Sometimes you have no choice but to do jobs that you don’t enjoy, but if you have a choice you’re far better doing what you love.

Some will argue that, first and foremost, you should do what you’re good at, but most of the time that’s the same thing.  If we’re good at something it’s often because we love it and are passionate about doing it, and doing it well.

All of which might sound like stating the obvious, but it’s easy to get sucked into chasing the money.  We know that a particular type of business model, or a particular niche is lucrative, and so we chase it.  Somewhere along the line we got it into our head that it doesn’t matter what we do, as long as it makes us enough money to spend time doing the non-work things that we love.

The flaw in this thinking is that if you don’t enjoy your line of work, you’re always going to struggle to make it truly profitable.  I believe that, for the majority of people, if you focus on work that you love, this will always end up being the most lucrative route.

This is the introduction for a much longer discussion, but it’s not something I’m going to get into now.  The only reason I’m raising this subject is because Roy and I have made the decision to close down the “Lucid Guys” websites.

The Lucid sites have been a lot of fun, but they’ve never really had my full attention and they’ve never received the kind of passion that I put into my writing and product creation work.  Rather than taking time away from what I love to tinker with sites that deserve better, I believe I’m far better off letting these side-interests go and focussing 100% on my core business.

It’s taken me a while to get there, but I’ve finally figured out that I prefer writing, editing and creating products for other marketers, over creating and marketing products of my own.

So that’s what I’m going to do.

In the fourth season of “The West Wing”, in the episode “Guns Not Butter”, President Bartlett says to Josh Lynham:

“You want to know the difference between you and me? I want to be the guy. You want to be the guy, the guy counts on.”

I think that sums me up pretty well.

I don’t want to be the Guru.  I want to be the guy the Guru counts on.

Working behind the scenes to create great products for which other people get the kudos?  Yep, that might sound strange to most, but that’s exactly what I’m doing and it’s what I hope to continue doing for many years to come.

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It’s a long-standing stereotype that British people love to queue.

It’s not so much that we love it – we moan about it as much as anyone else – more that we accept the polite conventions of queuing, such as maintaining a healthy distance from the person in front of you, tutting quietly (while inwardly seething) over queue-jumpers, and staring blankly ahead without any attempt to engage other queuers (is that even a word) in conversation.

I don’t enjoy queuing and will happily avoid it wherever possible.  This morning, however, I was reminded that there are some circumstances where I would enthusiastically welcome some form of queuing system.  And by enthusiastically welcome, I mean join it with an awkward stance and a blank gaze while my mind ponders why we have to spell the word “queue” using letters that suggest a pronunciation of KWEE-WEE.

I’m actually amazed that the US wordsmiths, with their love for sensible spelling that manages to enrage their UK counterparts, haven’t come up with a more suitable alternative.  I know they haven’t accomplished this yet because I Googled “american version of the word queue” and the top result was a video considering the age-old question of whether or not Jesus gave us the name of the antichrist.

GOOGLE FAIL!

But I digress.

You see, queuing might suck, but it’s nowhere near as painful as being thrust into a “first-come, first-served” scenario that lacks any sensible system of organisation.

For example, whenever I visit the barbers to get my customary “blade 7 on top, blade 2 on the sides, and a tapered neck”, a “first-come, first-served” system is in operation, but there is no comforting queue to join.

If everyone waiting to be, erm, seen (what is the future-continuous verb for a haircut?  Trimmed?  Buzzed?  Haircutted?  Serviced?) sat on the first seat nearest the door, then a seated queue would be formed; the person nearest the door would be next in line, and everyone could shuffle down as their turn approaches.

Unfortunately, the seating in my barbers is made up of one long bench, and to prevent any risk of accidentally touching a stranger, every newcomer sits in the exact centre of the largest available gap on the bench.  This means that everyone is personally required to keep track of who is already present in the barbers when they got there, and who arrives afterwards.

This is harder to accomplish than it sounds, especially when you consider that staring at strangers to memorise their appearance is almost as socially unacceptable as lightly brushing elbows with someone because you misjudged the size of the gap on the bench.

My system is to ignore everyone who is already present and, instead, to count the newcomers.  If three people arrive after me, then I merely need to wait until there are only three other people in the barbers to know that my turn is next.

This system functions perfectly until someone decides they’re tired of waiting and leaves.  Then I have to figure out if the person that left arrived before me or after me.

Other times I notice some oddball with a gigantic mop of hair and/or a flourishing beard who clearly hasn’t visited a barbershop since 1987 and I panic over their position in the queue.  If they were already there when I arrived, then surely I would have noticed them.  But I’m equally sure I would have noticed if they’d arrived through the door after me.

DON’T TOUCH ME!

I could just ask him, but I don’t know what system he’s using to remember his place in the queue and I don’t want to confuse him.  I’ve been brought up better than that.

Even if no aberrations occur, sometimes I just psych myself out by questioning the precision of my own system.  If, for example, I’ve been keeping the number five in my head, I suddenly can’t remember if that means I have to wait until there are five people left in the queue including me, or in addition to me.

Inevitably I create enough internal doubt that when the moment comes when I’m pretty sure it’s my turn, I have to pause for a moment to see if anyone else is going to step up.  If someone does step up then I have until the next slot arrives to figure out if my turn is next, or if I just missed my turn through a combination of my own indecision and the other person’s miscalculation.

But by far the worst-case scenario is when I pause for a moment, gain enough confidence that I’m next to stand up, and then proceed to do so in perfect unison with someone else.  We turn towards each other and our eyes meet, reflecting a shared horror that we’re actually going to have to talk to each other.  The silence grows as we each ponder whether we should speak up first, or let the other person speak first, or run from the premises in sobs.

What follows is like a game of barber shop, queue confusion, chicken.  The loser is the person who can bare the silence no longer and blurts out, “Are you next?” allowing the other person to gratefully reply, “Yes, I think so,” and shuffle over to the awaiting barber, leaving the other person to sink, shame-faced, back onto the bench, taking care not to brush elbows with anyone.

I hate going to the barbers.

But this isn’t actually what reminded me of the importance of an intelligent queuing system.

What reminded me was today’s occurrence of what my local doctor’s surgery have termed, “book on the day”.

“Book on the day” means that one of the two resident GPs is on holiday, and to cope with the accompanying turmoil the surgery stops taking advance bookings.  The only way to get an appointment is to ring on the day and hope that there are some slots remaining.  If not, then the only options that remain are to try again tomorrow or die.

Assuming that you opt for the former, your best chance of getting to see your GP is to call, the moment the surgery opens at 8am.  In fact the procedure recommended to me by the receptionist is to sit by the phone at 8am and hit redial until I get through.  It’s like trying to get tickets for a Take That concert, except that the prize that everyone is battling for is health.

This proposed strategy might sound extreme, but consider that I once didn’t get through until 8:20am and, incredibly, every single one of the 30 or so slots for that day had already been taken.

Again, this is a “first-come, first-served” system that fails for want of a method of queuing.  You’re playing a lottery in which, in order to win, you need to be fortunate enough to call immediately after the previous call ends, and before someone else beats you to it.

I’ve developed a technique that enables the maximum possible number of phone call attempts in the shortest possible time.  On my mobile phone I press “green” to bring up the last number called, “green” again to actually call it, and then, once I hear the “number busy” signal, I hit the “red” button to hang up.

Rinse and repeat.

Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

It’s like a game of Guitar Hero for mentally deficient chimpanzees.

Man, this is much harder without buttons.

Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

What I hate most about this process, aside from the randomness of the process, is that I can’t do anything else while I’m stabbing the buttons on my phone.

Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

If I’m stuck in a queue at traffic lights, I can at least listen to some relaxing music.  Or find a Talk Radio station.  Or, well, that’s about it.  But at least I can do something.

Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

Despite how simple it is to hit Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

it requires my full concentration to make sure that I don’t miss the moment when the busy signal is replaced with the ringing of a connected call.  Once you’ve pressed Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

a few dozen times, you start to develop muscle memory.  The result is that horrible moment when the phone call connects, but you reflexively hit the “Red” button and disconnect the call.

Of course, you now have the skills to ring back instantly, but it’s always too late.  For the briefest of moments you had the winning lottery ticket, but now it’s back to Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

Green – Green – Red

It’s times like these that I should remember when I’ve rung a customer service helpline and I’m waiting in a queue.  The “hold” music might be awful, and I might be running up a huge telephone bill, but at least the queue provides me with some sense of order.

Without the fear of social awkwardness.

Or the possibility of another day going by without getting to see my GP.

Moan about queuing – or “doing lines” if you’re American (I’m sure I heard it referred to in that way on TV) – but at least it brings order to chaos.

Maybe I do love queuing after all.

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Why is my blog about Internet Marketing and Narcolepsy? Simply because these are two elements that have a huge impact on my life.

Internet Marketing is how I, my wife and my younger sister earn a living. Narcolepsy, which I developed at the age of 18, does its best to negatively impact on my Internet Marketing career but, ultimately, it’s responsible for teaching me to perform my work more effectively.

How? Well first of all you need to understand the effect that narcolepsy has on those who suffer from it. Most people – probably due to the way it’s portrayed in the media – hear the word “narcolepsy”, and imagine someone unexpectedly, and suddenly, falling asleep. This phenomenon is not actually experienced by all narcoleptics and, in fact, those that do experience the irresistible urge to fall asleep, usually have some warning that this is about to happen.

The most common symptom that plagues narcoleptics is something called Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS). What does this feel like? Think back to a time when you had cause to stay awake for 24 hours. Remember the burning eyes, the slowness of movement, the mental fog, the feeling that your head was three times heavier than usual? That’s EDS and it’s what I experience, to a greater or lesser degree, every day of my life.

I can only think of one occasion where the urge to fall asleep was physically irresistible. The rest of the time, I simply fight the urge to fall asleep until I have the time and appropriate circumstances to take a nap. Fighting the desire to sleep is physically painful and often results in headaches, stomach cramps, and an insatiable appetite for sugar.

I also experience some of the other common symptoms of narcolepsy, including sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations, and frequent nightmares. Then, of course, there are the related effects of these symptoms that include things like anxiety attacks, depression, weight gain and flu-like symptoms.

But I consider myself to be a mild narcoleptic. I don’t experience cataplexy (loss of muscle function), the vast majority of the time I can control when and where I fall asleep, and unlike many narcoleptics I’ve managed to remain in work.

That said, being a mild narcoleptic is like having a mild broken leg. Just because it doesn’t involve multiple compound fractures, doesn’t mean it isn’t still severely debilitating.

Which brings us back to my earlier assertion that narcolepsy has actually IMPROVED my work productivity.

You see, for most of my life I’ve been something of a perfectionist micro-manager. My work output was good but I would spend too much time on unnecessary details and insist on personally working on every aspect of a project.

Then I read The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss and began to see the error of my ways. I needed to work fewer hours so I would be forced to spend my time on the important stuff, rather than wasting hours and days on the minutiae. I also needed to learn to outsource.

I successfully implemented some of the suggestions, but struggled to find the courage to make sweeping changes. Until my worsening narcolepsy forced me to take these steps. I could no longer maintain the long days of work to which I had become accustomed. If I was going to continue to be a narcoleptic Internet marketer, then something I had to change.

First of all, I began outsourcing some of my work to other people. Outsourcing the work in which I was unskilled was easy, outsourcing the work that I do well was much more difficult. As a writer, I prided myself on writing every last piece of content for my projects. But this was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and other parts of my work were suffering. Now, I work with a hand-picked team of writers, copyeditors, and proofreaders. I still do plenty of writing, and I still edit everything that passes through my business, but I no longer try and do everything on my own.

Next I began adjusting my work schedule. I discovered, through much trial and error, that my EDS levels where unaffected by the time that I got out of bed, that my most productive part of the day is between 7am and 11am, and that working half-days instead of full-days results in fewer sick days. As a result, I now rise early (usually about 6am), and work no later than midday (unless I have a deadline to meet).

The cumulative effect of these changes has resulted in an overall improvement in the quality of the work, as well as an increase in output.

I firmly believe that, regardless of whether you suffer from an illness, outsourcing more and working shorter days will, in the long run, improve your work performance.

Strange but true.

Of course, given the choice, I would rather be well. But Internet Marketing and narcolepsy has proven to be an interesting, and curiously compatible mix. If nothing else, it’s given me plenty more to write about.

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Pointing an accusing finger at the successful internet marketers – commonly referred to as the “Gurus” (it’s more accurate to use the label of “celebrity” but, for the sake of simplicity, I’ll stick with “Guru”) – is not exactly an original topic, but I’ve got a fresh angle from which to fire my self-righteous indignation.

Most rants directed at the wealthy internet marketing celebrities and their obscenely, over-sized mailing lists are too easy to dismiss as jealousy, or piety. I’m not convinced by the argument that all Gurus are inherently evil, self-involved, money-obsessed, unscrupulous, criminals… some of them only became that way after they made their first million. But seriously folks…

Many people who attend a live seminar and get the opportunity to speak first-hand, to some of the successful marketers they’ve only previously had contact with via bulk email, are surprised with how friendly, down-to-earth, and amiable most of these people are. Much of the negative Guru bashing appears to be a by-product of the suspicion that is aroused by some people who, when they see others succeeding where they have failed, make the faulty assumption that something illegal or at least underhanded is taking place.

It’s even stranger when you meet the Guru with the brash sales pages, and the bombastic videos, only to find that in real life he’s quietly spoken and socially awkward. But I’m getting off topic.

Although I believe most guru criticism is overstated and ill-judged, today I’m going to take them to task for a problem that virtually all are guilty of perpetuating, albeit unintentionally.

The Unspoken Truth

If you took only a surface look at the world of IM, you’d reach the conclusion that success is gained in this way:

1. Create a product and write a great sales page.
2. Get a good number of Gurus to promote it and generate a six (or seven) figure income in less than a week.
3. Use the newly created list of customers and leads to make more money through the sale of back-end products and affiliate promotions.

Even if we recognise this for the oversimplification that it is, there are still several large chunks of the story missing; the parts before, in-between, and after the event:

• The poor product or sales page that sabotaged previous product launch attempts.
• The thousands of air miles clocked up while attending seminar after seminar to find Joint Venture partners.
• The sheer physical exhaustion generated by stress and 15+ hour word days.
• The realisation that the margin between a successful and a failed launch is razor-thin because 80% of the launch sales end up coming from just 2-3 JV partners.
• The spike in refund requests during the first couple of weeks.
• The hours chained to the PC while regretting the decision to save money by handling the customer support alone.
• The stunningly low net profit, once the cost of the launch and the JV commissions have been factored in.
• The despair when several weeks of blasting copy-and-paste affiliate emails to the newly created list, renders it as unresponsive as a sedated sloth.

Not every product launch experiences every single one of these items. And the smart aspiring Guru, quickly learns from their mistakes and refines their technique. The rest, become the internet marketing equivalent of Rednex.

Although many of the above experiences will be familiar to anyone who has tried to establish a foothold in the internet marketing industry, why are these issues so rarely discussed in the mainstream?

How often do you hear the Gurus recommending that you attend a seminar – that they’re not involved with organising? How often do you hear them talking about the time they overworked themselves to the point of collapse? Why are specific examples of conversion rates and refund rates generally only published when the results are exceptional? Why are reported sales figures always gross rather than net? Why have I never heard anyone talk about the cost of hiring customer support staff?

