Good afternoon my friends…  I want to give you a jolt with some powerful statistics. If you care about reaching the marketplace with your message or even your product and you want to be in business 36 months from now, I suggest you read these stats, then watch the video below found on YouTube. It tells the story.

• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
• It took 38 years for radio to reach 50 million users, 13 years for TV, 4 years for the internet, 3 years for iPod users but Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months!
• The fastest growing segment on Facebook is not teenagers. It is 55 - 65 year old females. If Facebook were a country, it would be the 4^th largest in the world!
• Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama!
• 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content.
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations - Only 14% trust advertisements
• In the near future, we will no longer search for products and services… they will find us via social media
• Social media isn’t a fad. It’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.
• Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators and content providers than traditional advertisers.

When you’re finished watching, you may need to revisit the webinar we did with David G. Johnson a few weeks back. Hundreds of you watched it. If you missed it, I suggest you check it out here after you watch the video. You’ll be invited to participate in David’s upcoming Social Media training for small business. The sign up deadline for that training is next Friday, September 11th.  Don’t miss out. Have a great weekend!

Today’s message is a guest entry from my good friend, David G. Johnson, founder of Epiphany Marketing.

Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” (Proverbs 22:29 AMP)

You may be one of the many skeptics who has yet to see the promotional power of social media. If so, I want to be the first to commend you: you’ve probably seen many fads come and go, and you may have even wasted significant time or money once or twice before on something that was going to be the, “next big thing.”

On the other hand, there comes a time when something has actually caught on. Radio and television were once the target of similar detractors, not to mention the “online services” that morphed into our utter dependence upon e-mail and the World Wide Web.

Is it possible to jump in too early and not see the return on your investment you’ve hoped for? Absolutely. On the other hand, with the help of someone who’s paid the price to learn how to make things work, you can avoid the expensive tuition of the school of hard knocks.

Two of my favorite examples from among my own clients who have begun to dominate their marketplace using social media are Christian parenting author, Rick Osborne, and Tom Ziglar, son of Zig Ziglar and President of Ziglar, Inc. Rick, who is worth following on Twitter and “friending” on Facebook, went through our 21st-Century marketing training program and was kind enough to pioneer translating our methods to Twitter (where he dragged me kicking and screaming). Tom Ziglar, who executed a now-famous Twitter strategy after our consulting engagement about 8 months ago, now has a consistent audience of 21,000 and counting!

“But I’m Not A Bestselling Author and My Last Name Isn’t Ziglar!”

True enough. But when you break apart the essence of the strategies that are working for them and for local businesses like the now-famous LA taco truck, there’s no reason you can’t grow your revenues, build relationships, and increase exposure for your business.

Let me assure you: this “passing fad” has become the new PR, advertising and marketing outlet of choice for those looking to achieve “bang for the buck.” The key is understanding how these environments work and how to sustainably and effectively engage them. I look forward to sharing these crucial components with you tonight!

Special Note from Michael Pink: You’re invited to join David and me tonight (Thursday, August 13th) at 9PM Eastern for “How to Dominate Your Marketplace Using Social Media.” This special educational webinar will help all of us learn how social media can be used to grow your business, and advance your message. Click here to reserve your spot right now!  Can’t make the time? Please register anyway… if a recording becomes available, you’ll be the first to find out!

Are you short on cash? Do you really need something, but don’t see how you can afford it? That’s a great opportunity to learn a new way to transact business without using cash.

Listen, in this tight economy, everyone’s watching their pennies, but you can still transact business for big ticket items if you know how. You see, in the rainforest, every day monkeys help themselves to fruit hanging on many of the trees. Never once have I seen them drop a quarter in a slot at the base of the tree. Yet, the rainforest thrives more than any environment on earth.

Think of the rainforest as a system. It has very specific rules for producing abundance, but none of them include cash or debt. They trade value. The agouti, the rainforest equivalent of an oversized squirrel, takes something he has in abundance but costs him almost nothing – his energy and mobility – and trades it for something a Brazil Nut tree has in abundance – Brazil nuts! In return, he plants some of those nuts in the ground to grow more trees – something the Brazil Nut tree desperately needs.

