Dear Friend,

Thanks to a conversation with a new acquaintance, I've recently experienced a major paradigm shift.

It jarred me from a growing apathy with the force of a category 5 hurricane.

The other day, a recent conversation with one of Gary Halbert's friends and confidants took a completely unexpected turn from the subject of marketing… and it had the effect of hitting me upside the noggin with a big honkin' 2×4.

I've been holed up in my office with a yellow pad and pen in intense introspection ever since.

To make a long story short, (which I'm admittedly not very good at) in 2012 I'm completely reevaluating my goals and plans.

I'm dumping a LOT of stuff off my plate, including a relatively hassle-free business bringing in a quite sizable monthly chunk of change with a time investment of only 4 to 5 hours a week. (I've decided to actually just GIVE this business to a trustworthy person and only take a very small and reasonable percentage of sales.)

Why am I doing this?

Well, like I said, a 60-minute conversation with a very unique man caused a major paradigm shift in my jaded mind.

With only 3 carefully uttered sentences he was able to break through DECADES of crusty built-up cynicism and reactivate a part of me I thought was gone forever. (It was both exciting AND a little scary.)

Anyhoo… one of the changes I'm making in 2012, prompted by this recent introspection, is putting the blinders on and focusing on a project I'm INTENSELY passionate about.

Somewhat related to that, I'm also considering the possibility of working with one or two meticulously-selected clients in a partnership/retainer-type arrangement… with my compensation based on results.

In fact, here's the e-mail I sent recently announcing this possibility:

Quite often I'm contacted by people who want me to…

… help them get a flood of new customers…

… improve their lead flow and conversions…

… write killer order-pulling sales copy…

… exploit all the various media they're neglecting
(and missing out on a fortune)…

… and reveal the undiscovered wealth they've
been overlooking in their business.

95% of the time my answer is…

"Thanks… but no thanks."

See, most client work doesn't make economic sense
for me any more. I have a lot more fun and make way
more money with way less hassles with my own projects.

But… every few years I get a soft spot in my heart and
consider taking on one or two clients… IF they're cool people
I enjoy hanging out with… AND meet my rather stringent
qualifications.

Because I've become quite protective of my time, I have a
secret page I require all potential clients to read before I
invest even one minute speaking with them about their
project or business.

If you're a "player"…a REAL entrepreneur with a successful
business (not a time vampire "tire kicker") and you're
interested in having me work with you to quickly and
dramatically bump up your sales and profits,
here's that secret page.

Who knows. We just may wind up having a lot of fun together
while we're doubling, tripling or quadrupling your business
this year.

Click here to see if you qualify…

All the best,
Dan

P.S. There are already three PWM's (players with money)
in my qualification queue for 2012… so if you want to be
added to the list there's no time to dilly dally.

I received quite a few requests from people wanting to be considered. Quite frankly, only three fit the requirements. (I had already been communicating with one since about July.)

The rest? I referred them to copywriters in my Marketing Camelot I felt were the right match for the client.

A week or so later something interesting happened.

One of the clients I'd passed on asked my opinion about some copywriter he found online.  I'd never heard of this copywriter (strange in and of itself) but he was making an outrageous promise on his website very similar to the sarcastic title of this post.

It's time for a dose of Doberman Dan "slap you upside the head" reality…

Many copywriters and consultants have figured out the biggest key to success in getting clients isn't competence and track record…

It's Self Aggrandizement!

Gary Halbert was a master at this. Hell, he even taught it at his seminars as the key to freelancing success.

Yes, many A-list copywriters (the REAL heavy hitters writing for the biggest direct mailers in the world) have a higher batting average than the "lesser mortal" copywriters.

(BTW, there are probably less than 19 REAL A-list copywriters in the entire world. Many CLAIMING to be A-listers on their websites definitely are NOT. They're doing what the self help people call "telling the truth in advance"… which is also known as LYING.)

Anyhoo… in spite of all the rumors, amazing success stories and legends passed around about the A-list copywriters…

Not a Single One Bats 1,000%!

We could combine the brains of Clayton Makepeace, Gary Bencivenga, Jim Rutz, Arthur Johnson, Parris Lampropoulos, David Deutsch, Carline Anglade Cole…

…we could even resurrect John Caples, Robert Collier, Gary Halbert, Eugene Schwartz and David Ogilvy…

…and have them write the best piece of sales copy in the history of the world… and…

It Would STILL Be Impossible
To Guarantee Success!

Look, any copywriter offering a guarantee that his package will be a success is either a liar or delusional.

You see, the copy is only a small part in the success equation. (The MOST important part is the person READING the copy… but we've talked about that before.)

The bottom line is…

NOTHING In This Life Is Guaranteed!

You can have a financial package mailing to MILLIONS of people month after month for YEARS, completely kicking booty. And on your next drop of 5 million pieces, watch what happens to your response when the Euro or the dollar tanks… or we start another never-ending war against an undefined enemy.

Your "guaranteed" copy just lost you MILLIONS of dollars… and you're probably out of business overnight. (I just talked with a guy yesterday who had that happen. It can make you think about finding a bridge to jump off.)

Yes, you can hire copywriters with successful track records and experience that are better "bets" than other less experienced people. (That's why you pay the big bucks to hire them.)

But There Are STILL No Guarantees!

Even the big boys strike out. (Quite frequently, actually.)

Your lesson for the day:

Anybody offering you a guarantee like the title of this post is either oblivious to reality… or is attempting to appeal to your greed in order to extract money from you.

Every true entrepreneur knows this universal truth:

There Are NO Guarantees!

All the best,

Dear Friend,

I got an e-mail a couple days ago that warmed my heart.

Direct response copywriter, Colin Chung was a member of my Kitchen Table Business (KTB) coaching program I ran a couple years ago.

Back then he had a really good grasp of direct response and how to write compelling copy (he has gotten a LOT better since then, too)… so he excelled in my KTB program.

Since then he has gone on to focus on his freelance copywriting career and has earned the privilege of working with some pretty "big dogs" in our interesting little world of direct response/online marketing.

It's always encouraging to me when I kick my baby birds out of the nest and get to watch them soar to new heights.

