Borders Force Attention!

·         In the construction of any advertisement it is thus possible to force attention in certain directions. ·         This principle of attention should be considered in the making of borders. “Advertising.” Herbert W, Hess 1909

Last night, I was reading "Advertising" by Herbert W. Hess and decided to learn about borders.

This morning during my 5.1 mile "Creativity Walk" I looked for examples.

Which signs have attention getting borders?

I am my Destiny!

It was raining lightly this morning as I left for my early morning walk. It was the kind of rain called "gesham" in Hebrew.

This type of rain is especially good for crops. It is also especially good for contemplation. The clouds containing the rain are said to hold secrets. The rain and the clouds are the same.

This is deep, but hold the thought. The rain and the clouds are the same.

As I walked along this road, I was pondering what to write about today, and I asked for help.

Rabbi Yitzhak Levi walked with me in my mind.

We are old friends as I spent years translating "Kedushat Levi: Sefer Beresheis." It is the book of creation and also contains the secrets of how the mind works.

After a few minutes, he said:

Ehyeh asher ehyeh

I AM THAT I AM!

We discussed this passage years ago, and I knew exactly what Rabbi Yitzhak Levi meant. He had explained to me the correct translation:

"I am that which I am becoming."

In the context of God, it meant God was soon going to manifest as the One who would take the Children of Israel out of Egypt. This manifestation would be through a series of actions, including the 10 plagues. God was becoming the God forming a nation from tribes.

In the context of people, it means "I am doing what I am becoming." I say, "I am my destiny."

Destiny: the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of 

events.

Predetermined by what or whom? Our destiny is predetermined by the actions we take today. I am doing what I am becoming. I am blogging. I am becoming a blogger I am my destiny.

In mystic Judaism, they discuss gathering sparks of light. In general, this means gathering sparks of goodness and leaving behind the rest.

Each day has a spark of light  that will help us reach our goals. Grab the spark when it appears each day.

I am what I am becoming. I am a sales blogger.

Why Titles must Tell the Truth!

Sometimes it's tempting to pull readers in with a title that shades the truth. It may work a few times, and it will certainly work with a reader new to the blog.

Eventually it drives readers away.

Which title attracts you more?

• The Fatal Flaw in Going the Extra Mile!
• The Missing Element in Going the Extra Mile!

I can support either title, but the post I made only supports one of them.

Before reading further, please pick the title that would grab you.

This is my post for today on http://48statehike.blogspot.com

(Insert the title you chose.)

Reviewing my Action Plan

The chart below is my action plan for my daily walks and the walking log.

I was reviewing my action plan this morning and realized that for the last 16 days I've walked almost exactly the number of miles in the plan.

I was feeling good until...

 An inner voice said, "You could have done more!"

 I asked, "Who are you?"

 The voice replied, "You should have walked the extra mile!"

Then I knew who was talking. Napoleon Hill, one of my dead mentors.

He said, "Gary, you know I said if I had to pick one thing for success, it would be "Going the Extra Mile!"

"Mr. Hill, I listened, I really did. Why don't we take this on a walk? It was 4:47 am, the time I always leave the door for my 5.1 mile morning walk.

We were quiet for about a half mile. I didn't have an answer for Mr. Hill.

Mr. Charles Wilson Hoyt joined the conversation. "Hold on there Mr. Hill. When we talked, you always said, 'Go the Extra Mile' and I agreed.

"It is management's job to define the extra mile. I taught sales houses to give their sales reps a list of specific activities to perform. By doing the activities as asked, they were walking the miles necessary for success. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Later, Sir Winston Churchill will say, 'Duty then is the sublimest word in the English Language. You can never do more, you must never do less.'"

"Mr. Hill, Mr, Hoyt, it's good to see you. You both worked for me when we were alive and I listened to both of you.

"When someone worked for me, they met their fortune teller during the first week. The fortune teller gave the worker a 'pink sheet' with their personal road map to success.

"By defining their personal miles, my workers never had to question if they were doing enough. They never had to question if I was satisfied with their work."

My mother's father, Tom Colby joined the group.

"I was fourteen when I met all of you. Mr. Hill, you gave me the draft copy of 'Laws of Success.' I even added 'The Seeds of Prosperity' to your book.

"Mr. Hoyt, you taught me how to give my sales reps specific tasks to complete during the day.

"Mr. Carnegie, you taught me the 'Gospel of Wealth' with your actions.

"Thanks to all your advice, Sales Team One was successful."

