Copyright ® MMIX by Club-20 International.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used

or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information address: Club-20 International,
305 East Main Street, Goessel, Kansas 67053-0198.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN-10: 1-933356-24-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-933356-24-2

Edited & Designed by Chris Bergquist

Printed in the United States of America

Dear Friend,

This small book contains 100 of the very

best ideas I have ever learned about success
and money. I hope you enjoy and prosper
greatly from them.

To celebrate my 50th birthday, I thought

it would be a fun idea to put together a list
of my 50 greatest money-making secrets I
have learned in my first 50 years of life!
Well, I couldn’t stop at 50 secrets. Besides,
one of the greatest secrets I’ve learned is to
always strive to give people more!

So, in the spirit of giving more – and to

celebrate my 50th birthday by giving you
more – I offer these 100 powerful ideas to
you. ENJOY!

Sincerely,

T.J. Rohleder
www.RuthlessMarketing.com
There are only 3 ways
to build a business:
1. Get more customers.

2. Sell more high-ticket

items – for bigger profits.

3. Sell more often to your

customers!

Almost all million-dollar

marketing ideas are
transferable from one
business to another.

1
 Selling is the art of
proving that what
you have to offer is
worth far, far MORE
than the money they
must give up.

2
CREATE
IRRESISTABLE
OFFERS!
“I want to create offers that
are like heads of fresh
lettuce that are thrown into a
pen of starving rabbits!”

(I wrote this in 1997.)

3
 Think on paper!
The very act of
putting your ideas
on paper forces
you to think!

4
 *****

Blur the lines

between
your work
and play.

*****

5
 The power of the
5 A.M. Club:
• Force yourself to get out
of bed before you want to
– and put on a big pot of
strong black coffee. –
Pull out some paper and
pens and start writing!

• Ideas will come to you and

through you – that you
would never have discovered
if you stayed in bed!

There is a magic at work here

that’s hard to explain! You
must experience it – before
you can believe it!

6
Less is more.
It’s far better to be a
master at 2 or 3 things –
than to be average at doing
a whole bunch of things.

7
 ***

The real business

is between our ears
and in our hearts –
not in the office!

***

8
 $$$

A strong risk-reversal
offer takes a lot of
courage, but this can
make you super rich!

$$$

9
 “I have a lot of
competition, but
ZERO competitors!”

Kerry Thomas

10
 $$$$$

Test new ideas…

but never stray too
far away from the
winning formulas
that have been
proven to be the
most successful in
your marketplace.

$$$$$

11
 *****

All this talk about

retirement is nonsense!
Work gives our lives
purpose, meaning, and
structure. Stop telling me
to take it easy… I’ll have
eternity to take it easy!

*****

12
The question all marketers
must constantly ask:

What’s next?

13
 Jump – and the
net will appear!
√ Make the commitment first.
√ Set the deadline!
√ Run the ad – then
scramble to put the
fulfillment together!
√ Make BIG PROMISES
to groups of customers –
and then scramble to
make them real!
√ Do whatever you can to
force yourself to do more!

14
 Salespeople get paid
to hear the word “no!”

A “no” does not

mean “no” to the
aggressive person
who wants the sale!

15
 • • • • •

Take good care of

the people who take
good care of you!

• • • • •

16
 Your best work
is still out there!

17
 Better to strengthen
your back than to
lighten your load!

18
 All growth comes from
consciously living outside
of your comfort zone.

If you’re not doing things

on a regular basis that scare
you just a little (or a lot!)
– you’re not growing.

19
 More business
problems are created
by indecision
than bad decision.

Go ahead and take massive

action! Try many different
things and fail and learn from
all your mistakes while
daring big and failing again
and again!

20
Spend more money – to
close more sales!

1. You can’t go wrong if

you are spending this
money on super
qualified prospects.
2. You are selling big ticket
items with good margins.

In some cases (as long as

your percentage of conversion
is going up) you can’t spend
too much money!

21
 Most marketers are weak.
* They quit way too soon.
* They are too worried about
offending their prospects or
customers.
* Or, they simply don’t know that
there is a great deal more
money laying on the table that
could and should be theirs – if
they simply went after it more
aggressively and then stayed
after it until they got it!

22
Your business is like a
bicycle. Either you keep it
moving or you fall down!

• Keep searching for your

next big winner!
• Keep finding better ways
to give your customers
and prospects what you
know they want the most!

