Brought to you in partnership with Rod Beckwith – http://mrjv.com

Education: Bachelor's of Psychology

Year Started Business: 1994

Type Of Business: Software development and provider of joint venture marketing products and services

Market: "Our market is small to midsize businesses. Our ideal customer is a do-it-yourselfer who is interested in using our turnkey marketing software or products to make themselves a thousand times more profitable than they are at the current moment."

Number Of Employees: 10

Best Month (Gross Revenues): $112,000

Hours Worked Per Week During Start-Up: 115

Hours Worked Per Week Now: 60

Favorite Business Magazines: Fortune, Home Business, Entrepreneur

Favorite Business Books Or Authors:

• Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich [Special bonus deal for this book available to Association Members—IAHBE Staff] "This is the ultimate book that teaches you that wealth comes from within. Eliminate the negativity and outside forces and focus your attention and energies on creating wealth within your mind."
  
  
• Ted Nicholas, Magic Words that Bring You Riches—"This book really opened my eyes to the magic of the human language and how we can use words—spoken or written—to get what we want out of life.
  
  
• Claude Hopkins, Scientific Advertising [IAHBE Members: See Free E-Books in Marketing & Advertising section at this site —IAHBE Staff] This book shows you TRULY what works in advertising ANY product or service.

Relaxes By: Going to clubs and movies, watching reality TV shows, and traveling to new places

Keeps In Shape By: Doing aerobics, pilates, and weight training

Favorite Part Of The Job: "Seeing customers succeed using our products and services, because we literally poured our life into everything we ever created. Everything we sell contains the keys to achieving a similar or higher level of success than what we have achieved, so when people apply it and do well (and they always do WHEN they apply it), it makes us super happy."

Least Favorite Part Of The Job: "Giving refunds to people who just don't TRY to make our products and services work, because those who really try WILL succeed...and those who don't are quitters and that's sad."

Companies Admired: Microsoft, eBay, and Dell

Favorite quotes:

• We must all suffer one of two pains in this life: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is...discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons —Jim Rohn
  
  
• There is no try, only do —Yoda
  
  
• A man has nothing except for his character —Marc's Uncle

The Person Who Most Influenced His Life: "My wife, Terry. She inspires me everyday to be the absolute best person I can be. She makes me proud of who I am…something that no one else before her was able to do."

Heroes:

• Mahatma Gandhi—He fought for decency and human rights for all people. He believed in giving up himself so that future generations could stand strong and tall and free themselves of the tyrannical socio-economic and racial discriminations levied against them.
  
  
• Moses—A brilliant man who, although full of flaws and human frailties, was decent and humble enough to know when God needed him to give up himself to lead his people to better things.
  
  
• Claude Hopkins—Perhaps the most brilliant marketing mind to ever walk the planet. He took the principles we all use to catapult our businesses to new heights. The difference is we are using technology, while he used the pen and paper. He was a mastermind marketer and one of the world's most savvy advertisers. Everyone can learn a million lessons from reading and re-reading Scientific Advertising [IAHBE Members: See Free E-Books in Marketing & Advertising section at this site —IAHBE Staff].

Months Before Achieving A Profit: Our first month in business selling products through the mail we made a profit. Within three hours of moving our business online and putting up our first Website, we made our first sale and never looked back."

Any Books/Tapes/Reports Authored: "Our most popular book is Joint Venture Secrets Revealed, which gives away all the tricks, techniques, and insider information we have developed over the years. We consider Joint Ventures to be the world's most powerful marketing method. This is the one and only technique that we use to grow our business. We rarely spend more than $1,000 a year on advertising so we know what we are talking about. Readers can purchase JV Secrets at: http://rod.jvsecretsrevealed.com.

"We sell an audio CD series called The JV Brokering Mastery Teleconference, which will give your readers the keys to the easiest wealth-building business on the planet—brokering Joint Venture deals. Even if you have no money, no list, and no products of your own, becoming a JV Broker can make you financially free! http://rod.jvbroker.com.

"We also co-host our own seminar, The Multi-Million Dollar Joint Venture Summit of the Century, with our partner Alan R. Bechtold. We get the world's smartest marketers together twice a year to teach lucky attendees everything we know about JV Marketing. You can out about our latest events at http://rod.jvseminar.com.