Imagine my delight when I heard Colin and his growing family was…

"Movin' on up… to the east side…
to a DEEluxe apartment in the sky."

(Actually, it's not an apartment. It's a really nice house in what looks to be a pretty swanky neighborhood. But for some reason the theme from The Jeffersons has been rolling around in my noggin lately.)

Anyhoo, here's part of the e-mail Colin sent me the other day:

"I want to take a moment to give you a heartfelt thanks. Without our work together and the opportunities you have provided, I would not be at my new house."

Thanks, Colin. I really appreciate that. Getting e-mails and letters like yours is why I keep doing what I'm doing here on DobermanDan.com and in my Marketing Camelot.

But I have to set the record straight.

I appreciate that Colin gives me credit for contributing to his financial success… but in all honesty, I had very little to do with it.

The only thing I really did for Colin was…

I simply pointed the way.

That's all.

Colin had to do the hard part… put one foot in front of the other and walk the path I pointed.

And walk it consistently, day after day… even when he didn't want to and there were a million emergencies, distraction and "opportunities" that could have side-tracked him. (They side-tracked MANY others.)

But Colin kept his blinders on and kept putting one foot in front of the other… even when it seemed like he wasn't any further ahead at all on that path.

Truth be told, he may have even wondered if I'd lied to him and set him on the wrong path… especially when he was down the road a bit and faced with obstacle after obstacle.

But no matter what obstacle, barrier, pothole, sinkhole or even giant frickin' mountain he encountered on his path, he went around it, through it or blew the damn thing up with dynamite so he could continue putting one foot in front of the other.

Colin still hasn't arrived at his final destination (actually he NEVER will) but the stopping points he has been enjoying along the way are pretty damn nice. Better than he ever imagined actually.

And I bet if you ask him, he would tell you it has been worth all the challenges and sacrifices.

And that warms my heart.

Ya know, over the past 5 years, I've pointed the exact same path to THOUSANDS of others. A few are still on it, putting one foot in front of the other, day after day facing lots of challenges yet enjoying some very cool stopping points.

Unfortunately, the reality of human nature is, the majority never even took the first step. They saw the rewards and SAID they wanted them… but they weren't willing to pay the price to even make step one of the journey.

Then there were others who DID start walking the path I showed them. Sadly, most ran crying back home after encountering the tiniest little pebble along the path.

Sad really.

But I never give up hope. I just keep pointing the way and hoping some day they'll be ready to start down the path and STAY on it.

If you asked Colin, he would tell you it's been a lonely journey. Of the thousands who were shown the way, only a handful accepted the challenge.

And of those, only a very small percentage remain.

That's why Colin walks alone.

And that's why his rewards and stopping points are all that much sweeter. He has them all to himself.

But it doesn't HAVE to be that way. There's plenty of room on the path for you.

There are even people like me (and now Colin Chung) who will not only point the way, but we'll also give you all the secrets for getting over, under, around or through many of the obstacles you'll encounter along the way.

The only thing you have to do is start putting one foot in front of the other… day after day.

A word of warning:

Sooner or later, you're going to get discouraged and you'll want to quit.

Don't worry… that's normal.

Just do me a favor. Stop for a minute, squint your eyes really hard and cup your ears.

You'll see and hear me and Colin down the road cheering you on.

You see, we sincerely want you with us. All you have to do is start putting one foot in front of the other again. As simple as it sounds, THAT is the big secret to enjoying all the wonderful destinations along your path.

The choice is yours. The path lies in front of you. Will you take the first step?

I'll be honest… it won't be easy.

But I promise you… it will be worth it.

All the best,

Dear Human Friend,

I'm Donner the Doberman.

Dad's asleep on the couch but forgot to log out of WordPress… so I've hijacked the computer and am typing my first post.

Not too bad for someone without fingers, huh?

You've seen me before, haven't you? Daddy has a picture on this website of him holding me when I was just a puppy.

That was a long, long time ago.

On August 18, 2011, Daddy said I turned 13 years old.

I hear him talking on the telephone saying things like I've outlived all my litter-mates by almost 4 years.

I don't really understand that… but I guess it's a good thing.

Our new friend, Dr. Albano says I'm equivalent to a 100 year old man.

Maybe older.

I don't really understand that either… so I ignore it.

13 is just a meaningless number to me. I still run and play outside in the sun every day.

And I like to play and rough-house every morning with my little brother Chiqui Rikki.

(He's just a little pipsqueak Shih Tzu… but since he's been around Dobermans since he was first born, he thinks he's a Doberman. I don't have the heart to tell him he's just a little fluff ball.)

I've been Daddy's best friend since I was just 8 weeks old. He likes to say we've been best pals for more years than he was with his "starter wife" and the Colombiana (so far) combined. That sounds like a long time.

I was born in Myakka City Florida. The very day I turned 8 weeks old, Linda Werlein at Von Asgard Kennels put me in a kennel with my tennis ball, put me on a plane and I traveled all the way to Dayton, Ohio to go live with my Daddy.

I was scared when I first arrived.

After all, they took me away from my mama and my brothers and sisters, put me in the belly of a noisy, cold jet and shipped me to a strange new place.

But Daddy was so excited to see me when I arrived. I'll never forget that.

A few days ago, our new friend, Dr. Albano, told Daddy I have "cancer."

I don't know what that means.

I went back home and played outside with my brother Chiqui.

Daddy went home and cried.

He's been a lot more snuggly with me since then.

I like that.

He hugs me and kisses me on the top of my head and says things like, "Daddy loves you."

And… "you're my best pal in the world."

He's always done that… but he does it a lot more since we saw Dr. Albano.

He seems so sad and worried lately… so I always stay by his side to protect him and keep him from being sad. That's a what a true friend does.

Unfortunately, I may not have much more time to speak with you. You see, tomorrow I go to visit Dr. Albano again in the morning. I am going to have something called a "surgery" for this cancer thing.

I HOPE I can speak with you again but, as my dad says…

"Nobody is promised tomorrow."

So I'm going to take Dad's advice and tell you NOW what I want to tell you.

Please don't wait to live the kind of life you want… because nobody is promised tomorrow.

Please don't put off the accomplishment of your dreams until "tomorrow." Too many tomorrows turn into weeks, then months, then years… then decades. And you rob yourself of the joy you COULD be experiencing during that time… the joy that comes from working every day towards a dream.

