Best Business Opportunities Blog - Diary of a Money Animal!

I’m just back from a few days in Limassol, Cyprus and I notice I’m still miffed at an incident which cost me a quid.

That pound has been niggling away at me - which is odd, because my bill for the trip was several thousand times more… AND that pound ended up in the hands of a very worthwhile charity!

Let me explain (and you’ll either get this straight away or you’ll think I’m the meanest S of a B on the block).

I stayed at the best hotel on the island The Four Seasons. The food is to die for; the place exudes style; they have hot and cold running chambermaids – the works!

But then the bill came and it made me raise my eyebrows.

Not the size of it (which was a tad on the excessive side!) but this statement tacked on the bottom:

“The Four Seasons Hotel supports the International Red Cross and we have added £1 to your bill by way of a donation. Thank you.”

The more I thought about this, the more annoyed I was.

What right did they have to take £1 of my money without my permission? I’m talking principles here – the amount and the worthiness of the cause are totally irrelevant

It wasn’t ME giving to the Red Cross, it was The Four Seasons taking my money and giving it.

This didn’t seem right.

If you’re having trouble getting this, let me tell you that whilst you slept I went into your wallet or handbag, removed a fiver and gave it to Dr Barnados Children’s Home.

I hope that’s okay with you?

Well, actually, no it isn’t because it’s YOUR money, not mine. If you want to give to Dr Barnados, you will, thank you very much.

I complained at reception by saying: “I support Save The Children and so I have retained £10 from the bill which I will donate to them on behalf of The Four Seasons hotel when I return to the UK. I hope that’s fine with you?”

The receptionist thought I was insane. I could see it in her eyes. She assured me that nobody had every complained about this £1 and said any guest who wanted it back merely had to ask the duty manager!!!

She really, honestly thought this was okay.

As I say, you’ll either get this or you won’t. But it has implications for you because there is a long queue of people claiming a ‘right’ to the money YOU earned by the sweat of your brow.

The very fact that the hotel could even consider this scheme shows you how much we’ve been conned into believing it’s fine for someone to help themselves to our money. All they have to do is claim a big enough ‘need’.

I feel an anti-government ‘tax racket’ rant coming on – but this newsletter is not the place, so I’ll pack my soap box away for today!

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Quote of The Day
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“It is striking how many people mess up their lives by not thinking about what they really value.” Jonathan Glover

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Here’s an important question:

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“Why do you get out of bed in the morning?”
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Don’t answer because I have a bigger question…

“Why do you do ANY of the stuff you do?”

Think about it. What motivates you? What drives you along? You’re not acting randomly – something supplies the motivating force behind everything you do from boiling an egg to starting a successful business. And… it is useful to know what, particularly for the big things.

You earn your living in a particular way - but think about this for a moment. Have you been jogging along for years in your comfort zone and this is really the only way you know to make a living? Is that good enough for you?

Examining your reasons for doing the things you do can be very revealing. You’ve maybe not thought to do this before – you’ve just got on with every day, blind to what drives you.

Take a moment now to examine your motives. You may be surprised at what you find.

Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome from 161 CE to 180 CE knew the wisdom of this when he said: “At every action, no matter by whom performed, make a practice to ask
yourself: ‘What is the object in doing this?’ But begin with yourself. Put this question to yourself first of all.”

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The Amazing AIDA Formula
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There’s a simple little mnemonic used by copywriters which is well worth knowing as it applies to all adverts you may ever create – even small classified adverts.

The mnemonic is AIDA which stands for:

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

Try to follow this formula for every advert you create or every sales letter you write because without doubt it will enhance your chances of success.

ATTENTION – your advert must command the reader’s attention right from the ‘off’. You achieve this with your headline which should be strongly benefit-driven.
(Ask yourself what it is your customer most desires.
Hint, this is NOT ‘quality, value and service’!!!
Everyone says that stuff – it’s meaningless.)

INTEREST – having grabbed the reader’s attention you must now pique their interest in your product or service. (What is it about YOUR product or service which will interest the reader?)

DESIRE – This is the secret which all the Big Boys and Girls who work in advertising know. People buy on emotion. ‘Interest’ is not enough, they must DESIRE your product or service. You need to convert the reader’s interest into a strong desire for what you are offering.
(This is where you use emotional language and key trigger words such as : ‘imagine…’)

ACTION – This is the area so many adverts fall down on.
It’s also the number one error made by sales people – they fail to ‘close’ the sale. That means they fail to ask the potential customer to take ACTION, right now.

So at the end of your advert (or sales pitch) you need to tell the prospect exactly what he or she needs to do in order to… what?

NOT ‘get your product or serve’ – if you think that, you haven’t been paying attention!

No, they need to take action to… fulfil their DESIRES.

Also, please, please make it EASY for them to take action. That means a simple number to call or an easy slip to fill in.

Don’t put them off by having a long and complex closure procedures – they’ll drift away. Their desire is very weak at this point and you need to nurture them.

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Time Saving Tip of The Day
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SEND BACK THE ORIGINAL. Rather than typing up a brand new letter, answer routine correspondence by writing your reply right on to the original letter you received.

Make a copy for your records and mail the original back to the sender with your response written in the spare space. I have used this brilliant tip many times and can vouch for it’s time-saving effects.
Well that’s it from me until Thursday. I’m off to write to the senior director of The Four Seasons Group (seriously, I am – I’m that annoyed about this).

Maybe I’ll mention that I stole some sheets off the bed which I am donating to homeless people in London. Oh, and if he wants them back, then of course all he needs to do is write to the Director of the Homeless Association of Great Britain and naturally we will return them!

Yours,

Stuart Goldsmith