Networking: How to Meet Anyone to Achieve Anything

I asked my friend Donna Fisher a few questions about her speciality: Networking. Donna is the author of People Power: 12 Power Principles to Enrich Your Business, Career and Personal Networks and she is the coauthor of Power Networking: 55 Secrets for Personal and Professional Success. Here are my questions and Donna's replies.

1. What is networking?

Networking is a process of meeting people, building relationships, and developing a support system that is mutually beneficial and supportive.

2. How can someone meet anyone on the planet?

By using what's called "global stepping stones." This means accessing people through the people you know. Everyone you know in turn knows anywhere from 250 to 5,000+ people. Therefore your network has tremendous reach and anyone you would want to meet is typically only three or four people away from you. To check this out think of someone you would like to meet and then begin to identify who within your network might either know that person or know someone who knows that person. Call the people you identify asking them if they can introduce you to the person you want to meet. If they cannot, then ask them who they know who knows that person. See if you can make personal contact with the person you want to meet within the 3-4 person prediction.

3. What if a person feels they "don't know anyone important"?

Typically people are unaware of the power and magnitude of their network. A first step in networking is to become more aware of the network you already have and begin to use it because it is through use that it will grow. You can begin to identify your network by identifying categories of people that you know, i.e. business owners, authors, celebrities, ....or identify categories such as: business associates, vendors, church friends, neighbors, school alumni, former co-workers. Identify what you mean by "important" people and begin to find and bring those people into your network. When you begin to purposefully and consciously build your network, you will develop a full, rich network of people who are important to you in many ways. Also beware, for the tendency is to think that "important" people won't have time for us. Often times it is the "important" people who care about people and know and value the importance of networking and making connections and contributing to one another.

4. What are the 5 ways someone can increase their network?

1. Call at least one person a week from your network whom you have not talked with in a while and reconnect. (reconnection call)

2. On each reconnection call ask the person you are talking with about someone they know i.e. "Have you heard from xxxx lately?" or "How are xxx and xxx doing?" or "Do you remember xxx who worked on xxx project with us?"

3. Immediately after your reconnection call, call the person you inquired about and reconnect with them.
   Learn the art of small talk and saying hello to someone new once a week.

4. Ask for the names of vendors, referrals, centers of influence from the people you know.

What's the #1 Thing People Do Wrong?

I admit it. I'm frustrated. I'm tired of getting emails from people who write, "I can't do what you did because ---."

Just fill in the blank with whatever excuse you can think of.

People say they can't write as many books as I have because they don't have the time, or they're too old, or too young, or too married, or too single.

People say they can't make their book a best-seller like I did because their book is different, or they're different, or the timing is different.

People say they can't ask celebrities for endorsements because they feel insignificant, or insulting, or imposing.

The list of excuses is endless. Here are some more actual ones I've received:

"You're more famous than me. I could never write people and ask for their help, as they wouldn't give me the time of day."

I started asking people for help, advice, input, suggestions and direction when I was a teenager. I have letters from FBI king J. Edgar Hoover, boxing legend Jack Dempsey, and master magician John Mulholland. I was certainly unknown then. Yet people always helped me. I've managed to connect with Evel Kneivel, Donald Trump, Jimmy Carter, best-selling authors and more--- and I did it before anyone knew my name. I simply ASKED for their help. They were kind and replied. Today I'm doing the same for anyone who writes me who sounds sincere and respectful.

"You have a large network of people to ask for things."

Yes, I do. NOW. But I didn't when I first started. I developed my network by building relationships. I reached out to people, helped them, they helped me, and trust was formed. Because I've nurtured my relationships online for almost ten years now, a bond is set. When I announce that I want contributions for a new book, my network responds. When they want something, I respond. I was able to compile all the information for my most recent book, "The E-Code: 47 Surprising Secrets for Making Money Online Almost Instantly," in less than 7 days --- all because I asked my network for help.

"You have a big mailing list so you can sell things faster."