We all felt something was still missing!

I was about 3 miles into my walk and saw some ROTC cadets sitting on the wall. They looked deader than my mentors.

I asked the group if they were ROTC cadets and they nodded. I told them how the "o'dark thirty" runs were some of the best times in my life. I entertained them with stories from when I went through Airborne.

Tom's partner, Rebecca entered my mind. Before she spoke, she said, "Tom, remember we used to teach the Song of Enthusiasm to Sales Team One?"

Rebecca spoke through me and I don't recall a word she said. All I know is that after she spoke I was running down the road with a group of loudly singing ROTC cadets.

You can see all the dead mentors over their heads. This was NOT photoshopped!

And that's not all!

When I returned home, I looked at my pedometer and saw that I'd gone an extra 1.6 miles because of ENTHUSIASM! 

Enthusiasm is the missing element.

Which title tells the truth?

• The Fatal Flaw in Going the Extra Mile!
• The Missing Element in Going the Extra Mile!

PS: If you enjoyed this post, please share it on social media.

Thanks! Road Walking

Why are all my Mentors Dead?

Wow! I can't believe I used that title! But it's true, so I better start explaining why before you "x" out of here. I admit, this is one of my crazier posts!

Dead People don't Argue
In about 2006,  Rabbi S. invited me to study the Kedushat Levi with him. Rabbi Yitzhak Levi published the book in about 1760. The only problem is he wrote in Hebrew and Aramaic, and there aren't any translations. My task was to translate a bit each week and Rabbi S. would explain it. At first, I could only translate 50 words a week.

Gradually, I translated more, and one day Rabbi S. and I were discussing a difficult section. We each had a different opinion, and we both knew we were wrong.

That's when I said, "I like studying dead people's writings because they don't argue!"

Live People do Argue
One of my hobbies is computer programming. My saying is, "If I can think it, I can program it." So, I got this idea to program the translation. I imported all the words and the translations from the Tanach (what Christians call the Old Testament) and put it in the program.

Then I imported all the words for the Kedushat Levi, and it translated about 25% of the words with the program. Next I bought the Talmud on CD and also the 72 volume book set. I was able to search the CD to look up the location of the word and go to the book to get a clear definition and the context.

One day, I came to a study with about 1,000 words translated and nicely formated.

The Rabbi said, "You can't learn Hebrew on a computer!" 
To me, can't means Can. I knew I could do it, because I WAS doing it. Not only was I doing it, but I was learning the book and learning Hebrew.

Their wives argue, too!
The Rabbi's wife got sick, and during her long illness, we discontinued our studies together. I kept translating and learning.

After his wife died, he married a Rabbi.

One week, Rabbi S. said the next week he was going to read a section from the Kli Yakar . It is a book from the early 1600's. I quickly translated the section for myself so I'd be prepared.

Unexpectedly, Rabbi S. asked me to read my translation. I tried to explain it was a rush job, but he had me read it anyway.

His wife, Rabbi E. stopped me on the first sentence. I got the tense on some verb wrong. I didn't care because I was looking for the sense of the passage and that was all. Then Rabbi S. said, "You can't learn Hebrew on a computer!" and his wife joined in. It was somewhat embarrassing for me in front of the other members of the congregation.

Finally, when they were done with the rant, I said, "Can I at least give you the last line?"

The last line was something like "Studying Torah is a way to unite people and they shouldn't worry about small errors in interpretation."

Not long after, people started moving to other cities and the congregation disbanded.

Meeting my Dead Mentors
A couple years ago, I started studying, I mean REALLY studying, Napoleon Hill. I was stuck on forming a Master Mind Alliance. There aren't many writers who know how to form a Master Mind Aliance or who have enough in common. So, I asked Napoleon Hill to be in my Master Mind Alliance. Well, in one of his videos he said dead people can't be in a master mind alliance. I took him anyway because dead people don't argue.

I started choosing other members. Charles S. Hoyt who wrote "The Principles of Scientific Management." Frank Gilbreth who wrote "Applied Motion Study." Andrew Carnegie and many others.

After studying their books, I knew what they would say in any situation. If I was wrong, well, dead people don't argue.

Live people don't argue if they don't know you exist!
As a new writer, it's difficult to find an expert with free advice. New writers can't afford to pay for advice, so I started reading their books. I read everything I could find on how to write. Old books by dead people and new books by live people. I tried the recommendations that seemed reasonable and rejected the others. No hurt feelings because they didn't know!

