Dominate Your Market

From the Desk of Steve Miller

Dear Fellow Consultant/Speaker/Entrepreneur,

Are you like I was? You had a dream of creating your own business – to be your own boss.

You had a skill, or experience, or knowledge (or all three!) that you just KNEW other people and corporations would pay good money to learn about.

You had a very real desire to help others, while at the same time create the income you’ve dreamed about.

And best of all – you’d be FREE to work whenever you wanted!

So you started your business.

And then reality kicked in.

You’re working harder than ever! You’re working long hours, six, sometimes seven days a week. You scramble to generate new customers or clients. You’re not making the money you think you deserve. You’re working harder in your business than ON your business. That beautiful picture you had back in the beginning has faded to a distant memory. And worst of all, that FREEDOM you so deeply cherished doesn’t exist.
If that sounds like you, then I can help … because I’m lazy.

The Business Philosophy of the Indolent Armadillo

My new system, “The Business Philosophy of the Indolent Armadillo,” is designed to help YOU create the business YOU want to work in … the business you dreamed about having.
My name is Steve Miller. What do I do? I’m an author of five books. I’ve been published in over 270 national and international magazines, including the Fast Company, Business Week, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Sales & Marketing Management, ASAE’s Association Management, PCMA’s Convene, TSEA’s ideas, and Highlights for Children. (OK, I made that last one up.)

I’ve given over 1100 paid speeches around the world over the last 22 years. I’m considered by many to be the top guru in my industry. My specialty is improving the current condition and future prospects for associations, small businesses, and individual entrepreneurs. But I deliver that service in different ways. Some clients see me as a consultant or advisor. For others I’m a professional speaker, keynoter, trainer, or facilitator. I coach individuals and organizations. I’ve written five books, produced several videos, audios, and CD-ROMs. I’ve been active on the Internet since 1994. I do a lot of work for organizations in the meetings and convention industries. You can read more about me by checking out my business’s Home page. I am a REAL consultant, not just one who plays one on the Internet.

To be truthful, my family and friends will tell you I’m not lazy. They’ll tell you I work really hard. And to an extent that is true. I work hard when I’m working. But I’ve also worked hard creating a system that will let me be the lazy fool I want to be!

My father worked hard all his life. I watched him climb the corporate ladder. And as I got older, he seemed to work harder and harder. He often went into the office on Saturdays. He often brought work home with him at night during the week. He traveled heavily on business around the world. Sometimes he’d be gone to Japan, or Taiwan, or Europe for weeks on end.

My father, like so many other fathers of my friends, bought into the “you’ve got to work hard and make sacrifices to be successful” mentality.

Well, you can have that mentality. I’m not interested. The fact is I have MORE IMPORTANT things in my life that deserve my time and energy. Things like my beautiful wife, Kay, and daughter, Kelly. THEY are my priority. I want to spend lots and lots of quality time with them.

Oh sure, I fell into the early trap of working hard in all the wrong places. I had my own consulting and speaking business for several years and did things the way everybody else did. Every morning I cold called and every afternoon I did mailings. When I was too busy speaking and consulting, the sales and marketing didn’t get done. I’d ride the three-month roller coaster. When I was marketing, I wasn’t making money. When I was making money, I wasn’t marketing.

A Wake-Up Call for Me

One day in 1988 I sat at our kitchen table and said to Kay, “This is NOT why I started my own business. I’m working too hard. It’s too inconsistent. It’s not reliable. I’m not spending enough time with you. And I’m not having fun.”

I knew then and there I had to either change the way I was doing business, or quit and go find a job.

That was sixteen years and several million dollars in earnings ago. Needless to say, I made the changes necessary to keep my sanity and achieve the prosperity I had always dreamed of. I created a system that allowed me to live the life I wanted, live by the values I cherish, provide financial security for my family, and have fun doing it all!

To be honest, it never really occurred to me that others might want to learn about my system. A few years ago I was asked to speak at the National Speakers Association Annual Convention. It was sort of one of those, “Geez, you’ve been around for so many years, you MUST know something about the business of speaking. Why don’t you tell us how you did it?”

So I talked about the years of working too hard and not having fun. I talked about sitting at my kitchen table frustrated about how hard I was working and the direction I was headed. I talked about wanting to build a business founded on my true values in life. And I talked about the system I eventually designed to create and maintain very long and profitable relationships with very way cool clients.

I didn’t expect the response. People hugged me after the program (they do a lot of hugging at NSA). They thanked me for giving them permission to build a business based on their own values. They were thrilled to hear you didn’t have to spend any time cold calling.

I then received a note (or maybe it was a fax) from Dan Kennedy, the direct marketing superstar. I’d never met Dan, and at that time, hadn’t heard any of his programs. But he had listened to the tape of my presentation and congratulated me on the business model I’d built. This started a great professional and personal friendship.

Last year Dan asked me to speak at his Boot Camp for Consultants in Phoenix. He wanted me to show people the different type of business model I’d created. He also encouraged me to bring any products I might have to sell to the consultants.

I had no products for consultants. But I had to prepare a 45-minute presentation for his attendees. The night before I spoke, I had a funny thought – “Hey, if they like my 45-minute presentation, maybe they’d like to hear an expanded version of it!” I drove to Kinko’s and printed order forms.

The next day, I spoke. Concluding my presentation, I said, “I don’t have any existing products to sell you. But if you’d like an expanded version of my topic today, fill out the order form and give it to me when we’re done. If I get enough orders, I’ll produce the product.” To my surprise over half the attendees rushed up with filled out order forms. I HAD to produce the product!

