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Better Results from Business Networking

March 30th, 2010

The key to getting better results from business networking is simple. Build a better network. Here’s how it’s done. There are 3 types of referrer…

  1. Reactor
  2. Promoter
  3. Creator

A reactor is someone who tells others about you when the opportunity arises. For example, a person might say ‘I really need a web designer’. The reactor says ‘I know a great web designer!’

A promoter tells others about you despite not being asked to do so. For example, a promoter might tell a friend he has just had the best holiday ever, and encourages his friend to use the same travel agent.

A creator generates valuable opportunities on your behalf in ways that are likely to work, and go far beyond promotion. I given an example of this below.

The key to improving your profit from business working lies in identifying who your best natural creators are. And that starts by writing down the name of every person you know, and indicating what type of referrer they are for you (i.e. reactor, promoter or creator).

Examine your list and identify your best creator. This is the person who generates referrals of high quality on a regular basis.

Once you know who your best creator is, work out why they refer business to you. Make sure you fully understand what they get out of the relationship. If you’re not sure, pick up the phone and ask. Then go find more businesses like that.

Here’s a personal example. My #1 creator of new business is Intune Computer Services. Here’s why…

  • I offer 4 products they can resell as his own (i.e. white-label)
  • It costs almost nothing to offer them to their clients
  • By doing so they gain a greater share of their client’s IT spend
  • By offering extra services they can exclude potential competitors
  • By offering extra services they may secure new clients and introduce their core products in future

What’s not to love about that from their perspective?

I’m not suggesting you white-label your own product. For you, this may look a little different. As soon as you understand the mechanism that drives your best creator, you can ask to be introduced to more of them.

Even better, you’ll have a thorough understanding of why it’s in their interests to use your service.

If you’re a member of BNI or another business networking organisation, this approach is like gold. It gives you a specific focus that makes it much easier for others to refer business to you.

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Go ahead – jump in

December 28th, 2009

The best thing about being human is that we’re all blessed with a large brain. Compared to almost every other species on earth, our brain is massive relative to our body size.

The worst thing about being human is that we’re all cursed with a large brain. Compared to almost every other species on earth, we spend an inordinate amount of time worrying.

And for the most part, we waste our time worrying about things that never happen.

What’s stopping you?

Starting your own Internet business is a fantastic thing to do. You’ll love it! So what’s stopping you?

If you’re like me, then it will probably boil down to a fear of the unknown. Will your business fail? Will anybody want to buy your product? What don’t you know that you need to know?

Will your friends laugh at you?

The strange this is, when I really looked at what was stopping me, it came down to that last one. Will my friends laugh at me if it doesn’t work?

I remember sharing with one friend that I wanted to start an Internet business. He gave me a scornful look, and told me it was a stupid idea, because ‘nobody makes any real money off the Internet.’

That was 10 years ago. I quit my job within 6 months of starting my business, and am now working full time in business on the Internet. What’s more, I’ve traveled the world with this business. The entire operation is run out of a laptop, and I can literally pick up my business and go.

It’s a wonderful experience, and made possible only because I decided to jump in.

Looking good

Of course, it’s easy to look back now and see what a great idea it was to start my own Internet business. But back then, when I was just getting started, I was terrified.

Back in 1999, I remember sharing my fears and dreams with a more supportive friend. She suggested I take a good hard look at myself and find out what I was scared of. She hinted that I might find out it was something unexpected that was stopping me.

I took up her challenge, and yes, I really was surprised. When it came down to it, my fears about losing money and failing at business were completely overshadowed by a fear of how other people might think of me if I failed.

I realized that my fear came down to fear of how others would view me. I wanted to look good in their eyes, and was scared that I wouldn’t.

This was a fantastic discovery to make about myself, and I’ve since come to realize that I’m not the only one who is stopped by this fear.

Just do it

Maybe you’re also afraid to start your own business, in case you fall flat on your face in front of other people?

The best advice I can give you, is to stop thinking about it and jump in. One of my favorite sayings is ‘leap, and the net will appear.’

This is certainly backed up by my experiences. My first two attempts at business were miserable failures. My third was moderately successful, and allowed me to launch the fourth. It was the fourth idea that finally took off, and allowed me to quit my job.

Each of these ‘failures’ may have lead others to snicker behind my back. Frankly, I was too busy to notice. And by the time I quit my job, nobody was laughing any more.

The point is, don’t spend too much time thinking before you get started. I believe you’ll learn much more by jumping in, and learning as you go. Nothing beats experience when it comes to fine-tuning your business skills.

And you can’t get this kind of experience any other way.

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Ownership: Your access to power

December 16th, 2009

As soon as you take full ownership of the problems in your life, you become a powerful man or woman. Full ownership means you accept responsibility for everything that happens to you, whether it’s your fault or not.

I’m not saying that you accept the blame for something you didn’t do. I’m saying that, to become powerful, you must accept responsibility as if you were the cause.

Victim culture

This is a hard concept to grasp, because we’re raised to think of ourselves as victims.