And my personal favourite: Why are Gurus so quick to reveal the size of their mailing list but hardly ever reveal the open rates and click rates from the emails they send?

Sorry to disappoint you but the answer to all of these questions is NOTHING to do with some clandestine conspiracy to hide the truth. For the most part, the overwhelming silence on these issues is simple because there is nothing to be gained by talking about them, but plenty to be lost.

Generating sales by promoting a seminar as an affiliate is notoriously difficult. Although you will hear some Gurus proclaiming the importance of attending live events, they are never going to have as broad an appeal as digital products and therefore will tend to receive less coverage.

If you make yourself ill by overworking, sharing this fact offers little benefit to the success of your business. Even if you’re swamped with work, not out of necessity or bad planning, but simply because you’re committed and passionate about what you do, this can easily be spun a different way. The current perception is that the successful marketers outsource most of their work and only have to work four hours a week. Revealing any evidence to the contrary could be seen to diminish the perception that you know what the heck you’re doing.

And whenever you get on to a subject that involves statistics – particularly conversion rates – you’re into another “rock and a hard place” scenario.

If I told you, for example, that my lead capture page has a 20% conversion rate, would you consider that to be high, low, or somewhere in the middle? Unless every Guru shares ALL of their statistics, for EVERY project, a true average is impossible to establish with any accuracy.

Let’s be fair. Most of the time, the only reason why anyone is ever going to share a statistic is to establish that they’ve had a success and are a credible source of information. In that scenario, why would anyone want to reveal anything other than their best performances?

Put yourself into this example and ask yourself, honestly, which option would you select?

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You run two projects. On average, the first converts sales at 10% and the second converts sales at 60%. You want to attract JV partners to promote a new project that is under construction. What sales figure are you going to publish?

Option #1 – The Whole Truth
“My previous two projects have averaged a conversion rate of 10% and 60%.”

The implication here could be that your new project has only a 50/50 chance of success. What if your new launch turns out to be another 10% debacle? Of course, 10% might actually be a great result, way above the industry average but, without an industry average to hold it up against, it sounds pretty lame in comparison to 60%.

Option #2 – The Whole Truth with Qualifiers
“My previous two projects have averaged a conversion rate of 10% and 60%. The 10% conversion rate, although lower than my other project is still pretty good considering the ticket price is quite high. Please also note that, through split-testing, I have improved on the original 7% conversion rate, and expect to push this even higher over the coming months.”

Now a third of your prospects are thinking, “Huh. He’s just making excuses.” Another third are thinking, “What?! You mean at one point, you were only hitting 7%?” And the rest are thinking, “This email’s way too long… DELETED!”

Option #3 – Broad Strokes
“The combined conversion rate for my two previous projects is an average of 35%”

This simplifying works a little better, but it denies you the opportunity to reveal the impressive sounding 60% statistic.

Is it any wonder, that most opt for the more impressive, but still accurate:

Option #4 – The Highlights
“My previous projects have seen conversion rates of up to 60%.”

This option is factually accurate and demonstrates that you have had at least one previous success. The previous options may be more complete in the information they provide but they invite an unfavourable comparison with every other Guru who sticks with Option #4.

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Like it or not, only a masochist would insist on publicly sharing every failure, simply to get the kudos of being brutally honest. Sure, holding yourself up as an imperfect specimen might make you appear more human, but it might also make you appear to be a failure. The minority who recognise the normalcy of your combination of success and failure don’t need to be reminded of the fact, and everyone else will incorrectly assume that your judgement isn’t to be trusted.

Unless it’s to make a favourable comparison to their current status, no-one wants to report failure, or even something that could be interpreted as such. It’s entirely understandable, and even reflects good judgment, but unfortunately it leaves too many aspiring internet marketers with an unbalanced view of their progress and what constitutes success.

And here is the real problem…

Those new to the industry that have yet to make a single sale will be in awe over the marketer that nets a couple of thousand dollars during the first week of a product launch. But the marketer, rather than enjoying the flush of his first success, sulkily compares his haul to the $100,000+ takings that Guru X announced last week. Guru X had two failed launches, and four mediocre efforts before his spectacular six-figure launch, but there are few who know about it.

So where does that leave us?

The general perception of internet marketing may be hopelessly unbalanced but, while the Gurus are partially responsible, there hasn’t been a deliberate attempt to mislead and I would hesitate to even suggest that they should be expected to try and do something about it. Frankly, is isn’t really their problem. Most successful internet marketers got to where they are by stubbornly refusing to let their failures hold them back, and they have no reason to feel ashamed of this.

The real purpose of this article is to request a little perspective from everyone (me included) who has yet to realise all of their online marketing goals.

If your net profit from a project is small, remember that ANY profit places you head and shoulders above many other businesses, online or offline. Instead of comparing your income to the vast sums of money that others have experienced, draw a comparison with where you were one year ago, or two years ago. Recognise where you’ve improved and where you might have lost your focus. Remember, as long as your project is making a profit, achieving more traffic, improving conversions, or a combination of the three, will ensure you make forward progress.

If you’re working yourself to exhaustion, don’t add to the stress by labelling yourself a failure. Recognise that proper resource management and successful outsourcing takes time to accomplish. Cut back on ongoing projects and focus on the one that is most profitable, or has the most potential. Realise that not every hiring decision works out and persist until you find the right people to work with.

There are few mistakes you can make, or failures you can experience, that haven’t already been encountered by someone else. Learn from it, shrug it off, and move on.

Last but not least, just in case the above hasn’t already gotten me into enough trouble, the next time you attend a seminar with a live Q&A session, try asking one of these questions:

• What was the difference between your gross profit and net profit for your last couple of product launches?
• What’s the best and worst open rate you’ve experienced when sending an affiliate promotion to your mailing list?
• Approximately how many hours do you work per week, on average?
• What are the most disastrous results you’ve experienced with a project or product launch?

If the Guru being interviewed has any sense, they’ll tell you that those questions are impertinent, too personal, and that it’s unreasonable to expect them to answer. And they’d be right.

But if by some miracle you get an open, honest answer, what you learn may prove to be tremendously reassuring.

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Since I’m about to brand myself as an Internet Marketing heretic, I can’t exclude the possibility that I may shortly find myself bundled into an unmarked van, never to be heard from again. In case this does turn out to be the last article that I ever write, I hope you’ll take what you’re about to read seriously.

Just be careful with whom you share it…

There is a fact, well-known within the internet marketing industry, that is rarely discussed. Not because of some big conspiracy to maintain revenues but because it’s a truth that most people don’t want to hear. The minority who would listen and nod their heads appreciatively don’t need this information, and the majority who could really use it will most likely reject it and may even become angry over the idea.

The reason why I’m going to discuss it anyway, is because I’m a writer first and an entrepreneur second. The part of me that has a modicum of business sense is telling me that this is a bad idea but, the ambitious, literary part of me, believes that I can present this knowledge in a manner that might – just might – allow me to get away with it.

I’m going to begin, by making a broad statement about a large portion of potential, online business owners and your first instinct is probably going to be to place yourself outside of this category. You may be absolutely right, but all I’m asking is that you fight that urge for a few moments and just consider the possibility that this might, to some degree, describe your status.

Ready? Here it is:

Of all the people who are interested in exchanging their day job, for a home business of their own, a large majority have spent money on several – sometimes many – internet marketing products and services, but have yet to create a consistent profit.  And the majority of the blame lies with themselves.

When expectations of wealth don’t quickly materialise, some assign fault to the effective internet marketers for selling ineffective products. Others believe they must be missing a piece of the puzzle and make more purchases. Many assume they just don’t have what it takes and give up on the idea. These excuses may occasionally have some basis in fact but there is a far simpler, overriding reason, why the majority of customers, purchasing the majority of internet marketing products, see little or no results:

It’s because they don’t make full use of their purchase.

