Come on people, get a grip!

This will be my first and probably last comment about the Wall Street debacle and the failed "bailout."

Yep, it's bad news. Yep, a lot of people lost a lost of money. Yep, things are looking ugly. But ya know what? It's going to get better and you are going to be okay.

Please note that I am not making light of the situation or not being compassionate. I know a lot of people are scared and hurting. But remember this:

What you focus on expands.

And the truth is that all the worrying in the world is not going to change circumstances. It never does. So, you can keep watching the news and reading the newspaper and listening to the doom and gloom. You can keep focusing on the problem and you'll just make yourself feel worse and worse.

Or, you can focus on what you can control. Stephen Covey calls that focusing on your "circle of influence." Spending anytime worrying about things that are outside your circle of influence in counterproductive and a waste of time.

So don't fret over the dee-nero you might have lost but rather focus on how you can make more dee-nero. Now might be the time for you to change your life and catapult yourself to the next level. (You do realize that a whole bunch of folks are going to become VERY wealthy because of this "crisis" don't you? Are you going to be one of them?)

Do I feel that there should have been a bailout or not? I do have an opinion but guess what? It does not matter what my opinion is because that is not going to change anything.

Now, more than ever, you must hunker down and focus your attention on what you can do to improve your business. When times are good, you can be sloppy in your marketing and in your business practices. But when times are tough, sloppiness will kill you.

I was talking to a business owner recently and he actually said, "Yeah, things are going well for me so I'm not doing as much marketing." Huh? Could you imagine a dumber statement than that. When things are not going well for you that's when you should INCREASE your marketing not cut back on it.

It's time to get back to the fundamentals of not only running our businesses but running our lives.

You have a wonderful opportunity. Think about what you really want to do. Try to ignore your past programming about what you "should" do and open your mind to the possibility of making your life and your business exactly like you want it to be.

There is no better time than right now.

(I would love to hear your comments and I do read all of them.)

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

~Dave Dee

PS: We are almost there! It's almost time to unveil our new Passion Into Profits business and system. Stay tuned 'cause it's going to be cool!

PPS: If you want to really add a significant profit stream to your life this year (actually more like a roaring river!), then you should check out the new course, "How I Made $77 Million Dollars In Two Years - And You Can Too" by Vincent James. The original course sold for $300 - in fact that's what I bought it for - but I since I bought the publishing rights you can own it for pennies on the dollar.Go to: http://www.77milliondollars.com

Humility, false bravado and blindspots

Sometimes you need someone to tell you like it is and boy was I ever told this past weekend.

As Ricky Ricardo would say, "Let me 'splain."

Alexis and I were talking and she said that one of her friends that bought an advanced copy of my soon to be released home study course, "How To Turn Your Passion Into Profits", commented that although the content was great, the packaging was not. That is looked like it had been "thrown together" and that the Cd's were not edited properly.

At first, I was defensive -as I usually am. But then I started listening to what she was telling me and knew that she was right - which she usually is.

To me, content is all that matters. I don't care at all how the product looks BUT that does not mean packaging isn't important because it is. Everything is important.

I am having a team meeting tomorrow and the subject of making our products look and sound as good as the content they contain, is high on the agenda.

But all of this raises a MUCH bigger issue. The issue of humility.

Alexis pointed out that sometimes I come across like a braggart who thinks and says, "I'm the best." She asked that I go and and re-read some of my blog posts to see what she meant.

Not only did I do that but I read some other forms of business communication and, with an open mind and I'm embarrassed to say, she was once again correct.

It's important that you and I have supreme confidence in what we do and that we strive to be the best that we can be but do so with a touch of humility.

False bravado and overbearing cockiness do not allow you to be the best that you can be in any area of your life because they create blind spots. If you believe that you are the greatest thing since sliced bread, you will not objectively look at areas where you need improvement. And we ALL have areas where we need improvement. Believe me, I know that.

