MONEY MAKES YOU STUPID!

My Case for going without loans, credit cards or IOUs from family and the 8 Essential lessons every entrepreneur must know!

I truly believe that money makes you stupid. It makes entrepreneurs spend money on things that don’t matter or that don’t directly affect your ability to generate sales. I call them “crutches” OK, I may be biased, because I was denied by SBA for a loan when I first wanted to buy the telephone company I was working for, but I am forever grateful for the important lessons the denial of the loan taught me while building my $36 million company. In writing the book – The Million Dollar Equation – How to build a Million dollar business in 3 years or less, I looked back at building my business plus some of my private clients’ businesses and came up with some essential lessons.

Here is the most important MDE (Million Dollar Equation)

LESSON #1: If you are unable to make money in your business without money, when you get money such as a loan or investment, you will not be able to make money either. Harsh words, but let’s break down what were you going to use the money for? To Pay yourself?

LESSON #2: If you are getting a loan in order to pay yourself, you are not ready to be an entrepreneur. Your pay should be directly proportionate to the revenue that you produce. This is one of the reasons why we become entrepreneurs to reap the benefits of big sales. AND every person you hire, should be held to the same requirements. All employees.

LESSON #3: Hire only to insure more revenue can now be produced as a result of the hire. To Buy ads?

LESSON #4: Start with Your Target Market. Don’t start with the media – for example, most entrepreneurs start with the media. For example, I will use the internet because it is free. Have you made sure that your customers are online? The local newspaper made me an inexpensive offer to advertise everyday of the week, however, my credit challenged customers did not read the newspaper.

Buy ADVERTISING? Let me be frank – money is not guaranteed to get you a customer. It can allow you to buy ads. BUT what if it does not work?

LESSON #5: Make sure that I was speaking directly to my target market

I targeted customers who were credit challenged and who had their telephone service disconnected before. All images, words were geared to those that had been disconnected before.

LESSON #6: Everything should be tested in smaller amounts – then Results rule.

Never sign 1 year agreements for marketing media, even if it costs double . The price is not your concern. Your concern is testing to see if the media is right for your target audience, testing to see if your offer brings in enough customers to produce an amount more than you paid (ROI – Return on Investment), testing to determine if you should invest more.

If you need capital to create your product, you can get a few manufactured to demonstrate how it works, then sell an order based on the “prototype”. Once you have an order, then, you are allowed to get a loan to pay for the manufacturing of the product.

BUT – if you want money to buy ads, create a website, business cards, pay yourself, this is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your business.

LESSON #7: Money is only for investing in proven systems, ads, products.

For example, you sold your product to Wal-Mart and it will be on their shelves. Now, you take the order and use the money to fill the order.

2 MDE TODAY | MARCH 2013

MDE GUIDEFEATURE ARTICLE

WHERE IS RICHELLE?

You have tested a small ad in your local paper for one issue. Customers are coming in buying products. Now, you can use money to buy more ads in the paper.

Lesson #8: You are not allowed to buy an asset unless it appreciates or the asset will directly drive revenue until your business has made a profit 3 years in a row

I watch entrepreneurs as soon as they sign a new client decide to purchase a new car, house or boat. YIKES! And soon, they are in trouble. Resist the inclination to spend your cash.

When you have cash sitting there, you tend to make bad decisions. Have someplace for the money to go. Set a budget and stick to it. There should never be extra money. When every decision directly impacts your ability to eat each day – you will make smarter decisions.

Now, I am thankful for having no back up. I was forced to sell and market my way to a million dollar business. When I invested in any marketing, I had to follow these MDE (Million Dollar Equation) Rules for marketing without money.

Richelle Shaw for many years was the only female African American public utility owner in the United States. She built her first business from $300,000 to $36million lost it all after the 9-11 Tragedies and rebuilt her million dollar business in about 6 months. Her first book, How to Build A Million Dollar Business in Las Vegas – Without the Casinos chronicled her story. Richelle’s latest book – The Million Dollar Equation – How to Build A Million Dollar Business in 3 Years or Less gives entrepreneurs a step by step blueprint for reaching the million dollar level.

www.RichelleShaw.com @richelleshaw

MAR 6 - 8LAS VEGAS, NV LAS VEGAS BLACK BUSINESS EXPOPlaza Hotel & CasinoLas Vegas, Nevada702-684-6282 or 702-382-9522. Visit blackbusinessexpolasvegas.comfor more information.

