I’m going to post today about mindset, and exclusively about mindset. I’m not going to sell anything with this post. I want to encourage a discussion through the comments.
If you’re like most people in internet marketing, you already know countless ways of making a successful business. Yet very few people accomplish a successful business.
Why is that?
I saw a video of a seminar recently where somebody was talking about mindset. I’m not going to reveal the identity of this person, but the gist of what he was saying was that if you’re not already making tons of money out of internet marketing, you’re just playing around on a computer.
He’s wrong, and in fact, he angered me with some of the points he made.
I don’t make tons of money out of IM. I hope I will, of course, in the future.
I make quite a bit of money out of two products that I released. Keyword Transformer and Limited-Time Offer Script. So why am I not releasing more products like these?
Damned if I know.
I make some money out of selling advertising space to Google through blogging. All of the traffic on the two sites I’m thinking about is organic, and one of these has potential to become very large, with a few tweaks. So why am I not working on that?
I don’t have an answer for that.
So I must be broken in some way. This is in fact the conclusion that I’m coming to.
My mind is stopping me from succeeding. Or, at least, enjoying the level of success that I would like.
While I’m not flitting from opportunity to opportunity any more, or at least I don’t believe I am, most of the products that I have launched don’t make me money any more, except for the software products that I have authored.
This doesn’t mean I haven’t put in many hours getting new products created. That’s what made me angry when watching the recording of the seminar speaker I mentioned. I have not been squandering my time, “playing with my PC.” It’s just that the efforts I have gone to have not produced the results I desire yet.
And while I’ve tried some self-help products, there seems to be a great deal of waffle in this area that’s totally unbelievable.
I’ve seen people talk about the “Law of Attraction,” so I did some research. As I understand it, the basic idea is that you imagine your life to be as you want it to be, and then, somehow, magically, it all comes together.
Sorry if I scoff, but there’s no way on earth that me imagining that I live in Buckingham Palace is gonna cause a cheque to come through the door, payable to me, with enough money written on it for me to buy out the Royal Family. Or even enough money for a can of Coke.
I looked at “The Secret” on amazon.co.uk. There are plenty of comments that basically state that the product has caused its authors and distributors to find joy and the level of success they desire, but virtually nobody else.
These products could be the way for me to succeed, but if so, then I simply won’t succeed, because there’s no way that I could possibly believe in them.
I’ve tried self-hypnosis works. I’ve tried a “Mental Bank” idea that was fielded to me, even though that seemed like hocus pocus. Well, it didn’t work for me; that’s for certain.
Some of this stuff may have helped me to some extent, but I’m not at the level I want to be.
I was re-reading Dennis Becker’s 5 Bucks a Day ebook the other day. The basic principle is that every week, you should try to come up with a project that will provide you with a profit of $5 per day, on average. If you give yourself two weeks holiday and manage 50 of these in one year, at the end of that year, you will have an income of $250 per day. $91250 per annum. Or £61684.58 per annum, in my language, at the current exchange rate as provided by Google a moment ago.
That would be a pretty good income for me. Let’s say that it would take me four years, because I can’t afford to risk my job yet. Shouldn’t be too hard, should it?
So why is it?
As I said, I wanted to provoke a discussion. So what I want you to reply with is your thoughts.
Have you solved the problem for yourself? Excellent! Let us in on your secret. It might work for some other people too.
Have you got problems similar to me? Do you know a sure-fire way to succeed, but something’s holding you back? Write about it. Maybe somebody can suggest something.
Note: If you want to link to a product with an affiliate link in the comments, or your own product, I don’t mind. Just disclose your connection with the product when you make your link.
This will be fascinating.
I HAVE ALL OF THE PROBLEMS you mentioned and many more to go along with those.
I don’t know what it is…
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:58
Hi Bucky,
Hopefully the comments will give you some ideas.
David
[Reply]
David, I feel your pain. Been there, done that, and wrote the book that you referred to in your post after I overcame it.
And I think I know the video you’re referring to.
I do agree that the law of attraction has some flawed theories, but overall, you do become what you focus on most of the time. I believe if you focus on how to avoid failure more so that how to achieve success, your mind will latch onto the “failure” path.
Sad, really.
I have to admit during my 3 dark years, I was working really, really hard on my Internet marketing projects, and not getting anywhere. Looking back now, I would have to say I was mostly playing around. No focus, no mentor, no direction, just typing, trying, and hoping.
And if you told me then (actually my wife accused me of it and got me terribly angry any number of times) that I was just playing around, I would have disagreed as well, because it felt like I was working awfully hard.
Then I found a mentor who I looked at and said “if he can do that, I can do that”, and I focused on trying to do what he was doing as well as he was. It happened to be AdWords. In the past I had looked at AdWords as something that was a gamble, and I was fearful of spending more than a certain amount.
I started looking at it as not a gamble, not as an expense, but as an investment. Some campaigns were losers, and I chalked up those as investments in my education. The winners were investments in a profitable business.
I developed the theory and mindset that “failure is your friend”, which I teach to this day.
Once I had the confidence that indeed, I could do that, things changed.
I’ll never live in Buckingham Palace either, or the White House, but that’s not what’s on my “bucket list” anyway.
I’ll bet when you look back at your post months or years from now, after you’re a consistent success, which I know is inevitable, you might agree that the seminar speaker was correct.
After all he spent 6 years before he made his first dime with Internet marketing, so he’d been there, done that as well.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 19:36
Dennis, thanks for your reply.
I’m fairly certain you have the right video. I don’t want to talk about that any more; the fact that it’s a contributing factor that got me to write this post has done me a favour, if nothing else.
I would agree about needing a focus. That has some congruency with me, in that I’ve generally achieved in life what I’ve (a) expected to achieve and (b) had a detailed plan to do so (even if it was provided by others).
I can focus on a project and get it completed, but I do not yet seem to have the ability to settle on what will be the primary thing that works for me. It would seem to me at the moment that I ought to be focusing on creating downloadable programs, because there is much less competition in that area than internet marketing training products. I’ve done a few of those, and in fact one of those was in conjunction with you.
I know AdWords can work, but unfortunately I can’t do it. I’ve tried it, and I’ve even produced a couple of winners, but I simply find the work so tedious that I can’t stick with it. Although maybe with what I know now, I could do better if I revisited that.
I do have that Edison mindset of “failure is your friend” to a certain extent, but it’s hard to maintain it through failure after failure. I do remember telling my wife that “I will do whatever it takes to make it work.” She doesn’t yet believe me.