"We also provide all the tools you need to build, promote, and grow your on-line business, all in one place, accessible 24/7 from anywhere. SFI members can get a month free on us by heading over to http://rod.ultimatemarketersresource.com.

"Any of our new products and services can be found at http://www.goldbar.net which is our flagship corporate site."

Contact Marc At: Phone—(212) 898-9048, Fax—(212) 898-9048, E-mail—owners@goldbar.net

GETTING STARTED:

I'm starting a home business next month. I have a maximum of $3,000 in start-up capital. Where should I invest it?
I would take that $3,000 and divide it up this way:

1. Spend $1,000 on an education in Joint venture marketing. Joint ventures are the easiest, most cost-effective way to grow ANY business of any kind. Instead of spending all your money on "spray and pray" marketing methods that are not guaranteed to make you a penny; Joint Ventures are a ZERO risk way to make a LOT of money in a very short space of time.
   
   
2. Take $500 and invest it in an education in copywriting. Copywriting is one of the world's most powerful skills, and once you know it, you can literally write your own ticket in any business you ever take part in. If you don't educate yourself in this skill, you will be at the mercy of copywriters who will charge you a fortune for the rest of your life!
   
   
3. Take $500 and invest in some low-cost advertising to your target market to ensure that your product, your sales copy, etc. is working and producing a profit for you. Then record all the numbers, your conversion rate (how many eyeballs see your offer before someone buys), and present those numbers (as long as they are good) to potential joint venture partners. Then convince them to endorse your product/service to their marketplace in exchange for a piece of the profits.
   
   
4. Take $500 more and invest it in more testing (advertising) while the new JV deals are going on. Try to tweak your sales material to bring in even more sales and make your offer even more irresistible.
   
   
5. Save your other $500 for more education and testing while continuously seeking more and more JV partners to mail about your product and service.

I've just started a home business. My spouse has given me six months to make it work. Any advice?
Follow all the advice in the last answer to the letter and you should have everything working in two months instead of six.

They say it takes money to make money. Should I try to get a small business loan for my start-up capital or just try to get by with my own limited finances?
Assuming you have a product or service that people want or a solution to people's problems, I firmly believe that if at all possible, you should pull a small business up by your own bootstraps. If you use joint ventures and the principles of direct marketing and copywriting in your business (no matter what business it is) you cannot fail, even on limited finances.

TECHNOLOGY & TOOLS:

How quickly do you adopt new technology for your business?
Since our business is based on technology, we literally live on the bleeding edge, constantly testing and using new technology for our business. Being in this business, we also know that technology fails, so we still rely on the trusty pen and paper and the telephone.

Do you use a fax machine with a dedicated line?
Actually, I prefer to use a great online service called J2, which provides me(for 12.50 a month) a great dedicated fax and voicemail service and all faxes and voicemails go into my e-mail. So they come with me anywhere. We use this service to accept fax orders from our Website and screen customer service inquiries. Great service. They can be found at http://www.j2.com.

Do you utilize fax-on-demand?
Don't utilize this at all. Instead, we rely on autoresponders, which operate much the same way (except through e-mail as opposed to the fax machine). We use our own autoresponder service available at http://rod.ultimatemarketersresource.com.

How do you use e-mail in your business?
We use e-mail to communicate with customers, prospects, and JV partners. We believe wholeheartedly in opt-in e-mail marketing. We have many lists, and we keep in contact with these lists on a regular basis providing them with high-quality content and information they can use, which helps us to build a relationship with them. This way, when we send out a commercial e-mail, we get EXTREMELY high response rates.

How do you utilize the Internet?
99% of our business comes from the Internet; but that is changing...now a lot of our marketing efforts are directed at finding prospects offline, and then driving them to our Website to close them.

How many of your own Website(s) do you have?
We have about 30 domains—14 websites are inactive, four are for internal company use, and the other 12 are for commercial purposes—to sell more of our products and services and to deliver the products and services to our customers.

