Today I'm going to share with you one of my most powerful secrets of success. But first...

In the beginning of December, I re-launched my Startup Victory training, with a guarantee of profitability, or 250% back. You can check it out here:

http://www.StartupVictory.com

I've been lost in the ether ever since. December has been crazy! My businesses are booming - I just haven't had the time!

This week is a very special one for me, and despite my lack of time I just had to get this email out to you...

It is an important one... Some people who have been on my list for years have gotten this message several times.

Well, here goes again!

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Tomorrow marks not only the end of 2009, but also the end of this decade.
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Now is the time for some serious thought.

Most entrepreneurs stay so busy with what is in front of them, they don't take any time to think about the future, ponder the past, and prepare themselves mentally for the upcoming year.

The week between Christmas and New Years is very special for me. I usually take the entire week off for reflection, prediction, and preparation.

I ponder the year gone by, and write down the lessons I've learned.

I think about what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year.

I review the goals I set last year, and see how many were accomplished. (Once I write down my goals, I don't look at them again until the following December. It is amazing how many are accomplished...)

THE SIMPLE ACT OF WRITING SOMETHING DOWN IS SO POWERFUL, IT CANNOT BE UNDERESTIMATED

... especially when it is done with the intention of referring back to it later on.


If you're like me, you've been getting a hundred-thousand "2010 prediction" emails recently.

It is because marketers in particular know the power of a prediction.

Writing your 2010 goals down is like making your own prediction... It is an extremely powerful method to improve the results you get in 2010.

Here is how I do it:

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HOW TO DOUBLE YOUR EFFECTIVENESS IN 2010
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** All of this should be written down. Put it in a safe place where you'll find it next year. **

* What big things happened? Did they happen because you made a knowing, concerted effort to make them happen? Or... did they just happen?

  - "Audaces fortuna iuvat" is latin for "Fortune favors the bold". In other words, there is a big difference between "letting" something happen, and "making" something happen.

By writing down your goals this year, you are taking the first step to MAKING SOMETHING HAPPEN.


* What good things happened? What bad things happened?

  - What lessons did you learn from these things? You don't need to take a lot of time to extract the meaning - just write down the
first thing that pops into your mind... trust me, the act of writing it down will make it stick.


* What do you want to happen next year?

  - Break your goals down into as many categories as you need to.

    Mine are:
    - PERSONAL
    - PROFESSIONAL
    - TRAVEL

  - I often write my goals down in past tense, as if they already happened. This has the effect of tricking my brain into visualizing what it was like, enforcing the already powerful magic of writing everything down.

  - Be specific, and write down everything that comes to your mind. You can always revise it or eliminate it later.

Here are some ideas to grease the tracks:
* Do you want to have more time?
* Do you want to make more money? How much? In what fashion?
* Do you want to go places? With who? In what fashion?
* Do you want to read more? Fiction? Non-fiction?
* Do you want more material things? Cars, house, clothes, etc?
* Do you want to learn new skills?
* Do you want to spend more time with certain people?
* Do you want to run a race? Climb a mountain? Learn a new language?
* Who do you want to be perceived as? (What kind of a person?)
* Who do you want to meet?
* What charities do you want to give to?

Now put it away. Give yourself a 2 day breather to reflect on the things you've written down.

Come back to it in a couple of days. Revise as appropriate.

Then, show your significant other. Or your mother. (Yeah, that sounds scary, but it's important because the act of showing it to somebody else "commits you" to the concepts you've written down.)

Now, store it in a safe place to review at this time next year.

You are done - your subconscious has been sufficiently primed for success next year. Congratulations!


Now... HAVE A HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR. I wish you the best of success in 2010!

It's gonna be a fun ride.

Looking forward,

Travis Giggy

PS. Startup Victory training is based on time-proven principles to build a solid, profitable business. Get started now and you can be financially independent this time next year:

http://www.StartupVictory.com

A hard-core, eagle-eyed, "been-there-done-that" investor WILL NOT FUND YOUR IDEA.

** He will only fund YOU. **

Today, I'm going to give you a FREE investor cheat sheet, called "10 rules investors use to bet the jockey". This cheat sheet is super-valuable, and only available for a very short period of time...

This FREE PDF Cheat sheet will only be available until Monday - at which time I will remove the link for downoad. If you're interested, get it now:

[link removed - sorry!]

Soon, I'm re-launching the Startup Victory training. This cheat sheet, along with the complete interview with Mr. Rose is only available as a bonus for members.

