• When I was 9 years old I wanted to be a professional baseball player.
• When I was 13 years old I was convinced I would play basketball professionally.
• When I was 17 I wanted to be a rockstar.

Obviously, I do all three of these things professionally now in my 20′s.

This article will talk about the secrets behind my success as a dual-sport professional athlete & rockstar.

/end joke

Everybody (myself included) wants things that we aren’t willing to work for and flat out don’t deserve.

I’d say I was working 95% harder than most people at baseball, basketball and especially guitar. The end result was me being “pretty good” at all these things and nothing more. Because in order to be a professional, we all know that you have to work harder than 99% of the general population… in some cases 99.9%.

This idea of working hard at sports is generally accepted. It’s not a hard concept to understand.

But for some reason people wont accept this when it comes to biznass…

In my copywriting course, I send people to sales letters that are juggernauts. Sales letters, ads, and websites that are selling MILLIONS of dollars worth of product per month.

And yet, I’ll get heavy aversion from certain people.

“I would never buy this. I cannot learn a thing from this ad. Send me something else.”

The same people that are struggling to make ends meet and sell stuff… refuse to look at a proven sales letter that sells [a lot of] stuff.

You sir… are an idiot.

It’s like a pro quarterback saying, “I will not look at game tapes… or, I will not look at how other successful quarterbacks throw the ball because I don’t want to throw like that.”

If you want to make money, what do you need?

SALES.

If you don’t have sales, you don’t have a business.

Yet, we all want to sell stuff without selling.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING?

This “sell without selling” phrase is a major bullet-point you’ll see savvy marketers use. They know how much people have an aversion to selling.

“Sell stuff without selling” is the equivalent of a trainer telling an athlete to “build muscle without moving”. (Which, incidentally, is why diet pills sell).

(Yes, yes, yes you don’t have to be an asshole when you sell — it should be a consultative process with equal value exchanged on both sides. Yes. Smart people know that.)

If an athlete wants to be a pro, he practices hard and learns everything he can about the sport. If a guitarist wants to write beautiful music, he practices hard and learns everything he can about music.

If a person wants to start a successful business… does he avoid learning how to sell? Does he try to “sell without selling”?

Get real amigo.

Alright, it might not technically be “infamous”, but blogger Maneesh Sethi recently wrote an article titled, “Why I Hired A Girl On Craigslist To Slap Me In the Face – And Why It Quadrupled My Productivity”.

On last check that article has almost 8,000 Facebook shares and has been Tweeted close to 2,000 times. Plus, the story has been mentioned dozens of times in mainstream media outlets (you’ll have to check with Maneesh for the exact numbers). I was back home in California a few weeks ago, casually listening to the radio, when a teaser popped up for Maneesh’s story.

How’d Maneesh do it?

That’s a question I’ll be asking him on a webinar we’re doing this Thursday, January 31st at 3:00pm PST / 6:00pm EST.

I want to know the reasons why he wrote: “Why I Hired A Girl On Craiglist To Slap Me…” instead of “Why I Hired A Girl To Slap Me…”.

Beyond those questions, Maneesh and I are going to talk about what we think are the best & fastest ways to learn copywriting, and we’ll talk about any of secret-sauce strategies we have for driving traffic and closing sales.

Click Here To Signup For The Webinar

(Honestly, this isn’t a scarcity tactic – there might not be room on the call. We’re already 56 97 people over our attendee limit. So signup now, and come early.)

(I don’t always sell products to entrepreneurs… but when I do… I do it sock-less)

“Derek, what right do you have to sell products that help businesses? You don’t run a Fortune 500?”

The instant that you start selling your expertise in any way, people will question you. Overtly & covertly.

And that’s great!

I do the same thing when I’m looking for guidance or a solution.

Jay’s Story

There’s a story Jay Abraham tells of a car wash dealer who’s looking to increase revenues.

Jay looked at his business and realized that this guy had the best system he’d ever seen for upselling clients into the different services & the more expensive packages that the car wash offered.

“Package that shit up!” Jay said (in more eloquent words).

