Strategic Solutions
Want Real Strategic Solutions With No Magic Buttons?
Nobody can have missed the flood of magic button one click solutions that have hit the market over the last 6 to 9 months and they exist for a reason, a simple reason, people try something find it’s hard and then move onto the next sure thing only to find that doesn’t work either, in short it’s a million miles from the Strategic Solutions they are seeking
The Real problem of course with the magic button solution is that 3 or 4 of these turn up every week and every single one of them is going to disappoint you because they are created to satisfy a market that wants a solution that requires no work, on the face of it Strategic Solutions are not as attractive but that is really to miss the point
Lets look at what really happens when you pursue magic buttons as against Strategic Solutions, you start out thinking you have found the answer, 1 click and bam! cold hard cash flooding into your bank on auto pilot but in reality you get a theory or worse still an old idea in new clothes and guess what, it doesn’t work either
Chances are that you have now wasted a couple of days watching the videos, listening to the lies, reading the photo shopped testimonials and earnings claims, lets be honest here, you spend thousands of dollars and months developing a solution that works like gang busters and then you sell it to everybody, that doesn’t represent Strategic Solutions it represents madness
So Why Do Strategic Solutions Make Sense?
So why do Strategic Solutions make sense, surely they involve a lot more work? well in honesty no, you see magic buttons waste your time, they create false hope and they leave you in a negative frame of mind, if we are honest with ourselves we know that such things don’t exist, repeat after me, there are no magic button cold hard cash spitting solutions
Strategic Solutions take time, they take effort but they give real rewards,your real solution looks like this, build a business in niche a, test and tweak this business,continue to test and tweak to increase revenues, once this is running on near auto pilot because you have developed it including now customer service support you are ready to move on to niche or project b
Now you rinse and repeat but guess what you now have all the knowledge of how everything works in niche a to bring to niche b, you have a team,you have the technical solutions ironed out, really successful people online do not rely on just one pillar for their business, it is built up of many pillars or income streams, this represents the real Strategic Solutions we are looking for
When you went to university you didn’t study to be a lawyer on Monday, a chef of Wednesday and a chemist on Friday and yet chasing magic buttons is exactly like doing that, far from offering us the strategic solutions that we seek it will just make us more confused and ultimately broke
What Are My Options With Real Strategic Solutions
So What Are Your Options With Real Strategic Solutions that actually work? no tricks, no lies. For truly Strategic Solutions we need to turn to the man who really invented the idea for Online Marketers I am of course talking about Rich Schefren it’s no accident that he has mentored more Internet success stories than anybody else and not a magic button in site here
Next I would turn to my own mentor Alex Jefferys Alex again has a successful role call of hugely successful online business people by offering Strategic Solutions and he recently offered people the chance to get their hands on a recording of a seminar he did in Las Vegas attendees paid him nearly $1300 Dollars to be there but you can get it for the price of lunch but this is one mighty valuable lunch I can tell you
Lastly in this round up I would mention Tim Bekker he is sick of the magic button brigade and is offering the system that brings in thousands of dollars a month for just $7 Dollars yes you read that right $7 Dollars, this really represents the ultimate Strategic Solutions at a low low price
So as always at this point I turn things over to you, have you got past the point of chasing magic buttons,do you have a truly clear A-B-C action plan with a clear time frame and end results in mind? because if you don’t your business will just spin it’s wheels and you will become another casualty, unless that is you are working towards true Strategic Solutions
Filed under My Online Journey by on Apr 8th, 2011. 2 Comments. 
Online Reputation
Do You Know If Your Building Or Ruining Your Online Reputation
As I write this, it’s a bright crisp Monday morning here and I’ve had a weekend to reflect on the outlines of this post which is simply are you building or ruining your Online Reputation, we are offered so many shortcuts that are blind sales page sold that dangle the carrot of instant riches, ever bought one? then you’ll know what I mean
What has got me onto this topic? well it follows on from my recent previous post on the new [Push Button] software age, I’ve revisited it in terms of buying and testing some recent products and they are in the main alarming, they all offer 1 click to 7 click solutions, sounds great, so what does this have to Online Reputation you may ask?