Also false bravado hides who you really are and how you really feel about yourself. It is a cover to hide behind so you don't have to look at your areas of weakness.

You see, mi amigo, I don't think I am the best at anything. Why? Because just that statement reflects that I am judging myself against the success of other people when I really should be working on being the best I can be and determine my success on the pursuit and achievement of the goals I set for myself.

Soon, my new "How To Turn Your Passion Into Profits" book is going to be published and released. It is an excellent book that I am really proud of. But you won't hear me saying that it is "the best." There are a LOT of good books available by some really smart people.

Should you get my book? Yes. Do I want you to buy it? Of course. Because I believe it can really help you live the life of your dreams. But I could not have written that book without the help and guidance of a whole lot of people. And that is the real truth.

Tomorrow, I am flying to Oregon. While on the plane, I am going to looking at my business and myself and writing down where I need to make improvements. I will be shining a bright light on what were once blind spots caused from the false bravado being "the best."

(Your comments are always welcome and I read all of them.)

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

~Dave Dee

The most dangerous number in business

What time zone am I in?

Last week I was in three different time zones in one day. Today, I'm in Richmond, flying back to Atlanta, staying in a hotel by the airport and flying to LA bright and early tomorrow morning. On Thursday, I have a 5:30 am call with Dan Kennedy and then on Friday and Saturday I have a meeting with my elite mastermind group.

As Junie B. Jones would say, "Wowie, wow, wow."

I'm kinda fried and didn't feel like being very creative so I wrote you a meat and 'tators article that I think you'll get a lot out of.

Enjoy!

The most dangerous business is the number one and this is especially true when you count on one marketing method to generate leads for you. When you only use one or two strategies to bring new clients through the door, you have built your business on very shaky ground.

When, marketing guru Jay Abraham talks about building a business, he asks “Do you want to build your business like a Greek Parthenon or like a diving board?”

He then draws an illustration of a diving board that has one pillar holding up the board and asks, “What does a diving board do?” The answer is, it goes up and it goes down and if that one pillar is knocked out the whole diving board collapses.

Then he shows a picture of a Greek Parthenon that has a number of different pillars underneath it and if one of them gets knocked out the top of the Greek Parthenon does not fall, the business does not crumble.

The different pillars represent the marketing strategies you use to generate leads. The more pillars you can have profitably, the more stable your business is going to be.

You want to use every strategy – Online, Offline, and everything in between -- to generate leads and market your business.

If you just market online because its fast and, in some cases, inexpensive, you are setting yourself up for disaster.

I was speaking at an Internet marketing seminar about 3 years ago and I was one of the most unpopular speakers because I was talking about how you need to use direct mail! I said you need to use offline methods to build a stable business.

And people were saying no, no, no it’s too expensive, it’s too difficult, its too this and that. All we need to use is Google Adwords. I said, if all you’re doing is using Google Adwords to drive traffic to your website, your business is in a very precarious position.

One week later, Google changed some of the rules about what advertisers could do. This became know as the “Google slap.” People who had lucrative businesses making hundreds of thousands of dollars a month basically went out of business because using Adwords was the only way they had to drive people to their website.

Another person I know, who was a true wiz at search engine optimizations, had his BIG business humming along by being ranked high in the search engines – usually in the number one position. One night he went to bed and when he woke up in the morning, his websites were not even listed on the FIRST PAGE of any of the major search engines.

The rules changed overnight and his business was instantly cut in half –and that’s the good news because at least he had some other methods for generating traffic to his website or he could have lost his entire business.

Here is a check list of the different ways you can market your business. See how many of them you are utilizing right now.

• Direct Mail Letters
• Direct Mail Postcard
• Search Engine Optimization
• Pay Per Click
• Banner Ads
• Email
• Articles
• Newspaper Advertising
• Magazine Advertising
• Val Pak
• Radio
• Television
• Strategic Alliances
• Publicity

And that is just a partial list!

