If You Think You're Going to be Successful by Only Networking Online, Think Again - ISSUE 43 - 7/29/12

After pounding the keyboard for many years and reaching out to thousands of people, it finally became apparent that marketing your internet business is not exactly what you may think it is. For starters, there are too many individual people, as well as organizations with many employees, attempting to market online in the same fashion you are. They are utilizing the same techniques and strategies. Everyone knows to hit up the Social Media sites (where all the people are gathering these days), to create a value-rich website and to write an entertaining and informational blog. However, one very important aspect people fail to take into account is their online presence and credibility. Although you are probably doing everything correctly, you are getting smashed to the ground by larger companies because they have more money and more resources available to them than you do.

The answer is simple, people will not spend money with people they either do not like, do not know, do not trust, or a combination thereof. The larger your company, the easier it is to overcome each piece of the puzzle. For example, if your company is incorporated, people tend to equate that with success and trust is usually automatic (unless, of course, your company has a bad reputation for poor customer service, poor quality products, outrageous prices, or anything else negative). Unfortunately, most of you are small businesses with less than 10 employees. Chances are, most of you are a one-man (or woman) show. You have taken the leap of faith and are working diligently to improve the quality of your life and those you love most. However, you are probably experiencing challenges you did not foresee when you began your business venture. Don't worry. You are not alone.

You figured that since there are 900 million active users on Facebook (as of May, 2012) and 500 million active users on Twitter (as of 2012), your success would be easy and smooth sailing. I'm certain that if you have spent enough time on these two sites (as well as other social networking sites), you would agree that it's the furthest from the truth.

Since you are also a consumer and are being marketed to just as much as the next person, I want you to put yourself in those shoes for just a moment. What do you do when you're watching TV and a commercial comes on? Do you sit contently watching them with absolute focus or do you click the mute button, go to the kitchen to grab some food, or do you fast-forward your DVR? How about when you get a phone call from a telemarketer? Do you respectfully listen to what he has to say or do you immediately shut down and ignore him? What about Twitter or Facebook? Are you clicking on every link that reads "Buy Now" or "Spend Money With Me" or do you completely ignore them as if they don't exist? Lastly, what about all those marketing emails you get in your inbox? Are you reading every single one thoroughly or do you delete anything that resembles a sales email?

Chances are, you are doing everything in your power to avoid most, if not all, marketing and sales situations for multiple reasons - you don't have the money to spend, you enjoy buying but don't want to be sold to, you don't trust the companies, you don't know the companies, you feel like your personal space is being evaded, the companies aren't providing enough value, you are sick of it, etc. etc.

If I'm right (which I know I am), then why on Earth do you keep repeating the same things for which you are working so hard to avoid? If you are a small business owner, you have to take into consideration what makes you different from everyone else. The answer is simple, it's 'YOU'! There is only one of you in this world and if you don't get out into the real world and meet new people, you will never get to prove that you are one-of-a-kind to everyone else. It's extremely difficult to stand out in a digital world where you are "just like everyone else."

Life is not fair (especially in the business world) and the people who are the most successful have learned to harness the power of networking. Humans are always looking to others they know and trust for advise and whether they realize it or not, a large percentage of them will only do business with people they have been referred to mostly out of fear of being taken advantage of. Today the Internet is extremely vast and is only going to get bigger and new online marketing techniques may or may not be effective for you.

There are millions of people committing frivolous crimes and they're constantly finding new ways to steal from others. Because of this, you must work very hard to prove you are trustworthy, likable, and deserve someone's hard-earned money. You must step outside of your comfort zone and step up to the plate. Don't be afraid of rejection because the more you focus on value, and steer away from sales, the easier it will be for you to become successful and rejection will no longer be existent.

The point I'm trying to make is that although the Internet is a necessary tool in today's highly advanced digital world, it cannot be your primary focus. Your primary focus needs to be to get out and meet as many people as you can and to tell each one of these people who you are, what you do, and how you can help them. If you aren't comfortable doing so, there are many avenues for you to take. You just have to find the one that works best for you.

Be A Doer - Not A Dreamer - ISSUE 42 - 7/11/12

There are two types of people in this world – those who dream about all the things they want to achieve and those who make it happen “No Matter What!” Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which of the two you are. No one can force you nor give you the inner strength you need to get where you want to go. Even if you go to seminars and hire mentors, they can only show you the door; it's up to you to walk through it. If making money and building a successful business were easy everyone would be doing it.