Quite simple really, all offer fast money for no work, the majority sell from blind sales copy that does not actually tell you what the product is why? because if you knew in advance that the ideas were not new, did not work and in the case of two are actually selling outdated operating methods you would see straight through it and it would ruin their Online Reputation
We all want an easy solution, something that allows you to profit for limited effort but so often these products actually take hours just to go through the up sell and down sell process and they leave you feeling cheated, sadly it also leaves newbies feeling that everybody is making big money bar them, it sets off a downward spiral that will ruin their Online Reputation
So How Can You Safeguard Your Online Reputation?
First principals of safeguarding your Online Reputation have to be being true to yourself and to your customers, we are human, we will make mistakes, some of them will be howlers, but that’s a million miles from knowingly putting together a product designed to make people think they will make fast money whilst knowing it’s junk
You may feel that you will lose friends if you don’t promote their products but Calvin Woons blog post yesterday explains why he nearly quite the IM niche over this and why he thought it important to stay in even though he had suffered some short term effects of speaking out, of questioning others Online Reputations
Speaking personally now I also think it’s a question of ethics, my background which is in a high end service based leisure market is built around consistent high quality service, about meeting and exceeding expectations on a consistent basis, of going the extra mile, you live or die based on your reputation, in my mind your Online Reputation is no different
In researching the outlines of this post I came across a great site that exposes the products that don’t work, it’s not a usual review site that is a lightly disguised sales letter and uses actual users of the products experiences on the site, I strongly recommend you look at this Review Site it will save a lot of people money and it will call into question the Online Reputation of people who consistently set out to sell this type of product
How About Some Resources To Build Your Online Reputation?
So far I’ve been critical of people who set out to really take advantage of a basic greed that exists in everybody and not all push button software is junk, I came across one product from the last few days that does deliver, that will build the guys Online Reputation just so you know I don’t have a downer on this market but just on the ethics behind 99.9% of the people selling it
Who then really can build your Online Reputation? lets start with somebody who has been behind more online success stories than any other, Rich Schefren talks about business by design, it’s not by accident this mans students reads like a who’s who of online Success Stories, if you really want to join them then check him out, he is night and day different
A man who clearly had a big impact on me was my mentor Alex Jeffereys he is without doubt one of the best online coaches out there, he is currently offering his sell out Million Dollar Blueprint seminar footage that he did in Las Vegas for the price of lunch if you are serious about your Online Reputation then check Alex out
A lot of the people I personally know and respect in this business are becoming increasing concerned about the sale of junk products aimed at newbies basically to sell a dream that will turn out to be a bunch of things they could have got for nothing, what are you thoughts on this, what are your feelings on building an Online Reputation
Filed under My Online Journey by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment.
Online Coaching
Is Online Coaching A Curse Or A Cure?
Hardly a day goes by without some top line guru offering Online Coaching in one form or another, he or she will tell you about the amazing lifestyle they are experiencing and will paint a picture of how you can do the same, there is of course one critical factor that comes into play here and that is their own track record
If the style used by the person doing the Online Coaching is just based around them then it is unlikely to work, if however the Online Coaching is based around developing you and your needs then you are probably off to the races as a friend of mine used to say, it’s a perfect fit with your Mastermind Strategy
Now lets be honest here, everybody needs Online Coaching and who you choose as your mentor will make a huge difference to the success or failure of your online career, you need clear focus, you need a consistent path to follow, you must avoid shiny objects and you must stay committed when things seem tough
My own experience of Online Coaching has been both excellent at one end and very poor at the other so your choice of mentor is in my view critical, the right mentor will instantly set you on a path to consistent success, a poor mentor will just take your money and run and sadly there are too many of those people online
So What Do You Look For In Online Coaching?
So what do you look for in Online Coaching, obviously somebody with a good level of experience in your field whilst it may seem like a statement of the obvious do they know enough to develop you, to get the best out of you, critically can they motivate you and will they be strong enough to call you when your making excuses?
