Here’s a story from a j.o.b.

While working as a refunds/returns cashier for a major home improvement store, I overheard a co-worker of mine say something that was both true, but at the same time was completely uncalled for. Apparently, a customer was returning some items she had purchased and had no use for them anymore. In with all of the other items was a book. It was a How To book that our store sold. I can’t remember the exact title. I think it was how to do household wiring or something of that nature. Anyway, I was really shocked when my co-worker told this customer “We don’t return books”, and “We are not a library”.

Here’s the problem, the return information he told the customer was completely untrue. The stores return policy did not state anywhere that books and magazines cannot be returned to the store. He was absolutely correct that our store wasn’t a library though. Our store is a home improvement store. The customer already knew this.
Here’s what my co-worker did not understand. The How To books that are sold at the store are usually placed in all of the departments. If you’re looking at gardening supplies, it’s likely there’s going to be a stand with a How To: Landscaping or similar book in the area. When a customer picks up the book, it probably means that this customer wants to make sure they do the project correctly, and more importantly, have all the tools required.

What most people who have no marketing experience don’t understand is that these people who are getting assistance from a book are going to see the tools that are required for the project, and these exact same tools are also found in the same store. If the customer decided to go through with the project, this customer is probably going to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars getting what is required for the project.
This strategy can easily be implemented into any business. How can this strategy be added to your internet business?

Did you automate something this last weekend? Or at least think about what you should automate?

Richard Lee over at 365 day to freedom did. He decided to automate his bill paying. That’s a great process to automate. Why? Because when you receive all of your bills in the mail, you have to spend the time to look over each one which can cause stress and will waste time/life. What starts happening when you start using your banks billpay feature? In the mail, you’ll start noticing only checks and other sources of income arriving. It’s just that simple. Richard will be greatly rewarded for what he has done for himself. But what did you do? Or, what will you do?

In this entry, I’m going to give you a task for this weekend. But, to make this task easier, it doesn’t have to do anything with your blog or business, unless you would like it to.

Here are a few ideas you can use for yourself to automate, or, you can choose something other than what is listed below.
Here are a few things that can easily be automated:

- Household cleaning

- Bills

- Customer support

- U.S. mail

If you have decided that the weekend is your day for resting, at least think about how you can automate something and automate it when you’re ready to work again.

I have already decided what I will automate this weekend. I will report to you on Monday or Tuesday what it was. You’ll be able to leave a comment if you want to tell me what you were able to automate, or will automate in the near future.

Ok, that’s it!

Have a great weekend =)

Here’s an interesting fact. Out out the thousands of blog readers and hundreds of interns the James Brausch Blog has, why did only 3 blog readers end up on the cruise? Was it somehow filtered out? Did fifity people really want to come but weren’t allowed to? Nope. The cruise was publicily announced on James blog. You can go back and read the post yourself. But only three people decided to take any action (me, Phil, and Eric). That’s actually quite amazing. I like those numbers. What does it mean? Maybe I’ll discuss it on a future blog entry.

On the cruise, I was able to see James toes after he had been in the spa all day. Actually, I think the only time he wasn’t in the spa was during dinner and during the excursion in Ensenada. James told me I didn’t need to go to the spa at my age, it’s more for people his age who want to look more like my age. Again, just wanted to say James does have some nice toes.

I just got back from Paradise. Paradise was the ship I stayed on for three nights. It was a great experience to meet my mentor and favorite blogger James Brausch. The ship cruised down from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico.

This was my first cruise, and I didn’t know anything about it until a month in advance. I decided to take action, follow a dream of mine, and decided to book it. I’d like to admit, there was a small amount of fear before I ordered. What if I had to share dinner with 50 blog readers and losers who never take any action?

Well, lucky for all of us that, that never happened.

I was lucky enough to share dinner with James, his wife, Eric Graham (The Conversion Doctor), his wife, and Phil (A blog reader and business owner).

Here are a few pictures from the cruise:

This is a picture of the ship docked in Ensenada

Me and James after dinner one night