23
 Create as many
“businesses within
your business” as
you possibly can.

24
 Get your
best offer in
front of more
people and
follow-up
like crazy!

25
 The best product
does not always win,
but the best marketing
always does!

26
*********
All business is
show business!

*********

27
 Your best customers
are like fires. They
go out if unattended.
– The key word is
“relationship.”

– The better they “feel”

about you – the more
money they will give you!

– Remember, the fire never

dies as long as you keep
feeding it!

28
 Many people think nothing of
spending $60,000.00 to put
their teenage son or daughter
in college for 4 to 6 years so
they can become a nameless,
faceless middle managers and
make enough money to drive a
nice car and live in an upper-
middle class neighborhood.

Those same people will

totally freak out when asked
to cough up $3,000.00 for a
marketing seminar that is
designed to show them how
to make millions of dollars.

Why is this?

29
 “What are you
willing to do?”

The answer to these

six words will
determine how much
money you will
ultimately make.

30
 **********

Rock star or brain surgeon?

Your time is the most precious
commodity you have. So why would
you want to sell it for any amount of
money? Don’t do this! Find as many
ways as you can to make money that
have little or even nothing to do with
the amount of time you put into it.

**********

31
 What is the best way to
deepen your relationship
with your customers?

> The answer: hold

seminars, tele-seminars,
workshops, and other
“training” events that bond
with them by showing
them that you care and
really want to help them.

> You can also do this

through the careful
creation of all kinds of
information products that
are sold or sent to them.

32
The only 3 ways to make money:

1. Sell your time for money. You

charge by the hour and trade
your life for a paycheck.

2. Sell a product or service. Your

money comes from the sale of
the gizmo – not the time or work
it takes to sell it.

4. Passive income. Your money

makes you more money without
your direct effort. All of the
world’s richest people make their
money with the third method.
Their money comes to them
automatically from a wide variety
of cash-producing investments.
Their money keeps making them
more money! Do everything you
can to make as much of your
money as possible in the third
area! What would you rather be:
A rock star or a brain surgeon?

33
 The 9 Major Marketing Mistakes
and How to Avoid Them!
1. No Focus: The list of prospects is #1. Hone
in on one specific highly qualified prospect.
Know them in the most intimate way.

2. No Compelling Offer: You must have

something hot to get people to take action now!

3. No Deadline: The more urgency you can

build into your offer – the higher your
response rate will be!

4. No Testimonials: What other people say

about you is much more important than what
you say about yourself.

5. No Measurement of Results: The only thing

that counts is ROI (Return on Investment).
Know your numbers! Don’t get hung up on
response rates.

6. No Follow-Up: Most people are giving up on

‘em way too soon. Eighty-two percent of
sales happen after the first follow-up!

7. Trying to Be Cute and Funny: Use direct

response (not “Madison Avenue”) advertising.

8. BAD Copy: The right words rule!

9. Too Much Reliance on One Media: Diversify!

Multiple legs on table!

34
Here is one of my favorite
quotes that is right next to
my big clock, so I can see it
all the time:
“Business is always a struggle.
There are always obstacles and
competitors. There is never an open
road, except the wide road that leads
to failure. Every great success has
always been achieved by fight.
Every winner has scars. Those who
succeed are the efficient few. They
are the few who have the ambition and
willpower to develop themselves.”

Herbert N. Casson

35
 Our greatest rock-n-roll
role model is the heavy
metal band “AC/DC.”
“AC/DC” has recorded nearly 20
albums and sold over 200 million
albums worldwide with the same 3
chord songs on each one. The fans
don’t care! In fact, not giving them
the same 3 chords in every song on
every album would cause them to
stop buying! Their worldwide fan
base would dry up immediately!

Find your formula and, once you

do find it, never stray from it!

36
 Hard work is good
for your soul.
√ Plus, it may keep you alive longer!

√ And even if it doesn’t, it will

add more life to your years.

√ “Hard work never killed a

man. Men die of boredom,
psychological conflict, and
disease. Indeed, the harder
you work – the happier you
will be.” David Oglivy

√ “Seek above all else a game

worth playing and play it as if
your entire life and sanity
depended on it…for it does!”
Edward DeRopp

37
 More problems = more action!

So bring it on, baby!

You get rich by consistently doing the
things other people cannot or will not
do. Taking huge risks, putting your
neck on the line, and facing the
tremendous struggles (from backing
yourself into a corner or tackling
more than you can handle) is the
secret to creating lots of problems –
THAT CAN SPUR YOU ON BIG TIME!

