The Wake Up Call for Internet Marketers

January 3, 2012 By 4 Comments

Before we begin, let me ask you this…

 

If so, then reading this article might prove to be the wakeup call you so desperately need; this article is going to enlighten you on how you can turn around your mindset, your actions and overall your business in order to actually succeed online – and reduce your stress levels to almost zero.

If you’ve been involved in the internet marketing world for long enough, then you already know how much crap gurus, non-gurus and wannabes are selling these days.

Sales letters are filled with exaggerated hype, promising you overnight riches via some “push-button” software, or what seems to be the next “get-rich-quick” sensation. It seems like all that is sold now is rubbish, and it pains me to see it being gulped down by the masses.

These vultures who dare to call themselves entrepreneurs, are so hungry for your money that they’ll promise you anything just to make a quick buck.

“Buy my system and you’ll make $4,798 dollars in the next 24 hours!”

Right.

They dangle these ideas and promises of the luxury lifestyle in front of us, with those seemingly incredible Clickbank screenshots showing just how much cash they’re earning on a daily basis.

This is what scientists call the “carrot and stick” strategy; they use it to lure you into buying their products, and you can be sure they have plenty more tricks up their sleeve to get you spending more money quite soon, to keep you coming back for more.

So what do most new guys do when coming onto the internet? Why, they buy into this rubbish!

Phase #1 – Enthusiasm

The new guy buys the “guru’s” product, and soon finds out that it’s not as simple as it was described in the sales letters. Most of us know – subconsciously, at least – that  most advertising relies on exaggerations, but we decide to try these “super” products anyway.



Once the new guy starts applying the steps (if they ever do – most of them end up getting stuck in what we call the “learning phase” forever), it becomes harder and harder, and the picture gets more complex with each step they take.

Soon, they find themselves lost and realise that they are still missing many pieces of the puzzle! So what do they do? They head out and buy more hyped up rubbish!

 

Phase #2 – Shiny Product Syndrome

They then try filling this void in the puzzle with more products from other gurus, hoping to find one of many “golden keys” that will finally get them to millionaire status in the next week. Many of them will stay stuck in this loop for months or even years, losing terrible amounts of money in the process.

 

Then, one of two things happen in Phase #3. This is where the BIG turning point is.

 

Phase #3 – Ver. 1 – “Gurus are all scammers and internet marketing is a pile of crap!” (the majority 0f people)

These guys conclude that the whole internet marketing thing is a sham – and you can’t blame them, because they’re partially right. They run off to forums or complain to people they know for awhile, before finally giving up.

It’s a sad thing to see happen to these people who come with over-hyped dreams of success and riches. And you know what the irony is? These are just the people who keep those rubbish Clickbank products so high in the results, so the gurus can show off their sales!

These are the people who are feeding the vultures and end up being spat out by the system, with empty pockets and wallets.

Phase #3 – Ver. 2 – The “wakeup” phase (where YOU must get)

A small, enlightened minority are smart enough to “get” it. I truly hope this article is being read by exactly the people I have been describing so as to make you a Version 2 new guy, rather than a Version 1 kinda guy.

These people realise that money CAN be earned online, BUT as with anything worth anything in life, it takes hard work to achieve and obtain.

 

 

Online business is not a get-rich-quick scheme; It’s a business just like any other and should be treated as such. It isn’t easy, and anyone worth their salt will say the same. However, once you hit the sweet spot, it DOES become easier and can be massively profitable.

So you want to be one of those guys? Follow these three tips:

1.) Stop spending money on more useless products.

Stop believing in ridiculous hype, unsubscribe from idiotic gurus lists, and realise that most of what is being said on the internet is rubbish.

Even if you do get an occasional e-mail that delivers *some* value, it’s still probably not worth your attention, because your focus needs to be narrowed down.

 

2.) Decide if true entrepreneurship is for you.

Entrepreneurship is a different “world”, so to speak.

It’s different from 9-to-5 jobs; it’s different from freelancing and other areas of endeavour of this world. It has its advantages and disadvantages, just like any other occupation.
So if you haven’t done it before here are a few hints: you’ll have to change your routine, you’ll have to change the way you think about business (i.e. your mindset) and you’ll have to change the way you do things. You’ll have to manage your time – and most of all – you’ll have to manage yourself (i.e. the most difficult thing to manage).
There are a series of things you will have to learn, a series of skills you will need to develop in order to succeed in this business. So decide now if this is for you. And if it isn’t, that’s perfectly fine!

In order to join the top 10% of internet marketers who are generating 90% of the income online, you will have to take this seriously. There will be some hard work involved – at least in the beginning – until you have your “systems” in place and running smoothly. But once you “get” the market, the marketing, the systems and the right people in the right place, it will begin to produce results, and the rewards are massive. How long this is going to take will depend on how many times you are prepared to fail, try again, fail and learn from it.

3.) Start building a REAL, solid online business TODAY

Okay, so if you’ve talked yourself out of the “get-rich-quick” mentality and decided that you really want to focus your energy and efforts on becoming an online entrepreneur, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and begin at once.

You need to move strategically and go through the cycle:

…and stick to it.

Wash, rinse and repeat; do it all over again until your business takes off and you get some altitude. You’ll have to learn from trial and error until you have every piece of the puzzle in place and your business generates a solid income. You’ll have to stay motivated and keep doing it even when the money is not coming in.