They don’t establish a dollar value before trading. They simply trade what they have in excess for what they have a shortage of. If you find the right trading partner, you’ll be amazed at what you can get. Once I traded something I had in abundance – information – specifically my sales training – for something one of the largest business magazines in the world had in abundance – advertising space.

A full page ad was $63,000 and we traded a day of training for an ad that was to run for six issues. Instead of trading $10,000 worth of training for $10,000 worth of advertising, I was able to trade the value of what I produced for the value of their ad and got a much better deal!

Get a complimentary copy of Rainforest Strategy now and learn all about the best business model on the planet. All we ask you to do is cover the shipping and handling and consider the offer for our printed newsletter (The R.A.I.N. Report) when you’re done. But first get your copy of Rainforest Strategy

My fellow marketplace warriors…
Here is the invitation I promised you to join me for a meeting this week.  If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll recall that we held a meeting with David (whose marketing thoughts you’ve probably been reading recently) just a few months ago and had an overwhelming response.

If you’re a newer subscriber, you may not yet be aware that our mission is to help believers worldwide build successful businesses so they can in turn (with their profits and influence) make a significant and lasting impact on the culture within which we live. How you make that difference is up to you. Helping you succeed in that calling is our privilege and our mission.

20-Fold Increase…
Recently, I was evaluating some statistical information related to our business.  It seems like it wasn’t all that long ago (in fact, it was just a couple of years ago) that I was getting excited about the 1,000 or 2,000 visitors coming to our website every month.  When I saw the more recent information, I found out that we’re averaging 10,000 visitors to our site every single week!  This has been due, in large part, to the efforts of David Johnson from Epiphany Marketing, who we retained just over a year ago to help us expand our reach.

Even more than multiplying the number of visitors, what has excited me is when I found out why they’re finding us… David showed me how to view the terms that people are typing into search engines like Google in order to find us.  Wow!  It’s amazing how well-targeted the results are.  We are connecting more than ever with the people who need what we have to offer.

David wants to share information with you…
…about how you can experience similar results.  And, more importantly, how to apply timeless marketing strategy to every facet of your business so that you’re best prepared to create relationships with the people you are reaching out to.  In fact, David would also like to introduce some of the people he’s been training for the last couple of months so you can hear directly from them about what they’ve been learning.

David and I have set aside several time slots Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss specific strategies to help you experience similar results. This is not for everyone, but if you want to grow your business using 21st-century strategies, you are welcome to join us. Register here now so you can be sure to reserve your spot on one of these conference calls. (As always, we are limited on the number of callers we can have on each conference call, so it’s a first-come, first-served basis.)

Warmest regards…

Michael Q. Pink

P.S. I know you probably checked your calendar previously, but I urge you to choose your best meeting time now… these calls will fill up quickly!

Before wealth manifests itself in tangible form, it exists first and foremost in an intangible form. What we see with our natural eyes is a manifestation of something that first existed in an unseen state. The rainforest we see was once a seed we didn’t see. In our lives, everything is “twice created” — first in your mind, then in physical form.  If you go through life only seeing the effect or the outcome but never discern the cause of things, you will live at the mercy or lack thereof of those who see into both worlds and move freely between them.

Wealth is first of all an internal possession. If you don’t have it on the inside, you will never have it on the outside. You can only manifest in life what you possess on the inside. Nothing more. The life you lead on the outside is a reflection of the things you believe and the truths you understand on the inside.

Some years ago in the dead of winter, I took on a new client in small Midwest town. He picked me up in the morning to take me to his office which turned out to be a rundown, clapboard house in the poor side of town. When we walked through the front door, the carpet was thick with dog hair and shredded newspaper. I thought it must be where he kept his dog when it got cold and where he stored his construction equipment. As we worked our way through piles of old newspapers and stacks of magazines we found ourselves in the room he called his office.

He sat down at his desk as I stood awkwardly looking for a chair I could clear off and be seated in. Not finding one and looking intently at him and the disaster that was his office, I asked him a question… “Can I be frank with you?”

He winced as he seemed to know what was coming and replied, “I am paying you thousands of dollars. I expect you to be frank with me.”