I went online with no mailing list. NONE. I didn't even recognize the importance of having my own list until one day I offered my first e-class to my then tiny list and made $22,500 in one week. Then I woke up. I've been working on building my email list ever since. Anyone can do it. And while you're waiting to do it, you can always joint-venture with people who already have mailing lists. How? Just ASK. One day some person in Norway wrote me. He wanted to know if I would help him sell his new software. I liked his program and agreed. He didn't have a list. I did. He had software. I liked it. I did a mailing and split the profits with him. It was a win-win.

"You are more talented as a copywriter so you can sell better than me."

I learned to be a copywriter by investing time, money and effort into studying the greats and getting out there and doing it. My first sales letters were garbage. I still write and rewrite to make my letters as hypnotic as I can. I wasn't born writing, reading, or even walking. I learned it all. Can't you?

"I don't have anything to offer free to get people to buy what I am selling."

There are a million things for free online. You can find thousands---thousands!---of free e-books online. Just grab a few and offer them as your incentives to get people to buy your product or service. Anyone can do this. Just look around online. The fruit is there for the picking. I've seen people take classics of literature---now in the public domain and available as e-books---and offer them as incentives for prospects to buy their product. It works. How do you find them? SEARCH.

"I can't teach an e-class like you because I have no credentials."

Your credentials are you. They are your life experiences more than anything else. Few today care about whether you have a degree or any other credential. They care if you can deliver on whatever you promise. My lifemate, Nerissa, is about to teach an online video editing class. Anything you can teach off-line can be taught on-line. With video, audio, graphics, text, and chat rooms, you can have a virtual classroom on ANYTHING you can imagine. Why not?

"I can't make money selling my stuff on the Internet."

Look around. The Internet is so big and vast and even incomprehensible that truly anything can be sold online. I've seen people sell tumble weeds and buggy whips, greeting cards and computer generated art. Anything sold off-line can be sold on-line. Go look at Ebay. People sell cars, used clothes, dirt and even snow there. I once sold an "Elvis Mermaid" at Ebay. (You can see a picture of it at www.mrfire.com ) Are there really any limits to what can be sold online?

"I missed the right time to sell my idea."

Really? Just look at the title of one of my books: "There's A Customer Born Every Minute." A new crowd of prospects appears every single day. You can sell virtually anything at virtually any time if you think of what people want and cater to them. Sometimes you have to think of other uses for the same product, or other audiences than what you originally had in mind. But the best time to sell what you have is now. What are you waiting for?

"You live in America and I live in Mexico and selling doesn't work here."

Give me a break. Friends of mine always go to Mexico (and other countries said to be behind us) and they come home with truck loads of things they bought. Besides that, with the Internet, where you live is almost meaningless. Take your product and go online. Then you're not selling to your poor neighbors, but to the entire planet. Think BIG.

The list goes on and on.

To me, excuses are the #1 thing people do wrong -- online and off. While all of these excuses seem legit to the person saying them, they are virtually all hogwash.

Excuses are beliefs. If you buy into them, you're stuck. If you believe instead that there's always a way around whatever the excuse is, then you'll move forward. My philosophy is, "There is ALWAYS a way."

So let me try to help you here.

First, what are your excuses?

When I began this article by asking the question, "I can't do what you did because ---", what did you say? How did you complete the sentence? Those are some of your excuses.

Second, ask yourself if there's any way on earth to get around your excuses. In other words, are the excuses you stated real or imagined? Have you tried to get past any of them? Has anyone else, ever, gotten past the same excuses?

Finally, what would you do if you had no excuses?

Whatever your answer, get out there and JUST DO IT.

Leave your excuses behind and your prosperity will begin to come to you.

Leave your excuses behind and you can achieve success, too.

Leave your excuses behind and your life will begin to soar.

If you don't act now, why not?

Whatever your answer, THAT'S an excuse.

Are you going to let it stop you?

The Secret to My Success

A reader watched my new DVD, Humbug, and was apparently impressed with it.

