Month: September 2014

I love mornings.

Any time I manage to get up early, I have a fantastic day.

So much energy, clarity, focus.

Not sure why, I just love it.

Reminds me of when I was a kid and had a newspaper round.

Beautiful to walk around a sleeping city and see it wake up.

Problem is, up until a few weeks ago, I rarely ever managed to be out of bed before eight.

Sure, that’s not late either, but it’s not exactly early.

So I’d set my alarm for 6, or 7, and then I’d hit the snooze button over and over again.

No matter which alarm app I used.

No matter if I had it play heavy metal music.

Did you know?

It’s entirely possibly to sleep straight through Metallica.

Incidentally, the man who invented the snooze button will the first to be up against the wall when the revolution comes.

The damage which that particular invention does is staggering, but that’s a story for another day.

So how did I do it?

How do I get up early these days, cheery and bright as a spark?

Did I become a father?

Nope.

Did I train a dog to paw me, a cat to claw me?

Nope, nope.

Ice bucket with a time trigger?

Nope.

Here’s what I did:

I stopped using an alarm clock.

Dude… it’s magic.

Counterintuitive perhaps, but magic nonetheless.

Simple, too.

Here’s why it works:

When midnight comes round, I know that I want to get up early.

And because I’ve given the finger to my alarm clock, I know that unless I get to bed, it ain’t gonna happen.

And so I hobble over to the bedroom before I turn into a pumpkin, and off I go to stellarland.

Six hours later: wide awake.

Ready for a new day, and with a massive bunch of energy.

Try it, it just might work for you.

See, the alarm clock was my enabler, my excuse.

I would tell myself that I could stay up until 1am, 2am, 3am… because hey, I’d set my alarm. Right?

And obviously, my system would just force me to sleep on because the lizard brain forces you to do what’s good for you.

Sleep is good for you, and the lizard brain knows it.

So by not using an alarm, I removed the excuse for staying up late.

Which is why these days, I can genuinely say: GOOD morning.

Love it, love seeing the sun come up.

Anyway, something to consider.

By the way, today is the last day to register in time for the October issue of LEAP.

And since I’m chucking that puppy FULL of ways to turn your site into a list building machine, I say you’d better get yourself in gear and join…

It’s absolutely worth it – several times a week day a subscriber writes in with a question, and in passing tells me it’s working so well for them.

Go here –> http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

To your health,

Martin

Well, ex-monk.

But still.

The training I’ve had in the monastery had a good effect on me.

And you can learn from it.

Not that I was ever a very good monk, mind you.

I mean, breaking my vow of celibacy (twice) wasn’t exactly what I signed up for.

Then again, I was told that the purpose of vows is breaking them.

In that sense I did well because I broke every single one of them.

There’s actually a whole lot of psychological sense behind that, and I saw it confirmed in a video the other day.

That bit about failing, as hard and as often as you can?

Yep, it works.

I’ll send you a link to that video later today.

It’s good stuff.

Must say though, when people learn I was a monk, and they go: “Oh how wonderful, you must have such discipline!”

That makes me feel pretty embarrassed, because it’s one of the things I never got to be very good at, I don’t think.

Then again, I do know how to discipline my mind – a fine example of which is my self-imposed bachelorism of the last 6 months.

Not that I’ve not been tempted, but nope. No gals for Martin.

Work to do, and wearing big smiles while I’m at it.

Anyway, the thing I want you to learn: Rituals.

Rituals, habits, customs, systems, structures.

Dude, it works SO WELL when you create habits.

Seriously.

Problem is, we in the West are brought up to think that habits are boring.

And yep, if you have to commute to a dreary job each day, you’re in a hideously boring state of habit.

But when you create habits, healthy and constructive ones, all kinds of stuff happens to your brain.

It’s too long to go into, and I’ll probably do a LEAP issue about it at some point, but just take it from a guy who practiced habits for 12 years straight.

20-odd years, actually, because even when I left the monastery, I kept experimenting with the concept of developing habits.

I don’t like using the following words, but in this case I’ll make an exception: Believe, trust me on this one: habits work.

Do some Googling on healthy habits, or drop me a line and I’ll flick you some links.

Then create a few, simple, ATTAINABLE habits, and get going.

You’re welcome.

The best habit I can recommend?

Hokay, here’s one:

Each day, before your work starts, BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR INBOX (you hear me? leave that sucker shut!)