Again, the more methods you can profitably use to generate leads, the better off and safer you are.

This is important: Do NOT just choose one marketing method over another because one method produces leads at a lower cost. This is a huge error. Again, you want to use ALL the methods that you profitably can.

You take ALL of those methods add up the cost per lead from each method and then divide by the number of methods you are using to get your average cost per lead.

The bottom line is this:

By using multiple lead generation strategies you will have a business that you can count on, that your family can count on and that will put money in your pocket – regardless of what’s happening in the economy.

Okay, time to me to schedule a nap...

(As always, your comments are welcome and I really do read all of them.)

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

~Dave Dee
Author of "How To Turn Your Passion Into Profits"

P.S. I know I keep teasing you about this "BIG THING" that's coming and how cool it's going to be. It is taking much longer than I anticipated to get off the ground and is a ton of work. I'm talking with my team today, and will get you a status report about when we are going to launch this thing. Believe me, it'll be worth the wait.

The 3 letters that'll make you successful

Today's message is going to be short and sweet 'cause I have my kids and want to spend as much time as I can with them.

We are off to a Halloween store - yep, already - and then to get the back window of my car fixed because it won't go up. My girlfriend, who dubbed my Cadillac, the "grand daddy" car would probably tell me I should buy new one.

Okay, mi amigo, the three letters that can make the difference between success and failure are: N-O-W.

The most successful and richest people I know, hear a good idea and then take immediate action on it. They don't wait, procrastinate and say "I'll do it tomorrow." The speed of implementation is one of the attributes of millionaires.

A couple years ago, Dan Kennedy told real estate guru Ron LeGrand that he should hire me. Ten minutes later, I get a call from LeGrand and within 15 minutes, he had hired me.

When should you start that exercise program that you've been promising yourself you'll do? NOW. When should you start your retirement account? NOW. When should you start working on your major life goal that you've been putting off? NOW. When should you forgive that person you've been holding a grudge against? NOW. When should you tell your loved ones how much you love them? NOW.

You can create tremendous "success momentum" by taking action NOW.

Have a great weekend.

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

~Dave Dee
Author of "How To Turn Your Passion Into Profits"

P.S. Next week it all begins. What begins you ask? You'll see and it's going to be amazing.

A *must see* movie and very personal revelations

First, let me apologize not writing to you on a daily basis like I usually do.

My team and I are SWAMPED trying to get the final draft of my new book "How To Turn Your Passion Into Profits" to the publisher plus putting my new website together. It is crazy around these parts! But all of our hard work will directly benefit you so stay tuned!

Anyway, my son and I went to see "Proud American." This is a limited release, independent film. Although a bit corny with some sub par acting at times, it is a GREAT movie for entrepreneurs or anyone interested in success to see. PLUS, it was a pro-America movie and very patriotic. It was nice to see for a change instead of the Michael Moorer type of swill.

Hey, this country isn't perfect but it still gives all of us the greatest chance to live our dreams. (Just ask the millions of people from other countries who literally die trying to get here.)

Last week I received a scathing blog post from one of my subscribers that I could not post because of some pretty strong profanity. He very angrily told me to stop bragging and gloating over how well I am doing and how perfect my life is. (This was in response to my post about gratitude.)

When I re-read the post, I did see how it might come off like I was saying how wonderful I am. But the point of my post was definitely NOT to "brag" - in fact, it was the complete opposite. It was to show how grateful I am for what I have.

Let me tell you something very personal...

Before my divorce last year, I was very judgemental. And I DID think, in some ways I was "better than the average bear." And because I judged other people, I also judged myself and constantly used that judgement to compare myself to other people. Doing this lead to what I believe, motivational speaker Kevin Hogan, calls "comparison despair."

I always compared my success to the success of people who were doing better than me. Doing this is okay to see what is possible but it acts a negative motivator if you feel badly about yourself because you're not doing as well as someone else. (And unless you're Bill Gates, there is always someone who is doing better than you.)

