Some of you may know that I am into the self-help niche. I have been a self-help geek since high school and recently came across what I consider to be the most effective Law of Attraction program ever produced-”The Secret Behind The Secret”. Click here to see my special offer.
I could not believe what I was reading. It came in an email, this morning, from one of the so-called gurus of internet marketing. He had the nerve to say:”Far too many people find themselves in a perpetual learning state.” The thing that shocked me was that in an effort to sell his product, he actually believed what he was saying.
You can never have too much knowledge and the moment you stop learning is the moment you start your decline into failure. Knowledge is one of the true keys to success. Of course, knowledge without action leads to the same result. Knowledge in and of itself has no value unless it is applied. So at least part of the formula for success is knowledge plus taking action on that knowledge will lead to success.
In internet marketing to be truly successful, you need as much knowledge as you can get about marketing, driving traffic, PPC, article marketing, keywords, niche marketing, researching niches, finding products that are in demand, creating your own product, creating your own affiliate program, JVs and much much more. In addition, learning must be an ongoing affair because the internet that we know today is already outdated when we wake up tomorrow morning.
Two years ago who ever heard of Squidoo, YouTube, virtual worlds, blogs and forums. Perhaps you had heard of them but, now they are an integral part of internet marketing. What changes are coming up in the future? We can make some guesses but, in reality, the internet is still in it’s infantcy and changing so fast that if we don’t keep learning, we will be left in the dust.
Yes, the basics still work but, new times demand new methods.
That being said, all study and no work makes Jack a poor boy. If you are going to make a living on the internet, it is the application of knowledge that brings about success and massive action leads to massive success.
Actually, the guru that I mentioned earlier, was not really talking about perpetual learning which we all need, he was talking about information overload which is a problem that all internet marketers must contend with. We must study and learn but, we cannot let ourselves become so overwhelmed information overload that we are frozen into inaction. This is probably the leading killer of newcomers to internet marketing. They are greeted with a myriad of routes to marketing success and don’t know which route to take. As a result, they become easily discouraged and give up before they have made any serious attempts.
My suggestion for newcomers is in the beginning, find one program that offers step by step plans and plenty of support and stick with that program until they start to find success. Some things that I would absolutely demand before I bought into a program is that on the programs website, they openly display contact information including not just an email address and a support phone number. If they don’t offer that, then what are you going to do when you need help.
In looking at programs, look out for hype and false promises. There is no such thing as instant success. It takes knowledge, time and work. You can make these vast sums that you hear about but not as a newcomer. Remember, the gurus have vast experience, easily enter into joint ventures with other gurus, have their own affiliate programs and products and a very fat wallet to back up everything that they do.
Learn the basics and become a perpetual learning machine but, at the same time become a perpetual action machine. Knowledge and action lead to success.
I shot an arrow into the air and where it landed I know not where. The fact of the matter is that, if you do not have a proper target, you are just as likely to shoot the neighbor’s cat or your own butt (even more likely) than achieve any target of consequence.
Of course, what I am talking about is goal setting. Most people are satisfied to go through life without setting down specific written goals for what they want to achieve in life. The may have some vague dream about what they want but, it remains just that-a dream. In the end they end up with an aimless life and will never rise above the level of mediocrity. When they finally lie down on their deathbed, they will only be able to look back on a life of unfulfilled dream and disapointment. If however, they take their dreams and set them down as specific written goals, they will have been open to all of the opportunities available to us and would have set specific strategies to achieve their goals.
These are the people who on their deathbed look back upon a life of fulfillment and the legacy that they have left behind. They will look back at a lifetime with no regrets.
It is easy to dream but it is only the goal setters that will achieve those dreams. One of my heroes is Tiger Woods. At the tender age of 8, he set his goal to break every golf record ever set and to become the world’s number one golfer. It took him 13 years of practice and work but by age 21, he achieved his goal. Most people may dream about being the best at something or being rich or being a rock star but without specific written goals, it remains just that-a dream and nothing more.
Dreams are only the starting point. If you believe in the Law of Attraction, thoughts become things but, only when you take the next step of writing down your dreams in goal form and then setting strategies to achieve those dream goals. It is the dreamers in life that are responsible for every great achievement of mankind but, only those who took the next step of writing down those dreams as goals.
One final note of proof. Just 3 percent of the world’s population have written goals but those 3 percent control 95 percent of the wealth in the world. When you are on you deathbed will you look back at a life of fulfillment or a life of unfulfilled dreams.
