AUTHOR 101 UNIVERSITY OCTOBER 29-31 IN LAS VEGAS

You know I go to maybe 4 events a year.  Many events have lots of hype but when you show up  (frankly) they can suck.  I am sorry for being so blatant here, but you know it’s true.

However, the event that I return to EVERY year is Author 101 with Rick Frishman.

This is one of the best events.  It is always a PACKED room, and you meet a ton of authors and BIGWIGS.  Rick always invites industry pros and let me tell you – most people don’t even realize or take advantage of this opportunity.  But that’s like life isn’t it?  98% of people don’t do the things that gives them the edge, they just talk.

I am shocked.

Here’s why.   It costs you NOTHING to go up and either ask ME (which I will) or ask Rick to introduce you to a star maker at the event. What MOST PEOPE do at this event is just attend, sit in a chair and watch the speakers.  Listen, you will learn a LOT that way, and I hope you show up to support my presentation. But if you want to be someone who BREAKS through then in between the speakers presentations (on the breaks) CONNECT with those who help to make you a star.

Some may be one of the speakers OR one of the panelists.

EVEN if you have nothing to offer right, now, no book or product, no website.  What you DO have right now is YOU, your heart and your guts.  Nothing beats a face to face handshake, and 2 mins of rapport building that who knows may turn into dinner, that may turn into a million dollar deal next year.  I have seen it happen.

Trust me you won’t get a chance to have a phone call with them.

You might meet someone who SEES your STAR potential.  You might just meet someone who wants to PUBLISH you or MARKET you or turn your ideas into a MOVIE or TV Show next year. Or you might meet someone who just thinks you are so great they want to do a JV with you and you don’t know what yet, just that you are keen to put something together.

So here’s the email about the event.  It’s also 2 for 1 and it’s frankly underpriced.

I suggest if you go to this event – and when you do, COME GET me and ask me to introduce you to ANYONE or EVERYONE.

Be the top 1% , not the rest.

Plus – it’s Halloween- if you’re going to come to Vegas Halloween will be a riot.  Lots of fun.

About the event:

AUTHOR 101 UNIVERSITY is the place to be if you’re an author, publisher or aspiring author. You’ll hear top publishing and marketing experts reveal tools and techniques to get your book published and double or triple your income as an author or publisher.

You’ll hear from…

• Brian Tracy (he will help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined)
• Stefanie Hartman (she will help you monetize your expertise and make revenue FROM your book)
• Rick Frishman (best selling author, Morgan James Publisher and the go-to guy for author publicity)
• Barbara DeAngelis (one of the most influential teachers of our time, with four NY Times #1 best selling books)
• Tom Antion (internationally acclaimed Internet Marketing Expert)
• Loral Langemeier (NY Times best selling author and one of today’s most dynamic and pioneering money experts)

There are 19 other fabulous speakers – AND a Publishing Panel of publishers, agents, and editors that you can meet and talk with. This is going to be an amazing event and it is going to sell out fast.

LITERARY AGENTS are looking for your book – Don’t participate in the recession – this event will change your life!

Go today to www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/author101
and get the details and watch videos from some of our previous attendees.

See you there!
Stefanie

Popularity: 15% [?]

This is brilliant!

Before there was a term for it, I‘ve been teaching the power of ‘Heart Marketing’ for 10 years. In fact, I believe the reason my web copy won out in million dollar product sales, over more expensive copy writers (face it I had none), was because while others were ‘screaming’ at their consumers, I was dating them.

Now I didn’t read some kind of slimy ‘how to pretend to like my list to capture sales book’ to figure this out. I came by it honestly. I cared. Plus I respect other people and choose to believe that I am writing to highly intelligent, fun loving people. Good people. People I’d love to sit down over dinner and chat with for hours.

So I just treat them as such.

I genuinely care about everyone who takes a moment to read or listen to something I have created. I mean, how great is that they chose to spend 10 minutes with you? That should be appreciated not manipulated.

