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Today, I just wanted to post something that should speak to some people out there. If you are reading this and taking offense, please understand that it's to help illustrate the difference between people who actually end up making a living for themselves online, and those who drift off into the darkness.
There are a lot of people who have went on to work full time from home as a result of buying Holly Mann's Honest Riches book. I'm one of them. Like me, perhaps other people went on to other types of trainings and increased their knowledge over time, but..in the end, it all started with Honest Riches by our friend Holly here.
Her guide is the only book that I've ever continuously promoted over the years, simply because it's the best you'll find for learning what the foundations and fundamentals of what online marketing is really about.
Every once in a while I get letters from members of my subscribers on my list. A lot of these letters are either thank you letters..or they could be letters asking for help. Hey, I get the odd "I hate all marketers" types to! But, I think most list owners come across that every once in a while.
It's funny though, but, for every great letter I get, I probably get 5 or so that go something like this.. (yes, there is sarcastic pun intended here)
Hypothetical But Realistic Letter From Subscriber
"Hey, it's been about a month now and I'm still not making any money from that one web site I built with like 5 pages on it. I went through the gruelling effort of building 3 backlinks to it as well.
Still no money! I'm in dire straights here and I need to pay off a $5500 loan in 3 weeks. I thought this was going to do it for me.
What a scam that product is that you sold me..I want my money back and I'm going to request a refund!"
(I want a refund so I can go buy some more marketing courses from somebody else..and request a refund for those to)
Sincerely,
Lost In Space
The Opportunity Seeker Or The Business Builder - Which Are You?
Over time in marketing you come to realize that there are two types of people who are into this Internet Marketing thing.
1. The Opportunity Seeker
2. The Business Builder
It's unfortunate, but, the reality is that "the opportunity seekers" outnumber "the business builder" by the thousands.
The Opportunity Seeker
So what's an opportunity seeker? Basically, it's a person that wants success and is thrilled about how wonderful the whole experience may be, but, they either aren't ready or willing to actually work for it. These are the people that seek the "quick fix" or that "push this red button and poof".."I'm rich" type.
Now the sad part is that this makes up the majority of people trying to work from home. It doesn't matter how many products and courses they buy, "coaches" they may try, or anything else. Most of the time it's not the courses they buy either. There are tons of great courses and products out there. But, they won't succeed because they WON'T work..or at least they won't work hard enough or long enough at proven methods until they start having success.
Until such people take responsibility for themselves and their actions to do whatever it takes to succeed, they won't. These people can't be helped until "they decide to help themselves and get things done...then keep going until they succeed!" They waste their own time, other people's time, and essentially are an energy drain.
Can you imagine what a lot of these people would actually accomplish if they put all of that energy they use into blaming others for not having success, blaming the products they bought and requested a refund, and the countless complaint support tickets they put in, and actually put it into building their business?
I'm sure you get the point. I'm not trying to be harsh here, merely trying to shed light on an all to common situation.
The Business Builder
Now, the business builder is a whole different blend of cloth. He/She understands that whether it's an offline business, or an online business, it's going to take time to build. They also realize that the building of such things take a lot of work, and they are willing to do it.
People like this, once started, don't know how to..or even want to quit. They are willing to make the sacrifices. If they fall on their butt for a bit because something isn't working, they get right back up and keep fighting for what they want. They realize there are no secrets and magic pills, and know by diligently applying proven methods they will eventually get the success they deserve.
The truth of the matter is this, "You aren't going to be a success until you decide you are going to be a success!" It's that simple..no more statements need to be said.
"The Opportunity Seeker" or "The Business Builder"..who are you?
I wish you all the best in your success..never quit!
Davin Ogden - The Viral Sanctuary
When starting in Internet marketing and going through the emotions there is a plethora of different feelings you may have. There may be many ups and downs, and positive and negative feelings about what you are trying to achieve.
With these factors it is important to keep you attitude in check. How do you do that? The first step is to evaluate your emotions. Are you in a good mood, happy, upbeat? Or are you in a state of negativity. By knowing what you are feeling you will be able to gauge your work productivity.
When you're in a positive state you have inspired action. You enjoy the challenges, enjoy the tasks at hand. When you're in a negative state every task you do feels frustrating, tedious, and hopeless.