Do you use auto-responders?
Since our Ultimate Marketers Resource provides UNLIMITED autoresponders, I would hope we use them! We use autoresponders to deliver content, followup on interested prospects, sell high-priced items that require multiple follow-up mailings, and also to train our affiliates and JV partners. As a gift to SFI readers, you are welcome to try a month of this service, completely for free by visiting http://rod.ultimatemarketersresource.com.

If you use a toll-free number, what is its primary use?
We use toll-free numbers for two-step marketing to sell our seminars. Interested prospects receive a postcard from our JV partners and those prospects then call an 800 number, hear a two-minute message, and leave their names and addresses for more info. We have also used 800 numbers very well to selling network marketing opportunities in much the same way. This way, we only talk to the highest quality prospects—people who want to hear from us and not "tire kickers."

If you use voice mail, what is your primary use for it?
As stated earlier, we use our voicemail to help us screen customer inquiries and questions. The voicemail comes into our e-mail inbox, so it is very easy to receive our messages no matter where in the world we are.

Describe your computer system and how you use computers in your business.
We have four Dell systems: two desktops and two laptops. They are all connected through a wireless network. We have one main multifunction Canon printer. Our business has six servers, which we use to run all our Websites and, in particular, our Ultimate Marketers Resource since the tools we provide to customers need space and lots of memory and processing power.

What software do you consider in the "must-have" category?
Adobe Acrobat, virus scanning software, a firewall, an office suite (word processor and spreadsheet at least), a good e-mail client, instant messaging (for communication, not wasting time!).

What other technology do you use in your business?
We have a Pocket PC cell phone, which lets us connect to the Internet or receive calls from anywhere in the world.

Name up to five personal favorite business URL's our readers can benefit from:

• http://www.powerpointerspage.com/gb - free tool to help make your Website more attractive.
• http://www.hunteridge.com/gb - free business advice.
• http://www.trafficranking.com - see how much traffic a Website really receives.
• http://www.paypal.com - an easy way to send and receive money online.
• http://www.clickbank.com - an easy way to sell your own or others products online.

Of all the technology you use, rank the top three.
Autoresponders, online ordering software (our shopping cart), and our affiliate software (allows us to pay marketers a commission for promoting our products and services).

MARKETING & ADVERTISING:

How do you market on the Internet?
We setup strategic joint venture relationships with many different businesses. We build a relationship, then we get them to test out and use our software or information products. If they love what we have given them, we negotiate a deal where they ENDORSE our stuff to their customers and subscribers. In exchange for a glowing endorsement, they receive a 50% commission for our products.

Approximately what percentage of your sales originate from Internet marketing?
Presently 99%—that is expected to change significantly in 2004 as we move more toward offline marketing.

How do you market through direct mail?
A few of our JV partners market our products and services through postcards and direct mail to their lists.

Approximately what percent of your sales originate from direct mail marketing?
1%, though we expect that to move to 35% in the next 12 months.

What other kinds of marketing do you utilize?
Strictly online and offline JV marketing.

Do you recommend using a toll-free number in advertising?
Depends on the target market. A more serious prospect does not mind spending a few cents to call a regular number. A cheaper prospect may like an 800 number, but you may also get a lot of freebie seekers and curious onlookers who aren't serious. Not using one is a good way to find out if people really want what you are providing, or if they are just calling to waste your time.

Where do you market? (locally, nationally, internationally, all three?)
All three!

THE HOME OFFICE:

How should someone set up his/her home office to maximize its effectiveness?
The office really should be in a completely separate room if at all possible. This way you limit the distraction of TV and other household goings on. A phone, computer, fax machine and printer (and a desk, of course) are really the most essential tools to have in today's home office. Most other items are probably pretty extraneous.

What, if any, ground rules have you established for yourself and family in order to operate a successful home business?
We used to really overdo it—working all hours, going to bed at 6 am. That just doesn't make sense. Now we have established business hours, and that is how we work. Sometimes (just like in a regular job) it's necessary to work those nutty hours, but not all the time.

What are some of the advantages to working at home?
An advantage is that, being Internet based, we have the flexibility to travel all over, bring our laptop, and check and run our business from anywhere in the world. This also provides the disadvantage of never being totally free from work. However, I think that not answering to anybody other than yourself and being able to go anywhere in the world (as long as you bring a laptop or cell phone) is a pretty fair tradeoff.

