Author’s program note. I am, have been, and always will be a book man; a man, that is, whose life has been enriched in every way by books. These books have been my joy, my obsession, always the source of bliss. And no wonder.  For in my own special corner with book in hand and my imagination, I have learned something of the utmost significance. Books can take you anywhere. With them you can be anyone… achieve anything…  experience everything. … This is what a book can do and what books for the last 65 years have done for me.

Books… the necessary and irreplaceable tools for education… boon companions and dearest friends for life, the solace of our older age, and where we look to assuage our grief when a loved one passes. Books offer us everything… for books are about everything… about everyone… about everywhere.

The only drawback to books… is that there are so many, so brilliant, so moving, so epochal, so packed with fact and incident that we time-challenged humans don’t have even a tiny fraction of the hours we need to know them, read them, think on them, and use them to improve the person we are and wish always to ameliorate. Books are always present, reminding us with their full assistance, how much better we can be… if only we open the cover and allow the words and pages that follow to take us to the superior place that is theirs to give to each of us.

Had we but world enough and time (Andrew Marvell, 1681)…

… but you see, that is the eternal challenge, for we do not… and this, then, becomes the particular puzzle of all our lives. How to know of, find, and find the time to read what must be read… the greatest books by our greatest masters; for as one grows older and older still, one discovers that time is too short to read anything else. That is why when people do me the honor to ask what books have influenced me, I am ever ready with the contents of my library to advise them. And so I take this opportunity to tell you about “The Leopard”, a masterpiece that was in 1957 so despised by Italian publishers that some said it would never be printed, was not worth printing… thereby breaking the heart of its author, Prince Di Lampedusa whose manners were so refined that he did not excoriate and rebuke the purblind publishers who thereby missed a work of high genius. It is this great book by an undoubted master that I tell you about this day.

But before I tell this tale, I wish to commend to you the incidental music to accompany this piece. It is the “valzerone e quadriglia” by that composer of cinematic magic, Nino Rota (1911-1979). Go now to any search engine and play it at once, for if “The Leopard” could possibly be improved upon, it would be by Rota and his mesmeric dance rhythms.  A novel about the Italy you know nothing about.

You cannot understand this book unless you know that its author was a bona fide principe, prince of ancient lineage and generations of hubris, condescension and perfect manners. He would not have liked you… why should he?… but you’d never know how exquisite his insults until long after he’d made his graceful exit from your unwanted company, the mark of a true aristocrat, a nonpareil who kills but never maims — unless he intends to.

But, and this too is crucial to understanding this book, this principe was not a prince of Italy, but a prince from Palermo, in Sicily, an island which had been since ships could sail the highly desirable target of one monarch after another, Dei gratia all.

As a result, there was a plenitude of titles on Sicily; grandiose, exalted, the residue of one temporary regime after another. Every noble knew how every title in the kingdom had been procured, by blood, valor… bedroom services or outright purchase. Thus the same title could mean wildly different things, of one order going up, while another was descending. Every nobleman and most especially his milady knew every nuance and secret. And so reputations wilted and died, scandals commenced and scandals reported behind delicate fans which at once enabled them to show their artistry and delicate wrists to best advantage while obscuring expressions which might well reveal too much.

This was a world the prince of Lampedusa knew well, every flutter of a fan, every patent of nobility finagled, every tittle of gossip, enjoyed, examined, twisted to best advantage. This is the arcane world, now as distant as the moon, that his excellency brought to life in “The Leopard”.

“Nothing much happens. They just talk.”

In doing my research for this article, I came across the line above, sentiments posted online by a reader puzzled by this book. This is understandable, for unlike our action packed books and films, “The Leopard” moves at a very different pace… the pace of real life in the 1860s when the old verities of Sicilian life were giving way before the insistent realities of Italian unification.

You see, the unified Italy you know and which you may assume has existed for centuries is in fact a new reality. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, Italy had been broken up into smaller states. And these states spent their time intriguing against each other, gaining an acre here, losing a city there. It gave generations of princes and their privy counselors something to do during the delicious days of la dolce far niente. It was this ancient system that the princes reigning in Turin, the House of Savoy, were determined  to end… reigning instead over one nation, their patrimony.

It is towards the end of this opera-bouffe revolution that Lampedusa begins his tale, a tale based on the life of his paternal great-grandfather, a grandee of Sicily who saw everything changing, changing, changing to the detriment of the beautiful life he loved but could no longer afford.

And so “The Leopard”, Prince Fabrizio Salina, finds himself doing something he abhors but knows is absolutely necessary… allowing his beloved nephew, Prince Tancredi Falcorieri, to marry beneath himself… to the most attractive young lady of the district, Angelica Sedara, who is socially ambitious, endlessly calculating… and rich.

Thus while they live, think, intrigue, eat, dance and make love, the House of Savoy changes everything for everyone… Thus is the reader rebuked who thinks that nothing is happening, for in fact an entire world and everyone, everything in it changes forever right before your eyes…

… a riveting story told in language so beautiful, so poignant, so epigrammatic and apt one is forced to reread line after line so as not to miss a single limpid word. It is for this that “The Leopard” is a work of genius and the prince of Lampedusa occupies at last his just place in the literary pantheon.

April, 1993.

I read “The Leopard” in the spring of 1993; I know because I entered the date on the title page. I’ve been reading it again lately, and will come back again, perhaps only to read a page, or even a single paragraph, before my life is over. Classics are like that… drawing us back, insinuating themselves into our lives in ways lesser creations cannot hope to duplicate.

Now, therefore, go to any search engine, find Nino Rota’s valzerone written for Visconti’s 1963 grand film recreation of the leopard’s doomed world, open the book, turn the music on and commence reading from the first line,

“Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. The daily recital of the Rosary was over…” but your pleasure has just begun.

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today at http://www.worldprofit.com

Today’s Theme: Multiple Streams of Income

George emphasized the importance of understanding the BASICS first so you don’t waste your time and get frustrated.
Fresh, updated, new videos now integrated into more of the Bootcamp Training Levels to further assist with understanding.
New Members, please watch these videos, they are focused on getting you on track with the basics so you can progress to making sales.

Many Worldprofit Members are already in a number of Affiliate programs, or are marketing their own products and services.
The tools and resources included in the Member area teach you skills you can use to promote ANYTHING you are involved with.
Take what we teach you and apply it to promote your own products and services if you like.

