At some point though, we just had to dive in and see if we’d sink or swim. We swam.
I wish I could tell you it always works out that way. But it doesn’t. Not every action will bring success. Entrepreneurs take risks. You have to be willing to put yourself out there, and you have to learn to fail fast.
Failure to take action is usually a result of FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real. It’s what happens when you believe a lie, when you’re afraid of what might happen. You overcome fear when you take action.
5. YOU HAVE TO RELATE
There’s a reason that I mentioned the value of community building so early in this book. It’s vital to your success, and it’s very easy to forget.
Being an entrepreneur, especially an Internet entrepreneur, looks like a lonely business. When you’re starting out, it will be you, your computer ... and that’s all. Maybe you’ll send e-mails to contractors—copywriters, designers, and programmers. Maybe you’ll make the odd phone call to explain in more detail what you need, but you won’t have the kind of face-to-face meetings that cement relationships in brick-and-mortar businesses.
That will be fine ... for a while. But if you want to succeed-really succeed—it can’t stay that way. The Internet, like every industry, is still about relationships. I found that out myself in the best way possible.
By 2005, I had written the first version of my AdSense e-book, a guide to all of the strategies that had worked for me in using Google’s advertising program. The e-book sold a lot more than I expected, and I was looking for the next level. Both my wife and my friend Jeff Walker suggested going to Armand Morin’s Big Seminar in Los Angeles. That didn’t sound like a good idea to me. It’s true that I had given AdSense a second look only after seeing someone’s results at a workshop, but I’m really not one for sitting in a lecture hall and taking notes. In fact, I’m not really one for sitting at all.
But I listened to their advice and showed up. I discovered that I was already a celebrity of sorts. People knew about my book, and because my picture was on the web site, they knew who I was, too. I was part of a community and I didn’t even know it!
The people I met at that conference have helped me ever since. They’ve told me about strategies that would have taken me years to discover and learn. They’ve introduced me to their audiences, as I’ve introduced them to mine. They’ve inspired me, taught me, and enhanced my understanding of every aspect of online business building. The relationships that I’ve built with the people I’ve met at conferences and workshops might well be my most valuable asset of all.
Forget about competition. There’s enough to go around for everyone. Make contacts. Build friendships. Provide value without expecting any payback. In time, you should find that those investments in human relationships pay you back in spades.
6. YOU HAVE TO USE MODELS
When you’re looking to enjoy success, you want to enjoy it right now. You can’t do that. Unless you win the lottery, wealth—and the freedom that wealth and success bring—come only as a result of investment of time and effort. Still, there are things you can do to reduce the amount of effort and time you need to invest.
One of the most important—and a vital aspect of your preparation—is looking at what other people have done.
There’s very little that’s completely new in the world. Growth tends to happen incrementally rather than in giant leaps. When someone else has achieved success, there’s nothing wrong with looking at how they did it... and copying them, adding your own unique touches.
Once I’d achieved success with AdSense, I was happy to share what I’d learned so that others could do the same thing. It’s a pattern I’ve followed myself, so it’s only fair to give back.
Even when I sat down to create that book, I was following a model. It’s the model that we use now in helping others publish their first book via my friends at Morgan James Publishing. The credibility that individuals garner by having their book published helps them to become the leading specialists in their fields, to create their web sites, and to benefit from exposure.
If it works, do it. And if someone else is achieving success, copy them.
Mentors are hugely valuable in providing models for your own success. They provide knowledge, they provide connections, and they provide relationships.
They also provide another key to your success.
7. YOU HAVE TO GROW
One of my first mentors was a professional business coach. Back in 2005, he gave me a piece of advice that was so simple and so unwelcome, I wondered if he knew what he was talking about.
He told me to get an office.
I was working from home then, which I liked, and an office seemed like an unnecessary expense. But he was right.
I rented an office and hired an assistant. My stress levels dropped, my productivity went up, and the extra income more than covered the extra expense. Since then, every time I’ve hired someone, they’ve made money for me.
One of the toughest things that entrepreneurs have to do if they’re to achieve success is to let go. You have to fire yourself from doing the things that you shouldn’t be doing. You should be doing only the things that suit you best, the things that bring the most revenue to your business.
The rest you can give to someone else.
Outsource your tasks. Hire employees and freelancers.