Take 20 minutes, grab a book, and learn something.

Anything, it doesn’t matter what.

Business, life, meditation, self-help, sales, design – whatev.

Just learn, put information in your brain.

Not only will you be rewiring your brain, by way of habits, you’ll also be getting smarter.

Ah, oh – you don’t have 20 minutes a day…

I call bullshit.

You do, of course you have 20 minutes.

Cut it from TV time at night, or Facebook nonsense, or talking to your friends on the phone –

Look, you and I and everyone, we all waste time throughout the day.

Don’t deny it.

Take a bit of that time, and invest it in yourself.

Two weeks, and you’ll agree with me that it’s worth it.

The same principle, but with turbo and racing stripes?

Skip the book and grab a podcast on your phone

Or download MP3s – you can even install DownloadHelper for Chrome and Firefox so you can listen to anything that’s out there, if you can’t find podcasts you like, or if the podcast format isn’t for you).

Really, there’s no excuse. Buy a $19 MP3 player and off you go, if you don’t have a smartphone.

The benefit is that you’ll be practicing habits, you’ll be learning, AND you’ll be exercising.

Walk fast, work up a sweat.

Get home, shower, dive into work.

Observe how your day goes.

Point is: life is finite, so don’t waste your time.

You’ve got places to go, money to make, people to help.

The more you learn, the faster you’ll move.

And there’s nothing like learning.

Final thought: “No time” is complete and utter nonsense, that much I learned in the monastery.

If you don’t have time, you ain’t got your priorities in order.

C’mon, switch on.

You’ve no idea what future might lay ahead unless you take massive action.

Start by learning, at the start of the day.

And of course, one terrifically awesome thing to learn?

The LEAP marketing system.

Not because I say so – if a subscriber tells me they’d prefer to eat beans and rice for a week rather than go without LEAP, that’s got to mean something.

Or selling out all paintings because that particular subscriber learned, and took action –

Think about it…

On the fence?

Get off it yo –> http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

Cheers,

Martin

“… And nothing’s plenty for me.”

Spoke to two friends here in town this week, each of whom told me the same thing.

“I don’t want money”.

To which of course I replied: “That’s why you don’t have any.”

Wut? Nobody told me I’m obliged to be nice…

One of them is a seamstress – or rather I should say a fashion designer, because she’s incredibly talented.

The flamenco dresses she makes are just stunning.

The other is a leatherworker, stitching bags by hand.

Highly skilled, beautiful work.

The gal actually does want money, she just doesn’t value her work the way she ought to.

“Don’t want” is her cop-out, to do with her insecurities and fears.

The guy however, he’s coming at it from a differerent angle.

He used sell real estate, and in those days he used to earn a pretty decent living.

Says he: “Money makes you arrogant.

“I didn’t like myself in those days.

“Besides, the more you have the more you spend.”

The first bit, I can see how that would work.

Back when I had my cushy inheritance, I also thought I was quite the stud.

And yep, I was arrogant, thinking I knew it all, and that’s how I spent money in places I shouldn’t have.

And, lost it all.

The second line though, I don’t really agree with that.

Some people will have and spend – which I think is a poor-man’s attitude.

It’s how lottery winners who never had much, end up in the same place as before within months.

A rich person though, is rich because they don’t spend money. I think. I wouldn’t know, because I’m not rich, yet.

Point is though, his attitude is totally valid.

He wants to have enough to live a normal and comfortable life.

He’s happier that way.

And you know?

That’s just fine.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it.

You don’t have to be rich, you don’t have to make a profit.

It’s fine to have modest aspirations.

Thing is though, money enables you to do things.

It’s why I want to be rich, and I want it very badly.

Very rich, very badly.

To dig water wells in Africa?

To give to charity?

To be a philantropist?

Maybe, maybe…

Or maybe just because if I can manage to one day be wealthy enough, I can execute my main masterplan:

To found a physical academy for artisans.

But, not just a place where artisans learn a craft.

No, my dream is to start an organisation where people can learn a craft, AND learn how to sell that stuff once they’re done with their education.

Because believe me, artisans haven’t got a frigging clue on how to do business or market their creations.

And as a former tailor who also didn’t know how to sell, I can tell you it sucks hairy monkey balls, to make stunning suits and not get paid well for them.

Learning curve and all that jazz.