He emailed me this question:

"Was there one point in your life that was the turn around? I often ask people who've obviously hitched themselves to a Saturn 5 rocket the same question."

I get that question a lot.

I've been thinking about it long and hard.

I know that taking on the attitude that anything is possible is part of the answer; so is knowing the Law of Attraction and the idea that getting clear leads to preferred results; so is always saying yes to life; and so is the idea of being ruthlessly honest about your desires.

But those are mindsets I've developed over time.

They don't answer the question about the single event that changed my life.

The thing is, there's no "one point" where everything shifted for me. It was more a series of defining moments, some more memorable than others. For example:

Landing the book deal to write The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising for the American Marketing Association back in 1993, was a marker for me. I wasn't paid much money (almost none) but it was my first book deal with a traditional publisher and the project made me feel accomplished and important. It also got me more clients and more speaking engagements. (I still love the book and use it myself, though sadly it's now out of print. Some of it ended up in my new book, Hypnotic Writing .)

Recording my program, The Power of Outrageous Marketing for Nightingale-Conant in 1997, was another turning point for me, one I had longed to have for over ten years. People who knew that company and their wonderful products began to treat me like I was a deity in the marketing world. That also influenced my own sense of value. (That's also when I raised my fees. ) The program still sells like crazy today, and I'm still very proud of it. (One of my favorite sections is where I stage an interview with the great circus showman and master marketer, P.T. Barnum.)

Certain people helped me step up to a new level, as well.

Paul Hartunian changed my life. This publicity genius who once sold the Brooklyn Bridge as a PR stunt and got on Johnny Carson for it, once spent three hours over dinner in Houston telling me how to change my business. I took notes. I acted. Paul's giving was a defining moment in my career. I'll never forget him. He's one of my heros.

Mandy Evans has been a "miracles coach" in my life for more than twenty years. This wonderful author of such books as Travelling Free has always been only a phone call away. Whenever I feel stuck and ready for the next level, I call her. I love her. She helps me get clear .

Bob Proctor -- a living legend in the self-help movement -- changed my life when he politely nudged me to publish the little book I was fearful about releasing, Spiritual Marketing. That book became an Amazon bestseller twice, got me into The New York Times, and led to my rewriting it and seeing J. Wiley publish it as the now long running classic, The Attractor Factor. And of course The Attractor Factor got me into the movie The Secret, which led to my being on Larry King, eXtra TV, Time, Newsweek and...well, you get the idea.

Obviously, there's no one event that transformed me.

If you want to know more, I've written about my journey through life in such books as Adventures Within and of course The Attractor Factor . They reveal other defining moments and the people who triggered them for me.

I really wish there was a simple answer to the question of what was my turning point moment, so we could both learn from it.

But what may be better is to assume every moment is your turn around one, and act from that perspective.

Life would then take on a glow .

Backed into a corner, and forced to say something was the one thing that changed my career, I'd give credit to the Internet.

I began as an Internet skeptic in the early 1990s. I didn't believe all the hype about gold in cyberspace.

I was wrong.

I later wrote one of the first books about online marketing (CyberWriting ).

And later, when Mark Joyner urged me to let him release my first e-book (Hypnotic Writing ), I began to taste fame and fortune.

So I have to give credit to being active online as a turning point in my career. (Note I said active online. I was and am busy creating and promoting products, not waiting for the world to come to my door.)

The Internet let me take what I was doing locally and distribute it to the world.

But, as you can see, it was one of many defining moments.

Maybe the best way to wrap this up is with the following story:

I'm hearing from people from my past who saw the movie The Secret and then searched for me online. When they get to my main site , they write me and ask something like, "Are you the same Joe Vitale I worked with thirty years ago?"

One gent did that recently. Turns out we had worked at Exxon together long, long ago.

He saw me on Larry King and couldn't believe my level of success. He wrote to me saying, "I wish I had known what a gem I was hanging around back then."

I thought, what if each of us treated each other like we were gems already -- just unrecognized and maybe unpolished.

Wouldn't that single change of perspective make every moment of our lives a turning point?