This experience can be frustrating and disheartening at times, but VERY rewarding if you succeed. If you choose a niche that you’re really passionate about, and if you find you love playing the business game, then this might prove to be a fun ride. When you open the final door to success, you’ll probably conclude it was worth it.

You will grow by leaps and bounds, your mindset will keep upgrading until it reaches new heights, and YES, you will eventually make the kind of money you’re dreaming about and live the internet lifestyle.

This may take months, or even years – and I cannot give you any sort of guarantee of how soon you will succeed – if at all! However, this blog has been designed to help you shorten your learning curve and help you get there much faster than it would take you to get there on your own.

So if you’re serious about making money online consider yourself lucky. Subscribe to this blog and read the info contained in it (check it out and decide for yourself whether this is valuable or not). You’ll find some of the secrets that most successful online entrepreneurs took years to discover and, sadly, that most of the struggling ones will never discover… This is the kind of information I wish I had when I first started off on this journey.

 

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Mindset, Rants Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Eliminate Your Fear of Selling

February 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Internet Marketing revolves around one central thing: sales. You are essentially a salesman who displays his products to a global audience. Every time you post a new article on your blog, or launch a new product, your sales ability is on display. If you have a fear of selling you’re going to have a rough and rocky road as an Internet Marketer.

The reason why a fear of selling is such a problem for the Internet Marketer is that you may not even realize that the fear exists. A lot of people who would never attempt direct sales, which involves meeting a customer face-to-face, are convinced they can market online because of the anonymity of the process. You never have to look your customer in the eye. Even worse, when the products you offer don’t live up to expectations it is far too easy to crawl beneath a cyber rock and avoid the wrath of your customers. This mentality can indicate a subconscious fear of selling.

Confidence Eliminates Fear

Ask any poker player what is most useful in eliminating fear at the poker table and they will tell you that it is having a big stack of chips in front of them. This is because a big stack improves their confidence. They know they can absorb a small loss or two and not go broke.

In a similar way, confidence in your Internet Marketing business can go a long way toward eliminating your fear of selling. If you don’t have confidence in your brand then you will be in a constant state of anxiety as you anticipate the refund requests from your customers. You are smart enough to know if the products you’re putting out are crap. When you put that kind of stuff in the marketplace you expect to be rejected, and rightfully so. Why? Because a horde of people before you have burned the market with inferior products and bad business practices.

Think about this. Let’s say you decided to take a job selling vacuum cleaners. The first house you go to is inhabited by a woman whose carpet was destroyed by the last salesman’s vacuum cleaner. How do you think she is going to respond to you? A similar situation actually happened to me many years ago when I was selling door-to-door. A woman who had suffered one too many times at the hands of an unethical salesman actually appeared in the doorway and brandished a shotgun as I drove up.

You may not encounter a shotgun in Internet Marketing, but if you don’t have products you can believe in then you’re in the same boat. It is absolutely essential to have confidence in the products you market. Otherwise you will just sabotage your efforts.

Enthusiasm Is Contagious

If you generate genuine enthusiasm about your product, your enthusiasm will transfer over to your customers. How do you generate enthusiasm? Once again it all begins with a solid product that you believe in.

When you’re able to get your customers excited to the point that they actually begin selling themselves, fear becomes a non-issue. To get them to that stage, however, you have to initiate enthusiasm. You can’t do that if you’re not excited about your own product.

Commit Yourself To An Ethical Business Model

This is the best thing you can do to remove a fear of selling. The simple fact is, when you make a commitment to do everything right you will have no reason to fear selling your products and services. Dealing with rejection is another article, but let me just say that rejection that comes as a part of the natural process of sales is no big deal. You have to endure a certain amount of no’s in order to get a yes. It is strictly numbers. However, rejection that comes as a result of an unethical business model is a HUGE problem. You may perceive the Internet as a very big place, and it is, but watch how small it becomes when you develop a reputation as a snake-oil salesman. Word gets around quickly. I will also tell you that ethical marketers like myself have no problem filling the void you will leave behind.

How you choose to run your business is entirely up to you. Just bear in mind that all choices have consequences. If you choose to market unethically, you must man-up and bear the consequences of your poor choices. One of these consequences will be a subconscious fear of selling. Eventually it will overcome you and you will be forced to slink away with a damaged reputation.

Remember that even if you don’t sell products, you’re still selling. The most important thing you will ever sell as an Internet Marketer is yourself. The only way you can do that is by conquering your fear through confidence, enthusiasm, and an ethical business model.

Believe in your product and your fear of selling will turn into enthusiasm.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Internet Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

9 Excuses That Can Sabotage Your Internet Marketing Efforts

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you’re someone who occasionally falls into the victim mentality trap, you probably allow the so-called “excuser frame” to stop you from succeeding in your internet marketing business. This is a very dangerous type of self-sabotage. If you find yourself using some or all of the following excuses, are sabotaging your own efforts.

“I don’t have enough money”

Guess what? NO ONE does. Wealth is all relative. Bruce Springsteen sang, “Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain’t satisfied ‘til he rules everything.” You’ll never have what you think is enough money, so you might as well start with what you have.  A lack of capital has never been a good excuse for successful entrepreneurs, and it shouldn’t be one for you. If you believe in your online business project, then do whatever it takes to make it a reality.

