Posts by Early To Rise
How to Make Your Business Profitable in the First Year
“The key to success isn’t much good until one discovers the right lock to insert it in.” – Tehyi Hsieh (Chinese Epigrams Inside Out and Proverbs, 1948) Four things to know about success: 1. It has almost nothing to do with luck. 2. It very seldom happens “overnight.” 3. If you have only one goal…
Read MoreBusiness Idea: Psychological Counseling For Business People And Investors
I have been thinking recently about some of the failures I’ve had in business (product launches and investments). I was trying to figure out if there was one common element, one mistake that was common to all of them. And I realized that for most of them, there was. The common denominator was this: In…
Read MoreLiving Rich: Watch Great Movies
Last Tuesday, in Message #325, I tried to talk you into reading a really great book. I argued that since you probably have very little time to devote to pleasurable reading, the books you read should be the kind that will give you the most pleasure. I said that there are two kinds of books…
Read MoreWhat Would You Do Differently Next Time?
“Wherever there are beginners and experts, old and young, there is some kind of learning going on, and some sort of teaching. We are all pupils and we are all teachers.” – Gilbert Highet (The Art of Teaching, 1950) If you apply yourself and follow ETRs guidelines, you will end up with your own business.…
Read More17 Ways To Brighten Up A Gloomy Day
It is inexcusable to pass along bulk mail as a daily message, but every so often I come across something that I am sure you will appreciate. The following, sent to me by RH (and I don’t think I even know RH) were designed to “maintain a healthy level of insanity.” Next time you are…
Read MoreLiving Rich: Read Great Books
Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice” may be the best-loved novel of all time. Yet, when I first read it — in my late teens — I found it both formidable and inconsequential. Its language — the diction and the syntax — was too antiquated for me then. And the content — the politics of love…
Read MoreGetting It: Understanding The “Basic Selling Dynamic” Of Your Business
There comes a time in your career when the lights come on and you feel like you truly understand your business. This is not likely to happen right away. For some of us, it takes years and years. But when that moment comes, it brings with it a sense of confidence and energy that makes…
Read MoreBeing Organized: Is It Really Necessary?
“Divide the fire, and you will sooner put it out.” – Publilius Syrus (Moral Sayings, first century B.C.) Somebody wrote me the other day asking if I “really do all the organizational stuff” that I recommend. “I dont think Id have time for anything else,” he said. The answer is “yes.” I do. And I…
Read MoreWhy A Liberal Arts Education Is Best
I am sometimes asked — and I dont know why that is — what course of study I recommend for college students wishing to become successful in business. My answer usually provokes skepticism if not scorn. I recommend a liberal arts education. In the age of the Internet and the new economy, specialized technical knowledge…
Read MoreIs Your Product/Service Good? Don’t Ask, At Least Not Directly
What do you say when, after suffering through a very mediocre meal, the restaurant owner or manager comes over to your table, puts his hand on your shoulder, and says, “Was everything OK?” Do you ever say, “Glad you asked. Actually, everything sucked”? Or do you assure the nice man that everything was fine. And…
Read MoreHow to Create Personal Wealth
Donald and Mildred Othmer were ordinary Americans. Don was a chemical engineering professor in Brooklyn. Mildred was a teacher. They never did anything extraordinary and never had great luck at anything, yet they did amass a $750 million fortune before they died. They did it by following two principles that we talk about constantly: 1.…
Read MoreWhat I Learned About Leadership From Dance Lessons
Several years ago, I reluctantly agreed to take ballroom dance lessons. Im glad I did. When you begin a modern marriage (listen up, young ‘uns), you both go into it as partners. The arrangement you presume is that you are going to be in charge of some things and she is going to be in…
Read More