When someone buys an internet marketing product, they will usually do one of the following:

1. Store the product to look at or try later, and never get around to it.
2. Browse through the product a little, become distracted with something else, and never come back to it.
3. Browse through the product and then reject it, deciding it’s too difficult or requires too much effort.
4. Study the product carefully but skip the parts that sound too difficult and try to take short-cuts. When they fail, they reject the product as faulty, or beyond their capabilities.
5. Study the product carefully and use it as instructed, then become distracted by something else.
6. Study the product carefully and use it as instructed, only to give up after a few weeks or months, when profits are less than anticipated.
7. Study the product carefully, use it as instructed, begin to make real progress, only to give up when they hit an unanticipated problem.
8. Study the product carefully, use it as instructed, seek out assistance when they hit a problem, and persist with their efforts until they see results similar to those promised on the sales page.

There’s no-one listening to your thoughts. It’s just you and this page. Take a moment to assess how many of the above categories that, at one time or another, you’ve managed to fit into. If it helps you to make an honest appraisal, I don’t mind telling you that I’ve had experiences similar to one or two of these. Actually, I’ve had a few of them. Erm, ok, I’ve experienced all of them at one time or another.

I could blame this on testimonials that describe the exceptional results, rather than the average experience. I could blame it on the creator’s of the products for not making more of an effort to persuade me to use my purchase. I could even blame it on the mass obsession with instant wealth, creating unrealistic expectation.

Or I could point the finger of blame at the constant in my experiences: Me

In fact, if we face this honestly, we’d probably find that most of the internet marketing products and services out there are all effective to one degree or another, if we only gave them our full and persistent attention. Bad time management, poor concentration, and a lack of commitment are likely responsible for far more of our failures than most of us would care to admit.

This is the uncomfortable truth that few will give voice to because most people don’t want to hear it. If you voice it, many will write you off as sanctimonious, self-important and condescending. But I’m hoping you’ll see this for what it really is: An Opportunity!

Consider two things. Firstly, being responsible for your failures is far better than the blame lying purely with others. With the latter, you have a problem that is largely out of your hands, but with the former you have something that is possible to fix. Secondly, when I said I’ve experienced all of the categories I listed, that INCLUDES category #8.

In addition to purchasing many internet marketing products on impulse that I failed to properly utilise, I’ve made a number of noteworthy purchases to which I gave my full attention and that yielded some significant results. There are three that specifically come to mind.

Marketing training course with Chris Cardell

I took one of the specific strategies that Chris Cardell taught and committed almost all of my resources to carrying it out for approximately 6-8 weeks. The result was a small flurry of new business that netted $15,000 immediately, and additional revenue from repeat purchases over the next few years.

Stomping the Search Engines membership at Stompernet

I studied hard for a couple of months and followed that up by applying what I’d learned. As a consequence, the decline in search engine traffic that I’d been experiencing for the past 12 months, came to a halt. Since then, search engine traffic to my core website has increased from about 15,000 visits per month, to well over 50,000 visits per month.

Launch Formula Marketing software from Robert Puddy

Using the software as instructed – including the affiliate management, one-time-offer and downsell features – my two business partners and I launched our membership website (www.Lucid-SEO.com) and grossed approximately $45,000 in the first ten days.

Experiencing failures 1-7, has not prevented me from experiencing success #8. Nor should it prevent you. To improve your chances of getting there, consider the three factors that represent the difference between the internet marketing products I failed with, and those I succeeded with.

1) Accepting Responsibility

I firmly believed that my lack of results was not a result of purchasing bad internet marketing products, or even a lack of ability on my own part. Rather, they were attributable to a lack of focus and attention on applying what I was learning. I needed to figure out exactly what I wanted to do, what training or tools I would need to accomplish that, and concentrate on these to the exclusion of everything else.

2) Purchasing Needs Instead of Wants

To increase my profits, I needed to learn how to sell; I purchased a 12-week, home study course on marketing. To reverse the decline in search engine traffic, I needed to learn search engine optimisation; I purchased a membership with Stompernet. I needed a script that could deliver my Lucid SEO training product and allow me to monetise it; I purchased the Launch Formula Marketing script.

Sometimes a product is launched that appears to offer a solution to the flaw in your business that’s been nagging at you for months. But it’s far better to identify a problem, research available solutions, and then compare price and features. If it’s a great offer and it’s within your budget, then go right ahead; I’m not suggesting you should never buy a product on impulse. However, if you carefully select and purchase something your business needs, right now, there is a much greater incentive to give it your full attention.

3) No Half-Measures

Business problems are nearly always connected to profits. When you identify a product or service that can solve your dilemma, it usually means you have to eat even further into your profits to acquire it. That being the case, why would you waste that money by not fully using your purchase?

If you’ve purchased something your business REALLY needs – perhaps something that could prevent it from folding or that could massively increase profits – you should have all the motivation you need to give it your full attention. Ensure you give it nothing less.

If by this point you’re firmly convinced that I’m an internet marketing heretic, there is probably little I can say to change your mind. Just assume this is the ramblings of an over-caffeinated Englishman and we’ll leave it at that. But if, as I’m hoping, you take this article for what it’s intended to be – a rallying call to all aspiring internet marketers to grasp the nettle and make an asserted effort to succeed – then I thank you for your tolerance and I’ll see you next month.

Assuming I manage to avoid capture…

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“But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.”

The above verse marks the point at which W.H. Auden’s poem abandons sentiment and proclaims the inevitable, destructive, march of time. This is something which internet marketers come to know only too well. The contrast between a traditional nine-t0-five job and a home business is most notable in the change of relationship with time.

While sitting in an office, pushing paper, the hands of the clock move excruciatingly slowly as you will them towards 5pm so the race to the elevators can begin. But in your home office, with a constantly expanding to-do list, the hours and days (italics) “run like rabbits”. You push the end of your work days back, working longer and longer into the evening.

Try as you might, you cannot bend time to your will. Your perception of it varies but it continually moves forward at the rate of one second per second (we’ll leave Einstein’s theory of relativity for another time). Even if you could work twenty-four hours a day without collapsing and dying, the likelihood is that you would still find yourself coming up short.

This is a sticking point for so many internet marketers. No matter how many time-saving tools and techniques they apply, no matter how fast they work, and no matter how many hours they put in, their business still experiences a rate of progress that would make a glacier look hyperactive.

If any of this is resonating with you, please clear away all distractions for a moment and focus on this one, simple truth:

You Cannot Conquer Time

Working hard, long days is commendable but, if your progress has stalled, the problem isn’t going to be resolved by cramming more and more into every hour of every day.

You need to stop. Right now. And figure out a different approach.

But if you’re thinking that the tactic I’m going to suggest is outsourcing, you’re only half right. If you had the money available to farm out all of your work then you wouldn’t be in this situation. So I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that, when it comes to business expenditure, you have a limited budget.

If I’m right, it’s not because I have unusual insight. It’s because EVERYONE has an upper limit on what they can afford to invest back into their business. And if your limit is on the low side, it simply means you’ll have to be a bit more creative. Let me help you get started.

I’ve highlighted four simple steps you can take to outsource more of your work, without the costs you might normally associate with this approach. Each step has its own residual benefits, so if you’re desperate to break the habit of trying to wrestle time to your will, try and avoid discounting any of them. Even if it involves something towards which you might initially feel some resistance.

1) Read “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss

If you haven’t read this yet, then you’re probably tired of hearing people insist that you must. Sorry to add to the clamor, but swallow whatever it is that’s making you resist and read it anyway.

The time management suggestions and philosophy in this book are worthwhile. It’s the guidance on outsourcing however that is especially valuable. The wisdom you acquire here will be very helpful when carrying out the next three steps.