For me respect plays a large part in Online Coaching, does your Coach have the kind of track record that says, I was once just where you are now but this is what I did and these are the people I worked with to change things, your Coach will almost certainly have been mentored themselves and certainly won’t be too proud to put their hand up and ask for help from time to time
Success is a journey and seldom is it a straightforward path, the strength of character to pick yourself up and keep going when things seem really bad is the mark of a person who will go the extra mile, the power of Online Coaching when it works well is the power to turn mediocrity into greatness
I think also somebody who genuinely wants to see their Online Coaching students succeed is essential, I mentioned a while ago that my mentor had called all of his previous students together to stop them making a mistake he had discovered he was making, can you seriously imagine many other people doing that because I can’t? It told everybody how much he cares about his students success
Who Would I Turn To For High Quality Online Coaching
It would come as no surprise I guess that I would go back to my mentor for Online Coaching, he over delivers in a massive way and that’s rare, Alex Jeffereys has just put together a package of his sell out Las Vegas Seminar which was $1295 Dollars to attend, he has just offered a limited opportunity to see this Million Dollar Blueprint for the cost of lunch, this guy is the real deal you owe it to yourself to check this and him out
My next person is also somebody I respect enormously, he has offered Online Coaching to more top line Internet Marketers than anybody else and his client list reads like a who’s who success role, I am of course talking about Rich Schefren his Free Products are often better than most paid products, again make sure you check this man out
Would I take the opportunity to blow my own trumpet when it comes to Online Coaching? well I am about to launch a series of Outsourcing Audio’s and Videos and the Free 20 Minute Audio I offer is pretty damn good if I say so myself, but you’ll be the judge of that
So as always at this point I turn to you for your thoughts, what has your experience of Online Coaching been like have they gone the extra mile for you or where you left feeling disappointed? Speaking personally when it’s done well I really this you’ll get a massive benefit from Online Coaching
Filed under My Online Journey by on Mar 11th, 2011. Comment.
Mastermind Group
Are You Making The Most Of Your Mastermind Group?
I mentioned towards the end of last week that I was off to meet my Mastermind Group on Saturday, this was a problem solving workshop and I put myself in the hotseat by going first, now you might think that’s quite daunting but I find it really helpful, I have a new project in final build stage and the feedback is invaluable
Judging by the responses I got when I spoke about building a Mastermind Group back in November and the number of comments I got on the subject it clearly hit a nerve in terms of people seeing the value in getting support and I think critically getting many fresh pairs of eyes over what you are doing
In the online world we are often working alone in an office and as Michael Gerber once told us the problem with the boss is the boss doesn’t have one, your Mastermind Group will form part of an accountability partnership that keeps you on track, makes you hit time deadlines and meet quality standards
There is however 1 highly valuable resource that you get from a Mastermind Group that I think is too easy to overlook, what is new to you is an everyday task to somebody else, don’t reinvent the wheel it’s already been done let somebody help you with the challenge and in turn make sure you do the same with others, in life we reap what we sow
Shared Experience Is The Real Mastermind Group Power That You Can Harness
Though shared experiences we grow as people, one man or woman is not an island, the power of attending seminars and meetings is not in the one time offer the speaker makes, the just twenty and we close this down at only $2997 Dollars hmm! no the value is in the group that meets for coffee, the networking opportunities, future Mastermind Group members, JV partners, affiliate managers etc
If I send you an e mail and ask for your help it will likely fall on stony ground if however we talk as a group and we get to know each other the opportunities are frankly endless, the real power of a Mastermind Group is in the contacts that you make, the friendships and the trust that grows from it and the sharing of successful ideas from that
The need to travel thousands of miles has gone although on a rainy February morning the idea of being in Florida or somewhere like Southern Spain in the sunshine would be welcome, online marketing is popular all over the world now so building your Mastermind Group within an hour to two hours of where you live should be easier than ever
One of our Mastermind Group now travels regularly and looks after the UK interests of a major Internet Marketer based on connections he made attending a seminar, instead of getting swept along with the hype at these events concentrate on what practical value you can get out of it, if that includes buying products that answer a pressing need rather than the latest magic button software then all the better
Resources To Support Your Mastermind Group Development
So what resources can you use to explode your Mastermind Group experience, well clearly there are many but I will highlight three key ones, number one has to be Outsourcing it releases your time to concentrate on the key areas of your business and stops a lack of technical knowledge getting in your way
I have included a video clip of Napolean Hill talking about what Andrew Carnegie taught him, how he overcame self doubt and went on teach the world about the power of a Mastermind Group, the idea is as powerful today as it was when the two men met, only we can set the limits of how much we achieve or how we get in our own way
Lastly I am going to recommend that of the modern day teachers Rich Schefren is really powerful, his free content is better than much by way of paid content and his founders club program is the best out there, his consulting clients read like a who’s who of Online Marketing success, we set the limits, don’t set yours too low!