Some Worldprofit Members promote just Worldprofit products and services.
Some Members promote Worldprofit products and services AND there own affiliate programs or products/services.
Some Members simply use the training Worldprofit provides to focus solely on promoting their own products and services.
No matter where you are in this, you benefit by following the training to learn how to market, how to get your site ranked higher, how to attract more leads, how to generate more traffic, how to increase your sales.

Worldprofit’s Home Business Training includes teaching topics valuable to building any online business.

SEO techiniques
List building strategies
PLR
MRR
Blogging
Backlinks
Marketing Resources
Ads/Landing Pages
Article Marketing
Affiliate Marketing.
Leverage
Incentive Offers and OTO’s
Ad Swaps
Sales tactics
Ebooks
DropBox
Social Media
Product Reviews

Discussion and Demonstrations:

Ebook PDF Creator – how to get traffic, leads and sales using this incredibly powerful and easy tool.

How to get to earnings of at least $1,000 per month.

JV Zoo (Joint Ventures)

Revealed: The mind-blowing product that George Kosch thinks is the greatest thing he has seen in 18 years of reviewing products – and how Worldprofit Members benefit!

OTO Secret Weapon

What’s in Development:

Pre-built blogs! Complete with domain name of your choice, full content, landing pages, opt-in form, and ready for you to take over completely.

IMPORTANT NOTE for NEW Worldprofit Members:

If you are brand new to Worldprofit and feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of information you have been provided, or the various terms being use, we urge you watch the BASIC TRAINING VIDEO. The basic training video covers terms you should know, the basics of our program and what you need to focus on to get on track to making money online with the Worldprofit system. Find this video in your Member area, on the TOP MENU select TRAINING then click on the link for the video that is marked as the MUST WATCH BEGINNER’S VIDEO. If you have any questions submit a Support form so we can also help you that way.

Thank you to each of you for participating in today’s LIVE interactive Home business bootcamp training.
We had lots of questions today and we encourage this. The LIVE training is the perfect opportunity to tap into George Kosch’s expertise and get direct instant answers with on-screen demonstration as relevant.

Comments from today’s training participants:

Tania: wow …. you are right George …it really blows my mind

James: Incredible product and I love the leverage back into Worldprofit. Thank you for sharing this with us. This makes it easy to place multiple money magnets on the web set it and promote it and the sales will come in over time.

Barbara: Wow! This is wild. It does blow my mind!!

William: Great

Tim: This is GOLD!

Joseph: Great Job George as always

I’ve been a published writer and author for six decades now. I’ve got 18 books and thousands of articles under my belt. As a  result people are constantly asking me the “secrets” of writing that resonates, captures readers and gets your message delivered. Alright, you’ve asked me quite enough… I’m ready to spill the beans…

Power writing Solution #1: Recite what you write.

When was the last time you needed to write something with real impact? Something that made your point, hammered it home, and did so in the most clear lucid way?

The correct answer is that the “last time” you did it was probably today, what with all the letters, advertisements, posters, reports, etc. you’ve got to write in your business.

Is this how you approached the task?

1) Bad attitude. You hate writing, or at least your’re doing  a mighty good imitation of someone who does. Thus, you grumpily sit down at your computer, hold your nose, and resolve to race through this unwelcome task in record time.

2) The writing you produce under this “system” is just about as bad as bad writing can be. As a result it’s wordy, misspelled, redundant, diffuse… and that’;s just for openers.

3) Yuck! When you see what you’ve got, you gulp. It’s terrible, but fortunately not so terrible that other terrible writers and readers will ever notice. Declining standards shroud any number of problems…

Then take a good look in the mirror. Remember when you were young, idealistic in college, and that smarty-pants professor said you were either part of the problem… or part of the solution. Now you finally know what he meant: you can either keep producing the writing that has brought you so little fame and fortune… or you can apply Solution #1 to the problem.

To excite, recite.

When was the last time you wrote something, then read it aloud to yourself to see how it sounded and maybe to tweak it?

Answer? Well, let’s just put it this way, shall we? When was the last time you read anything you’d written aloud? Wasn’t it that time in Third Grade where you been forced by Mrs. Noroski, the personification of evil, to read a poem she coerced you to write in the first place? Thus, reciting takes its place just before having a root canal. And nothing’s going to change your mind, so there.

Methinks the lady (and the gent, too) doth protest too much.

Now hear this: you begged me for my secrets to power writing… and here’s one of the two most important. You’re just going to have move on, relegating that fiasco that constituted your one and only poetry reading to the recycle bin where it will surely find the oblivion which it so dearly merits.

The absolute necessity to read your prose… if you care that it gets read.

It’s time for brutal honesty. You write to be read, to influence, to motivate readers to take action. Reading aloud, reciting, helps you achieve this objective… and you’ll do it (stinker though it may be) because recitation means results… and improving results is what it takes to excel and prosper in our strenuous culture.

First, BIG relief item. There’s an audience of just one to these academy award winning performances: you! And unless you’re the culprit, no one need ever know that you do this whenever you want the best possible content and the best possible content presentation.

Here’s what needs to be in your kit for this project: a printer, marking pens, and a surface on which to spread this masterpiece in process. Now add gumption and you’re ready to go…

You’re looking for errors. Here are some places you’ll find them:

1) Line length. Good writers, that is to say  persuasive writers know that less is more. Thus, the longer the sentence, the more likely the reader misses the point, and this will never do.  If you find yourself taking another breath to get through the sentence in question, that sentence is too long. The optimum line length is 10-15 words, and you must cut sharply as a result… and so keep your readers.

2) Do the same severe pruning with your paragraphs. Short paragraphs are the best paragraphs; they should run from 6 to 8 lines.

3) Start as many sentences as possible with “you” (explicit or implicit). Whatever you write is written for just one person — the “you” who is your present reader. That person must have your complete and total focus, because if that “you” stops reading, it doesn’t matter what your message is, this all-important  person isn’t going to do anything about it.

4) Use action verbs. Here’s the drill you want every reader to follow: your prose calls for action… your prose gets the reader to act. But this only happens when you take a machete to your passive verbs. They are torpid… impenetrable… movement killers. Just the way they should be and remain forever — that is if you want your prose cited in the “Guinness Book of Records” under the category “execrable”.

