give you a clear definition that will
always help you keep the two straight.
Let’s say that you are looking at a product to purchase… let’s say an automobile.

What are you looking for?
The color, horsepower, number of airbags, and stopping power of the brakes?
When you bought your last car, what did you look at?
See, everything above is a FEATURE of the car.

But, nobody actually buys FEATURES.

They buy BENEFITS

What is this new car going to do for me?

Will I feel more successful, more safe, more powerful, more fun loving?

Let’s look at each of those…

• Feel more successful – what do you think of? Mercedes Benz.
• Feel more safe – what do you think of? Volvo.
• Feel more powerful – what do you think of? Porsche.
• Feel more fun loving – what do you think of? Maybe a Mini Cooper or VW Bug.

So, what is a clear-cut definition of a feature vs. a benefit?

The feature would be 6 airbags in the car.
The benefit would be:
What this means to you is that you and your family are better protected
regardless of what type of accident you may find yourself in.

I like to say that a feature is about the product or service.

And a benefit is about what it does for YOU, the buyer.

The easiest way I’ve found to take a list of features and convert them into benefits is to add
those magic words on the end of every feature…

“What This Means To YOU Is…”

So, let’s say that you are looking to buy a silver car.
The feature would be – this car is painted in silver metallic paint with clear-coat on top.
What this means to you is… the car will retain its luster for years without needing regular waxing.

It is the most popular color car.
What this means to you is… you will not be pulled over by the police nearly as much as say a bright red car!
And, of course, what this silver car means to you is… the highest possible resale value
since most people favor silver cars over other color.
Oh, and in case you don’t like to wash your car – having a silver color car means that
you don’t have to wash it nearly as much and it will still look great.

Get the idea?

Having your “features” converted into “benefits” is a key, key component to any
successful marketing campaign so I highly recommend you take a look at your
product or service.

List off all of the features that you have.
Then, convert all of those into benefits by adding the magic words…

“What This Means To YOU Is…”

When you do that you’ll find people start connecting emotionally with your product
or service instead of just comparing features.

I wish you every success in your marketing adventures.

Henry Evans