As always at this point I ask you for your experiences and want to get your feedback, are you part of a group already or are you planning to join one? My recommendation, find or start one today, I can think of nothing that will power you forward faster than a Mastermind Group
Filed under My Online Journey by on Feb 21st, 2011. 11 Comments.
Successful Mentor
The Real Value Of Working With A Successful Mentor
I wanted to look today at the amount of noise of distraction that is going on online and to really drill down to the importance of focus, of being absolutely clear on where you are going and the role of a Successful Mentor in helping you achieve that goal
The inbox of to many people will see dozens if not hundreds of e mails arrive each one promising instant overnight riches at the push of a button if you just buy their latest product or take their recommendation, the role of a Successful Mentor is to help you stay on track with what matters rather than being drawn into distractions
Does this suggest that all e mails are a distraction? no of course not but if they are stopping you completing your plan then to a large extent they are, like many fields online success is a question of following a formula, a plan, the role that a Successful Mentor will undertake for you is to implement that plan and to set up accountability
I have talked before about the role of an accountability partner, somebody who will both support you through some difficult times to ensure that you come out the other end stronger and somebody who will share you success as well, a Successful Mentor will highlight the value of a Mastermind Group for you
The True Strength Of A Successful Mentor
So what is the true strength of a Successful Mentor and how do you benefit? I would say that clarity is critical, their ability to cut through the noise and give you some clear ideas to work with, we all have our personal roadblocks and they are usually of our own making
In many ways we can be our own worst enemies, as our business grows we become project managers, a task we are not experienced in quite often, your Successful Mentor will have observed this many times, in fact I referred to this in my Jan 21st Post in it I talked about the man who mentored me and how he had felt himself getting off track and his reverting back his mentor
Often when we just look through our own eyes we see a part of a picture, a Successful Mentor used to dealing with other peoples businesses will see a bigger picture and how it fits into a longer term plan, this strategic thinking can make the critical difference between stagnation and the next burst of growth
In the case above my mentor Alex Jeffereys had seen that despite his helping develop countless successful online marketers himself that he had hit a roadblock, it is a sign of strength of character not a lack of knowledge at this point that he turned back to his own mentor to find the way forward
The Business Case for A successful Mentor
In my own field of Professional Golf it is a standard practice that players will have a coach, a fitness trainer, a mind coach, no longer is it good enough to be just talented now you need to be mentally strong under pressure and extremely physically fit, a few words from a Successful Mentor will make a huge difference
We don’t wait for our teeth to fall out or our car to break down before we take action, it’s just part of routine that we take care of these things on a regular basis, having a Successful Mentor as part of our continuing success strategy should be part of that same thinking
Can you learn from a Successful Mentor with little or no cost? well you can certainly mirror their ideas for just an investment in your time and as I think you know I think the best of these is Rich Schefren’s Internet Business Manifesto but at some point we still need to know how to drive these ideas, it’s no accident that in life the most successful people all have their own mentors, that person they respect and turn to for advice
In wrapping up today I would say that this is in my opinion the critical difference between people who struggle and those who do fantastically well, one group never see the full picture, the other keep seeing the latest ideas and drive them forward, so let me know your thoughts on having a Successful Mentor?
Filed under My Online Journey by on Jan 31st, 2011. 6 Comments.
First Principals
The Importance Of Getting Back To First Principals
I had the good fortune to join a webinar on Monday night with the man who was my mentor Alex Jeffereys, he had invited all of his ex students to an online get together and it was really enlightening, this is a man who earns a lot of money and yet he wanted to talk about his frustrations in the last year and why we needed to go back to First Principals
Personally I think it re enforces what I had always known that here was a man who would always go the extra mile, he talked about what he thought had gone wrong and he wanted to take us all back to First Principals as well, we could take the lesson of his mistakes and he added in a coaching session as well
Now he didn’t need to do this but he had chosen to ensure that none of the rest of us went through what he did, at first glance going back to First Principles sounds like a retro grade step but that is to miss understand the importance of having a clear plan and of working without getting diverted
But how you may be thinking can I get anything out of your get together on Monday night with your fellow students down the last two or three years, well I also happen to think First Principals are critical and I will explain why as this post develops, in fact I would go as far as to say without them we are all sunk
The Importance Of First Principals In Your Future Success
So why do I see this as so important, why should we all look at First Principals as part of our strategy? I see it as part of the importance of keeping focused, of keeping a longer term plan because without it you are basically like a little boat in a choppy sea, being blown around at will, with no real direction
You see First Principals says that you must link your day to day to do list to your One month and three month planning, it is the vital glue that keeps you in place, there are so many distractions, so many shiny objects to chase, so many glitches, loop-holes and magic buttons promising instant riches hmm!