I can’t stop though; I’m making four figures.
I really do appreciate your confidence in me. I can see that I need to focus my business and specialise in one or two areas – those in which I have seen success.
Thanks!
[Reply]
Hi David,
Frustrating isn’t it, all those critics that through work, luck or both have made “it” and and are now calling us deficient in one way or another…
Well, I;m frustrated too and from time to time buy into their “you’re broken” thinking and statements. My tongue and cheek statement has been that I’ve been studying for 5 years to be an overnight success. When asked what I “do” I often state that I’m self-unemployed.
The truth is I do feel broken some days but every day I get a little bit closer to jumping the fence, breaking out or just do one more little thing to get”there” where ever that is. And I persist out of pure desire to break the bonds holding me back knowing that I can and will get “there”!
So I try not to listen or put any serious value in those that do not know me and take solace in the fortune from a cookie; “It takes a lot of time to achieve instant success”…
Hang in there David!
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 19:47
Philip, I understand. One of the things I’ve learned is that you can do too much studying. In my position, it’s an undisputed fact.
I have more training materials available to me than I could spend a lifetime tackling, at least at the current speed with which I can do internet marketing.
I’m glad you’re getting closer. My personal goal is to replace my regular income, and to be honest I would far rather build up gradually to it than get there instantly with a product launch. It’s just that I would like to quicken the pace somewhat.
I’m sure that knowing you can and will get there is part of the battle, and I hope you achieve whatever that means for you. And thanks for your words of encouragement.
David
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I am very aware of your experience cos I was there many many times over, so to be blunt this is what I did. I gathered every cds, dvds, ebooks, scriptures, self help, all the stuff you mention. I loaded them in my truck, drove miles and found a bridge over a ferocious river current and thru everything over the bridge and watched it all disappear to the distance. It is one the most beautiful experience Ive ever had cos I felt free from the noise, the garbage and the crap Ive accumulated. Now I work for myself. I dont listen to anyone else but myself. I do not make a lot of money but Im happier cos I know my limits and I know my skills. I know the difference. I dont dream it nor imagine it, but I visualise and see it then work towards it. Thats real for me and Im happy.
Thank you for allowing me to open my story.
Wishing many fortunes.
Regards
Tim Koia.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 19:54
Thanks Tim. I’m fairly sure things could work if I was willing to ditch some things in my life, but I can’t do that. I think I am at an end as far as internet training courses go, though, and I do have enough willpower for that. At least, I think I do.
I think visualisation is part of the battle, at least it is for those of us who can visualise, and I understand that is only two thirds of the population. That does include me.
David
[Reply]
2010-06-16
Well … every ‘how-to’ I’ve seen was based upon what worked – _for that person_.
I’m not that person – nor are you – so that person’s description of success probably won’t work, for me, anyway.
Almost every ‘product’ that I’ve seen has been about how someone else succeeded. Sorry, but someone else’s procedures don’t necessarily work for me – I’m different, I’m not them. Same applies to you.
Law of Attraction, personal application of someone else’s action(s), you name it … they don’t apply to me because I don’t have that [I detest this word] mindset.
Years ago, I had a seminar, much as I hate ‘em, in which Earl Nightengale (look him up, he’s good) described a common entrepreneurial failing, failure movies. His discussion had to do with the fact that anytime we try to do something, we tend to think of all the things that can go wrong, play ‘failure movies’ in our heads. His advice was to go ahead and play those mind movies, then ignore them. (That’s abbreviated, but the gist of the matter.)
It strikes me that you might want to reconsider your product creation(s) in light of something that you stated at which you excelled – software. Can’t speak for 70% of the world, but maybe 1% of what I’ve pulled out of the IM arena was useful – and that was software, in one form or another. It strikes me that nothing you create, in light of info products, will be useful to me (us), because we don’t have the same frame of mind you had when you created it. However, almost any script/software you might create is likely to have utility, or you wouldn’t have gone to the trouble. It might not be attractive to me, but it _will_ be attractive to some number of netizens.
Now, many will argue my points, claim that they aren’t not even ‘points’, per se, but those very points have been making me a living. I don’t aspire to millionaire status, nor am I impressed by it. I make enough to do pretty much what I want when I want … what greater measure of success could there be?
I don’t create _info products_ (another term that I dislike intensely), nor do I peddle PLR, whether software or vacantware (e.g., ebooks). I simply market what I do well, which is to design databases, then utilize them to be back-end drivers for Web sites. That’s my forte.
Find yours (forte, that is), as you may have and not noticed, considering the early parts of your post. Sell that, and you will make money – no one else can do what you do best quite as well as you do it.
Oh, yeah, one other thing: “My mind is stopping me from succeeding. Or, at least, enjoying the level of success that I would like.” Stop and think about that statement. Is that success level one that you would like, or is it one you feel compelled to reach? If it’s a compulsion, you’ll likely never be happy with your achievements. However, if it is a goal, just trying to achieve it will probably provide satisfaction even if you don’t achieve it.
You’re not broken, you’re normal .
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 20:49
Barney, I understand about use of the term mindset but it’s hard to describe in a different way. Perhaps “mental skill collection” might be appropriate.
As an engineer, I have to think about “what could go wrong.” In my field, this is called worst-case design. If I’m designing a product (by which I mean a software product or an embedded product), I have to make sure it will work under the toughest possible conditions to the best of my ability. This may be spilling over to my IM efforts and sapping my motivation.
I think it may be the case that I’ve tried to take on a too-difficult market in terms of internet marketing advice products. I have some of the skills necessary to succeed, to be sure, but it’s a very crowded marketplace and I think that whereas I might create such products better than many others, my marketing skills are lacking, so people would mainly go for other people’s products.
Thanks for your advice about concentrating on software. I have come to the conclusion that that is what I need to do.
And the goal thing: I can easily be too easy on myself and too hard at the same time, if you know what I mean. I can either say I’ve done well to achieve what I’ve achieved, or I can say I’ve done badly because I haven’t achieved what I set out to achieve.
My goal at the moment is to become full-time and lease a one-man office somewhere. When I achieve that (I’m still saying when), I’ll need a bigger goal. But since I don’t have a clear idea of how to achieve that level of success (at least, without taking on a large loan), I need to invent a smaller goal to achieve.
David
PS I’ll have to look up Earl Nightengale; I haven’t heard o him.
[Reply]
barney Reply:
June 20th, 2010 at 00:06
“this is called worst-case design” is something with which I’m too familiar, but it does provide an entry point for a suggestion.
