How to Profit from the Bear Stearns Deal
March 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
So Bear Stearns is about to get sold for a “paltry” 236 million dollars. That’s down from a value of about $20 billion only a year ago.
Now before we go any farther… let it be known that I’m no financial expert. So please don’t take this as investment advice to go out and buy up JP Morgan shares.
This is a marketing and business letter after all.
So my financial “analysis” here (if you can even call it that) is just to illustrate a larger idea… it’s extremely oversimplified. You’ve been warned. 
BUT…
When I see something like the Bear Stearns deal go down, it’s not my financial ears that perk up, it’s my business ears that pay attention.
So in this case, JP Morgan is about to purchase a (struggling) billion dollar business for peanuts.
JP Morgan is the face on the deal, but the government is behind them every step of the way.
So they’re acquiring Bear Stearns for $2 per share with their risk backed by Uncle Sam. Their risk is virtually zippo.
Sure there are possible future pitfalls. But all in all, kind of an amazing turn of events.
Plus… provided the big wigs in charge can push the sale past angry shareholders (who are about to get the shaft and could get more return on their investment simply by putting a FOR SALE sign on the Bear Stearns building in Manhattan…), JP Morgan will enter the prime brokerage business overnight. And they’ll walk away with a prime brokerage business that’s about DOUBLE the size of Bank of America.
Not bad for a weekend’s worth of negotiations…
So what does all this mean?
It’s just one more example of how someone ALWAYS thrives in turbulent times.
Why shouldn’t it be you and your business?
Here are some ideas about how to turn all of this turbulence to your advantage:
1. Trouble in the market gives you an unending supply of TIMELY “hooks” to use in your marketing to capture the attention of your market. How can you use this “f*ree” material to get more attention for YOUR products and services?
2. Trouble in the market creates opportunities others will be too scared to see. While everyone else is pulling back, standing on the sidelines, waiting to see what the other guy’s going to do, the action takers swoop in and capture opportunities that might have been pipedreams in other circumstances (just take a look at JP Morgan… they’re about to get a multi-billion dollar business practically for f*ree.) How do you spot the opportunities? You just have to look at things differently. Don’t look at things and accept what everyone else is saying about them. Look at them and ask, “How can I use this to my advantage?”
3. Times of trouble give you and your business the opportunity to stand up and lead. People want to be led. They want advice about how to deal with the problems. And if you can help them, then why not march up to the front and start leading? Do you think that might be valuable to your customers, clients and prospects? Just think what that could do for your positioning in the marketplace?
4. Times of trouble make it easy for you to stand out… especially if you’re preaching something OTHER than the doom and gloom that most people are getting in the media. There’s always hope… there’s always a way out… there’s ALWAYS someone thriving in the midst of chaos. Start talking about THAT and your business is going to stick out like a sore thumb. In good times, you invest a lot of money in marketing and advertising to do just that.
Apparently, things might just get “worse” before they get better. But is that a reason you and your business shouldn’t prosper anyway?
I don’t think so. Good luck.
How to Double Your Sales
March 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Just something quick to think about today.
What’s the quickest way to double your sales?
Here’s my answer:
Stop selling what YOU have to sell, and start selling what people want to BUY.
But that doesn’t mean you have to start selling something different.
Let me explain using an example from my own business: copywriting/marketing consulting.
I’ve never had a client who woke up in the morning and said, “I feel like buying some copy today. Today, I’m going to hire a copywriter.”
Despite this fact, I used to try to sell “copywriting services.”
I don’t do that anymore.
No one cares about those services. Especially business owners.
What do business owners care about? What do they want?
They want more sales, with less effort, less hassle, less risk.
That’s what they want to buy, so that’s what I sell.
I use copywriting and marketing to help deliver that result, but that’s NOT what I sell.
No one wants to buy it
And as it turns out, it’s a whole lot easier to sell something your market actually wants to buy.
Your clients and customers are already buying something from you. Do you know if you’re selling the same thing they’re actually buying?
If you want to double YOUR sales, how can you reposition what you’re selling and transform it into something your market already WANTS to buy?
That’s a million dollar question.
“You want to fly across the country to see ME?”
March 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Attention Freelance Copywriters…
This is a message I never thought I’d write (in a MILLION years).
Ever since I released my guide about how to become a six-figure copywriter, I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback about it.
Feedback about how my journey has helped other copywriters take a step or two forward on their journey to build a copywriting business.
And as I’ve begun talking with some of my readers on the phone, I’ve gotten requests for more help.
Requests from beginning copywriters who want to jump start their business.
And requests from seasoned copywriters who can’t seem to attract a steady supply of new clients.
Even a request from a copywriter to fly across the country, and pay me for a day of my time to help him grow his business.
That was a first for me. And it caught me a little bit by surprise.
After all, I’m not really one for the spotlight.
But after talking with a few of my mentors, I’ve realized that it is pretty irresponsible of me NOT to try to reach out and help the people who want (and can benefit from) my help to build a copywriting business.
So that’s what I’m going to do. In the end, I’m a teacher. That’s just what I do.
If me standing up and doing my best to help copywriters puts me in the spotlight. Well then, so be it. I’m still gonna be the same person.
So here’s what this is about.
It’s about HOW I’m going to help copywriters build their business.
I really hate the word “coaching,” because the current examples of that are pretty weak in my view.
Many of the “coaching” programs out there are more like “let me take your money and spend time telling you how great I am.”
I’ve been in some of those programs… and they stink. That’s putting it nicely.
And the reason they stink is because you feel like you are a number. And you realize that ultimately, the person you’re paying doesn’t REALLY care about your success. People come, people go. And sometimes, you end up leaving more confused than when you started.
I guess you could call what I’m proposing “UN-coaching.” Perhaps mentoring would be better.
The point is to get YOU on track. On YOUR track. Not to have you learn my “system for getting clients.”
That might work for me. It might not work for you.
This is email only mentoring. You’ll get your own password protected place online for us to communicate. Everything will be archived so you can go back and look anytime you want.
The fee is $400 per month. You pay month-to-month. No commitment.
That means if we work together and help you get ONE client who pays you $4,000, you will have broken even on 10 months of the fee.
I’m not promising to deliver clients to you on a silver platter. I am promising that I will help you learn the very same skills and strategies I use to do that for myself.
And now a few warnings. A short list of things that no one else ever mentioned when I signed up for their mentoring/coaching program.
1. Please don’t sign-up if $400 is a lot of money for you right now. I’ve done that. And I’ve suffered because of the additional pressure that put on me to “work things out.” It’s not worth it. Just wait a bit until $400 won’t create too much of a cash flow problem.
2. Please don’t sign-up if you aren’t going to take action quickly. That will frustrate both of us. You know if that’s you.
3. Please don’t sign-up if you want someone to hold your hand for the next 2 years. I won’t accept your money that long. And if I haven’t given you enough in a few months to truly transform your business, then something is wrong. This isn’t a club, and you won’t get any added bonus for saying you’re in Jason Leister’s mentoring program. The person would probably say “Jason WHO?”
If you are interested, I’m ready to start. Despite what you might think, there is TONS of opportunity out there for you.
That’s not really the challenge. The challenge is more figuring out WHICH opportunities are the RIGHT ones for you.
If you are interested, visit my mentoring page to get all of the information you need.
I’m really offering a combination of 4 things in this program: advice about WHAT to do, accountability to help get those things DONE, inspiration so you never forget what you are REALLY capable of and action steps which is the KEY to everything.