In your marketing, your emailing and your blog posts, I still have fights with others who say I should NOT post funny or casual posts in my blogs, just keep it business articles. For me that makes no sense. OK, I will put 90% business articles, but hey, we’re all human, so why wouldn’t we all want a more human experience.

As your coach, I hope you do as well with your consumers and marketing. If you have forgotten it – go to the MIT course and read up on the Oprah factor in emails, and in weeks or even days you’ll be well on your way to establishing an incredible relationship with the people you SHOULD be caring about – those that choose to read, buy or come see YOU!

Finally big corporations are catching on.

Comment and Tell me what you think below.

Warmest Regards,
Stefanie

Popularity: unranked [?]

Ok, this is a strange blog post I know, but hey- sometimes it happens – and this year – boy did it ever happen to me.  So I’m figuring that you may have had a similar bad start to the year – maybe not this year, but at least once in your life – and if you did – please share it with me and if there were any lessons learned.  And I tell you what –  the best 3 stories will get a special prize!  But – hey I may win my own prize.

But I figure if my first day was this bad in the New Year, then the rest of the year should be GREAT!  Just getting it all out in the beginning.

So here’s what happened…

December office was busy, trying to shut down for the holiday plans, the “holidays “(really we need another word here) were also at a fast pace as my family chose to split up the festivities this year, so it was 3 days of prep and 5 days of different cities and celebrating (not including new years).  But I love the holidays, giving presents and feeling all the warm vibes of the season, so I was tired but enjoyed it.  But I did feel I was trying to make everyone else happy and exhausted myself in the process. That’s sign #1.

But then I came down with a 2 week sinus affection that didn’t allow me to sleep, eat or breathe properly.  I had black eyes from this infection. And I am the person who doesn’t get colds even when I have sick people around me, so it was surprising.  Perhaps a sign to slow down.

During this time I also found out that a good friend of mine died and I attended the funeral and Shiva.  So that was a hard reminder that love and friendships are precious.  It was also a reminder that we’re all on a silent egg timer and we never know when the bell will ring for us.

A few days later I return to work and a business deal and relationship I am deeply involved in (and really enjoy) seems to have gone to hell in a hand basket (who made up this expression, it’s really good).  I am hoping this will end on a positive note, but the journey to get there is really horribly difficult, time costly and dragged me down emotionally for 3 days where I couldn’t even move – which is weird as I am typically the girl you call in any traumatic experience.  I am a rock and a strong guide in tough situations.  I was a crisis manager for pete-sake!  I can handle pressure.

But I must have been so sick, so exhausted and overwhelmed by the feeling of being let down, that it contributed to my emotional state.   In fact I almost missed New Years over it because I was so devastated by their actions.  Mostly because when they were really making big mistakes and I covered for them and was as forgiving as Mother Theresa.  Why don’t people appreciate or remember those things?  Do we have to be feared in business to get respect and appreciation?   I should be furious but I mostly feel disappointed.  I rationalize it thinking that even good people can do strange actions when they are emotionally or financially struggling, it helps people act from fear and lash out at others.

That same day (my first day back to work), my staff accidentally erased 3 of my main business websites.  Thank god for back-ups!!  This has created a few days of me trying not to panic, but it is slowly being resolved as we speak. But I couldn’t get mad because who can get upset at someone who is more upset at themselves, than I could ever be?  Mistakes can happen.

Then for some strange reason my outlook refused to open, so I had no way of looking at past, present or future emails.  Weird.  It later repaired itself.  It may have been a sign to walk away.

Did I mention that my grandmother is ill?

Seriously, I’m not sure you can top 8 years of work being wiped out in 1 day, a death of a friend, a possible end to a part of a business I enjoyed, computer failures and feeling like crap? – but hey you can try.  Be my guest.

So what do I take from all this????  Well you may have more enlightening answers (and if you do please send them my way).

Here was my thought process:

Ok, someone cursed me.

Ok, everyone but me is crazy.

Ok, I must suck at business.

Ok, I must be the crazy one and don’t see it.  Well, I am talking to myself here.

Jeez, I am dehydrated from crying.  Can someone get dehydrated from tears? 