Owning a business, and especially a successful business, is going to be one of the hardest endeavors you have ever embarked upon; it's going to take a lot of sacrifice and you’re going to have to push yourself further than ever before through all the times of low motivation, frustration, and failure if you want the results to be in your favor. However, if you work hard enough, and do the right things, you will begin to make leaps and bounds before you even know it.

For those of you looking to purchase a franchise, you will have a huge advantage over most business owners because you are “working for” (yes, I said, “working for”) a company that has created a successful system for you. In most cases you can begin to make money right away, but you will also have to come up with the initial franchisee fee as well as any overhead involved which can be quite expensive. You will also be working “for” the company and must abide by all “their” rules and produce the results “they” require. In essence, you are the “employee” of the franchise which is suitable for some, but not all.

Unfortunately for those of you pursuing Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), you will have your work cut out for you. MLM is probably the hardest to be successful with because most people reject being "recruited" and MLM also has a very bad reputation for being a pyramid scheme. If you have done MLM in the past, you know they preach for you to speak with every person who comes within three feet of you. The principle behind this is that if you speak to enough people, you will recruit the most people. While this may hold true, most people who pursue MLM speak to a few people (i.e., family members and friends) and once they hear ‘No’ from the people who are supposed to be the most supportive, they give up. However, the real underlying issue is they either haven't spoken to enough people and/or haven't spoken to the right people to produce the results they desire.

One very important lesson I have learned over the years is to stay away from the people closest to you. Unbeknownst to you (or them), they are the worst people to talk to about business because most of them don’t have the same mindset as you and most of them will do everything in their power to tell you that you ‘can’t do it’ or ‘you won’t succeed.’ It’s not that they are doing this intentionally; it’s that they perceive the world through their own two eyes and the muscle between their own two ears. Most of them haven’t seen success and because they ‘love’ you, they don’t want to see you fail or feel pain as they have in the past.

The mindset you must have is that there are many people out there in the community looking for an opportunity and when you get a ‘No’ from someone, it's usually because they either don't have enough information or they don't have the right information. In other words, most of the time a ‘No’ really means, ‘Not yet.’ You must focus on mastering your craft, building relationships and creating a very impactful elevator pitch so that you can deliver the correct amount of information in less than thirty seconds to increase your results.

Obviously, I don't know how much time you have spent thus far, nor do I know how many people you have spoken to, but I do know that you have to give it time to work. You have to give yourself time to become more and more confident and comfortable doing what you are doing. You have to focus on the relationships and the rest will follow. If you consistently do what you have always done, then you will always get the same results. It may take you two years (give or take) to begin to see the results you want because you may not have a lot of time to commit to the business in the beginning and you obviously don’t have the reputation of being the go-to guy.

I want you to succeed. I don't want you to give up. You have to be strong and dig deep. You have to be willing to make your business venture work NO MATTER WHAT!!!! Do you really want to be stuck in your dead-end job for the rest of your life? I know the answer is ‘NO!’ Do you want to be able to do the things you want and have the things you desire? If the answer is ‘YES,’ then you must work very hard and make the necessary sacrifices. You must focus and be very diligent. You must constantly educate yourself and play games with your own head so that you won't want to give up. It's up to you to make it work; not your mom, dad, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, cousin, friend, spouse, etc.

Did you know that only 1% of the U.S. population makes over $100k a year? That's it! It's because most people give up before they even start; it's because too many people are too focused on instant gratification rather than long-term gratification; it's because people are weak-minded and aren't willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. Failure is a mindset. The people who are successful have failed more than most ever will in a lifetime because they made a commitment to themselves and the people they love most to never ever give up on themselves.

If you give up now, you probably won't get where you want to go because it's not the avenue that’s going to take you to the top, it's the vehicle... the vehicle is YOU!

Everything I am telling you has come from years of failure and frustration as well as years of education. I highly recommend you read "Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!" by Anthony Robbins. That book really helped me dig deep and become stronger mentally and emotionally. It taught me to view the world from a different standpoint. It taught me that failure was all in my head.

I hope you don't take anything I said in a negative manner. It's all meant to help you. I'm here to help you succeed. However, I'm very blunt, especially when it comes to the strength within. If you only knew how much I've failed, you definitely would think I'd have given up by now. I will never give up on my dreams nor will I ever let anyone stand in my way. Failure is part of success. You might fail 99 times before you succeed just once, but you must embrace it from all angles because the more you fail, the more you will succeed. I guarantee it!!!