Love this, too, Alan!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Petersen
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Love this, too, Alan!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Petersen
All joking aside, Steve, while you may not necessarily believe in magic wands, etc., there are plenty of marketers who do. My response was directed specifically at them. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenT
David Jackson
I completely agree with that! And as someone else said, we are each presented with a unique set of life circumstances that can make it easier or harder to succeed in business. Of course obstacles can be overcome, but I honestly don't think everyone is cut out to do it. I think there are people who should get and keep a job (or at least at times in their lives they should).Quote:
Originally Posted by Jan Ferrante
And I also think that the answer to "starting over" question, sometimes comes across as overly-simple even though I know that's not how you intend it. For example, I think most of the starting over answers include, "write content." If you've already been practicing that skill for 5 or 10 years it seems so much easier to you than it would be to someone who hasn't written anything at all during those same years. Starting over with just $100 and all the skill you developed in your last endeavors isn't the same as starting with $100 and little skill and experience.
Anyway... for the most part, I think we all agree... Strong desire, hard work, and perseverance can work for many people. But I still think there are people who just don't have "it" and never will.
So let's define "IT"...
I liked your points Jan & Linda, about the starting over conversations. It's true that successful entrepreneurs would be starting over with skills already learned. Heck, I had a real life "start over" several years into my success - that was even worse than my original start-up year.
Mark Mason interviewed me for his MasonWorld.com podcast last week and he asked me if I believed anyone could do this. I said YES, if I can do this - anyone can. He said "but you've had 13 years experience - can someone brand new really do this?"... My reply? I didn't start out with that 13 years of experience. I started out exactly where everyone else did. With none.
I had no money, no credit (I couldn't even finance a pizza!), no college education, no real job experience - nothing to give me a head start. And I had 7 mouths to feed at the time (husband, 4 children, father-in-law all under one roof).
Back to that "IT" - what exactly do you think it is?
Lynn jumped in while I was writing, but, my post is still what I want to say!
The question I have then is, can one develop "it?"Quote:
Originally Posted by lindastacy
Not sure I can define "IT", but here are some of the qualities present in people who have "IT":Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn Terry
- A certain level of intelligence
- Energy
- Healthy enough
- Some level of tolerance for risk
- Either being the sole decision maker or having a family who supports (or at least tolerates) the situation
- Perseverance
- Ability to get up and get going again after failure
Sorry to say, I don't think so. I think you can improve on "IT" if you have the basics or some minimal level, but if you don't have "IT" all you can't get "IT."Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenT
I also think it's probably hiding inside many people who think they don't have "IT."
I don't know if you have done this already Lynn but that would make for a very interesting and inspiring story. Have you ever put that to paper anywhere as in written an ebook or other to tell your story? From flat broke and 7 mouths to feed to where you are today?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn Terry
Carlos
I think I somewhat disagree with you. Maybe not. Anyway, I think everybody can develop IT if they try. Now, sure, everybody will have different results depending on their circumstances and, most importantly, their desire to make the change. IT isn't easy at all!!! IT can be the toughest thing you might ever do. I know, I'm proof of this pudding and still working on IT.Quote:
Originally Posted by lindastacy
I may be wrong, but my hope and prayer is that people can change and can develop IT.
And since "IT" is different for different people, I'd tend to agree with you Steve. Know what you are good and and DO IT. Work on your weak area(s) until you are go AT IT.
That's "IT" to me.
Now we are getting to the kernel of what I was trying to say in the first place.
Let's use the analogy of a Las Vegas slot machine, for want of a better example.
Thousands of people will play that machine with grit, determination, belief, single-mindedness, commitment and they will invest a considerable amount of time and money to hit the jackpot.
But unless all seven reels drop into place at the right time, they will not hit the jackpot, indeed, they will be worse off than when they started.
Now, that is not to say that achieving success online is a gamble, but merely an illustration that it takes an alignment of sorts to be in place for that ambition to be realized.
For someone who is naturally gifted with a powerful internal drive, it may be hard for them to understand or empathize with folks who for one reason or another, lack the ability to produce the consistent level of performance that is required in building a solid home based business - online or offline.
In addition, people have vastly different skill sets, some take more easily to the various disciplines that are required to knuckle down and earn money online - and others simply do not have that capacity.
I know it is not a popular message, but we all know it to be true.
Of course, they could do it.
We all know that. Potential is not the issue here.
Ultimately, people need to take a long hard look at themselves.
Forget writing out that business plan. The very first thing you need to decide is if you are suited to running your own business.
