The Ultimate ‘No BS’ Guide To Entrepreneurial Success By Craig A. Valine

These are my personal book notes of The Ultimate “No BS” Guide To Entrepreneurial Success by the author Craig A. Valine.

Let’s dive in.

Facts

  • Author: Craig A. Valine
  • Title: The Ultimate “No BS” Guide To Entrepreneurial Success
  • Subtitle: Moneymaking Success Secrets For Entrepreneurial Business Owners, Sales Professionals, And Professional Practice Owners Seeking Fast And Dramatic Growth, Greater Control, Independence, Security, And Prosperity
  • First published: 2010
  • Contributions from: Dan S. Kennedy and Bill Glazer
  • Type: non-fiction
  • Genre: direct response marketing
  • Author’s website: craigvalinemarketing.com
  • Rating: 4/5
  • Recommended: Yes

Table Of Contents Of The Book

  • Section 1 - Maximize Your Marketing: A Series of Articles by Craig Valine
    • Become a Rancher of People
    • Find Out What Your Customers Pet-Peeves Are… And Fix’em!
    • What Business Are You Really In?
    • The Most Important Questions
    • Become “The” Expert Within Your Target Market
  • Section 2 - Why People Fail: A Series of Articles by Dan Kennedy
    • Can You Handle the Truth? Will You Tell the Truth?
    • How Serious Are You?
    • If You Want More, Make Yourself More Valuable
    • Now Is the Time To Do It Differently
    • If Your Income Isn’t Where You Want It, There Is A Reason
    • What Will You Accept?
    • The Real Road Less Traveled
  • Section 3 - Mega-Marketing Mistakes with Bill Glazer
    • The Top Ten Mega-Marketing Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make… And How to Solve Them
  • Section 4 - Success Stories
    • Dr. Brian Bergh
    • Ted Moreno, CHT
    • Heather Morrow
    • Dr. Dennis Buckley
  • Section 5 - 7 Quick and Easy Ways to Unlock Smart & Effective Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business
  • Photos of recent GKIC Local Chapter meetings
  • Photos of Craig with Some Other Successful Entrepreneurs
  • Section 6 - TMIFGE

Key Concepts & Ideas

Instead of writing proposals and not getting paid for doing them, become a “rancher” - build your “herd”.

Building your herd is, in essence, building your list of loyal followers (prospects, future customers/clients, etc).

When you’re building your herd, what you are doing is specifically designing WHO you want to do business with; those people who you understand and can help better than anyone else. (aka “your markets”)

Every product, every service, every business either appeals, or has the potential to appeal, much more strongly to a certain definable group of people than it appeals to all people.
- Dan Kennedy

If you strategically build your “herd” - which is your loyal list of highly targeted prospects, clients, past clients, etc - the one’s who are predisposed to learning from you and hearing what you have to say, you will never have to prepare another proposal again.

Become a “Rancher of People”.

Build your herd and communicate, educate, and connect with your target markets on a regular basis - and they’ll be seeking you out asking you to do business with them.

Plain and simple.

Craig On Offer Creation

Weak, wimpy or “ordinary” offers can NOT be expected to produce exceptional results.

The trick is to design an offer that gets your prospects to say “I’d be a damned fool if I said ‘no’ to this”.

Set yourself apart by finding what “peeves” your customers, solve it by guaranteeing that you won’t do it, and then let them know how you’ll reward them if you do.

When someone raises their hand and identifies himself as having interest in your business, it is just plain dumb to make only one attempt at selling to that person - or equally dumb to let that lead “chill” before follow-up.
- Craig A. Valine

Craig A. Valine On Marketing

Marketing isn’t just about acquiring a new client.

It’s about several things, including:

  • Maintaining ongoing relationships with people you’ve already served
  • Finding new and better ways to serve your clients
  • Communicating and reminding them ‘the reasons why’ they should keep doing business with you now or at a later date
  • Giving them compelling reasons to do business with you ‘right now!’
  • Sharing opportunities for them to save because they’re your client, versus some other outsider
  • And, more!

You should never have to worry about money coming in.

If you’re marketing all the time, that should not happen.

Marketing is your business.

Everything else is secondary.

If there is a more powerful word in advertising than “FREE”, I don’t know what it is.
- Craig A. Valine

Closing Thoughts

My book notes only cover small parts of the book.

So if you like what you read, please consider buying the book from the author.

Thank you for reading and stay awesome,

Tim for Online Business Dude

PS: Start Your Own, Profitable Online Business From Scratch, Step-by-Step, Today!

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