I'm super proud of the content coming out of this training... so proud that I'm putting my own money on the line.

I guarantee that if you complete the simple weekly assignments, at the end of the training you will own a business with at least enough monthly profit to replace your current paycheck - or I'll give you 250% of your course tuition back.

Travis

PS: If you are a current Startup Victory subscriber, you'll get all the new bonuses for free... and there are a lot.

I am here to tell you that I am a big, fat failure.

I've failed in business more times than I have succeeded. WAAAAY more!

But that doesn't bother me - not one iota - not even a twinge of embarrassment. The good news is you only have to be successful ONE TIME to have it made.

(I have been fortunate enough to notch several victories in business over the years, and after the first, I got so hooked on the startup phase I turned it into a science...)

Most people know that I started 43 businesses, and that's how I ultimately came up with my "7 Steps to S.U.C.C.E.S.S." formula for starting a new business.

What many people do not know, however, is that most of those businesses never got off the ground. (I never had a problem ditching a business idea when it proved to be a loser...)

The truth of the matter is that you have the highest chance for success or failure right out of the gates - when you select the market you will cater to.

-- Choose the wrong market - and you start off at a huge disadvantage.

-- Choose the right market - and your job is so much easier. (and funner, and more lucrative)

Let me say again: The one time an entrepreneur can really make a difference and put themselves in a great position is when choosing a market to cater to.

This 2 minute video is the first thing I do when considering a new business idea.

http://www.smallbusinessvictory.com/club/video-googletrends.aspx

Looking forward,

Travis

PS. If I could teach you the ONE single thing that contributed to my own success more than anything else, it would be: persistence. Keep trying. keep fighting! The next most important thing is picking and researching a potentially profitable market, and this is my first step:

http://www.smallbusinessvictory.com/club/video-googletrends.aspx

In the early 2000's, I was a successful Internet consultant. I had a thriving consultancy, and I was making pretty good money. But it wasn't meant to last... the dot-com bomb destroyed the cashflow of most of my clients...

Which in turn destroyed my business.

So with nothing to lose, living on a home equity line of credit, I moved to Southern California to make my mark on the world.

I spent several months looking, every day, for a new job. But SoCal was going through the same thing, with thousands of resourceful techies flooding the market - and they were willing to work for less money...

I finally found an entrepreneurial opportunity that I could live with. It involved a very low guaranteed salary, but the promise of a huge bonus if I could turn around the fortunes of a small direct marketing division of a strange little operation in a Century City high rise.

The overall business was run by two Israelis, who were combative, secretive, and hard-to-understand. This was my first (but not last) business deal with folks from the middle-east - and I learned that they do things a little differently than we did in the Mid-West.

In the area where I grew up, we made an agreement and shook hands on it. Done deal.

With these guys, the handshake was just the start of negotiation. (Nothing really wrong with that way of doing business in-and-of-itself, but if you don't know going in... you won't come away with a pleasant experience.)

So I slaved away, day and night, taking the company from $0to $80K/mo in only 6 months. I killed myself to get that big bonus... literally going into debt financially, emotionally, and in my relationship.

But all the pieces were in place, and with solutions of technology, human engineering, and creativity, I did it.

And then my boss told me that plans changed.

The company was throwing all resources into another project,and I had to help them launch an Internet business to get my bonus. 

So I was off to the races again. Working even crazier hours to reach their never-ending series of deadlines and modifications. I was working myself crazy, and ruining my relationship.

Three months later came the low-point of my professional career.

I found myself in the office - a high rise in Century City - at 3AM in the morning. I had been at work for 19 hours. A plane was leaving in 5 hours - and my fiancee' and I were supposed to be on that plane - on our way to get married.

My "boss" held a check in his hands that meant financial life-or-death to me. But he would not hand it over until I finished his special little project. I was a hostage to him for that check...

At one point, after countless requests were fulfilled, tasks accomplished, and minutae completed, I blew up. I found myself in a face-to-face screaming contest with my boss. I was at my wits end. He was screaming at me. I was screaming at him.

I turned to the side and threw my pen at the wall. He thundered, "NOBODY throws things in MY office! How DARE you disrespect me?"

I glared at him, with my bravest face on, and said "Well, I just did. What are you going to do about it?"

His defeated reply: "Nothing..."

Although it was never said, we both knew I would never be back.

Finally at 5AM, the project was completed. He made me sign a non-disclosure, a non-compete, and a privacy statement. Then he handed over my life-blood - the check.