A long and hard introspective is the one step that many self-starters overlook.
Rich
Oh yeah Rich, I agree that not all people are able to become IM giants. What I am saying is that people can develop the ability to succeed.
I also agree that the first thing to do is look at yourself and ask the question, "what is my purpose, or what is it I am talented to do and what is it that I want to do?"
That being said, I believe that people are more in control of themselves than they are a slot machine. They have the ability to change, the ability to learn the skills that will bring about some level of satisfaction.
Hmmmmm...I thought about this for a few minutes, Lynn. And I have to disagree with you. I don't think anyone can do it. I really don't. I think you have to have something deep inside of you that drives you to do it. I can't really quantify what that something is. Some people call it desire. Some call it drive. Others call it the will to win. But whatever you want to call IT, IT simply does not exist in everyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn Terry
Let me give you a real life example. My cousin was a great highschool football player. He had all the physical tools to make it to the NFL. He had Jim Brown written all over him. That's not just my opinion, that was also the opinion of dozens of division one colleges that recruited him.
He eventually accepted a full athletic scholarship to Arizona State. Two weeks after arriving on campus that fall, he called home saying that he was homesick and wanted to come home. His mother (my aunt) told him he could come home if he wanted to.
He never went back to school - any school. He now drives a truck for UPS. Despite all of his marvelous physical gifts, my cousin didn't have the mental makeup to succeed. He didn't have IT.
Unfortunately, not everyone does!
David Jackson
Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenT
OK, let me be absolutely clear.
I did not use the phrase 'IM Giants' and the slot machine reference was an analogy, rather than an example.
And actually, no, many people do not have the ability to learn those skills you refer to, and those are the people who are unfortunately sucked into chasing a dream that, for them, will be forever elusive.
Rich
I'm not in total agreement with this turn of the conversation on IT. I'm thinking... it sounds like bull**IT. It sounds like a real nice excuse not to succeed, or a landing pad for those that feel like giving up. "I just don't have IT" - pfft.
That said, let's go along with the idea that successful people have something special that some people just can't learn or obtain or ever have. How sad is that? Really?
Christian or not, I suggest you read The Parable of the Talents. Everyone is given something, not the same thing, and you are obligated to discover it and live up to it's full potential.
This whole IT discussion goes completely against the concept of being a "self starter" - of being self-motivated, self-taught, with a desire to be self-employed.
You really think I possess something that you do not?
I'm flattered. :rolleyes:
Everything I possess - tangible or intangible - was earned, bought through sweat and elbow grease, or came as a result (reward?) to my being consistent and persistent.
You've got to want it bad enough. That's what IT is.
No, I used the term IM Giants.
I just meant that a person may not become someone that everyone would say, "Oh that, Whomever, is sure a successful Im'er. I do believe that many people, maybe not all, but more than do, can develop the skills to be proficient.
I don't want to argue the point as to if a person can change, I know they can, because I have. I guess I just hate to hear people make excuses for themselves as to why they can't do this or that. I did it for years. You know how it is, ex-smokers are the ones who have little tolerance for smokers. I hate to hear people make excuses for themselves when they haven't really tried.
If they have tried and could not do whatever it was they were trying, then it is time for them to step back and re-evaluate themselves honestly. Perhaps they are not in the right spot, but that doesn't mean they are failures in life, just that they might be better off going at it another way, orin another direction.
Great, we got Lynn annoyed, that should stir things up!
With the greatest of respect though, people have to get past this 'if you want it bad enough, it will happen' mindset.
For some, it won't. Ever.
I understand though that this message does not sit well in this type of forum, but I was thinking more of those who are sucked in at the periphery of internet marketing by the 'Get Rich Quick' schemes and are therefore unlikely to be found in this type of forum.
Sure, the reality is not a nice one, but many people are just not up to it.
And never will be.
ps. I didn't say I was one of them
Rich
Rich, where I will absolutely jump on the wagon with you is the people that get sucked into the get rich quick schemes and are told, "If you just want it bad enough, it will happen" without mentioning to them that they will have to really work at it! That they will have to do some really inside work with themselves and decide, is this something I really want and am willing to work for, or not!
One of the things I did not like with the movie "The Secret," was that this is what I thought they were presenting. Just give your desires out into the Universe, and it will happen. Lay back on the couch and wait for it. This is where my **it gets up!
Ya can't just wish anything! Yeah, ya gotta want it, but you have to work for it too. :rolleyes:
From my personal experience and that of some friends who are also doing well online, "it" is to just jump in and do it.