“There is always plenty of capital for those who can create practical plans for using it.” – Napoleon Hill

“I don’t have enough business experience”

One thing is for sure—you never will have enough experience if you don’t start somewhere. Donald Trump wasn’t born with the experience he needed to construct the intricate real estate deals that left his imprint on the biggest cities inAmerica. He applied himself and got the experience he needed to succeed. Something you might want to remember is that you have advantages today that Trump didn’t have when he began. The Internet puts a wealth of knowledge right at your fingertips. No one is born educated. Knowledge and skills can be learned.

“Internet Marketing is hard!”

Congratulations! The fact that you realize this is actually a huge step in your progress.  What you must do now is get out of your comfort zone and start taking steps toward the attainment of your financial and business goals. Seek help along the way, keep looking for solutions, and you’ll reach a point where you won’t feel overwhelmed anymore. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

“There’s a financial crisis and people aren’t buying these days”

This just doesn’t hold water. Yes, the economy is bad. More millionaires were created following the Great Depression than at any time in history. Why are all those other internet marketers still making six figures a month? You can obviously see the holes in this excuse.

“I don’t have the knowledge to do this”

You might want to refer to our discussion earlier about experience. Once again, if you are reading this blog then you have a wealth of information at your fingertips via the Internet. Stop chasing irritated birds around your computer screen and make the most of your time online.

Here’s a fun thing to do. List a subject that you really want to learn more about which relates to Internet Marketing. It can be SEO, mailing list management, PPC advertising or anything you choose. Now, basically design your own college class. Identify the various parts of what you want to learn and break them down into subjects. For example, for PPC advertising you might have the subjects of writing good ads, keyword research, and geographical targeting for better results. Get some notebooks and go to school by researching information online and making notes. Treat it exactly as if you were in a college class. You can even design an exam and take it whenever you’re ready.

Here’s another tip: You don’t even need to buy expensive internet marketing courses to do this. If you have enough patience and know where to look, you will find that most information is available online for free.

“There’s too much competition in my niche”

Competition in a niche is a good sign: it means there’s money to be made in that niche. You basically have two options: to compete with the big sharks or to change your niche. You can decide, for example, to conquer a smaller sub-niche within the bigger one. The presence of competition should never be an excuse for a lack of success. Resolve yourself that you will do your job better your competition does theirs.

Bring a new angle, serve your clients better, spend more time understanding your market, and the money will follow.

“But I’m not good at _________ / I’m not the kind of person who ________”

The good news is you can change who you are and you are not stuck where you are right now. The secret is to change your self-image and acquire those skills you need in order to succeed. Granted, it takes some time and effort, but I assure you it’s worth it. Investing in yourself and evolving is the best thing you can do in this world.

Many internet marketers thought of themselves as poor time managers, or said things like “I’m not good with managing money”. This is a form of irrational fear and it keeps you under the impression that you are stuck where you are – when in fact you are not.

“There’s too much information to digest and I’m feeling overwhelmed”

There are many ways in which you can conquer information overload. The best advice I can give you is to stop doing so many things at once and focus more attention on planning: plan your actions, your tasks, and then select only the information that is relevant to what you are doing. You need to learn how to apply precision marketing in order to narrow your focus to the task at hand. All of us have to deal with the different facets of Internet Marketing. Those who succeed are able to organize, prioritize and stay to task. Just like anything else, this is a skill. It takes practice.

Any other excuse….

You need to understand that all excuses spring from the emotion of fear: the fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone and trying out something new, the fear of taking risks and possibly making a fool of yourself if you don’t succeed. You will have to deal with this fear, conquer it and then all of your excuses will be gone. You will have to work on your self- image and then success will just flow naturally.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Motivation Tagged With: , , , ,

Get Rid Of That Ridiculous “Victim Mentality”

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment


“Oh no, I lost money on advertising again! I will probably lose my AdWords account anyway, so that’s okay.”

“I missed out on the latest big launch—again—because I’m not in the inner circle and no one told me anything.”

“There’s too much competition. They’re all out to put me out of business. I don’t have the resources they have; they were probably already rich when they started Internet Marketing. I would’ve been rich, too, but I never catch a break.”

Does any of that sound familiar? All too often I hear people speaking exactly like that about their Internet Marketing business. They focus on all of the problems and obstacles in the way instead of the limitless possibilities. They think and talk about their business efforts in a limiting way. This type of victim mentality can become so overpowering that these people actually start to find comfort in all of the complaining. After all, being unable to succeed at something is a lot easier to swallow when we can manufacture an excuse.

To be a victor in Internet Marketing, as opposed to a self-proclaimed victim, requires a little honest self-appraisal and the ability to take responsibility for your own success.

Personal Responsibility Is Key

The first thing you must do in order to shed a victim mentality is accept the core belief of personal responsibility. Stop blaming everything and everyone for what has happened in your IM business. You need to realize that all responsibility for your success begins and ends with you.

Everyone starts life on a level playing field when it comes to opportunity. Some of the poorest children on the planet have gone on to become some of the richest adults. Stop lamenting the absence of a Silver Spoon and realize right this minute that success in Internet Marketing is something you have the ability to attain. If you fail to seize that opportunity for success, you are the only one to blame.

Something happened last year which profoundly affected the way I viewed the opportunities for success. Many of you may be familiar with J.R. Martinez. He is the young American who was horribly disfigured by an explosion in Iraqwhile serving in the military. He returned to the States to recover, but it was obvious he would be scarred for the rest of his life. So, what did J.R. do? The last thing you would imagine. He became a soap opera star on ABC’s All My Children. He didn’t stop there. J.R. is the reigning champion of Dancing With The Stars. On the night J.R. won the trophy, I turned to my wife and said, “This guy has just ruined it for everyone who tries to tell me a sob story and whine about their life. I don’t want to hear it.”