The reality of First Principals is that you need accountability, an accountability partner to keep you on track, a clear strategy both day to day and a way of looking back and seeing what is working and what still needs to be done, otherwise we end up as so many do looking back at the end of a week and asking what have I actually achieved
Keeping your projects in a logical sequence is also essential, how many I wonder have 5 or 6 projects on the go but none finished, why is that a major problem? simple really, without a plan you wont earn any money, First Principals asks you the difficult questions that we sometimes try and brush aside
So How Can I Harness First Principals In My Business?
It’s a good question and one that the answer to will pay big dividends for you, you see when harnessed properly First Principals will increase your income whilst reducing your stress and anxiety, a true definition of win-win and one that you must pay attention to if you want to succeed
So what resources are there out there that can help you develop sound First Principals? personally I can think of none better than
Rich Schefren’s Internet Business Manifesto It’s been downloaded over a million times, it’s free but worth I think a great deal, you will see immediately why this man is the person everybody turns to when they get stuck
I would also recommend that you listen to his interviews with Mike Filsaime, Jim Edwards and Danny Johnson, I’ve had them for the last three years, I listen to them regularly, they always take me back to First Principals, I would put their value at around $297 Dollars but again they are free
So my message today is simple, without a clear plan and a way to put it into action you are sunk, the difference between a guru figure and everybody else is not knowledge it’s action a crystal clear plan of action and accountability, remember what Michael Gerber said, the problem with the boss is the boss doesn’t have one?
I will finish as always by asking for your thoughts, to see how you hold yourself to account, how you work your plan, how you stay on track despite all the distractions, how you manage to get back to First Principals
Filed under My Online Journey by on Jan 21st, 2011. 4 Comments.
Adding Value
Why Is Virtually Nobody Truly Adding Value Online Today?
I was thinking the other day about all the gloom out in the market place and how that plays out in the online world, in a world of cryptic sales messages where it’s impossible to even tell what the product is most of the time and therefore very difficult to trust the motives of the seller just who is really adding value online?
The last year has seen a growth in products like this often laden with what can only be described as wild promises yet delivering often the lamest solutions, far from adding value they only serve to generate mistrust and yet it’s really a million miles from what the market wants or needs
It’s as though this market relies on creating ever more newbies to sell these products to because one things for certain, once you’ve bought a couple of these you tend to view everything through cynical eyes, so far from adding value these people are actually sealing their own fate, can you seriously imagine people doing business like this in the offline world?