As my dad says, it's not the accomplishment of the dream that makes you happy… it's the journey.

One more thing…

Please don't wait to tell the people you care about how you feel about them. Tell them NOW… because nobody is promised tomorrow.

And tell them every day after that, too.

You won't regret that. But you will regret it if you DON'T say it.

And I don't want you to have any regrets. I sincerely want you happy… like I've made my dad happy these past 13 years.

Dr. Albano sent medicine for the pain and to help keep me calm. I took it a while ago and I'm getting sleepy.

So I must go now. (I'm going to dream about chasing tennis balls.)

I hope I have the chance to speak with you again soon… but just in case I don't, let me say this:

Thank you for listening to my dad and following your dreams. It makes him VERY happy when you do that… and when he's happy, I'm happy, too.

So please keep making Dad happy, OK?

All the best,

Donner

Dear Friend,

I'm still down in Colombia South America on vacation… but no matter what I do, I can't seem to keep from writing.

I'm writing a blog post for you every couple days, finishing up the November issue of The Doberman Dan Letter… revealing some killer "stick" strategies that QUADRUPLED retention in one of my supplement continuity programs… and also working on copy for a new product I'm releasing soon in the health market.

I could just goof off on my vacation if I wanted to. I don't need to do all this stuff for the money. But I HAVE to keep writing… even when I don't want to.

See, the remote possibility that something I write could motivate someone into action and rescue them from a life of quite desperation (like I had before discovering direct response) COMPELS me to keep writing.

I was VERY reluctantly pushed into this role and have fought it every step of the way. But I've now come to accept my fate… just like Gary Halbert did.

I simply CANNOT quit. Even when I try, I'm pulled right back into it… usually in 24 hours or less after "quitting."

Although my blog subscriber list and Doberman Dan Letter paper & ink newsletter subscriber base is starting to grow rapidly… you'd be surprised at how few "you've changed my life" letters I get.

When I do get them, I cherish them.

Just a few weeks ago I got an interesting one.

One of my blog readers, a full-time freelance copywriter, sent an e-mail explaining why he was NOT subscribing to The Doberman Dan Letter.

It was one of the nicest letters I've ever gotten.

I translated it to the Colombiana and she had tears in her eyes. Like me, she sometimes doubts I'm actually reaching anybody… and questions the huge investment of my time into this stuff.

I guess we were BOTH wrong.

Dan,

Out of the few marketing blogs I do read, let's see, Makepeace doesn't write much anymore, Carlton's good, love Ben Settle's list, there's a few others I dig. Garber is hit or miss but he occasionally amazes me when he's on his game.

But I want you to know why I'm not buying your newsletter…

I should be. I'd be chomping at the bit to sign up and waiting like a giddy school girl for it to come in the mail.

And it's completely your fault that I'm not.

You said something that made me feel worse about myself than I've ever felt in my life.

Remember your post a few months ago about taking a vacation from your problems?

Right when you published that (or at least when I read it), I'd just got out of a 6-month relationship that I was miserable in.

I was coming off of an easy 100-hour week busting my ass for a client who had me on a (very nice) retainer.

I read that post at 7am.

I'm 29. Joined the Air Force when I was 20 after realizing I wasn't cut out to deliver pizzas my whole life.

I got out at 24, worked a couple of sales jobs, struggled like crazy, and turned to the Internet full time when I was 25. I still struggled until I was about 26-27, and finally started to develop enough chops and results to have the balls to charge a little more.

I'd been on ONE vacation in my entire life, for 5 days, to Vegas. That was years ago.

I read that post, and I thought to myself "man, I'm making money, but all I do is work and I'm miserable". I realized then and there I was in this business to be fucking happy, to be free, and I wasn't either one.

I hopped on a plane that night for San Diego.

I went back home to Missouri a week later for 5 days to sell my stuff.

I'm writing this from my balcony, I can see the Pacific Ocean from here and it's *fucking amazing.*

I went on vacation and I've been gone for over 3 months.

I've been working about 10-20 hours a week to keep afloat, those bad habits of eating and having a place to sleep at night cost more out here.

But I've been loving life.

I don't know where I'll be a month or two or a year from now.

I'm staying in a monthly vacation rental.

Next month I could get a place here, maybe head across to your side of the country, maybe jump on a plane and check out Asia or New Zealand, I have no idea.

I do know that I've never felt more relaxed or free in my entire life.

That blog post was the kick in the teeth I needed to just let everything go.

It was just the right message at the right time. It struck a nerve with me.

If I knew where I'd be when the newsletter was coming in the mail, I would have already signed up.

I more than likely will subscribe soon. (I temporarily cancelled Ben and Craig's newsletters when I took off).

I know in this business that we judge the impact we have on people by how many of them pull out their wallets.

I just wanted to let you know you've given me something much more valuable than a print newsletter, and when I get to somewhere semi-permanently to call home again, I'll buy whatever you're selling at the time.

In the meantime, I'm going to work a few hours a day, not worried about stress or being burned out, and spend my free time enjoying my life. I'm still on vacation.

That blog post was the last straw, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

You're (IMHBAO) a very rare breed these days.

I'd say that Ben is about the only guy whose talent scares me on the same level yours does, but that's because he pulls it off daily and he's just seems too good to be younger than 40.

But yeah, I owe you a big "thank you", and I just wanted to let you know that.

Take care.

Your Future Subscriber,

Happily Stress Free At The Beach,

Scott Murdaugh

P.S. This post is hands down my favorite out of any of your stuff I've read. When I moved into this place, there was a 60" plasma TV in my bedroom. I asked the property owners to please take it out the day I got here. I've never been huge on t.v. but I actively avoid it at all costs after reading your thoughts on it. I even canceled Netflix.

Is it hot in here? It must be. My eyeballs are sweating.

There is NOTHING Scott could have said that could have made me happier.

If he'd told me he made $10 million bucks this year from something he learned from my blog or newsletter, even that would take 2nd place to what he just shared.

I can go to bed happy every night knowing…

SOMEBODY actually got it!

Every time I feel like quitting (which is several times a day) I'm gonna come back and read Scott's letter.