38
Delegate your weaknesses.

Focus on
your strengths.

39
 The 10 main things that made us millions:

1. We knew the market – before we

started our business.

2. Previous business experience.

3. Partnership of two very different people.

4. Fell in love with our business.

5. Focused on serving customers.

6. Help from experts.

7. Help from many others!

8. Learned the art and skill of

developing products and offers.

9. Learned how to develop front-end and

back-end marketing systems.

10. Strived to give our customers MORE

than they received from our competitors.

(From our 10-year anniversary seminar in 1998.)

40
 Never Fear Objections.

Don’t hide! Be upfront

about the skepticism you
know they feel… Bring up
the biggest objections
yourself. Then overcome
them one by one. You’ll win
their trust and respect –
and you’ll get their money.

The best prospects have

major objections that
must be faced head-on
and not skated around.

41
 The pain
of discipline
hurts less
than the pain
of regret.

42
You have to roll
with the punches!

Keep getting up –
every time you get
knocked down.

43
 Are all highly-successful
entrepreneurs a little crazy?
Maybe, but one thing is for certain:
almost all of them tend to be very
creative. The symptoms of creativity
are also directly related to insanity!
Check it out for yourself:
CREATIVITY MADNESS
High energy Mania, insomnia
Heightened senses Mood disorder
Eccentricity Erratic behavior
Emotional expressiveness Emotional volatility
Spontaneity Impulsiveness
Risk taking Recklessness
Single-mindedness Obsessiveness
Unusual perceptions Distortions of reality
Visions Hallucinations
Big ideas Grandiosity
Fluency of ideas Flight of ideas
High standards Perfectionism
Feelings of giftedness Narcissism

The more you think about this, you’ll

realize that all great entrepreneurs
definitely have all of the symptoms on
the left-hand side of this chart!

44
 STOP LOWERING
YOUR PRICES!
Low prices are reserved for
people who cannot market
themselves effectively. If you’re
competing on price, you haven’t
established enough value in the
minds of your prospective
customers. It’s up to you to
prove – without a doubt – that the
best prospective buyers in your
market should be giving more of
their money to you. Marketing is
all about differentiation, but it’s
up to you to create those
perceptions of difference in the
minds of the people you most
want on your customer list.

45
 Strive to be more “human” in
all of your communications.

√ Be real!

√ Be raw!

√ Be imperfect!

Let them feel what you feel and

see the REAL person behind the
words they are reading.

46
 Learn by doing.
You can’t let a simple thing
like the fact that you’ve
never done something or
don’t know how to do it
stop you from doing it.

The fact that entrepreneurs

are willing to boldly step out
and face the unknown – and
figure it all out as they go – is
the one thing that separates
them from everyone else.

47
 • • • • •

The front-end
builds your list,
but the back-end
makes you rich!

• • • • •

48
The #1 reason that the most
solid businesses begin to
decline is simply because
they STOP doing the things
that took them to the top.
• They lose their edge.

• They lose their focus.

• They lose their hunger.

• They lose the boldnees and

creativity they had when they
were struggling their way to the
top. They become conservative
and complacent. Now they are
easy targets for all of the others
who are just like they once were!

49
 “You can’t kill an
elephant with a BB gun!”

Bill Glazer

People are trying to get

HUGE results with a small
amount of effort and expense.

YOU CAN’T DO IT!

50
SPECIAL
BONUS
50 SECRETS

51
 People are looking for
and willing to spend a
ton of money for:

The Magic Pill!

This is the product or
service that they
perceive can instantly
and automatically give
them something they
badly want.

52
Strive to make your offer
so attractive, compelling,
and irresistible that only
a lunatic would say “No!”

53
 “What people want
is a miracle!”
Gene Swartz
(One of the World’s Greatest
Direct Response Marketing
Copywriters of All-Time)

> People want easy answers

and quick solutions.

> People love pat answers

– easy solutions – simple
ideas – and stuff that
sounds good! They want
sugar coated bullshit!
They like words and
ideas that are coated
with syrup and sprinkled
with sugar!

54
The 4 laws of self teaching:
1. You are your greatest teacher.
2. You can learn anything you want
to learn.
3. You must take total
responsibility for everything that
happens to you.
4. Experience + Reflection = Wisdom!

