“If I pay for 100% of my college education, would I be better off if my parents will give me a college graduation present: half of the money they presently plan to pay for my college costs?”

College is expensive.  Most people attend college to please family or get a degree to ensure a job, there is also a majority that attend college for the “social experience.” Very few actually attend college to improve themselves academically.  Whether you are going to get a degree to ensure a job, or whether you actually crave the education colleges offer, there is not a reason to pay the full retail price.  There are strategies that allow you to finish college faster, learn better, and pay under $15,000 for your full college education.  These strategies are not obvious to the public, but they are allowed by most colleges and they are legal.  Aspiring college students who do not take advantage of these strategies to get through the loopholes, will short-change themselves, and probably end up with painful student loans.

As of now, I am not sure what I plan to do regarding college.  If I do get a degree, I will put in full effort to get my degree as fast and affordable as possible.

Now, back on topic.  My parents have 7 children.  The cost of sending each one of us to college traditionally, would cost them a pretty penny.  It is my understanding that they expect each one of us to pay 100% for our college educations, this is what their parents did, and I agree with this idea.  If a student has to pay for their own college, they are more apt to respect the investment and push themselves to get the most of the education provided to them.  With that said, I am not sure how to answer Dr. North’s initial question.  My parents do not presently plan to pay any amount for my college education.  If I am in serious financial trouble, they will give me a loan to help me get back on my feet, but I do not plan to be in serious financial trouble in college, or any other period of my life.

If I pay for 100% of my college education, and then get finished a year early, I will have a good financial situation for myself.  Not only will I have an early start to the job market, but I will also have no student loans.  I will be able to invest in a house, and focus on my career.  This is a much better route financially than traditional ways of attending college would provide me.

I am currently working a part time job, this will fund the CLEP tests I take, and if I continue to set money aside, I will be able to pay for the 2 final years of my college education and earn my B. A. without debt.  I will learn to multi-task and I will put in my best effort to make this work.

By taking this easier route, and by taking advantage of opportunity, I will be giving myself a college graduation present.  There is a way to save time and money in college, and I am confident that I am capable of getting my degree using these wholesale methods.

It is difficult for me to identify my MOST important skill that I can use in starting my business this year. Throughout the business 1 course, I have been developing a series of smaller skills all of  which are crucial to a successful business.  While all of these smaller skills are important, they serve as the mortar between the bricks.  There are two main skills that will really be the building bricks of my business.

The most important skill I possess, is my writing skills.  I currently have rather poor writing skills, but through the courses of the Ron Paul Curriculum, I have made significant progress.  The development of my writing skills since starting the Ron Paul Curriculum has been truly amazing, and I am very grateful for my instructors who have helped me with this.  Throughout the rest of my high school classes, I will continue to build these skills.

There are a lot of weak spots in my writing, I am constantly trying to fix those weak areas and become a more persuasive writer.  Writing is a crucial aspect of almost every business startup.  Therefore it would be wise for me to devote as much time as possible to improving my writing skills.  Many successful writers have said that the key is persistence.  If you look at the higher percentage of successful writers, you will see that they put in the work to get where they are.  They practiced, they wrote as much and as often as possible, it would be wise to follow in their footsteps.

Another skill that will be of substantial use when I start my business is the ability to see and understand situations from another person’s perspective.  This is a skill that I have been investing a lot of work in over the past 6 months.  I have made some improvements.  This skill is crucial to providing good customer service.  It will help in building business relationships, and especially help in negotiations.  In Dale Carnegie’s book “How to win friends and influence people,” my mind was opened to the potential of obtaining this skill.  When you can get insights from the other person’s point of view, you can then do your best to provide them with the highest return on their investment.

If people understand that you respect them and have sympathy for their situation, they will trust you on a deeper level and this will make them want to purchase from you over your competitor.  I have applied this to several areas of my life.  Instead of babbling about myself, I want to understand the other side of the situation on a deep level and support the other person’s judgment.

Skill and experience are the most valuable aspects of building a successful business.  At my age, and point of life, I lack in both skill and experience.  I have the time to invest to discover what works and what doesn’t.  The opportunity to obtain skill and experience are available to me, and I would be a fool to not take advantage of these while I am still free of major responsibility.

Over the span of the business I course of the Ron Paul Curriculum, I have learned material from many different advertising professionals.  I have had unique insights to countless marketing techniques and tools, this is rare for a person at my age and experience level.  I have a lot to learn, I have a lot of training to undergo, but with the help of this course, I have built the basic foundations that are required for a career in advertising.

Local businessmen may think they are doing everything in their power to seek out new customers, but are they?  Most businessmen are blind to some of the key techniques of marketing, this is because most of their competitors aren’t using these techniques either.  With a few simple system improvements and a lot of testing they could reach a pool of new customers in their area.

Most businessmen invest their marketing budget in newspaper and Yellow Page ads.  These methods of advertising were once the prime way to advertise, but they are dying.  Businessmen who invest in ad space in Yellow Pages and newspapers are throwing money down the drain, there is a more effective up-to-date way for local businesses to advertise.  To learn more click here.

Thanks to Dr. Gary North, the instructor of the Business 1 class of the Ron Paul Curriculum, I have learned what I must do to master the skills of becoming an effective marketer using Google AdWords.  I have seen insights into the careers and methods of successful local business marketers.

All of the things I have been taught over this course set me up for a beginning business opportunity.  Most local business owners know nothing of these techniques and therefore they have not implemented them into their advertising.  Dr. North has instructed me and given me sources to help these businesses with their marketing.

At the end of the business II course, Dr. North has promised that he would give students a report that they will take and present to local business owner’s.  This report contains information and statistics on what businessman are already doing, and what is choking them in their advertising.  It demonstrates to them that the old ways are dying away and it’s time to moderate their systems.