Inspired action is what you're looking for; it is what you should have while working. If in a negative state there are a few things you could do:
1. Switch tasks, if your writing a blog entry switch to website development
2. Find the task you enjoy the best and work on it
3. Stop all together, get off the computer and go do a load of laundry or something that does not relate to your work.
4. If your tired take a power nap
If these or other methods you find helpful fail, I recommend that you STOP!!! Stop what you are doing, you are working from negative which will just lead to more negative.
Although your making money online goal is important to you, it should not be your life or cause you massive negative emotion. Make it fun and enjoy the learning and success!
One crucial thing, which is not my strong suit, when starting your online venture is staying organized. From website logins to text documents, everyone should be in a place you can find and of course (stating the obvious here) backed up.
Roboform is one tool, I consider to be a Must-Have in the organizational category. It is a password management and web-form filler, which means it logs you in automatically with and fills the online forms with your information for you, with only one password to remember It also ensures safety and helps security. There are other similar programs like it, but in my opinion they do not touch what Roboform can do.
Roboform is Free for the first 30 days with unlimited passwords. It stays Free for you, after the 30 days, as long as you have 10 passwords and under. Like most Internet marketers or people in general, you probably have much more then 10. If that is the case then your upgrade to Pro is only 29.95. With the Pro version you also get unlimited customer support, unlimited user profiles, identities and much more.
In Holly's book Honest Riches, when she mentioned organization, I thought well I am not making money yet, no need to get to organized. MY MISTAKE!!! Believe me if this is something you may not think you need, give it a shot, it's free, it may be the one thing you thank me for:)
AddMe.com is a website that I use that offers free tools to both optimize your honest Internet marketing website and submit it to search engines. They offer upgrades for more indepth assistance if it falls within your budget, but the free tools are a must for any beginner.
They offer a variety of free tools for keyword research, link cloaking, site submission and much more. This is one of the handiest tools that I've used. It is an absolutely awesome set of tools for the beginning internet marketer and I do recommend it.
I use many of their tools. The link cloaker is one of my favorites, but I recommend that you only use it for cloaking non-affiliate links. It does not hide your affiliate link in the URL of the destination page. The site submission tool will get you started and get your honest internet marketing website out there. If you use the free submission tool it will be submitted to Google, Alexa, EntireWeb and more (up to 20). All you have to do is follow the step-by-step instructions.
This handy tool will definitely make your honest online work easier.
Well, here we are in 2010. Over the course of the last few days and weeks I'm sure everybody out there has been doing a lot of soul searching. I know I certainly have, and for the most part it's got me back to thinking about where I come from, and more importantly, what is most important in life.
In the course of over the last three years in marketing I've ventured into many different areas. Some were worthwhile, and many were not. I suppose the parts where I put the most effort were the most successful. I've also broken down many of the doors that were closed to me at the very start.
I managed to get to know some very successful people, and was accepted into their circle.
Some of the people I've had the pleasure of getting to know have been very inspiring, and I certainly feel blessed to know them. On the other hand..I've seen a darker side of marketing, and I've also seen how shallow and callous people can be towards one another, their competitors, or people they referred to as friends. It's unfortunate, but, at times money has a way of replacing people's values with greed. Although unpleasant at times, we really do find out who our friends really are.
What's Important In 2010?
In 2010 people are going to be facing some very intense challenges financially. Certainly, for the people who are putting in a very sincere and honest effort in building their businesses they will fair better than others. For others, it may be a real challenge..but, I do believe that the world can be anybody's oyster if they want things bad enough.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about marketing over the years was how people supported and tried to help one another. I loved that part of it, and still do. I also really enjoyed making some real friends. The types of friends who would stand by eachother and help support one another through thick and thin. In my opinion, that is what is going to be the glue that will help people to overcome the challenges they face in 2010. This year, I hope to inspire, help, and stand by those who need it more than ever.
Realizing Weak Points And Changing Them
Without question, marketing onlne is something that is ever changing, and it's also something that you must be willing to continue to learn. During the course of all of this soul searching and evaluation I've done upon entering 2010, I've definitely noticed where some of the weak spots of my business. I've also realized that there are areas where I've absolutely had to depend on to much.
Some people may call me crazy for what my plans are in 2010. But, it's come from soul searching and knowing who I want to be to other people in the long run. You see, by the end of 2010, I plan on being able to phase out the part of my business that has allowed me to actually make a living bieng a marketer. It's also about phasing out the part that I've worked the hardest to build.
