If you have felt that way before the good news is that you are not alone. Far too many today have wasted far too much of their time and treasure on “business opportunities” that promise the moon but only deliver disappointment.
You know the drill.
- Promises not met
- “Lessons” that should inform only make for more confusion
- Support promised that never happens after you buy
If so I have a very important message for you today.
YOU ARE NOT THE PROBLEM!
I mean it. YOU are not the problem. The problem, and the reason so many fail online, is the over-hyped promises that websites make to separate you from your money.These claims are outrageous and should be stopped. You’ve heard it before, haven’t you?
- “Earn $520 a day even if you have no experience!”
- “This system works best if you are lazy and only want to work an hour a day!”
- “We guarantee hits to your website!”
- “Reach 780,000 with your email blast for only $10!”
But there is hope!
There is good news, very good news. You can go from hype to hope today! I know you can do this!
Why do I say, “I know you can do this”? Because I’ve done it, and I’ve helped others do it too.
From young to old, from healthy to ill, from doing well financially to struggling to make ends meet, real people are getting real help from a few dedicated souls online.
Before I begin sharing how you can help yourself beginning today I want to repeat something important I said earlier.
YOU ARE NOT THE PROBLEM!
I really and truly want you to say this out loud right now. “I am NOT the problem!” Say it now and say it ten times a day if you need to. But find a way to get it into your heart and head … YOU are not the problem.
- YOU are not the reason why it’s so hard to get started online.
- YOU are not the reason why working online is confusing.
- YOU are not the reason why an estimated 99% of all people fail online.
But I can give you guidelines based on over 1000 one-on-one conversations with DOE members who have struggled too.
So here are my guidelines. This is what I would do today – and what I did years ago – to turn a seemingly hopeless situation around.
KEEP YOUR ATTITUDE POSITIVE
No matter how you go about it, you need to keep your chin up. I am NOT saying that just thinking happy thoughts will turn you around. That would be silly. But I AM saying that you won’t dig out if you are thinking negative.
When I need a lift I read. Right now I am re-reading See You At The Top by Zig Ziglar, and loving the reminder that goals work and that right thinking really is the foundation of success.
No matter how you do it, start thinking more positively today.
SEPARATE THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF
Now it’s time to do some real work. You need to make a list of what you have bought and consider if you have really tried using what you bought to the best of your ability.
Am I saying now that YOU are the problem? That you didn’t try hard enough? NO – not at all.
What I am saying is that there are certain tools, like an autoresponder, that can work wonderfully well if you know how to use them but can also be a complete waste of time if you don’t know how they work.
It’s not the tool – it is knowing how to use it that matters.
Give me a hammer and nail and you can count on a trip to the emergency room soon after. Give my friend Mark a hammer and nail and he will build you a house!
Same tools – different results.
The chances are that you have the tools you need right now to succeed online but don’t know how to use them. Making a list of what you do have is a good first step.
NOTE: I am not saying to make a list of every eBook you ever downloaded. That would take forever. I am saying however that you should make a list of everything you have bought that cost $100 or more. You might be able to go back and turn that purchase into profit.
What should you look for? It will be important for you to know if you have these things because they are the real building blocks of success online.
- A web hosting account
- Your own blog (working or not)
- An autoresponder
- Products with resale rights
- Memberships to sites that help you promote
- Memberships to sites that help you learn
WORK WITH A MENTOR
This one is so important, especially if you are confused or don’t have a rock-solid plan of action.
It might be hard, but you really need to find a person you can trust and who will help you individually. I know that can be a challenge online.
Here is how I would find my mentor if I were starting over today.
- I would look at what a person does less than what they say they have done. People who need to brag about their huge Clickbank screenshots would not be on my personal list. I would look for a bit more humility than that.
- I would buy their product and experience what they offer first-hand.
- I would clearly communicate to them that I need guidance but am not holding them responsible for my success. Mentors don’t like that.
- I would listen to that person and follow their advice and give what they say a real try, a sincere effort.
I think if you find a person who will work with you, and you trust them, you will find that feeling of desperation that nags you will begin to go away.
BE COMMITTED TO LEARNING
Here is the good and bad news all in one chunk. You are going to have to learn things you don’t know now but you will only have to learn them once if you have a good plan in place.
Nothing in our offline lives prepares us for things like autoresponders, matrixes, back offices or weird terms like “pay per click”. There is no pay per click offline.
One of the first things to do is learn the lingo of the Internet. If terms like ROI or CPM or autoresponder or ad tracker trip you up then making progress will be hard.
NOTE: If you are a DOE member log in and access the learning center to get my glossary of web terms. The confusion will clear immediately. So you will need to learn, but not forever. And not that much actually.