5) Make war on all purple passages. These you can easily spot when reading for, when uttering them you automatically start talking like the divine Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), which means in the sententious idiom of late 19th century France!

Your language should be clean, simple, efficient — you know, the way it isn’t now.

Solution # 2. Rewrite.

Wow, after scrutinizing your latest effusion per Solution #1, you’re surrounded by items that have been ruthlessly removed. What now? Simple; my next sure-fire writing insight, viz. that the most effective writers are the most conscientious rewriters. In other words, the ones who do not merely spew words on the page, but who do what’s necessary for maximum impact. This means you.

And so today, at first light, take your latest writing project and go out into the pristine dew of day to recite it. Sure your neighbors will deduce that you have finally gone mad… but the many new prospects and customers you’ll derive will leave them happy… leave you a paragon of prose… and richer.; oh, yes, a very great deal richer.

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today at http://www.worldprofit.com

George started today’s training with announcements:

1. Worldprofit’s Home Bootcamp Training Levels are be updated to better introduce new Members to all the services offered at Worldprofit. Worldprofit offers a tremendous number of money-making programs, home business resources, and traffic and advertising strategies and some new Members are missing these. So we have set about to update our training videos, and provide a more detailed overview of the training and resources included to make sure that Members are fully aware and benefit from all aspects of their Membership.

2. As announced in previous training sessions we have now implemented a number of new ways to appreciate our valued Monitors. Reporting is now in place and public in the Member area, Ad credits are assigned, Sales tracked and bonuses awarded automatically. We have also starting posting an introduction on our Monitors so all members of the community can get to know our Monitors.

3. New feature added free for all Silver and Platinum VIP Members who have a blog. For those Members who have a Blog, you will be happy to know we now have Landing Pages that can easily be embedded into your WordPress Blog. Under AD EXAMPLES we have now included WordPress Landing Pages. This tool can be used for Worldprofit hosted blogs, or other blogs you have online. We have created a video to help Members benefit from this new option which can be found in the Worldprofit Member area. NOTE: If you are brand New to Worldprofit, note that this is an advanced application for those who have more familiar and experience.

4. Article Marketing Directory – update We have made it easier for you to post Worldprofit provided content to your blog. Example: We provide Worldprofit Members with ClickBank product reviews and articles (currently at 500 articles) with this new addition we have made it easier for you to post this content with images to your blog. “Press this”

5. We have reached a milestone today. The 500th article was posted today to Worldprofit’s Article Marketing Directory. These articles are for the exclusive use of Worldprofit Members so you have unique content for your blogs and website, as well as ClickBank product review to help you sell ClickBank products. These articles add tremendous value to your Membership that you will NOT get anywhere else. Hats off to Dr. Lant who works tirelessly to research and write these articles for you, our Members.

6. NEW Themes added now for Worldprofit Members to select from for their Blogs.

Learning and Discussion Topics:

SURBL and SpamCop: What it is and what you need to know. We are creating a new training video to help Members understand anti-spam issues, and URL blocking.

If you don’t have a PAID software program to protect your computer from viruses and malware – get one! The program we recommend is Kaspersky.com. Some of you are relying on free virus protection programs and they are simply not powerful enough. Don’t let your business get shut down while you deal with a virus, or malware problem on your computer.

Keep your WordPress plugins and themes up to date. BACK IT UP! BEWARE of free plugins they are often portals for malware and hostile attacks on your blogs.

AWeber.com – the importance of list building.

Importance of following the Home Business Bootcamp, staying focused and applying what you learn CONSISTENTLY.

Snnap.com

Google Word Alerts

IQ Block Country (WordPress Plugin)

Why you must promote every single day, and what happens when you don’t.

Click Bank Promo Kit – how members benefit from this tool

The value of Product and Service Reviews

Question: How do you make money with Worldprofit’s Home Business System?

IMPORTANT NOTE for NEW Worldprofit Members: If you are brand new to Worldprofit and feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of information you have been provided, or the various terms being use, we urge you watch the BASIC TRAINING VIDEO. The basic training video covers terms you should know, the basics of our program and what you need to focus on to get on track to making money online with the Worldprofit system. Find this video in your Member area, on the TOP MENU select TRAINING then click on the link for the video that is marked as the MUST WATCH BEGINNER’S VIDEO. If you have any questions submit a Support form so we can also help you that way.

Thank you to each of you for participating in today’s LIVE interactive Home business bootcamp training. We had lots of questions today and we encourage this. The LIVE training is the perfect opportunity to tap into George Kosch’s expertise and get direct instant answers with on-screen demonstration as relevant.

A few comments from today’s Home Business Bootcamp participants about the training and latest Worldprofit innovations being developed for Members. We very much appreciate your kind words and reviews of the training we offer at Worldprofit, it puts a smile on our face and keeps us motivated.

Christopher: Cool thanks
James: This is a great security tool… thank you, I hadn’t seen this plugin before
Richard: Fun stuff.Good good!
Tania: Thanks George … have a great weekend.
Anthony: THIS IS GOOD STUFF!!! EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND
Arthur: Thanks to you, George and Wallace For your guidance!!!!
James: Thank you George and Sandi for all you do to help us build successful businesses! Have a blessed weekend Minta: Thanks George for the great training today!
Angela: Thanks you for the excellent training.
Sharon: awesome as always
Scott: thanks George great training as always
Tim: Thanks George GREAT job!

Recording of March 16th, 2012 Bootcamp Training: The recording of today’s session will be posted later today to the Member area (under top menu TRAINING) for the convenience of those not able to attend the LIVE training.

Next LIVE Home Business Bootcamp Training: March 23, 2012 at 10 AM CT.

For more information on the home business training and earn at home programs offered by the Home Business Experts at Worldprofit, go to worldprofit.com

Author’s program note. The American Civil War began April 12, 1861 with the firing of the rebel forces on Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. It officially ended on April 9, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House. In between, 212,938 people from both sides were killed in action, with total casualties exceeding 625,000 in what was the most bloody war ever fought on this planet… and the most embittered, as is always the case when brothers fight each other to the death, enraged, grieving, broken hearted but determined to have victory, whatever the cost…

This war was filled with incident, great deeds of valor, deeds, too, of squalor, treachery, unmitigated cruelty… and chivalry… but of all the deeds in this great struggle, the deeds of just a handful of men determined the outcome. These were the men who fought each other at the Battle of Hampton Roads, Virginia March 8-9, 1862. And I am taking you there today… for you will want to know who won, who lost, and why it happened the way it did.