There are plenty of other examples of people who make you futility of excuses (this is one example), but I think the point has been driven home already.

Folks, however bad you think it is….forget it. There will always be someone like J.R. Martinez who has every right to complain and chooses not to. What are you choosing to do?

The Power Of Choice And Limitless Potential

Decide right now that you are a person who has the power to choose everything about your life. Whether you succeed or fail in Internet Marketing is entirely up to you. When you begin to focus on your ability to succeed with your online business, the Law of Attraction is going to bring that success your way. If you focus on the lack of success, you’ll get more lack. That is simply how the universe works. Even if you don’t believe in the LoA, there are plenty of other explanations why this is true.

If you don’t have the SEO skills you need, choose to learn more about the process. If you don’t measure up in PPC, resolve that you will become an expert. If your email marketing campaigns are not converting, determine to write the best email swipes ever read by a prospective customer. The choices you can make in life, and in your business are limitless.

Successful Internet Marketers Don’t Whine

They take action to succeed. They understand that the possibilities for success are without number. There is a solution for every problem you encounter. Dan Kennedy has said, “You are surrounded by obvious business solutions to explode your income.” You just need to change your focus and you will see them.

Focus is the key. Focus 10% on the problems of Internet Marketing and 90% on the solutions. If you do that you will be amazed at the resources you already possess to solve problems. The way to solve that tricky design issue for your website will suddenly become crystal clear.

Burn The Ships And Claim Victory

The story has been told by many authors, including Napoleon Hill, of the ancient military leader who landed upon the shores of a hostile land where his soldiers were sure they would suffer defeat. Immediately upon landing he gave the command to burn the ships in his own fleet.

“The only way we will leave here is to conquer our enemy,” the leader told his men.

They won.

Burn the ships and destroy your victim mentality. Adopt a mentality that you will achieve victory in Internet Marketing no matter what you encounter on the road to massive success.

Stay on course even when the sales are not coming in. Be persistent and flexible enough to change your approach when something doesn’t produce results, and in the end you will get it right – for the simple reason that you will have discovered what works and what doesn’t.

Good luck!

Filed Under: Motivation, Success Tagged With: , , , , ,

What Successful Online Entrepreneurs are NOT

February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Okay, so we’ve talked about what makes a successful online entrepreneur. Now it’s time to dispel some of the common myths surrounding online business success and tell you what rich internet marketers are NOT:

They Are NOT Smarter Than You

You’d be surprised. Seriously, just look at their products and you’ll see that some of these people seem not too bright indeed.

The last thing you want to do is build an inferiority complex and believe that those who succeed have sharper minds than yours.

The average IQ of the general population is 100. If you’re the average Joe, your IQ score will be 10 points above or below that. There are countless examples of massively successful people of this world who have quite modest IQ scores.

What really makes the difference is their motivation, their drive, their focus and all the other elements we’ve described in the article about “the difference that makes the difference”.

They Are NOT Luckier Than You

Are you familiar with the idea of “creating your own good luck”? Here’s the idea: luck may play a part in the big picture of success, but it doesn’t just come knocking on your door, trying to persuade you into becoming successful overnight. You should actively pursue it, as in “let’s go get lucky”.

Opportunities are literally everywhere. But are you constantly scouting for them? And, more importantly, are you prepared to recognize them and make use of them?

How do you about pursuing your good luck? It is only through moving forward towards your goals that you increase your chances of becoming lucky. Stagnation, inaction, indecision, laziness and idleness are surefire ways to repel the “luck” factor. But when you begin to grow and gain momentum, you will eventually strike a JV deal with a big name marketer with a big list that will sweep you onto the kind of success you desire right now.

They Didn’t Have More Opportunities Than You

Many successful businesspeople of this world have started out with nothing. They had little or no capital, little education and hardly any knowledge of how things are done in their field of business.

It’s very tempting to play the victim and say “it was easier for them back then” or “times are hard nowadays” or “I don’t have their ______”.

But these are just excuses springing from the “victim mentality” – and reality contradicts them every single day – when another online marketer who started from scratch makes it big and succeeds massively.

So…if successful internet entrepreneurs don’t fit in the above criteria, what defines a successful online marketer, then? Read our article and find out.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Mindset, Rants, Success Tagged With: , , , ,

Time Blocking: The #1 Productivity Secret

February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The tip we’re going to talk about today will be of enormous value to you if you struggle with taking action if you tend to procrastinate, or suffer from entrepreneurial ADHD. It is particularly useful if you are easily distracted by Facebook, Twitter, or any other kind of noise that keeps you from getting things done.

One of the greatest challenges you will ever face as an Internet Marketer is managing your time in an effective way and taking constant, consistent action to propel you forward. You need to be able to produce results in an efficient manner by completing a project and then moving on to another. It’s pretty overwhelming to have six or seven items on the stove at the same time. Something is going to get burned, and that something is your online business.

What Is Time-Blocking?

Time-blocking is simply the act of working in uninterrupted spurts. You designate a specific block of time to a specific task and work only on that task until the block of time has expired. When done properly, time-blocking forces you to monotask, and the benefits are incredible.

Your productivity will soar when you master this technique.

Have you ever tried to read or work on a plane during a long trip? Did you notice how productive you are in that situation? Why is that? It is because you have no distractions. There are no papers on your desk, no ringing mobile phone—nothing to interfere with your focus on the task at hand. Time-blocking reduces distractions by eliminating them.

