Dear Friend,

You just couldn't resist could you? And you're not the only 
person who sees "Do NOT" and reads "DO."  

But that's another a subject for another edition of the Rant. 
And, anyway, like I said, this article has nothing to do with 
marketing.  

You won't learn a damn thing here about business today, but what 
you DO learn will make business a pleasure.

Whenever I speak or am interviewed or have known a client for a 
while, I always get asked the same question:  Besides marketing, 
copywriting, and business... what else do I do? What do I do for 
pleasure? What do I do in my “spare” time?

So, while I don't normally make my private life public, I thought
it would be kinda appropriate to tell you a little bit about my 
"secret" at-home pursuits...

What is that? You say you don’t give a damn? 

That doesn't ruffle my feathers. If you have no absolutely 
interest in knowing about your marketing mentor’s life, if you 
don't think there's anything to be gained by reading what I've 
written, you can stop right here, right now, and I would have 
no hard feelings whatsoever. 

On the other hand... if you’re one of the few people who are 
curious, if you see the words "don't bother" and you think "I 
WILL bother," you might find this issue quite interesting. 

Still with me?  Okay, here we go...

I am a hardworking SOB and I love what I do. I love marketing. 
I also love teaching and getting paid handsomely for it too!  

There’s a new catch phrase in the entrepreneurial world. You 
may have heard it: 

"Don’t Work Hard, Work Smart!"

To me, that’s just plain baloney. Personally, I’ve NEVER heard 
of a "part-time" super successful person. NEVER.  Not ever.

The reality is... it’s tough as hell to make a lot of money. 
"Easy Money" is hard and the only "overnight success" stories 
are the ones that have been in the making for years. It takes 
guts, brain, vision, and yes, plenty of sweat to be successful.

There's more to success, a LOT more, than just having "smarts." 
And the bottom line is that you'll never increase your bottom 
line and accumulate serious wealth if you only work "smart." 

So what's the answer? What do super-successful people do that 
unsuccessful people don't? The answer is simple: They work HARD 
on SMART things. 

Super-successful people work smart AND they work hard. They work 
on important tasks. They focus on high-value activities that 
offer major returns on their investment of time. They don't 
waste a moment on things that aren't meaningful…in a BIG way.


=====================
Let Joe (or Jane) Do It
=====================

I've mastered a lot of things in my life, but I consider myself 
a real "black belt" in one key area:  delegation. I spend 90% of 
my time on activities that bring in the most bucks -- marketing, 
consulting, and copywriting -- and when it comes to everything 
else…I let "Joe" do it.   

I don’t wash my car. I don’t mow my lawn. I don’t vacuum the 
floor. I don’t cook. And I don't know one end of a vacuum 
cleaner from another! In other words, I am an absolute dummy 
when it comes to housekeeping!  

I don’t know how to do any of those things efficiently and 
effectively... so I don't.  I hire professionals to do what 
they're good at. I focus on what I do best... which is bringing 
in the cold, hard cash.   

I constantly ask myself, "Is what I’m doing worth $ 750.00 an 
hour?"

Shocked? Don't be. That’s my "baseline" number and (believe it 
or not) I’m still pushing the envelope. I keep on raising that 
number and challenging myself to earn mo' money, mo' money, mo' 
money!

I believe you can never have too much revenue in business and I 
only align myself with people who understand my point of view. 
Remember: You must surround yourself with clients and colleagues 
who respect the value of your time and behave accordingly.


=====================
Fish or Cut Bait
=====================

You must eliminate the "time vampires" from your life. You know 
the types I'm talking about -- people who suck everything out of 
you and leave you with…nothing in return. Don't let them hang 
around, draining you of your most important resources.  

You wouldn't let someone steal money from you…

so why let them rob you of your time and energy?

If you are a "control freak", learn to delegate those tasks and 
activities that just do not match up with the mandated value of 
your time.

We've taken a little business detour here, so let’s get back to 
the "meat" of this message:


=====================
Dan’s Secret Life Exposed!
A Day in the Life of Dan
=====================

I usually don’t get up until 11:00 am because I don’t go to bed 
until 2:00 am. All of my clients know my habit, so they never 
call me in the morning. I'm a night owl, but don't worry... I 
still compete with the early birdies.

I work 11, 12, or as many as 13 hours a day. There's only one 
thing that lets me put in so many long hours week after week 
and year after year:  I love what I do.  

I am extremely passionate about my business. So passionate, in 
fact, that sometimes I can’t really tell the difference between 
play and work. (Doesn't that sound appealing?)

If you ask me, "Dan, if I take away your ‘paycheck’, would you 
still do what you do?" I can answer that question in a heartbeat,
"You BET!"

Another reason I can work long hours is because I'm not married, 
have no kids, and don't have the obligations of family life.  