With kindness and directness I replied, “This place is a pig sty. There is no point in me helping you bring order to this mess. It’s a reflection of the mess on the inside of you. Unless we deal with the mess on the inside of you first, this mess will just come right back!” He agreed and we left immediately for a restaurant to have breakfast.

We spent the rest of the day at his discretion, identifying the utter poverty and chaos that was on the inside of him. His story was painful and horrific, but completely redeemable. Over the course of our time together, we rooted out the lies that he believed and planted truth in the core of his soul. It was clear by the time I left that he was ready to bring order to his outside world because it had finally come to his inside world. Despite a significant financial inheritance, this man lived in poverty on the outside because that is what he had on the inside. We can only sustainably project to the outside what we consistently have on the inside.

IMPORTANT NOTE: David Johnson has been conducting some top notch training over the phone to a select group of folks who signed up for this in March. The response has been the best from anything we’ve ever done. I’ve asked David to conduct another free teleseminar next week to talk about how this can help grow your business substantially. He will have the input of current students and a lot more new stuff to share.

We will give you all the details you need on Monday’s blog but for now, here are the choices you will have to attend this free teleseminar exclusive to folks on our coaching lists. (If you are receiving this email, you are on that list) All times are listed in US Eastern time, so please click to calculate your local time.

• Tuesday at 9pm
• Wednesday at 1pm
• Thursday at 7am
• Thursday at 4pm

“For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17

I was greatly heartened by the overwhelming response from Tuesday’s blog. You all gave me great hope that perhaps there is a body of people who do want to impact the culture through the strategic takeover of cultural mind molders that shape the destiny of a generation. We have a growing community of brothers and sisters from Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada, Africa, Central & South America, etc who are using this site as a way of connecting, supporting and even challenging each other. The posts many of you contribute not only help each other but give life back to me and I am grateful that you take the time to stay in touch and share your perspective!

I spoke Tuesday night to a group of business-minded entrepreneurs in Greensboro, NC and it was terrific! What a great bunch of people! Special thanks to those who drove up from neighboring states to join us. It was wonderful to meet you!

Like many of you, there were several who were struggling to figure out how they could get out of the difficult financial straits they are in. The main emphasis of my talk Tuesday night was on perspective — how you see and interpret the circumstances you find yourself in and how you see yourself. If you see yourself as a grasshopper or a pauper, that is what you will be. That is, at least, how you will live.

We first have to get a firm grip on who we are and what we are which helps us discern a little more on “why” we are. We are children of the King, but that doesn’t mean we are supposed to be spoiled rich kids. Rather we are to be trained to rule and reign with Him. Do you have any concept of what that means? Our King owns everything and I believe He wants us to learn how to manage (steward) some of those things. It’s not that He needs help. It’s that we do! We need to grow up and mature.

Acquiring and managing resources involves risk and training and reward. In the process we grow up. And even better, we grow in our relationship with Him as He trains us to manage the planet and rule and reign in life. Business is a context for relationship. What a shame for those God prepared and gifted for sharing in the joy and privilege of managing the planet, who shun that responsibility because they want to do something they consider to be “spiritual.” Let me tell you, it takes a great deal of spiritual maturity to acquire and manage wealth without being mastered by it. Jesus said it would be difficult (Mat 19:23) I look forward to growing together with you all.

Recently I was doing some corporate training at a hotel in Atlanta. It was probably the best, most experienced group of professionals I’ve had the privilege to train. Somewhere around day three of the training, I decided to open the meeting with a video clip of a worship song that I found particularly moving. One of the participants arrived early and introduced me to another clip of a short skit.

I thought it might be hokey so I watched it before everyone came and was quite affected by it. It was a powerful skit about the love of God. Now we were there for sales training and I was going to show them a clip about the love of God. I felt the confirmation of the Holy Spirit and let it rip. When this short clip was over, there was mascara everywhere and not a dry eye in the room. It really changed the tone of the rest of the week.

That’s when I saw just how relevant the love of God is to everyone in every situation whether they are looking for that or not. After being touched by his love through this video the spiritual climate intensified, teamwork flourished and the entire team was connected in a way that no one expected. I recommend you take five minutes and soak this up right now.