For more information on Success and self-fulfillment, please visit my Over the Rainbow website.
To our mutual Success
Stan Pontiere
Not only can success be habit forming, in order to become a success, you need to build some new habits.
I know that if you have been reading my articles, that you have a pretty good idea about how effective Shoestring Marketing can be but, if you don’t put this knowledge to use (take action) then you will have no success at all. The best method I know of creating success is by making the action step a habit.
The commonly held belief is that if you can do something for 21 days straight, it will become a habit. While you may have all of the knowledge in the world, if you don’t make taking action a habit, you will be no better off than if you had no knowledge at all.
There are many techniques to Shoestring Marketing. Take just one of them and turn it into a habit. For example, article marketing has been extremely effective for me. So, for the next 21 days, write and publish an article. Before you do anything else in the day, write your article. Don’t read your email, surf the web or anything else, just get right into writing and publishing your article.
At the end of 21 days, look back at the results of your article marketing. How many responsive hits has your website had? Google your name. How many results do you get back? I can tell you right now you will be shocked at the results. Not only that, having done this for 21 days, you have developed a new habit and will look forward to writing your articles.
After that 21 day period, you can then take on one of the other methods of Shoestring Marketing and watch as your success grows. You are not only developing the habit of applying the Shoestring Marketing methods, you are developing the habit of success.
Don’t wait until tomorrow, start your habit of success today. Like anything else in life, success is just a habit that you need to develop and taking action is the primary foundation for all success.
It doesn’t matter what your dreams are, how much planning you have done or what strategies you have set down, you are not going to make a dime online until you take action and massive action can lead to massive results.
You may spend many hours trying to build the perfect website, perfecting your strategies and setting down a perfect set of goals. In looking for perfection, you may leave out the most important step-putting these things into action. Nothing is perfect and if you are not taking action until you have the perfect website, strategies or goals, you are never going to make a dime on the net.
Nothing in life is perfect but it is this obsession with perfection that will ultimately doom you to failure. You must take action to become successful. Maybe your website isn’t perfect, it is still better to get it online with all of it’s imperfections than you let it collect dust while you try to perfect it. Marketing strategies and goals are the same. Even if they are not perfect, you won’t make any money until you put them into action.
There is no such thing as a perfect website, strategy or goal. It doesn’t matter-just put them into action. Action is the one necessary step to make your fortune. Your entire marketing campaign will never be perfect. It will always be a work in progress. Once you finally put them into action you can always start making adjustments to get better results but you get no results by having these things collecting dust on your hard-drive.
So, dedicate yourself to taking at least one new action step everyday and in the end, this will lead to your success. Remember that massive action gives you massive results.
There has never been a better time to be and Internet Marketing success and make your millions on the net.
But, being an internet millionaire doesn’t mean that your life has become a success. Quite the opposite, you can be a millionaire and your life could still be a total failure.
I have long touted the idea that all you need do is develop a business mindset, use shoestring marketing strategies and take massive action and you can become the next internet millionaire. However, I think that I have been doing you a great disservice.
Just take a look at the Hollywood Movie Stars. How many movie stars have completely wasted personal lives. They are at the top of their game in the movies but, their personal lives are filled with drug abuse, divorce, and forced incarceration in a rehab center. Or, how about the success of becoming a Governor of a major state and then get kicked out of office because you can’t control your penchant for the “ladies of the night”. Highly successful and totally wasted lives.
The same thing can happen to you. You become so involved in becoming the next internet millionaire that your personal life goes to Hell. Your children hate you, divorce is on the horizon and you have no spiritual life at all. Having money is only part of the success scenario.
What I am saying is don’t just build a business mindset, build a success mindset. Set goals for all areas of your life and become a true success. Besides financial goals, you should also set goals for your family life, spiritual life and any other area of your life that will make you a total success. Don’t just be an internet success, become a total success. There is an old cliche that you should remember-Money isn’t everything. It doesn’t make you happy. I admit that it is easier to find happiness if you don’t have to worry about paying the bills but, it is only one measure of success-just a part of the whole.
So when someone teaches you how to become a financial success, don’t forget the rest of the picture and set your goals to become a total success.
For more information on goal-setting and success, you might want to check out the works of Brian Tracy. He offers (at last count) 35 free one-hour CDs-all you pay is a small S&H charge (I think it is about 3 dollars). Brian Tracy Home Page