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What Do YOU Think The Secret To IM Success Is?

by Andyhenry
26 replies
Hi Warriors,

Whenever I speak to IMers about what for them is the key (or that they think is the key) to being successful in IM I get different answers.

That is completely in-line with my thoughts on this subject - I think we all need to find what 'our' key to success is, and it's not the same for everyone.

There are some generic categories which keep coming up though so I wondered what you guys thought.

They seem to fall into these popular groups (mostly):

1 - Mindset - Whatever you can conceive you can achieve.

You know this one - if your mind is not in the right place, you're not motivated, energised, or you don't believe it will work - it's just not going to - whatever you do.

I've come across of lot of people getting into IM that have confidence problems, maybe that's why they like working on the computer?

2 - Technical know-how.

Some people seem convinced that lack of technical skills are stopping them.
(I don't believe this one since I can't imagine anyone wanting to set up a business where they're required to understand everything in order to be successful. I think of this one like a car salesman saying he can't sell them because he doesn't understand engines and electronics)

3 - Lack of business knowledge.

I believe this one really does affect people since a basic lack of marketing fundamentals, sales processes, testing and psychology seems to be a great grounding for making almost anything work better online.

4 - Lack of resources.

Not enough time, not enough money, no product.... yada yada yada.....

Since I KNOW you can get started for free (even with a mountain of debt), and with very little time (it's how I got started) I don't really buy in to that one.

We all only have 24 hours and we all only do what our priorities are, and we can fit the model to our skills, knowledge and resources - so absolutely anyone can do this whatever their situation.


So - are you in a different situation?

Are any of these your current problem?

You do know you can start making money with nothing at all but an affiliate link don't you?

What is YOUR secret to being successful?

If you're not yet successful - what do you think is missing?

Many IMers (Myself included) go through a journey along which these things change and when you start perhaps money and time are an issue, but then money stops being one but time is - or time isn't but money is. Ultimately intending to end up with neither time or money being a real problem at all and the mindset stuff being where it's at.

I personally tend to swing around between most of these but usually with the mindset being the issue because while I'm thinking about one thing I forget about another

Andy
#secret #success
  • Profile picture of the author Harry Behrens
    For me personally, the biggest hurdle I've had to jump over was being simultaneously intimidated and fascinated with all the technology and 'cool stuff' that's always jumping in your face in IM. To the point where it paralyzed my business for years.

    First it was learning HTML, then learning hosting and servers, then learning WordPress, then learning LSI, then learning Squidoo, then SEO, and then another and another and another. And it never stops.

    I don't regret learning any of those things for a second... But when I look back at the times I've said "I have no time" or "I have no money" or "I'm overwhelmed with knowledge" etc., The actual root cause of it is simply that I was forgetting what makes or breaks you in marketing: The ability to pierce through all the shiny cool stuff and realize that at the other end is just a person looking for a solution to their problem. All the other stuff? You can do without.

    So nowadays before I do anything, before I even sit down in the morning I make sure my mind is firmly set on that one person out there, and that I realize that all the other shiny techy stuff that I use are just tools to reach THAT person, not an end in and of themselves.
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    • Profile picture of the author FilthyRich
      Originally Posted by hmbehrens View Post

      For me personally, the biggest hurdle I've had to jump over was being simultaneously intimidated and fascinated with all the technology and 'cool stuff' that's always jumping in your face in IM. To the point where it paralyzed my business for years.

      First it was learning HTML, then learning hosting and servers, then learning WordPress, then learning LSI, then learning Squidoo, then SEO, and then another and another and another. And it never stops.

      I don't regret learning any of those things for a second... But when I look back at the times I've said "I have no time" or "I have no money" or "I'm overwhelmed with knowledge" etc., The actual root cause of it is simply that I was forgetting what makes or breaks you in marketing: The ability to pierce through all the shiny cool stuff and realize that at the other end is just a person looking for a solution to their problem. All the other stuff? You can do without.