You don't need to be a risk taker unless you consider spending $10 a year for a domain and $5 a month on hosting a risk.
You don't have to be tech-savvy or very smart. If you can write email or participate on a forum, you have the basic skills to make it online.
You don't have to be healthy or have a bunch of energy or drive... you just have to be able to sit down and do something to grow your website every single day. I was severely depressed when I first quit my job. At this point my websites were making about $100 a month. I wrote articles and did VA work to supplement our income until my websites were making as much as I used to make in my old job.
You just have to really want it.
For me "it" was quitting my job after we lost our son during my 7th month of pregnancy. I just couldn't bare to thought of missing another day with my daughter. My husband started working exclusively online about a year later and yes, we struggled to make it and raked up a bunch of debt just to pay for our mortgage and food, but it made us sit down each day and do the grunt work.
We didn't spent a bunch of money on ebooks and courses, we just looked at what was working for us and did a lot more of it. We did our keyword research, added content, got links through social bookmarking sites and articles and tweaked the ads on our sites.
Of course we also had some projects that we put a lot of work into that never made more than a few pennies, but we moved on to something that was working and did something every single day to build on it. Work fast, fail fast and move on
Nowadays we do spent a good bit of money on tools, outsourcing and courses / conferences, but each time I make that purchase, I sit down and figure out how I can make at least that much more. Most of the time it works, and when it doesn't, I keep working until I've made the money.
Yes, there is a lot of noise out there with the latest and greatest tool/ course/ ebook etc. and there are always ideas for new projects, sites to surf etc. "It" might be being desperate or focused enough to ignore all the noise and put the things we all know work into action, and then sitting down and actually doing all the little (and sometimes boring) everyday tasks instead of looking for a shortcut.
Pick a market
Don't reinvent the wheel, look for something that people are already spending money.
Do your keyword research
Build your site around those keywords
Get incoming links to those pages (article marketing, guest blogging, leaving comments, social bookmarking etc.) using the keywords and keyphrases as anchor text.
Monetize your pages with either affiliate products or your own products.
Rinse and Repeat and do what you can to improve your sites (by adding an option form to build a list for example).
As far as the keyword research and optimizing your pages for those keywords goes, I recommend you read Dan Thies's Seo Fast Start. It's free and one of the best pieces of information I've come across on the topic. Lynn has a review of it here.
http://www.clicknewz.com/2042/seo-fast-start-review/
Susanne Myers
Well thanks, Stephen, for meeting me halfway on this.
There is a strong vibe around here (and twitter) that if you don't make it, in life or in business, you are somehow just not trying hard enough.
These people are not blaming the world, or guru's or their circumstances for their failures.
Nor are they looking for sympathy, or seeking to blame anyone.
I have spoken to many people like this online and offline, Kevin Riley even spoke about this type of person on his blog.
Whether you like it or not, you cannot turn everyone into a success story, they are not wired that way.
Witness this twitter post, that Lynn herself RT'd.
RT @OmarMReyes: even if there were a blueprint, some people would still not follow it - they would still lack the motivation to succeed.
That's all I am saying.
Rich
I recommend everyone read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and learn about the "burning desire" and how to create it.
It's a free download from this site.
It's my favorite book, Lynn!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn Terry
Motivation is not some magical, elusive, mysterious... IT.Quote:
Originally Posted by bigrac
It's the definition of "wanting it bad enough".
And I agree with that tweet.
It doesn't mean that they couldn't, but there is somethingin them that won't let them.
My own grandson was told by his immediate family that he was stupid. practically from the time he was born. He finally dropped out of school as junior in high school. He just couldn't pay attention. When he dropped out and went to get his GED, they tested him to see what his abilities were. They found he was very bright, brilliant and that's why he couldn't pay attention, he was bored, but he had always been told he was stupid.
He work nothing jobs making no money and barely gets by. He could be just about anything, but"he's stupid."
I understand that not everyone will be a success. I also understand that it is rare that a person couldn't be much more whether in Im or something else, if they believed in themselves and worked for it.
Thanks for the wonderful discussion! I have loved it! :)
First, thanks calling me Doctor, although I didn't go to that level of grad school :)
Although we're talking about IT now, I'll answer the initial question of "if i had to start over..." Lynn mentioned it somewhere in there that Nicole's question works on the supposition that we lose everything but our experience and what we know. Our skills developed are still there. That's pretty important.