There is a myth that multi-tasking is a sign of someone who is a real go-getter. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Studies have proven that multi-tasking actually lowers the IQ and wastes precious brain power. In other words, it makes you more stupid and far less efficient than you are capable of being.

Busy and productive are two VERY different things.

How To Time-Block

The process is very simple. All you need is a kitchen timer and a willingness to work. Here is a step-by-step method:

  1. Clear your workspace. Eliminate all clutter and visual noise. Only leave the thing which requires your immediate attention.
  2. Close all of the windows on your computer and disconnect from the Internet. Turn off the mobile phone (don’t just put it on vibrate—that’s cheating). Remove every possible distraction from your workspace.
  3. Set aside 30-45 minutes to work only on your designated task. Go to the bathroom before you start the time block or do whatever else you need to do to remain focused on your task for the set timeframe.
  4. Start your timer and go to work. Stay on course until the time is up.

That’s it. When the time is up, get up and take a well-deserved break. Notice how much you have advanced in your task.

Time-Blocking Tips

Resist any and all temptations to get distracted. You will find in the beginning that you will encounter a lot of resistance from your body. Why? Because the mind is like a spoiled child; it will resist all attempts at control. The mind is crafty, too. It will suddenly create an itch or a discomfort that makes you feel like standing up and moving around. Don’t give in. With just a little practice you will notice that these things become less frequent as the mind realizes it will not be able to have its own way.

In the beginning you will find it beneficial to work in very small blocks of time. 30 minutes would be a good starting point. As you increase your ability to focus you can begin to extend that time frame. It will do you no good to begin by trying to accomplish a one hour block; you’ll just get frustrated and want to quit. Start small and increase in small increments.

Keep a glass of water nearby and drink plenty of it. Water is the elixir of life. It creates electrolytes and has a ton of other benefits, and you need to be drinking more of it anyway, don’t you? Having a glass nearby will also foil the mind when it tries to convince you that you’re thirsty and need to run to the kitchen for a drink.

Productivity boils down to a simple skill: the ability to focus on a given task for whatever time is necessary to complete that task. If you want to start getting that to-do list done, start focusing on results instead of activity. Results are what we’re after in our business.

Don’t confuse being busy with being productive.

Tools You Can Use

  1. An Online Egg Timer
  2. The Action Machine – a piece of software designed specifically to keep you productive that helps you organize your blocks of time and plan your activities one by one
  3. Todo.ly – a nice little tool for organizing your To Do lists.
Filed Under: Productivity, Self-Discipline, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , ,

Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone!

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We all function in a variety of spheres. Our lives are mostly lived in what we refer to as comfort zones. These are the areas where we feel most comfortable and at our absolute best. As a general rule, people are reluctant to step outside the boundaries of their comfort zone.

If you really want to blast through your limitations and reach levels of success that you’ve only dreamed about, you’re going to have to learn to get out of your comfort zone.

Why We Stay Inside The Comfort Zone

It is natural for us to gravitate toward the things that are familiar. Our subconscious tells us that familiarity is safe. We feel protected and in control when the surrounding landscape is familiar territory. Change is scary. Change means leaving what is familiar and exploring new ideas. That is one reason why addictions are so powerful. They become a part of our comfort zone, and we become dependent on the familiar territory they provide.

The Catch-22 of a comfort zone is that it begins to confine and restrict our growth. Remember, a fence or boundary doesn’t only serve to keep things out. It also keeps things in. Sooner or later this confinement causes conflict, because evolution of the species is nature’s way. We must keep growing and maturing. To resist this growth is a lot like swimming against the current of a mighty river. Pretty soon the powerful current will sweep us under as we are overwhelmed by a world that is constantly in a state of change while we stubbornly remain the same.

Learning to step outside your comfort zone is especially important in Internet Marketing. The Internet landscape changes from day to day. If you are unwilling to change with it and refine your Internet Marketing strategies to reflect the landscape, your business is doomed. It is important for you to decide right now that you will learn to venture beyond the boundaries of what is familiar and safe.

This Is Where The Real Magic Happens

When you learn to leave behind your comfort zone, you will realize that your growth as an Internet Marketer will reach ever-increasing highs. Things that you never thought possible will become easy to you. They will even become enjoyable. I want to share with you an example from my own experience.

For the longest time I refused to learn how to use Photoshop. The program intimidated me. I played with it a few times and my unfamiliarity with it told my subconscious to put on the brakes. My reluctance ran into a brick wall one day when my mobile phone rang. I had been designing websites for a while and my clientele included a few minor celebrities. Comedienne Laura Swisher, who was cohosting a show on Tech TV , had asked me to build her first website. I immediately jumped on the opportunity, of course, but I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. It became clear right away that Laura had very definite ideas about what she wanted, and everything she was asking for was cutting-edge. My choices were reduced to two: learn how to use Photoshop to create the designs she was after or lose her as a client. The latter choice was almost certain to dent my credibility with celebrity clientele. I was literally forced out of my comfort zone.

It’s been almost ten years since then, and these days I am able to create some pretty snazzy graphics for myself and my clients. You can imagine how happy I was when my newfound graphical skills allowed me to sell my clients custom logos for their business. That created an additional source of revenue for me. None of that would have happened if I had stubbornly refused to leave my comfort zone.