And I'm going to keep doing what I do, hoping one day I'll get a letter like that from you.

Because I sincerely appreciate you.

And even though I don't know you (yet), I truly care about your success and happiness.

All the best,

- Mark Twain

Sunday, 1:37 PM

Dear Friend,

"That kid's got a God-given talent."

"He's a prodigy!"

"He was born to play that guitar."

Those are things I heard adults say shortly after I picked up the guitar at the young age of seven.

I had no idea what they were talking about. It made absolutely no sense to me.

Here's why:

It all began after pizza night… which we did every Friday at Jeep & Joe's Pizza in downtown Barberton, Ohio.

After that was TV time.

And this particular night we watched The Partridge Family. It was the first episode I had ever seen.

I was completely and utterly mesmerized.

Keith Partridge was the coolest human being I had ever seen in my short little life. He was a rock star with long hair, rock star clothes… and what captured my attention the most, he played the electric guitar.

I knew from that very moment… this was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

After weeks of persistent pestering, my dad finally relented and took me to "Happy Hank's"… Henry's Music in beautiful downtown Barberton, Ohio to sign me up for guitar lessons.

They refused. Said their experience showed a 7-year-old kid was too young to learn guitar and would never stick with it more than a few weeks.

In another few months I'll be approaching 40 years as a guitarist… some of those as a professional. Ole Happy Hank was right about the other 99.9% of 7-year-old boys… but he was dead wrong about me.

I didn't get upset with Crappy Hank and give up on my first-ever dream.

I got MAJORLY pissed off!

I bugged my dad until he took me back to Crappy Hank's and bought me a book on learning guitar. If that old fart wouldn't let me take lessons, I was going to teach myself.

And that's exactly what I did.

And am STILL doing today.

From the very first moment I cracked open that book and played my first chord (an open G Major "cowboy chord") on an old crappy beat up Harmony acoustic with 15 year old strings my Mom left gathering dust in the basement… I was completely hooked.

I LIVED with that guitar.

Hell, I SLEPT with that guitar… literally.

Every minute of every day I wasn't in school, church, eating or doing chores, I was playing that guitar.

Until my fingers bled.

And then I put on my mom's cotton gardening gloves so I could continue playing it in spite of my sore and bleeding fingers.

I gave up playing outside, riding my bike and playing sports like all my friends just so I would have more time with the guitar.

I put in some serious time with that instrument. But it didn't feel like work… it was a labor of love. After all, I was PLAYING the guitar, not WORKING the guitar.

That's why I didn't understand all those comments about "talent", "child prodigy" and all that stuff.

Those adults couldn't have been more wrong.

It wasn't talent or a "gift" they were seeing… it was the predictable result of THOUSANDS of hours invested learning my instrument.

Talent had NOTHING to do with it.

If that talent theory held any water, people with genius IQ's would have a HUGE advantage over the rest of the population and would be raging successes in a multitude of disciplines.

That's simply not the case.

In fact, quite the opposite. People with genius IQ's are much more likely to be working in menial jobs with little to no personal reward and minimum pay than their average IQ counterparts.

Give me two students…

One with lots of natural "talent" but an aversion to work…

…and one with no "talent" but a willingness to work his ass off.

After only a few months the no talent student will be so far ahead of the talented one it will make your head spin.

History shows again and again, the surest path to mastery of anything is…

10,000 hours!

Ever read any of the Travis McGee novels by John D. McDonald?

You should. They are some of the best examples of story telling masterpieces ever written.

Gary Halbert even claimed studying John D. McDonald's writing would make you a better copywriter.

The first time I ever read a Travis McGee novel I marveled at McDonald's ability to weave an almost addictive story, describe scenes in such detail I could picture them in my mind (I still remember them as if I was actually there)… and suck me in so much I thought about the characters and story line throughout the day as if it was something actually happening.

But I wasn't marveling at some kind of unique talent or ability. I was experiencing the results of John D. McDonald's 10,000 hours.

He had heard that it takes most writers ten novels before they get really good. So he went about writing his first ten novels...

In his first YEAR!

When you make THAT kind of dedication to your passion… without compromise… you are destined to become a master.

It's not a matter of IF it will happen… it's a matter of when.

Once you're very close to… or have exceeded 10,000 hours of training in your chosen discipline, (interesting word choice, huh?) you are at, or almost at, the point of "effortless" mastery.

Of course, it wasn't originally effortless. It was really frickin' hard… and you probably considered quitting many, many times.

Heck, you probably DID quit many times.

But if it's a TRUE passion or dream you only "quit" for a very short period of time.

You always came back.

You HAD to come back.

It's as if this particular discipline has chosen YOU… and you simply CAN'T quit… even if you think you want to.

So you get in your 10,000 hours, making whatever sacrifices are needed to do it as quickly as possible.

And all the civilians marvel at how effortless you make it look. The jealous ones (the ones who don't have the balls to do their OWN 10,000 hours) call you…

…"talented"…

…"gifted"…

…"lucky."

They like to make themselves feel better and claim that as an excuse for their own cowardice and/or sloth.

Many will hate you and deliberately try to sabotage you with words and deeds.

Even just beginning your 10,000 hour trek is a silent accusation that they, too, could begin their own 10,000 trek… if they had the balls.

But they don't.

A precious few very unique and special people will encourage you and become your own personal cheerleader. Many of those will be people who have already completed their own 10,000 hour journey… or are in the process.

The other 99.9%…

Their response will be to try and pull you back into the "crab bucket" with them.

Ignore them.

Their fate is punishment enough… poor bastards.

No, it's not easy.

Simple, yes.

Easy, no.

(Anybody who tells you it's easy is lying to you… and probably trying to sell you a "magic bullet" solution.)

So, no. Not easy.

But worth it.

Look, you're going to spend 10,000 hours doing something. Most people spend it on stupid stuff that produces NEGATIVE results in their life. Like watching TV.

Why not invest those 10,000 hours in something you're passionate about… that will produce happiness and success?

And the time to start is…

Right NOW!

Whatever it takes, start chipping away NOW at those 10,000 hours.

I promise you it won't be easy.

And almost no one will understand you or support you.