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” Gen 1:14

A year is one trip around the sun meaning that our planet has to spin on its wobbling axis about 365.25 times to make a full circuit. The wobble itself (imagine a spinning top that is also slowly wobbling) takes about 25,920 years to complete one wobble through the equinoxes.

But what do we do with a quarter of a day? Well, we ignore it for three years, then we add it to the calendar to help prop up the shortest month of the year, February… as if we needed another cold, slushy, freezing, winter day! Why not put it at the end of August so every four years we could have an even longer Labor Day weekend? (just kidding)

Unfortunately, I am not in charge of changing the calendar, but I can influence how this day turns out so I’ve decided to brighten up your day with something we can’t do again until 2012… I am offering you our top three, most responded to offers from last year with lots of free, valuable gifts to make this a very special “Leap Day”. Take a look at what you missed. It might just be what you need to leap through the gate in 2008!

Here are the choices…

1. The RainCatcher’s Secret: 7 Ancient Paths to Wisdom, Wealth and the Wonder of God as modeled by the Old Testament dwelling of God, the Tabernacle of Moses. This was our most requested offer last year! Take a look at what it includes.
2. Christian Wealth Building with yours truly and John Muratori. Check this one out as we still have a few of his Rich Church Poor Church books we are giving away on this one.
3. Selling Among Wolves Audio Coaching Program… The famous “geek” special. Our in-house “geek” made a serious error on one of our offers so to make up for the frustration it caused, we offered our training program at an unbelievably low price. If you are in a sales related business, this is the best offer you will on that program this year. Click here now.

Happy Leap Day!

My fellow marketplace warriors…
I want to invite a few of you to a special conference call at the end of this week. Let me tell you why and then please let me know if you can make it. As you may know, our mission is to help believers worldwide build successful businesses so they can in turn (with their profits and influence) make a significant and lasting impact on the culture within which we live. How you make that difference is up to you. Helping you succeed in that calling is our privilege and our mission.

A mere 18 months ago…
Our business was dependent on me going out somewhere in the world and doing consulting or training. Product sales were minimal and not much of a focus. The revenues generated through our website were limited to five or six hundred dollars per month. Insignificant. I began applying some of the rainforest lessons to business and it grew substantially. Then we retained on a consulting basis, David Johnson of Epiphany Consulting to really help us establish a long term, reliably growing stream of income using the internet.

Last quarter what used to be less than a couple thousand dollars per quarter, was over $100,000 using the internet. That’s 50-fold increase! Our ranking on search engines has also improved significantly, our number of e-mail subscribers has more than doubled, and many good things are occurring. I know there are many of you who could benefit from his knowledge so I asked him last week if he would be willing to get on a conference call with me and share some of his wisdom and experience with you. He agreed with one stipulation…

He wants to focus his input…
…on folks who have an established business or who are responsible for generating leads or demand for an established enterprise. For example, one of his clients is a specialist in the medical profession who got virtually no business off his website and was skeptical that people would come to him via the internet. But… he was wasting money on ineffective advertising and he knew it. About a year later, over 50% of his patients find him from the internet, due to the help David was able to provide.

David and I have set aside several time slots this Thursday and Friday to discuss specific strategies to help you experience similar results. This is not for everyone, but if you want to grow your business using 21st-century strategies, you are welcome to join us. Register here now so you can be sure to reserve your spot on one of these conference calls. (As always, we are limited on the number of callers we can have on each conference call, so it’s a first-come, first-served basis.)

Warmest regards…

Michael Q. Pink

P.S. Get your calendar out and choose your best meeting time now… these calls will fill up quickly!

“Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will (1) loose the armor of kings,(2) to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; (3) I will go before you, and (4) make the crooked places straight: (Isa 45:1-3)

When we have walked the bended path with God and found Him in the struggle, we are ready to straighten out the bended paths within us: those ways that were once pure before sin came into the world, now corrupted by the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. Straightening out the bended paths in us is really the process of choosing the straight path before us when our inner nature would prefer the detour, avoiding the construction site designed to perfect us yet even more.

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