How To Break The Boundaries

The first thing you need is a willingness to learn new things. You have to be able to put aside preconceived notions and take that first step into the unknown. The great thing about this, however, is that you only have to be willing to take the first step. After you take it, the path ahead becomes much less frightening.

Second, make an effort to try something new every day. A new kind of food, a new form of exercise, or reading something from a new genre of fiction are great ways to practice leaving your comfort zone.

Finally, get some leverage on yourself by doing what I mentioned earlier. Intentionally put yourself in situations where you will be forced to learn new things. Eben Pagan calls this “inevitability thinking”. Commit to a project that will require you to learn how expand your skill set. For example, you could decide to begin offering custom WordPress Themes on your membership site and announce this decision to your member base. You will either learn how to customize themes or risk being unable to deliver on your promise to your members. Leverage is a powerful way to accomplish real genuine change.

The bottom line is to do whatever is necessary to get out of your comfort zone. There is a lot of opportunity out there that you will never be able to grasp if you don’t.

Allow yourself to feel that fear, or that feeling of insecurity – and act anyway!

Filed Under: Getting Past Roadblocks, Success Tagged With: , ,

Planning Your Ideal Lifestyle

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of the primary reasons many people fail to accomplish their personal vision is because they have fuzzy and indistinct goals. For you to achieve success in any endeavor, including Internet Marketing, you need to clarify your vision of exactly what kind of lifestyle you want to create via your efforts. Vague generalities such as “I want to make a lot of money” or “I want a better life” don’t do much to help you create the visualizations you need to be successful.

The good news is that you have the ability to create whatever you desire. No one can keep you from that. In order to do it, however, you need to start defining your ideal lifestyle and how you will make that lifestyle a reality as an Internet Marketer.

Ask Yourself Some Important Questions

Tony Robbins has said that if we want to change our attitudes about success we must start by asking ourselves better questions. All of us have a constant internal dialogue going on. It even runs while we’re asleep in the form of our dreams. The subconscious is always active, even when we don’t hear it as a “voice” in our head. The questions we’re asking ourselves during this dialogue are monumentally important. Better questions lend better answers.

Questions that are negative do not create the mental “aura” an entrepreneur needs to encourage success. Learn to ask positive, thought-provoking questions. Here’s an example: “What will I do with the income I generate from being a successful Internet Marketer?” The answers to that one will provide some clues about what you really see as an ideal lifestyle. Here’s another good one: “What will financial freedom allow me to do that I have always wanted to do?” Now we’re getting somewhere in terms of crystallizing our vision.

It is not enough to know what you want. You also need to know why you want it and what you are prepared to do to make it a reality.

A Forward-Looking Exercise

If you had the means to do whatever you wanted to do, what would your ideal day be like? Take out a sheet of paper right now and spend a few moments writing a few paragraphs describing your ideal day. Include as much detail as you can. Remember, the clearer the picture the better the result.

This is not a simple daydreaming exercise.

Here are the questions to ask yourself:

  • Where do you live?
  • At what time do you get up in the morning?
  • Who is there with you?
  • What do you enjoy doing most? How would that be a part of your ideal day?
  • What do you do for the rest of the day?

 

Now take a moment to reflect on what you have written. What things need to happen in order for you to make this ideal day a reality? The first thing you may realize during this exercise is that many parts of your ideal day are things you can start creating right away. If you included feeling physically good as a part of your ideal day, go out today and get some exercise. This exercise accomplishes two very important things. It helps you to identify where you are going, and how you will get there.

Both of those things are necessary if you want to clarify your vision and start moving toward your goals.

In planning your lifestyle you need to be looking forward to where you want to be a year from now, five years from now, ten years from now, and so on. Understanding all of these things is an important part of setting and achieving your goals. Once you identify where it is that you want to go, you next need to figure out, bit by bit, how you will get there.

Destiny = Destination

What exactly is your destiny? It is your destination. That’s what a destiny is. It is where you ultimately wish to arrive.

When you get into a car to go somewhere you need to know two things:

  1. Where you are going.
  2. The route you will take.

This is true each and every time you set out on a journey. Internet Marketing is no different, by the way. You still need to know where and how. Both of these elements must be firmly fixed in your mind before you can reach your destination. They do not work independently. If you know where you are going but don’t know how to get there, you’re stuck. If you know the route but don’t have a specific destination, you’re lost. Whether it is a trip across the country or a trip across the decades of your life, having no clear idea of where you’re headed and how to get there always ends in failure.

Take Action That Moves You Closer To Your Outcome

Let me be perfectly clear. If you focus on your ultimate destiny to the exclusion of all else, you’re going to find that your goals will never really get off the ground. You need to be constantly taking action that serves to move you closer to your desired reality. Consider every action you take and ask yourself, “Is this bringing me closer to my desired outcome?” The effect of this is that you will build momentum going forward, and momentum is a powerful force. Holding back a locomotive that is dead on the tracks is easy; holding one back that has momentum will leave you dead on the tracks. Create that same kind of momentum in your own life and nothing will prevent you from accomplishing your goals.

Filed Under: Law of Attraction, Mindset, Motivation, Success

Eight Steps To Monster Productivity

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There never seems to be enough hours in the day to write email blasts, do keyword research, design squeeze pages, or write articles for an affiliate marketing blog. Every Internet Marketer can benefit from increasing productivity, and every internet marketer should devote time and effort toward becoming a productivity ninja and develop some of these much-needed habits.

Today let’s take a look at eight ways that you can boost your productivity and shoot your results into the stratosphere.