I made the plane (barely) and got married as planned.

I learned a lot of valuable lessons from that experience, but none more important than these:

• I vowed on that day NEVER to allow ANYONE to hold me hostage for money again. My wife made a pact with me that she would never fault me for taking self-respect over cash. (Funny how that actually makes you more cash in the long run…)
• I vowed that I would NEVER treat people the way I was. A handshake is what I work on to this day. (In fact, if a client insists on signing a contract prior to an engagement, or if I get a funny feeling, I won't work for them. Trust is now my main currency...)
• I learned that I need to make my own fortune - financially and otherwise - and I dedicated my life to that task.

My Business Victory Club is the culmination of that life objective. I have created a repeatable process that gives me the surest shot to start with _nothing_, and turn it into a profitable business.

In just the second lesson, you’ll learn how to start making some immediate money. Soon afterward, you learn the most reliable way that I know of to prove if a market is profitable.

You’ll learn everything that I have learned over the years. 

http://www.smallbusinessvictory.com/club/

I hope you're paying attention... life's lessons can be forgotten. Life can be hard sometimes - but it can also be sweet. You only need to pay attention, and apply the lessons you learn in a dedicated way.

When viewed from this frame - Failure is Success. The more you fail - and learn from your failures - and apply it to your life - the more likely you are to achieve your version of success.

Leave with this quote in your mind:

"History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heart-breaking obstacles before they truimphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats." - B.C.Forbes 

Sincerely,

Travis

PS. Does it seem like the story of your entrepreneurial career has been: fail, fail, fail, fail?? If so, you might be interested in weaving a new story for yourself:

http://www.smallbusinessvictory.com/club/

This is a blog entry by Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and founder of many tech-based companies.

Mark is a polarizing figure. He is loved and hated for his antics as a sports owner.  I've been a fan of his blog for a long time, and his series of posts titled "Success and Motivation" had a big impact on me.

So, I'm posting part 1 here, with the hope that you'll read it, get hooked, and cruise over to his blog to read the rest. If you are like me, you'll really be able to relate with Mark's situation. He started out with nothing, just like us, and through hard work and self-education, became one of the richest men in the world.

This really is good stuff.

Success and Motivation

- by Mark Cuban 

I did it too. I drove by big houses and would wonder who lived there. What did they do for a living? How did they make their money? Someday, I would tell myself, I would live in a house like that. Every weekend I would do it.

I read books about successful people. In fact, I read every book or magazine I could get my hands on. I would tell myself 1 good idea would pay for the book and could make the difference between me making it or not.

I worked jobs I didn’t like. I worked jobs I loved, but had no chance of being a career. I worked jobs that barely paid the rent. I had so many jobs my parents wondered if I would be stable. Most of them aren’t on my resume anymore because I was there so short a time or they were so stupid I was embarrassed. You don’t want to write about selling powdered milk or selling franchises for TV repair shops. In every job, I would justify it in my mind whether I loved it or hated it that I was getting paid to learn and every experience would be of value when I figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up.

If I ever grew up, I hoped to run my own business some day. It’s exactly what I told myself every day. In reality, I had as much doubt as confidence. I was just hoping the confidence would win over the doubt and it would all work out for the best.

I remember being 24 years old, living in Dallas in a 3-bedroom apartment with 5 other friends. This wasn’t a really nice place we all kicked in to move up for. This place has since been torn down. Probably condemned. I didn’t have my own bedroom. I slept on the couch or floor depending on what time I got home. I had no closet. Instead I had a pile that everyone knew was mine. My car had the usual hole in the floorboard, a ‘77 FIAT X19 that burned a quart of oil that I couldn’t afford every week.

To make matters worse, because I was living on happy hour food, and the 2 beers cover charge, I was gaining weight like a pig. My confidence wasn’t at an all time high. I was having fun. Don’t get me wrong. I truly was having a blast. Great friends, great city, great energy, pretty girls. Ok, the pretty girls had no interest in my fat and growing ass at the time, but that’s another story….

I was motivated to do something I loved. I just wasn’t sure what it was. I made a list of all the different jobs I would love to do. (I still have it.) The problem was that I wasn’t qualified for any of them. But I needed to pay the bills.

I finally got a job working as a bartender at a club. A start, but it wasn’t a career. I had to keep on looking during the day.

About a week later I answered a want ad out of the newspaper for someone to sell PC Software at the first software retail store in Dallas. The ad was actually placed by an employment agency. The fee was to be paid by the company, so I gave it a shot.