As Goethe wrote, "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being."

TIISG:The Secret of Napoleon Hill, P.T. Barnum, and Me

I'm riveted by the biography of Napoleon Hill, the author of the classic book "Think and Grow Rich."

Not only did this man struggle for 20 years to write the definitive guide to success, but he experienced poverty, his life was threatened, his backers were murdered, he suffered from bouts of hopelessness, and his family suffered beyond all understanding.

His was not an overnight success.

One thing that stood out in Hill's life story was his ability to turn the negative into the positive. He always looked for what some people call that silver lining in the dark cloud. As I thought about Hill's life, I realized I've been noticing this ability to see the good in the bad practiced by others, too.

I was at a meeting with my friend Mark Joyner, Internet pioneer and bestselling author. I overheard Mark talking to a man who had just gone through hell due to the FTC. Mark listened to the man's sad story and then said, "Turn it into something good."

This was remarkable advice. It's the kind of thing Napoleon Hill would have said. It goes against what most people ever even attempt to try. The whole idea of taking whatever happens to you and turning it into something good seems, at first glance, preposterous.

But this also seems to be a key to success. I remember P.T. Barnum offering a to buy a rival's elephant. He sent a telegram stating his offer. His competitors took Barnum's telegram and ran it as an ad, saying, "Here's what Barnum thinks of our elephant."

Instead of being upset, Barnum decided to join with those competitors. That gave birth to the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus. Barnum took the experience and turned it into something good.

The other day Nerissa, my love, released her first e-book at www.freevideoediting.com. She had a small mistake on her site. When I went to promote her site, I used the mistake as a way to get attention for her e-book. I could have said, "Correct your site."

Instead I sent out an email that said, "There is a mistake on her site. If you can spot it, I'll give you a gift." This caused people to be curious, a powerful motivator. It drove traffic to her site. Sales jumped.

What I, Barnum, Joyner, and Hill are doing is one thing: Taking the so-called negative experiences in life and turning them into something good. I call this TIISG. It stands for Turn It Into Something Good.

You have the ability to do this. It's a choice. No matter what happens, take a breath and ask, "How can I turn this into something good?"

The question redirects your mind. Instead of looking at the problem, you are now looking for solutions. This is a brilliant way to learn how to operate your own brain. You become the master, not the slave, of your life.

Andrew Carnegie -- that tycoon who challenged Napoleon Hill to undertake his 20 year quest to uncover the secrets of success -- confessed that the principle key to his own staggering success was the ability to operate his own mind.

He told Hill, "I am no longer cursed by poverty because I took possession of my own mind, and that mind has yielded me every material thing I want, and much more than I need. But this power of mind is a universal one, available to the humblest person as it is to the greatest."

It all begins with the basic TIISG question: "How can I turn this into something good?"

The answer will bring you new choices, happiness, and may lead to wealth you never dreamed of before.

Just remember TIISG.

Try it and see.

Your "Secret Barrier" to Wealth

I just read Dan Kennedy's September No B.S. Marketing Letter and was thrilled to see him talk about mindsets and language.

In one section he explained that talking about negative things makes your clients and customers feel bad, which in turn makes them less inclined to buy from you.

People want to feel good. I talked about this in my book, Life's Missing Instruction Manual. Even Kennedy, who can be a grump, realizes that focusing on doom and gloom will simply make people tighten their hold on their wallets or purses.

Instead, focus on the good, talk about the positive, and help people feel better.

Dan's back page essay -- always my favorite part of his No B.S. newsletter -- is all about how your own thinking leads to the reality you create.

Dan begins his article by saying the other day he deposited $802,486.00 in the bank.

Not bad for a day's work. (It was for more than a day's work, but you get the idea.)

Dan goes on to brilliantly explain that most of us -- even him, even me -- have a "secret barrier" within us that keeps us from bringing in a larger income.

Whatever income you have right now is there because you are comfortable with it.

You probably made far less money decades ago. As you grew more comfortable, as you raised your secret barrier, you could allow more money into your life.

