“Dan, what makes a powerful brand?” my protégé Jonathan asked.

“A powerful brand delivers moments.” I said.

“What are moments?”

“You see, human beings don’t remember days. Days are not memorable. We remember moments,” I said. “Remember your first kiss? Remember your first car? Remember the moment when your child was born? Those are special moments we never forget.”

“So we have to deliver unique experiences to our customers?”

“Yes, but it’s MORE than that. A powerful brand delivers moments… moments that we want to re-live again and again.” I explained to Jonathan. “You have to understand most people lead lives of quiet desperation. People are bored out of their minds.”

“So if we can deliver moments, they’ll want to do business with us again and again?”

“That’s right. And why do you think celebrities and athletes get paid so much money… Because they’re famous? No. Because they entertain us? That’s part of it. Because they deliver moments to us. They deliver excitment to us. The amaze us. They startle us. They move us. They make us cry. They make us laugh. They make us think. Most importantly, they make us dream.”

“I actually never thought of it that way.”

“People will spend their last nickel to have fun.”

“That’s so true.”

“So if you really think about it… you’re not selling a product… you’re not selling a service. Ultimately, what we’re all selling is good feelings.”

“Good feelings?”

“We buy the new car because it makes us feel good. We buy the ice cream because it makes us feel good. We go on vacations because it makes us..”

“Feel good!”

“You got it,” I concluded.

Dan “The Man” Lok

P.S. Underground six-figure blogger returns to unleash the hidden truth about long term, high profit blogs that earn him up to $34,244.00 per month from just a few hours work per week.

One of the biggest “AHA” I got from the seminar is the POWER of branding.

Kiyosaki said, “If you’re not a brand, you’re a a commodity.”

When I first got started, it was very difficult to attract clients and customers.

I was a commodity.

Prospects didn’t trust me. Nobody wanted to do business with me.

I had no credibility whatsoever in the marketplace.

But I kept marketing, marketing and marketing.

Doing everything possible to get my name out there.

Suddenky, new and eager prospects knocking on my door.

I accidentally built a personal brand.

Today, the name Dan Lok is a is a respected authority on internet business.

He also said, “Getting from where you are to where you want to be requires, among other things, brand equity - the summation of everything a company stands for.”

Most marketers focus on selling products instead of building a brand.

If you’re only selling one product on one website, you’re screwed. You’re a commodity. You’re not building up any brand equity.

What business are you really in? Are you in the transaction business? Are you in the product business?

Or are you in the relationship business?

Dan The Man

P.S. Don’t click on this link unless you’re willing to hear what a former army commando has to say about $1,165 ClickBank affiliate marketing paydays.

I just came back from the Rich Dad seminar - The Psychology of Winners.

It was outstanding! I don’t go to seminars very often, but man, I am glad I went to this one!

The seminar costs $5,000.00 per person, so you don’t have a bunch of wannabes attending.

In fact, there were some serious players in the room.

I met Ken McElroy, who is one of the Rich Dad Advisors. Ken’s Companies current management and investment portfolio consists of over 4,000 units with a market value of over $250,000,000. Super smart guy.

I met Gary Gray, who is a Hollywood film director. He directed Be Cool, The Negotiator and The Italian Job.

I met Jim, who owns a 30-million year business in UK.

The networking was just invaluable.

Anyway, what have I learned from the seminar?

Kiyosaki said, “Winning is a process, not an event.”

When you stop learning, you stop winning. When people say “I won’t”, it’s in the past. People often get stuck where they were the most successful.

It’s time to get back into the process of winning. All the successes you had were events, you gotta move on. People win and they stop. They don’t grow anymore. They forget that winning is a process.

Kiyosaki also said, “When people are focused on being comfortable or liked, they often won’t do what the business needs in order to succeed.”

“When people have to be right, they won’t accept criticism. At some level, being right can make you wrong.”

Different people win in different ways. There are a lot of people who win by losing. They are the people who become victims, or will hurt themselves, or who lose in order to win. When things just get better, they lose. Then they win by saying “I knew it wouldn’t work” and they win by losing.

Dan The Man

I am flying to Scottsdale, Arizona on April 25th.

Why? I am invited to attend a Robert Kiyosaki closed-door seminar.

In case you’ve been living in a cave and don’t know who Robert Kiyosaki is. He is author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad.”