It’s in the interests of government agencies, and law firms, to encourage this mentality. The victim mentality is even taught in school! Unfortunately, several generations of Americans (as well as citizens of many other countries) have been rendered almost helpless.

The victim culture is, I believe, designed to keep us helpless. Its function is to make us increasingly dependent on government agencies. In such a society, the individual slowly becomes less and less able to act powerfully in his or her own best interests.

In the context of The Online Marketing Blog, victim thinking keeps us unsuccessful. It leaves us unable to act in the face of problems that crop up everyday in a business situation. The victim mentality is incompatible with your success in business on the Internet. Here’s an example of how this kind of thinking makes it impossible for a person to succeed…

It’s not my fault I’m fat

An excellent example of the victim culture can be seen in the actions of a New Yorker who took legal action against four popular fast-food restaurants. He says they mislead him about the nutritional quality of the food they serve.

As a result of what he describes as ‘their negligence,’ he has suffered several heart attacks, has diabetes, and other weight related health problems.

The man in question is grossly overweight, and may die years earlier than would otherwise be the case. In my opinion, it’s entirely his own fault. The decision to eat more food than his body needed was entirely his own. Nobody forced him to eat the majority of his meals at fast food restaurants.

Yet this man is not willing to accept responsibility for his own actions, even though he may soon die as a result of his own choices. This man will not admit that the problem lies with him, and as a result his quality of life has suffered terribly.

His inability to take responsibility for the predicament he finds himself in is the reason why this man is not able to make the life changes he needs to make to survive. He needs to wake up, and fast! This man is facing the ultimate fact of life—that it ends. Even in the face of death, this man is unwilling to accept the blame for his own actions.

This man is not unique in America today. Even corporations have gotten in on the act (and it is an act). Consider the despicable actions of the companies that whined and complained about Microsoft, running off to tell tales to the Department of Justice. They’re like a bunch of little kids, throwing a tantrum just as soon as reality doesn’t immediately deliver whatever it is they want this minute.

No responsibility = no power

Personal power is the natural result of a willingness to take responsibility for one’s own life. Without a willingness to fully own one’s circumstances, and to be responsible for them, a person cannot be powerful in their own life.

The man I mentioned above has blamed four corporations for his obesity and lack of health. He admits no culpability of his own. As a result, he is powerless to do anything about his obesity.

He is powerless, because he must rely on disinterested 3rd parties to do the work for him. But it’s not possible to force a person to lose weight and eat a balanced diet.

The man is a fool. His sniveling approach to life, and the blame he readily assigns to others for his poor state of health, are beneath contempt. He is like a spoiled child, quick to blame everyone but himself for the inevitable result of the eating choices he made. Unfortunately, this spoiled child has an equally disgusting lawyer who was all too ready to suck undeserved funds out of 4 successful corporations.

With great responsibility comes…

Imagine how different this man’s life would be if he woke up to himself, admitted that it was his own choice to eat too much fast-food, and so decided to stop doing so. He would lose weight, and the health problems that go with it. In around 10 months, this man would have completely revolutionized his life.

His lack of power in this problem comes directly from his own unwillingness to recognize that he is the source of his problem. Until he does so, a solution to his problem will elude him. In fact, his current approach requires that he remain overweight and unhealthy. The basis of his legal action requires that he continue to endanger his life.

Isn’t that crazy?

There’s an old cliche that states ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ This saying works in reverse too. With great responsibility comes great power.

The more ownership you take over the events in your life, the more power you’ll wield over the circumstances in which you find yourself. There’s little point trying to ascribe blame, even if you’re justified in doing so. Blaming some 3rd party won’t solve the problem. The solution lies in the actions you take. It lies in your ownership of the problem.

NOTE: I’m not saying that you shouldn’t initiate legal action if it’s required to resolve a matter that can’t be resolved some other way. For example, a neighbor who damages your property, but won’t pay for the repairs, has forced your hand. You’re going to have to initiate legal action to get your money back.

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Success Tips from History’s Greatest

December 8th, 2009

Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. If you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were. David Rockefeller

A man is only as happy as he makes up his mind to be. Abraham Lincoln

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas A. Edison

People fail forward to success. Mary Kay Ash

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value. Albert Einstein

You always pass failure on the way to success. Mickey Rooney

To follow, without halt, one aim: There’s the secret of success. Anna Pavlova

The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication. Cecil B. DeMille

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. Abraham Lincoln

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. Henry David Thoreau

There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way. Christopher Morley

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Sir Winston Churchill

I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time. Herbert Bayard Swope

Eighty percent of success is showing up. Woody Allen

Success isn’t permanent, and failure isn’t fatal. Mike Ditka

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The source of greatness

December 7th, 2009

I touched on goal setting in an earlier article published in this blog: Reality bites. In the article I described the importance of creating goals grounded in reality, and explained how to use objective measures as a way of monitoring your progress.

The reality-based approach to goal setting described in the above article is vital to the success of any goal you set out to achieve, and introduces some of the concepts I expand on here.

