I read an interesting post today from one of the friends I really look up to in the internet marketing world – Mark Thompson.

You can read the original post here but basically he talks about the disillusionment that many of his forum members are feeling after Google slaps and Panda updates, etc.  After a couple of disappointments in a row it’s very easy to feel like giving up on your marketing efforts.

Fortunately, it is that very character trait of pushing through and overcoming difficulties that turns losers into winners and what we see as failures (actually just figuring out one of the ways that doesn’t work) into eventual success.  One of the problems that I see though is people putting all their eggs in one basket – and that basket being based on someone else’s platform.   One example is building all Amazon affiliate sites and then because of sales tax laws Amazon turns off their affiliate program in that state.  Or building an entire business model around Google adwords and then having their account banned for some unknown reason.

Start by having some measure of diversification in your business model.  Then use those diverse ways to build on each other.  When you find a niche in Amazon that is profitable, build other sites in related niches that you can push traffic to ebay EPN or adsense or build your own list around that niche and develop your own product and/or start a membership site.  Or you can use what you learn in building traffic to your affiliate sites to help local businesses do the same for themselves.  Then roll those contacts in the offline world into building Google local, facebook and twitter profiles that allow them to become ‘Real Time Marketers’ and communicate and respond to their customers in ways that have never before been possible.

Instead of thinking of the negative things that are happening as a snowball rolling out of control, think of the positive ways you can use the ‘snowball effect’ to build your business.  Start with a small idea and build on it.  As you extend your reach farther and farther, everything you do is able to attract an increasingly large customer base and your growth becomes exponential because of the greater surface area of exposure.

To your success!
Dean Martin

Two of my favorite shortcuts to success!

I wish I had found these earlier in my online career!

I interviewed a very successful ‘work at home mom’ internet marketer last week.  One of the most profound reasons she gave for her early success was a personal coach or coaching program.

Now I’ll admit to being incredibly stubborn, hate asking for help, despise paying someone to help me and just in general like to figure things out on my own.  With that said, over the last 6 months I have joined two coaching programs that have moved my IM efforts to a whole new level.  I only wish someone had told me about them sooner!

Why didn’t I know about them before now?  Because they are run by very unassuming, humble guys who, without a lot of glitz and glamour, are making mid-six figure incomes each and every year using the systems they’ve perfected.  They are both private people and share the information just to their private communities.  Once inside you find some of the industries biggest names sharing information that you won’t find elsewhere.

Who are these two people?

1. Dennis Becker at Earn 1k A Day.
2. Mark Thompson at WordPress Goldmine

The best news is that you can try them now for just $1 and see the incredible value first hand.

Implementing a great idea however, is hard work. That is why very few of them ever get put into place.

Dreaming is easy and you’ve probably met thousands of dreamers in your lifetime. They sit on the porch steps (or couch) and pontificate about one thing or another. They are always certain that they can solve the worlds problems. Unfortunately, their ideas never move beyond the cosmic ether of their brain cells.

Implementing even the simplest of great ideas is hard work. Newtons law is not easily broken “objects at rest tend to remain at rest and objects in motion tend to remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force”. The momentum of the natural universe is difficult to overcome. You need to push steadily against the natural momentum and then continue to do so even when it seems hopeless.

Do you know the difference between successful people and the rest of the mass of humanity? Successful people have a dogged determination and press toward a goal that they have at the expense of all else.

Would you like to retire with a million dollars? Discipline yourself early in life to not buy every shiny toy that comes along and instead invest that money in a compounding interest account. When all your friends are taking lavish vacations each summer you prudently take the family on modest outings and find ways to have fun together without all the glitz and glamor of Disney World. Instead of buying new cars that depreciate immediately you purchase used models that provide the same level of transportation. You wake up 30 years later at 55 with your house paid off, a very nice little nest egg built up and ready to retire debt free with over a million dollars in assets to live comfortably the rest of your life.

Want to make a million dollars a year? Start by finding small passive income models that you can build, replicate and improve. Yes, you’re giving up your evenings and weekends for a while to perfect your systems and models with little to show for it at first. You refuse to give up and after a couple of months you see a steady income. Document your methods and then find ways to outsource so that you can replicate the model much faster with no more effort on your part. Suddenly you find yourself with a $1000 a month passive income. You go back now to tweak and test new methods to increase the performance of each model. Every time you find something that works better you apply that to all your models and suddenly your income per month doubles and triples.

Now you have some real money to work with and you pay a software developer to automate your entire business so that you can multiply the results again and again. Before long you’re at $10k a month, then $20k, $50k and eventually $100k plus per month. Is it easy? No! Is it impossible? Of course not as it’s being done over and over again by people that look no different than the average guy on the street.

All it takes is the discipline to push through problems and difficulty and make something work that the average person says is impossible.

Your Million Dollar Business Plan!

I watched the following video because of the incredible creativity and production quality.

It’s really based around motivating factors for a team of employees, however, as most of us are individuals building a primary or secondary income it’s important to know what motivates us. Watch the video and then read on…

Rule #1: It’s not the money! Well, it is up to a point but once you get beyond what you need to survive and be comfortable you need other motivating factors.

Rule #2: Find something you’re passionate about. If you really want to build a long term business model you need to be involved in an area that you are going to enjoy working in. If it’s ethically questionable, doesn’t fit your value system or is just something you’re not really interested in you’ll make a half-hearted attempt and then let it sit and deteriorate.

Rule #3: Make A Difference! If you can find a business niche that will improve yourself personally or the world around you it will be like earning money for fun. There really is nothing more fulfilling than combining your passion, profit and fulfilling a mission in the same business model.