In short, you are earning what you are expecting.

The way to sell more and raise your income is to help people feel good and to work on your inner secret barrier.

How do you change your secret barrier to wealth?

You read this blog. You read Dan Kennedy. You read books about the wealthy. You subscribe to magazines for the affluent. You read my book, The Attractor Factor. You watch the movie The Secret. You get into or create a mastermind group of wealthy people. You surround yourself with wealth and prosperity so you can begin to accept it, feel it, own it, and expect it.

In short, you get comfortable with the idea of wealth.

Two tips:

1. Subscribe to Dan's newsletter. He's a genius and a living legend. You can get a three month subscription, to try it out, at www.freegiftfrom.com/dankennedy/
2. Get the Milagro Manifestation Method CD's and put them in your iPod or on your PC or Mac, or in your car or wherever you can soak up their music and messages. See www.milagromethod.com

These CD's are so powerful that last night at dinner Bill Hibbler said when he puts one of the CD's on, he instantly becomes a powerhouse copywriter.

I think the CD's are so potent that I asked Pat O'Bryan at dinner last night to bring me another set, so I can send them to a company I know that may want to promote them.

Get your own set at www.milagromethod.com

Bottomline: You get what you expect.

Or, as Dan says in his newsletter, "You'll only get to bank what your internal system permits you to accept."

The 7 Lost Secrets of Success

Article by Alan Rosenspan
www.AlanRosenspan.com

A few months ago, I wrote an article for Direct Marketing entitled "The Greatest Marketer on Earth!"

No, it wasn't autobiographical - but thanks for asking.

It was about P.T. Barnum, and I received a number of enthusiastic e-mails about it, including one from Joe Vitale.

Mr. Vitale, the author of several terrific books on marketing, also happened to write a book on Barnum. His e-mail to me was as follows:

"I loved your article on Barnum. But there are a few misleading statements that I'd like to clear up for you and your readers:

1. Barnum did not invent the circus.

What Barnum did was build on the popularity of the circus, clean it up so it was morally attractive to men, women, and children, and, of course, market the daylights out of it with grander ads and bigger attractions

Barnum did not write all his own copy. He used - among others -- Richard "Toby" Hamilton, a popular press agent of the late 1800s.

Hamilton once said, "Suppose a grocer should advertise fine, fresh codfish and his rival across the street advertised the largest, sweetest, absolutely the best codfish ever caught, with scales as large as quarters and meat whiter than snow---the finest yielded by the Atlantic Ocean. Which grocer do you think will sell the most codfish?"

2. Barnum did not do everything himself.

He hired many people to promote his enterprises. When he promoted Jenny Lind, the famed Swedish soprano, he hired twenty-six reporters to feed the press news stories about her talents, her arrival, and her character.

3. Barnum indeed created a sign that said "This way to the Egress."

He did not hang in at a circus, but at his famous Barnum's American Museum. Crowds in the museum, located in the heart of New York City, often kept new people from getting through the six-story building. Barnum hung the sign. People went out the door under it, down the steps, and found themselves in the street. It was all part of the fun.

I wasn't upset at Joe's corrections. It was kind of him to write. But what did bother me was the title of his book, because it was so much better than the title of my article.

He called it, "There's a Customer Born Every Minute," and I enjoyed reading it. But he also sent me another book, which I wanted to share with you.

It's "The Seven Lost Secrets of Success." And the subtitle is "How the Million Dollar Ideas of America's Forgotten Genius - Bruce Barton - Can Help You and Your Business Become a Roaring Success Today!"

Joe Vitale is obviously a very talented copywriter.

I'll tell you more about Bruce and Joe in a moment, but I want to share with you the #1 Secret, and show you how it applies to direct marketing.

"The Juice of the Fountain of Youth"

The first and most important secret is to "Reveal the business nobody knows." It means educating people about what your company or your product really does, and the benefits it provides.