The standard approach delivers standard results

The standard approach to goal setting is to set goals that are “realistic”, but that you still consider to be a stretch. That is, to set a challenging goal that you know you can achieve. Here’s an example of this, taken from a goal-setting website…

It’s important to set goals that you can achieve. You may be naive in setting very high goals. You might not appreciate either the obstacles in the way, or understand quite how many skills you must master to achieve a particular level of performance.

In my opinion, this is bad advice.

The unspoken assumption here is that you know what you’re capable of achieving in advance of trying. The question I have is, how do you know this? And what if you’re wrong?

Cutting yourself off at the knees

The standard approach to goal setting is fatally flawed. It has you place a limit on what’s possible by insisting that you rely only on what you already know. The result will be a goal that only delivers more of what you already have.

The standard approach doesn’t give you the chance to discover new ideas or ways of doing things. It doesn’t force you to sit down and think. It asks nothing of you, other than activity.

The standard approach doesn’t give you access to the greatness that exists within. If your desire is to perform at an above average level, you need to abandon the standard approach to goal setting. There’s a much better way to set goals. This new approach is designed to deliver results way beyond average.

The source of greatness

The source of greatness is great goals. History’s great men and women are ordinary people who set “impossible” goals, and went on the achieve them.

In this article, I recommend that you set a goal for yourself that you have no idea how to achieve. A goal that has other people shaking their heads in disbelief when you tell them about it. A goal that makes you weak at the knees when you contemplate it.

A goal so tough, you’re going to want to cross the street if you see it coming your way!

But won’t it all end in tears?

The immediate objection to this type of goal setting is that the goal-setter is highly likely to fail. The bigger the goal, the worse the failure will be. Professional goal-setters would prefer that you experienced the joy of success rather than the pain of failure. They want to protect you from the inevitable disappointment of failure, in case it puts you off setting any more goals.

As you’re reading Online Success Magazine, I assume you’re interested in achieving results well above average. I assume that you’re not interested in living the dull gray life that most people seem content to put up with.

This article isn’t about being average. This article is about the source of greatness, which has its origin in the goals you set for yourself.

Take any great person from history, and imagine he or she had set the kind of safe goals recommended by professional goal-setters. If some great historical figure had played safe in this way, he or she wouldn’t be a great historical figure from history. And you’d be thinking about someone else right now!

Any great goal brings with it the possibility of two extreme outcomes: spectacular success, or dismal failure. The possibility exists that it could all end in tears. You may not achieve your goal.

The question you need to ask yourself is: Does it matter?

Does it matter that you set a goal to earn $1 million in 30 days, and didn’t achieve it? Will you feel sad? Perhaps. Will you be emotionally crushed? Maybe. Will you feel foolish? Possibly. Will others think you foolish? Probably.

The original question is still valid: Does it matter?

The emotions we all experience during failure are nothing more than an attempt by our brains to give a contextual meaning to the chemical reactions going on in our body.

The point is, you don’t have to be a slave to your emotions. You can act in spite of them. It’s possible you’ll end up looking and feeling foolish. This needn’t stop you from setting impossible goals, and acting on them.

Do I really mean impossible?

No, not impossible in a ‘breaking the laws of physics’ kind of way. Some things are absolutely impossible. Other things only seem impossible, but can be achieved.

It’s impossible to walk through a solid concrete wall without breaking it. If your goal is to do so, you’re not going to achieve it. To do so requires that well established scientific theories about the nature of matter be completely and utterly wrong (they’re not).

It’s not easy for most people to earn 10 times the national income in 30 days, but it can be done. And you don’t have the break the laws of physics to do so.

When I say that it’s OK to set impossible goals, what I’m really saying is that it’s OK to set very difficult goals. I’m not advocating that you try to do things that are actually impossible.

Why set difficult goals?

I assume that you want to achieve great things with your Internet business. If you’re going to do so, you’ll need to set difficult goals for yourself. But there’s another reason why setting difficult goals works so well…

It forces you to get creative.

The following example helps illustrate what I mean. Imagine that two people have the same vague desire to make a lot of money in business on the Internet. Both are currently earning $500/month from their Internet business. Both set themselves an income goal.

Bob’s goal is to earn $1,000 per month within 5 months. He needs to increase his sales by $100/month to achieve his goal.

Brenda’s goal is to earn $5,000 per month within 5 months. She needs to increase her sales by $900/month to achieve her goal.

Bob realizes that he will reach his goal by increasing his advertising by $20 each month. He can easily fund this extra expense from the extra money he will make. It’s a stretch, and involves some risk, but it’s not too difficult for him to imagine how me might achieve it.

Brenda has no idea how she’s going to reach her goal. It’s more than a stretch…it seems impossible! But she knows that it’s not impossible because lots of people earn $5,000/month on the Internet. Brenda is forced to think a lot harder than Bob if she’s going to achieve her goal.

Brenda probably doesn’t know enough to achieve her goal. The fact is, she’s almost certainly going to have to get ideas from somewhere. If she’s smart, she’ll visit online marketing forums, marketing websites, brainstorm ideas, talk to other webmasters, and look for books on marketing. She’ll exploit every resource available to her. If she’s going to reach her goal, she’ll have no choice but to do this.