Go to: www.fourhourworkweek.com

2) Share Your Profits

Instead of paying for outsourced work upfront, look for people who are willing to work in exchange for a share of the profits. For example, if you need a programmer to build a website, offer 10-20% of your net profits for that website for as long as they continue to work with you.

Not every programmer is interested in this kind of contract but there are plenty who are. The residual benefit of this arrangement is that it provides powerful motivation for the programmer to complete the work swiftly and to a high standard.

I would recommend only offering this deal to people that you have already hired at least once before and who performed satisfactory work.

3) Barter

Over the years I’ve obtained literally thousands of dollars worth of goods and services, free of charge, by providing my services instead of payment.

You may think that search engine optimization, running a Pay Per Click campaign, or setting up a lead-capture page, are relatively simple exercises. Yet these are often a mystery to the self-employed, small, or even quite large businesses. Offer your expertise in full or partial exchange for whatever it is that you want to acquire and you’ll be pleasantly surprised how often people are open to the idea.

4) Partner

Don’t think for a moment that you’re the only home business owner who has too much to do, and not enough funds to outsource everything. Search for someone who has strengths and abilities in different areas to you, and arrange to combine your efforts. You can do this as a simple exchange, but you may find it even more effective to collaborate on a shared project.

Online forums and internet marketing seminars present opportunities to broaden your network of contacts and find like-minded individuals who might appreciate the chance to pool resources.

Don’t Fight It

Rather than viewing time as a destructive, inescapable force that must be fought against, learn to work within its restraints and make a point of enjoying its passage. This won’t happen if you persist with the idea that progress can be achieved, purely by working longer and later.

Show me a successful internet marketer who performs every single piece of work related to their business, and I’ll show you a work addict heading for an early grave. Having limited funds is not a good reason to avoid outsourcing aspects of your business. Go now, get a pen and paper, make a list of ALL of your work connected to your business, and commit to outsourcing at least one item before the end of the month.

I advise starting with the job you enjoy the least.

And don’t put this off. If you do, then the chances are good that W.H. Auden’s daydream will soon become your reality.

‘In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.

You can read W.H. Auden’s poem, “As I Walked Out One Evening” in full at www.tinyurl.com/AudenPoem

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You can couple the title with “Facts are sacred…” or “Truth prevails where…” whichever you prefer. Either way, everyone should be free to share their opinion, as long as they don’t object to having their ideas challenged and they have the humility to be willing to change their position in the face of a reasonable argument.

Just for fun, try posting the above paragraph on any popular internet marketing forum and enjoy the flurry of derisory posts that quickly follow.

Aside from the occasional, well-reasoned, response, the usual IM forum responses to points of view anywhere outside the norm are ridicule, insults and intolerance. Depending on your personality type, this makes IM forums annoying, frustrating, or vast amounts of fun.

I was a regular forum user for the first few years of my online career (until I realised it was a poor substitute for doing actual work). I enjoyed the banter and the debates, and it proved to be a good way to network and make contacts. It taught me to pay respectful attention to – and learn from – other successful marketers. It also taught me not to be afraid to express unpopular opinions, and not to ignore my own intuition.

This is a tricky balancing act for online entrepreneurs. On the one hand, you don’t want to “reinvent the wheel” and try to learn everything through trial and error; following the example of the marketers who have already established their skills is a smart thing to do. However, by definition, entrepreneurs are never going to enjoy a career that purely involves following someone else. Original thinking and testing new strategies, when kept in proper proportion, is an important part of the journey and without this spirit no-one would ever make new discoveries.

As is my want, the above is just a pre-amble to a story. It’s of the “true” variety and it always gives me reason to chuckle but it’s a story I’ve never told publicly. This is partly because it sounds like shameless name-dropping with a side-order of self-aggrandizing. Okay, I’ll be honest. I’ll come up with some learned life lesson to give the article a sense of profundity but mostly I just want to tell a story. Just go with me on this one.

Dare To Be Different

So I stumble across a website with an odd title and a quirky twist on the advertising exchange genre. It’s a novel idea and I register as a free member so I can poke around a bit. The early signs look good so I email the owner a couple of questions, not really expecting a reply. I’ve been online long enough to know that emails to the owner of an Internet Marketing website rarely receive a response. In fact it’s possible to accurately calculate the odds of a reply as it’s usually inversely proportional to the success and celebrity of the recipient.

To my surprise I received a detailed and friendly response from the owner. We exchanged a couple more emails and he was kind enough to reveal the strategy behind the website and how he’d used it to turn a tidy profit.

An imaginative website with a pleasant, intelligent webmaster? Naturally I rushed to post the details at my favourite forum. The forum regulars were overjoyed at my discovery and couldn’t wait to give me a digital slap on the back for making such an interesting and profitable discovery.

No, wait, that’s not quite right. Let me try that again.

An imaginative website with a pleasant, intelligent webmaster? Naturally I rushed to post the details at my favourite forum. The forum regulars turned their nose up at my recommendation, rubbished the concept, picked holes in the strategy and suggested that the owner was, shall we say, less than honest.

Yes, I’m sure you saw that coming. Hindsight is easy, right?

I was totally nonplussed. They made completely inaccurate assumptions about how the program worked. The webmaster was unknown to them, yet they were quick to assign nefarious motives. The forum thread was awash with cynicism. Bear in mind that these forum posts were not solely from negative newbies, struggling to make a dollar. Many of the comments were from experienced online marketers, making a full-time living online; people whom I respected and whose advice I rarely failed to heed. A seriously insecure person might well have soaked up this criticism and completely changed their view of the website and webmaster that had impressed them.

I, on the other hand, had plenty of confidence to call upon (some might have mistaken it for arrogant and stubborn pedantry, but those people are just wrong) and I wasted no time arguing my corner. In previous debates, I could usually rely on at least one or two people sharing my point of view, and supporting and adding to my arguments. But, for the first time, I found myself a lone voice. A position that likely only served to create the appearance of desperation. I unwisely persisted, severely annoying several people in the process. I realised that I had pressed too far when I reached the point where accusations were being made that I had a financial stake in the project. At this point, I cut my losses and abandoned the argument.

I debated inwardly for some time about whether persisting in my view was arrogance or simply a case of being more intelligent than everyone else. I reached the conclusion that either answer was… well… arrogant. I continued to enjoy using the program for some time but, if I’m honest, I didn’t promote it as aggressively as I had originally intended. I couldn’t subscribe to their point of view but I couldn’t bring myself to totally dismiss the opinions of the people from whom I’d learned so much.

I had a sense that this was all part of the learning curve but I still struggled to resolve the inner conflict. A complete novice is ill-equipped to contradict experienced marketers but, at some point, the novice becomes sufficiently seasoned and is able to use that solid foundation of received knowledge to start building an online business in their OWN way. As I already implied, an entrepreneur wants to create something that, to at least some degree, is unique to them.

Had I reached that point? That was the question I struggled to answer. If I was giving myself too much credit and placing too much stock in my own opinions, then I was treading a foolish and risky path. Equally concerning was the possibility that I was right to be confident in my judgement and that too much hesitancy was restricting me.

If my life was a Michael Mann film then this would be the point where I’d be sat by the window brooding while the rain lashed at the pane. The camera would cut to a wide shot from outside the window, the water running down the glass, turning my image into a set of fragmented, blurry, shapes, thus symbolising my tortured, splintered soul. That would be pretty cool.

Alternatively, if you prefer, a Quentin Tarantino movie would encapsulate this moment in an orgy of bloody violence and gratuitous cursing. Followed by an hour of conversation about why Superman is unique among comic book superheroes…

It’s Only Words

In the long run, I received an answer to my question. The maligned webmaster created a string of successful sites and went on to become one of the most recognizable names in Internet Marketing. Most of the people that had scoffed at my recommendation became his affiliates and wrote gushing, promotional emails to their lists.