Will I get there?

Maybe. I’ll never stop trying though, because that’s how important it is to me.

And I suppose that’s the point of this message: You can’t stop and give up, not ever.

Not if you want to reach your goals.

Persist. Be relentless.

When you fall, get back up.

When you fail, you’ve learned a lot and you’re stronger.

And then you get back on your feet and try again.

No child ever learned walking without failing.

In fact, failing is important – it’s what enables you to be successful.

Some say, in equal measure.

Anyway, food for thought.

This too, is food for thought: http://martinstellar/leap-to-more-sales/

But, don’t even think of signing up unless you’re committed to your future success.

Pip pip,

Martin

Remember that line?

Books. Feed your mind.

It was an ad that MTV used to run, way back when, in the 90’s.

You know I’m a stickler for learning.

It’s the best.

It’s what enables your future self to do better, earn more, have more time, and be happier than your current self is.

Learning is an investment, and boy does it pay for itself.

Yesterday I got an email from a LEAP subscriber:

“Dammit, the dentist is going to take $2400 from me this month, so I won’t be able to afford the October issue. Sucks, but life happens”.

I send her a reply that it’s all good and that I’m happy to help her catch that one $500 client who’s on the fence.

Did I mention? LEAP subscribers get direct email access to me, so I’d have no problem to help her write a few emails to pull the prospect over the line.

But no, she comes back and says: “Actually? This stuff is too good to miss.

“I’d rather eat beans&rice for a week, rather than go without LEAP and your help”.

That.

That right there is the attitude of a successful person.

The willingness to invest in your knowledge, your prowess, your future self – even if it means making a sacrifice.

If you come at business with that attitude, it’ll be hard to fail, even if you try.

Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill? Not sure who said it, but one of those guys or their peers said that for every dollar you invest in yourself, you make 30 back.

And those dudes knew how to make moolah.

What about you?

Are you learning?

Growing?

Putting stuff into your mind?

Cool.

Here’s good stuff to add to the mix: http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

Comes with Stellar help, too.

“It’s like having a mentor”, said subscriber Gareth.

Who, incidentally, keeps selling paintings since joining.

Am I pitching aggressively lately?

Yep, sure am.

Because this stuff WORKS – subscribers say so.

Get LEAP, see your mind expand, and your sales grow.

No guarantees, other than that I’ll be there to help you – and you bet I’ll be pouring tons of smarts into you.

After all, learning is my lifelong mission and it’s the one thing that’s brought me where I am today.

Learn on your own – or learn fast, with my help.

Up to you how, but get your learn on one way or another.

Like so –> http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

The benefit of LEAP is – aside from the help you’ll get – that there’s a strategy and system behind what you’ll be learning.

A comprehensive lesson each month, that teaches you mindset, no-BS sales prowess with a ho’ bunch of ethics in, and hands-on applicable tips that you can put to use right away.

Do your future self the favour.

Go here to join the LEAP program if you want your tomorrow to be better than your today –> http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

Cheers,

Martin

You, my friend, need to sell more “no”.

It’s the single most important word in business.

It’s your most potent tool and weapon.

It’s the only way to stay sane, in business.

It’s also the only way to actually make some money.

No?

Well, I didn’t make it up.

Warren Buffet (who reportedly knows what he’s doing) is known to say no to 99% of the requests he gets.

“Hey, can you have a quick look at this design for me?”

No, you can’t.

“Can I pick your brain for a minute?”

Nope. You can pay me for my time if it’s important enough to you.

I know, I know.

We want to be liked, be helpful.

But when you’re helping someone else, you’re damaging your business.

And that’s a fact.

No matter how much you believe that giving away stuff will in the end result in making money.

It won’t.

When you see people give things for free and then get successful, you bet the free-ness is only part of the equation, and that on the backend they have a solid money making strategy in place.

It’s so easy to let people take a run with you, even if they don’t mean to.

Most of the time it’s not their fault – it’s ours.

We all want to be liked, but we’re not in the school playground any longer – we don’t need appreciation and likes.

You don’t need to be liked: you need to be successful, focused, and effective.

Any time someone asks free time of you, you’re hurting yourself.

And what will you have in return?

The satisfaction that there’s someone out there who likes you.

Question for you: Can you eat ‘being liked’?

Can you pay the bills with appreciation?

Good. Glad you understand.