For the incidental music to this article, I have selected Daniel Decatur Emmett’s famous tune, “Dixie,” also known as “I Wish I Was in Dixie,” a song originating in the black face minstrelsy of the 1850s. It is a tune that makes even the least likely ready to jump up and whirl. I have selected it today because, as Abraham Lincoln himself said on April 10, 1865, it’s “one of the best tunes I ever heard” … but also because of its famous line, “Look away, Dixie Land.” After the Battle of Hampton Roads, Virginia and all the other Confederate states had nothing to look forward to… and everything to look away from.

But it didn’t look that way on March 8, 1862… quite the contrary.

News of the most alarming portent arrives in Washington, D.C., Sunday, March 9, 1862.

Gideon Wells, a New England journalist, found himself urgently summoned to the White House. Come! Come at once! And this Connecticut Yankee, in his unlikely role as Secretary of the Navy, scurried to a meeting where he found Mr. Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, in the greatest possible dismay… and so alarmed himself that he was alarming, too, the President of the Dis-united States of America.

It was a scene to brighten every heart in Dixie… and cause shrewd financiers to sell U.S. Treasury bonds short before Wall Street opened Monday, to chaos and defeatism.

Mr. Stanton could not keep still, could not hide his profound anxiety and fear. He sat down, only to jump up again and rush to the windows… What was he looking for? A savior for the Union cause… What did he expect to see? The CSS Virginia in all her glory steaming up the Potomac, sinking the Federal cause with effortless grace. It was a scene of destiny, and every man on both sides of the struggle knew that history of the gravest magnitude was happening now! To them! At Hampton Roads! And so depending on their point of view and allegiance they either gave way to unbridled joy… or profound despair and lamentation. No one was neutral on this urgent matter.

USS Merrimac into CSS Virginia.

The largest naval installation of the Great Republic was at Norfolk in Virginia… and so after the Old Dominion seceded (April 24, 1861) it became a matter of the greatest urgency to both sides to arrange matters there to their greatest advantage. This to the Federal forces meant moving as much as could be moved, destroying the rest. And, to the rebels, to do just the reverse.

Thus was the USS Merrimac, unable to be removed in time and against the rebel sentiments of her crew, burnt and sunk… but not effectively. Her new owners quickly discovered both hull and engines were serviceable… and so began her transformation into the CSS Virginia, the vessel which made Secretary Stanton quail with acute fear and humiliating anxiety.

Why?

Because CSS Virginia, for all that she had just weeks ago been scuttled, was transformed into the mightiest ship of all the navies of all the seas… a ship sheathed in iron, designed to deal death to the picturesque, now ineffectual sailing ships of every navy, but without suffering a single nick at all. Thus did the dead Merrimac come to be the super weapon the Confederacy needed to pulverize the Union and secure their freedom from the meddling, inept Yankees they despised.

Confederate triumph March 8, 1862.

The world changed this day… as the Virginia, with the merest motion, rammed the hapless USS Cumberland, 121 seamen going down with her… then the USS Congress was put out of action, surrendering… and everyone, from the merest cabin boy, saw the future… and knew that every gallant wooden vessel, yesterday puissant, was now dross. And so, as cat to mouse, Virginia moved to her next sure triumph, USS Minnesota… while every telegrapher sent on the news, the news that so discomfited Secretary Stanton… and every other brave Union heart. Armageddon was here… and it flew a Confederate flag.

Until…

In August, 1861 Gideon Wells authorized work on a top-secret Union ironclad… and in due course the USS Monitor was born, the most radical naval design ever; the invention of Swedish engineer and inventor John Ericsson. And it was this curious, much mocked vessel that steamed into Hampton Roads March 9, just in time, to reverse what but yesterday had seemed certain, Southern command of the seas and therefore victory.

And as Monitor and Virginia battled each other to a draw, each unable to finish its deft opponent, the entire strategic scene changed. All wooden ships, every single one, was now obsolete; thus a new arms race started for command of the seas. USS Monitor had, simply by maneuvering to a draw, stopped the South’s “certain” advance and commenced a war of bloody attrition, a war the North could win, and the South had most reason to fear. For without access to the world, the South could only rely on itself… and that would never be enough to ensure independence as every Southern family would, in tragic due course, come to understand only too well. As for both the historic ships of this engagement, neither sailed for long. Virginia was burnt again and sunk when Union forces took back the Norfolk port facilities in May. As for the plucky Monitor, she sank December 31,1862 off North Carolina. The remains of one of her stricken crew, 24-year-old James Fenwick, were just recently brought to the surface for honorable burial. He had been married just a few weeks before Monitor embarked on her final voyage; her history short but epochal.

“Old times they are not forgotten; Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.”

** We invite you to post your comments to this article below.

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Details at worldprofit.com

Author’s program note. I have total recall of this matter. It was1966 and I was about to be a sophomore at alma mater… and my parents were worried… worried that I, their darling, their first-born son, was becoming a wonk… all work, no play, a very dull boy indeed. Sure, I was #1 in my class, a certain summa in the making, but not well rounded, never the lithe master of every country club skill. And so, mom did not so much request as plead with me to go through “rush week” when older boys (to my worried parents’ complete satisfaction) scrutinized younger boys… delivering themselves of every social outrage, all in the name of social acceptance, social advancement, and the glory of the frat.

And so to please mama, I signed up as an available pledge… and went out each and every evening to my fate… which went like this…

Gilded anachronism.

To justify their anachronistic existence, and divert attention from what they liked to do and were in existence to deliver, all the fraternities sponsored a yearly academic prize… and all worked as hard as they ever worked on anything to win it… for winning covered a multitude of outrages. And so they sought out wonks, not because they liked wonks but because these wonks and their stellar grades, once pledged, gave them the latitude to party hardy.