If you haven’t read his books, you should pick them up.

I’ve got a small section of my library filled with his “purple” books.

Anyway, Darren Weeks (Canadian Rich Dad and founder of Fast Track to Cash Flow) called me out of the blue.

“Dan, the Rich Dad Company is conducting a three-day training program in Arizona, you should come,” said Darren Weeks.

“Darren, you know I don’t like traveling. And it has to be a pretty damn special seminar if you want me to get on a plane,” I said.

“It’s VERY special. I am going. You’re one of my Rich Dad Advisors. The entire Fast Track team is going. You should come with us.”

“I don’t know…”

“Dan, Robert only does TWO LIVE teaching events like this a year. He’s teaching pAnd, I don’t know how much longer he’s gonna to be doing them. He has some “BIG” Business ventures on the go now.”

“How many people will attend? This isn’t one of those Learning Annex deals where you have 15,000 people in a room, is it?” I asked.

“Oh no… This is gonna be a small group thing. 150 people max. So there is a lot of interaction with Robert and his advisors.”

“Okay. What’s the seminar called?”

“The Psychology of Winning. This particular event is very important, because it is so timely.  Robert will be speaking specifically about what it takes to be a WINNER in 2008… with all of the turmoil that the U.S. economy is going through,” Darren replied.

“ALL right. I’ll go.”

I’ll keep you posted on what I learn from Kiyosaki at the event, okay?

Dan “The Man”

Would you like to have the almost “magical” ability to flood your business with paying customers any time you want? 

Just had an interesting conversation with my mentoring client.

“Dan, I want to implement a viral marketing campaign to drive more traffic to my site,” Mitch asked. “Can you give me some suggestions?”

“Okay. First of all, do you know what viral marketing is?” I asked.

“Hmm… kinda. It’s where you’re giving something valuable away so other people will pass on to other people, right?”

“Yes, but not quite. Viral marketing describes ANY strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence.”

“So it spreads like a virus.”

“Correct. That’s where the TERM viral marketing comes from. Some people call it buzz marketing, some people call it word of mouth marketing.”

“I remember Hotmail did it and it was very successful at the time,” Mitch said.

“Exactly! Think about what hotmail did. They give away email addresses and services. They attach a tag at the bottom of every message sent out. Get your private email account. Then they simply stand back while people email to their network of friends.”

“Yeah, it’s like WOW my friends are using hotmail, I want to use it too.”

“Right. So a good viral marketing strategy should incorporate some sort of giveaways, make sense?” I asked.

“Make sense.”

“You also need it make it brain dead simple for people to pass it on to other people. Make it scalable. Make it exciting! Make it interesting. Make it newsworthy. Controversy sells. Solve a common problem for your marketplace. Begin with an end in mind because ultimately you’re promoting your products and services.”

HONESTe Online just released a new, brandable, ‘viral’ e-book titled, “Be Safe Online!”

This beautifully illustrated, entertainingly written, “quick read” teaches consumers highly-unique tips, tricks and secrets for being safe, smart and secure while shopping online.

I don’t care if you’re interested in using web seals to boost your conversion rate.

Download it and study it. This is how viral marketing should be done.

Dan The Man

I just got rejected by my own publisher - Morgan James Publishing. A New York Publisher.

Morgan James has published two of my books, Creativity Sucks and The Art of War for The New Millennium. We have a wonderful business relationship, but when I approached them with my NEW book idea…

“What do you mean you couldn’t publish my book?” I asked.

“Dan, your idea is too outrageous and your title is too edgy,” the publisher replied.

“I KNOW. That’s what makes it sell,” I said. “I WANT it to be edgy and I WANT the book to be controversial. It generates buzz and captures the media’s attention. That’s the whole point!”

“I understand, and I think your book idea is fantastic. But it just doesn’t fit with our company’s culture. We’re more on the conservative side. Besides, our broad will never approve it.”

“Come on, we’ve already done two books together. You know I am a proven author. I am telling you, this book will be a mega-seller.”

“I know, but…”

“There’s no BUT. Look, I’ve already got the whole thing planned out. I am gonna do an Amazon best-seller campaign. I am gonna do interviews. I am gonna send the books to my colleagues. They’re gonna help me promote the book. We’ll sell a lot of copies. Trust me.”

“Dan, we just can’t publish it.”