Saying “I Told You So” is juvenile. It might have been satisfying to dredge up an old forum thread and embarrass one or two people, but it would be a hollow victory. Hollow because, despite this disagreement, I continued to enjoy learning from the experience and knowledge of these veteran marketers.

The nettle I had failed to grasp during my indulgent self-analysis was that opinions are just… opinions. The basis for my recommendation was a handful of friendly emails and some research into the website. Just because my opinion was eventually proved to be correct on this occasion, didn’t make it more valid than anyone else’s point of view. I had a little more data from which to make a judgement, but hard evidence of the webmaster’s marketing nous would only be confirmed over the next few months and years.

If I can show extensive data from an exhaustive split-test, demonstrating that bananas are better than apples… that’s one thing. But opinions will never carry the same weight. As soon as it was evident that my recommendation wasn’t welcome, I should have left it at that. I could have my opinion and they could have theirs, and it didn’t have to be a big deal. I could still use and promote this new website with a reasonable amount of caution and my opinion would eventually have been proved to be correct or incorrect. At which point I would take action accordingly.

Whether they are yours or that of someone else, opinions are free. Place too much importance on them however, and they can become very expensive. They can cost you your confidence, other people’s respect, and the opportunity to grow as an entrepreneur. They are also great at wasting valuable time.

Is that assessment profound enough to justify the telling of the tale? It’s okay to say yes or no; it’s just your opinion. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the website in the story was called Don’t Touch My Ads and the webmaster was called Mike Filsaime. I hear he went on to do pretty well for himself.

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In this article I’m turning my attention to the peddlers of the pseudo-scientific, quasi-religious, quantum quackery, that is The Law of Attraction.

Clearly I’m not going to be making any attempt to be of objective in this discussion but, to be fair, since a recent film raised awareness of this philosophical flight of fancy, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone with a depolarized opinion.

Just in case the hype passed you by, allow me to explain; Believers in The Law of Attraction assert that thoughts have an energy that attracts whatever the person is thinking about, and that anyone can gain their heart’s desire by focussing their thoughts upon it. Equally, dwelling on failure will attract tragedy and mishap.

I have no difficulty in believing that a person determined to succeed will have the motivation to work harder and will be more alert to opportunities. But to expand that idea into a mystical process that suggests everyone will succeed if they are stubborn enough – regardless of their abilities or unforeseen events – is irresponsible at best.

Despite what the preceding paragraphs might suggest, the purpose of this article is not to criticise The Law of Attraction (there are plenty of other people who have already done that), but rather to address the frustrations of aspiring entrepreneurs who can’t seem to make the breakthrough that will allow them to quit their day job. No matter how badly they yearn for it.

The solution to this common problem is simple, but it takes some honest self-assessment and the ability to ignore the scorn of others.

Despair.com sells a series of de-motivational posters that satirise corporate, inspirational art. My favourite is the one entitled “Stupidity”; the description reads:

“Quitters never win. Winners never quit.
But those who never win and never quit are idiots.”*

It’s cynical, to be sure, but there’s an uncomfortable truth hidden in there. The individual who attains success through blood, sweat and tears, will often attribute his achievement to an inner belief and a refusal to give up. Hear it said enough times and the implication becomes that everyone who failed, did so because they gave up.

There is only one gold medal for the 100-metre sprint given away at each Olympic Games, but is it fair to say that everyone who competes and doesn’t achieve gold, failed because they lacked belief, or because they gave up? Maybe in some instances but, for many, surely the reality is that they simply weren’t the fastest out of the blocks, or that their top speed was insufficient. It’s entirely possible to have self-belief and determination but still fail to achieve a goal that’s beyond your capabilities or that is affected by circumstances you can’t control.

Does this mean Homer Simpson was right when he said, “Trying is the first step to failure?” I guess it depends on your definition of failure.

If twenty, 100-metre sprinters, define success as a gold medal at the next Olympic Games, then at least nineteen of them are going to fail. But if they define success as competing to the best of their ability, then there is the potential for all twenty to gain satisfaction from the eventual outcome. Sadly, most fall into the former category. Despite achieving results that many can only dream of, these individuals will still wind up disappointed and frustrated.

This thinking isn’t unique to athletics. On the whole, the world defines success as wealth, fame, or a combination of the two, and the internet marketing space is no exception. In sales videos and at IM seminars, the vast majority of marketers will establish their credentials by revealing the wealth they’ve accrued, or the possessions they’ve purchased with it. These things are equated with success.

Six or seven figure launches, testimonials from IM celebrities, and a steady stream of invitations to speak at one seminar after another are the goals of so many online marketers. There’s nothing wrong with this but in an overcrowded and ultra-competitive marketplace, inevitably the majority end up disappointed. It’s a harsh reality to face but the truth is that most people will never come anywhere near attaining this level of fame.

Realists are often labelled as cynics because they lower expectations but have you considered the possibility that accomplishing an attainable, reasonable goal, brings more contentment than failing to achieve the improbable? What if you measured success, not by being the best at something, but by doing something you enjoy to a high level of competency?

Returning to the athletics analogy for a moment, imagine a 21-year-old runner who has to face the very real possibility that he has reached the pinnacle of his abilities and still isn’t good enough to qualify even for regional events, let alone national or international. He has two choices:

1) He can hire a new coach and attempt to push himself harder, refusing to accept defeat. For a minority this decision will be fruitful but for the majority all that will follow are years of frustrated efforts.

2) He can decide that he gave it his best shot, give up the goal of becoming a world-class runner and instead begin exploring a career as a coach, or a sports journalist, or a gym teacher, or a sports equipment vendor…

Some will never be able to see the person who selects Option #2 as anything other than a failure. Yet the individual who is able to continue working in the field of expertise that he loves – perhaps finding an unexpected joy and satisfaction in helping others to success, or reporting on their sporting achievements – views his personal decision as an overwhelming success. The second option may not deliver profound wealth or fame, but if you define success as earning an honest living, doing something you enjoy, then does it really matter?

If you firmly believe that you are perfectly suited for the lifestyle of an IM celebrity and you won’t be able to live with yourself unless you persist in striving for it, then maybe that is exactly what you should do. Otherwise, consider whether you might find more success in exchanging the current cycle of struggle and frustration, for something less glamorous but more attainable.

If you have a specific skill, rather than trying to shape it into a viral product that can be sold on a grand scale, generating vast wealth through recurring payments, epic upsells, and countless reiterations; explore the idea of exchanging your services for payment, on an individual basis. You could set yourself up as a consultant, a service provider, even a one-on-one coach or trainer.

Will you be disappointed not to become the next IM celebrity star, flying around the world from one seminar to the next, making videos of your shiny new cars? Only you can answer that question, but you’ll probably be making more money than you are now, without much of the stress and aggravation.

How many times have you heard celebrities bemoan the curse of fame that left them with broken families or drug and alcohol problems? If you’re making a good living, performing work that you enjoy, and enjoying more quality time with your family, then who do you think is the real success story?

* http://tinyurl.com/stupidityposter

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New Internet Marketers are renowned for being tight with their money. It’s good to be careful with your expenditure but if it’s to the point of hosting your website on an advert supported service or trying to subsist on nothing but pop-tarts, then you’re taking it too far.

When you’ve got a nice, regular income to rely on, spending money on your business is easy. But when you first start out and your income is nil, anything you spend automatically places you in a business that is losing money. Little wonder then that new online business owners are so keen to padlock their wallets shut.