“Boy,” they said at each House in the stream of parties attended, “we don’t want you… but we do want your perfect grade point average… that cool 4 point o.” And so, holding their noses, the jeunesse doree’ of Fraternity Row offered me membership… at the cost of my self-esteem. Finding the necessary resolution, I told them thanks but no thanks, breaking my uncomprehending mother’s heart, who saw not courage but a lifetime of effortless contacts from past, present, future brothers thrown thoughtlessly away…

… As a result, I was never hazed and so cannot from personal experience relate its intricacies, primal thrills and long-established protocols. Luckily I have at my disposal the unvarnished truths on the matter delivered by the man who kissed and told, that rogue brother, the traitor of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Andrew Lohse, the man who did the worst thing he could do… letting his erstwhile brothers down… to his everlasting shame and damnation.

For the incidental music to this piece about boys being boys and the ways long honed by their Greek letter predecessors of getting around bamboozled parents and clueless authority figures of every kind, I have selected one of the popular songs from the “Animal House” series (first released in 1978). It’s “Louie, Louie”, the ultimate attitude song. It was written by Richard Berry and released in 1957. Find it in any search engine. Play it at once. And, remember, it didn’t get its reputation for outrage, insolence and ability to irritate every adult everywhere for nothing…

Dartmouth College, an abbreviated history.

When you first see Dartmouth, founded in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1769, you catch your breath. It’s a picture-postcard-perfect scene, a location tailor-made for well-heeled parents remembering their own undergrad capers. But behind the Currier-and-Ives scenaries is one generation of Dartmouth men doing absolutely disgusting things with and to the bodies of other young Dartmouth men… in rites as old as Neanderthal and as new as Facebook.

The current imp to unveil the excesses occurring behind the Corinthian columns on Fraternity Row — for they have been unveiled before — is young Lohse, aspiring journalist, who had no farther to look for inspiration than to his brothers. What they were willing to do to sleep in such exalted quarters amongst the gilded youths makes piquant reading indeed…

… how pledges slurped beer (no doubt the cream of pale ales) off the backsides, between the legs of their soon-to-be brethren;

how these same chosen few walked through kiddie pools sloshing urine and excrement;

how they feasted, as well they might, on succulent pies of gourmet-quality vomit.

There is more, of course; there is always more, of these gifted Ivy Leaguers snorting with each other, spitting on each other, tossing the furniture about, least wisely at a female Dartmouth security officer. There is still more… but you get the picture, the picture Lohse first published in the campus newspaper, The Dartmouth (America’s oldest college newspaper, since 1799) on January 25, 2012; a picture he has now sold for publication in “Rolling Stone” for the edification of the world.

The faculty reacted with the usual unedifying mixture of umbrage, outrage, humiliation, and — above all — embarrassment. How could they brag of their high positions at this Ivy League institution when this institution was most often portrayed — and in such detail, too — as a country club for the socially maladjusted and their jejune pastimes and adolescent joys? Outrageous!

Enter Dartmouth president Jim Kim.

Having little else to do in their pristine North woods, the abashed faculty made their way to President Jim Kim’s available door… pouring forth their hot words, often in iambic pentameter. Amongst the words most heard: outmoded, dangerous, illegal, scandalous, moral thuggery, physically, emotionally, psychologically damaging… and much more of this florid, grandiloquent, purple language of high import and flatulence; for this faculty, like so many faculties, never met a sonorous and highfalutin word it didn’t like, and uses them with gay abandon whenever the opportunity arises, as it most surely has arisen here.

Weak as water, or shrewd and cagey, biding his time?

President Kim, a renowned educator, gave these aroused faculty members no satisfaction whatsoever, although he called for an investigation and made it clear the College’s detailed anti-hazing policy, as well as that of the Granite State itself, would be applied and applied with rigor. That was the presidential equivalent of “blah, blah, blah” and conduced to greater anger amongst the academicians than they had already evinced. Too little, they grumbled, too late; they demanded the complete demolition of each and every den of iniquity and bad taste called fraternities.

Here President Kim not only disappointed, but alarmed them… for he made clear that he would not, and most likely, could not eradicate the insolent fraternities and their (to others) offensive ways. Some saw this as a nod in the direction of Dartmouth’s rich alumni, aging brothers with odd tastes and strong memories. If drinking beer their own way had been good enough for them, what had a few chiding do-gooders to say of the practice? They would give to Dartmouth if and only if…

And since Dartmouth needs money, and oodles of if, the fraternities and their bullying, homo-erotic, unhousebroken ways, might have to be tolerated… for this is, after all, America… where a man (or woman) has the God-given right to outrage their neighbors and their prim views just about anyway they like.

And, with that, I give you the stirring chords of “Louie, Louie” once again, because whilst these frats and their particular menaces and peculiar devices might well remain for cycles yet to come, “me, I’ve gotta go”…

**** We invite you to post your comments to this article.

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses.
Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Details at worldprofit.com

Author’s program note. I first became aware of William McGonagall in 1967 when I was a student at Scotland’s oldest and proudest university, St. Andrews. “You must read McGonagall” people said with a twinkle. “He’s undoubtedly Scotland’s worst poet… indeed, quite possibly the single worst poet who has ever lived.”

Every person who told me — and there were many — offered their fervent recommendation, tongue firmly in cheek, with high good humor… but there was (odd mixture) more than a dollop of respect in their words, even admiration… and never, ever derision. McGonagall compelled their respect, and so while everyone smiled at his execrable verses… there wasn’t a soul who begrudged him a hard-earned encomium for his persistence, his tenacity in pursuing his evanescent, shimmering dream, and most of all his unyielding determination, a potent combination which made him an unlikely celebrity and a man about whom I now say to you in my turn “You must read McGonagall.”

For the incidental music to this article I have selected a tune from the 1954 musical “Brigadoon”, that magic place in the sweet-smelling heather, the pertinacious flower of Scotland; a place that emerges once every 100 years to remind you of a people, their unquenchable zest and undeniable genius. McGonagall deserves his hard-won place amongst the revelry and pageantry of Brigadoon… it would no doubt have inspired him to another (admittedly God-awful) effusion.

You will find my selection — “Heather on the hill” — in any search engine. Go now… for at this party we shall eat, drink, be merrie… and if we compel a tear, then it’s a willing tribute we pay to a land we revere and remember fondly too… and because McGonagall shared that sentiment he is always and forever one of us.

Born in Edinburgh, in 1825, or maybe 1830.

