There's NO Money in the "Big Picture."

Love your analogy Tiffany and this is exactly what too many people are doing.

You must be getting the same folks I am that want to see the "Big Picture".

I tried telling someone that the first thing they need to do is just find a product to affiliate with, any product, just find one to get started with.

They can't do that because it's not the "perfect" product for them.

Like you, I feel like screaming "screw that nonsense". Just find a product, get your affiliate link and don't think about anything else but showing people that link.

Find enough people to see that link until somebody clicks it and buys something.

Now you are in business and can start fine tuning the whole process to fit your needs.

That's too simple for a lot of people. They think that "wasting time" doing that little step means they are missing out on the "Big Picture" and missing out on the "Real Money".

They don't understand that until you learn how to make a little bit of something, you are going to end up with a whole lot of nothing.

Maybe your driving and GPS analogy will wake some folks up to what they are doing to themselves.

For the Brits here, Mixmaster = Spaghetti Junction.

(In case you're wondering what a GPS has to do with what sounds like a blender )


Martin

Tiffany,

You are so right. When I started out I didn't have an idea of what I was doing, so I looked everywhere for tips and information. Even without buying all kinds of different courses (lucky me doesn't own a creditcard, so I had to literally send money from my bank account to paypal, which took a few days and gave me time to think things through), it still ended up getting me confused and not knowing what direction to take.

Until at one point I said to myself, the course i'm taking now is the one I'm going to follow. And honestly that course, well, it has been the basis for everything I'm doing right now. Creating my own affiliate blogs (learned that there), creating sites for others (using the skills I learned in that course), creating plr blogs (same thing), and so on.

If you don't follow things through to the end, you will never know if they will work for you. And you'll only end up with nothing to show for all your work.

Leslie

This is so true Tiffany and it's GREAT advice! Love the picture to really illustrate this.

I teach people how to do things like setup their websites, setup a podcast, get an email list up, etc and I always give them ONE simple, quick route to it.

My goal is to get them completing something and NOT confusing them with too many details or options. I find as a teacher it's important for me not to overwhelm and show too many 'paths' at once too. I'd rather teach people 'my way' so they get something done, then if they prefer they can figure out another way much, much quicker after they've done it once.

I also see people stalling for so long and I just want to tell them to stop sweating the small stuff and get it done! I know a lady who's spent over a year trying to decide WHAT to build her website with. She could of built a ton of websites and experimented with a ton of platforms by now (not that I recommend that, either, I like to find something that works and just run with it).

It's true, Tiff. In the context of your post, the big picture is a whole lot of little pictures put together, but you can't see the big picture until you understand all the little pictures.

That is great advise Tiffany but do you know how hard it is to eat green beans if you get two bites of Green beans and then someone brings out the Pizza?:p The green beans might have been good but....

You are right though... I never got anything meaningful done till I did exactly what you are saying.

Although I agree with some of what you are saying, I have to disagree with not keeping an eye on the "big picture." Keeping an eye on the big picture is called running your business strategically...which is very important if you have goals and want to stay on the set path that will get you to those goals.

You can't run blind...with your nose to the grindstone and never look up. You constantly need to know where you are going and if what you are doing is getting you there.

Yes you have to take action. Yes you need to not give up on what it is you are doing. But you ALWAYS need to look at your business strategically and know where it is you are going.

Yeah John but that's a different situation. That guy already reached his destination - he did the steps to get his site going. It's okay to look at things again then. But these people can't even follow a path even when the exit IS there. They don't get that far. lol

Scrofford, I agree - after you implement SOMEthing. But these people are too paralyzed to even get ANYthing off the ground.

I'll go you one better Tiff.... how about those that email asking for advice - you take the time to help them see "a" path - and you get the email back saying...

"I don't like that path... what about this path?"

Take a path... any path and follow it to the end. You can "always" go back and start another path and another until you find one that works!

Unless you start - you will never finish. If you find your sell stalled... back up and look at the path you started... where did you veer off course?

Thanks Tiff for the great analogy - It's always a pleasure to "read your thoughts".

I went through this exact thing. It was like I had this cookie jar filled with sugar cookies and all I had to do was go through them. But then someone sets out a cookie jar filled with chocolate chip cookies, and I had to try them. Next, along comes a jar filled with coconut cookies, and of course I had to try those too. And so on, and so on...