But don't ever forget this:

The minute you start on your 10,000 hour journey (and stick with it), you've gained a few things most people won't EVER have:

1. The balls to stick your head above the crowd and brave the folly of tomatoes… and…

2. Somebody in your corner…

Me.

All the best,

- Napoleon Hill

Friday, 12:48 PM

Dear Friend,

I've found that attacking Napoleon Hill's philosophy is akin to attacking somebody's religion.

People react VIOLENTLY to any kind of logical analysis of Hill's teachings.

Most would rather continue to live in a fantasy world than confront reality. And many times they'll go to great measures to silence anybody pointing out the Emperor has no clothes.

(BTW, did you know Hill was completely broke in the final years of his life? W. Clement Stone had to step in and rescue Hill by giving him a figurehead position in Stone's massively successful insurance company.)

For example… the quote above. Do you REALLY believe that's true?

I WANTED to believe it… and for decades I chose to believe it, in spite of tons of credible evidence to the contrary.

For example… my mind can conceive certain appendages on my body being MUCH bigger than they presently are. And because Nap Hill said so, I chose to believe that appendage was growing longer and thicker day by day.

Heck, I even chose to help the process by taking pills and potions that claimed they could make that appendage bigger.

But I didn't stop there.

I also did regular exercises designed to force blood into that appendage to help it grow bigger.

After DECADES of doing this, visualizing a freakin' HUGE appendage and believing it with all my heart… I can simply look down and see that this appendage hasn't grown in years.

Hey… wait a minute!

I was talking about my biceps. What did YOU think I was talking about, you pervert?

Well, even if I WAS talking about what your twisted mind thought, Hill's formula STILL wouldn't work.

Don't believe me?

OK… apply the formula to an amputee. Even if you had 100 billion dollars to throw at this experiment… and you do EVERYTHING possible to get the amputee to conceive and believe he can grow a new limb… it ain't EVER gonna happen.

OK, I admit… that's a pretty extreme example. Instead, let's apply Hill's "think and grow rich" formula to your finances and see how that works out for you.

For the next 12 months don't do ANYTHING different in your job or business. Keep everything "biz as usual" with one exception. Throughout the entire day, every day, I want you to imagine you having the most wealth your greedy little mind can possibly think of. Don't actually DO anything… just think about it and visualize it as vividly as possible.

I'll bet you dollars to donuts at the end of those 12 months your net worth won't have changed very much at all.

Does that mean Napoleon Hill's
"think & grow rich" philosophy is just B.S.?

Not really.

See, your thoughts control your actions.

Didja catch that? I said your thoughts control your ACTIONS… and it is your ACTIONS that can make you wealthy.

In fact, you can have a completely negative defeatist attitude, not believe you're gonna get rich, yet take the right actions consistently and persistently… and…

You can get filthy stinkin' honkin' RICH!

Or… you can believe with all your might… have the undying faith of Peter (the only cat other than J.C. who walked on water) yet take no action… and you're gonna stay poor and miserable.

In fact, Hill even included the "take action" part in many of his books… but for some inexplicable reason, most people ignore that part… including Hill later in his life.

During my 12 years with a badge and gun, pounding a beat in the inner city, nine of those years I also did the part-time entrepreneur thang. (Yes, I MEANT to spell it that way.) And EVERYTHING I tried during that time was a miserable failure, leaving me with a high five-figures debt… and a broken heart.

After nine long years of NOTHING ever working, when I started my first little mail order business I wasn't exactly Mr. Positive Attitude.

In fact, I was quite negative and cynical. (12 years of being a cop contributed GREATLY to that attitude, too.)

But it didn't matter… because no matter how positively or negatively you think about it…

2 + 2 = 4!

And NOTHING will EVER change that.

You see, direct response is a numbers business.

I know some really negative, cynical and nasty people who have made themselves unbelievably wealthy with direct response marketing. (BTW, you DO understand if you have an online business you're a direct response marketer, right? Damn rookies! lol)

I also know some extremely positive thinkers, with more faith than God himself… who have always been, and will always be, completely broke…

'Cuz they sit on their asses
THINKING about growing rich!

Poor bastards.

They bought in lock, stock and barrel to the EASY part of Hill's formula.

But they've left out the most important part…

Taking ACTION!

I've discovered the "knights" who have joined me at the Round Table in my Marketing Camelot are some of the smartest, most positive-thinking  and encouraging people I've ever met. Many have pitched in to help further my vision of making The Doberman Dan Letter a true Camelot… where we can share ideas and resources to help each other.

They understand action is the most important part of the success process.

The delusional few who mistakenly believe they only have to read a newsletter and THINK about growing rich to magically achieve their goals do NOT stick around my Marketing Camelot very long.

And I'm quite happy about that.

I don't want them around me or my cherished subscribers.

If they DO slip past the castle gatekeeper, I HOPE I can help them get into action… but honestly, I kinda doubt it.

I've found successful people have a history of being DOERS… at least in SOME aspect of their lives.

And they are the "patches of light" in my life.

They are the reason I get out of bed in the morning and do what I do… because money alone is no longer enough of a motivator for me.

If you've studied Napoleon Hill's stuff and still aren't getting the results you've imagined so fervently for so many years… try adding the most important ingredient…

Consistent and persistent ACTION!

THAT is what will cause you to grow as a person and achieve what you truly want.

All the best,

Dear Friend,

There's a Frank Zappa album called Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar!

Notice Frank didn't say "Shut up and play your guitar WELL"…

…Or "Shut up and play your guitar using all the correct harmonic knowledge and theory you've spent a lifetime learning"…

… He simply said…

"PLAY!"

The very second you start worrying about playing as well as possible… or being "the best" (an impossible goal) the activity is no longer play. It puts forces into motion that completely sabotage and suppress your true abilities.

Athletes call it choking, aptly named because your creativity, spontaneity, skills and ability are denied the vital "oxygen" they need to thrive and survive.

The faster you can free yourself from over analysis, self editing, self criticism, perfectionism… and all the other different forms in which self hate manifests itself, the faster you can operate at the very peak of your creative abilities… effortlessly.

When you give yourself the freedom to do something badly… free from the pressure of needing to perform well… that's when effortless excellence begins.

Things begin to come together in ways you never could have imagined.