One day, I realized they could join my Master Mind Alliance. I could invite the authors in as temporary members and ask them leave when I no longer needed them. There were no hard feelings because they didn't know they were my mentor.

Dead people and live people who don't know you are a perfect match
Eventually, I started picking parts of recommendations from different live mentors and forming my own mentor. I met the live mentors through their books. I only took the parts I agreed with because I learned, "Live people don't argue if they don't know you exist."

I even wrote a book about my perfect mentor and now I refer to his writings. I can't tell you which one as it would be a spoiler.

Then I wrote another book incorporating another mentor. Now I have many mentors inside! I call them Inner Coaches.

What about the Kedushat Levi?
I finished translating the first book and published it on Amazon. It was my first book and it is doing reasonably well. It is one of only two translations in the world. The book is deep, but if you are interested, you can read the description here.

It is in the smallest niche on Amazon. One book! All my inner mentors said "You have to find a profitable niche."

Can't means CAN! and "Dead people don't argue!"

The Shocking Truth about Weekly Sales Reports!

Tracking Sales Shows a Lack of Faith in the System

Many entrepreneurs track their sales at the end of the week, and I'm going to give you the shocking truth about this activity. This is not a new truth. In fact, it is a principle. Principles do not change with time. So, I'll go back a century to some notes from my mother's father, TR Colby. This was Wednesday, the day he opened the office.

Mr. Benedict came in at 3:00, and Rebecca realized she had forgotten to tell me he was coming. I gave her a questioning glance as we went into Rebecca’s office.

“Rebecca, how did it go today?”

“Sir, our six sales teams sold 24 typewriters today. There were a couple larger orders, and we arranged for delivery tomorrow. Everyone sold at least one typewriter, and I am proud of Sales Team One’s performance.”

Mr. Benedict said he would like to speak to the team before they left. Rebecca said the sales reps would be tired, and they needed to go home and rest for tomorrow. She suggested he speak to them briefly at the end of the first Master Mind Alliance meeting on Friday.

After Mr. Benedict left, Rebecca apologized to me for not warning him. I said, “Rebecca, we exceeded the daily sales expectations for sales reps with six months of experience!” Rebecca replied that it was not time to celebrate as we needed to focus on the days left in this week’s game. I agreed, and we decided not to tell the sales teams about their outstanding performance.

The routine continued until Friday. A couple of the sales managers had to make deliveries, and Rebecca taught them how to do this.

Throughout the week, we could feel the energy that comes from success build, and “Sales Team One” was starting to feel like one.

Rebecca started with the sales report for the week.

“Sales Team One, these are the numbers for this week. Six of you made a combined 300 calls a day for a total of 900 calls this week. Normally, we would expect 36 sales from 900 calls based on one sale for every 25 calls. However, you greatly exceeded this, and made combined 98 sales. We believe this shows the effectiveness of the team method. In other Houses, there would be 12 sales reps who would make 25 calls a day and take care of their own administrative duties. You have exceeded the performance of a House with six months experience. This is the last time we will compare you to another House as we are ‘Sales Team One,’ and we will focus on our sales activities throughout the year.”

(end of excerpt)

Later, Tom and Rebecca refused to track sales for the office. If there was a problem, they expected headquarters to tell them. They didn't track the sales for the next 9 months. They tracked sales activities.

Track the root activity

It normally takes 25 contacts to make a sale. The number of views this blog gets is dependent on one thing: The number of high value posts. Period. Nothing else now that the format is the way I want it.

I read "Prospecting your Way to Sales Success" in 1994. Even then, I covered my books with notes.

Bill Good recommended a simple call sheet.

For blogging, I recommend a simple time sheet.  I cross off a number after every 20 minute typing period. I need six a day for my two blogs as it takes an hour to write a post.

When I'm in the midst of writing a book, I need another six periods for the book.

Come on now, that's only four hours of important work a day!

Bill Good recommended a six-week calling campaign, and I recommend a six-week blogging campaign. It takes six weeks to pressurize the system and cause the sales energy to flow with success. 

What this means is any sales tracking before six weeks is useless. There is a six week lead time in the simplest sales. Blogging is different as the posts stay out there prospecting for you, so the success explosion may happen at any time!

What can I check?

Each day, I can look at the posts generating interest. This gives me an indication of what the readers wants. It also helps me write better titles. I have to do this to keep the Table of Contents updated.

Make a weekly action report

Completing and tracking sales activities generates success. 

But I still want to track sales!

