July 4th for Americans is a chance to celebrate our independence.

Trust me, I'm not going to get on a soapbox and start waving the

flag - but I do think it's important no matter what country

you live in to really think about that word "independence"

and its meaning for you.

My father reminded me that July 3, 1976 was his

"Independence day" since that's the date my family came

over to the United States from Russia. (Pretty cool

since it was right before the bi-centennial celebration.)

For me, my independence day was on July 1, 1999.

That's the date I left my father's business to work on my

own. It was by far one of the hardest decisions of my life.

You see, I had worked for my dad since I was 12 and he

thought I was going to take over the company. I had that

same thought as well until I got the "bug".

In fact, my wife, Missy, and I were talking about this

recently. She was talking about how when she met me 9 years

ago, I had only one thought: "how to grow my father's

business". I would stay late working on new ads and

marketing pieces. I was in early calling my accounts trying

to make sales, etc. etc.

Now I had been studying direct marketing, and results were

really paying off for my dad's business. (Actually they

still use a lot of the ads I wrote in 1998 because they

still work today.) But with every ad I wrote I was getting

more and more aggravated. Not because the ads weren't

producing sales - they were - but because of the grief and

politics I had to deal with. Everybody seemed to be an

advertising expert even though they've never studied or

read anything on the subject. People mistakenly believe

that if they wouldn't "read all that copy" then nobody

will. Or if the ad is "ugly" and has no pictures or pretty

graphics it won't work.

Complete and total crap.

For every ad I wrote I had to fight to get it out there. I

got sick of it and decided I would create my own product so

I could write ads for myself. My first product was to help

dermatologists who wanted new cosmetic patients. It was a

big kit (manual, tapes, reports, diskette, etc) based

around some marketing consulting I was doing on the side

for one of my customers.

I ran my first ad in April 1998 in Dermatologic Surgery

magazine. I got 10 responses so I sent them the 20-page

sales letter I'd written selling this $900 kit. Not one

order.

I waited...

Sent out a 2nd notice to those 10 respondents.

Nothing...

Then I sent a 3rd notice telling them the expiration date

to get all the free bonuses was only 10 days away. Finally

on the very last day of the expiration date I got one order

over the fax machine.

Yipeee!!

I still remember that doctor's name in Flushing, NY. What

an incredible feeling. That was the start of my

independence. I realized I now had the power to chart my

course as I wanted. That first sale. That's one of the

greatest feelings in the world - when something you've

created is sold. It took me a little over a year after that

first order to realize I wanted my freedom and I finally

quit on July 1, 1999.

Maybe it's the new confidence you get when you realize

you've created something that people want and are willing

to exchange money for. That first sale is usually the

hardest (but also the most rewarding).

It's wonderful when I help turn on that light in people.

I've seen it first-hand working my Apprentices and seeing

them launch their products. How amazed they are by the

money pouring from around the globe. I love it!

And my wife is striking out on her own with a little bit of

my help. She set up her first web site -

(www.InstantThankYouLetters.com) and she's getting

checks each month.

So when will your independence day be?

If you've already achieved it - I bet you can remember it

perfectly. Sometimes the bleakest times that we believe are

terrible actually turn into a perfect opportunity.

Take my good friend, Jim Edwards', for example. His

independence day came because he got fired. To him that

wasn't a blessing at first but as he looks back on it -

it's the best thing that ever happened.

I remember the conversation we had right after it happened.

I was drinking a bourbon and Jim was having a beer. We were

talking about different projects he could try and pursue

and do now. We were throwing around some ideas and we came

up with "33 Days to Online Profits".

(www.33daystotoonlineprofits.com)

It was right there during that call that we outlined each

of the days and moved forward from there. And "33 Days" has

been a tremendous six-figure income earner for both of us

and it doesn't seem to let up.

So what can you do to achieve your independence?

I'll give you a couple things to take to heart. I can't

remember the author who said this but he said if you show

me what a man does in his spare time I'll show you the type

of man he'll become. What are doing with your spare time?

- Watching TV or reading?

- Napping or practicing your copywriting?

- Yakking to your friends or studying direct marketing?

It all comes down to the choices we make every single day.

In fact, you shouldn't let one day go by without making

sure you are taking at least one proactive step towards

your own independence. Just because the thought of you

doing what you want when you want may seem so far away -

don't let that stop you from taking those baby steps each

and every day. That's one of my rules and I hope you'll

adopt it.

What else?

Learn to be different. The truth is you need to become

extraordinary to achieve extraordinary results. You can't

be like everyone else (and why would you want to). That

means doing the things other don't (or won't) do. That

means not listening to their advice (unless they are doing

what you want to do). Frankly, if you simply did the exact

opposite of what everyone else is doing you'd turn out

okay. Why? If only 5% of people are truly successful and

the 95% are the mediocre majority - doesn't that mean the

majority is wrong? Don't engage in their thinking. Don't

follow their lead. Don't adhere to the same values and

standards the "95-percenters" do.

Two people who really helped me clarify my thinking on

this was Early Nightingale and also Dan Kennedy. (See

next article for his insight and a special gift I've

arranged for you.)

Please don't get me wrong - in no way am I trying to be

elitist. I'm not. But it is tremendously important to go

through your day with your eyes wide open. The truth is

most of your friends (right now) probably don't want you to

change and succeed. That would imply that they are losers.

That would mean they are failures. Nobody is going to

propel you to succeed except yourself.

So get on it and proclaim your own Independence Day

starting T-O-D-A-Y!

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================

Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on

creating automatic, moneymaking websites...and he still

doesn't know how to put up a website.

He is the author, co-author or creator of several best-

selling online marketing books and tools, which can be