Using your current skill set – physical, intellectual, emotional – to approach your dilemma the same way you’d approach a project, to set your goal as mini-goals, could be a familiar paragigm for you.
OK, when you are involved in a project, you don’t just say, “I’m gonna do something.” Instead, you set up staging, reporting, maybe Gantt charts with dependencies, maybe a mind-map or two. In the corporate world, “The job ain’t done ’til the paperwork’s done – and signed.” I’m certain you’ve encountered that more than once [grin /].
Apply this same process to your final goal. And, realize that if you cannot state your end goal as a project in the fashion you’ve used as an engineer, you are not ready to achieve that goal. So, you set up sub-projects, or [perhaps better] project stages.
Here’s an example. When I made a conscious decision that I wanted to build database-driven Web sites (I though of them as ‘live/dynamic’ sites.) I didn’t have near the knowledge I needed to do so. I mind-mapped the conceptual requirements, then built a project chart out of the mind-map. (Said chart was restructured several times as new knowledge revealed requirements I’d not known existed, i.e., had to make sub-projects or stages.)
1st goal – significantly enhance my knowledge of HTML
2nd goal – lean PHP
3rd goal – learn MySQL and PostgreSQL
4th goal – learn Apache to the point that the first three (3) goals work
5th goal – learn to market myself, my abilities
OK, I already had a start on some of that, else I’d never have established the project. But I still had a great deal to learn, and that project sheet grew and grew as knowledge increased. However, I did it one Gantt segment at a time and got where I wanted to be.
One other thing about that project – I didn’t have $nnn as a goal. My goal was to be able to enjoy my life … the money was a by-product. It’s handy, but still not the primary objective. Also, the project is not finished … likely never will be. I keep adding new elements as knowledge grows.
Maybe this will help you to [re-]align your thinking, perhaps your aims, to a more satisfactory outcome.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 20th, 2010 at 23:53
Well, I think the stuff about the Gantt charts and structured planning of workload and tasks is good advice. I’m not sure about never finishing a project, though. Unless it’s something like Google’s search engine. That’s never finished, but they don’t have to worry.
In work, I’m heavily motivated by completing products; I know how to do it well. Whether it does well or not is not my responsibility, and since I am not involved with marketing at all,
The thing about enjoying the work you do I think is very important. I enjoy training people, which is why I’ve produced some training products in internet marketing, but they have not really done all that well.
More food for thought; thanks.
Sorry about the way the CSS put out white text on a white background earlier. I believe I’ve fixed it!
Hi David,
You are further ahead than me and I don’t have any answers I can point to and prove they work.
I do believe mindset (which I think is a good word) is critical. But, like everything else so many people have jumped on the bandwagon it’s very difficult to sort out the stuff that works. And in an area like this, I strongly suspect individuals will vary greatly on what works for them.
What I am doing, finally, is one thing at once. I have a couple of sites up with next to no traffic. So now I am focussed on how to get traffic. I will succeed eventually.
With a full time job, my time is limited, so I don’t buy any more products or look at videos or webinars unless they are very specifically focussed on what I want now.
And no doubt, once I get sufficient traffic I will have to look at converting that traffic better.
This will go on and on, hopefully with some money added to the mix as well.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 20:57
Barry, I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you that focusing on one thing at once does help. You need to make sure you are completing the things you’re doing to the point at which they MAY make you money.
My efforts make me money; there’s no doubt about that. It’s a question of quantity, and to a certain extent, how to convert each thing into something that makes me money time after time, not just a product launch.
There are three things that have made me a recurring income. AdSense on quality blogs; software product creation using the “freemium” model, marketed via AdWords and an in-house affiliate programme; and my resale products site, marketed through my mailing list which is built up from marketing on the aforementioned products.
David
[Reply]
I have a brown belt in Karate.
I got this through several factors.
I found a school and a specific mentor. Before joining I found that they had helped other people to reach that belt level. Also, their ethics and objectives agreed with my own.
As a good karate school they had *very* specific methods.
Also, my goals were made very clear to me. Yellow, orange, green, purple, blue, then brown belt.
Techniques to be mastered to reach each belt were clear: front kick; side kick; low block; high block; front strike.
I took classes for a few months and it became clear that I had some aptitude for Karate. Also my interest in it increased. Other students who didn’t have much of an aptitude dropped out. Other people, after practising, found Karate wasn’t of specific interest to them so too they dropped out.
Not a big deal thhough. A fellow I know simply found a good school for Judo. He found he had an interest in it. He went on to be good at Judo. (He used to grab my legs when I kicked at him).
So I decided Karate was OK for me and soon that meant I had to commit to it. It meant more training; contributing to teaching beginners and being held to higher standards in my techniques.
So I then faced challenges and obstacles relating to “mindset”. It was only at that point that I had to overcome “mindset” obstacles. But *within* that narrow confine of being committed to a specific martial art or system.
That’s my story basically.
Could I have gotten a brown belt by studying 10 high priced mindset DVDs? I don’t see how I would have!
You gotta know what you want specifically. What you love? What turns you on? Residual income? Hands off search engine income? Financial stability? Building something of value to other humans?
After that point, when you know what you want then it’s what Dennis said: finding a mentor; learn specific techniques & mechanics & drills (loads of drills in IM).
If a mentor or system isn’t right for after a few months of practice move on, till you find one that is.
If you stay, you’ll then confine yourself to that specific business model.
I agree with all the stuff the other posters said.
They are talking about:
- mentor
- *specific* business models (that are personally best for you)
- thinking for yourself and blocking out what other people in the IM community say
To this I’m adding:
- trying out business models or mentors and dropping those that you feel aren’t right
- (having the faith to keep looking)
- knowing yourself clearly and what it is YOU do here in this IM world.
- after this I’ll repeat ignoring other people’s thoughts and thinking for yourself; standing on your own judgements.
PS:
Knowing yourself can be helped by writing down your dreams in the morning. Normal diaries or journals help too.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 21:05
Luke, that’s a very helpful post.
I can think of one person who I think does what I do a lot better, and I might contact him about mentoring. It hasn’t occurred to me to search for that specific thing.
I’ve already tried a number of business methods and closed down some methods.
It’s also worth noting that I do not feel I am “married” to the IM niche. I’ve built up a small mailing list within this niche, which is to some extent why I’ve tried to capitalise on that, but it is a very competitive niche.
[Reply]
Tim Koia Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:34
Hi Luke,
I like your concept, I understand it very well, and do not practise it diligently. I like the way you wrote it, its clear procise, and in laymans term. If i wrote it I would not know what the hell Ive just wrote, it would not come out the way I had it in my head, oh I forgot english is my last mother tongue.
