My theory of guaranteed success..

[Tony Shepherd]

I reckon success is like this (and you might wanna take this with a large pinch of salt because I have been wrong about things in the past)

...oh - by the way this is also the reason I never ask for refunds from any info products, WSO's or anything I buy.....

I genuinely honestly think there is a jigsaw to success, and when all the pieces are in place you get rich online.

The problem is that the pieces are scattered far and wide throughout the internet - but there are bits of the 'success jigsaw' in almost every info product out there, good or not so good.

So - years ago - when I started buying information products, which incidentally were printed then because computers were huge and expensive with green screens - I started to put the jigsaw together.

Priceless gems about traffic generation, autoresponders, copywriting, and a huge pile other pieces came past into attention span and left again.

Now and again one of the pieces would fit perfectly next to another in the jigsaw and my knowledge of email marketing for example, or product delivery would increase a little.

Then, in a forum post or from a free report or paid ebook I'd purchased would come another little piece of the jigsaw - this time about upsells perhaps and how to incorporate OTOs into my sales funnel.

Another piece of the jigsaw landed on my desk during a brainstorming session back when Skype just started.

...and another when I listened in on a webinar.

I'm pushing the bloody jigsaw analogy I know but are you getting what I mean?

Some people 'get it' quicker than others for various reasons - they work harder at finding and using the information, or they know people who can show them where to find the pieces, or maybe they're just plain old lucky and stumble across them before you do!

The fact is that success comes when your jigsaw is complete - your eureka moment.

The information IS the same for everyone. I think in that respect at least it's a level playing field.

I think. I'm ALMOST sure anyway.

I'm making 6 figures a year because my jigsaw is pretty much complete.

If you're only pulling in a grand a month it's because you have fewer pieces of the puzzle in place.

You can accelerate the process by looking in more places for the jigsaw pieces - which is why I just had a post on my free WSO saying 'I already know most of the info in your report but there were a few gold nuggets in there'

That makes me happy because I know I've given that chap another piece of the puzzle - he's a step closer.

The guy who kindly posted in the same WSO to say it was one of the best reports he'd ever read was a little further away.

And it's why in refund emails you hear comments like 'nothing new in this information'

It's because they already have those parts of the puzzle in place and they're looking for other parts.

And as a marketer it's my job to give you as many pieces of the jigsaw, in the fastest possible time to help you build your business as I can.

But I'm totally convinced that anyone, given the right information - the right parts of the puzzle - can be a great online success.

I'm just as equally convinced that NO marketer - obviously myself included - can present the whole finished jigsaw to a customer....

Because we'll always leave something out without realising it........it's a bloody big, fiddly, complicated jigsaw remember.

...and it's why I never ask for refunds.

Because the REALLY freaky thing is that the pieces of the jigsaw aren't labelled, or bright blue or smell like roses.

You've got to remember them and fit them together without knowing whether the piece you have in your hand is a diamond or a turd.

Which makes this a fabulously interesting game to be in.

Sorry I don't have any answers or solutions except this....

When I watch my kids doing jigsaws they never ever discard a piece until they've tried to make it fit ALL ways - they try it in every possible position and don't ever put it to one side until they're 100% positive it doesn't fit.

...and then they keep it within reach because they know for a fact it's going to fit SOMEWHERE!

Back to the wine

Cheers,

Tony

[Mrs Z]

I hadn't quite thought of my IM efforts as a jigsaw puzzle before...but, you are quite right. I have been quite frustrated lately with my own efforts and this example helped put things in perspective.
I have received so much information, signed up for several programs...etc...with minimal success.
So...before I go off, in search of anymore 'answers'...I will first lay out all of the pieces I have thus far..like I would when putting together a puzzle...and use only those pieces that go to this puzzle.
I'll set the others aside until I am finished with the first and then move on to those.
Thanks so much for your analogy...I especially needed it today!
Mrs Z

[billromer]

Nice analogy!

Sometimes when you're working a puzzle, you find a bunch of pieces that fit together, but you have no idea where they fit in the grand puzzle...until that magic moment when you connect 150 pieces of "sky" in one continuous section from the left to the right border. THEN things really start moving!

Thanks for the brain food - I love this kind of stuff.

Bill

[TLTheLiberator]

Have a good, solid & proven online business plan, take action, be a tester, keep your testing expenses low and sooner or later, you'll start making money.

That's my advice on guaranteed success with an online based business.

TL

Ps. I like the puzzle analogy.

[SteveJohnson]

I like your puzzle analogy.

Some people 'get it' quicker than others for various reasons - they work harder at finding and using the information, or they know people who can show them where to find the pieces, or maybe they're just plain old lucky and stumble across them before you do!

The fact is that success comes when your jigsaw is complete - your eureka moment.

The information IS the same for everyone. I think in that respect at least it's a level playing field.

The information is the same, but the timing isn't. This might be kinda 'new age', but I think when you're ready to use your next bit of knowledge, you'll see it. The saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" comes to mind.

Some people are able, for whatever reason, to see how all of the puzzle pieces fit together to make the big picture. They can dive right in, naturally knowing what the next step is, or where to look. They can take the information they find and run with it. They are the exceptional people, the "millionaire in two years" club member. They have all their duckies in a row. They're ready.

Some of us look at the picture of the puzzle on the front of the box, then over at the box full of pieces, and ask, "how the hell am I going to learn to fit all this together?" Then we start going at it bit by bit, and when we're ready for a few more pieces, it's like someone was pointing a neon light at them in the middle of the piece stack.

There is something to be said for pushing the process, though, when you're putting together the puzzle. The universe loves speed. People who GO NOW generate their own momentum, they're in the fast lane. It's to your advantage to go as fast as you can. You have no time to think, to over-analyze, you're just doing.

I lived a few years in Mississippi. I saw the disadvantages in going slow. Lotsa squished turtles in the middle of the road. Not many rabbits, though.

[ladyshadowrider]

Hey, I love this jigsaw puzzle analogy!

In my case, it's been more like pieces of 100 jigsaw puzzles all jumbled up in a plastic bag and no picture to go by because all the pieces are white.

Just kidding

I think it takes some people longer to put the pieces together even when they have them all because we're all individuals who have different skills, aptitudes and comfort levels.

Which is why someone can develop a complete step-by-step blueprint for making money online that works for them, but someone else can't seem to make a dime from the system to save their life.

Tamara

[Tony Shepherd]

I agree that it's possible to over analyse and think about think.

Too much preparation doesn't work for me.

I was on a call two nights ago with four other successful full-time marketers and all of us were from the 'take action first and you can tweak it as you go' school of thought.

ANY action - and I include mistakes and even major f*ck up's in this category - is better than all the sitting down and planning in the world.

...because action seems to attract ...

I'm not a fan of passive. And as a newbie |I quickly became aware that taking action removed fear and indecision.

Tony