So the car wash dealer started teaching his methods to other car wash owners and bam: money in the bank.

Was this guy running the biggest ring of car wash dealerships in the world when he sold his upsell system?

No.

Were the other car wash dealers worried about that?

No.

They were more worried about the system he was teaching and whether or not it got them their desired result.

Now, if the original car wash dealer was running the biggest company and had all kinds of credibility indicators, etc… he’d probably have an easier time getting in front of the other dealers… but… the point is he had something valuable to sell, so he sold it.

Back to me

(because it’s all about me)

I proudly sell products to entrepreneurs. <–Click to Tweet.

There are certain things that I’d never sell, like an ultimate business mastery program on how to grow your profits from nothing into the billions!

Why? Because I haven’t done that nor have I worked with or consulted with someone who’s done that.

But there are a few core things that I’m freaking phenomenal at and a lot of other people can’t touch what I’ve done. So why not package that up and sell it?

This is important: what you sell has to be extremely helpful, especially if it’s not just a “tool” but a system based around knowledge of any kind. You should be certain that what you sell is unique, valuable, and will actually makes businesses money. That’s what it’s all about.

The BEST

1. My process for attracting interns was the BEST.

2. My framework for creating killer products… and organizing the structure of an online course is the BEST I’ve found.

(Click to see the larger testimonial image)

And it was the reason I started working with a now defunct publishing company.

Sean Ogle had me help him create a mini-course on information products inside his product Location Rebel mainly because of that framework.

4. CopyHour is literally the BEST way to learn how to write sales copy, period. Look at the testimonials on my sales page.

Perks

The other benefit of selling products to entrepreneurs is that I get to hang out with them. I’d rather be getting to know a market full of entrepreneurs than pretty much any other market.

I love getting approached at a business meetup by people who have purchased one of my products. I love being able to talk about how it has helped them.

That’s awesome.

So, all you haters out there know this: I proudly sell products to entrepreneurs.

Photo cred: timshef74

I have something powerful that you should add to your daily productivity systems.

Picture yourself…

…grabbing coffee, sitting down to work, and immediately getting down to business. No time wasting. No going down rabbit holes. Just solid, productive work that leaves you satisfied and gives you a sense of accomplishment.

Imagine getting more done in an hour and a half than most people get done in a whole day… Then, being able to fully relax and enjoy your down time.

Friends, this is no fairy-tale.

This serene state of existence is real.

I’ve been personally experiencing it thanks to Zach Browman’s Find Your Focus system.

(I had a longer video up…almost 20 minutes describing Zach’s system and how I’m using it but my friends (*cough* Sean Ogle) told me it was SUPER boring so I took it down. They told me to just send you to Zach’s video because it does a really good job of selling you on it, so that’s what I’ll do.)

(I tried to find the best screenshot of Zach that I could… I think I accomplished that. Haha)

You can check his video out here: Find Your Focus Video

I’ll say this.

I’m like any other entrepreneur or small businessman I know: I’m always looking for that extra edge. I’d love to spend less time at the computer and more time outside of the online world living my life. But procrastination forces me back into the online world and keeps me chained to my desk… not by someone else like a boss, but by my own mind and guilt for not getting stuff done.

Many times when I’m away from my computer I can’t fully relax… that is until I found Find Your Focus.

You’ll see once you have FYF that Zach probably has very similar productivity reading lists to yours… but he’s taken things to a new level with it… he’s gone deep in to psychology… and what he’s created is elegant.

Admittedly when I first heard about FYF I was skeptical as shit. Zach’s in a marketing mastermind that I belong to and when he told us about his product I was thinking, “yeah right man”. Or, more correctly… “This will be for everyone else. It’s not for me. I know all the productivity B.S. and it’s just that… B.S.”

But then I watched his video…

And dammit, I watched the whole thing… which doesn’t really happen to me anymore. He hooked me in. I literally procrastinated on doing other things so I could watch the video (which turned out to be a good decision in this case).