Like many aspects of McGonagall’s checkered career, his basic facts are either unknown or in dispute. He was, for instance, born in the Greyfriars Parish in Edinburgh in March, but just what date is not known… indeed the very year itself of his birth cannot be determined. What of it? He came to his Irish parents on a particular day… and it’s sufficient that he did so… and so began his race, a race for which he was well equipped in only one thing — true grit and assiduity.

… And sad to say, that wasn’t enough to win, as he wanted to win. But he refused to recognize this fact, and that’s the point of this tale…

The Weaver Poet.

If he were born today, McGonagall, hard-working weaver of long-wearing cloth, would no doubt qualify for a grant from some well-meaning foundation of liberal tendencies… but such like did not exist then… and so, despite the wife and 7 children he acquired along the way, he left his uncertain craft… in pursuit of… what? Different people said very different things about what he did. He never heard them, didn’t care, and didn’t let their advice, however earnest and sensible, determine his direction… and that, too, is the point of this tale.

And so his quest for himself and for the words that always eluded him began…

… appropriately enough with a role in “Macbeth” where he played the title role… embellishing it in this way: having paid Mr. Giles for the right to play this role at his theatre, he understandably wished to get his money’s worth. And so at Macduff’s great moment, McGonagall, as Macbeth, refused to die and stayed on the stage, extemporizing, to the consternation and amusement of all. Ah, this was most assuredly a portent of things — and poetry — to come.

A pivotal moment in 1877.

There comes to all people with a mission a moment of epiphany, a moment when they know beyond a shadow of doubt what they will do, what they must do to fulfill their destiny and high purpose. This moment occurred in 1877 for McGonagall, and it determined his fate. “I seemed to feel a strange kind of feeling stealing over me and remained so for about five minutes.” Another man must have seen it as dyspepsia brought on by a too fine dinner… McGonagall saw it as destiny…. his fate, poetry.

And now, then, we must unveil some of this poetry, ultimately about 200 works, perhaps the worst ever written, God bless him.

McGonagall, fervent royalist that he was, wrote often about his sovereign princess and lady, Queen Victoria. Indeed, on one well-known occasion he thought nothing of walking about 60 miles from Dundee to Balmoral where Her Majesty then resided. Undaunted by her failure to receive him, drenched to the skin though he was, not even gifted with a wee, warming dram, he still revered, for his loyalty was abiding and profound.

Thus for her Golden Jubilee of 1887, celebrating 50 years upon the throne, he wrote:

“Therefore let all her subjects rejoice and sing, Until they make the welkin ring; And let young and old on this her Jubilee be glad, And cry, ‘Long Live our Queen!’ and don’t be sad.’

Delicious.

Sadly such loyal sentiments so rendered did not enrich this most unpoetic of poets, no indeed. Thus his expedients were many. For instance, he took a job at a circus where he gave readings from his oeuvre and allowed his discriminating listeners to signify their disapprobation by pelting him with offal, dead cats, rotten tomatoes, lamb carcasses and other disagreeables. It was never enough, not even close, to making a living.

…. But still the torpid words, the wrong words, the words that mangled and hurt to hear kept coming, for this was a man possessed, though not gifted.

Until the collapse of the great Tay Bridge, one of the great engineering marvels of the age, gave him his great opportunity — and he seized it.

“Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay! Alas! I am very sorry to say That ninety lives have been taken away On the last Sabbath day of 1879, Which will be remember’d for a very long time.”

And so he rendered the catastrophe of 28 December 1879 when the bridge collapsed, taking with it the fast-speeding express and every passenger. McGonagall’s words were the high point of his bathetic career.

Let us leave it so, for now you know of McGonagall and his works, each one you can read, savor, and enjoy… though never, ever deride. For though he was a bad poet, perhaps the worst ever known, he was adamant in pursuit of his dream; perhaps more adamant than you. And so in the end, he endures; his awkward verses, every one of them, still in print…

“I am your gracious Majesty ever faithful to Thee, William McGonagall, the Poor Poet, That lives in Dundee.”

… And in our hearts.

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About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Details at worldprofit.com

Author’s program note. There’s a whole lot of lamenting going on in Washington, D.C. It goes like this: once upon a time the Congress of the Great Republic was a genteel place where ladies and gentlemen put on their white gloves and best manners, taking tea while cozily arranging America’s affairs… thence home to a Dickens novel and well-earned slumber. The problem is that such a time never existed in the Congress of these factious United States. It’s the merest myth… for all that the poor lads and lassies who represent us yearn for such a place, such a time, and such amiable, thoughtful, sympathetic colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

And so, these folks give way to frequent tears and even more frequent sighs and vapors… with lamentations loud, frequent, poignant, heart-rending — and silly.

The most recent to give way to this “feel sorry for me” rubbish is the lady from Maine, senior Republican Senator Olympia Snowe. On February 28, 2012 the Honorable Olympia announced her inability to stomach the poisonous, internecine, downright nasty senatorial environment for another term. And so, lamenting, petulant, self-pitying, she said “basta!”… and started packing her valises with the accumulated treasures and heirlooms — not to mention the pensions and emoluments — of over 33 years in Congress. These will be substantial indeed.

As for me, I cannot find a single tear for the lady, rather the reverse. She says she was armed for another campaign, had money aplenty to fight the good fight… but she clearly lacked the stomach for so much closeness to her feisty and outspoken Mainers. Senators are revered, coddled, kowtowed to in Washington, D.C. Back home amidst the problems and bleakness of Portland, they are asked, insistently too, just what have you done for us lately, Missie… and you’d better have a detailed answer at the ready. Demigods like Senator Olympia find such directness rude, and long for fragrant camomile in a fragile cup of Old Worcester while aides fan her with cooling air…. unlimited incense… and deference to every word and wish.

Ms. Olympia says she’s a Greek from Spartan stock… and while that might have been true 30 years ago in her elected salad days, it is most assuredly true no longer. She’s gone Athenian, and now demands reverence, not the stark choice of returning with her shield — or on it. And so she must retire… because she is no longer able to fight the good fight for Maine, for Mainers, and for the Great Republic which needs visionaries, fighters, not aging voluptuaries who crave comfort, not confrontation.

Enter Congressman John Sullivan (R-Oklahoma).