What Brenda is forced to do will have her become more successful than Bob, even if she fails to achieve her goal.

Bob is playing safe, slowly growing his business using the same old techniques. Eventually, those techniques will no longer deliver any more growth. They’ll no longer be an effective way for Bob to grow his business, and he’ll be stuck in a rut with no way out.

Brenda will also find that her ideas only work for a period of time. Eventually, she’ll find it harder to grow her business using her existing ideas. The difference is, Brenda is used to thinking creatively. She forced herself to be creative from the start. She knows what needs to be done to get herself out of any rut she finds herself in.

Assuming Brenda keeps at this long enough, eventually she’ll have a breakthrough and come up with something totally revolutionary. A revolutionary breakthrough may well deliver her goal in a few short weeks!

Dealing with failure

Anyone who sets big goals can expect failure. It’s happens to everyone, no matter how experienced they are. I’m not saying you should waste your valuable time dwelling on it. I’m saying you shouldn’t be surprised when it happens.

Don’t let it upset you. If that’s not possible, then don’t let it stop you. Keep on setting difficult goals.

I suggest you treat goal setting as a game. If you lose at Monopoly, do you deem yourself a failure and refuse to play another game because the defeat is too humiliating to bear? I hope not!

Achieving your goal should be important to you, but not all consuming. Don’t take it as some kind of personal indictment against you if you don’t achieve it. A goal is nothing more than a statement of intent. If you don’t get there, so what? You’re no different to other great people of history, setting out to achieve something great, and enduring many failures along the way.

Failure comes with the territory. It’s the cost of greatness. It’s the price you pay, and will soon be forgotten as you refocus your efforts on your next goal.

One man’s failure…

Failure to reach a goal can look like spectacular success to an objective third party.

Bob and Brenda are actually real people (names and goals changed of course). They did set income goals. Bob succeed beyond his wildest dreams, and easily achieved his goal. Brenda failed miserably and only got half-way to her target.

In other words, after 5 months Bob was making $1,000/month and Brenda was earning $2,500/month.

In terms of their goals, Bob succeeded and Brenda failed. But if I hadn’t told you what their goals were, who would you think the most successful?

This is another reason for setting a wildly unachievable goal. If you miss it, even by a large amount, you’re still going to be better off than if you achieve a safe goal.

Ask yourself, would you prefer to succeed in achieving 100% of a goal of $30,000/year? Or fail by achieving only 10% of a goal of $1 million/year? Personally, I’d rather be a failure earning $100,000/year than a success earning $30,000!

Set a massive and uncomfortable goal

Set yourself a massive and uncomfortable goal. Force yourself to think way outside the box, and to use all the resources at your disposal.

Force yourself to ask other people how you might achieve your goal. Seek out people who have already achieved similar goals, and ask them how they did it.

Anything that doesn’t involve breaking the laws of physics is possible. Don’t be stopped simply because you think it impossible.

The source of your own greatness is in the goals you set for yourself. It’s as simple as that.

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Want to Succeed? First you need to know how the world works

December 3rd, 2009

The concept of causality, is essentially that nothing happens in an of itself. There is always a cause, and it always occurs before the effect.

If the cause takes place, the effect will too.

It all seems so obviously true and unimportant. You don’t get rain without water vapor and condensation. Despite this almost universal acceptance and understanding, there’s more to cause and effect than first meets the eye. Our cause and effect universe has profound implications when it comes to your ability to succeed in business.

I am what I am

“I yam what I yam,” says the world’s most famous sailer man. And many other people do to, without any thought to what it implies.

The declaration “I am what I am” implies a person has little or no control over the way they are. It’s as if God made them that way, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

The declaration implies the causes that lead them to this point in their life (the effect), were outside of their control. By implication, this doesn’t bode well for the future. If the causes that lead to their present state were outside of their control, then so are the causes that will lead to their future self.

Such a person has no sense of control. His or her life turns out the way it will turn out, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

Such a person is a victim of fate. Or God. Or whatever object he or she considers to be in control of the causes that impact on his or her life.

We can cause effects

It’s demonstrably true that we can impact other people, and we can do this by choice. For example, a person might choose to sleep with another person’s spouse. This may be the cause of a divorce (the effect).

If we can be the cause of an effect with another person, then by implication, we can also be the cause in our own life. What’s more, it’s in our best interests to do so, because nobody is as concerned with our well-being as we are!

A universe of cause and effect, that allows us to play an active roll in being a cause, grants us a wonderful gift. It allows us to take some degree of control over our future.

Each of us is able to play a part in shaping who we are, what we’re capable of, and what we achieve.

Don’t settle

Are you unhappy with the way things are in your life (i.e. some particular effect)? You don’t have to be. You can take any one aspect of your life (an effect), and change it.

You change it by making a conscious decision to change the cause of that effect.

Such changes don’t happen over night. If it has taken years to produce the effect, it may take years to put things right. The point is, you can do it. Any given effect has a cause. As long as you know what the cause is, you can replace it with some other cause designed to produce an effect you’d rather have. For example…

A lonely person recognizes that his shyness is the cause. Shyness causes him to do the things that make a person lonely, such as avoiding contact with others. He decides to change the cause, and instead starts doing the things that bring a person friends.