By the way, the first thing I would ask a mentor is what he or she thought I needed to know to take the first step.
FOLLOW A PROVEN PATH
The Internet is an ever-evolving medium that offers new and exciting possibilities. That’s good and bad at the same time. It’s great if you are in a position to take advantage of it; not so great if you are struggling.
Nothing is sadder than watching someone spend their hard earned money, money they can’t afford to risk, on some “new” method that is not yet proven.
I speak with members every week who are not even trying the things that are proven to work (like pay per click or ezine advertising) because they “heard” it was too expensive.
Be honest with yourself about this. Are there marketing methods you have not tried because you heard they were too expensive or didn’t work?
If you answered yes, you might have believed a lie.
That’s okay; we can fix that.
As with all things, the truth will set you free. The truth about pay per click, to use just one example, is that it’s super affordable. But it takes some learning to get it right and it’s not free. Cheap; but not free. And by cheap I mean you can get good clicks in the health or business opportunity markets for about 10 cents each, or less.
How about ezine advertising? Well, you can send a solo ad to an ezine with about 200,000 readers for about $50, sometimes less.
The bottom line is this – start with the things that are proven to work and then, AFTER you have had some success, experiment with today’s “new” marketing methods.
BECOME HYPE PROOF
This one is essential, and easier to do than you might think. It turns out that our parents were right. If it looks too good to be true it probably is.
Do people go from rags to riches with Internet marketing? Sure, but not many.
Do people with no experience suddenly start making $530 a day by “cloning” someone else’s marketing and using a cookie-cutter approach? I’ve never met one.
The bottom line here is simple. If you want to get rich quick please stop reading this article and immediately put your Visa in the freezer or give it to someone who will keep it far away from you.
Get rich quick does not exist. It’s a myth invented to part you from your money. This is nothing new. The people who were scammed by the recent Ponzi scheme artists like Madoff lost their money in large measure because they wanted something for nothing – an outrageous and immediate return that they knew in their hearts were too good to be true.
But if you want to make real money using the Internet, and are willing to learn and work, then there is very good news indeed.
If you work, learn and follow a proven path then I believe that NOTHING can stop you.
BE WILLING TO WORK FOR MONEY
This may sound downright crazy from a guy who makes his living online, but you’ve got to be willing to work offline for a bit if necessary to get the money you need to live.
I often speak with people who are so committed to “making it” online that they are using credit cards to buy Internet marketing products and passing up the chance to make money offline in order to “give their all” to making it online.
In my view, that is a mistake.
I believe Stephen Covey was right when he wrote the words “first things first” in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
First things do need to come first. And paying your bills, avoiding new debt and taking care of your family must be first. It does not matter if that is done offline or online. It matters that it gets done.
So, be willing to work for the money you need, be that at a job or as an affiliate marketer or in some other way.
One last word on this – stay open to creative solutions. Let me give you one example. This is something I have never shared before.
Do you know how I “bought” my first ezine advertising? I traded article writing (which I was good at) for ad space. Why? Because I didn’t have any money! But I could write so I bartered that for the ad space.
The rest, as they say, is history.
What do you have that you can barter? Did you know that MOST top online marketers have very little time to do things like article marketing, running their own pay per click campaigns, checking links on their websites for 404 errors or even making their own web pages or blog posts?
It’s true! I don’t know of a single successful online marketer right now who is getting it all done easily and with time to spare. Most online marketers I know (and I’m talking the big names and names you might not know) are busting their backsides to get the work done.
I know I am.
So how can this work for you? You can trade your time or talent for products or work that needs to be done instead of spending cash.
Just one idea.
Let me end by saying this again.
YOU ARE NOT THE PROBLEM
YOU CAN SUCCEED ONLINE!
Your success will come faster and more surely if you …
- Keep your attitude positive
- Make an inventory of assets
- Work with a mentor
- Be committed to learning
- Follow a proven path
- Become hype proof
- Be willing to trade time for money in the beginning
Keep your chin up – you are destined for great things!
In a comment to this article on Charlie's site, Chris Land of thegwave says:
It took me 8 years to find and dominate my niches and actually have something of worth and importance online and my own products. You hear nothing but the 1% that succeeds in the “This kid made 7 figures his first year stories” and usually you will see these guys were propped up by a guru. Usually a guru that needs a case study….
At the end of the day, have a professional write your sales letter, spend money on advertising (the DOE is where I am spending my money), sacrifice everything and if you have to, work a night job. I did and I made it. But NOT without real work, a commitment not to quit and buying information and books on what I needed to learn.
Success!
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