Your hands dance over the fretboard and beautiful music comes out.

Or in the case of copywriters and entrepreneurs, your hands dance over the keyboard typing words, phrases and irresistible offers… while it feels like you're just in the background observing a master creating a masterpiece.

You ARE observing a master at work creating his next masterpiece. But the amazing thing is…

The master is YOU!

If you've got an engineering masterpiece built for speed like the Ferrari, you don't need to concern yourself with every process, function and moving part in that vehicle. You just need to put the pedal the metal and allow that beautiful machine to function at its peak like it was created to do.

The good news is, you DO have a Ferrari… but it hasn't been operating anywhere NEAR the speeds it's capable of…

Because you've been driving
with your brakes on!

Take the damn brakes off and let your Ferrari FLY like it's supposed to.

You knew how to do it when you were a child… before the adults programmed it out of you. And if you've done it before, you can do it again.

There comes a time when you need to forget all the theory, formulas and structure… and give yourself the freedom to simply play.

Only then will your true genius be revealed.

All the best,

Dear Friend,

I'm not sure if you've noticed but I start every blog post with the day and EXACT time I start typing my message to you.

Sometimes I wonder if that hurts my SEO results.

But I don't think so.

I mean… come one.

Google's artificial intelligence programs are smart enough to know where my actual content starts, right?

If not… Google's A.I. must be pretty damn stupid… and we know it's not.

I do a few other things on my blog SEO experts say are wrong.

Whatever.

There's a method to my madness… and we'll talk about that in more detail another day.

But I'll give you the short answer right now…

Basically, it's an affront to my creative integrity to write solely for SEO.

You see, I started writing and CONTINUE to write this blog exclusively for you, the end user, to use a very impersonal Google term.

And that "keep the end user happy" is the EXACT formula Google adheres to with all their various services, including the 800 lb. gorilla Google search engine.

If that philosophy hurts my SEO… so be it.

I didn't start doing this blog for SEO and I'm not going to compromise my beliefs just to get better search engine positioning.

Hell, I'm a frickin' marketing expert for crying out loud. I've generated MILLIONS of dollars with an initial investment of only $200.

If all I cared about was traffic, I could throw so much targeted PAID traffic at this humble little blog, it would make your head spin.

But that's not why I'm doing this.

My initial stated goal for DobermanDan.com was to make a difference in your life and share many of my "school of hard knocks" lessons with you… so you don't have to suffer like I did trying to figure out all this stuff.

I'm not going to compromise my goal, edit myself, choke off my creativity and restrict my muse to a certain number of words just to please the search engine gods.

Pardon my French… but…

To hell with that!

Look… I have enough life experience to know that any time I compromise myself… or edit myself in any way to please some external force… my message gets watered down… and YOU my dear reader, are the one who gets short changed.

Bottom line:

I will NOT compromise my message
for better search engine positioning!

(If my SEO sucks because I'm more concerned about helping you than pleasing Google… you could help a brother marketer out by passing my blog URL out to all your contacts along with your personal endorsement. That would be MUCH appreciated.)

Anyhoo… back to what we were talking about:

I start each blog post with the day and time for a couple reasons:

1. Historical reference… and…

2. I have the hope you're perceptive enough to notice the widely varying times at the top of each post… and… the smarts to learn a valuable lesson from it.

Here's the deal:

I recently made a new commitment to myself… and, indirectly, YOU.

I realized I've been investing most of my time in my cherished Marketing Camelot members and paper & ink newsletter… but I've been ignoring my blog.

So I committed to writing a blog post every day for a certain period of time.

I appreciate you following my blog and I sincerely want to provide value in your life.

From a purely financial standpoint, all this extra time invested in writing these daily blog posts is a piss-poor investment of my time. I could make a LOT of money investing this time in my various business ventures.

But money has never been my primary motivator. (I could make a LOT more money if I wanted to. I know EXACTLY what to do to make a SHITLOAD of cashola. I'm taking SCARY amounts of fungolas.)

Anyhoo… back to the "date & time thang" on my blog posts we originally started talking about.

If you'll take the time to notice, I start writing my blog posts at widely varying times. Sometimes 4:00 AM… sometimes 11:57 at night… other times 1:00 PM in the afternoon.

Basically, I write you at all times of the day and night.

For example, it's now 8:44 PM Sunday night. An hour has passed since I started writing to you.

I'm SUPPOSED to be taking the night off… and this evening was supposed to be spent relaxing with the Colombiana watching movies.

Instead, I'm spending the evening writing YOU… with the glimmer of hope something I say will help you avoid many of the mistakes and much of the misery I've experienced.

Why am I doing that?

Well, for one thing, I sincerely hope you'll follow my lead.

You see, the key to making positive and constructive things happen in your life is simply…

Doing the work!

No matter what challenges you face…

…No matter how you feel…

…No matter who or what opposes you…

…You discipline yourself to sit down EVERY DAY and do whatever it takes to complete the work you know you need to do…

…whether or not there is an immediate reward.

Maybe nobody has ever told you this before… but…

The completion of your work
is its own reward!

The financial reality is… I will probably make ZERO cashola from all the time I invested in this blog post.

And I'm OK with that.

I didn't invest my valuable and limited life in this post solely for money.

I did it for two reasons:

1. The sincere desire to help you discover a valuable lesson that will impact you for the rest of your life… and…

2. To experience the personal satisfaction of keeping my word to myself and completing my work.

THAT is my reward.

If I make a few bucks because you FINALLY wise up and subscribe to The Doberman Dan Letter… that's just gravy.

I've already received my reward in full… because I did the work.

Wanna feel good about yourself every single day?

It's simple…

Do the work, dammit!

Commit a minimum of 33 minutes and 33 seconds every single day to doing the work needed to reach your goals… and miracles will start to happen in your life.

I promise.

All the best,

P.S. It's now 10:53 PM Sunday night and I've finally finished writing and editing this post.

Three hours and 10 minutes invested in YOU… on my only "night off" this week.

Dear Friend,

I can hardly believe it.

At last… somebody finally understands the REAL goal of the government sponsored youth indoctrination camps… aka the public school system.

And the fact that it's the class Valedictorian makes it quite ironic.