Like it or not, this is one nettle you’re going to have to grasp quickly. If you were starting an offline business you’d probably have to get a business loan to get things rolling. An online business has far fewer overheads but it’s a mistake to think you can get away with spending nothing. At the bare minimum you need:

Hosting
Decent, advertising-free hosting starts from $4.95 at Hostgator.com.

Outsourcing
You might prefer to spend time, rather than money, on building your online empire but you’re going to HAVE to outsource the things you’re no good at. Unless you’re an awesome web designer, for example, no amount of time spent is going to produce a decent looking website.

Computer
You need something that runs quickly and doesn’t crash every ten minutes. If your computer is relatively new, you might be able to get away with just buying some extra memory.

Internet
Broadband access – the fastest you can afford.

Backup System
In physical terms, your business is the contents of your hard drive. Protect it by investing in an online backup system. Carbonite.com is a solid system that backs up automatically in the background, storing all of your essential data offsite. For $54.95 a year your house can burn to the ground and you’ll be able to upload your business to a new computer without missing a beat.

There are plenty of other things that your business could use and there may be other items you consider to be essential that I’ve missed off my list, but the point is that you can’t avoid spending money to get your online business started. If you don’t have any savings then spring clean your house and collect a big pile of items that you can sell on eBay.

Make It Count

Selling stuff on eBay is easy. Ensuring you squeeze the maximum from your eBay auctions takes a little more preparation. Back in the day, I used to build my own eBay auction pages in HTML and manually upload each item. A lot has changed since then. Let’s take a look at some of the services and equipment that are available to make eBay listings easier and more profitable.

Shipping Materials
Handily enough, eBay is a pretty good place from which to purchase tools for packaging up your items. Look in the “Packing & Shipping” category for:
Padded Envelopes
Mailing Bags
Shipping Boxes
Bubble Wrap
Packing Tape
Shipping Labels

Postage Price Calculators
Before you list an item, you need to know how much it’s going to cost you to ship the item. With a bit of googling, you should be able to find a postage price calculator that’s specific for your country of residence. Here’s two to get you started:

US Postage Price Calculator: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

UK Royal Mail Price Finder: http://tinyurl.com/3coa25

To calculate an accurate shipping cost, you’ll need to weigh your item. Postal scales can be pricey so shop around for digital kitchen scales instead As long as the maximum weight capacity is sufficient for the items you’re selling, this will do the job nicely.

Auctiva.com
Auctiva is a third-party system from which you can list items on eBay. Register an account and you can schedule your auctions, auto-relist items, create scrolling galleries, and access a myriad of other handy features. Auctiva also boasts over 1700 templates for you to use when showcasing your wares. A 30-day free trial is available (NO forced continuity); after that accounts start from $2.95 a month.

Get4It.com
My system for getting a fast, but reasonably-priced sale on eBay is to work out the average selling price of an item and then set the “Buy It Now” price to one pound more. Figuring out the average selling price used to mean trawling through completed auctions to gather the data – Get4It.com compiles the data for you in a flash.

Let’s say I was going to sell my Battlestar Galactica Season One DVDs (as if!). I enter the search term into the calculator and hit “PriceIt”. A few seconds later I know that the average selling price for items with this search term is $9.

A search at Get4It.com offers a range of other data, including the most common keywords – very useful when it comes to selecting the title for your auction.

ecal
ecal, an eBay calculator, is geared more towards the regular eBay user but if you have a lot of items to sell this will help you prioritize your auctions. Simply enter your starting price, postage costs and estimated sale price, and ecal will tell you the eBay insertion fees, PayPal fees and total profit after shipping and handling.

Hard Work vs Money
At the time of writing, eBay is 21st in Alexa’s “Top Sites” list. Ironically, it’s often possible to find items cheaper elsewhere on the net. But the opportunity to snag a bargain is still a great draw, making it the perfect place to sell your stuff and gather some funds to invest into your business.

Don’t deceive yourself into thinking you are the exception to the rule and that you can build your business with nothing but sweat and tears. Start treating your business like a business and invest what is needed to make it a serious prospect.

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Do you ever have difficulty leaving work behind?

For home business owners, this is a particularly difficult challenge because you’re never more than a few yards away from the office. At the end of a work day, resisting the urge to go back to the PC and ‘just check one quick thing’ takes a steely determination. Alongside that, as a home business owner, you’re probably doing something that you love and are deeply passionate about. It’s hard to switch off from that, as I was reminded while on vacation last year.

My wife and I had arranged a two-week trip to the Dominican Republic that, along with Haiti, makes up the island of Hispaniola. It’s a little more commercial than it used to be, but it’s still a beautiful country, and is probably one of the most cost-effective ways to visit the Caribbean.

Before we began our journey I agreed, for the duration of the holiday, I would not send or receive any emails and I would absolutely, under no circumstances ring the office. Short of a natural disaster or asteroid strike, any problems with the business could wait until we returned home. This was an opportunity to relax and recharge the batteries. The Beach, some sun, a good book and as much Cuba Libre as I could drink. I lasted, ooh… about 12 hours.

We were attending the obligatory welcome speech from the local travel rep and she was pitching a variety of excursions such as humpback whale spotting, catamaran trips, scuba-diving, and so on. With an embarrassing display of mental arrogance, I whiled away the time by picking holes in her sales technique and thinking up some of the ways she could improve her pitch.

Things such as sharing testimonials from previous customers, or adding value to the offer by offering a free bottle of premium rum as a bonus. The low cost of alcohol over there compared to the high price of the excursions would have made this very cost-effective. She could even add a sense of urgency to the offer by offering 50% off a second booking for the first five people that registered for an excursion before the end of the day.

As we left the presentation, I tried to impress my wife by sharing my critique of the travel rep’s sales pitch. I’m sure she found it absolutely fascinating but, little did I know, my wife was about to observe me taken down a peg or two. We set off on the short walk to the beach. I was in good spirits, so I didn’t mind that the moment we left the hotel premises we were stopped by a man who wanted us to attend a presentation for a rival hotel. He was quite persistent so, rather weakly, I said we’d think about it and maybe come back after lunch. Thirty seconds later we were stopped by a second man who made an identical pitch for the same presentation. This time it was much easier to refuse by saying we had already been approached a few moments ago. As we walked on I found myself, once again, mentally criticizing their sales technique. Surely, they would have more success if they offered some kind of incentive for attending?

Only fifty yards left to the beach and we were interrupted by a third man with, you guessed it, an invitation to attend a hotel presentation (lest I give you the wrong impression of the Dominican Republic, this was the only time during our entire stay that we were approached in this way). We used our now tried and trusted technique of explaining that we had already been approached. The man looked despondent and said “Ah, yes, he’s my boss”. Unsure of what the appropriate response was, I asked if the man was a good boss. “No. He steals my commissions,” came the reply. Any hopes that he might be joking were dashed by the mournful expression on his face. Somewhat uncomfortably, we said ‘adios’ and walked on.

With an air of relief we arrived at the beach, found a nice spot and lounged on a pair of sun beds. The weather was perfect and the faint sound of reggae music from a nearby resort blended well with the sound of the waves kissing the white sand. Perfect. Looking around to take in my surroundings I observed with interest the variety of beach hawkers who slowly strolled across the beach, attempting to pedal their wares. Stuffed animals, hair braiding, jewellery, cigars and, yet more excursions were all available for purchase from the comfort of your seat.

The beach was primarily used by holiday-makers staying in the resort, and I suspected that there were specific instructions on acceptable selling behaviour. None of the sellers were pushy, or aggressive, and a simple shake of a head was enough to signal your disinterest. In fact, as long as we avoided eye contact, the hawkers kept on walking.

Once more, I found myself amused by the selling techniques on display. Some simply walked with their product held aloft and waited for someone to show interest. Some, with muted tones, periodically announced the product they were selling. My personal favourite was the man selling straw hats. Wearing his entire stock, stacked high upon his head, he wandered up and down with intermittent calls of “I got the hats”.