February 22, 2012 Representative Sullivan made a few red-blooded observations during one of his regular “town hall” meetings with constituents. The subject was how to get the Senate of the Great Republic to get serious, I mean really serious, about balancing the out-of-control federal budget.

“I’d love to get them /the senators/ to vote for it. Boy, I’d love that, you know. But other than me going over there with a gun and pointing it to their head and maybe killing a couple of them, I don’t feel they’re going to listen unless they get beat.”

Cornered by the ever present Thought Police, Representative Sullivan, that able and forthright member for Tulsa, backed down. He didn’t mean it….shouldn’t have said it… certainly didn’t imagine… and would never, ever do… You get the picture. The Honorable John was tripping over himself, back pedaling to beat the band. But why?

After all, he is far more what we actually want in our elected representatives, even while we say we prefer the Olympia model. No, we want our reps to represent us robustly, directly, rudely, shrewdly, without limits … because unless they do that our share of the pie — and the extra bucks we covet — will go to others more able to bring home the bacon than our shrinking violets… and that will never do.

The great example of Representative Preston Brooks.

In 1856, the great issue of the day was slavery. It was a question which overshadowed all others. It was intractable, divisive, perhaps insoluble… certainly unavoidable. And because moderates could not prevail in resolving the matter, it was left to the zealots on both sides to see what they could do, using whatever means they chose to use.

And so on May 18, 1856 the Honorable Charles Sumner, the Senator from Massachusetts, arose to see what he could do to resolve the irresolvable… his vehicle being his great speech “The Crime Against Kansas” given to ensure that slavery did not encroach into the Kansas Territory and so augment the South and the slave owners he despised.

It was a great speech in every way — 50 single-spaced pages in length, a detailed analysis of the problem, the most brilliant, vituperative language; language meant to insult, to scald, to enrage, with a position that absolutely no one could misunderstand, whatever side they supported.

Picture the scene. Not a cup of camomile to be seen.

Great Sumner rises sustained by sanctimony, rectitude and rage; each word is sonorous, delivered with venom, designed to sting, outrage, rebuke, condemn, no quarter asked, none given.

And so this man of Harvard, of Boston, of Massachusetts, this man of certainty, no doubt or hesitation rose to challenge the nation and to reshape the Great Republic.

Every eye was on the man, a mere man no longer, but the agent of a stern, implacable God, God the Avenger, majestic, awe-inspiring, I Am that I Am.

“Mr. President,” he began, “You are now called to redress a great transgression.”

And every word that followed in that vast torrent of words beat home this point.

There was no note of accommodation, no politics as usual, nothing less than total victory would do.

In the course of this great philippic, which ultimately saw one million copies distributed, Senator Sumner attacked Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina, not just the man or his ideas but his stroke-impaired physique. It was brutal, it was hurtful; it was insulting… and a few days later inspired the Senator’s outraged nephew, South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks to enter the Senate Chamber and, with his gutta-percha cane with solid gold knob, beat Sumner insensate, even when Sumner was comatose, lying in his puddling blood.

So did immoderate Sumner make his case…so did immoderate Brooks retaliate.

And so was the Congress of the Great Republic shortly peopled by representatives carrying devices of every kind, guns, knives, and of course the gutta-percha sticks with gold knobs made fashionable — or abhorrent — by this incident which moved the Civil War appreciably closer.

That is why, Senator Snowe, your decision to leave is a bad decision. The people of Maine need you.. the Congress needs you… the Great Republic still has great need of your services. No, it is not convenient for you; not least because you must present yourself again to your constituents, and, being Mainers, they will question you closely, for they are no respecters of persons and so may affront you. What of it? You have the Great Republic’s work to do. And that is far more important and pressing than your own personal feelings or comfort. They count for nothing against what you can do, must do and cannot abandon now.

Thus I give you this song, “John Brown’s Body”, a rousing tune which arose from the American camp meeting tradition in the early 19th century and, after many changes of words, became the marching tune for people who understood the implementation of Truth was a long, difficult, often dangerous process. Go now to any search engine and find the rendition you like… and bookmark it, for you will have need of it in the work ahead:

“John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave His soul’s marching on.”

And so must you, too, Senator Olympia Snowe, for your work for the people is most assuredly not finished yet.

Dedication: The author is pleased to dedicate this work to Joshua Aaron Sumner and Roshelle Elena Sumner, descendants of the magnificent Yankee who alerted the world to “The Crime Against Kansas,” children of dear friend, Lance Sumner, fellow Internet argonaut.

* * * * * * * * *

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Details at worldprofit.com

Discussion and Training Topics included:

Basic:

1) Basics for NEW Members. EXACTLY what you SHOULD be doing to make this system work and make consistent income for yourself.
2) Common mistakes made by newbies.
3) What to do to get on track.
4) How to convert yourself from a “Frustrated Flapper” into a “Smooth Swimmer”.

Advanced:

List building strategies that are zero-spam compliant
Safe-Swaps (swap your list or book solo ads)
Mail Chimp
AWeber
Get Response
Constant Contact
Landing Pages
SURBL – Discussion
Google’s new URL Shortener (goo.gl.com)
The value of links – link building is good for Search Engine Optimization.
Multiple domains, hosted blogs/free blogs, videos blogs
Linked In
PINGFM
Templatic Blogs and Video Blogs
Woo Themes
Ithemes
Studio Press(Genesis Framework)
Product Reviews and Affiliate Sales
Dealer Lounge

KEY TO SALES: Your prime directive for making sales is this: spend 90% of your time promoting. Sales are made from PROMOTION. Money is made from Promotion. The resources to do so are in your Worldprofit Member area.

MONITOR TRAINING: Do you have what it takes to be part of our elite Monitor Network? We will train you! Junior Monitor Training now underway. You can learn personally from marketing legend, Dr. Jeffrey Lant. Contact Dr. Lant directly for details.

What’s NEW!

-New video blog site at Details at worldprofit.ca
-Integration of Aweber and Get Response now integrated into Landing Pages and Mail Chimp will be added within the week.
-CheckYourSpamFolder.com (in development)
-Monitor Recognition: Time and Sales Reports now posted to Member area. APPLAUSE for the Worldprofit Monitor Team.