Now is that crazy or what? While it's obviously going to take some time to phase this part out, I believe that in the long run, it's going to make my business even stronger. Also, I believe I may be of more help to other people embarking into marketing because of it. Please wish me luck, as I enter this unchartered and foreign ground to me.
I knew that I would need more support than I've ever needed before as I enter this phase. So once again, I've joined onto the 100 Day Challenge. This time around I'm an Alumni member, but, I will be starting it at day one..once again..as if I'd never taken it before.
The 100 Day Challenge isn't just about achieving goals. It's about spreading the word of honesty, integrety, and striving for excellence in everything we do. That's the main reason I believe I've found it to be so inspiring. For anybody out there that is interested in joining me I'd love to have your company.
With that, If I can be of help to anybody..please let me know. I'm glad to be back posting and am looking forward to getting the spirit of The Honest Marketing Movement happening once again!
Helping others in their pursuits in life, online and offline - is much more important than money. I realized, after taking part in some adswaps that were really profitable, that I needed to stop what I was doing or else I would lose the trust built up with clients over the years.
A major downfall with online marketers is their desperation for money. The thing is - it doesn't need to be a downfall - it can be funneled into something and used as a motivator to create success. The desperate situation I was in when I started out 5 years ago is what helped give me so much passion to make a change - and it worked. I think if you are an honest marketer and do actually care about others - your success will be long-standing and you will gain a lot more than financial wealth.
I think people are sick of the sales letters and sales pitches that are over-offering and under-delivering. If you are selling a product online - my advice is to create an anti-salespage! I am not sure if that is a real term or not - but I hope to write a longer post about this later. My book, Honest Riches, over the years I am suprised it has continually sold so many copies. I think a major part of that is word-of-mouth, but also that I am not a great sales person. I didn't have a copywriter - I just wrote it as it was - and the honest side of the story sold itself.
So if you have a product and want it to sell itself - try getting rid of any and all hype and be overly honest to the point where you tell them not to buy it unless they are serious or ready. The fact that you tell them not to buy it - will urge them even more to buy it. It is so strange how this method works - I will write a long post on this on HonestHolly today or tomorrow - so please check back. I will also post it on here as soon as possible. Take care guys and I hope to participate on the HMM way more often.
My knowledge in this area first began with Holly Mann and the teachings in her book Honest Riches.
Later on, I became a member of Affilorama, which was a great experience for me at the time, as it explained by video some of the road blocks that I'd been running into and it helped me to cross over those barriers.
I've never really stopped learning about this magnificent field and have always worked on improving my knowledge. I've also always worked on helping other people entering the online arena with the knowledge I've always acquired.
All in all, online marketing is an amazing journey for me. Yes, sometimes it has it's ups, and sometimes it has it's downs, but it's the people I've come to know and become friends with who help one another along their way that is the greatest reward.
There are some incredibly gifted and kind people in this world, and pulling together to create a better future for marketers and the public is what The Honest Marketing Movement to me is all about. It's been said that there is strength in numbers, and with marketing it holds true very well.
As far as my goals go, I will continue to build on my business which has become known as Groovytastic Empire. I'll be incorporating more sites and revenue streams to this entity over the course of time.
Also, I will continue to help people wherever I can with things. If I can have a positive impact and help a fellow human being, then it might also have a positive effect on them, and help to pass the message of The Honest Marketing Movement even further.
While I may have coined the term The Honest Marketing Movement, it's been Holly Mann's influence sparking the creation and idea of the movement. It's a collaberative effort who's time has come!
Davin Ogden
"The Davinator"
Welcome to The Viral Sanctuary Extended,
I created The Viral Sanctuary Extended as a compliment to my main blog which is obviously called The Viral Sanctuary.
As a member of The Honest Marketing Movement, I felt I wanted to contribute by pointing people in the direction of some of the types of things that I like to blog about and inspire you in some honest ways of making your way in business online.
I'm a true believer in The Honest Marketing Movement and I'll share and support people here all I can.
Our friend Holly Mann did a wonderful thing by creating this network of blogs for everybody to help eachother and learn from one another. Please take advantage of that. It's sure to be a great and wonderful community to be a part of.
I'd like to give Holly a personal thank you for creating this network. You are always thinking of ways to help others with their marketing Holly. It's a genuine pleasure being involved with you in any and all ways we may collaborate online, or in life. Thank you my dear friend...thank you.
Davin