These simplistic, but entertaining, techniques led to an overconfidence that caused me to unintentionally make eye contact with a man selling canvas paintings. He veered in my direction and with the, now familiar, half Spanish, half American accent said, “Would you like to buy a painting? You would be my first sale today.”

I wasn’t impressed with the plea for compassion, but he had a friendly smile and so, rather than saying ‘no’, I tried something a little pithier: “We wouldn’t have room in our suitcase.” I tried. The man’s smile grew broader, roughly in proportion to my growing conviction that I had said the wrong thing. He quickly pulled a tightly rolled canvas from his backpack and demonstrated how it was kept wrapped with tape that could be removed without causing any damage, and how the package could be rolled and unrolled without damaging the painting. With my objection effortlessly defeated, I racked my brains to think of another means of escape. ‘I’m not interested’ suddenly seemed a little inappropriate.

The thought had barely powered through the synapses of my brain before, as quick as a flash, the not-so-amateur salesman pulled half a dozen canvases from his stock, unrolled them, and laid them out on the sand before me. As I gazed over an expanse of brightly coloured, sea view abstracts, the thought entered my head that it really wouldn’t hurt to buy just one…

Which was immediately followed by the realisation that something strange had just happened.

I have no interest in art, no interest in paintings, and the last thing I wanted to do was blow a portion of our spending money before we were even halfway through our first day of vacation. How did I get here? How did I go from ZERO interest, to the point where I was about to start fishing around for my wallet? Then it hit me. I recalled reading the book “Influence” – Robert Cialdini’s seminal work on sales psychology – and its description of the law of Reciprocation.

The short explanation of this is that when somebody does something for us, we feel a strong, socially ingrained, desire to return the favour. Samples, downselling, and free gifts are all examples of Reciprocation in marketing. Even if the opportunity to reciprocate is out of proportion to the initial favour we’ve received, it can be hard to pass up. And, crucially, it doesn’t matter one jot if we didn’t ask for the favour in the first place.

So, in this instance, the beach hawker had gone to the trouble of showing me his product and then laying out a sampling of his paintings for me to see. The fact that it took him all of ten seconds and a minimal amount of effort made no difference. On a subconscious level, I had decided that he had done something for me and to turn him away empty-handed now would just seem rude. Unfortunately for me, awareness of what was happening internally wasn’t making it any easier to say ‘no’. I now realized that the law of Commitment had also come into play. However small the amount, I had expressed what could be interpreted as interest, so to now do a complete 180 and turn the man away would make me look silly. Did I really have the gumption to say “no” and then endure the sight of this man mournfully gathering up his paintings and then, no doubt, slowly rolling them away into his backpack? I could already envision the glares of my fellow holiday-makers. What kind of man would string along a humble beach hawker, raising his hopes of a sale, only to dash them back down to the ground?

During this tortuous but nonetheless interesting, internal monologue, the number of paintings on display had doubled; clearly, procrastinating wasn’t going to help. I made a feeble attempt to step round the problem by complaining that this was the first day of our vacation. Perhaps he could come back and see us on another day? The beach hawker – who I later learned was called Raúl – didn’t miss a beat. He told me it was fine to decide now and in fact, if I purchased a painting today, he would make me a special deal. I rocked under the double-whammy of psychological sales pressure. He was going to give us a special price (another favour, so Reciprocation again), but we had to act today (Scarcity).
This was too much. I steeled myself, summoned up all my will and prepared myself to deliver a determined refusal. But, just then, I noticed my wife – who is a keen art enthusiast – studying the works on display with open admiration. By sheer luck (maybe), Raúl had brought the power of Authority and Social Proof into play.

Authority in a sales context is about giving credibility to a product by demonstrating an endorsement by an expert. In this instance, compared to my philistine sensibilities, my spouse was a bona fide expert who could judge the paintings to be of exceptional quality, and let’s face it; when it comes to influence, there are few sources of Social Proof that can carry more weight than the longing gaze of my wife. Sensing victory, Raúl explained that this was a family business; his brothers painted the pictures, and he sold them on the beach.

This was a subtle display of the law of Liking, transforming him from a wily and calculating salesman, into a hard-working family man, who was merely trying to put food on the table. I surrendered to the inevitable, graciously acknowledging defeat, and asked my wife to pick the one she wanted.

The big-hearted Raúl was magnanimous in victory, but that didn’t mean he was going to show any mercy. When I asked the price he said the paintings were 1,300 pesos ($37) each. But… if my wife managed to find two paintings that she liked we could have them both for just 2,100 pesos ($59). Having used every element of sales psychology in the book, this man, who was clearly a seasoned marketing expert, was now casually making an Upsell offer and seizing the opportunity to add more than 50% to the amount we were being asked to spend.

One look at the gleam in my wife’s eyes and I accepted that there was little point in objecting, but that was when I realized that I still had a chance to redeem myself, a final chance to salvage some dignity and self-respect. Now it was time to haggle!

In the Dominican Republic, negotiating over the price is not only acceptable, it’s virtually mandatory. Bartering a good price for a purchase or service can be done just about anywhere. If you’ve got the guts to do it, even the duty-free shops at the airport will let you haggle their prices down. I judged that two paintings was a good sale for this man and he wasn’t going to let go of it easily. If I could wrangle a lower price I could, at least, have the last word in this exchange.

My view of haggling is fairly conservative. I have no qualms about trying to get a better price, but I’m mindful that the starting price is still a fraction of what I would pay at home. In the Dominican Republic the average annual income is less than $10,000 so I had no intention of haggling all of this man’s profit margins away. I decided that, without too much difficulty, I should be able to get him down to 1,600 pesos ($45) for the set. It meant a saving of $14 for me and it should still represent a tidy profit for him.

I pondered my opening offer as I fumbled for my wallet, only to discover that I only had 1,500 ($42) pesos with me. I didn’t really want to trek back to my room to fetch some more, but then it occurred to me that this would simply make the haggling easier. All I had to do was show the man that this was all the money I had, so I wouldn’t be able to pay anything above that. 1,500 pesos would still be a good win for him and I didn’t think for a moment that he’d back out of the sale now.

Displaying the full contents of my wallet, I mournfully declared that I didn’t have enough money to buy both paintings; 1,500 pesos was the best I could manage. The man smiled warmly and delivered the coup de grâce. Scooping the money into his hands he told me not to worry about it. He would take the 1,500 pesos now and I could bring the remaining 600 pesos, the next time I came down to the beach. After all, this was only the first day of our vacation…

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The lesson of this story is not to become overconfident and think that when it comes to effective marketing, there is nothing more for you to learn. There is a big difference between theory and application and the latter is often far more instructive. It’s also worth remembering not to underestimate the power of sales psychology and the laws of influence. Even with full awareness of what they are and the authority they exert, we still succumb to their power on a regular basis.

If you haven’t already done so, get hold of a copy of Robert Cialdini’s book: “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”. It is as entertaining as it is educational and you can pick it up from an Amazon seller for less than $10.

In case you were wondering, I found my new marketing guru at the top of the beach a couple of days later. He had a large display of paintings laid out upon the sand and he greeted me warmly, enquiring as to my wife’s health. I gave him the outstanding 600 pesos and, after a brief hesitation, I gave him another 1,000. I wanted to explain that it was payment for the lesson in selling but instead I told him that my wife was thrilled with the paintings and that if she’s happy, then I’m happy. Which is true.

Raúl threw his arms around me and looked for a moment like he was about to cry. Then he brightened and insisted that I accept a gift for my wife. He went over to his collection of paintings and picked out a small, ready to hang, painting that he said would complement the ones we’d purchased previously. It was a moving gesture… Not to mention a good lesson in the value of Over Delivering.

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