Thats an excellent post.
Cheers
Tim Koia.
[Reply]
Wow, this is a very interesting discussion. I cannot really help you, but I feel that Barney offered some very sound advice.
I look at the Internet as a casino of sorts. It’s fun to play there, but I don’t expect to get rich. Some people are lucky and win, but most are not.
When I saw the Secret I laughed and looked at it as a very entertaining film, but soon realized that people actually believed big time in the law of attraction and I scoffed but then I thought about myself. I have reached most goals I set for myself even from as far back as when I was ten years old. I didn’t even write down my plans and they still worked out.
One thing I realized about myself is that I will never become an entrepreneur, because I detest selling and marketing. It just does not feel right for me, perhaps, deep down, that is your problem too?
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 21:11
Maria, for a long time I did detest selling and marketing, but we all do that and *have* to do that to a certain extent.
You could make money with AdSense. You don’t really have to do much marketing; the marketing is basically SEO in that field.
David
[Reply]
David,
Of course you are right. It’s nice to see someone talk sense instead of try to sell crap by convincing people that they have to share the author’s imaginary philosophy.
“The Secret”? Vacuous BS. Making a few bucks at the expense of surrendering your intelligence is what is screwing up entire societies.
Keep up the skepticism. (Skepsos = thought. People who do not use it, do not think.)
Hotcha!
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 20th, 2010 at 23:55
Thanks Brian! Nice to see someone agreeing with me as far as “The Secret” is concerned.
[Reply]
Successful Photographers Club Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 13:01
“nice to see someone agreeing with me”
Thats very interesting wording
I tried to launch a product along the lines of what Jeff Walker teaches, It didn’t do that well. Does that mean Apple shouldn’t have done a launch for the iPhone 4? Or for the iPad?
Many years ago I used to have a mate who was killer at pulling girls. He gave me a few tips one day, I tried them and got blanked, does that mean he couldn’t really pull girls he just made it look that way?
No perfect metaphors I know, but good enough I think
The film The Secret is just that, it’s a film, a snap shot, one persons opinions, painted a nice visual picture but that is about it. There is tons of material on the law of attraction that is freely available to download online, its not all about people making money selling “their imaginary philosophy”.
Yes there are people doing that, but are they selling it for $2000 a shot? That is what most of the so called “gurus” in online marketing are doing, selling their ideas for money, and judging from the comments, its what a lot of the readers of this blog are either doing or trying to do.
Do you see anyone in info marketing giving anything away? I mean really giving it away, not using a free product as something to get you on an email list, or to join a continuity program, or as part of a product launch?
At its fundamental core, the “law of attraction” is about having clear goals, having a positive mental attitude, believing in yourself, being fair with others, and taking action to acheive your goals.
If you are saying that its “Vacuous BS”, I assume you think the road to success is to not have any goals, think the worst, believe you will fail, rip people off and don’t take any action?
Interesting philosophy, but not one that makes me smile.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 22nd, 2010 at 23:20
“I tried to launch a product along the lines of what Jeff Walker teaches, It didn’t do that well. Does that mean Apple shouldn’t have done a launch for the iPhone 4? Or for the iPad?”
I don’t know. Did Steve Jobs take the same course?
“Do you see anyone in info marketing giving anything away?” Yes, I see me. I gave away a webinar recording on how to do split testing with Google Website Optimiser recently. (It’s in this blog.)
Dennis Becker does it. If you’re on his mailing list, there are many things that he gives away for free.
So I don’t see what you’re getting at.
I don’t have the level of knowledge you profess about the so-called “law of attraction.” At the least, if it does work, it’s badly named. I know of two types of law: the legal variety, and the type that occurs in physics. This is neither.
And, of course, your assumption is invalid. It’s ridiculous. It’s not my philosophy and it’s not something that I’ve professed in any way, shape or form.
One of the things I am successful about is completing software projects. The objective is to complete the project. One who thinks the worst or believes they will fail is very unlikely to complete the project. One who has such a belief will not achieve “ripping people off.” One who does not take any action will not achieve anything.
From what I understand, though, this is not what the “law of attraction” is about.
I quote from Wikipedia here (and I will accept that Wikipedia is perhaps not the best source):
“The phrase Law of Attraction, used widely by New Thought writers, refers to the idea that thoughts influence chance. The Law of Attraction argues that thoughts (both conscious and unconscious) can affect things outside the head, not just through motivation, but by other means. The Law of Attraction says that which is like unto itself is drawn.”
Doesn’t that sound like vacuous BS?
Successful Photographers Club Reply:
June 23rd, 2010 at 08:03
“I don’t know. Did Steve Jobs take the same course?”
No idea, I’m not a iFan. Did you try to “work in harmony with the law of attraction” before you decided it was BS? From what I can see based on your original post and comments since, the “law of attraction” is working perfectly well for you.
“I know of two types of law: the legal variety, and the type that occurs in physics. This is neither.”
How about Murphys Law?
or Sods Law?
Do these need renaming too?
I’m not here to convert you, or anyone else, just to suggest that people claiming something is “vacuous BS” just because it suits them to do so is……. well….. I’ll leave you and your readers to judge.
I just read 2 lines from your original post. From that I’ve deduced that this entire blog is a means for you to say everyone else is wrong and you are right.
I could read 2 different lines and form another opinion. I could keep taking small snippets and get a different opinon every time. Which one would be right? Chances are, none of them. If I want to see the whole picture of what you wanted to say I need to read the whole post. Not only that but all your later comments too.
I’ll assume you’d prefer people not to form opinions of your software based on my opinion, as I’ve never used any of it?
I think we’ve both had our say and are not going to agree, which is of course fine, in any relationship where both parties agree on everything, one of the parties is surplus to requirements.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 23rd, 2010 at 19:27
Hi,
“Did you try to “work in harmony with the law of attraction” before you decided it was BS?”
I’ll be honest and say no.
“From what I can see based on your original post and comments since, the “law of attraction” is working perfectly well for you.”
Maybe I am using some principles that coincide with it. However, as I have stated, I haven’t achieved the level of success I would like.
As for Murphy’s law and sod’s law, again that is fair comment.
Your points are well taken. I am somewhat opinionated and sometimes provocative in terms of my writings.
The point of this is to try and arrive at the answer, no matter what it may be, and everybody’s opinion counts and is just as valid as everybody else’s. Also, what works for one person may not work for somebody else.