Of course, it sounds much easier than it really is. We all grow familiar (comfortable) with the way we act. We might not like the effect, but it can be hard to change the cause, because we associate it with ourselves being “that way.”

A shy person may regard themselves as actually being “shy,” as if the human body had a shy gland that prevents gregarious behavior. This is why it can take years to change an effect.

How to be successful

My point isn’t that this is easy to do. My point is that each of us has the power to change things about ourselves we don’t like. This includes the things that hold you back, and get in the way of your success in business.

Whatever it is you want for your business, you can achieve it. You need only work out exactly what that thing is, and then decide what the activities are that will deliver it to you.

If any of those activities seem like things you can’t do, then you need to go to work on the cause that has lead you to this effect. Change the cause, and you change the effect. You are then free to do the things you need to do to succeed.

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Reality bites!

November 30th, 2009

You and I enjoy the benefits of a world that has embraced reality, and pursued it through science. This pursuit of reality has given us computers, cell (mobile) phones, medicines that work, painless dentistry, and countless other benefits.

Unfortunately, it seems that most people today could care less about reality. They’re deeply involved in the pursuit of things that have no objective reality. They’re interested only in things that can’t be shown to exist anywhere (except the human mind).

I think that’s a shame. In particular, I think a practical understanding of objective reality is vital to your success in business on the Internet.

Reality is measurable

Something can only be real, in an objective sense, if it’s specific and measurable. A thing that can’t be measured has no objective (i.e. independent of the human mind) reality.

Some people will object to this statement, and claim that we can’t be sure about the reality of anything. These people claim that objects might look real, but we can’t know they’re not some kind of elaborate illusion. Others will claim that a thing is real to them, even if it can’t be measured.

In my view, reality is as self-evident as an elephant sitting on you. If a thing (e.g. an elephant sitting on someone) can be measured (e.g. the amount by which that person is squashed), it doesn’t matter whether it’s an illusion or not. The pain will certainly seem real enough!

There may be things we can’t measure with existing technology, but that do have objective existence. The point is, we can’t demonstrate these things exist using the tools currently available to us. Here’s an example…

Plenty of people believe in God, but nobody can prove it actually exists. There is no way to measure God, so it’s not possible to demonstrate the existence of God to a skeptic.

I’m not saying that God doesn’t exist. I’m saying that God’s existence is not objective in the way yours is. Your existence can be verified with an appropriate form of measurement. If anyone claims that you don’t exist, you need only avoid bathing for the next 30 days. Then follow him or her around for awhile. Your objective existence will soon be undeniable, if not unbearable!

This is the essence of reality as I mean it in this article. I’m not trying to be controversial here, and only wish to explain what objective reality means, so we can move on and find out why it’s so crucial to your success.

Goals, success, and reality

The Online Marketing Blog is dedicated to the topic of your success in business on the Internet. A person is successful when he or she achieves a goal. If the goal has not yet been achieved, the goal setter may be on his/her way to success. But he/she is not yet successful.

A goal can only be achieved if it’s grounded in reality. That is, if the goal is specific and measurable. Here’s an example…

Jack is in business on the Internet. His goal is to make $9,000 per month by May 30, 2007.

This is a very specific goal. There are no shades of gray. If Jack isn’t earning $9,000/month by May 30, he has failed.

This goal is measurable, and so lends itself to the creation of a plan to achieve it. If you can take a goal, and work backwards to find the specific activities you need to do to achieve it, you’re operating in the realm of reality.

The plan is given by the goal

Jack wants to earn $9,000 per month. He needs to earn an average of $300/day to do this. As he earns $100/sale, he needs to make 3 sales/day to achieve his goal.

He expects to get one sale per 300 visitors to his website, so he needs 900 visitors per day to reach his goal. He expects to get one visitor per 100 ad displays, so he needs 90,000 ad displays per day to reach his goal.

NOTE: If Jack doesn’t know some of these figures, he can start by guessing. As the results start coming in, he can change the figures to match reality.

What if the plan isn’t working?

Jack has written his goal in such a way that it can be used to create a simple plan. He worked backwards from his goal to the specific thing he must do to achieve it (90,000 ad displays/day).

This is a specific action that, if taken, ought to deliver the outcome Jack is looking for. But it doesn’t always work out that way. Jack is reliant on those 90,000 ads delivering 900 visitors to his site. What if this doesn’t happen?

Jack is in a position to see whether he’s on track to achieve his goal after the first week of getting 90,000 ad displays/day. He can easily see if 90,000 ads/day has actually resulted in 900 visitors. If it doesn’t, he will have enough data to work out how many ads he really needs to get his 900 visitors.

Once he’s had sufficient visitors, he can see if he’s getting one sale per 300 visitors. If he’s not, he can use the figure he is getting, and increase or decrease as required.

The point is, he can monitor his progress along the way, and make adjustments using real data. Here’s an example to illustrate the point…

After 2 weeks Jack discovers that 90,000 ads/day are averaging 1,200 visitors. That’s the good news. He’s getting a better result than expected. Unfortunately, he’s only getting one sale per 600 visitors, so he’s averaging 2 sales per day and is not on target to reach his goal of $9,000/month.