      So nowadays before I do anything, before I even sit down in the morning I make sure my mind is firmly set on that one person out there, and that I realize that all the other shiny techy stuff that I use are just tools to reach THAT person, not an end in and of themselves.
      DAM dude that is so true could not have said it better my self. I also beleive that ACT on the material that you soak up. Alot of IM's fail at the first hurdle due to the fact they cannot stop reading and just do not ACT on what they have read.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
    Andy, I would say that 1 and 3 are the biggest keys. It is actually so ironic
    that you've brought up this thread.

    Now that I no longer need the money, I find that it is harder for me to get
    motivated to do anything anymore. I work very few hours in the month
    compared to my marathon days that I used to put in. For me, an hour or two
    a day now and I'm done. I just don't want to work more than that.

    Ironically, I am also finding that now that I've got most of my business
    running by itself (thanks to all the hard work I put in previously) I don't
    have to work all those hours and the money is still coming in.

    In addition to that, I have always been cheap. My monthly expenses would
    make people laugh.

    So I totally agree with you, though at one time I wouldn't have, that
    you don't need a lot of time or money to make a living online. I spend most
    of my day now either in the recording studio or taking my daughter to
    wherever she has to go.

    If you had told me a year ago that I'd be in this place now, I would have
    told you that you were crazy.

    Anyway, yes, mindset is critical. If you can't push yourself to do things
    (something I am wrestling with now) or you don't think you'll be
    successful, you won't.

    As for business knowledge, also absolutely essential. If you don't know
    what you're doing how can you run a successful business? Sure, you can
    just go out and hire somebody to run it for you, but how would you know
    if they were ripping you off if you have no business knowledge whatsoever?

    That's my 2 cents on the subject.

    Thanks for bringing it up.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

      Andy, I would say that 1 and 3 are the biggest keys. It is actually so ironic
      that you've brought up this thread.

      Now that I no longer need the money, I find that it is harder for me to get
      motivated to do anything anymore. I work very few hours in the month
      compared to my marathon days that I used to put in. For me, an hour or two
      a day now and I'm done. I just don't want to work more than that.

      Ironically, I am also finding that now that I've got most of my business
      running by itself (thanks to all the hard work I put in previously) I don't
      have to work all those hours and the money is still coming in.

      In addition to that, I have always been cheap. My monthly expenses would
      make people laugh.

      So I totally agree with you, though at one time I wouldn't have, that
      you don't need a lot of time or money to make a living online. I spend most
      of my day now either in the recording studio or taking my daughter to
      wherever she has to go.

      If you had told me a year ago that I'd be in this place now, I would have
      told you that you were crazy.

      Anyway, yes, mindset is critical. If you can't push yourself to do things
      (something I am wrestling with now) or you don't think you'll be
      successful, you won't.

      As for business knowledge, also absolutely essential. If you don't know
      what you're doing how can you run a successful business? Sure, you can
      just go out and hire somebody to run it for you, but how would you know
      if they were ripping you off if you have no business knowledge whatsoever?

      That's my 2 cents on the subject.

      Thanks for bringing it up.
      It's funny isn't it - how some people can come in to IM thinking it's all about what you do, and then up realising that it's more important WHY you're doing it and HOW you do it than the actual way you decide to make money - most ways work when done effectively.

      The mindset drives everything and if you're negative and expecting bad results you seem to get them.

      When you get more confidence and start to expect success - it seems to follow.

      Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanman
    For me it's just been one simple thing which is this- Analyze less and do more.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    #1 and #3.

    The wrong mindset can be a killer for anything. Not just your business either. But if you believe in what you are doing, you will stick with it and we all know that not sticking with it is what causes a lot of us to fail because we quit before we give the project a chance to become successful.

    Lack of business knowledge is a big one too. I know for myself that I had no knowledge of sales or marketing when I got into IM. It was the "Internet" part that attracted me and I had plenty of knowledge about that.

    But, looking back, I can see where not knowing anything about marketing has hurt me tremendously.

    Not only that but I actually didn't realize that I need to learn more about marketing! I though I cold have my nice information sites and people would just come and if I provided great content they would buy stuff. NOT.

    Lee
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    Gone Fishing
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  • Profile picture of the author LMC
    A really strong IPO would help.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dean Shainin
      Hi Andy,

      For me it's always been and always will be... 1 - Mindset - "Whatever you can conceive you can achieve".

