New Beyond the Blues 2026

ABOUT THE BOOK

Billion Dollar Advertising Guide

A comprehensive guide to mastering digital advertising strategies that drive real results.

Start getting a good $return on your advertising investment. Bring in the sales like billion-dollar businesses do!

Includes case studies, real-world examples, and actionable insights you can implement today.

Price: 17.99

Stephen Alvord

Hi! Glad you're here! You can order my book at any time here on my site. MY STORY. You will learn interesting facts about advertising, that will improve the effectiveness of your advertising. I lived it, I've done it and enjoyed it. You will enjoy watching your businesses grow. Here's my history of starting with $1,000 down payment and zero sales to $5 million in overall gross sales! I opened my first retail store when I was 19 years old. I didn't know much at all, about anything, including advertising. So I had to learn. My first store was in Upstate NY in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. I was able to find a building that was no longer being used. It was only about 400 square feet. Yes, it was a very small store in a very small town. The highway it was located on was a popular tourist route through the Adirondacks, The woman who owned the store was retired and just wanted to sell the property. The total price, $10,000. The financing, I gave her $1,000 down and she asked for $1,000 a year for ten years. This was back in the late 1968, hence the seemingly low price. I was under 21 so my father partnered with me and we put the building in his name. I opened that store in the summer of 1968 as a "leather moccasin shop" originally just for the summer tourist season. Little by little I learned who my customer was and what they wanted. At the time my wife and I lived in a $12,000 two-family house. we rented the upstairs and that paid the mortgage. In 1971 I had an addition to the store making it about 1,500 square feet. My first year, which was only about 7 months my total sales were $15,000. Not really profitable. However as the years went by I grew the inventory and reputation as an excellent retailer of leather goods. From leather jackets, handbags, footwear etc. My sales finally exploded when I discovered how to advertise. I studied the advertising of most of the large retailers and found the similarities in most of them. Macy's, Sears, JC Penney, General Motors, Ford, GE, on and on. Once you learn some of the simple easy solutions to effective advertising it changes everything. In 1974 I had another addition built, in the shape of a real barrel. 22 Ft high and about 40ft.long all constructed of laminated wooden beams and wooden decking. In 1976 I opened another store, in Latham NY near Albany. Then I purchased another store not far from my first store for my3rd store. During all this time I was building my business with advertising. Newspapers, TV, Radio before digital was popular. That came later. Also started to sell leather products to other leather stores in the Northeast. So that first $1.000 down payment on the first store started my journey to about $5 million dollars in gross sales. Respectfully, Stephen Alvord

Why I started to write this book. Over most of those years I saw so many retailers that had ineffective advertising. Some would say, "advertising doesn't work". That's right. You have to know how to do it. This book will give you a few simple solutions to effective advertising.

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Business owners do not need complicated theories to succeed. Real results come from proven strategies that actually work in the real world.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Stephen E. Alvord

Award-winning marketer with over 20 years of experience in digital advertising and brand strategy.

Stephen has helped over 500 businesses scale their advertising efforts and achieve remarkable ROI through proven frameworks and data-driven strategies.

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2020

The beginning

I started with $1,000. down payment on a small, abandoned building.

I opened a retail store that specializes in better quality leather goods. Leather garments, boots, shoes, wallets, handbags, belts, hats etc.

First milestone

Of course it took me a year to figure out how to grow.

2022

Expansion

I did several things to increase visibility of my new store.

2023

Innovation

Inovations that really helped. However learning how to advertise changed everything.

2024

Recognition

Soon I was recognized as one of the leading leather stores in my state and surrounding states.

2026

The future

Continuing to innovate and serve our growing customer base my total gross sales were well over $5 million. Not quickly, it took time.

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Billion Dollar Advertising Guide

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salvord51@outlook.com

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