Jack needs 3 sales per day, and with his current average, he’s going to need 1,800 visitors/day (3 sales x 600 visitors).

He’s getting one visitor per 75 ads (90,000 ÷ 1,200). To get 1,800 visitors per day, he’ll need 135,000 ad displays per day (75 x 1,800).

In other words, one way to make sure he reaches his goal is to increase the number of ad displays he’s getting. Notice how it’s possible to use his results to find out exactly what needs to be done to achieve his goal?

Any plan grounded in objective reality will lend itself to this kind of information. Because it’s measurable, Jack can instantly tell if he’s off-target. And he can use the data he has to find out what needs to be done to get back on-target.

Buying more advertising is not the only option available to Jack. He could also try to improve his sales conversion ratio. He’s currently getting one sale per 600 visitors. If he can find a way to improve this to one sale per 400 visitors, he’ll reach his goal with 1,200 visitors per day, and won’t need to spend more on advertising.

This approach is essential to the success of any business endeavor. Suppose Jack hadn’t been this specific, and instead had only a vague notion that he wants to get rich. Without an objective goal to shoot for, he can’t work back to find the specific task he needs to do to achieve his goal. He has no way to assess his progress, so he can’t tell if he’s succeeding or not.

The realm of thoughts and feelings

The term “thoughts and feelings” is a catch-all phrase that describes the collection of emotions running around in a person’s mind at any given time.

Our thoughts and feelings exist only in our head. They have no objective reality in and of themselves. For example, if Jack doesn’t achieve his goal, he’s likely to feel a little depressed. This is perfectly natural. An emotional low is a state of mind. It has no substance to it, and will not last longer than the next lot of a good news to come along.

NOTE: I’m not talking about clinical depression. I refer only the everyday highs and lows we all experience.

Our thoughts and feelings change from moment-to-moment, and are a very unreliable guide to what’s true about our self and our life.

In the above example, Jack felt a little depressed because he hadn’t reached his goal. Let’s imagine Jack then opened his mail and discovered that he’d just won $10 million in the state lottery. I doubt his “depression” would survive opening the envelope.

Every human being has thoughts and feelings. It doesn’t matter that we have our ups and downs. What matters is how we relate to them.

Most people relate to their thoughts and feelings as if they were objective reality. They act as if their thoughts and feelings exist outside of the mind that gave rise to them. But is this actually true? Do thoughts and feelings exist independently of a living human being?

I don’t think they do. A corpse shows no sign of having thoughts and feelings.

We can’t escape our feelings. We’re destined to experience them, each and every day of our lives. That doesn’t mean we need to be enslaved by them.

The triumph of reality over feelings

As soon as a person accepts that feelings exist only in the realm of subjective reality (i.e. in the mind), he or she gains power over them. A person who believes their thoughts and feelings are real in the objective sense, is limited in what they can achieve. Here’s why…

A person who feels shy, will believe he/she is actually shy

A person who feels sad, will believe he/she is a sad person

A person who experiences failure, may believe he/she is a failure (rather than simply having failed at some thing)

All of us experience these feelings at some point. And most of us have had experiences where we’ve felt one way, and acted in another. In other words, a person who feels shy is still able to take the actions of a person who isn’t.

I’m not saying it’s easy for a shy person to act as if they aren’t shy. I’m simply pointing out that it’s possible.

What’s interesting about this, is what it implies. Let’s say you see Jack acting in a confident manner. He approaches a woman, and with all the confidence in the world he asks her out on a date.

If you didn’t know Jack, would you assume he was shy? Of course not. You’ve just seen him act the way a confident person acts (note that word “acts”).

What if I were to tell you that Jack is shy, but has taught himself to act in the manner of someone who isn’t?

In his own mind, Jack will still thinks of himself as shy. He has all the feelings that shy people have. But to an outside observer, he doesn’t seem shy at all. The outside observer has no idea what Jack feels, and can only go on the evidence of his/her own eyes. To the objective observer, Jack is not shy.

So who’s right? Is Jack shy or not?

In my view, there’s no such thing as shy. There are the feelings that go along with being shy, and there are the things that shy people do (or don’t do) that signal their shyness to others.

The feeling “shy” has no objective existence in and of itself. At a biochemical level, the feelings Jack associates with shyness are identical to those that occur when he’s happy, sad, frightened, or overjoyed.

Objectively, Jack is simply experiencing a chemical reaction in his body. Shyness is nothing more than a mental interpretation that his mind places on the chemical reaction he’s having.

There is an interesting explanation of 3 different theories of emotion available on the Internet. Theory #3 is especially interesting, as it describes the results of a famous experiment where volunteers were injected with adrenaline. The results tend to support the idea that our emotions have more to do with a subjective interpretation by our brain, than any external objective reality.

For further evidence of this, consider that a coroner can’t tell you if a dead person was shy while they were alive. A coroner can’t open up the body and proclaim, “Ah yes, here’s the shy gland. This person was shy.”