In a retail or service environment we measure adding value by the quality of service, how helpful the staff are, how flexible their approach is, lets be honest we are a million miles from that experience at the moment, do you see a huge opportunity here? because I do
What Does Adding Value Really Mean
If we ask the question what does Adding Value really mean it would be the exact opposite of what’s described above, it should motivate you to act, it should offer a powerful solution, it should explain in a straightforward way how it is going to offer that solution and it should be really easy to use
By truly Adding Value we also add a whole lot more to the mix, we add trust, we add credibility, we add instant authority in a marketplace that is full of people selling solutions that offer nothing by way of explanation and in many cases they will actually destroy their reputations because it offers no solution at all just an untried theory
Be honest here, just how good does it feel when you find somebody really offering a solution that actually works, not a 20 minute video talking about how great they are but how they used to sleep under a bush, frankly that’s not adding value it really is just blowing smoke and I instantly hit the close button
Maybe I’m missing the point here but I don’t think so, I’ve been involved with selling high end products to discerning people offline all my adult life, they want clear information, actual proof of what the benefits are of buying the product over what they are using now, they don’t just want to see you Adding Value, the conversation would be over if you didn’t
So Adding Value Sells Brand You Better Than You Know
Adding Value sells brand you better than you can ever realize, in life we get one chance to make an impression on people, there are of course people adding true value in this market, people I respect enormously but they are small in number and they stand out like a beacon, it’s no shock that they are highly successful and widely respected as well
If I think of great educators who are Adding Value I think of Rich Schefren his approach is night and day different to how 99% of people do business online,his Internet Business Manifesto which is free by the way and is better than most paid Coaching Courses, it’s no coincidence that many of the most successful people have been mentored by him and in turn have gone on to become outstanding mentors themselves
You see in the end we want our solutions to be offering more value than we are paying for them, we want the solution to be transparent, easily accessible, we want to know exactly what to do in a simple straightforward to understand manner, in my view this is truly Adding Value and it’s a million miles from what 99.9% of people offer
So doubtless today I will have trodden on one or two toes but also I feel I am highlighting a huge need that is just not being fulfilled in the market, let me know your thoughts including the opportunities you think it creates for really Adding Value
Filed under My Online Journey by on Jan 7th, 2011. 3 Comments.
Mastermind Group
The Power Of Motivation From Your Mastermind Group
I just wanted to look at the power of motivation in keeping you in check,it’s very easy when working on your own to get down,to get off track and to start to doubt yourself,it’s okay to admit it,we all have these moments,that’s why we all need to be part of a Mastermind Group
So how does a group,your own Mastermind Group help? I thought it might help to list ten things that we can do today to get fired up
Function No1 of your Mastermind Group must be to get yourself a mentor,ideally physical but failing that online,I had the great fortune to be mentored by Alex Jeffereys he in turn was mentored by
Rich Schefren you are never to experienced to get a mentor,in every field of endeavour the best people always have one and you should to
Function No2 of your Mastermind Group is to take that first step, sometimes the task seems huge but every journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step,break it down,today,tomorrow,next week,one step at a time
Function No3 of your Mastermind Group has to be your to do list,be crystal clear in what you need to do and the result that you require,remember no clarity equals no result
Function No4 of your Mastermind Group is having got it started is to get it done,don’t spend weeks polishing it,everything evolves but the best people sell that as a benefit,think Windows 7 was my idea,brilliant instead of our customers ironed out the bugs in our system it was Windows 7 was my idea genius
Function No5 of your Mastermind Group is Outsource the technical stuff will drag you down and bring you to a halt,you know what you want now get somebody else to do it for you,it’s a simple time verses money equation
Function No6 and I think one of the most powerful reasons for being in a Mastermind Group is to find an accountability partner,that person who will both reassure you but also give you a firm push when things get difficult
Function No7 and another powerful reason to be in a Mastermind Group is for your R & D not so much research and development as Rip Off and Duplicate,don’t reinvent the wheel,somebody in your group has already done it,let them help you,just remember to return the compliment when you can
Function No8 has to be continued learning,a good Mastermind Group will meet regularly,either online or in person,continued learning with like minded people is essential,for motivation and for accountability,if your in striking distance of London you could Join Us but wherever you are it makes sense to join a like minded group
Can A Mastermind Group Be Fun As Well As Benefitial?
Now so far our Mastermind group has focused on work but you know what you need some fun as well, some reward,taken that first step,reward yourself,finished everything on this weeks to do list? take the afternoon off, remember as a kid we were told all work and no play makes [Jack/Jill] a dull [boy/girl] well it’s still true, we just forgot somewhere down the line
Lastly but by no means least in our Mastermind Group is to celebrate our success,you’ve got your product finished,you’ve got your JV partners to tell their lists about it as well,now celebrate,have some fun and get fired up to start again
But enough of my ideas,why not add your own key motivators by way of a comment,I’d love to hear what keeps you motivated
So hopefully you can start to see how powerful this can be,it motivates, it educates, it picks us up in moments of weakness,so two promises to make to yourself over the next few days,if you don’t already have one,get yourself a mentor and become part of what Napoleon Hill started after he met up with Andrew Carnegie it was the birth of something we benefit from to this day, the birth of the Mastermind group
Filed under My Online Journey by on Nov 3rd, 2010. 59 Comments.