As with everybody else, I would like to thank you for your contribution.
davtom Reply:
June 23rd, 2010 at 22:54
Also, please note that it was never my intention to upset you. The written means of communication sometimes makes things seem a lot heavier than they really are, since you don’t have the verbal and body language cues such as intonation.
I don’t think we would have come to blows.
David
Hi David,
I am having the same issues as you do – same old – been there and done that. However, I was with a successful IM business 7 to 8 years ago. I was working very long days – 16 to 18 hours a day every day, and, than I had the burnout and sold everything. Once rested out, I took 3.5 years to do “what I love,” but it did not turn out OK financially. All the cash from the sold business were gone, and I had to start online all over again.
Everything went fairly OK in the beginning, but the further we went, the less successful I was. Now I feel tired before I even start my computer, knowing the struggle of making barely enough to pay my monthly bills online might not be covered again, and that I would have to put cash out of my pocket to keep it all running for another month. And this is not what I wanted, and neither is selling online what I want. I detest selling actually and being an affiliate for a few products is OK while I don’t have to send and keep sending emails to my list (I don’t even have a list now, nor do I want to create one. While the list that I had when I sold my business years ago was a good one of only customers.)
I agree with you that mindset is the culprit of our failure right now. As even though my mind is telling me that I need to make enough to cover my online costs, and make some profit – I am not doing the things I have to do, so, I am sabotaging myself…
I’ll be checking the comments you get on this post, as someone might have the answer for you, and for us others that are seeking for answers.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 22:21
Thanks, Tatiana. That’s quite a sad story.
To some, making money seems to come with effortless ease. This is, to some extent, an illusion. It would be easier to win the lottery than to just start off with internet marketing, stumble upon the one thing you need to do to make enough money to last you the rest of your days.
Yet there is a huge amount of money to be made online, and I’m sure that most seasoned internet marketers who have not made it, or who have made it but for whom it’s still a daily grind, have enough information such that they know how they could find a good group of keywords that they can easily rank with, drive some traffic to one of their sites, and make enough money to satisfy themselves.
And I think that provides the drive that keeps many of us hacking away at this, but sees few of us succeed.
Good luck with your business, and I sincerely hope this post does produce some useful comments that will help us both.
David
[Reply]
Dave,
Here’s something I put together for my ISS members, maybe others would like to view it also:
http://Internet-Success-System.com/TheRealSecret
And for mindset issues, here’s a 50-part program that may help (signup now, it’s free to go through the whole program):
http://Ultimate-Success-Program.com
Best,
Mark Hendricks
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 22:41
Thanks Mark. I’ve signed up. I’ll see how I get on.
David
[Reply]
Hi David
First off, try to think of success as a journey rather than a destination. If your ultimate goal is to have a million in the bank and your starting point is being in debt, like most peoples would be, just getting out of debt will feel good. Having a little money in the bank will also feel good. Having 50k will feel great etc etc. Enjoy the journey. Like in a maze, you may not always be heading in the right direction, but that does not mean you are on the wrong path.
2.The “make money online”, “IM” or “selling info products”, whatever you want to call it business model is quite possibly the hardest business to succeed in. You hear the big so called “gurus” boast about having 250,000 subscribers or more and how they made a million in 24 hours doing a launch for a $2k product.
By the time you add in all their JV buddies there was probably a million people on their list during the launch getting the “free content”. A 0.05% conversion ratio is hardly something to boast about. I often wonder how many they might have sold if it was $20. After all that hype even $47 would convert like crazy.
So when you see other people selling “I made a gazillion bucks in less than an hour with no product, no list and no website”, I think we can take their claims with a pinch of salt.
Hence the recent changes to the law in America regarding making outragous claims of the success a buyer could get. But the fact is, people see these guys making a fortune sitting on a beach and think “I want that”! Well who wouldn’t? But its just a dream.
There’s at least 1 million people around the world trying to do the same thing, yet only a small handful are succeeding and acheiving “guru” status. How many “new gurus” have we seen emerage in this market in the past 12 months? If its so easy, why is nobody managing it? Simple answer, its not easy, it’s quite posibly the hardest business to success in. So don’t be too tough on yourself if you’ve not “made it” in this business.
There are hundreds of thousands of people tring to earn a living sat at their computer. That is more competition than probably any other industry in the world, and it has gotton silly. $2k for a few videos. $5k for a few seminars. $97 for an ebook. Go to your local book store and see how many books sell for $100
3. The film “The Secret” does not tell the full story regarding the law of attraction. In fact, it misses out a couple of key components essential to “making it work for you”. I could go into details but I’d be here all day. Check out some Depak Chopra books, they are a lot less than $2k.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 22:55
Hi,
1. My real goal is currently simply to replicate my employed income as self-employed income so that I can go full time. If I can achieve that, I can set a new goal, and by the time I’ve achieved that, I’ll probably be out of debt anyway (or at least, a good part of the way there).
Of course, I enjoy the successes that come up, but it’s hard to enjoy the failures. I understand that a failure is not really a failure; it is a learning experience. But many of these are somewhat demotivating. I’ll stick with it, though.
2. I’ve often thought that if you are a guru, you can pretty much put up the worst prodict imaginable and since you have so many people promoting it, you can make plenty of money.
I’m also aware that gurus don’t work by themselves; they usually have JV managers that are handsomely paid that source the marketers for them.
Actually, the way you put it, I’m probably doing quite well, if I am to be compared to other marketers in the same niche. And there is at least one big name marketer promoting one of my software products.
The competition thing is why I am thinking that I need to concentrate on software.
3. Thanks for the information.
David
[Reply]
David,
Great post – and I know what you mean, sometimes we get tired of the “intensity” of constantly focusing our mindset… Those of us with families and who are still working outside of IM (because we have not reached the level where we feel comfortable depending on it). It’s all too easy for single people who have just come out of college per-se to babble on about having this “Burn all bridges behind you” mindset…but when there are other lives who depend on you, well, that is a different story, one that these “nubes” (I don;t care how much they are making, they are still nubes in the game of life) will have to learn over time.
David T. McKee
http://www.achievemaster.com
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:00
Hi David,
Absolutely. I can’t put my house on the line in the same way somebody could do who doesn’t have a family.
In fact, where I am working now is the same place at which I was working when I was made redundant. They have different management there now. The winds of change…
There are also other things more valuable than money. If you offered me a million pounds for my wife and daughter, I wouldn’t take it.
David
[Reply]
Hi David,
Well written, well thought out post as I always expect from you.