Emotions are almost certainly interpretations we give to the chemical reactions going on in our body, and are given by context. If a person has a reason to fear something, the chemical reaction is interpreted as fear. If that same person has a reason to be happy, the reaction is interpreted as happiness. But it’s the same chemical reaction.

People can suffer as a result of their emotional state. The good news is, these states are wholly subjective. They don’t necessarily mean a person can’t do something because it makes them feel bad. For example, the subjective feelings that come with being shy don’t stop a shy person from acting in a confident manner.

I don’t claim it’s easy to overcome the habits of a lifetime. It isn’t easy for a person who feels a certain way to act as if they didn’t feel that way. But it’s possible, and I think that’s very good news.

There’s a very good chance you’re going to have to do things that make you feel uncomfortable, if you’re going to achieve your goal. The great news is, these feelings needn’t stop you from doing them. They needn’t hold you back.

Reality rocks

Reality is an excellent tool. It isn’t subject to the whim and fancy of our thoughts and feelings. Reality tells us what we need to do to succeed.

Unfortunately, our thoughts and feelings often get in the way of the specific things we need to do to achieve a goal. For example, a person who thinks they’re bad at math isn’t going to want to do the kind of reality-based goal setting I talk about in this article. Their thoughts and feelings are going to complain and whine about not being good at math.

This won’t stop a determined person. A determined person will find a way through the mire of their thoughts and feelings, and indulge themselves in an orgy of reality!

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Using the Social Mirror

November 30th, 2009

Do you want to be successful, but feel something is holding you back? Are you looking to make a lot of money, but wonder if you’re really cut out for life in business on the Internet?

I recently came across the phrase “the social mirror.” This phrase refers to the fact that many people get their sense of self-worth from the things others say. That is, from what is reflected back to them.

You can rise above it

If you want to be successful in life, you need to rise above this kind of nonsense. Any form of success (sport, business, relationships) requires commitment, and what other people may call sacrifice.

I say “other people,” because a committed sportsman receiving gold at the Olympics doesn’t miss all the burgers he never ate. It doesn’t seem like a sacrifice at the point of victory.

My own story

Here’s an example from my own life. My highest priority is my wife and family. I got married and had kids because I wanted to spend time with them. But when I started my web business, I was spending the best part of every day at work.

I had limited capital, so I had to promote my site for free. That meant coming home from work and submitting ads manually. I found the best time to submit ads was midnight through 10am. So I submitted ads until 1am every night, and then got up at 5am the next morning to submit more. I also spent my weekends working on the site.

You can imagine what the “social mirror” was telling me! People told me I was a bad father, I didn’t spend enough time with my kids, I was a workaholic, and so on. That was then, this is now…

Now the social mirror says “you’re so lucky to be able to work from home and spend so much time with your children.” Of course, you and I know that “luck” had nothing to with it. The fact is, I didn’t listen to the social mirror. If I had done, I would have quit when it told me I was a bad parent. And I’d still lead an ordinary 9-5 life today.

Thankfully, I knew what I was committed to. I knew I would buy back the time I invested.

The concern was genuine

Most of the people who are going to tell you “it won’t work”, or “you can’t do that”, are genuinely concerned about you. They simply don’t have your commitment or dreams. So don’t feel threatened or angry. Simply thank them for their concern, and carry on to success!

Manipulating the social mirror

I used to think that I was what I had chosen to be. And then I began to realize I was simply a product of my environment. I didn’t have any original thoughts, and my self-worth was based on other people’s opinions of me.

Over a period of time I began to realize that if my environment had influenced me this powerfully, what could I achieve if I changed my environment? Could I use the social mirror to my own advantage?

I thought I probably could. I’d already seen the power of positive feedback in my own kids. For example, my son Michael will be looking at something in the playground and say “I can’t Daddy.”

I’d reply “Of course you can, it’s easy. Here I’ll help you and then you try yourself.” Within a few minutes he’s a pro, and the only thing that changed was his belief in himself. I have nurtured a belief and conviction in him that he can.

Amy is the same with reading. She might say “I don’t know that word Daddy.”

“No trouble sweetheart, what sound does ‘s’ make?” A minute later, and I’m saying “Man, you’re such a good reader! Soon you’ll be reading books to me.”

Choosing your social mirror

If only you and I could find people with that much belief in us! We’d soon be living the life of our dreams! Actually, there are people like that everywhere. I’m one of them, and so are you. If you’re human, and you’ve got a pulse, then I believe you can achieve anything you want.

History is jam-packed with ordinary people who overcame unbelievable odds to realize their dream. Don’t entertain the thought “I can’t” for more than the second it takes to say “Yes I can.”

Some people get inspired when others say, “You can’t.” And some people are completely destroyed. The way a person reacts to a “you can’t” statement is the only factor that determines whether a person is ordinary, or extraordinary.

I see this every week on American Idol. Simon is a harsh judge, and often tells people they’ll never make it. Some contestants are devastated by this feedback, while others have gone on to win the competition! What’s the difference between someone who goes on to win, and another who is devastated?

