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.
About the Author...
Carmen Sakurai (aka "Marketing Chick") is an Internet Marketer, Web Designer & Developer, and a Social Media & Relationship Marketing Addict. You can connect with Carmen via Twitter and Facebook.
The MarketingChick.com Blog runs on Thesis ♥
If you’re someone who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, HTML, or CSS, Thesis will give you a ton of functionality without having to alter any code.
For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via extensive hooks and filters. And with so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. Find out more about Thesis.