Meet Erica Goldson…

I went to Walmart last night.

I was there between about 10:45 PM and midnight.

I went totally incognito… in my "civvies" (as we used to say on the P.D.)

My whole "Doberman Dan" super hero outfit with "DD" on the cape… and copywriter super hero utility belt, containing yellow notepads, 3×5 cards, disposable blue pens and a dog-eared copy of Breakthrough Advertising… was all left at home in the closet.

I walked amongst the mere mortals of Walmart as if I was one of them.

I was a chameleon…. blended right in. Nobody even looked twice at me.

Well, the checkout lady flirted with me a little bit.

I have to admit… I started it.

She looked pretty unhappy and I wanted to see if I could get a smile from her.

So I looked deeply in her eyes, thought of all the good things about her that were immediately noticeable to me… and repeated three secret but ENORMOUSLY powerful words over and over in my head, infusing them with all the emotion and feeling I could humanly muster.

Then I chatted her up, asking what would appear to any untrained outsider as a couple innocent questions.

Even though my "target" was completely clueless…

I was surreptitiously using a little-known
and almost IRRESISTIBLE power on her!

That's just ONE of my many persuasion secrets I'll soon reveal at my upcoming "Seminar IN The Sea" I mentioned recently to my Doberman Dan Letter subscribers.

(Yeah… a seminar actually IN the sea… up to our necks in the ocean. You see, the secrets I'm going to finally reveal are SO powerful… and because I swore an oath to never allow them to fall into enemy hands… I need to make sure nobody is wearing a "wire."  Hence the seminar IN the sea.)

The cashier reacted exactly as I expected.

In spite of my wedding band, I thought she was actually going to ask for my phone number.

Thank GOD the Colombiana was off looking at kids clothes and wasn't in line with me. (Have you ever seen a jealous Colombian woman? Scary stuff. Your life is TRULY in jeopardy.)

We'll come back to Walmart a little later.

For now, let me tell you a little story:

There once lived a boy in the town of Barberton, Ohio who at a very young age showed an unusual talent for music.

In fact, as early as age 7, he knew his life-long dream.

More than anything in the world he wanted to be a professional guitarist.

But he made a common mistake many people make as soon as they figure out their dream or goal…

He announced his dream to the people
he expected would support and help him!

BIG mistake.

Instead of recognizing a talent that should have been encouraged, trained and developed, the people he most expected to support him conspired against him and did whatever it took to destroy that young boy's dream and crush his spirit.

And since these evil dream stealers were those closest to him… his parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and teachers…

…And since he was yet too young to understand how to set and achieve goals…

…And too young to know that to actually make a dream come true you have to fight for it with every ounce of strength you have…

… And didn't understand that small-minded people too cowardly to develop and fight for their OWN dreams, instead choose to tear down others' dreams…

… This poor kid allowed their well-planned assault against him crush his young spirit.

But there was something unusual inside him. Something that could NEVER let his dream die no matter how much opposition he faced.

So instead, he put his fragile and badly injured dream on life support and hid it in "dream intensive care" for 40 years. He let the dream stealers THINK they successfully killed his dream just to get them off his back… but he kept it alive all this time.

Now that was a VERY unusual reaction because, like all his peers, his indoctrination into servitude started almost immediately after birth.

And at age 5 his parents willingly relinquished their responsibility of raising him to the State so he could complete the mandatory 13 years in a government sponsored youth indoctrination camp.

His parents didn't know any better. That's what everybody else in their socio-economic class did… so it must be the correct thing to do… right?

Besides, the State threatened to throw them in jail if they refused to hand their children over. It seemed completely normal to them to give up their children to the State.

So in spite of decades of indoctrination into his pre-planned life of servitude… and YEARS of concentrated effort under constant duress to teach him to NOT think rationally and only obey orders… this young boy secretly knew the entire system was complete bullshit.

But since their influence was so strong and they controlled the purse strings, he had not yet figured out how to break free from this system of servitude.

After his release from the government sponsored youth indoctrination camp, instead of doing what he REALLY wanted to do and pursuing his life-long dream of being a professional guitarist, he did exactly what "they" told him to do.

He got a "good job" so he could have 50 to 60% of his life values stolen from him, automatically taken out of his paycheck… and lived like the rest of the sheep… barely able to pay the bills with what was left over after the slave-masters stole half his life values.

After just a few years years of this life, this young man decided he was going to get himself free of this miserable life of servitude… or die trying.

After nine long years of struggle and constant failure… and indescribably painful betrayal by those closest to him…

He finally gained that freedom!

He didn't gain his freedom with his original dream, but he was free nonetheless.

And the last 14 years of freedom have trained him to think differently than the sheep.

Now unlike many other pompous and delusional copywriters, consultants, marketers and gurus, he has never believed his own publicity.

He knows he's just a simple guy from Barberton, Ohio who was somehow able to see past the carefully orchestrated and manipulated matrix of lies and deception that have been used for eons to keep the majority in servitude.

And last night at Walmart, moving about incognito in my civvies, this humble former-Barbertonian had a few epiphanies I think will help you in your marketing.

First of all, the most obvious thing I noticed was approximately 75% of the Walmart shoppers were overweight.

And 50% of those were morbidly obese.

Looking in their shopping carts revealed the reason. These poor folks are poisoning themselves with chemicals and processed foods that are as addictive as morphine.

Heck, even foods that USED to be healthy are now secretly laced with addictive chemicals that cause obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Here's a phrase we copywriters love to use:

"It's Not Your Fault!"

It takes the prospect off the hook and makes them feel better about their failure and poor choices. It's used all the time in weight loss ads.

The thing is… in this case it really is mostly true.

1. They honestly don't know any better. In fact, they THINK they're eating healthy food because the USDA and other "experts" have told them this is the healthy way to eat. (BTW, all the "experts" and alphabet agencies who promote this type of diet are heavily lobbied – which is just a nice sounding way of saying "bribed" – by big Pharma.)