So I got the product from Zach expecting to learn some new tricks. And I did. I learned a bunch of new stuff I’d never heard before. And he meshed it all with the old tactics I knew. I was thinking it was going to be same old same old for me. I’d implement his techniques for a few days and then that would be it. I’d go back to my old ways and bad habits.

It always seems to happen. You get the next shiny object, you get pumped on it for awhile… and then bam… back to reality.

Well I’ve fallen off the wagon a few times, but I continually come back to Find Your Focus.

It’s too rewarding NOT to come back to it.

And that’s a big point of the program… being rewarded for being productive. (Most other people are trying to punish themselves to be more productive… which is a bad idea.)

Just go watch the video if you feel like you procrastinate at times.

It’s an awesome program and Zach is a great guy. I wish I would have a) had this product years ago and b) created it.

Trust me, when you join FYF you’ll feel you belong to a “secret” club of uber-hustlers. You’ll look around at all the other procrastinators and scoff! “If they only knew…”

>> Watch Zach’s video and learn about 4 productivity killing mistakes: www.LiveUncomfortably.com/FYF

Don’t Miss Out On A Bonus

I’m going to hook up the first 15 7 people that buy with a bonus. But you have to move fast.

If you decide to join, do so through any of the links on this site. Then, come back here and comment on this post and I’ll hook you up with my program, CopyHour ($67 value).

If you’re looking to become a better salesman in general (a good idea), the combo of CopyHour and Find Your Focus will make you unstoppable.

There are 10 7 bonuses left. Get a move on it.

This featured post will share a pretty unusual story about my friend Clay’s new product, The Hollywood Physique.

When I arrived in Bangkok in May I noticed 2 things:

1. The city was on fire with civil war.
2. My good friend Clay was insanely jacked and looked like a movie star sent to Thailand to stop the violence.

I’d never seen him look so good.

Now don’t get me wrong, Clay has always been in shape. He’s had some muscle and bulk. When we met in college, he turned me on to protein powder, eggs, oatmeal, and supplements like creatine. He showed me how to workout. How to squat and deadlift correctly.

And in the those days we both saw some results. I got bigger, I put on muscle.

But something weird and devastating started happening to me… people who were close to me began thinking of me as the guy who ate weird things and worked out a lot. But, people who didn’t know me, didn’t even know that I worked out.

In fact, at my job, I started talking with my boss about the gym, and he said, “Oh, do you work out?”

That was a big blow.

I was devoting all that time to working out hard and eating ‘right’, but visually, I was reaping very little of the rewards.

And Clay was in a similar boat in a lot of ways. People knew he worked out and had some muscle, but they didn’t know the type of dedication he was really putting into it. I’m sure he spent a lot of time thinking about bodybuilding and his diet. And he never reached that ‘next level’.

He had muscle but it wasn’t the type of muscle people really responded to. Meaning… and I’ll be honest… I never really wanted to look like Clay in those days. He was big and bulky, but his muscle didn’t grab my attention and appeal to me. “I don’t want to work super hard to look like that,” I’d think.

Thailand & The Hollywood Physique

So, when I arrived in Thailand and saw that Clay was completely ripped, I was pretty shocked.

Before I got to Thailand, Clay had been telling me for a few months that he was seeing insane progress. But I kinda thought he was just exaggerating. I figured I’d see him and it’d be same old same old.

But that wasn’t the case this time in Bangkok. I almost had to look away in shame and embarrassment. The dude was not only shredded, but his muscles had that distinct movie star shape…Clay looked like Ryan Reynolds.

I Didn’t Want To Start A Workout Plan In A New Country

Before I left to Thailand I had kinda given up on the idea that I could achieve a great body or even a six pack. I liked beer and partying too much. I also didn’t have the genetics I thought.

Coupled with that, and the fact that I’d be in Thailand for the first time, I wasn’t too sold on the idea of starting a new workout plan with Clay.

Clay and I had done 3 month workout plans in the past (at UCLA and in Panama), and while I did see results, I usually just ended up getting fat… and like I said, no one really could tell that I cared about working out in the end.