The sole difference lies in the way they responded to the statement.

Whichever type you are right now, a few changes to your environment will make a world of difference to who you’ll be in a few months time.

Take a good hard look

Analyze your environment today. Think about your friends, family, workspace, the books you read, and the television you watch. What are these things telling you? Who and what are they saying to you? What do they say about the world you live in?

If they don’t reinforce the idea that “you can,” or that “you look good,” or that “you’re important,” you must change these things in your environment. They’re excess baggage, and they dragging you down. Get rid of them!

If there’s someone in your family like this, you may need to sit down and explain your dream clearly to that person. Chances are, he or she does care about you, and is actually worried about you.

If this person sees you pursuing a dream he/she considers impossible, this person may want to protect you from disappointment. It’s definitely worth sitting down and talking to this person. Find out what’s behind his or her criticism.

You never know, this person may end up becoming your greatest ally. It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened.

It’s possible to ignore the social mirror for a while, but it’s far more powerful to change it into something that supports you. Take ownership of it, and turn it into an ally that helps you achieve your goals.

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Lock in your income stream

November 29th, 2009

In business on the Internet a reliable income stream is everything. Whether you’re working from home, shipping physical product or selling ad space, you simply can’t enjoy the freedom that comes with owning your own Internet business unless you have a secure income stream.

It’s so important, that everything you do ought to help, in some way, to securing your income stream.

There’s more than one way

Most of us automatically think an income stream means some kind of regular monthly commission check (e.g. a group of people who regularly pay you a subscription fee each month).

An email list is essentially an income stream. You can mail the list whenever you want. Assuming you have something to offer and the skills to promote it, you’ll generate income every time you do.

A website with regular visitors is another type of income stream. You can put anything you like on your website, allowing you to promote something that your visitors will be prepared to pay for.

In other words, you needn’t think of your income stream as revolving around commission. And when you do step out of that narrow world, it opens up a world of possibility that simply doesn’t exist if you’re stuck in the mindset that an income-stream means a commission check.

Take Mick Jagger

Take Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger has several income streams, including record sales, song-writing credits and concert tours.

These days the concerts are few and far between. This only increases their value in the minds of fans. A concert is something to be treasured. It’s very uncertainty means it must be taken while its available (there’s a useful tip there).

Should Mick Jagger feel the need for a little extra money, he need only set the (steel) wheels in motion and organize a tour. A Rolling Stones tour generates millions of dollars worth of income. Wouldn’t you love to have the ability to generate that kind of income in return for a few months work?

These days, a Rolling Stones tour doesn’t generate regular monthly income. But thirty years ago, the Rolling Stones were young enough to sustain several tours per year. Back then, it was a regular income stream.

What’s more, it reinforces associated income streams from record sales, T-shirts, posters and other paraphernalia. If you’re able to design an income stream that reinforces and stimulates additional income from other sources, you’re on the fast-track to wealth.

Building visitors

The Rolling Stones income stream is built around their fans. The more fans they have, the more revenue they generate.

For someone in business on the Internet, it comes down to visitors. The more people you can attract to your website, the more revenue you can generate.

And if you create multiple sites, each reinforcing the others, you’re going to find it a lot easier to turn visitors into revenue.

So don’t let yourself get bogged down by the narrow view that an income-stream is something that comes from commission checks paid to you by other websites. There’s nothing wrong with receiving commission checks, but there’s so much more you can achieve if you open yourself up to a wider view of what an income stream is. And where it can come from.

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Discovering the diamonds within

November 28th, 2009

A farmer who lived in Africa became tremendously excited about looking for diamonds.

He’d heard that diamonds had already been discovered in abundance on the African continent, and he got so excited about the idea of millions of dollars worth of diamonds, that he sold his farm to went to go look for a diamond line.

He wandered all over the continent, constantly searching for diamonds. He spent his best years searching for wealth, but never found it.

Eventually, he ran out of money and hope. Full of remorse and despair, he threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of a country egg. He put it on his mantle as a sort of curiosity.

One day, a visitor called by. In viewing the rock, the visitor practically went into terminal convulsions. He told the new owner of the farm the funny looking rock on his mantle was about the biggest diamond he’d ever seen.

The new owner replied that his farm was covered with them, and sure enough, it was.

The farm turned out to be the Kimberly Diamond Mine, the richest the world has ever known. The original farmer was literally standing on “acres of diamonds.” Until he sold his farm to go look for diamonds elsewhere.

The grass is always greener

It’s in our nature to be dissatisfied with what we have. It’s only natural to look over the fence, and see that the grass looks greener.

The thing to realize is, if the grass really is greener, it may well be due to the person growing the grass.

In other words, should you feel the need to improve your circumstances, it’s worth examining what you have, instead of assuming greener pastures lie elsewhere.

Had the farmer taken a little time to first learn more about diamonds, it’s likely he would have discovered his own farm was covered with them. Had he first examined what he had, his life would have turned out very differently.

It may be tempting to go search for riches elsewhere, overlooking the very wealth that lies at your feet, awaiting discovery.

Don’t overlook your own acres of diamonds.

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