MAR 9LAS VEGAS, NV ASPIRING CONFERENCES LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLEWith approximately 120-150 attendees and 30+ vendors at this event, This is a valuable opportunity to make great connections and increase your client base. Visit aspiringconferences.com

MAR 14ONLINE FREE CALL IN DAY - MEMBERS ONLYCheck out the New and Improved: Monthly Training with Action Forms, Checklists, Examples all based on the Million Dollar Equation Earn consultation time with every implementation, PLUS, you will be eligible to be on my Million Dollar Equation – Straight No Chaser Radio Show and more. mdenation.com

APR 4SOUTH HOLLAND, ILBlue Top Marketing, Inc. is proud to host…. THE MILLION DOLLAR EQUATION WORKSHOP9 Steps to Building a Million Dollar Business in 3 Years or less!Visit MDEworkshop.com for more information.

APR 15KILEEN , TXDetails to come...

MDE GUIDEPRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Why focus on getting customers ONE at a TIME? When you can get a BOATLOAD all at one time!

Feature Box• Learn the fastest way to build a million dollar business• Learn the Top 5 reasons the OPC partner will say no• Find + Plug the holes in your business to maximize every sale

Over 3 hours of training, checklists and guides to take you from zero customers to a boatload of customers immediately!

USE NELSON’S TESTIMONIAL If you got started today with OPC Secrets… what would your life look like in say 30 days? 90 days? 1 year? How about 3 years?

In 30 days depending on where your business is today with following The Foundation, you will end up with a fully systematized business ready for action.

In 90 days you should be well on your way to closing a deal with a OPC Partner for access to your customers.

In 1 year you should have at least tripled your income

In 3 years by following the system over and over, your annual income should be your monthly income.

THIS IS EXCITING PLUS YOU GET ALL THE EXTRA HELP NEEDED! GET YOUR ACCESS NOW…• How to legally stalk your ideal potential OPC Partner• Get the OPC Partner Rating and Evaluation Guide• OPC Income Explosion Guide to make the OPC Partner Perform• 5 Step Marketing Campaign with Proven Fill-In-The-Blanks

THE ULTIMATE SHORTCUT with detailed training, actual checklists, worksheets and evaluation forms to determine• The Top 5 reasons why the OPC Partner will say no and how to overcome them• Plugging the holes in your business in order to maximize every new customers and make sure that you are ready for the boatload of new customers• The detailed checklist for the OPC Process from the OPC Secrets Bootcamp • Solidify your foundation of the business by construction your Entry Points and Nurturing System to make the business the most attractive to potential OPC Partners

• How to find Great OPC Partners Evaluation and Rating System• How to Stalk your potential OPC Partner with Social Media and customize your info• How to Use the 5 Step Marketing Campaign with proven fill-in-the-blanks headlines and copy• How to Sign the OPC Deal – following the detailed guidelines• How to Use the OPC Income Explosion Guide to get the OPC Partner to promote your product or services

THE TRAININGS… Training #1 – The Foundation: This exclusive training helps you plug the holes in your business to make it attractive to potential partners. Remember the partner has spent hard money to acquire these customers and they can’t have you scr**wing up the relationship.

STEP #1 - The Foundation Making Sure You Have Something to Offer the JV Partner + Systematizing your business. + Creating your proof. + Making you the expert. + Creating the experience for the customer STEP #2 – The Stalking Begin: How to find the best partnersHow to Legally Stalk Your Potential Partners Using Social Media + What to look for in a good partner, + The easy research and interpreting the results + The multi-media campaigns I used, plus those of my private clients. + Enticing the partner to call you for the meeting + How to sign the OPC deal for a win-win STEP #3 - The Partner Income ExplosionUsing prizes, contests and awards to entice your partners to provide more clients! How it all works + How to consistently follow up automatically + Using social media to drive the partners into a frenzy + Determining the prizes to give away

Every training comes with worksheets, downloadable examples, fill in the blank copy and checklists. Everything you need to explode your business quickly! The equation is set – all we are waiting for is you!

Grab this great accelerator product here:www.OPCSecrets.com

Still have questions, call our office at 702-966-8412 between 9a – 4p, M – F PST.

4 MDE TODAY | MARCH 2013

OPC SECRETS WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY?OTHER PEOPLE’S CUSTOMERS!!

FROM THE BLOGWHAT’S BEEN GOING ON...

MDE GUIDEFROM THE BLOG

::: check out her blog at www.richelleshaw.com/blog :::

WHY I HATE THE WORD, REFERRALSI do hate the WORD, but I don’t hate the practice of having a customer get another customer: WHY??? Actual-ly, I hate the word “referrals” because everyone has such a preconceived idea about this word and overall strategy.

Most THINK they rely on it exclusive-ly, others they overlook it altogether.

NO ONE gets it right. That’s be-cause they and probably you, do not operate your referral strategies with a formula.