I figured: why expend the extra energy when I was getting minimal results. There was no point. I could just relax and look like the rest of my peers.

I had, essentially, given up on a dream of mine. That’s me below after a lot of years and time spent in the gym… pretty pathetic really.

But Then The Civil War

But then I got a lucky break of sorts… Bangkok’s escalating civil war and violence  forced the government to issue a curfew. You had to be inside by 8 PM every night. This was a big deal. Bangkok is a city that has many vices and never truly sleeps… but now it was transformed into a ghost town. There would be no crazy night life for at least 2 weeks.

The curfew pushed me to say to Clay, “Yo, tell me what you’re doing. I want in.”

Derek Dissents

Now of course, full disclosure, I knew that Clay had been developing a 13 week workout and diet program. I had no interest in taking part in the program until I actually saw him in person. And, I still knew very little about what the program actually entailed.

Clay immediately started me off with a week of acclimation… And I was pissed. I thought we should be in the gym lifting heavy weights and eating a lot. But we weren’t. We were lifting super light weights with more controlled movements. And we were spending only 20 minutes working out and only another 10 WALKING (not running or sprinting).

I lay awake at night secretly hating Clay thinking he was going to screw me over again. He had to repeatedly tell me to trust him.

Clay Is Crazy

After the week of acclimation, we started the program but were still lifting lighter weights than ever before and spending less time in the gym too.

Clay had me doing all sorts of movements I’d never seen before.

I constantly dissented, convinced it would never work for me and that he was just lucky and that his hard work in the past was accounting for his insane progress.

I spent a good two weeks angry at Clay.

I liked the fact that the workouts were short and intense, but I didn’t feel like what we were doing was going to be worth it. I felt like I was wasting valuable time that could be spent partying and bonding with new friends in the city.

This is a Diet?

Spending years studying bodybuilding, I thought I had a good idea about what a proper diet should look like. For example, protein shakes. I always used to think you’d be stupid to not drink a protein shake right after a workout.

But on Clay’s diet, we didn’t touch a single supplement. Not one. No protein powders, nothing. All natural foods.

Every day we’d go out and get ‘street food’ (all food in Thailand is pretty much street food). We were eating fatty pork and eggs mostly. Whenever we could find veggies we’d inhale them.

With all the fatty meats it didn’t even feel like a diet. I wasn’t constantly thinking about food, or stuffing myself with excess protein like I normally did on muscle building programs.

(Note: the craziest part looking back, we weren’t even eating the optimal food that you could find in the States)

Then Came The Results

Things started to get interesting about 3-4 weeks in. My energy levels were through the roof. And this will sound weird, but I was digesting food like a champion.

For a large portion of my life I’ve been plagued by stomach cramps. Sometimes the cramps last 15 minutes… sometimes they last 5-6 hours.

These cramps simply disappeared.

In the gym I started to really enjoy the workouts. They were tough but short and I really loved the 10-15 minutes post-workout walks. And afterwards I felt invigorated and had lots of energy.

I noticed fat dropping off my body.

And it seemed weird because I was eating a lot of eggs and pork… especially fatty pork belly.

No Drinking On An Island!?

Then things got even more interesting. Clay and I decided to get out of Bangkok for awhile and live on the island of Koh Tao. We needed the sun and the clean air.

On the island, we kept up the momentum and I started to really get into his program. I was feeling beyond incredible. Better than ever before. I’ve spent a lot of time working out, but I’ve never, ever felt like that.

In the gym I was a monster (at least in my own mind). I put more effort and determination into one single workout than a month’s worth of sessions before. And I loved every second of it.

I soon reached a point where I didn’t want to drink or party anymore. All I wanted to do was keep feeling that way.

I Achieved A “Respectable” Hollywood Physique

And the results…I was shedding fat quickly. My muscles started taking on a different shape. I started taking pictures of myself more often. I started looking at myself in the reflection of shop windows as I walked passed. I was shocked and felt new confidence. My shirt was off way more than usual for me.

I now had one of the elite beach bods on the island! haha. It was a little whacky for me.