      In fact I've got that quote you mention in my wallet to this day along with "what you put your attention on manifests to its greatest reality".

      My issue is similar to Stevens and at this point I only put in about 2 hours per day because of the residual income streams created while I was REALLY "on fire". Some days I don't do anything. I've noticed going through cycles primarily I work more in the winter months than summer.

      I really feel without the right mindset I would have never achieved what I set out to do. And that was to be financially free without having to be tethered to my computer day and night.

      Cheers,
      Dean
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      • Profile picture of the author melanied
        My biggest challenge has been and continues to be - FOCUS. Therefore, I'd have to go with number 1, for me.

        Although I can be very analytical and practical, at the core I am a creative personality. Therefore I love doing keyword research (because it involves imagining possibilities) and site building (because it involves aesthetics). When it comes to backlinking building and promotion, my tendancy is to get bored and wander off to the next shiny new project I'm excited about. This tendency has also made me vulnerable to the "build sites about what I'm passionate about rather than what is the most profitable" trap.

        When I really switched my mindset to - business is about business, and it's about making money first and foremost, NOT about having a bunch of cool websites , that's when everything changed.

        It also got me to the outsourcing point a lot quicker, so now I CAN mainly just focus on the parts I like!
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        *melanie

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        • Profile picture of the author flattop
          Originally Posted by melanied View Post

          My biggest challenge has been and continues to be - FOCUS.
          Melanie
          Thats funny, I just posted a blog post about focus... lol Maybe it will help you out some...

          Check out my signature below for the address to my site and the article..

          If you would please let me know if it did help or what else I can write about that may help you...

          To Your Success,
          Clint Anderson
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          • Profile picture of the author edhan
            Have you heard that the True secret of IM is knowing the Secret ?

            For someone to know the Real Secret will take some lucks or gone through ups and downs by turning all stones and rocks to uncover the Secret.

            Up till now, those who know the Secret of Success are KEEPING them as Secret. While those yet to know the Secret, are still turning the stones and rocks to uncover it.

            The Secret of IM is doing the right thing. But many are still searching for what is the right thing to do to be successful.

            So, once you have uncovered the Secret, it remains as Your Secret. Others will still continue to search for it.
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      • Profile picture of the author petevamp
        You are the key to success. Allow me to explain or elaborate on this a bit. When you publish an article or build another sales page. What is the one thing you always place on that page or article? You should always place your name or if you do not want to use your name use a web name for instance my real name is peter bernaeyge. How ever who can really pronounce that last name not many. Even people I have know for years still can not pronounce that last name correctly. So as a test I built another site where I only use a web name which is pete vamped. This has proved highly successful. Now what makes that name even better then using my real name it is shorter and easier to pronounce as well as easy to remember the spelling if they do a search for me later. You will also find me doing little tricks with the name like this PeteVamped if i wanted I could build that into a logo and make a slogan.

        most also place a photo on there page of them selves. This again goes back to you are the key. Now say you are walking through a store and one of your customers was able to remember where they seen you. So they will come up and start talking to you to find out. Then you tell them what you do and point out a few products of yours. It then dawns on them where they seen you before. Now they did not buy the product the first time the visited your site. Now that they have talked to you for a little bit and realize you are not trying to scam them. They will go back to your site and buy the product they liked.

        Think about infomercials how is a infomercial any different then what all of us internet marketers do. It is not! Each infomercial starts off with the host stating there name then comes in with them talking to someone on an interview or another host. We just do this on a much larger scale and instead of only running our ads at a certain time of day. Our ads run 24-7 its just a matter of getting the people to your ads or sites. The more people you bring in the more sales you will make. How ever with out selling yourself to the customer first with both a name and a pic you will likely lose sales over time. You will get the few that are either desperate or just bought from the first person they seen.

        As a marketer we all love those types of people. However we know that not everyone is desperate or impatient. We would like to get every single visitor to buy something or at least 50% but we know that is not always going to happen. How many sites do you think that person has already looked at for just about the same product just rehashed 100 times over. I would guess around 20-30 times. Yet if none of them selling the product had a name or pic of the person selling the product but yours did. They will buy from you before they buy from the other guy.