But not just the little benefits - the big picture benefits. As Barton said, "Find some way to translate your story into terms of human life and the reader's self-interest."

For example, Vitale describes when Bruce Barton gave a talk to the American Petroleum Institute. He told them that they weren't selling gasoline at all.

"My friends, it is the juice of the fountain of eternal youth that you are selling. It is health. It is comfort. It is success. And you have sold it as a bad smelling liquid at so many cents a gallon."

He goes on to describe the life of one of their customers. He tells a story about Jacob, who's poor immigrant parents had no gas and had to live in a dingy neighborhood under the shadow of ugly smoke stacks. Their lives were miserable.

"Not so with Jacob," said Barton, "He works in the smoke of the city, to be sure, but he lives in the suburbs and has his own garden. His children are healthier; they go to better schools. On Sunday, he packs up a picnic lunch and bundles the family into the car and has a glorious day in the woods or at the beach."

"And all this is made possible by a dollar's worth of gasoline!"

Of course, today that would probably be $10. worth of gasoline, but you can see the point.

The Story of the Three Bricklayers

Three bricklayers are working on a project in New York City. Each one was stopped and asked what he was doing.

"I'm laying bricks," the first man replied, and went back to his rather dull and repetitive job.

"I'm putting up a wall," the second man said, which sounded a little more interesting.

"What am I doing?" asked the third man. He paused and glanced up at the sky with an inspired look in his eyes, and answered solemnly, "I'm building a great cathedral."

Chances are, there's a dramatic story in your product, and how it benefits people. But you may be too close to it to see it clearly. Or perhaps you take it for granted.

But if you could take a step back - you might be able to see it with a different perspective.

A few years ago, we presented a campaign for Uniroyal, where we focused not on the tires, not on the car, but on the passengers - your family. Our line was "You've got a lot riding on your Uniroyals."

Today, that positioning is used very successfully by Michelin, which uses a little baby inside a tire.

So how do you take a step back?

Here are three suggestions:

1. Look at the biggest possible picture.

What are you really selling? Is it software, or a better, faster way to do your job? Is it life insurance, or is it perfect peace of mind?

Always keep in mind the old marketing example that when people buy a drill, they don't need a drill. They need a hole.

2. Keep asking "And that means?."

You need to get to the ultimate benefit, which is almost always the most important.

For example, if you're selling mints, the obvious benefit is clean, fresh breath. But is that the ultimate benefit? Do people want clean, fresh breath simply for it's own sake?

Maybe, but here the ultimate benefit might be self-confidence. You'll never have to worry about offending other people.

3. What would happen if it didn't exist?

A great way to get to the ultimate benefit might be to pretend your product doesn't exist. What would people have to do instead?

For example, if there were no such thing as life insurance - working people might have to scrimp and save their entire lives, and do without a lot of the luxuries of life, just to make sure that if something happened to them - their family would be protected.

What are the other six secrets?

Here, according to Joe Vitale, are Bruce Barton's other great secrets. His book explains them in great detail and can be ordered at www.mrfire.com.

1. Use a God to Lead Them

Can you establish yourself as an expert in your field?

2. Speak in Parables

What are your stories? Who has bought from you and prospered and changed?

3. Dare Them to Travel the Upward Path

How can you challenge your customers without insulting them? Think of the Marines.

4. The One Element Missing

Do you sincerely believe in what you are doing and selling? Sincerity is key.

5. Give Yourself Away

What are you giving to your clients? To the world?

6. Sharpen the Knife

Are you polishing your writing, your ads, until they are perfect?

Are you polishing yourself?

The Bruce Barton Nobody Knows

As Joe Vitale's book reveals, Bruce Barton was one of the founders of modern advertising.

He was the second "B" in the giant agency BBDO (Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborne) and created some very famous advertising campaigns. His slogan for the Salvation Army was a classic -- "A man is down, but he's never out."

Barton was an enormously successful businessman, a Congressman, a motivational speaker, and a writer with a number of best-selling books on business, ethics and religion. Magazines called him "The Prophet of Advertising" and "The modern philosopher for millions."