Let Me Reiterate Something Here

These results were from 12 weeks. Less than 90 days. Less than 3 months. In the past I would have KILLED to have the body I got in the “after” shot…

Thai Girls Beee Swooning

Any white guy that’s been to Thailand knows that a lot of Thai women like white faces. I mean, 75% of any skin care product in the grocery store has ‘whitening’ in it.

But, when I was nearing the end of my transformation I started getting even more attention than normal. I would go out and literally have girls lift up my shirt and rub my stomach. Girls would grab my pecs and say, “You big man.” (It sounds ridiculous writing this, but it’s true).

By the time my 13 weeks were over, I was mad. I knew I’d have a friend coming in town who was there to drink and party. And I knew I had a lot of traveling left before I’d be able to find a steady place to workout again.

I was hooked.

The Hollywood Physique WORKS. Simple As That

I’m actually a testimonial for Clay, and for good reason. It works like nothing I’ve ever tried… and it’s completely different than anything I’ve seen. It’s designed ONLY for accelerated transformations and NOT the year-round slow and steady approach, which I dig.

I’m sitting here typing this proud to call myself one of Clay’s best friends. He absolutely killed it on this product. Clay really went out of his way to make sure it’s fucking awesome and that it works.

Long story short: The ‘Physique’ is both DIFFERENT and BETTER. It’s heavily researched and it’s backed by real-world results – my results.

I can’t recommend Clay and the Hollywood Physique enough.

If you’re looking for a workout and diet program to transform yourself quickly, I’m sure it’s what you’re looking for. You can read more about what the program actually entails here:

Click Here For The Hollywood Physique

I believe that by creating an informational report or training course in your industry, you can add an extra $1000 to your income (conservatively) in the next 90 days.

Of course, it is not all beer and Skittles – it takes hard work to create an info product. But these numbers are realistic for anyone who has an established business or skill-set.

If you’re a teacher, author, coach, consultant, you sell a physical product, own an e-commerce store, or simply have access to an expert, creating an information product is a great method for adding extra income to your bottom-line. And in many cases, an information product based business can fully replace your current income.

If you’re a budding entrepreneur who values freedom, come join this webinar I’m co-hosting with Sean Ogle of Location Rebel.

We’ll talk about whether or not info products are the best semi-passive income source and whether or not you should pursue creating one.

The webinar is tonight at 6PM PST. Seats are limited and we’re not recording it:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/411267312

This Thursday I’m going to be hosting a free webinar with Sean Ogle. We’re going to help you decide (once and for all) whether or not you should publish an information product.

Here’s who this webinar will be perfect for:

• Coaches, consultants, authors, or anyone with a unique skill set.
• Someone who would like to start a ‘lifestyle business’ and has considered information publishing.
• Anybody who’s asked themselves, “What product could I create?”
• Anybody who IS NOT A BIZ OPPORTUNIST. This is for serious, smart, and driven people. This is for people who understand that going into business isn’t easy.
• Anybody who knows that ‘following your passion’ is stupid advice if there’s no money to be made in that space.
• Someone who has tried to test or create a sales page for a product and failed.
• People who WANT TO WORK and don’t expect passive income to come immediately.

Sean and I want to have an honest discussion and help you identify whether information products are a good option for you. For MOST info publishing is NOT a good idea. But the right person can make a killing. See why on the webinar…

(Seats are limited. The webinar will NOT be recorded.)

Click the image below to watch a quick video of me talking about  the webinar and to register:

Click here to register

The following sentence is the most over-looked, forgotten, or ignored sentence in all of the 4 hour work week:

Muses are low maintenance but often expensive in one or both of two tactical areas: manufacturing and advertising.

Most don’t seem to get this. They try to build everything for free.

TIME ISN’T FREE and often costs you more money.

Why Are People Afraid Of Paid Advertising?

Because they’re bad marketers.

Why don’t you stop blogging and learn marketing and copywriting?

I’ve been watching some baseball with my pops over the last week.

The announcers were talking between pitches about certain types of players. They were saying that everybody’s fighting through some aches and pains during a 162 game season. And that some guys simply aren’t cut out to be ‘every day players’.

