You’ve seen it… when a marketing guru is asked what the secret to Internet success is, he/she immediately answers
in the most “I’m going to tell you something so shocking, you’re gonna pee a raging river in your pants!” tone…
“The secret is… there are NO secrets at all.”
Alright, so I’m guilty of saying that at least once, and I do apologize for the immense pain you must’ve felt you in your underpants. But as B.S.-ish as it sounds to me now, at the time I said it, it was in all SINCERITY.
Look at it this way… we don’t have any secret “magic buttons” that we push to pull in the sales. The only button we have is marked “Send” and if you’re reading this, you have it too.
And the special “insider tips” we have access to that allow us to know which products will sell before we even begin promoting it? Us seasoned marketers like to call it – TESTING.
So, in that respect, there are NO secrets.
However…
Those *are* some of the very SECRETS all successful online marketers use to rake in the profits. But because they’re so “obvious” and “boring”, most people dismiss them completely. After all, “Take Action” ain’t exciting…
But, there must be at least ONE hidden technique that can catapult your sales overnight, right? I mean, heaven forbid these millionaire marketers put some effort into their business! There’s gotta be an EASIER way!
And there is.
Anyway, back to that “There’s gotta be an EASIER way!” part…
Let me be completely honest with you. I DO have SEVERAL “secrets” to which I owe my own success to…
Secrets that enables me to work part-time for a more-than-full-time income, pay off my mortgage, cars, my parents’ cars, etc…. (And YES, I *am* showing off… I worked my butt off to get here! But, that’s what I’m here for – to SPARE you from chafing YOUR booty while you build your ebusiness.)
Anyway, the reason why I said, “There are no secrets,” is because these are simple, daily things that you probably already do… but most people don’t put much importance on them because they don’t realize that these ho-hum, everyday actions can make or break their businesses.
So here are *MY* secrets. They come with no guarantees except that if you regularly follow through with them, your business will shift in the direction you’re guiding it towards…
Secret #1: Have a GOAL
Even if you’re holding the world’s highest quality road map, it’s hard to get anywhere if you don’t know where you want to go.
You need to decide on a destination. And a very *specific* one at that.
When planning a family vacation, you don’t just stop your planning at “we’re going SOMEWHERE”, do you? No, because if you did that, you’ll most likely end up nowhere. To make the most out of your vacation, you decide on exactly where you’re going, which airline to take, where you’re going to stay, and most likely a spending budget and what you want to do while you’re there as well.
Same with planning your business goals.
Avoid vague goal setting statements like, “I want to be rich by the end of this year”, “I want a huge subscriber list”, “I’m going to launch a product.”
Your goal must be specific and measurable. “I’m going to make $50,000, $100,000, or $1000,000+ in profit by the end of 12 months”, “I will increase my subscriber list by 30,000 in the next 90 days”, “I’ll launch my product within the next 6 months”.
This will make your goal crystal clear for YOU.
Secret #2: Use EARPLUGS
No matter how excited YOU are about your goals, don’t expect others to share your enthusiasm.
I’ve been told too many times, “You can’t do that!” And I’ve never understood how anyone can say that to another person. Only YOU can decide what you can or cannot do, and even that’s determined by the limitations you put on yourself.
There’s absolutely no reason why someone else’s limits should stop you from reaching your goals and making your dreams a reality.
Your goals are yours alone… don’t let other talk you out of it just because they doubt themselves.
Secret #3: Work BACKWARDS
Let’s say your goal is to make a total of $50,000 in profit from your online business by the end of 12 months.
That comes out to about $4,167 per month – $1,042 per week – and $149 per day.
$50,000 may seem out of reach at first, but $149 per day sounds less intimidating, doesn’t it?
Next, figure out how you can pull in that $149 a day… You have master resell rights to a $49 ebook, a logo design service where you charge a minimum of $150, and you’re an affiliate for 2 products paying you $30 each.
To make $149, you can sell 3 of your ebooks, design one logo, or 3 of each of the affiliate products.
To make $1,042 per week, you can sell 21 ebooks, design 7 logos, or 17 of each of the affiliate products.
Mix and match it!