I was stretching more and more, and never getting anywhere simply because I wouldn't finish what I started. Everytime something new came along, I HAD to try it.

When I finally said ENOUGH, and made myself finish what I started instead of jumping on every new thing that came along, I started getting somewhere, started making money, and am still making it.

If you don't finish what you start, you're never going to get anywhere, and you're never going to make money. Make the decision to start, follow through, and finish.



Cindy

good post, Tiffany
I won't comment on how much I resembled this post, until just recently...thanks again to you and Craig, for getting me "unstuck"

Wise words Tiff.

People seem to think they have to know everything in order for success to suddenly jump on them so they don't get serious about the small steps.

(Sorry for the long reply.)

It's easier to do the 'mixmaster' thing than to stick it out with one program. In my opinion, this is because it makes it easy to blame the products instead of ourselves when things don't go as well as we hoped.

It takes time to learn what to do, and takes time to get it done. Changing programs midstream is probably the one thing that causes the most failures in IM. There are reasons for cliches such as:
stick to it
nose to the grindstone
shoulder to the wheel
keep on keeping on

Nothing gets done if you don't work on it. My dad used to tell me, "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing right." No, he didn't come up with it, but he was right, just the same. And for those of us who are as lazy as I was as a teen, it does not mean not to do something at all because you don't have time to do it right.

If you don't have time to devote yourself totally and only to your marketing, give it what time you can. If you don't have the money to purchase the best IM tools available, use free methods until you make enough money to invest in your business.

Online marketing has the lowest cost of entry of any work opportunity out there. You don't even have to have a computer--use the public library, if you have to! Just know that if you don't do the work, your dreams will never happen.

Thanks, Tiffany, for the tough love you share. I, too, believe in tough love.

Regards,

Linda

It is the Shiny Object Syndrome, pure and simple.

Too many people are chasing shiny objects, and forgetting the real reason they supposedly went into business.

This year I decided that I was going to get my head down
and hopefully not be able to see the big picture.

Amazingly my productivity has rocketed because I merely
made a list of the most important things I had to do.

For instance this weekends task was to expand my list.
So I spent today writing a five thousand word free report
and finished it because I had the outline pre-planned.

I am much more focused anf happier without the
distractions, because I don't need distractions any more.
Thanks for the tough love Tiffany.

Maybe it's different for you because you saw the IMers from a different perspective initially? You even saw the skills they had (or not). Just a thought.

I started by trusting people until they proved otherwise. And a lot of people were able to do that...

Thankfully I am making money now, but it took awhile and Tiff is exactly right.

"100 % of the shots you don't take, don't go in."
-Wayne Gretzky

Well, I agree with certain parts of what you're saying. But you're really talking about two separate issues..

1) Staying focused by not buying multiple products
2) Just doing the work and following instructions.

On #1, I kinda agree. But everyone has a knack for certain things. So throwing things at hte wall and seeing what sticks kinda makes sense for some people.

On #2, I don't know if I agree with that at all. Because like you said in a previous post, some people follow all the instructions and still don't get it right. And it's because they don't get the big picture.

I totally agree with you Tiffany.
That was my story for years.
Lost, frustrated and following every new product that came out.
I got into this to make money not buy products

I've decided to just put my head down and take baby steps to my goal.
I will look at signs when I get to them, to see if i'm on track.
But, the big picture gets decided at the begginning of the journey.
Like planning a big trip across country with many mix monsters on the way.

Thanks for the post.

Art

I finally found the big picture, even though it's a bit vague. The sum of all your sales letters, posts, emails, ect, should add up to you are happy and making money effortlessly.

People will pay big money to figure out how you became happy and wealthy

I'm trying to improve on the thought, but like I said, it's still vague.

Is there any money in the big picture?

For the guy teaching it? Yes.

For the guy or gal on a never ending quest to find it? No. you are right.

