December 12, 2007
What will you do with the message?
'Hey sunshine, time to wake up.'
That's what I heard from my wife at 5am this morning. WTF? Does ANYONE willingly wake up at that god-forsaken hour?
After stumbling to the shower and bumping into every wall in my bathroom, I finally began to come around.
As the water was pounding down on my head, I recalled a conversation I had with a blog reader yesterday. While that call wasn't recorded, I will tell you the gist of the conversation.
Blog reader - Woody, man, I'm lost. I can't make a buck to save my life online. I hate my job, I never see my family, and I need help. I don't have any money to pay you, is that cool?
Me - No, that's not cool. But I will tell you something… first, get your mind right. I know, it's easier said than done. Think of it like this… you live one life. There are 12 months in a year, approx 4 weeks in each month, 7 days in each week, 24 hours in each day, 60 min in each hour, and 60 seconds in each minute. You may live to around the age of 70. You are 32 right now giving you 38 years to make it happen.
You have a choice… you can make your move now or keep slaving away for the next 38 yrs of your life and live with the regret that it just didn't work out the way you had hoped.
That should give you the motivation and inspiration to MAKE IT WORK. When you settle in the pitiful 'why me' frame of mind, you will constantly fail. You are telling the universe you WANT to fail and thus it will be.
Did you know that even the most simplistic money making models work for those that DEMAND it work for them? It's true and I see it everyday. They realize that life is short and failure is not an option. When they have results that don't live up to their expectation, they analyze where THEY went wrong and fixed it. They moved on and MADE IT WORK.
Blog reader - But HOW did they do it?
Me - They came to the realization that losing wasn't an option and began doing something… now. They didn't procrastinate. They aligned themselves with people they considered more successful than they were at that moment. They dropped the dead weight in their lives. They stopped listening to dreamers and began listening to doers. The company you keep is a missing ingredient to success, IMO.
Blog reader - But HOW did they do it?
Me - Are you stupid? I just TOLD YOU! Ok, I know what you are looking for… you want specific instructions on how to make money. I'm not going to give you that because you obviously didn't get the lesson I just shared with you. Once you understand what I said, I will give you a simple blueprint to follow. But chances are you won't need it once you understand the lesson I shared.
—
After the call, I was frustrated but quickly got over it. Some people are destined to win and most to fail. That's just a fact of life. You can impart all of your wisdom to one person and then it's ultimately up to them to do something with it.
I shared this with you because if just one of you reads this message and it impacts you even slightly, then I did my job.
Enjoy,
Woody
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Comments on What will you do with the message? »
Woody,
Well said! We all need reminders to keep focus and be in the right frame of mind to suceed. Thanks for that virtual kick in the ass.
thanks.
I have spent a great deal of time since 1998 trying to make extra money online. Over the years, I made the most money selling my OWN stuff. I sold a info kit on buying and selling personal property, it was sent via regular mail, and I made a good profit. I started making many sales, and ended up selling the rights to someone else. I also made money with ebay, starting first selling my own stuff, then closeouts and finally, I found a source for a product that I made a very thin profit per transaction. At most, I've earned a $900-$1200 in profits per month. Not enough income to make the nights up past 12:00 am worth it. Honestly, I would have made more money if I'd got a part-time job. I have never made any money with affiliate programs. It seems like a good idea, everyone says its SO easy and I do have links on my web sites, but if it is THAT hard to make a buck with these affiliate programs, or if you have to be a genius with SEO, links, etc., I'll stick to my day gig in the service business. You Woody, I'm sure are NOT like 99% of us looking to make money online, whether you know it or not. I am the most determined person in the world, but I've made 1000's of times more money offline than online. Right now, I have a web site and blog for my company, but it is for information only, I don't expect to make anything directly from the blog or web site I have. I do it because I like to write.
So, my reply to this person would be, stop FORCING it to happen. Let go. Let the prosperity flow naturally. Do more of what is working for you now. I bet if the guy would focus on getting a better day job FIRST, it would relieve a lot of stress and open up opportunities that can immediately impact his life. The hype of online marketing and how great it is reminds me of MLM in its glory days in the 80's.
I'm not trying to be negative, but people have to face reality as well as holding on to their dreams. Demanding things to work does not hold up in the long run, it becomes a GRIND. I bet this guy has skills that he could immediately apply to make money in hundreds of ways, but not all necessarily fit into the very small, narrow niche of online marketing. I tried to vigorously market online for about 5 years, but like I said, it did not provide enough income for my effort. So why try to fit a round peg in a square hole? Move on and make money somewhere else, like cleaning out dryer vents.
Just my thoughts.
Another thought, and I don't mean to be long winded. What is never addressed is the fact that the skills you need online to succeed go beyond willpower or desire. Maybe these "givens" don't get the attention they deserve.
1. Typing skill. In order to get content into articles, web sites, emails etc. is the person you talked to good at typing?
2. Writing skill. Almost nothing is said in regard to marketing online about writing or creative writing. How many people really liked English class, or can write in a creative way, or in a way that will make people buy stuff? This is a skill that can be acquired like many others, but if the person is not skilled in that area, or doesn't realize that is what it will take, I doubt they will get far. Many sites say they will plug in the content for you, but all the successful sites I see are LOADED with original content from the author. These people are WRITERS.
3.BASIC Computer skills. Can the guy use a computer? How about the use of the programs you are going to need to market online?
As a side note, I read from Bum Marketing, about writing tons of articles about certain keywords, then using affiliate programs to plug in. I talked to a newspaper writer the other day and at best they get out 2-5 good articles a week, can the normal guy crank out 2 per day?
If one cannot understand these instructions, one cannot get the message despite making it clearer. May be he was looking for a numbered blueprint - do this, then do that etc.
When your survival instinct kicks in you will succeed with or without the best tools and strategies. A relentless drive to get the end result will ensure you make it happen.
Success really is an inside job.
Everybody at some point has gone through that "why me" phase. But the point is getting ourselves out of that rut and moving forward. Because we're stuck in such a negative way of thinking, we tend to be blind to solutions and possibilities. Instead, all we see is ourselves and our failures. In the end, that's where the difference lies between those who succeed and those who don't.
"Success really is an inside job."