I gave to you in this month’s MDE Emerald Training my exact Referral Marketing Formula that will direct-ly and dramatically put you back in control of your new customer acqui-sition and you will see immediate im-pact to your ability to get more cus-tomers from your existing customers

and others.

**(if you’d like to fill your funnel, grow your business, and have more cus-tomers than you’ve ever had before from this one method I’m talking about now, you must join MDE Em-erald to take this training.

“So what?” You might say. But you’d be wrong. Referrals are critical for these reasons:

- The 2nd easiest customers to sell and keep (the first being your exist-ing customers)- The best (when done right) quali-fied prospect, because they came from another customer- The fastest to move up the ascen-sion ladder or upsell, because they come already trusting you

There is another reason that you

want to get referrals that most people never think about, don’t know, and if they do, never acknowledge it.

It’s the very simple fact that when someone gives you a referral that person then becomes a better more committed customer themselves.

If for no other reason, that ought to be enough for you to want to get ev-ery single one of your customers to refer you business.

It’s the concept and power of that turning one into many thing I told you about earlier this week. If you want a healthy customer base, you must be nurturing your customers for refer-rals.

Forget the guesswork; get past the frustration of what you’ve tried and what hasn’t worked.

You’ve not had a formula to follow until now. With new customers being harder and more expensive to ac-quire, you must master this marketing method.

I’m going to do it for you, hand feed you the way to execute this in your business. After watching the MDE Emerald Training you will have strat-egies in motion, referrals in progress and money on its way.

P.S. I’ve got a lot more to say about this “referral” stuff so click the link and get ready for the single most effective means of growing your business. ***By getting your customers to do all the work. And know this, no one has ever talked with you, shown you specific strategies, and helped you lay them out in your business the way it is in this MDE Emerald Training.

SNOW AND SANDALS DO NOT MIXMy trip to Milwaukee was fun and exciting – PLUS really, really cold… this Las Vegas girl really wanted some closed toe shoes… Back from Milwaukee and meeting with 118 standing room only at the US Olympic Skating Rink – Standing Room Only?? BUT what an amazing time. Did some press while I was there – ummm, let’s just say, I was in rare form.................................................................................................................................DID YOU GET LUCKY FOR VALENTINE’S?I sent to my MDE Emerald Members these crazy LOTTO tickets and a note from me that this year, they did not have to rely on getting lucky but that with consistent implementation, their business would flour-ish. Fake Lotto Tickets! I like to reach out to my customers as way to continue and nurture our relation-ship. Cost less than $.50 each but generated thousands of dollars in revenue. ..............................................................................................................................WHO LOVES MILWAUKEE?How much do I love going to Milwaukee?? Well, not that much, but I do love my good friend Kevin Kowalke. He runs a cool group of killer entrepreneurs. Here’s what I love the most… when they couldn’t pick a name, they called it the Thursday Morning Thing . Kevin has kept my visit quite a secret, he hasn’t even…

MDE GUIDEIMPLEMENTER OF THE MONTH

MDE IMPLEMENTOR

WALTER STOCKER __________________________________BIZACCOUNTANTS

1What does your company do?

We are an Accounting FIRM, plus a firm that helps businesses get incorporated. As a matter of fact, since Nevada is one of the best places in the U.S. to incorporate, we incorporate companies for FREE.

2What is your favorite marketing tool/

software/program?

I have built my business the old fashion way. I opened, I met several clients and I asked for the business. For years, I didn’t even have a website. My favorite marketing tool is iContact. Richelle recommended it to me for my email marketing. I started just using my yahoo account but it didn’t work properly. Then, I learned now to look at the reports, open rates, click rates.

3What is your favorite part of The Million

Dollar Equation – Emerald Training?

Getting REFERRALS. When I started with Richelle, I was very interested in technology. I wanted to know how to drive traffic to my website and how to get lots of businesses to incorporate using my FREE service. BUT, after reviewing Richelle’s information and looking at the competition to get my website to the top of google, I would be better off, focusing on my existing clients and asking for referrals. I followed Richelle’s program exactly and now, my business is getting referrals every day simply from implementing the email follow up sequences she taught. I am anxious to implement the direct mail newsletter to my existing customers that I know will generate more referrals.

4Where do you see your business in

2013?

The MDE Training changed my focus. I no longer do the work, my job is to generate new business by implementing the strategies I learned. In 2013, we plan

to implement the monthly direct mail newsletter to our current customers and expand our FREE Incorporation Service to our customers. I am not sure how fast it will grow, but I am amazed by all of the referrals we are getting by using the systems. So, 2013 will definitely be our best year to date.

