Joe Lundell Dot Com

Scratchback dot com has come up with an awesome new widget called “Top Spots List” that has some awesome features. It’s basically an alternative to the tip jar or donate button. Instead of asking someone to give you money and them getting nothing in return, they pay for a spot on your Top Spots List and get an ad on your site. You have the option to set your price at whatever you want, you control the amount of time the ad is displayed, and you can choose how many ads to display(up to 20). Scratchback gives you the choice between 12 different templates, and either a text or a 150 x 25 image link. Both options include a mouse over message.

I strongly recommend this to up and coming bloggers, as well as the veterans. It’s an easy, almost completely automated way to get some exposure and earn some cash. The payments takes place through PayPal and the minimum payout is only $25.00, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by heading over there ASAP. Check out my Top List on my sidebar and follow the link to Scratchbacks homepage.

I’m out

Joe

Filed under: Making Money by Joe Lundell 1 Comment »

I’m neither a Democrat, nor a Republican. I vote for the candidate that best fits what I believe in, regardless of party affiliation. I also like to think I’m a good mix between liberalist and conservative, I lean different ways on different subjects. Barack Obama is a liberal, but not a very conscientious one. I for one am having a hard time believing anything that comes out of his mouth. His comfortable association with an unrepentant former terrorist should cause anyone with the least bit of sense to question his character.

When the issue came up in a recent Democratic debate, the Illinois senator tried to work around it. “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who’s a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from,” he said. He added that to suggest “knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn’t make much sense.”

Obama continued to say, “I’m also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried out abortions. Do I need to apologize for Mr. Coburn’s statements?”

This excuse for equivalence is unconvincing, if not a complete lie. Would Obama be friendly with someone who actually bombed abortion clinics and defends that conduct? I don’t think so. But he is friendly with William Ayers, a leader of the radical Weather Underground, which in the 1970s carried out a terrorist bombing inside the U.S. Capitol, among other numerous locations. (Though the last person who should object is Hillary Clinton, whose husband pardoned two Weather Underground members.)

Obama minimized his relationship by stating that he only knows of Ayers. But they have quite a bit more of a connection than that. He’s appeared on panels with Ayers, served on a foundation board with him and held a 1995 campaign event at the home of Ayers and his wife, fellow former terrorist Bernardine Dohrn. Ayers even gave money to one of his campaigns.

It’s not that these two terrorists have denied their crimes. After emerging from years in hiding, they escaped federal prosecution because of government misconduct in gathering evidence, but they don’t pretend they were innocent. In 2001, Ayers said, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.”

Dohrn has even tried to defend the explosions, claiming that “our acts of resistance were tiny and symbolic.” She even went to prison for refusing to testify about an armored-car robbery involving her maniac followers. I’m sure that crime was tiny and symbolic to the two police officers and the security guard who were shot to death in the process.

The funny thing is that all of this is public record, and Barack Obama would have to be a complete fool to not realize that, yet he claims he has no affiliation with these terrorists. Could you imagine if we learned of the Clinton’s having a long association with a former Klansman who used to terrorize blacks? The media would have a field day, and you could kiss her campaign goodbye.

It may just be me, but you can learn a lot about someone’s character by the people they associate with. If a kid hung around a bunch of drug dealing gang bangers, it’s a pretty safe bet he’s a drug dealing gang banger.

I’m out

Joe

Filed under: politics by Joe Lundell 1 Comment »

The average salesman may think closing the sale is the final step in the sales process. They my friends, are wrong. The close actually starts at the very beginning of the sale, when you first come in contact with your prospect. The way you greet him/her has a very large effect on the entire engagement.
You don’t hear too many stories about people who gave a bad first impression and ending up closing a huge deal. The initial rapport building moment goes all the way to the end. Five quick steps to get off on the right foot are, in order:

1. Smile, sincerely
2. Make eye contact
3. Greet the client
4. Shake hands, firmly
5. Tell the client your name, and get theirs

This should all happen in the first 10-15 seconds. It may not sound like a long time, but these are perhaps the most important 10-15 seconds in the entire sales process.

Look forward to part two coming soon

I’m Out

Joe

Filed under: selling by Joe Lundell 1 Comment »

According to the doctor, Britney is 7 weeks along. It’s my wife! We just found out today. We’ve been tryin’ since September, and were startin’ to get depressed that we’d had no results. Well, that all changed today. Can’t wait to see my future MLB all-star!

Not to stay off subject for to long, here’s a quick lesson on marketing.

You need to spice up your headline a bit. I’m going to assume you thought I was talking about Britney Spears. That was my intention. As a society, we are obsessed with the following:

Death. Sex. Drugs. Celebrity. Scandal. Destruction. Conspiracy.

Come up with somethin’ fun. Somethin’ catchy. Do SOMETHIN’ to grab your readers’ attention, and make ‘em say, “Dude, I gotta read this!”