Ok, maybe a possible (hopefully not) end to a partnership deal, my business being deleted is a signal for me to become a vet.  I love animals – but no, can’t operate on them.  Vet is out – plus I don’t look good in white, I need more color. 

Hmmm, Ok, I should go back to bed, and hide under the covers until I can smell tulips in March.  Hopefully my husband will remember to keep feeding our dog.  He probably won’t. Damn!  I have to get out of bed.

Ok, am I going to let this get me down???       Hell yes! 

……Ok, try again, am I going to let this get me down and quit?      Well, maybe I can look at the positives; maybe SOME people still love me.  Maybe I shouldn’t take this one weird week as the representative of my 8 years of doing good work on the planet and helping so many people find their way and reach for more.    Ok, feeling better.

Getting Proper Perspective Back
Why is it I pay more attention to negative actions of a few, than the many more positives?  I know why, because I try so hard to please everyone, and it just doesn’t work all the time.

Maybe the world has better things to do than single me out for a take-down, after all, I’m not one of the bad guys – just an imperfect woman trying to be perfect 24/7 and make the lives of others a better place.  Bound to make some errors, maybe I have.  Maybe I should forgive others and forgive myself.  Hmm, good start.  That feels better.

Next – look at the bright side:  Ok, I have my health back, which is so important.  My personal relationships are great right now.  My dog is super cute and definitely still loves me.

I have incredible circle of people in my group this year – really top notch and include some of my favorite people.  I am also looking forward to seeing my new MIT members change & grow and helping them along the way like a proud mum.

I may have lost 3 pounds from my cold, which makes up for the chocolate binge on the 3 days I was feeling sorry for myself and not getting off my sofa.  Ok, I’m on to caramels now – and I am currently accepting chocolate or caramel donations.

I am also reminded of an email my good friend, our fabulous MIT coach and circle member Nat said to me last year.  He said his computer froze, and at first he panicked – but then he sought to see the beauty and positive in his situation.  He realized that all he needed to do was do a “de-fragmentation” repair on his computer – this also mirrored his office.  So he took this spare time to clean up all the bits of paper and stuff cluttering up his office and felt a weight lift.  Both he and his computer got a clean-up that day.

So taking Nat’s advice (after all not only is he a rocking MIT Coach, but he is also a Buddhist monk and entrepreneur.  That’s a strong combination) I reflected …

… And thought- if my whole business disappeared (which it did temporarily) – would I be ok?   Yes, I can rebuild.  I would find a way.  Or maybe this is a wake-up call that I should look at changing the program and starting with a fresh perspective.  I have been meaning to do updates.  Or maybe start something totally new.  Is there something else I have been meaning to do?  Is there a new path?

Regarding the deal and partnership that I so treasured… I will keep in my thoughts that both my partner and I will be very happy with whatever the outcome or resolution may be and remain friends and still send each other business.  Perhaps letting go is good – even though it scares me and fills me with unanswered questions about the future.

This also made me realize – when things went – poof! Gone!  That we have a CHOICE to be here.  We have a choice to keep offering the same programs or start again from scratch or even change what we do every day. No one is forcing you to stay at your job, even though it may feel like that sometimes.   We always have a CHOICE to look for new solutions or not. 

It made me remember that in ANY industry you will meet villains, saints and people who do things you just don’t understand (out of fear, jealousy, negative belief systems or desperation), so accept that.  There will be people you help who may resent you for your help later.  I think dogs are the only animals that won’t bite you after you feed them.  People unfortunately can sometimes.  What’s with the dog theme here?

Letting Go Of My Maps
I don’t have everything planned to perfection as I typically do at this time of year.  I choose to not feel panicked about that.  Ok, I repeat, I choose not to feel panicked (I feel like Dorothy clicking her heels and deeply concentrating here – this is hard).   After all I think if there is one life lesson Stefanie Hartman is supposed to learn it’s that you can TRUST life more.  Life has a way of working out.  Life has its own map & timeline.   I hate not having full direction by now, not seeing what is to come.  I can adjust plans, but I typically need to have some direction.  I love maps!  So I’m easing up on that somewhat.  Yes I will identify a few goals, but if I don’t know where my next income is going to be made I will TRUST more that it will (back to the shoes clicking).