5Any specific results due to the

implementation?

• We implemented a WOWing Welcome Sequence for all of our new clients. – RESULTS 40% are offering referrals.• We implemented email marketing – RESULTS 3 new referrals which totaled $6,000• We ASK everyone for referrals now, it is a system, not hit and miss

6Any photos you would like to share?

6 MDE TODAY | MARCH 2013

Check out Walter’s FREE incorporation service here : http://www.freenevadaincorporatingservice.com/ orhttp://www.bizaccountants.com/

Join Walter in the MDE Emerald Training Program by clicking here:http://www.mdenation.com/new-and-improved-emerald-training/

MDE GUIDEDAILY DOSE OF RICHELLE

SUDOKUTHE BASIC RULES :The only way the puzzle can be considered solved correctly is when all 81 boxes contain the right numbers.

Some blocks are pre-filled. You cannot change these numbers in the course of the game. Each column, row and block must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 and no two numbers in the same column of a Sudoku puzzle can be the same.

FOR KEYNOTES,WORKSHOPSRADIO & TVRichelle Shaw is the leading expert and authority in building successful million dollar businesses. Richelle’s experience comes from building her first business to $36 million, losing it all after the 9/11 World Trade Center Tragedies, then, successfully rebuilding her million dollar company in approximately 5 months. As the only female African American public utility owner in the nation, Richelle has won local and national awards including Top Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2010.

Woman Marketer of the Year 2010 from Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle of 20,000 members and Unstoppable Woman for the Women’s Leadership Counsel. She was named one of the Top 25 People to Follow on Twitter from Become Your Own Boss Network and one of the Top 10 African Americans to Follow on Twitter 2011 from Black Enterprise Magazine. She was also nominated for the GreenLeaf Award, Top 50 Collection Professionals and the Top 40 Under 40 when she was 27.

RICHELLE SHAWRTS PUBLISHING, LLC1489 W. Warm Springs Rd. Ste 110Henderson, NV 89014(702) 966 8410

ON THE RADIOPREMIERE WEEKCOMING SOON ...

BOOK RICHELLE SHAWFOR YOUR NEXT EVENT

RICHELLE SHAWRTS PUBLISHING, LLC | 1489 W. Warm Springs Rd. Ste 110, Henderson, NV 89014 | (702) 966 8410

WAIT, I’M NOT DONE YET!!!I was excited to speak at several events this month and I was also shocked to see several of the same people at each event.

At first I was flattered thinking, you came to hear me speak? Then, my ego went away and I realized, this is what these people do. They have not started a

business, they are still asking questions, planning, worrying, thinking, talking, sharing the vision, looking for investors, listening to “motivational speakers”. They are doing everything except DOING.

Successful entrepreneurs DO. Their days are filled with doing things, taking action and making quick decisions. I wanted to ask these networking conference junkies what had they accomplished this month? The same question that I ask my Private Double Diamond Coaching Clients, Di-amond Mastermind Clients, MDENation Emerald Members – everyone. So now, I am asking YOU?

How was your month?

What did you get accomplished?

THEN, I MOVE TO THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.

What is your goal? And Are you mak-ing any money?

Now, you can be frustrated by these questions and say that I am being unfair, but the only way to keep score in entre-preneurship is to ask about the money. And at the end of the day, that is the only reason why we are in business.

BUT, I’M NOT FINISHED ...

All Trainings come with at least 60 minutes of Content PLUS, Cheat Sheets, Fill in the Blank Examples to Implement immediately in your business and checklists. You can’t go wrong.

Monthly unique content to catapult your million dollar business. The most cost effective way to train with me. Earn consultations, and lots of free stuff just for implementing.

Implement the MDE Proven Strategies in your business, submit the great results and Build a million dollar business. What a great combination!

“Remember ideas make you FEEL good, but IMPLEMENTATION makes you MONEY”

I Immediate, do something immediatelyM Motion, get in motionP Purpose, act with purpose not randomL Leverage, look for leverageE Employ, employ all available resourcesM Momentum , build momentumE Expect, expect to have to make adjustmentsN Next, always ask and be thinking about what’s nextT Today, no matter what, think about what you can do - TODAY

Available in the MDENation.com Emerald Training Center:Gain ACCESS to all of the trainings by Joining The MDE Nation at Richelleshaw.com/Emerald

JAN. Training Goals to Money BlueprintFEB. Training REFERRALS – Turning One customer into ManySEPT. Training Maximizing your business in 100 DaysOCT. Training Entertain Your Way to ProfitsNOV. Training How the President Won the Last ElectionDEC. Training Your BEST 13 Resolutions for 2013 to insure your business is a million dollar business