I am not mad at the publisher or anything.

In fact, I expected to get rejected by a few more publishers before I find one that will publish it.

I can’t let the cat out of the bag and reveal the title here. Well, at least not yet.

I have a conference call with another publisher next week. Will I get rejected again? Maybe. Who the hell knows?

One thing I DO know, I am gonna find a publisher no matter what!

So I get a few bruises along the way. Who gives a damn?

As Dale Carnegie said, “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”

Dan The Man

P.S. Even if you don’t have a creative bone in your body, with my million-dollar swipe file, it’s now easier than ever to simply plug your sales message into a proven, red-hot professionally-written sales letter and get it delivered in a hurry to your customers and prospects without paying one red cent to an expensive copywriter! Is that good or GOOD?

One day a man saw a butterfly shuddering on the sidewalk, locked in a seemingly hopeless struggle to free itself from its now… useless cocoon.

Feeling pity, he took out his pocket knife, carefully cut away the cocoon and set the butterfly free.

To his dismay, it lay on the sidewalk, convulsed weakly for awhile, and died.

A biologist later told the man, “That was the worst thing you could have done! A butterfly needs that struggle to develop the muscles to fly. By robbing him of the struggle, you made him too weak to live.”

Sometimes, when I am coaching and my clients have a question. Instead of just giving them THE answer, I would ask questions and help them to “discover” the solutions on their own.

Let them struggle a bit. Challenge their minds a bit. Make them work a little.

A few years ago, my mentor asked me, “Dan, what do you think is the most important quality for an entrepreneur?”

“Sales skill,” I replied.

“No.”

“Intelligence.”

“No.”

“Hmm… Enthusiasm!”

“That’s important, but not the most important.”

Then my mentor said, “It’s the ability to endure pain for a long period of time.”

Dan “The Man” Lok

P.S. Finally! A copywriting software that automatically inserts my power words and proven copywriting formula into your sales letter >>

While on vacation, I took a cab and had a very insightful conversation with a most unusual cab driver.

After getting in the cab I noticed something very different and strange. But first…

If you’ve ever taken a cab, then you’ll know one peculiar thing about cab drivers. They tend to usually be grumpy and sometimes not very nice.

But this driver was unusually happy.

He was enthusiastic and just had a great smile.

I’m a student of many things.

I’m always curious about human behavior and why we act the way we do.

It’s probably because human behavior is so important to marketing and business. So maybe that’s why I’m so curious about it. Anyway…

We’re going along, and I’m talking to the driver. And all the time taking note of his unusual good mood. I couldn’t take it anymore. I asked him…

“Why are you so happy? Why are you so upbeat?”

And his reply? “Oh! I don’t know. I just feel this way.”

Hmmm… not good enough. I dug a little deeper.

I asked him, why? And he thought about it.

The driver said, “I’ve got a great family. A great wife and two sons. I’ve got this great job. And I get to drive around town and meet all kinds of interesting people. What’s not to be happy about?”

Now… in the back of my mind I’m thinking, “… yeah, but you’re JUST a cab driver.”

Now understand I’m NOT putting down any profession, or cabbies. For me… ?

I’m a happy, upbeat, enthusiastic guy. But I got even MORE curious about this.

So I continued. I said to him, “So you love your job and everything’s great?”

He said, “Yeah! I’m just grateful and happy,  man.” Hmmm. Ok. Then I asked him if he’s always like this? And he said he is like this pretty much everyday.

That’s one of the interesting things I’ve learned about life.

True wealth is not always about money. And yes… don’t get me wrong. Money’s important. I enjoy making it. I enjoy spending it. I enjoy investing it. I enjoy growing it. And I enjoy giving it.

But all too often we let money dictate how we feel. And also how we behave!

In other words, we let circumstances dictate how we feel. As Tony Robbins said years ago, “Nothing has any meaning except the meaning we give to it.”

Look at the cab driver. He doesn’t have a lot of money, yet he’s extremely happy almost ALL the time!

Isn’t that interesting?

It has nothing to do with money, or circumstances. It has everything to do with your attitude.

So what does that mean?

You can CHOOSE to feel happy at this moment. IF YOU WANT TO!

You can choose to feel fulfilled and satisfied. You can choose to feel energetic… IF you want to.

But many people choose to be sad. Many choose to feel unenergetic, depressed, and unenthusiastic…

… because they CHOSE to be like that!