Then there’s the flip side:

You tell *yourself* ‘no’ far too often.

Last night, a friend: “But I can’t!”

Nope, not if you say you can’t.

Whether you say you can, or say you can’t – you’re absolutely 100% right.

Try it.

Joel Weldon: “Success comes in cans, not in cannots”.

Wise words, take ‘em to heart.

Say more no to others, and stop saying it to yourself.

You can, much more than you can possibly imagine.

And you’ll never find out exactly the magnitude I’m talking about, until you stop saying you can’t.

You can.

Do it.

Rickety segueway into a sales pitch:

You can get sales, more than you can handle, if you just write an email a day.

And yes, you can.

You can find ideas, you can get the write speed, you can build the relationships and you definitely can grow your business.

I want to help you, and I know I can.

It’s not cheap, it’s hard work, I’ll bring out my whacking cane – but it works.

Here’s how —> http://martinstellar.com/starship-mentorprise-writing-coach/

Cheers,

Martin

I love the Spanish.

The culture, the music, the architecture and food and the art – it’s intense and beautitful, living here.

Andalusians, even better: No pretense, just smiles and genuine kindness.

But there’s one thing they got totally wrong, in my opinion: taking control.

Doing things, taking action, effecting change.

They prefer to complain.

It shows in the music, too: Flamenco is an incredibly emotional experience, rife with laments and complaints.

“Ayyy, my girlfriend, why must you treat me so bad…

“Ayyy my Lord, why do you abandon me so…”

“Ayyy, my wife, why do you beat me so viciously…

“Ayyy, sun, why do you burn my crop…”

“Ayyy, my one and only cow is barren…

“Ayayayyy….”

*Rythmic sound of clapping hands and stomping heels*

The other day I was talking to a buddy who is a truck driver.

Not a friend, just this guy I run into sometimes.

Always complaining: “My boss is a jerk, he makes be break the law

“If I don’t get the truck to Barcelona on time, he shouts at me.

“If I take the legally required rest times on the road, he threatens to fire me, saying I should just drink more coffee

“He only gives me work when the other drivers are busy

“He almost wants me to tamper with the speedometer card that registers my hours of work

“He pays me so little, every year it’s less

“Ayayay, boss why do you enslave me so

“Ayayayyyy…”

*Clap clap, stomp stomp*

You know where this is going, yes?

It’s going to hell in a handbasket, that’s where: nobody ever got anything good out of whingeing and the Andalusians – lovely people as they are – show a perfect example of it.

They could have more freedom, more money, more time – but they prefer to just have the free time, which they then use to complain.

Pity, really.

They have so much to offer, so much to earn, so much quality and talent.

They invented Flamenco, for crying out loud – that’s a big thing.

Don’t be like that.

The energy you expend in thinking about difficulties or complaining about them, you can also put that into some sort of action.

For example, you can leap, into more sales.

The way LEAP subscriber Paula did, for example.

She subscribed two months ago, ‘saw the light’, and took massive action.

But like, big time.

Writes me to say that for the first time ever, she needs to paint as fast as she can.

Because – now dig this – otherwise she’ll run out of paintings to sell.

I mean, come ON – don’t you want that for yourself?

You just might be able to get it, you know.

It’s what LEAP is made for, each month anew.

Food for thought eh?

The October issue will be another doozy.

It’s going to be all about turning your website into a list-building machine, on steroids, with turbo.

Rocket fuel for your business, because you know as well as I do that the money is in the list.

Get it here –> http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

Cheers,

Martin

“I’m going to fly to Indonesia, find the best clothing producer – real exclusive stuff, you know – and then open a little shop here in town to see how it goes.”

I look at my friend, deeply concerned, but I’m wearing a pokerface.

“Cool idea. And how are you going to sell that? What’s your plan for promotion, and marketing and so on?”

“No marketing, man, I won’t need it! Just a shop in a good location with many passersby”.

I sigh and order a beer. This is going to be a long night.

“I’ll invest like 10.000 Euros, get real good and cheap production.”

“Yeah but, how will you sell it? The fact that you build it doesn’t mean they’ll come”.

“Location. Isn’t that what they say? Location is the most important thing in business? Besides, I’ll be the cheapest in town.”

I try a different approach: “Listen, you might as well just give the money to me, or to Greenpeace, or to a bum on the street. You’ve already lost all of it anyway – if you don’t promote, and just wait for people to come to you you’re dead in the water before you even start.”

