5 Keys to Success

I was browsing through Willie Crawford’s blog late last week, and found an article that I really enjoyed. Even having been in business and working from a home office for close to 10 years… I found it to be great advice, much of it a much-needed reminder. I’ve included the full article below (with Willie’s permission, of course). I think you’ll find it as useful and motivating as I did

Don’t Overcomplicate Things
Copyright 2006 by Willie Crawford

I stood on the stage in front of nearly 1000 people at the Internet Marketing Millionaires’ Bootcamp in London, England. As I stared out across the crowd, somewhat awed that I was who they’d come to listen to, I also reflected upon WHY they had gotten up so early on a Sunday morning to come listen to me.

Every person in the audience had a dream of greater freedom from worry, freedom from financial strain, and great serenity. They wanted to be able to choose how they would live, and to know that their lives were secure. I made this HUGE assumption because that was my driving force and that of most of the other speakers sharing the stage with me that weekend.

In the few seconds before launching into my 64 slides that I would explain in the next 80 minutes, I asked myself exactly what those audience members really needed to walk away with.

I identifed five simple things that, if they really internalized them, would set them on the road to success. Those five things, not very complicated at all, are:

1) Control your time. As you seek to build your online business you will eventually find that time is your most limited asset. Each of us has the same number of seconds in each day, yet some of us accomplish 1000 times more during that day than other do. A big reason for that difference is that the ultra-successful know the value of their time, and closely guard it.

A good time management course will help you to gain control of your time. I also recommend reading Dan Kennedy’s book, No B.S. Time Management. The subtitle is substantially longer than that, but if you look up this title at online bookstores, you’ll find Dan’s book. This book was the single greatest influence on my gaining greater control over my time.

2) Fix nagging problems. As you go through your day, you will notice certain problems seem to “crop up” every day. Maybe it’s something that slows your computer down. Maybe it’s simply receiving more emails every day than you can sift through.

Identify those nagging problems and solve them. Don’t tolerate them, because they rob you of time, energy,and focus. It’s much better to simply determine exactly what the problem is and then resolve it. Set aside a little time and deal with the problem once!

3) Sell something people want. In my 10 years online, the most common mistake that I’ve noticed is marketers spending inordinate time, energy, and other resources trying to convince people to buy something that they simply don’t want. That is futile and totally counter-productive.

There are products and services that the people in your market WANT. If you listen to them, you’ll know what those things are. Then it’s as simply as selling them the things that they tell you that they want. It’s no more complicated than that… Really!

When you market something that they don’t want, or don’t know that they want, you are “swimming against the current,” and in danger of eventually tiring and drowning. Instead, find out what they want, determine how to profitably provide it to them, and then do that.

4) Work with others. Growing your business is about growing relationships. You grow relationships with customers, suppliers, partners, and mentors. Without cooperating with all of the above, your climb up the latter is many times more difficult than it needs to be.

You can accomplish so much more when you partner with someone else on a project, allowing your strong points to compliment each other.

You can accomplish so much more when you think of your customers and suppliers as team members rather than opponents. Seek win-win-win situations rather than simply seeking to win at the expense of others.

You can accomplish so much more when you allow someone, who has accomplished what you hope to accomplish, to teach you how they did it. When you simply observe someone doing something you often miss many important, often critical points. You need to “get inside the other person’s head.” You need to understand the though process behind their methodology and success habits.

Given that the people you need to apprentice under have limited time, and have an amazing number of things competing for their attention, you also need to be willing to somehow compensate them for teaching you. That’s a fact that many who will never achieve major success refuse to acknowledge.

5) Actually do it. The majority of people who read a book, go through a course, or attend a seminar, do learn something new. However, over 95% of them NEVER apply what they learn.

One of the reasons that we often don’t apply what we learn, even when we know that it will produce major, postive results, is that it IS new, and seems somewhat intimidating. The solution to that is also very simple. “Just do it.” After you’ve done a complicated thing once, or twice, or perhaps a dozen times, it magically becomes easy.

Those who have mastered the things that seem very challenging to you also once saw them as challenging. However, they tackled the challenges, and in the process, overcame them. They used the challenges to add new tools to their success toolkits.

As my focus gradually returned to the faces, barely discernable under the bright stage lights, I saw that I really was no different than the “roughly 1000″ people sitting in the audience. If there was any difference, it was that I had learned to view life in a less complicated fashion, and therefore didn’t make things any harder than they have to be.

Read back through the points made above, and ask yourself if you are making things more complicate than they have to be. If so, acknowledge that your thinking is one of your greatest obstacles to success. Commit to fixing the five flaws above, and life will magically transform.

Willie Crawford has been teaching people how to build successful online businesses since 1996. He often teaches by stepping you through the process, ingraining in you the necessary habits. Become a part of Willie’s latest, attitude-shifting, life-changing challenge by visiting: http://MillionDollar90Days.com/results/
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After reading this article, I decided to follow Willie’s recommendation and pick up a copy of Dan Kennedy’s book on Time Management. I figured it would be a great head-start on what will undoubtedly be part of my goals & resolutions for the New Year.

Besides, at under $10, can I afford not to read it? Considering that time management is not my best quality… the answer was an easy no . I would certainly welcome some solid advice in that department.

I also put some serious thought into Point #2 – “Fix Nagging Problems”. I decided to put a notepad next to my keyboard and make note of any ‘nagging problems’ that come up consistently. Things that are specifically affecting my productivity on a regular basis.

All said and done, VERY good advice…

Tags: time management, keys to success, online business tips, willie crawford

Category: Internet Marketing · Work at Home