Letting Go & Taking a Stand for Me
I will not compare myself or my progress to others as that only ends badly.  I just realized that when I compare myself to others, I never compare to those ‘below’ me, just ‘above’ me (basically whoever has something I would also like to have)?   Really this is not a fair comparison without the two perspectives.   While there will be people smarter, more successful, “luckier”, prettier, taller, whatever, there will also be people whose life you would never trade for.  Many people have greater challenges and discomfort or pain.  I will remember the bigger picture and be grateful every day. 

There are very successful people who can feel like failures because they hold themselves to ridiculous standards or ‘fail’ their own self-imposed timelines.  I do not want to be one of them.

I will also retain my own successes in my mind and heart with personal pride and not let my achievements diminish as soon as they are accomplished for fear of being egotistical.  Being happy for myself is not a negative thing, especially when I am genuinely happy for those around me too.  I will no longer put my own happiness in second, third or fourth place.

I will continue to run my business in a way I am proud of, even if others are “getting ahead” faster through not so pleasant methods. 

I will be proud of myself and TRUST that my life has its own timeline and I cannot plan everything.

I will stretch time and spend 8 hours a month connecting with a business & personal relationships – out of the blue.  Telling them how much I care for them.

I will not hold onto what I think ‘should happen’ with a tight grip, even if I am sad or have fear – as I will trust that if it is not meant to work out (no matter what it is), gripping it will only give me a hand cramp and waste time and energy.   Letting things fall where they may, makes room for something better that I may never have even imagined.

It is possible that the plan I have is not as great as the plan the universe has.  I am betting on you universe – so now’s your chance. 

I will do more things in love of life and in spite of fear.

Humanity has gotten me down a bit this past year, so maybe I should add a project that will show the charitable and unexpected sides of people, or do something to help rescue distressed animals.  I will meditate on this.  Having a positive project may be good for me.

I will learn how to meditate.

I will continue to take the risk of opening myself up to the world (and who ever reads this, thank you), keep being transparent, VULNERABLE and real – and hope that I don’t need to be ‘perfect’ and a shark for others to see that while I have vulnerable moments I have many more moments of great strength, that in fact being vulnerable, not putting on a persona in public takes great courage and strength. 

I will try not to take to heart the 1 or 2 negative emails I get from people every so often.  I will instead put more weight on the hundreds of positive ones.

I will let myself be wrong occasionally and forgive myself.  I will forgive others as well.

Whenever I feel fear, I will remember its ‘made up’, not real, and I will trust more.

I will work on getting my body into a gym, and getting my mind/soul into some fun activities as well as some soul searching.

I will go and get some more chocolate caramels because I just missed lunch.

I will not be so hard on myself.

I will keep my sense of humor…it may be the last thing I take with me on earth.

Foreshadow: I‘m thinking my next year’s blog post may be about visiting the dentist from all these milk duds I am eating.  Ok I’m done with eating chocolate – free milk dud boxes for those who think they can top this!

Maybe if I keep saying MILK DUDS the company will sponsor my blog, milk duds, milk duds, and no calls yet…I will keep trying later.

Thanks for listening…..

Your friend, mentor (hopefully still after this crazy blog post) and person who may be YOUR biggest fan and cheerleader,

Stefanie Hartman

PS – Please post your proper email address as will will be contacting the winners!

Popularity: 18% [?]

OK. What happened this month?  August was fun, then for some reason everyone I know practically contacted me or is doing something this month. Typically we promote maybe 2-4 events per year for others, so if its weirding you out that this past week we’ve sent 3 – then don’t worry its weirding me out too.    Bu the good news is they are all REALLY cool events that I just wanted to make you aware of (as personally I hate missing out on stuff).

Here’s some things that we are going too:

Will I see you at any of them?  If so, please let me know or find me at the events so I can meet you and make powerful introductions for you.