He was one of the first advertising people to understand the customer's point of view. He said that the job of advertising and marketing was to "become the buyer's assistant."

In a speech to the Advertising Association in San Francisco, Barton quoted the last verse of "Mary had a Little Lamb." He said it illustrated one of the most important principles of the advertising business.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"

The eager children cry, "Because Mary loves the lamb, you know"

The teacher did reply

Barton then thumped his hand down on the podium and said,

"It's about time we quit trying to shear these sheep - and start loving them a little bit!"

This was 25 years before David Ogilvy said, 'The consumer is not a moron. He or she is your spouse."

The Joe Vitale You May Not Know

Since receiving his e-mail and reading his books, I have become a great fan of Joe Vitale.

If you haven't heard of him, Vitale is an independent marketing consultant based in Houston, Texas. His other books include, "CyberWriting: How to Promote Your Product or Service OnLine," and "The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising."

Vitale calls his website "The Copywriting Profit Center" (www.mrfire.com) and offers some valuable articles for direct marketers. These include: "The 10 Laws for Writing Letters that Get Results," which I highly recommend.

Joe's writing is not only informative - it's inspirational. In fact, he sounds like Bruce Barton. In one of his articles, he ends with:

"I am sharing this with you in the hope that it sets your own heart on fire, awakens something in your soul, and urges you to go for --and get -- your own dreams."

How to Make Money Fast Online

Don't throw in the towel. I know you've been reading about people making money online. I know you've tried to do it. Well, don't give up just yet.

I have a plan to help you make at least some money on the Internet, and I'm going to give it to you right now.

Here's my online money formula in brief:

Basically, find out what this week's most popular searches are at Google. Then pick one of them and quickly generate an e-book, e-report, or even e-audio related to that subject. Put up a site and start selling. List one copy on Ebay. That's it.

Here's how it works in detail:

1. Go to http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html
and see what the hot searches are currently.

2. Pick one of them that you are at least somewhat curious about.

3. Research the subject online, compiling information about the subject. This will be your e-product. Be creative. Develop something people searching on this topic will want. (Get help on how to create e-books fast at www.7dayebook.com )

4. Then quickly put up a one-page website and offer your e-product for sale. You can put up sites at http://www.godaddy.com (A one-page site there is only $14.95 a year).

5. List one copy of your product on Ebay. This will get your product and site noticed right away by millions of people.

In short, you're riding the wave of the public's interest. This is a tried and true money-making secret.

For example, on Easter a friend showed me a book of nothing but questions and answers about the movie, "The Passion of The Christ."

The book is compiled data. Yet because it ties to the current frenzy of interest in Mel Gibson's movie, the book is selling and the author is getting on national TV and radio shows.

Cindy Cashman just used this exact same idea to create two e-books that spin-off of Donald Trump's current TV show. See CindyCashman.com Unless Trump actually trademark's the phrases, "You're hired!" and "You're fired!", Cindy is going to profit from Trump's stardom.

You can do this, too. Simply create something that ties to an existing popular search and use the above steps to jump-start your sales.

For example, one week last April one of the top searches was for "IRS." Obviously if you had information to help people deal with the IRS, you could capitalize on it. But if you didn't have any info, you could search the net for it, find an angle that is fresh, and release your own IRS product.

Another week the name "elisha cuthbert" was a top-10 search item. You could compile a directory of all the sites showing pictures of the actress, compile quotes by her, or maybe create an Elisha Cuthbert cookbook, beauty tips guide, joke book, or whatever, based on your web searches.

Or you could go contrarian and create something called "Why I Hate Elisha Cuthbert." (I don't. I think she's a great actress in the TV show '24' and I hear she's a nice person, too.)

Or you can get outrageous and create a campaign called "Elisha Cuthbert for President." Your site could sell an e-book where you offer Elisha as a candidate.

Get the idea?

Not everyone reading this article will act on this formula, but those who do have a good chance of making a lot of money fast.

Will you be one of them?