Some guys simply can’t produce when they’re not feeling 100%. But the truly great players, the hall of famers, the legends, they can produce even if they’re not at 100%.

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.

And then last night I watched the NBA finals.

Despite what you think of Lebron James (and the shitty refereeing), the dude is a legend. He went down towards the end of the game with cramps or knee problems or whatever. He was obviously hobbled and in some pain.

Then, on half a leg, he drained a big three pointer.

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You have to learn to be productive in un-ideal situations.

Nothing is ever going to be perfect. As you age you’re going to have less energy. You’re going to have some aches and pains – physically and mentally.

Accept it now.

Nothing is perfect… Everything is perfect.

The only thing you can do is get it done… or don’t. Your choice.

I’m visiting my parents in northern California at the moment. They live on a lake with water sports – boating, jet skiing, etc.

The other day I was down at the dock, getting all crispy, working on my tan.

Two of my parent’s neighbors, a husband and wife, came down to ride their jet skis.

As they were prepping to go out, they told me, “Derek, you can ride these jet skis anytime. You can come get the keys from our house whenever and take the jet ski out as long as you like. There’s a gas can over there. Here’s where we keep the lifevests. Take ‘em out whenever you want. Now. Tomorrow. Fourth of July. Whenever.”

I was polite and said, “Thank you. That’s very nice of you. That’d be great.”

On the inside however, I felt a bit uncomfortable about the offer. It would mean I’d have to take action to ‘borrow’ something from them…something big and expensive. Essentially, I’d be asking for a HUGE favor every time I asked to ride the jet ski. Although it was a fantastically nice and generous offer, it’s a difficult one for me accept.

When they got back about 30 minutes later, the wife came over to me and said, “You’re next.” And she practically forced me to get on the jet ski. She gave me a lifevest. She handed me the keys and showed me the basics of using the jet ski.

And in a matter of moments I was out on the water.

This offer was different. It wasn’t me going to them to ask for the keys. It was them handing me the keys, saying, “Go for it… NOW!”

If these were extremely close friends of the family, I’d have no problem with the first offer. The second offer, however, more closely suits the nature of our relationship.

I’m not going to ask to borrow your expensive toy no matter how much you tell me it’s OK and you don’t care. If you reverse it, and practically force me to use it, then of course I’ll use it.

Now, our other neighbors, who are related to the husband and wife, heard that I used the jet ski.

I was walking by their house and they stopped me. The woman said to me, “Hey, we have a boat that’s just sitting down there. Why don’t you and your dad take it out? You can use it whenever you want.”

This was the same offer and do you see how hard it is to take?

This is an incorrect way to frame offers.

A more correct offer would be something along the lines of, “Hey, we have a boat down there. Why don’t we take you and your family out for a ride?”

I really don’t want to take out your $30,000 dollar boat by myself when I don’t really know you that well. But I’ll take a ride in it with you whenever you want.

This also highlights the importance of sequence.

• First, offer to take us on a few rides.
• Second, at some point, offer to let me drive.
• Third, come to me later and hand me the keys. Force me to take it out. I’ll feel much more comfortable at that point.

Dean Jackson has a brilliant little metaphor for offers like this — say you’re at a friend’s house and he says, “Hey, there’s food in the fridge, help yourself” vs. him walking up to you with a platter of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and saying, “Would you like a cookie?”. In the first scenario you’d feel uncomfortable ‘helping yourself’. In the second scenario you’d feel awkward turning the cookie down.

Even if your offer is out of this world, if you present it incorrectly, in a way that makes the prospective client feel awkward, you’ll lose them.

People don’t want to use up other’s time or resources (things tend to change when it’s friends & family). I don’t want you to lose money doing something for me. I don’t want you to lose hours of your day doing something for me.

But if you just do it, and offer it to me, giving me little choice NOT to accept, then I’ll love you forever.

Think about that.

• Recommended book on human psychology, marketing, and making offers: ‘Influence’ by Robert Cialdini