MANAGEMENT STYLE:

What part(s) of your work do you farm out?
Graphic/Web design, software development, brokering SOME JV deals.

What part(s) do you feel should never be farmed out?
Copywriting, relationship building, networking, accounting, and financial management.

Do you encourage or discourage Partnerships?
Since we are considered to be the world's foremost experts on joint venture marketing, we had better ENCOURAGE partnerships. We believe that leveraging off of someone else's strengths, expertise, time, money, and credibility is the fastest way to go from nothing to everything in a short space of time. When you partner with others, you expand your network and your influence and balance your weaknesses with their strengths. That is when success is virtually guaranteed, as long as you have a product or service that people want to buy.

Do you encourage or discourage hiring family members?
Personally, we do not hire any of our family members. Most of them have no clue what we do, nor are they interested, so it's best to work with people who don't have any personal ties to us but understand what we do.

When legal issues arise, what's your usual response?
Consult one of our attorneys.

MONEY & INVESTMENTS:

What are the advantages of earning a lot of money. What are some disadvantages?
The advantages are freedom to do what you want, live where you want, live the life you want. The disadvantages are people who don't understand what you do and think you must be doing something illegal to get where you have gotten.

Best general tax advice?
Open an IRA!

Best general investment advice?
Open an IRA!

You're in business already, and you've just received a windfall of $20,000. What would you do with it?
Invest in an IRA!

THE ROAD AHEAD:

In five years I'll be...
Catching up on sleep I missed.

In 10 years I'll be...
Uusing the wealth I have accumulated to aid me in helping animals and the less fortunate.

POWERFUL IDEAS:

What was the motivating factor that drove you to start your own business?
Wanting to spend every second with my wife and knowing that unless we had our own business, we would always be destined to spend time apart, and this always damages relationships.

How role, if any, did your family play when you were getting your business off the ground?
They tried to always tell us to get a real job and stop wasting time, which motivated us to succeed.

What motivates you now to continue building your business?
Thinking of retiring in order to help animals and less fortunate people.

What's the best thing about being self-employed?
Freedom to go where you want and not having a boss!

How often do you read books and/or listen to or watch tapes for improving your business skills or knowledge?
Since we are HUGE believers in continuing our education, we read or watch or listen to something at least once a week that helps to improve our knowledge.

The most underrated activity in business is…
Accounting! This is a necessary part of doing business that helps you track what money came in and, more importantly, where it went at the end of the day.

The most overrated activity in business is…
Working all the time. It's much better to live a healthy, balanced life full of exercise and free time and working on your relationships with your loved ones.

What was the biggest obstacle you had to face when you were launching your own business? What's your biggest obstacle now?
In the launch of our business, our biggest obstacle was having no money and maxing out credit cards to finance our business with stupid investments in advertising and marketing techniques that just didn't work. Our biggest obstacle now is that when you get successful, the copycats come out of the woodwork to try to duplicate your success, so you have to always sleep with one eye open to make sure you stay on top.

If you had to start your business all over again, what would you do differently?
I would be using joint ventures from day one instead of focusing on unproven, potentially business-ruining marketing techniques.

What was your worst business decision?
Trying to offer low priced website design and hosting to clients. It attracted the wrong clientele - a demanding group that wanted everything for nothing.

What was your best business decision?
Tightening the focus of our business. We eliminated the extra services, such as design and hosting, and focused our efforts on our software and our joint venture products and services. It helped us to make A LOT more money!

What do you consider to be the main keys of your success?
We owe everything to our faith in God! Too many people overlook the importance and influence of God in their lives. We know that without faith and strong values, none of our success would have EVER been achieved.

What's your success philosophy?
Don't think about "what's in it for me." Focus on what's in it for your partners, and you will always come out ahead—it's guaranteed.

What about you has changed the most since finding success in business?
My free time. I used to have a lot of it. Nnow it is a precious commodity, one that I value tremendously.

What is the legacy you hope to leave?
I want to be thought of as the man who changed the way small businesses operate. Instead of focusing on ME, ME, ME. I want businesses to use my JV principles to build win/win relationships for their partners that make everyone rich. I want to be the man who introduced the joint venture—a concept once only suitable for corporations and lawyers—to the masses.