Next time you’re writin’ a headline, give your readers’ somethin’ they can’t resist and just HAVE to read more about. Can’t think of anything? Take the advice of one of my boys back in college: “If ya wanna make somethin’ that’s boring as hell a lot more interesting, just throw, ‘…while havin’ sex’ at the end. ‘Lemme tell ya about the time I mowed my lawn…while havin’ sex.’ You’re money!”

I’m out

Joe

Filed under: marketing by Joe Lundell No Comments »

I know, I know, the economy is borderline recession, gas’ll cost ya at least an arm, maybe even a leg, the housing bubble busted, it’s harder than ever to get a loan, and thanks to the ethanol myth, everyone is lookin’ in their piggy banks to afford groceries. Doesn’t look to good if you’re tryin’ to sell somethin’ huh. Watcha gonna do to get that guy to fork over some cash for your product?

What ya gonna have to do is show him how his life is gonna be better with ya product than without it. Make him want that thang more than anything else. Make him believe it’s a must have. In other words, ya gonna have to talk about it in a way that’ll paint the picture for him.

Sellin’ the sizzle & not the steak, is a perfect example of this strategy. When ya get in the mood for a steak, what do you think about? Do you care about the process it takes to get that slab of meat on ya plate? Of course not. You could care less what cattle ranch or slaughter house it came from. If it came from Jimbo’s Cattle Ranch, and Jethro’s Slaughter House, who cares as long as it tastes good.

What sell’s the steak is it’s appeal to your senses (the sizzle). Can ya picture that thick juicy fillet in front of ya? Sittin’ there on ya plate, steam coming off of it. The juice is still seepin” from the inside and those perfectly spaced grill marks make it oh so inviting. The first bite is always the best. It’s that mouth watering anticipation while you carefully slice through it with your steak knife. It happens as if it’s in slow motion. Your fork ever so slowly rises to your mouth. The smell of the fresh fillet, mixed with the intoxicating aroma of the spices and charcoal, is getting stronger by the moment. Finally, the time has come to take that first bite…mmmmmm….soooo gooood! You wonder how you could ever eat anything else.

That my friends, is sellin’ the sizzle and not the steak. If your hungry for a steak, I did my job. If your a vegetarian, and still want a steak, even better.

I’m out

Joe

Filed under: selling by Joe Lundell No Comments »

Welcome and thank you for visiting my site. First, please be patient while I get everything sorted out. Unfortunately, I have very little time on my hands these days. I am a Michigan native residing in Panama City, FL with my wife and two year old daughter. Besides working on my blog in my free time, I am a veteran salesman and avid sports guru. I love my Detroit sports, and have a very deep passion for NASCAR and Baseball. I also love spending as much time with my daughter as possible. She’s the apple of my eye, and my number one attention grabber. Please note that because of her, all of my updates will be after 9pm central time. From the time I get home from work until her bedtime, I make every moment count.

I have been in sales for as long as I can remember. Starting out, I worked at a recreation vehicle dealership in Michigan. I was just out of high school, and was what I call a charity hire. Thanks to my uncle having the detailing contract with the dealership, I was given a chance to prove myself. I started off on the bottom of a twenty three man totem pole and began working my up. Between have a natural ability with people, reading and listening to all the advice I could, and trial and error, I became assistant sales manager shortly after a year of service. Right around that time, we obtained an incredible offer from Michigan International Speedway to sponsor all of their races.

Talk about mixing work with pleasure, I dove in head first and learned everything I could about the program. I was given the responsibility of handling the contract from top to bottom. I had to create an advertising campaign, create layouts for the on site campgrounds, secure corporate contracts for the camping sites, and oversee all of the day to day operations during the race weekends. Unfortunately the addition pay was minimal, but the perks during race weekend were well worth it.
As of 2005, Michigan’s economy fell into a huge slump. Actually, the financial experts say Michigan is in its own recession. The first thing that goes out the window when money is tight is luxury. That meant recreation vehicle sales fell drastically. Being that my income was 90% commission, I had to move on from the dealership.

From fall 2005 to fall 2006, I relied on another passion of mine for income. Poker! I began to frequent the casinos and local bar and house games almost nightly. The money was great, but it put a strain on my home life. That gave me the idea to form a “free poker league” for even more money. These were popular in other parts of the country, but not in MI. The way it works is, people play at various bars for free. The higher they place, the more points they earn, and at the end of the 16 week season they play in a championship tournament. The winner of the tournament got a free trip to Vegas to play in a “real money” tournament. I made my money by bringing the bars business they otherwise wouldn’t have. This was going well until the MLC “Michigan Liqueur Commission” told me I had to end my operation. I tried to fight it in court, but when I wasn’t allowed to operate until a verdict was reached, I gave up.

Shortly after that, we moved to Panama City, FL to be closer to my wife’s family. As of now, I am a full time salesman, full time father and husband, part time student, and part time blogger. I will try to update this blog at least three times per week, but I cannot promise that. I’m sorry, but my family has top priority. My objective is to turn this into a full time job and work from home. When I accomplish that, I will have more time for Kelsyn (my daughter), and more time for you (my readers).

Please feel free to comment on my site. I encourage all feedback, positive or negative.

Joe

Filed under: About Me by Joe Lundell No Comments »