The Indolent Armadillo is Born

I suppose you’re asking what makes my business model different from what you’ve been taught. Well, think about this:

• We have not made one single outbound cold-call from our office in over 12 years. Yet my client list and income have steadily grown every year (and it was already in the six figures when I created this new business model).
• When prospects call our office and request our marketing materials, our answer is NO.
• When prospects call our office and indicate they are looking for a speaker/consultant/facilitator/etc., our first question is, “Are you considering anybody else?” If the answer is Yes, we ask them to remove our name from consideration.
• When my calendar is fairly busy, it’s common for a client to have to convince my twelve-year-old daughter, Kelly, to allow her Daddy to spend more nights away from her. She has the ability to say NO, and often does. (One client really wanted me at their meeting, so they bribed Kelly to travel with me to a five-star resort for four days and they picked up Kelly’s and Kay’s full tab!)
• We have fired more than one client because they broke the Rule of Fun.
• We have an elite “Club” that includes a handful of carefully selected clients. Since creating this Club nine years ago, this group of clients has generated over $4 million in revenues for us as a result of projects generated with them.

Does this pique your interest? It should.

I should also tell you up front that the Indolent Armadillo is NOT a program on the tactical side of running a business. This is strategic thinking from a 30,000-foot level. It is designed to force you to rethink the business model you are currently following or, if you’re just starting out, thinking about creating.
The Business Philosophy of the Indolent Armadillo teaches you how to create a system that:

• Produces products and services lots of people wanted badly.
• Blankets a large number of qualified prospects
• Is tough, if not impossible, to copy (allowing you to own your market)
• Pays the big $$
• Ultimately, runs itself
• Based on your values

In the Indolent Armadillo you’ll learn:

• The power and importance of defining the Rules which prospects and customers MUST follow in order to do business with you.
• A new perspective on the importance of Focus and Positioning, and how to be the center of your market’s universe.
• How to take Branding to a new level.
• How to identify and use the Most Powerful Motivator of all to get prospects calling you (and your fees become a non-issue).
• The eight strategic initiatives you can incorporate that will slamdunk separate you from the competition, put you foremost in the prospect’s mind, and get them to BEG you to accept them as a client.
• How to steal the genius secrets of already successful businesspeople, like Tiger Woods, Madonna, Barney the Purple Dinosaur, and Joan Rivers! (Believe it or not, you CAN learn a lot from them.) 

This Program is NOT for Everyone

If this is NOT what you want, then you can stop reading right now and get back to the way you’ve always done business. That’s okay with me. Guys like me love lots of easy-to-beat competitors like you.

You can learn and study The Business Philosophy of the Indolent Armadillo two different ways, and both are included in your purchase. It includes:

• FOUR CDROMs with the full presentation in narrated PowerPoint.
• FIVE audio CDs you can listen in the comfort of your office, home, car or wherever.
• A printable, digital WORKBOOK of visuals for following along and taking notes.
• A BONUS CDROM. See “Oh Yeah … BONUSES!” below.

I know many other business programs are available for $595, $795, $995, or higher. And, frankly, I’m sure the Indolent Armadillo program is worth that much. But I have a philosophy about doing business with people. If I provide you with something of extreme value now for an affordable price, then you might be more inclined to business with me again in the future! Doesn’t that make sense?

So I’ve priced the package at a very affordable $199 plus shipping. (Please email me for international shipping information.)

OF COURSE THERE’S A MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE! AND IT’S A GOOD ONE.

By law I have to give you a 30-day money back guarantee. That law is for wimps and charlatans. Anybody who has total confidence in their product should stand behind it with a real guarantee.

If, for any reason, you are unhappy with your purchase, send it back within one year of purchase, and I will issue an instant refund. Period.

Oh yeah … BONUSES

Okay, I know what the drill is here. You’re looking for the bonuses, if you order today. Right? I mean, that’s what everyone else does. That’s cool. I don’t have a problem throwing some extra goodies in, and I will. The only thing I hate are these other guys who make it sound like they’re only offering bonuses and discounted price for a limited time. Yeah, right. If you call “limited” the next thirty-four years. (OK, so I’m on a little rant here.)

Look, the Indolent Armadillo is worth a lot more then $199. BUT, I’ll sweeten the pot for you. IF you order the Indolent Armadillo, I’ll include these bonuses:

Bonus 1

An audio copy of my original “Big Fish…” speech at the National Speakers Association convention. This is the speech that kickstarted this whole project.

Bonuses 2-5

Four of my books (I understand you may not be involved with trade shows, but these books still have a LOT of great ideas for everyday business!

And I’ll even autograph them for you. THAT’LL make them worth a LOT more:

• The Most Wanted Marketing Strategies for Exhibitors
• Over 88 Tips & Tricks to Supercharge Your Exhibit Sales
• How to Design a WOW! Trade Show Booth
• Over 66 Tips & Tricks to Supercharge Your Trade Show Promotions

Bonus 6

Over 20 articles I’ve written for trade magazines and my newsletters, covering such topics as strategic innovation, marketing, branding, positioning, and customer loyalty.

Bonus 7

A PDF file of Russell Conwell’s famous book, Acres of Diamonds. This is a classic in the personal success world, and I believe EVERY entrepreneur should read and reread it on a regular basis.

READY TO BECOME A PROSPEROUS INDOLENT ARMADILLO?

If you read this far, I assume you have an intense desire to improve your current business and create the life YOU want. I can’t promise you’ll become a centamillionaire (heck, I’M not one of those). I can’t even promise you’ll make more money, because I have no control in whether or not you implement these strategies, or how you implement them. But if you listen to what I have to say and give it your best shot, I do believe you’ll be more prosperous and have a whole lot more fun! If you aren’t, then send the stuff back and get all your money back!

Thanks for reading this. I hope you give the Indolent Armadillo a try!

Steve Miller
Kelly’s Dad, Strategist, Author