Tiffany I really appreciate the advice. I am new to the Internet Marketing scene and at times it does seem overwhelming. I started with a product called Google Sniper. I did indeed follow it word by word to the very end and yes it did what it said it was going to do. The difficult thing for a newbie to grasp is that these products for the most part are not going to make you a million over night. The Sniper products claim to fame was to get you to rank front page on Google and it did that. The assumption that the buyer makes is that by simply ranking front page you will make tons of money. That's inexperience as I quickly learned. Clearly you need traffic to your website to make money and that doesn't happen just by being on the front page. So there is the need to learn more and purchase more product. But had I not stuck with the first product to the finish I would not have learned that all important lesson and would have wasted my money. I also would have passed the product off as being a bad one. Reading reviews and sticking with the products you purchase one at a time is a valuable practice to develop. It saves money and time. Thanks Tiffany.

You so right Tiffany. So many buy course after course and never really stop and try to understand why they can't make any money with internet marketing. They need to take action and focus on one thing before going on to another. Great Post Tiff

Hi Tiff,

What you say is so true.

But adding to that, another thing I believe is going on here is FEAR. You start something, you don't see the results you were expecting (or the results you were made to think you'll see), a little feeling of panic starts to show its ugly face and off you go, when the new shiny object appears and makes you believe for a moment that THIS IS IT.

And the vicious circle continues...

A big thank-you to the 5 people that pushed Tiffany's button! We get some of her best advice when she mad.

Let me put a different perspective on it. I was one of those people until I found Tiff's PLR ATM program. I have been through several of them before hers, but not being all that technical savvy, I got lost part way through the other ones due to the way the other programs were written.

But in looking at Tiff's program, it was on my "level" and I could follow to the end. So part of their problem, might not necessarily be them, but the programs themselves. Tiff takes it down to the lowest level so anyone can follow her programs.

Ron

When do you know when it's the end? When do you know to keep going or give it up? please tell! Thanks

Lol, sweet mixmaster pic! Had to give you a thanks for that. Really good advice too-you got to stick to one thing.

In this kind of work even categories have categories, easy to get lost out there.

Tiffany and John,

Love both of your examples. I see the problem not so much as buying the next great thing, but buying the next great thing which has nothing to do with the original system.

In John's example of the GPS, what if you invested in an updated GPS, or updated software for your GPS. You stay on the right track, you keep moving forward, but you enhance the experience.

In the IM World this would be the equivalent of buying TimG, Zeuss66, and Steve Wagenhiem's guides on Article Marketing. They are all on the same path. They enhance each other adding to the value.

What most people end up doing is buying a guide on Article Marketing, then Making Money With PLR, then How To Do CPA, then Adsense....Just as you said Tiffany. Then they end up totally confused.

Driving with intent and focus is what creates success.

I agree. I have talked to so many people lately who have experienced the same thing which is other people telling them that they "tried this" or "tried that" but do they ever really fully focus on any one thing for enough time? Usually not.....

I enjoyed your post, Tiffany! This is certainly a pitfall that many people tend to fall into. I've done it in the past, myself. Last year, I got InfoProduct Killer and decided to follow it through to the end. I built some websites for Amazon products and finally started to make some money. Not a lot of money, but at least a trickle. I have other irons in the fire, so to speak, but this one seems to be working the best for me. I will work on improving it over the coming year.

What rubbish.

The reason most Internet marketers FAIL is because they don't want to think about the big picture. Too many people just wanting to "make money fast" or "find the secrets to making millions", or have everyone do all the learning and instruction for them.

Longterm success in anything requires a big picture. It requires and understanding of philosophy, principles, ideas, and goals.

Saying that there is no money in the "big picture" is like saying that it is a waste of time when trying to drive from LA to NewYork to consult a map!

Furthermore if you don't have a good understanding of what marketing really is then it becomes far too easy to fail or fall behind.


Most people in IM are not making money.
Half of those who are selling product end up losing more than they make, or break even.
Probably 60% of those who are making profit are only supplementing their income, 35% can replace their jobs, and that last 5% make large incomes.

Why? Because most people who get into marketing are desperate, have no concept of the big picture, no respect for marketing, and buy into whatever crap someone is trying to sell them.

Getting into marketing like most things takes a lot of hard work.
Furthermore it takes lots of time. The skills required to achieve internet marketing success are as involved as any college degree. Sure people have made money with little effort, but this is the exception not the rule.

I personally know people who've made millions in marketing. However it is not because they bought into some system someone was selling, or took shortcuts, but because they themselves had what it took to be CEO or CMO for any other company.

