Too often we oversimplify complex processes. Just as often we make some things more complex than they are.
We avoid this clash of concepts by knowing what is naturally complex and what is not. Think about how easy our lives are when we take a moment to read a manual before using the gadget we bought to make life easier.
Yes. I’m a ‘real man’ and I read the manuals!
We venture into the unknown when we start something new for us. Our chances of success are greater when we learn to take the first steps before running.
Has no sense?
The fear of failure often prevents us from taking the first step towards success.
I remember a track coach answering the question, “How do you teach young athletes to jump high over a bar taller than their heads?”
His response was, “I tell you to throw your heart on the bar and your body will follow.”
Sure, there is more than that. You have to know the proper approach to the takeoff point.
The high jumper has many exercises to strengthen his body. There are also mental exercises to block everything but the task.
There’s more to it than “throwing your heart over the bar.” There is much more to know.
But without the belief, throwing hearts over the bars, we are mechanical, not fully mentally and emotionally invested.
My checkered past includes managing customer support for a small tech company. I won’t bore you with stories of inept customers, but I will say that we solved a lot of the “won’t work” problems by asking if the unit in question was plugged into an outlet.
One of my favorite sayings is: “What you know gets you started. What you don’t know puts you out of business.”
With that in mind, here is the first of my 3 words that determine online business success. As you read, you’ll quickly understand that they easily apply to most things in life.
word #1
Learn
No matter what your trading experience or internet acumen is: you’re starting something new. And it helps to know which side of the horse is best to ride on.
What exactly do you intend to do online? Are you going to be a blogger, affiliate marketer, coach and trainer, a seller on Amazon or eBay?
Just because you’re familiar with doing a few things online, chances are you don’t know enough to avoid the pitfalls many internet business newbies encounter.
Learn
When advising people over the years who want to start their first business, I suggest buying an hour of time with a good business attorney. Spending a few hundred dollars to learn what a physical business must do to be legal often saves thousands of dollars and hours of complaints down the road.
My next brick and mortar business startup tip is to buy an hour or two of a good CPA’s time. Go with your business plan and your pro forma financials. Let the professional tell you if what you want is really financially viable.
My advice to people who want to start an online business is to take the time to learn the various methods that enable it. Pick one and find the most successful people doing it.
Approach them. If they have a training program, buy it. If they offer information via email or RSS, sign up. If they host webinars, attend.
Just learn what you don’t know before you walk into the minefield where 97% of people who fail online exploit.
word #2
Patience
A human failure is expecting too much too soon.
Those who have read Malcolm Gladwell understand the 10,000 hour theory. Gladwell believes, as do I, that it takes 10,000 hours of experience for someone to be more than competent in his trade.
He cites The Beatles and the time they spent in small clubs in Hamburg, Germany, honing their craft. John, Paul, George and Ringo performed hour after hour in the worst conditions before redefining popular music in the 1960s.
You’ve read about Edison’s 10,000 failures before he succeeded in inventing the light bulb. He had 10,000 reasons to quit. But he is quoted as saying, “I learned 10,000 ways not to invent a light bulb.”
Don’t be like the new farmer who pulls up carrots to see how they grow.
A piece of advice for a ‘newbie’ is
Patience
Only the earth changes from dark to light in 12 hours or less. Building an online business is a delicate process. Your ledger won’t go from red to black in a day.
It can take months to get your first sale or customer. Some opportunities offer results faster than others. The goal is to build a sustainable business by creating long-term customers and income.
But all beginnings are full of traps and you have to trust your guide.
The point is: don’t give up. Be patient.
Pick a good niche. Get a solid workout. Implement the recommended steps in the recommended schedule.
Rinse and repeat – success will come.
word #3
Focus
Don’t lose sight of your goals. I sign emails with: ‘Goals are dreams with deadlines.’
That’s a quote from Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker. Sadly, Rohn passed away a few years ago. Recordings of his speeches and motivational programs of his are available on Amazon.
Too many people celebrate your failure. Some are jealous, others are just mean.
Ignore them. Write your plan on a pad. Don’t use the computer.
I believe that nothing is real unless it is in writing. For me, writing something by hand is more affirmative than typing it into a computer program.
Make your goals part of your DNA. Never lose focus of your plan, what you want most and how you intend to achieve success.
Don’t be distracted by the glitter. One lesson I offer to people who use video to promote their business is to register your main URL as a TV spot, like this: MyUniqueAndWonderfulBusiness.TV
They then post their business promotion videos on that site. Viewers see them on a clean site with no distractions in the right column like you find on YouTube.
We are easily distracted. Like other animals, humans look around. With our eyes positioned to look ahead, we turn our heads toward sounds we hear or a flash in our peripheral vision.
But we are hunters by nature and our frontal field of vision allows us to focus on the prey. Train yourself to stay mentally focused on the next step toward your goal.
Your business prey is the target, the sale, the next step in your funnel. Be like a lurking beast in nature movies…don’t take your eyes off the prize.
bonus words
Associated
It is proven that successful people associate with successful people. It is a fact that you become what you think about the most.
Hang out with people who have achieved the success you seek. Learn from them. Learn to think like them.
Successful athletes develop muscle memory. Their job is to develop cognitive associative memory. Develop the mental means to automatically stay on course.
Have you ever heard the saying: “You are what you think”? Yes, and you are what you eat. Only you are responsible for the person you are.
And don’t confuse success simply with how much you have compared to someone else.
Success is how much you progress from where you started.
Some believe that you subconsciously embed your last thoughts before going to sleep. Over time those thoughts dominate your subconscious.
Teach yourself to focus on your goal while you fall asleep. Associate that goal with what you enjoy the most.
Find a suitable Meetup or other method to associate with successful people. Talk to them. meet them. Listen to them. Learn what they do when they are not working.
Model your life after the lives of successful people.
Read books about successful people.
study them.
Develop your desire to succeed, in your chosen niche and manner.
People who want to succeed in the business area of Donald Trump need to learn from him and follow his success factor.
Who is the Donald Trump in your niche? Find that person. Approach that person. Associated with that person and his ideas.
Conclusion
Learn, patience, focus and partnership are my words of success.
I learned to sail a ship before I set out for the first time.
I became patient after rushing things and failing.
My nature is to focus on the tasks at hand.
My dad taught me to hang out with people who were already where I wanted to be.
If you want to be successful in online business, remember my success words.
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