So remember… it’s all a matter of choice.

Choose wisely today.

Dan “The Man” Lok

Here’s an unusual email from one of my subscribers, Garry.

And it hit me that there are some valuable lessons for everyone to take away.

Some I’m gonna re-print his email for you with some answers and comments for you to take away.

You’ll find this very useful and valuable.

Ok… first of all… Garry mentioned the following:

Dan:

I read your email with interest but found it a bit a la-la land.  The reason I say that is because you make it seem easy to make $10,000 a month “small, but it’s a good start for most people” and that one can just decide that’s what they want to make and they can make it (easily).

Whatever you suggest, Internet Marketing is not easy.  There are a lot of skills to learn.  I have been poking around at this IM stuff for a couple of years and all I’ve developed is information overload.

I have joined a couple of affiliate marketing programs and have started to do some article marketing.  I realize I have to learn how to do email marketing by learning autoresponder skills, forum marketing and now web 2.0 marketing as well as other ways to drive traffic (SEO, etc.)to my squeeze page/blog/website all of which I don’t have yet and have to learn how to build (soon).

Of course, that’s just the beginning and there are a lot more skills to learn to master IM.

I don’t think you intended to be but I found your email somewhat condescending in that (and I’m not sure who your email was intended for but it certainly couldn’t be for “newbies”) for you to say to just decide what your monthly goal is and divide it by 30 days e.g. $350.00 dollars a day would be very upsetting to someone trying and struggling to make their first dime online.  I know it was for me.  It’s just not that easy!!!

Anyway, I don’t know what the answer is other than to learn these basic skills and that takes time and persistance.  I don’t know if you have any positive suggestions but if you have I’d sure like to hear them and you’s be helping out a fellow Canuck.

There I’ve vented.  Best regards,

Garry

Now I apologize for this. To me it IS easy to make $10,000 a month. And I don’t mean to brag. I earn a 7 figure per year income.

Has my life always been easy?

I’ve been BROKE before. I’ve had NO money, in the past. I worked for minimum wage in the early years. I was $150,000 in debt. And I can bet I’ve failed more than anyone who’s reading this email.

So I KNOW what it feels like to be broke.

But now I guess since I’ve become more successful… it is easy to get used to that kind of money per month. But your comment tells me something…

If you think making $10,000 a month is very big. If you think it’s a huge… very difficult, or almost impossible goal… then guess what?

Then you won’t make it!

You gotta THINK BIGGER!

Donald Trump said it years ago. (But he certainly wasn’t the first to say it.) In his book he said, “If you’re gonna be thinking anyway, you might as well think big!”

Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars.

So maybe you don’t hit your BIG goal. But instead you earn a third or maybe half of what you were aiming for.

Wouldn’t you be happy with that? I think so.

It also tells me something else about your belief system…

You think $10,000 is a lot of money. I’m curious. Why is it a lot of money? Compared to who? To most people, maybe.

But again, you’re not like most people. Most people are too damn lazy to be reading and learning about marketing.

It’s a lot like the concept, or expression, of “hard-earned dollars” vs “easy money.” We’re taught by everyone around us that making money is hard. It’s GOTTA be hard.

People also tend to ASSUME things about others who have money.

Either they were born into wealth. Or they cheated and stole their way into wealth. People make a LOT of assumptions about wealthy people. (Mostly wrong assumptions)

People assume that making money is difficult. It’s hard. You gotta work hard for it. You have to sweat and struggle to make a little bit of money… to make enough money “to make ends meet.”

Why?

Is there something wrong with making easy money? What’s wrong with easy money?

Do we get bonus points if we make it the hard way? It makes no sense to me.

But I need to step back for a moment and tell you something…

I agree 100% with you. I am NOT saying that it’s easy. Business is not easy. It’s cut-throat!

But LISTEN TO THIS…

It does get EASIER as YOU become smarter and more experienced.

And OF COURSE there are a lot of skills to be learned.

That’s the core message of Dan’s Rant.

Write this down someplace where you’ll see it. Or… make DARN sure you remember this!

“You don’t earn higher income, rather you earn the right to higher income.”

You never just GET higher income.

You have to earn the RIGHT to higher income.

How do you do that?

By working on yourself. By developing yourself and your skill sets.