That’s because the Main factor for success in this business and any other business is HOW HARD YOU WORK and HOW MUCH YOU KNOW.

The problem with most IM'ers however is that they don't understand marketing, nor do they care to learn.


The Keys to succeeding in Marketing your business/startup/Product or become a full fledged Marketer are simply the result of having studied, worked, tested, and kept an open eye out. Every marketing concept was first discovered by someone else, utilized, , shared, repurposed, often sold, then made mainstream.

Where was the term Search engine optimization before search engines? Or SMO before Social Media? They were nowhere to be found. However someone found them, and most likely are enjoying their lives to the fullest because of it.

Many ideas are well known, some experimental, other for different uses or markets. You have to become an expert at finding and figuring out patterns and trends, use a large array of tools for different purposes, and learn to have fun being creative with their implementation. One keyword, or one trend can make the difference of little money and lots of money. Using the correct marketing strategy can mean the difference between victory or defeat. Understanding the bigger picture can make the difference between being rich, and losing all of your money.

Damn Tiff. As usual, you rock. And, this here, is a "shout out" for all of you on the Warrior Forum who may not know Tiffany Dow very well.

If you get on this lady's list, I don't care how many other lists you are on, you make sure that Tiffany Dow's emails have a 100 percent "open and read" rate.

And...as an added bonus, if you subscribe to her blog, you will even get to meet the always amusing Honey, who I think is starting to get quite a following of her own.

Your so cute with your "in your face" advise. Fear is destructive and you are right.

But there are so many enticing programs available for sale, and many of them are irresistable. You may have the best program in the world, but if you see one that is offering something different, and it just sounds so good, it is hard to pass it up.

That's why I have stopped buying WSOs for the past few months

I have a few projects with big future potential and that's enough to make me a multi millionaire in the long run.

Can anyone anwser this? "
When do you know when it's the end? When do you know to keep going or give it up? please tell! Thanks " or is this to hard to anwser?

Wonderful analogy and advice, Tiffany. It's easy to get stuck analyzing methods and researching every last bit of information you can find on them, and let's not even get into getting distracted by the latest shiny new course that promises pushbutton riches (I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side, especially when you're implementing something that isn't going quite according to plan).

The issue here is that much of IM can only be learned by doing. Let me offer another analogy here - you'll never learn to play the piano or guitar by reading an instruction manual or even watching a video. You may be able to pick up the theory on playing a musical instrument by perusing instructional material, but you'll never come close to playing it well just researching and reading about it.

There's only one way you can truly learn and get good at it - by playing the piano! IM is exactly the same, and you have to be out there in the trenches implementing and taking action in order to truly learn how to do it effectively.

Paul

you dont know how much that post relates to me,so many times i've not completed
something i've started and give up.now i stand on the outside and look in that way
i can see where i'm at and what i need to do next .If i get stuck i go find the answer
on google or youtube and here in the warrior forum because here i know someone
will be able to help me.

Tiffany a cool analogy and this is also so true .. people don't stick enough to one thing or they give up before the magic happens.. I personally learned this the hard way, truth is making money online isn't that difficult, traffic=converting offer= money in bank

Why do people get confused?

Because they look for a different solution.

Why do they look for a different solution?

Because they can't face up to how much work is involved and how much effort is required to achieve real success.

Like most things in life, people are looking for the quick-fix, the magic pill. Internet marketing is no different.

These people have little effect on my success except to the extent that they leave lots of litter lying around, such as one crappy site after another.

It just takes a little longer to rise above all of this clutter that's all.

Great analogy, Tiffany, especially for someone like me who used to get lost all the time before the days of GPS magic! (And lately my Tom Tom can't find a signal very often, so I've been getting lost like the good old days!!)

About 75% of the methods discussed on this forum and in the WSO section of this forum ACTUALLY WORK.

(The other 25% are absolute junk.)

Once you've picked a method that is solid, it will take you several weeks (more likely, several months) to see a significant profit.

That's just the way life is.