So, even if you don’t sell any ebooks or make any affiliate sales, you’ll be okay if you design 7 logos.
Do you see where I’m going with this? Once you have it all mapped out backwards, it’s time to move forward!
You’ve created your own action plan =)
However… remember to be flexible with this. Your “ultimate goal” is to achieve the goal you’ve set for yourself. So if you find a way to get there faster, (maybe you’ve added web design package at $500 a pop) by all means, TAKE IT!
Secret #4: Put it into ACTION
Imagine this… The world’s most renowned architect sits down with you to design your Millions Dollar dream home and hands you the blueprint.
If you go home and simply admire the blueprint without doing anything else, does that put you IN the house?
Let’s say you put a bit of effort into this and you meet with the cabinet supplier and pick out your perfect style, and do nothing more, does THAT put you IN the house?
What if you do a little more and visit the bank… if your bank approves your Million Dollar loan, but you stop there, does that put you IN the beautiful house?
No.
You can’t do just a little of this, a little of that, and expect COMPLETE results.
Now that you’ve custom designed your action plan, you can’t just let it sit there… or even read it over and over again without taking action, and expect results.
The most Valuable Information is useless unless you Act, Apply, and Follow Through.
Secret #5: Learn from MISTAKES
The fear of failing, or making mistakes, forces us to protect and limit ourselves by playing it safe. By doing this, you are cheating yourself from reaching your greatest achievements. You only fail if you a) give up on your goals by not jumping back into the game after making a mistake, or b) jumping back into the game and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.
Making a mistakes doesn’t make you a failure. Your brain can only learn by making mistakes… it leads to growth and excellence. The trick is to take responsibility for it, and learn and improve from it.
Secret #6: Keep An “IDEA Notebok”
Whenever a good idea popped into my head, I’d drop what I was currently doing and start working on something new. BAD IDEA! I was never able to complete anything and constantly felt frustrated because I was always behind.
So, I started an “idea notebook” where I jotted down these great ideas and disciplined myself not to look back until I’ve finished what I’m currently working on.
This is actually more important than most people believe. If you don’t finish a task you have on your “to-do” list, you’re left feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. When you mark off a task and move on to the next, it helps you feel like you’re accomplishing something, moving ahead, and not wasting your time.
Did you know that completing even the simple task of making your bed in the morning can make a difference in how you look at your day?
Secret #7: Don’t stop until it’s COMPLETE
Let’s use another analogy, shall we?
You step out your front door with the intention to walk straight down the road to your favorite gourmet bakery. About two blocks… less than 10 mins, right?
Well, almost as soon as you start moving, you spot a candy sale across the street and head over for some sweets.
Then you come back out and start heading towards the bakery. But, you run into your friend and decide to stop for coffee.
You leave the coffee shop and head back towards the bakery. But, for reasons unknown, you stop to ask someone if they can recommend a different bakery to shop at.
Then as soon as you step back in the right track, you decide to turn around and head back home because it’s getting dark… and besides, whole wheat bread is “good enough” for now…
You get back into the house and check your clock, and to your surprise, you were out for over 4 hours! You take out the whole wheat bread but you really don’t have a taste for it, so you end up going to bed without dinner.
// That’s what happens when you don’t focus on
// reaching your goals and allow yourself to
// keep getting distracted.
I admit, there are goals I set YEARS ago, but have yet to accomplish. Doing my 30-day pilates workout for one… I keep stopping at day #10! If I just kept going for 20 more days, I’d have a body like Daisy Fuentes by now.
The worst part is, 20 days is NOTHING compared to the 4 years of missed opportunity since I last did pilates. But no, I still go to bed shaped like a summer squash.
Seriously consider “opportunity costs” and “following through”. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this “lesson”, when you take action, your life has no other choice but to shift in the direction you are guiding it towards.
Finally…
Once you take everything I just told you and make it a HABIT, it only gets easier. Set specific and measurable goals, decide you’re going to get it no matter what happens or what anyone might say, focus your eyes on it, and don’t stop moving towards it until you’re sitting on top of it!
How do you think those marketing gurus keep whipping up new products every month, and sell hundreds and thousands of dollars worth their products every time? They’re addicted to the feeling they get whenever they achieve their goals.