I put on my interview face, and of course my interview suit, which just happened to be one of my 2 polyester suits that I had bought for the grand total of 99 dollars. Thank god for 2-fer, 2-fer, 2-fer madness at the local mens clothing store. Grey Pinstripe. Blue Pinstripe. Didn’t matter if it rained, those drops just rolled down the back of those suits. I could crumple them. They bounced right back. Polyester, the miracle fabric.

I wish I could say the blue suit and my interview skills impressed the employment agency enough to set up the interview with the software store. In reality, not many had applied for the job and the agency wanted the fee so they would have sent anyone over to interview. I didn’t care.

I pulled out the grey for my interview at Your Business Software. I was fired up. It was my shot to get into the computer business, one of the industries I had put on my list!

I remember the interview well. Michael Humecki the Prez, and Doug (don’t remember his last name), his partner double-teamed me. Michael did most of the talking to start. He asked me if I had used PC software before. My total PC experience at the time was on the long forgotten TI/99A that had cost me 79 dollars. I used it to try to teach myself Basic while recovering from hangovers and sleeping on the floor while my roommates were at work. They weren’t impressed.

I was trying to pull out every interview trick I knew. I went through the spiel about how I was a good salesperson, you know the part of the interview where you are basically begging for a job, using code phrases like “I care about the customer”, “I promise to work really, really hard” and “I will do whatever it takes to be successful”. Unfortunately, I was getting that “well if no one else applies for the job, maybe” look from Michael.

Finally, Doug spoke up. He asked me. “What do you do if a customer has a question about a software package and you don’t know the answer?” All of the possible answers raced through my mind. I had to ask myself if this was the “honesty test question” you know where they want to see if you will admit to things you don’t know. Is this some trick technology question and there is an answer everyone but me knows? After who knows how long, I blurted out that “I would look it up in the manual and find the answer for them.” Ding, ding, ding…Doug just loved this answer.

Michael wasn’t as convinced, but he then asked me the question I was dying to hear: “Would you not go back to the employment agency at all, so when we hire you we don’t have to pay the fee?” I was in.

What does all this mean? Nothing yet. It was just fun to tell. You have to wait till part 2, if you care, and if there is a part two. Right now, it’s much more important that I go play with my daughter.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

The other day I came home from work (the library) and I was feeling a little bit defeated. Like I hadn't gotten enough done in my business lately. Like there was too much to do, and not enough time or manpower to do it. Ever feel that way?

I was listening to a Ken McCarthy interview this morning. He was interviewing a businessman named John Rinaldi. Something they spoke about really hit a nerve with me, because I've seen it in action - and I often struggle with it.

I emptied my pockets of change into the bucket that sits inside the nightstand and noticed that it was overflowing with quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies...

Every day, I come home and without thinking, empty my change into this bucket. And over time, it really adds up. The last time I took that bucket to the grocery store and traded the silver for cash... I walked away with $100...

And my business is like that, too. When it started out, I lost money. But I did just one little thing to try and make it better. Usually this little thing was a tweak to my AdWords advertising or a split test for higher conversion on my website. NO ONE SINGLE THING that I did made any difference!

But a 10% decrease in ad cost here and 12% conversion increase over there - over a long period of time - really resulted in REAL gains in business profits.

The funny thing is that, looking back, I don't remember putting all THAT MUCH effort into it. It seemed like a bunch of "guesses" and busy-work. At the time, I was pretty sure I was doing something valuable, but I had no idea the value of what I was doing...

And, it's not like I was focused on doing one little thing every day. I'm not a "long term strategy" kind of guy by nature. I'm into swing trading, online business, dining out. I never started a 401K because I knew I didn't want to work for "the man" and build my wealth over time... Let's just say that in the past, I didn't do anything for the long term.

But now-a-days, my mantra is "move your business forward every day". No matter how small of a thing it is - move it forward.

You're just one person! You'll never be able to compete with the big guys in terms of raw output. But you don't have to. You just have to do one valuable thing, that piles on top of another valuable thing. And over time, you'll see the fruits of your labor.

If you can find the time in every day to do TWO valuable things, even better! Just think, in 2009 you could take 700 small steps toward your goal. It's not hard to take a step... it's just one little thing.

The secret is in the word "little"

A "project" is too big. You need to break it down into little pieces that you can handle in an hour.

A financial projection, report, sales letter, video, newsletter, business plan, and on and on --> all TOO BIG.