Let me come right out and say that I have the feeling that I am the speaker in the video you are referring to I put this out there so that others will know the point of view that I am coming from.
First off, if someone is struggling to do well online then we are not “broken” and nothing is “wrong” with us. We are the “norm”. If that is what people feel that I communicated then I didn’t do a good job. I say “we” above because I have been in the place many people are right now. There are many times that I still am, lol.
But the reality is that hindsight is always 20/20. And looking back at myself (and speaking with other successful people I find they have the same opinion) I can clearly see where my problems were during the six years I struggled.
My mindset stunk.
I believed making money online was hard. I was angry that I couldn’t achieve the same results that others were getting, I pointed fingers, my spouse would be upset because of the amount of time I spent on the computer, etc. Sound familiar?
My mindset stunk.
I agree 100% with you that “there’s no way on earth that me imagining that I live in Buckingham Palace is gonna cause a cheque to come through the door.” Yet we still have to have dreams, right? We still have to have goals, right?
That’s part of mindset, asking yourself “Why am I doing this” and making sure that the answer is compelling enough.
All of us who struggle to make a living online work HARD. No doubt about it. But, are we working on the right things? How is it that many can work much less yet accomplish (and earn) so much more than us?
That’s part of mindset.
Are the people around you supportive? Do they understand your goals and dreams or do they knock you down at every turn?
That’s part of mindset.
If nearly EVERY successful person says that their success began when they started to think differently, then there has to be something to that right?
I shared various ways to help those working IM part time (like me) improve their mindset in order to hopefully achieve success faster. I work 85% in niche marketing and only dabble a little in the “Make Money Online” . I never presented an offer, in fact I didn’t even mention my blog, lol.
I just shared things that I wish others had shared with me six years ago.
You wrote that I “angered me with some of the points he made”.
My response? …. Good.
If I angered people enough that they say “I’m going to show HIM!” and they go out and make six figures next year, then I did good.
If I encouraged people enough that they go out and make six figures next year, then I did good too.
Either way, we’ll still all go out to lunch together and the E1kaD event have a good time.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:28
Hi Mike,
No, it’s not you. It’s … er … him over there.
As I wrote to Dennis, I am now glad your seminar imspired me to take action and write this post. I hope that it will help a lot of people, actually. Well, at least those who are on my mailing list.
You say you believed making money online was hard. I believe it’s easy, as long as you do the right things. But for some reason, I keep pursuing a lot of dead ends rather than working on things that I know are more likely to be fruitful.
So I’m not planning properly. And why am I not planning properly?
To be fair to myself, I AM making money. Nearly every time I set out to achieve something, I achieve it. But nothing is hugely successful, except for the things that I have talked about in the posts and comments here.
Part of this game is, of necessity, finding out what works for you, what you enjoy, and all that.
I can clearly think through that for each of the income streams that I have, setting it up and maintaining it has been a pain in the neck.
For my AdSense blog that makes a decent amount of money, I spent a lot of time trying to rank for various phrases, and I rank well for two phrases that generate a small amount of traffic (still enough to have made it a worthwhile endeavour).
For the software packages, I have used an e-commerce package that I don’t like to run the e-commerce side of things. It’s an extremely powerful package but it doesn’t make things easy for you. I think that’s why I haven’t pursued that avenue any further. However, I’ve recently made some changes that have bolstered that income.
For the resale rights club, well, that’s ongoing really. I have a small number of subscribers but it does provide a smallish regular income that has made it worthwhile.
I know I’m supposed to paint a clear picture of what the goal will be like. Most of the self-help stuff tells me that. But I don’t know exactly what it will be like.
Currently, I would say that having a large home somewhere local (I currently have a 2-bedroom home) would be part of it. Shares in an aeroplane would be another part of the goal. An office somewhere reasonably local (within driving distance, but far enough away so that I could work in peace) would be another part. And having paid off all my debts and a growing business would be the final part.
So I guess I might be on the right path.
Don’t worry. If we ever meet, I won’t be out to get you. If there is an E1KaD seminar that I can ever get to, I’ll be happy to be there with you.
And thanks for replying here.
David
PS I haven’t had time to see it all yet. There may be another post coming, depending on the content of the last quarter of your seminar video.
[Reply]
Hi David, you are a nice, honest guy – possibly too upfront with this post – but it seems that you are doing what we all do from time to time as we try to reconcile who-we-were with who-we-are-now and who-we-want-to-be, and find that the three don’t match up very well. In the face of that realisation we can either retreat to old, comfortable ground or push on into unknown territory where we might – or might not – find that we have become what we wanted to be.
Many times we don’t find our way forward until we have tried a number of things. In my case, in terms of IM, I started off in 2004 within a small company of friends as the online promoter of our add-in for creating 3D shapes in PowerPoint (www.Perspector.com) I learned lots and lots about all sorts of IM stuff, and ventured into other areas, such as AdSense arbitrage (and got my account banned by Google through following a guru’s advice – and that was in the days before Google was really tough); I failed miserably at all sorts of attempts at affiliate sites, mostly because I didn’t believe it was ethical to sell those popular products that were crap or would lead people into more financial problems, and I’m now also pretty expert in setting up niche social networking sites where the intention was to make money through subscriptions or advertising and, although they were in areas I was happy with, I realised it is extremely difficult to recruit and retain members. However, through all this failure I was still learning. I created my own PowerPoint add-in, Opazity. (Google it.) Did any of my IM learning help me get traffic and convert it into sales? After over 18 months of quite hard work I can say no! However, it is now making a nice little monthly income because it is sold on a 50/50 basis by a company that has been selling PowerPoint materials online for years. And now their larger competitor is interested in selling it too… and I have some ideas for other PowerPoint add-ins which they will also promote when I get them made. So, the potential for a steady, long term additional income is there, but I don’t expect to make hundreds of thousands a year from them.
My point is that success may creep up on you in time but, to change metaphors, you won’t know which horse to back until the race is over half way through. Fortunately, you get second and third chances at it.
I’ve learned an awful lot about selling. But I’m still not good at it! What I’ve learned about copywriting has sharpened the writing skills I already had, but I wouldn’t call myself a copywiter. And so, after 6 years of ‘wasting my time’ as my wife says, I’m beginning to see some results and have a bit more clarity about the way forward for me. If your forte is programming, David, you may find that you turn back to that with a sharpened appreciation of what the market wants and will pay for.
By the way, I have an idea for a new PHP Joomla extension that could be sold. I won’t reveal it to everyone here, but if you wish to email me (via the link on the Opazity site) I’ll be happy to share it with you.