55
 The great Olympic runner,
Steve Prefontaine said:

“There may be men

who can beat me –
but they’ll have to
bleed to do it!”

56
 •••••

Step out
in faith –
and figure it out
as you go!
•••••

57
 ___________________

Do everything
possible to shift
the power and get
them to chase you –
rather than you
chasing them!
___________________

58
P. T. Barnum-ize every offer!

– Big!
– Blow it up!
– Bold!
– Explosive!
– Wow them!
– History making!
– Whiz-bang!
– Hype it!
– Jazz it up!
– Make it rock!

59
 Fight like hell,
but choose your
battles wisely.

60
If the desks are too neat and
clean… and the people all
look relaxed… the company
is in BIG TROUBLE!!!

61
 $$$

Happiness is...
a never-ending stream
of positive cash-flow!

$$$

62
Retirement = Death.

63
 __________________________

Failure is the best education.

• Test a lot of different things.

• Set out to try bold things
(on a small basis).
• And then never repeat
what didn’t work!
• The more you test – and
fail – the better! Why?
Because you will
ultimately discover what
works best.
__________________________

64
 Stop waiting for inspiration!
Instead, you must get up
every morning with the
determination to press on –
and do creative work – even if
you don’t feel like it. Your
motion will create the emotion.

“Most of life is routine – dull

and grubby – but routine is
the momentum that keeps a
man going. If you wait for
inspiration you’ll be standing
on the corner after the parade
is a mile down the street.”

Ben Nicholas

65
 You serve yourself
best – when you serve
others the most.

66
A good swipe file can make
you a ton of money!
> Use it to jump-start your thinking.
> Get new creative ideas that you
would have never discovered
without it.
> It’s a brainstorming tool – if you
realize that all great selling
ideas can be transferred from
one product, service, or business
to another.
> In other words, the ideas that are
or have brought in a ton of money
for one person or company can be
worth a fortune to you!

67
 Sell yourself first. Bond with
them. Then sell your stuff!

√ It’s so much easier to sell

things to people AFTER
you make a strong
connection with them.
√ You must break down their
sales resistance before you
start pitching to them.
√ Honest Abe knew this:
“If you would win a man
to your cause, first
convince him that you
are his sincere friend.”
Abraham Lincoln

68
Formal generalized
education sucks!
The only thing that’s
important is specialized
knowledge and experience
that is directed in a very
specific direction.

69
 <<<<<<

Life, love,
and business
favor the bold!

>>>>>>

70
 • • • • •

Love will find a way

– indifference will
find an excuse.
√ Learn to love the things
you do that bring you
the largest number of
sales and profits!

√ Love makes all burdens

light. This is the key to
doing your best work!

• • • • •

71
 “The road to excess leads
to enlightenment!”

William Blake
(A man who pushed the envelope!)

√ You never know how far you can

go until and unless you push
yourself way too far!

√ You push it hard – until it breaks

– then fix it – then push it even
harder, until it breaks again!

√ Whoever said, “Don’t bite off

more than you can chew,” was
wrong! The secret to wealth is
to constantly be involved in way
more projects than you can
possibly handle! You must boldly
push beyond your limits in order
to expand them. The higher you
climb, the more you can see…
SO KEEP CLIMBING HIGHER!

72
**************
Whoever owns the
BIGGEST and
MOST RESPONSIVE
mailing list is king!
**************

73
 The true art of selling is to
make people feel that they
are the ones chasing you!

To be very aggressive with

your marketing without
appearing like you need or
even care whether they do
business with you.

74
Catch yourself on fire
and they will come to
watch you burn!
Winston Churchill said it best:

“Before you can inspire

with emotion, you must be
swamped with it yourself.”

75
 • • • • • • • • • •

Wise men have

many doubts.
• • • • • • • • • •

76
Database marketing in 3 words:

1. Segment

2. Concentrate

3. Dominate!

77
 ___________________

Never give up!

I read somewhere that...
“Success is the ability to hold on,
long after others have let go.”

Like many quotes, it sounded good

so I committed it to memory. But
the longer I am self-employed,
the more I know how true this is!
___________________

78
The easy way to dramatically
increase your persuasive
power: WRITE MORE!
> Consistent writing about your
#1 subject helps to crystalize
your thinking.

> This, in turn, will make you a much

more persuasive thinker. You will
speak with greater confidence and
power. Your ideas will be sharper
and more people will want to buy
and re-buy from you.

