A Word To The Wise

I have been reading the comments in the thread about Vanessa Reece passing away. There were a lot of people who commented that they never knew her which is not unusual considering that the Warrior Forum has almost half a million members!I WOULD like to make a point though...

I have been actively involved in online marketing since early 2001. During that time I have made it a point to get to know other marketers; especially Warrior Forum members. I have never met a single one of these people in person but I have made some incredible friendships over the last 10 years. We talk on Skype, we talk on cell phones, we email, we keep in touch any way we can. They are friends in every sense of the word!

I want to tell you that if you are involved in online marketing of any type, you need to make a special effort to reach out to others and make friends. You will find that networking with other marketers will be one of the most important things you could have ever done to take your business to another level but it's not just about business!

Relationships in marketing are critical! Relationships with other marketers, relationships with your customers, ANY relationships! I have gone out of my way to develop relationships with affiliate managers of products I am promoting, vendors I have dealt with, large companies, etc. Each one of these relationships have benefited me greatly, both professionally and personally.

You know, we look at some people here in the WF and the internet marketing world as powerful and unapproachable. We are afraid to approach them because they are well known and they wouldn't want to have anything to do with us peons. Come on, get real!

I have gotten to know people like Kevin Riley, Eric Louviere, John Rogers, Allen Says, Paul Myers, etc. and guess what I found out... they are people just like you and me! They don't bite. They can't fly unless they are in an airplane. They aren't faster than a speeding bullet. If you were to ask your friends and neighbors if they knew them, they wouldn't have any idea who they were unless they were internet marketers too. They are just great, fantastic, considerate Warriors just like you and me and everyone else in the Warrior Forum! Don't be afraid to approach other people!

There are a lot of great people in this forum who would love to be friends with you, work with you, develop relationships with you! Work to start special relationships with other Warriors and get to know as many people as you can. A great way to do that is to start mastermind groups with other people.

I have started many mastermind groups over the years. You don't have to set times to meet. You don't have to create schedules. You can if you want to but you don't have too.

I use Skype and add people to the group when they want to join. When I have something to say, I go in and say it and people can read what I said and respond to it any time they want. You can close Skype, you can shut down your computer, you can do anything EXCEPT click on the "Leave Conversation" option in Skype and everything that has been said will be there for all members to see.

There are 436,914 members in the WF at this writing!!! Do you understand what an amazing asset that is for those who take advantage of it? I know that not all of those members are active in the forum but think about how many of those people will read what you say in the forum. Think about how many of those people would love to develop a relationship with you.

If you want to be extremely successful in your online endeavor, you need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes to you. You need to be aware of what is going on around you. You need to be a go-getter, take initiative and grab the bull by the horns. Don't wait for other people to take the first step! YOU take the first step!

Oh by the way, when you start doing that, you will get the opportunity to know fantastic people like Vanessa Reece and you will be the better for it!