Define Your End Result

In his wonderful book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey tells us to begin with the end in mind. Before you begin any project take a few moments to define exactly what you want to achieve. Be specific. Do you want to accomplish a specific conversion rate from your sales page? Perhaps you could write down how many new subscribers you want to add to your mailing list this week and how you will make that happen. Get a clear idea of the goal you are trying to accomplish and refer to it often. Print it out and post it on your wall. This will keep you focused and moving in the right direction.

Set Your Clock Forward By 15 Minutes

This is a sneaky one! Move the time on your watch forward and you will be a little more conscious of the need to remain focused and get your work done in order to wrap things up for the day. You are wrapping things up at some point, aren’t you? We all want to be productive in our endeavors, but always bear in mind that work without the reward of leisure and time spent with your family can become a more like a chore. Stay to task, but set a time when you will call it a day. When you look at the clock and then realize you still have 15 minutes left to tidy up the SEO on your latest blog post, you’ll feel as if you ended the day on a high note.

Go Electronic With Your Reading

Internet Marketers read a lot, but you reading documents in electronic format can save a lot of time. I received a Kindle at Christmas last year, and I would be lost without it. One of the first things I did was put a lot of the reports and .pdfs I had purchased but never had time to read on my Kindle. I can read now in line at the grocery store, and with the text-to-speech function I can even turn it on and listen while I drive. There are many e-readers out there to choose from, and the technology is getting cheaper and cheaper. You can even get a daily newspaper, fire up text-to-speech, and get caught up on the latest news while you shave or do laundry.

Make A Schedule And Stick To It

Just because your business is Internet Marketing doesn’t mean you should treat it differently than you would if you were operating a car wash or a restaurant. In those types of businesses you would expect to maintain a certain schedule and show up for work, even if you were the owner. Make a schedule for your Internet Marketing business and stick to it. Block out the time that you will spend working on your business, and during those hours you need to be working. Be honest. If you worked for someone else the way you work on your Internet Marketing business, would you get fired or promoted? Mmmmm.

Use Your Smartphone For Something Smart

Instead of ripping a rad guitar solo by tapping the screen of your smartphone or play the fart piano, try using a voice recorder app to capture ideas and inspiration throughout the day. The possibilities for using your smartphone in your business are endless. My favorite app of the moment is Square, which turns my smartphone into a credit card terminal. It even comes with a free card reader. Now, when I am selling hosting services or website design or a QR code to an offline client I can accept their payment for my services right away. You can use your smartphone to manage your documents and even edit that ebook you’ve written while you’re standing in line at the DMV or the Post Office.

Two applications I personally use to increase my productivity are Things (for smart To-Do lists) and TouchGoal (for tracking my goals and habits). Here’s an article on iPhone apps for getting organized and staying productive.

Dress For Success

It might be fine for Hugh Hefner to work in his pajamas, but you’ll get far more done if you get up, clean up, and dress like a successful business person. I don’t mean that you need to wear a suit and tie, but dress in a way that you would not be embarrassed to be seen by a customer. Doing that sends a powerful message to your subconscious: I am here to do business. It has an impact on your energy and you will create a better mentality for being productive and accomplishing tasks.

Identify Your Time-Stealers

We all have them. For some of us it might be television, for others it might be checking the stats on our fantasy sports team while we need to be social networking. Whatever these time-stealers are, identify them and start chopping. You’re going to have to make sacrifices for your Internet Marketing Business. Start by reducing the time you spend on frivolous activities. No one is saying you can’t indulge in them, but if you want to watch a television program then watch it instead of channel surfing for three hours. When it is over, move on to something else.

Solve Important Issues Before They Become Urgent

Your printer just ran out of ink. Instead of dropping everything to go and get a new one, get it the next time you’re out shopping. Save the document to a file on your desktop and move on to another project. It will keep right there until you can print it. If it won’t, then you have allowed something which was important to now become urgent. Handle important matters as they arise, not at the last minute. If you had printed that document last week when you still had ink you wouldn’t be scrambling to get it in the mail today. If you had purchased ink when the cartridge was still partially full (important), you would not be pressed to replace it today (urgent). Don’t let your important matters become urgent.

Use these eight tips to increase your productivity and you will notice a significant difference in the amount of work you can accomplish each day.

Filed Under: Getting Things Done, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , ,

5 Ways To Fail As An Internet Marketer (aka How To Kill Your Motivation)

February 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The journey toward enormous success in Internet Marketing is traveled on a winding road that is filled with obstacles. Any of these potholes can be a deterrent to your success, but there are five major hazards that you must avoid. Hit any one of them and you will suffer a serious blow to your motivation as an Internet Marketer.

Tell All Your Friends & Family And Expect Everyone To Cheer You Up And Be Supportive

This is one of the greatest causes of failure in Internet Marketing. When a person begins an online business there is a lot of enthusiasm and a perfectly natural desire to share their business dreams with friends and family. If you decide to do this, be prepared to accept that most of your friends and family might not be as supportive as you would like them to be.

First of all, they may have no interest at all in things like blogging or email marketing. You might as well be speaking an unknown language when you’re trying to explain to them what you do and how you will profit from it. These people aren’t being negative; they just don’t understand the business of Internet Marketing and have no desire to learn about it. Their support and interest will be lukewarm at best.