79
 Breakdowns can lead
to breakthroughs!
√ Adversity is good for
your soul. It builds
character. It makes you
stronger. It shapes you.

√ Adversity is the great

developer of all great
entrepreneurs.

80
 $$$

Getting rich and staying

rich are two entirely
different things.

They require a
different set of skills.

$$$

81
 If you don’t know
it can’t be done,
you can do it.
An educated person will
stay up all night and
worry about things that
most of us never even
think about. We are too
damn busy doing the deal
to worry about anything.

82
Your best will
continue to get better!
√ Stay committed to mastery!
Stay hungry. Continue to learn
all you can. Give each project
everything you’ve got – and your
best will continue getting better!

√ The real joy of mastery is when

you finally have the ability to do
amazing things…in the most
natural way. To get to the
place where great things seem
to flow out of you in the most
natural way…where all of the
things that were once difficult
are now easy, and even fun!

83
 >>>>><<<<<
The why to do something always
comes before the how to do it!
This is the secret behind all great achievers.

Great achievers set the goal – and then

figure it out as they go along. You can’t
let a little thing like not knowing how
you’re going to do something stop you!

>>>>><<<<<

84
 If you think the way
you’ve always thought –
you’ll get everything
you’ve always got!

85
 “Selling is a performance!”

Dan Kennedy
Dan also says that selling is not
serving. The root word for serving is
“servant.” Serving your customer is
a vital role in the marketing and
customer service area of your
business – but not the “selling” side
of what you do. Selling is all about
control and power over the prospect
or customer. You are the one in
charge, not them. You are the one
who leads them to buy. You must be
the one who controls the entire
selling process, not them.

86
The 10 most powerful
two-letter words in
the English language:

If it is to be
it is up to me.

87
 • • • • •

Remain
open,
flexible,
and curious.

• • • • •

88
Customers go where
they are invited –
and stay where they
are appreciated.

89
 $$$$$

The door will

always be open to
the person who can
make money for others.

$$$$$

90
– – – – – – – – –

There’s an easy
way and a hard way
to do something.

Only a fool chooses the hard

way just for the sake of doing it
hard. The smart person strives
to keep it as easy – simple –
and manageable as possible.

– – – – – – – – –

91
 ––––– $ $ $ –––––

Relationship
Marketing:

Win their hearts –

then win their
pocketbooks!

––––– $ $ $ –––––

92
 *****

Always have your

next project waiting
in the wings!

*****

93
 Problems contain massive
amounts of energy. The
same problems that kill some
people – cause others to
shoot straight to the top!

The pressure from the

problems should be used to
create the solutions!

94
Many people are too
smart to get rich. Their
intelligence is a trap.
They use all their mental
powers to find and focus
on all the obstacles –
rather than the outcomes.

95
 If you always
think the way you
always thought...
you’ll always get what
you’ve always got!

96
If your customers
want to buy rocks...
then start digging!
Most marketers are trying
too hard to sell people the
things that they want to
sell... instead of just
selling what their market
wants to buy.
Seasoned marketers are
the most guilty of this.
They believe their
marketing skills are
powerful enough to sell
anything to anyone!

97
 Another powerful “secret”
from Dan Kennedy.
On Dan’s “Renegade Millionaire” program he says:

“You must work on yourself

as hard or even harder than
you work on your business.”
I instantly pulled my car off the road, wrote
this down, and have been thinking about it
ever since. You should, too. There is so
much truth in this one statement – especially
if you have been in business for many years.
So many seasoned entrepreneurs tell me in
private that they have lost their passion for
the business that they once had. I’ve felt
this way, too. When you reach this stage in
your entrepreneurial life, working on
yourself becomes even more important. You
must keep finding all kinds of ways to fire
yourself up and keep the flames burning hot!

98
 $$$$$
The more HONEST and
OPEN you are with your
customers, the more
BONDED they will be to you
and the more they’ll buy!
People are sick and tired of all the
phony-sounding B.S. out there.
THEY DON’T TRUST ANYONE
ANYMORE. They are looking for
something “REAL” and want to have
a relationship with you. The more
you do to tell them your carefully
crafted “personal and private”
details, the more money you’ll make.

Try this and prove it to yourself!

$$$$$

99
 When people pay –
they pay attention!

100
 Great Marketers
are Hunters.
We are happiest when we’re
on the hunt. The bigger the
hunt – the happier we are.
We must be reaching all the
time. All is well as long as
our reach exceeds our grasp.

101