Now don't start feeling sorry for "ol' Dan." I do have a lovely 
girlfriend named Tiffany. We've been together for more than 5 
years now and we’re still madly in love. And, fortunately for 
me, I've found in Tiffany a life-partner who shares my vision 
of how business and pleasure dovetail.


===================
The Dan Nobody Knows
===================

Believe it or not, although I am very blunt when it comes to 
business and marketing, when I'm with friends and family, I'm 
transformed into a kinder, gentler Dan.  The hard edges get 
smoothed out and my sharp wit softens.

O.K., what else do I do?

I exercise 2 times a week. I go to a gym called Titan Fitness 
right across my home/office.  Also, I’m taking martial art and 
boxing lessons there. I’m a pretty good martial artist, so don’t 
mess around with me -- I’ll track you down and kick your butt! 

Relax. I’m just kidding.  I use my powers for "good," but I do 
love the martial arts. I like the challenge and it keeps me 
sharp mentally and physically.  I think fast. I make decisions 
quickly. I screw my "opponents" against the wall. And I don’t 
let ANYBODY push me around.

That kind of "killer instinct" has helped me tremendously in 
the dog-eat-dog business world out there. (Oops, business is 
sneaking in again!)  

You Are What You Eat...and Drink...and Smoke

I don’t smoke. I don’t drink anything that’s alcoholic. Heck, I 
don’t even drink coffee. (I am definitely not a good Starbucks 
customer.)  

I love green tea though... very healthy stuff. And I drink eight 
glasses of water a day.

I eat an apple, a banana, and one other kind of fruit each day. 
It could be an orange, strawberry, mango, or pineapple, as long 
as it's fresh and in-season.

"Gosh, Dan, You Sound Like You’re Living Like A Shaolin Monk To 
Me!"

Really? But hey, you gotta take care of your body, so that your 
body will take care of you. 

Old school, but very true. 

But here's the real "golden nugget" I want you to see: what’s 
the point of having WEALTH and no HEALTH? Gotta have both. It 
really doesn’t matter if you have 100 million bucks in the 
bank account, if you’re gonna die tomorrow morning. 

You NEED the health to enjoy all the money you got. 

Besides, when your body is "in balance," you’ll feel much better 
at work, at play, and at everything you do.

Time Out

Oops... Hold on a second, my phone is ringing...

...

...

Time In

All right, I am back. One of my inner circle clients just called 
to ask me couple questions regarding his new venture...  You'll 
be hearing about this guy in the future -- mark my words.

But right now, you're hearing about ME.

There’s no doubt I’m pretty friggin’ successful by most people’s 
standards, but I am still a very diligent student. I firmly 
believe that school is always in session and knowledge is always 
worth reaching for. 

You may be asking yourself, "If the Copywriting Whiz Kid is 
still soaking up information like a sponge, if Dan thinks he 
still has knowledge to gain -- shouldn't I be learning, too?"

You're darn right you should!  You better start pulling out 
those expensive "dust collectors” from your bookshelves -- the 
marketing and business books you invested all that money in -- 
and get cracking.  Books don't read themselves.

Unfortunately, I don’t read as much as I used to. But 
fortunately, I am one of those guys who can do multiple things 
at the same time.  I remember one time I was on the treadmill 
while I was talking to a client on the phone... and he was 
wondering why I’m running out of breath. (He thought I’m with 
Tiffany and he caught me at a "bad" time!)

So since I am so busy right now, I "multi-task" and listen to 
audiocassettes. I listen to a minimum 3-4 tapes a day, usually 
while I’m working in front of my computer.  

Right now, I’m listening to Dan Kennedy’s new Joint Venture 
course – a pretty damn good course on information marketing. 
Lots of insider tips. 

The Deal Of The Decade Is Right Under Your Nose

I rarely watch TV, but I do watch movies quite often. So if 
you’re gonna send me a gift, send me some DVDs, I love those 
little suckers:  

Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Jackie Chan, I watch them all. 

I think movie’s gotta be the greatest bargain on this planet.  

Think about it: The producers invest millions of dollars, gather 
some of most brilliant people together from the entertainment 
biz, and spend months (if not years) filming, for what? Just so 
they can create a 90 to 120 minutes "experience" FOR YOU! 

And how much you pay? ? ? I mean, think about it. If that’s not 
the deal of a decade, I don’t know what is.


===================
I Did It My Way
===================

Now, I understand this is NOT a typical "lesson" you usually get 
from me...  It’s just me ranting and rambling off about nothing. 
But hey, it’s MY newsletter. So I don't think it's a sin to 
chit-chat a bit every ONCE in a blue moon, right?

Alrighty, it’s 5:00 pm. I’m gonna get back to work here, so 
let’s wrap this up.

Take good care of your body, work hard on smart things, delegate 
low-value activities, school is never out for the pro, commit to 
learning something new everyday, and most importantly, enjoy 
yourself.

Take care,

Dan Lok