After my divorce, and what was the worst year of my life, I came to realize that I was no better than anyone else. Sure, at somethings I was better than other people but that did not make me a superior human being. Conversely, there are people who are superior to me at certain things but that does not make me inferior to them as a human being.

Jesus said, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." How true.

I am starting a new business and releasing my new book to help people life their dream life by owning a business that they love, that's fulfilling and that helps other people.

When I tell stories about my lifestyle, it is not say "Hey, look how great I am!" But rather to drive home the point that YOU can design YOUR life the way you want it to be. YOU can make it happen and I want to help you.

Yep, that sounds corny but I don't give a damn. It's really how I feel. It's my mission.

And yes, I am a Proud American.

(Your comments are welcome and I do read all of them.)

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

~Dave Dee
Author of "How To Turn Your Passion Into Profits"

Let the ugliness begin

Well, football has started and my beloved Miami Dolphins, once again, started with a loss. I have a feeling that this is going to be, once again, an ugly season for the Fins. I've gotta tell you I handled the loss fairly well, only uttering obscenities a few times and punching the bed once. This is marked improvement in my behavior from past years.

But I'm not here to talk about football or my emotional issues tied to watching the game but rather I want to chat with you about a super important topic.

The other day, I was talking to the publisher of my new book (which is going to be released in the fall) and my team and they all thought it would be a good idea for me to put some photographs in the book to visually represent my lifestyle.

The ideas for pictures were, me sitting on the beach with my laptop computer (in fact, I'm looking at the ocean right now), me holding my computer bag with the caption "Dave carrying his entire business", me and my kids going to a movie in the middle of the afternoon, Alexis and I eating at fancy restaurant (in fact, we eat out almost every day) etc.

As they were giving me these picture suggestions, it hit me over the head like a ton of bricks that I have a damn good life!

No, really. I'm being serious.

I had taken for granted how good my life actually is. Not everyone can fly first class across the country every other week, take time off whenever they want, make money with nothing more than their computer, walk 50 feet out their front door and be on the beach, etc.

I was kind of embarrassed, not because of my lifestyle, I've worked hard and continue to work hard to make it the way it is, but because I've not as grateful as I should be.

Then I got to thinking about everything I should be grateful for and really felt gratitude inside my body. Quite frankly, it felt great in a humbling kind of way.

It was then I decided that every morning I would write down, in my PAPER planner (so far superior to an electronic calendar) one thing I was grateful for. Here are some actual examples:

I am grateful to have Randy as such a great friend and person on my team.

I am so grateful to have two beautiful, loving and healthy kids.

I am so grateful for being in love and being loved by my girlfriend.

I am so grateful for going home today (After my four day weekend at Burning Man!)

Mi amigo, I suggest you adopt this practice of writing down one thing you are grateful for every day for the next 30 days. After you write it down, feel it inside your body. Make a commitment to do this.

Remember the key to receiving more is to be grateful for what you already have.

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

~Dave Dee

P.S. Beginning in two weeks, I am going to officially launch my new Passion Into Profits business and you are going to start getting a TON of valuable gifts including videos, teleseminars, reports, articles and more. (By the way, these gifts have real value and are NOT like the pseudo gifts the Internet marketing "gurus" give away to sell their hyped up, overblown products.)

Then on Saturday, November 8th you will have the opportunity to participate in one of the coolest events ever to hit the Internet...and you won't have to leave your home.

Get ready for a wild and super fun ride!

Burning Man Review - Part 2 & Pictures!

Yesterday, I told you about the cast of characters who were in my camp at Burning Man and gave you a description of some of what happened at this wild, some might say, "freak show" of an event.

I won't keep you in suspense any longer about who the other major player was who I spent a lot of time with. It was...

Alexis' ex-husband Todd.

That's right, I was on vacation with Alexis, her two kids and her ex-husband! More on this later.

