Meet the evil millionaire, Doctor Who


Article by Charlie Wright

Sorry if today’s post is a bit excitable.

I’m gearing up for a festival… ‘The Big Chill’ at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire… loads of bands, DJs, crazy art installations, beer, sun and fun.

I know I know, I’m too old to be going to festivals.

But this one is very relaxing. Plenty of “late thirty-something” folk like myself bumbling about in stupid hats.

It’s more of a family thing. Lots of sitting down.

Afternoon naps and jazz.

Anyway, for this reason, I won’t be sending you an email at the weekend, if that’s okay. I don’t think there will be an internet connection in the middle of the field.

And imagine if there was?

I’d be sitting there, typing away as a band played, every so often shouting, “I’M TRYING TO WORK HERE, WILL YOU TURN THAT RACKET DOWN?”

But before I head off, I want to tell you about very annoying experience I’ve had.

How I PAID to receive direct mail

A few weeks I came home to find a slip through my letterbox telling me I had to pick up something from the sorting office. Usually, it’s another batch of CDs from Amazon, which the postman can’t get through the slot.

This one said that I’d received a package, but that the postage wasn’t covered by the stamp, so I OWED £1.14.

Now I am a Central Londoner, so I don’t have a car. This means I have to take a 25-minute walk to the sorting office. So off I strolled in the hot sun, wondering what the package was.

I paid the money and received a large envelope with a 2nd class stamp attached. And when I opened it, what was inside?

A music magazine? A CD? A letter from a friend? A piece of business correspondence?

No. It was a direct mail promotion from Vince Stanzione, ‘Discover How To Make Your Fortune From Financial Spread Trading.’

Great. I paid £1.14 and took an hour out of a busy day to get a piece of direct mail I’d seen hundreds of times before.

The following was what issued from my mouth:

“F#!?!*NG V#!?E STANZ!#!?!*

I’ve nothing against Stanzione and his trading manual. Well, I didn’t beforehand, anyway.

Now I just get angry thinking about it.

Also while I’m angry, you’re not likely to make £400+ a day trading the World Financial markets as he claims in the headline. You just won’t. You’ll make money, but not £146,000 a year.

Why can’t people be a little more realistic in their headlines, eh? And why can’t people ] put the right stamps on their mail?

Mind you there’s a lesson to be learned here…

Don’t disappoint your potential customers

If you are ever sending a promotion to a customer in the post, watch out that your tactics don’t backfire.

For instance, some people make their promotions look like normal letters, handwritten and with normal postage stamps.

Sure, they’ll get opened in feverish excitement, but then your customer will be disappointed that it’s not their long lost Uncle, or that friend they met travelling.

It’s the same with copy on the outside of envelopes that say things like “OPEN NOW – YOU’VE WON A PRIZE.”

No I haven’t, I’ve simply “won” some paper with the words, YOU’VE WON A PRIZE written on it.

Bah humbug.

Of course, soon I’ll be sending out my own product

By the way, I haven’t forgotten that I still have to write my e-book!

If you’ve been with me since the beginning, you’ll remember that I’m going to write down everything I did to set up my website and e-letter… and how to research, write and publish your own online information product…
all for less than £200.

Soon there won’t be anything you don’t know about setting up a simply home business venture from scratch.

Although when I say “soon”, I wish I hadn’t set myself this task during the hottest summer since the Big Bang.

Yes, excuses, excuses… but you know what I mean, don’t you?

We all get these big ideas and try to go for it… but life just gets in the way. There’s always some reason to sit around in your pants while a big fan whirrs, playing the guitar and sipping cold lager… Or that could just be me.

Anyway, I’ve had it with procrastination. I am going to get this thing written before October, as promised. My first ever e-book. Because if I don’t, I’m going to look like a right wally.

Here’s where I am at…

The story so far…

  • First I used newsagents, online research techniques, Google and other tools to find out what’s selling and what’s not.
  • I then hit upon an idea… I realised that nobody is telling people the basics of how to set up basic information products…by that I mean gathering knowledge from the internet on a topic that people want to read… then writing it down… then finding an audience to sell a product to. No experience necessary.
    Just some balls!
  • But why not? All the so-called biz opp gurus do it! Why should you be the next Andrew Reynolds, Nick Laight or Charlie Wright?
  • I then began to write down everything I know so far about starting your own information business from home.

Yes, it all sounds very technical, sure, but if I can do it, anyone can. You don’t actually need knowledge to create an information product – you just need to know how to gather it and present it.

So that’s where I am. Somewhere on the way to somewhere.

Stay tuned though, my magnum opus will be with you by winter!


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