I’m where I am today… earning what I earn today because of my skill sets and my brain. Over the years, I’ve taken the time to develop my skills… my business acumen, copywriting skill, marketing skill, speaking skill, leadership skill, and my leadership skill.

All those skills I’ve developed and honed over the years have given me the ability to “easily” make this kind of money. I have the skills!

So Garry… I DO think you’re on the right track. You are working on developing your skills.

My email wasn’t intended for a newbie. On the one hand… it couldn’t be for a newbie. But on the other, a lot has to do with perspective, I believe. It depends on how you want to look at it.

It really depends on how you choose to look at it. And who determines that?

YOU!

You also mentioned that $350 a day would be upsetting to some people. So I’ll ask…

Why would you be upset?

Who are you upset with? … me or yourself?

Are you… or anyone… upset with the situation? Upset because you’re struggling? So are you upset with me, or yourself?

So think about that. Just really think about it.

You and so many others are PROGRAMMED to think it’s hard. I just want you to shift your perspective… realize… and BELIEVE… that it’s possible for you. It IS out there. It exists and is REAL.

It is possible. It’s doable. And you CAN do it, Garry. All of you can do it.

It does take time. It takes persistence. It takes focus. And it’s not some la-la-land stuff.

I don’t know… maybe you’re new to my Rant. But I’ve NEVER said it does NOT take time, focus, commitment… all those things I think most people realize.

I hope that helps and clears-up some things for you.

Thanks for your great questions!

Dan “The Man” Lok

P.S. If you are new to internet marketing, “The Fly On The Wall Club” offers cutting edge marketing information and access to proven business strategies. You are going to be able to watch live as Colin builds an Internet marketing business right before your eyes over the next few months.

You will be a “fly on the wall” and get to see every single step he takes, he’ll reveal his research, his notes, his action plan, the software and tools he uses and even the money he spends (if he spends any). He’s gonna to let you see it develop live, you get to watch it grow, and finally see the income it generates. Best of all you can duplicate his system, step by step.

Do you ever feel confused and overwhelmed with all your daily “things to do?”

All the daily activities associated with your business.

Phone calls… maybe, writing, emails to answer and create, marketing your business… hopefully!

Lots of people let things get out of hand. And if you don’t get everything done today, then it rolls over to tomorrow’s list of things to do.

You know what I am talking about, don’t you?

You can easily see how this can affect your priority list. You know… what should I do first, second, and so on.

I’ll let you in on a really great tip I learned a long time ago from my mentor.

Set daily minimum financial goals.

I know a lot of people have income goals. But the way, what I learned is a bit different from the way most people approach their income goals.

Ok… let’s say you have an income goal of 10 thousand a month. Small, but it’s a good start for most people.

What most people do is review their income at the end of the month and see how close they came to hitting their target. Then maybe make adjustments and keep going along the next month.

What I’m gonna tell you to do is divide your monthly income goal by 30 days.

So if your monthly income goal is 10 thousand, then your daily income goal is about 334.00 a day for 30 days. Roughly speaking.

Lets keep it simple. Lets call it $350 a day. Now…

Ask yourself the following question each and every day.

“What am I doing today to achieve my daily goal of $350?”

What you’ll be doing is FOCUSING on the daily income goal and NOT the monthly income goal. Got it?

It’s simple. If you’re NOT hitting your daily goal, then obviously you won’t hit your monthly income goal.

And guess what? If you’re NOT hitting your monthly income goal, you definitely won’t hit your annual income goal.
The great thing is that you’ll KNOW way before the end of the month if you’re gonna hit your monthly goal. It’s immediate feedback! And it’ll help keep you FOCUSED on your business and what you need to do.

Getting back to daily priorities and that darn things-to-do list…

Simply asking what you’re doing to hit your DAILY income goal should be your #1 priority every single day. Everything else really is secondary.

So… “What have I done today to generate that $350 TODAY?”

That’s your FOCAL POINT.

Over the years I have found this approach to be EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE.

And guess what?

If you do NOT hit your daily income goal… then tomorrow you have to make-up the difference! If you did NOTHING today, then tomorrow you have to make $700.

Do it and stick to it!

And if you do well and exceed your daily income goal?

Great! You can relax just a bit. JUST a bit though.

You have to commit to hitting your daily income goal EACH and EVERY DAY.

Dan “The Man” Lok