First, let me tell you what I did NOT like about BM and then I will tell you the lessons I learned.

There appeared to be a lot of anti-American sentiment. I was angered and disturbed when I saw idiots flying or hanging the American flag upside down. It's ironic that these people who think America is such a bad country, enjoy the freedom to have an event like this because of this great country. To show disrespect to your country, especially in a time of war, when our brave, young men and women are giving their lives, is unacceptable and disgusting to me.

But that brings us to the first lesson: What you focus on expands. Out of the 50,000 people who attended the event, I only saw three such flag "incidents." Don't get me wrong, that was three too many and there were probably more I didn't see ,BUT had Ifocused on just that, my BM experience would have been very negative, which it definitely was not.

If you focus on things that are going bad in your business, the economy and your life, that's what you'll get more of. On the flip side, if you focus on your goals, solutions and the good things in your life, you'll get more of that.

What are you habitually focusing on?

The attendees at Burning Man were, well, a bit freaky -and that does include my girlfriend. Alexis had the observation that some people (not all) come to this event to be able to express parts of themselves that they can't accept in normal society without judgement or condemnation.

I used to be VERY judgemental. After my divorce last year, I realized that I was in no position to judge any other human being. But I had to be very aware of not judging people at BM because some of them were so different and, quite frankly, offensive to me.

A personal "aha", moment for me came when I was deciding what "costume" I would wear at BM. "How could I express myself?", I asked. Then it hit me that I am authentically myself almost all of the time. I know who I am and act that way on a daily basis. There is no part of me that I don't express in everyday life. What you read in my daily email and blog entries is, for better or worse, is me.

One of the best ways for you to really connect with your customers, is to be authentically you. Let your real personality shine through. Let people know who you are. With that being said, you might have to downplay parts of your personality that might not jive with your customer base.

This does NOT mean you should be phony. It means reveal all parts of your personality but not all parts in great detail. For example, it'd be okay for you to tell your customers and prospects that you're going to Burning Man but you might not want to tell them what you DO at Burning Man.

And now for the conclusion of this saga...

The actual burning of the man (a HUGE wooden statue like structure) was AMAZING. The fireworks display before the actual burn was the most spectacular fireworks display I had ever seen. It took my breath away. Also, I was under the impression that the actual burning of the man was going to be a drug infused crazy event with a lot of nudity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Tens of thousands of people watched this and I did not see ANY of that. In fact, sitting next to me was a young couple with their child.

We were going to leave the next evening but a "white out" occurred. This is a major sandstorm where you can't see anything. We had already packed up the camp so Heather, Tammy, Starla (the screaming 18 month old) and Todd - all of which were not staying in the RV - had to join Alexis, Kaia, Noah and myself in the RV OVERNIGHT. Think about the dynamics here, mi amigo. Todd, the ex, slept with the kids in one part of the RV while Alexis and I slept in another part of the RV!

The next morning we left Burning Man, after some last minute drama with Juicy and Tammy, for a 17 hour drive back to LA. We arrived, exhausted, at 6:00am the next day.

Would I go back to Burning Man? Yes, in fact I will be going next year. Although I did not LOVE it, I did love how it helped me grow and step outside my mainstream box.

(As always, your comments are welcome and I really do read all of them.)

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!


~Dave Dee

P.S. Alexis just forwarded me an email about a Tantra workshop happening on Friday in LA. Good Lord...

PS #2: Did you mark your calendar for November 8, 2008 and January 16-18th, 2009. On these dates I am going to be holding amazing, wild and cutting edge events. The first one, you won't have to leave your house for (and it's NOT a teleseminar or webinar - it's something much bigger.) The January event will require that you leave your house - but those three days away from home will be three of the most important days of your life. Seriously, highlight these dates on your calendar now.

PS #3: Here are pictures of me at Burning Man. The first is of Laura (the sweet woman who drove me to the event) and I making "desert angles." The second is after I rang the bell and screamed, "I am no longer a virgin!".