2. Even if the food was healthy in its natural state, it has now been processed to death, all the formerly healthy stuff totally extracted… and loaded up with addictive chemicals that cause a host of diseases and health issues…

3. And finally, since most of these good people are forced to try and stretch a $20 bill to pay for what is now $100 worth of groceries, they're forced to buy the lower-priced food. And THAT is the processed food loaded with these disease-causing chemicals that are the biggest culprit in causing this health crisis. The actual honest-to-goodness healthy food is simply out of the budget of the average family. They have to choose quantity over quality.

(There's a reason for that. In a nutshell, when you hand control of a country's currency over to a group of private bankers… and  give them free reign to print as much of it as they want, you destroy the middle class. They don't understand why it's harder and harder for them to get by each year. They just know that to survive, they now have to buy the cheapest food at Walmart… which is slowly killing them.)

So there I was… pushing my cart around as an "undercover marketer"…

…Observing what people were buying…

…Listening in on conversations (and in several cases, arguments) about how their extremely limited and unbeknownst to them, continually shrinking budget should be spent…

…I took notice of what the overweight people had in their carts…

…I took note of what the grossly obese people had in their carts. (HINT: They're consuming an inordinate amount of HFCS and don't even know it. Soda or "pop" as we called it as kids in Ohio is the biggest cause of obesity and diabetes.)

…I watched as people had to pick and choose what they could and couldn't afford. And I'm not talking about extra luxury or "treat" items. I'm talking about staples like chicken, eggs, fish, etc.

And a feeling welled up in my gut I tried to choke back… and my eyeballs started to "sweat." (A guy who worked for 12 years as an inner city cop doesn't cry. My eyeballs DO occasionally sweat… or I get "allergies.")

You see, I'm mad as hell about why this is happening to millions of good hard working people.

99.99% of the good people in this country don't understand it… but it's an insidiously evil and carefully orchestrated plan that has been implemented gradually over the past 100 years or so.

The gradual long term implementation was the evil genius part of the plan.

A rapid implementation would have caused an armed revolution… but done gradually over decades makes it easier to "boil the frog." It keeps the sheep fat, dumb and happy in their pens so you can continue to frequently shear them.

Pure genius.

Pure evil, too… but you have to admire the forethought and planning by these evil masters.

In the next issue of The Doberman Dan Letter, I'm revealing a plan how you can protect yourself so you don't wind up broke and can keep more of what you make… without all those "non-fun" austerity measures recommended by guys like Dave Ramsey.

But I'm a realist. I know I can only personally reach a very small percentage of people and save them from slowly going broke. And it makes me feel powerless and angry.

So there I was in Walmart… feeling powerless and angry about all these good people suffering like this.

I choked back that weird feeling and eyeball sweat that some people who don't know any better would describe as crying… and started thinking like a marketer, instead of the overly sensitive musician that I REALLY am.

Look, unless you're selling Rolls Royces, Hummers, Rolexes and other expensive toys to the affluent… you need to start hanging out in Walmart. Preferably between the hours of 8:00PM and midnight.

You'll get an understanding for today's consumer market like never before. These are the people you're trying to reach with your website and sales copy. And you better be able to speak their language, understand their challenges and give them a damn good reason why they should buy your product.

Because, in many cases, their dilemma isn't, "Gee, should I buy Acne Treatment System A… or Acne Treatment System B?"

Nope.

The REAL question is, "Gee, should I buy Acne Treatment System A… or the fruit I need to put in my children's lunchboxes this week?"

You need to get away from your stupid time-sucking e-mail, walk away from that damn computer and get to Walmart for some REAL market research.

I don't mean you should stand back with your arms crossed, piously observing all the "sheep" from a distance. You may be out of your office physically but with an attitude like that, you're still in your ivory tower.

Even though many copywriters are introverts and this puts us outside our comfort zone, you need to actually mingle, meet some new people, open your mouth and talk with some of these folks.

These are good, hard working, "salt of the earth" people… who unfortunately have been deceived and are now stuck in the rapidly-disappearing middle class.

Ask them questions about their lives, their jobs, what they're buying, etc.

You may be surprised at the marketing intelligence you pick up.

Do you want a REALLY advanced marketing education?
The kind you won't get from ANY current book or course?

That's easy…

Simply ask them about their hopes and dreams for the future.

You may be shocked.

And then depressed.

999 out of a 1,000 don't have any hopes or dreams…other than maybe getting a large screen LED television this year if they can get their credit card paid down enough to put it on their card.

Many may not be college educated… and a lot haven't even finished high school. But they certainly are NOT stupid. Most are quite savvy and aware of what's happening to their financial situation.

They know things are not getting any better for them. And most will express a very diminished hope for the future.

Hey, I don't mean to be negative or depressing… but my incognito trip to Walmart was quite eye opening.

Our world has changed a LOT in just the past couple years. And a lot of marketers have not kept up with those changes.

You can deny it if you want, recite delusional “money chants” and HOPE for the best… but the economy has changed the way money is moving. And I don’t think it’s ever going back to how it was just a few years ago.

We’re at a precarious time when what works and what doesn’t work has changed dramatically.

Nowadays, you have to be totally in tune and up to date with the changes in buyer motivations and spending habits. If you don’t know how to strategically react to these constant changes…

… In your advertising copy…

… Customer acquisition programs…

… “Reason to buy” presentations…

… And customer retention programs…

… You’re going to lose out on at least HALF of your potential sales and income.

Maybe more.

Or worse, you may not even BE in business next year.

A mere three years ago you probably could have coasted along without keeping up with all these changes and done OK.

Not anymore…

Your Survival
Depends On It!

You need to stay in the loop about what's working most effectively RIGHT NOW.

Based on my recent research (including my undercover Walmart trip), I've been forced to re-evaluate all of my marketing strategies and tactics.

I'm doing a complete 180 with all my personal business projects… and I'm pretty excited about it.

I'll be sharing every single detail about all my new projects in The Doberman Dan Letter.

Trust me on this…

Get away from your computer for a few hours, stop reading the "ivory tower" marketing B.S. from the online marketing gurus and make an undercover trip to Walmart between the hours of 8:00 PM and 12:00AM.

If you really do chat up and interact with the people there, you'll come back with some highly valuable market research… and a much better understanding and empathy for your prospects.

All the best,

P.S. One last tip:

Things work a helluva lot better in your marketing and copy when you understand how the world REALLY works… instead of how you think it SHOULD work.