The more serious problem you may encounter from family and friends will be posed by the “Dream-Killer”. These folks take pleasure in reminding others why their dreams are destined to fall flat. I have never understood why those closest to us can express such negativity and resentment when it comes to our goals. Perhaps they are compensating for their own inability to succeed. Whatever their reason, dream-killers are a serious threat to your Internet Marketing success. You simply cannot allow a constant flow of negative conversation into your mental sphere. You already know those in your circle of family and friends who fall into this category. Avoid discussing your business with them.

Set Unrealistic Goals To Be Achieved By Tomorrow

Goals are great, but they need to be great goals! Great goals are a perfect balance of realism and optimism. You need to give yourself a target, but setting your target way out of reach will only discourage you when you finally concede defeat.

A beginning Internet Marketer might set a goal of making $1,000,000 in their first six months. It is almost certain they will fail to achieve this goal. Although there are people who have attained this, what you must realize is that the business of Internet Marketing isn’t strictly pass/fail. You can make a lot less than a million per year and still be very successful at Internet Marketing. Consider this: a person leaves a decent job making $40,000 per year to become an Internet Marketer. In their first year as an Internet Marketer they make $75,000. Now, 75k is a far cry from a million, but would you agree that their first year in business was a success? Of course you would.

Set smaller, more realistic goals in the beginning of your career and celebrate each accomplishment. Remember what Coach John Wooden said—little things make big things happen.

Don’t Learn And Don’t Evolve At All

Lasting success in any business demands that you continue to grow and evolve. This is especially true in Internet Marketing because things move very fast in the digital age. The marketing techniques that work today might not work next week or next month because the market is constantly in a state of flux. Google changes ranking algorithms the way some people change shirts, and being up to date on the latest SEO strategies can mean the difference between keeping your website at #1 or dropping to page two.

You have to keep learning to avoid this hazard. It is an absolute must. Read. Visit the websites of your competitors and see what they are doing. Participate in forums with other Internet Marketers. However you learn is up to you; just do it.

Believe That Following Some “System” Is The Golden Key To Massive Riches

This one can sneak up on you and you won’t even realize it. Getting caught up in buying “systems” can become an addiction. My own hard drive is full of programs I purchased on my way to becoming successful. Many of these systems are great, and you can glean a massive amount of knowledge from the better ones out there. The thing is, dependency on a certain online marketing system will imprison you in the inability to think for yourself and try new concepts.

The really successful Internet Marketers out there have all been entrepreneurs and innovators. They create. They have a vision of what they want to produce and the drive to transmute that vision into reality. They are always looking for a better way—to increase conversions and sales, to build and monetize better websites, to get higher volumes of traffic. They do not depend on a formula. They make the formula that works for them.

Following a proven step-by-step plan is by no means a bad idea. Neither is going through several internet marketing courses and incorporating an idea from here and another idea from there. But relying on a system and following it like a dogma is a surefire way to limit your vision and your success.

Take Any Criticism Or Negative Feedback As A Blow To Your Self-Esteem

You need to develop a thick skin in order to succeed as an Internet Marketer. Realize that the feedback and advice you get from your fellow marketers is as precious as water in the desert. If you are fortunate enough to have a mentor who has been in your shoes and is willing to share their own insights, please humble yourself and listen to what they have to say.

If you aren’t willing to receive constructive criticism, how will you ever improve? You think everything you do is just great; we all do. Others see with an unbiased eye, and their input can make a big difference in your career. Learn to accept criticism and apply the feedback others are courteous enough to give.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Internet Marketing, Mindset, Motivation Tagged With: ,

The Power of Self-Discipline

February 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This year a vast number of people will attempt to begin a career in Internet Marketing, or IM as we refer to it in the industry. With any new endeavor comes a burst of creative energy and excitement. The wheels are in full gear. As the days wear on, however, initial enthusiasm often fades as the harsh realities of owning a business begin to sink in. Any strategy for long-term success must necessarily include a way to sustain the self-discipline required to succeed.

A lack of self-discipline is one of the primary reasons some individuals fail at creating their own business. Ironically, great success in the early stages of Internet Marketing can actually lead to great failures down the road. The marketer starts to think it is an easy game, and what I refer to as the “Guru Syndrome” takes hold.

The guru angle is much overused in Internet Marketing. You’ve seen it a thousand times. In their pitch the gurus represent themselves as living the good life. They vacation 50 weeks out of the year. They own a fleet of sports cars. With that many cars to wax, who has time to work? What they project via their slick video squeeze pages is a carefree life where the subliminal message is Buy my program and you won’t have to work!

Incoming message from Debbie Downer: if you want to succeed as an Internet Marketer you’re going to have to work as hard at building your business as you would if you started a restaurant or a sporting goods store.

The thing about owning your own business is that you have no one to supervise your efforts. You’re the boss. If you decide to push work aside today and hit the golf course, no one is going to stand in your way. Being your own boss is a double-edged sword. The very freedom you enjoy to make your own hours, sleep in if you want to, or take that occasional day off can affect your success if you lack self-discipline.

What Self-Discipline Really Is

Most people have a wrong perception of self-discipline. They believe it’s a form of pushing yourself to do the things you are supposed to do. Self discipline does NOT mean working against yourself, but working with yourself in the attainment of your purpose. It means aligning your goals and priorities with your self-image and your daily work. It means bringing harmony at all levels and building genuine motivation to do the things you are supposed to do.

How to Improve Your Self Discipline

I’ve written an article entitled 3 Ways to Improve Self Discipline. This is a good starting point.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Mindset, Productivity Tagged With: , , ,