Also remember in the interview with Nicole, my first product was created 6 months after I started in IM, but 2 years after I started trying to make significant money, and 7 years after I started my initial web design business (which never had more than 2 clients at a time, by the way, and included my parents who fired me... different story for another day).
We do speak in terms of blueprints in the sense of laying out the steps that worked for us, and that have worked for some of those that follow.
Lynn brings up the parable of the talents, and I think that this part of the discussion has gone overlooked. Not every one SHOULD be trying to make money with internet marketing because they COULD be doing something else that would take less time to monetize and they'd have more fun in the process. Most people who buy my programs that don't succeed are trying too hard at doing everything but what they are already good at. Mainly, they don't value the skills they have, and think that they don't have marketable knowledge.
That's where the big problem is in my mind: trying to learn business development while seeking out some foreign skill to learn and monetize. This was in the interview as well - how much easier it would have been for me to make info products around education, learning, etc. (Maybe that's why I love DiscoverFreemind so much as a product :)
Anyway, there are a few pennies of my own thrown in to the mix.
Bob Jenkins, MLA not PhD :)
Sorry about that Bob, A slip of the keyboard I guess! Maybe I was giving you a promotion!Quote:
Originally Posted by BobTheTeacher
I went back and fixed it!
Rich, I for one am grateful that Lynn said what she did. That's exactly the type of response that I would have given.
It's kind of like my personal training clients telling me they have bad genetics and will never ever be able to get in shape. That's a bunch of crap because genetics only play a very small role (less than 18% of your results). With a willingness to do what it takes... actually doing what it takes, and making modifications as you go along the journey, even the least genetically gifted person can still achieve success.
I totally 100% agree with Lynn. Saying that you need to have IT opens the doors for excuses and causes people to give up. What if Thomas Edison listened to people who told him he didn't have IT and should give up when he was on his 999th attempt at creating the lightbulb. "Yep, maybe their right... I just don't have IT"
Sure there will be people who don't ever achieve their goals... but it certainly isn't because the don't have IT. It's because they gave up for whatever reason... and maybe they had a good reason to give up. But it has nothing to do with the thing that not one single person can define "IT"
Obviously Lynn isn't just saying that all you have to do is want it bad enough. Did you not read what she said? She put in a great deal of action toward achieving success and she earned the success.
You will not succeed if you don't want it bad enough. That is a mindset that you must have. If you don't want it bad enough it becomes all to easy to allow the smallest of obstacles and challenges to hold you back.
You need to do more than just want it bad enough, but if that willingness to do whatever it takes is not there, you will have a tough time achieving your goals unless you are setting some real lofty ones.
It actually doesn't flatter me to hear people say that I became successful because I have "IT". Sheesh... what a way to put down my efforts and hard work... almost making it sound like it's easier for me to succeed. As Lynn said pfft.
Back to my fitness example... It pisses me off when someone looks at my abs and says that I'm lucky that I have good genetics. Holy crap does that piss me off. I earned those abs. And I can get fat just as easily as almost anyone else... and in fact I have and I think I set the land record speed for putting on 45 pounds of fat.
I do believe that anyone... yes... absolutely anyone can succeed in business. It may be their first business, or maybe their second. I had a failed business before I became successful with this one.
I recommend watching the cartoon movie "Robots". It's probably one of the most inspirational movies that I've ever watched. There's some very powerful messages in there that I'm sure will hit home with many of you.
Take the night off. Go rent it and enjoy.
You have IT... whatever the hell IT is.
My reality is different from yours Rich. It's one where someone has a dream to go to the moon and I say... if you want it bad enough and are willing to do what it takes to find a way to make that a reality for us to see... Go For IT!
The reality is... anyone can succeed and has it within them to do so. I guess you could say it comes down to choice and some people simple choose to no longer pursue their dreams. But it doesn't mean that they don't have it within them to achieve it.
I believe that anyone can succeed if they follow the "What I would do if I had to start over with just $100" They won't make millions, but it may just be the thing that ignites the flame inside that burns to the tune of "I really can do this"
No worries Steve! I actually found it funny, and now my post doesn't make sense.
An interesting and obvious trend in this thread...
Those who have reached some level of success - believe you can do it too.
I can't speak for everyone, but JMO was nobody special. He was a hustler hiding out in a cabin in the woods, doing odd jobs most of his life. Until he became the Jason Moffatt we all know and love today.
I think everyone has a little IT inside of them.
Looking forward to your report, Jason!