Once a month is enough. Don't only track sales. Make a graph with competed activities on the X-axis and sales on the Y-axis. Not good with Excel? Hand drawn is good enough.

Now that you know the truth

Take time to handwrite a tracking sheet for your core activity. Then use it!

Please leave a comment telling us about the activity tracking system you use or plan to use.

Thanks!

Gary

Flex your Writing Muscles!

I only add a new activity to my routine that gives more than it takes. This one takes only 5 to 10 minutes a day. It is truly a case of Trading Pennies for Ideas. (See Table of Contents after reading this post.)

It starts here: https://kindle.amazon.com/your_highlights. Click on Daily Review at the top and you will get a flash card with highlights from a book you read. Type a quick positive note for each highlight.

Continue going to the next flash card for five to ten minutes at a time. This morning I went so fast my typing speed monitor warned me to slow down several times.

When you complete a book, write a 5-Star Review! You can always say, "This book gave me many ideas to think about!"  Some lucky author on the other side will dance a jig of delight when they see it.

You will be sowing seeds of positivity around the world. Look at what else it does for you!

You will be starting your day with seeds of positivity which will show in your writing.

Whether you write eBooks or write  a blog, it gets your name and website out. See this example.

Highlight with Intent
I've always been a highlighter in eBooks. Now I'll highlight with more intent knowing I'll  write a note sometime in the future.

Make your notes public. 
They will appear on the sidebar of the book description. It's another free way to get your name out.

Start now
This is a sales blog, so I have to sell something. Choose one of the books on the sidebar. As you read it, highlight and make a note on the highlight. Oh, then make me dance a jig by leaving a 5-star review!

Simple Trick to Write in the Flow Revealed

People Recognize Authors Writing in the Flow as Experts

Amazon Review:

"In short, this book reads like it is a stream of conscious notebook by an expert on the matter. (This is not a bad thing given the author's expertise.)"  Strutter '79 "Kawl"

Do you want to learn to write in the flow and be recognized as an expert?

Take the "Write in the Flow Challenge"

This 5 day challenge asks you to write something short about seven highlights a day for five days. This teaches your subconscious to write in the flow. The  instructions sound hard so here is an example:

I copied my highlights from https://kindle.amazon.com/your_highlights.

Then I took the day's challenge by writing my thoughts under the highlights. I didn't think and I didn't edit. The point was to open the flow so I could write easily.

The Lost Art of House Cleaning: A Clean House is a Happy Home

"but I love my house when it's clean and shiny and smells clean. When my home is clean I feel good."

Yes, I do love my house when it's clean. But it takes work, doesn't it? Maybe if I divided cleaning the house into small tasks, I could at least clean in cycles.

I know, I'll make a list and rotate through the list!

It's not the cleaning that's exciting it is the satisfaction for having done the job, sometimes a hard job, well.

Let's see, when did I last get this satisfaction? When I completed the first 14 days of my 28 day walking challenge. I'm anticipating completing the 30 day blog challenge soon.

"On the average, it should take about 4 hours to do each room in your house. No, you didn't read a typo -- about 4 hours is what it's going to take; some rooms take a little more some a little less."

Four hours? Who has four hours to clean one room? I have many rooms in my house. Maybe I can spend an hour a room and see what happens. I'll make a drawing of the house and cross each room off after I clean it.

Here is a better idea! I'll write a book as I clean. I'll write down every detail of cleaning every room. Napoleon Hill said we don't truly learn anything until we share it with others.

This simple exercise encouraged me to write a book. I took the idea of cleaning together with information from "The New Housekeeping: Efficiency Studies in Home Management" by Christine Frederick" and created a book from them. (Note: The New Housekeeping is only sold in the US.)

I used organic cleaners and created checklists for each room. If you want the secret of a clean oven with no chemical fumes, grab a copy of the book.

Do you want to learn more?

I was watched a YouTube video by a Korean woman teaching English. The topic was, "Who, What, Where, When, How and Why." The order is important. Don't follow it, and you have "I for two years owned a car." 

I took the idea from the video and expanded it into a book.

 By Kevin & Sarah Arrow

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

There are a lot of books that proclaim that they will help you become a better writer. They assume you know how to write in the first place. Gary Thaller assumes nothing. My wife got a copy of this book two days ago and has not put it down since and of course I had to see what the fuss was about. It's a book worth making a fuss about, worth taking the time to complete the basic exercises simply so you know how to write. The author then shows you how to expand your sentences in a way that will benefit the reader. Very enjoyable, and highly recommended.