He looks at me quizically: “It can’t fail.”

I slam a look on him with all the force I can muster: “It already has”.

Not that I want to be negative, but dude, if he won’t market…?

He rants on, oblivious, waxing excited about how he’ll fly out, source the producers,  and how it’ll just automatically fly off the shelves here in town.

My poor, misguided friend.

I try to tell him that normally, people pay me good money to tell them exactly the things I’m trying to get him to see.

That I’ve studied this stuff, that I know about marketing – and hey, I also happen to have over a decade of experience in the clothing industry, back when I was a tailor.

He doesn’t listen, blinded as he is by his plan and his excitement.

I’ve seen this so very often.

On Twitter, on blogs, in the streets of my town, and even some of the clients who bought copy from me in the past.

They would devise a fantastic product or offer, build a website and stick my copy on – and then they’d wait.

Sit there, wondering why people don’t show up, why there aren’t any sales. Sad, really.

We talk some more, but he refuses to see sense.

Guys, it ain’t gonna sell if you don’t get out there and tell people about it.

No matter how wonderful or good or useful your product.

Word of mouth isn’t enough.

Location is only the start.

Quality is a given but not a marketing strategy.

If you have something that will solve a problem…

TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT

Gah, it drives me up the wall.

Make a plan, devise a strategy.

Create a backup plan.

His idea that location alone will do it – well hey, we’ve seen some pretty bizarre weather here in the last few years.

What’s going to happen to his shop if next year we have 2 months of rain ongoing, right in the middle of summer?

That’s when there’s people in town, that’s when local commerce is able to earn enough to make it through winter.

But if those people don’t arrive, or don’t venture out on the street?

Then his shop will be costing a lot of money each month, for no returns.

His stock will sit unseen and unsold.

And he’ll pull the plug long before he ever gets any profits.

Ah well… we all must dream, mustn’t we?

I love my friend, I wish he’d listen.

How about yourself – are you prepared to get out there, show up, be visible – to market what you do?

Best say yes, because there’s this funny thing about money: you can only lose it once, and when it’s gone it’s gone.

To which I can testify: I’ve lost a $150.000 inheritance, which I invested in all the right places – except in promoting my tailoring business.

And obviously, it tanked.

There are two ways to learn: by experience, and by example (good or bad examples, equally useful).

My friend, he wants to learn by experience. That’s valid. But not very smart.

So I ask again: what about you?

Experience? Example? Experience? Example?

If you want to learn from experience, then I’ve got quite a few years of that, ready for you to ingest and put to use.

Dosed monthly – not cheap, but definitely worth the money.

O’er yon –> http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

Cheers,

Martin

But, if you work with me, you just might end up earning a cool one Million a year.

It’s happened before, you know?

Says Goran:

+++

I met Martin 15 years ago, and we became close friends. 8 years ago I developed a plan to start a business, refurbishing and selling second hand bicycles. But, I didn’t know how to get the bicycles to market, I didn’t know sales.

Martin helped me to get started: he took me to shops in Amsterdam, and showed me how to communicate with buyers and build relationships based on trust. He sold many, many bicycles for me in that starting phase and taught me a lot.

These days, I own four shops in Amsterdam, turning over more than 1 million Euros per year. He was a key factor in my ability to start and grow my business.

I’m extremely grateful for his help, and grateful to have met him.

His advice, his help and the way he taught me to sell have been instrumental in how I proceeded to grow my business.

~ Goran, owner of Amsterdamsefietswinkel.nl

+++

Am I boasting?

No.

I’m humbled that he’d say something like that.

Goran is intelligent and a very hard worker, but I never thought he’d go this far.

And, the credit is his: he’s the one who built that company.

All I did was show him the things he needs to know, and teach him the psychology needed to sell.

But with that, he was able to grow.

And grow and sell he did.

This is the reason I write the LEAP newsletter each month: to equip you with the smarts and tools to start and grow a business that has a future and a potential.

Whether you get there doesn’t depend on me, it’s up to you.

But if you take and apply the lessons, if you work hard…

…and you PERSIST until it works…

You just might end up in a very good place.

It’s happened before.

To get access to the things I taught Goran – and all the extra things I learned since working with him – go here –> http://martinstellar.com/leap-to-more-sales/

Cheerio,

Martin