Good luck in your quest! Steve Hards
[Reply]
Steve Hards Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 15:00
Whoops! First time ever I’ve managed to type .cpm instead of .com in my website address above!
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:37
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:37
Steve, that’s a great post. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I end up making it in a niche outside of internet marketing.
I don’t know anything about Joomla plugins but I’ll drop you an email about that soon.
Thanks, David
[Reply]
Hello David,
Very interesting post. I am afraid I don’t have a lot of info concerning the subject. I just break things down as simply as I can. What am I saying? Most of todays Guru’s are from the .com era when you threw something on the net and people seemed to grab at it. A lot of rules and regulations came from that. Black hat tatics, spamming, ect. Those same Guru’s are now telling us ‘how’ in a much harder enviroment. I will say that many do give sound advice although you pay for it. No pun intended here.
Back to the subject, it is easy to get side tracked. Lose your mindset or whatever you want to call it. Some times instead of taking a break, you stay at the computer and ‘waste time’. This in turn may lead to other avenues and off you go. Information overload they call it.
So there is no doubt that our minds do keep us from making it. It is called dedication and many don’t have it. We willingly choose, and that is strong language, to not work our brains.
George Hollis
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:44
Hi George,
I take your comment about having the willpower… I guess if you don’t have a good plan then you won’t have that willpower.
I think the best way I’ve seen this put is something like if you were the owner of a grocery store and you suddenly found out a way to publish PC magazines or something else entirely unrelated to what you were doing, would you jump on it?
Likely, no. I guess the trouble is partly that in internet marketing, there are plenty of good copywriters who know how to get us to part with our hard-earned moolah.
David
[Reply]
David:
Like you and others have attested, I have issues with taking action. I read and read, buy products and more products, make a false start on each different product, but never finish anything. Dennis Becker, in 5 Bucks a Day, stresses the importance of FOCUS (see page 10 of his eBook for details of each letter of the acroymn).
I once heard a saying, “Don’t confuse activity with productivity.” LIke most things, much easier said than done. I struggle with this profound statement much more than I should. Best wishes…Ted
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:48
Thanks Ted for the comments.
I’ve kind of got an idea that might help… It might turn out to be my next product. But I’m not going to go into any more detail at this stage.
David
[Reply]
I too have been accused of not focusing and just trying more “internet stuff” as my wife would put it. She says I’m wasting all my time and money doing nothing but playing on the computer.
There are times i do play on the computer but for the most part I try to build a business I don’t jump into every guru product anymore because the sad truth is they play on the same folks like me over and over selling us “hope”
Then a new guru deal comes out with more “hope” and ayway you go.
I have been doing this “stuff” online for darn near ten years now and at times when google was more friendly I was actually making some decent money now i struggle to make a few hundred bucks a month
It’s discouraging to see so many “newbies” online become the next guru while i continue to struggle with
making my living online.
I think positive thoughts and happy ones and yet i’m no closer to my dream of making a living online then I was ten years ago, and alot more in debt than i’d rather say from all the courses, ebooks and “magic bullets”
I have purchased over the years
Just my 2 cents worth
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:46
Sad to hear, Kenny. Hope you get a break.
David
[Reply]
Hey David,
How well I know where you’re at – I’m there too right now, wondering where the last 18 months full-time (due to retrenchment following 3 years part-time before that) online went & where the results were/are hiding because I have seen little for the time & effort, besides learning a LOT & earning a little.
I’ve come across a few MindSet “concepts” that seem to make sense recently:
1. The Jumper Trap – Jumping from one thing to the next, seems to be related to the level of early success. I’m convinced that satisfactory success would keep me enthused and active in a business model. But lack of success appears to bring with it an aversion to the topic (like an aversion to “selling” mentioned by a few others here). Gradually that mindset closes all the doors (at a psychological level) & one ends up with no perceived viable options.
The way to avoid this ever happening appears to be to experience success before losing faith, but many IM models require time – time to master the nuances, time to gain rankings, etc… sometimes months. So the trick is to retain faith long enough to achieve success – no mean mental challenge. That’s where I think Dennis’s $5/day is spot on – set small WINNABLE goals. Success breeds success.
2. The Flood Theory – a flood is nothing more than a combination of tiny water drops… don’t try to generate a flood, rather try to generate one drop, then another, … In other words, online success is a combination of LOTS of little wins, (very seldom BIG wins at the base level) So massive volumes, huge numbers become fundamental. To achieve acceptable volumes in a relatively short timeframe requires more than personal effort – it can be more readily achieved by automation (computers are GREAT at this), team effort, outsourcing…, but way more difficult to do alone.
3. Talking Teams – I’m beginning to feel that “business partnerships” might be a big key. By having a business partner we have in-built accountability, a sounding board with identical motives, encouragement when you’re down, balance of perspective… a lot of benefits. I think this goes beyond a good mentor – absolutely learn from the masters, but someone to dig me in the ribs EVERY day, ALL day would surely help to keep my efforts focused and keep going in the face of nothingness (let’s face it, there’s very little adversity online, just lack of results, so the real risks are VERY low, financially & otherwise).
Thanks for the sharing here… I look forward to reading more as this thread grows.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:56
Kerry, thanks for the comment.
1. What you say about the time it takes for many internet marketing ideas to come to fruition is an excellent point, especially if you are dealing with SEO. If, having completed a project, it won’t start to make money until 6 months time because of getting rankings in the search engines, that’s bound to cause a desire to try something else.
2. I’m starting to think along the lines of outsourcing now. Whenever I have outsourced marketing (which is all affiliate marketing really is), that has usually worked. I want to take that to other areas.
3. Not sure about the partnership thing, although I do believe that running an internet business along usual company lines might work. (e.g. one person responsible for product creation, another for accounting, another for copywriting, another for marketing, another for setting up and maintaining JV partnerships, etc).
David
[Reply]
Seth Godin from the book The Bootstrappers Bible: “I am a laser beam” (narrow). He’d say it every day in the mirror.
He says that new opportunities are the chief enemy of a small business.
So that statement is necessary for survival.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 23:56
Luke, I don’t think that statement could possibly have more focus.
Thanks, David.
[Reply]
This series of comments – thread? – has become very entertaining in the thoughtfulness and depth of most of the comments …
but …
(There’s always a ‘but[t]‘ .).
The IM community – Internet Marketers selling to Internet Marketers – preaches setting goals of money/month, gross income, list size. Pardon the vulgarity, but that’s bullshit, pure and simple. You are constantly preached working on the beach, 2-4 hour workdays three (3) times a week.
