Re: Applause for Jeff

Wheeewww, you were long-winded but you SAID it well. Excellent Jeff. It reminded me so much of myself reading your post. I too struggled for 9 years
and now have 3 successful businesses that I have a PASSION for. I love doing what I do now. And yes it took me 9 years to get there... and if I want to be technical about it... it took me 9 years and 1 month to really start making money online with my businesses. But my businesses all tie together and I LOVE what I do.
Good Luck Marie. :)

> Hi Marie,

> This won't answer the question you've posted, but I felt compelled to
> respond to your message.

> I certainly understand where you're coming from. At 15, I started selling
> small info-booklets, trying to make money. I saw ads in the money-making
> magazines about people getting rich in mail order - and I wanted to do the
> same thing. So I tried it - and bombed. Over the next 9 years, I bought
> just about every money-making program known to man: real estate,
> info-marketing, selling diet products, mailing lists, coupon book ad
> sales, ad specialties, network marketing deals, direct sales, and on and
> on and on. Like you, every time I saw someone else making money, I felt
> bad about myself. "What's wrong with me that I can't have that
> success?"

> Over those 9 years, though, I never gave up. At the same time I was buying
> all of the programs, I was also studying marketing. I was learning how to
> write copy. I was learning about 2-step marketing and mailing lists and
> front-end/back-end and all of the strategies for starting and growing a
> business. My first success generated just $3,000. My next one, shortly
> after, $10,000. Soon, I was making more in my part-time business than in
> my job - so I quit my job. That was AFTER nine years of struggles.

> Today, it's been 20 years. I'm now 35 (well, in a few days) - and my
> business grew from that small start to $250,000 a year... then $500,000 a
> year... then $1.3 million a year. I rented an office. Hired an office
> manager. And today, my plans for the next 10 to 20 years are bigger than I
> would have ever imagined at the age of 15.

> What's my secret? I think at the time I was too stubborn to quit. I wanted
> to be financially successful, so I just never stopped. It took 9 years to
> make any money. 9 years. I started at 15 - and at 24, I finally made some
> cash. I just didn't know any better than to keep moving forward, learning
> all I could - and finally, it all "clicked". It made sense. And
> things started working. I don't credit any particular guru with making me
> a success. I can't point you to one book... one course... one seminar. The
> thing that made me successful... was my sheer bullheadedness. I simply
> refused to give up. Even when I was living in a beat-up mobile home in a
> dangerout trailer park in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas... scraping to get
> by... I refused to give up. I couldn't even imagine that thought.

> Yes, I do think you've hit the nail on the head regarding your challenge
> with focusing. That's something that I've had to deal with over time. In
> the beginning, I chased the money. If someone was making money, I wanted
> their system. Today, I see that happening again and again. People don't
> care HOW others are making money. They simply want the money. So they run
> from eBay to Adsense to eBooks to MLM to whatever. They're constantly
> chasing the money. And when the money doesn't appear "presto" -
> they find someone else to chase after. What they don't realize is that
> they're doing the opposite of the person who's making the money. The
> person getting rich on Adsense (in many cases) enjoys the "game"
> of Adsense. They're addicted to creating and launching these sites. They
> love finding keywords and optimizing their sites. They like tweaking
> things. They enjoying staying up late, focusing entirely on their adsense
> sites. They're completely 100% focused on this - AND they enjoy it - so
> it's no wonder they're successful. However, many people jump from one
> thing to the next, never focusing, and never really finding anything they
> truly enjoy doing. It's a money-chase, not building a business.

> It sounds like you've been doing the money-chase. There's nothing wrong
> with that. When your goal is money (which, let's all be honest, is the
> goal many of us have), it's easy to get caught up in buying up many, many
> programs promising to give us the secrets to making big bucks. But the
> reality is that the money comes from focused effort, work, and some level
> of passion for what you're doing. If your entire focus comes from
> "MONEY"... What happens when you buy the ebook that shows you a
> complicated system for making this money through adsense sites? Well, you
> may try it for a day. Maybe a week. Maybe even a month or two. But that's
> not enough to keep you up late-at-night, chatting and calling others who
> are creating adsense sites, becoming a Google Pro, and going "above
> and beyond" --- like someone who is passionate about adsense sites.
> The key to success, in my opinion, is to not only find a way to make money
> - but find something (ONE THING) that you LOVE and are passionate about.
> And then throw yourself completely into that with everything you are.

> I'll admit, even after 20 years, my heart still pounds fast when I see a
> great sales letter for some new money-making system. That feeling of
> wanting to know how others are making money is still in my DNA. And I hope
> it never goes away. HOWEVER, I have a vision for my business - so before I
> rush off to get that next exciting "FIX" - and try something
> else... I take a deep breath, ask myself... "Does THIS OPPORTUNITY
> fit into my vision of my business right now?" - and, if the answer is
> "NO", I simply move on. And 99% of the time, I move on. Because
> adsense sites and ebay and MLM and all of these others things don't fit
> into the vision of my business. And that may be what you're missing. WHAT
> is the vision of your business? You vision can't be "I just want to
> make money"... because that's the basis of the money-chase. You need
> a clear vision of what you want your business to look like. What are you
> passionate about? What do you want to sell? How do you want your business
> to run? What would get you to jump out of bed early in the morning and
> stay up late - and never feel tired? If you come to the realization that
> there is NOTHING that fits that criteria - and that you just want money...
> well, that's the point at which I'd give up the chase. Because, in my
> opinion, the chase never pays off. The chase is continuious. Until you're
> ready to stop running... and start focusing... that's when you'll finally
> start getting the results you want... the income.

> Whew. Okay. I know I'm a bit long-winded, but I don't like hearing about
> people giving up. Especially after investing 7 years. If I gave up after 7
> years, I can only imagine who I'd be working for. Instead, because I just
> kept plugging along (even after 9 years), I work for myself... very
> happily... and the years I invested have paid off very well indeed. If you
> still want to give up, that's okay. I'm not judging that. Sometimes, that
> can be a healthy thing, especially if you're addicted to the money-chase.
> But if you can change your viewpoint... and go from chasing money to
> focusing on building one business, I think your experience and investment
> of time can pay off.

> I just want to encourage you to re-think your decision. But, if you think
> that your decision is best for you, I'll support it all the way. Only you
> can truly know what is right for you.

> Have a great day. I wish you all the best in whatever you choose to do.