Back from another planet - Burning Man Review

I just got back from absolutely one of the strangest trips ever.

Yes, I survived "Burning Man" and now I am officially a "burner." Burning Man is a once a year event held in the desert in Reno, NV. It is a week long festival of "self expression", partying and just plain weirdness.

Let me start at the beginning of my journey...

The night before I leave for BM, I took my kids to see Rod Stewart in concert. It was great fun but only allowed me to get one hour of sleep before I had to leave for the airport.

Fortunately, I slept for almost for the entire flight so I felt pretty good when I met Laura at the Reno airport.

It's a four hour drive from the airport to BM and I didn't have a ride until two days before. I posted on the BM website that I needed a ride and Laura responded. I was relieved to discover that she was a very nice, friendly, attractive and fun woman. This made the ride to BM very enjoyable.

We arrive at the gates of BM and are greeted by three, shall we say, "free spirited" people (two men and a woman) who take my ticket and immediately start teasing me about my attire which consisted of $200 jeans (that's a whole other story!), black loafers and a T-shirt. My shoes were the target of much criticism and good natured joking.

I am told to get out of the car, ring large bell and yell, "I am no longer a Virgin!" I comply with the first part of the initiation and then asked, "Now you can either be spanked or make a dirt angel. Which do you want?"

"Um, dirt angel, " I reply. So, I lie down on the desert sand, pretend I'm in the snow and make a fine looking "dirt angel."

Initiation completed, we drive off to try to find Alexis' camp in Kidsville.

The desert looks like a refuge camp - seriously. There are thousands and thousands of tents set up with people camping on the desert ground. Of course, there are also many RVs which are a kind reminder that we are living in the 21st century.

My head turns quickly, to see a topless woman, riding a bicycle. "Hey, maybe this won't be all so bad," I think to myself.

Somehow, I find my girlfriend who is wearing, faux pink dreadlocks in her hair. (Yes, dudes, she did have clothes on!) Even with the crazy hair, I still find her to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Laura wishes me luck as she drives away.

Alexis introduces me to the cast of characters in her camp.

First is Brett, a would be rock star, who appeared to be inebriated for the entire trip.

Then there was Tammy, who was very interested in partying more than watching her 18 month old baby Starla. Starla had a vocabulary that consisted of saying the word "no" to EVERYTHING, screaming "mine!" and pitching major fits.

Up next was Heather, who was cool.

Finally, on occasion, there was "Juicy" (yes, JUICY) a 30 year old man child who was the father of Starla but not with the mother Tammy but wanted to be with the mother Tammy and fought constantly with her in between times of feeling sorry for himself.

Of course, Alexis' kids, and my buddies, Kaia and Noah were there to round out this motley crew.

(There was one other major player in this drama but I'll keep you in suspense about him for just a little longer.)

Lest you think, I didn't have fun, I did and learned a lot about myself and people.

There were some absolutely AMAZING works of art (modern art, mind you), entire night clubs erected in the desert, a thunderdome where people could joust (a la "Mad Max"), tons of theme camps with EVERY theme imaginable, "art cars" these ranged from decorated golf carts to huge open air buses, performance artists, people in wild costumes and, in some cases, no costumes and more. Think of Mardi Gras and Carnivale (in Brazil) and you'll get somewhat of an idea of what I'm talking about.

Tomorrow, I will continue with my saga and talk about some important insights and discoveries I made at Burning Man.

(As always, your comments are welcome and I really do read all of them.)

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

~Dave Dee

P.S. Wanna find out who the other major player at this event was? Gonna reveal it tomorrow!

PPS. Mark these two dates down on your calendar now and highlight them. November 8th and January 16-18th, 2009. That's all I'm going to say for now. Much more to come but I promise you, you will NOT want to miss out on what's happening during these times. It's the biggest, grandest and wildest thing I have ever done.