I went back and explained it. I don't want you losing street cred over my screw ups!! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by BobTheTeacher
I agree Scott. It's personally offensive. Anyone who believes that has never walked a mile in my work boots.Quote:
It actually doesn't flatter me to hear people say that I became successful because I have "IT". Sheesh... what a way to put down my efforts and hard work... almost making it sound like it's easier for me to succeed. As Lynn said pfft.
Ooooo! Does this mean I'm successful? Well. . .soon!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn Terry
It is a pretty interesting trend eh Lynn? And I believe that's one of the key themes of Nicole's Success Cast... That we aren't any more special or any more 'lucky' than anyone else out there.
Looking forward to the IT Factor Jason. It will be interesting to hear your advice on accessing our IT and stepping out of our fear to embrace IT
Yeah, their own mindset.Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenT
It comes down to having to make it work or else. This is why what we did was risky but if you can have that mindset without the risk, then great. I agree many people just don't have the stomach for it. That is not the same as saying they don't have it in them.
JA
I agree, Tina. You're IT (which you DO have) makes itself known the moment you're ready. That moment for me was anger and resentment. I finally had enough one day and said screw it - I'll show you I CAN do it! That's when everything fell into place. Not overnight like magic, mind you - I had to work towards it every single day, like anything else in life worth having.
Of course, Scott and I did decide that there IS an easy way to get rich and lose 20 pounds by the end of the week: cut off your leg and rob a bank. (I recommend doing it in the other order)
I think it's ironic how that we end up discussing topics which I am mulling over in my brain elsewhere before they're discussed in full.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottTousignant
Just today during my walk I listened to Anne McKevitt say she is considered radical in her belief as no such thing as luck. In fact, it ticks her off when folks use the word luck or lucky. It just gives them an excuse to say 'well *I* don't have IT'. Ha! She didn't even know that we were discussing the very elusive IT when she said that ... we do know, however, IT is not luck for sure. :)
JA
I was talking to my mother recently about how "lucky" (fortunate) I feel in my life. Basically just a talk of gratitude about where I am now vs 20 or even just 10 years ago.
Her reply: You worked hard to be so lucky.
Hmm...interesting thread.
Those who succeed in internet marketing see themselves as regular folks who just worked real hard and persistently to achieve their internet success. Quite true.
And there are plenty of folks who are just as regular who won't become internet successes.
Why?
Either they lack opportunity (i.e. they are a poor person living in some African nation in a hut without the internet) or they just don't want to put in the work.
There are people in this world who lack the opporunity and their lack of success in internet marketing has nothing to do with lack of ability or desire. There are others who have no desire to work for it and have opportunity staring them in the face every day.
I guess what it boils down to is that people will either succeed or not in internet marketing for the same kind of reasons that people either succeed or not in real world brick and mortar businesses.
95% of the population doesn't start their own business. That's okay. Not everyone wants to do that. And not everyone has the resources or the equal opportunity to do that.
Not starting a business or starting one does not diminish or increase the value of the individual. We are not defined by our business success or lack thereof.
We are defined by how we live and treat our fellow man. Whether we walk with a clean conscience before God and man.
I guess I just don't ever want to look down on those who for one reason or another don't become internet successes is all I am saying.
For some it's a great way to make a living. For others...they would rather work for someone else and have a regular 9-5 job. Both choices can be sound and wise depending on what we want out of life.
Carlos
Right, but anyone here on this forum is a self-starter, and definitely wants to succeed at online business - so the thread is focused on that specifically.
In my book, success is simply being better than you are today.
If you are hungry and you find a meal - is that not success?
If you are broke and you find a dollar - is that not success?
Remember, success is what you define it to be, not what others say success should be.
So while we may not all have the opportunities, the luck, the tools to make six figures online, we all have what it takes to be better than we are today - and that my friend, is success!
I said - "even if there were a blueprint, some people would still not follow it - they would still lack the motivation to succeed" because motivation is just a stepping stone.
You still need persistence, committment, and patience.
I have never heard of a success story where someone became anything better by sitting around waiting. Every success story involves action - whether big or small.
I cannot guarantee that you may be able make money online by just being motivated, by being persistent, committed, and having patience. But I can guarantee that you will not make money online through a lack of motivation, lack of focus and commitment, and a lack of patience.
Which alternative would you prefer?
Oh, and if you are looking for a blueprint here is one for you...
Blueprint For Success
1. Decide You Want Better Than What You Have Now
2. Find a Motivating Factor
3. Take Action
4. Continue #3 until you have better than you have now
Omar Reyes