September 25th – 27th – My Mastermind Group meets in Vancouver – we’re all EXCITED about it. This is a CLOSED event. You can’t even peek into our windows.

Monday Sept 28th – I am speaking at Dov Baron’s $5,000 person event (which I got you 80% off which is amazing) in Richmond so take advantage of it. www.tinyurl.com/qwm-stefanie

Sept 30th – Oct 4th – Engage Now event (see below) in Calgary Alberta. I’ve been invited to dine with Branson, which is hard to pass up, but I am not sure I can do so much traveling in this time, I will have to decide tomorrow.  But if you want to attend you should go as this sounds like a really unique event. See below for details but the Dali Lama, Richard Branson and other mega authors will be there. www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/engagenow

October 10/11 – I will have a booth at a San Diego Social Media Conference. Should be interesting.  It’s been awhile since I was a “booth babe”.  But my partner and I are showing off and pre-viewing our social media set up and marketing package there (which we’re not making public till Oct/Nov).

October 30/31 – I will have booth & will be speaking at Rick Frishman’s Author 101 event in Vegas. It’s a smaller more intimate event – will be cool to meet people. PLUS it’s Halloween so I may be partying in Vegas (without my husband which is funny – well not funny for him) or I will have a quiet dinner with my business partner and maybe clients and cool people. www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/author101  Either way that’s probably what I’ll tell him I’m doing- oops, I think he’s on this mailing list too.

Today, let me tell you about the Engage Now event:

My friend Gail is putting this together and as a favor to her and Jill who’s also helping out, I wanted to let you know about it.  It certainly is an unusual event that may not come around again.

As I said, the Dali Lama, Richard Branson and other mega authors will be there including Dr. Steven Covey, Barbara DeAngelis, the CEO of Zappos (who just sold for over $900 Million to Amazon). Read more here: www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/engagenow

Maybe I will see you at some of these places, if not , I’ll be thinking of you and will bring you any tips I find.

Warmest regards,
Stefanie

Popularity: 3% [?]

Remember the Wisk commercial in my last blog?  Here’s another vintage commercial:

I bet you didn’t even know you needed Space Food Sticks until you saw that!  LOL!

Out with the old . . . in with the new.   Download your free copy of The Hartman Report now.

Popularity: 1% [?]

There was a time, not so long ago, when consumers relied heavily on expensive paid advertising to make their spending decisions.  Remember this?

Before seeing that commercial, viewers may not even have known that their husbands were suffering disdain and mockery due to the rings around their collars.  Luckily, the commercial not only educated them about the dreadful plight of grey-collared office workers, but it also offered them a solution — Wisk Detergent.  They would be spared the shame that the poor woman on the commercial suffered.  Their washers wouldn’t taunt them each time they opened the door.

With the advent of the internet, consumers make their decisions a little differently now.  As a heart-based entrepreneur, this is a great thing for you.   When your potential clients are confronted with pricey ads from mega-corporations, it takes them minutes to do more research.  They click on their favorite  sites to check reviews on the company.  They listen to podcasts.  They Google the product and look for product reviews.  They might even hit up WikiAnswers.com:  “Is ring around the collar even a big deal?”

You may not have a massive advertising budget, but you have a global marketplace right at your fingertips, and consumers are talking to each other.  The MarketingGuy tells us that according to a survey from 1&1 Internet, 89% of shoppers say they purposely stay away from small online retailers with negative customer reviews on the web.  Referrals and recommendations are important.  So how can you make this trend work to your advantage?

• Make sure you deserve your good reputation. Determine what your clients need, and deliver it.
• Build incentives for referrals into your processes from the beginning. Referrals are extremely effective, but your clients may not think of it if you don’t suggest it.
• Follow up with your clients to make sure they’re satisfied, then ask for referrals. Make sure you hand out at least three business cards

If you’re taking the time to know what your customers need and giving it to them with a true service attitude, you don’t have to worry if you have a small or no advertising budget.  Clients who are referred to you will trust you more, and research shows that they are willing to spend more as well.  What are you doing to earn referrals for your business?  I’d love to see your comments below.