What’s in Development (how we continue to add value for our Members)

- Creation of Silver Plus Membership with basic components of standard Silver Package, but with some cool money-making and traffic-building extras (Classifieds, Article Directory and Blog for starters)
- Landing Page Creator (Splash Page Builder) with integration into Member’s sites with click of button
- JV Zoo: Instant Affiliate Platform to be integrated for Worldprofit Members – another source of income for our Members
- New Tool so Members can add Worldprofit Landing Pages to their own blog(s). Quick, easy and portable.

Comments from Home Business Bootcamp Participants

Joanna: Thank you for your time, George. Have a wonderful day!
David: These trainings just keep getting better and better! Thanks George!!!
Minta: Thanks George!
Tania: Thanks George. Need to go …have a great weekend.
David: Honorary Docterate – you are a great teacher/Prof.
Arvell: sounds good, George… you gonna love what i’ve created… all from what i’ve learnd from Worldprofit!
James: Thank you George – Your comments mean a lot to me *

* * * * *

THANK YOU to everyone who made time to participate in today’s training. Your input is appreciated and valuable to all members of the community. We hope you enjoyed the training session.

Today’s Home Business Bootcamp Training with George Kosch will be posted to the Worldprofit Member area later today. Follow up questions to the training can be submitted to the Worldprofit Technical Support Team.

NEXT Session: The next LIVE Home Business Bootcamp will be March 9th, 2012 at 10 AM CT.

For more information on Worldprofit’s Home Business Training and earn at home opportunities, go to worldprofit.com

Author’s program note. I have the inestimable privilege of training some of the brightest business people on earth… people of wit, intelligence, good humor… and a fierce determination to be successful, climbing the greasy pole, making more money, and living just the way they want. I find this work enthralling, exhilarating… and (I’ll admit it) frequently frustrating… as I watch even the best and the brightest muff it.

And so, today, I am writing about the one essential thing these fine folks — and that now includes YOU — must do every single minute of every single day that you want more money. For, let’s not kid ourselves… if you understand this crucial article and follow its directives… you are going to make more money, lots more, and leave your lackadaisical and languid colleagues in the dust. And won’t that be sweet?

To put you in the mood for my insistent message, I have selected a dance number that once made you gyrate and awe… “I Want Your Love” by a group named Chic. It hit the charts in 1978, and it made its point early and often:

“I want your love. I want your love. I want your love. I want your love.”

In other words, they kept on message, driving home the point of their endeavors until even the most mentally challenged “got it”. As a teacher with a sledgehammer, repetitive delivery, I like that… I like it a lot.

And so to set the stage for what follows, look this tune up in any search engine now and move that overweight, arthritic body; because you’re about to recapture your alluring youth… and be the person who got what you wanted, oh yeah!

Painful, so painful.

It happened again yesterday… and it gets me, right in the solar plexus, each and every time I see this fundamental error. The sales person I was training was operating solo. In other words, they had progressed sufficiently far in their instruction to where they get to fly all alone. I am there, of course; I am always there… but I try to remain as silent as the grave and unobtrusive so that I am seeing the student and just the student. And make no mistake about it… this situation (as every parent knows) can make you as nervous and frustrated as all get out.

Lights, camera… think!

Picture the scene. All parties are on the ‘net. I am present in my video box, the student is in his… and the “real life” prospect enters… like a bull at a corrida. Everything happens in real time…. and has real world implications, for good… or for ill.

Ok… the student (and, remember, my students are established business people, not wet-behind-the-ears kids) goes into closing mode. This starts by greeting each and every prospect by name; then asking each prospect to watch a 20-minute video packed with the vital data that both excites the prospect and instructs her.

These steps are crucial… and the students know I am a stickler for ensuring that they occur. In other words, make SURE the prospect has the critical facts before any further action can occur.

The prospect is prepped… are you?

“As soon as you’ve finished the video, return to me for a spectacular one-time-only offer.”

These words usher in the next phase of the operation. We make it clear what must be done (watch video) and what is coming thereafter (spectacular offer). So far… so good.

Close but no cigar.

The first mistake the students make is to present the offer before the prospect has been adequately prepped. This is a critical error. Prospects must have the necessary facts… or they end up asking a ton of unnecessary questions; questions which have already been answered — and in precise, clear detail, too — in the video.

The video, the whole video, nothing but the video.

As soon as you have confirmed that the prospect has watched the ENTIRE video, proceed to the “Big rock candy mountain,” your scintillating offer. It IS scintillating, isn’t it? For if it doesn’t snap, crackle, and pop you’ve just thrown away a sale. Sales occur because the offer sizzles, excites, is just too thrilling to decline. You ARE making such an offer, I trust. And if you’re not, you’d better make its improvement “Action this day,” which is what Winston Churchill did when as Prime Minister of England he demanded instant attention and RESULTS.

And now… the critical moment that turns you into a master… and puts another sale in your pocket: 100% sales.

To remain an average closer, keep doing what you’re doing.But to fly high as one of the world’s sales masters you must set the desired goal… then do everything possible, everything necessary to achieve it.

That is… 100% sales.

Is this what you do?

Make your objective immediately clear to the prospect: “I want you to get the benefits of this widget… and I’m going to do everything I can to make it happen.” Don’t just say these words… mean them. Because once the prospect knows you’re serious, they can be serious too, working with you for fastest, most complete mutual advantage.

At this moment, the prospect may well start back peddling saying things like this:

“I don’t have any money.”

“I can’t do it today.”

“I need to tell the little woman. We’re a team.”

And so forth. Your job is to thrust these obstacles out of the way and CLOSE THAT DEAL.

To do this, you must remind yourself AT ALL TIMES that you have a 100% closing goal… and that you are going to make this close. If the prospect stalls or blocks you, keep things going by asking for the prospect’s undivided attention and for an all- important OPEN mind. Make sure the prospect understands what the offer is…. and if necessary improve it; always making it clear that this offer expires the second the prospect leaves. In other words, there is a premium for staying, working things out, but irrevocable loss if they won’t.

Now, gun it.

Keep in mind at all times, with the terrific offer you are making, the prospect will be better off… if… and only if… they take immediate action. It is your job to drive this home NOW… making it abundantly clear that action now is the only sensible course.

Do this, and do it with enthusiasm, gusto, and good humor, and you will not only want that sale… you will get it! For as Chic sang, “a better love you won’t find today…” or a better offer either.

*** What do you think? We invite you to post your comments below.

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Details at worldprofit.com