Break every project down into little pieces that you can handle in a half-day or less

Do each step as a separate task, which accomplishes a couple of important things:

1. You move something forward

2. You feel like you accomplished something (which is an important feeling to take home at the end of the day)

Here is an example:

Let's just say that I wanted to re-write and overhaul my book "The Definitive Guide to Incorporation and LLC". That's a big project - definitely NOT something that could be done in a day. So, how would I go about completing this task?

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A brief aside: Another motto of mine, which explains my approach below, is to:

"Do your worrying up front - once you have a plan, focus on execution (not worrying if your plan is right)"
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So, first I need to thoroughly understand all the different pieces of the project.

Break it down into every different category that you can think of.

Then break each category down into the understandable "to do's" that fit together to make the product.

Put all these categories and "to do's" into an excel spreadsheet, notepad, Word document - anything that will help you keep track of what has been done and what still needs to be done. The important thing is that it stays in front of you --> A constant reminder of what you can move forward, today, that will help you reach your goal.

Now you have your script. So let's make a movie!

A Hollywood movie is never filmed from start-to-finish. They skip around and film the pieces that make sense grouped together. Your project should be much the same.

Let's take that excel spreadsheet you put together and copy all the "to do's" to a new tab.

Now group all the items that are similar into sections. For example, in most of my projects, the major sections include:

* Creating Content
- the end product
- writing scripts for interviews and videos
- interviewing experts
* Writing Sales Copy
- the sales letter
- the follow-up emails
- the checkout pages
* Programming
* Advertising/Marketing

That's pretty much it.

Now let's execute the plan

First, get parallel resources started right away

(This assumes that you have the funding to pay somebody else to do part of your project. Or... that you can convince them to take part in the future profits of the project.)

Take anything that can be done in parallel by somebody else and get 'em started as soon as possible.

For example, I have an in-house programming team. So the sooner that I can get a project in front of them, the more time it gives them to fit the project into their schedule.

Often, I'll outsource part of the writing to somebody on Elance. I almost always have my virtual assistant make the initial contact with gurus for an interview. (It looks like I have a secretary... which appears more professional.)

In my experience, the more detail that you can provide to your outsourced partners, the better. It will save everybody time and headaches down the road. So, be sure to outline in great detail:

* Exactly what you need done, in great detail (This may feel like more work than you should be putting in up-front, because after all, you're hiring them to do it... But giving your provider great detail will always result in a better end product, which makes everybody happier.)
* When you need it done
* What format it should be in
* How it should look
* When to ask questions

Knock the pins down one-by-one

Now it's time to get started on your own areas of responsibility.

You've already broken everything down into bite-sized chunks - so now it's just a matter of "getting it done". This is, finally, where you can do one or two little things every single day to move your project forward.

Just take the pieces, one-by-one, and knock 'em down.

Other things will always come up - and your schedule will be pushed back - and you may have "shiny object syndrome" (like me), but keep pushing. Keep knocking the pins down.

As parallel resources finish up their projects, your time will be naturally scheduled for you. You'll need to review and provide feedback on a writing project. You'll have an allotted time to meet somebody. You must review the code and do bug testing for developers.

But it's ok - It all moves you forward.

As you complete your individual tasks, check 'em off the excel spreadsheet.

At this point, your brain is your enemy! Don't get bogged down with analysis or thought...

Like I said above - do your thinking up front. When the time comes for execution - JUST EXECUTE BABY!

Don't "do it tomorrow", "dilly dally", "shoot the breeze", "put it off", "think about it" --- just do it. You'll be happy you did.

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One way I've found to help me get things done that don't seem glamorous or fun is to imagine that it's already complete, and how it would make me feel to know that I did it - it is done - and I did a good job. That helps give me the motivation to do some things that... I really don't feel like doing.
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One by one, you knock down the pins.

Over a short period of time you see real gains.

When it's done, and you can piece all the parts together - take a step back and reward yourself. You have really accomplished something.

And that is how business is done.

Looking forward!

Travis

PS. I actually AM re-doing my book, The Definitive Guide to Incorporation and LLC. I am adding new expert interviews, a clearer step-by-step process to getting the business "structure" in place, a section on building your team, and more. Plus, it will no longer be in digital format - everything will be hard copy - DVD's, manuals, guides, transcripts - everything.

I'm still in the early phases, but anyone on the pre-notification list is going to have a chance to get it at a discount.

http://llc.smallbusinessvictory.com/ebook