To learn more about the changing face of marketing and how to take advantage of it, download your free copy of The Hartman Report now.

Popularity: 2% [?]

You can mail out the most riveting email showcasing your product, but if you don’t target it to the right audience, you won’t get results.

Check out this funny video to see what I’m talking about!

Need help targeting your email newsletters for maximum impact and profit?  Check out our Get it Done series.  Let us concentrate on your marketing needs, so you’re free to take care of business.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I just read a terrific post from David Riklan of Self-Growth on the effectiveness of email advertising.  He addresses the question:  “Does email newsletter advertising really work?” His answer  is a firm, “That depends!”  Some products — health products, financial services, and help for relationships and self-improvement — tend to fare better than others with online marketing. Continue Reading

Popularity: 2% [?]

Gone Are the Days of the Faceless Corporation

According to a Yale psychology department study, there are ten words you should be using in your advertising techniques to get the most powerful responses:

New, Save, Safety, Proven, Love, Discover, Guarantee, Health, Results, and You (which was listed as the most powerful above all!)

As a marketer, knowing these types of things always interests me, but as one who’s interested in the ‘heart’ of business, I’m just fascinated as the feelings behind why these words are so powerful in advertising.

It can be all too easy for any marketer to fall into the trap of making it ‘about me’. I think a lot of that is simply ingrained in us from the older days of advertising – the lack mentality and desperation to say ‘Look at me! Look at me!’ where the one who shows the most glitter gets ahead.

It can be very difficult to trust your marketing on the strength of who you are and the foundation of quality that you provide when you’re living on the fear that someone else may get ahead!

But think about it – if you can provide something unique and novel, your product or service is going to shout ‘NEW’ and ‘DISCOVER’ louder than any of your copy will. If you can offer testimonials and give your honest word to stand behind your product or service, ‘PROVEN’, ‘RESULTS’, ‘SAFETY’ and ‘GUARANTEE’ are spoken out for you.

If your true desire is to make honest money with something you know your audience can afford and pay happily, they’re going to know that they’re SAVING, and while not everything has to do with HEALTH, any product or service you create that contributes to overall balance is going to have an affect there too.

LOVE, of course, can literally show through everything you do – and the more you love what you’re doing and who you’re doing it for, the greater the power of that word will pervade throughout every aspect of your business.

And YOU, of course – your client or customer – they’ll know right away if it’s all about them or not as soon as they stumble across your marketing efforts!

Does this mean you should never use these words in your copy or advertising techniques, simply letting your product or service speak for itself? Continue Reading

Popularity: 6% [?]

I can hardly believe it’s FINALLY here! I have been sitting on this thing for WAY too long – and the time has come for me to share it with you! (And as a member of my online community, you’re getting exclusive access 10 days BEFORE everyone else does!)

Let me tell you – if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, these are the words you’ve been WAITING to hear (I know because this whole thing was created out of my own longing as an entrepreneur to just get some of the help I needed!)

I am so excited to finally be able to tell you about a new service that is going to let you check off everything on your list for your business – and check it off fast (and cheaply too!).

Now, you know me – I love marketing strategy and techniques and teaching my students the behind-the-scenes secrets of how the super successful become well-known, generate massive leads, and well…make a ton of money doing it.

And of course I put many of these techniques into practice in my own business – but even I can never seem to do ALL the ones I want to in a year – I just don’t have the time or the energy. And it’s not always easy to find the right kind of help – even if you can afford to hire out!

The real truth is (and trust me, most marketers won’t tell you this) – you’ll probably never have all ofthe hours and dollars that you’ll need to learn and implement all the top marketing strategies for your business – it’s just too much!

And when you’re continually balancing your business needs, wearing many hats, and trying to enjoy a life at the same time, you’ve gotta ask yourself…

WHO CAN REALLY…IN REALITY…STUDY FOR 10 – 12 HOURS EVERY SINGLE DAY TO JUST KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TRAFFIC & LIST BUILDING STRATEGIES!

And really…wait for it…here’s the kicker…

WHY THE HECK SHOULD YOU HAVE TOO??????? Continue Reading

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