It's called: THE LAW OF THE FARM:

If you've lived near or on a farm, or even grown tomatoes in your yard, you know that there is no way to speed up the harvesting process. You've got to till the soil, plant the seeds, water the plants, fertilize, cut down the branches blocking the sun, and then WAIT AND WAIT UNTIL YOUR TOMATOES SPROUT! And even after you get some tiny green tomatoes growing, it's going to be another 4-6 weeks before they turn into ripe, red, juicy, edible fruit! And there's nothing you can do to speed that up!

Natural growth takes time. We, of the "microwave-generation", tend to believe that technology can speed up everything. Not true. Nature cannot be hurried. Building a business is a lot like growing vegetables.

One last point: Building a very large, successful business is more like planting TREES than VEGETABLES - i.e. -- it can take years!

Good luck

Out of all the people who I sent this message, ONE took offense and considered it mean. He interpreted it as me saying I was tired of helping people.

Not at all.

But I'm not here to coddle you until you do your work. The instructions are there, so follow them! THEN if you hit a wall, ask me and I'll help you.

It's those who let their overwhelm stop them that I want to kick in the butt and push them out of the nest so they can fly.

People just need to realise that the rules of business/economy online are the same as they are online. No money comes your way unless someone buys something so all you need is something that people want and some good traffic sources. Everything after that is just academic theory.

People just need to realise that the rules of business/economy offline are the same as they are online. No money comes your way unless someone buys something so all you need is something that people want and some good traffic sources. Everything after that is just academic theory.

I cannot tell how much I have spend on these subscription courses that gives no meaningful results. It get very fustrating at times.

Just take one step at a time. One step at a time. We've all fallen victim to overload. I still do. I'll have 10 browser windows open trying to absorb everything. It generally doesn't work very well. It's much better to learn one task and master it then move on to the next.

Dear Tiff
Uh-oh! I may be on the the side of the road a few times but by using your eBook as my main reference I manage to struggle forward. I do follow your recommendation and I find most of my questions relate to the referrals. But my biggest joy is when I achieve a step forward & understand a little more about the IM world. I am grateful I have your guidance and can ask you anything!

I guess the solution is to blindly follow the advice of gurus and their "roadmap"?

Hmph! I have more than enough "shiny objects" stashed away in my closet (hard drive)!!! And I'm committed to change things this year and heed the advice of those who are successful, and honest, and generous. And they say to take action and stick with one method from start to finish.

In keeping with Tiff's analogy . . .

Determine your destination (business model) ... plot your course (roadmap) ... follow your roadmap step-by-step and keep moving until you reach your destination (learning process) ... then CELEBRATE all the way to the bank!!!!!!

Fully use the course first, then decide whether it is for you.

Don't keep buying the courses, it is like opening your package and looking at what's inside then putting it away and moving on.

It's like being a Shopaholic.

I can't believe I almost missed this thread. Great GPS illustration Tiff. That was also a good example of you buying a product and following through even though you knew it would not be your cup of tea long term. You do learn a lot even from methods that don't eventually become your main business. That is if you actually work it the way you should.

lol... nice pic there.

Your post... that's why I think mindset training is so critical to internet marketing success, but no one's into mindset training. It's a double edged sword. You can't make customers/other marketers like what they don't want.

@TiffanyDow

I had Youtube Video responses on the mind... So I thought I would try something and do a forum thread response. I have posted it here. Hope you don't mind, thought it would be a good way to get a healthy debate going.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...iffanydow.html

Setting up a goal in one straight line can make a big difference rather than driving on a wiggling road. It takes FOCUS and a sprinkle of DETERMINATION.

Andrea

Gee Tiffany. Ya know that analogy is pretty handy. What you have described might not work very well for the average IM course of direction, but it is one heck of a good way to discover new gemstone locations when you're out in the rock hunting fields. I take this route of action very often in my search for quality gemstones, and I have gotten some excellent specimens.

Which brings up another point. Not all businesses are the same and sometimes the given directions aren't really a route that will get you where you want to go in your own field of business. If your business route is so confusing that you have to buy repeated guides and try to follow them with no results, maybe what you need to do is reverse engineer your plans - figure out where your end destination is, then work backward from the end result to the beginning of the project. It's easier to avoid wrong turns that way.

What a great post Tiffany.

That is exactly what I have been doing, and I now realize that I will get nowhere. So from now on I will follow your advice and see one thing through to it's conclusion before looking at anything else.