My 9-month plan to get a part-time job, assisting local businessman with their advertising consists of a few basic goals that need to be broken down into smaller steps.  Currently, as you can probably tell, I am not ready yet.  I need to expand my knowledge and my skills, and I will do this by finishing both of the business courses offered by the Ron Paul Curriculum.  Along with this, I plan to do research in my spare time.

I can get practice by launching my own smaller business plan and applying the same techniques to my small business.  I have started a WordPress.org blog, as well as a test website, so I have the option to practice with templates and ideas for landing pages and other technical skills.  I can develop my speech skills through note-taking and re-lecturing my notes from the classes of the Ron Paul Curriculum.  I will then follow the instructions given by Dr. North, to take his manual and seek out businessmen who need help.

I realize I have a lot to do to prepare myself, but I am confident that I can do this.  I am confident that by the end of the business II course I will be prepared to start seeking for clients in my area.

“Write the text for a Bob Bly-style landing page that promotes Google AdWords for a local business.”

Local Businesses Have an Opportunity to Market Themselves, and It is More Effective Than Any Other Marketing Method….

Local businesses used to prosper by advertising in Yellow Pages, or even local magazines and newspapers, but that all changed when the internet came along and transformed the world.  People spend a great deal of their time searching the internet, so it only makes sense for businesses to advertise their products and services through the internet.

There is now a new and improved way to reach potential buyers.  It is much more affordable than yellow page ads, and it actually reaches more prospects and allows marketers to track their response rates in an easier way.  What is this revolutionary marketing tool?  Google AdWords.

Google AdWords has provided local, and world-wide business owners with an effective means of putting their ads in front of their target audiences.

Click here to learn more.

Once a businessman learns how to effectively create and run ads on Google AdWords, he or she will have a tremendous advantage over his or her competitors.

Click here to read success stories of businesses that used AdWords to advertise their product or service.  As you may notice, many of the reviews on the list are world-wide,or at least international companies.  Know that AdWords works just as well or better for local business advertising.

• You can specify a geographic circle that you want to target, and Google will run your ads in that area.
• Once you set the budget, Google will not spend more than you allow on advertising.
• You can specify what times you want your ads to run so that they line up with business hours.
• You can set up a phone number so that prospects will have a “call now” button.
• You will save time and money, and generate a higher ROI than advertising in a newspaper or local magazine.
• The target audience will be screened out from the rest of the crowd.
• If you have a strong ad, it will be placed higher in Google search results than an ad with poor structure.
• You will have the ability to match your AdWords ad with your site’s landing page.
• AdWords is compatible with mobile devices (which is good considering the number of mobile searches now outweighs the number of desktop searches).
• Scientific A/B testing is easier than ever.
• You will get rapid test results.
• And more…

AdWords offers the full package.  And you get to choose how much you spend.

If you own a local business and you do not use Google AdWords to market your product or service, you will get lost in the shuffle.  We live in a new age of technology and if businesses do not advertise themselves on desktops and mobile devices, they will not reach their target audience.

Take advantage of this effective tool today.  Do not continue to hide yourself from potential buyers.

Click here for more information.

To learn more about how to use this tool, order and read the Ultimate Guide To Local Business Marketing.

 

“What marketing advantages do I now have that I did not have when the week began?”

Throughout the past week of coursework in the business 1 class of the Ron Paul Curriculum, I have been introduced to several key tools of marketing.  This is an unusual advantage for a person at my age and experience level.  I have been assigned Ultimate guide to local business marketing by Perry Marshall and Talor Zamir.  I have also watched and taken notes on the daily lectures given by Dr. Gary North, as well as studied ads written by Bob Bly.  Over this past week I have acquired several advantages that I did not have when the week began.

For a local business website, a landing page is crucial.  Throughout this week’s work, I have been taught the basic guidelines of a good landing page.  The landing page is the place potential buyers should be directed after they click the Google AdWords ad.  For a landing page to be successful, the copy writer must list all the known benefits in a way that motivates the reader to take an action step.  If the copy writer is good, they should be able to generate excitement in the potential customer, and make them crave the lifestyle that this product or service will give them.  If only a few benefits are listed, the customer may not make the purchase when perhaps they would have had all the benefits been listed.  It is important in a landing page to give the reader every reason possible to make the purchase.

A landing page must be clear and functional.  People are lazy, they are not going to dig for information in an ad.  The action step must be clear.  It is crucial that the potential customer knows what it is that you want them to do.  Lay out the navigation system of your website, make it easy enough for a 5 year old to navigate it.  If the action step, and the website options are both clear then there is a much higher chance of the reader making a purchase.

Once an effective landing page has been developed for the business website, it needs to be advertised to the target audience.  Google AdWords is the most effective way to put your business before a thirsty crowd.  There were days when Yellow pages, or perhaps local newspapers were the best way to advertise local business, but those methods of advertising are becoming a thing of the past.  Among the new solutions, Google AdWords has proven to deliver the best results.  AdWords offers a package that allows business owners to create a target map, and select keywords to help deliver their product or service to potential buyers in that geographic circle.  Business owners have the option to choose whether they want to target a geographic area, or a group of specific people spread throughout the world, and they offer many options in between.  It gives business owners flexibility, but it also makes it easier for the customer to find the business they’re searching for.  AdWords is an effective tool, and business owners that ignore this will not gain full potential, and may end up failing in this fast moving world.

I have learned a lot of material this week that was taught by several different successful businessmen.  These businessmen have taught many basic principles, and advised me and other aspiring marketers in what needs to be done to implement these techniques into a marketing career.