The folk preaching this *are not doing it*! They are spending 60-80 hours a week sending you the opportunity to do what they think you want to do, and some of their staff(s) work longer hours.
Two (2) things they preach, with which I agree, are to set goals and to take action.
But their goals are not your goals. However, if they can convert your goals to theirs, they’ll make money – you probably won’t, but they wil.
Stop and think about this, “What is your goal?”
In line with that, think about, “What are your limitations?”
Perhaps that might be better phrased, “What limitations can you overcome?”
Then think about which of those limitations are cultural, which are local, which are self-imposed, and which are not alterable.
Note: recognition of a limitation is not acquiescence to that limitation.
Once you have a realistic appreciation of limitations, you can start setting goals … to do so before that appreciation foredooms almost any goal to failure – I did say _almost_.
Maybe if you’re Warren Buffet (US financial entrepreneur) or Bill Gates, a monetary goal can be workable. For the rest of us, the goal needs be elsewhere.
Think about it. Why do you want money? No, that’s not a silly question. What is it that you want to do that money will assist, make easier? Maybe a trip to Monaco? Perhaps a trek to Alaska? Or Australia? Maybe a new house? College for your kid(s). A new car? OK, *that’s* your goal.
Now you have an established yardstick for the money you’ll need. So instead of the goal being _make money_, now the goal is make _$nnn_ money. Believe me, that’s a much easier task – you have an upper/lower limit.
Money doesn’t make you happy – it is what you can _do_ with money that is likely to make you happy. But just pursuing valuta is not likely to make you happy at all, nor is it likely to be very satisfying.
The pursuit of coin is self-defeating, as you’ll never be satisfied, never acquire enough because there is always *more* out there that you could get.
Goals, in and of themselves, are personal. They are not for the world to judge, nor even to know for that matter. They are *yours* and yours alone.
So get off the goal roller-coaster set by the IM folk. The only person who can gauge your goal(s), say accomplished or not accomplished, is you.
One last thought. Since you are the only person who can gauge your success in accomplishing your goal(s), make them something you want to do.
A young lady of my acquaintance decided she wanted to have the cleanest house in the US. She established, over a period of years, a massive newsletter list, to which she published her cleaning efforts and results. She got input from some of her list members on cleaning methods alternative to what she had described. She collated the material and turned it into a salable ebook. Had a call from her some six or so months back – she’s in the process of writing an expanded version for [hardback/softback] publication.
She makes about three (3) times what I make, but her goal wasn’t money … it was a clean house!
Give you any ideas?
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 00:11
Barney, that’s an excellent comment.
Many a time I have heard that I have to have a goal, but a monetary goal does not work well for me. However, a goal that comes from a monetary goal would definitely work well, and I can see that, definitely.
You’re absolutely right about internet marketers selling a dream. The “gurus” definitely work hard at what they do.
As far as money is concerned, whereas I’m not doing brilliantly, I’m not badly off, which might be part of the reason I’m not more successful: I have no real need to be more successful.
Now I’ll start thinking about some reasonable goals I can set. I need to do some long-term family planning, after all.
Many thanks for your insight!
David
[Reply]
David,
I don’t mean to keep harping in this, but goals, in and of themselves, are not important. What’s important is how you approach them.
The important goals are not what the world thinks you should do, but the ones that you want to do. Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Earl Nightengale not withstanding (although they all touch upon this to some extent) a goal is always personal.
I mentioned that my [major] project keeps growing. That’s because the more I learn the more I recognize how little I know, so I’m always adding to it. While a never-ending project – call it ‘project creep’, I’m certain you are familiar with the concept – it keeps me busy doing the things I need to do. The actual accomplishments, in my case, are the sub-goals – their completion, so to speak. I can understand your reluctance to such a system – hey, I used to be you, in many respects – but you really should think through this concept. Not all goals can be achieved, but the effort can be extremely rewarding.
By changing my Internet goals from money to personal projects, I started getting more satisfaction – and, perversely, more money. I should have known better, but I first heeded the advice of the IM hucksters.
I don’t mean to turn this into all about me, but me is the only person I can quote – except for the home cleaner, and that’s under DNR – with any accuracy.
The Internet folk stress goals & action, and they are not wrong – but the goals they stress are theirs, and the actions they advise are beneficial to them, not necessarily to to you or your purposes.
There is a constant admonition to do something about which you are ‘passionate’, and that’s OK as long as the passion doesn’t belong to someone else. Personally, I’m not ‘passionate’ about anything I do – I just try to do the best job I can do under the circumstances (passion sometimes gets in the way of that) – and what more can anyone do?
As to,”I have no real need to be more successful,” if you didn’t you prolly would not have posted as you did. Just stop measuring success in $$$ and start measuring it in personal satisfaction and achievement.
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 22nd, 2010 at 23:01
Hi Barney,
I continually want to be more successful. I have achieved a lot in my life, but I want to keep achieving new things.
Whether I need to do it depends on how you define need. I don’t need it to put bread on the table. Perhaps I need this as part of my personal growth.
David
[Reply]
David,
I apologize if my answer to your question is already above in the comments. I do know the problem, however, and it’s the same problem many of us face.
Our lives can be described as a set of priorities. Priorities that we determine for ourselves. When one of our priorities conflicts with another, we have to choose which one to select. This is sometimes a conscious decision on our part but often we aren’t even aware it occurred.
While you continue to work at your full time job, which provides you security, you don’t need to worry about your priority to be able to provide yourself with a full time online job. Because you still have a full time job and I’m assuming a personal life, the extra work to refine your IM projects, or take on new projects, is just not as much of a priority for you. You’re already going that “extra mile” with your extra IM work each week.
Hey, maybe you’ll never make big bucks online…… but maybe you will. One thing I can assure you of is that, as Dennis Waitley stated, “If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.” Note the “probably” and the “assuredly”. My advice (and believe me I’m no super achiever, either) is to review what you have going, discard the low earners, outsource your main time drains and tackle what you consider your best chance at good revenue until it works or you’re pretty sure it isn’t going anywhere. Move on and repeat.
In my opinion, perseverance wins over brains, over luck, over circumstance…. every time.
Good Luck!
Mike
[Reply]
davtom Reply:
June 23rd, 2010 at 22:52
Thanks Mike; this seems to be good advice. It represents what I should be doing all along.
I certainly do believe I can.
I don’t outsource at present, but that’s something I’m looking into doing. I think I need to do that to really get moving.
Thanks again, Mike!
David
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