        So the answer to me is you yourself the marketer is the secret or key.JMHO
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  • Profile picture of the author InternetMarketingIQ
    Like all marketing. The "secret" is to understand your Market and Customer Behaviors.
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    Internet Marketing IQâ„¢
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Sol
    I think REALLY knowing your market is what really matters.

    You know who your prospects are, you know what they want, you know how much they are willing to spend - you got yourself a winner.

    Marketing, technical and all the rest - you can hire someone do it for you if you suck at it, but if you don't know what to sell and more importantly who to sell it to then you are probably wasting your time.

    Just my $0.02

    Alex
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    Alex Sol, Full time online marketer since 2007
    The Extra Paycheck Blog | Extra Paycheck Podcast
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    The reason they still haven't succeed is because they still haven't discovered the latest IM secret I'm preparing to sell for 1997$, money back guaranteed!

    Tyrus
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    • Profile picture of the author Kirahster
      Originally Posted by Tyrus Antas View Post

      The reason they still haven't succeed is because they still haven't discovered the latest IM secret I'm preparing to sell for 1997$, money back guaranteed!

      Tyrus

      I think people that read the forum get the picture already. and it is $1997 NOT 1997$
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      Homes For Sale
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry Hatfield
    It is all of the above things.

    You have to have all the parts of the puzzle in place and then honker down and apply good old fashioned ELBOW GREASE!
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    • Profile picture of the author jonb
      I think #1 is the ability to communicate effectively with prospects and customers. I don't mean "copywriting tricks" -- I mean being able to connect in an empathetic fashion.

      If you radiate joyfulness, honesty and wisdom in your words, you're most of the way down the road the success.

      Not sure how to do it? Get "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. There's a reason that book's been in print so long.
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      .

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      • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
        Willingless to learn.. is what a lot of people aren't creating time for themselves.

        I didn't even know what hosting was in February 09, I now have over 6 websites.. I have knolwedge required to edit CSS, and HTML code..

        I'm now studying a $79.99 course on HTML, XHTML and CSS now that I have a bit of confiedence behind me.

        It's these little things that people avoid, that really do determine their overall success.
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        • Profile picture of the author epicticus
          Banned
          [DELETED]
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          • Profile picture of the author brseminars
            Focus on One Thing and Do It Well
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            Make it a great day!

            Brian Rodgers

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  • Profile picture of the author mrkrabs
    Reading as much as you can, and TIME. A lot of time
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  • Profile picture of the author BrianMcLeod
    I think for many the number one bottleneck is conquering self-doubt and fear.

    Fear of looking bad in front of others if something bombs or looks "unprofessional".

    Fear of possibly losing money on an unproven idea that they're excited about but too scared to move into action.

    Sometimes even subconscious fear of things going too well and the change that will bring to their social circle. It's remarkable the capacity some "friends and loved ones" have for being a boat anchor.

    To become a successful entrepreneur, thick skin and an ability to operate outside of the "good opinion of others" is vitally important.

    Good thread, Andy.

    Best,

    Brian
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    Brian McLeod
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeampz
    Staying focused is definitely a challenge I'm dealing with right now!! Seems like everywhere I turn there's a new product promising me the easiest way yet to make the cash... so many that I can't even sit down and concentrate on just one. This whole discussion helps with that though
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  • Profile picture of the author Kneb Knebaih
    As always, #1 is the way to go, but not the only one:


    1- Mindset, Goal Setting (30 days goals)

    2- Time Management (Critical)

    3- Mindmapping, Organization, Planning

    4- Focused Action (You should work hard during your first year)


    All the rest can be outosurced... so you just "work" on what you really enjoy.



    : )
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  • Profile picture of the author George Sepich
    Understanding Human Nature. Once you have even a small clue, all the other pieces will start to fall into line.

    George
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    Need Help? GeorgeSepich.com Digital Marketing Solutions From George Sepich.

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  • Profile picture of the author James Spinosa
    All you need is a work ethic and a base to start gaining knowledge (for instance as long as you can get to a forum, you can start learning to how market a product).

    Most people fail because they don't want to put in the time and effort, everything else they can find on the internet anyway
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